Hebrew and Greek Reader

Response to Daniel Streett

Here’s our first response, which has been offered as a comment on his blog, to Daniel Streett’s recent post arguing for a communicative pedagogy for Koine. If you have not yet subscribed to his blog, go do it now.

Daniel,

Thanks for your post. Mike Aubrey and I have gone back and forth a bunch on this. I’d like to interact with your some of your thoughts. Let me say up front that I am currently approaching language description and pedagogy in my classes from a (neuro) cognitive linguistic perspective. Some of this has been dealt with on our blog.

1. Greek is not a dead language. It was spoken long before Dionysus Thraxe first described it in humanity’s first grammar (Tekne Grammatike) and is still spoken today all over the world. Objections to a communicative pedagogy of Greek are silly because there’s probably a native Greek speaker near you with whom you could speak. In fact its for this reason that I have long considered communicative approaches of a reconstructed Koine a waste of time. There’s no need to make-up Greek. Just go to Greece and while you’re there, learn to “read” Homer and the NT.

2. Reading… the process is much more complex than we might think. One term that does not describe it for humans is “easy”. Reading is an enormously complex cognitive skill that literally changes the brains of the literate. For an introduction (without technical literature), see the Brain Science Podcast. The interview with Maryanne Wolf (#29) is a great episode on this topic, but all the episodes are relevant to language students and scholars.

One thing I’ve gleaned from the short list of neurological literature I’ve read- Language acquisition happens early in childhood and no other time. Unless one acquires multiple languages as a child, which is very possible, every second-language (L2) experience one has must be viewed as learning and not acquisition. Once one is past the age of acquisition, L2 learning becomes extremely tough (but the human brain is very plastic and old dogs can indeed learn new tricks) and new L2s are not learned as one’s mother tongue was acquired. Thus, L2 users are using different neurological processes than when they use their native language. As such, it seems that as an L2 user I will never read the GNT as I read the Houston Chronicle. Neurologically, engaging the two will always be different processes.

3. Meaning – From a cognitive perspective, meaning is embodied. It is emotionally driven perception, conception, and memory expressed in symbols: phonological and even orthographical in some cultures. As modern English speakers removed by language, time, and culture, we cannot directly engage the embodied meaning of the Bible as the original audience did, not to mention that of its authors. We are not them and have not lived their experiences. The most we can do is pour over every scrap of data we can get our hands on: textual and archaeological alike. From this, we may attempt to describe what is going on linguistically in the NT, but to say that one can be comprehend Koine as one does a native language is not neurologically or psychologically plausible. First, you have to invent a time machine. Then you’ve still the got battle of L2 neurology.

4. Pedagogy – At Stellenbosch, we teach students to understand the Hebrew or Greek text in Hebrew or Greek by using the best tools available. This includes reference grammars, lexica, encyclopedias, and even the tools of modern linguistics. Once this is done, then we talk about translation, which is a completely different ball game. Translation theory is its own discipline and quick target language glosses cannot be conflated with source language meaning. You are right that too many language teachers confuse the meaning of an original text with a translation.

The immediate benefit I see (and have experienced in a Hebrew ulpan) with biblical language students who learn the modern form of the respective language or otherwise learn communicatively is that of vocab mastery. Using your vocab in communicative situations will cement those lexemes in your memory like flashcards cannot. However, a communicative approach to Koine cannot give you a Koine mind.

Thanks,

BH-Afrikaans Vocab Videos

Published August 5, 2011 Biblical Languages , Pedagogy , Technology 2 Comments
Tags: afrikaans, south africa

The Afrikaans vocab videos for BH 178 are available.

iTunes U exclusion

Published August 3, 2011 South Africa , Technology 4 Comments
Tags: africa, Apple, exclusion, iTunes, iTunes U

So we’ve recently found out that academics in African universities are excluded from contributing to iTunes U. As it is now, only institutions located in the USA, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom may participate in iTunes U.

In addition to many other countries with universities that have contributions to offer, this list excludes the entire African continent.

We realize that iTunes U is tied to iTunes and not all countries are licensed to with an iTunes store, but iTunes U is free. Why is Africa excluded from this free, online community of scholarly resources? Apple presently offers no explanation. How may excluded countries become contributors to iTunes? Apple presently offers no answer.

