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Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2004 Biblical Interpretation 12, 1Also available online www.brill.nl

BOOK REVIEWS

Gottwald, Norman K., The Politics of Ancient Israel. Library of An-cient Israel. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. Pp. xvii +366. Cl. Np. ISBN 0-664-21977-2.

Politics seems to be an issue for which the Hebrew Bible itself scarcelyallows any scope, since it presents the Chosen People as a theodicy, under

various but always divinely-given regimes (the prophet-leader, theFhrer,the judge, the charismatic king, the dynastic king, and finally the high

priest). Under a god who created the world and controls history, the onlyscope for politics is disobedience to the divine will, typically expressedin terms of disobedience to a covenant. Real-life politics is excluded.

This book, then, is working against the biblical sources, imposing uponthe ancient Israel and Judah that they describe a pattern of behaviour(politics) that we believe all human societies to fulfil. To make theproblem worse, those sources are historically of very uncertain reliabil-ity. These obstacles Gottwald identifies very clearly, who tries through-

out to be explicit, honest and transparent in his presuppositions, methodsand conclusions. This is typical of Gottwalds scholarship and all too raregenerally in a discipline where the conclusion often seems more impor-tant than the method.

Following his description of what he calls an interpretive minefield(in the title of chapter 1), we are given in chapter 2 a definition of poli-tics as the public exercise of power, coupled with the legitimation of itsuse, within a given social and territorial space; while power is defined as

the ability to marshal and apply resources toward strategic ends exer-cised not only against the inertia of things, but against the resistance ofopposing wills (p. 7, quoting from Boudon and Bourricaud, A Critical

Dictionary of Sociology [Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1989], p. 267).Gottwald assigns this exercise of power into two categories: broad socialnetworks and centralized institutions. Part of Gottwalds enterprise is tounderline the extent to which centralized power is less secure and all-embracing than is often assumed (or reflected in the generally central-

izing, even Zionizing, biblical sources). He also follows the history ofIsraelite/Judaean politics through three eras, those of decentralizedprestate politics, autonomous state politics and colonial politicsaperiodization, he notes, that corresponds to a certain degree with thebiblical portrait itself. Chapter 3 is devoted to a review of the biblicalaccount of Israelite politics in these three eras, with occasional criticalcomments to ensure that the readers do not think they are being givena reliable historical description (an example is the account of a return

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to an empty land by a purified golah, pp. 102-106). Nevertheless, thebiblical account does provide the raw data for Gottwalds critical recon-struction, though the character and methodology of that reconstruction

will be presented later.

Chapter 4 offers a comparative approach as Gottwald surveys the his-tory of Egypt and Mesopotamian politics between 3000-1500, then 1500-538; Anatolia, Iran and Macedonia are added for the final era of 538-63bce. He notes in summary that, while state politics predominate in allthese cultures, states rarely if ever had secure control of their societies.Rather, they were momentary concentrations of power overlaying di-

verse social and economic groups with competing interests (p. 147). Thewill to empire was nearly always inherent, but the larger the realm ac-

quired by conquest, the less secure the control. Yet beneath the ephem-erality of state-political configurations was a cultural permanencemaintained by professional bureaucrats and perhaps also by popular oraltraditions. In the Persian and Hellenistic era, however, the emergenceof the notion of a universal culture interacted with local cultures in com-plex ways.

Within this context, Israel and Judah emerge as small-to-medium sizedtributary states with modest natural and human resources but occupyingan area of strategic military and economic importance. Gottwald acceptsthat there was at one time a single ancient Israel that split into twokingdoms, and that these two states were distinctive in preserving tradi-tions from the pre-state period. This is an important observation whichforeshadows the later claim that it is in the Scriptures that the uniquenessof Israel lies, not in its historical configuration. In the mixing of religionand politics, pre-Persian Israel and Judah were similar to any other NearEastern states, bereft of any distinctive democratic traditions or unifiedmonotheistic cult, even if the Yahweh cult may have been the official

state cult for much of the time.The next step (chapter 5) is the critically imagining of Israelite poli-

tics in each of the three eras outlined earlier. Here Gottwald accepts themodest role of the modern scholar of ancient Israel: he recognizes thatthe fallibility of the sources and the ideological stakes make any positiv-ist enterprises worthless, yet the challenge remains to use knowledge andunderstanding in what must inevitably be a subjective exercise, in thebelief that among such subjective reconstructions lies the hope of grasp-

ing the reality of the past. Some readers will regard this position as acop-out, no doubt. But it seems to this reviewer at least nothing more orless than the truth. In the case of ancient Israel, however, the variety ofpossible scholarly positions makes for a very wide spectrum of jostlingreconstructions, depending primarily on perceived reliability of the pre-served traditions. For Gottwald takes a moderate line: ancient scraps ofpoetry and narrative reflect what looks like the reality of prestate societyand seem more like archaic survivals than inventions. Yet many songs

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and narratives contain archaic and idiosyncratic features best understoodas survival from that period when the society was frontier, retribalizingand segmented, representing a phase of interstitial emergence, agrowth arising from weakness in the great power centres. Although these

scraps do not give a rounded picture, only a broken mosaic (p. 169),Gottwald can offer a characterization of prestate Israel (pp. 169-70), asfollows.

Agrarian and pastoral highland villagers coined the name Israel forthemselves; their social organization was based on the village and lin-eage, though intermittent co-operation at a regional tribal level tookplace. Religious practice involved lay participation at open-air festivals,

with a modestly developed and empowered priesthood. Settlements in

Gilead and Galilee remained in contact with the central highland tribes,but Judah remained outside extensive connections until the verge ofmonarchy. Clashes with Egyptians claiming sovereignty in Palestine ledto the development of the Exodus myth. Small-scale conflicts with otherneighbours were also experienced (as reflected in Judges).

The formation of the state from this early society was the result ofgeographical and economic circumscription together with external pres-sure. Gottwald concedes that the unity achieved by David may have been

a transient power grab by a Judean chief. Thereafter, the two statesagain split, into a larger, more multicultural and cosmopolitan north-ern state and a smaller, more monocultural and insular southern state(pp. 200-201). The political agendas of both were typical, though thenature of the biblical source material makes it extremely difficult todescribe the relationship between the king and the subjects; the sourcesare simply not interested in the everyday life.

Hence to the colonial politics, where again the inadequate sourcesindicate a depreciation of politics, generating a flight into other dis-courses and interests. This Gottwald characterizes as a dispersed depen-dent politics.

In his own Epilogue, Gottwalds repeats his qualified confidence inthe biblical sources, which nevertheless express the dominant ideologyof the state. The political structures of Israel and Judah were typical; the

Yahweh cult was not influential on politics, and there was no covenantpolitics. It is rather the literature and religious ideas that are Israelsbequest to posterity, not its politics.

The most obvious feature of Gottwalds treatment is how comprehen-sively the older position of Albright and the biblical theology move-ment has been overturned, both with respect to the positivist confidencein the sources and the appeal to a real historical society as a recipientand vehicle of divine activity. While some degree of historical memoryremains retrievable from the sources, the political manifestation of Is-rael and Judah offers Gottwald no model society, no theocracy. To that

