Weisheit Aus Der Begegnung. Bildung Nach Dem Buch Ben Sira – By Frank Ueberschaer

is no room to compromise.” This book, a critical challenge toLeibniz’s theodicy, is accessible to students, professors, andeven the novice.

Perry NeelJames Madison University

WELCOMING THE STRANGER. By Matthew Soerensand Jenny Hwang. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press,2009. Pp. 240. Paper, $15.00.

Soerens and Hwang, immigration experts at WorldRelief, coauthor this text as an introduction to the immigra-tion conundrum and the quagmire of issues it raises. Theimportance of the text is that it analyzes immigration andintroduces the complexity of issues underlying this emotion-ally charged topic. In the first chapters, the authors presenta balanced overview, dispel many immigration myths, andbegin to humanize the discourse on immigration. They chal-lenge those viewpoints that perceive aliens as a burden onsociety, and demonstrate contributions of immigrantworkers to the new country. Furthermore, the authorsdescribe the necessity of entering into relationship with theimmigrants, listening to and understanding their stories.Such a posture allows for a building of bridges to aliens anda possible way to work for a solution to the immigrationproblem. The text also describes different historical anteced-ents and capricious laws set in place according to the eco-nomic demands of the US, and notes many contradictions inimmigration law and how outdated some of these are. Mostimportantly, the authors have included a section on thinkingbiblically and theologically concerning immigration. Thebiblical text consistently reminds readers to remember theimmigrant past of the Nation of Israel, and of God’s call todemonstrate kindness to the stranger. In the end, Soerensand Hwang attempt to overcome the seeming hopelessnessof the situation by advocating for just, merciful, and lovingimmigration policies as forms of Christian witness.

Daniel Orlando ÁlvarezRegent University

AMERICAN INDIAN LIBERATION: A THEOLOGYOF SOVEREIGNTY. By George E. Tinker. Maryknoll, NY:Orbis Books, 2008. Pp. 170. Paper, $22.00.

This collection, written by an Osage Indian, provides aframework whereby Native Americans can retrieve sover-eignty over their own lives, lands, and destinies. Tinkerattacks the “euro-american” Christianity that savaged thatsovereignty. He challenges basic assumptions, even those ofLiberation Theology. Theologies based on class, race, orgender analysis are as imperialistic as theologies based onEnlightenment reason and individualism. Tinker’s method-ology for an indigenous theology resists analyzing indig-enous peoples in terms of race, class (poverty), and coloniallanguage/categories. Indigenous theology begins by assum-ing the harmony of all creation, which includes thesovereignty of indigenous people over themselves. Tinkercontrasts each point of indigenous thought with Euro-

American Christianity. For example, he contrasts thestarting points of Christianity and indigenous religion.Christianity typically starts with revelation (christo-centrism), thereby distinguishing it from other religions.Indigenous theologies begin with the harmony of creation,thereby connecting it with other religions, including Chris-tianity. Indeed, primitive Christianity begins with creation,he insists, as reflected in its scriptures and earliest creeds.But Christianity forfeited this common starting point infavor of asserting its christo-centric uniqueness, and soalienated itself from other religions. This book is provocativeand mostly fulfills its promise. Tinker does, however, occa-sionally commit the colonial fallacy he critiques: assumingthat the difference of indigenous theology from Christianityimplies superiority. This book is accessible to audiencesbeyond academia.

James GilmanMary Baldwin College

Arts, Literature, Cultureand ReligionTEACHING RELIGION AND FILM. Edited by Gregory J.Watkins. Teaching Religious Studies. Oxford: Oxford Univer-sity Press, 2008. Pp. xi + 309. $49.95.

This excellent collection of essays will be valuable foranyone who plans to teach, or who already teaches in, thisfield. In Part I, W. Blizek and M. Desmarais suggest threedifferent approaches: using religion to understand movies,using movies to interpret religion, and using movies toclarify and illustrate cultural values. C. Ostwalt suggests afourth approach with his thesis that films can function in areligious way without any actual religious content. Part II ofthe book is more specialized, concerned with film and theteaching of religious traditions, including Hinduism, Bud-dhism, and Islam. C. Deacy writes about the pedagogicalchallenge of finding Christ figures in film, C. Marsh dis-cusses romance films and theology, and G. Williams-Ortiztackles feminist theology and film. The third part includes J.Lyden on teaching film as religion, and G. Williams providesa useful syllabus on theories of religion through film. Thebook concludes with papers on the values approach to filmsabout evil, ethics, and genocide. A good specialist book byacknowledged experts.

