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Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories: A Student’s Guide to Nouns in the Old Testament

In Biblical Hebrew Language, HB/OT, Hebrew Language, J. David PLEINS, Jonathan HOMRIGHAUSEN, Kerry Lee, review, Zondervan on November 17, 2017 at 6:10 pm

2017.12.24 | J. David Pleins with Jonathan Homrighausen, Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories: A Student’s Guide to Nouns in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2017. ISBN: 9780310530749

Review by Kerry Lee

Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories: A Student’s Guide to Nouns in the Old Testament, by J. David Pleins and Jonathan Homrighausen, is a lexical aid for students and teachers of Biblical Hebrew that arranges over 2,000 Hebrew nouns into over 175 conceptual categories, or semantic fields. This book is highly versatile with many uses not only for beginning students but also for intermediate and advanced students as well as for teachers.

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The Testing of God’s Sons: The Refining of Faith as a Biblical Theme

In B&H Academic, Genesis, Gregory S. SMITH, HB/OT, Kerry Lee, Linguistics, Pentateuch on September 3, 2014 at 8:29 pm

2014.9.15 | Gregory S. Smith. The Testing of God’s Sons: The Refining of Faith as a Biblical Theme. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2014. pp. xviii + 222. ISBN: 9780805464184.

Review by Kerry Lee.

Many thanks to B&H Academic for providing a review copy.

The Testing of God’s Sons by Gregory S. Smith is primarily an exploration of the literary theme of “testing”, a theme that is especially important in Genesis but that, Smith also argues, is a unifying theme in the entire Pentateuch and even the entire Christian Bible. Additionally, to support his case, he engages in a limited semantic field analysis of common Hebrew terms that communicate the idea of testing. He argues that underlying the use of these terms is a metallurgical metaphor, and Smith finds that one particular term that is important to his literary analysis of the theme of testing in the Bible, Hebrew bāḥan, is connected to the idea of a “touchstone”, meaning the purpose of the testing is authentication (more than “refining” or “revealing”). Read the rest of this entry »

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The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament

In B&H Academic, Biblical Criticism, Eugene MERRILL, HB/OT, Hermeneutics, Historical Criticism, Kerry Lee, Mark ROOKER, Michael GRISANTI, Scripture on May 9, 2014 at 10:20 am

2014.5.12 | Merrill, Eugene H., Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti. The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011. pp. xviii + 618. ISBN: 978-0-8054-4031-7.

Review by Kerry Lee.

Many thanks to B&H Academic for providing a review copy.

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The World and the Word, by Eugene Merrill, Mark Rooker, and Michael Grisanti, is a textbook designed for use in undergraduate or seminary Old Testament introduction courses. The niche this book occupies among other OT introductions is found in the position held by the book’s authors toward the Bible, namely a conservative evangelical affirmation of biblical inerrancy and a generally literalistic hermeneutic. Rather than engage in critical dialogue with the theological position of the authors, I want to evaluate this book based on: 1) its success in achieving its own expressed aim, and 2) the degree and extent of its usefulness as an undergraduate Old Testament introductory textbook. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Modern Grammar for Biblical Hebrew

In B&H Academic, Biblical Hebrew Language, Duane A. GARRETT, Hebrew Bible, Jason S. DEROUCHIE, Kerry Lee, Linguistics on March 18, 2014 at 3:16 pm

2014.3.7 | Garrett, Duane A. and Jason S. DeRouchie. A Modern Grammar for Biblical Hebrew. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2009. pp. vi + 423. ISBN: 978-0-8054-4962-4.

Review by Kerry Lee.

Many thanks to B&H Academic for providing a review copy.

A Modern Grammar for Biblical Hebrew is a deductive introductory Hebrew grammar by Duane Garrett and Jason DeRouchie. It is divided into 41 chapters and 8 appendices. Accompanying the book is a CD containing a variety of teaching aids including audio files to assist in the learning of the pronunciation of the alphabet and vocabulary. There is also a workbook available to accompany the grammar, and Garrett has put together a blog to accompany the grammar, as well (see http://hebrewgrammar.sbts.edu/). The grammar is designed to be usable in several different ways for a two semester Biblical Hebrew course. What this means is that there are built into the organization of the material four potential stopping points, depending on the goals of a given Hebrew course. Read the rest of this entry »


Biblical Criticism: A Guide for the Perplexed

In Biblical Criticism, Bloomsbury, Eryl W. DAVIES, Feminist Biblical Criticism, Ideological Criticism, Kerry Lee, Postcolonial Criticism, Reader-Response Criticism on March 10, 2014 at 11:05 pm

2014.3.6 | Davies, Eryl W. Biblical Criticism: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. pp. ix + 165. ISBN: 978-0-567-01306-4.

Review by Kerry Lee.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury for providing a review copy.

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Biblical Criticism: A Guide for the Perplexed, by Eryl W. Davies, sets out to be an introduction to four of the most prominent and representative post-modernist hermeneutical methods used in biblical studies. It is a quick read (the body is just over 120 pages) that is well-documented and has a very useful bibliography (40+ pages of end matter). Davies’ writing is easy to follow and can be read very rapidly without a significant loss in comprehension, which is very appropriate (and welcome) in primer on methodologies like this. The book consists of an introduction, four chapters (each dedicated to one method), and a conclusion.

