All Those Books You’ve Bought but Haven’t Read

For all of you bibliophiles out there,there is a good essay in The New York Times about the possible benefit of having books that you haven't read (yet?).

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. 

William G. Dever, Beyond the Texts: An Archaeological Portrait of Ancient Israel and Judah
Reviewed by Avraham Faust

Philip F. Esler, ed., The Early Christian World
Reviewed by Steven Shisley

Caleb T. Friedman, ed., Listen, Understand, Obey: Essays on Hebrews in Honor of Gareth Lee Cockerill
Reviewed by Madison N. Pierce

Carol A. Hebron, Judas Iscariot: Damned or Redeemed; A Critical Examination of the Portrayal of Judas in Jesus Films (1902–2014)
Reviewed by Richard Walsh

Susanne Luther, Sprachethik im Neuen Testament: Eine Analyse des frühchristlichen Diskurses im Matthäusevangelium, im Jakobusbrief und im 1. Petrusbrief
Reviewed by Peter H. Davids

Luke Macnamara, My Chosen Instrument: The Characterisation of Paul in Acts 7:58–15:41
Reviewed by Steve Walton

Mira Morganstern, Reframing Politics in the Hebrew Bible: A New Introduction with Readings
Reviewed by Leslie J. Hoppe, OFM

Alexander Samely, with Philip Alexander, Rocco Bernasconi, and Robert Hayward, Profiling Jewish Literature in Antiquity: An Inventory, from Second Temple Texts to the Talmuds
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

Loren T. Stuckenbruck and Gabriele Boccaccini, eds., Enoch and the Synoptic Gospels: Reminiscences, Allusions, Intertextuality
Reviewed by Thomas P. Nelligan

Ben Witherington III and Todd D. Still, eds., with Jeanette M. Hagen, The Epistles of 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter: Newly Discovered Commentaries
Reviewed by Clifford Barbarick

Translating Genesis 1:1

Although this article does not really raise any new issues regarding the best way to render Genesis 1:1, it may be a good read for some who are less acquainted with the different approaches to the verse. For me, Victor Hamilton's discussion in his commentary on Genesis 1-17 does a better job of laying out the issues but this article does present some of the discussion from a Jewish perspective. 

Pronouncing the Tetragrammaton

During my Bible college and seminary experience, some of my professors would  pronounce the Tetragrammaton (transliterated YHWH) as Yahweh and others would use Adonai or Lord. And during one written project in my doctoral studies I deliberately tried to  avoid the controversy by using only the Tetragrammaton but still got dinged for it. Haaretz has a pretty good article here on the the issue from a Jewish perspective. (Please note that Haaretz sometimes restricts access to their articles but I was able to access it.)

Yosef Garfinkel: Searching for the Historical King David Video

Here is Yosef Garfinkel's recent presentation, "Searching for the Historical King David: Excavating Kh. Qeiyafa and Kh. al-Ra'i," that he made at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on September 11.

Imprecatory Psalms, Again

Here is another post trying to address the difficulties posed by imprecatory psalms, or as I prefer to say, psalms containing imprecations. The "guidelines" presented by the author are not really novel but are worth keeping in mind nonetheless.

The Significance of the Bathsheba Story

Peter Tarlow, rabbi emeritus at Texas A&M Hillel Foundation in College Station, addresses the question, "What does the story of Bathsheba mean today?" (Note: I would prefer to talk about the significance rather than meaning for today.)

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. 

Jean-Noël Aletti, Justification by Faith in the Letters of Saint Paul: Keys to Interpretation
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Cockrell

Paul N. Anderson, Felix Just, S.J., and Tom Thatcher, eds., John, Jesus, and History, Volume 3: Glimpses of Jesus through the Johannine Lens
Reviewed by Andrew T. Lincoln

Tony Burke, ed., Fakes, Forgeries, and Fictions: Writing Ancient and Modern Christian Apocrypha: Proceedings from the 2015 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium
Reviewed by Joseph Azize

Mayer I. Gruber, Hosea: A Textual Commentary
Reviewed by Susan E. Haddox

Thomas J. Mosbø, Luke the Composer: Exploring the Evangelist’s Use of Matthew
Reviewed by David J. Neville

