Tag Archives: Christology

The Sanctification of the Ordinary: A Theological Review of Amy Peeler’s Ordinary Time

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Introduction

Amy Peeler’s Ordinary Time, within the Fullness of Time series, stands as a deeply pastoral yet theologically substantive contribution to contemporary liturgical theology. In an ecclesial landscape often driven by immediacy, spectacle, and eschatological anxiety, Peeler offers a quiet but profound corrective. She invites the church to recover a theology of time in which the so-called “ordinary” becomes the primary locus of divine formation.¹ This work is, in many respects, a gift to the church. It is careful, attentive, and richly textured. It demonstrates an awareness of Scripture, tradition, and lived ecclesial practice. Yet it is also a work that invites further theological deepening, particularly in areas of eschatology, mission, and apocalyptic framing. within a broader theological framework.

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Introduction: Ordinary as Formative Space

Peeler’s introduction establishes her central thesis: the ordinary rhythms of life are not spiritually secondary but are the very means by which God forms his people.² This claim resonates with the broader biblical narrative, wherein divine activity is often embedded within repetition and obscurity rather than dramatic interruption.³ Her reflection on the unrecorded days of Jesus is particularly compelling.⁴ The Gospels, while selective, imply a fullness of lived experience that is not captured in narrative detail. This aligns with a robust incarnational theology in which the entirety of Christ’s life—not merely his climactic acts—is redemptively significant.⁵ Theologically, this positions Ordinary Time as a space of reflection and integration. Growth occurs not only in moments of revelation but in the sustained meditation upon them.⁶ This insight is deeply consonant with Pauline notions of transformation, where believers are “renewed” over time into the image of Christ.⁷

Strength: A compelling integration of Christology and spiritual formation.⁸

Chapter 1: Green – Identity and Growth in Christ

Peeler’s “Green” chapter is one of the strongest in the volume. Her use of natural imagery—particularly the discussion of chlorophyll and hidden color—serves as a powerful metaphor for Christian identity.⁹ Her treatment of Galatians 3:27, being “clothed with Christ,” is both exegetically sound and pastorally rich.¹⁰ She avoids reductionism by holding together unity and diversity. In Christ, believers do not lose their particularity but are brought into its proper telos.¹¹ This resonates strongly with patristic theology, particularly Irenaeus’ vision of humanity fully alive in God.¹² It also aligns with contemporary theological anthropology that emphasizes participation rather than mere imputation.¹³ Her discussion of slavery is particularly noteworthy. By distinguishing between created identity (male/female, Jew/Gentile) and fallen structures (slavery), she maintains a robust doctrine of creation while offering a theological critique of oppressive systems.¹⁴

Rich metaphorical theology grounded in Scripture and tradition.¹⁵

Chapter 2: Bold – The Magnificat and Prophetic Proclamation

The “Bold” chapter offers a striking and, at times, unexpected theological depth. Peeler’s treatment of Mary and the Magnificat is particularly commendable. She resists both sentimentalism and neglect, instead presenting Mary as a figure of bold, Spirit-empowered proclamation.¹⁶ Her reading of the Magnificat as a declaration of divine reversal aligns with Lukan theology, where God consistently overturns systems of power.¹⁷ This is not merely personal piety but socio-theological proclamation.¹⁸ Peeler’s reflection that unity is not always achieved through silence but sometimes through boldness is both pastorally and theologically significant.¹⁹ It reflects a nuanced understanding of ecclesial life that avoids both divisiveness and superficial harmony.

A balanced and theologically rich Marian framework.²⁰

Chapter 3: Triune – Theological Center and Liturgical Formation

Peeler’s treatment of the Trinity is orthodox, accessible, and pastorally grounded. She rightly emphasizes that the doctrine arises from divine self-revelation rather than speculative reasoning.²¹ Her insistence that the Trinity is not an abstract puzzle but the source of Christian life is a crucial corrective in contemporary theology.²² The integration of Trinitarian prayer throughout the liturgical life of the church reinforces the participatory nature of doctrine.²³ Her use of light imagery is particularly effective, echoing both biblical and patristic traditions.²⁴

Faithful and accessible articulation of Trinitarian theology.²⁵

Chapter 4: Feast – Eucharist and Participation

Peeler’s treatment of the Eucharist as central to Ordinary Time is both fitting and necessary. The Lord’s Supper is not merely a ritual but a participatory act in the life of Christ.²⁶ Her emphasis on repetition as formative aligns with sacramental theology that understands participation as transformative.²⁷ The Eucharist becomes the rhythm through which the ordinary is continually reoriented toward the divine.²⁸

