Currents in Biblical Research

Given the biblical imperative to humanity to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1.28; see also 9.1, 7; 35.11) and the fact that several biblical narratives hinge on a woman’s reproductive incapability (Gen. 16–18; 21; 25.21–34; 30.1–24; Judg. 13; 1 Sam. 1), it is not surprising that there are extensive studies of human reproduction and infertility. The emergence of feminist criticism in the 1970s–1990s led to a particular focus on the way in which the biblical texts present the contribution of women to the procreative process, and many studies analyze the barren woman motif. Yet the various methodological and hermeneutical approaches applied to the study of human fertility and reproduction leads—somewhat inevitably—to a range of conflicting opinions on the role of the respective parties (the male, the deity, and the female) in reproduction and inducing fertility.

This article overviews the very active past decade in the discipline of Septuagint scholarship, including publications dating from the beginning of 2012 through the end of 2021. It organizes and discusses this activity within numerous categories, beginning with a brief overview of previous disciplinary surveys before moving on to the many new publications that have appeared, including primary texts, commentaries, general introductions, handbooks and companions, and reference works. Further sections give attention to important trends and publications in the main disciplinary journal, as well as in the major conference volumes and series. The second half of the article gives attention to several important areas of development and debate in the discipline, with attention to how it has developed globally over the last ten years. In the course of this discussion, this article, while not exhaustive in scope or coverage, also contributes to the tradition within modern Septuagint scholarship of compiling a bibliography of scholarly publications in the discipline.

Recent ‘apocalyptic’ interpretations of Paul often highlight a distinction between ‘forensic’ and ‘cosmological’ varieties of apocalyptic eschatology. This essay surveys this phenomenon against the backdrop of the Bultmann/Käsemann debate. Various scholars have attempted to resolve the tension between these two poles, whether through circumscribing the forensic by the cosmological, or vice-versa, generating a spectrum of approaches within which this question is generally framed as a zero-sum game. This essay outlines a ‘non-competitive’ construal of this duality and examines a selection of integrative approaches in recent theological interpretation that allows for both forensic and cosmological aspects of Paul’s apocalyptic thought.

A raft of recent “philosophical” interpretations have emerged within biblical studies. They have in common the expectation that ideas from the discipline of philosophy will be helpful for understanding the biblical texts. However, the way in which they engage the two varies, and it is their methods that are teased out in this article. I offer a simple trajectory of approaches for works in this area, marked by two ends of characteristic disciplinary habits: using the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament for philosophical reflection and using philosophy for biblical interpretation. In this, the article sketches a much-needed research profile for a lively subdiscipline.