There were a number of papers on the Pastorals at SBL this year including a full session of the Disputed Paulines study group being devoted to them.

The best paper on the Pastorals which I heard came from Jens Herzer of Leipzig. His paper was titled, “Language and Ideas of the Pastoral Epistles in Light of the Papyri.” Herzer, while not affirming Pauline authorship, has a positive view of these letters and presented solid work on the papyri. He argued for maintaining the individuality of the three letters (rather than simply lumping them together, as is too common), supported the idea of 1 Timothy as mandata principis, and made several other suggestions. Herzer seems to be working on a larger project on the Pastorals, so I will be watching for more from him.

The papers from the Disputed Paulines Section were less constructive and less helpful. The Monday morning session of this group had the theme, “New Methods and the Pastoral Epistles.” I will list each presenter and paper title with a brief interaction.

Ilaria Ramelli, Catholic University of Milan, “Tit 2:1-4, Women Presbyters, and a Patristic Interpretation”

Ramelli essentially argued that Origen affirmed women “elders.” However, even the evidence cited had Origen stating clearly that these women were neither to teach men nor to teach publicly in church. It was not clear to me that “elders” were clearly in view, rather than Origen simply affirming the role of women teaching and encouraging younger women as stated in Titus 2. AS the paper progressed it was not really rooted in Titus 2 but referred to wide ranging sources which alluded to women in ordained ministries. These references were primarily cited but not explained or defended. This paper was similar to her article “Theosebia: A Presbyter of the Catholic Church,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 26.2 (2010): 79-102.

Elsa Tamez, United Bible Society, “The Rhetorical Strategy in 1 Tim 2:8-3:1”

Tamez’s paper followed a similar approach as that found in her book on 1 Timothy. She cited some verbal parallels in this text, though her point was not entirely clear to me. She argued for a basic A, B. A’ structure in various places- some of which has been commonly noted in the literature. She did argue that this text prohibits women from certain ministry but suggested it is not necessarily binding, stating, “There have been men and women who have refused to heed this text.”. She stated, in what may have been an off hand comment, “So the only way out for women is rebellion.”

Marianna Kartzow, University of Oslo, “An Intersectional Approach to the Pastoral Epistles”

Kartzow, author of the recent Gossip and Gender: Othering of Speech in the Pastoral Epistles, essentially approached the Pastorals on the assumption that they are written as late as three generations after Paul and asked “Who needed this memory of Paul?” She was concerned with how different groups- particularly marginalized or oppressed groups- would have “remembered” the ideas contained in the letter. She stated that she did not think the Pastorals were reflections of reality and said we ought to pay as little attention to the Pastoral Epistles as possible because they contain dangerous hierarchies and are texts of terror. She noted, with apparent disappointment that she found little destabilizing ideas in the Pastoral Epistles, i.e. they were socially conventional.

Gail Streete, Rhodes College, “The Pastorals in Rehab; Why They Are Important to Feminism (And It’s Now What You Think)”

Streete is the author of several books, including The Strange Woman: Power and Sex in the Bible. I did not catch why, in her opinion, the Pastorals are important to feminism, though that failure is probably mine due to having listened to too many academic papers in a row. :) She was pessimistic about the possibility of discovering meaning in these letters. She confessed, “I have never learned to love the Pastoral Epistles,” and referred to Deborah Krause's portrayal of the Pastorals as the “grumpy old uncle” whom you learn to tolerate. She also affirmed the statement of Linda Maloney (in Fiorenza’s Feminist Commentary) that the author of the Pastorals was “a frightened would-be authority on the defensive.”

The latest issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (53:2, June 2010) contains two reviews of commentaries on the Pastoral Epistles. My positive review of George Montague’s commentary (initial volume of the new Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) appears in this issue. I have mentioned this book positively on this blog before.

Bob Yarbrough provides a very helpful and thorough review of Samuel Ngewa’s 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, the inaugural volume of the Africa Bible Commentary Series. Yarbrough notes strengths of the commentary in pastoral reflection but points out significant weaknesses in the actual exegetical work. Yarbrough stated that the book has “more of a Christian education feel and less the heft of a work of NT exegesis and scholarship proper” (418).

Review of Biblical Literature also contains a recent review of Ngewa’s volume, written by Teresa Okure who is in Nigeria. This reviewer provides a view of the commentary from Africa. She notes many helpful points about the commentary but registers some critiques similar to Yarbrough’s.

These two reviews of Ngewa’s work will be helpful to those engaging this commentary.

We received the following note from Richard Blight:

I thought you might be interested to know about a new MA (Theology) unit being offered at Moore College (Sydney, Australia) this year in the Pastoral Epistles. It is being taught by Con Campbell.  Info is here: http://postgrad.moore.edu.au/unitsoffered/

The required reading list is available online here:  http://postgrad.moore.edu.au/fileadmin/user_upload/study/Pastoral_Epistles_2010_a.pdf.

If you’re interested, check out the reading material. I’ve read most of it and think most of it worth reading in the context of an MA level unit. I wish the list wouldn’t focus so much on 1Ti 2.9-15, though.

