It's somewhat ironic that the year in which certain preachers are calling for Christians to "unhitch" themselves from the Old Testament is the same year that I decided to read a number of books to better help me understand the Old Testament (that wasn't planned; it just kind of happened that way). But out of the books I've read this year to achieve that goal, I can honestly say that the most helpful has been Dominion and Dynasty. In this book, Dempster argues for three basic theses: first, that the Old Testament should be understood as a "Text" (i.e. a single literary whole) and not simply as a "ragbag" of individual books; second, that the order in which the books are read impacts the way we understand the overall Story (thus, he argues for the use of the Hebrew order as opposed to the standard English order); and third, that the two themes that are woven throughout the individual books and bind the entire Story together are "dominion" and "dynasty." Dempster does an amazing job traversing the entire Old Testament in less than 250 pages, highlighting the above themes and showing how each book fits into the whole. Because he focuses on the OT primarily from a literary perspective, he does an excellent job pointing out repeated themes (in addition to his two main themes) and literary devices that connect the books together, demonstrating that the authors and editors of the OT frequently make subtle call-backs to previous books in the canon. His last chapter, which briefly touches on how the themes of dominion and dynasty find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ, was very helpful as well. Given its shorter size, the book does have its limitations. Those who would want to study the historical and cultural contexts of the OT books would want to look elsewhere, as Dempster focuses on the content of the books themselves. But for those who want to cultivate a better understanding of the Old Testament's theology and storyline, I can think of no better book to check out.

Book fifteen in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series, Stephen Dempster’s Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible offers a compelling biblical theology of the Old Testament. Following the order of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), Dempster submits two, overarching propositions. First, he maintains that the Bible must be seen as a Book – one book made up of many books, but not without a startling unity. Second and more specifically, he argues for a dual-theme theology of “dominion” (land/geography) and “dynasty” (rule/genealogy). This nine-chapter, 234-page nugget fleshes out these two ideas, providing a fresh resource for Old Testament understanding.
Chapter one, “A literary approach to Old Testament theology,” focuses on Dempster’s first proposal. Rather than jumping straight to the conclusion that the Bible must be read as a whole, he spends twenty-eight pages showing the reader why he should do so. Presenting the various approaches to theology, Dempster shows the weaknesses of each one and points to the need for reading and re-reading God’s Word. The literary component cannot be bypassed in the interpretive process. Reading and re-reading surfaces the text’s theme(s) naturally, helping avoid the ever-present tendency to read into a text personal paradigms and opinions. And as a result of this approach, one is able to see the Bible as a whole. Throughout this chapter and the rest of the book, Dempster capitalizes on specific examples from the Text to prove his points. Yet he does this succinctly, offering a resource that is manageable for many readers.
Chapter two builds on the first and provides a brief discussion of the setup of the Tanakh. If one approaches the OT like a unified book, he should see the components of a good story, especially a plot that begins the story and carries it through to the end. Dempster suggests that the two themes of dominion and dynasty carry the plot through within the narrative bookends (Genesis and Chronicles) as well as the middle of the story with its commentary format.
Following the Tanakh’s order, Dempster starts at Genesis and spends the next three chapters presenting the dual themes found in the first narrative portion: the Torah, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. He makes much of the nine genealogies found in Genesis and shows how creation has an anthropological goal. Then, he works his way through each of the books of the Torah, highlighting how major and seemingly minor events center around geography and genealogy – dominion and dynasty. The covenants, genealogies, stories of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, the exodus, Sinai, and the developments at the end of Deuteronomy all serve to advance these themes as well, and Dempster seems to uncover them with little effort. With the sequential narrative of the Former Prophets, Dempster shows how Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings advance the storyline from Moses’s death to Israel’s death (exile). The themes of dominion and dynasty are abundantly conspicuous: Joshua’s near-total conquest of the land of Canaan, the raising up of a generation that did not obey or remember the works of Yahweh, the quasi-leader judges, many of whom God used to display His strength in their obvious weakness, the people’s call for a human king, and God’s gracious provision of king after king, even though their effect was largely negative. It is during this period that God renews His covenant promise first given to Abraham by extending it to David and his descendants. Nevertheless, the downward spiral picks up speed with subsequent rulers, Israel is divided, and both Israel and Judah are taken into exile. Having reached the mid-point of the story, all would seem quite hopeless, but for the ending of 2 Kings – the preservation and kind treatment of one king of Judah. Dominion and dynasty are not without hope.
Chapters six and seven show the “suspension” of the Hebrew storyline, offering insight on what has taken place, and foreshadowing what is to come. The literary structure is much more poetic than narrative. However, the first portion – the Latter Prophets (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the Twelve) – does not offer the flowery, poetic norm. Rather, it is God’s just judgment on the nation for their disobedience to His will regarding their responsibilities in the land and rule of it for His glory. But just as Kings ends with a glimmer of hope, the prophets offer a few, brief glimpses of hope for God’s restoration of His people and His kingdom. Following the Latter Prophets are the Writings (Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations), which continue the poetic (as well as some narrative) commentary before resuming the storyline. Some of the books such as Ruth serve as flashbacks, some spread the gamut of past, present, and future like Psalms, others clearly portray God’s design for human mastery in the world, such as Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, and some, like Lamentations, bemoan the present condition of the nation. Throughout this section of the Tanakh, Dempster again shows how clearly the themes of dominion and dynasty run through each book, adding greater evidence for a literary “whole.”
Chapter eight focuses on the final section of the Tanakh where the storyline resumes with Daniel and concludes with Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles. Dempster points out that its beginning finds similarities to the very first chapters of Genesis, helping the reader once again see the unity of the Story. Daniel details a framework for organization of the prophecies already read in the Latter Prophets, and Esther details the effects of exile and persecution of God’s people, as well as God’s faithfulness to His covenant promise, though indirectly. For the final two writings in the canon, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles, the kingdom of God becomes the focus that gives greater clarity to the dual themes of the OT. While Ezra-Nehemiah precedes Chronicles in terms of order, chronologically speaking it follows. Chronicles ends with Cyrus’s decree to allow the exiles to return to Judah, and Ezra-Nehemiah picks up the story there. However, the latter ending is bleak, so the reversed order allows the reader to see that God’s promise still awaits something future. Chronicles, like Genesis, makes much of genealogies, and takes the geographical focus to Jerusalem and the temple. As Dempster excitedly remarks, “The world’s hopes are found in genealogy and geography, scion and Zion. David has arrived. The temple has been built. The world is well on its way to being restored. If there was ever any doubt about these points, Chronicles removes it” (226).
In chapter nine, Dempster takes a few pages to speak to the typology of the OT and show its connections to the NT. In many ways, the structure is very similar with story-commentary-story. However, the NT concludes with much greater resolution. Dominion and Dynasty will be fulfilled. God will dwell with and rule His people. Although the story will not be fully concluded until the end of the NT, Dempster offers enough in his conclusion to remind the reader once again of the importance of whole-Bible theology. Without forcing the themes of dominion and dynasty, he lets the text speak for itself and provides a concise, thought-provoking understanding of the OT by tracing these two themes from beginning to end.

