Book Description

This final volume of my translation of the Old Testament contains what the Hebrew Bible considers The Writings. They comprise of the poetry of the Psalms, the wisdom literature of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, the erotic love poem of The Song of Solomon, the laments over the fall of Jerusalem in Lamentations, the short stories of Ruth and Esther, the curious book of Daniel that contains both short narratives and strange apocalyptic visions, the post-exilic accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah, and the priestly overview of Israel's past found in I and II Chronicles. Whereas the first two volumes (The Torah and Former Prophets; The Major and Minor Prophets) obviously dealt with Israel's history and the prophetic interaction with that history, this third volume of The Writings is closest thing to "pure literature" you can find in the Bible. Yes, the Torah and Former Prophets are exquisitely crafted literary narratives, and yes, the Major and Minor Prophets are mostly written in the form of poetry. But the fact is, the majority of what we find in The Writings can be read and appreciated without reference to actual historical events. In other words, anyone who has gone through trials can immediately relate to Job; anyone who has pondered the fleetingness of life can soak in what Ecclesiastes says; and anyone who has been madly in love will be able to let the poetry of Song of Solomon wash over them. I was an English Literature major in college, and my focus was on poetry, and so I have a special fondness for this particular volume of my translation. And so, just as John Keating told his students in the movie Dead Poets Society, "We're not laying pipe, we're talking about poetry," I don't want to get in the way of what the poetry in this volume has to say by getting bogged down in historical background and details that, for all practical purposes, is not needed in order to appreciate much of what is in this volume.