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Congresses

2022 International Meeting

Salzburg, Austria

Meeting Begins7/17/2022
Meeting Ends7/21/2022

Call for Papers Opens: 11/3/2021
Call for Papers Closes: 2/1/2022

Requirements for Participation

Program Units

 

Allusions in the Gospels and Acts

Chang-Wook Jung
Description: This unit is to foster literary-critical and inter-textual approaches to the canonical and extra-canonical gospels and acts of the apostles. The approaches include: (1) uncovering allusive fragments of Greco-Roman, Hellenized-Jewish, and Christian texts in gospel passages and apostle narratives; (2) discussing whether the fragments reflect accidental confluences, non-opposite appropriations of poetic langue, or Christian emulations against anterior texts and traditions; (3) interpreting Christian meanings generated by resonances between anterior and posterior contexts of those allusions.

Call for papers: The Allusions in the Gospels and Acts section welcomes submissions for the following two sessions at the International Meeting in 2022: (1) We invite members to present papers on topics relating to allusions to the first Exodus event in the Gospels and Acts. Any proposals which explore various aspects of the Exodus motif will be welcomed. (2) Our second session will be an open session for which we expect members to submit proposals for papers that contribute to the discussion of allusions in the Gospels and Acts and their innovative meanings.

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Ancient Near East

Alice Mandell
Lisa J. Cleath
Description: The ancient Near East section explores the texts and material culture of the ancient world, especially Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia from the birth of writing through the Hellenistic period. Our aim is to study the ancient world with a variety of methods and from a variety of perspectives—anthropological, archaeological, art-historical, economic, legal, literary, philological, sociohistorical, etc. We welcome work that reads the literature or material culture of one region against another, as well as work that is more limited in scope. Each year, we anticipate hosting two panels: one devoted to any aspect of the study of the ancient Near East, and one focussing on a more narrowly defined theme, region, approach, or time period.

Call for papers: This year’s ancient Near Eastern unit sessions will focus on the legacy of orientalism in ancient Near Eastern Studies. The goal of these sessions is to view the history of ancient Near Eastern Studies through a critical eye, interrogating how motivations of empire and capitalism have formed Western interpretations of the ancient Near East. We invite papers that adopt an interdisciplinary approach and which engage with broader discussions regarding the legacy of European-centered scholarship in the humanities. We encourage underrepresented scholars in the field to apply, in particular (but not limited to) those from regions less represented in ANE studies. There will be invited panels, as well as sessions developed from this open call for papers.

Tags: Anatolian (Hittite, Luwian, Hurrian) (Ancient Near Eastern Literature - Region), Ancient Near East - Bronze Age (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Hellenistic Period (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Iron Age (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Late Antiquity (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Neo-Assyria (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Neo-Babylonia (History & Culture), Aramaic (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Comparative Approaches (Interpretive Approaches), Egyptian (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Hebrew (classical) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Latter Prophets - Ezekiel (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Northwest Semitic - Canaanite (Phoenician, Punic, Moabite, Ammonite) (Ancient Near Eastern Literature - Region), Social-Scientific Approaches (Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology) (Interpretive Approaches), Torah/Pentateuch - Genesis (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint))

Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Bible

Joel M. LeMon
Description: This section, formerly titled Iconography and the Bible, examines the ways that ancient pictorial material informs interpretations of biblical texts and vice-versa. We welcome papers that explore the relationships between iconographic and textual materials as well as papers that deal exclusively with iconographic issues.

Call for papers: This section, formerly titled Iconography and the Bible, examines the ways that ancient pictorial material informs interpretations of biblical texts and vice-versa. We welcome papers that explore the relationships between iconographic and textual materials as well as papers that deal exclusively with iconographic issues.

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Apocalyptic Literature

Ana T. Valdez
James Crossley
Description: The Apocalyptic Literature Section provides the International Meeting’s only general forum for studies related to apocalyptic literature. The Section welcomes papers that engage the wide range of apocalyptic texts, that provide analysis of the history and conventions of apocalyptic literature, and that employ diverse methodological perspectives.

Call for papers: The Apocalyptic Literature Section provides the International Meeting’s only general forum for studies related to apocalyptic literature. The Section welcomes papers that engage the wide range of apocalyptic texts, that provide analysis of the history and conventions of apocalyptic literature, and that employ diverse methodological perspectives.

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Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

Julia Snyder
Janet Elizabeth Spittler
Description: The Section fosters ongoing study of extra-canonical texts, as subjects of literary and philological investigation; as evidence for the history of religion, theology, and cult practice; and as documents of the socio-symbolic construction of traditions along lines of class and gender.

Call for papers: The Section fosters ongoing study of extra-canonical texts, as subjects of literary and philological investigation; as evidence for the history of religion, theology, and cult practice; and as documents of the socio-symbolic construction of traditions along lines of class and gender.

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Apostolic Fathers and Related Early Christian Literature

Taras Khomych
Nancy Pardee
Description: This unit fosters academic discourse focused upon the “Apostolic Fathers” and supplemental literature, as transmitters of earlier traditions; as reflections of theology, ethics, and worship; as means of identity and community formation; and as subjects of literary and social-theory investigations.

Call for papers: This year we especially invite proposals on the theme 'Disease and Healing in Early Christianity'. Beyond this particular focus, the unit also welcomes contributions that critically examine other topics within the writings of the Apostolic Fathers and related early Christian literature (up to the year 250).

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Bible and Empire

Ana T. Valdez
Steed Vernyl Davidson
Description: A unit examining the influence of imperial political powers on the development of the Bible in its historical context as well as the Bible’s use and reception throughout subsequent history.

Call for papers: The Bible and Empire section invites papers for two sessions. (1) A themed session of papers that explore Performances of Empire. Proposals are invited for papers which look at various ways biblical texts have supported and informed aspects of imperial performances, real and imagined. Historical depictions of imperial performances including the rituals, architecture, cultural productions such as musicals, operas or visual arts, among other things provide critical spaces for the appropriation and manipulation of biblical images. In addition, they create ways in which biblical texts have and continue to shape ideas regarding the performances of empire that persist in various forms particularly through apocalyptic expressions. Further, proposals that explore the performances of empire imagined in biblical texts through literary, traditio-historical, redaction, and other analyses are also encouraged. (2) An open session that features papers that examine the influence of imperial political powers on the development of the Bible in its historical context as well as the Bible’s use and reception throughout subsequent history.

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Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact

Jo Carruthers
Lesleigh Cushing Stahlberg
Robert J. Myles
Description: This unit offers a forum for papers on both the theory of reception studies and critical analysis of historical and contemporary case studies related to the Bible’s use and influence, in spheres ranging from art, literature and music to religion, society and culture.

Call for papers: This unit offers a forum for papers on both the theory of reception studies and critical analysis of historical and contemporary case studies related to the Bible’s use and influence, in spheres ranging from art, literature and music to religion, society and culture.

Tags: History of Interpretation (Interpretive Approaches)

Bible and Visual Culture

Caroline Vander Stichele
David Shepherd
Description: The Bible and Visual Culture is premised on the recognition that some of the most engaging and creative interpretations of biblical texts are to be found in visual media from antiquity to the present. Further encouragement to attend to visual interpretations of the Bible is offered by our awareness that such readings have often captured the collective and especially popular imagination to a far greater extent than have many written interpretations and in doing so, these visualizations have shaped and influenced our reading and understanding of the biblical texts themselves. The section offers an academic space for the critical exploration and discussion of biblical texts, characters, motifs and themes as they are represented in visual media including (but not limited to) painting, sculpture, print making, illustration, moving pictures (including film, television and gaming), advertising, street art and other expressions of visual culture. The section welcomes efforts to situate visual interpretations of the Bible within a wider hermeneutical context and to explore the ways in which such interpretations challenge or support other non-visual readings of biblical texts. The nature of the subject explored in this section demands an openness to the insights of a range of different approaches and disciplines beyond biblical studies, including (but again, not limited to) art history, psychology, film, theatre as well as studies in gender and postcolonialism.

Call for papers: For the meeting in Salzburg, we especially welcome proposals that relate to the Bible and Austrian visual culture, both past and present. There is also an open call for papers on any other topic related to the Bible and Visual Culture (see program unit description for more information).

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Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law

Anselm C. Hagedorn
Reinhard Achenbach
Description: The purpose of the Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law Section is to promote interdisciplinary research on ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and post-biblical law. Methodological perspectives include historical-critical, literary, legal-historical, feminist, and social-scientific approaches.

Call for papers: The purpose of the Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law Section is to promote interdisciplinary research on ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and post-biblical law. Methodological perspectives include historical-critical, literary, legal-historical, feminist, and social-scientific approaches.

Tags: Law (Comparative Religion / History of Religion), Law Codes & Legal Documents (Ancient Near Eastern Literature - Genre)

Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom

Professor Katharine J. Dell
Nili Samet
Description: The unit seeks to encourage an ongoing discourse on new ideas and methodologies in the study of Wisdom Literature. The primary focus is on Biblical wisdom - Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth, the Wisdom Psalms and other texts influenced by wisdom ideas, as well as Ben Sira and Wisdom of Solomon. The section is also concerned with the relationship between biblical wisdom literature and cognate texts of the ancient Near East.

Call for papers: The unit seeks to encourage discourse on new ideas and methodologies in the study of Wisdom Literature. The primary focus is Biblical wisdom -- Proverbs, Job, and Qohelet. We also welcome papers on extra-biblical wisdom from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other areas of the ancient Near East, as well as post-biblical wisdom materials, such as Ben Sira and Wisdom of Solomon.

Tags: Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) (Biblical Literature - Deuterocanonical Works), Wisdom (Ancient Near Eastern Literature - Genre), Wisdom and Philosophical Literature (Early Jewish Literature - Jewish Pseudepigrapha), Wisdom of Solomon (Biblical Literature - Deuterocanonical Works), Writings - Ecclesiastes (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Writings - Job (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Writings - Proverbs (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint))

Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

Zohar Hadromi-Allouche
Description: This seminar approaches biblical literature through its most famous and pivotal characters, for it is around them that the subsequent biblical story is organized and arranged. Moreover, these characters have come to enjoy a life and fame that extends well beyond the basic Old Testament, Miqra, and New Testament, and even into the Qur’an and Islamic oral and written texts. As was demonstrated at the recent Tartu seminar, Samaritan texts and traditions (unfamiliar to many) have a contribution to make to the seminar as well. Our work seeks, among other goals, to facilitate a meaningful and informed dialogue between Jews, Christians, Muslims and Samaritans—foregrounded in the academic study of the treatment of characters across texts and traditions—by providing both an open forum at annual conferences, and by providing through our publications a written reference library to consult. A further goal is to encourage and provide a forum in which new scholarly talent in biblical and related studies may be presented.

Call for papers: *Scriptural Sexuality: Sexual characters in the Three Traditions* Sexuality can be expressed by, or associated with, a variety of characters: divine, human, animal, vegetal and others. The seminar will explore the presentation, or mis-presentation, of sexual/ised characters through one, or more, of the three traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Papers are invited that examine expressions of sexuality in various scriptural texts. Such expressions might include, but are not limited to, sexual views; literary and visual portrayals; laws; ritual, medical, or other relevant practices; sexual orientation; gender; non/marital sexual relations; asexuality; or the denial of sexuality. They might be an early feature (e.g., in scripture) or a later development (as part of reception history or legal theory), up to current times. Articles might use a single or several perspectives, such as theology, art, literature, history, archaeology, law, medicine, or other disciplines.

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Biblical Hebrew Language and Linguistics

Matthew P. Anstey
Cynthia L. Miller-Naude
Nili Samet
Description: This unit focuses on Biblical Hebrew language and linguistics. We welcome papers on all aspects of Biblical Hebrew, such as grammar, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, linguistic theory etc. We are also interested in papers that emphasize the contribution of the analysis of Biblical Hebrew to the understanding of the biblical text and exemplify the importance of linguistic analysis as an exegetical tool.

Call for papers: This unit focuses on Biblical Hebrew language and linguistics. We welcome papers on all aspects of Biblical Hebrew, such as grammar, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, linguistic theory etc. We are also interested in papers that emphasize the contribution of the analysis of Biblical Hebrew to the understanding of the biblical text and exemplify the importance of linguistic analysis as an exegetical tool. We invite paper proposals for one open session on any topic pertaining to Biblical Hebrew, and for two thematic sessions. Thematic Session 1: “Linguistic Analysis of Biblical Hebrew and Its Impact on Interpretation.” Many interpretive matters in the Hebrew Scriptures hinge on linguistic analyses of various sorts. We welcome papers that investigate the interpretive implications of such analyses and exemplify the interrelation between biblical interpretation and linguistic analysis of Biblical Hebrew. Thematic Session 2: “The Study of Biblical Hebrew in Light of the World’s Languages.” Typological approaches to the study of languages have shed significant light on Biblical Hebrew. We welcome papers that investigate features of Biblical Hebrew within a contemporary typological framework. Paper proposals submitted to the 2020 or 2021 sessions should be re-submitted for 2022.

