Thursday, February 24, 2011

Free Biblical Hebrew Resources

I was perusing the web looking for helpful Hebrew helps, when I discovered a free Hebrew grammar! It can be downloaded from the site Ancient Hebrew Grammar. The site run by John A .Cook, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Asbury Seminary and Robert Holmstedt, Associate Professor of Ancient Hebrew and Northwest Semitic Languages, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto, includes two grammars, a Student Grammar, and Biblical Hebrew: An Illustrated Introduction.While the first is available for free as a PDF,   the second, to my knowledge is not. One may have to contact the authors about purchasing the latter.


Regarding the Student Grammar,I have looked through it briefly and it seems to be on par with so many that one has to spend between 30-50 dollars for, so these two gentlemen are to be commended for their generosity.


Also, other great resources can be accessed through this site.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Dictionary of Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings

When I think of IVP Academic, the first thing that always comes to mind is their "Black" dictionaries. Technically, they are referred to as The IVP Bible Dictionary Series. These are quite simply my favorite reference books on my shelf.

It is with little wonder then, that the latest (as of 2009), the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings, continues this familiar trend of excellence, both with the selection of its contributors, 92 in all, including such luminaries as Scot McKnight, David deSilva, James Hamilton, Daniel Block, John Goldingay, John Hartley, Tremper Longman, Marvin Sweeney, and John Walton to name but a few, and the judicious, yet wide-ranging selection of essay entries 142 total, ranging from what one would assume to find on the individual books (Proverbs, Psalms, Ecclesisates, etc.) to providing less obvious subjects such as "Animal Imagery", "Honor and Shame", "Floral Imagery","Imprisonment Imagery", Architectural Imagery", "Time", and "Remembrance" . I have personally found James Hamilton's entry on "Theophany" to be of immense help as I prepare my own contribution for a dictionary.

I will have more to say about this excellent work in the coming weeks, but for now, I will leave you with this. The final volume in the OT series on the Prophets, entitled Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophetic Books, should be due out at the turn of the next year. I'm hoping somehow it will be bumped forward in time for Christmas, err,  SBL. I believe the two editors to be Mark Boda and J. Gordon McConville, two outstanding OT scholars in their own right.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Greg Beale's New Testament Theology

  Over the past few years, several good New Testament Theologies have appeared on the scene. Frank Thielman, Tom Schreiner, and Ben Witherington are three contributors to this ever-growing field of publication. Add to this list, Greg Beale, Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Although I have yet to discover many of the concrete details, I do know this information:

Beale, Gregory K. New Testament Biblical Theology: Transformation of the Old Testament in the New. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, Forthcoming in Fall 2011.  In addition, the cost will be $58.59, and the cover will look like this:



I am anxious to see this publication. Beale is known for his intertextual work, so his approach as suggested in the title, should fill a void in NT Theologies.

Update:

In addition to the above-mentioned info on Beale's NT Theology I have also found the page count: 992, and the price listed on Amazon as $54.99, with a pre-buy special weighing in at $34.64!

Moreover, thanks to Daniel Doleys of Text, Community& Mission, for alerting me to a video of Beale on YouTube where he mentions his NT Theology at the 4:34-4:49 mark of the clip. check it out here: