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Meeting Abstracts

2013 International Meeting

St. Andrews, Scotland

Meeting Begins7/7/2013
Meeting Ends7/11/2013

Call for Papers Opens: 10/15/2012
Call for Papers Closes: 2/11/2013

Requirements for Participation

  Meeting Abstracts


The Empty Throne and the Empty Sanctuary: From Aniconism to the Invisibility of God in Second Temple Theology
Program Unit:
Reinhard Achenbach, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

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The Amanah of Nehemiah 10 between Deuteronomy and Holiness-Code
Program Unit: Persian Period
Reinhard Achenbach, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

The paper investigates the relation between the measures mentioned in the literary core of Neh 10 and distinctions in the Pentateuchal tradition. It will show that according to the tradition of Neh 10 the regulations of the Holiness Code were not established sacral law at the time of Nehemiah. That means, that the canonisation of the H should be dated not earlier than the 2nd half of the 5th centure B.C.E.


Galatians 1:1-20 as the Structure-Giving Hypotext for Mark 1–3
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Bartosz Adamczewski, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw

The opening section of the Marcan Gospel (Mk 1-3) evidently contains numerous Pauline ideas. Moreover, it has been suggested that Mk 1-3 originated from a creative, hypertextual reworking of the opening section of the Letter to the Galatians (Gal 1:1-20). However, the detailed features of the postulated hypertextual relationship between both texts were difficult to discover and analyse. Against this background, it will be demonstrated that if the criterion of common thematic order is consistently applied to both texts, Mk 1-3 turns out to be a result of strictly sequential hypertextual reworking of Gal 1:1-20. In particular, Mk 1:1-8 narratively illustrates the most important ideas of Gal 1:1-14 (only one gospel of Christ, no competitive messenger, a zealous Jew, etc.), Mk 1:9-45 illustrates the most important ideas of Gal 1:15-17b (graceful revelation of God’s Son in the main character, immediately not conferring with any human being but going to the wilderness, etc.), and Mk 2-3 illustrates the most important ideas of Gal 1:17c-20 (returning to the city, two-week-long stay, James the Lord’s brother and other Jerusalem apostles, etc.).


Paul’s Attitudes to Women (1 Cor 14:34-35) and to Secular Power (Rom 13:1-10)
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Bartosz Adamczewski, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw

The contested fragment 1 Cor 14:34-35 is at times regarded as a non-Pauline interpolation in the text of 1 Cor. However, the most recent research on the phenomenon of sequential hypertextuality in Paul’s letters, especially on the sequential hypertextual reworking of 1 Cor in Rom, reveals that the entire section 1 Cor 14:32-40, with its ideas of being subject to human authorities, the binding force of the law, the word of God, and the commandment of the Lord, functioned as a hypotext for the later text Rom 13:1-10. The hypertextual link between both these Pauline texts shows that in Paul’s view, the wife’s subjection to the authority of her husband in her realm of life (i.e. at home) is paralleled by the husband’s subjection to civil authorities in his realm of life (i.e. in the public sphere), and the whole system of everyone’s being subjected to some superior authorities should be regarded as having been instituted by God. The analysis of the hypertextual link between 1 Cor 14:32-40 and Rom 13:1-10 enables modern scholars to interpret Paul’s attitudes to women and to secular power in a more balanced and complementary way.


Does God Regret? A Theological Problem That Concerned the Kaige Revisors
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Anneli Aejmelaeus, Helsingin Yliopisto - Helsingfors Universitet

Characteristic features of the Kaige recension are mostly observed in translation-technical details. Such were listed by Barthelemy himself and have been repeated ever since. Barthelemy however also saw an exegetical/theological aspect in the early Jewish revision of the Greek text. This part of the description of the Kaige tradition has not been as well received as the translation-technical part. This paper discusses one theological problem that clearly troubled the early revisors.


The Perception and Ordering of Space in Psalm 139
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Jean Agbagnon, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

(Please note: The paper will be read in English) In ihrer Raumsoziologie unterscheidet M. Löw zwei Prozesse: Spacing und Syntheseleistung. Spacing ist ein Positionieren von sozialen Gütern und Menschen, Syntheseleistung ist eine Verknüpfungsleistung. Als heuristische Kategorien sollen sie für die Betrachtung des „Raumwissens und Wissensräume“ (Gottes Wissen, menschenmögliches Wissen) in Raum und Zeit zur Analyse von Ps 139 dienen. Spacing ist in diesem Kontext die subjektive Raumaufteilung von raumzeitlich bezogenen Objekten: Ferne und Nähe (Vv.2-5), Himmel und Scheol, Osten und Westen, Licht und Finsternis, Tag und Nacht (Vv.7-12), Mutterschoß, Verborgenheit, Tiefe der Erde (Vv.13-16). Syntheseleistung beschreibt, wie sich Gott und Mensch jeweils im Raum verhalten: Ein „Ich“ beschreibt in der Wahrnehmung seiner Gottesbeziehung die raumzeitlich-körperlich enge Nähe Gottes zu sich als Geschöpf. Das „Ich“ wird sich bewusst seiner raumzeitlich-körperlichen Untrennbarkeit zum Schöpfergott. Diese subjektive Raumaufteilung und –wahrnehmung stärkt die Gottesbeziehung des Beters und ermöglicht ihm eine Neuverortung in Raum und Zeit, die ein Glaubenskonzept in ein Raumsystem überträgt. Diese Betrachtung von Ps 139 führt zu einer theologischen, philosophischen, psychologischen, kosmologischen sowie soziologischen Auseinandersetzung mit Raum und Zeit. Der Text stellt selbst einen Raum dar, der aber zugleich aus dem Raum herausführt mit einer tiefen Raumreflektion als Spiegel eines Altertumswissens.


The Discourse on Chaos and Apocalypse of the Posthuman (Mark 13)
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
George Aichele, Independent Scholar

According to Vincent Taylor, Mark 13 "can hardly be called an apocalypse, since it lacks such characteristic ideas as the casting down of Satan, the Last Judgment, the punishment of sinners, and the blessedness of the righteous" (1953: 637). Furthermore, Mark's chapter 13 is not eschatological. Instead Mark 13 presents Jesus's discourse on chaos, or what Deleuze and Guattari call the disintegration of the "full body" into the "body without organs." What is revealed is the demise of the old gods and the arrival of many male and female sons of men to become "master of the house" (Mark 13:35; compare Daniel 7:14). The tension between the human and superhuman in the Markan son of man sayings indicates that these sons of men are posthuman beings. On this reading, chapter 13 is neither out of place in the larger Markan narrative nor is it a "farewell discourse." Instead it is an intercalation into Mark's concluding stories of Jesus's final days of conflict, trial, and suffering (chapters 11-16), with which it resonates in typically Markan fashion. In addition to Deleuze and Guattari, I draw upon writings by Nietzsche, Derrida, Philip Davies, and Katherine Hayles (How We Became Posthuman), among others.


The Eyewitnesses and the Production of the Gospels: Richard Bauckham's Impact on Gospel Theory
Program Unit:
Loveday Alexander, University of Sheffield

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“The Agent of the King is Treated as the King Himself": Does Obeisance Imply Divinity?
Program Unit:
Philip Alexander, University of Manchester

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The Text Form of the Minor Prophets in the Book of Revelation: Two Allusions to Zechariah 4 as a Test Case
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Garrick Allen, University of St. Andrews

It is widely agreed among scholars that both Revelation 5.6b (in conjunction with the three preceding references to “seven spirits”) and 11.4 allude to Zechariah 4.10 and 4.14 respectively. The majority of scholars and commentators note these references and move directly to a theological interpretation of how the references relate to the central idea of this chapter from Zechariah: that the plans of God are accomplished “not by might nor by power, but by my spirit” (4.6). However, few pause to discuss the mechanics of the allusion. What text form of Zechariah 4 is the author of Revelation working with and does he use it consistently? How does this relate to the contemporary exegetical habits witnessed in the apocalyptic texts of Second Temple Judaism? This paper seeks to identify the source text(s) for these allusions and to discuss the exegetical mechanics used in their employment. The primary purpose of this paper is to better understand the complex exegetical mind of the author of Revelation by laying the textual foundation for his use of Zechariah 4. The findings of this analysis will contribute to the larger discussion of the use of scripture in apocalyptic literature.


Idris: An Ambivalent Islamic Prophet
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Zohar Hadromi Allouche, University of Aberdeen

Idris is the name of an Islamic prophet that the Qur'an mentions in two chapters (19:56-57 and 21:85-86). Only little is known about him from the Qur'anic text, other than that God has elevated him to a high place. Probably it was this little knowledge that paved the way to the extensive Islamic literature about Idris, which exceeds the genres of religious literature as such. Modern scholarship as well became fascinated with Idris. Numerous attempts have been made to identify the exact pre-Islamic figure of which he is supposedly the Islamic version. Such identifications include Enoch, Elijah, Hermes and others. The current study acknowledges the similarities between the stories of Idris in Islamic literature and those of certain earlier figures. However, it wishes to go further, beyond these identifications. Rather than look back in an attempt to trace the "pre-Islamic origins" of stories that later became part of the biography of Idris, we suggest to move the discussion one step forward, and explore the significance and use of these motifs and stories in their current context, that is: as Islamic stories. We thus seek to examine how such stories and motifs were re-interpreted, combined and intertwined in the Islamic context, in order to construct the distinct biography and image of the Islamic prophet Idris. Our discussion will relate to the construction of the character of Idris according to both scientific and religious Islamic sources. These reveal a unique prophetic figure, far more ambivalent than usually expected of a prophet. We thus suggest that Idris is an Islamic character, whose significance should be considered in the context of Islam, rather than regard him as the Arabic name of a pre-Islamic figure.


A Bi-Optic Hypothesis: An Overall Theory of Johannine-Synoptic Interfluentiality
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Paul N. Anderson, George Fox University

Among the issues in New Testament studies commanding the greatest interest yet defying easy solutions is the relationship between the Gospel of John and the Synoptics. Did the Fourth Evangelist know or use one or more of the Synoptics? Did one or more of the Synoptics have access to the Johannine tradition, in its oral or written stages, or both? Might influence have gone in more than one direction and at different stages between John’s and other traditions? If so, this would involve interfluence, not just influence. This paper puts forward a bold theory, based upon extensive analyses of particular similarities and differences between John and each of the other gospel traditions. Based upon a modest inference of two gospel editions (with Brown, Lindars, Ashton) and the strongest of intertraditional analyses (with Mackay, Bauckham, Cribbs) elements of an overall theory of Johannine-Synoptic interfluentiality emerge—a Bi-Optic Hypothesis, including the following elements: a) John’s dialogical autonomy develops in ways parallel to other traditions. b) Interfluential contacts emerge between the pre-Markan and early Johannine traditions. c) John’s first edition develops (80-85 C.E.) as an augmentation and correction of written Mark. d) John’s tradition exerts a formative Impact upon Luke and possibly upon the Q tradition. e) Johannine preaching (and some writing) continues, leading to interfluential dialogues with the Matthean tradition. f) The Johannine Epistles are written by the Johannine Elder (85-95 CE) reinforcing Gospel themes. g) After the death of the Beloved Disciple, the Elder finalizes the Gospel and circulates it among the churches as a Bi-Optic Alternative to the Somatic Gospels. h) The second Markan ending, bears Johannine echoes (Mark 16:9-20), is added in the second century C.E. Interfluentiality continues!


Identity and Implications: The Ethics of Integrity in the Johannine Epistles
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Paul Anderson, George Fox University

The author of 1 John acknowledges several centrifugal threats within the Johannine situation, needing to be addressed. Some have seceded from the fellowship, refusing to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah-Christ; questionable teachers are about, refusing to acknowledge Jesus’ coming in the flesh; some face temptations to participate in idolatry, likely in response to Domitian’s advancing the imperial cult. These and other threats are addressed by the Johannine Elder, who exercises aletheic influence—appealing to the truth and its implications regarding personal identity, theological investments, and their moral implications. If one really loves the Father, one cannot abandon the Son; if one really embraces sacrifice of Jesus, one cannot neglect the way of the cross. Ultimately, if one really loves the unseen God, how can one not love one’s brothers and sisters within the community of faith, which one has seen? By appealing to his audiences’ sense of identity, the Elder thus calls for loving unity as a factor of integrity and its centripetal implications.


Proverbs 30:10–33 in Intratextual & Intertextual Perspectives
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Nicholas Ansell, Institute for Christian Studies

Building upon the work of B. Waltke and others, this study will argue that Prov 30:10–33 exhibits a sevenfold pattern embedded in a ten unit structure, the 3 + 4 framework of the sayings (11–14, 15a, 15b–16 and 18–20, 21–23, 24–28, 29–31) being punctuated by v 17 and surrounded by the non-numerical sayings of vv 10 and 32–33. This gives the section a double-centre (vv 17 and 18–20) which also occupies the midpoint of a wider chiastic structure that extends from Prov 29:1 to 31:30. While the careful arrangement of the numerical sayings is noteworthy, it is their capacity to be mutually illuminating that is of most significance to the interpreter. Furthermore, intratextual meaning generated between the sayings is complemented by the intertextual character of the aforementioned double-centre. Thus it will be suggested that the striking eye-plucking imagery of verse 17, when taken together with the critical attention paid to kings in the later sayings (cf. P. Hatton), seems to combine a motif found throughout Jeremiah (see Jer 7:33, 12:9, 15:3, 16:4, 19:7, 34:20) with a pointed allusion to the fate of the last king of Judah (Jer 39:7, 52:11 cf. 2 Kgs 25:7). As for the second element in the double-centre, the connection between the woman who surrounds the man in Prov 30:19d and the heavens and waters that surround the earth in 19a–c is reminiscent of the imagery of Jer 31:22 and its wider literary setting as analyzed by P. Trible. If such connections may be sustained by the texts in question, then the double-centre of Prov 30:10–33, far from standing apart from the redemptive narrative(s) of Israel, moves from announcing the end of the old world order to celebrating a picture of the new covenant.


The Word of Life as the Word of Death: Genesis 22 and the Im/possibility of Revelation
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Nicholas Ansell, Institute for Christian Studies

This paper will examine Genesis 22 as a narrative that is unparalleled in its portrayal of how the Word of Life runs the risk of being misconstrued as a word of death. While the holistic way in which a number of scholars situate the Akedah (or binding of Isaac) within the wider Abraham narrative is to be welcomed, it will be suggested that, to date, even the most literary-sensitive, nuanced readings have been unable to understand God’s command to Abraham as anything less than what Crenshaw calls “a monstrous test.” By drawing on parallels with how the blessing (or benediction) of Gen 1:28 is heard as a curse within the Babel narrative (Gen 11), however, it will be suggested that God’s Word to Abraham is masterfully portrayed in the text both as the command that Abraham misconstrues and as the very different request that he is unable hear. In this interpretation, in which holistic reading strategies and attention to linguistic detail are combined, Gen 22 emerges for the reader as less a test of obedience than a test of discernment. With this shift, overlooked details in the narrative (such as the particle of entreaty at the beginning of 22:2 and the reiteration of the singular ‘you’ in the middle of the verse) take on new significance. Even the widely accepted and seemingly innocuous textual emendation of 22:13, which prefers the LXX and SP to the MT, can be seen as masking key interpretive possibilities in which Abraham’s paradigmatic test of discernment allows the reader to wisely negotiate the im/possibility of revelation.


“That the Simple May Understand”? Composing Hodayot Psalms as Prophecy
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Katri Antin, Helsingin Yliopisto - Helsingfors Universitet

This paper investigates the ways in which composing Hodayot psalms can be considered as prophecy. In the first part, the self-portrayal of a maskil who is the speaker of psalm 1QHa XX,7–XXII,42 is examined. Several similarities are depicted between the way in which the speaker of the psalm portrays himself and the way in which David is depicted in 11QPsa XXVII. Both the maskil and David are wise men who have also prophetic qualities: they are receivers of God’s spirit. Thus, David has composed psalms and songs through prophecy and the wisdom teacher has been able to listen to God’s counsel like prophets before him. But is the prophetic role of the maskil related to composing psalms like David’s role is in 11QPsa? In the second part, the content of the four LeMaskil psalms which might have been composed by a maskil are studied (in addition to psalm XX,7–XXII,42, psalms V,12–VI,33; VII,21–VIII,41; and XXV,34–XXVII,3). The psalms are viewed in light of recent theories of ancient Near Eastern prophecy and literary prophecy. It is asked, whether writing these Hodayot psalms can be considered as prophecy, i.e. mediating divine messages.


Discoveries from Bethsaida That Shed Light on Biblical Literature
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Rami Arav, University of Nebraska at Omaha

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"Where is the Lord of Justice" (Mal 2:17): Theodicy in Malachi
Program Unit: Prophets
Elie Assis , Bar-Ilan University

The fourth pericope in Malachi (2:17-3:6), deals with the question of theodicy. Verhoef discussed the historical and theological background of this prophecy, and claimed that it was written sometime after the return to Zion in 538 BCE. While in the beginning of that period external conditions supported the people's messianic expectations, in the days of Malachi, when the messianic age had not arrived, and the people were still subjected to Persian rule, they were disappointed. The difficulties of the time raised the question if they should continue to expect the coming of the messiah. Though this understanding has some advantages, there are still some unresolved matters. Was the Lord whose coming they expected, indeed a messianic figure? It should be asserted that he is identified in v. 1 as the "angel of the covenant", and not as a Davidic descendant. If this figure is messianic, how can the uniqueness of his image be explained? How should we understand the relationship between the appearance of this Lord and the issue of theodicy? In this paper I will discuss the historical and theological background of the prophecy, and aim to uncover the theological issues that the people were challenged by. A new perception will assist in the understanding of the anomalies in the text, as well as the differences between Malachi's treatment of theodicy, in comparison with other biblical treatments of this topic, such as Job, Pss 73, 92 and Hab 1, and Mal 3: 13-20.


David's Anointment to King According to Josephus
Program Unit: Hellenistic Judaism
Michael Avioz, Bar-Ilan University

The purpose of this paper is to compare the biblical account of David's anointment to king, narrated in 1 Samuel 16 and retold in Flavius Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, trying to answer the following questions: What are the differences between the two accounts? Do the difference between the MT and Josephus stem from Hellenization of the biblical narrative or rather from exegetical reasons? A comparison of the MT and the LXX will accompany this paper, trying to understand whether some of the differences may stem from Josephus having a similar Voralge to that of the LXX.


The Broken-Necked Calf: Human Casualty and the Sphere of Municipal Responsibility
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Nechemia Avnery, Sapir College and Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The episode of the broken-necked calf (Deut 21:1-9) relates to an unresolved murder: a body is found, without a hint to the identity of the murderer. In this context, the biblical text raises the question of responsibility of local government regarding such an event occurring outside its immediate jurisdiction. In an unusual procedure performed by the priests, the elders of the city ceremoniously wash their hands and proclaim: “Our hands did not shed this blood.” In this lecture, I will present various interpretations of the ceremony, and demonstrate how each interpretation relates to the text. I will then show how diverse ethical and political perceptions regarding the responsibility of local government can be derived from the variety of interpretations of the details of the ceremony and the content of the proclamation. Varied positions relate to the responsibility of local government officials regarding the maintenance of law and order, the accountability of local leadership for events that take place inside or in proximity to their jurisdiction, and their liability for the people under their auspices. These interpretative differences relate to current theoretical and practical debates; firstly, concerning the division of responsibilities between local and central government with regard to the enforcement of law and order, and secondly, concerning the responsibility of local government to prevent violence in their jurisdiction.


Prophetical Polemics in the Bible and the Quran: The Case of Counter-Discourse
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
Mehdi Azaiez, IREMAM / CNRS

As it has been shown in Adrian Graffy's work on the Bible and in my own dissertation on the Quran (2012), the presence of "counter-discourse" is one of the main characteristics of the polemical rhetoric in both those texts. By "counter-discourse," we mean the presence of biblical or Quranic quotations of opponents real or fictitious in direct speech. This paper will analyze and compare the use of this rhetorical feature in each text, emphasizing specific aspects we encounter in the case of the Quran.


Family Life and Law at Elephantine
Program Unit:
Annalisa Azzoni, Vanderbilt University

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Converted or Transformed? Martha and Mary in the Gospel of John
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Melanie Baffes, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Throughout the history of Christianity, conversion has been a hallmark of the faith, beginning with Saul’s dramatic experience on the road to Damascus. Conversion traditionally meant leading people of other faiths to Christianity, but the Reformation brought a distinctive context for transformation—conversion within the Christian tradition. “New birth” came to be the mark of the authentic Christian, and conversion became associated with a deeper, revitalized faith and a life lived with God at the center. This paper interprets the story of Mary and Martha in the Gospel of John by applying contemporary conversion theory — primarily William James’ criteria for conversion (including experiences he considers volitional vs. those characterized by self-surrender), his distinction between healthy-minded vs. morbid-minded individuals, and his comparison of the “once-born” to the “twice-born.” The paper also explores the Mary and Martha narrative through the lens of Lewis R. Rambo’s process model of religious conversion (identifying dimensions of religious change), the four mechanisms of conversion identified by Aaron C.T. Smith and Bob Stewart, and William R. Miller and Janet C’deBaca’s concept of “quantum change.” Although Martha is most often is understood to have reached a level of authentic faith that makes her a model of female discipleship, and Mary is most often regarded as the silent, submissive one who kneels and weeps in Jesus’ presence, this paper argues that it is Mary who has the more developed faith. While Martha may have experienced a conversion experience in her interactions with Jesus, Mary appears to have undergone a complete change, a profound spiritual transformation that allows her to become fully human in the ways Jesus modeled, taught, and lived.


From Bethsaida to Jerusalem
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Dan Bahat, University of St. Michael College

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The Sons of Abraham in Jewish, Christian and Muslim Internecine Debates
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Carol Bakhos, University of California-Los Angeles

This paper seeks to investigate Jewish, Christian and Muslim conceptualizations of the sons of Abraham. Special attention will be paid to the manner in which Ishmael and Isaac figure into internecine tensions, be it in the Augustine controversy with the Donatists, or Persian and Arab debates of the Abbasid period. While all three traditions regard the sons differently, they at the same time use them to make claims of authority and authenticity. This is even the case within the Islamic tradition where both sons are regarded as esteemed prophets worthy of emulation. We will interrogate a variety of sources including texts from Genesis Rabbah, the writings of Augustine and al-Masudi. After a reading of specific texts, we will reflect more broadly on how these scriptural siblings function in socio-political and religious discourse of the medieval as well as contemporary period.


"For Love is as Fierce as Death"? Samson, Masculinities, Love and God
Program Unit: Biblical Masculinities
Meir Bar Mymon, Tel Aviv University

In this Article I wish to analyze the Samson saga and examine the (de)masculinization process of Samson in relation to God’s image as the divine Man. I would attempt to demonstrate the tensions between the figures of human Man and divine Man; and to show how different images of masculinities, which can be extracted from the character of Samson, are shaped and reshaped. My aim will be to understand the components of Samson’s strength, to question his aura of massive physique, and to ponder whether the strength is indeed his or perhaps it is a parallel process of hu/man destruction and of a divine deconstruction. This will also entail an exploration of female role and woman’s powers, the power of love, and the role of the hero compared to the position of God.


Paul’s Authority Claims and Their Reception in 2 Corinthians
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Jack Barentsen, Evangelical Theological Faculty, Leuven, Belgium

In the Corinthian church, the perception of Paul’s apostolic leadership moved from respected authority to marginal subgroup leadership to despised and even deviant influence soon after Paul’s and then Apollos’ departure. Paul entered into extended negotiations to regain his leadership role as founding apostle. In 2 Corinthians Paul claims to have been successful in these negotiations (ch. 1-7), even while he strongly denounces his opponents (ch. 10-13). This paper complements the usual epistolary and rhetorical analyses by tracing the dynamics of influence, authority and power through the lens of the social identity model of leadership. Paul presents himself as a better and more prototypical leader than Moses, while reinterpreting suffering and weakness as marks of Christ-like leadership, thus shifting the leadership model. He calls them to loyalty to his vision of identity, comparable to Moses’ leadership in the wilderness. In this context, Paul’s claims to be Christ’s ambassador and the true founding apostle of Corinth are not only a theological framing of his identity and leadership, but a strong claim to legitimate his authority. To those who identify with Paul, even the military metaphors with which he qualified his leadership would be perceived as beneficial; to those who did not identify with Paul’s message, this would be perceived as dominant and coercive as they faced the choice between compliance or ostracism. These different perceptions of power explain how Paul’s claims about reconciliation and his strong denunciation of any remaining opponents fit hand-in-glove with the particular social context that is indicated in the letter.


The Image of the Israelite and the Oriental in the Biblical Iconography
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Ruth Bartal, University of Tel Aviv

Until the 19th century, the pictorial tradition of the biblical narrative makes a clear distinction between the Israelites and the Orientals. This distinction appears to have been caused by two factors: the Christian exegetical tradition of the Bible and the relative and imaginary geographies of the Holy Land. The long established tradition of biblical exegesis, which included historical, allegorical and typological interpretations, detached the biblical events from their historical reality and geographical reference. Similarly, the medieval mappaemundi did not place the Holy Land in the East. By placing Jerusalem at the center of the world, the Holy Land acquired a unique place in the mythical and metaphysical geography of the time, disconnecting it from its objective location. This mental separation between the Holy Land and the "East" may have also determined the distinction between the Israelites and the Orientals. The aim of this paper is to show the different artistic concepts of the image of the Israelites and the Orientals, and their variations according to the artist's perceptions and geographic orientation.


The Intent of the Apocalyptic in the Shepherd of Hermas
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Dan Batovici, University of St Andrews

The inclusion of the Shepherd of Hermas in the apocalyptic literary genre has been contested many times over in recent scholarship; due mainly to the lack of apocalyptic features generally present in other undisputed apocalyptic texts, and also to the prominence of the non-apocalyptic, largely moral material. One of the explanations put forward to account for Hermas’ peculiar apocalyptic is that it responds to a crisis his community undergoes. This paper offers a revaluation of the apocalyptic material in the Shepherd and a reassessment of the socio-political intent it might have.


The Apocalypses in the New Collection of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Richard Bauckham, Ridley Hall, Cambridge

The Apocalypses in the New Collection of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha


“Where the Gospels Fear to Tread”: The Representation of the Resurrection in Recent Films
Program Unit: Bible and the Moving Image
Lloyd Baugh, Pontificia Università Gregoriana

The greatest challenge facing directors making films representing the Bible is that of remaining faithful to the text and spirit of the Bible narrative, while respecting the transcendent nature of many dimensions of that narrative. Already an issue in film treatments of the Jewish Bible, it becomes a major challenge in the Gospel films: how to represent Jesus as the incarnation of the Eternal Logos in the New Testament miracles and theophanies. Clearly the greatest challenge is that of representing the Resurrection of Jesus as the Christ, a meta-event that breaks all the limits of matter, time and space. The gospels represent only the post-Resurrection appearances, not daring to describe the “actual Resurrection.” The 118 year tradition of the Jesus film reveals very mixed results regarding the way the Resurrection is handled, with biblical, theological and esthetic “failures,” but also some striking successes. This paper focuses first on two films of the modern period, 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew' and 'The Last Temptation of Christ', which, while very different one from the other, experiment with new and more valid ways to evoke the Resurrection. They are then considered as the standard which four Gospel films of the 21st Century ('The Passion of the Christ', 'The Passion' , 'Son of Man' and 'The Color of the Cross: The Resurrection') carry even further. The Resurrection-episodes of these four recent films are analyzed in detail, with a specific focus on the dynamic interplay between their content and their formal, structural and stylistic elements. The analysis demonstrates how radically-original esthetic choices can determine the success (or failure)—from a biblical and theological perspective—of the film’s evocation of the great Mystery of the Resurrection. A series of film clips will support the paper.


Heraclean Influence on the Heavenly Apparitions of 2 Maccabees
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Richard Bautch, St. Edward's University

Among the more intriguing figures in Jewish literature of the Second Temple period are the heavenly apparitions of 2 Maccabees who come to the aid of pious Jews praying for deliverance from distress. In response to these prayers, God sends three distinct heavenly apparitions to overwhelm miscreants such as Heliodorus (3:22-30), Timothy (10:29-31), and Nicanor (15:22-30). In some cases, a collective is sent from heaven to wield justice on earth, typically expressed as the armed defense of the Jerusalem temple. The three aforementioned emissaries of God are warriors par excellence and, most importantly, all three are virtual demigods of one sort or another. That is to say, they are human in form but clearly endowed with supernatural powers that express nobility and valor. In this aspect the apparitions are comparable to demigods. This study focuses on the three apparitions sent to defeat Heliodorus, Timothy and Nicanor. Through textual evidence, a correlation is established between the actions of these three quasi-human, demigod-like figures and the myths surrounding Heracles, a fearsome demigod. Contextual evidence from archaeology is adduced to support this correlation. The study concludes that in 2 Maccabees the identities of the three apparitions are highly negotiated and draw on existing formulations derived from myths such as that of Heracles.


Photographic Truth and Prophetic Picturing: Rev. Dr. Alexander Keith’s ‘Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion’ (1848)
Program Unit: Bible and Visual Culture
Sheona Beaumont, University of Gloucestershire

In this paper I present the work of Rev Dr Alexander Keith (and his son George), a 19th-century Scottish minister, who used daguerreotypes to 'prove' the fulfillment of OT prophecies about the landscape of Palestine and Syria. The 36th edition of his ‘Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion Derived from the Literal Fulfilment of Prophecy; Particularly as Illustrated by the History of the Jews and by the Discoveries of Recent Travellers’, is placed in the context of early photography in the Near East, including the work of Rev George Bridges and Francis Frith. The various uses of such photographic images of the Holy Land are discussed as they relate to the illustration of specific Biblical texts, and to post-Romantic empirical points of view regarding the depiction of landscapes with this still-young technology. An extension of this discussion is the argument for a particularly visual hermeneutic of the Bible. In critical writing on photography (for example, Roland Barthes), the site of the image as seamless statement of fact is continually undermined by texts which reveal codification and ideologies, and in themselves limit the bounds of pictorial meaning. Here, I ask what such criticism offers in examining photographs used to reveal the visible and seen conclusion of the textual unseen (the prophecy), and in addition, I suggest ways in which a reader-response interpretation of the text may yet offer an alternative approach in its relational framing of the image.


Mark in the Frame of Ancient History-Writing: The Quest for Heuristics
Program Unit: Gospel of Mark
Eve-Marie Becker, Aarhus Universitet

When placing Mark in the frame of ancient history-writing, we are following a certain trend in Synoptic Studies in which the literary-historical contextualization of the Gospel narratives is discussed - especially in relation to Luke and Luke-Acts, but also in regard to Mark. When applying this paradigm to our academic teaching, however, we need to reflect upon the heuristics that are in the background of our research, and we will explicate them. Relevant questions to be discussed could thus be: What is our particular interest of research and how is it placed in the history of research in Markan and/or Synoptic Studies? What does the academic context look like today (Theology, Humanities, Cultural Studies)? Which methods do we use? In what sense does our approach help to better understand the rise of Christian culture, literature and theology? What is our contribution - in research as well as in teaching - for Christian theology as well as modern societies in the 21st century?


The Identity of the People at Elephantine
Program Unit:
Bob Becking, Universiteit Utrecht

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Phoenician Snakes and a Prophetic Parallelism: An Implication for Zeph 1:9 of a Recent Discovery in the Egyptian Pyramid Texts
Program Unit: Prophets
Bob Becking, Universiteit Utrecht

The parallelism in Zeph 1:9 is not prima facie clear: how can the act of jumping over the threshold be connected to the bringing of violence and deceit into the realm of the Temple? The discovery of early west Semitic line in the Egyptian Pyramid Texts revealed a scenario in which a guarding divine protected the inner realm of the tomb against infiltrating serpents. In assuming that Zeph. 1,9 refers to the presence of a guarding divine at the threshold, the jumpers can be seen as people wanting to avoid this guardian and hence as persons who were unwelcome in the temple.


Bauckham and Bach; Time and Eternity
Program Unit:
Jeremy Begbie, Duke University

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The Function of Charismatic Leaders in the Matthean Communities as Mediators between Heaven and Earth in Matt 16:13-28
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Corne Bekker, Regent University

The communities that produced the Gospel of Matthew in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem were typical of advanced agrarian societies in that they were highly stratified with large gaps in socialized power between rulers and subordinates. Sociological reconstruction of these communities characterizes them as largely conversionist in nature with strong thaumaturgical and reformist rhetorical and theological overtones. The majority of the members of these first century Mediterranean communities were most likely rural peasants and as such had little to no access to the social and cultural currencies of prestige, privilege and power. A socio-rhetorical analysis of the spatial deixes within Matthew 16:13-28 offers a spatial grid and conceptual framework to better understand the social interaction and power interplay between the members of the Matthean communities and those that they were at odds with. For the communities of Matthew there seems to have been two worlds to contend with: the one above (the Heaven) and one beneath (Hades) with Earth in the middle. In the antebellum years the Temple in Jerusalem served as the telluric mediator between these worlds mediating the Mediterranean values of honor and shame. A socio-rhetorical analysis of Matthew 16:13-28 proposes that the received identity of Jesus as the Christ and Son of the living God in the postbellum Matthean communities served to replace the mediating function of the Jerusalem Temple and ascribed this theological and social function to the charismatic leaders of the communities embodied in the Matthean exemplar of Simon Peter. This mediating function would serve to legitimize the members of the Matthean communities with renewed theological, cultural and social norms.


The Tabernacle: Scent and Liminality
Program Unit: Ritual in the Biblical World
Dan Belnap, Brigham Young University

While the similarities between the tabernacle narratives and first temple traditions have long been noted, the differences in both sets of texts are just as intriguing as they may hint at different ideologies within ancient Israel concerning the manner of interaction between Israel and God. For instance, the scale disparity between the temple’s instruments and accoutrements versus those described for the tabernacle may have reflected different beliefs as to the purpose and function of sacred space. One aspect that the scale disparity emphasizes is the liminal nature of the tabernacle’s cultic experience. While liminality is displayed throughout the architecture and design of the tabernacle, the rites described in the tabernacle texts also reflect the liminal nature of the cultic experience. In particular, those rites associated with scent, anointing and incense use, highlight the temporary time and space by which God and man could interact directly.


Between and Out of the Memories of Prophets Evoked by the Prophetic and the Historiographical Books in Late Persian/early Hellenistic Period
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Ehud Ben Zvi, University of Alberta

For a variety of reasons the memories of prophets and above all the implied construction of what a prophet that emerged, as a whole, from the reading and rereading of the collection of prophetic books that existed as part of the core texts around which the community or its literati saw themselves as centered were to some extent similar but to some extent dissimilar from that of the one emerging from reading the collection of historiographical works that also were part of this core set of texts. This paper explores how these different memories and constructions of the prototypical prophet interacted, informed, balanced, and complemented each other from the general perspective of the discourse of the community. Further, this paper claims that although the individual memories of prophets served as important particular sites of memory, it is what emerged from the mentioned web of interactions involving the various memories that reflected better and contributed the most to the formulation of the main core mnemonic narratives of the community (or its literati).


Living Biblically at Qumran: Continuity or Innovation?
Program Unit:
Jonathan Ben-Dov, University of Haifa

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The Evolution of the Synagogues as Prayer House in the Second Temple: From the Diaspora to the Galilee
Program Unit: Archaeology and Diaspora Judaism
Eyal Ben-Eliyahu, University of Haifa

Although there were synagogues in Judea and the Galilee at the second Temple period, the remains of synagogues in the Jewish Diaspora are much earlier. I will introduce the remains and the testimonies of the synagogues in the Diaspora as prayer houses, and argue that along with the formation of distant Jewish communities in the Diaspora, these communities required institution for public for their public religious ritual. The first stage was the foundation of Jewish synagogues in the Diaspora that functioned as public prayer houses. Later, the foundation of synagogues in the Galilee as prayer house, came with the expansion of the Jewish settlement in the Galilee, far from Jerusalem and Judea, as a result of the difficulties in the Jewish pilgrimage to the Temple.


Jesus' Authority and Influence in the Gospel of John
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Cor Bennema, Wales Evangelical School of Theology

This paper examines Jesus' authority and influence in the Gospel of John. The paper argues a twofold thesis: (i) Jesus primarily uses influence rather than authority to urge his group of disciples towards the common goal of testifying about the divine reality; and (ii) Jesus' main instruments of influence are education and personal example. The thesis unfolds in three arguments. First, I will show that the common goal that Jesus seeks to promote is 'to testify to the truth' (18:37), i.e. to proclaim the divine reality about God, Jesus and their relationship and mission, and in so doing provide divine life to those who accept this testimony. Second, identifying the Father as Jesus' source of authority, I contend that Jesus uses authority in the service of his effort to influence his disciples to advance his purposes. Third, I will argue that the primary means by which Jesus seeks to influence his group of followers to move along with him towards the common goal are: (i) education: through his revelatory teaching, Jesus puts his disciples 'in the know' of God's identity and programme; and (ii) personal example: Jesus provides the example that he expects his disciples to follow. The idea of authority in the service of influence is primarily expressed by Jesus' mimetic imperatives in that Jesus' commands (authority) are rooted in his personal example to the disciples to imitate him (influence). Interestingly, recent management trends which indicate that influence is more effective than authority appear to be in line with Jesus' model of leadership.


A Knight of Faith or Laughter: On the Figure of Abraham in the Book of Genesis
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Itzhak Benyamini, Tel Aviv University

In this lecture I shall offer an interpretation of the chapters relating to the figure of Abraham, and particularly to the expression, “Go out of your land and your birthplace” (Gen 12:1). I will refer to the manner in which this Divine word is generally understood as a Divine command or demand, as a mission which Abraham must undergo perform as one in a series of tests, as well as to the perception of Abraham as the “knight of faith,” as understood by Kierkegaard in his book Fear and Trembling. I will suggest that this expression needs to be understood by means of a careful reading of that which is stated before and afterwards, in Chapters 11–13.


Lush Valley, Mountain of God, Garden Eden, Paradise: Jewish Apocalyptic Ideas of Food and Space in the World-to-Come
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Claudia D. Bergmann, Universität Erfurt

Influenced by the political and religious circumstances of their time, Jewish apocalyptic authors developed a number of ideas about the afterlife. The world-to-come that they envisioned often took on idealized characteristics. Any need or want would be satisfied there, the love for Torah would be absolute, and the people who made it in the world-to-come would be surrounded by like-minded human beings whose faithfulness to God and God’s laws in this world had gotten them access into the next. This paper will focus on apocalyptic texts that describe the world-to-come as a never-ending feast where fantastic dishes (manna, fruit from the tree of life, Leviathan and Behemoth) are served and that takes place at imagined locations, which bear significance for Jewish identity. Through these fantastic foods and because of these imaginary places, the participants’ senses are pleased and their every physical or mental hunger is satisfied. 2 Baruch, for example, locates the feast in the world-to-come in a fertile valley adorned with agricultural abundance and featuring daily rain that brings healing dew as well as treasures of manna. In addition, clouds surround the righteous with wonderful scents of exotic fruits. 1 Enoch’s imagined space for the feast in the world-to-come is a central mountain where the transplanted tree of life grows and where the judgment throne of God is located. 4 Ezra writes about an ancient place, paradise, being re-opened for the benefit of the righteous. It is the goal of this paper to characterize and categorize these imagined spaces for the feast in the world-to-come and to show how the apocalyptic authors combined the ideas of food and space thus contributing to the development of both actual Jewish identity in this world and imagined Jewish identity in the world-to-come.


Reading Mal 1:10b-11 as a Denial and Its Implication for Reading Mal 1:2-5
Program Unit: Prophets
Yirgu Nigussie Bira, London School of Theology

In this paper, I will argue that Mal 1:10b-11 is a denial by the Lord of the assumption held by the priesthood that he had pleasure in them and that their sacrifices were acceptable to him. I will also argue that understanding Mal 1:10b-11 as a denial of the priesthood’s assumption will by implication throw new light on understanding 1:2-5. In order to show this, I will attempt to draw a thematic link between 1:2-5 and 1:6-14 that highlights a continuity of thought. Based on the general consensus that Malachi is composed of groups of disputations, scholars tended to focus on each of these groups to draw the major idea that the unit is supposed to convey. This has led to the treatment of each group as an autonomous unit at the expense of the overarching idea. In some cases such as 1:2-14, the overarching idea could alter the reading of a unit of so called disputation. Even though 1:2-5 can be analyzed as a unit of thought, there is much to be gained if it is read as part of the larger section of 1:2-14.


Eschatology and Exegesis in Early Chrisian Interpretation of the Apocalypse: A Re-examination of Charles Hill's Regnum Caelorum
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Craig Blaising, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

In his book, Regnum Caelorum, Charles Hill argues that early orthodox Christian chiliastic and non-chiliastic eschatologies entailed different views of the intermediate state. On this basis, he argues that the key to understanding the millennial vision in the Apocalypse is the view of the intermediate state expressed within that work. This paper will reexamine Irenaeus' interpretation of John's millennial vision to demonstrate the presence of other hermeneutical factors that bear more directly on the his understanding of the text. This requires a more precise statement of the relationship of eschatological patterns and textual exegesis in early Christian interpretation.


Commodity or Gift? On the Classification of Paul’s Unremunerated Labor
Program Unit: Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy
Thomas R. Blanton, IV, Luther College

Since the pioneering work of Mauss, a distinction has been made between gift and commodity. Gifts carry with them part of the personality of the giver, create lasting social ties, and imply an obligation to return a counter-gift; commodities are disassociated from particular persons and their exchange creates no lasting social bond. Paul’s letters to Corinth indicate that the classification of a transaction is itself a significant sociopolitical act in that it carries implications for the construction of social relations. In 1 Cor 9, Paul describes labor spent in evangelistic endeavors as remunerable, thus placing it into the category of the commodity. By pointing out that other apostles, such as Peter, accepted remuneration for their evangelistic labors, Paul portrays their labor as a commodity. Paul, however, claims to be entitled to remuneration, yet refuses to accept it (1 Cor 9:3–18). His refusal to commodify his evangelistic labor entails a reclassification of that labor as a gift. Under gift-giving norms, the “gift” of Paul’s labor would tie the Corinthians to Paul in a durable relationship of reciprocal interaction, whereas the commodified labor of Peter carried no such obligation for future interaction. Paul’s classification of his own labor as gift therefore lays the groundwork for future mutual interactions between himself and the Corinthian community; he hints at such an opportunity in 1 Cor 15:5–6, when he requests both lodging in the city and (implicitly) material support for his subsequent travels.


Attitudes toward Imperial Hegemony in the Book of Daniel
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Amanda Bledsoe, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

In early Jewish literature the figures of Nebuchadnezzar II and Antiochus IV Epiphanes are often presented as parallel figures, with the name Nebuchadnezzar perhaps even used as a cipher for Antiochus (see, e.g., Judith). Both of these kings carried out violent military campaigns against Jerusalem, the Jewish people, and the Jewish temple, and thus came to represent the quintessential Jewish enemy in the Second Temple period and beyond. In this paper, I will look at the characterizations of these two kings in the book of Daniel. Keeping with this pattern, the visions of the second half of Daniel (chs. 7–12) portray the fourth beast (i.e., Antiochus) as the ultimate evil in an increasingly violent paradigm of history. He is offered no chance of redemption; rather he faces immediate death for his trespasses (cf. the figure of Belshazzar in ch. 5). The figure of Nebuchadnezzar, however, is almost entirely positive. Nebuchadnezzar is never condemned for his destruction of the Jerusalem temple (only in the OG is this explicit), rather he is repeatedly allowed to repent of his mistakes (chs. 2–4) and lives a presumably long and prosperous life. In the very vision in which Antiochus is forecast to be destroyed and his body cast into the flames, Nebuchadnezzar is granted “an extension of life” (7:12). Finally, I will look at what these different characterizations indicate was the attitude of the author(s) of Daniel towards Seleucid imperial hegemony. I suggest that the author of Daniel purposefully juxtaposed Antiochus with the notorious, yet now rehabilitated, Nebuchadnezzar in order to even more sharply emphasize the horrific nature of the current empire and to impress upon his readers the imminent coming of the kingdom of God.


A Fresh Look at the Relationship between MT and OG Daniel
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Amanda Davis Bledsoe, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

In this paper I will address the question of the relationship of the Masoretic and Old Greek editions of the book of Daniel. For the majority of the chapters, the editions are nearly identical, with only minor additions or alterations. Chapters 4–6, however, display two clearly distinct versions of the narratives. Even more interesting is that in these chapters there is no consistent relationship between the MT and the OG editions: chapters 4 and 6 OG are much longer than their MT counterparts, whereas chapter 5 OG is substantially shorter than the MT edition. In the first section of my paper, I will outline previous scholarly proposals for the relationship of these two variant editions of the book of Daniel, which suggest one of three possible relationships: (1) the MT preserves the more original text which the OG later adapted, (2) the OG preserves the more original text which the MT later adapted, or (3) both editions are secondary adaptations of an earlier Vorlage. In the second section of my paper, I will focus on the fourth chapter of Daniel as a case study for examining the relationship of these two editions. After identifying some of the more significant pluses and minuses in the MT and OG editions of Daniel 4, I will comment on what these differences reveal of the possible thematic emphases of each edition. Finally, I return to the question of the relationship of the MT and OG editions of the book of Daniel. In light of our present case study, I determine that the MT and OG editions clearly display secondary elements which supports the proposal that both are secondary reworkings of a no-longer extant Vorlage.


How Beautiful is the King to Behold! Royal Ideology in the Aramaic Book of Ahiqar
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Seth Bledsoe, Florida State University

Throughout the Ancient Near East, wisdom texts are frequently associated with kingship. For example, in Egypt there exists a long tradition of instructional literature connected to the various pharaohs or their grand viziers. Also, the biblical wisdom texts of Proverbs and Qoheleth are attributed to King Solomon. The Egyptian and the biblical collections of wisdom instructions both include specific advice about proper behavior in and around the royal courts. In the Book of Ahiqar, however, there are a series of sayings concerning the king which are more than simple exhortations on proper etiquette before a king. Indeed, they seem to reflect on the concept of kingship itself. This paper, therefore, will discuss the royal ideology in the Book of Ahiqar. The tone and imagery of the king-sayings demonstrate a quality that is unique when compared with similar collections of instructions. Therefore, from a literary perspective, I suggest that in Ahiqar we have a royal hymn. They associate the king directly with the gods and thus speak to the theological perspective of the author as well as its probable historical setting. This invites comparison with other hymnic literature, namely the biblical royal Psalms and the Egyptian “Instruction of a Man to His Son.” The king-sayings in Ahiqar, thus, indicate a combination of Semitic and Egyptian literary traditions.


The International Wisdom of Ahiqar: An Egyptian Paradigm
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Seth A. Bledsoe, Florida State University

In this paper I will argue that the Aramaic Book of Ahiqar is modeled on the Egyptian Instructional genre. This counters the standard scholarly assumption that Ahiqar’s literary heritage is primarily Semitic, specifically Aramean and Mesopotamian. Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to the many similarities Ahiqar shares with Egyptian wisdom traditions. This paper seeks to correct that imbalance. Indeed, when one looks at the larger generic features and prominent themes, Ahiqar reveals a remarkable resemblance to the Egyptian Instructions (sb3.yt) genre. This suggests, then, that the author of Ahiqar was both familiar with and participating in the Egyptian wisdom tradition. To demonstrate this, I first survey the external factors which allow for the possibility of an author/compiler from southern Syria in the 7th c. BCE to be acquainted with Egyptian literature. Then, I will turn to the internal features, namely the overall structure and prominent themes. The close correspondences indicate that the Instructions genre was the primary model on which the author based his text. So, on the one hand, scholars have been correct in pointing out that many of Ahiqar’s individual sayings exhibit formal and stylistic features common to the NW Semitic or Akkadian wisdom traditions. On the other hand, I show here that the author, in compiling, arranging and editing these individual sayings into a composite text, has utilized the Egyptian Instructions as his template. Thus, in its distinct combination of Aramaic, Akkadian, and Egyptian components, the Book of Ahiqar epitomizes quite exactly the label “international” wisdom.


Earthquake, Mayhem, and Prophetic Misogyny: A Seismic Shift in Biblical Thinking
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Adrien J. Bledstein, Independent Scholar

Why is it that misogyny in the Bible becomes intense in 8th Century B.C.E. prophets? This historical, literary study draws upon estimated chronology of prophets Amos, Hosea, Isaiah 1-39, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel in relation to the mid-8th BCE earthquake. By combining archaeology with measures of destructive earthquakes, I suggest the ca 750 B.C.E. earthquake in Israel and Judah appears comparable to destruction in Haiti, 2010 C.E. Appreciating the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti provides insight into how people respond to the experience of massive destruction: homes are rubble, food is scarce, sources of income are limited, people are wounded, grieved, ill and desperate. Prophetic insistence that disasters are divine retribution for misbehavior and images of the people and cities as wayward women may be a result of the terrible plight especially of women who need to engage in survival sex to buy food for themselves and their children. As a feminist I suggest that the traumas of earthquake and social disintegration experienced by Judah and Israel during the lives of Hosea and first Isaiah may help us understand the context of the evolving metaphor of Israel and Judah as whores, a preconception later adopted by Jeremiah and gleefully elaborated by Ezekiel in Babylon. My publications and biblical chronologies are available at: adrienbledstein.net/designer.htm


The Tangulus Texts: Recently Discovered Evidence of the Importance of Family Systems in Interpretation
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Kamila Blessing, Blessing Transitions Consulting and Mediation Services

The Demon Tangulus - who is most interested in the pathological triangles of the Bible characters' relationships, and frustrated with their transformation into healthy triads - reports "downstairs" on the people in three Bible texts and "incidentally" shows the importance of Family Systems as an advance in interpretation. It is suggested that participants read Connecting with Our Children by Roberta M. Gilbert, M.D., before the session, for a clear, easily accessible introduction to Family Systems.


In Order to Fulfill the Word of the Lord: The Impact of Haggai and Zechariah on Post-Exilic Historiography
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Mark Boda, McMaster Divinity College/McMaster University

The influence of the prophets is evident within the texts of both Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah. In Chronicles reference is made regularly to prophetic resources used for the account, prophets play a role within the narrative accounts, and even royal, imperial, priestly and levitical figures are portrayed in prophetic ways. The foundational account of Ezra-Nehemiah in Ezra 1-6 is structured by the activity of a pre-exilic (1:1) and then two post-exilic prophets (5:1-2), both of whom are responsible for initiating new phases of the restoration. Key prophetic speech forms, figures and types influence the accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah. It should not be surprising then that prophetic texts have exerted influence on the accounts in Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah, suggested by the reference to the words of Jeremiah at the conclusion to Chronicles and at the outset of Ezra-Nehemiah. This paper will highlight evidence for the books of Haggai and Zechariah within Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah and identify the reason these prophets shaped the vocabulary at key points within these histories.


Levantine Textile Production and the Assyrians
Program Unit: Assyriology and the Bible
Jeannette Boertien, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Why were so many loom weights found in the Iron Age levels of excavations in the Southern Levant? It has been suggested that this phenomenon points to the rise of textile production, and that the production of textiles was related to demands of the Assyrians. But are the increasing numbers of loom weights the result of Assyrian demands for textiles? The vassal states of Assyria had to pay tribute; in return Assyria allowed a measure of autonomy. The delivery of elaborately patterned textiles is attested from the Neo-Assyrian reliefs of king Ashurnasirpal II (883 – 859 BC). From the tribute lists of Tiglath Pileser III (744-727 BC) and Sennacherib (704-681 BC) it is known that garments were collected as a yearly tribute together with whatever was considered precious to the royal treasure of Assyria. But why did they want to have textiles from abroad? From archaeological finds associated with textile production and the different Assyrian tribute lists it is possible to reconstruct how these textiles may have looked like and why the Assyrian kings desired textiles from the Southern Levant.


Teaching Mark as Performance Literature: Early Literate and Post-Literate Pedagogies
Program Unit: Gospel of Mark
Thomas E. Boomershine, United Theological Seminary

There is a direct correlation between presuppositions about ancient communication culture and contemporary pedagogies in the teaching of Mark. The assumption that Mark was a text read by readers is mirrored in our pedagogical practice. The teaching of Mark utilizes a text-based pedagogy in which students are taught to read Mark’s text in silence as the basis for papers written in silence to be read in silence. Recent study of 1st century communication culture has revealed an early literate culture in which the great majority of people were illiterate and manuscripts were scarce and relatively expensive. Manuscripts were published by performance for audiences. Mark was performance literature that was composed to be heard rather than read in silence. A further characteristic of ancient education was the memorization of manuscripts. A trained memory was the goal of ancient education. If we want to teach students about Mark in its original historical context, we need to develop pedagogical methods that invite students to hear the sounds of Mark’s story and to perform it by heart. Some ancient/modern pedagogical practices for teaching Mark as performance literature are: 1) Internalization and performance of Markan stories 2) Introduction by a storytelling workshop 3) An early performance of Mark by the professor 4) A concluding communal performance of Mark 5) Lectures and papers on sound mapping and performance criticism exegesis 6) Study and performance of parts of Mark in the original Greek 7) Student production of videos and digital interpretations of Mark 8) Identification of film clips and digital productions with similar themes and story dynamics 9) Videos and digital collections of graphics and texts from the ancient world that set the context for Mark.


Psalm 32 as a Wisdom Intertext
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Phil J. Botha, University of Pretoria

This paper will argue that Psalm 32 has extensive and purposeful intertextual connections with other wisdom psalms, with the book of Proverbs and with the book of Job. Similar to what seems to have been the case with Psalms 25 and 34, it was probably devised from the beginning as a wisdom teaching song which was poured into the mould of a Song of Thanksgiving in order to enhance its admonitory effect. The paper will argue that Psalm 32 is similar to Psalms 31 and 33 in its comprising an exposition of the teaching of Proverbs in which the author demonstrates the truth of Yahweh’s Torah by modelling the genre of Thanksgiving also on the experiences of David.


Elephantine and Law
Program Unit:
Alejandro Botta, Boston University

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James 1:20–27: A Text-Critical Analysis Interacting with the New Nestle-Aland Edition
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Andrew Bowden, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Much can be said for examining seemingly insignificant textual variants in the New Testament, since (among various reasons) these provide glimpses into the nature and reliability of the manuscripts. J. K. Elliott captures the importance of such investigation, saying, “To jettison secondary readings as mere aberrations without seeking to understand their meaning, the reason for their existence, or their influence is to abandon a fruitful source of knowledge about the development, history, and use of these living words no matter where they happen to be located” (“Thoroughgoing Eclecticism” in Rethinking NT Criticism, p. 124). Heeding Elliott’s advice, this paper will examine ten often overlooked variants in James 1:20–27, asking how these might serve as fruitful sources of knowledge about the manuscripts—particularly the Alexandrian manuscripts—in James. Such a study takes on even greater importance in light of the recent publication of NA28, which, in James 1:20 for example, abandonded a reading found in NA27 that was supported by both Aleph and B. This paper will examine this variant in detail, along with several others occuring within the same paragraph of James. The conclusions reached (based on a careful consideration of both internal and external evidence) will be that two additional readings found in this paragraph of the new Nestle-Aland should have been given the same treatment as that occuring in 1:20. This, however, did not occur do to the continuing influence of the primary Alexandrian manuscripts.


The Fruit of Righteousness in the Epistle of James: A Study in Discourse Analysis
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Andrew Bowden, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

In this study, a discourse analysis of James is conducted with the goal of better understanding the structure, theme, and cohesion of the letter. By paying careful attention to the details of the text, James’s paragraphs are identified, as are the signals of transition between the various paragraphs. Understanding the individual paragraphs of James by means of discourse analysis enables the larger sections of the letter to become clear. Recurring grammatical devices and themes are seen that allow the reader to catch the letter’s main purpose. The conclusions reached based on a discourse analysis of James are illuminating. Far from being a randomly arranged work, James repeatedly uses present prohibitory imperatives in the overall organization of the epistle, and these imperatives are important in marking transitions between main sections. Furthermore, a discourse analysis reveals that the Epistle of James is a coherent epistle comprised of 16 paragraphs, with 3:13-18 providing the overarching macrostructure of the letter. Bearing the fruit of righteousness, a theme prominent in 3:13-18, is seen to be the letter’s overarching and unifying thought. Additionally, this discourse analysis accounts for the recurring allusions in James to the prophetic books of the LXX, which find their culmination in 3:13-18.


Sclerocardia: Hardness of Heart
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Johanna Brankaer, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

The hardness of heart is a typical Markan motif, that goes back to the imagery of the harshness of heart of Pharao in Exodus and the harshness of the people of Israel which is at stake in Exodus and the Prophetes, especially Isaiah. In the Wisdom literature, the one with the hardened heart is the opposite of the sage, the one who seeks quarrel and sin. All these motifs are meaningful for the interpretation of the Markan motif of the hardened heart, which is attributed to the pharisees, but also to the disciples. In the Markan hardness of heart moral and epistemological vice come together in what one can call “guilty ignorance”. Unlike Exodus, Mark does not present the hardness of heart as a deficiency caused by God, but as a failure to believe and to know what Jesus makes obvious. Matthew and Luke are reluctant to take over the negative picture of the disciples in the Markan Gospel. The imagery of the hardness of heart is very sparse and reserved for the opponents of Jesus (Matthew 15,8, a citation of Isaiah). They have no alternative for the image of the hardness of heart. The fact that the motif is lacking from Matthew and Luke shows how negative it is in Mark. It refers to an espistemological, moral, and psychological shortcoming. Matthew and Luke did not want to go that far in their presentation of the disciples. This proposal would be appropriate for the Markan session or for the session comparing the synoptics (but Mark is at the centre of this comparison).


An Anthropomorphic Creator Shapes Divine Humans
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Johanna Brankaer, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

Gnostic cosmologies often put forward an anthropomorphic Demiurge that is endowed with clear human traits, such as jealousy, limited knowledge, lust for power, etc. On the other hand, human beings, –shaped after the image of the creator god, but not necessarily after his likeness –turn out to be “less human", less limited than the Demiurge himself. Ignorant of the fact that his creation is far superior to him, the creator god of Genesis is mocked by Gnostic mythopoets, who present him as all too human and deride him for his anthropomorphous traits. Humans in turn transcend their humanity or elevate it to the realm of real/true humanity. Such a representation of the Creator serves as a way to emphasize the divine qualities of humankind.


First Corinthians 1:24 and the Voices of the Tradition
Program Unit: Bible in Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Traditions
Teodor Brasoveanu, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Our paper starts from the note added to 1 Cor 1,24 by the editors of The Orthodox Study Bible in which Christ is equated with the power and wisdom of God. By paying a closer look to the textual transmission history of this verse and to its Wirkungsgeschichte in the patristic period it attempts to demonstrate that one can discern two streams of interpretation and that the aforementioned editors made an interpretative choice when they printed that note. On the one hand, one comes across authors who assert that Christ is the power and the wisdom of God (cf. e.g., Origen, Basil of Caesarea, Ambrosiaster, Cyril of Alexandria, Theophylact). On the other hand, there are others who consider that the final phrase of 1 Cor 1,24 refers to Christ’s cross and to its proclamation (cf. e.g., Pelagius, Theodore of Mopsuestia, John Chrysostom, Theodoret of Cyrus). However, it is striking to note that for some of them the two interpretations seem not to exclude each other. While they do not consider Christ to be the power and wisdom of God in the commentaries on 1 Cor 1,24, they do not seem to have any difficulties in quoting this verse elsewhere as a proof that Christ is indeed the power and wisdom of God (cf. e.g., John Chrysostom). Last but not least, our paper maintains that, in light of the context and of the syntax, the construction ?e?? d??aµ?? ?a? ?e?? s?f?a? refers to the crucified Christ and to his preaching. In our opinion, the text of 1 Cor 1,24 reveals once again the paradoxical power and wisdom residing in the cross of Christ and in its preaching (cf. 1 Cor 1,17-18; 2,4-5).


Orientalism, Feminist Criticism and Nationalism: Reading the Song of Songs with Ze'ev Raban
Program Unit: Contextual Interpretation of the Bible (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament)
Athalya Brenner, Tel Aviv University, Universiteit van Amsterdam

Painters are perforce interpreters of the texts they paint. Their representation choices often include vested interests, consciously or otherwise. This is certainly valid for the assessment of The book-long text and illustrations by Ze'ev Raban (1888-1970) on the Song of Songs. This presenter is Israeli, female and a feminist. I grew up in and still belong to a society whose cultural climate was reflected in as well as shaped by artists such as Raban, Marc Chagall and Abel Pann and other contemporary Jewish artists. Their work continues to be witness to a certain segment of reception history in a specific time and place. As such, their work is still valid for biblical interpretation and for the life experience of people like me. Therefore, Raban's Song of Songs will be looked at as a case study.


Numbers and Dreams: Jonathan Borofsky as Scribe
Program Unit: Bible and Visual Culture
Christopher R. Brewer, University of St. Andrews

Jonathan Borofsky (b.1942) is an American artist best known for his wall drawings, installations and public sculpture. That said, his early work was primarily conceptual, including "Counting from 1 to Infinity" on paper and keeping a dream record. Freudian analyses of Borofsky's dream record have won wide acceptance. I shall argue, however, that more illuminating is the parallel with ancient Jewish scribal practices that could also have religious implications for our own day.


Israel's Messiah or God the Son: What Did Matthew Really Think about Jesus?
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Wayne A. Brindle, Liberty University

A major issue for Christian-Muslim dialogue is to what extent the New Testament title Son of God for Jesus includes a claim of divinity. The Gospel of Matthew gives more prominence to the sonship of Jesus than do either of the other Synoptic gospels. The title Son of God may be the dominant term in Matthew’s Christology (applied to Jesus nine times in the book—4:3, 6; 8:29; 14:33; 16:16; 26:63; 27:40, 43, 54). In addition, with titles such as “God with us” (1:23) and promises like “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (28:20), Matthew appears to indicate that God now dwells with his people in the person of Jesus. This paper will analyze the sonship of Jesus in Matthew on seven levels: (1) God’s own pronouncements about Jesus (baptism and transfiguration); (2) the recognition of Jesus by Satan and demons; (3) Jesus’s response to the confession of his sonship/deity by his disciples; (4) statements from observers at the time of his crucifixion; (5) Jesus’s self-identification at key points during his ministry; (6) the dialogue between Jesus and the High Priest at his trial; and (7) the redactional claims of Matthew himself throughout the Gospel. Principal attention will be paid to the way in which Matthew weaves these “confessions,” “admissions,” and editorial insertions into his narrative. The objective will be to resolve the question of what Matthew himself really thought about Jesus. Category: Matthew.


Hulda the Prophetess: God's Word to a King's Reform
Program Unit: Contextual Interpretation of the Bible (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament)
Ora Brison, Tel Aviv University

One of the issues in the recent elections to the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) was the status of women in Israeli society. In secular parties, women's representation was high and exceptional. Three important parties are headed by women and one third of the Knesset members are women. This phenomenon is in contrast with the religious parties where the exclusion of women representatives is a traditional norm. As my research examines the representation and status of women portrayed in religious context of the biblical world, I thought it would be interesting to compare the status of those ancient literary women to that of contemporary women in the orthodox religious institutions in the state of Israel. This paper focuses on the prophetess Huldah (2 Kgs. 22:14-20 = 2Chron. 34:22-28), whose prophecies were during the reign of King Josiah (r.640-609 bce). Huldah, unlike two other known prophetesses: Miriam and Deborah, is an anonymous figure and was almost forgotten and excluded from the historical Jewish memory throughout the generations. I examine Huldah's position as a prophetess within the male dominated prophetic tradition of the Bible and her role in King Josiah's religious and political reforms. I compare Huldah's activities to other prophetesses depicted in the Bible and in the ancient Near-east literature. I would like to take Huldah out of the shadows in which she was put by the redactors of the Deuteronomistic school and later commentators, unveil her true position, by suggesting that she was one of the most important women who influenced the religious and cultic Israelite life during the last years of the Judean monarchy (as described in the Bible). I maintain that Huldah fulfilled a religious role that has never before or after, even in our modern times, been achieved.


Aspects of the Natural World in the Bible and Art: Bauckham on Biblical Perspectives and Later Christian Reflection
Program Unit:
David Brown, University of St. Andrews

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Themes and Motives of the Priestly Christology in Hebrews 11
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
Jaroslav Broz, Univerzita Karlova v Praze

Chapter 11 of Hebrews is considered by many commentators a section independent from the central part of the composition dealing with the Christ’s priesthood. With Hebrews 11 (or 10:19) indeed starts the concluding exhortation that apparently misses any characteristics of priestly vocabulary or other means of coherency with the main theme of the letter. The presentation tries to demonstrate that the author of Hebrews planned his work as a whole that should be interpreted in all parts through the key of his priestly Christology. Its three main aspects – sacrifice, eschatology and ecclesiology – are perceivable throughout the whole of chapter 11, which presents the reinterpretation of the main and secondary figures of the Old Testament history of salvation. Even if there are not many direct literal connections between this chapter and the central section of the letter, after a deeper analysis of singular motives the theological homogeneity of both parts of the composition becomes visible.


First Corinthians 14:33-36 Revisited: An Ironic Rebuttal
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Robert A. Bryant, Presbyterian College (Clinton, SC)

As the ancient Greco-Roman rhetorical handbooks and practice through the centuries show, the most effective refutation uses an opponent’s own words to reveal the position’s inadequacy or error. The trope of irony is an especially effective weapon in dialectical disputes between parties because it complements the intelligence of the listeners, mitigates charges of boasting against the speaker, and makes the speaker’s position self-evident to the listeners that the opponent’s view is untenable. This paper revisits the ever difficult passage of First Corinthians 14:33-36 to consider the evidences of Paul’s use of an ironic rhetorical rebuttal aimed at discrediting opponents in Corinth who would silence women in churches. Indeed, he may even be using the language of Corinthian Christians here as elsewhere in the epistle such that quotation marks should be inserted around verses 34 and 35, perhaps also around verse 33 as a related slogan. In addition to the evidence drawn from ancient rhetorical handbooks and treatises regarding ironic rebuttals, this study gives close attention to the grammar of the passage as well as the argumentation of First Corinthians itself, particularly chapters 11-14 in which Paul presents a protocol for men and women who together are leading in worship (11:1-16), describes the nature of spiritual gifts—which are not gender specific (12:1-31), highlights the superiority of love for every Christian (13:1-13), and focuses upon the function of every spiritual gift for the building up of the whole body of Christ (14:1-25). All of these form the basis for Paul’s decisive move to establish the peaceful worship in Corinth which he seeks by showing the absurdity of what is stated and shaming into silence anyone who is so immature as to insist that “women should keep silence in churches” (14:26-40).


Narrative and the Temporal Process in the Book of Qohelet
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Mette Bundvad, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Time is an important concern in the book of Qohelet. Centre-stage in this literary work stands a discussion of the temporal reality and its opaque character when viewed from a human perspective. This paper investigates specifically what happens to Qohelet’s presentation of the wider, temporal horizons when he makes use of a narrative form, as it happens in 1:12-2:20, 3:13-16, and 9:13-15. Despite clear differences in their plots, these three stories all attempt a narrative representation of part of our existence’s temporal dimension. The first half of the paper offers a brief, general discussion of the narrative form, aiming to evaluate how this form may support Qohelet’s philosophical undertaking. The second half of the paper analyses in detail the temporal presentation in Qohelet’s three main narratives. In my analysis I focus especially on the non-telic character of these stories: Qohelet’s narratives all conclude in an unexpected matter that does not seem to finish their story-line in a satisfactory way. The conclusions emphasise only the non-existence of remembrance, regarding both the characters themselves and their work, and may actively undermine the points made during the course of the narratives. I argue that Qohelet’s concerns regarding the inaccessibility of time are very present in the narratives in 1:12-2:20, 3:13-16, and 9:13-15. Thus, these stories come to play a central role as Qohelet demonstrates the problematic character of the temporal reality.


The Seer’s Experience of Time in Early Layers of 1 Enoch
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Mette Bundvad, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

This paper approaches the time-thematic in early layers of 1 Enoch by examining it through two fairly distinct modes of presentation used by the Enochic authors. Firstly, the book of Enoch evidences - in accordance with much apocalyptic literature - an intense interest in time as it is chronologically structured. The authors of the book attempt to forge the individual historical events, as well as the cosmic movements, into meaningful wholes which constitute or exemplify the divine plan. Secondly, the Enochic authors use the theme of time as a strategy for conveying the visionary experience of the protagonist. This, I will argue, is achieved through investigating and describing time as a collapse of different times into the one moment of the apocalyptic vision. As well as depicting the temporal component of the seer’s visionary experience, this second approach to time may also function to demonstrate forcefully the absolute cohesion of events in human and divine history. Both modes of temporal description, as well as their interplay, will be examined. The analysis will build upon the observations of F. F. Dailey regarding the complex depictions of time found in apocalyptic literature. I will also draw upon the comments made by G. W. E. Nickelsburg regarding the relationship between the exploration of temporal phenomena and cosmos in the Book of the Watchers.


A New Test of the Minor Agreements
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Delbert Burkett, Louisiana State University

In the present study, a test is conducted to determine how significant a problem the minor agreements of Matthew and Luke against Mark pose for the standard theory of Markan priority. One way to test a hypothesis is to test a prediction based on the hypothesis. If a hypothesis is true, it should entail certain consequences that must be true if the hypothesis is true. If such a predicted consequence is confirmed, then the hypothesis is supported; but if the prediction is disconfirmed, then the hypothesis is disproved. If the standard theory of Markan priority is correct, we can make the following testable prediction: If Matthew and Luke each independently copied Mark without knowledge of the other, then within individual pericopes the agreements of Matthew with Mark, or Luke with Mark, should always be much more numerous than the agreements of Matthew and Luke against Mark. A test of this prediction requires a list of all Synoptic agreements: not only agreements of Matthew with Luke, but also agreements of Mark with Matthew, and agreements of Mark with Luke. With such a list, we can determine whether Matthew and Luke agree more often with Mark or with each other. The standard theory of Markan priority predicts that Matthew and Luke will each agree with Mark more often than they agree with each other. However, in 42 of 86 pericopes tested, Matthew and Luke agree with each other more often than, or just as often as, either agrees with Mark, even where no influence from Q can be detected. This failure of the prediction eliminates the standard theory of Markan priority as a viable option. While the minor agreements are not consistent with the standard theory of Markan priority, they are consistent with a theory of Proto-Mark.


The Prologue as the Foundation of Johannine Ecclesiology
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Andrew Byers, University of Durham

The Fourth Gospel's Prologue is as much an introduction to Johannine ecclesiology as it is to Johannine Christology. Ecclesiology does not feature as prominent subject matter amidst Prologue studies and few examinations of Johannine ecclesiology hang their exegetical hat on the Gospel's majestic beginning. Focus is customarily placed on the Farewell Discourse (especially chapter 17), the Eucharistic language in chapter 6, the enigmatic exchanges in the passion narrative, or on a constellation of metaphors or images (temple/household, vine, etc.) that seem to convey ecclesiological concerns. Those studies directly focused on John 1:1-18 are generally concerned with source-critical inquiries into the Prologue's layered, compositional pre-history and, perhaps most predominantly, with its Christology. This paper seeks to demonstrate that ecclesiology is so intrinsic to the Prologue's Christology that an emphasis on the latter to the neglect of the former is a misreading of this massively influential text. Tracing the sequential development of the divine identity within the Prologue it is clear that God is reconceptualized to accommodate an interrelation with another divine figure, the Logos. This Christological reconceptualization of God immediately compels a reconceptualization of God's people. The Gospel's "dyadic theology" undergoes a process of "disambiguation" throughout the Prologue as God and the Logos are gradually re-identified in terms of filial community. Anthropology surfaces within the Prologue's first few verses and actually participates in the process of disambiguation when an ecclesiological community (the children of God) is generated and identified within the filial community of God (the Father) and the Logos (the unique Son). This theme of community formation around the Logos establishes an "ecclesiological narrative script" instantiated throughout the rest of Gospel.


Galilee and the Gospel of John: An Analysis of the Role of Galilee In Understanding Jesus and his Mission
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
David Callaway, University of Georgia

Scholarship on the Gospel of John is undeniably extensive, covering topics from Christology to 1st Century CE Judaism and early church polemics; yet, the issue of location, specifically Galilee, has held little interest for scholars in the past. Even the recent surge in Galilee research over the last half century has had little to say about what role Galilee plays in the Fourth Gospel. Whereas in the Synoptics, especially Mark, Jesus begins in Galilee and journeys to Jerusalem, with a strong contrast between each environment, Jesus in the Gospel of John travels to and from Galilee throughout the narrative. The seeming loss of the dichotomy presented in the Synoptics has led many scholars to disregard the region’s importance all together. This paper presents a contrasting opinion, demonstrating Galilee has a far more important role than expected given the amount of space the evangelist devotes to it. While Galilee and its function are not the primary concerns of the Gospel of John, they are still important for understanding who Jesus was and how early followers interpreted the region in context of his mission. To establish this, the paper not only explores Galilee's narrative role in the Gospel, but also connects key theological concepts such as Jesus' role as the light that shines in the darkness with geographical context that reveals the evangelist's concern for the region.


The Book of Revelation and New Testament Theology
Program Unit: Biblical Theology
W. Gordon Campbell, Union Theological College (Northern Ireland)

For all efforts at doing biblical theology, adequately addressing the dual problem of unity and diversity has been a perennial difficulty. With hindsight, we may see readily enough how in practice (if not in principle) attempted resolution of the difficulty has led to the neglect of some documents more than others – and among them the Book of Revelation. Yet there are hopeful signs today of an end to the marginalisation of Revelation in integrative theological work: arguably, the Book may now be travelling from the periphery towards the centre. This paper espouses the conviction that the distinctive character of Revelation’s particular solo voice is something to be recognised and fully appreciated; it also assumes the desirability of Revelation’s unique contribution remaining audible whenever a polyphonic blending of New Testament voices occurs – as must happen in any serious labour at articulating an inclusive, multi-voice New Testament Theology. An assessment will therefore be offered of the treatment afforded Revelation by some North American or European scholars who have published recent significant New Testament Theologies or reflections on what methods or contents might be appropriate to the whole enterprise. In so far as this analysis allows a glimpse of Revelation’s prospects for exerting an influence on biblical-theological work in future, possible fruitful contributions which it might make to theology will be considered: provisionally, these will likely include both Revelation’s distinctive Christology and its equally prominent, if somewhat undervalued, cultic or liturgical dimension. In recognition of current methodological issues there will also be some interaction with positions taken in certain of the contributions recently published in Beyond Biblical Theologies (WUNT 295),and with the frameworks for debate which these provide.


‘How Much More’ and Paul’s Revaluation of All Things in Christ
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
William S.Campbell, Prifysgol Cymru, Y Drindod Dewi Sant - University of Wales, Trinity Saint David

At several significant places in his letters, Paul uses a qal wahomer argument:‘how much more’. In Romans 5:15-17, Christ is compared with Adam to stress the superiority of Christ’s work and its effects. Similarly in Rom.11:11-24, if the failure of the Jews to respond brought grace to the gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? And in 2 Cor.3:9, ‘For if there was splendour in the dispensation of Moses, how much more must the dispensation of righteousness exceed it in splendour?’ These texts can be read without much critical thought, simply to imply that everything after the Christ exceeds all that went before, making Christianity superior in every way to Judaism. This does not appear to be Paul’s intention since he compares himself to Moses simply as two administrators of two differing dispensations. The question to ask is whether ‘how much more’ is meant quantitatively or qualitatively. If we take the first of these, it fits the stereotype –Christianity is better than Judaism. This creates endless theological problems-how can one revelation of God, if it is genuine, not be as good as any other revelation before or after? Does God not remain the same in both Testaments, or is there an imperfect God in the OT as Marcion argued? It is better to regard ‘how much more’ as referring to the extent of revelation-more of the same revelation, not a new kind of revelation. We note that the qal wahomer type of argument, presupposes that what is compared in both is good, and therefore more of it must be better than less! The incoming of the gentiles extends God’s grace, but it is still the same grace for Jews and gentiles.


John in the Middle: Jews, Purification, and Jesus (John 2:1-11 & 3:22-30)
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Ardel B. Caneday, Northwestern College - St. Paul

John 3.25 tends to elude, though there are verbal, literary, and imagery links with 2.1-11 with three prominent. (1) Both pericopes use ?a?a??sµ??, used nowhere else in the Gospel. ?a?a??sµ?? links this wilderness account with that of Jesus’ first sign concerned with stone water jars used for purification (?at? t?? ?a?a??sµ?? t?? ???da???, 2.6). (2) Inclusion of ???da???/???da??? is a second link between 3.25 and 2.6. (3) A third entails wedding imagery John exploits to portray his relationship with Jesus. John draws upon wedding imagery as he presents himself as the “friend of the bridegroom” (? f???? t?? ??µf???) with Jesus as the bridegroom. Narration of 3.22-30 signals the completion of John’s role of presenting the bride to the bridegroom (cf. John 4.1-2)—“He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him, the bridegroom, rejoices with joy because of the voice of the bridegroom. Therefore, this joy of mine is complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:22-30 portrays John as in the middle, between the Jews and Jesus. Together, John 2.1-11 and 3.22-30 address a tension between the Jewish symbols of purification, and the nuptial joy of heavenly purification. John occupies the tense role between the Jews and Jesus. To the Jews, John openly proclaims that his baptism concerns the purificatory role the priests and the Levites fill, explaining their interrogation of John (1:19-28). Concerning Jesus, John’s purificatory baptism is preparatory for greater purification that comes with Jesus. He and his baptism yield to Jesus and to purification he brings. John is a bridge between the old and the new, between the Jews and Jesus. His baptism links and subjects symbolic Jewish purification with and to Jesus’ more thorough form of purification.


An Armored Household: Isaiah 59 as the Key to Eph 5:21-6:9 and 6:10-17
Program Unit: Families and Children in the Ancient World
Holly J. Carey, Point University

The Haustafel of Ephesians 5:21-6:9 and the following “Armor of God” passage in Ephesians 6:10-17 have long been regarded as self-contained. Scholars have seen practically no relationship between these two portions of the letter, reading the latter as a new train of thought for the author. The focus of this paper is on the relationship of the Haustafel to Ephesians 6:10-17. It will be shown that there is a crucial connection between the two passages, and that this connection is found in the author’s use of Isaiah 59. With sensitivity to the intertexts present in the passage, it will be argued that (1) the original context of the Isaianic passage illuminates the meaning of the Divine Warrior motif in Ephesians, (2) the message of justice in Isaiah 59 helps to account for and make sense of the redefined roles of the Haustafel, and particularly in the Pauline understanding of ideal relationships among the family of God, and (3) the image of the clothing of the Christian in God’s armor is significant precisely because it transfers the work of the Divine Warrior to the follower of Christ.