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extent, though he does not say so, he accepts the view of many otherscholars that the biblical Israel is essentially fictive, for this Israel is com-pletely (and unbelievably) distinctive, while its historical counterpart isnot, at least as deduced from the scraps of genuine historical represen-

tation that can be gleaned.Gottwald has of course also considerably revised the position he took

in The Tribes of Yahweh , which much more fully exploited the literarysources and claimed a distinctive political-social configuration for earlyIsrael. Here that claim is abandoned, together with an Exodus event,

which is now a myth based on political resistance to Egyptian domina-tion in Palestine. Israelite religion and Israelite literature are now sepa-rable. Despite maintaining confidence of the reliability of some sources,

and finding a good deal of correspondence between literature and ar-chaeology, Gottwald does not recover an ancient Israel that equates withthe biblical Israel. Despite widespread misunderstanding and deliber-ate misrepresentation, it is this equation of biblical and historical por-traits that essentially divides so-called minimalists and maximalists and,although scholarly opinions spread along a spectrum rather than clus-tering at two poles, Gottwald is now closer to the minimal end.Unsurprisingly, this reviewer welcomes that shift in such an influential

and persuasive scholar!What is missing from the book? The lack of politics in the colonialperiod means that for Gottwald this era is relatively less important,and like the majority of biblical scholars he focusses on the prestate andstate periods. This partly explains why Gottwald has severed the linkbetween scriptures and politics. But the writers of these scriptures werethemselves the instruments of Judean politics, the professional bureau-crats whom Gottwald describes as the bearers of culture. The attempt,in the manner of Fredric Jameson, to see the political unconscious inthe scriptures would have made this book even more valuable and per-haps added a more positive aspect to its predominantly negative thesis.For the scriptures abound with politics. To begin with, the colonial motifof the immigrant displacing the indigenous (Abraham, Joshua, Ezra).Does this have no historical roots? And while the Hebrew Bible does notdescribe a historical Israel in the strict sense, it does delineate a set ofidealizedIsraels, the very different but well-developed wilderness nationsof Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the charismatically-led twelve-tribe Israel of Judges, the empire of David and Solomon, the theodicy ofChronicles. These creations are political statements about what Israelideally is or should be, and represent exercises in political philosophyon the part of some Judean authors. The prophetic books, too, are alsofull of politics, on the relationship between Israel and other nations,between king and prophet, history and morality. The claim in Isaiah thatCyrus is the second David, anointed and builder (likewise through his

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successor) of the Jerusalem temple is a major statement about the placeof Judah in the scheme of world politics.

The scribal elite of Judah, then, generated a huge amount of politicaldiscourse. To be fair, Gottwald perhaps had too little space to cover this.

But this discourse, rather than the political configurations of the histori-cal states of Israel and Judah, provides a link between literature andpolitics. Sympathetic as I am to Gottwalds thesis here, I do think thatthe politics of the Bible can be relatedto the politics of colonial Judah.But if that historical context is not broadly accepted, we do indeed haveto accept Gottwalds dichotomy between what ancient Israelites and

Judeans did and what they wrote. Or a return to Albrights agenda, asDever, Halpern, Stager and others would have. A poor outcome, either

way.But biblical politics is perhaps a topic for a separate book. For themeantime, Gottwald has made an important statement about the histori-cal nations of Israel and Judah, and expressed it with care and consider-ation. His questioning of what we know and how we know it and hisongoing attempt to be honest in his scholarship reinforce the quality ofhis conclusions. However, this book can also point forward to a morerealistic and worthwhile exploration of the historical link between poli-

tics and the Bible.

Philip R. Davies

University of Sheffield

SALYER, Gary D., Vain Rhetoric: Private Insight and PublicDebate inEcclesiastes. JSOTSup, 327. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001.

Pp. 443. Cl. 60.00 or $95.00. ISBN 1-84127-218-3.

It is a singular irony that, while the book of Ecclesiastes has promoteda great deal of dissension among scholars as to its meaning and the in-tentions of its author, the methodologies employed in its study havelargely been limited to those of a traditional historical-critical nature.Salyers work, in which he puts the case for the usefulness of some ofthe literary-critical methodologies that have been successfully applied toother biblical works, is an attempt to right this perceived deficiency.

In the first chapter of his work, Salyer sets forward the theoretical basisfor the reading of Scripture. The second chapter moves from the gen-eral to the particular, from Scripture as a whole to Ecclesiastes, withspecial regard to the significance of the heavy use of the first person inthe latter. The third chapter focuses on some of the more importantproblems that have beset previous readers of Ecclesiastes.

It is, however, in the fourth chapter that Salyer most clearly expresses


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his central contentions. In keeping with the thrust of contemporary schol-arship on Ecclesiastes, he considers the work as coming from a singlehand. The hand, however, is not that of Qoheleth, but of the personalityto which older studies have referred as the epiloguist. Qoheleth him-

self is simply a literary fiction (whether or not based on a real-life indi-vidual). For Salyer, also, the obscurity of the book, particularly evokedin the contradictions that beset it, is a device designed to create in themind of the implied reader the same sense of frustration and hebel feltby Qoheleth in his struggles to understand existence. In this respect,Salyer follows Fox, who argues that Ecclesiastes is contradictory becauselife is contradictory. Despite the many, and often unsatisfactory, schol-arly attempts to resolve apparent contradictions within the book (whether

by positing multiple authors/editors or by harmonising conflicting state-ments), Salyers position serves to close down further enquiry into thisaspect of Ecclesiastes. Yet we might ask of him: Are all of these contra-dictions intentional, or could it be that some are due to our partial un-derstanding of Qoheleths mode of expression?

It is the investigation into the nature of the books first person narra-tive that is the most important aspect of this study. For Salyer, Ecclesiastesshould be read as a debate between the persona of Qoheleth, who be-

lieves that true wisdom can only be mediated by private insight, and theepiloguist, who stresses the role of public knowledge (i.e. tradition) invalidating the ideas of the individual. In Salyers eyes, Qoheleth fails inthis thesis as much as he succeeds. While the reader of Ecclesiastes mayadmire the honesty with which Qoheleth dissects the events which go tomake up existence, and while the first person format encourages a feel-ing of intimacy with the wisdom teacher who is portrayed within the mainbody of the book, Qoheleth lacks the qualities of magnanimity (gener-osity) and magnificence (ability to elevate the reader) to make him analtogether trustworthy character. It is this conflict between trust andmistrust in the mind of the implied reader that results in the vain rheto-ric of which the books title makes mention. Such a conflict, contendsSalyer, proceeds not from poor expression on the part of Qoheleth thenarrator, but is a literary ploy designed to make the reader questionQoheleths thesis about the superiority of private insight. By contrast,the epilogue seeks to root knowledge in the experience of the commu-nity as a whole. The implied reader, it is claimed, will be partly influ-enced by the persona of Qoheleth, partly by that of the epiloguist, and

will come to the conclusion that true knowledge is generated in the in-teraction between private insight and public debate. Thus the mean-ing of Ecclesiastes cannot be found at a surface level, but only at thedeep level of its structure; significance lies not in the monologue ofQoheleth itself, but in the implied debate between the private and pub-lic worlds.

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It is difficult to do justice to the subtlety of Salyers thought in a briefreview. At times, however, one feels that the arguments are a little toosubtle to be entirely credible. One may reasonably be suspicious of theargument that every effect of the book is intentional; that the contradic-

tions are intended to evoke in the reader the same sense of frustrationfelt by Qoheleth with life; that the epilogue really is intended bring outthe debate between public and private visions in as detailed a manner asSalyer suggests. Yet Salyers argumentation is not frivolous, nor can iteasily be laid aside. If the detail of his argument is not always convinc-ing, the general thrust of his argument opens up valuable areas for fur-ther debate.

As evidence for his contentions about the effect of Qoheleths rheto-

ric on the reader, Salyer offers a linear reading of the text in the fifthand sixth chapters. Again, there is much here that is fresh, and plenty offood for thought for the Qoheleth enthusiast (with useful observationson the purpose of the quotation sections of Ecclesiastes, for example).

Yet it is here that my own doubts also began to bubble to the surface.Thus, I found myself disagreeing strongly with his readings of 3:1-8 and7:25-29, both of which are, in their own ways, key passages. Under nor-mal circumstances, this would not matter, for Salyers opinion of the

meanings of both are basically quite mainstream. But Salyer is as inter-ested in the purpose of the placement of a text, and in this he frequentlymakes proposals that seem far-fetched. For instance, I am willing to be-lieve that Qoheleth expresses a viewpoint in 7:25-29 that is basically mi-sogynistic; I am less able to believe that the text is deliberately placedthere to present Qoheleth as a misogynist and thus to undermine hismessage about the trustworthiness of private insight over collective knowl-edge. This is an example of a larger problem in Salyers work: Becausehis overall linear reading is so tightly woven, doubts as to the conclu-sions on one passage lead to further doubts about the reading of thenext passage where the earlier conclusions are used as a starting point,and so on. Like Salyers implied reader of Qoheleths words, once theseed of doubt was sown, it is difficult to dislodge.

