“Who is This Son of Man?”
After a long wait, I’ve just received my advance copy of a new volume co-edited with Paul Owen (Montreat College): Who is This Son of Man? The Latest Scholarship on a Puzzling Expression of the Historical Jesus (London: Continuum, 2011), ISBN 978-0-567-52119-4.
In this multi-author volume, the essays all address the expression “the Son of Man”, engaging in depth the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic evidence that scholars have put on the table over the many decades in which this expression has been probed. The major competing theories are considered, including especially the extended series of publications by Maurice Casey. Questions addressed include these: What might be the Aramaic expression behind the Greek phrase used in the Gospels, and what was its connotation? How do the Gospels writers use the expression “the son of man”? Is it a christological title (like “Son of God,” “Christ”, etc.)? Might it have derived from Jesus’ own speech-practice, or did it originate in early church reflections on Jesus’ signficance?
Contributors include Albert Lukaszewski, Paul Owen, David Shepherd, Peter Williams, Darrell Bock, Benjamin Reynolds and Darrell Hannah, with a concluding essay by yours truly.
Paul and I hope that this volume will move the discussion along in a cogent and helpful direction. In a subsequent posting, I’ll be providing some of my observations from my concluding essay.
P.S. Sorry about the high price of the book (over $100 USD), a matter over which we editors had no control. It’s a volume directed mainly to academic readers, with lots of Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and even Ethiopic. So, I guess the publishers are aiming simply for library sales.
Comments are closed.
Larry Hurtado's Blog 
In Canada it’s even more ($143).
Thanks for this series of posts, Larry. We were delighted to have this book in the series, though the price is indeed rather high. As I understand the pricing structure, standing orders and library purchases enable Continuum to keep the quality and quality of the series high. I would like to see the dollar price in particular coming down, though, since this volume is at £70 / $130. £70 = $112 at the current exchange rate. I would like to see the 50% individual scholar discount getting advertised again, as in the earlier days of the series. We have also been discussing the possibility of e-book versions.
No control over the price? Really? Surely there are other publishers that are publishing scholarly work at a cheaper retail price?
Well, actually, it’s not very easy to get a publisher to accept a multi-author book that uses Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Ethiopic words and lots of footnotes, and directed toward serious students of the ancient texts. Those publishers that do accept such works tend, by the way, to plan short-run printings for a small market, which = a high price. (But I do confess that I am surprised, still, at the price Continuum has put on this one.)