While Mohr-Siebeck books are as expensive as all get-out, that doesn't mean they aren't great books. Whenever the catalog arrives (it gets sent to me at Logos since that's my typical shipping address) Mike Heiser and I refer to it as a "productivity hit". You can't help but stop and carefully look at the new books in the catalog while using a tissue to clean up the drool-puddle that inches ever closer to your keyboard. The recent catalog is no exception. If I had a whole lot of money to throw at books, I'd seriously think about these new ones in the Mohr catalog:

• Richard Bauckham, The Jewish World around the New Testament: Collected Essays Volume I (€130)
• Bengt Holmberg and Mikael Winninge, Identity Formation in the New Testament (€ 80)
• Bengt Holmberg, Exploring Early Christian Identity (€ 65)
• Petrus Gräbe, The Power of God in Paul's Letters (€ 49)
• Stephen E. Witmer, Divine Instruction in Early Christianity (€ 50)

But, alas, I do not have "a whole lot of money to throw at books", or to throw anywhere else for that matter, so I'll have to content myself by making sure the drool puddle doesn't overtake the keyboard.

BTW, Of the above, Gräbe (especially) and Witmer look most interesting to me, in case anyone is thinking they'd like to get me something nice for my birthday in October ...

Thanks to the folks at Baylor University Press, today I received a copy of Reinhard Feldmeier's The First Letter of Peter: A Commentary on the Greek Text. This is a translation of Feldmeier's 1 Peter commentary by Peter H. Davids.

Here's the blurb from Baylor Press' web site:

The New Testament book known as "The First Letter of Peter" describes how Christians should relate to the world. Specifically, it suggests how Christians should define themselves against a powerful and sometimes hostile culture. Written to first-century Christians in Asia Minor who were suffering from religious persecution, this letter brings Biblical and extra-Biblical traditions together to forge an original and unique pastoral strategy. At the same time, in its depiction of "practical piety," the letter is an impressive display of early Christian theology. Here, one of the world's authorities on Peter provides a verse by verse interpretation of First Peter that is both highly readable and deeply informed.

Here are a few back cover blurbs:

Reinhard Feldmeier has produced an exceptional commentary that is not only brilliant academically, but one that is also edifying. Feldmeier is at once erudite and accessible. Here is an exegetical commentary that unfailingly leads the reader to the meaning and significance of the text. I recommend it with the greatest enthusiasm. Donald A. Hagner

This volume is among the most important theological commentaries of 1 Peter written during the modern era. The thematic of the church's "foreignness" within a pervasively pagan culture, a continuing interest of Feldmeier's by which he orients his interpretation of 1 Peter, yields extraordinarily evocative insights for today's post-Christian church. Fully fluent with the social and literary worlds that shaped the letter's composition and the complex history of its reception into the 21st century, Feldmeier is able to produce an informed and richly detailed exegesis of 1 Peter. His steady interest in the church's "practice of piety" as a practical expression of Christian existence will surely lend this commentary for use by preachers and teachers as well. Robert Wall

The book is in two primary parts, the first "Introduction" (47pp) and the second "Exegesis" (210pp, including 11 excurses). There is a very large bibliography (34pp) and a reference index (22pp) as well, though no subject/topic index.

I'm looking forward to reading through it and reporting about the book as I do. Thanks again, Baylor Press!

The ETS 2008 tentative program is out, earlier than I ever recall. That's awesome. I finally get to see when my paper is scheduled to be given.

Rhode Island Convention Center
Room 551B

Discourse Grammar and Biblical Exegesis
11:00am-11:40am
Rick Brannan (Logos Bible Software)
The Discourse Function of αλλα in Non-negative Contexts

Looks like a good session; my friend Steve Runge presents before my paper, and Randall Buth presents before him. If you find yourself at ETS on Thursday morning, you might want to drop in for the whole session.

It's been too long, so here are some recent pictures of Ella. The first was taken in June; the last two on July 4. Enjoy!

Oh, yeah.

If I had a quarter for every time someone asked me about Logos doing Migne's Patrologia Graeca over the years ... well, I guess I'd have about five bucks. But still, that's a lot! Maybe I'll get to cash in on it some day.

Why? Because Migne's Patrologia Cursus Completus, Series Graeca, Part 1 (Vols 1-18) is on prepub at Logos Bible Software.

This is big, and we want to do it—the whole blasted PG, all 161 numbered volumes (166 volumes in print). All of the text, not just the Greek parts. I spent the last week living in the first 18 numbered (20 in print) volumes to evaluate them and let me tell you there is some real cool stuff in there.

We can only do it if enough people are interested, though. So get thee to the prepub page, and sign up!

Update (2008-07-10): Rod Decker (NT Resources Blog) responds in the comments asking about the usability of "untagged" versions of the text. My basic response is that if one approaches a text primarily as a database, then this is a valid question. But overall, I'd say the texts themselves are valuable. The ability to look up citations of these fathers in lexica, commentaries and other studies (e.g. Drobner's Fathers of the Church (amazon.com)) is valuable. I can't tell you the times I've seen a citation in a footnote, sitting as a lonely, orphaned reference with no other content, that I've wanted to look up but can't (try reading Luke Timothy Johnson's Anchor Bible commentary on 1&2 Timothy without wanting to look one of these up). Reading the text is valuable too. I'd say that the Latin materials (dissertations, translations, etc.) are valuable even though they are largely inaccessible to many. But this is one of those big tasks of Biblical Studies* that just needs to get done, somehow, in some way. And this is the best way we can come up with to try to start that task. Maybe it'll work; maybe it won't. But we've got to try.

Tagging the PG Greek texts morphologically would be a large task. I won't say we (Logos) haven't thought about it, because we have. But since we're unsure how/if a task of that magnitude would work in a timely fashion in concert with the production of the first 20 volumes, we chose not to address the subject of "tagging" in the prepub description. We're more interested in first making the content available as text instead of as facscimile scans (which you can find in Google Books and perhaps other sources, though note these are not Logos' sources for the material). If there is support for that (already large) task then there may be support for further enhancement of the texts as well.

* Reminds me of a quote of Fred Danker in John Lee's book on the History of NT Lexicography. Danker is quoted as saying, "Scholar's tasks are not for sissies". I love that quote.

Some may have been following this meme. I've been tagged three times now. So here are the meme rules:

a. Tag five Biblical studies bloggers.
b. Invent fictional posts that they might have written over the last month.
c. Link to this post.

Here's are the fictional posts that people tagged me with:

James Spinti, Idle Musings of a Bookseller: "Greek accents don't really matter, one αλλα is as good as another!"

Nick Norelli, Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: "Idolatrous Grammar: αλλα and Islamic Word Worship"

Chuck Grantham, A 'Goula Blogger: "John Lightfoot says it's time for more adorable pictures of my little gal holding my favorite textual criticism book—all twenty-seven of them, all on the Pastoral Epistles"

Thanks, guys.

So I figure I should probably respond, but honestly I can't come up with five blogs that haven't already been tagged that I'd like to tag.

So I guess Todd Bentley (whoever he is) will show up some day to read the complete works of Zwingli to me. That's a risk I'm willing to take.

This post has been percolating in my mind for awhile; recent events (my previous post) make me anxious to actually write it.

The short version: Being wrong about things is part of learning, and therefore part of scholarship. The one genuinely interested in scholarship and learning is willing and ready to admit wrongs and mis-steps. The one interested in securing position will likely not admit the validity of any opinion contrary to his own, no matter how obvious or well-argued, as this would potentially harm his investment in the position. No man is perfect, no position completely unassailable. Beware the one who admits no error or wrong in his work; this one may have motives apart from seeking knowledge and truth.

Now, the long version.

In his preface to his edition of the epistles of Ignatius, J.B. Lightfoot discusses the extant versions of these epistles. In the mid-1800's, Cureton published what is now known as the "short form" of the the Ignatian epistles, which is currently known only in the Syriac. There are three forms of the Ignatian epistles, the short ("Curetonian") form, the middle ("Vossian") form, and the long form. Almost no one holds to the long form being the genuine form, most hold to the middle form as the genuine form. Some do hold to the short form as the genuine form. When Cureton published the short form, however, there was apparently a rush to support the short form as the genuine form. Lightfoot writes (apologies for the lengthy quotation, but do note the bold text):

When I first began to study the subject [of the Ignatian epistles] Cureton's discovery dominated the field. With many others I was led captive for a time by the tyranny of this dominant force. ...

When however the short Syriac of Cureton appeared, it seemed to me at first to offer the true solution. ... For a time therefore I accepted the Curetonian letters as representing the genuine Ignatius, and this opinion was expressed in some of my published works. Subsequent investigation however convinced me of the untenableness of this position. At an early state an independent investigation of the relations between the Armenian and the Syriac assured me that there had existed at one time a complete Syriac version of the seven Vossian Epistles, fragments of which still remained, and of which the Curetonian recension was either the abridgement or the nucleus. ... Meanwhile, while revising my own exegetical notes, which had been written some years before, I found that to maintain the priority of the Curetonian letters I was obliged from time to time to ascribe to the supposed Ignatian forger feats of ingenuity, knowledge, intuition, skill and self-restraint, which transcended all bounds of probability. At this state I gave expression publicly to my growing conviction that after all the seven Vossian Epistles probably represented the genuine Ignatius. Afterwards I entered upon the investigation, which will be found in this volume (p. 282 sq.), into the language of the two recensions. This dispelled any shadow of doubt which might have remained; for it showed clearly that the additional parts of the Vossian Letters must have proceeded from the same hand as the parts which were common to the Curetonian and Vossian Recensions.

...

For reasons which will be found not only in the separate discussions devoted to the subject, but throughout these volumes, I am now convinced of the priority and genuineness of the seven Vossian Letters. (Lightfoot, preface, pp. v-vii)

In his preface, Lightfoot shares his journey from one position (short form is genuine) to the other (middle form is genuine). Reading this, I learned that really, really smart people can be wrong. What sets the good apart from the great is that the great ones are able to review and re-work the problem and admit they were wrong if it comes to that. Entrenched positions are not simply fortified through one's career; instead the solutions to problems themselves are worked, re-worked; evaluated, re-evaluated as one works the problems through one's career.

I learned from Lightfoot's preface that it is OK to change positions and admit error, even when those positions have been previously published.

Being wrong is OK. It's what you do when you realize you're wrong that sheds light on what sort of person one really is.

Thanks to Dr. Carl Conrad, I've been shown a fatal flaw in the below; I've confused the adjective ἄλλα with the conjunction ἀλλὰ. Now it all makes so much sense! Thank you, Dr. Conrad, for the correction. And for the reminder to double-check parsings before spending too much time trying to figure out something that doesn't make sense.

The below is left as testimony to my folly. When you need a laugh, do please read it again.

Here is Holmes' Greek for the first sentence of IgnEph 7.1, followed by his English.

7.1 Εἰώθασιν γάρ τινες δόλῳ πονηρῷ τὸ ὄνομα περιφέρειν, ἄλλα τινὰ πράσσοντες ἀνάξια θεοῦ·

7.1 For there are some who maliciously and deceitfully are accustomed to carrying about the Name while doing other things unworthy of God.

The above is from his second edition, but the third edition is exactly the same. For some comparison, here's Ehrman:

For some are accustomed to bear the name in wicked deceit, while acting in ways that are unworthy of God.

So as to be complete, here's Kirsopp Lake's translation.

For there are some who make a practice of carrying about the Name with wicked guile, and do certain other things unworthy of God;

The Greek is the same in all three editions, so we're comparing apples to apples. The question is, what is αλλα doing in this statement?

My basic contention at this point is that αλλα is a marker of contrast (as Heckert has posited); I'm comfortable with saying that it indicates discontinuity (which is what Porter and O'Donnell note) but contrast seems the better term, and I really don't see much difference between "contrast" and "discontinuity" anyway. The second part of my contention is that when one encounters an αλλα, one must realize there need to be two parts in order for contrast to be made (or for there to be discontinuity); with αλλα, the latter part corrects/replaces the former part.

My contention, then, is that looking for these two things when examining instances of αλλα is essential, and that if you can do this you don't need to worry about sense-classifying αλλα. You don't need to worry if it is continuative, or adversative, or contrastive, or what-have-you.

Further, particularly in situations like we find here in Ignatius to the Ephesians, the latter part (the correction/replacement) is set up such that it is the more prominent/salient piece of the whole sentence/paragraph. It is the author's primary point, it gives the punch to what he's trying to get through our (well, mine, anyway) thick skulls.

This instance in Ignatius to the Ephesians provides a good example. The standard gloss "but" doesn't fit (mostly because there isn't a negative involved, which would heighten the contrast and make "but" feel more appropriate), so we see some translators use "and" (Lake) and others use "while" (Ehrman and Holmes, though perhaps in these instances "while" comes from the participle and αλλα is left untranslated). But that doesn't really help us to see the contrast (whatever degree of contrast is present is indicated by the context, not by αλλα) or the things being contrasted, and it isn't easy to see what corrects/replaces the other. So let's look at the Greek again:

Εἰώθασιν γάρ τινες δόλῳ πονηρῷ τὸ ὄνομα περιφέρειν,
ἄλλα τινὰ πράσσοντες ἀνάξια θεοῦ

Basically, there are some people who "bear the name" yet while bearing the name (note that this in itself is important to Ignatius, who calls himself "the God-bearer" in his epistolary introductions) they do things unworthy of God. This is the contrast, that they say represent themselves in one way, but act in another.

What is the correction/replacement? It is the same thing, basically. My boy Iggy is pointing out that these evil, nefarious people who claim to "bear the name" are really not to be trusted because their actions betray them. This is Iggy's point: They're not who they say they are, so beware. They should make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

That this is the salient bit of this sentence is born out by the following sentence. Again, Holmes' translation:

You must avoid them as wild beasts. For they are mad dogs that bite by stealth; you must be on your guard against them, for their bite is hard to heal.

You can see exactly what Ignatius is doing now; paying attention to the discourse cues in the original language helps us understand even better how he got there.

Of all of the translations cited, I'd say I like Ehrman's best. But even then, the αλλα is obscured, and the basic sorts of things that I contend it clues us in to are hard to see. At the same time, accounting for all of that in a translation is hard, and I don't have a better suggestion. So, at the very least, consult the Greek as you read the English. Sometimes you'll be very surprised at how the translator renders what's happening in the original language text. But, particularly with particles and conjunctions, the work pays off.