Theological Hermeneutics and the Book of Numbers As Christian Scripture

Richard S. Briggs is lecturer in Old Testament and director of biblical studies at Cranmer Hall, St. John's College, Durham University. He is the author of a number of books, including The Virtuous Reader: Old Testament Narrative and Interpretive Virtue.

• PrefaceAbbreviationsIntroduction: A Map of the Wilderness1. The Figure in the Wilderness: Readings in the Book of Numbers2. Trust and Suspicion: Approaches to a Holy Text that Invites Little Approach3. "Fraught with Background": Towards Ascriptive Realism and Figural Reading (Numbers 10–12)4. "What Did You Go Out into the Wilderness to See?": Theological Interpretation, the Eyes of the Heart, and Karl Barth's Reading of Sloth (Numbers 13–14)5. "It is the Text that Swallows Up the World": The Eclipse of Numbers' Narrative and the Literal Sense of Korah's Rebellion (Numbers 15–16)6. "The Rock was Christ": Typology Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Numbers 20)7. "'Peace, Peace,' when there is no Peace": The Zeal of Readers in Defense and in Dissent (Numbers 25)8. Blessing for an Unfinished Journey: On Reading Numbers as Christian Scripture (Numbers 6; 22–24; 33)BibliographyIndices

"With refreshingly little throat-clearing Briggs gets his hands dirty and offers a compelling, theologically engaged reading of a complex text. Combining textual, literary, hermeneutical, historical (in the broadest sense), moral, and theological insight, Briggs' reading of Numbers is a demonstration of readerly wisdom. All who want to know what wise theological interpretation looks like will need to engage with this book." —Angus Paddison, University of Winchester"At once judicious and bold, Briggs's hermeneutical meditations on Numbers model an open style of biblical interpretation that is methodologically self-conscious and modern but also theologically adept. The wilderness locale within the biblical story serves as his metaphor for the journey of reading, and Briggs guides his own readers to become better readers of scripture by developing an approach he calls 'ascriptive realism.' The result? Numbers, the most overlooked book in the Pentateuch, comes alive again with renewed vigor and theological importance." —Stephen B. Chapman, Duke University"This scholarly study scintillates. Richard Briggs holds together premodern, modern, and postmodern perspectives in creative tension. This guide to Israel's journey through the wilderness has springs of insight all along the way." —Walter Moberly, Durham University"This book is a sophisticated meditation on the nature of theological interpretation flowing from an extended discussion of the text of Numbers. Of particular value is the manner in which the book uses some of the central passages of the text as test cases for exploring possible paths through complex hermeneutical quandaries. I cannot think of other texts in the burgeoning literature on 'theological interpretation' that manage this task so successfully." —Lewis Ayres, Durham University and Australian Catholic University