The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below.
Scott A. Ashmon
Birth Annunciations in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East: A Literary Analysis of the Forms and Functions of the Heavenly Foretelling of the Destiny of a Special Child
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8741
Reviewed by Paola Mollo
Matthew W. Bates
The Hermeneutics of the Apostolic Proclamation: The Center of Paul’s Method of Scriptural Interpretation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8767
Reviewed by Robert B. Foster
Gareth Lee Cockerill
The Epistle to the Hebrews
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8941
Reviewed by Gabriella Gelardini
Reviewed by Kevin B. McCruden
Dean B. Deppe
All Roads Lead to the Text: Eight Methods of Inquiry into the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8571
Reviewed by Nijay Gupta
Timo Nisula
Augustine and the Functions of Concupiscence
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8744
Reviewed by Anthony Dupont
Dennis Pardee
The Ugaritic Texts and the Origins of West-Semitic Literary Composition: The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy 2007
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9007
Reviewed by Jeremy M. Hutton
Ryan S. Schellenberg
Rethinking Paul’s Rhetorical Education: Comparative Rhetoric and 2 Corinthians 10–13
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9359
Reviewed by Fredrick J. Long
Reviewed by Duane F. Watson
Samuel Vollenweider and Eva Ebel, eds.
Wahrheit und Geschichte: Exegetische und hermeneutische Studien zu einer dialektischen Konstellation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9032
Reviewed by Mark W. Elliott
Aug 28, 2014
Review of Mark Taylor's 1 Corinthians Commentary
First Corinthians continues to draw significant commentary interest. Taylor’s work now joins the crowded field of recent efforts (since 2000) by Lockwood (Concordia 2000), Pratt (HNTC, 2000), Thiselton (NIGTC, 2000), Sampley (NIB, 2002), Garland (BECNT, 2003), N. T. Wright (Everyman, 2003), A. Johnson (IVPNTC, 2004), Naylor (2004), Keener (NCBC, 2005), Schenk (WesBC, 2006), Collins (SP, 2007), Verbrugge (EBC rev., 2007), Fitzmyer (AB, 2008), Ciampa and Rosner (Pillar, 2009), Montague (CCSS, 2011), Perkins (Paideia, 2012), and Vang (Teach the Text, 2014). Gordon Fee’s revised NICNT volume is also scheduled for 2014.
This latest volume in the New American Commentary series is a solid work. It consists of a brief 15-page introduction and a respectable commentary section of a little over 400 pages. The explanations are clear and concise, broad but not exhaustive. This is in keeping with the author’s intention to write for the “teaching pastor” and “produce an up-to-date commentary of mid-range length that interacts representatively with the most recent scholarship” (author’s preface). In many ways Taylor has achieved his stated goal.
However, I believe that this work could have been more helpful to the “teaching pastor” in two ways. First, while the author does a decent job in identifying differing interpretive views, he often does not explain which view he prefers and why. Helping the teaching pastor think through the various options would have enhanced this commentary’s value. I suspect that many who want more in-depth analysis will find this commentary to be too succinct and turn elsewhere. Second, students of 1 Corinthians know that the book addresses a number of issues that continue to have relevance today (e.g., lawsuits, church discipline, the role of women in the church, speaking in tongues, etc.). But this commentary does not really explore these issues at any depth. To be fair, many commentators limit themselves to interpretive issues and do not tease out the implications or theology of the text for their readers. But since this commentary has the stated intention of helping teaching pastors then it seems reasonable to expect this kind of help. Many pastors that I know appreciate at least some help in moving from exegesis to application. Again, pastors looking for this kind of assistance will likely be forced to seek other resources.
In sum, this commentary is solid but whether it does enough to find a sufficient niche within the crowded, and perhaps over saturated, field noted above remains to be seen.
Much thanks to B&H Publishing for providing the free review copy utilized in this review.
The Wine in a Middle Bronze Age Palace in Israel
Wine is referenced over 230 times in the Bible. So some readers might be interested in this post from the Smithsonian blog on the chemical analysis of the contents of large jars found at Tel Kabri, tentatively identified as a wine cellar of a Middle Bronze Age palace. The blog post summarizes more extensive and technical discussion found here.
Aug 27, 2014
Forthcoming: The Lost Sermons of Charles Spurgeon
This announcement was actually made a few weeks ago, but fans of Charles Spurgeon might be interested to know that B&H will be publishing The Lost Sermons of Charles Spurgeon, a multi-volume collection of over 400 sermons and outlines with critical commentary from his days as a young pastor outside of Cambridge.
Aug 26, 2014
Olson on the Wrong Side of History
Roger Olson has a good word here on the oft expressed concern, even by many evangeliicals, of being on the wrong side of history. Ultimately, we will not answer to "history" but to God.
Aug 25, 2014
Free: Paul Maier’s Pontius Pilate
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