BH 178 Vocab on YouTube Done!

Published August 1, 2011 Biblical Languages , Hebrew Bible , Pedagogy , Technology 6 Comments
Tags: ANKI, hebrew, vocabulary, YouTube

All 60 biblical Hebrew vocabulary units for BH 178 at U. Stellenbosch are now available on YouTube. The intended arrangement is 1 unit (of 7 words) per day, 4 days per week, plus a review on the fifth day of the week. This is based on Jeremy’s research into second-language vocabulary learning. Jeremy also has a set of the same words made for the ANKI application, which works on everything including iOS and Android. So annoy Jeremy with your emails and tell him you want the BH 178 vocab on your iPhone. Until then, its all on YouTube.

We’re planning on doing the same with Greek 178.

Embodied Meaning

Published July 23, 2011 Biblical Languages , Hebrew Bible , Lexicography , Linguistics 4 Comments

Meaning is embodied. It is perception, conception, and memory. While philologists, linguists, and other scholars can identify trends in what a particular sound might symbolize in a particular language, such scholarly identification does not prescribe anything onto those language speakers.

Why not? Because- to quote De Blois (2001)- words don’t have meanings, meanings have words. Perceptions, conceptions, and memories are given phonetic and (sometimes) orthographic symbols by people who experience reality, including each other, via the body connected to the brain.

For describing the language of the Hebrew and Greek Bibles, this view of meaning has at least 2 criticisms.

1) Source language meanings are not equivalent with target language tags/translations. Consider מֶלֶךְ and king. While we may postulate a definition something like “male ruler of a monarchy” in order to get a handle as second-language onlookers, an embodied/encyclopedic view of meaning is much more complex. To many speakers for whom king is a native symbol, it often instantiates an old European scene of a man with certain clothes in a certain type of dwelling (maybe even with a mote and drawbridge!) and perhaps even a round table with the king‘s knights seated in a circle. No ancient speaker who used the symbol מלך ever conceived such things. That is not to say that מלך shouldn’t be translated as king. It is simply to point out that equivalence between languages (especially between ancient and modern ones!) cannot be assumed. Translation theory is another topic.

Also, consider בַּרְזֶל and axe. While the English word is often used as a tag for the Hebrew (check out Isa 10.34 in the NRSV along side your BHS), the two are non-equivalent. בַּרְזֶל is symbol for a kind of metal (iron). Sure it was sometimes used to cut wood, like an axe, but the concepts that each symbol points to are quite different. An axe is a helpfully shaped tool (generally a long wood handle with a wedge-shaped hunk of metal sharpened on the edge) that one can buy at a hardware store. A wood-cutting בַּרְזֶל would have been one big chunk of iron. No helpful, sanded-down wooden handle and no Home Depot. While some object to such an encyclopedic/maximal approach to semantic description (I can understand why- its hard work), it is how meaning works in humans (See Coulson 2001, Ingram 2007). Linguistic theories that reject such maximal approaches are becoming more-and-more unscientific as they are incommensurate with neurology and the cognitive sciences.

2) Lists of linguistic phenomenon (like lists of translation values in a lexicon or lists of syntactic phenomenon in a reference grammar) are incommensurate with neurological/cognitive organization. The best tool that the theoretical cognitivists (like Rosch and Langacker) have developed to organize information is the prototype (see Taylor 2003). To over-simplify- we humans make sense of our perceptions, conceptions, and memories with fuzzy categories. So, even though not a real feline, we can call a child in a costume on Halloween a cat. How? There is enough similarity with the cat prototype (precisely how that is established among linguists is for another post) to justify inclusion in the category. What does cat mean? Nothing. It is a symbol bound by context. In one context, it can be your pet, in another, a lion at the zoo, and yet another, a forklift. If a linguist 2,000 years from now wanted to know what we ancient language users meant by cat, rather than a list of occurrences, it would be helpful to have explanations of how one usage is a metaphorical step from another.

