Given the premises upon which and the goals for which contrapuntal hermeneutics is undertaken, a conclusion seems somewhat counterintuitive and paradoxical. Nevertheless, I will offer here both a brief overview of what I have attempted to accomplish and a few preliminary pedagogical recommendations based on these observations.

In the first part of this book we have explored the current state of the field with an eye to the gap which currently exists between academic and vernacular hermeneutical texts and perspectives. The work of Edward W. Said is proposed as one potential resource from which to derive a means of overcoming that gap. Said's concept of contrapuntality offers a unique approach to these contemporary issues in the field of biblical hermeneutics. It is distinct from other interpretive approaches, including those reviewed in Chapter 3. Although its potential to address the gap between academic and vernacular hermeneutics is not exclusive, it nevertheless constitutes an exceptional approach to this issue.

In the second part of this book we have explored the praxiological implications of Said's concept of contrapuntal hermeneutics as applied to the book of Job. The various, often apparently dissonant themes in the book itself are identified through the various interpretive voices juxtaposed in contrapuntal dialogue. Dissonance is preserved in the interest of exploring rather than adumbrating the complexity of the book of Job. Additionally, we have identified some surprising convergences between interpretive voices and perspectives, reinforcing the connections made as well as the challenges posed across hermeneutical and contextual boundaries.