Call for Papers: Southern Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls

Saturday 31st May 2025

Scholarship on the Dead Sea Scrolls has long been held as an example of international and interfaith cooperation. Yet, that scholarship has almost exclusively been associated with approaches and perspectives from the Global North (Europe, Israel, North America, and the UK). The purpose of this free online conference is to draw together researchers and scholarly perspectives from the Global South, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. What is the history of scholarship on the Dead Sea Scrolls in these regions? What is the nature and extent of public interest in the Scrolls? What methods, approaches, and perspectives have prevailed, and why? What opportunities exist to study the Scrolls and in what ways are they engaged? What new insights and/or trajectories on the Scrolls have emerged or are emerging, and why?

We invite papers on any topic connected to the Dead Sea Scrolls and related Second Temple studies from researchers trained or based in Central or South America and the Caribbean, Africa, Oceania, Asia, or Australia and New Zealand. We particularly invite papers that examine perspectives that might be considered distinctive of the regions where participants are based.

Paper presentations will be limited to researchers connected to the Southern Hemisphere and Global South, but the broader international community of Dead Sea Scrolls scholars will be invited to join the conference and participate in the discussions.

CONFERENCE DETAILS

When:

1–2 September and 8–9 September 2025

Format:

Speakers will be requested to submit a video recording of their paper by 1 August 2025. Recordings should not be more than 20-minutes in length. The prerecorded papers will then be shared with participants, who will be invited to watch them before the live meetings on 1–2 September and 8–9 September.

The meetings on 1–2 September and 8–9 September will be comprised of four (4) two-hour-long meetings held on Zoom (that is, two hours each day). The live sessions will be dedicated to questions and discussion of the pre-circulated papers.

We will endeavour to coordinate the scheduling of the meetings on 1–2 September and 8–9 September 2025 to support participants from different time zones to attend.

Language:

Please submit papers and paper proposals in English. The use of Translated Captions will be supported for the live online meetings on 1–2 September and 8–9 September.

Offer a paper

To submit a paper proposal, please send a 250-word abstract and short statement of eligibility (e.g., nationality, institutional affiliation) to Gareth Wearne. Registration for the conference will be free.

Call for papers closes 31 May, 2025.

Jerusalem on the Grand Canal: The First Jews of Babylonia

Wednesday 21st May 2025

Speaker: Prof. Wayne Horowitz
When: Wednesday, 21st May, 2025; 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Where: Centre for Theology and Ministry, 29 College Cres., Parkville

The prophet Ezekiel speaks of visiting the Babylonian Judean exilic community by the Chebar at Tel-Aviv on the Chebar Canal in Babylonia. We will visit this same community vicariously through day to day written documents in cuneiform script from the Al-Yahudu region (Judahtown) from the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, and see how the first generations of the Babylonian exile maintained their Jewish identity despite the traumas of the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah and the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, while following the words of the Prophet Jeremiah in their everyday lives.

Wayne Horowitz is Professor of Assyriology in the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University. His main research interests are Ancient Astronomy and Cosmography, Cuneiform Texts from the Land of Israel, and in the Southern Hemisphere, the collections of cuneiform tablets held in museums and other venues in Australia and New Zealand.

RSVP and Zoom link: Barbara Deutschmann.

Sydney Meeting: The Elephant in the Room: John 8:44 and Anti-Judaism

Friday 4th April 2025

Our first meeting for 2025 will be held on Friday 4 April at 2.00pm, at the University of Sydney.

Our speaker will be Dr Debra Snoddy who will present a paper dealing with issues such as Johannine Christology, Anti-Judaism, and Supersessionism, under the title of The Elephant in the Room: John 8:44 and Anti-Judaism.

The meeting will take place in the Woolley Common Room N480, Level 4, John Woolley Building, Science Road, University of Sydney.

Please register here for both in-person attendance or to join via zoom by clicking this link.

Melbourne Meeting: The Dead Sea Scrolls: Women, Darkness, and Other Dangerous Things

Wednesday 26th March 2025

Where:

Centre for Theology and Ministry
College Cres, Parkville
(Also on Zoom.)

When:

Wednesday, 26 March, 2025; 5:00pm – 7:00pm

RSVP / Zoom Link:

Barbara Deutschmann.

Speaker:

Dr Shani Tzoref is an educator specializing in Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Originally from New York, she holds degrees from Yeshiva University (B.A., M.S.), New York University (Ph.D.), and the CUNY Graduate Center (M.A. in Digital Humanities). She has served on university faculties in the US, UK, Israel, Germany, and Australia and has been a dedicated advocate for academic equity and inclusive practices. Shani recently transitioned to K-12 teaching and relocated to Australia in November 2024.

In this presentation, Dr Shani Tzoref will explore two passages preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls from the caves of Qumran: 4Q271, fragment 3, and 4Q184 (“Wiles of the Wicked Woman”). 4Q271 is a sectarian legal text, while 4Q184 is a sapiential (“wisdom”) text. The following will be our focal snippet:

And if [a man betroths his daughter to another ma]n, he shall tell him about all her defects, lest he bring upon himself the judgment of [the curse, which say]s, ‘Cursed is he who leads the blind astray on the road’ (Deut 27:18)... Let no man bring [a woman into the covenant of holi]ness whom he knew to ‘do the deed’ for a trifle or whom he knew [to ‘do the deed’ while in the house of ] her father; or a widow who has had intercourse after she became a widow, or any [woman who has a] bad [repu]tation while a virgin in the house of her father. Let no man marry such a one unless [she is examined by] dependable and knowledgeable [women] who are selected at the command of the Overseer who is over the [general membership; the]n he may marry her.

We will use this text as a springboard for a brief discussion of the Qumran corpus, its discovery, and theories of its authorship—through the lens of women’s presence (or absence) in the Community of the Scrolls. In that context, I will share some of my sociological and theological speculation about why this community might have been so preoccupied with women, both as real individuals and as symbolic figures.

FBS AGM

Thursday 14th November 2024

The 75th Annual General Meeting of the Fellowship for Biblical Studies will be held at the College for Theology and Ministry, College Crescent, Parkville, on Thursday 14 November.

The meeting includes dinner at 6.30pm.

The speaker for the meeting will be Assoc Prof Liz Boase.

We would welcome any ideas you may have for engaging topics and speakers for 2025.

We also want to acknowledge your recent achievements so please send us a list of your publications and other notable achievements for this calendar year.

RSVP by November 8 to Barbara Deutschmann.

2024 Melbourne Meeting Dates

Please be aware of the upcoming dates and times for Melbourne’s 2024 FBS Meetings.

Register for Sydney Symposium

Friday 8th November 2024

Our next Sydney FBS meeting will be a perfect opportunity to wrap up the year at a major event with Biblical Studies colleagues, hear from people at the cutting edge of research, support PhD candidates and early career researchers, and have some fun! This all-day event (9:30am – 4:30pm) will include four sessions, lunch and wine-tasting!

This is a catered event so it is important to register early so we can confirm numbers with our caterers. Please register here by Friday 1st November: https://events.humanitix.com/fbs-symposium.

Sydney Symposium: Call for Papers

Friday 4th October 2024

Our next Sydney FBS meeting on Friday 8th November will be a perfect opportunity to wrap up the year at a major event with Biblical Studies colleagues. Unlike our regular one hour meetings this event will include four sessions, lunch and wine-tasting! Please mark your diary and keep the date free.

We are calling for papers for two sessions:

• What are you working on? This session will be similar to one we held at the Sydney FBS Conference in 2023 and will provide opportunities for several speakers to talk about their current research projects or interests, and to get valuable feedback from colleagues.


• My PhD thesis. In this session we will hear from current PhD candidates and recent PhD graduates about their thesis. A perfect opportunity for early career researchers to present their first academic paper in a non-threatening setting with friendly feedback.

Please submit your proposal using the form at this link by Friday 4th October 2024.

United Theological College (part of Charles Sturt University) at North Parramatta will be our hosts and they offer excellent facilities, in peaceful surroundings, and with plenty of off-street parking. If transport to North Parramatta is a problem for you please let me know and we will do our very best to get you there.

Third Melbourne Meeting: Rhetoric and Intertextuality in 1 John

Friday 13th September 2024

Hear Dr Chris Segleniek speak on the topic of “Rhetoric and Intertextuality in 1 John” on Friday, September 13 from 2:00pm–3:30pm at the Centre for Theology and Ministry, College Crescent, Parkville.

Contact Barbara Deutschmann if you would like to attend via Zoom.

Chris Seglenieks works at Bible College SA, and his research focuses on the Johannine literature. Topics of interest include the nature of belief, the way that biblical texts seek to persuade, and the connections between these texts and the audiences that may have first read them. His work includes Johannine Belief and Graeco-Roman Devotion (Mohr Siebeck 2020) and The Johannine Community in Contemporary Debate (edited with Chris Skinner, Fortress 2024).

