Short book review

A Student's Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible
Its History, Methods & Results

by Paul D. Wegner
InterVarsity Press - IVP,2006
334 pages,English
Paper
ISBN: 0830827315
List Price: $18.00
Your Price: $13.50
www.eisenbrauns.com/wconnect/wc.dll?ebGate~EIS~~I~WEGSTUDEN

I just finished this book recently. It was delayed for over a year, originally planned for late 2004/early 2005 which may explain the inconsistency in some of the chapters. For instance, on page 102 he states (incorrectly) that only Jeremiah and Isaiah of the Hebrew University Bible Project have been published, but on page 112 he correctly states that Ezekiel is also published (2004).

I found the book quite good as an introduction to both Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and New Testament textual criticism. There are better books for each, but this puts them both together. Because of the layout of the book, there is quite a bit of redundancy. For example, he has a chapter on determining the most plausible reading and then a chapter on the sources. Of necessity there is a large overlap in what is covered by the two chapters (both OT/HB and NT).

One nice feature is the bibliographies at the end of each section. He also includes a glossary, as well as name, subject, and scripture indices. I did notice a real howler on page 274 where he states the Diatessaron was created about A.D. 70 (it should be 170). The font is also different for names with diacritics, but other than that, the book is well done.

It would make a good introductory textbook for a class that needs to cover the basics of text criticism for both testaments. For more serious work, you are going to need the other references listed in his bibliography.