Blog

Along with Logos 4 users, Libronix users may now download and install the SBL Greek New Testament and its apparatus. HT: Logos.

September’s Biblioblog Top 50 is available. Despite Joel Watt’s slippage to third in the overall rankings, his blog continues to hold the lead among the top ten student biblioblogs: StudentOverallAuthor(s)BlogAlexa Score13Joel L. WattsThe Church of Jesus Christ12848525Scott BaileyScotteriology173966311Jeremy ThompsonFree Old Testament Audio Website Blog271870416Stephen SmutsBiblical Paths319523517Mark StevensScripture, Ministry, and the People of God333878619Justin AllisonOld Testament and Ecology404624720Jonathan RobinsonXenos426276823Brian LePort, JohnDave Medina, and Robert JimenezNear Emmaus: Christ and Text536573924Phillip LongReading Acts5421871029Gavin RumneyOtagosh620744 ...

Earlier today, the Zotero Project announced concrete plans to release a stand-alone, browser-independent version of their open-source, bibliographic management system. Since its inception, Zotero has been tied to Mozilla Firefox as a support for its underlying architecture. Yet, as the members of the Zotero Project recognize, “not all researchers can or want to use” Firefox. In addition to maintaining Zotero’s compatibility with Firefox, this “major new initiative” for a stand-alone version of Zotero will “soon” allow users of “Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Internet Explorer” to use Zotero with whichever of these browsers they choose. This move will extend Zotero’s availability to approximately 98% of internet users. ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Fields Luísa Maria Varela Almendra, Um debate sobre o conhecimento de Deus: Composição e interpretação de Jb 32–37, reviewed by Gilbert Lozano G. P. F. Broekman, R. J. Demaree, and O. E. Kaper, eds., The Libyan Period in Egypt: Historical and Cultural Studies into the 21st–24th Dynasties: Proceedings of a Conference at Leiden University, 25–27 October 2007, reviewed by Aren M. Maeir Ruth A. Clements and Daniel R. Schwartz, eds., Text, Thought, and Practice in Qumran and Early Christianity: Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, Jointly Sponsored by the Hebrew University Center for the Study of Christianity, 11–13 January, 2004, reviewed by John Kampen Thomas B. Dozeman, Exodus, reviewed by Frank H. Polak Magnar Kartveit, The Origin of the Samaritans, reviewed by Thomas Hieke Ernst Axel Knauf, Josua: Zürcher Bibelkommentare AT(Band 6), reviewed by Marvin A. Sweeney Wolfgang Oswald, Staatstheorie im Alten Israel: Der politische Diskurs im Pentateuch und in den Geschichtsbüchern des Alten Testaments, reviewed by Klaus-Peter Adam Nicholas Postgate, The Land of Assur and the Yoke of Assur: Studies on Assyria 1971–2005, reviewed by Carly Crouch Andrzej S. Turkanik, Of Kings and Reigns: A Study of Translation Technique in the Gamma/Gamma Section of 3 Reigns (1 Kings), reviewed by Johann Cook Biblical Theology and Cognate Fields ...

The latest issue of New Testament Studies includes: Michael Peppard, “The Eagle and the Dove: Roman Imperial Sonship and the Baptism of Jesus (Mark 1.9–11),” 431–51 Eve-Marie Becker, “Die markinischen Summarien—ein literarischer und theologischer Schlüssel zu Mark 1–6,” 452–74 Lee A. Johnson and Robert C. Tannehill, “Lilies Do Not Spin: A Challenge to Female Social Norms,” 475–90 Friedrich Gustav Lang, “Abraham geschworen – uns gegeben. Syntax und Sinn im Benediktus (Lukas 1.68–79),” 491–512 Jane Heath, “‘Some were saying, “He is good”’ (John 7.12b): ‘Good’ Christology in John’s Gospel?,” 513–35 David Briones, “Mutual Brokers of Grace: A Study in 2 Corinthians 1.3–11,” 536–56 Joshua W. Jipp, “The Son’s Entrance into the Heavenly World: The Soteriological Necessity of the Scriptural Catena in Hebrews 1.5–14,” 557–75 Alexander Weiss, “Keine Quästoren in Korinth: Zu Goodrichs (und Theißens) These über das Amt des Erastos (Röm 16.23),” 576–81

Brian LePort notes the availability, as an Amazonian “Deal of the Day,” of a free Kindle edition of Steven Lawson’s Expository Genius of John Calvin (Reformed Trust, 2007). ...

