Tag: Journal of Biblical Literature

Loving one’s neighbor in JBL and elsewhere

The most recent issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature carries Matthew Goldstone’s essay “Rebuke, Lending, and Love: An Early Exegetical Tradition on Leviticus 19:17–18” (307–21). According to the abstract,

In this article I posit the presence of an early Jewish exegesis of Lev 19:17–18 preserved in the Tannaitic midrash known as Sifra, which is inverted and amplified in Did. 1:3–5, Q 6:27–35, Luke 6:27–35, and Matt 5:38–44. Identifying shared terminology and a sequence of themes in these passages, I argue that these commonalities testify to the existence of a shared exegetical tradition. By analyzing the later rabbinic material I delineate the contours of this Second Temple period interpretation and augment our understanding of the construction of these early Christian pericopae. In commenting on Lev 19:17, Sifra articulates three permissible modes of rebuke: cursing, hitting, and slapping. In its gloss on the subsequent verse, Sifra exemplifies the biblical injunction against vengeance and bearing a grudge through the case of lending and borrowing from one’s neighbor. The Didache, Matthew, and Luke invert the first interpretation by presenting Jesus as recommending a passive response to being cursed or slapped, and they amplify the second interpretation by commanding one to give and lend freely to all who ask. The similar juxtaposition of these two ideas and the shared terminology between Sifra and these New Testament period texts suggest a common source. By reading these early Christian sources in light of this later rabbinic work I advance our understanding of the formation of these well-known passages and illustrate the advantages of cautiously employing rabbinic material for reading earlier Christian works.

In addition, I hadn’t been aware of it, but Goldstone’s n37 refers to John Piper’s SNTSMS publication of a revised version of his dissertation. This volume was republished by Crossway with an additional preface in 2012. As tends to be the case with a very few exceptions, this latest edition of the volume is available as a free PDF via the DesiringGod website.

The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society‘s current issue has an essay on the command to love one’s neighbor that I haven’t yet read but looks quite interesting too.

Gaventa, “Romans 13”

SBL Press logoThe newest issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature contains Beverly Gaventa’s essay, “Reading Romans 13 with Simone Weil: Toward a More Generous Hermeneutic.” According to the abstract,

Simone Weil’s interpretation of the Iliad as a “poem of force” has resonances with Rom 1–8, reinforcing the question of how Rom 13:1–7 belongs in the larger argument of Romans. Seeking a generous reading of 13:1–7 along the lines of the generosity Weil extends to the Iliad, I first take Pharaoh as an example of Paul’s understanding of the relationship between God and human rulers and then propose that Paul’s treatment of human rulers coheres with his refusal in this letter to reify lines between “insider” and “outsider.” I conclude with a reflection on the need for generosity in scholarly research and pedagogy.

For the article’s full text, please see JBL in print or online.

Journal of Biblical Literature 134, no. 1

The latest issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature includes:

  • Athalya Brenner-Idan, “Introduction to the Presidential Address”
  • Fernando F. Segovia, “Presidential Address: Criticism in Critical Times: Reflections on Vision and Task”
  • Duane E. Smith, “The Divining Snake: Reading Genesis 3 in the Context of Mesopotamian Ophiomancy”
  • David E. S. Stein, “A Rejoinder concerning Genesis 3:6 and the NJPS Translation”
  • Murray H. Lichtenstein, “The Fearsome Sword of Genesis 3:24”
  • Kerry D. Lee, “Two Translations of HSS V 67 and Their Significance for Genesis 16, 21, and 30”
  • Ken Brown, “Vengeance and Vindication in Numbers 31”
  • Orly Keren and Hagit Taragan, “Merab, Saul’s Mute and Muffled Daughter”
  • Joshua Bermanz, “The Legal Blend in Biblical Narrative (Joshua 20:1–9, Judges 6:25–31, 1 Samuel 15:2, 28:3–25, 2 Kings 4:1–7, Jeremiah 34:12–17, Nehemiah 5:1–12)”
  • John B. Whitley, “עיפה in Amos 4:13: New Evidence for the Yahwistic Incorporation of Ancient Near Eastern Solar Imagery”
  • Warren Carter, “Cross-Gendered Romans and Mark’s Jesus: Legion Enters the Pigs (Mark 5:1–20)”
  • David Lertis Matson, “Pacifist Jesus? The (Mis)Translation of ἐᾶτε ἓως τούτου in Luke 22:51”
  • Daniel Lynwood Smith, “Interrupted Speech in Luke-Acts”
  • Ryan S. Schellenberg, “The First Pauline Chronologist? Paul’s Itinerary in the Letters and in Acts”
  • Jennifer A. Glancy, “The Sexual Use of Slaves: A Response to Kyle Harper on Jewish and Christian Porneia“

Journal of Biblical Literature 133, no. 2

The Journal of Biblical Literature 133, no. 2 includes:

  • Joram Mayshar, “Who Was the Toshav?”
  • Amitai Baruchi-Unna, “Two Clearings of Goats (1 Kings 20:27): An Interpretation Supported by an Akkadian Parallel”
  • Ryan E. Stokes, “Satan, Yhwh’s Executioner”
  • Saul M. Olyan, “Jehoiakim’s Dehumanizing Interment as a Ritual Act of Reclassification”
  • John L. McLaughlin, “Is Amos (Still) among the Wise?”
  • Christine Mitchell, “A Note on the Creation Formula in Zechariah 12:1–8; Isaiah 42:5–6; and Old Persian Inscriptions”
  • Kristian Larsson, “Intertextual Density, Quantifying Imitation”
  • J. R. Daniel Kirk and Stephen L. Young, “‘I Will Set His Hand to the Sea’: Psalm 88:26 LXX and Christology in Mark”
  • Jennifer Knust and Tommy Wasserman, “The Biblical Odes and the Text of the Christian Bible: A Reconsideration of the Impact of Liturgical Singing on the Transmission of the Gospel of Luke”
  • Brittany E. Wilson, “The Blinding of Paul and the Power of God:Masculinity, Sight, and Self-Control in Acts 9”
  • Brice C. Jones, ”Three New Coptic Papyrus Fragments of 2 Timothy and Titus (P.Mich. inv. 3535b)”
  • Nicola Denzey Lewis and Justine Ariel Blount, “Rethinking the Origins of the Nag Hammadi Codices”

This issue also introduces the “JBL Forum,” which is intended to provide “an occasional series that will highlight approaches, points of
view, and even definitions of ‘biblical scholarship’ that may be outside the usual purview of many of our readers. The format may vary from time to time but will always include an exchange of ideas on the matter at hand” (pg. 421). This issue’s forum includes:

  • Ronald Hendel, “Mind the Gap: Modern and Postmodern in Biblical Studies”
  • Stephen D. Moore, “Watch the Target: A Post-Postmodernist Response to Ronald Hendel”
  • Peter Miscall, George Aichele, and Richard Walsh, “Response to Ron Hendel”

Journal of Biblical Literature 132, no. 3

The upcoming issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature is set to include the following:

  • Mark F. Whitters, “Baruch as Ezra in 2 Baruch“
  • Brian R. Doak, “Ezekiel’s Topography of the (Un-)Heroic Dead in Ezekiel 32:17–32”
  • Ruth Sheridan, “Issues in the Translation of оἱ ̓Iоυαῖоι in the Fourth Gospel”
  • Andrew T. Lincoln, “Luke and Jesus’ Conception: A Case of Double Paternity?”
  • Daniel Frayer-Griggs, “Spittle, Clay, and Creation in John 9:6 and Some Dead Sea Scrolls”
  • Timothy M. Willis, “The Curious Case of κυριε μоυ κυριε in 2 Kingdoms 7:18–29″
  • Greg Goswell, “The Eschatology of Malachi after Zechariah 14”
  • Bennie H. Reynolds, “The Expression המד דין in the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Legacy of the Holiness School in Essene Legal Texts”
  • T. C. Ham, “The Gentle Voice of God in Job 38”
  • Andrew R. Davis, “The Literary Effect of Gender Discord in the Book of Ruth”
  • Robert D. Holmstedt, “The Nexus between Textual Criticism and Linguistics: A Case Study from Leviticus”
  • Naphtali S. Meshel, “Toward a Grammar of Sacrifice: Hierarchic Patterns in the Israelite Sacrificial System”
  • David G. Horrell, Bradley Arnold, and Travis B. Williams, “Visuality, Vivid Description, and the Message of 1 Peter: The Significance of the Roaring Lion (1 Peter 5:8)”

Journal of Biblical Literature 132, no. 2

The Journal of Biblical Literature 132, no. 2 includes:

  • C. L. Seow, “An Exquisitely Poetic Introduction to the Psalter”
  • Mark Leuchter, “Genesis 38 in Social and Historical Perspective”
  • Brian C. Dennert, “Hanukkah and the Testimony of Jesus’ Works (John 10:22–39)”
  • Joshua Berman, “Histories Twice Told: Deuteronomy 1–3 and the Hittite Treaty Prologue Tradition”
  • Jeremy Schipper, “Interpreting the Lamb Imagery in Isaiah 53”
  • Alicia D. Myers, “‘Jesus Said to Them…’: The Adaptation of Juridical Rhetoric in John 5:19-47”
  • Alexander E. Stewart, “Narrative World, Rhetorical Logic, and the Voice of the Author in 4 Ezra“
  • Matthew Thiessen, “Revisiting the πρoσηλυτoς in ‘the LXX'”
  • Thomas R. Blanton, “Saved by Obedience: Matthew 1:21 in Light of Jesus’ Teaching on the Torah”
  • Yitzhaq Feder, “The Aniconic Tradition, Deuteronomy 4, and the Politics of Israelite Identity”
  • Eric D. Reymond, “The Meanings of ‘Life’ in the Hebrew of Ben Sira”
  • Michael Bartos; Bernard M. Levinson, “‘This Is the Manner of the Remission’: Implicit Legal Exegesis in 11QMelchizedek as a Response to the Formation of the Torah”
  • Amy Erickson, “‘Without My Flesh I Will See God’: Job’s Rhetoric of the Body”
  • Troy W. Martin, “Περβoλαιoν as ‘Testicle’ in 1 Corinthians 11:15: A Response to Mark Goodacre”