The introduction, written by the volume’s editor, John Barton, identifies the book as the most recent instalment in a series produced by members of the Society for Old Testament Study (SOTS). The aim of the series is to provide an overview of the recent developments in the study of the Hebrew Bible (HB) since the publication of the last volume. This book therefore follows Text in Context (2000). Barton observes the overriding themes in HB scholarship. Each chapter traces the developments, debates, and shifts within recent scholarship of the HB, before going on to consider directions for future study.
Firstly, Nathan MacDonald looks at the Pentateuch, noting the impact made by the publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS). MacDonald observes a later dating of texts and discusses the dating of the Priestly and Deuteronomic material. He also notes an increased interest in Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) texts; the variety of methodologies; and the fruitfulness of book divisions. Reinhard Kratz’s chapter on the narrative books considers manuscript variations and highlights the recent questioning of Noth’s hypothesis on the Deuteronomistic History. Kratz calls for a fresh look at the books without presuppositions. He sketches the main areas of consensus in scholarship and then offers alternative models for their composition.
Anja Klein discusses the prophetic books, which now tend to be approached as literary works. Hypotheses around their development have been informed by ANE prophecy; the DSS; Second Temple material; and ancient scroll production studies. Klein summarises the work on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve, before discussing developments in literary criticism. She also notes the increase in feminist, gender, and trauma studies.
John Jarick considers the wisdom literature in chapter four. Despite challenges to its legitimacy as a genre, particularly from Will Kynes, Jarick affirms it as a valuable scholarly category, perhaps supported by the ancient texts themselves. More recent approaches are intertextual, both within the HB and within the wider ANE and Greek traditions. Sue Gillingham then explores the Psalms, where the publication of the DSS shifted focus to Second Temple Judaism and the Psalter as a whole. Gillingham traces the diversity of psalm studies through the significant conference proceedings and commentary traditions, observing themes such as literary studies, readerly impact, interfaith dialogue, intertextuality, archaeology, ethics, personal piety, and reception history.
Chapter six concerns the early Jewish literature, where Carol Newson provides an overview of the textual plurality of the texts that eventually became ‘the Bible’; the liminality of ‘biblical’ and ‘non-biblical’ categorisations in the Second Temple texts; and the complexity of textual and scriptural authority during this time in light of the discovery of the DSS. In the chapter ‘Biblical Canons’, George Brooke surveys the work on canons and canonicity; the impact of the DSS for understanding this process; and the canonisation of the HB. Common threads within this scholarship include canonical criticism; reception history; and the questioning of anachronistic terms. Finally, Brooke discusses the formation of Jewish and Christian canons.
Prefaced by an editor’s note on James Aitken’s premature death, chapter eight discusses textual criticism, which has been enlightened by the DSS, BHQ, and SamP. These have been seen, alongside the MT and LXX, as variant editions in their own right. Aitken also witnesses a renewed interest in philology, and new approaches in discourse analysis and the digital humanities. In the chapter on philology and linguistics, Kevin Cathcart begins by discussing the delineations of these terms. Under these umbrellas, particular focus has been on loanwords, Aramaisms and Aramaic inscriptions, the rules of phonological correspondences, and comparative philology.
A new chapter in the series, the tenth chapter by H. G. M. Williamson, explores archaeology, which has flourished from extensive excavation documentation. Williamson discusses forgery, epigraphical discoveries, the Museum of the Bible, and the chronology of Iron Age II and summarises other key archaeological studies. Laura Quick’s chapter on ANE context presents three ways in which evidence from the ANE is used and notes how methodologies in this field are subsumed under two polarities: ‘parallelomania’ and ‘parallelonoid’. Quick locates the issue in the overemphasis on literary remains and suggests the solution of looking at material remains too, modelled on ‘audience criticism’.
In chapter twelve, C. L. Crouch observes the increased caution in treating the HB as a historical source. Focus has been on texts from the Persian period, looking at scribal practice, collective memory, archaeology, Qumran communities, textual variation, Samarian communities, linguistic differentiation, the Benjaminite region, and recently, migration studies. Mark Scarlata’s look at religious practice in ancient Judah and Israel focusses primarily on Leviticus, where literary approaches have increased. Scarlata identifies the key debate as whether centralisation of worship is endorsed in Leviticus, with most concluding that it does not. Approaches to Leviticus include ritual theory, anthropology, comparative ANE studies, and history of religion.
