Professor Christopher B. Hays (Fuller Theological Seminary) delivered a lecture at the College de France, on April 15, 2016, entitled, “Imagery of Divine Suckling in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East“.
The video may be downloaded or watched online in mp4 format.
The Collège de France hosts the videos of papers delivered at the 2015 Seminar in Thomas Römer’s series The Hebrew Bible and Its Contexts, May 5-6, 2015:
The videos are available for download in *.mov format.
La question des images est un élément central pour l’intelligence des religions anciennes et modernes. Les religions monothéistes se basent toutes sur le Décalogue qui interdit la fabrication des images. Mais comment comprendre cet interdit : s’agit-il d’un refus de toutes sortes d’images ou « seulement » de la représentation du divin ? Et quelle est la raison d’être d’un tel interdit ? Pourquoi considère-t-on illégitime de représenter des dieux et des hommes, ce qui fut pratique courante dans le Proche-Orient ancien ? Le colloque s’efforcera d’apporter des éclaircissements sur plusieurs questions : Quelle est la fonction des représentations du divin mais aussi des hommes ? Quelles sont les différentes manières de représenter des dieux et quelle est la fonction de ces représentations ? Les représentations permettent-elles de mieux comprendre les cultes officiels et les cultes privés ? Quel est le rôle des images dans le culte royal ? Le roi est-il l’image des dieux ? Y a-t-il des religions aniconiques ? Pour quelles raisons décide-t-on d’interdire des images ? Y a-t-il des précurseurs au commandement biblique dans le Proche-Orient ou ailleurs ?
The question of images is a central element in the understanding of ancient and modern religions. The monotheistic religions are all based on the Decalogue, which prohibits the making of images. But how should we understand this prohibition: is it a rejection of all kinds of images or “only” of the representation of the divine? And what is the purpose of such a prohibition? Why it is considered improper to represent gods and men, which was common practice in the ancient Near East? The symposium will seek to clarify several questions: What is the function of the representations of the divine and also of men? What are the different ways of representing the gods and what is the function of these representations? Do the representations provide insight into official and private worship? What is the role of images in the royal cult? Is the king the image of the gods? Are there any aniconic religions? For what reasons does one decide to prohibit images? Are there any precursors to the biblical commandment in the ancient Near East or elsewhere?
9 h 30 Introduction to the Symposium (Ouverture du colloque): Thomas Römer
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Présidence : Thomas Römer
13h00 Discussion
Déjeuner
Présidence : Michaël Guichard
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Présidence : Christophe Nihan
17h45 Discussion
Présidence : Nele Ziegler
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Présidence : Dominique Charpin
12h45 Discussion
Déjeuner
Présidence : Jean-Marie Durand
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16h45 Discussion et clôture du colloque
Videos of Professor Thomas Römer’s 2014 and 2015 seminars at the Collège de France, entitled The Book of Exodus: Myths and Stories, are available at the Collège’s website, or for download at the links provided below (800mb+). The seminars have been overdubbed by an English translator.
His lectures cover similar material to that in his book, Moïse en version originale (Bayard, 2015).
Thomas Römer is Professor of Old Testament at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the Collège de France, and author of many works, including Israels Väter (1990), on the Patriarchal traditions in the Pentateuch, and The So-called Deuteronomistic History (2007), on the unity and disunity in the books of Deuteronomy to Kings.
