The Chiastic Structure of Psalm 8

Many interpreters have noted the inclusion created by the first and last lines of Psalm 8. Other have suggested a chiastic arrangement. The one by Mark Futato is probably the best one I have seen. 

The majesty of the Creator (v. 2a [1a])
    The works of God’s fingers (vv. 2b–4 [1b–3])
        What is humanity? (v. 5 [4])
    The works of God’s hands (vv. 6–9 [5–8])
The majesty of the Creator (v. 10 [9]) 

Mark Futato, “Psalm 8: A Christological Perspective,” in Interpreting the Old Testament Theologically: Essays in Honor of Willem A. VanGemeren, ed. Andrew C. Abernethy (Grand Rapids, 2018), 219.

Preaching through Books of the Bible

I am an advocate of preaching through books of the Bible believing that the practice benefits both the preacher and the congregation. Orrick, Payne, and Fullerton explain one of the important benefits for the preacher below.

"The first argument for the lectio continua method is that it helps the preacher personally to grow in knowledge and obedience by his disciplined encounter with and immersion in God's Word. Because the under-shepherd cannot lead his flock where he himself is not going, this may be the most fundamental argument for this method, This is not to say that preachers who do not employ the lectio continua method are not immersed in God's Word; but in the proposed method, immersion in the text is virtually inevitable. By definition,you are seeking to come to terms with what the author is saying in the particular text and how it fits with the overall argument of the book, and why it matters. In other words, you are askingand answering the "what?" of the text, the "so what?" of the text, and the "now what?" of the text; and this discipline, week in and week out, brings enormous benefit to the preacher even before it benefits the congregation."

Jim Scott Orrick, Brian Payne, and Ryan Fullerton. Encountering God through Expository Preaching: Connecting God’s People to God’s Presence through God’s Word (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2017), 62

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.

Tzvi Abusch, The Witchcraft Series Maqlu
Reviewed by Adam E. Miglio

Gary A. Anderson and Markus Bockmuehl, eds., Creation ex nihilo: Origins, Development, Contemporary Challenges
Reviewed by Thomas Olbricht

Laurel Bestock, Violence and Power in Ancient Egypt: Image and Ideology before the New Kingdom
Reviewed by Rita Lucarelli

Daniel I. Block, The Triumph of Grace: Literary and Theological Studies in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomic Themes
Reviewed by A. J. Culp

Julie Galambush, Reading Genesis: A Literary and Theological Commentary
Reviewed by R. W. L. Moberly

Christian Hofreiter, Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages
Reviewed by Eric A. Seibert

Justin R. Howell, The Pharisees and Figured Speech in Luke-Acts
Reviewed by David B. Gowler

Larry W. Hurtado, Ancient Jewish Monotheism and Early Christian Jesus-Devotion: The Context and Character of Christological Faith
Reviewed by James F. McGrath

Craig S. Keener, Galatians
Reviewed by Nijay K. Gupta

Markus Lang, ed., Ein neues Geschlecht? Entwicklung des frühchristlichen Selbstbewusstseins

Reviewed by Jonathon Lookadoo

Paul Middleton, The Violence of the Lamb: Martyrs as Agents of Divine Judgment in the Book of Revelation
Reviewed by Gregory Stevenson

Susanne Scholz, ed., Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect II: Social Locations
Reviewed by Vanessa Lovelace

Psalm West

I imagine most of the readers of this blog do not keep up with the Kardashians. However, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian named their newest child Psalm West. As you may have guessed, they named their son after the biblical book. People magazine has an explanation here.

Preaching Versus Teaching?

I have often been asked about the difference between preaching and teaching. I usually mumble that one is more informational and the other more transformational and hope that I do not get pressed too hard to explain how preaching does not involve information and how teaching is not intended for transformation. Or I might say that the difference involves delivery but again the distinction can be hard to break down. Preachers and preaching books also often want to maintain this distinction. But the older I get, I wonder about the value and validity of maintaining such a distinction. 

Hughes Oliphant Old in his magisterial work on the history of preaching states, “The earliest church understood preaching to be at the heart of its mission. The Great Commission had made it clear: “‘Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them . . . teaching [διδάσκω] them to observe all that I have commanded you’” (Matt 28:18-20)” (The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church: Volume 1: The Biblical Period [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998], 7, my bold and insertion of Greek). This quote seems to suggest that perhaps the distinction between preaching and teaching is unimportant or at least not as great as some suggest.

