Introduction to the Old Testament Collection (3 Vols.)

An Introduction to the Old Testament

• Edward J. Young
• 423 pages | Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. | 1949

An Introduction to the Old Testament has served Old Testament students for well over fifty years. This classic, scholarly, conservative text concentrates on the literary characteristics of the Old Testament books, arguing for their inner harmony and underlying unity. Young follows a basic pattern in his discourse of each biblical book, focusing mostly on its authorship and purpose and then providing an analysis of the text. He includes a bibliography and indices for persons, places, and subjects.

Edward Young (1907-1968) served as professor of Old Testament at Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia. He is the author of Thy Word is Truth, My Servants the Prophets and The Book of Isaiah (3 volumes) .

The author of this full-scale Introduction is well known as a conservative scholar who is widely read and who is at pains to give his readers a fair account of the views he is unable to share. All of these qualities are well exemplified here….Of the conservative books on this subject this is easily the best and the most enlightened in its treatment of others….
—Dr. H. H. Rowley in Bulletin of the Society for Old Testament Study.

We believe this work of Dr. Young’s will hold the field for years to come. There is no introduction to the Old Testament to equal it….One of the finest features of the book is the history given of the literary criticism of the Old Testament Scriptures….This book surely embodies the results of a tremendous amount of work.
—The Irish Evangelical

We shall now be at no loss for an answer if we are asked to recommend an Old Testament Introduction which on the one hand is up to date and on the other presents and upholds the most conservative case for the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, the unity of Isaiah and of Zechariah, the historicity of Jonah and Esther, the exilic date of Daniel, the Davidic authorship of many of the Psalms, and the like. For here is the very book.
—Evangelical Quarterly

Introduction to the Old Testament

• Roland Kenneth Harrison
• 1,325 pages | Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. | 1969

Harrison, writing from a conservative point of view, offers a thorough guide to the Old Testament for both scholar and novice. Thoroughly researched and fully documented, this superb volume begins with a lengthy section on the history of the criticism of the Old Testament, viewing the Hebrew Scriptures in the light of archaeology, chronology, history, religion and theology. Various views are presented regarding such issues as the authorship of the Pentateuch, the extent of the Deluge, and the date of the Exodus. This is followed by a detailed discussion of each Old Testament book, paying close attention to its historical background, authorship, and principal ideas. Harrison’s Introduction to the Old Testament also contains a lucid overview of the books in the Apocrypha, which has been included chiefly for Protestants who may never have had occasion to study these books and their influence on early Judaism.

Roland Harrison (1920-1993) received his Bachelor of Divinity, an M.Th. and a Ph.D. from the University of London. He was Professor of Old Testament at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto and was the General Editor of the New International Commentary on the Old Testament. He is the author of Old Testament Times and Biblical Hebrew.

Harrison’s Old Testament Introduction is the finest thing I have ever seen….In the forty years I taught Old Testament Introduction I never found a book I could recommend to my students. I am now heartily recommending this one.
—James L. Kelso, Professor Emeritus, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Harrison’s historical introduction regarding the past and present in Old Testament studies would be worth the purchase price of this volume. It is thorough and well done. However, following this is a marvelous evangelical statement of how the Old Testament was put together and how each book arrived at its present condition, plus an introduction to its theology and purpose. Harrison’s book is a standard and rightfully so. Read this book carefully, and then read it again.
—Rev. John D. White

Ugarit and the Old Testament

• Peter C. Craigie
• 119 pages | Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. | 1983

In 1929, archeologists in Syria discovered beneath the soil of a small hill the remains and libraries of the ancient city of Ugarit, which had been destroyed by foreign invaders shortly after 1200 B.C. Written in a non-technical fashion, Ugarit and the Old Testament tells the story of that discovery and describes the life and civilization of Ugarit. Peter Craigie recounts and assesses the extraordinary impact the discovery has had on the last 50 years of Old Testament studies.

Peter Craigie (d. 1985) was Vice-president Academic at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he had also been a professor of Religious Studies and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. He is the author of The Problem of War in the Old Testament and The Book of Deuteronomy in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament.

An excellent introduction to Ugarit and its culture for the general reader. Craigie gives a fascinating account of the work undertaken at the site, including the deciphering of the language, and discusses the literature of Ugarit with reference to the Old Testament. A guide for further study completes this excellent survey, which I can recommend most highly.
—Roland Kenneth Harrison

A valuable work…carefully done, well balanced, and clearly written. Professor Craigie, rejecting the attitude that uses archaeology as a prop to support crumbling faith, correctly views such materials as background for better understanding of the Old Testament.
—William Sanford LaSor, Fuller Theological Seminary

Brief, up-to-date, and competent. Clearly demonstrates how archaeological discoveries and studies are making the Bible more understandable and meaningful for the modern reader.
—Bastiaan Van Elderen, Calvin Theological Seminary