Thinking now about “grammar”- what if instead of lists of usages for the BH qatal and yiqtol, etc., we instead had explanations of how the perceptions, conceptions, and memories of BH speakers could be symbolized by various grams? Maybe instead of saying- qatal can do x, y, and z, we could say- past actions can be symbolized by qatal and vayyiqtol; habitual past actions can be symbolized by yiqtol and veqatal. How did this develop? What’s the difference in the way a meaning (perception, conception, and memory) is construed? Alex Andrason’s (2010) thoughts have moved the discussion forward.

To sum up and restate this thesis- an embodied view of meaning challenges 2 practices for those laboring to read ancient texts like the Bible. 1) Target language translation values cannot be conflated with the source language meaning. 2) Lists are only half the job in explaining how ancient people used words and grams. These lists must be explained and principled. The prototype model is helpful in this regard.

References

Andrason, A. 2010. “The Panchronic Yiqtol: Functionally Consistent and Cognitively Plausible”. JHS, Vol. 10, Article 10.

Coulson, S. 2001. Semantic Leaps: Frame-Shifting and Conceptual Blending in Meaning Construction. Cambridge: CUP.

De Blois, R. 2001. Towards a New Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies.

Ingram, J. 2007. Neurolinguistics: An Introduction to Spoken Language Processing and its Disorders. Cambridge: CUP.

Taylor, J. 2003. Linguistic Categorization, Third Edition. Oxford: OUP.

What the…..?

Published July 22, 2011 Uncategorized 9 Comments

Thanks to Suzanne’s Bookshelf I came across this little gem by Dan Wallace. I must say I was shocked and ~~a little~~ repulsed. While it sounds like (due to his own explanation) he has used the term ‘gynecology’ correctly as the ‘study of women’ he has in fact, not. ‘Gynecology’ actually does mean what everyone, besides Dan Wallace, thinks it means. It is a term specific to a field of medicine concerned with the function and health of women’s and girls’ reproductive systems. That’s why, as Dan Wallace so eloquently put it, “Some readers, however, found the term ‘gynecology’ offensive when used in the sense of ‘the study of women’ theologically or biblically.” You think???

I resoundingly agree with Suzanne that it is repulsive for someone to speak so casually about the study of women’s reproductive systems, especially when such speech immediately brings to mind the image of a woman lying on a table with her legs spread open for inspection, especially when that image is linked to theology and doctrine.

Finally, all I have to say about this statement by Dan Wallace:

“Although I do not agree with the basis of their argumentation about its inappropriateness, I also do not want to put up walls before discussion can occur. Hence, I will not use the term ‘gynecology’ in this or the next essay except as a way to refer to the original postings.” (emphasis mine)

is FAIL.

While I have to admit the concerns he expressed later in his ‘study’ are encouraging, I can’t get over the way I have been made to feel even more vulnerable and detached from the wider world of Biblical studies by his post. If you’ve absolutely got to give it a label how about “A Feminist Perspective” or “A Womanist Reading” or better yet “Updating our Perceptions of Ancient Writings in the 21st Century”. Or are those just not clear enough for you? Talk about male privilege… Thanks J.K. Gaylefor that one.

Tell Me What You Really Think

Published July 22, 2011 Academia , church , Feminism , Theology 7 Comments

This post (though specifically about blogging) inspired me to share some thoughts about something I was told (again at SBL) by a professor who had newly been hired to the undergraduate program I had just graduated from. Specifically, this quote: “There are nasty things said about our status and right to exist and function alongside the ‘real men’ all the time.”

After said professor was introduced to me and I had been informed of his new appointment, I responded with my congratulations. I then turned to the professor who was (at least partly) responsible for hiring him and asked him, in the kindest manner possible for me, when HBU would hire a female professor in its Biblical Languages & Christianity department.

The response I received from the newly hired (and newly met) professor (note: not the person I asked) was that there were no women qualified for the position he had just been hired for. “What do you mean?” I asked and then informed him that I had just left a room full of woman who were, in fact, qualified. His response to me was that they were most likely not conservative or evangelical enough to work in the department at HBU, to which everyone, excepting myself, nodded agreement and the conversation was over (some of whom have since changed their mind, but this has had no effect on the hiring of women in that department).

Apparently, if you are a female in Houston, TX, then how conservative you are and your views about a woman’s role as defined by God (read: defined by the conservative church) are a factor in your qualifications for teaching in a Biblical Languages program at HBU. But if you’re a male they are not. Let me explain. Many of my professors, all of them male, had informed me (and other students) during my studies that my being a woman had nothing to do with my role in the church or academia. They informed me, and their classes, that the training we received would prepare us all equally, whether we were male or female, for the ministry and/or academic jobs, whichever we chose to do next. They very explicitly informed us that gender divisions were a creation of man, in their opinion, and women could and should be pastors. Some (not many) even went so far as to cast doubt on the ‘factualness’ of the Bible. Saying things like, even though it’s not historically true in the way we (21st century people) think of history we still find truth in the scriptures. Wow, doesn’t sound very conservative to me…

So, what’s the deal? Why are women who hold those views not ‘qualified’ to teach at a Baptist University while these men are? And most importantly, how would this negatively impact your ability to teach Hebrew or Greek in such a way as to disqualify you? I can’t help but think: Does that make me unqualified to even be considered for a job at my own undergraduate university? Did these esteemed men somehow fail to prepare me for the workforce I was now getting ready to enter? And if that’s the case, we’ve got a problem.

Guess What? Daniel is my husband.

Published July 21, 2011 Biblioblogs , Feminism , SBL , Women 11 Comments

For not the first time, I have been introduced as the wife of Daniel. This always bugs me, I mean, really gets under my skin, and up until now I really haven’t had the words to explain why. Well, here they are: I want to be valued and characterized by my own qualifications and accomplishments, and while I love my husband I do not consider my marrying him to be one of those.

As some of you know I’m teaching my first official Greek class this semester. I’m actually taking over the Greek class from a professor who taught it last semester. As I’m new, the professor wanted to introduce me to the class. This is how the introduction goes:

“We will be splitting the class between Afrikaans and English. The students who prefer English will go with Tonya. Some of you may know Daniel from Hebrew. Tonya is Daniel’s wife, so she’s well qualified.”

Of course! That makes perfect sense! I was wondering what she’s doing here, but now that you tell me she’s Daniel’s wife it makes perfect sense that she will be teaching Greek this semester. Really? (I should point out here that I don’t believe this is what the professor intended to communicate to the students.)

But it still rubbed me the wrong way since this is how I’ve been known in the academic world ever since I entered it. Now that I’ve married Daniel it seems my work and even my hobbies, like blogging, are judged and valued through my relationship with him. Let me give you another example just for fun.

During one of the first SBL conferences I attended I was introduced by my Greek professor to one of his very well-known colleagues. Daniel was with me so of course the introduction went, “This is Daniel and this is his wife Tonya,” to which the very esteemed colleague responded, “Wow it’s amazing you can convince your wife to come along to these. Mine won’t ever come along.” Might I just say thank you Dr. David Capes for setting that record straight for me.

Though there are many, and some quite humorous, the other slights I’ve received revolve around me simply being a woman and not around my being married.

Now, I’ve never taken the time to express my frustrations with these types of issues in the blogging world, mostly because it’s very easy to just ignore the comments I don’t like. If you would oblige, I would like to set the record straight. When Daniel and I started the blog it was just for fun, and it still is. We had no idea what ‘biblioblogs’ or ‘bibliobloggers’ were. We began our blog as a joint effort of two Biblical languages students to produce, no matter how informally, consistent writing on a topic we were interested in, admittedly, with limited success. All of a sudden we were part of this ‘biblioblogging’ community.

We very quickly noted that this community was very white and very male. Being from Texas this didn’t throw us off too much (even though Daniel is half non-white and I’m completely non-male) and we decided it would be fun to try to keep the posts anonymous. This (no surprise) led many, if not most, of our readers to assume that it was Daniel doing the blogging and because of him I was involved. When this comment came up I said nothing, but I should have.

The idea that a woman who collaborates with her husband on a blog (or any project) is only doing so (or has only come to the attention of others) because her husband is involved is offensive. If Daniel were not my husband but only a colleague I would be viewed in a much different light. Perhaps if I blogged on my own I would receive even more praise. Because my work is better? My ideas more interesting? Absolutely not.

