580 - The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction

The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction

By Norman K. Gottwald

Philadelphia, Fortress, 1985. 702 Pp. $34.95 ($19.95 Paper).

Norman Gottwald's new introduction to the Hebrew Bible is an attempt to combine a traditional critical introduction to the Bible with the new emphasis on sociological and anthropological methods, while also taking account of the recent developments in literary and structuralist criticism. It is arranged in four parts, and both the arrangement of the parts and, where it is possible, the treatment of the material within each part follow the general sequence of Israelite history.

Part I discusses the history of scholarship on the Hebrew Bible, emphasizing the various methodological approaches developed in the course of time and their interaction with one another. It also treats the geographical, political, cultural, and social setting of the ancient world in which Israel lived, and ends with a long discussion of the literary history of the Hebrew Bible.

Part II traces Israel's beginnings down to the time of the monarchy. Gottwald's pattern is to discuss the sources for the history and the

581 - The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction

methodological limitations the sources place on historical reconstruction. He then moves to a detailed discussion of the historical traditions, in the course of which he discusses newer literary approaches to these traditions before concluding with a discussion of the sociohistoric horizons of the same traditions.

Part III follows a similar approach in dealing with the period of the Israelite monarchy. Part IV deals with the period from the exile through the fall of the Hasmonean state. This is a very long section, in part to make up for what Gottwald sees as a typically Protestant disregard for and disinterest in this period of Judaism, a neglect he shared in his earlier introduction, A Light to the Nations.

Gottwald has become prominent in recent years for his very controversial sociological analysis of the constitution of early Israel in his massive The Tribes of Yahweh. The present work is unlikely to be as controversial. The Marxism so prominent in the earlier work is not as evident in this book, and Gottwald's sometimes quite daring sociological readings of the text in that earlier book are tempered in this latest book by his concern to give equal attention to other methodological approaches. Gottwald strives to be fair in presenting the actual state of Old Testament studies today, and he is rather successful in presenting the present disarray in the field in a balanced, judicious way. While appropriately critical, his treatment of the older literary criticism, the new literary criticism, and structuralism is positive, though one sometimes wonders why he chose particular sections rather than others to introduce the insights of structuralism. His discussion of both the new literary criticism and structuralism, but structuralism in particular, tends to be spotty. If any area is neglected, it would be the theological reading of the text.

And that touches the heart of this reviewer's discomfort with the book. Though it is a bit long and wordy for my tastes, the work would make a good, balanced introduction for college and university students, and a useful reference work for scholars. I do not think it succeeds as well as an introductory text for seminary students. The theological dimensions of the Bible get buried in Gottwald's concern to deal with all the other issues in a fair and balanced way. The other issues are important. Indeed, as Gottwald correctly observes, good theology is dependent on giving adequate attention to these other issues. But in the final analysis, an introductory text that does not address the theological student's reason for reading the Hebrew Bible in the first place is somewhat suspect.

J. J. M. ROBERTS

Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, New Jersey