If Oren tells you to read something - you do it.

I wish I could give this book 10 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed Dempster’s approach to OTT.

He explores the theological themes of the OT as presented in the Hebrew canon. The genius of his interpretation is not based on the order of the Hebrew books (though he may differ). I felt that his connections between the sections of the Tanakh were forced and not that helpful. However, the way he developed the redemptive story line of the OT was beautiful. The best parts of the book were the Torah and the Former Prophets.

This is a book that I will keep close at hand and reference again and again.

From Marcion of Sinope to Andy Stanley, many in church history have been tempted to approach the Old Testament in the same way that the members at the church at Corinth were tempted to approach one another, “I have no need of you” (1 Cor 12:21). Perhaps this is not borne out of arrogance as much as it is a matter of indifference or confusion; my own journey of growing in appreciating the Old Testament has centered on questions such as ‘how do we piece together the Old Testament?’ ‘How do the many parts relate to one another?’ ‘Is the Old Testament one coherent literary unit?’ Stephen G. Dempster’s Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible seeks to answer these very questions. Serving as the Stuart E. Murray Professor of Religious Studies at Atlantic Baptist University, Dempster is no stranger to biblical theology and Old Testament studies, having contributed to the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (2000) as well as Biblical Theology: Retrospect and Prospect (2002). As part of the New Studies in Biblical Theology series, edited by D. A. Carson, Dominion and Dynasty argues for a more holistic framework, approaching the Old Testament as a literary unit, one ‘Text’ (20–24) in which geography (dominion) and genealogy (dynasty), being realized through the Davidic house (49), are its organizing themes.

