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2025 International Meeting
Meeting Begins: 6/23/2025
Meeting Ends: 6/27/2025
Call for Papers Opens: 10/23/2024
Call for Papers Closes: 1/15/2025
Requirements for Participation
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Program Units
A Critical History of Exegesis Since around 1900 (EABS)
Description: Recently, research on the history of exegesis (‘Forschungs-/Exegesegeschichte’) has been accumulating. On the one hand, this relates to feminist projects such as “The Bible and Women”, on the other hand to the ongoing post-colonial debates. However, there are also older discourses, e.g. Jew-Hatred in the time of National Socialism in Germany or the research on the emergence of historical-critical methodology or the most important Protestant biblical scholars in the 20th century. However, there is a broad preoccupation and previous methodological experience with this topic, but the research is little connected with each other and seems to be more of an ‘enthusiast’s topic’. Furthermore, the opportunities and limits of international cooperation, the visualisation of non-European hermeneutics and the opportunities of digital humanities have hardly been explored yet.
We focus on the period since around 1900. In principle, the focus is on biblical scholars, but contributions to researchers from Semitic studies, Jewish studies, and archaeology of the Levant or ANES etc. are welcome.
Call for papers: Recently, research on the history of exegesis (‘Forschungs-/Exegesegeschichte’) has been accumulating. On the one hand, this relates to feminist projects such as “The Bible and Women”, on the other hand to the ongoing post-colonial debates. However, there are also older discourses, e.g. Jew-Hatred in the time of National Socialism in Germany or the research on the emergence of historical-critical methodology or the most important Protestant biblical scholars in the 20th century. However, there is a broad preoccupation and previous methodological experience with this topic, but the research is little connected with each other and seems to be more of an ‘enthusiast’s topic’. Furthermore, the opportunities and limits of international cooperation, the visualisation of non-European hermeneutics and the opportunities of digital humanities have hardly been explored yet.
We focus on the period since around 1900. In principle, the focus is on biblical scholars, but contributions to researchers from Semitic studies, Jewish studies, and archaeology of the Levant or ANES etc. are welcome.
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Allusions in the Gospels and Acts
Description: This unit is to foster literary-critical and inter-textual approaches to the canonical and extra-canonical gospels and acts of the apostles. The approaches include: (1) uncovering allusive fragments of Greco-Roman, Hellenized-Jewish, and Christian texts in gospel passages and apostle narratives; (2) discussing whether the fragments reflect accidental confluences, non-opposite appropriations of poetic langue, or Christian emulations against anterior texts and traditions; (3) interpreting Christian meanings generated by resonances between anterior and posterior contexts of those allusions.
Call for papers: This unit is to foster literary-critical and inter-textual approaches to the canonical and extra-canonical gospels and acts of the apostles. The approaches include: (1) uncovering allusive fragments of Greco-Roman, Hellenized-Jewish, and Christian texts in gospel passages and apostle narratives; (2) discussing whether the fragments reflect accidental confluences, non-opposite appropriations of poetic langue, or Christian emulations against anterior texts and traditions; (3) interpreting Christian meanings generated by resonances between anterior and posterior contexts of those allusions.
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Ancient Apocalypses and Their Contexts (EABS)
Description: Emerging between the third and second centuries BCE, ancient apocalypses are sometimes considered as the “child of prophecy.” Focused on revelations, otherworldly realities and eschatology, though never disconnected from historical and earthly circumstances, these writings constitute both a corpus of their own and a bridge between the Hebrew Bible, the literature of Second Temple Judaism and the early Christian writings. The research unit “Ancient Apocalypses and Their Contexts” aims to create a place at EABS dedicated to the (re-) discovery of ancient apocalypses and to foster scholarly discussion on these texts that arouse fascination and yet are sometimes neglected. The corpus to be explored is the literary production that belongs to the so-called “apocalyptic literary genre” as defined by John and Adela Yarbro Collins (see Semeia 14 [1979] and 36 [1986]), also taking into account updates in current research (e.g., Collin McAllistair [ed.] 2020). The research unit offers two distinct kinds of sessions each year. First, a classic format with papers of 20-25 minutes followed by a short time of discussion. For these sessions, the approach is by topic, with a specific theme proposed each year: spatiality and temporality in apocalypses in 2024; positive and negative figures in apocalypses in 2025; seers and mediatory figures in apocalypses in 2026. Second, sessions entitled “Discovering more Apocalypses,” a new format consisting of introductions to and guided readings into little-known ancient apocalypses.
Call for papers: Emerging between the third and second centuries BCE, ancient apocalypses are sometimes considered as the “child of prophecy.” Focused on revelations, otherworldly realities and eschatology, though never disconnected from historical and earthly circumstances, these writings constitute both a corpus of their own and a bridge between the Hebrew Bible, the literature of Second Temple Judaism and the early Christian writings. The research unit “Ancient Apocalypses and Their Contexts” aims to create a place at EABS dedicated to the (re-) discovery of ancient apocalypses and to foster scholarly discussion on these texts that arouse fascination and yet are sometimes neglected. The corpus to be explored is the literary production that belongs to the so-called “apocalyptic literary genre” as defined by John and Adela Yarbro Collins (see Semeia 14 [1979] and 36 [1986]), also taking into account updates in current research (e.g., Collin McAllistair [ed.] 2020). The research unit offers two distinct kinds of sessions each year. First, a classic format with papers of 20-25 minutes followed by a short time of discussion. For these sessions, the approach is by topic, with a specific theme proposed each year: spatiality and temporality in apocalypses in 2024; positive and negative figures in apocalypses in 2025; seers and mediatory figures in apocalypses in 2026. Second, sessions entitled “Discovering more Apocalypses,” a new format consisting of introductions to and guided readings into little-known ancient apocalypses.
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Ancient Israel and the Ancient Near East (EABS)
Description: Throughout its history, Ancient Israel was intricately embedded within the diverse cultural frameworks of the ancient Near East. To fully understand these interactions, an interdisciplinary approach is essential. This research group fosters a collaborative forum for specialists across various disciplines, including Hebrew Bible scholars, Assyriologists, Egyptologists, Classicists, Hittitologists, and others. Our methodology is primarily based on a comparative approach, but it remains intentionally flexible to adapt to the focus of each call for papers.
Over the next five years, our research will continue centering on key topics that intersect ancient Israelite culture with that of neighboring Near Eastern societies. Additionally, we will keep an open call for papers, and explore opportunities to organize joint sessions with other research groups, particularly if and when EABS and SBL meet together.
We look forward to engaging with scholars from various disciplines and welcome contributions that will enrich our collective understanding of ancient Israel in its broader cultural milieu.
Call for papers: Throughout its history, Ancient Israel was intricately embedded within the diverse cultural frameworks of the ancient Near East. To fully understand these interactions, an interdisciplinary approach is essential. This research group fosters a collaborative forum for specialists across various disciplines, including Hebrew Bible scholars, Assyriologists, Egyptologists, Classicists, Hittitologists, and others. Our methodology is primarily based on a comparative approach, but it remains intentionally flexible to adapt to the focus of each call for papers.
Over the next five years, our research will continue centering on key topics that intersect ancient Israelite culture with that of neighboring Near Eastern societies. Additionally, we will keep an open call for papers, and explore opportunities to organize joint sessions with other research groups, particularly if and when EABS and SBL meet together.
We look forward to engaging with scholars from various disciplines and welcome contributions that will enrich our collective understanding of ancient Israel in its broader cultural milieu.
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Ancient Near East
Description: The ancient Near East section explores the texts and material culture of the ancient world, especially Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia from the birth of writing through the Hellenistic period. Our aim is to study the ancient world with a variety of methods and from a variety of perspectives—anthropological, archaeological, art-historical, economic, legal, literary, philological, sociohistorical, etc. We welcome work that reads the literature or material culture of one region against another, as well as work that is more limited in scope. Each year, we anticipate hosting two panels: one devoted to any aspect of the study of the ancient Near East, and one focussing on a more narrowly defined theme, region, approach, or time period.
Call for papers: The ancient Near East section explores the texts and material culture of the ancient world, especially Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia from the birth of writing through the Hellenistic period. Our aim is to study the ancient world with a variety of methods and from a variety of perspectives—anthropological, archaeological, art-historical, economic, legal, literary, philological, sociohistorical, etc. We welcome work that reads the literature or material culture of one region against another, as well as work that is more limited in scope. Each year, we anticipate hosting two panels: one devoted to any aspect of the study of the ancient Near East, and one focussing on a more narrowly defined theme, region, approach, or time period.
Tags: Anatolian (Hittite, Luwian, Hurrian) (Ancient Near Eastern Literature - Region), Ancient Near East - Bronze Age (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Hellenistic Period (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Iron Age (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Late Antiquity (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Neo-Assyria (History & Culture), Ancient Near East - Neo-Babylonia (History & Culture), Aramaic (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Comparative Approaches (Interpretive Approaches), Egyptian (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Hebrew (classical) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Latter Prophets - Ezekiel (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Northwest Semitic - Canaanite (Phoenician, Punic, Moabite, Ammonite) (Ancient Near Eastern Literature - Region), Social-Scientific Approaches (Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology) (Interpretive Approaches), Torah/Pentateuch - Genesis (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint))
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Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Bible
Description: This section, formerly titled Iconography and the Bible, examines the ways that ancient pictorial material informs interpretations of biblical texts and vice-versa. We welcome papers that explore the relationships between iconographic and textual materials as well as papers that deal exclusively with iconographic issues.
Call for papers: At this joint EABS-SBL conference the EABS research unit 'Iconography and Biblical Studies' and the SBL 'Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Bible' Program Unit jointly invite paper proposals for one or two thematic sessions on VISUAL VIOLENCE. Violence is and was part of real-life experiences - what is the use or aim of violence? How does it relate to or express power and ideology? Here, violence also touches on themes like asymmetry, horror, fear, and trauma. We would be delighted to receive good quality, creative abstracts addressing violence in combination with ancient iconographic material and biblical texts; the papers can include the above-mentioned perspectives, as well as gender, embodiment, or materiality of violence.
For the joint OPEN session(s), as in previous years, we welcome paper proposals within the broad interdisciplinary framework of iconography and biblical studies.
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Animals and the Bible (EABS)
Description: Animal Studies is a growing discipline, which has recently had fruitful intersections with philosophy, theology, and literary studies (see the work of e.g., Georgio Agamben, David Clough, Jacques Derrida, Donna Haraway, and Peter Singer). Animals, and the question of animal ethics, are also growing concerns in the contemporary world, particularly in light of modern industrialised farming trends and the pressing threat of extinctions. Animals have always had a presence in biblical scholarship—whether it be in relation to purity laws (e.g., Douglas, 1966), zooarchaeology (e.g., Borowski, 1998), or animal symbolism (e.g., Strawn, 2005)—but the intersection with critical Animal Studies has, until recently, been lacking. There has, however, been a recent flourishing in this area (see e.g., Koosed, 2014; Stone, 2018; Strømmen, 2018). This research unit aims to continue this dialogue by facilitating critical thought about the status and role of animals in the Bible and related texts. Important questions include: the role of animals in the biblical world; animal ethics in relation to the Bible; and the relationships and boundaries between animals, humans, and God. Beyond this, any research within the intersection of Biblical and Animal studies is encouraged. This nascent field of study has no set methodology, and we hope to incorporate a range of interdisciplinary approaches.
Call for papers: In 1728 a young Carl Linnaeus transferred to Uppsala University to complete his studies. He eventually returned in 1741 as a Professor of Medicine and Botany before becoming Rector of the university in 1750. Linnaeus is often regarded as the founder of the modern taxonomic system which governs the naming and classification of animals within zoology. As the EABS Annual Conference will be visiting his academic home in 2025, this year we are interested in papers which engage with the various ways animals are classified or distinguished within biblical or cognate texts. Papers might look at the distinction between: clean and unclean animals; edible or inedible animals; domestic and wild animals; animals of the land, birds of the air, fish of the sea, creeping things on the ground; or other ways in which the animal world is distinguished in the Bible. As ever, we are keen to receive any proposals which engage with animal studies or animals generally within the biblical world and traditions.
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Anthropology and the Bible (EABS)
Description: The aim of this unit is to foster ethnographic readings of biblical stories, both Old and New Testaments, and anthropological perspectives on the archaeology, the history and the literature of ancient Palestine in its Near Eastern context. Relevant topics for discussion are:
Political and historical anthropology of ancient Palestine (city-states, urbanization, state-formation processes, ethnogenesis).
Mediterranean anthropology in biblical narrative (patronage, hospitality, feud, honour and shame, food).
Sociology and anthropology of religion and ancient Palestinian cultic and ritual data (aniconism, iconography, burial, cultic places, etc.).
Sociology and anthropology of biblical studies (the production of academic knowledge and its impact on society).
Comparative analysis of Biblical and Eastern Mediterranean literature from an anthropological perspective.
Call for papers: For the 2025 EABS-iSBL joint meeting in Uppsala, the Anthropology and the Bible research group will host an open session. We welcome papers dealing in particular with the themes and interpretive approaches foster by the unit but also those relevant for analytical and comparative purposes.
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Apocalyptic Literature
Description: The Apocalyptic Literature Section provides the International Meeting’s only general forum for studies related to apocalyptic literature. The Section welcomes papers that engage the wide range of apocalyptic texts, that provide analysis of the history and conventions of apocalyptic literature, and that employ diverse methodological perspectives.
Call for papers: The Apocalyptic Literature Section provides the International Meeting’s only general forum for studies related to apocalyptic literature. The Section welcomes papers that engage the wide range of apocalyptic texts, that provide analysis of the history and conventions of apocalyptic literature, and that employ diverse methodological perspectives.
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Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Description: The Section fosters ongoing study of extra-canonical texts, as subjects of literary and philological investigation; as evidence for the history of religion, theology, and cult practice; and as documents of the socio-symbolic construction of traditions along lines of class and gender.
Call for papers: The Section invites papers that delve into the literary, religious, and societal dimensions of extra-canonical texts. This includes literary and philological analysis, historical insights into religious practices and theologies, and examinations of socio-symbolic constructions of traditions. The section encourages interdisciplinary approaches and comparative studies, aiming to broaden the understanding of these texts beyond their canonical counterparts.
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Apostolic Fathers and Related Early Christian Literature
Description: This unit fosters academic discourse focused upon the “Apostolic Fathers” and supplemental literature, as transmitters of earlier traditions; as reflections of theology, ethics, and worship; as means of identity and community formation; and as subjects of literary and social-theory investigations.
Call for papers: This unit fosters academic discourse focused upon the “Apostolic Fathers” and supplemental literature, as transmitters of earlier traditions; as reflections of theology, ethics, and worship; as means of identity and community formation; and as subjects of literary and social-theory investigations.
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Bible and Empire
Description: A unit examining the influence of imperial political powers on the development of the Bible in its historical context as well as the Bible’s use and reception throughout subsequent history.
Call for papers: A unit examining the influence of imperial political powers on the development of the Bible in its historical context as well as the Bible’s use and reception throughout subsequent history.
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Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Description: This unit offers a forum for papers on both the theory of reception studies and critical analysis of historical and contemporary case studies related to the Bible’s use and influence, in spheres ranging from art, literature and music to religion, society and culture.
Call for papers: For the joint SBL/EABS meeting in Uppsala in 2025, “The Biblical World and Its Reception” (EABS) will be meeting together with “Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact” (SBL). The combined unit will be holding two/three sessions.
This year we are especially interested in papers which focus on the Bible and video games. This might include methodological approaches, close analyses of individual games, thematic critiques, and other avenues which examine the ways in which the medium has depicted, adapted, interpreted, and drawn upon biblical texts and traditions.
In addition, we will also have at least one open session, for which we welcome papers on any topic that is relevant to the units’ general interests in the reception, influence, and impact of the Bible.
Tags: History of Interpretation (Interpretive Approaches)
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Bible and Visual Culture
Description: The Bible and Visual Culture is premised on the recognition that some of the most engaging and creative interpretations of biblical texts are to be found in visual media from antiquity to the present. Further encouragement to attend to visual interpretations of the Bible is offered by our awareness that such readings have often captured the collective and especially popular imagination to a far greater extent than have many written interpretations and in doing so, these visualizations have shaped and influenced our reading and understanding of the biblical texts themselves. The section offers an academic space for the critical exploration and discussion of biblical texts, characters, motifs and themes as they are represented in visual media including (but not limited to) painting, sculpture, print making, illustration, moving pictures (including film, television and gaming), advertising, street art and other expressions of visual culture. The section welcomes efforts to situate visual interpretations of the Bible within a wider hermeneutical context and to explore the ways in which such interpretations challenge or support other non-visual readings of biblical texts. The nature of the subject explored in this section demands an openness to the insights of a range of different approaches and disciplines beyond biblical studies, including (but again, not limited to) art history, psychology, film, theatre as well as studies in gender and postcolonialism.
