Recommended Articles

In the two latest editions of JSNT (Journal for the Study of the New Testament) 31.3 and 31.4, there are two articles that I have read thus far that are worth reading.

The first, (31.3)Roy Ciampa's 'Revisting the Euphemism in 1 Corinthians 7.1' is the most comprehensive study on the background of the verb ἅπτω ('to touch')to date. Ciampa investigates no less than 25 examples of this verb along with other verbs that are translated as 'to touch' and comes to the conclusion that although the euphemism does relay the idea of sexual intercourse, there is a distinct usage of these verbs that imply more than that, namely, a man using a woman or a boy for sexual gratification. Therefore Paul is not rejecting sex in general but is critiquing the perversion of sexual relations that some Corinthians are practicing.

I imagine this is a bit project in the larger scale commentary Ciampa is co-authoring with Brian Rosner on 1 Corinthians for the Pillar series. If this is any indication of the larger work, we can look forward to a commentary that will actually contribute something new and fresh to Corinthian studies.

In the next volume (31.4), fellow blogger and Revelation extraordinaire, Alan Bandy of Café Apocalypsis fame, writes a very instructive article "The Layers of the Apocalypse". Alan notes that many have attempted in vain to unpack the structure of Revelation with no consensus even close to emerging. Instead, he offers up some possible solutions that include a tripartite framework that includes a surface layer, an intertextual layer, and an intratextual layer. These three layers help to contribute to a better understanding of the Apocalypse's structure and may point the way to further work in this direction.

Incidentally, Alan will be co-authoring a volume on Revelation in the Biblical Theology of the New Testament series (Zondervan Academic) with Andreas Köstenberger.