Opening Israel's Scriptures

by Ellen F. Davis

Opening Israel's Scriptures is a collection of thirty-six essays on the Hebrew Bible, from Genesis to Chronicles, which gives powerful insight into the complexity and inexhaustibility of the Hebrew Scriptures as a theological resource. Based on more than two decades of lectures on Old Testament interpretation, Ellen F. Davis offers a selective yet comprehensive guide to the core concepts, literary patterns, storylines, and theological perspectives that are central to Israel's Scriptures. Underlying the whole study is the primary assumption that each book of the canon has literary and theological coherence, though not uniformity.

In both her close readings of individual texts and in her broad demonstrations of the coherence of whole books, Davis models the best practices of contemporary exegesis, integrating the insights of contemporary scholars with those of classical theological resources in Jewish and Christian traditions. Throughout, she keeps an eye to the experiences and concerns of contemporary readers, showing through multiple examples that the critical interpretation of texts is provisional, open-ended work--a collaboration across generations and cultures. Ultimately what she offers is an invitation into the more spacious world that the Bible discloses, which challenges ordinary conceptions of how things "really" are.

Genres: Theology, Old Testament, Religion, Spirituality

464 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2019

Reviews

[Austin Spence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't read many books exclusively on the Old Testament, but this is my favorite. Queen Ellen provides a warm bath for folks (me included) who struggle to reconcile the OT. It is doable friends! Each chapter is an essay devoted to a book, and it weaves in and out of interpretation and her own translation, providing contemporary insights when available.

(Trying to finish books from school that we were assigned a fraction to read, more to come)

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK!!!

[Tanner Hawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

RICH

[Parker Friesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it for a seminary class. This was excellent. It's thorough and accessible.

[Aaron Z Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! We had about six texts for our intro to OT course. This was among the best of them. The text goes beyond giving you an introductory foundation. Rather the essays dice deeper with insight and gleam new nuggets of information. I was please that it went beyond summarization/cliff notes and provided innovative insights.

[Evan Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible and thorough overview of the Hebrew Scriptures.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate Davis’s voice and exegesis. The chapters are very digestible and interesting.

[Allison Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reallyyyy liked this one!!!! Davis writes beautifully and her insights into the Old Testament are thoughtful, cohesive, and provoke reflection.

[Haley Schlatter]

Preferred text over the quarter! Not sure I’d recommend it to read through front to back but super helpful when focusing in on a specific book or period.