Biblical Geography

Barry J. Beitzel, ed. Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Pentateuch

Beitzel, Barry J., ed. Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Pentateuch. Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2022. xxvi+915 pp.; Hb.  $49.99  Link to Lexham Press

Barry Beitzel has a well-deserved reputation in scholarship for his contributions to biblical geography. He edited The New Moody Atlas of the Bible (Moody, 2009; reviewed here). He edited the first volume of this projected six-volume series, Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Gospels (Lexham, 2017; reviewed here) and Acts and Revelation (2019; reviewed here).  Like the two New Testament volumes, this new collection of essays on the geography of the Pentateuch is a joy to read and will be an excellent addition to the library of any Bible student.

Lexham Geographical Commentary

In his introduction to the Lexham Geographical Commentary series, Beitzel observes that geography is a legitimate, if overlooked, hermeneutical category. The “where” question is essential for understanding the text. Unlike other great religious texts, biblical history occurs in specific places with many locations mentioned by name. A book like this geographical commentary is even more important since most Bible readers are woefully ignorant of geography. In fact, he suggests that the Pentateuch is a geographical document. Geographical details are found throughout the Pentateuch. Consider Numbers 33, a comprehensive list of locations Israel passed through after leaving Egypt. Why the list is included is an ongoing discussion, but the information was intentionally included for literary and theological reasons.

This new Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Pentateuch contains forty-seven essays written by twenty-four Old Testament scholars (see the table of contents below).  Each chapter begins with a list of Scripture covered in the section with a box containing an abstract of key points covered in the essay. Essays are typically ten to fifteen pages long, including a bibliography. The essays also include rich footnotes pointing to additional academic literature. When Hebrew appears, it is transliterated.

Chapters are illustrated with photographs, diagrams, and charts. Some photographs are licensed through WikiCommons, but many are from Todd Bolen at BiblePlaces.com. Sometimes, the author of the article provided a photograph. In Vernon Alexander’s article “The Journey of Israel’s Twelve Spies (Num 13:1–33),” two maps and eight photographs illustrate the various geographical zones in Palestine. The book is printed on uncoated paper, which does not glare and is easier to make notes on than books with a glossy finish. Each essay is also illustrated with maps, often from FaithLife, photographs, and occasional infographic-style illustrations familiar to users of the FaithLife Study Bible. There are a few vocabulary charts generated by Logos Bible Software.

The book does not shy away from controversial issues. For example, James Hoffmeier discusses Yam Suf (יַם־ס֑וּף) in the Old Testament and Egyptian literature. In this detailed article, he explains how the Masoretic Text “Sea of Reeds” was translated as the Red Sea (ἡ ἐρυθρὰ θάλασσα) in the Septuagint and Latin Vulgate (mare Rubrum). Neither is a translation of the Hebrew word suf. This mistranslation has led generations of biblical scholars to assume the location of the crossing of the sea is either the Red Sea in a modern sense or part of the Gulf of Aqaba. After a detailed survey of the vocabulary in both Hebrew and Egyptian sources, Hoffmeier examines several possible locations for the crossing. Based on recent archaeological and geological geographical surveys, he concludes that Ballah Lakes is the biblical Sea of Reeds.

Several of the essays deal with geography in a way that might be considered biblical theology. For example, in the article “Israel’s Forty Years: A Geographical and Socio-Spatial Analysis,” Barry Beitzel offers a detailed study of the Hebrew word midbar, trying to explain the Hebrew term in contrast to the English word “wilderness.” In the Pentateuch, midbar refers to a harsh, arid, torrid, and stony scrubland. The midbar is a foreboding Badlands with few sources of water and no rainfall. It is a place where human culture is absent. In short, the midbar is someplace you never want to be! This wilderness contrasts with the abundance of Egypt, which has plenty of water and food. Daniel Block’s chapter on the Theology of Land in Deuteronomy draws on the whole Pentateuch to create a mini-biblical theology of land. God grants land to all people, but Canaan is associated explicitly with God’s covenant with Abraham. He suggests that the covenant is a triangular relationship between God and the descendants of the land (786). The promise of land is eternal and irrevocable, but well-being in the land is contingent upon faithful obedience, covenant faithfulness, and righteous living.

The book includes a detailed list of the contributors, a subject index, a Scripture index, and a list of image credits.

Conclusion. The Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Pentateuch is a rich collection of essays on geographical issues in the Pentateuch. These essays go beyond simple identifications of major locations, often dealing with the fine details of the text and larger biblical-theological questions. This volume will be a welcome addition to the library of any Old Testament student, whether professional or layperson.

The Old Testament volumes are taking a little longer to finish than anticipated. This volume was due in 2020 but did not appear until 2022. Originally a five-volume series, the historical book volume was divided into two parts, so the Lexham Geographic Commentary is now a six-volume series.

Reviews of other Volumes in this series:

 

NB: I appreciate Lexham Press’s generous offer of a review copy of this book. I purchased the volume myself in Logos Bible Software.  But this did not influence my thoughts about the work.

