Dictionary of the Old Testament Wisdom, Poetry and Writings: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship

Description

2009
Christianity Today Merit Award
winner!
2009
Evangelical Christian Publishers Association
(ECPA)
Christian Book Award
winner!
The Old Testament books of wisdom and poetry carry themselves differently from those of the Pentateuch, the histories or the prophets. The divine voice does not peal from Sinai, there are no narratives carried along by prophetic interpretation nor are oracles declaimed by a prophet. Here Scripture often speaks in the words of human response to God and God’s world. The hymns, laments and thanksgivings of Israel, the dirge of Lamentations, the questionings of Qohelet, the love poetry of the Song of Songs, the bold drama of Job and the proverbial wisdom of Israel all offer their textures to this great body of biblical literature. Then too there are the finely crafted stories of Ruth and Esther that narrate the silent providence of God in the course of Israelite and Jewish lives.
This third Old Testament volume in InterVarsity Press’s celebrated
IVP Bible Dictionary
series offers nearly 150 articles covering all the important aspects of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ruth and Esther. With over ninety contributors, this volume maintains the quality of scholarship that students, scholars and pastors have come to expect from all volumes in this series. Coverage of each biblical book includes an introduction to the book itself as well as separate articles on its ancient Near Eastern context and its history of interpretation. Additional articles amply explore the literary dimensions of Hebrew poetry and prose, including acrostic, ellipsis, inclusio, intertextuality, parallelism and rhyme. Furthermore, there are well-rounded treatments of Israelite wisdom and wisdom literature, including wisdom poems, sources and theology. A wide range of interpretive approaches is canvassed in articles on hermeneutics, feminist interpretation, form criticism, historical criticism, rhetorical criticism and social-scientific approaches.
The
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings
is sure to command shelf space within arm’s reach of any student, teacher or preacher working in this portion or any area of biblical literature. Leading OT scholars Tremper Longman III and Peter E. Enns edit this collection of 148 articles by 90 contributors.
Features:
Third Old Testament volume in InterVarsity Press’s award-winning and groundbreaking Bible Dictionary series
148 articles covering all aspects of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ruth and Esther
Over 90 expert contributors
Coverage of each biblical book, including separate articles on ancient Near Eastern background and the history of interpretation of each book
Full coverage of literary dimensions of poetry and prose
scholarly treatments of Israelite wisdom and Wisdom literature
Comprehensive Up-to-date bibliographies