Society-of-Biblical-Literature

Academic conferences can be hard to do well. But some simple steps can help you have your best meeting yet.

In biblical studies, you need to be able to type biblical languages. Transliteration can work, but you can’t always bank on using it. Instead, use Unicode.

There are more up-to-date translations of the fathers. But if you do use ANF or NPNF, Zotero can handle SBL style’s special citation format.

The SBL Handbook of Style doesn’t include everything. There are seven main SBL style authorities, including your school’s house style.

The 𝘚𝘉𝘓 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 doesn’t include everything. There are seven main SBL style authorities, starting with a publisher’s house style.

Gleanings about resources for moving from biblical studies to theology and expanded JSTOR access for members of the Society of Biblical Literature.

CMS17 eliminates the use of “ibid.” SBLHS2 follows suit but does have a slightly different convention for how to format notes where “ibid.” would have appeared.

With the release of the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, SBL style now defers to this edition in certain circumstances.

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. ...

One of the less-than-ideal features of using an iOS device for editing or producing documents in Biblical Studies has been the difficulty of getting standard biblical language fonts (e.g., SBL BibLit) to work on the device. There are now, however, at least a couple solutions: Chris Heard has discussed how AnyFont can resolve the issue successfully and allow users to install SBL BibLit (or other fonts) onto iOS devices and use them within standard productivity tools (e.g., Pages, Word, Keynote, PowerPoint). In the App Store, AnyFont goes for $1.99. On the freemium side of things, Fonteer will also do the same thing. Fonteer’s free version allows users to install up to 3 fonts. So, if you anticipate only using this number or fewer, the free version will do the job. Fonteer premium (also $1.99 via in-app purchase) allows unlimited fonts to be installed. Below is an example of Fonteer working with a draft excerpt from my essay in Explorations in Interdisciplinary Reading ( affiliate disclosure). Example of Fonteer working with SBL BibLit ...

SBL Press continues to be quite responsive on its blog to questions submitted by users of the SBL Handbook of Style. One of the latest examples is the Press’s clarification of how to format citations from J.-P. Migne’s Patrologia Graeca. The 161-volume series is available online in the public domain from various sources, including Patristica.net and Document Catholica Omnia. ...

The Tyndale House Greek New Testament is set to be released with Crossway on 15 November 2017, just in time for SBL. The text is already available for pre-order on Amazon. According to the volume’s blurb, the principal editors, Dirk Jongkind and Peter Williams, have ...

The 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. ...

Over at Becoming Minimalist, Joshua Becker offers some personal introspection on a paradigmatic case of forgetting a couple’s names. In part, Becker narrates, I was sad that I wasn’t able to remember something as simple as the names of two people I very much enjoyed meeting. … And suddenly it struck me. I entered the conversation—as I do so often—with the desire to be known rather than to know. I was trying so hard to say something impressive or witty or intelligent that I entirely missed what they were saying on the other side of the conversation. ...

Annually, the St. George’s Centre for Biblical and Public Theology sponsors three seminars at SBL: Scripture and Church, Scripture and Doctrine, and Scripture and Hermeneutics (in partnership with the Institute for Biblical Research). Registration is now open for these seminars’ 2017 meetings in Boston, as well as for the accompanying dinner. The lectures and discussion are always quite stimulating. ...

There’s some fun to be had in hunting up references to and citing instances where volumes from Migne’s Patrologia latina exist in different versions. The folks at SBL Press have kindly resolved the mystery. Most significantly, SBL Press notes, According to the Patrologia Latina Database … , PL’s printing history can be divided into two distinct periods. Jacques-Paul Migne initially published the 217 volumes of PL over a twelve-year period, 1844–1855. Migne reprinted volumes as needed for another decade, then sold the rights to the Paris publisher Garnier. Unfortunately, in February 1868 a fire destroyed Migne’s presses and printing plates, which meant that Garnier, which had begun reprinting some PL volumes in 1865, was the only source for future reprints—all of which were produced on plates other than Migne’s originals. These plates differed substantially in some cases and are considered in general “inferior in a number of respects to Migne’s own first editions.” ...

Apparently, name badges and tote bag tickets for this year’s SBL meeting will be distributed by email: In an effort to cut down on lines for badge reprints at registration, name badges will no longer be sent via postal mail. Instead, check your e-mail in early November for a special link that will allow you to print your name badge and tote bag ticket to bring with you to San Antonio. If you bring these items to the Annual Meeting, you will not need to stand in line for registration. ...

The SBL annual meeting mobile apps are available for both Android and iOS. In each case, after the app installed, I opened it and started looking around for a minute or so before the app pulled in the current conference program version. ...