 

Contents of Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Pentateuch:

  • Chapter 1: A Geographic Analysis of the Four Rivers of Eden (Gen 2:10–13), Mark W. Chavalas
  • Chapter 2: The Table of Nations: An Ethno-Geographic Analysis (Gen 10:1–32), David W. Baker
  • Chapter 3: The Tower of Babel Incident and The Confusion of Language: A Socio-Spatial Analysis (Gen 11:1–9), Richard E. Averbeck
  • Chapter 4: The Patriarchal Homeland: A Socio-Spatial Analysis (Gen 11:27–32; 24:1–10), Mark W. Chavalas
  • Chapter 5: The Old Babylonian Kingdom: A Geographic and Socio-Spatial Analysis (Gen 11:28, 31), Mark W. Chavalas
  • Chapter 6: Recent Discoveries in Greater Mesopotamia and Their Impact On The World of The Biblical Patriarchs (Gen 11:31), Mark W. Chavalas
  • Chapter 7: The Migrations and Wanderings of The Patriarchs (Gen 12:1–20; 11:31; 26:1–25; 28:1–29:13; 31:1–21; 32:1–31; 33:17–20; 35:1–29; 37:12–36; 38:1, 12–14; 45:9–11; 46:1–47:11; 49:29–50:15), David W. Baker
  • Chapter 8: The Patriarchal Travels in Canaan: A Geographic Assessment (Genesis 12:6–8; 13:1–18; 14:13–24; 20:1–13; 22:1–19; 23:2–20; 26:7–33; 28:11–22; 33:18–20; 35:1–7; 46:1–5), Todd Bolen
  • Chapter 9: Altars, tombs, Pillars, and Wells in Genesis: Their Socio-Spatial and Theological Roles (Gen 12:7; 21:22–34; 23:1–20; 26:12–33; 28:13–22), John A. Beck
  • Chapter 10: Mountains in The Patriarchal Period (Gen 12:8; 10:30; 14:6, 10; 19:17, 19, 30; 22:2, 14; 31:21, 23, 25, 54; 36:8–9, 20–21), Lawrence T. Geraty
  • Chapter 11: Biblical Famine and Its Impact On Southern Canaan (Gen 12:10–20; 26:1–13; 41:1–47:31), John A. Beck
  • Chapter 12: The Location of Sodom and Gomorrah: A Northern View (Gen 13:1–12; 14:1–24; 19:1–38), Elaine A. Phillips
  • Chapter 13: The Location of Sodom and Gomorrah: A Southern View (Gen 10:19; 13:1–18; 14:1–24; 19:1–38; Deut 34:1–4), Lawrence T. Geraty and Burton Macdonald
  • Chapter 14: The Travels of the “Kings of The East”: A Geographic Analysis (Gen 14), Mark W. Chavalas
  • Chapter 15: A Literary Exploration of The Promised Land Boundaries (Gen 15:18–21; 12:1–3; 17:8; Num 34:1–12), Aubrey Taylor McClain
  • Chapter 16: The “Land” Given to Abraham and His Descendants: A Geographic and Socio-Spatial Analysis (Gen 15:18–21; Exod 23:31; Num 32:1–33; 34:1–12), Todd Bolen
  • Chapter 17: Ishmael and His Descendants: A Historical Geographical Assessment (Gen 16:1–17:27; 21:8–21; 25:12–17), Chris McKinny
  • Chapter 18: The Relationship Between Pastoralists and Urban Centers in The Patriarchal Narratives (Gen 20:1–18; 21:22–43; 26:1–33; 12:1–10), Paul H. Wright
  • Chapter 19: Philistia and The Philistines: A Socio-Spatial Analysis (Gen 21:32–33; 26:1–18; 10:14; Exod 13:17; 15:14), Victor H. Matthews
  • Chapter 20: The Burial Practices of The Patriarchs (Gen 23:1–20; 25:8–10; 49:29–32; 50:5–14), Vernon H. Alexander
  • Chapter 21: “Rachel Weeping for Her Children”: Determining The Location of Rachel’s tomb and Migdal-Eder (Gen 35:16–21; 48:7; 1 Sam 10:2–3; Jer 31:15; Mic 4:8), Chris McKinny
  • Chapter 22: The Land of Goshen: A Socio-Spatial Analysis (Gen 45:10; 46:28–47:6; 47:27; 50:8; Exod 8:22; 9:26), Mark D. Janzen
  • Chapter 23: Egypt’s New Kingdom: A Geographic and Socio-Spatial Analysis (Exodus 1:8; 5:1–23), Mark D. Janzen
  • Chapter 24: (Pi-)Rameses: The Delta Capital of Ramesside Egypt (Exod 1:11), Mark D. Janzen
  • Chapter 25: The Ten Plagues of Egypt: A Socio-Spatial Analysis (Exod 7:3–12:36), Mark D. Janzen
  • Chapter 26: Yam Suf: Its Meaning in The Old Testament and Ancient Egyptian Literature (Exod 13:17–15:22; 10:19; 23:31; Num 14:25; 21:4; 33:10–11; Deut 1:40; 2:1; 11:4), James K. Hoffmeier
  • Chapter 27: The “Red Sea” in The Hebrew Bible, The Septuagint, and Classical Literature (Exod 13:17–15:27; 2:1–10; 12:37–42; Num 20:14–21:26; 33:1–49; Deut 1:1–2:15), Barry J. Beitzel
  • Chapter 28: Manna: A Geographical and Exegetical Analysis (Exod 16; Num 11:4–9; Deut 8:3, 16; Josh 5:12), Elaine A. Phillips
  • Chapter 29: Quail in The Wilderness: A Geographic Analysis (Exod 16:8–13; Num 11:4–34; Ps 78:18, 26–31; 105:40), Elaine A. Phillips
  • Chapter 30: The Geographic Setting of Moses’ Wars (Exod 17:8–16; Num 14:26–45; 21:1–3, 21–32, 33–35), Vernon H. Alexander
  • Chapter 31: The Location of Mount Sinai: A Southern Sinai View (Exod 19:1–25; 3:1–3; Num 33:1–49; Deut 1:2; 1 Kgs 19:1–9; Gal 4:25), Gerald L. Mattingly
  • Chapter 32: Mount Karkom The Mountain of God?—Challenging The Southern Mount Sinai Hypothesis and The Identification and Dating of The Remains of The Israelite Sojourn (Exod 19:11–23; 3:1; 17:6; Deut 1:2–19; 33:2; 1 Kgs 19:8), Tali Erickson-Gini
  • Chapter 33: The Spatial Syntax of Israel’s Tabernacle (Exod 25:1–31:11; 35:1–40:38; Num 2:1–34; 10:11–28), Andrew E. Hill
  • Chapter 34: The “Golden Calf” incident and Its Impact: A Socio-Spatial Analysis (Exod 32:1–35; Deut 9:1–21; 1 Kgs 12:25–13:34; 2 Chr 11:14–17; 13:4–19; 2 Kgs 10:29–33; 17:7–18; 23:15–20), Eric A. Mitchell
  • Chapter 35: “A Land Flowing with Milk and Honey”: The Expression’s Meaning and Socio-Spatial Significance (Exod 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27; 14:8; 16:13–14; Deut 6:3; 11:9; 26:9, 15; 27:3; 31:20), John A. Beck
  • Chapter 36: Geography, Agriculture, and The Israelite Calendar (Lev 23:1–44; Deut 8:7–10), Vernon H. Alexander
  • Chapter 37: Israel’s Camping Pattern and Marching Arrangement (Num 1–2, 10, 26), Benjamin A. Foreman
  • Chapter 38: The Journey of Israel’s Twelve Spies (Num 13:1–33), Vernon H. Alexander
  • Chapter 39: Israel’s Forty Years in The Wilderness: A Geographic and Socio-Spatial Analysis (Exod 13:17–14:31; 15:22–19:2; Num 33:1–49), Barry J. Beitzel
  • Chapter 40: Edom and Israel’s Wanderings from Kadesh to The Plains of Moab (Num 20:14–21:13; 33:36–44; Deut 1:46–2:8; 2:26–29; 10:6–7; Judg 11:15–18), Elaine A. Phillips
  • Chapter 41: Water From the Rock: Moses’ Sin—The Miracle That Never Happened (Num 20:2–13; Exod 17:1–7), Steven M. Ortiz
  • Chapter 42: The Historical Geography of The Settlements of The Transjordanian Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh (Num 32:2–4, 33–42; Josh 13), Chris McKinny
  • Chapter 43: An Overview of The Historical Geography of The Exodus and Wilderness Itinerary (Exod 12:1–19:25; Num 33:1–49), Mark D. Janzen and Chris McKinny
  • Chapter 44: How Does Deuteronomy Repurpose the Mountain and The Place? (Deut 1:1–4:43; 10:12–11:30; 12:2–28; 31:30–34:12), Don C. Benjamin
  • Chapter 45: The Theology of Land in Deuteronomy (Deut 1:6–8; 2:4–3:22; 8:7–14; 11:8–17; 27:1–26; 28:1–68; 30:1–10), Daniel I. Block
  • Chapter 46: The “Seven Nations” of Canaan (Deut 7:1), Benjamin A. Foreman
  • Chapter 47: Water and Life in Southern Canaan (Deut 8:7–10; 11:10–17; 28:7–14; 33:13–15), Aubrey Taylor McClain