Summary—Dominion and Dynasty is organized into four sections: an introduction and three parts. The introduction aims to substantiate both the approach to the study and the overarching storyline of the Old Testament. Regarding the former, Dempster argues for a literary approach to the Old Testament that entails reading and re-reading, applying a wide-angled lens to the book (30), seeking the Text’s conceptual unity since “behind the human authors stood the single author, God.” (31) Essential to this approach is the ordering of the Old Testament seen in the Tanakh. This acronym inherently speaks to an “alleged unity” and divides the Old Testament into three main parts: the Torah (Pentateuch), Nevi’im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim (the Writings) (36). On this foundation, Dempster argues that “The Tanakh is not a random concatenation of texts, but a Text with a discernible structure, a clear beginning, a middle and an ending.” (46) The discernable structure, according to Dempster, is that of the dual themes of geography and genealogy, of God establishing a “domain over which humans are to realize their humanity.” (48)

The remaining three sections then aim to prove this thesis by engaging the Tanakh, book by book. Section one traces the narrative of the initial establishing of this dominion through the dynasty of Adam (Genesis) all the way to its supposed collapse through the Davidic house (Kings). Section two engages the retrospective commentary on the narrative provided by the major and minor prophets (excluding Daniel), and the Writings, who collectively point forward to the restoration of the God’s dominion and dynasty realized through the Davidic house. Finally, the third section observes the anticipation of the dominion regained through the final narrative storyline of Daniel, Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles.

Dempster concludes with a brief look at typology and New Testament reflections, observing that the Tanakh leaves the story of Israel in a “type of exile, waiting for someone from David’s house to come and build a house to bring about the restoration of all things.” (231) It is in the midst of this overarching narrative: from Adam to David, from creation to temple, in the interplay of both genealogy and geography, that the Tanakh comes together as one coherent whole; the story “about the reclamation of a lost human dominion over the world through a Davidic dynasty.” (231)

Evaluation—Foundational to any interaction with Dempster’s proposal requires an assessment of his literary and biblical theological approach to the Tanakh. I am of the opinion that Dempster’s approach is both theologically and literarily well founded. Decrying the dominant interpretative methods applied to the Old Testament that typically see the New interpret the Old “without first trying to engage the latter in any meaningful way,” (36) Dempster’s Dominion and Dynasty provides an alternative that results in a reading of both testaments that is pregnant with theological depth and precision. Personally, merely surveying the Old Testament fairly briefly through the lens of the Tanakh’s structure brought the narrative to life; the storyline’s main contours become more apparent when approached from this angle. Working from the foundation of the Tanakh’s structure agitates, as Dempster notes, “the task of discovering a fundamental theme,” which is no futile “exercise,” but is instead an “imperative of responsible hermeneutics.” (43)

The ensuing result of Dempster’s literary and biblical theological approach (seeing the Tanakh as one literary whole) allows for and establishes, quite naturally, typological connections that serve to, firstly, further the Text’s unity, and secondly, to propel the narrative forward through recapitulation (both by escalation and or antithesis). Readers will be wonderfully aided by Dempster’s careful typological connections that unearth significant contributions and commentary on the Tanakh’s storyline. For example, Dempster proposes that Samson, far from being a proto-Superman, “is a particularly striking mirror-image of the nation [of Israel].” Dempster explains,

"He represents his own people, who had a supernatural origin, were set apart from among the nations with a distinctive vocation, broke their vows and were enamoured of foreign idols, until finally they lost their identity and spiritual power and became blind slaves of their oppressors in exile." (132)

In the above example, this typological connection serves to propel the narrative forward, revealing that “the institution of the judges is finally not able to help the people of Israel,” (132) which, when we zoom out, justifies the anticipation of God’s dominion being located in a peculiar dynasty: David’s. In respect to recapitulation or typology by antithesis, Dempster elaborates on how the image reflecting the four kingdoms in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 2) serves to “parody…the divine creation of Genesis 1.” (214) This may seem unfounded, but when one considers Daniel within the Tanakh’s formation, it serves to “answer the narrative question of the destiny of the people of Israel,” (213) that is, it harkens back to the story as it first began: God creating man in his image to exercise his rule over the world, and thus attempts to pick up that story and develop it toward its terminus: the coming kingdom of God.

As one who has been greatly assisted by Dempster’s Dominion and Dynasty, providing criticism is a tough ask. The only question I can, for now, propose is does Dempster’s proposal sufficiently hold, that is, are the dual themes of ‘dominion’ and ‘dynasty’ the actual center of the Old Testament? Readers will be inclined to agree with Dempster’s proposition, as I was. These dual themes appear, especially so through the Tanakh’s form, to cascade upon the reader; indeed they are the common thread to its beginning, middle, and end (46). My only question is, to what end? What is the driving force behind these dual themes? Dempster alludes to God’s dominion, as it is his rule that the dynasty is to represent, but could the Old Testament’s dominant impetus lie elsewhere, such as in his own glory, as others have argued? Questions aside, I am of the conviction that Dempster’s Dominion and Dynasty provides a more concrete proposal than potentially more abstract concepts such as ‘God’s glory’.

