If you are looking for a great read this summer, you should check out Oswald by Edoardo Albert. This is the second book in “The Northumbrian Thrones” series. The books follow the rise and fall of key British kings from the seventh century.
In the first book, Edwin becomes High King of Northumbria and embraces Christianity. In this book, Oswald returns from exile to claim his crown. The history behind this fiction is well researched. The names and spirit of the book are authentic, and the characters developed masterfully.
Check out my review of Edwin (book 1). I’ll be reviewing Oswald later this month. I’m looking forward to following another thrilling journey of a Christian king from the seventh century.
Here’s an excerpt from my review of Edwin which illustrates what you’ll find in this book too:
Edoardo Albert, writer and historian in his own right, tells the story of Edwin with as much power as any scop or bard from times past. Edwin is a fictional account yet most of its key plotlines and characters are historical. The book is the first in a trilogy called The Northumbrian Thrones.
The tale is fast paced and moving. Albert adds such historical detail that he makes you believe you are there….
The history of medeival Britain has long fascinated me and so I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you enjoy fantasy fiction in the vein of J.R.R. Tolkien, Terry Brooks, or Stephen Lawhead, this book will delight. Learning that it is mostly true to life will surprise you as it did me. I encourage you to give it a try.
Pick up a copy of this book from any of the following retailers:
There ia a new book on the difficult contrvoersial subject of the Bible and homosexuality which is making a lot of buzz. Kevin DeYoung’s book has garnered a host of endorsements.
Right now, Westminster Bookstore has a great sale on this book. You can learn more about the book at Crossway (where you can also check out a couple video clips from the conference where this book was birthed). Or you can check out the resources collected at Westminster Bookstore for this title.
The sale has individual copies of the book for $9, but the price for cases brings it down as low as $6 each (more than 50% off). Ebooks are also $6. to get the discount click here.
I’m going to reproduce the book blurbs for this title below and encourage you to consider picking up a copy at this great price.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Crossway Books via Westminster Bookstore. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.
I wanted to share an important excerpt from Robert Stein’s helpful book on biblical interpretation. This helps in understanding the prophetic genre, and makes good sense of Peter’s quote of Joel 2 in Acts 2.
An additional proof for his claim comes in the recognition that the prophets often maek use of language from the covenant curses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. They are using a specific language intentionally – the language of covenant. They are not just describing a foreseen future in strictly literal terms.
Much of the terminology found in prophecy makes use of customary imagery used in this genre. For instance, in the judgment prophecy found in Isaiah 13:9-11 we read:
“See, the day of the LORD is coming — a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger — to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.”
Because of the cosmic imagery found in this prophecy, many interpreters assume that it is referring to the end of history. Yet it is clear from Isaiah 13:1… and 19… that the prophecy concerns the Babylonian empire of the sixth century B.C. The Babylonian kingdom that destroyed Jerusalem and the Solomonic temple, this empire that sent the cream of Judean society into exile, was about to experience divine judgment.
Yet this judgment is described in cosmic terminology. Such terminology, however, was part of the imagery and symbolism available to the prophets when they sought to describe God’s intervention in history and his sovereign rule over the kingdoms of this world (cf. Dan. 2:21; 4:17,25,34-35; 5:21). Such imagery was not meant to be interpreted literally. The sun was not actually going to be darkened; the moon would not stop giving its light; the stars would not stop showing their light. “What” the author willed to communicate by this imagery, that God was going to bring judgment upon Babylon, was to be understood “literally.” And that willed meaning, God’s judgment upon Babylon, did take place. This prophecy was fulfilled with the rise and rule of the Persian empire over the territories once ruled by Babylon, and the later readers of this prophecy knew that this prophecy had indeed been fulfilled. Babylon had been judged just as the prophecy proclaimed, and it was God’s doing just as the cosmic imagery described. The imagery, itself, however, was understood by the prophet and his audience as part of the stock terminology used in this kind of literature to describe God’s intervention into history.
