This follow-up to Theology of the Hebrew Bible, Volume 1: Methodological Studies, focuses on readers’ engagement with the text and their communities. Part 1 offers fresh interpretations of divine images and theological concepts drawn from various theophanies in the text. Part 2 focuses on how these insights can form new overarching structures, serving as reading strategies or foundations for alternative theologies. Part 3 emphasizes the bond between readers and their communities, highlighting the active participation of both ancient and modern readers through an analysis of past literature. Contributors, each an expert in their field, include Rachel Adelman, Samuel E. Balentine, Shelly L. Birdsong, Ginny Brewer-Boydston, Johanna Etzberger, Frances Flannery, David Frankel, Barry R. Huff, Hyun Chul Paul Kim, Barbara Leung Lai, J. Richard Middleton, Hye Kyung Park, Kris Sonek, Brent A. Strawn, David E. S. Stein, Marvin A. Sweeney, Soo Kim Sweeney, Joseph Sykora, Daniel C. Timmer, and Beat Weber. This collection of essays guides readers, including those well-versed in theology, to explore innovative and unexpected depictions of divine beings and how human characters respond to them.

Soo Kim Sweeney is an adjunct professor of the Hebrew Bible at Claremont School of Theology, Central Seminary, and Lexington Theological Seminary. Her research delves into text-reader interactions in the Bible, employing literary and social theories to discern theological implications for contemporary contexts. She is now coediting Tension in Resistance, Paradox in Freedom: Slavery Texts in the Bible and Their Readers.

David Frankel is an Associate Professor of the Bible at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. His publications include The Murmuring Stories of the Priestly School (2002) and The Land of Canaan and the Destiny of Israel: Theologies of Territory in the Hebrew Bible (2011).

Marvin A. Sweeney is Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Claremont School of Theology, Los Angeles, California. He is the author of many volumes and studies, most recently Visions of the Holy: Studies in Biblical Theology and Literature (2023) and 1–2 Samuel (2023).