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Conference Papers by Matthew Gordley
Following the lead of scholars who have explored the affective dimensions of early Jewish and Chr... more Following the lead of scholars who have explored the affective dimensions of early Jewish and Christian poetic texts, this paper explores ways that early Christian hymns employed stylistic and poetic features which seem intended to transport their readers into an experience of the divine realities they are describing. First, using Charles Cosgrove's study of a late-third-century Christian hymn with musical notation (P.Oxy. 1786) as a starting point, we will consider how the notions of deictic self-referentiality and the imaginal world of Greek hymns may shed light on the internal and extra-discursive dynamics of early Christian hymns. These concepts, familiar in ancient Greek hymnody, allow readers to distinguish between when the poet is providing liturgical or performative instruction to the present audience reciting the hymn (things they would literally see and experience around them; deixis) versus when the poet is describing a spiritual or other-worldly reality that can only be seen with the mind (deixis of the eye in contrast to deixis of the mind). Second, we will make note of Gary Selby's work on mimesis in the poetic passages of the New Testament and consider how this provides a window into ancient understandings of poetry and its ability to use language to create an experience for its listeners. Third, we will examine Phil 2:5-11 in light of these concepts and show how the approaches outlined here allow for a new appreciation of the way in which an early audience may have experienced the reading of such a hymnic passage.
Books by Matthew Gordley
While scholars of antiquity have long spoken of didactic hymns, no single volume has defined or e... more While scholars of antiquity have long spoken of didactic hymns, no single volume has defined or explored this phenomenon across cultural boundaries in antiquity. In this monograph Matthew E. Gordley provides a broad definition of didactic hymnody and examines how didactic hymns functioned at the intersection of historical circumstances and the needs of a given community to perceive itself and its place in the cosmos and to respond accordingly. Comparing the use of didactic hymnody in a variety of traditions, this study illuminates the multifaceted ways that ancient hymns and psalms contributed to processes of communal formation among the human audiences that participated in the praise either as hearers or active participants. The author finds that in Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian contexts, many hymns and prayers served a didactic role fostering the ongoing development of a sense of identity within particular communities.
The suggestion that the New Testament contains citations of early Christological hymns has long b... more The suggestion that the New Testament contains citations of early Christological hymns has long been a controversial issue in New Testament scholarship. As a way of advancing this facet of New Testament research, Matthew E. Gordley examines the Colossian hymn (Col 1:15-20) in light of its cultural and epistolary contexts. As a result of a broad comparative analysis, he claims that Col 1:15-20 is a citation of a prose-hymn which represents a fusion of Jewish and Greco-Roman conventions for praising an exalted figure. A review of hymns in the literature of Second Temple Judaism demonstrates that the Colossian hymn owes a number of features to Jewish modes of praise. Likewise, a review of hymns in the broader Greco-Roman world demonstrates that the Colossian hymn is equally indebted to conventions used for praising the divine in the Greco-Roman tradition. In light of these hymnic traditions of antiquity, the analysis of the form and content of the Colossian hymn shows how the passage fits well into a Greco-Roman context, and indicates that it is best understood as a quasi-philosophical prose-hymn cited in the context of a paraenetic letter. Finally, in view of ancient epistolary and rhetorical theory and practice, an analysis of the role of the hymn in Colossians suggests that the hymn serves a number of significant rhetorical functions throughout the remainder of the letter.
Links by Matthew Gordley
Papers by Matthew Gordley
Journal of Ancient Judaism
Two trends in recent scholarship provide a new set of lenses that enable contemporary readers to ... more Two trends in recent scholarship provide a new set of lenses that enable contemporary readers to appreciate more fully the contents and genre of Psalms of Solomon. On the one hand, scholars such as Richard Horsley, Anathea Portier-Young, and Adela Yarbro Collins have now explored the ways in which early Jewish writers engaged in a kind of compositional resistance as they grappled with their traditions in light of the realities of oppressive empires. These approaches enable us to consider the extent to which Psalms of Solomon also may embody a kind of resistant counterdiscourse for the community in which it was edited and preserved. On the other hand, scholars within biblical studies (e. g., Hugh Page) and beyond have examined the dynamics of the poetry of resistance. Such poetry has existed in many times, places, and cultures, giving a voice to the oppressed, protecting the memory of victims, and creating a compelling vision of a possible future in which the oppression is overcome. In this article the poetry of Guatemalan poet Julia Esquivel is interwoven with Psalms of Solomon to illustrate these dynamics and to illuminate the kinds of concerns that scholars like Barbara Harlow and Caolyn Forché have highlighted within the poetry of witness. Since Psalms of Solomon has yet to be explored through these dual lenses of resistance and resistance poetry, this article examines these early Jewish psalms in light of these scholarly trends. I argue that Psalms of Solomon can be understood as a kind of resistance poetry that enabled a community of Jews in the first century B. C. E. to resist the dominant discourse of both the Roman Empire and its client king, Herod the Great. The themes of history, identity, and possibility that pervade resistance poetry in other times and places are central features of Psalms of Solomon.
