On the Oxford Handbook of Biblical Narrative

In contrast to The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, I was rather disappointed by this handbook — probably one of the weaker Oxford Handbooks I’ve read (see my reviews of the ones on Islamic Theology and Qur’anic Studies). Every essay approaches the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, through the lens of storytelling: what do these stories tell us about their themes, about ancient peoples, even about how we ought to live today? It’s certainly scholarly and learned, and the introductory chapter does a good job reviewing the development of the field since the 1960s. The trouble is the individual essays, many of which left a great deal to be desired. Some are meaty and good — I was particularly impressed by Part 1, the “Overtures,” the chapters on Ruth, Esther, and Luke, and the ones on animals, on landscape, and on “Characterizing God in His/Our Own Image” — but I was floored by how weak others were; the chapter on sustenance and survival, for instance, was so surface-level as to be useless. For someone interested in the topic this may be adequate, simply for its range, but anyone after depth should look elsewhere.