Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament

Without blabbering on about the evangelical theological leaning of each chapter I thought I'd write an actual review of this book rather than attempt to debate the authors' theology. First off, the book is a great survey. It is a bit short at times and a bit simplistic around some of the prophets (the sections on Jonah and Haggai for example are far too basic) but it is always fair and contains some great visual aids, charts, photographs and organization. The book is set up simplistically and is a must for first year theological students. The only real problem I have ever had with this text book is that I have never been a fan of the index (which is far too short).

I am a seminary student. I adored this book, one of the best I've read in school (and i'm graduating this semester, lord willing). this book has an excellent balance of historical, theological, and other information. it's very comprehensive, well written, and highly accessible without sacrificing depth and quality. I recommend it even to "casual" readers who aren't in seminary.

There's a lot of information in this book. As I read through it, I struggled for many reasons. I often felt like it was not well-organized, it was wordy so much so that I had to reread paragraphs or sentences multiple times to figure out what was being said, and even then I didn't always figure it out. Often, theological words were used that I had no idea the meaning of and had to look up online. It seems like this book was written for a more advanced scholar than for an average reader.

Excellent value for money!

Great in-depth look at the structure, background, and theological meaning of the OT! If you're a student OR just looking for an Old Testament background for your sermon prep, this is a great resource!

I needed this textbook for school. It is very enlightening as to the origins of the books of the Old Testament, history of the near Far East; just a very good first book for someone wanting to go deeper in their study of the bible.

Missing the cover page, but this will be a great resource for my knowledge building.

It was okay. I enjoy learning about the Bible, but I wish the book was a little more simply written so that I couldn't gotten into it more.

This book gives a highly understandable overview of the Old Testament including themes, characters, theological points, each specific books, and much more. I would recommend it as a very useful tool to always have on your shelf as an optional reference.

Right book for class