Strong sacramental theology rooted in participation.²⁹

Chapters 5–7: Image, Trust, Gratitude – Formation Through Narrative

These chapters collectively explore biblical narratives as formative texts for Ordinary Time. Peeler demonstrates a keen awareness of the pedagogical function of Scripture.³⁰ Her emphasis on trust and gratitude reflects a theology of response, where believers participate in God’s work through faithful living.³¹

Integration of narrative theology and spiritual formation.³²

Conclusion: Christ the King and Telos of Time

Peeler concludes with a Christological vision that frames Ordinary Time within the broader arc of the church year.³³ This is a fitting conclusion, reminding readers that formation is always oriented toward the reign of Christ.³⁴

Strong Christological framing.³⁵

Final Assessment

Amy Peeler’s Ordinary Time is a remarkable work. It is deeply pastoral, theologically attentive, and liturgically grounded. It calls the church to recover a vision of formation that is patient, communal, and Christ-centered.³⁶ This is a work to be read, taught, and lived. It is a reminder that God’s most profound work is often done not in the extraordinary, but in the faithful repetition of ordinary days.³⁷ For this, we give thanks. And for Amy Peeler, whose careful and faithful work serves the church so well, we offer both gratitude and encouragement.

NOTES

  1. Amy Peeler, Ordinary Time (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2025), 3–5.
  2. Esau McCaulley, “Series Preface,” in The Fullness of Time
  3. John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006)
  4. Peeler, Ordinary Time, 3.
  5. N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996)
  6. Scot McKnight, Kingdom Conspiracy (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2014)
  7. Michael J. Gorman, Becoming the Gospel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015)
  8. The introduction could further situate this claim within an explicit new creation framework, emphasizing that ordinary time is not merely reflective but eschatologically charged. Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (Waco: Baylor, 2016), 12–19.
  9. Peeler, Ordinary Time, 20–22.
  10. BDAG, s.v. “ἐνδύω.”
  11. Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009)
  12. Irenaeus, Against Heresies
  13. James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009)
  14. Peeler, Ordinary Time, 26–27.
  15. Greater engagement with Second Temple Jewish identity categories and socio-historical context would strengthen the exegetical depth. Craig Keener, Galatians (Cambridge: Cambridge, 2019), 210–230.
  16. Peeler, Ordinary Time, 36–37.
  17. Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997)
  18. N. T. Wright, Luke for Everyone (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2004)
  19. Peeler, Ordinary Time, 37.
  20. This chapter would benefit from deeper engagement with anti-imperial readings of Luke-Acts, particularly in light of Roman imperial ideology. Warren Carter, The Roman Empire and the New Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 2006), 75–98.
  21. Peeler, Ordinary Time, 43.
  22. Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010)
  23. Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God for Us (San Francisco: Harper, 1991)
  24. Augustine, De Trinitate.
  25. Greater engagement with participatory and relational ontologies—particularly in light of divine communion—would deepen the theological implications John Zizioulas, Being as Communion (Crestwood: SVS Press, 1985), 40–65.
  26. Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World (Crestwood: SVS, 1973)
  27. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom
  28. Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004)
  29. A deeper engagement with early church Eucharistic theology and its eschatological dimensions would enrich the discussion. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6–7.
  30. Peeler, Ordinary Time, 16–17.
  31. Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997)
  32. Greater engagement with ANE context and narrative-critical methods would strengthen interpretive depth. Walton, ANE Thought, 90–110.
  33. Peeler, Ordinary Time, 129.
  34. N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (New York: Harper, 2008)
  35. A more explicit articulation of new creation and eschatological fulfillment would provide greater theological closure. G. K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), 900–915.
  36. Gorman, Becoming the Gospel
  37. Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (Downers Grove: IVP, 2000)

Reconsidering Christophanic Possibilities in the Hebrew Scriptures

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Angel of YHWH, Theophany, and Divine Council Motifs within an Ancient Near Eastern Context

Introduction

The question of whether the pre-incarnate Christ may be discerned within Israel’s Scriptures has occupied interpreters from the patristic period to the present. Classical Christian theology affirmed that the Son participates in divine self-revelation prior to the incarnation (cf. John 1:1–18; Col 1:15–17), while modern historical-critical approaches have urged caution against retrojecting later doctrinal developments onto earlier texts. The task, therefore, is not to force an anachronistic Christology onto the Hebrew Bible, but to ask whether its textual and theological patterns provide conceptual space for such a reading within a canonical and intertextual framework.

