| Preface | xi |
| Part I. | Survey of the Old Testament and Its History | |
| 1 | The Parts of the Old Testament | 3 |
| a) | Name and Structure | 3 |
| b) | The Formation of the Canon | 6 |
| 2 | The Stages of Israel's History | 8 |
| a) | Nomadic Antiquity | 9 |
| b) | The Early Period before the State (Settlement and Age of the Judges) | 15 |
| c) | The Period of the Monarchy | 18 |
| 1. | The Period of the United Kingdoms | 19 |
| 2. | The Period of the Divided Kingdoms The Northern Kingdom, Israel | 20 |
| 3. | The Southern Kingdom, Judah | 23 |
| d) | The Exilic and Postexilic Periods | 25 |
| 3 | Aspects of Social History | 28 |
| a) | The Nomadic Clans | 28 |
| b) | Ownership of Land | 31 |
| c) | Changes Brought by the Monarchy | 33 |
| d) | Social Contrasts in the Time of the Major Prophets | 35 |
| e) | The Postexilic Situation | 37 |
| Part II. | Traditions and Documentary Sources of the Pentateuch and the Historical Books | |
| 4 | The Pentateuch | 41 |
| a) | Name and Structure | 41 |
| b) | Stages and Problems of Pentateuchal Scholarship | 44 |
| 1. | Criticism of Moses' Authorship | 44 |
| 2. | Discovery and Delimitation of the Pentateuchal Sources | 45 |
| 3. | Dating of the Documentary Sources | 46 |
| 4. | Results and Still Open Questions of Literary Criticism | 48 |
| 5. | Form Criticism and Tradition History | 58 |
| 5 | Selected Types of Narrative | 63 |
| a) | Myth and Primeval History | 63 |
| b) | The Saga as a Form of Transmission | 65 |
| 1. | The Individual Saga | 65 |
| 2. | Etiological Motifs | 69 |
| 3. | Sanctuary Legends | 69 |
| 4. | Saga Cycles and Later Form of the Sagas | 70 |
| c) | The Joseph Novella | 71 |
| 6 | The Yahwist History | 75 |
| a) | Introductory Questions | 75 |
| b) | Theological Intentions | 79 |
| 7 | The Elohist History | 84 |
| a) | Introductory Questions | 84 |
| b) | Theological Intentions | 89 |
| 8 | The Priestly Document | 93 |
| a) | Introductory Questions | 93 |
| b) | Theological Intentions | 102 |
| 9 | Old Testament Law | 110 |
| a) | The Forms of Legal Statement | 110 |
| b) | Collections of Laws | 114 |
| 1. | The Decalogue | 114 |
| 2. | The Book of the Covenant | 116 |
| 3. | The Law of Holiness | 118 |
| 10 | Deuteronomy | 120 |
| a) | Introductory Questions | 120 |
| b) | Theological Intentions | 129 |
| 11 | The Deuteronomistic History | 136 |
| a) | Introductory Questions | 136 |
| b) | Theological Intentions | 140 |
| c) | From the Book of Joshua to the Books of Kings | 145 |
| 1. | The Book of Joshua | 145 |
| 2. | The Book of Judges | 148 |
| 3. | The Books of Samuel | 151 |
| 4. | The Books of Kings | 156 |
| 12 | The Chronicler's History | 160 |
| a) | Chronicles | 160 |
| b) | Ezra and Nehemiah | 162 |
| c) | Theological Intentions | 167 |
| Part III. | The Prophets | |
| 13 | The Form of Prophecy | 173 |
| a) | Prophetic Utterance and Prophetic Book | 173 |
| 1. | Distinction between Oral Proclamation and Written Record | 173 |
| 2. | Distinction between Individual Utterance and Composition | 175 |
| 3. | Distinction between Original Prophetic Utterance and Later Redaction | 177 |
| b) | Main Categories of Prophetic Literature | 180 |
| 1. | Stories about the Prophets | 180 |
| 2. | Visions | 182 |
| 3. | Words | 183 |
| c) | Questions in Contemporary Study of the Prophets | 188 |
| d) | Precursors of the Writing Prophets | 190 |
| 14 | Amos | 194 |
| 15 | Hosea | 201 |
| 16 | Isaiah | 209 |
| 17 | Micah | 220 |
| 18 | Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Obadiah | 225 |
| 19 | Jeremiah | 233 |
| 20 | Ezekiel | 246 |
| 21 | Second Isaiah and Third Isaiah | 256 |
| 22 | Haggai, Zechariah, Second Zechariah, Malachi | 270 |
| 23 | Joel and Jonah | 282 |
| 24 | Daniel | 288 |
| Part IV. | Liturgical and Sapiential Poetry | |
| 25 | The Psalter | 299 |
| 26 | Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Ruth, and Esther | 311 |
| 27 | Proverbs | 321 |
| 28 | Qoheleth or Ecclesiastes: Solomon the Preacher | 328 |
| 29 | The Book of Job | 333 |
| Part V. | Theology and Hermeneutics | |
| 30 | Discourse about God in the Old Testament | 343 |
| 31 | The Question of the Unity of the Old Testament Aspects of a "Theology of the Old Testament" | 366 |
| 32 | On Understanding Humankind: Anthropological Insights of the Old Testament | 372 |
| 33 | For and Against the Old Testament: Hermeneutic Themes | 389 |
| Bibliography | 399 |
| Index | 449 |
