The story of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi texts – a tale about a hapless Arab peasant who uncovers the buried secrets of early Christianity – has accompanied most scholarly and popular explorations of Nag Hammadi literature. As a colonialist relic, however, it is more than a quirky tale of the accidents of history. It represents and per…[Read more]

This essay is an intellectual history, one of affect theory both within and without biblical studies, rendered as an ecology of thought. It is an “archive of feelings,” a series of thematic portraits, and a description of the landscape of the field of biblical studies through a set of frictions and express discontentments with its legacies, as wel…[Read more]

“And Both are Equal”: Exegesis Creating Values in Ancient Jewish Texts

Amit Gvaryahu

There are many gaps between the primary or literal interpretation of what is written in the Torah and the way the Sages interpreted it in midrashim, the Mishnah, and the Talmud. Many scholars see these gaps as a result of the Sages’ imposition of exter…[Read more]

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Lev 9:1–10:3 contains two of the most memorable events in the priestly narrative: a public theophany at the tabernacle, and the deaths of Nadav and Avihu. It also contains a long sequence of sacrifices, the importance of which has often been overlooked. This article argues that the ritual acts described in Lev 9 follow established and i…[Read more]

This article discusses the concept of kissing as it appears in the Bible and in Rabbinic writings. Special attention is given to different motives for kissing and to different conjugations of the Hebrew verbs for kissing.

This article discusses various rabbinic approaches to the story of Elisha and Gehazi (recorded in the Book of Kings), in which the former sends the latter with his staff to resurrect the Shunammite woman’s dead child. Gehazi proves unsuccessful in that endeavor and Elisha himself ultimates revives the dead child.

This article discusses rabbinic qualifications to the Biblical prohibition of verbally saying the names of foreign gods (typically represented by idols).

Dempster’s goal in the commentary is to understand the original historical context of the oracles before examining their literary context (17). For this reason the introduction has a solid section placing Micah into the history of Judah in the late eighth century, especially in Assyrian invasion of 701 B.C. Dempster realizes the view that Micah i…[Read more]

John Goldingay has recently written several short, popular level books. IVP Academic published his Do We Need the New Testament? (2015) and A Reader’s Guide to The Bible (2017). In both books Goldingay argues the Old Testament (or First Testament in Goldingay’s book) is the foundational for a proper understanding the New Testament. As he obs…[Read more]

Published in The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone. Edited by Lorenzo DiTommaso, Matthias Henze, and William Adler (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2017

Published in The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone. Edited by Lorenzo DiTommaso, Matthias Henze, and William Adler (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2017

Published in The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone. Edited by Lorenzo DiTommaso, Matthias Henze, and William Adler (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2017

This paper discusses an apparent contradiction in the Bible regarding east of the Jordan River, that lies between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok. In Numbers 21 it seems that this land belonged to the Moabites, while in Judges 11 (during an exchange between the Jewish judge Jephtah and the Ammonite king) it seems that this land belonged to the…[Read more]

This articles notes the apparent discrepancies between Ezekiel 45-46 and Numbers 28-29 concerning the required sacrifices to be offered on special days of the Jewish Calendar. The article also offers classical rabbinic solutions to those contradictions.

This palaeographical guide grew out of a workshop («A Jewish Theologian’s Arabic Guide to State Administration: Mukhtaṣar fī ṣināʿat al-kitāba of Sahl b. al-Faḍl al-Tustarī»), organised by Dr. Luke Yarbrough at the NYU Abu Dhabi, 29-30 March 2017. Comments and corrections are welcome (g.schwarb@gmail.com).

This article traces the notion in rabbinic writings that Ezra–a leader of the Jewish people in the early Second Temple period–also functioned as a High Priest (Kohen Gadol).

This article traces the notion in rabbinic writings that Ezra–a leader of the Jewish people in the early Second Temple period–also functioned as a High Priest (Kohen Gadol).

This thesis makes a unique contribution in the field of New Testament studies with specific attention to New Testament theology and the Christology of Hebrews. It explores the relationship between Sonship and the ascension in the book of Hebrews. It argues that the ascension of Jesus reveals the nature of his Sonship. First, chapters two and three…[Read more]

This article proposes a better source for the Son’s cry in Hebrews 5:7. It begins by surveying sources previous scholars have identified, including Jesus’ cry in Gethsemane and Golgotha, several Psalms, and the Maccabean martyr literature. It is then argued that these background sources for the language are insufficient. Instead the author of Heb…[Read more]