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	<title>Peter J. Leithart</title>
	<link>http://www.leithart.com</link>
	<description></description>
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		<title>Structure of Song 3:6-11</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The second half of Song of Songs 3 is arranged in a chiasm, centering on the gibborim who are expert in war: A. What is coming?, v 6 B. Traveling coach of Solomon, v 7a C. mighty men, vv 7b-8 Ca.mighty men of the mighty men Cb. grasp sword Cc. expert in war Cb&#8217;. sword [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/07/structure-of-song-36-11/</link>
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		<title>Sacrifice of Solomon</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Who is this coming from the wilderness?  It&#8217;s traveling couch, born by sixty burly men.  And it&#8217;s described as a sacrifice. It &#8220;comes up&#8221; from the wilderness (&#8216;alah).  It is surrounded by pillars of smoke and is itself &#8220;smoked&#8221; (mequtteret, from qatar, &#8220;turn to smoke,&#8221; Exodus 29:13, 18, 25; 30:7, 8; Leviticus 1:9; etc.).  It [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/07/sacrifice-of-solomon/</link>
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		<title>Manifest Domesticity</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Given the sharp separation of spheres between men and women in 19th-century America, one would not expect women to play much of a role in the expansion of American power.  Empire-building was man&#8217;s work, while women tended the heart-fires back home.  In an award-winning 1998 article (pointed out to me by my colleague Chris Schlect), [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/07/manifest-domesticity/</link>
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		<title>Elizabethan Plagiarism</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Arthur Golding is usually credited with translating Seneca&#8217;s de Beneficiis into English, but in a 1961 article H.H.  Davis described an earlier English translation: &#8220;there was an earlier translation by Nicholas Haward of this same moral essay, printed nine years before Golding&#8217;s, entitled The Line of Liberalitie Dulie Directinge the Wel Bestowing of Benefites and Reprehending [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/07/elizabethan-plagiarism/</link>
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		<title>Barbie</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When American mothers objected to the Barbie doll, Matelle got to work to convince them that it was OK: &#8220;A shrewd ad campaign overcame maternal resistance by suggesting that daughters who dressed and groomed Barbie, with her vast collection of accessories and outfits, would learn how to become well-turned-out young ladies, rather than tomboys. It [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/07/barbie/</link>
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		<title>Ancient surgery</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In a harrowing article about the reconstruction of a young man&#8217;s face after an electrical burn in The New Yorker, the author says in passing: &#8220;Reconstructive surgery is an ancient art, dating back at least to the time of the Upanishads, in India. In about 600 B.C., Sushruta, a scholar from Varanasi, catalogued more than [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/07/ancient-surgery/</link>
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		<title>Structure in Song of Songs 3</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Song of Songs 3:1-4 is a highly repetitive passage, but it does have a logic and unity to it.  The structure appears to be: A. On my bed: seeking the one whom my soul loves, v 1a B. Sought but did not find, v 1b C. I arose and surveyed the city (&#8216;asovvah ba&#8217;iyr) for the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/06/structure-in-song-of-songs-3/</link>
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		<title>Against Christianity</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For all you readers of Bulgarian, there&#8217;s a translation of my book Against Christianity here: https://againstchristianity.wordpress.com/]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/05/against-christianity/</link>
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		<title>Lion to Lamb</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In a 2007 essay on leonine imagery in the Journal for the Study of Pseudepigrapha, Brent Strawn helpfully summarizes the associations of the lion in the Bible, Apocrypha, Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and Gnostic texts.  It&#8217;s a fascinating survey, rich in colorful detail (like the story of the baptized lion in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/04/lion-to-lamb/</link>
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		<title>Black and beautiful</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Giffiths speaks of the “complex admixture of regret and lament for unworthiness . . . and delight in lovability” that marks human love, and adds: “The presence of the one without the other makes it impossible to receive the offer of love and therefore impossible to be a beloved.  Were you to respond to the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/04/black-and-beautiful/</link>
