If you’ve registered for the SBL Annual Meetings 2019, please review some announcements below. If you haven’t registered, there is still time! Go here for more information.

Use our mobile app. Download our mobile app and have everything you need to know about the Annual Meeting directly on your mobile device. You can start preparing early by viewing session listings and building your personal itinerary ahead of time. Learn about event buzz (or even generate some yourself!) and communicate with other attendees before and during the Annual Meeting. Use this app to view exhibitor info and map locations or take session notes. Apple Users, click here, to download the mobile app. Android Users, click here to download the mobile app. Or for an interactive web version, click here.

Hotel cancellations or changes. If you booked a room through SBL and need to make any changes or cancellations to it, please contact the hotel directly at this time.

Complimentary wifi. There will be complimentary wifi at the San Diego Convention Center as well as the Hilton Bayfront. The Network Name is AARSBL19 and the Password will be SanDiego19.

Need a headshot? You can quickly get your photo taken by a professional photographer while you are at the SBL Annual Meeting on November 23rd or 24th, anytime between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm for only $40. The photographer will be located at the back of the 300 row in the Exhibit Hall in the San Diego Convention Center

Tag us! Use the hashtag #AARSBL19 when you are posting photos or sharing news at the SBL Annual Meeting 2019.

For more information about the Annual Meetings, including information on when the exhibit hall is open, transportation information, Instagram contests, coffee breaks, etc. please go to our website here.

The Nominating Committee reviews nominations and nominates to Council for election members of standing committees and representatives to other organizations as required. The Nominating Committee also nominates to the Society for election at the Annual Business Meeting the President, Vice-President, and Council members. (Program Committees nominate and vote on Program Unit Chairs and report to Nominating Committee and Council. Research and Publications Committee nominates and votes on Book Series Editors and reports to Nominating Committee and Council. Members at the Business Meeting receive a report of all votes by Council, Research and Publications, and Program Committee. For more information on Policies and Governance, see the SBL Policy Manual.) For a list of the various committees and their responsibilities, see http://sbl-site.org/SBLcommittees.aspx and select a committee to read its description.

The Nominating Committee will begin its work submitting names to Council to fill positions open January 2021. SBL Members are encouraged and invited to submit nominations. Members may nominate themselves. All nominees must be members in good standing of the SBL. The following committees will have positions open in 2020:

SBL Council
Vice President of SBL
Nominating Committee
Finance Committee
Annual Meeting Program Committee
International Meeting Program Committee
Research and Publications Committee
Professional Development Committee
International Cooperation Initiative Committee

Nominations should include: a summary of the nominee’s participation in SBL; a statement describing the nominee’s interest in that particular group; and a copy of the nominee’s curriculum vita. To submit a nomination, please email nominations@sbl-site.org.

Jewish Biblical Exegesis from Islamic Lands: The Medieval Period

Meira Polliack and Athalya Brenner-Idan, editors

Medieval Judeo-Arabic translations of the Hebrew Bible and their commentaries provide a rich source for understanding a formative period in the intellectual, literary, and cultural history and heritage of Jews in Islamic lands. The carefully selected texts in this volume offer intriguing insight into Arabic translations and commentaries by Rabbanite and Karaite Jewish exegetes from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE.

Paperback • Hardcover • Kindle • Google Play

Praying Legally

Shalom E. Holtz

In biblical and other ancient Near Eastern sources prayer is an opportunity to make one’s case before divine judges. Prayers were formulated using courtroom or trial language, including demands for judgment, confessions, and accusations. The presence of these legal concepts reveals ancient Near Eastern thoughts about what takes place when one prays. By reading ancient prayers together with legal texts, this book shows how speakers took advantage of prayer as an opportunity to have their day in the divine court and even sue against divine injustice.

Paperback • Hardcover • Kindle • Google Play

The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Fifty Years of the Pseudepigrapha Section at the SBL

Matthias Henze and Liv Ingeborg Lied, editors

This volume celebrates fifty years of the study of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha at the Society of Biblical Literature and the pioneering scholars who introduced the Pseudepigrapha to the Society. Since 1969, the Pseudepigrapha Section has provided a forum for a rigorous discussion of these understudied texts and their relevance for Judaism and Christianity. The current volume tells the history of the section’s beginnings and critically examines the vivid debates that have shaped the field over the last half-century. It concludes with a look toward the future of the study of the Pseudepigrapha.

Paperback • Hardcover • Kindle • Google Play