Old Testament

Review: How Did They Read the Prophets?

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Cover image of "How Did They Read the Prophets? by Michael B. Shepherd

How Did They Read the Prophets?

How Did They Read the Prophets?, Michael B. Shepherd. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802885418) 2025.

Summary: A study of Hebrew and Greek interpretations of the canonical prophets including Christian readings.

The author of this book observes in his introduction that the Bible has always been an interpreted book. Later texts interpret earlier ones. For example, 1 and 2 Chronicles interpret earlier histories of the kings of Israel and Judah. Michael B. Shepherd observes that this interpretive work continued in the scribal work on Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old Testament, in subsequent commentaries, including those discovered at Qumran, and by the new Testament writers.

In this book, Shepherd focuses on the prophets of the canonical Old Testament. He adopts the assumption and methods of James Kugel in his study of the books of Moses. Kugel contends ancient readers adhered to four assumptions: 1) the Bible is fundamentally cryptic; 2) the bible is one grat book of instruction and this a relevant text; 3) Scripture is perfect and perfectly harmonious; and 4) Scripture is of divine origin and inspiration. He looks at the ancient extant texts, including the Old Greek, the Masoretic (Hebrew) text, and the Septuagint. Shepherd also considers other early extant texts and targums as well as New Testament readings of relevant texts.

Shepherd applies this method to the prophets, offering chapters on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve. Rather than offer a traditional commentary, Shepherd focuses on texts cited in the New Testament. He traces the various renderings of texts in different sources as well as how New Testament writers appropriated the text. Shepherd shows how these interpretations “prepared the way” for New Testament readings.

Shepherd’s concluding chapter, “Prophets as Exegetes” opens with some fascinating conclusions about the intersection pf prophets, scribes, and exegesis:

“The older conception of a scribe as a mere copyist has given way to a newer, more accurate view of scribes as exegetes and composers. The older view of prophets as preachers of oral messages has been complemented by an awareness that the concept of a prophet developed in such a way that the scribe became the new prophet. The result has been a greater appreciation for the role of scribal prophets in the interpretation and production of biblical texts. The prophet is essentially redefined within biblical literature itself as someone who exegetes biblical texts and then produces biblical texts on the basis of that exegesis” (p. 114).

Shepherd then unpacks the implications for the formation of the prophetic canon alongside the Five Books of Moses as well as for the “New Testament Prophets.”

For pastors, the chapters on the prophets are most helpful when one is studying a particular biblical text. I suspect access to Bible software that includes the various sources he references is helpful, but not necessary. For me, the concluding chapter was worth the price of admission as a discussion of canonical formation.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Old Testament Wisdom & Poetry

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Cover image of "Old Testament Wisdom & Poetry" by Norah Whipple Caudill

Old Testament Wisdom & Poetry (Scripture Connections), Norah Whipple Caudill. B & H Academic (ISBN: 9781087746449) 2025

Summary: Introduces the six books: outlines, author, date, message, biblical connections and application.

B & H Academic has launched a new series of introductory texts for the Bible that serve well as either a main or supplemental text in college courses but also are accessible enough for an adult education course. This volume covers six wisdom and poetry books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations.

First, the author sets the books in the context of the whole Old Testament in both Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Then she discusses some basics of Hebrew poetry, focusing on parallelism and the use of acrostics and a discussion of what is meant by “Wisdom” literature. One striking observation is of the “terse” lines in much of this poetry.

Caudill follows this rubric for each of the six books:

  • Outline
  • Author, Date, and Message. Include key background information.
  • Interpretive overview. By sections or genres, how interpreters have approached the book and key passages.
  • Biblical connections. This focuses on how these books either allude to or are alluded to in other parts of the Bible. For example, parallels between Job and the suffering servant in Isaiah are considered.
  • Gospel connections. Quotes or illusions in the New testament are noted. For instance, Caudill includes a chart listing all the Psalms used in the New Testament.
  • Ancient connections. These appear as occasional sidebars, offering examples of similar literature in other ancient Near East cultures. For example, Caudill sets Egyptian Harper songs alongside passages on life and death in Ecclesiastes. These parallels underscore not only similarities but distinctives.
  • Life connections. Here, the focus is on how each book is relevant for life and faith today. Lamentations models expressing grief and anger in honest prayer as well as coming along others in their suffering.
  • Interactive questions help review chapter content as well as interaction with that content with others.
  • Where to find more. Offers resources for further reading and research.