Call for papers: The Bible and Visual Culture is premised on the recognition that some of the most engaging and creative interpretations of biblical texts are to be found in visual media from antiquity to the present. Further encouragement to attend to visual interpretations of the Bible is offered by our awareness that such readings have often captured the collective and especially popular imagination to a far greater extent than have many written interpretations and in doing so, these visualizations have shaped and influenced our reading and understanding of the biblical texts themselves. The section offers an academic space for the critical exploration and discussion of biblical texts, characters, motifs and themes as they are represented in visual media including (but not limited to) painting, sculpture, print making, illustration, moving pictures (including film, television and gaming), advertising, street art and other expressions of visual culture. The section welcomes efforts to situate visual interpretations of the Bible within a wider hermeneutical context and to explore the ways in which such interpretations challenge or support other non-visual readings of biblical texts. The nature of the subject explored in this section demands an openness to the insights of a range of different approaches and disciplines beyond biblical studies, including (but again, not limited to) art history, psychology, film, theatre as well as studies in gender and postcolonialism.
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Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law
Description: The purpose of the Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law Section is to promote interdisciplinary research on ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and post-biblical law. Methodological perspectives include historical-critical, literary, legal-historical, feminist, and social-scientific approaches.
Call for papers: The purpose of the Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law Section is to promote interdisciplinary research on ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and post-biblical law. Methodological perspectives include historical-critical, literary, legal-historical, feminist, and social-scientific approaches.
Tags: Law (Comparative Religion / History of Religion), Law Codes & Legal Documents (Ancient Near Eastern Literature - Genre)
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Biblical Hebrew Language and Linguistics
Description: This unit focuses on Biblical Hebrew language and linguistics. We welcome papers on all
aspects of Biblical Hebrew, such as grammar, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, linguistic theory
etc. We are also interested in papers that emphasize the contribution of the analysis of Biblical
Hebrew to the understanding of the biblical text and exemplify the importance of linguistic
analysis as an exegetical tool.
Call for papers: This unit focuses on Biblical Hebrew language and linguistics. We welcome papers on all
aspects of Biblical Hebrew, such as grammar, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, linguistic theory
etc. We are also interested in papers that emphasize the contribution of the analysis of Biblical
Hebrew to the understanding of the biblical text and exemplify the importance of linguistic
analysis as an exegetical tool.
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Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity
Description: This program unit explores the interpretative structures, methodologies, and concerns of patristic exegesis and the various assumptions underlying it.
Call for papers: This program unit explores the interpretative structures, methodologies, and concerns of patristic exegesis and the various assumptions underlying it.
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Biblical Theological Investigations into the Attributes of God (EABS)
Description: The programme of the research unit builds on both the 2020/2021 Workshop and the 2022 research unit with the same name.
In 2020/2021 we focused on Biblical Theology as a hermeneutical discipline, and general biblical theological investigations into the attributes of God.
In 2022 we had a sharper focus by investigating how biblical texts from the First or Second Testament portray the specific attribute of the righteousness of God as part of the developing, unfolding, and progressive story line of the text.
In 2023 we will continue with the trend of investigating a specific attribute of God from a biblical theological viewpoint, this time focusing on the wisdom of God.
Call for papers: The programme of the research unit builds on both the 2020/2021 Workshop and the 2022 research unit with the same name.
In 2020/2021 we focused on Biblical Theology as a hermeneutical discipline, and general biblical theological investigations into the attributes of God.
In 2022 we had a sharper focus by investigating how biblical texts from the First or Second Testament portray the specific attribute of the righteousness of God as part of the developing, unfolding, and progressive story line of the text.
In 2023 we will continue with the trend of investigating a specific attribute of God from a biblical theological viewpoint, this time focusing on the wisdom of God.
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Bodies of Communication (EABS)
Description: ‘Bodies of Communication’ is a research unit fostering conversations on the body as a location of religious expression. As the study of religion moves away from religious doctrines and institutions towards an increasing interest in the lived experience of religion, the human body takes up a more central place. In biblical and related literature, the body is inevitably involved in the discussion of a range of issues; for some the connection is obvious, such as food and sexuality, birth and death, whilst for others the body forms either the background or the method of communication.
While bodies are often policed in religious settings, this can also occur within a textual environment; bodies also offer a site for resistance and deviance, a means of opposing traditional norms. The abstract body, the idealized body and the concrete body, that exists and lives in time and space, can all be understood to express religious narratives and structures.
This unit aims to increase understanding of the body as a significant site in the period of ancient Judaism and early Christianity, as well as in a variety of interpretations and resonances. It especially encourages engagement with issues that are relevant for contemporary culture and society.
Call for papers: ‘Bodies of Communication’ is a research unit fostering conversations on the body as a location of religious expression. As the study of religion moves away from religious doctrines and institutions towards an increasing interest in the lived experience of religion, the human body takes up a more central place. In biblical and related literature, the body is inevitably involved in the discussion of a range of issues; for some the connection is obvious, such as food and sexuality, birth and death, whilst for others the body forms either the background or the method of communication.
While bodies are often policed in religious settings, this can also occur within a textual environment; bodies also offer a site for resistance and deviance, a means of opposing traditional norms. The abstract body, the idealized body and the concrete body, that exists and lives in time and space, can all be understood to express religious narratives and structures.
This unit aims to increase understanding of the body as a significant site in the period of ancient Judaism and early Christianity, as well as in a variety of interpretations and resonances. It especially encourages engagement with issues that are relevant for contemporary culture and society.
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Canonical Approaches to the Bible (EABS)
Description: Canonical interpretation or exegesis aims to understand biblical texts in the context of the whole canon of texts. It takes into account different forms of canon in various traditions. Reading texts canonically links them to a community of faith for who they are part of their respective canon and understands it as scripture.
Canonical exegesis is not a fixed set of methods but rather a mindset for approaching biblical texts. The research unit aims to take up the ideas introduced by Brevard Childs, James Sanders, and others and to give room to discuss different approaches of canonical exegesis.
We want to further the discussion of methodological and hermeneutical foundations and enrich the understanding of individual texts and larger units by reading them canonically. To guide and focus the sessions, we choose overarching topics for a couple of years.
Call for papers: Canonical interpretation or exegesis aims to understand biblical texts in the context of the whole canon of texts. It takes into account different forms of canon in various traditions. Reading texts canonically links them to a community of faith for who they are part of their respective canon and understands it as scripture.
Canonical exegesis is not a fixed set of methods but rather a mindset for approaching biblical texts. The research unit aims to take up the ideas introduced by Brevard Childs, James Sanders, and others and to give room to discuss different approaches of canonical exegesis.
We want to further the discussion of methodological and hermeneutical foundations and enrich the understanding of individual texts and larger units by reading them canonically. To guide and focus the sessions, we choose overarching topics for a couple of years.
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Central Theologumena in the Narrative Texts of the Pentateuch (EABS)
Description: The Research Group “Central Theologumena in the Narrative Texts of the Pentateuch” focuses on theological concepts and traditions in the Pentateuch. Through a close reading of classical texts, such as Gen 17 and Exod 6, we hope to gain a better understanding of the individual passages beyond the different Pentateuch models. In addition, we aim to clarify the similarities and differences between different parts of the Pentateuch with book-overlapping papers on specific themes, such as creation, covenant and the Promised Land. We consider the textual-critical evidence with their specific understanding of the texts to be of utmost importance, and hope to detect theological developments beyond the boundaries of the Masoretic Text.
Every year, there will be one invited and one open session. Both diachronically and synchronically oriented papers are welcome.
Call for papers: The Research Group “Central Theologumena in the Narrative Texts of the Pentateuch” focuses on theological concepts and traditions in the Pentateuch. Through a close reading of classical texts, such as Gen 17 and Exod 6, we hope to gain a better understanding of the individual passages beyond the different Pentateuch models. In addition, we aim to clarify the similarities and differences between different parts of the Pentateuch with book-overlapping papers on specific themes, such as creation, covenant and the Promised Land. We consider the textual-critical evidence with their specific understanding of the texts to be of utmost importance, and hope to detect theological developments beyond the boundaries of the Masoretic Text.
Every year, there will be one invited and one open session. Both diachronically and synchronically oriented papers are welcome.
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Citations and Allusions in the Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Description: The notion that texts within the Hebrew Bible refer to each other and that neglect of such references leads to an imperfect understanding of a given text has garnered much attention in recent years. There are substantial bodies of both methodological debate and case studies. For all that, core problems wait to be settled with at least a relative consensus. Among them are the differentiation between citations, allusions, and similar textual references on the one hand and affinities between texts induced by different factors on the other hand; criteria for discerning textual references, and their strength relative to each other; categories for a detailed description of textual references; and a rigid scrutiny regarding modes of marking citations. As concerns case studies, a sustained effort is needed to collect and compare the various scholarly results. The time is ripe for bringing together scholars working in the field in order to critically examine what has been achieved so far, and to draw attention to pressing questions which have remained unresolved heretofore. The research group shall be a platform to do that. It will focus on cases of citations and allusions, that is, on actual, intentional references from one text to another.
Call for papers: The notion that texts within the Hebrew Bible refer to each other and that neglect of such references leads to an imperfect understanding of a given text has garnered much attention in recent years. There are substantial bodies of both methodological debate and case studies. For all that, core problems wait to be settled with at least a relative consensus. Among them are the differentiation between citations, allusions, and similar textual references on the one hand and affinities between texts induced by different factors on the other hand; criteria for discerning textual references, and their strength relative to each other; categories for a detailed description of textual references; and a rigid scrutiny regarding modes of marking citations. As concerns case studies, a sustained effort is needed to collect and compare the various scholarly results. The time is ripe for bringing together scholars working in the field in order to critically examine what has been achieved so far, and to draw attention to pressing questions which have remained unresolved heretofore. The research group shall be a platform to do that. It will focus on cases of citations and allusions, that is, on actual, intentional references from one text to another.
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Cognition, Epistemology, and Pedagogy in Biblical Exegesis
Description: The primary purpose of this session is to analyze and scrutinize Biblical characters,their behaviors, dynamic relationships, and episodes through the lenses of Cognition, Epistemology, and/or Learning theories. Its secondary purpose is to gain a general (but profound) understanding of how one thinks, knows, and learns, which aspects cannot be underestimated in our daily life. It is also relevant since most SBL members are teachers and life-long learners.
Cognition refers to how a person perceives and understands their world through interacting with different factors. Epistemology refers to what knowledge is. How one thinks (Cognition) and how one defines knowledge (Epistemology) are closely related to how one knows and learns (Education). The examples of cognition can range from information processing, intelligence, language development, memory, and reasoning. An individual’s definition of knowledge may affect their problem-solving and decision- making processes. Concrete analysis of the Biblical characters, relationships, and stories through these focuses will help us understand the Scripture better and deeper. The versatile Biblical characters and their stories may offer the “data” to underline the meaningfulness of these studies, synchronously.
Call for papers: The primary purpose of this session is to analyze and scrutinize Biblical characters,their behaviors, dynamic relationships, and episodes through the lenses of Cognition, Epistemology, and/or Learning theories. Its secondary purpose is to gain a general (but profound) understanding of how one thinks, knows, and learns, which aspects cannot be underestimated in our daily life. It is also relevant since most SBL members are teachers and life-long learners.
Cognition refers to how a person perceives and understands their world through interacting with different factors. Epistemology refers to what knowledge is. How one thinks (Cognition) and how one defines knowledge (Epistemology) are closely related to how one knows and learns (Education). The examples of cognition can range from information processing, intelligence, language development, memory, and reasoning. An individual’s definition of knowledge may affect their problem-solving and decision- making processes. Concrete analysis of the Biblical characters, relationships, and stories through these focuses will help us understand the Scripture better and deeper. The versatile Biblical characters and their stories may offer the “data” to underline the meaningfulness of these studies, synchronously.
This year, we welcome the proposals on cultural influence on these focuses. As we know, culture plays a crucial role shaping an individual’s thinking, knowing, and learning. Culture functions as a filter that one interprets their thoughts and knowledge through. For the proposals, the refreshing thoughts and novel approaches are welcome. Numbers, graphs, and charts are welcome. Ideally, they should be drawn from solid theories and frameworks.
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Cognitive and Cultural Evolutionary Perspectives on the Biblical World (EABS)
Description: Cultural evolutionary theory is a fast-growing, highly multidisciplinary scholarly endeavor which combines evolutionary biology, anthropology, psychology, sociology, cognitive science, semiotics, and computer science to explain how culture changes in populations with time. The cognitive basis and evolutionary function of religion has long been a topic of interest among cultural evolutionists and formed into a project of cognitive and evolutionary science of religion (CESR). On the other hand, religions consist of cultural expressions, which tend to follow common patterns of change. Evolutionary approaches have gained acceptance because of their cogent theory and applicability to different areas of human culture, such as language, technology, complex societies, and semiotic shifts. Methodologically, the cultural evolutionary perspective tends towards pluralism. On the one hand, there is an interest towards empirical experimental research, on the other hand, the use of semiotics and computer modelling and digital technologies are increasing, especially among researchers with a primary focus on historiography and the analysis of textual sources. Overall, CESR aims to bridge the methodological gap between the natural sciences and the humanities.
The unit proposes to be a wide platform where scholars who are interested in applications of CESR and cultural evolution to the biblical world and literature, and want to test and present their ideas to interested colleagues. The unit invites quantitative and computational modeling as well as qualitative case studies.
Call for papers: Cultural evolutionary theory is a fast-growing, highly multidisciplinary scholarly endeavor which combines evolutionary biology, anthropology, psychology, sociology, cognitive science, semiotics, and computer science to explain how culture changes in populations with time. The cognitive basis and evolutionary function of religion has long been a topic of interest among cultural evolutionists and formed into a project of cognitive and evolutionary science of religion (CESR). On the other hand, religions consist of cultural expressions, which tend to follow common patterns of change. Evolutionary approaches have gained acceptance because of their cogent theory and applicability to different areas of human culture, such as language, technology, complex societies, and semiotic shifts. Methodologically, the cultural evolutionary perspective tends towards pluralism. On the one hand, there is an interest towards empirical experimental research, on the other hand, the use of semiotics and computer modelling and digital technologies are increasing, especially among researchers with a primary focus on historiography and the analysis of textual sources. Overall, CESR aims to bridge the methodological gap between the natural sciences and the humanities.
The unit proposes to be a wide platform where scholars who are interested in applications of CESR and cultural evolution to the biblical world and literature, and want to test and present their ideas to interested colleagues. The unit invites quantitative and computational modeling as well as qualitative case studies.
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Comparing Ancient Chronographic Historiographies from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Judah, and Greece in the Persian and Early Hellenistic Periods (EABS)
Description: This research unit aims to advance the comparative exploration of ancient historiographies from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Judah, and Greece in the Persian and early Hellenistic periods. To this end we will pay significant attention to the following matters: the underlying assumptions and basic world-shaping conceptualizations on which these works were grounded (including conceptualizations of time, periodization, causality); the generative grammars and narrative patterns at work in these historiographical texts; the interrelation between genre, social location, and historical contingency, and intersections between local, ‘global’ and ‘glocal’ cultural traditions in shaping historiography.
Call for papers: This research unit aims to advance the comparative exploration of ancient historiographies from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Judah, and Greece in the Persian and early Hellenistic periods. To this end we will pay significant attention to the following matters: the underlying assumptions and basic world-shaping conceptualizations on which these works were grounded (including conceptualizations of time, periodization, causality); the generative grammars and narrative patterns at work in these historiographical texts; the interrelation between genre, social location, and historical contingency, and intersections between local, ‘global’ and ‘glocal’ cultural traditions in shaping historiography.
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Computational and Quantitative Approaches Applied to Biblical Studies (EABS)
Description: The recent improvements in digital tools have radically impacted research approaches: all research fields, including humanities, have been affected by the digital revolution, giving birth to a new venue of research regrouped under the umbrella term "digital humanities". Several projects relying on digital approaches for better understanding of the biblical text are being led around the world, but these studies often struggle to have a meaningful impact on biblical scholarship due to the opacity of the used methods and are often relegated as a sub-field difficult to approach for non-computer scientists. The purpose of this research unit is to gather scholars leading, involved, or interested in projects leveraging digital tools for biblical studies, to (1) Present existing case studies and research projects; (2) Centralize efforts in the development of computational tools for biblical studies (dataset, software, methods) by referencing resources; (3) Open up a dialogue regarding the strengths and limits of computational approaches. The research unit proposes four main topics regarding expected papers: (1) Database and open-data initiatives for biblical studies; (2) Available software tools for biblical studies; (3) Computational approaches and artificial intelligence methods; (4) Discussions of the potential and the methodological limits.
