More than Meets the Ear: Discovering the Hidden Contexts of Old Testament Conversations.

• Author: Tsumura, David T.
• Position: Book review

More than Meets the Ear: Discovering the Hidden Contexts of Old Testament Conversations. By VICTOR H. MATTHEWS. Grand Rapids, Mich.: WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING Co., 2008. Pp. xii + 198. $30.

Victor H. Matthews is professor of religious studies at Missouri State University and the author of several books, including Studying the Ancient Israelites and Manners and Customs in the Bible. The present book is the outcome of his longstanding interest in the social and anthropological aspects of the Bible and reflects his broad knowledge of the subject. Here he adopts a multidisciplinary approach to conversations in the Old Testament, utilizing "the methods and techniques current in sociology, critical geography, socio-linguistics, and social psychology."

In chapter 1 the author discusses "how embedded dialogue can be effectively analyzed using sociolinguistics and discourse analysis." Chapter 2 focuses on "the characteristics of a transactional dialogue, cognitive linguistics, menial space theory, and concepts of social identity," using the story of Judah and Tamar. Chapter 3 concentrates on the "sociological theories associated with conversation analysis," illustrating these theories by an analysis of the conversation between Moses and Jethro (pp. 71-74), the "frame-busting" in the story of David and Michal in 2 Samuel 6 (pp. 80-91), and the social triangle story of David, Nabal, and Abigail in 1 Samuel 25 (pp. 91-98).

Chapter 4. "Dialogue as a Social Kaleidoscope: Using Positioning Theory," examines dialogue in public space with an analysis of the "modes of positioning" in Daniel 1, 3, and 6 (pp. 108-14) and an exegesis of the confrontation between King Ahab and the prophet Micaiah in 1 Kings 22 (pp. 114-29). In chapter 5, which deals with "spatiality and context," the author discusses the "importance of spatial context as a creative and cognitive factor in the development of social interaction and effective storytelling." He illustrates this in what he calls "Jeremiah, the Written Word, and Linked Zones of Communication" (pp. 151-63). The volume concludes with a helpful glossary of technical terms.

The purpose of this book is, according to the author, "to introduce readers briefly to the various critical communication theories" and to help them "step more effectively into the world of ancient Israelite conversations" (p. viii). This aim is reasonably well accomplished.

Such modern critical approaches to the conversations in the Bible are...