Courtesy of Bishop Wrong

Welcome to the 36th Biblical Studies Carnival.  Posts are categorized by theme and were drawn from around and about the biblioblogging universe as they appeared in the month of November.

Let’s get right down to business and kick things off with NT Wrong, who, for the second month in a row, tells us the top 50 biblioblog performers.  If you aren’t listed, don’t despair.  Just try a bit harder this month to be interesting!  Like the posts which follow:

[Disclaimer: My lawyer tells me I should point out that if anyone is offended by the little asides and sometimes snarky comments interspersed below, that I should apologize.  I don't really want to, but he tells me I should.  But I don't.]

Archaeology

The ‘trial of the century’ proceeded in the month of November at it’s snail’s pace.  Oddly, though, at the end of October Hershel Shanks wrote a very triumphalistic piece in BAR in which he claimed, wrongly, that the supporters of the ‘James Ossuary’s’ legitimacy had been ‘vindicated’.  Antonio Lombatti weighed in with his considerable learning and utterly undermined Shanks’ claim in this important, intelligent, and enlightened post.  And continuing BAR-ian madness, in November Shanks advised archaeologists to join the looters (and be sure to take note of Yuval Goren’s comment)!  I offered a bit of an opinion of my own on the matter here.  Suffice it to say, Shanks’s idea is profoundly misguided and will serve, if actually followed, only to enrich BAR’s advertising coffers.

In November an odd little posting appeared on the Guild of Biblical Minimalists site concerning a cache of coins found in Tel Aviv.  What’s odd about it is that it demonstrates the very kind of ‘biblical archaeology’ so rampant in certain corners of the discipline these days and most noticeably present in the pages of the Biblical Archaeology Review.  Perhaps that’s the reason the Guild published the notice, operating, one presumes, on the well known truism- ‘if you give them enough rope…’  Speaking of archaeology, ‘The Bible’s Buried Secrets’ stirred rather a lot of buzz mid month and yours truly ‘live blogged’ it here and Matt Page reviewed it here.

November also saw ongoing discussion of an ostracon from Khirbet Qeiyafa.  The newspapers were stacked to the brim with wild eyed speculation, some even suggesting that this little bit of pottery proved the biblical account of David.  Naturally this was debunked in some quarters.  Even Duane ‘The Bearded Californian’ Smith has something to say about it.  Something abnormal.  Since most readers of these Carnivals have seen that story to their fill in English (and how it has been misused to promote an agenda a la Hobbins), here’s a look at it from another part of the world by none less than the gifted Søren Holst.

Ben Witherington posted a fantastic piece on the Gamla Synagogue which, though longish (and I mean essay longish) is very much worth a read.  If you missed it, you missed something excellent.

Aren Maeir informed us that a DVD of the 2008 Gath season was available and that it contains photos and a powerpoint from the dig.  Hopefully more excavations will see this and do it themselves.  What a wonderful counterbalance to the nonsense too many people see on the Discovery Channel and other media outlets when it comes to the archaeology of the Southern Levant. I requested a copy for myself, but alas, it still has not arrived at the time of this posting.

Conferences

Naturally most ‘conference’ chatter had to do this month with the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Boston.  Mark Goodacre provided a good ‘guide‘ to attendees and though it’s too late for this year (now) it still is great advice for anyone attending any academic conference.  Just substitute ‘SBL’ with any other conference name.  A number of bloggers were scheduled to present, as we learned from Stephen Carlson (who I thought had died because he now only posts once a quarter or so) who had learned it from Doug Mangum.

A few bloggers also posted reports from the meeting including, but not limited to Eric Sowell (who had the worst SBL Day 1 ever!), Stephen Carlson (yes I know I just mentioned him, but he does have a photo of his fantastically expensive room and is carrying on the tradition of sharing it), Jim Dvorak (no relation to Antonin, and Jim’s a bit nervous about reading his first paper), James Spinti (who has small drawers and wants everyone to see them), Sean Winter (who clearly doesn’t have the kind of money Stephen Carlson does if his hotel room is any indication), Danny Zacharias (who attended even though crippled with a back injury- now that’s devotion!), Stephen Cook (who manages, somehow or other, to work in mention of his newest book), the guy who writes the Hebrew and Greek Reader blog (and I don’t know his name, but I do know he says that the Brill rep told him that ‘Amazon doesn’t help students, we do’!!!!!!  and that ‘we want our prices to be competitive’!!!!! which saying resulted in, for me, a ‘what the heck’ moment of tremendous cognitive dissoncance)(and by the way, don’t tell Ker there’s such a thing as that blog- he thinks Hebrew and Greek are irrelevant and that, apparently, the Bible dropped from heaven in English just for people too bloody lazy to learn languages), Josh McManaway (who likes April DeConick better than Bart Ehrman, but don’t we all), Michael Thompson (who actually utters the unspoken truth we all know- that most papers read at SBL are dull and boring), Chris Heard (who seems to be a prophet as his posts for Saturday, Sunday  and Monday were titled ‘SBL 2009′ (or were originally) and who seems newly smitten of the theories of Avalos, but who did the best job of reporting from the meeting of anyone who attended), Mike Whitenton (a grad school hopeful who met with Charlesworth and a few other superstars), Philip Davies, who as always has some astute remarks to make about the whole thing here, and last, but not least (although most laconic), James Crossley.

If you just can’t get enough of the blogger reportage from the meeting, check out Jimbo McGrath’s delightfully thorough and whimsical collection of linkiosity here.  Just don’t pay any attention to his calling James Spinti ‘Jim’.  Spinti hates that, and one day the wrath of Spinti will rain down on McGrath’s unsuspecting head.

But the SBL wasn’t the only November conference (though we sometimes become a bit parochial and think it’s the only game in town).  Brian Gordon Lutalo Drumond Kibuuka informs us of a fascinating gathering held Nov 24-26 titled “História, Memória e Literatura Bíblica“.

Up further north, way north, in Canada, Michael Helfield posts a piece on the Canadian Biblical Studies annual meeting, taking place in May (while it’s still nice and not freezing up there, I’m guessing).  You might not be familiar with Michael’s blog but he does some excellent work.  And he’s a student!  Who woulda’ thought it.

Hebrew Bible

NT Wrong, who in the month of November, had a quest launched to discover his true identity, titled by Roland Boer the Quest of the Historical NT Wrong, posted a very fine examination of Hosea 2 which he posits puns.  Art Boulet has a very, very cool post on the Prophet Jonah that I found just simply delightful.  Tune in for his Monday Midrash (and that has nothing to do with a rash around his middle).  It’s nice, from time to time, to be reminded of books we all read years ago but haven’t thought much about since.

Speaking of books, Scott Bailey offered us a peek into Kenton Sparks’ recent volume, God’s Word in Human Words. And what a thorough job he did of it too.  Nick Meyer has a fine post in which he interacts with Goldingay’s Daniel commentary.  Nick is obviously a young man or he would change that wretched dark background with its light font which is nearly impossible for older folk to read.  Still, it’s worth the effort because for a young fellow he’s pretty insightful.

Martin Shields, an Aussie, actually began blogging in September but I hadn’t heard of it till November and I don’t recall anyone else mentioning it either (but if you did, I’m sorry I missed it).  In any event, give Martin a read.  His blog is titled ‘Shields Up‘, a reference, we are led to believe, to Star Trek [and why is it that so many bloggers are total geeks?].

In other related matters, Jay Crisotomo discussed the ANE with 6th graders; someone named Jim Getz provided a transcription of the new Zincirli inscription (dependent upon Pardee); and the always Abnormally interesting Duane Smith did a piece on Isaiah 1:23 [and thanks to Duane for pointing these out].

New Testament

Nijay Gupta, a student follower of Wright and so a total nutjob at Durham, posted early in the month another segment of his review of Moo and in it makes some sage observations and raises some interesting questions on commentaries and audience-identity crises.   James Crossley’s forthcoming book, Jesus in an Age of Terror, was summarized a bit in October by its author and a bit more in November as well.  I had a chance to read the book in its earliest incarnation and really do think intelligent people will enjoy it.  Meanwhile, Mark Goodacre carried out a very thoroughgoing examination of the dates of the Gospels in an extensive series.

Mike [no last name because he is apparently as famous as Cher and so doesn't think he needs one] did a series in November too and those inclined (or bent twisted) in the direction of linguistic theory as it applies to Koine will want to take a gander; and Carl ‘The Retired’ Conrad offered a guest book review on James Spinti’s blog on a related topic.

Manuel has an engaging albeit brief examination of the dicey little phrase εἰς ἀπάντησιν which you’ll want to take a look at.  And Colin Toffelmire (whose name always makes me think of the Devil (Teufel)) posted on Moses in Acts 7 and 2 Corinthians 3 (which means Chris Tilling ought to give it a read since he’s writing his dissertation on such things).  Colin’s blog is another one of those ‘little known’ sites that certainly deserves wider mention.

Daniel Kirk began, on the 5th of the month, posting a series on Romans (in connection with his new book on just that text).  If you’ve always wondered about Romans, take a look at Dan’s series (or if you care about his economic well being, his book), as he has unlocked it [Romans] for us, or at least claims to (though I think he’s a bit overhasty in tossing Luther out with one wave of the finger).

Doug Chaplin – that nearly always salacious Brit – has a rather good reading of the parable of the wise and ‘well oiled’ virgins of Matthew and he posted virtually nothing else worth reading the entire month.  I hope he’s well.  But speaking of salacious, Brant Pitre posted this month on The Pastoral Epistles and the Circumcision Party.  Party?  Hardly.

