Abstract
In the 1980s, Jon Levenson became famous for asserting that Jews are not interested in Biblical Theology. Surely, he is right that the Hebrew Bible or Tanak does not function as a complete and self-contained revelation within Judaism (as within Christian Protestantism), but rather as the foundation of Jewish tradition with which it is in constant dialogue. Nevertheless, the Jewish exegete Marvin A. Sweeney, who is a well-esteemed scholar of biblical literature, dares to present a theological and critical introduction to the Jewish Bible. To Sweeney, a Jewish Biblical Theology is a valid way to explore the biblical writings and to bring their theological perspectives into dialogue with the larger Jewish tradition.
Part I and V (pp. 1–41 and 485–89) concern Biblical Theology. Sweeney provides a short overview of the history of the discipline within a Christian context (Gabler to Rendtorff) before offering a longer overview of the contributions from Jewish interpreters. According to Sweeney, a Jewish and a Christian Biblical Theology are fundamentally distinct by their different starting points (Torah vs. Christ), which also explains the different order of books within the two collections. As a cyclical pattern, the tripartite Tanak presents the ideal relationship with God (Torah), which is destroyed (Nevi'im or Prophets) but restored in the context of the Second Temple (Ketuvim or Writings), whereas the Christian versions of the Old Testament reveal a linear structure culminating in the revelation of Jesus Christ. In addition, Sweeney stresses that, within Judaism, the Tanak is always read in the context of the entire Jewish tradition, that there is a focus on the biblical text as a whole, and that the dialogical character of multiple voices within the Tanak cannot be reduced into one (dogmatic) concept.
Part II, III, and IV (pp. 43–483) constitute the main body of the book. The structure of these parts is determined by the order of books in the Bible: the Torah forms the essential foundation (part II), from which the Prophets interpret the historical events (part III), and the Writings provide a scrap box of books centering on the religious life of the Second Temple (part IV). In his examination of the biblical books, Sweeney carefully places each book within its canonical context, accounts for its main content, and analyzes larger blocks of text material. The biblical writings are interpreted according to their final form with a primary focus on synchronic approaches, although without avoiding historical questions. A great strength of Sweeney's work is the short presentations of the literary structure of each biblical book. Based solely upon synchronic observations, these presentations escape the often presumed historical-critical reconstructions of the formation of each book in a fresh way. For instance, avoiding the classical division of Isaiah into three parts (1–39, 40–55, 56–66), Sweeney divides the book into two main parts (1–33, 34–66).
As mentioned, Sweeney also handles important historical questions. For instance, in Part II on the Torah, he employs the hypothesis of a four-stage process of growth (“the Documentary hypothesis”), although with an intense critique of the anti-Semitic model of J. Wellhausen. Instead, Sweeney proposes an EJDP-model with a continuous redaction of the different layer emerging through time. With regard to theological issues, Sweeney in particular discusses the problem of evil in the light of the Holocaust, or Shoah. To Sweeney, the sacrifice of the people in Exodus and Isaiah as a means to protect the honor of
Understanding the Jewish people's destiny after the Holocaust is regrettably one of the few and too brief reflections on modern issues. As a Christian reader, I had hoped to learn how a contemporary Jewish interpreter understands the biblical scriptures in dialogue with Judaism's rich religious tradition (as Sweeney himself claims to be an inevitable task of Jewish Biblical Theology). Sweeney does not do that at all. There are only few references to rabbinic interpretations and to modern theological discussions. In many ways, this book is a common academic introduction to the Jewish Bible. As such, however, it is brilliant! Sweeney's synchronic approach offers both careful analysis and constructive interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. The book thereby provides a useful and valuable basis for a Jewish-Christian understanding of the canon of biblical literature, which remains a common bond between church and synagogue.