Three year postdoc at INTF, Münster

Postdoc, NT Textual History
The American Bible Society and the German Bible Society are awarding a post-doc research assistant at the Institute for New Testament Textual Research in Münster, Germany. The fellowship covers a period of 36 months, a fixed three-year appointment, beginning 1 July 2014.  

Tasks and Responsibilities
‧Transcribing Manuscripts and Reconciling Multiple Transcriptions
‧Constructing the Critical Apparatus for NTTranscripts
‧Indexing Manuscript Images for NT.VMR
‧Participating with the Editorial Committee in Preparing the GNT6 and the NA29, including Redesigning the Apparatuses  

Requirements
‧Advanced Knowledge of Greek and Latin, basic knowledge of Greek palaeography, ability to comprehend a complex critical apparatus, and knowledge of the principles of New Testament textual criticism.
‧Ph.D. in New Testament studies, focusing on or including text-criticism.
‧Reading knowledge of German is required, with an aptitude to acquire conversational usage. INTF staff speak English, but internal discussion is often conducted in German.  

Application
Applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, and transcripts (official or unofficial), via email to INTFsearch@sbl-site.org, with the subject line INTF Fellowship Search. Three current letters of recommendation should be sent to the same email address, directly from those serving as references. Completed applications must be received by 15 February 2014. Interviews begin in late March at the Luce Center in Atlanta. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled.

[Abbreviated, see full posting @ AAR-SBL jobs]

The Old Testament in the New

There are a few PhDs waiting to be written on how New Testament manuscripts refer back to the Old Testament. At times they do a marvellous job. Have a look here at the margin of minuscule 1739 at Gal 3:12 (I was there because I had to check 3:13 οτι γεγραπται - γεγραπται γαρ).



Full image
The reference for ο ποιησας αυτα ανθρωπος ζησεται εν αυτοις is given as 'Deuteronomy and Ezekiel'. Of course this leaves out the exact citation as in Leviticus 18:5, but when it comes to Ezekiel, it is spot on. In this book the notion that 'someone will live' because he walks in the statutes is quite pervasive (chs 18, 20, 33). Well done, Ephraem!

‘Recent Discussions of Dating New Testament Papyri: Some Observations’

Here is the bibliography/handout for my presentation at tomorrow's conference: Day Conference inPapyrology and Early Christianity/Biblical Studies (11.12.13)

C.P. Thiede, ‘Papyrus Magdalen Greek 17 (Gregory-Aland P⁶⁴): A Reappraisal’ ZPE 105 (1995), 13-20. Republished in Tyndale Bulletin 46 (1995), 29-42.

Peter M. Head, ‘The Date of the Magdalen Papyrus of Matthew (P. Magd. Gr. 17 = P⁶⁴): A Response to C. P. Thiede’ Tyndale Bulletin 46 (1995), 251-285.

P.M. Head, ‘Is P4, P64 and P67 the Oldest Manuscript of the Four Gospels? A Response to T.C. Skeat’ New Testament Studies 51 (2005) 450-457

P.M. Head, ‘Graham Stanton and the Four-Gospel Codex: Reconsidering the Manuscript Evidence’ Jesus, Matthew’s Gospel and Early Christianity: Studies in Memory of Graham N. Stanton (eds D.M. Gurtner; J. Willits, & R.A. Burridge, LNTS 435; London: T&T Clark, 2011), 93-101.

P.W. Comfort & D.P. Barrett, The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999).

P.W. Comfort & D.P. Barrett, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts: The complete text of the earliest New Testament manuscripts (2nd edn. corrected and enlarged; Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001).

Brent Nongbri, ‘The Use and Abuse of P52: Papyrological Pitfalls in the Dating of the Fourth Gospel’ Harvard Theological Review 98 (2005), 23-48.

B. Nongbri, ‘Grenfell and Hunt on the Dates of Early Christian Codices: Setting the Record Straight’ Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 48 (2011), 149-162.

