The Digital Renaissance: Review: Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Review: Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament

Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament by G.K. Beale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Written as companion for the “Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament” (CNTUOT), this work takes a more synchronic and holistic approach as it examines links between the Books of the Bible (including how the OT books reference other OT books). As such, this fills a notable dearth of such works at this perspective/level (with most covering language evolution and/or concordance). Each essay may have a different author, so the structure may vary somewhat, but most topics are arranged similarly … for example, most essays on the Books will include an analysis of Composition, Structure and Context. General topics, such a Covenant, will examine OT and then NT usages. Given the extensive length on many of the entries, while organized to facility research, it really is more a collection of biblical essays on a specific topic … such as Abraham, Idolatry, Luke, etc. This makes it great as a companion, but more difficult as a stand alone work despite the depth of many of the essays (several pages in many cases). An index of terms with jump links would help make this even more useful.

Although organized alphabetically (aka dictionary), each entry generally covers one of five (5) distinct themes
1. Surveys of Biblical Books (55)
2. Biblical-theological topical essays (54)
3. Jewish exegetical-traditions essays (25)
4. Inner-biblical exegesis (26)
5. Systemic Theology (5)

Some of the other points that really got my attention are:

In fact, this is what Nicaea and Chalcedon were doing. They were reflecting on Scripture in light of Scripture’s own teaching, so that the church could faithfully confess, defend, and proclaim the God of the Bible as triune and Jesus as the eternal Son made flesh, our only Lord and Savior.

This increase in literacy was the product of the Roman Empire, or at least the product of its administrative needs.

The Garden of Eden Is a Temple in the First Creation

Israel’s Tabernacle in the Wilderness and Later Temple Reestablish the Garden of Eden’s Sanctuary

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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My Ratings Explained ...

[ ***** ] Amazing Read - Perfect story, exciting, engrossing, well developed complex characters, solid plot with few to no holes, descriptive environments and place settings, great mystery elements, realistic dialogue, believable reactions and behaviors; a favorite that I can re-read many times.
[ **** ] Great Read - Highly entertaining and enjoyable, exciting storyline, well developed characters and settings, a few discrepancies but nothing that can’t be overlooked. Some aspect of the story was new/refreshing to me and/or intriguing. Recommended for everyone.
[ *** ] Good Read - Solid story with a 'good' ending, or has some other redeeming feature. Limited character development and/or over reliance on tropes. Noticeable discrepancies in world building and/or dialog/behavior that were distracting. I connected enough with the characters/world to read the entire series. Most of the books I read for fun are here. Recommended for fans of the genre.
[ ** ] Okay Read - Suitable for a brief, afternoon escape … flat or shallow characters with little to no development. Over the top character dialog and/or behavior. Poor world building with significant issues and/or mistakes indicating poor research. Excessive use of trivial detail, info dumps and/or pontification. Any issues with the story/characters are offset by some other aspect that I enjoyed. Not very memorable. May only appeal to a niche group of readers. Recommended for some (YMMV).
[ * ] Bad Read - Awkward and/or confusing writing style. Poor world building and/or unbelievable (or unlikeable) characters. Victimization, gaslighting, blatant abuse, unnecessary violence, child endangerment, or any other highly objectionable behaviors by Main characters. I didn't connect with the story at all; significant aspects of this story irritated me enough that I struggled to finished it. Series was abandoned. Not recommended.