EGLBS / CBA / ASOR Annual Meeting (April 10-11, 2003)

ABSTRACTS (listed alphabetically)

David C. Aune, “Fearing Rightly: Toward an Evaluation of Fear in Paul’s Letters”

This paper focuses on the concept of fear and the rhetorical strategies associated with fear in Paul’s letters. In part one, I provide an overview and categorization of Paul’s “fear language,” distinguishing the nature of the fear being described in specific passages, the various objects of fear, and the function of fear within the discursive structure of Paul’s letters. In part two, I advance two interrelated arguments. Paul associates harmful fears with disobedience to God and rejection of the gospel message. However, Paul also provides a surprisingly positive assessment of other fears that draws upon both Hebraic and Hellenistic moral instruction. Paradoxically, persons experience freedom from human fears when they fear God rightly. 

Wayne Baxter,“1Q Sb: Old Divisions Made New”

The Rule of the Benedictions (1Q Sb) is a fragmentary series of blessings written by the Qumran sect.  The structural breakdown of this document is highly disputed but has sizeable implications for the Qumran dual messiah debate.  While a number of structural subdivisions have been argued, these proposals tend to overlook an important piece to the 1Q Sb puzzle, viz., that 1Q Sb has thematic parallels with Deut 33:6-29 and Num 25:7-13.  This paper will argue that when these parallels are taken into account they support the theory that the three extant subheadings offer the best breakdown of this document.

Leigh-Ann Bedal, “The Petra Garden & Pool Complex Excavations”

In the summer of 1998, a survey and excavation was carried out in the so-called “Lower Market” at Petra, the capital of ancient kingdom of Nabataea. The surprising result was the identification of the site as a pool-complex with a monumental swimming-pool and island-pavilion and an elaborate hydraulic system that irrigated a large earthen terrace. The subsequent application of ground-penetrating radar (GPR), combined with exploratory excavations and soil cores, revealed valuable information about the garden terrace’s stratigraphy and architectural characteristics. Based on parallels in the archeological and historical record of the region, the Petra Pool-Complex has been identified as the site of a pleasure garden built in the style of the palace gardens of Herod the Great. Hellenistic paradeisoi.  

John S. Bergsma, “Ezekiel’s Temple as ‘Built Jubilee’’

Several scholars have noted that the dimensions of the temple envisioned in Ezekiel 40-48 seem based on multiples of the number 50.  Walter Zimmerli suggests the number 50 signifies the institution of the jubilee, which was to be observed every 50 years.  Developing Zimmerli'’s suggestion, this paper explores the possibility that Ezekiel’s visionary temple is an architectural expression of liberation, a “built jubilee.”  Specifically, the paper will consider Ezekiel’s temple vision as an example of inner-biblical interpretation. i.e. Ezekiel 40-48 draws on themes from Leviticus 25.  As such, the Book of Ezekiel is one of the earliest re-interpretations of the institution of the jubilee.

Keith Bodner, “The Royal Conscience According to 4QSama: A Comparative Interpretation”

In this presentation I would like to explore a small variant in 2 Sam 11:3 offered by 4QSama. The MT reads “And David sent and inquired about the woman, and he said, 'Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?'”, but the Qumran text includes the phrase “Uriah the Hittite armor-bearer of Joab?” at the end of the sentence. Josephus (Ant. 7.7.1) also includes the phrase. This raises several interpretative issues for the characters of Joab and Uriah in this narrative, as well as “David's troubled conscience” which emerges. I will conclude with several observations on the “scribal performance” in this text.

George Wesley Buchanan, “Scrolls, Scripture, and Monasteries”

New archaeological discoveries show that the City of David was only a small town of about 10-12 acres in size behind the Spring of Siloam.  On this small ridge were David’s palace, Solomon’s Zerubbabel’s, and Herod’s temples.  At least one monastery existed there in NT times.  These new insights provoke a reexamination of the Habakkuk Commentary, The Book of Hebrews, and passages from the Book of Revelation that seem to reflect the same theological and political views, a similar date, and possibly a similar geographical location. 

