The Latest Issue of the Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below but unfortunately you must be a SBL member to read them.

Theodor Dunkelgrün and Pawel Maciejko, eds., Bastards and Believers: Jewish Converts and Conversion from the Bible to the Present (University of Pennsylvania Press)
Carmen Palmer

Eberhard W. Guting, Textual Criticism and the New Testament Text: Text Theory, Practice, and Editorial Technique (SBL Press)
Curt Niccum

Rob James, The Spiral Gospel: Intratextuality in Luke’s Narrative (Clarke)
Alexander P. Thompson

Enrique Jiménez and Catherine Mittermayer, eds., Disputation Literature in the Near East and Beyond (De Gruyter)
Alex Novikoff

Emanuel Pfoh and Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spanò, eds., Biblical Narratives, Archaeology and Historicity: Essays In Honour of Thomas L. Thompson (T&T Clark)
Victor H. Matthews

Robyn Faith Walsh, The Origins of Early Christian Literature: Contextualizing the New Testament within Greco-Roman Literary Culture (Cambridge University Press)
Vernon K. Robbins

Francis Watson, What Is a Gospel? (Eerdmans)
Ian Mills

Carla Swafford Works, The Least of These: Paul and the Marginalized (Eerdmans)
Rollin A. Ramsaran

Jeremiah 9:11 and Tisha B'Av

Tisha B'Av or the Ninth of Av is a Jewish day of fasting in remembrance of a number of calamities in Jewish history, most notably the destructions of the First and Second Temples.The Ninth was observed yesterday. Baraka Blumental captured this remarkable photo (it is claimed not to be photoshopped) of the Western Wall. It is a poignant illustration of Jeremiah (and similar texts) 9:11: "I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

HT: Wai-Lam Chan

Ten Commandments or Ten Statements?

Zvi Brettler and Jed Wyrick have a good overview here concerning the best designation of what most people know as the Ten Commandments or the Decalogue.

Let the Youth Pastor Preach

Brandon Cooper has a good reminder here of investing in the next generation of preachers. I have often stated (perhaps with some hyperbole) that one cannot be a good preacher without first being a bad one. The resistance to allowing the less-experienced and less-polished preacher to preach is often born out of fear and a failure to appreciate the sovereign power of God. 

The Original Pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible

Geoffrey Khan has a very interesting and helpful discussion here.