Lecture with Dr Steven Notley - Between the Chairs: New Testament Evidence for the Hebrew Jesus Spoke

Given 7pm - 9pm on Saturday October 25, 2014 at The Lanier Theological Library Chapel in Houston, Texas. It is part of the Lanier Library Lecture Series. A series devoted to bringing world class lectures to benefit the community of all those who might be interested.

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The publication of Professor Avi Hurvitz’s A Concise Lexicon of Late Biblical Hebrew (Leiden, 2014) has brought fresh attention to the changing language environment in the land of Israel following the Babylonian Exile. The idiom of the earlier Hebrew prophets was not identical with that of the Chronicler and other post-exilic works at the close of the Hebrew Bible. These developments continued into the first century of the Common Era - as we read in the Hebrew documents from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Unfortunately, too little notice has been given to the contribution of the New Testament (as a first-century witness) to these changes in the Hebrew language, as well as, the transition from Late Biblical Hebrew to the Hebrew of Israel’s Sages (i.e. Rabbinic/Mishnaic Hebrew). In this presentation we consider selected examples of Hebraisms found in our canonical Greek Gospels, which reflect the changing linguistic environment. Not only do these shed new light on the idioms Jesus chose to communicate his message, but they also contribute to the recently renewed debate about what language(s) Jesus spoke.

Bio Info:

Dr. R. Steven Notley is Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins on the New York City campus of Nyack College (2001-present) and director of the graduate programs in Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins. He lived in Jerusalem for 16 years with his family where Notley earned his Ph.D. in Comparative Religions at the Hebrew University (1993). He studied under the direction of the late professor David Flusser, writing his dissertation on "The Concept of the Holy Spirit in Jewish Literature of the Second Commonwealth and Pre-Pauline Christianity."

Among his list of publications, he coauthored, with Flusser, The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Jesusʼ Genius (Eerdmans 2007), with Zeʼev Safrai, Eusebius, Onomasticon: A Triglott Edition with Notes and Commentary (Brill 2005), and, with Anson Rainey, the monumental biblical atlas The Sacred Bridge: Cartaʼs Atlas of the Biblical World (Carta 2005). His second work with Safrai, Parables of the Sages (Carta 2011), is a pioneering collection and annotated translation of the earliest rabbinic parables that provide the literary and religious context for the parables of Jesus. He is a recognized leader in his field and continues to publish collaboratively with Israeli scholars.

During his years in Israel Notley was extensively involved in directing travel and field study for students and laity in Israel, Greece and Turkey. He continues to direct study trips through Emmaus Educational Services. He also served as the founding chairman of the department for New Testament studies at the Jerusalem University College from 1996 to 2001.

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