Abstract
This “handbook” seeks to provide “an authoritative and state-of-the-art survey of current thinking and research” (from the desk jacket) in the books of the Bible called the “Writings” or the “kethuvim,” the third part of the Hebrew canon. The thirty essays by an international range of scholars undertake a variety of discussions, including inter-textuality (how the books allude to each other), the rationale for the sequence of the books in the various canons, general canonical issues, literary readings of the narrative plots, discussion of the social context of the works, later interpretations in the Jewish and Christian traditions, and existential and theological interpretations of the books. With thirty different essays there is obvious repetition of some of the issues, but that does not detract from the overall value of the book. The work is not a comprehensive discussion of all the issues germane to the Writings; rather, it is an interesting selection of studies that approach the Writings from many different angles.
Several essays describe the historical background: Lester Grabbe, “The Writings in the Early Postexilic Period (Cyrus through Ezra-Nehemiah)”; Timothy Lim, “The Writings in the Hellenistic and Roman Period”; and Benjamin Gordon, “Archaeology of the Postexilic Period and the Writings.”
Several essays describe the genres of the literature in their social and literary settings: Mark Leuchter, “Cultic Traditions in the Writings: Priests and Levites in the Post-exilic Period”; James Crenshaw, “Wisdom Traditions and the Writings: Sage and Scribe”; Bennie Reynolds III, “Apocalyptic Visions and Revisions of the End in the Writings”; Thomas Bolin, “Postexilic Prose Traditions in the Writings: Novella Writers, Storytellers, and History Writers”; and Susan Gillingham, “Postexilic Poetic Traditions in the Writings.”
A number of essays evaluate individual works, either with a discussion of their place in the canonical scheme, their inter-textuality with other biblical books, or with a literary reading of the narrative: William Brown, “Reading Psalms Sapientially in the Writings”; Katherine Dell, “The Book of Job in the Context of the Writings”; Julius Steinberg, “Reading Proverbs as a Book in the Writings”; Scott Ellington, “Lamentations and Canon: Conversations in the Dark”; Graeme Auld, “Ruth: A Reading of Scripture?”; Timothy Stone, “Esther's Framework within the Writings”; Erhard Gerstenberger, “Qoheleth in the Writings”; Carey Walsh, “The Wisdom of Desire in the Song of Songs”; Melody Knowles, “Reimagining Community Past and Present in Ezra and Nehemiah”; John Endres, “Chronicles and the Writings”; and Ralph Klein, “Reading Daniel as Part of the Writings.”
The final category evaluates the influence of the Writings in later biblical (and artistic) traditions: Lawrence Schiffman, “Writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls”; Jon Berquist, “Nascent Judaism: The Writings and the History of Religions”; Daniel Snell, “Ancient Near Eastern Religions and the Writings”; Archie Lee, “The Divine-Human Encounter in the Hebrew Wisdom of the Writings and the Confucian Analects”; Roger Ferlo, “Moving Texts: The Writings in Western Music and Visual Arts”; Lee Martin McDonald, “The Reception of the Writings and Their Place in the Biblical Canon”; Timothy Stone, “The Canonical Shape and Function of the Writings”; Alan Cooper, “Aspects of Jewish Reception of the Ketuvim (Writings)”; and Mark Elliott, “The Writings of the Christian Bible.”
The collected essays are bookended by two essays from Donn Morgan, which introduce and sum up the discussion of the Writings: “Studying the Writings as Postexilic Literature and Canon” and “The Writings and Canon: Enduring Issues and Legacy.”
Essays that I found to be of particular interest include the following:
Grabbe wrote an superb summary of critical historical issues connected to the Persian period, and he dates Ezra to 398 bce. Gordon provides a good summary of archaeological issues connected to the Hellenistic and especially the Herodian period. Crenshaw gives an excellent summary of topics connected to the study of wisdom literature, focusing on current scholarly perspectives. Reynolds describes how apocalyptic works salvage unfilled expectations from earlier writings, such as the image of the seventy year exile, first expressed by Jeremiah. Bolin provides excellent critical observations on prose literature with some attention to historical issues. Brown discusses the interesting relationship between psalms and wisdom literature, especially in regard to suffering. Auld explores the thematic and linguistic connections between the book of Ruth (or should we call it the book of Naomi?) and the other books in the Writings. Stone views God as acting behind the scenes in the book of Esther to save the Jews, despite the shortcomings of both Esther and Mordecai. Gerstenberger gives us a sensitive portrayal of themes in the book of Qoheleth. Klein provides a good commentary on Daniel in its third and second century bce historical context. Berquist overviews a variety of pieties found in the Writings that helped give rise to later Judaism. McDonald provides a good discussion of canonical issues connected with the Writings.
Generally, the authors provide a good summary of the latest scholarly views on various books and issues connected to them. Thus, I was disappointed to observe that Steinberg still holds to a Solomonic era origin for most of the book of Proverbs, a theory discredited in the 1970s. Each person who reads this volume will probably focus upon different essays than I did; there is something for everyone in this volume.
My disagreements with opinions expressed by the authors are quite few, and I applaud the observations of several of them (Grabbe, Crenshaw, Bolin). Though the volume might not be considered critical scholarship, nonetheless critical scholars will appreciate many of the essays. The volume would be very good for graduate students, seminarians, well-versed undergraduate religious studies majors, and clergy who seek to hone their scholarly skills. I recommend it for professors, like myself, who teach a course in the Writings, because it can provide not only good specific ideas for lectures but also an overall focus on the Writings.