In Acts 2:14-21 Peter and Luke interpreted the events of Pentecost in a similar way as they saw in it the fulfillment of the prophetic message of Joel:
“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my SPirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”
These cosmic signs did not literally take place at Pentecost, even though what the author willed to convey by those signs did. God did enter into history and bring about the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. God in fulfillment of his promises gave to the church the blessed gift of the new covenant….
There have been attempts to deny that the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 was fulfilled at Pentecost. Usually this is due to a misunderstanding of the figurative nature of this cosmic terminology. Some have suggested that Luke and Peter believed that Pentecost was “kind of like” what Joel prophesied but not its actual fulfillment. Such a manipulative interpretation of this passage of Acts, however, is impossible in light of Peter’s words in Acts 2:16: “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.” Furthermore such interpretative gymnastics are unnecessary when we are willing to accept what the author meant by the use of such terminology. We need only note other passages to see how widespread the use of such cosmic terminology is in the Bible (Isa. 24:23; Jer. 4:28; 13:16; 15:9; Ezek. 32:7-8; Joel 2:10,31; 3:15; Amos 8:9; Hab. 3:11; Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24-25; Luke 21:25; Rev. 6:12). (Attempts to see Mark 15:33; Matt. 27:45; Luke 23:44-45 as the fulfillment of this prophecy also err. They do not explain the signs of Acts 2:19 and most of 2:20. Second, and more important, they err because Peter and Luke associate the fulfillment of these signs with what is happening then and there on the day of pentecost.
Reformation Gems are excerpts from selections contained in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture, a new commentary series from IVP which gathers the best Reformation-era comments on the text together all in one set. The volumes in this commentary series resurrect long-forgotten voices from the Reformation age and in so doing they recover the piety and vivacity of that era. I hope that by sharing some excerpts from this series, I will edify my readers and promote this important commentary series. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Today’s selection comes from the latest volume in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series: Volume VI (Acts). I turned to Acts 16:14, and the story of Lydia’s conversion, looking for Reformation-era comments on that classic text on God’s opening Lydia’s heart to pay attention to the message. I was not disappointed and found a gem in the words of Konrad Pellikan, a German scholar who worked closely with Ulrich Zwingli in the Swiss reformation. I appreciated both his observations on the nature of faith, as well as his practical application to “pray to the Lord to open our heart.”
Here is the excerpt from Pellikan’s commentary on Acts, originally published sometime between 1532-1539 (with key sentences bolded for emphasis):
Lydia’s Faith a Gift of the Holy Spirit.
Konrad Pellikan: The gospel usually bears the greatest amount of fruit where it is least expected…. With Lydia we can compare how Paul was cast out of Antioch by religious women who were overly zealous for God but lacking in understanding. This excellent mother and merchant, however, understood the gospel and repented of her sins. And she became repentant not by nature but by grace. the Lord, it says, opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. For no one can have faith in the gospel by his own strength, but only by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and not because he has faith beforehand. Therefore, on hearing the promises of the gospel, let us despair concerning the power of the flesh, but let us pray to the Lord to open our heart, to give us the gift of the Spirit, to put relief in our heart and to fill us with the work of righteousness. (pg. 228)
About the Reformation-era author: Konrad Pellikan (1478-1556). German Reformed Hebraist and theologian. Pellikan attended the University of Heidelberg, where he mastered Hebrew under Johannes Reuchlin. In 1504 Pellikan published one of the first Hebrew grammars that was not merely a translation of the work of mediaeval rabbis. While living in Basel, Pellikan assisted the printer Johannes Amerbach, with whom he published some of Luther’s early writings. He also worked with Sebastian Munster and Wolfgang Capito on a Hebrew Psalter (1516). In 1526, after teaching theology for three years at the University of Basel, Huldrych Zwingli brought Pellikan to Zurich to chair the faculty of Old Testament. Pellikan’s magnum opus is a seven-volume commentary on the entire Bible (except Revelation) and the Apocrypha: it is often heavily dependent upon the work of others (esp. Desiderius Erasmus and Johannes Oecolampadius). (pg. 399)
Commentary Roundup posts are a series of short reviews or overviews of Bible commentaries. I’m working my way through a variety of commentaries, new and old, and hope to highlight helpful resources for my readers.