K. Jaroš (ed.), Das Neue Testament nach den ältesten griechischen Handschriften: Die handschriftliche Überlieferung des Neuen Testaments vor Codex Sinaiticus und Codex Vaticanus  (Ruhpolding & Mainz: Verlag Franz Philipp Rutzen; Vienna & Würzburg: Echter, 2006): CD with 5163 pages (pdf).

K. Jaroš, ‘Ein Fragment des Lukasevangeliums aus der Privatsammlung De Hamel in Cambridge: Gk MS 386’ Aegyptus 88 (2008), 19-23.

P.M. Head, ‘A Newly Discovered Manuscript of Luke’s Gospel (de Hamel MS 386; Gregory-Aland 0312)’ in New Testament Manuscripts: Their Texts and Their World (eds Thomas J. Kraus & Tobias Nicklas; Texts and Editions for New Testament Study 2; Leiden: E.J. Brill; 2006), 105-120.

P.M. Head, ‘Five New Testament Manuscripts: Recently Discovered Fragments in a Private Collection in Cambridge’ Journal of Theological Studies 59 (2008), 520-545.

Roger S. Bagnall, Early Christian Books in Egypt (Princeton: PUP, 2009).

R.S. Bagnall (ed), The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology (Oxford: OUP, 2009).

Don Barker, ‘The Dating of New Testament Papyri’ New Testament Studies 57 (2011), 571-582.

D.[C.] Barker, ‘Codex, Roll, and Libraries in Oxyrhynchus’ Tyndale Bulletin 57 (2006), 131-148.

Pasquale Orsini & Willy Clarysse, ‘Early New Testament Manuscripts and Their Dates:  A Critique of Theological Palaeography’ Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 88 (2012), 443-74. 

Polonsky Foundation Digitization Project – (Vatican and Bodleian Libraries)

Three years ago (March, 2010), we reported on this blog about a major project to digitize 80000 Vatican MSS.  Although the announced project was divided into various phases, there seems to have been some delay. And in 2012 the Vatican began to co-operate with the Oxford University Bodleian Library in a four-year project – Polonsky Foundation Digitization Project – "to digitize some of the most important works in their collections of Hebrew manuscripts, Greek manuscripts and early printed books." As the name implies, the project, which aims to democratize access to information, is funded by the Polonsky Foundation.

A few days ago NBC News (AP) could report that the first MSS were now put on-line, among which are "the two-volume Gutenberg Bibles from each of the libraries, an illustrated 11th century Greek bible [LXX] and a beautiful 15th-century German bible, hand-colored and illustrated by woodcuts." (HT: Jac Perrin)

Of special interest among the digitized items are MS. Laud Gr. 35 (Greg.-Aland E 08) – the "Laudian Acts" accessible here.

SBL S25-324: Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds

This session took place on Monday afternoon (I am working backwards through my "notes"). I think it had some problems at the outset. Firstly, although there is some allowable, necessary and fertile overlap between the fields, three out of five of the papers were very clearly related more closely to NT textual criticism and history than to anything that could be called papyrology (which should have the study of the actual papyrological evidence as something of a foundational expectation). Secondly, no visuals! Only Don Barker provided images. Of the four later presenters one had a handout and one other had a powerpoint but mostly in presentational terms they were pretty pedestrian. Of course all can be forgiven if the content is good. Thirdly, as far as I could tell, four of the five were students.

Don Barker, Macquarie University: Dating P. Ant 12: What Your Mother Never Told You (30 min)

I am not sure what the sub-title was about, I guess it was connected to Don's attempted joke about "dating". Notwithstanding that this was a helpful presentation by Don Barker, with typically good visuals, of the date of P.Ant.1.12 - something that has been contested over the years. It was interesting to hear Don argue for an earlier date (III/IV with Turner [PMH up-date]) than Mike Kruger's recent NTS article; but the palaeographical basis seemed slim, and Don's attempt to distinguish the core 'graphic stream' from the actual writing practice (although it helped to clarify what he seems to be arguing in his recent NTS article) struck me as fundamentally wrong-headed (as I pointed out in my gentle questions). At one point he made the interesting observation that the lack of parallels to this style may suggest it was produced outside of Egypt.

