Jim West has decided to rub my nose in the fact that his blog is worth $77,341.98, while my blog is worthless — at least according to those mean people over at “How Much is My Blog Worth?” (Actually Jim was nice enough to note that my value — or lack thereof — “makes no sense at all to me”).

But, alas, a far superior authority thinks my blog is worth something! (and no, I’m not talking about my Mom — if I told her I had a blog, she would probably insist I go to the doctor!). Blogshares values my blog at $10,695.63 — and that is US dollars, which is like gold up here in Canada (actually the conversion rate isn’t what it used to be, but it’s still more!).

Yipee… now my kids will have Christmas presents after all!

“May I present my wife, Asherah?”

The Fort Wayne News Sentinel has a brief article on William Dever’s recent book, Does God have a Wife? Archaeology And Folk Religion In Ancient Israel (Eerdmans, 2005; Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com). Actually, the report was more on his SBL session of the same topic. I particularly liked the quote from Dever which concluded the article:

After quoting a number of feminist scholars arguing for a female deity, Dever then quotes his five-year-old stepdaughter explaining why God must be both “a man and a woman.”

It’s because, she said, “half the people in the world are women and God has to be for everybody.”

God’s Big Toe

I came across what looks like a delightful children’s book by Rabbi Marc Gellman and Oscar de Mejo (Illustrator), called Does God Have a Big Toe?: Stories About Stories in the Bible (HarperTrophy, 1993; Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com). This book has been around for a while (it won a number of children book prizes when it was first published in 1989), but I had never heard of it. The back cover describes the book this:

Reflecting Mr. Gellman’s lifelong love for his subject, this witty collection of midrashim provides a wonderful way to learn about and to share the stories of the Bible.

While I can’t recommend it without seeing it; it sure looks like it would be a great Christmas/Hanukkah gift!

After a short hiatus, the Review of Biblical Literature Newsleter is back up and running. Today’s issue notes a number of reviews relating to the Hebrew Bible and the Second Temple period. The Campbell Festschrift looks like it has a number of interesting chapters from the likes of Peckham, Lohfink, Sweeney, McEvenue, Knierim, among others. In particular, the chapter by Steven McKenzie on Jonah looks like it is worth a read.

• Martin Kessler, ed., Reading the Book of Jeremiah: A Search for Coherence. Reviewed by Else Holt.
• Kenneth Mathews, The New American Commentary: Genesis 11:27-50:26. Reviewed by Thomas Hieke
• Mark O’Brien and Howard Wallace, eds., Seeing Signals, Reading Signs: The Art of Exegesis: Studies in Honour of Antony F. Campbell, SJ for his Seventieth Birthday. Reviewed by Mark Christian
• Noel Weeks, Admonition and Curse: The Ancient Near Eastern Treaty/Covenant Form as a Problem in Inter-Cultural Relationships. Reviewed by John Engle

Second Temple

• David R. Jackson, Enochic Judaism: Three Defining Paradigm Exemplars. Reviewed by Eric Noffke

Other

• BibleWorks 6. Reviewed by Jan Van Der Watt
• Anne-Marie Pelletier, ed., Bibles en Français: Traduction et Tradition: Actes du Colloque des 5-6 décembre 2003. Reviewed by Sabrina Inowlocki

My good friend Bob Derrenbacker — or is should that be Rev. Dr. Robert Derrenbacker, Jr.? — has entered the blogosphere with his new eponymous blog, “Bob’s Blog” (Gee, I think that was the first time I used “eponymous” outside biblical studies!).

I first got to know Bob during my Toronto days. He is an avid U2 fan, a Macintosh enthusiast, an amateur film critic (Hey Bob, remember the day my wife informed your wife that we went to a film that afternoon? If they only knew… that was only one of many!), and a very good friend!

While Bob has a somewhat distinguished picture of himself on his first blog entry, I dug out a picture taken of Bob some ten years ago. Here he is holding my oldest daughter (who was only eight months old at the time).

Oh yeah… Bob is also a great scholar. He is Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies at Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. His University of St. Michael’s College doctoral dissertation, completed under Dr. John Kloppenborg, was entitled “Ancient Compositional Practices and the Synoptic Problem.”” It is soon to be published in the series Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium (It was supposed to be available at SBL). Bob is also the author of a number of essays and articles in periodicals including Journal of Biblical Literature and Toronto Journal of Theology, and is currently working on a book for Paulist Press, What Are They Saying About Q? His academic interests include the composition of the Gospels, Pauline literature and theology, the Historical Jesus, the social, economic and political backgrounds of the New Testament, ancient literacy and book production, and the portrayal of Jesus in modern film.

In his new blog — which you should add to your blog aggregator and blogroll — Bob promises to give us his musings on biblical studies, politics, faith and culture. I look forward to being a regular reader!

Once again, welcome!

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