The T & T Clark Blog

Editor Interview: Antonios Finitsis on Dress and Clothing in the Hebrew Bible

 

Professor Antonios Finitsis describes the group research that delved into the multivalent importance of dress and clothing in the ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible; resulting in Dress and Clothing in the Hebrew Bible: “For All Her Household Are Clothed in Crimson”, one of the latest volumes in the acclaimed series The Library of Hebrew/Old Testament Studies.

 

1. How would you describe this book in one sentence?

It is a study of the articulation of power in the Hebrew Bible via Dress and clothing.

 

2. What drew you to amassing an anthology on dress and clothing?

Two primary reasons drew me. First, even though “Dress studies” is a field of inquiry with a long history in other disciplines such as history, sociology, anthropology, and sociology, it is relatively untouched by Hebrew Bible scholars. That —in itself— was an irresistible motivator that generated a lot of excitement among members of my research group. Second, recent approaches for the interpretation of Hebrew Bible, such as queer, iconographic, disability studies etc. have questioned dominant presuppositions of deriving meaning and have shed new light on age old texts. It is precisely this revolutionary potential of Dress studies that drew me to creating this anthology.

Editor Interview - Jeremiah Cataldo on Imagined Worlds and Constructed Differences in the Hebrew Bible

Professor Jeremiah W. Cataldo discusses the necessity of focusing on the neglected areas of Biblical memory, identity and community, in the edited collection Imagined Worlds and Constructed Differences in the Hebrew Bible, one of the latest volumes in The Library of Hebrew/Old Testament Studies.

1. How would you describe this book in one sentence?

This volume analyses constructed memory and identity in the Bible through the lens of modern social-scientific method, and explores how social and political identities are imagined within collective memories and what that means for biblical interpretation.

Author Interview - Adam D. Hensley on 'Covenant Relationships and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter'

In anticipation of the publication of Covenant Relationships and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, one of the latest volumes in the long running and cutting-edge Library of Hebrew and Old Testament Studies series, Dr. Adam D. Hensley delves deeper into the origins and research of his book.

1. How would you describe your book in one sentence?

A direct and methodical investigation of editorial perspective in the Psalter regarding the relationship between the Davidic and premonarchic covenants.

2. What drew to you writing about this subject?

Having expressed some interest in studying OT postexilic literature, one of my graduate school professors suggested I might look into the growing field of Psalter studies. While scholarly opinion varied—and still varies—on the extent to which the Psalter constitutes a “book” with a single “narrative,” it nonetheless seemed clear to me that the Psalter was new and relatively unexplored territory for examining the theology and hopes of the postexilic period.

I was especially intrigued by what the Psalter’s arrangement might reveal on the question of messianic expectation and covenant theology. Did postexilic editors see the covenants as theological alternatives or characterized by an essential unity and continuity? Was the substance of their hopes limited to the temple theocracy they already knew, or was a future king central to those hopes and to the renewal of the covenant? Was the Davidic covenant really seen as “failed” as Gerald H. Wilson contended? Did they really “democratize” the Davidic covenant by construing God’s promises to the house of David in terms of the people directly without any meaningful role for human kingship in their realization? Or did they view covenant history culminating in restored kingship after all, through which God’s covenant people might be renewed and God’s covenant promises fulfilled? To be sure, there were no shortage of opinions about such questions in the literature, but also no direct investigations of “covenant relationships” with a methodology up to the task.

3. How long have you been researching it? How did you come to study it?

Early in 2010 I picked up a book titled The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, by Gerald H. Wilson. I was amazed by Wilson’s many observations in the Psalter and parallels with ancient anthologies. But I noticed that, like many studies that have followed it, Wilson’s approach presupposed answers to questions that it failed to address directly. One of those questions was especially foundational: how those who compiled the Psalter perceived covenant history, especially how they understood the Davidic covenant in relation to the premonarchic covenants.

4. What does your book focus on that hasn’t been explored elsewhere?

My book offers a fresh re-evaluation of editorial evidence in the Psalter, and in the process sheds light on some puzzling features of the Psalter. For example, it offers a new accounting of how editors understood 72:20 (“The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended”) in view of subsequent Davidic psalms. What’s more, the main thesis explored in the book offers a new perspective on why Asaph Ps 50 is separated from the main Asaph group (73–83).

