First Glance

004

When Matthew wrote his Gospel, he was probably familiar with several richly elaborated versions of the Moses story from Exodus 1–2. Matthew may well have been influenced by these versions—including those of historians Josephus and pseudo-Philo—in writing his own account of the infancy of Jesus and of events later in Jesus’ life. The result is a fascinating series of parallels between the life of Moses and the life of Jesus, not only in sequence, but in character and plot as well. In “From Moses to Jesus: Parallel Themes,” John Dominic Crossan guides us through the subtleties of these parallels.

Born in Nenagh, Ireland, Crossan serves as professor in the department of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago. His many publications include Four Other Gospels, Shadows on the Contours of Canon and In Fragments, the Aphorisms of Jesus.

Norman Gottwald, a leading American biblical scholar, firmly established his reputation in 1979 with the publication of The Tribes of Yahweh, a sociologically oriented study of the period in Israel’s history when the tribes settled in Canaan. Now Gottwald has published a comprehensive Bible introduction, written from a similar, historical-cultural perspective. In “A Major New Introduction to the Bible,” Old Testament scholar P. Kyle McCarter, Jr. assesses Gottwald’s overall approach and the results it has achieved. While generally giving Gottwald high marks, McCarter cautions that Gottwald’s Marxian emphasis may present a problem for some readers, although “only rarely do Gottwald’s distinctive views interfere with his presentation of essential materials.”

McCarter recently moved from the University of Virginia to The Johns Hopkins University, where he is William Foxwell Albright Professor of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. A graduate of Harvard University, he is the author of the commentaries on Samuel in the Anchor Bible series. McCarter will be leading a BAS Vacation Seminar at John Hopkins this July.

A cornerstone of Gottwald’s history of Israel is the theory that Israel’s emergence in Canaan was the result of an internal peasant uprising—a theory first proposed in 1962 by the University of Michigan’s George Mendenhall. Although Mendenhall’s and Gottwald’s positions have much in common and are often linked, Mendenhall vigorously disavows the link and condemns Gottwald’s work. The differences between these two eminent historians is analyzed in “Mendenhall Disavows Paternity,” by Bernhard W. Anderson.

The author of numerous books and articles, Anderson is perhaps best known for his widely used textbook, Understanding the Old Testament, the fourth edition of which appeared just this year, nearly 30 years after its first edition. A past president of the Society of Biblical Literature, Anderson now teaches at Boston University School of Theology.

The Book—touted on prime-time television, as part of a $10-million advertising campaign—is expected to sell a million copies a year. According to Eldon Jay Epp, however, the popularity of The Book, which is simply a new printing of The Living Bible, is undeserved. In “Should ‘The Book’ Be Panned?” Epp concludes that The Book is a “pernicious, freewheeling paraphrase that is often inaccurate, inconsistent, biased and otherwise seriously flawed.”

A former Guggenheim Fellow and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Epp is Harkness Professor of Biblical Literature and Chairman of the department of religion at Case Western Reserve University. Since 1962 he has served on the editorial board of Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary of the Bible and is presently book review editor for New Testament books at the Journal of Biblical Literature.

“Paper-Cuts—An Ancient Art Form Glorifies Biblical Texts,” by BR Managing Editor Suzanne F. Singer, illustrates the techniques and products of a folk-craft almost as old as papermaking itself. Singer highlights the work of Jerusalem artist Yehudit Shadur, who has taken paper-cutting art to imaginative heights of intricacy and color in her depictions of biblical texts and motifs.

Fourteenth- to 19th-century painters are featured in The Bible and It’s Painters, reviewed by art historian Jane Dillenberger (see Bible Books). Far more than a coffee table volume, says Dillenberger, this book by Bruce Bernard stimulates both the eye and the mind, sending the reader back to the biblical text again and again to discover new interpretations.

BR introduces a new contest in this issue—the prize is a free trip to the Holy Land. Sharpen your knowledge of biblical plants—and of other subjects in future issues. For details, see “Win-A-Free-Trip-to-the-Holy-Land Quiz.”

When Matthew wrote his Gospel, he was probably familiar with several richly elaborated versions of the Moses story from Exodus 1–2. Matthew may well have been influenced by these versions—including those of historians Josephus and pseudo-Philo—in writing his own account of the infancy of Jesus and of events later in Jesus’ life. The result is a fascinating series of parallels between the life of Moses and the life of Jesus, not only in sequence, but in character and plot as well. In “From Moses to Jesus: Parallel Themes,” John Dominic Crossan guides us through the subtleties of these parallels. […]