Noah's Ark

Peter Lee suggests here that Noah's ark is a microcosm of creation, a temple-home, and an emblem of resurrection.

Naboth's Vineyard and the Archaeology of Jezreel

Norma Franklin discusses the story here of Naboth's vineyard in light of the archaeology of tell Jezreel. 

Here is a picture that I took at Tel Jezreel in 2023.

The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

Fernando Bermejo-Rubio, They Suffered under Pontius Pilate: Jewish Anti-Roman Resistance and the Crosses at Golgotha (Lexington/Fortress Academic)
N. Clayton Croy

Jillian D. Engelhardt, Matthew, Disability, and Stress: Examining Impaired Characters in the Context of Empire (Lexington/Fortress Academic)
Gregory E. Lamb

Douglas Harrison-Mills, Serving at the “Banking-Tables”: New Light on Acts 2–8 and the Link Between Spiritual and Economic Transformation (Brill)
Holly Beers

Christl M. Maier, Jeremia 1–25 (Kohlhammer)
Samuel Hildebrandt

Kevin W. McFadden, Faith in the Son of God: The Place of Christ-Oriented Faith within Pauline Theology (Crossway)
Stuart B. Langley

Yoav Rosenthal and Shlomo Naeh, eds., Meḥqerei Talmud IV: Talmudic Studies Presented to Professor David Rosenthal on His Eightieth Anniversary [Hebrew] (Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies)
Joshua Schwartz

Starr Tomczak, Living Well: Inspired by the Story behind the Bible (Cascade)
Gershon Brin

Helmut Utzschneider and Wolfgang Oswald, Exodus 16–40 (Kohlhammer)
Paavo N. Tucker

Leadership and Power in Acts

Steve Walton has made his slides from a recent talk on "Leadership and Power in Acts" available here.

Samson as a Nazarite

I found Ely Levine's article on Samson and the Nazarite history and practices interesting although I do not accept some of the article's conclusions.

Artificial Intelligence and the Apocalyptic Imagination

Wipf & Stock is offering a free digital copy of Artificial Intelligence and the Apocalyptic Imagination by Jamie Davies. Go here, select the ebook option, and use the code "PAULUS25" at checkout. The offer is good until June 15, 2025.

Preaching the Text

Peter Mead has a good word here on how to be mentored by the text. I was particularly struck by his reminder that, "whatever we can do with the text is not as good as what God did when He inspired the text."

The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

Bernard F. Batto, The Many Faces of Adam and Eve (Cascade)
Bob Becking

Frederick David Carr, Being and Becoming: Human Transformation in the Letters of Paul (Baylor University Press)
Kelsi Morrison-Atkins

Rhiannon Graybill, John Kaltner, and Steven L. McKenzie, Jonah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Yale University Press)
Philip Sam

Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, The Triumph of Life: A Narrative Theology of Judaism (Jewish Publication Society)
Michael Berenbaum

William R. G. Loader, Christology, Soteriology, and Ethics in John and Hebrews: Collected Essays (Mohr Siebeck)
Christopher Seglenieks

Jon K. Newton, A Pentecostal Commentary on Revelation (Wipf & Stock)
William Horst

Thomas R. Schreiner, Revelation (Baker Academic)
Clifford T. Winters

W. H. Paul Thompson, Pauline Slave Welfare in Historical Context: An Equality Analysis (Mohr Siebeck)
Jonathan J. Hatter

Free Logos Resources for June

Logos is offering these freebies this month: The Historical Reliability of John's Gospel by Craig Blomberg, Christian Philosophy in the Early Church by Anthony Meredith, a free ebook, Teach Us to Want by Jen Michel, and the free audio book Authentic Ministry by Michael Reeves. You can get these free resources and also other deals here, here, here, and here. If you are a subscriber, you can also get True Reason by Tom Gilosn and Carson Weitnauer for free here.

Acts and the Roman Empire

Steve Walton has made slides from a paper on "Acts and the Roman Empire: An analysis in conversation with 1 Kings 18 and Daniel" available here.

New Resources on Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon

BiblePlaces has just released Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, the latest volume in the Photo Companion to the Bible series. Like previous offerings, these are an excellent resource for pastors, professors, students, or really anyone interested in a serious study of the Bible. Not only do you get 2,100 quality images on PowerPoint slides but also succinct but detailed notes on what you are looking at. This tool can enhance your knowledge as you prepare to preach or teach and enliven your presentations to congregation or class. I have used BiblePlaces resources for over twenty years in my own ministry. I highly recommend it. 

 These resources are available until Friday for $39 (two-for-one). Check it out.

The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

René Bloch, Ancient Jewish Diaspora: Essays on Hellenism (Brill)
Maria Brutti

Frederick Dale Bruner, The Letter to the Romans: A Short Commentary (Eerdmans)
William Horst

David Edwards, In the Court of the Gentiles: Narrative, Exemplarity, and Scriptural Adaptation in the Court-Tales of Flavius Josephus (Brill)
Chris Seeman

Reinhard Feldmeier and Hermann Spieckermann, God Becoming Human: Incarnation in the Christian Bible (Baylor University Press)
Donnie L. DeBord

Douglas R. Frayne and Johanna H. Stuckey, A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East: Three Thousand Deities of Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam (Eisenbrauns)
Dexter E. Callender Jr.

