In Memoriam: Takamitsu Muraoka (1938-2026)

[Updated 5:30pm EST] I have just received news that Prof. Dr. Takamitsu Muraoka died yesterday, 10 February. He passed away peacefully in his sleep, just one day after his 88th birthday. According to a mutual colleague, Muraoka suffered a stroke on Christmas morning and never fully recovered. He passed away just a matter of weeks after his beloved wife Keiko in late November (or early December) after sixty years of marriage.

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International Septuagint Day 2026: A New Septuagint Seminar

Well yet another International Septuagint Day has arrived (and gone) as of yesterday, 8 February. It being a Sunday, I figured I would draw attention to it this morning instead. And as usual, I have something to say about it. First, here’s a list of links to previous years’ celebrations here on the blog:

ISD 2025ISD 2024ISD 2023ISD 2022
ISD 2021ISD 2020ISD 2019ISD 2017
ISD 2016ISD 2015ISD 2014

To celebrate this year, I want to draw attention to an exciting new venture at Oxford.

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Book Announcement: Language and Identity in Hellenistic Judaism

It is with mixed emotions that I announce a new book that will be available this month with Bloomsbury T&T Clark publishers, Language and Identity in Hellenistic Judaism: Essays in Memory of James K. Aitken (here).

It’s always a pleasure to see a project come to fruition, and it was a pleasure working alongside my friends and colleagues Marieke Dhont and Chris Fresch. But as you can see in the subtitle to this volume, it is offered as a collection of essays in memory of my Doktorvater James K. Aitken, who died unexpectedly on Good Friday three years ago. You can read my tribute to him here.

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