Book Reviews

Matthias Henze and David Lincicum, eds. Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings

Henze, Matthias and David Lincicum, eds. Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings: The Use of the Old Testament in the New. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2023. xxvi+1140 pp. Hb; $79.00.  Link to Eerdmans

Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings collects forty-two essays on topics related to how early Christian writers used the Jewish scripture they inherited. As Henze and Lincicum explain in their introduction, the Scriptures of Israel “forms the cultural encyclopedia necessary to understand what Jesus and his earliest followers did and thought” (1). Not only did the writers of the New Testament interact extensively with Israel Scriptures, they “inherited strategies of scriptural interpretation from their Jewish predecessors” (1). This volume, therefore, expresses the state of the question and presses the field forward into new avenues of scholarship. In doing so, they stand on the shoulders of Krister Stendahl (School of Matthew, 1968) and Richard Hays (Echoes of Scripture in Paul, 1989). However, even though the authors of the New Testament are either “Jews or Judaphiles,” not all New Testament scriptural interpretations are easily illustrated in Jewish literature, nor can all types of scriptural interpretation in contemporary Judaism be illustrated in the New Testament.Israel's Scriptures in Early Christian Writings

In the introduction, the editors clarify the terminology used in the volume. A “marked citation” is an explicit quotation with an introductory formula (1 Cor 15:27, for example). An “unmarked citation” has a verbatim agreement with scripture but does not have an introductory formula (1 Cor 5:13, for example). A “verbal allusion” refers to a word or string of words from an earlier text without an explicit marker. In John 1:1, the author alludes to Genesis 1:1, even though there is an explicit indication that the author has that text in mind. What is missing here is any criteria for “hearing an echo,” ala Richard Hays. A “conceptual allusion” is a theme or a topic that refers to a scriptural precedent without an allusion to specific verses. In Romans 9:4-5, Paul obviously alludes to Israel’s Scripture but does not refer to specific verses. As with all studies on “the use of the Old Testament in the New,” the boundaries of these categories are fuzzy. Since this is an essay collection, each author approaches their section with their own understanding of the terms. However, this does not lead to inconsistencies in the book.

The first part of the collection collects seven essays setting the context. First, Edmon L. Gallagher defines what “Scriptures” were in the time of Jesus. He begins by observing that in his scribal debates with various teachers, “at no point does the conversation turn toward the identity of the scriptures of Israel” (23). Jesus never quoted a scripture the Pharisees would consider not scripture. All Jews accepted Torah as Scripture. Virtually all accepted the Prophets and most accepted what were later called the Writings. However, for some (Barclay, Sundberg), Torah was Scripture, and “prophets” referred to all other writings that were “not Torah.” Josephus is the first clear statement of “what counts” as Jewish Scripture (Against Apion, 1.37-43). Gallagher concludes that most Jews had a good idea what books were scripture and that most agreed with Josephus (42). There was room for doubt on a few canonical books (Esther or Ecclesiastes) and a few outside the traditional canon (Tobit, Sirach, or Wisdom). And most agreed that some books were clearly “not scripture.”

Second, Marc Zvi Brettler deals with how Jewish writers used Scripture in the Hebrew Bible. He collects examples of each kind of citation and Moses-typology in the Hebrew Bible. This kind of typology does not neatly fit into the usual categories outlined in the introduction. Third, Martin Karrer defines Israel’s Greek Scriptures as it is known in the Septuagint. The term Septuagint refers to Israel’s Greek Scripture received by early Christians, even though the borders of that collection were not fixed. Rabbinic Judaism focused on Hebrew Scriptures. Greek-speaking followers of Jesus “preferred the greater radius of the Greek Scripture.

Fourth. Grant Macaskill examines Israel’s Scriptures in the wider scope of Early Jewish Literature. He begins by observing that the largest proportion of what we call early Jewish literature was preserved in Christian circles (111; before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, this literature was almost entirely preserved by Christians). This leads to a potential problem, Christian interpolations. Did non-biblical early Jewish writing influence New Testament writers? The obvious example is the book of Jude, which directly cites one Enoch. But there are other examples, such as Matthew 25: 31-46 and the parables of Enoch. Many scholars point out parallels between the Wisdom of Solomon in the book of Romans. For Macaskill, Early Jewish Literature bears witness to “a Judaism marked by a complex attitude to the Hellenistic world (he prefers “ambient cultural influence” (131). In addition, this literature challenges biblical theology strategies, which usually skip the Early Jewish Literature in favor of the Christian Old and New Testaments Canon.

Fifth, Susan Docherty defines “scriptures” in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is a difficult issue that touches on both canon and authority. If extant copies of a book imply authority, then some non-canonical books are “more authoritative” than many canonical ones. But how often a book is quoted is also an indication of authority. She concludes the Dead Sea Scrolls prefer the Pentateuch, prophetic literature, and the Psalms because of the specific concerns of their community (141-42). But all the manuscripts preserved at Qumran are related to the “still-fluid but unquestionably authoritative collection of Israel’s Scriptures” (156). Sixth, Michael B. Cover examines Philo and interpretative strategies in the Alexandrian Jewish Tradition. After a brief summary, Cover compares Philo’s strategies to Paul (Gal 4:21-31), John, and Hebrews. He suggests these examples “only scratch the surface of the Alexandrian ‘s enormous potential to assist the contemporary New Testament exegete” (184).

The last essay in this section, Michael Avioz summarizes Josephus’s strategies for using Israel’s Scriptures in Antiquities. Josephus was free to omit some things elements of Israel’s Scripture, potentially embarrassing things (the golden calf incident), complex textual issues (David and Goliath), and repetitive or irrelevant to Josephus (long lists of names). He occasionally adds things to the stories which may reflect early rabbinic discussions (193).

In part two, Israel’s Scriptures in the New Testament, scholars examine how individual writers used the Jewish Scripture. These sixteen essays cover the New Testament, with Paul’s letters receiving seven chapters (see the appendix to this review for the authors of each chapter). John’s Gospel is treated separately from John’s letters. Each chapter in this section includes a list of citations and allusions (based on the definitions in the introduction), usually in tabular form with some discussion of the details. Texts from the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament are printed in parallel when authors discuss potential allusions. One example: Paul Foster’s chapter on Ephesians and Colossians lists twenty-five suggested intertexts (comparing commentaries by Fee, Beale, and Beetham) and then concludes, “the use of Jewish Scripture on Colossians is minimal” (414).

Part three covers eight themes and topics from Israel’s Scriptures in the New Testament: God, Messiah, Holy Spirit, Covenant, Law, Wisdom, Liturgy and Prayer, and Eschatology. Garrick V. Allen’s essay on eschatology points out the indebtedness of New Testament eschatology to the Jewish Scripture (744). The essay focuses on Isaiah 40, Daniel 7, and Zechariah, arguing that Matthew stands on Israel’s Scripture for the Baptist’s preaching and the Son of Man sayings. He follows a “winding path” from the prophets through Early Jewish Literature to the sayings of Jesus.

Part four examines how books from Israel’s Scriptures are used in the New Testament. These Four chapters discuss individual books (Deuteronomy, Isaiah, The Psalms, and Daniel), and a fifth chapter looks at figures from Israel’s history in the New Testament. Gert J. Steyn’s article on the use of Deuteronomy in the New Testament might surprise some readers who do not expect a Jewish law code to be so important for Christian Scripture.

Finally, part five goes beyond the New Testament to how early Christian writing used Israel’s Scriptures. The section includes apocryphal gospels and apocalypses. The adversus Judaeos tradition covers Barnabas, Justin Martyr, the Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus, and early Latin writers. Of interest in this section is Deiter Roth’s reconstruction of the views of three heretics: Marcion and his disciple Apelles, and Ptolemy’s Letter to Flora (preserved in Epiphanius). Following Judith Leiu, Roth points out that Marcion did not simply edit Israel’s Scripture, but he read and interpreted it (1014).

Each essay ends with a bibliography pointing interested readers to more detailed studies. Because of this book’s international team of scholars, these bibliographies often include many resources outside of the usual texts in English-speaking scholarship.

Conclusion. The second section of the collection of essays competes with Beale and Carson, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Baker Academic 2007). Although that commentary is more detailed in some ways, the additional essays in this volume go beyond the scope of that work by examining themes and focusing on particular books from the Hebrew Bible in the New Testament (parts 3-4). The first section is almost a book on the canon of Israel’s Scripture alone! Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings is a major contribution to the study of how the New Testament read and interpreted the Scripture they inherited from Judaism.

 

 

 

NB: Thanks to Eerdmans for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.

 

Part I: Contexts
1. What Were the “Scriptures” in the Time of Jesus?, by Edmon L. Gallagher
2. Israel’s Scriptures in the Hebrew Bible, by Marc Zvi Brettler
3. Israel’s Greek Scriptures and Their Collection in the Septuagint, by Martin Karrer
4. Israel’s Scriptures in Early Jewish Literature, by Grant Macaskill
5. Israel’s Scriptures in the Dead Sea Scrolls, by Susan Docherty
6. Israel’s Scriptures in Philo and the Alexandrian Jewish Tradition, by Michael B. Cover
7. Israel’s Scriptures in Josephus, by Michael Avioz
Part II: Israel’s Scriptures in the New Testament
A. The Gospels and Acts
8. Israel’s Scriptures in Matthew, by Matthias Konradt
9. Israel’s Scriptures in Mark, by Elizabeth Evans Shively
10.           Israel’s Scriptures in Luke, by Martin Bauspiess
11.           Israel’s Scriptures in John, by Jaime Clark-Soles
12.           Israel’s Scriptures in Acts, by Dietrich Rusam
B. The Apostle Paul
13.           Israel’s Scriptures in Romans, by Jens Schröter
14.           Israel’s Scriptures in 1 and 2 Corinthians, by Katja Kujanpää
15.           Israel’s Scriptures in Galatians, by A. Andrew Das
16.           Israel’s Scriptures in Ephesians and Colossians, by Paul Foster
17.           Israel’s Scriptures in Philippians and Philemon, by Angela Standhartinger
18.           Israel’s Scriptures in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, by Todd D. Still
19.           Israel’s Scriptures in the Pastoral Epistles, by Gerd Häfner
C. Hebrews and the Catholic Letters
20.           Israel’s Scriptures in Hebrews, by Gabriella Gelardini
21.           Israel’s Scriptures in James, by Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr
22.           Israel’s Scriptures in 1 Peter, Jude, and 2 Peter, by Jörg Frey
23.           Israel’s Scriptures in the Johannine Letters, by George Parsenios
D. The Book of Revelation
24.           Israel’s Scriptures in the Revelation of John, by Ian K. Boxall
Part III: Themes and Topics from Israel’s Scriptures in the New Testament
25.           God, by Archie T. Wright
26.           Messiah, by J. Thomas Hewitt
27.           Holy Spirit, by John R. Levison
28.           Covenant, by Richard J. Bautch
29.           Law, by Claudia Setzer
30.           Wisdom, by Benjamin Wold
31.           Liturgy and Prayer, by Rodney A. Werline
32.           Eschatology, by Garrick V. Allen
Part IV: Tracing Israel’s Scriptures
33.           Deuteronomy in the New Testament, by Gert J. Steyn
34.           Isaiah in the New Testament, by Benjamin E. Reynolds
35.           The Psalms in the New Testament, by Matthias Henze
36.           Daniel in the New Testament, by Alexandria Frisch and Jennie Grillo
37.           Figures of Ancient Israel in the New Testament, by Valérie Nicolet
Part V: Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christianity Outside the New Testament
38.           Israel’s Scriptures in the Apocryphal Gospels, by Tobias Nicklas
39.           Israel’s Scriptures in the Apocryphal Apocalypses, by Michael Karl-Heinz Sommer
40.           Israel’s Scriptures in the Adversus Judaeos Literature, by David Lincicum
41.           Israel’s Scriptures in Marcion and the Critical Tradition, by Dieter T. Roth
42.           Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Pictorial Art, by Robin M. Jensen

 

John Walton, Wisdom for Faithful Reading Principles and Practices for Old Testament Interpretation

Walton, John. Wisdom for Faithful Reading: Principles and Practices for Old Testament Interpretation. IVP Academic, 2023. xv+226 pp. Pb. $24.00   Link to IVP Academic  

John Walton has written extensively on the Old Testament, including the popular textbooks A Survey of the Old Testament (with Andrew Hill, Zondervan 1991) and Old Testament Today (Zondervan 2004), commentaries in Genesis and Job NIVAC series, and several books in his The Lost World series (IVP Academic).

Old Testament Interpretation

The introduction is divided into five brief parts. First, Walton states his quest: faithful interpretation. Second, he states two caveats. Our goal is faithful interpretation, not right interpretation. This humbly recognizes that you may be wrong and need more evidence. Since interpretation happens in a community, Walton has three essential commitments: accountability, consistency, and control.

