tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50506448516646018392024-03-21T20:56:47.453-06:00Sibylline Leaves<strong>On the Jewish & Christian Sibylline Oracles & related literature</strong><p>
<em>Interfaces of Christianity, Hellenism, & Judaism in late antiquity</em>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-1192284169400179442012-01-03T13:00:00.001-06:002012-01-03T13:01:31.378-06:00Figurations of the Sibyl (1)<p class="Quoteprose" style="margin-left:0in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Palatino Linotype","serif""></span></p><blockquote> “La véritable différence est que les Pythies de l’oracle apollinien ont été des femmes réeles et les Sibylles, des êtres imaginaires comparable aux nymphes ou aux muses/The real difference is that Apollo’s Pythian prophetesses were actual women, while the Sibyls are imaginary beings comparable to nymphs or muses.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Gordon/Desktop/2011%20Research/Watley%20-%20Sibylline%20Identities/Watley%20Sibylline%20Identities%20(Most%20Recent%20Edit).doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[1]</span></span></span></a></blockquote><a href="file:///C:/Users/Gordon/Desktop/2011%20Research/Watley%20-%20Sibylline%20Identities/Watley%20Sibylline%20Identities%20(Most%20Recent%20Edit).doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%"> The Sibyls were legendary ancient Greek prophetesses whose unsolicited oracular pronouncements were written, as epic and didactic poetry usually were also, in dactylic hexameter verse. Among the Greeks in classical and Hellenistic times the Sibyls were held in prestige second only to Apollo’s oracle at Delphi. At the same time, Sibylline oracles were accorded even higher honors in Rome: an officially sanctioned collection of them was kept in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, where they were consulted in times of emergency by a board of certified interpreters, the <i>quindecemviri</i>.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Gordon/Desktop/2011%20Research/Watley%20-%20Sibylline%20Identities/Watley%20Sibylline%20Identities%20(Most%20Recent%20Edit).doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; layout-grid-mode:line">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%"> The earliest extant reference to Sibylline prophecy, from Heraclitus (6th/5th century <span style="font-variant: small-caps">bce</span>) as quoted in Plutarch’s <i>De Pythiae Oraculis</i> (1st century <span style="font-variant:small-caps">ce</span>), mentions only one Sibyl, and already she is a shadowy figure of hoary antiquity: “Think of the elegance of Sappho’s songs, that so charm and fascinate the listener! </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language: EL">Σίβυλλα</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 200%"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%; mso-ansi-language:EL">δ</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; line-height:200%">ὲ μαινομ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">έν</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;line-height:200%">ῳ στ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">όματι</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">καθ</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%">’ Ἡρ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">άκλειτον</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%"> ἀγ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">έλαστα</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language: EL">κα</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%">ὶ ἀκαλλ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language: EL">ώπιστα</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 200%"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%; mso-ansi-language:EL">κα</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; line-height:200%">ὶ ἀμ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">ύριστα</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">φθεγγομένη</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%"> </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language: EL">χιλίων</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%"> ἐτῶν ἐξικνεῖται τῇ </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">φων</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; line-height:200%">ῇ διὰ τὸν θε</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">όν</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;line-height:200%">/And contrast the Sibyl, who, from her madwoman’s lips, as Heraclitus tells us, speaks words without laughter, without adornment, without perfume, and reaches through a thousand years with her voice because of the god”.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Gordon/Desktop/2011%20Research/Watley%20-%20Sibylline%20Identities/Watley%20Sibylline%20Identities%20(Most%20Recent%20Edit).doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; layout-grid-mode:line">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The exact extent of the quotation is unclear — does it include </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">μαινομέν</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;line-height:200%">ῳ </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">στόματι</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;line-height:200%">/“from her madwoman’s lips” and does it run from ἀγ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language: EL">έλαστα</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%">/“without laughter” to </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">φθεγγομένη</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;line-height:200%">/“who speaks” or to </span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">τ</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%">ὸν θ</span><span lang="EL" style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-ansi-language:EL">εόν</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%">/“the god” or to somewhere in between? — but even if we assign the reference to a thousand years to Plutarch, the Sibyl will still already have been only a figure of hearsay to Heraclitus, as she clearly was also to Aristophanes and Plato.<a href="file:///C:/Users/Gordon/Desktop/2011%20Research/Watley%20-%20Sibylline%20Identities/Watley%20Sibylline%20Identities%20(Most%20Recent%20Edit).doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:200%; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; layout-grid-mode:line">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <div><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all"> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"> <!--[endif]--> <div id="ftn1"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Gordon/Desktop/2011%20Research/Watley%20-%20Sibylline%20Identities/Watley%20Sibylline%20Identities%20(Most%20Recent%20Edit).doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Nikiprowetsky, <i>Troisième Sibylle</i>, 1.<o:p></o:p></p> </div> <div id="ftn2"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Gordon/Desktop/2011%20Research/Watley%20-%20Sibylline%20Identities/Watley%20Sibylline%20Identities%20(Most%20Recent%20Edit).doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The most comprehensive recent treatment of the Sibyls is Parke, <i>Sibyls and Sibylline Prophecy</i>; see pp. 136-51 and 190-215 on the official Roman collections.<o:p></o:p></p> </div> <div id="ftn3"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Gordon/Desktop/2011%20Research/Watley%20-%20Sibylline%20Identities/Watley%20Sibylline%20Identities%20(Most%20Recent%20Edit).doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Plutarch, <i>De Pythiae Oraculis</i> 397A; translation by Russell, <i>Plutarch: Selected Essays</i> 62, with internal quotation marks omitted.