Kenneth E. Bailey, prolific author and renowned professor of Middle Eastern New Testament Studies, sets to paper in Jacob & the Prodigal the mature fruit of decades of research and reflection on the much expounded but little understood parable of Luke 15. Stimulated by N. T. Wright, who links the Jacob and Esau saga with Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, Bailey composes a pioneering monograph that knowingly renders his earlier, extensive writings on Luke 15 outmoded (yet without dispensing with his patented cultural and linguistic insights). The result is the first full comparison of Jacob and the prodigal to date, identifying some fifty-one points of contact.
Following Wright's valued synoptic gospel insights, Bailey's interpretative thesis for the parable states that Jesus' metaphorical theology deliberately creates a new story patterned after the Jacob story, which effectively offers Israel a revised identity with Jesus at its center. That Jesus addresses the scribes and Pharisees in chapter 15 is of twofold importance: first, Jesus speaks to the entire nation of Israel through them; and, second, the reader/hearer of the parable must be aware that when a scholarly audience-the scribes and Pharisees-is specifically mentioned, it can be assumed that "a sophisticated scholarly exchange is underway" (25). As a result, not a single meaning but "theological clusters" of meaning abound from new perceptions of Jesus and his message.
The author champions conservative perspectives on a variety of issues and substantiates his position with credible cultural details, intra-testamental evidence, and reliable scholarship. For instance, when the finely tuned nature of Jesus' presentations to his contemporaries is examined within the world of first-century scholarship, Bailey avers that, "it is possible to see Jesus as the first mind of the New Testament and Paul as the second" (26). This is a significant point for those New Testament scholars who pit Paul as an innovator over against Jesus. Bailey rightly presents the thinking of Jesus and Paul within the same circle, even when it comes to the heart of the gospel, and thereby manifests a relative independence from Wright, James D. G. Dunn, and others.
The book is divided into four parts. Part One establishes the author's hermeneutical principles and methodology, as well as provides seasoned lessons on the importance of Middle Eastern culture, oral traditions, and the question of authenticity for New Testament interpretation. Bailey would have his readers understand that a biblical story is not simply a delivery system for an idea, but rather a creative worldview story that invites the reader/listener to dwell in its worldview and opens up multiple levels of meaning. Part Two explores fascinating Old Testament connections and cultural details of the first two parts of the parabolic unit (the Good Shepherd and the Lost Coin stories) in order to facilitate understanding of the Christology encased within the details of the parable of the prodigal. Bailey works toward a well-articulated incarnational theology that leaves "open theism" proposals looking tired and pass. The third and longest part is given to comparing and contrasting the parable of the prodigal son with the saga of Jacob in Genesis 27 to 35. Though Bailey becomes a bit repetitious, the exegetical and theological insights keep coming. Theological reflection on the "Evangelium in Evangelio" (the gospel within the gospel) embodies the brief but rewarding Part Four. Key elements include how sin is defined in the parable, what Jesus says about the nature of God, Jesus' own Christological assertions, and the enhanced meaning of the interlocking themes of repentance/salvation.
Aside from the unsubstantiated claim that Junia (of Rom. 16:7) was an apostle (Bailey will have to do more than merely cite James D. G. Dunn as an authority) and a ponderous distancing of himself from an Augustinian understanding of grace in order to uphold Jesus' supposedly via media doctrine of repentance (which, as Bailey articulates it, comes out sounding like textbook Augustinianism anyway), the exegetical and theological infelicities are few and plainly overshadowed by innumerable textual insights and lucid exposition. Bailey's thought-provoking new book comes highly recommended.
