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For Anyone Subscribed to My RSS - Blog Moved

Jeremy — 2009-08-11T09:41:23-05:00

For anyone subscribed to my RSS, I have moved my blog to WordPress. I apologize for any inconvenience. You can still navigate the old blog with archives and tags HERE. However, the new blog can be found HERE. I really love my old blogging software for writing, but it is terrible for publishing and commenting purposes. I’m not crazy about WordPress for writing, but it will make publishing and commenting easier.

Art Boulet on Adam's Rib or Adam's Baculum

Jeremy — 2009-08-07T14:52:19-05:00

Here is a link to a post on Art Boulet’s site entitled “Adam’s Rib or Adam’s Baculum?” He discusses an article which proposes that “rib” is a mistranslation of... well, something else. You’ll have to read the post to find out what.

7 Verses on the Love of God in the Old Testament

Jeremy — 2009-08-07T07:35:44-05:00

God sometimes gets a bad rap for his actions in the Old Testament. If you want to see this in practice, just go on over to Yahoo! Answers and search “Old Testament.” You can bet that many of the results will be questions like “Why is God so great and wonderful in the New Testament and so horrifically evil in the Old Testament?” For those who study the Old Testament, these types of questions can get a bit wearisome (SEE THIS POST).

First, the questions assume there is nothing difficult about God in the New Testament. I can only assume that those who ask these questions have never read the Book of Revelation or thought deeply about the concept of an eternal hell. Second, these questions miss a great deal in the Old Testament about the love of God. Don’t get me wrong. There are some verses/passages in the Old Testament that absolutely make me want to vomit (like 1 Sam. 15.3). And, this is not to say that the depiction of the love of God in the Old Testament is not in some ways difficult (he delivers his people from Egypt [a good thing] by killing Egyptian babies [a bad thing]?) But, to make it out like God is completely and thoroughly wicked in the Old Testament is a serious misreading. Sometimes there are different voices in the Old Testament that are saying different things. With that said, today I am providing a list of seven verses from the Old Testament that pertain to the love of God. If you have any other favorites feel free to comment below.

For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power... (Deut 4.37 - from today’s lectionary reading).
When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son (Hos 11.1 - God depicted as father. Sound familiar?)
As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you; in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort (Is 66.13 - God depicted as a mother comforting her child).
I will heal their defection, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them (Hos 14.5 - God depicted as a healer who loves freely).
It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations (Deut 7.7 God’s reasoning for choosing Israel).
...the LORD appears to him from afar: With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you (Jer 31.3).
The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you,... (Zeph 3.17).

More Henotheism in the Old Testament

Jeremy — 2009-08-06T10:10:22-05:00

I have previously posted on henotheism in the Old Testament and explained what this is. Today's Psalm contains another statement that reflects henotheism. It reads as follows: "For you, LORD, are most high over all the earth; You are very highly exalted over all gods" (emphasis added). Here again the existence of other deities is not denied (though this does happen later). Yet there is only one deity who is deemed worthy of worship.

Why Bible Codes are Ridiculous

Jeremy — 2009-08-05T10:30:28-05:00

I guess Brooke Lester's post about the Obama-Antichrist video got Bryan over at Hevel.org stirred up a bit. In a similar vein, he decided to address this Bible Code nonsense. I feel very much like Bryan. This kind of silliness distracts people from actually reading the Bible. Be sure to read Bryan's post but also keep in mind these considerations:

Bible Codes would require a text of the Hebrew Bible which is certain; however, the text of the Hebrew Bible is not certain. For instance, there is significant uncertainty with regard to the text of Jeremiah. Even for the Book of Isaiah, which is one of our more certain texts, we have manuscripts with spelling differences. Even if one letter is missing or added to a manuscript this would make any finding from Bible Code "research" invalid (see this post about how an entire word may be missing/added in Isaiah).
The original text of the Hebrew Bible contained no vowel letters. In Bible Code "research" these would have to be supplied by the "researcher." What if they are supplying the wrong vowels?
Finally (though much more could be said), the same practices used for finding Bible Codes have been found to work for texts like Moby Dick. Was Melville writing under divine inspiration?

Why "Jesus Gave Us the Name of the Antichrist" Video is Ridiculous

Jeremy — 2009-08-05T10:17:42-05:00

I didn't realize this until this morning, but I found out that there is some buzz around a video on YouTube proposing to explain from the Bible why Barack Obama is the Antichrist. I normally don't give this kind of stupidity a second thought, but then I saw that the video had over 150,000 views. So, I thought I would address it on my blog by pointing you to a post by Brooke Lester where he goes into a great amount of detail to debunk the video. Please, don't just watch the video. Read Brooke's blog post (you will probably learn a lot). There are such idiotic statements in the video, like "Aramaic is the oldest form of Hebrew." Please, don't fall for this kind of nonsense.

My Horrible Experience with a Radio Contest

Jeremy — 2009-08-04T16:32:13-05:00

So... I had a horrible experience with a radio station giveaway last Friday. Let me preface this by saying that I have never won any kind of contest in my life. But, my wife registered us for this radio contest for which the prize was a trip to see one of my favorite bands of all time in one of my favorite vacation spots from when I was a child. (I'm intentionally being fuzzy on the details because I do not want a radio station suing me for defamation).