 

Book Review: Barry J. Beitzel, ed. Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Acts through Revelation

Beitzel, Barry J., ed. Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Acts through Revelation. Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2019. 763 pp.; Hb.  $39.99  Link to Lexham Press

Barry Beitzel has a well-deserved reputation in scholarship for his contributions to biblical geography. He edited The New Moody Atlas of the Bible (Moody, 2009; reviewed here). He edited the first volume of this projected five-volume series, Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Gospels (Lexham, 2017; see my review here). This new volume is a joy to read and will be an excellent addition to the library of any student of the New Testament.

Lexham Geographic Commentary

This new volume contains fifty-three essays written by nineteen New Testament scholars. More than half of these articles cover the Book of Acts, and the remaining articles discuss locations where Paul or Peter did ministry and the seven churches in Revelation 2-3. See the end of this review for a list of chapter topics.

Each chapter of this Geographical Commentary begins with a list of Scripture covered in the section, so it is possible to read through at least the first half of the book alongside a reading of the book of Acts. This is not always possible since some locations appear in various parts of the book, such as Jerusalem or Caesarea. For example, Paul Wright’s chapter on Caesarea Maritima (chapter 16) lists all of the occurrences of the location in the book of Acts. A text box at the head of the article offers three or four key points covered in the chapter. The text flows in parallel columns, and the chapters are richly illustrated. All non-English words appear in transliteration; distances are given in miles and kilometers. Each section concludes with a bibliography citing key journal articles and other dictionary articles.