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Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity

Paul A. Hartog
Description: This program unit explores the interpretative structures, methodologies, and concerns of patristic exegesis and the various assumptions underlying it.

Call for papers: This program unit explores the interpretative structures, methodologies, and concerns of patristic exegesis and the various assumptions underlying it.

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Catholic Epistles

Dr. Darian Lockett
Kelly Liebengood
Description: This unit provides a forum for sharing original research regarding all aspects of and approaches to the interpretation of the Catholic Epistles (James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, and Jude) as a collection or individual letters, including a variety of critical methodologies and especially welcome studies demonstrating interdisciplinary approaches.

Call for papers: We invite original research on the interpretation of the Catholic Epistles (James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, and Jude) either as a collection or as individual letters that especially examine these letters from a narrative approach or that focus on the intertextual connections either within the Catholic Epistles, or with other biblical texts.

Tags: Hebrews and Catholic Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - 1 John (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - 1 Peter (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - 2 John (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - 2 Peter (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - 3 John (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Hebrews (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - James (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Hebrews and Catholic Epistles - Jude (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Contextual Interpretation of the Bible (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament)

Jaqueline S. du Toit
Wei Huang
Description: The goal of this Seminar is to explore the interest in Contextual Biblical Interpretation, its different strategies (including "inculturation", inter(con)textualization, and reading with "ordinary" readers), its methodological justifications, and the extent to which all interpretations are contextual. We are especially interested in seemingly "marginal" (from the geographical, gender, faith, class, age, communal, and so forth) aspects of Biblical interpretation.

Call for papers: This Seminar underlines the significance of contextual interpretation and its contribution to biblical studies. We invite contributions to 4 sessions (proposed and solicited papers): (1) Interpreting the bible in a pandemic (i): COVID-19 and a search for the relevance of biblical scholarship's exegetical strategies and instruments. From different locations and disciplinary strategies, we invite papers rooted in a clear methodology. The papers are expected to engage with existing interpretations and counter interpretations to the bible highlighted by the pandemic. This includes engagement with the social issues it foregrounded, the responses and counter responses of communities at large, and the strategies of justification, comfort and support. (2) Interpreting the bible in a pandemic (ii): Biblical figures/texts that brought meaning to ordinary readers in a time of crisis. We invite critical engagement with interpretive strategies followed especially by marginal communities in foregrounding particular biblical figures or a particular biblical text at this time of crisis. (3) We invite contributions to two open sessions on the interpretation of the biblical text from within a reader's explicitly articulated context, personal as well as communal, while firmly anchored in a clear methodology.

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Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies

Peter Michael Phillips
Description: The unit focuses on the transformations of Biblical, Early Jewish and Christian studies in the emerging digital culture. We propose to study interactions between Digital Humanities and Biblical, Early Jewish and Christian studies (literature, manuscripts, art, archaeology, epigraphy, methodology).

Call for papers: The unit focuses on the transformations of Biblical, Early Jewish and Christian studies in the emerging digital culture. We propose to study interactions between Digital Humanities and Biblical, Early Jewish and Christian studies (literature, manuscripts, art, archaeology, epigraphy, methodology).

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Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy

Jinyu Liu
Description: The unit is the foundational component of an international, interdisciplinary project that seeks to delineate the relationship between early Christianity and the ancient economy in the period from Jesus to Justinian, demonstrating both similarities and differences in attitudes, approaches to problems, and attempted solutions.

Call for papers: The Early Christianity and Ancient Economy program examines economic aspects of early Christian groups from the first to the fifth century CE, understood within the context of the economies of the Roman Empire and its provinces. “Economy” is understood broadly to consist of the production, transmission, and consumption of goods and services, as well as the social, political, and ideological conditions associated with economic systems. We invite papers exploring aspects of the economic organization of early Christian assemblies as well as Rome and its provinces, in addition to those critically assessing the theoretical frameworks (e.g., economic anthropology, régulation theory, New Institutional Economics) and concepts (e.g., class, exploitation, wealth and poverty, gender, ethnicity, and movements of human and material resources) used in the study of the economic history of the Mediterranean basin in antiquity. For the 2022 annual meeting, papers that focus on labor and wages are also particularly welcome. In recognition of the 2022 Annual Meeting’s host city, Salzburg, papers on any aspect of the economy of Austria, including religious responses to or appropriations of it, are also welcome.

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Epistle to the Hebrews

David M. Allen
Description: This unit is designed to encourage conversation about the historical, hermeneutical, and theological issues raised in Hebrews. Special attention will be given to papers that engage topics relevant to the portion of the Epistle under consideration each year.

Call for papers: This unit is designed to encourage conversation about the historical, hermeneutical, and theological issues raised in Hebrews. Special attention will be given to papers that engage topics relevant to the portion of the Epistle under consideration each year.

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Families and Children in the Ancient World

Jeremy Punt
Louise Tsui-yuk Liu
Description: This unit provides a forum for presenting and discussing issues related to families, children and biblical literature. The section is open to presentations on the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Testament and early Christian, Rabbinic and Greco-Roman material from a variety of perspectives and using a variety of methods.

Call for papers: For 2022, the Families and Children in the Bible unit will host two sessions. In view of recent global events, one session will be devoted to papers that explore the connections between families and children in the Bible, sickness, disease and disability, and well-being during times of social or communal crisis, and how unfair distribution of resources or totalitarian policy affect families and children. Papers that approach the topic from a variety of approaches and perspectives, such as socio-historical, literary, theological are encouraged. In an open session, we invite papers that address families and children in the ANE, the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Testament and early Christian, Rabbinic and Greco-Roman material from a variety of perspectives and using a variety of methods. Proposals that seek to investigate the roles of families and children, and the portrayal of such roles, in relation to the natural environment are particularly welcome.

