Abstract
I. Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
A
This revised dissertation examines the significance of Deuteronomy's instructions regarding community food consumption from an anthropological perspective, building on work done by G. Braulik and N. MacDonald in order to ‘heuristically reconstruct the rhetorical potential of the cultic ritual meals in the late Iron Age’. The first chapter addresses issues in Deuteronomy and sketches A.'s contention that the background to the book as a whole and to the food consumption it instructs is the seventh-century
C.L. C
A
For a review of this volume, see Section 6 below.
B
For a review of this volume, see Section 6 below.
B
This book is a slightly reworked version of a habilitation thesis that was accepted at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen in 2010. It presents a redaction-critical analysis of Exod. 1.1–15.21 and 18, which is straightforwardly structured. After a brief introduction regarding the history of research and the concept of the study, eight chapters analyse Exodus 1, 2–4, 5.1–6.1, 6.2–7.7, 7.8–11.10, 12.1–13.16, 13.17–15.2, and 18. In these chapters, B. discerns from three to nineteen redactional layers in each passage of the text. The book is concluded by a rough summary in which B. basically distinguishes the pre-priestly history of growth of a very short version of Exodus (after 722
D. M
B
The title summarizes the central theme of this commentary and of the composition it treats: the cosmic destruction entailed in the flood, leading on to hope for a New Order. This is taken to be parabolic for the exilic experience. The narrative (seen as subject to earlier literary influences) and cosmological framework are set firmly in the broader ANE context, as well as in that of subsequent Jewish and early Christian expansions in the Pseudepigrapha. Thus the cosmos is ordered from primordial chaos. But this is nuanced: it is ‘logically rather than chronologically prior to order’ (p. 31). The creation is concerned not with a natural temporal sequence, but with a ritual framework, and the whole structure is completed before humanity is created to manage it. Space and time are functions of the Temple and its liturgy. The story in Genesis 3 is usefully compared with Ezekiel 28 and Isa. 14.12–15, though the alleged Ugaritic parallel of the ‘deposition’ of Athtar is less convincing. The snake is rather a symbol of Eve's inner deliberations than the real external quasi-demonic force of traditional exegesis. The flood is nicely described as a ‘mass extinction’, and the ark is modelled on the Temple (cf. S. Holloway, ZAW 1991). The ‘discursive’ of the subtitle nicely expresses the quality of this volume, which, while pursuing the text sequentially, darts off at tangents into all sorts of intriguing exegetical and intertextual by-ways, packing complex materials into brief yet lucid compass. Complex issues such as source criticism are treated with a light touch, but in no sense simplistically. A couple of small errors: on p. 37 the first text cited should be Ugaritic KTU 1.5 i 1–3 (echoed in Isa. 27.1), and on p. 139 the explanation of the extra eleven days is elegant, though the terms ‘lunar’ and ‘solar’ (with regard to year-length) should be transposed. These aside, this is an immensely rewarding study of Genesis 1–11.
N. W
B
The volume unites 16 previously published studies by the Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Tübingen. They all centre on interpretative issues of the Pentateuch and Former Prophets, and as such they continue B.'s work on critical aspects of the composition of the Pentateuch and the so-called Deuteronomistic History. The individual articles are: ‘Von Gottesunmittelbarkeit zu Gottähnlichkeit. Überlegungen zur theologischen Anthropologie der Paradieserzählung’; ‘Noch einmal. Jakobs Traum in Bethel—Genesis 28,10–22’; ‘Die Komplexität der Überlieferung. Zur diachronen und synchronen Auslegung von Gen 32,23–33’; ‘Die literarische Verbindung von Erzvätern und Exodus. Ein Gespräch mit neueren Endredaktionshypothesen’; ‘Zippora und ihr םימרןתח’ (together with R. Blum); ‘Die Feuersäule in Ex 13–14—eine Spur der “Endredaktion”?’; ‘Das sog. “Privilegrecht” in Exodus 34,11–26. Ein Fixpunkt der Komposition des Exodusbuches?’; ‘Esra, die Mosetora und die persische Politik’; ‘Gibt es eine Endgestalt des Pentateuch?’; ‘Beschneidung und Passa in Kanaan. Beobachtungen und Mutmaßungen zu Jos 5’; ‘Der kompositionelle Knoten am Übergang von Josua zu Richter. Ein Entflechtungsvorschlag’; ‘Ein Anfang der Geschichtsschreibung? Anmerkungen zur sog. Thronfolgegeschichte und zum Umgang mit der Geschichte im alten Israel’; ‘Die Lüge des Propheten. Ein Lesevorschlag zu einer befremdlichen Geschichte (1 Kön 13)’; ‘Der Prophet und das Verderben Israels. Eine ganzheitliche, historisch-kritische Lektüre von 1 Kön 17–19’; ‘Die Nabotüberlieferungen und die Kompositionsgeschichte der Vorderen Propheten’; ‘Pentateuch—Hexateuch—Enneateuch? Oder: Woran erkennt man ein literarisches Werk in der Hebräischen Bibel?’. An index of biblical passages concludes this important collection.
A.C. H
D
References to the sacrifice of an animal to atone for a community's responsibility—for example, in cases where a murder has been committed but the perpetrator unidentified—may strike even ardent OT scholars as being far from central to their interests, while the proverbial person in the pew may well be inclined to classify such passages as eminently convenient material for bolstering the impression that Christians have no need to concern themselves with the OT at all. However, D. interestingly points out that, far from having no vestige of relevance to issues in today's society, the question whether communities have responsibility for crimes committed in their midst is one which is of burning concern at a time when many European and other governments have never been more oppressed by the incidence of serious lawlessness in general and horrific murders in particular. This book is largely taken up with the most meticulous examination of the passage about the sacrificial heifer in Deut. 21.1–9, beginning with a careful study of the text and its tradition history together with comparisons with many other ancient cultures, so that separate sections needed to be allotted in the index of sources to many different Middle Eastern and other languages. But D.'s monumental Leipzig dissertation does not lose sight of the relevance of this painstaking research to ongoing societal issues.
J.B. J
D
This volume represents the contributions to a symposium in Zurich in 2010 focusing on the composition of the Pentateuch and bringing together scholars from Europe (mainly German-speaking), Israel and North America. There is only one British contributor, an indication perhaps of the lack of interest among younger scholars in this country in questions of origin. The 27 essays are almost all of high quality, and taken together they give an excellent impression of the current diversity in approaches and results. In particular, they help the reader to understand and evaluate the issues between the ‘neo-documentarians’ led by Schwartz and Baden, and the redactional (supplementarian) approach adopted by most of the European contributors. The essays are arranged in five sections. The first is on methodology. Schwartz asks, ‘Does recent scholarship's critique of the documentary hypothesis constitute grounds for its rejection?’ Answer: no. Schmid replies, ‘Has European scholarship abandoned the documentary hypothesis?’; answer again, surprisingly, ‘no’. The remaining essays in this section are: Reinhard G. Kratz, ‘The Pentateuch in Current Research: Consensus and Debate’; David M. Carr, ‘Scribal Processes of Coordination/Harmonization and the Formation of the First Hexateuch(s)’; Benjamin D. Sommer, ‘Dating Pentateuchal Texts and the Perils of Pseudo-Historicism’; Jean-Louis Ska, ‘The Limits of Interpretation’: if literary and grammatical issues are properly taken into account, division of a text may be unnecessary. Six papers on Genesis follow: Thomas Krüger, ‘Genesis 1:1–2:3 and the Development of the Pentateuch’; Michaela Bauks, ‘Text and Reception-Historical Reflections on Transmissional and Hermeneutical Techniques in Genesis 2–3’; Jan Christian Gertz, ‘Source Criticism in the Primeval History of Genesis: An Outdated Paradigm for the Study of the Pentateuch?’ (no, but …); Ronald Hendel, ‘Is the “J” Primeval Narrative an Independent Composition? A Critique of Crüsemann's “Die Eigenständigkeit der Urgeschichte”’; Sarah Shectman, ‘Rachel, Leah, and the Composition of Genesis’; Christoph Levin, ‘Righteousness in the Joseph Story: Joseph Resists Seduction (Genesis 39)’ (a redactional study). Next come five essays on Exodus to Deuteronomy: Rainer Albertz, ‘The Late Exilic Book of Exodus (Exodus 1–34∗): A Contribution to the Pentateuchal Discussion’; Dozeman, ‘The Priestly Wilderness Itineraries and the Composition of the Pentateuch’; Erhard Blum, ‘The Decalogue and the Composition History of the Pentateuch’; Simeon Chavel, ‘The Literary Development of Deuteronomy 12: Between Religious Ideal and Social Reality’; Joel S. Baden, ‘The Deuteronomic Evidence for the Documentary Theory’. The fourth section is on P, H and D: Saul M. Olyan, ‘An Eternal Covenant with Circumcision as its Sign: How Useful a Criterion for Dating and Source Analysis?’; Israel Knohl, ‘Who Edited the Pentateuch?’ (largely, H); Jeffrey Stackert disagrees in ‘Distinguishing Innerbiblical Exegesis from Pentateuchal Redaction: Leviticus 26 as a Test Case’; Itamar Kislev, ‘P, Source or Redaction: The Evidence of Numbers 25’ (source); Christophe Nihan, ‘The Laws about Clean and Unclean Animals in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and their Place in the Formation of the Pentateuch’. The final section is entitled ‘Pentateuch in the Hebrew Bible and its History of Reception’: Reinhard Achenbach, ‘“A Prophet Like Moses” (Deuteronomy 18:15)—“No Prophet Like Moses” (Deuteronomy 34:10): Some Observations on the Relation between the Pentateuch and the Latter Prophets’; Graeme Auld, ‘Reading Genesis after Samuel’; Thomas Römer, ‘Extra-Pentateuchal Biblical Evidence for the Existence of a Pentateuch? The Case of the “Historical Summaries”, Especially in the Psalms’; James W. Watts, ‘Using Ezra's Time as a Methodological Pivot for Understanding the Rhetoric and Functions of the Pentateuch’; Gary N. Knoppers, ‘Parallel Torahs and Inner-scriptural Interpretation: The Jewish and Samaritan Pentateuchs in Historical Perspective’.
W.J. H
E
This dissertation by the Austrian Capuchin E. was directed by Georg Fischer SJ at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Innsbruck. It provides the most detailed synchronic exegesis of Deuteronomy 30 so far achieved. It proceeds from an introduction to a first approach towards the text, a meticulous exegesis, and finally to a summary. A bibliography and indexes conclude the volume. E.'s exegesis sensitively takes into consideration inter-textual connections, coming to the conclusion that Deuteronomy 30 provides a key for an adequate understanding of the Pentateuch in its final form. The circumcision of the heart (Deut. 30.6) is seen as a final climax of the Pentateuch's theology of the covenant. It combines the concept of the Abrahamic covenant (circumcision, cf Gen. 17) with a solution to the problem behind Israel's breaking of the Sinai covenant in Exodus 32 (cf. the motif of Israel's stiff neck in Exod. 32.9 and Deut 10.16, and the transformation of Deut. 10.16 in 30.6). A thoughtful model of communication (illustrated in a chart, p. 268) illuminates how the Torah of Deuteronomy aims at postexilic addressees. E.'s concluding reflection on the relevance of Deuteronomy 30 for a theology of grace in the Torah, in relationship to Rom. 10.4–13, has already stimulated further theological insights in an article by Georg Braulik (in Theologie und Philosophie 86 [2011], pp. 481–502). E.'s dissertation is a fine example of synchronic exegesis and a pivotal work on the theology of the Pentateuch.
D. M
F
The 14 essays (3 in English, 11 in German) originated as contributions to a conference commemorating the Austrian biblical scholar Volkmar Premstaller SJ. The individual articles—though not directly related to P.'s areas of research—centre on the various issues of the interpretation of the complex literary and theological history of Deuteronomy 1–11 and Deuteronomy 27–34, that is, the framework to the legal core: G. Fischer, ‘Eigenart und Bedeutung des Deuteronomiums in der Tora’; J.-P. Sonnet, ‘Redefining the Plot of Deuteronomy—From End to Beginning: The Import of Deut 34:9’; D. Markl, ‘Moses Prophetenrolle in Dtn 8; 18; 34’; E. Reuter, ‘Konzepte von Autorität. Gestalten und Funktionen der Mosefiktion’; N. MacDonald, ‘Edom and Seir in the Narratives and Itineraries of Numbers 20–21 and Deuteronomy 1–3’; E. Otto, ‘Tora für eine neue Generation in Dtn 4. Die hermeneutische Theologie des Numeruswechsels in Deuteronomium 4,1–40’; K. Finsterbusch, ‘Die Dekalog-Ausrichtung des deuteronomischen Gesetzes. Ein neuer Ansatz’; S. Paganini, ‘Die Veränderung der Beziehung zwischen Gott und Mose als Kompositionssignal der deuteronomischen Erzählung’; H.U. Steymans, ‘DtrB und die adě zur Thronfolgeregelung Asarhaddons? Bundestheologie und Bundesformular im Blick auf Dtn 11’; M. Zehnder, ‘Fluch und Segen im Buch Deuteronomium. Beobachtungen und Fragen’; E. Ehrenreich, ‘Tora zwischen Scheitern und Neubeginn. Narrative Rechtshermeneutik im Licht von Dtn 30’; R. Heckl, ‘Die Präsentation tradierter Texte in Dtn 31 zur Revision der dtr Geschichtstheologie’; G. Fischer, ‘Der Einfluss des Deuteronomiums auf das Jeremiabuch’; D. Markl, ‘Deuteronomy's Frameworks in Service of the Law (Deut 1–11; 26–34)’. Readers will welcome the English abstracts of the German contributions. An index of passages discussed as well as information on the individual authors conclude a volume that will be important for the study of the narrative frame of Deuteronomy.
A.C. H
F
The first edition of this (2001) appears to have escaped the scrutiny of B.L. This second edition has made a number of changes to the layout, dividing Genesis into four parts (1.1–11.26, 11.27–25.18, 25.19–37.1 and 37.2–50.26). F. distinguishes Part 4 (excluding ch. 38) as ‘prose’, distinct from the ‘epic’ (= poetic) layout of Parts 1–3 (and 38). The poetic layout is eminently successful, and though some stylists may nitpick at details, it gives a fresh and compelling quality to the narrative, peppered with useful little notes on points of detail in the translation. F.'s main theoretical stance is that Genesis belongs essentially to the time of David and Solomon, though this is not given a detailed defence (the best point being that the new Late Bronze cuneiform fragment from Jerusalem confirms the Amarna evidence for an early city with scribal schools), and is surely not crucial to the ideological argument, that this is essentially a royal epic tradition, celebrating the ancestors of Israel/Judah and their patrimony to their descendants. One important angle explored in the introduction is the mortuary cult and its invocation of ancestors to sustain their descendants within the national territory (cf. Stavrakopoulou's 2010 monograph, Land of our Fathers, reviewed in B.L. 2011, pp. 68–69). Both elements, royal and funerological, would have as much force in an exilic or postexilic as in a united-monarchical context. A first appendix entitled ‘You can't tell a book by its cover’ revisits the arguments of the minimalists (with particular attention to N.P. Lemche), and a second the misuse of Genesis by the creationist movement in the USA (he might have noted that they are also alive and well in the UK!).
N. W
G
For a review of this volume, see Section 6 below.
G
This is the second volume in the new ‘Old Testament for Everyone’ series, which complements the New Testament volumes by N.T. Wright. Like its New Testament counterpart, the series is aimed at a popular readership and makes use of personal anecdote and a lively style. The commentary includes the text of Exodus and Leviticus in G.'s own translation, which follows the Hebrew text more closely than the standard translations available in English today. G.'s considerable knowledge and skill as translator and interpreter of the Hebrew text are in evidence on every page, and his style of writing should appeal to a wide readership. Due to its conception and target audience, the volume will only be of very limited benefit to students or preachers, however. Regrettably, some parts of the biblical text have been omitted from both the translations and the commentary, although G. does provide some very brief summaries of those sections. In fact, in the case of Leviticus, which is dealt with in a mere 70 pages, quite considerable portions of the book are skipped. In addition to the translation of the biblical text and the commentary proper, G. has provided a brief introduction to the two books and a helpful glossary of some key terms.
K. M
G
G
G.'s productivity is remarkable: some 900 pages on Old Testament Theology in each of 2003, 2006 and 2009, and Old Testament answers to key questions of Christian faith (see B.L. 2011, p. 22) are only part of his output of the last decade, but furnish particularly relevant preparation for his volumes on individual Old Testament books being published currently ‘for Everyone’ by SPCK and Westminster John Knox. These have a somewhat similar feel to the Daily Study Bible Old Testament issued in the 1980s by the St Andrews and Westminster presses (see B.L. 1982, p. 44 and 1983, p. 48 for the Genesis volumes by John Gibson). The translations in this series are G.'s own; and the ‘gripping opening line’ is traditionally rendered. More than 80 pages are devoted to the (key questions in the) Bible's first four chapters. The commentary is often quite personal. Further volumes should be watched out for.
A.G. A
G
As the title suggests, this volume is intended for the non-specialist reader and, appropriately enough, it is written in a highly readable, conversational style. After a brief introduction there follows G.'s own translation of each of the units to be discussed, and the end of the volume contains a helpful glossary, for the benefit of the uninitiated, of some of the more technical geographical, historical and theological terms used in the body of the book. The discussion of each unit begins with a personal anecdote, and G. is very adept at drawing out the theological and practical lessons of the text for the contemporary reader. The volume, written by one of the most prolific OT scholars of our time, is full of valuable and stimulating insights and will prove a very useful tool for those who are concerned to apply the message of Numbers and Deuteronomy to issues of contemporary concern.
E.W. D
H
This is the first in a series of ecological commentaries on the Bible arising from the pioneering work of the Earth Bible Project and entitled (unsurprisingly) the Earth Bible Commentary Series. The series editor is Norman Habel, who has also authored this unique and thought-provoking first offering in the series. This ‘radical ecological approach’ (p. 8) aims to use a basic hermeneutic of suspicion, identification and retrieval to facilitate ‘a genuine ecological interpretation’ (p. 15) of a particular text. H. distinguishes between his own method and that of reader-response criticism on the grounds that he is reading the text from the perspective of Earth, noting the part played by Earth as a character in the story, rather than exploring the relevance of a particular text for the modern reader. H. divides his commentary according to the standard literary units of Genesis 1–11, and begins each chapter by discussing the design, that is, the literary structure and style, of the text in question. Form and source critical concerns are deliberately avoided. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the text with a particular focus on the roles played by the key characters, Erets and Adamah. Both the design and analysis sections offer an insightful and informative commentary on the text, and even readers who do not particularly endorse the Earth Bible approach may find much to ponder.
H. M
H
After his well-known commentary on Genesis (NICOT, 1990 and 1995; see B.L., 1992, p. 52 and 1996, p. 57), H. has produced another extensive volume, this time on Exodus, as the first fruit of his retirement (p. xi). The work's main focus is on literary, linguistic and theological questions. Following a very brief introduction, the commentary is divided into seven parts, Exod. 1.1–6.1; 6.2–15.21; 15.22–18.27; 19–24; 25–31; 32–34; 35–40. These major parts are structured into shorter passages, which are presented by providing a translation followed by ‘Grammatical and Lexical Notes’ and a continuous commentary. The layout is very clear so that orientation in the book is easy. Hebrew words are rendered in transcription. The commentary offers a close reading of the text that contains a wealth of exegetical observations, which many readers will find helpful for both intellectual and pastoral purposes, according to H.'s intention (p. xi). The main deficit of this book is that it is limited to research in the English language. Within the vast bibliography (pp. 623–71) I found only one publication in a language other than English. Therefore, engagement with important research on Exodus by Erich Zenger, Christoph Dohmen, Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger, Helmut Utzschneider and many others, is lacking, so that the commentary cannot be regarded as a genuine contribution to international scholarship. Yet it is an impressive work that both enriches the scholarly literature on Exodus and makes its literary and theological value accessible for a broad readership.
D. M
H
This collection of essays showcases various ways of reading Genesis in light of the increasingly diverse contemporary interpretative milieu. Following Hendel's ‘Introduction’ to the project, R. Alter offers an engaging account of literary reading (‘Literature’). Hendel contributes a chapter on ‘Cultural Memory’, which he sees as a way forward for historical enquiry, while R.S. Kawashima offers a spirited defence of the study of ‘Sources and Redaction’. Hendel, C. Kronfeld and I. Pardes then address the issues of ‘Gender and Sexuality’ in a wide-ranging chapter. Following this, Y. Zakovitch revisits ‘Inner-Biblical Interpretation’, D. Stein comments on ‘Rabbinic Interpretation’, and R. Layton touches on ‘Interpretation in the Early Church’. The final three chapters cover ‘Translation’ (N. Seidman), ‘Modern Literature’ (I. Pardes), and ‘Modern Theology’ (J.J. Collins). While not exhaustive, the subjects covered in this volume are stimulating and offer a valuable cross-section of the ways in which biblical texts are read. The essays all helpfully blend theoretical and methodological discussion with examples drawn from Genesis itself, including explorations of the creation accounts, Abraham, Jacob, Ishmael, and Sodom and Gomorrah, to name a few. There is an element of unevenness in the volume, as some authors simply present and demonstrate a particular approach, while others defend or seek to transform the discourse surrounding a specific method. Nevertheless, this is a valuable contribution to the field, as the essays are generally very readable and the book as a whole is accessible in length and price. It will no doubt be useful for scholars, students, and a more general audience interested in contemporary ways of reading the Bible and Genesis.
B.A. A
H
This lightly revised Mainz dissertation offers clear and substantial discussion of the theme important throughout Genesis of exchanging the blessing of the ‘firstborn’. Research context and aims are clearly stated in Part A (pp. 1–43); these include that the Toledot are integral to the whole book (Gen. 5.1), that a synchronic approach is appropriate, and that Buber is to be followed in rendering bkwr as Erstling in preference to Erstgeboren. Part B (pp. 45–238) deals with the material in seven sections, treating in turn Cain, Abel and Seth; Ham, Japheth and Shem; Haran, Nahor and Abraham; Ishmael and Isaac; Esau and Jacob; exchanges within Israel (Joseph and Judah, Judah and Reuben, Manasseh and Ephraim, for example); and the motif beyond Genesis (such as Aaron and Moses, Saul and David, and the succession to David). Part C offers a systematizing synthesis (pp. 239–318), and Part D details the returns in terms of method and exegesis (pp. 319–39). The results are found to converge with the view that the non-P material in the primaeval story is secondary to the priestly.
A.G. A
H
In an attempt to recapture the middle ground from literalists and source-critics alike, H. undertakes a literary reading of the time references in Genesis 1–11 with a primary interest in the theological significance of the stories. Starting with a valuable discussion of mythical language, or rather ‘cultural symbolism’, and a fascinating account of the history of interpretation from Jubilees as far as recent Reformed theologians, he then analyses in detail the seven days of creation, the ‘day’ of Gen. 2.4b and of 2.17, the two chronological genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11, and finally the days of the Flood narrative. H. includes extensive transcriptions and translations of ANE literature where relevant, and demonstrates the temple symbolism of the cosmos, the Garden of Eden, and tentatively also the ark of Noah. Unfortunately, his concern to contextualize the theological message of the biblical story of world origins pays insufficient attention to important contrasts with ANE accounts, and he seems not to recognize the possibility that literal chronology and symbolic significance need not be mutually exclusive in the mind of an ancient author (cf. 2 Sam. 5.4–5; 2 Chron. 36.21; the ‘forty years’ of Mt. 23.34–36). His association of the ‘seed of the serpent’ with the lines of Cain and Ham is also problematic, despite interesting interpretations of various names. However, the book is worth the cost simply for its discussion of the talking serpent and its detailed proof that beyom in Gen. 2.4 cannot signify anything other than a literal 24-hour day.
J.E. P
H
This is a revision of H.'s Cambridge PhD thesis, a study of the Priestly texts in the Hebrew Bible concerning the intersection of the human and the divine. It examines how the Priestly system was intended to keep heaven on earth, in particular to secure and safeguard the divine presence at the heart of the Israelite community. The examination of the Priestly tabernacle system focuses on what is said about its construction and legislation in the Priestly portions of Exodus 25–Leviticus 16, with consideration also of the so-called Holiness Legislation of Leviticus 17–26 (27) and some of the P-like texts in Numbers. The work seeks to distinguish between ritual texts and ritual practice, building on the emphasis of J.W. Watts that ritual texts do more than simply explain ritual action, but were also written for rhetorical purposes. A feature of this book is its detailing of some of the parallel rites of ANE religions, seeking to clarify the distinctive features and characteristics of the P material in the Hebrew Bible. There are chapters on Ritual Theory; Divine Presence; Dedication and Inauguration of the Tabernacle and its Cult; Regular Divine Service; Damage Control in the Ancient Near East; Damage Control in the Priestly Texts; Damage Control: Evaluation; and a conclusion. I would judge this to be a significant contribution to the study of this biblical material, that should be taken seriously by others working on these chapters.
M.E.W. T
K
Stories of origins have always exercised a particular kind of fascination: human beings want to know about their origins in order to understand better their present. K.'s work offers an analysis of three sets of traditions related to stories of origins, with the main focus on the multiplicity of stories about the Flood. Part 1, ‘Mesopotamian Primeval Traditions’, comprises an analysis of the Atrahasis primaeval lists and stories, the traditions of the Apkallus, and the poem of Erra. It highlights the combination of traditions of both discontinuity and revelation, traditions which according to K. will find their way into both the Genesis and Enochic primordial narratives. Part 2, ‘Primeval History in Genesis’, focuses on P's re-reading of Mesopotamian lore. In Part 3, ‘The Primeval History in the Book of the Watchers’, K. shows the crisscrossing of influences between Atrahasis, the Genesis story and the Book of the Watchers, and exposes the political implications of such a reading. The subtitle ‘An Intertextual Reading’ indicates the author's methodology and main purpose: the book offers both textual and redactional analysis, while at the same time considering the literary impact of the texts under consideration. K. claims that ‘there is a historical interrelationship between them’ (p. 8), and the book's greatest contribution is to show how the three stories relate to each other. An appendix (‘The Primeval History in Genesis and in the Watcher Story’) along with comprehensive indexes and bibliography concludes the book. This is an excellent piece of research which I would recommend for anyone working in this area.
A. J
K
For a review of this volume, see Section 6 below.
P
For a review of this volume, see Section 1 above.
R
For a review of this volume, see Section 6 below.
R
This volume is a revised version of a doctoral dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, in 2008. R. attempts to demonstrate that the wilderness narrative ‘came about as scribes transformed standard ancient Near Eastern administrative and historiographical genres in order to serve purposes other than those for which they were typically used’ (p. 12). The author draws attention to the innovative uses of the itinerary genre in Egyptian and Neo-Assyrian military narratives and explores the way in which the genre was transformed by its use in new historical, social and literary contexts. The volume also contains a discussion of the itinerary notices contained in such passages as Exod. 14.2 and Num. 10.33, and examines the role which these notices played in the growth of the Torah. The insights gleaned from literary theory, cognitive linguistics, geography and archaeology are viewed as useful interpretative tools when reading biblical texts, and the volume effectively demonstrates why literary criticism should never be divorced from historical concerns. The book makes for a rewarding read and is important for the fresh approach it takes to the relevant biblical texts.
E.W. D
S
This book grows out of S.'s doctoral work at Duke, and is a carefully argued and clearly conceived study of anger in Genesis. The argument develops in three parts, all of which are of great value. Five chapters explore the project of studying anger in OT texts. S. offers an elegant and eloquent apologia for the significance of emotion in the OT, and for how to go about studying it. This is a model of hermeneutical care, paying attention in particular to cultural assumptions, linguistic pitfalls and key conceptual metaphors. S. suggests that the governing metaphor for reading Genesis is ‘we are expelled from paradise’. In the second part, two chapters examine OT ethics and how to approach Genesis with ethical concerns, focusing on mimetic narrative. Finally, five chapters examine anger and its antitheses in Genesis. As the title of the book suggests, the narratives model a range of responses to anger, from Cain through to Joseph. In general, full forgiveness is neither achieved nor achievable, and protagonists have to choose from a range of less satisfactory options. Alternative responses that Genesis offers include confronting God, entrusting vengeance to God, voluntary separation, humility, and generosity, with mixed results in various cases. That separation may be better than some forms of community is just one insight explored here. There is a practical wisdom in S.'s interpretations throughout, which mark this book out as worthy of attention from a range of angles, both for what it argues and how it argues it. This is a fine achievement.
