Journal of Biblical Literature 139:4

JBL 139:4 is now out. Here is a list of the articles with links to abstracts.

Death in the Garden of Eden
Bruce Wells

The Mark of Cain and White Violence
Nyasha Junior

Memories, Myths, and Megalithics: Reconsidering the Giants of Gath
Aren M. Maeir

Torn Garments and Calamity Mourning in 1 Kings 11:30
Kerry M. Sonia

כעת חיה: An Allusion Connecting Genesis 18:10, 14 and 2 Kings 4:16–17
Gil Rosenberg

The “God of Israel” in Judah’s Bible: Problems and Prospects
Michael J. Stahl

The Historicity of Confusion: Jesus, John the Baptist, and the Construction of Public Identity
Tucker S. Ferda

Jesus against the Laws of the Pharisees: The Legal Woe Sayings and Second Temple Intersectarian Discourse
Yair Furstenberg

The Promises Fulfilled for Whose Children? The Problem of the Text of Acts 13:33 in Contemporary Debate
Daniel B. Glover

Canon Lists Are Not Just Lists
C. Rebecca Rine

Good and Bad Preaching

Ian Paul asks and answers the question, "What does good preaching actually look like?" There is a bit to process but two points in particular stood out for me.

• If I want to be a good preacher, then I need to work on the disciplines which will allow me to reach the point of having something worthwhile to say.
• If I want to avoid being a bad preacher, then I need to work on the disciplines that will allow me to deliver what I have to say in an effective way.

The Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim

Leen Ritmeyer has a very interesting post about it and other structures here.

Is Coffee the Antichrist?

I know that not everyone cares for it, but I had no idea that coffee was this evil. 😆

Pharaoh’s "Heavy Heart" in Exodus

Daniel Zucker has an interesting post here on Pharaoh’s "heavy heart" in Exodus. Zucker argues that "heavy heart" is related to Egyptian understandings of judgment in the afterlife and is a better way to understand the idiom in Exodus often translated as hardened heart.

The Threefold Purpose of the Book of Ezekiel

I created this table while reworking some of my teaching materials for the book of Ezekiel.

Charlie Trimm Has a Website

Charlie Trimm, an associate professor and chair of the Old Testament program at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, has created a new website to showcase some of his materials. You can check it out here.