That said, I was thrilled to see Jakob Heckert’s stuff in the “further reading” list.

Entrusted with the Gospel: Paul's Theology in the Pastoral Epistles, ed. Andreas Köstenberger and Terry Wilder, is set to be published April 2010. I previously mentioned this book as in progress. I am honored to be a contributor to this volume and excited about its potential.

The book aims to provide an overview of recent scholarship on the Pastorals and give an overall view of the message of these letters.

The contributors and chapter titles are as follows:

• Köstenberger- “Hermeneutical and Exegetical Challenges in Interpreting the Pastoral Epistles”
• Wilder- “Pseudonymity, the New Testament, and the Pastoral Epistles”
• Alan Tomlinson- “The Purpose and Stewardship Theme within the Pastoral Epistles”
• Ray Van Neste- “Cohesion and Structure in the Pastoral Epistles”
• Greg Couser- “The Sovereign Savior of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus”
• Daniel Akin- “The Mystery of Godliness Is Great: Christology in the Pastoral Epistles”
• George Wieland- “The Function of Salvation in the Letters to Timothy and Titus”
• Benjamin L. Merkle- “Ecclesiology in the Pastoral Epistles”
• Paul Wolfe- “The Sagacious Use of Scripture”
• Thor Madsen- “The Ethics of the Pastoral Epistles”
• Chiao Ek Ho- “Mission in the Pastoral Epistles”
• Howard Marshall- “The Pastoral Epistles in Recent Study”

You can see further information at the publisher’s site (http://bhpublishinggroup.com/academic/books.asp?p=9780805448412).

I’ve been slowly working through George Wieland’s The Significance of Salvation: A Study of Salvation Language in the Pastoral Epistles, published by Paternoster. It is excellent, and it is likewise an excellent example of how a monograph focused on a topic within a book (or books) of the New Testament can be extremely valuable.

Commentaries can be valuable too, but a focused monograph like Wieland’s can spend its time dealing with a particular subject (this one on the use of salvation language in the Pastorals) without the baggage of everything else a commentary has to handle.

This book lists at $33.99, but until May 27, 2009 you can get it for 50% off (so, $17 + S&H) at Eisenbrauns. If you have $20 in your book budget to spare, you should pick it up.

The Significance of Salvation
A Study of Salvation Language in the Pastoral Epistles
Paternoster Biblical Monographs-PBM
by George M. Wieland
Paternoster Press, 2006
xxii + 344 pages, English
Paper, 6 x 9
ISBN: 1842272578
List Price: $33.99
Your Price: $17.00 (Until May 27, 2009)
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/WIESIGNIF

Two reviews of Benajmin Fiore’s recent commentary The PE: First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus (Sacra Pagina) have recently been posted at RBL . I found Matthew Montonini’s review particularly helpful in summarizing the book.

[NB: Cross-posted from my personal blog, ricoblog. — RB]

In a post on my personal blog I threatened to do some comparisons between Comfort, Metzger, Omanson's rewrite of Metzger and (where applicable) Westcott & Hort's "Notes on Selected Passages". First, the list of books:

• Comfort: New Testament Text and Translation Commentary (Amazon.com) (Tyndale, 2008)
• Omanson: A Textual Guide to the New Testament (Amazon.com) (German Bible Society, 2006) This is a "geared towards translators" edition of Metzger's Textual Commentary.
• Metzger: A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition (Amazon.com) (United Bible Societies, 1994)
• NET: NA27/NET Diglot (Amazon.com) (Biblical Studies Press, 2004). I realize that the non-diglot NET has more notes and may have greater coverage, but the diglot is the only edition I have to hand at present.
• Westcott & Hort: The New Testament in the Original Greek: Introduction and Appendix (Amazon.com) (Vol. 2). (MacMillan & Co., 1896)

In this post, I'll provide a list of readings covered in the book of First Timothy. I may expand upon some of the readings in subsquent posts. In this list, the following abbreviations are used: C = Comfort; O = Omanson; M = Metzger; NET = NET Bible TC notes; WH = Westcott & Hort

• 1Ti 1.1: C O M NET
• 1Ti 1.4a: C O M
• 1Ti 1.4b: C O M NET WH
• 1Ti 1.12: C
• 1Ti 1.15: O M
• 1Ti 1.17a: C O M
• 1Ti 1.17b: C M NET
• 1Ti 2.1: C O M
• 1Ti 2.7a: C O M NET
• 1Ti 2.7b: C
• 1Ti 3.1 segmentation: O
• 1Ti 3.1: C M WH
• 1Ti 3.3: C M
• 1Ti 3.16 segmentation: O
• 1Ti 3.16: C O M NET WH
• 1Ti 4.3: WH
• 1Ti 4.10: C O M NET
• 1Ti 4.12: C M
• 1Ti 5.4: C
• 1Ti 5.5: C
• 1Ti 5.16: C O M NET
• 1Ti 5.18: C O M
• 1Ti 5.19: M WH
• 1Ti 5.21: C
• 1Ti 6.3: C M
• 1Ti 6.5: C O M NET
• 1Ti 6.7: C O M NET WH
• 1Ti 6.9: C O M
• 1Ti 6.13: C O M NET
• 1Ti 6.17: C O M
• 1Ti 6.19: C O M
• 1Ti 6.21a: C O M NET
• 1Ti 6.21b: C O M
• 1Ti subscription: C M

Interesting standouts: First, Comfort's coverage is most thorough in number of variations handled. Outside of the "segmentation" issues only noted by Omanson, Comfort misses 1Ti 1.15; 4.3; 5.19. These are areas that are of some text-critical interest, but not necessarily where differences arise in translation. Items that Comfort alone handles include 1Ti 1.12; 2.7b; 5.4, 5, 21.

Westcott and Hort don't intend to be comprehensive (they only have 140 pages for the whole NT), but it is interesting that in 2 of the 5 places they show up, Comfort is silent: 1Ti 4.3; 5.19. The discussion in 1Ti 5.19 is about how a phrase in the Greek text is not found in some extant Latin witnesses. In the case of 1Ti 4.3, it is simply difficult extant text. While these are issues, it is pretty obvious that these sorts of things don't really fit the target that Comfort (and Omanson) are trying to hit. W&H give text-critical information to text critics; Comfort and Omanson translate the text-critical information for a larger audience. Metzger sort of sits in the middle of both.

I may dig further into some of these, particularly those that have examples in every listed source (perhaps 1Ti 1.4b or 1Ti 6.7? 1Ti 3.16 is so well-known as to be over-analyzed), just to compare the level of discussion and style of notes each edition has. Let me know if you're interested in that sort of thing.

David Downs has provided a helpful review of Aageson, James W. Paul, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Early Church at Review of Biblical Literature.

I recently received a review copy of the Scofield Study Bible released in recognition of the 100^th anniversary of the first publication of this study Bible (in 1909).  Though I am not a dispensationalist, one must acknowledge the impressive impact the Scofield Study Bible has had in its time.

My point here though is to note, with disappointment, that the study Bible still lists “Church Order” as the “Theme” of 1Timothy and Titus.  The notes in these letters are quite dated even in this update.

Jesus as Mediator: Politics and Polemics in 1Timothy 2:1-7, Malcolm Gill

(Peter Lang, 2008), pb., 196 pp.

This is the published version of a PhD dissertation done at Dallas Theological Seminary. Gill’s main thesis is that 1Timothy 2:1-7 should be read as a polemic against the claim of Roman Emperor’s to be the “mediator” between the gods and humans. 

Much has been written in recent years about the impact of the imperial cult on the New Testament, and Gill seeks to apply this to 1Timothy.  In doing this he surveys the research previously done on the prominence of the imperial cult in Asia Minor (chapter 2) and investigates the possible backgrounds of the word mesites, translated as “mediator” in 1 Tim 2:5 (chapter 4).

I think one of the more useful parts of this book is his survey of research on the imperial cult in Asia Minor.  However, I found myself unconvinced by the overall thesis.  Gill argues for a Graeco-Roman background to the passage and its key vocabulary and against Jewish background.  His arguments seem forced at places.   I found myself more taken with the opposite argument put forward in a recent PhD dissertation done at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary by Chuck Hetzler titled, “Our Savior and King: Theology Proper in 1 Timothy.”  Though unaware of Gill’s work (since it has just appeared), Hetzler provides more compelling evidence for Old Testament context for the vocabulary used of God in 1 Timothy.  I hope Hetzler’s work will soon appear in published form so others can compare the arguments.

Gill’s book could have used another round of editing as well.  It had numerous surveys of options which did not always contribute to the point of the argument.  Also there were very many errors from spelling, to missing words, wrong words, etc.  This detracted from the work.

There are only four volumes (that I know of) in this series, and two of those are Quinn & Wacker's work on 1&2 Timothy (Amazon.com). Wacker was Quinn's student, as I understand it, and he finished the commentary after Quinn's passing.

I finally got around to getting this set because it is now available in Logos Bible Software format, in the Eerdmans Critical Commentary (4 vols) collection.

I haven't been exactly thrilled with Quinn's work on Titus, though I do greatly appreciate the copious patristic references he makes in that volume. I'm hoping for similar density of references in these volumes.

Thanks to the great folks at Baker Academic / Brazos Press for a review copy of this book.

Hot off the press, this is Risto Saarinen's work on the Pastorals, Philemon and Jude for the Brazos Theological Commentary of the Bible series published by Brazos Press. Perry Stepp will be posting about this one, so keep your eyes peeled in the upcoming weeks.

For more information on the book, here's the back cover copy:

The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible enlists leading theologians to read and interpret scripture creedally for the twenty-first century, just as the church fathers, the Reformers, and other orthodox Christians did for their times and places. The Pastoral Epistles with Philemon & Jude (Amazon.com) is the seventh volume in the series. This commentary, like each in the series, is designed to serve the church--through aid in preaching, teaching, study groups, and so forth--and demonstrate the continuing intellectual and practical viability of theological interpretation of the Bible.

