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The projected thirty-volume Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR) is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to the current state of knowledge on the background, origins, and development of the canonical texts of the Bible as they were accepted in Judaism and Christianity. Unprecedented in breadth and scope, this encyclopedia also documents the history of the Bible's interpretation and reception across the centuries, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in literature, visual art, music, film, and dance, as well as in Islam and other religious traditions and new religious movements.
The EBR is also available online.
Blogger's Choice - Articles recommended by biblioblogger Jim West (https: //zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com):
As I have done for a number of years, I've randomly selected some of the entries in the latest volume of the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR) to look over and review. The following are the selections made from volume 23.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have written three entries in this volume, but I chose not to review them.
Innocent Himbaza (Fribourg, Switzerland), Patriarchy I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. In a wildly intelligent and brilliantly executed essay Himbaza leads readers through the Hebrew Bible's vision of patriarchy, concluding, In the HB/OT, although men seem to have an advantage over women, women are never totally excluded. Thus, if patriarchy is defined as male dominance with a total exclusion of women, then we are obliged to admit that the HB/OT does not reflect such a society. And furthermore, the HB/OT reflects both evolution and diversity, so that it is possible to speak of different levels of patriarchy, depending on the historical context or the field of activity. Both of these statements are illustrated fully. The great benefit of the entry is that it refocuses our attention on the facts and not on the politically motivated rhetoric of the present moment.
Renate Pillinger (Vienna, Austria), Paul and Thecla, Acts of II. Visual Arts. One of the best things about the EBR is that it is not merely an encyclopedia of things frozen in the past. It is a series whose very soul is the demonstration of the living and breathing nature of the biblical texts and related literature and their long afterlife once they've left the page and entered life. Pillinger's entry opens a window on the way the ancient text we call The Acts of Paul and Thecla and its contents have been explicated in the visual arts. Pillinger remarks, At the beginning of the chapter (Acts of Paul 3:3), Paul is described as having a receding hairline. From approximately the mid-4th century CE onward, the entire scope of visual art reflects this description. Art influences our reading of biblical and extra-biblical texts whether we like it or not. One need simply think of Da Vinci's Last Supper. Historically inaccurate as can be, it still holds sway in the minds of countless Christians as the way the Last Supper took place.
W. Derek Suderman (Waterloo, ON, Canada), Peace, Peacemaking I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Nominal uses of the root s-l-m are first discussed by Suderman and then follows a description of the verbal uses. Summarily put, Verb forms from the root s-l-m primarily relate to making restitution or payment, paying vows, enacting reward or punishment for actions, including association to divine judgment, and ceasing hostility between groups. Naturally not all instances are examined, but there is enough information given to readers to provide them with a very good idea of how the verbal and nominal forms are used throughout the Old Testament.
David M. Young (Wrexham, United Kingdom), Peake, Arthur Samuel. We stand on the shoulders of giants is a well-used term among scholars and that term certainly applies to Arthur Samuel Peake. He was one of the most influential Methodist scholars of his era, producing numerous volumes of widespread significance. Arthur Samuel Peake was a leading influence for liberal theology in Primitive Methodism. Further, in small part, He wrote extensively on the nature of scripture. He taught that it was not necessary to argue for the truth of all the opinions in the Epistles, that Daniel is history masquerading as prediction, that much in Genesis is of mythical origin, that Jonah's mission was purely imaginative, that the Pastoral Epistles were probably not forgeries, that part of Revelation was 'not from a Christian writer at all' ... and that each individual may decide concerning the virgin birth. A remarkable man of remarkable genius and one of the more interesting of the essays I selected for this series of reviews.
Siobhán Dowling Long (Cork, Ireland), Penitential Psalms III. Music. The Psalms are one of the richest reserves for both Jews and Christians in terms of the expression of spirituality. Believers have reached back to the Psalms over the ages countless times, for encouragement, assistance, and song and prayer. Long's wonderful contribution focuses on how some of the penitential psalms have been used or received in music. She points out that While settings of individual penitential psalms are numerous, their setting as a group first occurred during the Renaissance, most notably by Franco-Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594), whose Psalter Davidis poenitentiales was composed in the late 1550s. But she doesn't stop there. She notes the fertile use of these psalms up to our own day, noting that they have inspired modern psalmitization: A more recent composition, Alfred Schnittke's Twelve Penitentia
The projected thirty-volume Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR) is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to the current state of knowledge on the background, origins, and development of the canonical texts of the Bible as they were accepted in Judaism and Christianity. Unprecedented in breadth and scope, this encyclopedia also documents the history of the Bible's interpretation and reception across the centuries, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in literature, visual art, music, film, and dance, as well as in Islam and other religious traditions and new religious movements.
The EBR is also available online.
Blogger's Choice - Articles recommended by biblioblogger Jim West (https: //zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com):
Joanna Töyräänvuori (Helsinki, Finland), Og (King of Bashan) I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Töyräänvuori has written on Og (King of Bashan) in the Hebrew Bible. Other essays in a larger discussion center on Og in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, literature, and the visual arts. Who knew that such a secondary character could or would generate such interest outside of his original story? And yet he certainly did! The etymology of his name is discussed, his homeland is described, and his appearance in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern texts is discussed.
Gudrun Holtz (Tübingen, Germany), Old Age III. New Testament. Being elderly myself I thought I'd be keen to read the entry on Old Age in the New Testament by Holtz. I wasn't wrong. The conclusion made me smile. The weight of the new in the NT, thereby, explains the relative unimportance it places on old age and the elderly. Age is just a number, in other words, and the New Testament doesn't make much of a big deal about it. That's a relief, isn't it? It's a marvelous article, filled with details from NT texts that the old, and young, will benefit from.
Adele Reinhartz (Ottawa, ON, Canada), Old Testament X. Film. The work of Adele Reinhartz needs neither commendation nor recommendation: her oeuvre is well known by every single person who works in the field of biblical studies. Small wonder, then, that her contribution in this volume on the Old Testament in Film is superb. She shows quite convincingly that the portrayal of OT figures and events are generally filtered through the lens of Protestantism. The films imply that Christianity is the true heir of and the primary vehicle for the ideas, such as faith, prayer, and loyalty, that are valorized in these films. And later ... the ultimate message [of these films] is an affirmation of Christian faith. It's a genius analysis throughout the all too brief piece.
John T. P. Lai (Hong Kong, China), Opera, Chinese. Knowing nothing about a subject and being able to discover new things is one of the great benefits of EBR. Chinese opera is one of the many things that, prior to reading the present entry, I knew absolutely nothing about. I'm familiar with European Opera. In fact, I'm a huge fan of the genre (with pride of place going to my beloved Mozart). After having read Lai's piece I will now find Chinese opera on YouTube and give it a listen. Lai writes As a form of musical theater, traditional Chinese opera amalgamates an array of artistic forms, including singing, dance, martial arts, acrobatics, and elaborate make-up and costume, portraying widely-known folk tales, legends, history, and classical novels. Chinese operas began to be involved in biblical reception in the early 20th century. During the early Republican period (1912-49), the Catholic Church in China took advantage of the popular appeal of drama and folk operas to achieve its own religious propagation. I must see it for myself.
Leonard Greenspoon (Omaha, NE, USA), Orlinsky, Harry Meyer. Greenspoon's brief biography of Orlinsky hits all the high points and gives readers a good overview of a complex and important scholar's life. Focusing mostly on his work as a translator, Greenspoon also notes Orlinsky produced several volumes on Bible translation. He also succeeded in authoring books that made specialist scholarship accessible to the general public. Scholars ought to write books for ordinary people. Only when they do, do they make a genuine contribution. It may not be known to many, but Orlinsky was a genuine scholar and not merely an academic.
Dorothea Erbele-Küster (Mainz, Germany), Pain and Suffering I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Erbele-Küster contributes to readers' comprehension of the topic of suffering and the pain which causes it, but her focus is on the Hebrew Bible's take on the subject. Her stunningly brilliant and profoundly insightful article opens with these simple yet delightful lines: Pain and suffering are manifestations of the anthropological and social vulnerability of human beings. Illness, loss, death, travail, violence, famine, and other afflictions causing physical and psychological devastation belong to these categories. She is astute in her analysis, and her essay is very much worth reading.
