Book-Reviews-and-Summaries

D. A. Carson, Peter O’Brien, and Mark Seifrid In contrast to Sanders’ emphasis on the essential consistency of Palestinian Judaism’s pattern of religion, the essays in Second Temple Judaism ( affiliate disclosure) emphasize the nomistic diversity, or variegation, that ancient Judaism exhibited. ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: James Aston and John Walliss, eds., Small Screen Revelations: Apocalypse in Contemporary Television, reviewed by Sylvie Raquel Joseph A. Bessler, A Scandalous Jesus: How Three Historic Quests Changed Theology for the Better, reviewed by Mary K. Schmitt Daniel Bodi, ed., Abigail, Wife of David, and Other Ancient Oriental Women, reviewed by Benjamin J. M. Johnson Jared C. Calaway, The Sabbath and the Sanctuary: Access to God in the Letter to the Hebrews and Its Priestly Context, reviewed by Carl Mosser Ohad Cohen, The Verbal Tense System in Late Biblical Hebrew Prose, reviewed by Bálint Károly Zabán John Granger Cook, Crucifixion in the Mediterranean World, reviewed by Charles L. Quarles Jerome F. D. Creach, Violence in Scripture, reviewed by Pieter G. R. de Villiers Arthur J. Dewey and Robert J. Miller, eds., The Complete Gospel Parallels, reviewed by Thomas J. Kraus Matthew Drever, Image, Identity, and the Forming of the Augustinian Soul, reviewed by Cheuk Yin Yam and Anthony Dupont Diana V. Edelman, ed., Deuteronomy-Kings as Emerging Authoritative Books: A Conversation, reviewed by Trent C. Butler Shawn W. Flynn, YHWH is King: Development of Divine Kingship in Ancient Israel, reviewed by Michael B. Hundley Steven J. Friesen, Sarah A. James, and Daniel N. Schowalter, eds., Corinth in Contrast: Studies in Inequality, reviewed by Thomas R. Blanton IV Matti Friedman, The Aleppo Codex: In Pursuit of One of the World’s Most Coveted, Sacred, and Mysterious Books, reviewed by Paul Sanders Cornelis den Hertog, The Other Face of God: ‘I Am That I Am’ Reconsidered, reviewed by Richard S. Briggs Christl M. Maier and Carolyn J. Sharp, eds., Prophecy and Power: Jeremiah in Feminist and Postcolonial Perspective, reviewed by Andrew Shead Heinz-Günther Nesselrath and Florian Wilk, eds., Gut und Böse in Mensch und Welt: Philosophische und religiöse Konzeptionen vom Alten Orient bis zum frühen Islam, reviewed by Michael S. Moore Jonathan Miles Robker, The Jehu Revolution: A Royal Tradition of the Northern Kingdom and Its Ramifications, reviewed by Aren M. Maeir David C. Sim and James S. McLaren, eds., Attitudes to Gentiles in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, reviewed by Avram Shannon Mirjam van der Vorm-Croughs, The Old Greek of Isaiah: An Analysis of Its Pluses and Minuses, reviewed by Randall X. Gauthier Stephen Westerholm, Justification Reconsidered: Rethinking a Pauline Theme, reviewed by David J. Neville

