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Isaiah 8:1-2 is an elusive text, in regard to both its interpretation and its import. In these verses, YHWH commands Isaiah to write [phrase omitted] on a large [phrase omitted] with a [phrase omitted]. The writing surface, writing tool, and message are obscure and contested. However, I argue that the puzzle of Isaiah's writing materials has not yet been persuasively solved, as scholarship has failed to consider Judah's Egyptian scribal heritage. With this context, the prophet's writing surface ([phrase omitted]) can be correctly understood as a section of papyrus, and his tool ([phrase omitted]) can be read as a red rush pen. These proposed identifications of Isaiah's tools harmonize with comparative, etymological, epigraphic, and art- historical evidence for scribalism in the Levant and Egypt. Moreover, they illuminate the purpose and genre of YHWH's message. It appears that Isaiah was borrowing the format and tropes of royal decrees, which were transcribed on large pieces of papyrus in front of witnesses. The use of red ink also hints at the text's significance. The scene described in Isa 8:1-2 thus indicates that prophecy had taken on the garb of written record. The word of God was becoming not just an oral message but an authoritative document., There are only a few texts in the Hebrew Bible that allow the reader to glimpse how its words were put to 'paper' Among our few examples are Habakkuk's tablets [...]

The renewed interest in the relationship between the Gospel of Mark and the apostle Paul has led to more nuanced arguments for Paul's influence on Mark based on refined methodologies. In this article, I critically evaluate the current state of the argument, concluding that it depends on too many variables and expects too much of our sparse evidence to make a convincing argument that Mark is distinctly Pauline. Therefore, the Gospel of Mark should be read independently of Paul so that its unique features might be first understood within its own narrative world, rather than interpreted through a Pauline lens., The relationship between the Gospel of Mark and the apostle Paul has received enormous scholarly attention over the past few decades. For much of the twentieth century, Martin Werner's 1923 [...]

In this article, I argue that the Gospel of Thomas and the Book of Thomas were composed in Alexandria, Egypt. For the Gospel of Thomas, I examine the manuscript attestation and quotations of the gospel from known Alexandrian figures (e.g., Julius Cassianus, Basilideans) and texts (the Gospel according to the Egyptians), and from texts that are arguably Alexandrian (e.g., the Testimony of Truth, Excerpts from Theodotus, and the Naassene discourse). With respect to the Book of Thomas, I examine the treatise's use of the tradent Matthias, the Philonic paradigm of the spiritual athlete, the use of the Alexandrian Apocalypse of Peter, and distinctive overlaps with other Alexandrian figures and texts. Determining the provenance of anonymous ancient texts is hypothetical, but the most reliable and precise evidence for the Gospel and Book of Thomas supports a composition in Alexandria more so than it does the regions of Edessa, Jerusalem, or Antioch., The Syrian--and specifically Edessene--provenance of the Gospel of Thomas has come under heavy fire in recent decades. (1) It is not my purpose to repeat or add to these arguments. [...]

The male lover portrayed in Song 1:2-4 was once ubiquitously considered to be a king. Recent interpreters, however, have understood the word 'king' to be either a hypocorism (a nickname of affection) or an epithet for a 'bridegroom.' Earlier interpretation also recognized a group of women in the opening scene, but this too is disappearing today. To address these exclusions, I present a close analysis of the grammar and offer an alternative perspective to what is identified as enallage (a substitution of one grammatical form for another) but which also inadvertently suppresses the women's presence. Next, I investigate how the Song's 'king' became denuded of his royal meaning, including through a reliance on some dubious interpretations of Akkadian poetry. I also explore literary themes in the Hebrew Bible--women's celebratory praise and a hitherto undiscovered case of subtle soundplay called 'hidden paronomasia'--to show why the Song's 'king' should be understood as a royal personage. Finally, by comparing this scene in the Song to the Sumerian love poem Dumuzi-lnanna G, I show how the Song opens with a prominent ancient Near Eastern motif of love literature--the entrance or bringing of the royal consort into the palace, lauded by a group of rejoicing women., The inaugural verses of the Song of Songs appear to portray the male lover as a king. Even if we set aside the Solomonic nature of the inscription in the [...]

Mother Earth is home to an unprecedented number of translations of the Bible, making it the most widely translated book in the world. The pages of this book have traversed a variety of physical and metaphorical borders, navigating diverse geographical, political, economic, cultural, linguistic, and religious intersections. Across space, time, and cultures, millions of readers have found various reasons to read it through diverse lenses. The Bible was frequently translated and brought to the colonized territories with colonial movements. Regrettably, it was often utilized as a tool for subjugation and dominance. However, the colonized people also used this resource for their own goals. Do contemporary biblical studies have the courage to look upon the tomes and tons of translated Bibles lying upon the surface of Mother Earth? What responsibilities and opportunities does the Global Translated Bible(s) lay upon academic biblical studies? What research questions, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration does it open? What are the pedagogical obligations and implications of acknowledging the Global Translated Bible(s)? In other words, what does faithfulness and unfaithfulness to the translated biblical corpus entail, imply, and demand? This lecture proposes and emphasizes the imperative of mainstreaming the Global Translated Bible(s) into academic biblical studies., I. TRANSLATED BIBLES: SCATTERING THE SEED My first encounter with a printed Bible was a translated Bible. It was my mother's Ndebele Bible. Every Saturday she would call it quits [...]