An Old Testament Theology

The Old Testament is more than a religious history of the nation of Israel. It is more than a portrait gallery of heroes of the faith. It is even more than a theological and prophetic backdrop to the New Testament. Beyond these, the Old Testament is inspired revelation of the very nature, character, and works of God. As renowned Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke writes in the preface of this book, the Old Testament’s every sentence is “fraught with theology, worthy of reflection.” This book is the result of decades of reflection informed by an extensive knowledge of the Hebrew language, the best of critical scholarship, a deep understanding of both the content and spirit of the Old Testament, and a thoroughly evangelical conviction. Taking a narrative, chronological approach to the text, Waltke employs rhetorical criticism to illuminate the theologies of the biblical narrators. Through careful study, he shows that the unifying theme of the Old Testament is the “breaking in of the kingdom of God.” This theme helps the reader better understand not only the Old Testament, but also the New Testament, the continuity of the entire Bible, and ultimately, God himself.

Old Testament Theology provides a foundational tool for a theological reading of the Old Testament. In the book's central chapters, John Kessler delineates six differing representations of the divine-human relationship, with special emphasis on the kind of response each one evokes from the people of God. He traces these representations through the Old Testament, into the New Testament, and reflects on their significance for the values and character formation of the people of God today. Old Testament Theology combines elements of Old Testament history, exegesis, hermeneutics, and theology, and situates them within the social, cultural, and intellectual world of ancient Israel and Israelite religious institutions. The result is a comprehensive and readable introduction to Old Testament theology for students in seminaries and colleges.

This republication of a classic work contains a new introduction by Walter Brueggemann that places Gerhard von Rad's work within the context of German theology, Old Testament theology, and the history of interpretation of the Old Testament. In Old Testament Theology, von Rad applies the most advanced results of form criticism to develop a new understanding of the Bible. His original approach is now available once again in English. The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

The discipline of Old Testament theology continues to be in flux as diverse approaches vie for dominance. Paul House serves as our guide—without being partisan or uninformed—exploring each Old Testament book, summarizing its content and showing its theological significance within the whole of the Old Testament canon. Readers with little prior background will find House’s thematic surveys particularly helpful for coming to grips with basic biblical content as well as for probing the theological nuances of individual parts of the canon. The book concludes by forging a set of summary statements concerning God and his character, the people of God, and links between the Old and New Testaments that suggest avenues for the exploration of a full biblical theology. Old Testament Theology offers an overview of the discipline and a fair treatment of differing views while remaining unabashedly evangelical. Readers will welcome the obvious passion of its author for the subject matter. Student friendly and useful to a wide audience, this impressive work has proved a profitable read for many.

This prodigious work offers a broad selection of essays that present Knierim's distinct method for the discipline of Old Testament studies. One subject deals with the implications of his method for New Testament studies.

Numerous useful books on Old Testament theology are now available. However, they often give too much information - or too little. Some can seem large, and daunting to the ordinary student or pastor, and because of their layout, information may be hard to access. Others take a more introductory approach and do not deal with many of the theological issues and questions that the Old Testament raises. Robin Routledge's aim is to bridge this gap. He provides a substantial overview of the central issues and themes in Old Testament theology in the main body of the text, with more detailed discussion and references for further reading in the footnotes. His purpose is to examine the theological significance of the various texts in their wider canonical context, noting unity and coherence within the Old Testament (and to some extent between the Old and New Testaments), whilst also being aware of diversity. A brief outline of the relationship between exegesis and biblical theology within the overall task of interpreting and applying biblical material is given in the first chapter. His hope as a Christian minister is that, while this volume has grown out of a teaching context, and is intended for students, it will also be of benefit to others who want to take the theological content of the Old Testament seriously, and to apply its message to the life and ministry of the church today.

A top Old Testament theologian known for his accessible and provocative writing probes what is necessary to understand and appropriate the Hebrew Bible as a fundamental resource for Christian theology and life today. This volume offers a creative example of theological interpretation, modeling a way of doing Old Testament theology that takes seriously both the nature of the biblical text as ancient text and also the questions and difficulties that arise as believers read this text in a contemporary context. Walter Moberly offers an in-depth study of key Old Testament passages, highlighting enduring existential issues in the Hebrew Bible and discussing Jewish readings alongside Christian readings. The volume is representative of the content of Israel's Scripture rather than comprehensive, yet it discusses most of the major topics of Old Testament theology. Moberly demonstrates a Christian approach to reading and appropriating the Old Testament that holds together the priorities of both scholarship and faith.

Exploring the difficulty in determining the true nature, method, scope, and motivation for Old Testament theology, this book proposes the promise of God as the center of Old Testament theology and applies the solution to each of its eras.