Ann Coble, “Hermeneutics in the Cotton Patch, or the Patchwork Hermeneutic of Clarence Jordan”

This paper explores the variety of ways that Civil Rights advocate and Koinonia Farm founder Clarence Jordan interpreted the Biblical texts in his Cotton Patch versions.  I argue that Jordan did not have a consistent hermeneutic, but incorporated a variety of interpretive methods. Using examples from particular texts, I point out that Jordan pieced together ideas he had heard at seminary, theology common in fundamentalist Baptist circles, and unique interpretations of his own, forming an inconsistent and unpredictable hermeneutic. I call this his patchwork hermeneutic.

Margaret E. Cohen, “Soldier or Shepherd: Discerning Sources in I Samuel 17” 

I Samuel 17, the David and Goliath story, betrays two underlying narrative versions but resists easy division of these versions into two discrete constituent sources.  Scholarship has tackled the Goliath pericope, attempting this division of sources in various ways, to no clear consensus.  This paper seeks to address the composite nature of Chapter 17, particularly in response to the work of Tov and McCarter on this topic.  Two individual sources remain in the Goliath account, in a combination more interwoven than McCarter suggests, and may be separated to reveal two traditions with disparate agendas—David as soldier and David as shepherd.  Of equal importance, however, is the intricacy with which the two personae have been sewn together to produce David the hero.

Maureen Connolly, “The Golden Calf and the Dance of Death: Articulating an Embodied Reading of the Golden Calf Stories of Exodus 32 and Deuteronomy 9”

Semiotic choreology (an interpretive strategy utilizing Laban movement analysis and semiotic phenomenology) will be employed in an effort to disclose embodied tensions between law and transgression. A particular emphasis on posture, gesture and movement within the narratives allows a more somaticized understanding of the contrasts, contradictions, and consequences of competing bodily expressions in the interpretation of sacred texts.

Jeffrey Cooley, “The Ideal Calendar in Mesopotamian, Biblical and Early Jewish Traditions”

In recent studies of the Mesopotamian tradition of astronomy-astrology, it has become clear that the concept of the Ideal Calendar was foundational to the ancient Near Eastern conception of the cosmos.  This Ideal Calendar, whose realization was essential to a properly functioning universe, was established at creation by the creator deity as part the ideal cosmos.  After introducing the concept and origins of the Ideal Calendar in Mesopotamia, this study will explore its reflexes in Israelite (in the priestly source), and early Jewish traditions (Jubilees, Enoch, and the Dead Sea Scrolls).

Michael R. Cosby, “I’m An Apostle, Dang It!”

When Paul vindicates himself against attack, he vigorously asserts his apostolic authority and often responds defensively with cutting sarcasm. Sometimes he employs autobiographical summaries to assert his credibility (e.g., Gal. 1-2; 2 Cor. 10:1-12:13; Phil. 3:4-11; 1 Thess. 2:1-12). Sometimes he caustically contrasts his own knowledge and spiritual maturity with the ignorance and immaturity of his addressees (e.g., 1 Cor. 2:6-4:21). Regardless of his means of defending his character and his gospel, however, modesty plays a very small role when he exalts his authority and virtues. Even when he boasts of his own weakness (e.g., 2 Cor. 11:28-12:13), he does so in a contest for restoring his honorable position as apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul is not bashful about telling Christians to “keep on doing the things that you have learned and heard and seen in me” (Phil. 4:9). This paper explores Paul’s use of ethos in his argumentation methods. 

Tom Craig, “Executing Order at the Borderland of Promise: A Semanalytic Exploration of Body Politics in the Wild”

Two golden calf stories (Ex 32, Deu 9) are presented within the foundational narrative context of Mosaic speeches at the borderland of promise. While these stories of covenant-breaking idolatry occur at the idealized threshold of promised land, they also disclose a curious contest of “bodies caught in a morass of fundamental tensions” (Eilberg-Schwartz 1997). In this essay, I utilize Kristeva’s semanalysis (1996, 1997) of the “sense and nonsense of Revolt” and Weiss’ (1999) phenomenological appropriation of her notion of abjection to explore semiotic activity that reconfigures symbolic order through a fantasy of death that purges the taint of defilement.

