A while ago I posted about the various groups I’m involved with at the annual biblical studies conferences. That was just before the blur of activity in the springtime meeting (virtually) with steering committees and co-chairs to try to organize our sessions for this year. Now, I am not necessarily looking for praise. But I have to tell you: If you’re attending or participating in conferences this year, please say a word of thanks to the conveners and steering committee members if you have the opportunity. It was a real doozy of a year trying to iron things out given the changing circumstances!

For better or worse, I won’t be attending anything in person this year. It’s disappointing in many ways, but thankfully I’m still able to participate in a few things virtually. Here’s the rundown of my conference activity in the next two weeks.

IBR (Virtual)

I’ve enjoyed being more involved in the Institute for Biblical Research over the last three years as co-chair of the Linguistics & the Biblical Text research group with Elizabeth Robar. This year our session is devoted to overviewing the history, relevance, and prospects of linguistic frameworks. I’m presenting on Cognitive Linguistics, alongside several others. The session is virtual (accessed through the SBL platform) and will occur on Nov. 19 at 3:30pm CST. The schedule is as follows:

11/19/2021
3:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Room: Virtual – Virtual

Theme: Research Group – Linguistics and the Biblical Text
This session will be virtual. The 2021 session of the Linguistics and the Biblical Text research group will address the history, relevance, and prospects of broad theoretical linguistic frameworks in the field. Four invited contributors will each represent a particular view, outlining its key theoretical commitments and important contributions to contemporary study of the biblical text. These four presentations will be followed by open panel discussion focused on identifying the comparative advantages of each theory and the most pressing areas of new research and pathways for mutual improvement and collaboration. For more information, visit the Research Groups tab under the IBR website (www.ibr-bbr.org).

Elizabeth Robar, Cambridge Digital Bible Research, Presiding

Jacobus A. Naudé, University of the Free State and Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé, University of the Free State
Generative Linguistics as a Theoretical Framework for the Explanation of Problematic Constructions in Biblical Hebrew (20 min)
Tag(s): General Linguistics (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Hebrew (classical) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics))

William A. Ross, Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte)
Cognitive Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Languages (20 min)
Tag(s): General Linguistics (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Hebrew (classical) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Greek – Koine (LXX, NT, Patristics) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics))

Sophia L. Pitcher, University of the Free State
Emerging from Silos of Analysis: A Complexity Theory Approach to the Study of the Biblical Text (20 min)
Tag(s): General Linguistics (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Hebrew (classical) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics))

Randall Buth, Institute for Biblical Languages and Translation
Contributions of Functional Linguistic Theory to Linguistics and Its Application for Biblical Hebrew/Koine Greek (20 min)
Tag(s): General Linguistics (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Hebrew (classical) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Greek – Koine (LXX, NT, Patristics) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics))

Discussion (30 min)

Business Meeting (10 min)

SBL (Virtual)

I’m in my first year of co-chairing the Biblical Lexicography unit at SBL and had the chance to organize our invited session this year, which I will be chairing. We have a stellar panel lined up to review the brand new Cambridge Greek Lexicon. It should be a very fascinating time. This session too is virtual. Here’s the lineup:

11/21/2021
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Virtual – Virtual

Theme: Review of the Cambridge Greek Lexicon (CUP 2021)
This session will be virtual. A book review session focusing on the newly published Cambridge Greek Lexicon (Cambridge University Press, 2021). This session will include presentations by the panelists as well as a final period of open discussion.

William Ross, Reformed Theological Seminary, Presiding

Daniela Scialabba, Pontificio Istituto Biblico, Panelist (20 min)

James Aitken, University of Cambridge, Panelist (20 min)

Anna Angelini, University of Zurich, Panelist (20 min)

Trevor Evans, Macquarie University, Panelist (20 min)

Michael Theophilos, Australian Catholic University, Panelist (20 min)

Alexander Nikolaev, Boston University, Panelist (20 min)

Discussion (30 min)

ETS &c.

Sadly, although I was going to attend ETS this year, ultimately I decided against it given the fact that all my other activity was already virtual. Another reason was that the session I was going to present in was cancelled due to the other three presenters being unable to attend. Ironically, as the chair of the Septuagint Studies session, I ended up cancelling my own session. Perhaps next year things will be different!

As a side note, it’s now too late to attend, but I also participated virtually in the Herman Bavinck Centennial Congress, hosted by the Neo-Calvinism Research Institute in Kampen. This morning at a very odd hour I presented a paper on Bavinck’s view of language within the context of late-19th century philology.