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. 

G. K. Beale, Colossians and Philemon
Reviewed by Ernest P. Clark

Christy Cobb, Slavery, Gender, Truth, and Power in Luke-Acts and Other Narratives
Reviewed by Shawn Kelley

Zeba A. Crook, ed., The Ancient Mediterranean Social World: A Sourcebook
Reviewed by David B. Gowler

Deryn Guest, YHWH and Israel in the Book of Judges: An Object-Relations Analysis
Reviewed by Klaas Spronk

John H. Hilber, Old Testament Cosmology and Divine Accommodation: A Relevance Theory Approach
Reviewed by John Oswalt

Jeanette Matthews, Prophets as Performers: Biblical Performance Criticism and Israel’s Prophets
Reviewed by Rosanne Liebermann

Steven J. Patterson, The Forgotten Creed: Christianity’s Original Struggle against Bigotry, Sexism, and Racism
Reviewed by Vincent L. Wimbush

Ilan Peled, Law and Gender in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible
Reviewed by Vien V. Nguyen, SCJ

Peter Schäfer, Two Gods in Heaven: Jewish Concepts of God in Antiquity
Reviewed by Shaye J. D. Cohen

Miles V. Van Pelt, Biblical Hebrew: A Compact Guide
Reviewed by Robert D. Holmstedt

Jacqueline Vayntrub, Beyond Orality: Biblical Poetry on its Own Terms
Reviewed by Steven Bishop

Bruce K. Waltke and James M. Houston, The Psalms as Christian Praise: A Historical Commentary
Reviewed by David G. Firth

Sermon on Psalm 2 by Steve Walton

Although this is a little different from the sermons I usually watch, I enjoyed this one from Psalm 2 by Steve Walton.

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 43:3

The latest articles from of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament are available now. Here is a list of the articles and links to abstracts. 

What Jesus Did, Does and May Do in Future: Gospel Miracles, Human Augmentation, Transhumanism and the Future of New Testament Studies
William John Lyons

The Provenance of Philippians: A Response to the Analyses of Michael Flexsenhar, Heike Omerzu, Angela Standhartinger and Cédric Brélaz
Douglas A. Campbell

What Are the Disciples Doing around Paul? The ‘Ring-Dance’ in Acts 14.20a
Daniel B. Glover

The Provincial Contexts of Paul’s Imprisonments: Law Enforcement and Criminal Procedure in the Roman East
Cédric Brélaz

Greetings from Prison and Greetings from Caesar’s House (Philippians 4.22): A Reconsideration of an Enigmatic Greek Expression in the Light of the Context and Setting of Philippians
Angela Standhartinger

‘In the Midst of the Assembly I Will Praise You’: Hebrews 2.12 and Its Contribution to the Argument of the Epistle
Bryan R. Dyer

Paul the Trojan Horse: The Legacy of Triumph in Philippians
Michael Flexsenhar, III

How Long Does it Take to Prepare a Sermon?

The answer to this question varies and it really does come down to a number of different factors. Peter Mead does a good job of outlining some of those factors in this post.

The Salvation of all Israel in Romans 11:26?

Jared Compton has a pretty good post here on what Paul means by "all Israel will be saved’ in Romans 11:26.

Hershel Shanks (1930–2021)

Word began getting out yesterday that Hershel Shanks had passed away. A brief obituary can be read here. I did not know Hershel personally, but he helped feed my interest in biblical archaeology primarily through the magazine he founded and edited, the Biblical Archaeology Review. I started reading back in the 90s and have a hard copy of every issue except one.

Joseph Weeping in Genesis

Mitch Chase has a good post here related to the seven times that Joseph is said to weep in Genesis.

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. 

Samuel L. Adams and Matthew Goff, eds., The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Wisdom Literature
Reviewed by David Penchansky

Matthew R. Crawford, The Eusebian Canon Tables: Ordering Textual Knowledge in Late Antiquity
Reviewed by Jean-François Racine

Febbie C. Dickerson, Luke, Widows, Judges, and Stereotypes
Reviewed by Vien V. Nguyen, SCJ

Josette Elayi, Sargon II, King of Assyria
Reviewed by Samuel L. Boyd

Jan Christian Gertz, Corinna Körting, and Markus Witte, eds., Das Buch Ezechiel: Komposition, Redaktion und Rezeption
Reviewed by Rosanne Liebermann

John Kaltner and Steven L. McKenzie, Sleuthing the Bible: Clues That Unlock the Mysteries of the Text
Reviewed by James F. McGrath

Jermo van Nes, Pauline Language and the Pastoral Epistles: A Study of Linguistic Variation in the Corpus Paulinum
Reviewed by Benjamin White

Sarah Parkhouse, Eschatology and the Saviour: The “Gospel of Mary” among Early Christian Dialogue Gospels
Reviewed by Deirdre Good

Melvin L. Sensenig, Jehoiachin and His Oracle: A Jeremianic Scribal Framework for the End of the Deuteronomistic History
Reviewed by Marvin A. Sweeney

Dillon T. Thornton, Hostility in the House of God: An Investigation of the Opponents in 1 and 2 Timothy
Reviewed by Andrew M. King V

Jesus’ Parables of the Master of the House and Ramat haNadiv

Leen Ritmeyer has an interesting and nicely illustrated post here on the imagery related to two of Jesus parables in Matthew 20:1-16 and 21:33-39.