The articles in these volumes are highly detailed and well-documented. Several would make excellent academic journal articles. Eckhard Schnabel contributes several chapters. His two-volume Early Christian Mission (IVP Academic, 2004) and Jesus in Jerusalem: The Last Days (Eerdmans, 2018) are two of the most detailed academic works on the geography of the Gospels and Acts. David deSilva contributed articles on The Social and Geographical World of Psidian Antioch, Rome, Roman Corinth, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Sardis. Mark Wilson contributes several articles on locations in modern Turkey (the Geography of Galatia, Peter’s Communities in Asia Minor, the Geography of Patmos, and the Social and Geographical World of Thyatira and Philadelphia).

The chapters are illustrated with photographs, diagrams, and charts. Some photographs are licensed through WikiCommons, some are from Beitzel himself, and David deSilva contributed many. A few of these are familiar diagrams found in other Logos resources or Logos map sets. I noticed that Tutku Tours designed some of the city maps of the seven churches in Revelation. The book is printed on uncoated paper, which does not glare and is easier to make notes on than a book like the Zondervan Bible Backgrounds Commentary.

Some chapters cover material that, strictly speaking, is not a part of the book of Acts or the Epistles. For example, Ekhard Schnabel has a brief article on Paul in Spain and Crete based on the very thin evidence that Paul actually did ministry in these locations. J. Carl Laney contributed an article on Paul’s travel after the book of Acts based on the Pastoral Epistles and several church traditions. Each location where Paul did ministry has a chapter, including Colossae, even though he did not establish that church.

A few other highlights: Barry Beitzel has a lengthy and detailed article on the meaning of “Arabia” in classical literature to answer the question of what Paul meant in Galatians 1:17 when he spent time in Arabia. Benjamin Foreman has an article on the Social and Geographical Significance of Alexandria, Egypt, a location only mentioned in the book of Acts as the home of Apollos (Acts 18:24-28). He discusses the Jewish presence in Alexandria and some of the traditions associated with how Christianity came to this important city in the Roman world. A. H. Cadwallader contributes an article on Onesimus and the world of Philemon, which is more less on slavery in the Roman world. Schnabel has an article on Paul’s travel in Macedonia and Achaia, including the distance traveled by foot between different locations and suggested time to travel. This article also includes a footnote in which Schnabel disagrees with one of his earlier conclusions.

Perhaps the most unusual article concerns Philippi, Michael Thate’s “Paulus Geographicus? The Spatial (Somatic) World of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians.” The article is not particularly about the geographical location of the city of Philippi but about how bodies were understood in the Greco-Roman world, specifically in the Macedonian city of Philippi. As he puts it, this is a theo-graphical article rather than a geographical article. Unfortunately, this is the only article in the book devoted to Philippi. I would have liked an additional article on the social and geographical world of Rome, Philippi, as similar to other locations of Paul’s ministry.

The final seven chapters concern geographical locations in the book of Revelation, six of the seven churches plus an article on the geography of the island of Patmos. (Ephesus was covered in the order of the Pauline letters.) Each of these chapters gives the pre-history of the cities and something of the religious and social situation at the time John wrote the book of Revelation.

The book includes seventeen pages of color charts and additional maps, a detailed list of contributors, a subject index, a Scripture index, and a list of image credits.

Logos Version. Since the book was published simultaneously for the Logos Bible Software library, I had the opportunity to use the book in that format. Clicking a photograph opens the Logos Media library so the image can be copied and pasted into Word or PowerPoint (or any other software). The Media tool gives the description of the image as well as photo credits. Maps open in the Logos Atlas tool and can be copied and pasted. Using these tools to enhance your teaching and preaching is an added incentive to purchase the electronic version. 

As typical in a Logos resource, clicking a Scripture reference will open your preferred Bible to the text, or you can float over the reference to peek at the text. This works also for ancient sources if you have unlocked them for your library. For example, I can click on a cited reference to Pliny’s Natural History and open the version I have unlocked in the Logos library. This is true for any resource, Josephus, Philo, Strabo’s Geography, etc. At the end of a chapter, the Logos version is a “see also” section, which does not appear in the print format of the book. This section includes links to the Logos Atlas tool, Logos FactBook places and events, other articles in the Lexham Geographic Commentary on Acts through Revelation, and any videos in the Media Library related to the section. The bibliography sections open additional Logos resources if unlocked. The Logos version of the book is obviously more interactive than a printed book and can be updated and corrected as necessary.

One disappointment in the Logos version of the book is the lack of page numbers. Usually, a Logos book is tagged with real page numbers so I can cite the resource properly. The only index available is Scripture. The original Geographical Commentary on the Gospels has a page-number index; perhaps Logos will update this book in the future.

All things being equal, I much prefer a real physical book. And this is an excellent-looking book. However, there are some definite advantages to using this book as part of Logos Bible Software.

Conclusion. The Lexham Geographic Commentary on the gospels is a joy to read. The articles are stimulating and well-illustrated.  This book will make an excellent addition to the library of any student of the Bible. A hardback book with 763 pages illustrated with color photographs, maps, and charts is worth more than the $39.95 list price. The Lexham website inaccurately lists the publication date as 2017. The Geographic Commentary will continue in 2020, with volumes on the Pentateuch, Historical Books, Poetry, and Prophecy due in 2020.

