A History of Biblical Interpretation: Volume 1, The Ancient Period (review)

Abstract

Hebrew Studies 45 (2004) 311 Reviews some morphological feature may be put off by such subjectivity, but this is actually the boundary where grammar may become interesting for the majority of readers. The realm of text linguistics frequently forms a bridge between syntactical and literary concerns. In sum, I would recommend that this book be read and understood by every student of Biblical Hebrew literature. This applies to interpretative studies as well as to historical compositional studies. Randall Buth Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel ybitan@mscc.huji.ac.il A HISTORY OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION: VOLUME 1, THE ANCIENT PERIOD. Edited by Alan J. Hauser and Duane F. Watson. Pp. xxi + 536. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2003. Cloth, $45.00. This reference work is the first volume in a planned four volume series on the history of biblical interpretation. It contains an introductory chapter by the two editors followed by fifteen contributions from many distinguished scholars on a host of subjects related to biblical interpretation in the earliest period. Topics covered include: “Inner-Biblical Exegesis” (Esther Menn), “Hebrew into Greek: Interpretation in, by, and of the Septuagint” (Leonard Greenspoon), “Philo of Alexandria as Exegete” (Peter Borgen), “Biblical Interpretation in the Dead Sea Scrolls” (Philip Davies), “Interpretation of Scripture in the Targumim” (Martin McNamara), “Rabbinic Midrash” (Gary Porton), “The Stabilization of the Tanak” (James Sanders), “The Interpretation of the Tanak in the Jewish Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha” (James Charlesworth), “Interpreting Israel’s Scripture in the New Testament” (Don Juel), “The Apostolic Fathers and the Apologists” (Joseph Trigg), “Alexandrian and Antiochene Exegesis” (Frances Young), “Jerome and the Vulgate” (Dennis Brown), “Augustine and the Close of the Ancient Period” (Richard Norris), “The Formation of the New Testament Canon and Its Significance for the History of Biblical Interpretation” (Harry Gamble), and “The Interpretation of Scripture in the New Testament Apocrypha and Gnostic Writings” (Craig Evans). The essays are fairly compact for the broad terrain that they cover (averaging around 25 pages) and are helpfully subdivided under various headings. Each one contains a useful bibliography at the end. While these articles are introductory overviews to their respective subjects, many leave the reader not only with a map of the general territory, but also with a wealth of useful in- Hebrew Studies 45 (2004) 312 Reviews formation. The volume as a whole contains modern author and ancient sources indices, as well as a highly useful subject index. Thus, this volume is not only accessible and of great benefit to the lay reader, but is also a useful scholarly resource. Of course, there are things one could criticize about this book. For example , did the editors in their selection of topics strike the correct balance? Is a single essay on the vast corpus of early rabbinic interpretation adequate? How can one include only a brief two-page exposition on Melito of Sardis, a single mention of Gregory of Nyssa, and completely ignore St. Ephrem the Syrian? But, in a reference tool like this volume, which strives to introduce the reader to the vast array of biblical interpretation and the scholarly questions raised by such an endeavor, difficult editorial decisions must be made, some of which will inevitably shortchange certain figures or areas of study. Another more serious issue has to do with how the information is sometimes presented. For example, Porton’s essay follows Neusner’s approach when discussing the origins of midrash and the relationship between midrash and rabbinic legal codes such as the Mishnah. While he includes one book by David Weiss Halivni and one by Michael Fishbane in his bibliography (as opposed to seventeen by Neusner), he never fully acknowledges that the work of these other scholars presents a challenge to Neusner’s understanding of the development of and relationship between midrash and Mishnah. One additional difficulty concerns Porton’s midrashic examples. At the end of his article he presents six extremely complex and lengthy midrashic passages, each with only an introductory sentence or two. While he does add parenthetical asides within each passage to help the reader follow the elliptical wording employed by the Rabbis, he never fully unpacks the numerous allusions and word plays that pervade these texts. Although an expert reader might not be...