Narrator, characters, action, hero, quest, plot, time and space, entrances and exits–these are the essential components of all narrative literature. This authoritative and engaging introduction to the literary features of biblical narrative and poetry will help the reader grasp the full significance of these components, allowing them to enter more perceptively into the narrative worlds created by the great writers of the Bible.
J. P. Fokkelman is an international expert in Semitic languages. He has taught courses in classical Hebrew Literature at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. His publications include the four-volume work Narrative Art and Poetry in the Books of Samuel and the trilogy Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible.