Now in Print: "Ezekiel" in the Theological Bible Commentary

Now in Print: I just saw extant in the seminary bookstore the new Westminster John Knox one-volume Theological Bible Commentary, edited by Gail R. O'Day and David L. Petersen (click here for details). My commentary on Ezekiel appears on pp. 241-56.

Lecture: Gender and Ideology in Early Iron Age Israel

Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington
and
The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR)

Invite you to join us for the next lecture of our
Archaeological Lecture Series

on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 8:00 pm

Nisan 28, 5769
כח ניסן תשס״ט

at the

Jewish Community Center
6125 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD, 20852

General Admission: $13

Members of JCC or ASOR, or for Benefactors of the Archaeology Lecture Series: $8

Topic: Gender and Ideology in Early Iron Age Israel

הנושא: מגדר ואידיאולוגיה בישראל של תקופת הברזל המוקדמת

Speaker: Prof. Robert Miller, Catholic University of America

המרצה: פרופ. רוברט מילר, האוניברסיטה הקתולית של אמריקה

Archaeology of Israel often pays little attention to ideology -- those relatively few, but highly complex and ambiguity-ridden concepts around which society revolves and the emotional and intellectual energy of its members is largely spent. Yet archaeology studies material remains where culture and social life most obviously intersect. What can the archaeology of earliest Israel really tell us, for example about the roles of women in society? How "patriarchal" were they? What can the archaeology say about Israelite perceptions of heroism, of the land and natural environment around them, and even about "popular religion" in the years before Saul and David?

Dr. Robert Miller holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan. He has participated in several archaeological excavations and surveys in Israel and served as Program Coordinator of the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. Dr. Miller is the author of several books and many articles on biblical archaeology and on the Hebrew Bible. >From 2000 to 2003, he was a Trustee of the American Schools of Oriental Research. He is currently an Associate Professor of Old Testament at the Catholic University of America in Washington.

For more information, contact Debbie Sokobin at 301-348-3760 or dsokobin@jccgw.org

Parables and Conflict in the Hebrew Bible

My friend Dr. Jeremy Schipper, who teaches at Temple University and is currently the MAR-SBL Regional Coordinator, has a new book just out, Parables and Conflict in the Hebrew Bible. To see the catalog presentation of the book at the Cambridge University Press site, click here.

Here is the scoop: "Challenging the scholarly consensus, Jeremy Schipper argues that parables do not function as appeals to change their audience’s behavior. Nor do they serve to diffuse tensions in regards to the various conflicts in which their audiences are involved. Rather, the parables function to help create, intensify, and justify judgments and hostile actions against their audiences. In order to examine how the parables accomplish these functions, this book pays particular attention to issues of genre and recent developments in genre theory, shifting the central issues in the interpretation of Hebrew Bible parables."

Easter Meditation/Painting

My friend and former VTS student the Rev. Earnest Graham down in Williamsburg sent me this new painting/meditation that he has created Easter morning. He has entitled it, "Life is Just Outside the Door." I linked to it on Facebook, and received some very warm responses to it. To see the image on Earnest's own blog, click here. Comments welcome.

April 1st Products from Eisenbrauns

Eisenbrauns has released several exciting books and pieces of merchandise today (April 1st) including this neat ancient Near Eastern "Cylinder Seal / USB computer drive"!

Cylinder Seal USB 8 Byte Drive


Winged Bull Press, 2009
8 bytes,
USB
#BUYABLE#Your Price: $19.95
#BUYABLE# www.eisenbrauns.com/item/APRIL2009D