R.S. B
T
This study, T.'s revised doctoral thesis, examines the use of the term toledot (‘the generations of …’) in Genesis, Num. 3.1 (the generations of Aaron and Moses) and Ruth 4.18 (the line of David). Although recognizing the diachronic emphasis on sources that characterized earlier studies, T. focuses on the possible intentions of the author of the final text. The toledot formulae are viewed as a series of headings to focus the story of national origins. The inclusion of Ishmael (Gen. 25.12) and Esau (Gen. 36.1, 9) in the scheme is explained as their inclusion in the covenant, and as part of the theme of reconciliation of brothers (Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brothers). In Gen. 2.4, the ‘generations of heaven and earth’ are humankind, created from or ‘begotten’ by the earth/dust (p. 73). Thereafter there are four further main headings, covering Adam (5.1), Noah (6.9), Shem (11.10) and Jacob (37.2), characterized by the formula without waw. Subsequent subheadings begin with waw (e.g. of Terah [11.27], Ishmael [25.12], Isaac [25.19] and Esau [36.1, 9]) forming a chiastic sequence. I am unconvinced by his addition of Isaac and Levi to make seven ‘narrowings’ of descent. Theses do not always make good books, and there is a substantial amount of repetition, loose writing and redundancy. T. roots the study in form criticism, assuming antiquity, whereas his explanations relate more to redactional structuring. He works within a theological paradigm, affirming the unity of Torah teaching. The inclusion as family of Ishmael (Arabian tribes) and Esau (Edomite tribes) might be construed as a response to exclusivist tendencies under Nehemiah and Ezra, giving the structure a late date.
S.F. B
T
This is the revised version of a doctoral thesis supervised by Gordon Wenham. The main goal is to explore whether there is more continuity than has been supposed between P (Leviticus 1–16) and the ethical concerns of H (chs. 17–26). T. does not deny the independent character of H, but argues that its ethical interests are continuous with the implications of certain cultic laws and concepts in P. These can be discerned by paying attention to the nuances of words used in other narrative and metaphorical contexts. Leviticus 11 thus leads to an exploration of how uncleanness symbolizes exile and exclusion from God's immediate presence. The laws of impurity were aimed at persuading the Israelites to keep the ethical as well as the cultic commandments. The laws relating to the skin disease in Leviticus 13 teach that God's wrath falls on human sinfulness. The requirement for the male animal to be without defect in the law of the burnt offering in Leviticus 1 implies the demand for human integrity. Allusions to earlier narratives in Genesis are seen as strengthening the argument. Whatever one thinks of the approach (and many will not be persuaded), the critical discussion of scholarly views on disputed points is often detailed and useful.
P.P. J
V
The Austrian Franciscan V. teaches Old Testament at the Pontifical University Antonianum in Rome. In this recent monograph he analyses several texts of the Pentateuch related to the theme of death. He draws on Genesis 1–3; Genesis 4; Genesis 6–9; the death notices in Genesis 4–11; the death notices of Sarah, Abraham, Rachel and Isaac; Genesis 47.27–50.26; the death of Israelite male babies and of the firstborn of Egypt in Exodus 1–13; the danger of death in the theophanies of Exodus 19–24; death in Israel's breaking of the covenant in Exodus 32–34; the shadow of death over the tent of the covenant and death in the sacrificial cult; impurity; the killing of the inhabitants of Canaan; the death penalty in the laws of Exodus to Deuteronomy; Numbers 13–14; Numbers 1–4 and 26; Numbers 15–26; and Moses' last words in Deuteronomy. The final conclusion recounts the results of the preceding chapters, which contain some exegetically interesting observations, but V. does not provide a comprehensive systematic outcome. This book provides, therefore, an interesting survey for further reflection on the theological meaning on the theme of death in the Pentateuch.
D. M
V
In this study, V. examines the role that material possessions play in the narratives of the entire life of Jacob and his family as recorded in Gen. 25.19–35.29. The book consists of five chapters with two appendixes. Chapter 1 introduces the study with literature survey and methodology. Chapters 2–4 present a detailed exegesis and analysis of various sections of the Jacob-cycle, and ch. 5 presents the findings of the study with a methodological reflection on the story of Jacob and his family. It is V.'s contention that though wealth and possessions may not be the main focus of the Jacob narratives in the book of Genesis, they play a very important and pervasive role that cannot be ignored. Material possessions, in the Jacob narratives, function as the source of conflicts and yet become a useful means of conflict resolution and reconciliation. To V., the one-sided focus on material possessions as fulfilment of God's promise or as evidence of blessing should be complemented by a broader view of wealth in the context of relationships, associated attitudes and actions. V.'s strength in this study lies in keeping the text of the Jacob narrative central to the discussion, but at the same time skilfully engaging with other available texts and methods, ranging from commentaries on Genesis and monographs on Jacob to works relating to wealth and poverty, treatments of Old Testament ethics, and methods employed by earlier scholars in similar studies.
P.K. A
W
Exactly half of this 200-page book proffers an analysis of ‘The Ancient Cosmological Cognitive Environment’. By this W. means ‘how people thought about themselves and their world’. This tackles questions of ‘before and after pictures’, separation, building blocks, principles (as per the Sumerian me's), and matters of cosmic geography such as the architectural design of the cosmos, leading to a focus on temple and rest as core ideas in ancient cosmology. In all this W. is a sure-footed guide to the literature, and writes with an enviable clarity. The purpose of this environmental mapping, as it were, is a comparable reading of Genesis in the 70-page chapter which follows. W. urges that Genesis 1 offers a functional ontology: days 1–3 pertain to time, weather and food production, while days 4–6 install the functionaries with appropriate responsibility. Day 7 is the climax, with divine rest being read in terms of God dwelling in the Temple, which W. suggests is most likely the whole cosmos. A conclusion hints at wider agendas to do with the implications of this reading for today, but it must be said that the book eschews any broader hermeneutical or theological reflection beyond insisting that a text must be read in the light of its original ‘cognitive environment’. The very brief opening and closing chapters which frame the two long discussions leave this somewhat underdeveloped. Along the way, though, exegetical insights abound, including a compelling account of why Gen. 1.5 says ‘day one’ rather than ‘the first day’—because it marks the unit of time (‘one day’) rather than counting off the first such unit.
R.S. B
W
A few introductory pages introduce us to Genesis 12–50 as part of the book of Genesis and of the Pentateuch, and to the literary development of the book. W.-P. is heavily influenced by Wellhausen's analysis; yet J represents (eighth-century) Judah, rather than Jerusalem or Jahweh, while the expanded JE (tending towards D) belongs to Jerusalem. The commentary on the 39 chapters is handled in 67 portions, and at 11 points an excursus is added. A short account of the book's effect (Wirkungs- rather than Rezeptions-geschichte) helps to explain its ongoing significance, and treats everyday traces; a history of the book's inner-biblical effect; the Abraham story in postbiblical Judaism, the early church, and the beginnings of Islam; the ‘Abraham religions’ in inter-religious dialogue and theological discourse; theological questions on Abraham and the patriarchal history; Genesis 12–50 in art; and the power of the word—in music too.
A.G. A
II. Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings)
A
Since heroic figures are already extraordinary, the title nicely teases the reader with its invitation to meet out-of-the-ordinary heroes. In this book, A. follows his ‘history of Israel between memory and relecture’ (B.L. 2010, p. 49) with a very readable account of theology and history in the book of Judges. The chapter headings indicate that he stays close to the contours of the book: in the shadow of Joshua; the lion, the ‘gauche’ left-hander, and the drover; the prophetess and the general; the saviour and the despot; Jephthah as banished son, then impetuous father; Samson, or the picaresque adventures of a sunny hero; and Dan's migration to the north (with a scandalous chronicle as appendix). For A., the book of Judges does not so much offer an account of Israel's distant past as raise questions about the nature of power itself.
A.G. A
A
This commentary, the fruit of A.'s many years of study of the books of Samuel, opens by admitting that it is based on proposals by which many readers remain to be persuaded. We are thus immediately aware that this is not a routine commentary. It is, instead, an extended exploration of A.'s hypotheses on the book's sources and development. The brief introduction outlines these while also explaining some of the commentary's distinctive features, though whether it gives those who do not know his theories from elsewhere sufficient information might be questioned. Given A.'s extensive work on the text of Samuel, it is no surprise that this is a particular strength of this work. In his translation, A. endeavours to expose readers to the form of MT, even following its divisions (the parashot) while showing where the Greek disagrees within the translation itself. Where parallels to Chronicles exist, these are laid out beside the translation of MT at the relevant points. This is immensely helpful in making this research accessible to those who may not know the original languages, with the deliberately literal translation aiding this. The comments (and excursuses scattered throughout) are then an exploration of the multi-faceted text A. presents, but their orientation towards exploring A.'s overarching hypotheses means that casual readers using them to elucidate a particular point may find this a difficult book to use.
D.G. F
A
These papers were delivered during mid-2006 conferences in Nijmegen and Edinburgh, and are arranged here, after wide-ranging papers by Jan Fokkelman (‘The Samuel Composition as a Book of Life and Death: Structural, Generic and Numerical Forms of Perfection’) and Shimon Bar-Efrat (‘From History to Story: The Development of the Figure of David in Biblical and Post-biblical Literature’), in order of the passage from 1–2 Samuel being discussed. 1 Samuel 1–7 is addressed by Erik Eynikel, ‘Das Lied der Hanna (1 Sam 2,1–11) und das Lied Davids (2 Sam 22). Ein Vergleich’, and Christa Schäfer-Lichtenberger, ‘
J.E. P
B
This volume completes the very welcome translation into German of B.'s commentary on Samuel, published in Hebrew in one volume in 1996 (see B.L. 2008, p. 59, for the first part). The portion-by-portion discussion continues without further introduction from the end of 1 Samuel 31; and only two larger sections are separately prefaced: 2 Samuel 9–20 (Sin and Punishment) and 2 Samuel 21–24 (Appendix). A ‘must read’ by a gentle scholar who will be sadly missed.
A.G. A
B
Like Walter Brueggemann's book Out of Babylon (reviewed above in Section 1), this book is a critique of American imperialism based on a reading of the biblical text. Instead of using the metaphor of Babylon for the empire, however, (this) B. offers a darkly chilling, not to say cynical, reading of the books of Kings in which not only the kings but also their deity are presented as bereft of morality and compassion beyond the principle of ‘might is right’. This, B. argues, is the writers' deliberate critique of empire, into which the prophets burst with a different God and morality, although sometimes they are ignored and pushed to the margins, and sometimes they are co-opted onto the side of the kings. As in Brueggemann's book, the subtext here is that prophetic morality is also (or should also be) Christian morality. Throughout the book there are examples from recent American history of incidents that testify to the same deadly imperialistic manoeuvrings that B. sees highlighted in Kings; thus, Rehoboam's rebuttal of the northern tribes with the threat of violence in 1 Kings 12 is juxtaposed with an excerpt from the New York Times of 17 June 2002 proclaiming President Bush's formalization of a policy of pre-emptive strikes against states and terrorist groups, particularly Iraq. Indeed, with its repeated emphasis on the futility of the kings' wars, the book clearly arises as a critique of the mind-set that resulted in the invasion of Iraq. B.'s comments move through the text of 1 and 2 Kings from start to finish in a long series of mini-meditations, each of which ends with a pregnant comment or question to the reader; the work as a whole relies for its impact on unashamedly emotional appeal, although that is not to say that B. is unaware of critical issues relating to the text, simply that he is not interested in foregrounding them. B.'s reading is convincing and challenging, and I preferred it to Bruggemann's in that it is more nuanced, although both show how Scripture can be appropriated in a gutsy way for the modern era.
D.W. R
B
For a review of this volume, see Section 5.I above.
B
This is an interpretation of David's adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the ‘murder of his elite officer Uriah the Hittite’ (2 Sam. 11–12) in the light of Akkadian documents from Mari and El-Amarna. Following a brief survey of research, B. gets to the meat of his comparisons. It appears that Nathan was not the only one to disapprove of a warlord's conduct in the ancient world: comparative documents contain wordplays and ‘raunchy metaphors’ that belittle the laziness of warriors who are indolent, slothful and keep company with women safely at home. Their behaviour is not worthy of a warlord (p. 114) when compared with the military conquests of others. Warlords should be with their armies, not dallying with women and staying at home. A slothful individual is exhorted to ‘Rejoice! Your brother, here, inflicts a defeat (on the enemy) and you, there, remain lying among women’ (p. 119). B. identifies ‘striking similarities’ with the biblical text, such as the distance between armies which appears in the reference to the Abimelech episode (Judg. 9.50–54) in 2 Samuel (misquoted as 1 Samuel, p. 121), which is of particular interest to this reviewer. Further biting taunts are suitably compared with King David remaining at home while his army face the foe: ‘Why do you sit in the city like a feeble old man?’ and ‘Are we to eat women's bread (‘women's food’, p. 126 n. 125), like one who has never marched on to the battlefield?' (p. 128). B.'s study is thorough and convincing, even amusing in places.
R. R
G
The unworthy thought, ‘Do we really need another book on issues of historicity and historiography?’ rapidly disappeared on reading this impressive volume which began life as a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Sydney. Here is a refreshing attempt to look constructively at the similarities and differences between ancient and modern historiography, arguing that the latter must be judged first on its own terms and paying particular attention to literary devices which not only develop character, plot and theme but which ‘contribute to the causation of events, the evaluation of people in the past, and the significance of the past’ (p. 3). Historiography is understood as a representation of the past, which need not necessarily be an objective account or without ideological intentions. In addition to features common to modern historiography such as political, public and social causation, Samuel contains divine and personal causation; and in addition to political meaning and significance there is theological and human meaning. Evaluation is left to the reader's judgment, the narrative guiding, shaping and limiting ‘but not providing one “correct” solution’ (p. 303). Contradictions and inaccuracies within MT and between MT and LXX reveal a very different outlook from modern attempts to remove ambiguity and inconsistency. And there is a marked difference in the use of narrative, where the arrangement may be thematic rather than chronological, and where devices such as parallels, comparisons, repetitions, Leitwörter, dramatized dialogue and type-scenes all contribute to the ‘representation’. Such a brief survey cannot do justice to a study which this reader found stimulating and thought-provoking.
A.H.W. C
H
H. focuses this study on the narrative of David, Saul and Jonathan in 1–2 Samuel, drawing from this a more general discussion of modern homosexuality (or in his alternative terminology, homoeroticism or ‘homogenital relations’). He surveys with commendable balance various interpretations of this story which range from political to homosexual (‘queer’) perspectives, noting some accounts as pro-homosexual and others as embarrassed by or hostile to the whole issue. In the first chapter he sets the scene by describing what he calls ‘proof-texts’ used by pro-homosexuality discussions, in which Jonathan declares his love for David. This is followed (ch. 2) by a survey of the differing interpretations of commentators. Then he offers a chapter on ‘manly love’ in history, followed (ch. 4) by a general non-biblical chapter on male bonding and male-male intimacy. Chapter 5 explores the hermeneutical shift ‘from historical author to present-day reader’ (p. 119), utilizing reader response theory since he has concluded that there is no unambiguous textual evidence to support a homoerotic interpretation, although the story has been widely used hermeneutically. His final chapter, ‘Queer Hermeneutics’, explores how the story has been used devotionally by the gay community. H. ends with a retelling of the David-Jonathan story using queer theory, concluding that in his view the two were ‘friends and lovers’ (p. 150) but making no claim for a sexual relationship. H. treats the David-Jonathan narrative as story, making no claims for historicity, even though he writes as if describing a real rather than a fictional couple.