Overall, however, this is a remarkable study. One of the hopes ex-pressed by the author in his preface is that his book might be used as aprimer in literary methods by postgraduate classes. Although I wouldhesitate to use any single book as such if teaching a literary methodscourse, the adept way that the author sets out his stall would certainlyincline me to give it an important place in my bibliography. Salyer ismercifully concise and lucid when steering the reader through the va-garies of postmodern criticism, and writes as if he wants to be under-stood. His work will not, I suspect, change the face of Qoheleth studies,but it will exert some influence over the future direction of scholarshipin this area. At the moment, the price of the hardback militates against

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its wider use (especially on literary methodology courses), but Qohelethscholars will profit from scanning its pages.

Dominic Rudman

University of Exeter

Quinn-miscall, Peter D., ReadingIsaiah: PoetryandVision. Louisville/ London / Leiden: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. Pp. viii +224. Pbk $20.95 or 15.99. ISBN 0-664-22369-9.

This is a book about method: Peter D. Quinn-Miscall sets out to ex-

emplify a way of reading the book of the Prophet Isaiah. The contoursof this book have been anticipated in the authors previous works. His

views on composition and authorship are those described in his 1993commentary, Isaiah: the book of Isaiah is a unified work presented asthe vision of an anonymous prophet-poet working in the fifth-fourth cen-turybce. Nothing more on the author or composition can be determinedand is, in any event, irrelevant to Quinn-Miscalls reading of the book asa unified written work. Isaiahs vision, reported in poetic form, provides

a retrospective on Israels history from the mid-eighth century to the endof the sixth century, but its outlook reaches from creation to the authorspresent, to the readers present, and ultimately to the creation of a newheavens and a new earth. Following a course Quinn-Miscall establishedinIsaiah 34-35: A Nightmare/A Dream(1999), the present work capitalizeson the visionary aspects of the work in which the prophet-poet does notdescribe an actual world, present or past, but an ideal world, a dream

world, that never existed (p. 20). As in actual visions, dreams, and night-

mares, imagery is key.After laying out all of the above in the Introduction, chapter 1 reviewsbriefly the history of Israel. Underlying the entire vision of Isaiah arethemes that derive their content from major historical events: the eventsof 735-700 dramatize the pervasive theme of sin / punishment / survival;the Babylonian conquest, the exile, and hope for the future give rise toa thematic pattern of exile / return. The author uses the themes, imag-ery, and characters of these events independently of their historicity, thatis, he is entirely disinterested in what happened and focuses instead ontheir literary and thematic significance. In describing the structure ofthe book, Quinn-Miscall follows with only a few slight changes a widelyaccepted analysis: chs. 112; 1323; 2427; 2833; 3435; 3639; 40:149:13; 49:1454:17; 5559; 6062; 6366. These divisions are descriptiveand not historical.

Themes, the subject of chapter 2, are recurrent concepts that, takentogether, express the meaning of Isaiahs vision; they have an intellec-


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tual appeal. True to his method, the author tracks these themes acrossthe entire book, heedless of chronology, setting, or context. The discus-sion starts with the very broad, for example, evil and good, justice andrighteousness. Each theme is considered in terms of sub-themes: for ex-

ample, under evil is a description of sin, under which is a discussion ofrebellion, injustice, violations of cultic practices, ignorance, pride andarrogance. Thematic diversity testifies to Isaiahs desire to address alltimes, places, and people, to be, as the author says, all-inclusive. Thisdesire, coupled with the visionary aspects of the text, accounts for its be-

wildering complexity.Images, the subject of chapter 3, are concrete objects that convey

meaning by their appeal to the senses. Any individual object can have a

variety of meanings depending on context and usage; thus fire can beeither destructive (5:24) or cleansing (4:4), the way or path can refer tothe peoples moral conduct (2:2-3) or to the Lords saving way (43:16-17). Quinn-Miscall tracks images from city and rural life, domestic andmilitary settings, plants, animals, natural phenomena, physical conditions,occupations, and much more, across the entire book, showing their com-plexity, diversity, and ambiguity. Perhaps more than in any other sectionof the book, this chapter illustrates the authors method and intention.

Images are presented kaleidoscopically, sometimes without the rigor anddiscipline of more traditional studies (e.g., treating fire and light as in-terchangeable, pp. 87-88). The author does not interpret images as muchas lay out their usage, encouraging readers to use his comments as guide-posts on their own journey through Isaiahs world.

Chapter 4 discusses charactersnamed and unnamed, human, divine,the nations, personal and impersonalas both actors and speakers. Notunexpectedly, even historical characters, like Hezekiah, Ahaz, Rabshakeh,have a metaphorical and literary function that surpasses their historicalsignificance. His discussion of speeches and speakers makes a virtue ofthe difficulties in identifying whether the Lord or the prophet is speak-ing. Similarly, he takes the anonymity of the prophet (apart from thosepassage which explicitly name the eighth-century Isaiah) to develop athesis earlier advanced by Peter Ackroyd, namely, that the book is moreabout the presentation of a prophet (Ackroyds title) than it is aboutIsaiah as an individual.

The final chapter, under the title The Lords Holy Mountain, treatsa number of heretofore-undiscussed topics such as the messianic pas-sages, Mount Zion/Jerusalem, and the servant(s). He ends with Isaiah66, which he characterizes as a dream and a nightmare, presenting boththe salvation of the just and the ghastly destruction of the wicked. Thebook contains an annotated list of books for further reading, an authorindex, and an index of biblical passages.

There is much to commend this book. As an introduction to a way of

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reading, the author carefully and clearly sets out issues, suggests ap-proaches, and illustrates with many examples. The text is free of techni-cal terms and transliterated Hebrew vocabulary, making it easilyaccessible for the non-specialist. The authors approach is particularly

fresh and convincing when his translations strip the text of chapter andverse numbers, and even quotation marks. The absence of these edito-rial markings opens up new possibilities, connections, and levels of com-plexity, conversely revealing how meaning and textual coherence arefrequently imposed on the text by editors. Quinn-Miscalls tendency totranslate verbs in the present tense makes the text all the more compel-ling, creating a sense of immediacy between the reader and the text. Hissensitivity to figurative language and imagery brings to conscious atten-

tion words and images seasoned readers may simply pass overunreflectively. All of this is noteworthy and commendable.More problematic is the authors implied distinction between reading

and interpreting. He frequently asserts that he is not offering an inter-pretation (pp. 4, 107, 111-12, 169, 192, 210). But, in a very fundamental

way, reading is itself an act of interpretation, for reading is the art ofconstructing meaning. As soon as meaning emerges, interpretation hastaken place. The difficulty of avoiding interpretation is acute in his trans-

lations which, while often fresh and immediate, are sometimes inconsis-tent and vary with context: 61:10 is different on p. 40 than on p. 206;47:14-15 are different on p. 94 than on p. 206; 59:11b on p. 95 is differ-ent than on p. 157, and so on. In this last example, the same word istranslated first as salvation and later as victory. On the one hand, this

variability serves Quinn-Miscalls point well: meaning is fluid and the richinterplay of themes, images, and speakers permits many possibilities; onthe other hand, translation is itself an act of interpretation and requiressome decisions on the part of the translator. The determination of mean-inga venture the author eschewsis built into the act of translation.In the end, it can be fairly stated that the authors method is better servedby the book of Isaiah than the book of Isaiah is served by the authorsmethod. But this is no failing, for it is Quinn-Miscalls stated intentionnot to offer a sustained interpretation of the book but to offer a way ofreading the book. If success is measured, in part, by achieving the statedgoal, then this author has succeeded. Those looking for interpretation

will be disappointed, while those seeking a detailed presentation of im-ages and themes will find this work a good primer. It will be up to read-ers to determine whether the authors goal satisfies their needs.

Thomas L. Leclerc

Saint Anselm College

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Sacchi, Paolo, The History of the Second Temple Period. JSOTSup, 285.Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000. Pp. 533. Cl. 60.00 or$95.00. ISBN 1-85075-938-3.

Paolo Sacchi, retired Professor of Biblical Philology at the Universityof Turin, is one of the leading and more prolific European scholars inthe field of Second Temple Judaism. The academic community owes alarge debt to Sheffield Academic Press for making Sacchis major works

available in English translation: first, Jewish Apocalyptic and Its History

(1997) and now The History of the Second Temple Period (2000). The En-glish translation of the latter (by Thomas Kirk) follows the original even

when the author has somehow changed or revised his position. No at-

tempt is made to engage in a more direct dialogue with English-speak-ing authors, or to adapt the work to an audience unaccustomed to the

format of Italian scholarly works. The addition for example of a finalchapter of summary and conclusion would have eased the reading, con-sidering also the lack in the English edition of the subject index that inthe Italian original helps the reader navigate the text. Sacchis updatingis unfortunately limited to an addition to the Bibliography (pp. 513-16).In the Preface to the English edition (pp. 9-22), however, Sacchi briefly

addresses thirteen controversial issues of contemporary research. Thisdiscussion offers him the opportunity either to reiterate his own posi-tion (as in the case of the historicity of Ezra) or to alert the reader thathe has now modified the views expressed in the text (as in the case ofQumran origins).

Sacchis History is in actuality a history of Jewish thought beginning

with Josiahs defeat at Megiddo in 609 bce and ending with the fall ofthe second temple in 70 ce. Sacchi adopts a distinctive methodological

approach placing theological ideas into their historical contexts; chap-ters describing intellectual phenomena follow chapters outlining Jewishhistory. While using all available sources (including archaeology andnumismatics), Sacchi bases his narrative primarily (and in some cases

exclusively) upon the ideas found in the relevant texts of the period.Part I (The Age of Exile) outlines a history of exilic Judaism, and

then presents the theological ideas of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, R1, and thewriter of Deuteronomy in that historical context. Sacchi refers to Noths

Deuteronomist as R1, the writer of the first history of Israel beginningwith creation and proceeding through the reign of Jehoiachin. Sacchi

does not refer to this writer as the Deuteronomist since he believes thatDeuteronomy, reflecting a distinct republican ideology, was writtenslightly later (515 bce) by a different author.

Part II (The Zadokite Period) is an extended history of ideas run-ning from Deuteronomy until Qoheleth, with particular emphasis on the


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key concepts of covenant and promise and the confrontation betweenthe Zadokite priesthood and their Enochic opponents.

Part III outlines the period from the Advent of Seleucid Dominationto the Destruction of the Second Temple. Isolating two general re-

sponses to the Hellenization of Menelaus (i.e., flight and armed resis-tance), Sacchi demonstrates how these two responses flowered into anumber of distinct Judaisms. Onias IV, who fled to Leontopolis in the

wake of the Maccabean revolt, represents the continuity of the Zadokitetradition. The Essenes, who also separated from the rest of the people,fragmented into various splinter groups, the most conspicuous beingQumran. The Maccabeans represent yet another reaction to the Helle-nization of Palestinian Judaism, the response of armed resistance. Each

of these responses developed distinct theologies.In Part IV (The Themes of Middle Judaism), which actually occu-pies the entire second half of the volume, Sacchi abandons the dia-chronic approach to outline the major themes of Second Temple

Judaism. Significantly, Sacchi here utilizes the term Middle Judaism,which he has borrowed from Boccaccinis Middle Judaism: Jewish Thought300BCE to 200CE (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991). This term not only re-

verses the established trend of referring to Second Temple Judaism as

late Judaism, but it also emphasizes the thematic continuity betweenancient Judaism and its successors (p. 304). The themes of Part IV in-clude Knowledge, Predeterminism and Evil, Salvation, Messianism,Righteousness, Life beyond Death, Purity, and Calendars. Sacchidemonstrates how these themes evolved over time, adapting as their so-cial contexts changed, finding continuity in Rabbinic and Christian texts.The book ends with a brief excursus on Jesus in His Time.

The History of the Second Templeis an important text for several reasons,most notably for its breaking down the arbitrary and historically anach-ronistic boundaries between canonical and non-canonical sources. Anemphasis upon diversity in Second Temple Judaism permeates the work.Beyond the unity of Judaism given by the common awareness of belong-ing to the same ethnic unit (p. 306), Sacchi sees various theologicalpositions, diversification, profound evolution, and paths which areoften diametrically opposed to one another (p. 309). This diversity re-flects competing traditions discovered in the ancient writings, whichSacchi inserts into the history as he sees fit.

Sacchis work signals the emergence of Second Temple Judaism as anautonomous field of research within ancient Jewish studiesa field thatalso includes early Christianity. It likewise reflects evolutionary develop-ments within the field. In 1976 when he published Storia del mondo

guidaico ,Sacchi was still following the traditional model of the Historiesof Israel, emphasizing pre-exilic developments, which he summarized inthe tension between theology of the covenant and theology of the

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promise. The goal of his work was to establish a Jewish background ofChristianity. By 1994 when he published Storia del Secondo Tempio, thefocus had now decidedly shifted upon Second Temple Judaism as a dis-tinct historiographical unit, the setting of diverse political and social

groups, and the cradle of both Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.Yet the view that the theology of the promise and theology of the

covenant are two different, if not opposite, ways of conceiving religion(p. 34), occasionally resurfaces, and Sacchi remains primarily interestedin the conceptual background to the Jesus movement and early Chris-tianity, his goal being to better understand the earliest positions ofChristianity (p. 27). The themes of Part IV are chosen carefully for theimportance they have had on the formation of early Christian thought

(p. 28). Sacchi is clearly reacting against the tendency to separate Chris-tianity from Judaism and to present Second Temple Judaism as leadingunilaterally toward Rabbinic Judaism. This unbalanced approach turnsout to be paradoxically one of the strengths of the work as it leads Sacchito concentrate mainly on the groups that more directly contributed toChristian origins, in particular the Enochic tradition and the Qumrancommunity. From this perspective Sacchis History is an outstandingachievement in Second Temple scholarship. Notably, this is the first his-

tory of the Second Temple period to give such a prominent role to theEnochic tradition. Sacchis contributions to the rediscovery of this apoca-lyptic movement are in fact extensive. In Sacchis reconstruction, Enochic

Judaism emerges as one of the most influential streams of thought sincelate Persian times, and is the one that most dramatically influenced theapocalyptic ideas of Jesus.

The History of Second Temple Judaism, as any pioneering work that hasopened a new path, is not without its problems. Sacchis treatment ofthe early Second Temple Period is undoubtedly one of the highlights ofthe text. The Restoration and the Persian Period, far from being the Dark

Ages of Jewish History, reemerge as very dynamic and creative stages inJewish history, with Zadokites and Enochians as the major characters.However, Sacchis isolation of Deuteronomy as a distinct republican texthas not attracted many followers, as the author himself candidly recog-nizes in the English introduction (pp. 12-13)an indication that adjust-ments may be needed. Besides, Sacchi almost skips the Ptolemaic period,

which does not emerge as having a distinct identity but appears merelyas an age in transition.

Sacchis emphasis throughout the text is upon Palestinian Judaism tothe exclusion of Diaspora Judaism. Reference to Jewish-Hellenistic au-thors, like Philo, is sparingly made, only to illustrate Palestinian ideasand events. Even if the goal is to understand the spirituality of Jesus, itcannot be achieved without considering Jewish-Hellenistic influences inIsrael and especially in Galilee, where unique approaches to religion may

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have developed independently of the spirituality developed in Jerusalemand its environs.

Sacchis extraordinary skill in connecting social and intellectual phe-nomena, which works so well in his treatment of pre-Maccabean Judaisms,

somehow weakens in the last part of the work. Sacchi recognizes thisproblem and explains it. The dates associated with Judaism at the timeof Jesus of Nazareth are, he says, elusive at best. It is difficult to placemany apocryphal, pseudepigraphal, and Qumran texts in a precise his-torical environment, and Sacchi feels more comfortable adopting anelastic approach emphasizing ideas (p. 43). The difficulty is real; LesterL. Grabbe would adopt the same format in his recent contribution Ju-daic Religion in the Second Temple Period(London: Routledge, 2000). The

emphasis Sacchi places upon intellectual and thematic developments ishealthy and capable of providing fresh insights to the development ofJewish thought. However, the ideas which in the first part of the volumewere so well connected to social phenomena are now sometimes lefthanging independent of any concrete home. Future scholars will needto classify documents and themes and assign them to more precise so-cial contexts. The final result will be a still greater appreciation for thebroad intellectual and social diversity of Second Temple Judaism, as well

as a more precise understanding of where the Jesus movement and vari-ous Christianities fit into all of it.Sacchis History has provided solid methodological foundations on

which future research can be confidently built, and in the years to comewill continue to be read with great pleasure and benefit by whoever isinterested or engaged in the study of Second Temple Judaism.

