SBL day 3

Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds 11/19/2012 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM Room: S504a - McCormick Place Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University, Presiding

“As long as the heir is a child”: The Rhetoric of Inheritance in Galatians 4.1-2 and P.Ryl. 2.153 John Goodrich, Moody Bible Institute 

Although Galatians 4.1-2 has historically been interpreted as an analogy taken from Greco-Roman practices of inheritance and guardianship, an increasing number of scholars, following the initial proposal of James M. Scott, have interpreted the passage as an allusion to the exodus (e.g., Sylvia Keesmaat, N.T. Wright, John Byron, Justin Hardin, Mark Harmon, Rodrigo Morales). Proponents of the exodus reading often claim that the conventional guardianship view is untenable due to the passage’s lack of allusions to a distinctly Greco-Roman source domain. Seeking to defend the conventional guardianship interpretation, this study will identify a number of significant verbal and conceptual parallels between Galatians 4.1-2 and P.Ryl. 2.153, the mid-second-century CE will of a Hermopolite gentleman. By offering a close reading of an important yet neglected parallel text, this paper will show that Paul’s rhetoric inheritance in Galatians 4, even if owing its substructure to a New/Second Exodus framework, most closely resonates with contemporary practices of Greco-Roman succession.

Names Of Biblical Women in the Papyri from Egypt to the time of Constantine Alanna Nobbs, Macquarie University

Mary in its various forms is by far the most common Biblical name in the Greek papyri from Egypt to the early fourth century, since it can be Roman as the feminine of the family name Marius , and either Jewish or Christian as a BIblical name,.Aside from Mary, we find in the papyrus letters and documents the names of Esther and Susanna together with other Biblical women. This paper will examine usages of these names with a discussion of possible Jewish or Christian provenance. In conclusion it will mention newer Christian women's names arising from the Christianisation of Egypt. 

Virginity as identity in female Christian life: designations in the papyri María-Jesús Albarrán, Universidad de Alcalá (Madrid)

 Since the beginning of Christianity one of its main doctrinal aspects was virginity or sexual abstinence. The spiritual life involved the purity of the body according to the Sacred Scriptures, a style of life which many Christian people followed. They were differentiated from the rest of the Christians community by their titles or designations. Terminology used in papyri of early Christian times allow the identification of women who had consecrated their lives to the Christian religion. This paper will examine the terms which refer to virginity and virgins, to observe their involvement and development in Christian society.

Invoking the Septuagint to Interpret Ptolemaic Law: Cataloguing More Instances of Ptolemaic Law Robert Kugler, Lewis & Clark College

Interpreted by its Own Rhetoric In a study of P.Heid. Inv. G 5100 (=SB 26 16801, “Eingabe an einen Archiphylakiten”) I demonstrate that the Judean petitioner we meet in that text used a juridical norm of the LXX shaped by the vocabulary of Ptolemaic law to interpret that same Ptolemaic legal rhetoric anew (“Uncovering a New Dimension of Early Judean Interpretation of the Greek Torah: Ptolemaic Law Interpreted by its Own Rhetoric,” in XIV Congress of the IOSCS, Helsinki, 2010, forthcoming). This paper will report the results of a survey of the corpus of documentary papyri involving Judeans from ca. 200 BCE to the late Roman period. The survey identifies the further instances of this juridical hermeneutic method. The paper will also summarize several of the additional instances of this phenomenon turned up by the survey. Lastly, the paper will locate this phenomenon in the broader context of legal history and theory to demonstrate its essentially “conventional” nature. John Goodrich, Moody Bible Institute “As long as the heir is a child”: The Rhetoric of Inheritance in Galatians 4.1-2 and P.Ryl. 2.153 (30 min) Alanna Nobbs, Macquarie University Names Of Biblical Women in the Papyri from Egypt to the time of Constantine (30 min) María-Jesús Albarrán, Universidad de Alcalá (Madrid) Virginity as identity in female Christian life: designations in the papyri (30 min) Robert Kugler, Lewis & Clark College

A Syntactical Analysis of OUN in Papyrus 66 Trent A. Rogers, Loyola University of Chicago

Greek particles are often overlooked in the interpretation and translation of ancient texts, but a better understanding of their syntactical functions aids in understanding the relationships among clauses and results in a better understanding of the texts’ meanings. This article examines the use of oun in Papyrus 66 and provides examples and explanations of the different uses of oun. It clarifies established uses and paves new ground by locating the comparative use. Moreover, it notices a dialogical pattern wherein lego + oun serves as an alternative to apokrinomai (kai lego), and in this pattern, asyndeton may convey increased markedness.

Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds 11/19/2012 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM Room: W181a - McCormick Place Christina Kreinecker, University of Birmingham, Presiding

Greek Musical Documents at Oxyrhynchus and an Ancient Christian Hymn with Musical Notation (POxy 1786) Charles H. Cosgrove, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Among the diverse papyri from Oxyrhynchus are musical documents, all of them stemming from the Roman era—second century to the end of the third/early fourth centuries. Some of these materials are fragmentary musical scores. The scores of songs, which contain both lyrics and musical notation, include a Christian hymn from the later third century. This paper describes the musical documents of Oxyrhynchus, including their place in ancient Greek music and life, and gives special attention to the ancient Christian hymn.

If papyri could speak: Insights into the world of early Christianity gained from two unpublished papyri Renate V. Hood, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Sylvie T. Raquel, Trinity International University

This paper will provide new data extracted from translations and reconstructions of two recently acquired, unpublished papyri fragments of Hebrews 9 and 11. A discussion of the condition, physical characteristics, usage, and dates of the papyri (preliminary data suggests that one is from the second century and one from the third century, while awaiting further dating in summer 2012), along with a presentation of scribal features, will provide insight into early (Egyptian) Christian writing practices and religious life. An examination of nomina sacra presented in light of paleographical data will bear significance on the discussion of the origin and function of nomina sacra in early Christianity. Additional observations from a variant in an explicit quotation in Hebrews, while making reference to the assumed LXX Vorlage, and other textual and paleographical data, will likewise illumine the socio-cultural world of the early Jesus followers.

A New Coptic Fragment of 2 Samuel 10 (McGill MS No Coptic 2) Brice C. Jones, Concordia University - Université Concordia

This paper is a preliminary report on a previously unpublished Coptic fragment recently discovered in the McGill University Library. This manuscript is one of four (unrelated) Coptic manuscripts in the McGill University Library that originally belonged to Erik von Scherling, a Swedish rare book dealer who, in the first half of the twentieth century, sold various Greek and Coptic papyri and parchments in a private catalogue titled Rotulus. The present location of many of the original contents of von Scherling’s collection is unknown; the McGill collection represents only a few pieces of a very large puzzle that must be put back together. The fragment in question is a parchment palimpsest fragment written in Sahidic, which is part of an already published codex in the Montserrat Abbey (P.Monts. Roca II 4). The over text contains a Coptic magical text, and the first text portions of 2 Samuel 10. The paper aims at introducing the fragment through a discussion of its contents, date, palaeographical features, function, and the remaining open questions. There will also be a discussion about how the fragment will help to correct a few textual reconstructions in the edition of P.Monts. Roca II 4.

Initial Findings on a Newly Discovered Early Fragment of Romans Grant Edwards, Baylor University and Nicholas Zola, Baylor University

This presentation will discuss the initial results for a newly discovered papyrus fragment of Paul's epistle to the Romans. After noting the papyrus's physical characteristics, we will address the features and significance of its text which contains a nomen sacrum and may support a previously known textual variant. Additionally, since this papyrus may be one of the earliest witnesses to the Pauline corpus, attention will also be given to a likely date range and potential comparanda.
The Style of Early Christian Literature Don Barker, Macquarie University
Various claims have been made about the production of early Christian literary documents and especially that the New Testament documents have been produced by copyist who are more at home in producing documentary texts. This paper will examine in particular the nature of the New Testament manuscripts from the perspective of the care, training and or ability of the copyist in their production. This exercise will in part involve examining letter formation in a selection of New Testament documents and the conclusions that are able to be drawn from that evidence as to the training and ability of the copyists.