Research

Spring ’13 Papers

I thought I would post the two papers I wrote this past spring semester.

One was for my Old Testament Poetry and Wisdom class, for which I wrote an exegetical paper on Psalm 115, which engages in a so-called Christological “second reading,” (a hermeneutical methodology which some at Westminster find objectionable for reasons too arcane to get into here). Find the paper here: Psalm 115: The Resurrected Remnant as a Smouldering Stump.

The second paper is an exploration of Paul’s uses of Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17 from text-historical and exegetical perspectives. This I wrote for an elective in Biblical Translation, and which also ended up winning an award entitled the Thomas E. Welmers Memorial Prize in Biblical Languages and Exegesis (here). The paper, which is rather uncreatively titled, can be found here: Paul’s Use of Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17.

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Seminar in Current Issues in LXX Research – Trinity Western University

In May I will be participating in a seminar entitled “Current Issues in Septuagint Studies,” held from the 27th to the 31st at Trinity Western University. The university is home to the John William Wevers Institute for Septuagint Studies (here), where several capable scholars are currently teaching and researching. They are currently “preparing volumes on the first four books of the Pentateuch for the Society of Biblical Literature Commentary on the Septuagint (SBLCS) series.” The course aims to introduce students to “the foundational principles and methodology of the SBLCS project, and to current, cutting-edge research in the discipline of Septuagint Studies” (citation here as of 4/3/13). Here is the syllabus preview, as well as a course poster.

It is my aim to use the course as an opportunity to explore research possibilities in LXX lexicography, especially in the vein of J.A.L. Lee’s somewhat outdated work in the Pentateuch. This area is of interest to me for doctoral work. I am look forward also to tailoring my work at TWU into a paper which will be presented this August 1st-3rd in Munich, Germany at the 2013 Congress of the IOSCS, held just before the IOSOT meeting.

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LXX-Nahum Translation Analysis Drafted and Research Presented

I have completed a draft of the translational analysis of LXX-Nahum 1:2-8 that I have referenced in earlier posts. The project was a fascinating study of the intersection of Hebrew poetry, linguistics, and translation theory, and has piqued my interest in possibly pursuing a similar and more exhaustive study of the book of Nahum, possibly as a thesis topic. I may post my work here at a later date.

In March, I presented a paper named “Chipping Away at the Broken Acrostic in Nahum 1:2-8: An Exercise in Septuagintal Textual Criticism” at a regional ETS conference. In it, I interact with one of the several places in which the so-called ‘acrostic’ in Nah. 1:2-8 is ‘broken,’ and therefore often emended by commentators. On the basis of my translational analysis, I maintain that the emendations generally made to the dalet line of the hymn are not defensible on the text-critical grounds of the LXX translation, a position that most who emend the text hold. The paper is available on  my academia.edu page (here).

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All papers and essays are posted for online reading purposes only, please. Any use otherwise is outside the intent and permission of the author.