Full Description
Are the Writings a miscellaneous collection of books, as is so often asserted, or do they have a purposeful design or arrangement? Over the past 35 years, there has been a significant amount of scholarly interest in the shape of the Law, Former Prophets, Twelve Minor Prophets and the Psalms, while examinations of the shape of the Writings were almost nonexistent until very recently. The 11 essays in this volume explore this often-neglected issue from a variety of critical perspectives—reader-centered approaches, canonical, structural-canonical, and redactional—made more robust by the mix of German- and English-language scholarship on this question, including 4 articles translated from German into English. Essays range from the historical development of the collection, to analysis of the collection's different arrangements, to the relationship of books and subcollections within the Writings, to the reception of the collection in Jewish and Christian sources. Every book in the Writings is discussed, with particular attention given to Job, Ruth, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. The volume closes with 3 critical responses from John Barton, Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, and Christopher Seitz.
Contents
The Historical Formation of the Writings in Antiquity Julius Steinberg and Timothy J. Stone
Final Forms of the Writings: The Jewish and Christian Traditions Peter Brandt
A Wandering Moabite: Ruth—A Book in Search of a Canonical Home Stephen Dempster
Thoughts on the "Davidization" of the Psalter Frank-Lothar Hossfeld and Erich Zenger
Reading Job following the Psalms Will Kynes
The Place of Wisdom Literature in an Old Testament Theology: A Thematic and Structural-Canonical Approach Julius Steinberg
The Search for Order: The Compilational History of Ruth Timothy J. Stone
The Associative Effects of Daniel in the Writings Amber Warhurst
Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Old Testament Canon Hendrik J. Koorevaar
Torah-Binding and Canon Closure: On the Origin and Canonical Function of the Book of Chronicles Georg Steins
"A Threefold Cord Is Not Quickly Broken": Interpretation by Canonical Division in Early Judaism and Christianity Stephen B. Chapman
Response John Barton
Response Tamara Cohn Eskenazi
Response Christopher R. Seitz
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