<o:p></o:p></p> </div> <div id="ftn4"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/Gordon/Desktop/2011%20Research/Watley%20-%20Sibylline%20Identities/Watley%20Sibylline%20Identities%20(Most%20Recent%20Edit).doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;line-height:200%;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> See Aristophanes, <i>Equites</i> 61, <i>Pax</i> 116 and 1095; Plato, <i>Phaedrus</i> 244b, <i>Theagenes</i> 124d.<o:p></o:p></p> </div> </div>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-53811645292035947372010-01-02T20:06:00.007-06:002010-01-02T23:43:52.197-06:00Rescheduling the apocalypseAccording to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping">Harold Camping</a> (who I've never heard of before, but that's probably only because I wasn't paying attention), the world is <em>not</em> going to end in December of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190080/">2012</a>, but more that 1.5 years earlier, on <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/01/BA8V1AV589.DTL&feed=rss.news">May 21, 2011</a>.<br /><blockquote>The number 5, Camping concluded, equals "atonement." Ten is "completeness." Seventeen means "heaven." Camping patiently explained how he reached his conclusion for May 21, 2011.<br /><br />"Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D.," he began. "Now go to April 1 of 2011 A.D., and that's 1,978 years."<br /><br />Camping then multiplied 1,978 by 365.2422 days - the number of days in each solar year, not to be confused with a calendar year.<br /><br />Next, Camping noted that April 1 to May 21 encompasses 51 days. Add 51 to the sum of previous multiplication total, and it equals 722,500.<br /><br />Camping realized that (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500.<br /><br />Or put into words: (Atonement x Completeness x Heaven), squared. </blockquote><br />I'm teaching a course on early Jewish and Christian apocalypticism this semester, so Camping's story has won a spot on my syllabus, just for being timely. But I'm wondering whether he took into account the <strong>10 days lost </strong>in the switch <a href="http://www.searchforancestors.com/utility/gregorian.html">from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar</a>? Because it doesn't sound like it. And the last time, his calculations were off a bit (Sept. 6, 1994!), and you wouldn't want to make that mistake twice . . .GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-83974750034529822192008-12-09T21:26:00.007-06:002008-12-09T21:52:30.850-06:00A new book on the Sibylline OraclesMy review of J. L. Lightfoot's <em>The Sibylline Oracles: with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on the First and Second Books</em> (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) is set to appear in <em>The Classical Review</em> (2009) 59.1: 101-3. At xxiv + 613 pages, Lightfoot's is the biggest book on the subject since Alexandre's 1856 <em>Excursus ad Sibyllina </em>(which weighed in at 624 pages of 19th-century scholarly Latin!) and, in addition to bringing the discussion up-to-date (and in English!), will prove (I predict) to be every bit as indispensible as Alexandre's (out-dated and un-Englished though it be) still is.GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-56965479643879311162008-11-30T10:22:00.004-06:002008-11-30T10:26:38.753-06:00And I quote . . .<blockquote>The least of learning is done in the classrooms.</blockquote><p align="right"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/27606.html">Thomas Merton</a></p>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-71371570529304678462008-11-26T02:13:00.005-06:002008-11-26T23:05:58.293-06:00To my Latin students . . .. . . in particular, and to learners of ancient languages in general, I would like to offer these words of encouragement uttered by Tom Hanks' character, Jimmy Dugan, in Penny Marshall's delightful film, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104694/"><em>A League of Their Own</em></a>:<br /><blockquote><p>It's baseball. It's supposed to be hard. If it weren't hard, then everyone would do it.</p></blockquote><p>Have a happy (and be) Thanksgiving!</p>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-52554765513795860442008-09-09T22:25:00.006-06:002008-11-28T17:34:17.304-06:00If you haven't read this little book yet . . .. . . I'm referring to Walter Bruegemann, William Placher, and Brian Blount, <em>Struggling with Scripture</em> (Westminster John Knox 2002) . . . well,<em> </em><a href="http://ntgeeks.blogspot.com/2008/08/one-book-id-recommend-to-church-groups.html">Greg Carey</a> makes a terrific case for why you should.GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-78218755422797752142008-09-09T22:16:00.002-06:002008-09-09T22:21:28.834-06:00If you want to improve your skills in reading biblical Hebrew . . .. . . you should heed the bibliographical advice offered by Stephen Cook at <a href="http://biblische.blogspot.com/2008/09/bibliographic-resources-for-hebrew.html">Biblische Ausbildung</a>.GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-2906733926078842822008-09-09T21:50:00.004-06:002008-09-09T22:00:16.898-06:00Eminently sensible career advice . . .. . . that both undergraduate and gradutate students interested in biblical studies would do well to heed is available at <a href="http://forbiddengospels.blogspot.com/2008/09/long-post-weighing-in-on-avalos-and.html">April DeConick's "Forbidden Gospels"</a> blog. (ī, puella!)GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-46285256174777805752008-09-09T21:33:00.002-06:002008-09-09T21:43:01.616-06:00On plagiarismI learned about this from Stephen Cook's blog <a href="http://biblische.blogspot.com/2008/09/plagiarism-tutorial.html">Bliblische Ausbildung</a>, and since he posted such a delightful cartoon in connection with it, I hope you'll start from there to link to <a href="http://exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com/2008/03/plagiarism-tutorial.html">James McGrath's post</a> on Butler University's Very Clear And Straightforward tutorial about plagiarism. Everyone who teaches undergraduates . . . and anyone who is an undergraduate . . . should pay close attention to it.GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-22284349966612053072008-03-28T20:29:00.008-06:002008-03-29T11:56:49.949-06:00I was going to buy this book eventually anyway<p>But now I have even more reason to, given what it is apparently costing its author, Peter Enns, Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Hermeneutics at Westminster Theological Seminary, for having written it. Visit <a href="http://michaelpahl.blogspot.com/2008/03/peter-enns-suspended.html">the stuff of earth</a> and <a href="http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2008/03/suspension-of-peter-enns.html">Faith and Theology</a> and <a href="http://www.metacatholic.co.uk/2008/03/the-end-of-enns-to-the-acme-of-aquinas/">MetaCatholic</a> to learn more about this developing academic outrage. And be sure to visit Prof. Enns' own weblog at <a href="http://peterennsonline.com/">a time to tear down / A Time to Build Up</a>. A book with consequences like these has got to be worth reading, whether you end up agreeing with it or not.</p><p><a href="http://lh5.google.com/gordonwatley/R-2ppCPXx-I/AAAAAAAAAD4/DHXqPuyn_0E/Enns%20Insp%20and%20Inc%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" height="244" alt="Enns Insp and Inc" src="http://lh6.google.com/gordonwatley/R-2ppSPXx_I/AAAAAAAAAEA/VWSFidjfJZg/Enns%20Insp%20and%20Inc_thumb.jpg" width="244" border="0" /></a></p><p>Available at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inspiration-Incarnation-Evangelicals-Problem-Testament/dp/0801027306/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206755694&sr=1-2">Amazon</a>. Updated links to reviews of Enns' <em>Inspiration and Incarnation</em> and related information are being collected by <a href="http://www.digitalbrandon.com/?p=194">Brandon Withrow</a>.