Why is it then, that when I collaborate with a colleague, who just happens to be my husband, I am all of a sudden moved to the sidelines?

Let me be clear. Posts do not magically appear on the blog because Daniel is my husband. I do not inexplicably have interest and qualifications because Daniel is my husband. And I am not choosing to collaborate with a fellow student because he is my husband. I choose to work with Daniel because he is fun to work with and our interests coincide which are exactly the reasons I would choose to work with anyone.

A Woman’s Place is Everywhere

Published July 11, 2011 africa , Biblioblogs , church , Feminism , History , News , South Africa , Theology , Women 1 Comment

A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere

As I was chatting over coffee, my good friend began telling me about the event she was hosting for Women’s Day. Being a strong supporter of anything ‘women’ I listened intently as she talked about the food she would serve and the other ‘girly’ things like manicures, facials and massages which would be available at the event. In passing, she mentioned getting some people to speak at the function. Someone in the group suggested I speak which I took as a joke and casually replied over my coffee, “Sure. I can talk about the history of the oppression of women through time and what it looks like in the 21st century.” I may have mentioned Christianity’s involvement in said oppression…

Surprisingly, across the table, another friend’s eyebrows flew up as he enthusiastically gestured for our friend, the event-planner, to come back over to the table and listen to my idea. He called for me to repeat what I had just said, “louder this time so that everyone can hear,” and bewildered, I repeated what I had said, louder this time. “Yes, yes that would be perfect for the event” was the unanimous reply. At this point I had no idea why South Africa celebrated Women’s Day so, unsure of the appropriateness of the topic for the day or the particular audience, I asked, “Really?”

“Yes, yes we’re serious. It’s settled then. I’m putting your name on the schedule of events,” was the answer. And that’s how I came to be speaking at the Women’s Day event at my friend’s coffee shop on August 9.

Seeing as the topic “the history of the oppression of women and what it looks like in the 21st century” is quite broad, I have since decided to limit it to South African women. Their story is a powerful story about bravery, organization and success in the face of oppression.

Women’s Day is celebrated in South Africa on the 9th of August to commemorate the 1956 march of more than 20,000 South African women of all races to the prime minister’s office in Pretoria to protest passes for women. Despite the history of riots and unsuccessful demonstrations, injury and death that surrounded the history of the pass laws in South Africa, the women decided they had had enough, and marched their petition against passes directly to their oppressor. Their slogan became Wathint’ Abafazi Wathint’ imbokodo! (Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock).

How powerful would it be if the women of this world would organize themselves in this fashion against the same type of oppression where their freedom and movement continues to be restricted? The church stands out as a striking example. We need to declare to such oppressors, “A woman’s place is everywhere!”

Disclaimer and Questions

Published May 30, 2011 Biblioblogs 2 Comments
Tags: i got 99 problems...

Ugh. We know what Cap’n Kurk means about May days. Conversations in person are rarely this stressful. Why so online?

Disclaimer: We are post-grad students and TAs at the University of Stellenbosch. One of us studies and teaches Hebrew. One of us studies and teaches Greek. We have different academic advisors. They don’t give a damn about blogs. In fact, most Africans don’t.

Question 1: To other biblioblogging students- Do folks ever complain about something you wrote online to your advisor before they talk to you about it?

Question 2: All-skate question- Do you find this to be acceptable?

Pieces of a Man

Published May 28, 2011 Uncategorized 2 Comments

I started listening to Gil Scott-Heron the way many from Houston learn about music they normally wouldn’t hear- ktru. Rice University’s campus radio has been formative to the development of my ears and appreciation of a variety of sounds. Part of that maturation has been listening to older voices from communities not my own, loving the music, then having to research what its all about. The music and poetry of Gil Scott-Heron has been a lab for me in music, history, politics, and ethics. And now having been in South Africa for almost 3 years, we have a new appreciation of his work that comes with our new vantage point. He was among the first American artists to offer a prophetic voice against the apartheid government. This godfather of modern rap and political poetry has now died at age 62 due to unknown complications after a return from Europe. Thank God he died free. May he rest.