"Risto Saarinen's commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, Philemon, and Jude (Amazon.com) does an excellent job of mediating the insights of recent large-scale works in a readable exposition that concentrates on theology, bringing in from time to time the contributions of such expositors as Chrysostom and Calvin. Helpful appendices and excursuses break new ground in situating the letters within the context of ancient teachings on moderation, mental disorders, and generosity, and the author's background in Scandinavian Lutheranism affords a fresh perspective. Saarinen is not uncritical of what he sees as the Pastor's misogynism and argues that following literally his tendency to accommodate church practice to contemporary social standards may achieve today the opposite effect from what was intended. His hermeneutical approach in terms of theological subjects and elucidatory predicates offers a fresh entry into the teaching of Jude. This is a stimulating study that helpfully and sympathetically challenges some traditionalist approaches without being the last word on the subject."—I. Howard Marshall, University of Aberdeen

Here's a brief table of contents:

First Timothy

Introductory Part (1Ti 1.1-20)
Worship, Life, and Order in the Church (1Ti 2.1-3.16)
Instructions for the Pastoral Work of Timothy (1Ti 4.1-6.2)
True and False Teachers (1Ti 6.3-21)

Second Timothy

Opening of the Letter (2Ti 1.1-5)
Witness and Suffering in the Footsteps of Paul (2Ti 1.6-2.13)
False Teachers and Their Conduct (2Ti 2.14-3.9)
Concluding Advice to Timothy (2Ti 3.10-4.22)

Titus

Appointment of Elders in Crete (Titus 1.1-16)
Virtues among Christians (Titus 2.1-15)
Good Works in the Society (Titus 3.1-15)

Philemon

Jude

Thanks again to Baker/Brazos!

Thanks again to Baker Academic who provided a copy of George T. Montague, SM's First and Second Timothy, Titus (Amazon.com); which is part of Baker's new Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series.

I've had a chance to poke around the book and must say I'm impressed. This commentary is designed to be used, and that's refreshing. Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the features of the print book.

• The translation used is the New American Bible (NAB), which is what one would expect for a Catholic commentary.
• Cross References. Each translation section is followed by cross references—to the Old Testament, the New Testament, and also to the Catholic Catechism (by topic and page, as shown below). References to the Lectionary (and also the "Lectionary (Byzantine)") are also made, where applicable.

• Sidebars. There are Biblical Background sidebars and Living Tradition sidebars that frequently occur throughout the text. These bring to light different sorts of background information (literary, cultural, historical, theological) and highlight portions of later non-canonical writings (Apostolic Fathers, other Greek & Latin fathers.
• Pictures and Maps. There are pictures. This is great for a commentary; one example is a picture of the theatre in Ephesus. Another is a picture of Schøyen MS 2649 (portions of a scroll of Leviticus that is actually relatively legible) in the context of 2Ti 4.13, "... bring me the scrolls and parchments". These sorts of things bring the setting into view of the reader and make the whole exercise a little more real.
• Reflection and Application. At the end of each commentary section is another section titled "Reflection and Application". Here all sorts of things may be discussed, the primary task seems to be to discuss the text in the context of the present. For instance, the portion on 1Ti 2.5-7, "For there is one mediator between God and men ..." discusses the Catholic practice of invoking saints in prayer, particularly Mary.
• Glossary. There is a short glossary at the back; words in the text that occur in the glossary have a dagger† next to them. The entries are short and generally helpful (though the definition for "aorist" is not good at all, equating it with the simple past tense).
• Indexes. There are two indices, one "Index of Pastoral Topics" and another "Index of Sidebars". A reference index would be nice, if only to catch the section cross-references in one easy-to-consult place. It would've also been nice to have an index with the mounds of references to writings of the Fathers and the catechism and lectionary references.
• Greek Words. Greek words, where directly discussed, are in transliteration throughout. It would've been nice to have an index to the Greek words as well.

In short, I love the features of the book and the way it is put together.

If you're Catholic and you're studying the Pastoral Epistles, this is a no-brainer: buy the book now (Amazon.com), particularly if you're not looking for some deep academic tome. If you are Catholic and looking for a deep academic tome, you still want to buy it (Amazon.com) (and probably Fiore (Amazon.com), too).

If you're not Catholic but you're studying the Pastoral Epistles, I'd use another commentary as a primary (pick one: Towner (Amazon.com), Witherington (Amazon.com), Mounce (Amazon.com), Knight (Amazon.com)), but I'd consider getting Montague's CCSS volume (Amazon.com) simply because it is a good alternate view at understanding and applying the text.

The good folks at Baker Academic have sent along a hot-off-the-presses copy of First and Second Timothy, Titus (Amazon.com), from the newly-commenced commentary series Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. The text of the NAB (New American Bible) is provided in the commentary.

If you're unfamiliar with the series, a video overview is available on the series web site.