Psalm 51 in Hebrew

Jeremy — 2009-08-04T10:42:50-05:00

Today's response was from Psalm 51. Here is part of Psalm 51 in Hebrew if you want to check it out. (Videos like this are great for your learning of Hebrew if you are studying).

Moses - The Meekest Man on the Face of the Earth

Jeremy — 2009-08-04T10:01:00-05:00

Today's lectionary reading contains one of the more popular statements in the Old Testament, namely that Moses was the meekest/most humble (or however it is translated in your version of choice) person among all people. I have always found this very interesting because Moses' actions do not really line up with modern conceptions of what it means to be meek or humble. Growing up I always thought a person who was humble or meek was reserved and showed a bit of weakness. But, this really in no way depicts Moses. Take for example Numbers 25.4, which reads as follows:

4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and impale them in the sun before the Lord, in order that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”

Those do not really sound like the words of someone who is reserved or who displays any weakness whatsoever. I am not sure what it would take for me to tell someone to impale another human being "in the sun before the Lord." In fact, I in no way condone the statement here in Numbers 25.4. However, I think the passage can help us to redefine in our minds what the Bible means when it speaks about meekness.

What does Jesus mean when he says that the meek will inherit the earth? Taking into consideration the meekness of Moses, he certainly does not mean that those who are mild mannered and do not display fierce anger will inherit the earth. In fact, if we hold a proper kind of righteous indignation back, it is probable that we are not really being meek at all. We are being something else altogether.

Summary of the Hebrew Bible

Jeremy — 2009-08-04T08:08:13-05:00

John Hobbins over at Ancient Hebrew Poetry has put together a decent little summary of the Hebrew Bible in 1,000 words or less. With that type of restriction it would be easy to quibble about not enough space being given to this or that. But, I tend to agree that you have the Primary History and everything else can be seen in relationship to that. Read his summary HERE.

2,000 Year Old Aramaic Inscription Found

Jeremy — 2009-08-02T10:54:43-05:00

HERE is a link to a news story about a 2,000 year old Aramaic inscription. Found this story via Jim West (though I think he found it via someone else's blog). He has a terrific blog, and it is worth subscribing to his RSS feed.

So That You Will Know

Jeremy — 2009-08-02T09:57:04-05:00

There is a very concentrated concern in the Book of Exodus that acts are being performed "so that you/he/they will know that I am the Lord," sometimes "the Lord your God." This goes both for pharaoh and for the Israelites. It seems strange that no one knows who the Lord is at this point in the Biblical story, at least with regard to the Israelites. Apparently there is some disconnect. The years of servitude must have made them forget. But, I think this is one of the lessons that the later generations learned (at least in principle, though it may not have made it into common practice) and that we find in the responsive reading for today. Psalm 78.3-4 reads as follows:

Audio on Lamentations

Jeremy — 2009-07-31T07:06:50-05:00

Chris Brady of the blog Targuman has posted the audio from a lecture he gave related to the book of Lamentations. Beforehand, he described the lecture as follows:

I will be exploring how the rabbis responded to the destruction of the Temple, how they responded to the text of Lamentations, and what that in turn can teach a community of faith about responding to our own times of crisis.

To listen to this lecture click HERE.

Get Confused About Festivals and Offerings?

Jeremy — 2009-07-31T06:59:45-05:00

Do you get confused about the festivals and offerings in Leviticus? Lauren Stouffer has put together a "Leviticus Primer" for download in pdf format. In it, she has several charts that can be helpful for keeping the festivals and offerings straight. To get this download click HERE.

Ralph Klein on The Tabernacle

Jeremy — 2009-07-30T11:53:05-05:00

In one of the e-mails that I send out to my e-mail list, I note some of the other websites that I like for studying the Old Testament. One of those is Ralph Klein's website, and today I am going to point there once again. Today's lectionary reading is on the Tabernacle. Since this section of the Old Testament is one of the...okay I'll just come right and say it, more boring ones to read, many people are unfamiliar with the Tabernacle. So, this topic requires a bit more than a brief blog post for those who want to understand it. Fortunately, Ralph Klein has written a good little introduction to the Tabernacle. You can find it HERE.

Michelangelo's Moses with Horns

Jeremy — 2009-07-29T20:45:04-05:00

Posted earlier on the issue of Moses potentially having horns. Here is a picture of Michelangelo's depiction of Moses with horns:

John Hobbins on Did Moses Have Horns?

Jeremy — 2009-07-29T13:08:27-05:00

The lectionary reading for today presents probably one of the more interesting issues I have encountered. The word translated something like "had become radiant" or "shone" (vs. 29) also has a tradition of being translated "grew horns." Both translations seem possible, and some have tried to find a way of combining the meanings. I would go into this issue in more detail; however, John Hobbins over at Ancient Hebrew Poetry has already done a very good job of dealing with this issue. Check out his post HERE.

Free ICC Exodus Commentary

Jeremy — 2009-07-29T10:23:08-05:00

Last week I blogged on the opportunity to download a free copy of the older version of the International Critical Commentary. I put a link to what I thought was all volumes; however, I realized in going back through the list that Exodus is not there. That is because it is not in the University of Toronto collection that I linked to in that post. It has, however, been uploaded by Princeton University. The Exodus Commentary is here.

"Face to Face" - Idiom or Separate Streams of Thought?

