dinsdag 29 januari 2013

Review of: François Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50 (Hermeneia), Fortress Press, 2002

François Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50 (Hermeneia), Fortress Press, 2002

Review in: The Expository Times 2003 114: 132
Review door: I. Howard Marshall
Gevonden op: http://ext.sagepub.com/content/114/4/132.1.full.pdf+html

A MAJOR COMMENTARY ON LUKE
The dustcover of François Bovon, Luke I: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002. $49-50. pp. xxxvi + 441. ISBN 0-8006-6004-7) leads off with the statement: ’In terms of its immense and wide learning, fullness of comment, and depth of insight, I reckon that this commentary is without rivals.’ I wrote that comment in a review of the original German publication of this commentary in the Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar series (1989), and I now repeat it. The editors of the Hermeneia series are to be congratulated on their wisdom in adopting this commentary for English translation (and likewise the work in the same series by U. Luz on Matthew). It has been excellently translated by Christine M. Thomas who has ensured that all words and phrases in other languages are supplied with English equivalents and, where appropriate, references given to the English translations of German books. No attempt has been made to update the volume beyond some bibliographical additions: the author is still occupied with writing the fourth volume of the German edition. In its present form this is destined to be the major work on Luke for some time to come. It is written out of encyclopaedic knowledge of the relevant material, carefully analysed and lucidly presented. A particular feature of the German series is the attention given to ’History of Interpretation’ (Wirkungsgeschichte, which really means history of the effect that the text has had rather than how people have interpreted it); there is not a lot of this in this first volume of the commentary, but the subsequent volumes will treat it much more extensively. Otherwise, Bovon tackles all aspects of the text and is particularly concerned with the theology of the Gospel. He writes both as a scholar and as a confessed Christian seeking to help Christian readers, and the result is a work that will aid preachers as well as students.

I. HOWARD MARSHALL
University of Aberdeen

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