Davies chooses for his discussion four contemporary hermeneutical methods that have become prominent in contemporary biblical studies: reader-response criticism, feminist biblical criticism, ideological criticism, and post-colonial criticism.

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Prophets Male and Female

In Ancient Near East, Corrine L. CARVALHO, Gender Studies, HB/OT, Jonathan STÖKL, Kerry Lee, Prophecy, Society of Biblical Literature, Women on November 15, 2013 at 11:54 pm

2013.11.21 | Jonathan Stökl and Corrine L. Carvalho (eds.). Prophets Male and Female: Gender and Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Ancient Near East. Ancient Israel and Its Literature 15. Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2013. xiv + 347 pages (PB) ISBN 9781589837768.

Review article by Kerry Lee, University of Edinburgh.

Many thanks to SBL for providing a review copy.

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Concise Review

Prophets Male and Female is an edited collection of papers presented in the Prophetic Texts in Their Ancient Context section of the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual meetings in 2009 and 2010.

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Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch?: Identifying Literary Works in Genesis through Kings

In Biblical Criticism, Genesis, HB/OT, Hermeneutics, Intertextuality, Kerry Lee, Konrad SCHMID, Pentateuch, Scribal habits, Scripture, Septuagint, Society of Biblical Literature, Thomas B. DOZEMAN, Thomas RÖMER on June 11, 2012 at 5:07 pm

2012.06.12 | Thomas B. Dozeman, Thomas Römer, and Konrad Schmid, eds. Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch?: Identifying Literary Works in Genesis through Kings. Ancient Israel and its Literature 8. Atlanta: SBL, 2011. x + 313 pages. $39.95. ISBN: 9781589835429.

Reviewed by Kerry Lee, University of Edinburgh.

RBECS would like to thank SBL for kindly providing us with a review copy.

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Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch? is a collaboration between the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic History Sections of SBL Read the rest of this entry »


Genesis (New Cambridge Bible Commentary)

In Abraham, Biblical Criticism, Bill T. ARNOLD, Cambridge University Press, Genesis, HB/OT, Hermeneutics, Kerry Lee on May 4, 2012 at 3:54 pm

2012.05.08 | Bill T. Arnold. Genesis. The New Cambridge Bible Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. xxii + 409 pages. (PB) £16.99. ISBN: 9780521000673. (HB) £50. ISBN: 9780521806077.

Reviewed by Kerry Lee, University of Edinburgh.

RBECS would like to thank CUP for kindly providing us with a review copy.

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Note to the reader: the following review is a good deal longer than what I would submit to an academic journal. In the process of reviewing this commentary, my own professional interest in the book of Genesis and in general hermeneutical method compelled me to address some issues in greater detail. Read the rest of this entry »


These Are The Generations: Identity, Covenant, And The ‘Toledot’ Formula

In Bloomsbury, Genesis, HB/OT, Kerry Lee, Matthew A. THOMAS, Pentateuch on March 9, 2012 at 9:05 pm

2012.03.07 | Matthew A. Thomas. These Are The Generations: Identity, Covenant, And The ‘Toledot’ Formula. Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 551. New York: T&T Clark, 2011. xviii + 153 pages. £65. ISBN: 9780567151414.

Reviewed by Kerry Lee, University of Edinburgh.

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In this published version of his PhD thesis, Matthew Thomas, who serves as adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and Azusa Pacific University, has engaged the problem of the relationship between the macro-structure of Genesis (and indeed, of the whole Pentateuch) and the toledot formulae, a long noted recurring feature with particular density in Genesis. Read the rest of this entry »


Scott Hafemann, “Fellow participants of the ‘Divine Nature’ (theia fusis): 2 Peter 1:4 within its ‘Philosophical’ and Eschatological Context”

In 2 Peter, Apotheosis, Edinburgh, Eschatology, Kerry Lee, New Testament, NT Theology, Philo, Scott HAFEMANN, SEMINAR REPORTS on February 19, 2012 at 1:32 pm

A report on a paper given by Dr. Scott Hafemann (Reader in New Testament, University of St. Andrews) at the New College Biblical Studies Research Seminar, 17 February 2012, University of Edinburgh.

The list of forthcoming papers in the Biblical Studies Seminars at Edinburgh can be downloaded from here. RBECS is also on facebook, here.

Dr. Hafemann’s paper argued for a new reading of 2 Peter 1:4’s famous ινα δια τουτων γενησθε θειας κοινωνοι φυσεως, which has served as a prooftext for the concept of apotheosis in Christian theology since the time of the Church Fathers. Through a close reading of the text and a study of the classical use of the word φυσις, Hafemann argued against the typical understanding of this phrase as communicating a concept of an altered ontology, though what he wants to replace it with is not entirely clear.

Following the lead of ancient Christian theologians, modern commentators and translations of the New Testament encourage an understanding of φυσις which is essentially synonymous with ουσια, that is, a static non-physical quality or being. Read the rest of this entry »