John Crawford, “Judah’s Best Friend: The Name and Meaning of Caleb”

While the denotation of the term keleb is fairly certain within the corpus of epigraphic and Biblical Hebrew, its connotation remains ambiguous.  When applied to humans in the Bible, its use is almost universally pejorative.  However, one of the groups understood to be crucial to the early formation of Israel bears keleb as its eponym, likely indicating other connotations.  This paper seeks to examine the uses of the term keleb in epigraphic and Biblical Hebrew and in cognate languages in order to determine the range of its meanings and reasons why it may have been chosen to designate the Calebites.

E. T. A. Davidson, “The Comedy of Horrors”

Judges comprises almost every classic feature of comedy known to literature from antiquity to the present day. Readers may sense this humor but ignore it for two reasons: first, they do not expect to find it in the Bible, and second, the comedy is counterbalanced? even neutralized? by the book’s horrors. It is indeed, black comedy. Besides giving examples of this, I will discuss the book’s iconic character, the ‘preposterous situations,’ the trickster figure, and a theory of how these folk tales were transmitted by ancient storytellers as a performance art. My analysis employs Bakhtin’s classification of ‘grotesque humor’ from his great book on Rabelais.

Benjamin Fiore, S.J., “Intimations and Death in the Nativity of Jesus: Scripture and Art”

The infancy narratives foreshadow the passion and death of Jesus in a variety of ways (e.g. the slaughter of the innocents, the statement of Simeon to Mary).  It is not surprising, therefore, to notice Passion themes in paintings about the Nativity and also in poems and carols.  This paper surveys the links between Nativity and Passion in a variety of works of art and relates them to the biblical texts and the traditions that grew up around them.

Aaron M. Gale, “The Location of the Matthean Community”

This paper discusses the location of the community associated with Matthew’s Gospel.  For decades tradition and other factors have placed this Jewish Christian community in the Syrian city of Antioch.  Yet there are many cogent reasons to question this hypothesis. Instead, careful examination of social-historical and literary factors, as well as the evidence provided via recent archaeological excavations, suggest that Galilee may instead be a more plausible location.  In particular, the city of Sepphoris is suggested as the Matthean community's place of origin.

Terry Giles and William Doan, "Prophets, Performance and Power: Sons of the Prophets and Prophetic Call Narratives in the Hebrew Bible"

This paper argues for a social theatrical tradition found in select episodes of the Hebrew Bible. As with the playwrights and acting companies of 5th Century Athens and the confraternities and guilds of the Middle Ages, the Hebrew Prophetic tradition also played an essential role in the creation and dissemination of social power and authority through theatrical performance. This paper argues that an examination of the social function of the pre-classical "Sons of the Prophets," and the "Call Narratives" found in the later, classical Hebrew Prophets, reveals a similar pattern of theatrical performance essential to the creation and dissemination of social power and authority and suggests that the Hebrew Prophet movement can be understood in social theatrical terms.

James Constantine Hanges, “Do We Really Need to Take the Damascus Road: Ancient Epiphanies and Imagining Paul's Conversion Experience”

Focusing on three critical points, this paper extends recent scholarly doubts about the historical usefulness of Paul's Damascus Road experience. First, increasingly Pauline scholars recognize the difficulties Paul's letters present to reconstructions of Paul’s thought and self-understanding that assume a singular and definitive Damascus Road epiphany. Second the sociology of conversion compounds these difficulties, showing that personal conversion accounts are social constructs. As the third point, this paper reviews relevant Hellenistic-Roman analogies to the Damascus Road construct, epiphanic commission narratives that confirm the sociology of conversion and suggest serious re-evaluation of Paul's experience. 

Tawny L. Holm, “Giving Birth to Monsters: The Ancient Near Eastern Background of Early Jewish Gynecology”

As a document of the Jewish diaspora in Babylon, the Babylonian Talmud preserves aspects of the intellectual and scientific heritage of Ancient Mesopotamia.  This paper investigates the relationship of Talmudic regulations on gynecological discharges and miscarriages, especially the Niddah tractate, and Akkadian omen collections such as the teratogenic series Sˇumma izbu (“if a foetus…”), which deals with abnormal or monstrous births.  This study can illuminate not only the origins of early Jewish gynecology, but also reveal the epistemological nature of the scientific method that frames omen literature. 

