Westminster Confessions

in our Ugaritic class:
There are 10 kinds of people–
Those who understand binary
and those who don’t

This is a quote from Touchstone Magazine. It touches on some of the discussions regarding translating that we’ve been having in our Proverbs class. I think it is really helpful in showing the complexities and decisions made when we (attempt to) translate.
Word to the Wise by ANTHONY ESOLEN (excerpt)
Dante is often obscure: He coins odd [...]

These posts in the Blog area of Codex are not to be missed:
Abbott & Costello Learn Hebrew
Dr. Seuss Learns Greek
HT: Ros

Here’s a great way to keep your Hebrew alive and well! Each day a short passage is accompanied by vocabulary helps (for vocab occurring fewer than 50x) and grammar annotations. Check it out here (every day!).

HT: Sam Boyd (this is from one of his fellow University of Chicago classmates).

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Durham, NC, visiting Sarah, John, Ethan & Maggie. We had a blast. Not to be outdone by four-year-old Ethan’s antics on the monkeybars (competitive spirits that we are), Sarah and I displayed one of our best monkeybar tricks for the kids.

I actually am looking at the camera… my hair [...]

I know that Mark is usually the one who does the unveiling and/or reviewing of various OT Studies offerings. But I am going to step up to the mike for this one (watch out… it’s another “I & I”).
Our friend, Dr. Bill Wilder (who when teaching in Africa never quite recovered from writing his name [...]

A year ago (actually, EXACTLY a year ago) my computer hard drive died. I was in the midst of writing my final papers and getting ready to study for exams. I lost lots of time at the Apple Store (both in King of Prussia, PA and in Delaware). We finally were able to recover a [...]

OK, I admit it. I love to organize things. And I’m a very visual learner. So, for any of my language courses I usually design a notebook for the translation work and get it bound (at www.lulu.com an online on-demand print company). I also decided that the best way for me to remember the Hebrew [...]

That’s where I am right now. In Greek Boot Camp.

There’s no mud or obstacle courses. But the schedule is pretty rigorous and there’s not much sleep. My month of January has been dedicated to preparing for the Greek placement exam at WTS. Pretty much if we aren’t at church, watching LOST, or catching a [...]

The semester is over, the last blue book has been closed and handed in. So, in honor of exams I offer these random tidbits related to exams.

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the famous first lines of The Hobbit — “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty dirty wet hole …” — [...]

The Tanna’im (Rabbinic Sages) noted that there are four types of students (Pirkei ‘Avot 5.18):
[a] a sponge absorbs everything.
[b] a funnel takes in at one end and lets out at the other.
[c] a strainer lets the wine flow through and retains the sediment.
[d] a sieve allows the flour dust to pass through and retains the [...]

Why bother to learn Ugaritic? Why take the time to learn Phoenician script and pour over inscription dictionaries? Why look into Canaanite gods and read Ancient Near East texts? Is there any point to studying something so obscure? Can it possibly have any purpose other than generating more journal articles? Is this going to help [...]

Seems like I’ve had intellectual laryngitus when it comes to my blog. Lots going on, lots of thinking, lots of ideas, but nothing finding its way to my blog.
Part of this is probably due to my love/hate relationship with the blogosphere. I love that I can keep in touch, read what others are thinking, [...]

Tomorrow (Thursday, September 8th) is the first day of the fall semester. At 8:30 a.m. I’ll resume the academic year with a church history course (Modern Age). Other courses include OTHT I (Old Testament History & Theology), Aramaic & Targums, and Psalms. Thus ends the summer.
This summer, perhaps more than any in our recent memory, [...]