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
Journal of Biblical Literature, 2009
Journal of Jewish Studies, 2008
Journal of Biblical Literature, Dec 1, 2009
The problem of identifying and classifying early Christian hymns within the New Testament has not... more The problem of identifying and classifying early Christian hymns within the New Testament has not gone away, and no identifiable consensus has emerged with regard to the nature, structure, and purpose of any single purported New Testament hymn. The Johannine prologue is a case in point. Though many scholars recognize the prologue as something of an early Christian hymn, others suggest that the whole enterprise of identifying early Christian hymns is ill-advised. The sharp differences of opinion on the issue of early Christian hymns indicate that this continues to be an important issue; it is particularly important in that it affects the way scholars interpret the rich and complex thought of John 1:1-18. In this essay I wish to carve out some conceptual space for a position between those who identify hymns in the New Testament and those who dismiss that impulse as methodologically unsound. I will argue that we have in John’s prologue an instance of a particular kind of hymnody—didactic hymnody—an instructional strategy with roots in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Jewish writings, but that also resonates with instructional approaches of the Greco-Roman world.
Journal of Ancient Judaism, 2014
This article examines Psalms of Solomon with an eye toward how these compositions may have functi... more This article examines Psalms of Solomon with an eye toward how these compositions may have functioned within the setting of a first-century B.C.E. Jewish community in Jerusalem. Several of these psalms should be understood as didactic hymns providing instruction to their audience through the medium of psalmody. Attention to the temporal register of Pss. Sol. 8, 9, and 17 shows how the poet’s use of historical review and historical allusion contributed to a vision of present reality and future hope, which the audience was invited to embrace. Issues relating to the place of these psalms in the tradition of Solomonic discourse are also addressed insofar as they contribute to the didactic function of this psalm collection.
Following the lead of scholars who have explored the affective dimensions of early Jewish and Chr... more Following the lead of scholars who have explored the affective dimensions of early Jewish and Christian poetic texts, this paper explores ways that early Christian hymns employed stylistic and poetic features which seem intended to transport their readers into an experience of the divine realities they are describing. First, using Charles Cosgrove's study of a late-third-century Christian hymn with musical notation (P.Oxy. 1786) as a starting point, we will consider how the notions of deictic self-referentiality and the imaginal world of Greek hymns may shed light on the internal and extra-discursive dynamics of early Christian hymns. These concepts, familiar in ancient Greek hymnody, allow readers to distinguish between when the poet is providing liturgical or performative instruction to the present audience reciting the hymn (things they would literally see and experience around them; deixis) versus when the poet is describing a spiritual or other-worldly reality that can only be seen with the mind (deixis of the eye in contrast to deixis of the mind). Second, we will make note of Gary Selby's work on mimesis in the poetic passages of the New Testament and consider how this provides a window into ancient understandings of poetry and its ability to use language to create an experience for its listeners. Third, we will examine Phil 2:5-11 in light of these concepts and show how the approaches outlined here allow for a new appreciation of the way in which an early audience may have experienced the reading of such a hymnic passage.
While scholars of antiquity have long spoken of didactic hymns, no single volume has defined or e... more While scholars of antiquity have long spoken of didactic hymns, no single volume has defined or explored this phenomenon across cultural boundaries in antiquity. In this monograph Matthew E. Gordley provides a broad definition of didactic hymnody and examines how didactic hymns functioned at the intersection of historical circumstances and the needs of a given community to perceive itself and its place in the cosmos and to respond accordingly. Comparing the use of didactic hymnody in a variety of traditions, this study illuminates the multifaceted ways that ancient hymns and psalms contributed to processes of communal formation among the human audiences that participated in the praise either as hearers or active participants. The author finds that in Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian contexts, many hymns and prayers served a didactic role fostering the ongoing development of a sense of identity within particular communities.
