Ancient Hebrew Poetry

2009 Book Awards: Best Book in the Field of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament

In the latest issue of Christianity Today, the award is given to:

Dictionaries of Biblical Hebrew: Reviews and Discussion

Arranged in a user-friendly way, here is a list of important reviews and discussion scattered throughout this site:

Two classic dictionaries of biblical Hebrew available online

I’m referring to Eduard König’s 1910 Hebräisches und aramäisches Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament, and Wilhelm Gesenius’s Hebräisches und Aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament; in Verbindung mit H. Zimmern, W. Max Müller, u. O. Weber (1915 edition). Details here. However, I’m disgusted at the poor quality of these online resources. For example, the print is so light in the Flip Book and PDF versions of König’s dictionary that it is almost illegible. The Djvu version is dark and legible, but freezes up in my laptop.

Why I love Virginia Woolf

Because of quotes like this:

John Updike: 1932-2009

Ben Myers has written up reflections I don’t think I could improve on. For an introduction to the theological dimension of Updike’s fiction by John McTavish, go here. Another essay by McTavish here.

William Kristol’s Last Column: A Fighting Faith

Here is the link. I guess I can’t expect everyone in the field of biblical studies to know who Kristol is. Nor can everyone be expected to have read a book or two by his mother, the formidable scholar Gertrude Himmelfarb. A crying shame if you haven’t. On the other hand, everyone has heard the famous quip by Bill Kristol’s uncle Milton Himmelfarb, according to which “Jews earn like Episcopalians but vote like Puerto Ricans.” How can anyone forget that?

I just wanna eat pizza

I will never go to school. ‘Cause it’s not so nice. And it’s just so bizarre place. I bathed once. KISS made into PISS. Brilliant. Can you tell it’s relax time for me?

Sexual Fluidity

Warning: this article is, like certain passages in the Bible, reading material for mature, well-adjusted individuals only. Some of its conclusions are very striking. For example:

A Free Global Online University in the Making

Tzvee has a fine report on the subject, and helpful background. Here is the link to a NYT article. It’s a great idea, and a somewhat frightening one at the same time.

Proof that Israel achieved victory in Gaza

War is a horrible thing. But if you reach the conclusion that you have to engage in war, you better fight to win.

Even so, it is often the case that victory in battle is undone by collateral damage war causes internally, or in foreign relations. I thought that might happen in the case of Israel’s military victory over Hamas in Gaza.

But proof is beginning to turn up that, among informed observers, Israel achieved a moral victory over Hamas in this war. Two news reports, one from Reuters and one from the BBC – neither news agency has a history of pro-Israeli bias, far from it - demonstrate what I mean. This Louis Michel guy is my kind of Belgian.