Here are a few of the interesting things I noted. Caudill proposes an exilic or post exilic date for Job, even though the setting is in the time of the patriarchs. She notes terms and grammatical features present in late biblical Hebrew to support this. As do many, she takes a genre approach to Psalms. She also calls attention to the numerous acrostic psalms.. Caudill highlights how the idea of lessons from a father to a son in Proverbs concerning wisdom is a feature in literature from several cultures. She also calls attention to the various types of sayings in Proverbs.

She argues against Solomonic authorship for both Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. One of the sidebars for Ecclesiastes considers all the questions Qohelet asks — some of the most profound questions philosophers ask. For Song of Songs, Caudill lays out different interpretive approaches to the song. She also includes a sketch of a goddess statue which explains Song 4:4. Finally, she highlights the interesting acrostic structure used in Lamentations.

The text is highly accessible for lay audiences but reflects contemporary scholarship. Hebrew is transliterated, except in instances where the writer is calling attention to acrostic patterns. The interactive questions help with both mastery and application of content. The biblical and gospel connections raise student awareness of the intertextual character of scripture. The concise format and reasonable price are also plusses. In sum, this is a marvelous introduction to these six books that will help every student of scripture better understand what they are reading.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Wisdom from the Witch of Endor

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Wisdom from the Witch of Endor, Tikva Frymer-Kensky. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2024.

Summary: A modern midrash on the witch of Endor and four lessons or rules we may draw from her story.

Tikva Frymer-Kensky was a biblical scholar from the University of Chicago Divinity School who passed away in 2006. She authored Reading the Women of the Bible and represented a school of scholars who platformed the voices of minor and marginalized figures in scripture. Often these stories are more significant than many, mostly male, dominant culture interpreters have credited (and there were reasons for their inclusion).

This book, drawn from the author’s papers offers us a close reading of the story of the witch of Endor, commending her as an exemplar of four qualities that we do well to follow to live effectively. In the Preface, this is described as a modern midrash on the biblical text.

The first part of this brief book re-tells the biblical story, and explains her work with the ‘ob, an instrument of unknown character used to communicate with the spirits of the dead. The author helpfully differentiates this practice, known as necromancy, from other forms of witchcraft involving incantations, potions, and spells. Nevertheless, she downplays the uniform prohibition of this practice in scripture, emphasizing Saul’s prohibition.

The second part of the book emphasizes “life lessons” we might draw from her. First she knew her power, even though forbidden, and did not give up but exercised determined commitment and self-knowledge. Second, she strove to excel, exercising proficiency in the use of the ‘ob. Third, she chooses the moment, after securing Saul’s promise that no harm will come to her. In her wisdom, she is cautious. Finally, she “won well.” She uncovers the king in his desperate hypocrisy and is an instrument by which the spirit of Samuel foretells Saul’s death. Instead of crowing or taunting, she persuades him to eat and is benevolent.

While in themselves, there may be nothing wrong with these rules or lessons (although, as I will contend, not all powers are good or pleasing to God), this platforming of the witch distorts the story and wrongly valorizes her. Here are my reasons:

  1. The uniform prohibition of necromancy. God speaks through the law, through Urim and Thummim, and through his sent prophets. Turning to necromancy is turning away from God’s ways of disclosing God’s self, and seeking knowledge God, in God’s wisdom, chooses not to disclose.
  2. The story of Saul offers a case study in disobeying God’s disclosures and, when God refuses to speak, he turns to means he himself has forbidden.
  3. The four lessons, good perhaps, are examples of moralizing. They may well be modern midrash but do not represent good biblical interpretation.
  4. Finally, good interpretation centers not on self-help principles but on the character and work of God.