Jeremy — 2009-07-28T19:04:15-05:00

Today's lectionary reading presents an interesting issue. Did Moses see God face to face? For some there are two streams of thought in the Old Testament with regard to seeing God face to face. According to one, no person can see God face to face and live (Ex. 33.20-23). And according to the other, people can see God face to face with examples being Moses (Ex. 33.11) and (perhaps) Jacob. For others the use of the terminology face to face is an idiom that attempts to relate the intimacy of the relationship between God and Moses. These words are not to be taken literally and thus are not evidence that different sources are being used or that there are different streams of thought.

What do you think? Do you think there are two different streams of thought here? Or, do you think the "face to face" language is idiomatic? Or, is it some other option? Feel free to comment below.

Can You Guess What's Wrong With This Picture?

Jeremy — 2009-07-27T13:21:06-05:00

Can you guess what is wrong with this picture? Scroll down to see the answer.

Helpful Old Testament Book Introductions

Jeremy — 2009-07-25T07:27:44-05:00

I came across a helpful set of resources yesterday from the Virginia Theological Seminary called Bible Briefs. They are very short introductions to Biblical books, both Old and New Testaments. The set of books is not complete yet; however, if you are studying a particular book, it would be valuable to check to see if one of these resources is available for it. They are in pdf format and are available for free download. If you want to check them out, click here. So far the volumes include:

Old Testament

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Job

Psalms

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Daniel

Amos

Obadiah

Micah

New Testament

Matthew

Mark

Luke/Acts

John

Romans

1 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

1 & 2 Thessalonians

Hebrews

Revelation

Are We Missing Five Commandments? - Couldn't Resist

Jeremy — 2009-07-24T12:11:45-05:00

Since today's posts have all been about the Decalogue I couldn't resist posting this Mel Brooks video that shows why we have 10 rather than 15 Commandments:

Deciphering the Decalogue in Text

Jeremy — 2009-07-24T09:19:38-05:00

I was pointed to this link a while back by Chris Brady on his blog Targuman. It is a very different (but fun) version of the 10 Commandments. Timothy McSweeney has put together what the 10 Commandments would have looked like had God texted them. Can you decipher them?

The Decalogue or A Decalogue?

Jeremy — 2009-07-24T08:57:32-05:00

I have been away from blogging on the lectionary readings for a couple of days (busy week at work). I sat down to look at the Old Testament reading for today and bam - The Decalogue. Impossible not to post on that. Then, I started thinking ... "The" Decalogue. Is this a proper name for this passage in Exodus 20?

One of the important exercises that I had students do when teaching the Pentateuch was to have them compare versions of the commandments side-by-side. Many beginning readers of the Old Testament do not realize that there are at least three versions of these commandments. The first set is here in Exodus 20 from which we get today's reading. The second version is in Exodus 34 and the third in Deuteronomy 5. The two sets in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 are very close to one another, but not exactly the same. For instance, the Sabbath has a different motivation in each and the last commandments have a slightly different structure. However, the version in Exodus 34, often referred to as the Cultic Decalogue (or something like that), is very different. Yet there are enough connections to think that this is another version of the Decalogue (see vv. 14, 17, 21).

Why not try this exercise for yourself? Read the passages in Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, and Exodus 34 and see what you think? What are the similarities? What are the differences? What do these say about the different authors?

Free Biblical Commentary

Jeremy — 2009-07-23T08:52:38-05:00

Kudos to Rob Kashow at Tolle Lege! (I found it through John Anderson at hesed we'emet) for finding this! It is a full version of the old International Critical Commentary series online. They are publishing new commentaries and the old ones are out of copyright. The uptake for you is that the older ones are all online for free in pdf format. Obviously some of the information in these texts will be outdated, but there is still an abundance of good material in them. This link will definitely be making its way onto my website and to my e-mail list (be sure to join so you can keep up to date on things like this). Thanks again John.

Knowing - Just Like Signs

Jeremy — 2009-07-22T06:22:49-05:00

Did anyone see that movie Signs with Mel Gibson in it? If so, there is not much reason for watching Knowing (unless you really, really liked Signs). The whole time I was watching it I kept thinking, "This is just like that movie Signs."

A Bunch of Blogs People Smarter Than Me Read Most

Jeremy — 2009-07-21T11:21:40-05:00

I've noticed a bunch of these "Seven Blogs I Read Most" posts lately. It looks like the posts started with number one in the list below. Most of the blogs listed on these pages are related to Biblical Studies, both Old and New Testaments. If you are interested, check out the lists on the links below. I've subscribed to a number of RSS Feeds today just from checking out the links within these posts:

The Exodus as a Type of Creation

Jeremy — 2009-07-21T09:29:47-05:00

In today's responsive reading (which comes from Exodus 15 rather than Psalms), the Exodus is presented as a Type of creation. This is suggested by verse 5 of the chapter, which reads "The floods/deeps covered them." The word "deeps" is the same word from Genesis 1 where darkness is over the "deep." In both scenarios, something important happens in relation to a watery chaos. WIth this link back to creation, it is beneficial to think of the Exodus as the creation of something new. Scholars have noted that this is the creation of a nation. Whereas Israel goes down into Egypt as a family, they come out as a nation.

