145 - Isaiah 1-39 & Ezekiel

Isaiah 1-39
By Joseph Jensen
Wilmington, Michael Glazier, 1984. 311 pp. $12.95 ($9.95 paper).

Ezekiel
By Aelred Cody
Wilmington, Michael Glazier, 1984. 270 pp. $12.95 ($9.95 paper).

These two books are volumes 8 and 11 respsectively in the series Old Testament Message: A Biblical-Theological Commentary, which is produced by Roman Catholic biblical scholars under the general editorship of Carroll Stuhlmueller and Martin McNamara. The author of the Isaiah volume teaches at Catholic University, and the author of the Ezekiel volume is currently Novice Master at St. Meinrad Archabbey.

Each volume begins with an outline of and general introduction to the biblical book in question, followed by a section by section commentary on the RSV text, which is reprinted at the beginning of each pericope. Further reading suggestions and maps conclude each volume. While the exposition of the text is based upon contemporary critical scholarship, it is purposely non-technical (there are no footnotes, for instance) and aimed at a wider, non-specialist audience.

As suggested by its title, the series bills itself as a "Biblical-Theological" commentary, but it should be pointed out that in the two volumes under review, the interpretive work remains generally at the descriptive level of what the text meant in its own ancient context. Only rarely do the authors venture beyond that level to what might be termed a more theologically constructive stance of how the text might continue to function theologically for the modern reader. This task readers of these volumes will have to perform for themselves, though they should be greatly aided by the lucid expositions of Jensen and Cody.

Werner E. Lemke
Colgate Rochester/Bexley Hall/Crozer
Rochester, N.Y.