Autorentext

Mario Melendez (PhD, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) is assistant professor of Old Testament and biblical studies at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and is an ordained Southern Baptist minister. He has ministered widely as a multiethnic ministry strategist with a commitment to bridging cultural divides within the church. His research interests include biblical interpretation, ancient Near Eastern backgrounds, language acquisition, and multiethnic ministry, and he is the author of several books in these fields.

Klappentext

In Christian Bibles, the Old Testament is arranged in a fourfold order: Pentateuch, History, Poetry, and Prophets. What many readers don't realize is that this differs from the threefold Hebrew canonical order known as the Tanakh: Torah, Prophets, and Writings. Although students are taught to consider context when interpreting Scripture--historical, cultural, linguistic, and canonical--the canonical context is often overlooked. However, scholars have increasingly recognized its importance for hermeneutics. Book order influences meaning and application.

This short, accessible book fills a gap in the literature and will be an excellent supplementary text for courses in Old Testament and hermeneutics. After introducing the threefold canon, the book covers six approaches for understanding the Tanakh's structure: historical progression, author-genre, theological development, spiritual guidance, messianic trajectory, and architectural structuring. The author favors the last of these, but he gives fair treatment to each. He examines the rationale behind each approach, key proponents, and potential interpretive impact, which is demonstrated by looking at several passages as case studies.

The Order of the Old Testament is important reading for students and pastors alike.