Introduction and General

Abstract

Introduction and General Christopher T. Begg, Victor H. Matthews, Robert D. Miller, Thomas Hieke, and David A. Bosworth 728. Walter Ameling, Hannah M. Cotton, Werner Eck, Avner Ecker, Benjamin Isaac, Alia Kushnir-Stein, Haggai Misgar, Jonathan Price, Peter Weiß, and Ada Yardani (eds.), Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae, Vol IV. Iudaea/Idumaea, Part 1 2649–3324; Vol. IV Iudaea/Idumαea, Part 2 3325–3978 (Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2018). Pp. xxvi + 1-758 (Part 1); xi + 759-1580 (Part 2). €140,14 (Part 1); €140,14 (Part 2). ISBN 978-3-11-053744-4 (Part 1); 978-3-11-054364-3 (Part 2). The fourth volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae Palestinae (CHIP) is dedicated to the inscriptions from Iudaea proper and Idumaea. The two parts (IV 1-2) contain all the inscriptions from these areas with the exception of the ostraca. The latter have been found in this area in such huge quantities that they could not be included here; two other volumes will be dedicated to them in the future. The inscriptions are arranged, as in volume II, in a north-to-south order. The volume begins with Kefar Sirkin near Petah Tikva at the northwest end and terminates at Masada in the southeast. When more than one settlement occupies the same latitude, the inscriptions are in a west to east order. The territory covered in the volume was divided at least since the 2nd cent. a.d. between different communities or cities, but almost nowhere is it possible to assign the inscriptions to a specific territory of an ancient community or city. Consequently, most of the material had to be associated with a modern settlement and its surrounding area, rather than with an ancient one. Inscriptions found in a single place, when numerous, are divided into groups acccording to content, following the practice adopted in previous volumes. (Preface, Vol. 4, Part 1, p. v., adapted.) For each of the almost 1,300 inscriptions in the volume, the editors provide (to the extent possible) the following data: introductory notes concerning the given inscription's language, content, date, dimensions, and findspot; text in the characters of the language used (Greek, Aramaic, Latin, Armenian, etc.); transcription; translation; historical and philo-logical commentary; and bibliography, along with line drawings and/or photos of the item in question. Part 2 concludes with an index of personal names for all volumes in the series hitherto published and a series of maps plus a key to locations on these maps.—C.T.B. 729. Michael Barram, Missional Economics: Biblical Justice and Christian Formation (The Gospel and Our Culture; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2018). Pp. xviii + 263. Paper $26. ISBN 978-0-8028-7507-5. This is a book of reflections on biblical economic justice and Christian discipleship. Its chapters work through both OT and NT texts that deal with such topics as the socioeconomic [End Page 227] realties of ancient Israel, including laws protecting widows, orphans, and resident aliens, and provisions (gleaning) for the poor. The economic reasoning in prophets like Amos, Isaiah, and Micah are also explored, as is the situation reflected in the Sermon on the Mount and the concept of "all things in common" found in Acts and the Pauline letters. B.'s concluding chapter addresses questions of missional hermeneutics, the concept of human dignity, as well as methods and mission, with a focus on the liberation of the oppressed from economic and social forms of bondage.—V.H.M. 730. Odette Boivin, The First Dynasty of the Sealand in Mesopotamia (SANER 20; Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2018). Pp. xii + 292. €81,26. ISBN 978-1-5015-1639-9. The reconstruction of the history of mid-2nd-millennium Babylonia has been complicated by a dire lack of sources. The Sealand kings who controlled part of the area in this period have long been known only indirectly. A recently published palatial archive, however, now enables us to illuminate this hitherto elusive polity from the inside. A study of this archive and a reassessment of the relevant historiographical...