Sunday 30 October 2016

SBL Pseudepigrapha Section 2016 - annotated version

The SBL Annual Meeting is less than three weeks away. The program book has long been available online, even the printed version has reached me (in time this year), and I guess it is time to find out what sessions to attend.

I am co-chair of the Pseudepigrapha Section. Let me bring to your attention the sessions of this section - the annotated version.

Our first session takes place on Saturday (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM). This session presents the second volume of the Textual History of the Bible project, using the textual history of Ben Sira as its main case, tracing it in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Ethiopic sources.

S19-244 Pseudepigrapha11/19/2016
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Bowie C (2nd Level) - Grand Hyatt (GH)
This session introduces a new project from Brill, Textual History of the Bible, Vol. 2: The Deutero-Canonical Scriptures. The focus of the session will be on the Book of Ben Sira.
The Textual History of the Bible: Ben Sira
Kelley Coblentz Bautch, St. Edward's University, Presiding
Armin Lange, Universität Wien
Introduction to the Textual History of the Bible (THB) (15 min)
Matthias Henze, Rice University
Textual History of the Bible (THB), Volume 2: The Deutero-Canonical Scriptures (15 min)
Benjamin Wright, Lehigh University, Introduction (20 min)
Eric Reymond, Yale Divinity School
Ben Sira in Hebrew (25 min)
Benjamin Wright, Lehigh University
Ben Sira in Greek (25 min)
Bradley Gregory, Catholic University of America
Ben Sira in Latin (25 min)
Daniel Assefa Kassaye, Institute for Religious Research
Ben Sira in Ethiopic (25 min)

The Pseudepigrapha Section Open Session has long traditions. Every year, the section receives several excellent paper proposals, but there is unfortunately only room for a few of them. Here's the 2016 selection (Saturday 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM):

S19-341 Pseudepigrapha11/19/2016
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: 208 (2nd Level - West) - Convention Center (CC)
Randall Chesnutt, Pepperdine University, Presiding
Atar Livneh, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Stylistic Devices and Exegetical Techniques in “Rewritten Bible” Compositions (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Torleif Elgvin, NLA University College, Oslo
The Solomonization of Canticles in the Hasmonean Period (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Blake A. Jurgens, Florida State University
Out of Egypt: A New Assessment Concerning the Provenance of the Testament of Solomon (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Aryeh Amihay, University of California-Santa Barbara
Jeremiah’s Death in the Vitae Prophetarum: A Christian Interpolation? (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Bradley N. Rice, McGill University
A New ‘Testament of Adam’ in the Syriac Revelation of the Magi? (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

The third session (Sunday at 4:00 PM) has a thematic focus: violence. Violence has been a key topic of research for a while, and we are eager to find out what studies of pseudepigraphic texts have to offer:

S20-346 Pseudepigrapha11/20/2016
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: 208 (2nd Level - West) - Convention Center (CC)
Theme: Violence
The papers in this session discuss various forms of violence in the apocryphal and pseudepigraphic writings.Patricia Ahearne-Kroll, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Presiding
Olivia Stewart, Yale University
Divine Violence in Sibylline Oracles 4 and 5 (25 min)
Benjamin Lappenga, Dordt College
Violence and Divine Favor in Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (25 min)
Robert Kugler, Lewis & Clark College
The Rhetoric of Violence in the Testament of Job: A contribution toward establishing the work’s date, provenance and purpose (25 min)
John Garza, Fordham University
“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose”: The Rhetoric of Violence in the Animal Apocalypse (25 min)
Kyle Roark, Florida State University
A Crisis of Wisdom: Rethinking the Violent Rhetoric of Watchers (25 min)
Tim Wardle, Furman University
The Power of Polemics: Jewish Slander against Samaritans in Second Temple Literature (25 min)

For readers of this blog I am particularly happy to present our fourth and final session (Tuesday at 9:00 AM): Manuscripts, Scribal Culture, Scribal Change. This joint session, with Hebrew Scriptures and Cognate Literature, has a solid line up, interesting papers, as well as a hidden gem:

S22-120 Hebrew Scriptures and Cognate Literature; PseudepigraphaJoint Session With: Hebrew Scriptures and Cognate Literature, Pseudepigrapha
11/22/2016
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 212B (2nd Level - West) - Convention Center (CC)
Theme: Manuscripts, Scribal Culture, Scribal ChangeMartti Nissinen, University of Helsinki, Presiding
Caroline Waerzeggers, Leiden University
Cuneiform Writing and Control in the Community of Al-Yahudu (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Seth L. Sanders, University of California-Davis
Were Babylonian and Judean Revelation the Same Type of Knowledge? (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Annette Yoshiko Reed, University of Pennsylvania
Demons, Stars, and Aramaic Jewish Scribalism (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Ian Werrett, Saint Martin's University
Fetishizing the Word: Literacy, Orality and the Dead Sea Scrolls (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
David Hamidovic, Université de Lausanne
A New Greek Papyrus relating to 1Enoch: Preliminary Remarks (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

I look very much forward to seeing you in San Antonio!