Leonard Greenspoon has a helpful review of the third edition of Emanuel Tov’s Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research (Eisenbrauns, 2015). Particularly useful are Greenspoon’s observations about changes in this edition over against the previous one. ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Markus Bockmuehl and Guy G. Stroumsa, eds., Paradise in Antiquity: Jewish and Christian Views, reviewed by Pieter G. R. de Villiers Tony Burke, ed., Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery?: The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate: Proceedings from the 2011 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium, reviewed by James F. McGrath Andrew R. Davis, Tel Dan in Its Northern Cultic Context, reviewed by Bob Becking and by Aren M. Maeir Stephen Finlan, The Family Metaphor in Jesus’ Teaching: Gospel Imagery and Application, reviewed by Joanna Dewey Kai Kaniuth, Anne Löhnert, Jared L. Miller, Adelheid Otto, Michael Roaf, and Walther Sallaberger, eds., Tempel im Alten Orient, reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow Emma Loosley, The Architecture and Liturgy of the Bema in Fourth- to-Sixth-Century Syrian Churches, reviewed by Robert Morehouse Elvira Martín Contreras and Guadalupe Seijas de los Ríos-Zarzosa, Masora: La transmisión de la tradición de la Biblia Hebrea, reviewed by Amparo Alba Cecilia Halvor Moxnes, Jesus and the Rise of Nationalism: A New Quest for the Nineteenth Century Historical Jesus, reviewed by Craig A. Evans Pheme Perkins, First Corinthians, reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Francis Borchardt, The Torah in 1 Maccabees: A Literary Critical Approach to the Text, reviewed by Thomas Hieke Cilliers Breytenbach and Jörg Frey, eds., Reflections on the Early Christian History of Religion—Erwägungen zur frühchristlichen Religionsgeschichte, reviewed by Thomas J. Kraus Walter Dietrich, Die Samuelbücher im deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerk: Studien zu den Geschichtsüberlieferungen des Alten Testaments II, reviewed by Mark W. Hamilton James D. G. Dunn, The Oral Gospel Tradition, reviewed by David B. Sloan Paul S. Evans and Tyler F. Williams, eds., Chronicling the Chronicler: The Book of Chronicles and Early Second Temple Historiography, reviewed by Michael D. Matlock Katharina Galor and Hanswulf Bloedhorn, The Archaeology of Jerusalem: From the Origins to the Ottomans, reviewed by Aren M. Maeir Moshe Garsiel, From Earth to Heaven: A Literary Study of the Eliijah Stories in the Book of Kings, reviewed by Keith Bodner and by David A. Glatt-Gilad Alison Ruth Gray, Psalm 18 in Words and Pictures: A Reading through Metaphor, reviewed by Leslie C. Allen Mignon R. Jacobs and Raymond F. Person Jr., eds., Israelite Prophecy and the Deuteronomistic History: Portrait, Reality, and the Formation of a History, reviewed by James M. Bos and by Thomas Wagner Ronald Jolliffe, Gertraud Harb, Christoph Heil, Anneliese Felber, and Angelika Magnes, Q11: 39a, 42, 39b, 41, 43-44: Woes against the Pharisees, reviewed by Peter J. Judge W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Creation Myths, reviewed by Michael S. Moore Daniel C. Matt, trans., The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (vol. 6), reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins Abera M. Mengestu, God as Father in Paul: Kingship Language and Identity Formation in Early Christianity, reviewed by Inhee C. Berg Anthony M. Moore, Signs of Salvation: The Theme of Creation in John’s Gospel, reviewed by Brian J. Tabb Valérie Nicolet-Anderson, Constructing the Self: Thinking with Paul and Michel Foucault, reviewed by Chris L. de Wet Vernon K. Robbins, Who Do People Say I Am? Rewriting Gospel in Emerging Christianity, reviewed by Michael J. Kok David S. Vanderhooft and Abraham Winitzer, eds., Literature as Politics, Politics as Literature: Essays on the Ancient Near East in Honor of Peter Machinist, reviewed by Shawn W. Flynn Ryan Donald Wettlaufer, No Longer Written: The Use of Conjectural Emendation in the Restoration of the Text of the New Testament, the Epistle of James as a Case Study, reviewed by Jeff Cate

