Well here we are once again, having persevered for many years inviting you to join us on our tour of the best of the best postings from the world of biblical studies which appeared in the month of June in the year of our Lord, 2017. Our Carnival’s theme? Bringing the Heat! The posts are HOT and the bloggers are HOTTER. Except for Watts.
Hebrew Bible / Related Ancient Lit Heat
Not to be missed is this on fire post on the Book of Enoch. The Enochic corpus known as 1 Enoch or Ethiopic Enoch is a composite pseudepigraphic work written in the name of the antediluvian patriarch Enoch from Genesis 5:21–24. The corpus is extant in its entirety only in an Ethiopic (Ge’ez) version that was translated from a Greek translation of an Aramaic original between 4–6th century CE in Ethiopia. Et cetera.
There’s a very cool, I mean hot, post on the Torah about the vestments of the High Priest. Very, very neat.
The hottest of all the bibliobloggers did us the favor of drawing our attention to the impending publication of the next volume of BHQ- Job. That’s one prolific, witty, clever, fun loving, informative, and beloved blogger right there.
The Samaritans get a rare bit of notice this month. You remember them. They had a different Pentateuch and the Ezra crowd hated them and Jesus was ok with them and even talked to one of their womenfolk…
Martti Nissinen has some reflections on the CSTT Annual Meeting that are not to be missed because it’s hot without air conditioning. The CSTT Annual Meeting of this year took place in the most beautiful environment of the Zoological Station of Tvärminne in Hanko, Finland. The days were sunny, chilly, and full of action. And then someone with another Finnish name that I don’t even know how to type reported on the CSTT meeting in Hong Kong. Textual scholars often work with small textual variants and single incidents of change. A detailed analysis of the evidence is important; however, there is an increasing need to understand the broader processes of textual change in the context of ancient Judaism. Could the evolutionary theory, systems approach, or Star Wars saga illuminate the textual history of the Hebrew Bible?
The Bird Man thinks systematic theologians ought to use the Old Testament some more. Okie dokie.
No one does OT like A-J. ‘Nuff said. Read it.
Phil Long had a bit to say about the ‘Testament of Simeon‘. It’s another one of those pseudepigraphal texts so in vogue these days. Hippies. The heat has gotten to the guild my friends… it’s like we’re becoming Floridians or Texans.
If you’re of a mind to do it, you can read the Old Testament in Sahidic Coptic online now. Here’s the very informative post which very informatively posts the information.
Christian Brady is writing for emergents. I never thought I’d see the day… emergents… ‘so sad’. I need a moment…
Jim Davila has a bit to say about the Shapira scroll, particularly in connection with the Dead Sea Scrolls. Oh Shapira… who are you and why are you pretending to be a DSS?
Weirdest post of the month Award goes to this one on the Rainbow… It’s the kind of thing NT Wright might write if he wrote about the Old Testament. So why is it included? Because some of you are weird and you might like it. Because you’re weird.
Stephen Cook has been burning it up! He last blogged a year ago!!!! Keep ’em coming, dude! Also uninvolved in June, the great Bob Cargill. Must be making a movie… or doing a BibArch Fest. Also making a movie, Ed Cook, who has been lying dormant even longer that Stephen. Blogging the Hebrew Bible is hard. Just ask Bryan Bibb. Speaking of doing things that are hard, Josh Mann may or may not be blogging. He’s got his blog behind a paywall. If you’re out there, Josh, tell us what you’ve been posting! Along with these slackers, Peter Kirby has been ignoring his responsibilities for the longest time of all. Kids these days, AmIRight….
Michael Langlois had an interesting post on the 70th anniversary of the DSS. I like that guy. He’s super bright and very engaging as a lecturer. My one regret about skipping SBL this year is that I won’t get to see him. He also held a conference on the Scrolls but you missed it because it was in June. Another good soul celebrating a big event is Claude Marriottini, who’s retiring… Bummer.