By offering a thorough survey of the Psalter’s references and allusions to “covenant” that spans four chapters, it also presents a fuller picture of the covenant profile of the Psalter than previously accessible. This survey work goes beyond the term berit to include intertextual allusions to major entailments of the biblical covenants while taking account of editorial considerations.

Building on the work of Jamie A. Grant and others who have demonstrated the Psalter’s idealized depiction of kingship (cf. Deut 17:14–20), my book examines other aspects of the Psalter’s editorial perspective on kingship that have been overlooked or under-appreciated. For example, it explores David as an intercessor between YHWH and people/nations and thereby central to covenant renewal. It also examines a proposed typological relationship between Moses and David in the Psalms: David as a “New Moses” who leads the world in a “new song” of thanksgiving for YHWH’s new, exodus-like redemption of his people. In the process the book offers fresh insights on the structural and theological profiles of Books II–V.

We are very grateful to Adam D. Hensley for taking part in this interview!

Covenant Relationships and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter is available for pre-order now, and is due for release on 17th May 2018.

Spotlight on: Woman's Body and the Social Body in Hosea by Alice Keefe

Every now and then it's good to give some attention to the gems on our extensive backlist. Here is a post concerning a book that has just been made available again both in paperback and PDF -- namely, Alice A. Keefe’s original and provocative study of Hosea’s (in)famous marriage metaphor, Woman’s Body and the Social Body in Hosea.

This work takes on an entrenched tradition of interpretation, exposing its androcentric and confessional determinants, and draws on a socio-literary approach to reread Hosea’s female sexual imagery and to rethink the brunt of his prophetic critique. An excellent choice for graduate level courses in biblical studies, Keefe’s showcases the fruitful impact of interdisciplinary approaches in biblical interpretation as well as demonstrating the difference which a feminist approach can make in the study of one very important text.

As is well known, Hosea’s figure of Israel as an adulterous wife who chases after her “lovers” has routinely been read as a polemic against popular participation in a syncretistic “fertility cult” in eighth century Israel. The dominant reading of this metaphor posits that the prophet is upset because the people are worshipping deities immanent in nature in order to secure the fertility of the soil, rather than putting their trust in the transcendent “Lord of history,” Yahweh. Further, many 20th century scholars argue that this “fertility cult” may have included rituals of sacred prostitution designed to evoke or magnify the divine powers which ensure the fertility of the soil, and that Hosea’s lascivious wife may have been a participant in such rituals. But recent advances in our understanding of Hosea’s social and religious contexts have rendered this dominant interpretation untenable. It is no longer credible to imagine a simple polarity Canaanite fertility religion and Yahwistic “faith,” and any clear evidence for rituals of sacred prostitution has been found to be lacking. But further, Keefe unpacks how this dominant reading has been shaped by the reflexive association of women and female sexual imagery with sin, sex, temptation, and the lure of the “natural,” associations which developed centuries later and were not familiar in Hosea’s time.

As an alternative frame for interpretation, Keefe reads Hosea’s metaphor of the nation/land as an adulterous woman in the context of the symbolic association between sexual transgression and social violence found elsewhere in biblical literature and argues then that Hosea’s “wife of promiscuity” points to the structural/social violence which accompanied the expansion of royal estates and the boom in “agribusiness” in Hosea’s time. Highly readable and well-argued, Woman’s Body and the Social Body in Hosea offers an engaging entree to the methodological sea-change that has transformed biblical studies in recent decades. Its deconstructive and constructive moves draw upon the fruits of social scientific approaches to ancient Israel in tandem with methods of close reading and attention to intertextual clues. It takes the reader into the contested arena of feminist biblical criticism and challenges the argument that woman is always a symbol of the “other” in biblical literature. But most importantly, this work provides a powerful lesson in the indeterminacy of readings. Rather than claiming to have finally found the “right” reading of Hosea’s marriage metaphor, Keefe’s purpose is to show how readings are conditioned by readers. She shows how a feminist interpretive lens has the power to disturb entrenched “male stream” readings and open up new perspectives on the meaning of female sexual imagery in biblical literature.

