Song of Songs in Hebrew micrography depicting Solomon, 1819. Codex Levy 45, Carl von Ossietzky State and University Library, Hamburg.

This is not really how I pictured the Angel of Death would look, but okay.

full of secrets.

Call for Papers: Sobria Ebrietas: Transformations of Spiritual Intoxication from Philo to Medieval Christianity, 26–27 November, 2026, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.

Yale University Renewed Philology Working Group: The Book of Esther in Modernity, July 7 – 28, 2026.

Workshop: Cairo Genizah, September 2–3, 2026, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt.

Moses coming down from Mount Sinai

Historically, P has been located in the bladder.

When writing a book review, it’s important to establish your credibility at the outset by admitting to your most embarrassing unfounded prejudices.

Here's the table of contents.

This volume would make a great textbook for a class on the apocrypha or Septuagint! My contribution on “Problematizing Terms: Apocrypha and Septuagint” shows the difficulties with using these terms when talking about 2nd Temple Judaism and early Christianity.

Someday I hope to make it to the People Will Pay to Go on a Cruise with Me level of biblical scholarship.

If you’ve been an archaeologist for long enough, they just let you title your lectures whatever you want.

The tedious, endlessly rehashed debates in my subfield are far more interesting than the tedious, endlessly rehashed debates in your subfield.

Call for Applications: The Ifao Papyrology Seminar. Deadline for application: April 25, 2026. Seminars are available for Greek, Coptic, and Arabic papyrology. www.ifao.egnet.net/recherche/ma...

Latin phrases for textual emendations/conjectures: emendatio palmaria - palm-worthy emendatio egregia - outstanding acuta coniectura - sharp/clever emendatio felicissima - most felicitous emendatio elegans - elegant coniectura verisimilis - plausible emendatio optima - best

Come join us on Wednesday 8 April 10 AM (note the different time from usual) for a paper on corrections in Greek and Latin literature by @dareiadareia.bsky.social (KULeuven). If you are not yet on our mailing list, please register w/ @andyhilkens.bsky.social to receive the Zoom link!

Cours Été 2026 (en présentiel / en distanciel direct / en différé) : La Septante dans le judaïsme et le christianisme naissant, donné par Jean Maurais, mai–juillet 2026, mardi 13h–16h. www.fteacadia.com

Online course: Georgian Jews and their Cultural Treasures, May 4-June 15, 2026, taught by Thea Gomelauri oxfordinterfaithforum.org/blog/case-we...

Incredibly ironic that when the studies of the psychologists who authored When Prophecy Fails failed to support their theory, they altered the evidence to confirm it.

Scholars: The Septuagint is the first major literary translation into Greek. Hanno, Berossus, Manetho: Uhhh… we’re literally standing right here.

Summer school: Old Georgian language, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 4-14 August, 2026. abelao.be/cours/old-ge...

As an editor of biblical studies books, I have saved innumerable readers from having to see the word “booty” when “spoils” is meant.

My author copy arrived!

Brazilian children’s music has some real bangers like: - ant crawled all over me at the grocery store - frog doesn’t want to wash its feet - cockroach tells lies about its possessions - butterfly makes hot chocolate for grandma using wooden leg and glass eye as ingredients

James Barr had to bring out the ALL CAPS for this article title.

Call for Fellowship Applications: Person-Centered Messianism and Emergence, Käte Hamburger Center for Messianic Studies (CEMES), University of Würzburg. Applications due May 15, 2026.

It's finally here! I have an essay in this volume arguing that the Greek Esther Additions were originally composed in Greek, not Hebrew, based (partly) on... Hebraisms.

For sale: baby dress. Gold/blue(?).

“The essays in this volume represent a diverse range of perspectives, backgrounds, and methodologies.”

*Sees someone parsing a Greek verb* Me: Wow, this is just like Donna Tartt’s novel The Secret History!

The Käte Hamburger Center for Messianic Studies (CEMES) at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg, Germany, led by Prof. Dr. Barbara Schmitz and Prof. Dr. Christian Wehr, is inviting applications for the position of Managing Director.

Summer school course: Old Georgian, 4–14 August 2026, Summer School of Ancient Languages, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. For those interested, register here for more information: forms.gle/J6HZYbAZwgAx...

Neues Käte Hamburger-Kolleg für Studien zum Messianismus an der Universität Würzburg www.uni-wuerzburg.de/aktuelles/pr...

Take this as a sign to pre-order here: scmpress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/978033...

Redaction critics right now: “This is my moment!”

Workshop for Early Career Scholars in Jewish Studies: July 5-7, 2026, Anne Tanenbaum Center for Jewish Studies, University of Toronto. Applications due January 12, 2026.

PhD scholarship: the Beta maṣāḥǝft Project: Manuscripts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, Universität Hamburg. Applications due January 15, 2026. www.betamasaheft.uni-hamburg.de/news/phdcall...

Call for Papers: Scribes, Transmission, and Bilingual Traditions: A Fresh Examination of GA 629, 10-12 June 2026, Irish College, Leuven. Proposals due Dec 31, 2025.

When you’ve solved all the problems of the Documentary Hypothesis by simply eliminating the Elohist.

In 1896 Nestle, considering abbrevs such as "Mt" not short enough, proposed abbreviating each book of the NT with a single letter of the Greek alphabet: Μμλιπίπιρκγεφκθέττφα "Who can fail to see how much space & time has been gained here without losing the slightest clarity!"

The Old English Gospels translate Mark 6:3 as Hu nys se smið marian sunu, "Is not this the smith, the son of Maria?"

The hottest Israelite historiography album of the 4th century BCE.

I like this neologism I created because it has the suggestion of "mania"

Probably one of the earliest modern uses of papyri in biblical studies: in 1808 Friedrich Wilhelm Sturz cited the word ἀπάτωρ, "father unknown" (used of Melchizedek in Hebrews 7:3) found in the Charta Borgiana, the first papyrus brought to Europe in 1778.

"What is concealed in the name Esther?" (Homicide, 1991).

Cambridge University theological exam from 1884 includes questions on (1) the textual problems of 1-2 Samuel; (2) text from the hexapla, Aquila, and Symmachus; and (3) the translation "revised [!] in 1611" (i.e., the King James Version), and the Complutensian Polyglot.

31 Oct Lyon/online: « Jérôme et les sources juives et chrétiennes de la Vulgate » avec Paul Rodrigue, à 13h au 22 rue Sala, Lyon 2e, 1er étage, cnrs.zoom.us/j/99701628112?… ID de réunion: 997 0162 8112 Code secret: h7VMUv

The majority of biblical scholars know that appeals to “the majority of biblical scholars” so often mask complex debates, crucial assumptions, and the incidental nature of evidence.

Remember the Panbabylonianism of the late 19th/early 20th century? We’re now living in an era of Pan-Persianism, where everyone wants to date everything to the Persian period. I can only express my surprise that more papers aren’t titled “Like a Persian.”