This book reminds me of Bruce Wilkinson’s Prayer of Jabez, which was also questionable hermeneutically, but wildly popular. I suspect the title, the cover design, and the format (similar to The Prayer of Jabez) will be a draw for some. But I cannot commend the book.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness

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The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness, Edited by Andrew T. Abernethy, William R. Osborne, and Paul D. Wegner. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023.

Summary: An exploration of how Christians should read Old Testament prophets in light of the work of Christ and of how the apostolic witnesses read them.

In my Jesus movement days, we read prophecy in one hand and the newspaper in the other, looking for how prophets were speaking to our day. In seminary, I learned hermeneutic principles and historico-critical methods that sought to understand the prophets in their own historic context and in terms of what the prophets would have meant for their intended readers to understand.

But in reading the gospels, I became aware of another way of reading the prophets. Both Jesus himself, and the apostles whose witness constitute the New Testament, saw the prophets fulfilled in Christ. There is the sense that the prophets spoke of more than they knew, that there was a fuller sense (sensus plenior) to their testimony that the apostles understood in the light of Christ. The question is, is it legitimate for us to read the prophets this way, and if so, what safeguards protect us from idiosyncratic interpretations that depart not only from the Old Testament text but legitimate readings in light of the apostolic witness? It is with this question that this book deals.

The approach the authors take is to focus on the major prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. For each prophet, there are five chapters focused on these topics, each from a different contributor:

  • How the Apostles Read the Major Prophets as Christian Scripture
  • Limits on Reading the Major Prophets as Christian Scripture
  • Reading the Major Prophets in the Footsteps of the Apostles
  • The History of Interpretation of the Major Prophets as Christian Scripture
  • Preaching the Major Prophets as Christian Scripture

Because all these prophets are long books, the contributors focus in on one key text, cited in the New Testament, addressing it in terms of their topic. The passages are the Servant Song of Isaiah 42:1-4, the New Covenant passage in Jeremiah 31: 31-34, and the valley of dry bones passage in Ezekiel 37:1-14.

The authors differ in approach. A number favor following the apostles in reading the prophets in a fuller sense in light of the work of Christ. Some are more cautious, willing to endorse the apostles readings but careful about going further. A basic principle they follow is that while a passage may mean more than the prophet intended, it can never mean less–the prophet’s intent is always the starting point. All, in varying degrees, support interpreting passages Christologically.

One of the most valuable aspects of the book are the chapters on the history of interpretation. Understanding this history and why certain approaches were later rejected is instructive to our own interpretive readings and the differences among us. One of the editors, William R. Osborne, observes, “In fact, if we believe the Word of God has been given to the people of God, communal reading and interpretation is foundational to the humble pursuit of truth” (p. 313). The strength of this work is not only the communal reading among the fifteen contributors but also their inclusion of the history of interpretation of these texts, include in the bibliographic references provided.

I also appreciate that the authors differentiate from a reader-oriented approach that asks “what does this prophet mean for our community?” by taking a redemptive-canonical approach that asks that asks “what does this prophet mean in light of our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus?” (cf. p. 317). The fuller reading of the prophets doesn’t mean anything goes (as could be the case in my Jesus movement days) but a fuller reading guided by the New Testament itself.

This is a valuable reference for those who would teach or preach these prophets (there is even advice on this) as well as those concerned with the apostolic and historic interpretation of these texts. The scholars contributing to this volume are experts in the material on which they write (John N. Oswalt in Isaiah, for example). Since these three major prophets are so often quoted or alluded to throughout the New Testament, working through the issues of interpretation in this book will enhance our reading of the New Testament. Place this alongside your best commentaries on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Old Testament Law for the Life of the Church

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The Old Testament Law for the Life of the Church, Richard E. Averbeck. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2022.

Summary: A study of for what God intended the law in its original context, how it was fulfilled in Christ, and its continuing relevance for the church today.

Let’s face it. For many in the church, the Old Testament is more or less unknown territory, especially the parts of the Old Testament concerned with the law.

