Goldingay on the Imprecatory Psalms

John Goldingay with his wife Kathleen Scott Goldingay have published a two-part article called "The Sting in the Psalms" (Theology 117.6 [2014]: 403–10; 118.1 [2015]: 3–9). A pre-publication version of the two-part article is available at Kathleen Scott's acadmeia.edu page. I just read the published version of the second part, which is attributed mostly to John Goldingay (while Kathleen Scott Goldingay receives primary credit for part 1).

Part two is a good, brief theological reflection on the value of the imprecatory psalms. Goldingay asserts that our discomfort--and the discomfort of many biblical scholars--with the imprecatory psalms arises primarily from the fact that we feel ourselves to be the oppressors and not the oppressed, and so we don't want God to take vengeance on the oppressors. He cautions (with tongue in cheek):

Scholars in countries such as Britain and the United States are therefore wise to support the view of ordinary Christians that nobody should use such psalms. It would be dangerous if people prayed them. God might listen and respond. (p. 6)

I also appreciated Goldingay's concerns with the allegorical interpretation of these psalms, and the two examples he takes of this interpretive strategy, C. S. Lewis and David Steinmetz. Goldingay says about C. S. Lewis' chapter on the imprecatory psalms in Reflections on the Psalms: 

Lewis here illustrates several of the dangers in allegorical interpretation. Its problem is usually not that it leads us to make declarations that are out of keeping with the direct teaching of Scripture. It is that it enables us to avoid seeing what the Holy Spirit was inspiring in particular texts. It enables us to focus instead on things that we are more interested in or that we are more comfortable with, which will often be matters of individual spirituality rather than our outward lives. It enables us to avoid seeing what God wants us to see. (p. 7)

This is a good criticism of some examples of allegorical interpretation, and I'll need to think more about it.

Article on Chronicles within the Canon

I've just received from Tyndale Bulletin the pdf offprint of my article on the position of Chronicles within the canon. They have very helpfully made the article available here.  This is the published form of a paper I read at SECSOR a couple years ago (noted here), and the theme of the article connects with one I published at the beginning of this year in NTS (noted here).

If you get a chance to read it, let me know what you think.

Bokedal on the Nomina Sacra

I've enjoyed reading Tomas Bokedal's The Formation and Significance of the Christian Biblical Canon (Bloomsbury 2013), a 'second edition' of the author's dissertation, the first edition of which was reviewed by John Barton in JTS (remarkably so, for an unpublished dissertation). I'm not quite half-way through.

He summarizes his basic argument in this way:

In the following I shall seek to demonstrate that, as part of its canon formation, early Christianity forms a closed literary fellowship in the period AD 70–120, with an in-principle closed two-testament canon at hand circa AD 200. This is the outcome of an extended process, marked by continuity and a strong ecclesial consensus as to the scriptural core, structure and approximate literary scope. (p. 20) 

I find it interesting that for Bokedal, the formation of the canon as he is describing it does not necessarily need to establish rock-solid borders for the canon, one hundred percent certainty on which books are in and which are out.

The emergence of the Christian Bible, as described here, could not have exerted a greater impact had the scope, essence or meaning of the canon been finally and once and for all defined; for instance, by way of a carefully  prescribed canonical model for scriptural interpretation, or a definite number of writings to be included. Quite to the contrary, the ongoing canon debate provides the possibility of reaching at even a better understanding of the canonical shape and function. (p. 17) 

Bokedal's third chapter is on the nomina sacra, those special contractions of theologically significant words found especially in Christian sources.

[...] the introduction of the system of nomina sacra into the biblical texts – immediately indicating a Christian context for these writings – was a decisive step in the early stages of the canonical process. (p. 83)

In this regard, he argues that the nomina sacra are a scribal system aimed at connecting the God of Israel with Jesus; that this system transforms Jewish scripture into Christian scripture; brings unity to the whole of scripture; engrafts the early Church's creedal confession (Jesus as Lord) in the manuscripts; and relates (or 'juxtaposes') the new Christian writings to the Jewish scriptures (pp. 92–93). Bokedal helpfully classifies the 15 nomina sacra according to the frequency of abbreviation, with theos, christos, Iēsous, and kurios in the top category, almost always abbreviated in NT manuscripts of the second and third centuries (surveying 74 such mss). Stauros (95%) and pneuma (89%) fall to the second category. The third category (23%–62%) includes stauroō, patēr, anthrōpos, Ierousalēm, huios, Israēl, pneumatikos, and the fourth category--hardly ever contracted in these 74 mss--includes ouranos, mētēr, Dauid, and sōtēr. As for pneuma, Vaticanus turns out to be unusual, hardly ever abbreviating the word (3%) in its NT portion (Bokedal doesn't mention what happens int the OT), though pneuma usually was contracted at that time, as seen above, and Sinaiticus has it 99% of the time (pp. 90–91, w/ n. 28).

