The paradigm shift from historical criticism to new literary criticism involves a growing hermeneutical interest in the many functions of the reader within the process of interpretation of Biblical texts. This volume, which contains the papers presented at the Sixth international colloquium of the RRENAB (Reseau de la Narratologie et Bible) in Louvain-la-Neuve (May 2012), not only shows the state of the art of the role of the reader in exegesis but also reveals the challenges for future research: the relationship between the historical reader, the implied reader and the actual readers; the search for integration of different methodologies; the inevitable collaboration of Biblical studies with other disciplines of humanities and social sciences. The studies in this book are the first steps towards a dialogue on these themes. They contain contributions on many texts of the Bible and their reception as well as theoretical reflections on the reader.