A Guide to the Study of Greco-Roman and Jewish and Christian History and Literature

A Guide to the Study of Greco-Roman and Jewish and Christian History and Literature. By Philip Walker Jacobs. Lanham: University Press of America, 1994, xi + 119 pp., $24.50 paper.

Have you ever been in the middle of study and wondered about the dates for Epictetus or Melito of Sardis? If you want a simple chronology outlining a few pertinent facts about important persons and authors between Ben Sira and the emperor Valerian (200 BC to AD 259), this volume may be for you. The chronology's format is consistent throughout: Pages on the left contain entries under "Jewish and Christian History and Literature." People and authors from "Greco-Roman History and Literature" are on the right. This distinction sometimes appears more geographic (Palestine versus Rome) than religious or cultural.

A concise presentation of such a massive and diverse amount of material inevitably comes at the expense of certain oversimplifications. Examples include the sequence of events leading up to the Maccabean revolt, the founding of the Qumran community in 160 Bc by Essenes and the order and dates of Paul's letters. It is disappointing to find neither some indication of controversial areas nor a footnote acknowledging which scholars Jacobs follows on these and other points. The brief outline also contains some misnomers. Antiochus III did not defeat the "Egyptians" but Ptolemy V in 200 Bc. The "Latin rhetorician" Quintilian was from Spain. "1 Enoch, chapters 92-105" should appear as the "Epistle of Enoch," an extant work beginning at 1 Enoch 91 and perhaps written after 200 Bc.

Bibliographies of "References" and "English Translations" list mostly older works and editions. Indexes of literature and persons are carefully done and add to this volume's usefulness. All in all, this Guide is a good place for students to get their bearings in the ancient world before journeying further. As such it can assist students, pastors and scholars alike.

A final comment is for the publisher. When more complete narrative histories sell for about the same price, how can one justify handicapping a short paperback with such a steep price? It is unfortunate that Jacobs' Guide, being similar in size and purpose to Metzger's Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek (still $5.65), is not more accessible to its intended student audience.

James A. Kelhoffer

The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Copyright Evangelical Theological Society Mar 1998
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