Sydney Meeting: Ali Robinson, “Exploring the Deaths of Ananias and Sapphira”

Friday 30th August 2024

The next Sydney meeting of the Fellowship for Biblical Studies will be held at Moore Theological College on Friday 30th August at 2:00pm.

Our speaker will be Dr Ali Robinson, from United Theological College, and her paper is titled “Exploring the Deaths of Ananias and Sapphira: A Study in Group-Embedded Identity and Broken Communal Trust.” Full details are on the attached flyer.

Following the very interesting display of rare Bibles, Hebrew manuscripts and other books at our last meeting at the University of Sydney Fisher Library, the Moore College Archivist has kindly arranged to have a display of some rare and very old Bibles and other books from their collection for participants to examine at this meeting as well.

Please register for either in-person or zoom using the link https://events.humanitix.com/fbs-sydney-meeting.

Second Melbourne Meeting:
Prof. Adele Reinhardt, Holy Hollywood: What Movies Teach Us About the Bible

Monday 22nd July 2024

This meeting includes dinner and begins at 6:30pm at a cost of $35.00.

Where:

Trinity College Theological School,
100 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052.
Enter via gate opposite Trinity College Chapel.

RSVP by Wednesday 17th July 2024:

RSVP to Barbara Deutschmann by Wednesday 17 July.

Adele Reinhartz is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Ottawa, where she is also a Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies.

Second Sydney Meeting:
Dr Chris Thomson, Righteousness in the Hebrew Bible and Implications for Pauline Theology

Friday 21st June 2024

The second Sydney meeting of 2024 will take place on 21 June at 2:00pm in the Rare Books and Special Collections Seminar Room, Level 2, Fisher Library, University of Sydney.

Register/RSVP:

Please register for both in person attendance or for a zoom link using this link.

Speaker: Dr Chris Thomson

Chris Thomson is an honorary research associate at Morling College. His research interests include sin and righteousness in the Bible, biblical languages, and lexical semantics. He has taught biblical studies and biblical languages at Moore College, Oak Hill College, Cambridge University, and Edinburgh University, and been a Junior Research Fellow at Tyndale House, Cambridge. He has degrees in law from Oxford University and in Theological and Pastoral Studies from Oak Hill College, and an MPhil and PhD in Theology and Religious Studies from Cambridge University. His PhD dissertation was entitled "The Removal of Sin in the Book of Zechariah.”

Subject: Righteousness in the Hebrew Bible and Implications for Pauline Theology

Abstract:

It is widely recognised that Paul’s use of the term “righteousness” (δικαιοσύνη) must be understood against the background of the Hebrew equivalents צדק and צדקה. This paper explores the meaning of the Hebrew terminology and identifies various ways in which it has been misunderstood in Pauline scholarship. In particular, it will be argued that the Old Testament evidence does not support the common claim that δικαιοσύνη denotes a relationship with God, either in the sense of a status of justification or in the sense of covenant membership. In non-forensic contexts, most commonly denote moral rectitude and morally right behaviour, respectively. The words צדקה and צדק themselves appear to be rather general and not to encode a specific basis according to which rectitude is assessed, such as conformity to a norm of creation or covenant, satisfaction of the demands of relationships or, as recently suggested by Niehaus, “conformity to God’s Being and doing.” In a forensic context to be צדיק is to be in the right on the merits of the case, not to have been vindicated by the court, and צדקה is one’s objective innocence or just cause, not a status of vindication. Paul’s language of “having” δικαιοσύνη in Phil 3:9 is best understood against the background of the equivalent Hebrew idiom in Deut 6:25; 24:13, where “having” righteousness means having the credit ordinarily belonging to those who have done right. Contrary to what is often argued, the second occurrence of δικαιοσύνη in Phil 3:9 does not denote the believer’s relationship with God; rather, the two occurrences can be understood to have the same meaning, the difference being the basis on which righteousness is credited. Paul’s citation of Ps 32:1–2 in Rom 4:6–8 indicates that he sees the reckoning of δικαιοσύνη to the undeserving as equivalent to the non-reckoning of sin. Although the result is a right relationship with God, what is graciously reckoned is not the relationship but the appropriate moral behaviour which is its prerequisite.

This meeting will also provide a rare opportunity to view some of the precious Bibles and Manuscripts in the Fisher Library Rare Books collection.