"With interpretive and methodological sensitivity, Keefe provides an instructive case study in the changing dynamics of biblical interpretation in recent decades and the ways they open new possibilities for reading a particular text with a troubled interpretive past. The book is a gift to students and professors looking for a way to explore emerging sociological readings of prophetic texts such as Hosea 1—3 or to illustrate the wide-ranging impact that sociological, intertextual, and feminist approaches can have on biblical interpretation and the underlying—often under-examined—assumptions at work within it." –Brad E. Kelle, Point Loma Nazarene University (author of Hosea 2: Metaphor and Rhetoric in Historical Perspective [SBL Academia Biblica 20; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005])

"This sociohistorical analysis of Hosea provides a compelling challenge to traditional interpretations of the marriage metaphor and sexual imagery in Hosea 1 and 2. Keefe shows that, rather than signaling cultic apostasy, Hosea's troubled marital relationship represents ancient Israel's serious political, social, and economic problems. With astute awareness of the poetics of Hosea's language and of the material realities of his day, she provides a fresh and powerful new understanding of this eight century BCE prophetic book." --Carol Meyers, Duke University (author of Rediscovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).

New in Paperback Editions from T&T Clark this August 2015

Just in time for the bank holiday weekend, here's a quick round up of the new monographs now available in paperback for the first time:

Text, Context and the Johannine Community

By David. A. Lamb

This is a lucid examination of the social contexts of the Gospel and Epistles of John. Given our lack of reliable external information about the origin of the Johannine writings, Lamb shows why a more fruitful approach may be to examine their lexico-grammatical and discourse features to determine what these imply about interpersonal relationships.

The Body as Property

Physical disfigurement functioned in biblical law to verify legal property acquisition, when changes in the status of dependents were formalized. Jacobs shows how legitimate property acquisition was important in biblical law, substantiated in the accounts of prescriptive disfigurements: namely circumcision and the piercing of a slave's ear.

Was Noah Good

By Carol M. Kaminski

Using Noah as a focal point, Kaminski controversially argues against the commonly held view that Noah finds favour because he is righteous, positing instead that divine favour is unmerited in accordance with the theme of grace in the primaeval history and in Genesis as a whole.

You Are My Son

By Amy L. B. Peeler

Peeler recognizes the inherent connection between the paternal identity of God, the filial identity of the Son, and the filial identity of the audience. The recurrence of the father-ship theme coalesces into a powerful ontological reality for the audience: because God is the Father of Jesus Christ, they too are the sons of God. But even more than the model of son-ship, Jesus' relationship with his Father ensures that the children of God will endure the race of faith. A powerful re-analysis of the traditional filial dynamic.

Mockery and Secretism in the Social World of Mark's Gospel

By Dietmar Neufeld

 

There was a culture of mockery and shame in Ancient Mediterranean cultures. Mark presents us with a Jesus who has both a sense of shame and honour. Neufeld considers the social functions of ridicule, and investigates the author's concern with secrecy, revealing it to be deployed for very specific and strategic reasons.

Theological Interpretation and Isaiah 53

By Charles Shepherd

Shepherd brings together the hermeneutical approaches of three Old Testament scholars, specifically as they pertain to the interpretation of Isaiah 52.13-53.12 in the framework of Christian theology.

The Dialectics of Creation

By Martin Poulsom

Poulsom's interpretation of Schillebeeckx enriches current approaches to this thinker and offers a significant contribution to thinking on the doctrine of Creation and issues surrounding the 'ontological distinction' which is of major concern in philosophical theology today.

A Celebration of Living Theology

Eds Justin A. Mihoc and Leonard Aldea

By drawing together scholars from the three main branches of Christianity and from around the world, this volume helps to increase knowledge and exposure between the different spheres. Comprised of articles on Patristics, Byzantine Fathers, Latin Fathers, Modern Christianity, Theology as Life and the reception of Louth’s work outside the English-speaking world, the papers are written by the leading scholars, such as Lewis Ayres, John Milbank, Kallistos Ware and Thomas Graumann.

