City of David Website

See this interactive website on ancient Jerusalem. Thanks to Stephen Bramer for the link.

Mounce on Etymology

Bill Mounce has a nice discussion on etymology. Read it here.

A Second Temple Sarcophagus Discovered in Jerusalem

Second Temple Period inscribed with the words “the son of the high priest” has been discovered in Jerusalem. The story and a picture can be found here.

Review of Exum's Song of Songs

Claude Mariottini has a review of Cheryl Exum's recent commentary on Song of Songs. You can read it here.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

Andrew Bernhard
Other Early Christian Gospels: A Critical Edition of the Surviving Greek Manuscripts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6346
Reviewed by Christopher Tuckett

Katharine J. Dell
The Book of Proverbs in Social and Theological Context
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5595
Reviewed by Dorothy Akoto

Karin Finsterbusch, Armin Lange, and K.F. Diethard Römheld, eds.
Human Sacrifice in Jewish and Christian Tradition
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5822
Reviewed by James W. Watts

Joel B. Green
1 Peter
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6348
Reviewed by Paul J. Achtemeier

John Paul Hozvicka
A Primer on Biblical Studies
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6088
Reviewed by John Vassar

Steven L. McKenzie and John Kaltner
The Old Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6198
Reviewed by Francis Dalrymple-Hamilton

Daniel Patte, ed.
Global Bible Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6489
Reviewed by Alexander Negrov

Finny Philip
The Origins of Pauline Pneumatology: The Eschatological Bestowal of the Spirit upon Gentiles in Judaism and in the Early Development of Paul's Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6028
Reviewed by Justin K. Hardin

Varda Sussman
Oil-Lamps in the Holy Land: Saucer Lamps: From the Beginning to the Hellenistic Period: Collections of the Israel Antiquities Authority
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6340
Reviewed by Noam Adler

Ben Witherington III
Matthew
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5436
Reviewed by David C. Sim

Köstenberger: Twelve Theses for the Church's Mission in the Twenty-First Century

Andreas Köstenberger offers twelve theses on the church’s mission in the twenty-first century. The theses are:

1) The church’s mission-in both belief and practice-should be grounded in the biblical theology of mission.

(2) Reflection on the church’s mission should be predicated upon the affirmation of the full and sole authority of Scripture.

(3) The church’s mission should be conceived primarily in terms of the church’s faithfulness and responsiveness to the missionary mandate given by the Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture.

(4) The church’s understanding of its mission should be hermeneutically sound.

(5) The church’s mission is to be conceived ultimately in theocentric rather than anthropocentric terms.

(6) The church’s mission, properly and biblically conceived, is to be trinitarian in its orientation, but not at the expense of neglecting the distinct roles of the three persons within the Godhead.

(7) The contemporary context of the church’s mission, while important, ought not to override the church’s commitment to the authority of Scripture, its need to be grounded in the biblical theology of mission, and the understanding of its task in terms of faithfulness to the gospel.

(8) The church is the God-ordained agent of his mission in this world today.

(9) The way in which the kingdom of God is extended in this world today is through regenerate believers acting out their Christian faith in their God-assigned spheres of life: the church, their families, their workplace, the societies in which they live (Eph 5:18-6:9; 1 Pet 2:13-3:7).

(10) There is no true lasting social transformation apart from personal conversion through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

(11) Human organization does not necessarily entail a lack of acknowledgment of God and his initiative in mission.

(12) The church’s task today is to nurture, renew, and plant churches composed of a spiritually regenerate membership and constituted in keeping with the biblical teaching regarding church leadership.

The rest of the post and further explanation of these theses can be found here.

Walton on the Designation "A Man After God's Own Heart"

John Walton has posted a discussion on the designation "a man after God's own heart in 1 Samuel 13:14. Walton rightly argues that this designation relates to God's heart for David rather than David's heart for God. Walton notes:

How do we know that the interpretation should go this direction?

By other uses of similar phrasing. One should particularly note the usage of Jeremiah 3:15, but also Psalm 20:4 (Hebrew, v.3). In addition we would find that this is standard rhetoric in the ancient Near East as a reference to covenant alignment when a king replaces a rebellious vassal with one who will be more compliant and cooperative. Likewise Mesopotamian gods such as Enlil and Shamash are said to install kings of their own choosing using a similar phrase. (Commentaries offering more information include K. McCarter’s Anchor commentary on 1 Samuel and the forthcoming Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary on the Old Testament.

Finally it should be said that this interpretation does not eliminate every aspect of David’s loyalty to Yahweh. Indeed, his loyalty and alignment are the most likely criteria referred to. But that should be differentiated from our common understandings of piety, devotion and spiritual maturity. It is our careful study of Hebrew usage—supported by background information—that helps us to arrive at this interpretation.

Read the entire post here.

Hermeneutics Quiz

Take an online hermeneutics quiz on the New Testament use of the Old Testament that tests whether you are most closely aligned with the interpretive approaches of Darrell Bock, Walter Kaiser, or Peter Enns. Take it here.

Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics Website

Rob Decker has announced the creation of a website for The Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics, You can view it here.

Bird on the Logic of Galatians 3:10-14

Michael Bird has an interesting post on the logic of Galatians 3:10-14. Read it here.

Burge on the Pool of Siloam and the Gospel of John

Gary Burge has an interesting discussion on the Pool of Siloam and the Gospel of John. You can read it here.

