Blog

[caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“120”] William Baird, History of New Testament Research (3 vols.)[/caption] With last year’s release of the third volume, From C. H. Dodd to Hans Dieter Betz, William Baird brought his helpful series on the recent history of New Testament Studies to a close. Cliff Kvidahl has an informative review that, despite some criticisms, rightly praises Baird’s work as “informative while remaining entertaining. [Baird] brings the reader through the life and work of each scholar without getting bogged down in too much detail.” Those interested can also find the whole 3-volume set available among Logos Bible Software’s prepublication listings. ...

After having the product available for over 10 years, Logos Bible Software has released a substantive update to their Qumran Sectarian Manuscripts database (ed. Martin Abegg). Most significant among this update’s improvements are that the resource: Now contains more than 100 scrolls than in the previous version (737 documents are now represented). Several texts in the previous version have been reorganized to reflect the latest scholarship on their reconstruction. The database’s morphology has been updated to WHM 4.18. For more information, please see the Logos blog. ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include those below. In biblioblog time, some of these reviews date back almost to eternity past, but I’m going ahead and posting them here for future reference. Update (5/13): The following now includes the April 24 listings I’d missed out previously. March 14 Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Alan Appelbaum, The Rabbis’ King-Parables: Midrash from the Third-Century Roman Empire, reviewed by Rachel Adelman Magnar Kartveit, Rejoice, Dear Zion!: Hebrew Construct Phrases with “Daughter” and “Virgin” as Nomen Regens, reviewed by Peter Bekins Tyler D. Mayfield, Literary Structure and Setting in Ezekiel, reviewed by Richard G. Smith New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

Thanks to Anthony Le Donne for noting the availability of LibriVox recordings for D. F. Strauss’s Life of Jesus and Albert Schweitzer’s Quest of the Historical Jesus. LibriVox also has apps available for Android, iOS, and Kindle users, and the iOS version (at least) allows downloading and storage for offline listening. ...

Select Works of Simon Kistemaker Now garnering interest in Logos Bible Software’s prepublication program are 6 volumes of select works from Simon Kistemaker. The collection mostly contains items related to the Gospels but also includes an edited volume of hermeneutics essays and a survey of Calvinist history and thought. ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Rainer Albertz and Jakob Wöhrle, eds., Between Cooperation and Hostility: Multiple Identities in Ancient Judaism and the Interaction with Foreign Powers, reviewed by Michael L. Satlow C. A. Strine, Sworn Enemies: The Divine Oath, the Book of Ezekiel, and the Polemics of Exile, reviewed by John T. Strong Heath A. Thomas, Jeremy Evans, and Paul Copan, eds., Holy War in the Bible: Christian Morality and an Old Testament Problem, reviewed by Guenther Haas Amram Tropper, Simeon the Righteous in Rabbinic Literature: A Legend Reinvented, reviewed by Joshua Schwartz New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest Bloomsbury Highlights notes the newly available volume 16 in the T&T Clark Jewish and Christian Texts Series. The volume is a revision of my 2011 dissertation at Southeastern Seminary and primarily explores paradigmatic, or presuppositional, aspects of the hermeneutics at play in Romans and some of the Qumran sectarian texts. ...

The latest issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society includes: Gregory Goswell, “Two Testaments in Parallel: The Influence of the Old Testament on the Structuring of the New Testament Canon” Michael A. Grisanti, “Recent Archaeological Discoveries that Lend Credence to the Historicity of the Scriptures” Vern S. Poythress, “Presuppositions and Harmonization: Luke 23:47 as a Test Case” Martin Pickup, “‘On The Third Day’: The Time Frame of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection” Andrew B. Spurgeon, “1 Timothy 2:13–15: Paul’s Retelling of Genesis 2:4–4:1” Eliezer Gonzalez, “Healing in the Pauline Epistles: Why the Silence?” Stanley E. Porter, “Not Only That (οὐ μόνον), But It Has Been Said Before: A Response to Verlyn Verbrugge, or Why Reading Previous Scholarship Can Avoid Scholarly Misunderstandings” Verlyn D. Verbrugge, “Response to Stanley E. Porter”

