I recently mentioned that two ways of translating the Hebrew verbs in Genesis 2:19 might, in theory, both be legitimate. A comment on that post raised the question whether one of them was in fact not justifiable: …as I see it, the verb in question is a wayyiqtol. And the wayyiqtol is *never* (to my experience and understanding) used for information off of the main, foregrounded timeline: that is, it is a *sequential* past tense verb form, and would not... Read more

As others have already pointed out, Mark Goodacre will be pioneering in the world of technology and teaching, as he always does, this time by having online office hours. Here’s the full story: Mark Goodacre at NT Blog has agreed to hold live, online “office hours” this Friday, Sept. 18, at noon EDT on Duke’s Ustream page. Professor Goodacre will be giving his take on “the New Testament in the news” – and responding to questions from anyone who submits... Read more

Chris Brady has offered yet another post on creation in Genesis, and yet another amusing cartoon related to it as well. Read more

Two of my colleagues at Butler University are part of a band called Nightjar. You can listen to them here. One of them also used to be in a band called Chuckanut Drive, which you can listen to on YouTube: Not really my sort of music, to be honest, but if I had a band and a colleague had a blog, I’d hope to get a mention! Read more

That’s the title of a new piece on Beliefnet about Star Wars and Hinduism. Read more

Gumby the Cat has returned to blogging with a delightful extended analogy between his experience with Christianity and buying a car. I’ve noted previously the analogy Carl Sagan made between buying a used car and choosing a religion. I highly recommend reading Gumby’s post, and I also strongly advise readers to “look under the hood” of your religion. Although sometimes an awareness of the mechanics of something can seem to detract from the magic of experiencing the whole, and our... Read more

I’m teaching again today. The topic was Genesis (the book, not the band, although I have been practicing the keyboard solo from Cinema Show) with particular focus on the creation stories. One particular point I’ve emphasized more in recent years at this point in the class is the role of translations in interpreting the text for us. If one reads Genesis 2:18-19 in the NRSV, it says: Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should... Read more

The tenth proposition is perhaps the crux of Walton’s argument and the most crucial for those who take a high view of Scripture. He argues that Genesis 1 does not merely focus on function rather than material creation, but it is not about material origins as well. His argument includes not only pointing out the number of days on which nothing material is created, but once again also returns to the problems that result from regarding Genesis 1 as about... Read more

There’s an interesting piece up at the Chronicle for Higher Education with this title. Those who engage in Facebooking, blogging, and various other sorts of public online activities will probably find it useful. Read more

I just received a notification about a future ARAM conference that may be of interest to some scholars who read this blog: Dear Colleague, ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies is organizing its Twenty Ninth International Conference on the theme of Astrology in the Near East, with a special focus on the use of the Zodiac in the Syro-Mesopotamian arts, to held at the University of Oxford, 08-10 July 2010. The conference will start on Thursday 08 July at 9am, finishing... Read more