Recent Acquisitions

As you may suspect I am quite intrigued with the Book of Hebrews. Consequently, I have tried to get my hands on (literally) everything I can on the book of Hebrews. My collection of books on Hebrews is quite extensive ranging from Jean Mestrezat's collection of French sermons on the Epistle to the Hebrews, dating from 1653-1655 (my oldest books), to the most recent commentary on Hebrews by James W. Thompson in the Baker Paideia series. My collection, which contains many rare titles, is divided into three sections (somewhat arbitrarily) of monographs & studies, scholarly commentaries, and popular commentaries & expositions. Unfortunately, I have fallen behind on the more recent monographs on Hebrews due to my reduced income in recent years and the exorbitant cost of many of these books (especially from overseas presses). Nevertheless, I still regularly get new books on Hebrews. The following is a sampling of some of my newest acquisitions (i.e., in the last two months):

A very rare title is Eduard Karl Aug. Riehm, Der Lehrbegriff des Hebraerbriefes, a massive monograph (two volumes bound in one) on Hebrews dating from 1858-1859.

Another rare scholarly title is that by J. Chr. K. v. Hofmann, a prominent biblical scholar of the nineteenth century. The fifth volume of his Die heilige Schrift neuen Testaments (1873) contains his study on Hebrews.

Two very similar type works are volume 4, part 1 of Henry Alford's Greek Testament: An Exegetical and Critical Commentary and volume 4 of The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (Marcus Dods authored the section on Hebrews). Both works are reprints of nineteenth century exegetical works based on the Greek text with accompanying commentary.

A very recent monograph is Guido Telscher's Opfer aus Barmherzigkeit: Hebr 9,11-28 im Kontext biblischer Suhnetheologie in the Forschung zur Bibel series (2007).

Review & Expositor, the Baptist theological journal, has dedicated two issues to the book of Hebrews. The earlier issue, volume 82.3 from the Summer of 1985, contains a collection of expository essays on Hebrews by various scholars. It is no longer in print, but I was able to find a used copy through the used book market. Still in print and available from the publisher is volume 102.2 from the Spring of 2005. This collection of essays take a more thematic approach to Hebrews.

I was also able to obtain two rare collections of essays: the first is by the Rev. A. Welch, Minister Emeritus of Whitevale United Presbyterian Church in Glasgow. His book, The Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews and Other Papers (1898), contains two essays on Hebrews: the first, as the title suggests, deals with the authorship of Hebrews, and the second is on Melchizedek, his priesthood and personality. The second book is Ruth Hoppin's Priscilla: Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews and Other Essays (1969). This book is the precursor to Hoppin's later monograph on the authorship of Hebrews.

An older monograph, largely based on the Book of Hebrews, is William Milligan's, The Ascension and Heavenly Priesthood of Our Lord (1908).

I have also procured a number of more popular studies on Hebrews:

Burris A. Jenkins, Heroes of Faith (1896) is a brief study on chapter 11.

W. Douglas Moffat, The Epistle to the Hebrews or the Calling in "a Son" (1905) is a small exposition from the Our Bible Hour Series.

Edward B. Annable, onetime teacher of Hobe Sound Bible College, produced a small booklet entitled The Epistle to the Hebrews (1970s ?)

Paul Muller, Der Hebraerbrief, a small exposition on Hebrews from 1970.

Wallace Wartick, onetime professor at Ozark Bible College in Joplin, Missouri, wrote a study guide entitled Twenty-six Lessons on Hebrews (1979).

William G. Johnsson, who was professor of New Testament at Andrews University, has written a few books on Hebrews including In Absolute Confidence: The Book of Hebrews Speaks to Our Day (1979) and the Hebrews volume for the Knox Preaching Guides (1980).

Forrest Hicks produced a small booklet, The Epistle of Hebrews: A Verse by Verse Exposition (1985), which expounds on Hebrews in outline form.

Three of the books are more recent popular commentaries on Hebrews: George R. Knight (professor of church history at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University), Exploring Hebrews: A Devotional Commentary (2003); David Hocking, The Messiah of Israel: Studies in Hebrews (2007); and Daniel H. King, Sr., The Book of Hebrews in the Truth Commentaries series (2008).

Finally, today I received two new books. The first is a reprint of Horatius Bonar's The Rent Veil, which is a series of devotional essays based on Hebrews. The second book, freshly arrived from Australia, is The Shadow and the Substance: A Commentary on the Letter to the Hebrews by Ian Pennicook, who is the NSW Director of New Creation Teaching Ministry and the Head of Theology at Tabor College's Syndney campus. His book is a popular commentary on Hebrews, originally printed in 1985, but reprinted in 2004.

These books are representative of my fun, eclectic, and comprehensive collection of books on Hebrews.