The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

Dennis Hamm's commentary, like other volumes in the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series, aims "to serve the ministry of the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church" (p. 9). The text is thus written for those engaged in pastoral work or preparing for it. It is in dialogue primarily with the NABRE because that translation is approved in the United States for liturgical use, but important differences between the NABRE and other widely used translations are brought into discussion. The commentary uses the rather standard approach of citing a block of text and then explicating key phrases within it. Sections offering reflection and application follow the exegetical material. Interspersed [End Page 140] throughout the commentary are photographs of relevant art and archaeology as well as numerous sidebars offering historical, theological, patristic, or literary illumination of biblical background materials. Also included are cross-references throughout to the Lectionary and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and, in the back of the book, a glossary/map section is included.

Hamm treats Philemon, Philippians, and Colossians in that order. He contextualizes all of the documents as prison letters, noting that Paul's traditional fourth letter from confinement, Ephesians, requires a volume of its own. H. treats the question of why Paul was repeatedly imprisoned from the perspective of imperial politics and emperor worship. He notes that any Roman official with a concern for law and order would be suspicious of such an itinerant teacher arousing groups with talks about the kingdom of God and the sovereignty of a man named Jesus. H. regards Paul's talk about an alternative kingdom as having made him "a person of interest" to authorities (p. 20).

Hamm favors Ephesus as the location from which Paul wrote Philemon; Rome as the probable venue from which he sent Philippians; and Ephesus again when he wrote Colossians and Ephesians, the latter two in H.'s judgment being authentically Pauline. H. observes that the relationship between Colossians and Ephesians is analogous to that between Galatians and Romans. He states that in each case the earlier letter treats an urgent problem and the second letter then elaborates on the themes of the first "in a calmer, more orderly way" (p. 155). H. further posits that Paul sent Tychicus, accompanied by the slave Onesimus, to deliver three letters: one to Philemon, one to the Colossians (to be shared with the Christians of Laodicea and Hierapolis), and a generic, encyclical type version of Colossians, namely, Ephesians, to be delivered to the local Ephesians for copies to be made and sent around to other regional churches. On the identity of Onesimus, H. doubts that he was a runaway slave, questioning why a runaway would contact the close friend of a master. Rather, H. thinks Onesimus had gone to Paul precisely as a friend of his master to mediate a reconciliation after some type of falling out.

Hamm views Philippians as a letter of friendship occasioned by the need to send the recently sick and recovered Epaphroditus back to his community sooner than he had been expected. Paul thus uses the occasion to let good friends know about his current experience. With respect to the integrity of Philippians, H. reads the letter as a coherent whole, citing as persuasive recent work on the chiastic structure of the entire letter by John Paul Heil (Philippians: Let Us Rejoice in Being Conformed to Christ [ECL 3; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010]). Regarding the Christ Hymn in Phil 2:6-11, H. finds the passage "integral to the language and thought of the letter" (p. 66) as well as so resonant with the other undisputed Pauline letters that he feels a good case can be made that Paul wrote it or, even if not, integrated it seamlessly into his own writing.

Hamm's writing style is straightforward and crystal clear. Given all the features of the commentary as noted above, I can envision using this volume in combination...