Month: August 2009

Recthsgeschichtlicher Kommentar z NT

During a brief visit to Germany this week I became aware of a new NT-commentary project in process. At the present time it is called Rechtsgeschichtlicher Kommentar zum Neuen Testament (RKNT), and is planned to be published in two volumes.

The project has its own webpage here. It tells about the idea behind the project,  who is working on it (ca. 36 persons), and the planned content of the two volumes to be published.

The presentation of the project (in German) is given thus:

Bibelwissenschaft und Rechtswissenschaft haben ein Gebiet gemeinsam, dessen Erforschung noch aussteht: die Rechtsgeschichte des Neuen Testaments.In diesem Kommentar arbeiten ausgewiesene Fachleute der Romanistik, der Judaistik und der Neutestamentlichen Wissenschaft zusammen, um auch Nichtfachleuten darzustellen, was in den Texten jeweils auf dem Spiel steht.

This is an interesting idea and project. You may also check on the webpage what texts they are to deal with; I for my part was somewhat surprised that the Steven-episode of Act 6 is given so little attention in their outline.

….

The commentary as such raises also another issue to me: what is happening to the ‘Commentary-genre’?  We now have a lot of specialized commentaries out there, focusing on some specific aspects of the texts. Let me mention some of the series that come to my mind:

Social-Science Commentary (Fortress Press)

Papyrologische Kommentare zum Neuen Testament (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht)

The Social-Rhetorical Commentaries (by Ben Witherington)

The Two Horizons New Testament Commentaries (Eerdmans)

A Postcolonial Commentary on the New Testament Writings (1 Volume, t&t clark)

Others might surely be added, but these are probably the most prominent. We thus have a  wide field of topics covered by these, and more is probably to come. So, coming from a situation when there was a lot of ‘historical-critical commentaries’ to chose, we now also have to be sure to check up these more specialized volumes.

I do think the whole genre of NT commentary-genre is in a period of change and (probably,) improvement. It might be that the time of the all-embraching commentary is over (and probably has been for some time). In this the commentaries  simply mirror the diversity of methods in vogue in New Testament exegesis.

But will the time ever return when you can sit down with a good  ?00 pages volume, thinking: this will be the one? Probably not!

Paul the Missionary

My Review of

Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2008). Pp. 518. Paper. $32.00. ISBN 978-0830828876.

has now been posted at SBL’s Bookreviews.org.

You can access the review at  http://www.bookreviews.org/BookDetail.asp?TitleId=6977 or directly at http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/6977_7577.pdf

Orality and Scribality

If asked what is new in the horizon of Biblical scholarship, one aspect that should be mentioned is the interest now in how stories and sayings where transmitted in an oral culture. Some prponents of this new interest are stting that there has been much to great emphasis on the textual transmitting to the cost of aspects of oral transmission of the biblical stories.

However, a certain emphasis on an oral stage of e.g., the New Testament texts has not been totally neglected, compare the interest of ‘Traditionsgeschicht’e and ‘Formgeschichte,’ and some further and later elaborations. This new emphasis on orality is nevertheless to be welcomed. A short but good introduction and assessment of some of this more recent research can be found in JDG Dunn’s Jesus Remembered (2003), pp. 192-254.

Now, however, there has been produced a film that presents and discusses these new developments, made by Eugene Botha:

Orality, Print Culture, and Biblical Interpretation.

A trailer of the film can be downloaded at http://www.eugenebotha.co.za/trailer.htm

The background of the film is work carried out in a SBL Seminar, carried on from 2005-2008. I have not seen the film yet, only the trailer, and the announcement on this webpage seems a little bit influenced by a wish to present a definitive new ways of Biblical Interpretation, and as in some other cases, a little overdone. But this new emphasis and research interest is surely something to be welcomed, and something we have to take note of in studies of both testaments of the Bible.

Several of the scholars involved in biblical orality studies in recent times are invoved in this fil production. We quote from the webpage:

In this controversial new film the ramifications of Orality Studies and its impact on New Testament Studies are explored by a number of prominent Biblical scholars like Werner Kelber, Jimmy Dunn, Phil Towner, David Rhoads, David Carr, Gosnell Yorke, James Maxey and others. The interface of Orality Studies and Performance Criticism and the implication of this for Bible Translation are also explored.

How ‘controversial’ this film will be remains however to be seen. I hope it will be representative and thus informative on what is going on in this department of biblical studies.