Call for papers: The recent improvements in digital tools have radically impacted research approaches: all research fields, including humanities, have been affected by the digital revolution, giving birth to a new venue of research regrouped under the umbrella term "digital humanities". Several projects relying on digital approaches for better understanding of the biblical text are being led around the world, but these studies often struggle to have a meaningful impact on biblical scholarship due to the opacity of the used methods and are often relegated as a sub-field difficult to approach for non-computer scientists. The purpose of this research unit is to gather scholars leading, involved, or interested in projects leveraging digital tools for biblical studies, to (1) Present existing case studies and research projects; (2) Centralize efforts in the development of computational tools for biblical studies (dataset, software, methods) by referencing resources; (3) Open up a dialogue regarding the strengths and limits of computational approaches. The research unit proposes four main topics regarding expected papers: (1) Database and open-data initiatives for biblical studies; (2) Available software tools for biblical studies; (3) Computational approaches and artificial intelligence methods; (4) Discussions of the potential and the methodological limits.
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Concepts of Biblical Israel (EABS)
Description: In the Hebrew Bible, Israel appears as a term for various entities: a tribal confederation, the United Monarchy, the Northern Kingdom alone, the Southern Kingdom alone, and as a term for a religious community. Thus, the Hebrew Bible documents concepts of Israel that are quite different from each other and are guided in different ways by ethnic, political, social, geographical, cultural, and religious aspects. Going beyond previous research, this research unit does not just focus on the mere question of when and how the concept of a pan-Israel (i.e., the Israel of the twelve tribes or the Israel including the people of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms) emerged, but rather aims at taking a broad view on different texts within the Hebrew Bible, detailing and elaborating upon the great variety of concepts of Israel within these scriptures. On a methodological level, the research unit acknowledges the contribution of anthropological studies of tribal societies for the study of biblical discourses of Israel, but also wants to draw inspiration from sociological and historical research on premodern nationalism.
Call for papers: In the Hebrew Bible, Israel appears as a term for various entities: a tribal confederation, the United Monarchy, the Northern Kingdom alone, the Southern Kingdom alone, and as a term for a religious community. Thus, the Hebrew Bible documents concepts of Israel that are quite different from each other and are guided in different ways by ethnic, political, social, geographical, cultural, and religious aspects. Going beyond previous research, this research unit does not just focus on the mere question of when and how the concept of a pan-Israel (i.e., the Israel of the twelve tribes or the Israel including the people of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms) emerged, but rather aims at taking a broad view on different texts within the Hebrew Bible, detailing and elaborating upon the great variety of concepts of Israel within these scriptures. On a methodological level, the research unit acknowledges the contribution of anthropological studies of tribal societies for the study of biblical discourses of Israel, but also wants to draw inspiration from sociological and historical research on premodern nationalism.
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Contextual Interpretation of the Bible (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament)
Description: The goal of this Seminar is to explore the interest in Contextual Biblical Interpretation, its
different strategies (including "inculturation", inter(con)textualization, and reading with "ordinary"
readers), its methodological justifications, and the extent to which all interpretations are
contextual. We are especially interested in seemingly "marginal" (from the geographical,
gender, faith, class, age, communal, and so forth) aspects of Biblical interpretation.
Call for papers: The goal of this Seminar is to explore the interest in Contextual Biblical Interpretation, its
different strategies (including "inculturation", inter(con)textualization, and reading with "ordinary"
readers), its methodological justifications, and the extent to which all interpretations are
contextual. We are especially interested in seemingly "marginal" (from the geographical,
gender, faith, class, age, communal, and so forth) aspects of Biblical interpretation.
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Culturally Central Texts in Early Judaism, Early Christianity, and Other Cultures (EABS)
Description: Early Judaism and early Christianity can be defined as text-centered religions, namely, religions which place texts at the center of their practices. The research unit seeks to understand how and why this aspect became predominant in these two religions. Furthermore, because other religions are similarly organized and structured around collections of texts, it seeks to understand how this phenomenon can be studied in a cross-cultural perspective, and what new insights can be gained from such cross-cultural perspective for the study of early Judaism and early Christianity.
We focus on the period since around 1900. In principle, the focus is on biblical scholars, but contributions to researchers from Semitic studies, Jewish studies, and archaeology of the Levant or ANES etc. are welcome.
Call for papers: Early Judaism and early Christianity can be defined as text-centered religions, namely, religions which place texts at the center of their practices. The research unit seeks to understand how and why this aspect became predominant in these two religions. Furthermore, because other religions are similarly organized and structured around collections of texts, it seeks to understand how this phenomenon can be studied in a cross-cultural perspective, and what new insights can be gained from such cross-cultural perspective for the study of early Judaism and early Christianity.
We focus on the period since around 1900. In principle, the focus is on biblical scholars, but contributions to researchers from Semitic studies, Jewish studies, and archaeology of the Levant or ANES etc. are welcome.
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Early Christianity (EABS)
Description: The constitutive idea of this seminar is to treat Early Christianity as a multivalent phenomenon, characterized by a fundamental diversity. The focus is on interchanges and interactions between various groups and movements in the ancient Mediterranean world that had an impact on developing Christianity, including the interrelations between various Christian groupings. Papers offered to this seminar may focus on both canonical and non-canonical writings as well as other source materials and may apply a variety of methods. We highly encourage interdisciplinary approaches and particularly welcome contributions that cross boundaries between traditional disciplines.
Call for papers: The constitutive idea of this seminar is to treat Early Christianity as a multivalent phenomenon, characterized by a fundamental diversity. The focus is on interchanges and interactions between various groups and movements in the ancient Mediterranean world that had an impact on developing Christianity, including the interrelations between various Christian groupings. Papers offered to this seminar may focus on both canonical and non-canonical writings as well as other source materials and may apply a variety of methods. We highly encourage interdisciplinary approaches and particularly welcome contributions that cross boundaries between traditional disciplines.
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Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy
Description: The unit is the foundational component of an international, interdisciplinary project that seeks to delineate the relationship between early Christianity and the ancient economy in the period from Jesus to Justinian, demonstrating both similarities and differences in attitudes, approaches to problems, and attempted solutions.
Call for papers: The unit is the foundational component of an international, interdisciplinary project that seeks to delineate the relationship between early Christianity and the ancient economy in the period from Jesus to Justinian, demonstrating both similarities and differences in attitudes, approaches to problems, and attempted solutions.
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Early Judaism and Rabbinics (EABS)
Description: The title and program of this unit are purposefully generic and refer to a timeframe during which Jewish society and thought developed and changed fundamentally: the second through the sixth century CE. The Hebrew Bible continued to be central to the Jews in this period, through its study and application, and a classical rabbinic literature was created in this period, including new genres, around the interpretation of the Bible and in response to it. The unit aims to provide a venue for cutting edge scholarship undertaken in the history of early Judaism in Europe and beyond. Currently, there is no such venue within the EABS. Our goal is to organize at least two sessions each year, one with an open call, and one that follows a specific theme. These calls will respond to the scholarly topics that we perceive or wish to stimulate, but they could also serve the discussion of critical recent publications.
Call for papers: This year, we will host two different session. 1) From Tannaim to Amoraim: Between Rupture and Continuity; and 2) The Reception of Ante-Diluvian Biblical Figures in Post Second-Temple Judaism.
1) Classical rabbinic periodization traditionally distinguishes between two distinct, Tannaitic and the Amoraic eras. This session aims to probe various aspects of similarity and difference between these eras and their literary products. Papers are invited that will explore ideological and cultural features of the dynamics within rabbinic literature that might explain, or, alternatively question this periodization. They may address themes relating to literary, political, philological, theological or geographical issues, and probe the potential contribution of internal or external factors in the emergence of this unique rabbinic time frame.
2) We invite scholars to submit papers dedicated to the reception of ante-diluvian (pre-flood) biblical figures in post Second-Temple Judaism. This session aims to explore the multifaceted ways in which figures such as Adam, Eve, Enoch, Noah, and others were interpreted, reimagined, and utilized in Jewish texts and traditions after the Second Temple period and before, roughly, the seventh century CE. Suggested approaches include but are not limited to: diachronic or synchronic comparison, cultural contextualization or cultural connotation, while the scope may include artefacts as well.
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Emotions and the Biblical World (EABS)
Description: The last few decades have witnessed a growing interest in the study of emotions among scholars of antiquity, reflecting a more general interest among scholars of various disciplines in how different societies throughout the centuries have conceptualised, represented, and used emotions. The Emotions and the Biblical World research unit explores the role that emotions play in biblical writings, and in Early Judaism and Early Christianity more generally. This includes but is not limited to patterns of articulating emotions, their significance in worship and broadly understood religious experience, the role of emotions in strategies of persuasion, the vocabulary used to describe emotions and their manifestations, the translation of emotion discourses, as well as the social and cultural factors that influence their expression, suppression or repression, with a particular focus on the relationship between emotions and gender, and between emotions and the construction of otherness. The literary corpora that we consider are not limited to the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, but also include other Early Jewish and Early Christian writings.
Call for papers: The last few decades have witnessed a growing interest in the study of emotions among scholars of antiquity, reflecting a more general interest among scholars of various disciplines in how different societies throughout the centuries have conceptualised, represented, and used emotions. The Emotions and the Biblical World research unit explores the role that emotions play in biblical writings, and in Early Judaism and Early Christianity more generally. This includes but is not limited to patterns of articulating emotions, their significance in worship and broadly understood religious experience, the role of emotions in strategies of persuasion, the vocabulary used to describe emotions and their manifestations, the translation of emotion discourses, as well as the social and cultural factors that influence their expression, suppression or repression, with a particular focus on the relationship between emotions and gender, and between emotions and the construction of otherness. The literary corpora that we consider are not limited to the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, but also include other Early Jewish and Early Christian writings.
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Enoch within and outside the Books of Enoch: Parabiblical Writings, Iconography, and Oral Tradition (EABS)
Description: The Vorlage of parabiblical writings attributed to Enoch was composed (in either Aramaic or Hebrew) no later than 1st cent. BCE, although some of its constituents (e.g. The Astronomical Book, The Book of Watchers) are dated to an earlier period (3rd cent. BCE). Its intellectual offspring survived in multilingual cross-cultural landscapes of the apocalyptic Judaeo-Christian traditions in three versions. 1 Enoch isfully attested in Ethiopic, with a number of extant segments in Aramaic from Qumran, as well as Greek passages embedded (predominantly, but not only) in Byzantine chronographic compositions; there are also fragments in Latin. 2 Enoch is wholly extant only in Church Slavonic (hence its designation as the Slavonic Apocalypse of Enoch), and 3 Enoch is attested exclusively in Hebrew. Significantly, The Book of Watchers, which was also known to the Church Fathers (e.g. Tertullian and Origen), was quoted as “scripture” in the Epistle of Jude. Since hitherto the scholarly discourse has been focused predominantly on apocryphal compositions ascribed to Enoch (i.e. 1, 2 and 3 Enoch), the current Research Unit aims at interdisciplinary analysis of Enoch’s image not only within, but also outside of the writings designated by his name, contextualizing them within the scribal heritage of the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), along with related iconography and conjoined vernacular oral traditions (when possible). History of ancient sciences (astronomy and calendrical knowledge) will feature as a significant constituent of the scope of disciplines involved in the analysis of the Enochic corpus. It will be also compared and contrasted to other parabiblical compositions from late antiquity and middle ages, with a special emphasis on ascent apocalypses for which Enoch functions as the archetypal template.
Call for papers: The Vorlage of parabiblical writings attributed to Enoch was composed (in either Aramaic or Hebrew) no later than 1st cent. BCE, although some of its constituents (e.g. The Astronomical Book, The Book of Watchers) are dated to an earlier period (3rd cent. BCE). Its intellectual offspring survived in multilingual cross-cultural landscapes of the apocalyptic Judaeo-Christian traditions in three versions. 1 Enoch isfully attested in Ethiopic, with a number of extant segments in Aramaic from Qumran, as well as Greek passages embedded (predominantly, but not only) in Byzantine chronographic compositions; there are also fragments in Latin. 2 Enoch is wholly extant only in Church Slavonic (hence its designation as the Slavonic Apocalypse of Enoch), and 3 Enoch is attested exclusively in Hebrew. Significantly, The Book of Watchers, which was also known to the Church Fathers (e.g. Tertullian and Origen), was quoted as “scripture” in the Epistle of Jude. Since hitherto the scholarly discourse has been focused predominantly on apocryphal compositions ascribed to Enoch (i.e. 1, 2 and 3 Enoch), the current Research Unit aims at interdisciplinary analysis of Enoch’s image not only within, but also outside of the writings designated by his name, contextualizing them within the scribal heritage of the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), along with related iconography and conjoined vernacular oral traditions (when possible). History of ancient sciences (astronomy and calendrical knowledge) will feature as a significant constituent of the scope of disciplines involved in the analysis of the Enochic corpus. It will be also compared and contrasted to other parabiblical compositions from late antiquity and middle ages, with a special emphasis on ascent apocalypses for which Enoch functions as the archetypal template.
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Families and Children in the Ancient World
Description: This unit provides a forum for presenting and discussing issues related to families, children and biblical literature. The section is open to presentations on the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Testament and early Christian, Rabbinic and Greco-Roman material from a variety of perspectives and using a variety of methods.
Call for papers: This unit provides a forum for presenting and discussing issues related to families, children and biblical literature. The section is open to presentations on the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Testament and early Christian, Rabbinic and Greco-Roman material from a variety of perspectives and using a variety of methods.
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Gospel of Mark
Description: Our aim is to provide a forum for scholars and graduate students to explore all aspects of and approaches to the research, hermeneutics, and interpretation of the Gospel of Mark, including (but not limited to) historical, exegetical, theological, methodological, and literary studies. We are especially interested in the investigation of new questions, new areas of inquiry, and new strategies for reading Mark.
Call for papers: The Gospel of Mark Section is a forum for scholars and graduate students exploring all aspects of and approaches to research and interpretation of the Gospel of Mark, including (but not limited to) historical, exegetical, theological, and literary studies, but especially the investigation of new questions, new areas of inquiry, and new strategies for reading Mark.
For the 2025 joined international meeting of SBL and EABS in Uppsala, the Gospel of Mark Section is soliciting proposals in three areas: (1) early commentaries and/or patristic reception of Mark, (2) Mark in Judaism (joined session with EABS New Testament writings within Judaism); (3) an open session on any aspect of the Gospel of Mark consistent with the section’s mission.
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Graeco-Roman Society and the New Testament (EABS)
Description: The research group focuses a) on various aspects of the social life and cultural world of the Graeco-Roman cities and communities in which Jews and Christians operated (e.g. household networks and religion, kinship, gender, friendship and other relationships, slavery, prostitution, social and geographical mobility, social groups, everyday life in Graeco-Roman cities etc.). These local communities, their cultural systems and social structures provide the socio-historical and cultural context of the New Testament texts and can therefore provide valuable insight into the early Christian groups, b) on artefacts from the Graeco-Roman world (e.g. coins and archeological findings) or non-literary texts preserved on stone, papyri or are material that can shed light into the life of Jewish and Christian groups of this time, and c) on methodological issues and lenses that are relevant to the discussion of the Graeco-Roman material culture and can contribute to the reconstruction of the social and cultural context of the New Testament communities. Papers that present interdisciplinary approaches to the topics under discussion and offer new insights and fresh interpretations of Jewish and Christian sources placing them within their socio-historical and cultural context are welcome.
Call for papers: The research group focuses a) on various aspects of the social life and cultural world of the Graeco-Roman cities and communities in which Jews and Christians operated (e.g. household networks and religion, kinship, gender, friendship and other relationships, slavery, prostitution, social and geographical mobility, social groups, everyday life in Graeco-Roman cities etc.). These local communities, their cultural systems and social structures provide the socio-historical and cultural context of the New Testament texts and can therefore provide valuable insight into the early Christian groups, b) on artefacts from the Graeco-Roman world (e.g. coins and archeological findings) or non-literary texts preserved on stone, papyri or are material that can shed light into the life of Jewish and Christian groups of this time, and c) on methodological issues and lenses that are relevant to the discussion of the Graeco-Roman material culture and can contribute to the reconstruction of the social and cultural context of the New Testament communities. Papers that present interdisciplinary approaches to the topics under discussion and offer new insights and fresh interpretations of Jewish and Christian sources placing them within their socio-historical and cultural context are welcome.
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Heeding the Hidden Voices in Second Temple Jewish Literature
Description: This unit will explore the unspoken suffering of marginalized individuals,
such as widows, orphans, children, divorcees, trafficking victims, forced
laborers, and military conscripts during the 2nd Temple period, shedding
light on their untold emotional struggles.
Call for papers: This unit will explore the unspoken suffering of marginalized individuals,
such as widows, orphans, children, divorcees, trafficking victims, forced
laborers, and military conscripts during the 2nd Temple period, shedding
light on their untold emotional struggles.
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Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics
Description: Hellenistic Greek forms the basis of studies relative to both testaments as well as much of the ancient world. This section welcomes papers on any aspect of the Greek found in the Septuagint, New Testament, or other Hellenistic literature. Linguistic, grammatical and lexical studies are particularly encouraged.
Call for papers: Hellenistic Greek forms the basis of studies relative to both testaments as well as much of the ancient world. This section welcomes papers on any aspect of the Greek found in the Septuagint, New Testament, or other Hellenistic literature. Linguistic, grammatical and lexical studies are particularly encouraged.
Tags: Greek - Attic (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics)), Greek - Koine (LXX, NT, Patristics) (Philology / Linguistics (incl. Semiotics))
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Historical Approaches to the Bible and the Biblical World (EABS)
Description: This research unit is dedicated to providing an interdisciplinary forum for cooperation between biblical scholars, historians, archaeologists, etc. It is based on the realization that the reconstruction of the history of ancient Israel/Palestine has to correlate biblical and extra-biblical sources (archaeology, epigraphy, iconography, numismatics, etc.). Thus, the research unit will engage in a critical methodological discourse on the role of all available and relevant sources for a “Geschichte Israels”, their interpretation in their own right and their combination. Moreover, the unit’s research is committed to a broader comparative approach, by bringing together experts on the history of ancient Israel/Palestine and scholars dealing with other regions of the ancient world, whose expertise can facilitate a new understanding of biblical scholars’, historians’, etc. own methods and objects of study.
Call for papers: This research unit is dedicated to providing an interdisciplinary forum for cooperation between biblical scholars, historians, archaeologists, etc. It is based on the realization that the reconstruction of the history of ancient Israel/Palestine has to correlate biblical and extra-biblical sources (archaeology, epigraphy, iconography, numismatics, etc.). Thus, the research unit will engage in a critical methodological discourse on the role of all available and relevant sources for a “Geschichte Israels”, their interpretation in their own right and their combination. Moreover, the unit’s research is committed to a broader comparative approach, by bringing together experts on the history of ancient Israel/Palestine and scholars dealing with other regions of the ancient world, whose expertise can facilitate a new understanding of biblical scholars’, historians’, etc. own methods and objects of study.
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Iconography and Biblical Studies (EABS)
Description: The research unit provides space for scholarly discourse linking the Hebrew Bible and New Testament scholarship for the study of ancient Near Eastern visual culture. While most of EABS's research units concern texts and literature, this research unit provides a much-needed space for the study of visual culture as part of the archaeology of the ancient Near East. The research unit encourages engagement beyond the biblical canon with visual culture from the ancient Levant, the Mediterranean, Egypt, and Mesopotamia and its reception.
Archaeology provides essential data for understanding biblical literature in its historical contexts. An important branch of archaeology is iconography, the study of pictorial expressions. Visual expressions depict various subjects: the natural and cultivated world, daily life, rituals, and ideas. Studying visual material—contemporary and non-contemporary—to biblical literature (the Hebrew Bible and New Testament) affords insights into the historical contexts of the text. It facilitates an awareness of how the people contemporaneous with the text thought, imagined, and observed reality. The research unit “Iconography and Biblical Studies” is interdisciplinary.
The research unit welcomes diverse approaches and methodologies, including iconographic, art historical, comparative, historical, and cognitive approaches, reception history, gender studies, political and hermeneutical methodologies. These approaches are applied to visual culture relevant for studying biblical literature, its contexts, and contemporary interpretation.
Call for papers: The research unit provides space for scholarly discourse linking the Hebrew Bible and New Testament scholarship for the study of ancient Near Eastern visual culture. While most of EABS's research units concern texts and literature, this research unit provides a much-needed space for the study of visual culture as part of the archaeology of the ancient Near East. The research unit encourages engagement beyond the biblical canon with visual culture from the ancient Levant, the Mediterranean, Egypt, and Mesopotamia and its reception.
Archaeology provides essential data for understanding biblical literature in its historical contexts. An important branch of archaeology is iconography, the study of pictorial expressions. Visual expressions depict various subjects: the natural and cultivated world, daily life, rituals, and ideas. Studying visual material—contemporary and non-contemporary—to biblical literature (the Hebrew Bible and New Testament) affords insights into the historical contexts of the text. It facilitates an awareness of how the people contemporaneous with the text thought, imagined, and observed reality. The research unit “Iconography and Biblical Studies” is interdisciplinary.
The research unit welcomes diverse approaches and methodologies, including iconographic, art historical, comparative, historical, and cognitive approaches, reception history, gender studies, political and hermeneutical methodologies. These approaches are applied to visual culture relevant for studying biblical literature, its contexts, and contemporary interpretation.
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Impact of Hellenistic Empires (EABS)
Description: The Research Group is primarily concerned with the impact of empire on the political organization, social structures, and ideology of local polities of the Ancient Near East in Hellenistic times, on the one hand, and their literary imagination, on the other. The structural changes and historical events affecting Judaea will be both addressed directly and set in their wider, regional and interregional context(s), primarily (but not exclusively) defined as the Seleukid empire at large and Ptolemaic Egypt. Likewise, the question of the relation between, on the one hand, the Hellenistic, imperial setting and its bearings on Judaea and neighbouring polities and, on the other hand, the literary production of the time, will be of central concern. To this end, the Research group intends to bring together historians, social scientists, epigraphists, archaeologists, and text scholars. Although the Research Group will focus on Hellenistic times, its chronological range will also cover Persian and Roman imperial times, and cooperation with Research Groups focusing on these periods as well as on narrowly-defined topics (such as “resistance”) overlapping with the concerns of the Research Group will be considered.
Call for papers: The Research Group is primarily concerned with the impact of empire on the political organization, social structures, and ideology of local polities of the Ancient Near East in Hellenistic times, on the one hand, and their literary imagination, on the other. The structural changes and historical events affecting Judaea will be both addressed directly and set in their wider, regional and interregional context(s), primarily (but not exclusively) defined as the Seleukid empire at large and Ptolemaic Egypt. Likewise, the question of the relation between, on the one hand, the Hellenistic, imperial setting and its bearings on Judaea and neighbouring polities and, on the other hand, the literary production of the time, will be of central concern. To this end, the Research group intends to bring together historians, social scientists, epigraphists, archaeologists, and text scholars. Although the Research Group will focus on Hellenistic times, its chronological range will also cover Persian and Roman imperial times, and cooperation with Research Groups focusing on these periods as well as on narrowly-defined topics (such as “resistance”) overlapping with the concerns of the Research Group will be considered.
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Intersectional Criticism: Gender, Class, Race, Sexuality, and Disability (EABS)
Description: Intersectionality refers to interconnected social categorisations such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. An intersectional approach to biblical studies explores how our understanding of these interconnected social categories can enliven our interpretation of biblical texts, seeking out unheard or unacknowledged voices and narratives within the texts. It encourages us to think about intersecting power dynamics within the text and how unpacking these dynamics can broaden our scope for interpretation. The question of intersectionality not only applies to the text but to the scholars themselves. As scholars, we inhabit a range of intersecting social locations which shape our textual interpretation and in recognising this, we hope this research unit will create space for scholars to interrogate how their positionality manifests in their work. Conversations about positionality are beginning to emerge in biblical studies, and this research unit seeks to further this conversation. Alongside creating a space for intersectional research, our goal is also to offer an opportunity for marginalised scholars to present their research. It is our hope that the papers presented in this research unit will showcase how acknowledging the way our social locations impact our research garners varied and rich reflections, creating a field that is more reflective of the scholars it comprises.
Call for papers: “This unit, ‘Intersectional Criticism: Gender, Class, Race, Sexuality, and Disability’ will host a session at the conference in Uppsala 2025. Intersectionality denotes the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. This unit has two focuses - intersectionality within the biblical text and reflecting the intersecting positionality of the scholars themselves. The first session invites papers with an intersectional approach to biblical texts that explore how our understanding of these interconnected social categories can enliven our interpretation, seeking out unheard or unacknowledged voices and narratives. We encourage scholars to think about intersecting power dynamics within the text and how unpacking these dynamics can broaden our scope for interpretation. Our second session invites papers on the theme of intersecting positionality of us as scholars. We inhabit a range of intersecting social locations which shape our textual interpretation and in recognising this, we seek papers in which scholars interrogate how their positionality manifests in their work. Conversations about positionality are beginning to emerge in biblical studies, and this research unit seeks to further this conversation. Our final session will be an open discussion on the role of biblical scholarship in response to global crises. We acknowledge the impact of biblical scholarship outside of the academy and seek to explore the question of our social responsibility as scholars.
We also hope this conversation will help build networks of solidarity and opportunities for collaboration within the broader field.”
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Intersections: A Forum for Research on Ancient Israel, Hebrew Bible, and Cognate Topics (EABS)
Description: ‘Intersections’ provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and discussion of the full range of methods and interdisciplinary investigations currently being applied to the study of the Hebrew Bible, ancient Israel, and cognate topics, including their contemporary receptions. It celebrates diversity and encourages presentations by scholars working in less-trodden areas/approaches. ‘Intersections’ aims at countering current tendencies toward the fragmentation of our field into separate mini/micro-fields and at furthering interactions among scholars using various approaches and working in different areas in order to stimulate new insights through cross-fertilization.
This research unit accepts a maximum of ten papers per meeting.
Call for papers: ‘Intersections’ provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and discussion of the full range of methods and interdisciplinary investigations currently being applied to the study of the Hebrew Bible, ancient Israel, and cognate topics, including their contemporary receptions. It celebrates diversity and encourages presentations by scholars working in less-trodden areas/approaches. ‘Intersections’ aims at countering current tendencies toward the fragmentation of our field into separate mini/micro-fields and at furthering interactions among scholars using various approaches and working in different areas in order to stimulate new insights through cross-fertilization.
This research unit accepts a maximum of ten papers per meeting.
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Jews, Christians, and the Materiality of Mortuary Ritual in Late Antiquity (EABS)
Description: This research unit provides an interdisciplinary forum for biblical scholars and material culture specialists, seeking to understand the mortuary rituals of Mediterranean Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity both in their broader (‘pagan’) contexts and in relation to each other. The term ‘mortuary rituals’ refers to death-related ritual practices, such as the treatment of the body, mourning, commemoration, and continued interaction with the deceased (e.g., visits to the burial place, festivals for the dead). These rituals were facilitated by various forms of material culture, which still leave their traces: inscriptions, burial vessels, grave goods, funerary architecture, feasting accessories, etc. It is now generally acknowledged that the strict division between the mortuary rituals of ‘pagans’, Jews, and Christians is overly simplistic, also in terms of their material features. Since Jews and Christians were integral parts of their communities, their mortuary rituals were part and parcel of their cultural surroundings; at the same time, these started to take on distinctive features, often understood in terms of deliberate demarcation. This is the starting point for considering questions like these ritual practitioners’ attitudes towards death, the identities of the deceased and their relatives, or the boundaries between this world and the next.
Call for papers: This research unit provides an interdisciplinary forum for biblical scholars and material culture specialists, seeking to understand the mortuary rituals of Mediterranean Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity both in their broader (‘pagan’) contexts and in relation to each other. The term ‘mortuary rituals’ refers to death-related ritual practices, such as the treatment of the body, mourning, commemoration, and continued interaction with the deceased (e.g., visits to the burial place, festivals for the dead). These rituals were facilitated by various forms of material culture, which still leave their traces: inscriptions, burial vessels, grave goods, funerary architecture, feasting accessories, etc. It is now generally acknowledged that the strict division between the mortuary rituals of ‘pagans’, Jews, and Christians is overly simplistic, also in terms of their material features. Since Jews and Christians were integral parts of their communities, their mortuary rituals were part and parcel of their cultural surroundings; at the same time, these started to take on distinctive features, often understood in terms of deliberate demarcation. This is the starting point for considering questions like these ritual practitioners’ attitudes towards death, the identities of the deceased and their relatives, or the boundaries between this world and the next.
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Johannine Literature
Description: The unit promotes the study of the Johannine literature, a major component of the Christian Scripture; addressing the issues and concerns having to do with the analysis and interpretation of the literature.
Call for papers: The Johannine Literature sections from the EABS and SBL are inviting paper proposals on the topic of ‘"The Fourth Gospel’s Interaction with the Old Testament" (e.g. the reception of OT motifs, the use of a specific OT writing, OT persons, questions of intertextuality etc.) as the focus for at least one session. We will also host open sessions and invite paper proposals on the Johannine Epistles as well as the Gospel of John.”
Tags: Gospels - John (Biblical Literature - New Testament)
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Johannine Literature (EABS)
Description: This research unit provides a forum for discussion of literary, theological, and historical issues and perspectives relating to the interpretation of the Johannine literature, understood for this purpose as encompassing the Gospel of John and the Letters of John.
Call for papers: This research unit provides a forum for discussion of literary, theological, and historical issues and perspectives relating to the interpretation of the Johannine literature, understood for this purpose as encompassing the Gospel of John and the Letters of John.
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Literary Features: Fact or Fiction (EABS)
Description: This research group aims at providing a forum for scholars with an interest in “literary features” in the Hebrew Bible and other ancient Near Eastern texts. Features include widely found phenomena such as alliteration and paronomasia, but also the typical biblical parallelismus membrorum and other structurally embedded features such as chiasm and inclusio. In addition, also devices that exploit the double or multiple meanings of words are included, such as Janus parallelism and double entendre. The group is interested in the functionality of all of these features in textual corpora of the ancient Near East and in particular the Hebrew Bible. We welcome a broad variety of methodological approaches to tackle the following questions: what does a particular feature do in a text (from as small as a line to a large corpus of texts)? How does it affect the reading experience? How does it shape the meaning of a text? And finally, how do the feature, the reader, and the text produce meaning together?
Call for papers: This research group aims at providing a forum for scholars with an interest in “literary features” in the Hebrew Bible and other ancient Near Eastern texts. Features include widely found phenomena such as alliteration and paronomasia, but also the typical biblical parallelismus membrorum and other structurally embedded features such as chiasm and inclusio. In addition, also devices that exploit the double or multiple meanings of words are included, such as Janus parallelism and double entendre. The group is interested in the functionality of all of these features in textual corpora of the ancient Near East and in particular the Hebrew Bible. We welcome a broad variety of methodological approaches to tackle the following questions: what does a particular feature do in a text (from as small as a line to a large corpus of texts)? How does it affect the reading experience? How does it shape the meaning of a text? And finally, how do the feature, the reader, and the text produce meaning together?
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Lived Scriptures in Late Antiquity (EABS)
Description: In Late Antiquity, there was no “Bible” and the level of literacy was low. Yet, “biblical texts” were used and interpreted in multiple contexts. This research unit studies biblical receptions in Late Antiquity (ca. 1st–7th centuries CE) in the widest sense of the term. What texts were considered “biblical”? How did the ancients relate to authoritative texts and use them? What impact did these texts have on their readers’ lives? Inspired by discussions on lived religion, the research unit aims to broaden the focus from the dominant to the margins and to reconstruct a diversity of perspectives on scriptures in Late Antiquity. We emphasize the situatedness of texts in particular socio-historical, cultural and geographical locations, appreciating the corporeality of the past. We invite papers that examine scriptures and their receptions in Late Antiquity as “lived”. We especially welcome contributions that are informed by culture and gender critical approaches as well as the framework of lived religion.
Call for papers: In Late Antiquity, there was no “Bible” and the level of literacy was low. Yet, “biblical texts” were used and interpreted in multiple contexts. This research unit studies biblical receptions in Late Antiquity (ca. 1st–7th centuries CE) in the widest sense of the term. What texts were considered “biblical”? How did the ancients relate to authoritative texts and use them? What impact did these texts have on their readers’ lives? Inspired by discussions on lived religion, the research unit aims to broaden the focus from the dominant to the margins and to reconstruct a diversity of perspectives on scriptures in Late Antiquity. We emphasize the situatedness of texts in particular socio-historical, cultural and geographical locations, appreciating the corporeality of the past. We invite papers that examine scriptures and their receptions in Late Antiquity as “lived”. We especially welcome contributions that are informed by culture and gender critical approaches as well as the framework of lived religion.
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Living in the Last Days: New Testament Eschatology and Its Contexts (EABS)
Description: This research unit aims to investigate how the belief of “living in the last days” shaped the writings of the New Testament corpus. The expectation of the forthcoming End in the immediate future formed the ideal basis for the early Christians’ refusal of any compromise with history as well as its political powers. This radicalism, historically labelled in scholarship as “eschatological”, strongly characterised and influenced early Christian literary production. In an attempt to move research forward and take account of the huge significance of eschatological thought in the wider context of the Early Imperial Times (Star, 2021), this research unit focuses specifically on the New Testament. It seeks to more fully understand and better nuance the peculiar characteristics that distinguishes these writings’ eschatologies from contemporary ancient Jewish and Graeco-Roman expectations of the End.
Call for papers: This research unit aims to investigate how the belief of “living in the last days” shaped the writings of the New Testament corpus. The expectation of the forthcoming End in the immediate future formed the ideal basis for the early Christians’ refusal of any compromise with history as well as its political powers. This radicalism, historically labelled in scholarship as “eschatological”, strongly characterised and influenced early Christian literary production. In an attempt to move research forward and take account of the huge significance of eschatological thought in the wider context of the Early Imperial Times (Star, 2021), this research unit focuses specifically on the New Testament. It seeks to more fully understand and better nuance the peculiar characteristics that distinguishes these writings’ eschatologies from contemporary ancient Jewish and Graeco-Roman expectations of the End.
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Loneliness in the Biblical World
Description: The unit "Loneliness in the Biblical World" studies ancient portrayals of life
alone and brings them into conversation with contemporary social and
psychological research.
Call for papers: The unit "Loneliness in the Biblical World" studies ancient portrayals of life
alone and brings them into conversation with contemporary social and
psychological research.
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Mariological Discourses (EABS)
Description: The aim of the Research Unit is to gather specialists from different fields (theology, philology, religious anthropology, art history, sensory ethnography, etc.) thus creating a forum for discussion on socio-cultural and confessional paradigms involved in the study of the image of the Virgin Mary in Christianity (Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, Protestantism) in their multilingual environments. Contributions in the field of Mariological literature (in Greek, Syriac, Latin, Slavonic, Armenian, etc.), Church music, and iconography are especially welcomed, together with explorations in patristic tradition. Studies in ethno-confessional dimensions of the cult of the Virgin Mary are sought (including research in the field of vernacular religious practices), along with Mariological festivals as temporary markers of events in her life celebrated by the communities. Contributions exploring the sacred sites related to the veneration of the Virgin Mary in various ethnic and religious landscapes, including places of pilgrimage, are also relevant. Here particularly important are the collections of the Marian miracles preserved and composed in several European and Oriental languages. Approaches involving sensory ethnography and visual anthropology are welcome. Encouraged will be studies devoted to inter- confessional encounters related to Marian narratives in the three Abrahamic religions, such as attitudes to Mary in Rabbinic sources and in Islamic tradition. The approach of the participants in the workshop to Mariological topoi is to be interdisciplinary.
Call for papers: The aim of the Research Unit is to gather specialists from different fields (theology, philology, religious anthropology, art history, sensory ethnography, etc.) thus creating a forum for discussion on socio-cultural and confessional paradigms involved in the study of the image of the Virgin Mary in Christianity (Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, Protestantism) in their multilingual environments. Contributions in the field of Mariological literature (in Greek, Syriac, Latin, Slavonic, Armenian, etc.), Church music, and iconography are especially welcomed, together with explorations in patristic tradition. Studies in ethno-confessional dimensions of the cult of the Virgin Mary are sought (including research in the field of vernacular religious practices), along with Mariological festivals as temporary markers of events in her life celebrated by the communities. Contributions exploring the sacred sites related to the veneration of the Virgin Mary in various ethnic and religious landscapes, including places of pilgrimage, are also relevant. Here particularly important are the collections of the Marian miracles preserved and composed in several European and Oriental languages. Approaches involving sensory ethnography and visual anthropology are welcome. Encouraged will be studies devoted to inter- confessional encounters related to Marian narratives in the three Abrahamic religions, such as attitudes to Mary in Rabbinic sources and in Islamic tradition. The approach of the participants in the workshop to Mariological topoi is to be interdisciplinary.
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Medicine, Sciences, and Knowledge in Biblical and Talmudic Traditions (EABS)
Description: The group focuses primarily on medical and scientific ideas and practices in the Biblical and Rabbinic traditions in a wider sense (e.g. New Testament, Qumranic texts, so-called "apocryphal" traditions, Targum, early Christian texts), as well as in closely related or contemporary traditions (e.g. ancient Babylonia, Persian, Graeco-Roman, Manichean, or early Islamic). The research unit will address the complex and often subtle processes of reception, adaptation and production of medicine and various sciences in the transformative period of (late) antiquity as a rich ‘encyclopaedic’ body of knowledge within their broader trans-cultural, philosophical and religious contexts. Biblical, Talmudic and other traditions of ancient knowledge making will be studied in relation to similar corpora (e.g. scientific, legal and religious compilational texts) and as embedded within broader intellectual trends (e.g. transformation of Wisdom or paideia, concepts of human/nature, emerging Christianity, translation movements).
Particular attention will be paid also to the interplay between form and content, hermeneutics and representations as specific ways of appropriating scientific ideas and practices to particular cultural or religious epistemologies or knowledge regimes. Contributions should aim at offering a comparative perspective on the embeddedness of medical and scientific discourses in their surrounding cultures (ancient Mesopotamian, Near Eastern, Graeco-Roman, Persian, Byzantine, Syriac etc.). The aim is to examine from a decidedly comparative perspective how the authors gathered, organised and framed their medical and scientific interests through compilation strategies and discursive patterns. On one hand, such a perspective will help assessing ancient Jewish and Talmudic scientific ideas within the broader history of ancient knowledge cultures. On the other, comparison will allow to determine the distinct epistemologies or particular Jewishness of such discourse. Furth
Call for papers: The group focuses primarily on medical and scientific ideas and practices in the Biblical and Rabbinic traditions in a wider sense (e.g. New Testament, Qumranic texts, so-called "apocryphal" traditions, Targum, early Christian texts), as well as in closely related or contemporary traditions (e.g. ancient Babylonia, Persian, Graeco-Roman, Manichean, or early Islamic). The research unit will address the complex and often subtle processes of reception, adaptation and production of medicine and various sciences in the transformative period of (late) antiquity as a rich ‘encyclopaedic’ body of knowledge within their broader trans-cultural, philosophical and religious contexts. Biblical, Talmudic and other traditions of ancient knowledge making will be studied in relation to similar corpora (e.g. scientific, legal and religious compilational texts) and as embedded within broader intellectual trends (e.g. transformation of Wisdom or paideia, concepts of human/nature, emerging Christianity, translation movements).
Particular attention will be paid also to the interplay between form and content, hermeneutics and representations as specific ways of appropriating scientific ideas and practices to particular cultural or religious epistemologies or knowledge regimes. Contributions should aim at offering a comparative perspective on the embeddedness of medical and scientific discourses in their surrounding cultures (ancient Mesopotamian, Near Eastern, Graeco-Roman, Persian, Byzantine, Syriac etc.). The aim is to examine from a decidedly comparative perspective how the authors gathered, organised and framed their medical and scientific interests through compilation strategies and discursive patterns. On one hand, such a perspective will help assessing ancient Jewish and Talmudic scientific ideas within the broader history of ancient knowledge cultures. On the other, comparison will allow to determine the distinct epistemologies or particular Jewishness of such discourse. Furth
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Memory, Method, and Text (EABS)
Description: Social memory theory and related sociological and/or cultural anthropological studies have become important new players in the exegetical discourse. The research done in the last decades has proven that the application of memory studies can indeed enhance both the understanding of biblical texts and contexts and the reception of those texts and contexts in the first four centuries. One of the most important and controversial questions of the current debate is how memory theory achieves this. As social memory theory is not a method but rather a hermeneutical lens, it is difficult to speak of a “memory approach”. The research unit aims both to explore how social memory theory can inform methodology and develop tools for reading and understanding Early Christian traditions and texts based on the interdisciplinary theoretical work of social scientists like Maurice Halbwachs and experts for particular cultures like Jan Assmann (Egyptology) or Aleida Assmann (Anglistics) and others like Pierre Nora, Barry Schwartz, or Marianne Hirsch. The goal is to move beyond traditional historical questions that aim to uncover earlier sources and reconstruct the past to an understanding of these traditions and texts as diverse processes of receptions of the past among groups of Jesus followers within their different cultural contexts. The sessions of the research unit will, in next five years, focus both on questions of hermeneutics and methodology as well as what it is that memory studies contributes to an understanding of Early Christian texts, both biblical and non-biblical, with a special focus on trauma and resilience, lieux de mémoire, and liturgy and ritual.
Call for papers: The research unit Memory, Method, and Text plans three different kinds of sessions for 2025: a) hermeneutical sessions to discuss methodological questions, b) thematic sessions, and c) open session. For the hermeneutical sessions a), we invite papers that deal with the question of memory theory and classical historical-critical exegesis, in particular Redaktionskritik and Formkritik. The focus of the discussion should be on the questions of what it is that memory theory is doing that is different and if memory theory and historical-critical exegesis are complementary or mutually exclusive. For the thematic sessions b) we will be focusing on questions of trauma, social identity, and memory. In addition, we will have one joint session with the "Representations of Cultural Trauma in the Hebrew Bible” group. For these sessions we invite papers that deal with the question of what trauma is either engaging with Jeffrey Alexander’s or Jan and Aleida Assmann’s concepts of cultural trauma or generational trauma, and explore concepts, definitions and possible applications on biblical and non-biblical texts. For the open sessions c), we invite papers and presentations of projects that investigate hermeneutical/methodological questions as well as applications of memory theory to different texts and contexts of the Bible. We especially invite younger scholars to present and discuss their research projects with the group
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Methods of New Testament Exegesis (EABS)
Description: Exegetical methods are fundamental to the scholarly study of biblical texts. Since the beginnings of New Testament studies as an academic discipline, the methods of text interpretation have undergone several developments and modifications. In recent decades, the methodological diversity of New Testament exegesis has widened significantly when scholars adapted approaches from neighbouring sciences, such as linguistics, cognitive sciences and cultural studies. At the same time, established methods, e.g. form criticism (Formgeschichte) or tradition history, have been critically evaluated. This research unit aims at exploring how established methods and recently introduced approaches relate to each other: Where do older methods merge with newer ones? In what way are these methodological approaches part of the range of historical criticism? Is the juxtaposition of so-called synchronic and diachronic approaches still reasonable? How can we meaningfully delineate and name specific exegetical methods to facilitate academic discourse and teaching at an academic level? And how do exegetical approaches differ within the theological traditions of different countries and denominations? This research unit will also facilitate an open-minded exchange about the practice of exegetical introductory courses at the various universities and theological educational institutions across Europe and around the world.
Call for papers: Exegetical methods are fundamental to the scholarly study of biblical texts. Since the beginnings of New Testament studies as an academic discipline, the methods of text interpretation have undergone several developments and modifications. In recent decades, the methodological diversity of New Testament exegesis has widened significantly when scholars adapted approaches from neighbouring sciences, such as linguistics, cognitive sciences and cultural studies. At the same time, established methods, e.g. form criticism (Formgeschichte) or tradition history, have been critically evaluated. This research unit aims at exploring how established methods and recently introduced approaches relate to each other: Where do older methods merge with newer ones? In what way are these methodological approaches part of the range of historical criticism? Is the juxtaposition of so-called synchronic and diachronic approaches still reasonable? How can we meaningfully delineate and name specific exegetical methods to facilitate academic discourse and teaching at an academic level? And how do exegetical approaches differ within the theological traditions of different countries and denominations? This research unit will also facilitate an open-minded exchange about the practice of exegetical introductory courses at the various universities and theological educational institutions across Europe and around the world.
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Miracles and Paradoxography in Biblical Reception from Late Antiquity (EABS)
Description: This research unit is intended to host conversations between texts of biblical reception (broadly conceived) and so-called paradoxography, an ancient genre invested in cataloguing and describing what we moderns would call natural wonders. Thematically, these collections include accounts of animals, plants, rivers, or peoples and their customs. The recently renewed focus in Classics on paradoxography has demonstrated that fascination with marvels impacted many different literary productions, and may, at times, be responsible for the apparent increase in fantastic and super-human motifs in late antique literature. The research unit encourages scholars to engage with paradoxographies and related literature to study the attitudes of authors toward marvellous and paradoxical phenomena, and to reflect on their prospective literary influence. It is our contention that a basic understanding of the genre of paradoxography might in many cases be imperative to locate any miraculous story in its literary context and to put an author’s literary creativity under perspective.
Call for papers: For the final meeting of this research unit, we invite papers dealing with late ancient reception of Greco-Roman miracle collections – so-called paradoxographies. For instance, we welcome papers dealing with the compilation and redaction of paradoxographies, their use of sources, implicit interpretation strategies and way of organizing wonders. We also welcome papers studying specific themes in dealing with miracles, be it the times and places whereto Jewish and early Christian texts ascribe certain wonders, exotic afflictions described in paradoxographies, medical treatments making use of nature’s miracles, or paradoxographical bodies such as giants, ant-lions, centaurs, or dog-headed people. Papers studying how ancient narratives such as apocryphal acts or hagiographies deal with strange and exotic phenomena are also welcome.
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Museums and the Bible (EABS)
Description: The Museums and the Bible Research Unit is dedicated to exploring the complex interactions between biblical studies and museums, focusing on how museums collect, curate, display, interpret, and derive benefit from ancient texts and artifacts tied to the Bible. Among the central concerns for this research unit are the ethics of this museum-bible nexus, its sociopolitical implications, and the elite power relationships that shape it. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, this research unit aims to deepen our understanding of the ways in which museums teach, politicize, and harness the Bible to validate colonial, racist, and gendered viewpoints and generate consent to existing political orders.
Call for papers: Museums and the Bible research unit will examine the contextual ways in which museum objects are interpreted as “biblical” artifacts or related to the Bible. The aim here is to interrogate an interpretative process that is deemed neutral in traditional biblical studies and yet fraught with a complex web of ideological entanglements and colonial pasts. The focus will not only be high profile objects tied to the Bible but also forgeries, facsimiles, duplicates, and artifacts with contested heritage. The session invites papers that critically interrogate how museums “make” these objects “speak the Bible” through specific affective strategies, scientific discourses, modes of representation, and pedagogical techniques. Here, the notion of “make” also has in view the power dynamics inherent to the process of conflating museum objects with the people, places, and practices in the Bible.
Key questions include: What narratives are constructed or deconstructed through the exhibition of these objects? How do modes of representation influence public understanding of the Bible and its cultural significance? What role do museums play in mediating the relationship between the Bible and contemporary socio-political contexts?
An interdisciplinary approach is encouraged for both the invited and open sessions, including topics that engage the museums of the host city. We welcome contributions from fields including (but not limited to) biblical studies, museum studies, anthropology, art history, and cultural studies. Papers may address theoretical considerations, case studies, or methodological innovations that shed light on the dynamic interactions between biblical texts, artifacts, and museum practices.
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Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Description: The Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section provides a forum for current international research on the Coptic codices discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945. Research areas include: issues of text and translation; analysis and interpretation of the tractates; codicological analysis; background and provenance of the manuscripts; studies relevant to the larger social and religio-historical contexts of the Nag Hammadi texts, especially their relation to Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman religious traditions.
Call for papers: The Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section provides a forum for current international research on the Coptic codices discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945. Research areas include: issues of text and translation; analysis and interpretation of the tractates; codicological analysis; background and provenance of the manuscripts; studies relevant to the larger social and religio-historical contexts of the Nag Hammadi texts, especially their relation to Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman religious traditions.
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New Testament Writings within Judaism (EABS)
Description: New Testament is a corpus of texts that describe life and legacy of Jesus - a first century Judean martyr, who was proclaimed the Messiah of Israel by some of his fellow Judeans. The movement which originated in Jerusalem, soon reached beyond the Land of Israel and became predominantly Gentile. As a consequence of various socio-political-religious factors, in the following decades, the connection between emerging Christianity and Judaism became increasingly weaker, which laid foundation for later interpretations picturing Jesus, Paul and other NT figures as proponents of new Christian religion opposed firmly to Judaism and Torah. In recent decades, however, increasing number of scholars have engaged in a research, which attempts to describe various NT texts in its original context of Second Temple Judaism. This interdisciplinary unit aims to present developments in this field and invite scholars from the fields of NT, Second Temple Judaism, rabbinic texts, history, religion, social memory, Greek and Hebrew philology, rhetoric and others to engage in a dialogue regarding this new way of interpreting NT texts. It is hoped, the unit can become a platform to present more context-informed readings and interpretations, combat harmful stereotypes and open new fields of interreligious dialogue.
Call for papers: For Upsala 2025 conference the New Testament Writings within Judaism unit invites paper proposals in two subjects:
1) Gospels within Judaism.
While Paul and his letters have received a good deal of attention from scholars working in the “within Judaism” perspective on the NT, explorations of the Gospels from this perspective have been much fewer and far less developed. On the one hand, there is, today, a broad consensus that the historical Jesus must be understood as a first-century Eastern Mediterranean Jew whose movement had no intentions of breaking from Jewish ancestral tradition. On the other hand, there is significant debate over whether the Gospels—as the earliest textual receptions of Jesus tradition—should be read within a similar historical-hermeneutical framework.
