In the Text

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include:

Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies

• Mersha Alehegne, The Ethiopian Commentary on the Book of Genesis: Critical Edition and Translation, reviewed by James C. VanderKam
• Daniel E. Fleming, The Legacy of Israel in Judah’s Bible: History, Politics, and the Reinscribing of Tradition, reviewed by Yitzhaq Feder and by Frank H. Polak
• Mark Leuchter and Jeremy M. Hutton, eds., Levites and Priests in Biblical History and Tradition, reviewed by Pekka Pitkanen
• Tremper Longman III, Job, reviewed by Michael Collender
• Christian Metzenthin, Jesaja-Auslegung in Qumran, reviewed by Paul Sanders
• Mark R. Sneed, The Politics of Pessimism in Ecclesiastes: A Social-Science Perspective, reviewed by Martin A. Shields

New Testament and Cognate Studies

• Douglas E. Oakman, The Political Aims of Jesus, reviewed by Tobias Hagerland
• B. J. Oropeza, Jews, Gentiles, and the Opponents of Paul: The Pauline Letters, reviewed by Joseph Oryshak
• Peter Pilhofer, Neues aus der Welt der frühen Christen, reviewed by Günter Röhser

Barry F. Parker has the latest article in the Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, “‘Works of the Law’ and the Jewish Settlement in Asia Minor.” According to the article’s conclusion:

The first recourse for the Anatolian Jews under [social, political, and religious] pressure was not an appeal to ‘legalism’, but to ‘selective works of the law’, as is implied by the phrase ἔργα νόμου. The only appearance of this phrase from that time outside of Paul is found in 4QMMT. The use of ‘works of the law’ there confirms both that Paul is in (indirect) dialogue with those familiar with Essene terminology and that selectivity is in view. Although he speaks to a different audience about a different problem regarding the law in Romans, when Paul uses the phrase ἔργα νόμου in Romans 3, the immediate context is quite similar to what he addresses in Galatians. It is, in both cases, a matter of the righteousness of God, as expressed in the faithfulness of Christ (πίστις Χριστοῦ). This faithfulness of Christ suffices for both Jew and Gentile (pagan), who are equally condemned—in Galatians they are condemned for trying to supplement that faithfulness with a perverted version of the law, and in Romans they are condemned for perverting the law by their very efforts to fulfill it through a selective participation in it (96).

New Testament Studies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The latest issue of New Testament Studies includes:

• Joel Marcus, “Passover and Last Supper Revisited”
• Klaus B. Haacker, “Der Geist und das Reich im Lukanischen Werk: Konkurrenz oder Konvergenz zwischen Pneumatologie und Eschatologie?”
• Anthony Le Donne, “The Improper Temple Offering of Ananias and Sapphira”
• Richard Last, “The Election of Officers in the Corinthian Christ-Group”
• Joel R. White, “‘Peace and Security’ (1 Thessalonians 5.3): Is It Really a Roman Slogan?”
• Thomas R. Blanton, “The Benefactor’s Account-book: The Rhetoric of Gift Reciprocation according to Seneca and Paul”
• David J. Downs, “Justification, Good Works, and Creation in Clement of Rome’s Appropriation of Romans 5–6″
• James A. Kelhoffer, “Reciprocity as Salvation: Christ as Salvific Patron and the Corresponding ‘Payback’ Expected of Christ’s Earthly Clients according to the Second Letter of Clement”
• Benjamin R. Wilson, “Taking up and Raising, Fixing and Loosing: A Chiastic Wordplay in Acts 2.23b–24″

Via their YouTube channel, National Geographic has made available their approximately 89-minute 2001 documentary “Inside the Vatican”:

Baker has kindly provided a substantial PDF excerpt from Christopher Seitz’s The Character of Christian Scripture: The Significance of a Two-Testament Bible (2011). Besides front matter, the excerpt includes the book’s introduction and first chapter, which account for 74 pages of text.