</p>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-3094237243022065992008-02-20T13:48:00.036-06:002008-03-17T14:11:04.259-06:00Honoring Dr Jim West<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGC-LF8rQVsHir_n7VPNKaK9VCJjRt06o6190SWLxSGF0IUBClgCN2vXbG_Xe4dmc0ayHhELU3YlIuFeyCuAluif98VEIV5aGuZ5MNCBhCtZXganXy-Pn-3-FyUcpjjicU00j5ktZWDCA/s1600-h/Dr+Jim+West.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169161182902112210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGC-LF8rQVsHir_n7VPNKaK9VCJjRt06o6190SWLxSGF0IUBClgCN2vXbG_Xe4dmc0ayHhELU3YlIuFeyCuAluif98VEIV5aGuZ5MNCBhCtZXganXy-Pn-3-FyUcpjjicU00j5ktZWDCA/s200/Dr+Jim+West.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p>Somebody ought to be keeping track of the outpouring of support for Jim West since his hugely popular blog's <a href="http://drjimwest.wordpress.com/">untimely demise</a>. Might as well be me. Here's what I've seen so far . . .</p><ul><li>Aantekeningen bij de Bijbel: <a href="http://bijbelaantekeningen.blogspot.com/2008/02/jim-west-blog.html">Jim West Blog</a> </li><li>Ancient World Bloggers Group: <a href="http://ancientworldbloggers.blogspot.com/2008/02/jim-wests-blog.html">Jim West's Blog</a> </li><li>Awilum: <a href="http://awilum.com/?p=515">Open Letter to Jim West - Support Jim by Linking to his Blog</a> </li><li>Bible and Ancient Near East: <a href="http://bibleandancientneareast.blogspot.com/2008/02/deletion-of-jim-wests-blog.html">Deletion of Jim West's Blog</a> </li><li>Biblioblogs: <a href="http://www.biblioblogs.com/2008/02/20/a-scandalous-act/">A Scandalous Act</a> (Jim's farewell speech to the Ephesian elders: "For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God", etc., Acts 20.27 tniv) </li><li>Chrisendom: <a href="http://www.christilling.de/blog/2008/02/from-jim-west.html">From Jim West</a> (the same) </li><li>Codex: <a href="http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/wp/2008/02/20/back-to-blogging/">Back to Blogging</a> </li><li>Dr. Claude Mariottini: <a href="http://www.claudemariottini.com/blog/2008/02/jim-west-note-of-appreciation.html">Jim West: A Note of Appreciation</a> </li><li>Dr. Claude Mariottini: <a href="http://www.claudemariottini.com/blog/2008/02/jim-west-says-goodbye-to-blogging-for.html">Jim West Says Goodbye to Blogging</a> </li><li>Dr. Platypus: <a href="http://pursiful.com/?p=619">What Kind of Craven Slimeball Deletes Another Person's Blog?</a> </li><li>Exploring Our Matrix: <a href="http://exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com/2008/02/around-blogosphere_20.html">Around the Blogosphere</a> </li><li>Higgaion: <a href="http://www.heardworld.com/higgaion/?p=935">I'm not sure what good a link will do . . .</a> </li><li>Idle musings of a bookseller: <a href="http://anebooks.blogspot.com/2008/02/in-memoriam.html">In memoriam</a> </li><li>James' Thoughts and Musings: <a href="http://jamesbradfordpate.blogspot.com/2008/02/deletion-of-jim-wests-blog.html">The Deletion of Jim West's Blog</a> </li><li>Lingamish: <a href="http://lingamish.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/dr-jim-west-disappears/">Dr. Jim West disappears</a> </li><li>Lingamish: <a href="http://lingamish.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/update-on-the-disappearance-of-jim-west/">Update on the disappearance of Jim West</a> </li><li>Metacatholic: <a href="http://www.metacatholic.co.uk/2008/02/total-depravity/">Total Depravity</a> </li><li>Narrative and Ontology: <a href="http://narrativeandontology.blogspot.com/2008/02/support-for-jim-west.html">Support for Jim West</a> </li><li>Northstate Science: <a href="http://northstatescience.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/deleted-blog/">Deleted Blog</a> </li><li>NT Gateway Weblog: <a href="http://ntgateway.com/weblog/2008/02/jim-wests-blog-transmission-cut.html">Jim West's blog: transmission cut</a> </li><li>Observatoria Biblico: <a href="http://www.airtonjo.com/blog/2008/02/blog-de-jim-west-foi-completamente.html">Blog de Jim West foi completamente apagado</a> </li><li>PergaMent: <a href="http://pergament.blogs.ku.dk/2008/02/21/man-skal-huske-at-tage-back-up/">Man skal huske et tage back-up</a> </li><li>Le Pharisien Libere: <a href="http://pharisienlibere.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/lami-jim-west-a-perdu-son-blog/">l'ami Jim West a perdu son blog</a> </li><li>Pseudoscienze cristiani antiche e medievali: <a href="http://www.antoniolombatti.it/B/Blog02-08/BE2BA432-DA40-4DD7-8263-3B7EEE9B564E.html">Jim, this time I don't agree with you</a> </li><li>Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: <a href="http://rdtwot.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/the-end-of-an-era/">The End of an Era</a> </li><li>the stuff of earth: <a href="http://michaelpahl.blogspot.com/search/label/blogs%20and%20blogging">say it ain't so, jim!</a> </li><li>Sufficiency: <a href="http://stenagmois.blogspot.com/2008/02/blogging-and-mortality.html">Blogging and Mortality</a> </li><li>Sufficiency: <a href="http://stenagmois.blogspot.com/2008/02/dr-jims-posts-still-on-bloglines.html">Dr. Jim's posts still on bloglines</a> </li><li>The Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavations: <a href="http://gath.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/jim-wests-blog-is-erased/">Jim West's Blog is erased!</a> </li><li>The View from Jerusalem: <a href="http://www.uhl.ac/blog/?p=461">Dr. Jim West, Be resurrected!</a> </li><li>The Voice of Stefan: <a href="http://voxstefani.blogspot.com/2008/02/total-depravity-unconscionable-cowards.html">Total Depravity: Unconscionable Cowards</a> </li><li>If I've missed your Jim-West-related post, please let me know via e-mail (gordonwatley at gmail dot com) or comment, and I'll include it as I update the list.<br /><br />UPDATE:<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.biblioblogs.com/2008/02/21/second-go/">Second Go</a> (Biblioblogs) </li><li><a href="http://lingamish.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/breaking-news-jwestwordpresscom/">Breaking News</a> (Lingamish) </li><li><a href="http://anebooks.blogspot.com/2008/02/hes-back.html">He's back</a> (Idle musings of a bookseller)</li></ul>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-34866337521369245422008-01-14T20:04:00.000-06:002008-01-14T21:36:39.218-06:00A religious studies course for public schools<a href="http://drjimwest.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/bible-courses-in-schools-are-losing-out/">Dr. Jim West</a> thinks that "Bible courses in public schools simply are improper" and that "the same would be true" for public schools "to offer Qur'an courses or the like". I'll have to beg to differ with him on this issue, since I am in fact teaching a course in <em>Judaism, Christianity, and Islam</em> for high school students here in the grandly conservative state of Nebraska. The focus of the course is on comparing how Jews, Christians, and Muslims read their own and each others' scriptures, by engaging students in discussion of close readings of selected passages from the Tanakh, the New Testament, and the Qur'an in English translation. Of course, I <em>do</em> happen to be employed as a lecturer in Classics and Religious Studies at UN-L, and I <em>am</em> trained in historical studies in Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity at the University of Virginia, and the course <em>is</em> part of UN-L's "Advanced Scholars" program, which means it's for college credit, so maybe it doesn't really fit Dr. Jim's criteria for a <em>public school</em> Bible/Qur'an/the like course. But they <em>are</em> high school students, and we're not in church (or synagogue) (or mosque).<br /><br />There . . . now I'm not sure whether I've challenged Dr. Jim West, or buddied up to him, but either way, this should make my blog more popular, right? (I learned this from <a href="http://rdtwot.wordpress.com/2008/01/12/top-10-list-ways-to-make-your-blog-more-popular/">Nick Norelli</a>.)<br /><br />And then, of course, there's that old saying,"Those who can, do; those who can't, teach", to which Woody Allen famously added, "And those who can't teach, teach gym" . . . or is that "Jim"?<br /><br />Now I've done it . . .GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-49928456323491498182008-01-09T02:12:00.001-06:002011-09-14T12:42:02.704-06:00What I'm teaching this semesterI'm excited (!) about what I'm teaching this semester! In addition to the perennial Classical Mythology course (I still do so love teaching on the other [= pagan] side of the aisle), I'm teaching<br /><ul><li>an "Advanced Scholars" distance learning course for (hopefully college-bound) high school students, on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, in which we will work through selected passages on similar subjects (e.g., Adam and Eve; Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael; Mary and Jesus; law and grace; sin and salvation; prayer; gender; war and non-violence; etc.) in the Tanakh, the New Testament, and the Qur'an -- sort of a scripture-study triathlon; and</li></ul><p></p><ul><li>an upperclass Honors seminar that I've provocatively titled "Rewriting Moses: Jewish biblical interpretation in the time of Jesus", which is mainly an introduction to the study of methods of biblical exegesis in the works of Philo and Josephus, with special reference to their treatments of Genesis and Exodus, and with one eye on the NT and other more or less contemporary Jewish and Christian texts.</li></ul><p>Did I mention that I'm also trying to put my dissertation on Sibylline Oracles 1-2 to bed this semester? AND stay married? Wish me luck!</p>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-42363793435969763972007-12-26T17:12:00.000-06:002007-12-26T18:39:42.662-06:00On behalf of Iraqi MandaeansIf you haven't already signed the <a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/852950474%3Ehttp://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/852950474">Petition to help the Mandaeans attain refugee status</a>, I urge you to consider doing so now.<br /><br />You can learn more about the Mandaeans ("the last living Gnostics") of Iraq and their current plight at April DeConick's website on <a href="http://www.aprildeconick.com/mandaeans.html"><em>The Mandaeans</em></a>.<br /><br />The last I looked (on 12/26/07), 514 persons had signed the online petition so far . . . the goal is 1,000. Please <a href="http://www.aprildeconick.com/mandaeans.html">read</a>, and then <a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/852950474%3Ehttp://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/852950474">do</a>.GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-48932460764643428572007-12-15T19:12:00.000-06:002007-12-24T17:47:57.020-06:00On the letteral sense of scriptureOver at <a href="http://ancienthebrewpoetry.typepad.com/ancient_hebrew_poetry/2007/12/a-little-knowle.html">Ancient Hebrew Poetry</a>, John Hobbins links to a wonderfully outlandish <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx2QUk0t34U">Youtube video</a> of televangelist/radio preacher <a href="http://www.larryollison.com/larry.html">Larry Ollison</a>'s "exegesis" (if that's the right word?) of Genesis 1.1 in the light of John 1.1 and Revelation 1.8, 1.11, and 22.13.<br /><br />Never <em>mind</em> the impressive frequency of Dr. Ollison's howlers (on the difference between ρημα/<em>rhema</em> and λογος /<em>logos</em>, for example, or how the New Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek, or that no one -- not even ancient Hebrew scribes -- has ever [until now!] had any idea what the Hebrew particle <span style="font-size:130%;">את</span>/<em>et</em> <strong>really</strong> means)! He declares that the <span style="font-size:130%;">את </span>in the Bible's opening phrase, <span style="font-size:130%;">בראשית ברא אלהים את חשמים</span>/<em>bereshit bara elohim et hashamayim</em>, refers to Jesus, on the grounds that the Greek references to Jesus as the Alpha (Α) and Omega (Ω) in the book of Revelation should be back-transliterated into the Hebrew alphabet's Aleph (<span style="font-size:130%;">א</span>) and Tav (<span style="font-size:130%;">ת</span>) -- not as individual letters, however, but as the word <span style="font-size:130%;">את</span> -- so that the first sentence of the Gospel of John should be read: "In the beginning [of the book of Genesis] was the word [specifically, the word <span style="font-size:130%;">את </span><span style="font-size:100%;">= Jesus</span>] and the word [<span style="font-size:130%;">את</span><span style="font-size:100%;">/Jesus</span>] was with God [right there next to the word <span style="font-size:130%;">אלחים</span><span style="font-size:100%;">/God</span>], and the word was God [because <span style="font-size:130%;">אלחים</span> is, of course, plural]" . . . when, that is, the Bible is read in its (il)literately truthy letteral sense.<br /><br />Never <em>mind</em> the buckets of egregious misinformation Dr. Ollison spews forth getting there! Never <em>mind</em> that, for this interpretation to work, John the Revelator's <strong>blatant</strong> <strong>misunderstanding</strong> of Jesus' words would be forever enshrined in Scripture! This is figural exegesis <em>par excellence, </em>right up there with the Epistle of Barnabas' (9.7-9) brilliantly linguistically inapt understanding of the number of Abraham's men (318 = τιη in Greek) as a reference to the first two letters of Jesus' name (ΙΗσους) and his cross (Τ)! Whatever else one might think of Dr. Ollison and his ministry, this is patristic exegesis at its dazzlingly dizzying Bible-Code-thumping dictation-theory-of-divine-inspiration-on-steroids best. And I mean that in the nicest way, really. Of <em>course</em> Origen could have exegeted circles around this guy with one metaphor after another tied behind his back! But the video is still a gem.<br /><br />I don't know how much education in the biblical languages Dr. Ollison has actually had . . . and to view it in all its uproariously just-enough-to-be-dangerous glory, you really should take the time to absorb his whole show on <a href="http://www.larryollison.com/video.html">The Hebrew Language</a> . . . but the question <em>does</em> underscore the need for (and the timeliness of) a conversation like the one that's been going on lately in Biblioblogland about teaching and learning the biblical languages in seminaries (start <a href="http://ancienthebrewpoetry.typepad.com/ancient_hebrew_poetry/2007/12/is-one-semester.html">here</a> with [again] John Hobbins at <em>Ancient Hebrew Poetry </em>and follow the links there).<br /><br />My own first advice to anyone contemplating going to seminary (not that anyone's every asked me for it, but if they did it) would be: if you can, get an undergraduate degree (or at least minor) in Greek and Hebrew first, and run ahead of the pack by the time you're in seminary.<br /><br />Let me put it this way:<br /><br /><ul><li>Beginning biblical Hebrew grammar: $35.</li><li>Hebrew-English interlinear Old Testament: $75.</li><li>Seminary education: $45,000.</li><li>Finding Jesus in the <span style="font-size:130%;">את</span> in Genesis 1.1: priceless.</li></ul>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-59152501808934151142007-11-30T20:40:00.001-06:002007-12-02T02:45:37.516-06:00"All the news that fits"This might seem a bit off-topic, but since I <em>am</em> currently teaching a course in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and since it <em>is</em> my blog, I'm going to allow it . . .<br /><br />No doubt you've heard by now the story of British teacher Gillian Gibbons in Sudan who got into trouble for allowing her students to name a Teddy Bear that was the subject of a writing assignment Muhammad. According to the story as it's told <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article24948">here</a>,<br /><br /><blockquote><p>A 7-year-old student called Mohammad told Reuters this week he had suggested his own name be used for the bear.</p><p>In a writing exercise students were allowed to take the bear home and asked to keep a diary of what they did with the toy. These accounts were put together in a book entitled "My Name is Mohammad".</p></blockquote>Never mind that, according to the story as it's told <a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article24925">here</a>, the boy "said he was not thinking of Islam’s Prophet when asked to suggest a name, adding most of the class agreed with his choice"; never mind that he also noted that "Gibbons had not discussed religion nor did she mention the Prophet"; it was too much of a coincidence for the protesters in Sudan who, according to the story as it's told <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22039372/">here</a>, were calling for her execution. Said local cleric Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, "a well-known hardliner",<br /><br /><blockquote><p>This is an arrogant woman who came to our country, cashing her salary in dollars, teaching our children hatred of our Prophet Muhammad.</p></blockquote><p>And she did this, evidently, by <em>not</em> discussing religion and <em>failing</em> to mention the Prophet (PBUH) in her classes in <strong>math, English, and spelling</strong>! The story goes on to say that</p><blockquote><p>Hard-line clerics who hold considerable influence with Sudan's Islamic government, have sought to whip up public anger over the Gibbons' case, calling her actions part of a Western plot to damage Islam. <p></p></blockquote><p>Frankly, in my opinion, there's no <em>need</em> for a Western plot to damage Islam; Muslims like <em>these</em> are doing a fine job of <em>that</em> on their own.</p><p>This is just one more example of a trend that my students have been discussing lately . . . you never seem to come across positive stories about Islam or Muslims in the news, only negative ones. Of course, part of the reason for that is the inherently negative bias of news media generally: good news is no news, after all. Which is why I was so pleased to see that Reuters, near the end of its report<a href="http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article24948"> here</a>, added this bit:</p><blockquote><p>"When we heard we wanted to demonstrate immediately but some said we should wait and see what the concerned authorities find out," said Abdallah, a science student.</p><p>Shopkeeper Sabir Abdel Karim said that if Gibbons had not intended to insult Islam, an apology to Muslims would be enough to end the problem. "Any one can make a mistake and Muslims are forgivers. She will be forgiven and God will be the judge."</p></blockquote>How many times has just this sort of sensible Muslim discourse gone<br />un(der)reported because it's so, well . . . sensible! . . . and for that very reason that much less newsworthy?GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-6461298059831303892007-10-29T08:25:00.000-06:002007-12-02T02:46:09.416-06:00Almost makes me want to switch back to a MacIn the comments to my post on <a href="http://sibyllineleaves.blogspot.com/2007/04/mignes-pg-and-other-very-useful-books.html">Migne's Patrologia Graeca series</a>, the following Very Useful Information is provided by <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/08613412256718489814" rel="nofollow">Marco V. Fabbri</a>, who writes:<br /><blockquote><p>Perhaps you would be interested to know that the Sibylline Oracles are available within the Pseudepigrapha module in the program Accordance for Macintosh. The good news is that they are tagged. The tags include parsing details, so that searches can be performed for uninflected forms, or for grammar details. I wrote the tags, so that I would be interested if you notice mistkaes [<i>sic</i>!] that I should correct.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>This is good news for anyone interested in working with the Greek text of the SibOr (or any of the Pseudepigrapha, for that matter) . . . the ones who use a Mac, anyway. Thank you, Marco!</p>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-36991114666952364852007-07-02T08:13:00.000-06:002007-07-02T14:09:47.662-06:00Buy this album . . .<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmTePFLemck5hqXaS-RgbdUoUNkpHPRGZ50LUE_YMZ7cEP5iUazYyL9endy1vHoOItASM0daVMsEyNkj4nSRHtIBRuzWDeaTx5OOeLuPUeHb13-TjtMTkpxUk3O2c2ZdylskWm8iV8JA/s1600-h/CD200.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5082602709099279202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmTePFLemck5hqXaS-RgbdUoUNkpHPRGZ50LUE_YMZ7cEP5iUazYyL9endy1vHoOItASM0daVMsEyNkj4nSRHtIBRuzWDeaTx5OOeLuPUeHb13-TjtMTkpxUk3O2c2ZdylskWm8iV8JA/s400/CD200.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>. . . and then Go and Do Something (more) to help end the genocide in Darfur. Start <a href="http://www.instantkarma.org/">here.</a> </div>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-88144884992015629452007-07-01T23:19:00.000-06:002007-07-02T00:08:38.964-06:00Book notesMany thanks to <a href="http://www.atrium-media.com/rogueclassicism/Posts/00006246.html">rogueclassicism</a> for mentioning, way back in early June, William Slater's <a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2007/2007-06-08.html">(Bryn Mawr Classical) review</a> of Eleanor Dickey's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Greek-Scholarship-Understanding-Commentaries/dp/0195312937/ref=sr_1_1/103-8151687-1478203?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183267703&sr=1-1"><em>Ancient Greek Scholarship: A Guide to Finding, Reading, and Understanding Scholia, Commentaries, Lexica, and Grammatical Treatises, from Their Beginnings to the Byzantine Period</a></em>. I bought the book and I have to say . . . for whatever it's worth . . . having seen it for myself now . . . I concur with the reviewer's prediction that "any serious student of Greek will want to possess it". It's the only one of its kind out there, and the materials for original-language reading practice that it includes make it all the more useful.<br /><br />I was delighted to discover recently that Ernst Sackur's 1898 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sibyllinische-Texte-Forschungen-Pseudomethodius-tiburtinische/dp/0543777529/ref=sr_1_1/103-8151687-1478203?ie=UTF8&s=books&amp;qid=1183265344&sr=1-1"><em>Sibyllinische Texte und Forschungen: Pseudomethodius, Adso und tiburtinische Sibylle</em></a> was put back into print last year by <a href="http://www.elibron.com/english/">Elibron Classics</a>.<br /><br />The collection of essays from the Third Enoch Seminar, meeting at Camaldoli in Italy two summers ago . . . <a href="http://www.eerdmans.com/shop/product.asp?p_key=9780802803771"><em>Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man: Revisiting the Book of Parables</a></em>, edited by Gabriele Boccaccini . . . is also now available. Given (as <a href="http://drjimwest.wordpress.com/2007/06/30/the-enoch-seminar-at-camaldoli/">Dr. Jim West</a> has already pointed out, and in so many words) that Everyone Who Is Anyone in Enoch studies has contributed to it, this is one book that no one who is at all interested in the question of "Son of Man" as a christological title can afford to ignore.<br /><br />And I'm still trying to figure out why I could purchase a paperback edition of Peter Toohey's <em>Reading Epic: An Introduction to the Ancient Narratives</em> (London: Routledge, 1992) not all <em>that</em> long ago for a very reasonable $15.95, but I would have to shell out $125 today . . . which I won't, and not next week either . . . for the same author's (better) companion (!) volume <em>Epic Lessons: An Introduction to Ancient Didactic Poetry</em> (London: Routledge, 1996), still (11 years later!) available only in hardback. **Sigh** Go figure . . .<br /><br /><em></em><br /><br /><em><em></em></em>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-39776980559370177452007-06-04T13:47:00.000-06:002007-06-04T23:55:57.462-06:00On Sibylline Oracles 1-2 (1)The first two books in the critical editions of the SibOr are actually unseparated in the manuscripts and constitute a single work, marked in the Φ group of MSS as ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου λόγου/“from the first book” and in MS R of the Ψ group as ἐκ τοῦ δευτέρου λόγου/“from the second book” (since book 8 occupies the first position in Ψ). The critical editions’ reconfiguration of the manuscript tradition extends, in fact, into book 3 as well. “In most manuscripts the present SibOr 3 is introduced as an extract ‘from the second book, about God.’ Before verse 93 three manuscripts in the class Ψ insert the note ‘seek here the remnants of the second book and the beginning of the third’” (Collins, “Sibylline Oracles”, p. 359). Evidently all the MSS descend from a single damaged exemplar that lacked most of the original book 2 and the initial lines of book 3 (see Buitenwerf, <em>Book III</em>, pp. 66-71; Buitenwerf seems to me to go too far, however, when he posits a hypothetical lost original book 1 in place of the MSS’ first book [= the critical editions’ books 1 and 2] . . . but that's a subject for another post). The editors of the standard critical editions have simply perpetuated, for the sake of continuity of reference, the scholarly tradition — initiated by Betuleius in his 1545 editio princeps — of splitting the MSS’ first book into two in order to provide a viable replacement for the MSS’ “lost” second book (see Buitenwerf, <em>Book III</em>, p. 7).<br /><br />In regard to its history of composition, however, SibOr 1-2 is generally held to have been two books: (1) a Jewish pseudepigraphon thought to have been produced in Phrygia around the turn of the Common Era, and (2) a 2nd-century Christian redaction of the earlier work, presumably also produced somewhere in Asia Minor. The current consensus identifies SibOr 1.1-323, 2.1-33, and 2.154-76 — together, these passages present a ten-part periodization of world history, from creation to the eschatological rule of the Jews — as the minimum amount of material assignable to the original Jewish edition; the rest of book 1 (lines 324-400), on Christ and the Jews, is attributed to the 2nd-century Christian redactor. This much would seem to be reasonably certain. But the precise extent of the Christian redaction of the rest of book 2, everyone agrees, is more difficult to determine and a matter of some debate, even if a number of obviously Christian passages can be discerned in it. According to Collins, the list of Christian passages in book 2 includes 2.45-55, 177-83, 190-2, 238-51, 311-12, and 264. “One passage, 2.154-76, is surely Jewish . . . . The remainder of Sibylline Oracles 2 could have been written by either a Jew or a Christian” (“Sibylline Oracles”, p. 330).<br /><br />SibOr 1-2 differs from most other SibOr in that it does not present itself as a collection of oracles strung together more or less discontinuously, but as a sustained oracular narrative with close affinities to the historical review type of apocalypse (see e.g. Daniel 7-12, the Animal Apocalypse [= 1 Enoch 83-90], Jubilees 23, 4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch; on historical review apocalypses see John J. Collins, “Introduction: Towards the Morphology of a Genre” in <em>idem</em> [ed.], <em>Apocalypse: The Morphology of a Genre. Semeia</em> 14 [1979], pp. 1-20: 14, and in the same volume, <em>idem</em>, “The Jewish Apocalypses”, pp. 21-59: 30-6). Here the Sibyl divides universal history into ten γενεαί/“generations” or “races” (or perhaps better, “ages” or “eras”), five from creation to the flood and five from the flood to the eschaton, emphasizing flood and eschaton as parallel times. Although ten-part periodizations do very occasionally occur in early Jewish apocalyptic literature and are especially common in the SibOr (see e.g. the Apocalypse of Weeks [= 1 Enoch 93.1-10; 91.11-17], 11QMelch 7, and SibOr 3.156-61; 4.20, 47, 49-101; 7.97; 8.199.), the one in SibOr 1-2 is unique in its dependence on and doubling of the well-known “five ages of man” passage in Hesiod’s <em>Works and Days</em> 109-201.<br /><br />The following summary rehearses the contents of SibOr 1-2 and identifies some of the problem areas that have raised dating and provenance issues (to be discussed in more detail in later posts):<br /><br />1.1-4<br />Introduction: “Beginning from the first generation of articulate men / down to the last, I will prophesy all in turn, / such things as were before, as are, and as will come upon / the world through the impiety of men.”<br /><br />1.5-64<br />Creation of the world and the first human couple, the serpent’s deception, and the expulsion from the garden, summarizing Gen. 2-4.<br /><br />1.65-282<br />A catalog of four successively more degenerate generations, followed by a long account of the fifth and worst, the generation of the flood, including Noah’s preaching, the building of the ark, the flood, and the landing on Mount Ararat in Phrygia. The whole section, though summarizing Gen. 5-9, is clearly modeled after the “five ages of man” passage in Hesiod’s <em>Works and Days</em> 109-201.<br /><br />1.283-323<br />A catalog of the 6th (Noah’s three sons) and 7th (the Tower of Babel) generations, summarizing Gen. 10-11; also based on Hesiod’s “five ages of man” passage, since the generation of Noah’s sons, in which the Sibyl also situates herself, is characterized as “first” and “golden” (1.284; see Hesiod, <em>Works and Days</em> 109). Evidently, then, the Sibyl is starting over with a second set of five generations, for a total of ten, but the expected 8th and 9th generations are missing. Instead, there follows:<br /><br />1.324-400<br />An extensive and strongly anti-Judaic account of Jesus’ ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection, and the consequent fall of Judea to the Romans and exile of the Jews from the land.<br /><br />2.1-5<br />Transitional passage: “When indeed God stopped my most perfectly wise song / as I prayed many things, he also again placed in my breast / a delightful utterance of wondrous words. / I will speak the following with my whole person in ecstasy / for I do not know what I say, but God bids me utter each thing.”<br /><br />2.6-33<br />The ten-generation scheme resumes with the beginning of a long account of the tenth generation, listing signs of the approaching end, “raging earthquakes / and thunderbolts … destructions of men and bellowing oxen … robbing of temples”, etc. (2.6-7, 9, 14), anticipating the time “when the earth-shaking lightning-giver / will break the glory of idols and shake the people of / seven-hilled Rome” (2.16-18).<br /><br />2.34-153<br />A long exhortation to enter the contest (ἀγών) for heavenly rewards that includes in 2.56-148 a recitation of Pseduo-Phocylides (PsPhoc) 5-79, found only in the Ψ group of MSS. Although PsPhoc is a Jewish work, most commentators regard this passage as having been added, as part of the contest section, by the Christian redactor, since 2.45-9, “For holy Christ will make just awards to these / and crown the worthy. But to martyrs he will give / an immortal treasure, to those who pursue the contest even to death. / He will give an imperishable prize from the treasure / to virgins who run well”, is so obviously Christian.<br /><br />2.154-93<br />Continuation of the list of signs of the approaching end, beginning with “children born with gray temples from birth” (see Hesiod, <em>Works and Days</em> 181) and ending with the sudden appearance of Elijah. This section includes an evidently Jewish prediction that “the faithful chosen Hebrews will rule over / exceedingly mighty men, having subjected them / as of old, since power will never fail” (2.174-6) and equally evident Christian references to “blessed servants, as many as the master, when he comes, / finds awake” (2.180-1; see Matt. 24.42) and woe “for as many as are found bearing in the womb / on that day, for as many as suckle / infant children” (2.190-2; see Mt. 24.19).