An Egyptian Perspective on the Red Sea: "Dude, ... I don't know if this such a good idea"

Jeremy — 2009-07-21T06:49:31-05:00

Last night I stayed up reading and thinking for a little while, and I decided to look ahead at today's Old Testament readings (Ex 14:21-15:1). I am not sure why exactly I was struck by this again last night, but for whatever reason I was struck by just how matter-of-factly Biblical stories are told sometimes. I am thinking here particularly of verse 23: "The Egyptians followed in pursuit..." No deliberation, no anything, just followed in pursuit. There is no Egyptian perspective whatsoever. So, I tried to think of some funny things that some of the Egyptians could have thought or said to one another if some Hollywood style comic relief were added to the story. And, here is what I came up with for some dialogue between one Egyptian soldier and another as they looked on at the sea that had been parted (please forgive my brutally terrible sense of humor):

Why Is Moses Crying Out to the Lord - A Potential Example of Redaction

Jeremy — 2009-07-20T09:40:11-05:00

In today's reading (Ex. 14.5-18) we find a potential example of what is referred to as redaction, which is basically another word for editing. It looks like there may have been two sources for this particular story that were combined together by an editor. This can be seen in an abrupt shift that takes place. I will briefly trace out the story line:

An Example of a Woe Oracle

Jeremy — 2009-07-19T13:22:15-05:00

Form critical scholars who have studied the prophetic books have identified a number of common forms of prophetic speech. Today's reading from Jeremiah 23.1-6 is an example of a prophetic "Woe Oracle." These oracles begin with the Hebrew word that is translated "woe," and there are strings of these types of oracles in places like Isaiah 5 (or in the NT Matthew 23). However, this is not the most interesting aspect of the woe oracle.

An Excerpt from Benedict XVI on the Granting of the Divine Name

Jeremy — 2009-07-16T15:55:04-05:00

I wanted to post this earlier but was unable. I hope that it will still prove useful for some. This is an excerpt from Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI's Introduction to Christianity in which he deals with today's Old Testament lectionary reading from Exodus 3. It is one of my favorite passages in the book:

The God of Your Father

Jeremy — 2009-07-15T09:15:58-05:00

In todays' reading, Moses encounters the Lord in a burning bush that is not consumed. The Lord identifies himself by saying "I am the God of your father..." In the phrase "God of your father," we find what Albrecht Alt identified as one of the distinctive elements of the faith of Ancient Israel. There is a certain level of complexity to this issue that I do not want to go into here, but to get a good summary you might check out this link to a limited preview of the text In Search of God in Google Books (scroll down a little). What I mainly wanted to point out in relation to Alt's work is that having a "God of the fathers (i.e. ancestors)" was a distinctive element of Israel's faith because many of the deities in surrounding areas of the Ancient Near East were gods of "places." In other words, these gods were tied to particular sites, such as Assyria, Babylon, Persia, etc.

My Favorite Old Testament Parallel

Jeremy — 2009-07-14T09:12:50-05:00

Today's Old Testament lectionary reading provides one of my favorite parallels between the Old Testament and other writings from the Ancient Near East. I am not sure why this one stands out to me in particular when there are a lot of other interesting parallels out there. I think that maybe it has to do with the fact that it is one of the more transparent parallels. The lectionary reading is the story of the Egyptian pharaoh seeking to kill the male children of the Israelites, particularly about how Moses escapes this fate by being placed in a basket/ark, which is then placed in a river. For this story, there is an Ancient Near Eastern parallel in the Legend of Sargon. For those unfamiliar with this text, you would do very well to read it. There is a free online translation of the text here.

The Pharaoh of the Exodus and Other Matters Related to the Historicity of the Exodus

Jeremy — 2009-07-13T08:30:41-05:00

The lectionary reading for today comes from Exodus 1. In this passage, a "new pharaoh" reigns over Egypt who does not know Joseph. To say that there has been a significant amount of debate over the years about who this pharaoh was and about the historicity of the Exodus would be perhaps the understatement of the century. With that said, the purpose of this post is to introduce the my readers to this debate, and as such the primary link in this post will present information that may be "old hat" to some professional academics (though depending on one's area of specialization it could also be very helpful for academics like myself as well). For an introduction to the debate about the identity of the "new pharaoh" as well as the broader issues related to the historicity and dating of the Exodus, I would suggest that you begin with this set of posts on Higgaion, the blog of Dr. Chris Heard (begin reading from the bottom and see explicitly Part 2 of the Extended Review for the issue of the Pharaoh of the Exodus).

Amos - The Outsider

Jeremy — 2009-07-12T10:10:26-05:00

Today's lectionary reading from the Old Testament is Amos 7.12-15. It is one of the more revealing passages in the book bearing his name because it shows several obstacles to the people listening to his message. I will look briefly at three:

The Year of Living Biblically - Review

Jeremy — 2009-07-11T09:44:21-05:00

A little over a week ago I blogged that I had downloaded The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs with one of my June Audible.com credits. And, I have to say that it is one of the best books that I have read recently. It is an honest attempt by a person who considered himself an agnostic to live the Bible as literally as possible for one year. In the process he reveals both the loftiest aspects of religious of belief and also the dangers. The author is witty and honest, especially about his own shortcomings (one of the best features of the audiobook version is that it is read by the author himself).

