David Tuesday Adamo,Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi State, NIGERIA

CBA Research Report Summaries, 2008

To facilitate easy reference, these summaries are listed in alphabetical order by author’s name, with cross references to the program listing: “2,4,” for example, refers to the fourth paper in the second session, “4,3,” to the third paper in the fourth session. First through fourth sessions are held on Sunday afternoon, fifth and sixth sessions on Monday afternoon.

David Tuesday Adamo, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria (6,3)

“Africa and Africans in the New Testament”

The question of African presence in the Bible is settled and has been accepted by many biblical scholars, but that of the NT has not been elaborately and carefully documented in recent books. This report will discuss various African personalities in the New Testament, their contributions to the establishment of the NT church, and the spread of the gospel. Personalities such as the Ethiopian Eunuch, Stephen, Apollos, Simon of Cyrene, and others are examined. This is part of the on going research started in1986. Furthermore, I will share the update of my book published in 2006.

Gary Anderson, University of Notre Dame (6,2)

“Tobit as Righteous Sufferer”

This paper will consider the figural relationship between Jesus and Tobit as righteous sufferers. It will provide the basis for a more general consideration of the relationship of the two testaments of the Christian Bible and suggest a way of reading the OT in a Christological fashion that is not supersessionistic.

Charles A. Bobertz, St. John’s University, Collegeville (1,3)

“Ritual Within Narrative: An Interpretive Clue to the Apologetic Structure of Mark’s Gospel”

This research report is a précis of a book length project that combines ritual and liturgical studies with a narrative reading of Mark. A reading of Mark reveals that rituals of baptism and meal were symbolically connected with the death of Jesus on the Cross. The book will argue that the narrative of Mark functions primarily to legitimate the inclusion of the Gentiles, through baptism into the death of Christ, into the ritual of the Lord’s Supper. The narrative death of Jesus, an actualization of ritual, functions to establish a particular form of communal identity.

Thomas L. Brodie, O.P., Dominican Biblical Institute, Limerick

“New Testament Use of the LXX and the Increasing Difficulty of Writing a Life of Paul” (3,5)

The thirteen epistles bearing Paul’s name constitute a profound heritage that reveals more and more depth and meaning. Yet, reconstructing Paul’s life is increasingly hazardous, particularly because of: (1) The traditional difficulty of reconciling divergences in the NT data. (2) Historical-critical awareness regarding historicity and authenticity. (3) Recent literary awareness, especially regarding rhetoric and diverse methods of absorbing and adapting pre-existing texts, Greco-Roman and scriptural/Jewish. The paper highlights and explores the indebtedness of Acts and the epistles to the LXX and asks how or whether it is possible to reconcile the emerging data with writing a historical life of Paul.

Joan E. Cook, S.C., Georgetown University (5,3)

“Malachi, the Teacher-Prophet”

Malachi is unique among the prophetic books in its pedagogical style. This paper analyzes the book's teaching techniques (question-answer format, use of contrasts, references to Israel's traditions) that highlight the essential connection between worship and ethics for the Second Temple community.

John Granger Cook, LaGrange College (4,5)
“Trajan, the Christians, the lex Puteoli, and Revelation”
Pliny’s letter to Trajan (and Trajan's response) concerning the Christians in Bithynia Pontus is well known. There are still some interpretive difficulties — especially centering on questions of Roman law. The reasons for the persecutions remain something of a mystery. The lex Puteoli, found over forty years ago, illuminates the Romans’ taste for crucifixion and torture. It in turn may indicate the “verisimilitude” of certain inauthentic Acts of Martyrs (Sharbil and Barsamya) during Trajan’s time. These historical details perhaps provide a background for the Apocalypse of John.

Kathleen E. Corley, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (6,4)

“Funerary Rituals, Women and Christian Origins”

Women's funerary rituals in the "cult of the dead' provide a new context for understanding the roots of the Eucharist, the origins of the passion narrative, and the origins of the idea of the "raised and appeared" Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15. This paper will cover the evidence from antiquity for women's funerary practices from Greek, Roman and Jewish traditions, and demonstrate how the roots of the Eucharist, passion narrative and resurrection traditions emerged in the earliest Palestinian communities. This is from a forthcoming book under contract with Fortress Press called Maranatha.

