October 18, 2017 Newsletter
SBL Newsletter View this issue in your browser or see the archive.

SBL Council News

The SBL Council convenes its fall meeting on October 21-22, 2017, in Atlanta, GA. In addition to attending to regular business, such as reviewing reports from SBL departments and the Executive Director, the Council will continue working on a statement on academic boycotts, which it anticipates having ready by the end of the year. The Council will also continue ongoing strategic discussion about the opportunities and challenges the field of biblical studies faces, as well as its work with SBL staff on long-term development and fundraising goals. Finally, the Council will host a conversation with Anselm Hagedorn, Chair of the SBL Annual Meeting Program Committee, about the committee's ongoing work and how the Council can best support the committee’s considerable efforts.

NEH @ the Annual Meeting

The National Endowment for the Humanities offers grants to scholars and others engaged in humanistic research and teaching. Twenty-six grant programs support individuals, teams, and institutions doing work for other scholars, students, or the general public. Fundable projects include research for monographs, scholarly editions, preserving or digitizing archival collections, professional development for teachers, museum exhibits and documentaries. The NEH has a long record of supporting important scholarship in religious studies, including a variety of disciplinary approaches and religious traditions.  A program officer will be available at this year's annual meetings to talk one-on-one about grant programs and possible applications. Visit the NEH booth (#2613) in the exhibit hall or write Daniel Sack at dsack@neh.gov for an appointment. More information on the NEH and grant programs is at neh.gov.

SBL on Twitter

@BibleOdyssey
shares content related to Bible Odyssey and biblical studies in general.

@SBLSite
a combined channel for communication to SBL members from the SBL Professions, Congresses, and Membership departments.

@SBLPress will be posting new publications, e-book releases, and special sales.

Bible Odyssey

Any topics you would like to see Bible Odyssey address? Let us know at: bow@sbl-site.org


Call for Papers

2018 Sean W. Dever Memorial Prize Call is open. All submissions must be received no later than December 31, 2017.
More information


SBL Calendar

A listing of worldwide events of interest to biblical and religious studies scholars.

Recent SBLHS2 Blog Posts

Vetus Latina (VLB)

Studia Patristica

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition

Follow handbook updates on the SBL Handbook of Style blog

Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion about the SBL Handbook of Style, 2nd edition?

If so, please contact SBL Press at SBLHS2@sbl-site.org.


In Memorium

David Bartlett (1941-2017)


Support SBL with your Amazon Purchases


Awards Open for Submission

As of October 1st, many of the award programs available to members of SBL are open for submission. Check out the webpages of the SBL – De Gruyter Prize for Biblical Studies and Reception History, the Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship, and the David Noel Freedman Award for Excellence and Creativity in Hebrew Bible Scholarship. Submit your application today!
More information


2018 International Meeting Call for Papers Open

In partnership with the European Association of Biblical Studies, SBL will hold its 2018 International Meeting in Helsinki, Finland. The meeting provides new, unique, and exciting opportunities to make connections, expand our scholarly perspectives, and support the work of colleagues across the world. We look forward to your contribution and participation. Submit your papers today!


Annual Meetings

SBL Housing for the Annual Meeting closes October 20th!  If you need to make any changes to your current reservation, or make a new reservation, please do so before October 20th!  Go here for more details about the Annual Meetings 2017.

To make changes or add a housing reservation to your current registration, please go here and select Modify Registration.  Or follow the instructions and link located in your registration confirmation.

If you haven’t registered for the Annual Meeting, please click here.

The app for the Annual Meeting is now available for download.

Please review the Professional Conduct and Harassment Policy.


CFP Luce Foundation

The Luce Foundation’s Theology Program has recently issued a request for proposals for projects that seek to advance public scholarship on religion and theology. The Foundation invites inquiries for university-based projects that are centrally animated by faculty members based at research institutions. The deadline for letters of inquiry is December 15, 2017. More details are available on the Foundation’s website.


