The Narnia 3 Book Review Blog

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Walter C. Kaiser and Duane A. Garrett with Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Cloth xxvii + 2306pp $49.95.

One of the more anticipated new works to appear recently was the Archaeological Study Bible by Zondervan Publishers. There was a significant amount of pre-publication publicity (more than any new book in several years by this reviewer’s observation) and clearly a significant budget had been allocated for both the production and presentation of this new study Bible.

When this work was released there was much to actually be excited about. The layout of the book is excellent. This study Bible is perhaps one of the finest productions from a publishing point of view that has been produced to date. The publisher has managed to print high quality color pictures on thin “Bible” type paper. The attention to “eye appeal” in the detail is excellent. The only negative in the layout is the use of the “red letter” format in the Gospels (and elsewhere) for the words of Jesus. This now quaint formatting does not read well on the parchment effect and color of the pages (and it continues to neglect that many men, like this reviewer, are color blind to one degree or another which makes the “red” lettering often even more difficult to decipher). To keep the size of the Bible from expanding even more than it did the publisher also opted for a very small font size in the Biblical text which does also affect the readability.

There is a very useful subject index to the call out articles and (perhaps less useful) abbreviated concordance, a glossary of archaeological and historical terms. The book comes with an interactive CD which is functional, but perhaps limited by the publishers use of their in-house software systems rather than an industry standard like Libronix for Windows or Accordance for Macintosh.

The illustrations are well conceived and useful. The photography of artifacts and small scenes is one of the highlights of the work. As noted in the front matter of the book, TMS graduated Todd Bolen, who teaches at The Master’s College IBEX extension campus in Israel and operates his own ministry (www.bibleplaces.com) is one of the contributors of photographs.
The main purpose of this study Bible are the notations to the text. In general, the “call outs” (specialized articles on particular themes or subjects) are useful and flow with the overall purposes of the work. The call outs are categorized under a few different headings, such as “Ancient Peoples, Lands, and Rulers;” “The Reliability of the Bible;” “Cultural and Historical Notes,” etc. Many of the call outs very helpfully add notes to see other call outs on related subjects. There are also smaller call outs called “Ancient Voices” where quotations from other Ancient Near Eastern texts are included in the Old Testament (e.g. 2 Chron 26, p. 651). The New Testament has fewer of the “Ancient Voice” call outs (e.g. Aristotle on Logos, for John 1, p. 1720). Most of the time those texts are useful in either illustration or as a comparative; occasionally though they appear to be simply filler material.

The strong point of the “call outs” is also unfortunately one of significant weaknesses of the book. The placement and verse attachment of some of the call outs is, to put it bluntly, extremely odd. A few examples of this will suffice. The call out for the city of “Sepphoris” is, for reasons that are entirely mysterious, placed under Mark 6. The text for the call out then begins by stating, “The city of Sepphoris (modern Zippori) is mentioned nowhere in the Bible” (1638). How this call out will assist the reader in understanding Mark 6 more precisely is not stated. At Psalm 107 a call out on “Ancient Texts and Artifacts” has an excellent picture and description of the Gezer Calendar (discovered in 1908). However, while attached to Psalm 107, the articles gives no indication as to import this discovery might have in the understanding or interpretation of this Psalm.

At Luke 8 under the rubric of “The Reliability of the Bible” the call out is entitled “The Synoptic Problem and ‘Q.’” This placement is entirely random and even more oddly is illustrated with a picture of an Armenian text of one of the Gospels (ca. 1435), with no explanation as to what this graphic has to do with the article. While the call out is general useful in terms of information it doesn’t take a definitive stand, even on the existence of “Q.” The call out seems to simply have been “dropped in” in a place in where there was nothing else of archaeological or cultural note worthy of discussion.

This is a general issue with this book. The call out articles begin with a Scripture text where the article has been placed which often has little or nothing to do with the article itself or is not the most significant text in regards to that subject. Or, the call out is appropriate for the Biblical book it is found in, but then terribly misplaced; such as the call out “Who Wrote Revelation” (2060) which is attached to Revelation 10.

