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The 9 March 2015 newsletter for the Review of Biblical Literature noted reviews of several noteworthy volumes.

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Angelika Berlejung and Michael P. Streck, eds., Arameans, Chaldeans, and Arabs in Babylonia and Palestine in the First Millennium B.C., reviewed by Aren M. Maeir Matthew J. Goff, 4QInstruction, reviewed by Kenneth Atkinson and by Jeffrey P. Garcia T. Michael W. Halcomb, Entering the Fray: A Primer on New Testament Issues for the Church and Academy, reviewed by C. Jason Borders Andrew T. Lincoln, Born of a Virgin? Reconceiving Jesus in the Bible, Tradition, and Theology, reviewed by Marianne Blickenstaff Mark McEntire, Portraits of a Mature God: Choices in Old Testament Theology, reviewed by Ginny Brewer-Boydston Bert Newton, Subversive Wisdom: Sociopolitical Dimensions of John’s Gospel, reviewed by Benjamin Reynolds Chantal Reynier, Pour lire la lettre de Saint Paul aux Romains, reviewed by Abson Joseph Thomas Richter and Sarah Lange, Das Archiv des Idadda: Die Keilschrifttexte aus den deutsch-syrischen Ausgrabungen 2001–2003 im Königspalast von Qatna, reviewed by Jan-Wim Wesselius Frank Williams, trans., The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III: De Fide, reviewed by Simon Gathercole

The Logos blog has a couple minute and slightly humorous segment from Darrell Bock on the importance of background information for New Testament Studies.

At the end of chapter 1, “Questions of Truth and Epistemology,” in her Comical Doctrine: An Epistemology of New Testament Hermeneutics (Paternoster, 2006), Rosalind Selby summarizes: If this chapter has concluded with an appropriate understanding of the logical structure of grace and faith as we contemplate how it is that we know God, it must be important to pursue it in terms of the relationship between the individual and the community. The community of the ‘church’—however we define that—is founded by and founds its texts. This is a dialectic which itself rests in the priority of the founding acts of God. The priority over community, individual and the textual conveying of revelation always belongs with God; and the Christian will take that fundamentally seriously. ( 52; emphasis added) ...

On February 18, Steve Runge will be hosting a webinar about the Lexham “high definition” commentaries. For more information and to register, please visit the Logos website.

In her Comical Doctrine: An Epistemology of New Testament Hermeneutics (Paternoster, 2006), Rosalind Selby has several insightful observations. Summarizing the thought of Karl-Otto Apel, Selby comments: Apel himself proposes a dialectical mediation of objective-scientistic and hermeneutical methods with a critique of ideology. Philosophical hermeneutics is reflexive in as much as the subject must self-objectify in order to be self-critical and avoid any hidden prejudices. ( 36) ...

The kind folks at Bloomsbury (the parent company of the T&T Clark imprint) have recently mentioned that a paperback release is forthcoming for my Sacred Texts and Paradigmatic Revolutions: The Hermeneutical Worlds of the Qumran Sectarian Manuscripts and the Letter to the Romans. Slated for this June, the paperback, at a $29.95 list price, will be a fiscally welcome complement to the current hardback ($120.00) and PDF ($27.99) formats. The paperback is already available for pre-order on Amazon, currently at just under the list price. ...

Bulletin for Biblical Research 24, no. 4 contains five articles on various topics in Biblical Studies.

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Daniel I. Block, Beyond the River Chebar: Studies in Kingship and Eschatology in the Book of Ezekiel, reviewed by Sven Petry Reinhard Feldmeier, Power, Service, Humility: A New Testament Ethic, reviewed by David Briones David G. Firth, 1 and 2 Samuel: A Kingdom Comes, reviewed by Ralph Henson Martha Himmelfarb, Between Temple and Torah: Essays on Priests, Scribes, and Visionaries in the Second Temple Period and Beyond, reviewed by L. Michael Morales Cornelia Linde, How to Correct the Sacra Scriptura?: Textual Criticism of the Bible between the Twelfth and Fifteenth Century, reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow Kim Lan Nguyen, Chorus in the Dark: The Voices of the Book of Lamentations, reviewed by Charles William Miller Jesse E. Robertson, The Death of Judas: The Characterization of Judas Iscariot in Three Early Christian Accounts of His Death, reviewed by Lee M. Jefferson Michael Trainor, About Earth’s Child: An Ecological Listening to the Gospel of Luke, reviewed by C. Jason Borders David Trobisch, A User’s Guide to the Nestle-Aland 28 Greek New Testament, reviewed by Michael W. Holmes and by Jan Krans

This month’s free book from Logos Bible Software is Stephen Westerholm’s Justification Reconsidered: Rethinking a Pauline Theme (Eerdmans, 2013). Those who get this free volume are also eligible to purchase Douglas Campbell’s massive The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul(Eerdmans, 2013) for only $0.99. ...

TED curator Chris Anderson has an article in Harvard Business Review (2013) that seeks to digest key presentation advice derived from the past several decades of TED’s work. Perhaps not all Anderson’s advice is appropriate to the genre of the academic conference paper, but doubtless a good many would substantially benefit from a healthy dose of some of the advice he offers. ...

The Lexham Theological Wordbook began shipping late last year and includes my entry on “Forgiveness.” The Lexham Bible Dictionary has recently been updated with, among other items, my entries on “Haifa” and “Jenin.” Connections can read these contributions via my LinkedIn page under “Publications.” ...

The Stone-Campbell Journal 17, no. 2 is now available to members of the Stone-Campbell Scholars Community. This issue includes the following articles: John Mark Hicks, “Consensus Tigurinus and a Baptismal Rapprochement between Baptists and Churches of Christ” Mason Lee, “More Than the ‘Sermon on the Law’: Alexander Campbell and the Old Testament” Phil Towne, “Spirituality in an Age of Technology” Paul J. Kissling, “The So-Called ‘Post-Exilic’ Return: Already-But-Not-Yet In Ezra-Nehemiah” Jon Carmen, “The Falling Star and the Rising Son: Luke 10:17-24 and Second Temple ‘Satan’ Traditions” Les Hardin, “A Theology of the Hymns in Revelation” Among this issue’s book reviews (pgs. 297–99) is my review of Jared Wilson’s The Storytelling God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Parables (Crossway, 2014). Connections can read the review via my LinkedIn page under “Publications.” ...

Rob Bradshaw has made available George Milligan’s essay, “The Greek Papyri: With Special Reference to Their Value for New Testament Study,” Journal of the Transactions of the Victoria Institute 44 (1912): 62–78.

Research@StAndrews:FullText is: [A] digital repository of research output from the University of St Andrews. Since 2006 the University has required theses to be submitted to the repository. . . . The Research@StAndrews Portal provides links to the full text of research publications which are stored in Research@StAndrews:FullText. From the School of Divinity, 160 theses are available. ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Richard J. Clifford, Wisdom, reviewed by Lawrence M. Wills David J. A. Clines and J. Cheryl Exum, eds., The Reception of the Hebrew Bible in the Septuagint and the New Testament: Essays in Memory of Aileen Guilding, reviewed by Benjamin J. M. Johnson Joan E. Cook, Genesis, reviewed by Jonathan L. Huddleston Avraham Faust, Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation, reviewed by Gert T. M. Prinsloo James E. Harding, The Love of David and Jonathan: Ideology, Text, Reception, reviewed by Katherine Low Irene Nowell, Numbers, reviewed by Timothy R. Ashley Naomi Steinberg, The World of the Child in the Hebrew Bible, reviewed by Karin Finsterbusch New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

As a follow up to noting Rob Bradshaw’s additions of Charles Simeon and John Lightfoot’s works in conveniently accessible PDF files, some other possibly helpful resources across which I’ve recently stumbled (sometimes apparently afresh) include: Keil and Delitzsch’s Old Testament commentary via Internet Archive; Various helpful texts via University of Pennsylvania’s Online Books Page; and The overall, searchable list of “Hosted Articles, Monographs, and Books” at BiblicalStudies.org.

[caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“100”] Charles Simeon (1759–1836; Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] Along with the works of John Lightfoot, Rob Bradshaw has posted the works of Charles Simeon (ed. Thomas Horne; London: Henry G. Bohn, 1844–1845), courtesy of Tyndale House. The set is available on this page in one PDF file per printed volume. ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Tremper Longman III, Job, reviewed by Richard G. Smith Donald P. Moffat, Ezra’s Social Drama: Identity Formation, Marriage and Social Conflict in Ezra 9 and 10, reviewed by Hannah K. Harrington Daniel C. Owens, Portraits of the Righteous in the Psalms: An Exploration of the Ethics of Book I, reviewed by Beat Weber Franz Sedlmeier, Das Buch Ezechiel: Kapitel 25-48, reviewed by Michael S. Moore Stefan Seiler, Text-Beziehungen: Zur intertextuellen Interpretation alttestamentlicher Texte am Beispiel ausgewählter Psalmen, reviewed by Gert T. M. Prinsloo New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

Hans Iwand, This month, Logos Bible Software is giving away Hans Iwand’s The Righteousness of Faith according to Luther (trans., Randi Lundell; Wipf & Stock, 2008, originally published in 1941). According to the product page, the volume: ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Peter Enns, The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins, reviewed by Paul Korchin Kai Kaniuth et al., eds., Tempel im Alten Orient, reviewed by Jason M. Silverman Christoph Körner and Hans-Winfried Jüngling, eds., "…denn das ist der ganze Mensch": Jüdische Feste: Kohelet, Ester, Hoheslied, Rut, Klagelieder, reviewed by Andreas Lehnardt Michael Pietsch, Die Kultreform Josias: Studien zur Religionsgeschichte Israels in der späten Königszeit, reviewed by Peter Porzig New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The Journal of Biblical Literature 133, no. 2 includes: Joram Mayshar, “Who Was the Toshav?” Amitai Baruchi-Unna, “Two Clearings of Goats (1 Kings 20:27): An Interpretation Supported by an Akkadian Parallel” Ryan E. Stokes, “Satan, Yhwh’s Executioner” Saul M. Olyan, “Jehoiakim’s Dehumanizing Interment as a Ritual Act of Reclassification” John L. McLaughlin, “Is Amos (Still) among the Wise?” Christine Mitchell, “A Note on the Creation Formula in Zechariah 12:1–8; Isaiah 42:5–6; and Old Persian Inscriptions” Kristian Larsson, “Intertextual Density, Quantifying Imitation” J. R. Daniel Kirk and Stephen L. Young, “‘I Will Set His Hand to the Sea’: Psalm 88:26 LXX and Christology in Mark” Jennifer Knust and Tommy Wasserman, “The Biblical Odes and the Text of the Christian Bible: A Reconsideration of the Impact of Liturgical Singing on the Transmission of the Gospel of Luke” Brittany E. Wilson, “The Blinding of Paul and the Power of God:Masculinity, Sight, and Self-Control in Acts 9” Brice C. Jones, “Three New Coptic Papyrus Fragments of 2 Timothy and Titus (P.Mich. inv. 3535b)” Nicola Denzey Lewis and Justine Ariel Blount, “Rethinking the Origins of the Nag Hammadi Codices” This issue also introduces the “JBL Forum,” which is intended to provide “an occasional series that will highlight approaches, points of view, and even definitions of ‘biblical scholarship’ that may be outside the usual purview of many of our readers. The format may vary from time to time but will always include an exchange of ideas on the matter at hand” (pg. 421). This issue’s forum includes: ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies William Goodman, Yearning for You: Psalms and the Song of Songs in Conversation with Rock and Worship Songs, reviewed by T. Michael W. Halcomb David Weiss Halivni, The Formation of the Babylonian Talmud, reviewed by Joshua Ezra Burns Isaac Kalimi, ed., Jewish Bible Theology: Perspectives and Case Studies, reviewed by Ginny Brewer-Boydston Vita Daphna Arbel, Forming Femininity in Antiquity: Eve, Gender, and Ideologies in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve, reviewed by F. Scott Spencer Víctor Morla, Los manuscritos hebreos de Ben Sira: Traducción y notas, reviewed by Nuria Calduch-Benages Peter W. Flint, The Dead Sea Scrolls, reviewed by George J. Brooke New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Jenny R. Labendz, Socratic Torah: Non-Jews in Rabbinic Intellectual Culture, reviewed by Joshua Schwartz Thomas L. Thompson, Biblical Narrative and Palestine’s History: Changing Perspectives 2, reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

Through June 11, the Westminster Bookstore is offering a free PDF download of Iain Duguid’s Is Jesus in the Old Testament? (P&R, 2013). Duguid has been at Grove City College but has recently joined the Westminster Seminary faculty. According to its introduction, Duguid’s essay (the text is a brief 33 pages of prose) has the following major components to its argument: ...

This month, Logos Bible Software has Frederic Perthes’ Life of John Chrysostom (John P. Jewett, 1854) available for free. According to Logos’s description, Based on the investigations of Neander, Böhringer, and others, Life of John Chrysostom details the “golden-mouthed” orator’s influence on Asia Minor. It offers a look into his role as preacher and bishop, his interactions with different sects and notable persons during his life, and an exacting account of his three-year exile. ...

Ben Witherington, Through June 16, Ben Witherington’s What’s in the Word: Rethinking the Socio-Rhetorical Character of the New Testament (Baylor, 2009) is available for free from Logos Bible Software. In sum, “Expanding on the work in which he has been fruitfully engaged for over a quarter century, Witherington challenges the previously assured results of historical criticism and demonstrates chapter by chapter how the socio-rhetorical study shifts the paradigm.” The volume discusses concerns related to orality and canon, and includes several chapters treating particular texts or phrases within the New Testament. ...

Walter Brueggemann, The June free book of the month seems already to be live on the Logos Bible Software website. The included text is Walter Brueggemann’s Spirituality of the Psalms (Fortress, 2001). The optional, $0.99 add on is Brueggemmann’s David’s Truth: In Israel’s Imagination and Memory (Fortress, 2002). ...

Google Books has two volumes of Christoph Friedrich Ammon’s Biblische Theologie (Erlangen: J. J. Palm, 1801) available in various full-text formats ( vol. 1, vol. 2).

Kevin Vanhoozer, ed., For this week, Kevin Vanhoozer’s edited volume on the Theological Interpretation of the New Testament is free from Logos Bible Software when users join a Baker-related email list (HT: Tayler Beede). The volume provides a focused selection of the book-specific entries from the larger Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible. ...