Intermediaries in Ezekiel's Final Temple Vision and Zechariah's Night Visions
Program Unit: Prophets
Reed Carlson, Harvard University

There is a near consensus in continental scholarship regarding an original cycle of seven visions centered on the “interpreting angel” in Zechariah 1-6. Most scholars also see Zechariah’s perceptions of intermediary figures as partially dependent on Ezekiel. Though post-exilic intermediary figures display unique traits, their theological and rhetorical purposes remain debated. This essay builds on work by Karin Schöpflin, Martin Hallaschka, and Thilo Rudnig regarding the secondary additions of intermediary figures to existing narratives (i.e. the ‘man with measuring instruments in Ezekiel, as well as the Angelus Interpres and the Angel of YHWH in Zechariah). Part 1 briefly reviews current scholarship on the redaction history of intermediary figures in these two texts. The confusing presence of three intermediaries in Zech 1:8-17 reflects their secondary nature and provides a key to understanding the additions of angels throughout the cycle. Similarly, the ‘man with measuring instruments’ in Ezek 40-48 was added to an existing narrative that originally shared more parallels with Ezek 8-9. These additions seem dependent upon Zechariah’s Night Visions, particularly 2:5-9 (Eng 2:1-5). Part 2 explores the possible purposes behind the additions of these intermediary figures. Both Schöpflin and Hallaschka cite post-exilic perceptions of God as more “transcendent” and thus join in a long interpretive tradition stretching back as far as Wellhausen. This essay argues that the pervasive transcendence vs. immanence dichotomy is an anachronistic structure to frame post-exilic intermediary figures. There is no implicit reason to assume that the use of intermediary figures necessitates a belief that God is less involved, less comprehensible, or more ‘distant’ (either physically or metaphysically). The repeated themes in both books of God’s physical presence in the temple and the impressive retinue of angels at God’s disposal could suggest instead an emphasis on God’s power during this period of foreign domination in Judah.


Sisters Separated from Birth: An Examination of 792 and 2643 as Private Miniature Manuscripts
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Jeff Cate, California Baptist University

The thirteenth-century manuscripts 792 at the National Library of Greece in Athens and 2643 at the University of California-Riverside occupy an unusual place among the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Their content is uncommon since they each contain only five New Testament books (the four Gospels and the Apocalypse), a combination found in only eight other known manuscripts. And their diminutive size is even more unusual since they represent the tiniest known minuscule manuscripts, not even 7 x 10 cm. The two manuscripts are most certainly the work of the same scribe and contain many identical peculiar readings that must have been present in their exemplar but rarely show up in the rest of the manuscript tradition. Textually, 792 and 2643 are rather enigmatic since they reflect Byzantine readings, yet they remain independent from established sub-groupings, especially in the Apocalypse. Based on their tiny size and their inclusion of the Apocalypse, the manuscripts must have been privately owned for personal use. An examination and comparison of these two miniature manuscripts reveals a text that was circulating in private hands in the thirteenth century apart from the authorized manuscript tradition found in the church, and certain readings in both manuscripts can be shown to reflect this context.


Queering John 7:53–8:11 by Hongkongers: Pericope Adulterae in Contexts Revisited
Program Unit: Contextual Interpretation of the Bible (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament)
Lung Pun Common Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong

The overarching purpose of the paper is to revisit why and in what sense the Pericope Adulterae was located in the textual transmission as John 7:53-8:11. In a glocalized public domain, John 7:53-8:11 has sparked fierce conversations amongst Hongkongers, precisely, between LGBT rights activitists and Christian conservatives (the so-called “Religious Right”). Dichotomy is particularly in evidence in debates concerning the core value (“tolerance” versus “righteousness”) conveyed in this text. In this paper, queer and post-queer theories are adopted to shed light on its biblical interpretation. However, the paper aims at neither pro-LGBT nor anti-LGBT hermeneutical result. Instead, it facilitates reflection on the intermingleness of sexuality, power and religion in both ancient and modern contexts. The investigation is threefold. First, it examines the (pre-Johannine) Sitz im Leben of the Pericope Adulterae. In the text, religious conservatives manipulate “adultery” or “sexuality” as a social agenda. On one hand, Jesus refuses to get involved in this ingenuine, patriarchal jugdement. On the other hand, he does not grasp this opportunity to force the anonymous “adulteress” “coming out” in the public domain. Second, it revisits John 7:53-8:11 in light of its previous section context, namely John 7:40-52. Through this revisitation, the ambiguous “sexuality” agenda is unmasked and the underlying power struggles are evidenced via the Johannine context. Noteworthy is that Jesus himself neither confronts those religious powers personally nor condemns their evils directly. Last, it interprets John 7:53-8:11 with its following section context, i.e. John 8:12-20. Jesus transforms the crowd from a condemning social force to a self-critical one. Furthermore, he does not “define” the “sin” of the woman but liberates her to be a self-critical and self-responsible person in future. Thus, the text concerns mainly not the dichotomy between “tolerance” and “righteousness”. Instead, it reflects Jesus’ ethical liberalism. Cautiously, Jesus promotes ethical relativism not.


Christianizing Susanna with Pericope Adulterae: Sebastiano Ricci and His Forerunners
Program Unit: Bible and Visual Culture
Lung Pun Common Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong

The overarching purpose of the paper is to investigate how early the story of Susanna and the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) were interpreted intertextually or cross-textually in the Kunstgeschichte as well as the history of biblical interpretation. Starting point of the paper is the two paintings, namely “Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery” (1710) and “Susanna in front of Daniel” (1725/1726), of an Italian artist, Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734). Unlike his forerunners, Sebastiano Ricci revived the theme of Daniel as a judge in this latter painting. Noteworthy is how he portrayed the figure of Daniel: Jesus of the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) comes to mind as the intended person of contrast. In turn, the Johannine Jesus could be perceived as wisdom figure in the Danielic tradition(s). Thus, Sebastiano Ricci Christianized and canonized once again this deuterocanonical text, namely Susanna. Though his forerunners did not pay attention to the Daniel of Susanna, they also Christianized Susanna as a symbol of beauty and seduction. Il Tintoretto’s Susanna and the Elders (1560-62), Peter Paul Rubens’s Susanna and the Elders (1607), Artemisia Gentileschi’s Susanna and the Elders (1610), Anthony Van Dyck’s Susanna and the Elders (1621-22), Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn’s Susanna Bathing (1636) as well as his Susanna and the Elders (1647) and Giovan Battista Tiepolo’s Susanna and the Elders (1720-22) are some of the typical Christian arts of Susanna. To certain extent, their portrayals reveal the Wirkungsgeschichte of the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) on the story of Susanna and the Elders, through which the pious Susanna has become a figure of seduction. Patristic exegetical influence on these painting would be illustrated. Last but not least, the paper makes a critique on this Christian art history by dechristianizing Susanna from a feminist perspective


The Old Testament and the Church after Christendom
Program Unit: Biblical Theology
Stephen B. Chapman, Duke University

Political appropriations of the Old Testament in Christian theology have focused on theocratic theologoumena like law, covenant, nation, kingdom. Drawing on contributions by Roger Williams and John Howard Yoder, this paper charts tentative lines for a post-Constantinian approach to Old Testament theology, in which the exilic, diasporic identity of Israel is foregrounded and the church is correspondingly viewed as a counter-culture negotiating the tensions between assimilation and resistance. A major challenge for such an approach is presented by the strong theological support given to Israel’s law and civil institutions throughout the Old Testament. The ultimate question to be posed is not only how the contemporary church is to survive as a particular community of exilic memory and discourse, but what the church as such a community may still be able to offer to the wider social order and how the church, using biblical Israel as a model, can go about doing so.


Altars and Priests in Exodus 20
Program Unit:
Simeon Chavel, University of Chicago

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Secrecy and Revelation in 2 Baruch
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
P. Richard Choi, Andrews University

In this paper, I focus my discussion on secrecy as a revelatory strategy in 2 Baruch. In particular, I discuss why the character Baruch never shares his visions with his listeners, whereas the author freely communicates them to the readers in graphic detail. 2 Baruch creates a literary paradox of a sort by having Baruch only explain the law to his disciples, making his halakhic activities a means of concealment, while the author opens marvelous and mysterious visions before the eyes of the reader. The paper argues that this narrative tension between secrecy and revelation is an apocalyptic strategy that seeks to draw the audience into a mystical experience akin to what is portrayed in the story. The intent of 2 Baruch is to offer secrecy and silence as a means of healing, a therapy of sort, for those who have lost faith in God.


Septuagint Translation of Pss 41 and 42
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
P. Richard Choi, Andrews University

I will particularly focus my research on 41:5, 7, and 42:1, closely comparing the LXX with the Masoretic text. My paper will argue that the LXX and the MT offer two very different readings of the Hebrew consonantal text. The LXX offers a futuristic reading, seeing a pilgrimage of martyrdom in the text, whereas the MT offers a preterist reading, seeing a remembrance of pilgrimages taken in the past. These two readings represent two different spiritual solutions to the problem of human despair and the absence of God’s presence in one’s life. For the LXX, hope comes from the way one interprets human anguish and despair as a pilgrimage leading to God. For the MT, hope comes from remembering God’s presence in collective journeys of God’s people in the past. For the translator, the earthly Jerusalem is only a passage way to the heavenly house of God, whereas, for the MT scribes, the earthly temple is the final destination of the pilgrimage.


‘For You, the Word either Decreases or Increases according to Your Capacity’ (Luc. 7.12): Ambrose of Milan on Reading the Bible
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Angela Russell Christman, Loyola University Maryland

As one of the few Latin church fathers who read Greek, Ambrose knew well the writings of Origen (as well as many other Greek Christian authors) and drew upon these in his own commentaries and homilies. Indeed, Jerome suggested that Ambrose was an “ugly crow” who had put on “someone else’s plumes.” Jerome’s criticisms notwithstanding, if readers closely examine the biblical interpretation of Origen and Ambrose, they find evidence that even as Ambrose has a clear intellectual debt to the great Alexandrian exegete, he also displays originality and creativity. In this paper I will examine Ambrose’s use of Origen with regard to a particular theological claim, namely the Christian argument for the polyvalence of the scriptures (a notion affirmed by both authors in a number of their exegetical works). By comparing not only the biblical texts in which the two authors ground this claim but also the nature of the theological justifications they develop in their exegesis of these passages, I will both explore the articulation of this notion by Ambrose and pose questions about his original contribution. Finally, I will illuminate the theological claims of both Origen and Ambrose by juxtaposing them with Plato’s notion, in Phaedrus 275–276, that the spoken word is superior to the written.


“Like a Woman in Labor”: Gender, Postcolonial, Queer, and Trauma Perspectives on the Book of Jeremiah
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Juliana Claassens, Universiteit van Stellenbosch - University of Stellenbosch

In recent years, a number of non-traditional methodologies have been used to read the intriguing collection of oracles contained in the book of Jeremiah. Angela Bauer’s Gender in Jeremiah, Steed Vernyl Davidson’s postcolonial exploration of Jeremiah, Empire and Exile, Stuart MacWilliam’s essay on “Queering Jeremiah” and Kathleen O’Connor’s recent book, Jeremiah: Pain and Promise that employs trauma and disaster studies as reading lens, all have offered valuable perspectives on the Book of Jeremiah and, as a result, definitively changed the face of Jeremianic scholarship. However, quite often these alternative methods stand in a contentious relationship to one another. So queer theorists accuses feminist theologians of falling victim to essentialist binary categories of male and female, while feminist writers bemoan postcolonial theorists’ lack of attention to the gendered reality of the texts they are studying. Despite the distinct differences in approach, these methods though have much in common, sharing key features and overall goals. In this essay, I will demonstrate the intersections between feminist, postcolonial, queer and trauma interpretation by focusing on one particular metaphor that is used in the Book of Jeremiah. The metaphor of a woman in labor is introduced nine times throughout the book in order to describe Judah’s experience in coming to terms with the devastating effects the Babylonian invasion and its aftermath (Jer 4:31; 6:24; 22:23; 30:6; 13:21; 31:8; 48:41; 49:22, 24; 50:43). By contemplating this particular metaphor in its various manifestations from a gendered, postcolonial, queer, as well as trauma perspective, I propose that not only the rhetorical function of the woman in labor metaphor is illuminated, but also our understanding of the book of Jeremiah as a whole.


Rehoboam: King of the United Monarchy
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Frank Clancy, Independent Scholar

Scholars have debated which version of the Rehoboam-Jeroboam story was the more original - the Proto-Masoretic Hebrew text or the Old Greek text. I shall argue that neither version is more original. Instead, the original had Rehoboam on the throne of the United Monarchy for five years before Israel rebelled and that Rehoboam needed to raise revenues to repair the economic dammage caused by Shishak's massive tribute. After the separation, Rehoboam became king of Judah for 17 years. Why did the DtrH alter the story in such a radical fashion?


The Locus and Scope of Paul’s Apostolic Authority
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Andrew Clarke, University of Aberdeen

Most of the letters in the Pauline corpus begin by asserting the grounds of his authority in writing, whether to congregations or individuals: ‘an apostle’, often qualified by ‘… of Christ Jesus’ and ‘… by the will of God’. In the course of the letters, this authority is clearly significant, extending to making demands, issuing commands, and defining orthodoxy. As an apostle, Paul is a commissioned messenger or agent, representing Christ Jesus. This paper explores competing interpretations of the locus, and consequently the scope, of Paul’s apostolic authority. Did he consider his apostleship to be delegated authority, entrusted to him to exercise in allegiance to Christ Jesus, but as he saw fit in a given situation – a distant envoy, seeking to interpret and faithfully apply the likely intentions of his master in a remote situation? Alternatively, did he consider access to his master to be more accessible and immediate, and he therefore spoke or directed others, mediating real-time access, as it were, to the higher authority? If the latter, the authority was less ‘delegated’ or ‘independent’, and more that of a spokesperson, acting not in the absence of the higher authority, but with especially prophetic insight. In the one, the locus of authority is in some measure transferred, and there is a measure of independence in regard to its scope. In the other, the authority is not embodied in Paul, but fully resides beyond him, with no requirement or freedom to second-guess the view of the one who commissioned him. Did Paul consider himself to be speaking on behalf of Christ Jesus, or speaking the words of Christ Jesus? In what ways are these options mutually exclusive; and, what distinctions do they presuppose between apostolic authority and more generic Christian leadership?


Covenant in Light of Deuteronomy's Ideology of Time
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Lisa J. Cleath, University of California-Los Angeles

This paper will employ a linguistic anthropological approach to analyze the ideology of time in Deuteronomy. Previous studies have detailed Israelite language regarding time measurement, but fewer have examined time of long duration in Israelite culture, and even fewer have attempted to explore the sociocultural implications of perspectives on time. Deuteronomy’s legal terminology, within the comparative context of Ancient Near Eastern international treaties, opens an illuminating view into the composers/redactors’ sociocultural perspective on time. Evans-Pritchard’s Durkheimian anthropological models provide a productive means of unpacking the structural view of time of Israelite society, which is often conveyed through citation of ancestral figures and descendant lines. In Deuteronomy, the past is represented in the ancestral figure of Moses, as well as other ancestors who received the covenant from God, while the distant future is represented by descendants, who will bear the consequences of present covenantal faithfulness. The generationally structured language used to mark this time of long duration in Deuteronomy is central to the authentication of covenant stipulations. Deuteronomy's consciousness of its own textuality wedded with future-oriented phraseology would suggest a general awareness of the treaty genre that is being utilized to express an intent to be a lasting document. Nomenclature of temporality in Deuteronomy is expressed through identification of those who are obligated to fulfill the stipulations of the agreement, and through direct references to time without end. The relationship between YHWH and Israel in the book of Deuteronomy consistently incorporates the everlasting import of the Sinai covenant while weaving in stipulations typical of comparable international treaties. Thus, the final form of Deuteronomy may be seen as a self-aware written document that purposes to enforce a message of everlasting impact for the people of Israel, within its structural view of time.


Does the Pentateuch Exist?
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
David J. A. Clines, University of Sheffield

I raise the question since it would appear, from the range of scholarly researches on offer at our meetings, that it is not generally believed that there is such a thing as the Pentateuch as a literary work in existence at the present day. If there were, we might expect to encounter papers and books on such matters as: (1) What the Pentateuch as a whole is about, what it means, what it is saying, and how its parts are related to the whole; (2) How its structure and shape affect its meaning, including the significance of its coming to an end while Israel is outside the promised land; (3) What the main lines of its ideology or theology are; (4) What it means that Israel’s law codes are included in a narrative book; (5) What its effects are upon its readers, ancient and modern; (6) How it is to be evaluated ethically and religiously today by a liberal Western conscience. It seems that almost all scholarly effort in relation to the first five books of the Bible concerns their origins, their sources and their growth rather than the Pentateuch itself. Indeed, the term ‘Pentateuchal criticism’ has come to refer to such matters—as if no other issues could properly be called scholarly or critical. What if that kind of ‘Pentateuchal criticism’ were to fall from the top of the agenda and large issues about the text that we actually have were to take its place?


The Flood Story in Middle English: The Fourteenth-Century Alliterative Poem, "Cleanness"
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
David J. A. Clines, University of Sheffield

The fourteenth-century didactic work known as Cleanness, or Purity, one of the finest examples of Middle English poetry, is a 1812-line alliterative poem extolling the virtue of cleanness, moral and physical purity. It contains elaborations of three biblical stories as exempla (tales inculcating a moral) that portray the divine attitude to cleanness: the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Belshazzar. The author is thought to have been the poet of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (a much better-known work than Cleanness), and a contemporary of Chaucer. The present paper focusses on the c. 300 lines narrating the Flood, with special reference inter alia to (1) their portrayal of the divine wrath that brings about the Flood (as distinct from the biblical picture of divine grief), (2) the sympathetic characterization of the humans and animals that are to be drowned in the Flood (the victims of the Flood are given no subjectivity in the biblical text), (3) the vision of the Flood as an act of divine cleansing rather than of punishment (‘I schal waken vp a water to wasch alle þe worlde’). The moral of the present paper is that alternative realizations (such as Cleanness offers) of a fabula attested in the Bible can alert us to silences and repressions in the biblical text as well as heightening our awareness of the contours of the biblical text. For its original audience, who would know little Latin and may or may not have had access to the new Wycliffite translations of the Bible that were appearing in the fourteenth century, this story of the Flood in English would have had a great impact.


When "Humanities" Goes beyond History and Sociology in Digital Biblical Studies
Program Unit: Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies
Claire Clivaz, Université de Lausanne

This paper is the first part of a dobble inquiry proposed by Claire Clivaz and Sara Schulthess (University of Lausanne). In the second, paper, Schulthess will develop a specific case of inquiry on Mk 1,1 in multicultural websites today. In this first part, Claire Clivaz will present the theoretical framework for such an approach. The field of Digital Humanities is enrooted in the important works of two Jesuits scholars, Walter Ong on orality, and Roberto Busa, the foundator of the interactions between Humanities and computing. They offer the historical basis to understand why orality is so pregnant in the digital culture. To inquiry on a historical documentation today leads to consider interviews of people in charge of their conservation and their exploitation. Firstly, we will remind the steps of the development of the oral history (Chicago and Columbia schools), as well as the European impact of such an approach, thank to the recent work of Florence Descamps. Secondly, we will consider why orality is more and more constitutive of any historical approach in the digital culture. Because the disctinction between primary data and secondary literature is replaced progressively by the articulation between data and meta-data, it becomes more and more important to keep a trace of the researcher activity (virtual environment of research, such as developed by the project Salsah in Basel, or by the INTF in Münster and by ITSEE in Birmingham). It becomes also important to inquiry about the actors in charge of preserving archives, in a study of an historical phenomenon. Finally, we will consider that, if social sciences are trying to join qualitative analysis to quantitative analysis, historical approach have now to try to integrate quantitative analysis to their usual qualitative one.


When Irony Bites Back: A Deconstructive Reading of the Midwives’ Excuse in Exod 1:19
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Kirsi Cobb, Prifysgol Cymru - University of Wales

The story of the midwives’ ruse in Exodus 1:15-22 has often been argued to portray the women as an image of God using ‘the weak to overcome the strong’; however, such a depiction has a more sinister side where the intended author lets women of low class triumph over a foreign, autocratic ruler without challenging male superiority inherent in the passage as a whole as has been stated by various feminist biblical scholars. This paper will argue that through the methods of deconstructive critique the proposed gender distinction in the passage can be brought under suspicion. Whereas scholars have often noted that the midwives’ excuse is an ‘obvious ruse’ and Pharaoh is a fool to have fallen for it, the reason behind Pharaoh’s foolishness has rarely been addressed. This paper suggests that it is the midwives’ knowledge regarding childbirth, the knowledge only available to the ‘other’ sex, which renders Pharaoh as unable to spot the midwives’ trickery. Pharaoh’s undoing could thus be suggested to be not his status or nationality; rather, it is his lack of knowledge because of his sex as a man, a statement which inadvertently renders the schema of male superiority in the story susceptible. In addition, if we accept that in Exodus 1-2 Pharaoh is portrayed via the image of the parergon vis-à-vis Yahweh and, consequently, also his knowledge (or the lack of it) as a parergon to that of Yahweh, through Pharaoh not only the enterprise of male wisdom but that of divine wisdom is challenged, where feminine knowledge unsettles the superiority of male perception.


At the Edge of the Precipice: Psalm 89 as Liturgical Memory
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
David Cohen, Vose Seminary

Ever since the publication of Gerald Wilson’s perspectives on the structure of the Psalter and the presence of Royal psalms at the ‘seams’ in the mid-eighties, much discussion has ensued concerning the significance of the shaping of this majestic collection. Despite the various responses to and, at times, criticisms of Wilson’s proposal his proposals helpfully drew attention to the possibility of an editorial intentionality within the Psalter and the need to carefully examine the transition points between the five ‘books’ making up the corpus. Psalm 89, of course, is a major consideration in that it draws the Psalter to a dramatic climax at the conclusion of Book III. In a tantalizing way the psalm leaves readers teetering on a precipice with no clear resolution in sight. The focus of this paper is to explore the precipice by considering the rhetorical function of Psalm 89 as an act of liturgical memory for the Israelite faith community. I will address the mimetic, dialogic and parenetic capacity of Psalm 89 to embrace the paradox of kingship, as it played out in Israel’s history, while at the same time performing a pivotal role by propelling the worshipping community into new imaginations about the notion of kingship and the nature of Yahweh for their present and future. As part of this exploration, themes such as covenant, steadfast love and faithfulness will be examined in light of Israel’s story and how Psalm 89 presents them at the edge of the precipice. In light of what is discovered I will also offer some reflections on how this psalm might function rhetorically for faith communities today as we contemplate our historical narratives of faith, our theological conundrums and our existential anxieties in times of great change and significant uncertainty.


The Literary Function of the Verses of Praise in Psalm 92
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Naava Cohen, Bar-Ilan University

Psalm 92 is concerned with divine justice—a common biblical preoccupation—and one addressed by a number of other psalms (11, 37, and 73). Scrutiny of this psalm’s structure reveals a difficulty: two verses interrupt its logical flow. The psalm commences with general praise (2-4), and then describes the psalmist’s wonderment at God’s glorious works and the profundity of his design as expressed by the ultimate withering of the wicked (8-10) and the contrastive flowering of the righteous (13-15). It concludes with a statement that articulates divine justice (16). Two verses that depict the psalmist’s divinely effected miraculous deliverance from his enemies (11-12) are placed, however, in the middle of the wisdom verses, between the portrayal of the wicked and the righteous. This incongruity has been noted by the biblical exegetes, who offer diverse explications of the essence of their affinity with the psalm’s main topic: divine retribution. Yet, their explanations do not fully resolve the difficulty. Verses11 and 12 are foreign to the psalm; without them the psalm is both stylistically and structurally more complete. This lecture proposes a new reading of this psalm. It identifies four contrasting axes along which the psalm’s imagery and metaphors are interwoven. This reading explicates the close affinity between the personal encomium and the issue of divine justice and elucidates the pivotal literary function of vv. 11-12 in this psalm. This reading also explains the absence in this psalm of the tension, pain, and anger that normally accompany treatment of the disturbing question of divine retribution. Taken together, my assertions will demonstrate the esthetic thrust of the convergence of content and structure in Psalm 92.


The Literary Function of the Verses of Praise in Psalm 92
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Naava Cohen, Bar-Ilan University

Psalm 92 is a wisdom psalms which concerned with divine justice—a common biblical preoccupation—and one addressed by a number of other psalms (11, 37, and 73). Scrutiny of this psalm’s structure reveals a difficulty: two verses interrupt its logical flow. The psalm commences with general praise (2-4), and then describes the psalmist’s wonderment at God’s glorious works and the profundity of his design as expressed by the ultimate withering of the wicked (8-10) and the contrastive flowering of the righteous (13-15). It concludes with a statement that articulates divine justice (16). Two verses that depict the psalmist’s divinely effected miraculous deliverance from his enemies (11-12) are placed, however, in the middle of the wisdom verses, between the portrayal of the wicked and the righteous. This incongruity has been noted by the biblical exegetes, who offer diverse explications of the essence of their affinity with the psalm’s main topic: divine retribution. Yet, their explanations do not fully resolve the difficulty. Verses11 and 12 are foreign to the psalm; without them the psalm is both stylistically and structurally more complete. This lecture proposes a new reading of this psalm. It identifies four contrasting axes along which the psalm’s imagery and metaphors are interwoven. This reading explicates the close affinity between the personal encomium and the issue of divine justice and elucidates the pivotal literary function of vv. 11-12 in this psalm. This reading also explains the absence in this psalm of the tension, pain, and anger that normally accompany treatment of the disturbing question of divine retribution. Taken together, my assertions will demonstrate the esthetic thrust of the convergence of content and structure in Psalm 92.


Ezekiel's Recovery of Prestate, Tribal Israel
Program Unit: Prophets
Stephen Cook, Virginia Theological Seminary

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First John 2:12-14 as a Structuring Template for 1 John
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Malcolm Coombes, Trinity Theological College Brisbane

The structure of 1 John is problematic. Many suggestions have been made, including an acknowledgement of vague repetitions of thought throughout the Epistle. Particularly, 1 John 2:12-14 is an unusual repetitive passage which is not easily connected to its literary context. It has been proposed that the six repetitive elements within this passage provide a broad framework for the repetition of themes throughout the main body of the Epistle (1:5-5:5). This paper seeks to test and confirm this statement and to follow on with an analysis of the structure of 1 John along these lines, hence providing an alternate way to read the Epistle following this proposed train of thought. When such a reading is undertaken, further nuances of meaning can emerge.


Not All Comparisons Are Created Equal: Moses and Aaron as Types of Jesus in the Letter to the Hebrews
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Felix H. Cortez, Universidad de Montemorelos

The Letter to the Hebrews compares Jesus to both Moses and Aaron and these comparisons are the cornerstone of its argument. It is often considered a truism that Jesus is both a new Moses who inaugurated the new covenant with its heavenly sanctuary and heavenly priestly order and a new Aaron who has offered a more excellent sacrifice to provide cleansing for believers. But, is Jesus both a Moses and an Aaron figure at the same time? Is his sacrifice both the inauguration of the New Covenant and a greater or final Day of Atonement? I will argue that not all comparisons are created equal—especially in Hebrews—and that the comparisons to Moses and Aaron in Hebrews are of different nature and serve different purposes. A better understanding of these comparisons would illuminate the relationship of Christianity as expressed in Hebrews to the traditions contained in the Hebrew Scriptures.


The Body of God in the Clementine Homilies: Jewish Mysticism or Greek Philosophy?
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Dominique Cote, Université d'Ottawa - University of Ottawa

In the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies, chapter 17, there is a discussion between the Apostle Peter and Simon Magus on the question of whether God has a form (Hom. 17, 7, 2-5). Whereas Simon rejects firmly the idea that God may have a form, Peter, on the contrary, states not only that God has a form, but also, that this form is more exactly a body, a beautiful body with all its limbs. Gershom Scholem (1965), and after him, Jarl Fossum (1983), and Gedaliahu Stroumsa (1983), have seen, in this passage, traces of the Jewish mystic notion of God’s Body, and more precisely a reference to the Shiur Qomah speculation as it is preserved in the Hekhalot Literature. They suppose that the Ebionite or Elkasaite milieu from which emerge the Homilies was familiar with such mystic speculations. In this paper, I shall argue that Scholem’s hypothesis cannot be sustained as it stands, without nuances, if we take into consideration: 1) the notion of body in the Homilies as a whole, 2) the literary intention of Homilies 17: the discussion on God’s form is part of a debate about the comparative value of vision (optasia) and evidence (enargeia), 3) the clear influence of Greek philosophy in this passage as demonstrated by Shlomo Pines (1989).


Who is the Qedeshah, and What is She Doing in Hos 4:14?
Program Unit: Prophets
J. Blake Couey, Gustavus Adolphus College

A growing consensus holds that the Hebrew term qedeshah does not refer to “sacred prostitutes,” as was once widely assumed, but rather to female temple functionaries of an unknown nature. Indeed, historians of religion increasingly doubt the existence of sacred prostitution altogether in the ancient Near East. It remains unclear, however, what this new perspective means for the interpretation of Hosea 4:14b, in which qedeshah is parallel to the term zonah (“prostitute”). Most commentators still understand this verse as reference to cultic sexual activity, and those who would argue otherwise have not yet offered a fully convincing alternative reading. This paper argues that zonah serves as a metaphor for illicit worship practices more broadly in this verse, as is the case throughout Hosea, while qedeshah literally designates a type of cultic functionary that the author found objectionable, perhaps due to its perceived “foreign” status. The pair nonetheless displays semantic parallelism because qedeshah could also serve as a euphemism for prostitution (i.e., a “holy” woman, with scare quotes), as in the story of Tamar in Genesis 38:21–22. In other words, the term is used as a double entendre in Hosea 4:14, and so the verse does not describe literal sexual activity at all, whether sacred or profane. This new interpretation removes one of the last remaining supports for the putative existence of cultic prostitution in ancient Israel.


Matthew’s Mustard Seed and the Gentiles?
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Robert Cousland, University of British Columbia

Matthew closes his version of the Parable of the Mustard Seed with the observation that the resultant mustard shrub “becomes a tree so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches" (Matt 13:32 // Luke 13:19). Scholars continue to be divided about the precise signification of the birds in this parable. It has been suggested that, because Gentiles are sometimes associated with the birds of heaven in the Hebrew Scriptures, the same may also be true here. A number of scholars guardedly favour this supposition—Davies and Allison, for instance, say “one guesses yes” — others, such as John Nolland are simply not convinced. This paper will argue that, in fact, there are good reasons to suppose that Matthew equates the birds with Gentiles, and that one need not be tentative, but can answer the question with a categorical “yes”.


The Curse of the Law in Gal 3:10: An Examination of Paul’s Use of Deut 27:26
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
J. Andrew Cowan, University of St. Andrews

This paper explores Paul's use of Deuteronomy 27:26 in Galatians 3:10. Following a survey of different views on what Paul is using Deuteronomy 27:26 to communicate, attention is focused on the claim that Paul intends this verse as an allusive reference to Israel's exile. This view is evaluated through exploring the use of Deuteronomy 27:26 in contemporary Jewish literature. After demonstrating that Deuteronomy 27:26 is never used with reference to the exile in this Jewish literature, it is concluded that the 'exile' reading fails. Following this, the paper then goes on to address objections to the claim that Paul implies that no one can keep the law adequately, concluding that this traditional reading remains the most satisfying interpretation.


Diatessaron, a Misnomer? The Evidence from Ephrem's Commentary
Program Unit: Bible and Syriac Studies in Context
Matthew R. Crawford, University of Durham

In this paper I investigate what Ephrem’s commentary reveals about Tatian’s harmony by considering the title with which Ephrem referred to the gospel text upon which he was commenting. I argue that Ephrem knew the text we call the “Diatessaron” as simply the “Gospel,” and that he accordingly titled his exposition simply "Commentary on the Gospel." The omission of the word “Diatessaron” from his title stands at odds with the name given to Tatian’s work by Eusebius and other Greek authors, and so in the final section of the paper I mount an argument that Tatian originally called his composition simply the “Gospel,” as Ephrem knows it, and that by following Eusebius in using the word “Diatessaron” we have missed an important aspect of Tatian’s original intent. More specifically, Tatian’s efforts represent an attempt to provide an anonymous and unitary literary form to correspond to the singular gospel message of Jesus Christ. The implication of this study is that we cease regarding Tatian's edition of the gospel as merely a gospel "harmony." Like the canonical four, or other non-canonical works, Tatian’s edition deserves to be viewed as a new textual object that creatively reinterprets the Jesus’ tradition in order to serve the needs of its compiler and his community.


The Scribes of the Qumran Corpus and Their Manuscripts
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Sidnie White Crawford, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

This paper will review the physical evidence in the Qumran scrolls having to do with scribes and their practices, as well as the physical evidence for scribal activity at the site of Qumran itself. Topics to be covered include: New physical evidence from the scrolls, including various methods of testing the skins on which the manuscripts were copied, which indicate where the scrolls may have been copied; scribal approaches to manuscript copying that may reveal unities across the corpus; the number of scribal hands in the corpus, and evidence for one scribe copying more than one manuscript; the distribution of manuscripts in the eleven caves, and what that reveals about the nature of the collection, its unity or disunity, and the time of its disposal in the caves; and evidence for writing activity in the ruins of Qumran itself, and how (and if) that evidence can be tied to the material evidence of the Qumran caves. Finally, the paper will synthesize this information in an attempt to create a picture of scribal culture at Qumran during the first century BCE- first century CE.


The Greek Perfect through Gothic Eyes: Insights into the Semantics of the Greek Perfect from Ulfila's Fourth-Century Translation
Program Unit: Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics
Robert Crellin, Greek Bible College, Athens

What may be said to be the underlying semantics of the Greek perfect? Indeed, may this morphological category be said to have any unifying semantics at all in the post-Classical period? The difficulty may be simply stated: on occasion the Greek perfect appears to denote the present consequences of a past action, while elsewhere any reference to a past event is completely absent. In the last decade it has been proposed to view the perfect as a kind of imperfective. In turn the apparent similarity between the categories imperfective and progressive has led to the suggestion that the perfect of any non-state verb may present an event dynamically, i.e. as an event in progress. Campbell (Campbell, C. Verbal Aspect, the Indicative Mood, and Narrative. New York: Peter Lang, 2007) thus translates the perfects in 2 Tim. 4:7, not, as traditionally, as perfects, but as present continuous. To test the validity of this view, the paper looks at the translation of the perfect active in the Gothic translation of the New Testament, to see if there is evidence in the early translation tradition of the New Testament to support the interpretation. The Gothic translation is interesting in this regard not only because of its relatively early translation date in the fourth century, but also because the translator, bishop Ulfila, was of Greek descent but had grown up among the Goths, and is therefore likely to have been very familiar with both languages. The findings of the investigation show that semantic type of the verb is crucial for the manner in which the perfect active was interpreted in the Gothic translation. This finding in turn provides useful insight into the underlying meaning, if such may be said to exist, of the Greek perfect.


The Sinister Ehud: Metalworker, Musician, and Man of Gravity
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
David Crookes, Independent Scholar

When Lot told his sons-in-law that God was going to destroy Sodom, they thought that he was joking (Genesis 19. 14). When Ehud told Eglon, 'I have a secret errand unto thee,' the king recklessly dismissed all his retainers (Judges 3. 19), and gave Ehud his full attention. Lot was such a weak man that people who knew him well were unable to take him seriously. Ehud was a man of such gravity that someone of royal rank who met him for the first time trusted him completely. What do we know about Ehud? He was the son of a man called Gera, he was a Benjamite, he was left-handed, he held a responsible position in the tax office, he was an expert metalworker, he was an unliturgical player of the ramshorn trumpet, and since he could gird a cubit-long dagger on the inside of his right thigh he was unusually tall (see Judges 3. 15, 16, 27). In addition, he was a man of measured speech who radiated authority. When Ehud said, 'I have a message from God unto thee,' his interlocutor -- a very fat and heavy king, who was known to spend a lot of time in the toilet -- rose respectfully from his seat (Judges 3. 20). In St Andrews we shall consider the character of Ehud. We shall carefully examine his three short speeches (Judges 3. 19, 20, 28). We shall try to address the mystery of the 'quarries' (Judges 3. 19, 26). We shall observe that in former times Ehud's left-handedness would have been construed as a handicap. We shall think about the intelligence work that must have preceded the assassination of Eglon. We shall also note how certain near-cloacal details of the assassination help to mark the overall authenticity of the tale.


In the Image of God: The Creation of Md, the Creation of the King, and the Chaoskampf of YHWH
Program Unit:
Carly Crouch, University of Nottingham

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Semitic Rhetoric in Sura 81 (Al-Takwir) and Chapter 10 of the Testament of Moses
Program Unit: Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective
Michel Cuypers, IDEO

Rhetorical analysis of the composition of Sura 81, al-Takwir, at different levels, according to the principles of Semitic rhetoric, shows the coherence of the text where historical criticism has sometimes found inconsistencies. In parallel, the structure of the hymn in chapter 10 of the Testament of Moses, according the same principles of Semitic rhetoric, will also be presented. Correspondence of structure, vocabulary, and theme between both texts confirm the apocalyptic character of Sura 81. They show continuity of originality between the sura and "the sheets of Moses" (suhuf Musa), to which the Quran itself refers.


“You Are My Witnesses!” Israel as “Witness in Training” in Isaiah 40-48
Program Unit: Prophets
Giovanna Czander, Dominican College

The trial-style oracles intertwined with the salvation oracles in Isaiah 40-48 have usually been read separately from the salvation oracles themselves. This paper argues that the text in its present form, read in a narrative sequence, portrays a series of primary and secondary trials in which Israel is trained as a witness. During the trials in Isaiah 40-48, Israel takes on different witness roles (eyewitness, trial observer, testifying witness). The ultimate goal of the trials is to let Israel experience these different roles and in order to become a competent eyewitness and testifying witness on Yhwh’s behalf. Unlike other scholarship, this paper argues that the witness motif in Isaiah 40-48 is deeply rooted in the legal concept of witness and in the laws of testimony (obligation to testify, false witness, minimum number of witnesses needed for a valid testimony, etc.). In Isaiah 40-48, however, the concept and roles of all types of witnesses are applied theologically to the relationship between Israel and Yhwh. While Isaiah employs the legal concept of witness and the related laws of testimony to train Israel as a witness fit for Yhwh, he also uses these concepts theologically to define Israel’s role among the nations and Israel’s relationship with Yhwh. This broadened understanding of witnesses and witnesses’ roles is then applied in subsequent biblical literature as well (Mt 18:19-20; Mk 4:11-12; Mk 8:17-18; Lk 7:22; Lk 10:23; Jn 8:1-18 etc.)


Quotations in John and the Judaean Desert Texts
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Michael A. Daise, College of William and Mary

Since the first texts from the Judaean desert were published, they have been integrated into research on quotations in John. This has been done in part to check the textual traditions they represent against the MT and OG/LXX, in part to draw exegetical inferences from the way they were interpreted in cognate settings. To date this task remains undone, however, for two reasons. The first is fortuitous: a chronological fissure between the agendas of each discipline. While the last wholesale effort to consult Judaean desert texts for Johannine quotations dates to Martin J.J. Menken’s articles in the 1980s and 1990s, many editiones principes of those texts were not published until sometime after those years. So, also, for several reference works that facilitate such study. By default, therefore, the full scope of Judaean desert finds has not yet been scanned for possible relevance to the Fourth Gospel’s quotations. The second factor leaving this task unfinished has been procedural. That is, even when parallels to the Fourth Gospel’s quotations have been published and available, they have not always been taken into account by Johannine scholars working on the quotations. This concerns, not only biblical manuscripts, but quotations of biblical passages cited in non-biblical works. This paper seeks to close this gap in research by mustering the loci of potential referents in Judaean desert texts for all the Fourth Gospel’s quotations, examining those loci relative to their text forms in the Johannine narrative and offering salient examples of items not yet noticed in the literature.


The Aiteo/Aiteomai Distinction in the New Testament: A Proposal
Program Unit: Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics
Paul Danove, Villanova University

This paper investigates the seventy New Testament occurrences of aiteo to determine the motivation for and distinctive implications of the verb's active and middle forms. The introductory discussion specifies the semantic and syntactic characteristics of aiteo and develops two features that have implications for distinguishing verbal usages. The discussion then proposes the distinction between active and middle forms and demonstrates this distinction in occurrences of the verb.


Judean Pillar Figurines and the Making of Female Piety in Ancient Israelite Religion
Program Unit: Expressions of Religion in Israel
Erin Darby, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Judean Pillar Figurines (JPFs) remain one of the most common ritual objects from the eighth through sixth centuries B.C.E. in Judah. Given that fact, these small terracotta females have been the recipients of a great deal of scholarly attention over the past century. Moreover, because many authors choose to interpret the figurines in light of the biblical text, the figurines have figured prominently in discussions about Israelite religion, monotheism, iconoclastic reform, and women’s practice. Despite their predominance in both the ancient world and in modern scholarship, these objects and their function are still only poorly understood. While part of the problem could be the absence of inscriptions on the objects or clear textual correlates, even greater barriers to understanding are modern methodological approaches to the figurines, particularly regarding the connections made between the figurines and female practitioners, female deities, or female religion. In large part, such interpretations are based on a series of methodological assumptions made about the role of women in ancient Israelite religion, the significance of certain iconographic features, like hands holding the breasts, and to what extent archaeological context can be used to undergird such interpretations. In an attempt to address many of these methodological difficulties and to model a more productive approach to JPFs as ritual objects, this paper first summarizes some of the most problematic methodological assumptions brought to bear on the figurines’ interpretation. After demonstrating the drawbacks of such interpretations, the paper evaluates the archaeological evidence used to support the supposed connection between JPFs and ancient Israelite females. In this process many of the most dearly-held interpretations may be found wanting. At the same time, however, this paper will demonstrate that modern researchers can use JPFs to address a number of research concerns, particularly the polyvalence of ancient ritual culture.


The Mirror Image of Jonathan and Samson
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Orit Avnery David, Yellin College, Jerusalem

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The Usage of Jewish Traditions in Danubian Judaism
Program Unit: Archaeology and Diaspora Judaism
Nóra Dávid, Universität Wien

The identification of finds with elements from Jewish tradition throughout the Roman Empire is always a challenging task. Biblical quotations, terminology, Jewish symbols, and so-called Jewish names turn up on finds. Their presence in Christian and Pagan contexts at the same time makes the identification even more difficult. The region of the Roman provinces along the river Danube with its extremely mixed population serves as a good field for the study of elements of Jewish tradition as determinative factors in the ethnic and religious self-identification of the population. This paper will collect and examine the existing material, and also introduce some new finds and perspectives in the research of Jewish diaspora studies in the Danubian provinces of the Roman Empire.


Cosmological Duality and the Liturgical Performance of the Book of Revelation
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
James P. Davies, University of St. Andrews

Apocalyptic literature is frequently described as ‘dualistic’, but often this term remains imprecisely defined and used without proper distinction between different types of ‘dualism’. Beginning with N. T. Wright’s brief but helpful taxonomy of dualisms/dualities (in The New Testament and the People of God, pp. 252-6, 297-9), this paper will examine one particular kind of duality in the book of Revelation – the apocalyptic cosmological duality of heaven and earth. It will also employ insights gained from the application of rhetorical and performance criticism to show how the the liturgical performance of the book of Revelation is intended to bring about a transformation in the cosmological social imaginary/worldview of its audience. With reference to internal textual evidence, other ancient sources (for example the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice), and contemporary scholarship, this paper will first establish that Revelation was intended as a liturgical text for early Christian gatherings. It will then discuss how this understanding of the book’s intended setting can be employed in examining the construction of cosmology in the theological imagination/worldview of the early Christian communities, an apocalyptic cosmology transformed in Christ and the Spirit. In particular, this paper will show that the performance of the book of Revelation effects a permeation of cosmological boundaries: Revelation’s cosmological duality is not a hard-and-fast dualism. Permeation of cosmological boundaries is prefigured in important ways in earlier Jewish apocalyptic texts, but is distinctively shaped in Revelation by John's Christology and pneumatology. This paper will also show that this permeated cosmological duality has a transformative effect on the Christian imagination of space, including but not limited to the particular room in which the community gathers. Finally, it will consider how this also anticipates the eschatological dissolution of cosmological duality in John's vision of the descent of the New Jerusalem.


Three Centuries of Research on the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
James Davila, University of St. Andrews

Three Centuries of Research on the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha


What Biblicists Need to Know about...the Septuagint
Program Unit:
Kristin De Troyer, University of St. Andrews

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The Lord, Adonaj, Kurios
Program Unit:
J. Cornelis de Vos, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

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Moving Mountains within the Pentateuch: The So-Called 'Samaritan' References to Mt. Garizim as Individual Cases of Inner-Biblical Exegesis
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Hans Debel, KU Leuven

Since the rediscovery of the Samaritan Pentateuch in Western Europe during the 17th century, its thousands of variants vis-à-vis the Masoretic Text have attracted a lot of scholarly attention, particularly the harmonising ‘larger pluses’ and the references to Mt. Garizim as God’s sacred mountain. In the wake of Gesenius’ two-recension theory on the textual transmission of the Old Testament, it became customary to consider both as sectarian changes secondarily introduced by the Samaritan community. In the second half of the twentieth century, however, textual critics began to question this assumption, as some of the Dead Sea Scrolls (e.g., 4QpaleoExodm and 4QNumb) offered a harmonising text similar to that of the Samaritan Pentateuch but lacking any reference to Mt. Garizim. Hence, the Samaritan Pentateuch’s major differences vis-à-vis the Masoretic Text became divided into two groups of different origin: a ‘harmonistic’ edition of the Pentateuch that circulated more widely in Palestine, and a specifically Samaritan edition in which a thin sectarian layer was added upon the ‘harmonistic’ edition. However, this explanation, too, turns out to be too simplistic in view of recently discovered textual evidence that points to the reading ‘Garizim’ as being more original than ‘Ebal’ in Dt 27,4. The present paper will therefore advocate a further distinction between three textual phenomena in the so-called ‘sectarian’ layer, viz. (1) the references to Garizim and Ebal in Dt 27,4; (2) the addition of a new commandment to the Decalogue, envisioning the building of an altar on Mt. Garizim; and (3) the consistent reference to the place that God ‘has chosen’ instead of ‘will choose’ throughout the book of Deuteronomy. More specifically, it will be argued that each of these phenomena may in its own way be explained as the result of inner-biblical exegesis.


Stones of Contention?! A Reconsideration of Qoh 3:5a within Qohelet's 'Catalogue of Times'
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Hans Debel, KU Leuven

Although the overall meaning of the poem in Qoh 3,1-9 within the book as a whole seems pretty obvious, scholars have suggested a range of interpretations for some of its individual phrases. From the rabbinic writings onwards, readers of the book have been particularly troubled by the expression ‘gathering stones and throwing them away’ in Qoh 3,5a, which Kurt Galling once described as the interpretational enigma of this pericope. Recent commentaries, too, have offered divergent solutions, which in most cases echo older suggestions (e.g. a veiled reference to sexual intercourse, the preparation of building activities, or the clearing of a field). In an attempt to bring some order into the chaos, the present paper will offer an overview and brief evaluation of the interpretations that have been suggested throughout the history of scholarship. Special attention will be given to the proposal of James L. Loader to understand each of the poem’s members in terms of their (un)desirability: using the diversity of erotic interpretations of Qoh 3,5a as an example, the shortcomings of this approach will be highlighted, and a plea will be made to first attempt to determine the meaning of Qoh 3,5a before embarking on unwarranted structural adventures. Finally, this paper will also explore a new suggestion for interpreting Qoh 3,5a, viz. that the gathering and scattering of stones may be related to the building of an altar.


Second Peter and the Contested Prophetic Status of Jesus
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
David DeJong, University of Notre Dame

The so-called “delay of the parousia” has long been recognized as vital to the background of 2 Peter. Previous scholarship, however, has offered a wide range of theories to explain why the opponents of 2 Peter were skeptical of Jesus’ parousia. In the mid-twentieth century, the view that the opponents were gnostics was influential, but Neyrey and Bauckham’s work has called this into question, and has replaced it with a paradigm in which the opponents are understood as Epicurean-like rationalist skeptics, who doubt the ongoing intervention of the deity in the world. Recently, this view too has been questioned, so that the question of the identity of 2 Peter’s opponents has no clear currently accepted solution. In my paper, I argue that 2 Peter takes part in an inner-Jewish debate over the ongoing viability of prophecy and the question of the authentication of Jesus’ status as prophet, according to the criteria of Deut 18:20-22. The question behind the epistle does not pertain to eschatological skepticism in general, but specifically concerns Jesus’ prophetic status. I argue that this view of the epistle’s background is able to offer a unified account of a number of apparently divergent features of the epistle, including the ongoing focus on prophecy, the appeal to the Transfiguration in 1:16-18, and the author’s interest in aligning himself with normative authorities in early Christianity, such as the apostle Paul (3:15-16).


The Creator God: Exploring Intertextual Links between Ecclesiastes and Genesis 1–11
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Katharine Dell, University of Cambridge

Links between Ecclesiastes and Genesis 1-11 have been noted sporadically by scholars over the years. This paper however explores how the intertextual method helps to define what kinds of link are helpful to a deepened understanding of the relationship between the two texts. The method provides us with a language of categorization primarily on a literary level, but also on the key theological level that is inevitable when discussing two foundational texts for the exploration of ideas of God as creator. Historical issues too are not irrelevant - would there have been scope for Qoheleth to have reshaped essentially earlier ideas? This links up with the theological debate about the development of ideas about creation within the Old Testament canon.


New Epigraphic Material from the Biblical Period
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Robert Deutsch, Tel-Aviv University

In the last four decades the extensive excavations in Jerusalem yielded a substantial number of inscriptions from the Iron Age II, late 8th through early 6th century B.C.E. (The First Temple Period). The epigraphic materials, including personal seals and seal impressions, are the most important extra biblical sources, and in some cases seal owners can be identified with Old Testament figures. Often, the finds are in poor condition which makes the reading difficult or impossible. In this respect the significant corpus of unprovenanced epigraphs from public and private collections (such as the collection of Mr. Shlomo Moussaieff), are of great value. They may be critical in helping identifying fragmentary epigraphs from controlled excavations. Several such cases were identified by the author and will be presented.


Diaita in the LXX
Program Unit: Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics
Marieke Dhont, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

The word diaita occurs frequently in classical Greek literature, as well as its related verb diaitao. The noun covers a variety of meanings. According to the LSJ, diaita means “way of living, mode of life, dwelling, abode, prescribed manner of life, state, condition, arbitration, the office of arbiter, discussion, investigation”. However, it is noteworthy that within the LXX, diaita occurs only 13 times, of which 12 occurrences are found in the book of Job and 1 in the book of Judith. The related verb diaitao occurs only twice, once in each of the aforementioned books. The question thus arises how and why this word is used in the LXX, especially in the book of Job. The aim of this paper is to investigate this question, thereby touching upon the questions how diaita relates to the Hebrew text and what specific connotation it could carry, hereby starting from the observation that within LXX Job, it always seems to appear in an outspokenly negative context.


Chiasm in LXX Job
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Marieke Dhont, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

LXX Job is undebatedly considered as a ‘free’ translation. However, the different aspects of this ‘freedom’ have not yet been studied thoroughly. Moreover, if we agree with i.a. Konkel (2011:140), LXX Job is a literary creation in its own right, of which literary aspects can henceforth be studied in se. Nevertheless, these aspects have not been studied systematically either. In this regard should additionally be noted that since the LXX remains a translation after all, these features cannot be discussed disregarding the Hebrew text completely, as has sporadically been done in the past (e.g. Gerleman 1946; Gammie 1987:13-31). I argue that in some cases, certain qualitative translational differences can be explained on the basis of the use of stylistic features in Greek. The aim of this paper is to investigate a striking literary device of both the Hebrew and the Greek version of Job, namely chiasm, in order to demonstrate that the different ways in which the LXX translator of Job handles chiasm constitute a relevant aspect of his ‘freedom’. This fact can be helpful in the characterization of the book’s translation technique, but yet, it simultaneously illustrates that the Greek text can be considered to have a poetic style of its own.


Culture, Ideology, and Translation: A Gender-Sensitive Bible Project from Chile
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Sabine Dievenkorn, CTE de Chile

A multicultural group of female theologians from Chile is attempting to offer a new translation of the Bible that challenges its traditional reception and interpretation. The project's starting point is the context-steeped theology that often only exists as an oral tradition and as such initially appears to be outside the academic context. The deep suspicion with which these Chilean women view the Bible is reflected in the ongoing debate over inclusive, or gender-neutral language and the patriarchal values and white male-centered western world view that are transported by it. In the colonial and postcolonial patriarchal culture in Chile and South America, the paradigm of gender sensitivity has led to fierce polemical debates not only between theologians and feminist scholars, but also in social networks and everyday life. Feminist exegesis and gender neutral translation play an essential role in preventing new dogmas from taking shape and promoting sharpened attention to the overlays of meaning which have been transferred by tradition. The Chilean project is a gender and culture sensitive translation from the perspective of the oppressed, many of whom are renowned female scientists. Especially in the protestant-evangelical world, education is not openly available. Thus, women are doubly disadvantaged and excluded from education. It's therefore especially important to develop a translation for women that follows current theological and translation research as much as the ethical parameters of a new time. Nowhere in translation studies is the center-periphery dichotomy as apparent as in a gender-oriented translation of the Bible. The goal of this translation is to call awareness to the profoundly ideological nature of every interpretation and all translation. It's our goal to deconstruct dominant paradigms in the Biblical text and exegesis with the help of feminist translation studies in order to (re)construction the emancipatory liberation potential of Biblical texts through translation.


The Contribution of the Language of the Book of Ben Sira to Biblical Hebrew Philology
Program Unit: Judaica
Haim Dihi, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

The Biblical Hebrew dictionaries occasionally use the Book of Ben Sira as important evidence for interpreting difficult biblical words or words with a small number of occurrences, when their meaning in the Bible is uncertain. In such cases, an attempt may be made to use the philological evidence from Ben Sira to interpret these words. The dictionary that has made the greatest philological use of Ben Sira in such cases is BDB. To date, no research has systematically collected all the Biblical verses including difficult words analyzed by the biblical dictionaries with the help of philological evidence from the book of Ben Sira. In many cases, the interpretation of the word according to its usage in Ben Sira reflects not merely the understanding of the word at that time (i.e. Second Temple period), but rather is intended to help arrive at the correct interpretation of the word in its original biblical context, as I show in my lecture. For example, the proposed emendation of both the noun ????? (in Amos 2:6; 8:6) and the verbal form ????? (in 1Sam 12:3) to the otherwise unattested BH word !???? meaning “bribe” is supported especially by the version in the book of Ben Sira, which is a paraphrase of 1 Sam 12:3, part of Samuel’s final speech to the people before his death (Ben Sira 46:19 [MS B]): ??? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?' ?????? ???? ????? ??[? ???]?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? "And at the time he rested upon his (death-), bed, he testified (before) God and His anointed one (i.e. the King of Israel): ‘From whom have I taken ransom or bribe?’ - and no man disputed him!" In my lecture, I will also discuss two additional specific terms (noun and verb) and one root: ????, ??????, ??"?


Tamar’s Rape and the Coping Mechanisms of Victim, Abuser, Family, and Accomplices
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Marie-France Dion, Concordia University - Université Concordia

This paper is a psychological reading of the story of Tamar’s rape in 2 Samuel Chapter 13. This story is well known in feminist studies and has drawn attention to the fate of women (no matter their status) in biblical times. This paper will focus on the psychological mechanisms used by abuser, victim, family members and accomplices involved in the incident. We will view the story through the lens of psychological coping mechanisms such as: minimisation, rationalizing, denial, flight and attack. We will then discuss the aftermath of the choices made by the characters involved. Finally, we will briefly explore how this ancient text might shed light on the challenge of bias and conflict in contemporary social structures.


From Divine Love to Divine Wrath: How Agape Is Read in John 15:13 and 1 John 4:10
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Toan Do, Sacred Heart School of Theology

Background: The concept “divine wrath” (thumos/orge) is not foreign to readers of the Bible. In biblical studies, this notion is so pervasive that many have identified “the wrath of God” with “the love of God.” With John’s use of agape in John 15:13 and 1 John 4:10, it is sometimes interpreted that divine love through Jesus’ death (hilasmos, 1 John 2:2; 4:10) cannot be accomplished without the OT notion of divine wrath (Leon Morris, 1955-1983, and I. Howard Marshall, 1978). Objectives: Reading the use of agape or agapan (esp. John 15:13; 1 John 4:10) contextually, this paper examines the texts (and their contexts) to see whether the biblical notion of “divine wrath” is inherent in John’s theology. It looks at the biblical concept of divine wrath in the OT. In contrast, it exemplifies the lasting effect of God’s love in the two testaments. Focus is also given to the question whether wrath is related to love in John 15:13 and 1 John 4:10. The delineation on the Johannine concept of the divine love sees no reason for the implications of the divine wrath in the redemption of human beings achieved by the way in which Jesus willingly accepted his death on the cross. If God is love from the very beginning (John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:8) and if creation came about because of God’s love (John 1:1-5; 1 John 1:1-4), redemption results just as naturally from his love. Conclusions: A literary-context interpretation of agape in John 15:13 and 1 John 4:10 indicates that John tends to downplay the concept of divine wrath, and that nowhere does he mention or imply God’s angry attitude towards human beings. Thus, such phrase “God’s wrath being averted” is theologically absent from the Johannine theology of expiation.


Universalism and Particularism: Tensions in The Wisdom of Solomon and the Gospel of Matthew
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Joseph R. Dodson, Ouachita University

Wisdom 11-19 contains an “undisguised particularism” that seems to be in contradistinction to the notes of universalism that marked the previous chapters. Similarly, the First Gospel has passages smacking of Jewish exclusivism that stand over against others containing seemingly anti-Jewish statements as well as those emphasizing a pro-Gentile mission. While scholars have proposed various solutions to these apparent tensions, (to my knowledge) no one has yet focused on comparing the currents of particularism and universalism in Wisdom with those in the First Gospel. Therefore, this paper will place these contemporaneous works in dialogue to reveal points of convergence and divergence within them so that we can understand each of them better. We shall first investigate the most relevant passages in the works in their own right—that is, within their larger philosophical, theological, and social frameworks. Then, we shall compare Wisdom with the First Gospel in the hopes that even if the paper does not solve the respective tensions, it will help loosen them.


On Fiction, Frogs, and Freedom: Exod 8:2 in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia"
Program Unit: Bible and the Moving Image
Jan-Dirk Döhling, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Evangelische Theologie

The frog plague in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‚Magnolia’ (USA, 1999) confronts a theme of the exodus-tradition with the reality of the Californian City St. Fernando Valley and the desperate struggel of its inhabitants in the local film- and TV-industry. A thorough analysis of this clash provides insight into the status of biblical motifs in current motion picture and reveals a particular state of the reality and fiction of the biblical promise of freedom. Regarding the content ‚Magnolia’ portraits the frog plague as a judgement that interrupts the ongoing catastrophies in the protagonist’s lives, especially the various forms of violence which selfish adults use against children (cf. Ex 2:16;22). ‚Magnolia’ overemphasizes the origins of the frogs by ostentatious hints to Ex 8:2. At the same time it undermines the trustworthiness of those clues, since the narrator wrongly passes off his key sentence („The book says, ‘We may be through with the past, but the past ain’t through with us.’ ”) to be a biblical quote. This paradox raises a crucial question of biblical interpretation: When and whether biblical themes are or become ‚true’? The pursuit of those questions also casts light on the title ‚Magnolia’, which bares a striking resemblance to the word magnalia as used in Cotton Mathers Magnalia Christi Americana (1702). In his writing Mather depicts Puritan New England as the biblical Exodus come true. Whilst the narrator stresses the factuality of ‚magnalia’ the camera repeatedly portrays the frogs as a silverscreen phenomenom. The quaestio facti is thus posed at the cinematic medium itself. Yet the lives of the protagonists reveal the Movie and TV-industry to be an enslaved and enslaving reality itself – until the frogs come. It is the freedom of fiction, which frees from illusion and which provides a true fiction of freedom.


An Anti-Apocalyptic Genre in Ecclesiastes?
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Jerome Douglas, Valley Forge Christian College

How is the interpreter to approach Ecclesiastes? What is the genre of Ecclesiastes? Many scholars have posited varying interpretations concerning the message in Ecclesiastes and have observed the number of statements that appear to be conflicting or at the very least in tension with one another. Discussions about the argument and genre label(s) of or in Ecclesiastes have not fully considered the author’s polemics against the apocalyptic thought of his day, 200 B.C.E. This paper will propose that the author of Ecclesiastes, in part, utilizes a hybrid genre in his work. He, in part, employs what this paper will call an “anti-apocalyptic genre” in Ecclesiastes, and the presence of this genre serves to further the author’s overarching message of joy. Recognizing the presence of an anti-apocalyptic genre within the tapestry of Ecclesiastes will assist the interpreter in understanding the author’s message. This paper asserts three fundamental definitive traits of genre. Genre is flexible, anchored to authorial will, and centered on setting and function. There are a number of Second Temple period texts that demonstrate how apocalyptic and sapiential meld/ clash. This paper points to passages in Ecclesiastes that demonstrate the clash between the book’s author and the apocalyptic thought of the day, approximately around 200 BCE; these passages demonstrate the anti-apocalyptic genre in Ecclesiastes. The paper also shows how the author’s use of the anti-apocalyptic genre impacts the book’s message of joy. To this end, this paper points to the author’s five-pronged rhetorical strategy: rhetorical questions, ethos, destabilization, the anti-apocalyptic genre usage, and re-stabilization.


“What City Was Like the Great City?” London as Babylon in the 1790s
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Jonathan Downing, University of Oxford

London in the 1790s was a place of profound contrast: its workers suffered the brunt of wartime economic turmoil whilst the city cemented its reputation as a capital of trade through its ambitious dock-building programme. The country's continuous conflicts with France during this decade contributed to the turbulent economic conditions in the capital. Seen through radical eyes such as those of the poet and artist William Blake and the prophet Richard Brothers, this combination of prosperity and conflict marked out Britain not as an elect land, but as the bible's arch-oppressor Babylon. In this paper, I will explore how Brothers and Blake draw upon texts such as Revelation 18 in order to express their experiences of empire in Britain. I will outline how Revelation 18 is shaped and influenced by earlier oracles against nations which depended upon maritime trade, such as the oracle against Tyre in Ezekiel 27. I will then show how Blake's Vala, or The Four Zoas (begun in 1797 and revised periodically over the next decade) and Richard Brothers' A Revealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times (1794-5) characterise the London of their day as the “new Babylon”. This study will demonstrate that scriptural condemnations of empire and trade give these authors a vocabulary which encourages them to take on a prophetic mantle – “unmasking” for their readers the true nature of England in the 1790s.


Text and Interpretation of the Old Testament in the Didache
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Jonathan A. Draper, University of KwaZulu-Natal

This paper explores the use of the Old Testament in the Didache with respect to the predominant books favoured by its community, the text version and type in use (where possible), the mode of citation and the mode of interpretation practiced by the community. Both direct and indirect references to the Old Testament will be explored. My hypothesis is that the Didache does not use the Septuagint, but is dependent either directly or indirectly on the Hebrew Scriptures in the original language. Nevertheless, there is no convincing evidence that the Didache itself was written in Hebrew/Aramaic/Syriac (although some have argued this) and not in Greek as it exists today. It will further be argued that the interpretations of the Old Testament are predominantly but not exclusively halakhic in nature. The paper concludes with an exploration of the significance of these findings.


The Tree of Life and Death: Some Narrative Clues to Genesis 2–3
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Iryna Dubianetskaya, European Humanities University

How many trees did YHWH Elohim plant 'in the middle of the Garden'? Is the Tree of Life the same tree as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, or are they two different trees? Except for the very instant of 'planting' the two trees are never mentioned together, playing seemingly different parts in the story. The text offers, however, some strong indications that all those 'tree-episodes' speak about one and the same Tree, which has two names. The names may refer to two different functions of the Tree: to give either eternal Life (Gn 3:22) or the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gn 3:5, 22). Humans are not advised against eating from its 'life' part, only from the part that gives 'knowledge.' In that case, why are these names/functions are not 'symmetrical'? The natural opposition to 'life' would be 'death.' Why does the 'knowledge of good and evil' stand on the other side of 'life'? The paper offers a narrative interpretation of this puzzle. If we grasp the significance of 'knowledge' in its connection to 'life' and 'death' in this story of Genesis 2–3, we will be able to shed light on the nature of mortality as a human condition implied in it, as well as on the relationship between the 'adam' and the woman. It may also provide us with some clues to the following stories of Genesis 4–11.


Sennacherib: An Example of the Neo-Assyrian Control of the Levant
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Peter Dubovsky, Pontificio Istituto Biblico, Roma

The Assyrians used a sophisticated system of spies, agents, and checking mechanisms in order meet the challenges of that time. Sennacherib’s invasion of the Levant will be studied in this paper as a case study to illuminate the dynamics of the Neo-Assyrian Empire control of the Levant. To this end, I first present a profile of the crown prince and the king Sennacherib drawn by the brush of an intelligence official, then I explore how the Assyrian intelligence services were involved during the campaign against the Levant, and finally I offer some remarks on the biblical account, in particular, on the defeat of the Egyptian troops.


The Old Georgian Translation of the Book of Tobit: Its Origin and Value for the LXX Textual Criticism
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Natia Dundua, Goethe-University Frankfurt a/M

There are three versions of the Book of Tobit in Georgian: 1. Oshki recension: Ath-1 (978), A-579 (1460), A-646 (XVI c.), H-885 (XVII c.); 2. Mtskheta Bible: A-51 (beginning of XVIII century); 3. Bakari printed Bible: B (1743). The paper will deal with 1. the issues of the origin of the oldest Georgian version of the Book of Tobit, namely, the text preserved in so-called Oshki recension and 2. its value for the Greek Vorlage. The Oshki recension of the Book of Tobit follows the LXXIII textual form. This textual form has reached us just by several sources in Greek and Syriac, but in both languages the sources are not complete (d (69-1222), Sy (711 - 1222)). The result of the research raises the value of the Georgian translation for the textual criticism of the Septuagint, because: 1. the LXXIII textual form of the Book of Tobit fully exists only in Georgian; 2. moreover, the Oshki manuscript is the oldest among the witnesses; 3. the Georgian translation is precise enough, and follows the original word-by-word, reflects all the peculiarities of the Greek text (expanded narration, duplicate forms, syntax etc.).


Women's Ministry in Post-Apocalyptic Mark
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Keith Dyer, Whitley College

How is it that the Gospel of Mark has been received through history both as reaffirming Roman patriarchy and as the radical Gospel of egalitarian discipleship communities? Are the silent women of the Markan narrative necessarily re-subordinated in the patriarchal structures of the Empire of God, or is there still some hope that the last shall be first? Responding primarily to Tat-siong Benny Liew's Politics of Parousia, I argue for a less polarised and more thoroughly 'polycolonial' reading of Mark, where in the context not of the parousia of Jesus but rather of the abomination of desolation, women and other marginalised groups find hope in the fellow suffering of the Human One.


Paul and the Empire of God
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Keith Dyer, Whitley College

The basileia word-group is very seldom used to refer directly to Roman rule in first century texts (despite assertions to the contrary by some scholars today), and it is also largely lacking in Paul's letters (despite the prevalence of the basileia tou theou in the Gospels, and especially in Luke). How then are we to understand what Paul means when he does use 'kingdom' language (largely in 1 Corinthians), and how might this language inform our understanding of his relationship to the imperium Romanum in the lead up to the Jewish revolt? I suggest that the ethical and ecclesial content of Paul's 'kingdom' references as the basis for 'inheriting the kingdom of God' provide an implied critique of Greco-Roman culture and offer an alternative reality and hope for the followers of the crucified Christ.


Who’s Shaming Whom? Contested Honor and the Economy of Shame in Early Christianity
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Daniel Eastman, Helsingin Yliopisto - Helsingfors Universitet

The paper draws on the affect and script theory of psychoanalyst Silvan Tomkins – especially as developed by psychologist Gershen Kaufman – to facilitate new understanding of the role of shaming rhetoric in early Christian communities. Particular theoretical significance is given to Kaufman’s conception of the development of shame at the communal level, including (1) the role that shame plays in minority identity formation and (2) the ways in which different cultures pattern shame. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part examines the discursive use of shame and honor tropes in early Christian martyrologies as a means of minority identity formation over and against the wider Roman culture. The second part explores the use of shaming language in the literature of the early Christian desert ascetics, with an eye toward how this language was employed to both maintain and enforce community boundaries and norms. In both parts, attention is accorded to the ways in which early Christians synthesized biblical and Greco-Roman shame scripts. Taken together, these two perspectives present the beginnings of a diachronic account of early Christian cultural patterning of shame.


Visual Culture and Biblical Literacies
Program Unit: Bible and Visual Culture
Katie Edwards, University of Sheffield

The 400th anniversary of the King James Bible in 2011 sparked a concern about a decline in biblical literacy. UK Secretary of State, Michael Gove sent KJV Bibles to every state school in the country so that “all pupils – of all faiths or none – should appreciate this icon and its impact on our language and democracy", former poet laureate Andrew Motion lamented the “depressing” trend in biblical illiteracy, and university departments held conferences, such as the University of Sheffield’s Biblical Literacy and the Curriculum, to discuss ways to encourage the academic study of the Bible in schools. This prevailing view of the decline in biblical literacy, however, seems to neglect the ubiquity of popular cultural retellings of biblical narratives and appropriations of biblical characters. Focusing on David LaChapelle's 2010 photography exhibition 'American Jesus' as a case study, this paper examines the contested nature of biblical literacy and aims to complicate and problematise the predominant assumptions underlying the 'biblical literacy in decline' model.


John Chrysostom and Augustine on Scarcity
Program Unit: Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy
P.J. (Peter) van Egmond, Tilburg University School of Catholic Theology

Scarcity is an acknowledged fundamental concept in modern economics. Because there is scarcity, goods need to be divided and distributed, which is essentially what economic systems do. In its extremer forms, scarcity takes the shape of famine, poverty, and similar crises. Economic reflection on the concept in a stricter sense is, of course, a relatively recent phenomenon. However, as a problem of shortage, of lack of necessary goods, it belongs to all ages. This paper explores the way the church fathers, in their time, reflected on the issue of scarcity. Special attention is given to two leading theologians of the early church, one from the East (John Chrysostom) and one from the West (Augustine). As bishops of areas with probing social inequality and economic problems, they were forced to formulate their position on scarcity in a meaningful, almost practical way. They did so, not in weighty theological tractates, but in sermons held before audiences of people who were confronted by these issues in everyday life. How did Chrysostom and Augustine deal with the questions raised by inequality, scarcity, famine, and poverty? What answers did they formulate, and in what respect did their answers differ – and why? And is there, despite the gap between then and now, some connection between their thinking on scarcity and ours today?


The Book of Tobit as an Example of De-canonisation
Program Unit:
Beate Ego, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

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The Ministry to Jerusalem (Rom 15:31): Paul's Hopes and Fears
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Kathy Ehrensperger, Prifysgol Cymru, Y Drindod Dewi Sant - University of Wales, Trinity Saint David

In as much as Paul recognized the identity of gentiles as gentiles in Christ there was one aspect of their previous identity which could not be transformed in Christ: their loyalty to other deities, or in Paul’s words, idolatry. A clear boundary must be drawn for those in Christ between this all permeating dimension of life in cities and villages around the empire, which included staying away from any cult practice related to such deities. Jews had long experience in such non-participation, and for them a central form of cult practice, the offering of sacrifices was done centrally at the Temple in Jerusalem, which means that it was not part of everyday life for most of them. This did in no way diminish the centrality of this practice or the role of the Temple, despite critical stances towards particular leaders at times. However, this non-negotiable request created a vacuum for Christ-followers from the nations in that for them the ‚contact zone’ with the divine realm was left empty. As non-Jews they could not really participate in the Temple cult in Jerusalem, which leaves them without any connection to cult practice, which, for people in antiquity was inconceivable. This paper will explore whether Paul was aware of this problem and possibly hoped to fill this ‘empty space’ by establishing a connection for Christ-followers from the nations to the Temple through the collection. However, this might have caused problems not only with fellow Jews but also with the Roman authorities, which would explain some of Paul’s fears.


The Enoch Narratives: The Literary Jesus in the Apocalyptic Mirror
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
J. Harold Ellens, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Enoch is an enigmatic figure in biblical and extra-biblical literature. His story appears in Genesis 5:21-24 and I Enoch. Allusions to his narrative appear in John 3:13-18. The Johannine Jesus is there reported to have known of the document, I Enoch, and countered its apocalyptic tradition. Who is this mysterious Messianic Son of Man figure? What is his role in apocalyptic Judaism as Eschatological Judge? Why is the Messianic Jesus Son of Man figure in all of the Synoptic Gospels shaped in Enoch's image? Why did the Johannine Messiah, Jesus, aggressively challenge both the Essene and Synoptic Enochic traditions? This paper addresses each of these questions seriatim. It argues that Essene Enochianism shaped I Enoch and the Synoptic Gospels. It contends further that the Jesus of Johannine tradition asserts himself, with conscious intentionality, as a new kind of Son of Man whose presence in history eclipses all possibilities that Enoch can ever be the real Messiah, Son of Man, despite the claims of I Enoch and of the Synoptic Gospels that the Enochic Jesus is the Messiah Son of Man-Eschatological Judge.


What Makes the Difference
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Jay Harold Ellens, University of Michigan MCECS NES

The reign of David was the best of times and the worst of times. He was the worst of men and the best of men. He was an insurrectionist against the anointed king, a guerrilla fighter with virtually no conscience, an opportunist with self-aggrandizing motivations, a predator upon virtually anyone handy he could claim as enemy, a dissembler and deceiver, a murderer, adulterer, insensitive husband, lousy father, flawed parental model, and a predatory, acquisitive, blood thirsty, and aggressive imperialist. He was also a stunningly creative musician, lyricist, liturgist, worshiper, devotee of the divine, author of Psalms 32 and 51 as well as a host of others, and "a man after God's own heart." Moreover, he seems to have been both of these persons at the same time, at least from his late adolescence onward. This phrase is used to describe him in I Samuel 13:14, the word echoed in Acts 13:22. What psychological model or diagnosis describes a man of this character structure and personality formation. What makes the difference between the two Davids? The psychology of Psalms 51:1-12 and 32:1-5 is adduced as the critical lens into David's character and core personality. Apparently there we see what makes the difference.


Herod, Nicetes, and Alce: The Lesser Known Female and Male Figures in the Martyrdom of Polycarp
Program Unit: Apostolic Fathers and Related Early Christian Literature
Jakob Engberg, Aarhus Universitet

The three names of Herod, Nicetes and Alce are mentioned in the Martyrdom of Polycarp. Herod and Nicetes both play a role in the narrative whereas Alce is only mentioned in passing. Herod is the police captain involved in the apprehension of Polycarp (6.2), and both he and his father Nicetes are presented as attempting to persuade Polycarp to recant (8.2-3). Finally after the execution of Polycarp, Nicetes tried to persuade the authorities to prevent the body of Polycarp from being released to his fellow Christians (17.2). The author of the Martyrdom of Polycarp, Marcianus, is clearly intending to present Polycarp as an imitator of Christ (e.g. 1.1-2, 5.2, 6.2, 7.1, 8.1, 14.1-2 and 19.1) and is explicitly using the name of Herod to establish such a connection (6.2). This, and the relative rarity of the name Herod in 2nd Century Asia Minor, has prompted some scholars to argue that the name of Herod is a literary fabrication. It is well-known that the name Alce is mentioned twice in the letters of Ignatius (Sm. 13.2 and Polyc. 8.3), but so far it has not received any attention in scholarship that the names of Herod and Nicetes are found in inscriptions from Smyrna dating to the 2nd Century AD. What are we to make of this? Is identification concerning one or more of the characters likely? Does this have ramifications for traditional discussions about the dating of the text and its historical reliability? Will this potentially have ramifications for our understanding of their role in the narrative and in the execution of Polycarp?


The Sixth Day of Creation in Medieval Art
Program Unit: Bible and Visual Culture
Yaffa Englard, University of Haifa

Medieval art represents the sixth day of creation in numerous and disparate ways, both stylistically and substantively. The two most common images are those of a male figure, alone or accompanied by various animals in the background, and a female body attached to—or growing from—a male body. These elements are frequently supplemented by a depiction of the Creator sitting in majesty, blessing and sanctifying the seventh day after He has ceased from all His labour. On other occasions, the seventh day is omitted and the events from the story of the Garden of Eden come strait after the creation on the sixth day. In this paper, I posit that the range of medieval portrayals of the sixth day of Creation can be attributed to the diverse interpretations of the first two chapters of Genesis embodied in Jewish and Christian exegetical traditions, and the ways in which these interacted with one another.


Textual Analysis of the Closing Verse of the Last Song of Moses (Deut 32:43)
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Philip Engmann, University of Ghana

The concluding verse of the last Song of Moses (Deut 32:43) is relevant for Old Testament textual critics because of the significant variations in the textual traditions for this verse. Comparing the LXX version to the MT reveals four cola present in the LXX, but absent in MT; and two cola present in DSS 4QDeutq which are absent in MT. In first instance, this paper examines in detail, the differences between the LXX, MT and DSS versions of this verse. It details which colons are present in which OT witness(es) and absent in others, and the effect that these pluses and minuses have on the overall poetic structure of the song in the various versions. The paper suggests that this poetic structure or lack of it could serve as a possible guideline to discovering a more original text. In the commentary of BHQ for Deut 32:43, an emendation (following van der Kooij’s analysis) is suggested, which is a synthesis of the LXX, MT and DSS versions. This paper offers an alternative to this emendation, particularly with respect to the suggestion that the third and fourth colons of the LXX are an expansion and corruption. Following Emanuel Tov’s suggestion of the probable primitivity of the LXX text, the paper argues that an emendation which is more inclusive of the LXX text, might be more representative of the original text. Specifically, the paper argues for the inclusion of the retroverted third, fourth and sixth colons of the LXX verse.


Literary Theory and Transmission History of the Torah: The Manna-Quail Episode (Exodus 16) as a Test Case
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Angela Roskop Erisman, Independent Scholar

In this paper, I will demonstrate that literary theory is not just a tool for synchronic studies of biblical literature but is essential if we are to understand its transmission history and its rootedness in ancient culture. German reception theory (particularly the work of Wolfgang Iser) and New Historicism will be used to examine the transmission history of the manna-quail episode in Exod 16 and its place in the transmission history of the wilderness narrative more broadly, as well as the methodological question of how we determine what does and does not constitute a fracture in the narrative that points to diachronic development. Against the usual view that the manna and quail elements are tradition-historically and/or source-critically distinct, study of how plot, character, and theme are developed in Exod 16 will show that the episode itself is a substantive unity with only minimal revision. The paper will also consider how elements of the complaint motif are used out of their typical sequence in order to create a complex case of ad hoc legal exegesis (in contrast to the briefer, more stylized cases in Lev 24:10-23; Num 9:6-14; 15:32-36; 27:1-11) that serves to depict Moses as an authoritative interpreter of torah. We will then be able to consider how the episode sheds light on the ideology and literary goals of one particular stage in the composition history of the wilderness narrative.