The contribution by Francesca Stavrakopoulou on visual cultures is new to a SOTS volume. These are thought to illuminate the HB. Stavrakopoulou observes the changing trends in scholarship on Judean Pillar Figurines, and uses Joel LeMon’s work to demonstrate how visual culture elucidates biblical metaphors. Recent trends include seeing visual images as active participants in meaning-making; ekphrasis and aesthetics; and materialism. Richard Briggs then surveys the theological interpretation of Scripture, which has seen a resurgence, often driven by a critique of previous work. Briggs identifies three categories within theological interpretation: those that see it as a new and exciting development, new but negative, and continuous with prior critical study. These hinge on a broader debate on how the term ‘theological’ should be viewed.
In chapter sixteen, Caroline Blyth looks at gender. Within feminist studies, intersectional approaches have abounded, alongside themes of gender-based violence. Queer theorists look at biblical characters, genres, and themes, and recently, fluid depictions of gender in the HB. Masculinity studies focusses on the construction of hegemonic masculinity and marginalised masculinities. Blyth concludes with an encouragement for future cooperation between the three approaches. After problematising the implications of the term ‘postcolonial’, Hugh Pyper sketches out the current strands in postcolonial study, before dissecting three ways in which it is fruitful for the HB. Pyper uses the book of Daniel as a case study.
In chapter eighteen, Eryl Davies observes how ethical studies have moved away from a purely legal framing, employing two models: ‘natural law’ mapped onto the HB; and the imitation of God. Recently, narrative criticism has informed ethical studies. Focus has been reinvigorated on the Prophets, and studies on the Psalms are emerging. Hilary Marlow begins her consideration of ecology by sketching a background of current environmental concerns. Indirect ecological themes in biblical studies include the importance of land in the HB and the use of natural figurative language. Turning to explicit ecological readings, Marlow discusses: those who employ Christian theological notions; the deliberate avoidance of this in the Earth Bible Project, the Exter Project, Marlow’s own research, inanimate nature, ecocentrism, and materialism.
Tsaurayi Mapfeka examines the HB and race, contextualising the discussion through definitions of racism and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Mapfeka notes how race does not determine the human condition. He explores how colonizer and indigenous peoples can justify or identify their situation from the Bible, observes the notion of identity-formation in Israel, and uses Amos 9:7 as a case study to demonstrate that reading race onto the HB is eisegesis. In chapter twenty-one, Katherine Southwood first discusses the early approaches to the HB and social sciences, which she argues lacked established criteria for these comparisons. Renewed approaches in the late mid-twentieth century nonetheless fell victim to shallow engagement with the other discipline. Southwood observes how recent attempts particularly engage with archaeology and maximalist/minimalist debates and also notes that institutions and funding bodies have catalysed its flourishing.
Discussing the HB and psychology, Ekaterina Kozlova outlines the main frameworks of psychological approaches, and maps out select psychological criticisms of the Pentateuch, Historical books, prophetic literature, Lamentations, Psalms, wisdom literature, and war texts. Recent interests in disability studies of the HB have emerged alongside psychiatry. Joachim Schaper looks at the HB and cognitive science in chapter twenty-three. The main approach has been the Cognitive Science of Religion. Schaper points out the valuable insights that this offers to studies of idol polemics, using Brett Maiden and Nathaniel Levtow’s works to demonstrate. Schaper notes some dangers, however, some of which are alleviated by the emergent study of cultural evolution.
Chapter twenty-four is tripartite, starting with Deborah Rooke’s exploration of the HB’s reception in music. Rooke documents key anthologies by musicologists, the Bible in oratorios and operas, and other musical genres. Holly Morse’s section on visual art looks at the approaches of ‘visual exegesis’ and ‘visual criticism’ through depictions of Eve. David Shepherd then looks at the HB’s reception in literature, theatre, and film. He outlines the significant contributions in literature, and three focusses in the HB and film: films that depict biblical stories; films that allude to the HB; and the methodological overlap between the Bible and film. Recent studies on the HB in theatre have focussed on medieval, nineteenth, and, particularly, twentieth century plays.
Jim West surveys the notable translations of the HB of this century, which are mostly revisions of the KJV. West highlights the strengths of two fresh translations of the HB: the Zürcher Bibel (2007), and Robert Alter’s The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary (2018), concluding by encouraging more fresh translations of the HB. The final chapter by Paul Joyce covers the ‘Literary Turn’ of biblical studies, such as feminist studies and reception studies. Joyce discusses the relation between diachronic and synchronic considerations, and highlights a recent approach of ‘material philology’. Finally, he notes the integral role of translation, and the influence of modern media and technology.
As the range of material covered in this review indicates, this book is an important and useful volume, not least in its survey of recent scholarship, but also for tracing the patterns that have dominated HB studies more broadly (particularly the publication of the DSS, and the increasingly literary and interdisciplinary approaches), and its postulations on the future directions that HB scholarship may take.