James McGrath continues his journey down the rabbit hole in quest of the historical Jesus and opens a series on ‘what Jesus said and did’ with a look at the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane and Divorce (and then the series died before it took another step forward in November); and Flavio Souza makes the same trek down the rabbit hole- concerning Jesus’ birth.  These lads clearly have shorted their education’s in failing to take proper account of Bultmann.  Meanwhile, little Tommy Verenna discusses Mark’s Reading of Malachi and 1 Corinthians (though I’m not so sure Mark read, or even knew of, 1 Corinthians.  But then again, I’m hard to convince).

Chris Tilling emerged from a month of virtual silence [because he was hanging out with Doug Chaplin perhaps?] to ask ‘are the Gentiles the lost tribes of Israel?’  Those of us who know and love Chris are used to his bizarre posings.  If you don’t know him, dive on in, the water’s deep.

And finally, on a text critical matter, Jan Krans does a bit of in-depth investigation in the textual history of the Gospel of John.  Really fascinating stuff there, but not for the faint of heart.

Stuff That Isn’t Worthy of Being in the New Testament

Rick Brannan began a series on Klauck’s Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles.  As we all know, if this stuff were really any good, it would have made it into the canon.  But I like Rick and he has a cute baby, so I’ve decided to add this category just for him.

Dead Sea Scrolls

November was fortunate enough to see the coming to life inauguration of a blog by Bob Cargill, the innovative mind behind Virtual Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition so many of us visited in San Diego and elsewhere.  But it was unfortunate in that yet another assault on common sense was leveled at the Royal Ontario Museum’s upcoming exhibition of the scrolls by the Golb-ians.

Craig Blomberg reports the old news of the discovery of a fragment of Nehemiah as new news.  Nonetheless, it was known back in July.  And then he gets a bit testy because I simply mentioned the fact.  Alas, another soul disenchated of me.  How will I go on…

Miscellaneous

November kicked this category off on the very first day of the month when the interview with Roland Boer was posted at Biblioblogs.com.  If you were, by chance, too sick to your stomach from your overindulgence because of Satan’s Day Halloween and missed it, be sure to give it a look.  Roland’s a genuinely fascinating guy.  While you’re at it, you should probably bookmark his blog too.

James Davila made mention of the development of an Online Aramaic Curriculum.  So if you’ve ever wanted to learn Aramaic, it may be time, and  David Instone-Brewer wrote an interesting piece on the future of the printed book over at Tyndale Tech (though he’s probably wrong to worry so much).

One of the most prolific of the bibliobloggers reached a milestone worth noting and celebrating- so we want to congratulate Jan Pieter van de Giessen for surpassing 500,000 visitors.  Well done and quite impressive.  JP’s blog is in Dutch, but thanks to Babelfish, it’s comprehensible.  .  On the other hand, the least prolific blogger is Matthew Hooper, who managed to squeeze out two whole posts in 2008 (through November anyway).  That, my friends, is a disgrace for a biblioblogger record!

Another milestone was reached in November by Airton Jose de Silva who celebrated the 9th year of his biblical resources pages.  Congratulations to him!

Edmund Ho, whom you have probably never heard of, is a very fine biblioblogger who writes in both English and Chinese and I commend his blog to you just now for the simple reason that I think you should know of it, and him.

Gavin Rumney, the gifted mind behind Otagosh (don’t ask me what it means, he’s Australian so it most likely has something to do with beer) offers some insights into the difficulties of getting good books down under.

We can’t leave November without mentioning the Presidential election in the US which, though not strictly speaking, an issue for Biblical Studies, it nonetheless received a lot of attention by various bibliobloggers.  For a taste, see Tim Ricchuiti’s piece.

Stuff You Should Know But Might Not…

This final category really is beyond the boundaries of the traditional Carnival, but hey, what’s the point of doing these things if you can’t make them your own in some way.  So here are some things that you probably should know, but might not.  Until now, anyway:

Martin Luther was born November 10, 1483.  Hans Tausen, the Reformer of Denmark, died on November 11, 1561.  Similarly, on November 11, but in 1491, Martin Bucer was born.  And again, on November 11, in 1855, Soren Kierkegaard died.  Another notable soul you should know who perished in November was Johannes Oecolampadius, friend of Zwingli (you knew that was coming) and Reformer of Basel, on the 24th of the month.  Oecolampadius died of the plague, just a little over a month after his dear Zurich friend perished at the brutal hands of the Catholic forces at Kappel-am-Albis.

These are things you should know…  I hope you enjoyed your visit and do be sure to check out the blogs linked to here.  What I’ve chosen is only a small portion of the good work they do [except for Chaplin's.  That one post was the only good thing he's ever done, bless his heart].  Finally, I’ll close with a poll: