From the Inside Flap
"In Numbers Stubbs shows us what theological interpretation of scripture should be: deeply attentive to the biblical text, whilst at the same time drawing richly from the church's theological heritage. With the church of our day so divided and confused, we have never more needed to hear God's word from the book of Numbers, this most ecclesiological of books. God willing, with the patient guidance of Stubbs and other theologians like him, we may yet find our way through the desert of our failings and besetting sins."--Nathan MacDonald, Cambridge University and St. John's College, Cambridge
"The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible is a crucial venture, and Stubbs's Numbers is a most welcome addition. With great passion for the text and the people it seeks to form, Stubbs demonstrates that the theological wisdom of the past helps to display the profound importance of the book of Numbers for the cultivation of scripturally shaped ecclesial life. No less does Stubbs's commentary show the interpretive merits gained by thorough interaction with modern biblical study. In short, Stubbs is to be commended for his steadfast rejection of the false alternative so often posed between ancient and contemporary hermeneutical strategies. Stubbs reads this Old Testament book with an interpretive patience, literary attentiveness, and theological freedom that invite us all to return to the text and consider it more closely--surely a proper end of any theological exegesis worth its name."--C. Kavin Rowe, Duke Divinity School
"The editors of the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible have chosen theologians for whom doctrine is a living engagement with the tradition, a habit of mind and heart, not a chiseling of propositions on stone tablets--theologians like David Stubbs. His commentary on Numbers helps to bridge the divide that has arisen between theologians and exegetes to the impoverishment of both and the Church. He sees in the diverse material of Numbers a consistent portrayal of God as a 'burning fire that tests us and ultimately cleanses us to make us holy.'"--Thomas A. Boogaart, Western Theological Seminary
From the Back Cover
The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible enlists leading theologians to read and interpret scripture creedally for the twenty-first century, just as the church fathers, the Reformers, and other orthodox Christians did for their times and places. Numbers, like each commentary in the series, is designed to serve the church--through aid in preaching, teaching, study groups, and so forth--and demonstrate the continuing intellectual and practical viability of theological interpretation of the Bible.
"David Stubbs is an able guide as he focuses on the literary shape of the final form of Numbers and its theological implications for the life of the Christian church. Stubbs provides a rich and substantive Christian reading of Numbers, focusing on its vision of who the people of God are to be, the failure of the people to live up to God's vision and God's faithfulness in spite of that failure, and the reorganization and new beginning of an emerging generation of God's people as they prepare for life in the promised land of Canaan. Stubbs interacts responsibly with current Old Testament scholarship on Numbers. He also expands his commentary into a dense theological dialogue with New Testament texts, modern Jewish interpreters, and a wide array of Christian interpreters. And he takes up a host of substantive theological issues and concerns. Stubbs manages to offer up a sumptuous theological feast out of what is sometimes seen as the dry fare of the book of Numbers."--Dennis Olson, Princeton Theological Seminary
"Stubbs's sophisticated literary approach is just what is needed to engage the interplay of law and narrative in this, the most complex book of the Torah. Moreover, his wide-ranging theological and ecclesial imagination is deeply informed by scripture and the history of its interpretation by both Jews and Christians. Stubbs has opened up the riches of a book that was effectively closed to the church, making it accessible and even indispensable for our journey with God."--Ellen F. Davis, Duke Divinity School
General editor: R. R. Reno (Creighton University)
Series editors: Robert W. Jenson (Center of Theological Inquiry)
Robert Louis Wilken (University of Virginia)
Ephraim Radner (Wycliffe College, University of Toronto)
Michael Root (Catholic University of America)
George Sumner (Wycliffe College, University of Toronto)
About the Author
David L. Stubbs (PhD, Duke University) is professor of ethics and theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, and has worked in college ministries and worship leadership for many years. He is also part of a task force on sacramental practice in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
