Teaching Esther

Nancy Guthrie talks to Christopher Ash here about teaching Esther.

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.

Lonnie D. Bell, The Early Textual Transmission of John: Stability and Fluidity in Its Second and Third Century Greek Manuscripts
Reviewed by Charles E. Hill

Katell Berthelot, In Search of the Promised Land? The Hasmonean Dynasty between Biblical Models and Hellenistic Diplomacy
Reviewed by Daniel L. Smith

Ingolf U. Dalferth, Wirkendes Wort: Bibel, Schrift, un Evangelium in Leben der Kirche und im Denken der Theologie
Reviewed by Gottfried Adam

Zev I. Farber and Jacob L. Wright, eds., Archaeology and History of Eighth-Century Judah
Reviewed by Kyle H. Keimer

Susan Gillingham, Psalms through the Centuries: A Reception Commentary on Psalms 1–72
Reviewed by William P. Brown

Thomas Hieke, Studien zum Alten Testament im Neuen Testament
Reviewed by Christopher R. Lortie

Matthew H. Patton, Hope for a Tender Sprig: Jehoiachin in Biblical Theology
Reviewed by Benjamin J. M. Johnson

Frederik Poulsen, The Black Hole in Isaiah: A Study of Exile as a Literary Theme
Reviewed by Marvin A. Sweeney

Matthew Scott, The Hermeneutics of Christological Psalmody in Paul: An Intertextual Enquiry
Reviewed by Siu Fung Wu

Eric C. Smith, Jewish Glass and Christian Stone: A Materialist Mapping of the “Parting of the Ways”
Reviewed by Adele Reinhartz

Albert Vanhoye; Nicholas J. Moore and Richard J. Ounsworth, eds., A Perfect Priest: Studies in the Letter to the Hebrews
Reviewed by J. Michael McKay Jr.

Jason M. Zurawski and Gabriele Boccaccini, eds., Second Temple Jewish Paideia in Context
Reviewed by Lindsey A. Askin

"Like the Angels" in Luke 20

Ian Paul has a thoughtful and interesting discussion here on what Jesus meant by "like the angels" in Luke 20.

The Historical Adam Debate

Brandon Smith handles the issues pretty well in this blog post.

Improving Your Teaching

This list of ten suggestions is not really new but still pretty good.

Humor in Preaching

Jeff Robinson has some pretty good thoughts here. I would add that there are different kinds of humor and so use the type that best fits your personality. Some can do jokes while others excel puns or witticisms. It is akin to the old Ed Wynn saying, "A comic is one who says funny things; a comedian says things funny."

Free eBook: Beware the Evil Eye Volume 1

Wipf & Stock is offering a free eBook copy of John Elliott's Beware the Evil Eye Volume 1: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World-Introduction, Mesopotamia, and Egypt until 11/11/2019. Here are the instructions to get your copy.

 

1. Use this link
2. Click "ADD TO CART" on the eBook option, the code "ebookfree" should be automatically applied within the shopping cart.

The Love of God in the Prophets

Preachers are sometimes reticent to preach the Prophets because they see little relevance or practical importance in the literature. But note what Larry Walker has to say about the subject of love in the Old Testament.

"The prophets, utilizing a rich religious heritage, proclaimed a manifold love of God. The entire range of Hebrew vocabulary for love, loyalty, mercy, kindness and grace is used in preaching the message of Cod to the heirs of the covenant promises. It is in the prophetic books that the love of Cod is made vivid, being preached with great force and conviction."

Larry Walker, "Love in the Old Testament: Some Lexical Observations," in Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation: Studies in Honor of Merrill C. Tenney Presented by his Former Students (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 284.

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.

David M. Allen, The Historical Character of Jesus: Canonical Insights from Outside the Gospels
Reviewed by Craig A. Evans

Tayfun Bilgin, Officials and Administration in the Hittite World
Reviewed by Amir Gilan

Jeffrey M. Cohen, The Book of Psalms: Poetry in Poetry
Reviewed by Steven Bishop

Devorah Dimant, From Enoch to Tobit: Collected Studies in Ancient Jewish Literature
Reviewed by Archie T. Wright

Jörg Frey, The Glory of the Crucified One: Christology and Theology in the Gospel of John
Reviewed by R. Alan Culpepper

Kristine Henriksen Garroway, Growing Up in Ancient Israel: Children in Material Culture and Biblical Texts
Reviewed by Shawn W. Flynn

Martin Karrer, Johannesoffenbarung, Teilband 1: Offb 1,1–5,14
Reviewed by Russell Morton

Mark D. Nanos, Reading Romans within Judaism: Collected Essays of Mark D. Nanos, Volume 2
Reviewed by Kyle B. Wells

Michael D. Rasmussen, Conceptualizing Distress in the Psalms: A Form-Critical and Cognitive Semantic Study of the Sarar Word Group
Reviewed by Marilyn E. Burton

David T. Runia and Gregory E. Sterling, eds., Studia Philonica Annual: Studies in Hellenistic Judaism, Volume XXX (2018)
Reviewed by Tyler Smith

Marcus Sigismund and Darius Müller, eds., Studien zum Text der Apokalypse II
Reviewed by David Warren

L. L. Welborn, The Young against the Old: Generational Conflict in First Clement
Reviewed by Mona Tokarek Lafosse

Free Logos Book for November: The Gospel of Mark (NIGTC)

The free Logos Book for the Month for November is R. T. Frances' Mark commentary in the NIGTC series. James D. G. Dunn's Colossians and Philemon and/or Anthony Thiselton's First Epistle to the Corinthians in the same series can also be had for $4.99 and $9.99 respectively. Unfortunately, I already have all of these but if you don't they are worth adding to your library. You can also register for a chance to win the ten-volume Socio-Rhetorical Commentary series. For all these offers, go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.

The Lord's Prayer

Bryan Litfin has a pretty discussion of the Lord's Prayer here by looking at Wesley Hill's recent book on the passage.

Writing a Commentary on Revelation

Ian Paul talks about his experience of writing a commentary on Revelation here.

Increasing Learning in 3 Seconds

Jennifer Sullivan has some helpful thoughts here on the value of pausing sufficiently after asking a question. As Tom Petty has noted, "The waiting is the hardest part."

Bible Exposition Venn Diagram

Bible exposition is a label that seems to be used more than it is understood. Is it a methodology or a result? Or in other words, does one do Bible exposition or does one produce Bible exposition? It is little wonder that Bible exposition means many things to many people.

I would argue that Bible exposition is both a methodology and a result and that as a discipline it is multidisciplinary. It is a methodology in that it is rooted in exegesis, theological method, and homiletics but it is also a result because the end goal is to produce an explanation and application of a text of Scripture. I have tried to communicate a bit of that it this venn diagram produced by my graphic artist daughter, Becky Savelle.