John R. Franke, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament Volume 4 (Downers Grove: IVP, 2005), xxxii + 458pp., ISBN 9780830814749.
John Franke edited the volume on Joshua to 2 Samuel in the Ancient Christian Commentary Series. Links to the general introduction, the introduction to the volume on Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and 1-2 Samuel, as well as selected commentary from 1 Samuel are available on the publisher’s website.
The early church fathers saw links and parallels between Joshua and Jesus, such that Joshua is understood as a type of Christ; likewise with Samuel and David, with Ruth being seen as a type of the church. Running commentaries on Old Testament historical books are rare in writings of the early fathers, so most of the excerpts in the volume are taken from theological and pastoral treatises, sermons and letters.
Franke’s Introduction is helpful in providing an orientation to the interpretive rationale of early Christian readers as well as an introduction to some of the most significant interpreters. The most significant of these was Origen (xviii-xxiii), but Franke offers thumbnail sketches of eight others: Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great (xxiii-xxvii).
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