Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament

Excellent read. Relevant book.

This is an excellent partner to any study of the Old Testament. It is extremely informative in regards to historical context and theological themes of each book. I highly recommend it.

This book shows a fair non-denominational veiw of the Old Testament. This is a must for anyone who really wants to study the Bible.

Without blabbering on about the evangelical theological leaning of each chapter I thought I'd write an actual review of this book rather than attempt to debate the authors' theology. First off, the book is a great survey. It is a bit short at times and a bit simplistic around some of the prophets (the sections on Jonah and Haggai for example are far too basic) but it is always fair and contains some great visual aids, charts, photographs and organization. The book is set up simplistically and is a must for first year theological students. The only real problem I have ever had with this text book is that I have never been a fan of the index (which is far too short).

This is a wonderful text for the student of the Old Testament. The authors are very detailed in their descriptions of each Old Testament book. Not only do they provide a fairly lengthy section in each chapter about the historical setting of the book, but they also provide a review of the message, certain criticisms, theology, date and composition, and certain scholarly events surrounding the text (i.e. hypothesis, theories about the text, etc.). Moreover, the book is filled with photographs, maps, charts, and many other visual aids. The authors have also provided the reader with geographical aids via descriptions, maps, etc. Another important element about this book is the authors' handling of Hebrew poetry. The authors give a description of what Hebrew poetry is, how it works, how to read it, and what its purpose was in context. So as you can see this is a very detailed book. If you are wanting a text that focuses solely on the Old Testament, is detailed and very descriptive, then I don't believe you will find a better text than this one.

Old Testament Survey quotes the New Revised Standard Version in order to take advantage of the most recent biblical scholarship. While previously scholars thought there was a first, second and third Isaiah OTS makes a stong case for the unity of Isaiah (chapter 22). OTS follows the general modern consensus that Ecclesiastes was written 700 years after King Solomon died and thus was not written by Solomon. The comments are interesting and accompanied by photos and maps. If you enjoy this book you may also like THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS by Cody Jones. Many of the mysteries and riddles of Proverbs are explored with some surprising new answers. Among them is the identity of King Solomon's ghostwriter who was one of the "officials of Hezekiah" mentioned in Proverbs 25.1. Six translations of Proverbs in parallel aid understanding and numerous drawings and photos give you a sense of the culture of the time.