John Anthony Dunne (St. Paul, MN, USA), Pain and Suffering III. New Testament. Within a lengthy entry on Pain and Suffering we find also an article with a focus centered on the New Testament's treatment of this subject. Dunne begins Pain and suffering in the NT
The projected thirty-volume Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR) is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to the current state of knowledge on the background, origins, and development of the canonical texts of the Bible as they were accepted in Judaism and Christianity. Unprecedented in breadth and scope, this encyclopedia also documents the history of the Bible's interpretation and reception across the centuries, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in literature, visual art, music, film, and dance, as well as in Islam and other religious traditions and new religious movements.
The EBR is also available online.
Blogger's Choice - Articles recommended by biblioblogger Jim West (https: //zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com):
Laura Battini (Paris, France), Mouth I. Ancient Near East. This contribution focuses on the use of Mouth in Ancient Near Eastern texts, i.e., ANE mentions of the physical mouth as well as the symbolic mouth, which is described in this way: The mouth can be used metaphorically to indicate the entry of a part of the body, of an object, of a building, or of a watercourse. Other texts speak of the mouth in a symbolic way, concerning international relations on one hand and religion on the other; and in iconography. It is a well-crafted piece and quite informative.
Anna Tchitcherine (Utrecht, The Netherlands), Mouth of Hell II. Visual Arts. One of the more interesting, to me, artistic representations of a biblical citation has to do with the mouth of hell which has opened itself wide to receive the condemned (Isa 5:14). In this piece, Tchitcherine begins by noting that The anthropomorphic image of the mouth of hell emerged in Britain during the 10th-century Monastic Reform and remained popular in Western Art until the advent of Renaissance. The depiction of the entrance to hell is characterized by a disembodied monstrous head with a large gaping mouth. She then delineates the path this notion took in artistic renderings. She concludes The mouth of hell survived well into the 20th century - mostly in literature, though, which is suggestive of the potency of this theme. The entire entry in all its parts is very much worth the reader's time.
Mary Claire Gibson (Blacksburg, VA, USA), Mustard Seed IV. Literature. When it comes to the appearance of the theme of the mustard seed in literature, Gibson observes, ...the mustard seed passages found in Matt 17 and Luke 17 have been alluded to in literature by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Bret Harte, and Washington Irving to play on the idea that a lot can be achieved with even the smallest amount of faith, which is often associated with the notion of moving mountains. Other uses also appear, with the final example being ... the mustard seed is also used to signify belittlement or diminution. Victor Hugo mentions the mustard seed in a diminutive manner, comparing a mustard seed under a grindstone to animals under God's power in his collection of poems, La Légende des siècles (1877: 188). Small things like mustard seeds play a big role in the history of the reception of the Bible and its contents.
Patrick Cronauer (Latrobe, PA, USA), Naboth. Cronauer examines the figure of Naboth in the Hebrew Bible, Judaism, Christianity, economics and law, literature, the visual arts (including a very intriguing drawing of the stoning of Naboth from the 12th century CE), and film. Regarding the reception of Naboth in literature, Cronauer writes, The story of Naboth is a staple of any drama or novel about Jezebel. Anthony Trollope uses the theme in Framley Parsonage (1860-61), chapter 2, in relation to the vicar's garden (see Jeffrey: 532). Naboth is also vilified in John Masefield's play A King's Daughter (1923). And there are still more amazing facets of Naboth's treatment throughout history outside the Bible!
Arye Zoref (Jerusalem, Israel), Nathan (Prophet) II. Judaism, C. Medieval Judaism. This segment of the longer entry on the prophet Nathan centers itself on his reception in Medieval Judaism. Zoref notes Medieval Jewish exegetes were especially troubled by the prophet Nathan's behavior when David approached him about building the temple (2 Sam 7). Can a prophet lie or be mistaken? That was the question which occupied the rabbis. Also worth noting is the notion that prophets had to want their prophecies to come true or they wouldn't: Abarbanel wrote that Nathan had prophesied that Solomon would be king, but prophecies do not come true unless people strive to realize them, and like any other prophet, Nathan wanted his prophecy to come true. There is much to learn from this contribution.
Claudia Lepp (Munich, Germany), National Socialism/Nazism II. Bible in National Socialism. How was the Bible used by the Nazi's? First, they devalued the Old Testament. Then, they attempted to purge the New Testament of Jewish influence, even going so far as to suggest that Jesus himself was an Aryan and not a Jew. Jesus appeared as a fighter against Judaism, who took upon himself the associated suffering in obedience to his Father. In Die Botschaft Gottes, Jesus was not the king of Israel (John 13) but the king of life (Botschaft: 139); his death was interpreted as a brave offering of life (Botschaft: 135-39). This is one of the most interesting of all the essays in volume 20.
