The Old Testament depicts itself as a collection of writings stemming from different periods. However, the particularities of the biblical picture fit primarily with the Bible's own "narrated world". Historically speaking, this portrayal does not correspond with the "world of the narrators" of the biblical books, but must instead be evaluated critically. The result of such an enterprise is a history of the literature of the Old Testament, an approach especially indebted to the legacy of Hermann Gunkel. Although the legitimacy and necessity of the project of a history of Old Testament literature can hardly be disputed, it nevertheless has remained in the shadow of other disciplines within biblical studies. The present article strives to assess the current state of the debate, to elucidate the main problems that need to be approached, and finally to suggest some avenues for future research.

Enthalten in:
Theologische Literaturzeitung; 2011/3 Monatsschrift für das gesamte Gebiet der Theologie und Religionswissenschaft (2011)

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Serie / Reihe: Theologische Literaturzeitung

Personen: Schmid, Konrad

Schlagwörter: Altes Testament Literaturgeschichte