Dear Mrs. Jones,

Thank you for your question regarding the historical books of the Old Testament. I am so glad to hear that you are planning to include portions of them in your high school humanities class. You asked in your note "Should I read these as history, theology, literature or what?" My counsel to you is "Yes, indeed"! You should read and then teach them as history, theology, and literature - all three. As a matter of fact, your note has provided me with a good means of aiding you in the interpretation of this scripture. I see that you have good intuition about this portion of scripture. Let me first talk a little bit about the process that went into writing these books, and then talk about the theological, historical, and literary aspects of these wonderful books.

First let me address the process, the "When", "Who", and "How" questions. To begin with, in the Jewish tradition there are really just four books involved: Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. Ruth is not included and the 2 Samuels and 2 Kings are combined. The following are only guesses, but these explanations seem to fit the evidence best. As you read through the four texts, you will run across phrases like "and it remains to this day". Such phrases indicate that all the books were put together and finalized after the end of last event in the series of books. If you then go the last verse of the last historical book, you can see King Johoiachin in prison in Babylon. That event probably took place around 700 BC. Now, the book of Joshua begins with the death of Moses at 1250 BC or so. This means that the folks who produced this work used source material over a 650 year span. Again, the best guess is that sometime between 700 and 400 BC the final "cut" on these books was made. These four books are sometimes called the "Deuteronomical History" because it appears that the same people that compiled the Book of Deuteronomy also compiled these history books. Because of the central role of priests in all these historical narratives, it also appears that the final writers of this history were Jewish priests. Again as you read through the four texts you will run across phrases like, "and other events are listed in the book of so-and-so". This is a good sign that the priests who put these books together relied on a variety of source material, some written, maybe some oral history. So what are these books? My guess is that they are a compilation of written and oral histories, interspersed with poems, songs, and sayings, including editorial comments and transitions by priests, and all skillfully woven together into a comprehensive story of God's redemptive activity with his chosen people.

Most important to the writers of these books was theology. They were priests after all. The books are also historical and they are also literary, but they are theological first of all. The writers wanted to impress two central themes, expounded first in Joshua and carried through to Kings: "Always keep a covenant" (the one in Deuteronomy) and "Obey God and you win / Disobey God and you lose". If you miss this, you miss the central theological lesson of the books. So to answer your question, "Yes, these books are theological". However, I would not try to read theology into every verse, into every activity or every character. Grasp the overarching themes and then just read the stories as plain fun stories.

The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings are also historical, but only after they are theological. For instance, it is my belief that events, times, and places in Joshua are organized in a way to impress the reader with the prime theological messages mentioned above. This is not to say events in the books never took place. No doubt there were violent encounters between invading Israelites and native Canaanites. No doubt there was a time of confederacy in the land when judges ruled. And there is abundant evidence from the ancient Near East that the Kingdom of David was divided and the people of both halves were carried away. It makes sense that the older events are more the more stylized and didactic while the events occurring in the timeframe of the writers are more accurate historically. I say all this not to denigrate the Deuteronomical History, but to point out that it is primarily a theological document, written and organized to keep the readers true to their God of Israel.

The books are also a literary masterpiece. I don't think that there is their equivalent in all of world literature. The priests who finalized these writings were as skillful as Shakespeare, and I truly believe, inspired by God. Remember, that events in these books were written down centuries before Homer wrote down his Odyssey, centuries before the founding of Rome. Other cultures of antiquity have rival pieces of literature, but nothing so grand or so sweeping - especially when considered in conjunction with the books of the law and other writings. One way to approach this literary work is to consider its various literary genres. The bulk of the four books is narrative, but there are embedded in the narrative, songs, lists, parables, and even a fable. I can lend you a book if you are interested in pursuing the idea of literary genre in these histories.

In closing, let me congratulate you for considering these books at all as part of your humanities class. You are a courageous soul in this day of religious antagonism. May I suggest that you read them with your students as good primeval stories. The theological lessons will become clear and the literary quality will shine through. Good luck.

Chris