303 - Genesis 12-36

Genesis 12-36
By Claus Westermann
Minneapolis, Augsburg, 1985. 604 pp. $29.92.

Translated by John Scullion, the second volume of Claus Westermann's great (in every sense of the word) commentary on Genesis has now appeared in English, and the final volume will be out within the year. While Genesis is one of the biblical books that has benefited from some of the best commentary writing in this century-one thinks of the volumes by Gunkel, von Rad, Speiser, and Brueggemann-Westermann's magnum opus comes as close to being the definitive work for a generation as we are likely to see.

The comprehensiveness of the work is seen in everything from its length (the finished work in English will be some 1500-1700 pages) and its bibliography (over sixty pages of bibliography in this volume alone) to its detailed attention to philological matters, comparative data, genetic issues, and theological directions suggested by the text. All of these matters are treated extensively and with good judgment about what is important and what is not. Westermann is conversant with the secondary literature, and in citing and using it gives the reader access to many detailed studies of these chapters. Consistent with the format of the Biblischer Kommentar, the German series in which the original edition was published, the commentary carries through a regular order on each unit of text: bibliography,

304 - Genesis 12-36

translation, textual notes, form (genre and structure), setting, specific comment on individual verses and their component parts, and a discussion of the essential purpose and thrust of the unit, including in some cases (e.g. Gen. 15 and 22) brief discussion of New Testament references to the text. On some occasions (e.g. Gen. 14, 15, 16, and 22), the author gives a brief history of exegesis, and various excursuses are scattered throughout the commentary. An introduction focuses upon the significance of the patriarchal story, the cultural and historical setting of the patriarchs, and their religion. With regard to the time of the patriarchs, Westermann reviews the data and arguments and concludes that "it is not possible to fix the patriarchal period either by historical data (migrations of peoples), or by the nomadic life-style, or by the customs or legal practices from the surrounding world, or by the extrabiblical occurrence of place-names or personal names." But he believes the subject matter of the texts, that is the type of family and community life without larger political structure that is described therein, suggests they deal with events that happened and persons who lived before the Exodus and the taking of the land.

When completely published, this three volume commentary will cost over $70. There are not many English language commentaries as expensive, but few also give the interpreter as much for the money.

Patrick D. Miller, Jr.
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, N.J.