Paul Danove, Villanova University (6,5)

“The Three-fold Interpretation of Specific Passive Occurrences of Verbs of Transference”

This report develops the exegetical implications of specific passive occurrences of NT verbs of transference that admit to a three-fold interpretation. The discussion clarifies the criteria for identifying occurrences of verbs that may be interpreted as the passivized form of the active usage of transference / the form of the passive reflexive usage of transference / the form of the passive usage of motion. The discussion then examines the exegetical implications of the three-fold interpretation of verbs in Mark 14:41 and in Acts 1:11. A concluding discussion considers the theological implications of the three-fold interpretation of these occurrences.

Robert Doran,Amherst College (2,1)

“The Persecution of Judea by Antiochus IV: the Significance of patrios nomos”

The persecution of Judea by Antiochus IV has been characterized as an enigma. Answers to this anomaly have ranged from the psychological (Antiochus was a megalomania, or enraged at his shameful eviction from Egypt by the Romans) to the political (the desire of ‘enlightened’ Jews to reform the ancient tradition). Through an analysis of the events as portrayed in 2 Maccabees, I will argue that the author has effectively used the rhetoric of patrios nomos, ancestral law, to persuade his audience of the deed's dastardliness. Such rhetoric may in fact suggest another answer to the enigma.

Rudolph H. Dornemann, American Schools of Oriental Research

“Tell Qarqur, the 2008 Season of Excavations” (2,2)

The 2008 Season at Tell Qarqur removed Late Period burials and Hellenistic and Persian remains in A31 and A32, and extended the area to the east and south; opened up more of the burnt layer and architecture at the bottom of D6; exposed more of the EBIV building in D8/1 and D7/2 to remove the vessels smashed on the floors of this structure; and excavated more of the E4/1, EBIV, Temple down to a major floor. Dr. Jesse Casana worked on the Islamic settlement south of the high tell and conducted follow up excavations based on magnetometer and other surveys.

Michael Duggan, St. Mary’s University College, Calgary (3,1)

“Nehemiah’s Repeal of Debt Slavery: Social Justice in an Exclusive Community? (Neh 5:1-13)”

May one speak of social justice within a community that excludes outsiders? With the Ezra-Nehemiah complex, Nehemiah’s abolition of debt slavery (Neh 5:1-13) is the one reform that focuses on human rights within the community. By contrast, the exclusion of outsiders is the common aim of the other major reforms: (1) Ezra’s marriage reform (Ezra 9:1-10:44); (2) the covenant renewal (Ezra 7:72b-10:40); and (3) Nehemiah’s subsequent initiatives (Neh 13:4-31). Nehemiah’s repeal of slavery exhibits marked differences from legal traditions (Exod 21:2-11; 22:25; 23:10-11; Deut 15:1-18) and from Jeremiah’s efforts against debt slavery (Jer 34:8-22). The location of Nehemiah’s repeal of debt slavery as an intrusion into the narrative of the wall construction around Jerusalem (2:11-7:4), makes it a fitting test case for questioning to what degree one may speak of social justice within an exclusivist community.

David Dungan, University of Tennessee (emeritus) (5,4)

“Recent Trends in Understanding the Christian Scripture Selection Process”
Twenntieth century conceptions of the canonization process (“background,” “precipitating factors,” motivation) are expanding to achieve a more nuanced picture: the influence of the Greek philosophical schools, the role of the Roman government, the use of the term “canon.” Enormous dilemmas have appeared: in view of the biblical texts used at Qumran, what were the texts and writings in “Holy Scripture” in first century C.E. Palestine? What should be in the critical texts of the OT for use by the world’s Bible translation committees? Should there be a “canon” at all? If some of the NT texts were issued in several versions successively, what do we mean by "original version"?