Fruchtenbaum on the Second Coming

Logos has posted the audio for Arnold Fruchtenbaum's recent talk on the Second Coming for the Logos Bible Software Lecture Series. You can listen or download it here.

Why We Cannot Call God Mother

Randy L. Stinson and Christopher w. Cowan in the latest issue of CBMW Journal identify seven reasons why we cannot legitimately call God Mother.

1. There is no biblical precedent for referring to God with feminine terms such as "Mother" or "she."

2. Biblical, masculine language for God is not culture-dependent, but rather is God's chosen self-revelation of his identity.

3. The use of "feminine imagery" for God in the Bible does not demand or even imply that we may refer to God with feminine terms such as "Mother" or "she."

4. All feminine metaphors for God in the Bible are verbal-none are names or titles for God (like "Father").

5. "Father" is a name or title that communicates something real about God's nature.

6. Calling God "Mother" may require an unbiblical revision regarding how God relates to the world.

7. Calling God "Mother" calls into question the sufficiency of the biblical revelation.

To read the entire article here.

Psalm 139 and the Importance and Challenges of Psalm Forms

John Walton's post (here) on Psalm 139 provides a helpful illustration of the important role and interpretive challenges that Psalm forms play in interpretation.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

Craig D. Allert
A High View of Scripture? The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6258
Reviewed by Garwood P. Anderson

Stephen Bertman
Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6305
Reviewed by Aren M. Maeir

Michael J. Gorman
Reading Paul
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6323
Reviewed by Stephen Finlan

Joseph H. Hellerman
Jesus and the People of God: Reconfiguring Ethnic Identity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6355
Reviewed by Vernon Robbins

Christophe Nihan
From Priestly Torah to Pentateuch: A Study in the Composition of the Book of Leviticus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6341
Reviewed by Jeffrey Stackert

Barbara E. Reid
Taking up the Cross: New Testament Interpretations through Latina and Feminist Eyes
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6223
Reviewed by Mary J. Marshall

Bernard Renaud
«Proche est ton Nom»: De la révélation à l'invocation du Nom de Dieu
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6104
Reviewed by Jean-Paul Michaud

Joseph B. Soloveitchik; David Shatz, Joel B. Wolowelsky, and Reuven Ziegler, eds.
Abraham's Journey: Reflections on the Life of the Founding Patriarch
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6398
Reviewed by Dan W. Clanton Jr.

Dispensationalism and the New Covenant

Rodney Decker has posted a recently delivered paper entitled, "Why Do Dispensationalists Have Such a Hard Time Agreeing on the New Covenant." You can access it here.

Trier on Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture

Follow this link to an interview with Daniel Trier concerning his book Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture published by Baker.

Hamilton on the Christology of the Old Testament

Jim Hamilton has posted a link to a panel discussion that he was part of on the Christology of the Old Testament and several articles that he has written.

Link to the panel discussion audio here.

Article links:

“The Seed of the Woman and the Blessing of Abraham,” Tyndale Bulletin 58.2 (2007), 253-73.

“The Messianic Music of the Song of Songs: A Non-Allegorical Interpretation,” Westminster Theological Journal 68 (2006) 331-45.

“The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman: Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Genesis 3:15,” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 10.2 (2006), 30-54.

Free Book Download: Essential Church

Some readers might be interested in this free book download of Thom and Sam Rainer's book Essential Church.

The book is based on a study of one-thousand so-called "church dropouts" who were interviewed about why they left. Their answers are quite surprising, having less to do with "losing their religion" and more about the desire for a community that isn’t made stale by simply maintaining the status quo.

To download the book you will have to submit your e-mail. Here is the link.

Why Learn New Testament Greek?

See Nijay Gupta's post answering the question "Why Learn NT Greek?"

Messiah as a Hebrew Term

Claude Mariottini has a nice post on the Hebrew term Messiah read it here.

Moyise on Paul's Quotation of Scripture

Bruce Fisk has posted a link to Steve Moyise's paper entitled "Does Paul Respect the Context of His Scriptural quotations and Does it Matter?" The paper will be delivered at the SBL meeting in November. You can download the paper here.

Robert Yarbrough Interview

Christianity Today has posted a nice interview with Robert Yarbrough editor for the Baker Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament series, the author of 1-3 John in the BECNT series, and contributor to the ESV study Bible. The interview by Collin Hanson basically involves his work in the Epistles of John. Read it here.

Free Resources for Bible Study

The website promoting the Archaeological Study Bible has apparently been out awhile. What I did not realize was that they have made a nice selection of pictures, charts, diagrams, and maps available for free. The materials are helpfully catagorized as Introduction, Old Testament, New Testament, and Maps and the OT and NT sections are further divided into books. Check it out here.

Top Five Commentaries on Ezra-Nehemiah

Ligonier Ministries has a list and discussion of their top five commentaries on Ezra-Nehemiah. I would replace the briefer works of Kidner and McConville with Blenkinsopp (OTL) and Thrtontveit (Int). I would also add Yamauchi (EBC) to the runners-up list. In any case, the top five Keith Mathison has listed are:

1. F. Charles Fensham -- The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 1983).
2. H.G.M. Williamson -- Ezra/Nehemiah (Word Biblical Commentary, 1985).
3. Derek Kidner. -- Ezra & Nehemiah (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 1979).
4. Mervin Breneman -- Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (New American Commentary, 1993).
5. J. G. McConville -- Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Daily Study Bible, 1985).