2013 VTS Commencement

Dr Carol Newsom & Dr Ellen Davis. Both received honorary VTS degrees; Ellen gave the address. 

 
 

New Hebrew Studies Tee

2013 Hebrew T-Shirt:

Front reads "VTS"

Forthcoming: The CEB Study Bible

Coming this fall, October 2013, the brand new CEB Study Bible, to which I contributed the introduction and annotations to the Book of Daniel!


To see more, visit the CEB website: click here, or go to CEBStudyBible.com.

"Job" by Léon Bonnat, c. 1860

We treated the book of Job in OT-513 today. One powerful image of Job's agony that we looked at was Job by Léon Bonnat, c. 1860. 

Bonnat's figure of Job reveals a nude, older, fully vulnerable figure, who is here reduced to pure frailty. The realistic sinews and muscles, the feel of beatings by life's tempests, make the figure convincing and relatable. The figure is clearly oriented toward God in a posture and attitude of pain and questioning. Bonnat, an eminent 19th century French artist, was a painter of powerful portraits, and, as with those works, this piece isolates the subject with vivid lighting and a simple, dark background. The viewer is invited powerfully to concentrate on the figure in all his suffering humanity and to wrestle with the fundamental question of what it means to be mortal, created of dust, and thus vulnerable.

Convergence and Divergence in Pentateuchal Theory: Bridging the Academic Cultures of Israel, North America and Europe

I’ve received word from Jerusalem about what looks to be a fantastic international conference. My friend Prof. Bernard M. Levinson has  organized a research group on the formation of the Pentateuch and the group is holding an international conference on Pentateuchal studies later this month, May 2013. Given the range of topics and the goal of addressing key issues in the formation of the Pentateuch, I think this meeting and its papers will be of great interest! 

Humor