Bibliography for Biblical Interpretation

This is a post that will need to be updated more often than it will be updated. But, check back every 9 months or so for new entries.

First, USE THE LIBRARY! 

There are many great resources available via ebook at TIU's library. Note, though, that there are several that I'd say are either, not fantastic resources or are outside the comfort of Evangelical conservative views about the Bible. Just be careful. 

But for your own library and personal study: 

·      The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook. I'm not just saying this because it's written by Duvall and Hays. I'm saying it because it won many book awards when it came out a couple of years ago. (You're familiar with the Ephesians entry.) 

·      Commentaries: 

·      Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary. Is the companion to the Handbook. It's good, too. 

·      IVP Bible Background Commentary: There's one for the OT and NT. 

·      There's a newer commentary in the same vein, but it's more expensive. OT and NT.

Bible Dictionary: 

·      This is a helpful tool, but not as necessary as the others. (If you're careful, you can often find enough information online.)

·      Zondervan Bible Dictionary

·      Baker Bible Dictionary

Concordance:

·      This is often a requirement for a course like this one. (Remember the chapter on Word Studies?) Personally, I think that this is worth the cost of a Bible software like Logos or Accordance or BibleWorks. 

·      If you must purchase a paper-copy, consider which translation you're most familiar with, then choose the Strong's Concordance for that translation. Remember the principles of Word Studies: It doesn't matter what the English word is, but what is the Greek/Hebrew word(s) behind that this word is translating. 

BlueLetterBible:

·      I've spent some time here. The problem is that it doesn't provide you with the Greek/Hebrew words for each translation. You can do this with NASB and KJV, but this is pretty limited. 

·      There's word that the ESV is coming out with a similar tool for the ESV. That would be awesome. 

Greek and Hebrew and word study tools:

·      After you've figured out the word you're looking for with a concordance or BlueLetterBible, you're still left with most of the work. These tools are written by scholars who are good at this kind of work––they know Greek and Hebrew really well. 

·      First: Greek:

o   Verlyn Verbrugge's New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (The guy has a super awesome name!) This is an adequate resource and for $35 it's affordable, too. 

o   The full version is quite a bit more expensive ($135), but a great resource. 

·      For the OT, there is no abridged version.

o   But this set is fantastic! 

o   There is an inferior volume that's only $37 Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.

·      Sometimes you can find these sets on the cheap. But you have to keep your eyes open. You can also get them in a Bible software package. Personally, if you're going to drop the money to buy one of these more expensive ones, you'd be better off with the software. For just a little more, you get the convenience of clicking a word and it opening the dictionary to the right entry. Plus you can usually add them as a bigger set for a good discount. 

A further note on commentaries:

o   Not all commentaries are created equal. There are sets of commentaries that cover individual books for the whole Bible (or most of the Bible). The ones I'd recommend for y'all:

o   NIV Application Commentary. You're familiar with Snodgrass's Ephesians commentary in this set. The whole set is frequently on sale for these Bible software companies. 

o   Bible Speaks Today You're familiar with Stott's commentary in this series. While this one is older, it often has some really great contributions.

o   Teach the Text is a new series that doesn't have many books out yet, but the initial volumes are really fantastic. 

o   You can also check out a fairly reliable list of the best commentaries here. See also the most recent edition of the Commentary Survey. There's one for the OT and NT. (These links will not be updated to the most recent edition, so you'll need to do some digging.) 

Books that can enhance your study of the Bible:

o   Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. Obrien. This is a fantastic book that will help you to answer the important question: ‘What do I bring to the text?’

o   Narrative Criticism of the New Testament by James L. Resseguie. This book will walk you through narrative categories to understand the ways that the New Testament’s narratives are laid out. Note that it focuses on the NT, but it is a helpful orientation to the OT as well.

Bible Studies and Group Studies:

o   Experiencing God’s Story of Life and Hope by J. Scott Duvall. This study is useful in several contexts––classroom, Bible study, Sunday School, or even as a church-wide study coupled with a sermon series. And, of course, written by Duvall, it is solid interpretation. However, it is not a Bible study, per se. Rather, it walks the reader through God’s story, exploring at each stage along the way what we believe, how we behave, and what we are becoming.

o   The Story: This is a fine read on its own, but there are also study materials to go alongside it by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee. The study materials are alright, but I would couple The Story with another book such as Living God’s Word (a companion to Grasping God’s Word by Duvall and Hays) or Telling God’s Story by Vang and Carter. In fact, this is perhaps the best way to begin someone on a plan of biblical literacy. Not only are you reading the Bible (The Story is biblical text), but you also have commentary that guides you through the overarching biblical narrative.

