As in the widely popular Second Edition, this comprehensive and systematic text approaches the Bible from a literary/historical perspective, and studies the work as a body of writing produced by real people who intended to convey messages to a real audience. Avoiding assessments of the Bible's truth or authority, the authors maintain a rigorously objective tone as they discuss such major issues as the forms and strategies found in biblical writing, the actual historical and physical settings of that writing, the process of canon formation, the sources of the Pentateuch, and the nature of such literary biblical genres as prophecy, apocalypse, and gospel. Each chapter is an independent yet related essay, and the Third Edition has been updated and enhanced by two new chapters: Ancient Near Eastern Literature and the Bible and The Text of the Bible. In addition the reading lists following each chapter have been completely updated in order to reflect the most recent scholarship. The result is an easy-to-use exciting presentation of the art of the Bible that is indispensable to students and accessible to readers of all kinds.