Biblical Studies Blog Carnival XXVI
Posted by Kevin A. Wilson on 1 Feb 2008 9:38 am. Filed under Blog Carnivals.
The 26th Biblical Studies Blog Carnival is up and running at biblicalia. Kevin Edgecomb has done a fantastic job of pulling together some of the best posts from the biblioblogosphere in January. His post is incredibly thorough. He has hit all of the high notes, from the Shelemoth seal to the Talpiot tomb to the minimalist vs. maximalist debate. The only downside is that because February is such a short month, you may not have time to read all of it. I pity the fool who has to follow such a great act.
Oh, wait . . . that’s me. Your’s humbly will be hosting next month’s blog carnival. Be sure to watch this space for an announcement about submitting your nominations. In the meantime, keep an eye out for posts you would like to nominate.
On February 1st, 2008 at 11:06 am
I have an odd question, Kevin. In a recent post of mine in which I looked at Ben Sira 6:31, which speaks of the bonds of wisdom in terms of a ‘violet’ or ‘purple’ cord. tecelet might also be translated ‘blue.’ Is this the origin of your blog’s name.
Inquiring minds wish to know.
On February 1st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
As I mention on my About page, the origin of my blog’s name is found in Numbers 15:37-41, which requires the Israelites to place a blue cord in the tassel of their garments to remind them to follow the law. I don’t know for certain, but I suspect that Ben Sira is referencing that verse.
On my business cards I have ‘patil tekelet’ (blue cord) written in Hebrew down the side of the card.
The word tekelet is probably best translated as purple or violet. It refers to the color of the dye that is made from the murex shell. But I went with blue because this is the translation in most English versions. This is also why there is blue in the Israeli flag. Besides, I didn’t want to have a purple blog!
On February 1st, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Ach, it won’t be that hard to follow!
I’ll really need to track it down, but I read a fascinating article on the production of the murex dye. First, it wasn’t produced from the shells of the snails, but from a tiny gland in the (head of the?) snail itself, the substance within which reacts to oxygen and sunlight. So, with an accumulation of a vast number of these glands and the juice therefrom, garments would be dipped in the dye. Depending upon how dilute the dye was and how deeply dyed the cloth was, the color could range anywhere from greenish to red to reddish-purple to the deepest darkest violet-purple. The latter, of course, being the most dye-intensive and thus labor-intensive, so the most expensive. I’ll try to find that.
Also, if you’ll notice the tzitziyot (the amazing special bundle of knotted strings) on modern Jewish talliyot (”prayer shawls”), they lack the “blue cord.” This is because the Rabbis couldn’t agree on what color tekhelet actually meant! The Karaites do actually include a blue string in theirs, though. You can buy them here.