Andrew QuickeRegent University

Ancient Near EastECCLESIASTES. By Craig G. Bartholomew. Baker Com-mentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms. GrandRapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009. Pp. 448. $39.99.

The author of this commentary has already published asignificant study of Qoheleth and hermeneutical theory(Reading Ecclesiastes, Analecta Biblica 139, Rome: Pontifical

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Biblical Institute, 1998). In the present work, he has writtena suitable commentary for evangelical readers, althoughbecause of its Christological emphasis other readers mayobject to the section entitled “Theological Implications” thatconcludes every analysis of the text. That would be a pity, forthese reflections take up current social issues such asecology, world hunger, and war, often indicating ethicalsophistication. The long introduction of about 80 pages dis-cusses the history of interpretation and describes thecurrent status of scholarship on the book of Ecclesiastes. Thecommentary proper does not examine each verse but treatsindividual sections, summarizing the content in a mannerthat seems aimed at ministers. A postscript on “Postmodern-ism, Psychology, Spiritual Formation, and Preaching” drawson Kierkegaard and Jung to provide an alternative to Zim-merman’s earlier speculation about personal idiosyncrasiesin Qoheleth’s life. The commentary proper does not acceptSolomonic authorship, accepts the relatively late date of thebook, views the genre as royal autobiography with a framenarrative, and considers the tone optimistic, full of temperedjoy. It also draws on a wide range of scholarship, liberal andconservative, although the interaction with T. Krueger isminimal and non-existent with Schwienhorst-Schoenberger.There is an instructive footnote about various recent discus-sions of reception history that many interpreters will findhelpful. An extensive bibliography is provided, as is anindex of subjects and authors.

James L. CrenshawDuke University, Emeritus

BAKHTIN AND GENRE THEORY IN BIBLICALSTUDIES. Edited by Roland Boer. Society of Biblical Litera-ture Semeia Studies, 63. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Litera-ture, 2007. Pp. viii + 238. $25.95.

This collection concerns the intersection of the work ofliterary critic Mikhail Bakhtin and the form-critical conceptof genre as they relate to the field of biblical studies. After avery brief introduction by the editor, two excellent essays byM. Buss and C. Newsom speak generally and theoreticallyabout the topic. This is followed by five essays focused onHebrew Bible texts (i.e., Chronicles, I Samuel 20, Genesis 38,Lamentations, Daniel 1-6); one general essay on the genre ofapocalypse; two essays related to New Testaments texts(Matthew 1, John); and a final essay on biblical allusions inToni Morrison’s novel Beloved. The volume concludes withtwo responses to the previous nine essays. The book repre-sents the best compilation of Bakhtinian readings of theBible to date, especially given the variety of perspectives on,and uses of, this literary approach within the work. Theauthors are also to be praised for their engagement with aclassic issue within the field—genre—in order to show therelevance of their newer method. The relatively inexpensivebook is certainly affordable for those whose interests lie inthis area of study; academic libraries will also want a copy.

Tyler MayfieldClaremont School of Theology

EXODUS. By James K. Bruckner. New International BiblicalCommentary, Old Testament Series, 2. Peabody, MA: Hen-drickson, 2008. Pp. xvi + 348. $16.95.

As part of the NIBC commentary series, this volumeengages in “believing criticism,” a style of biblical interpre-tation that combines interest in Christian theological andecclesiastical matters (the author is an Evangelical CovenantChurch minister and professor at North Park TheologicalSeminary), with the employment of a variety of standard,critical methodologies. The result of this blend is a book thatengages in mostly literary and theological readings of thetext with some concern for historical events, while generallyignoring text-critical and source-critical issues. Thus, theauthor focuses on the picture of God that develops in thereading of the book and the implications of that depiction.The commentary’s layout is designed for varying levels ofengagement with the biblical text. It prints in bold onlyselected phrases and/or verses from the New InternationalVersion, with the critical comments in regular font. Somebiblical verses are left without commentary. The end of eachchapter includes additional notes for selected verses. Thepublisher should be commended for an incredibly priced andhandsomely done volume, a work that will appeal mostly tolaypersons and clergy within the Christian evangelicaltradition.