A Spotlight on Ezekiel: 'This Text Should Come with a Health Warning'

This week we are treating you to some original content from Ezekiel specialist Professor Paul Joyce. Paul is Samuel Davidson Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at KCL, London, and author of Ezekiel: A Commentary (T&T Clark, 2009). In the past year, T&T Clark have published The God Ezekiel Creates, co-edited by Paul Joyce and Dalit Rom-Shiloni (November, 2014), as well as An Introduction to the Study of Ezekiel (May, 2015) by Michael A. Lyons in the past year, so we thought we should spend some time getting more in-depth with this 'weird and wonderful' book.

Weird and Wonderful: Ezekiel, his Book and his God

By Paul M. Joyce

In a chapter of his remarkable work Flaubert’s Parrot (1984), Julian Barnes mounts ‘The Case Against’ Flaubert, listing fifteen charges against the great author before proceeding to defend him. Quite a lengthy charge-sheet of this kind can be drawn up against Ezekiel. Indeed the book has a popular reputation as a text that is bad for you, one that should carry a health warning.

A major problem that confronts the reader of Ezekiel concerns the theology of history implied by the book. Ezekiel’s God uses war as an instrument to punish his own people and other nations, and to control world events. Which of us today really believes such things? The fact that Ezekiel shares this feature with the Israelite prophetic tradition as a whole does little to make it less problematic. The vindictive, merciless and bloody tone of Ezekiel 1-24 is notorious. Does this not show Ezekiel - and his God - to be nothing less than sadistic, acting for the sake of the vindication of the deity’s reputation before the nations?

It is hardly surprising that a dominant cultural association of the word ‘Ezekiel’ for many in our own time has been the repeated adaptation of the vengeful words of 25:17 in Quentin Tarantino’s  1994 film Pulp Fiction: ‘I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful punishments. Then   they shall know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance on them.’

Much praised is Ezekiel’s insistence that the generation of his own day must forget the past and must take responsibility for its own plight, rejecting the proverb ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’ (Ezekiel 18). Indeed this is frequently regarded as one of his great contributions to the theology of the Hebrew Bible. But is not this failure to acknowledge the intergenerational effects of sin grossly simplistic, in psychological and sociological terms? For in a world in which dysfunctional family relationships, alcoholism, sexual abuse and so many other blights cast their shadow from one generation to another, it is plain naive to imagine that ‘children’s teeth’ are not in some sense ‘set on edge’ by their parents’ deeds.

Ezekiel, it can be argued, is not strong on social justice, when compared with his predecessors, the great prophets of the eighth century. He seems rather to be obsessed with cultic purity and the legalistic enforcement of it.  Then there is the very strangeness of Ezekiel himself as presented in the book - this man who sits stunned for seven days (3:15), who lies on his left side for 390 days, and then on his right side for 40 days (4:4-8). And yet at the same time Ezekiel appears a cold fish, who does not mourn the death of his own wife (ch. 24). Indeed he seems such an odd and eccentric character that many have judged him mad, an old diagnosis revived by David Halperin in 1993.  

Other charges can and have been laid at Ezekiel’s door. He is sometimes dubbed the ‘Father of Apocalyptic’, but this path led to what some have regarded as in many ways an obscure and esoteric cultural dead-end in Apocalypticism, a phenomenon certainly rejected by mainstream Judaism. Closely related is the tradition of Merkabah mysticism, taking its starting point from Ezekiel’s opening vision, which can be seen as a dangerous opportunity for self-indulgent escapism, from which the rabbis rightly warned off the young and vulnerable. Again, Ezekiel is notorious for his patriarchy, misogyny and sexism; these features are particularly marked in chs. 16 and 23, which descend to the downright pornographic.

Time and time again we are brought back to the problems posed by the God Ezekiel presents. Half way through the book (chapter 33 is to be seen as the key turning point), the theme switches from absolute punishment, where there could be no mercy, through a complete disjunction, to the extreme opposite, in which all is mercy, and in which human freedom and responsibility are drastically under-defended.  It emerges that this is again for the sake of an ulterior theological motive, the vindication of the divine reputation before the nations.  And there are major knock-on effects of all this in Ezekiel’s theology. There is no adequate place for repentance in Ezekiel, either before the fall of Jerusalem, where the references are few and arguably merely rhetorical (14:6; 18:30-31), or after the fall, where obedience is freely given by God to his still recalcitrant people (a theology expounded especially in chapter 36). Much is made of Ezekiel’s theology of grace (above all the gift of a new heart and a new spirit), but does this not threaten to cut the nerve of ethical endeavour, marking a retreat from the real prophetic task of ethical proclamation, to the ‘internalization’ of religion?  And all for the purposes of God rather than his people, lest they again disgrace his holy name. Like the prophet himself,

Ezekiel’s God seems a forbidding and distant figure. He appears a selfish deity, using Israel and the other nations for his own ends. We do not find here the warmth of the God portrayed in, say, Hosea or Jeremiah.