There are excerpts from the book on Baker Academic's web site (here, here and here); there is a 16-page discussion guide designed for "Personal Reflection or Small Group Study". This is cool stuff; Baker should be commended for putting together the whole package on the book's web page.

Most of the blurbs in the front matter and back cover are about the series, not the book. Here's the book blurb from BakerAcademic.com:

George Montague offers a Catholic pastoral commentary on the letters to Timothy and Titus in the second volume in the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (CCSS). He presents sound exegesis followed by reflection on the pastoral, theological, and practical applications of the text.

Here's the blurb from Amazon.com (Amazon.com):

In the second volume of the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (CCSS), George Montague offers a Catholic pastoral commentary on the letters to Timothy and Titus, presenting sound exegesis followed by reflection on the pastoral, theological, and practical applications of the text. The CCSS offers readable, informative commentaries from the best of contemporary Catholic scholarship to help readers rediscover the Word of God as a living word in which God himself is present. Each commentary relates Scripture to life, is faithfully Catholic, and is supplemented by features designed to help readers understand the Bible more deeply and use it more effectively in teaching, preaching, evangelization, and other forms of ministry. This series is perfect for professional and lay leaders engaged in parish ministry, lay Catholics interested in serious Bible study, and Catholic students.

Yeah, pretty much the same thing though the Amazon.com blurb works in the series description as well.

Here's the table of contents:

Illustrations
Editor's Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction to the Pastoral Letters

The First Letter to Timothy
Timothy's First Charge (1 Timothy 1)
Liturgy and Conduct (1 Timothy 2)
Qualifications of Ministers (1 Timothy 3)
False Teaching and Advice to Timothy (1 Timothy 4)
Rules for Different Groups (1 Timothy 5)
Final Directives: Slaves, Truth, Riches (1 Timothy 6)

The Second Letter to Timothy
Timothy's Gifts and Paul's Lot (2 Timothy 1)
Counsels to Timothy (2 Timothy 2)
Meeting the Challenges of the Last Days (2 Timothy 3)
Final Charge to Timothy and Paul's Faith amid His Loneliness (2 Timothy 4)

The Letter to Titus
Organizing the Church in Crete (Titus 1)
Virtues for Different States of Life (Titus 2)
How We Should Live—and Why (Titus 3)

Suggested Resources
Glossary
Index of Pastoral Topics
Index of Sidebars
Map

I have not had a chance to read the book yet. I will say it was designed well. And it is one of the few commentaries that I have seen that actually has pictures (black & white photos) of different areas or artifacts relevant to the discussion. That's pretty cool.

I couldn't contain myself, however, and peeked to see how 1Ti 1.20 is handled. You know:

18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,  19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,  20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1Ti 1.18-20, ESV)

I've never checked an explicitly Catholic commentary on this verse and wanted to see how the verse was related to excommunication. Well, it is directly and equivalently related: "These two Paul handed over to Satan, a technical term for excommunication." (Montague 47, emphasis his). That doesn't surprise me, and it doesn't seem altogether wrong to me either. These guys were given the right boot of fellowship. It's just that 'protestant' commentaries rarely ever cross the line and call it excommunication. The goal isn't separation, the eventual goal is reconciliation, as Montague aptly concludes.

I'm looking forward to giving this one the once-over. Thanks, Baker Academic!

Andreas Köstenberger blogs further on 1Ti 2.12 ("Was I Wrong on 1 Timothy 2:12?"), a section of scripture that he's done fairly intensive syntactical research on for his edited volume on Women in the Church (Amazon.com).

Do check it out.

From Matthew Brook O'Donnell, Corpus Linguistics and the Greek of the New Testament (Amazon.com), p. 388:

It seems unlikely that by simply counting words it is possible to differentiate between authors. While a particular author may have a core or base vocabulary, as well as an affinity for certain words (or combination/collocation of words), there are many factors, for instance, age, further education, social setting, rhetorical purpose and so on, that restrict or expand this core set of lexical items. In spite of this, New Testament attribution studies and many commentaries (sadly, some rather recent ones at that) have placed considerable weight on counting the number of words found in one letter but not found in a group of letters assumed to be authentic. (O'Donnell, 388)

I can't tell you the times that I've read authorship discussions on the Pastorals in commentaries where the argument boils down to "read P.N. Harrison's Problem of the Pastoral Epistles, he got it right". This pawning the argument off on what is essentially a misdirected attempt at stylometry through hapax-legomena counting. Statistics are not easy to understand, and when someone makes a statistical case that sounds good it is easy to accept, point to, and never think about again. "So-and-so has all sorts of numbers, statistics, math and tables that I don't fully understand, so it must be right."

I'm not saying that all commentaries, monographs and such that dispute Pauline authorship do this. Some do not, and they are well worth reading because they're really wrestling with the stylistic issues. But if your reason for discounting Pauline authorship rests solely on comparative proportions of hapax legomena between two different slices of a corpus ... well, you're not standing on firm ground.

