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Singular readings (textual variants attested in only one Greek New Testament manuscript) are considered among the least reliable of all textual variants, far more likely to be scribal changes than the words of the authorial text. In this groundbreaking study, Andrew W. Wilson revisits long-held suppositions about textual variants and how they arose through a thorough analysis of more than ten thousand readings likely to be scribal errors. Wilson takes this evidence and reevaluates previous studies of scribal habits to assess the strengths and weaknesses of various methodologies for determining what those habits were and what impact they might have had on the wording of New Testament textual transmission. Biblical scholars and students interested in the formation of biblical texts will find new possibilities for how to approach disputed wording in the New Testament.

A fresh contribution to the growing body of New Testament scholarship on empire, both ancient and modern

Darden’s reading of Revelation examines John the Seer’s rhetorical strategy, in general, and imperial cult imagery in chapters 4 and 5, in particular, through the lens of an African American scripturalization supplemented by postcolonial theory. The scripturalization proposes that John the Seer’s signifyin(g) on empire demonstrated that he was well aware of the oppressive nature of Roman imperialism on the lives of provincial Asian Christians. Yet, ironically, John reinscribed imperial processes and practices. Darden argues that African American biblical scholarship must now attend adequately to these complex cultural negotiations lest it find itself inadvertently feeding the imperial beast.

Features:

• Relates the potential for African American cooption by the U.S. Empire to the cooption by the Roman Empire both thematized and performed in Revelation
• Book-length study on postcolonial African American biblical hermeneutics
• A reading supplemented by postcolonial theory that better addresses the hybridity of African American identity

Explore insights, methodologies, and advances in socio-rhetorical interpretation

Essays in this volume from Vernon K. Robbins merge social and rhetorical strategies of interpretation and set the stage for how socio-rhetorical interpretation has developed in the context of research into the rhetoric of religious antiquity. This book contains “By Land and By Sea: The We Passages and Ancient Sea Voyages” (1978), which initially received widespread praise and then became an object of significant criticism. The volume includes Robbins’s varied, detailed responses to both encouragement and critique of his approach.

Features:

• Introduction to the collection by David B. Gowler
• Twelve essays that programmatically study early Christian texts using resources from the social sciences
• Reflections on the future of socio-rhetorical criticism

The classic essays in this volume address the usefulness of Orlando Patterson’s work on slavery to New Testament studies. Contributors approach the question of slavery from two directions. Part One examines the evidence for slavery in antiquity and attitudes toward it. Part Two considers specific receptions of Paul and slavery by persons of African descent in North America. Contributions to this essential collection pushed scholars toward a more complex, critical view of the Greek and Roman slave systems, and their work continues to influence New Testament studies today.

A sociorhetorical analysis of First Corinthians

Robert H. von Thaden Jr.'s sociorhetorical analysis examines Paul's construction of sexual Christian bodies in First Corinthians by utilizing new insights from conceptual integration (blending) theory about the embodied processes of meaning making. Paul's teaching about proper sexual behavior in this letter is best viewed as an example of early Christian wisdom discourse. This discourse draws upon apocalyptic and priestly cognitive frames to increase the rhetorical force of the argument. Reading Paul's argument through the lens of rhetorical invention, von Thaden demonstrates that Paul first attempts to show the Corinthians why sexual immorality is the worst of all bodily sins before shifting rhetorical focus to explain to them how they can best avoid this infraction against the body of Christ.

Features:

• A programmatic application of conceptual integration theory using a sociorhetorical mode of interpretation
• A vivid account of key aspects of conceptual integration theory and how they function in sociorhetorical interpretation
• A detailed application of these strategies to interpret 1 Corinthians 1-4; 6:12-7:7

A crucial text for any university course on the interaction of archaeology and the Bible

The world of early Christians was not a world lived in texts; it was a world saturated with material reality and concerns: what, where and when to eat or drink; how to present oneself in the space of bodily life and that of death; how to move from one place to another; what impacted status or the adjudication of legal charges. All these and more controlled so much of life in the ancient world. The Christians were not immune from the impact of these realities. Sometimes they absorbed their surrounds; sometimes they quite explicitly rejected the material practices bearing in on them; frequently they modified the practice and the rationale to create a significant Christian alternative. The collection of essays in this volume come from a range of international scholars who, for all their different interests and critical commitments, are yet united in treasuring research into the Greek and Roman worlds in which Christians sought to make their way. They offer these essays in honor of one who has made a lifetime's work in mining ancient material culture to extract nuggets of insight into early Christian dining practices: Dennis E. Smith.

Features

• Rich examples of method in the utilization of ancient material culture for biblical interpretation.
• Thirteen essays with a response from Dennis E. Smith
• Maps, diagrams, and plates

Essays that engage the scholarship of Shaye J. D. Cohen

The essays in Strength to Strength honor Shaye J. D. Cohen across a range of ancient to modern topics. The essays seek to create an ongoing conversation on issues of identity, cultural interchange, and Jewish literature and history in antiquity, all areas of particular interest for Cohen. Contributors include: Moshe J. Bernstein, Daniel Boyarin, Jonathan Cohen, Yaakov Elman, Ari Finkelstein, Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert, Steven D. Fraade, Isaiah M. Gafni, Gregg E. Gardner, William K. Gilders, Martin Goodman, Leonard Gordon, Edward L. Greenstein, Erich S. Gruen, Judith Hauptman, Jan Willem van Henten, Catherine Hezser, Tal Ilan, Richard Kalmin, Yishai Kiel, Ross S. Kraemer, Hayim Lapin, Lee I. Levine, Timothy H. Lim, Duncan E. MacRae, Ivan Marcus, Mahnaz Moazami, Rachel Neis, Saul M. Olyan, Jonathan J. Price, Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, Michael L. Satlow, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Daniel R. Schwartz, Joshua Schwartz, Karen Stern, Stanley Stowers, and Burton L. Visotzky.

Features:

• A full bibliography of Cohen’s published works
• An essay on the contributions of Cohen

More than a simple answer key, this supplemental guide is designed to guide both instructors and those using this book for self-study. Understanding Greek is to understand that there is never a single “correct translation.” Multiple translations are given for each sentence along with commentary on the pros and cons of each translation. By introducing the reader to different philosophies of translation, this volume gives the “why" behind different translations and encourages the reader to think of translation as a way to better understand the intricacies of the original language. This supplementary volume contains an introduction, multiple translations and commentary on the sentences in the 40 chapters, as well as answers to the supplementary exercises.