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Ulrich F. Berges, Isaiah: The Prophet and his Book, reviewed by Marvin A. Sweeney Daniel E. Fleming, The Legacy of Israel in Judah’s Bible: History, Politics, and the Reinscribing of Tradition, reviewed by Matthew Suriano Theresa V. Lafferty, The Prophetic Critique of the Priority of the Cult: A Study of Amos 5:21–24 and Isaiah 1:10–17, reviewed by Alphonso Groenewald Matthew Neujahr, Predicting the Past in the Ancient Near East: Mantic Historiography in Ancient Mesopotamia, Judah, and the Mediterranean World, reviewed by Gerhard Karner Georg A. Walser, Jeremiah: A Commentary based on Ieremias in Codex Vaticanus, reviewed by Michael Graves Walter Brueggemann, Truth Speaks to Power: The Countercultural Nature of Scripture, reviewed by Gerrie Snyman New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies John J. Collins, Joel, Obadiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, reviewed by Bradford A. Anderson Avraham Faust, The Archaeology of Israelite Society in Iron Age II, reviewed by Aren M. Maeir Gary A. Long, Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Hebrew, reviewed by Perry J. Oakes Chad S. Spigel, Ancient Synagogue Seating Capacities: Methodology, Analysis and Limits, reviewed by Joshua Schwartz Scripture and Hermeneutics ...

The upcoming issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature is set to include the following: Mark F. Whitters, “Baruch as Ezra in 2 Baruch” Brian R. Doak, “Ezekiel’s Topography of the (Un-)Heroic Dead in Ezekiel 32:17–32” Ruth Sheridan, “Issues in the Translation of оἱ ̓Iоυαῖоι in the Fourth Gospel” Andrew T. Lincoln, “Luke and Jesus’ Conception: A Case of Double Paternity?” Daniel Frayer-Griggs, “Spittle, Clay, and Creation in John 9:6 and Some Dead Sea Scrolls” Timothy M. Willis, “The Curious Case of κυριε μоυ κυριε in 2 Kingdoms 7:18–29” Greg Goswell, “The Eschatology of Malachi after Zechariah 14” Bennie H. Reynolds, “The Expression המד דין in the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Legacy of the Holiness School in Essene Legal Texts” T. C. Ham, “The Gentle Voice of God in Job 38” Andrew R. Davis, “The Literary Effect of Gender Discord in the Book of Ruth” Robert D. Holmstedt, “The Nexus between Textual Criticism and Linguistics: A Case Study from Leviticus” Naphtali S. Meshel, “Toward a Grammar of Sacrifice: Hierarchic Patterns in the Israelite Sacrificial System” David G. Horrell, Bradley Arnold, and Travis B. Williams, “Visuality, Vivid Description, and the Message of 1 Peter: The Significance of the Roaring Lion (1 Peter 5:8)”

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Yairah Amit, In Praise of Editing in the Hebrew Bible: Collected Essays in Retrospect, reviewed by Richard G. Smith Athalya Brenner and Gale A. Yee, eds., Exodus and Deuteronomy, reviewed by Susanne Scholz Rahel Halabé, Hinneh: Biblical Hebrew the Practical Way, reviewed by John Engle Isaac Kalimi, New Perspectives on Ezra-Nehemiah: History and Historiography, Text, Literature, and Interpretation, reviewed by Andrew E. Steinmann Nathan MacDonald, Mark W. Elliott, and Grant Macaskill, eds., Genesis and Christian Theology, reviewed by Christopher B. Ansberry Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, Reading Samuel: A Literary and Theological Commentary, reviewed by Klaus-Peter Adam New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Lawrence Boadt, Richard Clifford, and Daniel Harrington, eds., Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction, reviewed by Richard G. Smith David J. A. Clines and Ellen van Wolde, eds., A Critical Engagement: Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honour of J. Cheryl Exum, reviewed by George Savran Walter Groß and Erasmus Gaß, Studien zum Richterbuch und seinen Völkernamen, reviewed by Trent C. Butler Todd R. Hanneken, The Subversion of the Apocalypses in the Book of Jubilees, reviewed by Robert Foster Jonathan Kearney, Rashi—Linguist Despite Himself: A Study of the Linguistic Dimension of Rabbi Solomon Yishaqi’s Commentary on Deuteronomy, reviewed by Siam Bhayro William E. Mierse, Temples and Sanctuaries from the Early Iron Age Levant: Recovery after Collapse, reviewed by Jonathan S. Greer Jacqueline S. du Toit, Textual Memory: Ancient Archives, Libraries and the Hebrew Bible, reviewed by Ingeborg Löwisch Yair Zakovitch, Jacob: Unexpected Patriarch, reviewed by Ronald Hendel New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