J. S. Illingworth and M. L. Greek,  “Perishables and Perishable Construction Technology from Early Bronze Age Sites of the Southeastern Dead Sea Plain”

Excavations at the Early Bronze Age sites of Bâb edh-Dhrâc (EBI-IV) and Numeira (EBII-III), both on the Jordanian Dead Sea Plain, have produced nearly 11,000 specimens of textiles, cordage, and basketry impressions, as well as 74 implements associated with perishable production. Analysis of these materials shows a very complex in situ weaving technology with the presence of small-scale textile “factories” or “mills,” a possible correlation between certain perishable production activities and religious precincts, and clues to both living and mortuary dress. Additionally, analyses suggest that the nature of textile production differed between these two sites and that textile manufacture at both sites is fundamentally different from previous models that often consider textile production from this region to be very similar to that of contemporaneous Egypt.  

Lee A. Johnson, “The Manifestation of Tongues at Corinth: From ‘Pneumatic Democracy’ to Charismatic Oligarchy”

The first section of this paper will argue that Paul's success in founding the Corinthian community primarily depended not upon his rhetorical skills, as is commonly argued, but upon his ecstatic speech (cf. 1 Cor 2.4b; 14.18).  Using cross-cultural studies, part two will demonstrate that the manifestation of the gift of tongues, which initially fostered egalitarian participation in the worship gatherings evolved into a means of social stratification and conflict among the Corinthians, leading to Paul's repudiation of the once-vaunted gift of tongues.  Paul’s correspondence reflects his discomfort in his forced devaluation of one of the hallmarks of his apostolic authority in Corinth.  

Michael Johnson, “Judges As Creative Problem Solvers”

The formal approach to creative problem solving known as “CPS” has been used extensively, effectively, and profitably for over 50 years in all kinds of educational and commercial settings. This presentation builds on my first foray (2 years ago at this meeting) into the uncharted territory of reading portions of the Hebrew Scriptures through the lens of CPS assumptions and techniques.  The focus today will be on selected portions of Judges.

Séan P. Kealy, C.S.Sp., “My Journey with Mark's Gospel”

It is important, not to say interesting, to reflect on one's biblical journey. Mark’s gospel played a key and surprising role for me. I began in Ireland and it led to a tour of European libraries, to the USA, and then to Africa, which radically changed my approach. There it led to two books: one on Mark's key question of Who Do You Say That I Am?, and the other, A History of Interpretation of Mark’s Gospel. A sabbatical in the USA led to a reflection on the variety of approaches to Mark in western society. However, the African experience led to a view of Mark as the most disturbing of gospels yet as Hope for Our Tragic Times. This led to further reflection in Mark: The Conversation Continues, The Story of Mark, and later, Mark: The Gospel of the Millennium and The New Commentaries on Mark. Perhaps it was the poet, Kathy Galloway, from Gana, Scotland, who best grasped the mission of Mark.

Angela Y. Kim, “Signs of Redactional Strategies in the Thanksgiving Hymns from Qumran”

The Thanksgiving Hymns are known from at least 8 different manuscripts discovered at Qumran with the best preserved collection found in the Cave 1 scroll, 1Qha.  This paper will look for signs of redaction in the scroll 1Qha.  In particular, we will look for signs of two specific redactional strategies: the use of Stichwortverkettung (catchword phrases) and the presence of an overarching theme that unifies the hymns into a single collection. 

Jinkyu Kim, “Strategic Positioning of Royal Psalms in Books IV-V”

As Wilson demonstrated there was a strategic positioning of Pss 2, 72, and 89 at the seams of Books I-III, I attempt to determine a similar positioning technique of royal psalms (Pss 101, 110, 132, and 144) in Books IV-V of the Psalter.  This study presupposes a difference in editorial techniques between Books I-III and IV-V (which many scholars already accept); nevertheless, the final editor makes use of a similar positioning technique of royal psalms in the subgroups of Books IV-V.  This study will conclude with a suggestion that such a positioning, as in Books I-III, was motivated by the editor’s eschatological agenda in the Second Temple period. 