An Inner Tension in Psalm 33

Jeremy — 2009-07-08T09:13:44-05:00

Today's responsorial Psalm is Psalm 33 of which only parts are given in the readings. As I read the Psalm, as well as the reading from Genesis 42-43 this morning, I could not help but feel an inner tension. The common element in both the Genesis reading and Psalm 33 is famine. In Genesis 42-43, Joseph's brothers have gone down into Egypt to get grain in order to escape famine. Psalm 33.18-19 (NRSV, note the end of verse 19) reads as follow:

Jacob to Israel (Gen. 32.23-33)

Jeremy — 2009-07-07T09:19:30-05:00

Today's lectionary reading is one of the most enigmatic in the entire Hebrew Bible. It is the story in which the patriarch's name is changed from Jacob to Israel. There are all sorts of questions that remain after reading the passage. Who is the man with whom Jacob wrestles? How should the name Israel be translated? How does one punctuate the explanation of Jacob's name change? What was the original purpose of the story?

Psalm 91 - Listening Companion

Jeremy — 2009-07-06T09:35:33-05:00

If you read lectionary readings for today, you may have recognized Psalm 91, which has inspired a significant amount of music over the years. So, I have embedded a YouTube video with some accompanying music if you would like to listen to it today. Honestly, I am not much on the video, but the song is nice. It is Eagle's Wings, which has become a staple of Christian worship music (in North America at least). Enjoy.

The Title Son of Man in Ezekiel

Jeremy — 2009-07-05T20:56:28-05:00

Today's lectionary reading from the Old Testament comes from Ezekiel 2. In it we find the most common title applied to Ezekiel by the Lord. This title is "Son of Man," which is a complex phrase in the Old Testament especially when one takes into consideration the usage in Daniel 7.13. However, the usage in Ezekiel is a bit more straightforward. It means something along the lines of "human being," or if you want to go a bit further, "mere mortal." The phrase is used in the early chapters of Ezekiel to contrast the majestic deity from the lowly prophet.

Henotheism in the Bible

Jeremy — 2009-07-04T09:55:11-05:00

I have recently decided to make comments on some weekly lectionary readings in my blog posts, though I will continue to post on other matters as well. Today's responsorial Psalm is Psalm 135, which gives a good illustration of the presence of henotheism in the Bible. Henotheism is a big word, but it basically means that if a group of people worships one God while not denying the existence of other deities.

Psalm 117

Jeremy — 2009-07-03T13:57:03-05:00

The responsorial psalm in today's lectionary readings was Psalm 117. This is the shortest chapter in the entire Bible, whether for you that is the Hebrew Bible or the Old and New Testaments. However, though it is the shortest chapter, it contains a profound statement of universalism. The text reads:

Debating June's Audible Selections

Jeremy — 2009-07-02T10:51:34-05:00

So, I still had not used my Audible credits for June (which is very strange for me) until today. This month I chose two less academic titles. First, I chose Eugene Peterson's Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places. I have heard a lot of people that I respect very highly speak well of Peterson's books, though a lot of them are not crazy about his Message Bible. So, I thought I would give this book a chance. From what I understand it is the first in a five part series, which makes me hope that it it worthwhile. That would make my Audible selections for next month considerably easier.

Earworms Rapid Language Courses

Jeremy — 2009-06-30T09:21:20-05:00

After just finishing a couple of audiobooks, I decided this morning to begin a bit more language learning instead of another book. So, I started listening to the Earworms Rapid Language Course entitled Rapid Greek Vol. 1, which I had downloaded some time ago. And, I must say that Earworms is one of the best language learning audio resources that I have come across in a long time.

The Gnostic Gospels

Jeremy — 2009-06-29T09:08:32-05:00

This past weekend I just finished listening to The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels and wanted to write a brief review. My overall impression of the book was that it was a bit disappointing. My area of expertise is Biblical Hebrew language and Old Testament; however, I have always wanted to delve a bit more into Gnosticism. I had read some about Gnosticism in my New Testament courses, but felt as though I had barely scratched the surface.

New Career Developments

Jeremy — 2009-06-27T15:52:52-05:00

Well, I learned this week that I would not be adjuncting at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans for the coming semester. They just hired two new full-time faculty members with one of them being in Sacred Scripture. I think this will be very good for the seminary and add to the sense of academic community in a way that having a number of adjunct faculty coming in and out never could. However, I must say I will miss seeing my students two days out of the week. I wish them all the best with their continued studies.

Amazon International Shipping

Jeremy — 2009-06-25T08:39:38-05:00

In a previous version of my report on Free Audio Bibles for my Email list subscribers, I had stated that I was unsure if Amazon.com shipped internationally. So, I went and checked out their site. And, in fact, they do offer international shipping and at very reasonable rates. For instance, a shipment to Asia or the Pacific Islands could be as low as $5 US. Some people will have gotten the full information on this in the report; however, some who received the report earlier will not have gotten all of the information. Thus, if as a last resort you feel like you want to purchase an audio Bible, be sure to check out Amazon. Their best deal in my opinion is the Mp3 CD of the NIV Dramatized Audio Bible, which is under $40 US.

A Suggestion for Old Testament Reading and Listening

Jeremy — 2009-06-24T08:39:35-05:00

If you are looking for a new and different way to read or listen to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, I would suggest trying to listen to the books in the traditional Hebrew ordering if you have never done so.

Another Free Audio Bible Link - King James Version

Jeremy — 2009-06-23T10:55:13-05:00

I've just posted a link to a free King James Version audio Bible on the Audio Bibles page of this site. The King James Version text is out of copyright, so this opportunity is legitimate. I have been dismayed lately at a number of sites posting the NIV for free download without license. These types of sites are little bit scary to me. If they are willing to steal copyrighted material, what might the site do to my computer? At any rate, I do not believe that would be an issue with this King James Version download. I hope you enjoy and continue to check back on this site from time to time for more free audio Bible opportunities.