Ernest M. Ezeogu, C.S.Sp., Spiritan International School of Theology, Enugu, Nigeria (3,6)

“To go or not to go? The Quest for the Literal Meaning of Poreuthentes in Matt 28:19"

The Christian missionary movement has largely been driven by the “command to go” in Matt 28:19. Post-colonial biblical scholars hold this verse responsible for an “imperialistic” understanding of mission that does violence to the evangelized cultures and makes little difference between mission and proselytism. Nevertheless, opinion remains divided on whether the participle poreuthentes should retain an imperatival force or simply a participial one. Does Matt 28:19 say to go or not to go? This paper investigates Matthew's use of participial poreuomai in conjunction with a main verb in the imperative to determine its meaning in the intent of the author.

Florence Morgan Gillman, University of San Diego (1,5)

“John’s Martydom: A Death without Vindication? (Mark 6:27)”

The Markan story of John’s death ends oddly. No final testament is quoted as coming from the Baptist; no final devastating prophecy about the ultimate fate of his persecutors seems envisioned as coming from his lips. In Mark’s rendition John is simply murdered behind the scenes, a hitherto politically upsetting voice brutally silenced with no powerful last words addressed to any of those he had hitherto been successful at deeply unsettling. The starkness of John’s end as told by Mark leaves one asking what Mark thought about this martyr’s death. Who had the last word? And, what about vindication?

Gregory Glazov, Immaculate Conception Seminary (5,2)

“Exploring the Text-Critical Value of the KQ Variation via Prov 20:16 and the Latter’s Interrelationship with Proverbs 5-6”
If the Q reflects the Masoretic reading tradition, the absence of a marginal Q means that Q=K. Applied to Prov 20:16, the principle vindicates the Q. The Masorah corroborates this and may clarify why the Q form seems to be halakhically determinative in B. Bat 173b. But it may also be argued that the sages linked the proverb with Judah and Tamar in ways suggested by Scott Harris’s work on Proverbs 5-6 in his Proverbs 1-9.

Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (5,1)

“American Catholic Biblical Scholarship and Its Contributions to Today’s Research”

The report focuses on some achievements by American Catholic biblical scholars since Dei verbum (1965), while placing them in the wider context of American academic and church life. It highlights the pivotal significance of W. F. Albright in helping to create the intellectual context for progress and success in American Catholic biblical scholarship in several areas: the world of the Bible, Jesus research, the Gospels, perspectives on Paul, biblical theology, and new methods.

Henry Ansgar Kelly, University of California at Los Angeles

“The Envious Diabolos Who Brought Death in the World (Wis 2:24): Cain, not Satan” (4,2)

The standard interpretation of Wis 2:24: "By the phthonos of a diabolos, thanatos entered the world," takes diabolos to refer to Satan, but it is belied by Wisdom's treatment of Adam as a minor transgressor, and Cain's murder of his brother to be the great primordial evil (10:1-4); the first interpreter of Wisdom, St. Clement of Rome, identified the diabolos as Cain. Satan does enter the scene in the NT as the instigator of Cain, as liar and killer from the beginning (John 8:44) and the father of Cain and other evil-doers (1 John 3:8-12). Satan and Adam are not yet connected.

Mark Kiley, St. John’s University, Staten Island (2,5)

“Roman Legends and the Genre of Luke-Acts”

This presentation takes stock of the current debate among students of Luke-Acts concerning its identity as history or epic. The presentation will explore some parallels underrepresented in the commentaries and make suggestions about the proper weight to be assigned such parallels in the debate about genre.

Jennifer Wright Knust, Boston University (3,4)

“The Strange Case of the Missing Adulteress”

In their Introduction to The New Testament in the Original Greek, Westcott and Hort selected the pericope adulterae as a particularly striking case of textual corruption through interpolation. Although they conceded that the story traveled in apostolic circles, they nevertheless argued that it has no claim to the Gospel of John and so the passage was placed in an appendix. Modern critical editions have followed suit, marking the derivative status of the story in a variety of ways. The relegation of the passage to the margins, however, obscures the manner in which gospel books were first transmitted. The interpolation of the pericope within the Gospel of John is wholly consistent with the way in which gospel traditions were understood at the time. Thus, the pericope serves not as an example of textual corruption but as evidence of the dynamic character of “gospel” and the books that came to carry this name.