Richard Averbeck has spent much of his life studying the Old Testament as well as other ancient Near East writings and he is persuaded of the continuing relevance of the law to the church, understood through the ministry of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. He contends that this was the scripture Paul asserted to Timothy as being “God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” But how is this so for the church today?

Averbeck asserts three theses that he develops throughout the book:

  1. The law is good. It instructed Israel how to live holy lives under God’s covenant love and it may also instruct us in holiness, particularly how to live under the law of Christ, loving God and neighbor.
  2. The law is weak. It does not have the power to transform the heart; only the Holy Spirit can transform our sinful nature and write the law on our hearts.
  3. The law is one unified whole. Averbeck sees no biblical basis for dividing the law into categories of moral, civil, and ceremonial, and while every law is not simply brought over into the life of the church, there are ways under Christ in which the whole law continues to be relevant to the church’s life.

To develop these theses Averbeck begins with an extensive treatment of the context of Old Testament law. First of all, he charts the covenants, of Abraham, of Moses, and David, each under those that precede, and then their fulfillment in the New Covenant. He follows this with looking at the Mosaic law in context, delineating the law collections, discussing the place of the Sinai narrative and the Decalogue, the book of the covenant and the other parallel collections of law, offering a comparative study of debt slavery as a case study, showing transformations even between collections. He shows how holiness, ceremonial, and civil law together shape Israel as a kingdom of priests oriented around the presence of God in their midst. He discusses in detail the significance of the various offerings and sacrifices and how they sustained the holiness and purity of the people.

He turns to how Jesus fulfills the law in life and teaching, as demonstrated in the antitheses in the Sermon on the Mount. and in his treatment of questions of purity and sabbath. At the same time, he focuses attention on the law of love for God and neighbor in which the whole law is fulfilled. Then he considers the New Testament church and how this was handled, particularly in the incorporation of Gentiles in which Jewish believers continued to observe the law while Gentiles followed the council of Jerusalem, the moral instruction, and the transforming life of worship pointed to in the Old Testament law, made possible by the Spirit of truth. Averbeck then returns in two chapters to show how the law is good, how it is weak but empowered by the Holy Spirit, and remains a unified whole.

He also includes on Jewish Messianic believers and the Torah, offering one of the best defenses I’ve seen for such groups remaining observant Jews while staying gospel focused, citing the practice of the early church.

I appreciated the careful explanation of the contents of the law collections and the importance of these as well as showing how the law continued to be relevant in Christ. The discussion of the law’s weakness and the ministry of the Holy Spirit is much needed. He also shows the arc between offerings and sacrifices, and our calling as a “kingdom of priests” who are “living sacrifices.” Perhaps more needs to be said about the civil aspects of the law and the parallel being, not the secular state, but the church and how it governs itself. What may be gleaned from the law on how the church is ordered and governed under Christ? And to what degree ought the law shape our pursuit of just, though not theocratic, societies?

That said, this is one of the best studies I have seen of Old Testament law and its continuing relevance. His argument that all of the law continues to be relevant, albeit in altered form because of Christ, is a different approach worth considering that avoids explaining how we have dispensed with some aspects and not others. And his love for the Old Testament may encourage readers to explore what in fact were the scriptures for the early New Testament church.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: From Judgement to Hope

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From Judgment to Hope, Walter Brueggemann. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2019.

Summary: A survey study of the prophets centering on the movement in these books from judgment to hope.

Walter Brueggemann is one of the foremost scholars on the prophetic literature in the Bible. This book represents a distillation of his scholarship, suited for an adult education course in a church or other group. He focuses on a common thread running through the books, a movement from judgment to hope similar to the New Testament movement from cross to resurrection to return in glory. He helps us understand the prophets in their historical context, their canonical context, and our contemporary context.

