The Role of Old Testament Theology in Old Testament Interpretation

"This book collects several eloquent, eminently readable essays by Walter Brueggemann that 'lay display' his interpretive approaches to Old Testament theology. The book can serve both as introduction to his theological legacy and to his work as a public theologian during many battles of our times. Using language that never fails to engage, he illuminates texts, the world, and relationships between the two."

--Kathleen M. O'Connor, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament emerita, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA



"The present collection of essays by Walter Brueggemann, handily edited by K. C. Hanson, is most welcome. All of the essays originally appeared in Festschriften, which means they are often hard to locate or track down. Readers will be very happy, as am I, to have them gathered together in one place, especially since each essay, and the collection as a whole, is vintage Brueggemann."

--Brent A. Strawn, Professor of Old Testament, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA



"The proper subject of the discipline of Old Testament theology is the God of the Old Testament. The role of the Old Testament theologian is to interrogate the living text of the Old Testament relentlessly and passionately, so that its living God might be sought out, brought out, and thought about. No scholar of the last generation has exhibited more constancy in this high calling than Walter Brueggemann, who has been steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work and word of the Lord. These essays offer a profoundly renewing gift to the field of Old Testament interpretation from one of the finest practitioners of Old Testament theology."

--Rolf Jacobson, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN