Textual Criticism is Cool

Michael Kruger argues that textual criticism is now cool among evangelicals, after 30 years of developments in the field. Certainly this resonates with my experience. People love tangible artifacts, and it's a nice entry point for deeper discussions about the text and transmission of the Bible. I wonder how much this applies to the OT though.

McGill Septuagint Virtual Seminar

McGill University's forthcoming The Septuagint in Modern Research Virtual Seminars include the following interesting seminars:

Monday, October 20 2025 | 15:00 BST with Felix Albrecht, on LXX Psalms

Monday, December 1 2025 | 15:00 GMT with Marieke Dhont, on the T&T Clark Handbook of Hellenistic Jewish Literature in Greek

Cox's Annotated Bibliography of Septuagint Research

I just became aware of Claude Cox's annotated bibliography of Septuagint research that he has posted online. It's a great starting point for getting into the Septuagint and finding key resources on various topics and books.

Job Opening on the Corpus Masoreticum Project

The Corpus Masoreticum project in Heidelberg has posted a postdoc job opening working on editing the Masorah of early Ashkenazi manuscripts. See the advertisement below from Agade:

_____________________________

POSITION RESEARCH FELLOW
The Center for Jewish Studies Heidelberg (Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg ) offers a vacant job position for a

Research Fellow Jewish Studies / Masorah Research (E 13 100%; fixed-term employment), start: January 1, 2026idelberg

The Long Term Project (12 years; 2018–2029) Corpus Masoreticum: The Inculturation of the Masorah into Jewish Law and Lore from the 11th to the 14th Centuries: Digital Acquisition of a Forgotten Domain of Knowledge funded by the German Research Foundation in 2018 at the University of Jewish Studies Heidelberg is looking for an exceptionally qualified research fellow (Post-Doc) willing to contribute his/her specialist competences to this project.

For being considered you need to have:
-       A completed dissertation in Biblical and/or Jewish Studies.
-       Very good knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic.
-       Profound knowledge in the culture and literature theories relevant to the Western European Medieval Jewish Culture.
-       Willingness to acquaint yourself with Masorah Research.
-       Capacity for teamwork.
-       Experience with project research.
-       If possible: Experience in Manuscript Studies.

Part of the job will be:

-       Edition and annotation of the entire Masorah (masora magna; masora parva) in selected Ashkenazi Bible Codices from the 11th to the 14th centuries.
-       Further development of the project.
-       Communication of your research and results within the project as well as within the teaching and research activities of the Center for Jewish Studies Heidelberg.
-       Scientific preparation of and contribution to conferences and workshops of the project.

The University of Jewish Studies Heidelberg offers the scope for individual academic development and an inspiring research environment. The conception and commencement of a habilitation at the University of Heidelberg in the course of the project is possible.
The language of communication within the project and for the publications is German and English.

The compensation is made according to TV-L (E13); the position is initially limited to 18 months from the start date but may be extended into the next funding period following an interim evaluation. Applicants with disabilities who possess essentially equal qualifications will be given preference. The University of Jewish Studies Heidelberg is an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity, and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply.

Please submit your application and the following required application documents electronically as one PDF file)
(1) Application letter (letter of motivation)
(2) Curriculum vitae
(3) List of publications
(4) Degree certificates

exclusively via email to: hanna.liss at hfjs.eu

Jordan Penkower z"l

On 19 September 2025, Michael Avioz informed via Agade of the sad passing of Jordan Penkower as attached below. Penkower was a prolific scholar of the late-antique and medieval Jewish Bible, whose works are of critical importance for the study of the biblical text.

______________________________

Prof. Jordan S. Penkower z"l (1943–2025)

The Department of Bible, together with the Penkower family, regret to announce the death of Prof. Jordan S. Penkower z"l.

Prof. Jordan S. Penkower was a world-renowned expert on the history of the Hebrew Bible’s textual transmission. He served for many years as a member of the Department of Bible at Bar-Ilan University, where he made pioneering contributions in three principal areas of research:

Transmission of the Hebrew Bible and the Masorah – investigating manuscripts and printed editions, with special attention to their textual history.

The Bible in Rabbinic Interpretation – exploring how rabbinic literature received and reinterpreted biblical texts.

Medieval Jewish Biblical Exegesis – with a particular focus on Rashi’s commentary and its place in Jewish intellectual history.

In addition to numerous scholarly articles, Prof. Penkower published several influential books in these fields. A full list of his publications is available here.

Prof. Penkower is survived by his brother, Prof. Monti Noam Penkower, and by his sisters and brothers-in-law, Dr. Andrea and David Rosen, and Dr. Sharon and Joseph Kaplan.

He was buried today in Beit Shemesh.

_______________________________

HT Agade

Yiftah 2025 - The Taxonomy of the Legal Document

Uri Yiftah has published online here a very useful book on the typology of language in ancient Greek legal documents.

Public Domain Loeb Volumes

The public domain Loeb library volumes are now all available here. I think they had all been previously available elsewhere, but this is a nice, convenient site to access and download them all.

Conference on the Ezekiel Papyrus

The recording of a recent conference on the famous Chester Beatty Ezekiel Papyrus (Ra 967) has been uploaded here. They have lots of interesting material about the purchasing and history of the papyrus, as well as some discussions of its format and text.

Johnson and Wagner on Material and Scribal Features of Greek Bookrolls

William Johnson and Nicholas Wagner have published their curated dataset of material and scribal features of early Greek bookrolls (3rd cent CE and earlier) at https://ancientbooks.papyrology.org/. They expect to supplement this and add their work on early codices in 2026. This is an extremely valuable database for those interested in the study of early scroll formats and scribal practices. Congratulations to both for seeing their hard work come to fruition, and thanks for making it so easily accessible!

Sikes' Catalogue of Early Greek Psalms Fragments

Ryan Sikes has uploaded an updated version of his catalogue of early Greek Psalms fragments here. This is a very helpful resource with links to images and editions, which I use regularly.