<br /><br />2.194-338<br />A long account of the destruction of the world by a river of fire, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, the fiery punishment of sinners, and the reward of a new life on a purified earth for the righteous, to whom God “will also give / another thing. Whenever they ask the imperishable God / to save men from the raging fire ... he will pick them out again … and send them … to another eternal life with the immortals / in the Elysian plain where he has the long waves / of the deep perennial Acherusian lake” (2.330-8). This section is considered by some commentators to be an obvious summary of Apocalypse of Peter 2-14, and therefore Christian.<br /><br />2.339-47<br />Conclusion, in which the Sibyl confesses her sins and prays to be rescued and given “a little rest” from the “holy giver of manna, king of a great kingdom”.GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-43033852121820567402007-05-24T09:05:00.000-06:002007-05-27T08:37:46.093-06:00The Bible, Sibylline oracles, and divinationReading Pieter W. van der Horst's article "<em>Sortes</em>: Sacred Books as Instant Oracles in Late Antiquity"* recently, two thoughts occurred to me:<br /><br />1. I wonder how many Christians realize that randomly opening your Bible and taking the first verse your eyes happen to light on as a divine response to a problem or question is (a) a practice that is at least as old as Hellenistic times and (b) a form of divination that is not any different, functionally, from inspecting the liver of a sacrifical animal or interpreting the flight of birds or consulting Tarot cards or New Age channellers. Bibliomancy.<br /><br />2. Although the official Roman collection of Greek Sibylline oracles appears to have functioned in precisely this way, the pseudepigraphic collections of Jewish and Christian Sibylline Oracles that the Church Fathers were familiar with apparently did not.<br /><br />We are accustomed to referring to Sibylline oracles as <em>unsolicited</em> prophecies because they were not <em>composed</em> in response to a question posed to the prophet(ess) or the god (as, e.g., consultations of the Pythia/Apollo at Delphi). But they weren't <em>read</em> as unsolicited prophecies by their Roman handlers; quite the opposite: they were consulted in order to identify appropriate responses to crises deemed serious enough by the senate to instruct the official board of interpreters (originally <em>duumviri</em>/"2 men" but eventually rising to <em>quindecemviri</em>/"15 men") to approach them with questions.<br /><blockquote>The precise method of approach employed is never described. For instance, did the duumvirs read through the [Sibylline] books till they came on a significant passage or were they supposed to have an index? Alternatively, did they employ some method like the <em>sortes vergilianae</em>, unrolling the books at random and lighting on a particular passage? (Parke, <em>Sibyls</em>, p. 191).</blockquote><br />Either way, though, they were read, against the grain of their composition, as <em>solicited</em> prophecies.<br /><br />Not so with the Church Fathers' use of Sibylline oracles. (And let me mention in passing that there appears to have been very little overlap [if any] between the Sibylline oracles that made up the official Roman collection and those that the Church Fathers knew.) It was the Hebrew prophets who provided the model for Patristic use of the Sibylline Oracles (among, i.e., those Church Fathers who regarded the Sibylline Oracles as inspired by God . . . not all of them did). Roman reception of Sibylline oracles was anisomorphic with their composition: <em>unsolicited</em> prophecies were read as <em>solicited</em> ones. In contrast, Patristic reception of Sibylline oracles and their (early Jewish and Christian) composition were isomorphic: the Hebrew prophets served as a model for <em>both</em> writing <em>and</em> reading Jewish and Christian Sibylline oracles. Nothing (at least nothing <em>I</em> have come across) suggests that the Jewish and Chrisitian Sibylline oracles were ever actually used for divination by Jews or Christians in late antiquity.<br /><br />This seems a bit odd to me, given van der Horst's quite detailed catalog of divination-by-scripture among Jews and Christians (as well as Greeks and Romans) in late antiquity. But perhaps, although viewed as inspired by God, they were also perceived as too gentile/pagan to be legitimately consulted; they would, after all, most likely have been read as (religiously) Greek, not Jewish or Christian, compositions. On the other hand, when did a little thing like <em>that</em> ever stop some people?<br />____________________<br /><br />*Pieter W. van der Horst, "<em>Sortes</em>: Sacred Books as Instant Oracles in Late Antiquity", in L. V. Rutgers et al. (eds.), <em>The Use of Sacred Books in the Ancient World</em> (Leuven: Peeters, 1998) 143-173.GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-84831668409069180952007-04-25T13:40:00.000-06:002007-04-25T22:44:07.170-06:00Migne's Patrologia Graeca series and other Very Useful BooksSteven C. Carlson at <a href="http://www.hypotyposeis.org/weblog/">Hypotyposeis</a> provides <a href="http://www.hypotyposeis.org/weblog/2007/04/migne-and-others-on-google-books.html">links</a> to the places where <a href="http://semperegoauditor.typepad.com/ccc/2006/12/google_books.html">Mischa Hooker</a> provides links to numerous Very Useful Books for the study of the <a href="https://umdrive.memphis.edu/mhooker/google_books-bible_judaism_christianity.html#hell_judaism">Bible, Judaism, Christianity</a> via Google Book Search, as well as to <a href="http://www.hypotyposeis.org/weblog/2007/04/migne-and-others-on-google-books.html">Greek and Latin literature</a> generally. Especially nice, from the perspective of this blog, at least, and because I've always had Too Much Trouble locating the volumes I needed, is the convenience provided by the index to <a href="https://umdrive.memphis.edu/mhooker/google_books-bible_judaism_christianity.html#migne_PG">Migne's Patrologia Graeca</a>, as well as the several <a href="https://umdrive.memphis.edu/mhooker/google_books-bible_judaism_christianity.html#hell_judaism">Pseudepigrapha</a> links.<br /><br />I would like to add . . . links to the full texts of Alexandre's invaluable <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=8CskAAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=%22excursus+ad+sibyllina%22+alexandre"><em>Excursus ad Sibyllina</em></a>, and of Geffcken's <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=A5V0G_VE6EYC&pg=PR1&dq=%22oracula+sibyllina%22+geffcken">critical edition of the SibOr</a>.<br /><br />And many thanks also to Mischa Hooker for the link to <a href="http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/default.asp">Elpenor's</a> elegant pages devoted to <a href="http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/migne-patrologia-graeca.asp">texts and translations from Migne's PG</a>.GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-14122373474994361202007-04-18T22:38:00.000-06:002007-04-27T13:32:00.051-06:00On the generic diversity of the Sibylline OraclesThe author of the anonymous prologue to the Φ recension of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SibOr</span></span></span> writes:<br /><blockquote>Ἔδοξε . . . κἀμὲ τοὺς ἐπιλεγομένους Σιβυλλιακοὺς χρησμοὺς σποράδην εὑρισκομένους καὶ συγκεχυμένην τὴν τούτων ἀνάγνωσιν καὶ ἐπίγνωσιν ἔχοντας εἰς μίαν συνάφειαν καὶ ἁρμονίαν ἐκθέσθαι τοῦ λόγου, ὡς ἂν εὐσύνοπτοι τοῖς ἀναγιγνώσκουσιν ὄντες τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὠφέλειαν τούτοις ἐπιβραβεύσωσιν.</blockquote><blockquote>"Having found them scattered, and reading and knowledge of them in a state of confusion, I was determined to publish the collected Sibylline Oracles in a unified and orderly volume, so that, now that they are readily available to readers, they might get the benefit of them" (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">SibOr</span></span></span> Prologue 8-13).