Tyler MayfieldClaremont School of Theology

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTA-MENT: THE HEBREW BIBLE IN ITS CONTEXT. ByMichael D. Coogan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.Pp. xxiv + 440. plates. Paper, $54.95.

This book is an organized and well-rounded introductionto the Old Testament. It serves as a shorter version of Coo-gan’s The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduc-tion to the Hebrew Scriptures (Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 2006), and is intended for instructional use in collegeand seminary classrooms. Coogan addresses each bookwithin the Jewish and Protestant canons with a short appen-dix on the apocryphal and deuterocanonical texts. Eachchapter contains an introduction and conclusion, both ofwhich highlight the material at hand and connect it to thechapters that precede and follow. Coogan also supplies thereader with review questions and a brief bibliography forfurther study at the end of each chapter. Overall, the book iswell-balanced in form and content, arranged for easy acces-sibility, and honest about the limitations of biblical texts andscholarship. One shortcoming is an inconsistency regardingthe audience’s familiarity with the subject; sometimes theauthor writes as if the reader has no knowledge of the OldTestament and other times as if the reader is quite conver-sant. Despite this weakness, Coogan’s book is a model intro-duction to the Old Testament, its context, and strategies forinterpretation.

Shelley LongClaremont Graduate University


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HEAR O HEAVENS AND LISTEN O EARTH: ANINTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHETS. By Joan E. Cook.Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2006. Pp. xi + 323. Paper,$24.95.

Cook’s comprehensive introduction to the prophetsstands within the best traditions of rhetorical and historicalanalysis and aims at advanced undergraduate and graduatestudents. The volume includes a thorough discussion of themajor critical issues in prophetic study, featuring accessiblepresentations of the basic forms of prophetic literature andancient Near Eastern prophecy. The body of the work orga-nizes the prophets chronologically according to the scholarlyconsensus, moving from individual figures in the Pentateuchand historical books through the prophetic books, groupedaccording to geographical and chronological provenance(beginning with Amos and Hosea and treating First, Second,and Third Isaiah, as well as First and Second Zechariahseparately). Rather than moving sequentially through eachbook, the individual discussions cover the book’s historicalbackground, genres and rhetorical features, key themes, andpossibilities of contemporary significance, providing helpfulsuggestions for further reading. Special features include anemphasis on examining the prophets through the lens ofrhetorical persuasion in particular historical contexts, aswell as numerous and well-constructed pedagogical exer-cises, including sustained attention to the use of each pro-phetic book in Catholic and Protestant lectionaries andJewish liturgical readings. While there is a need for morediscussion of feminist critical issues and newer scholarshipon the unity of the Book of the Twelve, the volume’s acces-sible style, engagement with most current scholarly trends,and reflection on the contemporary and liturgical signifi-cance of the texts, especially within the Catholic tradition,make it highly recommended for library collections andclassroom use.

Brad E. KellePoint Loma Nazarene University

PSALMS THROUGH THE CENTURIES: VOLUMEONE. By Susan Gillingham. Blackwell Bible Commentaries.Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2008. Pp. xiv + 382.plates. $99.95.

In this volume, Gillingham meticulously masters thediverse reception history of the psalms. Her content isorganized into six chronological periods—ranging from theDavidic monarchy to the twenty-first century—and chartsthe transformation of five types of reception, includingexposition, instruction, liturgy, translation, and aestheticrepresentation. Intended as a reference work, or forerun-ner, for volume two, this book lays a sweeping and yetdetailed foundation for the upcoming commentary. This issupplemented by a useful glossary, plates, maps, illustra-tions, and indexes. Its one weakness is that depth is some-times sacrificed for breadth. Nevertheless, Gillinghamadmirably overcomes such obstacles with efficient writing,meaningful synthesis, and compelling conclusions. Every

page is bursting with solid research and influential insight.This work is an invaluable addition to the field andbeckons the second volume.

Shelley LongClaremont Graduate University

ISAIAH 53 IN THE LIGHT OF HOMECOMINGAFTER EXILE. By Fredrik Hägglund. Forschungen zumAlten Testament, 2/31. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008.Pp. x + 200. Paper, $92.50.

