Jim West hosted a minimalistic Biblical Studies Carnival #211,celebrating the (a few) biblical and theological studies posts in October 2023. If Jim wants to convert to Marie Kondo’s lifestyle, he needs to read what she said about books. For those afraid to click that WSJ link, she says you should own no more than 30 books. I have more than that in my “to be read” pile. Jim also reposted his November 2022 Carnival, so you can go back and see what a Marie Kondo offending carnival looks like. It is positively cluttered with links to excellent posts.
In other news, I discovered Jim West has a Wikipedia page (there are an impressive number of references on his page). Someone needs to do a Wiki for me.
Welcome to Biblical Studies Carnival #210, celebrating the best biblical and theological studies posts in September 2023. Jim West will probably host next month, but if you are a blogger who would like to host a carnival, contact me and we can talk about it
P.Oxy. 5575
The big news for Biblical Studies in September was the new volume of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri (LXXXVII). This long-running series has published papyri found at the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus since 1898. About 10% of this material is literary, and only a fraction of that contains Christian writings. Even so, there are many Christian fragments, including canonical (Septuagint and New Testament) and noncanonical books (for example, Gospel of Thomas, Shepherd of Hermes). If you are interested in just the Christian material, get a copy of Christian Oxyrhynchus: Texts, Documents, and Sources, edited by Lincoln H. Blumell and Thomas A. Wayment (Baylor 2017).
Included in this new volume is P.Oxy. 5575, a fragment likely dated to the second century containing sayings similar to Luke 12:22/Matt 6:25a (lines 1-5), the Gospel of Thomas 27 (lines 6-10), and Luke 12:24/Matt 6:25b–26 (lines 11-14).Mark Goodacre shared a PDF synopsis of the text of the fragment. Mark discussed this fragment on his resurrected NT Podcast with the ironic title, “Has Q been discovered?” This podcast is only 14 minutes long and is an excellent place to start. (Spoiler: Not surprises: Goodacre says this is not Q).
Naturally, this fragment created a media frenzy for a day or two. Rarely does New Testament papyrology make headlines in the Daily Beast. See this article by Candida Moss tracing the history of the fragment, including its brush with Dirk Obbink and Scott Carroll (associated with the Green family’s Museum of the Bible). Brent Nongri posted a photo of the fragment in December 2018. To be fair, he posted a photo of Indiana Wesleyan professor Jerry Pattengale pulling the fragment out of his pocket during a 2012 lecture by Scott Carroll. On the one hand, the association with Obbink, Carroll, and the Green family might raise red flags for many scholars, but the inclusion of the fragment in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri series.
At the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, Dan Wallace (one of the editors of the fragment) discusses his work and states all scholars working on the fragment “independently dated the MS to late second or perhaps early third century, making it the oldest manuscript with text from Matt 6 (Sermon on the Mount).”
Michael Holmes also worked on the fragment posted at Text & Canon, What’s the Big Deal about a New Papyrus with Sayings of Jesus? Holmes says “What makes this a big deal? This is the first known occurrence of the weaving together of material similar to Luke and Matthew, on the one hand, and material similar to—and otherwise known only from—the Gospel of Thomas, on the other. In this significant respect, 5575 is unique among all known papyri.”
On September 9, Brent Nongbri posted The Date of the New Oxyrhynchus Sayings of Jesus P.Oxy. 87.5575. This is a detailed post comparing the handwriting of P.Oxy 5575 to other papyri to evaluate the date suggested by the editors. He concludes, “I tend to agree with the editors about the similarity of the scripts of 5575 and 4009, but in my first look at the proposals for dated parallels (for both the pieces), I cannot say that I find any of them especially compelling. This is not to criticize the work of the editors. It is very difficult to find good, securely dated comparanda for scripts like these. A more detailed evaluation will have to wait for another occasion.”
Finally, Jim West points out the obvious in the Daily Beast click-bait headline: it is not a new papyrus at all. It is new to the people who write headlines at Daily Beast.
Bradley Bowen has an ongoing project critiquing Peter Kreeft’s critique of the Swoon Theory. Part tenand Part Eleven dropped in September at the Secular Frontier.
A Roman legion camp near Tell Megiddo, was built under Emperor Hadrian (117-123) and was abandoned in the late third century or perhaps the early fourth century.
Leen Ritmeyer on the Archaeological evidence for the Babylonian Exile. Ritmeyer also posted on The Middle Gate (Jeremiah 39.3), the place where the Babylonian princes came together to celebrate their conquest of Jerusalem.
Constantine Campbell, The Letter to the Ephesians, Pillar New Testament Commentary; Eerdmans 2023. Reviewed by Spencer Robinson.
Strauss, Mark L. 40 Questions about Bible Translations. 40 Questions and Answers Series. Grand Rapids, Mich. Kregel, 2023. Reviewed by Phillip J. Long.