Teaching the 10 Plagues to Children

Jeremy — 2009-06-22T09:22:33-05:00

This past week at Vacation Bible School (=VBS) I helped with the rather difficult task of teaching the 10 plagues to children in Pre-K through 5th grades. Usually when this is done the teaching materials at least tone the stories down a bit due to the violence (i.e. the killing of the firstborn). However, I was shocked to find that the materials that we were using did not do so. Granted when the materials were chosen, the leaders of VBS probably assumed that the stories would be toned down.

Schiffman and Freedman Videos

Jeremy — 2009-06-21T07:41:24-05:00

I added two new videos to the site this week, but was unable to post about them. One is a video of Lawrence Schiffman lecturing on Judaism, Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. This video should be excellent. I have listened to Schiffman's course on the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Modern Scholar series, and it was very enlightening.

The other video is David Noel Freedman lecturing on Biblical Scholarship. This video is a phenomenal opportunity since Freedman passed away in April of 2008. He was a preeminent scholar in the field of Biblical Studies. And, this video has preserved an opportunity to actually watch him speak about this subject.

Brent Bencaz, May He Rest in Peace

Jeremy — 2009-06-19T06:57:19-05:00

My wife and I found out yesterday evening that one of our family members passed away after a year and half battle with pancreatic cancer. Brent Bencaz will be remembered for a lot of things, but most of all for his cheerfulness and his smile. He will be sorely missed by his family members. I realize that most of my posts are about educational matters, but today I ask for your prayers for the family as we grieve and also remember good times over the coming days. May Brent rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon him.

So I've Started an E-mail List

Jeremy — 2009-06-18T14:16:08-05:00

So, I've started an e-mail list on my site. And, it seems to be going really well so far. I've gotten quite a number of sign-ups from people all around the world. I've put together what I think is a pretty cool free report for those who join entitled "Study the OT for Free." It basically goes through how a person can get a university level understanding of the Old Testament using only free courses that can be found on the internet. That is about 36 credit hours worth of classes.

A Huge Thank You to University of California and Villanova University

Jeremy — 2009-06-17T09:43:39-05:00

I know that I have written this in a couple of other places on the site, but I wanted to write a blog post just saying thanks to University of California Television and Villanova University for providing great video content on YouTube. I have put quite a number of their videos on the courses page of this site, and I just keep finding more and more useful information from them. I couldn't believe that I was able to find video lectures from the likes of Robert Alter, Jon Levenson, Lawrence Schiffman, and even David Noel Freedman. These are some of the top scholars in the area of Biblical Studies. Please be sure to check out University of California Television and Villanova University on YouTube. They have a lot of other interesting content as well outside of the area of Biblical Studies. I do not know that anyone involved with posting the videos will ever read this post, but in case you do, thanks a lot and keep up the good work.

Levenson on the Binding of Isaac (Video)

Jeremy — 2009-06-16T08:55:24-05:00

It seems that a lot of you came to the site yesterday to see the video of Jon D. Leveson teaching about Abraham in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. So, I figured you must all like Levenson. In that case, I have posted another video by Levenson today on The Aqedah, or The Binding of Isaac. Unfortunately, this is the only other Levenson video that I could find; however, it is a long one. So, enjoy:

Levenson on The Aqedah

Abraham in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Video

Jeremy — 2009-06-15T08:37:42-05:00

Once again the University of California Television program has provided a helpful video for the study of matters related to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. Below is a link to a video they put together in which Jon D Levenson of Harvard University discusses Abraham in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is often said that Abraham is a figure that unites these three faiths. However, Levenson discusses how he both unites and separates them. Enjoy. And, thanks again to the University of California.

Levenson on Abraham

Robert Alter on Translation (Video)

Jeremy — 2009-06-14T09:33:48-05:00

Recently, I made a blog post on Robert Alter's translations, which are unique in their attempt to bring some issues in the Biblical Hebrew text into English. Today I found this video where you can learn about translation from Alter himself. The video is entitled Lost in Translation: The Challenge of Translating the Bible. And, it has been made available by Villanova University. Thank you to them for making it available. Check the video out here.

The Bible: A Biography (Review)

Jeremy — 2009-06-13T14:34:23-05:00

This past week I listened to Karen Armstrong's The Bible: A Biography in audiobook format. And, I must say, I'm not sure if I have ever read a more poorly titled book. Overall, the information in the book was okay; however, there was a glaring issue that I simply could not get past. It was the lack of specificity in Armstrong's use of the phrase "the Bible," which could be extended to a lack of specificity in terminology in general. Certainly, this text was intended for a general audience; however, I do not think this problem stems from trying to make matters accessible.

Jonah Comic

Jeremy — 2009-06-12T13:43:42-05:00

I realize that I posted about Charles Grebe's website AnimatedHebrew.com only the other day; however, I spent a bit more time over there yesterday. And, I must say that the Jonah Comic is absolutely phenomenal. There are not many Biblical Hebrew learning products that I get very excited about since most of them seem to be a perpetuation of the same tired methods. It is simply that every publishing company has to have their own grammar, vocabulary resource, etc.

