Hurtado on the Nestle-Aland 28

  
Now that a number of you have picked up your copies of the new NA28 at ETS or SBL, you might find it helpful as I did to revisit Larry Hurtado's review of it here.
 

Emanuel Tov Interview

  
The OUPBlog has an audio interview conducted by Marc Brettler with Emanuel Tov available here. There is also a written transcript of the interview here.

Here is one exchange from the interview (I have omitted the footnotes).


MB: This idea, of course, is seen in your book Textual Criticism of the Bible, which has gone through various editions over a number of years. Can you talk about the extent to which, and the manner in which your views have changed over the last 42 years that you've been publishing?

ET: Yes, my views have changed. I am not like my teacher John Strugnell, who had in his room at the École Biblique a large poster of a rhinoceros under which he had the text that said, “I have many vices, being wrong is not one of them.” So again, I’m not like Professor Strugnell, and I’ve changed my mind. I would have to mention certain areas in which I’ve changed my mind. I’ve not changed my mind in the overall view of textual criticism, I’ve simply...it’s become more sophisticated. And it’s like a puzzle in which you've inserted your different views and different layers of your views.

But I’ve changed my mind, I would say...while they may seem like small details, but there's an important text from Qumran, which I published, together with Sidnie White [Crawford. It's called “4QReworked Pentateuch.” It’s a long text and there are five different manuscripts and we've published those texts as so-called “Reworked Pentateuch,” which means it's not a biblical text. Although most of the fragments give us biblical texts. And it took me a while having studied more details and other texts—the Septuagint—to realize that basically these are biblical texts.

And this makes a big difference, I’m not alone in this view because I have those who’ve criticized me. And they said, a few years after we published the text, they said, “No, this is wrong, this is a biblical text.” I've not revised my views because of the arguments they gave, but because of other arguments that I realized much later. I’ve changed my views with regard to, again another detail, the relation between the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch which, as I now see, are much closer than they are to other texts. I have not changed my mind with regards to the Qumran scrolls and the Septuagint, but I should say more and more I realize that those two texts are extremely important. Often more important than the Masoretic Text. And more and more I’ve started to realize that we should base our exegesis, because that’s what we do with textual criticism, that we should base our exegesis not only on the Masoretic text but also on the Septuagint, Samaritan Pentateuch, and certain Qumran scrolls.
 

Esther in the Dead Sea Scrolls?

  
It is commonly noted that Esther is the only Old Testament book not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. One might argue that this is technically correct since the text of Esther has not been discovered. But as William Varner suggests in this post that there is evidence to indicate that Esther is mentioned in some of the fragments.
 

Consuming Blood: A Roman Catholic Perspective

  
See this blog post from the National Catholic Register.
 

On the Writing of New Testament Commentaries: Festschrift for Grant R. Osborne on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday

Some who attended the recent Evangelical Theological Society meeting may be aware that Grant Osborne was surprised with a Festschrift entitled On the Writing of New Testament Commentaries: Festschrift for Grant R. Osborne on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday edited by Stanley Porter and Eckhard Schnabel and published by Brill. It will be too pricey ($228) for most of the readers of this blog but here is the table of contents for the volume.

Part I: Commentaries and Exegesis

1. Eckhard J. Schnabel – On Commentary Writing
2. Stanley E. Porter – Linguistic competence of New Testament commentaries
3. Craig L. Blomberg – Genre in Recent New Testament Commentaries
4. Douglas J. Moo – Translation in New Testament Commentaries
5. Douglas S. Huffman – Historical Competence of New Testament Commentaries
6. Craig A. Evans – The Historical Jesus and New Testament Commentaries

Part II: Commentaries and the Hermeneutical Task

7. Richard S. Hess – The Use of the Old Testament in New Testament Commentaries
8. D. A. Carson – The Hermeneutical Competence of New Testament Commentaries
9. Daniel I. Block – Who do Commentators say “the Lord” is? The Scandalous Rock of Romans 10:13
10. David W. Pao – The Ethical Relevance of New Testament Commentaries: On the Reading of Romans 13:1-7
11. Robert W. Yarbrough – The Pastoral Relevance of Commentaries
12. Walter L. Liefeld – The Preaching Relevance of Commentaries
13. Scott M. Manetsch – (Re)constructing the Pastoral Office: Wolfgang Musculus’s Commentaries on 1 & 2 Corinthians

Part III: Commentaries and theology

14. Kevin J. Vanhoozer – Theological Commentary and ‘The Voice from Heaven’: Exegesis, Ontology, and the Travail of Biblical Interpretation
15. Daniel J. Treier – Christology and Commentaries: Examining and Enhancing Theological Exegesis
16. Linda L. Belleville– Christology, the Pastoral Epistles and Commentaries

Part IV: Commentaries on the Gospels, on the Epistles, and on Revelation

17. Darrell L. Bock – Commentaries on the Synoptic Gospels: Traditional Issues of Introduction
18. Stanley E. Porter – Commentaries on Romans
19. Scot McKnight ¬– Commentaries and James
20. Lois K. Fuller Dow – Commentaries on Revelation

Part V: Commentaries and publishers

21. Daniel G. Reid – Commentaries and Commentators from a Publisher’s Perspective

Maybe the kind Brill folks will see this and send me a copy of this volume but I doubt it! 
 

Doctrinal Preaching

"To avoid the vapid moralizing into which we preachers so easily slide, we need the bracing doctrinal axioms from the lips of our Lord or the pen of the apostles. Of course we must be exceedingly wary of strong-arming a theology on a narrative such as the esteemed brother who wanted to illustrate the five points of Calvinism out of the story of Mephibosheth at King David's table (2 Samuel 9). Now depravity may be in the narrative in the crippling of both feet, but where is limited atonement?"

David L. Larson, Preaching the Old Testament Today," in Preaching the Old Testament, ed. Scott M. Gibson (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), 179.

Video from the 2012 Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting

 
Video of the plenary messages from the 2012 Evangelical Theological Society annual meeting can be found here or you can use the individual links below. Note to watch the messages you will need to skip past the "webcast will begin at . . . ."

Calvin Beisner "Creation Care and Godly Dominion: The Search for a Genuinely Biblical Earth Stewardship"

Russell Moore "Heaven and Nature Sing: How Evangelical Theology Can Inform the Task of Environmental Protection, and Vice-Versa"

Richard Bauckham "Reading the Bible in the Context of the Ecological Threats of our Time"

Douglas J. Moo "Biblical Theology and Creation Care"
 

Four Major Questions Concerning the New Covenant

  
John Master in the forward of Dispensational Understanding of the New Covenant,a book I introduced here. Notes that there are four major questions concerning the New Covenant. The questions (slightly modified) as identified by Master are:

1. How was Jeremiah 31:31-34 understood by the original audience?

2.To what does the term new covenant refer?

3.How does one use the term fulfillment?

4. How does one identify the markers of a new covenant member?

Are their other major questions?
   

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

  
The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below.


Phillip R. Callaway
The Dead Sea Scrolls for a New Millennium
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8407
Reviewed by Stephen Reed

Marlene Crüsemann
Die pseudepigraphen Briefe an die Gemeinde in Thessaloniki: Studien zu ihrer Abfassung und zur jüdisch-christlichen Sozialgeschichte
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8038
Reviewed by Lars Kierspel

Benedikt Eckhardt, ed.
Jewish Identity and Politics between the Maccabees and Bar Kokhba: Groups, Normativity, and Rituals
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8394
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

James A. Kelhoffer
Persecution, Persuasion and Power: Readiness to Withstand Hardship as a Corroboration of Legitimacy in the New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8391
Reviewed by Alexander Stewart

Oded Lipschits and David S. Vanderhooft
The Yehud Stamp Impressions: A Corpus of Inscribed Impressions from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods in Judah
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8420
Reviewed by Aren Maeir

Dale B. Martin
New Testament History and Literature: The Open Yale Courses Series
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8502
Reviewed by Cornelis Bennema

Roger Pearse, ed.
Eusebius of Caesarea: Gospel Problems and Solutions
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8305
Reviewed by Michael F. Bird

J. W. Rogerson
An Introduction to the Bible: Third Edition
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8519
Reviewed by Bob Becking

L. L. Welborn
An End to Enmity: Paul and the "Wrongdoer" of Second Corinthians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8458
Reviewed by B. J. Oropeza

Hossfeld and Zenger: Psalms 3: A Commentary on Psalms 101-150

Hossfeld, Frank-Lothar, and Erich Zenger.

Psalms 3: A Commentary on Psalms 101-150. Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Hermeneia, ed. Klaus Baltzer. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2011.

If one is looking for a technical commentary written from a critical perspective on the Psalms then you would be hard pressed to find a better choice than the trilogy in the Hermeneia series by Hossfeld and Zenger. Two of the volumes in this series have been published (51–100 [2005] and 101–150 [2011]).

I was reminded recently of the comprehensive nature of this resource when I was doing some work on Psalm 110. The discussion on this psalm in the third volume was quite good. The discussion of the Hebrew text was thorough and helpful. Zenger is very thorough in his analysis. He deals with the various scholarly positions, the dating of the psalm, and other issues. There are a number of interesting drawings from the ancient Near East sprinkled throughout the commentary and a few related to Psalm 110. After the commentary proper, Zenger deals with the context, reception, and significance of Psalm 110. One might not agree with every conclusion reached, but this commentary leaves few stones unturned.

Thanks to Fortress press for sending this review copy.

  

Bruce Ware on the Incarnation of Jesus

  
The Crossway blog has a good interview with Bruce Ware on his book The Man Called Christ Jesus. You can check it out here.
 

A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature

  
Christian Book Distributor's Academic Deal of the Day has Joseph Fitzmyers, A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature for $2.99 or 88% off. You can check it out here. Note that the description of the book is incorrect but if you follow the link you will be able to get to the correct description.
 

A Visit to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible Exhibit

Yesterday I enjoyed a nice afternoon at Southwestern Baptist theological Seminary checking out the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible Exhibit. The exhibit itself is a self-guided tour consisting of five major parts.