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Gospel of Mark

Elizabeth Struthers Malbon
Description: Our aim is to provide a forum for scholars and graduate students to explore all aspects of and approaches to the research, hermeneutics, and interpretation of the Gospel of Mark, including (but not limited to) historical, exegetical, theological, methodological, and literary studies. We are especially interested in the investigation of new questions, new areas of inquiry, and new strategies for reading Mark.

Call for papers: The Gospel of Mark section is a forum for scholars and graduate students exploring all aspects of and approaches to research and interpretation of the Gospel of Mark, including (but not limited to) historical, exegetical, theological, and literary studies, but especially the investigation of new questions, new areas of inquiry, and new strategies for reading Mark. For the 2022 international meeting planned for Salzburg, Austria, the Gospel of Mark Section is (1) hosting one session of three papers originally planned for the 2021 meeting on “Three New Looks at the Ending of Mark’s Gospel,” (2) inviting paper proposals for a session on new looks at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, and (3) inviting, for an open session, paper proposals on any aspect of the Gospel of Mark consistent with the section’s mission.

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Healthcare and Disability in the Ancient World

Rebecca Raphael
Description: The unit seeks to foster scholarship related to disability in all fields of biblical studies. Major areas of concern include medical history of the Ancient Near East and Greco-Roman worlds; the religious, legal, and cultural status of people with disabilities in the biblical and formative Jewish and Christian periods; the representation of disability in biblical and cognate texts, biblical theology of the same, and disability in the history of biblical interpretation.

Call for papers: The unit is open to proposals under its general description and also that that take into account the regional context of Salzburg, independent of current national borders. We are also particularly interested in featuring papers that missed presentation opportunities in the past two years.

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Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics

Jermo van Nes
Paul Danove
Description: Hellenistic Greek forms the basis of studies relative to both testaments as well as much of the ancient world. This section welcomes papers on any aspect of the Greek found in the Septuagint, New Testament, or other Hellenistic literature. Linguistic, grammatical and lexical studies are particularly encouraged.

Call for papers: Hellenistic Greek forms the basis of studies relative to both testaments as well as much of the ancient world. This section welcomes papers on any aspect of the Greek found in the Septuagint, New Testament, or other Hellenistic literature. Linguistic, grammatical and lexical studies are particularly encouraged.

Tags: Greek - Attic (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Greek - Koine (LXX, NT, Patristics) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics))

Hellenistic Judaism

Daniela Scialabba
Julian Petkov
Description: This section is dedicated to the study of all aspects of Judaism related to Hellenistic times. The Hellenistic period includes its chronological, cultural, and linguistic dimensions.

Call for papers: We call for papers that discuss different aspects of Judaism existed and developed in Hellenistic times. Second, this year we will organize a special session dedicated to the publication of the first volume of the “Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint (HTLS). We use this opportunity to invite all participating authors of the 1&2 volumes of HTLS to submit their proposals for the ISBL meeting. Furthermore, we welcome all the papers concerned with a new methodology developed and applied in the structure of this lexicon, or discussion to the issue related to entries of the lexicon. Third, we will hold a joint session with the ISBL program units “Apocalyptic Literature,” and “Rethinking Biblical Written Tradition through Slavonic Interpretations.” Here, we welcome the papers on illness, suffering, and death as recorded in Slavonic, Apocalyptic, and Hellenistic Jewish literature in honor of those who have suffered from Covid -19 during pandemic and in the light of current concerns about public health.

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International Organization for Targumic Studies

Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman
Description: The International Organization for Targumic Studies is constituted for the study of the Targumim, ancient Jewish translations of Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, from any academic approach, methodology or purpose. It also includes the study of subjects related to research into the Targumim.

Call for papers: It is a pleasure for the executive committee of the International Organization for Targumic Studies (IOTS) to invite you to the IOTS conference, connected to the 2022 SBL International Meeting on 17-21 July 2022 in Salzburg. The conference will know at least the topics: 1) Targums of the Torah; 2)Targum and Qumran; 3) Targum Studies: Past and Present. Papers on other related topics are also welcome. SBL members can submit abstracts using the link below. IOTS members who are not SBL members can send abstracts of no more than 300 words to Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman (e.van.staalduine-sulman@vu.nl) before 1 March 2022.

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Intersectional Feminism(s)

Lilly (SJ) Nortje-Meyer
Marianne Bjelland Kartzow
Description: The aim of this unit is to generate collaborative insights within a broad understanding of intersectional feminism(s). Its purpose is to be inclusive and to challenge hegemonic paradigms and structures (including within feminism). This unit prides itself on championing interdisciplinarity, positionality, and recognition that the personal is political. We particularly welcome papers which reflect the breadth of voices and experiences that comprise global feminisms and encourage contributors from all contexts.

Call for papers: Call For Papers: The Feminist Interpretations unit will organize the following sessions. 1) Methodological and hermeneutical issues specifically relating to exegesis in feminist and gender studies. In this session, papers should focus on different methodologies: eco-feminist hermeneutics and ecological studies, historical-critical, narratology, intertextuality, decoloniality, interreligious, intersectional, and transnational studies ... and their relevance for feminist/gender studies. 2) Feminist exegesis and cultural studies, specifically on the reception history of feminist/gender-relevant themes and texts of the Bible. 3) Emerging scholars: We particularly invite emerging scholars to present their research from feminist, childist, gender, and/or sexuality perspectives, firmly anchored in clear methodology. 4) Childhood Studies: In this session, we are particularly interested in papers focussing on feminist-childist readings of biblical texts – still an unexplored field. 5) We are also interested in papers discussing current biblical feminist theory and practices in central Europe and the intersection of COVID-19 pandemic and women biblical scholars in these contexts.

Tags: Gender and Sexuality Criticism (incl. Feminist, Womanist, Masculinity Studies, Queer Theory) (Interpretive Approaches)

Johannine Literature

Bartosz Adamczewski
Dirk G. van der Merwe
Description: The unit promotes the study of the Johannine literature, a major component of the Christian Scripture; addressing the issues and concerns having to do with the analysis and interpretation of the literature.

Call for papers: We invite submission of papers on any topic related to Johannine literature, encompassing the Fourth Gospel and the three Johannine letters. Two sessions will focus on Johannine symbolism and metaphors as well as their spirituality.

Tags: Gospels - John (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Judaica

Elad Filler
Shamir Yona
Description: The unit draws together scholars from around the world to explore diverse issues that are related to Hebrew Scripture in its relationship to ancient, medieval, and modern Judaisms: medieval lexicography and poetics, musical exegesis, philosophy, and the study of the Talmud in the Far East.

Call for papers:

Tags: Ancient Near East - Iron Age (History & Culture), Apocalyptic Literature and Related Works (Early Jewish Literature - Jewish Pseudepigrapha), Art, Film, Music, and Literature (History of Interpretation / Reception History / Reception Criticism), Babylonian Talmud (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Biblical Interpretations (Early Jewish Literature - Dead Sea Scrolls), Biblical Texts (Early Jewish Literature - Dead Sea Scrolls), Comparative Approaches (Interpretive Approaches), Dead Sea Scrolls (Early Jewish Literature - Dead Sea Scrolls), Expansions of the Old Testament and Other Legends (Early Jewish Literature - Jewish Pseudepigrapha), Hebrew (classical) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Hymns and Prayers (Early Jewish Literature - Dead Sea Scrolls), Jerusalem Talmud (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Jewish (Ideology & Theology), Jewish Pseudepigrapha (Early Jewish Literature - Jewish Pseudepigrapha), Josephus (Early Jewish Literature - Other), Legal Writings (Early Jewish Literature - Dead Sea Scrolls), Lexicography (Text and Translation), Literary Criticism (incl. poetics, new criticism, formalism, close reading, narratology) (Interpretive Approaches), Mishnah (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Nonliterary Texts (lists, contracts) (Early Jewish Literature - Dead Sea Scrolls), Other Jewish Compositions (e.g., 1 Enoch) (Early Jewish Literature - Dead Sea Scrolls), Other Rabbinic Works - Exegetical Midrashim (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Other Rabbinic Works - Haggadic Midrashim (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Other Rabbinic Works - Halakic Midrashim (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Other Rabbinic Works - Homiletical Midrashim (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Other Texts (Early Jewish Literature - Other), Philo (Early Jewish Literature - Other), Prayers, Psalms, and Odes (Early Jewish Literature - Jewish Pseudepigrapha), Rabbinic Literature (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Rule Documents (Early Jewish Literature - Dead Sea Scrolls), Sectarian Texts (Early Jewish Literature - Dead Sea Scrolls), Targumic Texts (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Testaments (Early Jewish Literature - Jewish Pseudepigrapha), Tosefta (Early Jewish Literature - Rabbinic Literature), Wisdom and Philosophical Literature (Early Jewish Literature - Jewish Pseudepigrapha)

Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism

Dylan M. Burns
Hugo Lundhaug
Description: The Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section provides a forum for current international research on the Coptic codices discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945. Research areas include: issues of text and translation; analysis and interpretation of the tractates; codicological analysis; background and provenance of the manuscripts; studies relevant to the larger social and religio-historical contexts of the Nag Hammadi texts, especially their relation to Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman religious traditions.

Call for papers: The ISBL Section Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism invites papers on any topic related to the study of Nag Hammadi and Coptic ‘Gnostic’ literature, particularly the following two related themes, which will serve as our focus in separate sessions at the 2022 meeting. The first is apocryphal texts and traditions in Coptic manuscripts, and their relationship(s) to Nag Hammadi and Gnostic literature. How may the Coptic Gnostic corpus and related literature or currents be understood in terms of the greater history of ancient and medieval apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature? What kinds of traditions or themes found in the Nag Hammadi and related manuscripts enjoy significant afterlives and reception-histories in later apocryphal works, in Christian, Jewish, and Islamic contexts? Second, we call for papers that explore the material contexts of the Nag Hammadi Codices and related manuscripts, particularly as undertaken from the perspective of Greek and Coptic papyrology, as well as the study of lived religion. Papers dealing with other issues in the study of the Nag Hammadi Codices and their texts are also welcome, and may be included in an open session.

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Paul and Pauline Literature

Edward Pillar
Description: The unit provides a forum for presentation and discussion of original scholarly research on all facets of the interpretation of the Pauline Corpus in the New Testament. This includes consideration of exegetical, socio-historical, history of religions, theological, literary, history of interpretation, and methodological questions.

Call for papers: The unit provides a forum for presentation and discussion of original scholarly research on all facets of the interpretation of the Pauline Corpus in the New Testament. This includes consideration of exegetical, socio-historical, history of religions, theological, literary, history of interpretation, and methodological questions. Papers that focus on how the cultural experiences of present-day readers contribute to a fuller understanding of texts are also encouraged. In addition, papers related to the theme of gender, race, class, and the power relations of inequality are particularly welcome.

Tags: Pauline Epistles (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - 1 Corinthians (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - 1 Thessalonians (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - 1 Timothy (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - 2 Corinthians (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - 2 Thessalonians (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - 2 Timothy (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - Colossians (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - Ephesians (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - Galatians (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - Philemon (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - Philippians (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - Romans (Biblical Literature - New Testament), Pauline Epistles - Titus (Biblical Literature - New Testament)

Pentateuch (Torah)

Meike J. Röhrig
Stephen Germany
Description: The unit provides a forum for presentation and discussion of research on the Pentateuch / Torah, with a particular focus on transmission-historical issues and linkage of that area of inquiry with other more synchronic methodologies.

Call for papers: The unit provides a forum for presentation and discussion of research on the Pentateuch / Torah, with a particular focus on transmission-historical issues and linkage of that area of inquiry with other more synchronic methodologies.

Tags: Torah/Pentateuch (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Deuteronomy (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Exodus (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Genesis (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Leviticus (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Numbers (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint))

Performance Criticism of the Bible: Texts, Tradition, and Identity

Lee A. Johnson
Description: The Performance Criticism of the Bible: Texts, Tradition, and Identity unit seeks to provide a creative space for scholarly discussion that focuses on performance as a formative dynamic that shaped biblical texts. The insights from the various socio-cultural settings of the International SBL meetings will provide contexts for explorations of performance from arenas disparate, yet relatable to the context of biblical and other ancient texts.

Call for papers: The Performance Criticism of the Bible-Texts, Tradition, and Identity unit is hosting an OPEN session at the 2022 meeting. The session invites papers that focus on the formative influence of performance on the production of biblical texts, the performance of such texts in ancient contexts, the representation of oral performance in written texts, and performance-related features embedded in biblical and other ancient texts. For the 2022 meeting we will give preference to papers that focus upon performance as a catalyst for community identity, development, and cohesion.

