Judges (Anchor Bible)

Rating:
Summary: Higher criticism
Review: The introduction written by William F. Albright states this book has "interfaith scope." "Not sponsored by any ecclesiastical organization and is not intended to reflect any particular theological doctrine." The author does not believe in plenary, inerrant inspiration of Scripture. He deals only with the grammatical intrepretation of original languages. No homiletical value. Dry as dust. I wish I knew this before I bought it

Rating:
Summary: Higher criticism
Review: The introduction written by William F. Albright states this book has "interfaith scope." "Not sponsored by any ecclesiastical organization and is not intended to reflect any particular theological doctrine." The author does not believe in plenary, inerrant inspiration of Scripture. He deals only with the grammatical intrepretation of original languages. No homiletical value. Dry as dust. I wish I knew this before I bought it

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful, yet advanced, commentary
Review: This was my first experience with the anchor bible series.
The author does a wonderful job of explaining the text and plot from an academic and historical point of view.
I gained many insights which I would have missed if I had just read the "traditional" rabbinic commentaries.
The reason I only gave the book four stars is because I do not believe that it truly lives up to the anchor series's standard of being readable to the "layman". On the contrary, if it were not for my knowledge of Hebrew and my familiarity with biblical criticism and ancient israelite history, I would have been totally lost. As it was, the commentary was hard enough and the introduction was basically unreadable.
However it definetely was challenging and rewarding. There is one episode (7:5-6)where Gideon chooses soldiers based on how they drink water from a pool. The verses in the hebrew bible (and I assume the King James version) are totally ambiguous. Using the septuagant and some crafty problem solving, the author fills in the missing words to render the verses totally comprehensable. Without the anchor, those verses would remain a mystery.