S.F. B
K
Although the concept of type-scene as a potential OT narrative convention was introduced to the wider scholarly consciousness 30 years ago by Robert Alter, relatively little subsequent work has followed. The current volume would therefore be welcome on that account alone. The merits of K.'s work are, however, considerable and go well beyond simply seconding older scholarship by its application to new narratives. First, K. breaks new methodological ground by widening the type-scene concept with the help of recent, particularly Homeric, scholarship and by linking the type-scene debate to a wider discussion on genre. His sharp definitions and delineation of different realms in which incubation can be studied further add methodological clarity. Secondly, K.'s approach is highly interdisciplinary, prompted partly by the paucity of incubation narratives in the OT (a fact that highlights the difficulty of this type of investigation solely within a limited corpus), but also by the desire to reap the benefits of a comparative literary approach within an ANE context. Perhaps the greatest benefit of this book is the way K.'s study opens new perspectives on the interpretation of the Hannah stories, particularly some obscure, much-debated aspects of them, which may now be better understood if read in the context of an incubation type-scene.
A. N
M
In this volume, M. aims to affirm the value of diachronic and synchronic approaches to the study of the Former Prophets. In the introduction, M. outlines the complex editorial process that underlay the composition of the Book of the Former Prophets. He also explains that the name ‘Former Prophets’ came about as a result of the important role of the prophets in the narrative and the extensive influence of their ethical world-view on it. He then treats the seven books from Joshua to 2 Kings, in seven chapters. M. treats the book of Joshua as a complex combination of texts reflecting different literary and theological views. He acknowledges that the motive of the editors in the book of Judges may be multidimensional. M.'s preference to translate ‘judge’ as ‘leader’ or ‘chieftain’ is in line with current scholarship which seeks such translation because the judges functioned as leaders rather than legal experts. He discusses the book of Ruth in ch. 3, pointing out the possible links between it and the book of Judges. In chs. 4 to 6, M. helps the reader by providing a list of major characters from 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 Kings and gives a brief diagram of the genealogy of Omri. The chapter-by-chapter discussion of the various books, the excursuses that provide detailed information on critical topics and the stories of modern-day America used to illustrate some of the texts, make M.'s work come alive to readers.
P.K. A
M
M. subjects three narratives within the Deuteronomistic history (Judg. 8.29–9.56, Judg. 17.1–21.25 and 1 Sam. 9.1–11.15) to literary analysis, before applying the theory of Rene Girard (already trailed by more than passing reference throughout the preceding chapters) to the same texts to assess how far that theory supports the hypothesis he has developed with respect to the emergence of kingship in Israel. His studies of Abimelech's ultimately failed attempt at kingship, the Levite stories—‘no kings in Israel’—and the inauguration of Saul as king contain numerous literary insights, although not all carry equal conviction (e.g. Saul's dismembering and distribution of the yoke of oxen is more prophetic action than sacrifice and functions as threat rather than ‘scapegoat’). Because considerable intervals occur between the narratives M. examines, occasional reference to some of the intervening narratives is not sufficient to justify their omission from his study. A sub-text of the study is concerned with the history of the period to which the text refers, and several rather hopeful references to the ‘possibility of some historical reality underlying the emergence of monarchy in ancient Israel’ are found in the book. There is a substantial bibliography and a brief ‘Subject Index’, but no index of texts or scholars cited. Misprints are too numerous to count and the prose style (almost entirely in the first person plural) is often cumbersome and at times repetitive, while references can be misleading; for example, on p. 40, besides quoting Girard inexactly, in n. 94 M. seems to suggest that Girard himself holds that ‘kingship comes with Saul in 1 Samuel 11’.
G.G. N
O
This excellent study is a revision of O.'s 2008 doctoral dissertation, completed at the University of St Michael's College. In it, he draws together a range of methods sometimes treated as discrete (narrative, rhetorical and social scientific analysis) to examine Judges 9. As befits the genre, the reasons for this are laid out in the opening two chapters which point to the diverse ways this chapter has been interpreted, both on its own and also in relation to the rest of Judges, especially chs. 17–21. The principal methodological concerns are also introduced here. A detailed chapter is then devoted to each method, with each independently being shown to demonstrate a rejection of local rule where both Abimelech and the Shechemites are criticized. O. draws on key theorists for each of these readings though there is also inevitable overlap between them. However, the pursuit of each methodology ensures that the reasons behind the overall conclusions develop in different ways. A brief conclusion summarizes the results and offers some brief comments on how merging the sight lines of each method assists in the interpretation of both the chapter and the book as a whole. These observations are suggestive rather than developed, so there remains considerable scope to consider how Judges 9 and 17–21 might explore a consistent approach to monarchy. Recommended.
D.G. F
R
In Michal's Moral Dilemma, R. uses tools from Old Testament studies, social anthropology and ethics to explore the moral dilemma that Michal faces in 1 Samuel 19 when she has to choose between deceiving her father to save David's life and lying about her reason for the deception on one hand, and giving up David for the sake of loyalty to her family and her father Saul on the other. Apart from the introduction in which he sets the stage for the study, R.'s book spans six chapters, with the first focusing on the conflict between morality and value in the Old Testament. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 form an extensive but essential methodological introduction in which R. delineates an exegetical method and carefully positions his approach in the light of the conclusions of other commentators. In ch. 5, deservedly the longest chapter (82 pages), R. carefully examines the moral challenge facing Michal when she lied to Saul in order to save David's life, and concludes that the choice that Michal made to save David's life over loyalty to her father Saul is counter-cultural. The concluding ch. 6 explores the contradicting values that emanate from Michal's actions and Saul's reactions. R. suggests that there is a need to understand the social world of the authors and implied readers if we are to understand the import of Michal's action. R.'s ingenious and innovative skills, bringing on board three different disciplines in this study, opens new doors to interdisciplinary study of biblical texts.
P.K. A
S
After a short introduction by the editor this volume contains eight essays brought together from a conference held in Salzburg in 2009 on the subject of Martin Noth's thesis that the present six books of Joshua–2 Kings constitute a Deuteronomistic History composed shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587
R.E. C
S
This is a detailed examination of the ‘royal epilogues’, tripartite expressions attending the succession of kings in Judah, and in some cases in Israel: ‘N1 lay with his fathers; he was buried in (location); his son N2 reigned in his place’. S. proposes that the formula amounts to a shorthand account of the necessary sequence of rites of passage to effect the transition from dying king to his successor (and the transformation of the former from king into ancestor, and the latter from prince to king); it also serves as a claim for dynastic continuity, and for the transfer of the royal patrimony from father to son. Its repeated use down the generations represents the accumulation of royal power and prestige over succeeding generations, and the implicit transfer to the new king of all the divine oracles given to David, the eponymous founder of the dynasty in Judah. Deviations from the formulaic norm indicate various forms of complication or discontinuity in the process. Thus the burial formula is missing from the epilogue to Jehoiakim's reign (2 Kgs 24.6), but the continuity is nevertheless maintained in Judah, implying that the history ends on a note of hope for the future: the promises have not been nullified. In a period of scholarship in which royal funerary and mortuary practices are increasingly to the forefront of research, and in which the royal necropoles of Byblos, Ebla, Qatna and Ugarit have allowed increasingly sophisticated comparative work, this comes as a timely contribution. The study's emphasis is on the royal patrimony, and ‘patrimonialism’ (D. Schloen's term) is of great interest in the light of recent discussions of land-claims and their bridging generations though the tenure of burial plots (for this theme in the patriarchal narratives see F. Stavrakopoulou, Land of our Fathers [2010; B.L. 2011, pp. 68–69]). But the use of ‘patrilinearity’ (p. 172) raises the unaddressed, and consequently unanswered, question of the importance in accession accounts of the name of the king's mother, a feature which suggests that matrilinearity played a part in the royal ideology.
N. W
T
As the title suggests, this volume offers a fresh assessment of David's interactions with the Saulides as depicted in the books of Samuel. T.'s close reading of the final form of passages concerned with David and Ishbosheth, Michal and Mephibosheth respectively leads him to the conclusion that the portrayal offered by the Samuel narratives implicitly and at times explicitly suggests that David's treatment of the Saulides was often less charitable, at times more cruel and invariably more calculating than is sometimes assumed. T. reaches this conclusion in conversation with an eclectic (and at times rather limited) range of commentators, and while his findings will not be surprising to students of the books of Samuel and its scholarship, T. is to be commended for his attention to grammatical and syntactical issues in his close reading of the relevant MT texts. The prefatory review of scholarship and methodological discussion reflect the project's origin in T.'s doctoral dissertation and will not be of interest to all readers, and the final discussion of David and the Saulides' portrayal in relation to Dtr and DtrH is too wide-ranging and thus rather thin. However, T.'s careful reading of various passages makes a welcome contribution to the scholarly discussion of the fate of the house of Saul as depicted in the books of Samuel.
D. S
W
Befitting his role as Canon Chancellor at Lichfield Cathedral, W. has produced several expositions of narratives about biblical leaders to aid Christian believers in their spiritual quest. The present volume, which balances one already published on the ‘Rise of David’ in earlier sections of Samuel, interprets the account of David's kingship not as a ‘Succession Narrative’, but as ‘the example of David to teach the person who aspires to serve God—particularly the person who is called to public office’. Summaries after each biblical chapter suggest modern-day applications for the sake of those preaching these texts, but W. evidently has in mind also those readers who might be seeking wisdom for maintaining a moral private life within a political career. The canonical shape of the text takes priority, and though W. is clearly familiar with commentaries on the text (acknowledging influence from Alter, Brueggemann, Goldingay and Davis), footnotes are not employed. Even so, the literary shape and structure of the text is important in W.'s exposition, arranged into ‘acts’ and ‘scenes’, and the narrative is interpreted at face value to derive meaningful lessons. The explicitly Christian theological interest does not detract from the careful analysis of the text on its own terms, and W. manages to allow the story to speak for itself, resisting the temptation to moralize or take cheap shots at contemporary issues. For scholars as much as for ‘laity’, this book might serve well for drawing refreshing personal edification from the well of scriptural narrative.
J.E. P
III. Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea-Malachi)
A
For a review of this volume, see Section 6 below.
C
This technical commentary abounds with numbers due to its main focus, which C. terms ‘logoprosodic’ analysis; this involves counting words, syllables and parts of syllables (morae). It is ironic that the Hebrew is transliterated in a work that deals so closely and thoroughly with the Hebrew text, though this is surely a standard of the series. Nevertheless, this academic study far better suits the scholar than the ‘educated nonspecialist’ that the series aims to include amongst its audience. For instance, regarding a musical metaphor, C. writes, ‘Rotation of the matrix by 180 degrees aligns paired arithmetical reciprocals at equal distances on all rays through the throne, symbolized here, as pitch class “D,” as universal tonic and generalized cosmological geometric mean’ (p. 26). The accompanying figure refers to a reciprocal which ‘inspire[s] the matrix by near convergence on the square root of 2’ (p. 27). Despite an impressive bibliography (82 pages), I was disappointed that C. says little on some of the thornier interpretative issues. His summary of twentieth-century and later interpretations (pp. 21–25) is indicative of the commentary as a whole; it centres on discussions of the acrostic nature of Nahum (C. regards 1.1–10 as a ‘bent’ acrostic), but does not mention feminist contributions (among others). The first major discussion on God (including God's vengeance) seems to be on pp. 218–24, the particularly troubling verses of 3.5–7 are given only a cursory explanation, and I would have preferred some serious wrestling with the text to the motivational story on pp. 372–73.
J.I. W
C
This book constitutes a valuable collection of C.'s writing on Isaiah. The studies in the first section investigate general issues related to prophecy and Isaiah. The first chapter, written specially for the present volume, discusses the process of development from small prophetic sayings, oral or written, to prophetic books. The next two articles have been published previously: ‘Max Weber, Charisma and Biblical Prophecy’, and ‘Isaiah: A Book without an Ending?’ Chapter 4, entitled ‘Written Prophecy: The Case of the Isaiah Memoir’, has been extensively revised and rewritten for the present publication. The articles in the next section explore the accounts in Isaiah of Jerusalem's deliverance in 701
L.-S. T
C
This well-researched monograph, the author's revised doctoral thesis, proposes a new model for understanding the redactional formation of Isaiah 18–20. In his survey of scholarship, C. notes that scholars tend to treat the אשמ oracles in Isaiah 13–23 as forming a distinct collection which either pre-dates or post-dates the non-אשמ oracles. C. suggests that, as the אשמ superscription may be secondary, it is preferable to date each oracle individually. In the following three chapters, C. explores the textual development of Isaiah 18–20 and discusses plausible historical settings in which the various textual strands could have originated. He postulates an original oracle about Cush in Isa. 18.1–2, 4–6 (dated to 701
L.-S. T
C
In his cogently argued doctoral thesis, C. applies anthropology and structural phenomenology to the symbolism of the human body in the book of Jeremiah. The author prefers the final form of the text in the longer MT version. Part I of the book deals with Jeremiah's body as a māšāl, i.e. a living mirror image of a different reality, as portrayed in Jeremiah 1, 20, 26 and 36. Part II, on Jeremiah 37–38, is concerned with the sentencing and punishment of the prophet, with a discussion of the associated terms ‘cistern’ (bor), ‘cords’ (ḥabālim) and ‘mud’ (ṭiṭ), apparently minor details that prove to be crucial. Jeremiah's very existence is an act of prophetic communication (p. 63) and what applies to him applies to the people of Jerusalem. From his analysis of underground cisterns and pit tombs (illustrated on pp. 262 and 264), C. provides new insights into the meaning of Jeremiah being lowered into and then pulled out of the cistern. More importantly, he has shown (against Y. Hoffman) that, in effect, the prophet's life was a vehicle for the divine message, particularly in respect of his trial. Although there is some comparison with ancient Near Eastern texts, essentially this is an inner-biblical study. The author's parenthetic style takes some getting used to, but his closely reasoned work certainly repays careful reading.