A Note About My Supervising Professor

Jeremy — 2009-06-11T11:57:14-05:00

I came across a blog post about my supervising professor Christo van der Merwe yesterday through my friend Karyn's blog (which I mistakenly labeled as "new" in one of my previous posts). She linked into a Hebrew and Greek reader blog post entitled The Bruce Lee of Biblical Hebrew. Apparently, my supervising professor is like Bruce Lee. Read the post for details, but to boil it down it is because of his "use whatever works approach" in terms of linguistics. I have met Christo on several occasions when he has come to deliver papers at academic meetings, and my guess is that he would find it amusing to be compared to Bruce Lee, but be very modest about it.

Full Free Video Course In Biblical Hebrew

Jeremy — 2009-06-10T11:27:12-05:00

Up to this point, I have only included on this site courses on the Old Testament, Old Testament history, Old Testament manuscripts, etc. However, this morning I found a free video course on Biblical Hebrew. I have looked around a significant amount for a good free Biblical Hebrew course and this is the first one I thought would be worthy of a post. The course is on the site AnimatedHebrew.com. In addition, to the free Hebrew course, there is also a Jonah comic (very cool) in Hebrew and an audio recording of the exercises in Introducing Biblical Hebrew by Allen Ross. Thanks to Charles Grebe for putting together what looks like a very helpful site for those wanting to learn Biblical Hebrew, especially through self-study.

Old Testament Syllabi on Various Subjects

Jeremy — 2009-06-09T13:39:08-05:00

When it comes to Old Testament courses online, some readers may wish to study more specialized or advanced topics. However, many of the online courses that are available, particularly on this site, are directed toward more general learners. Yet there is a possible avenue for those that wish to study more advanced topics. The Society of Biblical Literature has published example course syllabi for a significant number of topics related to the Old Testament, New Testament and beyond. As far as I know, no membership to SBL is necessary since I was able to view the syllabi without logging in. These syllabi can be useful for those wanting to study particular topics on their own because there are often book recommendations, a reading schedule, course handouts and more.

Literature and World of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible

Jeremy — 2009-06-08T14:04:27-05:00

Some time ago I posted a link to a course by John Strong called Literature and World of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible on the courses page of this site. I was browsing YouTube a bit and found that there is a video preview to the course. So, if you want to find out if this course would interest you before going through the process of downloading everything from iTunes U, check out this video.

Popular Culture on the Relationship between the New and Old Testaments

Jeremy — 2009-06-07T09:30:22-05:00

I apologize for linking to the same blog two days in a row, but Dr. Brady has noticed a Neo-Marcionite trend among current comic strips. And, I find this tendency very interesting. Marcionism was a movement related to early Christianity that saw a dichotomy between the Old Testament and New Testament, going so far as to say the deities of the Old Testament and New Testament were not the same. The God of the Old Testament was vicious and terrible, whereas the God of the New Testament was gracious and merciful. Dr. Brady has posted a recent Doonesbury comic and a comic called Watch Your Head that demonstrate the tendency within modern culture to recognize the same dichotomy that Marcion did.

Can the Material in the Bible be Systematized?

Jeremy — 2009-06-06T08:52:28-05:00

I was browsing through the blog of Dr. Chris Brady this morning and came across a post from back in February of 2009. He deals with the issue of whether or not the material in the Bible can be or ought to be systematized. The post is quite interesting because he is writing in response to one of his students who "took him to task" after asking a question in class. This is a good post to introduce one to the problems involved in systematizing the Biblical material and demonstrates how people from two different viewpoints approach the issue. I hope you enjoy the post and consider following Dr. Brady's feed as the site often includes posts helpful for those interested in the academic study of the Bible.

Why I Use the Term "Old Testament" on This Site

Jeremy — 2009-06-05T11:17:23-05:00

As an academic, I am well aware of the difficulties involved in using the terminology "Old Testament." The technical term for the problem presented by this terminology is Supersessionism, roughly the idea that the "New" Testament has done away with the need for the "Old." I am also well aware that other terminology is available, such as Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Scriptures, and TaNaKh. It should be pointed out that each of these terms have their own sets of difficulties, e.g. the whole of the corpus is not written in Hebrew and Law, Prophets, and Writings (TaNaKh) reflect a particular ordering that is not shared by the Greek (which was used by Jews for some time) and subsequently Christian versions of the corpus.

New Blog Related Biblical Hebrew

Jeremy — 2009-06-04T14:26:22-05:00

I wanted to let everyone know about a new blog related to Biblical Hebrew. This blog is by one of my friends and peers through the University of Stellenbosch Karyn Traphagen, who is doing doctoral work in Biblical Hebrew Pedagogy. On her blog she gives some helpful resources for learning Biblical Hebrew, discusses methodology, and lets you in on some of the goings on in her personal life. She has taught Biblical Hebrew at Westminster Theological Seminary in PA and like me is doing her doctoral work under Prof. Christo van der Merwe at Stellenbosch.

I'm quite impressed with the blog so far and hope you will link over there and check it out. The site is http://boulders2bits.com/.

Book - A Commonly Perpetuated Mistranslation

Jeremy — 2009-06-03T11:08:51-05:00

In my recent reading, I have come across a commonly occurring mistranslation of the Hebrew of the Old Testament. It involves the word ספר (sorry, have not figured out how to add vowels without creating problems). This word is commonly translated "book" as in the NRSV, ESV, NASB, NIV, and KJV renderings of Deut. 30.10, i.e. "book of the law." The problem is that this word does not mean "book"; it means "scroll."

