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You can find previous episodes of “The Stone Chapel Podcast” at Lanier Theological Library.
“The Stone Chapel Podcast” is part of the ChurchLeaders Podcast Network.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and space.
Aubrey Buster
Hi. I’m Aubrey Buster, Associate Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College.
John Walton
I’m John Walton, Professor of Old Testament emeritus at Wheaton College.
David Capes
Dr. John Walton, Dr. Aubrey Buster. Welcome to our podcast.
Aubrey Buster, John Walton
Thanks for having great us. It’s great to join you today.
David Capes
It’s good to see you here on the campus. It’s been a while since we’ve been back but it’s a delight to see you now. John, you’ve been on before, but Aubrey, you’ve not been on this podcast before. Tell us a little bit about who is Aubrey Buster?
Aubrey Buster
I teach Old Testament at Wheaton College. I specialize in the post exilic books of the Old Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Right now, I’m working on Daniel, of course, and then Ezra, Nehemiah, the Qumran Psalm scrolls and Apocalypticism in the ancient world.
David Capes
And you’re married.
Aubrey Buster
I am. I’m married to Jeff Buster, and I have three children now. I have two sons, Malcolm and Martin, who love to go play at Mr. John’s house, as he’s known in our household.
David Capes
You guys are neighbors!
Aubrey Buster
We’re neighbors, yes. And then Serena, who’s our newest addition. She’s almost eight months old now. I was born in Texas, but I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. My dad went to seminary at Regent College, and he moved us up there to the Vancouver area. That’s where I grew up.
David Capes
Well, we’re glad that you’re at Wheaton College, and we’re glad that you’re on with us today on the podcast. Now you guys are not only neighbors. You’re writing a commentary together. You have been writing this commentary for how many years now?
John Walton
Seven
Aubrey Buster
I joined in 2018.
David Capes
John, tell us a little bit about the commentary from your point of view, because you’ve written a commentary before.
John Walton
Yes, I have. I’ve not written a technical academic commentary before and really haven’t necessarily been inclined to do one. But in this series, Erdman’s New International Commentary on the Old Testament series, that’s really what they want, a technical, academic commentary. It was a real challenge when they asked me to do it. Also, of course, a very nice privilege to be able to do it. And I only took it on with some trepidation. In fact, I almost gave the contract back until I thought maybe I should have a co-author that would make it possible. And I jumped down the hall and knocked on Aubrey’s door.
David Capes
Aubrey, you were home, apparently when he knocked. Do you regret opening the door?
Aubrey Buster
You know, Daniel was a book that fit into the work that I’d been doing at that point in time. I was working on publishing my dissertation, which is on historical summaries and memory formation in Second Temple Judaism. I had somewhat intentionally avoided Daniel because it opened another can of hermeneutic worms. But then the opportunity came, one to co-author with John. John has been a teacher and a friend of mine for many, many years. Then came the chance to dive into this book that I hadn’t seriously considered before, but I knew had so many issues that were interesting. For the study of second Temple Judaism, for the study of the formation of memory for religious communities, and a book that I was so confused by. The opportunity for a deep dive into it was too tempting to turn down.
David Capes
Sometimes the cure for confusion is to dive into something. You don’t always answer all your questions, but you at least give it a go, and you can answer some of those along the way.
John Walton
My theory of commentary writing is that I’m not writing it because I know all this stuff. I’m writing it so I’ll know where to find it when I want it.
Aubrey Buster
Yes, exactly. That’s my theory of scholarship. A scholar is not someone who has more answers than everybody else. It’s someone who has more questions.
David Capes
And can find the answers because they know where to look. When I grew up, I remember getting this card that had all the books of the Bible on it, and among what were called the major prophets, there was a book called Daniel. But lo and behold, in the more original Bible, the Hebrew Bible, from which our Bible comes, the Old Testament. Daniel’s not mentioned among the prophets but is mentioned in the writings. So, what do you make of that, John?
John Walton
We studied that considerably when we were writing the introduction, to try to sort out how we thought about that. And I think a major part of that is that Daniel is never referred to as a prophet in the book of Daniel, he doesn’t seem to be considered a prophet by anyone, and from a literary standpoint, he never seems to introduce prophetic sayings, like “thus says the Lord”, or things of that sort.
David Capes
He has visions at night. He sees things. But he doesn’t have necessarily the same kind of experience that some of the writing prophets do. Now, Aubrey, you’re looking at the post exilic period, and you’re looking at a lot of things that are developing in that particular time. How did you begin to think about whether it is a prophetic book, or something else altogether?
Aubrey Buster
I also think that it has to do a little bit with how the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures came together. Daniel probably comes together as one of the latest books of the Hebrew Bible. And this is also a feature that we see in the other writings. It also contains court tales, which are a feature of other books in the writings, books like Esther. And there are some generic similarities between other books in the writings in the book of Daniel, as well as the fact that it deals with events that occur in the second century BCE.
David Capes
The commentary that you’re writing is a very substantial commentary. It’s in a very good commentary series. It’s one of those series that I recommend on a regular basis, both on the New Testament and the Old Testament side of things. So, I suppose it’s a real privilege to be invited to do that.
John Walton
It is. It was a great opportunity, and again, one that I was sort of a little anxious about, just because I knew all the work that would be required.
David Capes
And so together, you guys have figured out a way through all of this,
John Walton
We’re trying to depend on each other’s strengths. That’s the key to collaboration, not just divvying up material, but relying on each other’s strengths.