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Bill T. Arnold, Introduction to the Old Testament, reviewed by David W. Baker and by Anselm C. Hagedorn Mark A. Chancey, Carol Meyers, and Eric M. Meyers, eds., The Bible in the Public Square: Its Enduring Influence in American Life, reviewed by Randall Balmer Raymond F. Collins, Accompanied by a Believing Wife: Ministry and Celibacy in the Earliest Christian Communities, reviewed by William R. G. Loader Andrew Crislip, Thorns in the Flesh: Illness and Sanctity in Late Ancient Christianity, reviewed by John J. Pilch B. C. Hodge, Revisiting the Days of Genesis: A Study of the Use of Time in Genesis 1–11 in Light of Its Ancient Near Eastern and Literary Context, reviewed by Jeffery M. Leonard Jey J. Kanagaraj, John, reviewed by Jo-Ann Brant Laurel W. Koepf-Taylor, Give Me Children or I Shall Die: Children and Communal Survival in Biblical Literature, reviewed by Jason A. Riley Katherine Low, The Bible, Gender, and Reception History: The Case of Job’s Wife, reviewed by Jordan M. Scheetz Burton MacDonald, Larry G. Herr, D. Scott Quaintance, Geoffrey A. Clark, and Michael C. A. MacDonald, The Ayl to Ras an-Naqab Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan 2005–2007, reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins J. Gordon McConville, Joshua: Crossing Divides, reviewed by Trent C. Butler Douglas J. Moo, Galatians, reviewed by Richard Manly Adams Jr. and by Roy E. Ciampa James M. Morgan, Encountering Images of Spiritual Transformation: The Thoroughfare Motif within the Plot of Luke-Acts, reviewed by Jean-François Racine Reinhard Muller, Juha Pakkala, and Bas ter Haar Romeny, Evidence of Editing: Growth and Change of Texts in the Hebrew Bible, reviewed by John F. Quant Miguel Pérez Fernández and Olga Ruiz Morell, El Beso de Dios: Midrás de la Muerte de Moisés. Edición bilingüe hebreo-español y comentario, reviewed by Francisco García-Treto Allen P. Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms: 42–89, reviewed by Christine Jones Robert A. Spivey, D. Moody Smith, and C. Clifton Black, Anatomy of the New Testament: A Guide to Its Structure and Meaning, reviewed by Brian C. Small Jamie Viands, I Will Surely Multiply Your Offspring: An Old Testament Theology of the Blessing of Progeny with Special Attention to the Latter Prophets, reviewed by Marvin A. Sweeney Julius Wellhausen, Briefe, edited by Rudolf Smend, reviewed by James Alfred Loader

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Angelika Berlejung, Jan Dietrich, and Joachim Friedrich Quack, eds., Menschenbilder und Körperkonzepte im Alten Israel, in Ägypten und im Alten Orient, reviewed by Mark W. Hamilton William P. Brown, Wisdom’s Wonder: Character, Creation, and Crisis in the Bible’s Wisdom Literature, reviewed by James Alfred Loader Martin J. Buss, Toward Understanding the Hebrew Canon: A Form-Critical Approach, reviewed by Colin Toffelmire Nuria Calduch-Benages, ed., Wisdom for Life: Essays Offered to Honor Prof. Maurice Gilbert, SJ, on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, reviewed by Katharine Dell Volkmar Fritz, The Emergence of Israel in the Twelfth and Eleventh Centuries B.C.E., reviewed by Lester L. Grabbe Hadi Ghantous, The Elijah-Hazael Paradigm and the Kingdom of Israel: The Politics of God in Ancient Syria-Palestine, reviewed by Aren M. Maeir Addison Hodges Hart, Taking Jesus at His Word: What Jesus Really Said in the Sermon on the Mount, reviewed by Joshua Chatraw Steven L. McKenzie and John Kaltner, eds., New Meanings for Ancient Texts: Recent Approaches to Biblical Criticism and Their Applications, reviewed by Emmanuel Nathan R. W. L. Moberly, Old Testament Theology: Reading the Hebrew Bible as Christian Scripture, reviewed by Trent C. Butler and by Wilhelm J. Wessels Roger Mohrlang, Paul and His Life-Transforming Theology: A Concise Introduction, reviewed by Bas van Os Francis J. Moloney, The Resurrection of the Messiah: A Narrative Commentary on the Resurrection Accounts in the Four Gospels, reviewed by Richard I. Pervo Joy A. Schroeder, Deborah’s Daughters: Gender Politics and Biblical Interpretation, reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer Dennis E. Smith and Joseph B. Tyson, eds., Acts and Christian Beginnings: The Acts Seminar Report, reviewed by Susana Funsten William J. Subash, The Dreams of Matthew 1:18–2:23: Tradition, Form, and Theological Investigation, reviewed by Bart J. Koet

