The Near Eastern Studies Department's 18th annual Iwry Lecture hosted Oxford professor and Biblical history expert Hugh Williamson on Monday, who spoke on the development of the Hebrew Bible.
The Iwry Lecture is named in honor of Sam Iwry, a graduate of and professor at Johns Hopkins. Iwry had fled from the Nazis through Eastern Europe, Russia, living and teaching in Shanghai for a while before coming to the United States. He received his Ph.D. based on research he did on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
With approximately seventy people were in attendance, Williamson gave a summary of studies of the Persian Empire, since the Near Eastern Studies Department devoted last semester to studying the Persian period.
Unfortunately, both Iwry and Blum passed away within a short time of each other earlier this year. Blum's widow and sons continue to provide the monetary support for the lecture.
Williamson, this year's speaker, is the Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University. This position has existed since the time of Henry the eighth. It is a crown appointment, advised by the Prime Minister.
Williamson tried to focus on ideas he feels are "central to understanding the Hebrew Bible and the development of the Jewish faith during that time." He focused on examining the idea of a restoration, and whether or not it is a suitable term for the developments that took place during the first half of the Persian period, right after the Babylonian Exile.
He asked the question of what was restored during that time and stated that the term is often used to describe the events of the time because it is the "way that the main biblical sources want us to see it."
Often, these scholars "wrote accounts in such a way to reflect and develop" a certain idea. If this is true, he claimed, then it is important to understand the "distinction between emic and etic approaches" to history.
According to Williamson, an emic study of history takes its meaning from the participant's point of view, and seeks meaning from what is being studied. An etic approach takes its meaning from the causes of an observer, and seeks causes and explanations for what happened.
Williamson expressed fear that if emic and etic approaches are not both recognized and understood, they would become "two sides of that coin in danger of being undervalued."
Currently, studies of Judaism from the time are considered to be too emic, since the Bible is the only source. However, "now the pendulum is swinging too far in the other direction."
"Both can contribute to our understanding of the past," Williamson said. It is important, Williamsonson continued, to understand historical cause and effect, to "treat both the proper sequencing of events and the explanation for them."
Williamson said that, for himself, "the issue is not one of if there were good historical sources available to compilers of books, but in the way they can be related to each other."
He used the example of a pearl necklace, saying that even if "each pearl is of the highest value...they're missing the little string to hold them together."
Williamson ended by suggesting several different definitions of restoration. Maybe, he said, the term restoration was meant to be understood in different ways depending on different contexts or goals.