Joseph Kozar, S.M., “When ‘Circumfession’ Isn’t Enough: Understanding Murder of the Newly Circumcised Shechemites Subsequent to Shechem’s Rape of Dinah (Gen. 34)” 

Jacque Derrida in Acts of Religion speaks of the phallic cults at the core even of the three great monotheistic religions.  These have been founded on the ordeal of circumcision (literal in Judaism and Islam and interior, with St. Paul, in Christianity).  Derrida points out the irony that the most lethal violent outbursts of violence in these faiths single out women as victims not simply of murder but also of the rape and mutilation which frequently precede it.  In Genesis 34 all the elements that Derrida outlines exist.  Dinah is raped and the Shechemites murdered after the “mutilation” of circumcision.  While controversy has surrounded the question of the Dinah’s rape (forced sexual imposition or agreed sexual union), the circumstances of the Shechemites deserves equal attention.  This paper is examines why the blood rite of circumcision did not negate the threat of divergent culture of the Canaanite children of Hamor.  Indeed, the women, children and household goods of the slain Shechemite converts became the booty of Dinah’s brothers. 

Jackie D. Leigh, “Honor, Shame, Resurrection”

Honor and Shame were taken more seriously in the culture of Jesus, than in our post modern age, here in, the U.S.  From the time Jesus forsook his status setting of a job, and became a prophet, he caused ruptures of relationships.  First his family tried to restrain him.  Next his home village cast him out.  His disciples, having supported him, were over whelmed by his failure to fight, and they ran away.  He was executed by the unclean.  Yet, on Pentecost the disciples, his family and friends were again gathered in his praise.  Why?  Resurrection? 

John Maier, “Cloistered Men and Sacred Marriages”

This paper presents textual and visual evidence for a little-known alternative to conventional ba’al marriages in ancient Sumer.  Known as “entrance” marriage, it differed from the better-known contractual relationship that centered on physical paternity.  In “entrance” marriage the man enters into the household of his wife and abandons his own family; the house of the wife is the property and life base of the family; children take the name of the woman’s family.  “Entrance” marriage explains some anomalies of the so-called Sacred Marriage of the goddess Inanna and her lovers in Sumerian texts, “Shulgi X,” and “The Iddin-Dagan Hymn,” and in the Akkadian Enuma Elish.  Earlier than the texts are the scenes on the Uruk Vase and cylinder seal impressions from Archaic Uruk. 

Sarah J. Melcher, “‘In the Midst of a Burning Fiery Furnace’: Interpretations of Biblical Prophecy in African American Anti-Slavery Pamphlets” 

Interpretations of biblical prophecy are prominent in African American anti-slavery pamphlets from the period of 1790-1860. This paper will explore the diverse applications of prophetic motifs within these pamphlets in order to discern which aspects of prophecy were found to be persuasive to African American liberation writers of the antebellum period. From Robert Alexander Young’s intimation of his prophetic function to Maria W. Stewart’s comparison of herself to Jeremiah, the prophetic allusions in such pamphlets are rich.

Jeffrey L. Morrow, “The ‘Sign of the Cross’ in the Acts of Paul and Thecla”

In the Acts of Paul and Thecla the phrase tupos tou staurou has been variously translated by scholars. Contemporary translators often include an explanatory gloss, “she extended out her arms,” relying on a Latin variant found in the critical edition of the Greek text of the Acts of Paul and Thecla. Relying on the context of the passage, as well as the precedent set in Ezekiel and Revelation for marking the forehead with a sign, I argue that tupos tou staurou in this passage is very likely tracing a cross on Thecla’s forehead, as a protective sign.

Sejin Park, “Filling in the Gaps: Ancient Interpretations of Genesis 9:18-29”

Abstract: Eric Auerbach in his famous essay, “Odysseus’ Scar,” describes the Hebrew Bible as “fraught with background” in comparison to Homeric epic. As happens so often in the Hebrew Bible, the text does not tell us all we wish to know about what really happened and why. Meir Sternberg calls this phenomenon “gaps”; they require the reader to supply the missing information in order to make sense of the text. Furthermore, he shows how this often leads to multiple possible readings for any given text. Gen 9:18-29 contains many of these narrative gaps. This study will focus on five gaps in this text that various ancient interpreters have “filled” in various ways.

