Daniel (review)

Hebrew Studies 45 (2004) 346 Reviews synergistic relationship with the readers, and static to the extent that the reader encounters it and embraces its perspectives as norm. In summary, there is much to be appreciated about Runions’s work, for example, the reminder of the nature of the text; the inherent ideology in every text and reader; and the interplay between ideologies (text and reader). Also to be appreciated is her reminder of the textual and ideological difficulties in the text of Micah in light of their potential influences on the reader and vice versa. Finally, the awareness of the theological perspectives within the text, the resultant challenges in understanding the images of the deity and Israel’s existence, and the hermeneutical questions arising from honoring the textual differences are also to be appreciated. Mignon R. Jacobs Fuller Theological Seminary Pasadena, CA 91182 jacobs@fuller.edu DANIEL. By C. L. Seow. WBC. Pp. viii + 198. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 2003. Paper, $22.95. Over the last twenty-five years or so, biblical scholars have produced commentaries on biblical, apocryphal, and even pseudepigraphical books at an unprecedented rate. Choon Leong Seow, the Henry Snyder Gehman Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary, is no exception. In addition to his Hebrew Grammar, now a standard textbook widely in use, and a monograph on King David, Seow has written the Anchor Bible commentary on Ecclesiastes, the commentary on 1 and 2 Kings for the New Interpreter’s Bible, and he has a forthcoming commentary on Proverbs. Why this flurry of activity? The recent scholarly emphasis on commentaries responds to a need in the field. After all, it has not been long since biblical studies suffered from a dearth of commentaries. As one prominent scholar recalls, “When I was preparing a study on the book of Exodus during the late 1960s and early 1970s, the reasons for writing a commentary were entirely obvious. There has been no technical commentary on the book in English for over fifty years. In Germany, largely from fortuitous circumstances, a similar lacuna existed” (B. Childs, Isaiah, Westminster, 2001, p. xi). And we all know that all is not well with biblical scholarship when the Germans have not produced a “technical commentary” in a while! Since then, the situation has changed dramatically, Gott sei Dank, with a wealth of commentaries available for scholarly and faith communities, and Hebrew Studies 45 (2004) 347 Reviews Seow’s most recent work on Daniel should be seen in this context. Seow’s commentary is closely modeled in form and content on the guidelines of the series as summarized by the editors. “This volume is part of a series of books, the Westminster Bible Companion, intended to help the laity of the church read the Bible more clearly and intelligently” (p. xi). In Seow’s own words, “This commentary attempts to read Daniel with an eye on its theological message for the original audience but also on the relevance of that message for the contemporary community of faith” (p. 2). The volume opens with an eighteen-page introduction in which Seow summarizes some of the unique and much discussed problems the biblical book poses, including Daniel’s place in the canon, the book’s linguistic and literary division, its historical origin, and its theological perspective. The chapter-by-chapter division makes the commentary easily usable: Seow provides the NRSV translation for each chapter before he offers some initial remarks on the chapter as a whole, its composition and wider canonical context . The main commentary that follows breaks each biblical chapter down into its larger semantic units. The volume closes with a 11/2-page bibliography. In accordance with the format of the series there are no notes, references to other scholarly works, excurses, charts, or indices in the back of the volume. Seow is at his best when commenting on the literary form of Daniel. His succinct description of each chapter, its unique literary features and theological peculiarities are eminently readable and insightful. Seow provides a plethora of cross-references that interpret the text under consideration within its canonical context. Particularly helpful are his textual observations on the book of...