Neta Bodner (Jerusalem, Israel), Nazareth VI. Visual Arts. Bodner's essay is a study of the city of Nazareth in the visual arts. There is much to discover here. For example, Bodner observes Late medieval and Renaissance images often show Mary's house as the locus of the event, but the A
The projected thirty-volume Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR) is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to the current state of knowledge on the background, origins, and development of the canonical texts of the Bible as they were accepted in Judaism and Christianity. Unprecedented in breadth and scope, this encyclopedia also documents the history of the Bible's interpretation and reception across the centuries, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in literature, visual art, music, film, and dance, as well as in Islam and other religious traditions and new religious movements.
The EBR is also available online.
Blogger's Choice - Articles recommended by biblioblogger Jim West (https: //zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com):
Matthew Page (Loughborough, United Kingdom), Nehemiah (Book and Person) VIII. Film. Nehemiah receives scant treatment in film. Page remarks Compared to most major biblical stories, filmmakers have largely overlooked the book of Nehemiah and its hero. Indeed, as he describes things, the only full-length treatment of Nehemiah is a film produced by the Jehovah's Witnesses. The film, titled Nehemiah: The Joy of Jehovah Is Your Stronghold (prod. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, was produced only as recently as 2020. These are the sorts of amazing details that come to light in the EBR. And these details are why EBR is such an incredible, and important resource.
Ada Taggar-Cohen (Kyoto, Japan), Neo-Hittites. As successors to the Hittite Empire that stretched from central Anatolia into north Syria until 1180 BCE, the people who lived after its collapse in the regions of southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria are known as 'Neo-Hittites.' Taggar-Cohen then delves into the topics of the history, the cultural evidence, and, this being an Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, the Neo-Hittites and the Bible. Also included is a very thorough bibliography. This entry is both interesting and well written. A real quality piece of scholarship.
Miryam Brand (Jerusalem, Israel), Nephilim III. Judaism A. Second Temple and Hellenistic Judaism. Brand notes that in texts from the Second Temple period and the Hellenistic era The Nephilim play a central role in a popular Second Temple era story regarding the origin of evil: the myth of the Watchers. To illustrate the point, she follows her opening declaration with evidence from 1 Enoch, Jubilees, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Philo. Very much appreciated is her succinct summary of the tales of the Nephilim: In the fullest form of this story, angels mated with human women and produced giant children who caused destruction, while the angels themselves caused sin by teaching humans illicit knowledge. When the physical bodies of these giants were destroyed, they became evil spirits that plagued the earth.
Jörg Frey (Zurich, Switzerland), Nicodemus I. New Testament. Nicodemus is only named in the Gospel of John. Who he was seems less important than the portrayals foisted on him by the readers of that Gospel. At least that's what Frey seems to suggest when he concludes his entry on Nicodemus in the New Testament with the following lines: For reading the gospel text, the question of the historical reference of the figure remains of secondary importance. Instead, it is the literary ambivalence of the figure that has stimulated readers up to the present to create their own image of Nicodemus. Nicodemus as Rorschach test. That's the fate of all the characters of the Bible about whom we know so little. What we do know, however, is all described by Frey in his helpful entry.
Adam Lajtar (Warsaw, Poland) Nubia II. Christian Textual Traditions. Lajtar's discussion centers on the Christian Textual Traditions of Nubia. He observes Christian Nubia had a rich literary culture, testament to which are 4,000 entries in the internet Database of Medieval Nubian Texts (DBMNT). All manner of texts are included in these materials including, but not limited to liturgical texts, patristic texts, biblical texts, and many others. Adam's contribution to the EBR makes it extremely clear that Christian traditions outside of Europe and North America have as much, if not more, to teach us than our own Eurocentric inclinations would have us believe.
Julia van Rosmalen (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Oaths and Vows IX. Visual Arts. What does art have to tell us about the reception and comprehension of oaths and vows? In particular, what do the visual arts have to teach us about the reception of these concepts? Rosmalen asserts When considering oaths and vows in the visual arts within the context of Bible reception, images can be roughly divided in three categories. The first are depictions of oaths that occur within the biblical narrative; the second, of oaths sworn by Christians; and the third, of oaths from non-Christian narratives but depicted by Christian artists for a Christian audience. As one example Julia illustrates with a picture title Mary nullifies the pact between the clergyman Theophilus and the Devil (ca. 1120-35). The way art depicts the Bible is truly one of the more fascinating aspects of the reception of the Bible. And this essay is, accordingly, fascinating.