</blockquote><p>The unity that the 6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span></span></span>-century CE χρησμολόγος/"oracle-collector" imposed on his σποράδην . . . καὶ συγκεχυμένην/"scattered and confused" materials would seem to consist of little more than his εἰς μίαν συνάφειαν καὶ ἁρμονίαν ἐκθέσθαι τοῦ λόγου/"publishing them in a unified and orderly volume", i.e., (more or less) just as he found them, only now between the two covers of a single codex. At least, (most of) what he archived doesn't appear to be substantially different from what we know <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Lactantius</span></span></span> had been reading nearly two centuries earlier. As <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Buitenwerf</span></span></span> notes, "Each time <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Lactantius</span></span></span> announces that he is going to quote a different Sibyl [than the one(s) he has just previously quoted], the oracle he quotes can indeed be found in another book of the extant [Φ] collection" (<em>Book III</em>, p. 82). Kudos to Φ's nameless Byzantine Christian editor, then, for (evidently) keeping his own finger out of the pie.</p><p>Whatever unity the Φ recension of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">SibOr</span></span></span> might have beyond that, however, it's not generic. Five of its eight constituent λόγοι/"books" (SibOr 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8) could, I suppose, be labeled "oracle collections", but I'm still not convinced that that's a very accurate or helpful descriptor for all of these texts. Some are more coherent and cohesive (and narrative) than others (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">SibOr</span></span> 7, little more than a series of not necessarily related fragments, comes closest, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">IMHO</span>, to deserving the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">appellation "oracle collection"</span>), and each is at least as different from the others as any five early Jewish and Christian apocalypses, or any five modern American novels, would be from one other. If these are oracle collections, then, like the apocalypse, or the novel, the oracle collection would have to be regarded as an inherently mixed genre, by which I mean both (1) that its incorporation of a variety of genres is basic to its own generic identity, and (2) that any two given examples of the genre may or may not look anything at all like one other. One book in the collection, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">SibOr</span></span></span> 6, is not an oracle collection, but an early Christian hymn. Finally, books 1-2 belong together as a single work, but it isn't an oracle collection either: it's a didactic poem masquerading as a historical review apocalypse disguised as a Sibylline prophecy.</p><p>The Φ recension of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">SibOr</span></span> is often mistaken for an oracle collection, but I would argue that it's not . . . in spite of the fact that it was clearly so regarded by its late ancient/early medieval readers . . . rather, it's an anthology that <em>includes</em> oracle collections alongside texts belonging to other genres. (By the same token, are gospels biographies or not? It all depends on what you mean by "biography". It's a similar kind of question about generic classification, here.) Dactylic hexameter verse, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">figurations</span></span> of the Sibyl, and archive fever are, inter <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">alia</span></span>, what hold the gathered materials together, not literary genre.</p>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-89458423864676294482007-04-12T22:40:00.000-06:002007-12-02T02:47:28.745-06:00Moving beyond New Testament GreekTwo new Yahoo! discussion groups that aim to encourage reading Greek outside the New Testament box both look good.<br /><br />1. From <a href="http://drjimwest.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/reading-the-apostolic-fathers/">Dr. Jim West</a> I learned of the recent creation of <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/apostolicfathers/">Reading the Apostolic Fathers</a>, whose moderator, David McKay, writes:<br /><blockquote><p>This group is for people who would like to expand their facility in reading New Testament Greek by reading through The Apostolic Fathers, whose writings appeared a little after the completion of the New Testament.</p></blockquote><p>And he continues in his inaugural e-mail: <blockquote><p>This group is for people who would like to improve their Greek by reading something other than the New Testament, and a few of us hope to read through some of the Apostolic Fathers, commencing with the Didache. I'm up to chapter 3, but the first few chapters are short!<br /><br />I'm reading from Michael Holmes' Apostolic Fathers: Greek texts and English translations, but you can access the Greek text at ccel.org, with the Didache being available at <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/apostolicfathers/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/apostolicfathers/</a>.</p><p>[But the link appears to be bad; it's actually <a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/lake/fathers2.html">here</a>.]<br /><br />Why read The Apostolic Fathers? They are an important source of information about the early days of the church immediately following the New Testament period. Some people think they give us insights on how to interpret the New Testament, while others think they show how quickly the church strayed from the path.<br /><br />Why read them in Greek? There's something about reading a book in its original language, if you are able. Even if you're a beginner, like me, you will gain something you can't get from a translation.<br /><br />It is hopefully a way to improve your knowledge of Greek and increase your enjoyment of reading the NT in Greek.</p></blockquote><p>. . . and I found what he had to say next a bit shocking . . .<br /><blockquote><p>F F Bruce and J I Packer have pointed out there's something odd about thinking you can read Greek, if you can actually only read one book in Greek! Packer is rather scornful of people who translate the NT who have never read anything else in Greek, but he candidly admitted that most of his ESV translation colleagues are in this boat! </p></blockquote><p>I am shocked! just shocked! Evidently the ghost of the idea of Holy Ghost Greek is still roaming the halls . . .</p>2. From Brandon Wasson at <a href="http://www.novumtestamentum.com/blog/274/new-e-list-for-studying-ancient-greek/">Novum Testamentum</a> I learned of the commencement of <a href="http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/greek_geeks/">Greek Geeks</a>, moderated by Bryan Cox, who writes: <blockquote><p>Greek Geeks is a discussions group for those who have learned or are in the process of learning ancient Greek, classical and/or Koine, and would like a place to discuss various aspects of the language. Discussions of any type of ancient Greek works are welcomed and encouraged.<br /><center>* * *<br /></center>If you're new to Greek, ask questions and don't be intimidated. If you've been around Greek forever, share a bit of your knowledge and experience by helping to answer some questions. Have an idea for a topic, project, trivia, game, or whatever, then speak up and let us all hear about it! <p></p></blockquote><p>Good luck and Godspeed to both groups!</p>GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5050644851664601839.post-18568553418550486902007-03-14T01:32:00.000-06:002007-12-02T02:47:01.919-06:004 ways good things come in 3s(1) The 3 most important factors in real estate: Location, location, location.<br /><br />(2) The 3 most important faculties of an orator, according to Demosthenes: Delivery, delivery, delivery (ὑπόκρισις, ὑπόκρισις, ὑπόκρισις).<br /><br />(3) How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.<br /><br />(4) How do you learn a dead language well? Read, read, read.GLWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11865604383218863409noreply@blogger.com2