Gabriele Boccaccini (with Ronald Ruark)

University of Michigan

Fisk, Bruce Norman, Do You Not Remember? Scripture, Story, and Exege-sis in the Rewritten Bible of Pseudo-Philo. JSPSup, 37. Sheffield: SheffieldAcademic Press, 2001. Pp. 375. Cl. 50.00 or $80.00. ISBN 1-84127-207-8.

In reviewing recent scholarship on Pseudo-Philo, Fisk notes the im-portance of studies by Cohn, James, Harrington, Feldman, Murphy,Reinmuth, and Jacobson in particular. He thinks that such studies havepaved the way for future progress by identifying the works many quota-tions of and allusions to the Bible and by identifying the techniques by

which it uses scripture. They have demonstrated that as Pseudo-Philopursues the main line of his narrative, he characteristically brings in bib-lical material from elsewhere in scripture as part of his exegetical tech-


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nique. Past studies have also used diachronic approaches to locatePseudo-Philo in the world of ancient Jewish interpretation (see especially

Vermes). But Fisk judges these studies to be inadequate in that they havegenerally not discovered an overall hermeneutical strategy in Pseudo-

Philo that would explain the significance of the works use of scripture.Fisk seeks to discover Pseudo-Philos inner structures and hermeneuti-cal strategies leading to an overall assessment of the works viewpoint.He does so by attempting a more comprehensive model of interpreta-tion, one that takes account of both diachronic and synchronic study,but that also does justice to Pseudo-Philo as a coherent book using bib-lical interpretation to advance its own understandings of scripture. Fiskbegins with a brief inventory of past studies of Pseudo-Philo (chapter 1).

He then investigates three models for reading Jewish exegetical litera-ture, those of Fishbane, Hays, and Boyarin (chapter 2). Next, he articu-lates his own eclectic approach to the text (chapter 3). In the next threechapters (4, 5, and 6), he tests his interpretive model on three passagesfrom Pseudo-Philo. Finally, he summarizes his findings under the rubricof scripture transforming scripture (chapter 7).

Fisk finds helpful Fishbanes concepts of traditio and traditum, termsthat stress both continuity and transformation of material as it is passed

down and reinterpreted. Fisk critically evaluates Fisbane on such issuesas the determination of literary dependence and the degree of transfor-mation necessary to speak of proper exegesis. He also notes thatFishbanes interests lie within the Hebrew Bible itself and the ways in

which that feeds into rabbinic exegesis, so that he largely bypasses theNew Testament and Pseudepigrapha. Fisk next examines Hayss work onPaul. He finds especially suggestive the idea that Pauls reading of Israelstradition as a connective narrative that justifies Gods faithfulness. ForFisk, this is close to the way that Pseudo-Philo views Israels traditions.Given their overarching views of scripture, both Paul and Pseudo-Philocan use a variety of methods in treating scripture, both exercising greatfreedom in interpreting it while, in their own views, remaining faithfulto its central thrust. Finally, Boyarins intertextual approach stresses theidea that the Bible has gaps that midrash seeks to address, but he alsosees a parallel between the Bible and midrash in that both are a series ofreadings and rereadings, interpretations and reinterpretations. These aremotivated not just by changing historical circumstances, but by the dy-namics of the literary traditions themselves. Like Hays, Boyarin notes that

Jewish interpretation often takes into account entire contexts and can-not be reduced to simple proof-texting, although that is how scholarssometimes read it. Like Fishbane, Boyarin concentrates on the Bible andon midrash, generally bypassing the Pseudepigrapha and the New Testa-ment.

Fisks treatments of Fishbane, Hays, and Boyarin are informative and

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incisive. Fisk has a wide-ranging and excellent grasp of scholarship onancient Jewish exegesis, and he constantly draws comparisons and makesconnections while examining the specifics of each of these three ap-proaches. The result is a balanced assessment of each scholars work, as

well as a good overall map of the techniques and issues involved in an-cient Jewish exegesis.

Basing himself on his review of scholarship, Fisk now outlines his owneclectic approach (chapter 3). He begins with a series of provisionalhypotheses. First, the intertextual hermeneutics of ancient Jewish exege-sis is grounded in the intratextual exegesis found in the Hebrew Bible.Second, exegesis responds to gaps and excesses in the biblical text. Third,one can recognize exegesis through the presence of both repetition and

transformation. Fourth, exegesis can simply allude to the text, quote itextensively, or something in-between. Fifth, original literary context candetermine exegesis. Sixth, subsidiary passages can illuminate primaryones and can also be transformed by their new context in the exegesis.Fisk next examines the gamut of possible relations between traditio andtraditum, using a chart with four quadrants whose y-axis is defined by thedegree to which traditio or traditum is in the foreground and whose x-axis is defined by the degree to which the original text is reproduced or

transformed. Finally, Fisk considers social-historical context.Fisk studies specific passages in the next three chapters, each of whichdemonstrates particular uses of secondary scripture in Pseudo-Philo. Ineach case, he examines Pseudo-Philos compositional techniques andthen analyzes the hermeneutical strategy at work. Chapter 4 examinesthe golden calf episode (LAB 12), where the secondary passages are usedto transform the golden calf story from one that concentrates on Israelssin to one that stresses Gods faithfulness and the communitys survivalof the near-disastrous rebellion. He calls this use a domesticating role,

where the story of rebellion is transformed into a story of Gods faithful-ness. Chapter 5 looks at the story of the twelve spies and the Balaamepisode (LAB 15-18), where secondary scripture serves to indict those

who would challenge the covenant, so the secondary scripture helps todefend the covenant. In chapter 6, he looks at LAB 19-23, the final daysof Moses and Joshua. Here he concentrates on how these two figures arecharacterized and notes six biblical references that build bridges be-tween these two and other figures in Israels past. The overall effect isfor Israels past to illustrate the paradigmatic nature of Israels past.Israels past and the promises to the fathers determine Israels presentand future.

In his final chapter, Fisk concludes that his study of Pseudo-Philo hasdemonstrated the usefulness of his approach and the validity of his origi-nal hypotheses, articulated in chapter 3. He claims that his study hasadvanced our understanding of Pseudo-Philos reading strategies, inter-

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pretive paradigms, and hermeneutical models. He notes, however, thathis study makes little progress in distinguishing what in Pseudo-Philo issimply a matter of interpreting an ancient text and what is Pseudo-Philoresponding to his own historical and social circumstances. Fisk remains

cautious about moving from the text of Pseudo-Philo to the authors realworld, as he has been throughout his analysis.

Fisks book is a model of careful scholarship. It shows an intimateknowledge of ancient Jewish exegesis in the Hebrew Bible, the Pseudepi-grapha, the New Testament, and rabbinic literature. He also demon-strates extensive knowledge of the secondary literature concentrating oneach of these bodies of texts and he lays out the advantages and limita-tions of recent scholarship. His study situates Pseudo-Philo in the con-

text of ancient Jewish exegesis and so lays the groundwork for furthercomparisons between Pseudo-Philo and other ancient exegetes. He alsobrings the fruit of scholarship on other works to bear on it and so makessome progress in establishing a categorization of modern approaches.His book also supplies three fresh readings of important passages inPseudo-Philo. Those studies attend closely to theoretical and method-ological issues while interpreting the text. His decision to group the stud-ies according to specific rubrics, such as the transformation of rebellion

into faithfulness in chapter 4 or the defense of the covenant in chapter5 allows him to correlate compositional technique with hermeneuticalstrategy in Pseudo-Philo, thus making clear a correlation between exegeti-cal technique and the exegetes overall viewpoints. Fisks caution in draw-ing conclusions about Pseudo-Philos historical context is warranted,although many would want to go beyond it. Fisks book is a welcome ad-dition to scholarship on Pseudo-Philo in particular and on ancient Jew-ish exegesis in general. Future work on Pseudo-Philo will have to takehis observations on method into account.

Frederick J. Murphy

College of the Holy Cross, Worcester

Pulikottil, Paulson, Transmission of Biblical Texts in Qumran: The Caseof the Large Isaiah Scroll 1QIsaa. JSPSup, 34. Sheffield: Sheffield Aca-demic Press, 2001. Pp. 240. Cl. 50.00 or $80.00. ISBN 1-84127-140-3.

In this methodologically conscious Sheffield doctoral dissertation onthe large Isaiah Scroll, Paulson Pulikottil investigates the numerous vari-ants found in 1QIsaa and argues that they are indicative of a scribe whonot only copied but also exegeted the text that he had before him.

Censuring earlier scholars, especially E.Y. Kutscher, Pulitokottil ques-tions the approach that sets the MT as standard and characterizes the


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Qumran variants as scribal errors. Rather, he argues that (1) a reading isnot an error unless it can be proved that one manuscript is a copy ofanother; and (2) a variant reading is an error only if it creates gram-matical problems or disrupts the logical flow of the thought. Instead, he

advocates an internal study of 1QIsaa that focuses on features of scribalactivity (harmonization, explication, modernization and contextualchanges) and exegesis (where he wrongly applies Michael Fishbanesterminology oftraditio). These features are then placed in the historicalcontext of the Qumran community, or more precisely the yahad.

Pulitokotill is justified in re-examining the presuppositions of earlierscholarship. His methodological points are generally valid. Nonetheless,

his main thesis seems naively idealistic: that an error can only be so de-

fined if it can be proved that one manuscript is a copy of another. Whattwo Qumran biblical manuscripts can be proved, in the scientific senseof this term, to be textually connected in this way?

Over the past fifty years, Qumran scholarship has developed and be-come increasingly sophisticated. As it is in the nature of scholarship,

earlier studies are to be reviewed and assessed. But if it is sufficientlyrecognized that we, all of us, write within our contexts, then earlier schol-arly theses, viewed with the benefit of hindsight, are understandable.

Notwithstanding its difficulties, there is no doubt that Kutschers workwas a magnum opus that has done much to advance our understanding ofthe language, text and transmission of the large Isaiah scroll.

Timothy H. Lim

University of Edinburgh

Bttrich, Christfried, Petrus: Fischer, Fels und Funktionr. BiblischeGestalten, 2. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2001. Pp. 288. Pbk.DM 27,00. ISBN 3-374-01849-1.

After several more technical publications on 2 Enoch, ChristfriedBttrich here tries his handquite successfullyat an undergraduate-level textbook on Simon Peter, which arises out of his New Testament

teaching at the University of Leipzig.

Perhaps in keeping with this intended readership, the opening chap-ter introduces traditional Petrine symbols, Peters contested link with theRoman church, and the main (biblical) sources. In other words, theauthor begins with an introduction to the overarching subject matter,rather than to the books approach or to questions of methodology. To

be sure, his generally careful but somewhat eclectic narrative and his-torical method does emerge before long; this approach allows him to


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avoid cluttering the students path from the start with unnecessary criti-cal jargon and complexity.

The major part of the book is divided into two parts, covering Peteras a disciple of Jesus and as a leader of the early church. In the former,

we are first offered a brief overview of Peters background in Galilee,including Bethsaida and Capernaum as well as Peters family, professionand his names Simon and Cephas (not, however, Bar Yona). The

Johannine suggestion of his links with the movement of John the Baptistare touched on before a fuller examination of the competing call narra-tives in Mark 1 and Matthew 4 on the one hand and in Luke 5 on theother. There follows a helpful but compact discussion of the variouscharges to Peter in gospel logia, from Mark 1:17 parr. (an authentic part

of the call narrative) via Matt. 16:18 (a hindsight product of the apos-tolic age) to Luke 22:31-32 and John 21:15-17 (Peters pastoral post-Eas-ter role). Bttrich stresses that few if any of these assigned roles areunique to Peter, and insists that none implies an office that might bepassed on and continued.

A further cluster of questions concerns Peters role in the circle ofthe Twelve. The priority of Peters call and placement in the lists of dis-ciples is unquestioned, and his relationships with fellow disciples James,

John and Andrew are obviously central, although open questions remainabout this profile in the Fourth Gospels implied contest of Peter withthe Beloved Disciple. Nonetheless it is Peter who remains the primaryspokesman and actor among the Twelve. Peters confession at CaesareaPhilippi makes him, almost despite himself, a crucial figure in the post-Easter development of Christology.

Finally, Bttrich turns his considerable literary flair and narrative sen-sitivity to Peters unflattering and yet centrally representative role in thePassion accounts, which in his view corresponds at least in outline tohistorical events.

The second main section, on Peter as a personality of the early church,begins quite reasonably with Easter, and here with the contested prob-lem of whether Peter or Mary Magdalene was the first recipient of a res-urrection appearance (the question is left unresolved). Following arenewal of his dominical charge, Peter becomes the primary organizer,leader, evangelist and quasi-episcopal Visitor of the Jerusalem church,until the gradual dispersion of the Twelve leads James the Just to takethe reins of leadership. Peters missionary initiatives confirm the churchsexpansion to Samaritans and Gentile God-fearers. (No attempt is madehere to interpret the significance of Peters vision in Acts 10, whosemeaning Bttrich seems to take for granted.) There follow two fascinat-ing sections on Peter as miracle worker and itinerant evangelist, activi-ties whose Lucan cast Bttrich carefully traces to show both the emulationof Jesus and the deliberate parallels with Paul, down to matters of detail.

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In keeping with previous studies by F. Mussner and (to some extent)L. Wehr, Bttrichs portrait of Peter and Paul shows the two apostles asless deeply polarized than in treatments indebted to the nineteenth-cen-tury Tbingen school. His analysis of the Antioch incident still follows

in outline along fairly conventional lines, but offers a moderate and cir-cumspect analysis of its implications. The Apostolic Council having failedto resolve the issue of table fellowship between Jews and Gentiles, Paulopposes Peter on the grounds of the truth of the gospel, while Peter isconcerned with the unity of the people of God. Peters action is hereinterpreted not as vacillating compromise, but as a genuine attempt atmediationalbeit devoid of any clear rationale. Although Paul loses theargument in the short term, and the Jerusalem church subsequently

imposes the Apostolic Decree as a last-ditch concession to safeguard tablefellowship, by the time of Ignatius these issues are, like Peters qualms,forgotten.

Turning finally to the question of Peters death, the author finds evi-dence of a Roman martyrdom which, despite hints in John 13:36-38,21:18 and 2 Pet. 1:12-15, he regards as confirmed in 1 Clem. 5:1-7 (withother echoes in the pseudonymous 1 Pet. 5:13, Ignatius Rom. 4:3 as wellas Irenaeus, Clement and Tertullian). Despite its consistent patristic at-

testation since the late second century, the apocryphal story of PetersRoman conflict with Simon Magus in theActs of Peterhas no basis in fact.Following writers like E. Dinkler and H.G. Thmmel, Bttrich acceptsthat the excavations under St Peters at the Vatican have unearthed themid-second-century victory memorial (the tropaion first mentioned byGaius c. 200 ce), which he regards as most plausibly marking the sitenot of Peters tomb but only of his martyrdom.

In the last, much briefer chapter on Peters influence on subsequentinterpretation, Bttrich briefly surveys the apostles images in the NewTestament gospels and the pseudonymous letters as well as in later leg-ends. More interesting and significant are two closing sections offeringecumenical perspectives on the questions of a Petrine succession in Romeand of an abiding Petrine office (Petrusamt) or service (Petrusdienst).He agrees with Ulrich Luz and others that although the New TestamentsPetrine texts in no way affirm either an office or its succession, they doconverge on Peter as representing the totality of Jesus followers, sym-bolizing in his person both the guarding of tradition and the appropria-tion of fresh experience.

The volume includes a brief (almost entirely German) bibliographyand a list of illustrations, but no indexes.

The nature of the series lends itself more to a medium-brow studentsintroduction than to a major contribution to scholarship. This leaves thecritic plenty of scope to quibble: there is no reference to a great deal ofimportant literature in English, in French, in Spanish and even in Ger-

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man. As a result, the authors critical doubts and certainties come acrossas conventional, even conventionally German. The treatment of key bib-lical episodes and historical issues offers few appreciable advances, andthere are a number of confusions about factual matters or about the in-

ternational status quaestionis on a variety of issues (e.g. about the loca-tion and the excavation of Bethsaida, the likely chronology of Petersdeparture from Jerusalem, the conceptual derivation and continued earlyChristian observance of the Apostolic Decree, ancient Christian attitudesto pseudepigraphy, the source criticism of the Pseudo-Clementines, etc.).C.K. Barretts name is consistently misspelled. The subtitle is misleadingand remains unexplained (Peter is never in fact discussed as a Funk-tionr).

Minutiae aside, it is in the end always petty to fault an author simplyfor failing to write what the reviewer might like to have read. All in all,Bttrich has produced an attractive and highly accessible undergradu-ate-level introduction to Simon Peter, which provides a welcome synthe-sis of the subject matter. He has done so in a way that combines historicaland literary sensitivity without losing sight of the ancient and modernecclesial wood for the critical trees. The tensions and dynamics of Peterskey relationships, above all with Jesus and with Paul, are explored sym-

pathetically and without false dichotomies. The readers attention is heldby a readable, at times pleasantly informal style, which is further assistedby twenty ancient, medieval and modern illustrations sprinkled through-out the book. In both presentation and substance, this book is a helpfulcomplement to Pheme Perkins 1994 volume in the more established

American series on Personalities of the New Testament. This reviewerwishes it well.

M. Bockmuehl

University of Cambridge

Sproston North, Wendy E., The Lazarus Story within the Johannine Tra-dition. JSNTSup, 212. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001. Pp.184. Cl. 37.00 or $59.00. ISBN 1-84127-195-0.

This study is a version of Wendy Sproston Norths doctoral thesis sub-mitted to the University of Wales in 1997. The main argument is thatour understanding of the tradition behind the Gospel of John is bestserved by looking at the parallels it shares with 1 John. Sproston Northbuilds her arguments for Johns tradition not on the Synoptic Gospels(which she acknowledges as a potential source at points) but on a textthat is recognisably Johannine in character. The author proposes that

Johns Gospel and 1 John both had access to the same tradition. Whether


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1 John was published before or after John is irrelevant here. Both areheavily reliant on traditional material that they appear to share. Argu-ments for and against a literary dependence on John by the author of 1

John are therefore unnecessary. What matters is not the order in which

the texts appeared but rather the shared tradition that forms part of thecomplex pre-history of both.

In the opening chapter, Sproston North proposes that both Gospeland Epistle have a common reliance on the Johannine Christian tradi-tion. This leads to the crucial point that 1 John is a secure and effectivemeans of isolating tradition in the Fourth Gospel, and that isolating theshared tradition in turn helps us better understand the creative processesbehind the making of the Fourth Gospel (p. 15). 1 John is a good re-

source in this regard because it is external to the Gospel and yet at thesame time party to the same distinctive style and theological perspectiveof the Gospel (p. 22). The first Epistle of John can accordingly serve asa control for understanding the tradition behind the Gospel and thethinking of its author.

This first chapter is vital for the readers appreciation of the wealth ofinsights that follow, so it is important to be precise about what the authoris actually saying. Sproston North is not saying that recourse to 1 John

explains everything in the Fourth Gospel. Her proposal is more modestthan that. She is in any case far too perceptive about the differencesbetween these documents to argue this. What she is saying is that bothauthors had access to the same community tradition and that both citedand interpreted that tradition to meet the present needs they were facing.Furthermore, there are occasions where Gospel and Epistle coincide intheir reflection of this tradition. These moments of striking but inter-mittent contact are not the result of the author of 1 John deferring tothe Gospel textthe majority view in Johannine scholarship. They areexamples of tradition overlap. While the Epistle offers only a limited in-sight into what the fourth evangelist knew, it does offer us an outstandingcontribution in the area of diction (p. 39)that is Johns distinctive styleand vocabulary.

In the following three chapters the author applies this new approachto the story of the raising of Lazarus in John 11, describing this part ofthe gospel as the most infuriatingly inscrutable piece of work that evercame from Johns pen (p. 40). Sproston North presumes (as most

Johannine scholars do) that this story was added to the Gospel in a sec-ond edition and was therefore not part of the original narrative. In chap-ter two she examines Jesus love for Lazarus, stated so overtly by thenarrator and various characters within the narrative world of the text.She then isolates this theme of love within the Johannine tradition as a

whole by highlighting the correspondences between gospel and epistlein this area. The story of Lazarus is accordingly presented as an example

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of a key item in the Johannine Christian traditionthe interpretationof love as a matter of laying down ones life for others. It is this miracu-lous act in John 11 that after all secures Jesus death in John 19.

In chapter three the author moves to the movement from death to

life, again showing how this forms a vital part of the tradition shared byboth the Gospel and Epistle. Much of what Sproston North proposes cen-tres around the parallels between John 5:24-29 and John 11:1-44twoGospel texts that speak of hearing Jesus word and the believers trans-fer from death to life. The author skilfully shows how the diction in John5:24-29 also shares resemblances with the eschatology of certain passagesin 1 John (particularly though not exclusively 1 John 3:14). This reflectsa community tradition going back to a Jesus logion, possibly Mark 9:1

(therefore some in the Johannine community may have gained sight ofthe canonical Mark, p. 81). The author concludes that the Lazarus storywas produced as a second exposition of the tradition in 5:24 (p. 91).The raising of Lazarus by the shout of Jesus is a picture of the eschaton inminiature.

In chapter four the author moves to Jesus prayer in John 11:41-42,linking it with the theme of boldness before God in 1 John. Both goback to the ask and it will be given logion of Jesus recorded in Matthew

7 and Luke 11. So what is at issue here is the power of Christian prayer(p. 117). Jesus operates with that same assurance of the Fathers atten-tiveness that he encourages in his followers. As elsewhere in her study,Sproston North describes the social crisis in Johns community that ne-cessitated a call to this kind of spiritual confidence.

In chapter five, the author paints a detailed picture of how John con-structed the Lazarus episode. While the Epistle is not the sole guide toeverything the evangelist knew, it does help us understand aspects of thetext. The story originally derives from an actual miracle in the life of

Jesus (John is no dealer in fiction, p. 128). Having said that, John hasreworked tradition with extraordinary artistry. The author proves thepoint in a verse-by-verse tour of the story as a whole.

This is an intriguing study, thoroughly researched, refreshingly inno-vative and beautifully written. While there are moments when the au-thor too quickly dismisses views that threaten her argument (these aresometimes relegated to mere footnotes), the case is a compelling one.

While there are also rare moments when the author can be guilty ofmaking an assertion out of speculation, the overall impression is of astudy of composition history more scientific and indeed aesthetic thananything we have seen thus far. Indeed, the joy of this book is the way in

which it helps to enrich the readers appreciation of Johns dramaticsensibilities and sure literary touch (p. 162)a claim that cannot oftenbe made about studies of Johns tradition history.

My earnest hope is that the author will build on these insights to pro-

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duce a larger work on The Making of the Fourth Gospel (as opposedto the making of just John 11:1-44). That would be a very bright star inthe vast constellation of writings that constitutes Fourth Gospel research.

Mark StibbeLondon Bible College

Cummins, S.A., Paul and the Crucified Christ in Antioch: Maccabean Mar-tyrdom and Galatians 1 and 2. SNTSMS, 114. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2001. Pp. xviii + 287. Cl. 45.00 or $64.95. ISBN0-521-66201-X.

This revised version of the authors 1995 Oxford dissertation, super-vised by N.T. Wright, undertakes a detailed exegesis of Galatians 1 and2, especially of 2:11-21, in order to demonstrate that Paul hereinchristologically reconfigures the Maccabean model of martyrdom.

In the introduction, Cummins makes it clear that he intends to takeup the interpretation of the Antioch Incident where the significant con-tributions of the new perspective approach of James D.G. Dunn leave

off. Cummins claims to appreciate Dunns movement of the tension fromthe traditional critique of legalism to one of covenant markers, whichare understood to express a narrow, nationalistic and ethnic concep-tion of the people of God (p. 7). He suggests that the table-fellowshipin Antioch is basically Torah-observant, with the ones from James (Jerusa-lem) objecting to the level of rigor, since they judge the way that Jewishpractices in Antioch had been conducted represent the equivalent ofabandoning Torah. This is because of constraints arising from the widercontext of Jewish nationalistic concerns, which resulted in an intensifiedinterest in compliance on the part of the Jerusalem Jewish-Christiancommunities in order to exemplify rigorous Torah-observance. Thisdevelopment, combined with the mounting concerns of the Antiochene

Jewish community to protect its identity and rights, is presented as thebackdrop for Cummins deeper consideration of these factors, and the

way that Paul is understood to have reacted to them. Cummins wants tocomprehend why Paul rejected covenantal nomism as a legitimate and

viable way of being the people of God, and further, what he understandsto be the most fundamental issue at stake in Antioch: the role of Jesusthe Messiah in the outworking of divine grace (p. 9). Whereas Dunnsuggests that in Antioch Paul came to realize an antithesis between faithin Christ and works of Law that had until then escaped his recognition,Cummins supposes that this tension was already a focal point of Paulsgospel.