Books for Spiritual Formation:

o   These books provide a reliable guide for growing in Christ and into Christlikeness.

o   After You Believe (N. T. Wright)

o   The Radical Disciple (John Stott)

o   Renovation of the Heart (Dallas Willard)

A note on choosing reliable resources:

o   There are specific Evangelical publishers that publish books that are exclusively written by evangelical scholars. (Evangelical = believe the Bible is inerrant the Word of God) Checking out the publisher is the first thing you should do when picking up any book––because you can learn a lot about a book by its publisher! Here are some of the most common (and generally reliable) Evangelical publishers.

o   IVP

o   Baker

o   Zondervan

o   Kregel

o   Brazos

o   Crossway

o   Moody

o   B&H (Broadman & Holman)

o   David C. Cook

o   Tyndale

All of this stuff makes for great Christmas and birthday gift ideas––especially if you’re working in a local church. You can also take classes where books like these are required and build your library that way :). 

Laying Hands on: Transfer of Sin?

One of the most common misconceptions about the Old Testament sacrificial system is that someone laid his hands on the head of an animal that was to be sacrificed in order to transfer sin to the animal. This, so the common thinking goes, is how sin was taken care of.

There are a few problems with this understanding. First, it reduces all of the sacrificial system to "dealing with sin." This says more about us than it does about the ancient Israelites. We're so focused on "evangelism" and "getting saved" and "dealing with our sin" that we don't have much space of building and maintaining a relationship with the God of the Universe. But the sacrifices of the OT were for this relationship maintenance. This is why YHWH was so angry about sacrifices: A jilted husband does not want to receive a gift from his hooker-wife. You can't maintain a relationship that's broken. Relationships are, if we would stop to think about it, more complicated than an initial meeting. The sacrificial system allows many ways for YHWH's people to interact with YHWH: presenting him with gifts, as a way to show that someone has completed a promise, to just say "Thanks!"

A second problem with this understanding is that it shows that we don't understand the nature of YHWH's presence. In the tabernacle and temple setup, YHWH's space is "Most Holy" or the "Holy of Holies." We could translate this Hebrew phrase as "completely Holy." Perhaps we can see the problem now: A person couldn't transfer his sin to an animal and then offer it to YHWH in the "completely Holy" space. NO! YHWH demanded the best, purest animals. How many times do the instructions require an animal "without defect?" You wouldn't dream of defiling an animal by putting your sins on it!

There is one exception that proves the rule: The Day of Atonement. This is an annual cleaning. You might think of it like "Spring Cleaning." But the goal isn't to remove all of the dust or clutter. Rather the sins of the past year that defiled the sanctuary were to be removed. "In this way he (Aaron) will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites (Lev 16:16." Notice what he's atoning: not the people, but the sanctuary. Like Spring Cleaning, the atonement act removes the mess from the sanctuary. In other words, it doesn't bring sin into the sanctuary, but removes sin from the sanctuary.

When the High Priest has finished this, he then takes a second goat. "He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites––all their sins––and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness (Lev. 16:20-22))." Note that the sin is removed now from the entire camp and released in the wilderness. "Get it away!" is the idea here.

Laying hands on an animal doesn't transfer sin––except on the Day of Atonement when the sin isn't brought into the sanctuary, but sent away. In the system set up with the tabernacle, where YHWH lives among his people, sin must be removed from YHWH's presence and the presence of his people.

So, what does laying hands on an animal accomplish? Let's put ourselves in the sandals of an Israelite. We bring our best animal to the Tabernacle as a gift to YHWH, a way to maintain our relationship with him, to say "thank you" for the ways that the has delivered us in big and small ways. Imagine the bustle that is probably going on. We show up with our animal and bring it to the front of the sanctuary with lots of other folks and their goats. We put our hands on its head to say: "This one is mine. It is my gift to you."

It would probably be helpful to take a minute to imagine and reenact this scene.

Go ahead, imagine for a minute . . . 

If we think about it, we have rituals for gift giving, too. We wrap our gifts or stick them in a special bag. We identify who the gift is for and who its from. If its an occasion when we open the gift in the presence of the giver, there are more rituals to follow: We open the card first, We say "Thank you for you kind words." We then tear into the paper. At the end, we probably give a hug and express our thanks. Then, within an acceptable amount of time, we send a note in the mail to say "Thanks."

This laying on of hands was simply part of their ritual in making explicit that this gift is from me. This makes sense if sacrifices aren't primarily about "getting in" or "taking care of my sin." Rather, they show the givers' gratitude for all that YHWH has done, i.e. in saving and delivering. But most importantly (because it's the way the text presents the gifts) it is the way to show gratitude that YHWH lives among the people. What kind of God actually lives with his people?

- - - - - - -

This also makes sense of Paul's admonition: Offer your bodies as living sacrifices . . .  In other words, this is the way that you thank God for his presence in you and among his people: follow him with your whole self.