COS The Context of Scripture. 4 vols. Edited by William W. Hallo. Leiden: Brill, 1997-2017
CJT Canadian Journal of Theology
ConJ Concordia Journal
CTJ Calvin Theological Journal
CTR Criswell Theological Review
DBSJ Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
DHQ Digital Humanities Quarterly
EBib Etudes bibliques
EvQ Evangelical Quarterly
ExAud Ex Auditu
FAT Forschungen zum Alten Testament
HBC Harper’s Bible Commentary. Edited by J. L. Mays et al. San Francisco, 1988
HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology
HOTE Handbook of Old Testament Exegesis
HS Hebrew Studies
HTR Harvard Theological Review
IJOE Innovate: Journal of Online Education
Int Interpretation
JAAR Journal of the American Academy of Religion
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JBQ Jewish Bible Quarterly
JBR Journal of Bible and Religion
JEP Journal of Education Policy
JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JQR Jewish Quarterly Review
JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies
JNSL Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages
JRelS Journal of Religious Studies
JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
JTI Journal of Theological Interpretation
KEL Kregel Exegetical Library
MSJ Master’s Seminary Journal
NIBC New International Bible Commentary
NAC New American Commentary
NCBC New Cambridge Bible Commentary
NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament
NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament
NIDNTT New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Edited by C. Brown. 4 vols. Grand Rapids, 1975–1985
NIVAC NIV Application Commentary
NovT Novum Testamentum
NSBT New Studies in Biblical Theology
NTL New Testament Library
Or Orientalia (NS)
OrAnt Oriens antiquus
OTL Old Testament Library
OTS Old Testament Studies
PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly
PrPe Priests and People
PTSB Princeton Theological Seminary Bulletin
ProE Pro Ecclesia
RB Revue biblique
RelSoc Religion and Society
ResQ Restoration Quarterly
SJOT Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament
SS Studies in Spirituality
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Edited by Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976
TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren. Translated by John T. Willis, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and David E. Green. 15 vols. Grand Rapids, 1974–2006
TOTC Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries
TynBul Tyndale Bulletin
Vid Vidyajyoti
UF Ugarit-Forschungen
VT Vetus Testamentum
VTSup Supplements to Vetus Testamentum
WBC Word Biblical Commentary
WTJ Westminster Theological Journal
ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Introduction
James Spencer
Approaching the Old Testament Theologically
As a student at Wheaton College, I had the privilege of taking a class from Paul House. After reading my paper examining the Davidic innocence motif in the book of Samuel, Dr. House asked me a question that has shaped my perspective on the theological task to this day: “Where is the theology?” The question caught me off-guard as I truly believed that I had done some solid theological work in describing the text’s strategies for distancing David from violence against other Israelites. The problem, Dr. House explained, is that I had said nothing about God. Observations about David, explanations of literary techniques, and theories as to why the author took pains to distance David from wrongdoing are all important, but they aren’t (yet) theology. What did the portrayal of David convey about God? How did it showcase God’s character? Needless to say, I had some revisions to make after meeting with Dr. House.
The moral of the story is that Old Testament theology is first and foremost about God. Investigating ancient Near Eastern history and culture, evaluating Hebrew grammar and syntax, and analyzing archaeological or geographical data are not ends in themselves. They are the means by which we more faithfully understand God through his word. An Old Testament theology that does not finally offer a portrayal of God is incomplete because an Old Testament theology’s primary task is that “of presenting what the Old Testament says about God as a coherent whole.”1
Presenting this “coherent whole” requires those engaging in Old Testament theology to look at the Old and New Testaments as a whole book and to synthesize the various portrayals of God. This synthesis represents the synchronic dimension of Old Testament theology. Old Testament theology must attend to the manner in which specific books develop, expand on, and introduce new facets of God’s character. In other words, there is a diachronic element to Old Testament theology, which recognizes the progress of revelation through time.
In addition, Old Testament theology must not lean solely upon conceptualization, or on the abstraction of so-called universal principles. Such approaches rightly recognize that the Old Testament is the enduring word of God relevant and beneficial across all times, places, and cultures. Yet, focusing on principles alone can also distract God’s people from the inherently relational intent of the text, which seeks to lead us toward a greater knowledge of the God who creates, redeems, delivers, forebears, and supplies.2 Old Testament theology requires a constant movement between more particular depictions of God in Scripture and the combination of those biblical depictions to develop a broader canonical understanding of God.
To assert that Old Testament theology is first and foremost about God is not intended to deny theology the role as a means of articulating, or re-articulating, understandings of humankind, time, place, the world, or a host of other topics. Rather, the assertion that Old Testament theology is first and foremost about God suggests that these other topics may only be understood rightly in relation to or through the lens of a faithful rendering of God’s identity. As we view the various aspects of our