TIP OF THE DAY 53:Groups, gender and reading | includes new .DOCX file

MJ. Smith
MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,108
edited November 20 in English Forum

link to next post TIP OF THE DAY 54: Direct speech: Speaker and Addressee - Logos Forums

Here is an updated .docx file LogosVerbumDeepDiveIntoDataREBUILD.docx

Since the forum change has been delayed, I've started adding these posts to the previous tip list. See L/V 10 Tip of the Day Note that this list has been moved to the wiki (which itself is moved to the new forum software). 

QUESTION: In Genesis 1:27 is Adam androgynous?

SOFTWARE: The question in the form above was fed into an AI assisted smart search.

ANSWER: The synopsis and some example results:

Synopsis:

Based on the provided articles, there is no clear consensus that Adam was androgynous in Genesis 1:27. One article suggests that the "male and female" created in God's image refers to both Adam and Eve together, rather than a single androgynous being. Another article explicitly states that the original 'adam of Genesis 1:26-2:18 is not a binary or sexually undifferentiated being. A linguistic analysis of the Hebrew word 'adam in Genesis 1:26-27 indicates that it refers to humankind in general, not a particular male person. While one article mentions a third-century CE rabbi who thought of Adam as an androgynous being, it also notes that this interpretation is problematic and not supported by other places in Scripture. The articles generally emphasize that humanity is not properly 'adam without sex distinction, and that male and female are created together as image-bearers of God.[1]

From Brownson, James V. Bible, Gender, Sexuality: Reframing the Church’s Debate on Same-Sex Relationships. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013.

In support of the notion that the original ʿadam was a binary, or sexually undifferentiated, being, Gagnon points to the ambiguity of translating the Hebrew word commonly rendered “rib” (selaʾ) in Genesis 2:21, noting that its normal use refers to the side of an object, and that nowhere else in Scripture is it used as a part of the human body. He goes on to cite a third-century ce rabbi, Samuel bar Nahman, who thought of Adam as an androgynous being who was sliced in half—down the side. It might be observed, in passing, that the rabbinical reading may be more influenced by Plato’s Symposium, which portrays a similar creation of gendered beings by the splitting of originally androgynous or binary creatures. Yet this interpretation of the Genesis text is deeply problematic. There are no other places in Scripture that interpret the creation account in this way. Moreover, the details of the language in the text contradict this reading.

We begin with an analysis of some of those details. Gagnon clearly needs to come clean on his blurry “binary or sexually undifferentiated” characterization of his postulated original ʿadam. The two terms are not equivalent; furthermore, each has its problems. If the original ʿadam is a single sexually undifferentiated or androgynous being, then Gagnon cannot account for the plural “male and female he created them” in Genesis 1:27. But if one gives weight to Genesis 1:27 and postulates that the original ʿadam is binary, with two centers of consciousness (but not two distinct bodies), then one cannot account for the statement in 2:18, “It is not good for the ʿadam to be alone,” since two distinct centers of consciousness can scarcely be said to be “alone.” Gagnon’s evasive use of both terms obscures the difficulties with either as a consistent way to read the text.[2]

From Bouteneff, Peter C. Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

The translation problem posed by the Hebrew ʾadam will be a recurrent theme in this introduction. This word may refer to human beings generally (“man,” ἄνθρωπος), to any particular person (“a man”), or to a particular person or character named Adam; the author or redactor of Genesis 1–3 exploits this ambiguity. The word first occurs in Genesis 1:26–27:

Then God said, “Let us make ʾadam in our image, according to our likeness.… So God created ʾadam in his image, in the image of God he

created them; male and female he created them.