New Divination Ostraca Found in Maresha
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Esther Eshel, Bar-Ilan University

During the excavation conducted at Maresha since year 2000 by Dr. Ian Stern and Bernie Alpert at Maresha, more than 400 Semitic inscriptions were found. The main body of this corpus is ostraca written in Aramaic, dated to the Hellenistic period, as well as some Phoenician ostraca. This lecture will focus on a group of close to a hundred Aramaic ostraca found in Subterranean Complex 169 at Maresha, dated to the third century BCE, which shares a common formula of hn.. hn, that is "If X.. Then Y", or "if X... thus...Y", as well l' hn, "if not". Some include the words: 'lhyn mn hn, "Thus, it is from the gods". The ethnicity of the owners of these inscriptions is unknown, but it is probably not of a Jewish origin. This group of texts is not homogeneous in content, and is to be sub-divided into various genres, still to be studied. We might tentatively suggest at this point, that this assembly of ostraca might originally have been either part of a school of scribe's curriculum; another, more probable option is to identify part of it as related to a temple, thus being divination texts recording incubation divination or such.


Attitudes to Urban Life in the Pastoral Manual Didascalia
Program Unit: Bible and Syriac Studies in Context
Mats Eskhult, Uppsala Universitet

Christianity first spread in cities with a religiously mixed population and among middle class citizens, not in rural environments among ascetically minded people. Yet the enticements of urban life led early Christians to take a radical position towards social normalcy. One encounters the idea of abstinence from married life already in the First Letter to Clement, c. 100 C.E. Yet Tatian (c.120-180) exerted the deepest influence on Syrian asceticism. Returning from Rome to Edessa, he founded an encratic sect that forbade meat, wine, and marriage. The defenders of orthodoxy attacked Tatian, but he seems not to have been targeted with any criticism in Syria at that time. The adherents of Marcion and Montanus likewise promoted asceticism and renouncing marriage. For them the demands of asceticism superseded all regulations that constitute the order of society. Epistle to Diognetus, Didaché, and Didascalia admonished Christian town-dwellers to a modest and decent life. Yet Christians were not told to observe any special habits, nor to shun urban life. Epistle to Diognetus (2nd cent.) defended Christians as not practising a singular mode of life, whether in dress, food, or other matters of living. Didaché (1st cent.) suggests that Christians formed congregations in their home-towns and invited new believers to settle there. The pastoral manual Didascalia (3rd cent., Roman Syria), composed in Syriac, opposed those who taught that one should not marry, nor eat flesh or anything that has a soul in it. Didascalia presupposed urban environments, exhorting men and women to avoid alluring garments and mixed bathing. Also, the fervour of the pagans for amusements, and the Jews’ zeal for the Sabbath, should urge on the Christians not to show less ardour for their religious service and therefore keep away from pagan fairs. This paper critically discusses attitudes to urban life in the Didascalia.


The Haustafel and Oikonomia in the Letter to the Ephesians: An Exposition of Eph 5:21-6:9
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Mitchell Alexander Esswein, Princeton Theological Seminary

The discussion of proper order and the ancient mindset of hierarchy is lacking in the majority of commentaries written on the epistle to the Ephesians. The themes of order, hierarchy and the cosmos permeate the letter so pervasively that it is a surprise more has not been written on the subject. In this brief examination of the epistle to the Ephesians I hope to illustrate how knowledge of both Greco-Roman and Jewish literature might add to our knowledge of the New Testament. This evaluation cannot be expansive comparing every writing from the ancient world with that of the New Testament, but I will analyze key works that will be paramount for understanding Ephesians. Specifically, the Economics of Xenophon and Aristotle will serve as a foundation for understanding how the author envisions the Church. In no way am I insinuating that the author of Ephesians is familiar with nor directly drawing from these texts. This study will show that this worldview was prevalent in Greco-Roman society influencing multiple areas of study and belief. This New Testament epistle, as I will reveal, belongs within the corpus of ancient literature that discusses hierarchy, proper order, and the cosmos. These qualities work together to form, on a large scale, a well-balanced universe, and, on a smaller scale, a self-sufficient, thriving Church. I will focus primarily on the Household Code from Eph. 5:21-6:9 and its connection with the rest of the book. I reject the view that this section was written as a defense during a dangerous period for Christians in the Roman world, as is espoused by Balch and MacDonald. This pericope falls in line with the argument as a whole and the worldview in which the author was writing.


Relevance Theory as an Approach to Interpreting the Bible for Children: The Lord's Prayer as a Test Case
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Annette Evans, University of the Free State - Universiteit van die Vrystaat

Modern scientific understanding of evolution of life conflicts with the Biblical representation of earth as the centre of the world, and of human beings as the imago dei. The terminology of Christianity has not yet been reconciled with contemporary scientific understanding, and sometimes the morality portrayed in the Bible conflicts with the ideals of the post-modern world. Consequently, young children frequently experience cognitive dissonance when exposed to biblical texts. Two previous pilot studies (Evans 2010; 2012)demonstrated that children respond more readily to a text that is relevant to their own cultural context. Recent research has demonstrated that children are sensitive to the underlying causal structure of the world and seek to form new causal representations at a much earlier age than we had previously supposed, and secondly, as far as spiritual capacity goes, children and adults “stand on level ground”. Traditionally young children in the larger Christian community have been required to learn the Lord’s Prayer by rote, usually with little understanding of the meaning of the words, or of prayer as such. This paper tests the possibility of presenting Luke 11:1-4 to young children in a form that is in harmony with our current understanding of the world, and takes aspects of recent research on child psychology into account. A booklet was designed as an introduction to the Lord’s Prayer for young children aged five to ten, according to the suppositions of Relevance Theory. Results were assessed by viewing video recordings of the responses of the subjects, and supplemented by feedback from the parents who did the reading.


True Leadership: The King vs. the Prophet
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Erik Eynikel, University of Regensburg

Biblical prophetism in strict sense began with Samuel. Before Samuel prominent figures, like the patriarchs, Moses, Miriam or Debora are called prophet but their characterisation as prophets was added “posthumous” to their narratives (patriarchs) or their office is more comparable to that of a seer (like the Arabic khanins). Further more: before Samuel there was no prophetic call, an discerning feature of the prophetic office. It is obvious that “prophecy” as a critical corrective power as we know it in the books Samuel-Kings and in the prophetic literature, originated in Israel at the beginning of monarchy; when the period of the charismatic leaders, the judges, ended. The first prophet, Samuel, is obviously a transition figure as he was also the last judge. The early prophets operate close to the kings, for whom they function sometimes as advisors but whom they also offer harsh critique: Samuel with Saul, Nathan with David and Solomon, Elia with Ahab, … When we study this relationship between the king and the prophet throughout the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, we see that the prophets are very often critical of the kings’ leadership; royal leadership must, according to the prophets, stand under the moral critique of the Torah. We see also that beside the (obvious) critique of moral misbehaviour or bad governance, the prophets utter sometimes more ambiguous messages to the king, in which self-interest is not always absent. In this paper we will study the actions of the prophets in society, and more in particular their relation to royal leadership.


The Dominion of Death in The Syriac Tradition of Heb 2:16
Program Unit: Bible and Syriac Studies in Context
Joshua Falconer, University of Oxford

In the Syriac version of Hebrews 2:16, there is a remarkable variant that apparently does not have any Greek precedent. The Greek version of this passage is usually translated, ‘For clearly he did not take on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham.’ But the Syriac version has, ‘For it was not over angels that death had authority, but over the seed of Abraham it had authority.’ This variant appears in the earliest Syriac manuscripts dating to the fifth to sixth centuries where the passage is preserved. Because of its antiquity, unusual character and contextual coherence, Gwilliam and Pinkerton regarded it as the earlier Peshitta reading in their 1920 edition, and Michael Gudorf’s 1992 dissertation on Peshitta Hebrews also concluded that it must be the earliest reading for similar reasons. However, there are serious reasons to reconsider the variant, as will be shown by this new research of the external and internal evidence. This paper therefore poses the following questions: What can we know about the inception and early reception of this strange variant? Which of the Peshitta variants is earlier? How does it relate to other variants in the Syriac tradition? Finally, what does this information tell us about the early character of the Peshitta text? Modeled after Sebastian Brock’s 1985 investigation of Hebrews 2:9b, this contribution may be considered on its own or as a companion piece to Brock’s study. In the end, it proposes the possibility that Hebrews 2:9 and 2:16, along with several related passages in the Syriac tradition, may be linked to one or more systematic revisions with Christological underpinnings, recognizable by their common ‘Theopaschite’ readings, and indicating that the Peshitta may not be so consistent across Western and Eastern lines after all.


Revisiting the Division Agreement Both in the Book of Joshua and in Ancient Mesopotamia
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law
Elelwani B. Farisani, University of South Africa

In the Old Testament and legal corpora of Ancient Mesopotamia the division agreement in a deceased estate emerged – as a recording of an oral agreement by a scribe, or as an occurrence in a text, or as an explanation of a division agreement which once took place. The aim of this paper is to highlight the differences between the prerequisite elements, as well as some of the legal practices of a deceased division agreement both in the book of Joshua and in Ancient Mesopotamia. It will be shown that in Ancient Mesopotamia, and the Old Testament, with special reference to the Book of Joshua, there are differences and similarities in the prerequisite elements of their division agreements; as well as chosen legal practices incorporated in these agreements. We will start off by critically discussing Kitz and Westbrook’s contributions which place the Mesopotamian division agreement in analogue with the division agreement in the Book of Joshua and other occurrences in the Old Testament. Secondly, the paper identifies certain prerequisite elements qualifying the agreement as a certain type of a division agreement. And finally, legal practices such as lot-casting and firstborn-share are identified which the contractual parties choose to incorporate in the agreement.


Facing the End of History: The Akedah under the Shadow of Empire
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Danna Nolan Fewell, Drew University

Imagining the Akedah emerging in the shadow of the Persian empire suggests that it is far more than an ancestral legend about a pious hero, more than a quaint, if haunting, etiology explaining ritual and theological evolution. Rather, the Akedah becomes a political performance embodying the concerns of a colonized community, constructing a story about facing what appears to be the end of history—the history of a family, the history of a people. This study rereads Genesis 22 as a narrative wrestling with collective self-understanding, expressing anxiety regarding communal survival, and making gestures of political resistance.


Beithsaida in 3D using Modern Documentation Technologies
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Sagi Filin, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Large scale archaeological sites, such as Bethsaida, challenge common documentation practices. Such are vital for excavation documentation, reconstruction, and further study of the site and its functions. Clearly, accurate and reliable characterization of the complete site in its three-dimensions offer greater prospects. However, generating such information in sites of that scale has required so far considerable resources, was labour intensive, and yet did not lead to the desired level of detail. We present here a new documentation technology which enables capturing the complete three dimensional shape of the site at a relatively rapid time and with little effort. The method, which is laser based, is one of the emerging technologies to generate a true-to-reality 3D documentation of scenes. Offering dense and accurate 3D data, which are acquired directly, they facilitate a detailed surface and objects description irrespective of their shape complexity. We demonstrate the documentation principles and related processes which are leading to the depiction of the complete site. We also show how minute details can be revealed using this technique. Furthermore, we show some further applications of the reconstructed 3D model, including layers highlighting, accurate reconstruction of chamber dimensions, volume computation, and statistical information that may shed light on construction practices.


News from the Project "Bible and Women"
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Irmtraud Fischer, Karl-Franzens Universität Graz

The Session presents the new volumes of the international project "The Bible and Women: An Encyclopaedia of Exegesis and Cultural History", a critically engaged project, that initiates interdisciplinary cooperation of biblical exegesis, cultural history, archaeology and art history, literary history and musicology. In academic contexts, where less and less factual knowledge about religious traditions can be taken for granted, the 'encyclopaedia' will provide useful tools for humanities research. It negotiates biblical interpretation from within contemporary societies, based on ideals of democracy and gender equality. It questions, in a critical way, both the Scriptures and the later interpretive traditions. New in 2013 are the volumes "Ketubim/Writings" (Vol. 1.3) in German, Medievo II (Siglos XII-XV)in Spanish and hopefully also in German (Vol. 6.2), as well as "Padri della Chiesa" (Vol. 5.1) in Italian. Apart of the presentation, this session will discuss the advantages of such a huge international and interdisciplinary project - but also its risks.


The Economy of Ancient Greek Corinth
Program Unit: Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy
John T. Fitzgerald, University of Notre Dame

As a prelude to the study of the economy of Roman Corinth, this paper examines the economy of ancient Greek Corinth, a city that was already conspicuous for its affluence at the time of Homer, who called it "wealthy."


The Attestations of Variants in the Gospel of John by Coptic Witnesses (NA28)
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Hans Foerster, Universität Wien

A research project dedicated to the preparation of a critical edition of the Sahidic version of the Gospel of John (Austrian Science Fund / FWF P-22017 and P-25082) led to a revision of the attestations of variants in the critical apparatus of the Gospel of John (Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th ed.). The presentation will discuss the guiding principles for the changes made to the apparatus and the value of the Coptic – especially the Sahidic – version for the text of the Gospel of John.


The Contribution of Elephantine to the Study of Aramaic
Program Unit:
Margaretha Folmer, Leiden University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

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'If You Go Down to the Woods Today': B(e)aring the Text of Proverbs MT and LXX
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Tova Forti, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

The LXX employs the term arkos ‘bear’ to translate the Hebrew ??. While mentioned twelve times in toto in the MT, two of the incidences occur in Proverbs. This noun occurs neither in LXX-Prov 17:12 nor in LXX-Prov 28:15—the former passage failing to refer to any animal at all and the latter reading lykos ‘wolf’ instead. In following the assumption that the translator endeavored to render the Hebrew Vorlage as faithfully as possible, I will attempt to explain the deviations of the Greek text and its recovered Vorlage. Since both versions represent plausible readings, I will try to evaluate each version in and of itself, taking into consideration the fact that proverbial sayings (the MT and LXX alike) by their very nature are prone to change and alteration in both oral and written transmission.


Marnas, Adonai, Allah: Hiding the Name of God
Program Unit:
Marco Frenschkowski, Universität Leipzig

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The Burials of Bethsaida: An Overview of 25 Years
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Richard Freund, University of Hartford

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Practicing Rituals in a Textual World: Ritual and Innovation in the Book of Numbers
Program Unit:
Christian Frevel, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

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T. Flavius Josephus: General, Historian… and Theologian?
Program Unit: Biblical Theology
Martin Friis, Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen

Assessments of Josephus’ authorship often focus on his merits as a contemporary historian in ‘The Jewish War’ and on the insights provided by him into the history of Judea-Palestine in the Hellenistic period in ‘The Jewish Antiquities’. This paper will however demonstrate that Josephus, through his creative retelling in the first half of the Antiquities of the Scriptural account from the creation narrative through to the post-exilic narratives of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther, may also be regarded as a competent non-contemporary historian and a theologically minded intellectual in his own right. Through a reading of selected passages throughout the Antiquities on the tabernacle and the later Jerusalem temple, it will be shown that Josephus exhibits a high degree of conceptuality in his particular take on the traditional biblical theological notions of divine presence and providence. By comparing his understanding of these issues with (dis)similar views voiced in comparative Judeo-Christian literature throughout the first century CE (i.e. the Pauline letters, Philo and the gospels) and thus placing him within his proper theological context, Josephus will emerge as an immensely well-articulated author as well as a thoughtful and thought-provoking theologian. Among the chief questions to be considered are: ‘Given the fact that the Antiquities was written and published almost 25 years after the fall of Jerusalem and the ultimate destruction of the temple, can Josephus then be said to have taken these events into account in his depiction of the tabernacle and the Jerusalem temple as well as the notions of divine presence expressed in these passages, and if so: how?’ and ‘In what way is the notions of divine presence and providence as articulated by Josephus in congruence with contemporary views on this issue within Judeo-Christian literature?’.


Divine History and Historical Divinity in Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities
Program Unit: Hellenistic Judaism
Martin Friis, University of Copenhagen

Throughout Josephus’ highly creative rendition in ‘The Jewish Antiquities’ of the Scriptural account from the creation narrative through to the post-exilic narratives of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther there seems to be a curious and expressed lack of emphasis on the role and influence of God. This has prompted the prominent scholar Louis H. Feldman to submit that one should in fact talk of a distinct de-theologizing tendency manifesting itself throughout this part of the work. According to this premise, any attempt at assessing the value of Josephus’ portrayal of the long and rich past of his people would therefore entail that the historiographical and theological aspects of the work were to be regarded as two entirely separate issues - perhaps even to the extent that one would focus exclusively on the former at the expense of the latter. This paper will however demonstrate that Josephus - as a proper theologically minded intellectual - can be seen as having embedded his historical narrative with a distinct theological outlook of fundamental importance for any ascertainment of his literary merits. Through a reading of selected passages pertaining to instances of divine intervention and depictions of divine presence and divine providence, it will be shown that Josephus exhibits a high degree of conceptuality in his particular rendition in the Antiquities of these traditional biblical theological notions. By comparing his understanding of these issues with (dis)similar views voiced in comparative Judeo-Christian literature throughout the first century CE (i.e. the Pauline letters, Philo and the Gospels) and thus placing him within his proper theological context, Josephus will emerge as an immensely well-articulated author as well as a thoughtful and thought-provoking theologian.


'Parents Just Don't Understand': Finding Meaning in the Dysfunction of Christianity's First Family
Program Unit: Families and Children in the Ancient World
Chris Frilingos, Michigan State University

What was Jesus like as a child? The canonical NT Gospels have almost nothing to say on the topic. The lone childhood episode appears in the Gospel of Luke: here a twelve-year-old Jesus amazes bearded experts in the Temple of Jerusalem, while his parents, Mary and Joseph, are confused and upset by his behavior (Luke 2:41-52). Readers wanting more have to look to other ancient Christian writings not found in the New Testament, including the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. A surprising feature of the childhood stories, both inside and outside the canon, is the unflattering depiction of Mary and Joseph. The parents don't understand their son. This problem, I submit, reflects ancient Christian thinking about the limits of human knowing and the surpassing omniscience of the Christian God. In support of this proposal, the paper will proceed in three stages. The first stop will be the "original" childhood story: The "Finding of Jesus" at the age of twelve in the Gospel of Luke. Ambiguity in this story inspired diverse examples of ancient Christian interpretation. One may be found in the work of John Chrysostom, the subject of part two. His interpretation attempts to close the door on "thinking with" the childhood of Jesus. In part three, we will return to the Infancy Gospel, an interpretation in narrative form. Unlike John Chrysostom, this gospel opens the door to the childhood of Jesus, adding to the Lukan pericope further episodes of familial strain and trouble. Even so, the stories of the Infancy Gospel work together to cast a sympathetic light on the dysfunction of Christianity's first family.


Malbim's Interpretation of the Narrative of the Demand for a King and Samuel's Response (1 Samuel 8)
Program Unit: Judaica
Amos Frisch, Bar-Ilan University

The lecture will examine the commentary by Malbim (1809-1879) to the narrative of the demand for a king and Samuel's response, to determine the characteristics of his interpretive method as indicated in the commentary. A traditional commentator who comes to explain this episode is faced by interpretive difficulties, some internal within the narrative, and others external (in comparison with other biblical sources). The two most striking difficulties are: (1) how to understand the objection (by Samuel and the Lord) to the demand for a king, while Deut 17, at the very least, permits a monarch (and according to one opinion, and as Maimonides rules, this is obligatory)? (2) If the demand for a king is so invalid, as can be understood from the Lord's rebuke of the petitioners (vv. 7-8), why does the Lord instruct Samuel to fulfill the request? Malbim raises these questions, and then seeks to resolve them. The topics discussed in the lecture include: Malbim's attitude to the interpretation of the Sages, a comparison with the commentary of R. David Kimhi and R. Isaac Abrabanel, Malbim's questions as background to his interpretation, linguistic distinctions, psychological interpretation (the personal aspect in Samuel's response), pairs of contrasts, and the consolidation of the narrative. I will also attempt to outline the conception of the monarchy that emerges from the commentary to this narrative, with a comparison with Malbim's commentary to other important texts that relate to kingship (especially Deut 17).


Stars and Spirits: Heavenly Bodies in Ancient Jewish Aramaic Tradition
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Ida Fröhlich, Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem

Heavenly beings called Watchers (?yryn) appear in several Aramaic sources of the Second Temple literature (the Aramaic parts of the book of Daniel, Enochic writing written in Aramaic, and the Genesis Apocryphon), works that were contained (also) in the library of the Qumran. The figures of the Watchers were backgrounded by a larger Aramaic tradition, and the tradition about them was continuous in later Enochic tradition (2 Enoch and 3 Enoch). The paper aims at investigating the figures named ?yr (?yryn), their function as members of a heavenly council (Dan 4), their military character (Dan 10, 1En 6-11, 2 Enoch, 3 Enoch), and their role as originators of impure demons in the Aramaic Enochic tradition (1Enoch 6-11, 15).


Scribal Practice and Textual Reliability in 4QTestimonia
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Rus Fuller, University of San Diego

4QTestimonia is one of possibly eight surviving manuscripts copied by this anonymous scribe (4QTestimonia, 1QS, 1QSa,b, 4QSamc, some corrections in 1QIsaa, and possibly 4Q441 and 4Q443). The scribal practice of this scribe, including letter forms, orthography, and the numerous errors and corrections make his work instantly recognizable. He has consequently been described as both one of the "most energetic" scribes at Qumran as well as a scribe of "quite surpassable skill." This paper will analyze the scribal practice of the scribe of 4QTestimona in order to access the implications for the reliability of the texts of the extended biblical quotations, which the writer of this intriguing document compiled. The analysis is facilitated by comparison to manuscripts by which the scribe of 4QTestimonia may have been influenced such as 4QRPa, 4QDeuth, and 4QapocrJoshb.


What’s So Interesting about Old Furniture? Israel’s Desert Tabernacle According to Heb 9:1-5, or How (Not) to Approach the Divine Presence
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
Georg Gäbel, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

This paper will explore the way in which Hebrews uses a brief description of Israel’s desert tabernacle in Heb 9:1-5 to lay the ground for the subsequent critique of the cult performed on earth and for the description of the cultic performance of the heavenly High Priest. Special attention will be payed to early Jewish traditions relating to some of the furnishings of the tabernacle mentioned in Heb 9:1-5, both in the Hebrew Bible and in parabiblical and related literature.


The Anatomy of Religious Experience: Altered States of Consciousness in the NHC and Related Texts
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Andre Gagne, Concordia University - Université Concordia

The pioneering work of Charles Tart in the mid-60s on altered states of consciousness (ASC) resulted in an inquiry into the narratives of religious experience found in early Jewish and Christian writings. Scholars have studied the role of ASCs in the Hebrew Bible (Pilch 2002, 2005, 2006), in Jewish Apocrypha (Merkur 2011), in the life of Jesus of Nazareth (Craffert 2008), in the ministry of Paul (Ashton 2000; Shantz 2009), in the Book of Revelation (Malina and Pilch 2000), and also in the Hekhalot Literature (Davila 2001). Surprisingly, no research has been done on the place of ASCs in the Nag Hammadi corpus or related texts. This paper proposes to analyze some ASC experiences in the Discourse on the Eight and Ninth (NH VI,6) and in the Gospel of Judas (CT 3). This research into ASCs will be conducted from an interdisciplinary perspective (Couliano 1991), where cross-cultural anthropology (Bourgignon 1968, 1979; Craffert 2008), cognitive neuroscience (d’Aquili and Newberg 1999; Beauregard 2012), and quantum mechanics (d’Espagnat 2006; Rosenblum and Kuttner 2011) will serve as a way to shed light on the mechanisms of such religious experiences.


The Qiblah: A Quranic Allusion to the Shema
Program Unit: Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective
Abdulla Galadari, University of Aberdeen

There are two passages in the Quran that claim to be about issues that the People of the Book know as well as they know their own children. One discusses the Qiblah (Q. 2:142-150) and another discusses the oneness of God (Q. 6:19-20). The focal point of Jewish prayers is reciting the Shema, which states the oneness of God and is called the “kabbalat” by the Talmud, sharing the same root as Qiblah. The Talmud states that the purpose of reciting the Shema is “accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven” (kabbalat ‘ol malchut shamayim). The Shema passages in the Torah frequently refer to its commandments and decrees as “huqqim,” which shares the same root as “al-haqq,” a term the Quran uses repeatedly in the Qiblah passages. Although “al-haqq” could mean "truth," it is also used to mean decrees, laws, and rights (huquq) even in Arabic. The Torah instructs its audience to keep those commandments (huqqim) in their hearts and frequently repeats that they should teach them to their children, which might be the reason why the Quran states that the People of the Book know this commandment (al-haqq) as they know their own children. Heart in Arabic is “qalb”. The Qiblah verse starts with “We see the turning (taqalluba) of your face towards heaven…” The root for heart (qlb) is used in the passage and can be understood as, “We see to the heart (taqalluba) you are facing in heaven…” The Qiblah passages also start their argument by mentioning the sovereignty of God, stating that to Him belongs the east and the west. The Shema is also understood as an acceptance of the sovereignty of God. Thus, we see the possibility that the Qiblah passages in the Quran are actually alluding to the Shema.


Ritual Innovation in the Suspected Adulteress Ritual (Num 5:11-31)
Program Unit:
Roy Gane, Andrews University

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The Heavenly "Bodies" of Dan 12:3
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Anne Gardner, Monash University-Victoria Australia

Dan 12:2-3 seem to be a couplet but while Dan 12:2, as all commentators agree, deals with a double earthly resurrection in bodily form, the subjects of Dan 12:3 appear to transcend the limits of the mundane and rise to heavenly realms. The verse claims that “those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the firmament and, those who cause many to be righteous, like the stars forever”. A number of theories have been advanced as to the meaning of “brightness” (zohar) and the implications of being like the “stars”. These will be reviewed and shown to be inadequate. Through a semantic analysis of the vocabulary employed and its links with the previous two verses, it will be questioned whether Dan 12:3 says anything at all about the physical condition or embodiment of those who “shine”. It will be demonstrated that while traces of Greek thought lie behind the verse, they have been coupled with Hebraic concepts as expressed in earlier Biblical works. The message of the verse can be expressed as “Morality leads to Immortality but not in Dan 12:3 to Corporality!”


"Mourning and Melancholia": Praise and Lament?
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
John Garza, Fordham University

Sigmund Freud's seminal essay, "Mourning and Melancholia," has exerted considerable influence since its inaugural appearance nearly a century ago. Indeed, it continues to be deeply ingrained in the works of such figures as Jacques Derrida, Judith Butler, and more recently, Amy Hollywood. The continued reflection upon this brief yet important essay demonstrates its viability and efficacy in speaking to and making sense of the human condition. The significance of this work, however, has yet to be engaged fully within the study of the Hebrew Bible. While Tod Linafelt has read Lamentations in relation to Freud's thought on mourning and melancholia, scholarship in the book of Psalms has yet to wrestle with the implications of Freud's work. This lack of engagement with "Mourning and Melancholia" is regrettable in particular because the Psalms so vividly demonstrate and express the vicissitudes of the human condition that are seemingly a natural fit for Freudian analysis. In this paper I will argue for the importance of such an analysis in studying the Psalms, with a particular emphasis upon their theological and performative function within contemporary audience. I will examine the development of Freud's understanding of the distinction between mourning and melancholia while exploring the use of that distinction within the aforementioned philosophical and biblical proposals. I will then use that analysis to examine and critique two dominant portrayals of the genre categories of praise and lament in the book of Psalms. This challenge will result in affording specific attention to Psalm 88 as a text that both evidences the dynamics of Freud's work on mourning and melancholia and provides an opening for a reexamination of genre considerations within the book of Psalms and their theological function and impact on the life of faith.


On an Early Qur'anic Palimpsest and its Stratigraphy: Cambridge Or. 1287
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
Alain George, University of Edinburgh

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Translating the Triumph: Reading Mark’s Crucifixion Narrative against a Roman Ritual of Power
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Allan Georgia, Fordham University

This paper will consider the ritual-logic of the crucifixion narrative in the gospel of Mark as a kind of translation of the Roman triumphal ritual. The public enactment of political power in the Triumph ritually performed the power relations between Rome and its subjects. Nonetheless, Mary Beard has pointed to the way in which the triumph was thematically slippery, intentionally drawing attention to the divinely-conscribed triumphing General who embodied Roman potestas, while also showcasing the exotic victim who’s prestige and power were necessarily – and ambiguously – magnified in the drama of the spectacle. Narratives focusing on victims (of triumphs or crucifixions) are largely absent in ancient sources. Engaging this lacuna, and drawing on the work of Bourdieu and Bell, this paper will consider the practical logic of the then-unprecedented narrative of Jesus’ crucifixion as a translation of triumphal themes in order to depict Jesus as both the triumphal victor and victim. It will suggest that the author of Mark was a bricoleur who explicitly appropriates the movement, divine themes, and the slippage of victor and victim in Roman triumphs in order to achieve this counter-intuitive depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion. Further, it will claim that this Roman ritual is foundational to early Christian narratives about Jesus, making the translation of the original Roman ritual essential to the coherent presentation of Jesus’ ignominious death as a victorious defeat.


Ancient Near Eastern Offering Scenes and Biblical Ritual Texts: A Comparison of Iconographic and Textual Representations of Ritual Practice
Program Unit: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Bible
Stephen Germany, Emory University

While the study of ancient Near Eastern iconography has contributed significantly to many areas in the study of the Hebrew Bible and ancient Israelite religion, relatively little work in the “iconographical-biblical” tradition of scholarship has been done in comparing ancient Near Eastern visual representations of ritual practice with the textual representation of ritual practice in the Hebrew Bible. This study seeks to test the viability of such an endeavor by comparing the representation of offering rituals (understood capaciously as animal, vegetable, drink, and incense offerings) in ancient Near Eastern art and in the Hebrew Bible. Although the presence of cultic objects and installations at sites throughout ancient Israel/Palestine provides clear evidence that offering rituals were performed, the nature and details of such ritual performances must be reconstructed from other sources, including visual and textual sources. In light of the fact that visual representations of offering rituals are relatively rare in ancient Israel/Palestine itself, this study will first investigate these visual representations of offering rituals within the broader temporal and geographical context of Egyptian, Hittite, Syrian, and Mesopotamian iconography. It will then consider whether these visual representations of offering rituals may be productively correlated with the textual representation of offering rituals in the Hebrew Bible


Cultural and Historical Context of the Story about Rabbi Mathya Ben Harash
Program Unit: Judaica
Amos Geula, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

This lecture will focus on the story of Rabbi Mathya Ben Harsh who blinded himself by hot nail to escape the temptations of Satan who seemed to him as a woman in Beth Midrash. This story is one of the most surprising stories of the Sages but it is not mentioned in the classical Talmudic literature, and known only as a late Anonymous Midrash. The story is presented in the Jewish Moral literature as an example of how radical should be the war against passion, but its strangeness to the classical Rabbinic Thought is clear. Therefore, the question arises what is the cultural and historical background of the story – i.e.: its origin, workshop, ways of creation and the motivation behind it. We will discuss the connection between this story and Christian sources and stories of Christian saints and will open a broader look at this workshop and its literary activity with similar characteristics.


'For the Kingdom of Heaven is Like...': Biblical Similitudes, Cinematic Visions
Program Unit: Bible and the Moving Image
S. D. Giere, Wartburg Theological Seminary

In the Synoptic Gospels Jesus’ parables are frequently introduced by a comparison drawn between the stories he tells and kingdom of heaven/God. These biblical parables, by way of narrative and metaphor, open the hearts and minds of his hearers to that which is beyond the ordinary. He uses story to invite his hearers into the mystery of faith. What if certain films were considered akin to parables, cinematic visions of the kingdom? This paper explores intersections between these gospel similitudes and cinematic visions of the kingdom of heaven. The films addressed in this paper have been produced outside of Hollywood and include Babettes gæstebud / Babette’s Feast in (Gabriel Axel, 1987), Så som i himmelen / As It is in Heaven (Kay Pollak, 2004), Son of Man / Jezille (Mark Dornford-May, 2006), DeUsynlige / Troubled Waters (Erik Poppe, 2008), and Des hommes et des dieux / Of Gods and Men (Xavier Beauvois, 2011).


Sukkot: From Field Shelters to Ritual Dwellings; from Harvest Festival to Heilsgeschichte
Program Unit:
William Gilders, Emory University

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The End of Flesh: A Reassessment of the Peroration and Purpose of 1 Corinthians
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Mark Given, Missouri State University

As witnessed by recent major commentaries, the position that the theme of 1 Corinthians is the restoration or creation of unity or harmony (homonoia) in the church has become dominant. Rhetorical criticism played a role in this tendency through the arguments of Margaret Mitchell and others. While no one can question that the need for homonoia is a theme in the letter, this paper will argue that not only theological but also rhetorical arguments can be made that Paul’s greater concern lies elsewhere. Both the thesis and peroration of 1 Corinthians are regularly misidentified by rhetorical critics and a reassessment of these elements will point to a different main theme, one concerned with sarx and pneuma.


Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge: The Role of Aesthetics in Ancient and Modern Interpretation of Paul
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
William Glass, Duke University

This paper explores the effect of basic hermeneutical commitments on Biblical interpretation, both historical-critical and theological. First, it examines a recent and controversial historical-critical reading of Romans 1, found in Douglas Campbell’s The Deliverance of God, by placing it in conversation with St. Augustine’s own exegesis of the same passage in De Trinitate. Campbell sees Paul to be enacting in the opening chapters of Romans a parody of an opponent’s preaching, performing a Socratic reduction to absurdity of the argument, and clearing the way for his own message. But while many critiques of Campbell’s reading note the reading’s novelty with some frustration, I suggest that the complex of interpretive moves St. Augustine performs on Romans 1:18-32, and especially on 1:20, constitute a weighty recognition from tradition in support of Campbell’s thesis that the passage is ripe for rereading. Campbell’s unintentional sympathy with Augustine is found owing to a similarity in approach between Campbell’s Polanyist hermeneutic and Augustine’s fides quaerens intellectum, both of which admit the effect of readers’ own commitments on a text while yet preserving a meaningful way to arbitrate between competing readings. For both readers, I suggest, rival construals of a text depend for validity on their ability to negotiate all the features of a text on multiple interpretive planes with simplicity and ease, an admittedly aesthetic criterion that ancient theologians would call “fittingness.” I conclude that aesthetic categories may be especially fruitful in discovering other such sympathies as that of Campbell and Augustine. They might thus assist historical-critical scholars and theologians alike in developing a language to share their labors and further one another in the effort not only to think Paul’s thoughts after him, but also perhaps to investigate better the reality he commends to ancient and modern readers.


Davidic Covenant Fulfillment in 1 Peter
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
W. Edward Glenny, Northwestern College - St. Paul

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of the fulfillment of Davidic covenant promises to the development of the argument of 1 Peter. In the first part of the paper the author will survey some passages in 1 Peter that seem to refer to promises to David or relate to a descendent of David (including 2:6; 3:22; and 4:14). Then the remainder of the paper will consider the extent that the fulfillment of such Davidic promises serves as a foundation for the development of the argument of 1 Peter.


Translation Technique in the LXX of Micah
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
W. Edward Glenny, Northwestern College - St. Paul

In this paper I will consider several aspects of the translation technique employed by translator of LXX Micah. The translator had his hands full with the many toponyms and the word play on them in the Hebrew of Micah 1:10-16. I will investigate how he attempted to cope with this difficult passage and techniques he employed to attempt to make sense of it. I will also consider the influence of LXX Isaiah on LXX Micah with regard to the rendering of a rare word in Micah 1:6 and 3:12, the parallel passages in Micah 4:1-3 and Isaiah 2:2-4, and the vocabulary in Micah 1:8. This study will help us understand the translator of Micah, and it has implications concerning the unity of the translation of the Minor Prophets.


Islam and Interfaith Relations in Scotland
Program Unit: Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective
Hugh Goddard, University of Edinburgh

According to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, Muslims made up 0.84% of the population of Scotland (which was then just over 5 million), significantly less than the Muslim population of the UK as a whole (almost 59 million), which was then 2.7%. The 2009-2012 Integrated Household Survey of the UK suggested Muslim figures of 4.7% for England, 1.2% for Scotland, and 4.2% for the UK as a whole, and the recently-published results of the 2011 census give a figure of 4.8% for England and Wales, with the Scottish figures still to be published. On the basis of all of these figures Muslims make up the second largest faith community throughout the UK. This paper will investigate the development and makeup of Muslim communities in Scotland, and their contributions to interfaith work in particular.


Don’t You Love It, Don’t You Hate It? An Old Testament Reading of Hebrews
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
John Goldingay, Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena)

The paper will examine ways in which Hebrews influences Old Testament interpretation and ways in which the Old Testament raises questions about the epistle. It will consider (a) the constructive aspect to Hebrews’ use of the Old Testament, in its assumptions about the Law, about divine sovereignty and human responsibility, and about the analogy between the church’s theological position and Israel’s. (b) the more problematic aspect to its influence in its understanding of sacrifice as essentially concerned with atonement, its appeal to Old Testament characters as examples, its declaration that Jeremiah’s new covenant has been implemented, and its statement that forgiveness requires the shedding of blood. (c) the process whereby it came to be part of the New Testament canon and the possible theological implications of that process, and the theological questions raised by the ambiguity of its influence. It will interact with recent work on Hebrews such as the symposia edited by Gabriella Gelardini, Hebrews: Contemporary Methods—New Insights (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2005), by Richard Bauckham and others, A Cloud of Witnesses (LNTS 387; London/New York: Clark, 2008) and The Epistle to the Hebrews and Christian Theology (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2009), by Eric F. Mason and Kevin B. McCruden, Reading the Epistle to the Hebrews (Atlanta: SBL, 2011), and by Jon C. Laansma and Daniel J. Trier, Christology, Hermeneutics, and Hebrews (LNTS 423. London/New York: Clark, 2012).


Middle Narratives as a Facet of Biblical Theology
Program Unit: Biblical Theology
John Goldingay, Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena)

The paper will begin from memory as a topic of recent work in biblical studies and from the importance of “middle narratives” as a key way in which the Bible does theology. The concept of middle narratives is based on the idea of middle axioms in ethics, one of whose significances is to articulate imperatives that lie between concrete and specific contextual imperatives and rather general ones such as “love your neighbor," and to help mediate between these. By analogy, middle narratives mediate between individual narratives expressing theological insights (such as stories about Israel, about individual Israelites, about Jesus, and about the infant church) and the grand theological narrative that the creeds are believed to encapsulate. Between these is a series of extensive explicit or implicit middle narratives which form a distinctive way in which the Bible does theology. The paper will (a) consider six of these middle narratives with their different beginnings, durations, and dynamics: Genesis to Kings; Chronicles to Nehemiah; Daniel; Mark; Matthew; and Luke-Acts (b) note some implicit middle narratives such as those that may be inferred from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Romans, Ephesians, and Hebrews (c) reflect on how these middle narratives might be seen to contribute and relate to a grand biblical theological narrative that will be a key feature of a biblical theology, and (d) consider what might be the nature of that grand narrative.


Philemon and Onesimus: “Brothers in the Flesh”
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Timothy Gombis, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary

The dominant interpretation of Paul’s letter to Philemon regards Philemon and Onesimus as master and slave. A minority interpretation that they are biological brothers persists, however, because of Paul’s statement in v. 16 that Onesimus is a brother to Philemon “not only in the flesh but also in the Lord.” This interpretation predominated in biblical arguments for abolitionist movements in the 19th century. I will argue that the minority interpretation deserves greater consideration by NT scholars. First, I will examine majority explanations of Paul’s statement in v. 16. Commentators often claim that with the phrase “brothers in the flesh,” Paul is appealing to the common humanity that Onesimus and Philemon share. With this starting point, he also appeals to their being “brothers in the Lord.” Commentators then cite Stoic writers, such as Pliny and Seneca, to note that the common origin of all humanity was a widespread notion. I will argue, however, that Stoic writers are highly exceptional in this regard and that it was far more common to regard slaves as sub-human. For Paul to assume Philemon’s common humanity with Onesimus in a letter to be read in the presence of the community would have shamed Philemon. Because he is appealing to Philemon to reconcile with Onesimus, it is unlikely that Paul would have intended this. Second, I will argue that while the majority interpretation has not satisfactorily accounted for this statement, the minority interpretation can adequately account for the evidence. I will construct two alternative scenarios in which Paul’s statement makes sense—one in which Philemon and Onesimus share the same biological parents, and one in which Philemon’s father has also fathered Onesimus by a female slave.


The Marginalization of Mary of Bethany: The Magdalene Effect and Early Christian Gospels
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Mark Goodacre, Duke University

The restoration of Mary Magdalene's reputation has been a major achievement in recent scholarship on early Christianity. But the restoration comes at a cost, the marginalization of Mary of Bethany. Traits derived from this character permeate many early texts like the Gospel of Mary, the Dialogue of the Saviour and Pistis Sophia. She adores Jesus' feet, she listens to Jesus' words, she weeps, and she has a sister called Martha. Such elements are missed, however, because of our fascination with the figure of Mary Magdalene. The difficulty arises in part from the pedagogically important stress on avoiding harmonization, an academic concern not shared by Christians in the second to fourth centuries, who routinely harmonized different characters, including the different Marys. The "Magdalene effect", whereby one Mary becomes ever more prominent, has prevented us from fully appreciating the characterization of Mary in early Christian Gospels, but a re-examination of this composite character leads to a fresh appreciation of how Mary functions in early Christian Gospels, and how their authors read Luke and John.


Blogs, Pods, Websites and Mark: How the Internet Affects the Teaching of Mark's Gospel
Program Unit: Gospel of Mark
Mark Goodacre, Duke University

Teaching Mark's Gospel in the internet age presents multiple challenges and opportunities. The difficulty for most instructors is that they are digital immigrants, trained to access Mark in linear fashion in printed Greek New Testaments, Synopses of the Gospels and Biblical Translations, while their students are all digital natives, whose first access to the text may be via phone, tablet and laptop, with many navigational possibilities and different layers. So too with so-called secondary literature, the contemporary student is as likely to access Youtube, iTunes U and the blogosphere as they are the dusty articles and dated monographs that we love. But to embrace the new opportunities provided by the internet encourages instructors to rethink their approach to Mark in several ways: (1) The informal, often colloquial nature of blog posts can make the scholarship far more accessible to students, as well as encouraging them to try their hand at blogging about Mark themselves; (2) Podcasts make access to scholarship for blind and visually impaired students more straightforward and they enable all students to study away from the desk; (3) Websites that use dynamic ways of representing the Gospels and Gospel scholarship open up new avenues for both instructors and their students. Examples (good and bad) of the these phenomena in the teaching of Mark illustrate how to get the best out of digital Mark and digital Marcan scholarship.


'Image' and 'Glory' Redefined: Keys to the Puzzle of the Presence of Adam in Romans?
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Haley Goranson, University of St. Andrews

Pauline scholars, it seems, either advocate a vibrant Adam-Christology in Paul’s letter to the Romans, pointing their readership to texts such as Romans 1:18-23 and 7:7-12, or they dismiss its presence as impossible, due primarily to the lack of explicit mention of Adam beyond Romans 5:12-21. Is the presence of an Adam-Christology dependent on the reference to Adam specifically, or could it be that the clue lies more deeply in the text, in the more unsuspected and, heretofore, inconsistently interpreted words, namely ‘glory’ (doxa) and ‘image’ (eikon)? All too often, 'glory' in Romans is understood as a reference to a visible splendour or light, as it is in 2 Corinthians 3, and less frequently, though growing in popularity, as a term analogous to that of ‘honour’ in the Roman empire; and ‘image’, in its only occurrence in Romans at 8:29, has most often lost its commonly asserted definition from Genesis 1:26, 27, namely humanity’s dominion over creation (Gen. 1:28) and is generally left undefined. This paper aims to establish that, in Romans, 'glory' is an honorific title held by those who participate in the Kingdom of God as redeemed humans conformed to the image of the Son—the sinless Ruler over creation. Likewise, 'image' and its commonly, albeit inconsistently, held definition from Genesis 1:26, 27, will also be highlighted. When ‘image’ and ‘glory’ are interpreted consistently and accurately, in light of Paul’s overarching biblical theology, the presence (and pervasiveness) of Adam within the Romans narrative will become all the more evident and significant.


Jeremiah's Shalom Ethic: Challenging Imperial Militarism
Program Unit: Concept Analysis and the Hebrew Bible
Hemchand Gossai, Georgia Southern University

Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles (Jeremiah 29) has justifiably generated significant scholarly attention over the years, exploring the many themes, their layers of meaning, and their implications particularly within the historical setting. The admonitions in Jeremiah 29, challenging as they are, and directed to the exiles in Babylon in the first instance, cannot remain as a point of reminiscence with little or no relevance for contemporary society. In this paper I propose that the manner in which Shalom is employed in Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles serves as a foundation for a new and transformative understanding of Shalom that stands in sharp contradistinction to the established and conventional understanding of Shalom as espoused by Hananiah, and to imperial militarism. Shalom in Jeremiah 29 challenges dialectical binaries such as good and evil; light and darkness; war and peace among others. Between these significant divides often lies truth enveloped in chasms of grey that cannot be negotiated away or skipped over for the sake of convenience. Thus peace/peace as delivered by the prophets Jeremiah and Hananiah is notably different in its implications. This paper argues that not only is the manner in which Shalom is outlined in Jeremiah 29 important for an understanding of Israelite life and indeed survival in Babylon in the sixth century BCE, but for an urgent understanding and application for contemporary societies’ bondage to militaristic impulses in national relationships, and indeed for survival.


Jesus Testifying Before Pilate in 1 Tim 6:13
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Michel Gourgues, Collège Universitaire Dominicain

Apart from the Gospels and the Acts, 1 Timothy is the only N.T. writing to make mention of Pontius Pilate. Which function has that mention in the exhortation of 1 Tim 6:11-16? Which homologia of Jesus does it refer to? Can that reference reveal something about the relations of 1 Timothy to the Gospels, especially to John, whose passion narrative is the only one actually representing Jesus as “witnessing” before Pilate? Could not the verb martyrein, unusual in I Timothy, be reminiscent of its use about Jesus’ fundamental mission in John 18:37? If so, could not that be an additional indication of the late composition of 1 Timothy? Or could the passage rather make reference to an old traditional faith formula of the same type as 1 Timothy 3:16? Is this passage of 1 Timothy the only one showing interest, not only in the manifestation in the flesh as 3:16a, but in a peculiar event or a singular experience of the historical Jesus?


Elephantine and the Book of Ezra-Nehemiah
Program Unit:
Lester Grabbe, University of Hull

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Father of the Bride: Of Fathers and Fathers-in Law
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Naomi Graetz, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

There are many men in the bible, and of them, many are fathers. Some of them are known for their failed relationships with their children, perhaps the best known of whom is David. Much has been written about good and bad father and son relationships, but less has been written about In-Laws. I plan to focus on the relationship between fathers-in-law and their sons-in-law. In addition, I want to see if these relationships shed any light on the relationship between fathers and daughters. First I wish to examine what kind of fathers are these men. Do they act appropriately to their daughters? Then I propose to look at the relationship they have with their sons-in-law. I propose to compare and contrast four prominent relationships: Jethro, Moses's father-in-law (Exodus 18) and the father-in-law of the Levite in Judges 19 both of whom are referred to as hoten, and who enjoy the company of their sons-in-law. Then there are Laban, Jacob's father-in-law, and Saul, David's father-in-law both of whom are in an antagonistic relationship to their sons-in-law. I hope to examine what kind of relationship do these fathers-in-law have with their sons-in-law? Are the fathers-in-law threatened by the sons-in-law? Is there male bonding? Is the relationship one of expediency? What do the sons-in-law and fathers-in-law gain from this relationship? In addition, do the fathers-in-law care about their daughters, do they have their interests at stake—is there any emotional connection to their daughters—or do they regard them as chattel? I will also look at the story of Judah, father-in-law of Tamar, with its overtones of incest and the story of a mother-in-law, Naomi and her relationship to Ruth, her daughter-in-law to shed some light on the four main cases under consideration.


Finding Access in Prohibition: Genesis 3 As an Eschatological Text in Early Christianity
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Christopher A. Graham, Criswell College

On the conviction that the Creator would remain active in and until the consummation of His creation, early Christians could envision creation’s last days in terms of its first days. Coupled with the conviction that Israel’s prophetic record was also the result of this same Creator God’s inspiring activity, early Christians gained clarity on the nature of the end based on the prophetic description of the beginning. For early Christians, then, the opening chapters of Genesis corresponded to both protological and eschatological reality. This paper will explore the diverse ways in which Christian authors in the first three centuries read and interpreted Genesis 3 as an eschatological text. It will focus on the way in which details from Genesis 3 were interpreted and appropriated in their own writings, especially as they encountered these same details within foundational Christian texts that presented the reality of an eschatological access to paradise (e.g., Luke 23:43, 2 Cor 12:4, and Rev 2:7). In so doing, this paper will augment, refine, and extend contemporary scholarship that has explored the nature of early Christian eschatology in relation to its protology. It will provide further definition as to the nature and timing of the early Christian construal of the eschatological access to paradise through its interpretation of the Genesis text.


Comparing the Relational Structure of the Gospels: Network Analysis As a Tool for Biblical Sciences
Program Unit: Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies
Martin Grandjean, Université de Lausanne

The figure of Christ occupies without surprise a central place in the four Gospels. This must not leave out the fine structural differences in the interpersonal networks, which remain exciting areas for critical experimentation. Networks studies provide a remarkable complement to literary analysis. Along with the web depicting structures growing as the text unfolds, they put into perspective some characters’ positions little or not obvious, revealing heavy trends just as punctual details. More than a technocratic gadget, this approach is already recognized as a significant tool by many historians exposed to large corpora of sources. The purpose here is to lead a comparative investigation, by modeling the interactions among the characters of the four Gospels, aiming at providing quantified interpretative keys. Indeed, network analysis make available a large panel of descriptive concepts such as degree and centrality, at an actor level, or connectivity, that can be advantageously used to compare the concerned texts. The Synoptic Gospels are therefore subject to special attention, without forgetting the Gospel according to John, which contains also very interesting - but much different - structural features. Finally, we will see that such an approach don’t deprive the researcher of some of his cross-analysis work, but is rather a way to give him an interesting analytical knowledge, in order to open a new field of vision with many perspectives.


The Digital University and Religious Studies
Program Unit: Professional Issues
Sandie Gravett, Appalachian State University

The increasing employment of learning via technology challenges traditional assumptions about pedagogical effectiveness, the relationship of the learner to the instructor, and about the nature of a university education. This session will present in a short précis format a quick recitation of essential facts about higher education in general and religious studies (undergraduate, graduate, and professional) in particular and then focus on discussion of the following working questions: 1. When considering the relationship between what happens in the face-to-face classroom (lecture, discussion, group projects, and presentation/critique), do these activities best represent communication and development of knowledge within an academic field and foster needed academic skills? What can online learning accomplish toward the same objectives and how? How can and does online learning transform these objectives and to what end? Are the essential skills a student needs for academic success the same? If not, how are they evolving and what stands out as distinctively new? 2. How does the online environment change the relationship between a student learner and an instructor? While many might see more “automation” of learning as the logical direction of online teaching, is that necessarily the case? What other options are emerging? 3. The increasing costs of maintaining bricks and mortar campuses such as sustaining faculties and facilities has threatened to place the cost of higher education out of reach for many students who face increasing debt loads. Online education, while not inexpensive, certainly offers an alternative model. But even more, it is a format that is responsive to a changing understanding of knowledge, new flows of information, and distinctly global forms of instant communication. Is the university as we have known it obsolete? If so, when will that be fully apparent? If not, what will survive and why?


Contemporary Challenges to Scriptural Authority: Emerging Relationships to Word and Words
Program Unit: Bible and Visual Culture
Sandie Gravett, Appalachian State University

A 2012 survey reported the typical adult wrote nothing by hand for six weeks previous and an average of 41 days elapsed between times when writing anything. Thoroughly displacing pen and paper, computers, tablets and smartphones now provide the primary modes of written communication. Additionally, American research demonstrates less than one-third of 13-year olds read daily and more than 40 million citizens read at the lowest literacy level. In a world of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, video games, and the like, the tight connection between word and knowledge quickly declines in the face of a new duo – data and information. This increasing obsolescence of the written word and its authority emerged in an installation at the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art in 2009. There, Anthony Schrag and David Malone organized an exhibit labeled “Untitled” as part of a larger show, “Made in God’s Image.” Viewers were invited to annotate a biblical text with their names, stories, and reflections with a goal of greater inclusivity, particularly in regard to LGBTQ issues. Some remarks resulted in charges of desecration of the sacred text and forced the exhibit to go under glass with comments made on paper provided. This paper will explore the link between the biblical word as printed text, authority and power, and the changing nature of the cultures where it finds reception. It will consider how “Untitled” both submits to the idea of the biblical text as authoritative while simultaneously challenging such a notion and thus exists not only at the intersection of a hot topic political debate, but also expresses an evolving notion of the place of THE WORD in religious tradition in an age of the decline of words.


Judith versus Esther: Jewish Heroines In and Out of the Biblical Canon
Program Unit:
Maxine Grossman, University of Maryland College Park

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Self-Inflicted Punishment in Hos 10:2
Program Unit: Prophets
Mayer Gruber, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Children and adults often punish themselves for real and/or imagined offenses. The extensive literature concerning this phenomenon includes Joan E. Grusec and Lea Kuczynski, "Teaching Children to Punish Themselves and Effects on Subsequent Compliance," Child Development 48 (1977), 1296-1300; Mark Ivar Myhre, Ending Self Punishment (2010) and Leah Davies, M.Ed., "Self-Injury in Children." As Davies explains, children "punish themselves for real or perceived offenses like being bad, fat, ugly, stupid, or guilty." Punishing oneself for guilt, real or imagined, may consist of sitting in a corner, destroying one's toys, and even inflicting physical injury on oneself. In Hebrew Scripture the God of Israel threatens to punish Israel by the destruction of holy places, altars, and cultic objects. Such punishments are threatened in Leviticus 26 and Micah 1 and 3, as well as Hosea 12:12. Similarly, Hosea 3 imagines a veritable time out for the children of Israel, during which they will be deprived of access to altars, ephod, and teraphim, all of which were instruments of atonement and/or channels for God's love. In Hosea 10:2, on the other hand, it is not God but a guilt-ridden Israel that is imagined as destroying altars and cult pillars. A number of scholars have seen in the latter verse an adumbration of the centralization of worship called for in Deuteronomy 12. However, attention to both the phenomenon of self-punishment and the key verb in Hos. 10:2 - 'they will feel guilty' - suggests a more plausible interpretation. This interpretation is in keeping with Hosea's tolerance of numerous sanctuaries, coupled with both his intolerance of many things that go on at those sanctuaries and his contemplation of the destruction of holy places and holy objects as a regrettable, but necessary, punishment for misbehavior.


Abortion and Angelology: Clement of Alexandria’s Use of the Apocalypse of Peter
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Wolfgang Grünstäudl, Universität Koblenz - Landau

In his Eclogae Propheticae, Clement of Alexandria makes explicit use of the Apocalypse of Peter, a writing which he obviously helds in high esteem. Interestingly, Clement’s quotes of the Apocalypse are almost certainly part of an already existing commentary on several psalms, which is excerpted by Clement in ecl. 41,2–65. The presented paper focuses on the interaction between the use of the Apocalypse of Peter within an Early Christian commentary on Scripture, the commented text (i.e. the psalms), and Clement’s re-use of the commentary. By studying this complex intertexture, an attempt is made to clarify the relationship between Clement’s text of the Apocalypse of Peter and the evidence in the manuscripts and to explain the striking fact that Clement does not seem to use the Apocalypse of Peter elsewhere in his extant writings.


The Leading Motifs of the Confessional Prayer in Neh 9:6-37
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Hava Guy, The David Yellin College

The confessional prayer in Nehemiah 9:6-37 is composed of two parts: verses 6-32 are a selective historical survey and verses 32-37 are a description of the people’s current distress. Based on an examination of the events reviewed, this lecture attempts to identify this prayer’s leading motif. I suggest that its main axis is the promise of the land of Israel to the people and its actualization against the backdrop of the prevailing notion that possession of the land is contingent on observing the covenant with God and the divine commandments. The survey opens with the establishment of God’s unique standing as the creator of the world. This is followed by a presentation of selected historical events: God’s choice of, and covenant with, Abraham; the salvation of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage; and the sojourn in the desert to the possession of the land of Israel. It concludes with an allusion to the exile. The motif of the land appears throughout the two parts of the prayer (vv. 15b, 23, 24, 25, 35, 36). Another prevalent theme in the survey contrasts divine forgiveness to the Israelite’s ingratitude (vv. 16-17, 26, 29-30a). In the prayer’s second part, which shifts to first person plural, God’s forgiveness and adherence to the covenant in the past are invoked as paradigmatic for Nehemiah’s situation. The preceding historical survey underscores the divine response to the cry of his people in previous generations despite their sinfulness, and the consistent focus on the land of Israel in the survey is here seen as a persuasive means of arousing divine action: to alleviate his people’s distress, deliver them, and primarily grant them hegemony over the land of Israel.


The Fruitless Tree in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke: Cut Down or Saved?
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Sakari Häkkinen, Diocese of Kuopio, Finland

In the beginning of the Gospel of Mark there is a report on John the Baptist, who was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew and Luke add to their Markan source a saying of John, a condemnation of Israel that ends with a parable: “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (Q 3:7-9). It is clear that the tree mentioned in John’s saying refers to Israel, condemned because of its sins (cf. Is. 10:28-34), Hes. 15, 19:10-14, Dan. 4). The saying is also used in Q by Jesus, since it is quoted in Mt. 7:16-20 and in Lk. 6:43-45. Mt. and Lk. differ from each other, however, in one detail: whereas in Mt. Jesus says in the same way as John “every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”, in Luke (and in Th. where the saying is also presented) this clause is not used. It is interesting that later Luke presents a parable on a fruitless fig tree that is not cut down, but saved because of the gardener’s request (Lk. 13:6-9). In this particular case Matthew seems to have thought that John and Jesus had the same message concerning the condemnation of Israel, the fruitless tree. It will be judged because of its sins. Luke has a different view. In Lk Jesus proclaims that Israel has the possibility to repent. Does this difference between the Gospels reflect different attitudes to Israel by the Gospel authors also on a larger scale?


The Book of Ben-Sira in Armenian Biblical Literature
Program Unit: Bible in Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Traditions
Garegin Hambardzumyan, University of Sheffield

Prior to 1666, when the Armenian Bible was first published, the Armenian manuscripts of the Bible were classified into two categories concerning the inclusion of the Deuterocanonical (or apocryphal) books of the Holy Bible. However, we know that the Armenian version of the Bible was translated from the Greek Septuagint which contained them. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association of the Book of Ben-Sira with the Armenian Biblical canon and its role in the early Ecclesiastical literature of the Armenian Church.


Publishing the Community Rule as a Cluster of Texts: Preliminary Remarks
Program Unit: Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies
David Hamidovic, Université de Lausanne

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, a lot of texts are so fragmentary than it is difficult to read a continued text. However, few manuscripts are almost complete but some of them are even known in different exemplars. In order to publish the text, we need to evaluate the manuscripts of a same document each other. Thus, we can deduce one text only with minor variants or the manuscripts present major variants each other. For the last case, it remains difficult to publish the document because it seems to have many versions. The document named Community Rule is a more complex case. It seems to have different versions in different manuscripts but no manuscript presents the same text and each text of each manuscript seems to have each other a own textual development. Therefore the different manuscripts of the Community Rule appear as a cluster of texts. It remains difficulty to publish it in order to give the texts of the Community Rule in their relationships each other. The digital edition seems to be a better solution than a paper edition. We propose to discuss different preliminary remarks to the publication.


‘Eso Anthropos’ and ‘Exo Anthropos’ An Eschatological, Not an Anthropological, Distinction
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Sarah Harding, Prifysgol Cymru, Y Drindod Dewi Sant - University of Wales, Trinity Saint David

In this paper I will examine Paul’s use of the terms eso anthropos and exo anthropos, and offer an alternative interpretation to what has been understood by these terms in previous scholarship. The term eso anthropos occurs 3 times in the Pauline corpus: firstly, in 2 Cor. 4:16 paired with exo anthropos, then again in Rom. 7:22, this time without its earlier concomitant. Similarly, eso anthropos is evinced in Eph. 3:16. I shall focus here on the first two passages. It has been noted that these terms originated with Plato, perhaps mediated by Philo, and that Paul initially took them up in dialogue with the Corinthian congregation. But Paul was an original thinker, and too much emphasis has been put on the origin of these terms. R. Gundry has pressed these two terms into the service of a dualistic anthropology, identifying eso anthropos with the ‘non-physical’ and exo anthropos with the ‘physical.’ There seems to be a consensus, supported by the apparent identification of nous and eso anthropos in Rom. 7:22, that the distinction Paul is making is anthropological, aligning these terms with particular ‘aspects’ of human beings. My contention is that they should be interpreted within an eschatological framework that attends to the ‘now/not yet’ which characterises the whole of Paul’s thinking. In particular, it is the two ‘power fields’ active within this context, namely, ‘flesh’ (‘sin’) and ‘Spirit’, that offer a useful background against which to consider these terms. Aligning the eso anthropos and exo anthropos distinction with this eschatological dynamic offers a plausible alternative to that which aligns it with anthropological ‘aspects.’ This provides us with what I shall refer to as a ‘horizontal,’ rather than a ‘vertical,’ understanding of these terms and reveals that they constitute an eschatological, not an anthropological, distinction.


A New Model for the Structure of Job
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Frank W. Hardy, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Commentators arrange the earliest chapters of Job in at least the following ways: (1) 1-2; 3; 4-14; (2) 1-2; 3-14; (3) 1-3; 4-14; and (4) 1-2; 3-11. Notice that the first three groupings above end with chap. 14 (or 12-14, a speech of Job), whereas the last grouping ends with chap. 11 (a speech of Zophar). At issue is whether we should see the sequence of speeches between Job and his friends as him answering them or as them answering him. A majority of scholars see Job as responding (first cycle chaps. 4-14, sometimes 3-14). The minority that sees Job as initiating (first cycle chaps. 3-11) includes Anderson 1976, Clines 1989, Fohrer 1963, Hansen 1958, Metzger and Coogan 1993, Wharton 1999, and Whybray 2008. I support the latter view. Other scholars take an entirely different approach. Wolfers 1993 claims that Job is organized throughout in 2's. Steinmann 1996 claims it is organized in 4's. Either way, there are only two cycles of dialogue between Job and his friends – and not because the third cycle is incomplete (many say this), but because it never existed and would be out of place if it did. My position is that there are indeed three cycles and that the third is complete. What completes it, however, is not a third speech of Zophar superimposed on chap. 27, but the speeches of Elihu. In such a model the organizing principle is three then two, with Job initiating in dialogue with his friends and responding in dialogue with YHWH (Job : other in cycles 1-3, other : Job in cycles 4-5). This 3 : 2 sequence in the book's overall structure is reminiscent of qinah meter.


Looking at the Odes of Solomon as Solomonic Pseudepigrapha
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Angela Kim Harkins, Fairfield University

This paper examines the Odes of Solomon’s ancient attribution to the biblical king. This study is part of a larger project that considers the Odes of Solomon from the perspective of religious experience. Solomon’s esteem as a known exorcist and religious virtuoso is a fitting place to begin the larger inquiry into the phenomenal experience of the Odes of Solomon in antiquity.


Time For a New Diet? Allusions to Gen 1–3 as Rhetorical Device in Lev 11
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
G. Geoffrey Harper, Sydney Missionary and Bible College

Recent Pentateuch scholarship reveals a decided penchant for narrative rather than for legal texts. Yet the legal material of the Pentateuch may prove to be a textual goldmine containing untapped riches. Leviticus 11 is a case in point. This chapter with its seemingly archaic dietary prohibitions has both bored casual readers and vexed trained exegetes. The diachronic and historical issues presented by this text are complex; the result has been a history of kaleidoscopic interpretation. However, due to an almost universal appeal to extra-textual bases for comprehending the chapter and its regulations, an important literary dimension of Leviticus 11 has not been adequately appreciated. For when this chapter is read synchronically, with an eye to its canonical setting, multiple verbal, syntactical and contextual parallels with the narrative(s) of Genesis 1-3 become apparent. While the theological and lexical parallels to Genesis 1 have been frequently noted and explored, Leviticus 11’s connections to Genesis 2-3 have not. Yet the presence of these inner-biblical links leaves several interrelated questions begging: Why have these allusions been made? What function do they perform in the final-form text of Leviticus 11? How does recognition of these connections affect interpretation of this problematic chapter? This paper will argue for the presence of genuine inner-biblical connections by appeal to a methodologically constrained analysis of Leviticus 11 vis-à-vis Genesis 1-3. The role that such connections perform in the text will then be explored. In the end, this paper suggests that recognising the matrix of allusions in Leviticus 11 to the narrative(s) of Genesis 1-3 reveals intriguing insights into both the artistry of this legal text as well as its persuasive rhetoric.


Purity Rituals in Second Temple Judaism: Tradition or Innovation?
Program Unit:
Hannah Harrington, Patten University

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Purity Traditions in the Temple Scroll
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Hannah Harrington, Patten University

The laws of ritual purity in the Temple Scroll comprise a system which distances impurity from the people of Israel in an unprecedented manner (Yadin 1977; Zussman 1990; Qimron 1994; Schiffman 2004; Harrington 2004; Werrett 2007). Holiness is extended throughout Jerusalem, in many cases, at the level of the Temple. Even ordinary cities hold places of quarantine for severely impure persons. Yet, certain laws in the TS seem to be “out of character” with this expansive view of holiness. Scholars have asked: Why is the corpse-contaminated person allowed to walk around in the ordinary city in contrast to a clear order in Numbers 5 (Heger 2011; Noam 2010)? Why is a foreign bride allowed to handle purities? Furthermore, if one compares the Temple Scroll to the Mishnah’s system of impurities, stringencies are evident in most cases but in some instances Qumran seems to reflect leniency: cf. the extensive rabbinic system of secondary contamination and removes; the elaboration of the “tent” in which someone dies; the limb of a living person; the generative potency of liquids (Noam 2008; 2009). The question here is, how are we to understand these purity traditions? Does comparison with the Rabbinic system define or distort our understanding?


The Man of Uz and the King of Uruk: Broadening the Search for Joban Analogues in Mesopotamia
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Beau Harris, Claremont School of Theology

More than fifty years ago the brilliant Wilfred Lambert made a colossal effort in cataloguing Mesopotamian texts under the heuristic handle “wisdom.” He knew quite well that wisdom, as a literary genre, would not be easy to apply consistently when moving from the Hebrew Bible into Mesopotamian literature. His canon appears to be determined by two guiding factors: instructive parables or fables, and poetic reflections on death and suffering. While the latter category fits right in with the book of Job, the former does not fit well, if at all. Additionally, the book of Job has both a narrative framework (chapters 1, 2, and 42), and a narrator that punctuates the other 39 chapters of poetry with every change of speaker. The presence of a narrative perspective requires that we broaden our search for Joban counterparts in Mesopotamian narrative literature—not just poetry and parables. Amid my own journey into the narrative literature of Mesopotamia, I found that The Epic of Gilgamesh, perhaps more than other works like The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer or the poorly titled Babylonian Theodicy and A Man and His God (a.k.a. “the Babylonian Job”), provides an important Mesopotamian parallel to the book of Job. The confluence of narrative and poetic literature, the establishing and testing of perfection in the main characters, and the two journeys to the end of the cosmos in search of immortality and justice provide a basic framework for further comparisons between these two important pieces of ancient literature.


Romans and the Reconfiguration of Roman Society: Paul and Cicero Compared
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
James Harrison, Sydney College of Divinity

While Romans is a profoundly theocentric document, Paul is interested in the social application of his eschatological gospel of the crucified and risen Christ to Jewish and Gentile converts living in Rome. What occurs at Paul’s instigation in a Roman context is a fundamental reconfiguration of the central values and beliefs of Roman society. Rome’s social contract with the traditional gods and the Julio-Claudian cult is dismissed as idolatry (Rom 1:18-23), though not at the expense of the legitimate rendering of honour, tax and obedience to the ruler (13:1-7) and seeking his praise through commitment to benefaction culture (12:8, 13; cf. 13:3-4; 15:25-32). Paul’s retelling of Israel’s covenant narrative in Abraham and Isaac (4:1-25; 9:5-10) and its culmination in Christ as the second Adam and cosmic benefactor (5:21-21; 8:18-25; 10:4) eclipse the Roman founder myths of Romulus, Remus and Aeneas. The honour system, while affirmed, is redefined in its operations (12:9b, 16b; 13:7-10). The eruptions of personal and factional enmity in republican and imperial politics are challenged by new paradigms (5:6-10; 12:17-21). Rome’s boasting culture, its quest for ancestral glory, and assertion of cultural superiority (1:30; 3:27; 4:2; 11:18) is pinpricked through divine grace and the humility of the cross (12:3, 9b, 16b). Paul honours the Roman house-churches as the ‘body of Christ’ (12:4-8; 16:316), sidelining, by virtue of their dynamic other-centred ministries, the bygone republican ‘body politic’ and Seneca’s flattery of Nero as the ‘body’ of state. Although the intersection of Julio-Claudian values with the epistle to the Romans has been intensively studied (Jewett, Elliott, Harrison), the continuing contribution of the iconic Cicero to Roman social conservatism and tradition in the imperial period has been underestimated. What was the legacy of Cicero’s thought on Roman society and how would Paul’s reconfiguration of Roman values have interacted with this thinker?


Beneficence to the Poor in Luke's Gospel from a Jewish and Graeco-Roman Perspective
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
James Harrison, Sydney College of Divinity

Jesus, along with the John the Baptist, demands in Luke’s gospel that his followers divest themselves of their wealth and give to the poor and the enemy (3:11; 6:30a, 35a; 11:41; 12:33; 14:13, 22; 18:22; 19:8). The ‘poor’ are one of the several marginalised groups that, according to Jesus’ Isaianic understanding of his Kingdom mission (LXX Isa 61:1-2a; Lk 4:18-18), are at the heart of his missionary outreach (4:18a; 6:20-21; 7:22). In Luke’s gospel, however, Jesus also devotes considerable attention to the operations of Jewish and Graeco-Roman benefactors. He is critical of the strong reciprocity ethic animating the ancient benefaction system (6:32-34; 14:12, 14a) and dismissive of the honorific accolades that it spawned for the Gentile kings (22:25). The indifference of the wealthy to the poor — routinely excluded from the narrowly constructed and carefully chosen circle of the benefactor’s clients — is also graphically underscored (10:29; 16:19-22), as well as the myopic blindness of the wealthy to eschatological judgement (12:16-21; cf. 6:24-25). Notwithstanding, Jesus commends the centurion benefactor of the synagogue (7:1-10), advocates the astute use of wealth to establish ‘friends’ for the Kingdom (16:9a), endorses the disciples’ dependence upon benefaction for their mission (10:7), and promises reward for the ‘poor’, not only in the present (6:38; 18:30a) but also in the eschatological future (6:20b, 21b; 14:14b; 16:9b; 18:30b). Jesus paradoxically praises an impoverished benefactor (21:1-3), challenges his disciples with the new paradigm of the ‘Servant’ benefactor (22:26-27), and celebrates the salvation of a morally unworthy benefactor (19:1-10). In sum, Luke provides for his readers, with a view to his own age, a nuanced, paradoxical and unconventional portrait of Jesus’ critical response to the beneficence of the local elites, the Herodian house, and imperial overlords. The paper will test this thesis against the Jewish and Graeco-Roman literary and documentary evidence.


Weeds: Jesus' Parable and the Economic and Political Threats to the Poor in Roman Galilee
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
John P. Harrison, Oklahoma Christian University

This paper will argue that Jesus’ parable of the Wheat and Weeds (Matt. 13:24-30) would have been heard in a Roman Galilean setting as a call to active non-resistance to the perceived evils perpetrated by the political and economic structures imposed upon Galilean, rural audiences. Roman Galilee, under Herod the Great and Herod Antipas, experienced a significant increase of Gentile presence (as seen in creation of new Gentile cities) and economic burdens (as seen in heavy taxation, confiscation of land, indebtedness, etc.). A primarily agrarian, rural Jewish audience would have equated Jesus’ “weeds” with the powers and elites associated with their economic and political distress. Jesus’ call not to “up-root” the weeds but to await for the harvesters posed at least two alternative meanings. Either Jesus was advising the poor not to act violently against wicked powers but wait on God’s eschatological judgment (as the Matthean allegorical interpretation in verses 36-43 implies) or he was advising them to wait for those God will send as “harvesters” (i.e. Jewish insurrectionists) to enact God’s vengeance against these powers. The paper will further suggest that the parable’s allegorical interpretation (in its Matthean form) is a “de-politicized” and “eschatologized” representation of Jesus’ parable that instructed the Gospel’s readers towards non-violent behavior against those whom they saw in the world as wicked.


Particularity and Parousia: Identifying the One Who Comes to Judge the Living and the Dead
Program Unit:
Trevor Hart, University of St. Andrews

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The Martyrdom of Polycarp as Communal, Moral Formation
Program Unit: Apostolic Fathers and Related Early Christian Literature
Paul Hartog, Faith Baptist Seminary

Scholars have traditionally investigated (or mined) the Martyrdom of Polycarp for historical information concerning the personal demise of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. It has become increasingly clear, however, that the narrative is greatly theologized and enhanced in various and challenging ways, even apart from the thorny issues of integrity and dating. Various evidences point the work’s ultimate focus away from a personal description of an individual leader and toward a broader, communal purpose of moral formation. This focus is reflected in the letter opening (heightened by the communal trait of “sojourning”) and in the recurring first person plural pronouns. This community-formation is further manifested in the concept of Christians as a unique “race” (found three times); in the notion of being an “elect” people; and in the collective, social-identity markers distinguishing Christians from pagans and Jews (including the debated language of “customs”). The moral import of the narrative centers upon imitating a martyrdom “according to the Gospel.” Weinrich, Buschmann, and Holmes have described three facets of such a martyrdom (divine calling, other-centeredness, and endurance). This paper will add a fourth trait highlighted in the key text of Mart. Pol. 2.1 (and reappearing elsewhere in the narrative). The paper will also highlight the various moral virtues attributed to the martyrs (such as philodespotos and theoprepes) and those attributed to the Christian community (such as theosebes and theophiles).


1QpHab VI 14–VII 5 and ‘Prophetic’ Exegesis
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Pieter B. Hartog, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

1QpHab VI 14–VII 5 is often read as a reflection by the Pesher commentator on his own hermeneutics. In these lines, the prophet Habakkuk is presented as the recipient of partial prophetic knowledge, whereas the full implication of the vision in Habakkuk 2:2 has only been disclosed by God to the Teacher of Righteousness. However, matters are not that straightforward. First, the Teacher is mentioned only in 1QpHab and in 4QpPsa, and, thus, extending the meaning of 1QpHab VI 14–VII 5 to the other Pesharim is hazardous. Second, the hermeneutics described in 1QpHab are often related to allegorical or divinatory exegesis, whereas the Pesharim also contain quite some cases of ‘simple’ exegesis or explication of what is implicit in their base text. Third, whereas 1QpHab VI 14–VII 5 describes the activity of the Teacher, the Pesharim themselves can hardly be considered to be written down by the Teacher, but are the products of later scribes. There is, thus, considerable room for creating a particular image of the Teacher in the Pesharim. This paper aims to provide a new perspective on the prophetic nature of Qumran exegesis as it is found most explicitly in the Pesharim. It does so by reading the passage in 1QpHab VI 14–VII 5 not simply as a description by the Pesher commentator – let alone the Teacher of Righteousness – of his own hermeneutics, but as a way of accruing authority for his interpretations by indicating its prophetic and, ultimately, divine source. As such, these lines are not to be read as describing in a one-to-one fashion the commentator’s hermeneutic presuppositions, but, rather, they are to be understood as partaking in an intricate discourse of power and authority within 1QpHab.


'At the Window of My House': Exploring the Identity of the Onlooker in Proverbs 7
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Jeanette Hartwell, University of Birmingham

The figures of female personified Wisdom and Strange/Folly are both to be found in Proverbs 1-9. More often than not the two are seen in complete antithesis to one another: both offer intimacy (cf. 7:4, 7:18) and yet Wisdom is to be sought out and Strange/Folly to be avoided at all costs, or at least if not avoided, then to be seen for what she is perceived to be – a path to destruction and death. The traditional, and very broad, interpretation is that the instructions contained within the first nine chapters are the ‘advice’ offered by a father/tutor to his son/tutee, in order that he may grow in wisdom. Scholarly wisdom is that the voice that speaks within the opening nine chapters, with the exception of personified Wisdom and Strange, is that of a male, and to date any alternative readings have failed to sway the tide of scholarly opinion. This paper considers the identity and portrayal of “Strange” in Proverbs 6:20-7:27 in her encounter with the ‘simple’ as narrated by the onlooker at the window, with a view to determining whether the voice of the onlooker is female. It acknowledges the difficulty in determining the identity of “Strange” but that that in itself is not detrimental to the search for a female voice. Prior claims for a female voice in Proverbs 1-9 are considered (Van Dijk-Hemmes and Brenner), along with Hatton’s proposal that antithetical repetition, particularly in light of 6:20–7:27, provides a connection with the female voice of Lemuel’s mother in 31:1-9. Furthermore, the editorial use of a woman at the window type scene and the careful use of language provide compelling evidence to support a claim that the voice of the onlooker in Proverbs 6:20-7:27 could be that of a woman.


“On the Inconsistencies of the Four Gospels”: An Essay by Ibn Hazm of Cordoba
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Larry D. Harwood, Viterbo University

Given his penchant for detail, it is not odd that the Spanish Muslim Ibn Hazm, writing in the 11th century from Spain, should seize the attempt to show how the writings of the Koran best those of the Jews and Christians. While living in Cordoba, this magnificent scholar composed a large volume in which he meticulously took up the challenge of other religions and other scriptures as competitors. His purpose was to show how the Jewish and particularly Christian scriptures attempted to mute the predication of the coming of the prophet Mohammad, but nonetheless reveal their own internal inconsistencies. In this paper I will describe and analyze some passages from this vast tome, but particularly Ibn Hazm’s paper “On the Inconsistencies of the four Gospels.” Like other Muslims, he believes the scriptures of these traditions have been excised so as to exclude premonitions of the coming prophet Mohammad. In the paper I will specifically analyze his critique of the Christian New Testament while considering the critique in light of the Muslim presence in a previously Visigothic Iberia, and the ongoing Christian-Muslim intellectual conflict of that time over authentic religious texts.


