What Do Americans Consider Immoral?

The Pew Research Center recently posted their results of a poll related to what Americans consider immoral. You can access the poll here. There might be some good sermon illustration material 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.

Craig L. Blomberg, Jesus the Purifier: John’s Gospel and the Fourth Quest for the Historical Jesus (Baker Academic)
Elijah Wreh

Grant Buchanan, The Spirit, New Creation, and Christian Identity: Towards a Pneumatological Reading of Galatians 3:1–6:17 (T&T Clark)
William Horst

Craig A. Evans, Brian LePort, and Paul T. Sloan, eds., Visions and Violence in the Pseudepigrapha (T&T Clark)
Samantha J. Scott

Richard A. Horsley, Empowering the People: Jesus, Healing, and Exorcism (Cascade)
Michael Barram

Krzysztof Kinowski, Bloodshed by King Manasseh, Assyrians and Priestly Scribes: Theological Meaning and Historical-Cultural Contextualization of 2 Kings 21:16, 24:3–4 in Relation to the Fall of Judah (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht)
Garrett Galvin

George Anton Kiraz and Hannah Stork, eds., Mfaḥmono Kashiro: Perspectives on the Syriac Bible in Honor of Andreas Juckel (Gorgias)
Kristian S. Heal

Hindy Najman, Scriptural Vitality: Rethinking Philology and Hermeneutics (Oxford University Press)
Marco Pavan

Jonathan Rodrian, Das Abrahamopfer im Kontext von Gen 12–25: Narratologische und literarhistorische Untersuchungen (Mohr Siebeck)
Benedikt J. Collinet

R. S. Sugirtharajah, Hindus and Their Christian Bible (T&T Clark)
Reid B. Locklin Arthur W. Walker-Jones and Suzanna R. Millar, eds., Ask the Animals: Developing a Biblical Animal Hermeneutic (SBL Press)
Beth A. Berkowitz

The Burning Bush

Rachel Adelman has an interesting take here on the site of the burning bush (Exod 3).

The Tenth Commandment

I have been teaching through the Decalogue at my church. As many are aware there are two "versions" in the Bible, one in Exodus and the other in Deuteronomy. I use a software analogy and call them version 1.0 and version 2.0. While there are mostly similar, they are not identical. One difference can be seen in the final (in the order that I am following) commandment. Here Exodus uses the word "covet" twice and Deuteronomy uses "covet" and a related word, "desire." Also  "neighbor's house" is listed first in Exodus but "neighbor's house is listed second, after "neighbor's wife" in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy has a reference to a neighbor's "field" but this is not found in Exodus. Even with these differences, there is little, if any, real difference between the two commands. Here is a simple table that I created (the English translation is the ESV).

Exodus 20:17	Deuteronomy 5:21
“Covet” (ḥmd) 2x	“Covet” (ḥmd) and “desire” (ʾwh)
neighbor’s house	neighbor’s wife
neighbor’s wife	neighbor’s house
	his field
his male servant	his male servant
his female servant	his female servant
his ox	his ox
his donkey	his donkey
anything that is your neighbor’s	anything that is your neighbor’s

Weights and Measures in Ancient Israel

Claude Mariottini provides a link for his article on weights and measures in ancient Israel here.

Acts and the Eyewitnesses

Steve Walton's article, "Acts and the Eyewitnesses" in the Tyndale Bulletin is available 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.

Stephen J. Chester, Paul through the Eyes of the Reformers: Living under Grace (Eerdmans)
Benjamin Schliesser

Walter Dietrich, King David in the Deuteronomistic History: Collected Studies (SBL Press)
Leonardo Pessoa da Silva Pinto

Zanne Domoney-Lyttle, The Bible and Comics: Women, Power and Representation in Graphic Narratives (T&T Clark)
Gabriel Mckee

Jens-Arne Edelmann, Das Römische Imperium im Lukanischen Doppelwerk: Darstellung und Ertragspotenzial für christliche Leser des späten ersten Jahrhunderts (Mohr Siebeck)
Stephan Witetschek

Benedikt Hensel and Christian Wetz, eds., Migration und Theologie: Historische Reflexionen, theologische Grundelemente und hermeneutische Perspektiven aus der alt- und neutestamentlichen Wissenschaft (Evangelische Verlagsanstalt)
Meiken Buchholz

Elaine T. James, An Invitation to Biblical Poetry (Oxford University Press)
Joseph Lam

Mario Liverani, Assyria: The Imperial Mission (Eisenbrauns)
Matheus Treuk Medeiros de Araujo

Bruce R. Reichenbach, Diving into the Gospel of John: Life through Believing (Cascade)
Richard Francis D’Souza

Loren T. Stuckenbruck and Daniel M. Gurtner, eds., T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism (T&T Clark)

Rebecca L. Harris Serdar Yalçın, Selves Engraved on Stone: Seals and Identity in the Ancient Near East, ca. 1415–1050 BCE (Brill)
Sarah Kielt Costello