Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 36:1 (Oct 2023)
Article: "Book Review:" Honor, Patronage, Kinship, And Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture
Author: Anonymous

Conspectus 36:1 (October 2023) p. 97

Book Review: Honor, Patronage, Kinship, And Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture

DeSilva, David A. 2022. Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture. 2nd ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. xv,388 pp. ISBN 978–1–5140–0386–2. Approx. 595.66 ZAR (31.49 USD). Paperback.

This work is the second edition of an earlier version published in 2000. After twelve years of circulation during which David A. deSilva used it to teach in various academic fora and institutions, he saw a need for the improvement and expansion of the content, and the addition of existing literature on the subject matter (pp. x–xi). The present work is composed of eight chapters with an introduction and a conclusion. DeSilva’s core aim is exposing New Testament scholars to the cultural conundrum and nexus of the New Testament era. This is to help interpreters delineate the meaning of texts with a cultural emphasis and to avoid out-of-context interpretations. It provides an alternative and addition to the usual historical, social, and literary contexts that have been the dominant consideration in New Testament interpretation. The author defines culture as,

[That which] includes those values, ways of relating, and ways of looking at the world that its members share that provide all framework for all communication. The readers of the New Testament shared certain values, such as honor; ethical codes that shaped and maintained typical social forms of relationship, such as patronage and kingship; and ways of ordering the world, expressed frequently in terms of purity and pollution. If we are to hear the texts correctly, we must apply ourselves to the culture out of which, and to which they spoke. We need to recognize the cultural cues the authors have hoven into their strategies and instructions. (pp. 1–2)

This definition by deSilva observes that humans relate and communicate with others within their ethos/tenet of life, and that the New Testament was communicated to receptors that understand the authors’ values and stratagems of communication. These have to be understood by interpreters of the New Testament documents for context-effective interpretations.

Chapter one concentrates on how personhood is determined by the connection to fundamental values of society and the honor and shame it could attract. DeSilva relies on the propositions of Seneca and Aristotle to argue that people in ancient Mediterranean society would often ask the question of what values would be attained and emphasized before taking a decision or action. Persons who prioritized pleasure were classed with animals that were governed by their passions and desires. Hence, the art of persuasion is focused on societal values against personal interests (pp. 1...