Customer Reviews

Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 50, 2 Peter, Jude (bauckham), 377pp

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bauckham's commentary on 2Peter and Jude is definitely one of the best commentaries on any book of the Bible that I've ever read. It reads very clearly and easily for a technical commentary and directly investigates the background for each book both in the early church and its writings and history and in late second temple judaism and its own writings and history. Bauckham does an excellent job of mining the exegetical depths of Jude and 2 Peter in a way that hasn't much been done before. He takes Jude to be the older work, used by the author of 2 Peter in his own writing. Bauckham argues for a slightly later date for 2 Peter than traditional scholars would probably like and treats 2 Peter as pseudonymous. Although I tend to prefer the hypothesis that Peter wrote 2 Peter, the amount of evidence Bauckham issues in favor of his hypothesis is indeed impressive. Bauckham argues that 2 Peter is of the literary genre called the testament. In testaments, the work is always pseudonymous and often written both to address some current need by applying older wisdom and many times also to summarize and disseminate the teachings of the revered figure to whom the writing is fictionally ascribed. I take the fact that the ascribed authors in this genre are understood to be and are supposed to be not the real authors is what could possibly save Bauckham from denying innerancy or infallibility in regards to this letter. Regardless of how you see this issue and Bauckham's position in general, enough of his interpretation does not rest on his view of the letter's authorship (and he does after all think it accurately reflects Peter's teachings) that you should be able to learn a lot and be inspired by this commentary no matter what you think.

A volume in the Word Biblical Commentary. A great value of this volume is the extensive backgrounds Bauckham provides. He refers to many other writings, as well as trends of the day, that provide insights into Jude and Peter's message. Both are somewhat ambiguous and cryptic, and chapter 2 of 2 Peter resembles the single chapter of Jude considerably.

Bauckham discusses the various Jewish apocalyptic writings that have been considered the sources of Jude's puzzling reference to the Archangel Michael arguing with Satan over the body of Moses at the time of his death. This fascinating story is referred to in several popular writings of the first century and later.

Bauckham settles on the Testament of Moses, known in an expanded, rewritten later form as the Assumption of Moses as the written source of this Jewish folk tale. This is one of a whole genre of popular stories developed in the Jewish community from Maccabean times into the Middle Ages, providing variations on Old Testaments events. Some attempt to fill in gaps or clarify anomalies in the Torah stories.

See two other collections of some of these oral stories, Legends of the Bible, by Louis Ginzberg and Hebrew Myths -- The Book of Genesis, by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai. Many of these stories were written down over the centuries in various Rabbinic collections, the Haggadah, and other popular Jewish writings.

Bauckham also accounts for the similarity between 2 Peter and Jude differently than most commentators. He proposes that Jude was written first, placing it much earlier than some commentators, with Peter referring to Jude in the general topic of apocalyptic judgement of the false teachers, borrowing many specific phrases.

One factor that makes me question this is the fact that Peter used the future tense in speaking of the presence of these antinomian teachers among the believers, while Jude speaks as if they are currently present. This seems to be a strong indication of 2 Peter's priority to Jude.

Bauckham provides excellent and extensive commentary on word meaning and usage in Jude. He determines that Jude has a very high, though colloquial style of Greek, and shows familiarity with much Hellenistic and Greek classical literature.

On the other hand, it appears that Jude quotes from Old Testament references in the Hebrew, rather than the Septuagint. Jude seems very familiar, likewise, with current Jewish literature, though he is obviously writing in Greek to a Greek-speaking audience.

Bauckham has produced a masterful commentary on these 2 largely ignored books. He has carefully researched the commentaries on these books and has offered much that is original. Many consider this book to be the standard work on these 2 books. His treatment of the authorship of II Peter is questionable but original. He thinks the book is pseudonymous, but he also thinks its recipients would have known so, so he doesn't see it as dishonest. Thus he sees his position as compatible with seeing the letter as authoritative scripture. If he is right, why was there so much emphasis on seeing the letter as genuinely Peter's in order for it to enter the canon? Some of his historical reconstructions are affected by this, but on the whole his exegesis is top-notch.

Bauckham has done a fine piece of work with this commentary, and his thoroughness in the Greek makes his points quite solid. My only real complaint is his arguments for 2 Peter not being an authentic letter by the Apostle. Although I understand his arguments, I think some of his presuppositions and conclusions have some holes. Michael Green's (less extensive) commentary on these letters addresses some of these points, and I think makes a better case for Petrine authorship.

Aside from that, Mr. Bauckham's work is top-notch and does a fine job of correcting some erronious teachings that stem from Peter's letter. For serious and in-depth study, this is the commetary to have.

Richard Bauckham's treatment of the two least respected books of the New Testament has definately been a blessing for me as I continue to grow in my faith and knowledge of the Gospel.

As is the case for all the Word Commentaries, Bauckham introduces each book (including scholarly points of debate), translates the original language into English, and provides commentary on the book. In this reader's opinion, Bauckham's treatment of Jude is supurb, but his treatment of 2 Peter suffers because of his belief that it is pseudepigriphal (written by an anonymous author who is pretending to be St. Peter).

I was entranced by the first part of this book--the commentary on Jude. Bauckham greatly improved my understanding--not just of the theological elements of this work--but of St. Jude himself and the earliest days of the church in general. Through an analysis of the gramar and vocabulary of Jude and through examining points of contact with other ancient works, one is able to gain a respect for both Jude's high degree of education as well as his knowledge of practical theological matters. I was impressed with how relevant the message of Jude is to modern readers.

The second section, on 2 Peter, is explored as thoroughly as Jude, but was not as enjoyable a read because of my own disagreement with Bauckham's assumptions. As previously stated, Bauckham believes that 2 Peter was not actually written by the Apostle Peter, but rather by one of his friends/students/etc. Bauckham makes his case for this in the introduction, but is very unconvincing as he argues that 2 Peter is a hybrid piece, combining an epistle with a fictional first-person summary of his teachings. Too much in the letter conflicts with Bauckham's view and this reader percieves some of his arguments as theological acrobatics.

Even still, Bauckham's analysis of the content of 2 Peter is excellent. He convincingly shows the heretical arguments of Peter's opponents; he shows the unity of the letter; and points out where Peter's eschatological arguments are a continuation of both Jewish and early (earliest) Christian end-times doctrines. It is a convincing and practical work.

In all, this fairly conservative treatment of these two Biblical books is recommended--especially to those Christians who have neglected these underrated additions to the canon.

I'd agree with the reviewer from Syracuse, this is an excellent commentary reflecting the high standards throughout the Word series.

My only reservations are that in several cases Bauckham follows traditional assumptions without considering other options.

The first example would be in the assumption about the Assumption of Moses (no pun intended) in Jude 9. While the phrase "body of Moses" does suggest a connection with Jewish Testamental literature, the surviving Christian evidence is very flimsy. I certainly am not convinced by the verbal evidence that the Byzantine Palaea Historica is independant of Jude 9. Likewise all the other Christian evidence which features Michael telling the devil "may the Lord rebuke you" is most obviously explained as an attempt to explain Jude rather than a credible independent source. If Jude's aim was to use Zech3:1 to contradict the "false teaching" of 1En.9:1 then no further source is required. Also anyone reading Bauckham would think that the Christian evidence was a perfect fit for the missing ending of Jewish Testament of Moses, when it is clearly a different genre of pseudepigraphic literature.

The second example is the dating. All commentaries assume Jude predates 2Peter, but the evidence is highly circumstantial. Whether one thinks Jude is pseudonymous is irrelevant, the differing Greek tenses used in the two books ("will be" 2Pe2:1 vs. "have slipped in" Jude 4) clearly imply that either the *(genuine or pseudonymous) author of Jude intended his readers to consider it the later letter, or the author of 2Peter intended it to be consider the earlier letter. And so what if Jude's quote of 2Pe 3:3 is not verbatim. How many NT quotes of the OT are verbatim?

A third example is p.93 where faced with the dative TOUTOIS (prophesied to them) Bauckham says "this use of the dative is odd but must bear this meaning [prophesied about them]". Oh really? If one searches the Berkeley TLG CD-Rom, which contains most extant Greek texts, and count the examples of prophesy + dative meaning 'prophesy about' it becomes clear that if Jude had meant 'about them' he would have written PERI TOUTWN, and not TOUTOIS. It makes much better sense both in the context of the legendary Enoch prophesying to the Fallen Stars, and in the context of Book-of-Enoch prophesying to someone other than Jude's audience, and it respects the grammar of the Greek. It is only "odd" and "must bear this meaning" if one has already decided that Jude "must" feel positive towards 1Enoch.

The above three examples may sound like niggling, but repeat them several dozen times over in the course of the book and you can't help wishing there was more rigour in testing the received wisdom.

Otherwise it's still the best commentary on 2Peter and Jude.

I agree with previous reviews. It is an outstanding work. I didn't know that the apocrypha books like Enoch also had such wisdom. Richard combines a collection of resources and his analysis is superb. If you thought the book of Jude was a flyby book, think again, it is a book for the matured, some of the truths in there are solid meat.

