Curious Characters: Old Testament Figures Who Still Speak to Us Today

The Bible contains hundreds of stories. They depict how God walks with people through times of war and peace, hardship and well-being, and they testify to how the people of Israel act toward each other. These stories evoke strong emotions in us: We feel with the people when they go through trials and temptations, and we rejoice with them in times of plenty.

Curious Characters helps us get to know Noah, Sarah, Joseph, Ruth, Naomi, Saul, Jonathan, Michal, and Jonah. By setting their stories in dialogue with Jewish, Christian, and secular novels, poems, and plays, the author leads us to a deeper understanding of the biblical stories. The literary works Tiemeyer has chosen illuminate, question, challenge, and criticize the biblical texts from a deeply human point of view. Although we may not agree with all of them, they can help us realize and perhaps work through our preconceptions.

Sometimes the retellings even depart from the explicit meaning of the biblical text and allow the characters to act in alternative ways. These literary works help us become more nuanced Bible readers, gain an enriched understanding of Scripture, and simply enjoy the privilege of entering the narrative world of the Old Testament.

Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer is professor in Old Testament exegesis, ALT School of Theology, Sweden, and research associate at the Department of Old Testament and Hebrew Scripture, University of Pretoria, South Africa. She has published widely on the prophetic literature and the Bible in literature, including In Search of Jonathan (2022).