In November 2016, InterVarsity Press has posted an interesting clarification to its situation in relation to the Society of Biblical Literature annual meetings. According to the post, InterVarsity Press Publisher Jeff Crosby has confirmed that the Society of Biblical Literature’s Council, at its next meeting on October 29-30, is taking up the question of IVP Academic’s right to exhibit at the 2017 annual meetings of the jointly-hosted AAR-SBL. That conversation is a part of a larger discussion the SBL Council will have regarding its protocols and standards for exhibitors at its events. ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Richard J. Clifford, Wisdom, reviewed by Lawrence M. Wills David J. A. Clines and J. Cheryl Exum, eds., The Reception of the Hebrew Bible in the Septuagint and the New Testament: Essays in Memory of Aileen Guilding, reviewed by Benjamin J. M. Johnson Joan E. Cook, Genesis, reviewed by Jonathan L. Huddleston Avraham Faust, Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation, reviewed by Gert T. M. Prinsloo James E. Harding, The Love of David and Jonathan: Ideology, Text, Reception, reviewed by Katherine Low Irene Nowell, Numbers, reviewed by Timothy R. Ashley Naomi Steinberg, The World of the Child in the Hebrew Bible, reviewed by Karin Finsterbusch New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Tremper Longman III, Job, reviewed by Richard G. Smith Donald P. Moffat, Ezra’s Social Drama: Identity Formation, Marriage and Social Conflict in Ezra 9 and 10, reviewed by Hannah K. Harrington Daniel C. Owens, Portraits of the Righteous in the Psalms: An Exploration of the Ethics of Book I, reviewed by Beat Weber Franz Sedlmeier, Das Buch Ezechiel: Kapitel 25-48, reviewed by Michael S. Moore Stefan Seiler, Text-Beziehungen: Zur intertextuellen Interpretation alttestamentlicher Texte am Beispiel ausgewählter Psalmen, reviewed by Gert T. M. Prinsloo New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Peter Enns, The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins, reviewed by Paul Korchin Kai Kaniuth et al., eds., Tempel im Alten Orient, reviewed by Jason M. Silverman Christoph Körner and Hans-Winfried Jüngling, eds., "…denn das ist der ganze Mensch": Jüdische Feste: Kohelet, Ester, Hoheslied, Rut, Klagelieder, reviewed by Andreas Lehnardt Michael Pietsch, Die Kultreform Josias: Studien zur Religionsgeschichte Israels in der späten Königszeit, reviewed by Peter Porzig New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies William Goodman, Yearning for You: Psalms and the Song of Songs in Conversation with Rock and Worship Songs, reviewed by T. Michael W. Halcomb David Weiss Halivni, The Formation of the Babylonian Talmud, reviewed by Joshua Ezra Burns Isaac Kalimi, ed., Jewish Bible Theology: Perspectives and Case Studies, reviewed by Ginny Brewer-Boydston Vita Daphna Arbel, Forming Femininity in Antiquity: Eve, Gender, and Ideologies in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve, reviewed by F. Scott Spencer Víctor Morla, Los manuscritos hebreos de Ben Sira: Traducción y notas, reviewed by Nuria Calduch-Benages Peter W. Flint, The Dead Sea Scrolls, reviewed by George J. Brooke New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

The latest reviews in the Review of Biblical Literature include: Jewish Scriptures and Cognate Studies Jenny R. Labendz, Socratic Torah: Non-Jews in Rabbinic Intellectual Culture, reviewed by Joshua Schwartz Thomas L. Thompson, Biblical Narrative and Palestine’s History: Changing Perspectives 2, reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins New Testament and Cognate Studies ...

While this year’s SBL program is still in preparation, the contents of the IBR research group sessions are now available via the individual research group links on the call for papers page. Update: After copying this link yesterday, the call for papers page URL was apparently updated. Such is the Internet; the link above has now been corrected to reflect the current page location (HT: Joseph Kelly, Kirk Lowery). ...

On the web: The SBL website now has a page with links to a number of program unit and seminar papers (HT: Charles Jones). Ohio State University has a special online exhibition about the King James Version (HT: Bill Warren). Zotero has seen a significant and a couple more minor updates over the past few days. The SBL citation style is also newly updated as of January 29. The W3 Consortium has a list of fraktur characters (e.g., for cases where they are used as text-critical siglia) and their corresponding Unicode character assignments. Among other fonts, Gentium Plus natively includes 1D510 (Majority Text) and 1D513 (Papyrus).

And you haven’t completed your optional profile information, you should. Apparently, doing so makes you eligible for a random monthly selection of two members to receive a year’s free membership dues.