The Importance of Biblical Archaeology

John Currid gives four reasons here.

Jephthah's Daughter

The story involving Jephthah and his daughter in Judges 11 is a difficult one to read, interpret, and preach. Claude Mariottini focuses here on just one aspect of the story, Jephthah's daughter.

Free Logos Book for February: 1 Peter and A Cultural Handbook to the Bible

The free Logos Book for the Month for February is Joel Green's 1 Peter in the Two Horizons series and John Pilch's A Cultural Handbook to the Bible.

You can also purchase Justice and Loyalty: A Commentary on the Book of Micah by Juan Lalfaro for $0.99, Psalms by Geoffrey Grogan for $2.99, The Letters to Timothy and Titus by Robert Yarbrough for $3.99, The Eerdman's Companion to the Bible edited by Gordon Fee and Robert Hubbard for $5.99, A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming by Walter Brueggemann for $7.99,The Book of Revelation by Robert Mounce for $9.99, The Book of Proverbs, Chapters 1–15 by Bruce Waltke for $14.99, and you can pre-order Doug Moo's revised edition of The Letter of James for $19.99.

You can also register for a chance to win the 38-volume Eerdmans Biblical Reference Collection series. For all these offers, go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here and here.

Proverbs 18:24

Jeff Weddle has a humorous post on the meaning and application of Proverbs 18:24 here. I would like to think that Jeff and I are friends but I am wondering about that now! LOL!

The Journal of Inductive Biblical Studies 7/2

The latest issue of the Journal of Inductive Biblical Studies is out now and available for free as individual articles here or as the complete journal here.

HT: Antony Billington

A New Manuscript Viewer from the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts

For those interested in textual criticism, the CSNTM has a pretty nifty new website viewer. It was announced here with instructions on how to navigate it here.

When Sermon Points Go Awry

HT: Ron Allen

Overdoing the Sermon

Peter Mead has a good word here in using appropriate force in preaching.

Pursuing a Ph.D.

Daniel Trier has written a very helpful piece here related to whether a Ph.D. is worth pursuing.

Journal of Biblical Literature 139:4

JBL 139:4 is now out. Here is a list of the articles with links to abstracts.

Death in the Garden of Eden
Bruce Wells

The Mark of Cain and White Violence
Nyasha Junior

Memories, Myths, and Megalithics: Reconsidering the Giants of Gath
Aren M. Maeir

Torn Garments and Calamity Mourning in 1 Kings 11:30
Kerry M. Sonia

כעת חיה: An Allusion Connecting Genesis 18:10, 14 and 2 Kings 4:16–17
Gil Rosenberg

The “God of Israel” in Judah’s Bible: Problems and Prospects
Michael J. Stahl

The Historicity of Confusion: Jesus, John the Baptist, and the Construction of Public Identity
Tucker S. Ferda

Jesus against the Laws of the Pharisees: The Legal Woe Sayings and Second Temple Intersectarian Discourse
Yair Furstenberg

The Promises Fulfilled for Whose Children? The Problem of the Text of Acts 13:33 in Contemporary Debate
Daniel B. Glover

Canon Lists Are Not Just Lists
C. Rebecca Rine

Good and Bad Preaching

Ian Paul asks and answers the question, "What does good preaching actually look like?" There is a bit to process but two points in particular stood out for me.

• If I want to be a good preacher, then I need to work on the disciplines which will allow me to reach the point of having something worthwhile to say.
• If I want to avoid being a bad preacher, then I need to work on the disciplines that will allow me to deliver what I have to say in an effective way.

The Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim

Leen Ritmeyer has a very interesting post about it and other structures here.

Is Coffee the Antichrist?

I know that not everyone cares for it, but I had no idea that coffee was this evil. 😆

Pharaoh’s "Heavy Heart" in Exodus

Daniel Zucker has an interesting post here on Pharaoh’s "heavy heart" in Exodus. Zucker argues that "heavy heart" is related to Egyptian understandings of judgment in the afterlife and is a better way to understand the idiom in Exodus often translated as hardened heart.

The Threefold Purpose of the Book of Ezekiel

I created this table while reworking some of my teaching materials for the book of Ezekiel.

Charlie Trimm Has a Website

Charlie Trimm, an associate professor and chair of the Old Testament program at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, has created a new website to showcase some of his materials. You can check it out here.