Japanese Biblical Studies

There is an interesting word pair in Genesis 1:2 that has been the focus of a great deal of debate among biblical scholars. In English, the terms tohu wa-bohu are famously translated as “without form, and void” (KJV), “a formless void” (NRSV), “without form and void” ESV), and the like.

The Creation, c. 1896-1902, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot

A recent issue of the journal Shūkyō Kenkyū (Religious Studies) includes a “research report” by Makoto Noguchi (Japanese PDF) on the meaning of the word pair. The report is a summary of Noguchi’s paper at the 70th Annual Convention of the Japanese Association for Religious Studies.

Though the report is only a few pages—or because it is only a few pages—perhaps it can serve to introduce students to some of the key points in the debate about the meaning of tohu wa-bohu. And for the initiated, perhaps it can help to spark further debate. Continue Reading…

Hisao Miyamoto’s Japanese essay “Man-and-Woman as a Person: A Quest for Person Based on Genesis 1–3” was published this month in Catholic Studies, a journal published by Sophia University’s Faculty of Theology.

Michelangelo’s Creation of Eve, Sistine Chapel

You can read Miyamoto’s essay in PDF form at Sophia-R, the Sophia University Repository for Academic Resources. You can also view contents (English and Japanese) and download articles in Volume 81 of Catholic Studies.

If you’ve read Miyamoto’s article, how would you sum up his main point(s)? Or what point(s) interested you the most? Feel free to leave a comment below in English or Japanese.

English and Japanese Citations & Author Information

Hisao Miyamoto, “Perusona toshite no ‘otoko / onna’: ‘Sōseiki’ (1~3 shō) wo tegakari ni” [Man-and-Woman as a Person: A Quest for Person Based on Genesis 1–3], Katorikku Kenkyū 81 [Catholic Studies 81] (2012): 57–77.

宮本 久雄「ペルソナとしての『男・女』 : 『創世記』（一～三章）を手がかりに」『カトリック研究』第81号，2012年，57–77。

*Hisao Miyamoto is a Professor at Sophia University (Faculty of Theology), and Professor Emeritus of Tokyo University.

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…