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Endorsements for Job
From The Christian Century, Job (Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary). By Samuel L. Balentine. (Smyth & Helwys, 714 pp., $65.00)
-- J. Randall O'Brien, Balentine rises to the challenge of the book of Job in this rich exegetical and theological probing of its mysteries. As good as it gets as a commentary, however, this treatment of Job stands out all the more because of its marvelous collection of literary and artistic representations of the book and the themes with which it deals. The Book of Job must have been created for this kind of commentary – or vice versa! -- Patrick D. Miller If God's question to the Adversary, "Have you considered my servant Job?" were put to Samuel E. Balentine, modesty would prevent him from saying more than, "I have." Readers of this richly illustrated commentary, Job, however, will soon recognize that he has thought profoundly, written elegantly, and empathized fully with that object of a gratuitous divine test. -- James L. Crenshaw Sam Balentine has written a breath-taking commentary on the Book of Job that is sure to be the beginning point of all subsequent Job study. His writing will compel exegetes to pay attention; more than that, it will occupy pastors and theologians with the complexity of articulating the “final truth” about God, and will be an authoritative voice in the great conversation among us concerning our contemporary moral crisis. Balentine is a first rate exegete. But then, after he reads the text, he moves out in bold and daring ways to make fresh connections. He has digested every commentary, remembered every poem, taken into account of every artistic portrayal. There is not a page of this commentary on which I was not led, in generative ways, to where I had not previously been. I cannot imagine a reader who will not find it to be so. Balentine’s work is a demanding assurance that the “thickness” of humanity is still available in a way that refuses glib characterization. In this remarkable commentary series, Balentine has set a new standard of excellence…of artistic sensibility and of hard-nosed, faithful reading. As I have already said, “breath taking”! -- Walter Brueggemann Samuel Balentine, one of our most sophisticated interpreters of the Old Testament, gives us a fresh and lucid theological reading of the book of Job. Gathering a remarkable array of resources from the wide worlds of art and literature that have been generated by Job, Balentine sensitively weaves this material into his own creative interpretation of the book. Speaking a post-9/11 world which has been confronted anew with the reality of suffering and the problem of evil, Balentine's insightful and accessible commentary will benefit readers in both church and academy. -- Terence E. Fretheim |
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