Well, I am thankful for many things: family, friends, housing, food, education (really far too many things to list).

I am now pretty sure, you will be thankful for the following free resources:

Encyclopedia Judaica (HT: Mark Hoffman) EDIT: This resource is only available for JCC members living in Austin.  Sorry for the false advertising.

Language and Cognition: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Language and Cognitive Science

This journal is published by Walter de Gruyter.  There are some great articles in the first two issues.  I don’t know how long free access will be granted, so sign up for free access today, esp. if you are interested in language and cognitive sciences.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I am often frustrated when I begin to translate a portion of scripture.  I know I am not alone with this frustration.  Those who work with the other languages are forced to make difficult decisions, especially regarding metaphors.   Do we translate a passage literally, and handicap the readers of our translation in understanding the likely intent of the passage?  Or do we destroy the metaphor and provide a less beautiful (and less accurate conceptualized[?]) reading?   Susan Groom summarizes this problem well with the following quote:

“The accuracy and level of semantic information: a word’s semantic range is dependent on its own language, therefore word a in language A will not have the same semantic range as word b in language B. . . . In cases of metaphor and idiom a literal translation preserves the metaphor, whilst a free translation renders the significance of the metaphor but in doing so destroys the metaphor itself. It restricts the reader’s interpretation.”

Susan Anne Groom, Linguistic Analysis of Biblical Hebrew (Carlisle, Cumbria; Waynesboro, Ga.: Paternoster Press, 2003), 79.

Thoughts….

I was just informed (via. the Agade list) that Tyndale Press Monographs are now open access and available in PDF.  There are a couple interesting volumes related to the HB.

The PDF’s can be found here and here.

Enjoy!

After recently reading a testimonial post by the Bruce Lee of Biblical Hebrew[1], I decided that I would dig through my blog archives and re-post something that I wrote last year (in June to be exact).  A reason for this re-post is that I have quadrupled my readership since writing that post, and I would like to interact with any new (or old) readers about this post.  Another reason for this re-post, is because I am fascinated by the notion that van der Merwe is actually incorporating biblical software into his pedagogical methodology.  From this testimonial, Christo seems to be getting positive results with this method, esp. since the majority of his students are continuing to use the biblical languages in their ministry.  After (or before) you read my post, please look at van der Merwe article over on the Logos page.

I have been giving thought lately to the requirement of languages at seminaries.  At Gordon Conwell, an M.Div student must take a year of Greek and Hebrew, an MA in Old Testament student must take a singular year of Hebrew (and that is it).  This is not really unique to GCTS; many schools have a one year (two semesters) language policy.  I know several seminary grads who are now veterans within ministry (10+ years), and not a single pastor that I personally know of uses both Hebrew and Greek in their ministry in a real way[1].  The Pastor of my church is a “Gospels” guy, and he does use his Greek every week.  He translates a passage before he ever writes a sermon, but he is the only person I know that actively uses a language that he learned in seminary to enrich his ministry.  When our colleagues find out that he uses Greek that frequently, they are usually shocked.  A seminary graduate rarely uses the Biblical Languages once they leave the academic environment of the seminary, and this is the trend that seems to be on the rise.

Unfortunately I don’t see a way of correcting this trend.  Keeping up with your languages or even working with the languages is the only way one is going to be able to retain their skill set.  However “keeping up” with your languages takes time, and that is a precious commodity in the Pastorate.  More and more pastors have taken on extra roles, which also can include being bi-vocational.  In the context of a smaller church, pastors often become psychologists, worship leaders, chairs of the various administrative boards, cheerleaders at various sporting activities, lunch dates, heads of hospitality, civil servants providing religious pageantry to the masses, etc.  But these are just one set of demands that are placed on those in the ministry, don’t forget the familial obligations of those in this profession.  All of these obligations, self imposed or otherwise, leave little room for habitual use of the biblical languages, so eventually the grammatical chops that were acquired begin to atrophy until all that remains is a haunting paradigm chart that has been etched into your mind, but disconnected from any remembered meaning.

Seminaries could add more language requirements to their degree tracts, but I don’t see that being the answer.  More stringent requirements do not address the problem of the appropriation of time within that Pastorate once their degree becomes nothing more than another piece of “art” or “memorabilia” that adorns their office walls.  Higher expectations sadly do not change the future priorities of anyone, especially in the face of such a fragmented profession.