W.G.E. W
D
This interesting study ‘seeks to start new conversations about the book of Jeremiah’ (p. 12), and arguably does so. D. views Jeremiah as a text of resistance to imperial power which he claims is to be read ‘from below’ (p. 8). He takes an interdisciplinary approach to the text (p. 53), primarily combining postcolonial analysis with historical critical theory, which ‘undergirds the main thrust of this work’ (p. 9; see also p. 192), though the two approaches sometimes appear juxtaposed rather than integrated. The key chapters, 4–6, deal in turn with three passages: buying the field at Anathoth (Jer. 32.1–15); the choice offered by Nebuzaradan to Jeremiah (40.1–12); and building and planting in Babylon (29.5–7). D.'s own summary of his analysis is that the land (i.e. Israel) is ‘something worth defending (Chapter 4), worth living in (Chapter 5) as well as spatially relocated (Chapter 6)’ (p. 173). These chapters also contain insightful and thought-provoking observations, such as Jeremiah's predicament as a prisoner in a muddy well mirroring Judah's situation, or Jeremiah being a marginal character in ch. 40, a passage which deals with marginality. At times the postcolonial perspective on the text seems to overlook alternative interpretations. For instance, D. asserts that the positive portrayal of the Babylonian Nebuzaradan's generosity ‘blinds the reader to the realities of the conquest’ (p. 110), yet, arguably, this depiction primarily functions as part of the irony and reversals that are key to this passage. Nevertheless, on the whole the work is balanced: the author agrees that ‘colonial contexts are riddled with divisions beyond those of colonized-colonizer’ (p. 80); and that setting up exodus and exile as polarities can result ‘in an unhealthy differentiation’ (p. 175). A book I would recommend.
J.I. W
D
This commentary in the NICOT series is a thorough and solid treatment of a book that has been regarded as one of the texts in the Hebrew Bible that is most elusive and difficult to interpret. D., who is Professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary's Houston campus, offers his own translation of the biblical text, and provides comprehensive discussion of textual and translation difficulties. The Introduction of just over 50 pages covers a range of issues, including the origins and transmission of the book, literary and compositional features, the eighth-century historical context of Hosea's prophecies, and, by far the largest section (30 pages), a discussion of Hosea's theology. A comprehensive but not exhaustive bibliography follows. D. adopts the view that little or nothing in the book requires a date later than the eighth century
H. M
D
This Innsbruck dissertation is effectively a commentary on Micah 6–7. A translation with detailed (and generally conservative) textual notes is followed by an analysis of the place of these two chapters within the book, a subject which features strongly in all that follows as well; D. affirms the coherence both of these two chapters and of Micah as a whole. Well over half the book is then given over to a verse-by-verse commentary of the close reading variety. Careful concordance work is combined with attention to the links between the verses at nearer and further distance. Briefer concluding topics addressed include consideration of the role of the prophet in these chapters and links with the rest of the Book of the Twelve. There is very little attention paid to historical concerns, either for the setting of the passage or its history of composition. However, D. argues briefly at one point that there is much here that might have arisen out of the events of 701
H.G.M. W
D
Renewing the Book of Jeremiah Group (of the 1990s), the Writing/Reading Jeremiah Group was launched at the 2007 annual meeting of the SBL. This group tries to promote research exploring the consequences of both the historical-critical heritage of Jeremiah interpretation and challenges to such historicism under the postmodern pluralism, and to seek new semantic possibilities that exercise the aesthetic imagination under alternative visions of Writing/Reading Jeremiah. This volume is a collection of papers from the SBL annual meetings of 2007 and 2008. The studies are grouped into four sections which are composed of interesting essays. Part I, ‘Theorizing the Ancient and Modern Reader in/of the Scroll of Jeremiah’: Carolyn J. Sharp, ‘Jeremiah in the Land of Aporia: Reconfiguring Redaction Criticism as Witness to Foreignness’; Kathleen M. O'Connor, ‘Terror All Around: Confusion as Meaning-Making’; Ehud Ben Zvi, ‘Would Ancient Readers of the Books of Hosea or Micah Be “Competent” to Read the Book of Jeremiah?’; Louis Stulman, ‘Here Comes the Reader’; John Hill, ‘The Dynamics of Written Discourse and of the Book of Jeremiah MT’. Part II, ‘Diaspora and Resistance in Jeremiah’: Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, ‘Reading Jeremiah as Franz Fanon’; Else K. Holt, ‘Narrative Normativity in Diasporic Jeremiah and Today’; William R. Domeris, ‘The Land Claim of Jeremiah—Was Max Weber Right?’; Steed Vernyl Davidson, ‘Chosen Marginality as Resistance in Jeremiah 40:1–6’; Steed Vernyl Davidson, ‘Ambivalence and Temple Destruction: Reading the Book of Jeremiah with Homi Bhabha’. Part III, ‘Hope, Utopia and the Fantasy of Violence in Jeremiah’: Mark Brummitt, ‘Troubling Utopias: Possible Worlds and Possible Voices in the Book of Jeremiah’; Amy Kalmanofsky, ‘The Monstrous-Feminine in the Book of Jeremiah’; Else K. Holt, ‘King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, My Servant, and the Cup of Wrath: Jeremiah's Fantasies and the Hope of Violence’; Alice Ogden Bellis, ‘Assaulting the Empire: A Refugee Community's Language of Hope’; Erin Runions, ‘Prophetic Affect and Promise of Change: A Response’; Barrie Bowman, ‘Future Imagination: Utopianism in the Book of Jeremiah’. Part IV, ‘Intertextuality, Reception and History of Interpretation’: Hannes Bezzel, ‘“Man of Constant Sorrow”: Rereading Jeremiah in Lamentations 3’; Mary Chilton Callaway, ‘Reading Jeremiah with Some Help from Gadamer’; Mary Chilton Callaway, ‘Peering Inside Jeremiah: How Early Modern English Culture Still Influences our Reading of the Prophet’; Mary E. Shields, ‘Impasse or Opportunity or …? Women Reading Jeremiah Reading Women’; Athalya Brenner, ‘Response to Mary E. Shields: About “Jeremiah” as Reflected in Feminist Eyes’.
E.W. L
D
This latest volume of ACEBT follows its normal tradition of compiling shorter studies on a specified text by a mixture of younger and more established scholars. An excellent introduction to the book of Ezekiel and its place in contemporary scholarship by P. de Vries is then followed by a series of essays which explore particular texts within Ezekiel from various perspectives. These basically follow the canonical structure of the book. W.C.G. van Wieringen looks at the visions in the call narrative, while B. Kronemeijer-Heyink considers the theological problems posed by Ezekiel 18. P.C. Beentjes examines the lament in Ezekiel 19 while K. Stijkel looks at some text-critical issues in chs. 36–38, and their link to chs. 40–48. J. Dubbink considers the arguments for Israel's restoration in ch. 36 and P. van Midden considers Ezekiel 37 before J.W. Mazurel examines the distribution of the land in chs. 47–48 in contrast to the allocation in Joshua. Two closing essays offer a more reception-oriented approach. In the first of these D.M. Erbele-Küster considers the female body in Ezekiel and the implications of this for Ezekiel's audience, while L. Mock looks at the reading of Ezekiel in the synagogue, contrasting this with Christian approaches. Alternative titles in English (none are strictly translations of the Dutch) and English abstracts are also provided along with indexes. A useful and helpful collection.
D.G. F
F
The volume unites 34 articles (all but one previously published) spanning a period of 20 years that are mostly related to F.'s work on his 2005 commentary on Jeremiah in the series Herders Theologischer Kommentar (never reviewed in the B.L.) and his 2007 introduction to Jeremiah (B.L. 2008, p. 93). The articles are arranged in four main sections: (A) The Text of Jeremiah; (B) Introductions and Surveys; (C) Intertextuality; and (D) Person and Message of Jeremiah. Each individual section is provided with a short introduction and closes with reviews written by F. of other scholars' works. The articles are: (1) ‘Jer 25 und die Fremdvölkersprüche. Unterschiede zwischen hebräischem und griechischem Text’; (2) ‘Zum Text des Jeremiabuches’; (3) ‘Jeremia 52—ein Schlüssel zum Jeremiabuch’; (4) ‘Tendencies in the LXX version of Jeremiah’; (5) ‘Die Diskussion um den Jeremiatext’; (6) ‘Jeremia—Buch, Prophet und Botschaft’; (7) ‘Jeremia/Jeremiabuch’; (8) ‘Jeremia—ein Prophet im Streit mit allen; (9) ‘Jeremia—Buch und Prophet. Eine Einführung’; (10) ‘Einführung in das Buch Jeremia’; (11) ‘Einleitung zu Jeremia’; (12) ‘Aufnahme, Wend und Überwindung dtn/r Gedankengutes in Jer 30f.’; (13) ‘The Relationship between 2 Kings 17 and the Book of Jeremiah’; (14) ‘Partner oder Gegner? Zum Verhältnis von Jesaja und Jeremia’; (15) ‘Wie geht das Johannes-Evangelium mit dem Alten Testament um?’; (16) ‘Das Jeremiabuch als Spiegel der Schrift- und Lesekultur in Israel’; (17) ‘Das Ende von Deuteronomium (Dtn 26–34) im Spiegel des Jeremiabuches’; (18) ‘Motivparallelen zwischen dem Jeremiabuch und dem Markusevangelium’; (19) ‘Jeremia und die Psalmen’; (20) ‘Gott und Mensch unzertrennlich vereint. Der andere, neue Bund von Jer 31’; (21) ‘“Ich mache dich … zur eisernen Säule” (Jer 1,18). Der Prophet als besserer Ersatz für den untergegangenen Tempel’; (22) ‘Jer 20,10–13’; (23) ‘Das Trostbüchlein (Jer 30–31)’; (24) ‘Jer 31,31–34’; (25) ‘“Bin ich ein Gott aus der Nähe …?”’; (26) ‘Betroffen von Gottes Wort. Prophetie damals und heute’; (27) ‘Werfel als Interpret. Zur Jeremia-Deutung in seinem Roman Höret die Stimme’; (28) ‘Das brennende Wort—An den grenzen des Jeremiabuches’; (29) ‘“Mein Diener Neubukadnezzar”. Zur Rolle von Fremden im Alten Testament’; (30) ‘Zur Relativierung des Tempels im Jeremiabuch’; (31) ‘“Warum ist mein Schmerz anhaltend und meine Wunde unheilbar?” Zur Klage bei Jeremia und den Psalmen’; (32) ‘Jeremia als Prophet und Seelsorger’; (33) ‘Träger religiöser Verantwortung im Jeremiabuch’; (34) ‘Gebete als hermeneutischer Schlüssel zu biblischen Büchern—am Beispiel von Jeremia’. An index of biblical passages concludes the volume.
A.C. H
G
Building on the success of Tom Wright's NT series, and using G.'s inimitable style and considerable gifts, this is the seventh volume in SPCK's ‘For Everyone’ OT set. It divides Kings into 48 sections, each beginning with G.'s own translation. Not every paragraph is included and omitted sections are summarized. The 10-page glossary beginning with ‘aide’ (= angel) and ending with ‘Yahweh Armies’ (= YHWH of Hosts) alone makes the book worth buying. ‘Personal anecdote’ is a significant feature of the book which differentiates it from those in older equivalent series (Auld in the New Daily Study Bible [1986; B.L. 1987, p. 42]; Dawes in the People's Bible Commentary [2001; B.L. 2002, p. 70]), and this will work for some readers (it did for me) but not all. Whether G. can sustain the style to the same effect through the whole series remains to be seen. Woven in with this is everything one would expect in a serious reading of Kings which wants to learn from it about God, faith and life. No doubt purists can find opportunity to mutter, but books and series like this which give readers access to the OT with a trustworthy guide are sorely needed and are to be welcomed. This one is everything one expects from G.: lively, committed, accessible, informed. It will serve its intended purpose well, but it would not go amiss on an introductory class reading list either.
S.B. D
H
For a review of this volume, see Section 7 below.
H
The author employs rhetorical criticism, especially the concept of lyric sequencing, as her main approach to the poetic forms of Second Isaiah. Previous scholarship showed up the discontinuities of style in this text while seeking a common theme. This study finds the commonality in the divine voice, speaking vocatively, stressing the tension between competing emotions of wrath and merciful love on the deity's part. The book is logically worked through, from initial problem to poetic genre as such to the possible social context of the intended audience. There is a detailed language study of the structure of Second Isaiah which illustrates the lack of obvious cohesion and argues for the relevance of H.'s chosen viewpoint. The main text is accompanied by thorough footnotes which draw on existing commentaries of the book, as well as by four appendixes which lay out more detail of some of the central methodologies of the study. This volume is the result of serious doctoral work and deserves to be read carefully since it offers an interesting addition to Isaiah scholarship and is clearly written and articulated.
M. M
H
This volume develops the recent trend against the supposed antipathy of prophecy and cult with specific regard to the book of Isaiah. The first chapter addresses the rationale for the use of the priestly pentateuchal material in the discussion of Isaiah and is vital to the rest of the argument. On this basis H. proceeds to discuss holiness (ch. 2) and the land (ch. 3) before turning in Part II to case studies drawn from the book's three parts. With regard to Isa. 1.10–17 (ch. 4), H.'s object is to undermine the common anti-ritualistic reading of the text, partly on the basis of a date in the reign of Ahaz and partly on the basis of its structure and content; ch. 5 discusses Isa. 43.22–28 as a statement of the limitations of both cult and ethics with regard to salvation; and ch. 6 implies that Isaiah 58 combines the unity of cult and ethics noted in Proto-Isaiah and the recognition of their limitations noted in Deutero-Isaiah. The latter half of the book aims to establish that Proto-, Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah reflect an underlying (priestly) conception of cult, ethics and land and that their apparently divergent attitudes concerning the cult arise from the varying conditions of the people and the land in different periods. H.'s approach produces some interesting insights into the relationship of the Isaianic texts to the cult and the pertinence of that relationship to their ethical ideas, but readers who reject the relevance of the priestly literature to Proto-Isaiah, if not also to Deutero-Isaiah and Trito-Isaiah, may have difficulty fully following H. in these conclusions.
