John D Meade
Phoenix Seminary, Old Testament, Faculty Member
- Phoenix Seminary, Text & Canon Institute, Department Memberadd
- Septuagint, Hexapla, Textual Criticism, Greek Language, Hebrew Language, Old Testament, and 15 moreByzantine Studies, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Theology, Biblical Studies, Old Testament Textual Criticism, Epiphanius of Salamis, Book History, Hebrew Bible, Syriac Studies, Manuscript Studies, Origen, Book of Job, History Of The Bible/Biblical Canon, Canon Formation, and Biblical Theologyedit
- Professor of Old Testament; Co-Director of the Text & Canon Instituteedit
Although Origen and his Hexapla are well known among biblical scholars, questions about his philology, particularly textual criticism, persist. The Hexapla contained very important texts and translations of the Hebrew Scriptures, but... more
Although Origen and his Hexapla are well known among biblical scholars, questions about his philology, particularly textual criticism, persist. The Hexapla contained very important texts and translations of the Hebrew Scriptures, but unfortunately it was probably destroyed in the seventh century and we possess only fragments of it. This volume systematically treats the questions of Origen’s forerunners and heirs and attempts to reconstruct how Origen developed the philological method he received and also how his followers received and innovated his textual work.
Research Interests:
This Festschrift honors the life and work of Peter J. Gentry on the occasion of his retirement (2021) from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary after 22 years of faithful service. The volume includes two personal reflections by... more
This Festschrift honors the life and work of Peter J. Gentry on the occasion of his retirement (2021) from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary after 22 years of faithful service. The volume includes two personal reflections by family members and a close friend, followed by nineteen essays written by an international assemblage of scholars, all of whom admire the work of Gentry, and some of whom were his own doctoral students. These essays cover several of the academic fields with which Peter Gentry’s own research and writing intersect: biblical languages and linguistics, and the translation, transmission, and reception of the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity.
Research Interests:
A Critical Edition of the Hexaplaric Fragments of Job 22–42 contains the established text of all the preserved readings of Origen’s Hexapla in Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Armenian for Job 22–42 with variant author attributions and variant... more
A Critical Edition of the Hexaplaric Fragments of Job 22–42 contains the established text of all the preserved readings of Origen’s Hexapla in Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Armenian for Job 22–42 with variant author attributions and variant readings presented in a series of apparatuses. In most entries, the editor has supplied Notes in the form of brief commentary on the readings. This edition of hexaplaric fragments surpasses previous editions (e.g. Frederick Field’s work) in two ways: (1) the edition contains more readings of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion and (2) the critical text of each reading is based on the most up-to-date manuscript evidence for the hexaplaric readings of Job. The new edition will have immediate relevance for textual criticism of the TaNaK/Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the Greek lexicon of the late second temple period, and early Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures in Greek.
Research Interests:
The Bible took shape over the course of centuries, and today Christian groups continue to disagree over details of its contents. The differences among these groups typically involve the Old Testament, as they mostly accept the same... more
The Bible took shape over the course of centuries, and today Christian groups continue to disagree over details of its contents. The differences among these groups typically involve the Old Testament, as they mostly accept the same 27-book New Testament. An essential avenue for understanding the development of the Bible are the many early lists of canonical books drawn up by Christians and, occasionally, Jews. Despite the importance of these early lists of books, they have remained relatively inaccessible. This comprehensive volume redresses this unfortunate situation by presenting the early Christian canon lists all together in a single volume. The canon lists, in most cases, unambiguously report what the compilers of the lists considered to belong to the biblical canon. For this reason they bear an undeniable importance in the history of the Bible.
The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity provides an accessible presentation of these early canon lists. With a focus on the first four centuries, the volume supplies the full text of the canon lists in English translation alongside the original text, usually Greek or Latin, occasionally Hebrew or Syriac. Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade orient readers to each list with brief introductions and helpful notes, and they point readers to the most significant scholarly discussions. The book begins with a substantial overview of the history of the biblical canon, and an entire chapter is devoted to the evidence of biblical manuscripts from the first millennium. This authoritative work is an indispensable guide for students and scholars of biblical studies and church history.
The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity provides an accessible presentation of these early canon lists. With a focus on the first four centuries, the volume supplies the full text of the canon lists in English translation alongside the original text, usually Greek or Latin, occasionally Hebrew or Syriac. Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade orient readers to each list with brief introductions and helpful notes, and they point readers to the most significant scholarly discussions. The book begins with a substantial overview of the history of the biblical canon, and an entire chapter is devoted to the evidence of biblical manuscripts from the first millennium. This authoritative work is an indispensable guide for students and scholars of biblical studies and church history.
Research Interests:
Brief, popular article describing Jesus and the Apostles' experience of the "Bible."
Research Interests:
An analysis of the colometry and text of MasPsa in comparison with MT (as represented by the Aleppo Codex) in terms of terminal markers in MT marked by accents and pausal forms as well as the layout of both manuscripts. This presentation... more
An analysis of the colometry and text of MasPsa in comparison with MT (as represented by the Aleppo Codex) in terms of terminal markers in MT marked by accents and pausal forms as well as the layout of both manuscripts. This presentation illuminates textual development between earlier non-Qumran sources and the later Masoretic tradition. Early codices of the Greek Bible offer surprising insights on the early history of the Hebrew Psalter. The tradition in MT is likely earlier than current scholarship suspects.
