Welcome to Biblical Studies Carnival #219 for summer 2024. Yes, yes, I know it has been a while. Summers are slow times for academics. Between travel and writing projects, I have been very busy all summer and decided to combine the three summer months into one overly long carnival. I did this last summer, and no one complained.
I need volunteers in 2024 to keep the Biblical Studies Carnival going. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me (email: plong42 @ gmail.com) and follow me there, too.
What does a Biblical Studies Carnival look like? Check out #218 from Bob MacDonald for a great model to follow. You are not required to follow the usual categories. We want different hosts to get other perspectives. I know many Biblical and Theological podcasts exist, but I don’t have time to listen.
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Old Testament
John T. Squires at An Informed Faith, Diminutive David and the giant Goliath (1 Sam 17)
Claude Mariottini is back to blogging. The God Who Reveals Himself and Yahweh and Moses: Face to Face
Matthew J. Suriano on Judah’s Restoration: The Meaning of Ezekiel’s Vision of the Dry Bones at Torah.Com
At Ancient Origins, Historical, Archaeological, and Theological Debates Surrounding the Kingdom of Judah (Aleksa Vučković).
Heather Anne Thiessen (the hermeneutrix) studies Genesis 13:8-18 and then reflects on the passage.
Second Temple Literature
At The Bible and Interpretation, Daniel R. Schwartz contributes Modern Scholarship on 1–2 Maccabees in Its Historical Context. From his conclusion, “modern scholarship on 1–2 Maccabees well illustrates the truism that ‘all history is contemporary history.’” It’s worth reading the bibliography alone!
Michael Tuval at The Torah.com, Judaism Transforms in the Diaspora During the Second Temple Period. Excellent article using Maccabean literature, Sibylline Oracles, and other literature to argue that “even before the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. and the cessation of its sacrificial cult, the Jews of the Greco-Roman Diaspora had successfully created alternative Judaic systems in which the Temple did not play a crucial role.”
Jonathan Klawans, Biblical Pseudepigraphy: Are Falsely Attributed Biblical Texts Deceptive? “Is editing and writing in the guise of Moses, Solomon, or Daniel a legitimate literary convention justified because of the author’s inspired state? Or is this practice a form of deceit, even forgery?”
Was there 400 years of Silence between Old & New Testaments? B. J. Oropeza (rightly) says no.
Scrap from extra-biblical Infancy Gospel of Thomas discovered at Humboldt University of Berlin (Times of Israel).
Jim West warns: Stop Turning the Hebrew Bible into a Christological Hand Puppet. That is going to make some people mad. Hopefully.
Archaeology
At Tyndale House, Josh Meynell takes a look at an Egyptian inscription from 1200 BC, which contains one of the earliest mentions of Israel in extra-biblical documents. “Many scholars consider Merneptah’s account to be closer to propaganda than real history, but, if anything, this makes this mention of Israel even more interesting.”
Perfectly preserved, a 2,300-year-old gold ring was found under the City of David parking lot (Times of Israel).
Ancient Seal Featuring Assyrian Demon From First Temple Period Discovered in Jerusalem – Haaretz news article with excellent photo. Another seal found at Hazor suggests cultural exchange with Greek culture (but it could reflect Ugarit).
Several archaeological sites were damaged over the summer. Part of the Roman aqueduct at Caesarea collapsed (Ynet News, with pictures). A stone fell from the Western Wall a day before Tisha B’Av. Ynet has a video of the removal of the stone. Rather than replace the stone, it was moved to the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden at the Davidson Center. “Joshua’s altar” on Mount Ebal was damaged in July. In June, a fire damaged part of the Israel Museum.
Aren Maeir posted a link to his video on the Philistines on the Tell es-Sâfi/Gath page.
Biblical Archaeology Review turns 50. It is time to cancel my subscription.
Manuscripts
James McGrath uses AI to translate Syriac. “I’m excited by the possibility that humans can use AI to translate texts into English that never have been before. It can do this in a way that will be largely correct if the text is digitized accurately and the AI is trained on the relevant languages.”
An-Ting Yi at the Text and Canon Institute, The Changing Fortunes of Codex Vaticanus. John Meade has a good article on Origen’s six-columned Old Testament. This is drawn from the papers from the Text & Canon Institute’s first academic colloquium, published as The Forerunners and Heirs of Origen’s Hexapla. The book is available as an open-access PDF.
Clint Burnett wrote Imperial Divine Honors and Early Christianity, based on his excellent monograph Paul and Imperial Divine Honors (Eerdmans, 2024). Here is my review of his book.
Peter Gurry Solves a Puzzle in P136.
Christopher Rollston dusted off his blog to post a highly detailed article on the Megiddo Mosaic inscriptions found in a third-century Christian church.
The Women Behind Your Critical Editions
New Testament
Marg Mowczko, 5 Flawed Ideas About “Headship” in Marriage, starting with Ephesians 5:22-33 is not about male-female relationships generally.