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Itzhak Benyamini, Narcissist Universalism: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Paul’s Epistles, reviewed by Kari Syreeni Wim M. de Bruin, Isaiah 1–12 as Written and Read in Antiquity, reviewed by Ibolya Balla Trevor J. Burke and Brian S. Rosner, eds., Paul as Missionary: Identity, Activity, Theology, and Practice, reviewed by Ronald R. Clark J. Patout Burns Jr., Romans: Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators, reviewed by Daniel Patte and by Adam Ployd Beverly Roberts Gaventa, ed., Apocalyptic Paul: Cosmos and Anthropos in Romans 5–8, reviewed by Timothy Gombis Barbara Green, Jeremiah and God’s Plans of Well-Being, reviewed by Lissa M. Wray Beal Richard H. Hiers, Women’s Rights and the Bible: Implications for Christian Ethics and Social Policy, reviewed by L. Juliana Claassens William S. Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, reviewed by Thomas E. Phillips and by Troy M. Troftgruben A. James Murphy, Kids and Kingdom: The Precarious Presence of Children in the Synoptic Gospels, reviewed by Marianne Blickenstaff Ruth Poser, Das Ezechielbuch als Trauma-Literatur, reviewed by Michael S. Moore Robert M. Price, The Amazing Colossal Apostle: The Search for the Historical Paul, reviewed by Corneliu Constantineanu and by Glenn E. Snyder Ephraim Stern, The Material Culture of the Northern Sea Peoples in Israel, reviewed by Raz Kletter

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Miryam T. Brand, Evil Within and Without: The Source of Sin and Its Nature as Portrayed in Second Temple Literature, reviewed by Rodney A. Werline Ronald E. Clements, Jerusalem and the Nations: Studies in the Book of Isaiah, reviewed by Bo H. Lim John A. Cook and Robert D. Holmstedt, Beginning Biblical Hebrew: A Grammar and Illustrated Reader, reviewed by Bálint Károly Zabán Jason von Ehrenkrook, Sculpting Idolatry in Flavian Rome: (An)Iconic Rhetoric in the Writings of Flavius Josephus, reviewed by Patrick McCullough David A. Fiensy and Ralph K. Hawkins, eds., The Galilean Economy in the Time of Jesus, reviewed by Ulrich Busse and by Sarah E. Rollens André Gagné and Jean-François Racine, eds., En marge du canon: Études sur les écrits apocryphes juifs et chrétiens, reviewed by Edmon L. Gallagher Jonathan S. Greer, Dinner at Dan: Biblical and Archaeological Evidence for Sacred Feasts at Iron Age II Tel Dan and Their Significance, reviewed by Aren M. Maeir Helen R. Jacobus, Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme, and Philippe Guillaume, eds., Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World, reviewed by Craig A. Evans David Marcus, Scribal Wit: Aramaic Mnemonics in the Leningrad Codex, reviewed by Christopher Dost Susan Marks, First Came Marriage: The Rabbinic Appropriation of Early Jewish Wedding Ritual, reviewed by Joshua Schwartz David R. Nienhuis and Robert W. Wall, Reading the Epistles of James, Peter, John and Jude as Scripture: The Shaping and Shape of a Canonical Collection, reviewed by John Kloppenborg John Painter and David A. deSilva, James and Jude, reviewed by Darian Lockett Luis Sánchez Navarro, Escudriñar las Escrituras: Verbum Domini y la interpretación bíblica, reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow C. S. Song, In the Beginning Were Stories, Not Texts: Story Theology, reviewed by Michelle J. Morris

