New LXX Commentary Series

The SBL now announces their approval to publish a new series of commentaries on the Septuagint based on the Greek text as articulated in the New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS):The Society of Biblical Literature Commentary on the Septuagint (SBLCS), which will be sponsored and developed by the IOSCS, will differ from other Septuagint commentary series by focusing on the translation at its point of origin. That is, the SBLCS will take the Septuagint seriously as a translation in order to attempt to determine what the translator was doing when he was translating. Responsibility for developing the series contents, making commentary assignments, and editing volumes will lie with the IOSCS through its editorial board (see: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ioscs/commentary/boards.html), while the SBL publications staff will manage the actual publication tasks. The SBL and IOSCS expect the first volume of SBLCS to appear in 2007, with publication of two volumes per year until the series is complete.

For further information about the SBLCS, please contact:
Albert Pietersma (Joint Editor-in Chief): albert.pietersma@sympatico.ca
Benjamin G. Wright III (Joint Editor-in Chief): bgw1@Lehigh.edu
or Bob Buller (SBL Editorial Director): bob.buller@sbl-site.org

Scot McKnight in Alexandria

Scot Mcknight has a fascinating story about a imagined visit of his to the ancient Library of Alexandria. Read it on his blog here. The whole story is quite amusing, but spells well out what some might have expected to find in the old library of Alexandria if it had prevailed longer than it did.

Update on the digitial Philo

The members of the Norwegian Philo Concordance Project (Peder Borgen, Roald Skarsten and myself) are pleased to announce that we have now signed two contracts with different US publishers (Logos and Oak Tree/Accordance) - AND are negotiating with a third company (those well informed in popular Bible software, may perhaps guess which one).

We have also signed the contract with Gorgias Press for a complete printed version of the Philo concordance (about 7500 pages)!

Strangers in the light

Today I received the just published book of mine, mentioned perhaps a couple of times already on this blog; Strangers in the Light. To me it is, of course, The book of the year...
Let me, in all humility (hmm..), quote from the presentation on the back of the book: "The author of the present work wants to throw new light on the intended readers of 1 Peter by investigating what it could possibly mean that they were to live as strangers in the light. It is argued that the author of 1 Peter considers his readers as living a life influenced by social circumstances very much comparable to those of the Diaspora proselytes to Judaism. Hence similar discussions in Jewish Diaspora works can illuminate his descriptions and exhortations. Among these Diaspora works, the works of Philo of Alexandria should be drawn into the discussions in a much more comprehensive way than has been done so far. In addition to a study of the role of Silvanus in the making of the letter, this volume contains four studies that carry out what the author calls philonic readings of central issues of 1 Peter 2,5-11."

Torrey Seland,
Strangers in the Light.
Philonic Perspectives on Christian Identity in 1 Peter.
Biblical Interpretation Series 76; Brill, Leiden, 2005.

10 ways to determine if you're a NT buff

I found this on a blog some days ago; I don't remember where, but it might work as a test for Philo-scholars also as most of us are dealing with the New Testament too?
Have a nice weekend..

10 ways to determine if you're a NT buff

1. Whenever you listen to a sermon on the NT you always wonder what commentaries the preacher used.

2. The back of your toilet door has Greek verb paradigms engraved on it from your seminary days.

3. Your outdated copy of BAGD is now on the coffee table for visitors to browse over.

4. Amazon.com rates you as one of their top 1000 book buyers.

5. You keep mistaking v's for n's.

6. When lay people ask you what your research interests are and you tell them, they always ask "What's the point of studying that?"

7. When your husband/wife asks you what you want for your birthday/Christmas/mother's/Father's day - you always ask for a book.

8. When you read a passage out of Matthew you wonder if the passage derived from Mark, Q or 'M'.

9. You lay awake at night wondering how best to explain the "parting of the ways" between Judaism and Christianity.

10. The most heinous insult you have ever experienced is when someone mistook you for an Old Testament scholar.
....

How many scores did you get? (-:

The Significance of Abraham..

www.bookreviews.org has posted a review, written by Mark Nanos, on a book dealing with the significance of Abraham traditions for Early Judaism and Christianity, including, of course the works of Philo. The reviewer laments the price of the boook, and the review is not too favourable to the author's thesis either. But have a look for yourself:

Nancy Calvert-Koyzis,
Paul, Monotheism and the People of God: The Significance of Abraham Traditions for Early Judaism and Christianity
Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series, 273
London: T & T Clark, 2005, pp. xiv + 173. Hardcover $115.00

The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha

I have most recently been made aware of a website, providing The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha. This project will surely be welcomed byy many scholars in various fields of studies, including those most often visiting this blog. The project is presented thus on its website:For some time it has been evident that scholars of early Judaism and early Christianity need better access to the texts of the Pseudepigrapha in their original (or extant) languages and with a critical apparatus. In many cases critical editions are prohibitively expensive or out of print, and scholars without access to a large library have been hard pressed to find them.

The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha is intended to address this problem by publishing on-line, free-access critical texts of the Pseudepigrapha which are up-to-date and academically rigorous. This aim is to be realized by

1) co-ordinating the efforts of scholars who take on the editing of individual texts;
2) providing a forum for peer review of texts as they are developed;
3) developing the technology necessary for the publication of these texts in electronic form; and
4) providing a permanent web-site for the long-term publication of these texts and as a forum for ongoing text-critical work on the pseudepigrapha. We ought to be greatful to the scholars providing this material online.

Talking about the pseudepigrapha, there is also a related project at www.logos.com. They are announcing that a digitalized version of the pseudepigrapha will be released later this year in their Libronix Logos program. Further information can be gained here: Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with morphology

Pleasant surprise

I was taken by surprise when P. Borgen called my last night, telling me that I had been voted in as a member of Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas at their last meeting this August. I was not even aware of that I was on the list of prospective new members this year, though I had some hopes for the future!
I have attended some meetings in the past as a guest; now I am looking forward to participate as a member, hopefully already next year in Aberdeen. As for the meeting of this year , Philip Harland did attend as a guest, and have some blogging on it here and here.