Another set of Zotero updates is available that remedies some stability issues and brings us up through 2.0.7 to 2.0.8.

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: New Testament and Cognate Fields Craig L. Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, reviewed by Robert H. Gundry Craig S. Keener, The Historical Jesus of the Gospels, reviewed by Craig L. Blomberg Lloyd Kim, Polemic in the Book of Hebrews: Anti-Judaism, Anti-Semitism, Supersessionism?, reviewed by Lars Kierspel Maarten J. J. Menken and Steve Moyise, eds., The Minor Prophets in the New Testament, reviewed by Matthew Mitchell Romano Penna, Paolo e la Chiesa di Roma, reviewed by Sean Martin Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Fields ...

The fall issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature includes: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Fields Jonathan Burnside, “Flight of the Fugitives: Rethinking the Relationship between Biblical Law (Exodus 21:12–14) and the Davidic Succession Narrative (1 Kings 1-2),” 418–31 Michael Carasik, “Why Did Hannah Ask for ‘Seed of Men’?,” 433–36 Steven L. McKenzie, “Elaborated Evidence for the Priority of 1 Samuel 26,” 437–44 Richard Whitekettle, “When More Leads to Less: Overstatement, Incrementum, and the Question in Job 4:17a,” 445–48 Brian J. Alderman and Brent A. Strawn, “A Note on Peshitta Job 28:23,” 449–56 Shalom E. Holtz, “A Comparative Note on the Demand for Witnesses in Isaiah 43:9,” 457–61 Benjamin Edidin Scolnic, “Mattathias and the Jewish Man of Modein,” 463–83 Randall D. Chesnutt, " Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 2069 and the Compositional History of 1 Enoch," 485–505 New Testament and Cognate Fields ...

[caption id=“attachment_6353” align=“alignright” width=“80” caption=“University of Chicago”] [/caption] The 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style is, however, now available. Among other updates, this edition boasts Chicago’s first explicit guidelines for citing Kindle editions and publications (§§14.166; A.38). Although I have yet to be able to examine this new edition first-hand, on a cursory perusal, these guidelines appear mainly to be an additional application of the instructions for citing electronic books in Chicago’s 15th edition (§§17.142–47). More information on this new edition of Chicago is available at Chicago Manual of Style Online. ...

This past week, along with several bug fixes, Zotero got some substantive updates to its syncing and word-processor integration features. As usual, the Zotero website has change logs for the main new release, 2.0.4, as well as what are, thus far, the two additional, supplementary ones ( 2.0.5, 2.0.6). ...

The folks at the Bulletin for Biblical Research have very kindly agreed to publish a revised version of my presentation from the November, 2009 meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society: “Rewriting Prophets in the Corinthian Correspondence: A Window on Paul’s Hermeneutic.” To provide just a bit fuller picture of the essay’s argument: In the broadest sense of the phrase, any use of Jewish scripture by a later author(s) could be understood to constitute a form of ‘rewritten Bible’. The phrase ‘rewritten Bible’ has, however, come to have a technical meaning whereby it designates a certain body of ancient, Jewish literature. The precise shape of this body of literature continues to be debated, but even with consensus on this specific point as far away as it is, ‘rewritten Bible’ can contribute valuable information to the study of Paul’s use of scripture. In particular, ‘rewritten Bible’ provides a useful foil for the study of Paul’s citations in 1 Cor 1:31 and 2 Cor 10:17 and the hermeneutical paradigm upon which these citations’ validity implicitly rests. In this case, Paul’s connections with ‘rewritten Bible’ literature especially help suggest the constitutive, hermeneutical role that Jesus played as Paul interpreted scripture for the Corinthian church within the broader context of some of the hermeneutical traditions of his near contemporaries. ...