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Alex Damm, Ancient Rhetoric and the Synoptic Problem: Clarifying Markan Priority, reviewed by C. Clifton Black Michael Fieger, Jutta Krispenz, and Jörg Lanckau, eds., Wörterbuch alttestamentlicher Motive, reviewed by Trent Butler John Harrison and James D. Dvorak, eds., The New Testament Church: The Challenge of Developing Ecclesiologies, reviewed by Robert Matthew Calhoun Knut Martin Heim, Poetic Imagination in Proverbs: Variant Repetitions and the Nature of Poetry, reviewed by Bálint Károly Zabán Rüdiger Jungbluth, Im Himmel und auf Erden: Dimensionen von Königsherrschaft im Alten Testament, reviewed by Sven Petry Ian Christopher Levy, Philip D. W. Krey, and Thomas Ryan, eds., The Letter to the Romans, reviewed by Anders Runesson Herbert Marks, ed., The English Bible, King James Version: The Old Testament, reviewed by David G. Burke Francis J. Moloney, SDB, Love in the Gospel of John: An Exegetical, Theological, and Literary Study, reviewed by Catrin H. Williams JoAnn Scurlock and Richard H. Beal, eds., Creation and Chaos: A Reconsideration of Hermann Gunkel’s Chaoskampf Hypothesis, reviewed by Craig W. Tyson Christopher R. Seitz, The Character of Christian Scripture: The Significance of a Two-Testament Bible, reviewed by Stephen J. Andrews Anna Rebecca Solevåg, Birthing Salvation: Gender and Class in Early Christian Childbearing Discourse, reviewed by Sarah E. Rollens Michael D. Swartz, The Signifying Creator: Nontextual Sources of Meaning in Ancient Judaism, reviewed by Joshua Schwartz Abraham Terian, trans., Magnalia Dei: Biblical History in Epic Verse by Grigor Magistros, reviewed by Adam Carter McCollum Benyamim Tsedaka and Sharon Sullivan, eds., The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version, reviewed by James R. Blankenship J. Ross Wagner, Reading the Sealed Book: Old Greek Isaiah and the Problem of Septuagint Hermeneutics, reviewed by Johann Cook

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Robert B. Chisholm Jr., A Commentary on Judges and Ruth, reviewed by Mark E. Biddle John W. Daniels Jr., Gossiping Jesus: The Oral Processing of Jesus in John’s Gospel, reviewed by Peter J. Judge John Goldingay, Isaiah 56-66: Introduction, Text, and Commentary, reviewed by Johanna Erzberger Steven A. Hunt, D. Francois Tolmie, and Ruben Zimmermann, eds., Character Studies in the Fourth Gospel: Narrative Approaches to Seventy Figures in John, reviewed by Craig R. Koester Demetrios S. Katos, Palladius of Helenopolis: The Origenist Advocate, reviewed by Jon F. Dechow Phillip J. Long, Jesus the Bridegroom: The Origin of the Eschatological Feast as a Wedding Banquet in the Synoptic Gospels, reviewed by Marianne Blickenstaff Roberto Martínez, The Question of John the Baptist and Jesus’ Indictment of the Religious Leaders: A Critical Analysis of Luke 7:18–35, reviewed by Brian C. Dennert and by Bart J. Koet Benjamin J. Segal, A New Psalm: The Psalms as Literature, reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia N. T. Wright, Pauline Perspectives: Essays on Paul, 1978–2013, reviewed by Russell Morton

The 9 March 2015 newsletter for the Review of Biblical Literature noted reviews of several noteworthy volumes.