It can seem that Ezekiel’s God cares above all about his own status and own his holiness (36:21: ‘But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned’). Strangest of all, he even gives to his people statutes that were not good, ‘in order that I might horrify them, so that they might know that I am the LORD’ (20:25-26). A damning indictment. What, if anything, may be said in defence of Ezekiel, his book, and above all his God?

There can be few, if any, books of the Bible that have a more distinctive presentation of the deity than the book of Ezekiel, or are more dominated by the central place taken by the divine figure. This is indeed a radical theocentricity. Thus, the focus on this intriguing theme is paramount in the volume The God Ezekiel Creates.

The articles problematize and illuminate the divine in Ezekiel, and a rich variety of readings is presented along the spectrum between, on the one hand, Darr’s ‘harsh, judgmental, and punitive deity’ and, on the other, Block’s perspective on the God who balances his fury with his mercy, not only in Israel’s past and future but even in the nation’s present, showing grace to a remnant. Presentations of divine sovereignty over Israel, the nations, and the cosmos run through many of the essays as they highlight negative qualities of divine violence, terror and fear (Darr, Strong, Nevader, van Wolde). And yet that divine sovereignty is the focus also of more positive depictions of the deity’s powers in portraits of restoration (Callender, Carvalho, Cook, Block), extending to a divine pity over Israel (Carvalho).  Divine presence and absence, in Jerusalem and in Babylon, are explored in various ways throughout the volume.  

Noteworthy is the title, The God Ezekiel Creates, which seems to imply that we are dealing with a construction, the God-figure as Ezekiel shapes him. While this is indeed the approach of many of the essays, which work in the conviction that God-talk is a human activity, and what Ezekiel's God says is in fact a reflection of Ezekiel himself, still a couple of the essays in the volume challenge this implication of the title. Marvin Sweeney inverts the title in a piece called ‘The Ezekiel that G-d Creates’ while Daniel Block writes of ‘The God Ezekiel Wants Us to Meet.’

The God of Ezekiel is indeed a complex character of divergent qualities and contrasting images, and the topic seems inexhaustible. The intention is that this collection will generate many starting points for further explorations of the fascinating book of Ezekiel. The overriding impression that I form is that the book of Ezekiel in fact provides a challenge and a corrective to the many theologies that present God as we ourselves might like him to be.  From the beginning of the book (where the deity, seated on a moving throne, is witnessed by the prophet in alien Babylonia) through to its culmination (with a vision of a river flowing from the Jerusalem temple to bring life to the wilderness), this holy and austere God acts consistently for his own purposes whether in judgment or in deliverance, giving statutes that are not good in order to horrify his people and also delivering those who remain undeserving. 

Strange, uncongenial, forbidding …, but this is a God worthy of the name, and it comes as no surprise that Ezekiel exercised a profound influence on Calvin, who was indeed lecturing on the book at the end of his life.

If Ezekiel is not well known to you, then I recommend that you spend some time with this weird book that is also a treasure trove. There is no better way than to explore the text for yourself of course, but if you seek a companion I warmly commend the excellent new Introduction to the Study of Ezekiel written by Michael A. Lyons.

 

New releases in Biblical Studies this May

Last week we had a round-up of some of great titles now available on the Theology list at Bloomsbury T&T Clark. This week follows with the same from the Biblical Studies list. 

First up, we have our new addition to our Approaches series with the new offering from Michael A. Lyons, An Introduction to the Study of Ezekiel. After explaining how the message of the prophet was relevant to the exilic situation in which he lived, this thorough guide shows how later generations shaped, transmitted, and used Ezekiel in their own communities. The book summarizes the literary shape and contents of Ezekiel, then examines the theories and methodologies used in current scholarship that explain the formation of Ezekiel. 

