A Synoptic Parable

For all my fans out there...i live.

And this is what has been going on with me. I am trying to prepare a paper for the Society of Biblical Literature annual conference that is meeting in Philadelphia the weekend before Thanksgiving. The paper is called:

Luke’s Sower: Reading the Parable Synoptically using Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek
When analyzing the Parable of the Sower in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we find different linguistic choices in each version. These choices reflect lexical and syntactic structures that can be evaluated as to the degree of naturalness within Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. One may identify lexemes and usage that are 'more Greek' compared with those that are either 'more Hebraic' or 'more Aramaic'. For example, vocabulary built up with prefixes is a Greek feature that does not mimic vocabulary structure in Semitic languages. Likewise, aspectual distinctions and subordinate participial structures in Greek are sometimes more cumbersome to express in Hebrew and Aramaic. Weighing and sifting through these linguistic data opens new avenues for dealing with the literary history of our texts. Specifically, Luke’s Sower differs significantly from Mark and Matthew. Investigating the three Sower accounts within the contextualized languages of the Second Temple Period encourages fresh observations for age-old questions in Synoptic Studies. How do the Semitisms and Grecisms interrelate in the three different accounts in comparison with synoptic theories? The linguistic patterns bring an added complexity to the predictions of standard synoptic theories. Further analysis may suggest that Luke's Sower comes from a source independent of Mark or Matthew.

I am working on a U2 concert review. (I saw U2 at Madison Square Garden a couple of weeks ago.)

I am teaching a class on Acts. This next Monday we will be focusing on the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). I am also teaching a New Testament class and we will be studying Romans and Galatians this coming Monday. I am doing an independent study with a student on Intertestamental Literature and I meet him today at 12:30pm.

As far as visitors, Sharon's parents arrive this Saturday afternoon and will be here for the weekend. We have a Scottish-Israeli friend, ANne Stanfield also coming that weekend, though she'll be staying at another flat.

We just had a British friend, Helen Bosanquet, who studied Hebrew with us in Israel this past summer, stay with us from Oct. 21-26. Another friend from Tallahassee, Christopher Bennage was with us Oct. 9-13. We also saw an old Israeli friend Leaf Chang on Oct. 11. He actually lives about 20 minutes by foot from us in Brooklyn.

Since I'm new to blogging, I'll start with this. Part Two...later.