In the fourth part of the introduction, Walton offers four fundamental concepts for interpretation. First, context is everything. This includes linguistic, literary, cultural, and theological. He illustrates these points with a particular text drawn from the Old Testament. Second, interpretation matters. Meaning can only be determined by interpretation. Third, he suggests we mind the gaps. Interpretation requires readers to fill in gaps since authors just don’t tell us everything. “Filling in the gaps” can lead readers astray. Fourth, interpretation is complicated. Faithful interpretation is hard work because we are reading ancient documents, and this is rarely a straightforward process. He illustrates this with the mysterious Nephilim (Genesis 6:4).

Finally, in the fifth part of the introduction, Walton gives five principles for faithful interpretation. First, an author’s message carries the authority of scripture. Second, an author’s message is couched in his own language and culture. Third, our accountability in interpretation is to track with the author in the text he produced. Fourth, our interpretation should be supported with evidence identifying the author’s intention. Fifth, our task is to find our place in God’s story (17).

After this introduction, Walton gives twelve general principles for faithful interpretation. Some of these will not be controversial, such as “All translation is interpretation.” However, some readers may wonder about principles like “the Bible is written for us but not to us” or “the Old Testament is not about Jesus, but it drives us to Jesus.” He illustrates each principle with examples from the Old Testament and offers ample footnotes to more technical discussions in academic literature.

The second major part of the book offers genre-specific guidelines. This builds on Chapter 11, “A genre discussion must precede an authority conversation.” Often, faithful interpretation requires us to know something about the genre of the literature we are reading. The genre of modern books illustrates this principle. One does not read Harry Potter the same way one reads a biography of Abraham Lincoln, nor does one read an op-ed column the same way one reads a baseball box score. Each genre requires different mental tools. Walton, therefore, has five chapters on the Pentateuch, four on Narrative, three on Wisdom and Psalms, and five on prophecy and apocalyptic.

To illustrate this section of the book, I will focus only on his comments on prophecy and apocalyptic. First, like most Old Testament scholars, Walton observes He also observed that fulfillment of prophecy is distinct from the message. Prophecy has far more to do with revealing God’s plan than revealing the future. Second, it is crucial to understand that prophecy is not always a prediction. Although sometimes there is prediction, this accounts for a very small percentage of the prophetic books. Third, some readers may be surprised by his observation that apocalyptic is not prophecy. This is important since apocalyptic literature often describes the world the writer lives in through the apocalyptic genre. However, I suggest that there are occasional prophecies in an apocalyptic book.

The last section includes three chapters on application. If readers attempt to read scripture well (by which Walton means faithfully), how should they live?  First, Walton encourages readers to avoid using the Old Testament for proof texts. Typically, people only turn to Leviticus to search for verses forbidding certain sins (and ignoring the rest). Second, he suggests readers avoid searching the Old Testament for inspirational nuggets (these are things your grandmother forwards you on Facebook). Third, he also warns against searching for Jesus or the gospel in the Old Testament. He illustrates this point with several examples of bad allegorical interpretations of the Song of Solomon or the Tabernacle. Last, he points out the danger of mixing up promises made specifically for Israel and turning them into personal promises. Applying Jeremiah 29:11 is the classic example of this error since people tend to think this is about their personal relationship with Jesus rather than explicitly addressing Israel in exile.

Conclusion. Wisdom for Faithful Reading is something like a primer for Old Testament Interpretation. The book targets the “academically minded people in the church who want to improve their reading of the Old Testament” (xv). Even though Walton states in his preface that the book was not intended to be a textbook, it would be an excellent addition to an “Introduction to the Bible” or “Old Testament Survey” university or seminary class. Since the style is accessible for the layperson, the book would fit well in a church Bible study or Sunday School class.

NB: Thanks to IVP Academic for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.

Charles L. Quarles and L. Scott Kellum, 40 Questions about the Text and Canon of the New Testament

Quarles, Charles L. and L. Scott Kellum. 40 Questions about the Text and Canon of the New Testament. 40 Questions and Answers Series. Grand Rapids, Mich. Kregel, 2023. 350 pp. Pb; $26.99. Link to Kregel Academic

Charles Quarles (PhD, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary) is a research professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He contributed the Matthew volume in the Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament series (B&H Academic, reviewed here). He recently published Matthew in the Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Lexham 2023, reviewed here). Scott Kellum (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a senior New Testament and Greek professor at SEBTS. He co-authored The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament with Quarles and Andreas Köstenberger (B&H Academic 2009).  He wrote the Acts volume for the EGGNT series and Preaching the Farewell Discourse (B&H, 2014, reviewed here). In this new volume of Kregel Academic’s 40 Question series, Quarles answers questions on the text of the New Testament, and Kellum deals with the canon of the New Testament.  Text and CanonIn the book’s first part, Quarles answers questions on the transmission of New Testament Manuscripts and the theory and practice of textual criticism.  The transmission of the text deals with copying manuscripts and what errors might occur as those manuscripts are copied. This leads to a discussion of the reliability of manuscripts scholars use when creating editions of the Greek New Testament. Question 5 is important: Did Scribes attempt to Change the Theology of the Text? Here, Quarles is responding to Bart Ehrman, who is well known for his argument that scribes made serious changes to the Greek New Testament in order to support theological orthodoxy. In response, Quarles argues that there is no evidence for theological tampering. However, Quarles ends the section by quoting Tommy Wasserman, saying that deliberate changes are often limited to certain manuscripts (P72, codex Bezae) or isolated passages. Following Gordon Fee, Quarles says that when deliberative changes occur, it is seldom motivated by someone trying to score theological points. He also responds to a few of Ehrman’s examples.

Questions 13-14 discuss with King James only and the Majority Text. Questions 18-19 treat the two longest controversial passages, the long ending of Mark and the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11). “Mark probably originally ended with 16:8, or the original ending was lost very early” and “it is reasonable to conclude that the shorter ending is the best choice among the possible options.” But he adds this conclusion is “nowhere close to a certainty!” (174). The Pericope Adulterae is “clearly early and possibly historical, it does not appear to have been an original part of the gospel of John” (181).

At 187 pages, the first half of this book is an excellent primer on textual criticism, useful for university or seminary an intermediate New Testament Greek class. Some professors might like more on the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method, but the constraints of the 40 Questions series limit the space available for this developing methodology.

In the second half of the book, Kellum answers questions concerning the canon of the New Testament.  He begins by defining canon and defining the extrinsic and magisterial models. In the extrinsic view, books were chosen by natural, historical processes. In contrast, the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern churches hold a magisterial view of the canon. The church selects which books are canonical. This is the reason the Apocrypha could be added to the canon at the council of Trent (1545-1563).

In Question 22, Kellum argues in favor of an intrinsic model for New Testament canonization. The intrinsic model holds that canonical books are self-authenticating. The reformers articulated this view in response to the Council of Trent. In general, there are three criteria. First, the books must agree with the rest of the scripture. Second, there must be widespread acceptance of the books. Third, the books must show evidence of a divine nature. Calvin, for example, thought the Apocrypha was the source of the “dregs of theology, purgatory, worship of the saints, satisfactions, exorcisms, and whatnot” (68).  Calvin argued that there was no consensus in the early church that the Apocrypha should be considered canonical, and the books do not bear the marks of divinity because of errors. Calvin said Maccabees do not have “a divine tone” (although it seems fairly subjective). Kellum cites a modern representative of the intrinsic view, Michael Kruger, as saying humans do not authenticate the canon; God allows humans to recognize the canon.”

Kellum responds to Lee Martin McDonald’s critique of the intrinsic view. McDonald points out that many books were disputed in the early church, and some were later rejected. So, the authority of the canonical books is not self-evident. Other than Revelation, no New Testament author claims to be writing Scripture and the earliest readers did not think of Paul’s letters as Scripture or canon. Even if a writer claimed inspiration, that does not make a book canonical. (A writer cannot just say, “I declare inspiration!” and the book suddenly becomes canonical.) McDonald thinks that publicly reading Paul’s letters is not equivalent to the Jewish practice of reading scripture. Kellum says that may be so when they were first read, but shortly after the first reading, Paul’s letters were, in fact, read as scripture. Kellum includes five chapters on the physical evidence for the canon. Here he discusses the development of the codex (book, in contrast to individual scrolls) used by the early church and when various collections of books were grouped together.