Irenaeus' Citations of Scripture: Intentional or Careless Alterations?
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Ben Haupt, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

This paper explores Irenaeus’ citation of New Testament passages containing Christological titles. Several critical apparati of the Greek New Testament show Irenaeus as citing John 1:18, as well as other passages, in more than one way. Why did he do this and what does it mean for how he read the text of Scripture? Some have argued that he was motivated by theological polemics against the Gnostics and that he therefore intentionally altered the text of Sacred Scripture. Such an understanding would seem to undermine the authority of Scripture for Irenaeus. Others have argued against this provocative thesis by trying to show that Irenaeus quoted Scripture essentially in a careless manner. This understanding preserves Scripture’s authority for Irenaeus at the expense of his scholarly integrity. For this paper, a fresh examination of the evidence was made by collating Irenaeus’ citations from the Gospel of John which contain Christological titles. This evidence shows that he could both carefully cite passages, and yet in other places, that he could misquote the most well-known ones. After examining this evidence, along with Irenaeus’ own discussion of textual variants, a more nuanced understanding of Irenaeus’ citations can be achieved. I argue that, in some places, Irenaeus did indeed intentionally alter the text of Scripture. However, although he made such reverential alterations of the text, he by no means saw the text as a waxen nose to be manipulated at will. Instead, I show that Irenaeus had such a high regard for the authority of the text of Scripture that he intentionally altered it so as to maintain the text's own coherency.


Where in the (Text)-World is Sisera's Mother? A Cognitive Stylistics Analysis of Judg 5:24-30
Program Unit: Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible
Elizabeth Hayes, Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena)

The story of Jael's encounter with King Jabin's ill-fated army commander, Sisera, appears twice in the book of Judges. The tale serves as the finishing touch to the battle waged by Deborah and Barak against Sisera and his 900 iron chariots, first in the prose account in Judges 4 and secondly in the poetic version in Judges 5. This paper will utilize a cognitive poetics, text-world theory approach to explore the whereabouts of Sisera's mother, who only appears in the second version and is the last character to speak in the story in Judges 5.24-30. What is the significance of this character who appears in a prime cognitive location at the end of the Song of Deborah and why is she missing from the prose account?


Numbers 22–24 as a Parody of the Tradition about the Strange Divinator
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Raik Heckl, Universität Tübingen

Different attempts have been made to explain Numbers 22-24. Often the chapters have been understood as originating in the exilic or post-exilic perod. The episode of the she-ass, especialy, has led to the assumption of a complex redactional process. This paper will offer new assessment of the expectations of the reader / listener. Such an approach enables us to see the prose story as a coherent, originally independent, pre-exilic text, apart from the verses that link Numbers 22-24 to the surrounding literary context of Numbers and contextualize it within he fragments from Tell Der Alla.


The Polygamy Rules of CD IV:20–V:2 and 11Q19 LVII:15-19 and Their Sources: Does Polygamy Pollute the Temple? Does the Prohibition on Polygamy Also Prohibit Divorce and Remarriage Thereafter?
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Paul Heger, University of Toronto

CD IV:20–V:2 prohibits polygamy, and 11Q19 LVII:15–19 decrees particular restrictive rules for the monogamy of the king. This study debates Schremer’s analysis and interpretation of the apparently odd CD text, proposing a different interpretation, and clarifies the acts that the CD author presumed to pollute the Temple. After a short deliberation about the possible motive for prohibiting polygamy, which was the common custom of the period, the study delves into its plausible biblical sources, appropriately interpreted by the Qumran scholars, and hypothesizes similarly on the motive and source of the particular marriage restrictions applied to the king. It disputes Gruber’s theory that Lev 18:18 explicitly prohibits marrying two wives during their lifetime and that the Pharisees/rabbis deliberately interpreted this verse as relating to the marriage of two sisters so as to permit polygamy. Finally, the study offers the theory that, except in the case of the king, divorce and remarriage after divorce were permitted by Qumran law.


Methodological Considerations for the Search of Counter-Imperial “Echoes” in the Pauline Literature
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Christoph Heilig, University of St Andrews

In the last 20 years, the interpretation of Paul’s letters as somehow critical of the Roman Empire has gained growing support among NT scholars. Since on the surface of the text such a critical attitude is not apparent, the search for critical allusions on the level of a subtext has become increasingly important. As a methodological help, N. T. Wright and Neil Elliott suggested the use of Hays’ criteria for identifying “echoes” of the Hebrew Bible in the NT. This approach has recently been criticized strongly by John M.G. Barclay, who makes some valid points. In order to evaluate valid criteria for the identification of imperial echoes, the application of Bayes’ theorem – which is far too often neglected in historical research in the field of NT studies – has to play a major role. In light of this, it becomes clear that Barclay’s criticism does not get to the heart of the matter. However, the assumption that Paul’s motivation for using the subtext for his counter-imperial remarks was an attempt to avoid persecution faces another serious problem: Too obvious criticism against the Empire in Paul (namely 1 Cor 2, 6-8) makes it unlikely that Paul would have felt the need to restrict his criticism subtext. Nevertheless, it can be shown that a modified version of the “echo-hypothesis” – which is not built on the assumptions of 1) imperial suppression and 2) fear as Paul’s motivation for using the level of the subtext – can be maintained and offers a heuristically fruitful framework for Pauline exegesis. Ironically, such a reformulated echo-hypothesis is much closer to the literary category of an “echo” as employed by Hays.


Canons, Truth, and Reality
Program Unit:
Christine Helmer, Northwestern University

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“Whoever Fears the Lord is Great Forever”: Female Exemplarity in Judith in Light of Ancient Rhetoric
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
P. Kelly Hernández Lofthouse, University of Durham

In biblical scholarship, much research has been done on exemplary figures. One thinks immediately of the 1980 volume growing out of the Pseudepigrapha seminar of the Society of Biblical Literature, Ideal Figures in Ancient Judaism: Profiles and Paradigms. In recent years, Hindy Najman has concentrated much of her research on ideal figures, principally Ezra, and the authorial voice. Numerous studies have appeared on New Testament figures, notably Hebrews 11 and the “heroes of faith,” yet little work has been done detailing the criteria by which we assign this status. What is an exemplar and what elevates a basic character to the level of an exemplar? To what extent do these characters invite or invoke imitation and/or emulation? Can an exemplar ever truly be imitated, or is s/he an unattainable ideal? How do these characters function in ancient literature? What is more, most research on exemplary figures has largely focused upon male characters. Are female exemplary figures presented in ways different than or identical to male? Do these figures invite imitation from only those of their same gender or from both genders? It is these questions that I will address in the present study. By utilizing rhetorical criticism, I will work toward a definition of the term exemplar and examine the nature of exemplary characters and characterization in narrative texts. These findings will then be brought to the text and character of Judith, examining her potential role as an exemplar. It is in the character of Judith that we will examine possible functions of female exemplarity in the life of the first reading and hearing communities.


Idris, Enoch, and Celestial Knowledge: Astronomical Knowledge Given (or Taken?) from Heaven
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
Keren Abbou Hershkovits, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

In the Bible we find that Enoch was the son of Jared, and that "Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Gen 5:24). While the Bible provides no other details, the apocrypha relates in this context the story of Enoch's ascending to heaven and his learning the secrets of astronomy. A similar description of a character whom God raised appears in the Quran, in regards to the prophet Idris: "And We raised him to high station" (19:57). Once again, no further details are provided. This similarity led several Muslim scholars to identify Idris with Enoch, which in turn allowed for some of them to attribute the prophecy of science to Idris. The paper will trace the way Muslim scholars described Idris and his prophecy and discuss several aspects of Idris' prophecy as it appears in a number of genres, mainly in Stories of Prophets and in biographical dictionaries. The unique nature of his prophecy will be analyzed and compared. The paper will also examine the various kinds of knowledge Idris received from Heaven and how they were bestowed upon him. I intend to show that Idris was part of a larger narrative associating scientific knowledge with divine prophecy, in order to provide a plausible explanation to the appearance of science among humanity.


Persecution as Benefaction: Justin Martyr’s First Apology 57
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Henry Hilston, University of Notre Dame

The Roman empire of the second century featured a diverse collective of subject peoples under Roman rule. Sacrifice, coercion and euergetism represent ways the emperors maintained the cohesion of the empire. For Christians, coercion took the form of local and sporadic persecution. How did Christians reason about their position as subjects of the Roman Empire? The First Apology gives us a glimpse into how Justin Martyr attempted to come to terms with his minority status within the empire. This paper offers an interpretation of Justin’s First Apology 57 in which Justin renames persecution as benefaction by playing upon the tension between imperial coercion and euergetism. Consequently, he rhetorically subverts the efficacy of Roman power through the appropriation of an aspect of Rome’s cultural hegemony. Furthermore, this paper argues that this theory was redacted in the Acts of Justin and Companions. Appropriation is a prominent feature in Justin’s works. In the Dialogue with Trypho and apologies, Justin adopts the persona of the philosopher and makes a claim to have the one true philosophy. This assumed guise gives Justin the ability to perform the prerogative of parrhesia, and he attacks the Romans and the emperor for persecuting the Christian philosophy but not others. Appropriation allows Justin to make his attack against Roman power in culturally intelligible terms. By a close-reading of Justin Martyr’s First Apology 57, we can see that Justin appropriates patronage concepts in order to construct a subversive theory of persecution in Roman terms.


The Multiform Pseudepigraphic Heritage of Late Antique Judaism
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Martha Himmelfarb, Princeton University

The Multiform Pseudepigraphic Heritage of Late Antique Judaism


Resistance Theology: A Reexamination of Rabbinic Traditions about the Roman Empire
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Bernie Hodkin, The Jewish Theological Seminary

Scholars such as Hayim Lapin, Ra?nan Boustan, Joshua Levinson, and Alexei Sivertsev have demonstrated the degree to which the Palestinian rabbis were influenced by imperial ideology. As subordinates to the Roman Empire, the rabbis produced work that is characteristic of a hidden transcript, or conversations of the ones being ruled about their rulers. While the rabbis resented Roman rule, they also understood their place within its framework. This paper explores the influence of Roman imperialism on rabbinic perceptions of God as well as the Babylonian reformulations of these traditions. Portrayals of Rome in various corpora of rabbinic literature; such as the Mishnah, Tosefta, Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds, and early Midrashim; guide this research. Focusing on the time periods of 3rd-6th century, I examine how rabbinic perceptions of Rome and its emperors change both between Palestinian corpora themselves and between those corpora and the Babylonian Talmud. The Christianization of the Roman Empire as well as the relatively autonomous status of the Babylonian rabbis produced great differences in the various works. Among these include a greater self-confidence among the Babylonian rabbis and a sense of resignation to gentile rule among their Palestinian counterparts. This paper contributes to the body of research that studies rabbinic theological reflection as an outcome of various historical realities. The proximity of the Palestinian rabbis to their imperial rulers had a decisive impact upon the way that they perceived themselves. The Babylonian rabbis, adapting many of these sources to their own ideology, produced texts that expressed a fundamentally different worldview.


Early Evidence of the Euphemism for the Tetragrammaton in Chronicles
Program Unit:
Koog-Pyoung Hong, Yonsei University

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Serpent Handlers and Mark 16:17-18
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Ralph Hood, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga

Biblical scholars have longed reached a consensus regarding multiple endings to the Gospel of Mark. Among the controversial endings is the longest of the endings that includes Mark 16:17-18. This ending emerged into cultural prominence when what were to eventually become the renegade Church of God sects throughout Appalachia continued to handle serpents despite being maimed and killed. Debates over handling have centered on the disputed nature of the longest disputed ending to Mark but beg the question as to why reference to serpent handling would be included at all by this unknown author. Recent scholarship has documented not only the centrality of serpent symbolism in religions, including Classical Christianity, but suggest that it is likely that actual praxis less followed the text, than because various sects actually handled serpents the longer ending of Mark makes reference to the practice. Thus, the serpent handlers of Appalachia may be less renegades than followers of a long tradition in which handling of serpents was not only endorsed but practiced. In this sense serpent handling is perhaps best viewed as re-emerging in the twentieth century among renegade Christian sects whose textual justification remains less problematic than scholars have assumed.


The Gog Oracles of Ezekiel, between Psalms and the Priestly Writer
Program Unit: Prophets
Frank-Lothar Hossfeld, Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn

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The Books of Reigns Fifty Years after the Devanciers d’Aquila
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Philippe Hugo, Université de Fribourg - Universität Freiburg

The invention of the kai/ge revision by Dominique Barthélemy – after the discovery of the Greek Minor Prophets of Na?al ?ever in 1952 – is beyond doubt one of the most important turning points in research on the Jewish Greek Scriptures (LXX). His master study of 1963 (Les devanciers d’Aquila [VTSup 10; Leiden: Brill) became and still is a beacon to which scholars situate their own hypothesis on the text and transmission history of the LXX. Probably the most decisive contribution of this theory concerns the books of Reigns and the reassessment of the so-called antiochian (or lucianic) text as a privileged witness of the OG, especially within the sections where the Vaticanus underwent kai/ge. However, the nature of the antiochian text remains one of the most difficult and widely discussed questions of the text history of the LXX. Although the antiochian text certainly attests a very early textual form, some scholars emphasize the fact that it contains several marks of a revision dated from the 4th c. CE. This paper aims to reassess the present debate in the light of the reception and the influence of Barthelemy’s work, considering especially the (mostly underestimated) development and successive precision of his theory: the preliminary study of 1953 (“Redécouverte d’un chaînon manquant de l’histoire de la LXX”, BR 18-29), his master book of 1963, the precisions of 1972 (“A Reexamination of the Textual Problems in 2 Sam 11:2–1 Kings 2:11 in the Light of Certain Criticism of ‘Les Devanciers d’Aquila’”, in R.A. Kraft, ed., 1972 Proceedings and Pseudepigrapha Seminars [SCS 2; SBL], 16-89) and those of 1978 (“Prise de position”, in Etudes d’histoire du texte de l’Ancien Testament [OBO 21; Fribourg/Göttingen: Editions universitaires/Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht], 255-288).


The Pastoral Letters and Women: Evidence for Pseudepigraphy
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Annette Bourland Huizenga, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary

Recently, some scholars (e.g., J. Herzer, L. T. Johnson, P. Towner) have challenged the scholarly majority that accepts the pseudonymity of the Pastoral Letters. They propose various theories of authorship in order to explain why the Pastorals differ in vocabulary, syntax and style from the undisputed Paulines. In addition, a plea is often made to consider each Pastoral Letter on its own, without reference to the other two, thereby fracturing the model that the three letters together form a small collection. By contrast, and in opposition to such “authenticity viewpoints,” this paper offers further clear-cut evidence that 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus have indeed been composed by a single person, and that this author was not the apostle Paul. Because the three Pastorals were written by the same person, they provide consistent and reinforcing teachings about and for women. In point of fact, one of the most undeniable yet undervalued unifying links between the three Pastoral Letters is the author’s distinctively gendered worldview. This can be seen in his use of sophrosyne as the pinnacle of feminine virtue, and in his exhorting female believers to fulfill their conventional household roles. The sex-specific ideals for women (and men) expressed in the Pastorals differ significantly from those of the undisputed Paulines, serving as yet another confirmation (in addition to the literary, theological, and historical evidence usually put forward) that the author was not Paul himself. Instead, this small corpus was produced in relation to an earlier Pauline collection, which is why its advice concerning women links to, clarifies, and even corrects that found in the other letters. In these ways, the author seeks to present the definitive re-interpretation of Paul’s instructions regarding women in the ekklesia.


On Choosing a Wet-Nurse: Physical, Cultural, and Moral Credentials
Program Unit: Families and Children in the Ancient World
Annette Bourland Huizenga, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary

Hiring another lactating woman to nurse a new mother’s infant was a common enough practice in the Roman world. One text by the physician Soranus offers detailed advice for assessing the physical capacities of the wet-nurse, and also holds forth on the moral virtues she should demonstrate. Three literary- philosophical sources (Favorinus, quoted by Aulius Gellius, Plutarch’s A Consolation to his Wife, and the letter Myia to Phyllis) debate the benefits and disadvantages to the child. In addition, several papyrus documents (contracts and letters) refer to such employment. Since the wet-nurse was usually a woman of lower social status, often an enslaved woman who was not able to marry under the law, her personal integrity, wisdom, and character came under considerable scrutiny: what qualities would she transmit to the infant through her breast-milk? How would the child be influenced by her intimate and continual presence? How should such a woman conduct herself? J. Glancy, C. Osiek, and M. Y. MacDonald argue that female slaves, including those who serve as wet-nurses, can never lay claim to virtue or honor because they are sexually available to their masters. However, based on a summary investigation of the available sources, this paper argues that such “working women” are indeed expected to demonstrate the same feminine virtues as those women whose wealth would allow them to hire a surrogate nurse. The appropriate behavior of the wet-nurse not only benefits the children in her care, but her reputation also adds (or detracts) from the honor of the entire household. Whatever the social status of the nurse, she must especially exhibit the feminine version of sophrosyne in her demeanor and interactions.


The Icon of a Nude Female on Three Inscribed Seals in the Moussaieff Collection
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Regine Hunziker-Rodewald, Université de Strasbourg

On Northwest Semitic stamp seals of the Iron Age II the icon of a nude female en face and sometimes holding her breasts is only rarely attested. On the basis of onomastics and paleography the majority of the seals of this type can be identified as appearing to be Ammonite; three of them are kept in the Shlomo Moussaieff Collection. In the present paper the author will compare the iconography of the known Ammonite or Ammonito-Aramaean seals containing a nude female to the iconographic tradition of the Iron Age II female terracotta figurines found in Jordan.


"Jesus" as the Divine Name, and Jesus as the Embodied Divine Name
Program Unit:
Larry Hurtado, University of Edinburgh

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Worship and Divine Identity: Richard Bauckham's Christological Pilgrimage
Program Unit:
Larry Hurtado, University of Edinburgh

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Body, Place, and Relationship: Job’s New Perspective on His Relationship to Himself, Three Friends, and God
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
S. Timothy Hyun, Faith Evangelical College & Seminary

Job 2:7-8 depicts Job sitting among the ashes with a skin disease. The ashes on which Job sat and his body inflicted with skin disease play a unique role for Job in shaping a new perspective on his relationship to himself, his three friends, and God in the poetic section. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how Job’s body in pain among the ashes impacts Job to create new perspectives in his understanding of himself and his relationship with friends and God. The paper argues that Job’s body has become the center for him to understand his world. The formation of his world relies upon the activity of his physical body, which has been restricted and limited in the book of Job due to pain in his body. First, the limitation of his bodily activity forms a new perspective in which his body exists to hurt him. Second, his body in pain influences Job’s perception of his relationship to his friends. Job perceives his friends as his enemy. Even though Job understands himself as righteous, his friends accuse him as a sinner due to his physical affliction. Third, Job perceives that the one who is behind his bodily pain and his friends’ accusation is God and views Him as an enemy, who has targeted his body and attacks him without due cause.


Sons, Fathers, and Scribes: Social and Educational Interactions in NHC VI
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Eduard Iricinschi, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute

This paper attempts to uncover traces of social and educational interactions in Nag Hammadi Codex VI at multiple levels. First, it considers the Scribal Note, a short text inserted between the NHC VI.7 (Prayer of Thanksgiving) and NHC VI.8 (Asclepius), which presents a scribe addressing the members of his professional circle. The scribe did not only collect texts such as prayers, revelations, and instructions, he also circulated them among its peers, employing specific ritual and textual criteria to match these texts among themselves and with his clients’ previous reading requests. Second, this paper suggests that the same scribe put together NH VI by following a social and educational program. The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles convey the anxiety related to the credibility of the early Christian social program of caring for the poor and healing the sick. The Savior’s answer to Peter and John’s inquiry about how to care for the poor and be poor at the same time, and how to heal without medical training, points to the hermeneutic relevance of the divine name and of God’s Sophia. The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth (NH VI.6) connects ritual and instruction through the request from the student, the son, to receive the teaching “on the eighth and the ninth” from his "father." This paper argues that the last seven texts of NH VI include sapiential, ethical, ritual, and educational ingredients to provide fourth-century Egyptian Christian teachers with answers to the question of the divine name, and its relation to Sophia, and at the same time, instruct them how to acquire the charisma necessary to feed the poor and heal the sick.


Ruth and Halitsah Revisited
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law
Bernard Jackson, Liverpool Hope University

Many of the problems which scholars have pointed out in the relationship between the story of Ruth and the Deuteronomic law of levirate and halitsah stem from the common anachronistic reading of biblical law in the manner of a modern statute: everything ‘covered’ by the semantics of the text is included, anything not ‘covered’ by the semantics of the text is excluded. Thus the Deuteronomic law is not at all concerned with redemption of property, and the only relative of the deceased brother entitled to ‘take his place’ is his (next) brother. In addition, the shoe ceremony presents a particular problem: is it a humiliation ceremony against a recalcitrant brother, or a form of acquisition (Ruth 4:7)? Moreover, there is (as rabbinic commentary indicates) ambiguity as to who removes whose shoe. I propose in this paper an interpretation of the Deuteronomic law in the light of Ruth, which seeks to resolve many of the difficulties identified in modern scholarship.


Diatheke and Testamentum: Why (Eventually) the Name New Testament?
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Bernard Jackson, Liverpool Hope University

Both Logic and philology suggest that the title of the Christian scriptures should have been “The New Covenant” rather than “The New Testament”. Why then did the Church Fathers from Tertullian in the 2nd century adopt novum testamentum? Was it simply a confusion of the LXX and koine meanings of diatheke? I reject the attempt of Behm to impose (a version of) the koine meaning (in his view, as a unilateral disposition) on the LXX (and subsequent literature, and even extending back to berit in the Hebrew Bible) as theologically inappropriate. Far preferable is the more recent account of Schenker, who sees the use of diatithemai and diatheke in reference to meta ten teleuten transactions as having been chosen as appropriate to the terms of God’s covenant regarding the land and its use. He rightly shows the range of succession institutions to which this terminology could be applied. Moreover, the will of the 2nd cent. BCE Ptolemy Neoteros of Cyrene shows how a will could indeed incorporate a political alliance (cf. covenant). More generally, I argue that (i) there is a connection between covenant and inheritance in the Hebrew Bible, including (but not restricted to) “spiritual inheritance”; (ii) that this was sharpened in the “Testament” genre of 2nd commonwealth (pseudepigraphical) literature (developing a model found in the Hebrew Bible); that (iii) two New Testament texts associate covenant and (by analogy) testament (in the sense of “last will and testament”); and that (iv) some aspects of the Roman testamentum (even more than the Jewish and Hellenistic forms of will), particularly its taking effect in its entirety only on death and its automatic revocation of any earlier will, may well have proved theologically appealing to Tertullian, resulting in his adoption of the terminology of testamentum vetus and novum.


Commentary of Leqah Tov on Song of Songs and its Relationship with Rashi's Commentary
Program Unit: Judaica
Jonathan Jacobs, Bar-Ilan University

Over the course of hundreds of years of biblical exegesis, no systematic literal commentary was written on Song of Songs; the emphasis was always on allegorical interpretations of the work. In my lecture I will address the commentaries of the first two pioneers to break out of the boundaries of allegory: Rashi and Rabbi Tubia ben Eliezer, compiler of the Midrash Leqah Tov. The lecture will present a comparison between their exegetical approaches and the uniqueness of each, with an emphasis on the approach of R. Tubia, which has not been researched to date. We will discuss the surprising similarity between these commentators: both were innovative in proposing a commentary on the literal level of the text, and there are several points of similarity on the allegorical level of their exegesis. It turns out that the credit for the groundbreaking first literal commentary on Song of Songs belongs not to Rashi, as is usually the case, but rather to R. Tubia. While the two works share many similarities, there are also differences between them: Rashi wrote a methodological introduction to his commentary, in which he set forth his new exegetical approach towards both the literal and the allegorical level of the text. R. Tubia wrote no methodological introduction, and his work does not achieve the same level of systematic interpretation of both levels, nor does it differentiate as clearly between the two levels. The possibility that Rashi and R. Tubia were exposed to each other's works seems unlikely. We posit that R. Tubia and his father, R. Eliezer, were influenced by – perhaps even belonged to – the Byzantine school of literal exegesis, and they should be regarded as the first commentators to propose both a literal commentary on Song of Songs and an attempted systematic allegorical interpretation of the text.


The Mother’s Legal Authority over Her Offspring’s Delinquent Behavior towards Her
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law
Leah Jacobsen, Gordon College

Mesopotamian and Biblical societies in antiquity were characterized by their patriarchal nature. The family unit was led by the father whose authority enveloped many areas of life. Therefore in those ancient writings, in which the patriarchal system is clearly regnant, one would expect the exclusive, or almost exclusive, presence of a dominant, authoritative father figure. However, Mesopotamian and Biblical texts, especially legal ones, attest that the father’s exclusiveness was not distinctive. In many sources, the mother was also mentioned in various contexts, primarily in those pertaining to her offspring, such as, their marriage, their behavior towards her, their education, and her appearance in court on matters concerning them. In this proposed lecture I will focus on the following question: Did the mother in Mesopotamia and Biblical Israel possess legal power over her offspring behaving delinquently towards her? Sections in the 'Mesopotamian Law Collections' and many legal documents from various areas and periods, discuss the different patterns of offspring’s delinquent behavior towards their mother and the legal aid given to her concerning this behavior. In this lecture I will discuss the repudiation of offspring, natural and adopted, towards their mother meaning denial of their mother’s authority over them. I will focus on legal texts from the written law and legal documents from: The Neo-Babylonian period and the Late Bronze period from Emar. Delinquent behavior of offspring towards their mother meaning denial of her authority over them and the legal aid supported to her as a result of this behavior is also discussed in Biblical law collections. The findings which arise from the Mesopotamian sources and from the Biblical sources attest that, there is an essential difference between the mother’s legal status in Mesopotamia and the mother’s legal status in the Bible, concerning the appropriate behavior required from offspring towards their mother.


Calendars from Jewish Documents in the Cave of Letters and Elsewhere in the Judean Desert
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Helen R. Jacobus, University College London

This paper reports my findings and the comparison of dates in the documents of the Babatha Archive and Salome Komaise, from the Cave Letters in Nahal Hever. It also looks at the Bar Kochba letters and documents, from the Cave of Letters, Murabba’at and other sites (some of which are uncertain), as well as other Jewish legal documents and texts found in the Judean Desert, including Masada. The dating formula in the legal documents from the womens’ archives uses a Hebrew date and a Roman date. According to Sacha Stern, the Hebrew date in the Babatha Archive shows that Jews in the late first and early second century were using a solar calendar. The Bar Kochba documents use a Hebrew calendar date only, though we cannot be definite about the year because they are dated according to Bar Kochba’s own calendar years. The research shows that contrary to the contention that the Hebrew calendar in the Babatha Archive and contemporaneous texts is solar, all the documents are the earliest primary epigraphic sources of the lunar, Hebrew calendar in use. Furthermore, there is the possibility from the data that some dates were chosen for astrological reasons. A particular pattern is that in the Bar Kochba letters and documents and in the Komaise archive there is an interest in the lunar phases. Furthermore, Babatha’s archive shows possible evidence that the sixth month, Elul, was intercalated, a practice that was banned by the rabbis several centuries later. The documents are a valuable source of information about the early Hebrew calendar, an aspect of the texts that has not been fully understood.


How the Bible Views Ethical Deliberation: An Analysis of Joshua 1
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Christine Jamieson, Concordia University - Université Concordia

It is problematic to draw on the Bible to guide ethical deliberation in the 21st century for several reasons: challenges facing Christians and Jews today are unheard of in the Bible, attempts to integrate ethics in biblical studies have largely made use of legal texts and/or wisdom literature and the very possibility of using ethics to enlighten contemporary understanding of the Bible on certain issues is debated. For Christians or Jews faced with making difficult decisions, recourse to some biblical texts can be devastating. This begs the questions: Can the Bible be used to weigh ethical decisions? and Does the Bible itself encourage ethical deliberation? This paper will address these two questions, first by clearly delineating the process of ethical deliberation and then by an analysis of Joshua, chapter one. We propose that Joshua, chapter one is a key text in helping understand how the Bible can be used in ethical deliberation.


First Chronicles 16 and Preaching History
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Matthias Jendrek, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

1 Chr 16 has long been recognised as paradigm for Israel’s worship. Furthermore, it stresses the sovereignty of YHWH in opposition to that of the king (Kirsten Nielsen, Carmen Diller). The relations of the psalm “medley” (Samuel E. Balentine, James Watts) 1 Chr 16:8–36 to its narrative context suggest an additional paraenetic meaning. Now the question arises if such a function and theological programme can be found in other narratives of Chronicles. At least, quotations of the verse 1 Chr 16:34 in different parts of Chronicles imply ideas of 1 Chr 16. Other references to 1 Chr 16 are mentions of prayers as in 2 Chr 29:30; this verse names the “words of David and Asaph” directly. There are also hints to royal prayers within Chronicles which texts are not given, e.g. 2 Chr 30:21.27. (Samuel E. Balentine calls them “unrecorded prayers”.) If these “unrecorded prayers” are also linked to 1 Chr 16, they too bring in the theological programme of 1 Chr 16 in their context and may have a similar function. It might even be that they convey a paraenetic meaning to their context, in addition to the literal and/or historical sense, especially if it is possible to view the “unrecorded prayers” as bridge between the narratives or narrative arches of David-Solomon-Temple and the stories of the kings of the Southern Kingdom. Combined with the insight of Dietmar Mathias that only the “good kings” are allowed to pray within Chronicles, the two books supply their reader with an idea of what “doing what is right in the sight of YHWH” comprises: worship of YHWH, keeping his covenant and commandments as well as trusting in his guidance and strength.


More Than Just Couch Change: The Bethsaida Coins and What They Reveal
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Gregory Jenks, Charles Sturt University

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Antipas and Phillip: Contenders for the Herodian Throne
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Gregory Jenks, St. Francis Theological College, Brisbane

Following the death of Herod the Great in 4 BCE, there was confusion about the arrangements for the succession. During much of the next 30-40 years, Antipas and Philip ruled as “tetrarchs” over portions of their father’s kingdom and competed to gain imperial favour. This session will analyze how the coins issued by these dynastic rivals express their competitive relationship, and also note where the numismatic record intersects with written sources such as the New Testament or Josephus.


Understanding the Call of Moses (Exod 3:9-15) in Light of the Deuteronomic Law concerning False Prophets (Deut 18:15-22)
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Jaeyoung Jeon, Tel Aviv University

Within the narrative of Moses' calling (Exodus 3-4), Exod. 3:9-15 has been recognized as a self-contained literary unit (usually as E). This unit contains problematic and controversial elements, such as a sign (v. 12), worshiping God on the mountain, that is validated only after the fulfillment of Moses' mission, and the question of the name of the deity (vv. 13-15). A number of solutions to these problems have been suggested, but the state of the question is far from consensus. This paper aims to propose an alternate solution: that Exod. 3:9-15 has been formulated in order to satisfy the criteria of true prophecy as stipulated in the law of the prophet in Deut. 18:15-22. Since, in the view of Deuteronomy, Moses is the model of the true prophet (Deut. 18:15, 18), the narrative in Exodus 3 seems to legitimize him. By virtue of the close affinity of Exod. 3:9-15 to the Deuteronomic law of the prophet, it may be argued that the composition of Moses’ call is best explained by the model that posits multiple stages of Deuteronomic/stic redaction.


The Plagues Narrative in the Book of Wisdom
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Dae Jun Jeong, Wycliffe College (University of Toronto)

In the book of Exodus, one of the most dramatic highlights occurs with the ten plagues. Also, we can find the story of the ten plagues in other biblical texts such as in the Psalms, and the book of Wisdom. Many scholars assert that the ten plagues narrative in the Exodus has a distinct literary pattern, like 3+3+3+1. The plagues narrative in Pss 78 and 105 also follows the above literary pattern as in 3+3+1 pattern. Although there are omitted portions in those Psalms, the pattern used is identical to the original one in the book of Exodus. However, it is interesting to note that in the plagues narrative of the book of Wisdom, the literary pattern and elements are quite different. Why does the author use those particular literary elements? What is the author’s intention in writing the narrative in such way? In answering these questions, I will first explain why the author chooses to include only the seven selective plagues in this book and explore the differences from the other versions. Secondly, I will go over the author’s intention of emphasizing the first plague, which is different from the others. Also, I will find the function of two digressions in this narrative, because of its very distinctive and unique style of writing. Thirdly, I will explain the author’s intention of avoiding the proper and the geographical names in the plagues narrative, which persists throughout the book. The results of this study will reveal not only the author’s prime concern of using this unique literary structure in Wis 11-19, but also will help us understand which of the people has the primary interest to God and to the author of the book of Wisdom.


Coping with Death in the Pauline Letters
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Linda Joelsson, Abo Akademi University

The Pauline letters reveal different attitudes towards death. This paper will discuss the approaches to death in the authentic Pauline letters within the frame of psychological coping. How is death appraised? Is it a threat or an opportunity? Which strategies are suggested by Paul to the addressees, and which are adopted by Paul himself in the letters? Do the different situations of the addressees call for different approaches? Is the same concept of death discussed in every letter or are different aspects of death in focus (e.g. psychological, biological, social or spiritual)? The classical coping theories depict four common phases of psychological coping: denial, reaction, processing, and acceptance. Traits of this type of process can be seen throughout the Pauline letters, starting with 1 Thessalonians, through 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, and finally in Philippians and Philemon. For example, in 1 Thessalonians, the strategy suggested by Paul is summarized in his words “do not grieve” and the gravity of loss is merely touched upon. In 1 Corinthians, death is a major threat. In Philippians, however, Paul seems to have coped even with the prospect of his own potential death by execution. Psychological coping theories, in conjunction with the death topic, bring many aspects of Paul's letters, and of the man himself, into clearer view.


Some Unpublished Coptic Manuscripts of the New Testament: A Preliminary Report
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Brice C. Jones, Concordia University - Université Concordia

In this paper, I offer a preliminary report on several unpublished Coptic manuscripts of the New Testament that are currently being edited for publication. The paper aims at introducing the manuscripts through a discussion of their current location, contents, palaeographical features, notable readings, and the remaining open questions.


Amulets from Oxyrhynchus with New Testament Citations
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Brice C. Jones, Concordia University - Université Concordia

This paper offers an analysis of all the amulets from Oxyrhynchus that contain New Testament citations (P.Oxy. VIII 1077; VIII 1151; XVI 1928; XXXIV 2684; LXIV 4406; LXXVI 5073). The study is part of a larger project on the non-continuous manuscripts of the Greek New Testament in which, among other types of non-continuous materials, all extant New Testament amulets (in Greek) will be catalogued and studied in detail. In this preliminary study, we shall attend to matters palaeographical and textual in an effort to establish a better picture of these texts collectively, and to see how they may assist us in text-critical endeavors as well as in our questions concerning the early Christians from Oxyrhynchus. Thus, the analysis will nuance our perspective on Christians and their texts from Oxyrhynchus, but it will also have methodological implications for our treatment of Christian amulets generally.


Walking the Talk: Paul's Authority in Motion in 2 Corinthians 10–13
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Stephan Joubert, University of Free State

One's gait or incessus served as a prominent visual indicator of status in ancient Greco-Roman societies. Nobles, aristocrats and slaves walked differently. Linking on to this 'common sense knowledge', Paul's opponents in 2 Cor 10-13 shamed him publicly due to his inability to do the 'leadership walk' amongst the Corinthians. While rhetorically engaging with these stereotypes, the apostle simultaneously deconstructs them on the deep structure of the text. A new form of spiritual authority, which is also embodied in the weakness of Christ on the cross, surfaces in Paul's own bodily humiliations and apparent powerlessness.


Reception and Exegesis in Ezekiel
Program Unit: Prophets
Paul Joyce, King's College - London

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The Fall of the Northern Kingdom, the Assyrian Threat Upon Jerusalem, and the Fusion of 'Other Gods' and 'Idols' in 2 Kings 18-19
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Tom Judge, Durham University

Although thirty-one of the thirty-nine Old Testament books deal with 'other gods' or 'idols', the relationship between the two varies from text to text. Certain texts (Deut 4 and 1 Kgs 11-12) distinguish between the issue of going after other gods and the issue of making use of idols because they are dealing with the danger of Israel worshiping foreign gods on the one hand and the danger of Israel making use of idols associated with the LORD on the other. Other texts, such as 2 Kgs 18-19, are motivated to fuse the two. This text depicts the era immediately after the fall of the northern kingdom and the removal of Jeroboam’s golden calves. In light of the Assyrian threat upon Jerusalem, the question is put forth to Judah: Why should Judah trust in the LORD when the gods of the nations surrounding them did not save them from the hand of Assyria? In this context, other gods and idols are fused because the text is primarily addressing foreign gods and the cultic images associated with them and the impotence of these gods is emphasized by means of a belittling association with their cultic images. The historical circumstance being depicted has resulted in the use of a particular rhetoric in which the close association of other gods and idols holds argumentative weight.


"Then David Wrote a Letter” (2 Sam 11:14)— He Himself or Was It His Secretary? A Study of the Criteria for Handling the "Semantic Causative"
Program Unit: Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible
Andreas Käser, Internationale Hochschule Liebenzell

One often speaks of important people as if they did everything on their own. “Caesar beat the Gauls”, thus begins a verse in a poem by Bert Brecht. In the following line he makes the point: “Did he not even have a cook with him?” This way of speaking about kings and lords, rulers and commanders, is a very common literary device used not only in many ancient but also in contemporary languages. It is usually used unconsciously in speech – and is even decoded unconsciously. But it is at least sensed, because sometimes the translators of the old testament use a causative in its place. As result of this usually unnoticed decoding this characteristic has rarely been explicitly described as a literary phenomenon. The only exception I know of is in Hermann Menge's book about Latin syntax and stylistics, where it is referred to as a “causative active”. Because it is grammatically an “active” voice which is to be semantically decoded functionally as a “causative”, I would like to suggest that this literary device be called a “semantic causative”. Now, if this “semantic causative” is a common form of speaking about important people, it raises the question: are there criteria which enable us to determine which of the acts they carried out themselves and which they delegated to others to carry out. I believe there are indeed some criteria by which we can exclude one or other scenario, but oftentimes there appears to remain a grey area of uncertainty. So, did David write this letter himself or was it written by a secretary? – I intend to investigate whether we can achieve a definitive answer.


The Manassic Background of Isa 19:16-25
Program Unit: Prophets
Dan’el Kahn, University of Haifa

Isaiah 19: 16-25 is part of Prophecies of Judgment against the nations in the Book of Isaiah (chapters 13 – 23). The pericope is generally assumed to be secondary and not of Isaianic origin. It consists of several later additions to the prophecy about Egypt. These prophecies are dated by many to the Persian or Hellenistic period. The purpose of the lecture is to show that Isaiah 19: 16-25 is a collection of sayings describing the political reality in the mid seventh century BCE, and is part of an edition of the Book of Isaiah during the reign of Manasseh , King of Judah.


Both X and the Opposite of X: Moses as the Author of the Book of Job in Rabbinic Literature
Program Unit: Judaica
Jason Kalman, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion

The Book of Job has elicited significant concern on the part of Jewish intellectuals for the past 2000 years. God’s admission that the satan’s instigation caused him to harm Job without cause (Job 2:3) left traditionally committed readers in a quandary. That God acted against a blameless individual undermined the Torah’s teachings (especially Deuteronomy) which supported rabbinic theology and practice. The Talmud preserves a number of reading strategies which read the book against its straightforward meaning. This paper explores a single strategy: the attribution of the authorship of Job to Moses. According to B. Baba Batra 14b Moses wrote (down) the Torah and composed Job. The attribution is immediately followed by a discussion of when Job lived. Sages who suggested possibilities from the time of the patriarchs until the Exodus had no difficulty accepting Moses’ authorship. Others likely disagreed with the attribution and its implications. In either case the attribution of Job to Moses provided readers a useful premise for reading Job: If Moses wrote it, it could not disagree with Torah which was also the product of his stylus. How could a later Mosaic composition fundamentally disagree with his five earlier books? Using the theory of the pseudo-historical author as described by philosopher Jorge Gracia this paper attempts to answer the question of what the rabbis of antiquity and the middle ages gained by attributing Job to Moses and how their respective reconstructions of Moses’ biography helped to shape their interpretations of Job. The paper will especially explore the interpretive opportunities this strategy offered the rabbis of antiquity, and also those opened for the medieval philosopher Maimonides and the mystic Nahmanides.


The Political Agency of Female Saints and their Spiritual Fathers
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Fiona Kao, University of Cambridge

This paper seeks to explore the relationship between Roman aristocratic women and their spiritual fathers, with a special focus on the political agency of these women. I will investigate how the women's wealth and social status affected the male theologians that the women had chosen to support, the advantages and disadvantages of the women's support, how the aristocratic women were almost always presented as ascetics in the writings of the male theologians, and how the male theologians used these women in their political struggle against other men. The examples I look at range from the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, to Jerome's Paula and his close circle of female friends, to Olympias and John Chrysostom, and finally to Ambrose and Augustine.


Towards Social Realities: The Constructions of the Everyday Body in the Laws of the Damascus Document
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Jessica Mary Keady, University of Manchester

When it comes to the scholarship on purity in the Dead Sea Scrolls, established scholars such as Joseph Baumgarten, Hannah Harrington, and Jonathan Klawans have predominantly created abstract constructions of Jewish purity systems. As such, much of the detailed study on the Scrolls has been in order to understand halakhic and purification issues, and such research has been done apart from any explicit gendered context. For instance, Harrington argues that halakha played a vital role in turning a worldview into an everyday reality, but it is precisely this everyday reality, of pure and impure Jewish men and women living within the Dead Sea Scrolls communities, which has arguably been neglected in Dead Sea Scrolls scholarship. The women and the roles that they encapsulate are very much regarded as in the background, women are portrayed purely as belonging to the ‘marrying Essenes’ and, therefore, having no direct influence on the purity or personhood of the communities living behind the Dead Sea Scrolls. In current feminist and cultural theory there has been a shift away from abstraction and practice, toward a more philosophical and embodied conceptualizations of the body. In light of growing criticisms of Cartesianism in both popular culture and the social sciences, post-structuralist and post-modern scholars have demonstrated that a normative and universal understanding of gender and sexuality is no longer possible. This paper will draw on such embodied methodologies in order to analyse key passages from the Damascus Document, which relate to both men and women, in order to determine how the communities behind the Damascus Document would have experienced daily life.


Prolegomena on the Textualization of the Gospel of Mark
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Chris Keith, Saint Mary's University College (Twickenham)

This paper addresses the perennial topic of Mark's transition of the Jesus tradition from the oral medium to the written medium. In contrast to what I term the "oral-preference perspective" that approaches this phenomenon almost strictly from the perspective of orality, I will argue for approaching the phenomenon from the perspective of the book culture into which Mark moved the Jesus tradition. Employing cultural memory theorist Jan Assmann's concept of the "zerdehnte Situation," I will argue that Mark employed the written medium in order to escape the time/space restrictions of orality, not to attack the Christology of the oral tradition.


Reading Silence: The Books of Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah, and the Relative Absence of a Feminist Interpretive History
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Julie Kelso, Bond University

Only a few feminist biblical scholars have shown interest in the books of Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah. This dearth of scholarship is no doubt due to the relative absence of female characters in these books. In this paper, I point out that the few feminists who have published on these books all follow a similar recuperative strategy, which I call “at-first-glance-ism”. “At-first-glance-ism” is the approach of first noting what seems like the absence of women from the text, followed by a roll-call of female figures or characters actually present there. Once these figures are foregrounded, the recuperative feminist makes two moves: she asserts that these scant references to women alert us to just how important and valued women really are in the text; and, she asserts that these references indicate the importance of women in the world beyond the text (post-exilic, Persian Yehud), all of which leads to a conclusion that women had far more power in the “real” world out of which the texts are produced and upon which the texts in some way wish to effect influence or perhaps even change. I shall argue that “at-first-glance-ism” is a weak feminist interpretive approach to reading Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah, one that often ends up doing little more than side-stepping the androcentrism of the texts, even though that androcentrism is supposedly challenged throughout their works. Effectively, the text is let off the hook. Briefly drawing from my own work on Chronicles, I’ll make some suggestions concerning the question of how to read biblical texts that largely don’t include women. In my opinion, a more sophisticated approach to understanding absence and its relationship to silence (understood as both a noun and a verb) is utterly necessary to the task of properly analyzing the actual presence and speech of women in the Hebrew Bible.


"Lucianic Text" and the Philology of Late Antiquity
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Anna Kharanauli, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

The present paper deals with a number of methodological issues such as: 1. “recension” – how to understand this definition of a textual form with respect to Lucian and Origen: old and new philology; 2. how correct is it to identify the Lucianic text created in Late Antiquity with the textual forms of the late medieval manuscripts; 3. what is the role of the late philologists and copyists in the process of textual transmission; 4. to what extent is the importance of extra-textual data (colophons, philological and theological tradition, etc.) to be taken into account when discussing the Lucianic text; 5. how is the study of Lucianic work justified without considering its context – editorial tradition of the Late Antiquity; 6. textual criticism and its target groups: the scholarly-minded audience and theChurch; 7. how much is the textual history of the Greek Bible affected by the Septuagint’s authority; 8. Hebraica Veritas and its role in the textual history of the Greek Bible; 9. Lucianic substratum and Devanciers d'Aquila.


'I Praise You, I Bless You, I Glorify You...': Comparing Doxologies in the Martyrdom of Polycarp
Program Unit: Apostolic Fathers and Related Early Christian Literature
Taras Khomych, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

The Martyrdom of Polycarp is replete with doxologies. They appear in crucial passages, beginning with the final prayer of Polycarp at the stake (14.3) and then continuing with an entire series of more or less elaborate doxologies at the end of the text (20.2; 21; 22.3; cf. 19.2; 22.1). These liturgical formulae are well integrated into their respective contexts. At the same time, it needs to be observed that these doxologies are not identical, they differ from one another both with respect to their structure and theology. This difference is worth noting, taking into consideration that such liturgical expressions as doxologies usually tend to be employed as fixed liturgical formulae. The differences between the doxologies thus raise the question of their mutual relationship and, as a consequence, the relationship between the respective passages where they are located in the Martyrdom. This contribution will deal with the question of what bearing the diversity of the doxologies could have on the integrity of the Martyrdom of Polycarp as it stands now.


Moses Feared and Israel Fled: Deuteronomic Historiography in Hebrews
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
Michael Kibbe, Wheaton College

The Old and New Testaments include three accounts of Israel’s reaction to the theophany at Sinai/Horeb: Exodus 20:18–21, Deuteronomy 5:23–27, and Hebrews 12:18–29. While Hebrews 12 depends on both earlier accounts, this paper focuses on its relationship to the Deuteronomic version. Hebrews and Deuteronomy both depict Israel as fearfully withdrawing from the presence of God and requesting that no more direct revelation take place. Deuteronomy emphasizes the mediating role of Moses and of his prophetic successors, and the rightness of Israel’s request for those mediators (5:27–31; 18:15–18). Hebrews, on the other hand, portrays Moses as no less fearful than the people (12:21), and condemns their request as a refusal (12:19, 25) to listen to God. In this paper I suggest that Hebrews’ attentiveness to Deuteronomy’s “emphatic contemporaneity”—its conflation of various moments in Israel’s history in order to reenact Sinai for present and future audiences—sheds light on the tension between these two accounts. For example, Deuteronomy claims that the Moab generation, rather than their predecessors who died in the wilderness, stood at Sinai (4:10–15). Likewise, Hebrews exaggerates the terror of the Sinai theophany with a reference to Moses’ fear (Heb 12:21), a fear that actually overtook Moses following the golden calf incident (Deut 9:19). Deuteronomy also insists that true fear leads to obedience (e.g., 6:1–3). Yet it also insists that the fear demonstrated by Israel’s request for a mediator did no such thing (5:29; 9:7). Deuteronomy presents, in other words, a fear that promised obedience to mediated revelation (5:23–27) but could not fulfill that promise. Hebrews, similarly, condemns not fear in and of itself (12:28), but fear that shrinks from accountability and therefore comes under the judgment of the God who is a “consuming fire” (Deut 4:24; 9:3; Heb 12:29).


"Ebionism" and the Quran Revisited
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
David Kiltz, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften

There have been a number of important articles on the relationship of Ebionism to the Quran, including those of Roncaglia (1971), Dorra-Haddad (1973), Magnin (1977 & 1978), and Pines (1984). This paper takes a fresh look at the doctrines known as "Ebionism" or "Nazorenism," often labeled "Jewish-Christian," and their relation to the Quran. In recent years, the term "Jewish Christianity" has been called into question but it has also been emphasized that Jewish/Christian groups existed in Late Antiquity who where neither Jewish nor Christian according to "orthodox" definitions, being anti-Jewish and anti-Pauline at the same time. Indeed, it has also been pointed out that the borderlines between these groups and other Jews, Christians, and others were more or less permeable. The main aim of this paper is to revise the facts at hand. Doctrinal aspects are evaluated, giving special attention not only to ritual purity and 'the Law' in general but also to Christology and 'Adamology' in Ebionism or related systems of belief. Another important issue is the use of Scripture, especially the question which parts of the Hebrew Bible and the Gospel were viewed as relevant or authoritative. In the paper, this is compared to parallels between biblical and extra-biblical texts and the Quran. It is evaluated how these fit the picture of a possible Ebionite leaning in the Quran, considering parallels not only to the Torah but also to some of the Prophets, Apocrypha, and later Jewish and Christian writings detected by such authors as Geiger and Andrae, as well as more recent ones including findings of the Corpus Coranicum.


Why Promises and Not Promise? Paul's Use of "Epaggeliai" In Covenant Context
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Euichang Kim, University of St. Andrews

The paper examines Paul's use of "promises" a? ?pa??e??ai. Out of 26 usages of "promise", Paul uses the plural form six times (Rom 9:4; 15:8; 2 Cor 1:20; 7:1; Gal 3:16, 21). The scholarly consensus has been not to press the distinction between the two forms.1 Not diminishing the proper possibility that Paul uses the plural form in his argument according to each context, the paper will further investigate whether the term "promises" might include a certain context in itself for Paul. Different from "promise" which indicates the specific promise made in a certain epoch (i.e., Abrahamic covenant), the term "promises" works to indicate the bigger covenant context in the Old Testament. In other words, Paul polemically uses "promises" as a synecdoche to indicate the many covenants established between God and his people. Paul argues about the Abrahamic covenant using "promise" in singular form in Rom 4:13ff, as well as in in 9:8ff. However, Paul also uses the plural form "promises" (9:4; 15:8) along with the singular. The term "promises" is used to describe the Israelites, but at the same time, Paul argues that "promises", given to the Israelites, are now confirmed for the Gentiles through Jesus. In the same way, the use of "promises" in Gal 3:16, 21 in the middle of the argument of Abrahamic promise (singular) in Gal 3–4 requires more attention because Paul uses both the singular and plural forms of "promise" interchangeably here. This juxtaposition is intentional because in the same paragraph, Paul makes an argument based on the singular and the plural forms of "seed" t? sp??µa. Lastly, if this hypothesis is proper, it will help to exegete Paul's use of "promises" in 2 Cor 1:20 and 7:1 where neither the Abrahamic covenant nor the singular term "promise" appear.


The Key Signifier of Blue Eyes in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye: Understanding Bible’s Impact on African-American Culture
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Heerak Christian Kim, Jesus College, Cambridge / Asia Evangelical College & Seminary

I coined the literary device of the Key Signifier in my monograph, Key Signifier As Literary Device: Its Definition and Function in Literature and Media (2006). I identified this literary device after many years of studying Jewish texts from the Late Second Temple Period. But I have realized that like all other literary devices, such as metaphor and simile, my literary device of the Key Signifier can be identified in all types of literatures and literary genres, including films. In my paper, I will describe how it is possible to identify my literary device of the Key Signifier in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, which was the first novel of the Nobel Prize winning African-American novelist, which reflect son the African-American experience. In particular, I will describe the key signifier of blue eyes in the novel and how it functions in the plot, theme, and characterization of the novel to capture the history and the experience of the African-American people. The literary device will illuminate how Bible and biblical interpretation became internalized in the African-American community. Thus, my paper will focus on Bible’s impact and interpretation in the community-specific context of African-American culture.


Textual Iconography of Blowing the Trumpet of the Jubilee in the ANE Used as a Key Signifier in the Psalms of Solomon in the Late Second Temple Period
Program Unit: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Bible
Heerak Christian Kim, Asia Evangelical College and Seminary

Iconography plays an important role in all societies, and the Ancient Near East is no exception. Iconography can be used to celebrate, commemorate, and even move a people toward unity or war. Although sculptural or pictorial iconography has received much attention, what is lacking is the attention to textual iconography. Iconographic imagery used in poetry or prose to invoke an iconic image or imagery can play just as an effective role in celebration, commemoration, and even for the mobilization for unity or war as what is typically understood as an icon. One textual iconography that has played an important role in the Ancient Near East is the use of trumpet for Jubilee celebration, with all of its ceremonial and ritual implications. This regular celebration has become codified culturally and ritually as a textual iconography that functions similarly as more “traditional” or pictorial/sculptural iconography. The staying power of the textual iconography of blowing the trumpet of Jubilee can be seen in the Psalms of Solomon, a Late Second Temple Period text. In this paper, I will explain how the textual iconography functioned as a Key Signifier in the Psalms of Solomon in the context of ritual and community. Thus, I intend to take the discussion of iconography one more step for understanding more flexibly the functional and ritualized aspects of iconography that find convergence of pictorial/sculptural iconography and textual iconography. Thus, we can come to appreciate more the versatile power of iconography in the ancient world.


The Meaning of the Firstborn Son in Hebrews and Its Implication
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
Kyu Seop Kim, University of Aberdeen

What is the meaning of the firstborn son in Heb 1:6; 11:28; 12:23 (12:16)? Why did the author employ this word in order to explain the status of Christ and Christians? What is the traditional-historical backdrop of the word? These questions still remain unsolved. Scholars interpret Christ as the firstborn son in 1:6 in the following three perspectives: 1) a Davidic Messiah; 2) an heir of the promise; and 3) the older brother of Christians. This study, however, will argue that the firstborn son in Hebrews should be considered according to the following two perspectives. First, the firstborn son in Hebrews should be understood in terms of the self-definition and identity of Israel as the elect who has a superior and exclusive status over the non-elect or the Gentiles according to its traditional-historical background in the OT and Jewish literature. We should also note that the firstborn son in Heb 11:28 and 12:16 respectively occur in the context of the conflict between Israel and Egypt and between Jacob and Esau. Secondly, the firstborn son in Hebrews should be understood in terms of “heavenly Israel” tradition in Jewish literature. The firstborn son in Prayer of Joseph and Philo will shed a light on the reason why the firstborn son in Heb 1:6 occurs with Christ’s ascension (1:6) and heavenly enthronement (1:1-14) and why the assembly of the firstborn son in 12:23 exists in heavenly Zion. Therefore, the firstborn son in Hebrews implies the recipients’ superior status over the outer group as the firstborn sons who exist now in heaven with Christ. This study will provide the new understanding of the meaning of “otherness” and the aspects of present eschatology in Hebrews.


The Wisdom and Apocalyptic Background of the Motif of the Journey in the Gospel of John
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Moon Geoung Kim, Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary (Seoul)

Just as the wisdom and apocalyptic literature represents the understanding of history through the heavenly journey toward the other world and the earthly journey in this world(of suffering), the Fourth Gospel can be understood as a historical journey drama in which Jesus Christ, incarnated in time, reveals heavenly things, and shows his faithful followers the way to eternal life. In a broad sense, the wisdom and apocalyptic motif of the journey is maintained, but it has been transformed into a historic revelation in the true meaning of the word. In this study, I will examine the wisdom and apocalyptic background of the motif of the journey in the Gospel of John and its transformation process.


In Search of Young Levite Jonathan’s Grandfather in Judg 18:30: A Study of the Heuristic Application on the Dialogic Aspect of Concept Analysis
Program Unit: Concept Analysis and the Hebrew Bible
Soo J. Kim, Claremont Lincoln University

Despite its clear storyline and characterization, Judges 17-18 is well-known for anachronistic applications when speculating about the identities of characters. For example, the suspended Hebrew letter nun on the name of “Moses” in 18:30 allows King Manasseh in the 7th century BCE (Daniel Block and J. Berridge) or infamous Samaritan priest Manasseh in the 4th century BCE (Steve Weitzman) to be a candidate as young Levite Jonathan’s grandfather. This sudden revelation of the Levite’s name and his genealogy at the end of the text interrupts the reader’s prior conclusions. Retaining key words such as “Micah’s Shrine” and “Danites’ Migration,” however, scholars appear to be satisfied to add the explanation of the complicated compositional history to their commentaries without further considerations. These unsatisfactory interpretations can be set aside if the interpreter pays attention to the dialogic aspect of Concept Analysis, which inspires the reader to respond to this textual signal by rereading the text, reinvestigating the hypothetical underlying concepts with the newly informed factor and, if necessary, modifying the tentative infratextual concept. The sudden signal for the alternative reading of Moses/Manasseh, and other ambiguous, indeterminate, and generic elements of the text suggest that the interpreter’s main task might not be in searching for the identity of Jonathan’s grandfather. Rather, she needs to shift her focus from popularly accepted negative characterizations of Micah, Dan, Mushite priests, and even “Manasseh” and their illegitimate religious practices, to the deleterious spatialization of “Mount Ephraim” through Micah’s and Danites’ sanctuary stories. Mount Ephraim, though once regarded as a mere setting, now rises up as the dominant infratextual concept, controlling the destinies of all characters —those who dwell in or pass the place, regardless of their temporal backgrounds. This is the fruit of the reader-response practice on the text-oriented methodology, Concept Analysis.


The Perplexing Problem of the Parable of the Pounds as Pertaining to a Preferential Position for the Poor
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
David D. M. King, University of Denver & Iliff School of Theology

[Category: Luke] This paper identifies a gap in many studies of wealth and poverty in Luke regarding economic themes in the parable of the pounds (Lk 19:11-27). The parable, which features a cruel absentee landlord who encourages his slaves to use his capital to extract extraordinary profits, stands in stark contrast to Luke’s otherwise strong themes of divine favor for the poor and warning against wealth. Many studies of the parable suggest an eschatological allegory that serves to spiritualize its economic elements. Others, though, argue that its economic themes have economic import and suggest either that God encourages the making of monumental profits or that the landlord in the story should not be associated with God or Jesus, that the third slave is actually the hero of the story. Despite this body of research, significant comprehensive studies of wealth and poverty in Luke either ignore the parable of the pounds altogether or fail to address its economic import. In particular, they fail to explain the parable’s economic themes in relation to economic themes in the rest of Luke. Through a critique of the methodology of these studies, this paper points to an opportunity to integrate the economic themes of the parable of the pounds into broader conceptions of wealth and poverty in the gospel as a whole.


Salvation for Sheep and Bones: Ezekiel 34 and 37 as Corner Pillars of Ezekiel’s Prophecy of Salvation
Program Unit: Prophets
Anja Klein, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

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"Between Innovative and Traditionalizing Forces": A Closer Look at Libations in the Biblical World
Program Unit:
Gerald Klingbeil, Andrews University

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"The Word Became...": Rethinking the Message and Meaning of the Prologue of John
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Edward W. Klink III, Biola University

For numerous reasons the prologue of the Gospel of John has been undervalued for the interpretation of the gospel proper. Either the prologue is viewed to have been a later addition to the gospel or, more recently, is viewed as consisting of much less than the eighteen verses traditionally attributed to it (cf. Williams). The mystery surrounding the prologue has infected it with the plague of oblivion, at best a question-filled text of mere poetic beauty (and later Christological significance) and at worst hermeneutically insignificant and forgotten. This paper would like to argue, in contrast, that the prologue is intentionally meaningful to the gospel as a whole. Our argument will not be based on text-critical or external evidence but internal evidence. First, we will argue that recent research into the ancient function of narrative beginnings gives clues to the interpretive significance of John’s prologue. The gospel demands (i.e., the reader requires) the very introduction the prologue provides. Second, and more importantly, we will argue that the evidence for the interpretive significance of the prologue does not rest primarily on theory but can also be grounded in the prologue’s intentional use of one very common word: ginomai. In the midst of the prologues magnificent language and imagery, which unfortunately is often viewed by the reader as seemingly disjointed, this one word holds the prologue together and directs the flow of its introductory force, as well as the telling of its multifaceted story. This single Greek word occurs in every section of the prologue, forming what is like a highway upon which the message and meaning of the prologue travels. And its theologically significant occurrences in numerous places in the gospel proper affirm its intentional significance, as well as the interpretive significance of the prologue of John.


Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Women in the Bible
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Cassandra M. Klyman, Wayne State University School of Medicine

Eve and the four matriarchs of the Old Testament, the Marys and Martha of the New Testament reflect a spectrum of motherless women who struggle to find their voice and self-identity. Most have no female mentors and have to rely on extraordinary means to achieve significance. This presentation asks: How do they speak to us? What do they model for us and how can we re-interpret them to be meaningful for us today? All psychoanalytic theorists: Freud, Kohut, the attachment–developmental theorists reference the evolution of the self and ego-ideal as important to healthy adaptation, functioning and self-esteem.


Textual Variation in John 14:7: A Study of the Interplay of Text, Translation, and Interpretation
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Sue Kmetko, Melbourne College of Divinity

This paper examines the text of John 14:7. The two commonly recorded translations: “If you know me you will know my father also”, or “If you had known me you would have known my father also”, in fact derive from three basic manuscript variants, one of which virtually disappeared from the manuscript tradition for centuries. The shift from one variant to another reflected in English translations of the twentieth century is discussed in the light of papyrus discoveries, existing Greek editions and the trends in text critical methods. A fresh analysis of Johannine style in particular speaks in favour of the variant which is no longer printed in current critical editions. Finally, a survey of recent commentaries indicates that the various theological interpretations cannot be attributed solely to manuscript variation but also depend on the interpretation of other ambiguous factors in the verse. Hence this study surveys not only a fascinating story of textual transmission but also the exegetical fecundity evoked by the analysis of the Greek text.


The Ambivalent Patristic Reception of Mark
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Michael Kok, University of Sheffield

Despite the nearly unanimous patristic opinion that the evangelist Mark was the interpreter of Peter, recent studies on the Rezeptionsgeschichte of Mark have revealed the ambivalent reception of the second canonical Gospel among its earliest interpreters (cf. Schildgen 1999; Braun 2010; Sim 2011; Head 2012). Of the four canonical Gospels, Mark is by far the least represented in terms of patristic citations, extant manuscripts or traditional commentaries. Not only was Mark seen as deficient because it lacked the infancy and resurrection narratives and much of the didactic material of the other Gospels, which might explain Papias's comment about Mark's lack of order (taxis) (cf. Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 3.39.15), but I will propose that the patristic reluctance to appeal to Mark was that it was too easily amenable to readings supporting an adoptionist Christology. This can be demonstrated from both the scribal changes to the text of Mark (cf. Ehrman 1993) and the explicit comment of Irenaeus that those who separated Jesus from the heavenly Christ had an exclusive preference for Mark (Adv. Haer. 3.11.7).


Ezekiel 38–39 in Current Research: Questions and Perspectives
Program Unit: Prophets
Michael Konkel, Theologische Fakultät Paderborn

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Feminism and the Male Subject: A Case Study of Moses
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Jennifer L. Koosed, Albright College

When women first began reading the Bible as feminists, they engaged two primary interpretive questions: how to read women characters, particularly long-neglected ones; and is this text good or bad for women? Hence, feminist studies focused on the “great women” of the Bible; uncovered marginalized voices; critiqued patriarchical ideologies; sometimes rejected the text and sometimes rehabilitated it. Such reading mirrored the political and social movement of feminism. Even though feminists are committed to gender equality, the beginnings of the movement focused on what gender equality would mean for women. In short, feminism was primarily women’s liberation. However, in the words of bell hooks, feminism is for everyone. As gender equality has begun to be realized, the other part of gender equality has come to the fore – what does gender equality mean for men? The next stage in feminist political action is changing law and custom to expand opportunities for the “first sex.” As society really begins to take the promise of feminism seriously for men, feminist reading strategies also shift and feminist readers turn to other texts, not just those that are about women. This paper will explore the expansion of feminist interpretation of scripture to include texts that do not obviously lend themselves to feminist analysis. In particular, I will focus on feminist readings of Moses. Such readings do not just look at constructions of masculinity but also attend to the body, language, relationship. Such readings disrupt the dichotomies between men and women, masculinity and femininity, human and animal, body and language; and in so doing forge new ways of looking at both text and world.


"Fool Me Once, Shame on Me": Self-Deception and Cognition in the Hebrew Bible
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Paul Korchin, University of Alaska

Episodes of deception are rife in the Hebrew Bible, spanning from the serpent’s beguilement of Eve in the garden to Esther’s ethnic obfuscation amid the Persian royal court. Occasions of self-deception are less frequent and more subtle. This paper investigates the cognitive psychological processes involved with self-deception as conveyed by the socioliterary contents and contours of the biblical texts. My study synthesizes empirically-grounded insights from social psychology (mainly cognitive dissonance theory by Leon Festinger et al.) as well as evolutionary psychology (chiefly self-deception theory by Robert Trivers et al.) in order to describe and explain the cognitive–behavioral dynamics that compose biblical instances of self-deceit. I focus upon portions of texts belonging to three socioliterary genres which incorporate elements of self-deception: martial victory hymns (Exodus 15, Judges 5), idolatry polemics (Hosea 2, Isaiah 44, Jeremiah 2–3), and temple bureaucracy critiques (Micah 3, Jeremiah 6–8). I conclude that—unlike deceiving others (which gets variously praised, tolerated, or criticized)—self-deceit is consistently presented by biblical writers in a condemnatory manner. This is because self-deception is perceived as entailing ignorance about proper notions of agency and causality within a Yahwistically created and governed order. Beyond these moral and theological evaluations, the biblical data lend support to a psychobiological model of mind that accounts for self-deception as a selective—and naturally selected—processing mechanism which entails the adaptive advantage of decreasing the cognitive and affective loads brought to bear upon the human brain’s mental architecture.


On Ahikar and the Bible
Program Unit:
Ingo Kottsieper, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

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The Authority of the Gospel: Book as a Religious Object at Chalcedon
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Charidimos Koutris, Durham University

The tension between power and authority continues to attract the attention of scholars in the field of Early Christianity. Here there are various struggles for authority that are analysed: between "Orthodox" writers and “heretics”, between pagans, Jews, as well as between the Church and the State in general. These struggles are evident in the councils of the Early Church where different sides gathered to defend their positions with ever growing forensic vigour. In this rich field, however, no research has yet been written on the authority of the object that brings all these people together, that is the authority of the Gospel-book. This paper attempts to fill this gap by arguing for the supreme authority of the Gospel-book as a religious object in the Early Church. In order to do this, I analyse the Acts of Chalcedon by focusing on passages that refer to the Gospel-book as an object of authority. I will examine how it was used in the council according to the surviving Acts, what authority it had on the participants, how it was linked to the oath taking process. Finally, I will study the reverse side of this raised profile of the Gospel-book as an object representing divinity and at the same time an instrument of intimidation. It is my conviction that the findings of this paper will contribute significantly to further the research in the field, by giving a clear image of the authority of the Gospel-book, the most sacred container of Christian sacred texts, thus enabling future scholars to make relevant comparisons and analyses in regards to the authority of the sacred texts in Early Christianity.


The Body in Question: A Theological Conversation between Paul and Transhumanism
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Steven Kraftchick, Emory University

“All the boundaries are blurred—between the things as well as between the things and ourselves.” (Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory, 56.) Traditionally Pauline theology has rightly been occupied with historical questions about the thought and modes of expression Paul used to address the issues posed by his missions or the fragile church communities he initiated. As valuable as this approach has been it is also possible to conceive of Pauline theology as a hermeneutical exercise connecting Paul’s thinking to contemporary issues. Recent and rapid advances in the scale and power of digital media, nano-technology, and biomedical science have forced secular and religious inquiry about the nature of the human being as it defines itself in relationship to these emerging technologies. This inquiry, known as “post/transhumanism,” shares with early Christian thought a belief in a future transformation of the human. In her essay, “On Posthumans, Transhumanism and Cyborgs: Towards a Transhumanist-Christian Conversation,” Heidi Campbell calls for “convivial questioning and recognition” of [this] “shared desire or belief in a transformed humanity” between transhumanists and Christian thinking. As Campbell recognizes, while “it is easy to identify the inconsistency and incongruence within transhumanism, as it relates to the Christian worldview,” the “larger challenge is to enter into dialogue with this developing philosophy.” In this paper I take up Campbell’s invitation and propose a conversation between Paul and major proponents of transhumanism in order to suggest that there are intersections between these transhumanist visions and Paul’s eschatological vision of the transformed human being (e.g., 1 Cor 15: 35-54; 2 Cor 3:18, 4:16-5:4; Phil 3:21). Specifically I will examine Paul’s triple construction of the soma: the sarkic, pneumatic, and glorified body in Romans 6-8 comparing and contrasting it with transhumanists notions of the transformed body in order to highlight the particular commitments of each.


Through the Looking-Glass: Conjectures Found in Manuscripts
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Jan Krans, VU University Amsterdam

The list of New Testament conjectural emendations confirmed by manuscripts is long, but unknown. This paper gives a fresh estimation of the evidence. Moreover, it addresses two related questions: (1) what does such manuscript confirmation mean? and (2) can one justifiably speak about "scribal conjectures"?


Achiqar and Bisitun: Literature of the Judaeans at Elephantine?
Program Unit:
Reinhard Kratz, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

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They Shall Not be Admitted to the Assembly of the Lord: Marginalizing Exegesis of Deut 23:1–9 in Philo of Alexandria and the Qumran Scrolls
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Andrew R. Krause, McMaster University

While the statutes of Deut 23:1–9 had been used as guidelines for who was permitted to enter the Jerusalem Temple throughout the Second Temple Period (e.g. Neh 13:1–9; Ant. 12.145, 15.417), certain groups used the exclusionary power of this text in order to control the boundaries of their own communities. In this paper, I will examine certain documents from Qumran and compare them to passages in the legal treatises and allegorical commentaries of Philo of Alexandria in order to better understand the various exegetical uses of this text and their socio-political ramifications. I will argue that those documents from Qumran that treat this text—most notably 4QMMT, 4QFlorilegium, 1QSa, and 11QT—elaborate on the meaning of the congregation from which one may be excluded. The elaborations include the ‘Temple of Men’ and the eschatological ‘Temple of YHWH,’ as well as smaller institutions such as marriage and the community council. This reading fits with the theopolitical concerns of the Qumran Community given their anxiety over purity and halakhic practice. Conversely, in the allegorical interpretations of this text in the works of Philo (Ebr. 213; Migr. 69; Deus 111; Post. 177; Somn. 2.184, 187; Virt. 108; Conf. 144; Mut. 204; Spec. 1.324–25), the individuals to be excluded are allegorized to include deniers of Platonic forms, atheists, polytheists, and those who rely merely on their senses, among others. Philo is working within a specific community, and thus his concerns are to keep some theological purity amongst the Alexandrian ekklesiai. While the Qumran and Philonic text corpora apply markedly different exegetical methods to various aspects of this pericope, both attempt to read their enemies into the margins through the interpretation of Deut 23:1–9. Thus, despite eschatological interests and allegorical readings, both use this text in concrete contexts, towards political ends.


A New Introduction to the Septuagint: Concept, Challenges, and Results
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Siegfried Kreuzer, Protestant University Wuppertal / Bethel

After completion of Septuaginta-Deutsch with the “Übersetzung” and the two volumes of “Erläuterungen und Kommentare”, a new project has been started, a Handbook to the Septuagint. This handbook will comprise an “Einleitung in die Septuaginta” and volumes on the text-history, the language of the Septuagint, its historical context, the theology of the Septuagint, and its reception history. After a brief survey of the project, the paper will focus on the Introduction-volume, and discuss its concept, some of its challenges and its results.


Ezekiel: New Directions and Current Debates
Program Unit: Prophets
Thomas Krüger, Universität Zürich

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Genesis 38 in the Eyes of the Reader: Ironizing or Ironized Motifs?
Program Unit: Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible
Jonathan Kruschwitz, University of Sheffield

Incongruity typifies Genesis 38. In particular, a host of ancestral motifs clash with a rather un-ancestral episode. Allusive traces of matriarchs, patriarchs, and the divine promise stand at variance with a wayward ancestor, a presumably Canaanite daughter-in-law, and a God who is seemingly absent in the resolution to a procreative problem. This paper proposes approaching this incongruity with a hermeneutic of irony modeled closely after Sperber and Wilson’s echoic account of irony. As indirect communication, irony engages the relevance principle by offering additional contextual effects to offset any extra processing effort. Thus in Genesis 38 the incongruity between an un-ancestral story and its ancestral motifs invites extra processing effort with the prospect of additional contextual effects and therefore greater relevance. That is, the motifs offer further significance to the story. Read as purposeful allusions, they lend meaning to what remains unsaid. While incongruous motifs typically are ironized—quoted in a dissociative manner that highlights the incongruity between their assumptions and expectations, and the diegetic reality—they can also ironize. Particularly when multiple motifs work collectively, they can render the quoting context suspect. Such may be the case in Genesis 38. The ancestral motifs individually appear ironized against the background of the un-ancestral story. But as they accumulate and harmonize on a common theme, they increasingly invite reinterpretation (thus modeling what Sperber and Wilson have called “garden-path irony”). Reread as a collaborative ironizing force, they place quotation marks around the general proposition that Genesis 38 is an un-ancestral story and encourage a measure of dissociation toward this idea. Herein the motifs function suggestively to relate and relativize traditional constructions of ancestral insider/outsider identity.


Paul’s Revision of Hab 2:4b: Entertaining a Third Option
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Chris Kugler, The University of St Andrews

Paul’s citation of Habakkuk 2:4 and its attendant effects, both in Romans (1:17c) and Galatians (3:11b), has been studied often enough. Particularly the difficulty of understanding Paul’s train of thought in Galatians 3:10-14 and the Habakkuk citation within that argument has been painfully rehearsed again and again. Most commentators and PhD studies alike have adduced two possible meanings for Paul’s reading of Hab 2:4b: “The righteous one shall live by faith.” What has been obvious from the start is that this citation corresponds neither to the MT as we have it, nor to the LXX of Vaticanus and other major uncials. The pronoun of MT (his) and of LXX (my) is not represented in Paul’s citation. Given that we have no good manuscript evidence for the reading that Paul gives, it is at least plausible to suggest that Paul has intentionally omitted a preposition that he actually had in his source text (even if the citation is from memory of a text). The reason for this omission is not far to find, for while Paul may not be so bold as to insert Christou into Habakkuk itself, he is bold enough to make a telling omission of either “his faith” or “my (God’s) faithfulness”, such that the way is clear for the agency of another whom Habakkuk could not have imagined. It is this third option, the option that understands Paul’s Habakkuk citation and the surrounding flurry of ek pisteos Christou Iesou, to be indicative of Paul’s own revision of the Habakkuk text. It is this phenomenon that accounts for the phrase ek pisteos occurring only in Romans and Galatians, the phenomenon whereby Paul’s revision of Habakkuk governs this otherwise unusual usage in those two great letters.


Moses’ Cushite Marriage in Numbers 12: A (Late) Pro Cross-Cultural Perspective
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law
Andreas Kunz-Lübcke, University of Applied Sciences for Intercultural Theology, Hermannsburg

Num. 12: 1-16 narrates the amazing story of Moses´ marriage with a Cushite (dark-skinned) woman. One reads about Miriam and Aaron´s protest against this cross-cultural relation and about the consequential dispute over the legitimacy of Moses´ leadership. It follows with a statement from the author/redactor that Moses is YHWH´s chosen one who is allowed to do anything. The thematic disparity makes it clear that this narrative has undergone a long process of editorial growth. The majority of Biblical scholars believe that the information about Moses’ “Cushite marriage” belongs to the oldest version of the story. According to this view, Moses’ marriage increasingly became a secondary theme as the formation of the story progressed. In the presented paper I will discuss the question of Moses’ marriage and whether it should be seen as an editorial addition that was later inserted into this typical grumbling narrative (“Murrgeschichte”). In the narrative’s final version, Moses’ marriage is given a clearly favorable position, suggesting that this theme of cross-cultural marriage was incorporated into post-exilic discourse also with a favorable outlook. The theme of “the Cushite marriage of Moses” relates also to the authors of 2 Chr. and their interest in the “Cushite question”. The depiction of Cush as a major enemy of Israel will lead to the question of why a late redaction of the Pentateuch would marry Moses to a woman from Cush, a nation in which 2 Chr. shows an interest, although with completely different intentions than that of Num. 12: 1-16 in its final version.


The Postscript of Hebrews as a Pauline Endorsement: A Consideration of the Canonical Implications of the Ending of Hebrews
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
Benjamin Laird, University of Aberdeen

One peculiar feature of the Epistle to the Hebrews is the absence of a customary opening salutation, an absence which is noticeable given the presence of a fairly traditional epistolary postscript. This peculiarity has created a number of challenges for interpreters, not least the difficulty it presents in accounting for the epistle’s genre and early canonical history. Can the text rightly be described as an epistle? If so, how may we account for the absence of a traditional salutation in the opening verses? If the text was not originally dispatched as an epistle, how might we account for the presence of the postscript? William Wrede proposed that the postscript was added by a later admirer of Paul in order for the text to be accepted as an inspired writing. This theory has been argued more recently by scholars such as Gert Steyn. A similar theory, that the postscript was written by the same pseudepigrapher who wrote the remainder of the text, has recently been proposed by Clare Rothschild. One possibility which has not been seriously considered is that the postscript of Hebrews was personally written by the apostle Paul in order to authenticate the work of one of his companions, who, as Origen suggested many centuries ago, “remembered the apostolic teachings, and wrote down at his leisure what had been said by his teacher.” This particular theory is consistent with what is known of the standard literary practices of the first century and also accounts for the close relationship between Hebrews and the Pauline letters in early Christianity. This paper will examine a number of internal clues which support this possibility and will also discuss several canonical implications this theory may hold for the development of the Corpus Paulinum.


Why No Divine Image in the Temple? A New Answer
Program Unit:
Bernhard Lang, Universität Paderborn

The prohibition of divine images, mainly expressed in Deuteronomic passages, reflects the Levitical notion of the ideal sanctuary: a simple free-standing altar, unaccompanied by any pictorial representation of the deity. The Zadokite tradition, found in the books of Exodus and Leviticus, had a different notion of the ideal sanctuary: it should consist of a temple house with an altar placed before it. As in all ancient cultures, the temple house was intended to accommodate a divine image. When the second Jewish temple was built around 500 BCE, the Levites and the Zadokites compromised: there was to be a temple house, though one that contained no divine image. Theological justifications of aniconism such as the notion of God’s invisibility presuppose and transcend this practical compromise.