C.L. C
J
J.'s volume is a revision of his 2006 JTS doctoral thesis, in which he utilizes a cognitive approach to analyse and interpret metaphor in the text of Jeremiah 1–24. In the introductory chapter J. describes his approach as ‘a synthesis of studies conducted in a variety of disciplines, mainly in cognitive linguistics and poetics’ (p. 27 n.7), although at times his ‘synthesis’ more closely resembles an unintegrated constellation of distinct cognitive linguistics and metaphor theories. J.'s use of alternative terms creates a certain amount of confusion, particularly his use of the term metaphorical concept in places where linguists in the field use the term conceptual metaphor. J. explains that ‘[t]heir preference for the term “conceptual metaphor” seems to me part of this school's tendency to (over) emphasize the significance of metaphor’ (p. 29, n. 7), but this demonstrates J.'s own propensity to conflate the idea of literary metaphor with the more subtle differentiation made by cognitive linguists, for whom conceptual metaphor is a manifestation of the human cognitive process itself. While literary metaphor may be seen as an instantiation of conceptual metaphor, conceptual metaphor is a broader and more thought-oriented category. However, despite such terminological confusion, J. exhibits thorough scholarship in furthering his argument. In ch. 3 he analyses the structure of the book of Jeremiah, concluding that it is ‘a carefully arranged composition’ (p. 68). He then uses this conclusion as a presupposition for the remainder of his analysis. In ch. 4 J. argues that the presence of a global metaphor, ‘the destruction model’, a cognitive construction present in the Mesopotamian and Israelite thought worlds, contributes to the unity of Jeremiah 1–24 (p. 75). From an analysis of Mesopotamian sources, he identifies a structuring metaphorical concept that he tags
E.R. H
J
In this thesis-based monograph, J. starts from Duhm's identification of the four ‘Servant Songs’ and focuses on ways of reading the fourth song (Isa. 52–53). The main body of the book is a detailed and exhaustive analysis of these verses, with extensive footnotes. In ch. 3 Saussure's linguistic theories are drawn upon for a careful exegesis of the text and theories about the identity of the ‘Servant’. In ch. 4 there follows a further detailed analysis, distinguishing narrative from story, and in ch. 5 intertextualities are explored with all other relevant texts of the Hebrew Bible, especially those with the prophets. Following the summarizing final chapter there are eight appendixes, three indexes and a bibliography (omitting Ulrich Simon's commentary, A Theology of Salvation). This is a highly technical and thorough work, of great value to students of Isaiah 52–53. One question that presents itself, however, is why, in such an exhaustive study and tour de force of exegesis, J. should relegate consideration of Isa. 53.10 to an appendix and dismiss the second half of the verse as hopelessly corrupt, apparently in deference to Steck's analysis.
G. A
K
These 18 essays devoted to the study of Old Testament prophecy form a second volume of collected shorter studies by the author. An earlier volume (see B.L. 2005, p. 116) dealt with Judaism in the Second Temple period. Of the essays included here six are new and the rest have previously appeared elsewhere. They begin with an examination of prophecy in its ancient Middle Eastern context, beginning with the Lachish ostraka as an example of the development from short prophetic messages to the formation of books. This theme is then developed in two essays demonstrating the same process in regard to Old Testament prophets in which originally spoken messages have been edited and supplemented to form books. This raises the broader question of what was the uniquely new contribution that the prophets made to Israel's religion (essay 4). Essay 5 considers the use of an appeal to divine anger as explanation for military defeat by comparing biblical prophecies with the Moabite (Mesha) Inscription. This is followed by an examination of the Qumran pesher to Nahum to show how a canonical text could be extensively redeveloped in a new political context. A total of seven essays are devoted to Isaiah, beginning with the distinctive role of the book in the larger prophetic canon (essay 7). This is followed by a study of the idea of Israel in key titles that are used in Isaiah (essay 8) and the use made of earlier recorded sayings from the prophet in Isaiah 28–31 (essay 9). Two essays (10 and 11) are devoted to the wider literary horizons of Isa. 40.1–2; the first examines Isa. 40.1 in relation to the Isaiah book as a whole and the second considers the links between Isa. 40.1–2 and Jeremiah 50–51. Essay 12 reassesses Isaiah 56–66 as a literary unit, arguing that it is an exegetical compendium elaborating earlier sayings and themes in the book; there was no prophet Trito-Isaiah, nor did these chapters ever constitute a single independent collection. A concluding essay to this section examines the development of Isaianic themes at Qumran (essay 13). The final five studies focus on themes from Hosea and Amos. The first considers the role played by these two prophets in the overall structure of the Book of the Twelve, and the next (essay 15) examines the theme of knowledge of God in Hosea. These two studies are followed by a re-examination of the quest for the most original words of Amos in the wake of contemporary criticism (essay 16). More general issues are dealt with by relating prophetic polemic against the Temple cult (essay 17) to the actual historical fortunes of the Jerusalem Temple. The volume concludes (essay 18) with a study of the references to the prophecies of Amos and Hosea at Qumran. The emphasis throughout is on Old Testament prophecy as a highly distinctive literary phenomenon in which short recorded sayings from prophets have subsequently been edited, supplemented and reinterpreted in a wider political framework reaching down to the Hellenistic era. Fundamental questions are asked; the range of sayings ultimately ascribed to the eighth century is quite small when compared with the research of even half a century ago, but this is inevitable in view of the sharper focus on the demonstrable literary development of brief oracular utterances into remarkably long books. Attention is drawn to the continuity of interpretative assumptions evident in the editorial work that shaped the biblical books and the further interpretations of prophecy at Qumran. Familiar topics are placed in a fresh light and overall the transformation brought about by recent research in which the redactor has become king is amply demonstrated. Altogether this is a collection of studies not to be missed.
R.E. C
L
Hosea (or the writings bearing his name) is doubtless one of the most challenging parts of the Hebrew Bible. L.'s attempt at making some poetical sense of these ‘prophecies’ is brave, but does not leave the reader with any coherent solution, even in this revised version of his earlier book. Figures such as ‘devices and desires’ are poetic usages, but we should err and stray if we believed that such features necessarily divide poetry from prose. Parallelism (not to speak of alliteration or rhyme) might be symptomatic of poetic technique, but it is not necessarily distinctive: skin-spots may be trivial or sometimes presage serious diseases, but of themselves, they are merely symptoms. By the same token, clever alliteration and puns may be characteristic of a good writer, but bad alliteration (confusing different Hebrew sounds such as distinct varieties of t, s and k, as L. seems to allow) is no better than bad rhyme. Moreover, although it is true that Masoretic vocalization is not to be trusted too far, merely to tinker with it incidentally, as L. prefers, is not to justify a rational and systematic alternative. Similarly, Ugaritic material seems largely to have passed him by, together with the Gilgamesh Epic, the DAPT texts and other sources which bear upon the erotic, violent and other imagery which much possessed Hosea: it is not enough to take the Hebrew Bible as an authoritative source of myth, let alone history. These are all misapprehensions which mar L.'s work.
D. W
L
Dating the completion of the book of Jeremiah in both Egypt and Babylon to c. 560
J.B. J
M
M.'s revised doctoral thesis by his own admission builds on feminist theory but goes beyond it to offer a queer reading of the prophetic ‘marriage metaphor’ in Jeremiah, Hosea and Ezekiel. After several introductory chapters that explore queer theory and how it differs from as well as relates to feminist theory, M. examines each of the three prophets in turn, giving most space to Ezekiel as might be expected, since the metaphor in question is most extensive and elaborately developed in that prophet. In Jeremiah, M. focuses on what he terms ‘gender slippage’, whereby in the course of the metaphor the (male) Israelites are represented by both masculine and feminine pronouns. The same is true of Hosea, where additionally the prophet is unmanned by his marriage to a woman of harlotry, and Yahweh is unmanned by being associated with the prophet in his role as cuckolded husband. In Ezekiel 23 the prevalence of ‘masculine for feminine forms’ has the effect of undermining the rigidity of gender boundaries. The final stage of the discussion is a camp reading of Ezekiel 23, that sees the text as an exaggerated male-mimicking-female performance in which unrestrained female desire is personified with failed seriousness. Provocative and potentially (deliberately) shocking in places, M.'s study nevertheless has some sharp and challenging insights that enable these controversial chapters to be seen in a new light.
D.W. R
R
This slim monograph/commentary is the author's slightly rewritten doctoral thesis from 1989. It lacks a single central thesis. Instead, it provides moderately in-depth exegesis of Zech. 1.7–6.8 (henceforth Zech. 1–6), with focus on two points: (1) Is the imagery in Zech. 1–6 eschatological or apocalyptic, and (2) how does Zech. 1–6 relate to P, as found primarily in Ezekiel, and to earlier prophetic traditions? R. argues that Zech. 1–6 depends upon and further develops both traditions. Although the imagery in Zech. 1–6 is reminiscent of later apocalyptic writings (especially Daniel), it remains eschatological. As such, Zech. 1–6 holds a middle position between eschatological and apocalyptic writing. R. opens his book with a short overview of select secondary literature on Zech. 1–6 published since 1989. The selection is somewhat haphazard, with the striking absence of Petersen's and Meyers and Meyers' major commentaries. The next eight sections look at the eight vision accounts. R. goes systematically through the Hebrew text, discusses the meaning of most of the difficult expressions, and seeks to identify the overarching message of each account. For example, R. argues that many of the vision accounts proclaim God's actions on earth on behalf of his people. R.'s study is not bad in any way, yet one can feel its age. It would probably have been better had it been published 20 years ago as it contributes few insights new to contemporary Zechariah research. It further depends to a high degree on Christian Jeremias's research on Zechariah.
L.-S. T
R
This monograph, the author's dissertation completed in 2010 under Professor Dr F. Sedlmeier at the University of Augsburg, examines cases of representative speech (repräsentativen Redensarten) in the book of Ezekiel. That is, R. considers cases in which the thoughts, hopes, beliefs or claims of an individual or a group are expressed as a quotation. These include statements that are, in form-critical terms, diverse: disputations, illustrative quotations, aphorisms, and the like. R. identifies 38 such speeches in the book, beginning with 8.12 (‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land’) and concluding with 38.13 (‘Have you come to seize spoil …?’). In each case, R. examines the literary context of the speech (in some cases a few verses, in others a chapter or more), following this with rather mechanical discussions of text-critical, translational and exegetical issues. Other matters also merit special attention on occasion, the structure of the passage, for example, or a relevant inner-biblical parallel. Following the textual case-studies, R. attempts a synthetic examination of all representative speeches and their employment within the book's theology. He argues that the land is the central reference point of the speeches, and that the speeches are used to contend with Israel's neighbours and/or shape a hopeful response to the exilic crisis. Whether this is the result of an intentional editorial strategy or not remains to be seen. Regardless, it does not undermine R.'s observations about the suasive function of repräsentativen Redensarten, observations that deserve careful consideration.
W.A. T
S
This volume in the ‘Biblical Refigurations’ series edited by James Crossley and Francesca Stavrakopoulou aims to redress the balance of critique relating to biblical themes in general and to the Servant of Isaiah 52–53 in particular. In considering this fourth Servant Song, S. turns the focus away from theological issues such as typology and the identity of the Servant, and examines the figure of the Servant from the wider perspective of disability, considering medical, social, cultural and community models of disability. The study will jar on those who have been exploring the identity of the Servant along more traditional lines. Nevertheless it is a call to investigate the whole area of disability from a biblical, theological and contemporary view, and S.'s work and careful study needs to be continued beyond the figure of the Servant. There are 29 pages of detailed notes at the end, followed by a bibliography (in which Engnell's name is misspelt) and index.
G. A
S
This Swiss commentary, based on the new Zürcher Bibel translation (2007), is aimed at a broad readership, including non-specialists, and is very suitable, I think, for non-Hebraist undergraduates. This volume develops previous work by the author, with the introduction based on a section in RGG and the commentary proper on the three-volume Kommentar zur Zürcher Bibel; as a result, the introduction is rather more heavy-going than the commentary. The discussion does not aim at novelty or exhaustiveness, but well summarizes the history and current state of scholarship, and reads the texts with an eye particularly to their ANE context, literary forms, the composition of Isaiah as we now have it, connections with other prophetic books, and broader tradition history. Text-critical, linguistic and theological issues are not treated extensively and there are very few footnotes and references to secondary literature. The style is clear and very easy to read (despite rather a lot of typos), but also concise, containing much more information than the small number of pages would suggest, and the volume benefits from a number of useful line drawings. Further volumes on chs. 24–39 and 40–66 are expected.
A. W
S
This short volume is designed as an introduction for students at a relatively early stage in their study of Isaiah, those who might otherwise be overwhelmed by the ‘vast sea of analysis’ on the book. After a brief introduction to issues in the study of Isaiah and critical scholarship's attempts to address them, S. presents each of the three traditional divisions of the book in turn (chs. 1–3 are ‘The Formation of First-Isaiah’; ‘Second-Isaiah and the Book’; ‘Third-Isaiah and the Book’). As he notes in the introduction, however, S. is intent on including in these presentations the trend of recent Isaiah scholarship to acknowledge the links between these sections. Each of the chapters thus includes a discussion of how the section in question contains or interacts with both earlier and later material. This approach segues naturally into the latter half of the volume, in which the chapters are ‘Literary Approaches to Isaiah’ (ch. 4), ‘Reading Isaiah Holistically’ (ch. 5), ‘Approaches to Isaiah's Theology’ (ch. 6) and ‘Aspects of Isaiah's Theology’ (ch. 7). The book is well thought out and clear enough for even the beginning student, with judicious use of textual examples. It provides an excellent complement to the many separate introductions to First, Second and Third Isaiah and will undoubtedly become a go-to resource for both students and teachers of Isaiah.
C.L. C
T
Ezekiel's ‘Gog oracle’ may be one of the most neglected passages of a neglected prophet. If T.'s fine study does not drive up its popularity, it will not be for lack of effort. Despite widespread acknowledgment that the Gog oracle ‘belongs’ to Ezekiel's book and shares much of its content with other parts of the Hebrew Bible, opinion differs markedly on its origins and its relationship with the book. T. assesses the evidence systematically and thoroughly. An introductory chapter sets the scholarly context and methodological frame. Chapters 2 and 3 identify and assess the shared texts within and beyond the Ezekiel traditions. Chapter 4 examines three analogous instances of ‘reuse’ (Vorbilder; Ezek. 28.25–26; 6.1–14 and Ps. 79.1–4), thereby providing a framework for ch. 5's exploration of the varieties of reuse in the Gog oracle itself. Chapter 6 applies these findings to the wider interpretative issues raised by the presence and placement of the Gog oracle in Ezekiel. A brief concluding chapter summarizes the whole. T. presents the welter of data with clarity, care and confidence. He candidly admits the limits of both evidence and method, but reasons thoughtfully towards a late Persian/early Hellenistic setting for the Gog oracle, swayed principally, it seems, by what he sees as the oracle's closest comparators, found in the Second Temple period. While T. may not have settled every question concerning the Gog oracle's puzzles, his work is fundamental for future students of this fascinating text.