In the early chapters, Cummins explores the Maccabean period themes


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of suffering and vindication for those seeking to uphold Torah, as ex-emplified in the heroes of those stories, as well as the way that DanielsSon of Man figure shaped expectations of the messianic rescue and res-toration of Gentile-oppressed Israel. Acknowledging the complexity of

the sources and current debates, Cummins draws on William Horburysapproach to stress the development of a prevalent and coherent Jewishmessianic expectation by the time of Jesus and Paul (p. 38). This deci-sion informs not only Cummins view of the significance of Jesus asMessiah for Paul, but also how Paul is understood to understand themeaning of Jesus affliction. The role of martyrdom in Maccabean socio-political life is also examined, with particular attention to its continuingrole in first-century Jewish nationalist aspirations, including zeal for

Torah, for example, among Pharisaic groups, to express resistance to(Gentile) Roman rule. Correspondence between the reaction to GaiusCaligulas attempt to erect an image of himself within the Temple in 39-40 ce and Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecration of the Temple in 165bce is explored to demonstrate the way that resistance to Rome was in-terpreted in Maccabean terms. The theme is traced in Jewish texts suchas theAssumption of Moses, Megillath Taanith, and 4 Maccabees. It is sug-gestedby way of an excursus largely noting later Christian traditions

venerating Maccabean martyrs in Antiochthat it is at least possiblethat there was a Jewish Maccabean martyr cult in Antioch in the firstcentury.

Within the historical and literary contexts of living traditions of theMaccabees, Cummins undertakes a reading of Galatians, Pauls narrationof the Antioch Incident in particular. Rather than a defense againstcharges of dependence, or subsequent independence from the Jerusa-lem apostles, Cummins understands the autobiography in 1:132:10 tooffer a sketch of Pauls movement from Jewish zealot to Christian mar-tyr, conformed to Christ, as a paradigm for the addressees (pp. 114-37).Special attention is given to the correspondence with Pauls Galatianministry as traced in 4:12-20. In the face of competing claims by other

Jewish-Christian groups, Paul offers himself as a paradigm of suffering.Like the martyred yet victorious Messiah Jesus, so too those who followthis example will be vindicated. The conflict is understood to revolvearound competing claims among Christian groups for how to exemplifyfaithfulness to God, especially where Torah-observance and martyrdomare concerned. To the degree that the Jerusalem apostles might fail to

join Paul in conformity to the crucified and risen Christ, they are pre-sented by Paul as aligned with the agitators and their cause in Galatia.Thus Paul ironically reworked the position of his Jewish(-Christian) op-ponents. Their appeal to Maccabean traditions forms the basis of com-peting claims, but Paul inverts their claims, instead asserting that thepeople of God under threat are the largely Gentile Christians (rather

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than Torah-obedient Jews), and their antagonists are certain Jewish(-Christian) apostates (rather than Gentile overseers and their Jewishsympathizers) (p. 136). By remaining faithful to the truth of the gospel,Paul exemplifies Gods covenant faithfulness through Messiah Jesus in

his life and ministry.The detailed discussion of the Antioch Incident is preceded by a his-

torical sketch (chapter 4), based largely upon interpretations of Josephusreferences to construct Antiochene Jewish communities, and upon thematerial in Acts to construct Christian communities there. Many usefuldetails are considered, yet the purpose to which these elements are putis clearly to indicate how there would have been much tension andconflict between the Jewish and Christian communities in Antioch

(p. 138). In Antioch, Jewish communities could invoke Torah-obedientMaccabeans when making claims to represent the people of God, butChristians would instead base their claims upon Jesus as Messiah, mar-tyred and exalted. An interesting chart and discussion proposes that thenarrative of the Maccabean martyr Eleazer (2 Macc. 6:18-31; 4 Macc. 5:17:23) functions (subconsciously) as the narrative substructure for Gal.2:11-21, whereby Paul messianically reconfigures Maccabean martyr theol-ogy (pp. 162-64). Although Cummins seeks to nuance the traditional

readings of the issues at stake in Antioch, his conclusions seem rather toconfirm them: Peters hypocrisy consists in his unwillingness to risk re-prisal by adopting a table-fellowship governed by Torah (rather than byMessiah Jesus). He is thus realigning himself with a life in Judaism (p.179). From Pauls standpoint, Peter risks taking on the role of the (Jew-ish) oppressor (of Gentiles) rather than the (Christian) martyr figurea part played by the Jerusalem false brethren and Galatian agitators (p.186).

There are several other essential interpretive elements upon which thisthesis will build. The bodily affliction to which Paul refers as the sourceof his earlier visit in Galatia is understood to be the result of persecu-tion, and the afflicted apostles condition may be seen as analogous tothat of the martyred wise during the Maccabean crisis, though now inthe cause of Christ rather than Judaism (p. 98; cf. p. 162). For Cummins,Paul the Jew-become-Christian (pp. 209, 219-20, 224) is understood, forexample, to have left behind Judaism in view of his identity in Christ(e.g., p. 107, point iii; p. 185), to regard Jewish nomism as an idolatrous

way of life (p. 108), to bifurcate Torah-obedience and Christ-like faith-fulness (p. 184), and to understand justification to be either in Christor in Torah (p. 208): Paul the Jewish zealot and persecutor of thechurch had now become Paul the Christian martyr figure (p. 128). ForCummins, what is at stake in Antioch is the rebuilding of the Torah-based way of life in Judaism which had been destroyed when theybelieved in Messiah Jesus (pp. 213-14), thus Paul writes this autobio-

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graphical material to urge his Galatian converts to reject matters Jewishby recalling his own dramatic shiftaway from Judaism and by emulatinghis present conformity to Christ (p. 217). I do not see how this kind ofhard line between Jewish and Christian communal identity and values

relates to the earlier discussions of Jewish/Gentile tensions arising amongthese Christ-believing Jews over the proper way to observe Torah andendure suffering, or how this treatment develops the new perspectiveconcerns with which Cummins began. Given Cummins identification ofthe addressees as non-Jews when Paul the Christian martyr figure arrived,and Christians whose identity would be unrelated to Judaism or Torahmuch less suffering for either when he writes, it is difficult to understand

why he imagines that they would have perceived the persecuted Paul from

the first, or even when he writes this letter, so as to align his faithfulnesswith those saints/sons of God who had been martyred and exalted inthe Maccabean period (p. 99). How would non-Jews brought into a non-

Jewish Christian movement, who do not share Jewish nationalistic aspi-rations, know about such matters in Galatia, and why would these be themost salient comparisons to draw? Indeed, how would they perceive therelevance at the deep ironic level required to understand Pauls initialarrival in such terms, or in the message of this letter upon which clear

perception of that inversion, per Cummins, depends?The theme of persecution, and correspondence with the Maccabeantheme of faithfulness in the face of suffering, even martyrdom, provideexcellent emphases to bring to the interpretation of this letter. Cumminsscores on many of the parallels he seeks to draw. However, on the prob-able specific meaning for Paul, the addressees, or those whose influencehe wrote to oppose, the conclusions are constrained by the constructionof the situations and the categories, motives, and values calculated intraditional Christian versus Jewish terms. Seldom are the conclusionsCummins draws tied to the setting out of the situational table-fellow-ship factors with which he began, that is, in terms of different under-standings of the appropriate level of Torah-observance among competing

Jewish(-Christian) groups, which is what he proposed the incident toreveal. The conclusion summarizes the antithetical contrast understoodto arise between Jewish Christians reverting to a life in Judaism orbeing committed, with a post-Jewish Paul, to a life in Christ.

Mark D. Nanos

Lees Summit, Missouri

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