The Question of Qumran Orthography and the Severus Scroll
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Armin Lange, Universität Wien

Since Emanuel Tov began to work on Qumran orthography (see e.g. “The Orthography and Language of the Hebrew Scrolls Found at Qumran and the Origin of These Scrolls,” Textus 13 [1986]: 31-57) the plene orthography and morphology of some Dead Sea Scrolls has been regarded as a characteristic of Qumran scribes. The Severus Scroll variant list was understood as another witnesses to this orthographic scheme (see most prominently Jonathan P. Siegel, The Severus Scroll and 1QIsaa [SBL.MS 2; Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1975]). Based on a new edition of all four witnesses to the Severus Scroll variant list and selected readings in medieval Masoretic and other biblical manuscripts, my presentation will ask whether this orthographic system was employed only by sectarian scribes from the Essene movement or whether it was more widespread in antiquity.


The Anthropological Framework of the So-called Sethian Treatises in the Context of Early Christian and Middle Platonic Anthopology
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Ever since H.M. Schenke established the existence among Nag Hammadi texts of a diverse strand of Gnosticism called “Sethian Gnosticism”, scholars have in general endorsed his main views, contributing to enlarge both the list of texts included in this group and the characteristics that allegedly differentiate them from Valentinian texts (see Turner, Logan, and Layton). Recent years, however, have seen a growing reluctance regarding several aspects of the “Sethian hypothesis” (see Wisse, Williams, Luttikhuizen). The present paper proposes an oblique approach to the worldview of these texts in order to test the validity of such a hypothesis. The analysis of the anthropological framework of so-called Sethian treatises – their the views on man, his origin, devolution, current condition, structure, and goal– and its comparison with standard Valentinian views will allow us to determine whether we are dealing with radically different groups or whether the differences should rather be considered individual deviations from the main line of thought.


Changing Places: The Eschatological Inversion of Social Hierarchy in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Daniel Lanzinger, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn

The usual concept of Last Judgement in biblical literature is that it is solely God’s matter. However, this paper wants to shed light on the idea of an eschatological participation of human beings. Although there are only few instances for this concept, it shall be shown that they share a common underlying idea, which is the otherworldly inversion of an unjust social hierarchy. The most ancient evidence of the concept in question can be found in 1. Henoch: Two different social classes are mentioned, one oppressing the other; but the formerly oppressed group is promised to receive an opportunity for taking revenge. Taking this as a starting point, it shall be argued that the synoptic gospels embody two interesting variations of this concept. The first is Lk 16:1-9: Wealthy people are encouraged to “make friends” by means of mammon (that is: to provide benefits to those in need) because precisely these “friends” will later be the ones deciding on an admission to the “everlasting habitations”. Luke extends the economic principle of reciprocity into the eschatological sphere – thus announcing an eschatological inversion of social hierarchy in case that it will not have been altered already before voluntarily. As second example this paper shall give a fresh reading of Mt 25:31-46. This text appears to present once again a situation with two unequal groups: Those being in need of help and those having the power of providing or refusing it. This time the judge reveals himself as being identical with the first group – and inverts the situation by pronouncing a sentence on the second. The direct participation of underprivileged human beings in the judgement is replaced by a representative one. Nevertheless, the original idea of an eschatological inversion can still be recognized. The paper fits best to the 4th category.


The Proliferation of Grotesque Bodies in Ezekiel: The Case of Ezekiel 23
Program Unit: Prophets
Jacqueline Lapsley, Princeton Theological Seminary

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Who Are These Little Ones in Matt 18:6-14?
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Paul Larson, University of Edinburgh

Commentators are generally agreed that these little ones in Mt. 18:6-14 refers to the disciples of Jesus, and that much of Mt. 18 is a discourse for the community, talking about disciples for disciples. The reference of these little ones to Jesus' disciples takes its cue from the phrase in Mt. 10:42, where it definitely refers to disciples, and is bolstered by the use of diminutives in Mt. 11:25; 25:40, 45 and by the phrase in Mt. 18:6 that qualifies who these little ones are. They are little ones who believe in Jesus. Together, these considerations present a plausible case for identifying the little ones in Mt. 18:6-14 with Jesus' disciples. Despite the strength of this case, there are still other considerations that favor a different interpretation. In Mt. 18, these little ones are children. This better serves Jesus' rhetorical intention in Mt. 18:3-14. It is plausible in its narrative setting, and it allows the terms of address and verb forms used to better fit the normal pattern of discourse. Appeal to the phrase in 10:42 and to other diminutives in 11:25, 25:40, 45 is problematic due to contextual differences. Usage of p?ste?? in Matthew is also such that in Mt. 18:6 the qualifier that specifies these little ones are ones who believe in Jesus need not be taken to mean that they are disciples. While some have placed Jesus' switch from talking about the child to talking about disciples in the change of vocabulary, from child in Mt. 18:5 to these little ones in Mt. 18:6, an equally or more plausible place for locating the change is in the switch from these little ones in Mt. 18:14 to brothers in Mt. 18:15. These other considerations cumulatively favor the thesis that these little ones in Mt. 18:6-14 are children.


Characterization in the David and Goliath Narrative: Perspectives from Narratology and Metaphor Theory
Program Unit: Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible
Mikael Larsson, Uppsala Universitet

The David and Goliath narrative in 1 Sam 17 presents the perhaps most elaborate and complex portrayal of a child character in the Hebrew Bible. No other child is to the same extent subject of action, speech and vision. Furthermore, David’s discourse becomes more theologically poignant as the narrative enfolds, and his actions contribute to the split image of the Yahweh-sent deliverer and ambitious young adventurer. What is the significance of David’s status as a child (na’ar) for this narrative? Could his much repeated status as a child be understood as a central metaphor enhancing the function of his character? How do the metaphorical descriptions of the Goliath as a wild animal serve as a mirror image for David? The aim of this paper is to explore the process of characterization at work in 1 Sam 17 using narratology and metaphor theory, the intersection of which appears a promising field of investigation. Metaphor theory has so far mostly been applied to depictions of the deity and to a lesser extent to human characters.


Mythological Allusion in Isa 44:24–28
Program Unit: Assyriology and the Bible
May May Latt, Myanmar Institute of Theology

A consensus view, represented by J. Muilenburg, C. Westernmann, J. Blenkinsopp and B. Childs, asserts that Isaiah 44:24–28 focuses on Yahweh’s redemptive activity of releasing the exiles from Babylonia. The view holds that Yahweh the creator will fulfill his purpose by commanding Cyrus to restore the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem. By focusing narrowly on the theme of the release of the exiles, the consensus view overlooks the more significant theme of the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. Isaiah 44:24–28 does not mention the release of exiles from Babylonia; instead, it speaks of the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. The text’s focus on the rebuilding of the city employs generally overlooked mythological allusions to develop a theme of “new creation”: Yahweh’s rebuilding of Jerusalem is likened to the creation of the heavens and earth. The text develops the theme by recalling motifs from Enûma Elish, the Babylonian epic of creation. In the epic, Marduk the creator, the wisest of the gods, divided the body of the water goddess, Tiamat, and formed the heavens and earth. Recalling Enûma Elish, Second Isaiah portrays Yahweh, the wisest of all, as creating the heavens and earth and drying up the deep. The text pairs the theme of the creation of the world (44:24–25) with the rebuilding of the city, Jerusalem (44:26–28). The same pairing is repeated in 45:11–12 and 45:13. This pairing implies that Yahweh’s restoration of Jerusalem recapitulates his creation of the world; it constitutes a “new creation.” The identification of this pairing and the new creation theme that it implies stands as a corrective to the consensus view of Isaiah 44:24–28, which ignores the theme of the rebuilding of the city and overlooks the function of the mythological motifs.


Job and Joseph: An Intertextual Reading
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Sam Lau, Chinese University of Hong Kong

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” “Do you still hold fast your integrity?” These two simple questions asked by the Satan and Job’s wife may be the clue for us to understand the complicated book of Job. Although unnamed in MT, Job’s wife is named Dinah in the Targum of Job. Dinah is the only daughter of Jacob. In this way, Job is linked with the patriarchal Israelite tradition, and Joseph is the brother-in-law of Job. Joseph is another innocent character in the book of Genesis that fears God. Gerhard von Rad rightly classified the Joseph story as didactic narrative. In light of this, I argue that an intertextual reading of Joseph’s story and the book of Job can provide us a better understanding of both Joseph and Job. Both Joseph’s story and the book of Job are in one way or another related to Edom and share many commonalities, such as an innocent encountered adversity in a foreign land, confronted the temptation of a woman, blessed by God with family members re-union and ultimately enjoyed a long life. Job and Joseph together form a duet in the Hebrew Scriptures. We thus understand that God does reply people indirectly. Job and Joseph fear God, and as a consequence they are blessed by God. Eventually, could we argue that the law of retribution still holds true?


Mark's Monstrous Beasts: Reading Allusion to Daniel 7 in Mark 1:13
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Benjamin Laugelli, University of Virginia

My paper explores the semantic effects of reading allusion to Daniel 7 in Mark 1.13, where Jesus confronts Satan in the wilderness shortly after his baptism. This enigmatic verse in Mark is often construed allusively, particularly the reference to the forty days Jesus remains in the wilderness and the mention of the wild animals that were present with him. While most scholars construe the forty days as an allusion to Israel's forty-year sojourn in the wilderness, no consensus has emerged concerning the wild animals. Does their presence with Jesus evoke the image of the peaceable messianic kingdom found in Isaiah 11? Or do they allude to the predatory animals subdued underfoot in Psalm 91? I argue that the reference to wild animals (therion) in Mark 1.13, together with an allusion to Daniel 7.22 in Mark 1.15, provides textual warrant for reading Mark 1.13 as an allusion to Daniel 7. There, Daniel witnesses a cosmic transfer of power from a series of belligerent foreign empires, figured as monstrous beasts (therion), to a divine agent called the Son of Man. Reading allusion to Daniel 7 in Mark 1.13 draws attention to the political dimension of the cosmic conflict between Jesus and Satan, which plays out primarily in the opposition Jesus faces from the temple leaders in Jerusalem. Methodologically, the paper draws on the work of Ziva Ben-Porat for a model of the poetics of literary allusion. Ben-Porat outlines the process whereby the reader activates latent intertextual patterns between an alluding and an evoked text that elucidate the alluding text as a whole. The paper also engages cultural theories of monstrosity to explore the implications of the Gospel's allusive casting of the temple leaders in the role of Daniel's monstrous beasts.


Sexual Values in Biblical Tradition, Christendom, and Modern Psychological Practice
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Raymond Lawrence, College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy

Current psychotherapeutic practice in the U.S. typically exhibits a commitment to strict sexual exclusivity in marriage, especially such psychotherapy as is practiced under the auspices or influence of religious organizations and communities. A subtle but pervasive ideology has emerged whereby extra-monogamous sexual contact is considered categorically pathological. The basis for this predilection is seldom examined, but it can be presumed to be a cultural residuum of post-Constantinian Christianity. Curiously and paradoxically, psychotherapists are typically tolerant of divorce and remarriage, even multiple divorce and remarriage, but generally intolerant of extra-marital sexual relationships. This is especially true of, but not limited to psychotherapists with religious affiliations. One option for addressing this flaw in current counseling practice is to reexamine the historical record. Without doubt Christianity developed into a sex-negative religion at least by the fourth century, and this negativity remains embedded in current culture. Early Christian leaders adopted Roman imperial valorization of monogamy and virginity, in sharp contrast with the despised and polygamous “Christ-killing” Jews. Augustine sealed the deal by declaring sex "ecce unde" (“that's the place”) where sin originates. Christianity never recovered; instead it evolved into the most sex-negative of all major religions. We will examine major biblical and extra-biblical texts and show how post-Constantinian Christianity twisted and subverted the meaning of various canonical texts in favor of a dark and devilish view of sexual pleasure. We will point out the unambiguous ways in which Judaism both before and after the beginning of Christendom has been sex-positive. Islam subsequently followed Jewish valorization of sexual pleasure, generally speaking. A new approach to biblical hermeneutics and Christian history as they shape sexual values will, I will argue, could humanize modern psychotherapeutic practice in matters of sexual behavior.


Harnack and Empire: Orient and Occident in "What is Christianity?"
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Hans Leander, Uppsala Universitet

In the winter of 1899-1900, during the hey-days of European colonialism, Adolf Harnack famously delivered sixteen lectures in the University of Berlin. Published the following spring as Das Wesen des Christentums (What is Christianity), Harnack set out to distinguish “kernel and husk” thereby separating the contingent from the timeless in Christian tradition. Although primarily a Church historian rather than a biblical scholar, Harnack based much of his lectures on the nineteenth century Jesus research. As such, Harnack’s work summarized the first quest of the historical Jesus, and soon became a landmark of protestant liberal theology. The current paper investigates Harnack from a postcolonial perspective. Analyzing Harnack’s work in relation to European colonial discourse, the paper strives to elucidate how the figure of Jesus for Harnack became part of a European colonial identity formation with its stereotypical notions of Orient and Occident. Being informed by the writings of Homi Bhabha, the paper sets out from the presumption that the colonial mindset was split by contradictions and anxieties rather than, as generally implied by Edward Said, as consistent, confident and monolithic.


Anti-Colonial Hermeneutics in Nineteenth-Century Europe: On the Significance of Place
Program Unit: Contextual Interpretation of the Bible (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament)
Hans Leander, Uppsala Universitet

In a forthcoming SBL Semeia Studies volume entitled "Discourses of Empire," nineteenth century Markan commentaries are analyzed as to their way of relating to European colonial discourse. The submitted paper focuses on one of these commentaries that came out differently in the analyses, as compared to the others. Among other things, this commentary interpreted the tribute question (Mk 12:13-17) in an oppositional way that opened for the possibility of resisting the demands of a foreign ruler. The commentary was written by George Alexander Chadwick (1887), Dean of Armagh’s cathedral in Ireland. The paper discusses to what extent Chadwick's oppositional reading can be explained by his Irish location, and by the fact that Irish history, since the seventeenth and eighteenth century, was stamped by resistance against English colonial rule. The issue is complicated by Chadwick being an Anglican and his eventual ties to the British mother church, located in the imperial centre. By analysing the writings of Chadwick, as well as its discursive context, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the contextual method itself.


Locusts from the Pit: The Composition and Hermeneutic of John's Locust Vision (Rev 9:1-11)
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Sheree Lear, University of St. Andrews

The vision of Revelation 9:7-11 describes an army of locusts, wrapped in smoke, spewed out of the bottomless pit. An amalgamation of antecedent scriptures, much of the imagery of Revelation 9:7-11 is culled from various forms of antecedent biblical literature. Interacting with compositional techniques already noted by Richard Bauckham, amongst others, I will seek to evaluate three examples of reused scripture from the features of the locusts, namely, the golden crowns, the faces like human faces and the horses with breastplates. I will demonstrate that the description of the locust army is not haphazard; rather, it demonstrates well-measured and purposeful compositional techniques. Evaluating the sources of the borrowed locutions and the author of Revelation's compositional techniques will in turn reveal the hermeneutic of the author in relation to the texts he was reading.


Restful Space in God’s Presence: An Examination of "nwch" in the Primary History
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Arie Leder, Calvin Theological Seminary

Rest (nwch) from the enemy, a theme understood to be introduced in Deuteronomy 3,20; 12,10, 25,19 and 28,65, is “a special quality of life in the land” (Nelson) which accompanies the gift of land Israel receives from YHWH under Joshua’s leadership (Josh. 1:13,15; 21.44; 22.4; 23.1). But the theme is not unique to the land epoch of Joshua, as Gerhard von Rad has shown in his classic study: “its echoes are heard throughout that massive historical work to which we apply the designation ‘deuteronomic’ (from Genesis to II Kings).” This paper will examine a number of places in the Primary History where nwch is usually translated “to put, or to place,” for example Genesis 2:15 where it is associated with Lebensraum, and argue that several such forms contribute to the theme of “restful space” in the Primary History in its received shape, not just in the deuteronomic texts.


Reading the Psalms in 1 Chr 16:8-36 in the Chinese and Biblical Contexts
Program Unit: Contextual Interpretation of the Bible (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament)
Archie C. C. Lee, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

The first book of the Chronicles incorporates in its literary arrangement Psalms 105:1-15; 96:1-13 and 106:1, 47-48. The three Psalms are taken from the “Fourth Book” of the Psalter (90-106). It is of interest to scholars that there are implications for both the canonical formation of the Psalms and the function of Psalter for Chronicles. While Ps. 105-106 are regarded as “historical psalms” and 96 is usually understood to be related to Enthronement Festival (Mowinckel) or Zion Festival (Kraus), it is intriguing to find out their roles in the present context of the inaugural service of the bringing of the Ark into the Tabernacle at the time of David (I Chron 16:1-7). This paper intends to study the inter-textual and con\textuality of I Chronicle and the Psalter with the liturgical and literary function of historical recitation from the Chinese cultural milieu. It will look at the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s re-interpretation of Chinese history in its attempt to construct an ideological meaning to legitimize its existence in the event of the establishment of the Heavenly Capital in Nanjing in 1851. In Taiping poetry, the Bible was re-read and appropriated to connect biblical history with Chinese history for the purpose of restoring the Chinese worship of of God (Shangdi). Hong Xiu Chuan (the Taiping Heavenly King) believed that Shangdi in ancient China is the same God worshipped by Israel and Hong himself was commissioned by God as God’s second son to bring the Chinese back to Shangdi (the Chinese Bible translation of the biblical God).


Pax Persica Appraised by Esther: Dialectical Reflection on Diaspora and Politics
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Kyong-Jin Lee, Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena)

This paper examines how the Diaspora Jewry as portrayed by the book of Esther wrestles with questions concerning the legitimacy and virtue of Gentile political institutions. The necessity to articulate a thoughtful answer to such questions is exacerbated by the socio-political reality of Diaspora life. Such a pluralistic society requires the members of its ethnic minority groups to navigate adroitly through the challenges posed by the dual reality—the past and the present. The book of Esther calls attention to the competitive, conflictual, and irrational conditions that epitomize the life of “a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of [the Persian Empire]; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws.” The Jewish identity marker is clearly a vital catalyst for the tension and conflict in the plot line. However, at various junctures throughout the story, a logically expected elucidation of what it means to be Jewish in this kind of setting is conspicuously missing. Given the central significance of “Jewishness” in this narrative, this blatant lack of clarification is just as problematic as the famous absence of the divine name in this biblical book. Hence, this paper calls attention to the political and moral questions raised by the missing explanation. It explores how Jews in the Persian era appraised the Gentile political system in light of the theological and ideological values expressed in earlier biblical understandings.


“Sheol” in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Lydia Lee, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

A scholarly consensus has been reached about the existence of a dualistic concept of judgment in DSS, such that people await either reward or punishment after death. More studies have been done on discussing the kinds of reward, whether in the form of resurrection or immortality, envisioned in the DSS (Collins, Kuhn, Laurin, Nickelsburg). This paper aims to fill up the lacuna of the other end, by discussing the kinds of punishment after death envisioned specifically through the lens of the term “Sheol” presented in the DSS. After a brief overview of the use of the term in the HB, I investigate the 25 occurrences of the term “Sheol” in the non-biblical Hebrew DSS, categorizing and discussing them in terms of location, characteristics, denizens and the existence of any relation to the living. I come to a conclusion that while the HB uses the traditional image of “Sheol” as a watery place (e.g. Job 26:5; 38:16-17), where the righteous and the wicked share a shadowy life (e.g. Eccl 9:10; Job 14: 13; Ezek 32:17-32), one of the most distinctive feature of “Sheol” in certain Qumran texts (e.g. 1QM XIV,18; 1QHa IV,13; 4Q184 i 7; 4Q 491 8-10 i 15; 4Q 491 10 ii 17) is the emergence of the concept of a cosmic fire, devouring and consuming all the wicked who transgressed against certain precepts or laws, such that no discussion of their afterlife is present. Such image of “Sheol” in DSS probably builds a bridge to understand the fiery image of the Netherworld in certain NT texts (e.g. Matt 25:31; Luke 16:23-24) and the writings of some early church fathers (e.g. Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian), even though the latter present the Netherworld with tormenting rather than all-consuming fire.


Bilingualism of Jewish Diaspora in Ptolemaic and Early Roman Alexandria
Program Unit: Archaeology and Diaspora Judaism
Sang-Il Lee, Chongshin Theological Seminary

Many scholars have assumed that Alexandrian Jews in Ptolemaic and Early Roman Alexandria were considered to be Greek-speakers. Aramaic among Alexandrian Jews gave way to Greek and Greek was used between the third century BC and the second century AD. However, recent archaeological excavations show that the linguistic milieu of Ptolemaic and Early Roman Alexandria was bilingual in Egyptian and Greek and that the Jewish community of Ptolemaic and Early Roman Alexandria was also bilingual/trilingual in Aramaic, Egyptian, and/or Greek depending on their social levels. From the perspective of sociolinguistic method, successive immigration and periodic connection with Jerusalem imply that most Alexandrian Jews were bilingual/trilingual in Aramaic, Egyptian, and/or Greek. This paper applies sociolinguistic method to analyzing the linguistic milieu of Alexandrian Jews in Ptolemaic and Early Roman Alexandria, as I suggested in my publication(Jesus and Gospel Traditions in Bilingual Context [BZNW 186; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012]). The study of bilingualism sheds new insights into the Jewish community in Alexandria.


A New Nabataean Inscription on a Bronze Oil Lamp
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
André Lemaire, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

A bronze oil lamp from the Moussaieff collection contains a Nabataean inscription indicating the name of his owner. This kind of Nabataean inscription is not well-known but has parallels on contemporary South-Arabic bronze oil lamps. The paper will try to put this inscribed oil lamp in his historical context.


The Ostraca of Elephantine
Program Unit:
André Lemaire, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

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The Text as Space, or The Inverted World that Martyrdom Can Be
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Isabelle Lemelin, Université du Québec à Montréal

Like the grid of a carpet’s weave or of a city, a text is a complex space. Not only a collection of words and sentences arbitrarily placed on paper. The structure definitely contributes to the message. Some even considered it ‘the heart of communication’s effectiveness” (Louw, 1973), and its study is now an essential part of any exegetical analysis. In texts and orations of the ancient world, from Sumero-Akkadian to Greek and Latin literature, we find an important and recurrent rhetorical form; the chiasmus or chiasm, derived from the Greek word chiasmos, which means “placing crosswise” and the verb chiazo “to mark with two lines crossing like a chi”. It is also called symmetrical alignment and inverted parallelism, because the corresponding components are parallel ideas, which encompass a central theme – often the keystone of this particular architecture. To find this specific structure, linear reading progressing from the beginning to the end should be replaced by following the centripetal flow from the extremities toward the centre. In recent years, many scholars have read biblical books this way and made significant observations and contributions. The present talk pursues the same objectives for the second book of Maccabees. A book placed between the Old and New Testament or where the two corpora cross. Before demonstrating the chiastic structure of 2M, technically and symbolically at macro and micro level, I will briefly describe what has also been called concentric form by, amongst others, Roland Meynet (1982) and John Breck (2001), and illustrated it through their works. Finally, I hope to reveal that the form of a text can be meaningful as his content, and show what has been important in this rare witness of Judeans at a historic crossroad. Does martyrdom is just an allegory of its space and identity’s inversion?


To Obscure and to Intensify: Modes of Picturing Righteous Violence in the Psalter
Program Unit: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Bible
Joel LeMon, Emory University

This paper shows how the Psalter’s metaphors, passive grammatical constructions, and other literary devices portray elliptically the violence of the king, God, and the psalmist(s). To what extent does this Psalmic rhetoric of violence align with an ancient Near Eastern iconography of violence? In the course of the discussion (in addition to defining “righteous violence”), the paper explores the effects of these elliptical representations of violent acts against enemies—how violence that is somehow obscured (in both literary and pictorial form) ultimately intensifies the impact of the imagery on the reader/hearer and viewer.


Operatic Portrayals of Esther
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Helen Leneman, Universiteit van Amsterdam

An earlier generation of feminist biblical scholars often disparaged Esther, who seemingly ‘sold’ her body to the king and played by the rules of patriarchal society. The perception of Esther became more nuanced and sympathetic over the years. Through the magical medium of music, Esther’s character takes on many new dimensions. The most important 20th-century Esther opera is Hugo Weisgall’s (1912-1997), his tenth, last, and grandest opera. Its world premiere was at the New York City Opera in 1992, where it was recently revived. In spite of the difficult, dense, and dissonant music, it was a great success. Weisgall and Kondek took liberties with the biblical account. Esther is portrayed less sympathetically at the start of the opera than in the biblical story. In an early aria, Esther contemplates becoming queen, revealing an ambitious streak. The music and text explore Esther’s inner thoughts and suggest motivation. A certain naiveté and innocence come through in this flesh and blood portrayal. French Jewish composer Darius Milhaud’s comic opera Esther of Carpentras (1925) is a modern re-telling of the biblical story. The plot revolves around a village’s preparations for a Purim shpiel (play) while the newly appointed cardinal decides the whole community must convert. He is dissuaded by the young woman who plays Esther in the shpiel. The plot operates on two levels: as a play within a play, and a modern re-enactment of the ancient story. These operas—both the music and librettos-- shine a new and unfamiliar light on the character of Esther, filling gaps in compelling ways and inviting us to read the story through a different lens. Musical excerpts will be included.


Amphitheatre as the Space of God’s Worship in Revelation
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Siang-Nuan Leong, TCA College (Singapore)

A circular space around the throne, in which living beings and the multitudes worship God, is prominent in Revelation (4:2-11; 5:11-14). It reminds of the tiers in a Roman amphitheatre encircling the arena and the imperial seat. The multitudes gather in their respective tiers designated by their social status to watch the games. In such a setting the emperor is acclaimed by the multitudes. Domitian’s acclamation as ‘lord’ in the amphitheatre (cf. Suet, Dom. 3.1) echoes the proclamation of the one enthroned in heaven as ‘Lord and God’ (4:8, 11). One finds subtle allusions to Graeco-Roman games in the scenes of Revelation. In Domitian's time (to which one may date Revelation), the games were already in vogue in Asia Minor, further fuelled by Ephesus’ Olympic Games, held in conjunction with the inauguration of the Flavian temple there. Domitian was depicted in coinage with Zeus Olympios, who was enthroned in Altis before a reflecting pool (cf. glassy sea, 4:6). The victors— the 144000 and the multitudes dressed in white –holding palm branches, singing songs of victory and feasting all suggest a context of the games (7:9-10; 14:1-3; 15:2-4; 19:1-9). The arena which is the context of imperial acclamations is also that of Christian martyrdom. As in the games, the two witnesses died being mauled by a beast while multitudes of spectators jeered on (11:7-10). The circular and intense space of the amphitheatre, in which Jesus’ followers suffered under “beastly” political authority (ch. 13) and social enmity, is transformed into a place of eschatological victory.


Makeup Session with Jezebel in 2 Kgs 9:30: Cultural Othering or Subaltern Resistance?
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Anne Létourneau, Université du Québec à Montréal

In this paper, I intend to explore the beautifying session of Jezebel before she looks out the window to hail Jehu in 2 Kings 9,30. She applies eye makeup and does her hair. A few moments later she is thrown out the window by eunuchs on Jehu’s orders. How are we to interpret this makeup and hairdo session ? Is Jezebel trying to seduce Jehu, in order to escape death ? Erotic innuendo might be conveyed by the "woman at the window" motif at play in the scene. This is a common representation in ancient Near Eastern art, which possibly originates from Phoenicia. The picturing of Jezebel as a "woman at the window" could also be a way to emphasize her status as a Phoenician and her association with foreign goddesses. Jehu accuses her of idolatrous behavior, using the imagery of fornication and witchcraft (2 Kings 9,22). In the same way, the makeup and the hairdo could contribute to a general feminization and sexualization of the scene by the Hebrew Bible editors to underline Jezebel’s status as a strange and idolatrous woman. First, I will demonstrate how sexuality and ethnicity intersect to promote the othering of Jezebel. Second, I will consider how to paint her eyes with pukh (kohl) might be a way for the Sidonian queen to resist the violence that will be inflicted on her. The eye makeup is indeed a way to emphasize her gaze, and women are rarely depicted as holders of the power of the gaze in literature or cinema (cf. Mulvey, 1975 ; de Lauretis, 1987). The Hebrew Bible is no exception to this rule. Using feminist and postcolonial perspectives, I will interpret Jezebel’s actions in 2 Kings 9,30 as a site where both cultural othering and subaltern resistance are articulated.


Ezra 9–10 and the Appeal to Prophetic Precedent
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Mark Leuchter, Temple University

Ezra 9–10 possesses a complicated tradition and redaction history, most likely stemming from disparate compositional sources behind the Ezra-Nehemiah corpus. What these disparate sources have in common, however, is the conviction that the narrative to which they contributed required alignment with earlier prophetic tradition. This is indeed a motif found throughout the entire Ezra-Nehemiah corpus, but Ezra 9–10 focuses especially on the oracles of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and applies them to Ezra’s condemnation of foreign marriage. The narrative positions Ezra’s prayer and subsequent conduct as a narrative model for the actualization of prophecy regarding exile and restoration as conceived (rather differently) in each respective prophetic corpus. Ezra serves as a mediator between these traditions and bridges the conceptual gaps between them. The narrative thus speaks to a stage in the growth of a proto-canonical ideology, pointing to the authoritative methods and agents facilitating this ideological trajectory. But the narrative also serves to claim the prophetic source traditions for a specific social circle, delineating the boundaries of the community who could ultimately share in and benefit from this enterprise.


Why Did the Adversaries of Judah and Benjamin Emphasize Their Foreign Origins?
Program Unit: Persian Period
Yigal Levin, Bar-Ilan University

Upon arriving in Jerusalem some time after 538 BCE, the returnees let by Zerubbabel were approached by a group of people whom Ezra 4:1 refers to as "the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin", who requested, "Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of King Esarhaddon of Assyria who brought us here." Most commentators identify these "adversaries" as the people later known as the Samaritans, although other proposals do exist. An apparently similar group are mentioned in verse 10 as "the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River". This paper examines the question of their claim to foreign origin: why would they make this claim, rather than claim to be indigenous, YHWH-worshipping, Israelites? Is this claim simply Judean propaganda? Or would the leaders of the "adversaries" have considered it advantageous to be descended from foreign deportees? This question will be examined in light of Assyrian deportation policies and the archaeological record, and we will propose a solution that might shed light on the "ethnogenesis" of the Samaritans during the Persian Period.


Rab-shakeh's Hebrew Speech: History vs. Rhetoric
Program Unit: Assyriology and the Bible
Yigal Levin, Bar-Ilan University

The attack by Sennacherib king of Assyria on the kingdom of Judah is well-documented in the Bible, in Assyrian sources and in the archaeological record. Generally speaking, the biblical and Assyrian records concur, despite the differences in genre, in purpose and in their intended audience. The biblical version of the events recounts that three senior Assyrian officials made their way to Jerusalem, and that one of them, whose title was “Rab-shakeh”, made a speech in “Judahite”, the local dialect of Hebrew. This speech as recorded in the Bible, while clearly a part of the biblical narrative, is also very much like the type of speeches that Assyrian officials did deliver to the defenders of besieged cities. To at least some scholars, this similarity is proof of the basic historicity of the biblical speech as well, even if it did undergo a certain measure of editing. The fact that the speech was made in Hebrew is part of this historicity, since as a tool of propaganda or of psychological warfare it would naturally be aimed at the defenders and would be in their language. Several decades ago, Tadmor suggested that this “Rab-shakeh” knew Hebrew, because he was actually an Israelite, exiled from Samaria and risen in the ranks of the Assyrian court. While Tadmor’s proposal did gain some support, it was never really discussed seriously by most scholars. This paper examines the Assyrian policies concerning deportation of conquered peoples and the fate of such deportees, Israelites and others, who were inducted into the imperial service. In light of this examination, we consider Tadmor’s proposal to be well-founded. Finally, we analyze Rab-shakeh’s speech as a speech delivered by such an Israelite exile who had become a senior Assyrian official, and who now wished to warn his Judahite brethren of their inevitable fate.


Periphrastics in Luke-Acts: Orders of Constituents and Usages
Program Unit: Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics
Stephen H. Levinsohn, SIL International

This paper discusses factors that affect constituent order in constructions with eimi and a participle, together with their local or discourse function. Like Bailey (2009:197), it distinguishes thetic constructions that introduce an entity in connection with eimi from those that make a comment about a topic. The default order in topic-comment constructions is for the subject (if present) to occur between eimi and the participle. The same is true for pronominal non-subjects. When the subject precedes eimi, it usually signals a switch of attention, though pre-verbal pronouns that refer to the same subject as before also occur. When the subject follows both eimi and the participle, the referent is usually being activated or reactivated. When a thetic subject follows eimi but precedes the participle, the construction is probably not periphrastic. Under certain specific circumstances, thetic subjects precede both the copula and the participle. When the participle precedes the copula, it is given focal prominence. Focal prominence is also given to constituents that occur between eimi and the participle, when they relate primarily to the latter. Other orders to be discussed include those in which only part of a focal constituent precedes eimi and the participle, and the placement of spatio-temporal constituents before versus after the participle. Periphrastic constructions are particularly suitable for presenting iterative events, as their stative nature allows the actor to be viewed as performing the event from time to time during the period envisaged, rather then continuously. However, they are also used, particularly at the beginning of a pericope, to “report states of affairs with progressive aspect that function as background to a punctiliar event” (Bailey). The paper concludes that Johnson (2010) is wrong to claim that all 55 constructions in Luke-Acts that he classifies as true periphrastics provide “highlighted background” information.


Confronting Roman Imperial Claims: Following the Footsteps (and the Narrative) of 1 Peter’s Eschatological Shepherd
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Kelly Liebengood, LeTourneau University

The injunction “honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2.17) seems to suggest that 1 Peter is a text that promotes an accommodating approach to negotiating the claims of Christ and the demands of Rome. Surprisingly, however, as our understanding of first-century Roman imperial ideology grows, and as we better comprehend how empire was (and is) negotiated, 1 Peter emerges as a text that is profoundly counter-imperial. I will seek to demonstrate this, first, by critically examining a long-standing scholarly debate amongst primopetrine scholars regarding the question of whether 1 Peter advocates assimilation or resistance to Greco-Roman culture. In this section I will underscore the fact that both sides of the debate, for the most part, have failed to see the way in which the implicit narrative of 1 Peter functions to govern the approach to culture. Second, I will demonstrate the way in which shepherd imagery and (new) exodus typology are appropriated in order to form an implicit narrative that challenges the foundational claims of roman imperial ideology. In particular, I will highlight the eschatological davidic shepherd christology that is embedded in the substructure of 1 Peter’s eschatological program and show how this narrative only allows for allegiance to one kingdom—either to Rome, or to Christ. I will conclude the essay by drawing on James C. Scott’s work on ‘hidden transcripts’ and the development in postcolonial research on the notion of ‘hybridity’ in order to shed light on 1 Peter’s covert usage of davidic shepherd and new exodus typology, which ultimately projects YHWH’s universal reign through Jesus Christ.


Attributive Noun Syndesis in Discourse Analysis
Program Unit: Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible
Rosmari Lillas, University of Gothenburg

The presence of combinations of nouns, such as hesed we-emet, (‘lovingkindness and truth’), in various contexts in the Hebrew Bible is well known. Many of these combinations are designated stylistic word-pairs, especially if they occur frequently combined in biblical Hebrew and in other Semitic languages. Several of them are also termed hendiadys. These features often consist of closely related, synonym-like or dissimilar nouns, and some of them represent obscure noun combinations in which a reinterpretation appears required, such as e.g. ‘there shall be peace and truth in my days’; ‘a watcher and a holy came down; ‘he burnt the scroll and the words’; ‘a prince and great has fallen’; ‘you are destroying a city and a mother’; ‘God is keeping covenant and lovingkindness’, etc. The term hendiadys is not a recommendable designation, as has been shown elsewhere, but the features in which a reinterpretation appears required, here termed attributive noun syndesis, are intriguing wherefore a large amount of examples have been subjected to analysis and are the subject of this study. This paper investigates and differentiates between noun combinations with various semantic relations, explores potential functions of the intervening conjunction, evaluates the need for reinterpretations and examines what these features may have in common beyond an intervening conjunction.


Four Gates to the City: Changing Approaches to Sodom
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
K. Renato Lings, Other Sheep

FOUR GATES TO THE CITY: The Changing Approaches to Sodom In the history of Christianity, few biblical narratives have generated more commentary than the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The current consensus teaches that the sin of Sodom was attempted gang rape, rejecting the previous ‘homosexuality’ approach. The latter was preceded by a variety of terms, including 'sodomy', sodomitic vice’ and ‘unnatural vice’, as well as notions of pederasty, inhospitality, idolatry, oppression, and social injustice. Given such diversity, which approach may be regarded as ‘biblical’? This paper looks at the historical phases through which the interpretation of Sodom and Gomorrah has moved, suggesting ‘four gates to the city’, i.e. four major interpretive approaches. Beginning with the Hebrew Bible, the paper looks at the use of Sodom as a prophetic metaphor where the resident alien is presented as the victim. This may be called The Justice Approach. Hellenistic literature, including the apocrypha and the Second Testament, views Sodom as a place of inhospitality. The divine visitors are victims. This may be described as The Hospitality Approach. Philo of Alexandria regarded Sodom as a hotbed of pederasty. An echo of the pseudepigrapha, which indicates sexual concerns, occurs in the letters of Jude and 2 Peter. These letters and Philo had a major impact on the Church Fathers, who did not study Hebrew but relied on the Septuagint and subsequently the Vulgate. Christian asceticism and the demonization of non-procreative sex led to the notion of ‘sodomitic vice’, which eventually became ‘sodomy’. This represents The Sex Approach. In the nineteenth century ‘sodomy’ metamorphosed into ‘homosexuality’, which was succeeded by the current fourth approach to Sodom, The Sexual Violence Approach. The paper draws attention to The Justice Approach, highlighting crucial exegetical clues provided by the Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, and the prophets).


Chinese Children’s Bibles: From Christian Trimetrical Classics to the Present
Program Unit: Families and Children in the Ancient World
Tsui Yuk Louise Liu, Chinese University of Hong Kong

The paper aims at raising contextual concerns of Chinese Children’s Bibles. Before going into discussion, it will briefly introduce the development of Chinese Children’s Bibles in the past 200 years. Among those Bibles, many of them are in fact directly translated from English or other European languages. But in the early stages, that is, missionaries’ very first attempt to convey biblical messages to Chinese children, Christians did not choose to translate from any existing western Children’s Bibles. Rather, 19-century-missionaries adapted the genre of Trimetrical Classic (or Three-Character Classic), one of the oldest three Chinese primers for elementary education from the 13th century until the present, to share Christian belief with Chinese children. The genre of Trimetrical Classic is an effective mnemonic for very young children to memorize and understand complicated concepts. The Christian Trimetrical Classics could be considered the first Chinese Children’s Bibles despite not having such a title at that time. Its originality and appropriation in the world history of Children’s Bibles should be appreciated. As the years passed, Christian Trimetrical Classics faded away. Under the impact of globalization and commercialization, more and more western Children’s Bibles have been translated into Chinese. Even the best-selling Chinese Children’s Bibles nowadays are translated works. Meanwhile, some “original” Chinese Children’s Bibles strive for survival. These original Chinese Children’s Bibles are however, as with many western works, only collections of rewritten Bible stories with illustrated cartoons. We will examine how children might (mis)read the Christian message or even be confined to certain fundamentalist biblical interpretation via these so-called first “Bible” of children.


Evidence of Anger in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Nina E. Livesey, University of Oklahoma

While many scholars describe Galatians as Paul’s “angry” letter, rarely do they explore the emotion of anger and its influence on Paul’s form of argumentation more generally. From the time of Homer, anger played a role in Greco-Roman literature and beginning with Aristotle, Greek philosophers discussed its place within the polis, framing the question around issues of how best to control it. Aristotle defined anger as the desire for “retaliation for some perceived slight to oneself or one’s own, the slight not having been deserved.” Galatians contains several instances of angry outbursts (1:6; 2:14; 3:1-3; 5:2-4, 12). Yet the letter is also replete with oppositional pairs, disjunctive discourse and the use and modification of scripture all aimed to divert Paul’s audience from their acceptance of the law and circumcision to his own perspective. By engaging the insights of psychology, I wish to explore whether or not the emotion of anger accounts for the type of rhetoric Paul employs in Galatians. The paper raises the question of the degree to which anger can be understood to play a determinative role in Paul’s stance regarding Gentile adoption of the law.


Bethsaida and Galilee: First-Century Evidence
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Jacqueline Lloyd, Laidlaw College

The twentieth century saw significant debate over the nature of Galilee’s population in the early half of the first century CE. Many New Testament scholars conceived of Galilee as having an ethnically mixed population with a significant Gentile presence. This raised questions as to the degree to which Jesus was influenced by Graeco-Roman culture. In the last few decades, however, the mounting data gathered from archaeological excavations of towns and villages in Galilee, reveals a material culture for the early half of the first century CE that seems to be predominantly Jewish. But what of Bethsaida located just 250 metres across the Jordan at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee? This paper will provide a brief introduction to the history and material culture of Bethsaida/et-Tell, and its contribution to our understanding of the population of Galilee in the first century. In particular, a comparison will be made between the material culture of Bethsaida and that of Capernaum, with implications for historical Jesus research.


Are the Catholic Epistles a Canonically Significant Collection? A Status Quaestionis
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Darian Lockett, Biola University

In this paper I consider whether the Catholic Epistles should be read in isolation from each other, taking their individual historical situations as the guiding principle for their interpretation, or whether their literary and theological character as a discrete canonical collection constitutes the context within which they should be read and interpreted. Though the modern era has been dominated by the historical-critical approach to biblical interpretation which considers these texts in isolation from one another, a vibrant discussion arguing that the CE were read as a discrete canonical collection in the early church has been initiated. My paper outlines the status quaestionis of whether or not the CE constitute a canonically significant collection specifically considering the various proposals of Rob Wall, David Neinhaus, Peter Davids, and Brevard Childs.


Developmental Stage, Scribal Lapse, or Physical Defect? The Damaged Exemplar of 1QIsa-a for Chs. 34–66
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Drew Longacre, University of Birmingham

Several major textual minuses in the first hand of 1QIsaa relative to the Masoretic text (MT) have perplexed scholars for decades, and many have weighed in with preferred explanations. There are three main possibilities: 1) the shorter texts of the first hand of 1QIsaa may be earlier than the longer texts preserved in the MT; 2) the longer texts preserved in the MT may have been accidentally omitted by the primary copyist of 1QIsaa or one of his predecessors; or 3) the primary copyist of 1QIsaa may have been copying from a physically defective exemplar. By observing repeated physical features in 1QIsaa I intend to show that the third option is the most probable explanation for most of these shorter texts. The convergence in 1QIsaa of patterns of spacing irregularities, literary and textual problems, and secondary supplementations, as well as a consistent pattern of distribution, are best explained on the basis of the hypothesis of an exemplar for chapters 34-66 with a damaged bottom edge. Upon reaching the defective edge in each column of his exemplar, the scribe dealt with the text in one of two ways before continuing with the legible text at the top of the subsequent exemplar column. Sometimes he left blank spaces in his new copy to be filled in with the correct text from other manuscripts at a later time. At other times he attempted full or partial reconstructions of the text based on whatever text remained legible in the damaged exemplar, memory, and contextual clues. I will trace the evidence for this theory through columns XXVIII to XXXIV to demonstrate a consistent pattern of exemplar damage that explains most of the shorter texts of the first hand of 1QIsaa.


Priestly Angels and Angelic Priests? What We Do Learn about Worship from the Heavenly Temple?
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Claudia Losekam, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Within the Literature of the Second Temple we do find not only statements, predictions or allusions to the then still existing Temple and its Cult, but also descriptions of a heavenly Temple and Temple service. The worship of God within the heavenly Temple relies on heavenly beings like Angels. From there the question arises how to determine the “heavenly Temple image”? Is the heavenly Temple and its heavenly beings a model of the earthly Temple? And if so what conclusions might be drawn for the meaning of sacrifice and the image of priests within the earthly Temple in the time of the second Temple period? On the text level the earthly Temple in Jerusalem is mostly understood as modeled on the heavenly Temple. Whereas scholarship favors the reverse perspective, according to which the heavenly Temple, its rituals and staff reflect the earthly Temple and its practices. In the first part of my paper I will analyze descriptions of service in the heavenly Temple in 1Enoch 14,18-23; Aramaic Levi Document (ALD), TestLev 2,6-3,8 and different statements in Jubilees, asking the question what we get to know about the image and function of priests. In the second part of my paper I ask the question if the identification of the function of priestly Angels and angelic Priests does relate to the analogous praise of heavenly beings and humans in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice.


The Use of Syriac Daughter Versions in Projecting Textual Variants in the Greek New Testament
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Jerome A. Lund, Accordance

This study will focus on two readings in Syriac New Testament manuscripts, the first of which the editors of the 27th edition of Nestle-Aland have misinterpreted by claiming a Greek textual variant on its basis, when if fact an evaluation of the reading in light of other Syriac evidence calls this claim into question, and the second of which has been passed over without notice, when it in fact represents an actual Greek variant. On the basis of the reading ‘world’ instead of ‘his people’ in the Curetonian MS of Matt 1:21 the editors of the 27th edition of Nestle-Aland postulate a Greek variant kosmon ‘world’. However, evaluation of this reading in light of the related Sinaitic MS suggests an inner-Syriac development and not a Greek text as the source of the reading of the Curetonian MS. The second case comes from Rev 2:13. Now the text of Revelation in Syriac survives in two versions, an anonymous translation of the sixth century ascribed questionably to Philoxenus and the translation by Thomas of Harkel, each represented by a single MS. A careful reading of both MSS reveals a Greek variant for the name ‘Antipas’, not recorded in the 27th edition of Nestle-Aland.


The Influence of Temporal Context on Children’s Film Adaptions: A Case Study
Program Unit: Bible and the Moving Image
Susanne Luther, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

My paper will explore different film adaptions of C.S. Lewis’ first volume of the "Chronicles of Narnia" and examine the diverse ways in which the Narnia books have been adapted for children's audiences over the past 25 years. By way of a detailed case study I will analyze the most recent adaptions of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (1988; 2005; 2008) with a view to the specific ways in which key biblical motifs and characters are presented in these film adaptions of classic children’s literature. My primary focus will be on the influence of the temporal and spacial contexts on the specific emphasis on and presentation of biblical motifs in these film adaptions.


Ezekiel 34: Composition and Allusion
Program Unit: Prophets
Michael Lyons, Simpson University

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Hebrews 8–10 and New Testament Apocalyptic Theology: Generic and Conceptual Issues
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
Grant Macaskill, University of St. Andrews

The ‘apocalyptic’ character of the Epistle to the Hebrews has been the focus of much recent research into the book. Specialists in Jewish apocalyptic writings (e.g., Rowland/Morray Jones) have seen the imagery of the heavenly temple, and the designation of Jesus as the high priest over this sanctuary, as reflecting the Jewish mystical traditions attested in apocalyptic writing. This has allowed detailed study of the epistle to locate it conceptually in relation to apocalyptic Judaism, facilitating correctives to those readings that understand the book to reflect Platonic conceptuality. This has implications for our understanding of the ontology of the covenant mediator in chapters 8-10, whose real physical humanity must be maintained, even in his heavenly role. It also, however, means that Hebrews bears distinctive witness to an apocalyptic dimension in early Christian theology, which provides important context to the discussions of apocalyptic theology in other New Testament writers, notably Paul. The extent to which Hebrews maintains the role of covenant as a central component of its apocalyptic schema, and does so with a particular representation of the activity of faith, must be allowed to speak to the Pauline discussion, all the more so when the two bodies of writing are seen to share a construal of the Incarnation. This paper will trace the significance of the apocalyptic parallels for the proper reading of Hebrews before bringing the findings to bear on the discussions of apocalyptic theology in Pauline scholarship. We will note significant conceptual overlaps between the bodies of writings, suggesting substantial continuity of theology (a ‘family resemblance’), which supports the view that Paul’s apocalyptic account, centred on the Christ-event, also locates itself in relation to the covenants between God and Israel, according to an eschatological scenario that is more complex than the commonly assumed ‘two-ages’ scenario.


Mimesis in John: The Case for Imitations of the Bacchae in the Fourth Gospel
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Dennis R. MacDonald, Claremont School of Theology

Although many scholars have recognized affinities between John's portrayal of Jesus and Dionysian religion, rather few have gone so far as to suggest a directly mimetic connection with Euripides' Bacchae. This paper seeks to demonstrate that the application of criteria for Mimesis Criticism indicates just such a connection.


The Name, the Glory, and Monotheism
Program Unit:
Nathan MacDonald, University of Cambridge

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Keynote Address on the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Nathan MacDonald, University of Cambridge

This section is organised in conjunction with the third St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies, and will explore the (theo)political visions of authoritative/sacred texts in four sub-sections: Old Testament / Hebrew Bible, Pseudepigrapha & Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and Early Christianity. Further details can be found at our website (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/conf/stspc/; which is frequently updated), including full titles and abstracts for all participants in the section.


A Dreamer Among the Shepherds: Joseph as a Threat to Jacob’s Headship (Gen 37)
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Sophia Magallanes, Azusa Pacific University

Genesis 37 portrays Joseph, Jacob’s favourite son, as a possible threat to his father’s authority over his household. Joseph is hated by his brothers for Jacob’s preference for him (Gen 37:3-4). This hatred is furthered by Joseph’s dreams of their future subordination under him (Gen 37:5-8). In addition to this, Joseph’s dreams begin to undermine Jacob’s authority as head of household (Gen 37:9-11). Jacob himself questions his favoured son’s motives in having disclosed his dreams. It is only after this incident that we see that Joseph is no longer out tending the flock with his brothers. Is this a strategic move for Joseph’s protection or was it a way of limiting his authority? Furthermore, is there any textual, intertextual, or extra-textual support to suggest that his brothers acted not only out of hate, but in order to protect their father’s honour as head of household?


Moral Authority and Influence in 1 Tim 3:1-13: A Hermeneutic of Contextual Relevance
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Elijah Mahlangu, University of Pretoria

In the past twenty years scholars have been earnestly engaged with the source and function of the list of virtues and vices in the New Testament especially the lists in the Pastoral Epistles. Some authors regard these lists as a unique form of subgenre whereas others would see them as Hellenized lists of social norms that have little or no literary importance in the author/s book. The principal concern of this present article is to examine the source and function of the list of qualifications of elders as outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 in relation to matters around moral authority and influence. The interest of this study goes beyond to explore how this topic could be interpreted in an African context. This is in view of the fact that leadership and related issues such as authority, influence, power, virtue, etc. continue to feature prominently in contemporary religious, political as well as economic discourse in Africa. Most African theologians, scholars, philosophers and critiques maintain that the African continent faces crisis and challenge of good leadership – this includes leadership challenge in political, business, education, religion and familial contexts. Indeed, the majority of African countries are confronted with leadership and developmental crisis of a gigantic magnitude. This article would therefore provide a platform for such a dialogue. In his approach of this theme the researcher uses a hermeneutical-exegetical paradigm, the hermeneutic of contextual relevance in Africa. The research is convinced that this is a valid way of reading the text in an African context and hope to illustrate that this way of approaching the text will not only protect the integrity of the New Testament, but will heighten the involvement of African readers.


Teaching Mark’s Narrative in a Markan Narrative Way
Program Unit: Gospel of Mark
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

There is great excitement and satisfaction in joining form and content in the teaching of the narrative of Mark’s Gospel to undergraduates in a Markan narrative way. Since the categories of setting, characters, plot, and rhetoric have achieved semi-canonical status as elements of narrative analysis of the Gospels, I will apply these categories to my recent experience of teaching the Gospel of Mark, especially in two undergraduate seminars at a comprehensive, state, research university in the United States (Fall 2009 and Fall 2011). In terms of the spatial setting, in both cases the physical arrangements of a seminar room encouraged full conversation. In terms of the temporal setting, the class met twice a week for 75 minutes each time, which I have found works better than meeting once a week for undergraduates. In terms of characters, enrollments were small, 11 and 12, greatly enhancing the opportunity to involve everyone in the seminar setting. In 2009, all 11 were undergraduates; in 2011, the majority of undergraduates were joined by two graduate students (not in biblical or religious studies) and two senior citizen auditors. The plot involved having the class as a whole read four (or five) substantive Markan commentaries, with students assigned evenly to read one of the set. Each class session began with a student report or reports on the assigned section of Mark from the point of view of his or her commentary. Then discussion opened up to other students making comments from the point of view of their commentaries, with me filling in as needed. Rhetoric was the most intriguing, and I will describe a number of in-class exercises to illustrate the way I tried to bring to life Mark’s oral background, its chiastic structures, its symbolic geography, its complex characterization, and the dynamic scholarship on Mark.


Chiasm in the New Testament: Its Use and Abuse
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Joshua L. Mann, University of Edinburgh

Chiasm is perhaps most simply described as inverted parallelism. Ian Thomson has defined it more thoroughly as a “bilateral symmetry of four or more elements about a central axis, which may itself lie between two elements, or be a unique central element, the symmetry consisting of any combination of verbal, grammatical or syntactical elements, or, indeed, of ideas and concepts in a given pattern.” The modern study of chiasm is sometimes thought to have started with the brief treatment of the subject in Johannes Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti (1742) and Robert Lowth’s De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum Praelectiones Academicae (1753). These early discussions of chiasm (or related forms of parallelism) did not hold the attention of most scholars until the publication of Nils Lund’s 1942 volume, Chiasmus in the New Testament: A Study in Formgeschichte. In last three decades, a plethora of chiastic structures have been proposed throughout the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament. Especially controversial among many scholars is the legitimacy of macro-chiasms, chiastic structures which are said to span across multiple chapters or entire books of the biblical text. In spite of a few attempts at placing limits on what should or should not constitute a chiastic structure, it seems such structures are proposed in biblical scholarship ad nauseum. In view of this, this paper will attempt to: (1) Provide a succinct description of the status quaestionis concerning the legitimacy of chiasm as a rhetorical feature in biblical texts; (2) Examine some of the difficulties involved with chiasms, including their identification as such and possible function within a text; and (3) Propose a set of principles, in dialogue with relevant critical scholarship on the subject, for identifying and interpreting chiasm in a biblical text.


Diversity or Disharmony: Patristic Writers on the Different Accounts of Jesus’ Cleansing of the Temple
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Scott Manor, Knox Theological Seminary

Among the various differences between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels, perhaps the most difficult to reconcile is the radically different placement of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple. John’s Gospel secures this event among the first of Jesus’ deeds; the Synoptic situate it at the end of Jesus’ ministry and an impetus for the Passion. This posed an early challenge to the development and acceptance of the New Testament canon, particularly since the unity and harmony of the Christian scriptures was a central argument among Patristic writers. Justin attacked the incoherent musings of the poets and philosophers, for example, and Irenaeus put the Gnostics on their heels with the variances in their own so-called scriptures. Yet the problem concerning the conflicting Gospel chronologies concerning Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple remained a problem that was either downplayed or ignored for centuries. How did the assumption of Gospel compatibility and divine inspiration shape early Christian exegetical strategies and structures? This paper will examine how the Patristic concern for Gospel coherence – particularly concerning this account – molded their exegetical methodologies both implicitly and explicitly by means of a chronological survey of Patristic writers including Tatian, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Eusebius, and Epiphanius. Throughout this analysis, we will gain a clearer view of the fine line between diversity and disharmony and its consequences for Christian exegesis and the development of the canon.


Priscilla and Aquila Teach an Apostle
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Merrilyn Mansfield, University of Sydney

Priscilla and Aquila were a Christian couple who taught Apollos in Ephesus in the early 50s CE (Acts 18:24–28). This paper will argue that, by the time he was taught, Apollos had an accurate understanding of Jesus, and was regarded as an apostle. Priscilla and Aquila taught Apollos a precise point or points about the baptism of John. Luke uses ektithemi (‘expound’) to describe their instruction (Acts 18:26). Luke also uses ektithemi to describe Paul’s teaching of potential converts in Acts 28:23, an instruction from the Scriptures that continued from morning till night, in which some were convinced and others were not. Ektithemi therefore describes precise Christian instruction that includes exegesis of the Scriptures. In Acts 18:24–28 and 28:23–31, ektithemi and didasko (‘I teach’) appear in the same contexts. These words will be compared to other words in these contexts that describe teaching. This paper will conclude that ektithemi and the other words for teaching and instruction in Acts 18:24–28 and 28:23–31 describe authoritative teaching that is of equal force to didasko.


The Poet as Leader of Spiritual Transformation
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Leonard Mare, North-West University

Poetic texts verbalize and articulate the faith and experiences of the community of the faithful under various circumstances. The power of the poetic word is such that it can generate new beginnings with creative and vigorous actions from God that will result in the transformation of circumstances and people. Poets not only discern God’s new actions but evoke God’s fresh actions through the power of imagination and words. Poetic imagination and the poetic word issue bold invitations to a new possibility of life and transformed faith. New vitality erupts from their daring summons to spiritual transformation. This transformative power of the poetic word places great authority and the ability to influence in the mouth of the poet. By the words of their mouths, poets can create new realities and new beginnings. They are empowered through the dramatic artistry of the poetic word to bring about spiritual transformation in the hearts and lives of their hearers and readers.This paper offers a reading of Psalm 63 that focuses on spiritual transformation. The yearning and thirst of the psalmist to encounter God provide an apt example of the imaginative power of the poetic word to lead into spiritual transformation and renewal.


Al-Tabari's Rhetorical Concept of the Quran: Implications for Historical and Contemporary Research
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
Ulrika Mårtensson, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

The paper analyzes al-Tabari's (d. 923 CE) concept of the Quran as expressed in his history and his Quran commentary with reference to rhetoric, and by comparing it with that of some later exegetes. The aim is to define how al-Tabari's concept of the Quran compares with contemporary research on rhetoric in the Quran. Two arguments will be developed. The first is that al-Tabari defined the Quran in rhetorical terms, as God's "persuasive proof demonstration" (al-hujja al-baligha) through "signs" (ayat), here analyzed through the classical term "sign proof" (semeion). The second is that al-Tabari also defined the Quran's inimitability (i'jaz) in rhetorical terms, both in the form of God's "proof demonstration" which is more convincing than any human counterpart, and in the form of the linguistic features which are more exquisite than those of any human linguistic product. Compared with al-Maturidi (d. 944) and al-Tha'labi (d. 1035), al-Tabari's rhetorical concept of the Quran is unique. It was, however, employed by Ibn Kathir (d. 1373) in a way that suggests that al-Tabari developed the concept to refute the Mu'tazilite doctrine of the Quran as created. The conclusion is that while al-Tabari had a dogmatic objective, his definition of the Quran as rhetoric encompasses two contemporary descriptive approaches: those who analyze the Qur'an in terms of classical "argumentation-rhetoric" (Gellner; Jomier; Gobillot; Gwynne; Mårtensson) and those who analyze its linguistic features and composition in terms of "Semitic rhetoric" (Cuypers; Zahniser).


Authority and Text in the Temple Scroll
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Corrado Martone, Università degli Studi di Torino

This paper opens with some introductory remarks on the concept of authority and the risk of anachronism it implies in a Second Temple period context. As for the relationship between the Temple Scroll and authority and if and to what extent the Temple Scroll may be considered an authoritative text, the short answer is yes. A text in which God himself speaks in the first person to his people, as a matter of fact is (or claims to be) an authoritative text. Thus, the problem is who considered authoritative the Temple Scroll and how could its author convince its readers of the authenticity of this work in the Second Temple period? Was it possible to rewrite the text of the Deuteoronomy and to have people believe to it in about the 2nd century BCE? To try to give an answer, this paper proposes two working hypotheses. 1) No one ever considered the Temple Scroll an authoritative text. A text does not not always or necessarily hide a group, let alone a sect. What if the Temple Scroll would be the work of single author? On the other hand, the Temple scroll might have been 2) authoritative for everyone in Second Temple times. In fact, it might have been part of the Temple library material on which Zadokite priesthood worked to prepare its own sacred literature. A re-evaluation of the relationship between the "biblical" text of the Temple Scroll and the text that (much) later will become the Bible will help analyze this hypotesis.


Who is Who between Job, Qoheleth and the Proverbial Sage? Casting a Selective Wisdom Gaze on South Africa, Post Independence
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Madipoane Masenya, University of South Africa

For many, a marginalized person of South Africa, the dawn of political freedom in 1994 cast a ray of hope, hope for a better life among others. Some theologians have argued that reconciliation without justice is a farce. Ruether contends: “Reconciliation is a problematic concept for oppressed people. Too often the demand for reconciliation is put forward without regard for genuine change in the oppressive situation of power. The victimized are called to forgive and be reconciled in a way that perpetuates, rather than rectifies, the causes of alienation and division” (1999:116). Which wisdom tradition could enable one to make a helpful wisdom gaze towards a reasonable analysis of the South African context post independence? Could such a gaze assist us in coming up with a helpful engagement with a theme such as reconciliation in South Africa? The proverbial sage with his/her optimism? The book of Job with its critical perspectives? Qoheleth with his skepticism? The present text is an attempt to cast a wisdom gaze on the South African post-apartheid context with a view to coming up with a constructive analysis on the theme of reconciliation within the same context.


For Ever Trapped? An African Voice on Insider/Outsider Dynamics within Gender-Sensitive Frameworks
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Madipoane Masenya, University of South Africa

The desire to “fit in” within one’s sphere of operation does not seem to be a challenge facing those in their teen years only. It appears to be inherently human. It also bothers those whose operational sphere is academia. Since the inception of feminist theologies in South Africa in the early eighties, gender identified biblical frameworks have started trickling in very slowly but surely. As it has been typical of mainstream biblical studies, gender-identified scholars have been hard pressed between mimicking what has been and continues to be done by mainstream feminist biblical scholars elsewhere and what would be more relevant to their own contexts. Within such a setting, insiders to academia, who choose to have their gender sensitive frameworks first and foremost informed by the concerns of “outside” (read African) contexts, rather than those of Bible readers from hegemonic contexts for example, are familiar with the challenges of split identities. Within a scholarly context which remains heavily Eurocentric, such insiders/outsiders, are trapped in a situation of an encounter with the proverbial royal cow: damned if you attend to the cow and damned if you leave it unattended. The present text is an attempt to analyse such insider-outsider dynamics with a view to checking possibilities of a way out if any.


Golden Calf Traditions and the Epistle to the Hebrews
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
Eric F. Mason, Judson University

Connections between Hebrews and golden calf traditions in the Jewish Scriptures have not traditionally been the topic of much discussion, and there are no explicit references to the golden calf in Hebrews. Nevertheless some interpreters of Hebrews in recent years have argued that the golden calf traditions provide a significant backdrop for understanding the argument of this text. This paper briefly considers these proposals and surveys several passages in Hebrews that have been cited as reflecting golden calf traditions. The thesis of this paper is that the author of Hebrews does indeed make light use of golden calf traditions, but through the influence of Deuteronomy (rather than Exodus) and in combination with other Sinai and wilderness traditions. This raises the question of why the author of Hebrews avoids direct mention of this episode despite his emphasis on the unfaithfulness of the wilderness generation.


'Same Old'? Muslim-Christian Relations and the Arab Uprisings
Program Unit: Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective
Fiona McCallum, University of St. Andrews

One implication of the ongoing Arab uprisings is the renewed public discourse about the role of Islam. Western media and policymakers have connected the political influence of Islamist actors to the possible restriction of rights of non-Muslims. This paper will focus primarily on Egypt and Syria given that both countries have a significant Christian population and have been directly impacted by the uprisings. In Egypt, democratic elections have led to Islamist control of the executive and legislative authorities, while Syria is undergoing violence which has led to the accentuation of sub-state identities and raised fear of sectarian conflict. In order to identify what changes may have occurred regarding the situation of Christians in the Middle East, it is necessary to characterize Muslim-Christian relations under the authoritarian regimes prior to the uprisings. These can be divided into three categories - official ties, societal coexistence, and areas of tension. On the official level, state and religious authorities tended to emphasize the shared history of both Muslims and Christians, thus reinforcing the notion that Christians were equal and loyal citizens. On the societal level, coexistence was evident in daily interactions. However, there were also underlying tensions relating to the public role of Islam which impacted upon equality such as conversion, intermarriage, and, in the Egyptian case, construction of places of worship. While communal violence was rare in Syria, sporadic but recurring violence occurred in Egypt. The impact of the uprisings on the three categories will be analyzed. This paper argues that the uprisings have led to the discourse on the role of non-Muslims becoming more public than under authoritarianism. Yet, simultaneously, this has also led to less tolerant views being voiced, arguably reflecting a more accurate depiction of societal views and explaining the apparently contradictory discourses.


Elisha as a Trickster
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Albert McClure, University of Denver

The character Elisha, as opposed to his predecessor Elijah (e.g., 1 Kgs 18:16-46), often avoids direct confrontation with his adversaries. He may, however, be classified as a trickster (cf. Niditch, Underdogs and Tricksters). In 2 Kings (6:8-7:20; 8:7-15; 13:14-21) Elisha uses tricks in his interactions with other characters in order to achieve his and Yahweh’s purposes. In 2 Kgs 6:8-23, Elisha tricks the Aramean army into following him into Samaria where they have no option but to surrender. In 2 Kgs 7:3, Elisha pronounces a cryptic judgment against the king of Israel’s official, a judgment that is ultimately fulfilled in the official’s death (7:17-20). In 2 Kgs 8:7-15, Elisha trick Hazael into fulfilling the pronouncement of Yahweh; that he would replace Ben ?adad as king of Aram. Finally, in 2 Kgs 13:14-21, Elisha doesn’t explain the significance of the symbolic acts he requested Joash perform (13:14-18). Instead, he allows Joash’s actions to predict his ultimate inability to defeat the Arameans once and for all (13:19). The implications of Elisha as a trickster, aside from those wedded to Sitz im Leben, point to the social location of Elisha’s character—peripheral—and to his ultimate inability to totally control the narratives in which he is a part of.


The Terror of God: Job 28:28 in Context
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Albert L. McClure, University of Denver / Iliff School of Theology

There are various ways to interpret Job 28: wisdom hymn, intermezzo, interpolation, etc. For example, chapter 28 is considered by Newsom as the speech of an unidentified voice--an interlude (1996:2003). Representing those who would relocate Job 28 to another speaker or section of the book we may cite Clines, who first proposed Job 28 belonged in the mouth of Zophar (1989), but most recently has proposed that this chapter belongs to Elihu's (2003). There remains a contingent of scholars who assign Job 28 to Job, however (Good 1990; Janzen 1985; Childs 1979; 1995; Lo 2003; Whybray 1998). That is, there are number of different directions to go when interpreting Job 28, and these solutions are largely dependent on who the speaker of this chapter is assumed to be: narrator, Elihu, God, or Job. Utilizing the work of Scott Jones (2009), I will argue that there is sufficient evidence to read Job 28:28 as Job's words, and that this verse directly connects to the experiential wisdom Job has gleaned from his fearful encounter with God in Job 1-27. I will focus this essay on the words and phrases in Job 28:28b: "Look, fear of Adonai is wisdom." The 'fear of God' is a common phrase in the Hebrew Bible and read in light of Job's experience of God in chapter 1-27 'fear' may be understood in terms of terror, not reverence. Understood as terror, 'fear of Adonai' in 28:28b is not an echo of traditional wisdom and its concomitant religious praxis (e.g., Prov. 3:7). Instead it is an admission of terror. This conclusion opens up Job 28 for further interpretation along the lines of an impious reversal of traditional wisdom themes, a tactic seen elsewhere in Job's speeches (e.g., Job 3).


An Arabian Trudgman in Nazareth: The Gospel Narrative of al-Biqa'i's Nazm al-durar fi tanasub al-ayat wa'l-suwar
Program Unit: Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective
Roy Michael McCoy III, University of Oxford

After preaching through the entire Quran every week for twenty years, the fifteenth-century Mamluk scholar Ibrahim b. 'Umar al-Biqa'i (809-85/1407-80) resolved to compose a commentary on the Quran that would include extensive quotations from both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospels. His use of the Bible in his tafsir was so revolutionary that it provoked one of the most controversial episodes in late Mamluk Cairo, the intellectual center of the Islamic world at that time. Al-Biqa'i compiled a comprehensive narrative of the story of Jesus from the New Testament, essentially a harmony of the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John. This paper addresses his interpretive methodology in relation to Q.3:7 and the New Testament quotations included in that context. The paper then proceeds to evaluate one of his basic hermeneutical principles, the munasabat (proportionality) of the Quran. By this he meant the logical causality between the intended sense of a particular sura of the Quran and its content. The most salient feature of al-Biqa'i’s commentary, one that provoked Muslim sensibilities concerning the Bible, is that he based his tafsir on this principle. The central issue dealt with in the paper is how this Islamic Renaissance man utilizes the Biblical text in his interpretation of the Quran, and at the same time maintains his commitment to the methodological approach he espouses. With the inclusion of those texts in his commentary, al-Biqa'i calls into question everything that we know about the Muslim stance towards the Bible, in his milieu as well as our own. To further our understanding of the Islamic tradition of interpretation in a variegated religious context, the interpretive methods employed by al-Biqa'i in his commentary must be elucidated, the benefit of which has hitherto been discerned in the fields of tafsir and New Testament studies.


Advantages and Disadvantages of Peer Assessment: What, and to Whom?
Program Unit: Professional Issues
Heather McKay, Edge Hill University

Peer Assessment matches self- and staff-assessment more closely when certain conditions are met: academic rather than professional processes are assessed, few—rather than many—criteria are to be applied, the students are clear as to the meaning and purpose of the criteria. One advantage is that more work can be assessed and, most likely, improved, another is improved transparency of the assessment process. More time is required from faculty, however, in designing the assessment task and making the criteria crystal clear to the students. Is it possible some staff and/or students would resist the extra time commitment involved?


The Bible: Influencing Culture or Hostage to Convictions? Some Reflections from the Neighboring Island
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
David McMillan, International Baptist Theological Seminary

The task of assessing the impact made by biblical material on society is essentially the task of reflecting on the use made of the biblical text by those with particular interests and influence. Nowhere is this more obvious and clearly illustrated than in the neighbouring island of Ireland and in particular within what is often defined as the Ulster Protestant tradition of the six counties of Northern Ireland. From fundamentalist evangelical preachers and Episcopal chaplains of the Orange Order to the ecumenically minded, the biblical text has been appropriated to justify the parameters of truth and legitimate political action as well as the inclusion or exclusion of other societal groups and religious traditions. Drawing on the work of American theologian James McClendon and philosopher James Smith, this paper suggests that to appreciate the role of the biblical text in any social context it is essential to reflect upon the prior convictions of the community as formed and shaped by its various allegiances and historical narrative. By way of illustration the paper will focus on two periods of modern Irish history, the Ulster Covenant of 1912 and the Referendum on the Belfast Agreement in 1998. Reflecting on the extensive use of the Bible in both contexts to interpret and define the nature of the political and cultural struggles not only serves to highlight the concept of the Bible as hostage to convictions, but raises questions about the convictional and contextual nature of the text itself.


To Die, To Sleep, To Sleep…Perchance to Resurrect
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Elizabeth McNamer, Rocky Mountain College (Billings)

The proper burial of the dead is a universal concern and of great importance to people in the ancient Mediterranean culture This paper will examine the first century graves found at Bethsaida and what they reveal about those who lie there.


Antiochean Readings of I–IV Reigns in Early Church Fathers
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Martin Meiser, Universität des Saarlandes

After a long period of research influenced by Rahlfs’ view on the so-called Antiochene text, the question of presence and influence of Antiochene readings before Lucian of Antioch is re-opened. This paper sums up the results of my former research on Justin and presents the specific Antiochene readings in the works of Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Origen in a comprehensive way. Some quotations or allusions however, now similar to Antiochene readings, are perhaps due to shortening or enlarging of the text due to the Church Father’s memory or his desire to improve the style of his pre-text. I will present a list of criteria in order to put the thesis of the undeniable presence of Antiochene readings in the first centuries on firmer ground.


Miqreh in Retrospect: An Illumination of Miqreh in Light of Eccl 3:1–8 and the Book of Ruth
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Brittany Melton, University of Cambridge

“Fate is a concept that has invited uneasiness when brought into the study of ancient Israelite thought. More than once scholars have argued that it was not merely absent from ancient Israel as reflected in our only real source on the matter, the Hebrew Bible, but fundamentally contradictory to the Israelite world view. If there is an exception, it is usually considered to be in the book of Qohelet” (Machinist, In Solving Riddles & Untying Knots, 1995, pp. 159–160). Peter Machinist, in his noteworthy article, “Fate, Miqreh, and Reason: Some Reflections on Qohelet and Biblical Thought,” defines miqreh as “an occurrence that to humans is unexpected because they cannot foresee or control it and cannot understand, at least at the time of occurrence, the reason for it” (169). Furthermore, he establishes that Qoheleth situates such occurrences within the framework of 'patterned time'. This paper picks up Machinist’s observation of patterned time and seeks to further develop it by bringing the “time poem” in Eccl to the foreground of discussion. Subsequently, it calls into question Robert L. Hubbard Jr.’s assertion that “the kind of direct, orderly divine providence evident in Ruth is precisely what Qoheleth doubts” (The Book of Ruth, 1988, pp. 28–29). By placing Qoheleth’s “time poem” in dialogue with the book of Ruth the idea of miqreh interpreted in retrospect can be examined. The purview of this paper provides an enhanced understanding of miqreh as that which is out of human control, but not beyond God’s. It concludes that ‘fate’ occurrences can only be reinterpreted as divine action in retrospect. In doing so the paper revisits Machinist’s stated possibility in miqreh reconciled with the OT view of divine sovereignty.


Coping with Lost Manhood: Early Christian Strategies for Restoring Masculinity
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Petri Merenlahti, University of Helsinki, Finland

Recent studies on early Christian masculinities have looked at the ancient Greco-Roman gender ideology as a significant part of the New Testament background. In Greco-Roman culture, manliness was a key value and a measure of human perfection. Jesus’ death on the cross, his radical teaching, and the frailty of his followers did not fully match this masculine ideology. This made early Christian identities vulnerable under the pressure of a cultural norm. In my paper I discuss the different ways New Testament writers respond to this crisis of masculinity in their depiction of Jesus and his followers. Drawing on Foucault on gender as construction, Butler on gender as performance, the French Freudians & feminists (Lacan, Kristeva, Irigaray) on gender as fantasy discourse and applying psychodynamic theories of coping, I propose a typology of four alternative masculinities in the New Testament that correspond to different coping styles or defense mechanisms. I suggest that these four types have a long and rich effective history, and they still shape the way people construct, perform and debate over Christian male and female identities today.


The Making of the Canonical Paul
Program Unit:
Annette Merz, Universiteit Utrecht

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Fathers and Sons: Primogeniture Versus Parental Choice according to R. Ya’akov Khuli’s “Me’am Lo’ez” on the Book of Genesis (A. 1730)
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Alisa Meyuhas-Ginio, University of Tel Aviv

Ever since its first publication (A.1730), the Me’am Lo’ez became a guiding authority for the proper ways of life to be adopted by Sephardi men and women in their Mediterranean Diaspora. The author, Rabbi Ya’akov Khulí, included in his erudite Ladino commentary on the book of Genesis many statements explicitly teaching his intended public what should be or should not be done in their everyday lives. One example is Khulí’s statement on parental choice, following his discussion of Patriarch Jacob’s attitude towards his beloved son – Joseph: “ …el ke tiene dos ijos ke les viste de un modo i no regale al uno mas ke al otro” (ML, 1823, 378). [one who has two children should give both the same kind of clothes and should not present one of his offspring with more presents than the other] Yet, reading the life stories of fathers and sons in the Book of Genesis, we are aware that all three Patriarchs showed parental choice of one of their sons, and not always the firstborn. How did Rabbi Ya’akov Khulí explain this attitude? Considering the unprecedented popularity of the Me’am Lo’ez, its author’s view of parental choice is of much interest for students of Ladino literature, of Sephardic history and sociology, and of biblical studies.


Drinking from the Mouth of Jesus: Nourishment as a Symbol for Salvation in the Gospel of Thomas
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Calogero A. Miceli, Concordia University - Université Concordia

While many of the scholarly studies on the Gospel According to Thomas (Gos.Thom.) have had a tendency of focusing on the correlational relationship (or lack thereof) between the apocryphal text with the gospels of the New Testament or on the date and location of its compilation this study bypasses these important questions of inquiry in order to engage and make sense of the gospel’s soteriology through various mentions of food and nourishment. From among the one hundred and fourteen logia of the Gos.Thom. there are over twenty-five logia that contain references to food, eating and/or drinking. These logia are as follows: 1, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 27, 28, 36 (POxy 655), 47, 60, 61, 64, 69, 74, 79, 85, 96, 97, 102, 104, and 108. To be clear, all of these mentions of food function in different ways and address different ideological, sociological and theological issues. The aim of the present research is not to understand all of the mentions of food in Thomas; rather, its task is to look at those mentions of food where it is used to explain a deeper salvific truth to the reader. Therefore, the following research paper engages the symbolic mentions of food and nourishment and studies how these are used figuratively as metaphors and similes in order to express the concept of salvation in the Gos.Thom. It is argued that food symbols have been sewn into the gospel as literary devices with the purpose of explaining the concept of salvation of Thomas to its audience.


The Divine Image in Persian Period Literature: Commonality and Difference
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Jill Middlemas, Universität Zürich

In light of increasing attention to how the divine word takes precedence over the divine image in the Second Temple period, this paper seeks to survey images of the divine in Prophecy and Historiography. It takes as a starting point the work of James Barr on the supposed influence of Second Isaiah on the divine image in Genesis 1 in order to provide an entry to this topic. It aims to consider the following questions: Does an image of the deity appear in prophecy and historiography? How widespread is it (or are they, should many images be found)? Does a divine image act as a place of commonality or serve to differentiate ideas mediated literarily? How is the divine image related to a growing emphasis on the divine word?


Church Beginnings in the Interpretation of the Church: Early Traces of Reception and Patristic Interpretation of Acts 1–5
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Justin A. Mihoc, University of Durham

The primary objective of this paper is to provide an answer to the question of how the Patristic authors not only received the beginning of Acts (1-5), but also interpreted them. The "beginnings" of Christianity, especially the first community of Jerusalem, have proved to be one of the most fascinating stories of the last two millennia. Since the Book of Acts is the only canonical writing that provides a record of the events of those formative years of the early Church, we can assume that it was this account of the Christian beginnings that has been so widely received. The aim of my paper is to trace the use and textual interpretation of the first five chapters of Acts. I will examine the Patristic exegesis of Acts 1-5 in the Patristic authors until John Chrysostom. The way in which the Patristic authors read this "creation" story is of utmost importance in understanding the edifying image of the first Christian community. Hence, this research aims to uncover if their exegesis actually shaped the image of the first Christians, which has been preserved within the Christian tradition.