D.J. R
IV. Psalms and Wisdom (Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Job)
A
This well-written monograph, revised from a Wheaton College doctoral dissertation, explores what A. calls the ‘discourse setting’ of Proverbs, and argues that the book should be considered a courtly document. That might seem to suggest that it is merely revisiting an old opinion, the weaknesses of which have been thoroughly aired in recent decades, but A. is very well aware of the earlier debate and of contemporary scholarship on the issue, and the case which he presents is not in the old terms of a pragmatic and basically secular vocational training for scribes. Rather, the intention of Proverbs is viewed as enculturation, and the inculcation of (deuteronomic) social, moral and religious values belonging to the upper class. In the midst of much careful and judicious analysis of the text, however, there is less care taken with terminology, and the study slips between descriptions like ‘noble’, ‘aristocratic’ and ‘courtly’ in a way that permits it to jump, for instance, from the conclusion that upper-class boys are addressed in chs. 1–9 to the opinion that the text must therefore be ‘courtly’—an identification that would weaken the sense of ‘courtly’ even were it not already deeply problematic in a work usually considered postexilic. There is a similar tendency to move seamlessly between Proverbs and its parts, the original setting of any original section, of course, not being determinative for the whole book, or vice versa. This study is well worth reading for its scholarship and sensitivity to the text, but I doubt that in the end it really demonstrates more about the setting of the materials than that they originated in the scribal élite—like everything else.
S.D.E. W
A
For a review of this volume, see Section 6 below.
A
Although this is in the name of all the authors, the introduction is written by Vermeylen. This was a symposium of the Faculty of Theology from the Catholic University of Lille in January 2010, in the context of a cultural exhibition, ‘Psalms, the songs of humanity’. They attempt to bring the range of recent research, as well as some new proposals, to a public of non-specialists (p. 8). The essays are on whether one can speak of literary genres with regard to the Psalms (Vermeylen), David, the key to reading the Psalms (Auwers), some signs of unity in the Psalms as a book (Wénin), violence in the Psalms (Di Pede), the implied reader and the actual reader of the Psalms (Vialle), and how Aquinas, Luther and Calvin read the Psalms, together with the modern reading of Ricoeur (Nocquet). This will mainly appeal to lay Catholics.
L.L. G
B
This translation of B.'s Cantico dei cantici (2004) has a stronger exegetical focus and is less confessional than the original (sadly, it fails to use inclusive language). Whereas the commentary proper, with its detailed exposition that includes discussion of structural and stylistic features and intertextual allusions, remains essentially the same, the introduction, conclusion and closing sections of each chapter have been reworked and the bibliography has been updated. B. sees the Song as a lyric (not dramatic or narrative) poem about human love, with a spiritual and theological dimension. It is a unity, with a prologue (1.2–2.7) and epilogue (8.5–14) surrounding two virtually symmetrical parts, each of which shows a progression from separation to union: 2.8–5.1 (songs of the woman, choral intermezzo [3.6–11], songs of the man) and 5.2–8.4 (songs of the woman [5.2–6.3], the man [6.4–7.11] and the woman [7.12–8.4]). With many scholars, B. dates the Song to the Hellenistic period, in which context the identification of the woman with the land reflects a nationalistic interest. A paean to the power of love, the Song polemicizes against such institutions and attitudes as the patriarchal family, represented by the woman's brothers; commercial views of love, represented by Solomon's harem and the bride price (8.8–10); and forces of repression and control, represented by the city watchmen and the women of Jerusalem, who want to legislate love (2.7).
J.C. E
B
Although this work is styled as ‘a commentary in the Wesleyan tradition’, it gives almost no attention to specifically Methodist traditions of interpretation of either Ecclesiastes (in 171 pages of commentary) or Lamentations (in 65 pages of commentary). Just one half of one page is given over to a section on ‘Wesleyan Interpretation’ of Ecclesiastes, wherein it is mentioned that John Wesley wrote Explanatory Notes on Ecclesiastes, but those Notes are not deployed in this commentary nor itemized in its bibliography, and no mention is made of either Wesley himself or later Wesleyan tradition giving any attention to Lamentations, so readers looking for an account of the specifically Methodist reception of these intriguing biblical books will be disappointed. Nonetheless, if the work is understood more broadly as ‘a commentary in the Christian tradition’, it will be found, by readers desirous of an approach to the OT text that gives the final word to NT perspectives as distilled by mainstream Christian interpretation, to be a worthy treatment of the two books in question. Such readers may feel that, of the three sections into which the discussion of each passage is divided—‘Behind the Text’ (background information), ‘In the Text’ (verse-by-verse interpretation), and ‘From the Text’ (theological deductions and modern applications)—it is the third such section that brings them most satisfaction. Even so, they will encounter solid exegesis in the other two sections, and some splendid quotations from relevant ancient and subsequent literature sprinkled throughout the work.
J. J
B
B.'s work on the analysis of metaphor in the Psalms is well known (Seeing the Psalms, 2002; B.L. 2004, p. 77), and in this brief introduction he makes good use of his sensitivity to the poetic dimension of the Psalter. B. makes it clear that he is not adding to the considerable body of Psalms Einleitung literature, though he does touch on genre, groupings of psalms, and theological issues. He attends also to some more unfamiliar aspects, such as ‘Psalms as Performance’ (using the suggestive subheadings of ‘Verbal’, ‘Kinesthetic’, ‘Shaping Desire’, ‘Worship’ and ‘Meditatio’) and ‘Psalms as Corpus’, where he seeks to identify overarching themes, using the traditional division into five books as his guide. The principal appeal will be to undergraduates and lay readers, for whom the generous (perhaps overly generous) quoting of individual psalms will make the book practically very accessible, if at the cost of a little less analysis than might have been expected. For those stimulated to pursue the subject further the bibliography is generous without being too daunting. A good companion to, rather than replacement for, more traditional introductions such as S.E. Gillingham (The Poems and Psalms of the Hebrew Bible, Oxford University Press, 1994).
A.G. H
B
This book is the work of an amateur, in the true sense of one motivated by love of the subject matter. Before his untimely death B. was a professional musician and pianist who set himself to investigate the discrepancy between the masoretic accentuation in Psalms, Proverbs and Job as compared with that in the rest of the Tanak; and the book, published after his death by two of his friends, presents the results of his findings. It starts with a detailed review of the history of notation and performance of the accents in the 21 books (i.e. all except Psalms, Proverbs and Job), arguing that they are intended to indicate vocal inflections (i.e. raising, lowering, sustaining the pitch) as an aid to rhetorical understanding of the text, rather than to indicate precise melodies. It then presents B.'s own understanding of the system of accentuation in the 21 books, and in the light of that understanding goes on to reconstruct the function and practice of the accentuation system in the remaining three books, for which (unlike the 21) there is no living tradition of performance. This having been achieved, the CD presents a detailed written poetical analysis of every chapter of Psalms, Proverbs and Job in pdf format, together with sound files in which B.'s own computer musical voice synthesis program has been used to create performances of every chapter of text in line with B.'s theory of the accents. The sound files are fascinating if rather robotic in their effect, and perhaps not surprisingly the musical realization of the accents they present is somewhat reminiscent of the chanting of psalms in the Christian tradition. This is a detailed and highly technical study which, in its elaboration of what is effectively an ancient exegetical tradition, may well yield interpretative insights on the poetical books to those who take the time to engage with it.
D.W. R
E
Previous volumes in the recently launched ‘Two Horizons’ series have already been welcomed in the B.L. These commentaries aim to assist ‘students, pastors, and other Christian leaders’ (p. i) in their theological reflection on Scripture. E.'s volume should fulfil this goal admirably. It falls roughly into two halves. Introductory questions are dealt with reasonably fully (30 pages), leading to a paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of the book (86 pages). E.'s commentary offers a patient, engaging, and—importantly—illuminating account of Qohelet's many puzzles, even if some problems deserve fuller treatment. Written with a fairly light touch, many of E.'s observations nicely catch Qohelet's tone of voice—or one possibility for it, at least. The latter half of the volume comprises three chapters which develop theological aspects. A variety of themes are explored fairly swiftly under the rubric ‘Theological Horizons’, while the chapter assessing Qohelet's contribution to biblical theology, and vice versa, is much more substantial. The concluding chapter makes fruitful suggestions about the use of the book ‘for theology and praxis today’ (p. 192). It was to be expected that E.'s ‘Christotelic’ approach would be put to work here, and so it is. ‘Theological exegesis’ remains elusive, however, even if the ‘spiral’ of reading that E. urges makes good sense. The ‘commentary’ seems not very theological, while the ‘theological’ exploration works from an abstracted sense of the biblical text. Still, it will make a valuable contribution to those looking for assistance in their own theological reflection on this enigmatic biblical book.
D.J. R
F
Although the Song is largely a poetic text, to some extent it can be studied as narrative, along the lines of work by G. Genette and others, as the author explains in the two introductory chapters on method, structure, discourse and plot. He provides an annotated translation (ch. 3), which does not indicate who is speaking, although a table of speakers and whom they address is given later (pp. 142–48). Chapter 4 is on structure and structural indicators, with more tables. According to F., there are three overlapping ways of reading the Song: as linear, cyclic and concentric. The next chapter is the longest and most detailed and deals with the text as discourse in respect of time and place, followed by ch. 6 on plot. The book closes with a summary. There is very little reference to ancient Near Eastern texts, chiefly because the study is synchronic. A bibliography and indexes of topics and texts are provided. From all his analysis, F. has extracted a considerable amount of information from the Song, largely set out in tables, of the protagonists, their locations, the settings, focalization and so on, much of it previously ignored. Whether or not one agrees with his approach and the structure he proposes, the reader now has more than enough significant material to work on and draw independent conclusions.
W.G.E. W
F
The much-anticipated second volume on Proverbs by F. (the first volume was reviewed in B.L. 2001, p. 62) exceeds every expectation, delivering fresh, shrewd and (above all) sensible exegesis, while avoiding the flights of fancy—particularly regarding patterns and structures—that have featured in so much recent scholarship. The volume begins with an introduction in three parts: reading Proverbs as a collection, reading a proverb, and the provenance of chs. 10–31. F. maintains that chs. 10–31 are fundamentally different from chs. 1–9. Proverbs 10–31 is comprised, largely, of independent aphorisms, mostly in couplets. Chapters 10–29 were composed and edited in four collections between the eighth and seventh centuries
W.A. T
H
H. aims to demonstrate that an integration of functional-grammatical and cognitive-semantic currents of contemporary linguistics may provide a valuable analytical tool for hermeneutics. Job 12–14, in his view an overlooked and yet central passage in the book, serves as his test case. After a thorough discussion of recent developments in linguistics and their relation with hermeneutics (ch. 1), he applies the two linguistic approaches to the text. Chapters 2–4 describe functional linguistics, which focuses on language's use in human communication and involves identifying the ‘Topic’ and ‘Focus’ of each clause. He analyses Job 12–14 clause by clause, concluding with a chart tracing the topics as they progress across the passage. Chapters 5–7 take two themes, knowledge and speech, which the functional study revealed to be important to the meaning of the passage, and subjects the words related to them in the text to cognitive-semantic analysis, which studies words in their broader conceptual context. This methodical methodology yields detailed insight into the text's structure and the meaning of some important Hebrew words, along with intriguing hermeneutical results: the speech is a diptych with a hinge at 13.18; Job is not countering the friends' traditional knowledge with his experience, but claiming equal knowledge; and the vital distinction between them is the way they speak, with Job, unlike the friends, addressing God directly (cf 42.7). Others, however, have come to similar conclusions using less demanding approaches, which draws into question H.'s claim that this approach ‘should play a central role’ in biblical interpretation.
W.J. K
H
Anyone interested in the dramatic and intensive reworking of key theological psalms in Hebrews will find much to ponder in this volume, the proceedings of a seminar held at the University of Pretoria in August 2007. The fourteen contributions consist of three general introductory essays, eleven examining in detail the use of Psalms 8, 39 (40), 94 (95) and 109 (110) by the author of Hebrews, and a coda in which a contemporary issue in South Africa is addressed with reference to the main topic. E. Otto opens with a review of the problems of ‘Old Testament Theology’ versus ‘History of Religion’ and concludes that Hebrews' use of Psalms shows how the two can be reconciled; J.W. Gericke examines the philosophy of truth as it might apply to Hebrews' interpretation of Psalms; and A. Groenewald makes the case for the centrality of ḥesed as the interpretative key. Within the main section of the volume, aspects of Psalm 8 are dealt with by G. de Villiers (‘Reflections on Creation and Humankind’), S. Fuhrmann (‘The Son, the Angels and the Odd’), and L.P. Maré and C.L. de Wet (‘The Messianic Interpretation of Psalm 8:4–6 in Hebrews 2:6–9’ respectively, Parts I and II); M. Karrer examines ‘LXX Psalm 39:7–10 in Hebrews 10:5–7’; Psalm 94 (95) is discussed by D.J. Human (‘A Prophetic Voice for Africa from Psalm 95’), C. Frevel (‘Understanding Psalm 95 within, and without, Hebrews’) and G.J. Steyn (‘The Reception of Psalm 95(94):7–11 in Hebrews 3–4’); and Psalm 109 (110) is taken up by G.J.C. Jordaan and P. Nel (‘From Priest-King to King-Priest’) and E.G. Dafni (‘Psalm 109(110) in the Septuagint’). The collection closes with H. van Rooy's analysis of a recent controversy over a new Afrikaans translation of the Psalter, arising from a suspicion that messianic references had been deliberately excised. An apt point to illustrate the contemporary as well as the scholarly value of this fine volume.
A.G. H
L
This volume continues the detailed application of L.'s theory of strophic structure to the Psalter, started in an earlier volume (B.L. 2006, p. 114), and now covering Books II and III of the Psalter. His methodology is briefly reproduced, and then applied in detail to individual psalms. In each case the presentation comprises a colometric reproduction of the transliterated text, with transition markers and repetitions highlighted; listing of transition markers with analysis of their locations; listing of repetitions and analysis of their contribution to strophic structure; discussion of quantitative aspects (following the numerological approach of Labuschagne); and a list of strophic structures proposed by others. Subsequent chapters offer a summary and discussion of the types of cantos discerned in the analysis; and an exploration of the scope for determining the ‘rhetorical centre’ of a psalm based on ‘mathematical’ methods, i.e. counting words, cola or strophes. The determination of the ‘mathematical centre’ of a psalm highlights counts of 13, 17 and 26, which are said to be significant by virtue of their gematrial representation of YHWH. Strengths of the work include a consistently detailed application of the method of strophic analysis, critical engagement with other such approaches and an openness to linear as well as concentric structures. The volume is an excellent reference point for anyone concerned with the strophic or rhetorical structure of these psalms.
S.P. S
L
Under the title ‘Psalm and Number: God Lives in the Blank Lines’, L. introduces his ‘Kamper School’ method of reading Biblical Hebrew poetry. According to this approach to reading the psalms and other biblical poetic texts, the specific meaning is closely connected with the structural form and layout of the poem. Rather than search for the meaning of a biblical text, its genre and its reception history, as do most exegetes and commentators, L. prefers to go deeper into the shape of the text itself. Thus, he claims, we can draw from the text much valuable information that we cannot obtain otherwise, and access the theological ‘centres of gravity’ of a psalm, patiently reading and re-reading in order to penetrate the core of the text and appreciate its beauty and balance. L. takes us through the minutiae of his reading, paying close attention to such matters as metre, typography and composition techniques deployed by the authors, and suggesting that the aniconic tradition of early Judaism appears to have ensured that all its creative energy and artistic expression was channelled into its literature. This method of literary criticism may not only be applied in a homiletical context but may also constitute the background to academic study, and indeed it forms the foundation for the many blank lines encountered in the layout of the (Dutch) New Bible Translation of 2004. The work is well worth the notice of biblical scholars but its publication in Dutch will necessarily limit its readership.
