Festschrift to David E. Aune

I'm back from vacation, and back from the SNTS Meeting in Aberdeen. It was warm and busy days from early morning to late night. Good to have my wife attend the meeting this year; she enjoyed the excursions while we were listening to lectures and participating in seminar discussions. The SNTS Meetings are known to have good excursions for the spouses attending, and for the dinners for all participants in the evenings.






One of the events at the meeting I was looking forward to was the presentation of a Festschrift to David E. Aune. John Fotopoulos was the editor, and here is a picture of David and his wife Mary Lou:
I do think the festschrift was a very deserved honor to an excellent scholar.

I also had the privilege of contributing to the volume, and is responsible for the one and only contribution directly related to Philo studies. My study is called "Philo, Magic and Balaam: Neglected Aspects of Philo's Exposition of the Balaam story."

Further information of the volume can be gathered here:

The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context
Studies in Honor of David E. Aune
Edited by John Fotopoulos
Novum Testamentum, Supplements, 122
Brill Publishing, 2006. 468 pp.

SNTS

I am off to the 61st Meeting of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in Aberdeen.

Some Reviews

SBL Bookreviews has posted some recent reviews of works that should be of interest to Philo scholars, even though it is summer and vacation times...:

Böhm, Martina, Rezeption und Funktion der Vätererzählungen bei Philo von Alexandria: Zum Zusammenhang von Kontext, Hermeneutik und Exegese im frühen Judentum.
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche, 128. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2005. pp. xiii + 502. €128.00

van der Horst, Pieter W.,
Philo's Flaccus: The First Pogrom: Introduction, Translation and Commentary
Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series, 2
Átlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005
pp. xii + 277. $29.95

Review by René Bloch.
and
Review by Gerbern Oegema.

SBL International Meeting 2

After the Accordance presentation in Edinburgh, I happened to meet and have a lunch with Katell Berthelot, a young French scholar who has written on Second Temple Judaism. Katell received her Ph.D. in 2001 in History of Religions, Sorbonne University (Paris). She is researcher at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research, France) and has two major contributions published on Brill, in addition to several articles:

1. Philanthropia Judaica: Le debat autour de la «Misanthropie» Des Lois Juives Dans L'Antiquité (The debate concerning Misanthropie in the Jewish Laws in Antiquity).
   
2. L’«humanite de l'autre homme» dans la pensée juive ancienne (Humanity towards other human beings in the ancient Jewish thinking).
   

Brill says about the books:

Philanthropia Judaica: Le debat autour de la «Misanthropie» Des Lois Juives Dans L'Antiquité. Brill: Leiden, 2003. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 76.

This volume deals with the accusations of misanthropy directed against the Jews during the Hellenistic and Roman period, and with the Jewish attempts to answer those charges. The first part of the book examines the different meanings of the words philanthropia, misanthropia, apanthropia, philoxenia and misoxenia, and analyses the relevant Greek, Egyptian and Roman sources, in order to clarify the significance of the accusation of misanthropy for each writer.

The second part deals with the Jewish answers to these accusations, especially with Philo's and Josephus' attempts to show the humane character of the Mosaic Law.

This book is the first attempt to write a comprehensive history of this type of anti-Jewish discourse in Antiquity and of the Jewish reactions it provoked.

L’«humanite de l'autre homme» dans la pensée juive anciennes. Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism; 87. Leiden: Brill, 2004.

This book analyzes how humanism was conceived of in different philosophical schools during the Hellenistic and early Roman period, and how these ideas were debated in ancient Jewish thought. The term humanism refers to the idea that every person has duties towards his/her fellow human beings, for the sole reason that they all share a common nature or are bound by a form of kinship.

The book also tries to determine to which extent Gen 1:26-27 (creation of human beings in God's image) and Lev 19:18 (the commandment to love one's neighbour, who is like oneself) could be interpreted in a humanistic way by ancient Jewish writers.

Katell also told me that Sabrina Inowlocki is organising a Philo conference in Belgium next summer, but she did not know any details. Perhaps others do?

SBL International Meeting

2006 took place in Edinburgh as you may have noticed and as Torrey wrote earlier. Actually, I am still in Scotland, taking some days off after the conference. This was my first time on a SBL-conference, which is perhaps a little strange, but there have always been a lot of other conferences to go to. The funny thing about this conference was that although 500 persons were registered partakers, I only saw about 40 or 50 at a time. The reason is perhaps that the meetings were scattered around a little bit and one did get the feeling of being at a large conference.

Besides, there was no Philo section or anything and couldn't find Philo in any of the Abstracts in the program either (perhaps I missed it). My own contribution was more in the methodological field, I am trying out theories based on Gadamer's hermeneutical circle in relation to a contextual theological model. I hope it can be an article at the end...

I did get to talk to Roy and Helen Brown of Accordance, who demonstrated their latest version (v. 7) of the program, Philo in Greek and English included. Several new features here, particularly in the presentational part (diagrams etc.). That program can really help Philo scholars. I also talk the representative of Gorgias Press, but unfortunately he had not received the Complete KWIC-concordance from the publisher (I guess it is just to big and heavy to be delt with properly).