Research Interests:
This piece was first published in Didaktikos: Journal of Theological Education (DidaktikosJournal.com) for its Currents section.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The Syro-Hexapla is a valuable witness to the text of Origen’s Hexapla. This paper describes the marginal material in the Syro-Hexapla of Job under the following headings: (1) hexaplaric notes, (2) longer scholia (from patristic works),... more
The Syro-Hexapla is a valuable witness to the text of Origen’s Hexapla. This paper describes the marginal material in the Syro-Hexapla of Job under the following headings: (1) hexaplaric notes, (2) longer scholia (from patristic works), (3) textual variants and other versions, (4) Greek words, and (5) exegetical notes / glosses. By examining all of the materials within the manuscript more insight into its history and provenance was made possible. According to the evidence, Syro-Hexapla Job probably originated in or around Alexandria and was probably translated from the Tetrapla or a text that preserved four Greek versions of Job along with other marginal material.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
RA 788 (Tyrnavos 25) is a tenth century Greek catena manuscript containing the book of Job and the three Solomonic books. Dieter and Ursula Hagedorn were not aware of it and, therefore, it was not included in their magisterial work Die... more
RA 788 (Tyrnavos 25) is a tenth century Greek catena manuscript containing the book of Job and the three Solomonic books. Dieter and Ursula Hagedorn were not aware of it and, therefore, it was not included in their magisterial work Die älteren griechischen Katenen zum Buch Hiob or the Nachlese. Before commenting on the Hexaplaric fragments, it is necessary to determine the manuscript’s place in the stemma. This paper seeks to show that RA 788 is a member of the oldest Greek catena (Hagedorns’ α-Vorläuferkatene) and, in particular, that it is the ancestor of the important RA 250 and that RA 250 probably descended from an intermediate copy, not RA 788 directly. Once its place in the manuscript stemma has been determined, the paper will comment on the significant Hexaplaric fragments in the manuscript in comparison with the recent dissertations on the Hexaplaric fragments of Job by Nancy Woods and John Meade.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An exploration of the typological development of circumcision across the canon.
Research Interests:
This study seeks to contribute to this discussion in two ways: (1) the meaning of the biblical rite of circumcision will be explained against the background of the ancient Near East. (2) Once the significance of circumcision has been... more
This study seeks to contribute to this discussion in two ways: (1) the meaning of the biblical rite of circumcision will be explained against the background of the ancient Near East. (2) Once the significance of circumcision has been understood, then how the theme of circumcision of the foreskin is developed in Leviticus and Deuteronomy with respect to heart (un)circumcision will be set forth. In the Torah, heart circumcision is predicted to be the resolution to Israel's covenant infidelity (and accompanying curse) and to bring blessing accompanying the return from exile.
Research Interests:
Re-examination of problem in the text of Ecclesiastes 1:17. Goldman, Editor of Ecclesiastes for Biblia Hebraica Quinta, posits הוֹלֵלוּת as the earliest form of the Hebrew Text—a reading not attested in any source. Pace Goldman, our... more
Re-examination of problem in the text of Ecclesiastes 1:17. Goldman, Editor of Ecclesiastes for Biblia Hebraica Quinta, posits הוֹלֵלוּת as the earliest form of the Hebrew Text—a reading not attested in any source. Pace Goldman, our article argues that הוֹלֵלוֹת in MT can satisfactorily explain the readings in all the witnesses / versions. This entails reconsideration of the earliest form of the text of both Theodotion and the Septuagint based on new manuscript evidence, as well as a new appreciation for the significance of the witness of the Syriac (Peshitta).
Research Interests:
This abstract is a summary of my dissertation.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Register to attend the colloquium at www.ps.edu/origen. Twenty five years after Oxford’s Rich Seminar sparked a renaissance of research on Origen’s Hexapla, the Phoenix Seminary Text & Canon Institute will host its first colloquium to... more
Register to attend the colloquium at www.ps.edu/origen.
Twenty five years after Oxford’s Rich Seminar sparked a renaissance of research on Origen’s Hexapla, the Phoenix Seminary Text & Canon Institute will host its first colloquium to explore Origen’s textual scholarship and its reception in late antiquity.
Origen of Alexandria moved to Caesarea around AD 230 and soon after began his work on the Hexapla or six-parallel-columned edition of the Old Testament. This edition inspired the preparation of subsequent scholarly editions of the Greek scriptures at the Caesarean Library that impacted the text and exegesis of the Scriptures in their Greek and Hebrew forms there and in other locales.
For its inaugural colloquium, the Text & Canon Institute is bringing together a group of international scholars to write this chapter of the Bible’s history.
The colloquium will take place November 18–19, 2020.
Twenty five years after Oxford’s Rich Seminar sparked a renaissance of research on Origen’s Hexapla, the Phoenix Seminary Text & Canon Institute will host its first colloquium to explore Origen’s textual scholarship and its reception in late antiquity.
Origen of Alexandria moved to Caesarea around AD 230 and soon after began his work on the Hexapla or six-parallel-columned edition of the Old Testament. This edition inspired the preparation of subsequent scholarly editions of the Greek scriptures at the Caesarean Library that impacted the text and exegesis of the Scriptures in their Greek and Hebrew forms there and in other locales.
For its inaugural colloquium, the Text & Canon Institute is bringing together a group of international scholars to write this chapter of the Bible’s history.
The colloquium will take place November 18–19, 2020.