Currents in Biblical Research

This piece targets Crenshaw's article, 'Wisdom Psalms?' (CRBS 2000) that debunks a broad array of scholarly attempts to identify canonical wisdom psalms. Convinced that Crenshaw's minimalist perception often skews his reading of the biblical text and its interpretation, Kuntz counters that the Hebrew Psalter hosts a limited number of psalms that are stylistically and thematically reminiscent of what transpires in the widely recognized trinity of wisdom books in the Hebrew canon (Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth). Despite their overlap with other genres, wisdom psalms of diverse format and length exhibit shared features that warrant our embracing them as a viable psalmic category.

Of Kuntz's arguments against my position in 'Wisdom Psalms?', I find only one to have any merit, and it is tangential to the discussion. The vague and misleading category 'Wisdom Psalms' is useless in scholarly research.

This article surveys research published from 1990 to the present on the book of Judges. The material is arranged in two sections. In the first part, attention is given to major judges and characters (Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelech, Jephthah, Samson, Micah and the unnamed woman of ch. 19). In the second section, the focus shifts to a consideration of other material published since 1990, including 'Feminist Interpretations', 'Literary Treatments', 'Commen taries and Books', 'Isolated Passages', and 'Other Articles'.

Studies of Judith represent three overlapping but distinct periods of critical inquiry. Interests were awakened (1913-49), as three firsts in English wit ness: Charles's comprehensive APOT (1913), Oesterley's two one-volume introdutions to the Apocrypha (1914, 1935) and Pfeiffer's critical introduc tion (1949). In a second period (1950-85), Judith's context undergoes remarkable shifts both within the Bible and the wider community with the inclusion of the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books in translations like the RSV and NRSV, text-critical editions, literary analysis, initial feminist studies, and collaborative alliances of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish scholars. In a third period (1986-2001), critical strategies enlarge to represent increas ingly gender-inclusive, interdisciplinary, international and eclectic concerns.

Issues of wealth and poverty in the Third Gospel and Acts have attracted a great deal of scholarly interest since the rise of redaction criticism. This essay provides a survey of the most important readings of these issues from the mid 1960s to the present. Readings from a variety of critical perspectives (e.g. redaction, social-scientific, literary, and reader response) are considered. The authors examined in detail are D. Sweetland, D. Kraybill, L.T. Johnson, J. York, M. Prior, R.J. Cassidy, H.-J. Degenhardt, W. Schmithals, W. Stege mann, D.P. Seccombe, T.E. Schmidt, J. Koenig, K.-J. Kim, and S. Garrett.

One of the most important areas of Hebrews research concerns the various ways in which the author handles the Old Testament. The past two decades have witnessed an acceleration of research on the book generally, and within the context of the heightened attention, certain trends in exploration of Hebrews' uses of the Old Testament have emerged. A consideration of these trends is carried forward in two movements. First, a brief introduction to the topic is set forth, which focuses on the phenomena surrounding Hebrews' uses of the Old Testament. Here current discussions on direct quotations, allusions, uses of biblical phrases, echoes, and general refer ences are considered, as are the author's uses of introductory formulae. Second, the article details four trends that have surfaced in the literature of recent years. The first trend concerns a movement away from focus on the question of a specific textual form behind Hebrews and a movement to consideration of the author's own minor adjustments in presentation of the text for stylistic and theological purposes. The second trend in research con cerns approaches that read the structure of Hebrews as framed by exposi tions of key Old Testament texts. The third trend involves explorations into specific exegetical methods used by the author of Hebrews, and the fourth, attempts at discerning the author's hermeneutical program. These trends demonstrate the central place in research that Hebrews' use of the Old Tes tament should hold and provide help in thinking more lucidly about the book.