A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, vol. 2: Mark through Acts by Hermann Strack and Paul Billerbeck (review)

Reviewed by: A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, vol. 2: Mark through Acts by Hermann Strack and Paul Billerbeck Olegs Andrejevs hermann strack and paul billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, vol. 2: Mark through Acts (ed. Jacob N. Cerone; Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2022). Pp. xlii + 981. 64. 99. In 2021–2022, the legendary Strack-Billerbeck volumes (originally published 1922– 1928) finally received an (almost complete) English translation, rendering a treasure trove of "useful background material from the rabbinic world" (p. xxxvi) available to scholars who do not read German. The original set was published in four volumes, of which three were translated for the present edition. The editor, Jacob N. Cerone, notes that "the heart of the work has always been the verse-by-verse commentary and not the excurses sic in volume 4" (p. xi). Consequently, the publisher has left the excursuses untranslated "for the time being" (p. xii). While this may be somewhat unfortunate (one would like to have the entire period piece preserved in translation to the extent possible), the reader can always consult the German original, available in most university libraries. This review is of volume 2. However, the Introduction to the English Translation offered on pp. xxi–xxxvi by David Instone-Brewer, to which I will pay special attention in the following paragraph, applies more broadly to all three volumes in the set. Instone-Brewer's introduction contains the following sections: Historical Background (of Strack-Billerbeck) ; The Purpose; Potential Misuse; Scholarly Warnings; Lutheran Bias; Importance of Dating; Principles of Dating; and The Usefulness of Strack-Billerbeck. The main aim of Strack-Billerbeck is "illustrating the sayings, concepts, parables, theological background, and cultural assumptions" of NT texts through rabbinic literature (p. xxiv). Of special interest in this regard are the cautionary sections in the introduction to the English edition. The section on the potential misuse of this resource invites the reader to be aware of the variable degree to which the listed quotations are representative of ancient or contemporaneous Judaism, abstaining from simplistic conclusions (pp. xxiv-xxv). The section on Scholarly Warnings discusses the comments made in the 1961 SBL presidential address by Samuel Sandmel ("Parallelomania, " JBL 81 1962 1–13), who criticized four major errors in the use of Strack and Billerbeck. Instone-Brewer compares Sandmel's warnings to that of a driving instructor: "this powerful tool is so easy to use that one can forget the dangers" (p. xxvi). But there have also been warnings associated with the automobile's make: E. P. Sanders (Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977) famously attacked Strack-Billerbeck for their theological (Lutheran) bias. Instone-Brewer does not agree with Sanders's assessment of Strack-Bill-erbeck's presentation of Jewish soteriology: the sourcebook "reflects a wide variety. . . the authors certainly do not imply that Jews in general believed that salvation came from personal effort" (p. xxvii). The more important—and arguably more real—limitation to be mindful of is that the texts selected by Strack and Billerbeck had "a specific bias: to illustrate the New Testament" (p. xxx). One comes full circle here to the discussion of potential misuses: this resource was never intended to fully represent Jewish ideas and theology of the rabbinic era. That, however, "is not a failure of the work, but a feature of its aim" (p. xxx). Volume 2 contains the commentaries on Mark (pp. 1–61), Luke (pp. 63–351), John (pp. 353–676), and the Acts of the Apostles (pp. 677–888). The volume also contains three End Page 398 excursuses: The Memra of Yahweh (pp. 353–87) ; The Feast of Tabernacles (pp. 889–931) ; and The Day of Jesus' Death (pp. 933–75). The editor's preface provides a helpful user's guide, outlining Strack-Billerbeck's manner of citing the rabbinic literature (largely preserved in this edition), the three types of footnotes, providing advice on navigating the resource, explaining symbols and the unique use of quotation marks in the work (added in the English translation for all dialogue and to mark the beginning and end of citations). There. . .