Brian Davidson- Exodus. Genesis 12. He sees a connection. Maybe he will convince you. Maybe… or just meh… You decide (and then ask and I’ll tell you if you’re right). Meanwhile Dr Duckbill also sees some merit in Pete Enns’s musings on the Old Testament. Why? Your guess is as good as anyone’s. Maybe the heat down in Houston has done him wrong.
Will Ross interviewed Bob Kraft about LXX-ie stuff. What. Fun.
The Sultry New Testament
And what’s more sultry than Pilate? What is truth? The complicated characterization of Pontius Pilate in the Fourth Gospel. (It appeared at the end of May but wasn’t announced as a free read until 5 June, which is why it’s listed in this Carnival though not linked to because they’re being punished).
Greek wisdom by non Greek Jason. A nifty citation from ancient days. CK Barrett wisdom is spewing from Ben Witherington’s blog the way water spews from Old Faithful. And it’s hot water. Because geysers are hot. Water.
Mike Bird on Steve Walton on doing theology ‘Lukewise’. #ArentNeologismsFun! #TheWorldNeedsMoreNeologisms. #AndBetterGovernments. #ButThatsBesideThePoint. #TheHungerGamesIsStupid.
Exegetical Tool had a nifty interview about Greek in Luke. Imagine. Greek, in Luke! The Gospel of Luke in Greek has Greek!!!! We recently featured Alan Thompson’s new Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament on Luke’s Gospel and we’re happy that he was able to conduct a little interview with us. You’ll learn much here about the exegetical process, about Greek, and about Dr. Thompson and his labors for the kingdom. [They don’t specify which Kingdom they mean but it must be the Kingdom of Sparta. Because they used Greek there].
Greek grammar. Oh, it’s gripping. It’s not as boring as you think. Gripping I tell you. Grip. Ping.
Mike Kok had some interesting things to say about Peter in Rome. Those Canadians… so cool even in the Summer.
Some Borg (i.e., group) blog blogged on a NT conference after virtually years of silence. So in celebration of their resurrection from the blogging dead, I give you, without further ado, it.
Geza Vermes is discussed in this very interesting article. His understanding of Jesus was really quite engaging. June 22, 1924, is the birthdate of Geza Vermes, the Hungarian-born scholar who was among the first to study Jesus as a Jew, and was also one of the first academics to write about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Vermes himself also had an unusual spiritual journey, which included a spell as a Catholic priest before his return to Judaism.
Mark Goodacre barely scraped into the Carnival with his near end of the month invitation to join him and Cargill at BAR’s Arch Fest in Iowa or Wisconsin or Tokyo or some such place. BAS has the best fests. They’re Yuge. The Yugest. And they only cost a small fortune so they’re aimed at students…
[NB- the NT folk must have taken the month off. NT Wright must not have said anything or published a new book or they would have had something to talk about… poor things].
Textual Mugginess
The Tyndale folk are on a roll with their discussions of textual decisions connected with their new edition of the New Testament. This time they dive in to Romans 1. Fun times will be had by all.
Todd Scarewater had some thoughts of the hottest NT story, the Good Samaritan, whilst Dan Wallace and Drew Longacre are MIA.
Bill Mounce has some fun thoughts about the ESV and the NIV… Good stuff. Most people say there are two translation camps, formal equivalent and functional equivalent (or dynamic equivalent). The longer I am in translation work, the more I see how simplistic this division is. There actually are five methods on translation with three sub-categories for the handling of gender language.
William Ross attended a high falootin’ Finnish LXX conference and he posted about it just to make us all burn with envy. He’s a very bad person.
Some madman thinks there are textual reasons to print ‘god’ in Bibles instead of ‘God’. Geesh. Someone’s brain has melted.
Sweltering Book Reviews
Larry *The Anti-Tilling* Hurtado wrote a short review on a new book about sin. And atonement. I’m not personally acquainted with sin so I’ll have to take his word for it. The book sounds enjoyable and may induce a bit of sweat for its readers on the beach (or maybe it’s the sun that will do that. I don’t know, I’m not a physicist).
