The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures

The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. By Michael D. Coogan (Oxford, $53). This textbook by a well-known OT scholar includes treatments of the apocryphal or deuterocanonical works in addition to the standard Old Testament. Its attention to both history and literature will help students locate biblical writings in their historical contexts.

Each chapter begins and ends with words linking it to what went before and what comes after, and key terms and questions for review end each chapter (I wish the basic bibliography were fuller). Each chapter also has a number of sidebars or excurses in "boxes," dealing with specialized topics (there are 115 of these scattered throughout the book). Numerous pictures (eleven in full color) and dramatic layout will enhance enjoyment of this account of state-of-the-art scholarship. Coogan is in the mainstream of North American biblical scholarship and writes with vigor and authority. RWK

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