- University of Chicago, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Graduate Studentadd
- Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Jewish Studies, New Testament, Hebrew Bible, Patristics, and 15 moreNew Testament and Christian Origins, Levantine Archaeology, Comparative Semitics, Northwest Semitics, Source Criticism, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East, Hebrew Language, Semitic languages, Qumran, Biblical Studies, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Comparative Semitic Linguistics, 1 Enoch, Ancient Metallurgy, and Hebrew Bible/Old Testamentedit
This article examines the ways in which the law of the rebellious and stubborn son in Deut. 21:18-21 supports the agenda of the D source to subordinate any basis of authority in ancient Israel to its own legal vision of centralization. In... more
This article examines the ways in which the law of the rebellious and stubborn son in Deut. 21:18-21 supports the agenda of the D source to subordinate any basis of authority in ancient Israel to its own legal vision of centralization. In particular, I explore theories regarding the origin of Deut. 21:18-21 as pre-deuteronomic and argue that, whatever its prehistory , the law of the rebellious and stubborn son functions well in the legal and religious rhetoric of D. I further support this analysis of Deut. 21:18-21 by recourse to and comparison with similar family laws in the Covenant Code and Holiness Legislation. Finally, I offer thoughts on the manner in which the severity of Deut. 21:18-21 explains two facets of the reception history of this passage.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have long been known as "Abrahamic religions," and the comparative study of these three religious traditions has occupied scholars focusing on a variety of time periods from antiquity to modernity. Recent... more
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have long been known as "Abrahamic religions," and the comparative study of these three religious traditions has occupied scholars focusing on a variety of time periods from antiquity to modernity. Recent research has begun to question, or at least to complicate , the label "Abrahamic religions," opening up a host of new avenues of inquiry when examining the history and development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In this article , I explore the relationship between popular and scholarly modes of understanding these religions. I examine the role of religious competition as a framework through which to research Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I offer concluding thoughts regarding why this framework is beneficial not only to scholars of religion but also to lay readers for understanding why this field of comparative scholarship matters to them.
Scholars have identified two traces of loans originating from Aramaic and Akkadian in Isa. 45:14. In this article, I examine each of the proposed borrowings, offering further support for the first, but arguing for a different path from... more
Scholars have identified two traces of loans originating from Aramaic and Akkadian in Isa. 45:14. In this article, I examine each of the proposed borrowings, offering further support for the first, but arguing for a different path from Aramaic into the Hebrew of Isa. 45:14 for the second. In doing so, I add precision to the loan phonology of the lexeme זק as it relates to the sibilants involved and I call into question comparative evidence cited in Ludwig Köhler and Walter Baum-gartner's The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament.
As recent research in the study of manuscripts has demonstrated, variations in the phrasing of a text not only reveal scribal error or play but also indicate how changes to a given passage in different manuscripts convey important... more
As recent research in the study of manuscripts has demonstrated, variations in the phrasing of a text not only reveal scribal error or play but also indicate how changes to a given passage in different manuscripts convey important interpretive traditions. In this article, I explore one such case in TgJon to Isa. 10:32. First, I examine how key features (or the lack thereof) in the biblical text of Isa. 10:32 led to certain lines of rab-binic interpretation as found in b. Sanh. 95b, which contains a midrashic story based on the biblical text. Second, I analyse a parallel account of this story as found in TgJon to Isa. 10:32, and I argue that a particular manuscript of this Targum (B. M. 2211) contains added layers of anti-Roman rhetoric through an allusion to Abraham and Nimrod. In this fashion, the variation in wording in this manuscript is indicative of a distinct interpretation from that found in the Talmud.
There has been much scholarly discussion in recent years concerning the relationship between the biblical law collections and those from other parts of the ancient Near East. In this article , I examine a verb in Exod 21:35, ,ויגף that... more
There has been much scholarly discussion in recent years concerning the relationship between the biblical law collections and those from other parts of the ancient Near East. In this article , I examine a verb in Exod 21:35, ,ויגף that has not received a robust linguistic analysis as reflecting Akkadian influence, though other scholars have noticed its similarities to parallel formulations in other Near Eastern legal collections. I provide a variety of considerations for understanding why this verb reveals Akkadian influence, a general time when such influence could have occurred, and the possible scribal mechanisms through which the verb ויגף could have entered into the biblical laws of the goring ox.
The flood narratives in the Bible and the ancient Near East continue to attract scholarly attention from a variety of disciplines. This article incorporates recent research on ancient Near Eastern flood narratives into documentary... more
The flood narratives in the Bible and the ancient Near East continue to attract scholarly attention from a variety of disciplines. This article incorporates recent research on ancient Near Eastern flood narratives into documentary examinations of Gen. 6-9. In doing so, important facets of the priestly flood account come to the fore, particularly the role of meat consumption. Meat-eating and animal consumption is then set in the trajectory of Second Temple Jewish retellings of the flood in Jubilees and 1 Enoch, showing the adaptation of this feature in reception history particularly in Jubilees 5.
The passive participles from ידע in Deut 1:13 and 1:15 are part of a list of characteristics for being a judge. The translational value of these participles, however, is unclear. This article reviews the main options proposed for... more
The passive participles from ידע in Deut 1:13 and 1:15 are part of a list of characteristics for being a judge. The translational value of these participles, however, is unclear. This article reviews the main options proposed for understanding וידעים in Deut 1:13 and 1:15 and argues that a syntactic feature in the verses is grounds for understanding them as passive in both form and sense ("known"). Finally, and perhaps more significantly, locating this qualification for being a judge in the larger ideology of revelation and authority in D buttresses this thesis.
https://www.newsweek.com/jesus-conspiracy-theory-greek-philosopher-bible-conspiracies-1330418
Interview about the relationship between Jesus and Apollonius
Interview about the relationship between Jesus and Apollonius