Tel Lachish

Many of you may have already heard about some exciting discoveries at Tel Lachish announced a few days ago by the Israel Antiquities Authority here. There are a number of news reports out there. I would start here for additional information and here for the most pictures. You can also access a free PDF copy of Pamela Magrill's 2006 book, A Researcher's Guide to the Lachish Collection in the British Museum here but note that this is a listing of finds with no pictures.

Free Logos Book for October: Romans by Craig Keener

The free Logos Book of the Month for October is Romans by Craig Keener in the New Covenant Commentary series. You can also purchase Revelation by Gordon Fee in the same series for $1.99 or enter to win the entire six-volume series. For all these offers you can go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.

People Are Still Reading

I am encouraged by this Chicago Tribune article on the fact that people are apparently still reading. I am firmly committed to the proposition that those who are involved in ministry should be readers.

Journal for Inductive Bible Study

Some readers might already be aware of this, but one can access free PDFs of the current and past issues of the Journal for Inductive Bible Study here.

Proverbs 22:6

Jason DeRouchie has a good discussion here on the meaning and implications of Proverbs 22:6.

History of Bible Software

John Dyer has a fascinating post here on the history of Bible software.

Preaching Resources for Matthew

Ian Paul has a helpful post here covering some good resources for preaching the Gospel of Matthew. In the post, mention is made of a commentary list by Antony Billington but the link takes you to a bio. Here is the link to the actual document.

Elmer Martens (1930-2016)

Old Testament scholar Elmer Martens has passed away. I especially appreciated his work God's Design: A Focus on Old Testament Theology. You can read more about Martens here.

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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

Jonathan Draper and Clayton Jefford, eds.
The Didache: A Missing Piece of the Puzzle in Early Christianity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10418
Reviewed by John S. Kloppenborg
Reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III

Ruth Edwards
Discovering John: Content, Interpretation, Reception
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10546
Reviewed by Karoline M. Lewis

Timo Eskola
Beyond Biblical Theology: Sacralized Culturalism in Heikki Räisänen’s Hermeneutics
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9520
Reviewed by Michael F. Bird

Jione Havea, Margaret Aymer, and Steed Vernyl Davidson, eds.
Islands, Islanders, and the Bible: Ruminations
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10585
Reviewed by Antonios Finitsis
Reviewed by T. M. Lemos

Alex Jassen
Scripture and Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10381
Reviewed by Ian Werrett

Burkhart Kienast
Das altassyrische Eherecht: Eine Urkundenlehr
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10858
Reviewed by Michael S. Moore

Susan Niditch
The Responsive Self: Personal Religion in Biblical Literature of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10731
Reviewed by Carol Newsom

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
Empowering Memory and Movement: Thinking and Working across Borders
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9814
Reviewed by Barbara E. Reid, O.P.

Andy Stanley and the Bible

Andy Stanley recently preached a message that seemed to minimize the value of the Bible in the Christian faith (see here). In think that two posts here and here provide some of the better responses to Stanley.

Preaching Old Testament Narratives and 2 Samuel 19

David Murray shares Dale Van Dyke's advice on preaching Old Testament narratives here. And Jesse Johnson has some helpful thoughts here on true and false repentance in 2 Samuel 19.

What Should You Call Your Professor?

Andrea Eidinger has a great post here answering that question and she also has this great flowchart.

HT: Mike Burer

Scroll Fragment of Leviticus

See this New York Times article on a charred fragment containing the first two chapters of Leviticus. The scroll was read using a new computer imaging program. This scroll was found in 1970 and has been dated by Ada Yardeni and Emanuel Tov to the first century AD.

Plagiarism, O'Brien, and Preaching

Colin Adam's post, "Preachers, Plagiarism and What to Do with My Peter O’Brien Commentaries" is worth reading, especially his advice on staying on the right side of the line.

Balancing the Biblical Languages

Todd Chipman has some sound advice on striking the right balance in using the biblical languages here.

New Group for Reading Aramaic and Syriac

Those interested in reading Aramaic and Syriac might be interested in this forthcoming Facebook group. The fun starts on October 16. For more information see this blog post.

Lot's Actions in Genesis 19

George Athas has an interesting take on Lot's actions in Genesis 19. You can access his blog post with a link to his article in the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures here.

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 but unfortunately you must be a SBL member.

Kevork B. Bardakjian and Sergio La Porta, eds.
The Armenian Apocalyptic Tradition: A Comparative Perspective
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9938
Reviewed by Olga Vardazaryan

Rodney J. Decker
Reading Koine Greek: An Introduction and Integrated Workbook
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10021
Reviewed by James F. McGrath
Reviewed by Steven Thompson

Brian R. Doak
The Last of the Rephaim: Conquest and Cataclysm in the Heroic Ages of Ancient Israel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9584
Reviewed by Debra Scoggins Ballentine

Israel Finkelstein and Nadav Na’aman, eds.
The Fire Signals of Lachish: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Israel in the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Persian Period in Honor of David Ussishkin
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7983
Reviewed by Fred L. Horton

Reuven Hammer
Akiva: Life, Legend, Legacy
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10747
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz
Reviewed by Pieter de Vries

