In Search of Meaning II: Another Year of Reflection on the New Testament (2017–18) by Jan Lambrecht

Abstract

Reviewed by: In Search of Meaning II: Another Year of Reflection on the New Testament (2017–18) by Jan Lambrecht James Swetnam S.J. jan lambrecht, In Search of Meaning II: Another Year of Reflection on the New Testament (2017–18) (Beau Bassin, Mauritius: Scholars' Press, 2018). Pp. xvii + 431. Paper €63.90. Jan Lambrecht is a well-known Jesuit Scripture scholar from Belgium and a friend and colleague of this reviewer from their association at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in [End Page 736] Rome. Volume 1 of what looks like a budding series was Jan Lambrecht, In Search of Meaning: Collected Notes on the New Testament (2014–2017) (Balti, Republic of Moldova: Scholars' Press, 2017). The 2018 volume, the one reviewed here, has twenty-one items from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and thirty-one items from Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Hebrews, and Ephesians. Ephesians is placed at the end because L.'s comments encompass the entire epistle. There is an index of Scripture and an index of authors. Lambrecht's approach to these NT texts is varied. At times he seems to be interested in a text because his reading of the original Greek suggests a meaning that has escaped scholars thus far (e.g., "Salt and Light: Editing and Reasoning in Matthew 5,13-18"). Here he gives second thoughts to his own research. At times his stimulus is the work of another scholar (e.g., "Romans 1,14-32: The Line of Thought"), where he politely disagrees with some of the exegesis of these verses of Marcus A. Mininger. (Here the present reviewer would like to enter a demurrer of his own. L. writes on p. 177: "Otherwise than Mininger, I think that the phrase ek pisteuōs, eis pistin in v. 17a does not signify 'from God's faithfulness to human faith,' but points to the continuously increasing faith of the believers." The present reviewer thinks that the phrase means "from Abraham's faith to Jesus's faithfulness"). At still other times L. works by comparing English translations (NRSV, REV, ABS [2016]), for example, of the prologue of Hebrews in "The Father Speaks through the Son (Hebrews 1,1-4)." L.'s point is that it is important to maintain as much as possible the unbroken length of the original Greek of what is one of the most impressive examples of Greek style in the NT. Here again the present reviewer would like to make an observation (cf. J. Swetnam, Hebrews: An Interpretation [SubBib 47; Rome: Gregorian & Biblical Press, 2016] 17-32). L. is quite correct in insisting on maintaining the unbroken length of the original Greek of the prologue, but he is handicapped by his not exploring the implications of the verb laleō. In Hebrews it is associated with the Eucharist, which in turn implies that the speaking was by Jesus not as the Son (of God) but as the earthly Messiah, which in turn implies that the prologue of Hebrews is about the two sonships of Jesus, human and divine, and not just the latter, as is usually the case. But there is no doubt where the common denominator is in these and in all of L.'s observations: the Greek language. Even a cursory reading of L.'s observations will quickly convince the reader, if convincing is necessary, that knowledge of the Greek language is an absolute necessity for anyone intent on doing any serious work in NT exegesis. Perhaps this review is the occasion to delve more fully into the background of the reviewer's remark above about the relevance of Abraham to Rom 1:17. In his "Galatians 3,15-18: Rendering and Reasoning (2018)," L. writes, "[B]y the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, Jews are redeemed from the curse of the law. Somewhat strangely Paul, in v. 14s, explicitly declares that thanks to the crucified Christ, the blessing of Abraham comes also to the Gentiles. Through faith we (Jews and Gentiles) receive the promise of the Spirit (v. 14b)." The words "somewhat strangely" seem rather odd to this reviewer, for they seem to imply ignorance of the fact that in Heb 11:17-19 the...