The words are contracted in biblical manuscripts, but also in other Christian writings (p. 89; and maybe Jewish writings?--Bokedal does not address the issue, but see Hurtado ch. 3, and on non-biblical writings that include nomina sacra, see ibid. p. 98; Tuckett 442–3; on inscriptions with nomina sacra, see Bokedal 116–17; and Wicker, on whom see Hurtado; and Edwards for a Jewish example). This seems to distinguish the nomina sacra from the other peculiar feature of early Christian books, the preference for the codex. This latter phenomenon does seem to be particularly, though by no means exclusively, associated with scripture (Bokedal 125–7; Hurtado).

Also:

"The abbreviated forms occur typically only when used in a sacral sense. Although not always consistently carried out, this is especially the case for the word Θεος. A clear distinction is made by scribes between God or Lord as sacred names (written as nomina sacra) and these words as profane words in the plural (gods and lords, written in full). Almost all 50 or so Greek manuscripts containing 1 Cor. 8:4-6 included by Reuben Swanson in his New Testament Greek Manuscripts make this distinction." (pp. 99–100) 

The nomina sacra appear also in Latin, Coptic, Slavonic, and Armenian mss (Bokedal 85 n. 6; cf. p. 122) and seem to have been used in all Christian biblical manuscripts until the rise of printing (see pp. 86–87 n. 11). The universality of this practice leads Bokedal to suggest a reintroduction into modern Bible editions (apparently he means both original language editions and translations), and he proposes using all caps for each of the nomina sacra, or at least the main ones (pp. 86, 122–23).

But I wonder about this statement:

For early Christianity as for early Judaism, it seems to have been the case that a writing without a strong emphasis on the sacred name(s) could not make any strong claim towards scripturality. (p. 93; cf. p. 122)

This makes sense for the NT--it is hard to imagine a writing that doesn't mention Jesus or the Lord being generally recognized as Christian scripture. But I'm curious how such a view would play out with certain texts of the OT, Song of Songs and Esther, for instance, both famously containing no references to God (though cf. Song 8:6). Well, in the Greek Esther, there are all kinds of references to God, so for Christians (and some Jews) that problem would be solved, I suppose. Codex Sinaiticus does contain instances of nomina sacra in Esther. But I don't think there are any instances of nomina sacra in the Song. Codex Sinaiticus does contain explicit references to the dramatis personae (Bride, Groom), and maybe these could be considered sacred names. But they weren't contracted.

Bokedal follows the explanation for the nomina sacra associated with Hurtado and, earlier, Roberts, that these scribal markers have a Christian origin, and they likely started with a suspended form of Iēsous (pp. 93–97).

The payoff for canon formation comes in the conclusion to the chapter:

As nomina sacra are present in basically all Christian Greek biblical manuscripts, their seemingly universal reception by the early faith communities strongly suggests a doctrine of the unity of the Christian Scriptures, placing the emergent NT writings side by side with the Scriptures of Judaism (the OT). The Christian Scriptures contain the nomina sacra, which are being introduced also into the Jewish Scriptures, and both OT and NT writings are used together for the divine lection as part of the worship service. In this way – and of further signifance for the canon formation – the Christian identity of the Scriptures as Scriptures vis-à-vis the synagogue is emphasized. Now, if the above analysis is correct, and if we make use of an essential component from von Harnack's canon defnintion, we need to date a central aspect of the NT canon formation to around AD 100 (rather than ca. AD 200, as suggested by von Harnack), when the Christians' own writings in this way are put on a par with the Jewish Scriptures (cf. section 7.3). Justin Martyr in Rome testifies to an already established tradition in this regard, with the Gospel being read publicly alongside the Prophets (see section 7.7.4). (pp. 121–22)

A couple further thoughts that popped into my mind as I read this chapter:

--The transmission of the nomina sacra--in the actual copying of the texts--presumably would have need to be visual. That is, if we are imagining something like a scriptorium, with scribes listening to the text being read and then writing down what they hear, it seems to me that the nomina sacra would not be so standardized. This observation concurs with Gamble's statement that there is “no direct evidence that texts were replicated by dictation in the ancient world" (Books and Readers, 88; but Gamble later discusses the existence of some scriptoria in the ancient world, such as at Caesarea; see pp. 120–23, 158–9).

