The Reformation
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 60, No. 1 – Fall 2017
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
Reading the Historical Books: A Student’s Guide to Engaging the Biblical Text. By Patricia Dutcher-Walls. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014. 208 pages. Paperback, $22.00.
This book’s title is similar to Robert Chisolm’s Interpreting the Historical Books: An Exegetical Handbook (2006). Even though the two books are quite similar in their aim as an introduction for students hoping to learn specifically about the historical books of the Old Testament, they are different in their content and design.
This work by Dutcher-Walls, Professor of Hebrew Scripture at Vancouver School of Theology, begins with a set of presuppositions guiding the book. She writes, “The OT is an ancient document that, at least initially, needs to be taken on its own terms by modern readers seeking a faithful and informed understanding” (xv). Her purpose is to “take the text of Scripture seriously as the focus of attention” (xvi). Hoping to address a wide audience with differing views on the inspiration of Scripture, she writes, “the volume will assume that learning to take the text of Scripture seriously will provide insights about how to read the text better, and thus, how better to engage the text for all other purposes or commitments” (xvii). From the rest of the book, it is evident that she means that this book will focus on liter- ary notions of the text (as a document), rather than historical backgrounds of the text.
In the first chapter, entitled “Discovering the Context of the Text,” Dutcher- Walls quotes Scripture to illustrate the political, religious, and social contexts of the historical books. The discussion then moves to “Listening to the Story in the Text,” which emphasizes how narrative stories were told in the ancient Near East (ANE) (broadly) and in ancient Israel (specifically). She describes literary characteristics such as plot development, characterization, point of view, and timing. Next, the chapter entitled “Discerning the Interests of the Text” discusses how a text advanc- es its viewpoint through persuasive techniques. Furthermore, she illustrates (with citations from the Bible) how the text might establish authority, use repetition, and set up models. Chapter four, “Examining the History of the Text,” presents her view of how the ancient history writers constructed their texts. She writes that they use, “legends and cycles of tales about heroes, prophets, and warriors; and archives and lists” (130). By relying on these sources and quotations, the writer constructs an interesting account of the past. Chapter five, “Examining the Shape of History in the Text,” argues that ancient history writers selectively shape their story. They made choices about material by evaluating and interpreting their materials and then shaping them to fit their patterns and causes. In the final chapter, she con- cludes that, “history writing in the Bible was shaped to be a deliberate and careful theological account of the past” (172).
Dutcher-Walls does a great job of engaging the reader through her conver- sational style of writing. The inclusion of two to four useful discussion questions at the end of each chapter also helps the reader engage with the content. For the most part, the suggested reading lists at the end of each chapter are helpful, including recent and relevant scholarship (An exception: Chapter three only contains one work written in the past twenty years).
Unfortunately, Dutcher-Walls makes a few assertions taking her down a troubling path. The main issue is her description of the use of sources in Scripture. There are places where biblical writers utilized sources, such as in Joshua 10:13, “and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jashar.” But this is not the same sort of argument made by Dutcher-Walls. In chapter four, she describes the use of sources in biblical history writing. She uses the book of Judges as an example of how biblical history books include “previous tales” (119). To be fair, she could use that term to mean a true story or a fanciful story. However, she then gives an example of Judges 4:4–5 in support of this claim, and then the poem in Judges 5 as further support. If these are places where a writer has incorporated a source in the form of an oral tradition (or something else) he has given no citation (or identifying mark) to that end. To prove her point about the use of sources in biblical material she gives an example from the Plague of Prayers of King Mursili II (124). The problem is that in the text she cites, the author actually describes two “tablets,” that one would infer were used as sources. So, she seems to be comparing apples to oranges. The biblical examples she cites do not cite sources, but then to prove that such things happened in the wider ANE, she uses a text that does cite sources.
Even with this weakness, the book is an interesting read. Dutcher-Walls has done a masterful job of distilling the larger issues of history writing techniques in the ANE and narrative criticism down to an introductory text on the matter that is easily comprehensible by a University student. Because of this accomplishment, I would recommend the book to students and pastors who wish to gain new insight into the issue of historical narratives in the Bible.
