The Hebrew Bible’s (Tanakh) structure and canonised form, is instrumental to the ‘big picture’ narrative in this diverse book. Dempster systematically leads the reader through the Tanakh to argue that despite its diversity it should be viewed as one text with unity and structure.
He also suggests that texts will be misinterpreted if studied only in minute detail. He encourages reading the text in context to understanding how it connects with the whole book.
Dempster’s over-arching point is that the Hebrew Bible is more than just literature, it is the divine word of God.
Dempster begins by acknowledging the challenge today of interpreting the Old Testament as the original readers would have, rather than through New Testament eyes. He describes …show more content…
He acknowledges that this is still a controversial idea and is not supported by all theologians. However, while he gives good arguments to support his own view, he does not deal with opposing arguments.
Dempster claims to have written this book without the influence of the New Testament. However, it is impossible to have a completely unbiased reading of the Tanakh, having read the end of the story. Although Dempster avoids using New Testament references, some of the prophetic themes he highlights can only be truly understood with hindsight. It is improbable that the original readers would have seen the same significance in these passages, without the benefit of the New Testament.
At times Dempster may be reading too much into the text. For example, he describes Daniel 1 as a parody of Genesis 1. He links the forbidden food of the Babylonians (that Daniel refused to eat) with the forbidden food from the tree in the garden of Eden that Adam did eat. Also, a number of chapters later, when Daniel finds himself in the lion’s den he receives a God given authority over the lions, which is compared to the creation story where Adam is given dominion over all animals. Another example is the comparison of the Babylonian King’s dream in which he saw a giant statue been destroyed by a large rock linked to David killing Goliath with a single