I did not expect this

Robb Brunansky · 2025-03-15T00:40:07+00:00

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The NSBT collection making the finals did not surprise me because it's a really great series, it's very well-known, and it is pricey, so a discount like it will have makes it affordable for a lot of people. But the Exegesis Handbooks are a shock to me to make it this far! They seem to be on a true cinderella run to the finals, and maybe the championship! Can someone familiar with them give insight into their usefulness and target audience? I might have to grab that set as well with as much as it will be discounted, but I'd like to learn more about it.

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James Johnson

I think the resources this year were subpar tbh… nothing I would purchase or that I already own.

Robb Brunansky

I needed HALOT, ZEB, and NIDOTTE/NIDNTTE so it worked out well for me. NSBT is also on my wish list.

Donovan R. Palmer

I did more head-scratching on this year's March matchup than ever before. But if people could get some resources they need at a reduced price, it's a win!

I have wondered if the vote count should not be revealed until that round is over…

Lew Worthington

[EDIT: I probably overstated the case, especially for one of my volumes. I've removed some of the list of shortcomings from a methodological point of view. In addition, the Pentateuch volume has some helpful bibliographic info, albeit from a monochromatic perspective. The Historical Books volume is something that I'm gaining a deeper appreciation for.]

@Robb Brunansky, I have a couple volumes but haven't really used either. However, your question prompted me to check them out.

They're both pretty basic introductions to some of the exegetical issues. There's not a lot of depth there, but maybe that's not what their target readers need. Nor is there detailed exegesis; rather, there's information about exegesis. Unlike the UBS Handbooks which provide detailed information about translation issues, these exegetical handbooks give basic information of some of the methodological motifs you may encounter along your exegetical journey. And it seems like the assumption is that the reader has never really been exposed to the topics it brings up. For example, in the volume, Interpreting the Pentateuch, the Documentary Hypothesis is brought up apparently assuming that the reader has never heard of it.

Having said that, its lack of depth is likely very useful for readers who want to make sure their interpretive toolkit is solid if not entirely broad or contemporary. (I don't want to foment a flame war, but there's no mention in the volume I'm looking at of Asian, African, or other third-world methods; feminist sensitivities, structuralist, post-structuralist, deconstructionist methods (yes, some of these are passe), or Childs' OT as Scripture. I don't know how they could approach this subject with no mention of Old Testament theology or anything by Walter Brueggemann.

Having said all that, if you can survive on good ol' meat 'n potatoes basic language analyses, these volumes might be great. My main concern here is that the analysis is not often into how the language functions, but it does get there on occasion. (There's a lot of "This word means this thing".)

I do not mean to be overly critical. The price it may come to should make these volumes attractive. Just in case it comes in handy, the series preface follows. In spite of my critique, the volumes I have seems to have fulfilled the series purpose quite well.

***

SERIES PREFACE

AN APPRECIATION FOR THE RICH diversity of literary genres in Scripture is one of the positive features of evangelical scholarship in recent decades. No longer are the same principles or methods of interpretation applied across the board to every text without regard for differences in genre. Such an approach can, however, lead to confusion, misunderstanding, and even wrong interpretations or applications. Careful attention to differences in genre is, then, a critical component of a correct understanding of God’s Word.
The Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis series (HOTE) offers students basic skills for exegeting and proclaiming the different genres of the Old Testament. Because there is no one-size-fits-all approach to interpreting Scripture, this series features six volumes covering the major genres in the Old Testament: narrative, law, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, and apocalyptic. The volumes are written by seasoned scholar-teachers who possess extensive knowledge of their disciplines, lucid writing abilities, and the conviction that the church and the world today desperately need to hear the message of the Old Testament. These handbooks are designed to serve a twofold purpose: to present the reader with a better understanding (principles) of the different Old Testament genres, and provide strategies (methods) for preaching and teaching these genres.
These volumes are primarily intended to serve as textbooks for graduate-level exegesis courses that assume a basic knowledge of Hebrew. p 16 There is no substitute for encountering God’s Word in its original languages, even as we acknowledge the limitations of language in plumbing the depths of who God is. However, the series is also accessible to those without a working knowledge of Hebrew, in that an English translation is always given whenever Hebrew is used. Thus, seminary-trained pastors for whom Hebrew is a distant memory, upper-level college students, and even well-motivated laypeople should all find this series useful.
Each volume is built around the same six-chapter structure as follows:

1.      The Nature of the Genres

2.      Viewing the Whole

3.      Preparing for Interpretation

4.      Interpreting the Text

5.      Proclaiming the Text

6.      Putting It All Together

Authors are given freedom in how they title these six chapters and in how best to approach the material in each. But the familiar pattern in every volume will serve students well, allowing them to move easily from one volume to another to locate specific information. The first chapter in each handbook introduces the genre(s) covered in the volume. The second chapter covers the purpose, message, and primary themes in the individual books and canonical sections under consideration. The third chapter includes such diverse matters as historical and cultural backgrounds, critical questions, textual matters, and a brief annotated bibliography of helpful works. The fourth chapter sets forth guidelines for interpreting texts of the genre(s) under consideration. The fifth chapter details strategies for proclaiming such texts. The final chapter gives one or two hands-on examples of how to move through different stages of the interpretive process, in order to demonstrate how the principles discussed previously work out in practice. Each volume also includes a glossary of specialized terms.
The Scriptures themselves remind us in many ways about the importance of proper interpretation of God’s words. Paul encouraged Timothy to “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15 NRSV). In an earlier day, Ezra the scribe, along with the Levites, taught God’s Word to the postexilic community: “So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave p 17 the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (Neh. 8:8 NRSV). It is my prayer, and that of the authors and publisher, that these handbooks will help a new generation of God’s people to do the same.
Soli Deo Gloria.

—DAVID M. HOWARD JR.
Series Editor