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REVIEWS Interpretation 431

the close of the twentieth century. For most read-


ers this may seem like a minor flaw, but the
impact of such a widely read commentary on the
public only serves to perpetuate the limits in our
descriptions of the divine and of humanity.
LISA W. DAVISON
LEXINGTON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
The Literary Structure of the Old
Testament: A Commentary on Genesls-
Malachi
by David A. Dorsey
Baker, Grand Rapids, 1999. 330 pp. $34.99 (cloth). ISBN
0-8010-2187-1.
DORSEY'S STUDY OF THE LITERARY structure of
the Hebrew Bible opens with a brief introduction
to basic tools for literary study of the text before
offering a chapter detailing how he sees the
structure of each book. He follows the order of
the Septuagint rather than the Tanak, thereby
presenting a study much more suited to a
Christian audience familiar with the Old
Testament. His primary concern rests with the
literary integrity of each book, and his chapters
tend to paint the issues in broad strokes, making
this book of greater interest to a lay reader than
to a scholar. While Dorsey makes occasional use
of Hebrew, the majority of his argument relies
on English.
A readable, if simple, opening section
explains ways to identify units in biblical litera-
ture. This presentation would not be new to any-
one with a basic introductory course in the Bible,
but could be useful in teaching a church school
class or explaining biblical studies to a lay audi-
ence. The application of these ideas in chapters
on each book comes across clearly. For example,
Dorsey lists a set of six markers that delineate
Gen 1:1-2:3 from 2:4-4:26 (p. 49). Perhaps the
greatest strength of the book is making the work
of writers such as Robert Alter, Shimon Bar-Efrat
and Meir Sternberg accessible to a wider audi-
ence. However, in covering the whole Hebrew
Bible, Dorsey tends to read redundandy and fails
to focus on the nuances within each text that
make the work interesting. His theologically con-
servative perspective, reinforced by a stress on
structural unity, suggested a more subtle agenda
that could easily be overlooked by a reader not
familiar with biblical studies.
SANDIE GRAVETT
APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY
BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA
Jonah
by Uriel Simon
J PS Bible Commentary. Translated by Lenn J. Schramm.
Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1999. 96 pp.
$34.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-8276-0672-9.
SIMON'S COMMENTARY IS a welcome addition to
this excellent series. He begins with a lengthy
treatment of the theme of the book and the his-
tory of its exegesis. After considering several pos-
sible themes that have been proposed by inter-
preters of lonah throughout the agesatone-
ment versus repentance, universalism versus par-
ticularism, realization versus compliance regard-
ing the call to prophesySimon concludes that
the only theme that applies to the whole book is
compassion: justice versus mercy. He describes
Jonah as a "theological, prophetic story" (p. xx)
not of ironic satire but rather of pathos. A sec-
tion on narrative art is highlighted by a detailed
analysis of structure and style. In the introduc-
tion, Simon also discusses the literary function of
the gentiles, the unity of the book, language,
date, and links with other biblical books. The
verse-by-verse commentary on the text builds on
the elements of the introduction, including styl-
istic and grammatical notes, textual criticism,
various interpretations both ancient and mod-
ern, and theological comments.
The greatest contribution of this excellent
commentary is Simon's development of the
theme of God's compassion, not only for
Nineveh but also for Jonah himself. The empha-
sis on pathos provides for a more respectful
treatment of the disgruntled prophet than a
humorous interpretation. Simon's comments on
various points of Hebrew grammar and on the
literary artistry of the author will delight and
enlighten the readereven non-specialists. His
familiarity with the history of Jewish interpreta-
tion is also a plus. The book is nicely laid out
with Hebrew text, interspersed with commen-
tary, like the others in this series. It is generally
free of typographical errors with one exception:
^ s
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