Kaisa-Maria Pihlava, Forgotten Women Leaders: The Authority of Women Hosts of Early Christian Gatherings in the First and Second Centuries C.E.
Reviewed by Carolyn Osiek

Christopher R. Seitz, Joel
Reviewed by Joel Barker

Margaret G. Sim, A Relevant Way to Read: A New Approach to Exegesis and Communication
Reviewed by Stephan Witetschek

Abraham Smith, Mark: Shaping the Life and Legacy of Jesus
Reviewed by Abson Joseph

K. Lawson Younger Jr., A Political History of the Arameans: From Their Origins to the End of Their Polities
Reviewed by Carl S. Ehrlich 

Libraries and Life

Susan Orlean has an interesting essay in The New Yorker about libraries and life here. Near the end of the essay, a reference is made to Amadou Hampâté Bâ who "once said that, in Africa, when an old person dies, it is like a library has been burned." Orlean's reflections on libraries and life brought two passages from Ecclesiastes to mind: 1:11 and 12:12.

Journal of Biblical Literature 137:3

Volume 137:3 of the Journal of Biblical Literature is now out. Here is a list of the articles with links to abstracts.

Conceptualizing the Place of Deaf People in Ancient Israel: Suggestions from Deaf Space
Mike Gulliver and William John Lyons

Biblical Myths and the Inversion Principle: A Neostructuralist Approach
Aryeh Amihay

Once Again: The Yam Sûp of the Exodus
Philip Y. Yoo

The Gēr (Stranger) in Deuteronomy: Family for the Displaced
Mark Glanville

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: The Independent Logic of Deuteronomy 22:25–27
Sara J. Milstein

“All That You Have Done … Has Been Fully Told to Me”: The Power of Gossip and the Story of Ruth
Philip F. Esler

Utterance of David, the Anointed of the God of Jacob (2 Samuel 23:1–7)
Mahri Leonard-Fleckman

“Your Torah Is My Delight”: Repetition and the Poetics of Immanence in Psalm 119
Sean Burt

Gabriel’s Entrance and Biblical Violence in Luke’s Annunciation Narrative
Michael Pope

Mixed Metaphors: Resolving the “Eschatological Headache” of John 5
Hugo Méndez

Romans 5:12, Once Again: Is It a Grammatical Comparison?
James W. Haring

“Wretch I Am!” Eve’s Tragic Speech-in-Character in Romans 7:7–25
Nicholas Elder

The Blood of Goats and Calves … and Bulls? An Allusion to Isaiah 1:11 LXX in Hebrews 10:4
Justin Harrison Duff

Church History, Archaeology, and Geography

Ferrell Jenkins has an excellent blog that focuses on archaeology and geography that relate to the Bible. He has now created a handy index focusing on his blog posts related to church history. You should check it out here.

Spurgeon on Sermon Helps

Here is an interesting blog post on Charles Spurgeon's view of preachers using sermon helps.

HT: Trevin Wax

Forming a Daily Writing Habit

Some good advice here.

Preaching Ecclesiastes

John Divito explains why you should preach Ecclesiastes here.

Robert Yarbrough Interview

Last week I provided a link here to Robert Yarbrough answering five questions related to the Pastoral Epistles and related to a commentary on the Pastorals that he has just written for the Pillar New Testament Commentary series. Now Mike Bird has posted an interview with Yarbrough on the Pastorals his blog here.

Free Logos Book for October: Ancient Christian Devotional

The free Logos Book for the Month for October is Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings: Lectionary Cycle A edited by Thomas Oden and Cindy Crosby. You can also purchase the volumes for cycles B and C for $2.99 and $3.99 respectively. But if you are going to do that you can buy all three volumes for $4.99 and save a $1.99. There is also a contest to win the 20 volume IVP New Testament Commentary series. For all these offers, go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.

Feast of Booths Libation Ceremony

See this article on a recreation of a libation ceremony which is traditionally associated with the Feast of Booths.

Resources for Biblical Aramaic

Steven Anderson has a very helpful and comprehensive discussion of resources for biblical Aramaic here.

Theologically Themed Comic Convention

Those who love their theology and comics might be interested in ΘeoCon, a theologically themed comic convention. Unfortunately, it is today so you might not be able to attend. But, you can read an news article about it here.