Benjamin Laird, University of Aberdeen: The Emergence of the Codex and the Formation of the Pauline Corpus (30 min)

I am sorry that I can't recall much about this paper. I don't recall much new in it, most of it seemed a reasonably plausible discussion along the lines of Gamble on the codex and the Pauline Corpus, without actually presenting much in the way of actual evidence (certainly nothing papyrological was involved).

Joel D. Estes, Princeton Theological Seminary: Reading for the Spirit of the Text: Nomina Sacra and Pneuma Language in P46 (30 min)

This presentation was based on a usefully thorough study of every reference to pneuma in P46 and whether or not it was contracted as a nomen sacrum. The handout was helpfully full and the basis data looked OK. It seemed to me that the data was rather over-interpreted, firstly through presuming that one could easily distinguish when Paul meant to signify the divine Spirit and when he didn't; and then by over-interpreting the scribal inconsistency as reflecting "a wider ambiguity in early Christian communities about the person and work of the Holy Spirit"; and then by mis-understanding where scribal practice eventually gravitated to in relation to pneuma.

Timothy J. Christian, Asbury Theological Seminary: P46 Tendencies in 2 Corinthians: A Critical Examination of the Oldest and Most Inconsistent Extant Papyrus of the Pauline Corpus (30 min)
This was a confident presentation which turned out to be over-confident where a bit of humility was called for. The so-called critical examination turned out to be a study of P46 in NA27 and its apparatus. Claiming not to have read the relevant secondary literature on the subject (one part of the presentation I could agree with) Mr Christian proceeded to analyse singular readings in P46 which agreed with two, three, four or even five other witnesses (his chart of the agreements in singular readings between P46 and other witnesses brought gasps of disbelief from the audience). He critiqued Kenyon's analysis because it was based on a comparison with such an old and out-dated work as Tischendorf's 1869 edition (not to mention that Kenyon had based his discussion on actually studying the old papyrus rather than simply seeing what one could find in NA27). Basically a bit of a disaster. One hopes he learns from the experience ...

David I. Yoon, McMaster Divinity College: Letters of Recommendation: A Literary Analysis of the Documentary Papyri and Its Relation to the Corinthians (30 min)

This is an interesting topic (indeed the only paper I could find in the whole SBL conference on epistolary issues related to the epistolary practices of the ancient world), but the argument didn't really get very far and the delivery was a bit too monotone. After an overly long introduction (addressing the rather self-evident notion that we should not start from contemporary letters of recommendation in academic contexts) Mr Yoon had only time to read a single ancient letter of recommendation (he didn't give us a reference); he then read out a letter of recommendation from Christ that he had composed as a way of illustrating 2 Cor 3.1-2. But the analysis of the ancient letter of recommendation was not too strong and in question-time he didn't seem to have given enough thought to what is actually said in 2 Cor 3.1-3. A missed opportunity.

Day Conference at Tyndale House next week

Day Conference in Papyrology and Early Christianity/Biblical Studies

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Tyndale House is pleased to host a second day conference featuring research papers on a variety of topics connecting papyrology and Biblical studies and reading seminars for those who want to learn more about reading Greek texts on papyrus. All are welcome (some knowledge of Greek is recommended!), for the whole day or particular sessions.