Rebecca Kamholz (New Haven, CT, USA), Obscenity and Euphemism III. Judaism B. Rabbinic Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism was no stranger to the use of obscenity, according to Kamholz. Rabbinic treatment of biblical texts which use language or describe imagery that could be considered obscene f
The projected thirty-volume Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR) is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to the current state of knowledge on the background, origins, and development of the canonical texts of the Bible as they were accepted in Judaism and Christianity. Unprecedented in breadth and scope, this encyclopedia also documents the history of the Bible's interpretation and reception across the centuries, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in literature, visual art, music, film, and dance, as well as in Islam and other religious traditions and new religious movements.
The EBR is also available online.
Blogger's Choice - Articles recommended by biblioblogger Jim West (https: //zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com):
Christof Berns (Hamburg, Germany) Miletus. Berns examines and describes the archaeology of the city, from its earliest days through the 14th century. He offers readers a precis of the relevant facts and includes a brief, but current bibliography for those interested in further details.
Younghwa Kim (Decatur, GA, USA) Millennium, Millennialism III. Christianity D. East Asia and Africa. The fascinating way in which Christian millennialism was received in East Asia and Africa is described in Kim's contribution within the larger discussion of the 'Millennium.' He remarks, for example, In the mid-19th century Qing dynasty, Hong Xiuquan's anticipation of the millennial kingdom influenced the Taiping Rebellion, a religious and political movement seeking to reform Chinese society. Throughout the article, he shows how Millennialism is not merely an intellectual enterprise of end-time speculation, but a real world danger.
Hervé Gonzalez (Lausanne, Switzerland) Miscarriage I. Ancient Near East and Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. In what can only be described as a fascinating essay on the problem of miscarriage in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East, we read Despite a great number of stories about pregnancy and birth in the HB/OT (esp. in the book of Genesis), no narrative focuses on a miscarrying woman. The entire essay is learned and provocative.
Judith R. Baskin (Eugene, OR, USA), Misogyny III. Judaism C. Medieval Judaism - D. Modern Judaism. Worth quoting in full are the opening lines of Baskin's contribution: Medieval Judaism expanded negative biblical and rabbinic views of women. These included constructing women as other and lesser than men, a tradition based on the rabbinic privileging of the origin narrative of male primacy in Gen 2:7, rather than the simultaneous creation of both males and females in Gen 1:26-28 (bKet 8a; BerR 17:4; Baskin 2002). Her two-section contribution is exceptionally informative.
Wolfgang Zwickel (Mainz, Germany) Moab, Moabite I. Ancient Near East and Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Zwickel's essay focuses on Moab and the Moabites in the Hebrew Bible. Accordingly, he offers readers an overview of both the sources and the appearance of the terms within the literature of the Old Testament. He moves from particular texts to specific eras in a contribution that, to be fair, attempts to cover too much in too small a space due to the generic nature of an encyclopedic entry. It may have been better had this essay been divided into smaller sub-units covering the archaeological information and the textual information independently. Nonetheless, what's contained here is incredibly helpful and informative.
Jacob Cerone (Munich, Germany) Moses III. New Testament. Here Cerone looks at the New Testament's treatment of Moses in terms of his biographical details, his acts as lawgiver, his role as prophet, other possible roles he played, and the typology to which the Moses stories are subjected and thereby transformed. He concludes By connecting Jesus to Moses, the early Christians were able to maintain continuity with their Jewish roots while demonstrating that Jesus surpasses Moses in glory, honor, and authority.
Sarah E. G. Fein (Waltham, MA, USA) Mother, Mothers, Motherhood VIII. Visual Arts. Fein finely delineates the idea of motherhood in the visual arts. Accordingly, she discusses Eve as she appears in artistic representations, as well as other mothers in the Hebrew Bible along with Mary from the New Testament. In this connection, she observes The two mothers associated with the New Testament most popular in visual reception, especially Byzantine art, are Anne, the mother of Mary, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her very interesting and well documented essay is must reading, as is the entire entry on Mothers in which it appears.