Did the Rabbis Have a Notion of “the Canonical”? Scriptural and non-Scriptural Books in Rabbinic Literature
Program Unit:
Chaim Milikowsky, Bar-Ilan University

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What Biblicists Need to Know about...Early and Rabbinic Judaism
Program Unit:
Chaim Milikowsky, Bar-Ilan University

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The Name of God and Creation: A Reassessment of the Evidence
Program Unit: Hellenistic Judaism
Michael T. Miller, University of Nottingham

In one of the most important and often-cited texts of the last thirty years, The Name of God and The Angel of the Lord, Jarl Fossum claimed that there was a Second Temple tradition of God’s Name YHWH as agent or tool of creation. This has since become an accepted academic principle, referenced without challenge in many texts on the theology of the period, and informing the analysis of later texts. This paper will re-examine the evidence, analysing the Samaritan and Talmudic texts of the Common Era which Fossum used, as well as some earlier apocryphal and pseudepigraphic texts. A close textual analysis will show that many of the assumptions based on Fossum’s work are unfounded, a conclusion which has implications for, among others, the work of Daniel Boyarin in the early relationship of early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. It will be my argument that, although there is some evidence for a relationship of the Name to the process of creation, particularly in sealing what is created, the evidence Fossum used does not demonstrate an ancient doctrine but rather a debate which was occurring during the Common Era, and a doctrine which was only then solidifying – in different ways in the three circles of Samaritan, Rabbinic and Christian thought. Many of the sources he misinterpreted by reading into them a nominal doctrine that would only emerge several centuries later, while his other sources are clearly engaging in a polemical rejection of the emerging tradition. In particular, his conclusion that the Tetragrammaton is at the heart of a creation tradition in late Second Temple times falls apart once analysed.


Qohelet as a Complex, Polyphonic Character
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Mary Mills, Liverpool Hope University

The overall voice in Ecclesiastes is presented as a single strand, an 'I' who speaks, but commentators have noted that there are at least two moods at work in the book. Developing the theme of complex characterisation this paper uses aspects of the work of Michael Bakhtin to explore the subject of the preacher as polyphonic hero: a persona constructed from the interaction of several social roles, king, sage, family man as well as the interweaving of literary sub-genres. The paper argues for the view that this wisdom book's deployment of performed utterance balances the isolated role of self-reflection with a medley of relational situations.


A New Interpretive Framework for "I Am" Sayings in John
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Richard K. Min, Taylor University

This paper explores and presents a new interpretive paradigm, to propose a new unifying framework for "I am" sayings in John. First, two proof methods for "I am the light of the world" in John 8:12-18 are noticed and investigated to establish a critical basis and interpretive framework for "I am" sayings in John. Second, "I am" sayings in John 10:1-18 are investigated to propose the literary function of these "I am" phrases, as the critical interpretive key to unlock the underlying figure of speech (parable), to identify the true identity of the gate and the good shepherd in John 10:1-5. Further the initial parable in John 10:1-5 is then unfolded as being partially interpreted with "I am" as the interpretive key, blended with what is real and what is symbolic, and thus to reveal the true meaning of the parable (that is, its hidden and intended message). With this new insight on these distinctive interpretive features, the "I am" sayings in John are investigated and analyzed to establish a unifying framework for the "I am" sayings in John.


A New Critical Method toward Validity and Interpretation of Paradox of Circularity
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Richard K. Min, Taylor University

The study of paradox of circularity has been one of the most neglected areas in contemporary biblical scholarship for the latter half of the 20th century. The study of paradox of circularity was pioneered by Russell in the early 20th century, but soon to be treated as invalid (nonsense) in formal logic. Its intention was pragmatic, but the consequence of this mainstream decision has been somewhat devastating, especially in biblical scholarship. However, there has been a renewed interest due to the innovative approach and breakthrough in the study of circularity and paradox pioneered by Kripke and recently in computational literary criticism. This new paradigm is the primary critical method in this paper, to understand and analyze biblical paradox of circularity in New Testament Studies. This paper explores and presents this new paradigm as a critical method in understanding and analysis of biblical paradox and circular construct in the Bible. Selected biblical examples in the Bible are presented and analyzed. Two proof methods in John 8:12-18 with Exodus 3:14-15 are noticed and examined to establish the critical basis of this paper, toward a unifying interpretive framework of "I am" sayings in John. Further it is applied to solve the difficult and controversial problem in the Johannine study including a paradox in 1 John dealing with the problem of the necessity of confession for one’s own sin (1 John 1:8-10) versus the impeccability of Christian (1 John 3:9 and 5:18).


Paradox of Circularity in Matt 22:15-46
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Richard K. Min, Taylor University

The study of paradox of circularity was pioneered by Russell in the early 20th century, but soon to be treated as invalid (nonsense) in formal logic. Its intention was pragmatic, but the consequence of this mainstream decision has been somewhat devastating, especially in biblical scholarship. However, there has been a renewed interest due to the innovative approach and breakthrough in the study of circularity and paradox pioneered by Kripke. This new approach is the primary critical method in this paper, to understand and analyze three paradoxes in Matthew 22:15-46. The first paradox in Matthew 22:15-22 is about paying tax to Caesar, to set a trap in word. The second paradox in Matthew 22:23-33 about resurrection and marriage, again to set a trap in word. The third paradox in Matthew 22:41-46 is about the Messiah addressed by David as his lord in Psalm 110. Further this paper concludes that these three paradoxes should be classified as paradox of circularity.


Hamid al-Din al-Farahi on Quranic balaghah
Program Unit: Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective
Mustansir Mir, Youngstown State University

The Indian Muslim scholar Hamid ad-Din al-Farahi (1863-1930) is a major modern Quranic exegete. His main contribution to tafsir is his concept of Quranic nazm (“coherence”), which was developed and applied to the whole Qur’an by his eminent student Amin Ahsan Islahi (1906-1997), who migrated to Pakistan and wrote there his multivolume Urdu Quranic commentary Tadabbur-i Qur’an. Farahi dealt with several aspects of the Quran, among them Quranic balaghah, on which he wrote two short books, Jamharat al-Balaghah and Asalib al-Qur’an, the subject of study in this paper. Farahi distinguishes between balaghat al-'Arab and balaghat al-'Ajam, arguing that the accepted tradition of Quranic balaghah bears a strong imprint of later, 'ajami modes of thought (and even seems to have been influenced by Greek notions of balaghah) and cannot, therefore, be called true Arabic balaghah. After raising several theoretical issues (those, for example, of the distinction between shi'r [“poetry”] and khitabah [“oratory”] and the relationship between ma'na [meaning] and lafz [“words”]), Farahi discusses a series of specific terms and concepts in balaghah, among them the following: qiran (“junction”), hadhf (“omission”), iltifat (“shift” of person, number, pronoun, etc.), khitab (“address”), at-tafsil ba'da l-ijmal (“elaboration after summation”), and takhlis (“transition and transfer”). Farahi’s often quite different understanding of these terms will be presented and examples cited from the above-mentioned two works and from his exegesis of certain surahs of the Quran. The overall purpose of the paper is to draw scholarly attention to a significant modern view of Qur’anic balaghah.


Messianism and the Idea of Universal Exegesis in Islam: The Parallel Interpretation of the Quran and the Bible in the Jawidan-nama of Fadlallah Astarabadi (d. 796/1394)
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, The Institute of Ismaili Studies

The predominant attitude of Muslim authors towards the use of biblical texts developed in polemical and exegetical works and in the a'lam/dala'il al-nubuwwa literature stemmed from Quranic positions. These included, on the one hand, the idea that Jews and Christians tampered with their books and, on the other, the statement that these books contain the proofs of Muhammad's prophetic mission. In the present paper, I would like to emphasize another, more 'ecumenical' approach to biblical texts, in which biblical and Quranic texts were regarded as integral parts of the same revelation and included, without polemical overtones, in doctrinal and exegetical discourse. Examples of such integration can be found in the Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa' and the works of Ismaili thinkers such as Abu Ya'qub Sijistani and Nasir-i Khusraw. I will argue that messianic or millenarian milieus were particularly appropriate for the development of this kind of approach to the biblical texts. The Jawidan-nama, the major (and still unpublished) work of Fadlallah Astarabadi, leader of the Iranian messianic group known under the name of the Hurufiyya (8th/14th century), contains many interesting examples of the parallel interpretation of Qur'anic and biblical texts. I will discuss some of these examples in my presentation, focusing essentially on the Jawidan-nama's interpretation of the Book of Revelation.


The Platonic Background of Gos. Thom. 61
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Ivan Miroshnikov, University of Helsinki

In the paper I am going to deal with the Platonic background of Saying 61 of the Gospel of Thomas. Following the suggestion of the Berliner Arbeitskreis für koptisch-gnostische Schriften I believe that Thomas 61 consists of a short dialogue between Jesus and Salome and a corollary to this dialogue written by a later commentator. Most of the scholars presume that the Coptic text of Thomas 61 is corrupt, therefore along with interpreting the saying I will also offer a philological analysis of certain Coptic words and expressions present in the text. I will start with discussing the integrity of the saying, since it has been questioned by a number of scholars. Then I will discuss how the saying is influenced by the Middle Platonist philosophy. First, I will try to prove wrong Ismo Dunderberg’s suggestion that Salome’s question has a reference to ‘the One’. Second, I will show that a number of Middle Platonist sources state that the ultimate reality is always equal to itself (I will discuss the relevant passages in Apuleius, Philo, Celsus and Plutarch) and that a number of religious texts follow the Platonist authors in their attribution of equality to the Godhead (Corpus Hermeticum, Clement of Alexandria’s Stromata, Valentinian Tractatus Tripartitus). My point is that when the Thomasine Jesus says that he came from ‘the one who is equal’, he refers to the generally accepted Platonist view that God is immutable. Finally, I will demonstrate that the commentator’s idea of ‘becoming divided’ is also rooted in Platonic philosophy. According to the Middle Platonist sources, the ultimate reality is indivisible, while both human body and soul are of composite nature and, therefore, divisible. My suggestion is that the commentator was aware of these ideas and believed that a human being is capable of becoming ‘undivided’.


The Structure of the Georgian Translation of the LXX Esther
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Natia Mirotadze, National Centre of Manuscripts

The Georgian versions of the book of Esther are preserved in the following sources which are divided into three textual groups: I. Ath. 1 (s. c. Oshki Bible (978)) – the translation of AT; II. A-570 (1460), A-646 (15th-16th cc.), H-885 (17th c.), A-51 (17th-18th cc.), M-1694 (13th c.; Matenadaran, fly leaf of the Armenian manuscript) – the translation of the LXX Esther; III. Bakari printed Bible (1743, Moscow) – the translation or the recension prepared from or according to the Slavic version. The paper deals with the text preserved in the second group of manuscripts. This text is rather interesting from different viewpoints; however, this time we will review its structure which is important also in terms of the textual history of the Greek versions of Esther. Thorough examination of the text leads us to the following conclusions: 1) The georgian text is contaminated. 2) It contains the main part of LXX Esther, that’s why we call it The Translation of the LXX- Esther. 3) Quite large passages from AT and from the third text which so far has been only known from the preserved fragments of Vetus Latina are added to the main part. 4) Passages from AT represent a different translation from the Oshki version. 5) The contaminated text presumably was the result of translator’s work who had different Greek texts and could not decide which one to prefer; thus he created one contaminated translation. Or it may be the Greek reviser challenged by the same dilemma whose text later became the source of the Georgian translation.


Divine Instrument and Oriental Despot: An Encounter with Achaemenid Ideology
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Christine Mitchell, St. Andrew's College - Saskatoon

Darius I in the Bisitun inscription first put himself forward as the instrument of Ahuramazda. Not prone to depict himself as a deity's "son", a concept well-understood in his empire - where sonship could be the result of either divine birth or divine choice, rather he depicted himself as having been chosen as the deity's instrument in creating the cosmic paradise on earth. Darius and his successors did not claim divinity for themselves or their ancestors, in contrast to, e.g., Ramses, Alexander, Augustus Caesar. What happens when the ideology of kingship as instrument alone meets the ideology of kingship as divine sonship? We do not have the Persian side of this encounter, but we do have numerous Greek sources as well as a few Hebrew Bible texts. Are the absolute monarch-buffoons of Daniel and Esther and the hubris-infected Xerxes of Aeschylus and Herodotus reflections of the encounter with the Achaemenid Persian ideology of king as divine instrument? In this paper, I trace the history of the trope of Oriental despot as an encounter with the Achaemenid ideology of kingship, and how this Achaemenid ideology was effectively silenced to history by the creation and maintenance of the figure of the Oriental despot.


Reading Zechariah's Visions at Ramat Rahel
Program Unit: Persian Period
Christine Mitchell , St. Andrew's College - Saskatoon

Recent excavations at Ramat Rahel have revealed a garden as part of the Persian period palace complex. A garden, more specifically a paridaida (OPers; Gk paradeisos) was part of the typical Achaemenid royal and satrapal palace complex, and it would not be impossible that a provincial or regional governor's palace would also have a paradeisos. The paradeisos was an important part of the expression of Achaemenid ideology as a tangible re-creation of the perfect cosmos created by Ahuramazda and guarded by the Achaemenid kings. Usually Zechariah's visions in Zech 1-8 are located by scholars in either Jerusalem or in the divine court. However, while the visions and narratives imagine the rebuilding of Jerusalem, they could be read as taking place elsewhere. In this paper, I read the visions and narratives as if they took place in the paradeisos at Ramat Rahel. As a contribution to criteria for dating texts within the Persian period, I examine a variety of terms in the text as expressions of Achaemenid ideology (especially related to the paradeisos and Achaemenid cosmology). The ideology is particularly associated with the phase of imperial consolidation under Darius I and Xerxes I.


Paul, the Hellenistic-Jewish Traveler: A Paper on the Jewish and Hellenistic Reasons for Travel
Program Unit: Hellenistic Judaism
Jaroslaw Moeglich, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

The topic of travels in antiquity has received much of scholarly attention (e.g., Baslez, 1993) mainly due to the monumental work of the father of history and geography – Herodotus. There were many travelers after him, also among the Jews. One of the Hellenistic Jews who traveled a lot was Paul, the Apostle. Although Jewish travels were recently studied (Hezser, 2011), Paul’s travels, as a part of his biography, are often neglected (Schellenberg, 2011). Many exegetes do not ask about Paul's reasons to travel, because they consider him a "missionary," and traveling in this view is just a part of missionary's activity (cf. Schellenberg, 2011). Paul's journeys, from a religious perspective, are classified as the travels promoting a deity or a way life (Harland, 2011). In this paper I intend to compare the reasons for travel as described (a) in the OT ('Jewish' reasons) and (b) in the Hellenistic non-biblical literature ('Hellenistic' reasons). After that, I shall ask the question of Paul's reasons for travel as expressed by him in the Homologoumena. On the one hand, the traveling figures of the OT (e.g., Abraham - Gen 12:1, Moses - Ex 33:1, Elijah - 1 Kgs) receive a direct command from God "to go." On the other hand, according to Herodotus, Isocrates and Plato, there were three different reasons for a Greek to travel: commerce, war and sight-seeing (theoria) that embraced the activities related to going to e.g., religious festivals (cf. Redfield, 1985). Paul often refers to his travel plans (e.g., 1 Thess 2:17; 1 Cor 16:5-10; Rom 1:9) but how do Paul's reasons to travel fit into this twofold Jewish-Hellenistic rationale for travel? Does Paul mention that God told him "to go" (like OT travelers)? Does Paul travel in order to make business, fight or watch the others (like Hellenistic travelers)?


Exploring Jesus’ High-Priestly Service in Hebrews 8–10: A Survey of Contemporary Debates
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
David M. Moffitt, Campbell University

The nature, location, and particulars of Jesus’ high-priestly service and the ways these issues relate to Hebrews’ understanding of the New Covenant continue to be matters actively discussed in the secondary literature. This paper will survey a number of recent publications on Hebrews relating to these topics. The goal of the paper is two-fold: 1) to identify approaches that appear to provide innovative and positive ways to advance the debates, and 2) to introduce some common points of reference to help guide the Consultation’s discussion on this central section of this enigmatic text.


"God Was Pleased to Kill": A Concept behind the Birth of Samson and Samuel
Program Unit: Concept Analysis and the Hebrew Bible
Paola Mollo, University of Pisa

The reasons why the stories of Samson and Samuel can be read in parallel are well known: both Samson and Samuel were Nazarites; both were miraculously born to sterile mothers; both were Judges of Israel (the former was a capricious warrior with superhuman strength, while the latter was a prophet and priest); and lastly, Samuel completed the mission which was left unfinished by Samson: the liberation of the Israelites from the hand of the Philistines. However, a further issue is underlying their stories and their stories only: God’s plan to kill those who will open the way for Samuel (the sons of Eli), and not to kill those who will give birth to Samson (his parents). Why does this concept - expressed in the same way in the two narratives by ?p? yhwh lhmyt (1 Sam 2:25 and Judg 13:23) - only appear in these two stories? And how does it fit into the network of other underlying concepts? Why are the same words used? Is the rhetorical structure of each passage the same or different and for what reasons? This paper argues that the concept expressed by "God was pleased to kill" is a clear - although often overlooked - trait d'union between the stories of Samson’s and Samuel’s birth. A thorough analysis of the structure of these two stories, of the opposition between their characters, of their surface text (lexicology, rhetoric, naming...) and of the allusions that link them will allow the due importance of the trait d'union to emerge. This in turn will illuminate both the underlying conceptual network at work in these stories, and the literary and allusive game which functions on the surface.


From "Hapax" to "Ephapax": Singularity and Repetition in Covenants Old and New in Hebrews 9
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
Nicholas J. Moore, Keble College, University of Oxford

The argument of the Letter to the Hebrews regarding the finality and sufficiency of Christ’s death as a sacrifice of atonement for God’s people depends in part upon a contrast with the repetition of sacrifices in the tabernacle cult (cf. esp. Heb 7.23-28; 9.23-10.14); such repetition is taken to reveal their inefficacy (Heb 10.1-4). This deployment of repetition is often associated with – indeed, to a large extent it underlies – Christian (and especially Protestant) denigration of repetition as characteristic of pointless, ineffectual ritual, whether in the old covenant cultus, medieval Roman Catholic worship, or elsewhere. Focussing particularly on Heb 9.1-14, 23-28, this paper argues in contrast to this tradition that repetition has a more variegated role, and does not exist in simple opposition to singularity in the letter. Firstly the complex and nuanced function of repetition within Hebrews, including its various constructive roles, is established; in the light of this, it is argued that a positive function for repetition obtains in Heb 9.6. Secondly, on the basis of the typological relationship between the high priest’s single entry into the inner sanctuary on Yom Kippur and Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice it is suggested that Hebrews finds precedent for the singularity and particularity of atoning sacrifice precisely within and not in opposition to tabernacle worship. Drawing these two points together, it is argued that the intricate comparative structure of Heb 9.1-14 presents both the high priest’s singular entry and the priests’ repeated activity – and therefore the tabernacle cult as a whole – as adumbrations of what is now fully realized in Christ. The paper thus demonstrates that repetition and singularity have a polyvalent rather than a uniform function within Hebrews, and in so doing aims to contribute to current re-examination of received traditions of reading the letter.


The Re-use of the Prophetic Covenant Lawsuit in CD and Romans
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Raymond Morehouse, University of St. Andrews

This paper is an exploration of how two (seemingly) disparate texts, the Damascus Document (CD) and Romans, make use of and modify the prophetic covenant lawsuit (rib) found throughout the Hebrew Bible. CD opens with a dramatic condemnation of contemporary Israel. In order to do this CD reuses and reapplies the prophetic covenant lawsuit but, as Davies points out, this is not the disclosure of an impending lawsuit, but the disclosure of an already existing one: a final verdict has been reached and Israel stands condemned (Davies, 1983). The most striking result of this conviction is CD’s announcement of a “new covenant” which leads the author to address two implicit questions. First, why is a new covenant necessary? Second, what is God’s current relationship to the rest of Israel? I argue that by noting these characteristics of CD we can come to a better understanding of the second document under consideration: Paul’s letter to the Romans. The form and function of the “covenant lawsuit” are also present in Romans, particularly in chapters 1-5, and are modified and reused in much the same way as CD, though with obvious differences. Nevertheless the parallels with CD are striking, and should give the exegete a better understanding of the literary strategy employed by Paul. In particular, the two unique questions raised by CD’s proclamation also become driving issues in Romans. Consideration of covenant and Israel cannot be isolated to chapters 6-11 nor are they peripheral to Paul’s gospel, but rather they central issues that shape the form and message of the entire letter. Thus I conclude that one of Paul’s central concerns in writing Romans is the announcement of a new covenant between God and his people.


Motif Theory and Analysis: Of What Value for Biblical Exegesis?
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
James Morgan, Université de Fribourg

Literary motifs have a unique identity and rhetorical force. As recurrent, inanimate performers, they participate, often subtly, in the persuasive development of literary works. However, they are often confused with and overshadowed by themes. This paper reviews major contributions to motif theory and examines more closely the performative value of motifs in biblical literature. William Freedman’s article, “The Literary Motif: A Definition and Evaluation,” is a valuable description of what motifs are and do in a literary work. Freedman is right in challenging interpreters to go beyond simply identifying motifs in literary analysis; they should also indicate their value for a given work. To this end, Freedman provides several indicators for identifying and interpreting motifs. Narratologists have provided additional theory that underlines their performative and interpretive value for narratives. This paper suggests further criteria for analysing the value of motifs in biblical literature, especially their intertextual value and performative value as a part of plot, the reader’s cognitive and emotive encounter with the story. Although particularly relevant to narrative studies, motif theory can also be beneficial for the analysis of other literary genres. Examples of motifs in cinema, literature, and biblical narratives will illustrate the value of studying motifs in biblical studies.


The Supposed Influence of the Martyrdom of Polycarp on the Development of Christian Martyrdom
Program Unit: Apostolic Fathers and Related Early Christian Literature
Candida Moss, University of Notre Dame

Scholarly assessments of the development of martyrdom by Brox, Bowersock, Dehandschutter, Saxer and others identify the Martyrdom of Polycarp as a turning point in the history of Christian martyrdom. It was the composition and dissemination of this text, they argue, that stimulated ancient Christian interest in martyrdom, the transformation of the term martys, and the emergence of the martyrdom genre(s). Putting aside the date of the account's composition, this paper will examine the evidence for the influence of MPol on the emergence of martyrdom in the second century and beyond. It will argue both that the influence of MPol has been greatly overstated and that the scholarly model for conceiving the spread of martyrdom needs to be rethought.


Keynote Address on Early Christianity
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Candida Moss, University of Notre Dame

This section is organised in conjunction with the third St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies, and will explore the (theo)political visions of authoritative/sacred texts in four sub-sections: Old Testament / Hebrew Bible, Pseudepigrapha & Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and Early Christianity. Further details can be found at our website (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/conf/stspc/; which is frequently updated), including full titles and abstracts for all participants in the section.


The Women of Tobit Through a Feminist Lens
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Michele Murray, Bishop's University

This paper will present part of a larger research project that engages in a feminist analysis of Tobit, a Jewish novella of the early postexilic period. The project will constitute part of the Wisdom Commentary Series by Liturgical Press, which seeks to provide a feminist interpretation of every book of the Bible. The paper will draw a comparison between two of the central female characters in the text: Anna, the wife of Tobit, and Sarah, the wife of Tobias, son of Tobit. The depictions of these two married women will be explored and analysed in terms of how each reflects issues of gender, power, and authority. The results of this analysis will be used to illuminate the social world of the Jewish Diaspora that produced the text.


The Function of Distinctive Features in Early Christian Manuscripts
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Dan Nässelqvist, Lund University

The last decade has seen a number of scholarly works within the field of manuscript studies/textual criticism that focus on different aspects of early Christian reading culture (e.g. by Hurtado, Charlesworth, Cribiore, and Haines-Eitzen). The distinctive features of early Christian manuscripts—e.g. codex format, handwriting, nomina sacra, lectional signs, etc.—are not just identified, but also connected to a larger picture of scribal traditions and reading habits. These distinctive features include a number of lectional signs, such as punctuation, apostrophe, and diaeresis, which are habitually described as “reader’s aids” for public reading. This paper examines the use of distinctive features—with a focus on lectional signs—in three early Christian manuscripts (P46, P66, and P75). It challenges the widespread notion that lectional signs functioned as “reader’s aids” in public reading. It demonstrates how most of lectional signs are not used frequently and consistently enough to significantly aid the lector’s task. A comparison with the same texts displayed as they would appear in non-Christian literary manuscripts (i.e. in narrow columns without abbreviations, lectional signs, etc.) shows that although the differences are notable, they are not extensive enough to substantiate the claim that they enfranchise a wider social diversity in the public reading of Christian texts. Finally, the paper presents an alternative interpretation of the function of distinctive features in early Christian manuscripts. It argues that they should be understood both as a reflection of a specific early Christian reading culture and as aids to private reading and study for ordinary readers. By demonstrating that most abbreviations and lectional signs function as indicators of division, it shows that they are more helpful in interpreting the text than in reading it aloud.


Love As Authority and Influence in 1 Corinthians 13: Toward Establishing Leadership Hermeneutics and Criticism
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Alexander Negrov, Christian University of St Petersburg

Paul throughout his apostolic writings regularly emphasizes love as a fundamental idea in the building up the Church, the Body of Christ. The paradigm of Paul's understanding of the Church (its essence, mission, vision, values, strategy, empowerment and engagement) is based on his conception of love. His authoritative teaching about the spiritual gifts in the Christian community cannot be appropriately understood without an apt attention given to his rational in 1 Corinthians 13. The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, to focus on Paul as leader who uses the idea of "love" for indicating that in addition to search/practice of the gifts there is the more excellent way of the Christian life (i.e love is the governing power in the behavior of the members of Christian communities). Second, to interpret 1 Cor 13 by using Roger Gill's theory of six core themes in leadership a hermeneutical framework. For Gill, "leadership is showing the way and helping or inducing others to pursue it." This is well resonates with the idea of Ap. Paul in 1 Cor 13.


Criteria: Literary Dependence and the New Testament
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Thomas P. Nelligan, Dominican Biblical Institute

An important part of the study of the origins of the New Testament is the search for literary sources which can reveal how these writers worked within their literary contexts. However, determining what constitutes a valid case for literary dependence is no easy task. There is no end to the amount of cases for literary dependence that could be made with no way to test their validity. Therefore, the criteria for judging literary dependence have been developed and used by scholars to assess the validity of an argument for dependence of one text upon another. This paper will be critical of previously developed criteria while proposing a new set tailored for New Testament studies. Various examples from across the New Testament will be used to test the worth of this new set of criteria. Important to this new proposed set will be ancient literary methods from both the Greco-Roman and Jewish literary contexts of the New Testament. Also important will be the extent to which certain criteria can be applied to certain texts and the variances between texts can mean some criteria will be more and less important in certain circumstances. Questions from this investigation will arise such as what is the overall effectiveness of the criteria? How reliable are they and how can these be developed further so ensure scholarly rigour?


Theologies of Sovereignty in the Book of Ezekiel
Program Unit: Prophets
Madhavi Nevader, University of Oxford

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Jude 22, Apostolic Theology, and the Canonical Role of the Catholic Epistles
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Carey C. Newman, Baylor University

This paper combines two observations—that the CE are a collection with a canonical calling all their own and that the CE imply an interpretive grid that is a clue to their unique calling in an attempt to confirm (i) that there was indeed something that may be fairly identified as “apostolic theology;” (ii) that this apostolic theology can be abducted from the CE themselves; (iii) that this apostolic theology is an organized construal of fundamental claims shared across the CE and, even, the entire Canonical Edition of the New Testament; and (iv) that supplying this abducted construal uncovers a clue to the canonical function of the CE.


What Biblicists Need to Know about...Qumran
Program Unit:
Carol Newsom, Emory University

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'We Can Produce No Example Wherein Our Fathers Got Any Success by War': Josephus and the Legitimacy of Violence in Judaism
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Jesse Nickel, University of St. Andrews

In the Jewish War 5.362-419, Flavius Josephus places on his own lips a lengthy speech to the Judaean rebels besieged in Jerusalem by the Romans towards the end of the Jewish-Roman War of 66-70 CE. A central component of this speech, by which he aims to persuade the Jews to surrender, is a series of biblical examples of God? deliverance of Israel (5.379-89). These stories lead Josephus to state that ..we can produce no example wherein our fathers got any success by war, or failed of success, when without war they committed themselves to God(5.390). Josephus claims that violence undertaken by Israel, on behalf of its own deliverance from evil and oppression of various kinds, is never justified. This claim seems quite problematic, given what we know not only of Israel? history, but also of Josephus himself (in terms of both his personal history, as well as his representation of successful instances of conflict elsewhere in his corpus). In this paper I explore the legitimacy of taking Josephus speech at face value. Can we realistically conceive of this as the theological / political / ethical view of the Jewish historian; and, if so, how do we reconcile it with the apparently incongruous data just mentioned? The paper argues that a rhetorical understanding of this speech enables us to explain Josephus selective presentation of biblical history, and thereby to affirm that it does indeed represent his own firmly-held beliefs about the legitimacy of violence in Judaism.


From John to Justin: “Christian” Claims for “Jewish” Scriptures
Program Unit:
Tobias Nicklas, Universität Regensburg

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The Bible in Greenland as a Dependency of Denmark-Norway
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Flemming A.J. Nielsen, University of Greenland

Christianity came to Greenland in 1721 when the Norwegian missionary Hans Egede arrived as representative of the Danish king, then sovereign of a dual kingdom that lasted until 1814, one of the Great Powers of Europe of the day. In addition to Greenland and the other North Atlantic dependencies, most notably Iceland and the Faroe Islands, this Danish-Norwegian empire included colonies in Africa, India and the Caribbean. Unparalleled in the other Euro-pean empires was a governmental department established by the absolute Danish ruler in or-der to conduct missionary work among the non-Christian peoples living at the extremities of the empire: the Tamils living around the Danish colony in India, Tranquebar, the Saami people in the northernmost part of Norway, and the Inuit in Greenland. Bible translations in the vernaculars were developed in all three places, and in Greenland, a full, written language was invented by the king’s mission. I intend to review the influence of the Christian Bible in Greenland as regards religion, language, and literature: In less than a century, shamanism was replaced by Christianity, most of the population had become able to read and write at a time when literacy was not a matter of course in Denmark and Norway, and eventually, indigenous works of literature began to appear. Unparalleled among the aboriginal languages of the American hemisphere is the status of the Greenlandic language today as the official language of an autonomous nation, though still within the Danish national community.


Syriac Recitation between Jewish and Islamic Musical Traditions
Program Unit: Bible and Syriac Studies in Context
Ulrike-Rebekka Nieten, Freie Universität Berlin

Reciting Sacred Texts following a tune is a very ancient tradition. This kind of performance likely was thought to convey the text in the most comprehensible manner. Already in the fifth century, Syrian grammarians had developed a system of accents, in which P. Kahle (1927) saw a significant influence on the Hebrew system of accents. For Kahle, the similarity between the two with regard to appearances and functions was evident. In both rites, accents formed the basis for the melodic contours, which correspond to their semantic, syntactical, and in Syriac also to their emotional functions. Besides these accents and inspired by the Greek doctrine of ethos, which encourages one to create emotional effects through music, the Syrians created the octoechos (= eight modes / echoi), a musical system, in which, depending on the season and the day in the liturgical year, special tunes were used. The function of these tunes was to interpret the text of the hymns. This conception of Syriac recitation has not only exerted influence upon church music in the Near East. It also has had a considerable impact on the development of the musical tradition in Islam and therefore upon the recitation of the Qur’an.


Ritual Innovation and the Pentateuch: Some Methodological Considerations
Program Unit:
Christophe Nihan, Université de Lausanne

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Christian Identity Markers in Economic Papyrus Documents Prior to AD 324
Program Unit: Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy
Alanna Nobbs, Macquarie University

Prior to the rapid acceleration of Christianization in Egypt,we find a few examples of how Christian symbols or identity markers start to be used in economic documents. This paper will examine closely three of the early examples. P.Erl.Diosp. 1b ( AD 313-4) has the first line of the Lord's prayer in an acount book. SB 16.12530 (4 July 319)is a trading contract with a possibly but not necessarily Christian monotheistic formula. SB 14.12210( 15 Jan 322?) is a receipt with a chi-rho monogram.


The Legacy of Les Devanciers d'Aquila for the Study of the Greek Psalter
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Gerard Norton, Independent Scholar

Dominique Barthelemy was prudent in his statement of a link between the Greek Psalter and the kaige group / tradition. Others went further than he, arguing that the Greek Psalter had been translated in Palestine. The arguments for this stronger position were strongly contested by Al Pietersma and others. The related methodological discussion of the interpretation of the Hebraisms found in Papyrus B 24 (Ra 2110), published in 1967, had been of great benefit to the textual criticism of the Greek Psalter.


Keynote Address on the New Testament
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Matthew Novenson, University of Edinburgh

This section is organised in conjunction with the third St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies, and will explore the (theo)political visions of authoritative/sacred texts in four sub-sections: Old Testament / Hebrew Bible, Pseudepigrapha & Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and Early Christianity. Further details can be found at our website (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/conf/stspc/; which is frequently updated), including full titles and abstracts for all participants in the section.


Jews and “Easterners” in Rome’s Western Provinces in Late Antiquity
Program Unit: Archaeology and Diaspora Judaism
David Noy, University of Wales Trinity St David

Evidence for Jews in the Roman provinces of Gaul and Hispania comes primarily from inscriptions, found in isolation from each other at a range of widely dispersed sites, and from Christian literature in which Jews form part of the background for the actions of bishops and saints. Legal texts from the states which emerged after the collapse of Roman power show the hostility which Jews sometimes faced. All this material is from the 4th century CE or later; there is almost nothing of an earlier date. Similar evidence shows the presence in the western provinces of other individuals and groups who are identified as (for example) Syrian or Greek, or who are differentiated by using the Greek language in inscriptions. This paper will consider whether the Jews formed one part of a diverse and cosmopolitan population in the western provinces, or whether they were exceptional in maintaining a separate identity in their Christian, Latin-speaking surroundings.


Elephantine and Marriage Law
Program Unit:
Hélène Nutkowicz, Collège de France

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Purification of Priest, Prophet, and People: A Comparative Study of Zechariah 3 and 13
Program Unit: Prophets
Daniel F O'Kennedy, University of Stellenbosch

The book of Zechariah articulates different theological themes or perspectives. One of these themes is the purification or cleansing of the priest, prophet and people of Jerusalem. The paper will compare two prominent chapters in Zechariah, paying particular attention to the theme of purification. The question posed by this paper is: What are the differences and similarities between Zechariah 3 and 13? There are several differences between these two chapters. Chapter 3 forms part of the eight night visions and focuses more on the purification of Joshua, the high priest (3:1). Chapter 13 is part of the second oracle in Deutero-Zechariah and focuses more on the purification of the people of Jerusalem (13:1). Different Hebrew words are even used to describe the sin and impurity of the people. In Zechariah 3 YHWH replaces the filthy clothes with a clean turban, but in Zechariah 13 the unclean spirit and prophets will be removed from the land. Despite all the differences, both chapters use the expression “on that day” (3:10; 13:1-2) and emphasize that the leaders have a significant responsibility. YHWH cannot purify Jerusalem (3:2; 13:1), the land (3:9; 13:2) and the people with unclean leaders (priests, prophets and shepherds). Both chapters close on a positive note, describing the effect of purification: there will be peace amongst the people (3:10) and the acknowledgement that YHWH is their God (13:9).


Exegesis of Mark 1:14-15: Its Implication for Church in Africa
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Olugbenga Olagunju, Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary

This paper is an exegetical study of Mark 1:14-15 and it’s implication for church in Africa. Two parallel eschatological tensions in Mark 1:14-15 are noticed in this text. The question is which arrival is the speaker was referring to? Is the speaker referring to himself or to a future kingdom that is yet to come? This paper attempts to unravel the mystery that surrounds the inauguration of God’s kingdom in the person of Christ. Also, attempt is made to detect a strain of eschatological tension in this text in Mark. On the final analysis the paper would elucidate various implications of the inauguration of this kingdom for the church in Africa. The method adopted for writing this paper is historical- critical and grammatical investigation of the text in question in order to confirm the present reality of the kingdom of God in the Markan text. The linguistic argument points to the fact that an arrival has taken place thus the kingdom has been inaugurated in the person of Jesus Christ. The implication of this arrival is spelt out in this paper, thereby making exegesis practical to life and ministry.


Rachel, the Shepherdess among the Shepherds
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Funlola Olojede, University of Stellenbosch

…One man among a thousand I have found, But a woman among all these I have not found (Ecc 7:28). Ecclesiastes 7:28b presupposes that in certain situations, you find a rare man among a thousand men. However, what is easily overlooked is that the verse further states that, “a woman among all these I have not found”. This last statement presupposes that in many situations which one would find a rare man in a thousand, it is possible not to find a single woman among them. In other words, one has to look beyond a thousand men to find a rare woman. In this paper, the statement is examined in the light of the character of Rachel who is the only named woman mentioned in the Old Testament as a shepherd(ess). From the literary viewpoint of characterization, the paper traces the Old Testament and Christian reception of Rachel as well as those features which stood her out in an apparently predominant male profession. Although Scripture mentions some other women who watered their father’s flock (Exod. 2:16-17), it is argued that Rachel did not only stand out among men, she stood out among women as well. The implication of the interpretation for women working male-dominated institutions and for women’s self-esteem and dignity is also underscored.


Instrumental Aspects of Ritual Innovation
Program Unit:
Saul Olyan, Brown University

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Lessons and Legacies of the Role of Scriptures in Scottish Missions to Contemporary Missionary Praxis
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Kelvin Onongha, Andrews University

Scottish missions have played a pivotal role in missionary history in the continents of Asia and Africa, establishing educational and medical institutions where the Scriptures could be taught. Through these institutions the influence of the Bible brought transformation to these societies with legacies that are enduring to this day. Unfortunately, however, this unforgettable period of mission history passed and all we have left are its memories. This paper seeks to explore the essential qualities that gave vitality and impetus to this phenomenon, what made this experience unique among others, how did the bible and their understanding of it contribute to their success, and what lessons they have for contemporary missions as they are conducted today.


“And There Are Eunuchs Who Have Made Themselves Eunuchs for the Sake of the Kingdom of Heaven”: Origen’s Exegetical Strategies in His Commentary on Matt 19:12
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Jennifer Otto, McGill University

In this paper, I investigate Origen’s criteria for asserting that Matthew 19:12 admits only an interpretation “according to the spirit” and is incapable of being interpreted “according to the flesh.” According to an account in Eusebius’s Historia Ecclesiastica 6.8, as a young catachetical teacher in Alexandria, Origen took Jesus’s words in Matthew 19:12 quite literally and had himself castrated. Yet in his assessment of that same verse in the fifteenth book of his Commentary on Matthew, Origen sharply rebukes zealous new believers who, out of their honest lust for holiness, follow Jesus’ advice in a mistakenly fleshly manner. While acknowledging that the first two kinds of eunuchs described Matthew 19 are capable of being understood “according to the flesh”, Origen argues that all three kinds are most properly interpreted “according to the spirit.” The castration that Jesus commends is a figurative cutting away of the soul’s passions, accomplished by meditation on the Word of God, which is called the “sword of the spirit” in Ephesians 6:17. The truly spiritual Christian will receive all three kinds of castration described by Jesus ‘according to the spirit’, for in the Gospels as well as the Hebrew Scriptures, “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” Thus Matt. 19:12 becomes a particularly acute proof for the necessity of allegorical interpretation.


“They Have Planted” (Gos. Jud. 39:15), but “He Has Watered” (Gos. Jud. 43:6): Who is Doing the Gardening in the Gospel of Judas?
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Louis Painchaud, Université Laval

Metaphors involving gardens or gardening, are widely attested in Scripture as well as in a wide variety of Judeo-Hellenistic and early Christian sources. In the Gospel of Judas two formulas –“they have planted trees without fruits in my Name” (39.15-16) and “he has watered the garden of God and the generation that will last”(43.6-8) tap into this tradition, thereby conveying both a complex set of scriptural allusions on the one hand (Brankaer and Bethge 2007, 336.340; Devoti 2012, 279.290-292), and references to ritual, most likely baptismal, on the other hand (Pearson 2007; 2008; van Os 2009, 380; Bermejo Rubio 2012, 104.115; Jenott 2012, 204-205). While earlier commentators have paid some attention to, and proposed some interesting lines of interpretation for, each one of these two phrases, no one to date has tried to understand them as an antithetical pair. This paper will explore the scriptural and traditional background of this pairing, its rhetorical function in the Gospel of Judas, and the possible references to historical figures that might be concealed within it.


Synagogues and Jewish Communal Offices in the Early Byzantine Balkans
Program Unit: Archaeology and Diaspora Judaism
Alexander Panayotov, Independent Scholar

The aim of my paper is to review the archaeological and epigraphic evidence concerning the organisation of the Jewish communities in the early Byzantine Balkans. The scope of my paper is defined temporally and spatially. I will review the period between the 5th and the 7th centuries to include the abundant epigraphic, archaeological and data on the Jews in the emerging Byzantine Empire. I aim to establish the place the Jews occupied in the stratigraphy of the Byzantine society during this period and how the social and political changes in this society influenced their community and religious life. This will be achieved through a study of the archaeological data related to synagogue buildings, moveable objects and inscriptions mentioning Jewish communal offices such as presbyteros, prostates and archon. Geographically, my paper will review evidence from the Balkans and the adjacent Aegean islands, which were among core areas of the Byzantine empire between the 5th and 7th centuries. I will update the information provided by the volume on Eastern Europe of Inscriptiones Judaicae Orientis (Tübingen 2004) with analysis of a new data stemming from recently (re-)discovered inscriptions in Argos, Thessalonica and Corinth and the excavated synagogues of Saranda (Albania) and Chios (Greece).


The Poor and the Kingdom Discourse
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
InHee Park, Ewha Womans University

Christian tradition has emphasized the importance of compassion for the poor; however the poor are not given enough consideration as actually being among the initiators of that Christian tradition. It is important to consider the fact that most of materials of Gospels were based on various memories the poor had about Jesus. A close reading of the kingdom discourses (Q 6:20-49, LK 6:20-49, MK 5-7) with the help of recent Galilean Studies provides us with a meaningful depiction of the poor in Roman Galilee, as the actual heirs of the kingdom of God (Q 6:20). In spite of the problematic disparity between them, the versions of Luke(6:20-40) and Matthew(5-7) can also lead us to reconstruct the poor as the actual heroes in the kingdom discourse and as those who practice the essence of Christian ethics, forgiveness and mercy. In Luke’s version of the kingdom discourses we can find the criticisms made by the poor against the injustice of the leaders. Also, Matthew’s expanding version with various Jewish historical metaphors applied to the poor are helpful to comprehend the social position of the poor as ordinary or powerless people in Israelite History. In addition, the use of the “son of man” to identify with the poor of Matthew(25:31-46) supports the idea of identification between Jesus and the poor/powerless; this identification is not limited to the theology of Q. Instead, the emphasis of the actions of the poor as those who show mercy and forgiveness and as equal to the actions of the “son of man” as seen in both Q documents and Matthew provide the inference that the poor are explicitly regarded in earlier stages of the Gospels as new agents to bring about the Kingdom of God.


“In Adam, All Die”: Towards a Unified Understanding of Paul’s Divergent Representations of Death in 1 Cor 15 in Reference to Adam’s Fall
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Janghoon Park, University of St. Andrews

The possibility that one unifying paradigm underlies Paul’s notoriously complex understanding of death in 1 Corinthians 15—as reflected in his use of the forensic (death as a penalty in vv.21-22), anthropological (death as physical decay in vv.45-55), and power (death as an inimical power in v.26) motifs—has been insufficiently pursued in the contemporary Pauline scholarship. One way of understanding Paul’s use of these divergent motifs was proposed by Martinus de Boer, who applies the influential “apocalyptic” reading of Paul to 1 Corinthians 15, and concludes that only the power motif of death reflects Paul’s real conception of death—the forensic and anthropological motifs address irrelevant or non-integral issues. In contrast to de Boer’s such overemphasis on the power motif, this paper argues that all of the three motifs of death can be coherently held together in reference to Adam’s fall. Contrary to de Boer’s exegesis, the forensic dimension of death as the consequence of Adam’s fall is not only present in 1 Corinthians 15 (vv.21-22) but indeed forms the context within which Paul’s use of the other two motifs should be understood. This is shown in two ways. First, Paul’s reference to the Genesis narrative in vv.45-49 betrays his understanding that the anthropological problem of universal decay of the human body is the outworking of the post-fall Adam’s earth-bound destiny decreed by God in response to Adam’s fall. Second, Paul’s use of Ps.8 in v.27 shows that his representation of death as an enemy to be subdued for the sake of God’s kingdom implies that universal bodily demise is the sign of Adam’s penal loss of his original kingly authority over the world—the authority for establishing God’s kingdom. Paul’s use of the penal, anthropological, and power motifs of death, then, reveals his reflection on the consequence of Adam’s fall.


The New Testament as the Covenantal-Liturgical Consummation of the Canon? A Critical Evaluation of Scott Hahn’s Biblical Theology of the New Testament
Program Unit: Biblical Theology
Janghoon Park, University of St. Andrews

A famous Reformed convert to Catholicism and now an influential Catholic biblical theologian, Scott Hahn has produced works that betray the shape of his biblical theology of the New Testament. The first part of this presentation will provide a description of Hahn’s view. It will be shown that for Hahn, the New Testament writings can be unified in the sense that despite their diverse forms and divergent focuses, they all represent the Christ event as the consummation of the covenantal-liturgical teleological trajectory in the divine order of history progressively unfolding in the Old Testament cannon. This is—to use Edward Klink and Darian Lockett’s recently suggested heuristic classificatory scheme— a combination of “history of redemption” and “canonical approach” models reconfigured around Hahn’s own distinctive canonical interpretation of how the biblical covenants develop towards their consummate form and how the liturgical dimension of the covenants are gradually revealed as an intrinsic part of the covenant reality itself. This covenant-oriented, liturgy-focused shape of Hahn’s biblical theology of the New Testament , however, is not able to capture the shared dimension of the New Testament writings. The second part of the presentation will show that Hahn’ view is hard to maintain because his own ‘developmental’ scheme that allegedly captures the overarching dynamic of the covenants in the cannon not only fails to unify the New Testament authors’ perspectives but also is undermined by them. Furthermore, Hahn’s understanding of the liturgical dimension as pertaining to the antitype of the typological scheme revealed in God’s salvation history is not only unsupported by his own reading but also incongruent with the perspectives shared by the New Testament writers.


Two Methods of Repetition in Rabbinic Literature: Anadiplosis (The Terrace Pattern) and Inclusio (Envelope Figure)
Program Unit: Judaica
Ariel Ram Pasternak, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Two rhetorical devices models found in both biblical and rabbinic literature are anadiplosis and inclusio. In anadiplosis a word from a hemistich or verse is repeated, sometimes slightly modified, in the following hemistich or verse. Typical is the repetition of the expression “my help” (Heb. 'ezri) twice in Psalm 121: 1-2. A prominent example of anadiplosis in rabbinic literature is the famous introduction to Mishnah Avot (1:1). There, in each hemistich, except the first one, a word from the previous hemistich is repeated in the following hemistich creating concatenation between the hemistiches. The repetition creates a vocal sequence between the components of the unit, and it highlights the ideological connection between them. Examples include Mishnah Avot 4:12; Tosefta Peah 4:14; and Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot, 63b. Inclusio is the repetition of a word or a number of words, sometimes with a slight modification, at the beginning of a unit,and at the end of that same unit. Biblical examples include the repetition of the clause "shall dwell in booths" at the beginning and end of Leviticus 23:42. Examples of inclusio in rabbinical literature include Mishnah Avot 1:5; 5, 7, and Tosefta Zavim 4: 1. In our discussion we will begin with the biblical use of the two devices, and we shall show how they are adopted and adapted in rabbinic literature. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of rhetorical devices in rabbinic literature. We will show that the rabbinic authors gave thought not only to content but also to stylistic features, which would make their arguments convincing.For this purpose the Rabbinic Sages adopted models of repetition from biblical literature.


Family Laws in the Temple Scroll and in Comparative Perspective
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Sarah Pearce, University of Southampton

This paper focuses on the treatment of laws relating to family relationships in the Temple Scroll, focusing on the following topics: the female prisoner; the rebellious son; and incest laws. Special attention will also be given to comparisons between the treatment of this material in the Temple Scroll and in the exegetical commentaries of Philo of Alexandria.


Terah and Lot as Secondary Figures
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Itzhak Peleg, Beit Berl Academic College

Throughout the Patriarchal Narratives Abraham appears as a primary figure, while many of those with whom he interacts are presented as secondary figures. In this paper I examine Terah and Lot as secondary figures vis-à-vis Abraham. My discussion of Terah focuses on the description of the departure from Ur of the Chaldeans and journey toward the Land of Canaan (Gen 11:31, 12:5). In discussing Lot the focus is on the role of the latter as a host (chapter 19).


Veiled Allusions in 1 Cor 11:2-16: On Paul’s Universal Ruling Against Head Coverings for Women
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Lucy Peppiatt, Westminster Theological Centre

This paper explores the exegetical possibility of the use of rhetoric in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 as a means by which Paul is, in fact, warning the Corinthians in the strongest possible terms that they should not coerce women to wear head coverings in worship. The paper demonstrates that ‘traditional’ readings of the passage, in which vv.2-16 are read as the voice of Paul throughout, are highly problematic and fail to explain adequately either the internal coherence of Paul’s argument, how it fits into the letter as a whole, or the relevance of this passage for the church. It then goes on to demonstrate how a rhetorical reading that interprets vv.4-10 as the voice of the Corinthian church, and vv.11-16 as the voice of Paul might work, and argues that this not only yields a coherent reading of the passage, but that it places it neatly into context in the letter, first into the section on worship in chapters 11-14, and then into the letter as a whole, while also sitting more happily with Paul’s overall theology and practices expressed in this and other epistles.


God's Earthly People: C. I. Scofield and the Blessing of Israel
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Hilary Perry, University of Sheffield

Cyrus Ingerson Scofield states that the Church is ‘the heavenly seed of Abraham’ but that ‘Israel as a nation always has its own place, and is yet to have its greatest exaltation as the earthly people of God’.* He holds that Israel constitutes God’s earthly people, to be restored to the land, whereas the Church constitutes God’s heavenly people, to be raptured to heaven before the onset of the great tribulation. This paper will explore eschatological aspects of Scofield’s premillennial, dispensationalist biblical interpretation, which support his view that Israel and the Church are eternally separate entities. It will examine Scofield’s claims that the promises of the Abrahamic, “Palestinian” and Davidic Covenants are to be fulfilled in the national revival of Israel, and that the blessing and cursing clauses of Gen. 12:3 have been ‘wonderfully fulfilled in the history of the dispersion’, since ‘it has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew – well with those who have protected him’.** The paper will also discuss relevant contributions by modern premillennialist, Christian Zionist writers, John Hagee, Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Charles H. Dyer and Edward Hindson. Quotations from The Scofield Reference Bible: the Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, edited by Rev. C. I. Scofield, D.D. (London: Oxford University Press, revised edition, 1917): notes on *Rom. 11:1, p. 1204 and **Gen. 15:18, p. 25.


Understanding the Other (Akher) and the Life Worth (Almost) Nothing: Abel, Rachel, and Saul-Among-The-Prophets
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
T. A. Perry, Boston College

I examine three characters of high status, cast aside from the projected fulfillment of their careers and promise: Abel, pleasing to God but not to his brother; Rachel, pleasing to her husband Jacob but less so to Israel; Saul, pleasing to the ladies but not to David. In biblical theology, however, “God kills and revives” in that order. I study the demotion/promotion trope through the examples of these three semi-tragic figures. What do they have in common and how do they reclaim their heroic proportions?


Environmental Amnesia as a Controlling Perspective for a Commentary on Deuteronomy
Program Unit: Ecological Hermeneutics
Raymond F. Person, Jr., Ohio Northern University

In his environmental hermeneutics, Forrest Clingerman has discussed the importance of place and memory in forming an environmental identity. Since our homes and home communities are where we spend the most time in space, they are our primary location in the formation of our environmental identity. Partly because our modern homes are sharply isolated from their natural environment (for example, climate controlled), one of the characteristics of our modern existence is “environmental amnesia,” which occurs when we wrongly remember both natural and built spaces. In this paper I will draw from Clingerman’s observations concerning our modern world and apply them to ancient Israel, specifically the Book of Deuteronomy. I will show how urbanization in the ancient Near East contributed to environmental amnesia, especially among the urban elites who wrote the Book of Deuteronomy. Their environmental amnesia will be illustrated by the distance between, on the one hand, the historical reconstruction of the family household in ancient Israel informed by archaeology as well as feminist approaches to the Bible and, on the other hand, the urban elites’ interpretation of the family household from an androcentric perspective as preserved in the Book of Deuteronomy. The environmental amnesia resulting from the distance between the agrarian family household and the urban elites’ family household underlies a variety of dichotomies envisioned by and advocated for by the literati, which had negative environmental consequences for the people of ancient Israel and continue to have negative consequences today. Therefore, I will end with a brief review of some of these dichotomies, all of which will be explored more fully in my forthcoming volume on Deuteronomy in the Earth Bible Commentary series.


The "Paulinism" of 1 John
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Jeffrey Peterson, Austin Graduate School Of Theology

In recent decades, scholars have often portrayed the Johannine community as sectarian vis-à-vis other Christian groups. The first letter of John (better described as the Johannine homily) has received insufficient attention in this context. The account of Christian faith expressed in the homily and presupposed in its addressees exhibits numerous points of similarity with the theology of the Pauline letters. Such congruence is especially evident in the homily's treatment of the “career” of Jesus Christ, from his pre-incarnate existence to his parousia, but also in the letter's eschatological ecclesiology and ethics. Examination of these and other points in common commends the conclusion that 1 John presupposes a catechetical tradition comparable to that attested in the Corpus Paulinum. This recognition in turn invites a reconsideration of the homily's addressees' relationship to other communities that honored the name of Jesus.


The Prophetic ‘Second Exodus’ and Later Jewish Narratives
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Roberto Piani, Göttingen University - PBI Rome

The ‘second Exodus’ paradigm as a major ideological background of later Jewish narratives such as Ezra-Nehemiah and the Letter of Aristeas has already received some attention amongst scholars interested in Persian and Hellenistic period writings. Recently Noam Hacham focused on similarities and differences between the Exodus narrative and Aristeas’ attempt to provide a foundation to Hellenistic Jewry. Previously Klaus Koch and James G. McConville had underscored how Ezra-Nehemiah could actually represent a (partial) fulfillment of prophetic oracles about a so-called ‘second Exodus.’ If the parallels between Judaism’s main foundational event and its reshaping in prophetic texts such as Deutero-Isaiah need to be more careful evaluated, as suggested by Ulrich Berges, the larger issue of the literary and ideological influences between prophetic texts about the ‘second Exodus’ and later prose texts needs to be further explored. This paper will offer additional elements to previous analyses, by focusing on: 1. possible literary similarities in the language of Ezra-Nehemiah and the Letter of Aristeas with prophetic texts about a ‘second exodus,’ 2. the larger structure of these later prose texts and their complex relationship with the whole scheme ‘Exodus – Torah revelation – Conquest of the land.’


Hosts of Early Christian Gatherings in 2 and 3 John
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Kaisa-Maria Pihlava, University of Helsinki

The second and third epistles of John portray probable hosts of Christian gatherings. In this presentation, I shall discuss four aspects of their position: 1) What they are entitled to do in the congregations that gather at their homes. 2) How their position is contested among other hosts of Christian gatherings. 3) How their position is perceived by members of their communities. 4) The relationships between them and itinerant teachers. These questions concerning the position of the Johannine hosts of Christian gatherings are examined in the contexts of the household matrix and the patronage system. Subsequently, the hosts of Christian gatherings in the Johannine Epistles are compared with hosts presented in other early Christian writings. I will demonstrate that the social structures and sources of tension were often similar in different streams of early Christianity although the beliefs might have varied.


Death and Disillusion in Thessalonica: A Consideration of the Relationship between 1 Thess 4:13-17 and 1:10
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Edward Pillar, Prifysgol Cymru, Y Drindod Dewi Sant - University of Wales, Trinity Saint David

It is clear that 1Thessalonians has given rise to a range of proposals as to the issues that lie behind Paul’s teaching in 4:13-17. Some of the many options for understanding the questioning concern of the Thessalonians are: the relationship of the Christian dead and living in regard to the parousia (Malherbe); the status of the Christian dead and living vis-à-vis the returning Lord (Richard); the association between resurrection and the parousia (Merklein); concern that those who have died are deprived of the opportunity of participating in the parousia (Collins); the expectation of an imminent parousia and so on. In contrast Ascough argues, ‘Having accepted Paul’s preaching about deliverance from the coming wrath, the Thessalonians may have felt some consternation, even betrayal, that some of their members died before that deliverance arrived.’ However, Ascough then links this concern with the possible absence of appropriate funerary practices. We accept Ascough’s premise, but will in this paper, propose another possibility. We will suggest that the Thessalonians – having previously accepted the reality of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the implication that it subverts imperial power – have been confidently waiting for his parousia in full expectation that Jesus will also defend them against a present and continuing experience of persecution. However, we will propose that the death of some of their number, and the possibility that their salvation may also be in question, gave rise to fundamental questions about the veracity of Paul’s earlier teaching. Thus, Paul asserts the truth of his teaching and assures the Thessalonians that God has kept them safe.


Beyond the Border Lines: Jewish/Christian/Muslim/Other Scriptural Artifacts in the Longue Durée
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Pierluigi Piovanelli, Université d'Ottawa - University of Ottawa

Beyond the Border Lines: Jewish/Christian/Muslim/Other Scriptural Artifacts in the longue durée


The Omissions of the B501 Manuscript Group in III–IV Regnorum
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Andres Piquer Otero, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

The manuscript group B 501 transmits the “original text” in non-kaige sections and the kaige text in those particular sections. This group presents frequent cases of omission when compared to the rest of the LXX manuscript tradition. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the value of those readings in order to establish the Old Greek text and, in its case, the underlying Hebrew.


Ezekiel: New Directions and Current Debates
Program Unit: Prophets
Karl-Friedrich Pohlmann, Wilhelms-Universität Münster

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The Idumean Marketplace: Who Trades What and When in the Commodity Chits
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Bezalel Porten, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Aramaic corpus of ostraca contains some 1100 commodity chits which record some thirty different products spanning a period of sixty years. The most frequently traded products are agricultural, wheat and barley and the derivatives chaff and flour. Appearing in lesser numbers is a miscellany of wooden, liquid, metal, and ceramic products. Most noteworthy are six chronologically compact dossiers of processed grains -- semolina+flour, crushed/sifted grain, resh, wheat flour, barley flour, and grain of the purchase. According to what parameters are these various products traded?


The Structure and Homogeneity of Psalm 32
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Henk Potgieter, University of Pretoria

Psalm 32 is designated in its heading as a Maskil, a teaching song. It also has undeniable wisdom features, such as the double macarism in verses 1 and 2, admonitions in verses 6 and 9, an aphorism in verse 10, as well as words and expressions typically found in Proverbs and Job linked to ideas which also often find expression in Wisdom texts (such as the polarity formed by the wicked versus righteous people and the deed-consequence interconnection). On the other hand, the psalm is also often described as a representative of the Gattung Individual Song of Thanksgiving, since it contains the typical elements of a description of distress, a report about deliverance, and a call to praise. It has consequently been suggested that the psalm contains remnants of an original psalm of thanksgiving (which had already been influenced by Wisdom thinking) in verses 1–5, 7–8 and 11. This basis is supposed to have been extended by exilic redactors through the addition of verses 6 and 9–12 to make Psalm 32 fit into the arrangement of Psalms 31–33. This paper will investigate the homogeneity of poetic features and theological conceptualization in the psalm in order to challenge the notion that an original cultic composition was expanded during the time of the exile.


National Identity and the Diversity of Languages in the Persian Period: The Effects of Empire
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Cian Joseph Power, Harvard University

This paper examines how Persian-period Biblical texts use and treat the concept of linguistic diversity, the multiplicity of languages, under the influence of empire and in an age of diaspora and international contacts. When political independence was stripped from Judah, and much of the local population exiled, by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.E, the status of Hebrew among its speakers was altered. Hebrew, or ‘Judaean’ as texts from the period refer to it as, ceased to be the language of a sovereign nation state; instead it became the language of a subjected group, gradually becoming dispersed throughout a world full of foreign languages, scripts, and literatures. Books written during, or set in, the Persian period correspondingly show a particular awareness of foreign languages. In Daniel and Esther, set in imperial courts, foreign languages are a bureaucratic necessity: Daniel must learn the ‘language and writing of the Chaldaeans’ to progress in the court; the many decrees issued in Esther are distributed ‘to each people in its own language.’ In Nehemiah, the Judaeans need their own holy texts translated (Neh 8:8). This paper analyses the issue of linguistic diversity in these texts, in order to offer important insights into the effect of empire on a people’s relationship with its language, that is, on the role language plays in shaping identity. To analyse these and related passages, I will use the concept of “diglossia,” a sociolinguistic term to describe a community which uses two languages in distinct arenas. Coined by Ferguson (1959) the term has been applied to the Jews in later centuries (e.g., Goshen-Gottstein, 1978) and may be fitting for Persian-period Judaeans. In particular, it may help to explain why long portions of Daniel and Ezra are written, not in Hebrew, but in Aramaic.


Style-Switching and Linguistic Diversity in the Hebrew Bible
Program Unit: Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible
Cian Joseph Power, Harvard University

This paper examines the issue of “style-switching”, and the role it plays in a discourse about foreign languages and linguistic diversity discernible in the Hebrew Bible. Greenfield (1980) offered a tantalizing explanation of unusual Hebrew features in the stories of Jacob and Laban the Aramaean (Gen 28–35): these features could be deliberate “Aramaisms,” authorial attempts at conveying Laban’s foreignness. Greenfield went some way towards describing the effects of this “style-switching” in the narratives he examined, in that it “foreignizes” Laban as a character and conveys the effect of Jacob’s living in a strange land for a long period. Rendsburg (1995) detected this style-switching in many other texts dealing with foreigners, especially in prophetic books like Isaiah, and argued that it is used to strengthen the force of the prophetic critique against foreign nations: God is portrayed as speaking directly to them, so that judgement is inescapable. Bompiani (2012 PhD dissertation) has built on these scholars’ work in his discussion of the speech of foreigners in the Bible. This paper is particularly interested in style-switching as a manifestation of a phenomenon that can be detected in the Hebrew Bible in texts like the story of the Tower of Babel (Gen 11): awareness of linguistic multiplicity in the world. Analysing when, how, and why the Hebrew Bible deals with linguistic diversity reveals much about how Israel and Judah responded to encounters with foreignness. Style-switching is a subtle, creative acknowledgement of linguistic diversity, which both foreignizes and domesticates, by representing the alien tongue in Hebrew. This paper also explores further the effects of style-switching on narrative, plot-development and characterization, while also challenging the methodology of scholars who perhaps detect style-switching too broadly and overlook other possible explanations of unusual Hebrew features.


Intertextual Complications: The Quranic Cain and Abel Reconsidered
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
Michael Pregill, Elon University

It has long been recognized that the Quran’s dictum in 5:32 that the killing of a single person is akin to killing all of humanity while saving a single life is akin to saving all of humanity has a conspicuous parallel in rabbinic sources (mSanh. 4:5 and parallels). Further, in both the Quran and rabbinic tradition, the dictum is linked to the story of Cain and Abel. Thus, the Quran’s version of the story of Cain and Abel is not merely an example of the general phenomenon of Quranic appropriation and recasting of biblical narratives, but rather appears to be a deliberate allusion to a specific midrashic intertext, presumably in the service of a larger message. At the same time, the Quranic Cain and Abel story also exhibits specific narrative and linguistic connections to older Syriac Christian versions of the story. This paper will seek to bridge the gap between previous discussions of the respective Jewish and Christian pedigrees of the two major components of this Quranic passage. We will propose that this specific instance of Quranic intertextuality may be used to illustrate broader methodological questions pertaining to the discovery of the sources of Quranic narrative and the cultural, historical, and religious background implied by the scripture’s original synthesis of older literary materials.


The Specificity of the Patristic Exegesis Compared to the Historical-Critical Method
Program Unit: Bible in Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Traditions
Cosmin Pricop, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main

The eastern orthodox biblical Exegesis and the western, especially protestant, biblical Exegesis are marked by two different Approaches to the Bible’s text: the patristic Tradition and the historical-critical Method. But are these two directions totally oposite? Are there similarities between the way in which the Church Father´s interpret the Scripture and the way in which the Scripture is interpreted accordind to the biblical criticism roules? A comparison of the two approaches based on the biblical Transfiguration´s text (Mark 9,2-9) shows that similarities are more than obvious. However, the patristic Exegesis has a desired characteristic in the current context of biblical criticism – the actualization of the text´s message.


Jesus in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30) and the Theology of Luke-Acts
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Duane A. Priebe, Wartburg Theological Seminary

The author of Luke moves the story of Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He identifies the content of Jesus’ message with the modified quotation from Isaiah 61:1-6. This clearly replaces Mark’s summary of Jesus’ message about God’s rule in Mark1:14-15, orienting the reader to how Luke understands Jesus’ message and ministry. But then Luke’s story takes a strange, puzzling turn. When Jesus says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” everyone speaks well of him and receives his words positively, in contrast to their offense in Mark. But then, with no apparent motivation, Jesus attacks them, putting words they did not say into their mouths. Jesus continues to press the attack until they become so angry that they want to throw him over the cliff. But he simply walks away, passing through the angry crowd! What is going on here? This paper proposes that the issue is that the people in Nazareth see him as one of their own and the salvation he brings as belonging to them. Jesus challenges the legitimacy of that assumption by calling attention to the stories of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath and Elisha and Naaman the Syrian. Jesus and the salvation he brings is not the possession of a set of insiders, God’s chosen people, but it is for those outside the boundaries. This has often been difficult for Judaism and Christians to accept. This hypothesis will be tested by its power to illuminate the parable of the dishonest steward (16:1-13), one of the most difficult passages in Luke, and the way it illuminates the narrative in the early chapters of Acts.


Suffering Bodies, Divine Absence: Towards a Spatial Reading of ANE Laments with Specific Reference to Psalm 13
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Gert Prinsloo, University of Pretoria

Suffering has been labelled “the universal experience of the human race.” Every human being at some stage in his or her life, inevitably, becomes the victim of illness, loss, failure, and disappointment and more often than not relates suffering in terms of bodily experience. The theme of the suffering of the righteous is prevalent in Ancient Near Eastern literature in general and the Hebrew Bible in particular. The theme is prominent in the prophetic literature, in Job, the Psalms and in Lamentations. The existential crisis associated with severe suffering is a central theme in the Psalter, present in all poems containing elements of lament/petition. Drawing upon the insights of critical spatiality (especially Yi-Fu Tuan’s insistence upon the intrinsic relationship between human beings’ sense of place and space and personal experience) and Ancient Near Eastern views of the cosmos (especially the notion of the temple as centre of the universe and the key concepts of “far” and “near” and “ascend” and “descend”) this study investigates suffering as a spatial concept and as spatial experience in Ancient Near Eastern laments in general and the book of Psalms in particular. Psalm 13 is used as specific example to illustrate the basic premise of the study, namely that suffering can ultimately be classified as separation from the divine and his/her benevolent presence. Suffering can be described in numerous ways and many causes for suffering can be enumerated, but in the end separation from the perceived centre of the universe, whether real or imagined, implies suffering intimately experienced by the human body.


Genesis 3:20 as a Fulcrum for Animal Husbandry
Program Unit: Ecological Hermeneutics
Rebecca Proefrock, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

Although many have seen the phrase, “mother of all living”, as harkening back to a primeval concept of Mother Earth or of various types of fertility goddesses, more recent views have emphasized the domination aspect of the act of naming and the potential damage for gender relations. Regardless, the understanding of “all living” has been limited to humans (an exception being demons, an idea found in midrash). This paper will argue for a less anthropocentric view, one of connecting the woman to the animal portion of creation which is essential to the creation story’s web-like nature of interpenetrating relationships. The first human, the man, is in relationship with the animals in that both share the title, nephesh hayya, living beings (Gen. 2:7; Gen. 2:19). However, the inadequacy of that relationship prompts the creation of the woman, who is named 'ishshah, derived from the man, 'ish. At this stage, there is nothing that connects the woman with the rest of creation. Rather than view the second naming as an insertion, this paper argues that it is essential since it brings the woman into the primal, essential relationship shared between the man and the animals by giving her part of their shared name, hayyah, life. If “mother” is seen in its more general sense, that of caregiving, Eve becomes the prototype for the other half of rural life, animal husbandry (agriculture being the first half, assigned to Adam in 3:23). This makes the reference to the skins of presumably dead animals in vs. 21 more poignant for the woman since she, Eve/Life, is now clothed with death. Animals and now both humans are all bound together in living and dying, setting the stage for Gen. 6.


‘Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!’ Coherence and Orientation of the Ideology of the Isaianic Denkschrift
Program Unit: Prophets
Alexander Prokhorov, University of Aberdeen

Based on B. Duhm’s thesis about I, II, and III Isaiah, writers like K. Budde developed a theory that Isaiah ben Amoz personally performed or supervised the recording of the material in Isaiah 6:1–9:6. Since H. Reventlow (1987) pronounced the Denkschrift Theory dead, and S. Irvine (1992) made sure it was buried, only occasionally the text was treated as a coherent composition (e.g. G. Benzi 2007). Analysis of the Denkschrift’s ideology, however, shows a significant degree of ideological consistency, especially regarding the presentation of kingship. The present paper evaluates this ideological element of the Denkschrift against the context of the corresponding items in the Hezekiah Narrative (chs. 36–39) and in various Babylonian and Assyrian oracular texts. The author admits that there is indeed little ground to attribute the composition of the Denkschrift to historical Isaiah and argues that the orientation of its ideology suggests that it probably is, as R. Carroll puts it, a “social construction” generated during the early Persian period. Recent research shows a considerable interest in the role of Isaiah 6:1–9:6 as a rhetorical and literary hub for Isaiah 1–12 (e.g. E. Blum 1996–1997). Hence, a renewed appreciation of the unity the Denkschrift and a focus on its ideological trends may open a way for correlating the production of Isaiah 1–12 with the formation of Early Judaism – a task that will eventually entail a rethinking of the current hypotheses about Hebrew prophets and the books named after them.


Teaching Mark through a Postcolonial Optic
Program Unit: Gospel of Mark
Jeremy Punt, Universiteit van Stellenbosch - University of Stellenbosch

This contribution explores the potential value of a postcolonial approach for teaching Mark’s gospel. Investigating a number of texts from the gospel, it asks to what extent a postcolonial optic implies a different approach to the gospel, what it adds and where challenges exist. Unlike an anti-imperial or anti-Empire reading, a postcolonial optic wants to stay alert to the ambivalence and ambiguity of situations of imperial rule, investigating texts with attention to hybridity and mimicry in particular. Teaching the gospel of Mark from a postcolonial optic opens up new possibilities for interpretation and contextualization but at the same time also poses certain challenges, pedagogically and otherwise.


Whaur's Yer Auld Testament Noo? Translating the Old Testament into Scots
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Hugh S. Pyper, University of Sheffield

Scottish culture has been profoundly shaped by the Bible - but mostly by a Bible written in English rather than Scots. In this paper, the history of Scots translations of the Bible is briefly reviewed and the reasons why no such translation was published during the Reformation are examined. In the light of this, some of the consequences of this for the development of Scottish literature are suggested. This will lead to a discussion of the surprising success of the Lorimer translation of the New Testament into Scots which raises the question of how its impact could be assessed. The paper will end with a discussion of a recent attempt to translate the book of Jonah into Scots and the possible justifications for undertaking such a project now.


Women in the Book of Nehemiah
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Brigitte Rabarijaona, Université de Genève

Apparently, the book of Nehemiah seems to give a very demeaning image of women, especially in the issue of intermarriage. But other women are present in the book: the woman apparently inactive but probably very influential to Cyrus during his discussion with Nehemiah (2.9), the daughters of Shalloum who contributed to the reconstruction of the wall, (3.12), those who denounced social injustice (5.1) and those who did not hide their joy during the dedication of the wall (12.43). They are not all named and their actions are not always described in detail. The only one who is named is Noadiyah the prophetess (6.14), one of the very few prophetess of the Hebrew Bible. In a critical period for the religious life of the Judean community, what is the role of this woman who is seen as the one who does not approve the plan of God – or the plan of Nehemiah? This paper is not a remake of Eskenazi's work entitled "Out From the Shadow: Biblical Women in Postexilic Era" (JSOT 54/1992, p.25-43). She talks about women in Elephantine and in Ezra-Nehemiah in assuming that Ezra-Nehemia is a single literary work and she focuses more on women in Ezra material (mainly in Ez 9 – 10, Ez 2//Ne7) than in Nehemiah memoir where she talks only about the daughters of Shalloum and the prophetess Noadiyah. In fact we share the same historical background: the postexilic era, but I focus only on the Nehemiah memoir because I assume that Ezra and Nehemiah are two independent books. In my opinion, this consideration changes the perspective. My main question is to know the roles of women in the Nehemiah memoir : how are they presented and for which purposes? Is Nehemiah as misogynistic as the text or the context suggests?


From an Anthropology of Islam to an Anthropology through Islam
Program Unit: Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective
Johan Rasanayagam, University of Aberdeen

At the heart of the anthropological enterprise is an exploration of diverse possibilities for being in the world. A recurring question is how, as academics working in secular intellectual and institutional locations, we engage with fundamentally different conceptual spaces. In recent years, some anthropologists working with Christian communities have begun to explore anthropology's relation to Christian theology. In particular, Joel Robbins has challenged anthropologists to go beyond a critique of the Christian roots of the discipline or taking Christian thinking as ethnographic data, but rather to be open to the possibility that Christian theologians might get some things right about the world that anthropologists currently get wrong. In relation to Islam and Muslim societies, several anthropologists have been revisiting the question of how to take Islam as an object of analysis, an endeavor that sits within the wider question in the discipline of how to 'take seriously' the people we work with and write about. There is a certain dissatisfaction, shared in this paper, of taking Islam or Muslims as the 'object' at all. As an alternative to an anthropology of Islam, this paper suggests an anthropology of life through an Islamic tradition of thought. This would not be an 'Islamic anthropology,' if by this is meant the 'Islamization' of knowledge, the development of analytical frameworks and methodologies that accord with what a writer understands to be Islamic principles. Rather, an anthropology through Islam is an endeavor to rethink basic conceptual frames such as imagination, the real, creativity, the word, agency, and so on, by thinking through the Islamic tradition of philosophy and theology, and through the lives of Muslims.


Atone and Be “At-One”: The People Israel, the Individual, and the Scape-Goat
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Ilona Rashkow, Stony Brook University

Within the biblical text God’s wrath is assuaged by animal sacrifice and on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), these sacrificial offerings provided God with “a pleasing odor” which were offered on behalf of two different groups: the bull for the priesthood and two goats for the people. While the slain animals “purged” the Tabernacle, a goat was dispatched into the wilderness – the live sacrificial animal would carry off the sins of the people and thereby the people would be “cleansed.” Today there is no Temple and instead prayers are said – to quote Hosea “our lips compensate for bulls” (13:3). And just as sacrifices required the presence of the community, communal prayer requires a minyan, which enables the inclusion of prayers that otherwise must be omitted. In other words, individuals still require the presence of the community in order to appeal on the “highest level” to the deity. Using the theories of both Lacan and Freud, this paper examines the psychology of sacrifice and atonement within the Hebrew Bible and raises questions such as the need for the group as well as the individual to atone; the effect of the group’s guilt displaced onto the goat and its subsequent catharsis for the individual; and the psychological ramifications of post-Temple post-animal-sacrifice of atonement on the individual.


Paragraph-Divisions in 4QSam-a
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Andrea Ravasco, Independent Scholar

As is well known, the chapter and section divisions in biblical manuscripts arose in the Middle Ages, but they are found in more ancient texts too. After the analysis on this topic in his seminal work about scribal practices (2004), E. Tov recently (FS Trebolle Barrera, 2012) focused on the chapter and section division in Esther, the only biblical book not found at Qumran. This paper investigates if sections division can be helpful to reconstruct a very fragmentary manuscript. The test is 4QSam-a. In 1Sam 24:17, 4QSam-a seems to witness a different division in comparison with MT and LXX, thus possibly showing a different exegesis (or a different text?) of the Book of Samuel


The Man Who Protected His Mother’s Honor or Slighted His Father’s Honor?
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Azila Talit Reisenberger, University of Cape Town

Primogeniture is commonly assumed to have prevailed throughout the ancient world and firstborns were regarded as most precious and the ones who were assigned to be the primary heirs and in due course become the heads of the clan. This predominance may have been problematic when a first born did wrong. A careful study of biblical narrative shows that many prominent figures in biblical literature give preference to younger offspring, even when no record of wrong-doing is presented. Some scholars explain it through analysing folk motif, showing how the young more innocent children evoke innocence, vulnerability, and destiny. Other scholars try to explain it away as a prophetic polemic that promotes rewards for worthy characters. This paper deal with the above issues through close reading of the narrative of Jacob’s first born son, who not only was set aside and repudiated as a primary heir, but on his father death-bed, was cursed. Close reading of the book of Genesis shows that Reuben was intertwined in the life at Jacob’s house-hold. He was close to Leah his mother and at the right time he behaved like a responsible first-born brother, yet there is a record of him slighting his father’s honour. This act brought upon him a curse and denied him his rights as the primary heir. The paper presents a detailed study of Reuben’s depiction in Genesis, side by side with biblical commentary and religious rituals and traditions that emanated from it and that have prevailed to-date.


The Positive Functions of Levitical Sacrifice in Hebrews
Program Unit: Epistle to the Hebrews
Benjamin J. Ribbens, Wheaton College (Illinois)

Scholars typically assume that the author of Hebrews strips the levitical sacrifices of any efficacy and sees them as merely external rituals that were unable to address the problem of sin. This paper will challenge this presiding assumption. Every first-century reader of the Septuagint understood that sacrifice achieved atonement, forgiveness, and purification, so that the author of Hebrews does not need to highlight this basic understanding of levitical sacrifice. Rather, such a positive understanding of the levitical sacrifices permeates the author’s thinking. The levitical sacrifices were offered according to the law (8:4; 10:8), which attributed them efficacy. The author repeatedly notes that the sacrifices were for sins (5:1, 3; 7:27; 9:7; 13:11), and he works with the assumption that the old covenant sacrifices achieved forgiveness (9:22; 10:18). Further, the description of Jesus’ death in the pattern of a sacrifice loses any significance if the author does not think the levitical sacrifices achieved anything efficacious. After arguing for a positive view of the levitical sacrifices in Hebrews, this paper will note how a positive understanding fits with the author’s critical statements about the levitical cult, such as its inability to perfect, redeem, take away sin, cleanse the conscience, etc. Rather than making a blanket statement regarding the inefficacy of the levitical sacrifices in Hebrews, this paper will call for a more nuanced position that acknowledges some efficacy for the levitical sacrifices in the midst of predominantly negative statements about their inability.