Harold Camping Thinks Mary Is a Whore

Published May 25, 2011 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Tags: wackadoos

The above title is misleading. Harold Camping has not, to my knowledge, said that Mary was a whore. But I can argue that he thinks so.

Misleading titles can be disappointing. I was disappointed by a misleading title today. I saw a news headline reading Tearful SA rapture man seeks forgiveness, and I thought good news! Amidst all this making fun of many desperate people, at least one person has owned up to his gross error and wants to make things right.

Then I kept reading.

Making things right for this guy means spreading the word about the new Oct 21 date, which in my mind is not really seeking forgiveness. Hence, I felt misled by the title and decided to pass it on to you.

I can intelligently say that Harold Camping probably would not affirm the statement “Jesus is a child of prostitution”, and yet using his own interpretive method, an argument can be made that he thinks just that.

In an episode of one of Camping’s radio broadcasts called To God be the Glory, Camping offers a reading of Joel 3.3 (Heb 4.3). To understand who the יֶלֶד yeled (child, youth) mentioned in the verse is (wonder why he doesn’t care about the girl?), Camping appeals to another use of יֶלֶד in Isa 9.6 (Heb 9.5), after all- let Scripture interpret Scripture- right? The ילד there is the Wonderful Counselor. And we all know who that is! Jesus! Since Jesus is the ילד in Isa 9, he is also the ילד in Joel 3. ~~Terrific ex~~egesis.

Since we’re gonna let Scripture interpret Scripture- Camping should finish the game he’s playing. Jesus isn’t just the ילד in Isa and Joel. Why can’t he be one of Hosea 1.2’s ילדי זנונים (children of prostitution)? In Camping’s BH lexicon, Jesus qualifies. Jesus was a child of prostitution. Hence, Mary is a whore. That or God is a gigolo.

a case of the mondays on wednesday

Published May 4, 2011 Uncategorized 1 Comment

ever have one of those days?

yeah… us too.

HT – Dr. Jim. Thanks for a great carnival!

New BH on YouTube

Published May 3, 2011 Biblical Languages , Pedagogy , Technology Leave a Comment

So in addition to BH vocabulary videos, I’ve been making YouTube videos reviewing verbs. Now posted is the intro to verb stems.

The soundtrack to the video is a sample of a tune from a local Houston band called Tha Fucking Transmissions. Enjoy.

More BH Vocab Help

Published April 5, 2011 Biblical Languages , Linguistics , Pedagogy , Technology 8 Comments
Tags: Hebrew Vocabulary

There’s lots of good biblical Hebrew vocabulary help out there. Here’s one more.

The vocabulary units for first-year BH at U. Stellenbosch are now available on YouTube. Presently, only the first 18 (of 60) units are posted in their glorified slideshow form, but the rest are coming- at least 1 per day.

The vocab videos are about a minute-and-a-half each and use the traditional flashcard method, which Adam hates. Oh well. The point was to bring vocab helps where students are (YouTube and Facebook).

However, these vocab units do differ from those in most intro BH courses in that they give 7 words a day, everyday (5 days a week). This method is motivated by our beloved blogger’s research in the pedagogy of second-language vocabulary.

SUNScholar

Published March 22, 2011 South Africa , Technology Leave a Comment
Tags: Stellenbosch, SUNScholar

Have you heard of SUNScholar? Its an online collection of theses and dissertations of graduates of the University of Stellenbosch. You can find research on diverse topics from the latest in agri-business to medical science to the classics. Recently posted works that biblioblog readers might enjoy cover such topics as justice in Rawls and Niebuhr, how the Reformed Church of Zimbabwe’s outreach to the Binga people need not couple a theological conversion with a cultural one, baptism as identity in Pauline theology, the lexical semantics of a biblical Hebrew preposition, whether or not the pre-6th cent BCE Babylonians were astronomers, and left (right) dislocation in biblical Hebrew.

Particles

Published March 7, 2011 Linguistics Leave a Comment

Many grammarians and linguists today refer to the particles word-class as a catch-all class, a grammatical trash-can, or the leftovers once the other word-classes have been described. However, did you know that there is actually a reason why particles are classified as a group? I didn’t either.

