Welcome to the 149th Biblical Studies Carnival covering the month of July 2018! I am glad you stopped by. If you’ve never been to the Carnival before, here is the scoop: there are a lot of scholars out there on the internet writing insightful things (or making an attempt anyway), so each month we have a Carnival to highlight what folk have been saying over the past few weeks.
This is my first time hosting the Carnival, and I must say there is far more material churned out on a regular basis than I realized. Some folk even manage to put out a post almost every day (profs procrastinating on fall course prep??). I can’t claim to have included everything out there, but I enjoyed cruising around and discovering blogs and people I had not encountered before.
I especially appreciate the academics who are bringing their scholarship into conversation with the real world. I am always urging my students to ask, “So what? Why does this knowledge matter?” Yes, it is possible to take seriously the biblical texts and their historical contexts while also thinking about how history and ancient literature connect to the present. One of my favorite readings in this month’s Carnival is Anna Florence Carter’s discussion of verbs in the story of Tamar’s rape. Check it out below and enjoy browsing through the rest of the options. The material is divided into the following sections:
- Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
- Early Jewish Texts (extra-Biblical)
- New Testament
- Bible and Culture
- Manuscripts/Textual Criticism (General)
- Pedagogy
- Book Reviews
- Announcements
- Bonus: List of Women Scholar Bloggers
HEBREW BIBLE/OLD TESTAMENT
Miryam Brand posted two podcasts this month on intergenerational punishment and personal responsibility in the Hebrew Bible, one focuses broadly on the biblical authors’ changing worldviews and the other specifically on Ezekiel.
Why was Michal right to despise David? Wil Gafney has the answer.
If you like Old Testament reception history in art, the UNC, Chapel Hill posted a press release on the latest Huqoq mosaic discoveries, including one featuring Moses’ spies. Jodi Magness is overseeing the project.
Bob MacDonald offers his thoughts on the meaning of the word נפשׁ . He also continues his extensive commentary on various Old Testament texts, including Numbers 21, 2 Kings, and Isaiah 26.
Francis Landy explores Numbers 6 and whether a husband can annul a wife’s Nazarite vow.
Yedida Eisenstat proposes that Rashi’s commentary on Deuteronomy 4:25-26 may have been an apologetic against Christian insinuations that God had forsaken covenant with the Israelites.
Have you heard about the 929 Project? No? Go find out more at the BLT blog where “Theophrastus” begins to unpack Genesis 1
EARLY JEWISH TEXTS (EXTRA-BIBLICAL)
Where are the scribes? Charlotte Hemple looks for them in the Dead Sea Scrolls and manages to dig up a couple: the Overseer and the Sage.
Brent Nongbri inspects the Moschos Ioudaios Inscription and concludes that ioudaios was not necessarily a religious signifier (note: this is not a Jewish text, but an inscription referencing a Jew/Judean in the Second Temple period; for more on the term ioudaios see this 2014 article by Annette Yoshiko Reed).
David M. Miller looks at Josephus’s understanding of Biblical leadership.
Philip J. Long started his new series on Psalms of Solomon:
- Introduction to the Psalms of Solomon
- Psalm 2: The Death of a Tyrant
- Psalm 3: The Lord Will Cleanse the Devout
- Psalm 4: A Dialogue Concerning the Hypocrite
- Psalm 5: Moderate Wealth with Righteousness
- (No psalm 6 is cited)
- Psalm 7: A Restoration of Israel
- Psalm 8: Do Not Neglect Us, O God!
- Psalm 9: The One Who Does Righteousness
NEW TESTAMENT
What were Euodia and Syntyche thinking?! Marg Mowczko tells all.
Several folk this month zoomed in on specific biblical words or phrases. Michael Heiser ponders apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2. Suzanne Nicholson examines the word “lord.” James F. McGrath discusses Βαριωνᾶς in relation to Aramaic in the New Testament. Neil Godfrey completes his analysis (for now) on the phrase “rulers of this age.”
Oliver Archilles explores the question “Wo ist das Reich Gottes?” via Luke 17:20-21 and various voices from Christian tradition.
Alicia Myers talks about her new book Blessed Among Women? Mothers and Motherhood in the New Testament.
Craig Keener has a two part series on the differences between the Gospels (see part 1 and part 2). He describes how he discovered the Bible and its characteristics after converting from a non-Christian background and why the differences are meaningful to him.
Ken Schenk posts an excerpt on Jesus as God’s definitive Word from his newly published Bible study on Hebrews.
Wayne Slusser is giving us the scoop on Greek in Philemon in several posts for the month of July.
Michael Kok has a few posts on the Allegedly Sinful Woman in the Gospels. Start here.
