Literary Study of the Bible

CHRISTOPHER HODGKINS is Professor of Renaissance Literature at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is author or editor of eight books and many articles and essays, and has addressed audiences across North America and at the Universities of Cambridge, London, Surrey, Edinburgh, Catania, Aarhus, and Paris; at Salisbury and Canterbury Cathedrals; and at the Vatican.

• Preface xiiiAcknowledgments xixPart I Beginning 11 "The Dream Was Doubled": Reading Like a Hebrew 31.1 Seeing Deep and Whole: Stereoscopic Vision 31.2 Tabernacles for the Sun: Biblical Genres 102 "In the Scroll of the Book": Composition and Canonicity 152.1 The Documentary Hypothesis: Its Origins, Assumptions, and Evolution 152.1.1 Hypothetical Documents: Divine Names, Disputed Dates, and the "Polychrome Bible" 172.1.2 Toledoth: Generations of Genesis and Torah 222.2 New Testament Sources: "Q" and A 232.3 "In His Hand Was a Measuring Rod": Community, Councils, and Canons 232.3.1 Tanakh, Old Testament, the Deutero]Canonicals, and New Testament Apocrypha 242.4 Literary Study of the Bible: A Way Forward 29Part II The Old Testament/Hebrew Bible/Tanakh 313 Hebrew Poetry: Deep Calls to Deep 333.1 "In the Great Congregation": The Many Voices of Psalms 333.1.1 A Pentateuch of Poems: The Five Books of the Psalter 353.1.2 "Create in Me a Clean Heart": Interior Drama and Psychological Discovery 393.1.3 "Play Skillfully": Figure and Form 453.1.3.1 Figurative Language 453.1.3.2 Form: Parallelism – Synonymous, Antithetic, Synthetic 463.1.3.3 Form: Refrain and Litany 463.1.3.4 Form: Juxtaposition 473.2 Love Strong as Death: The Song of Solomon 483.2.1 Lyric Sequence or Dramatic Narrative: Whose Story? 483.2.1.1 Allegory? 513.2.1.2 Literal Love Story? 523.2.1.3 Earthly Desire and Heavenly Longing 544 Wisdom Literature: Understanding Their Riddles 574.1 "Take Hold of Her": Wisdom and Desire in Proverbs 584.1.1 "She Calls Aloud in the Streets": Wisdom and Folly Personified 594.1.2 Folly Made Flesh: The Loose Woman 604.1.3 Wisdom Incarnate: The Good Wife 624.1.4 "The Beginning of Wisdom": How to Read a Proverb 654.2 "Enjoy Your Toil": The Counter]Wisdom of Ecclesiastes 674.2.1 "Under the Sun": Living by Mortal Light 694.2.2 "The Wind Whirls About": Cycles and Cynicism 704.2.3 "Remember Your Creator": The End and the Beginning 735 Origin Narrative I: Divine Images in Genesis 775.1 Biblical Narrative Style: The Elements 775.1.1 Minimalism 775.1.2 Wordplay 795.1.3 Doubling and Repetition 795.1.4 Juxtaposition 805.1.5 Deferred Judgment 805.1.6 Irony – Sad, Happy, Complex 835.2 Day of Days: Creation in Stereoscope 845.2.1 "And It Was Good": The Quiet Polemic Against Creative Violence 855.2.2 "In Our Image": Man or Manikin? 885.2.3 "Male and Female": Gendering Genesis 895.2.4 "Flesh of My Flesh": Biblical Erotics and Marriage 915.3 Nakedness and Knowledge: Deception, Folly, Fall, and Curse 936 Origin Narrative II: Patriarchy and Its Discontents in Genesis 1016.1 "Arc" of the Covenant: The Story of God’s Contracts 1026.1.1 Kinds of Covenant: Bilateral and Unilateral 1026.1.2 Keeping Covenant: Promises, Conditions, Signs 1036.1.3 Specific Covenants: Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic 1046.1.3.1 Adamic Covenant 1046.1.3.2 Noahic Covenant 1076.1.3.3 Abrahamic Covenant 1106.2 