In 1:26 and 1:27a, it would be impossible to call ʾadam a particular person, and certainly not a male person. This is why the LXX has here ἄνθρωπος and the NRSV says “humankind.” In Genesis 2, where the provenance of female (išša) from male (iš) is explicit and where the story tells of a particular man (and his mate), the Hebrew again refers to him as ʾadam. Here too the LXX and all English translations—with the notable exceptions of the King James Version and New King James Version—use generic terms. They do not speak of a male (ἀνήρ). It is clear therefore that before there are male and female, ʾadam does not refer to a particular male human being. Two preliminary observations: humanity is not really humanity—is not properly ʾadam—without sex distinction. Genesis 1:27 is classically understood in this way, although we will see below that, largely under the influence of the LXX translation, some interpreters saw a male, or possibly even an androgynous but particular “Adam,” as preceding multiple, sex-differentiated humanity. The name ʾadam is only bestowed, however, on sex-differentiated humanity, as is all the more evident in Genesis 5:2. The other observation is that little is said about humanity before the description of the transgression. It is as if the transgression is more definitive of the existential human person than is a putative pre-fallen state. Other than the vocation of stewardship, the unashamed nakedness, and the proscriptive command, we have no data about humanity outside the transgression.[3]

 

*QUESTION: Are the individuals in the Bible whose gender is debated by commentators?

ANSWER: Adapted from Perplexity:

Biblical characters whose gender has been debated based primarily on their names or textual ambiguities include:

1. Junia/Junias (Romans 16:7)

As discussed earlier, this is one of the most prominent examples. The debate centers around whether the Greek Ἰουνίαν refers to a woman (Junia) or a man (Junias)[1][3].

2. Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:11)

While generally considered female, some have debated whether Chloe refers to a woman or a man, partly due to uncertainty about whether it's a personal name or a place name.

3. Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3)

Though typically viewed as women, there has been some debate about their gender, primarily due to the ambiguity of Greek names ending in -η.

4. Nympha/Nymphas (Colossians 4:15)

Textual variants in Greek manuscripts lead to debate over whether this refers to a woman (Nympha) or a man (Nymphas).

5. Damaris (Acts 17:34)

While usually considered female, some have questioned whether Damaris might be a masculine name.

6. Priscilla/Prisca (Acts 18:2, 18, 26; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19)

Though clearly female in most interpretations, Epiphanius mistakenly referred to Priscilla as a man.

7. Shelomith (1 Chronicles 3:19)

This name appears for both male and female characters in the Bible, leading to some confusion in certain passages.

8. Athaliah (2 Kings 8:26; 2 Chronicles 22:2)

While generally considered female, some older commentaries have debated Athaliah's gender due to the unusual nature of a female ruler.

These debates often stem from textual ambiguities, variant manuscript readings, or the unfamiliarity of certain names, rather than explicit gender ambiguity in the narrative itself. The discussions typically revolve around linguistic and textual issues rather than the characters' roles or attributes.[4]


[1] Oswald Chambers, The Shadow of an Agony (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1942). and James V. Brownson, Bible, Gender, Sexuality: Reframing the Church’s Debate on Same-Sex Relationships (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013), 26. and Peter C. Bouteneff, Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 5. and Mark Futato, Daily Dose of Hebrew with Mark Futato: Transcripts (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2021), Ge 1:27.

[2] James V. Brownson, Bible, Gender, Sexuality: Reframing the Church’s Debate on Same-Sex Relationships (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013), 27–28.

LXX Septuagint

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

LXX Septuagint

LXX Septuagint

[3] Peter C. Bouteneff, Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 5.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junia_(New_Testament_person) and https://www.ancientjewreview.com/read/2021/2/9/dissertation-spotlight-jaels-gender-ambiguity-in-judges-4-and-5 and https://christianclassicist.home.blog/2021/05/29/did-the-early-church-think-junia-was-a-man/ and https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opth-2020-0138/html?lang=en

*EXCURSES: Bibliography of kinship

 

QUESTION16: What types of groups are given names in the Bible Knowledgebase i.e. Logos coding structure?

ANSWER: This list is likely incomplete.

  • Ethnic
  • Geographic
  • Kinship
  • Occupational
  • Language
  • Citizenship/Nationality
  • Religion
  • Social status
  • Gender
  • Spiritual state
  • Age group
  • Casual/circumstantial (groups such as “addressees of …” which exist only for a task or event

 

QUESTION: Give examples of members of each of the groups defined by these attributes.

ANSWER: from Perplexity:

  1. Ethnicity: "Jews and Greeks" (Romans 1:16)
  2. Geography: "Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia." (Mark 7:24-26)
  3. Kinship: "These were the heads of their families: The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel..." (Exodus 6:14)
  4. Occupation: "As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen." (Matthew 4:18)
  5. Casual group: "For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, 'Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.'" (Luke 9:14)
  6. Language: "Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken." (Acts 2:5-6)
  7. Citizenship/Nationality: "Then Paul said, 'I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city.'" (Acts 21:39)
  8. Religion: "The woman said to him, 'Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'" (John 4:19-20)
  9. Social Status: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
  10. Gender: "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27)
  11. Spiritual State: "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit." (1 Corinthians 2:14)
  12. Age Groups: "But Jesus called the children to him and said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'" (Luke 18:16)

*QUESTION: What are the available sections that may appear in a Factbook entry?

SOFTWARE: This is documented within the context of the lenses in which the sections will appear. The available lenses are:

  • Biblical
  • Library
  • Theological
  • All

Answer: from Verbum Help. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2024.

All

The following sections, which are listed in alphabetical order, only appear here or in entries with no lenses.

  • Authors — Lists Factbook entries for authors that belong to a particular religious denomination.
  • Church History Themes — Lists themes in Church History that include timing, which era(s) it belongs to, and a brief explanation of what happened as well as key developments, people, events, places, concepts, and documents.
  • Cultural Concepts — Links to resources that provides information on an aspect of culture within the Bible.
  • Daily Devotionals — Lists Daily Devotionals within the user’s library for a particular day of the year.
  • Dig Deeper — Links out to related Verbum tools and resources for further investigation.
  • Factbook Tags — Displays all of the tags within the Factbook Visual Filter and Community Tags.
  • Media — Provides images connected to the search term.
  • Saints — Links to calendar devotionals focused on a particular Saint.
  • Today in Christian History — List important events within Christian History keyed to a calendar date.
  • Works — Provides links to works by a given author.

Biblical

The following sections are listed in the order in which they appear when the Biblical lens is selected.

Library

The following sections are listed in the order in which they appear when the Library lens is selected.

  • Commentaries — Finds all of the commentaries in the user’s Library on an entered passage.
  • Dictionaries —  Lists entries on the entered term from the dictionaries in the user’s library.
  • Counseling Resources — Lists counseling resources within the user’s library that address the entered topic.
  • Systematic Theologies — Links to systematic theologies within a user’s library that covers a particular Theological Topic.
  • Journals — Lists articles from journals where the concept is the topic of the article and tagged in the article title.
  • Sermons — Lists homilies where the topic of the sermon is tagged with the searched term.
  • Personal Letters — Provides links to and excerpts from Personal Letter resources for the given author.
  • Preaching Resources — Lists hits for the theme or topic in Preaching Theme-tagged resources in the Library.
  • Recommended Reading — Links to relevant resource content on a particular Theological Topic.
  • From Your Library — Reveals books covering the topic in some way that are a part of the user’s library.
  • Bookstore — Reveals books that address the topic in some way, but are not yet part of the user’s library.

Theological

The following sections are listed in the order in which they appear when the Theological lens is selected.

  • Key Passages — Lists passages related to the event, theme, or topic. The most relevant passages will be listed in full, and others will have verse reference links. Also includes links to save as a Passage List or to open all passages in the top Bible.
  • Systematic Theologies — Links to systematic theologies within a user’s library that covers a particular Theological Topic.
  • Journals — Lists articles from journals where the concept is the topic of the article and tagged in the article title.
  • Recommended Reading — Links to relevant resource content on a particular Theological Topic.
  • From Your Library — Reveals books covering the topic in some way that are a part of the user’s library.[1]

 

*QUESTION: What is included in the Factbook entry for a Biblical person

SOFTWARE: Portions of the Biblical person Factbook entry have been updated in 2024. There is reason to believe that additional changes will be seen in the near future.

