The Bible as Literature applies the results of the last 200 years'biblical scholarship to understanding the historical formation of the Bible. Thebook does not attempt to expound or interpret the context of the Bibletheologically. The authors discuss such issues as the literary forms andstrategies of the biblical authors, the historical and physical setting in whichthe Bible stories were originally shaped, literatures from parallel,non-biblical cultures, the process of canon formation, the nature of biblicalliterary genres, and the problems of translation.