As someone who has hurled himself head long into the academic waters, this trend does sadden me.  I obviously see the benefits of knowing the Biblical languages.  I see how the use of biblical languages can enrich congregations.  I would like all pastors to use the languages, but I am a realist and see this as a trend that will most likely not be bucked.

The above thoughts bring me back to my initial consideration of language requirements in seminaries.  I DON’T think seminaries should drop their language requirements.  So what could realistically help the situation?  I don’t know, but maybe if language professors could integrate the use of computer aided software such as a Logos or BibleWorks into the mix, maybe then we might be able to show how pastors can easily incorporate the original languages into their devotional/preparatory time.

Now before everyone who reads this freaks out, hear me out first.  Pastors are not using the languages anyways, so it’s not like this suggestion could make matters any worse, right?  The ones that do use the languages, often abuse them horribly by doing awful word studies[2].  However, if a course is offered that integrates language theory (which is essential), basic conceptions of the particular language, and computer aided software; then maybe these future pastors will use this kind of knowledge in their future ministries?  Who knows, maybe with frequency some of the language will “rub off” on these pastors by their constant use of these programs?  I am completely aware that Logos and BibleWorks can be an awful crutch, and using them, often makes students lazy because they won’t have to remember things that students of an earlier age did remember, but is this any worse than the current state of affairs?  You be the judge.

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[1] I am not counting the pastor who will occasionally flip through their strong’s concordance to give their sermon the air of being well prepared, while completely raping a word by not limiting the semantic range of a word, by context, and forcing every usage as operative simultaneously in their passage.

 

[2] Think of all of the examples in D.A. Carson’s Exegetical Fallacies.

Logos has just officially rolled out their newest version — 4.0!  Go here for more specifics.

I have consistently used Logos Bible software for close to 15yrs now.  In fact, my first edition of Logos came on something that looked like this.  Over many years, Logos’ software has become more robust as they have been able to offer more content, and a faster stronger engine to drive that content.  If you were using Logos during the old LLS 2.0 days and remember the quantum leap forward with the launch of 3.0, then you know what to expect with this latest incarnation.

Below I have provided a general overview and my review of the exciting new changes that can be seen in 4.0:

Speed

I have been blown away by the speed in 4.0.  The difference in speed between the two versions of Logos (3.0 and 4.0) is similar to the difference between connecting to the interweb using a dialup modem opposed to using Dsl technology.  Speed is something that Libronix users have complained about for quite sometime, and it was an area that its competition has out performed them in consistently.  Now, I believe that the playing field is a bit more even in this area with the launch 4.0.

Aesthetic

The Logos team has really tried to make a product that is visually pleasing, and devoid of clutter.  I believe that this objective, for the most part, has been a success (the only exception: the non-full screen interlinear is almost too messy to use, but the development team responded by bringing back the cleaner interlinears that were present in 3.0).

New Resources

Images

Lots of new illustrative images, new maps, and old Photographs (there is a neat collection of old stereoscopic images that can be viewed in 3D or in a normal 2D manner).  For teachers, pastors and bible instructors, this is a nice addition.  Once the handout functionality gets a bit smoother (which has been promised by the development team to happen in the near future), then these images will have even more appeal for 4.0 users.

New Books

Each base product will have brand new books licensed in them.  When you migrate to 4.0 you will get new books, while also keeping the old titles from 3.0 (which have been optimized to run in 4.0).  For a list of new books in your base package go here.

New Features

Floating Windows

One of my favorite features (which is partially an ascetic change) is the new “floating window option”.  If you want to read something full screen, without messing with your workstation, then float the window.  I am an Alt Tab fiend, and I toggle everything using that key combination, so this was a welcome feature for me.

Saving Works in Progress

Now it is easier and faster to pick up where you left off in your studies.  4.0 takes snapshots of your workspace, which can be named and can quickly be accessed the next time you re-open your program (this has been nice for exegetical projects, and much more convenient than loading saved workspaces in 3.0).  See image below:

Reader

If you eyes are tired after a long day of reading, then let Logos read to you.  This is an interesting feature, and I have played around with it a little bit.  It is a bit odd to hear my computer reading Walter Brueggemann’s Old Testament Theology (I might need to get a better computerized reading voice, because the one that came with my Dell is a bit choppy; sounds like the computerized voice in War Games), but it was also kind of nice to let the computer take over my reading for a bit.