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Angelika Berlejung and Michael P. Streck, eds., Arameans, Chaldeans, and Arabs in Babylonia and Palestine in the First Millennium B.C., reviewed by Aren M. Maeir Matthew J. Goff, 4QInstruction, reviewed by Kenneth Atkinson and by Jeffrey P. Garcia T. Michael W. Halcomb, Entering the Fray: A Primer on New Testament Issues for the Church and Academy, reviewed by C. Jason Borders Andrew T. Lincoln, Born of a Virgin? Reconceiving Jesus in the Bible, Tradition, and Theology, reviewed by Marianne Blickenstaff Mark McEntire, Portraits of a Mature God: Choices in Old Testament Theology, reviewed by Ginny Brewer-Boydston Bert Newton, Subversive Wisdom: Sociopolitical Dimensions of John’s Gospel, reviewed by Benjamin Reynolds Chantal Reynier, Pour lire la lettre de Saint Paul aux Romains, reviewed by Abson Joseph Thomas Richter and Sarah Lange, Das Archiv des Idadda: Die Keilschrifttexte aus den deutsch-syrischen Ausgrabungen 2001–2003 im Königspalast von Qatna, reviewed by Jan-Wim Wesselius Frank Williams, trans., The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III: De Fide, reviewed by Simon Gathercole

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Daniel I. Block, Beyond the River Chebar: Studies in Kingship and Eschatology in the Book of Ezekiel, reviewed by Sven Petry Reinhard Feldmeier, Power, Service, Humility: A New Testament Ethic, reviewed by David Briones David G. Firth, 1 and 2 Samuel: A Kingdom Comes, reviewed by Ralph Henson Martha Himmelfarb, Between Temple and Torah: Essays on Priests, Scribes, and Visionaries in the Second Temple Period and Beyond, reviewed by L. Michael Morales Cornelia Linde, How to Correct the Sacra Scriptura?: Textual Criticism of the Bible between the Twelfth and Fifteenth Century, reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow Kim Lan Nguyen, Chorus in the Dark: The Voices of the Book of Lamentations, reviewed by Charles William Miller Jesse E. Robertson, The Death of Judas: The Characterization of Judas Iscariot in Three Early Christian Accounts of His Death, reviewed by Lee M. Jefferson Michael Trainor, About Earth’s Child: An Ecological Listening to the Gospel of Luke, reviewed by C. Jason Borders David Trobisch, A User’s Guide to the Nestle-Aland 28 Greek New Testament, reviewed by Michael W. Holmes and by Jan Krans

John Collins rightly argues that the possibility of a positive answer to this question depends heavily on what one means by משיח (messiah).

Paul Silvia Paul J. Silvia teaches psychology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. In How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing, Silvia chiefly pleads with his readers to set aside specific, regular blocks of time for writing and to adhere steadfastly to this schedule ( 16–17). “The secret,” he says, “is the regularity, not the number of days or the number of hours [allotted for writing]” ( 13). Silvia argues that observing such a regular writing schedule will allow an author to produce better material more efficiently ( 1). “More efficiently” does not, of course, necessarily indicate that all academics should publish a large quantity of material; those whose interests lie elsewhere can still use a regular writing schedule to produce the quantity of literature that they wish. Thus, Silvia suggests that a more accurate title for the volume would be How to Write More Productively During the Normal Work Week with Less Anxiety and Guilt, but he humorously recognizes that such a title may well have inhibited book sales ( 130). ...

Scott Crider Scott Crider teaches in the English Department at the University of Dallas. His book, The Office of Assertion: An Art of Rhetoric for the Academic Essay ( affiliate disclosure), is intended to provide an introduction to “the classical art of rhetoric and composition” (xi). While providing this introduction, Crider specifically seeks to argue that rhetoric is, as a liberal art, a noble pursuit and to improve the readers ability to write academic prose (2). ...

[caption id=“attachment_1423” align=“alignleft” width=“80” caption=“D. A. Carson, Peter O’Brien, and Mark Seifrid”] [/caption]If first-century Judaism had a different shape than much New Testament scholarship has traditionally assumed, then an understanding of the New Testament’s—and especially Paul’s—negative critique of Judaism, as well as the positive, doctrinal affirmations predicated to some degree upon this traditional view of Judaism, may need to be revised. The direction this revision has taken based on the trajectory Sanders set in the last portion of Paul and Palestinian Judaism ( 431–556), 1 provides the impetus for the Justification and Variegated Nomism set ( Carson, O’Brien, and Seifrid 5). This set attempts to determine “whether ‘covenantal nomism’ serves us well as a label for an overarching pattern of religion” in Palestinian Judaism ( Carson, O’Brien, and Seifrid 5). ...

