Jude
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 58, No. 1 – Fall 2015
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
2nd ed. By W. Randolph Tate. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012. 544 pages. Paperback, $39.99.
Tate’s Handbook for Biblical Interpretation is a reference to help students with “an extended glossary of the terminology currently used in interpreting the Bible” (ix). The entries vary in length and they offer some basic explanation of terms that often make their way into discussions of the Bible. The author states that there are about fifty methods included in this work. Quickly it becomes clear that the brevity of this volume would not be able to take into account the extensive history and depth required to discuss all of these methods in detail. However, Tate, with his extensive background in the humanities and the numerous years of teaching (over four decades), masterfully explains the ideas and terms of interpretation in a readable form that students should find helpful in their biblical and theological studies.
Because the entries are in alphabetical order, the handbook may be daunting to read unless one already has a concept or idea in mind. The handbook is helpful to consult when an unfamiliar expression arises while reading commentaries or academic journals. The caveat should be that the entries that one may need just may not be there. For example, entries like evangelicalism, Calvinism, and dispensationalism would not be found, but these may be more theological rather than literary; it is the latter that plays to the strength of the author.
One could quickly grow weary finding the worth of the work because it may appear to be laid out arbitrarily, unless one begins with these entries: “biblical criticism” and “biblical hermeneutics.” Both of these entries offer a short history and development of the field, while also offering cross-references to other entries for further exploration. Then at this point, one might as well read Tate’s textbook on hermeneutics, entitled Biblical Interpretation: An Integrated Approach (3rd ed. [Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014]), which could more appealing and more natural to read from the beginning.
The entries of the handbook cover a wide range of areas, including history, philosophy, rhetoric, literary studies, Jewish studies, hermeneutic principles, and critical approaches. Most entries have a bibliographic section, but many of these sources tend not to go beyond the preliminary as many are surveys or introductions to the relevant discipline.
This handbook is unique for this current day because handbooks such as these are becoming less common in this digital age as more information is updated frequently with space being less of a factor in digital publishing. Having said that, the value of the volume is that it is compact and readable with information relating to hermeneutics. With the field of biblical studies being increasingly specialized, there is not enough cross-pollination, or even literacy, of different approaches to hermeneutics. In that sense, Tate’s handbook increases awareness of the ever-expanding field of biblical and theological interpretation.