Hägglund’s dissertation (University of Lund) is a his-torical interpretation of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 in light of thenature of the servant’s suffering in the text and its importfor the post-exilic community. While the author engagesscholarship on the servant songs as a whole, he asks whatproblem Isaiah 53 addresses when read within the contextof the return from exile. Hägglund concludes that Isaiah 53was composed after the majority of Isaiah 40-55 was inplace, in order to explain that the return from exile did notbecome as glorious as described in Isaiah 40-52 becausethe people who remained in the land failed to accept thesuffering of the returnees vicariously for themselves. Thetext uses the servant as the collective representative ofthe returnees, and offers the first-person response that thepeople in the land should have given in accepting his suf-fering as their own. In Hägglund’s view, the poem’s literarycontext in Isaiah, as well as other appearances of its keyterminology, indicates that the text speaks of vicarious suf-fering but not atonement. Rather, the language is that ofexclusion versus embrace. He then draws upon interdisci-plinary perspectives, illuminating the text’s dynamicsthrough scholarship on refugee studies, forced migration,and repatriation. Although the book’s English is awkwardin places, and some will resist the historical specificity ofthe interpretation, the end result is a sophisticated histori-cal analysis, nuanced through comparative sociological andanthropological research, which should be included in allcollections of Isaiah scholarship.


JONAH’S WORLD: SOCIAL SCIENCE AND THEREADING OF PROPHETIC STORY. By Lowell K.Handy. BibleWorld. London: Equinox, 2007. Pp. xvi + 214.Hardcover, $90.00; paper $24.95.

This work contributes to the body of literature that inter-prets biblical books through social-scientific analysis. Theauthor seeks the social situations, models, and realities pre-supposed by the story-world of Jonah and the specific ele-ments therein. Reading Jonah as a reflection of the biblicalwriter’s social vision, Handy identifies the story as theproduct of a Persian-period scribe, who seeks to educate hisfellow Jerusalemite literati about the correct understandingof the Persian Empire. The monograph interprets eachgeneral category or specific element in the story, such asgeography, deities, classes of humans, and elements of


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nature, as symbols of larger realities in the scribe’s socialworld. Hence, the locale of Tarshish symbolizes distant,exotic ports; the city of Nineveh represents all rulingempires; and the classes of humans (prophets, merchants,and foreigners) stand for social types within society. Thesesocial constructions, especially the positive presentation ofthe foreign empire and emphasis on God’s sovereignty overthe world, suggest that Jonah was not written to argueagainst an exclusivistic vision of Israel’s God, but to promotea positive view of the ruling Persians as those who governwithin God’s hierarchy and are capable of responding todivine overtures. The study is fully conversant with scholar-ship on both Jonah and social-scientific criticism, even if theargument depends on particular interpretive choices. It isuseful for students and scholars as a unique reading of Jonahand an introductory exemplar of social-science readings ofthe Hebrew Bible.


INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHETS: THEIRSTORIES, SAYINGS, AND SCROLLS. By Thomas L.Leclerc. New York: Paulist Press, 2007. Pp. xx + 402. Paper,$27.95.

Leclerc’s volume is a comprehensive introduction tothe prophets for beginning undergraduates or adult learn-ers. He concentrates on basic matters of content ratherthan critical interpretive issues, and provides accessibleintroductions to any larger scholarly theories that receivemention. The work’s distinguishing contributions includeextensive chapters devoted to prophets outside the pro-phetic corpus, the interpretation of the prophets within thenarrative plot established in Genesis—2 Kings, and surveysof the ongoing use of each prophetic book in later Jewishand Christian lectionary traditions. After thoroughly cover-ing introductory matters such as the definition of prophecyand prophets throughout the ancient Near East, the heart ofthe book moves chronologically through the Latter Proph-ets (including Lamentations and Daniel), attending to bothredactional and final form aspects of the books (e.g., theunity of Isaiah is discussed, but First, Second, and ThirdIsaiah are treated in separate chapters). For each propheticbook, Leclerc presents the basic contexts, major themes,and key passages, rather than a verse-by-verse exposition.The book achieves its goal of providing an accessibleresource for beginning-level study. Several pedagogicalaids (e.g., annotated sample texts with key features in bold)and the attention to the later liturgical use of the texts willmake the volume especially useful in undergraduate class-rooms and Christian settings. Yet the promised attention toJewish liturgical usage remains underdeveloped, and onemisses consideration of newer approaches to the unity ofthe Book of the Twelve and concerns raised by feministhermeneutics.