Jeremy Thompson has August’s Biblioblog Top 50 available. Jim West remains in the top seat this month, despite Jeremy’s temporary coup d’état that had crowned Joel Watts. Still, Joel’s matriculation to United Theological Seminary earns him the top slot on August’s list of the top ten student biblioblogs. The full top-ten list is as follows: StudentOverallAuthor(s)BlogAlexa Score12Joel L. WattsThe Church of Jesus Christ10893727Stephen SmutsBiblical Paths210494311Mark StevensScripture, Ministry, and the People of God299339415Scott BaileyScotteriology332160518Brian LePort, JohnDave Medina, and Robert JimenezNear Emmaus: Christ and Text373283619Jeremy ThompsonFree Old Testament Audio Website Blog436755722Gavin RumneyOtagosh462138823Bob Hayton, Jason Skipper, Damien Garofalo, Will Dudding, Erik DiVietro, and Phil DearmoreKJV Only Debate465858933Jonathan RobinsonXenos6773451038Rick MansfieldThis Lamp768595 ...

Jim West has August’s Biblical Studies Carnival available. This month’s carnival has six “rides” from which readers can choose: Old Testament, New Testament, Church History, Systematic Theology, Archaeology/Dead Sea Scrolls, and Uncategorized.

Grammar of Biblical Hebrew Fred Putnam’s New Grammar of Biblical Hebrew is now out ( affiliate disclosure). According to the publisher, This is a Hebrew grammar with a difference, being the first truly discourse-based grammar. Its goal is for students to understand Biblical Hebrew as a language, seeing its forms and conjugations as a coherent linguistic system, appreciating why and how the text means what it says—rather than learning Hebrew as a set of random rules and apparently arbitrary meanings. ...

Beginning with Moses has been substantially refreshed, and the site is scheduled to have regular updates begin again on September 1. If you like, you can also follow Beginning with Moses on Twitter and Facebook. The Biblical Theology Briefings have carried over from the old site, and the site’s principal editor, Mark Owens, invites fresh contributions for this section. ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Fields Walter Brueggemann, An Unsettling God: The Heart of the Hebrew Bible, reviewed by Eric A. Seibert Erasmus Gaß, Die Moabiter: Geschichte und Kultur eines ostjordanischen Volkes im 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr., reviewed by Sven Petry Sarah Lebhar Hall, Conquering Character: The Characterization of Joshua in Joshua 1-11, reviewed by Anton Cuffari Michaela Hallermayer, Text und Überlieferung des Buches Tobit, reviewed by Bradley Gregory New Testament and Cognate Fields ...

A while back, when I finally decided to preorder the Göttingen Septuagint from Logos before the initial, pre-publication special ended, and when I did so, I was quite prepared to wait several years before this resource actually went through and came out of development. Yet, earlier today, I happened to stumble across this on the Logos website: So, rather than a couple years, the Logos edition of the Göttingen Septuagint is apparently just over a couple months away (!). ...

Earlier this morning, Logos Bible Software announced the release of the beta version of Biblia.com. To all visitors, Biblia.com offers access to slightly more than forty resources, including various Bible translations and a few more dated Greek New Testament texts. Free registration at Biblia.com allows users to access still other resources. ...

This week in the biblioblogosphere: Mark Goodacre finds and makes available a PDF version of Wilhelm Wrede’s Paul. Daniel and Tonya draw attention to Alex Andrason’s recent article on the use of yiqtol in Biblical Hebrew (via Uri Hurwitz) and Randall Buth’s response to the article. Via Ekaterini Tsalampouni, Holger Szesnat mentions the availability of the new Journal of Ancient Judaism. Christian Askeland notes the availability of a stable, Unicode-compliant Coptic font. At BioLogos, Peter Enns interviews N. T. Wright about Jesus’ humanity. Kirk Lowery ponders current developments in the peer review process for scholarly publications. Scot McKnight prepares his readers for a change of blogging address. Larry Hurtado uploads an essay on Martin Hengel’s impact on English-speaking, New Testament scholarship. Charles Halton considers cartographic hermeneutics and some of their implications for readers of biblical texts.

For those who may have missed the original special or who might just want to relive it, the National Geographic Channel’s recent documentary on “Writing the Dead Sea Scrolls,” hosted by primarily by Robert Cargill, is available here. ...