He begins with a chapter on the three major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel offering this summary:

  • Isaiah: Jerusalem lost and renewed
  • Jeremiah: covenant broken and restored
  • Ezekial: temple nullified and revivified

Brueggemann, like many scholars, adheres to a “three Isaiah” approach to Isaiah and devotes a chapter to First Isaiah and one to Second and Third Isaiah. First Isaiah traces the announcements of God’s justice due to the people’s injustices, the temporary salvation and eventual fall of Jerusalem, culminating in that fall and hope for restoration. Second Isaiah begins with the highway for our God and culminates with Israel the Servant. The discussion of Third Isaiah centers on the house of prayer for all peoples, God’s chosen fast, and the Spirit of the Lord speaking through the prophet of the new Jerusalem.

Then Brueggemann reviews the “Minor Prophets” in four groups of three, with correspondence to the major prophets:

  • The eight century BCE prophets (Isaiah)
    • Amos: justice and righteousness
    • Hosea: steadfast love and knowledge of God
    • Micah: justice and kindness
  • The seventh century BCE prophets (Jeremiah) — focusing on punishment, both covenantal and cosmic dimensions
    • Nahum
    • Habakkuk
    • Zephaniah
  • The sixth century BCE prophets (Ezekiel) — focusing on restoration, both covenantal and cosmic dimensions
    • Haggai
    • Zechariah
    • Malachi
  • The outliers
    • Jonah
    • Obadiah
    • Joel

Brueggemann only focuses individual chapters on the eight and sixth century BCE prophets. Patricia K. Tull supplements Brueggemann’s work with an introductory overview and a book by book summary in rough chronological order. In the after matter, you will also find a timeline placing the books along key events, familiar quotations from Isaiah and a brief glossary.

This work does offer an introduction to the major contours of the prophetic books, but aside from reflection questions that seem better suited to individual reading, does not seem well-organized for an adult course. It is a good review, though it seems quite cursory especially in its treatment of the seventh century minor prophets and the “outliers.” Frankly, this was a bit disappointing for a Brueggemann work, and unless you are collecting everything he has written, I would pass this one by.

Review: Enjoying the Old Testament

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Enjoying the Old Testament, Eric A. Seibert. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2021.

Summary: Seibert deals with the confusing, troubling, or uninteresting experience of many, suggesting the value of reading the Old Testament, and reading strategies for engagement with the text bring life and interest to the Old Testament scriptures.

Have you ever tried reading through the Old Testament and gotten lost in Leviticus or numbed by Numbers and given up the whole project? Sure, at times you read selected texts, maybe from Psalms and Proverbs, or some narratives like Ruth or Jonah (a kids favorite but with important relevance to the rest of us!). Mostly, you confine yourself to the New Testament, which you consider the most relevant portion of the Bible for Christians. But sadly, when we lose the Old Testament, we lose three-quarters of the Bible.

Until a course with an inspiring professor who helped him enjoy reading the Old Testament, Eric Seibert was in much the same place. And that is the object of this book, to pass along ways of reading the Old Testament that are enjoyable, as well as good for us. Most of what he proposes don’t involve more than a Bible, a comfortable chair, paper and pencil.

He begins by laying the groundwork for reading the Old Testament. He acknowledges that there are parts that are boring, or baffling, or even theologically troubling, and then, given that, why we should bother. He actually discounts the standard answer of needing to read the Old Testament to understand the New. He explores the relevance of the Old Testament on its own terms: fascinating stories, models of gutsy faith, resources for worship and prayer, a revelation of a God of lavish love, and God’s concern for justice. He deals with expectations, both unrealistic ones such as the Old Testament all being readily understandable and more realistic ones like a variety of genres, theological perspectives, a worldview different than our own, passages written for many reasons, and the presence of violence and other troubling texts. He invites us to adopt a mindset of carefully observing, of expectancy, of humility and respect, and honest engagement.

He then turns to our enjoyment of Old Testament texts. He starts by inviting us to read favorite stories all the way through, offering tips to understand their significance. He particularly calls attention to repetition, using the tabernacle instructions as an example. He invites us to be curious and ask lots of questions of the text. He sets aside a chapter to focus on reading the prophets, understanding their roles as God’s messengers, and their use of various persuasive techniques. He draws the distinction between judgement and salvation oracles.

