Seminars

  • Founded
    1968
  • Seminar Number
    473

The seminar is composed of scholars of different faiths and traditions with a common interest in research on and teaching of the Hebrew Bible. The seminar aims to illuminate the cultural milieu, language, text, and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. This research is characterized by a variety of methodologies, including historical-critical, literary, philological, archaeological, sociological and ideological approaches to the text, as well as history of interpretation. Research on ancient Near Eastern cultures and languages relating to the Hebrew Bible is also regularly presented.


Co-Chairs
David Carr
dcarr@utsnyc.edu

Karina Hogan
kahogan@fordham.edu

Rapporteur
Christiaan (Jacob) Faul
jf3261@utsnyc.edu

Meeting Schedule

09/11/2023 Faculty House, Columbia University
7:00 PM
TBD
Beth Berkowitz ,




10/16/2023 Faculty House, Columbia University
7:00 PM
“He nursed Hadassah”? Childist and Cross-Cultural Insights in Adoption Texts Related to Women and Girls
Julie Faith Parker , Union Theological Seminary
Abstract

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of adoption in the Hebrew Bible through comparative, cross-cultural, and linguistic study to discern the hallmarks of texts indicating adoption in the Hebrew Bible (HB). Using a childist approach, I bring insights from child-centered biblical studies to explore select passages that portray adoption, with a focus on those related to women and girls. Through examination of the language in Exodus 2:1-10, 21:7-11, Ruth 4:14-17, and Esther 2:7, I show how these scenes relate to different types of adoption arrangements. Anthropological insights from adoption practices around the globe further reveal a wide range of practices that are reflected in the HB. The conclusion reviews the role of adoption in ancient Israel and its theological implications.





11/15/2023 Faculty House, Columbia University
7:00 PM
Literacy in the Kingdom of Judah: Old and New Arguments
Matthieu Richelle, Louvain University, Belgium
Abstract

Abstract

The question of literacy remains at the forefront of discussions about the epigraphy of the kingdom of Judah. Whether it concerns the rate of literacy within the population, the ability of the Judeans to write down literary texts, or the development of literacy throughout the centuries, researchers are more divided today than ever. Some scholars continue to regard Israel/Judah as a unique case compared to the rest of the ancient Near East and to the classical world, arguing that it was marked with a relatively widespread literacy from the Iron Age. Most historians, to the contrary, tend to align Israel and Judah with the other ancient societies, in which literacy was the preserve of a few. On the other hand, a recent tendency consists in minimizing the extent of literacy in the early monarchic period in Judah (in contrast to the situation in Israel), and to maximizing it at the end of this period.

In this paper, after a brief overview of the diverse approaches developed by scholars to tackle these issues, I critically examine new arguments, and new versions of older arguments, that play an important role in recent discussions on literacy in the kingdom of Judah, and I urge the need for a nuanced view on this subject.





12/12/2023 Faculty House, Columbia University
7:00 PM
Samuel and Genesis: Two Books, One Story
Gary Rendsburg, Rutgers University
Abstract

Abstract

Previous scholars have noticed various points of contact between Samuel and Genesis (e.g., the Nabal ~ Laban nexus), but the extent of the thematic and phraseological interconnections has not, to the best of my knowledge, been fully documented and appreciated. This talk presents these literary and linguistic correspondences anew, with the overall goal of establishing the intertextual relationship between the two books.





02/26/2024 Faculty House, Columbia University
7:00 PM
The Elihu Speeches in Light of Legal Metaphor in the Book of Job
Michael Legaspi,
Abstract

Abstract

The Elihu speeches (chs 32–37) are one of the most problematic features of the book of Job. Scholars have debated whether (1) these speeches are later additions to the book’s dialogues or integral to the structure of the book; and (2) whether the speeches add anything of substance to the book’s exploration of piety, justice, and suffering, or amount to (strategically contrived) bombast. In light of the significant body of scholarship on ‘legal metaphor’ in Job, it may be useful to see whether Elihu’s relation to the ‘trial’ that unfolds sheds light on questions concerning the book’s compositional history (is Elihu ‘structurally’ important and therefore likely original to the book?) and conceptual framework (is Elihu theologically important and therefore an essential voice in the book?). Drawing on recent scholarship, I argue that language and textual variants in Job 32:1–5 serve as clues to a version of the Joban ‘trial’ in which Elihu is both structurally significant and theologically non-trivial.





04/08/2024 Faculty House, Columbia University
7:00 PM
TBD
Kenneth Ngwa ,




05/06/2024 Faculty House, Columbia University
7:00 PM
TBD
Rachel Slutsky,