According to Rauh (2010:21-22), the particle word-class was created along morphological lines by Diez (1836-1838) in his Grammatik der romanischen Sprachen in order to categorize adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections (of Romance languages) which do not inflect or decline. So, the particles label is not a trash-can where the leftover words go. However, if one does not begin linguistic categorization by formal criteria (like morphology), then the particle label is inapplicable. Now you know.

Rauh, G. 2010. Syntactic Categories: Their Identification and Description in Linguistic Theories. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

LDBT Episode II: The Empire Strikes Back

Published March 6, 2011 Biblical Languages , Hebrew Bible , Linguistics 5 Comments
Tags: carbonite, fat vader, Humor

Young, I., R. Rezetko, and M. Ehrensvärd. 2008. Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts, Vol. 2. London: Equinox.

A long time ago, in a post far away…

For years, the Empire has attempted to chronologically date biblical texts by investigating alleged early and late forms of biblical Hebrew. Some texts were labeled as late on the basis that they attest to post-exilic experiences. Some texts were labeled early on the basis that they attest to pre-exilic experiences. Imperial scholars used these distinctions to further investigate what made early biblical Hebrew (EBH) early and what made late biblical Hebrew (LBH) late. Hypotheses regarding the date of various linguistic phenomenon were made around issues of orthography, vocabulary, and syntactic patterns….and whether or not a chariot of fire could do the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs.

Then three Jedi Hebraists- Qui Qon Ian, Obi Wan Rezetko, and Martin Windu– joined the Rebellion and now seek to dismantle the Empire’s stronghold on textual dating. In Episode I, the Jedi used statistical data to display the coexistence of EBH with LBH throughout the Hebrew Bible. This led them to hypothesize that BH is a literary artifact that uses both early and late styles along side each other. To gain more evidence, the Jedi turned to issues like dialect in BH and textual criticism. The three Jedi rebels concluded that the linguistic evidence in the Hebrew Bible has too many variables to be used to accurately date a biblical text… and neither can carbonite freezing.

(Now how do I set all that to John Williams music and give the text a scrolling effect?)

Okay, so that’s a bit oversimplified. Also, old-school BH scholars are not the Empire, though it would be awesome to see them wear a Darth Vader costume at SBL.

Would you want this guy in the book exhibit?

However, its not an over-simplification to say that LDBT has challenged received wisdom in the world of BH. For quite some time, Hebrew teachers could comfortably tell their students things like Exodus 15’s Song of the Sea is the oldest part of the Old Testament. Now, such a statement can be challenged on the same grounds it has been asserted: linguistic evidence.

Before I get on with a brief summary of LDBT Vol. 2, let me say a word or two to the true Empire: THE PUBLISHERS!!! By comparative measure, Equinox is a very cool publisher. They’re great about giving away review copies (even to bad reviewers like me). Most of their books are very affordable (unlike you know who… starts with a B and ends with a rill [although]). And Philip Davies is one of the most interesting people you could ever eavesdrop on. However, when it comes to this game-changing two-volume work, Equinox is charging damn near a Twin Ion Engine (that’s Nerd for “arm-and-a-leg”). Serious BH students want Vols. 1 and 2, but the cost for both ($175) is prohibitive for most (especially here in Africa). Why not offer both volumes in paperback for a fair price? Why not forget about paper all together and release a digital version that I can read on my iPad? In fact, why not offer digital copies of all your books after they’ve been out for a year and you’ve already made the money you’re gonna make off of libraries? That’s enough ranting for now.

LDBT Vol. 2 is divided into 4 chapters. Here I very briefly summarize each.

Ch 1 – Survey of Scholarship on the Dating of Biblical Literature

This chapter is exactly as its title sounds. First scholarship is reviewed around Genesis-Kings, then Isaiah-Malachi, then Psalms-Chronicles, and finally the undisputed postexilic books are addressed. Though this is the driest part of the book, it is necessary to appreciate the rest. This chapter is also necessary to understand why so many are getting testy with our Jedi Hebraists.

Ch 2 – Synthesis of the Argument: EBH and LBH as Co-Existing Styles

Chapter 2 is a nice summary of Vol. 1. Here’s a quote for you-

“These two general language types, EBH and LBH, are best taken as representing two tendencies among scribes of the biblical period: conservative and non-conservative. The authors and scribes who composed and transmitted works in EBH exhibit a tendency to ‘conservatism’ in their linguistic choices, in the sense that they only rarely use forms outside a narrow core of what they considered literary forms (LDBT vol. 2, 96).”