Moving beyond interpretations of the Gospels simply against the “background” of Second Temple Judaism, some recent scholarship has considered whether the Gospels should be understood as early Jewish literature in their own right. Rather than viewing these texts as witnesses to or evidence of the “origins of Christianity,” this scholarship has argued that the Gospels represent expressions of Jewish identity that took shape amidst a highly diverse and ideologically congested first-century socio-cultural landscape.
This year, the NTwJ Unit invites papers that seek to describe various Gospel texts as “within Judaism.” We welcome a broad array of papers that deal with, for example, methodological, linguistic, historical, material, intertextual, halakhic, and/or other socio-religious aspects of Gospels research, as well as proposals of new readings.
2) For a separate session, we invite papers dealing with methodological issues in the study of NT texts within Judaism, including linguistic, semantic, translational, terminological and other aspects related to the NTwJ research.
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Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Related to the Biblical World (EABS)
Description: This research group will further develop the work of the unit “Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World”, which met at Vienna in 2007 (SBL), Lisbon in 2008 (EABS), Rome in 2009, London in 2011, Amsterdam in 2012, St Andrews in 2013 and Berlin in 2017.
Call for papers: This research group will further develop the work of the unit “Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World”, which met at Vienna in 2007 (SBL), Lisbon in 2008 (EABS), Rome in 2009, London in 2011, Amsterdam in 2012, St Andrews in 2013 and Berlin in 2017.
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Numbers, Counting and Number Symbolism
Description: Numbers appear everywhere in the Bible, beginning with the counting of the days of creation in Gen 1, continuing with the years of life of the forefathers and the measurements of Noah’s ark. Nevertheless, these numbers are often ignored, and their interpretation is left to esotericists and “numerologists.” Yet these numbers provide structure to the tradition on the one hand, but on the other hand they were also changed when the texts were rewritten. Be it complex systems of demographical or chronological data, isolated numbers or countings of text passages, they deserve interpretation appropriate to the context.
This includes asking why many statistics seem to make women invisible. In general, contributions on numbers, counting and number symbolism in biblical books and the surrounding cultures are welcome.
Call for papers: Numbers appear everywhere in the Bible, beginning with the counting of the days of creation in Gen 1, continuing with the years of life of the forefathers and the measurements of Noah’s ark. Nevertheless, these numbers are often ignored, and their interpretation is left to esotericists and “numerologists.” Yet these numbers provide structure to the tradition on the one hand, but on the other hand they were also changed when the texts were rewritten. Be it complex systems of demographical or chronological data, isolated numbers or countings of text passages, they deserve interpretation appropriate to the context.
This includes asking why many statistics seem to make women invisible.
In general, contributions on numbers, counting and number symbolism in biblical books and the surrounding cultures are welcome. A special focus this year is on numbers in the Pentateuch including its textual versions and its reception history.
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Open Forum for New Testament and Early Christian Studies (EABS)
Description: ‘The Open Forum’ is a place for exchanging and experimenting with new ideas about texts, methods and interdisciplinary approaches. These can be related to the New Testament, early Judaism or early Christianity, as well as their reception, in all possible forms. It celebrates diversity and invites presentations by scholars working in more adventurous areas and approaches. The Forum aims to counter tendencies toward the fragmentation of our field and encourages interaction between scholars working with a variety of approaches and sources. It aims to offer a stimulating environment for the creation of innovative and productive scholarship.
Call for papers: ‘The Open Forum’ is a place for exchanging and experimenting with new ideas about texts, methods and interdisciplinary approaches. These can be related to the New Testament, early Judaism or early Christianity, as well as their reception, in all possible forms. It celebrates diversity and invites presentations by scholars working in more adventurous areas and approaches. The Forum aims to counter tendencies toward the fragmentation of our field and encourages interaction between scholars working with a variety of approaches and sources. It aims to offer a stimulating environment for the creation of innovative and productive scholarship.
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Parabiblical Texts: Literature Inhabiting the Narrative World of Scriptural Texts (EABS)
Description: IM25 Affiliate
Call for papers: IM25 Affiliate
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Pentateuch (Torah)
Description: The unit provides a forum for presentation and discussion of research on the Pentateuch / Torah, with a particular focus on transmission-historical issues and linkage of that area of inquiry with other more synchronic methodologies.
Call for papers: The unit provides a forum for presentation and discussion of research on the Pentateuch / Torah, with a particular focus on transmission-historical issues and linkage of that area of inquiry with other more synchronic methodologies.
Tags: Torah/Pentateuch (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Deuteronomy (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Exodus (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Genesis (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Leviticus (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Torah/Pentateuch - Numbers (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint))
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Perceptions and Receptions of Persia (PERSIAS) (EABS)
Description: This research group seeks to explore perceptions and receptions of Persia in Judean writings from Yehud/Judaea, Samaria, Babylon, and Egypt in Antiquity. Our research aims at scrutinizing why Persia is such a fertile symbol or cipher with which to construct meaning among Judean minorities under Empire, that is, in Persian, Hellenistic and Roman times. We will especially emphasize that these perceptions and receptions were produced among subaltern groups across a variety of socio-cultural systems within a vast geographical area including the ancient Levant, Mesopotamia and Egypt. PERSIAS aims at stimulating multidisciplinary discussions on theoretical and methodological perspectives related to appropriations of conceptualizations, memories, and multifaceted imaginations of Persia, with particular emphasis on local patterns of perception and reception, transmission and translation within approaches grounded on cross-cultural studies. The research group aims at advancing a critical reflection on cultural encounters and dynamics in the Ancient world.
Call for papers: The perception of Persia by the different versions of the Book of Esther
This session invites papers examining perceptions of Persia in different versions of the Book of Esther. These perceptions may be embedded in, e.g., remembering/imagined figures, institutions, and so on, all of which should be studied in their broader contexts. Many interpretations embrace Esther’s textual versions and are attested in readings produced by religious experts, poets, popular culture, etc, across time, space, and languages. Versions of readings of Esther exist in, e.g., Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Ethiopian, Armenian, Georgian, and Judean-Persian, as well as in the Talmuds, Medieval Judaism, and Modern Judaism. The same holds for Christian versions and readings throughout history, as well as for various Muslim traditions. Papers on the usages of the book of Esther in literature, visual art, music, film, etc., are also most welcome.
The session will combine invited papers and an open call for papers. We plan to publish the contributions in an anthology or special issue of a journal. We encourage scholars to produce co-written papers to enable productive interdisciplinary collaboration.
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Place, Space, and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Description: Investigates the inherent spatiality of human existence and how it affects human behavior, ideology, identity, and orientation. Ancient Mediterranean texts and societies are studied from a decidedly spatial perspective. Different approaches to spatiality will enrich investigations, e.g. narratological space, critical spatiality, sociological theories on space, space and identity, space and body.
Call for papers: Investigates the inherent spatiality of human existence and how it affects human behavior, ideology, identity, and orientation. Ancient Mediterranean texts and societies are studied from a decidedly spatial perspective. Different approaches to spatiality will enrich investigations, e.g. narratological space, critical spatiality, sociological theories on space, space and identity, space and body.
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Political Biblical Criticism
Description: The unit seeks to pursue, on the one hand, the task of criticism, its vision and mission, in the contemporary world and, on the other hand, the development of a political approach, globalsystemic in orientation, to focus on major crises of the world—migration, inequality, climate—bringing together thereby, in interdisciplinary fashion, Biblical Studies and such other fields as Migration Studies, Economic Studies, and Climate Studies.
Call for papers: The unit seeks to pursue, on the one hand, the task of criticism, its vision and mission, in the contemporary world and, on the other hand, the development of a political approach, globalsystemic in orientation, to focus on major crises of the world—migration, inequality, climate—bringing together thereby, in interdisciplinary fashion, Biblical Studies and such other fields as Migration Studies, Economic Studies, and Climate Studies.
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Politization of Bibles and Biblization of Politics in the Twenty-First Century (EABS)
Description: Biblical Interpretation today is characterized by a variety of different concerns and approaches. The focus of this programme unit is on the use and misuse of biblical texts in past and present politics, in the broadest sense; and conversely, on the use and misuse of politics in biblical interpretation and transmission. The scope may include analysis of the biblical and related texts and contexts, questions of method and theory, and especially attention to interpretations- interpreters and their contexts. Papers are welcome from such perspectives as psychology and psychoanalysis, philosophy, postcolonial studies, gender studies, social studies, economic studies, racial-ethnic studies, and queer studies.
Call for papers: Biblical Interpretation today is characterized by a variety of different concerns and approaches. The focus of this programme unit is on the use and misuse of biblical texts in past and present politics, in the broadest sense; and conversely, on the use and misuse of politics in biblical interpretation and transmission. The scope may include analysis of the biblical and related texts and contexts, questions of method and theory, and especially attention to interpretations- interpreters and their contexts. Papers are welcome from such perspectives as psychology and psychoanalysis, philosophy, postcolonial studies, gender studies, social studies, economic studies, racial-ethnic studies, and queer studies.
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Postcolonial Pedagogy for Biblical Studies
Description: For the field of Biblical Studies, the postcolonial project calls us to address all aspects of our teaching methods, assessment strategies and curricula that inadvertently promote a Northern-grounded system of education as the gold standard. Students from a diversity of ethnic and cultural backgrounds should not be diecast into a certain way of thinking, writing and reasoning. Our concept of academic achievement must be broadened to accommodate the innate values and strengths of diverse cultures. The goal of this programme unit is to create a space where Biblical Studies stakeholders can exchange knowledge and share experiences, with the aim of fostering an inclusive pedagogical practice that will result in contextually relevant learning outcomes.
Call for papers: For the field of Biblical Studies, the postcolonial project calls us to address all aspects of our teaching methods, assessment strategies and curricula that inadvertently promote a Northern-grounded system of education as the gold standard. Students from a diversity of ethnic and cultural backgrounds should not be diecast into a certain way of thinking, writing and reasoning. Our concept of academic achievement must be broadened to accommodate the innate values and strengths of diverse cultures. The goal of this programme unit is to create a space where Biblical Studies stakeholders can exchange knowledge and share experiences, with the aim of fostering an inclusive pedagogical practice that will result in contextually relevant learning outcomes.
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Prophets
Description: This unit aims to provide an open forum for scholars to present papers on a variety of topics germane to the study of ancient Israelite prophecy and prophetic literature.
Call for papers: This unit aims to provide an open forum for scholars to present papers on a variety of topics germane to the study of ancient Israelite prophecy and prophetic literature.
Tags: Former Prophets (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Former Prophets - 1-2 Kings (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Former Prophets - 1-2 Samuel (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Former Prophets - Judges (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Former Prophets -Joshua (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets (not including The Twelve) (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - Ezekiel (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - Isaiah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - Jeremiah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Amos (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Habakkuk (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Haggai (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Hosea (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Joel (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Jonah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Malachi (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Micah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Nahum (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Obadiah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Zechariah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint)), Latter Prophets - The Twelve - Zephaniah (Biblical Literature - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Greek OT (Septuagint))
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Prophets and Prophecy (EABS)
Description: This unit aims to provide an open forum for scholars to present papers on a variety of topics germane to the study of ancient Israelite prophecy and prophetic literature.
All approaches to prophetic literature are welcomed, including inter alia historical, literary, rhetorical, and theological.
Call for papers: This unit aims to provide an open forum for scholars to present papers on a variety of topics germane to the study of ancient Israelite prophecy and prophetic literature.
All approaches to prophetic literature are welcomed, including inter alia historical, literary, rhetorical, and theological.
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Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Description: Psychological Criticism complements approaches that consider texts and their impact/s from the perspective of the reader, alongside literary, rhetorical and theological approaches, identifying how texts operate within the minds of their readers, or portray thoughts and motivations of the characters in their narratives.
Call for papers: Psychological Criticism complements approaches that consider texts and their impact/s from the perspective of the reader, alongside literary, rhetorical and theological approaches, identifying how texts operate within the minds of their readers, or portray thoughts and motivations of the characters in their narratives.
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Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Description: The unit provides forum for presentation and discussion of views relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran settlement, and the people of that place and of those documents.
Call for papers: The unit provides forum for presentation and discussion of views relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran settlement, and the people of that place and of those documents.
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Quran and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective
Description: This unit seeks to foster comparative research on the Quran and Muslim culture, discourse, and devotional life. We encourage papers and panels that examine the Quran and Islamic tradition in the wider context of the history of the Western monotheisms; explore Islam’s profound historical relationships with Judaism, Christianity, and the biblical heritage; and promote comparative inquiry and intercommunal dialogue more generally.
Call for papers: This unit seeks to foster comparative research on the Quran and Muslim culture, discourse, and devotional life. We encourage papers and panels that examine the Quran and Islamic tradition in the wider context of the history of the Western monotheisms; explore Islam’s profound historical relationships with Judaism, Christianity, and the biblical heritage; and promote comparative inquiry and intercommunal dialogue more generally.
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Reading, Theory, and Poetics (EABS)
Description: Reading, Theory and Poetics provides a space for theoretically innovative and experimental approaches to biblical scholarship, foregrounding alternative modes of reading and attention to the poetics of biblical literature. The group promotes biblical criticism that draws on the rich heritage of ‘theory’, broadly construed, including but not limited to the traditions of continental philosophy, poststructuralism and critical theory. Reading, Theory and Poetics addresses the impact and legacies of key thinkers in the poststructuralist and continental philosophy tradition (e.g. Derrida, Kristeva, Irigaray, Deleuze and Guattari), and foregrounds cutting-edge theoretical discussions taking place more widely in the humanities (e.g. critical race theory, new materialism, queer theory and posthumanism). In this way the group encourages papers that engage with biblical interpretations from critical theory perspectives as well as papers that draw on innovative theoretical advances in the Humanities to read biblical texts in new ways.
Call for papers: This unit will not run a session in 2025.
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Reception of the Bible in Contemporary Israel: Religion, Politics, and Identity (EABS)
Description: IM25 Affiliate
Call for papers: IM25 Affiliate
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Representations of Cultural Trauma in the Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Description: The Hebrew Bible frequently refers to collective experiences of disasters and crises. We investigate the interrelationship between biblical representations of collective suffering and the creation of collective identity in ancient Israel and emerging Judaism in light of the category of cultural trauma. According to Alexander, “Cultural trauma occurs when members of a collectivity feel they have been subjected to a horrendous event that leaves indelible marks upon their group consciousness, marking their memories forever and changing their future identity in fundamental and irrevocable ways” (2004: 1). From this perspective, several factors contribute to shaping the cultural trauma of social groups and societies, among which the creation and transmission of symbolic representations of the events at stake are crucial. We explore biblical texts such as collective laments, curses, narratives, etc. not only as texts representing and voicing the community’s experience of catastrophic events, but also as tools to shape cultural trauma in ancient Israel and emerging Judaism. Additionally, we explore relevant texts as “equipment for living” (Burke 1998) for the addressed community, namely as the literary and religious heritage through which the carrier groups of biblical texts attempted to build cultural resilience by coping with and giving meaning to collective suffering.
Call for papers: The Hebrew Bible frequently refers to collective experiences of disasters and crises. We investigate the interrelationship between biblical representations of collective suffering and the creation of collective identity in ancient Israel and emerging Judaism in light of the category of cultural trauma. According to Alexander, “Cultural trauma occurs when members of a collectivity feel they have been subjected to a horrendous event that leaves indelible marks upon their group consciousness, marking their memories forever and changing their future identity in fundamental and irrevocable ways” (2004: 1). From this perspective, several factors contribute to shaping the cultural trauma of social groups and societies, among which the creation and transmission of symbolic representations of the events at stake are crucial. We explore biblical texts such as collective laments, curses, narratives, etc. not only as texts representing and voicing the community’s experience of catastrophic events, but also as tools to shape cultural trauma in ancient Israel and emerging Judaism. Additionally, we explore relevant texts as “equipment for living” (Burke 1998) for the addressed community, namely as the literary and religious heritage through which the carrier groups of biblical texts attempted to build cultural resilience by coping with and giving meaning to collective suffering.
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Rethinking Biblical Written Tradition through Slavonic Interpretations
Description: Some of the lost Second Temple texts have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, but, for reasons still unknown, a number have been preserved only in Slavonic version, from centuries later. These Slavonic manuscripts have been used to restore the lost Greek originals and to fill in the gap in the textual tradition. While welcoming these classical text critical approaches, this program unit focuses more strongly on the appropriation and adaptation of these texts in the Slavic cultures that received them and looks for papers that study the Vorlage and transmission of Slavonic versions as well as Slavic interpretations of the Bible.
