This is a very fine book and a practical resource for understanding of structural patterns in the Old Testament (OT). It provides a brief but nice overview of structural analysis, which is then followed by Dorsey's analysis and commentary of every OT book.
Dorsey begins with the premise that while most OT books may appear to us to be hopelessly disorganized, their authors indeed followed structural and organizational pattern which are however very different from our own. Hence, unless we are familiar with these structural patterns we simply fail to detect them. This implies that proper deciphering of the structure of an OT books leads to proper understanding of its meaning. The other very important premise is that much of the OT material was intended to be heard or listened to, rather than to be read. Thus authors of these text employed oral markers rather than written or textual typesetting as we know it in our printed materials.
The introductory unit reviews basic principles of structural analysis and provides some elementary tools for the reader to use in his or her own study. Dorsey first provides basic overview of the fields with its historical roots and evolution of structural analysis up to our day. The next four chapters deal with the following topics; definition of literary units, arrangement of units, understanding the structure and meaning and finally discussing value of structural analysis. These chapters are detailed enough for one to be able to pick up some new tools and skills, yet not too esoteric for a casual reader. Further, Dorsey provides enough references for the interested reader to pursue any given topic in more detail.
After this section, Dorsey provides his own structural analysis and interpretation of the structure for each book in the OT. The OT books are grouped in the following manner; the books of the law, historical books, poetic books, major prophets and minor prophets - which is the order of the English Bible. The objective here isn't necessarily to impose Dorsey's structural breakdown or interpretation thereof on the reader. Rather it is to illustrate the principle in action. There can be multiple layers of structure and meaning in each book and it is up to each reader to identify them properly depending on the object of his or her study. This is a great book and without reservations I would recommend it to anyone seeking better understanding of the Old Testament.
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Top reviews from other countries
Ho Say Leow
The Literary Structure of the Old Testament: A Commentary on Genesis-Malachi
Reviewed in Singapore on June 24, 2022
Joseph Pattison
Invaluable aid to understanding structure of the OT
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2013