He discusses approaches to the boring parts using Leviticus 1-7 as a case study. He encourages slowing down and looking at laws to see if there is a principle that may apply (e.g. the negligent owner of the ox known to gore). Then he returns to the matter of troubling texts, which he encourages us to be honest about and to hang in with them and bring them into conversation with other texts on the same topic that are not troublesome, observing that skeptics only focus on the former. Seibert also recognizes that one might need to take a break from troubling texts in difficult seasons of life.

The final section of the book focuses on a number of different activities that can help one read through books or even the whole Old Testament. He encourages drawing maps, creating simple charts that outline a book or portion, memorizing passages, listening audibly, or reading from a different perspective–for example as a Canaanite the passages about the Israelite invasion. He commends topical, artistic, and reflective approaches. He discusses surveying a book and breaking it into major thought blocks. As he concludes, he invites us to be balanced, use variety and flexibility, to preserve what we learn, and to join with others.

What is delightful about this book is that the author resists the temptation to write an Old Testament introduction but rather gives the reader tools to make his or her own discoveries. Without minimizing the challenges of the Old Testament, Seibert offers lots of hope that we can read through the Old Testament, read whole books of the Old Testament and find substantial enjoyment and spiritual benefit. On the troubling passages, he doesn’t offer easy answers or answers at all, but rather approaches that imply we may live with troubling passages in some cases but this does not need to distract us from other other more enjoyable texts. This is a great resource for an adult class in a church or a college class in a Christian college context.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: The Problem of the Old Testament

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The Problem of the Old Testament: Hermeneutical, Schematic & Theological Approaches, Duane A. Garrett. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2020.

Summary: An exploration of how and whether Christians ought read the Old Testament, contending that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and that its material still has authority and edifying value for the Christian.

We Christians have a problem with the Old Testament. We struggle to define what it is. We find it hard to read. And we struggle to reconcile it with the New Testament. How do we understand “Messianic prophecy”? How do we understand the Law in relation to Christ? What is the relationship between Israel and the church? In this work, Duane A. Garrett attempts to chart a way through this thicket of problems, proposing that the Old Testament remains authoritative for the church and edifying for the believer.

Garrett begins by surveying how the post-apostolic Fathers approached this question. While much remained unresolved, they identified the Old Testament as canonical, identified a core of texts that were fulfilled in Christ while seeing some passages as allegories of Christ, saw it as a source of moral instruction and a theological authority in their polemic efforts. He then explores two hermeneutical approaches that began early and have had continued influence at various points in church history: the allegorical approach of Alexandria and the literal approach of Antioch. The allegorical approach was uncontrolled; the literal could be argued to say nothing beyond the immediate context of the text (e.g Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled in Isaiah’s own day and that is it).

He then turns to the schematic approaches used to connect the two testaments. He considers Covenant Theology, noting the difficulty of finding the language of the covenant of works and the covenant of grace in scripture. In opposition is Dispensationalism, often problematic as historic events unravel prophetic schema and because it excludes large parts of the Old Testament from the effective canon, even while it remains in the formal canon. He follows this discussion with one of conceptual solutions considering the meaning of the canon, the meaning and focus of biblical theology, and models for organizing Old Testament theology. He concludes that no single approach is adequate and believes only a hybrid model is sufficient.

The third part of the book is Garrett’s articulation of his own approach. He contends for an approach that is neither supercessionist nor dispensationalist with regard to Israel, rooted in the promise to Abraham that includes the blessing of the nations through Israel fulfilled in Christ for Israel but also including the Gentiles. He also considers the Old Testament under the two headings of Election Literature and Wisdom Literature. He focuses the remainder of this volume to Election Literature (alluding to future volumes where I assume he will discuss Wisdom Literature).