Next up we have Reception History and Biblical Studies, edited by John William Lyons and Emma England, released into our (relatively) new Scriptural Traces series. This new addition to a series which focuses on Reception History of the Bible begins to chart the near-infinite series of events that have been generated by the journey of the biblical texts down through the centuries. The chapters consider aspects as diverse as political and economic factors, cultural location, the discipline of Biblical Studies itself, and the impact of preconceptions upon reception history. Articles are contributed by Susan Gillingham, James Crossley, Roland Boer and Helen Jacobus, amongst others.

Next up, there is Going Up and Going Down published into our Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies series, by Yitzhak Itzik Pelag. Pelag argues that Jacob's dream should be understood as a symbolic dream function to explain its meaning. Thus, the vision, and the movement of the angels is not embellishment or scenic background, but rather symbolizes the path taken by the Patriarchs to and from the Promised Land.  

Finally, we have Written to Serve, published into our Library of New Testament Studies series by Benjamin Sargent. Benjamin Sargent offers an up to date and comprehensive analysis of how 1 Pet 1.10-12 offers a 'hermeneutic,' providing an insight into how Scripture is interpreted in the letter. He argues that the primary importance of 1.10-12 is its orientation of the prophetic witness towards the eschatological community as an act of service, and that it can be seen to suggest a narrative of profound discontinuity.

Find them all here: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Round up of new T&T Clark New in Paperback editions

We are pleased to give you details of some of our most recent New in Paperbacks from T&T Clark, published in September 2014.

The first up is Women in the Greetings of Romans 16.1-16 by Susan Mathew, which is part of our Library of New Testament Studies series.

Susan Mathew examines the structures of mutuality in Romans, to shed light on the issue of women's leadership in Pauline theology. Mathew begins by analyzing the general form of greetings in the Pauline letters, to illuminate the specific form of the greetings in Rom 16.1-16. Mathew couples this with analysis of the leadership of women in the Greco-Roman world, showing that women's leadership roles in the Pauline churches were part of this wider culture. Developing a model of mutuality, Mathew draws together the strands of the Pauline ethos of mutuality, and argues that the leadership roles of women are encouraged in the greetings at the end of Romans . 

 

Next up is No Longer Living as the Gentiles: Differentiation and Shared Ethical Values in Ephesians 4: 17-6:9 by Daniel K. Darko 

Daniel K. Darko argues that Ephesians 4.17-6.9 exhibits a consistent strategy of promoting group distinctiveness, while utilizing Greco-Roman ethical values and traditions to promote internal cohesion among the readers. Readers are encouraged neither to separate from society nor to integrate further into it, but to live and function within society as members of the ‘household of God' in one accord.

And on the LHBOTs side we have:

Crossing the Jordan: Diachrony Versus Synchrony in the Book of Joshua

By Eun Woo-Lee

Lee introduces the synchronic readings of Polzin, Hawk and Winther-Nielsen, as well as their attempts to uncover the problems in applying their methods to this complicated text.  For the purpose of reading the literary history of Joshua 3-4 in a diachronic way, Lee considers what position this text holds in the setting of the wider context of the ark narratives and water-crossing stories in the Old Testament, e.g. the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus 13.17-14.31 and with Elijah and Elisha crossing the river in 2 kings 2. He examines the recent trends in literary criticism and attempts to trace the most probable literary history of Joshua 3-4.

And last but certainly not least:

Reconsidering the Date and Provenance of the Book of Hosea: The Case for Persian-Period Yehud

By James M. Bos

Bos argues that the book of Hosea ought to be understood and read as a text that was composed in Persian-period Yehud rather than in eight-century Israel. The author challenges traditional scholarship and emphasizes that there is the evidence to suggest that the book should be viewed as a Judahite text - a book that was composed in the late sixth or early fifth century B.C.E.

You can buy all of these here: Bloomsbury T&T Clark site

 

Podcast Interview with Francesca Stavrakopoulou

In this podcast Dominic Mattos, Publisher for T&T Clark, talks to Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou about her books Land of Our Fathers (T&T Clark, 2010) and Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah (T&T Clark, 2010) and about the challenges and opportunities facing biblical studies as a discipline. 