[caption id=“attachment_2129” align=“alignright” width=“87”] Richard Bauckham[/caption] In his 2006 Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Richard Bauckham suggests: that we need to recover the sense in which the Gospels are testimony. This does not mean that they are testimony rather than history. It means that the kind of historiography they are is testimony. An irreducible feature of testimony as a form of human utterance is that it asks to be trusted. This does not mean that it asks to be trusted uncritically, but it does mean that testimony should not be treated as credible only to the extent that it can be independently verified. There can be good reasons for trusting or distrusting a witness, but these are precisely reasons for trusting or distrusting. Trusting testimony is not an irrational act of faith that leaves critical rationality aside; it is, on the contrary, the rationally appropriate way of responding to authentic testimony. . . . It is true that a powerful trend in the modern development of critical historical philosophy and method finds trusting testimony a stumbling-block in the way of the historian’s autonomous access to truth that she or he can verify independently. But it is also a rather neglected fact that all history, like all knowledge, relies on testimony. ( 5; italics original) ...

New Testament Studies The latest issue of New Testament Studies includes: Helen K. Bond, “Dating the Death of Jesus: Memory and the Religious Imagination” John K. Goodrich, “Sold under Sin: Echoes of Exile in Romans 7.14–25” Timothy A. Brookins, “The (In)frequency of the Name ‘Erastus’ in Antiquity: A Literary, Papyrological, and Epigraphical Catalog” Daniel Frayer-Griggs, “Neither Proof Text nor Proverb: The Instrumental Sense of διά and the Soteriological Function of Fire in 1 Corinthians 3.15” Jonathan A. Linebaugh, “The Christo-Centrism of Faith in Christ: Martin Luther’s Reading of Galatians 2.16, 19–20” Thomas J. Kraus, " Hapax legomena: Definition eines terminus technicus und Signifikanz für eine pragmatisch orientierte Sprachanalyse" Karen L. King, “The Place of the Gospel of Philip in the Context of Early Christian Claims about Jesus’ Marital Status” Emily Gathergood, “Papyrus 32 (Titus) as a Multi-text Codex: A New Reconstruction”

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Dominique Barthélemy, Studies in the Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, reviewed by John Engle Paul L. Redditt, Zechariah 9–14, reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer Jon D. Levenson, Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, reviewed by Sara Koenig Barry G. Webb, The Book of Judges, reviewed by Trent C. Butler New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

[caption id=“attachment_4050” align=“alignright” width=“56”] WTS Books[/caption] Through September 3, the Westminster Bookstore has select Ed Clowney resources available at half-off, including: How Jesus Transforms the Ten Commandments Preaching and Biblical Theology Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament(2nd ed) As usual, the Bookstore has also included some related, free PDF or multimedia material on these books’ product pages. ...

According to Amazon, Special pricing is available on select Kindle Fire tablets to Amazon Student members with an active Prime account (six months free or $39/year plan). Join Amazon Student or start your discounted Prime membership to take advantage of this discount. The promo codes below will become available 24 hours after activation of your account, through September 1. New members, don’t forget to check your .edu email and verify your account. ...

Recently, I noted that an English Standard Version audio Bible was freely available with registration at Bible.is. This version’s Old Testament is also still freely available in MP3 format on Amazon. ...

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the King James Version in 2011, Crossway released an edition of the English Standard Version’s Gospels illuminated by Makoto Fujimura ( cloth, leather). A short introduction to the project is available below (HT: Bryant Owens): ...

