Is Philippians 2:5-11 a Hymn?

Nijay Gupta doesn't think so in this post. I am a bit agnostic about the issue. But Nijay nails it when he asks, "what's at stake." Much ado about nothing might be too strong but I don't think deciding one way or another moves the needle much one way or the other in the exegesis of the passage.

A List of New Testament Textual Commentaries

Elijah Hixson has compiled a helpful list of New Testament textual commentaries and posted them on the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog 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. 

John Ahn, ed., Landscapes of Korean and Korean American Biblical Interpretation
Reviewed by Adam F. Braun

Bob Becking, Ezra-Nehemiah
Reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Unperceived Continuity of Isaiah
Reviewed by Csaba Balogh

André Flury, Erzählungen von Schöpfung, Erzeltern und Exodus
Reviewed by Annette Schellenberg

Paula Fredriksen, When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation
Reviewed by Joel Marcus

Jesús Girón Izquierdo, “Maestro, dónde vives?” (Jn 1,38): Estudio exegético-teológico sobre la función del adverbio “dónde” (ποῦ) en el evangelio de Juan
Reviewed by Francis Macatangay

Donald A. Hagner, How New Is the New Testament? First-Century Judaism and the Emergence of Christianity
Reviewed by James P. Sweeney

Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, eds., The Aggada of the Bavli and Its Cultural World
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

Mark McEntire, Not Scattered or Confused: Rethinking the Urban World of the Hebrew Bible
Reviewed by Mary Mills

Jac D. Perrin, Family 13 in St. John’s Gospel: A Computer Assisted Phylogenetic Analysis
Reviewed by Stephen C. Carlson

Gil Rosenberg, Ancestral Queerness: The Normal and the Deviant in the Abraham and Sarah Narratives
Reviewed by Susan E. Haddox

Tyler Smith, The Fourth Gospel and the Manufacture of Minds in Ancient Historiography, Biography, Romance, and Drama
Reviewed by Jo-Ann A. Brant

Hendrik Stoppel, Von Angesicht zu Angesicht: Ouvertüre am Horeb. Deuteronomium 5 und 9–10 und die Textgestalt ihrer Folie
Reviewed by Florian Oepping

Miles V. Van Pelt and Gary D. Pratico, Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary in Context
Reviewed by Sarah Baker

Michael R. Whitenton, Configuring Nicodemus: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Complex Characterization
Reviewed by Mark A. Matson

Misconceptions Concerning Lament

Carmen Imes corrects three misconceptions concerning lament here.

Babylonian and Assyrian Poetry and Literature Recordings

If you ever wondered what ancient Babylonian and Assyrian literature sounded like you can listen with a transliteration and translation here (see "The recordings" on the left menu). The language used by the Babylonians and Assyrians was a form of Akkadian.

Free Audio Book of the Month: By the Waters of Babylon

Christianaudio.com's free audio book of the month is Mesu Andrew's By the Waters of Babylon. This is a fictional account about a woman captured in the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. I don't normally post books of this type but it might be of interest to some. To read more about this resource and to get your free audio download in either MP3 or M4B formats go here.

Wordsearch's Free Books and 4th of July Sale

Wordsearch Bible Software is offering two free books as part of their 4th of July sale. I like Logos but I have been using Wordsearch a bit more.

• Stand fast in Liberty: An Exposition of Galatians by Robert Gromacki
• The Preacher: His Life and Work by John Henry Jowett

You can check it out here. The offer ends on July 9.

Free eBook: Reading 1 Corinthians

Wipf and Stock is offering a free eBook copy of Reading 1 Corinthians by J. Brian Tucker. The offer is only good until July 12 so you have to act quickly. Here are the instructions to get your copy.

1. Click on this link
2. Click "ADD TO CART" on the eBook option
3. Code "freetuck" is automatically applied within the shopping cart
4. Upon checkout completion, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions of how to download your free eBook

Free Logos Course for July: Sons and Daughters of God: The Believer’s Identity, Calling, and Destiny

Instead of offering a free book for the month for July, Logos is offering a free course: "Sons and Daughters of God: The Believer’s Identity, Calling, and Destiny." You can also purchase additional courses for $9.99, $19.99, $34.99, and $59.99. While you are at it, you can register for a chance to win the 38 volume Essential Reference Bundle. For all these offers, go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.

Breakfast, the Bible, and Bearing Fruit

Yesterday, I received a text from a friend related to a men’s Bible study that I started in 2006. We moved the study around a bit but finally settled on a fast food restaurant that opened early enough for us. I left the group in 2015 because I was moving to another city but was delighted that the study would continue to meet. In any case, my friend told me that last Friday he and another guy were the only ones who showed up (for various reasons). They read and talked about some Psalms and though they did not realize it, others were listening in, in particular, a man who was working on a remodeling job at the restaurant and a guy who just “happened’ to come by for breakfast. Lives were touched if not changed. My friend texted me about the encounter  because he wanted me to know about the “seeds” I had planted. I am certainly getting more credit than I deserve but am thankful that all those “big country breakfasts with gravy” that I consumed over the years did more than add to my waistline. To God be the glory.