Clear, engaging, and fresh. Dempster brought new life and clarity to the OT in this volume. Some other NSBT titles have dragged at times, but Dominion and Dynasty kept my attention the whole way through. Dempster shares great insights in a compelling way—not something most theologians can do. Highly recommended!

Dempster's book is definitely a helpful work of biblical theology tracing some of the themes of the Hebrew Old Testament. Among his strengths are his clear writing, his brevity, and his discussion of the entirety of the OT canon. There's been a lot of biblical theologies come out in recent years, and this one deserves reading along with the others. It's apparent that the twin themes of dominion and dynasty come through Adam to David to the Davidic Dynasty to the Davidic Messiah.
I do have some major quibbles with this work. Granted, these themes are obviously apparent in the OT. My main difference is his understanding of the Sinaitic Covenant and the Mosaic economy. It seems that Dempster, he is a Baptist, is influenced by Sailhammer, New Covenant theology, and, perhaps, Meredith Kline. This colors his view of Sinai in a decidedly negative fashion contra the New Testament and Abrahamic Covenants. Being a Westminster confessing Presbyterian, it is natural that he, being a Baptist, and others, such as Morales' book in this series on Leviticus, takes a different take on Sinai, Moses, and the land promises. It's a helpful book, and is good for tracing the nature of kingship in the Davidic and Adamic Covenants to the NT. I'd recommend for anyone interested in biblical theology, but please make sure to read Morales' work on Leviticus in the same series!

Best concise overview of Old Testament Theology

Great concise overview of the uniting theme of Creation Fall and Redemption in the Old Testament. Covers all genres of OT Scripture: The Law, History, Prophets and Poetry.

Confusing but insightful

I found Dempster's book to be less about dominion and dynasty and more about geography and genealogy. Although thorough research and descriptions of the Old Testament are written with considerable thought the book often is repetitive and drawn out causing the reader to lose interest and perhaps lose value of Dempsters insightful information and conclusions. Hard read personal and a lot was lost in the translation.

The thesis of this book is that, the Hebrew Bible (the TANAKH), is to be read as one whole book, instead of many unrelated texts. The unity of the TANAKH is made possible due to its canonical nature and narrative framework. Moreover, the author argues for two main uniting themes throughout the storyline of the TANAKH, namely dominion and dynasty or geography and genealogy.

An important look at the themes of the bible as a whole

A repeated idea is that the bible is a consistent story, a cohesive work, not a ragbag of individual writings somehow taped together. We too often study individual passages and individual books of the Bible and can thereby miss the forest for the trees. This book attempts to overcome that approach, and succeeds.

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Dempster makes a compelling case that the Hebrew Bible (known by Christians as the Old Testament) should be read as one literary unit, rather than a "ragbag" of disparate books. He does so by walking through each book and tracing the major themes that are developed, particularly the twin themes of dominion and dynasty, land and lineage. Dempster is an able guide as an expert in Hebrew and Ancient Near Eastern literature, but avoids getting bogged down in too much detail, and therefore the book is a surprisingly easy and even gripping read. I plan to consult this book regularly for years to come for help in understanding and interpreting the Old Testament.

This book provides an overview of the Old Testament, where the books are in the traditional Hebrew ordering. As the author goes through the books, he outlines the overarching themes of “dominion and dynasty”, that are focussed on the line of David and the land of Israel. The first third of the book was a discussion on the Pentateuch and was the most obvious and thus the least interesting. The remainder of the book started to bring out themes and ideas that were less obvious (and thus more interesting). One minor criticism of the author and the books editors was the wrong (but perhaps contemporary) use of the word “decimated” on page 131 that was used to describe the near obliteration (i.e. not decimation) of the tribe of Benjamin. The book came into its own in the latter half, which was insightful.

Excellent biblical theology that focuses on the story of the Hebrew Bible. Dempster brings to light the fact that the structure of the books of the Hebrew Bible is important and this structure gives the larger text as a whole a different meaning than how our English Bibles structure the books. The expectation going from the Old to the New Testament is different, depending on how the books are structured.

His main emphasis is that the genealogies guide the narrative of the Old Testament, and that the genealogies are usually followed with story about the land which was promised to Israel. Highly recommend this book!

Great overview of the Old Testament and the themes and stories which retell themselves through history until the Incarnation of Christ. A little textbookish in feel, but when you’re evaluating something as technical as the literary approach to the Old Testament. Overall, very insightful in seeing how intricately woven this story is the God is currently writing on Creation.

Many people approach the Old Testament as if it is just a random collection of stories to explain things that happened. This is understandable because in our modern age we define history as "just the facts, Mam". But the Old Testament isn't just a history of facts, it is a theological history. The stories and prose are purposefully and artfully arraigned to tell a meta-narrative that runs over the top of it all.

Dempster surveys the entire Old Testament and shows how even the most benign and admittedly boring details (like 9 chapters of genealogy in Chronicles) are recorded in order to present history from a theological viewpoint. Furthermore, the books of the Hebrew Bible are purposely arranged to support the narrative of redemptive history. This may come as a surprise to many readers since our English Old Testament is ordered after the Greek Septuagint, which takes a more chronological ordering.

Once you grasp the theological underpinnings of the stories, narratives, and ordering of the books, it makes reading the Old Testament much more engaging. No longer is it viewed as "this happened, and then this happened". Instead, it's a crescendo of hope in a coming Davidic King and his kingdom. The stories and narratives all serve to highlight the need for this king and his various offices. Biblical history isn't just facts; the Old Testament is redemptive history.

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. Genealogy and geography, dynasty and dominion. This represents the story of the Tanakh, a story that leaves Israel still 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.