In the current postmodern climate of literary criticism, Old Testament Narrative is a refreshing breeze. Rather than placing all emphasis on the author, or on the irrelevance of the author, Walsh recognizes that in as much as the culture and context of the writer influenced the story, so our culture, context and experience shape our reading of it.

What is to be achieved is not an either-or, but dynamic literary tension in which the author appeals to our emotions and will through story, and we respond to the story of the author in light of our own values, experiences and emotion. It is dynamic, gripping, and living; not stagnant, authoritative, and bound. As Walsh states, we should approach narrative this way for it "constructs" meaning in "dynamic collaboration with the words of the text".

Such an approach opens up a broad vision of the narrative allowing the reader to mine it for the values of the writer, in this case the divinely inspired OT author, and then mold, form, and understand their own values./br>An excellent choice for any course in Old Testament interpretation, or even for Hermeneutics, or for educated laity seeking to understand how narrative forms believers.

The Old Testament's stories are intriguing, mesmerizing, and provocative not only due to their ancient literary craft but also because of their ongoing relevance. In this volume, well suited to college and seminary use, Jerome Walsh explains how to interpret these narrative passages of Scripture based on standard literary elements such as plot, characterization, setting, pace, point of view, and patterns of repetition. What makes this book an exceptional resource is an appendix that offers practical examples of narrative interpretation- something no other book on Old Testament interpretation offers.

Jerome T. Walsh was Professor of Old Testament at the University of Botswana and the University of Dallas. He is the author of Style and Structure in Biblical Hebrew Narrative.

"This beginner's guide is a success."--James Chukwuma Okoye, CSSp, The Bible Today, July 2010, p. 238

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