Peter J. Leithart

When abused, authority damages bodies. A husband punches his wife and breaks her nose. Abusive day care workers crush the bones, dislocate the limbs, and scar the souls of small children. Tyrants torture bodies into a quivering mess. Even when the results are not so extreme, abusive authority disables bodies. A husband who never lays an aggressive finger on his wife may still silence her with mockery and bullying threats. Children are blinded to reality by the manipulations of a sexual predator. Harsh teachers don’t open ears to instruction, but deafen… . Continue Reading »

The second half of Song of Songs 3 is arranged in a chiasm, centering on the gibborim who are expert in war: A. What is coming?, v 6 B. Traveling coach of Solomon, v 7a C. mighty men, vv 7b-8 Ca.mighty men of the mighty men Cb. grasp sword Cc. expert in war Cb’. sword at side Ca’. . . . . Continue Reading »

Who is this coming from the wilderness? It’s traveling couch, born by sixty burly men. And it’s described as a sacrifice. It “comes up” from the wilderness ( ‘alah ). It is surrounded by pillars of smoke and is itself “smoked” ( mequtteret , from qatar , . . . . Continue Reading »

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 »