Updated SBL Policy Manual

The SBL Policy Manual has been updated with new statements, policies, and procedures approved by Council in 2017, including a Statement on Academic Boycotts. See the new policy manual here.

Beginning the Development of SBL Central

The development of SBLCentral, a research platform for SBL members, began in November 2017, with the support of many sponsors. You can read more about the initiative here.

2018 Annual Campaign Launch!

In October SBL launched the 2018 Annual Campaign with a goal of enhancing its body of work, the Society. However, we can't do it without you! Click here to show your support with a gift, and help create the best version of SBL today.

Awards Programs with January Deadlines

January 10th is the last day to submit your letter of intent for the following awards:

• De Gruyter Prize for Biblical Studies and Reception History


• Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship


• David Noel Freedman Award for Excellence and Creativity in Hebrew Bible Scholarship

Dever Fellowship for Biblical Scholars

The application deadline of January 10, 2018 is fast approaching for a two–month travel-study award of $7,000 that will be made available in the summer of 2018 to a qualified American non-tenured faculty member in the field of biblical studies who wants to acquire elementary, first-hand experience in field archaeology and research in Israel.
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International Greek New Testament Project

The International Greek New Testament Project (IGNTP), established in 1948, has now released 350 of its transcriptions of Greek New Testament manuscripts under the Creative Commons Attribution license in order to make its data openly available.
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SBL on Twitter

@BibleOdyssey
shares content related to Bible Odyssey and biblical studies in general.

@SBLSite
a combined channel for communication to SBL members from the SBL Professions, Congresses, and Membership departments.

Bible Odyssey

Any topics you would like to see Bible Odyssey address? Let us know at: bow@sbl-site.org

Call for Papers

2018 Sean W. Dever Memorial Prize Call is open. All submissions must be received no later than December 31, 2017.
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SBL Calendar

A listing of worldwide events of interest to biblical and religious studies scholars.

Recent SBLHS2 Blog Posts

Vetus Latina (VLB)

Studia Patristica

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition

Follow handbook updates on the SBL Handbook of Style blog

Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion about the SBL Handbook of Style, 2nd edition?

If so, please contact SBL Press at SBLHS2@sbl-site.org.

Support SBL with your Amazon Purchases

2018 Annual Meeting Call for Papers Open

Co-hosted by the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion, the 2018 Annual Meetings will be held November 17-20 in Denver, Colorado. The call for papers for the 2018 Annual Meeting is now open. Proposals will be accepted through 6 March 2018. You can review the program units participating in 2018 here.

The call for papers for the 2018 International Meeting remains open as well. The deadline for submission for the International Meeting is 13 February 2018.

SBL International Travel Awards Applications

The SBL International Travel Awards offer opportunities to current SBL members outside North America to attend the Annual or International Meeting, to participate in the program, to enhance their professional development, and to build their network with fellow scholars. These grants help facilitate the work of Program Units and the International Cooperation Initiative (“ICI”). The International Travel Awards defray transportation, hotel accommodations, and other expenses incurred for the Annual or International Meetings. Award monies will be distributed as reimbursement for expenses incurred for travel to/from the meeting and meals while attending the meeting. Please visit the travel grant page for information on eligibility, criteria, and application instructions.

Call for Nominations

Nominating Committee will begin developing a list of candidates to serve on SBL’s standing committees and Council. That work begins at the Annual Meeting and extends through 2018 for new positions open in 2019. Please see the call for nominations and nominate yourself or a colleague.

New Annual Meeting Program Unit Applications

Applications for new program units for the Annual Meeting are due January 15. Submit your application here.  

Now available from SBL Press

Toward a Latino/a Biblical Interpretation    
Francisco Lozada Jr.

This volume aims to contribute to the history of biblical interpretation by discussing various ways Latino/a biblical interpretation has been practiced and conceived as part of this history of biblical interpretation, as well as part of the history of Latino/a biblical interpretation. Lozada’s introduction describes what it means to do Latino/a biblical interpretation, demonstrates three different reading strategies (correlation, dialogical, and ideological) that Latinos/as employ in reading biblical texts, and explores whether one must be Latino/a to do Latino/a biblical interpretation.

Paper $36.95, 9781628372007
Hardcover $51.95, ISBN 9780884142706
Kindle, ASIN B076FCW3RT
Google Play, ISBN 9780884142690
148 pages • 2017 • Resources for Biblical Study 91

The Studia Philonica Annual XXIX, 2017: Studies in Hellenistic Judaism    
David T. Runia and Gregory E. Sterling, editors

The Studia Philonica Annual is a scholarly journal devoted to the study of Hellenistic Judaism, particularly the writings and thought of the Hellenistic-Jewish writer Philo of Alexandria (circa 15 BCE to circa 50 CE). This volume includes a special section on Philo’s De plantatione in addition to articles, reviews, and extensive bibliography. 