Bad Biblical Theology Preaching

Samuel Enmadi identifies four ways that bad biblical theology leads to bad preaching here.

Weights and Measures

Claude Mariottini posts about how ancient Israel established weights and measures here.

The Book of James

Preaching Source has recently posted a series of blog posts on the book of James.

• Mark Taylor discusses the themes in James here.
• Kie Bowman discusses the genre of James here.
• Matt Emerson discusses how to find pericopes in James here.
• Craig Etheredge discusses the context of James here. 
• Jason Kees discusses important words in James here. 
• Scott Pace discusses some potential "potholes" in explaining the text of James here.
• David Goza discusses ways to illustrate James here.

Preaching the Word of God as the Word of God

David Allen has a great reminder 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.

Lori Baron, Jill Hicks-Keeton, and Matthew Thiessen, eds., The Ways That Often Parted: Essays in Honor of Joel Marcus
Reviewed by Adele Reinhartz

George Bristow, Sharing Abraham? Narrative Worldview, Biblical and Qur’anic Interpretation and Comparative Theology in Turkey
Reviewed by John W. Fadden

Rhonda Burnette-Bletsch, ed., The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (Part 1 and 2)
Reviewed by Laura Copier

Michael Carasik, ed., The Commentator’s Bible: Genesis: The Rubin JPS Miqra‘ot Gedolot
Reviewed by S. David Sperling

Juan David Figueroa Flórez, “Con la diestra en la espalda”: Estudio sobre las imagenes de Dios y su actuar en Lamentaciones
Reviewed by Claude F. Mariottini

Louise J. Lawrence, Bible and Bedlam: Madness, Sanism, and New Testament Interpretation
Reviewed by Robert J. Myles

Scott D. Mackie, ed., The Letter to the Hebrews: Critical Readings
Reviewed by Madison N. Pierce

Charles L. Quarles, Matthew
Reviewed by Akiva Cohen

Benjamin E. Reynolds, ed., The Son of Man Problem: Critical Readings
Reviewed by Russell Morton

Matthew J. Suriano, A History of Death in the Hebrew Bible
Reviewed by Philip S. Johnston

Eric J. Tully, Hosea: A Handbook on the Hebrew Text
Reviewed by Barry A. Jones

Jacques Vermeylen, Métamorphoses: Les rédactions successives du livre de Job
Reviewed by Philippe Guillaume

Hosea's Marriage to Gomer

Derek Bass asks and answers the question, "Why did God command Hosea to marry an immoral woman?" here. This post assumes that Gomer was immoral rather than idolatrous as some like Douglas Stuart argue.

Konrad Schmid on Five Turning Points in Biblical and Old Testament Theology

You can read about them here.

Picturing Daniel

I have spent a fair amount of time teaching the book of Daniel. Finding pictures and artwork is fairly easy whether it involves paintings of Daniel in the lion's den or Daniel 2's  statue as empires. It seems that this book has captured the imagination of not a few artists. But if you are looking for photos related to the archaeological backgrounds the options are more limited. 

So this is one reason I am very excited about the new Photo Companion to the Bible on the Book of Daniel. This resource contains over 1,000 images related to the book. These images are annotated and available on PowerPoint presentations arranged by chapter and verse. This makes it really easy to use. My PowerPoint on Daniel has over 400 slides but it will be getting bigger as I add some of this material. There really is nothing else like this anywhere else.

So check out this wonderful resource on Daniel here. It looks like it is even on sale for over 40%-off at $39.

The Big Debate over the Big Idea

Last year Abraham Kuruvilla proposed last year that it might be time to kill the "big idea" approach that is so commonly taught and utilized in preaching (e.g., Haddon Robinson, Don Sunukjian, et al.). Now, Steven Mathewson is proposing that we ought to let the "big idea" live. You can read Mathewson's proposal in the Journal of the Evangelical Homiletical Society here. Unfortunately, Kuruvilla's article in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 61:4 (2018) is not yet available for free to non-members.

Linguistics & New Testament Greek Conference Video

Video for the 2019 Linguistics & New Testament Greek: Key Issues in the Current Debate Conference is available here.

HT: Dave Black

Ancient Israelite Cosmology

Justin Taylor discusses here Vern Poythress's recent book on Genesis 1–3, in particular how it challenges some widely-held views of ancient Israelite cosmology. It sounds like this is some much needed push back on some aspects concerning ancient cosmology that needs to be reexamined and not just reiterated.