James R. Adair, An Inductive Method for Reconstructing the Biblical Text: Illustrated by an Analysis of 1 Samuel 3

The books of Samuel and Kings are fertile ground for biblical studies from a variety of angles: the Masoretic Text, Qumranic studies, the witness of the versions such as the Septuagint (LXX)-and a host of related sub-topics such as the "Lucianic" text, the Targums (T), the Peshitta (P), and the Vulgate (V).Each of these is a recognized field in its own right.What is surprising is to find all of these topics as part of the central focus of this book.An ambitious project to say the least, and one that current conventional wisdom deems too extensive for a doctoral dissertation such as lies behind the work under review.2. Provided I have understoo d it correctly, the overall thesis is not difficult: formulate a consistent inductive methodology centered on statistical analysis for evaluating variants for their suitability for reconstructing the primary text to which they bear witness, and then reconstruct the Vorlage along text-critical lines.The heart of the book is first the formulation, then the application, and encompasses all of the major versions and witnesses.3. Adair has chosen to center the study in 1 Samuel 3. I find neither defense nor explanation for this choice.Was the chapter considered representative of something?If so, it is not evident in the results, particularly from the versions such as T, P, and V. Concomitantly, I am left with the impression that better representation might have been found that would have been more fruitful in demonstrating the relevance of the methodology, even within First Samuel, let alone beyond.In saying this I have in mind some chapter-given that the chosen focus is one chapter-with at least one thorny issue, and preferably more, such as chapter 14 or 17.I accept that one could argue that it is best to start with a chapter that is not particularly difficult to hone the process, and then move on from there.However, I do not expect that this book will spawn lots of other such examples, hence my desire to have seen the process-but not the author-put to such a rigorous test, because I believe it is headed in the right direction.4. The first step in the analysis is preparation of a text base for each version.