The New Perspective on Paul has its beginnings in what N. T. Wright has called “the Sanders revolution.”

[caption id=“attachment_668” align=“alignleft” width=“80” caption=“Stephen Neill and N. T. Wright”] [/caption] Neill’s stated purpose for his book was “to provide a narrative [about the interpretation of the New Testament] that can be read without too much trouble by the non-theologian who is anxious to know and is prepared to devote some time to the subject” ( ix). This task he seems to have done masterfully well, with a comparatively frugal use of footnotes to set forth “the necessary apparatus of scholarship” ( ix). While this history might have proved tedious, Neill has managed to produce a cogent narrative that, at times, may well carry the interested student into the situation or the time being described. ...

Stephen Neill and N. T. Wright N. T. Wright’s revision of Stephen Neill’s, Interpretation of the New Testament, 1861–1986, attempts a concise, but significantly narratival, survey of various issues in New Testament scholarship during the period in question. To this end, Neill and Wright discuss: (i) the challenge to orthodoxy ( 1–34); (ii) the New Testament and its relationship to history ( 35–64); (iii) what the New Testament says and means ( 65–111); (iv) Jesus and His relationship to the Gospel ( 112–46); (v) Greeks and their relationship to Christians ( 147–204); (vi) “Re-enter[ing] Theology” ( 205–51); (vii) the theory of a gospel behind the Gospels ( 252–312); (viii) the Jewish background of the Gospel ( 313–59); and (ix) the relationship between history and theology ( 360–449). ...

[caption id=“attachment_635” align=“alignleft” width=“80” caption=“Simon Kistemaker”] [/caption] Simon Kistemaker generally provides balanced, astute commentary on several of Jesus’ parables and parabolic sayings. He attempts to avoid allegorical interpretations, thinking that “in the New Testament we encounter elements of allegory but never a full-fledged allegorical parable” ( 15). This surface disagreement with Blomberg’s perspective on the parables is mainly an issue of semantics. In actuality, Kistemaker’s point merely reflects the very probable hypothesis that in none of Jesus’ parables do all the details stand for things other than themselves, or stated alternatively, that Jesus’ parables—even the allegorical ones—are qualitatively different from an allegory like The Pilgrim’s Progress. One of the chief benefits of The Parables is how Kistemaker consistently summarizes with simplicity and clarity what he considers to be the main points of each parable. Occasionally, one might well debate some precise points of exegesis. Yet, the work is, overall, engaging and informative, and Kistemaker’s style is coherent and straightforward. ...

Simon Kistemaker In The Parables, Simon Kistemaker specifically targets “theologically trained pastors. But because technical details have been relegated to endnotes, the text itself is user-friendly to any serious student of the Bible” ( 8). The introduction describes very broadly some of the basic issues of which one should be aware when studying parables, such as: the meaning of the term “parable,” the composition of parables, Jesus’ purpose for teaching in parables, the basic principles of interpreting parables, and the elusiveness of any firm method of classifying the parables ( 9–20). ...

[caption id=“attachment_601” align=“alignleft” width=“80” caption=“Dominic Crossan”] [/caption] Crossan’s book, In Parables, immediately demonstrates his keen intellect and wide range of reading. The great variety of literature he cites certainly indicates his substantial, literary aptitude. One of the more beneficial parts of the book, however, relates more directly to his detailed reading of Jesus’ parables themselves rather than so much to his wide reading in other literature. Specifically, Crossan performs a very valuable service in his detailed analyses of multiply attested parables in relation to the synoptic problem. Crossan’s close reading of these parables and his subsequent notes on points of divergence between the parable froms in the synoptics helpfully summarizes the major critical issues involved with these parables. The solutions he proposes to these difficulties are frequently innovative and seem to be motivated by a desire to recapture the exact wording Jesus used when He originally gave the parables ( ipsissima verba) ( 3–4). Nevertheless, many scholars might, in most cases, propose quite different solutions from those Crossan puts forth (cf. vii, 3–4). The book does have some questionable aspects, such as an excessive skepticism about the historical Jesus (e.g., 4; for a critical realist approach to this question, see Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God). Yet, In Parables definitely provides itself to be valuable by providing the reader with much helpful information concerning the divergences present in Jesus’ multiply attested parables. ...