The latest reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature include: Biblical Theology and Cognate Fields Hector Avalos, Sarah Melcher, and Jeremy Schipper, eds., This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies, reviewed by William R. G. Loader Roland Boer, Political Myth: On the Use and Abuse of Biblical Themes, reviewed by Gilbert Lozano Joel S. Kaminsky, Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election, reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia Robin Routledge, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach, reviewed by Don Collett Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Fields ...

This week in the blogosphere: James McGrath helpfully notes that John Byron, Associate Professor of New Testament at Ashland Theological Seminary, is now blogging at The Biblical World. Sadly, Gerald Hawthorne passes away (HT: John Byron). Helen Bond discusses the composition of the Sanhedrin in first-century Palestine. Trevor provides a good summary of a variety of different ways to add records to Zotero. Happy Dissertating suggests priming the writing pump as necessary via 750 Words. Based on what the site provides, it looks like a fully private blog could also be used in much the same way, but particularly for those who would prefer not to need to ensure for themselves that all their privacy settings are correct or who might enjoy some of the other features that 750 Words offers, the site may be worth a look. Pat McCullough begins a bibliography of resources about the application of Social Identity Theory to biblical studies and invites suggestions for additions.

Formerly of Berit Hadasah, James Tucker is now blogging at Biblical Exegesis and Interpretation with an “expand[ed set of] blogging interests.” For at least a representative list of these interests, see here.

While reading Darrell Bock’s Studying the Historical Jesus in preparation for class this fall, I came across the following, insightful comment: Every culture has its “cultural script” that is assumed in its communication. These [Second Temple Jewish] sources help us get a reading on the cultural script at work in the time of Jesus. They also help us understand the reaction to Jesus and his ministry. They also deepen our own perception of Jesus’ claims ( 40–41). ...

The mid-year issue of Themelios is now available, and it includes: Carl Trueman, “Minority Report: Not in the Public Interest” Fred G. Zaspel, “B. B. Warfield on Creation and Evolution” Denny Burk, “Why Evangelicals Should Ignore Brian McLaren: How the New Testament Requires Evangelicals to Render a Judgement on the Moral Status of Homosexuality” Stephen Dempster, “A Member of the Family or a Stranger? A Review Article of Jeffrey J. Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology” William Edgar, “Parallels, Real or Imagined? A Review Article of Jeffrey J. Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology” Jeffrey J. Niehaus, “How to Write—and How Not to Write—a Review: An Appreciative Response to Reviews of Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology by Dempster and Edgar” D. A. Carson, “Pastoral Pensées: Motivations to Appeal to in Our Hearers When We Preach for Conversion” Book Reviews

Although the post is now comparatively a bit dated, Corey Tomsons still has some very good advice about academic blogging (HT: Kirk Lowery via Facebook). http://thoughtcapital.wordpress.com/2007/03/11/how-to-write-an-academic-blog/ ...

According to Google, the world contains about 129,864,880 books. Google calculated this number by combining duplicate entries from a data base of nearly one billion raw, bibliographic records and by eliminating about an additional 16.5 million non-books that had records in Google’s raw data base.

Jeremy Thompson has July’s Biblioblog Top 50 available. Jim West and Joel Watts again take the top two spots respectively. The top ten student biblioblogs are: StudentOverallAuthor(s)BlogAlexa Score18Stephen SmutsBiblical Paths22490929Matt DabbsKingdom Living228817311Mark StevensScripture, Ministry, and the People of God240043414Jeremy ThompsonFree Old Testament Audio Website Blog328123515Brian LePort, JohnDave Medina, and Robert JimenezNear Emmaus: Christ and Text331730616Scott BaileyScotteriology342515718Gavin RumneyOtagosh408591835JasonEis Doxan729697936Rick MansfieldThis Lamp7365221038Brandon WasonSitz im Leben791601 ...

[caption id=“attachment_2049” align=“alignright” width=“100” caption=“D. A. Carson and Douglas Moo”] [/caption] Thanks to the kind folks at Zondervan, I just received the second edition of D. A. Carson and Douglas Moo’s Introduction to the New Testament for use this fall. I had used the first edition (co-authored also with Leon Morris) when I took my initial New Testament Introduction course, so I will be interested (finally—this second edition has been available since 2005) to see firsthand what revisions have been made. ...