Illegal construction halted at West Bank Hasmonean site

APPREHENDED: OFFICIALS STOP ILLEGAL BUILDING BY PALACES OF SECOND TEMPLE 'HANUKKAH HERO,' Catching the vehicles before construction started likely prevented damage from being done to the current and future archaeological findings (Jerusalem Post).

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The Vocabulary of the Septuagint and its Hellenistic Background (ed. Bons, Pouchelle, Scialabba)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: The Vocabulary of the Septuagint and its Hellenistic Background. Ed. by Eberhard Bons, Patrick Pouchelle, and Daniela Scialabba. [Das Vokabular der Septuaginta und ihre hellenistische Grundlage.] 2019. XII, 157 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 496. 69,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-153020-3.

Published in English.
This volume precedes the projected Historical and Theological Dictionary of the Septuagint which is to offer historical studies of Septuagint words, retracing their usage from early authors, over koine Greek and the translation itself, into Jewish-Hellenistic and early Christian literature. The earliest of these phases were the object of a several workshops held between 2013 and 2017, the proceedings of which now appear in this book. The papers focus on the following key questions: what can we say about the meaning, the usage and the semantic development of Greek words attested in the Septuagint; where and how does the Septuagint use these words, and to what extent do they correspond to their Hebrew and Aramaic equivalents? Furthermore, to what extent can papyri contribute to a better understanding of typical Septuagint words? The papers combine the analysis of selected words and word groups with considerations of method.

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Late-antique iron hammer and nails found at Usha

ARTIFACT: Nailed it: Rare 1,400-year-old iron hammer found by family at Sanhedrin site. Volunteers at excavations at Western Galilee’s Usha uncover previously unknown blacksmith industry, an addition to impressive glassworks found there (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

A family volunteering at excavations at Usha, the first location of the Sanhedrin following the Bar Kochba revolt, discovered a previously unknown iron industry at the site and a rare 1,400-year-old iron hammer, according to an Israel Antiquities Authority press release on Wednesday.

[...]

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Was the "glorious martyr" Thecla?

GRAMMAR MATTERS: Tales from a crypt: Shedding light on a mysterious – female? – ‘glorious martyr.’ A 1,500-year-old Christian site in the heart of ultra-Orthodox Ramat Beit Shemesh takes The Times of Israel down a rabbit hole to meet St. Thecla, a feisty 2nd-century preacher (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

The article reports that the grammatical gender of the martyr in the Greek inscription is unspecified. Speculation on who the martyr may have been is, well, speculative. But fun.

Background here.

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Roukema, Micah in Ancient Christianity

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Roukema, Riemer

Micah in Ancient Christianity
Reception and Interpretation

Series: Studies of the Bible and Its Reception (SBR) 15

86,95 € / $99.99 / £79.00*
Hardcover
Publication Date: September 2019
ISBN 978-3-11-066340-2

Survey of ancient Christian reception of the Book of Micah
Analysis of Gnostic references to Micah
Discussion of Jewish traditions preserved by ancient Christian authors

Aims and Scope
What happened when the writing of the Old Testament prophet Micah from the 8th century BCE was read and interpreted by Christians in the 1st to 5th century BCE? This research meticulously describes data from patristic commentaries and other ancient Christian works in Greek and Latin, as well as the remains of Gnostic receptions of Micah, and it analyses the interpretative strategies that were adopted. Attention is paid to the partial retrieval of Origen’s Commentary on Micah, which is lost nowadays, but was used by later Christian authors, especially Jerome. This work includes the ancient delimitation of the Septuagint version and patristic observations on the meaning of particular terms. Other aspects are the liturgical readings from Micah’s book up to the Middle Ages, its use in Christ’s complaints about Israel on Good Friday (the Improperia), and a rabbinic tradition about Jesus quoting Micah. It is noted whenever patristic authors implicitly use or explicitly quote Jewish interpretations, many of which are supplied with parallels in contemporaneous or medieval Jewish works. This first comprehensive survey of the ancient Christian reception and interpretation of Micah is a valuable tool for Biblical scholars and historians.

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Zelyck, The Egerton Gospel

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Egerton Gospel (Egerton Papyrus 2 + Papyrus Köln VI 255)

Introduction, Critical Edition, and Commentary

Series:
Texts and Editions for New Testament Study, Volume: 13
Author: Lorne R. Zelyck

In this commentary on the Egerton Gospel, Lorne R. Zelyck presents a fresh paleographical analysis and thorough reconstruction of the fragmentary text, which results in new readings and interpretations. Details surrounding the acquisition of the manuscript are presented for the first time, and various scholarly viewpoints on controversial topics, such as the date of composition and relationship to the canonical gospels, are addressed. This early apocryphal gospel (150-250 CE) provides traditional interpretations of the canonical gospels that are similar to those of other early Christian authors, and affirms Jesus’ continuity with the miracle-working prophets Moses and Elisha, his obedience to the Law, divinity, and violent rejection by Jewish opponents. See Less
Publication Date: 19 September 2019
ISBN: 978-90-04-40932-3

Cross-file under New Testament Apocrypha Watch.