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Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World

Johannes Bremer
Soo Kim Sweeney
Description: Investigates the inherent spatiality of human existence and how it affects human behavior, ideology, identity, and orientation. Ancient Mediterranean texts and societies are studied from a decidedly spatial perspective. Different approaches to spatiality will enrich investigations, e.g. narratological space, critical spatiality, sociological theories on space, space and identity, space and body.

Call for papers: At the 2022 International meeting, the Place, Space, and Identity section is running three different sessions: (1) the inherent spatiality of human existence in exile, which is reflected in the ancient Mediterranean texts, including the Bible; (2) Spatial reflections on the memory and forgetfulness in the ancient Mediterranean texts or in our reading those texts; (3) Third is a thematically open session.

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Political Biblical Criticism

Luis Menéndez-Antuña
Jacqueline M. Hidalgo
Description: The unit seeks to pursue, on the one hand, the task of criticism, its vision and mission, in the contemporary world and, on the other hand, the development of a political approach, globalsystemic in orientation, to focus on major crises of the world—migration, inequality, climate—bringing together thereby, in interdisciplinary fashion, Biblical Studies and such other fields as Migration Studies, Economic Studies, and Climate Studies.

Call for papers: For the 2022 meeting, we welcome papers that examine the intersections of the Bible (broadly construed) and pandemics. Topics could include how biblical texts represent pandemics, how biblical texts have been received historically to theorize pandemic phenomena, how pandemics have affected the production of knowledge in biblical scholarship, how pandemics have altered the teaching of biblical studies, or how this pandemic is shifting the politics of the field. Bearing in mind the shifting political environments we have witnessed globally and in Europe (e.g., Brexit, a possible Poexit), we also welcome papers that reflect on how shifting geopolitical relationships impact the production of knowledge in biblical studies, or how political readings of biblical literature might address contemporary global crises.

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Postcolonial Studies

Sung Uk Lim
Description: This unit explores the diversity of postcolonial studies and their relevance in particular contexts, encompassing critical accounts of reception history, postcolonial theory, and fresh proposals for reading biblical texts.

Call for papers: This unit explores the diversity of postcolonial studies and their relevance in particular contexts, encompassing critical accounts of reception history, postcolonial theory, and fresh proposals for reading biblical texts.

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Prophets

Alphonso Groenewald
Johanna Erzberger
Description: This unit aims to provide an open forum for scholars to present papers on a variety of topics germane to the study of ancient Israelite prophecy and prophetic literature.

Call for papers: The Prophecy unit welcomes proposals for papers on prophecy and prophetic texts in the Bible. Four sessions are planned for the unit. Two sessions will focus on the role of biographic elements in prophetic literature. Whereas the prophetic biography in the books of Ezekiel and Jeremiah plays an important role regarding the message and the structure of the book, its role in other prophetic books might be a more subtle one. In none of the books the figure of prophet is totally absent. Papers may explore the role of biographic elements from either a diachronic or a synchronic or a combined perspective. Papers will also be accepted for two open session on any topic relevant to ancient Israelite prophecy.

Tags: Former Prophets (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Former Prophets - 1-2 Kings (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Former Prophets - 1-2 Samuel (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Former Prophets - Judges (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Former Prophets -Joshua (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets (not including The Twelve) (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - Ezekiel (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - Isaiah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - Jeremiah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Amos (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Habakkuk (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Haggai (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Hosea (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Joel (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Jonah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Malachi (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Micah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Nahum (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Obadiah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Zechariah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Zephaniah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint))

Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts

Linda Joelsson
Pieter van der Zwan
Description: Psychological Criticism complements approaches that consider texts and their impact/s from the perspective of the reader, alongside literary, rhetorical and theological approaches, identifying how texts operate within the minds of their readers, or portray thoughts and motivations of the characters in their narratives.

Call for papers: "Psychological perspectives on the Bible as dialogical partner in identity issues in a pluralistic world.” This theme is open for the ongoing struggles with racism, family constellations and even ecological challenges, to name just a few. We prefer papers that make explicit use of existing psychological theories. The psychological aspects of human life are integral, but they represent an under-examined area in Biblical studies. Biblical authors show great interest in people's capacity to cope psychologically with their circumstances, but also to envision the good life, and paths to get there. This section invites papers on the psychological aspects of the biblical themes and texts, since psychological interest may be found behind the texts, in the texts themselves, and in their reception up to the present day. It intends to explore what the potential would be of an examination of Biblical texts to the promotion of psychological health in individuals and in the societies today. The intersection between biblical theology and psychology is a meeting between two disciplines in their full right – each with their specific questions and areas of expertise, but very much complementary to each other.

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Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Angela Kim Harkins
Atar Livneh
Description: The unit provides forum for presentation and discussion of views relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran settlement, and the people of that place and of those documents.

Call for papers: For the 2022 ISBL meeting in Salzburg, Austria, the Qumran and Dead Sea Scrolls program unit will host three sessions. The first session is a joint session with the Septuagint Studies program unit on the contributions of the Qumran biblical scrolls to the understanding of the Septuagint both as a textual witness to the Hebrew Bible and a historical document in its own right. We encourage proposals that offer a broad retrospective examination of this topic and those that take up specific texts or group of texts, with priority given to proposals that proceed from the latest research in the study of the Scrolls (e.g., material reconstruction, scribal practices) and the textual criticism of the Septuagint. All proposals are asked to clearly identify the texts under discussion and the methodological approach that will be used. This session will include an invited respondent to the papers. Our second session is an invited review panel on Henryk Drawnel's publication of the Aramaic Manuscripts of Enoch from Cave 4 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2020). This book review panel was planned for 2021 ISBL but postponed due to the pandemic. Our third session is a completely open call for papers on any topic related to the study of the Scrolls. Please identify which texts will be discussed and a clear statement of the methodology that will be used.

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Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective

Abdulla Galadari
Description: This unit seeks to foster comparative research on the Quran and Muslim culture, discourse, and devotional life. We encourage papers and panels that examine the Quran and Islamic tradition in the wider context of the history of the Western monotheisms; explore Islam’s profound historical relationships with Judaism, Christianity, and the biblical heritage; and promote comparative inquiry and intercommunal dialogue more generally.

