Plowshares & Pruning Hooks: Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic (083082653X) - Reviews and Prices

Editorial Review:

What are we to make of Isaiah's image of Mount Zion as the highest of the mountains, or Zechariah's picture of the Mount of Olives split in two, or Daniel's "beast rising out of the sea" or Revelation's "great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns"? How can Peter claim that on the day of Pentecost the prophecy of Joel was being fulfilled, with signs in heaven and wonders on earth, the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood?The language and imagery of biblical prophecy has been the source of puzzlement for many Christians and a point of dispute for some. How ironic that is! For the prophets and seers were the wordsmiths of their time. They took pains to speak God's word clearly and effectively to their contemporaries.How should we, as citizens of the twenty-first century, understand the imagery of this ancient biblical literature? Are there any clues in the texts themselves, any principles we can apply as we read these important but puzzling biblical texts?D. Brent Sandy carefully considers the language and imagery of prophecy and apocalyptic, how it is used, how it is fulfilled within Scripture, and how we should read it against the horizon of our future. Clearly and engagingly written, Plowshares and Pruning Hooks is the kind of book that gives its readers a new vantage point from which to view the landscape of prophetic and apocalyptic language and imagery.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

New light on the language of biblical prophecy:

Plowshares and Pruning Hooks is a book for the serious Bible student, written by a Greek scholar.
It explores the often-mysterious language of Bible prophecy with scholarly depth, but is still
accessible to a lay person. Sometimes controversial and always thought-provoking, this is a
worthwhile study. Disclaimer: I went to college with the author and have a high regard for him.

Prophecy is not a time line, but a emotive and metaphorical theological message for an intended response.:

How can God tell us about himself, things he has done, or things he will do in a way that we can understand? He spoke to prophets using ideas and terminology they would understand. It is not that the things he told them are not true, but there is a mental barrier at which man cannot understand the mind of God. God had to speak to them using their "world", and doing so in such a terminology and manner that it gets the main idea across to the intended recipient. The illustration at the end of the chapter is... more info

A Very Good Introduction to Prophesy:

I thought that this was a decent little book, if you use it as an introduction. The main idea presented was that prophetic material was not all meant to be taken literally, and that a good deal of it is metaphorical. I guess that this would be a good book for someone who was into things like the Left Behind series, but to any serious biblical scholar this book is simply a repitition of what is already commonly known.
Beyond that, the author feels the need to try to wax eloquent on occassion, and really... more info

instructive, thoughtful exploration of biblical prophetic literature!!:

this book explores the nature of prophetic/apocalyptic type literature in the bible and asks the right questions of it, points out many of the valid concerns and offers some good guidelines. Does not set out to establish any final conclusions, but rather this work aims to probe the subject according to the genre of prophetic and apocalyptic literature and the characteristics of that type of genre. Well worth the read to get your mental gears turning towards a more informed grasp of this aspect of biblical... more info

Similar Products:

Isaiah (NIV Application Commentary, The) by John N. Oswalt (Hardcover) - Usually ships in 24 hours

An Introduction to the Old Testament: Second Edition by Tremper Longman III, Raymond B. Dillard (Hardcover) - Usually ships in 24 hours

Readings from the Ancient Near East: Primary Sources for Old Testament Study... from Baker Academic (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

NIV Application Commentary: Hebrews [Hardcover] by Guthrie, George H. by George H. Guthrie (Hardcover) - Usually ships in 24 hours

How To Read Genesis by Tremper Longman (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

The Epistle to the Hebrews (The New International Commentary on the New... by Frederick Fyvie Bruce (Hardcover) - Usually ships in 24 hours

The NIV Application Commentary Genesis by John H. Walton (Hardcover) - Usually ships in 24 hours

Interpreting the Gospel of John (Guides to New Testament Exegesis) by Gary Burge (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological... by Andreas Köstenberger (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

• Children's Books
• General
• General AAS
• Haggadah
• Hasidism
• History of Religion
• Holidays

• Jewish Life
• Kosher Foods
• Law
• Movements
• Music
• Mysticism

• Philosophy
• Prayerbooks
• Sacred Writings
• Sermons
• Theology
• Women and Judaism