ANSWER: The section that appear in the Biblical person entry may be screened through one of three lenses: All, Biblical, or Library. Note the lenses’ initial letter is faded when the section does not show.

  • ABL Header
  • ABL Key Article
  • ABL People, Places, and Things
  • ABL Biblical Event
  • ABL Reported Speech
  • ABL Media
  • ABL Key Passages
  • ABL Referred to As
  • ABL Works
  • ABL Dictionaries
  • ABL Journals
  • ABL Sermons
  • ABL Personal Letters
  • ABL Books from Your Library
  • ABL Factbook Tags
  • ABL Bookstore
  • ABL Dig Deeper

 

*QUESTION: What is included in the header of the Factbook entry for a Biblical person?

ANSWER: The header for the Biblical person, has the official Logos name for the Biblical person as its title i.e. the data type for the person is person + a colon + the name as shown in the title. If the name contains a space, it must be enclosed in quotation marks. Examples:

  • person:”Joshua (Son of Nun)”
  • person:Ruth
  • person:”Mary (mother of Jesus)”
  • person:”John Mark”

Also, in the header are:

  • a pronunciation icon.
  • a snippet of art reflecting the individual.
  • possible birth and death dates.
  • a list of roles the individual fills, groups to which they belong.
  • a one sentence descriptive summary of the role of the person in the Bible story.

Note that the header no longer lists the synonyms of names that will bring you to the same entry.

 

*QUESTION: What groups does the Biblical person belong in?

ANSWER: Method 1: Heading and LBPPTE

Thompson, Jeremy, ed. Lists of Biblical People, Places, Things, and Events. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2020. is the source of definitions . Using Joshua (Son of Nun) as an example, the following roles and groups are shown. They appear to be unordered.

  • Ephraimites – this is the only entry which is linked to another Factbook entry. In LBPPTE Ephraimites appears with several modifiers e.g. (Assyrian Exile), (United Kingdom), (Divided Kingdom), (the Conquest), (Judges) … the deifinition that applies is “Ephraimites — The descendants of the patriarch Ephraim.[2]”
  • Author – no LBPPTE entry but there is an unlinked Factbook topic entry; Dig Deeper in the latter generates search argument of term:(topic:Author OR section:topic:Author OR milestone:topic:Author OR headword:Author OR Author). This argument is in no way confined to Biblical people
  • Author of Biblical Book – Authors of Biblical Books > Old Testament > Joshua (Son of Nun) — Son of Nun; Moses’ assistant and leader of the Israelites in the conquest of Canaan.[3] based on his traditional role as author of the book bearing his name. NOTE: in this case LBPPTE provides a list of all members of the group allowing the user to, in theory, select data on the group as well as on the individual.
  • Chief – Chiefs in the Bible > Old Testament > Joshua (Son of Nun) — Son of Nun; Moses’ assistant and leader of the Israelites in the conquest of Canaan.[4] NOTE: in this case LBPPTE provides a list of all members of the group allowing the user to, in theory, select data on the group as well as on the individual. However, this is a large category with no assurance it is exhaustive in the sense that the Bible itself marked them all.
  • Helper – has no LBPPTE entry nor a relevant Factbook entry
  • A Man – has no LBPPTE entry nor a relevant Factbook entry

In summary, the headings groups are of less use that might be expected.

Method 2: People, Places, and Things > People > Interactions

Here the group data is embedded in a long list of Biblical person/groups with which Joshua interacted. For each entry, one must manually determine:

  • Determine if an entry is an individual or a group
  • Determine if Joshua is acting as a member of the group or simply interacting with the group

Method 2a: entry for Group

Note that while the individual entry may not get you to the group, the group entry will often get you to the individual. Instead of Joshua (Son of Nun) look up the record for Spies to Canaan.

Method 3: Referred to As section of the Factbook entry

This requires the same approach as Interactions above but for less likely benefit,

 

*QUESTION: How would I use group membership data if I did have it?

