This new release by respected scholars Robert L. Hubbard Jr. and J. Andrew Dearman will likely become one of the most used Old Testament introductions for seminary students. In fact, before I opened the book I saw it called “student-friendly”. I’ve seen many cases over the years where such book’s contents couldn’t match that hype. After reviewing this title, I would say that “student-friendly” is the proper designation. For that matter, its design could almost be a prototype for such works.

While this book would not be the most conservative available, it is far more conservative than many out there. If you’re as conservative as I am, you might frown in a few places over something mentioned about authorship or sources, but overall you will be pleased by many of the conclusions.

It’s the effective presentation of these introductory matters that make this book so valuable. Many of the charts are exquisite and display a great deal of needed information. For the record, I thought the balance struck between visuals and text was the best I had seen in a long time. So many current books go all out for one at the expense of the other. Either the visuals seem random or the text seems throwaway, but this book managed to pull off providing well-chosen graphics for visual learners and quality, accessible scholarly writing for readers.

The book is divided into six parts: part one gives an overall introduction and puts Old Testament history in context, part two covers the Torah, part three looks at the historical books, part four reviews the prophets, part five explains the books of poetry, and part six gives a one-chapter conclusion that ties in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament regarding issues of canon and text.

Coming in at a little over 500 pages, this book is the perfect length for what it sets out to do. While there’s no doubt that this book will find wide usage as a textbook, I recommended that it find its way to the shelves of pastors and Bible students as well.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.