SILENT OR SALIENT GENDER? THE INTERPRETA-TION OF GENDERED GOD-LANGUAGE IN THEHEBREW BIBLE, EXEMPLIFIED IN ISAIAH 42, 46,AND 49. By Hanne Løland. Forschungen zum Alten Testa-ment, 2/32. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008. Pp. xiv + 224.Paper, $92.50.

Løland’s revised dissertation (MF Norwegian School ofTheology) explores the nature of the gendered language forYHWH in the Hebrew Bible as indicated by specific pro-phetic texts. Although the volume examines particular texts,its primary work is at the theoretical level. Løland askswhether and how gender and sexuality are silent (i.e., insig-nificant) or salient (i.e., decisive for understanding) in bibli-cal texts that use gendered, especially feminine, languagefor God. Does such language (masculine or feminine) implya gendered and sexual deity (male or female)? The mono-graph offers a scholarship review, especially within feministcriticism, an extensive discussion of three theoretical issues(God and language; God and gender; gender and language),and an examination of metaphor theory concerning domainsand associated commonplaces. The author concludes thatboth masculine and feminine language map elements of sexand gender onto the text’s concept of God in salient ways,making the realities of sex and gender inseparable from thebiblical portrayals of God. The second part of the work under-takes three case studies of well-known feminine languagefor YHWH in Isa 42, 46, and 49. Here, Løland adds thequestion of what concepts of gender these examples of god-language attribute to YHWH. The theoretical discussionsadvance the investigation of gender and the biblical texts insignificant ways (especially recognizing masculine god-language as gendered as well), but scholarly readers willwish for development of the textual case studies. Recom-mended for advanced readers and research libraries.


HAGGAI. By Tim Meadowcroft. Readings: A New BiblicalCommentary. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2006. Pp. xii +259. Paper, $25.00.

This work reflects the methodological self-consciousness of the Readings series by offering a commen-tary on Haggai from the perspectives of discourse analysisand speech-act theory, especially informed by newer under-standings of relevance theory. Meadowcroft begins with anextensive prolegomena, which proposes the hermeneuticalcontext of reading Haggai as Christian scripture throughspeech-act and relevance theory, and an introduction, whichbriefly outlines the standard critical issues with specialattention to reception history. The methodological aspectproduces a discourse analysis of the narrative based on theidentification of speech formulas (including an appendixwith a detailed chart of the discourse levels) and looks torecent work on the concept of relevance to propose that thetext’s illocutionary intent and perlocutionary possibilitiesare shaped by the combination of the discourse’s guidance


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and the reader’s inferences. The resulting commentary onthe MT of Haggai is a self-conscious “reading” of what theauthor identifies as six oracles and the levels of discoursetherein. This reading highlights the tension between theprophet’s institutional focus and charismatic advocacy tolook beyond the institution to God. Following the main com-mentary, the author returns to his hermeneutical interestwith a summary the book’s themes and an exploration oftheir relevance for issues generated by Christian communi-ties, the epistemology of the western world, and an increas-ingly plural and fragile global context. New exegeticalinsights are limited, but the exposition and use of readingstrategies that are less common within biblical studies makethis volume an important complement to larger critical com-mentaries within personal and research libraries.


THE WISDOM OF BEN SIRA: STUDIES ON TRADI-TION, REDACTION, AND THEOLOGY. Edited byAngelo Passaro and Giuseppe Bellia. Deuterocanonical andCognate Literature Studies I. Berlin and New York: Walter deGruyter, 2008. Pp. xiii + 411. $123.00.