"Behold the Man"? Subverting Imperial Masculinity in the Gospel of John
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Jason J. Ripley, Saint Olaf College

The Gospel of John forges Jesus’ portrait of Jesus in the rhetorical crucible of honor and virtus, where Roman masculinity was socially constructed and contested. Within the divergent configurations of manliness that emerge in the early imperial period, the glorious death of John’s Jesus at once appeals to and subverts reigning constructions of imperial masculinity. Through the portrayal of Jesus’ unflappable courage and conquering via his death, the rhetoric of the Fourth Gospel lays claim to the ideal of Roman virtus, especially as set forth in the rhetorized renditions of anti-imperial Stoic martyrs (such as Cato and Seneca). However, by constructing Jesus’ masculinity around his bound, beaten, crucified and penetrated body, the Fourth Gospel critiques and subverts imperial configurations of hegemonic manliness and domination. John’s glorification of the cross provides a paradigm of masculinity that exalts courageous critique and rejection of imperial violence even at the cost of one’s life, thereby inverting the shame of crucifixion and imbuing it with honor and virtus. In so doing, imperial notions of martial masculinity and power are subverted and reconfigured around the cross. Even more radically, as the incarnation and revelation of the divine Father, the crucified Son reveals a vulnerable Father whose love spiritually “births” children of God and opens the boundaries of the divine self for mutual indwelling, in stark contrast to the impenetrable boundaries of the imperial father of the fatherland (pater patriae) and his heavenly counterpart Jupiter, the Father of Heaven, in whose image many emperors sought to be portrayed.


The Roman Republic, Hasmonean Judaea, and the Mithridatic Wars
Program Unit: Hellenistic Judaism
Samuele Rocca, Ariel University Center of Samaria

The purpose of this lecture is to analyze and discuss the relationship between the Roman Republic and the Hasmonean state during the Mithridatic wars. Already Judah the Maccabee, if not before, signed a treaty of friendship with the Roman Republic. But was this treaty still valid more than fifty years later? In this lecture, I shall discuss the evolution of the relationship between the Roman Republic and the Hasmonean state during a period that has not been so well documented, when Judaea was ruled first by King Alexander Jannaeus, either from the Roman or Hasmonean point of view. The main question, discussed by various scholars such as Rappaport and Pucci Ben Zeev, is whether or not the Hasmonean state shifted its foreign policy in the direction of an alliance and friendship with the Roman Republic, or whether it chose instead the friendship of geographically closer powers, such as Parthia as well as Pontus, under the rule of Mithridates VI. It seems to me—through a careful reading of Josephus’s Antiquities, Strabo, Plutarch—that Hasmonean Judaea did not commit any hostile acts towards the Roman Republic, such as siding with her enemies, but, on the contrary, that the Roman Republic and the Hasmonean kingdom shared the same adversaries as the Roman Republic, such as Mithridates VI of Pontus and Tigranes II of Armenia.


Jewish Artistic Trends from Pompeii
Program Unit: Archaeology and Diaspora Judaism
Samuele Rocca, Ariel University Center of Samaria

Epigraphic data shows that there was a tiny Jewish presence in ancient Pompeii. But, is this evidence also reflected in art that can be considered "Jewish"? In this lecture I shall discuss two objects that can be related to a Jewish presence in the city on the eve of the eruption of the Vesuvius in 79 CE. The first object is a gladiator helmet depicting a palm tree. The second object is the well known fresco depicting the Judgment of Solomon. It seems to me that these two objects reflected the two different trends which made up Jewish art in Classical Antiquity. The first trend, exemplified by the gladiatorial helmet, is a symbolic trend, which originated in Hasmonean and Herodian Judaea. Indeed, in Judaea already at the end of the second century BCE is possible to discern a local artistic production much influenced by a strict interpretation of the Second Commandment. This trend, with some exception shall continue till the destruction of the Second Temple and afterwards in Late Antiquity. It seems, however, that another artistic tradition developed in the Greek Diaspora, mainly in Alexandria. This artistic tradition, much different from the artistic tradition of Judaea, had been identified by Kurt Weitzman and Bezalel Narkiss. Accordingly, it seems that Alexandrian Jews probably for the first time created a Biblical iconography. This was expressed in illuminated manuscripts. Much later these images formed the basis of early Christian iconography, found for example in the wall frescoes of the Catacombs in Rome. Possibly, the wall painting found in Pompeii and depicting the Judgment of Solomon reflects this trend.


The Nicodemus Dialogue (John 3:1–21) as a Clue to Johannine Perspective on Jesus
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Jan Roskovec, Charles University in Prague

Following the example of Mark, John seeks to present the meaning of Jesus through telling a story. His narrative, however, is quite peculiar, with special demands on the reader to discover the right meaning in it. For this, John equips his reader with certain clues, helping to recognise and understand special perspective of the told story. The dialogue of Jesus with Nicodemus, “a teacher of Israel”, in chap. 3 is one of such clues. It is the first of Jesus’ speeches, so characteristic for John, and it contains a number of important Johannine concepts (e.g. light, spirit, love, OT motifs, historical reminiscences) as well as literary devices (e.g. the scheme of misunderstanding). The paper will attempt to revisit the exegetical problems of this passage and to clarify its function as a hermeneutical pattern of the whole Johannine composition.


"Sojourners" "On the Way": Theological Correlation between 1 Peter and Mark 8:27-10:45
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Viktor Roudkovski, LeTourneau University

Several scholars have noted the echoes of the Gospel tradition in 1 Peter. However, what is noteworthy in this discussion is a surprising absence of the Gospel of Mark. While Mark 10:45 and some passages in Mark’s passion narrative receive attention, there remains a possible connection to other passages, namely Mark’s central section (i.e., Discipleship Catechesis). In this study, I propose that certain passages in the central section of Mark’s gospel are echoed in 1 Peter as well. The following places of intersect will be observed: (1) 1 Peter’s controlling metaphor describing Christians as “elect sojourners” and the controlling metaphor for describing the disciples as those who follow Jesus “on the way” to the cross in Mark 8-10; (2) the emphasis on the imitation of the example of Christ’s suffering in both documents with a particular emphasis on soon to be eschatological vindication; (3) other minor affinities such as “salvation of your souls” in 1 Peter 1:9 and “whoever wishes to save his soul,” in Mark 8:35; “fiery ordeal” in 1 Peter 4:12 and “everyone will be salted with fire” in Mark 9:49; and “baptism saves you” in 1 Peter3:21 and “baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized” in Mark 10:38. While historical questions pertaining to literary dependence or authorship may beg the hearing, I will argue instead that these places of intersection between Mark’s central section and 1 Peter should serve as theological correlatives to each other’s conceptualization of the nature of Christian life. Said in another way, there exists a type of theological inter-textuality between 1 Peter and Mark’s central section which I speculate may be a result of a common reservoir of Early Christian tradition or a common provenance of these documents.


Critical Editions in Both Paper and Digital Support: Using Eledmac with XML-TEI
Program Unit: Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies
Maïeul Rouquette, Université de Lausanne

The old software LaTeX provides one package to manage critical editions : (e)ledmac. This package allows to make edition on paper with a hight level of typographical quality without knowledge of DTP software. However it can seem outdated in a period which is prefering books on digital form. But we can use eledmac in combination with other softwares and standards, for example XML-TEI, to product critical editions for the two mediums, paper and digital, and respecting the stylistic canons of both (typographical rules, higth quality code, semantic and multiple interfaces.)


Mark 15:38: The Tearing of the Veil: A Literary Understanding
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Robert M. Rowland, Claremont Graduate University

The interpretation of the rending of the Temple veil in the Gospel of Mark has been something of an enigma for scholars and laypeople alike since its inception. It has been seen as a sign of the destruction of Jerusalem, the rending of a mourning father’s garment, or a symbol of Jesus’ ascension, to name a few. Others have made claims that the problem is that there is no context for it, that Mark does not know how to really incorporate his sources. However, I argue that the tearing the Temple veil, when seen in the context of the larger passion narrative in Mark, functions as a “bookend,” showing the reader that the earthly life of Jesus is over, thus ending his narrative. He does this through a careful use of parallels with 2 Kings and the baptism scene in Mark 1. In order to fully explore this thesis and what Mark is doing with the veil passage, we must first look at all aspects of the narrative framework: its history and the history of the veil itself; its interpretation, both in history and in the modern day; and its function within the narrative. It is my goal through this investigation to try and answer the questions surrounding the Temple veil, and provide a literary interpretation of this pericope.


Reconsidering the Semantics of the Greek Perfect
Program Unit: Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics
Steven E Runge, Logos Bible Software

The Perfect tense-form of the Greek verb has been a source of debate for many years. McKay and Porter have argued for understanding it as conveying stative aspect, which Campbell dismisses as a lexical characteristic of the lemma rather than the actual semantic value of the tense-form. Campbell has instead claimed the Perfect expresses imperfective aspect, differing from the Present by conveying "heightened proximity." Linguists studying the process of grammaticalization (i.e. historical stages of development) have noted typologically consistent paths which tense-forms like the Perfect follow. They have also noted that lexical semantics significantly influence this development. Thus Campbell is correct to correlate the stative semantics observed with commonly occurring Perfects (e.g. verbs of position like histemi, or of cognition like oida) with the lexical semantics of the lemma itself. Although most frequently found in the Perfect, the predilection of stative verb classes to appear in the Perfect is better understood as a byproduct of grammaticalization than as expressing prototypical semantics of the tense-form. Bybee et al. have found that dynamic (i.e. non-stative) verbs provide a more prototypical basis for determining verbal semantics based on their broader distribution across the tense-forms. Bhat has claimed that in aspect-prominent languages like Greek, the Perfect typically conveys a combination of perfective and imperfective aspect. Campbell dismisses those who view the Greek Perfect as conveying both perfective and imperfective aspect, claiming instead that it must be either one or the other. Although this perfective/imperfective combination sounds implausible, it provides a compelling explanation of the data. This paper surveys the discourse function of Perfect indicative tense-forms in Luke's gospel to illustrate the proposed explanation. It can explain the distributional parallels which Campbell has noted between the Present and the Perfect, while also providing a more typologically attested distinction between the two than "heightened proximity."


Pseudo-Barsabas of Jerusalem’s 'On Christ and the Churches'
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Timothy B. Sailors, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen

The work entitled 'On Christ and the Churches' attributed to Barsabas of Jerusalem, though spurious, may nevertheless be of a relatively early date. This possibility was raised by M. van Esbroeck in his editio princeps of the sole surviving witness to this writing, a Georgian MS on Mount Athos. The discourse, presenting seven Old Testament figures from Adam to Moses as prophets enlightened by Christ, consists of a series of numerous 'mysteries' that typologically relate the Old Testament to Christianity. The work does seem to transmit a primitive Christian theology. Moreover, certain elements have been viewed as a response to Ebionite concepts, and parallels to Justin, Irenaeus and Hippolytus seem to suggest a common source. These features – examined in this paper – warrant serious consideration of the possibility that the work might date to the second or early third century. Irrespective of its date, however, we have here, thanks to this Georgian translation, a unique work of early Christian literature, and the only one attributed to Barsabas.


Observations on the Structure and Literary Fabric of the Temple Scroll
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Alexander Samely, University of Manchester

This paper is devoted to an analysis of key literary structures of the Temple Scroll, insofar as they are visible in the document’s fragmentary state. Using the general approach of the Manchester-Durham “Inventory” project, and some of its key concepts, I will identify a number of thematic and stylistic features that indicate the Temple Scroll’s (a) self-positioning as a text, (b) the knowledge it takes for granted (in its extant parts), (c) the nature of the governing voice heard within it, and (d) its contents. I will argue that such an analysis of the literary features of the document is important in its own right. In other words, describing the Temple Scroll’s relationship to canonical biblical texts, important as that clearly is, cannot be a substitute for a comprehensive description of the text as a stand-alone primary source of Jewish antiquity. In its verbal fabric and physical transmission the Temple Scroll is a textual entity separate from the textual entities we call “Pentateuch” and other biblical texts. It thus calls for a full description of its features, and within such a description its pervasive tacit overlap with the wording of biblical texts constitutes one important dimension among others. I will also argue that an effective description of the Temple Scroll in all its aspects will incorporate a comparative angle, positioning the text within the field of ancient Jewish literature, as well adopt selectively conceptual tools for the analysis of texts developed in other academic disciplines.


Dating The Hezekian Collection (Proverbs 25–29): A Linguistic Approach
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Nili Samet, Bar-Ilan University

The fifth collection in the book of Proverbs, known as the Hezekian Collection, is considered by many scholars to be an Archimedean point for reconstructing the book's development. However, the methodologies used for dating this collection differ among scholars, and their conclusions vary accordingly. This paper aims at dating the Hezekian collection using a linguistic approach. A thorough analysis of the phonology, morphology, syntax and vocabulary of the Hezekian collection seems to point to an early second-temple date. This analysis of the Hezekian collection may serve as a model for a larger project of dating the different parts of the book of Proverbs on linguistic grounds.


The Creation of Jesus Christ in the NT and in the Qur’an
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Mojgan Sarshar, Free University, Teheran

This article pays to the comparison between the Qur’an and the New Testament about the modality of Christ creation. They both know sperm formation of Christ from Mary and the Holy Ghost possible. The happening way of this matter and Christ creation in these two books but, is different a little. The most final explanation in the New Testament expresses that the power of the Highest overshadowed his creation after the Holy Ghost came to Mary and so introduces God the father of Christ. On the other hand, it knows Jesus Christ the Word who was God and of course was with God; and it says the Word was turned to flesh. In the Qur’an more explanation is given about the modality of Christ creation. At first, Christ’s identity like all of humans and Adam is from soil and he has human authenticity. Secondly, it calls the name of this sperm, like the sperms of other men, the Word; and knows the Word one of the divine creations. From the view of his birth without any father, he is like Adam, but, by blowing of the Holy Ghost. The meaning of the Word, Christ’s sperm and the rank of the Holy Ghost in this case is explained (in these two holy books). Through this research, it is possible to justify the difference between the conviction of the believers in the New Testament and the Qur’an, concerning if Christ has divine or human identity.


An Interpretation of John's Gospel in the Context of Contemporary Scholarship in Japan
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Kei Sasaki, Hokkaido University, Japan

Is Johannine Studies making progress? In other words, is it moving towards the truth? In the second half of the 20th century, not only in Johannine Studies, but also in biblical studies, two main streams of research developed: the traditional historical-critical approach and a broad literary one which is closely connected to some secular literary theories. In my opinion, these two approaches can and should be unified from the hermeneutical perspective. However, in reality we cannot say that they are. The situation in Japanese Johannine and biblical studies is the same. The historical-critical approach seems to have been repeating the same argument ad nauseam. Is the argument being narrowed down to closer to the historical truth? Ironically, this truth may never be achieved, so it is possible that this pattern of biblical studies might continue forever. On the other hand, literary methods have produced many seminal works, but now seem to be stagnant. And again, in Japan, the situation is the same. We, Japanese scholars, however must consider one other thing. That means, we of the Bible and Gospel of John, must carry out research in the particular context of Japanese culture, where this research is relegated to a very small number of scholars with academic posts. Therefore, in Japan where the Bible does not occupy a large space in the cultural background, it is not the achievements of biblical studies and Johannine studies that are important, but it is the meta-research which explains what meaning they have and how important they are even in the non-Christian world that must be included in the Johannine interpretation.


Israelite Monotheism: Its Origin and Its "Price"
Program Unit: Expressions of Religion in Israel
Joachim Schaper, University of Aberdeen

Recent years have witnessed a remarkable discussion of the "price" of Israelite monotheism and its alleged inherent tendency towards violence. The paper takes that discussion as its starting-point and attempts to answer the following question: What is distinctive about Israelite monotheism, especially if compared with Akhenaten's religious reform, and do its distinctive features betray an indissoluble link between monotheistic belief (and cultic practice) and a readiness for violence? The question will be answered by a fresh reading of key passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and a reconsideration of practices at the interface of material and intellectual culture, such as the practices of writing and of artistic expression. It will be shown that speaking of the "breakthrough" of monotheism makes sense, inasmuch as it designates that the very specific material conditions and intellectual challenges faced by late pre-exilic Israel led to a re-conceptualisation of YHWH which had roots in the earlier YHWH cult but now gained wider significance and was transformed into "monotheism".


Empathy for the Psychological Underdog: A Positive Psychological Approach to Luke's Gospel
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Eben Scheffler, UNISA

Taking the lead from Wisdom of Solomon 7:20 which indicates clearly that ancient authors did engage in the specialised “scientific” (although contemporary) study of mental processes (dialogismoi anthropoon), it is argued that the author of Luke’s Gospel paid special attention to the alleviation of human psychological suffering. Employing an approach that recently has been labelled as “positive psychology”, attention will be paid to general affliction (e g Lk 4:18; 6:21,25), old age (Lk 1:5-80; 2:25-38), grief (e g Lk 7:11-17) and the emphasis on mental processes in his portrayal of Jesus’ exorcisms (e g Lk 4:35; 6:18-19; 9:38), as well as the psychological dimension involved in other types of suffering (e g poverty, sickness, enmity and social ostracism).The “mental process”, “feeling” or “empathy” that motivates the alleviation of suffering (in the behaviour of Jesus and his followers) will also come into focus in the discussion of the Lucan use of the terms oiktirmoon (cf Lk 6:36) and splangnizomai (e g 10:33).


Al-Kindi on Musical Metric (iqa')
Program Unit: Bible and Syriac Studies in Context
Stephanie Schewe, Freie Universitaet Berlin

The research project “Al-Kindi and the Influence of Music” focuses on music theory within the works on music of the Arabic philosopher and scholar Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (d. after 870). The source text is his Kitab al-mu'awwitat al-watariyya min 'at al-watar al-wa'id ila 'at al-'ašarat al-autar (Book on Stringed Instruments from One String to Ten Strings). With reference to recent work on the Byzantine and Syrian-Aramaic octoechos (Rebekka Nieten, “Byzantinischer und syrischer Oktoechos,” Beiträge zum sechsten deutschen Syrologen-Symposium [Konstanz, 2009]), one observes that the modes of the Syrian octoechos may have influenced the conception of rhythm, i.e. musical metric (iqa'), in Arabic music. Al-Kindi treats the musical meters (iqa'at) in two of his extant treatises on music. In his Book on Stringed Instruments he classifies the eight basic iqa'at by the use of Arabic prosody ('aru'). In his Risala fi l-lu'un wa-n-nagam he names the eight melodic modes (echoi) of the Byzantine octoechos (al-lu'un at-tamaniyya al-usuhusiyya), but compares them with the Arabic iqa'at. Although he does not mention the Syrian octoechos, it is to be assumed that he refers to the Syrian modes that differ in terms of musical metric. One may conclude therefore that the rhythm of the recitation of Qur’an (tartil) could be influenced by Arabic iqa' and through this by Syriac recitation in general.


The Temple Scroll between the Bible and the Mishnah
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Lawrence H. Schiffman, Yeshiva University

This study will discuss a number of ways in which the Temple Scroll is evidence of the transition from biblical Israel to the Judaism of the Rabbis. In some cases, such as language, we will see common threads evidencing this transition. In other aspects, such as Jewish law, we will see that the scroll shows us an approach rejected by the circles that ultimately provided the basis for the rabbinic traditions. Finally, we will see overarching commanalities--part of the common Judaism that provided the background for the transition from Bible to Mishnah.


"A Fence Around the Torah": Rabbinic Strategies for Policing the Canon
Program Unit:
Lawrence Schiffman, Yeshiva University

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Augustine’s Explicit References to Variant Readings of the Biblical Text
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Rebekka Schirner, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

Throughout Augustine’s writings, a noticeable number of passages can be found where he explicitly refers to biblical manuscripts and their readings or to translators and their versions of the biblical text. In this context, especially the passages where the church father comments on variant readings of a certain biblical verse are of great interest for exegesis in general and textual criticism in particular. As the selected examples will demonstrate, Augustine applies different modes of evaluation, which lead him to different conclusions: Quite often, he uses the differing readings for his exegesis by, e.g.,, combining their meanings into a new conceptual unit or by interpreting them in different ways. Sometimes, the different readings are assessed according to principles of textual criticism and, thus, one is preferred for the exegesis of the relevant verse. Furthermore, in addition to referring to existing Latin versions, Augustine sometimes offers his own translation of the Greek text to either illustrate the structure of this language or to add certain semantic nuances, which, in his opinion, have not been rendered adequately in the text of the manuscripts he is resorting to.


The Emperor’s New Clothes - Revisited? On the Novelty and Tenacity of Recent Methodology in Jesus Research
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Eckart Schmidt, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

For several years, a new interest and a new reflection in methodologies on the gospel stories of Jesus can been noticed. Three contributive factors at least can be highlighted on that score: the awareness and reflection of postmodern concepts on historiography; a raised interest in novellistic literary interpretative methods; the development of the concept of individual and social memory. Several scholars have even begun to herald a „fourth quest“ on Jesus (e.g. Baasland, Welker, Zahl, Anderson), most incongruent in themselves. As one of the, possibly, furthest reaching approaches Chr. Keith and A. LeDonne have very recently advocated for the demise of all historical authenticity criteria altogether. The paper proposed will give a methodological outline of recent approaches to Jesus research, structure them and lead to a discussion on the intentions of dismissing „old“ methods of Jesus research and developing „new“ ones.


Vows and Their Function in Ancient Israelite Family Religion
Program Unit: Expressions of Religion in Israel
Rüdiger Schmitt, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

The aim of the paper is to investigate the social setting of vows in Ancient Israelite Family Religion and a discussion of some theories regarding their social setting (Berlinerblau and others). Within Old Testament narrative texts, vows are offered mostly in response to cases of distress, crisis, or danger. In familial contexts, vows were borne of situations that threatened the continuance of a family, such as infertility. Vows were intended to ensure familial welfare, or to secure specific familial promises. The paper will argue that vows and their associated performances were fundamental practices of family religion, and that they remained familial rites even though the public enactment of rites of fulfillment was dictated by official religious prescriptions. Thus, although official religion dictated some aspects of the public rites performed upon the fulfillment of promissory vows—as can be shown by the examples from dedicatory formulae found upon Samaritan, Phoenician, and Punic inscriptions—that these official dictates had little impact upon the general social setting of vows and on the familial practices associated with the offering of vows.


What Biblicists Need to Know about...the Samaritan Pentateuch
Program Unit:
Stefan Schorch, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

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Echoes of Identity: A New Inscription from Roman Omrit
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Daniel Schowalter, Carthage College

A new inscription from the Roman temple site of Omrit in northern Israel offers a terminus ante quem for the temple complex and also provides additional connections between Omrit, Caesarea Philippi, and nearby Banias. The inscription was discovered on the paving to the east of the temple, and seems to refer to the dedication of a pair of statues and a decorative water system. The text also reveals new details about the socio-economic make-up of the region in the first century CE, and is dedicated to a rather unexpected deity, the nymph Echo.


When "Humanities" Goes beyond History and Sociology in Digital Biblical Studies: The Case of Mark 1:1
Program Unit: Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies
Sara Schulthess, Université de Lausanne

This paper is the second part of a double inquiry proposed by Claire Clivaz and Sara Schulthess (University of Lausanne). In the first paper, Claire Clivaz will draw the theoretical framework for a renewed historical approach in the digital culture. In a second part, I will use Mark 1:1 as a test case for an inquiry of the multiplicity of discourses present in the Internet. In fact, New Testament textual criticism is very current on the Internet, in many different ways: online manuscripts pictures, chat room with discussions between scholars and textual criticism lovers, blogs, youtube videos, etc. It has to be noted that discourses often become apologetic, as in some evangelical or Islamic websites, but also with improbable dialogues between the parts. The multiplicity of the forms of the discourses and of the actors, the exchanges, the lost of the author, this makes of the object a challenge for the scholar. A revaluation of non-academic discourse productions as well as openness to other tools such as those offered by sociology is needed to approach the complexity of the phenomenon.


The List of the Arabic Manuscripts of the Pauline Letters: First Results
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Sara Schulthess, Université de Lausanne

In general the Arabic manuscripts of the New Testament have been little studied by the New Testament textual criticism. In the case of the Arabic manuscripts of Pauline letters, the neglect is even more severe. The Arabic versions of the Pauline letters suffered from the idea that the translations of the Gospels were more ancient and more popular, maybe because of the influence of the early Islamic tradition, which did shown more interest for the “Injîl” and little for Paul of Tarse. A listing of the manuscripts is a necessary first step to learn more about these translations. In the first instance, it helps to highlight that the Arabic translations of Paul's letters was a phenomenon as important as those of the Gospels. It will also allow to understand the history of these versions, their origins, popularity and development. This paper wants to share the first results of the listing work and suggest future directions of research.


The Riddle of the Ungrateful Vine (Ezekiel 17): A New Solution
Program Unit: Prophets
Baruch Schwartz, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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The Deep Structure of Ch. 26 in the Book of Genesis
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Sarah Schwartz, Bar-Ilan University

The structure of Chapter 26 and its location in the Book of Genesis have been dealt with extensively in the research literature. Contrary to the diachronic approach, which regards the chapter as a cluster of different traditions, researchers adopting a synchronic reading of the text point to its literary structure and common theme of blessing and conflict, which in turn anticipates the struggle between Jacob and Esau for their father’s blessing in the following chapter. My reading of the text endorses this distinction, but focuses on an issue that has hardly been examined in the research: the manner in which the central motifs of the chapter create its deep structure and contribute to its message and significance. I consider that the deep structure of Chapter 26 reflects movement and tension between the blessing of God and its actualization within the complexity reality of life. The reader travels with Isaac from place to place, and experiences with him the alternating movement between the blessing of God bestowed upon him and the many difficulties Isaac encounters on a practical level in realizing this blessing, such as the enmity of the neighbors in Gerar, the blocking up of his wells and his expulsion, etc. This tension pertains to the issue of Isaac’s ability to maintain possession of the promised land, which in turn is connected to the broader issue of inheritance, birthright and blessing which appear in the adjoining units. Understanding the unique manner in which Chapter 26 pits the Divine blessing against harsh reality enables us to explain its placement between the sale of the birthright (25:29-34) and the theft of the blessings (27:1-45), thereby illuminating its purpose and importance within the structure of the Isaac narrative.


Proclamation of Salvation in Ezekiel: Oracles of Restoration or Traces of Eschatological Hope?
Program Unit: Prophets
Franz Sedlmeier, Universität Augsburg

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Graphic Bibles: The Word Becomes Picture
Program Unit: Bible and Visual Culture
Robert Paul Seesengood, Albright College

Contemporary scholarship has explored several genres of graphic representation of the Bible,and there is an increasing body of literature examining the Bible's appearence in comic-book format. Often, such critique borrows from film theory, exploring how point-of-view, image composition, and visual juxtapositions cohere to bring viewers into direct participation with narrative character. One very recent and very engaging Bible-comic is Robert Crumb's Genesis. Crumb's general artistic work is famous for its graphic sexuality, its crude and distinct use of light and "weight," and its generally visceral content. Crumb's text for Genesis is the full (and exclusive) text of the Authorized Version (KJV) of Genesis. Reviews (and Crumb's own description of the work) stress that he has followed the text with absolute fidelity, adding nothing. Yet, when artists make the necessary decisions for depicting a biblical scene or story, they must make interpretations. What race, for example, were Adam and Eve? In this paper, I will be exploring how Crumb "translates" biblical text into a new medium. I would like to concentrate on two particular (sets of) questions. First, using a model of Cultural Studies developed after the work of Hoggart, Hall and others and informed by the work of Gramsci and Althusser, I would like to examine how Crumb's images both create and reflect popular notions of gender, ethnicity and cultural alterity/subalterity. Second, I am interested in exploring how Crumb's images intersect with, perpetuate, and at times challenge what Robert Alter has called the "reticence" of biblical narrative. These two questions, fore-grounded by the study of how Crumb "translates" biblical text into a new genre, demonstrate the reality of a form of "epicriticism" always-already present in the engagement of biblical text by its readers.


The Prehistory of the Jewish Canon
Program Unit:
Michael Segal, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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Rashbam's and Radak's Approach Towards Midrash: A Comparative Study
Program Unit: Judaica
Ayelet Seidler, Bar-Ilan University

One of the basic traits in the scriptural exegesis of two Peshat oriented mediaeval commentators, Rashbam (Rabbi Shmuel Ben Meir, North France 1080-1160) and Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi, Provence 1160-1235) is their handling of the tension between Peshat and Midrash. Rashbam is one of the first Peshat commentators in an exegetically Midrash oriented environment. His novel exegetical approach consists in establishing a method of Peshat exegesis and in the fact that in his commentaries he quite consistently refrains from an explicit use of Midrashim. However, he often hints at Midrashic contents and methods, either rejecting or adopting them. In contrast, Radak's exegesis stems in Sephardic tradition and he walks in the footsteps of Sephardic Peshat oriented commentators, most prominently Ibn Esra whose Torah commentary is based on etymological analysis and rational reasoning. But unlike his predecessors Radak makes extensive use of Midrashim in his Peshat commentary. The different points of departure of these two exegetes on the one hand as well as their common quest for the plain meaning of the scripture and their profound knowledge of the Midrash on the other hand turns a comparative analysis of their commentaries into a fruitful intellectual challenge. Though Rashbam's and Radak's uses of Midrash were each researched separately, a comparative work of this kind was not done yet (with the exception of Jonathan Jacobs who mentions this aspect shortly in his work on Radak's possible acquaintance with Rashbam's Torah commentary). In my lecture I will try to point out the similarities as well as the differences between Rashbam's and Radak's approaches to the Midrash and to establish the exegetical principles which underlie their approach. The comparison will focus on the book of Bereshit as it is the only book which was commentated by both of them.


A Daring Jewish-Orthodox Approach in Scripture Exegesis: Rabbi Eliah Benamozegh's Pentateuch Commentary "Em LaMikra"
Program Unit: Judaica
Meir Seidler, Ariel University, Israel

Rabbi Eliah Benamozegh (1823-1900) lived in Italy and served as the head of the Rabbinical Seminary in Leghorn (Livorno). He left a rich literary legacy which comprises numerous works from very different realms (exegetical, philosophical, historical, polemical, the oral law etc.) written in three languages: Italian, French and Hebrew. His intellectual effort focused primarily on the interface between revealed religion and the modern world, as well as on establishing a coherent non-antagonistic (!) approach to other religions and philosophies in general and to Christianity in particular. The most renown of Benamozegh's works is "Israel and Humanity" edited and abridged by his Christian disciple Aimé Paillère and published in French only posthumously (1914). But Bemanozegh's theological thought which indeed culminates in "Israel and Humanity" developed over a whole life-time. This can be clearly demonstrated in his Hebrew Pentateuch-Commentary "Em LaMikra" which was published as early as 1862-63. This rare commentary which was never reprinted and, it goes without saying, never translated exhibits already some of the most poignant features of his later thought, e.g. a) his use of the most up to date scientific knowledge of his time to corroborate the biblical narrative and/or its rabbinical reception (cf. his commentary on Gen. 10:6), b) his embrace of the humanist-universalist stance of the European enlightenment in general and of Italian Risorgimento in particular and, most surprising: c) the use he makes of kabalistic concepts and doctrines in order to harmonize between seemingly incompatible attitudes, most prominently Bible criticism (sic!) and the classical religious tradition (cf. his commentary on Lev. 16:4). My paper will focus on the main tools with which Benamozegh meets the challenge of modernity as well as of other religions and philosophical traditions in "Em LaMikra". Some of the most salient examples will be presented, followed by a critical appraisement.


Between Opposition to the Hasmoneans and Resistance to Rome: The Psalms of Solomon and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Nadov Sharon, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The pseudepigraphic Psalms of Solomon and some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are often viewed as significant exempla of opposition to the Hasmoneans. At least some of the Psalms of Solomon as well as several Scrolls were composed after the Roman conquest of Judea in 63 BCE, which entailed the ousting of that regime. Therefore, one may have presumed that they would have been favorable, or at least neutral, towards the Romans. However, that is not the case. Rather, these texts express deep resentment toward the Romans and Rome. In this paper I intend to examine the relationship between the (supposed) opposition to the Hasmoneans and the opposition to Rome as expressed in these two corpora. I will examine whether and how they rejected the Hasmoneans as well as how they challenged Roman imperial ideology, and to what extent they attest to views held by the general Judean population. While there are obvious differences between these two corpora, the similarities between them can be most illuminating. For example, they both seem to have developed a similar messianic view as a consequence of the Roman conquest.


Deuteronomy 19:15–19 in the Damascus Document and Early Midrash
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Aharon Shemesh, Bar-Ilan University

CD 9:16-10:3 - the rule of testimony, has puzzled scholars since its first publication by Schechter to these days. Many explanations were given to this difficult passage (by Ginzberg, Yadin, Baumgarten, Jackson and Schiffman and others) none of them satisfactory. In this paper we suggest a new reading of the rules of testimony in CD. Based on a careful comparison to its fragmentary parallel from Qumran (4Q270=4QDe 6 IV) we argue that the original text of the rule was slightly different and should be emended. We show that CD and some of the halakhic midrashim reflect a markedly different halakhic and interpretive tradition of Deut. 9:15–19 from that of the later halakha, the “conventional” reading of this biblical pericope.


"Noah's Beasts Were the Stars": Arthur Melbourne Cooper and the Earliest Biblical Animations
Program Unit: Bible and the Moving Image
David Shepherd, University of Chester

While biblical narratives have frequently been the subject of animated moving pictures made for television and the cinema (e.g. Prince of Egypt, Dreamworks), this paper offers an analysis of the earliest effort at biblical animation, Noah's Ark (Alpha, 1909) in light of recent scholarship on its maker, the British cinema pioneer, Arthur Melbourne Cooper and recent discussion of 'Children's Bibles'.


Between Hamor and Bil’am, Lavan, and Korach: Outsider-Insider Reactions to the Appearance of Gd’s Chosen
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Richard Sherwin, Bar-Ilan University

Appropriation of property (Hamor & Lavan) and contestation of blessing (Korach and Bil'am) characterize behavior of both relatives of Jacob and Moses and outsiders forced by circumstances (rape of Dinah and fears of Moab) to try to mute if not eliminate the wealth and power of Gd's chosen (Moses, and Israelites led by him). Appropriation and contestation are punished swiftly (Hamor and Korach) and less directly (Lavan and Bil'am), by Gd. The focus on these four pentateuchal cases will be contexted in passing with other internal and external biblical rebellions, and the divine responses and political implications.


Before and After Alter's Literary Approach to "Composite Artistry"
Program Unit: Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible
Zvi Shimon, Bar-Ilan University

One of the pivotal contributions of Alter's Art of Biblical Narrative is found in the seventh chapter - "Composite Artistry" - in which Alter grapples with the complex problem of duplicate and contradictory stories. While acknowledging that the biblical text may not be the "whole cloth" assumed by pre-modern Judeo-Christian tradition, Alter challenges the "confused textual patchwork" approach adopted by modern historical scholarship. Steven Weitzman in the opening article of the special issue of Prooftexts provides a fine general survey of precursors as well as reactions to Alter's chef d'oeuvre. This paper focuses specifically on precursors and successors to chapter 7 of Alter's book. The presentation will treat the case of the double and contradictory creation narratives in the opening chapters of the Bible. It will present several less known modern rabbinic antecedents to Alter's handling of the problem as well as a new direction suggested following the appearance of Alter's book. I will highlight the commonalities and differences between the different approaches both with regard to proposed solution as well as underlying exegetical motive. It will be shown that the different approaches share a common assumption regarding the complexity of the biblical narrative, but differ in the elucidation of this complexity. While Alter was apparently unaware of the precursors to his approach, his interpretation strikingly amalgamates both earlier interpretations.


The Place of God in the Bible: Between Jewish and Christian Theology
Program Unit: Biblical Theology
Zvi Shimon, Bar-Ilan University

Last year's closing presentation in the very successful Biblical Theology session generated an interesting debate regarding God's role in biblical narrative. The presentation surveyed the many different directions in present day theological research and then emphasized that which is accepted by all scholars - God is the central character in the Bible and hence its focus. This paper wishes to challenge the common assumption of God's centrality in the Bible. It is certainly true that most theological works have invariably considered God to be the focus of the biblical narrative. However, this is not necessarily substantiated by the biblical text. Appearances of God throughout the Bible decrease steadily and consistently throughout the biblical narrative. God does not usually generate history, and events often occur against his will. This calls into question the assumption that God lies at the center of the narrative. This paper suggests, in contrast to the dominant position in the field of theology, that man and not God stands at the heart of the biblical narrative. Theological research focusing on God is a product of a predominantly Christian perspective that does not necessarily reflect biblical narrative. A literary analysis of many biblical narratives reveals that one of the central topics of the Bible is the distinction between good and evil and the contrasting outcomes stemming from a person's moral choices. The paper proposes an alternative theological outlook that may be termed a "theology of choice", according to which man's central task is to choose between good and evil. Theology of choice leads to biblical narrative's focus on the internal conflicts of characters, their struggles and the choices that they must make. This proposal is in tune with much Jewish thought and biblical research and may reflect a dividing line between Jewish and Christian theological research.


John 10:34-36’s Midrashic Use of Embedded Scripture
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
David Sigrist, Trinity Western University

For many modern exegetes Jesus’ use of Psalm 82:6 in John 10 has caused much confusion or at least uneasiness. This is because Jesus’ use of embedded Scripture in John 10:31-39 does not appear to conform to prevalently accepted rules, so to speak, of standard historical-grammatical methods. So as part of a broader discussion of how embedded Scripture texts function in the canonical Gospels this paper demonstrates that Jesus in John’s Gospel employs the embedded Scripture text of Psalm 82:6 in a manner quite typical of early Jewish midrashim, and therefore most likely from within such interpretive traditions. This is demonstrated by first surveying extant Jewish midrashic understandings of Psalm 82, then analyzing the literary context of John 10, and then finally by comparing Jesus’ use of Psalm 82 in John 10 to the midrashic understandings. The conclusion reached is that Jesus understands Psalm 82:6 as referring primarily (i.e., not necessarily entirely) to the Jewish midrashic understanding of Israel receiving God’s Torah at Sinai and becoming thereby immortal gods who are set apart (i.e., sanctified or made holy). This is because only such an understanding fulfills John’s literary purpose in John 10:31-39 (the immediate context of the embedded Scripture text), namely, of defending Jesus from the charge of slandering (or blaspheming) God by making himself to be God. Such a conclusion may greatly aid properly understanding John’s use of embedded Scripture elsewhere, and beyond.


Baptism in Rom 6: Metaphor, Real Rite, and Self-Identification
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Samuli Siikavirta, University of Cambridge

While most scholars agree that the main theme of Romans 6 is death to sin and life in Christ, one question remains divisive: is Paul’s death-life dichotomy to be understood independently of the concrete act of baptism or not? Exegetes such as James Dunn find only one reference to water baptism in the chapter in the phrase “dia tou baptismatos” (6:4a). The proponents of this view tend to see baptism as one metaphor amongst others for Paul’s death-life pattern: just as Jesus speaks of his death as a baptism, so does Paul of this spiritual death. Others maintain that the phrase “hosoi ebaptisthemen eis Christon Iesoun eis ton thanaton autou ebaptisthemen” (6:3) refers to the rite as well. To varying degrees, the chapter’s death-life language more broadly, the prevalence of passive and aorist forms and the “type of teaching” of 6:17 are seen as baptismal. Supporters of this view tend to see Romans 6 as addressing the issue of death to sin and life in Christ in conjunction with a baptism with water. The influence of dogmatic baggage can at times be recognised in the background. Opponents are easily accused of de-metaphoring sacramentalism on the one hand and over-metaphorical spiritualisation on the other. Troels Engberg-Pedersen’s approach offers an interesting compromise between the two extremes by limiting the metaphorical dimension to the cognitive sphere of self-identification: if the “old man” were truly dead, there would be no need for the parenesis of Rom. 6. The baptismal death to sin viewed as analogous to Christ’s death (6:5; cf. 6:13) does not denote a physical death but a real shift in identity (cf. 6:11). This paper defends the view that Paul refers to the rite in not only 6:4a and reflects on the identity-forming aspect of baptism in Paul’s ethics.


Freedmen in Business in the Shepherd of Hermas and Petronius’ Cena Trimalchionis
Program Unit: Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy
Kirsi Siitonen, University of Helsinki

The Third Sub-Group: Recent studies in the ancient economy find it probable that the Roman Empire experienced an economic boom during the first two centuries. This kind of background situation could well be plausible for the Shepherd of Hermas. The narrator of the Shepherd, the former ex-slave Hermas, criticizes Christians who are too involved in their business affairs in order to gain material wealth. It has earlier been argued that these Christians would have included freedmen who understandably may have been eager to improve their living conditions after the manumission. This paper seeks to explore the context of potential freedmen businessmen in the Shepherd, and the kind of tensions the situation may have caused in the congregation. Petronius’ Cena Trimalchionis, although a fictional narrative, offers a comparative writing and one perspective of how freedmen in business were seen in the Roman society. The social history and epigraphic evidence concerning freedmen will also be taking into consideration in this paper.


Epictetus and Paul: Listening to the Voices
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Margaret G. Sim, SIL International

The use of diatribe in the Graeco-Roman world is well known.I build on this to examine the use of representation of the thoughts of others, real or imputed, and how this is marked or implied in the text. The letter to the Romans will be examined alongside the Discourses of Epictetus as recorded by Arrian.In the Corinthian letters it has been recognised that Paul regularly reflects the beliefs of others to which he does not himself subscribe.The interpretative challenge is to identify whose voice we are hearing and the implied author's response to the voice.The editor of the Discourses frequently adds quotation marks to the Greek text to make such representation clear but in the original text such aids were lacking. I suggest that by listening to the presentation of different voices in the Discourses we may identify interpretative strategies which work well in our analysis of Romans. A modern theory of communication, Relevance Theory, will be used to give grounding to this study but jargon will be avoided. This is not a paper addressed to linguists but to biblical scholars.


Argument in Job: The Contribution of Hen
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Ronnie Sim, Africa International University

Particles are notoriously difficult to pin down (VanGemeren), and hen is no exception. Opinion has ranged from the proposal that, in at least some occurrences, it has a conditional meaning (Labuschagne) to the claim that ‘there is no essential difference between the syntactic and semantic functions of hen and hinneh’ (van der Merwe, inter alia). A previous SBL presentation on hinneh (Sim 2010) offered an explanation of the contribution of hen in the Hebrew scriptures, with cursory comment on examples in Job. This paper takes up that proposal, and explores it further, looking at all (32x) occurrences in the book, which are unevenly distributed across the speeches of each interlocutor in the text. The starting point is to consider that hen introduces a processing instruction, following the work of Blakemore and others in recent cognitive linguistics, and to identify the instruction as closely as possible. The goal is to confirm and refine the earlier proposal, and to consider its extension beyond Job. Confirmation will have to examine how assertions under the scope of hen contribute to the argument of which they are a part. As time permits, the paper will compare (ve)hinneh (13x in Job) with hen.


Ezekiel 20:25-26 Revisited: Echoic Denial, Echoic Question, or an Echo of a Third Kind?
Program Unit: Prophets
Ronnie Sim, Africa International University

The shocking assertions which the prophet places in Yahweh’s mouth (Ezk 20.25-26) create an infamous and severe interpretive difficulty which has generated a variety of proposed resolutions. Torrey (1930) suggested reading vv. 23, 25 and 26 as (rhetorical) questions. The paper picks up the proposal, which never won much support, reconsidering v. 25 as either an echo question or echoic denial, both of which are widely discussed in linguistic literature and use language to re-present another utterance. Language re-presents another utterance (or thought) when it ostensively represents the propositional content of someone else’s utterance or thought (e.g., Carston 2002: 158). The paper then offers a new further proposal, namely verbal irony (see Sperber & Wilson 1981; Wilson & Sperber 1992, 1998, inter alia), adducing evidence from the text.


“Priest, Sacrifice, Life as Worship”: A Pauline Matrix for Understanding Romans
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
William A. Simmons, Lee University

The significance of Paul’s apostolic authority is well-rehearsed in the literature. With the exception of Philippians, Paul defends his apostleship in each of his letters (Rom. 1:1; 11:13; 1 Co. 1:1; 9:1f; 15:9; 2 Co. 1:1; 12:12; Gal. 1:1). Yet in his Epistle to the Romans, arguably his most significant work, “apostle” appears only twice (Rom 1:1; 11:13). Rather than peppering this letter with apostolic jargon, Paul frequently evokes the language and imagery of temple and sacrifice in Romans This especially holds true for the salutation [cf. eucharisto (1:8); latreuo. . . mneian… poioumai (1:9); ton proseuchon mou deomenos (1:10); ti metado charisma humin pneumatikon (1:11)]. Paul’s use of paristemi in 6:13-19 and 12:1 & 2 continues the sacrificial imagery in Romans. Similarly when closing his epistle, Paul portrays himself as a high priest (leitourgon) who conducts priestly service (hierougounta) by offering up the sacrifice (he prosphora) of the Gentiles (15:16). All of this comes together to engender a “priest ~ sacrifice ~ ministry” matrix that informs much of what Paul writes in Romans. Thus the thesis of this paper is to explore how this matrix relates to Paul and to unpack its significance for his recipients in Rome. Methodologically, the analysis will begin with the salutation in 1:8-12 and then proceed to its Christological foundations in 6:1-12. The more corporate expression of the matrix will be studied in Rom 12:1-2. Finally, it will be argued that Paul’s tour de force with regard to his “priest ~ sacrifice ~ ministry” motif is found in Rom 15:16. Here it is proposed that Paul used the enigmatic phrase “sacrifice of the Gentiles” to overturn one of the most ancient and deeply entrenched objections to Gentile mission.


Wisdom Tradition in the Johannine Literature
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Thathathai Singsa, University of Melbourne

The Johannine view regarding the relationship between Jesus and Wisdom appears in in the Prologue (Jn 1:1-18). This text speaks of the incarnation not of Wisdom but of the Word. There is a major scholarly debate concerning the identity of the Word. Does the Prologue claim that Jesus is God himself, or is he depicted as Wisdom incarnate? Three arguments are usually proposed in favour of the first alternative. Firstly, the phrase ‘in the beginning’ in Jn 1:1a echoes the identical phrase in Gen 1:1. This suggests that the Word should be seen as God the sole creator. Secondly, the phrase ‘the Word was God’ in Jn 1:1c is an indication that the Word is God. Thirdly, another affirmation that the Word can be seen as God is implied by the inclusio in Jn 1:1 and Jn 20:28. However, the study will show that the Gospel of John has a highly developed Wisdom Christology, especially in the Prologue. Jesus is not God, but a separate being who is subordinate to God. John testifies to Jesus’ pre-existence, his intimate relationship with God, his creative work and his roles in revelation and salvation. John reinterprets the traditional Jewish notions about Wisdom in conformity to his Christian convictions. Wisdom becomes incarnate in a real historical person, Jesus of Nazareth. But despite depicting Jesus as Sophia, John never uses that name. In his schema Jesus is the Word of God, an expression that has some links with Wisdom in the Jewish tradition. His preference for this alternative title can be explained in a number of ways. Perhaps he was influenced by certain Hellenistic Jewish sources that were also available to Philo, or perhaps he had an aversion to using a feminine title for the male Jesus.


First & Second Peter and Jude in the Aesthetic Tradition
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Rebecca Skaggs, Patten University

Scholars are exploring a new approach to scripture, called “reception history” (Sawyer, Calloway). Interpretation history is somewhat similar, but focusses on the reader rather than the author: “what happened to the texts after the authors had finished with them as opposed to what was in their mind or what was going on around them when they wrote them” (Sawyer). This approach is rooted in the work of Gadamer and others like Jauss and Fish, suggesting that a “dialogue between past and present” might be possible by considering the “horizons of expectations”, exploring how the readings vary from one historical period to another, from one interpretive community to another (Sawyer and Callaway). Reception historicists are interested in how the text affects its readers (conference on “Sociology of Sacred Texts”, University of Newcastle, 1991). What a text does is as significant as what it means. It is valuable to consider a text’s “history, reception, and actualization” as used in sermons, music, media, art, and literature, and even in the suffering of the church (Calloway). Luz calls this the “history of influence” of a text and explains that it goes beyond the task of the history of interpretation by the consideration of its use in practice. This paper explores the use of 1 & 2 Peter and Jude in the aesthetic tradition. Although these texts have been neglected in many ways and challenged in terms of their authenticity and place in the canon, they still have influenced music, literature and art. In their unassuming ways, these obscure texts have made an impression on the world. They have not caused wars nor been used by the media or visual arts, but their interpretations have notably shaped the world; their “afterlives” continue to impact readers.


Dependent, Avoidant, or Histrionic: A Psychological Profile of Ruth
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Cecilie Skupinska-Løvset, Akershus University Hospital

Often have many of us wondered why somebody acts, talks or thinks in a specific way. Is it cultural? Is it religious? Or is it part of a person’s personality? The way someone acts can have an influence on many things such as relationships, work or social status, thus making personality profiling an important tool within the field of psychology. When we study Ruth, her deeds are often what we tend to focus on. But why did she do what she did? Why did she succeed when others faltered? Can her deeds better be understood if her personality is taken into consideration? These questions and more are why a method for psychological profiling of historical figures (based on principles developed by Millon and Hobs & Hobs) can be a tool for a better understanding of the figure in question.


Female Statuettes Excavated in Bethsaida
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Ilona Skupinska-Lovset, Uniwersytet Lódzki

Excavations of Bethsaida revealed among other finds terracotta figurines representing women, interpreted as depictions of a goddess or a priestess. The particular way of styling and modeling allows us to compare these figurines with finds from Phoenicia and Phoenician influenced Mediterranean. Not only figurines but also objects as Bethsaidan bulla and imported pottery point to Phoenician cultural impact in Bethsaida. This influence may have continued into the Persian period. The author will present and discuss the terracotta material known from Bethsaida with reference to this question.


A Hypermasculine God: The Absence of the Father's Body in Early Christian Writings
Program Unit: Biblical Masculinities
Peter-Ben Smit, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - VU University Amsterdam

This paper considers the absence of body of God in early Christian writings. While the Son is present in a human body, the Father's body recedes considerably, certainly when compared to the Hebrew Bible, the LXX, and (other) early Jewish literature. As a lack of body could be read as a sign of hypermasculinity - because it symbolized impenetrability -, one might ask the question whether God appears indeed more as a "superman" because of the disappearance of God's body. It will be argued that this is indeed the case, but that it is counterbalanced in early Christian writings by the strong emphasis on the vulnerable body of the Son.


The House Church and the Poor According to the Gospel of Mark
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Dennis E. Smith, Phillips Theological Seminary

This presentation will begin with four presuppositions: a) There was a community of Jesus followers for whom the Gospel of Mark was written. b) The community of Mark is only accessible when we read between the lines of the story Mark tells. c) The community of Mark most likely met in a house church setting. d) The community of Mark most likely included individuals from the low end of the ancient poverty scale among its members. Given these presuppositions, I will explore how we can identify categories in Mark’s story world that implicitly represent the poor in his real world.


Let Us Prey...Petitionary Prayer as Resistance and Protest in Daniel 9
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Terry Ann Smith, Moravian Theological Seminary

Recent scholarly assessments of the book of Daniel have provided insight into the various kinds of social and political exploitation associated with imperial domination and have uncovered some of the practical ways in which oppressed groups during this timeframe could successfully vent their frustration in the face of their own powerlessness. What remains to be more fully explored, however, is how the dominant Hellenistic culture may have fostered conflict among and within the disenfranchised Jewish sub-cultures. This paper examines the language of Daniel 9 and submits that Daniel’s prayer functions subversively as protest, employing a rhetorical strategy that not only expresses its critique of empire, but also reflects the conflict occurring within its own community pressurized by imperial domination. To support my thesis, I make use of the oppositional dialogue of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X tendering that conflict within African American religious communities, such as that between King and Malcolm X, was influenced by the larger crisis of discrimination and violence perpetrated in the United States. The subversive rhetoric of Danie1 9, when placed in conversation with that of a 20th century African American context, emerges with more clarity and complexity; and thus, nuances the dichotomous relationship between empire and cultures subjugated under imperial rule.


Sociolinguistic Variation in the Acts of the Apostles
Program Unit: Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics
Julia Snyder, University of Edinburgh

Linguists have long recognized that how a person speaks at any given time relates in complex ways to the context of his or her utterance. This paper explores how a similar awareness is reflected in the Acts of the Apostles. It shows how the speech patterns attributed to characters in Acts reflect not only their own identity but also that of their addressees. The relationships between ways of speaking and both Christian status and gentile-Jewish identity are assessed. It is suggested that sociolinguistic variation is an important narrative technique by which the author enhances presentation of his message, and that attention to sociolinguistic relationships can help modern readers better appreciate the text. The paper discusses how sociolinguistic variation contributes to characterization of Cornelius, and how it draws attention to the close yet contested relationship between Jewish and Christian identity, challenging an anti-Jewish reading of the text. It is also suggested that sociolinguistic analysis can inform the question of a narrative’s implied and intended audience.


Dynamics of Christian Identity in the Acts of Philip
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Julia Snyder, University of Edinburgh

When the Philippian jailer asks Paul and Silas, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ they reply only, ‘Believe.’ The Acts of the Apostles represents Christian identity in a fairly simple manner, and emphasizes how few conditions there are for people to be acceptable to God. Yet not all Christian traditions have been so eager to make life easy. A distillation of a larger project, this paper examines the dynamics of Christian identity in the Acts of Philip, a collected narrative dating from the fifth century CE. Using an ethnographic approach, the paper explores traits and practices that are represented as necessary for Christian status, as well as others exemplified by the Christian elite. It is argued that in Acts of Philip 8ff., Christian identity is presented in a graded manner, with distinctions made between those who merely ‘believe,’ and higher status characters who show other thematic Christian traits. Drawing on insights from sociolinguistics, the paper shows how these distinctions are enacted linguistically. It also uses linguistic patterns to address questions about the composition history of the narrative and the work’s implied and intended audience.


The Queen's Hidden Jewels: Readings from Water Damaged Portions of MS 33
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Matthew Solomon, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Since access to manuscripts (often via high-quality, digital images) has never been easier, re-examination of the major witnesses to the text of the New Testament has never been more pressing. Minuscule 33, the Queen of the Cursives, contains large swaths of text not visible in microfilm images due to water damage. The damaged areas, however, are visible when viewed in person, revealing text that cannot be seen in the microfilm images. This paper explores readings found in the water damaged areas of MS 33, with the text in Philippians and Jude especially highlighted. Special attention is given to the relationship of the readings found in the water damaged areas to the larger manuscript trajectories.


Spatial Representations of the Otherworld in Luke-Acts
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Alexey Somov, Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow

In his double work Luke combines several terms and images of the otherworld: Hades (e.g., Luke 10:15), Gehenna (12:5), the abyss (8:31), the heavens (10:20), the kingdom of God (13:28-29; 23:42), paradise (23:43), the eternal habitations (16:9), Abraham’s bosom (16:22-23). Spatially the wicked are located below, in the underground or in the lower regions, while the righteous are always above or in the higher regions. Jewish and Greco-Roman literature of the period has the same tendency in representation of the abode of the dead, no matter which terms are used. Does this variety of imagery mean that Luke has a multilevel spatial picture of the world of the dead? I suggest that Luke could easily combine the prototypical representations of the otherworld appropriate for his audience’s cultural environment and worldview and that the spatial difference between the postmortem positions marks the difference in the afterlife status. I will prove my argument by means of the cognitive analysis of the basic conceptual metaphors of the otherworld. The essence of this method is the Cognitive Metaphor Theory developed by G. Lakoff and M. Johnson arguing that metaphor is an integral part of the process of human thinking and acting. The spatial organization of Lukan otherworld is connected with its orientational metaphorization focusing on human embodied experience: the personal well-being (happiness, health, and life) is mapped as up in the Mediterranean culture, while humility, illness, and death as down (cf. Prov. 15:24). In Lukan conceptual system the spatial dimensions metaphorically refer to the difference in the postmortem fate and status: the lower position indicates the worse fate and humiliated state, while the higher position designates the honorable and exalted position. Luke does not concentrate on the location of these places more than it needs for their metaphorical extensions.


Less Awkward, More Spotlighted, and More Divinely Powerful Jesus of Matthew than of Mark
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Yil Song, Claremont Graduate University

(This may fit into the last category) Scholars generally agree that Mark supplies the model for the miracle stories in Matthew 8 and 9. However, while Matthew uses Mark as a source, he also redacts these stories, tweaking them to suit his purposes. The primary goal of this paper is to demonstrate that there are three main aims represented by Matthew’s redactional use of Mark for Jesus’ miracle episodes in chapters 8 and 9: A removal of awkwardness, an increased focus on Jesus’ role in the miracles, and a heightened Christology. Thus, this presentation will use seven parallel pericopae from the Gospel of Matthew and Mark to demonstrate selectively some noticeable changes in Matthew’s redaction of Mark: (1) Matthew 8:1-4 and Mark 1:40-45 (the pericope about cleansing the leper); (2) Matthew 8:14-15 and Mark 1:29-31 (the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law); (3) Matthew 8:16-17 and Mark 1:32-34 (Jesus’ exorcising or healing the sick); (4) Matthew 9:23-26 and Mark 5:35-43 (the story of a ruler’s daughter); (5) Matthew 8:14-15 and Mark 1:29-31 (the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law); (6) Matthew 9:2-8 and Mark 2:1-12 (Jesus’ healing a paralytic); and (7) Matthew 9:23-26 and Mark 5:35-43 (the story of a ruler’s daughter). In the end, such demonstrations above will lead to this conclusion: What Matthew says about Jesus’ miracles with those redactional changes from Mark demonstrates to readers in a more reasonable context (removal of awkwardness), that Jesus is a more divine, powerful and authoritative being than Markan Jesus is (heightened Christology) while carefully rendering Jesus stay solely focused as the principal character of the miracles (increased focus on Jesus’ role). As for Matthew’s theology in his three main redactional aims, it is his higher Christology that most importantly reflects the evangelist’s theological intention, while the other two make his Christology look more convincing.


The Structure and Meaning of Psalm 73
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Izak J.J. Spangenberg, University of South Africa

Psalm 73 can be divided into two halves (vv. 2–14; 15–28). The second half of the psalm is a “mirror image” of the first. It is comprised of four sections (vv. 15–17; 18–20; 21–26; 27–28), similar to the structure of the first half (vv. 2–3; 4–9; 10–12; 13–14) although the order is reversed (ABCD//DCBA). The introductory verse, “God is good for the pious; God is good to those who are pure in heart” (v. 1), stands independently as a wisdom aphorism or adage. It is a short, pithy saying communicating the gist of what the traditional wisdom teachers believed and taught: the upright and pious will be blessed. The whole psalm engages this aphorism. In a sense, the author’s strategy is similar to that of the author of the book of Qoheleth. The latter quotes wisdom sayings and then engages them in order to subvert them. However, there is a slight difference, in that the author of Psalm 73 engages the wisdom saying in order to revisit and adjust the wisdom paradigm. The author of Qoheleth concluded that nothing made sense; everything was futile, especially if the benchmark was the doctrine of retribution. The author of Psalm 73, on the other hand, followed another route. He adjusted the wisdom paradigm and redefined the implications of “shalom”. In doing this, he successfully kept the traditional wisdom paradigm intact.


Canon and Canones—An Essential Symbiosis
Program Unit:
Hermann Spieckermann, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

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A “Lovely” Mistranslation: The Case of Horaios
Program Unit: Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics
Peter Spitaler, Villanova University

The adjective horaios only occurs four times in the NT (Mt 23:27; Acts 3:2, 10; Rom 10:15). Major translations, and commentaries, still render it in some, or in all, instances beautiful. However, the use of horaios in the LXX and in other Hellenistic Greek sources does not support such a translation. This paper surveys the occurances of horaios in the LXX and in other select texts to make to case for translating horaios also in the NT according to Hellenistic Greek usage.


From Sabbath Day to Sabbath Year: Continuity and Innovation
Program Unit:
Jeffrey Stackert, University of Chicago

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‘We Do Not Want You to Be Ignorant...’: Disclosure, Concealment, and Suffering in 2 Cor 1-7
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
David I. Starling, Morling College

Paul’s cryptic reference in 2 Cor. 1:8 to ‘the affliction that we experienced in Asia’ has long puzzled commentators. Why does the letter body commence with the fanfare of a disclosure formula promising information about affliction suffered in Asia, then go on to tell the readers almost nothing about the events that constituted the ‘affliction’ and pass on quickly to a seemingly unrelated apologetic about transparency and travel plans? In this paper, I take up a suggestion made in passing by Anthony Harvey, arguing that the reason Paul’s description of his sufferings is so scant in detail is that the details are already known to the Corinthians, and Paul has been accused of trying to keep this shameful story from them. On this reading, the double negative of the disclosure formula is not merely a stylistic variation but a pointed disavowal of any attempt on Paul’s part to hide the story of his sufferings from the church in Corinth, and the transition from 1:8-11 to 1:12-14 (which many commentators struggle to explain) becomes a smooth and obvious one. The remainder of the paper traces the themes of disclosure, concealment and suffering through the remainder of chs. 1-7, drawing out the implications of 1:8 for how we read Paul’s apology and conciliation in the succeeding chapters of the letter. Whilst most commentators read Paul’s apology for his sufferings and his defence of his transparency and integrity as largely disconnected issues, treated separately in 2:14–7:4 and 1:12–2:13 respectively, I argue that the two issues are closely inter-connected, and are introduced by Paul together in 1:8. The proposed interpretation of 1:8 thus not only offers a solution to several puzzling features of 2 Cor. 1:8-14 but also suggests a more coherent and integrated way of reading the whole of chs. 1-7.


'She Who Is in Babylon': 1 Peter and the Hermeneutics of Empire
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
David I. Starling, Morling College

A much-discussed topic in recent scholarship on 1 Peter has been the stance the author takes toward the values and ethos of his readers’ pagan social environment. The benchmarks for the discussion were set by David Balch and John Elliott. Balch draws on the categories of acculturation and assimilation, and argues that the strategy advocated by the letter is one of pragmatic accommodation; Elliott, on the other hand, depicts the community of the letter’s intended readers as a conversionist sect, to whom the writer is urging a policy of resistance against the pressures of cultural conformity for the sake of the group’s solidarity and distinctiveness. The social-scientific categories invoked by Balch and Elliott have been helpful in highlighting the relationship between the text’s ideology and its socio-political environment, and offering possibilities for analogical historical understanding. But (as Balch and Elliott themselves stress) the usefulness of such theoretical tools is suggestive rather than generative or determinative, and the generic categories invoked should not be allowed to smother the particularities of the text, or of its author and readers, and their situation. In the case of 1 Peter, one important particularity of the readers’ situation is (as David Horrell has emphasised) the fact of empire and the shape that it gives to the power-structures within which they must relate to their social environment. Another crucial particularity of the text is the tradition of understanding within the author encourages his readers to interpret that imperial power and their relation to it. In this paper, I examine the hermeneutical roots of the ideology of 1 Peter, and the ways in which the author’s use of OT traditions (including Sinai covenant, exilic prophecy and wisdom literature) contributes to the stance that he urges his readers to take toward the socio-political situation in which they live.


How Monogamy vs. Polygamy Shapes Childhood: Perspectives on Genesis 21
Program Unit: Families and Children in the Ancient World
Naomi Steinberg, DePaul University

The social constructions of childhood in the Hebrew Bible were based on what the child could do for the parent, not vice versa. Children were their parents’ property and were used to fulfil their parents’ desires and needs. Not all children had the same experiences of childhood, of course. For example, whether a child was born into a monogamous or polygamous family shaped the course of its future. Other relevant factors in the construction of the multiplicities of childhoods included gender, birth order, and the socio-political historical contexts of ancient Israel. I argue that childhood is not a static category in the human life cycle, and will show that meanings of childhood are not generic and cannot be carried over from one society to another.


The Assyrians Are Coming…
Program Unit: Assyriology and the Bible
Margreet Steiner, Independent Scholar

During the 8th and 7th centuries BC the Assyrian army rolled over the lands of Aram, Israel and Judah, destroying cities and countryside alike. The Aramaic states and Israel were incorporated into Assyrian provinces and their capitals transformed into the seats of Assyrian gouvernors. Judah, Ammon, Moab and the Phoenician trading ports became vassal states and had to pay a heavy tribute. The Babylonian and thereafter the Persian empire took over the lands dominated by the Assyrians. Considering that the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persian ruled the southern Levant for some 500 years, it is amazing how little impact they left on the material culture of ancient Israel and its neighbours. Scholars are hard-pressed to find traces of Assyrian (and Babylonian and Persian) presence in the region. Is it not there? Are we not looking hard enough, or in the wrong directions? This paper will address these questions and trace the influence of the Assyrians, both on the material culture and the socio-economic fields, especially in the lands west and east of the Jordan.


Temples and Shrines in Ancient Moab
Program Unit: Expressions of Religion in Israel
Margreet L. Steiner, Independent Scholar

Now that several excavations of Iron Age sites are underway in the heartland of ancient Moab, religious building, both intra and extramural, and paraphernalia are being unearthed that may shed light on religion practices in Moab as compared to those in ancient Israel. The finds from the excavation of a small temple at Khirbet al-Mudayna, the remains of an open air sanctuary at WT-13, and a large temple at Khirbet Ataruz are in the process of being published. As the presenter is involved in the publication of the pottery of the first two sites, this paper will focus not only on the comparison with temples and shrines west of the Jordan, but also on the relationships of the people who visited these Moabite religious buildings with other regions.


How Abject? Incest in the Hebrew Bible
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Johanna Stiebert, University of Leeds

Incest is a culturally variable concept designating sexual relations with a person too closely related for marriage to be permissible, as well as the crime resulting therefrom. What constitutes such an illegal relationship, as opposed to a legal close-kin marriage, differs from one cultural context to another but incest aversion is widely described in the literature of psychology, social anthropology and recently also the natural sciences, as virtually universal. This emerges, for instance, from a recent publication, 'Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century' (edited by A. P. Wolf and W. H. Durham, 2004), which contains studies drawing on primate behaviour and affirmations of the Westermarck Effect. First-degree relations (with a parent, offspring, or sibling) are most widely designated incestuous and, therefore, aberrant. In claiming universality, incest prohibitions from ancient sources, including the laws of Leviticus, are widely alluded to in order to confirm universality and continuity since antiquity. Similarly, feminist investigations of Genesis 19, the most explicit of first-degree incest narratives in the Hebrew Bible, have drawn on findings from clinical psychology to redirect the events depicted here. This paper will examine first-degree incest depictions in the Hebrew Bible and reveal that these do not, actually, stand up well to the recent emerging consensus concerning incest, the reasons for its occurrence and the abjection it arouses. Instead, surprisingly, incest in the Hebrew Bible tends to be depicted as, if not desirable, a not illegal method of seizing honour and authority (not unlike rape marriage).


As He Does in All His Letters (2 Pet 3:15): The Use Col 1:15-20 by Early Christian Writers
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Jennifer Strawbridge, University of Oxford

This paper proposes to examine a passage from the Pauline epistles that occurs with great frequency in early Christian writings up to the middle of the fourth century: Colossians 1.15-20. This paper is based on a methodology employed by the classical study of literate education – a survey of all explicit quotations of Pauline writings within our time period – applied to the wide variety of genres of extant Christian texts. Serving as a basis to determine the most highly referenced Pauline passages in early Christian writings, this comprehensive survey suggests that Colossians 1.15-20 is the most referenced pericope in our time period. Therefore, this paper will seek to answer the question: for what purpose is Colossians 1.15-20 referenced over 600 times by more than 35 patristic authors? Is it being used to make the same argument across a wide range of texts—is there a community of interpretation among patristic authors who rely upon Colossians 1.15-20—or is there great diversity in its use? Is there any consistency in the application of Colossians 1.15-20 theologically and across time? The paper will conclude with reflections on how this community of interpretation is revised and adapted once Colossians 1.15-20 becomes a focus of the Arian controversy.


Archive Apocalypse (The Word Document of God): A Derridean Reading of Revelation
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Hannah M. Strømmen, University of Glasgow

Drawing on Jacques Derrida’s Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression, this paper will explore the technicity of ‘biblical’ writing in the Book of Revelation as a mechanics of unveiling and shrouding; circulating and containing; writing and erasing. Revelations are produced and posted but simultaneously sealed and enveloped, in a structure that reveals what Derrida calls the aporia of revealability. From Irenaeus, Origen and Joachim of Fiore to Paul Hanson, Christopher Rowland and Tina Pippin, scholarship has questioned how to read and understand ancient apocalyptic literature and its place in (or outside) the biblical canon. Focusing on minor but key points of the text, folded in-between the relentless violence, judgement and torturous imagery, I will argue that there is a deep anxiety embedded in Revelation over the technologies of textuality involved in biblical testimony. Revelation is archived within the biblical corpus in a way that both validates its power and simultaneously resists the radical unveiling that its apocalyptic form sets in motion. Every archive, Derrida writes, “is at once institutive and conservative. Revolutionary and traditional.” (1995) Revelation is both an utterly singular religious experience of revealability and at the same time repeatable, insistently recycled, re-read and circulated. Its own rewriting of the biblical material it draws on so heavily becomes an anxiety about being rewritten, commented on, added to or detracted from, expressed most explicitly in its menacing end note. This paper will attempt to show how Derrida’s discourse on the technicity of archivisation put in relation to the ‘apocalyptic’ greatly informs our understanding of the biblical-apocalyptic legacy and the technologies of revelatory testimony.


The Cosmic Realignment of Ezekiel and the Election of a New Israel
Program Unit: Prophets
John Strong, Missouri State University

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What Biblicists Need to Know about...New Testament Textual Criticism
Program Unit:
Holger Strutwolf, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

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Keynote Address on the Pseudepigrapha & Dead Sea Scrolls
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Loren Stuckenbruck, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

This section is organised in conjunction with the third St Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies, and will explore the (theo)political visions of authoritative/sacred texts in four sub-sections: Old Testament / Hebrew Bible, Pseudepigrapha & Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and Early Christianity. Further details can be found at our website (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/conf/stspc/; which is frequently updated), including full titles and abstracts for all participants in the section.


The Adaptability of the Word: John Chrysostom Read John's Gospel
Program Unit: Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Jason Sturdevant, North Carolina State University

This paper will explore the ways in which Chrysostom’s homilies on John can provide fresh insights to the critical study of the Fourth Gospel. Specifically, it explores how Chrysostom takes up the theme of sugkatabasis, or ‘adaptability’ in his interpretation. “Adaptability” provides a single heading under which to discuss elements often separated in Johannine interpretation, namely the incarnation and Jesus’ interpersonal actions. Chrysostom’s concept of adaptability provides a single conceptual framework within which to consider Jesus’ descent from the Father alongside of Jesus’ interactions with characters in the Gospel, resulting in a more coherent understanding of Jesus’ work and person within the Gospel’s christology. In order to demonstrate the utility of sugkatabasis for Johannine studies, there is first an overview of how the theme functions in Chrysostom’s homilies on John, and in Chrysostom’s broader thought. Then, the argument turns to his homilies on John 3:1-21 (Homilies 24-28). These homilies are apt, as they contain highlight Jesus’ adaptability both to the individual and to the world as a whole. In these homilies, Chrysostom describes how Jesus adapts his discourse to Nicodemus’ low degree of understanding to lead him toward things sublime. Likewise, Chrysostom discusses the ways in which the sending of the Son embodies divine adaptability and love, the Word becoming lowly in order to save humanity. In both instances, Jesus’ adaptability empowers persons to progress toward God. The paper closes with some suggestions for applying Chrysostom’s insights in Johannine studies.


The Body and Authority in the Fourth Gospel
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Jason Sturdevant, North Carolina State University

John’s Gospel is traditionally called the ‘spiritual Gospel’ over against the earthier Synoptics. Yet in John’s narrative, Jesus often clashes with various authorities regarding authority over not the ‘spirit,’ but the body. Jesus faces opposition from the representatives of the Roman Empire, both official (in the person of Pilate) and unofficial (‘the Jews’), over who can do what with bodies. Jesus asserts that God has granted to him, and him alone, the authority ('exousia') over resurrection and life—concepts thoroughly related to the body. Ultimately, the conflict comes to a head regarding who possesses authority over Jesus’ body. The Evangelist emphasizes that Jesus alone exerts proper lordship with respect to the body (his and others’), as he alone is creator, and that he has authority to lay down his life and take it up again. To flesh out some of these claims regarding the nature of authority and the body, the argument draws upon political philosophers whose work highlights the relationship between imperial hegemony and the body, particularly the ways in which the body often serves as the territory upon which Empires stake their claims. Yet the heart of this paper is an exegetical exploration of several passages in the Gospel, especially Jesus’ trial and crucifixion scenes, to stress the importance of Jesus’ authority over all bodies, especially his own.


The Significance of the Anointing of Jesus’ Feet
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
David Svärd, Lunds Universitet

The anointing of Jesus’ feet has sometimes been regarded as problematic for the notion that it was a confirmation of Jesus as the Lord’s anointed. In this paper I propose that the Christological meaning of the anointing of Jesus’ feet specifically is partly that Jesus as God’s anointed with holy Spirit is not only an elevated king, but also a servant who will lay down his life. Furthermore I suggest that the anointing of his feet represents an anointing with holy Spirit of simple believers in line with the notion of a new covenant in which not only the greatest, but also the least, would receive the Spirit. In the foot washing scene Jesus is described as a humble servant, one of the lowly of the people. He was anointed and empowered not only in order to rule as an Israelite king, but also to be trampled and humiliated as one of the oppressed ones. The complete messianic task included both the head (lord-/kingship) and, more unexpectedly, the feet (servantship). In the empty tomb one angel sits where Jesus’ head had been and one where his feet had been – a symbol for the inclusion of his entire body. Jesus would also pass on the Spirit he had received to believers. When all received the anointing (2 John 2:20, 27; a probable allusion to Jer 31:34) the hierarchy between teachers and the common people would be relativized. The emphasis on being “in Jesus,” e.g. as the branches of the vine (an analogy for God’s people), combined with the notion of his body being the temple of God, the place where his people gather, makes it likely that the anointing of Jesus’ feet also was meant to represent an anointing of the simple and lowly among God’s people with holy Spirit.


Melchizedek in European Literature
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Anthony Swindell, Heythrop College

This paper will seek to demonstrate that in European literature from Dante to James Joyce the figure of Melchizedek represents the positive side of the repressed Jewish Other, in contradistinction to the negative side represented by transfigurations of Judas Iscariot. It will also consider the extent to which Melchizedek also stands more broadly for the quest for esoteric truth.


The Parables of Jesus and the Psychology of Surprise
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Kari Syreeni, Abo Akademi

It is often suggested that the parables of Jesus include a moment of surprise as a key element. This is true of many, but not all parables in the Synoptic tradition (and in GThom). The present paper analyzes the psychological impact of the surprise, paying special attention to the familiarization of the surprise when the parable is retold in new situations. The paper draws on the cultural psychology of surprise (Choi & Nisbett 2000) and the interactionist approach to surprise (Wilkinson & Kitzinger 2006).


From Syntactic TreeBank to Predicate Argument Information
Program Unit: Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies
Randall K. J. Tan, Asia Bible Society

The study of valency appears to be an up-and-coming area in biblical Hebrew linguistics. This development is evidenced by the special session, “Perspectives on Valency in Ancient Language Research,” at the 2012 SBL Annual Meeting and ongoing research into verb valency by participants in two major Hebrew database projects (the WIVU database and the Accordance syntax project). Inspired by the PropBank project (a Proposition Bank adding semantic information on predicate arguments to the Penn English Treebank), the Asia Bible Society is also undertaking a semi-automated project to derive predicate argument information for Hebrew verbs. The initial stage involved automatic generation of partial argument information on the basis of our existing syntactic analysis of the Hebrew Old Testament and our recently-completed disambiguation of pronoun and implied verbal subject co-reference. The second stage involves manual checking to address problem areas, such as variations from argument frames typically expected for the Hebrew verbal stems or for specific Hebrew verbs, inconsistencies and potential errors in previous syntactic or referent analysis, and ellipsis of objects. These first two stages will focus on distinguishing Arg0 (arguments exhibiting features of prototypical Agents), Arg1 (arguments exhibiting features of prototypical Patients or Themes), and ArgA (Agents of induced actions). More complete analysis to include adjunct-like, but apparently obligatory, arguments (ArgM in Propbank) is reserved for a later stage, because of pragmatic considerations and unresolved concerns about what Anderson and Forbes have called “operational vagueness” (Biblical Hebrew Grammar Visualized, 166-7). Like PropBank, our goal is be provide consistent argument labeling that will facilitate the automatic extraction of relational data in adaptable ways, amenable to users coming from different theoretical perspectives. This relational data is one necessary component that contributes towards better understanding of how sentences in Hebrew make sense, both to human interpreters and to machines undertaking natural language processing.


Apocalyptic Prophecies in the Quran and in Seventh-Century Extrabiblical Literature
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
Tommaso Tesei, University of Notre Dame

One of the most singular and influential prophetical figures of the seventh century Middle East is that of the pious king Alexander described in Syriac apocalyptic texts. Related to various Biblical prophecies (i.e., Jer 1:14-19, Ez. 38, Dan. 8, Rev. 20:7-15), the theme of Alexander's wall against the eschatological nations of Gog and Magog was frequently used by Syriac authors to explain the bloody historical events that marked the first half of the seventh century. As is known, the same theme also occurs in the Quranic prophecy of Dhu'l-Qarnayn (Q 18:83-102). As recent scholarship has convincingly argued, this Quranic pericope is basically a retelling of the version of the Alexander myth contained in the Neshana d-leh d-Aleksandros, a Syriac work composed around 629 CE. However, it remains unclear why the author of the Quran introduced Alexander's prophecy into Quranic theological discourse. In the present paper I will try to answer this question by addressing the cultural and historical context of the seventh century Middle East. I will argue that the Quran's author used the theme of Alexander's prophecy to give his own reading of contemporary events and to claim the imminent end of the world. I will also suggest that this was done in reaction to the pretentions about the establishment of a Byzantine Christian cosmocracy claimed by the author of the Neshana. To corroborate this view I will also address the prophecy about the outcome of Byzantium's military campaigns found in verses 1-6 of Surat al-Rûm (30). I will suggest that these verses are related in turn to seventh century apocalyptic prophecies, according to which the victory of the Byzantines in the war against the Sasanians would precede the end of the world.


