a distinct compositional strategy that goes from the first word in the Hebrew Bible (bereshit) to the last (veyā‘al). If we follow along the lines of these compositional seams, I believe, we will find the Tanakh to be motivated primarily by a hope in the soon coming of the promised messiah. It is that perspective on the OT that, I believe, gives us the best view of what the OT authors believed about the Messiah. It is also that perspective that shows most clearly the literary and theological dependency