This is the first volume in a new monograph series published by River Plate Adventist University Press dealing with biblical and theological studies. The book focuses on the Pentateuch and contains eleven contributions from international scholars. Six of the chapters are published in English with the remaining five being written in Spanish. Each chapter is preceded by a concise English and Spanish abstract. The work itself is divided into three main sections, involving methodological questions, exegetical issues, and theological studies. The volume also contains three helpful indices (authors, biblical and extrabiblical references).

Raúl Kerbs provides a detailed critique of the philosophical presuppositions of Pentateuchal critical scholarship (pp. 3-43) and maintains that recent literary methodologies base themselves upon the same philosophical presuppositions as earlier historical-critical scholarship. He suggests that Pentateuchal exegesis is confronted with the challenge of developing a methodology that is based upon the philosophical presuppositions inherent in the biblical text itself.

William H. Shea discusses the importance of a recently discovered alphabetic inscription using an early form of the Proto-Sinaitic script found on a rock wall alongside a military road in the Wadi el-Hol, north of Thebes (pp. 45-60).

Martin G. Klingbeil focuses on the four largest poems of the Pentateuch and concludes that (1) there are specific markers that indicate the beginning of inset poetry and signal the reversal to prose at the end of the poem; (2) the poetic passages integrate linguistically into their narrative contexts; and (3) the poems form an integral part of the micro-structure and macro-structure of the Pentateuch and play an important role in the development of the narrative plot.

Carlos E. Mora studies Exodus 40 from a syntactical, grammatical, and structural perspective (pp. 89-103) and suggests key theological themes found in Exodus 40. Gerald A. Klingbeil compares the dynamics of participants of two rituals of ordination, i.e., Lev 16 and an extrabiblical text from Emar (pp. 105-134) and proposes that renewed attention to biblical ritual material will provide helpful information for a faithful reconstruction of biblical religion and may also offer a new impetus to biblical theology.

Laurentiu Ionescu analyzes Leviticus 26 from a syntactical point of view (pp. 135-147). Roy E. Gane seeks to clarify the apparent conflict between Numbers 15:22-31 (pp. 149-156), which contrasts inadvertent sins with “high-handed” sins, and passages where some deliberate sins are expiable. Lucien-Jean Bord, as the only non-SDA contributor, studies the legal clause found in Deuteronomy 24:10-11 (pp. 157-164).

Martin Pröbstle deals with the difficult text found in Genesis 18:22 (pp. 169-189) and proposes that God put himself on a human level and waited before Abraham almost like a servant in order to teach Abraham about divine justice. Merling Alomía discusses the function of the firstborn motif in the book of Exodus (pp. 191-227) which should be connected to the covenant idea between the LORD and his people. The final chapter contains the contribution of Gerhard Pfandl who studies the soteriological implications of the cities of refuge (pp. 229-242). Beyond the literal historical meaning of these cities, he discerns important theological motifs and spiritual lessons which illustrate the plan of redemption.

The different studies in this volume demonstrate that Adventist scholarship in South America is more than ready to interact on an academic level, while maintaining a high concept of biblical inspiration. An indicator of this quality research is the fact that the volume has been accepted for review into the top 10 academic journals dealing with Old Testament Studies. The second volume in the monograph series is currently under production and will focus upon Mission and Contextualization. (Order from www.eisenbrauns.com)