As has become my custom, here are the Hebrew Bible and related reviews from this week’s Review of Biblical Literature. Noteworthy is the review by biblioblogger Christopher Heard and fellow Albertan James Linville. The review of Kalimi’s book is also worthy of a gander.

• Walter Dietrich, ed., David und Saul im Widerstreit — Diachronie und Synchronie im Wettstreit: Beiträge zur Auslegung des ersten Samuelbuches. Reviewed by Mark Wade Hamilton
• Knute Larson and Kathy Dahlen, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Reviewed by Bob Becking
• Isaac Kalimi, The Reshaping of Ancient Israelite History in Chronicles. Reviewed by Lester Grabbe
• S.A. Nigosian, From Ancient Writings to Sacred Texts: The Old Testament and Apocrypha. Reviewed by Russell Arnold and James Linville
• Michael Widmer, Moses, God, and the Dynamics of Intercessory Prayer: A Study of Exodus 32-34 and Numbers 13-14. Reviewed by Christopher Heard
• Dale C. Allison, Testament of Abraham. Reviewed by Jaime Vázquez Allegue
• Jonathan G. Campbell, The Exegetical Texts. Reviewed by Preston Sprinkle
• Craig A. Evans, ed., Of Scribes and Sages: Volume 1: Early Jewish Interpretation and Transmission of Scripture. Reviewed by Corrado Martone
• George W. E. Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch 1: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 1-36; 81-108. Reviewed by Gerbern S. Oegema

Last night my film buff friend and I watched Robert Bresson’s masterpiece, Au hasard Balthazar (1966). This film is considered by many to be one of the best movies of all time. The film follows the life of a humble donkey through a series of masters, paralleled by the life of a young woman, Marie. The cinematography and score are both magnificent. The film has a sparse and evocative feel to it. It’s the type of film that you could view repeatedly and ponder endlessly (as the critics appear to do). I’m not sure if Bresson meant it to be understood typologically or allegorically, but such a reading would certainly fit. At the very least it narrates the life of a simple beast of burden who humbly accepts the cruelty of his masters. It’s definitely worth a watch — and make sure to view the fully restored Criterion Collection edition if you can. It is available from and Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

Note for parents of small children: If you decide to view Au hasard Balthazar don’t bother to try to explain to your kids what you are going to watch! I made the mistake of telling my kids, and they couldn’t understand why I would want to watch a film about a donkey — especially one that doesn’t talk or say rude things (cf. Shrek). Perhaps one day they will appreciate more than Disney or Dreamworks!

Every once and a while everything just goes your way! Jim Davila at PaeloJudaica is going to find his fortune from the Massekhet Kelim, while I will receive mine through the assistance of Profit Prophet Peter Popoff. Peter is such a good friend. I just got a letter from him. At first I thought it was a form letter, but then I noticed it had personalized notes in green handwriting on the letter. What a sweet guy… taking the time to write me (wow, he sure has uniform penmanship!).

It seems that Peter hasn’t been able to sleep very well lately. In his letter he notes how he was awakened and prompted to write me — what a nice guy! Well, it gets even better! All I have to do is send him some “seed” money and then God will bless me! Yippee! Where’s my chequebook… Actually it’s not quite that simple. Wow, there are a lot of instructions…

Here’s what I have to do:

• Take “Green Oil of Prosperity” (pictured above) and put a drop on three pieces of paper.
• Place the papers as follows: (1) put one under chair where you eat… gross… I can’t believe how much my four-year-old son drops on the floor when eating… anyone want some day-old cheerios?; (2) put second in front of your front door; and (3) place last at the foot of bed.
• Write my name on the special cloth (it actually is a piece of paper; see below) and write on it how much money I need right away.
• Send the three oily pieces of paper and the special cloth back to my good buddy Peter. Oh yeah… with an enclosed cheque. I guess this “seed faith gift” is necessary for God to do anything.

Now all I have to do is wait in anticipation! Now, where should I put that big-screen TV? Hmmm…

Whoops… I think I may be in trouble. I just re-read the letter; it says: “For reasons of safety, I must ask you to keep secret what I am going to share with you now.”

I better write a bigger cheque…

The news of the discovery of a large public building in Jerusalem has hit the biblio-bloggers and email discussion lists: Jim Davila at PaleoJudaica leads the pack with a great discussion of the news article here. Ken Ristau at Anduril.ca has a brief, but insightful note here, as does Chris Heard at Higgaion. And Jim West at Biblical Theology has an updated post here.

The Canadian Jewish News posted a story about the “The New Hebrews: A Century of Art in Israel” exhibition running until 5 September 2005 at the Martin-Gropius Bau museum in Berlin. One of the main features of the exhibition is the Temple Scroll (11QT). This is the first time it has been displayed publically since its discovery in 1956.

For more information on this scroll, see my Temple Scroll Introduction.