Joshua Alfaro
@joshuaalfaro.bsky.social
Septuagint studies, Hebrew Bible, and all things Esther. Available for proofreading and editing academic publications. All memes handcrafted by me. https://gastrosophie.academia.edu/JoshuaAlfaro
"What is concealed in the name Esther?" (Homicide, 1991).
November 6, 2025 at 5:16 PM
"What is concealed in the name Esther?" (Homicide, 1991).
Cambridge University theological exam from 1884 includes questions on (1) the textual problems of 1-2 Samuel; (2) text from the hexapla, Aquila, and Symmachus; and (3) the translation "revised [!] in 1611" (i.e., the King James Version), and the Complutensian Polyglot.
November 5, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Cambridge University theological exam from 1884 includes questions on (1) the textual problems of 1-2 Samuel; (2) text from the hexapla, Aquila, and Symmachus; and (3) the translation "revised [!] in 1611" (i.e., the King James Version), and the Complutensian Polyglot.
Remember the Panbabylonianism of the late 19th/early 20th century? We’re now living in an era of Pan-Persianism, where everyone wants to date everything to the Persian period. I can only express my surprise that more papers aren’t titled “Like a Persian.”
October 24, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Remember the Panbabylonianism of the late 19th/early 20th century? We’re now living in an era of Pan-Persianism, where everyone wants to date everything to the Persian period. I can only express my surprise that more papers aren’t titled “Like a Persian.”
Did you know that if you simply ignore the difference between Classical Biblical Hebrew and Late Biblical Hebrew, you can date a biblical text to any period you want?
October 23, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Did you know that if you simply ignore the difference between Classical Biblical Hebrew and Late Biblical Hebrew, you can date a biblical text to any period you want?
Hybrid meeting: Cognitive Linguistic Approaches to Biblical Hebrew, 7 November 2025, 9:30–17:00 (CET), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/online. Register here: networkinstitute.org/2025/10/03/e...
October 7, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Hybrid meeting: Cognitive Linguistic Approaches to Biblical Hebrew, 7 November 2025, 9:30–17:00 (CET), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/online. Register here: networkinstitute.org/2025/10/03/e...
Call for Papers: 2026 Midwest Regional Meeting for Biblical Studies, March 13-15, 2026 Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN. Submissions due January 9, 2026 mailchi.mp/283c7c7cfe58...
September 17, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Call for Papers: 2026 Midwest Regional Meeting for Biblical Studies, March 13-15, 2026 Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN. Submissions due January 9, 2026 mailchi.mp/283c7c7cfe58...
It was an honor to contribute an essay to this festschrift for Robert Hanhart, whose edition of Septuagint Esther has been a constant companion on my desk for many years.
September 15, 2025 at 1:33 PM
It was an honor to contribute an essay to this festschrift for Robert Hanhart, whose edition of Septuagint Esther has been a constant companion on my desk for many years.
Chiasm-haters need to read Teeter's essay "Biblical Symmetry and Its Modern Detractors," which deals with *why* scholarship became skeptical but also finds that "biblical compositions appear designed to be read and understood as a fractal-like hierarchy of recursively embedded structural levels."
September 6, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Chiasm-haters need to read Teeter's essay "Biblical Symmetry and Its Modern Detractors," which deals with *why* scholarship became skeptical but also finds that "biblical compositions appear designed to be read and understood as a fractal-like hierarchy of recursively embedded structural levels."
I'll be presenting for the EABS Graduate Seminar on September 18th at 7:00pm CEST on "A More Ethical Esther? Violence in the Versions of Esther 8–9." Message me if you would like the Zoom link.
September 5, 2025 at 11:12 AM
I'll be presenting for the EABS Graduate Seminar on September 18th at 7:00pm CEST on "A More Ethical Esther? Violence in the Versions of Esther 8–9." Message me if you would like the Zoom link.
You: I will write a balanced book review with fair critiques where necessary.
Michael V. Fox: Here's a scathing review of a whole academic journal that shouldn't even exist.
Michael V. Fox: Here's a scathing review of a whole academic journal that shouldn't even exist.
September 1, 2025 at 7:52 PM
You: I will write a balanced book review with fair critiques where necessary.
Michael V. Fox: Here's a scathing review of a whole academic journal that shouldn't even exist.
Michael V. Fox: Here's a scathing review of a whole academic journal that shouldn't even exist.
My #IOSOT2025 book haul is clearly dominated by Georgian children’s books.
August 15, 2025 at 5:02 AM
My #IOSOT2025 book haul is clearly dominated by Georgian children’s books.
Someone at #IOSOT2025 brought their 2013 Munich bag, still in good shape 12 years later. They just don’t make conference bags like they used to.