Johan de Joode, Metaphorical Landscapes and the Theology of the Book of Job: An Analysis of Job’s Spatial Metaphors (Brill)
Edward L. Greenstein

David Rozenthal, Collected Essays in Talmudic Studies [Hebrew] (Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies)
Joshua Schwartz

Jason A. Staples, The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism: A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity (Cambridge University Press)
Michelle Eastwood

Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 30

The latest issue of the Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal is available for free PDF access here.

The Amarna Letters

TheTorah.com has an eight part series on the Amarna Letters here. I am not sure how new it is but it was new to me. 

The Apocalyptic Paul: Retrospect and Prospect

Wipf & Stock is offering a free digital copy of The Apocalyptic Paul: Retrospect and Prospect by Jamie Davies. Go here and use the code "DAVIES25" at checkout. The offer is good until May 31, 2025.

Matthew 1:25

Travis Wright has a helpful discussion here of Matthew 1:25, namely whether the verse implies that Mary had conjugal relations after Jesus' birth. 

The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

Mark E. Cohen, An Annotated Sumerian Dictionary (Eisenbrauns)
John Alan Halloran

Naftali S. Cohn and Katrin Kogman-Appel, eds., Beloved David—Advisor, Man of Understanding, and Writer: A Festschrift in Honor of David Stern (Brown Judaic Studies)
Federico Dal Bo

Jitse H. F. Dijkstra and Christian R. Raschle, eds., Religious Violence in the Ancient World: From Classical Athens to Late Antiquity (Cambridge University Press)
Riemer Roukema

Miguel G. Echevarría, Engaging the New Testament: A Short Introduction for Students and Ministers (Baker Academic)
William Horst

Rebekah Eklund, The Beatitudes through the Ages (Eerdmans)
Akio Ito

Alan Taylor Farnes, Scott D. Mackie, and David Runia, eds., Ancient Texts, Papyri, and Manuscripts: Studies in Honor of James R. Royse (Brill)
Chris S. Stevens

Sigurd Grindheim, The Letter to the Hebrews (Eerdmans)
Loveday Alexander

Michael Trainor, About Earth’s Children: An Ecological Listening to the Acts of the Apostles (T&T Clark)
Jeffrey S. Lamp

Steve Walton on the Book of Acts

Ian Paul has a nice interview with Steve Walton concerning the book of Acts.

Translating John 3:16

Gary Manning has a good discussion here concerning whether one should translate John 3:16 as “God so loved” or “God loved in this way.” I like his 'have your cake and eat it too" conclusion but not sure if it works.

Lex Talionis (Eye for an Eye) in the Old Testament

Wayne Horowitz has an interesting post on the origins and contemporary significance of the Lex Talionic laws in the Bible here.

The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

Eve-Marie Becker and Holger Strutwolf, eds., Platonismus und Christentum: Ihre Beziehungen und deren Grenzen (Mohr Siebeck)
Clark R. Bates

Nancy E. Berg and Marc Saperstein, eds., Exile and the Jews: Literature, History, and Identity (Jewish Publication Society)
Susannah Heschel

Arthur Jan Keefer, The Book of Proverbs and Virtue Ethics: Integrating the Biblical and Philosophical Traditions (Cambridge University Press)
Samuel L. Adams

Andrew Perriman, In the Form of a God: The Pre-existence of the Exalted Christ in Paul (Cascade)
William Horst

N. T. Wright, Galatians (Eerdmans)
Craig S. Keener

Adela Yarbro Collins, Paul Transformed: Reception of the Person and Letters of Paul in Antiquity (Yale University Press)
Stefan Krauter

Free Logos Resources for May

Logos is offering these freebies this month: Calvin in the Public Square by David Hall, New Short History of the Catholic Church by Norman Tanner, a free ebook, We Want You Here by Thom Rainer, and the free audio book Ancient Ladder by Scot MacLellen. You can get these free resources and also other deals here, here, here, and here. If you are a subscriber, you can also get Lamentations by John Mackay for free here.

Advice for Reading Biblical Henrew

Nothing really new but David Miller just provides some sound advice here.

The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

Edward Adams, Dorothea  H. Bertschmann, Stephen J. Chester, Jonathan A. Linebaugh, and Todd D. Still, eds., The New Perspective on Grace: Paul and the Gospel after Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans)
Isaiah Allen

Adolph L. Harstad, Deuteronomy (Concordia)
Eckart Otto

Robert Jütte, The Jewish Body: A History (University of Pennsylvania Press)
Hannah Harrington

Tat-siong Benny Liew and Fernando F. Segovia, eds., Reading in These Times: Purposes and Practices of Minoritized Biblical Criticism (SBL Press)
Joshua Turpin

M. David Litwa, Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought: Becoming Angels and Demons (Cambridge University Press)
Mika Ahuvia

Eckhard J. Schnabel, New Testament Theology (Baker Academic)
James P. Sweeney