Again, this chapter is exactly as its title sounds.

Ch 3 – Linguistic Case Studies

This is the fun part sweethearts. This chapter is why Hebrew students want vol. 2. Chapter 3 invites Hebrew students and scholars to engage the data on their own. I encourage LDBT Vol. 2 readers to go through chapter 3 very slowly. Don’t just read it, but play the game with it. The authors offer examples like מלא ידו fill his hand, לב and לבב heart, the prepositions את and עם with, the definite article ה, the particle נא, and many more BH phenomenon that can be examined independently. Bible software makes this chapter a treat. As each case study is presented, open up your Accordance or Logos or whatever, do a search, and follow the arguments. In this reader’s mind, this is the chapter where the authors’ argument succeeds or fails. Having read it slow many times, I think they succeed.

Ch 4 – Tables of Linguistic Features Suggested to be LBH in Major Publications

The last chapter is an invaluable resource that charts the so-called LBH features. Now instead of combing through many works on the topic of textual dating, one may consult this chart as a starting point. This chapter is not one to be read as the others but rather one to be consulted as an encyclopedic resource.

Okay Obi Wan Rezetko. There’s #2. Now you need not beat me with your plastic light-saber. 🙂

Psalm 4 Reader Response

Published March 5, 2011 Bible translation , Hebrew Bible , Poetry 3 Comments
Tags: cornelius dupree, psalm 4

Okay, not a true reader response free-for-all, but a directed reader response of the psalm with help from my unjust state.

I was privileged a week or so ago to lead a small group discussion on Psalm 4 and Cornelius Dupree Jr., the Houstonian who was recently released (Jan 2011) from prison after thirty years of wrongful incarceration. Dupree was charged with a rape he did not commit. DNA evidence cleared his name three decades later. The point of the small group session was to encourage college-age Bible readers to think outside the typical Bible box and find specific examples in current events where Scripture is applicable. We had a great time. What follows is the translation I offered them. Your comments are welcome.

Vindicated: Psalm 4

1 To the music director

(Play the tune) in negiynot

A psalm of David

2 When I call out, answer me, God (who knows) my righteousness,

(When I am) in a tight spot, make more room for me- show me favor and hear my prayer!

3 Sons of man,

How long will my reputation be a disgrace?

(How long) will you love emptiness?

(How long) will you search for lies?

4 Instead, know that Yahweh singles out the belovers for himself.

Yahweh listens when I call out to him.

5 Tremble and don’t sin.

Think (about it as you lie down to sleep) in your bed.

And be silent. Selah.

6 Offer proper sacrifices and trust in Yahweh.

7 Many say, “Who will show us any goodness?”

Lift upon us the light of your face, Yahweh!

8 Give my heart more joy than when their corn and new wine are plentiful!

9 With peace I lay down and sleep,

because you alone Yahweh cause me to dwell in security.

I am regularly told that I mix free and strict translation styles from verse-to-verse in the same passage. I think this exercise was no different. One rendering that needs explaining-

belovers in v4 – How do you translate חסיד for 18-year old Baptist kids? I was trying to mix beloved and lovers as, in my view, the חסיד are not just the beloved of Yahweh, but those who in turn act out the חסד they’ve received. Then again, we had to have a discussion (and I think more are to come) on how God’s חסד has very little to do with emotion, but more with commitment.

Wilcocks Building Fire

Published December 16, 2010 South Africa 1 Comment

A professor at the University asked me in an email if I had heard of the recent fire at the Wilcocks building. Since we’re not there now, we hadn’t.

No one yet knows how the fire started, but the history department is gone. The Wilcocks building also housed the international office on the first floor, a frequent stop for us foreigners.

This video shows an engineering student saving a postgrad from the third floor. It just so happens that this hero is also the nice international office worker who picked us up from the airport on our first trip to South Africa. Grant, you’re the SA Spider-Man. 🙂

Does anyone else on the ground there have more details?