Monthly Archives: October 2022

Review of Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job by Robert S. Fyall

Posted on by

Review of Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job by Robert S. Fyall

Fyall, Robert S. Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2002. $24.00, pp. 208.

Now my Eyes

A continuation of 1991 dissertation, Robert Fyall, revisits Job creation theology. Dr. Fyall is a Senior Tutor in Ministry for the Cornhill Training Course, Scotland. He has taught Old Testament at St. John’s College in Durham, England.  In the present work, the author focuses on creation and evil that revolves around Behemoth and Leviathan. Fyall examines these figures in light of the ANE materials. He argues that Behemoth represents death and Leviathan Satan. He solves the tension scholars perceive with the disappearance of Satan after the initial chapters.

Now my Eyes have Seen You introduces readers to Job with a succinct introduction. Readers unfamiliar with Job will benefit from the thorough but brief history of research. The author describes his aim as a holistic depiction of creation and evil within Job (17). Fyall interprets the book of Job as a literary unit which differs from critical scholars. Thus, he rejects deconstructive interpretations and opts for a canonical interpretation. The book interacts with Job’s adoption of myth through the imaginative canonical process of inspiration (27-28).

In chapter two, Fyall surveys the legal material which gives coherence to the book. He focuses on Job 19:21–27. Chapter three and four examine the Images of Creation and Evil in the book of Job to discuss the implications of Behemoth and Leviathan in chapters five through eight.  Thus, in chapter five and six, Fyall focuses on Behemoth to explain how the reader should anticipate Behemoth from Job 3. Chapters seven and eight discuss Leviathan within the scope of Job and ANE material.  He concludes with the unity of Job from Job 42.

Fyall describes the tensions of creation and evil within the book of Job while defending the integrity of the text and author. First, he balances Job’s use of myth and theology in the book of Job. The author argues that the Job interacts with the surrounding culture to show Yahweh triumphing over the gods of the nations. Lastly, he demonstrates a cohesion narrative from the images of creation which establishes a picture of evil in the world.

At the end of the first chapter, Fyall introduces the topic of myth and theology with three observations. He observes first that the author uses creative motifs to present a distinct message (28). He argues that if Job used common mythology then it would be hard to maintain to the doctrine of revelation. Fyall doesn’t deny a common cognitive framework but comes close.  Recent works such as John Walton’s The Lost World of Genesis One argue for a common cognitive worldview. Fyall does not fully develop this point but simply states that the author must understand his genre and message. He assumes authorial conscience in drafting parallel literature so much that he neglects to develop this observation. He does provide a brief overview of Job and Canaanite myths in his appendix. Fyall covers a large amount of material with brevity and clarity in the first chapter. Cecil Grant finds him unable to balance the materials,[1] but she overstates the case. The first chapter establishes a solid foundation to cover technical details later in the book.

Second, the author argues that Job interacts with the surrounding worldviews to demonstrate the incomparability of Yawheh (28). Fyall develops this observation throughout the book and Daniel P. Bricker comments that he goes to great lengths to prove the intertextual links.[2] Although, Fyall provides substantial textual links; he fails to provide an iron tight case.  He builds upon his presuppositions that Yahweh is the one true God in the author’s mind. Fyall does not engage the history religions school but presupposes the image of creation demonstrates that the author interacts with the surrounding worldview. Evangelicals will agree to his presuppositions, but critical scholars will baulk at them. His argument that author gleans from the surrounding literature does not prove that Job argues that Yahweh triumphs over their gods.  Critical scholars could argue that the Job saw the gods of the nations as a reliable source of inspiration. Nevertheless, he presents valid conclusions that Job subjects the gods of the nations to weakness while the Yahweh remains sovereign.

Third, the allusions to Canaanite myths provide strong evidence for interpreting Behemoth and Leviathan supernaturally. The absence of Satan from the majority of the text of Job perpexles interpreters. Robert B. Chisholm compliments Fyall’s answer to the absence of Satan and the possible solution.[3] Fyall aids interpreters to the issue of creation and evil in Job where Job finds himself in a fallen world that turns on him. He answers the question with showing that Satan and death are working in the world, but God sovereign rules over the world.