 

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

 

Contents of Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Acts through Revelation

  • Typological Geography and the Progress of the Gospel in Acts
  • The Topography of Jerusalem in the Book of Acts
  • The Threefold Expansion of the Early Church: Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria
  • Jesus’ Missionary Commission and the Ends of the Earth
  • A Sabbath-Day’s Journey from the Mount of Olives
  • The Location of Pentecost and Geographical Implications in Acts 2
  • Early Church Demographics
  • Geography of the Nations in Jerusalem for Pentecost
  • The Jerusalem Temple in the Book of Acts
  • The Geography of Worship: From Temple to Synagogue to Church
  • The Persecution of the Earliest Christians in Geographical Perspective
  • The Theodotus Synagogue Inscription and Its Relationship to the Book of Acts
  • Samaria: Too Wicked to Redeem?
  • The Roman Road System around the Mediterranean
  • The Desert Road between Jerusalem and Gaza
  • The Geography of Caesarea Maritima
  • The Road from Jerusalem to Damascus
  • Paul’s Missionary Work in Syria, Nabatea, Judea, and Cilicia
  • Peter’s Ministry in Caesarea Maritima
  • Peter and the Centurion Cornelius: Roman Soldiers in the New Testament
  • The Geographic Importance of Antioch on the Orontes
  • Famines in the Land
  • The Death of Herod Agrippa I in Caesarea Maritima
  • Paul’s Missionary Work in Cyprus, Galatia, and Pamphylia
  • Barnabas, John Mark, and Their Ministry on Cyprus
  • The Social and Geographical World of Pisidian Antioch
  • Paul’s Missionary Work in Macedonia and Achaia
  • Paul at the Areopagus in Athens
  • What Has Athens to Do with Jerusalem? Paul’s Areopagus Speech in Context
  • The Social and Geographical Significance of Alexandria
  • Paul’s Missionary Work in the Provinces of Asia and Illyricum
  • Paul as a Prisoner in Judea and Rome
  • Paul’s Journey to Rome
  • The Social and Geographical World of Rome
  • Paul in Spain and Crete
  • Paul’s Travels After Acts
  • The Social and Geographical World of Roman Corinth
  • The Geography of Galatia
  • Paul’s Early Ministry in Syria and Cilicia: The Silent Years
  • The Meaning of “Arabia” in Classical Literature and the New Testament
  • The Social and Geographical World of Ephesus
  • Paulus Geographicus? The Spatial (Somatic) World of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians
  • The Social and Geographical World of Colossae
  • The Social and Geographical World of Thessalonica
  • Onesimus and the Social and Geographical World of Philemon
  • Peter’s Christian Communities in Asia Minor
  • Geography of the Island of Patmos
  • The Social and Geographical World of Smyrna
  • The Social and Geographical World of Pergamum
  • The Social and Geographical World of Thyatira
  • The Social and Geographical World of Sardis
  • The Social and Geographical World of Philadelphia
  • The Social and Geographical World of Laodicea

 

Book Review: Todd Bolen, Acts: Photo Companion to the Bible

Bolen, Todd. Acts: Photo Companion to the Bible. BiblePlaces.com, 2019.

Todd Bolen has been producing high quality resources for Bible teachers for many years on his website Bible Places.com. I first became aware of Bolens’s Pictorial Library of Biblical Lands at an ETS in 2003. I have used these photographs in virtually every class I teach in order to add some colorful graphics to an otherwise dull PowerPoint presentation. Even though I have some critiques of the collection below, if you are teaching the Book of Acts, then the Photo Companion to the Bible is an essential collection of images to use to illustrate your lectures and sermons. If you are a student of the Bible, you can read the text of the Bible and page through the slides in order to place the text into a physical context.

I reviewed his Gospels Photo Companion to the Bible soon after it was released in 2017. At that time Todd told me the Acts Companion was “coming soon.” But as he told me in a recent email, it took a while longer than expected. This is not surprising since the collection contains more than 4,000 photos in twenty-eight PowerPoint sets. The slide set for Acts 13 has 250 slides, Acts 20 has 180 slides. This includes every place Paul and the apostles traveled and every photograph is identified and explained. In some cases, additional material appears in the slide, such as citations to journal articles.

Along with photographs detailing the Paul’s missionary journeys, many inscriptions are included (the Gallio Inscription, the Temple balustrade, the Politarchs inscriptions, Roman calendars, etc.). In addition there are high quality photographs of coins, artifacts, models, scrolls from museums. There are maps tracing Paul’s travels created by A. D. Riddle of RiddleMaps.com.

Since these are PowerPoint slides, the editors provide annotations explaining the image and the location of the photograph. There is also a code in the notes indicating the source of the image. Many are from Bolen, but there are other contributors (and I noticed a few wiki commons images as well). This is very helpful for identifying the location of museum photographs or some of the historical photographs.

I looked over most of the data sets, but for this review I will focus on Acts 13, 250 slides in all. Each slide has a phrase from the Bible across the top, the reference is in the bottom right corner. A brief description appears in the bottom right corner, and a few lines of explanation appear in the slide notes along with the image credit. Since Acts 13 begins in Syrian Antioch, there are a few slides from the modern city of Antakya in south-east Turkey, including a photograph of the ancient hippodrome taken between 1934 and 1939. There are plenty of photographs of Roman remains on Cyprus including the gymnasium at Salamis and Villa of Theseus at Paphos.

