Current Research
Biblica

Hebrew Bible

No, Moses did not write the five books of the Pentateuch, nor did Isaiah write all of "Isaiah." A more or less complex formation process has produced many of the canonical texts. Whether we consider the Law, or the Prophets, or the Histories, or such literary pieces as the Psalms, we find this same situation of update and revision. The Hebrew Bible thus takes a good deal of unscrambling; these are some of the most overwritten texts in the world. But as one proceeds, one begins to get a sense of how the mind of Israel, in its relation to God and its own place in the world, underwent continual growth, and indeed argument, over a long period. (In the case of the Psalms, the formation period lasted for seven centuries, from Ahab to Antiochus IV Epiphanes).

An HB Festival Calendar
For our conclusions about the HB texts, see David and Before (forthcoming 2023)

New Testament

Yes, disappointed in the failure of John the Baptist's movement, and going again to the latest Biblical texts for a renewed conception of what was possible, Jesus did see himself as a Davidic Messiah. As Mark reports, he died disappointed. It was the Syrophoenician Woman, and a thousand like her, who breathed ongoing life into that still incomplete rethinking of Hebrew tradition.

 

An NT Festival Calendar
For our conclusions about the NT texts, see Jesus and After (2019)

All this, to the extent we can now recover it, is part of the continuing story of Ancient Israel.The present effort is to study these texts de novo, using standard philological methods plus one new technique. These mathoes have their own section on this site. But briefly, our guidelines are:

  • 1. Ignore "Documentary" or other general solutions, or gimmicks like the fictive "Q," as hampering future understanding.
  • 2. Prioritize. For HB, we need not rediscuss what was already solved in de Wette (1807), Cornill (1898) or Eissfeldt (1946). Get on with the hard stuff.
  • 3. Establish directionalities between texts. Jonah satirizes Nahum; Deuteronomy 5 borrows the Decalogue from Exodus 20, Luke rewrites Mark's Sermon by the Sea.
    • These bits of relative chronology clarify the context for other and more difficult problems.
  • 4. Consider text-formation parallels in other traditions, including the classical Chinese.
  • 5, Try the new BIRD stylistic difference tool.
    • See the explanation in the Style section of this site.

Here is the Forum page, for prediscussion of this year's EGL papers. Comments of viewers are most welcome.

Some Biblical Topics

  • Joseph at Shechem
  • David and Moab
  • God as King
  • Popular vs Priestly Tradition in the Canon
  • Priestly Conflicts (Aaron, Levi, Korah, Zadok, Melchizedek)
  • Micah in Isaiah (Cheyne)
  • The End of Prophecy
  • John the Baptist and the Mandaeans
  • The Role of Peter
  • The Apostolic System
  • The Female Audience
  • The Christianization of Jewish Texts
  • The Cult of Martyrdom
  • India and Gnosticism

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