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per jarle BEKKEN, The Word Is Near You: A Study of Deuteronomy 30:12-14 in Paul's Letter to the Romans in a Jewish Context (BZNW 144; Berlin/New York: de Gruyter, 2007). Pp. xiv + 294. euro82.24.
Is Paul's handling of Deut 30:12-14 in Rom 10:6-10 arbitrary and idiosyncratic, or does his method correspond to the exegetical conventions of his day? This study, arising out of work for a doctoral thesis directed by Peder Borgen at the Norwegian University of Technology and Science (1998), argues that allusions to Deut 30:12-14 in Philo's Vtrt. 183-84 and Praem. 79-84 suggest that Paul's treatment of the passage is less capricious than is often assumed. On the contrary, Per Jarle Bekken hypothesizes, "Paul's interpretive moves and christological exposition of Deut 30:12-14 are the logical inference from the assertion that Christ is the [lelos] of the Law" (p. 10).
Following a brief introduction setting the stage for his study (chap. 1), B. borrows from the language and methodology of text-linguistics to examine Vtrt. 183-84; Praem. 79-84; and Rom 10:4-17 in terms of their...