Showing posts with label Hebrew Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hebrew Bible. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments: Theological Reflection on the Christian Bible
Brevard S. Childs
Fortress Press, 2011-04-01 - 774 pages
This
monumental work is the first comprehensive biblical theology to appear
in many years and is the culmination of Brevard Child's lifelong
commitment to constructing a biblical theology that surmounts objections
to the discipline raised over the past generation.Childs rejects any
approaches that overstress either the continuity or discontinuity
between the Old and New Testaments. He refuses to follow the common
pattern in Christian thought of identifying biblical theology with the
New Testament's interest in the Old. Rather, Childs maps out an approach
that reflects on the whole Christian Bible with its two very different
voices, each of which retains continuing integrity and is heard on its
own terms.
A Biblical Theology of Exile
Daniel L. Smith-Christopher
Fortress Press, 2002 - 209 pages
The Christian church continues to seek ethical and spiritual models from
the period of Israel's monarchy and has avoided the gravity of the
Babylonian exile. Against this tradition, the author argues that the
period of focus for the canonical construction of biblical thought is
precisely the exile. Here the voices of dissent arose and articulated
words of truth in the context of failed power.
The Early Enoch Literature
Gabriele Boccaccini, John Joseph Collins
BRILL, 2007 - 367 pages
In
recent years there has been a lively debate about the early Enoch
literature and its place in Judaism. This volume is intended to
represent that debate, by juxtaposing pairs of articles on several key
issues: the textual evidence, the relationship to the Torah, the
calendar, the relation to wisdom, the relation to the temple, the
sociological setting and the relation to the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is not
the intention of the editors to impose a consensus, but rather to
stimulate discussion by bringing together divergent viewpoints. The book
should be a useful textbook not only on the Enoch literature and
apocalypticism, but more generally on Second Temple Judaism.
Elusions of Control: Biblical Law on the Words of Women
Jione Havea
BRILL, 2003 - 223 pages
From Numbers 30, where women's vows are regulated, to various narratives where women's words are monitored, this circumreading exposes the ways in which words elude control and control eludes words within the world of the text and in the very act of reading itself and demonstrates an alternative "transtextual" way to read biblical law.
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Isaiah 40-55: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
Joseph Blenkinsopp
Doubleday, 2002 - 411 pages
Scholars have traditionally isolated three distinct sections of what is known as the Book of Isaiah, and in Isaiah 40—55,
distinguished biblical scholar Joseph Blenkinsopp provides a new
translation and critical commentary on the section usually referred to
as Second or Deutero Isaiah. The second volume in a three-volume
commentary, it easily maintains the high standards of academic
excellence established by Isaiah 1—39.Second
Isaiah was written in the sixth century b.c.e., in the years just before
the fall of the mighty Babylonian Empire, by an anonymous prophet whom
history has erroneously identified with the real Isaiah (born ca. 765
b.c.e.). Scholars know Second Isaiah was written by someone other than
Isaiah because the contexts of these prophecies are so very different.
When Second Isaiah was written, the prophet believed that Israel’s time
of suffering was drawing to a close. There was, he insisted, a new age
upon them, a time of hope, peace, and renewed national prosperity. The
main thrust of the prophet’s argument was intended to rally the spirits
of a people devastated by war and conquest. One of the most famous
examples of this optimistic tone is the well-known and beloved Song of
the Suffering Servant, which is found in Chapters 52—53, and about which
Blenkinsopp has some challenging new ideas. The final chapters
of Second Isaiah, however, are in an entirely different key as it
becomes clear that the new world the prophet foresaw earlier was not
going to come to pass. This despair finds its most poignant expression
in the final section of the Book of Isaiah, which Blenkinsopp will
address in his forthcoming third volume.Sunday, 8 April 2012
The Pentateuch
John Muddiman, John Barton
Oxford University Press, 2010-06-18 - 230 pages
The
Oxford Bible Commentary is a Bible study and reference work for 21st
century students and readers that can be read with any modern
translation of the Bible. It offers verse-by-verse explanation of every
book of the Bible by the world's leading biblical scholars. From its
inception, OBC has been designed as a completely non-denominational
commentary, carefully written and edited to provide the best scholarship
in a readable style for readers from all different faith backgrounds.