This study proposes that a constellation of phenomena—especially the figure of the malʾakh YHWH (“Angel of YHWH”), embodied theophanies, and divine council imagery—generated a conceptual grammar within Israelite religion that later Jewish and early Christian interpreters could develop into more explicit mediatorial or Logos-theologies. This is not advanced as a historical-critical certainty that “Jesus is explicitly present” in the Old Testament, but as a theologically and textually plausible reading grounded in the layered development of Scripture and its reception.

The Angel of YHWH and the Problem of Divine Agency

The figure designated as מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה (malʾakh YHWH) presents a persistent exegetical puzzle. While the term malʾakh ordinarily denotes a messenger, a number of passages collapse the distinction between messenger and sender in ways that exceed normal ANE emissary conventions.

In Genesis 16:7–13, the Angel of YHWH speaks to Hagar and is subsequently identified as YHWH himself: “So she called the name of YHWH who spoke to her, ‘You are El-roi.’”¹ The narrative neither corrects nor qualifies this identification. Similarly, in Exodus 3:2–6, the narrative begins with the Angel of YHWH appearing in the bush but quickly shifts to YHWH speaking directly, with Moses instructed to remove his sandals before the divine presence.²

Scholars have described this phenomenon as a form of “hypostatic agency”, in which the agent embodies the authority and presence of the sender.³ Yet, as Benjamin Sommer has argued, Israel’s theology also permitted a more fluid conception of divine embodiment, in which “God could be present in multiple bodies or forms simultaneously without compromising divine unity.”⁴

Within an ANE framework, royal emissaries could speak in the voice of the king; however, the biblical texts frequently intensify this pattern by attributing worship, divine titles, and covenantal authority directly to the Angel. As Margaret Barker notes, “the Great Angel traditions of Israel present a figure who is both distinct from and identified with YHWH.”⁵ This ambiguity creates a conceptual tension that later Jewish and Christian theology sought to articulate more precisely.

Theophany and Embodied Divine Presence

Closely related to the Angel of YHWH are theophanic narratives in which YHWH appears in visible, localized, and at times anthropomorphic form. Genesis 18 depicts YHWH appearing to Abraham as one among three visitors, yet speaking with singular divine authority.⁶ Exodus 24:9–11 describes Moses and the elders seeing “the God of Israel,” while Exodus 33:20 insists that no one may see God and live. Such tensions suggest differentiated modes of divine visibility rather than contradiction.

The Hebrew concept of כָּבוֹד (kābôd, “glory”) often denotes this visible manifestation. The Septuagint renders this as δόξα (doxa), a term later applied christologically in John 1:14. As Richard Bauckham observes, the New Testament’s claim that Jesus reveals the divine glory is not an innovation ex nihilo but a development rooted in Israel’s traditions of visible divine presence.⁷

From a Second Temple perspective, such manifestations were increasingly conceptualized through intermediary categories. Philo of Alexandria, for instance, describes the Logos as the “image of God” and mediator of divine revelation.⁸ While Philo’s framework is Hellenistic, it demonstrates that Jewish thought of the period could accommodate distinctions within divine manifestation without abandoning monotheism.

Divine Council Motifs and Plurality within Divine Identity

The Hebrew Bible contains a number of passages that reflect a divine council worldview. Genesis 1:26 (“Let us make humanity in our image”), Psalm 82 (“God stands in the council of El”), and 1 Kings 22:19 all depict YHWH in the midst of a heavenly assembly.

Such imagery parallels ANE conceptions of a high god presiding over a council of lesser divine beings, yet Israelite texts reconfigure this structure within a strict monotheistic framework. Mark S. Smith notes that Israelite religion exhibits “a monotheistic theology articulated through the language of an earlier polytheistic cultural matrix.”⁹

Within Second Temple Judaism, this conceptual framework expanded into discussions of exalted mediatorial figures—Wisdom (Prov 8), the Memra of the Targums, and angelic vice-regents such as Metatron. Alan Segal’s seminal study Two Powers in Heaven demonstrates that some strands of early Judaism entertained a “principal angelic figure who bore the divine name and exercised divine authority.”¹⁰

Early Christian Christology emerged within this environment. Larry Hurtado argues that devotion to Jesus as Kyrios represents “a mutation within Jewish monotheism,” rather than a departure from it.¹¹ The identification of Jesus with the divine name and functions attributed to YHWH suggests that early Christians interpreted him within these pre-existing categories of divine mediation.

