Artistic Dimension

This volume presents a collection of essays aimed at further integration of literary analysis in the study of the Hebrew Bible. In three sections Bodner studies a range of texts in order to illustrate that literary analysis has value for exploring numerous issues in the discipline including text-critical problems the Deuteronomistic History and Chronicles.<br/> <br/>Beginning with a discussion of how literary analysis is a vital yet neglected component of textual criticism Bodner then offers a sustained engagement with one particular section of the Hebrew Bible the so-called ark narrative of 1 Samuel 4-6. Other areas of the Hebrew Bible are subsequently explored including a sample of the historiographic material in the Deuteronomistic History and a lengthy text from the book of Proverbs. Part four turns to the often neglected books of 1 & 2 Chronicles illustrating how the Chronicler's work is a congenial site for literary study. The assembled essays petition for a heightened awareness of the artistic achievement of the Hebrew Bible and illustrate that literary thinking is a necessary component for biblical interpretation.