Review of: Tolmie D. F. Pointing Out Persuasion in Philemon: Fifty Readings of Paul’s Rhetoric From the Fourth to the Eighteenth Century. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021. (History of Biblical Exegesis; vol. 1). xiv + 383 p. ISBN 9783161564246

Abstract

The German publishing house Mor Siebeck, long established in the humanities, is well known for publishing high-level academic works in biblical studies. One of the new series on biblical studies, entitled "A History of Biblical Exegesis", was inaugurated with a fresh book by a renowned South African specialist in on St Paul's letter to Philemon by Donald Francois Tolmie. In this work, the author offers a comprehensive survey of the various ways in which commentators have interpreted the rhetoric of the letter to Philemon from the fourth to the eighteenth century. To this end, the fifty commentaries that appeared during this period are scrutinised one by one to determine how differently exegetes understood the rhetorical situation reflected in the letter and how they explained St Paul's persuasive strategy.