Book Reviews -- By: Anonymous

Journal: Bulletin for Biblical Research
Volume: BBR 25:4 (NA 2015)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous


Book Reviews

Heinz-Josef Fabry and Ulrich Dahmen, eds. Theologisches Wörterbuch zu den Qumrantexten: Band II. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2013. Pp. xx + 574. ISBN 978–3-17–020430–0. $355.00 cloth.

Two years after the publication of the first volume of the Theologisches Wörterbuch zu den Qumrantexten (ThWQ), co-editors Heinz-Josef Fabry and Ulrich Dahmen present the second volume of this projected three-volume set (see my earlier review of volume 1 in BBR 23.1 [2013] 85–86). This represents a surprising pace in terms of academic publication schedules and should be applauded.

The volume does not reproduce the introductory section and long list of abbreviations included in volume 1, something I consider an easy-to-fix weakness. Even when one owns all three volumes of ThWQ once they have appeared, it is awkward to always have to return to volume 1 for information regarding abbreviations. Recent reference works by other major publishers (e.g., Oxford University Press) include the list of abbreviations in every volume of a set, thus facilitating a more streamlined workflow.

Following a brief prologue (p. v), mostly expressing thanks and appreciation to contributors, publisher, and sponsoring entities, a list of the contributors and their academic affiliations is included, as well as the table of contents (indicating column numbers, not page numbers!), and a brief update to the list of abbreviations (p. xix). The majority of the 97 contributors (including the two editors) hail from Europe (58), followed by North America (32), and Israel (7). It is remarkable to notice the different centers of Qumran research, represented by both junior scholars and more seasoned scholars (e.g., Emory University or McMaster University in North America). This clustering of expertise is, unfortunately, a trend in academia reflecting similar trends in other areas of our lives.

Volume 2 covers entries from טהר, “purity,” to סתר, “hide.” Since ThWQ appears to be primarily interested in the development of the theological thinking of the community (located solidly with its time) that produced the scrolls, many entries include distinctions made between a “profane” and a “theological” use. While this distinction may prove helpful in some cases it represents a “pre-installed” filter of the contributor that is communicated to the reader without necessarily defining what precisely is meant by “profane” or “theological”—particularly when we consider the fact that the worldview of people living in the intertestamental period was much more holistic than the modern separation between the two poles would allow.

The diachronic interest...

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