To illustrate Paul’s encounter with Bar-Jesus, there are two Aramaic curse bowls,   one from Babylon and the other from the eleventh century A.D. There are two Latin inscription was found near Pisidian Antioch with the name Sergius Paulus, one is a public domain image from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Perge is well illustrated, including the rock-cut pass between Magydus and Perga on the Via Sebaste and later Via Sebaste after Döşeme pass. After Paul leaves Pisidian Antioch, he travels to Iconium, as illustrated by a photo of a Roman bridge on the Via Sebaste east of Yunuslar between Pisidian Antioch and Iconium. Many of these photographs of Roman roads are from Mark Wilson, one of the best sources for Paul’s travels in Asia Minor. He also contributed a photograph of an inscription mentioning Galatia and Pamphylia, from Perga. The slide cites Wilson’s recent article, “The Denouement of Claudian Pamphylia-Lycia and its Implications for the Audience of Galatians,” Novum Testamentum 60 (2018): 337–60. This is the kind of detail I appreciate in these slides, there are others with citations of journal articles, such as the God-fearer mosaic from the synagogue of Sardis (dated to c. AD 365), citing John H. Kroll, “The Greek Inscriptions of the Sardis Synagogue,” Harvard Theological Review 94/1 (2001): 9.

For Acts 13:50, “But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence” there is a photo of a statue of Plancia Magna from Perga (2nd century A.D.) followed by an inscription at Perge with her name. Plancia Magna was a wealthy and powerful women in Perge, although certainly not a believer. This statue shows there indeed were prominent women who had significant power in a city like Perge.

There are some slides which do not seem particularly on topic. “Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch” (Acts 13:1) is illustrated with a wonderful Tiberias. Why? Herod moved his capital from Sepphoris to Tiberias. Barnabas and Saul speak in the synagogues in Cyprus (Acts 13:5), this is illustrated by the synagogue at Magdala. To be fair, there are not many first century synagogues and Magdala is an excellent example, but is not a synagogue from Acts 13.

Others strike me as unnecessary. For example, there is a picture of mist surrounding Nimrod’s fortress in Israel to illustrate “Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him” and a photo of a blind man in Jerusalem for “He went around seeking people to lead him by the hand.” When John Mark returns to Jerusalem, there are several slide of Jerusalem including the Syrian Orthodox site for the upper room. For Acts 13:17, “The God of this people Israel chose our forefathers” there is a photograph of Abraham’s well in Beersheba and several beautiful photographs from Egypt since 13:17 mentions Egypt. In fact, most of the slides illustrating Paul’s sermon are not necessary, but since the goal is to have something for every verse, they are included here. I would have rather had 75 more slides of Roman roads between Perge and Pisidian Antioch.

Evaluation. For many people, using Google Image Search to find pictures for their lectures is second nature. It is easy to do and there are often good photographs available without any usage restrictions. So why purchase this set of photographs from Todd Bolan?

First, these photographs often do not appear on the web. For most of the collection, Bolen has taken the photographs himself and he owns the copyright. These are not snapshots from someone’s Holy Land Tour taken with their iPhone.

Second, there are several types of photographs which are difficult to obtain yourself, such as aerial photography. Bolen has also included many historic photographs from the American Colony and Eric Matson collections released by Bible Places in 2009.

Third, if you are just grabbing a few photographs from the web for your teaching, perhaps you are violating copyright law. The copyright notice is as follows:

The purchaser is granted permission to use this work in face-to-face teaching, video-recorded sermons, class notes, church newsletters, and like contexts. Separate permission must be obtained from BiblePlaces.com to use this material in books, magazines, commercial products, websites, and online courses. Slide notes should be treated as any other copyrighted written material, with credit given when quoting from these notes. For copyright inquiries, please email Todd Bolen at tbolen94@bibleplaces.com.

Yes, I know we all do it and it is doubtful you will get in trouble for snagging someone’s vacation pictures from Flickr. But some universities and churches are trying to limit resources to “fair use” copyright images. The Photo Companion to the Bible allows for legal images which can be freely edited for your own needs.

If you purchase the Photo Companion, you can download it immediately with the promise of free lifetime updates as well as get a DVD copy. One important thing to consider is the copyright permissions which come with the Photo Companion to the Bible. All the images are free for use for any purpose (teaching, sermons, etc.), although if they are used in a publication, you will need to obtain permission. I have seen Bolen’s photographs in many books from major publishers, which speaks to the quality of this resource.

If you visit the website, there are samples of Matthew 4 and John 2 so you can get an idea what the collection looks like. Finally, here is a five minute video promoting the Photo Companion.

NB: Thanks to Todd Bolen at BiblePlaces.com for kindly providing me with a review copy of this resource. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.

 

 

Book Review: Barry J. Beitzel ed. Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Gospels

Beitzel, Barry J. and Kristopher A. Lyle, eds. Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Gospels. Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2017. 583 pp.; Hb.  $49.99  Link to Lexham Press

As Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Barry Beitzel has a well-deserved reputation in scholarship for his contributions to biblical geography. He edited the The New Moody Atlas of the Bible (Moody, 2009; reviewed here). His new edited volume contains forty-eight essays written by fifteen New Testament scholars who have contributed to the field of New Testament geography.

