The Writings

Abstract

The Writings Andrew W. Dyck, Bradley C. Gregory, Christopher T. Begg, and Timothy M. Willis Andrew W. Dyck Wycliffe College Bradley C. Gregory Catholic University of America Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America Timothy M. Willis Pepperdine University 2593. [Job; Lament; Penitence] Alexander W. Breitkopf, Job from Lament to Penitence (HBM 92; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2020). Pp. x + 184. $37.50. ISBN 978-1-910928-81-3. Recent form-critical studies by Mark Boda and Rodney Werline among others have brought an increased interest in the penitential form and the recognition of that form's distinctiveness and derivation from the lament form. This development in scholarship has provided a basis for my study's new analysis of the penitential form in Job and its interaction with the lament form there. Using the methodological framework of form criticism and eco-anthropology—which studies how human identity is formed in relation to the natural world—I argue that the voice of the character Job undergoes a marked shift from lament to penitence as the book proceeds. This shift, in turn, goes together with a change in the character's worldview evinced in the book's language about the natural order. Negative language and imagery about nature is abundant in Job, e.g., when Job in chap. 3 curses existence (especially birth and life) and invokes Leviathan. In so doing, Job discloses his understanding of humanity as dominant over the natural world. But as the book nears its end, the divine speeches, where wild animals are described as thriving and free from human control, subvert Job's negative language about nature. In sum, B. argues, Job's language, such as used by him in chap. 3, is challenged by the divine speeches. Job's final words in response to those speeches, especially in 42:6, expressed as they are in penitential language, signal a reconsideration of his human identity as mere "dush and ash" within the framework of the natural world and represent a striking change from his original outlook. [Adapted from published abstract] B.'s monograph unfolds in a series of eight chapters titled respectively: (1) Form in the Context of Eco Anthropology; (2) Frameworks and Steps of Analysis; (3) Markers, Prologue and Job's Opening Lament; (4) The Wisdom Dialogue (The Friends); (5) The Wisdom Dialogue (Job); (6) The Wisdom Poem, Final Defense and Elihu; (7) The Divine Speeches and the Prose Epilogue; and (8) The End of the Matter: Summary and Concluding [End Page 964] Thoughts. The volume is rounded off with two appendixes (Use of Eco Anthropological Metaphor in the Wisdom Dialogue and Connection of the Creation Imagery/Language between the Divine and the Human Speeches), a bibliography, and indexes of references and authors.—C.T.B. Google Scholar 2594. [Psalms] Jerome F. D. Creach, Discovering the Psalms: Content, Interpretation, Reception (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020). Pp. xiv + 217. $22. ISBN 978-0-8028-7806-9. C.'s volume introduces "the Psalms to those who are discovering them for the first time, and makes them more accessible to those who have already read and interpreted them" (p. 4). In three parts ([1] "Issues in Reading the Psalms and the Psalter Together"; [2] "Reading the Psalms Together"; and [3] "The Psalms as Prayers"), C. accomplishes four tasks: (1) he orients the reader to the content of the Psalms and its process of formation; (2) bridges the historical and cultural gaps between the texts' ancient contexts and that of the twenty-first century; (3) describes the historical tradition(s) of praying the Psalms; and (4) identifies the various ways Christians and Jews have read the Psalms as part of Scripture. These tasks focus on a history of interpretation and the use of the Psalter in differing religious traditions (Christian and Jewish). C. argues that while the Psalms are texts to study, they are also meant to nourish our worship.—A.W.D. Google Scholar 2595. [MT Psalms 35–41] Willem A. M. Beuken, From Servant of YHWH to Being Considerate of the Wretched: The Figure of David in the Reading Perspective of Psalms 35–41 MT (BETL 305; Leuven/Paris/Bristol, CT: Peeters, 2020...