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.

Ascetics

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.

It has been a while since I have published anything for this series.  So I decided to give you a bit more commentary on one of the Sumerian proverbs from Bendt Alster’s book, Proverbs of Ancient Sumer.

“My youthful vigor left my loins

like a runaway donkey”

9 Sec. A8

I really enjoyed this metaphor.  The primary subject is youthful vigor, which I have taken to be a reference to aging (time).  Youthful vigor–>Waning vigor.  Time is conceptualized, as it often is, as having movement.  In this proverb the runaway donkey captures the idea of time moving. However, time can often be conceptualized spatially.  If this were the case, then it is possible that the youthful vigor is being thought of as something that is elusive, or not always present.   So how does this metaphor function?

Being a city boy, I am not sure if a donkey is fast, or if there is something that is fundamentally important to how a donkey runs away.  So after a brief period of studying it turns out that donkeys are indeed fast, and can be difficult to catch.  Proverbs do have considerable flexibility, so it is possible that the author is intending the reader to hear both the ideas of fleeing ( showing movement) and the elusive nature of the donkey (spatial).  Therefore, the youthful vigor of the speaker flees like a runaway donkey.

However, does one search for a runaway donkey?  Can it be captured?   Is a runaway donkey gone for ever?  Is youthful vigor a metonymy for a person’s life or are we only talking about waning youthful strength?  If we are talking about youthful strength, then it possible that this proverb speaks to the gradual diminutive nature that comes with age.  Strength leaves during age, but the leaving does not happen all at once but gradually.  A runaway donkey can be caught, and is not necessarily gone permanently.  Strength is not permanently gone in age, but it can be found lacking when it is needed.

Below is a children’s story of a runaway donkey.  I think it may help us conceptualize this metaphor better.  Enjoy!

A sturdy little donkey,
All dressed in sober gray,
Once took it in his long-eared head
That he would run away.
So, when a little open
He saw the stable door,
He ran as if he never would
Come back there any more.

Away that donkey galloped
And ran and ran and ran
And ran and ran and ran and ran
And ran and RAN and RAN!

Behind him ran the children,
The groom and coachman, too;

The farmer and the farmer’s man,
To see what they could do.

Some carried whips to whip him;
Some, oats to coax him near;
Some called,
“Come here, you foolish beast !:”

And some, “Come, Barney, dear.’”
But not a whit cared Barney
For cross or coaxing word ;
And clatter, clatter, clatter still,
His little hoofs were heard.
And all across the meadow,
And up and o’er the hill,
And through the woods and down the dale
He galloped with a will.

And into every hay field
And through the swamp and mire
Still Barney ran and ran and ran
As if he’d never tire !
His chasers all stopped running;
Then meek as any lamb
Did Barney stand, as if to say,
” Come catch me ! Here I am.”

But when one of them started,
Then Barney started too ;
As if the chase had just begun,
Away he swiftly Hew.
But there’s an end to all things,
And so, the stupid elf,
When no one else could capture him
This donkey caught himself.
For, running in the barnyard,
He did not calculate
What consequences would befall,
And hit the swinging gate.
It quickly swung together ;
Down dropped the iron latch.
Oh, Barney Gray, to think that you
The runaway should catch !

The children danced with pleasure,
The ~”room roared with delight.  I
The others smiled their broadest smiles
Or laughed with all their might.
But Barney, naughty Barney,
Had mischief in him still;
For when the laughing coachman tried
To lead him up the hill,
His donkeyship determined
That he would yet have fun,
So braced himself and stood stock still
As if he weighed a ton!

But mighty was the coachman
And pulled with such a will

That Barney soon was being dragged

Full roughly up the hill.

“Well, well!” at last thought Barney,
“The coachman is so strong,
I might as well be good just now,”
And so he walked along.
And when he reached the stable
And stood within his stall
You’d scarce believe so meek a beast
Could run away at all !
But all the meditations
Of this meek Barney Gray
Are only of some future time
When he may run away.

Emilie Poulson.  The Runaway Donkey and Other Ryhmes for Children.  Boston, Ma.; Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company.  1905. 1-10

I just discovered today, through Nijay Gupta’s blog, that John Goldingay has put three graduate level courses on iTunes University.  For those who are not familiar with Goldingay, he is an Old Testament scholar who teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary.  He has most recently completed one of the largest Old Testament Theologies in English.  He is a provocative and thoughtful writer, so I would expect nothing less from his lectures.

The three courses are as follows:

Pentateuch

Prophets

Biblical Hermeneutics.

Enjoy

While this doesn’t directly have much to do with wisdom literature, I have created some resources for Middle Egyptian.  As with all of my resources, please feel free to use them just attribute their authorship back to me.

Pdf: Middle Egyptian Paradigms