Introduction

Abstract

The Introduction outlines the aims, the object of the research, the methodology, the scope, and the limit of the book. The aims of the book are to propose a methodological framework for an ethical reading of Old Testament narrative and to demonstrate the benefits and the validity of such a framework by providing exemplary readings. When ethics is understood within the Aristotelian tradition, narrative can play a crucial role in Old Testament ethics. The critical methodology employed is synchronic literary criticism anchored in discourse analysis. With this methodology, the objectivity of literary criticism can be enhanced because it can be built upon linguistic observations. This book is about neither ethics of reading (a pragmatic reflection regarding the ethical responsibility of the reader) nor discourse ethics (as proposed by Habermas).