The greatest problem with the “study Bible” approach to this material is that there are long stretches of Scripture where there is, archaeologically-speaking, little or nothing to say. On many pages rather non-descript notations are made about one or two verses that have nothing to do with archaeology or geography (whether physical or cultural) but are notes one might rather find in any useful study Bible. Sometimes the editors clear desire to stay “prophecy neutral” in their opinions, hurts the overall work. For example in Ezekiel 40-42 the description of the Temple there receives no illustrative help; which could have included at least a diagram or better some comparative information to the size and dimensions of Solomon’s Temple or the Second Temple and even Herod’s enlargement of that Temple. What the reader is given is a minimal set of rather self-evident notations.

While this work is clearly a publishing achievement (as illustrated by its recent Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Publishing Association), one can’t help wondering how many people will actually want to buy a 2300 page, four plus pound study Bible? It is a study Bible that centers itself on a discipline that witnesses regular change in both the amount of material and the interpretation of that material. Since the book was released (a little less than 2 years ago) there have been several significant archaeological discoveries and issues that have rendered material in the book either obsolete or entirely erroneous (e.g. The Tomb of Herod at the Herodium was recently discovered and is being excavated; vis a vis the call out on Herod, p. 1627). The James Ossuary, the discovery of the correct location for the Pool of Siloam (contra, p. 1739), are also examples of a fluid discipline. One of the sayings in archaeological work is that “in archaeology absolute truth is good for about five years.” Without a plan for reprinting and updating the text, this work is already half way through that time frame and will only become less valuable as time progresses.

In short, this work is a spectacular achievement in terms of the mechanics of publishing. The written notes are by and large helpful in terms of information, but not always helpful in assisting to interpret a passage. It suffers from an attempt to do far too much in terms of content and takes a specialized subject which really does not lend itself well to a “study Bible” format. Some might find it to be useful; but there are other specialized works in Biblical archaeology that will serve the student and layman with greater satisfaction.

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Kevin J.l Vanhoozer (ed). Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005. Cloth 896pp $43.95.

One of the helpful trends in theological publishing for the last two decades now has been to produce new and useful reference materials for the scholar, pastor, and student. Prior to this resurgence many of the most important and most used reference works were 30 to 50 years out of date. The expansion of theological categories, the increased specialization, and new avenues and methodologies of exegetical investigation have also increased the need for clear and concise definitions and explanations.

The editor of the Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, the Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, has led the effort in this work to produce one of the most useful and well-conceived new reference works for Biblical studies.

The general layout and formatting of the work at typical of a standard reference work. There is an excellent Scripture index and a list of articles by category. There is also a very helpful “Topical Index” (869–77). The articles are generally longer and more detailed than most reference works and the Bibliographies included for each article are extensive. The generous use of “see” and “See Also” notations a great aid to the user.

The articles reflect some helpful work on more recent topics of controversy, such as the "New Perspective on Paul" located in the article on "Justification by Faith" (417–9). Oddly though, some important articles that might have been included were ignored, such as the New Covenant. Each book of the Bible has an individual article in which there is a discussion of the theological import of the book and the "theological interpretation" of that book as a whole or in significant sections.

There are many excellent articles in this work and there is not space in a review such as this to do justice to all of them. However, several are particularly noteworthy. John H. Walton’s article on "Etymology" (200–202) is excellent. The discussion of the theological and interpretative import of "Geography" (253–56) by John A. Beck is an important and often neglected or misused aspect in the hermeneutical process. Craig Bartholomew’s article on "Postmodernity and Biblical Interpretation" (600–606) is quite helpful sorting out a mass of information and the directions this thought is going.

The direction for the entire work though is begun by the editor’s Introduction, “What is Theological Interpretation of the Bible” (19–25). He explains what the process is and more importantly is not. He notes, “Theological interpretation is not an imposition of a theological system or confessional grid onto the text of the biblical text. . . Theological interpretation is not simply what dogmatic theologian do when they use the Bible to support their respective doctrinal positions) (19). He goes on to state this works main purpose:

The dictionary editors believe that the principle interest of the Bible’s authors, of the text itself, and of the original community of readers was theological: reading the Scriptures therefore meant coming to hear God’s word and to know God better. DTIB therefore aims not to impose yet another agenda or ideology onto the Bible, but rather to recover the Bible’s original governing interest” (22).