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How do textual criticism, form criticism, tradition criticism, and redaction criticism study the Bible in different ways?

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Antique book open to the frontispiece of The Iliad of Homer, showing the title and an engraved portrait of a bearded man, with old books in the background. — literature *The Iliad*, an epic of the Trojan War attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer, is considered a foundational work of Western literature.

Biblical criticism employs various methodologies to analyze the Bible as a subject of literary and historical study. These methods differ in their focus on the text's development and final form:

Textual criticism: Aims to establish the original or most authoritative version of the text by examining manuscripts and variations.1
Form criticism: Classifies biblical material into specific literary patterns (such as parables, hymns, or legends) and attempts to trace these units back to their period of oral transmission to understand their original function.12
Tradition criticism: Focuses on the developmental stages of oral tradition, tracing how narratives or theological concepts evolved from their historical emergence through various generations before being recorded in scripture.13
Redaction criticism: Examines the final literary product, studying how authors or editors assembled, arranged, and modified traditional materials. This method seeks to uncover the specific intentions and theological outlooks of the final compilers.45

Together, these approaches provide a comprehensive framework for interpreting the complex composition of biblical literature.1