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. 

Peter Arzt-Grabner
2. Korinther: Papyrologische Kommentare zum Neuen Testament
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10015
Reviewed by Thomas J. Kraus

Jens Gillner
Gericht bei Lukas
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11064
Reviewed by Nils Neumann

John Goldingay
Do We Need the New Testament? Letting the Old Testament Speak for Itself
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11482
Reviewed by Joseph Cathey

Alan T. Levenson
Joseph: Portraits through the Ages
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11346
Reviewed by John R. Huddlestun

Benjamin L. Merkle; Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough, eds.
Ephesians
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11349
Reviewed by Eric Covington

Steve Moyise
The Old Testament in the New: An Introduction
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10863
Reviewed by Edmon L. Gallagher


Todd Penner and Davina C. Lopez
De-introducing the New Testament: Texts, Worlds, Methods, Stories
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10853
Reviewed by Juan Hernández Jr.

Anders Runesson
Divine Wrath and Salvation in Matthew: The Narrative World of the First Gospel
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11595
Reviewed by David J. Neville

Henrietta L. Wiley and Christian A. Eberhart, eds.
Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement in Early Judaism and Christianity: Constituents and Critique
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11850
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

Ben Witherington III and Todd D. Still, eds.
The Acts of the Apostles: A Newly Discovered Commentary
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10152
Reviewed by D. A. Carson

Route of the Exodus and the Location of Mount Sinai

Ferrell Jenkins has a nice post here which helpfully indexes his articles related to the route of the Exodus and the location of Mount Sinai.

Abbott and Costello Do 2 Kings 17:4

With apologies to Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First."

Abbott: We're in 2 Kings 17:4. Let's go over the story. Hoshea quit paying tribute to the king of Assyria and sent envoys to Egypt. I forget the King of Egypt's name.

Costello: So. 

Abbott: Huh?

Costello: So.

Abbott: You're right, it's not important, we'll let it go for now.

So, the king of Assyria ...

Costello: So the king of Egypt.

Abbott: I was gonna say the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea.

Costello: That's right.

Abbott: So, the king of Assyria ...

Costello: No, So the king of Egypt.

Abbott: Let me tell the story!

Costello: Well, then, tell it right!

Abbott: Who arrested Hoshea?

Costello: The king of Assyria.

Abbott: Is that so?

Costello: No, that's the king of Egypt.

Abbott: So, the king of Egypt?

Costello: Right.

Abbott: So the king of Egypt arrested Hoshea?

Costello: No, the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea.

Abbott: But you just said the king of Egypt did.

Costello: I didn't say So.

Abbott: Oh, come on! So, the king of Assyria ...

Costello: No, he's the king of Egypt.

Abbott: How do we keep coming back to Egypt?

Costello: You said the king's name.

Abbott: What makes you think I even know his name?

Costello: You said So!

Abbott: I did not!

Costello: I heard you!

Abbott: Let me tell the story!

Costello: Then tell it right!

Credit: Jonathan E Settlemoir

Paul's Use of Deuteronomy 25:4 in 1 Corinthians 9:9

Interpreters have wrestled with how Paul is using Deuteronomy 25:4 in 1 Corinthians 9:9. Allyson Presswood Nance has created a helpful table surveying a number of the different views. I have made a few minor changes and additions.

Paul’s Use of the OT	Interpreters Supporting This View
allegorical	Hans Conzelmann
analogy/principle	Richard Hays, David Garland, Gordon Fee, Mark Taylor, Ambrosiaster, Jodie and Doug Hatlem, Wolfgang Schrage, David Prior, Craig Blomberg?
invoking context	Richard Hays, Francis Watson
literal recapitulation	Jan Verbruggen, Walter Kaiser, David Instone-Brewer
qal vahomer (lesser to the greater)	David Garland, Mark Taylor, David Instone-Brewer, Chrysostem, Ciampa and Rosner, Verlyn Verbrugge, B. J. Oropeza
sensus plenior (theological)	Joseph Fitzmyer, F. F. Bruce
transcend original context	Anthony Thiselton, Craig Blomberg?
Allyson Presswood Nance, “Paul’s Use of the Old Testament: Critical Issues and Hermeneutical Insights,” (unpublished paper) with some additions

Negative Comments on Course Evaluations

Anyone who teaches, preaches, or otherwise is involved in ministry knows that criticism is par for the course. Even the Lord was criticized. Maryellen Weimer's post here provides some good advice on dealing with critical course evaluations in an academic setting but this probably applies to criticism in general.