Now My Eyes have Seen You provides an analysis of creation and evil in the book of Job.  Evangelical readers will benefit from Fyall’s synthesis of ANE literature with the biblical text.  Readers will be able to engage the sources and begin to think holistically about the book.  In an era of critical scholarship, Fyall provides a breath of fresh air to the pastor and theologian.  His analysis transcends sections of the text by incorporating the final form. He uses the theology of the final form to demonstrate continuity of the text. Fyall encourages a spiritual reading of the text by incorporating Behemoth and Leviathan throughout the book.

Nicholas R. Majors

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

[1] Cecil Grant, “A Review: Now my eyes have seen you: images of creation and evil in the book of Job,” Them 28, no. 3 (2003): 56.

[2] Daniel P. Bricker, “A Review: Now my eyes have seen you: images of creation and evil in the book of Job,” JETS 46, no. 2 (2003): 328.

[3] Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Review: Now my eyes have seen you: images of creation and evil in the book of Job,” Bsac 162, no. 648 (2005): 499.

Review of The T&T Handbook of Septuagint Research edited by Ross and Glenny

Posted on by
T&T

Review of The T&T Handbook of Septuagint Research edited by Ross and Glenny

Ross, William A. and W. Edward Glenny ed. The T&T Handbook of Septuagint Research. Great Britain, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021, pp. xxv+486, $175, hardback.

William A. Ross is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC (Back Cover). A sample of Ross’ publications includes The Septuagint: What it is and Why it Matters (2021) and A Book-by-Book Guide to Septuagint Vocabulary (2019). Moreover, he writes a blog titled Septuaginta &C. W. Edward Glenny is Professor of New Testament and Greek at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul in Minnesota (Back Cover). Glenny is also an accomplished writer with titles that include commentaries on Micah, Amos, and Hosea for the Septuagint Commentary Series.

A glance in the preface shows this handbook is constructed to complement James K. Aitken’s T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint (xii). For those unfamiliar with Aitken’s book, his volume “provides a book-by-book overview of the corpus [i.e., the Septuagint]” (xii). Within the handbook, the contributors include many notable scholars. Among the several scholars worthy of mention are James K. Atkin, Peter J. Gentry, Steve Moyise, and Stanley E. Porter. The editor states the goal of the volume is to deliver a consolidated resource that presents “the wide variety of scholarly approaches to research” for both the “specialists and non-specialists” (xii).

The handbook is divided into six parts: (1) Origins, (2) Language, (3) Text, (4) Reception, (5) Theology, Translation, and Commentary, and (6) Survey of Literature. Most chapters follow a four-section structure: “first, introducing the research topic; second, presenting an overview of views and/or debates related to it; third, discussing the relevant research methods, theories, or tools; and fourth, highlighting ongoing research questions” (4). Also, each chapter has a short, annotated bibliography to provide further information for research (4).

Reviews of handbooks risk turning into reproductions of the table of contents (a resource readily available on the publisher’s website, www.bloomsbury.com). To avoid such a travesty, this review will highlight three chapters, which showcase the accessibility of the material on the LXX for new students, the advanced material for seasoned students of the LXX, and the quality of scholarship within the handbook.

Ross Williams’s introductory chapter highlights how accessible the Septuagint can be to new students of the LXX. First, his introduction contains a sweeping overview of major Septuagint studies dating to the 1600s (1). Second, the recounting of history slows down in the twentieth century. With the twentieth century in focus, Williams brings the reader, and new students, to the current discussions in the handbook. Williams states that the handbook’s purpose is “to help mitigate the proliferation of scholarship by providing an up-to-date overview of the discipline in a single volume” (3). Third, Williams explains the approaches to the meaning of the title “Septuagint” and the abbreviation “LXX,” which familiarizes readers with the complexity, nuance, and difficulties in applying the word and abbreviation to the corpus and serves as a guide for reading a variety of definitions for the Septuagint found in the handbook (4-5). In addition to the introductory material, the chapter shares the design and goals of the volume. This includes the secondary goal of highlighting significant research topics within Septuagint studies (4).

