Peter J. Leithart

Stephen Greenblatt has an interesting piece on Merchant of Venice in the latest New York Review of Books .  His most important insight is the isolation of the comic moment in the play. Merchant is all about Shylock’s hatred, and in the court scene “Portia . . . has devised a test . . . . Continue Reading »

Alan Jacobs gave a brilliant lecture at NSA yesterday afternoon - beautifully written and constructed, enormously informative, exploding with insight.  Everything you’d expect from Jacobs. The thrust of the lecture was an exploration of the reading habits that are encouraged by the . . . . Continue Reading »

Latvus, in the aforementioned article, interestingly notes the parallel between Gedaliah’s instructions to the people to submit to and not fear Babylon, so that “it shall be well with you” and the Deuteronomic exhortation to obey Yahweh so that it will be well (Deuteronomy 4:40; . . . . Continue Reading »

In an article on 2 Kings 24-25 in The Postcolonial Biblical Reader , Kari Latvus notes tyhe two lists of deportees in 2 Kings 24:12a-14/15-17: “The writer’s interest is focused on those who are somehow connected to the royal court or have wealth or status in society based on certain . . . . Continue Reading »

Judah and the harlot city of Jerusalem have gone after idols, worshiping in terebinth groves and gardens.  Yahweh intends to put an end to that worship (Isaiah 1:28-31).  When He comes, He will make Judah ashamed of her trees and gardens.  Instead of pleasant fruit, Judah will reap . . . . Continue Reading »

Matthew records three quakings: First of the sea (8:24), then of the land at Jesus’ death (27:51), and then at His resurrection (28:2). Each time there’s a quaking, someone comes from a tomb.  In chapter 8, after Jesus calms the storm He encounters two demoniacs in the country of . . . . Continue Reading »

The opposition of literal v. figurative language is problematic for a number of reasons, one of them being that words can become quasi-figures without ever ceasing to be literal. Suppose I write a short story in which the word “gardenia” appears several times.  In each case, it is . . . . Continue Reading »

Wherever Jesus goes, people flock to Him seeking favors.  Some want to be healed; some want a relative healed; some want to have a place on His right or left hand in the kingdom.  Everywhere Jesus goes, He distributes favors. Jesus the Godfather. . . . . Continue Reading »

As soon as Jesus has come down from the mountain from which He preached, His new Sinai, a leper “coming-to worshiped Him” (Matthew 8:1).  In the LXX, “coming-to” ( proserchomai ) means a liturgical approach, Aaron’s approach to the altar (Leviticus 9:7) or the . . . . Continue Reading »

In an article on dead metaphor, Andrzej Pawelec contrasts Lakoff and Johnson’s ballyhooed (by them!) notion of “cognitive metaphor” with the romantic view of metaphor propounded by Shelley and other poets.  ”Lakoff’s view is ‘scientific’: he looks . . . . Continue Reading »