The wilderness narratives Ex 15:22-17:7 and Num 11:1-20:13 are shaped by striking repetitions as well as breaks in style and content. This study describes the continued interaction between the various text signals and the 'co-operative reader' who attempts to achieve a coherent reading. This type of an ideal reader alludes to the concepts of reception theorists W. Iser and U. Eco and is applied here for the benefit of the narratives of the Old Testament. A second main part 4demonstrates systematically the narrative tools of guiding the reader within the wilderness narratives. This approach...

Attempts to reconstruct the compositional history of the book of Isaiah confine themselves mainly to chapters 1-12 and 28-39, supposed to shroud the basic core of any early collection of Isaianic texts. Other investigations which verge on the group of prophecies concerning the nations in Isa 13-23 rarely delve into exegetical details to the extent that the reader of Isaiah would feel convinced to stand here on familiar grounds. Even others, overtly restricted to a small pericope inside Isa 13-23, often neglect the significance of this larger context. This book provides a thorough analysis of...