Linguistic Considerations: Hebrew and Greek

The linguistic texture of the biblical text reinforces these theological dynamics. In Exodus 23:20–23, YHWH promises to send an angel “in whom is my Name.” The Hebrew phrase שְׁמִי בְּקִרְבּוֹ (šĕmî bĕqirbô) implies not merely delegated authority but a sharing in divine identity.¹²

The Septuagint’s translation of YHWH as κύριος (kyrios) provided the linguistic bridge by which early Christians could confess Jesus as Lord while drawing directly on Israel’s Scriptures. As Bauckham argues, the application of kyrios to Jesus places him “within the unique identity of the one God of Israel.”¹³

Similarly, the New Testament’s use of λόγος (logos) in John 1 reflects both Jewish Wisdom traditions and Hellenistic philosophical vocabulary. James Dunn notes that the Logos Christology of John should be understood as “a re-expression of earlier Jewish ways of speaking about God’s self-expression in creation and revelation.”¹⁴

Patristic Reception: Early Christian Readings of Old Testament Theophanies

The early Church Fathers frequently interpreted Old Testament theophanies as manifestations of the pre-incarnate Christ. Justin Martyr argued that “the Word of God… appeared to Moses and to the other prophets in the form of fire and of an angel.”¹⁵ Irenaeus likewise maintained that “the Son, being present with his own handiwork from the beginning, revealed the Father to all.”¹⁶

These readings were not mere allegorical impositions but attempts to reconcile the scriptural witness to an unseen Father with narratives in which God is seen and heard. The Son, as Logos, became the mediating presence through whom God was encountered.

Modern scholarship may question the historical-critical validity of these interpretations, yet they testify to how early Christian communities—closer in time and culture to the biblical texts—understood the patterns of divine manifestation within Israel’s Scriptures.

Hermeneutical Synthesis

A responsible approach must hold together multiple interpretive layers:

First, the historical-critical layer situates each text within its ANE context and Israelite theology. Second, the Second Temple interpretive layer demonstrates how these texts were reread within Jewish traditions of divine mediation. Third, the early Christian layer reads these traditions christologically in light of the resurrection.

Rather than collapsing these perspectives into a single claim, a layered hermeneutic allows for both historical integrity and theological continuity. The Old Testament need not explicitly articulate Nicene Christology in order to provide the conceptual resources from which it later emerged.

Conclusion

The Angel of YHWH, theophanic manifestations, and divine council imagery together form a constellation of motifs that complicate any overly rigid conception of divine singularity in Israel’s Scriptures. While these texts do not explicitly identify Jesus of Nazareth, they generate a theological and linguistic framework in which early Christians plausibly discerned the presence of the pre-incarnate Logos.

To read these passages christologically is therefore not to impose a foreign structure upon them, but to participate in an interpretive trajectory already present within Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. Yet such readings must be offered with appropriate humility, recognizing the distinction between theological interpretation and historical demonstration.

Footnotes

  1. Gen 16:13.
  2. Exod 3:2–6.
  3. John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 114–18.
  4. Benjamin D. Sommer, The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 12–18.
  5. Margaret Barker, The Great Angel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1992), 23.
  6. Gen 18:1–3.
  7. Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 239–45.
  8. Philo, On Dreams 1.215.
  9. Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 32.
  10. Alan F. Segal, Two Powers in Heaven (Leiden: Brill, 1977), 159–81.
  11. Larry W. Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 98–110.
  12. Exod 23:21.
  13. Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel, 182–87.
  14. James D. G. Dunn, Christology in the Making (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 213.
  15. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 60.
  16. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.20.7.

Suggested Discussion Questions

  1. How does the figure of the Angel of YHWH challenge or reinforce classical monotheism in ancient Israel?
  2. In what ways do ANE divine council motifs inform our reading of Genesis 1:26 and Psalm 82?
  3. What are the risks and benefits of reading Old Testament theophanies christologically?
  4. How does the Septuagint’s translation of YHWH as kyrios shape early Christian theology?
  5. Can a layered hermeneutic preserve both historical-critical integrity and theological interpretation?

Bibliography

Primary Sources and Ancient Texts

  • The Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (BHS; BHQ editions)
  • Septuagint (LXX). Edited by Alfred Rahlfs and Robert Hanhart.
  • The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. Translated by Martin Abegg, Peter Flint, and Eugene Ulrich.
  • The Apostolic Fathers. Edited by Michael W. Holmes.
  • Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho.
  • Philo of Alexandria. On the Creation; Allegorical Interpretation.
  • Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews.
  • Targum Onkelos and Targum Neofiti (for Memra traditions)
  • Ugaritic Texts (KTU 1.1–1.6 Baal Cycle)

Old Testament Theology and ANE Context

  • Walton, John H. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.
  • Walton, John H., and J. Harvey Walton. The Lost World of Genesis One. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009.
  • Walton, John H. The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2017.
  • Smith, Mark S. The Origins of Biblical Monotheism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
  • Smith, Mark S. The Early History of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
  • Day, John. Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000.
  • Miller, Patrick D. The Divine Warrior in Early Israel. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973.
  • Keel, Othmar, and Christoph Uehlinger. Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998.
  • Hallo, William W., and K. Lawson Younger Jr., eds. The Context of Scripture. Leiden: Brill, 1997–2002.