Programme:

9:00 Arrive and Coffee

9:25 -10:15: Jim Aitken (Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge), ‘Translated Greek papyri’

           

10:20-11:10: Patrick James (Faculty of Classics, Cambridge), ‘Re-editing P. Oxy 528: A cautionary tale’

 Coffee

11:40-12:30: Peter M. Head (Tyndale House & St Edmund’s College, Cambridge), ‘Recent Discussions of Dating New Testament Papyri: Some Observations’

LUNCH (provided – free if RSVP)

2:00-3:20: Reading seminar in documentary texts

Coffee

3:40 – 5:00: Reading seminar in literary texts

If you want lunch please RSVP to Peter Head (pmh15@cam.ac.uk)

Tyndale House, 36 Selwyn Gardens, Cambridge, CB3 9BA

Location link here: http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/index.php?page=travel

Hill and Kruger Respond to Parker's Review of The Early Text of the NT

Recently I responded in a blogpost (here) to a review by David Parker in JTS of the volume The Early Text of the New Testament (eds. Hill and Kruger; OUP, 2012). In the review I expressed the assumption that the editors Charles E. Hill and Michael J. Kruger would respond somewhere else, and speak for the whole volume and for their introductory chapter.
 
Now inedeed the editors have written a long response on Kruger's blog. I will only cite their conclusion:

In sum, we appreciate Parker’s prompt engagement with ETNT so soon after its publication.  While no book is beyond criticism, many of Parker’s specific criticisms stem from a misunderstanding of the scope of this project and its purpose.  It is our hope that the clarifications we have offered here will help address some of these misunderstandings and allow for more productive dialogue on these important issues.

SBL: The Public Reading of Texts in Early Christianity

I will start my posts about SBL with the last day. After a visit to the hotel gym I was at the door of the bookroom for the 8AM rush. I managed to snag the display copy of New Documents 10 and picked up some other books before heading over to room 347 (via my secret short cut) for the joint session between NT Textual Criticism and the Bible in Ancient and Modern Media. The line up was as follows:

Dan Nässelqvist, Lund University: Public Reading from Early Christian Manuscripts (25 min)

This was a useful general overview of some features in early Christian manuscripts (e.g. codex format, staurogram, nomina sacra, handwriting, and lectional signs). He didn't think these were really "readers' aids" but more to facilitate private study, partly since it would have been very difficult to give a public reading. For public reading a "trained lector" would be necessary. Larry Hurtado pointed out that the distinction between private study and public reading may not be that significant since we should probably think of the lector first engaging in preparatory private study so as to give a competent public reading. 

Michael Holmes, Bethel University (Minnesota): Creation, Transmission, Collection: Reflections on the Textual History of the Pauline Corpus (25 min)

This was a useful presentation of different views of the formation of the Pauline corpus (O'Neil, Zuntz, Porter), showing how on any view we need to factor in issues of creation, transmission, and collection rather than treat them in isolation. It didn't really make an argument for one of the views (unless I misunderstood!). 

Scott Charlesworth, Pacific Adventist University: The 'Public' Features of Second- and Second/Third-Century Canonical Gospel Papyri (25 min)

Along with a massive useful handout (and with reference to his still forthcoming monograph) this paper made the argument that we could identify those gospel manuscripts that were produced with a view to public reading by shared common characteristics in terms of size (of page), type of hand, and the presence of text division (and/or punctuation). By contrast manuscripts lacking more or less uniform size, written in informal hands and lacking text division should be regarded as produced for private reading. On the positive point I found it quite convincing, although I made the point that it might be better to categorise this as a spectrum rather than a binary division.

David Trobisch, American Bible Society: Is There a Text of the New Testament? (25 min)

This began with a "performance" of the passage about the woman caught in adultery, followed by a parallel interpretive performance about two gay men caught in their adultery (after which not they but the audience was told to go and sin to more). Then it was suggested that this could be applied to priests caught having sex with minors. Surely the most striking opening to any presentation at SBL, brave and blatantly manipulative at the same time. Anyway, this was an illustration of the idea that there isn't really an original text (illustrated with a characteristically excellent powerpoint type presentation showing some of the complexities involved in edition the Greek NT). I guess it was helpful in showing some of the issues at stake in the idea of the original text (and how ethical relativism can be connected with textual criticism of a certain sort), and where the American Bible Society seems to be heading. 

Perttu Nikander, University of Helsinki: Orality, Writing, and Textual History of the Didache (25 min)

This looked interesting, but I was only able to grab a handout before heading out, via the bookroom, to lunch with a friend.