Dominic Crossan Crossan’s work, In Parables: The Challenge of the Historical Jesus, is based on several articles that Crossan wrote separately and has now compiled into a single collection ( xi). Rather uniquely, through citations from various scholars and littérateurs, the introduction and conclusion attempt to provide some literary commentary related to different ways of reading parables. The first major section, “Parables and the Temporality of the Kingdom” ( 3–36), addresses several broad issues related to literary theory, describes what constitutes a parable, and identifies a method for parable interpretation. At this section’s conclusion, Crossan groups Jesus’ parables by what he sees as their three major themes—namely, the advent of God’s kingdom, the reversal of the worldview of the parables’ addressees, and the calling and empowering of the recipients to live and act in concert with God’s kingdom ( 36). In each of the following chapters, Crossan comments generally about one of these themes and examines at least one parable that, in his estimation, fits that category. ...

[caption id=“attachment_501” align=“alignleft” width=“80” caption=“Craig Blomberg”] [/caption] In Interpreting the Parables, Blomberg appears to have succeeded quite well in accomplishing his stated task of producing an introduction to and theory of parable interpretation that will benefit a wide variety of readers ( 10). To this end, he keeps unnecessary, technical jargon to a minimum, yet regularly handles the necessary, technical points quite clearly. ...

Alan Knox has made my summary of E. D. Hirsch’s Validity in Interpretation available on his website, ̔Ελληνιστί, in HTML format. A PDF version of this summary is also available here. Update (19 June 2017): The above-noted link to Alan Knox’s website is currently broken. Please see the summary at the PDF link mentioned above. ...

Interpreting the Parables Craig Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables ( affiliate disclosure; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1992). Interpreting the Parables begins by summarizing significant findings and methodological issues in recent parable research so that a wide audience can benefit from this historical foundation for Blomberg’s work (13). In reviewing this previous scholarship, Blomberg seeks to interact critically with it and, at some points, propose specific alternatives (14). In Blomberg’s opinion, all Jesus parables are allegorical on some level. ...

[caption id=“attachment_482” align=“alignleft” width=“63” caption=“Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant’s Eyes”] [/caption]Kenneth Bailey, Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes: A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke, (combined ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983). Bailey initially published Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes separately. Yet, they have begun circulating in combined editions like the one shown here, and the works are, in fact, quite amiable partners, since Through Peasant Eyes is, in significant respects, a continuation of Poet and Peasant. Both these works are thought-provoking and fascinating pieces of scholarship, particularly with respect to Bailey’s unique perspectives on Jesus’ parables and the approach he uses to arrive at these understandings. Particularly, Bailey’s practice of interviewing Middle Easterners for their perspectives on the parables highlights some nuances that may easily become muted in purely Western treatments. Because modern, Middle Eastern culture is arguably closer to the culture of first-century, Jewish Palestine than is modern Western culture, Middle Eastern readers begin with a natural advantage over their Western counterparts in interpreting the parables. While some changes in Middle Eastern culture during the last two millennia (most notably, the Muslim conquest) may have introduced significant paradigm shifts into the Middle Eastern worldview, consulting people (whether directly or through Bailey’s work) who live in cultures of seeds and sowers, neighbors and midnight visitors will surely provide valuable grist for the interpretive mills of those who come from other cultural backgrounds. ...

Bailey’s works, Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes, explicitly attempt to approach Jesus’ parables from the perspective of an Oriental worldview.