The Old Testament Story.

The Old Testament Story. By Don C. Benjamin. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004. xxvi and 470 pages. Paper. $32.00.

Although the reader of this volume will most certainly come away with a fresher understanding of how the world of the Old Testament fits into its greater historical context, the explicit objective of Benjamin's book is to proclaim that the Bible is more story than history. In the author's words, "The Old Testament Story represents a new generation of introductions to the Bible that integrate what historical criticism taught with what narrative criticism, social-scientific criticism, and feminist criticism are teaching" (p. 19). By applying literary schema such as "crisis/climax/denouement" to a variety of texts Benjamin is able to effectively highlight not just the content of these tales but also the highly skilled way Israel told these stories.

After an opening chapter in which he tackles general topics such as "How old is the Bible?" and "Who were the Hebrews?" Benjamin systematically moves through the Old Testament, using an effective blend of literary and historical criticisms. For example, he highlights general ANE covenant treaties and how they are paralleled by similar covenant treaties in the Old Testament (chaps. 2-3); he compares the creation of the city of David in 2 Sam 5:6-16 with the Enuma Elish stories from Mesopotamia (chap. 6); and he is able to present a highly detailed legal analysis of the movement of the book of Job (chap. 7). The book ends with a chapter titled "Living the Bible," which presents some of the challenges that Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike share in reading this book today.

Clearly one of the great strengths of this volume is how seriously it takes an analysis of the ancient world of the Old Testament, giving the reader insights into the original social context of biblical Israel. This emphasis at times comes at the expense of a more theological reading of these texts. For example, in his treatment of Jeremiah the reader will learn much about the significance of the prophet's various "pantomimes" while more well-known texts (the temple sermon in chap. 7, the new covenant in chap. 31) are passed over. However, Benjamin's choice of topics is consistent and well researched throughout, and The Old Testament Story is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in expanding their understanding of the world of the Old Testament.

R. Scott Chalmers

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago