Over at his blog Scriptural Mormonism, Robert Boylan has a brief post exploring Genesis 20:13. The verse in question reads: וַיְהִ֞י כַּאֲשֶׁ֧ר הִתְע֣וּ אֹתִ֗י אֱלֹהִים֮ מִבֵּ֣ית אָבִי֒ וָאֹמַ֣ר לָ֔הּ זֶ֣ה חַסְדֵּ֔ךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תַּעֲשִׂ֖י עִמָּדִ֑י אֶ֤ל כָּל־הַמָּקֹום֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָבֹ֣וא שָׁ֔מָּה אִמְרִי־לִ֖י אָחִ֥י הֽוּא׃ And when the gods caused me to wander from my father’s house, I … Read more
The following notes come from Paul Sanders in his volume The Provenance of Deuteronomy 32 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996). For the record, here is Deuteronomy 32:7–9, 43 (NRSV): 7 Remember the days of old, consider the years long past; ask your father, and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell … Read more
Let there be light. If you haven’t yet done so, I’d recommend you pick up a copy of Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, produced by the Jewish Publication Society and used in conservative Jewish synagogue worship. The commentary includes rabbinic interpretation(s) of the text of the Torah as well as modern critical notes. Here are … Read more
A depiction of the prophet Jeremiah by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The prophet Jeremiah did not have an easy job. Besides being called to preach an unpopular message to a stubborn and wicked people, he was also confronted by plots to end his life, stonewalling and obfuscating Judahite magistrates, and false prophets who … Read more
Abraham’s Departure (1849) by József Molnár. James L. Kugel has some interesting comments on the account of Abraham’s call and journey as recorded in the Book of Genesis. In his volume How to Read the Bible, Kugel explores how ancient and modern interpreters of the Abraham narrative(s) in Genesis portray the patriarch’s relationship with God. … Read more
Nauvoo’s East Grove. I visited this site in July 2013 as part of a church history study program. It wasn’t very windy when I visited, but it was very hot! I am currently reading Alex Beam’s new book American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church. Although I have … Read more
“O Marduk, you are the most important among the great gods!” In my recent paper on the cosmology of the Book of Abraham I draw attention to the similarities between the Book of Abraham and the Mesopotamian myth Enuma Elish. Also significant for Latter-day Saints is the Enuma Elish’s depiction of the primeval theomachy in the … Read more
Facsimile 2 from the Book of Abraham. I am pleased to announce that my article “Council, Chaos, and Creation in the Book of Abraham,” published in the Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture, is now available online at the website of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. I presented … Read more