Robert A. Kugler, Lewis & Clark College, (4,1)

“Philotas Contests the Loss of His Fiancée: Juridical Hybridity in Ptolemaic Egypt”

A member of the Jewish politeuma at Heraklepolis petitions the politeuma’s archons to charge the man who was to be his father-in-law because the latter betrothed his daughter to another without providing a “separation letter” terminating the engagement. The editors of this second-century B.C.E. petition link the letter to the sêfer keritut of Deut 24:1-4, yet other aspects of the petition correspond to no known Jewish family laws. This report explains this incongruence as a product of postcolonial legal pluralism in Ptolemaic Egypt, and describes the significance of this juridical hybridity for the Jews of that time and place.

Dale Launderville, O.S.B., Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary (3,2)

“Interiorization of Yhwh’s Instruction in Yehud”

An examination of the theological, socioeconomic, and political forces that contributed to the interiorization of Yhwh’s instruction in Yehud in the fifth-fourth centuries B.C.E. (Ezek 36:26-27; Pss 19:8-12; 119:89-112). This increased attention to the spiritual or metaphysical sphere is linked with written texts as evidenced in Jer 31:33-34; Deut 6:6-9; Exod 13:9, 16. Parallels with the Mesopotamian and Greek traditions will be explored.

Frank J. Matera, The Catholic University of America (2,3)

“Reflection on Writing a New Testament Theology”

After briefly reviewing the present state of NTT, I explain why I wrote a NTT, the problems I encountered, and how I proceeded. My report concludes with a reflection on the diverse unity of NTT, arguing that whereas the unity of NTT is grounded in (1) the experience of the salvation God offers in Christ and (2) the underlying narrative that the NT presupposes, the diverse starting points of the Synoptic, Pauline, and Johannine traditions account for the diversity of NTT Theology.

Mark A. Matson, Milligan College (2,4)

“The Third Person Imperative and the Our Father”

What is the force of the third person imperatives in the first half of the Our Father? Are they polite or oblique forms of address? Or do they have imperatival force? There is a need for a comparative examination of uses of the third person imperative in Greek literature of the period. This examination of such texts, especially with respect to prayers and entreaties, will help to understand the force of the third person imperative leading to a revised taxonomy of the third person imperative’s use. This study will then be reapplied to the use in the Our Father.

Geoffrey David Miller, Christian Brothers University, Memphis(5,1)
“Intertextuality or Inner-Biblical Exegesis? The Status Quaestionis”

Intertextual studies of the Bible, though increasingly popular, have lacked methodological consistency. Some scholars employ the intertextual method as originally developed by literary theorists, reading texts synchronically and dismissing all diachronic matters as irrelevant. Such an approach is inimical to historical-critical research, prompting most scholars to include a diachronic approach in their intertextual studies. Recent intertextual publications on the prophets, Tobit, and Sirach reveal the muddled state of the issue. The indeterminancy and lack of historical study inherent in intertextual hermeneutics is incompatible with biblical studies. Most research currently labeled "intertextual" would be more appropriately characterized as "inner-biblical exegesis."

Earl Richard, Loyola University, New Orleans (1,6)

“The Markan Purpose: A Look at Five Recent Commentaries” Scholarly literature on Mark has greatly increased in recent decades and there has also appeared a stream of lengthy, scholarly commentaries. It seems apropos to look at a few of these to examine their treatment of Mark’s purpose for writing. Some focus on the Gospel’s setting or the audience’s conflicted situation, but all five address, in some way, Mark’s pastoral concern to build the faith of the intended readers as they face the vicissitudes of war and persecution as Jesus had done previously. We will examine the commentaries of Marcus (2000), Donahue-Harrington (2002), Boring (2006), Culpepper (2007), and Collins (2007).

Christopher Rupert, S.J., LaStorta Jesuit Community, Pickering, Ontario (3,3)

“John's Good News Well Bound”

The fourth gospel through the lens of SYMLOG theory in social psychology proves to be a highly structured, very symmetrical penta-partite piece so unified that none of its 153 unitary parts may be shifted or moved without disturbing the structure. Among the themes that emerge within it are the role of women, the role of Peter, and the way to live eucharistically.