I have just thumbed through the study notes on the Pastorals in the brand new NLT Study Bible (Amazon.com). The notes are written by Jon Laansma who teaches at Wheaton and did his PhD at the University of Aberdeen.

In the interest of full disclosure, two things could be thought to impinge on my judgment here. First, I know Jon and am working on a project with him. Second, I wrote the notes on the Pastorals for the ESV Study Bible (Amazon.com), which could be thought of as a competitor of this study Bible.

I was impressed with these study notes. They were thoughtful, clear and ample. Honestly, as I read, particularly the introductory material, I thought, “Wow! I hope my notes come across as well as these.” In brief compass Jon advocates Pauline authorship and situates the letters after the close of Acts (positions with which I agree). He describes 1 Timothy and Titus as similar to the mandatis principis and does not directly address the genre of 2 Timothy. He does a good job of briefly dispelling the idea that these letters are church manuals and points to their great concern for the gospel shaping life.

On 1 Timothy 2:11-15 there is an extended essay which describes three major positions without embracing any of the three.

These notes are well done. For me the only drawback is the use of the NLT for in depth study. I appreciate the NLT but for in depth study I encourage people to use a more literal translation. Jon's notes, however, are good resource for briefly explaining these letters.

Apart from PastoralEpistles.com's own Perry Stepp, who has a volume on the Pastoral Epistles coming out in Smith & Helwys' Reading the New Testament series, Baker/Brazos has the following commentaries in queue for Fall 2008 and "sometime in 2009":

• The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: First and Second Timothy, Titus. George T. Montague, SM.
• Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible: The Pastoral Epistles with Philemon & Jude. Risto Saarinen.
• Paideia: First and Second Timothy and Titus. Christopher R. Hutson (scheduled for 2009, not on Baker's web site yet).

Anyone know of any other publishers releasing commentaries on the Pastorals?

Also, if you're a publisher and would like your Pastoral Epistles commentary (or any other related books) reviewed on this site, please contact us for information.

I am honored to be participating in a new book from B&H Academic entitled Entrusted with the Gospel:  Paul's Theology in the Pastoral Epistles.  It will be a collection of essays focusing on specific aspects of the Pastorals written by scholars who have been working on these letters for some time.  Contributors include Howard Marshall, Andreas Kostenberger, and Terry Wilder.  Work is just beginning but I thought readers of this blog would be interested to know of the project.

• In April, I'll be presenting a paper at the Stone Campbell Journal conference, at Cincinnati Christian University.  The paper will deal with 1 Timothy 2.
• The commentary will build on the reading of the PE from my monograph, Leadership Succession, and on the papers that I've read at SBL in Philadelphia (a narrative reading of the PE, using Aristotle's Poetics as my primary lens) and Washington.
• In the commentary, I will treat the letters in the order Titus - 1 Timothy - 2 Timothy - Philemon.
  

On my way back from Nepal I finally read Ben Merkle’s book, The Elder and Overseer: One Office in the Early Church (Amazon.com) (Peter Lang, 2003). It is a revision of his doctoral dissertation. Merkle provides a good overview of the scholarly discussion and of the relevant background material. He makes a good case for the use of the term ‘elder’ referring to an office and not simply to age. I agree with his thesis—that elder and overseer refer to the same office—and thought he did a good job defending it. He also deals with the idea that Paul’s churches had no structure/authority but were loosely led by ‘charismatics.’ This view shows up not only in more critical schools of thought but can be found in evangelical settings as well. Merkle clearly shows that concern for official leadership is clear in Paul and Acts. There is no aversion to ‘office’ in Paul and there is more concern with authority than is sometimes acknowledged (for example see Robert Banks, “Church Order and Government” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters). Merkle rightly demonstrates that this view is rooted in an approach which prioritizes 1 Corinthians to the exclusion of Paul’s other letters.

I had been thinking for some time that a rebuttal of these ‘no structure, no authority’ views need to be written. Now I know Merkle has done it and done it well.

I'm gearing up to do a home-group Bible study on First Timothy in the "winter" quarter (so, Jan-March/April 2008) for my church. I intend to use it as an excuse to look at First Timothy from the perspective of discourse analysis. I think too often home-group studies of NT epistles devolve into "word study" sessions ("The Greek word means ... ") and the larger perspective of the actual message of the letters is lost. I'm hoping to stay away from that. There are places where studies on words are useful, but my goal will be to come to a better understanding of First Timothy as a letter; not an understanding of pieces of it.

I should say straight up that anyone interested in discourse and the Pastoral Epistles needs to read, learn and love Ray Van Neste's Cohesion and Structure in the Pastoral Epistles (Amazon.com). I'm not just saying that because Ray blogs for PastoralEpistles.com—I'm saying it because it's that good. Get ye to the library and checketh it out (unless you want to drop $150 on the book). I'll probably use Ray's sections and units as the basis of segmentation of the books for my study.

Apart from that, there's a bunch of other stuff to read. Most of these I've read at least once, but I plan on reading them again before I dig in on formal preparation/writing.