4.0 for the iPhone

Resources in 4.0 can now be used with your iPhone and synched to the licenses you own for no additional cost.  While I don’t have an iPhone and have not personally seen the functionality of Logos on this platform, I think this is fantastic news.

Overall Experience

I have been testing this product in its various stages since the beginning of September, and it has been a great experience.  It was obvious from the beginning that the entire Logos staff cared about creating a product that would have both benefit and appeal to their target audience.  The Logos team was, when they were able to, quick to fix problems, and they were surprisingly attentive to our requests and suggestions.  Many of those suggestions were implemented into the product that can be seen today.  I want to thank Logos for the opportunity to test this product and to receive the most recent cross-grade.

So, if you have 3.0 and are wondering if 4.0 is worth the cost of an upgrade, then I would suggest that you look at the resources you will receive with the cost of upgrading your 3.0 base package to the new 4.0 base package.  Once you factor in all of the new resources and combine that with a faster, cleaner, and more intuitive engine, then I believe this is a no brainer (providing you have the available financial resources).

I came across this great quote last night, and I thought I would share it.  Enjoy!

“The satan has uncovered an ideological contradiction in the religious discourse that, when brought to light, threatens to render meaningless the fundamental category of that discourse.  As this proto-Nietzschean figure says in his clever genealogy of piety, “Does Job fear God for nothing?  Have you not hedged him about…?”  Fear of God as an absolute value is contradicted by the practice of blessing.  What had been represented as the very image of a coherent and meaningful world in 1:1-3 (blessed existence) is now argued to be a kind of false consciousness.  A hermeneutics of suspicion, if persuasive, performs an unmasking, displacing the false consciousness of ideology with an account that claims to be real truth.  Once exposed, the old categories are emptied of meaning, and a world is destroyed.

In this surprisingly philosophical little didactic tale, what is at stake is not simply the testing of a virtue but the testing of the conditions that make virtue itself possible.  As compelling as the satan’s challenge appears to be, the conventions of didactic story ensure that the hero will meet the challenge and the threat will be discharged.  The interest thus turns to how Job will articulate a form of piety that persuasively resolves the threat of contradiction and incoherency and so restores the conceptual and experiential wholeness of the moral world.”

I hoped that this title would drive some traffic to my site, so that I can get some assistance.

I have seemed to have misplaced a piece of information, and it is driving me crazy.   I recall reading somewhere that in ancient Mesopotamia there was a known STD referred to as the Kiss of Ishtar or Ishtar’s Kiss.  I am combing through all sorts of texts, and through old note cards, but I am not turning up this piece of information.  If anyone can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.

Adam

This Saturday’s Sumerian Proverb (which, as usual, is drawn from Bendt Alster’s book, Proverbs of Ancient Sumer) is another example of an interesting metaphorical string.  Enjoy!

“Fate is a dog, well able to bite.

It clings like  dirty rags (saying),

‘Who is my man? Let him know it!’”

2:11

Ignorance begets more ignorance.

I have heard some KJV-only-folks make some pretty stupid statements regarding bibles, but this has to take the cake.  This church (I don’t want to give them free advertising, so I am not publishing their name) is planning on burning books that they have deemed as Satanic.  Such Satanic books include the “heretical Billy Graham and Mother Teresa”, but the kicker is that they are going to be burning any non-KJV bible at this (soon to be annual) Halloween fire festival.   Things like this make me embarrassed to be a Christian.

Proverbs 26:20-21

בְּאֶ֣פֶס עֵ֭צִים תִּכְבֶּה־אֵ֑שׁ וּבְאֵ֥ין נִ֝רְגָּ֗ן יִשְׁתֹּ֥ק מָדֽוֹן׃

פֶּחָ֣ם לְ֭גֶחָלִים וְעֵצִ֣ים לְאֵ֑שׁ וְאִ֥ישׁ מִדוֹנִים לְחַרְחַר־רִֽיב׃

To see the ignorance for yourself go here.

This is a post that needs to be featured on Scotteriology (if it hasn’t all ready made its rounds over there).

Karyn Traphagen has just finished hosting a contest on the best vocab aids people have used in their quest to acquire Hebrew vocabulary.   I was unaware of many of the named resources, but there are some really great sounding ones in this list.  To see Karyn’s commentary on these vocabulary tools, go here.  Kayrn has a great blog with tons of great Hebrew resources, so once you finish that post, search around her blog for more.

Karyn, thanks for putting this together!  Very helpful.