Mark Heerink, Esther Meijer, Flavian Responses to Nero’s Rome. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2022. Reviewed by Johanna Leithoff at Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
Janine Giordano Drake, Who are Woke Christians and Have We Seen them Before? This is an introduction to a new series in which she will “read through these books and analyze them as a historian of socialism, Christian Socialism, and liberal Christianity. Who are “Woke Christians” and how do they differ from the socialist, liberal, and Social Gospel Christians of the past?”
Jim West hosted the 209th Biblical Studies Carnival for August 2023 at Zwingli Redivivus. He calls this the “The Climate Change Catastrophe” Biblical Stidies Carnival, and hopes to answer the burning question, “Why is it so hot?” (Spoiler Alert: he does not answer that question). He says, “Enjoy the waning decades of life here on Earth before it all turns into a giant ball of 2000-degree molten misery.” Cheery guy, that Jim West. August is a busy month for academics (prepping for classes, sobering up, etc.) yet Jim has a great collection of links to important and interesting hot topics for August.
I am always looking for volunteers to host a Biblical Studies Carnival. If you are a newer blogger, I would love to talk with you about hosting. I would love to have someone host a carnival who is more aware podcasts than I am. Even YouTube and other social media are sources for academic Biblical Studies.
Please contact me at plong42@gmail.com, and we can schedule a month for you to host. And if you are a long-time blogger, please consider hosting again.
Welcome to Biblical Studies Carnival #208 for June and July 2023. What happened to the June Carnival? I skipped it, hoping that by combining June and July, I would have a good-sized collection of posts for the summer. That’s my excuse. Not that I was traveling hither and yon all summer. I realize this messes up the cadence of numbers, but that’s how it is.
Jim West will host the August Carnival, but I do not have any volunteers after that. Contact me at plong42@gmail.com to discuss volunteering to host a Biblical Studies Carnival.
B. J. Oropeza, Should Women Keep Silent at Church? Rereading 1 Corinthian 14:34–35. “Paul would seem to agree that in worship assemblies, distractive talking is shameful and runs counter to Scripture. As such, the Corinthian wives were disrespecting the speakers and the Spirit who inspired them. The inspired speakers, I should add, could be either men or women. Paul did not prevent inspired women from speaking in the Corinthian churches; he only prevented uninspired chatterers from speaking.” He also has a great post on Wrongly Translating Romans 8:29–30.
Carl Rasmussen says the “Gate to Hell” (the Plutonium) in the ancient Greek city of Hierapolis is open. Like Carl, I have been disappointed by those chain-link fences around the site. Carl also has a post on the new work on a possible “prison of Paul” at Caesarea Maritima. I noticed this in May, about a month after work began on a cistern turned into a prison. I agree with Carl: Rome would unlikely keep a citizen in this underground space for two years!
Welcome to the 206th Biblical Studies Carnival for April 2023. April is a tough month of academics since students actually expect us to grade papers and turn in grades in a timely fashion (the nerve of some people). To complicate things, I am prepping for a student trip to Israel and Jordan starting next week. But there is always time for some Carnival goodness!
Jim West is hosting the Carnival for May (due June 1). Jim announced that he has been blogging at Zwingli Redivivus for 17 years. That is something like two billion posts for Jim. Jim is already calling for submissions. Help Jim out and send him links to the best Biblical Studies Blogs you see (or write) in May 2023.
I am always looking for volunteers to host a carnival. If you are a newer blogger, I would love to talk with you about hosting. I would love to have someone host a carnival who is into podcasts, YouTube, and other social media sources for academic Biblical Studies. Contact me at plong42@gmail.com, and we can schedule a month for you to host. And if you are a long-time blogger, please consider hosting again.
Lawrence Schiffman casts doubt on the headline “Proof of Biblical Kings of Israel, Judah Deciphered on Jerusalem Rock Inscriptions.” The subtitle read, “Detailed Inscriptions of Eighth-Century BCE Judean King Hezekiah Discovered in Monumental Archaeological Discovery.” The post is brief, but there is a link to his article in Ami Magazine.
Shawna Dolansky, Birkat Kohanim: The Magic of a Blessing. This fascinating article discusses the priestly benediction (birkathakohanim) from the liturgy, found in Numbers 6:24-26.
Marg Mowczko, Jesus Called Her “Woman.” She says, “It sounds abrupt, cold, and disrespectful. From everything we know about Jesus, however, we can assume that he wasn’t being rude, especially as “woman” often occurs in statements where he says wonderful things.
Peter Lau, The Book of Ruth (NICOT) (Eerdmans 2023). Reviewed by Jim West. Reviewed by Phillip J. Long. Jim West says “The Commentary by Lau is the EXACT opposite of Block’s horror show vomitorium of a book.”
David Hendin, Guide to Biblical Coins. 6th edition. New York: American Numismatic Society, 2022 (Review by Michaël Girardin at Bryn Mawr Classical Review)