It uses the traditional historical-critical method to search for the
original meaning of the texts, but also brings in new perspectives and
insights - literary, sociological, and cultural - to bring out the
expanding meanings of these ancient writings and stimulate new
discussion and further enquiry. Newly issued in a series of part volumes, the OBC is now available in an affordable and portable format for the study of specific sections of the Bible. The Pentateuch, or Torah ('the law'), comprises the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, Genesis to Deuteronomy. The Commentaries are preceeded by introductions to the Old Testament and to the Pentateuch as a whole.
Ezekiel
Joseph Blenkinsopp
Westminster John Knox Press, 1990 - 242 pages
This
major work explores the message and meaning of Ezekiel, one of the
longest and most difficult of the prophetic books. An introduction
explains what is involved in reading a prophetic book, and how the book
of Ezekiel was put together and structured. It looks at the form of
speech used and discusses Ezekiel's author and those who transmitted,
edited, and enlarged upon what he had to say. The destruction of
Jerusalem is a primary concern, and attention is focused on the
political and social situation of the time in order to provide a clear
understanding of the political and religious crisis facing the prophet's
contemporaries.Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and
Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in
the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching
needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major
contribution to scholarship and ministry.
Ruth
Katharine Doob Sakenfeld
Westminster John Knox Press, 1999 - 91 pages
The
narrative of the book of Ruth is a drama of ordinary human life, but
the drama unfolds against a background of the providence and purposes of
God. Katharine Doob Sakenfeld has written a commentary that makes very
clear why the book of Ruth has such great importance as literature and
as scripture. The commentary gives evenhanded treatment of both the
human and divine dimensions of the text; Sakenfeld's interpretation is
sociological as well as theological. She assesses all the significant
questions about the origin and purpose of the book, and asserts that the
organizing center of a proper reading must be found in the narrative
itself rather than in tentative answers to historical questions.
Ezra-Nehemiah
Mark A. Throntveit
Westminster John Knox Press, 1992 - 129 pages
Studies
in the books of Ezra-Nehemiah have tended to become bogged down with
such questions as, Who came first, Ezra or Nehemiah, and were they
contemporaries? When did Ezra make his journey to Jerusalem, how many
trips did he make, and which route did he take? In this commentary, the
author undertakes a theological reading which emphasizes its character
as narrative and story. He avoids rearranging the text and, with the
exception of chapter five of Nehemiah, he seeks to understand the
narrative as it was received. In general, Mark Throntveit avoids an
overly historical approach to the text and presents a clear picture of
Ezra and Nehemiah.Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and
Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in
the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching
needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major
contribution to scholarship and ministry.
Deuteronomy
Patrick D. Miller
Westminster John Knox Press, 1990 - 253 pages
In
this theological exposition of Deuteronomy, Patrick Miller is sensitive
to the character of the book as a part of scripture that
self-consciously addresses different generations. He discusses the
nature and character of the law as revealed in Deuteronomy, as well as
the nature of the moral life under God. The treatment of Deuteronomy in
the New Testament, and customary introductory issues such as authorship
and date, are dealt with in terms of their significance for interpreting
and understanding Deuteronomy's character and intention.
Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a
distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church.
Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this
critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major contribution to
scholarship and ministry.
Isaiah 40-66
Paul D. Hanson
The latter half of the sixth century B.C.E. found the Jewish community
fragmented and under great strife after having been conquered by the
Babylonian armies. As a response to a growing despair over life in
servitude and exile, Isaiah 40 - 66 was written. Paul Hanson examines
the writings of Second Isaiah. What he discovers is a poetic argument
for a loving and attentive God and the rightful place of God's creatures
in the unfolding of history. This commentary provides a wealth of insight into the world and worldview of Second Isaiah.
