Leviticus, Volume 4 (4)

Word Biblical Commentary #4

by John E. Hartley, Bruce M. Metzger (Editor), David Allen Hubbard (Editor)

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.


Overview of Commentary Organization



Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology.
Each section of the commentary includes:
Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope.
Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English.
Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation.
Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here.
Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research.
Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues.

General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

Genres: Reference, Old Testament, Biblical Studies, Theology

592 pages, Hardcover

First published July 20, 1992

Reviews

[Jared Saltz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hartley's WBC volume on Leviticus is placed in a complicated sphere--it's hard to write a commentary on Leviticus and in a post-Levine and Milgrom world, it's harder still. For those trying to write a critical, but often Evangelical commentary on the book, the shadows of the Giants loom large. Often it felt like he was playing catchup. But those things that could have really differentiated him (e.g., more of a Christological, Canonical, or Christian focused exegesis), often elude him as well because of how this book is often perceived and taught. It puts him in a difficult and awkward position of not being as critical or detailed as some, and not as theological as others. It's perfectly servicable, and not a bad single volume if you're looking for a mix of critical and evangelical positions, but I often found myself wishing I was reading someone who focused better on just one or the other reading strategy.

[Jess Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un avis mitigé.

D'abord le positif.

-Les différents excursus sont excellent ( notamment celui sur la lèpre).

-les versets sont bien détaillées et les difficultés de traduction bien approfondie.

Négatif.

-la théorie des sources. Trop de temps est pris à chercher d'où peut venir tel texte, ce qui en a été dit par chacun etc... Pour conclure généralement par "on cherche toujours". (bien que l'auteur ait un avis en général conservateur quand il le donne)

- Du coup on ne cherche pas trop la logique interne du texte. Les lois se suivent sans trop de rapport les unes aux autres parfois.

- un manque de réflexion théologique. On commente le texte mais les conclusions qui en sont tires sont parfois très légères.


J'ai préféré Wenham. Bien plus doué pour comprendre la logique du livre dans son ensemble et comprendre chaque loi dans le détail sans se perdre dans le détail.
Par contre pour celui qui veut vraiment approfondir la recherche Hartley est un bon complément. Mais pour celui qui veut seulement comprendre suffisamment le Lévitique Wenham se suffit à lui-même.

[Coram Deo Church]

Leviticus is not currently available at local libraries.

[Mike Jorgensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am by no means a scholar when it comes to Hebrew and Leviticus. That being said, I found Hartley's commentary and translation to be incredibly helpful as I was writing annotated translations of Leviticus. He interacts with quality scholars and offers persuasive evidence for his interpretive decisions. It lives up to the reputation of the WBC series.

[David Pulliam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really detailed and goes into a lot of the various debates about how to interpret Leviticus. Don’t read unless you’re ready to go really deep into the text.