Call for papers: Some of the lost Second Temple texts have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, but, for reasons still unknown, a number have been preserved only in Slavonic version, from centuries later. These Slavonic manuscripts have been used to restore the lost Greek originals and to fill in the gap in the textual tradition. While welcoming these classical text critical approaches, this program unit focuses more strongly on the appropriation and adaptation of these texts in the Slavic cultures that received them and looks for papers that study the Vorlage and transmission of Slavonic versions as well as Slavic interpretations of the Bible.
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Return Migration in Biblical Literature
Description: Return is a literary trope and social phenomenon in the Hebrew Bible, Intertestamental, Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and other literary cultures. In Homer’s Iliad, Odysseus returns home. As a new field (1980s), return migration studies offer new critical insights on historical, literary, and sociological matters related to biblical and extra-biblical studies.
Call for papers: Return is a literary trope and social phenomenon in the Hebrew Bible, Intertestamental, Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and other literary cultures. In Homer’s Iliad, Odysseus returns home. As a new field (1980s), return migration studies offer new critical insights on historical, literary, and sociological matters related to biblical and extra-biblical studies.
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Ritual in the Biblical World
Description: The Ritual in the Biblical World Section focuses on the nature, meaning and function of ritual found in textual sources (HB, NT, non-canonical) in the larger context of the material culture of the ancient world, employing insights and methods of the field of ritual theory and ethnography.
Call for papers: First, the main session will focus on the METHODOLOGY OF RITUAL STUDIES in the Biblical World. We invite papers outlining methodological approaches at the intersection of biblical and ritual research, demonstrating the application of recent theoretical models to Biblical texts, or otherwise contributing to the enhancement of ritual theory in our fields of research. Currently, the possibility of a conference volume on ritual methodology is evaluated.
Secondly, we plan a JOINT SESSION on «Locked Space and Locking Space» together with the PSIAMW (Place, Space, and Identity, ISBL) and Representation of Cultural Trauma (EABS) program units, encompassing the fields of Spatial Theory, Ritual Studies, and Trauma Studies.
Thirdly, as usual, we offer the opportunity of an OPEN SESSION on all aspects of ritual activities in the larger context of their cultural and religious functions in the ancient Near East and in the ancient Mediterranean, including their textual, archaeological and iconographical expressions.
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Scribes and Scribal Groups in the Early Second Temple Period (EABS)
Description: There is an increasing awareness among biblical scholars in various specialisation fields of the fact that the late Achaemenid-Persian and early Hellenistic periods were constitutive for the formation (origin, finalisation, redaction, etc.) of a significant part of the Hebrew Bible. Various scholars have therefore started investigating the broader discourses of these time periods in order to come to a better understanding of the interaction and cross-influence of different scribal groups of the time, and resultant literature formations. However, there is still not much collaboration between and correlation of results in the various fields of expertise. This 5-year research unit will therefore bring together scholars from various relevant sub-fields for the purpose of investigating the practices and cross-influences of scribal activities in the late Achaemenid-Persian and early Hellenistic periods in Jerusalem in Yehud/Judea. The aim will be to establish how scribal groups with different ideological (and theological) agendas participated in the political-theological discourses of their time, and how they contributed to the biblical literature formation processes of the time period.
Call for papers: There is an increasing awareness among biblical scholars in various specialisation fields of the fact that the late Achaemenid-Persian and early Hellenistic periods were constitutive for the formation (origin, finalisation, redaction, etc.) of a significant part of the Hebrew Bible. Various scholars have therefore started investigating the broader discourses of these time periods in order to come to a better understanding of the interaction and cross-influence of different scribal groups of the time, and resultant literature formations. However, there is still not much collaboration between and correlation of results in the various fields of expertise. This 5-year research unit will therefore bring together scholars from various relevant sub-fields for the purpose of investigating the practices and cross-influences of scribal activities in the late Achaemenid-Persian and early Hellenistic periods in Jerusalem in Yehud/Judea. The aim will be to establish how scribal groups with different ideological (and theological) agendas participated in the political-theological discourses of their time, and how they contributed to the biblical literature formation processes of the time period.
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Septuagint Studies
Description: This unit is open to all papers devoted to the Septuagint and related versions.
Call for papers: This unit is open to all papers devoted to the Septuagint and related versions.
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Slavonic Apocrypha (EABS)
Description: Despite its “Slavonic Apocrypha” name, this research unit is intentionally broad in scope and provides a forum in which both biblical scholars and Slavists can discuss current issues in their fields and exchange ideas. It includes the traditionally understood Slavonic Apocrypha, i.e. translations of Hellenistic pseudepigrapha, as well as a variety of sacred literature in Slavonic and, such as theological discourses, historiographies, hagiographies, liturgical texts, and folk tales that are intertwined with biblical texts in both manuscripts and religious practices. Historical philology, lexicographical works, and linguistic analysis of Slavonic manuscripts are central research fields in this forum. We also welcome contributions from scholars of other academic fields that discuss these topics.
Slavonic Apocrypha are studied as biblical reception history. Their application in liturgical and catechetical context questions the application of the definition of biblical canon and apocrypha on them. Because the mechanism of intertextuality in Slavic religious literature was more powerful and longstanding than the assessment of marginality and the differentiation of the texts according to canonical/noncanonical, our forum aims to contribute to the ongoing search for a comprehensive term for apocalyptic, pseudepigraphical, and apocryphal literature. This unit addresses the pressing need for a platform where European scholars of “Slavonic Apocrypha” and medieval Slavic literature and their international colleagues can express their concerns, discuss solutions, and set mutual goals. It promotes the publication of critical editions of “Slavonic Apocrypha” and discusses the concerns over the digitization project of Slavonic manuscripts. While the name “Slavonic Apocrypha” is inadequate for this corpus of literature, we will wait and allow the scholarly consensus in the field to lead us to a better one.
Call for papers: We accept papers on all topics related to Slavonic Apocrypha as defined in our program. Please, check the description of "Slavonic Apocrypha."
Moreover, we invite papers with a broad approach to Slavic written and oral biblical tradition within or outside the ecclesiastical contexts inspired by the famous Scandinavian Myth and Ritual school of biblical interpretations. The school’s focus on the centrality of the rituals and myths of ancient societies in their religious and cultural self-understanding has left a legacy of comparative and interdisciplinary approach and openness to new ideas in Biblical studies.
We also call the presentations on "Apocrypha in Slavonic and Caucasian Traditions". Furthermore, we will hold a joint session with the ISBL program units “Rethinking Biblical Written Tradition through Slavonic Interpretations.
Finally, it is a reminder that all people who present their paper at the conference in Uppsala, after the peer reviewed assessment of their completed work, will have the opportunity to publish their paper in Scrinium or Scripta & e-Scripta.
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Slavonic Parabiblical Traditions (EABS)
Description: The overall aims and objectives of this research unit have several different aspects to be taken into account:
1) Comparing and contrasting particular topoi within Slavonic literary, iconographic and oral heritage which are known to be attested in earlier Jewish and/or Christian intellectual environments; relationships with Islamic texts and traditions are anticipated.
2) More detailed analyses of the religious and ritual contexts of these topoi from the point of view of calendar, worship, etc., as a prerequisite for improved results in understanding the Slavonic texts. Explorations into the history of liturgical music will be encouraged, as well as explorations into religious art and iconography.
3) Scriptural and parascriptural intertextuality within the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) through the prism of such topoi. The parallel attestations of certain specific types of templates (e.g. common socio-religious processes, cross-cultural meta-narratives, etc.) in Slavonic intellectual landscape will allow the combined expertise of the research team to focus on common questions from differing perspectives. The chronological framework of research will cover the periods from Late Antiquity and Middle ages to modern times.
4) Explorations in the field of historical and comparative linguistics, with special emphasis on Palaeoslavonic scribal strategies for transmission and dissemination of canonical and apocryphal books within the Byzantine Commonwealth and beyond. The intellectual landscapes of Slavia Orthodoxa and Slavia Catholica will be taken into consideration along with the cultural environments of Slavia Judaica and Slavia Islamica. Studies into the multilingual and cross-cultural transmissions of texts originally composed in “classical Biblical languages” and their further dissemination through Slavonic (comparing and contrasting these processes with those attested in other languages).
5) Interdisciplinary approach to
Call for papers: The overall aims and objectives of this research unit have several different aspects to be taken into account:
1) Comparing and contrasting particular topoi within Slavonic literary, iconographic and oral heritage which are known to be attested in earlier Jewish and/or Christian intellectual environments; relationships with Islamic texts and traditions are anticipated.
2) More detailed analyses of the religious and ritual contexts of these topoi from the point of view of calendar, worship, etc., as a prerequisite for improved results in understanding the Slavonic texts. Explorations into the history of liturgical music will be encouraged, as well as explorations into religious art and iconography.
3) Scriptural and parascriptural intertextuality within the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) through the prism of such topoi. The parallel attestations of certain specific types of templates (e.g. common socio-religious processes, cross-cultural meta-narratives, etc.) in Slavonic intellectual landscape will allow the combined expertise of the research team to focus on common questions from differing perspectives. The chronological framework of research will cover the periods from Late Antiquity and Middle ages to modern times.
4) Explorations in the field of historical and comparative linguistics, with special emphasis on Palaeoslavonic scribal strategies for transmission and dissemination of canonical and apocryphal books within the Byzantine Commonwealth and beyond. The intellectual landscapes of Slavia Orthodoxa and Slavia Catholica will be taken into consideration along with the cultural environments of Slavia Judaica and Slavia Islamica. Studies into the multilingual and cross-cultural transmissions of texts originally composed in “classical Biblical languages” and their further dissemination through Slavonic (comparing and contrasting these processes with those attested in other languages).
5) Interdisciplinary approach to
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Status of Women in the Profession
Description: The Committee holds sessions each year exploring the nature of the profession as experienced by women biblical scholars. The goal of the sessions are to provide a forum for open discussion, networking, and the sharing of ideas.
Call for papers: The Committee holds sessions each year exploring the nature of the profession as experienced by women biblical scholars. The goal of the sessions are to provide a forum for open discussion, networking, and the sharing of ideas.
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Synoptic Gospels
Description: The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), which have formed a coherent unit since antiquity, have played an important role in modern scholarship. Scholarship on the Synoptic Gospels as a group has often focussed on the “synoptic problem” and given special attention to source and redaction criticism with a view to sorting through the relationship(s) between Matthew, Mark, and Luke. While that discussion is certainly still active, including recent discussion of the relationship of the Synoptic Gospels to John, there are many other fruitful approaches to these three texts both in dialogue with each other and individually. This section provides an open forum for the presentation of papers, from a variety of perspectives and using a variety of methods.
Call for papers: For 2025 we invite papers in open sessions under three headings: i) ideological/critical-theoretical approaches to the texts (e.g. Feminist, Womanist, Postcolonial, Intersectional, Queer, Disability studies, Eco-approaches), ii) relationships and interaction between the Synoptic Gospels and the Hebrew Bible and/or other Second Temple Jewish texts; iii) the gospels as story—narrative approaches to the Synoptic Gospels. For all proposals we especially welcome papers that address at least two of the Synoptic Gospels. Papers that fall outside of the three groupings may still be considered for an open session.
In 2025 the Synoptic Gospels unit is also co-sponsoring a session with the "Living in the Last Days: New Testament Eschatology and Its Context" unit of the European Association of Biblical Studies (EABS): "Eschatology in the Synoptic Tradition" This joint session invites papers that examine the role of eschatology within the Synoptic tradition, with a particular focus on how the theme of the End influenced the Christian communities where the redaction of the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke took place. We seek to explore both the similarities and differen
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Textual Criticism of the New Testament, the Old Testament, and the Qur’an (EABS)
Description: This research group focuses on the textual study and criticism of sacred texts from the ancient Eastern Mediterranean world that later had a global influence; the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Qur’anic text. All three have similarities and differences. They have influenced other writings and at the same time have themselves undergone external influence bearing on questions of interrelationship, orality, textuality and language. Not only the above mentioned characteristics, but also their preservation and the copying as well as the proliferation of manuscripts are of particular interest to textual scholars.
The purpose of this research unit is to study the textual criticism of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Qur'an. The study of the Old Testament textual history includes the Hebrew Bible, the texts from Qumran, the Septuagint, the Masoretic Text – as well as the Aramaic Targumim, the Syriac translations, the Vulgate, Commentaries and others. Additionally, the study of the text of the New Testament includes also its versions, the Patristic citations, commentaries and related texts. Finally, the study of the textual history of the Qu’ran includes its text, the qira’at tradition (the alternative readings that correspond to different text types), the cultural milieu and context of Qur’anic transmission, and its commentary tradition.
Relevant topics for discussion would include:
The study of OT, NT or Qur’anic writings not only in manuscripts, but also inscribed or printed
The text itself and the circumstances of its transmission
Types or groupings of texts
Reconstructions of forms of text
Textual criticism and history
Textual criticism and exegesis
Textual criticism and theology
Call for papers: This research group focuses on the textual study and criticism of sacred texts from the ancient Eastern Mediterranean world that later had a global influence; the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Qur’anic text. All three have similarities and differences. They have influenced other writings and at the same time have themselves undergone external influence bearing on questions of interrelationship, orality, textuality and language. Not only the above mentioned characteristics, but also their preservation and the copying as well as the proliferation of manuscripts are of particular interest to textual scholars.
The purpose of this research unit is to study the textual criticism of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Qur'an. The study of the Old Testament textual history includes the Hebrew Bible, the texts from Qumran, the Septuagint, the Masoretic Text – as well as the Aramaic Targumim, the Syriac translations, the Vulgate, Commentaries and others. Additionally, the study of the text of the New Testament includes also its versions, the Patristic citations, commentaries and related texts. Finally, the study of the textual history of the Qu’ran includes its text, the qira’at tradition (the alternative readings that correspond to different text types), the cultural milieu and context of Qur’anic transmission, and its commentary tradition.
Relevant topics for discussion would include:
The study of OT, NT or Qur’anic writings not only in manuscripts, but also inscribed or printed
The text itself and the circumstances of its transmission
Types or groupings of texts
Reconstructions of forms of text
Textual criticism and history
Textual criticism and exegesis
Textual criticism and theology
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Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Description: This program unit is devoted to the textual criticism of early Jewish and early Christian writings: This includes the Jewish Bible, early Jewish literature, and the Old Testament (in Hebrew and Aramaic, Greek, and other ancient languages), as well as early Christian literature and the New Testament (in Greek, Latin, and other ancient languages). We offer a forum for the investigation of all types of material witnesses related to the text of this literature—tablets, manuscripts, ostraca, inscriptions—and for the consideration of the textual form of this literature reflected in its citation and use by ancient authors and in writings from antiquity through the Middle Ages. This consists not only of contributions that deal with the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin textual witnesses, but also those that engage evidence in Ugaritic, Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Coptic, Armenian, and other linguistic traditions. A wide variety of additional issues related to textual criticism are also addressed, including epigraphy, manuscript studies, papyrology, codicology, paleography, scribal habits and the production of texts, the history of transmission (and its cultural, social, and religious settings), the practice of textual criticism from antiquity to modern times, restoration and conservation, the use of modern technology in studying this material, the production of critical editions, and discussions of particular passages.
Call for papers: This program unit is devoted to the textual criticism of early Jewish and early Christian writings: This includes the Jewish Bible, early Jewish literature, and the Old Testament (in Hebrew and Aramaic, Greek, and other ancient languages), as well as early Christian literature and the New Testament (in Greek, Latin, and other ancient languages). We offer a forum for the investigation of all types of material witnesses related to the text of this literature—tablets, manuscripts, ostraca, inscriptions—and for the consideration of the textual form of this literature reflected in its citation and use by ancient authors and in writings from antiquity through the Middle Ages. This consists not only of contributions that deal with the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin textual witnesses, but also those that engage evidence in Ugaritic, Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Coptic, Armenian, and other linguistic traditions. A wide variety of additional issues related to textual criticism are also addressed, including epigraphy, manuscript studies, papyrology, codicology, paleography, scribal habits and the production of texts, the history of transmission (and its cultural, social, and religious settings), the practice of textual criticism from antiquity to modern times, restoration and conservation, the use of modern technology in studying this material, the production of critical editions, and discussions of particular passages.
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The Bible in Arabic amongst Jews, Christians, and Muslims (Biblia Arabica): A Continued Exploration (EABS)
Description: The research unit The Bible in Arabic amongst Jews, Christians and Muslims (Biblia Arabica) – A Continued Exploration aims to provide a forum for engaging in discussion of the reception history of the Bible in the Arabic cultural context, through exploring specific examples of how biblical texts have been used, appropriated and transformed in monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, operating in Arabic speaking word. Insights drawn from a wide range of scholarly disciplines, such as religious, cultural and literary studies or linguistics are encouraged and the reception history of any relevant text from the Bible will be considered suitable material for presentation and discussion.
Call for papers: The research unit The Bible in Arabic amongst Jews, Christians and Muslims (Biblia Arabica) – A Continued Exploration aims to provide a forum for engaging in discussion of the reception history of the Bible in the Arabic cultural context, through exploring specific examples of how biblical texts have been used, appropriated and transformed in monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, operating in Arabic speaking word. Insights drawn from a wide range of scholarly disciplines, such as religious, cultural and literary studies or linguistics are encouraged and the reception history of any relevant text from the Bible will be considered suitable material for presentation and discussion.
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The Bible, Ecology, and Sustainability (EABS)
Description: Ecological crisis is one of the most crucial challenges needing combined response in the last decades, now and the most immediate future. In the critical discussion regarding its roots as well as religion’s contribution to address it, biblical scholars have turned to the biblical text and its interpretation through the ages, searching for possible misinterpretations that supported ideologically the environmental exploitation and degradation. They also developed different methodological models for reading the biblical text from an ecological perspective. Given the pressing global ecological crisis, the research unit would like to continue the critical and inter-/multi-/trans-disciplinary exploration of the Bible and ecology and to link these two to the larger project of sustainability.
The research unit aims to:
Explore and employ various methodological trends in reading well-known and uncharted biblical and early Christian texts from ecological and sustainability perspectives.
Analyse the use of these texts from the global perspectives of various stakeholders including but not limited to biblical scholars.
Encourage dialogue and synergy with various groups from different global locations, within and beyond biblical exegesis.
Develop pedagogical strategies in exegesis, theology, and religious education for effective response to pressing pastoral challenges of the climate crisis and sustainability.
Call for papers: Ecological crisis is one of the most crucial challenges needing combined response in the last decades, now and the most immediate future. In the critical discussion regarding its roots as well as religion’s contribution to address it, biblical scholars have turned to the biblical text and its interpretation through the ages, searching for possible misinterpretations that supported ideologically the environmental exploitation and degradation. They also developed different methodological models for reading the biblical text from an ecological perspective. Given the pressing global ecological crisis, the research unit would like to continue the critical and inter-/multi-/trans-disciplinary exploration of the Bible and ecology and to link these two to the larger project of sustainability.
The research unit aims to:
Explore and employ various methodological trends in reading well-known and uncharted biblical and early Christian texts from ecological and sustainability perspectives.
Analyse the use of these texts from the global perspectives of various stakeholders including but not limited to biblical scholars.
Encourage dialogue and synergy with various groups from different global locations, within and beyond biblical exegesis.
Develop pedagogical strategies in exegesis, theology, and religious education for effective response to pressing pastoral challenges of the climate crisis and sustainability.
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The Biblical World and Its Reception (EABS)
Description: This seminar aims to provide a forum in which participants can engage in theoretical issues pertaining to the reception of “the biblical world” throughout the last 2,500 years and/or present specific examples of how biblical and cognate texts have been appropriated within later cultural, political, and artistic contexts (including, but not limited to, literature, art, music, and film). Insights drawn from a wide range of disciplines are encouraged and the reception history of any relevant text from the biblical period will be considered suitable material for presentation and discussion.
Call for papers: For the joint SBL/EABS meeting in Uppsala in 2025, “The Biblical World and Its Reception” (EABS) will be meeting together with “Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact” (SBL). The combined unit will be holding two/three sessions.
This year we are especially interested in papers which focus on the Bible and video games. This might include methodological approaches, close analyses of individual games, thematic critiques, and other avenues which examine the ways in which the medium has depicted, adapted, interpreted, and drawn upon biblical texts and traditions.
In addition, we will also have at least one open session, for which we welcome papers on any topic that is relevant to the units’ general interests in the reception, influence, and impact of the Bible.
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The Book of Jeremiah (EABS)
Description: Jeremiah occupies a special place within the prophets. It is distinguished from the other Latter Prophets under various aspects, among others its textual problems, composition and dynamic of the book, degree of intertextual relationships, motifs (like the issue of false prophecy, or the concentration on Jerusalem’s fall in 587, involving trauma and the question of hope), presentation of characters, spiritual orientation, and theology. Nearly all of these aspects are subject of discussion in recent research. The research unit will tackle these issues and others as far as they are related to Jer (exegesis and theology), starting from the text in its original language(s). Participants in the online research seminar ‘Yirmeyahu’ (in French or English, depending on the sessions) will be delighted to welcome any scholar interested in the study of Jer to the meetings of this research unit.
Call for papers: Jeremiah occupies a special place within the prophets. It is distinguished from the other Latter Prophets under various aspects, among others its textual problems, composition and dynamic of the book, degree of intertextual relationships, motifs (like the issue of false prophecy, or the concentration on Jerusalem’s fall in 587, involving trauma and the question of hope), presentation of characters, spiritual orientation, and theology. Nearly all of these aspects are subject of discussion in recent research. The research unit will tackle these issues and others as far as they are related to Jer (exegesis and theology), starting from the text in its original language(s). Participants in the online research seminar ‘Yirmeyahu’ (in French or English, depending on the sessions) will be delighted to welcome any scholar interested in the study of Jer to the meetings of this research unit.
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The Book of Numbers in the Context of Second Temple Literature (EABS)
Description: The research unit aims at re-evaluating the relation between the book of Numbers and other Second Temple literature. Based on the current consensus, which considers Numbers the latest book of the Pentateuch, it will be asked how some of its characteristic notions – the high priest, feasts and rituals, temple economy – relate to contemporary or even later biblical and extrabiblical literature from Persian and Hellenistic times (e.g., Prophetic and Chronistic literature, Pseudepigrapha, the Elephantine correspondence, evidence from ancient Mesopotamia, Flavius Josephus). Provided that the biblical texts are to be read as “construed history,” the respective aspects will be analyzed with regard to their literary scope and their theological reflection on the one hand and their historical, socio-political background(s) or context(s) on the other. By doing so, the research unit aims at enlarging the understanding of the book of Numbers, interconnecting Pentateuchal scholarship with research on Prophetic and Chronistic literature and contextualizing the biblical notions in their broader historical context in order to enhance the understanding of the Second Temple period as a whole.
Call for papers: The research unit aims at re-evaluating the relation between the book of Numbers and other Second Temple literature. Based on the current consensus, which considers Numbers the latest book of the Pentateuch, it will be asked how some of its characteristic notions – the high priest, feasts and rituals, temple economy – relate to contemporary or even later biblical and extrabiblical literature from Persian and Hellenistic times (e.g., Prophetic and Chronistic literature, Pseudepigrapha, the Elephantine correspondence, evidence from ancient Mesopotamia, Flavius Josephus). Provided that the biblical texts are to be read as “construed history,” the respective aspects will be analyzed with regard to their literary scope and their theological reflection on the one hand and their historical, socio-political background(s) or context(s) on the other. By doing so, the research unit aims at enlarging the understanding of the book of Numbers, interconnecting Pentateuchal scholarship with research on Prophetic and Chronistic literature and contextualizing the biblical notions in their broader historical context in order to enhance the understanding of the Second Temple period as a whole.
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The Dead Sea Scrolls (EABS)
Description: The goals of the research unit are to provide a forum for scholarly discussion of the Dead Sea Scrolls and to facilitate further integration of the study of the Scrolls within the fields of biblical and cognate studies. We encourage conversation between the early transmission, reception, and interpretation of the Scrolls and other literary sources from the late Second Temple period, such as Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha and the Greek translations, as well as available inscriptions and archeological evidence. The research unit hosts two sessions annually: one open call session for papers discussing any aspect of the Dead Sea Scrolls and one session focused on a changing theme with both invited and submitted papers. The chosen themes represent some of the major discussions of the field of Dead Sea Scrolls studies and seeks to integrate various points of view, e.g., literary studies, material culture, and new interdisciplinary methods.
Call for papers: For the 2025 Uppsala meeting, we welcome proposals for an open session on any topic related to the Dead Sea Scrolls, broadly understood, or the material culture of Qumran. We especially welcome papers that relate the Scrolls to their broader social and cultural milieu. The session will be a hybrid one with the opportunity to present and participate either in person on site or online.
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The Enoch Seminar
Description: The Enoch Seminar is an academic group of international specialists in Second Temple Judaism (Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Origins), who share the results of their research in the field and meet to discuss topics of common interest. The Enoch Seminar was founded in 2001 at the initiative of Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan. Members of the Enoch Seminar are university professors and specialists in Second Temple Judaism, Christian Origins, and early Islam.
Call for papers: The Enoch Seminar is an academic group of international specialists in Second Temple Judaism (Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Origins), who share the results of their research in the field and meet to discuss topics of common interest. The Enoch Seminar was founded in 2001 at the initiative of Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan. Members of the Enoch Seminar are university professors and specialists in Second Temple Judaism, Christian Origins, and early Islam.
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The Greek Bible between Judaism and Christianity (EABS)
Description: The Septuagint originated as Jewish scripture, and in time it became the Christian Old Testament. This research unit explores the variegated reception of the Septuagint in Jewish and Christian communities. How did Jewish and Christian readers engage with, interpret, appropriate, question or transform the Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible to which they had access? How did cultural transformations, such as the emergence of Christianity and the gradual ‘parting of the ways’, affect the reception of the Septuagint? Was the Greek Bible and its interpretation primarily a locus of tension and discussion, or could it also foster dialogue between Jews and Christians? The research unit has two specific goals: firstly, to illustrate the multi-faceted reception history of the Septuagint and related versions, within both Judaism and Christianity; and, secondly, to stimulate a dialogue between Biblical Studies and other disciplines, such as Jewish Studies, Classics and Patristics.
Call for papers: The Septuagint originated as Jewish scripture, and in time it became the Christian Old Testament. This research unit explores the variegated reception of the Septuagint in Jewish and Christian communities. How did Jewish and Christian readers engage with, interpret, appropriate, question or transform the Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible to which they had access? How did cultural transformations, such as the emergence of Christianity and the gradual ‘parting of the ways’, affect the reception of the Septuagint? Was the Greek Bible and its interpretation primarily a locus of tension and discussion, or could it also foster dialogue between Jews and Christians? The research unit has two specific goals: firstly, to illustrate the multi-faceted reception history of the Septuagint and related versions, within both Judaism and Christianity; and, secondly, to stimulate a dialogue between Biblical Studies and other disciplines, such as Jewish Studies, Classics and Patristics.
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The Language of Colour in the Bible: From Word to Image (EABS)
Description: The study of the language of colour has generated great attention since the 19th century in several fields, especially philology and art; exploring the great civilizations considered the bedrock of Europe: Greece and Rome. Surprisingly the Bible, the other pillar on which European culture is founded, has been left on the sidelines of this research, creating a primordial void.
This research project aims to bridge this gap and provide a more complete picture of the language of colour in a book that has inspired both literary and artistic works: the Bible. A multi and interdisciplinary study of the biblical text in its original languages can certainly shed new light on the interpretation of the image and vice versa.
The objectives pursued in the field of philology are to determine the chromatic lexicon of the biblical text, the sensory perception it reflects and the symbolic dimension from which it emanates. In this sense, we believe that the Apocryphal literature and the early Christian literature can shed light on the meaning of colour in the biblical texts both with regard to sensorial perception and symbolism.
However, this is not only true in the philological field since the object of study of this research unit is the cultural aspect of colours and the works of art. Pigments become the focus of study, allowing for a Cultural History of Colour where the materiality of colour is the main tool for understanding its symbolism, technique and religious influences. In this regard, colour palettes and artistic compositions have a close relationship with the field of ritual praxis, the configuration of the worldview and the understanding of the environment, configuring a unique language, a chromatic language used in different periods by artists, being one more element of biblical interpretation.
Call for papers: The study of the language of colour has generated great attention since the 19th century in several fields, especially philology and art; exploring the great civilizations considered the bedrock of Europe: Greece and Rome. Surprisingly the Bible, the other pillar on which European culture is founded, has been left on the sidelines of this research, creating a primordial void.
This research project aims to bridge this gap and provide a more complete picture of the language of colour in a book that has inspired both literary and artistic works: the Bible. A multi and interdisciplinary study of the biblical text in its original languages can certainly shed new light on the interpretation of the image and vice versa.
The objectives pursued in the field of philology are to determine the chromatic lexicon of the biblical text, the sensory perception it reflects and the symbolic dimension from which it emanates. In this sense, we believe that the Apocryphal literature and the early Christian literature can shed light on the meaning of colour in the biblical texts both with regard to sensorial perception and symbolism.
However, this is not only true in the philological field since the object of study of this research unit is the cultural aspect of colours and the works of art. Pigments become the focus of study, allowing for a Cultural History of Colour where the materiality of colour is the main tool for understanding its symbolism, technique and religious influences. In this regard, colour palettes and artistic compositions have a close relationship with the field of ritual praxis, the configuration of the worldview and the understanding of the environment, configuring a unique language, a chromatic language used in different periods by artists, being one more element of biblical interpretation.
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The Language of Pain in Ancient Israel and Early Judaism
Description: This program unit intends to research how pain was experienced,
conceptualized, expressed, and related to in ancient Israel and early
Judaism, by investigating linguistic expressions of pain in all Jewish
sources at our disposal from prior to ca. 200 CE.
Call for papers: This program unit intends to research how pain was experienced,
conceptualized, expressed, and related to in ancient Israel and early
Judaism, by investigating linguistic expressions of pain in all Jewish
sources at our disposal from prior to ca. 200 CE.
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The Origins of Israel and the Shaping of Early Israelite Identities during the Iron Age: Perspectives from the Biblical Studies and Archaeology (EABS)
Description: The question of the “origins of Israel” (which should be addressed in the plural form) in the land and the formation of the “Israelite” identity requires the interdisciplinary approach among scholars of multiple disciplines from the biblical studies, history of the ancient Israel, cultural-history, socio- political history, and the archaeology of southern Levant.
The modern archaeological investigation revealed the widely diverging views to the description in the biblical narrative literature that states that the origin of Israel was realized through the conquest of the land, a view, especially presented in the so-called Deuteronomistic history (e.g., the book of Joshua).
However, this difference sheds a new light on the question of the “origins of Israel”. Why the major biblical traditions present the origin of Israel as the conquest of land, not the peaceful infil- tration of the “Israelite” population in the land? How can we interpret the socio-political and historical situation of the Late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age II, e.g., the retreat of the power of the Egyptian empire from Levant, the destruction and the abandonment of the major urban site in Levant in relation to the formation of the Israelite identities? This research unit aims to investigate the origin of Israel and the formation of Israelite identity from the multiple angles with diverging methodology as a scholarly collaborative endeavour.
Call for papers: The question of the “origins of Israel” (which should be addressed in the plural form) in the land and the formation of the “Israelite” identity requires the interdisciplinary approach among scholars of multiple disciplines from the biblical studies, history of the ancient Israel, cultural-history, socio- political history, and the archaeology of southern Levant.
The modern archaeological investigation revealed the widely diverging views to the description in the biblical narrative literature that states that the origin of Israel was realized through the conquest of the land, a view, especially presented in the so-called Deuteronomistic history (e.g., the book of Joshua).
However, this difference sheds a new light on the question of the “origins of Israel”. Why the major biblical traditions present the origin of Israel as the conquest of land, not the peaceful infil- tration of the “Israelite” population in the land? How can we interpret the socio-political and historical situation of the Late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age II, e.g., the retreat of the power of the Egyptian empire from Levant, the destruction and the abandonment of the major urban site in Levant in relation to the formation of the Israelite identities? This research unit aims to investigate the origin of Israel and the formation of Israelite identity from the multiple angles with diverging methodology as a scholarly collaborative endeavour.
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The Slavic Translation and Transmission of Biblical Texts (EABS)
Description: IM25 Affiliate
Call for papers: IM25 Affiliate
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Wisdom in Intertextual Perspective (EABS)
Description: This unit seeks to provide a forum for the exploration of the emerging methodologies of intertextuality in the study of wisdom literature and beyond. The primary focus is on wisdom compositions - Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth/Ecclesiastes, and the Wisdom Psalms and Deutero-Canonical works such as Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon, including comparative sources and cognate cultures from the ancient Near East. The intertextual method takes interest outside simply wisdom material to include connections and interrelationships with other genres of material.
Call for papers: This unit seeks to provide a forum for the exploration of the emerging methodologies of intertextuality in the study of wisdom literature and beyond. The primary focus is on wisdom compositions - Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth/Ecclesiastes, and the Wisdom Psalms and Deutero-Canonical works such as Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon, including comparative sources and cognate cultures from the ancient Near East. The intertextual method takes interest outside simply wisdom material to include connections and interrelationships with other genres of material.
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Writings (including Psalms)
Description: The aim of the unit to promote all aspects of and approaches to the study of the texts commonly referred to as the Writings (Ketuvim) in the Hebrew Bible.
Call for papers: The aim of the unit to promote all aspects of and approaches to the study of the texts commonly referred to as the Writings (Ketuvim) in the Hebrew Bible.
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