The chapters in this Geographical Commentary are roughly chronological, beginning with the infancy narratives, baptism, and temptation before moving on to Jesus’s ministry. The book could function as a “Harmony of the Gospels” since each of the forty-eight chapters includes Gospel parallel passages when available. A chapter on John 4 appears early in Jesus’s ministry. Chapters on John 7:37-39 and John 9 are placed in a series of chapters on Jesus’s teaching.

Some of the essays in this book concern geographical problems. For example, Benjamin Foreman’s essay is about the location of the baptism of Jesus. Todd Bolen assesses the evidence for the location of the “drowned pigs” in Matthew 8:28-42 (Gadara? Gerasa? Gergesa? Kursi?). Benjamin Foreman examines evidence for the burial of Jesus, comparing the Holy Sepulcher to the Garden Tomb, and concludes the Holy Sepulcher is more likely even if there is value is far more spiritually uplifting to Protestants. But most of the essays describe less controversial locations, such as Perry Phillips on the Well at Sychar or Todd Bolen’s contribution on the Temple, “Magnificent Stones and Wonderful Buildings of the Temple Complex.”

Other essays in this collection deal with cultural elements in the background of various stories in the Gospels. Elaine Phillips’s article on domestic architecture in Capernaum, Carl Laney on “Fishing the Sea of Galilee” and Chris McKinney’s “Pig Husbandry in Israel during the New Testament.” Aubrey Taylor’s chapter on the “Historical Basis of the Parable of the Pounds” deals with Roman taxation. (As a side note, this chapter does not have a single illustration in the print version of the book.)

A few of the chapters make a connection between a geographical location and a theological issue. Gordon Franz contributes a fascinating essay on the Valley of Hinnom as a metaphor for Hell. In this revised paper first read at the national Evangelical Theological Society meeting in 1987, Franz points out the earliest reference to Hinnom as a garbage dump comes from A. D. 1200. He therefore argues the word is not based on a Second Temple reality (a garbage dump). Still, it refers to a place of eschatological judgment (325).

Each article in this Geographical Commentary is well-researched and written. It also has a detailed bibliography pointing interested readers to detailed studies on the topic considered. The book can be used as a reference or as a running commentary as one reads through one of the Gospels. Since the articles are rich in details, it would be an excellent companion for someone traveling to Israel for a study tour.

iPad Screen Shot

Logos Bible Software Version

Like most Lexham publications, this Geographical Commentary on the Gospels was published in print and Logos Library formats. The electronic version fully utilizes the Logos system, including indexed searching and linking keywords to other resources. For example, all biblical text is linked to your preferred Bible, or users can hover over the reference to read the text.

The electronic version of this book has many more images and graphics than the book and can include videos. For example, the print edition has two photographs in the five-page section entitled “Millstones in Capernaum” (Matthew 17:24-18:14). The Logos format book has a map of Galilee, an info-graphic of the synagogue at Capernaum, and links to two videos, a walk-through of Capernaum, which plays in the Logos software itself, and a link to a seven-minute video, “Capernaum: Jesus’ Base of Operations in Galilee” on FaithlifeTV.com. This video is from The Cultural Context of the Bible series with David A. deSilva (although the narration sounds like it was produced with speech-to-text software). Maps, photographs, and other graphics can be copied and pasted into your own documents (Word and PowerPoint; be sure to cite your source!). Many of the infographics and other resources appear in many other Faithlife resources.

The electronic version includes all the same footnotes and bibliography as the print version and a “see also” section, which lists all the links in the section. One advantage of the electronic version is the ability to cut/paste these references into a document or copy them to BibTex for use in bibliography management software. Usually, Logos resources are tagged to open a resource if you owe the book. Still, I noticed that Anchor Bible Dictionary articles are not tagged to open the article within Logos.

One feature missing in the electronic version is page numbers. Since the Logos version was published first and was initially intended as a fully interactive multimedia resource, there was no need for page numbers. Now that a “real book” has been published, Logos could enhance the value of this resource by adding page number tags to the electronic version of the text. Since Logos Bible Software does an excellent job assisting users in citing their sources properly, it would be an improvement to sync the print pages to the text in the electronic book. One other minor quibble: there are a few repeated graphics; this is forgivable in the electronic version but a waste of limited space in the print version (the millstone on pages 112 and 311).

Conclusion

The Lexham Geographic Commentary on the gospels is a joy to read. The articles are stimulating and well-illustrated.  This book will make an excellent addition to the library of any student of the Bible, but especially for those visiting Israel. Lexham has a second volume on Acts through Revelation in production; hopefully, additional volumes on the Old Testament will follow.

NB: I appreciate Lexham Press’s generous offer of a review copy of this book, but this did not influence my thoughts about the work.

Book Review: Todd Bolen, The Gospels: Photo Companion to the Bible

Todd Bolen has been producing high quality resources for Bible teachers for many years on his website Bible Places.com. I first became aware of Bolens’s Pictorial Library of Biblical Lands at an ETS in 2003. At the time this was eight CDs or one DVD of high quality photographs of Israel and Asia Minor. I have used these photographs in virtually every class I teach to add some graphics to an otherwise dull PowerPoint presentation. I added the American Colony and Eric Matson collections in 2009, and there are several other historical sets available on Bolen’s site.