The suggestion that the New Testament contains citations of early Christological hymns has long b... more The suggestion that the New Testament contains citations of early Christological hymns has long been a controversial issue in New Testament scholarship. As a way of advancing this facet of New Testament research, Matthew E. Gordley examines the Colossian hymn (Col 1:15-20) in light of its cultural and epistolary contexts. As a result of a broad comparative analysis, he claims that Col 1:15-20 is a citation of a prose-hymn which represents a fusion of Jewish and Greco-Roman conventions for praising an exalted figure. A review of hymns in the literature of Second Temple Judaism demonstrates that the Colossian hymn owes a number of features to Jewish modes of praise. Likewise, a review of hymns in the broader Greco-Roman world demonstrates that the Colossian hymn is equally indebted to conventions used for praising the divine in the Greco-Roman tradition. In light of these hymnic traditions of antiquity, the analysis of the form and content of the Colossian hymn shows how the passage fits well into a Greco-Roman context, and indicates that it is best understood as a quasi-philosophical prose-hymn cited in the context of a paraenetic letter. Finally, in view of ancient epistolary and rhetorical theory and practice, an analysis of the role of the hymn in Colossians suggests that the hymn serves a number of significant rhetorical functions throughout the remainder of the letter.
Journal of Ancient Judaism
Two trends in recent scholarship provide a new set of lenses that enable contemporary readers to ... more Two trends in recent scholarship provide a new set of lenses that enable contemporary readers to appreciate more fully the contents and genre of Psalms of Solomon. On the one hand, scholars such as Richard Horsley, Anathea Portier-Young, and Adela Yarbro Collins have now explored the ways in which early Jewish writers engaged in a kind of compositional resistance as they grappled with their traditions in light of the realities of oppressive empires. These approaches enable us to consider the extent to which Psalms of Solomon also may embody a kind of resistant counterdiscourse for the community in which it was edited and preserved. On the other hand, scholars within biblical studies (e. g., Hugh Page) and beyond have examined the dynamics of the poetry of resistance. Such poetry has existed in many times, places, and cultures, giving a voice to the oppressed, protecting the memory of victims, and creating a compelling vision of a possible future in which the oppression is overcome. In this article the poetry of Guatemalan poet Julia Esquivel is interwoven with Psalms of Solomon to illustrate these dynamics and to illuminate the kinds of concerns that scholars like Barbara Harlow and Caolyn Forché have highlighted within the poetry of witness. Since Psalms of Solomon has yet to be explored through these dual lenses of resistance and resistance poetry, this article examines these early Jewish psalms in light of these scholarly trends. I argue that Psalms of Solomon can be understood as a kind of resistance poetry that enabled a community of Jews in the first century B. C. E. to resist the dominant discourse of both the Roman Empire and its client king, Herod the Great. The themes of history, identity, and possibility that pervade resistance poetry in other times and places are central features of Psalms of Solomon.
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
Journal of Biblical Literature, 2009
Journal of Jewish Studies, 2008
Journal of Biblical Literature, Dec 1, 2009
The problem of identifying and classifying early Christian hymns within the New Testament has not... more The problem of identifying and classifying early Christian hymns within the New Testament has not gone away, and no identifiable consensus has emerged with regard to the nature, structure, and purpose of any single purported New Testament hymn. The Johannine prologue is a case in point. Though many scholars recognize the prologue as something of an early Christian hymn, others suggest that the whole enterprise of identifying early Christian hymns is ill-advised. The sharp differences of opinion on the issue of early Christian hymns indicate that this continues to be an important issue; it is particularly important in that it affects the way scholars interpret the rich and complex thought of John 1:1-18. In this essay I wish to carve out some conceptual space for a position between those who identify hymns in the New Testament and those who dismiss that impulse as methodologically unsound. I will argue that we have in John’s prologue an instance of a particular kind of hymnody—didactic hymnody—an instructional strategy with roots in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Jewish writings, but that also resonates with instructional approaches of the Greco-Roman world.
Journal of Ancient Judaism, 2014
This article examines Psalms of Solomon with an eye toward how these compositions may have functi... more This article examines Psalms of Solomon with an eye toward how these compositions may have functioned within the setting of a first-century B.C.E. Jewish community in Jerusalem. Several of these psalms should be understood as didactic hymns providing instruction to their audience through the medium of psalmody. Attention to the temporal register of Pss. Sol. 8, 9, and 17 shows how the poet’s use of historical review and historical allusion contributed to a vision of present reality and future hope, which the audience was invited to embrace. Issues relating to the place of these psalms in the tradition of Solomonic discourse are also addressed insofar as they contribute to the didactic function of this psalm collection.