Mikhail Seleznev’s chapter, “The Septuagint in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition,” is highlighted because it demonstrates the advanced material in the handbook (Ch. 19). The Eastern Orthodox tradition receives an entire chapter, which is not common in introductory textbooks. Seleznev provides an overview of the OT Canon of the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Eastern Orthodox churches’ use of the Septuagint, modern-Greek and modern-Russian translations of the OT, and current debates within the Orthodox Church concerning the Septuagint and Hebrew OT. Last, the chapter discusses the uniqueness of the Septuagint in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Unlike Protestant or perhaps other Western Churches, “the Septuagint tradition in the Orthodox world, they are not just objects of historical study, but they have direct bearing on the matter of Orthodox identity” (297).

Stanley Porter’s chapter on “A Greek-Text-Oriented Approach” to study the Septuagint was a high point of the book. His goal is to defend the Brill Septuagint Commentary Series hermeneutical method (363). Porter makes a solid defense that is both elementary (e.g., “The Septuagint is a Greek text, and therefore merits comment on it as a Greek text” (366)) and technical (Porter’s argument for a Greek-text-oriented commentary has four reasons and six sub-dimensions (366-369)). The reader learns about the implications of such an approach, and the effect is far more helpful than using the LXX as an interlinear tool for understanding the Hebrew text. Also, Porter suggests that the “Greek text should be considered canonical” (372). For support of a canonical understanding of the Greek text, he discusses the canonical status when the Greek Pentateuch was first translated (372), the prevalent use of the Greek text by the NT authors, and “the eastern or Orthodox church or churches” practices or traditions (373). Readers will find Porter’s arguments thorough and worth engaging.

The T&T Clark Handbook of the Septuagint is an excellent tool for learning about the Septuagint, a mighty instrument for availing oneself of additional resources in Septuagint studies, and a conversation starter to prompt further research. The three benefits will briefly be discussed throughout the recommendation.

The handbook is recommended for advanced seminary students, scholars, and libraries. This book is likely too advanced for students entering seminary. The handbook requires previous knowledge of textual criticism and of Jewish and Christian traditions (particularly regarding textual transmission and understanding of texts). However, the resource may serve well at the graduate level, assuming the student has taken prerequisite courses like Biblical Hermeneutics. Further, this resource could be supplemented with entry-level textbooks or handouts. Established scholars—those already introduced to the Septuagint and biblical hermeneutics—will find the book approachable. It is unnecessary, but it would behoove the reader to know some Greek and Hebrew. Last, this resource should be available in libraries, perhaps even church libraries (i.e., where the church provides theological training). The handbook would serve well as the only book on the Septuagint in such a library.

The handbook serves as a wonderful entry-level tool for learning/teaching the Septuagint. Several, if not all, the chapters of the book overlap with content found in introductions to the Septuagint, such as chapters on the origin, transmission, and language of the Septuagint. However, unlike introductions to the Septuagint, the handbook contains advanced material and is focused on presenting “major research topics in the discipline” (4). The change in focus from an introduction to discussing major research topics best suits scholars. Besides the handbooks highlighting research topics and recommended resources, the handbook spends more time and gives more attention to issues of the Septuagint (e.g., Chapter 19 by Seleznev, mentioned above). This content is more advanced and is well suited for post-graduate or as selected material for graduate students.

Last, libraries should make this book available to their patrons. Indeed, theological colleges would be interested in this volume, so the main recommendation is directed toward smaller libraries and churches that serve semi-formal or lay-theological training. With this single resource, a patron has access to an advanced volume on the Septuagint that contains accessible portions for the novice and excels at serving the more knowledgeable reader.

Ross Daniel Harmon

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary