Oxford's New One-Volume Commentary on the Bible: Review Essay

Readers looking for a convenient and authoritative reference work on the interpretation of the Bible frequently turn in the first instance to a one-volume commentary on the entire Bible. The Oxford Bible Commentary joins a growing list of titles, such as The HarperCollins Bible Commentary (ed., James Luther Mays et al.; San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000) or The International Bible Commentary: A Catholic and Ecumenical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century (ed., William R. Farmer et al.; Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998), as one of the comprehensive, scholarly volumes on the market today. Seventy-nine scholars from Europe, North America, and Israel have contributed overview essays or commentaries to all the books recognized in the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox canons (i.e., books that were included in the New Revised Standard Version [NRSV] of the Christian Bible). Indeed, the NRSV is considered the “normal” or “default” version for the purposes of this volume (p. 4). Books found only in the Ethiopian or Coptic canons were not included among the commentaries. In addition, the volume includes a selection of color maps of Israel, the ancient Near East, and the Mediterranean world; a bibliographical guide to biblical studies; and indices that enable the reader to trace proper names, themes, subjects, etc., throughout the entire volume. The editors label the interpretative approach employed in the volume as “chastened historical criticism” (p. 1), i.e., the commentary employs traditional historical criticism, but it also engages many newer literary-critical and socio-historical methodologies throughout its various commentaries and essays. Dates are listed as “BCE” and “CE” rather than as “BC” and “AD.”

An assessment of this volume for a Jewish studies journal requires that the reviewer ask two fundamental questions: 1) to what extent is this volume useful to the reader interested in Jewish studies? and 2) to what extent is this volume useful to the general reader? To be sure, these questions will frequently intersect, but they also frequently presuppose distinct sets of interests. We must note at the outset that this volume is not designed to address the needs of readers oriented to the interests of Jewish studies. Although the volume treats all of the biblical books that constitute the Jewish Bible (Tanakh), it is written to address the interpretation of the Christian Bible. The overview essays and commentaries on individual books are organized according to the Protestant Christian canon, including the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament. Proportionately more space is given to the interpretation of the New Testament, i.e., 612 pages are devoted to commentary on the Old Testament; 175 pages are devoted to commentary on the Apocrypha; and 476 pages are devoted to commentary on the New Testament (compare, for example, The HarperCollins Study Bible [ed., Wayne Meeks et al.; New York: HarperCollins, 1993], which devotes 1432 pages to the Old Testament; 405 pages to the Apocrypha; and 500 pages to the New Testament). An additional 38 pages provide a survey of post-biblical Jewish literature, and 25 pages treat extra-canonical Christian literature. Although six (by my count; rumor holds that some Jewish scholars bear non-Jewish names!) Jewish scholars contribute to the volume, only two wrote commentaries on books of the Old Testament, whereas the other four wrote on books of the Apocrypha (which ironically function as Christian scripture, not as Jewish scripture). Of the six, five are women, and four of those women wrote on books that are frequently seen to address women’s concerns, i.e., Esther (Carol Meyers), Song of Solomon (Athalya Brenner), Judith (Amy-Jill Levine), and Greek Esther (Adele Reinhartz). Other commentaries written by Jewish scholars include 1 Maccabees (Uriel Rappaport) and 1 Esdras (Sara Japhet). It is commendable that Jewish scholars are included in the volume, but they appear to be chosen for their particular areas of expertise, not because they are Jewish.

With this said, a reading of the individual contributions to the volume indicates that it...