(1) You go through a pictorial and artifact exhibit that introduces you to the Dead Sea area and basic archeological period beginning with the Hasmonean period. The artifacts include coins, ossuaries, pottery, glassware, and the like. There is a fairly nice model of first-century Jerusalem as well.

(2) You go through an area that contains various facsimiles of select Dead Sea scrolls.

(3) You view a 7 minute film on the Dead See Scrolls.

(4) You enter the “scroll room” to see the scroll fragments and other manuscripts and Bibles. The Dead Sea Scroll fragments include the FrgDSSText1, “Loveless Fragment” whose content is as yet unidentified; FrgDSSExod2, “Mora Fragment” containing Exodus 23:8–10; FrgDSSLev3 “Paleo Leviticus” containing Lev 21:7–12; 22:21–27; FrgDSSLev2, “Dearing Fragment” containing Leviticus 18:28–30; 20:24, FrgDSSDeut3 containing Deuteronomy 9:25–10:1; FrgDSSDeut4, “Rogers Fragment” containing Deuteronomy 12:11–14; FrgDSSPs1, “Patterson Fragment” containing Psalm 22:3, 5–8, 10, 12; FrgDSSDan2/ FrgDSSDan3 containing Daniel 6:22–24; 7:18–19; 1QIsaiahb containing Isaiah 41:3–23 and 44:21–45:13; various fragments belonging to the Kando family containing Isaiah 28:23–29; Genesis 33:18–34:3; 1 Kings 13:20–22; Amos 7:17–8:1; Joel 4:9–10 (3:9–10 Eng), Gen 37:26–38; and various fragments from the Green collection containing Numbers 8:4–5, Nehemiah 2:13–16, Jeremiah 23:6–9; Ezekiel 28:22, Daniel 10:18–20, and Jonah 2:4–5. The Jeselsohn Dead Sea Stone or the “Gabriel Stone” is also on display. The New Testament manuscripts on display include P46 containing parts of Romans and Hebrews, P38 containing Acts 18:27–19:6, 12–16, P53 containing Matthew 26:29–35, 36–40. The exhibit is rounded out with various codices, medieval manuscripts, and early print Bibles.

(5) After the requisite book store stop one can go outside and visit the Qumran simulated dig, a 80 x 100 ft site built to about 90% scale. (The picture below is from a reproduction of a mikvah from Qumran.)
 
Overall I think that this exhibit which runs through January 13, 2013, is worth checking out.
 

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

  
The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below.

Maren Bohlen
Sanctorum Communio: Die Christen als ,Heilige' bei Paulus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8212
Reviewed by Jeffrey Cayzer

Walter Brueggemann; ed. Carolyn J. Sharp
Disruptive Grace: Reflections on God, Scripture, and the Church
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7890
Reviewed by J. Dwayne Howell

Nancy Evans
Civic Rites: Democracy and Religion in Ancient Athens
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8135
Reviewed by Allen Kerkeslager

Christopher de Hamel
Bibles: An Illustrated History from Papyrus to Print
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8227
Reviewed by Claudia Setzer

Victor P. Hamilton
Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8375
Reviewed by Brian D. Russell

Matthias Henze, ed.
A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8446
Reviewed by Lester Grabbe

Sara M. Koenig
Isn't This Bathsheba? A Study in Characterization
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8460
Reviewed by Rachelle Gilmour

Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler
The Jewish Annotated New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8387
Reviewed by Zev Garber

Chantal Reynier
Tempêtes: Quatre récits bibliques: L'homme, la nature, la mort
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8123
Reviewed by Jean-François Racine
  

D. A. Carson Audio: Revelation 21-22 and the Intolerance of Tolerance

  
You can listen to D. A. Carson's recent talks on Revelation 21-22 and "The Intolerance of Tolerance" here.
 

New Website on Point of View

  
Gary Yamasaki has a new website related to the new book Perspective Criticism: Point of View and Evaluative Guidance in Biblical Narrative.
  

Women's Ministry

This article has an interesting perspective on women's ministry.
 

Free Logos Book for November: Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: Genesis to 2 Chronicles

  
The free Logos Book for November is volume 1 of John Darby's Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: Genesis to 2 Chronicles. You can also enter to win the 5 volume Synopsis of the Books of the Bible. Go the Logos' Free Book of Month page to enter and download your free book today!
  

Academic Job Report

  
I know that some of my seminary and Bible college students are interested in the prospects of finding a job in the academic world. Here is a report produced by the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion which might be of interest to you.
 

A Good Word about Education

“Without doubt, your time at college or university will be a life-changing experience. However, the extent to which it affects you depends in large part on how you invest yourself in it. We have suggested that adopting a mindset of “engaged learning” will help in this regard. Instead of seeing your education simply as a means to an end—an exercise that will result in a degree—we hope you will view the entire process as a chance to be an active learner who is engaging with the subjects that matter and making a difference in the world. As an engaged learner, you will have the opportunity not only to understand the subjects you are studying, but also to contribute in new and meaningful ways to the world around you.”

Margot Northey, Bradford A. Anderson, and Joel N. Lohr, Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Religious Studies (Don Mills, Ont: Oxford University Press, 2012), 11.