Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Prophets

Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Prophets. By Gordon McConville. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2002, 272 pp., $25.00.

This book is written particularly for people who want to study the prophets independently. In view of the excellent presentation of the "Theological Themes" in each chapter, McConville has accomplished his purpose. However, in view of his heavy dependence on critical studies, the independent reader, without such knowledge, may find this book rather daunting. It nevertheless is an excellent choice for an undergraduate or a seminary introduction to the prophets.

The author treats the prophets in their canonical order, devoting a chapter to each of the sixteen prophets, plus a chapter on Lamentations. He consistently presents the material under the headings of "Date and Destination," "Critical Interpretation," "Structure and Outline," "Theological Themes," "Rhetorical Intention," "Canonical Considerations," and "Further Readings."

Methodologically, he deals with the prophets canonically (p. xxvii), attempting to explain the prophetic message on the basis of the finished book rather than their developing versions as described by critical scholarship. He has a fine grasp, however, of that cadre of scholarship. His canonical critical method, quite obvious in his general approach, is unmistakable in his section on canon (e.g. "Hosea in the Canon"). Here he obviously is concerned with the meaning of the book in the OT canon, especially the prophetic canon, rather than how the book came to be considered as part of the canon. That is, "canon" is more a theological term than an historical one. For example, in his discussion of "Ezekiel in the Canon," he includes no mention of the rabbinic controversy over the book's inclusion in the prophetic writings. Rather, he discusses the theological contribution of the book to the canonical understanding of the prophets (p. 105).

McConville's scholarship is current, and he presents it in palatable language, although I think he assumes a lot of knowledge the independent student may not have. Yet, he keeps the purpose of the book in mind as he introduces questions in the side bars (e.g. "Think About" and "Digging Deeper") that are intended to stimulate the reader's further thought and study. Some of these encourage his readership to engage in further reflection about the interconnectedness of the prophetic books, which is a very fine feature of this book.

In his "Rhetorical Intention" section, McConville deals with the matter of how each prophetic book was read by various audiences in ancient times, as well as his modern readership (see e.g. pp. 68-69). This feature, of course, grows naturally out of his canonical approach, but it also taps into the method of interpretation that the church has used through the centuries. That is to say, any one prophetic book has spoken differently to the church in different contexts of history. Most non-critically trained readers are aware of this, but not so aware of the ways a single book has been interpreted at the various levels of its development, even though these stages are hypothetical. McConville addresses this matter in his quite helpful introduction (pp. xxv-xxvii), but it would have been helpful if he had drawn together the principles of rhetorical criticism and given some concrete examples there, as he does with the book of Jonah (p. 192).

The author's "Further Reading" suggestions are generally quite helpful, and he has gone to the trouble of placing an asterisk by those works that will be most helpful to the beginner, again keeping his audience in mind.

An editorial problem with the book is that major sections are titled in a smaller font than the subsections. This makes the flow of the text a bit more difficult to follow.

McConville's work is commendable and will serve students in the classroom very well, even though his target audience of independent student may have to do a lot of background reading to come up to the level he assumes in his discussion of the prophetic material.

C. Hassell Bullock

Wheaton College, Chicago, IL

Copyright Evangelical Theological Society Sep 2004
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