Michael S. Heiser's Blog, page 46

PseudoAstronomy Podcast Episode on the Mandela Effect

Stuart is on a roll. Fresh off this three-part series on the flat earth nonsense, here’s an episode on the goofy Mandela Effect.

Needless to say, I can hardly wait to listen.

ASOR Short Essay on Chemosh / Kemosh of the Moabite Stone (and the OT)

Here’s a link to a short (and well done) overview of Chemosh in the Moabite Stone.

GE: The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek

Larry Hurtado recently posted some thoughts on this  “new” Greek-English lexicon. It’s actually an English translation of a lexicon formerly only available in Italian. Hurtado explains:

This is the English translation from the 3rd edition (2013) of the massive Italian work by Franco Montanari.  At 2431 pages, and with nearly 133,000 “headwords,” and entries that take account of ancient Greek literature, papyri, inscriptions and other sources, and covering evidence down to the 6th century AD, this work now effectively supersedes the older Liddell-Scott-Jones (LSJ) lexicon.  The latter didn’t really take adequate account of evidence much later than the 2nd century AD, and in particular there was little citation of Christian “patristic” texts.  Montanari’s work, however, rectifies this, making it now the “go to” resource of its type.

I almost bought this at SBL (discount city), but my dollars went elsewhere. Maybe next year. It’s a bit pricey ($125), but as Hurtado notes: “… it’s not cheap, but, given the amount of material and its quality, the price is surprisingly realistic.” Agreed. It’s obviously a must-have for Greek lexicography.

The Historical Reliability of Luke-Acts

The Bible Places blog has just begun a series on the historical reliability of the books of Luke and Acts. The first installment can be found here.

Here’s the opening paragraph:

This ongoing series of posts considers the historical reliability of the New Testament books of Luke and Acts by examining the relationship between the texts and other ancient sources. Primarily intended to assist those with a teaching ministry, it will cover both well documented and obscure correlations and will include periodic summaries and source references as relevant. Public domain photos, or those whose author has given permission for use, will also be provided when available.

Ancient Near East Today — Free Newsletter from ASOR

ASOR (American Schools of Oriental Research) has a free newsletter — I recommend it for anyone interested in archaeology and the lands of the Bible.

Here’s the description from the ASOR site:

This monthly e-newsletter disseminates ideas, insights and discoveries to Friends of ASOR. You can become a Friend and receive the e-newsletter for free; you only need to register. The ANE Today appears on the third Tuesday of each month and features contributions from diverse academics, a forum featuring debates of current developments from the field, and links to news and resources. The ANE Today covers the entire Near East, and each issue presents discussions ranging from the state of biblical archaeology to archaeology after the Arab Spring.

Naked Bible Podcast Episode 142: Ezekiel 26-27

Five of the seven nations that are the target of judgment oracles were found in Ezekiel 25. Tyre takes its position in the prophetic crosshairs next. Over the course of three chapters (26-28), God has Ezekiel pronounce Tyre’s dire future in the wake of her hubris and delight at Jerusalem’s destruction. This episode covers Ezekiel 26-27 with an oracle of judgment (Ezek 26) and a lament (Ezek 27).

The episode is now live.

Mike Speaking in Arkansas February 18

I will be speaking in Heber Springs, Arkansas on February 18, 2017, from 9am-5pm. This will be a day event focused on Unseen Realm content.

The event will be held at the Quality Inn in Heber Springs, AR.

3450 Highway 25B North

Heber Springs, AR

Phone: (501) 362-1000

The event is sponsored by the St Barnabas Anglican Church. For more details, go to the event page.

Registration cost is $12 and includes Lunch and Snacks.

Please register online here. There will also be a registration opportunity from 8:30-9:30AM on the day of the event. A registration ticket will be required.

Fake Exegesis: Return of the א-ת BS

You’ve heard of fake news? (Who hasn’t?) How about some fake exegesis?

Some time ago I blogged about the nonsensical idea that the Hebrew particle את has an amazing hidden meaning in Gen 1:1 (that’s an aleph and taw, read right-to-left, for those who don’t read Hebrew). In the original paleobabble post on this, the “secret” was that these two letters (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet) point to Jesus, the alpha and omega per Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13 — and so Gen 1:1 encrypts Jesus as creator. This is argument is entirely bogus for a simple reason: This particle *known in other Semitic languages that aren’t “sanctified” like biblical Hebrew* is an untranslated marker for the direct object of a clause (i.e., the accusative marker). It’s not a mystery. Any first-year Hebrew grammar will note this, and reference grammars and works on comparative Northwest Semitic languages will discuss it.  (Note that in biblical Hebrew there are two other את words — one is a preposition, the other a noun — see below on that).