Warts and All: Abraham and Anti]Patriarchal Patriarchy 1146.3 "The Older Shall Serve the Younger": Against Primogeniture 1206.4 "What Will Become of His Dreams": Joseph and His Brothers 1317 Biblical Epic I: Making the Nation in the Pentateuch 1457.1 Mosaic Epic: The Priestly Kingdom 1457.1.1 Moses: A Man Drawn Out 1487.1.2 The Exodus: Let My People Go 1517.1.3 Exodus and Leviticus: Covenant Law and Liberty 1557.1.3.1 Mosaic Covenant: Moral, Civil, and Ritual Law 1587.1.4 Numbers: Rebellion and Wandering 1697.1.5 Deuteronomy: The Law Renewed 1728 Heroic Narrative: Remaking the Hero in Joshua, Judges, and Ruth 1778.1 Joshua’s Conquest: Taking the Promised Land 1778.2 "When the Judge Was Dead … They Reverted": Cycles of Decay in Judges 1838.2.1 Alternative Heroes: Ehud, Deborah, Jael, and Gideon 1858.2.2 "Weak … Like Any Other Man": The Tragedy of Samson 1918.2.3 The Anti]Hero: "Right in His Own Eyes" 1958.3 "Famous in Bethlehem": Ruth and Boaz, Local Heroes 2009 Biblical Epic II: Making the Kingdom in 1 and 2 Samuel 2079.1 Saul’s Epic Tragedy: "A King … Like All the Nations" in 1 Samuel 2079.1.1 "The Glory Has Departed": Samuel, the Ark, and Israelite Survival 2089.1.2 Cross Destinies: Saul, David, and Chiastic Plot Structure 2129.2 David's Epic Tragicomedy: A Sure House, a Lasting Covenant in 2 Samuel 2259.2.1 A Biblical Elegy: The Song of the Bow 2259.2.2 "From Strength to Strength": King in Hebron, King in Jerusalem 2269.2.3 Cross Destinies Times Two: David, Absalom, and Double Chiastic Plot Structure 2309.2.4 Coda: "He Who Rules Over Men" 23810 National Narrative: Chosen Stories of Chosen People in Kings, Chronicles, Ezra]Nehemiah, and Esther 24110.1 Sad Stories of the Death of Kings: Kings and Chronicles 24110.1.1 "Cast Down the Mighty": Highlights of Misrule and Divine Intervention in Kings 25210.1.2 Doubled, with a Difference: The Book of Chronicles 26010.2 Return and Rebuild: Ezra and Nehemiah, Restorers of the City 26110.3 "For Such a Time as This": Esther in a Strange Land 26811 Drama: The Divine Tragicomedy of Job 27711.1 Job as Primal Theater 27811.1.1 Prologue: Nakedness and Knowledge, Again 27911.1.2 Act 1: Debate Begins – Job 4–14 28211.1.3 Act 2: The Pace Quickens – Job 15–21 28411.1.4 Act 3: Climax, Sullen Silence, and Summation – Job 22–31 28711.1.5 Act 4: Elihu, Angry Young Man – Job 32–37 28911.1.6 Act 5: The LORD Answers – Job 38–42 29011.1.7 Epilogue: Theodicy vs. Theophany and Satan's Real Absence – Job 42 29212 Prophecy: Who Speaks for God? 29712.1 Nevi’im: Prophets Former and Latter, Major and Minor 29812.1.1 Forthtelling Prophecy: Elijah, Elisha, and Social Justice 29812.1.2 Foretelling Prophecy: The Scandal of Prediction 30012.1.2.1 Messianic Prophecy: The Anointed One 30212.1.2.2 Apocalyptic Prophecy: Visions of the End, and the Beginning 30312.2 The Major Prophets: Isaiah Through Daniel 30412.2.1 Isaiah: The Art of Prophesying 30412.2.2 Jeremiah and Lamentations: The Weeping Prophet of Hope 30712.2.3 Ezekiel: "Son of Man, Can These Bones Live?" 31312.2.4 Daniel: "Man Greatly Beloved" 31512.3 The Minor Prophets: "The Day of Small Things" 31812.3.1 Hosea: "Take Unto Thee a Wife of Whoredoms" 31812.3.2 Joel: "The Day of the Locust" 31912.3.3 Amos: "Let Justice Run Down Like Water" 31912.3.4 Obadiah: "Concerning Edom" 32012.3.5 Jonah: "Should I Not Pity Nineveh?" 