There is one article that has proven difficult for me to locate:

Reed, Jeffrey T. "Discourse Features in New Testament Letters, with Special Reference to the structure of 1 Timothy", Journal of Translation and Textlinguistics 6: 228-52. 1993.

I know that an index for the Journal of Translation and Textlinguistics is on the web (at SIL's site), but the article itself isn't. If anyone can point me to the article, or knows a library that actually carries the periodical, I'd appreciate the info.

Here's the short list of stuff I'll be re-examining:

Reed, Jeffrey T. "To Timothy or Not? A Discourse Analysis of 1 Timothy" in S.E. Porter and D.A. Carson (eds.) Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics: Open Questions in Current Research (JSNTSup 80; Sheffield: JSOT Press): 90-118. 1993.

----- "Cohesive Ties in 1 Timothy: In Defense of the Epistle's Unity", Neotestamentica 26/1: 192-213. 1992.

----- "The Cohesiveness of Discourse: Towards a Model of Linguistic Criteria for Analyzing New Testament Discourse" in S.E. Porter and J.T. Reed (eds.), Discourse Analysis and the New Testament: Approaches and Results (JSNTSup 170; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press): 28-46. 1999.

----- "Identifying Theme in the New Testament: Insights from Discourse Analysis" in S.E. Porter and D.A. Carson (eds.), Discourse Analysis and Other Topics in Biblical Greek (JSNTSup 113; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press): 75-101. 1995.

----- "Discourse Features in New Testament Letters, with Special Reference to the structure of 1 Timothy", Journal of Translation and Textlinguistics 6: 228-52. 1993.

Levinsohn, Stephen H. "Some Constraints on Discourse Development in the Pastoral Epistles" in S.E. Porter and J.T. Reed (eds.), Discourse Analysis and the New Testament: Approaches and Results (JSNTSup 170; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press): 316-333. 1999.

----- "A Discourse Study of Constituent Order and the Article in Philippians" in S.E. Porter and D.A. Carson (eds.), Discourse Analysis and Other Topics in Biblical Greek (JSNTSup 113; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press): 60-74. 1995.

Wendland, Ernst R. "'Let No One Disregard You!' (Titus 2.15): Church Discipline and the Construction of Discourse in a Personal, 'Pastoral' Epistle" in S.E. Porter and J.T. Reed (eds.), Discourse Analysis and the New Testament: Approaches and Results (JSNTSup 170; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press): 334-351. 1999.

Guthrie, George. The Structure of Hebrews: A Text-Linguistic Analysis (NovT Sup 73; Leiden: Brill). (also reprinted by Baker Books, which is the copy I have, though I don't have the citation handy)

Miller, J.D. The Pastoral Letters as Composite Documents (SNTSMS 93; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). 1997.

Reed, Jeffrey T. A Discourse Analysis of Philippians, Method and Rhetoric in the Debate over Literary Integrity (JSNTSUp 137; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press). 1997.

Van Neste, Ray. Cohesion and Structure in the Pastoral Epistles (JSNTSup 280; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press). 2004.

That oughta do it. Note Miller's book is (at least for me) frustrating to read because I absolutely don't agree with it. Ray responds directly to many of the issues raised by Miller; which is why it is helpful to examine both books. If you can only choose one, go with Ray.

There are some specialized studies I'll probably also read and work through (e.g. Heckert on Discourse Function of Conjoiners in the Pastoral Epistles (Amazon.com)), but don't appear on the list. I'm not trying to be comprehensive with the above list; think of it more like a shotgun approach: maximum info in minimum reading. Do you have another article or book to add to the list? Let me know via the comments.

I will likely blog sporadically about this study, hopefully to work through an approach to discourse. But I may not — it all depends on how I feel while I'm in the process.

Update (2007-09-17): I've had a few folks offer to send me the article. Y'all are incredible! Thanks very much!

The ever-helpful Review of Biblical Literature has published Raymond Collins' review of Witherington's book:

A few items of note, particularly because they involve some gents who occassionally post at PastoralEpistles.com.

First, Lloyd Pietersen has an article in this week's Expository Times. I don't have access to the journal, so I've not read the article, but since it is on the Pastorals it does bear mentioning here. That is, I'm guessing it is an article and not a book review because of the way the title is listed in the Expository Times table of contents. (Lloyd, if you could provide a little more info that would be great!)

Lloyd K. Pietersen. "Salvation Language in the Pastoral Epistles: George M. Wieland, The Significance of Salvation: A Study of Salvation Language in the Pastoral Epistles (Paternoster Biblical Monographs; Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006. £24.99. pp. xxii + 344. ISBN 1—84227—257—8)". The Expository Times 2007 118: 487. (PDF, though you need to have SAGE access)

Next, the June 2007 issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society published Ray Van Neste's review of Perry Stepp's Leadership Succession in the World of the Pauline Circle (Amazon.com). If you have the print, the review is on page 405. I don't believe this issue of the journal is online yet, though with the new ETS web site the promise is that issues will be available online, so ... maybe in a few months.

Congrats Lloyd, Ray and Perry!