A Split Jewish Diaspora

I would like to point your attention to a two-part article of which especially the first part should be very interesting not only for students of Diaspora Judaism, but also for readers of the New Testament:

Arye Edrei and Doron Mendels A Split Jewish Diaspora: Its Dramatic Consequences
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 2007 16: 91-137.

Abstract:  “This article proposes that a language divide and two systems of communication have brought to a serious gap between the western Jewish Diaspora and the eastern one. Thus the western Greek-speaking Jews lost touch with the Halakhah and the Rabbis, a condition that had far-reaching consequences on Jewish history thereafter. The Rabbis paid a high price for keeping their Halakhah in oral form, losing in consequence half of their constituency. An oral law did not develop in the western diaspora, whereas the existing eastern one was not translated into Greek. Hence it is not surprising that western Jews contributed nothing to the development of the oral law in the east. The Jewish communities that were isolated from the Rabbinic network served as a receptive basis for the development of an alternative Christian network by Paul and the apostles, which enabled it to spread throughout the Mediterranean basin. The Jews that remained ‘biblical’ surfaced in Europe in the Middle Ages.”

Arye Edrei and Doron Mendels,  A Split Jewish Diaspora: Its Dramatic Consequences II
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 2008 17: 163-187.

Abstract: “The article deals with the consequences of the split Diaspora that was described in Part I of this study (published in JSP 16.2 [2007]: 91-137). This second part demonstrates that the gap between western Jews and eastern ones continued and even widened in the early Middle Ages. The Jews in the west either converted to Christianity or remained biblical Jews. The latter were more agreeable to the Christian environment in Latin Europe, but at the moment the Rabbinic Law and lore started to arrive in Europe, the friction between Christians and Jews increased dramatically. Also, this study shows that the Jews living in the Byzantine Empire underwent the same processes that were experienced by their brethren in Latin Europe due to lack of communication with Rabbinic Judaism. In both Greek and Latin Europe, the Rabbinic revolution arrived circa the ninth century. This article also discusses various reactions to the earlier part of the study and thus add some useful information, clarify and strengthen some of their arguments in part I.”

Abraham Terian on Philo

A-Terian
Prof. Abraham Terian, who has written extensively on Philo of Alexandria, and who is the leading expert on the Armenian textversions of Philo’s works, has kindly pointed out to me some of his relevant articles on Philo. These I find especially valuable as the i.a., discuss aspects of chronology of Philo’s works, and have set forth viewpoints that have found a wide readership and acceptance. I would be very happy if some of these could be published electronically on the web, and thus be even more accessible.

Students of Philo should be aware of esp. the following studies by prof. Terian (a fuller bibliography can be found here):

“A Critical Introduction to Philo’s Dialogues.” In W. Haase, ed., Hellenistisches Judentum in römischer Zeit: Philon und Josephus, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, II Principat vol. 21.1-2. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1984, 1:272-294.

This is the first of three articles devoted to the chronology of Philo’s works, demonstrating that Philo’s “Philosophical Works” or “Dialogues” belong to the closing years of his life, not to his school-days as previously thought.

“The Priority of the Quaestiones among Philo’s Exegetical Commentaries.” In David M. Hay, ed., Both Literal and Allegorical: Studies in Philo of Alexandria’s Questions and Answers on Genesis and Exodus. Brown Judaic Studies 232. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991, pp. 29-46.

This second article on the chronology of the works of the voluminous author, demonstrates that the Quaestiones are the first of Philo’s three grand commentaries, not the last as previously thought.

“Back to Creation: The Beginning of Philo’s Third Grand Commentary.” In David T. Runia and Gregory E. Sterling, eds., Wisdom and Logos: Studies in Jewish Thought in Honor of David Winston. Brown Judaic Studies 312. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991 [=The Studia Philonica Annual 9 (1997)] 19-36.

This third article on the chronology shows the blunders that creep in when De Opificio is placed at the beginning of Philo’s collected works, when in reality it marks the beginning of his third grand commentary or the Exposition of the Law.

I would like to suggest that some of these should be published electronically on the web, and thus be even more accessible, like for instance the introductory studies that are available on my Philo page.

