Dominion and Dynasty is a book that explains the theological Grand Story of the Old Testament (as seen through the traditional book ordering of the Hebrew Bible). This was my first time reading a book about the Old Testament, and I found it to be fantastic. It’s one of those books that will change the way you look at scripture permanently.

Once you’ve read this book, the seemingly bland and mundane first verse of Matthew 1—“An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:”—becomes pregnant with meaning and excitement.

The reason I did not give it 5-stars was that it was a bit academic and therefore, won’t be enjoyed by everyone. But I would certainly recommend it to anyone.

* The OT is about reclamation of a lost human dominion over the world through a Davison dynasty
* Typology signafact structure
* Goes through each bit of the Tanakh (OT) showing how God restores domonion and dynasty from sin
* Hour glass image can help to convey this development as it provides both spatial and temporal perspectives
* At the top of the image it says space
* From Adam to David. From the creation of the world to the building of the temple, which will give new life to the world and from which the divine rule will extend to the ends of the earth. Genolghy and geography, dynasty and dominion

Enjoyed every chapter of this book!

Fantastic book. Dempster does a wonderful job at first arguing that the Bible should be read as a “Text” (with one overarching author) and then marvelously traces the themes of geography (Dominion) and genealogy (Dynasty) from Eden throughout the rest of the OT. If you want to grasp the storyline of the OT from a Birds Eye view then this is the book for you.

Dominion and Dynasty provides a clear and insightful look at the theology of the Hebrew Bible, showing how the Old Testament books fit together within God’s plan. Each section covers specific biblical books, making it a helpful guide to consult while reading through the Old Testament. It’s a valuable resource for anyone wanting to grasp the overall theology of the Old Testament.

Might be the best book on the Old Testament I've read.

Shows the cohesion of the whole Hebrew Scriptures. By tracing the themes of land and seed or dominion and dynasty throughout the parts of the Hebrew Scriptures.

If there was one thing I wished the book could've done... it would be that it was longer and had traced it into the New Testament more.

Reading the Old Testament in its Hebrew canonical order reveals the Story of the Text. The purpose and significance of Each and every book are revealed, and not always in the way one might have expected. Certainly for me the importance of the law/instruction is made and how the prophets and writings refer to this. The use of genealogy (dynasty) and geography (dominion) to hold it all together is very compelling, especially in light of Dempster's (short) overview of the New Testament.
When we read the OT we are reading the Scriptures used by Jesus and His apostles. This book has helped me get closer to Him and them.
Thank you, Stephen!

Traces the storyline of the Tanakh!
•Reads along the grain of the Hebrew ordering yielding fruitful insights and inter-canonical connections.
•Takes a literary and theological approach.
•Develops the themes of dominion + dynasty & land + lineage.

The theme of dominion and dynasty tie the OT together in a way that is incredibly helpful and gives even greater understanding to the story of Jesus— who recapitulates and completes the story of Israel/humanity.

The Bible is about a loving, generous God who created man to co-rule with him. Man forfeited our standing in seeking to build towers to our own greatness. Israel was meant to take up the mantle of dominion and dynasty and failed time and time again. They end up in exile where they no dominion (land) or dynasty (rule), but are instead strangers in a strange land. Dominated instead of dominion. By the end of the OT, there is a glimmer of hope, but the exile isn’t over when they returned to Jerusalem. Their sin has yet to be dealt with. It’s a story in search of an ending. When will the seed of the woman, the snake crushing Davidic king come and restore dominion and dynasty? How will their sin be dealt with? When will the Spirit of God fill the temple again?

Abraham’s family needs the Creator God to act once more, which is exactly why the Gospel of John starts with the very words of Genesis, “In the beginning...”

Dempster’s entry to the currently 54 volume long NSBT series edited by D A Carson (volume 55 by Gary Millar is due in June) stands as the most influential and most widely read entry. Many OT scholars like TD Alexander and Sailhamer cites Dempster’s Dominion and Dynasty as influential in their own works, and I picked this up a while back having read GK Beale’s magisterial New Testament Biblical Theology and finding him drawing from Dempster’s D&D prevalently. Beale’s volume 17 (The Temple and The Church’s Mission) in the NSBT series comes second in readership, which is on a similar theme, focusing only on the sacred geographical presence of God through the entire OTNT canon. In this paradigmatic work Dempster demonstrates, against the waning tides of the higher-historical criticism school of Barr and Gabler (the OT is a ragbag of historical inaccuracies) or the Religionsgeschichtliche school of Eichhorn and Bultmann (the OT is a developmental history of religious consciousness), that the OT canon in its canonical structure presents a salient theological, canonical and literary unity. Dempster does this by examining the Hebrew Tanakh in its canonical shape and tracing the development of both dynasty and dominion, both divine genealogy and divine geography through the Tanakh. As the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) is framed slightly differently from the English OT, Dempster’s examination reveals that there is an intentional redemptive-historical narrative to its canonical-theological shape (Torah/Law-Navi/Prophets-Ketuvim/Writings), and here influence of Child’s canonical criticism is evident



The fact that it is easy to read, coupled with a plethora of exegetical insights and theological nuggets made it one of the most important and best book on OT theology I have ever read. Consistent to his intention of showing the canonical, literary and theological unity of the Tanakh, Dempster narrates each book of the OT in a storytelling fashion, keeping an eye on important theological and structural themes, revealing how each broader structures and individual books tell the story of genealogy (the seed of the woman, Abraham’s descendent, Davidic king) and geography (Eden, Canaan, exile, promised land, temple), which all eventually culminates in the Messiahnic figure that both embodies divine dominion and divine dynasty (both God’s presence and God’s people). Structural unity as theological themes are salient throughout Dempster’s focus, some examples: The protoevangelion in Genesis ends with Adam and Eve in exile and, the end of Genesis ends with the patriarch’s in exile in Egypt looking towards eschatological promises of geography (promised land) and genealogy (divine rule from the tribe of Judah), and at the far canonical bookend, 2 Chronicles (the last book in the Hebrew Tanakh) ends also with Israel in exiled looking for God’s eschatological promises to be fulfilled. The song of Hannah and the song of David, bookending 1-2 Samuel is another example of theological intent in canonical structure. A personal exegetical insight that caught my attention: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” cited by Paul in Galatians 3 from Deuteronomy 21:23 reveals a sonship-Christological throwback to the identity of Israel, as Deut 21:18-21 that directly preceded it describes the capital punishment for a disobedient and unfilial son, in which punishment was followed through by the hanging of the cursed body on the tree. This theological-canonical connection then shows that it is no surprise that Galatians is a book about divine Sonship and the soteriology doctrine of adoption, precisely because Paul saw the crucifixion of Christ on that cursed tree as a divine punishment for a disobedient son, one that He bears and eventually overcome because of His union with His people. A side note, Dempster is Baptistic and therefore understands/interprets the Sinaitic covenant slightly differently from the cues I personally take from the Covenant theology of Vos or Palmer Robertson. In short, best introductory book to the theology of OT due to it being superbly insightful, suitably comprehensive, enjoyable and easy to read.

Compelling argument. Great insights correlating texts from multiple biblical books. Read it over the course of two years for my OT classes at Boyce College (Southern Seminary).

Along with Hamilton's "God's Glory in Salvation through Judgment" this book has helped shape my understanding of the OT and its crucial role in understanding God's redemptive plan throughout history. All studying scripture should read this!