Belatedly, Biblical Studies Carnival 162

THE AMATEUR EXEGETE: Biblical Studies Carnival 163 (August 2019).

Also, a related post by Phil Long, organizer of the carnival, at Reading Acts: Biblical Studies Carnival for August 2019.

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Many Recensions of the Ten Commandments?

PROF. SIDNIE WHITE CRAWFORD: The Many Recensions of the Ten Commandments (TheTorah.com).

Beyond the two version of the Decalogue in Exodus and Deuteronomy, and the usual differences between MT, SP, and LXX, in Second Temple times, liturgical texts in Qumran (4QDeutⁿ) and Egypt (Nash Papyrus), Greek references in the New Testament and Philo, and even tefillin parchments, reflect slightly different recensions of the text.

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More on Stone, Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism

IN THE MAIL FROM OUP:

Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism

Michael E. Stone

• Greatly enriches our understanding of the religious dynamic of this period
• Analyzes the Essenes and other contemporary groups as a secret society

Were there groups in Ancient Judaism that cultivated esoteric knowledge and transmitted it secretly? With the discovery and burgeoning study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and particularly of the documents legislating the social structure of the Qumran group, the foremost paradigm for analysis of the group's social structure has become the "sect." This is still dominant, having replacing the monastic paradigm used by some of the earliest scholars of the Scrolls.

But after studying what has been written on secret societies more generally, Michael Stone has concluded that many known ancient Jewish groupsthe Qumran covenanters, Josephus's and Philo's Essenes, and Philo's Therapeutaeshould be viewed as societies at the heart of whose existence were esoteric knowledge and practice. Guarding and transmitting this esoteric knowledge and practice, Stone argues, provided the dynamic that motivated the social and conceptual structure of these groups. Analyzing them as secret societies, he says, enables us to see previously latent social structural dimensions, and provides many new enriching insights into the groups, including the Dead Sea covenanters.

By examining historical and literary sources, Stone uncovers evidence for the existence of other secret groups in ancient Jewish society. This line of study leads Stone not only to consider the "classical" Jewish apocalypses as pseudo-esoteric, but also to discern in them the footsteps of hidden, truly esoteric traditions cultivated in the circles that produced the apocalypses. This discovery has significant implications, especially considering the enormous growth of study of the apocalyptic in the Judaism of the Second Temple period and in nascent Christianity over the last seventy years.

I am one of the reviewers of this book for the Mysticism, Esotericism, and Gnosticism in Antiquity Group at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in San Diego, California.

Past posts on the book are here and here.

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The Temple on Mount Gerizim

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Temple on Mount Gerizim—In the Bible and Archaeology. Worship at Ancient Temples (Megan Sauter). As usual, this is a summary on an article, this one by Anne Katrine de Hemmer in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review: "Reactivating Remembrance: Interactive Inscriptions from Mt. Gerizim." The full article is behind the subscription wall.

A couple of related posts are here and here.

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Review of Walsh, The Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: David Walsh, The Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity. Development, Decline and Demise ca. A.D. 270-430. Late Antique Archaeology (Supplementary Series), volume 2. Leiden: Brill, 2018. Pp. xii, 146. ISBN 9789004380806. €121 (pb). ISBN 9789004383067. ebook. Reviewed by Matthew M. McCarty, University of British Columbia (matthew.mccarty@ubc.ca).

Ultimately, though, whether Walsh’s boldest arguments will hold true as excavations publish their data may matter less than the way that Walsh successfully re-frames the questions surrounding the end of Mithras-worship.

I noted the publication of the book here.

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Was Emmaus at Kiriath Yearim?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Israeli Archaeologists May Have Found Emmaus, Where Jesus Appeared After Crucifixion (Ariel David, Haaretz premium).

Archaeologists have uncovered the massive walls of a 2,200-year-old Hellenistic fortification that may have been built by the Seleucid general who defeated Judah the Maccabee, the famed Jewish leader at the center of the Hanukkah story. In an unexpected twist, the discovery could also help identify the location of the biblical town of Emmaus, where the Gospels say Jesus made his first appearance after being crucified and resurrected.

[...]

But just to keep things interesting, there may have been more than one ancient town named Emmaus.

For more on the excavation at Kiriath Yearim (Kiriath Jearim), see here and links. And for more on the excavation at the site of Motza (mentioned in the article as another contender for the site of Emmaus), see here and here.

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Psalmen und Chronik (ed. Hartenstein and Willi)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Psalmen und Chronik. Hrsg. v. Friedhelm Hartenstein u. Thomas Willi. [Psalms and Chronicles.] 2019. XXII, 434 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe 107. 99,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-154010-3.

Published in German.
The Books of Psalms and Chronicles open and close the ketubim in the TENAK. They share some significant mutual linguistic and thematic threads, which demonstrate their cognate character in the Second Temple literature. This becomes even more obvious if one looks at both works as a special example of the relationship of poetics and prose in ancient Jewish tradition. Finally, it is important to note how the presentation of history in Chronicles uses Psalms (from the theocratic books 4 and 5) as interpreting doxologies while conversely certain Psalms show concepts of history comparable to 1–2Chr. This volume contains the contributions of an international conference held at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich where for the first time renowned scholars discussed aspects of the relationship between Psalms and Chronicles fundamentally and in detail.

The essays are in German and English.

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Isaac Luria knew things

KABBALAH WATCH: REPORTS OF MIRACLES FROM SAFED. How the great kabbalist Isaac Luria changed the perception of the world without changing the world itself (Eli Yassif, Tablet Magazine).

To be somewhat less cautious than Leon was, I would say not that most of the original legends about Luria involve his knowledge or recognition of something but that they are all of this sort. Not a single legend told about Luria during his sojourn in Safed (or the fifty years around 1600 that this book is concentrated on; I am not speaking here about legends fashioned centuries later) recounts a miraculous deed. There are no stories of sick people lining up in front of his door so that he could cure them, or stories of threats to the Safed Jewish community that he averted or undid.

The essay also touches on ancient Jewish mysticism and magic here and there.

For past posts on Isaac Luria (Ha'ARI) and Lurianic Kabbalah, see here and links.

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Reviving ancient fragrances?

ANCIENT MATERIAL CULTURE, AROMATICS EDITION: Israeli farmer remixes ancient scents near Dead Sea (Michael Blum, AFP). It's not certain that Mr. Erlich has the right ancient plants, but an expert thinks he probably does.

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Was there a Dead Sea Scrolls conspiracy?

SPOILER: NO. Religious questions: Was there a Dead Sea Scrolls conspiracy? (Wyatt Massey, Times Free Press).

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In honor of Khaled Al-Asaad

PALMYRA WATCH: The Guardian Spirit of Palmyra, Khaled Al-As’aad (The Syria Times).

The 18th of August marks a very distressing occasion for all Syrians; yet a source of pride; in commemoration of Mr. Khaled Al-Asa’ad assassination; the Arabic Cultural Center of Abou Roumani hosted the occasion along with Mada Cultural Project, through displaying a documentary entitled “Palmyra Admirer”, directed by Ghassan Shmit, on Khaled Al-Asa’ad documenting his life and death, but most significantly his passion for his beloved Palmyra.

The Syrian archaeologist, who held the position of head of antiquities at the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for over 40 years; was publicly beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on 18 August 2015, at the age of eighty three.

For more on the murder of Dr Asaad by ISIS, see here and here.

Many other past posts on Palmyra, its history, the ancient Aramaic dialect spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, now trending for the better, are here and links.

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More on that inscribed Moabite altar

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Newly deciphered Moabite inscription may be first use of written word ‘Hebrews.’ Cylindrical altar from 3,000 years ago found in Jordan also offers first evidence of early Moabite script — and could repaint picture of geopolitics in the ancient Levantine world (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel). A long and comprehensive article on the new inscriptions from Khirbat Ataruz.

Background here.

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The Talmud on sacrificial restrictions and prostitution

LAST WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: If a Man Gives a Woman a Lamb in Exchange for Sex. This week’s ‘Daf Yomi’ follows its own logic from animal sacrifice to definitions of prostitution.

The Talmud seldom explicitly reckons with the fact that the laws of animal sacrifice are in abeyance. One exception comes in Chapter 5 of Temura, when the rabbis address the issue of whether it is possible to use “artifice” to get around the obligation to sacrifice every firstborn animal. The problem is that while there is no place to actually sacrifice such animals today, they are still born consecrated to God, which means that they can’t be eaten, shorn, or used for labor. Rather, one is supposed to let them alone until they develop a blemish that would render them unsuitable for sacrifice. Only then is it permitted to derive benefit from them, since they can no longer even theoretically be brought to the altar.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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Lataster and McGrath debate Mythicism

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION has recently published two essays on "Mythicism" — the idea that Jesus did not exist as an historical person. Raphael Lataster argues for agnosticism on the question:

Questioning Jesus’ Historicity

As a secular scholar, I, of course, reject hypotheses involving the Christ of Faith. Critical scholars can only reasonably debate the existence of the so-called Historical Jesus, that figure of the Gospels stripped of all divinity. Most secular scholars of the New Testament believe that this figure certainly existed. I noticed that this is an assumption, however, later finding it to be an unjustified assumption.

See Also: Questioning the Historicity of Jesus (Brill 2019).

By Raphael Lataster
University of Sydney
August 2019

I noted his recent book here.

James McGrath replies and disagrees:

Exorcising Mythicism’s Sky-Demons: A Response to Raphael Lataster’s “Questioning Jesus’ Historicity.”