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Henze & Lied (eds.), Fifty Years of the Pseudepigrapha Section at the SBL

IN THE MAIL:

Matthias Henze and Liv Ingeborg Lied (eds.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Fifty Years of the Pseudepigrapha Section at the SBL (Early Judaism and Its Literature 50; Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2019)

This volume celebrates fifty years of the study of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha at the Society of Biblical Literature and the pioneering scholars who introduced the Pseudepigrapha to the Society. Since 1969, the Pseudepigrapha Section has provided a forum for a rigorous discussion of these understudied texts and their relevance for Judaism and Christianity. The current volume tells the history of the section's beginnings and critically examines the vivid debates that have shaped the field over the last half-century. It concludes with a look toward the future of the study of the Pseudepigrapha.

Cross-file under New Book. My article, "The More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project," is on pages 359-81.

There is also a session celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Pseudepigrapha Section. It is next month in San Diego at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.

S24-233
Pseudepigrapha
11/24/2019
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Indigo A (Second Level) - Hilton Bayfront
Theme: Fraudes, Fabulae, Pseudepigrapha! A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Pseudepigrapha Section
Join us for a panel discussion on past, present, and future developments in the study of the Pseudepigrapha, along with a presentation of The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Fifty Years of the Pseudepigrapha Section at the SBL (SBL Press, 2019) and celebratory reception for our jubilee anniversary.

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Review of Brown-deVost, Commentary and Authority in Mesopotamia and Qumran

THE BIBLICAL REVIEW BLOG: Review: Commentary and Authority in Mesopotamia and Qumran by Bronson Brown-deVost (William Brown).

Bronson Brown-deVost. Commentary and Authority in Mesopotamia and Qumran. JAJ Supplement 29. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019. 296 pp.

Excerpt:

I highly recommend Bronson Brown-deVost’s Commentary and Authority in Mesopotamia and Qumran. Although his selection of Mesopotamian texts and use of literary-critical theory needs improvement, his analysis of pesharim is indispensable. Likewise, his movement towards a diversified notion of authority is refreshing and signals a paradigm shift.

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Review of Stone, Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism

H-JUDAIC:

Askin on Stone, 'Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism'

Author:
Michael E. Stone
Reviewer:
Lindsey A. Askin
Michael E. Stone. Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. 192 pp. $78.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-19-084238-3.

Reviewed by Lindsey A. Askin (University of Bristol) Published on H-Judaic (October, 2019) Commissioned by Barbara Krawcowicz (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

I am currently working on a review of this book. I hope to be able to share it with you before long.

Meanwhile, past posts on the book are here and links.

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The Tomb of the Kings has reopened

THEOLOGICAL POLITICS: France reopens disputed ancient tomb in Jerusalem (AFP). The legal disputes seem not to be over yet, but the Tomb of the Kings in Jerusalem did reopen (briefly?) last week.

As I have noted before, the site is generally, although not universally, understood to be the burial ground of the dynasty of Queen Helena of Adiabene.

Background on the whole complicated story is here and links.

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Review of Durvye, Diodore de Sicile. Bibliothèque historique. Tome XV: Livre XX

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Cécile Durvye, Diodore de Sicile. Bibliothèque historique. Tome XV: Livre XX. Collection des universités de France, 538. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2018. Pp. cliv, 294. ISBN 9782251006208. €45,50. Reviewed by Dario Nappo, Università di Napoli “Federico II” (dario.nappo@unina.it).

More than 40 years have passed since a team, led by the late professor François Chamoux for the Collection des Les Belles Lettres, started working on Diodorus’ Bibliotheke Historike. The book analysed in this review (Book XX) encompasses the last of the fully preserved books of the Bibliotheke Historike. After Book XVII, which documented Alexander the Great’s exploits, and Books XVIII-XIX, which covered the long quarrel among his successors to divide the huge empire among them, Book XX discusses events occurring in the Mediterranean basin in the years between 310 and 302 BCE. This discussion is divided into three political spheres.

[...]

Past PaleoJudaica posts on Diodorus Siculus and his work are here and many links. Diodorus's history provides important background material for the study of Second Temple Judaism, notably his contribution to the perspective I call "Greek Fantasy Babylon" and his independent account of the Maccabean Revolt.

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