'ilānū

I just picked up a publication from the SBL Dissertation Series. It's Joel S. Burnett's A Reassessment of Biblical Elohim. It's a fascinating read, but I thought I'd highlight the first section, which discusses the early Near Eastern manifestations of the plural of El/'ilu as a singular title. Burnett groups the Hebrew 'elohim, the West Semitic 'ilanu, and the Phoenician 'lm together as "concretized abstract plurals" that were used with singular verbs in reference to patron or personal gods, and sometimes to the Egyptian king. They are found from the Amarna Letters to Mari, Ugarit, Taanach, and Qatna. Burnett rejects the notion of a "plural of majesty" on the grounds that it is not clearly found in all the languages which preserve the above plural noun. It is more closely related in all the languages to an abstract plural, like 'adonim (lordship), or 'abot (fatherhood). He calls it "concretized" because of its appropriation as a title for specific gods. This would render a literal translation of the word in the Hebrew Bible "deity." ha'elohim would be "the deity."

A New Dead Sea Scroll Discovered?

Again via Jim Davila, an IAA operation has confiscated what appears to be a 2,000 year old piece of papyrus with a Hebrew text on it referencing "year 4 to the destruction of Israel," which could refer to 74 CE, after the destruction of the temple, or 139 CE, four years after the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The story is here. A photo of the papyrus (courtesy of the Scroll Conservation Laboratory, Israel Antiquities Authority) is downloadable here. Cool stuff.

History of the Publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Via Jim Davila, Geza Vermes discusses, in Standpoint: Online, his role in, and a history of, the discovery and publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as their impact. A very informative read.

Graduate School

After considering an offer to go straight into a PhD program at Claremont Graduate University, my wife and I have decided to accept an invitation to read for the Master of Studies in Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford. We're excited to spend some time in the UK. I'm presenting a paper in the Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible session at SBL this November, so I'll have to turn around and fly back for a week within two months of arriving. Despite all the flying, I think it will be a great experience for my family and me.

No Jobs?

Throughout my undergraduate years the professors in and around my emphasis made sure to warn everyone that in our field, there were no jobs. If we weren't willing to go teach high school somewhere because we couldn't get hired we shouldn't be in the major. I was always a little skeptical, mainly because everyone who was telling me this had a job. In the last three days two job postings have been made public for Hebrew Bible positions on PaleoJudaica.com, here and here. One of them has a pretty small salary, but it's a foot in the door. It seems to me there are still jobs out there.

biblecriticism.com

The youngest ever PhD from Hebrew University has launched a new website that seeks to trace, among other things, the sources of the Hebrew Bible. The author provides Word documents that color code the texts of the Bible, up to 2 Sam 5, according to the Deuteronomistic sources. I'm a little wary of that degree of specificity, but judge for yourself. The website is here.

Studia Antiqua - Call for Papers

Studia Antiqua, BYU's student journal for the study of the ancient world, is happy to announce an extended deadline for the spring 2009 call for papers. The extension will move the deadline to Monday, February 2.

Studia Antiqua invites submissions from students and professionals in and outside of Brigham Young University that treat a topic related to any pre-Islamic culture. While the majority of our papers are related to the ancient Near East, we encourage submissions discussing any of the world's ancient cultures. Book reviews are also welcome. Submissions should be sent to studia_antiqua@yahoo.com.

For more information about the journal, and for access to back issues and submission guidelines, please visit studiaantiqua.byu.edu or the Students of the Ancient Near East website.