The Program Book for the International SBL meeting has been posted. I am in the Judaica section. No, we are not discussing mezuzot and menorot. This section is dealing with ancient Jewish interpretation of Mikra. It looks like I will have to get up early and be on time! Judaica […]
Bible
353 posts
I am wrapping up my article on the character of Boaz. In it I critique the reading of Boaz presented by Fewell and Gunn saying, they have created “a kind of ‘fan fiction,’ rooted more in our own interests and imagination than that of the original author.” That got me […]
I am just reading through an article by my friend Tod Linafelt (“Narrative and Poetic Art in the Book of Ruth,” Interpretation 64:2, 117-129 [2010]). It is a broad and useful reading of Ruth. You may recall from my earlier post I quoted Campbell who said, It is inherent in […]
What a great set of posts and resources! Thanks for sharing this, it is very useful and I wish I had some guidance like this 20 years ago when I started reading manuscripts. So You Want to Read Handwritten Hebrew Manuscripts, part II. This post is a continuation of two […]
In response to my earlier post on Campbell‘s comments about characters in the Bible, John asked for a little guidance. “I have just started teaching Ruth on Wednesday nights. If you will, give me a little insight that would improve my job as teacher. We are going through the OT/HB […]
I thought I had mentioned this on Targuman before, but apparently not. In his commentary on Ruth Campbell asserts: It is inherent in biblical thought generally that a person’s actions and words offer a true picture of the person’s character. Hebrew stories do not have characters with hidden motives and […]
Scenes From A Multiverse – A daily comic about life by Jon Rosenberg (a fellow Cornellian). He does bring up some good points. (Oh, and in case you don’t read the title above the comic, in which case you probably aren’t reading this either, the piratey looking fellow being interviewed is […]
October 20, 2018 – I should thank the “ex-Christian” who recently linked to this post in her example of Bishop Nathan Baxter’s “hurting heart” as an example of “a virtue-signaling phrase.” If you are new, welcome! This is my personal blog. I am a scholar of ancient Hebrew and Jewish […]
BAR has just published a nice little piece by my former grad assistant Jonathan Greer. Do go and give it a read! (Jim will appreciate the presence of the word “deviant” in the title.) Archaeologically speaking, very little is known of the ancient Israelite cult as it was practiced by […]
I am in late in posting the news, but my paper has been accepted for the International SBL conference this summer in Amsterdam. No one will be surprised to know that my paper is on Targum Ruth. The title character of the book of Ruth has been viewed historically as […]