Michael Langlois

After the holidays, it’s time to got back to class! This semester, I’ll continue my first-year Hebrew course, while teaching an Advanced Hebrew class designed for second- and third-year students in the Bachelor’s program. We’ll look at a number of texts of various literary genres from the Hebrew Bible, focusing on syntax and structure — essential elements of a sound exegesis!

See you tomorrow, January 26, 2012 at 8 AM!

The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception is a major editorial project involving scholars from all over the world. No less than thirty volumes are expected!

Here is the article on “Band” from the third volume, which has just come out:

Michael Langlois, “Band” in Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, Vol. 3. Berlin – Boston, De Gruyter, 2011, col. 420-421.

The invention of writing profoundly changed mankind’s relation to the divine. It enabled religions to develop and adopt sacred Scriptures, with a varied status in different places or eras.
This relationship between writing and Scriptures will be the focus of a conference entitled:

Origin of Writing—Origin of Scriptures

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 8:15 PM, Robertsau Protestant Parish, 86 rue Boecklin, 67000 Strasbourg

We will also discuss the “religions of the book,” and especially the relationship of various Jewish and Christian communities to the “Bible.”

The organization committee of the “Bible, Heritage of Mankind” exhibition, in Orleans on Jan. 14 – Feb. 5, asked me to give a conference on:

The Bible Facing Archaeology

What do archaeological discoveries teach us on the Bible? Do biblical narratives convey historical reality?

If you are interested, come Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 at 8:30 PM at the Auditorium of the Orleans Media Library (1 place Gambetta, 45043 Orléans).

In the meantime, you can watch the video of the interview I gave when the exhibition was created!

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Update: Article in Republic of the Center newspaper • New conference
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The first volume of “Writing the Bible” series is just out!

Written by Valérie Triplet-Hitoto, edited by your servant with a foreword by Francis Schmidt, it focuses on the interpretation of Dt 29:28 in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Here is the teaser I wrote for the back cover:

« Les choses cachées sont pour Yhwh notre Dieu, et les choses révélées sont pour nous et pour nos fils pour toujours, afin que nous mettions en pratique toutes les paroles de cette Loi » (Dt 29,28). Ce verset intrigue. Il fascine. Que sont ces choses « cachées », dont seul Dieu semble avoir connaissance ? Sont-elles cachées à tous et à jamais ? N’y a-t-il pas moyen d’en recevoir la révélation ?

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