The Literary Guide to the Bible

Robert Alter, Frank Kermode

Harvard University Press, 1990 - Literary Criticism - 678 pages

Rediscover the incomparable literary richness and strength of a book that all of us live with an many of us live by. An international team of renowned scholars, assembled by two leading literary critics, offers a book-by-book guide through the Old and New Testaments as well as general essays on the Bible as a whole, providing an enticing reintroduction to a work that has shaped our language and thought for thousands of years.

Contents

• GENERAL INTRODUCTION Robert Alter and Frank Kermode I: 1
• GENESIS J P Fokkelman: 36
• EXODUS J P Fokkelman: 56
• LEVITICUS David Damrosch: 66
• NUMBERS James S Ackerman: 78
• DEUTERONOMY Robert Polzin: 92
• JOSHUA AND JUDGES David M Gunn: 102
• JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL Joel Rosenberg: 184
• THE TWELVE PROPHETS Herbert Marks: 207
• JONAH James S Ackerman: 234
• PSALMS Robert Alter: 244
• PROVERBS AND ECCLESIASTES James G Williams: 263
• JOB Moshe Greenberg: 283
• THE SONG OF SONGS Francis Landy: 305
• RUTH Jack M Sasson: 320
• LAMENTATIONS Francis Landy: 329
• ESTHER Jack M Sasson: 335
• DANIEL Shemaryahu Talmon: 343
• EZRA AND NEHEMIAH Shemaryahu Talmon: 357
• AND 2 CHRONICLES Shemaryahu Talmon: 365
• INTRODUCTION Frank Kermode: 375
• MATTHEW Frank Kermode: 387
• MARK John Drury: 402
• LUKE John Drury: 418
• JOHN Frank Kermode: 440
• ACTS James M Robinson: 467
• THE PAULINE EPISTLES Michael Goulder: 479
• THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS AND: 503
• REVELATION Bernard McGinn: 523
• THE HEBREW BIBLE AND CANAANITE LITERATURE: 545
• THE NEW TESTAMENT AND GRECOROMAN WRITING: 561
• FISHING FOR MEN ON THE EDGE OF: 579
• THE CAΝΟΝ Frank Kermode: 600
• THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ANCIENT HEBREW: 611
• MIDRASH AND ALLEGORY Gerald L Bruns: 625
• ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE Gerald Hammond: 647
• GLOSSARY: 668

About the author

Robert Alter is Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew & Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Sir John Frank Kermode, November 29, 1919 - August 17, 2010 John Kermode was a British literary critic best known for his work The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, published in 1967 (revised 2000), and for his extensive book-reviewing and editing. He was the Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London and the King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at Cambridge University. Kermode served during World War II with the Royal Navy. After the war, Kermode held positions at Manchester University, Bristol University, University College of London, and Cambridge University, all in England, and at Columbia University in New York City. He was Charles E. Norton Professor at Harvard University in 1977-78 and Henry Luce Professor at Yale University in 1994. Kermode wrote several books on literary figures, including D.H. Lawrence and Wallace Stevens. His works of criticism include An Appetite for Poetry and The Art of Telling. Kermode was also the editor of the cultural journal, Encounter and his memoir, Not Entitled, was published in 1995. Kermode serves on the editorial board of the London Review of Books and Common Knowledge and has acted as judge for the Booker Prize. He was knighted for his service to English literature and he was named a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1999. He died in Cambridge on August 17, 2010.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Literary Guide to the Bible
• Editors: Robert Alter, Frank Kermode
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1990
• ISBN: 0674875311, 9780674875319
• Length: 678 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical; Reference / General; Religion / Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / General; Religion / Biblical Reference / General; Religion / Biblical Studies / General