J. Alan Groves Center The J. Alan Groves Center has released version 4.18 for the Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC) and the Westminster Hebrew Morphology (WHM). According to the Center’s notice, this update includes: 41 sets of lemma changes, 85 sets of parsing changes, 16 textual changes with an associated change in bracket notes, the addition of the bracket note “]n” (which designates an unusual or unexpected form) to almost 100 words, 24 other changes to bracket notes, 5 other textual changes, and 5 changes to morphological slashes and/or word divisions. Changes to the text are to make the WHM and the WLC conform to the text of the Hebrew Bible found in the Leningrad Codex. ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Johann Cook and Arie van der Kooij, Law, Prophets, and Wisdom: On the Provenance of Translators and Their Books in the Septuagint Version, reviewed by Sean A. Adams C. L. Crouch, War and Ethics in the Ancient Near East: Military Violence in Light of Cosmology and History, reviewed by Tyler Mayfield Richard Hidary, Dispute for the Sake of Heaven: Legal Pluralism in the Talmud, reviewed by Kris Lindbeck Othmar Keel, Corpus der Stempelsiegel-Amulette aus Palästina/Israel: Von den Anfängen bis zur Perserzeit: Katalog Band IV: Von Tel Gamma bis Chirbet Husche, reviewed by Brent A. Strawn Sigmund Mowinckel, Religion and Cult: The Old Testament and the Phenomenology of Religion, reviewed by Nicole Ruane Jonathan Stökl, Prophecy in the Ancient Near East: A Philological and Sociological Comparison, reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature are detailed in the newsletter dated August 8 but arrived in my inbox only yesterday. These include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Judith Baskin and Kenneth Seeskin, eds., The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture, reviewed by Alan Avery-Peck Jan Joosten, Collected Studies on the Septuagint: From Language to Interpretation and Beyond, reviewed by Sean A. Adams Ingrid E. Lilly, Two Books of Ezekiel: Papyrus 967 and the Masoretic Text as Variant Literary Editions, reviewed by John Engle Marty Alan Michelson, Reconciling Violence and Kingship: A Study of Judges and 1 Samuel, reviewed by Gregory Mobley Konrad Schmid, The Old Testament: A Literary History, reviewed by Trent C. Butler New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Christoph Dohmen, Studien zu Bilderverbot und Bildtheologie des Alten Testaments, reviewed by Sven Petry Jan Joosten, The Verbal System of Biblical Hebrew: A New Synthesis Elaborated on the Basis of Classical Prose, reviewed by Jerome Lund Granville J. R. Kent, Say It Again, Sam: A Literary and Filmic Study of Narrative Repetition in 1 Samuel 28, reviewed by Andrew Steinmann Yoo-Ki Kim, The Function of the Tautological Infinitive in Classical Biblical Hebrew, reviewed by Hubert James Keener R. Reed Lessing, Isaiah 40–55, reviewed by Alphonso Groenewald Rüdiger Lux, Hiob: Im Räderwerk des Bösen, reviewed by Urmas Nommik Andrew G. Shead, A Mouth Full of Fire: The Word of God in Jeremiah, reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

Scripture Tools for Every Person Tyndale House recently announced the beta release of their Scripture Tools for Every Person (STEP) project, headed by David Instone-Brewer. The resource includes a nice selection of original-language texts—apparently including some, like the [Samaritan Pentateuch](http://www.stepbible.org/#!__/0/passage/0/SP/Gen 1/NHV/__/1/singleColumn), not yet listed in the documentation. Later this year, the Tyndale House edition of the Greek New Testament should also appear in STEP. ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Bohdan Hrobon, Ethical Dimension of Cult in the Book of Isaiah, reviewed by Wilhelm J. Wessels Richard A. Norris Jr., trans., Gregory of Nyssa: Homilies on the Song of Songs, reviewed by Mark DelCogliano Melvin K. H. Peters, ed., XIV Congress of the IOSCS, Helsinki, 2010, reviewed by Theo van der Louw Brian Neil Peterson, Ezekiel in Context: Ezekiel’s Message Understood in Its Historical Setting of Covenant Curses and Ancient Near Eastern Mythological Motifs, reviewed by Christopher Bechtel Eric A. Seibert, The Violence of Scripture: Overcoming the Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy, reviewed by J. Dwayne Howell Deuk-il Shin, The Ark of Yahweh in Redemptive History: A Revelatory Instrument of Divine Attributes, reviewed by David G. Firth Molly M. Zahn, Rethinking Rewritten Scripture: Composition and Exegesis in the 4QReworked Pentateuch Manuscripts, reviewed by Martin G. Abegg Jr. New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