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		<title>Between Memory and Desire</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Some profound meditations about sex, time, life, the universe and everything from Paul Griffiths&#8217;s Song of Songs (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible): The first six verses of the Song “point the hearer first to what everyone knows about [human love and sexual desire], which is that the memory of lovemaking and the imagination of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/04/between-memory-and-desire/</link>
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		<title>Blood and smoke</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Bowl&#8221; (phiale) is used twelve times in the New Testament, all in Revelation.  This is obviously the number of Israel.  Israel’s twelve tribes are the twelve golden vessels of God, molded by God, fired in the furnace of affliction, shined up for service in God’s house.  Once in Revelation, in 5:8, the bowls contain incense that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/03/blood-and-smoke/</link>
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		<title>Ovine throne</title>
		<description><![CDATA[John sees the Lamb &#8220;in the midst of the throne&#8221; (Revelation 5:6), precisely where he had seen the living creatures (4:6).  Before the Lamb&#8217;s arrival, the four creatures make up the seat of the throne – they are in its midst; and they are also surrounding the throne, forming the outer structure.  The Lord is enthroned [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/03/ovine-throne/</link>
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		<title>Slain Lamb Standing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Lamb is as if slain, but stands in heaven (Revelation 5:6).  That might appear odd, John knows his sacrificial system.  This is precisely what happened to all lambs that were slain on Israel’s altars. The sacrificial procedure was not completed when the Lamb was killed.  The Lamb was killed, dismembered, and then turned to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/03/slain-lamb-standing/</link>
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		<title>Starting over</title>
		<description><![CDATA[At the climax of Isaiah 33, the prophet envisions a restored and secure Zion, its regular feasts back in place and Yahweh (or His Davidic Son) reigning in beauty.  But the image of restoration is not taken from the glory-days of Solomon.  Jerusalem will be undisturbed, but not because its walls are impregnable or its [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/02/starting-over/</link>
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		<title>Judge, Lawgiver, King</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Tinker, tailor, spy. Yahweh is declared to be Israel&#8217;s Judge, Lawgiver, and King in Isaiah 33:22.  As Thomas Leclerc (Yahweh Is Exalted in Justice) points out, Yahweh is assuming responsibility for the failures of Judah&#8217;s leaders.  Judges take bribes and ignore the pleas of the weak (1:17, 23, 26; 5:23), but Yahweh is coming to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/02/judge-lawgiver-king/</link>
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		<title>Structure in Isaiah 33</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Isaiah 33 is arranged into two fairly neat chiasms.  The first goes from verses 1-13: A. Woe to the destroyer, v. 1 B. Prayer for mercy in time of distress, vv. 2-3 C. Yahweh exalted, vv. 5-6 B&#8217;. Land laments, vv 7-9 A&#8217;/C&#8217;. Yahweh arises, is exalted, lifts Himself, and lets distant lands know what [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/02/structure-in-isaiah-33/</link>
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		<title>Treasures of wisdom</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Only twice in Scripture are the words &#8220;treasure,&#8221; &#8220;wisdom&#8221; and &#8220;knowledge&#8221; used together.  In Isaiah 33:6, Yahweh promises that after He destroys the Assyrian destroyers, He will fill Zion with justice and will open the fourfold treasure of wisdom &#8211; salvation, wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of Yahweh.  Earlier, the Branch from Jesse was given [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/02/treasures-of-wisdom/</link>
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		<title>What&#8217;s Owed?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I flew into Toronto recently on a smallish regional plane from Chicago.  It was a wild landing, the plane flopping this way and that in a strong wind.  At times, we seemed certain to land wing-first, not the kind of landing one dreams of.  Even after we landed, we could feel the wind pushing the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/02/01/whats-owed/</link>
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		<title>What&#8217;s Wrong with Kitsch</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Robert Solomon concludes an article that analyzes the reasons given for condemning kitsch with this defense of the emotions associated with kitschy art: &#8220;it seems to me that the real objection to kitsch and sentimentality is the rejection  (or fear) of  emotions and,  especially, certain kind of sentiments, variously designated as ‘tender’ or ‘sweet’ or [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leithart.com/2012/01/31/whats-wrong-with-kitsch/</link>
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