Book Details:
• Author: Robert B. Chisholm, Jr.
• Publisher: Kregel Academic (2013)
• Format: hardback
• Page Count: 688
• ISBN#: 9780825425561
• List Price: $39.99
• Rating: Highly Recommended
Publisher’s Description: A thorough exegetical and homiletical analysis of each passage of Judges and Ruth.
This commentary sheds exegetical and theological light on the books of Judges and Ruth for contemporary preachers and students of Scripture. Listening closely to the text while interacting with the best of scholarship, Chisholm shows what these books meant for ancient Israel and what they mean for us today. In addition to his perceptive comments on the biblical text, he examines a host of themes such as covenants and the sovereignty of God in Judges, and providence, redemption, lovingkindness, and christological typology in Ruth.
Of special interest is Chisholm’s introduction to Judges. In it he asks and answers some difficult questions: What is the point of Judges? What role did individual judges play? What part did female characters play? Did Judges have a political agenda?
Chisholm offers astute guidance for preachers and teachers by not only providing insightful exegetical and theological commentary but also by offering homiletical trajectories for each passage to show how historical narrative can be presented in the pulpit and classroom for rich, responsible sermons and lessons.
Commentary Type:
This is a technical/semi-technical commentary that provides both a detailed exegetical analysis of the Hebrew text and a variety of homiletical helps for applying the message of the text for today’s hearers.
Structure and Features:
Robert Chisholm’s Commentary on Jugdes and Ruth is organized in such a way as to provide the most help for the busy preacher or teacher who will use this volume to help in preparing to teach through these books for the benefit of the church.
Each Bible book gets a detailed and incredibly helpful introduction. Questions of authorship, date and genre are covered, as are practical concerns like what to make of the dates in Judges, and how best to understand the structure of the content in each book. Chisholm displays a concern for the literary and canonical context of these books, spending some time discussing where Ruth should fall in the order of the canonical order, and how each book fits into the larger themes of this section of the Bible. Included in the introduction are a survey of available commentaries for each book, and a helpful discussion of homilitecial strategies and a sample sermon series for each book.
After the introduction, each Bible book is divided into sections. Each section of the text is then methodically studied: first the translation (Chisholm’s own, a slightly revised version of that he supplied for the NET Bible) is provided in segments, line by line – and arranged in such a way as to highlight the narrative structure. Clauses are categorized as “sequential” or “consequential,” “resumptive” or “supplemental,” “focusing” or “dramatic,” and etc. Back in the introduction, Chisholm gives an explanation of the narrative structure of each book and which Hebrew grammatical clues (wayyiqtol and weqatal clauses, negated and asyndetic perfects, and more) lead him to these syntactical conclusions. Important translational and syntactical notes appear in the footnotes in this section (and the footnotes are nice and easy to read, as is the font throughout the volume).
After offering the text and structure, the commentary provides an outline and then discussion on the literary structure. Next is a detailed exposition section, followed by an application section which fleshes out the thematic emphases, theological principles, and offers homiletical trajetories and preaching ideas. Finally an extensive list of references follows to round out the volume.
Excerpt:
This excerpt is taken almost at random, it illustrates Chisholm’s attention to detail and interaction with the Hebrew text. Normally Chisholm will offer translations for Hebrew words in the commentary, but not always, as this passage illustrates. I am not going to reproduce the ten footnotes that are interspersed throughout this section. Hopefully this excerpt will give you a flavor of Chisholm’s care in handling the text. The section concerns Judges 5:24-27.
Willing, able, and energetic Jael stands in stark contrast to unwilling, passive, and accursed Meroz (vv. 24-27). She receives a special blessing for her loyalty to Israel and the Lord. When opportunity came her way she marshaled her cunning and strength to destroy the enemy general.
