May 21, 2021

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 to read them.

Mary Ann Beavis and Ally Kateusz, eds., Rediscovering the Marys: Maria, Mariamne, Miriam
Reviewed by Kathleen Gallagher Elkins

Michael J. Gorman, Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul’s Theology and Spirituality
Reviewed by Cornelis Bennema

Lowell K. Handy, Josiah: From Improbable Stories to Inventive Historiography
Reviewed by Graeme Auld

Andrew J. Kelley, Thaumaturgic Prowess: Autonomous and Dependent Miracle-Working in Mark’s Gospel and the Second Temple Period
Reviewed by Jennifer Eyl

Domenico Lo Sardo, Post-Priestly Additions and Rewritings in Exodus 35–40: An Analysis of MT, LXX, and Vetus Latina
Reviewed by Larry Perkins

Roland Meynet, Le Psautier: Quatrième livre (Ps 90–106)
Reviewed by Beat Weber

Matt O’Reilly, Paul and the Resurrected Body: Social Identity and Ethical Practice
Reviewed by Christopher A. Porter

Marta Pallavidini and Ludovico Portuese, eds., Researching Metaphor in the Ancient Near East
Reviewed by Ryan P. Bonfiglio

Sung Jin Park, The Fundamentals of Hebrew Accents: Divisions and Exegetical Roles beyond Syntax
Reviewed by Michael Carasik

Bradley K. Storin, Gregory of Nazianzus’s Letter Collection: The Complete Translation
Reviewed by Andrew Faulkner

May 20, 2021

Books for Your Pastoral Care Library

 Kelli Trujillo has compiled seven of them here.

May 19, 2021

Free Audio: Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place

Christianaudio.com is offering Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place as a free download. To read more about this resource and to get your free audio download in either MP3 or M4B formats go here.

May 18, 2021

Top Exodus Commentaries

Carmen Imes lists and annotates her top commentaries and Nijay Gupta adds a few more on his blog here. The title of the post says top six but I count nine. I would add Doug Stuarts NAC commentary and I am surprised that Brevard Child's seminal work is not listed.

May 17, 2021

Preaching Leviticus

I don't normally post the book reviews of others but I found Jay Sklar's review of Sidney Greidanus' Preaching Christ from Leviticus: Foundations for Expository Sermons particularly helpful.

May 16, 2021

Negative Descriptions of Orpah in Rabbinic Tradition

Barry Dov Walfish has a fascinating post here on how Orpah in the book of Ruth is defamed including the idea that she was the mother of Goliath. While this is an interesting read, it also serves as good reminder of how one needs to proceed with great caution in utilizing rabbinic tradition in interpreting the Bible. 

May 15, 2021

New Testament Use of the Old Testament Course Lectures

Greg Beale has posted his New Testament Use of the Old Testament course here. At the same site, you can access Beale's New Testament Theology course and sermons on Revelation (see here and here).

May 14, 2021

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 to read them.

Tero Alstola, Judeans in Babylonia: A Study of Deportees in the Sixth and Fifth Centuries BCE
Reviewed by Shalom E. Holtz

Keith Bodner and Benjamin J. M. Johnson, eds., Characters and Characterization in the Book of Samuel
Reviewed by Feidhlimidh Magennis

Lewis Brogdon, A Companion to Philemon
Reviewed by Kara J. Lyons-Pardue

Michal Beth Dinkler, Literary Theory and the New Testament
Reviewed by Jimmy Hoke

David G. Ford, Joshua L. Mann, and Peter M. Phillips, The Bible and Digital Millennials
Reviewed by Seth Pollinger

Andrew M. Gilhooley, The Edict of Cyrus and Notions of Restoration in Ezra–Nehemiah and Chronicles
Reviewed by Lisbeth S. Fried

James R. Harrison and L. L. Welborn, eds., The First Urban Churches 5: Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea
Reviewed by Michael Scott Robertson

Craig S. Keener, Between History and Spirit: The Apostolic Witness of the Book of Acts
Reviewed by Kai Akagi

Elena di Pede, Odile Flichy, and Didier Luciani, eds., Le récit: Thèmes bibliques et variations: Lectures et réécritures littéraires et artistiques
Reviewed by Anthony Swindell

Pekka Särkiö, Salomon Salaissus: Pohdintoja peitetystä Salomon kritiikistä Vanhassa testamentissa
Reviewed by Paavo Tucker

May 13, 2021

N. T. Wright on Galatians

If you are in the Houston area you might be interested in hearing N.T. Wright's forthcoming lecture, “Galatians in Three Dimensions.” It will be held out the Lanier Theological Library on June 19, 7-9 PM. I have attended several of these LTL lectures and they are great. Registration is free although you might want to hurry since I am guessing this will fill up quickly. You can get all the details here.

May 12, 2021

“Torah” in Second Temple Texts

The term "torah" is usually glossed as "Law" by many Bible students. While that is not entirely incorrect, it can lack precision at best and misleading or wrong at worst. It really is better understood as instruction or "teaching." Molly Zahn does a good job here showing how the term torah really had a broader range of meaning than "law" or a reference to Pentateuch during the Second Temple period (516 BC - AD 70).

May 11, 2021

Top Genesis Commentaries

Richard Middleton lists and annotates his top six on Nijay Gupta's blog here.

May 10, 2021

May 8, 2021

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 to read them.