Mimro on Abun d’ ba-shmayo: Jacob of Serug’s Interpretation of the Bible
Program Unit: Bible and Syriac Studies in Context
Fr. Jacob Thekkeparambil, SEERI, Kottayam, India

Jacob of Serug [JS] wrote an extensive commentary on the Lord’s Prayer [LP], 'Abun d-ba-shmayo' (Homily 10 in Bedjan 1.212-248). This homily is the longest and most elaborate treatment of on the Lord’s Prayer [LP] offered by Syriac commentators. In the prologue, JS presented the prayer as meeting the needs of every human being and therefore as being addressed to the entire world. Further, he depicted LP as a great weapon [zaino rabo], entrusted to the disciples so that they would be equipped against Satan’s attacks. Myriads of petitions are summed up in ten sentences [mele]. In considering the all-sufficiency of this prayer, JS presented the Son of God as the Great Scribe [sophro rabo]. JS saw the prayer as path to perfection for the individual. He concluded the prologue by highlighting the divine origin of the LP, the guarantee of its acceptance, and a perfect composition according to the mind of the Father. Before offering his comments on the individual petitions, JS added his own poetic version of the LP in the 12-syllabic meter, a text that is unique among Syriac writers. Already here, we find JS interpreting the Bible according to the poetic demands of this meter. Embarking on the great commentary on the individual petitions, JS presented the very first word, Abun, as powerful in driving away Satan and his legions from those who pray while at the same time strengthening individuals in their awareness of being God’s children, sisters and brothers of the Son and of one another through baptism. This paper offers a close study of JS’s meditative handling of biblical passages and contributes to a fuller understanding of JS’s approach to Scripture.


I Despise Dust and Ashes: Mourning and Repentance in Job 42:6
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Heath A. Thomas, Southeastern Seminary (USA) & The Paideia Centre for Public Theology (Canada)

The crux of Job 42:6 continues to confound interpreters. On the one hand, if Job repents of (unnamed) sin, then the account of the deity's commendation of Job in the epilogue sits rather awkwardly in the book. On the other hand, if Job does not repent of sin, then how does one explain the divine speeches in the whirlwind, which apparently generate Job's turnabout in 42:1-5? This essay addresses the crux from an underdeveloped vein of study, that of the phenomenology of mourning. This essay suggests that Job's "repentance" is not linked to a perceived sin, but is closely tied phenomenology of mourning. Using the insights of Saul Olyan, Gary Anderson, and Emanuel Feldman on mourning rituals in the Bible and the ancient Near East, this essay will shed fresh light on the old crux of Job 42:6; it re-situates Job within its ancient sociological/ritual context and explains the nature of Job's "repentance" via mourning, rather than "moral," ritual process.


“Saved by Nature”: Searching for the Right Questions
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Einar Thomassen, University of Bergen

Recent scholarship has tended to distrust the heresiologists’ assertion that Valentinians regarded spiritual humans, i.e. themselves, as being automatically saved because of their inborn nature. Instead, it has been proposed that spiritual nature was acquired at the moment of accepting the message of salvation. It is, however, doubtful that Valentinian theologians would have subscribed to such an interpretation. The paper will address the issue from three angles: the aetiological myth of the three substances, the description of the different responses to the Saviour, and the different eschatological fates of spirituals, psychics and hylics. Questions are raised whether the Valentinian statements on this issue are consistent and what they may have meant in actual practice.


Thwarting the Enemies of God: Contrasting the Death of Herod and the Resurrection of Jesus in Luke-Acts
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Alexander Thompson, University of St Andrews

Recent work on the death of Herod in Acts 12:20-23 has tended toward two routes of interpretation. The majority of commentators read this text within the literary unit of Acts 12 as a reuse of Exodus, prophet, and passion parallels that affirm the divine blessing of the church's mission in Acts. A minority opinion suggests that this text offers a subversive agenda expressing the church's hidden critique of the emperor Nero. However, these interpretations often fail to locate the death of Herod within both the larger narrative conflict between Jesus and the Herodian line throughout Luke-Acts and the political implications of Luke-Acts Christology proclaimed by the church. In response, I will demonstrate through literary analysis that the death of Herod is the culmination of the sustained conflict between Jesus and the Herodian line throughout Luke-Acts and communicates an important aspect of the political Christology envisioned in the prayer of Mary (Luke 1:46-55) and the nascent church (Acts 4:24-50). These two literary themes come to full expression in the extensive literary parallels between Jesus' exaltation and Herod's death, especially how Herod's death is depicted in an eschatologically gruesome way contrasted with God's Messiah who is raised 'incorruptible.' This depiction follows the pattern of similar politically charged contrasts between the servants of God and the destruction of the enemies of God in second Temple texts such as Wisdom 3-6 and Judith 16. Having placed Acts 12 within this literary framework, I will conclude by offering some insights this reading provides for the connection between Christology and ecclesiology in the political vision of Luke-Acts.


Dating Zechariah 1–8: The Evidence in Favor of and against Understanding Zechariah 1–8 as a Composite Text
Program Unit: Persian Period
Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, University of Aberdeen

This paper will explore the criteria employed for dating texts to different parts of the Persian period, using Zech 1-8 as a test-case. Zechariah scholarship is divided between those who date the entire text of Zech 1-8 to the sixth century BCE and those who date only a kernel to that time period while assigning later textual strata to the fifth or even the fourth century BCE. The reasons behind this divide are many. In the present paper, I shall focus on two aspects. First, how do we date texts which contain the names of historical figures? In the case of Zech 1-8, to what extent can the references to Zerubbabel and Joshua determine the date of a textual unit? Is the use of these two names in a textual unit a sure indication that that unit dates from the sixth century BCE (when the two men presumably lived), or should we rather presuppose that later authors used these names as symbols for the Davidic heir and the High Priest? Secondly, to what extent can differences in form, structure, and literary genre determine the date of a text? In the case of Zech 1-8, are differences in form and literary style apt criteria for assigning a text to a later date? Likewise, is a change in literary genre (e.g. from vision account to oracular material) a sign of textual growth? In parallel, I shall explore the relationship between date and authorship. Can one author compose a text over an extended period of time, or does textual growth necessarily imply composite authorship?


Scribal Practices As Attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls Manuscripts Written in a So-Called Rustic Semi-Formal Tradition
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Eibert Tigchelaar, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

While Cross and Strugnell classified tens of manuscripts as written in a round or rustic semi-formal type or series, suggesting that this was a type of writing, Yardeni proposed that the idiosyncracies of this type can better be explained by assuming that many of these manuscripts were written by one and the same scribe. In another article I will deal jointly with other scholars with the palaeographical side of this argument. In this paper I will take the proposed manuscripts of this series (Cross; Strugnell) or scribe (Yardenis) as a group of manuscripts, and compare the scribal practices that are attested in this group to describe the degree of correspondence or difference between these manuscripts. Regardless of the one-or-multiple-scribes question, this approach narrows down the description of scribal practices to texts from a relatively small window of time.


Corinthian Women in Pauline Rome
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Fatima Tofighi, University of Glasgow

Paul’s stance towards women has been a matter of debate; but no less than that, his stance towards the secular governments has drawn attention. Corinthian women have been the target of exegetical speculation since the earliest interpretations of Paul’s Corinthian correspondence (especially 1Corinthians 11, 14). Seen as liberal, mystical, ecstatic, “Oriental,” and exotic, etc., the Corinthian woman came to symbolize all that is associated with sexual, racial, and religious otherness. In this sense, she is opposed to what Rome can exemplify – reason, order, politics, Christianity, masculinity, etc. The Corinthian woman is the “other” while the Pauline Rome is the “same.” This is even more the case with respect to Romans 13, which is a call for subjection to secular authorities. Whereas Romans 13.1-7 has usually been interpreted self-sufficiently, sometimes it was explained through the concepts of “order” and “headship” in 1Corinthians 11.5-16. Put in customary modern jargon, public political subjection was justified with the help of the private subjection of women (in congregation or family). When for more than a century the women passages were subjected to reinterpretations, Romans 13 has only recently been read anew by liberationists. At the same time, in the last decades, biblical scholars have read Romans 13 in the context of Paul’s radical eschatology, thus inverting its usual “conformist meaning” towards revolutionary indifference. In this light, how can we interpret women’s situation in a Pauline messianic world? How can this Pauline woman in Roman Corinth be compared with other female characters of political resistance, such as Vashti or Esther? In the context of alternative feminist theories, how is a woman’s political involvement influenced by her ethnicity? To what extent, could biblical women inspire political resistance or subversion, in the sense that Judith Butler had set out? I hope to explore these questions in my paper.


How Much Hexaplaric Material Is There in the Antiochean Text of III–IV Reges?
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Pablo A. Torijano, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Among the characteristics of the Antiochean text it has been noted the tendency to fill the gaps in the LXX in respect of the Hebrew text on the basis of additions taken from `the three´, particularly from Symmachus”; “Lucian supported most of the material from Origen´s recension and therefore is late” (N. Fernández Marcos; before him, Pretzl, Metzger, Hanhart). The aim of the present paper is to test in what measure the Antiochean text of III-IV Reges fills the “lacunae” of LXX regarding the MT and whether it incorporated “most” of the hexaplaric material or only an important quantity but not as massive as previously though, leaving, besides, significant hexaplaric additions out.


The Neo-Assyrian Empire in Egypt: Clues for Understanding the Levant Conquest?
Program Unit: Assyriology and the Bible
Benjamin Toro, University of Birmingham

During the SBL International meeting at Amsterdam there was an academic discussion about the real impact of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the region of Levant. Meanwhile some scholars defended the important influence of Assyria in the social, cultural and economic development of the region; other scholars assumed that the Neo-Assyrian Empire never reached the grade of cultural impact and influence than other later imperialist expressions, such as the Hellenistic and the Roman, did in the past. Nevertheless, it seems that a deep study and comparison with other ancient entity under the Neo-Assyrian control could give new clues about the real impact of Assyria in Levant. For this reason, this paper will study the Neo-Assyrian conquest of Egypt underlining their similarities and difference with respect to the case of Levant.


Readings of the Old Latin (Beuron 91–95) That Reflect “Additions” of the Antiochean Text in III–IV Reges
Program Unit: Septuagint Studies
Julio Trebolle, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Among the characteristics of the Antiochean text, it has been noted a certain freedom in handling the text that gives rise to a series of doublets as well as the interpolation of elements that were not part of OG: proper names instead of the corresponding pronoun, possessive pronouns, articles, conjunctions, making explicit subjects or objects explicit, etc. (Fischer, Metzger, N. Fernández Marcos). The OL reflects these doublets and elements of its Antiochean Vorlage. The present paper will analyze the OL text transmitted in the marginal readings of Spanish Vulgates (Beuron 91-95), taking into account the distribution of cases between kaige sections (50 instances) and no kaige (17 instances). The question that is posed is the following: to what extent do the additions of the OL reflect pre-Lucianic readings that correspond to the OG text?


The Bible and Slavery: The Views of Frederick Douglass, Thomas Chalmers, and the Free Church of Scotland
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Oliver Trimiew, Covenant College

The paper intends to uncover the reading strategies of F. Douglass and T Chlamers with regard to the Bible and slavery. These man shared a common interest in the biblical commitment to justice and peace matters but were unable to find a common reading method which would provide for the application of these topics to slavery and Christianity in America. The paper sets out the initial background of relations between the two men and then contextualises each man's biblical interpretation with regard to bible and slavery within his personal history and worldview.


The Book of Ezekiel as a Work in Progress: Indications from the Lament Over the King of Tyre (28:11-19)
Program Unit: Prophets
Steven Tuell, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

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The “Mountain of Jericho” in the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul (NHC V, 2)
Program Unit: Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Matthew Twigg, University of Oxford

The Valentinian Coptic Apocalypse of Paul (NHC V,2) describes “Paul’s” ascent from “the mountain of Jericho” (19.12-13), a seemingly fictional location, to the celestial Jerusalem. Only J.-M. Rosentiehl (2006) has seriously attempted, albeit very briefly, to explain this curious setting, suggesting it is dependent on the Apocryphon of Jeremiah’s tale of Jeremiah hiding the Temple apparatus in a “mountain of Jericho” prior to the Babylonian exile. I suggest a new interpretation. There was an exegetical tradition among early Christians which interpreted the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) allegorically as representing the descent of the soul from heaven (Jerusalem) into the material world (Jericho) (c.f. The Interpretation of Knowledge (NHC XI,1) 6.17-29; Irenaeus AH 3.17.3; Clement of Alexandria Quis Dives. 28-29; see L. Painchaud 2003). ApocPaul reverses this journey to depict the ascent of the soul from the realm of flesh to its spiritual home. Secondly, the Valentinian Heracleon understood the “mountain” in John 4:20-21 to refer to “the Devil or his world” (Fragment 20). The author of ApocPaul combined these two passages by virtue of their shared Samaritan characters (the Good Samaritan in Luke; the Samaritan woman in John). Finally, that Paul “trampled upon” (19.12; hom ejof; Gk. pateo) the mountain of Jericho, refers to Luke 10:17-20, where the possession of the Divine Name conveys the “authority to tread (patein) on snakes and scorpions”, thereby overcoming the powers of the Devil. Hence, “Paul” (i.e. the Valentinian) uses the power of the Divine Name (ApocPaul 18.6-13) to trample on the mountain/Devil of Jericho/flesh, and ascend to the celestial Jerusalem. I also suggest that recognising such exegeses illuminates the underlying Valentinian sacramental doctrine and ritual context for the soul’s ecstatic ascent from fleshly imprisonment to spiritual rest in ApocPaul (see Excerpts of Theodotus 76.2; On the Anointing (NHC XI,2) 40.12-19).


End of Time or End of Oppression? Aspects of the Use of the Book of Daniel in Syriac Apocalyptic Texts
Program Unit: Bible and Syriac Studies in Context
Pablo Ubierna, National Scientific & Technological Research Council, Argentina

This paper analyzes the different uses of the eschatological notion of “end” as found in Syriac Apocalyptic Texts of the seventh century. The tension between “eschatological” and “apocalyptic” expectations emerges in the Syriac Apocalyptic Tradition in instances of the use of some key notions from the Book of Daniel regarding “the end.” The paper argues that the Book of Daniel was employed following a more eschatological approach in Syriac Apocalyptic texts from the early seventh century. Examples of texts discussed include, besides de notion of “end” in the Peshitto version of Daniel, the Syriac Apocalypse of Daniel, the Apocalypse of the Young Daniel, and the Syriac Alexander Legend. Towards the end of the seventh century, this use of the Book of Daniel shifted to a more strongly political one, which can be seen in The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius.


“Thrown Down, but Not Destroyed”: Paul’s Use of the Spectacle Metaphor in 2 Cor 4:7-15
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
James Unwin, Macquarie University

This paper examines the spectacles in the Greek East, particularly the gladiatorial munus, as the context and source for Paul’s self-presentation in 2 Cor 4:7-15. Scenes from the gladiatorial munera were not only observed by spectators in the theatres, amphitheatres or the stadia, but were elaborately displayed in commemorative monuments erected by the editor (producer) of the games, typically an imperial high priest. Details of fights were also articulated in the self-presentations of gladiators in their epitaphs for the ‘passer-by.’ The communicative element of such elaborate, honorific monuments and epitaphs appealed to the ‘passer-by,’ using both mediums of image and text. Commemorative monuments and the epitaphs of gladiators worked to ensure and prolong honour and glory, even in death, both for the editor of the games and the gladiators themselves. Paul’s vocabulary and self-presentation in 4:7-15 describe, in developing scenes, an unfolding fight that not only reflects images and texts found in the urban landscapes of Roman provinces in the East, but works within his own discourse at a particularly significant moment in his tumultuous relationship with the ekklesia in Corinth. The spectacles and their commemoration cast light upon Paul’s discourse. Paul is convinced that his body, interpreted properly, is a site where viewers observe, like in the arena, both death and life at work, and that this is all for the sake of the Corinthians.


Shepherds and Flocks in the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Nahum, and Zechariah
Program Unit: Prophets
Daniel Vainstub, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

As is well known, wildlife and agricultural activities, offered the biblical prophets many images for representing historical events. Indeed, the prophets took advantage of a large number of images drawn from these spheres. Thus, in many prophecies animal protagonists represented humans. Grazing was one of the typical activities in the biblical world, while the inhabitants of that world were very knowledgeable in sheep-herding and the way of life of both sheep and shepherds. It is not surprising, therefore, to find a great deal of imagery on these activities in the prophetic books of the Bible. For example, leaders are frequently represented as shepherds, and peoples just as frequently are represented as flocks of sheep. In this paper we will deal with three obscure terms employed in such biblical imaginary. These three terms are based upon the root 'DR. The terms are "'ADIRE haTZON", "'EDER", and "'ADERET" found in Jeremiah 25, Nahum 3, and Zechariah 11, respectively. We shall show that these terms express "sheep", "flock of sheep", and "flock of (milking) ewes". This conclusion is based on a deeply philological study of the etymology of this root in many Semitic languages, and on revised study of the syntax of each of the Hebrew texts in which these terms occur.


“OT Awareness” and the Textual Tradition of the Explicit Quotations of Isaiah in Codex Bezae’s Acts
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Ronald van der Bergh, University of Pretoria

This paper investigates the textual history of the explicit quotations of Isaiah in the Acts of the Apostles of Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis (Acts 7:49-50; 13:34; 13:47) by introducing the concept of “OT awareness”. This concept can be defined as the degree to which a NT tradition, at any stage of its transmission history, is aware of a quotation stemming from the OT. OT awareness can be identified in the layout of Codex Bezae (e.g., the indentation of text in the manuscript to indicate OT quotations), the text of quotations (e.g., readings that can be shown to to be a subsequent change towards an OT tradition) and the context of the quoted text (e.g., the quotations’ introductory formulae). Through assessing the OT awareness of Codex Bezae’s explicit quotations of Isaiah, different stages in the transmission history of the text of these quotations in Codex Bezae’s Acts can be identified.


Unfocused Narrative Space in Tobit 1:1-2:14
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Ronald van der Bergh, University of Pretoria

The concept of "unfocused space" and the so-called "model reader" are used to analyze spatial experience in the first two chapters of the book of Tobit. The chapters reveal a gradual movement from freedom to confinement. The use of unfocused space, when read from the perspective of a model-reader, masterfully attributes to the build-up of tension in the narrative.


Early Christian Spiritualities of Sin and Forgiveness According to 1 John
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Dirk van der Merwe, University of South Africa

What went through the minds of the early Christians in specific communities when they read the texts that were written to them? More specifically, what did the readers of this epistle experience when they read 1 John 1:5–2:2? This paper is an attempted investigation into the possible lived experiences created by this text. This text revolves around the experience of fellowship (1:6, 7) with God. For the author, sin disrupts this fellowship. He creates awareness and a “spirituality of sin” in the lives of his readers through the use of the experiential metaphor of darkness in a dialectic combination with light and the two false negations “do not have sin” (sin as a noun) and “do not sin” (sin as a verb). This fellowship is reestablished through the confession, forgiveness and redemption of sin. The author also creates a spirituality of confession, forgiveness and redemption through descriptive cultic (blood of Jesus and propitiation), juridic (paracletos) and superlative (all unrighteousness, whole world) language. Thus, in his rhetoric the author uses metaphor and dialectic, cultic, juridic and superlative language to facilitate a variety of spiritualities within his readers so as to strengthen their faith and encourage them in difficult circumstances. Such spiritualities would have enhanced their fellowship with the divine. In this paper the focus falls on the spiritualities created by the acknowledgement of “having sinned” (sin as a verb) and “having sin” (sin as a noun) as well as the confession, forgiveness and redemption of sin.


The Pantheon of the Elephantine Jews
Program Unit:
Karel Van der Toorn, Universiteit van Amsterdam

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Desiring Beauty
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Charlene van der Walt, Universiteit van Stellenbosch - University of Stellenbosch

In the global arena, South Africa has the highest statistics for sexual violence for a country not at war. It is estimated that one in nine women who are raped in South Africa go on to report the incident to the police. Of these only 4% are successfully prosecuted and less than half of 1% of perpetrators will serve any jail-time. In order to critically engage with the phenomena of rape within the South African context, the paper explores two very different tales of rape and humiliation. In both the Biblical story of Tamar as found in 2 Samuel 13 and the 2011 film by the South African director Oliver Hermanus, Skoonheid (Beauty), the motivation for the crime is found in the perpetrators apparent desire for a thing of beauty. The creative intertextual reading between the two ‘texts’ aims to undermine and deconstruct this so called ‘ desire’ for beauty as motive by exposing the self serving power-over mentality of the perpetrator. Rape is understood as the violet abuse of power in a sexual way. The paper aims to contribute to the ongoing process of shifting the discourse around rape from an issue of sexual desire to an issue of power.


Authority and Influence in Biblical Texts: Similarities and Differences in the Papers Read
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Jan van der Watt, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen

A brief summarising overview will be given of the similarities and differences between the different papers presented and challenges will be formulated, after which an open discussion will take place


Should Ecological Hermeneutics Involve Cooling Down History and Heating up Nature When We Read the Bible?
Program Unit: Ecological Hermeneutics
Willie van Heerden, University of South Africa

This paper is an attempt to reflect on the claim that Christianity has contributed to humanity's alienation from the earth community because it heats up history over against nature, and that we need a religious worldview and a biblical hermeneutics that encourage us to cool down history in favour of nature. The thesis of this paper is that cooling down history may not be an effective way of solving the problems that have resulted from heating up history over against nature. This thesis finds support in (a) literature on problem formation and problem resolution, for example the work of Watzlawick, Weakland and Fish — especially the distinction they draw between first-order and second-order change, and (b) studies on the role of history and narrative in the formation of environmental values, for example the work of O'Neill, Holland and Light. Based on these insights into responses to problems and the human need to have stories to live by, the paper then offers a reading of Genesis 1:1-2:4a, which contains the biblical passage quoted most often by those who have accused Christianity of being biased against the earth and the earth community, namely Genesis 1:26-28. This creation account in the Bible may have been an attempt at restorying the lives of a shattered community in terms of an expanded story of their world. Their home is the cosmos instead of a particular land; at the same time the cosmos is their temple; and on a cosmic scale the exercise of power happens in ways that differ from what the exiles were experiencing.


Why Are You Cast Down, My Soul?
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Bas van Os, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - VU University Amsterdam

In this paper, I will discuss the desperation of the soul in Psalms 42/43 and 131. These psalms have long moved their readers. But what are the anthropological concepts behind the text, and how do these relate to the psychological concepts that readers bring to the text? How can these texts function in a pastoral context?


The East Syriac Psalm Headings in Manuscript 18/8dt1: Manchester, John Rylands Library, Rylands Syriac Manuscript 4
Program Unit: Bible and Syriac Studies in Context
Herrie Van Rooy, North-West University (South Africa)

This manuscript dates from AD 1727 and was copied from an earlier manuscript, now lost It was given the number 18/13dt1 in the original list That has now been changed to 18/8dt1, meaning that the original manuscript copied was from the eighth century, and not the thirteenth century, as was thought earlier. The oldest manuscript containing these headings is 6t1, a western manuscript with western orthography. The oldest Eastern manuscripts containing these headings date from the twelfth century. The John Rylands manuscript contains the headings in a form 400 years older than the oldest of the other eastern manuscripts, giving new insight in the history of these headings. The value of this manuscript can be judged especially when compared to the headings in 6t1 and 12t4. Of many of the headings, a shorter and longer version appears. In some instances this manuscript agrees with 12t4 and 6t1 in having the longer heading (Psalm 2 and 9). Sometimes 6t1 has a longer reading, with 12t4 and this manuscript having the shorter reading (Psalm 11 and 42). This paper will explore the place of 18/8dt1 in the history of the East Syriac Psalm headings, demonstrating the originality of many of the readings contained in this manuscript.


Ezra and the Taliban
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Donald Vance, Oral Roberts University

What the Modern Imposition of Sharia Law Might Tell us about Ezra's Imposition of Torah Law The book of Ezra presents the scribe Ezra coming to the province of Yehud with a royal edict to impose Torah law on the territory. He is given royal power to create a judicial system and even goes so far as to utilize a morality police. This paper explores the methods and techniques used in some modern instances of the imposition of Sharia Law as interpreted by a more fundamentalist brand of Islam, such as the Taliban, and then compares these with those used by Ezra as reported in the books of Ezra-Nehemiah. The fact that Ezra had to have royal backing to implement Torah Law indicates the presence of a certain level of resistance to this agenda. A comparison with the modern Islamic project, it is hoped, will elucidate the basis and character of the resistance and the scope and nature Ezra's work.


Bibliometrics in the Humanities: An Alternative Approach through the International Medieval Bibliography
Program Unit: Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies
Chris VandenBorre, Brepols Publishers

Bibliometrics and humanities have a problematic relationship. At this moment no reliable citation index exists for publications in the humanities. The main bibliographic databases offering citation indexes (Web of Science and Scopus) provide excellent results for STM, but the humanities are underrepresented. WoS and Scopus focus very much on a selection of Anglo-Saxon journals. However, the humanities’ publication landscape is much wider and richer and also consists of monographs, miscellanies and local publications. The question is also whether citation indexes will ever – if the coverage problem is overcome – provide relevant information as citations in humanities’ publications often play a different role than in STM. Since the fall of 2012 Brepols Publishers has started to develop a bibliometrical tool for its bibliographical databases offering an alternative approach to the traditional citation indexes. The method used is based on the rich classification terms prevailing in the Brepolis’ bibliographies. By the example of International Medieval Bibliography this paper will demonstrate the multiple possibilities and constraints of this new bibliometrical functionality which will prove to be a useful tool for academics.


To Alter or Not to Alter: Cognitive-Stylistic Perspectives on the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9)
Program Unit: Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible
Karolien Vermeulen, Ghent University / University of Antwerp

Recently, Theodore Hiebert (2007:29-58) proposed that the story of the Tower of Babel is not about the commonly presumed ‘pride-and-punishment’, but explores the theme of cultural diversification. His article instigated a series of responses that countered the claims with philological, literary and cultural arguments. Whereas the respondents often used literary features as part of their defense, as did those who contributed to the traditional view of the story as a tale on universal understanding and human hubris, the language card – from now on called the stylistic card – was not truly played out. In the line of literary scholars, of which Robert Alter’s work can be considered prototypical, they have indicated the play of repetition and alliteration in the story as well as the theme of human audacity. Yet, the effect of the stylistic features has not gotten proper attention. The current paper addresses this shortcoming by conducting a cognitive-stylistic analysis on the story told in Genesis 11:1-9. It proposes that the style of the text, and more in particular its use and positioning of wordplay, determines both outlook and meaning of the episode. The study reveals that the tower is built in as well as by means of language and so is God’s confusion in response to that. Hiebert may be right in altering the overall negative interpretation of the narrative, but this does not undo its nature as an action-reaction sequence that foregrounds the theme of language and the various things that can be achieved through its use, something which literary scholars only touch upon but which cognitive stylistics gets out in the open.


Undatable Hebrew Poetic Texts Remain Undatable: Insights from Textual Criticism
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Robyn Vern, University of Sydney

Research into the dating of biblical poetic texts based on comparative linguistic evidence continues. Data found in recently recovered ancient Northwest Semitic texts in particular indicates a small number of specific morphological and syntactic details in common with some biblical Hebrew poetic texts. This is often supplemented with recovered data. The use of this descriptive evidence for dating purposes conflicts with another area of biblical scholarship – textual criticism – specifically in regard to current understandings concerning ancient texts. Two poetic case studies are presented: the single text, Exodus 15:1-18, ‘The Song of the Sea’, dated to the second millennium BCE using comparative linguistic evidence, and the parallel texts, 2 Samuel 22//Psalm 18, ‘David’s Song of Victory’, also described as archaic and dated to the early first millennium BCE. From a text-critical perspective, the linguistic peculiarities in these texts cannot be used as incontrovertible proof of the date of their composition. The recovery of the language of the original author is beyond our reach in view of the nature of the evidence in our text of the Hebrew Bible. The findings from the analysis of the parallel poems have implications for the analysis of stand-alone poems, e.g. textual fluidity. From the evidence we find that texts we have are those preserved from the last stages of the transmission process. There is no direct evidence from which to ascertain the length of time between our texts and an original text. We cannot know which part of a text came from the original author’s hand. We cannot know the time, place, number or identity of the redactors nor their specific contributions during the transmission of the text. What we do know is that the once undatable texts remain undatable.


Hosea 6:6 and Identity Formation in Matthew
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Francois P Viljoen, North-West University (South Africa)

The quotation of Hos. 6:6 (I desire mercy, not sacrifice) in Matthew’s Gospel plays an important role in Jesus’ arguments to defend his and his disciples’ actions against the accusations of the Pharisees. This reference forms the central argument in two scenes of conflict between the Pharisees and Jesus. The first scene describes Jesus defending his table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners after the calling of Matthew (Matt. 9:9-13). The other describes Jesus defending his interpretation of the Sabbath law (Matt. 12:1-14). The appearance of this quotation is striking for at least two reasons. Firstly, this citation in Matthew is unique among the parallel Synoptic narratives, but is uttered twice in Matthean material. This verse is even absent from the entirety of the rest of the New Testament. This suggests that the verse is of particular importance to the first evangelist. Secondly, in both of these scenes Jesus is in dispute with the Pharisees and is accusing their conduct. The accusation of bad conduct is a theme of Hosea 6 too. Matthew defines the differences between Jesus and the Pharisees in terms of adherence to the Law with focus on the mercy that God desires. Matthew depicts Jesus as one who teaches and enacts Hos. 6:6 in continuity with the original prophetic intention of this statement. Jesus teaches by example by enacting mercy towards the marginalized and people in need. He loves the way Hosea announces that God intends his people to love. Jesus Himself becomes the presence and source of mercy. Jesus forms the central focus and prototype of the Matthean community. The community should follow his example.


Displaced Minor Agreements between Luke and Matthew
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Vadim Wittkowsky, Theological Seminary Russian Methodist Church

Luke uses in his work a somewhat strange procedure displacing some words and syntagms from their original Markan contexts. In a part of these cases we can see that what Luke uses are not only specific Markan but also specific Matthean versions of the pericope destroyed or omitted. The most significant case of displacing of the kind shows Matt 15:27 – Mark 7:17 – Luke 16:21, which parallel will be discussed at length. But there are at least seven examples of such transfers with Matthean wordings. It is clear that Matthew, had he used Luke, couldn’t have sought for alone standing words in remote portions of Luke (or Acts!). Neither the Two-Source-Theory gives any explanation of this phenomenon because all original contexts are Markan, and they cannot possibly be ascribed to any “Mark-Q-overlaps”. Only the so-called “Farrer-Goulder-Theory” (actually coming from the 19th century) gives a clue to this Lukan procedure as a deconstruction of his sources followed by a reconstruction of a new Gospel with selected “stones”. As an argument such “deviating” agreements have the advantage that they all (unlike “normal” minor agreements) are homogeneous and unidirectional, which makes clear: this is a way Luke deals with his two sources Mark and Matthew.


Gospels as a “Centripetal Supertext”: An Application of the Russian Literary Theory to the Biblical Studies
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Vadim Wittkowsky, Theological Seminary Russian Methodist Church

Biblical literary criticism has already made use of theories developed by Russian scholars such as Michail Bakhtin and Juri Lotman (e.g. books of Barbara Green 2000 and Ronald Boer, ed.; 2007). In this paper I would like to discuss a possibility of applying to Biblical research a Russian latest supertext-theory based on the works of Russian linguist and cultural theorist Vladimir Toporov (1928 – 2005). The Russian word sverkhtekst used in this theory is usually translated to English as a supertext, but I would prefer to call it after its main characteristic: centripetal text (or centripetal supertext). This text comes out to be a result of a transtextual interaction of many different texts (books), which refer to a certain place, person or historical event, making it a center of this supertextual structure. Its origin is the importance of its center for the cultural memory of a certain people, religious group etc. My idea is that Gospels can be considered as such centripetal text rather than as a literary genre. Texts belonging to the same genre would never be as homogeneous as the Gospels are. These texts are unified by the same center: Jesus Christ, his life and mission in Palestine, his death and resurrection. Their shared center lies beyond the literary reality. The canonization of four Gospels instead of one (which could seem more logical) can be then considered as an insightful cultural action of the early Church combining different texts on the same crucial subject. The alleged inconsistencies of the canonical Gospels could not be in this case seen as something scandalous, because, for a centripetal text, they are rather its very normal feature.


Wise Animals and Wise Humans as Kin (Prov 6:6-11; 30:24-28): Does Modern Ethology Agree?
Program Unit: Ecological Hermeneutics
Hendrik Viviers, University of Johannesburg

Proverbs often comes across as androcentric in its effort to promote wisdom as the art of mastering life. There are, however, some biocentric glimpses where animals become teaching models to acquire wisdom, where they are called “wise” (e.g. the ant, hyrax, grasshopper and gecko in Pr 6:6-11 and 30:24-28). It seems as if the ancient sages intuitively sensed a mental bond between animals and humans. A subtext of animal and human kinship lingers between the lines of the mentioned texts, of both humans and animals being capable of intelligent behaviour, of “knowing” and “thinking.” Can this be confirmed by modern cognitive ethology and psychology? Are animals only “behaviourists” (conditioned automatons), or can they be regarded as “mentalists” (mind-full) also, even be it elementary? If there is an agreement between the two discourses of ancient wisdom and modern natural science of the interconnected web of life, surfacing inter alia in the sharing of mental capacities between animals and humans, then an ethic of care for Earth and all earthlings is the implicit consequence.


The Discovery of Elephantine
Program Unit:
Cornelius von Pilgrim, Swiss Institute for Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt

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Walking on the Water: An Exploration of Relational Materiality
Program Unit: Ecological Hermeneutics
Elaine Wainwright, University of Auckland

In a recent book on Water: A Matter of Life and Death, edited by Norman Habel and Peter Trudinger, Anne Elvey undertakes an ecological reading of Luke 8:22-25, the story normally designated "The Calming of the Story". Her title evokes new possibilities for reading this text: Partnering the Waters in Luke 8:22-25. In this paper, I propose to take up her metaphor of "partnering the waters" but turn it to another narrative, namely that of Matt 14:22-33 in which Jesus [and Peter] walk on the water of the Sea of Galilee. In order to undertake this reading, I will dialogue with Owain Jones and Paul Cloke's exploration of non-human agencies, their relational materiality and their sociality.


Masculinity and Maturity in 1 Cor 3: Testing God’s Exclusive Claim on Masculine Perfection
Program Unit: Biblical Masculinities
Elizabeth Waldron Barnett, Melbourne College of Divinity

Idealisations of masculinity, maturity and perfection are deeply entwined in Greco-Roman literature. The correlation of these factors of identity have contributed to a complex history of codependent hermeneutics in biblical scholarship. A narrow range of intersection between the domains of ‘masculine’ and ‘mature’ have been reciprocally authenticated, pre-empting the dependence of ‘maturity’ on visions of masculinity, and re-inscribing spiritualisations of Greco-Roman idealized masculinity as normative in Paul’s theological vision. This paper investigates the possibilities for re-reading the ‘milk-meat’ maturity metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3, evaluating the redeployment of material from the moral philosophers in Paul’s rhetoric. It will seek to challenge the constraints and constructs of masculine maturity as an esteemed spiritual paradigm to be pursued by believers. Against many mainstream readings, this paper interrogates the exclusivity of God as Father, fulfilling the masculine ideal in Paul, and explores the measure to which Paul divests himself of masculine idealization in deference to the perfect and complete masculinity of God. Inhabiting surprising androgynous roles and via the open-gender sample of ‘child’, Paul’s presents the spiritual life in ways that develop alternate and subversive visions of the masculine and the mature.


First Corinthians 3: Milk, Meat, Masculinity and Maturity
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Elizabeth Waldron Barnett, Melbourne College of Divinity

This paper examines Paul’s appropriation of the ‘milk-meat’ metaphor from moral philosophy in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. A fresh reading challenges direct parallelism of the metaphor as a call to idealized (masculine) maturity, and investigates the evidence that here, as in other places, Paul uses contemporary or popular tropes in subversive and surprising reorientations. The paper proposes a positive reading of the image of ‘infants’ and ‘milk’, in light of possible contentions in the Corinthian communities aligned with claims of ‘maturity’ and ‘wisdom’, and the (non-metaphorical) practices of meat-eating.


Christian Theology and Ideology: The Disappearance of the Kingdom of God in Early Christian Discourse
Program Unit: Sacred Texts in their Socio-Political Contexts
Brandon Walker, University of Nottingham

In the Acts of Peter and the Acts of Paul there is a distance in relating the Kingdom of God and miracles. In contrast to these texts, throughout the earliest gospels the presence of the Kingdom of God is the central feature of Jesusproclamation and this is demonstrated through his miracles, especially by the exorcisms. For example, the Beezebul controversy (Matt 12.28/Luke 11.15) indicates the connection of the Kingdom of God and the miraculous expulsion of demonic forces. This contrast raises the question, what factors might account for this transition? This paper will examine the theopolitical imagination of the earliest gospels and compare that with those of the second century as they relate to the distancing of miracles and the Kingdom of God. It will propose several solutions to this distancing. First, the waning of allusion to the Kingdom throughout Acts and later acta provides us with evidence of the declining memory of the relationship between the Kingdom and miracle. Second, it is possible that the acceptance of the Gentiles into the church caused a reorientation in the theopolitical imagination that caused the separation.


The Ends of Mark(s)
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Richard Walsh, Methodist University

While scholars agree the “best” text of Mark ends at 16:8 (contrast Farmer), Mark’s many other ends (e.g., the shorter and longer ending; the Freer logion; an addition to 16:4 in a Latin manuscript; Matthew and Luke in the Two-Source Hypothesis) indicate dissatisfaction with 16:8 as the end. Interpreters supply still other “ends” with literary analyses (often having historical or theological bents). The literary significance of endings (see Kermode) means that there are actually many Marks, not one (despite ecclesial/academic assertions to the contrary). A brief analysis of some of Mark’s textual ends, utilizing the questions/schema developed by Torgovnick to discuss closure in the novel, demonstrates the variety of Marks: Marks ending with epilogues or scenes; Marks having linking, incomplete, or circular literary patterns; and complimentary, incongruent, or confrontational Marks. This variety reveals two families of Marks: (1) canonical Marks; and (2) (literarily) distinctive Marks. While modern interpreters continue to create canonical Marks, they multiply distinctive Marks, which, for example, dismiss the disciples, focus on the parousia, or center on a radical theology of the cross. The multiplicity of Marks spin around (the scholarly focus on) Mark 16:8. This textual glitch might be seen as a fantastic moment (see Todorov), a moment causing hesitation or uncertainty. For Todorov, readers resolve such difficulties by interpreting the story either as uncanny (explicable in terms of previously understood “reality”) or as marvelous (requiring a supernatural adaptation). Should one then designate literary Mark as uncanny and canonical Mark as marvelous? Regardless, a truly fantastic moment/text is not decidable. Its genre, and thus its relationship to reality, is not clear. It is literature at its most fictive or self-referential. If 16:8 reveals a fantastic Mark, it would refer only to itself (and 16:1-8 would lead one only back into the text of Mark).


The Death of the (Community as) Author
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Robyn Faith Walsh, Brown University

It is a standard claim among scholars of early Christianity that a “community” is the proper social context for imagining the composition of texts like Q or the Synoptics. As such, the author, the proverbial “voice” of this group, is imagined to have developed his thinking within a very specific environment and, therefore, writes his gospel (or other Jesus material) reflecting the interests and holdings of that community. While for many scholars such positions are argued in the field persuasively and with a great deal of force, the foundations for these investigations frequently represent long-calcified and fundamental assumptions about the social world of early Christianity that are incommensurable with allied studies of authorship practices in the ancient world. Many such studies also fail to engage deconstructionist turns in literary theory—the so-called “death of the author.” This paper will address these issues and propose that other social environments for the authors of the gospels are possible. One such model for consideration is literary networks: (autonomous) writers or authors producing their work and distributing it within networks other like-minded, literate cultural producers and constructing imagined, not historically “real,” audiences as rhetorical, literary devices. Under this alternative approach to early Christian literature, the figure of Jesus and his teachings are not necessarily the allegorical teachings of a Christian community, or the remnants of Jesus’ original sayings: Luke-Acts resembles an ancient epic; Mark’s Jesus resembles the wonder-working and subversive characters found in the Life of Aesop or the Alexander Romance. If we treat the gospel writers as we would any other ancient source material, and look for these authors to write in expected genres, a whole new avenue of research and theorizing of early Christianity might be opened to us in the field.


Law in the Ancestral Narratives: A Proposal Built on Gen 26:3-5
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Megan Warner, MCD University of Divinity

Any proposal of allusion by the ancestral narratives to post-Sinai Pentateuch/Torah texts must reckon with the ancestral narratives’ self-situation in a time prior to Sinai. According to the narratives themselves the matriarchs and patriarchs did not know the law because they lived before its delivery to Moses. However, one reference to law within those narratives spoils the narratorial chronology; although Gen 26:5 does not claim that Abraham knew the law, it states explicitly that he kept it. Why did the editors of the ancestral narratives allow this verse to challenge the narrative presentation of the temporal relationship between the ancestral and Mosaic periods? This paper suggests that an answer to this question may be found in an appreciation of the theological significance of the redactional material in Gen 26:3-5. Building on the relationship, already well-attested, between Gen 26:3-5, Gen 22:15-18 and Exod 32:13, the paper argues that Gen 26:3-5 sets out to establish Abraham and the Abrahamic/ancestral covenant as a new focus of hope for a people struggling with the demands of Torah-based relational identity following the failure of the monarchy and the challenge to the Sinai covenant inherent in the experience of exile.


The Enigma of P4
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Bill Warren, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

New Testament manuscript P4 presents several enigmas for textual critics, with a variety of solutions having been proposed in prior studies. This paper evaluates the prior proposals and presents some new options for two of these puzzles. Specifically, the questions about P4's date and the implications of its relationship to the B-text as found in Codex Vaticanus and P75 are considered. A new transcription of P4 is also presented that shows disagreements among the existing transcriptions and solutions based on both personal examination of the text and color images of the text.


Jesus in the Heart of the Earth: Deciphering the Jonah Logion (Matt 12:38-41)
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Kenneth L. Waters Sr., Azusa Pacific University

The unique comparison drawn between the Son of Man and Jonah in the Gospel of Matthew has been notoriously difficult for biblical interpretation for several reasons. First, “three days and three nights” cannot be fitted into the widely accepted interval of Jesus’ burial in the tomb from Friday evening to pre-dawn Sunday morning; second, making “three days and three nights” equivalent to a shorter interval strains credulity; third, the resurrection of Jesus, which is understood by some as “the sign of Jonah,” was not witnessed by “an evil and adulterous generation,” but only by believers in Jesus Christ; fourth, an above sea-level tomb like the one that contained the body of Jesus hardly qualifies as “the heart of the earth;” and fifth, interpreting “the heart of the earth” as Sheol still does not resolve the chronological difficulty of “three days and three nights.” However, the enigma of the Jonah Logion unravels when we consider the evidence of literary and cultural perspectives that have been obscured by unchallenged presuppositions since the fourth century if not earlier. This paper will lay out that evidence and propose a new understanding of this passage.


LIWC: A New Psychological Tool for Understanding the Psalms
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Rebecca Watson, University of Cambridge

This paper seeks to describe and evaluate the psycho-linguistic tool, ‘Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) pioneered by James W. Pennebaker and others, and to demonstrate its potential by applying it to one of the psalms. Undergirding this method of enquiry is the insight that the use of function words or a preference for positive or negative language may reflect the psychological or social circumstances of the speaker / writer, and that such language patterns may be calculated quite mechanically by the use of a computer program devised for the purpose (LIWC). Despite certain deficiencies (not least in being an English-language based program), nonetheless, if used with caution and applied carefully to a range of translation alternatives, supplemented by knowledge of the Hebrew language, it can yield fresh insights. Applied to the Psalms, it can be employed to offer a new perspective on issues of genre and context, as well as to trace processes of emotional transformation within a particular psalm, thereby enhancing our understanding of even very well-known and much-studied examples. This paper explores further questions of method and results derived from a specimen text.


Replacing the Ark with the Scroll in Biblical Rituals of Textual Manipulation
Program Unit:
James Watts, Syracuse University

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Walking over the Dead: Burial Practices and Ritual Innovation at Qumran
Program Unit:
Ian Werrett, Saint Martin's University

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A Battle for the Hearts and Minds of People: Prophetic Encounters in the Book of Jeremiah
Program Unit: Authority and Influence in Ancient Times
Willie Wessels, University of South Africa

All societies have people in positions of authority and power. Societies and communities have people exercising their authority in the various spheres of life, be it political, religious or civil. Some people inherit such positions, whilst others strive to attain it. Still others are elected to such positions whilst some claim a calling or an urge to serve in such capacities. In the ancient societies of Israel and Judah, kings, bureaucrats, family heads, judges, prophets and priests were the main figures exercising and occupying positions of authority. In this paper the research focuses on the prophets in the book of Jeremiah and their claims to authority and power. What concerns this paper further is how some prophets battled to maintain their positions of influence and power in order to win the hearts and the minds of the people. The prophets’ social standing and resultant authority rested on certain claims they have made and relied on. Some individuals claimed to be prophets on grounds of being called and send. In Jeremiah the metaphor of a ‘heavenly council’ is very significant. Their claims to positions of authority are also strengthened by certain strategic associations. It seems that their associations with certain groups (prophetic guilds), with powerful people (kings and bureaucrats) and with significant places (the temple) granted them the support to their claims of authority. Furthermore, some prophets’ association with and promotion of dominant ideas such as the royal-Zion ideology strengthened their positions of authority and influence over ordinary people. As final point of interest it is shown how subversive language is used by some prophets to counter threats to their authority, power and influence over people.


To Be Human Among Humans: Morality and Poverty in Markan Perspective
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Gerry Wheaton, Seminario ESEPA, Costa Rica

With the loss of modernity’s moral center many philosophers and sociologists seek a new conception of morality that will drive social engagement in cultures enervated by cynicism and consumerism. Zigmunt Bauman, one of the most influential voices in the contemporary debate, contends for a conception of morality built upon the notion of responsibility for the Other. Such morality, he suggests, represents the best hope of society for addressing such mushrooming problems as global poverty. An ethic of responsibility, however, falls far short of the moral vision for humanity to which Jesus calls his followers in the Gospel of Mark and cannot adequately ground our approach the problem of “the New Poor”. Advances in Conceptual Metaphor Theory illumine the way in which conventional metaphors are creatively used to restructure understanding of an abstract concept around a more familiar concept from the physical or social world of an audience. Applying these advances to an analysis of the servant/slave metaphor in Mark 9-10 I examine the creative appropriation of the metaphor in its Greco-Roman setting. In Markan presentation, Jesus dramatically reshapes the disciples’ view of what it means to be human in relation to other humans, and particularly those of no account in society, in terms of popular conceptions of slavery. In a word, Mark sets forth an ethic of costly devotion in which the disciple orients his life around the good of the poor, weak, and marginalized. This re-mapping of morality by the metaphor of slavery represents the Markan alternative to the ethic of responsibility proposed by Bauman. It also forms a potent challenge to the anemic morality characteristic of contemporary “Northern” societies awash in the consumerism of Late Modernity.


The “Lutheran” Paul Strikes Again: Theological Bias in the Guise of Scientificity in the Discourse on Paul vs. “Paul”
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Benjamin L. White, Clemson University

Pauline Studies has now entered the “post-New Perspective” era. “Introspective conscience,” “covenantal nomism,” and “ethnocentrism” have become the jargon of a field that has done its best to understand Paul within an entirely Jewish matrix. For some, the “Lutheran” Paul has became a four-letter word for a certain dominant Protestant version of Paul that was largely born by Luther’s personality and experience with Jews and late-medieval Catholicism. Of course, the New Perspective has had its rigorous opponents and the field now seems at a détente. This paper argues that the New Perspective did not push far enough in its attempt to dethrone the “Lutheran” Paul. Rather, there is still a regnant image of the “historical” Paul in Pauline Studies that is born along by a preference for viewing the Hauptbriefe as quintessentially Pauline; as representative of a nearly three-decade ministry. The New Perspective did not address the Protestant biases in the prolegomena of Pauline Studies – the discourse surrounding Pauline pseudepigrapha – , but rather focused its energies on the interpretation of particular letters that had already been fixed in critical tradition as being particularly Pauline. Beginning with nineteenth-century liberal Protestant attempts to divide off the “historical” Paul from the “canonical” Paul, I will show how “scientificity” in our field (to use the language of Michel de Certeau), in its deployment of stylometrics and linguistic measures for the purpose of assigning authenticity to certain Pauline texts, has obscured the relationship between history, rhetoric, and ideology. Ultimately, theological preference still lies at the heart of our field. I advocate that methodology and robust critical engagements with our methodologies must always remain front and center in Pauline studies. We must never obscure the mechanisms whereby certain discourses about the “real” Paul come to seem natural.


The Traditional and Domesticated Paul of 1 Corinthians
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Benjamin L. White, Clemson University

One regnant narrative in Pauline Studies describes the evolution of Paul’s early “charismatic” and “democratic” communities into the “domesticated” and “ecclesiastical” institutions that are reflected in the “pseudo-Pauline” literature (cf. Ephesians, the Pastorals). 1 Corinthians is often used as the datum for establishing the nature of the organization (or lack thereof) of the “historical” Paul’s congregations. It carries the load for this evolutionary model. Quite typical is Bart D. Ehrman’s popular The New Testament: a Historical Introduction to the New Testament Writings (416): "Paul’s churches were 'charismatic' communities, that is, congregations of people who believed that they had been endowed with God’s Spirit and so been given 'gifts' (Greek charismata) to enable them to minister to one another . . . There was nobody ultimately in charge, except the apostle (who wasn’t on the scene), because everyone had received an equal endowment of the Spirit, and so no one could lord it over anyone else. At least that is how Paul thought the church ought to be (see 1 Cor 12-14)." In order for the “charismatic” Paul to stand over and against the “ecclesiastical” pseudo-Paul, certain data must become hidden, obscured, or marginalized. 1 Thessalonians, an earlier text than 1 Corinthians, urges proper recognition for the work of “those who stand before you and admonish you” (1 Thess 5.12), while “overseers and deacons” are greeted later in Philippi (Phil. 1.1). More important, within 1 Corinthians itself, appeals to tradition and ecclesiastical precedent often go unnoticed. This paper 1) explores these numerous appeals to ecclesiastical tradition in 1 Corinthians (11.2, 16; 14.33; 15.3-5) and asks about their function within the letter; 2) calls for a new image of Paul in 1 Corinthians; and 3) exposes the ideology lurking behind the regnant devolutionary model.


The God of Power and the End of the Old Covenant: A Theodical Response to the Challenge of Flavian Triumph in Hebrews
Program Unit: Bible and Empire
Jason A. Whitlark, Baylor University

Some of the ancient rhetorical handbooks discuss a form of figured speech that asserted multiple aims for a discourse, some overt others covert. Assuming that Hebrews was written to Christians in Rome living under Flavian rule, this paper proposes that the discourse of Hebrews has, among others, a figured theodical aim in response to the challenge of Flavian triumph. In order to demonstrate the proposed theodical aim, the paper will first examine the literary, monumental, and numismatic presentations of Flavian triumph over the Jewish revolt in Judea. Central to this presentation was the Roman theology of victory that served to legitimate Flavian rule. Second, the paper will examine the challenge that Flavian legitimation was to both Jewish and Christian communities whose god had been dishonored in the destruction of his temple and in the parading of its cultic vessels in the triumphal procession. Jews had already developed responses to such challenges from the destruction of the first temple and drew upon those resources when the second temple was destroyed. Some scholars have point out that Christians also drew upon those resources and developed alternative responses. Thus, in light of this context, the paper will suggest that Hebrews develops in its comparison of covenants a unique, figured theodical response to the dishonor of God in its assertion that God had already brought an end to old covenant institutions. Additionally, the primary locus of God’s honor or reputation, according to Hebrews, now resided in the community’s fidelity. Importantly, such a response did not involve the denigration of the Jewish heritage of the Christian community.


The Offering of the Gentiles (Rom 15:16): Offering an Account of an Ambiguous Genitive
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Sarah Whittle, Nazarene Theological College

The phrase “The offering of the Gentiles” comes in a section dense with cultic language in which Paul explains that his priestly service in the gospel is in order that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable—having been made holy by the holy spirit. It has been observed that these cultic images “swirl in the glorious confusion of Paul’s improvised eschatology.” Proposals for interpreting Paul’s priestly ministry in the letter to the Romans range from his evocation of Isaianic servant passages, to his oversight of the collection for the Jerusalem poor, to the idea that he sees himself as a Levite in a reconfigured temple system. The ambiguity of the genitive construction in question contributes to the interpretive problems: what precisely is being offered, and by whom is the offering being made? This paper will propose that the discussion would benefit from a focus on the often- overlooked phrase “made holy by the holy Spirit.” The holiness of the Gentiles is a significant, though underdeveloped, theme of the letter; and this focus enables us to emphasise Paul’s priestly ministry in terms of the realm transfer of his Gentile converts from the profane to the holy as a work of the Spirit. It will be suggested that, in an act reminiscent of Israel’s constitution, Paul’s priestly service in the gospel relates primarily to the consecration of a people, and refers back to the self-offering of sacrificed bodies of Rom 12:1, thus challenging an interpretation of the offering as the Jerusalem collection.


Two Botched Battles and Deuteronomistic Ritual Logic
Program Unit: Ritual in the Biblical World
Henrietta L. Wiley, Notre Dame of Maryland University

1 Samuel 15 and 1 Kings 20 describe two incidents of martial ritual gone wrong. In 1 Kings, Ahab fails to execute the war Herem, and loses both the battle and his life. In 1 Samuel, Saul violates the particulars of the war Herem, and so loses his kingship despite his spectacular success on the battlefield. In this paper I show how these stories of Saul's and Ahab’s military failures complicate the Deuteronomistic understanding of sacred space, by consecrating the battlefield as a place of ritual sacrifice. The logic of ritual performance in these stories reflects the Deuteronomistic consistent call for total obedience to Yahweh’s command, but also diminishes the DH’s expected emphasis on Jerusalem as the only legitimate site of sacrificial action. The martial ritual of the Herem assumes Yahweh’s palpable presence in battle, and suggests that divine presence is a determining—though mutable—factor in consecrating space for acceptable sacrifice.


Psalm Use in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
David Willgren, Lund University

Following the unrolling of 11QPsa, much attention has been paid to the question of its implications on the process of canonization of the Book of Psalms. Opposing positions have been carved out, mainly stressing either the secondary nature of the scroll, as compared to the MT-150 Book of Psalms, or its true canonical status. Much work has been done to organize the many psalms manuscripts into some systematic schema, as well as studying specific synchronic features of 11QPsa, but I believe that an important piece of the puzzle has so far been overlooked. Namely, the question of use. As often when the impact of a book from the Hebrew Bible is to be evaluated, the sheer number of manuscripts would play an important role, but another aspect must also be taken into consideration, namely how individual psalms are used and referred to as authoritative in other texts. To be able to carry out such an investigation with any methodological rigor, I believe that it will be necessary to approach the DSS-material without preconceived ideas about the process of fixation of text, as well as any polarised views about canonical/non-canonical/apocryphal texts, and consequently, it is important to not only focus on MT-psalms, but also on psalms specific to 11QPsa. So, in this paper, I focus on signs of use of the Book of Psalms in Qumran. Thus put, some inevitable questions arise; the first one being what the “Book of Psalms” actually designate, a question I will focus in the first part of the paper, and secondly what one means by “use” (are there e.g. various types of use – quotations, liturgical and apotropaic use, etc), a question I will adress in the second part.


A "Book" of Psalms?
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
David Willgren, Lund University

Since the 1980’s, a slightly new shift in focus has emerged in the research on the Book of Psalms. Even if such a shift never occurs without precursors, it can be seen as a distinct move away from being primarily interested in original (cultic) contexts of individual psalms, and towards an increasing focus on the arrangement of these psalms into a book. The redaction history and the structure of the final shape of the collection was examined, and a wealth of literature was to be produced. The aim of this paper is to enter into this line of inquiry by revisiting the methodological foundation laid in particular by Gerald H Wilson, as he shaped much of the discussion, at least in an American context. So, after a brief review of some main aspects of his contribution, I focus my discussion around three topics: 1) ‘‘Seamingly’ important psalms’, where I observe that the grounds for asserting special significance to specific psalms are often unconvincing; 2) ‘A Book of Psalms’, where I focus on a recurrent conflation of synchronic and diachronic considerations, suggesting that it ultimately renders the idea of an intentional message, conveyed by editors through the macrostructure of the Book of Psalms unwarranted; and finally 3) ‘An elusive string’, where I propose that the view of the Book of Psalms as an anthology merit further consideration. By stating that it is a nothing more than an anthology, some scholars has concluded that there would be no intentional organization, but what if the Book of Psalms was nothing less than an anthology? So, after an attempt to provide a definition of anthologies, I sketch out some consequences for the current study of the Book of Psalms.


The Jews of Hierapolis in Phrygia: Identity and Inter-Communal Relations
Program Unit: Archaeology and Diaspora Judaism
Margaret Williams, University of Edinburgh

Among the most valuable new evidence for Diaspora Jews in antiquity is the sizeable dossier of epitaphs from Hierapolis in Phrygia. First published in 1999, these texts have now been re-edited by Walter Ameling and can be easily accessed in IJO II. Together with the sarcophagi on which they have been inscribed, these epitaphs form our only evidence for a community whose origins probably go back to the early Seleucid era. To date, the rich data both verbal and pictorial supplied by these texts and monuments have not been adequately exploited. The purpose of this paper is to remedy that situation. Insofar as these epitaphs generally take the form of statements of tomb-ownership, they are in effect legal documents. By carefully examining such things as the manner in which these tomb-owners chose to identify themselves and the measures they took for the protection of their property, much can be deduced about the composition and character of Hierapolitan Jewry and its relationship to the wider polis community. Further, by paying far more attention than has hitherto been the case to the dates of these texts, it becomes possible to see how Jewish attitudes and behaviour subtly changed over time.


Philippians 4:3: The Book of Life in Roman Philippi
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Wendell Willis, Abilene Christian University

In Philippians 4: 3 Paul writes of those whose names are recorded in “the book of life.” This is Paul’s only use of a phrase found often in Jewish literature, although in the New Testament it is otherwise only in the Revelation. It is one of the key Pauline hapax terms found in Philippians, and I argue that with it Paul makes an implicit allusion to an idea that would resonate with Christians in Roman Philippi. It is well known that citizenship was both rare and highly valued in the Roman Empire. Less well known is the Roman practice of maintaining records of this citizenship. In Rome the birth of a citizen was recorded in the official records of the curia and also displayed temporarily on white boards in the forum. There are also documents showing that a Roman citizenship in Egypt was recorded also in Rome. This paper suggests the practice may provide an explanation of Paul’s choice of the phrase “book of life” in Philippians. I do not argue that Paul is combating the power of the Empire, rather is making a cultural allusion in support of the self-understanding of the Philippian Christians. This implicit allusion to the “citizenship” highly valued in the Roman colony of Philippi, is supported by the two mentions of “citizenship” (1:27 and 3:20), in the letter, the only times Paul uses such terms. The “book of life” would be heard by Philippian Christians as a counter-point to the claims of their elite civic leaders superior status.


The Chalkolibano Conundrum in Revelation
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Ross E. Winkle, Pacific Union College

One of the most difficult linguistic problems in the New Testament deals with the word chalkolibano, a term that first appears in Revelation 1:15 as part of the description of the feet of the “one like a son of man” in John’s dazzling inaugural vision. In the New Testament the term occurs only in Revelation (1:15; 2:18), and John appears to be the only writer in all of Greek literature up to his time to use it. Further compounding the issue, its presence in Greek literature after John’s time is not independent of Revelation’s influence. English translations of the term typically range from “brass” and “fine brass” to “bronze” and “burnished bronze,” but some interpreters have alternatively suggested that it is an alloy of bronze and gold or even gold and silver. The most extensive discussion of the term was by Colin Hemer in 1986, who associated the word with the Thyatiran guild of bronze-workers. Hemer’s admirable discussion remains, however, ultimately unpersuasive because of its problematic assumptions and highly conjectural conclusions. Instead, a close examination of chalkolibano’s morphology and etymology, and a comparison of this term with the exegetical process by which “golden frankincense” (libanoton chrusoun) in Revelation 8:3 must mean “golden frankincense [holder]” or “golden censer,” suggests that in 1:15 John uses chalkolibano to refer to a “bronze frankincense [holder],” or “bronze censer.” Such an image coheres with the striking nature of the imagery in Revelation 1. Moreover, along with the one like a son of man’s foot-length robe and golden sash (1:13), it alludes to high priestly imagery and further underscores the high priestly role-related status of the one like a son of man.


In the Street of the Big City. Urban Space in the Book of Revelation
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Stephan Witetschek, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

The Book of Revelation confronts its readers/hearers with the choice between two cities: Babylon/Rome and the New Jerusalem. So far, this understanding of Revelation is quite widespread. This paper will explore the ramifications of this conception and focus on the evaluation of urban space, especially with regard to the "big city" of Rev 11, where public space is the stage for hostility against the Two Witnesses. The working assumption is that this scenery is intended to be transparent for the urban space in the cities of Asia Minor in which John's first readers/hearers lived. Thus it provides them an interpretative pattern for evaluating their own environment.


The Undermining of Creation in the Theophany in the Book of Job
Program Unit: Concept Analysis and the Hebrew Bible
Emily Worsley, Memorial University of Newfoundland

The literary sophistication of Job gives it a perennial quality and allows it to remain relevant to modern audiences. This paper will provide a literary analysis of the theophany in chapter 38 of the Book of Job, with a focus on the concept of creation. The Book of Job is a striking masterwork that appears to challenge many themes in Old Testament theology. I will look specifically at the theme of creation in Job 38, and how it is used to undermine traditional notions of creation and, consequentially, the nature of God. I argue that tradition depicts a view of creation as “complete” which is not maintained in the theophany. Ideas proposed by Job's friends in earlier chapters, as well as other biblical sources, provide the basis for the view of this traditional theology. Creation is shown not only to be incomplete in this divine speech, but is an ongoing and continual process. This view of creation has substantial implications for systems of order and the status of humans in the cosmos. I argue that the traditional view is countered in the theophany and presents a very different worldview. The dialogue between these two worldviews results in two very different perceptions of God. The traditional view often portrays an omnipotent God to be feared, while I argue that an ongoing and incomplete creation leads one to a view of a much more compassionate, even vulnerable God.


Revisiting Adam Christology
Program Unit:
N. T. Wright, University of St. Andrews

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Reconsidering Assets: Another Look at the Function of the Christ Hymn in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Richard A. Wright, Oklahoma Christian University

Commentators on Philippians have often suggested that the so-called hymn in Philippians 2:6-11 illustrates behaviors that Paul expects to see emulated in the Philippian church. One aspect of the discussion occasionally mentioned but not adequately discussed is the description in the hymn of Christ’s cognitive activity in determining to empty himself. Christ “considers” his current status in relation to God and on the basis of this evaluation, acts to empty himself. In this paper I argue that the larger context of the letter suggests that what Paul most wants the Philippians to recognize in Christ is this evaluative process. Paul begins the letter by praying that the Philippians will develop the capacity to “determine what is best”; a process of evaluation (1:9-10). In 2:1-4 he insists that the Philippians adopt a particular kind of thinking; the kind of thinking that was in Christ (2:5). The hymn then illustrates that thinking process (2:6). Paul himself demonstrates the process when he “considers” status markers of his identity as a member of the people of God. Markers valued by God’s people that Paul possesses, he comes to re-value as insignificant—as losses rather than assets (3:7-8). The Philippian church has a thinking/evaluation problem that attention to the mind of Christ as seen in the hymn will remedy.


Certain Doubts about King Saul: An Enneagram Analysis
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Ruthanne Wrobel, Independent Scholar

The baffled king is a time-honoured archetype in legend and in life. Well known examples of anxious monarchs in distress include Oedipus, Arthur and Lear, along with king Saul of Israel. With prophets, judges and warriors as leaders before him, Israel’s new ruler had few royal precedents to follow. Throughout his life story, dramatic scenes show Saul as a man beset by doubts, terrors and delusions. Standing tall above his compatriots, Saul commanded respect and loyalty. Surrounded by Philistines and possessed by his own fears, Saul’s reactions to those around him vacillated between affection, suspicion and rejection. Surprisingly, the contrary behaviours displayed by Saul gain psychological credibility when viewed through the lens of the Enneagram. The Enneagram is a modern personality typology with roots in ancient wisdom traditions. This nine-part model describes distinct patterns and habits of mind that shape thoughts, feelings and actions. Each type is characterized by fundamental motivations, aversions and defenses. From an Enneagram perspective, Saul exemplifies a dutiful, doubt-filled type Six, an ambivalent character prone to contradictory actions. Living in a world filled with dangers, real and imagined, Sixes as children survive by projecting fears, doubts and aggression onto others. The power of projection is evident throughout Saul’s story, a tragic tale of a soul who loses his way, whose strengths are clouded by phobic misgivings. Life-long challenges for type Six, the Loyal Skeptic, include making firm decisions without external permission, releasing the mind from hostile projections of others’ intentions and learning to trust an inner voice of authority. This personality profile will examine scenes from the life of Saul, with special attention to dialogues in 1 Samuel, chapters 15, 16, 19 and 24, to discover how the defense mechanism of projection worked to fortify fears and phobias for this mighty man of contradictions.


Belshazzar’s Last Supper: A Feast of Signs & Symbols
Program Unit: Biblical Characters in Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
Ruthanne Wrobel, Independent Scholar

Intense, dramatic episodes that confound and astound are set throughout the book of Daniel. In chapter five, the crown prince, Belshazzar, presides over an extravagant evening of dining, drinking and carousing. In a show of arrogant blasphemy, he presents gold and silver vessels, seized from Solomon’s sanctuary, for his guests to handle for libations to their Babylonian deities. Suddenly, phantom fingers appear to paint weird words on the wall. As the sovereign shakes in terror, his scribes and astrologers scramble. When Daniel deciphers the writing, the signs spell doom to the dynasty. Readers puzzled by this story may take guidance from Canadian scholar and media guru, Marshall McLuhan. This professor of English literature gained celebrity status by pronouncing on texts of all types. Since every text is a figure/ground interaction, the first search for meaning involves grasping a central figure for close examination. McLuhan then employed four questions as probes into multiple grounds around each subject: What does this text enlarge or enhance? What does it replace or make obsolete? What does it retrieve from distant memory or ancient history? What does it reverse or flip into when pushed to extremes? Beyond linear, causal models, responses to these questions form a tetrad, creating an immediate experience of text in context, of figure emerging from ground. This case study will test the power of tetrads as functional tools for enhancing intellectual and imaginative understandings of biblical literature. When Belshazzar’s banquet and Daniel’s verdict are examined through this technique, correlations between signs and symbols uncover a pivotal position for this narrative between Hebrew texts and early Christian writings.


The Heart in Space and the Heart as Space: Conceptualization of Relations between Man, His Heart, and His Environment in the Bible
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Yekaterina Yakovenko, Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences

The paper, carried out in terms of cognitive linguistics, is devoted to the analysis of language means expressing spatial relationship between man, his heart and his environment in the Bible. Claiming that the content of the concept is determined by the semantics of words and collocations nominating it (as well as its cultural and historic background), we subject to the analysis several biblical contexts where the heart – man’s alter ego and the centre of his inner life – is involved into spatial relations. Thus, man’ heart is subject to untypical movements, to say nothing of rhythm changes: it can tremble (I Kings 28:5), pant (Ps.38:10), be moved (Jes. 7:2), broken (Jer. 23:9) or smitten (II Kings 24:10), turn within a man (Lam. 1:20), etc. The heart, being the locus of emotions, memory and understanding, is described metaphorically as a source (Ps. 62:8), a container (Rom.5:5), a field (Matt. 13:19), a sheet of paper (II Cor 3:2), tables on which words of love and wisdom are written (II Cor. 3:3), a house opened or shut to love (III John 3:17, Eph. 3:17), acquiring in such a way some dimensional properties. In most cases the heart, used metonymically, denotes man (pars pro toto), but sometimes it is distanced from him or even opposed to him, thus turning from a link between man and the God into man’s partner or opponent, his inner voice (Eccl.1:16, Job 27:6, Ps. 77:6, Song 5:2, I John 3:20 et al.). The heart can turn toward a person (II Kings 14:1, Prov.27:19) and overcome physical separation (II Thess. 2:17). To sum it up, spatial properties (ability to move and change its position, possession of surface and volume, movement towards a person, etc.), expressed metaphorically, take an important place in the structure of the biblical concept ‘heart’.


Groundhog Day and Johannine Eschatology
Program Unit: Bible and Visual Culture
Jayhoon Yang, Hyupsung University

A romantic comedy Groundhog Day(dir. Harold Ramis, 1993) tells a love story between Phil, an egocentric TV weatherman and Rita, a sweet and kind producer. Phil visits Punxsutawney for his work to broadcast the “stupid” Groundhog Day festival, where he is snowed in and experiences a very strange thing that the same Groundhog Day repeats every day. While undergoing many trial and errors in the meantime, he is changed and learns how to love others truly, which sets him free from the treadmills of his life. This paper will explore the Johannine eschatology that deals with the theme of love and being born-again through the lens of this film.


Dialogues between Islam and Judaism in Ethics and Spirituality: The Andalusi landscape and Zionism
Program Unit: Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective
Saeko Yazaki, University of Glasgow

As the lingua franca throughout the Islamic empire, Arabic encouraged continuous interaction beyond the borders of faith and culture, and the adoption of Arabic by Jewish communities was common. This inevitably suggests a great influence on medieval Jewish thought from Arabic/Islamic literature. In examination of Muslim-Jewish relations, this paper focuses on three thinkers in Islam and Judaism, and the connection between the 11th century and the 20th century. Qut al-qulub ('The Nourishment of Hearts'), an early guidebook on mysticism and morals written by the Muslim preacher Abu Talib al-Makki (d. 996), elucidates the ethical system in Islam by focusing on the concept of the heart as a metaphysical entity reflecting God. This focus is also found in a Jewish classic book on ethics, al-Hidaya ila fara'id al-qulub ('The Right Guidance to the Religious Duties of Hearts'), the Judeo-Arabic text written by the Andalusian jurist Ibn Baquda (d. after 1080), suggesting that he may have been influenced by al-Makki's ideas. This paper first analyses these alleged literary parallels. It goes on to explore the methodological difficulties in establishing connections between these two authors, due to the differences in their use of language and the commonalities in their beliefs. The paper then introduces the Jewish scholar Abraham Shalom Yahuda (d. 1951), the editor of al-Hidaya. In his edition, Yahuda not only painstakingly transliterated Hebrew script into Arabic, but also added a significant introduction which examined the Arabic and Islamic sources of al-Hidaya.


Minor Anaphora and Opening Alliteration in Biblical and Ugaritic Poetry
Program Unit: Stylistics and the Hebrew Bible
Johnathan Yogev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

There are many similarities between Biblical and Ugaritic poetry regarding style and syntax. On many occasions, the Biblical and Ugaritic scribes chose to begin successive sentences with the same letter. In our paper, we shall show that this repetition can be divided into two main groups; the first group represents the phenomenon of "Minor Anaphora", which occurs when the scribes chose to begin successive sentences with one letter words, such as the prepositions b, k, l, m and others. The second group represents the phenomenon of "Opening Alliteration", which occurs when the scribes chose to begin successive sentences with different words that begin with the same letter. We shall show examples from both groups, and also mixed examples. Finally, we shall discuss the function of this repetition as a mnemonic device and a rhetorical means of emphasis.


A Band of Hairy Men: The Significance of Masculine Hair in Biblical Literature
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Johnathan Yogev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

My paper deals with the symbolism and meaning of hair in Biblical literature. It seems that long hair serves as a symbol of strength, vitality, beauty and closeness to God. I will present Biblical characters such as Esau, Samson, Samuel, Absalom, Elijah and others, who are characterized by long hair. I will also briefly present the Biblical law concerning body hair. I will suggest that baldness symbolizes grief, public humiliation and death. Furthermore, I will claim that body hair is of extreme importance only when it comes to men. The Biblical scribes rarely refer to women's hair, with the exception of the Song of Solomon.


Hermeneutics, Authority, and Scribal Practice: The Case of the Temple Scroll
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Molly Zahn, University of Kansas

This paper explores scribal practices in the Qumran scrolls through the lens of the Temple Scroll (11Q19 et al.). The idea formulated by Emanuel Tov of a “Qumran Scribal Practice” (QSP) represents an important attempt to explain the distinctive orthographic, morphological, and scribal features that appear in many of the scrolls. Yet, as Tov notes, these features are not attested consistently: a given manuscript will use certain distinctive features of QSP but not others, while another manuscript will show a different pattern. The QSP theory does not explain this situation; that is, why certain features occur in some texts but not in others. For several reasons, the Temple Scroll provides an apt entry point for examination of possible answers to this question. Not only do its copies attest to many (though not all) of the most prominent elements of QSP, but it also occupies a liminal zone in terms of its literary character. It almost certainly was composed prior to the crystallization of the Qumran movement, yet just as certainly was valued by that movement (as attested by the multiple preserved copies of the work). Further, it is a “nonbiblical” composition with a strong internal claim to authority that yet draws heavily on existing pentateuchal texts. As such, it highlights issues of hermeneutics, authority, and community self-definition, all of which may have influenced the scribal choices made by the copyists of the Qumran scrolls.


Second Chronicles 21: Its Composition and Significance
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Yisca Zimran, Bar-Ilan University

2 Chronicles 21, which describes Jehoram, King of Judah, is unique both in language and content. Some of the details recorded here do not appear in the parallel version, 2 Kgs 8:16-24. Furthermore, some expressions in this chapter, such as “a letter from Elijah” (???? ??????), “his bowels dropped out” (???? ????), and “unpraised” (??? ????), do not appear anywhere else in the Bible. Moreover, there are notable instances of duplication. For example, the kingship of Jehoram is mentioned in verses 1 and 3, and the characteristics of his burial are described in verses 19 and 20. These characteristics of 2 Chr raise questions about the sources from which the author obtained his information, and the purpose of the formulation and design of the chapter. Until now, research has not yielded satisfactory answers. My lecture will focus on the unique structure of 2 Chr 21, its characteristics, and the worldviews reflected in it. I will seek to prove that the chapter is made up of three interlinked sections. Each section deals with a separate facet of Jehoram’s character, contains an independent account of events, and concludes with a description of the outcome. The realization that the chapter is composed of separate sections clarifies why some details included here do not appear in 2 Kgs 8:16-24. It also explains the duplications in the chapter, the uniqueness of its language, and how its composition serves its purposes. Separation of the sections demonstrates the outcome that was supposed to conclude each plot separately, the manner in which their integration affected the conclusions, and their significance. Furthermore, this separation enables us to consider the worldview of the author of Chronicles as regards family and kingship, and it will also influence our understanding of how God’s promise to David is presented in this chapter.


The Biblical Prophets’ Place in the Elaboration of Sunni Prophetology
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
Nadjet Zouggar, Louvain-la-Neuve University

In Sunni theology, prophethood is the subject of a separate topic called nubuwwah, which we translate here as “prophetology.” This topic covers a set of classical questions such as: the definition of prophethood; the demonstration of its existence; its characteristics; etc. Whether in its rationalist ('ilm al-kalam) or literalist (al-'aqida) expressions, Sunni theology was formed in response to rival, internal and external systems of thought. Sunni theologians are motivated by the necessity of setting the limits of the orthodox community by rejecting heresies and disqualifying doctrines adopted by those individuals, trends, and sects who cannot be counted among the partisans of truth (ahl al-haqq). Therefore, if the first goal of their treatises is to establish a doxography, that is, to present the opinions which form the creed of Sunni Islam, the criticism of other religions and heretical doctrines is so dominant that we also define their treatises as heresiography. In this paper, we shall speak about the biblical prophets' place in the elaboration of Sunni prophetology. In addition to examining the classical question of the supremacy of some prophets over others, we shall illustrate how biblical prophets are cited in the demonstrations of prophethood’s existence (dala'il al-nubuwwa) and in the theological discussions about the notion of prophets' immunity ('ismat al-anbiya').


Transgendered Copper Mining in the Southern Levant
Program Unit: Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Laura M. Zucconi, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Timna appears as a descendent of Esau/Edom in the genealogical lists of Genesis 36 and 1 Chronicles 1 as a son, a sister, and a concubine. If the Biblical name Timna functions as a personification of the region and its inhabitants, then one cannot help but think that the change in gender and marital status of the Biblical figure Timna is directly linked to the fortunes of the copper mines in the region Timna. This paper examines the relationship between Egyptian mining activity and the use of gendered kinship terminology in the Biblical texts. The use of “son” in the genealogies reflects independent Canaanite control of the Timna mines whereas the feminine kinship term “concubine” refers to the mines dominated by a foreign political group such as the Egyptians. The remaining designation of “sister” indicates an alliance with a stronger foreign power. Although the Biblical preservation of kinship terms shows that the Canaanites of Timna had a sister-alliance with the Edomites, the presence of non-militarized Egyptians may demonstrate a similar alliance between Egypt and Timna Canaanites during the Iron I period.


The Living Dead: The Death of the Soul in Philo of Alexandria and the Wisdom of Solomon
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Jason M. Zurawski, University of Michigan

The problem of theodicy and the perpetual meditation over righteous suffering have been responsible for some of the most profound theological innovations. Concepts such as heaven and hell, resurrection, and immortality stem directly from such reflection. In the Hellenistic diaspora, some Jews like Philo or the anonymous author of the Wisdom of Solomon, under the influence of Greek philosophy, rejected ideas such as hell, demons, or bodily resurrection. For these Alexandrian Jews, the righteous would go on after the death of the body to lead the true existence, the eternal life of the soul in the divine presence, not hindered by the corporeal shell. The wicked, however, would face an awful punishment. Rather than a fiery hell full of eternal punishment and torment, wickedness would lead to the death of the soul, even during one’s bodily life, forever separating one from the divine. So, the dead live and the living are in fact dead, one leaving behind the flesh to live, the other emptied of the soul to die. An ostensible paradox both in Greek philosophy and in the various forms of Jewish thought, this concept of the soul’s death during corporeal existence was conceived through a creative combination of the two, and it served as a unique response to the problem of righteous suffering and the apparent existence of unpunished evil.


Moses and the Burning Bush: A Two-Voice Analysis
Program Unit: International Qur’anic Studies Association
Anne-Laure Zwilling, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

The Quran and the Bible both narrate the episode of Moses discovering a burning bush, symbol of a divine presence. However, although both stories have the same prophet as their main character, they differ on several points. For instance, in the Quran the account of this vocational call, which initiates Moses' prophethood, is strongly related to the way the text defines Muhammad's prophetic mission. In the Jewish Bible, although this episode is a very important one, it is part of the far longer story of the relationship between Moses and God. This paper presents an overview of these differences based on a comprehensive approach to the mentions of this episode in the Bible and in the Quran. Both texts will be analyzed with the methods of semantic, philological, literary, and narrative-critical analysis. Taking particular interest in the context (both historical and literary) and intent of each narrative, this paper will seek to establish how each of them constructs its portrayal of a prophet. Finally, the conclusion will reflect upon the consequences of these constructions for the study of Judaic and Islamic concepts of prophecy.

 
 


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