These 3 numbers with their products and their exponents in ancient arithmetic are used to compute music scale tuning and the various astronomical cycles. 1 becomes doubled to generate powers of 2.

Marie Noonan Sabin, Bristol, Maine (5,5)

“Reading Scripture so as to Exclude the Jews”

Pope Benedict’s book, Jesus of Nazareth, displays an approach to Scripture that Catholic biblical scholars (especially lovers of both Testaments) will find deeply troubling for two reasons: first, because of the way it reads biblical language through the filter of the Creed and second, because the result is to exclude the Jews from their covenant with God. Although these are not Benedict’s intentions, his approach violates the spirit of Nostra Aetate and undermines the work of Dei Verbum.

Vincent Skemp, College of St. Catherine (4,4)
“Does Paul refer to Christ’s Death as Sacrifice in 1 Cor 5:7?”
Does the clause kai gar to pascha hēmon etythē Christos in 1 Cor 5:7 refers solely to the cross or does the clause evoke the death-resurrection in dealing with an ethical problem in Corinth? Although in the earliest Hebrew tradition the Passover was not a sacrifice, the verb thyein and the noun pascha appear together also in Mark 14:12 (// Luke 22:7; in contrast to Matt 26:27 phagein to pascha).

Peter Spitaler, Villanova University (2,6)

“A Negative Pauline Anthropology - What Good Is It?”

B. Witherington is probably correct when he observes that most scholars are painstakingly aware of the challenges of post-Holocaust biblical interpretation. Such awareness is of particular importance with respect to one's assessment of Paul's portrayal of Israelites in his letter to the Romans. The paper surveys the subtle ways in which a pessimistic Pauline anthropology, abstracted from the theme of “universal sinfulness” in Romans 1-3, fosters negative portrayals of first-century Israelite religion. The paper also develops an alternative approach to understanding Paul’s anthropological reasoning.

Blazej Strba, Comenius University, Bratislava (1,2)

“Eleazar Installs Joshua: An Analysis of Num 27:22-23”

The installation of Joshua (Num 27:15-23) still poses a question for the exegetes. What occupies the scholars from the time of M. Noth is a reasonable explanation of the double Mosaic installation of Joshua: one in Numbers 27 and the second in Deuteronomy 31. The interpretation has often embarked in recent years on redaction-compositional criticism and the proposal of the diachronical stratification as the most common. I propose an analysis of Moses’ execution of Yahweh’s command (Num 27:22-23). I argue that the text does not present Moses as the one who imposes hand(s) on and commissions Joshua but rather Eleazar.

Gregory Tatum, O.P., Ecole Biblique (4,3)

“Galatians 2/Acts 15 and Paul’s Ministry in 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians”

The standard reading of the Jerusalem Conference and the Antioch Incident harmonize the accounts in Gal 2:1-14 and Acts 15 and discern no impact on the interpretation of 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians. These narratives can be read critically for their impact on the shift in Paul’s manner of speaking of his ministry between 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians.

Benedict Thomas Viviano, O.P., University of Fribourg (1,3)
“Making Sense of the Matthew Genealogy and Structure”

In addition to establishing Jesus as son of Abraham and son of David (as Matt 1:1 proposes), Matthew's genealogy also serves to develop a Christian theology of history, through the periodizations emphasized especially in Matt 1:17, and through other periods silently presupposed (Adam and Noah). Matthew 26-28 can also be understood as part six of a Matthean hexateuch. Second (Slavonic) Enoch perhaps plays a key preparatory role.

Timothy M. Willis, Pepperdine University (1,1)

“Did David Have ‘Rest’?”

The Davidic Promise in 2 Samuel 7 is widely recognized as an important component of the Deuteronomistic History. One of the many difficulties of interpretation encountered in this passage involves the contradictory references to "rest" for David (vv. 1, 9, 11). The specific nature of these contradictions defies easy explanations, and variant textual witnesses only exacerbate the problem. The present paper attempts to clarify the evidence provided so that we might move toward greater consensus regarding a resolution of at least one of the problems posed by this passage.