August 14, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Someone at #IOSOT2025 brought their 2013 Munich bag, still in good shape 12 years later. They just don’t make conference bags like they used to.
I got my copy of Speaking to Job in Greek signed by the author! @maxavenariolus.bsky.social @dgb-relbibtheo.bsky.social #IOSOT2025
August 13, 2025 at 6:12 AM
I got my copy of Speaking to Job in Greek signed by the author! @maxavenariolus.bsky.social @dgb-relbibtheo.bsky.social #IOSOT2025
Biblical scholars love to find an inscription that says “Only the LORD is God” and say “Actually, that presupposes polytheism.”
August 2, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Biblical scholars love to find an inscription that says “Only the LORD is God” and say “Actually, that presupposes polytheism.”
"wow, you study the Bible, so you must be a pastor or rabbi or something, right?"
July 21, 2025 at 2:12 PM
"wow, you study the Bible, so you must be a pastor or rabbi or something, right?"
Lecture (online and in-person): "Translation as imperialism: Late Greek Poetics and the Hebrew Bible" by Tim Whitmarsh, Durham University, Ritson Room, Department of Classics. 19 June 2025, 5:00pm. Register here: tinyurl.com/43mue34c
June 10, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Lecture (online and in-person): "Translation as imperialism: Late Greek Poetics and the Hebrew Bible" by Tim Whitmarsh, Durham University, Ritson Room, Department of Classics. 19 June 2025, 5:00pm. Register here: tinyurl.com/43mue34c
I discovered Esther among the Coca-Cola scrolls. I mean bottles.
May 25, 2025 at 12:48 PM
I discovered Esther among the Coca-Cola scrolls. I mean bottles.
"From Giant to Pocket Bibles: The Development of the Size of Biblical Manuscripts," 19 June 2025, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Romero Room, COVE 02.10, Sint-Michielsstraat 4, Leuven
May 20, 2025 at 4:11 PM
"From Giant to Pocket Bibles: The Development of the Size of Biblical Manuscripts," 19 June 2025, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Romero Room, COVE 02.10, Sint-Michielsstraat 4, Leuven
Book talk (in-person and Zoom): The Book of Esther: Themes and Issues, edited by Kristin Joachimsen and Helge Bezold, MF Norwegian School of Theology, May 27, 11:30-12:00 CET mf.no/arrangemente...
May 7, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Book talk (in-person and Zoom): The Book of Esther: Themes and Issues, edited by Kristin Joachimsen and Helge Bezold, MF Norwegian School of Theology, May 27, 11:30-12:00 CET mf.no/arrangemente...
Book panel (in-person): Scriptural Vitality: Rethinking Philology and Hermeneutics by Hindy Najman. 6 May, 3:30 Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge. Registration: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
May 4, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Book panel (in-person): Scriptural Vitality: Rethinking Philology and Hermeneutics by Hindy Najman. 6 May, 3:30 Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge. Registration: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Free online workshop: Framing Religious Art in UK Collections www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/framing-re...
April 30, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Free online workshop: Framing Religious Art in UK Collections www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/framing-re...
the moment when you find out that there's a 4th Ezra.
April 15, 2025 at 7:04 PM
the moment when you find out that there's a 4th Ezra.
you, a simpleton: Why would there be Greek letters on a product called “Pharaoh’s Revenge”??
me, an historian: It dates to the Ptolemaic era.
me, an historian: It dates to the Ptolemaic era.
April 12, 2025 at 7:41 PM
you, a simpleton: Why would there be Greek letters on a product called “Pharaoh’s Revenge”??
me, an historian: It dates to the Ptolemaic era.
me, an historian: It dates to the Ptolemaic era.
Book launch event (in-person): Panel discussion of Andrew Danielson's new book Edom in Judah: Trade, Migration, and Kinship in the Late Iron Age Southern Levant (Cambridge University Press, 2024), 5pm–7pm EST, May 5, 2025, Plimpton Room, Barker Center, Harvard University
April 10, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Book launch event (in-person): Panel discussion of Andrew Danielson's new book Edom in Judah: Trade, Migration, and Kinship in the Late Iron Age Southern Levant (Cambridge University Press, 2024), 5pm–7pm EST, May 5, 2025, Plimpton Room, Barker Center, Harvard University
Lecture series (online & in-person): Let’s talk about Paratexts, 6:00pm Wednesdays 30 April 2025 – 23 September 2026 Chester Beatty Library, Dublin @chesterbeatty.bsky.social chesterbeatty.ie/exhibitions/...
April 4, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Lecture series (online & in-person): Let’s talk about Paratexts, 6:00pm Wednesdays 30 April 2025 – 23 September 2026 Chester Beatty Library, Dublin @chesterbeatty.bsky.social chesterbeatty.ie/exhibitions/...