Question 38 discusses the possibility of an open canon. He begins with Jesus Seminar alumni Robert Fink and Hal Taussig, who argued that the canon should be considered open, allowing for recently discovered Gnostic texts to be considered alongside the traditional New Testament canon. I would also include John Dominic Crossan here since he places the Gospel of Thomas alongside the four canonical gospels. In response, Kellum points out that canonical books are associated with the apostles, and apostolic authority is non-transferable. If an apostle did not write a book, it would not be canonical. Shepherd of Hermes, for example, was rejected since it was not Apostolic. He states that the Old Testament ends on a “covenantal cliffhanger.” The prophets look forward to a New Exodus and a New Covenant. The final redemption in Jesus means “no further prophetic promises to fulfill” (323). This implies that the new covenant canon was complete, and there is no need for more books. Given the theological assumptions behind this argument, I doubt this would convince Funk or Taussig. Although premillennialists do not argue for an open canon, they would disagree with Kellum’s premise that there are” no further promises to fulfill.”

Kellum discusses the theological implications of cannon in Question 39. First, although not inspiration and canon were not synonymous in the early church, canonical books are inspired by God. Second, canon implies authority. If the canon is God’s word, it is authoritative (Infallible? Inerrant?) The canon contains the “norms and expectations for believers” (330). Third, since this literature was handed down from the apostles, it is the foundation for New Testament theology. These theological observations have hermeneutical implications. Kellum argues that we should read the canon as a whole. The books should all be read equally (no “canon within the canon”). However, practically speaking, the book of Romans seems more important than 2 John. Perhaps what Kellum is trying to get at is that Paul’s theology is not “better” than Peter’s theology (despite what one would think from reading most New Testament theology textbooks). Fourthly, we ought to read the canon progressively. This is more of a whole canon concept since the New Testament is built on the foundation of the Old Testament.

Each chapter ends with five discussion questions. The book includes a helpful seven-page glossary and scripture index. Although there is no bibliography or “for further study” section, the footnotes provide sources for readers to follow more technical discussions in scholarly literature.

Conclusion. 40 Questions about the Text and Canon of the New Testament addresses two critical aspects of biblical studies from a conservative perspective. Both halves of the book are good introductions to their topics. Quarles and Kellum present their material in a style understandable to the non-scholar, making this book an excellent choice for a reader (or Bible study) looking for answers to questions on the text and canon of the New Testament.

 

Other books reviewed in this series:

 

NB: Thanks to Kregel for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.

 

 

 

Jeffrey Pulse, Figuring Resurrection: Joseph as a Death and Resurrection Figure

Pulse, Jeffrey. Figuring Resurrection: Joseph as a Death and Resurrection Figure in the Old Testament and Second Temple Judaism. Studies in Scripture and Biblical Theology; Lexham Academic, 2021. ix+309 pp. Pb. $29.99   Link to Lexham Press  

Studies in Scripture and Biblical Theology is a peer-reviewed series exploring topics and issues in biblical studies and biblical theology. Jeffrey Pulse is the Dr. Dean O. Wenthe Professor of Old Testament Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary and has been involved in pastoral ministry for twenty-two years. This monograph adapts his 2017 Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Durham.

In this study of Joseph as a resurrection figure, Pulse uses a biblical hermeneutic reading scripture as a unified theological narrative. He wants to trace biblical motifs as they weave their way through the canon. But this study does more. He examines the Joseph narrative (Genesis 37-50) in the Masoretic text (chapters 3-5). He then compares this to the Septuagint (chapter 6) and Targum Onqelos (chapter 7), Second Temple period literature (chapter 8), and (briefly) Philo and Josephus (chapter 9). Unlike Samuel Emadi, From Prisoner to Prince: The Joseph Story in Biblical Theology (NSBT 59; IVP Academic 2022), Pulse does not see Joseph as a “type of Christ” in the New Testament.ResurrectionPulse follows Brevard Child’s canonical approach, along with Bernard Levinson and Robert Alter. He focuses on the text’s final form and carefully observes the literary artistry and overarching themes that resonate across the canon. He rejects atomizing the text in favor of a narrative reading. Israel considered their scripture a united message from God. He wants to follow this lead as much as possible. Pulse’s methodology is neither a typology nor allegorical. For example, he traces several themes and motifs and Joseph across the canon. For example, he follows the “garment motif” from Genesis 3 to Revelation (55-56).

