Given the sharp separation of spheres between men and women in 19th-century America, one would not expect women to play much of a role in the expansion of American power. Empire-building was man’s work, while women tended the heart-fires back home. In an award-winning 1998 article (pointed . . . . Continue Reading »
Arthur Golding is usually credited with translating Seneca’s de Beneficiis into English, but in a 1961 article H.H. Davis described an earlier English translation: “there was an earlier translation by Nicholas Haward of this same moral essay, printed nine years before Golding’s, . . . . Continue Reading »
When American mothers objected to the Barbie doll, Matelle got to work to convince them that it was OK: “A shrewd ad campaign overcame maternal resistance by suggesting that daughters who dressed and groomed Barbie, with her vast collection of accessories and outfits, would learn how to . . . . Continue Reading »
In a harrowing article about the reconstruction of a young man’s face after an electrical burn in The New Yorker , the author says in passing: “Reconstructive surgery is an ancient art, dating back at least to the time of the Upanishads, in India. In about 600 B.C., Sushruta, a scholar . . . . Continue Reading »
Song of Songs 3:1-4 is a highly repetitive passage, but it does have a logic and unity to it. The structure appears to be: A. On my bed: seeking the one whom my soul loves, v 1a B. Sought but did not find, v 1b C. I arose and surveyed the city ( ‘asovvah ba’iyr ) for the one whom my . . . . Continue Reading »
For all you readers of Bulgarian, there’s a translation of my book Against Christianity here: https://againstchristianity.wordpress.com/ . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 2007 essay on leonine imagery in the Journal for the Study of Pseudepigrapha , Brent Strawn helpfully summarizes the associations of the lion in the Bible, Apocrypha, Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and Gnostic texts. It’s a fascinating survey, rich in . . . . Continue Reading »
Giffiths speaks of the “complex admixture of regret and lament for unworthiness . . . and delight in lovability” that marks human love, and adds: “The presence of the one without the other makes it impossible to receive the offer of love and therefore impossible to be a beloved. . . . . Continue Reading »
Some profound meditations about sex, time, life, the universe and everything from Paul Griffiths’s Song of Songs (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible) : The first six verses of the Song “point the hearer first to what everyone knows about [human love and sexual desire], which is . . . . Continue Reading »
“Bowl” ( phiale ) is used twelve times in the New Testament, all in Revelation. This is obviously the number of Israel. Israel’s twelve tribes are the twelve golden vessels of God, molded by God, fired in the furnace of affliction, shined up for service in God’s house. Once . . . . Continue Reading »
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