Divine Council and Heavenly Mediators

  • Heiser, Michael S. The Unseen Realm. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2015.
  • Heiser, Michael S. Angels: What the Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host. Bellingham: Lexham, 2018.
  • Parker, Simon B. Ugaritic Narrative Poetry. Atlanta: SBL Press, 1997.
  • Cook, John J. The Interpretation of the Old Testament in Greco-Roman Paganism. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004.
  • Segal, Alan F. Two Powers in Heaven. Leiden: Brill, 1977.
  • Fletcher-Louis, Crispin H. T. All the Glory of Adam. Leiden: Brill, 2002.
  • Mach, Michael. Angels in Early Judaism. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1992.

Angel of YHWH and Theophany Studies

  • Sommer, Benjamin D. The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
  • Meier, John P. “Angel of the Lord.” Anchor Bible Dictionary 1:248–53.
  • Haggai, Mazor. “The Messenger of YHWH.” Vetus Testamentum 63 (2013): 1–16.
  • Levenson, Jon D. Sinai and Zion. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1985.
  • Cross, Frank Moore. Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973.
  • Barker, Margaret. The Great Angel: A Study of Israel’s Second God. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1992.
  • Kugel, James L. The God of Old: Inside the Lost World of the Bible. New York: Free Press, 2003.

Second Temple Judaism and Intermediary Figures

  • Segal, Alan F. Two Powers in Heaven. Leiden: Brill, 1977.
  • Fletcher-Louis, Crispin. Jesus Monotheism Volume 1. Eugene: Cascade, 2015.
  • Stuckenbruck, Loren T. Angel Veneration and Christology. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995.
  • Orlov, Andrei. The Enoch-Metatron Tradition. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005.
  • Nickelsburg, George W. E. Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005.
  • Collins, John J. Apocalyptic Imagination. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.

New Testament Christology and Divine Identity

  • Bauckham, Richard. Jesus and the God of Israel. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.
  • Hurtado, Larry W. Lord Jesus Christ. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
  • Hurtado, Larry W. One God, One Lord. London: T&T Clark, 1988.
  • Dunn, James D. G. Christology in the Making. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.
  • Wright, N. T. The Resurrection of the Son of God. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003.
  • Bird, Michael F. Jesus the Eternal Son. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017.
  • McGrath, James F. The Only True God. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009.

Logos Theology and Jewish Wisdom Traditions

  • Philo of Alexandria. On Dreams; On the Confusion of Tongues.
  • Winston, David. Logos and Mystical Theology in Philo of Alexandria. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1985.
  • Boyarin, Daniel. The Jewish Gospels. New York: New Press, 2012.
  • Dunn, James D. G. Christology in the Making, esp. Wisdom Christology sections.
  • Witherington, Ben. Jesus the Sage. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994.

Patristic and Early Christian Interpretation

  • Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho.
  • Irenaeus. Against Heresies.
  • Tertullian. Against Praxeas.
  • Origen. On First Principles.
  • Athanasius. On the Incarnation.
  • Ayres, Lewis. Nicaea and Its Legacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Hebrew and Greek Linguistic Resources

  • Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles Briggs. Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (BDB).
  • Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. HALOT.
  • Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.
  • Kittel, Gerhard, ed. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT).
  • Botterweck, G. Johannes, and Helmer Ringgren. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT).

Hermeneutics and Method

  • Childs, Brevard S. Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992.
  • Goldingay, John. Old Testament Theology. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2003–2009.
  • Vanhoozer, Kevin J. The Drama of Doctrine. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2005.
  • Hays, Richard B. Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2016.
  • Wright, N. T. Scripture and the Authority of God. New York: HarperOne, 2013.

Balanced / Critical Voices (for methodological caution)

  • Barr, James. The Semantics of Biblical Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961.
  • Levenson, Jon D. The Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, and Historical Criticism. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1993.
  • Sommer, Benjamin D. The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel. Cambridge, 2009.
  • Kugel, James L. How to Read the Bible. New York: Free Press, 2007.
  • McGrath, James F. The Only True God. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009.