Description: More people read the Bible than any other book and, as Steven McKenzie shows in this provocative volume, most of us misread it. McKenzie argues that to comprehend the Bible we must grasp the intentions of the biblical authors themselves--what sort of texts they thought they were writing and how they would have been understood by their contemporaries. McKenzie examines several genres that are typically misunderstood, offering careful readings of specific texts to show how the confusion arises, and how knowing the genre produces a correct reading.
Review Quotes: "Thoughtfully considered and ably written, this book is highly recommended for all libraries."
--Library Journal
--Jonathan Kirsch, author of God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism and The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible"In order to determine what the Bible means, we must first determine the intentions of its authors, intentions expressed in the literary genres they used. In his examination of several genres used in the Bible, McKenzie demonstrates through detailed analysis how the identification of genre is as necessary for the understanding of biblical literature as it is of any literature. An important and insightful book."
--Michael D. Coogan, editor of The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Third Edition, and The Oxford History of the Biblical World