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Archive for the ‘Scripture’ Category

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Scripture, Texts, and Tracings

In A. Andrew DAS, Anthony Royle, Fortress Press, Intertextuality, Lexington Books, Linda L. BELLEVILLE, Romans, Scripture, Septuagint on March 26, 2022 at 2:00 pm
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2022.03.04 | Linda L. Belleville and A. Andrew Das (eds.). Scripture, Texts, and Tracings in Romans. London: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2021. pp. xiii + 267. ISBN: 978-1-9787-0471-8.

Review by Anthony P. Royle, University of Glasgow.

Scripture, Texts, and Tracing in Romans is a collection of twelve essays presented at the Society of Biblical Literature seminar on Scripture and Paul from 2017 and 2018. This is the second edited volume in a planned four volume series. (The previous volume on 1 Corinthians was edited by Linda Belleville and B. J. Oropeza.) In this volume Andrew Das is co-editor with Belleville, who also contribute two chapters alongside notable senior Pauline scholars invited to deliver papers to the seminar.

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Reading with the Grain of Scripture

In Eerdmans, Gospels, Intertextuality, Nathan Charles Ridlehoover, Paul, Richard HAYS, Scripture, theological Interpretation of Scripture on February 19, 2021 at 3:00 pm

2021.2.6 | Richard B. Hays. Reading with the Grain of Scripture. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020. ISBN: 978-0-8028-7845-8.

Review by Charles Nathan Ridlehoover, Columbia Biblical Seminary.

Students and scholars of the New Testament hardly need an introduction to Richard Hays. Hays has written ground-breaking scholarship on the letters of Paul and New Testament ethics, and his latest full-length study examines intertextual echoes in the Gospels and their Christological significance (Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels). Just before his retirement in 2018, Hays assumed the mantle of dean of Duke Divinity School while maintaining his role as the George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament.

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Matthew’s New David at the End of Exile

In Brill, David (king of Israel), Intertextuality, Matthew, Max Botner, Messianism, Nicholas PIOTROWSKI, review, Scripture on May 31, 2017 at 2:00 pm

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2017.05.12 | Nicholas G. Piotrowski, Matthew’s New David at the End of Exile: A Socio-Rhetorical Study of Scriptural Quotations. NovTSup 170. Leiden: Brill, 2016. ISBN: 9789004326781

Reviewed by Max Botner, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main.

Matthew’s use of the Jewish scriptures—particularly his fulfillment citations—has long perplexed modern readers. Has the evangelist ransacked his scriptures in a contorted effort to justify his Christology? Or is there another principle guiding his selection of scriptural source material? In this revised version of his 2013 Wheaton College dissertation “Scripture and Community: The Socio-Rhetorical Effect of Matthew’s Prologue Quotations,” Nicholas Piotrowski mounts a fresh and compelling argument for the latter. His thesis is that “the prologue-quotations, individually and collectively, select a frame that evokes one pervasive OT subplot: «David/end-of-exile»” (p. 4). Read the rest of this entry »


Psalm 110 and the Logic of Hebrews

In Bloomsbury, Jared COMPTON, Madison N. Pierce, Messianism, Scripture on August 24, 2016 at 2:00 pm

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2016.08.16 | Jared Compton. Psalm 110 and the Logic of Hebrews. London: T&T Clark, 2015.

Review by Madison N. Pierce, Durham University.

Many thanks to T&T Clark for providing a review copy.

Psalm 110 and the Logic of Hebrews is the revised version of Jared Compton’s doctoral dissertation completed under the supervision of D. A. Carson at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 2013. As he notes in his first introductory chapter, Compton considers the intersection of the epistle’s use of Scripture and its structure key to understanding the “logic” of the text as a whole. Psalm 110 is, in his estimation, the consistent thread that ties Hebrews together, and so he proposes that its use in Hebrews be analyzed as a means to trace the author’s argument. Compton then summarizes prior literature in terms of four “starting points” for his study (p. 7). Read the rest of this entry »


Written to Serve

In 1 Peter, Benjamin SARGENT, Bloomsbury, Hermeneutics, Intertextuality, Katie Marcar, Scripture on April 8, 2016 at 2:00 pm

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2016.04.06 | Benjamin Sargent. Written to Serve: The Use of Scripture in 1 Peter. LNTS 547. T&T Clark: London, 2015. Hardback. 225 pp. ISBN: 978-0-56766-085-5. 

Reviewed by Katie Marcar, Otago University.

Many thanks to T&T Clark for providing a review copy.

In Written to Serve: The Use of Scripture in 1 Peter, Benjamin Sargent argues that 1 Peter 1.10-12 is a clear distillation of the author’s scriptural hermeneutic. Sargent argues that Scripture in 1 Peter is consistently and exclusively oriented towards Jesus Christ and the Christian community. In this way, it is “primitive” (having a single meaning, 4) and “sectarian” (relating exclusively to single group of people, 4). After a brief Introduction followed by an analysis of 1.10-12 (Chapter 1), Sargent evaluates the letter’s main quotations (Chapter 2) and allusions (Chapter 3) in light of this hermeneutic. He then compares 1 Peter’s exegetical approach to some of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the cultural milieu of sectarian apocalyptic Judaism (Chapter 4). Finally (Chapter 5), Sargent uses these conclusions to argue for reconsideration of the determinate meaning of Scripture in biblical hermeneutics. 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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Bible and Interpretation: The Collected Essays of James Barr. Volume II: Biblical Studies.

In Biblical Criticism, HB/OT, Hebrew Bible, James BARR, John BARTON, Kurtis Peters, Oxford University Press, Scripture on January 29, 2014 at 12:00 am

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2014.1.2 | Barton, John, ed. Bible and Interpretation: The Collected Essays of James Barr. Volume II: Biblical Studies. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. pp. i-xii + 619. ISBN: 978-0-19-969289-7).

Review by Kurtis Peters, University of Edinburgh.

Many thanks to Oxford University Press for providing a review copy.

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It is no mere flattery to say that this second instalment in Barton’s collection of essays by James Barr is an invaluable addition to any biblical scholar’s library, particularly those in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. James Barr, the prolific writer and frequent formidable adversary, deserved for his writing to be made readily available to as wide an audience as possible. This is what Barton has achieved.

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Contours in the Text

In Bloomsbury, Garrick V. Allen, Hebrew Bible, Jonathan D. H. NORTON, Josephus, Manuscripts, New Testament, Paul, Qumran, Romans, Scribal habits, Scripture, Second Temple, Septuagint, Textual Criticism on December 19, 2013 at 9:01 am

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2013.12.23 | Jonathan D. H. Norton. Contours in the Text: Textual Variation in the Writings of Paul, Josephus and the Yahad. Library of New Testament Studies 430; London: T&T Clark, 2011. xiii + 210 pages (PB). ISBN 9780567521996.

Review by Garrick V. Allen, University of St Andrews.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury for providing a review copy.

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In this volume, Norton explores Paul’s reuse and awareness of multiple antecedent scriptural traditions in the textually pluriform environment of first century Palestine. His approach blends text-critical acumen and an awareness of exegetical issues in the contemporary discussion. His study “questions Paul’s awareness and encounter with textual plurality in Jewish scripture” (p. 1). Read the rest of this entry »


BibleWorks 9

In Bible Works, Codex Sinaiticus, Critical Apparatus, Dan Batovici, Linguistics, Manuscripts, New Testament, Scribal habits, Scripture, Textual Criticism on July 13, 2013 at 4:01 pm

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2013.07.14 | BibleWorks 9.

Review by Dan Batovici, University of St Andrews.

Many thanks to BibleWorks for kindly sending us the review package.

BibleWorks is a rather visible product on the market of biblical softwares. The 9th version, reviewed here, offers a number of added elements, both in content and to the interface. With respect to the latter, among other features: a fourth column, a verse tab displaying critical notes or a critical apparatus for the verse under the mouse, a tagging tool for Greek NT morphology; I would also mention the set of transcription tools and search tools, which supports the new text-critical element of this software. With respect to content, BibleWorks 9 offers several additional modern Bible versions, the Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine text with morphology, the Loeb Classical Edition versification for Josephus, the Moody Atlas of the Bible, and others.

For the present reviewer, the most important additions are the New Testament critical apparatus produced by the CNTTS (Center for New Testament Textual Studies) and the (first) results of the BibleWorks Manuscript Project; together, they open a whole new venue for the utilisation of this product.

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Early Christian Manuscripts: Examples of Applied Method and Approach

In Amulets, Brill, Dan Batovici, Early Christianity, Egypt, New Testament, Oxyrhynchus, Papyrology, Patristics, Reception history, Scripture, Textual Criticism, Thomas KRAUS, Tobias NICKLAS on June 13, 2012 at 6:12 pm

2012.06.13 | Thomas J. Kraus and Tobias Nicklas, eds. Early Christian Manuscripts: Examples of Applied Method and Approach. Texts and Editions for New Testament Study 5. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2010. xx + 243 pp. ISBN: 9789004182653.

Reviewed by Dan Batovici, University of St Andrews.

Many thanks to Brill for kindly providing us with a review copy.

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This volume is intended as a papyrological follow-up of a previous volume, New Testament Manuscripts: Their Texts and Their World, published in the same series (TENT 2) in 2006. It features nine articles forming nine chapters varying in size between 15 and 45 pages. Read the rest of this entry »