Brevard S. Childs – författare

The commentary by Professor B. S. Childs of Yale on the book of Exodus represents a major attempt to break new ground, both in its understanding of the biblical book itself and also in its conception of the purpose of the commentary writer . It is readily evident that the task Professor Childs has set himself is a mammoth one, and everywhere the reader becomes impressed with the thoroughness and care with which the task has been carried out. in consequence a vast store of biblical and theological learning is compressed into the book making it an invaluable guide to the book of Exodus in its contents and in the way they have been understood by Jews and Christians. The preacher will find a rich collection of comment to provoke further thought and reflection. However, the more traditionally critical biblical scholar will also find a great deal that is fresh here regarding the modem understanding of the book of Exodus. in particular the amount of attention given to tradilio-historical and redaction-critical aspects of the text provides a welcome supplementation to the information already available in other commentaries The final evaluation of its success as a new form of commentary will no doubt lie in its value to the teacher and preacher. However, it has much to say to the scholar, and it will undoubtedly command a wide readership and make a very durable contribution to Old Testament scholarship' (The Expository Times). This remarkable book, the product of nearly twenty years of research, study, and reflection, inaugurates a new age in the exegesis of biblical literature . Here is a complete commentary in which each and every important critical and theological problem is considered. Its redaction-criticism is fresh, but the author's insistance that redaction-criticism influences exegesis is even newer. It is in the setting of disciplined learning and well-argued scholarly discourse that the theological work is developed. That, too, is an innovation, as anyone familiar with what passes for theological writing, biblical or otherwise, knows. In a word, Childs now has set a new standard for future commentaries' (Journal of Jewish Studies).

In this important addition to the Old Testament Library, now available in a new casebound edition, renowned scholar Brevard Childs writes on the Old Testament's most important theological book. He furnishes a fresh translation from the Hebrew and discusses questions of text, philology, historical background, and literary architecture, and then proceeds with a critically informed, theological interpretation of the text.The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

Taking a pioneering approach to commentary writing, Brevard Childs gives an entirely original treatment to the book of Exodus. Apart from the philological notes and translation, this commentary includes a form-critical section, looking at the growth of the tradition in its previous stages; a consideration of the meaning of the text in its present form; and a consideration of its meaning in its total Old Testament context. This volume is now available in a new casebound edition.

Brevard Childs here turns his sharp scholarly eye to the works of the apostle Paul and makes an unusual argument: the New Testament was canonically shaped, its formation a hermeneutical exercise in which its anonymous apostles and postapostolic editors collected, preserved, and theologically shaped the material in order for the evangelical traditions to serve successive generations of Christians. Childs contends that within the New Testament the Pauline corpus stands as a unit bookended by Romans and the Pastoral Epistles. He assigns an introductory role to Romans, examining how it puts the contingencies of Paul's earlier letters into context without sacrificing their particularity. At the other end, the Pastoral Epistles serve as a concluding valorization of Paul as the church's doctrinal model. By considering Paul's works as a whole, Childs offers a way to gain a fuller understanding of the individual letters.

A key emphasis of Brevard Childs's distinguished career has been to show not only that the canon of Scripture comprises both Old and New Testaments but also that the concept of "canon" includes the way the Christian church continues to wrestle in every age with the meaning of its sacred texts. In this new volume Childs uses the book of Isaiah as a case study of the church's endeavor throughout history to understand its Scriptures.In each chapter Childs focuses on a different Christian age, using the work of key figures to illustrate the church's changing views of Isaiah. After looking at the Septuagint translation, Childs examines commentaries and tractates from the patristic, Reformation, and modern periods. His review shows that despite an enormous diversity in time, culture, nationality, and audience, these works nevertheless display a "family resemblance" in their theological understandings of this central Old Testament text. Childs also reveals how the church struggled to adapt to changing social and historical conditions, often by correcting or refining traditional methodologies, while at the same time maintaining a theological stance measured by faithfulness to Jesus Christ. In an important final chapter Childs draws out some implications of his work for modern debates over the role of Scripture in the life of the church.Of great value to scholars, ministers, and students, this book will also draw general readers into the exciting theological debate currently raging in the Christian church about the faithful interpretation of Scripture.