Review of Transforming Literature into Scripture: Texts as Cult Objects at Nineveh and Qumran by Russell Hobson

Review of The Ways of a King: Legal and Political Ideas in the Bible by Geoffrey P. Miller

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]

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

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

Both 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees portray the Sabbath law as a central point of con- tention during the struggle over Judean law and tradition in the second century BCE (e.g., 1 Macc 1:41-50; 2 Macc 6:4-6). The Hasmonean family in particular is at times high- lighted as holding the Sabbath in high regard (2 Macc 5:27). In every available source,…[Read more]

Many scholars recognize the importance of authority in the process of scripturalization. The presence of words like “authority” and “au- thoritative” in definitions of the term “scripture” is ubiquitous. Many also identify authoritative status for a text as an important step on the way toward it becoming scripture. However, “authority”…[Read more]

This article investigates the prefatory material in 2 Maccabees (2:19-32; 15:38-39) in order to reveal the motivation and attitude of the epitomator of 2 Maccabees toward the text he is adapting. The article argues that the concept of auxiliary texts, recog- nized in Graeco-Roman and Hellenistic texts by classicist Markus Dubischar, is the lens…[Read more]

This study highlights features of the Letter of Aristeas that reveal how that story con- ceives of the royal translation project. It will apply the concept of ‘auxiliary texts’ devel- oped by Markus Dubischar based on the conversation theory of Paul Grice in order to show that Aristeas understands the Hebrew Pentateuch as a failing text. It wil…[Read more]