Well, the א-ת BS has re-surfaced, this time with a new twist. Now the particle isn’t an encrypted Jesus. This time it “teaches” us that God created everything “from A to Z” (first and last letter of the English alphabet … see what’s going on here?).

While I believe God created the material world in its entirety, that idea is not being “taught” by this particle. This is fake exegesis of the text. I’d say that you can’t possibly know anything about Hebrew grammar and make this point, but here’s the way the above post starts:

Together these two letters spell a little word, “et” (את), that cannot be translated into any language. It’s basically a way to link verbs and specific nouns, in a way unique to Hebrew. But this tiny word has a special purpose.

Maybe the author knows some Hebrew. I’m not sure. Why? Because the particle here doesn’t function “to link verbs and specific nouns.” That’s grammatically incoherent due to the ambiguity of “link”. This particle  doesn’t create a “link” between anything. In Gen 1:1 it is, as noted above, the direct object marker. This particular את has two homographs in biblical Hebrew. Homographs are distinct words spelled in exactly the same way. As HALOT notes (the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the OT), there are three את’s in biblical Hebrew (direct object marker, preposition, and a noun, respectively). Consequently, in Gen 1:1 is wrong to say the particle “cannot be translated into any language.” As the Hebrew direct object marker, the particle ISN’T SUPPOSED TO BE TRANSLATED. It just marks the direct object. That’s its purpose — by design.

Why care about this? Because its the biblical text. It should be handled with respect — that means we shouldn’t make up bunk about what it is saying or conveying, no matter if the teaching intention is a good one. Don’t bother emailing me or posting a comment about how I shouldn’t take this author and web page to task. The alternative is letting someone lie to you. You may want that, but you’ll have to go somewhere else to get it.

Another Illustration of Why Anomalist Research Needs to be Submitted to Peer Review

Remember the demon fairy fiasco? If not, read that link first.

Although “peer review” in this case (below) isn’t about submission to an academic journal, the principle is the same. Anomalous objects, experiences, events, etc. should be submitted for review by experts capable of objective evaluation before claims about what said object, experience, event is or means. In this case, it’s the “Chilean UFO Mystery.” This one had serious UFO researchers ready to tout it as proof of a non-human craft (and lots of other less-serious enthusiasts, too).

From the Coast to Coast AM website:

In a disappointing but not altogether surprising turn of events, an independent investigation into the recently released Chilean UFO footage which created headlines last week suggests that the unknown object was likely just an airplane. The video and accompanying story generated considerable excitement because it emanated from an official Chilean government UFO investigation group who said that it could not determine what the anomaly was after a two year investigation. However, a subsequent study of the footage and the circumstances by which it was filmed seemingly deciphered the identity of the ‘UFO’ rather easily.

Note especially the “rather easily” line at the end. Same as the demon fairy nonsense. If it hasn’t occurred to you yet, I’ll say it: This puts the Chilean authorities and whoever else is doing their investigative work under question as to competence. Folks, words like “air force” and “pilot” don’t necessarily mean that what they say is correct. In this case, their opinion was “easily” overturned. Note to UFO researchers: remember that.

The lesson is that, while you might want to believe something, the thing you want to believe needs to be established as real under rigorous scrutiny by highly competent people outside your own circles in the relevant areas of research. “Discoverers” or “research promoters” ought to be willing to put things to the test before suggesting to a wide audience that the thing in question is what they want it to be (and charging people for that speculation).

This is what I meant, and will mean, by ethics in these areas. I’m grateful for people who find things. It’s often hard work. But I’m even more appreciative of them when they willingly submit their research to outside review. That’s doing the right thing.

Two New Kindle Books — Notes on Leviticus and Acts from the Naked Bible Podcast

I’m happy to announce that there are two new Kindle books available:

Notes on Leviticus from the Naked Bible Podcast ($0.99)

Notes on the Book of Acts from the Naked Bible Podcast ($0.99)

As you might guess from the titles, these are edited version of the transcripts from the episodes on the podcast series on Leviticus and Acts. Since the transcripts are available for free (by episode on the episode page), I had intended to make these free as well. But I’ve discovered Amazon Kindle doesn’t allow me to do that. Hence they are available for $0.99. Both books are over 200 pp., so it’s still a good deal. For those who want all of the material, edited for readability, in one place — and who have Kindle — here you go!  I won’t be making these available in print.

Thanks go to Spencer Robinson and Peter Rust for editing and preparing these!