Unfolding the Deuteronomistic History

Book excerpt: The Deuteronomistic History is the label used by scholars for the Old Testament books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, as identified by Martin Noth. Campbell and O'Brien provide the biblical text with detailed notations on how this work came together, was modified, and was passed down to us in its present form, accounting for the shifts in Israel's and Judah's histories, their storytelling practices, and their ideological interests. Identifying and explaining what accounts for these literary and social processes makes this volume a major step forward for the study of this major block of biblical texts.