Hardcover $55.95, 9781628371932
Kindle, ASIN B076FL8JXL
Google Play, ISBN 9780884142553
290 pages • 2017 • Studia Philonica Annual 29

Gospel Jesuses and Other Nonhumans: Biblical Criticism Post-poststructuralism
Stephen D. Moore

This new resource from Stephen D. Moore applies nonhuman critical theory to the biblical books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. Nonhuman theory is a confluence of several of the main theoretical streams that have issued forth since the heyday of high poststructuralism, including affect theory, posthuman animality studies, critical plant studies, object-oriented new materialisms, and assemblage theory. Nonhuman theory dismantles and reassembles the Western concept of “the human” that coalesced during the Enlightenment and testifies to other conceptions of the human and of the nonhuman, not least those found in the New Testament. Exegetical explorations and defamiliarizations of these overly familiar texts open new paths in biblical ecotheology and ecocriticism for scholars and students of the Bible, literary criticism, and cultural studies.

Paperback $24.95, ISBN 9781628371901
Hardcover $39.95, ISBN 9780884142522
Kindle, ASIN B076PRC114
Google Play, ISBN 9780884142515
164 pages • 2017 • Semeia Studies 89

A New Approach to Textual Criticism: An Introduction to the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method   
Tommy Wasserman and Peter J. Gurry

With the publication of the widely used 28th edition of Nestle-Aland’s Novum Testamentum Graece and the 5th edition of the United Bible Society Greek New Testament, a computer-assisted method known as the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM) was used for the first time to determine the most valuable witnesses and establish the initial text. This book offers the first full-length, student-friendly introduction to this important new method. After setting out the method’s history, separate chapters clarify its key concepts, including genealogical coherence, textual flow diagrams, and the global stemma. Examples from across the New Testament are used to show how the method works in practice. The result is an essential introduction that will be of interest to students, translators, commentators, and anyone else who studies the Greek New Testament.

Paper $19.95, 9781628371994
Hardcover $34.95, 9780884142676 
Kindle, ASIN B076PRQZDZ
Google Play, ISBN 9780884142669 
164 pages • 2017 • Resources for Biblical Study 80

The SBL Commentary on the Septuagint: An Introduction   
Dirk Büchner, editor

This book contains a wide range of contributions of verse-by-verse commentary on the Greek text of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint. Each chapter is from a different biblical book, for which there will eventually be a full commentary published in the Society of Biblical Literature Commentary on the Septuagint series. The commentary series focuses on the actual process of translation, so commentators describe and explain the kinds of decisions the ancient Alexandrian translators made about how to render Hebrew into Greek.   

Paper $37.95, 9781628371871
Hardcover $52.95, 9780884142447 
Kindle, ASIN B076Q39BS7
Google Play, ISBN 9780884142430 
280 pages • 2017 • Septuagint and Cognate Studies 67

Ambrosiaster's Commentary on the Pauline Epistles: Romans
Translated with Notes by Theodore S. de Bruyn,  with an Introduction by Theodore S. de Bruyn,  Stephen A. Cooper, and David G. Hunter

The ancient writer dubbed Ambrosiaster was a pioneer in the revival of interest in the Pauline Epistles in the fourth century. He was read by later Latin writers, including Pelagius and Augustine, and his writings, passed on pseudonymously, had a long afterlife in the biblical commentaries, theological treatises, and canonical literature of the medieval and the early modern periods. In addition to his importance as an interpreter of scripture, Ambrosiaster provides unique perspectives on many facets of Christian life in Rome, from the emergence of clerical celibacy to the development of liturgical practices to the subordination of women. His commentary on the Pauline Epistles will be of interest to students of biblical interpretation and ancient Christianity.

Paper $57.95, 9781628371956
Hardcover $77.95, 9780884142591 
Kindle, ASIN B076WV7FY9
Google Play, ISBN 9780884142584  
450 pages • 2017 • Writings from the Greco-Roman World 41

Reading the Bible in Ancient Traditions and Modern Editions: Studies in Memory of Peter W. Flint 
Andrew B. Perrin, Kyung S. Baek, and Daniel K. Falk, editors

This collection of essays commemorates the career contributions of Peter W. Flint (1951–2016). Featuring twenty-seven new contributions from an international group of scholars specializing in various disciplines of biblical studies—Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and Christian origins—the volume interacts with and gives fresh insight into the fields shaped and impacted by Professor Flint’s life work. Essays in part 1 explore the interplay between text-critical methods, the growth and formation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the making of modern critical editions. Part 2 maps dynamics of scriptural interpretation and reception in ancient Jewish and Christian literatures of the Second Temple period.  

Paper $82.95, 9781628371918
Hardcover $102.95, 9780884142546 
Kindle, ASIN B0771TWLM6
Google Play, ISBN 9780884142539 
746 pages • 2017 • Early Judaism and Its Literature 47