Conclusion—It is Stephen G. Dempster’s opinion that the Old Testament, when approached in Tanakh form, gives rise to a very certain shape and form. From the singular ‘Text’—although made of many parts, much like our bodies, and the church at Corinth (1 Cor 12:20)—emerges the dual themes of ‘dominion’ and ‘dynasty’; God’s dominion being realized through the Davidic house. This is sustained by a careful literary and biblical theological approach, setting forth how these two themes govern the Text and drive it toward its terminus: a story awaiting its conclusion. Besides some periphery questions of potential criticism, readers will only wish that Dempster could provide more on this all-important topic. Those with searching questions about how to read and interpret the Old Testament, those inquiring after its significance, will see that, far from being an optional extra, the Old Testament is in fact indispensable (1 Cor 12:22).

Amazing
Of the holy trinity of reading the OT in the Hebrew order (Sailhamer, Hamilton and Dempster), Dempster is the most readable.
Compelling enough for me to think about cutting and gluing my bible back together in the order it was originally compiled.

The author takes a literary approach to Scripture, reading the various books as ultimately one book (or, as he puts it, Text). He takes the unique approach of following the Jewish order of the canon (the Law, the Prophets and the Writings), which results in interesting insights. In terms of clarity and insights, this is one of the best OT theologies I have read.

In this volume, Dempster has provided a good and edifying read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The opening chapter lays out the hermeneutical apparatus (of reading the Tanakh as a Text/unit), and the exegetical work is impressive throughout the rest of the volume. The book is broken up into chapters lining up with the divisions of the Tanakh.

The strengths of this book include Dempster’s engaging and fast-paced style, his focused prosecution of his task, his exegetical insights and use of secondary sources, and organization.

His weaknesses include an at-times too-casual style and word choice; a failure to emphasize enough the ultimate doxological note of Scripture as his focus on royal themes overshadow liturgical/priestly themes; and, a lack of care in describing God’s attributes (he never once mentions the concepts of anthropomorphism, anthropopathism, and impassibility). Dempster’s handling of the wisdom literature was not as compelling as his treatments of the other parts of the Tanakh. The book implies “man’s chief end” (the ultima of creaturely existence) while making explicit only the setting and means of “man’s chief end” (the penultima of the creation mandate as applied to David: dominion/dynasty).

I would recommend this book alongside of L. M. Morales’s contribution to the same series. The latter serves as something of a counterbalance or corrective.

This was fantastic. Probably the best OT Theology I’ve ever read. Dempster, in an amazingly concise way, shows what the primary focus of the Old Testament is, and how its contents - and their order - contribute to this focus. Ultimately, this focus is the coming Davidic Messiah, who will rescue God’s people from sin and death.

I didn’t want this to end. Though the conclusion does give a small picture of how the New Testament fulfills the epic sweep of the promises of the OT, I wanted more. Hoping the NSBT series eventually releases a sequel NT Theology to this excellent OT Theology.

Also - this would be great reading as section introductions while reading through the OT. I may work it into my OT reading plan on the next go around.

Great overview of the connections of the OT. I enjoyed this book, and though many of the themes I've already read, I still enjoyed discovering additional nuggets of treasure. While I'd definitely recommend this one, I still might first recommend Graeme Goldsworthy's work before this to someone, but I'm not sure if that's just because I read it first

Love this book. Dempster has so much knowledge to share and it's amazing to see how the Old Testament comes together. This book really gave me a new perspective on Biblical Theology and on viewing the OT as a whole. He condenses a lot of information into one book with helpful Bible references.

Don’t let this series name fool you. This book is very easy to read with amazing insights. Dempster masterfully takes you on a journey of biblical theology in the Old Testament and shows how “many stories together constitute a single Story” (231).

There are many things I benefited from this book. Most of all, I think, is the significance of the Tanakh’s structure. Differing from the Christian structure of the Old Testament (Genesis to Malachi), the Jewish Bible (Genesis to Chronicles) is structured so that the readers can follow the history and theme of God’s work in Israel. For example, it is no coincidence that Song of Songs and Lamentation are placed right next to each other, and both of them are filled with feminine metaphors. In result of this intentional structuring order, Song of Songs shows the ideal and right relationship between God and Israel, while Lamentation shows the grim reality: Israel has forfeited her true lover and is now suffering the consequences (208). There are many more examples like this.

Dempster also follows the theme of dominion and dynasty – the Old Testament is one story of Adam, Abraham, and David’s Son (Dynasty) ruling the whole world in the latter days (dominion). The author’s scholarly insights are easy to read and it helps you understand and read the Bible in a different light.

I highly recommend this to anyone because this book will help you read the Bible better.