Linda L. Belleville and B. J. Oropeza, eds., Scripture, Texts, and Tracings in 1 Corinthians
Reviewed by H. H. Drake Williams III

Constanza Cordoni, Seder Eliyahu: A Narratological Reading
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

David L. Eastman, The Many Deaths of Peter and Paul
Reviewed by Rafael Rodríguez

Te-Li Lau, Defending Shame: Its Formative Power in Paul’s Letters
Reviewed by Jackson Wu

Bruce W. Longenecker, In Stone and Story: Early Christianity in the Roman World
Reviewed by Kay Higuera Smith

Collin McAllister, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature
Reviewed by Gerbern S. Oegema

Michael S. Moore, WealthWarn: A Study of Socioeconomic Conflict in Hebrew Prophecy
Reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Maik Patzelt, Über das Beten der Römer: Gebete im spätrepublikanischen und frühkaiserzeitlichen Rom als Ausdruck gelebter Religion
Reviewed by Boris Paschke

Daniel Prokop, The Pillars of the First Temple (1 Kgs 7:15–22): A Study from Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, Archaeological, and Iconographic Perspectives
Reviewed by Michael Avioz

Katherine E. Southwood, Job’s Body and the Dramatised Comedy of Moralising
Reviewed by David Penchansky

May 7, 2021

Free Audio Book of the Month: All of Grace

Christianaudio.com's free audio book for the month of May is Charles Spurgeon's All of Grace. To read more about this resource and to get your free audio download in either MP3 or M4B formats go here.

May 6, 2021

Free Daniel Commentary

The Good Book Company is giving away a digital version of Daniel Helm’s Daniel for You in exchange for an email address here.

HT: Antony Billington

May 5, 2021

The Bible in Assyriology, Past and Present Seminar

The recent online seminar entitled, "Jehu's Tribute: The Bible in Assyriology, Past and Present" is now available at the Institute for the Liberal Arts at Boston College Youtube channel (Day 1) here and (Day 2) here. You can access the schedule of speakers and presentations here.

May 4, 2021

Mapping Five Movements in Isaiah

Davy Ellison suggests here that one way to navigate the book of Isaiah is to view the book in five movements. I'm not sure I would agree with every point but I appreciate efforts like this to coherence in the flow of a book.

May 3, 2021

Obadiah and the Three Sins of Edom

Clint Archer looks here at the three sins that Edom was guilty of according to the book of Obadiah.

May 1, 2021

Free Logos Resources for May: The Storied World of the Bible Course and Christian Philosophy in the Early Church Book

The free Logos resources for the month for May are a course by N. T. Wright, The Storied World of the Bible and a book by Anthony Meredith, Christian Philosophy in the Early Church. You can also purchase the following courses and books at reduced prices.

  • 15 Essential Biblical Texts Course by N. T. Wright for $9.99
  • Paul and His Letter to the Romans Part 1 Course by N. T. Wright for $24.99
  • Paul and His Letter to the Romans Part 2 Course by N. T. Wright for $34.99
  • Paul and His Letter to the Romans Part 3 Course by N. T. Wright for $19.99The God of Philosophy by Francis Aveling for $1.99
  • Scripture and Tradition in the Church by Yves Congar for $5.99
  • The Ethics of Aquinas by Stephen Pope for $5.99
  • A New Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels by Roland Meynet for $9.99

You can also register for a chance to win the 514-volume N. T. Wright Collection. For all these offers, go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here and here.

Apr 30, 2021

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 to read them.

Garrick V. Allen, Kai Akagi, Paul Sloan, and Madhavi Nevader, eds., Son of God: Divine Sonship in Jewish and Christian Antiquity
Reviewed by D. Clint Burnett

Sherri Brown and Francis J. Moloney, Interpreting the New Testament: An Introduction
Reviewed by John W. Martens

Josette Elayi, Sargon II, King of Assyria
Reviewed by Shawn Zelig Aster

Matthew C. Genung, The Composition of Genesis 37: Incoherence and Meaning in the Exposition of the Joseph Story
Reviewed by Edward L. Greenstein

Jörg Jeremias; Judith Gärtner and Friedhelm Hartenstein, eds., Studien zum Dodekapropheton II: Gesammelte Aufsätze zu Joel, Obadja, Jona, Micha und Nahum
Reviewed by Anna Maria Bortz

Mark J. Keown, Discovering the New Testament: An Introduction to Its Background, Theology, and Themes—Volume: 1: The Gospels and Acts
Reviewed by Craig L. Blomberg

Mark R. Meyer, trans., Exodus according to the Syriac Peshitta Version with English Translation
Reviewed by Brett LaPrad

Jens Schröter, Die apokryphen Evangelien: Jesusüberlieferungen außerhalb der Bibel
Reviewed by Zacharias Shoukry

Jason Scully, Isaac of Nineveh’s Ascetical Eschatology
Reviewed by Patrik Hagman

Keith W. Whitelam; Emanuel Pfoh, ed., Revealing the History of Ancient Palestine
Reviewed by Aaron Koller

Apr 29, 2021

The True Vine in John 15

Ian Paul has a helpful post on Jesus as the True Vine in John 15 here.

Apr 28, 2021

Plagiarizing Sermons

I have posted on the topic of sermon plagiarism several times over the years and sadly it continues to be a problem. In fact it is probably even bigger now because technology has made it even easier. See this article from Religion News Service.

HT: Scot McKnight

Apr 27, 2021

Tattoos in the Old Testament and Rabbinic Tradition

David Bernat has a nice discussion here on on the permissibility of tattoos in Leviticus 19:28 and in rabbinic tradition.