Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Introduction -- Approaching the text as revelation -- Understanding the nature and goal of Old Testament theology -- Finding the author's verbal meaning -- What is the "historical meaning" of biblical texts? -- Finding the big idea in the final composition of the text -- Rediscovering the composition of the Pentateuch within the Tanak -- Textual strategies within the Tanak -- The composition of the Pentateuch -- Exploring the composition of legal material in the Pentateuch -- Interpreting the theology of the Pentateuch -- The nature of covenant and blessing in the Pentateuch -- Is there a "biblical Jesus" of the Pentateuch? -- The purpose of the mosaic law in the Pentateuch -- The theme of salvation in the Pentateuch.

John Sailhamer sums up his perspective on the Pentateuch by first settling the hermeneutical question of where we should set our attention. Rather than focus on the history behind the text, Sailhamer is convinced that it is the text itself that should be our primary focus. Along the way he demonstrates that this was in fact the focus of many interpreters in the precritical era. --from publisher description