The names of God
Subtitle: poetic readings in biblical beginnings
By: Herbert Chanan Brichto.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 462
Subjects: Bible. O.T. Genesis -- Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. O.T. Genesis -- Authorship
Description: "In The Names of God, Brichto brings his "poetic" reading of Scripture to the Book of Genesis. Using contemporary methods and insights of literary criticism, he examines one of the great inconsistencies within Genesis that have led to the supposition of multiple authors - the assortment of terms or names for the Deity, among them Yahweh and Elohim - and attempts to show the appropriateness of certain of these names to the stories in which they appear.

He also looks at a variety of other data within Genesis such as genealogies, eponyms, and chronologies, and shows that their poetical function - their variety, ingenuity, and imaginative whimsy - is vital to the structure of the text as a whole. In finding a unity in this diversity of materials, Brichto makes a strong case for the text as the artistic achievement of a single author."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 458-459) and index.
Companion vol. to the author's Toward a grammar of biblical poetics, 1992.