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Song of Songs
Paul J. Griffiths
Brazos Press, 2011-06-01 - 320 pages
In
this addition to the well-received Brazos Theological Commentary on the
Bible, Paul Griffiths offers theological exegesis of the Song of Songs.
This commentary, like each in the series, is designed to serve the
church--providing a rich resource for preachers, teachers, students, and
study groups--and demonstrate the continuing intellectual and practical
viability of theological interpretation of the Bible.Praise for the
Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible""The Brazos Theological
Commentary offers just the right level of light to make illuminating the
Word the joy it was meant to be.""--Calvin Miller, author of A Hunger
for the Holy and Loving God Up Close
Ecclesiastes
William P. Brown
Westminster John Knox Press, 2011-08-16 - 143 pages
Interpretation:
A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource
for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written
specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this critically acclaimed
biblical commentary is a major contribution to scholarship and
ministry.
Judges
Roger Ryan
Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2007-10-30 - 221 pages
In
this new contribution to the Readings series of commentaries, Roger
Ryan offers a challenge to the fashionable disdain for the heroes of the
Book of Judges. As against the current consensus majoring on the
supposed flaws in the characters of the judges, and denigrating them as
participants in Israel's moral and religious decline, he paints a
positive portrait of each of the book's judge-deliverers. The key
element in all the stories of the judges is that each of them wins
independence for oppressed Israelites against great odds-an element that
should predispose readers to a favourable evaluation of the heroes.
Ehud slaughters an enemy king when the only weapon he has is a homemade
dagger. Barak resolutely charges downhill against enemy chariots
reinforced with iron. Jael slaughters an enemy commander by improvising
with a hammer and a tent peg. Gideon defeats hordes of nomadic invaders
with a small token army. The lone hero Samson slaughters the Philistine
foe in great numbers. The Book of Judges presents in this reading a dark
story-world in which its characters take heroic risks as they resolve
conflicts by violent means. Their stories are jubilantly told and
readers are expected to be neither squeamish nor censorious.From Sermon To Commentary: Expounding The Bible In Talmudic Babylonia
The
Bible has always been vital to Jewish religious life, and it has been
expounded in diverse ways. Perhaps the most influential body of Jewish
biblical interpretation is the Midrash that was produced by expositors
during the first five centuries CE. Many such teachings are collected in
the Babylonian Talmud, the monumental compendium of Jewish law and lore
that was accepted as the definitive statement of Jewish oral tradition
for subsequent generations.However, many of the Talmud's interpretations
of biblical passages appear bizarre or pointless. From Sermon to
Commentary: Expounding the Bible in Talmudic Babyloniatries to explain
this phenomenon by carefully examining representative passages from a
variety of methodological approaches, paying particular attention to
comparisons with Midrash composed in the Land of Israel.Based on this
investigation, Eliezer Segal argues that the Babylonian sages were
utilizing discourses that had originated in Israel as rhetorical sermons
in which biblical interpretation was being employed in an imaginative,
literary manner, usually based on the interplay between two or more
texts from different books of the Bible. Because they did not possess
their own tradition of homiletic preaching, the Babylonian rabbis
interpreted these comments without regard for their rhetorical
conventions, as if they were exegetical commentaries, resulting in the
distinctive, puzzling character of Babylonian Midrash.Genesis
Walter Brueggemann
Westminster John Knox Press, 1982 - 384 pages
In
his clear and readable style Walter Brueggemann presents Genesis as a
single book set within the context of the whole of biblical revelation.
He sees his task as bringing the text close to the faith and ministry of
the church. He interprets Genesis as a proclamation of God's decisive
dealing with creation rather than as history of myth. Brueggemann's
impressive perspective illuminates the study of the first book of the
Bible.
Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major contribution to scholarship and ministry.
Get it
Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major contribution to scholarship and ministry.
Get it
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