This poetic account abridges and streamlines the earlier narrative in some respects, but also highlights Jael’s cunning and effectiveness through additional information and the poetic device of repetition. In the poem we read nothing of Sisera’s arrival or of Jael’s initial gestures of apparent concern. Instead the focus is on her offer of milk. The narrative tells how she gave him milk when he asked for water; the poem adds that she brought him curdled milk in a bowl fit for a noble, which he must have seen as an obvious gesture of loyalty. The poem mentions nothing of Jael’s tucking Sisera into bed; instead it focuses on the deadly deed. The narrative account uses only one verb to describe the murder stroke (see 4:21); the poem employs four synonyms, emphasizing the deadly force of the blow and forcing us to replay it in our minds. The narrative, while describing how the peg went through his skull into the ground, notes simply that he died (4:21-22); the poem uses seven finite verbal forms (כּרע and נפל appear three times each, and שׁכב once) to emphasize the efficiency and finality of the deed). The repetition serves to “slow the action almost to a standstill in order to allow the audience to vent their hatred of the Canaanites as they savor Sisera’s fall.” It also repeats the location of his death (“between her legs”) to set up an ironic connection with verses 28-30 (on which, see below), and concludes with a resounding passive form, “murdered” (שׁדוּד, literally, “violently destroyed, devastated”).
The narrative informs us that Jael killed Sisera while he was fast asleep (4:21), but the poem depicts her deed as a heroic military act. It makes no reference to Sisera sleeping (though v. 25b might suggest as much) and describes Jael’s actions as an aggressive attack–she grabs her weapons and strikes. It then depicts Sisera as slumping to his knees and falling to the floor, as if she struck him down while he stood before her. Rather than trying to harmonize the accounts at the literal, factual level, it is probably better to see the poem as a creative figurative version of the story designed to magnify Jael and to lampoon the Canaanite general, whose capitulation to Jael’s deceit was tantamount to being defeated by her in hand-to-hand combat. For a warrior to die at the hands of a woman was considered utterly humiliating (see Judg. 9:54), but in this case it was appropriate, for the fleeing Sisera is viewed as cowardly. (pg. 240-243)
Evaluation:
This is an accessible and immensely helpful volume. It is written with a pastoral heart. I appreciated its Christological emphasis, and willingness to examine the typological connections between Judges and Ruth and the other books of the Bible (as in Othniel’s identity as the archetypal judge against whom David must measure up, and the echoes of Samson’s shortcomings in Saul’s inglorious career as outlined in the books of Samuel). The discussion on the dates in Judges was incredibly helpful, as was the section on the role of female characters in Judges, and how they pave the way for Hannah’s account which opens up 1 Samuel.
Chisholm has a mastery when it comes to Hebrew grammar, and I appreciate how he interacts with the text and helps us see the narrative flow intended by the biblical author. His eye for literary connections and the interplay of various genres, make this volume more useful and full-orbed. His interaction with the full breadth of scholarship related to these books, inform and guide the reader in their study of the text.
This commentary is a must-have for every pastor. The combination of practical and homiletically helpful, with technical and exegetically robust is unmatched. No matter your level of familiarity with Hebrew, interacting with this volume will be worth your time. If you skip the footnotes and just interact with the text you will still be rewarded for your effort. I highly recommend you consider picking up this volume and exploring other titles in the Kregel Exegetical Library.
About the Author: Robert B. Chisholm Jr. (ThD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is Department Chair and Professor of Old Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is a translator and the Senior Old Testament Editor of the NET Bible. Chisholm’s other publications include Interpreting the Minor Prophets, Handbook on the Prophets, and A Workbook for Intermediate Hebrew.
If you are looking for a great read this summer, you should check out Oswald by Edoardo Albert. This is the second book in “The Northumbrian Thrones” series. The books follow the rise and fall of key British kings from the seventh century.