Chapter 3 is a detailed exegesis of Genesis 37-50 of the Masoretic text. At eighty pages, this section is a detailed commentary on the Joseph story and is well worth the price of the book by itself. Pulse gathers a series of death-and-resurrection motifs from this exegesis, such as the downward/upward movements. The Joseph story has twelve such motifs, conveniently listed on pages 7-8 and detailed in chapter 5. “No other character or portion of scripture has such a predominance of these various death-and-resurrection manifestations” (144).

Anyone who has read the Joseph story closely should be familiar with the downward/upward movements. For example, Joseph is thrown into a pit and raised up out of it; he is thrown into prison (also a pit), and once again, he is raised out of it. Pulse suggests the narrator intends the reader to see Joseph’s life as preserving the life of Abraham’s family. This applies in general terms to Israel’s exile from the land. Israel’s restoration is like a death and resurrection idea in Ezekiel 37 (the Valley of the Dry Bones vision). Pulse connects Israel’s restoration to moving Joseph’s bones back to the land after the Exodus (chapter 10). These “traveling bones” are a transition from the patriarchal stories in Genesis to the tribal stories (Exodus-Deuteronomy).

Chapter 4 deals with a potential problem, Joseph’s character. There are many flaws in Joseph’s character, and he is certainly not always a clear example of moral virtue. He cites Moberly, “patriarchal religion lacks moral content or at least moral emphasis in the way that contrasts with the strong moral content enjoined on Israel in the covenant at Sinai.” Joseph is an arrogant son and a bad brother. He may have even made himself available to Potiphar’s wife. He uses a cup of divination and lives like an Egyptian. He takes an Egyptian wife and names his son Manasseh, which refers to forgetting his father’s household. (Pulse suggests Jacob may reverse the blessings because of this name.) Deception seems to be a family trait (160). The questions raised by the Masoretic text are addressed in the Septuagint and the Targum versions of this story. I would add that Joseph’s moral failings are frequently overlooked in contemporary preaching on Joseph. But this is not new. The Second Temple period novel Joseph and Asenath makes Joseph into a paragon of virtue.

Chapter 5 concludes the book’s first part with a detailed examination of the death-and-resurrection motif in the Joseph narrative. Pulse surveys the Testament of Joseph (a biblical expansion written as early as 250 BCE). The story has many up/down movements, which Pulse argues represent the death-and-resurrection motif. Even though there may be Christian interpolations in the Testament of Joseph, this still contributes to Pulse’s argument since it shows early Jewish and Christian readers saw the up/down movement as a death-and-resurrection motif. He details the rest of his 12 sub-motifs, tracing how they are developed in the Joseph story and the larger context of the patriarchal narrative. For example, he traces a “barren woman/opening of the womb” motif, first looking back at Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel, then looking forward to Samson’s birth and Zachariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1).

One might pause after reading the book’s first part and ask, “That is all fine, but did anyone else notice these motifs?” Chapters 6-10 trace the death-and-resurrection motif in the Septuagint, Targum Onqelos, and other Second Temple texts to respond to this question. Joseph is a salvific figure in the history of Israel who preserves the family and, in doing so, preserves the nation of Israel. He argues that the early church fathers read the story this way and relied on the Septuagint, where the salvific role is enhanced (174). He concludes, “As is often the case with Joseph, ancient exegetes chose to use him in a way that suited the purpose of their current situation” (215). The Septuagint preserves the up/down motif, and the salvific themes are enhanced, “indicating the possible advent of a messianic figure that will arise from his house in the blessings of Genesis 49” (215). But Targum Onqelos focuses on Joseph’s moral and ethical character.

Conclusion: Figuring Resurrection is an excellent study of the Joseph narrative. It does not rely on typology as many evangelical biblical theology studies do. Instead, Pulse uses careful exegesis to suggest themes that naturally arise from the text. Some readers may be disappointed that the canon in this book does not include much from the New Testament, but there is really nothing related to Joseph in the New Testament. Unlike other evangelical biblical theology series, this volume of the SSBT uses intertestamental literature. This permits Pulse to track his “resurrection figure” through several examples of Second Temple period writers, potentially tracking the development of an idea within early Judaism.

A short excerpt of the book appears on Lexham’s blog.

NB: Thanks to Lexham Academic for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.

