Retrieve The Hebrew Bible As Literature: A Very Short Introduction Crafted By Tod Linafelt Expressed As File

Linafelt shows how the biblical authors used a division of labor between narrative prose and evocative poetry, The former is matteroffact, in which ornamentation and motive are pushed into a shadowy background, Rather than being problematic, this invites deep considerations of why things happened, and may be a major reason why people have returned again and again to biblical stories.
Unlike the epic poetry of other civilizations e, g. , Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, biblical poetry is everything its prose is not: it's nonnarrative and unmoored in space and time, thereby being easily appropriated by future readers for a wide variety of circumstances.
Biblical prose and poetry often work together in practice, with the latter framing the former and adding drama and gravitas to its otherwise spare accounting of detail.
Biblical authors have used these tools for intertextual effect, delighting the close reader by making connections of various kinds to earlier biblical books in later ones,

Linafelt makes excellent use of the limited space and introductory nature of this Very Short Introduction, Given greater resources, I'd want to see him delve further into the various debates of literary theory and criticism e, g. , What is literature What is poetry and to adopt a more comparative basis for lauding biblical authorship that doesn't just stop with a little Homer, An interesting introduction that is barebones but effective, A very well written book about seeing the First Testament as a wonderful piece of literature, It is very different piece of literature from Homer and other ancient boos, but beautiful in its own repect, The Hebrew Bible, or Christian Old Testament, contains some of the finest literature that we have, This biblical literature has a place not only in the synagogue or the church but also among the classics of world literature, The stories of Jacob and David, for instance, present the earliest
surviving examples of literary characters whose development the reader follows over the length of a lifetime.
Elsewhere, as in the books of Esther or Ruth, readers find a snapshot of a particular, fraught moment that will define the character, The Hebrew Bible also provides quite a few high points
of lyric poetry, from the praise and lament of the Psalms to the double entendres in the love of poetry of the Song of Songs.


In short, the Bible can be celebrated not only as religious literature but, quite simply, as literature, This book offers a thorough and lively introduction to the Bible's two primary literary modes, narrative and poetry, foregrounding the nuances of plot, character, metaphor, structure and design,
and intertextual allusions.
Tod Linafelt thus gives readers the tools to fully experience and appreciate the Old Testament's literary achievement,

ABOUT THE SERIES:
The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area, These pocketsized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly, Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make
interesting and challenging topics highly readable,
Anyone familiar with the series Very Short Introductions will know what to expect here, This short treatment of the Hebrew Bible as Literature

addresses such topics as poetry and prose and how the Bible might be interpreted as literature, The coverage is very good, but it is too short for such a complex topic, Although the constraints of the series make this a necessary concession, I would have liked to have read more about what Linafelt thinks about this topic, For anyone wanting to cover the bare basics this would be a fine place to start, I also discuss it a bit further here: sitelinkSects and Violence in the Ancient World, Chapter:Biblical literature and the Western literary tradition
Chapter: Reading biblical narrative
Chapter: Reading biblical poetry
Chapter: Narrative and poetry working together
Chapter: Connections between texts Cracking little book.
So many great insights, communicated with assured enthusiasm, that it's a shame when it comes to an end, Excellent introduction to the prose, poetry, and intertextuality of the Hebrew Bible, Tod Linafelt is professor of biblical literature in the Theology Department at Georgetown University, .