Call for papers: This unit seeks to foster comparative research on the Quran and Muslim culture, discourse, and devotional life. We encourage papers and panels that examine the Quran and Islamic tradition in the wider context of the history of the Western monotheisms; explore Islam’s profound historical relationships with Judaism, Christianity, and the biblical heritage; and promote comparative inquiry and intercommunal dialogue more generally.

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Rethinking Biblical Written Tradition through Slavonic Interpretations

Anissava Miltenova
Ljubica Jovanovic
Description: Some of the lost Second Temple texts have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, but, for reasons still unknown, a number have been preserved only in Slavonic version, from centuries later. These Slavonic manuscripts have been used to restore the lost Greek originals and to fill in the gap in the textual tradition. While welcoming these classical text critical approaches, this program unit focuses more strongly on the appropriation and adaptation of these texts in the Slavic cultures that received them and looks for papers that study the Vorlage and transmission of Slavonic versions as well as Slavic interpretations of the Bible.

Call for papers: We are calling for the presentations on various biblical literary traditions through Slavonic interpretations as laid out in the description of our unit. Importantly, we have already accepted papers that remained from the canceled ISBL meeting in Canterbury, England (2021). First, we accept all papers concerned with the religion of the Slavs or the topics on the Old Slavic language and its scripts. This year we welcome papers on the fate of Slavonic manuscripts in order to raise the ethical issues about the manuscript collections worldwide and have a look on their digitization and accessibility to the wider audience. Second, we invite the proposals on art, architecture, music or film that relate Slavic cultures to the Bible, no matter if the Slaves are majority or minority. Just as the Archdiocese of Salzburg played an important role in Mozart’s music career, so it also influenced religious life of different Slavic groups in Europe from medieval to contemporary times. Finally, we will hold a joint session with the ISBL program units “Apocalyptic Literature,” and “Hellenistic Judaism." Here, we welcome papers on illness, suffering, and death as recorded in Slavonic, Apocalyptic, and Hellenistic Jewish literature in honor of those who have suffered from Covid -19 during pandemic and in the light of current concerns about public health.

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Return Migration in Biblical Literature

John Ahn
Description: Return is a literary trope and social phenomenon in the Hebrew Bible, Intertestamental, Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and other literary cultures. In Homer’s Iliad, Odysseus returns home. As a new field (1980s), return migration studies offer new critical insights on historical, literary, and sociological matters related to biblical and extra-biblical studies.

Call for papers: Return is a literary trope and social phenomenon in the Hebrew Bible, Intertestamental, Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and other literary cultures. In Homer’s Iliad, Odysseus returns home. As a new field (1980s), return migration studies offer new critical insights on historical, literary, and sociological matters related to biblical and extra-biblical studies.

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Ritual in the Biblical World

Giancarlo Voellmy
Pekka Pitkänen
Description: The Ritual in the Biblical World Section focuses on the nature, meaning and function of ritual found in textual sources (HB, NT, non-canonical) in the larger context of the material culture of the ancient world, employing insights and methods of the field of ritual theory and ethnography.

Call for papers: The Ritual in the Biblical World section will offer at least two planned sessions of papers at the 2022 International Meeting in Salzburg, Austria. 1) We invite papers for an open session on all aspects of ritual activities, with their textual, as well as archaeological and iconographical expressions, in the larger context of their cultural and religious functions in the ancient Near East and in the ancient Mediterranean area. 2) A second session will focus on the topic of rituals for health and wellbeing. We invite all who are interested in participating in either session to submit their proposal.

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Septuagint Studies

Tuukka Kauhanen
Description: This unit is open to all papers devoted to the Septuagint and related versions.

Call for papers: All abstracts are expected to name the most important source texts, methodology, and a concrete research question. In addition, the abstract should explain how the proposed paper is connected with previous research and current developments in the field of Septuagint studies.

For the 2022 ISBL meeting in Salzburg, Austria, Septuagint Studies will host two thematic joint sessions with other program units:

The "Qumran and Dead Sea Scrolls" and "Septuagint Studies" program units will host a joint session on the contributions of the Qumran biblical scrolls to the understanding of the Septuagint both as a textual witness to the Hebrew Bible and a historical document in its own right. We welcome proposals that can offer a broad retrospective examination of this topic and those that take up specific texts or group of texts, with priority given to proposals that proceed from the latest research in the study of the Scrolls (e.g., material reconstruction, scribal practices) and the textual criticism of the Septuagint. All proposals are asked to clearly identify the texts under discussion and the methodological approach that will be used. This session will include an invited respondent to the papers.

The "Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods" and "Septuagint Studies" program units will host a joint session on “Textual criticism: revisions and recensions”. Papers in the thematic session should touch upon the well-known recensions of the Septuagint (Kaige, Hexaplaric, Lucianic/Antiochian) or other revisional activity concerning the Greek Bible. Papers seeking to combine the study of the Septuagint revisions to other approaches (e.g., textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint syntax and lexicography, theology of the Septuagint) are especially welcome.

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Status of Women in the Profession

Meira Kensky
Description: The Committee holds sessions each year exploring the nature of the profession as experienced by women biblical scholars. The goal of the sessions are to provide a forum for open discussion, networking, and the sharing of ideas.

Call for papers: SBL's Status of Women in the Profession Committee invites papers for a discussion about the impact of current global challenges on biblical studies as viewed from the perspective of women scholars. Given the major flux in geopolitical policies and upheaval, and especially in relation to such issues as public health, immigration, war and hunger refugees, and climate-induced challenges, we would like to assess how these issues impact scholarship and research in specific regions and/or scholarly communities. We invite women scholars whose work is informed by feminist, gender studies, or other current perspectives, to talk about their commitments and goals of research with regard to these challenges.

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Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible

Talia Sutskover
Zvi Shimon
Description: The unit will offer a forum for scholars interested in stylistics and the Hebrew Bible. The goal is to explore the relation between form and meaning of the text drawing on a variety of approaches (rhetorical, narratological, cognitive, ideological…).

Call for papers: For the Zaltsburg meeting in 2022 we will organize two sessions: one thematic and one open session. The first session welcomes papers discussing suspense creation in biblical narrative. The Bible like all good literature, aims at captivating the reader. The session will deal with methods used by the biblical authors for building tension and drama in the narrative in order to interest the reader in the literary work. The session is open to different methodological approaches with a special interest in narratology. Insights into literary elements building suspense or curiosity on the part of the reader, both in relation to formulation, structuring and ordering of the narrative or any other literary aspect contributing to the suspense and drama of the narrative are desirable. The second session will be open to all who are interested in stylistics and the Hebrew Bible, including semantic, structural, grammatical, phonetic or other features. The goal is to explore the relation between form and meaning of the text drawing on a variety of approaches (rhetorical, narratological, cognitive, literary, ideological...).