Some books are easily read and just as easily forgotten.This collection of essays about Ben Sira does not fall into thatcategory, for it is a remarkable achievement, one that outlinesthe present status of research and advances that consensus insignificant ways. Each contributor has already made impor-tant contributions to our knowledge of Ben Sira and meritsfurther discussion than this listing: Gilbert (method), Corley(structure), Bellia (historico-anthropological reading), Puech(Qumran), Calduch-Benages (hymn to creation), Beentjes(full wisdom’s source), Passaro (God’s secrets), Manfredi (thetrue sage as servant of the Lord), Liesen (Ben Sira andthe Psalter), Reiterer (Torah), di Lella (the discipline of thetongue), Minissale (metaphor of falling), Rizzi (Christianinterpretations), Pistone (blessing and prophecy: Sirach andMatthew), and Passaro/Bellia (metamorphosis of a sage:summary). The following examples only whet the appetite.Calduch-Benages explores the complex problem of ascertain-ing polemic and those against whom it is directed; Beentjesrecognizes the extraordinary attribution of all wisdom to theLord as Sirzach’s beginning point, whereas other wisdomtexts treat it as the end of human inquiry; Manfredi showshow Ben Sira reshapes the idea of the servant of the Lord; andPassaro/Bellia give a fascinating account of the transforma-tion of the sage Ben Sira. This book belongs on every biblicalscholar’s desk.


INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHETS. By Paul L.Redditt. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008. Pp. xv + 404.Paper, $26.00.

Redditt provides a comprehensive introduction to theprophets from the perspective of scholarship on the editorial

and literary unity of the Book of the Twelve. He treats theprophetic books in their English canonical order, includingdiscussions of Lamentations and Daniel but also the apocry-phal Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah (Isaiah 1-39 and40-66, as well as Zechariah 1-8 and 9-14 are treated sepa-rately). The discussion of each book includes historical, lit-erary, and canonical contexts, major themes, interpretiveproblems, questions for reflection, and annotated sugges-tions for further reading. There is a special concern to high-light each book as an editorial collection that was developedwith intentionality and should be read in connection withthe other canonical prophetic writings. The work includesintroductory chapters, which outline the major issues of pro-phetic study and survey basic methods of biblical criticism.Redditt also devotes a chapter to theories of the literary andeditorial unity of the Twelve, and a conclusion distills themajor themes across the prophets, the process of canoniza-tion, and connections drawn by later Christian and Jewishliterature. The volume aims at beginning undergraduate stu-dents, covering elementary concepts and including a glos-sary. It also operates from a Christian perspective, oftenaddressing issues of misunderstanding among conservativeChristian readers, such as the tendency to interpret prophetsas predictors and to engage in literal readings of symboliclanguage. The consideration of non-traditional perspectivesis underdeveloped, with a noticeable lack of feminist-criticalconcerns. The book will find a home in undergraduate andseminary libraries.


WEISHEIT AUS DER BEGEGNUNG. BILDUNGNACH DEM BUCH BEN SIRA. By Frank Ueberschaer.BZAW 379. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2007.Pp. x + 446. $137.00.

How does one discover the pedagogy of an author fromthe early second century BCE whose book almost achievedthe status of “defiling the hands” and whose popularityamong modern scholars is flourishing? This dissertation,completed during the Summer Semester at the KirchlicheHochschiule Wuppertal, answers this question as follows:Look for self-conscious reflection by Ben Sira about educa-tion, possibly a direct result of encounter with the Hellenis-tic environment, and examine these statements for whatthey teach about the formation of character at his school. Todo this, however, Ueberschaer considers it necessary to castthe net much wider, to include education in Egypt, Meso-potamia, and Hellenistic centers, and to take up the much-contested problem of schools in ancient Israel. Only thendoes he turn to Ben Sira, first to describe his anthropology(with emphasis on humans as creatures, limits, and mortal-ity), and thus to see what the ancient teacher says aboutstudents, wisdom, and himself as instructor. The followingtexts supply the clues for his analysis: 18:8, 51:23, 6:27,4:11, 24:32, 3:34, 39:6, and 15:2. An excursus, “Who wasBen Sira?,” raises the issue of his professional vocation and


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class. An introduction treats the history of research, text,and historical background.


JUDGES AND METHOD: NEW APPROACHES INBIBLICAL STUDIES, SECOND EDITION. Edited byGale A. Yee. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2007. Pp. ix + 284.Paper $22.00.