Preorder from SBL Press

Dever bookcover Beyond the Texts: An Archaeological Portrait of Ancient Israel and Judah    
William G. Dever

William G. Dever offers a welcome perspective on ancient Israel and Judah that prioritizes the archaeological remains to render history as it was—not as the biblical writers argue it should have been. Drawing from the most recent archaeological data as interpreted from a nontheological point of view and supplementing that data with biblical material only when it converges with the archaeological record, Dever analyzes all the evidence at hand to provide a new history of ancient Israel and Judah that is accessible to all interested readers.

Hardcover $49.95, ISBN 9780884142188 
772 pages • 2017 


Now available from SBL Press

Didymus the Blind and the Alexandrian Christian Reception of Philo
Justin M. Rogers

Didymus the Blind (ca. 313–398 CE) was regarded by his students as one of the greatest Christian exegetes of the fourth century, yet his commentaries remain largely neglected in modern study. Rogers surveys the commentaries on Genesis, Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Zechariah in an effort to highlight Didymus’s Jewish sources, giving special attention to Philo of Alexandria. It is reported that Didymus mentions Philo by name more than any Alexandrian Christian author and that many of Philo’s treatises were directly accessible to Didymus while he was authoring his exegetical works. Rogers also explores the influence of the Alexandrian Christian tradition, especially on the roles of Clement and Origen in mediating Philo’s approach. Philonic material in Didymus is covered by extensive commentary, demonstrating that Philo was among the principle sources for the exegetical works of Didymus the Blind.

Paper $36.95, ISBN 9781628371987
Hardcover $51.95, ISBN 9780884142652 
Kindle, ASIN B075G21SCN
Google Play, ISBN 9780884142645
272 pages • 2017 • Studia Philonica Monographs 8

Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement in Early Judaism and Christianity
Henrietta L. Wiley and Christian A. Eberhart, editors

For centuries the Jerusalem temple cult epitomized the religious, cultural, and sociopolitical identity of Judaism. The contributions to this volume, an international group of scholars representing different fields and diverse religious backgrounds, address and explore various aspects of that reality, focusing in turn on purification in the Torah and the Dead Sea Scrolls, prophetic critiques of sacrifice, atonement in Judaism and Christianity, and the temple and priesthood in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament. Each essay offers thoughtful and creative critique of established traditions, attempts to renegotiate those traditions, and affirms the continuing relevance of ancient Jewish cultic notions for modern readers, long after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.

Paper $56.95, 9781628371550
Hardcover $76.95, 9780884141914
Kindle, ASIN B075G4Y55F
Google Play, ISBN 9780884141907
450 pages • 2017 • Resources for Biblical Study 85

Mixed Feelings and Vexed Passions: Exploring Emotions in Biblical Literature
F. Scott Spencer, editor

This ground-breaking collection of essays explores the rich array of emotions in biblical literature displayed by divine and human figures. How do biblical characters’ feelings affect their relationship with God, one another, and the world? How do they mix together, for good or ill, for flourishing or vexation? Deeply engaged with both ancient and modern contexts, including the burgeoning interdisciplinary study of emotion in the humanities and sciences, an international team of Hebrew Bible and New Testament scholars offers incisive case studies of passions ranging from joy, happiness, and trust to grief, hate, and disgust.

Paper $49.95, ISBN 9781628371949
Hardcover $64.95, ISBN 9780884142577 
Kindle, ASIN B075JMN872
Google Play, ISBN 9780884142560 
418 pages • 2017 • Resources for Biblical Study 90




Handbook SBL HANDBOOK OF STYLE   REVISED, UPDATED, EXPANDED

Extensive changes and additions render the first edition outdated
Essential for publishing in ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and early Christian studies
Definitive answers to questions of style, spelling, transliteration, and citation

Hardcover $39.95  •  ISBN 9781589839649  •  368 pages

Send us a note to Unsubscribe from this list.

Our mailing address is:
825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta, Georgia, USA 30329

Our telephone:
404-727-3100

Copyright (C) 2017 / Society of Biblical Literature/ All rights reserved.