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Synoptic Gospels

Thomas Goud
John P. Harrison
Description: The Synoptic Gospels, which have formed a coherent unit since antiquity, have played an important role in modern scholarship. This section provides an open forum for the presentation of papers, from a variety of perspectives and using a variety of methods, on these seminal religious texts.

Call for papers: Call for papers: This year the Synoptic Gospels section will offer: i) an invited panel to discuss Chris Keith, The Gospel as Manuscript: An Early History of the Jesus Tradition as Material Artifact (Oxford: OUP, 2020); ii) as complement to the first session, an open invitation for papers on textuality, orality, and gospel origins and development; and iii) an open invitation for papers, from a variety of perspectives and using a variety of methods, on the Synoptic Gospels. For the open sessions, papers which address subjects that interact, compare, and/or contrast with more than one of these Gospels are particularly welcome.

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Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods

Jeff Cate
Leonardo Pessoa da Silva Pinto
Description: This program unit is devoted to the textual criticism of early Jewish and early Christian writings: This includes the Jewish Bible, early Jewish literature, and the Old Testament (in Hebrew and Aramaic, Greek, and other ancient languages), as well as early Christian literature and the New Testament (in Greek, Latin, and other ancient languages). We offer a forum for the investigation of all types of material witnesses related to the text of this literature—tablets, manuscripts, ostraca, inscriptions—and for the consideration of the textual form of this literature reflected in its citation and use by ancient authors and in writings from antiquity through the Middle Ages. This consists not only of contributions that deal with the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin textual witnesses, but also those that engage evidence in Ugaritic, Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Coptic, Armenian, and other linguistic traditions. A wide variety of additional issues related to textual criticism are also addressed, including epigraphy, manuscript studies, papyrology, codicology, paleography, scribal habits and the production of texts, the history of transmission (and its cultural, social, and religious settings), the practice of textual criticism from antiquity to modern times, restoration and conservation, the use of modern technology in studying this material, the production of critical editions, and discussions of particular passages.

Call for papers: The SBL-International program unit “Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods” is calling for submissions of papers for the July 2022 meeting scheduled for Salzburg, Austria. Papers will be considered that are devoted to the textual criticism of early Jewish and early Christian writings, including the Jewish Bible, early Jewish literature, and the Old Testament (in Hebrew and Aramaic, Greek, and other ancient languages), as well as early Christian literature and the New Testament (in Greek, Latin, and other ancient languages). Papers can investigate different types of material witnesses related to the text of this literature—tablets, manuscripts, ostraca, inscriptions—or consider the textual forms of this literature reflected in its citation and use by ancient authors and in writings from antiquity through the Middle Ages. This consists not only of contributions that deal with the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin textual witnesses, but also those that engage evidence in Ugaritic, Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Coptic, Armenian, and other linguistic traditions. The Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods and Septuagint Studies program units will host a joint session on “Textual criticism: revisions and recensions”. Papers in the thematic session should touch upon the well-known recensions of the Septuagint (Kaige, Hexaplaric, Lucianic/Antiochian) or other revisional activity concerning the Greek Bible. Papers seeking to combine the study of the Septuagint revisions to other approaches (e.g., textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint syntax and lexicography, theology of the Septuagint) are especially welcome

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The Language of Pain in Ancient Israel and Early Judaism

Danilo Verde
Martina Weingärtner
Description: This program unit intends to research how pain was experienced, conceptualized, expressed, and related to in ancient Israel and early Judaism, by investigating linguistic expressions of pain in all Jewish sources at our disposal from prior to ca. 200 CE.

Call for papers: During the 2022 SBL International meeting in Salzburg (Austria), the research unit “The Language of Pain in Ancient Israel and Early Judaism” will organize two sessions. The first session will be open to proposals on all aspects related to the language of pain in ancient Israel and early Judaism and in all Jewish sources at our disposal. The second session will focus on the relationship between pain and emotions and how this relationship is expressed in Hebrew from prior to the Persian age. In particular, we accept proposals that investigate the semantics of lexemes and expressions, including metaphors, expressing the relationship and the entanglement between physical pain and what we nowadays call ‘emotional distress’ or ‘grief.’

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Ugarit and Its World

Shamir Yona
Shirly Natan Yulzary
Description: The unit explores the ancient city of Ugarit, its culture, cult, texts, history, and material culture. We also have interest in research that uses Ugaritic Studies to shed new light on different aspects of the Hebrew Bible and other ancient Near Eastern texts.

Call for papers: The “Ugarit and its World” section explores the religions, languages, literature, social structure, and economy of the Late Bronze Age kingdom of Ugarit. Situated on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean between Egypt and Hatti, Ugarit was subject to ever-shifting political dynamics. Its location also allowed Ugarit to evolve into a cosmopolitan kingdom. Ugarit is perhaps most famous for its texts that preserve everything from mundane land transactions to lofty mythological literature. The epic and mythological texts, in particular, have drawn a great deal of attention for the thematic and poetic similarities to both contemporary literature and literature in the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, we welcome papers that focus on Ugarit and its contemporaneous context as well as comparative papers that contribute to the field of Hebrew Bible studies. This year we intend to focus on the interpretation of texts and on cultural perspectives on Ugarit. We invite papers that focus on cultural connections between ancient peoples and between literary corpora. The goal of these sessions is to better understand the Syro-Palestinian cultural continuum throughout the Late Bronze Age.

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Writings (including Psalms)

George Athas
Description: The aim of the unit to promote all aspects of and approaches to the study of the texts commonly referred to as the Writings (Ketuvim) in the Hebrew Bible.

Call for papers: Papers are welcome on any part of the Writings, especially research applying newer interpretive lenses, methodologies, and discoveries to specific passages or books. Papers on the Psalms may focus on individual psalms, or the corpus as a whole. Papers on other books of the Writings may focus on discussion of poetics, historiography, interaction with empire, migration, identity formation, cultural exchange, minority-group interpretations, apocalyptic and wisdom themes, or canon formation.

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