Review of The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity by Eva Mroczek

An examination of Judean Pillar Figurines in relation to cultural discourse and identity construction in the late Iron-Age Levant

This essay offers a close reading of the dirge in Ezek 27, the metaphorical description of the famed and sinking Tyrian ship. The analysis pays close attention to the symbolic world of the text, situating it within the literary and historical milieux of fourth-century BCE Judah, when Jerusalemite literati began codifying their authoritative texts…[Read more]

An examination of the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15) and allusions to it in the book of Isaiah

In a recent ZAW article, Michael Chan argues that II Reg 25,27-30 alludes to Gen 40-41, and that this allusion provides a hermeneutical key for understanding the purpose of II Reg 25,27-30 in an Enneateuchal context: it points to an imminent exodus, a return from exile and a gathering of diaspora in the promised land. This article picks up where…[Read more]

This essay summarizes Runar Thorsteinsson’s groundbreaking book, Paul’s Interlocutor in Romans 2, and situates the remaining essays in the volume.

This essay reexamines the logic of Paul’s argument in Romans 2, in light of Jewish traditions that insisted that God gave Israel, and Israel alone, the law.

In the Ba‘al Cycle’s description of the threshold separating the realms of the dead from that of the living, the key reference point is described as “the two tells (at) the boundary of the netherworld” (CAT 1.4 viii, 4). The specific word used to describe both topographical features is tl, the tell, an object well known in the archaeology of the…[Read more]

An exploration of the book of Chronicles vis-à-vis the concept of utopia

An exploration of Cyrus’s role and function in ancient Judean kingship discourse

In the second-century Protevangelium of James (henceforth PJ), Mary spins thread for a new temple veil. The episode has fascinated and perplexed both ancient and modern readers: Of all the jobs the author could have chosen for the protagonist, why this one? Scholars of PJ frame the significance of Mary’s work in a variety of ways. Some argue t…[Read more]

This syllabus is for a senior-level biblical archaeology course taught at Ferrum College (VA) in fall of 2016.

In the Synoptic accounts of the transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36), Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus and the disciples. One of the more common interpretations of their presence in this scene is that together they symbolize “the law and the prophets.” But from a canonical/narrative perspective, the situation is more complex tha…[Read more]

This chapter examines apocalyptic literature within the framework of “early Jewish mysticism” and compares early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings with rabbinic and Hekhalot materials. It begins by focusing on apocalyptic literature and the discourse of “mysticism” in religious studies before turning to continuity and rupture in the Jew…[Read more]

In his children’s book The Polar Express (1985), Chris Van Allsburg tells the story of a boy who travels to the North Pole and receives a bell from Santa’s sleigh. The sound of the bell nourishes the boy’s belief in Santa into adulthood. Van Allsburg’s narrative plays off a theme central to the Gospel of John: the relationship between hearing…[Read more]

The poetry of Micah’s oracle of doom (Mic 1:8-16) combines two undeniable motifs, the motif of the lament and that of geography. The latter motif is not well understood due to the obscurity of the place names found in vv. 10a-12b. A careful study of the oracle’s geographical con-text, however, will lead to a more precise understanding of the top…[Read more]

An exploration of the Hebrew Bible’s prophetic literature vis-à-vis Science Fiction and Science Fiction theory

The author of Joseph and Aseneth writes a lengthy narrative about Aseneth’s conversion, thereby providing a justification for Joseph’s marriage to an Egyptian woman. The author explicitly connects her seven-day period of withdrawal to creation, thus portraying her conversion as a divinely wrought new creation. In addition, her eight-day con…[Read more]

This article seeks to determine the Pentateuchal background for Jesus’s arguments regarding the resurrection of the dead.

Paul’s identification of Christ with the rock that provided water to Israel in the wilderness has confounded interpreters. This article seeks to demonstrate that Paul depends upon a tradition within early Jewish thinking, as evidenced in poetic works such as Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 78, and Psalm 95, which linked Israel’s God to this rock. Des…[Read more]