Francesca Stavrakopoulou is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter, UK. Her research focuses on ancient Israelite religion, Judahite kingship, and history and ideology in the Hebrew Bible. She recently wrote an article in The Guardian about gender issues with regards to how to dress in academia, which you can find here.

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Summer Conference Round-up

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness feels as if it's well upon us, and those heady days of summer when the year still seemed to be in its prime now register only as dim memories. The jungle-drums of panic are already starting to beat away for SBL/AAR, and I'm considering just not bothering unpacking my last conference bag and hoping that whatever clothing I wore for the last gig will miraculously wash itself and be appropriate for San Diego.

But what a conference season it was for Biblical Studies this year. For me it kicked off with the wonderful Jesus and Brian conference at King's College London, which included the cracking line from John Cleese; 'if someone were to ask me what the most interesting thing to come out of Monty Python was I'd be tempted to say this conference'. I'm thrilled that we'll be publishing the book of the conference in August next year (if everything goes to plan). The Jesus and Brian papers were uniformly excellent. I particularly enjoyed George Brooke's, which included another great line; 'after all the Pythons had done more than most of my students do, they'd actually read the Dead Sea Scrolls'.If you're interested, T&T Clark live-tweeted the conference ---and you should be able to find soundbites on our twitter feed quite easily.

ISBL in Vienna followed shortly after we'd looked on the bright side of life, and I had many profitable meetings in between slabs of sacher torte and Wiener melange. I also shared a 'Viennese Sausage Experience' in what later turned out to be a favourite cafe of Freud's. My dining partner and I decided we wouldn't analyse that one too much. It was particularly great to catch up with series editors, and publishing colleagues and friends from other houses.

Next in line was SOTS - which I didn't attend myself. This was a great sadness as I was looking forward to John Day's presidential conference. I still remember his lectures on Genesis 1-11 from my student days. They were very good - as evidenced by the fact that I actually went to them. We were represented at SOTS by Miriam Cantwell and Matt Porter. I've heard it was a great conference, and that a particular highlight was John J. Collins' paper on 'Torah and Jewish Identity in the Second Temple Period'.

Whilst SOTS was going on I was in Providence, RI, for the meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association. This was great fun, and the Dominicans hosted the event wonderfully. Great to see so many young friars. White habits everywhere. The seafood in Providence was truly excellent as well.

After CBA came SNTS in Szeged, which from Providence was a time-difference I didn't particularly enjoy. This conference was superbly organised, which makes a huge difference for us publishers. I enjoyed Keith Elliot's paper on the historical critical method... which included a cheeky line that went something like this; 'sometimes might it be best to admit that we do not know what the text means?' Lots of thumping great bowls of goulash for all to enjoy at the conference dinners. I also enjoyed eating Magalica pork whilst I was there. This comes from a curly-haired breed of pig, and it is delicious. It is the closest we can get to the now-extinct British breed, the Lincolnshire Curlycoat. The Curlycoat became extinct as a direct result of the 1955 Howitt report, which recommended a simplification of pig breeds. Curlycoats were used to help boost the Mangalica stock in Hungary and Austria in the late 50s so there is at least some genetic crossover. This pig story has absolutely nothing to do with Biblical Studies, but it was a valuable part of the conference experience for me. It also reflects just how much attitudes towards food production have changed in the UK since the 1950s.

The final conference of the season was BNTC (British New Testament) in Manchester. Great papers from Eric Eve and Rafael Rodriguez on Oral Tradition and the NT. Note Rafael's recent book on the subject. Similarly a great plenary from Professor Joan Taylor on Mary Magdaelene --- trying to find the missing Magdala. It was also nice to see James Crossley's Harnessing Chaos, which appears in our new Reception History sub-series (Scriptural Traces), feature as part of a panel review session. All present enjoyed Jorunn Okland's 'method dressing' approach to the session. A hint as to what this involved can be found on the book's truly extraordinary cover!

So a fun summer of conferences. Lots of good conversations. Lots of interesting people. Lots of good food. Now all I have to do is try to sleep, diet, and exercise between now and SBL/AAR... and try to find the will to unpack.