In this week's Review of Biblical Literature, Raymond F. Collins reviews Alfons Weiser's Der zweite Brief an Timotheus, which is part of the EKK (Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament) commentary series.

Since I'm not able to read German, I'm grateful for the review. Sounds like there is decent interaction with patristic literature (yay!), though it also sounds like Weiser approaches the text as a pseudepigraphon -- in both sender and receiver.

A few items that may be of interest.

First, the Review of Biblical Literature (RBL) reviews two Pastoral Epistles commentaries:

• I. Howard Marshall reviews Terrence Keegan's slim volume on 1&2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon (Amazon.com). I'm not familiar with this one, so can't say much about it. This is a part of the "New Collegeville Bible Commentary" series. As I recall, Liturgical Press (the publisher) is geared toward the Catholic audience, so this could be a good little volume to get a glimpse at any uniquely Catholic views on the Pastorals.
• Raymond F. Collins reviews Phillip Towner's NICNT volume on the Pastorals (Amazon.com). I've read the intros and select other parts of this one and highly recommend it. I like Towner's approach, particularly his emphasis on un-grouping the Pastoral Epistles. The letters should first be read as letters; they should not be read as a three-part corpus. Collins doesn't quite agree with that, though. I'm not really a fan of Collins' commentary on the Pastorals (Amazon.com), so you can guess I'm not really a fan of his review of Towner either.

Second, Michael Pahl talks about possibilities of Paul citing Luke's gospel as Scripture. This is interesting because one of the possibilities is 1Ti 5.18. Michael writes

"The scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,' and, 'The laborer deserves to be paid.'" The first quotation is from Deuteronomy 25:4, and the second is word for word the same as Luke 10:7 (and not the same as the Matt 10:10 parallel).

This even has the citation formula that many think is a key to scripture citation. But it isn't so easy, and Michael explains why. He is actually responding to a post from Richard Anderson on the same topic, which is worth checking out.

You may remember me blogging about what I called "the mystery papyrus" earlier. J.K. Elliott cites it once; it supposedly contains witness to 1Ti 1.3-5 and 15-16.

My curiosity got the best of me. I did some research and have located and ordered a copy of the edition that contains Kurt Treu's article:

Title: ARCHIV FÜR PAPYRUSFORSCHUNG und verwandte Gebiete. Begründet v. U. Wilcken. Band 18.
Description: Hrsg. v. Fr. Zucker. Leipzig, Teubner, 1966. Gr.-8vo. 2 Bl., 122 S., 1 Bl., 6 Tafeln. OKart. (unaufgeschnitten). (OP 0006) Enthält u.a.: E. Wipszycka: Das Textilhandwerk und der Staat im römischen Ägypten.- K. Treu: Neue neutestamentliche Fragmente der Berliner Papyrussammlung.- R. Koerner: Eine griechisch-christliche Grabinschrift aus Nubien.- Ders.: Eine Weihinschrift aus der Zeit Ptolemaios V. sowie ein ausführliches Urkundenrefarat des Herausgebers.

I'm hoping I can fight through the German to get to the good stuff. I'll report when I know more (the book is on its way from Germany). And I'll certainly post a transcription of the papyrus, assuming Treu's article has that information in such form.

Awhile back I was able to locate a facsimile copy of an older work, The New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers, on archive.org. This is a cool old book.

The basic idea of the book was to examine possible NT quotations and allusions within the corpus of the Apostolic Fathers and discuss whether or not the AF material had any dependence on the NT. Here's how the preface to the book states it:

The first duty of the Committee was to agree upon a plan. It was decided to arrange the books of the New Testament in four classes, distinguished by the letters A, B, C, and D, according to the degree of probability of their use by the several authors. Class A includes those books about which there can be no reasonable doubt, either because they are expressly mentioned, or because there are other certain indications of their use. Class B comprises those books the use of which, in the judgement of the editors, reaches a high degree of probability. With class C we come to a lower degree of probability; and in class D are placed those books which may possibly be referred to, but in regard to which the evidence appeared too uncertain to allow any reliance to be placed upon it. Under each author the books of the New Testament are arranged in accordance with these four classes, except that the Gospels are reserved for a section by themselves after the other writings. ... Under each class (A, B, C, D) the books follow one another in the present canonical order; and the passages cited under each head are arranged in the order of probability, according to the editors' judgment, and marked a, b, c, d -- symbols to which an explanation will apply similar to that which has been given in connexion with the capital letters. (iv).

So, basically, they go through potential quotations/allusions and provide some rating as to the liklihood of dependence. So a book gets a rating (A, B, C, D) and the readings get ratings (a, b, c, d).

I've been wanting to work though the quotations/allusions to the Pastoral Epistles in this book for awhile. I have a little time tonight, so it seems like a good time to start. I'll have at least one post per book of the Apostolic Fathers. I'll work through them in the order they appear in The New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers.

• Barnabas: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V. 
• Didache: Part I.
• I Clement: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV. 
• Ignatius: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX  
• Polycarp
• Hermas
• II Clement