This second edition updates the seven chapters that wereoriginally part of the 1995 edition (introduction, narrative,social-scientific, feminist, structuralist, deconstructive, andideological criticism) and includes three additional chapterson postcolonial, gender, and cultural criticism, written byUriah Y. Kim, Ken Stone, and David M. Gunn, respectively. Allnine methodologically oriented chapters introduce fairlyclearly the theoretical underpinnings of the selected methodand also the practical application of the method to a biblicaltext, in this case, one from Judges. The chapters each con-clude with a very helpful section entitled “Further Reading.”The book concludes with a glossary, endnotes, and an index.This updated volume strengthens an already solid firstedition, thereby increasing its usefulness as a pedagogicaltool. Professors who are concerned that their students receivea wider survey of methodological approaches, especiallythose outside of historical criticism, will welcome this intro-ductory book into their classroom. Students will not onlyreceive an exceptional introduction into the latest method-ological thinking, but will come in contact with insightfulreadings of the book of Judges as well.

Tyler MayfieldClaremont Graduate University

Greece, Rome, Greco-Roman PeriodMYTH, RITUAL, AND METALLURGY IN ANCIENTGREECE AND RECENT AFRICA. By Sandra Blakely.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. xiv +328. $104.00.

Blakely’s book supplies a review of the myths andrituals associated with the daimones of Ancient Greece anduses varied African cultural comparanda as the foundationof the thesis of her book. The daimones are those associatedwith metallurgy and iron—their discovery, creation, myths,or rites. The African parallels that Blakely includes aremeant to make us rethink the nature of the Greek daimones.There exists no exact or even approximate relationshipbetween the African and the Greek data. The author does anadmirable job covering all of the possible sources thatinvolve these semi-divine creatures and the historicallyrecorded African rites associated with this craft. Blakely isnot only thorough in her review, but also very analytical inher suggestions and theories. At times, however, the bookseems to be somewhat unbalanced in its structure. Itappears frequently that the extremely comprehensive

African data is included merely for the sake of beingincluded, and often there seemed to be no connection withthe Greek side of things. Overall, the book works best whenit reminds classicists that we sometimes need to look toother disciplines and cultures to help us better understandthose of the Greeks (and Romans).

Edmund P. CuevaXavier University

A COMPANION TO GREEK RELIGION. Edited byDaniel Ogden. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007.Pp. xvi + 497; illustrations, maps. $169.95.

This substantial volume offers 27 contributions by inter-national scholars on a host of topics in Greek religion; eacharticle ends with notes for further reading. A reader-friendlyintroduction offers a summary of every chapter; among thetopics covered is the relation of Greek religion to the NearEast, the gods, the dead, and the heroes, as well as the variousmodes of communicating with the divine. The fourth sectioncontains some nice surprises: an attempt to describe a day inthe life of a Greek sanctuary (in this case a sanctuary ofAsclepius) and an essay on time in Greek religion and myth.The diversity of the concept of “Greek” religion emerges fromthe section on local religious systems in Sparta, Athens,Arcadia, and Hellenistic Alexandria. Contributions on Greekreligion and social organization, the family, and the role ofwomen lead into discussions of mystery religions and magic.Inevitably sketchy are the essays on Greek religion and lit-erature, philosophy, and art. An epilogue offers a look at the“Gods of the Silver Screen,” focusing on two films. Predict-ably, in this area, the notes for further reading are already outof date. The organization of this useful volume invites dippinginto rather than a linear perusal. The contributors, while byno means homogeneous in their approaches, manage to beboth informative and fair in their presentation of controver-sial issues, and blessedly jargon free.

Jenny Strauss ClayUniversity of Virginia

Christian OriginsEXPLORING THE ORIGINS OF THE BIBLE: CANONFORMATION IN HISTORICAL, LITERARY, ANDTHEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. Edited by Craig A.Evans and Emanuel Tov. Acadia Studies in Bible and Theol-ogy. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. Pp. 272.$22.95.

Neither the title nor subtitle accurately describes therange of topics covered in this collection of essays. Tov sum-marizes his authoritative views on the Septuagint’s signifi-cance for the literary history of the Hebrew Scriptures.Charlesworth (“Writings Ostensibly outside the Canon”)ranges far more widely than the title suggests, touching onmisperceptions of first-century Judaism and how the term“canon” should have been and ought to be used. Stephen


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Documents

Weisheit Aus Der Begegnung. Bildung Nach Dem Buch Ben Sira – By Frank Ueberschaer