H. K
P
P. published an interesting scholarly monograph on Qohelet a few years ago, L'énigme du bonheur (VTSup, 119; see B.L. 2009, pp. 165–66), but this work is evidently intended for a wider audience—although it has that admirable French quality of attributing both intelligence and a tolerance of footnotes to non-specialists. After an introduction that covers the major themes and problems of the book, the bulk of the work is a short commentary with a particular emphasis on issues of structure and composition. The commentary is followed, though, by a chapter which explores the statements about happiness in the book and presents in summary the case that P. made in his earlier study, for a development in Qohelet's position between the first and second half of the monologue. This informs a short conclusion, which characterizes Qohelet's message as one of finding joy and learning acceptance in place of despair.
S.D.E. W
R
This Göttingen PhD thesis belongs to the strong German tradition since Gunkel of interest in the Sitz im Leben of Psalms, attempting to characterize the Psalter's view of sacrifice and Temple cult alongside those of the priestly writings on the one hand and the prophets on the other. R.-H. does this by means of careful analysis of sacrifice terminology in five categories: types of sacrifice (ten terms, including most notably הדות and ךדנ), sacrificial practices (הלע, הקל, ךםנ, השע, ןוכ, הכו), responses (ץפח, פצר, פזב, לאש, ןשר, דבז), objects of sacrifice (nine animal types or products and five attitudes or actions, e.g. הדבשנ חוד, יפב תאשמ) and locations (תיב, תבזמ, להא). Examples are then discussed of Psalms offering positive (Pss. 20; 66), negative (Pss. 16; 50) or spiritualized (51; 141) perspectives on sacrifice. Conclusions are drawn in terms of the special role of הדות, the meaning of רךנ, statements that are critical of sacrifice, and statements about sacrifice in spiritualized terms (more modern approaches to ritual and performance might have helped here). The discussion presents few really new insights, the lexical items being simply catalogued as in a dictionary (here a sense of semantic domains and cognitive frames would have helped) and the textual exegesis sometimes straying from the point at issue. However, the book offers a clear, well-presented and thorough survey of the material, and the conclusions on the Psalter's distinctive use of language, and the theology this reflects, seem valid, so this is a valuable contribution.
A. W
S
This is the replacement in the Alte Testament Deutsch series for Helmer Ringgren's commentary, originally published in 1962, and it stands in very much the same tradition of scholarship. That is not entirely a good thing: in certain respects this book could itself have been written not much later than 1962, and it is disappointing, at the beginning of the introduction, to find an account of Egyptian and Mesopotamian literature which shows no consciousness of new evidence or changing paradigms in Egyptology and Assyriology over the past three or four decades. Although much more recent biblical scholarship is cited and addressed (that in German rather more consistently, perhaps, than that in English or other languages), it is more often conscripted to serve than to set the agenda, which is generally shaped very much by traditional concerns. On the positive side of the same coin, there is a strong exegetical engagement with the text, and S. brings his own interests and expertise to questions about the relationships between sayings in the sentence-literature collections. To some extent, he has also been able to take advantage of the recent BHQ edition of Proverbs, and the textual notes are very helpful. In both good and bad ways, then, this is at heart a somewhat old-fashioned commentary, which has an important contribution to make, but which is less of an update to its predecessor than one might hope.
S.D.E. W
S
This is the first of three planned volumes in the first Indonesian commentary on the book of Proverbs. It is the fruit of seven years' research by the author, an Old Testament scholar from Medan, North Sumatra. After an introduction to each section of the text, she provides her own translation from the Hebrew, textual notes, verse-by-verse exegesis, and concluding reflections for the benefit of preachers. The work is informed by close familiarity with the biblical text and wide secondary reading. It is a significant advance in indigenous Indonesian biblical scholarship that will be used and valued in colleges and churches throughout this vast country. The second volume should be in print by now, though I have not yet seen it, and the third volume will be eagerly awaited.
D.L. B
W
For a review of this volume, see Section 9 below.
V. Other Writings (Lamentations, Daniel, Ruth, Esther, Chronicles, Ezra–Nehemiah)
A
The subtitle ‘A Pastoral Commentary’ is a good summary of A.'s book, and the assumed audience seems to be the ‘thinking person in the pew’. The commentary is a good balance between a (reasonably high level, explanatory) walk-through of the text and historical context of Lamentations (which A. cites section by section, using his own translation, the rationale for which is provided in the final chapter), and an appropriation of this ancient text to contemporary situations of grief (he gives short anecdotal examples throughout). One of the strengths of A.'s work, not always found in works either on grief or on Lamentations, is that he avoids two extremes. He does not ignore ‘that victims of suffering may to a lesser or greater degree be victims of their own bad choices’ (p. 38), and that ‘[h]aving lived in the moment, the community had been unprepared for the wages that sin inexorably pays’ (p. 44); and in this context he refers at times to the twelve steps used by Alcoholics Anonymous. At the same time he grants that ‘[w]ar is a dirty business that leaves nobody's hands clean’, grievances are often present in grief (pp. 47–48), and Judah ‘needed compassion as well as blame’ (p. 47). A. also acknowledges that while the situation behind Lamentations was partly a consequence of human actions, it was also due to divine intervention (pp. 52–53, 54), though he argues ‘that God does care’ (p. 109) and ‘does not want to afflict people or make them suffer’ (Lam. 3.33). In short, a thoughtful and sensitive work on a difficult topic.
J.I. W
B
Most of the essays in this volume began life as papers read and discussed in 2008 and 2009 in the context of the ‘Production and Reception of Authoritative Books in the Persian and Hellenistic Period’ section of the EABS. Two (Schweitzer and Löwisch) were invited as written contributions. In his introduction, Ehud Ben Zvi stresses that the work is to be read as a ‘conversation’ addressing not only the question which forms the book's title, but also ‘What might “authoritative” have meant for the Chronicler?’ (p. 12). The essays presented are: Ehud Ben Zvi, ‘One Size Does Not Fit All: Observations on the Different Ways that Chronicles Dealt with the Authoritative Literature of its Time’; Steven J. Schweitzer, ‘Judging a Book by its Citations: Sources and Authority in Chronicles’; David A. Glatt-Gilad, ‘Chronicles as Consensus Literature’; Philip R. Davies, ‘Chronicles and the Definition of “Israel”’; Joseph Blenkinsopp, ‘Ideology and Utopia in 1–2 Chronicles’; Ingeborg Löwisch, ‘Cracks in the Male Mirror: References to Women as Challenges to Patrilinear Authority in the Genealogies of Judah’; Yairah Amit, ‘Araunah's Threshing Floor: A Lesson in Shaping Historical Memory’; Louis Jonker, ‘The Chronicler and the Prophets: Who Were his Authoritative Sources?’; Amber K. Warhurst, ‘The Chronicler's Use of the Prophets’; Mark Leuchter, ‘Rethinking the “Jeremiah” Doublet in Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles’; David J. Chalcraft, ‘Sociology and the Book of Chronicles: Risk, Ontological Security, Moral Panics, and Types of Narrative’; and Diana Edelman and Lynette Mitchell, ‘Chronicles and Local Greek Histories’. The papers reflect a range of approaches and perspectives, and inevitably different elements will appeal to, or challenge, different people. This reader was particularly helped by insights into the genealogical material provided by Löwisch's reflections on the significance of the inclusion of three references to women, and by Edelman and Mitchell's study of the material in the light of the Greek ‘local history’ genre.
A.H.W. C
B
For a review of this volume, see Section 5.IV above.
C
For a review of this volume, see Section 9 below.
F
For a review of this volume, see Section 9 below.
G
This is an in-depth reappraisal of the arguments about the historicity of the book of Daniel and moves scholarship forward in this field. G. identifies the historical issues which have caused critics to doubt the early (sixth–fifth century
J.P.R. D
J
J.'s work is updated from a 1999 doctoral dissertation. She argues that the political dominance of the Achaemenids triggered a range of identity-related issues, most significantly, exile, trauma, purity and ethnicity. The argument relies upon applying social-scientific data concerned with exile and trauma to the text. J.'s hypothesis, which reconstructs from archaeology the economic environment in Yehud, is that dire economic circumstances provoked the intermarriages between Yehudite men and Persian women. Such unions increased the status of returning Yehudite men (hypergamy). Furthermore, J. develops Morton Smith's theories, identifying the ‘sons of the Exile’ with Smith's Yahweh-alone party and the ‘peoples of the land’ with the syncretistic group, claiming that these two groups in Yehud struggled for economic power. Several difficulties with these arguments exist. First, although the ‘hypergamy’ theory is used, Smith-Christopher's application of this theory to the text, which produced a similar conclusion, is not discussed. Second, the hypergamy theory has itself been challenged by anthropologists. Third, the assumption that the hypergamy model can be applied relies on the reconstruction of those in Yehud as being richer than those returning, and also being Persian. Fourth, the idea that only two groups existed within Yehud may be reductive; can we assume that all those who returned to Yehud had the same experiences and were settled in the same places in exile? Fifth, only a page's description of ethnicity is provided before this is applied to the text. However, these issues do not preclude the book being an excellent example of the application of the social sciences to biblical material. Particularly valuable are J.'s consideration of the concerning hermeneutical significance of text in light of modern reception in America, and her reframing of the crisis in terms of the consequences of exilic trauma.
K.E. S
K
To date there are very few biblical commentaries written by indigenous Indonesian scholars, so this new volume is very welcome. The author is a member of the revision team for the Indonesian New Translation, and includes a draft translation for Ruth in the commentary with textual and translation notes. The major part of the commentary takes a narrative approach to the text, assuming a historical core to the story, and presenting it as a drama in four acts: Naomi Becomes Empty (ch. 1); Ruth and Boas in the Field (ch. 2); Ruth and Boas at the Threshing-Floor (ch. 3); Naomi Becomes Full Again (ch. 4). Finally, K. discusses the characteristics of Hebrew short stories, and reflects on the major characters and themes of the book of Ruth.
D.L. B
K
For a review of this volume, see Section 6 below.
L
L. argues that narrative inherently contains ethical principles. This argument utilizes social identity theory, where norms are an alternative to ‘ethics’, and self-categorization theory, where group identification influences the behaviour of individuals, sometimes causing them to put the group's priorities before their own. These theories are then applied to each of the principal characters. Boaz, L. maintains, is a character whose principal trait is ḥesed. However, his initial inaction is best explained through the tension between his personal and social identity. Personally, the union with Ruth may preclude the possibility of his producing a descendant. Yet Boaz's social identity overrides this concern, causing him to take up his duties of levirate marriage. Ruth is a character also dominated by ḥesed but, unlike Boaz, initiative. Like Boaz, Ruth subordinates her personal goals for the collective good. Both examples demonstrate for implied readers the ethical importance of kinship. Naomi's return also highlights the importance of attachment to social groups and therefore buttresses the corporate understanding of Israelite self-hood. However, Naomi's path to regaining her personal identity illustrates the importance of personal identity. Perhaps L. could have been more definite about suggesting a date for the text (the Persian period is suggested, but other dating theories are not ruled out), and the extent of Ruth's assimilation into the host society could have been explored further. Nevertheless, L.'s work provides in-depth discussion of various Hebrew terms, it is well referenced with detailed footnotes, and it exemplifies how very successful careful application of a model to the biblical text can be. The arguments provided are clear, coherent and strong throughout the book.
K.E. S
S
This monograph is a revised version of S.'s 2008 doctoral dissertation. It is heavily referenced throughout and where passages from Ruth are quoted S. provides her own translation alongside the Hebrew text. Unfortunately the combination of Norwegian author and German publisher results in a somewhat flawed English text which requires careful reading. Part I predominantly deals with methodology. Here, amongst others, issues of character, personal names and dating are discussed. S. argues that the genealogy in 4.18–22 derives from 1 Chronicles 2 as a fixed list and that the Ruth story was created in the light of this. She identifies the frequent references to Ruth as a Moabite as polemics against the Ezra tradition and consequently dates the book in the Persian period close to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. In Part II each chapter focuses on the analysis of a character in the story. Interestingly S. begins by analysing the named minor characters; and in this context she treats Peloni Almoni (Ruth 4.1) as a nickname and includes a section on his role. Naomi's character is discussed next, followed by Ruth and Boaz, and finally the character of God is analysed. Both God's ḥesed and silence are discussed and these concepts form the basis of the concluding remarks in Part III. I am not persuaded by all S.'s conclusions which tend to portray the characters in too generous a light. However, her thesis is well presented and there is much detailed analysis that contributes ideas to Ruth scholarship.
J.E. T
S
S. uses the book of Daniel as a test case in expounding his concept of canonical intertextuality. He tries to bring together more coherently Kristeva's theory of intertextuality and canonical criticism as espoused by Childs. He begins the book with a useful condensed history of the development of each of these movements. Daniel then provides the example of a text where the ordering and allusions between parts of the text and between it and other canonical texts are an important element not only in the interpretation but of the construction of the biblical book as we now have it. S. gives an interesting overview of current interpretation, classifying it according to three approaches to the book to be found in the commentary literature. He then proceeds to apply his methodology first to Daniel itself, and then to Daniel in the context of the Old and New Testaments. His aim turns out to be to show that the way in which Daniel is used in the New Testament is a continuation of a process to be found in the book itself and no radical departure. However, neither the method nor the results seem to mark any great departure in themselves from other readings of Daniel. The book makes its contribution in its succinct overview and illustration of current debates on canon and interpretation.
H. P
T
This volume is based on T.'s PhD thesis submitted to the University of Cambridge. This very detailed book describes Chronicles as having been written during the late postexilic period when only the Temple in Jerusalem was a living institution and the monarchy was just a memory and a symbol of the past. T. argues in a very detailed and complex way with commentators who consider Chronicles as devoid of any hope for the restoration of a monarchy under a Davidic ruler, and polemicizes against this view. The king-Temple relationship is seen as the leitmotif of Chronicles. T. also examines in three chapters the issue of Chronicles from the perspective of its relations with the postexilic theological traditions. The book contains a very limited selected bibliography and one scholar who has written many articles on Chronicles, Yairah Amit, is missing; perhaps her articles in Hebrew were not available to T.
D. C