This new resource from BiblePlaces.com is something of a mash-up of all of Bolen’s previous collections plus a great deal more. Each volume of the Photo Companion to the Bible covers a Gospel chapter by chapter as a PowerPoint collection. Photographs are arranged by verse, with several slides per verse in many cases. For example, for Mark there are 16 PowerPoint files, each set has more than 100 images.

Some readers might wonder if it is worth purchasing these DVDs since they are used to using Google Image Search to find pictures for their lectures. First, these photographs often do not appear on the web. For most of the collection, BiblePlaces.com has taken these photographs themselves and they own the copyright. These are not snapshots from someone’s Holy Land Tour taken with their iPhone. I have noticed the photographs were often taken when there are few tourists in the way.

Second, if you are just grabbing a few photographs from the web for your teaching, perhaps you are violating copyright law. Yes, I know we all do it and it is doubtful you will get in trouble for snagging someone’s vacation pictures from Flickr. But some churches (and certain colleges) do try to limit resources to “fair use” copyright images.  The copyright notice is as follows:

The purchaser is granted permission to use this work in face-to-face teaching, video-recorded sermons, class notes, church newsletters, and like contexts. Separate permission must be obtained from BiblePlaces.com to use this material in books, magazines, commercial products, websites, and online courses. Slide notes should be treated as any other copyrighted written material, with credit given when quoting from these notes. For copyright inquiries, please email Todd Bolen at tbolen94@bibleplaces.com.

The Photo Companion to the Bible allows for legal images which can be edited for your own needs. (Here is a list of contributors for proper attribution.) I have seen Bolen’s photographs in many books from major publishers, which speaks to the quality of this resource.

There are several types of photographs are in each collection. For most passages, slides contain geographical photographs from Bolen’s earlier collections and new aerial photographs. Sometimes the aerial photographs are labeled pointing out key locations in the photographs. If the Old Testament is quoted, Bolen has a photograph of the relevant text in the Dead Sea Scrolls, or often a Yemenite Torah scroll photographed at The Master’s Seminary. The quoted texted is highlighted by a rectangle.

Since these are PowerPoint slides, the editors provide annotations explaining the image and the location of the photograph. This is very helpful for identifying the location of museum photographs or some of the historical photographs. Since there are often many slides on the same topic, these descriptions are critical to the usefulness of the Photo Companion to the Bible. For example, in the Mark 16 set, there are many photographs of the Garden Tome and the Holy Sepulcher, as would be expected. But the slides include many other examples of ancient Jewish tombs. Since these are less well known, the annotations will help a teacher select the right image for their own presentation.

For this review, I browsed several chapters for each Gospel, but I will comment in more detail on the file for Mark 10 (chosen more or less at random). There are 134 slides in this file, including many views of Galilee taken at different times and angles. I particular enjoy seeing the historical photographs alongside modern photos. Sometimes the location looks the same after 100 years, but in some cases you can see the impact of modern Israeli culture and (unfortunately) the tourist industry.

In addition, the collection includes the following:

  • Michelangelo’s Moses from the Church of St. Peter in Chains in Rome is included for 10:3, “He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’”
  • A divorce document, in Old Assyrian, from Karum Kanesh, from the in the Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.
  • For Mark 10:14, “Let the little children come to me,” there are slides of modern Israeli children in the Jewish quarter of the Old City and an American Colony photograph of a group of children in Kiriath Anavim in the Judean hills west of Jerusalem dated August 6, 1939.
  • For the rich young man approaches Jesus in Mark 10:17, there is a photograph from the Istanbul Archaeological Museum of a Roman man from Magnesia on the Maeander dated to the first century AD.
  • For the commandments in Mark 10:19, there is a photograph of the Ten Commandments from the Diaspora Yeshiva on Mount Zionl Exodus 20 from a Yemenite Torah scroll; a Sumerian tablet with the verdict concerning murder, from Girsu, 2112–2004 BC from the from Istanbul Museum of the Ancient Orient; an Egyptian warning to robbers on tomb scene of courtier Biu, 6th dynasty, ca. 2400–2250 BC; a cuneiform record of trial before king of Hazor, 18th–17th centuries BC from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
  • Since the man was rich, there is a photograph of a mansion in Second Temple period Jerusalem from the Wohl Museum and several examples of wealth from other museums including the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
  • For the famous saying about a camel going through the eye of a needle, there are three pictures of camels and three pictures of ancient needles, and two pictures of the closed Jaffa Gate (even though this is a historic photograph from before 1920, it is not the gate Jesus would have had in mind, and there was no “needle gate” anyway).

This ought to be enough to illustrate the types of things provided for each chapter of the Gospels. Occasionally I wondered at the usefulness of a particular photo, but what seems odd to me might be an excellent image for someone else.

If you purchase the Photo Companion, you can download it immediately with the promise of free lifetime updates as well as get a DVD copy.

There is a nice overview of the four volumes of the Photo Companion to the Bible currently available on BiblePlaces.com. There are two sample chapters (Matthew 4
and John 2), both are the full 100+ set of slides in the full product. Finally, here is a five minute video promoting the Photo Companion. The Photo Companion to the Bible is an essential resource for anyone teaching or preaching the Gospels. This database of images will enhance your presentations and help make the world of the Gospels come alive for your students. Short of visiting Israel several times on your own, this Photo Companion will also help anyone reading through the Gospels visualize the places Jesus lived.

NB: Thanks to Todd Bolen at BiblePlaces.com for kindly providing me with a review copy of this resource. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.