Good Site for Learning the Hebrew Aleph Bet

Jeremy — 2009-06-02T12:48:03-05:00

If you are looking for a good site for learning the Hebrew Aleph Bet, I would recommend the Hebrew site of the University of Texas at Austin. Esther Raizen has put together a number of helpful tutorials for learning the Aleph Bet (though these are for Modern Hebrew) all in flash format. The tutorials are especially helpful for those trying to learn through self-study because several of the tutorials include a native speaker pronouncing the names of the consonants. In addition, there is a puzzle game that will help one to learn the order of the consonants.

Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets

Jeremy — 2009-06-01T21:09:02-05:00

Bryan over at Hevel.org has started and intermittently adds to an introduction to the Old Testament prophets. These posts are helpful as they are written for the general reader and they are succinct. If you are looking for a more thorough introduction to the prophets I have linked to a couple of texts below that might be helpful. Or, you may want to check out the Yale Open Course introduction to the Old Testament which I have a link to on the courses page of this site and which is free. However, if you are looking for a good succinct introduction check out Bryan's blog and make sure to sign up for his feed, so you will know when he adds future posts on the topic.

The Difficulty of Old Testament Study Online

Jeremy — 2009-05-31T09:27:34-05:00

Recently, I have posted a number of YouTube videos on this site and the experience of searching YouTube has reawakened me to the problem of just how much nonsense there is online when it comes to the study of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (as well as the New Testament). Other places that make this apparent abound, like Yahoo Answers, where people who are clueless about the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (=HB/OT) answer questions about it as if they know what they are talking about (e.g. some of them think the HB/OT was originally written in Greek). This makes study of the HB/OT online very difficult, dare I say dangerous.

Genesis 1.1 and the Importance of Comparing Translations

Jeremy — 2009-05-30T07:25:46-05:00

For quite some time I have known about the translation difficulties involved in the very first part of the very first verse of the Hebrew Bible; however, until I recently revisited the Hebrew I had forgotten just how complicated things are. Here are three potential translations:

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, ...(NRSV)
When God began to create heaven and earth... (JPS, R. Alter)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (NASB; ESV)

Robert Alter's Translations

Jeremy — 2009-05-29T07:17:58-05:00

In case you missed it, I recently added a video lecture to the site featuring Robert Alter. He has written a considerable number of popular level books on reading the Bible as literature and is considered by many to be the premier scholar in this area. He is probably best know for his books the Art of Biblical Narrative and the Art of Biblical Poetry; however, his translations and commentaries have been growing in popularity.

Parallels to the Old Testament

Jeremy — 2009-05-28T11:23:16-05:00

In recent discussions and in looking at online forums, blogs, social networking sites, etc., I have encountered a lot of people talking about parallels between the Old Testament and other Ancient Near Eastern Literature. Some of these discussions are very helpful, for instance the blog post by G. Brooke Lester entitled Why Do They Have to Be All Wrong. However, in many areas, it seems that people have very little idea what they are actually talking about. This likely has to do with religious (or a-religious) sentiment.

Learning Biblical Hebrew Through Self Study - Choosing a Grammar

Jeremy — 2009-05-27T11:35:24-05:00

In this post and in a few future posts, I will be giving some advice for those who may wish to learn Biblical Hebrew through self study. One of the most important decisions you will need to make is which grammar to use when studying Biblical Hebrew. For me, there is no question currently about which grammar beginners should use. I recommend that students start with John Dobson's Learn Biblical Hebrew.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Reliability of Old Testament Manuscripts - Part 2

Jeremy — 2009-05-26T17:23:49-05:00

In the previous post, I discussed how the manuscripts of Jeremiah found among the Dead Sea Scrolls can aid us in taking a more moderate approach to the reliability of the Old Testament documents. And, in this post, I will discuss the fact that even information from the Great Isaiah Scroll, which is often used to "prove" the reliability of Old Testament documents, might also lead to a more moderate approach. It is often cited that the Great Isaiah Scroll (which you can get a very good look at on the Dorot Foundation site) is 95% the same as the Masoretic Text (MT) with this statistic being astounding since over 1,000 years separate the MT from the Great Isaiah Scroll. In addition, it is often pointed out that differences are primarily in spelling and in individual words. It is the second part of this assertion that I wish to deal with here, namely that differences in individual words can be extremely important and if individual words are not known for certain this should lead to moderation.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Reliability of Old Testament Manuscripts - Part 1

Jeremy — 2009-05-25T13:46:44-05:00

I typically do not pay a great deal of attention to Christian apologetic literature because I realize that it routinely oversimplifies matters. However, I had recently finished an audio course on the Dead Sea Scrolls when I came across a video on the reliability of Old Testament documents. According to the video, the Great Isaiah Scroll that was found among the texts at Qumran demonstrates the reliability of Old Testament documents. In other words, the Dead Sea Scrolls show that the Masoretic Text (the text used for modern English translations of the Bible) is reliable in the sense that it is extremely close to the original words that were written by Isaiah or any other Biblical author for that matter.

It was at this point that I thought this could be a useful teaching opportunity. The fact of the matter is

Back Online

Jeremy — 2009-05-19T23:19:52-05:00

The Old Testament Audio Blog will be back online soon after a hard drive crash. Please continue to check back.