Japanese Biblical Studies

In August 2007, biblical and Jewish studies scholars from several countries gathered in Tokyo for the “International Workshop on the Study of the Pentateuch with Special Emphasis on Textual Transmission History in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods.”

Akio Moriya (Tokyo Woman’s Christian University) and Gohei Hata (Tama Art University) carried out the monumental task of editing and publishing 17 papers in Japanese (2011) and 14 papers English (2012).

『古代世界におけるモーセ五書の伝承』(Kyoto University Press, 2011) 

Pentateuchal Traditions in the Late Second Temple Period: Proceedings of the International Workshop in Tokyo, August 28-31, 2007 (Brill, 2012)

Comparison of Contents in the Japanese and English Editions

There are a few notable differences in the two editions.

Chapters 1–14 of the English edition are all included in the Japanese edition, but the Japanese edition has 3 papers that aren’t included in the English edition. These are the Keynote Lecture and chapters 6 and 16 in the Japanese volume. The extra chapters mean that chapter numbers do not match after chapter 5.

For the sake of bilingual readers, I have pulled together the English and Japanese paper titles below. Continue Reading…

Non-Japanese pastors and scholars may not be all that surprised to find some of the best foreign books about the Bible and theology available in Japanese translation. They may be somewhat surprised, however, to learn that one journal – Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology – has had dozens of its issues translated into Japanese.

Interpretation No. 80 “The Image of God” 

To date, eighty issues of Interpretation have been translated, and work on another sixteen issues is underway. That translates into an astounding number of articles and book reviews! Continue Reading…

If you enjoy journals like Harvard Theological Review, where you can read about a wide range of topics in a single journal, you might enjoy Studies in Theology and the Humanities.

Studies in Theology and the Humanities is an academic journal published annually by Tohoku Gakuin University, which is located in Sendai, Japan (near the epicenter of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake). The journal covers topics in biblical studies, Jewish and Christian interpretation, theology, and other areas of religious studies.

Tohoku Gakuin University, Sendai, Japan

Until recently, if you didn’t have easy access to a university library, it would have been difficult to find university journals like this. Now, though, more and more universities are putting their journals online for free viewing. And thanks to TGU, you can freely download Studies in Theology and the Humanities 2 (2012) in its entirety or as separate articles.

Most articles in journals like this are in Japanese, but occasionally you can find abstracts and even full articles in English and other languages. In this issue, David Murchie’s report on the American Historical Association’s annual meeting is an English report.

But even if you don’t read Japanese, take a look at the titles and authors. Continue Reading…

The Japan Society of New Testament Studies has just published “Jubilee Volume” number 40 (2012) of New Testament Studies (the Japanese title of the journal is 『新約学研究』).

Articles, reviews, books reviewed, and conference papers are all in Japanese, but the journal includes a translation of its contents (mostly English, but some German). I have reproduced only English titles here, with links to the books reviewed.

Articles in New Testament Studies 40 (2012)

Masashi Sawamura, “Anomia in Matthew: On the Argument over its Subject”

Masanobu Endo, “Life and Knowledge in John 17:3 are Subset or Convertible? A Discourse Analysis”

Kota Yamada, “Rhetorical Analysis of I John” Continue Reading…