 

 

M. Jeff Brannon, The Hope of Life After Death: A Biblical Theology of Resurrection

Brannon, M. Jeff. The Hope of Life After Death: A Biblical Theology of Resurrection. ESBT; IVP Academic, 2023. xii+185 pp. Pb. $24.00   Link to IVP Academic  

Brannon is a professor of biblical studies and chair of the biblical studies at Belhaven University. His Ph.D. dissertation (written under Larry Hurtado) was published as The Heavenlies in Ephesians: A Lexical, Exegetical, and Conceptual Analysis (LNTS; Bloomsbury, 2011). The Hope of Life after Death develops some of those insights by examining the idea of resurrection throughout the canon of scripture.

Resurrection

Brannon begins by observing that the resurrection gets less attention than the atonement. Most studies on the resurrection are apologetic or historical in nature. In addition, most focus on only parts of Scripture, primarily the Pauline letters. But resurrection is an essential and central doctrine throughout the canon. Brannon argues that the hope of the resurrection is inextricably linked with the biblical theology themes of creation and redemption. Resurrection is, therefore, not a peripheral doctrine but an indispensable element of God’s plan of redemption. Moreover, Christian hope in bodily resurrection distinguishes Christianity from other religions and worldviews. Other than Judaism and Christianity, bodily resurrection is not found in other religions. In the Bible, death is the enemy of God and humanity, and in the end, death will be defeated.

In treating the Old Testament, he argues that God created humans to live, but the fall introduces death. Beginning with this observation, Brannon tracks an unfolding promise in the Pentateuch and historical books that God will “crush the head of the serpent.” There is not much in the historical books, so he moves on to the poetry books, including Job 19:25-27, the Psalms, Isaiah 25:6-8, the Servant Songs, and Ezekiel’s Valley of the Dry Bones. He finishes Daniel 12:1-3 (the only passage usually cited as implying resurrection in the Old Testament).

The trouble with many of these examples is separating national resurrection from personal bodily resurrection. He admits that “at face value, it does not seem reasonable Ezekiel has in mind a future bodily resurrection” (86, note 17). Nevertheless, he sees Ezekiel’s vision as a national and spiritual resurrection metaphor. Brannon does this by connecting the Dry Bones vision to Ezekiel 36-37 and then connecting that passage to new creation language. For Brannon, new creation includes the physical resurrection (82). All kingdom language fulfills the “crushing of the head.”

There is a methodological flaw built into biblical theology studies like the ESBT. In this case, by limiting the study to the biblical canon, Brannon misses the development of Jewish eschatological resurrection through the Intertestamental period. There is a great deal of development of resurrection theology between Daniel 12:1-3 and the New Testament. He is clearly aware of this data since he cites N. T. Wright’s Resurrection of the Son of God extensively. Still, the constraints of the series prevent any examination of Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha in this study.

After surveying the Old Testament data, chapters 6-7 move into Jesus’s life, ministry, and death. Following N. T. Wright, Brannon argues that the resurrection is a vindication of the son of God and proof that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah. Using Pauline language, Jesus’s resurrection demonstrates that he is the second Adam (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). The ascension is the enthronement of Jesus as the Messiah when he begins his rule from God’s throne (Psalm 2).

Chapter 8 discusses the church as the resurrected people of God, already participating in an eschatological life. Yet that life is still yet to be consummated even though the new age of the Spirit has already begun.  Chapter 9 develops the “not-yet” aspect of the resurrection. Reading Revelation 20 as an amillennialist (149 note 4), Brannon sees this chapter as a picture of believers in the intermediate state. The final resurrection is a bodily resurrection to the eternal state (the new creation). As a fulfillment of Genesis 1:28, believers live in the new creation in real, spiritual bodies. Jesus’s body is the pattern: he had a real body, spiritual and incorruptible.

Here is a completely non-academic observation about Brannon’s book. He uses song quotes at the beginning of his chapters, starting with Buddy and Julie Miller in the introduction, and even Steve Winwood makes an appearance. I am not sure you will ever read this, Jeff, but you have great taste in music!

Conclusion: The Hope of Life After Death is an excellent introduction to the doctrine of bodily resurrection. The book is written with the layperson in mind. There is minimal technical language, and Brannon always keeps the application of resurrection theology in mind.

 

Other reviewed commentaries in Essentials of Biblical Theology series:

 

NB: Thanks to IVP Academic for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.