and shape. While some of the work in this area is deserving of needed criticism and requires more methodological control, the scholars who are exploring the ‘bigger picture’ are reaching important conclusions. This all stems from accepting the premise clearly expressed by Blenkinsopp: ‘canon implies a definitive shape to the tradition which comes to expression in these texts.’ Conversely, a study of this shape—the larger picture—reveals the ‘extraordinary fact’ of canonical design, a design which