Read Jim Davila’s review of the recent New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. It’s hot outside, so stay in and read it. And then read Phil Tite’s mention of the review.
Greek magical papyri… you’ve already left. Come back when you’re done there. Nothing is hotter these days than learning how to turn Joel Watts into a newt.
Scot McKnight turned the high intensity inquisitorial heat lamp onto Greg Boyd’s recent dive into Jesus theology. I’ve not read Boyd’s work but if you have you’ll have to decide if McKnight is Wright. Or Wrong.
Matthew’s New David… looks to be a lot of fun! Matthew’s use of the Jewish scriptures—particularly his fulfillment citations—has long perplexed modern readers. Has the evangelist ransacked his scriptures in a contorted effort to justify his Christology? Or is there another principle guiding his selection of scriptural source material? In this revised version of his 2013 Wheaton College dissertation “Scripture and Community: The Socio-Rhetorical Effect of Matthew’s Prologue Quotations,” Nicholas Piotrowski mounts a fresh and compelling argument for the latter.
Phil *Longshanks* Long reviewed a book on why Christians should rethink Israel. I sure hope it isn’t endorsed by John Hagee…. that would make me weep.
Miscellaneous Humidity
Ron Kubsch has a brief little post that folk dabbling in Reformed theology (which is, of course, related to the Bible, unlike Unitarian theology or Catholic theology) will need to read. Need.
Rick Brannan offers a post about how Systematic theologians basically ignore the Bible or only operate from within a very small pool of references because they are so enamored of philosophy that they can’t really think theologically. Right Barth? Tillich? Bunhopper? In any event Rick’s post may not make that precise point, but it should.
Michael Pahl. Read it. Because I said so, that’s why. It’s hot.
Mac users will want to take a look at Brian’s post on Greek fonts for iOS. Whatever that is. Darn hippies and their darn weird non Windows craziness.
The Bible and Politics conference videos are online. Here. For the sleep deprived. (Just kidding) (Maybe).
Many of you are familiar with Turnitin. But you may not be as familiar with it as you need to be. You need to read this piece.
And Finally
Since it’s Summer and people are hitting the beach instead of the bench at Church, a timely reminder that Attending Church Helps You Live Longer- And this study proves it:
A recent study by Vanderbilt University professor Marino Bruce has found that people who attend religious services live longer and are less stressed. The findings held true across faith traditions, said Bruce, the associate director of Vanderbilt’s Center for Research on Men’s Health, in a video posted to the university’s YouTube channel.
“We found in our study that actually attending church is actually good for your health, particularly for those who are between the ages of 40 and 65,” said Bruce, who also is a Baptist minister.
Specifically, the study says those middle-aged adults who go to church, synagogues, mosques or other houses of worship reduce their mortality risk by 55%. The Plos One journal published the “Church Attendance, Allostatic Load and Mortality in Middle Aged Adults” study May 16.
“For those who did not attend church at all, they were twice as likely to die prematurely than those who did who attended church at some point over the last year,” Bruce said.
See you Sunday. And we hope you enjoyed the Carnival. It was hot, wasn’t it. Oh, and here are the upcoming Carnival’s (so you have something to look forward to)
July 2017 (Due August 1) – Reuben Rus, Ayuda Ministerial/Resources for Ministry
August 2017 (Due September 1) – Jason Gardner, eis doxan
October 2017 (November 1) – Doug Chaplin, @dougchaplin
November 2017 (December 1) – Jim West, Zwinglius Redivivus @drjewest
December 2017 (January 1) – Jennifer Guo, @jenniferguo
Zwinglius Redivivus 
I had six blog-entries in June 2017 at http://www.thetextofthegospels.com — plus, I have ridden an elephant.
What’s a guy gotta do to get into this carnival?
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