Historians do not depend on the Gospels, much less hypothetical sources behind them, for their conclusion that there was a historical Jesus. The letters of Paul, written within decades of Jesus’ life by someone who had met his brother, combined not only with the Gospels but also Roman and Jewish sources, together provide a convincing impression that the religious phenomenon known as Christianity owes something to a historical figure named Jesus whose detractors viewed him as a charlatan and/or heretic.

See: Questioning Jesus’ Historicity.
Mythicism and the Mainstream: The Rhetoric and Realities of Academic Freedom.

By James F. McGrath
Butler University
August 2019

I think McGrath gets the better of the debate here, but you can read the essays and decide for yourself. For my own views about the historical Jesus, see here and links and here.

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Interview with Peter J. Gentry

WILLIAM ROSS: LXX SCHOLAR INTERVIEW: DR. PETER J. GENTRY DISCUSSES HIS NEW CRITICAL EDITION. Of Greek Ecclesiastes, that is. I noted the publication of the volume here.

For Dr. Ross's many previous interviews with Septuagint scholars, see here and links and here.

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On Solomon's Temple and archaeology

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE AND ICONOGRAPHY: Reconstructing the Features of Solomon’s Temple (Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu and Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, TheTorah.com).

A small shrine model, found in an archaeological excavation of the 10th century B.C.E. city of Qeiyafa, together with a 9th century B.C.E. Temple excavated at Motza, help us better understand the Temple of Solomon, known only from the biblical text.

For past posts on the model shrines at Iron Age II Khirbet Qeiyafa, see here and links. I noted the discovery of the Iron Age II shrine at Motza here.

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Hamidović et al. (eds.), »Retribution« in Jewish and Christian Writings

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: »Retribution« in Jewish and Christian Writings. A Concept in Debate. Ed. by David Hamidović, Apolline Thromas, and Matteo Silvestrini. 2019. IX, 220 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 492. 84,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-154721-8.

Published in English.
The authors of this volume attempt to define the concept of retribution by looking beyond its diversity in Jewish and Christian writings, and seeking the common objects and components that govern it in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, as well as Greek, Islamic and Buddhist texts. They argue that the concept should not be seen as a set of ideas acquired and accepted, but rather as an on-going process. The epistemological current of the Begriffsgeschichte understands conceptualization as a continual process of contesting and questioning, rather than something fixed or final. Each study therefore explicitly examines the actors involved, their environments and receptions, and whether they were accepted, rejected, or modified as components of compensation. The associations made with concepts of wealth, poverty, power, their exchange, transfer, and instance are also taken into consideration.

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Virtual unfolding of Elephantine papyri

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Physicists discover hidden text in what was thought to be blank Egyptian papyri. It's the latest example of how cutting-edge physics techniques can unlock the past (Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica).

A team of German scientists has used a combination of cutting-edge physics techniques to virtually "unfold" an ancient Egyptian papyrus, part of an extensive collection housed in the Berlin Egyptian Museum. Their analysis revealed that a seemingly blank patch on the papyrus actually contained characters written in what had become "invisible ink" after centuries of exposure to light.

Most of the papyri in the collection were excavated around 1906 by an archaeologist named Otto Rubensohn, on Elephantine Island, near the city of Aswan. They've been gathering dust in storage for much of the ensuing decades, and because they are so fragile, more than 80% of the text within remains undeciphered. ...

The only fully recovered word is the Coptic word for "Lord." But as the process is perfected, it may help to recover a lot of other ancient text more fully.

Given that these papyri are in Coptic, they must be much later than the fifth-century BCE Judean (etc.?) Aramaic papyri from Elephantine. I don't know whether any such Aramaic texts might be included among those undeciphered texts mentioned in the quote. I hope so.

As I like to say:

Bit by bit, a letter at a time, whatever it takes. Until we're done.

Non-invasive and non-destructive technologies are the way of the future for archaeology.

The Singularity is Near.

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Freedman Award goes to Andrew Perrin

CONGRATULATIONS! TWU professor honoured for Dead Sea Scroll research. Dr. Andrew Perrin receives 2019 David Noel Freedman Award (Ryan Uytdewilligen, Aldergrove Star).

For some past posts on Dr. Perrin's research, see here, here, here, and here and links.

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A fishy mosaic at Hippos-Sussita

DECORATIVE ART: Miracle of the Multiplication Mosaic Found on ‘Wrong’ Side of Sea of Galilee. The mosaic in the Burnt Church of Hippos-Sussita shows five loaves and two fish, like the ones Jesus used to feed 5,000 men, but the depicted fish look Nilotic, not local (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz premium).

Besides the apparent mixup about what kind of fish Jesus used in that miracle, the Burnt Church also has inscriptions in really bad Greek. So maybe fact-checking was a low priority.

But the archaeologists are very happy with the discoveries. So am I.

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