32012.3.6 Micah: Birth Pangs of the Kingdom 32112.3.7 Nahum:"Woe to the Bloody City!" 32212.3.8 Habakkuk: "On the Day of Wrath, the Just Shall Live by His Faith" 32212.3.9 Zephaniah: "I Will Gather Those Who Sorrow" 32312.3.10 Haggai: "The Desire of All Nations" 32312.3.11 Zechariah: "Behold, Your King" 32412.3.12 Malachi: "Who Can Endure the Day of His Coming?" 325Part III The New Testament/New Covenant 32913 Gospel Narrative: Kingdom Coming 33113.1 Make It New: Another Covenant 33113.2 "A House Divided": Intertestamental Developments and Religious/Political Parties in Jesus' Day 33213.3 Synoptic and Johannine: Stereoscopic Vision Revisited 33613.3.1 Mark,"Q," and Synoptic Composition 33713.3.2 Jesus of History, Christ of Faith? 33813.4 "Tell No Man": The Messianic Secret 34013.4.1 Parables: Kingdom Secrets, "Ears to Hear" 34313.5 Gospel vs. Biography: Chosen Stories of the Chosen One 34713.5.1 Matthew: Jesus, Son of Abraham 34813.5.1.1 Toledoth Y’shua: The Generations of Jesus 34813.5.2 Mark: Jesus, Son of God 35013.5.2.1 "Render Unto Caesar": Mark and Romanitas 35013.5.3 Luke]Acts: Jesus, Son of Adam 35213.5.3.1 "Most Excellent Theophilus": Luke's Testimony 35413.5.3.2 Discoursing Wonders: Luke and the Marvelous 35413.5.3.3 Acts of the Holy Spirit: "The World Turned Upside Down" 35813.5.3.4 Preacher, Martyr, Evangelist, and Convert: Peter, Stephen, Philip, and Saul/Paul 36013.5.4 John: Jesus, Son of the Father, Word Made Flesh 36613.5.4.1 "And Dwelt Among Us": Gnosticism Refuted by the Word Made Flesh 36713.5.4.2 "What Sign Do You Show Us?": The Semeia of John 37013.5.5 Ordinary Splendor: The Miracle of the Everyday 37414 Epistle: Divine–Human Correspondence 37714.1 Sent to the Nations: Pauline Epistles 37914.1.1 Paul's Letters to Churches 38014.1.1.1 At the Center of Power: Romans 38014.1.1.2 At the Center of Trade: 1 and 2 Corinthians 38514.1.1.3 The Law of Grace: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians 39014.1.1.4 Paul's Apocalypse: 1 and 2 Thessalonians 39814.1.2 Paul's Letters to Individuals 40014.1.2.1 Pastoral Epistles: 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus 40014.1.2.2 "More Than a Slave": Philemon 40214.2 General Epistles: Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude 40314.2.1 Better Than Moses: The Letter to the Hebrews 40314.2.2 Trials of the Faith that Works: James 40514.2.3 The Forge of Persecution and the Cancer of Corruption: 1 and 2 Peter 40714.2.4 Fire and Hope: Jude 41014.3 Johannine Epistles: "God is Love" 41115 New Testament Apocalypse: Kingdom Come 41715.1 Little Apocalypses: The Gospels and Epistles 41815.2 "An Angel Standing in the Sun": The Brilliant Difficulties of Revelation 42015.2.1 Fearful Symmetry: Structuring the Vision 42115.2.2 Theatrum Mundi: Staging the Vision 42315.2.3 "The Words of This Book": Speaking the Vision 42415.2.4 "If Anyone Adds … and Takes Away": Interpreting the Vision 42515.2.4.1 Preterist: Apocalypse Then 42615.2.4.2 Historicist: Apocalypse Then to Now 42715.2.4.3 Futurist: Apocalypse Soon 42815.2.4.4 Spiritual/Symbolist: Apocalypse Now – and Always 43015.2.5 The Three]Fold Answer: A Symbolic Drama of Past, Present, and Future 43215.3 Full Circle: A Tree in a Garden 433Appendix 1 Suggestions for Further Reading 437Appendix 2 Boxes and Illustrations 439Index 443