He starts with the successive covenants of the Old Testament and the developing understanding of how Israel is chosen to bring blessing and redemption to the world, chosen in Abraham, given the pedagogue of the Sinai covenant to teach, and the Davidic Covenant of an everlasting future Davidic king. These all point to a fulfillment beyond the Old Testament horizon, found in the New Covenant in Christ. Garrett turns to the Law and traditional understandings, particularly of the divisions of civil, ceremonial, and moral law–a division made nowhere in the Law itself. Garrett sees the law as part of a covenant document at the same time demonstrating a need for a new covenant, fully realized in Christ. It is both an ideal of righteousness and basis of judgement. Finally, for the believer, the law is a teacher that in Christ leads those who meditate upon it into the righteousness which is theirs in Christ.

Garrett discusses narrative, and particularly allusive patterns in narrative, where later material alludes to earlier material. He notes that we ought read such material backward, to prior texts and not forward to future ones. Finally, Garrett discusses prophecy, looking at Hosea and Joel as case studies. Considering Hosea 11:1 (“Out of Egypt I called my son.”) Garrett argues that Hosea is using representative recapitulation and that while this is not a prediction of Jesus time in Egypt, Matthew uses the same method of representative recapitulation in his account of Jesus. Hosea doesn’t predict Jesus, but Jesus fulfills Hosea, or is the culmination of this allusive material. Garrett, in an appendix, applies a similar approach to Isaiah 7:14.

I think many of us have reached similar conclusions, if we are dissatisfied with the traditional schema. What Garrett does is help us think more deliberately about the “problem” of reading the Old Testament, the different kinds of material we find there, and how we read the narrative arc where so much allusive material occurs. He brings discipline to intuition as well as an approach that avoids supercessionism or artificial constructions not grounded in scripture. Most of all, he grounds a vision of the fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ in a way faithful to good interpretive practice rather than forced or undisciplined approaches. I look forward to seeing how Garrett continues to develop this approach.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: Bloody, Brutal, and Barbaric?

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bloody, brutal and barbaric

Bloody, Brutal, and Barbaric?, William J. Webb and Gordon K. Oeste. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2019.

Summary: Using an incremental, redemptive ethic approach, and careful textual study, the authors argue for assessing the Old Testament warfare and war rape narratives against the Ancient Near East cultural context, the constraints on warfare for Israel, and evidence in the arc of biblical narrative that God both grieves warfare and redemptively works for the end of it.

Since 9/11, there has been an increasing focus on religiously-motivated violence including renewed attention not only to the sometimes violent history of the church, but also to the violence in the Old Testament, commanded or allowed by God. The authors of this work recognize the very real difficulties in these texts, particularly in light of our Geneva Convention ethics.

They begin by arguing that the argument of divine commands rooted in divine holiness and the evil of the Canaanites is a round peg into the square hole of modern ethics. The authors advocate instead that war be understood in terms of the biblical storyline in the Ancient Near East (ANE) context. Key is understanding God’s intention to restore the sacred space where God relates with his people lost in Eden, foreshadowed in Israel, decisively inaugurated through the death and resurrection of Jesus, looking forward to the peaceable kingdom of the new heaven and new earth, where evil is vanquished not by violence but by the word of the lamb.

The authors also develop the idea and show evidence that much of the “total kill” rhetoric of scripture reflects hyperbole, and that actually, death was most focused on military, and the kings who led them, where the general population may have been driven out of their homes. Often passages talk about “total” victories, only for subsequent passages to report continuing Canaanite presence.

Additionally, they contend that God accommodates the existing ethical practices of Israel. Perhaps the most significant argument for this “weeping God” portrayal is that unlike other victorious kings who often built temples, God banned David the warrior king from doing so, deferring the temple construction to Solomon (“shalom), the peaceful son.

It’s also striking that by ANE standards, Israel’s warfare practices are constrained. One chapter describes graphically an extensive list of atrocities common among the nations that were prohibited, as was battlefield rape. While warriors were permitted to take virgins who were attractives, they could not rape them on the battlefield. They were to be allowed 30 days to grieve during which they shaved their hair, and exchanged their clothing before the men could take them as wives (not slaves), who, if not pleasing, were not to be kept but released. None of this would be wholly acceptable by modern ethics (though often actual warfare still is accompanied by these atrocities) but these represented incremental improvements on a redemptive trajectory.