--It seems probable that the nomina sacra contributed to Christological interpretation of the OT. (see Bokedal pp. 101–2, 113).

One last observation: I enjoyed this footnote (p. 16 n. 55): "Cf. Zahn's remark somewhere, that it is because of the uncertainty regarding the shape of the canon that there is a history of the canon in the first place." I love the honesty of this note: I know I read it somewhere in Zahn, but I can't find it right now. It also reminds me of Hebrews 4:4.

Origen and the Bridegroom

Another excerpt from Origen and Scripture by Peter Martens (earlier noted here). Chapter 8 is on the moral life of the scriptural exegete, as Origen saw it, and Martens discusses Origen's views on the need for moral excellence of the biblical interpreter, especially in regard to certain exegetical virtues (inquisitiveness, open-mindedness, watchfulness, and exertion), faith, and prayer. Origen believed that one should seek divine aid in understanding the scriptures, but this divine aid was sometimes elusive. Martens (p. 184) quotes a beautiful passage from Origen's first Homily on the Song of Songs in illustration of this point.

The Bride then beholds the Bridegroom; and He as soon as she has seen Him, goes away. He does this frequently throughout the Song; and that is something nobody can understand who has not suffered it himself. God is my witness that I have often perceived the Bridegroom drawing near me and being most intensely present with me; then suddenly He has withdrawn and I could not find Him, though I sought to do so. I long therefore for Him to come again, and sometimes He does so. Then, when He has appeared and I lay hold of Him, He slips away once more; and when He has so slipped away, my search for Him begins anew. So does He act with me repeatedly.

The "Old Testament" According to Origen

I've been reading Peter Martens 2012 monograph Origen and Scripture, an excellent account of Origen's encounter with scripture. The following passage comes from ch. 9, on the single message of the scriptures. Origen insisted--against some groups, such as gnostics--that both biblical testaments transmitted the same saving message.

Indeed, so concerned was Origen with the unity of this scriptural message that he could, on occasion, even balk at the twofold designation "Old" and "New" Testaments. In his ninth Homily on Numbers he remarks that the power of the gospel is also found in the law, its foundation, so that he does not give the name "Old Testament" to the law provided he understands it spiritually. "The law," Origen continues, "becomes an 'Old Testament' only for those who want to understand it in a fleshly way; and for them it has necessarily become old and aged, because it cannot maintain its strength. But," he strikingly concludes, "for us, who understand and explain it spiritually and in an evangelical sense, it is always new. Indeed, both are a 'New Testament' for us, not because of the age of time but because of the newness of understanding." (p. 203)

Aquila's Translation in the Cairo Genizah

Almost exactly a year ago my article on the Aquila manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah (noted here) appeared in the Journal of Jewish Studies. The main point of the article is to argue that we actually don't know whether these manuscripts originated among Christians or Jews, despite the common assumption among scholars that they are Jewish manuscripts. A few months after its publication, the article received this ringing endorsement from Peter Head: "I would say that this article is more interesting than it sounds." That's about the best you can hope for in scholarship--not as boring as expected!

In the article I interact a little bit with Larry Hurtado in regard to the issue of the nomina sacra, since one of the Aquila manuscripts features some of these forms and Hurtado has cited this usage in his own work (esp. ch. 3 here). Hurtado has now read my article and largely endorses its conclusions--which, again, are fairly cautious: we should not presume that the manuscripts are Jewish, but neither will the evidence allow us to affirm a Christian origin. But, given the current state of our knowledge, the latter is at least as strong of a possibility as the former. Hurtado explains well and briefly in this post the evidence on either side of the issue, and points out a few things of which I was unaware (the article by Niessen) or failed to mention (the codex bookform as a possible indication of Christian origin).

Hurtado's post is part of a series he's doing on materials from the Cairo Genizah (prior posts here and here).

Article on Deuteronomy

Got the news last week that my Vetus Testamentum article "Cult Centralization in the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Origins of Deuteronomy" is now available. Brill wont allow posting the article on my academia.edu page, so you wont find it there, but I think VT is a pretty easy journal to access. I'd be happy to send a PDF to anyone who requests it.

You'll find an abstract of my article at the link above. I've discussed the subject on this blog before, a few years ago (here, here, and here). These posts became the basis for the published article. I'll have another article on the Samaritan Pentateuch coming out in January. I'll note it when it appears.