F. Stanley Jones, ed.
The Rediscovery of Jewish Christianity: From Toland to Baur
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8564
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow
Reviewed by Jonathan M. Potter

Tremper Longman III
Proverbs
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10569
Reviewed by Bálint Károly Zabán

Timothy Mackie
Expanding Ezekiel: The Hermeneutics of Scribal Addition in the Ancient Text Witnesses of the Book of Ezekiel
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10462
Reviewed by Christopher Dost

Joseph A. Marchal
Philippians: Historical Problems, Hierarchical Visions, Hysterical Anxieties
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10221
Reviewed by Katherine A. Shaner

Sheila E. McGinn, Lai Ling Elizabeth Ngan, and Ahida Calderón Pilarski, eds.
By Bread Alone: The Bible through the Eyes of the Hungry
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9908
Reviewed by Vicky Balabanski

Peter Oakes
Galatians
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10275
Reviewed by Matthew V. Novenson

Preston M. Sprinkle
Paul and Judaism Revisited: A Study of Divine and Human Agency in Salvation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9583
Reviewed by Kenneth D. Litwak

Journal of Biblical Literature 135:3

The lasted volume of the Journal of Biblical Literature is now out. Here is a list of the articles with links to abstracts.

Editor’s Foreword. Snared by Words? (Proverbs 6:2): On the Perils of Editing
Adele Reinhartz
preview

Demons in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East
Anne Marie Kitz
abstract

Rereading 1 Kings 17:21 in Light of Ancient Medical Texts
Andrew R. Davis
abstract

The “God of the Fathers” in Chronicles
Troy D. Cudworth
abstract

Where Art Thou, O Hezekiah’s Tunnel? A Biblical Scholar Considers the Archaeological and Biblical Evidence concerning the Waterworks in 2 Chr 32:3–4, 30 and 2 Kgs 20:20
Mary Katherine Yem Hing Hom
abstract

The Destruction of the Samaritan Temple by John Hyrcanus: A Reconsideration
Jonathan Bourgel
abstract

The Compositional Development of Qumran Pesharim in Light of Mesopotamian Commentaries
Bronson Brown-deVost
abstract

Baruch’s Jerusalem: The Conception of Jerusalem in 1 Baruch 4:5-5:9
Ruth Henderson
abstract

Semitic Poetic Techniques in the Magnificat: Luke 1:46–47, 55
Hugo Méndez
abstract

One of the Days of the Son of Man: A Reconsideration of Luke 17:22
Ryan P. Juza
abstract

On Paul’s Second Visit to Corinth: [Palin], Parsing, and Presupposition in 2 Corinthians 2:1
Stephen C. Carlson
abstract

Paulus als Yischmaelit? The Personification of Scripture as Interpretive Authority in Paul and the School of Rabbi Ishmael
Michael Benjamin Cover
abstract

Jesus’s Testimony before Pilate in 1 Timothy 6:13
Michel Gourgues
abstract

Emotional Physiology and Consolatory Etiquette: Reading the Present Indicative with Future Reference in the Eschatological Statement in 1 Peter 1:6
Troy W. Martin
abstract

A Piece on Peace and Decision Making

Eric Davis has a thoughtful post here on using peace as a way of making decisions might not be the best way to go.

Richard Bauckham Festschrift

Eerdmans is publishing a new collection of essays in honor of Richard Bauckham. You can read more about it here but the table of contents are as follows.

Part 1: Thematic Studies

The Birth of God and the Resurrection of Life
Jürgen Moltmann

Time and Eternity: Richard Bauckham and the Fifth Evangelist
Jeremy S. Begbie

Parmenides, Particularity, and Parousia: Identifying the One Who Will Come to Judge the Living and the Dead
Trevor Hart

The Bible and Wider Culture: Animals as a Test Case
David Brown

Worship and Divine Identity: Richard Bauckham’s Christological Pilgrimage
Larry W. Hurtado

“The Agent of the King Is Treated as the King Himself ”: Does the Worship of Jesus Imply His Divinity?
Philip Alexander

Christianity without Paul
James D. G. Dunn

Part 2: Textual Studies

God Put Jesus Forth: Reflections on Romans 3:24–26
N. T. Wright

Jesus the Baptist: The First Temptation of Christ
Sean M. McDonough

Giving the Kingdom to an Ethnos That Will Bear Its Fruit: Ethnic and Christ-Movement Identities in Matthew
Philip F. Esler

Mark’s Gospel for the Second Church of the Late First Century
Bruce W. Longenecker

The Book of Revelation and the Hekhalot Literature
James R. Davila

A Stone from the High Priest's Breastplate?

I think a fair amount of skepticism is warranted, but this story about a possible stone of the high priest's breastplate is certainly interesting.

Bible Interpretation

Edmond Sanganyado has a solid post on Bible interpretation which also lists some of what he considers the best Bible study books. I think that the list might be more helpful if he included the authors and not just the titles. In any case, you can read the post here.

I'm Sure Some of Our Wives Have Thought about This

Theology Nerd’s Wife Has Book Detector Installed.

Eric Cline on the Sea Peoples

Eric Cline answers the questions, "Who are the Sea Peoples and what role did they play in the devastation of civilizations that occurred shortly after 1200 BCE?" at ASOR's The Ancient Near East Today here.