GUIDELINES FOR INTERPRETING THE TITLES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS
1. Make an effort to discover alternative titles that have been applied to the books of the Old Testament. Commentaries often supply this information.
2. Do more than critique the traditional titles assigned to the Old Testament books. Instead, consider whether the titles may supply an insight or present a viewpoint that may contribute to a richer understanding of the work.
3. The basic (and minimal) function of a book title is that of identification and so also of differentiation of one book from another. In practice, however, no biblical book title merely functions as an identification tag.
4. A second function is to indicate a book’s contents, and this clearly has hermeneutical implications. The titles of the Pentateuchal books in the Greek canon (Genesis, Exodos, etc.) suggest what the different books are about but do not always adequately sum up their global contents. The title “Kings” obscures the vital role of the prophets in the presentation. The titles of Esther and Ruth accurately suggest that a female protagonist is central to the book’s presentation.
5. A third possible function of a title is to highlight it to the public. The title “Song of Songs” (= The Greatest Song) is a recommendation of the book to its potential readership. By way of contrast, “Omissions” (the Greek title of Chronicles) is, in part, responsible for the scholarly neglect suffered by Chronicles relative to Kings until recent years.
6. A fourth function is to indicate a book’s form or genre, and the titles of many biblical books fall under this category, for example, Chronicles (or Diaries), Praises (= Psalms), Proverbs, and Lamentations.
Gregory Goswell, Text and Paratext: Book Order, Title, and Division as Keys to Biblical Interpretation (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2023), 102–103.
