5 Best Books on the Bible, selected by Leonard J. Greenspoon

The Art of Biblical Narrative, by Robert Alter.  Rev. & updated ed., Basic Books, 2011; 1st ed., 1981.

Christian Origins and the Question of God: v.1: The New Testament and the People of God, by N. T. Wright.  Fortress, 1992.

Paul and Palestinian Judaism:  A Comparison of Patterns of Religion, by E. P. Sanders.   S.C.M., 1977.

Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life, by Jon D. Levenson.  Yale, 2006.

Who Wrote the Bible?, by Richard Elliott Friedman.  Prentice Hall, 1987.

Leonard J. Greenspoon, religion, Creighton University, [email protected].  Author of the “Bible in the News” column in The Biblical Arachaeology Review (bimonthly; Biblical Archaeology Society); extended entries titled “Jewish Versions” and “The Septuagint” in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Abingdon Press, 2006-2009); and the forthcoming “A History of Jewish Bible Translations,” to be published by the American Bible Society.