Ultimately, in Christ, God’s kingdom comes, not by the exercise of violence, but by the incarnate Son taking violence upon himself, standing with the victims of violence through history. In the end, the Lion who is the Lamb who was slain comes to set things right, not through indiscriminate slaughter, no ethnic genocide, no real battle but conquest by the Lamb’s word.

The writers admit the warfare accounts in scripture will always be troubling. We should be troubled. What the authors propose is a God who was troubled with a fallen world, who rather than remaining aloof, accommodated to the human conditions of war, but also instituted a redemptive process that will ultimately end all war atrocities and injustices in his peaceable kingdom.

I suspect we want a God who would wave a magic wand and make it all go away, pacifying warriors into peace-loving automatons. That’s not what’s on offer here, but rather a God who mixes it up with our sorry mess, and works slowly through history and sacrificially through his Son to set things to rights.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: Inexpressible

/ rtrube54 / 4 Comments

Inexpressible

Inexpressible, Michael Card. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2018.

Summary: A study of the Hebrew word hesed, exploring what this says about God, about the objects of hesed, the incarnation of hesed in Jesus, and how then we should live.

“When the person from which I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.”

After studying all the uses of the Hebrew word hesed, this is how Michael Card ended up defining this word. This whole book is about one amazing word. Translators have groped for words to express in one or a few words the inexpressible wonder of this word, particularly because it most often is used to describe God in his action toward humanity. At the beginning of Card’s book, Card lists over a hundred words or phrases the translators have come up with for this word. The King James Version came up with a compound word, loving-kindness, to try to capture its essence.

Card takes us through his own extensive study of every use of the word in the Hebrew Bible. He takes us through passages that have to do with the God of hesed, explores what it is like to be an object of hesed, considers how Jesus incarnates and teaches hesed, and what hesed meant for the Jews after the destruction of the second temple, and what this says for us. Appendices give us a list of every text with the word hesed, the words used in different translations, the words associated with hesed, and ideas for further study.

Card tells memorable stories to illustrate hesed such as that of Keshia Thomas, a black demonstrator at a Klan rally who saw a Klansman who had wandered mistakenly into her group of protesters, and was being attacked until she shielded him with her own body, possibly saving his life. Card speaks of his first visit to a black church, and a black woman, Dinah, who held his hand, and extended welcome. He develops the argument of Moses with God that he is slow to anger and abounding with hesed, a refrain recurring throughout scripture. God may deal with Israel’s sin, but he never gives up on her.

One of his most striking reflections is on Jesus with the Roman centurion, who is described as deserving by the people, but describes himself as undeserving and yet, out of love for his servant, and faith, the like Jesus had not seen in Israel, asks for what he does not deserve. He found the hesed he believed in. Eventually, at the cross, Jesus would give to all humanity what we did not deserve, making peace between God and us.

His concluding reflections challenge us to live in this world. He begins with how the followers of Hillel in Judaism dealt with the fall of the temple, drawing on the statement of Hosea 6:6 which says, “For I desire hesed and not sacrifice.” The doing and living of hesed, along with the idea of tikkun olam (“repairing the world”) have become central to modern Judaism. Card invites us to live into that same reality:

“The final challenge to you and me is to take whatever understanding we have in our heads of hesed and allow the Spirit to move it into our hearts. We must enter into the world of the word hesed and then take that world into our world, back to our families, to our churches and towns–to our enemies. The Scriptures are offering us an unimaginable opportunity to make Jesus believable and beautiful by offering everything (even our lives) to those who have a right to expect nothing from us.” (p. 135)

To read this book was to allow God to thaw my heart, reminding me of the everything I have so undeservingly received. To read this book was to clear the fog from my eyes, to give me at least a glimpse of the inexpressible beauty of the God of hesed. Finally, to read this book was to stir my will, my hands, my feet, to think about the places where I might repair the world through the loving-kindness of hesed. 

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.