Direct speech appears on nearly every page of the Hebrew Bible, and the large number of publications on direct discourse in the Bible highlights the importance of the subject for biblical studies. However, thus far only isolated aspects of the various problems that direct discourse presents have received attention. Studies of individual verbs introducing direct discourse, such as "answer," "speak," "say," and others are necessarily atomistic, even though appropriate in their own right. Other markers of direct discourse, such as "Thus said Yahweh," or "oracle of Yahweh," tend to be treated as...