Have you ever noticed the discrepancies in the burial accounts of Jesus? James Tabor marvels at how new details pop out to him even after 40 years of teaching. He has two posts on Jesus’s burial, here and here.
The people over at OnScript interviewed Susan Eastman on her new book on Pauline anthropology. They also interviewed Marc Turnage, expert on biblical Galilee.
Have you heard of Duke Newt? I stumbled upon this blog by Duke New Testament Ph.D. students while compiling the Carnival. Their most recent post is June, but since they are not currently included on the Biblioblogs list, I want to give them a shout-out.
BIBLE AND CULTURE
Richard Newton, who studies the politics of scriptural texts, interviews Hebrew Bible scholar Nyasha Junior on his podcast. She discusses her “current research, the Black Panther, and biblical studies.”
What difference does a verb make? Anna Carter Florence’s exegesis of Tamar’s rape reveals unnerving parallels with today’s sexual scandals. The excerpt from Christian Century is drawn from her just released book Rehearsing Scripture: Discovering God’s Word in Community.
An anonymous post over at the Shiloh Project also discusses Tamar’s rape, intersecting a personal experience of sexual violation with the biblical story. The Shiloh Project is the joint venture of Universities of Sheffield, Leeds and Auckland (NZ) for the purpose of exploring “rape culture, religion, and the Bible.”
Ian Paul interviews Paula Gooder about her use of historical critical scholarship in a debut novel on New Testament figure, Phoebe.
Apparently, there are still American Christians who believe a woman should not receive a university education or work outside the home. Lyn Kidson pulls out her scholarly boxing gloves to refute a conservative blogger’s viral post.
Mette Bundvad rewrites Genesis 29 according to Jane Austen in case you “have ever wondered whether it might be possible to ruin the Bible and Pride and Prejudice at the same time.”
Eric Seibert posts an excerpt from his new book on violence at Peter’s Enns’ blog. His study of the Bible undergirds his central claim that “Jesus lived nonviolently and taught his followers to do the same.”
Jade Sylvan shares what the Gospels have in common with fanfiction for the Harvard Divinity Bulletin.
James F. McGrath comments on reading Revelation with people who are marginalized. He also writes “The Bible is not alone” (with implications for sola scriptura and the role of the reader).
Matt Page reviews the Bible in movies, including Sodom and Gomorrha (1923), The Story of Jacob and Joseph (1974), and A.D.-the Bible Continues (2015). He also has some opinions to share with the film community about rethinking its stance on Biblical films.
Christoph Heilig ponders Trump’s misspeak using a text-linguistic perspective he has used with Paul’s writing in the New Testament.
Deane Galbraith brings our attention to a New York magazine called Nephilim and discusses the legendary creatures referred to in Genesis.
Ben Witherington urges the United Methodist Church to reject affirmation of same-sex relationships, providing a look at how conservative evangelicals engage with Scripture in light of science and politics. I offer counterpoints to his post with my own assessment.
MANUSCRIPTS/TEXTUAL CRITICISM (GENERAL)
Drew Longacre updated his helpful list of Online Digital Manuscripts and Editions (last updated about two years ago).
David Growler warns about the importance of using primary sources and not only secondary texts when doing research. In his work on the parables he has noticed problems in some scholars’ work.
Speaking of manuscripts, Roberta Mazza addresses the problem of determining provenance.
Brent Nongbri comments on P52 and what he discovered in E.C. Colwell’s discussion of the document.
Dirk Jongkind breaks down the differences between the Editio Critica Maior of Acts and NA28 in an accessible post.
John DelHousaye draws from his new book to offer a guest post on textual variants pertaining to Ephesians.
PEDAGOGY
Turn your students into biblical scholars by having them review Bible-based movies and novels. Rhiannon Graybill explains how in her insightful discussion at Ancient Jew Review.
Why does genre matter? Tim Bulkeley clears up the confusion students often have in their intro to Bible courses.
You may have missed their free class in July, but keep your eyes open for another opportunity to take one of Logos’ Mobile Courses. Phil J. Long explains how it works.
James F. McGrath suggests the comic book genre is something we might consider for textbooks and teaching students.
Need easily accessible books and articles for your students? Check out the new Open Access Digital Theological Library.
BOOK REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Lydia Lee comments on a couple textual criticism books she is reading.
Peter Enns reveals ten books that made him rethink how he conceptualizes and reads the Bible.
Jacob Prahlow gives us his July round-up of recommended reading.
RJS gives us three posts reflecting on Walton’s and Sandy’s book The Lost World of Scripture. See post 1 (purpose of Scripture), post 2 (problem with the prophets), and post 3 (oral origins of the New Testament). She also reviewed the new book Early Christian Readings of Genesis One by Craig Allert and she concludes her series on Longman’s and Walton’s book The Lost World of the Flood.
Jim West is eager to recommend Markus Witte’s Hiobs viele Gesichter: Studien zur Komposition, Tradition, und frühen Rezeption des Hiobbuches. He says it’s the “perfect collection of essays leading up, eventually, to the publication of the author’s commentary on the Book of Job.”
Anthony Loke posted his book review of Kathleen O’Connor’s book, Jeremiah: Pain and Promise, on Academia.edu. He also wants people to know he has published a book Song of Songs Made Simple that is now available.
Claude Mariottini rethinks the doctrine of God’s impassibility in conversation with Terence Fretheim’s book The Suffering of God: An Old Testament Perspective. Mariottini is a very prolific blogger so be sure to check out his many other posts for the month of July.
Jim Davila highlighted the new release of Olivia Stewart Lester’s book: Prophetic Rivalry, Gender, and Economics: A Study in Revelation and Syballine Oracles 4-5.
Michael Bird reviews The Universal Story: Genesis 1-11 by Dru Johnson.
Lindsay Kennedy discusses Paula Frederiksen’s book Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle and Darian Lockett’s Letters from the Pillar Apostles.
John Bergsma talks about the newly released book he and Brant Pitre wrote: A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament. He says they had been working on it since 2012.
Guillaume Bady gives a lengthy review of the edition of Introduction aux divines Écritures d’Adrien by Peter W. Martens.
The avid reader, Phil J. Long managed to pump out several book reviews related to biblical studies:
- Jesus Followers in the Roman Empire by Paul Duff
- Early Christian Readings of Genesis One by Craig Allert
- Best Bible Books: New Testament Resources by John Glynn
- A Little Book for New Bible Scholars by Richard Randolph and Joseph Dodson
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Times of Israel posted a lovely tribute to Ada Yardeni. The renowned paleographer passed away at the end of June. BAR posted links to articles she wrote for them. Learn more about Yardeni on her website.
Ferrell Jenkins wrote a tribute to Jack P. Lewis who died this month. Lewis had two Ph.D.s, one in New Testament (Harvard) and the other in Old Testament (Hebrew Union). Jenkins studied under him and shares personal impressions and memories.
Tony Burke gives us details for a CFP on the theme of visualizing women in the apocrypha. Proposals are due September 15th.
William Ross lets us know what he has been up to this summer personally and professionally, including the latest on his long awaited Septuaginta: A Reader’s Edition.
Coptic Scriptorium also tells us about their summer adventures.
Airton José da Silva reports on the July 9th meeting of Biblistas Mineiros where discussions focused on the content for their biblical studies magazine. He also comments on Philip Davies who died in May.
Bill Mounce announces that his blog will be moving to biblicaltraining.org. In the meantime, he is taking a break from blogging until September.
Karen R. Keen (that’s me!) has a book available for pre-order: Scripture, Ethics, and the Possibility of Same-Sex Relationships (Eerdmans). Greg Boyd, called it “the most compelling, biblically-based, and scientifically-informed case for the church to accommodate covenanted same-sex unions that I have ever read.”
Next up for the Carnival: Kevin Turner at Monday Morning Theologian is compiling biblio stuff posted in August (Due September 1). Jim West is on for September (Due October 1). If you would like to host a Carnival on your site, contact Phillip J. Long of Reading Acts at plong42@gmail.com or via Twitter @plong42.
Thanks for stopping by folks! Enjoy the rest of your summer.
BONUS: WOMEN SCHOLAR BLOGGERS
Krista Dalton (at Ancient Jew Review)
RJS (she is a scientist, but her writing intersects with Bible)
Laura Robinson (podcasts)
Old sites still up but not updated in a few years:
Suzanne McCarthy (now deceased; blogged at BLT)
See also the new Logia Resource Database of women scholars. Know of any women scholar bloggers not cited here? Post their links in the comment section.
Karen, thank you for sharing my reviews!
If you haven’t heard yet of Sheffield’s Shiloh Project, I think our blog is worth including. http://shiloh-project.group.shef.ac.uk
Hi M.J., thanks for pointing out this blog! I added a post from July in the culture section above.
Thanks for reading y’all! It was fun to put together.
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Wow! What a wide ranging and interesting collection, thank you.
Thanks very much for this, and the hard work that’s gone into it. Can I note one thing you might like to change? You reference the Greek in Philemon on the blog established by Rod Decker, as his post, rather than Wayne Slusser, who has been maintaining it since Decker died in 2014.
Hi Doug, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I will update it now.
Great job! One note: the posts on NT Resources are, I think, by Wayne Slusser.
Thanks Brian. I have updated it.
Wonderfully done! I hope you’ll do it again in the future.
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Thank you – awesome carnival. Lots of new things to me and lots of controversy. I might finally get around to updating my aggregators and blog list.
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