20 FEBRUARY 2014, 2:00 pm
Introduction: Between Autocthony and Allochthony – the Invention of the Exodus
27 FEBRUARY 2014, 2:00 pm
The Oppression in Egypt
06 MARCH 2014, 2:00 pm
Pharaoh’s Midwives: The Birth of Moses, an Imported Legend
13 MARCH 2014, 2:00 pm
The Birth of Moses (continuation). Moses and the Midianites (Part I)
20 MARCH 2014, 2:00 pm
Moses and the Midianites (Part II)
27 MARCH 2014, 2:00 pm
From the Divine Name to the Attack of Moses. Preparations of the Narrative of the Plagues
03 APRIL 2014, 2:00 pm
A Competition of Magicians ? The « Plagues » of Egypt
10 APRIL 2014, 2:00 pm
The Institution of the Passover and the Passage of the Sea. The Historicization of a Myth
26 FEBRUARY 2015, 2:00 pm
Going out of Egypt: Building a Mythical Story
05 MARCH 2015, 2:00 pm
The Song of Myriam and Moses and the First Sojourn in the Desert: The “Law Before the Law”, Manna and Nostalgic Longings for Egypt (Exodus 15-17)
12 MARCH 2015, 2:00 pm
Exodus 16: The Discovery of Manna and the Sabbath
19 MARCH 2015, 2:00 pm
Massa and Meribah, the War Against Amalek and the Encounter on the Mountain of God (Exodus 17-18)
26 MARCH 2015, 2:00 pm
From the Mountain of God to Sinaï (Exodus 18-19)
02 APRIL 2015, 2:00 pm
Theophany, Covenant and Decalogue
09 APRIL 2015, 2:00 pm
The Decalogue and the Covenant Code
16 APRIL 2015, 2:00 pm
The Covenant Code, Breaking and Restoring the Covenant (Exodus 21-40)
The Collège de France website has made available the video and audio to a lecture by Professor Aren Maeir on the Philistines and the excavations at Tell Es-Safi (Gath). The lecture was delivered on February 25, 2015 at the Collège de France, and is entitled “New Perspectives on the Philistines in Light of Recent Excavations at Tell Es-Safi – Biblical Gath of the Philistines“.
Professor Thomas Römer (Professor at Collège de France and Universitè de Lausanne) lectures at Brown University, on Feb 10, 2015, on the evolution of Yahweh in biblical and extra-biblical traditions. Römer is also the author of L’Invention de Dieu [The Invention of God] (Seuil, 2014).
We all think of the Bible as a book proclaiming that there is only one God, who is the God of Israel and the God of the universe. Looking more closely, though, we find texts which admit the existence of other gods and which also indicate that Yhwh has not always been the god of Israel. Biblical traditions as well as archeology seem to agree that the origins of Yhwh are to be found somewhere in the “wilderness”. This lecture reconstructs the origins of Yhwh in the wilderness, his encounter with Israel and his transformation into the only God.
Nb. Although, in the YouTube preview, Thomas Römer appears to be delivering his lecture to only one person, there are in fact more people in the audience.
h/t: Jim West
The Collège de France hosts the videos of papers delivered at the 2014 Seminar in Thomas Römer’s series The Hebrew Bible and Its Contexts, May 19-20, 2014:
From Gods to Man: Angels, Demons and Other…
The videos are available for download in *.mov format.
Introduction – Collège de France
Lionel Marti, “Angels or Demons? Divine Beings Seen through the Eyes of Assyrian Wise Men”
Diana Edelman, “Living with Ancestral Spirits in Judah in the iron Age and Persian Period”
Brian Schmidt, “Was There an Early Israelite Pandemonium?”
Dominique Charpin, “Intercession in Mesopotamian Society”
Marc Philonenko, “The Angels of Heaven and Elements of the Universe”
David Hamidovic, “The Multiple Identities of Metatron in Ancient Judaism: Man, Angel, and God”
Christoph Uehlinger, “Why the Figure of the Revealing Angel?”
Jean-Marie Durand, “The Personal God of the Amorite King and the Success of His Subjects”
Hans-Peter Mathys, “The King: A Key Figure Between God/the Gods and Man”
Dany Nocquet, “The Figure of the Prophet’s Man-Guide in Ezekiel 40-48”
Nils Heessel, “Mesopotamian Demons: Alien and yet Native Powers?”
Youri Volokhine, “Infernal Bes Gods”
Valérie Nicolet-Anderson, “Paul’s Pantheon: An Embarrassment of Riches in the Spirit World”
Bernd Janowski, “The Scapegoat: Notes on a Demoniac Figure from the Old Testament”
Jean Kellens, “Figures of Divine Subordination in Mazdaism”
Thomas Römer, “The Need for the Devil”
Thomas Römer, From Gods to Man: Angels, Demons and Other”
Biblical Studies Online 