Suzanne Richard, “The Final Report on the Unique Early Bronze IV Gateway at Khirbet Iskander”

The EB IV Gateway at Khirbet Iskander gives us a rather remarkable lens through which to view a level of social complexity not hitherto seen in this so-called “pastoral nomadic” period, ca. 2300-2000 BCE.   Three well-stratified superimposed EB IV phases provide the evidence for Early Bronze Age traditions continuing after the collapse of the urban EB III cities. Utilizing the conclusions of the specialist reports in the final report on the flora, fauna, geomorphology, ceramic, lithic, and stratigraphic materials, as well as comparative materials, the paper seeks to assess the impact of Khirbet Iskander on late third millennium BCE studies.   

John Ross, “The Case for the Identification of the Biblical Joseph in Hittite Historical Texts”

The “Joseph narratives” have been accepted by most scholars as having their origins in the distant memories of the Hyksos entry into Egypt in the 18th century BCE. This view has remained unchallenged despite the structural literary integrity of the story as a “novella” written by a single author in the 8th or 7th century BCE.   Following the connection that the Israelite monarchy was Neo-Hittite in nature, the paper examines Hittite historical texts with the Biblical text and provides 20 separate points of evidentiary identification that “Joseph” was the young Hittite king Urhi-Teshup who was deposed in a family coup d’etat. 

Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, “In Huius Vitae Eremo: The Tabernacle in Isidore of Seville's Commentary In Exodum”

Modern commentaries on the book of Exodus tend not to pay much attention to the account of the Tabernacle, but this has not always been the case. The seventh century bishop, Isidore of Seville, devotes a little less than a third of his allegorical commentary on Exodus to it -- roughly the same percentage as the canonical text does. This paper is an introduction to Isidore's commentary on Exodus and its theological interpretation of the Tabernacle. But it also addresses the question, why does Isidore treat the Tabernacle at such length when modern commentators pay much less attention to it?

Alex Varughese, “Jeremiah’s Oracles Concerning the Royal Family”  

The paper aims to show that though the priests, the false prophets, and the political leaders all share the responsibility for Judah’s demise, the Jeremiah tradition singles out the Davidic kings and the royal family as the primary architects of the national calamity of 587.  The Jeremiah tradition rejects the conventional schemes of Israel’s royal ideology that claimed sacrosanct and irrevocable relationship between God and the Davidic family.  The author comes to this conclusion after evaluating all the crucial texts in the book where references to the Judean kings or the royal family are found.

Lisa Wells, “An Interpretation of Matthew 5:38-42”

In this paper, I will demonstrate that the author of the Gospel of Matthew deliberately organized the lex talionis section of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:38-42) to correspond with the sentiments portrayed and grammar used in the passion narrative appearing later in the Gospel. To accomplish this, I will rely on socio-historical and socio-political analysis, as well as linguistics and form criticism.  I will further demonstrate that this passage constitutes an anti-Zealot polemic that solidifies the contrast between Christ and Judas in the passion story. 

Jamie M. A. Williams, “Deceiving Deception: An Experimental Documentary”

This presentation centers on a film interpretation of the story of Tamar and Judah (Gen 38).   The cycle of motivation-disguise-repercussion is developed through the juxtaposition of disconnected contemporary images reflecting woman's reversal of powerlessness.  The genre of experimental documentary allows for the inclusion of visual elements that express the disorientation of the repudiated woman and outmaneuvered man.  The project is an attempt to develop non-traditional modes of biblical interpretation.  The presentation will include comments on the artistic process in the production of the film and allow for discussion of interpretive moves and the practical aspects of technical implementation.

Trisha Williams, “Genesis 19:4-11: Stepping Back to See More Clearly”

This investigation of Genesis 19:4-11 shows that when one substitutes the author’s intent with contemporary agendas the story of Lot in Sodom's plot and message suffers.  A close examination reveals that the aspects that ignite controversy and outrage today were mere details within a greater plot to the original audience.  Implementing narrative, historical-critical, social-historical, and social-cultural criticism I conclude that hospitality, rather than homosexuality or female oppression, is the central issue that the author was trying to communicate through this narrative.  In doing this, I rebuke those who claim the story supports an anti-homosexual or sexist sentiment.  Modern day interpreters seek to find meaning for today's society within ancient texts, however there is a great danger of allowing our contemporary ideologies to overshadow the texts original plot and message.  We must always remind ourselves to step back so that we might see more clearly.