Fernando Bermejo-Rubio had part of his article on Historical Jesus edited out of the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. His post, In Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical and Comprehensive Assessment, is based on that “censored” part.
B. J. Oropeza asks, “Why is There No Empty Tomb in Paul’s Resurrection of Christ?”
“Giving Up” A sermon from John 6:56-69 by Heather Anne Thiessen.
Ian Paul asks, “Was John the first gospel?” He interacts with George van Kooten, who recently proposed that John was early and that Luke was dependent on John. This is a long, detailed article, and I will not spoil the conclusion for you (but he says no, John was not the earliest). But read the article. It is excellent.
This summer, Ian Paul had a series of posts on John, including What is the meaning of ‘eating Jesus’ in John 6? The series is worth reading.
Notable Textual Changes in the NRSVue NT
Jacob Wright on Tiberius Alexander: The Jewish General Who Destroyed Jerusalem at Torah.com
Brian Small has a book notice on Luke Woo, The Spatiotemporal Eschatology of Hebrews (Bloomsbury 2024). Brian also announced the publication of his article, “The God Who Communicates: A Study in the Characterization of God in Hebrews.” Pages 209–23 in The Letter to the Hebrews (Edited by Régis Burnet. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 335. Leuven: Peeters, 2024).
Nijay K. Gupta offers a list of recent commentaries on Hebrews.
Andrew Das wrote a post on Remarriage in Early Christianity based on his new book, Remarriage in Early Christianity (Eerdmans, 2024).
Theology, Church History
Adam Renberg asks, “Didn’t Augustine have a weird theology of sex?” “Do Early Christians Hate the Body?” The short answer is, “While the early church did not hate the body, they did affirm the need for its discipline, along with Jesus and Paul.” Go read the article.
Philip Jenkins on Jews and Christians in Roman Palestine.
Jim West finally notices that Luther Was Horrible at Exegesis… Just Wretched
The Southern Baptist Convention has questions about the Nicene Creed. Not surprisingly, people have questions about the SBC.
Book Reviews
Aubrey Buster, Remembering the Story of Israel: Historical Summaries and Memory Formation in Second Temple Judaism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022). Reviewed by Doren Snoek at the Ancient Jew Review.
Andrea L. Turpin on some recent books on Women, Gender, and Sex in US Religious History.
James D. Nogalski, The Book of Micah (NICOT; Eerdmans 2024)
James F. McGrath, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Eerdmans, 2024. Reviewed by Bob Cornwall, Phillip J. Long. Read an interview with McGrath at Eerdworld.
Barry G. Webb, Job (EBTS, Lexham 2023). Reviewed by Thomas Creedy. (See also my review from October 2023)
Brian W. Davidson shares his journey Reading with a Reader’s Text.
Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood, Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism. Chalice Press, 2024. Reviewed by Bob Cornwall.
The Jerusalem Post reviews Jodi Magness, Jerusalem through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades (Oxford 2024). I read this book in July, and I highly recommend the book. Here is an 85-minute conversation with Madness and Nachi Weinstein.
Joshua E. Williams and Calvin F. Pearson, 1-2 Chronicles (Kerux; Kregel 2024)
Michael H. Burer, Galatians (EEC; Lexham 2024)
Duane A. Garrett, Job (EEC; Lexham 2024)
Michael Bird and Scot McKnight, eds. God’s Israel and the Israel of God: Paul and Supersessionism (Lexham 2024).
Elena L. Dugan, The Apocalypse of the Birds: 1 Enoch and the Jewish Revolt against Rome. (Edinburgh University Press, 2023). Review by Tony Keddie at Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
James Riley Strange, Excavating the Land of Jesus” How Archaeologists Study the People of the Gospels (Eerdmans, 2023). Reviewed by Matthew J. Grey at Bible History Daily. Read my review here.
Christopher B. Hays and Richard B. Hay, The Widening of God’s Mercy (Yale, 2024). Reviewed by Preston Sprinkle.
Passings
A tribute to Professor Alan R Millard (1937–2024) by Peter J. Williams, Principal at Tyndale House. Here is Lawson Younger’s tribute, “Alan Millard was a true gentleman and scholar, and a mentor and friend to many. He will be greatly missed.”
Peter Gurry remembers J. K. Elliott (1943–2024)
Jim West on the death of Hans M. Barstad (1947 – 2020)
Pop Culture and Other Random Stuff
Why do we need to think about polyamory? Ian Paul has some thoughts…
Thomas McCreedy, Criticising the Crew? Or, on metaphor and evangelical unity.
Did you know that when Luther’s Bible was published in 1534, it cost the equivalent of 17 fat geese?
A few observations from David Turner: Cornerstone University fires tenured professors and terminate all humanities and arts programs. David also links to A Stakeholder Analyzes the Closing of Clarks Summit University. On the same issue, see Nadya Williams, More Christian Colleges Will Close. Can They Finish Well? (Christianity Today)