This commentary book remains my standard for a good commentary book. A tough standard to follow.

Surely there will be someone else writing about this book, so I'm going try to help you in another way.

When you start reading biblical commentaries you will need to be aware that the thoughts expressed by the author deal with facts and speculations that should of happened. You can NEVER rely on only one commentary to affirm something about the Bible. You need at least three good commentaries.

Try to read biblical commentaries from different confessions of faith (e.g., Calvinism vs. Arminianism; Pentecostal vs. non-Pentecostal; Catholic vs. Protestant; Egalitarian vs. Complementarian; Amillennialism vs. Premillennialism vs. Postmillennialism; etc). Look for their arguments: What do they agree or disagree on? Which of them is closest to the biblical text? It's not a sin to read commentaries written from other points of view. You will notice that what is fact or solid argument will be seen over and over on different commentaries, so you will start learning what is speculation and what is not.

As Haddon W. Robinson said in his book, Biblical Preaching, (second edition, page 22), "In approaching a passage, we must be willing to reexamine our doctrinal convictions and to reject the judgments of our most respected teachers."

Remember, a commentary is not the biblical text. Do not replace the authority of the Bible with a commentary. The same apply for Study Bibles. The study notes there are not written by "apostles and prophets," so never confuse the "gospel" with the teacher or preacher. Learn to separate it.

Commentaries are important because nobody can get a poem from one language and translate it with the same structure to another language. This simply does not exist. Words, phrases, and sentences are rooted in a specific time, culture and custom. About Bibles, the best way is to check different translations, but be cautious about a very loose translation.

For you to appreciate any biblical commentary you need to know what level of reading you are. I'm going call them beginner, intermediate and advanced. I recommend the following biblical commentaries that you can start from. All of them have both Old Testament and New Testament. (If you're thinking of buying the whole set, look for the CD edition; it's cheaper and you can take it with you where you go.)

Beginner - NIV Application Commentary (NIVAC) by Zondervan.
(or) The Bible Speaks Today Series (BST) by IVP (This is a growing series and not yet complete.)

Intermediate - New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) and New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT) by Eerdmans

Advanced - Word Biblical Commentary (WBC) by Thomas Nelson

These are basic commentaries on their own level, but there are a lot of commentaries today, so don't forget to look for more information. Maybe you can get information from one of these: (1) Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources by John Glynn, (2) New Testament Commentary Survey by D. A. Carson, (3) Old Testament Commentary Survey by Tremper Longman.

There are good and expensive commentaries such as the Anchor Bible (AB); International Critical Commentary (ICC) or Hermeneia (HERM). [Do not forget of Calvin and Luther].

I don't know about catholic commentaries, but you can check reviews on "Sacra Pagina" and "Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture."

Other than those mentioned above (NIVAC; BST; NICNT; WBC; AB; ICC; HERM) you can also check: Expositor Bible Commentary (EBC); New American Commentary (NAC); Pillar New Testament Commentary (PNTC); New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC); Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (BECNT); and others.

Another thing, it can be a very good commentary, but it does not mean that you will agree with everything in it. Remember, "new" does not mean it's updated, and "updated" does not mean it's better.

Purpose - You can read a book to get information, even if you are not interested in a deep study of the biblical text. In this case it's better to start reading something from your own confession of faith and always on your level of reading. If after some time you become interested in more, go check other commentaries, but please, do not skip "How To Read A Book" by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren.

Responsibility - It is your responsibility study the biblical text before checking a commentary. Sometimes this is not an easy task so I'm giving you some other references that you can check at the end of this review. If I had read a review like this before, I would know how to prevent some mistakes.

Do not let you knowledge kill your faith! - "For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith." Hebrews 4:2 NIV - (Read also 1 Corinthians 1:21-24; 2:13-14; 3:18-23; Jude 1:3).

I can't leave without suggesting some other tools to help you: (1) How To Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren; (2) Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation by Henry Virkler and Karelynne Ayayo; (3) New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors by Gordon Fee; and (4) Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors by Douglas Stuart. [Although book #3 and 4 deals with Biblical languages (Greek and Hebrew), you can learn a lot from them even if you do not know the languages]. (5) "Basics of Biblical Greek" Grammar by William D. Mounce [after you start reading it maybe you can add "Biblical Greek Survival Kit" and "Sing and Learn New Testament Greek" audio CD by Kenneth Berding]; (6) "English Grammar in Use" by Raymond Murphy (Third Edition with Cd-Rom). (7) Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History: Complete and Unabridged. - All of these will help you to understand HOW a good commentary must be written. Good Luck!