The Family
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 49, No. 1 – Fall 2006
Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
By Daniel J. Estes. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005. 448 pages. Hardcover, $34.99.
Students, pastors, and lay leaders who have been introduced to the Old Testament books of poetry will find this handbook helpful. Daniel Estes guides his readers through a scholarly discussion of the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, and he lists resources at the end of each chapter which provide an important bridge for those wanting to further explore wisdom literature.
Each of the five chapters covers a book of wisdom and is comprised of three parts—summary of introductory issues, exposition of the book, and bibliography. Primarily, Estes presents insightful quotations from com- mentaries and other scholarly studies and knits these opinions together with his own summary and opinion in a discussion type of format.
The exposition sections receive most of the focus of each chapter. The books of Job, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon are covered in their entirety. For the exposition of the Psalms, Estes defines and explains ten types of psalms, such as descriptive praise psalms, nature psalms, lament psalms, songs of trust, messianic psalms, etc., and then follows his descriptions with an example. For instance, after spending a few pages discussing the components of lament psalms, he discusses the three strophes of Psalm 13. For the exposition of Proverbs, the author chooses a topical approach. Topics—such as cheerfulness, purity, righteousness, etc.—were selected based on a careful synthesis of key Hebrew words and based on the individual meanings of sayings as they contributed to the topic as a whole. In addition to standard works and major commentaries, the bibliographic material at the end of each chapter includes selected English articles, es- says, and monographs from 1992–2004.
The main strength of this handbook is the clarity of writing and the author’s ability to integrate citations from commentaries and other scholarly research into a didactic discussion that both informs the reader and maintains the reader’s interest. While this approach allows for the author to succinctly express his interpretive positions, detailed support for conclusions is not given (11). For example, after reviewing the overall arguments concerning the genre of the book of Job, Estes concludes that the book is not a record of actual conversation, but it is a case study of the ideal, an in- spired piece of “imaginative” literature which explores the problem of evil (19). The reader here is invited into the debate, interest is created, but for a complete argument, the reader would need to explore other resources.
Of all five books, the exposition of Ecclesiastes receives the most thorough attention, which alone is worth the price of the handbook. Overall, Daniel Estes accomplishes his purpose in familiarizing students, pastors, and teachers with scholarly opinion, and he gives the reader an excellent guide to understanding the wisdom books and Psalms.