ANSWER: from Perplexity when fed a very directed query followed by some tweaking:

Several studies in biblical scholarship have utilized semantic roles to analyze the distribution of roles across different groups, focusing on aspects such as agency and gender. Here are some examples:

1. Christian Canu Højgaard's Study: Højgaard's research on biblical law, particularly in Leviticus 17–26, uses Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) to explore semantic roles and agency. His study examines how different interactions imply different relationships and levels of agency, providing a framework for understanding participant roles in biblical texts. This research highlights how semantic roles can be quantitatively analyzed to reveal patterns in agency distribution among participants in biblical narratives.

2. Gender and Agency in Religious Contexts: The special issue "Beneath the Surface: Gender and Agency in Religious Contexts in Antiquity" discusses how traditional interpretations often overlook or misinterpret women's agency in religious networks. It challenges the conventional view of women as passive and highlights their roles as initiators and shapers within these networks. Although not focusing solely on semantic roles, this work addresses how agency is distributed differently across genders, which can be related to semantic role analysis.

3. Feminist Biblical Interpretation: While not explicitly using semantic roles, feminist biblical scholars like Esther Brownsmith have critiqued the association of agency with traditionally masculine qualities. Her analysis of the Book of Esther questions these associations and suggests that power dynamics may not align with traditional gendered expectations. This approach indirectly engages with the concept of semantic roles by examining how characters' actions and influences are portrayed.

These studies illustrate how semantic roles can be used to explore differences in agency and power dynamics across various groups in biblical texts, particularly focusing on gender disparities. By analyzing these roles, scholars can gain insights into the underlying social structures and biases present in ancient narratives.[5]

The take away is that Logos has information that is not exposed to the user for use in search queries or analysis, that often lacks formal definitions that greatly expands the usefulness of data that is exposed such as semantic roles. It is important not only to have the data but also to have the means to effectively use it.

 

*QUESTION: How do I use the Referred to As section of the Factbook for a Biblical person?

SOFTWARE: I am hesitant to provide detailed instructions on the use of this section which has known issues BUG: False results in Translated As section of Referred to As section in Biblical Person Factbook page. - Logos Forums. However, if you don’t mindless accept its analysis of a word but apply common sense, this is one of the most useful sections of Factbook. For example, using Paul as an example, going through the Greek lemmas you will discover immediately that there are three Greek lemmas to search for – Saul, Paul (declinable), and Paul (indeclinable).

ANSWER: Working through the references to the Biblical Person, sort them into categories to feed into the analysis of names described in earlier posts. The categories I use:

  • Logos name
  • Proper names including change of name and multilingual names
  • Titles, most frequent with deities
  • Descriptive references
  • References to roles:
    • Familial
    • Occupational
    • Religious
    • Social
    • References to group memberships
    • Generic e.g. “man” which confers little more information than the pronouns and implied subjects which belong to the same category
    • Other

When you classify the reference in this way, you will learn a great deal about the social network and the life of the Biblical person.

 

*TRIVIA QUESTION: Are Biblical Hebrew names predicates?

ANSWER:  It has been seriously  proposed that they are. See New Perspectives in Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew - Proper Names As Predicates In Biblical Hebrew - Open Book Publishers


[Sub] Requires a Verbum subscription.

[Sub] Requires a Verbum subscription.

[Sub] Requires a Verbum subscription.

[1] Verbum Help (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2024).

[2] Jeremy Thompson, ed., Lists of Biblical People, Places, Things, and Events (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2020).

[3] Jeremy Thompson, ed., Lists of Biblical People, Places, Things, and Events (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2020).

[4] Jeremy Thompson, ed., Lists of Biblical People, Places, Things, and Events (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2020).

[5] https://brill.com/view/journals/rag/14/1-2/article-p1_1.xml?language=en and https://wciujournal.wciu.edu/women-in-international-development/2018/10/14/biblical-theological-reflection-on-the-role-of-women and https://research.vu.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/131185407/C%2BC%2B%2BH%C3%B8jgaard%2B-%2Bthesis.pdf and https://www.thetorah.com/article/feminist-biblical-interpretation-history-and-goals and https://www.galaxie.com/article/gj03-2-03



Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

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