Philo and Apollos

apolllosIn reading the book by Patrick J. Hartin on Apollos (see my posting below) , I came over this statement about the possible relationship between Philo and Apollos: (p.83):

“Since Apollos and Philo both came from the same city and were contemporaries, it is logical to presume that Apollos either knew Philo or at least was familiar with his thinking and writings. Given that Apollos was also well versed in the Scriptures, (Acts 18:24) it can be further conjectured that his understanding of these Scriptures must have been influenced by Philo’s philosophy and teachings. No wonder the Jesus group of Corinth was impressed by his rhetoric as well as his philosophic wisdom in explaining the Scripture’s.”

He is not the first to suggest that Apollos might have been aquainted with Philo, if not directly so at least indirectly. Acts 18:24 does indeed locate Apollos as one coming from Alexandria.
Hartin, however, is keen to distinguish between Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and the Lukan Acts, as works stemming from first and third generation Christians respectively. Hence I had expected a more historical discussion of the relations of these sources: To what degree can Acts be used as a source for how the historical Apollos was or where he did come from? Paul nowhere says Apollos came from Alexandria.
Second: And thus how can this explain he behaviour in Corinth? Some scholars (e.g. Gäckle) characterize the strong ones, presumably present in 1 Cor 8-10, as possibly belonging to the Apollos group (1 Cor 1:12). I would have liked Martin also dealing with such hypotheses concerning Apollos in his otherwise fine book.

Paul’s social network.

In this brief posting, I will like to point to a new series that were launched a year ago, by Bruce J. Malina, and his colleagues in the social context network.

These works deal with Paul’s  coworkers, and so far at least four volumes have been published. The series is called Paul’s social network: Brothers and sisters in Faith, and they share a very specific agenda. The authoras all make use of insights from the Social Sciences as these has been worked out and elaborated on in the Social Contect Group. Readers of the many works by Bruce J. Malina, John J. Pich and several others will know the agenda pretty well. Emphasis is placed upon the individual characters as being not individualistic focused personalities, but part of a culture that put emphasis of the collectivistic cultures in which they were embedded. Their group relatedness become very important, hence also issues as honor and shame, group formations as coalitions, factions and cliques etc etc.

When reading some of the first volumes published, I see there is much overlapping, especially as the various authors present the ideological and social underpinnings of their work. But it probably has to be done in this way if the various books are to be read separately.

The following volumes are published, or soon to be published, all by The Liturgical Press:

Patrick J. Hartin,
Apollos. Paul’s Partner or Rival?
ISBN: 978-0-8146-5263-3
Price: $11.95

Michael Trainor
Epaphras. Paul’s Educator at Colossae
ISBN: 978-0-8146-5230-5
Price: $12.95

Richard S. Ascough
Lydia. Paul’s Cosmopolitan Hostess
ISBN: 978-0-8146-5269-5
Price: $14.95

Joan Cecelia Campbell, CSM, PhD
Phoebe. Patron and Emissary
ISBN: 978-0-8146-5281-7
Price: $11.95
Publication Date: November 2009

John J. Pilch
Stephen. Paul and the Hellenist Israelites
ISBN: 978-0-8146-5229-9
Price: $9.95

Bruce J. Malina, STD
Timothy. Paul’s Closest Associate
ISBN: 978-0-8146-5180-3
Price: $16.95

Back to work

Vacation time is over,- that’s the hard fact of today. Back to work! Having talked to some americal relatives, Irealize I don’t have that much to complain of, having four weeks of summer-vacation and still two more to go. But that that is some of the privileges of leiving in Norway…

The last two weeks of vacation was rather rainy; hence it is somewhat hard to see that the first two days on work has been rather sunny. How come? But at least it gives me a good oppurtunity to enjoy a sunny round of golf this afternoon….

In addition, I was glad to discover – on returning to my office – that my 2009 book has been published:
laermeg
Torrey Seland (red.),
Lær meg din vei. Kristen trosopplæring i går og i dag. En historisk oversikt.
Kyrkjefag Profil nr. 10. Tapir Akademisk Forlag, Trondheim. 199 pp.

It is a brief presentation of the history of christian education, focusing in general upon the western church from Jesus to M. Luther, and then on the further development in Norway from the reformation to the present day.
I wrote the first chapter; on Jesus, Paul and the early church, then Oskar Skarsaune, Oddvar Jensen, Birger Løvlie and Ottar Berge covers the the rest.
The volume is designed to be a historical overview for cathecists, pastors and lay teachers in the church.