Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 67:4 (Dec 2024)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

JETS 67:4 (December 2024) p. 781

Book Reviews

Creation and Emotion in the Old Testament. By David A. Bosworth. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2023, x + 238 pp., $38.00 paper.

What tools do we as exegetes bring to the work of exegesis, and how can we do it better? David Bosworth has put his hand to the plow to give us another tool for exegesis, or at least to further develop a category of thought with which we can add nuance and emphasis to our understanding.

Bosworth has taken a corpus-linguistic study of emotion in the book of Isaiah and expanded it to include additional references in the OT (p. 5). (Bosworth’s spreadsheet is available online at researchgate.net/profile/David-Bosworth or cua.academia.edu/DavidBosworth.) Specifically, he looks at how the writers of Scripture use creation to elicit readers’ emotions. Methodologically, he embraces cognitive linguistics. He says, “My research delves into psychology and affective science because I seek to describe biblical literature in ways coherent with what scientific disciplines have learned about the human mind” (p. 122n31) By using a corpus-based study, he has forced himself to look at all the relevant examples, which helps to limit researcher bias. He also rightly points out that concepts can be present even when specific words are not: “The absence of emotion words does not indicate the absence of emotion” (p. 8).

Creation and Emotion in the OT is composed of five core chapters: (1) “Love and Grief,” (2) “Surprise and Fear,” (3) “Disgust and Anger,” (4) “Pride and Shame,” and (5) “Joy and Awe,” along with an introduction and conclusion. Chapter 1, “Love and Grief,” posits that “grief is the price we pay for love,” that “grief reminds us that we depend on others,” and that “emotional attachments give rise to grief” when a loss occurs (p. 7). This chapter focuses on two passages. Isaiah 49:13–21 (“Love Zion as Your Mother”) covers family relationships, especially mother and daughter, and also the significance of attachment to place and its role in identity formation (p. 10). Jeremiah 14:1–7 deals with drought and with people-as-plants: mourning, fertility, infertility.

Chapter 2 is titled “Surprise and Fear.” The prophets use surprise to capture people’s attention and fear to focus attention and motivate repentance and fidelity to “cultural traditions” (p. 27). Chapter 2 covers Isaiah 13, Jeremiah 8:4–9, Isaiah 1:2–3, Isaiah 28:23–29, and You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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