Jesus is both the properly trusting recipient of his Father’s care and the hen that would gather her chicks to protect them.

Faithlife ESV Giveaway The English Standard Version is now free for a limited time with the Faithlife Study Bible ( affiliate disclosure). According to the press release, Starting July 24, anyone who downloads or signs in to the Faithlife Study Bible app will get the English Standard Version free for life! All Faithlife Study Bible app users will get a full license to the ESV Bible, including offline access when Internet is not available. Users can download their free copy of the Faithlife Study Bible app by visiting the Faithlife/ESV giveaway page anytime 12:00 am [Pacific], July 24–11:59 pm, August 10. ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies David J. H. Beldman and Craig G. Bartholomew, eds., Hearing the Old Testament: Listening for God’s Address, reviewed by Jeanette Mathews Mark E. Biddle, Reading Judges: A Literary and Theological Commentary, reviewed by Trent C. Butler Joachim Conrad, Karl Heinrich Grafs Arbeit am Alten Testament: Studien zu einer wissenschaftlichen Biographie, reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow Georg Fischer, Dominik Markl, and Simone Paganini, eds., Deuteronomium: Tora für eine neue Generation, reviewed by Mark Christian Elizabeth Frood, Biographical Texts from Ramessid Egypt, reviewed by Gerald Moers Dong-Hyuk Kim, Early Biblical Hebrew, Late Biblical Hebrew, and Linguistic Variability: A Sociolinguistic Evaluation of the Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts, reviewed by Frank H. Polak Peter Thacher Lanfer, Remembering Eden: The Reception History of Genesis 3:22–24, reviewed by L. Michael Morales David Penchansky, Understanding Wisdom Literature: Conflict and Dissonance in the Hebrew Text, reviewed by Peter Hatton Miscellaneous ...

Logos Bible Software Recently, a number of noteworthy works have come into Logos Bible Software’s prepublication and community pricing programs. On the prepublication program are collections about biblical backgrounds (9 vols.; T. & T. Clark), the Prophets (16 vols.; T. & T. Clark), the Writings (5 vols.; T. & T. Clark), Old Testament literature and linguistics (7 vols.; T. & T. Clark), Hebrew Bible (7 vols.; T. & T. Clark), topics in Old Testament Studies (11 vols.; T. & T. Clark), Old Testament theology (9 vols.; Oxford University), biblical history and historiography (3 vols.; T. & T. Clark), Jewish Studies (6 vols.; T. & T. Clark), Jesus (10 vols.; T. & T. Clark); the Gospels and Acts (18 vols.; T. & T. Clark), Johannine literature (10 vols.; T. & T. Clark), the Pauline Epistles (10 vols.; T. & T. Clark), topics in New Testament Studies (11 vols.; T. & T. Clark), early Christianity (13 vols.; T. & T. Clark), apocrypha and pseudepigrapha (7 vols.; T. & T. Clark), Apostolic Fathers (29 vols.; various publishers), church history (18 vols.; Oxford); biblical interpretation (3 vols.; Pontifical Biblical Commission and 5 vols.; T. & T. Clark), biblical languages (35 vols.; Zondervan), bibliology (7 vols.; T. & T. Clark), the Bible in art (3 vols.; Standard), theological interpretation (4 vols.; T. & T. Clark), and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (3 vols.; T. & T. Clark), as well as the select Loeb Classical Library works by Tertullian and Minucius Felix (2 vols.) and Virgil (4 vols.). ...