Free Logos Book for June: Ecclesiastes (WBC)

The free Logos Book for the Month for April is Roland Murphy's Ecclesiastes commentary in the Word Biblical Commentary series You can also purchase John Durham's Exodus for $1.99 and George Beasley-Murray's John commentary in the same series for $9.99. While you are there you can register for a chance win the seven-volume Zondervan Theology Collection. For all these offers, go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here. Unfortunately, I already own the WBC series but hopefully others will enjoy the offer.

The Use of Lament Psalms

Gordon Wenham gives four theological reasons for using lament psalms (with slight modification).

1. The lament psalms are some of the most quoted in the New Testament.
2. Jesus prayed the lament psalms.
3.The martyr’s prayers in the book of Revelation is based on the lament psalms.
4. The early church prayed lament psalms.

Whenham also adds two practical reasons to use lament psalms.

1. Not everyone who comes to church is full of joy and happiness.
2. Praying lament psalms can help one to sympathize with those in trouble and pray for those who are suffering or persecuted.
 
Gordon Wenham, The Psalter Reclaimed: Praying and Praising with the Psalms (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 45-48.

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. 

Stan Harstine
A History of the Two-Hundred-Year Scholarly Debate about the Purpose of the Prologue to the Gospel of John: How Does Our Understanding of the Prologue Affect Our Interpretation of the Subsequent Text?
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11007
Reviewed by Martinus C. de Boer

Leander Keck
Christ’s First Theologian: The Shape of Paul’s Thought
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=10483
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Cockrell

Ebbe E. Knudsen
Classical Syriac Phonology
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11113
Reviewed by Jerome A. Lund

Nina E. Livesey
Galatians and the Rhetoric of Crisis: Paul – Demosthenes – Cicero
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11522
Reviewed by Rick F. Talbott

Francis J. Moloney
Johannine Studies 1975–2017
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11659
Reviewed by Stan Harstine

Ryan S. Peterson
The Imago Dei as Human Identity: A Theological Interpretation
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11229
Reviewed by Stephen Reed

Eileen Schuller and Marie-Theres Wacker, eds.
Early Jewish Writings
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11767
Reviewed by Laura Quick

James M. Scott, ed.
Exile: A Conversation with N. T. Wright
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11830
Reviewed by Nicholas G. Piotrowski

Bonnie Bowman Thurston
All the Fullness of God: The Christ of Colossians
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11793
Reviewed by Matthew S. Collins

Tommy Wasserman, Greger Andersson, and David Willgren, eds.
Studies in Isaiah: History, Theology, and Reception
https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=11636
Reviewed by Daniel J. Stulac

Paul, the Apostolic Decree, and 1 Corinthians

Recently while working on 1 Corinthians, I came across an older article in my files addressing the question of why Paul does not mention the Jerusalem Council’s decree on the issue of food sacrificed to idols (8:1–11:1). A. S. Geyser suggests that that Acts 16:4 is a later addition. Therefore, Paul did not share the decree because it was only originally intended only for Syria and Cilicia. He goes on to argue that the later addition of 16:4 “is fairly obvious: as early as the end of the first century it became necessary for the Church to give universal effect to the Apostolic Decree” (p. 137).

While one can appreciate Geyser’s solution it seems to be lacking text critical evidence. It seems the better solution is to follow David Garland and others who see Paul as applying the principles of the decree without referring to the decree itself.

A. S. Geyser, “Paul, the Apostolic Decree and the Liberals in Corinth,” In Studia Paulina in honorem Johannis de Zwaan septuagenarii, 124-38 (Haarlem: De Erven F. Bohn N.V., 1953).

Psalm 150 as the Conclusion to the Psalter

In discussing how Psalm 150 serves as an apt conclusion to the Psalter, Edward Feld provides the following summary. 

And so it is with this orchestral symphony of praise that the book of Psalms ends. The book begins with a single individual, one person who is righteous, and ends with all that has God’s breath praising God. The book begins with the righteous person studying God’s word at home, at night, and ends with everyone in the temple singing together. At its best, the book has offered us words that connect us in our common humanity. Its recitation allows us to enter into a deeper reality that we may have known before. The book may have helped us to face our emptiness and find our way back to a world of blessing and thanksgiving. 

Edward Feld, Joy, Despair, and Hope: Reading Psalms (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2013), 150.