theology. Graham Ward, as creative and playful as ever, reflects onthe nature of theology. This is picked up by David Cheetham whoinsightfully argues that there needs to be a greater trust of individualtheologians and believers working out their own contexts and encoun-ters in local settings. Cartledge discusses connections between Pente-costal theological methods and intercultural theology. Kirsteen Kimprovides a stimulating account of feminist theology. Martin Percy dis-cusses the relationship between catholicity and enculturation in theAnglican church and as ever his writing is vivid and honest. AllanAnderson and Richard Burgess complete the volume by offeringinsights into the working of Pentecostalism in the African context.

These essays are clearly written from a very wide range of perspec-tives and in that sense offer a rich diet of food for further thought andreflection. The essays are clearly introduced by the editors but what islacking is some serious examination of the reflection and conversationthat needs to go on in and between the essays in order to develop thereaders’ understanding of the concept intercultural theology. Someguidance for further reading might also have been useful.

James WoodwardCollege of St George, Windsor Castle

★ ★ ★

Six Minor Prophets: Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zecha-riah, and Malachi, Richard Coggins and Jin H. Han, Wiley-Blackwell,2011 (ISBN 978-1-4051-7675-0), xxi + 274 pp., hb €90

The uniqueness of this commentary series is that it is the ‘first to bedevoted primarily to the reception history of the Bible’ (p. xii) and it isdone in a clearly outlined, user friendly, verse-by-verse commentaryformat.

The treatment of each biblical book begins with a concise introduc-tion on issues such as the book’s manuscript availability and its canoni-cal orderings, but it also notes central themes for which the book ismost famous and influential. In the case of Habakkuk, for example, itwas Habakkuk’s ‘counsel of faith’ that ‘has been regarded as the com-pendium of Judaism, the substance of Pauline theology, and the bannerof the Reformation’ (p. 38). The rich legacy of this theme, and particu-larly verse 2:4b, called for an extensive discussion (pp. 61–5), as well asthe inclusion of a useful excursus on the reception history of this versein Augustine (pp. 71–3). Similarly, in Zephaniah, a major theme high-lighted in the introduction of the book is the day of the Lord’s wrath

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(p. 93), and although the Christian reception is briefly discussed (pp.106–8), one would have expected a broader treatment of the topic in thecommentary section.

The introduction by itself can give an initial picture to the reader ofdrastic shifts in dispositions toward the particular book through theages. Zephaniah is such an example of a book harshly criticized bymodern interpreters for its lack of deep and fresh insights (pp. 94–5),while this was not the case with the church fathers or even thereformers.

Following each introduction, Han offers brief surveys of the book’srole in the arts, in literature, and also in worship, before beginning hiscommentary, whereas Coggins usually incorporates any information onthe book’s role in the arts, literature, and worship in the commentarysection. Han is responsible for the work on Nahum, Habakkuk, andZephaniah, while Coggins works on Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.They each include a general introduction to their three-part corpusbefore introducing each individual book. Coggins’ introduction toHaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi dedicates more space to the editorialprocess of the entire collection of the Twelve describing theories pro-posed by scholars such as Nogalski and Rendtorff who identify ‘catch-words’ that link the books together or unifying themes that run throughthe corpus (p. 133). Regarding the three books, Coggins argues for atwofold division among them saying that ‘it is misleading to speak ofthe material here being studied as three books’ (p. 131). His proposaldivides the three books in two parts as follows: Haggai/Zechariah 1–8,and Zechariah 9–14/Malachi (pp. 131–2). As he himself recognizes, thiseditorial analysis and the results it generates are modern concerns andhave played little part in the bulk of reception history. It could,however, take a more significant role in the interpretation of the booksin the future (p. 134).

At the same time, as Coggins’ discussion in Zechariah 9–14 shows,issues of authorship and book divisions were not fully clear in antiquityeither. The fact that Matthew 27:9 attributes words belonging to Zecha-riah 11:12–13 to the prophet Jeremiah, raises questions on how ancientinterpreters thought about authorship and the collection of propheticsayings. Coggins says that indeed the Talmud recognizes that ‘someparts of the prophetic texts might have been anonymous writings,included in books with which they had no inherent connection in orderto save them from oblivion’ (Baba Bathra 14b) (p. 170). While suchpractice may have been the case, I do not find that the Talmud refers toanonymous writings in this section.

Modern negative reactions to the book of Haggai and his cultic,exclusivistic and nationalistic concerns as opposed to the former greatprophetic messages on, say, social justice, but also a general neglect ofthe book from both Christian and Jewish circles offer Coggins the

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occasion to discuss the development of the post-1970s hermeneuticaltendency of ‘reading against the grain’ (pp. 138–9). Feminist readingsmay be the clearest example of this among the various types of ‘reader-response’ hermeneutics.

Coggins and Han manage to deal with a great wealth of informationfor six of the twelve Minor Prophets in one single volume, and this wasnecessarily a highly selective process. Moreover, because of its verse byverse treatment of the book’s reception, extracting the comments ofan interpreter out of their respective contexts was unavoidable. Thiscannot but perplex the reader, on occasion, who would naturallywonder how an interpreter could end up with such an explanation ofthe verse in question. The reader does not have the context from whichthe interpretation came. This context would include, say, the churchfather’s genre of writing, the audience addressed, the theological orpolitical agenda of the document, the hermeneutical method of thechurch father etc., elements which would have shed light on the text’sreception. What this commentary does, then, is act as a kind of index,directing the reader to the source of these interpretations for furtherstudy.

One of the greatest strengths of the method followed in this com-mentary is that it reveals how an interpretation is influenced by a priorreading of the text. For example, Theodore of Mopsuestia’s interpreta-tion is explained through his use of a mistranslation or variant of theHebrew text shown in the LXX reading of Nahum 1:6 (p. 22). One canalso see how artistic expression is dependent on peculiar textual vari-ants such as the common representation of the nativity scene withChrist next to an ox and an ass which is based on the Greek translationof Habakkuk 3:2b, ‘You will be known between two living creatures’ (p.42). This quick, illuminating display of the ‘genealogy’ of interpreta-tions is a unique achievement of this commentary useful to any readerinterested in biblical interpretation.

Myrto TheocharousGreek Bible College, Athens, Greece

★ ★ ★

Early Judaism: A Comprehensive Overview, John J. Collins andDaniel C. Harlow (eds.), Eerdmans, 2012 (ISBN 978-0-8028-6922-7),xxi + 467 pp., pb $35

There has been a huge growth in interest in the study of Second TempleJudaism in the last fifty years. Not only has the discovery of the Dead

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