Society of Biblical Literature

The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis,[2] is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mission is to "foster biblical scholarship". Membership is open to the public[3] and consists of over 8,300 individuals from over 100 countries.[4] As a scholarly organization, SBL has been a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies since 1929.[5]

Society of Biblical Literature

Abbreviation	SBL
Formation	1880 (1880)
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia, US
Membership (2018)	8,324[1]
President	Adele Reinhartz
Executive director	John F. Kutsko
Website	sbl-site.org
Formerly called	Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis

History

The eight founders of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis first met to discuss their new society in Philip Schaff's study in New York City in January 1880. In June the group had their first Annual Meeting with eighteen people in attendance. The new society drew up a constitution and by-laws and discussed several papers. Membership dues were set at three dollars. By the end of the year, membership had grown to forty-five and publication of the meeting proceedings were in the planning stages. The Journal of Biblical Literature (JBL) was launched the following year.[6] The SBL was not the first association dedicated to biblical studies in North America, but it was the first that was interdenominational.[7] The thirty-two founding members of SBL in 1880 even included a Unitarian, Ezra Abbott.[8] The society's development was contemporary with increasing interest in Ancient Near East studies.[9]

The society shortened its name to Society of Biblical Literature in 1962.[10]

Publications

The Society of Biblical Literature has published the flagship Journal of Biblical Literature since 1881. In addition it publishes the journal Review of Biblical Literature. It publishes literature under the imprint SBL Press".[11]

The SBL Handbook of Style is a style manual specifically for the field of ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and early Christian studies. The SBL Handbook of Style includes a recommended standard format for abbreviation of primary sources in Ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and early Christian studies.[12] The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.) refers writers to The SBL Handbook "for authoritative guidance".[13] The "Student Supplement" is downloadable, and also contain recommendations for transliteration standards.[14]

In 2011 the society was awarded a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to produce Bible Odyssey, "an interactive website that brings nonsectarian biblical scholarship to the general public".[15][16]

In 2016, the Society of Biblical Literature published a jobs report in conjunction with the American Academy of Religion that provided employment data from the 2014–15 academic year.[17]

Annual meeting

One of the most important functions of the Society of Biblical Literature, is hosting the Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting is hosted in the United States and attended by the majority of SBL membership. The meeting includes presentation of research, voting on business matters of the society, workshops & seminars, a vendor floor and more. The Meeting consists of "more than 1,200 academic sessions, and workshops, along with one of the world's largest exhibits of books and digital resources for biblical studies, the Annual Meetings is one of the largest events of the year in the fields of biblical scholarship, religious studies and theology."[18]

Regional and international meetings

In addition to the annual meeting, multiple regional and an international meeting are held each year. Regional meetings consist of scholars in a geographic area within North America who promote biblical scholarship on a local level. Each region is coordinated by a scholar within the region and regions promote "Regional Scholars", to recognize outstanding scholars in the area. Society of Biblical Literature regions include: Central States, Eastern Great Lakes, Mid Atlantic, Midwest, New England & Eastern Canada, Pacific Coast, Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains & Great Plains, Southeastern, Southwestern and Upper Midwest.[19]

The International Meeting is held annually in a location outside of North America specifically for scholars located out of the region.

Presidents

• 1880–1887 Daniel Raynes Goodwin[20]
• 1887–1889 Frederic Gardiner[20]
• 1889–1990 Francis Brown[20]
• 1890–1891 Charles A. Briggs[20]
• 1891–1894 Talbot W. Chambers
• 1894–1895 J. Henry Thayer
• 1895–1896 Francis Brown
• 1896–1897 Edward T. Bartlett
• 1898–1899 George F. Moore
• 1900 John P. Peters
• 1901 Edward Y. Hincks
• 1902 Benjamin W. Bacon
• 1903 Richard J. H. Gottheil
• 1904 Willis J. Beecher
• 1905 William Rainey Harper
• 1906 Paul Haupt
• 1907 James Hardy Ropes
• 1908 Frank Chamberlain Porter
• 1909 Henry Preserved Smith[21]
• 1910 David G. Lyon[21]
• 1911 Ernest de Witt Burton[21]
• 1912 Lewis B. Paton[21]
• 1913 George A. Barton[21]
• 1914 Nathaniel Schmidt[21]
• 1915 Charles Cutler Torrey[21]
• 1916 Morris Jastrow Jr.[21]
• 1917 Warren J. Moulton[21]
• 1918 James A. Montgomery[21]
• 1919 Edgar J. Goodspeed[21]
• 1920 Albert T. Clay[21]
• 1921 Kemper Fullerton[21]
• 1922 William R. Arnold[21]
• 1923 Max L. Margolis[21]
• 1924 Clayton R. Bowen[21]
• 1925 Julius A. Bewer[21]
• 1926 Shirley Jackson Case[21]
• 1927 Irving F. Wood[21]
• 1928 Loring Woart Batten[21]
• 1929 James E. Frame[21]
• 1930 William Frederic Badè[21]
• 1931 Burton Scott Easton[21]
• 1932 J. M. Powis Smith[21]
• 1933 James Moffatt[22]
• 1934 Frederick C. Grant[22]
• 1935 Elihu Grant[22]
• 1936 Henry J. Cadbury[22]
• 1937 George Dahl[22]
• 1938 William Henry Paine Hatch[22]
• 1939 W. F. Albright[22]
• 1940 Chester C. McCown[22]
• 1941 Julian Morgenstern[22]
• 1942–1943 Kirsopp Lake[22]
• 1944 Theophile James Meek[22]
• 1945 Morton Scott Enslin[22]
• 1946 Leroy Waterman[22]
• 1947 Ernest Cadman Colwell[22]
• 1948 John W. Flight[22]
• 1949 Floyd V. Filson[22]
• 1950 Robert H. Pfeiffer[22]
• 1951 Erwin R. Goodenough[22]
• 1952 Sheldon H. Blank[22]
• 1953 S. Vernon McCasland[22]
• 1954 Millar Burrows[22]
• 1955 Amos N. Wilder[23]
• 1956 J. Philip Hyatt[23]
• 1957 Sherman E. Johnson[23]
• 1958 William A. Irwin[23]
• 1959 Robert M. Grant[23]
• 1960 R. B. Y. Scott[23]
• 1961 Samuel Sandmel[23]
• 1962 Herbert G. May[23]
• 1963 John Knox[23]
• 1964 Fred V. Winnett[23]
• 1965 Kenneth W. Clark[23]
• 1966 John L. McKenzie[23]
• 1967 Paul Schubert[23]
• 1968 James Muilenburg[23]
• 1969 Frank W. Beare[23]
• 1970 Harry M. Orlinsky[23]
• 1971 Bruce M. Metzger[23]
• 1972 Walter J. Harrelson[23]
• 1973 Norman Perrin[23]
• 1974 Frank Moore Cross[24]
• 1975 Robert W. Funk[24]
• 1976 David Noel Freedman[24]
• 1977 Raymond E. Brown[24]
• 1978 James A. Sanders[24]
• 1979 Joseph A. Fitzmyer[24]
• 1980 Bernhard Anderson[24]
• 1981 James M. Robinson[24]
• 1982 Lou H. Silberman[24]
• 1983 Krister Stendahl[24]
• 1984 Roland E. Murphy[24]
• 1985 Wayne A. Meeks[24]
• 1986 James L. Mays[24]
• 1987 Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza[24]
• 1988 Philip J. King[24]
• 1989 Paul J. Achtemeier[24]
• 1990 Walter Brueggemann[24]
• 1991 Helmut Koester[24]
• 1992 Norman K. Gottwald[24]
• 1993 Victor P. Furnish[24]
• 1994 Phyllis Trible[24]
• 1995 Leander E. Keck[25]
• 1996 Gene M. Tucker[25]
• 1997 Hans Dieter Betz[25]
• 1998 Patrick D. Miller[25]
• 1999 D. Moody Smith[25]
• 2000 Adele Berlin[25]
• 2001 Harold W. Attridge[25]
• 2002 John J. Collins[25]
• 2003 Eldon Jay Epp[25]
• 2004 David L. Petersen[25]
• 2005 Carolyn Osiek[25]
• 2006 Robert Kraft
• 2007 Katharine Doob Sakenfeld
• 2008 Jonathan Z. Smith
• 2009 David J. A. Clines
• 2010 Vincent L. Wimbush
• 2011 Carol Newsom
• 2012 John Dominic Crossan
• 2013 Carol Meyers
• 2014 Fernando Segovia
• 2015 Athalya Brenner-Idan
• 2016 Beverly Gaventa
• 2017 Michael V. Fox
• 2018 Brian K. Blount
• 2019 Gale A. Yee
• 2020 Adele Reinhartz

Administrative officers

Secretary

• 1880–1883 Frederic Gardiner[26]
• 1883–1889 Hinckley G. Mitchell[26]

Recording Secretary

• 1889–1890 Charles Rufus Brown[26]
• 1890–1915 William H. Cobb[26]
• 1916–1933 Henry J. Cadbury[26]
• 1934–1946 John W. Flight[26]
• 1947–1950 Kenneth W. Clark[26]
• 1951–1952 Louise Pettibone Smith[26]
• 1953–1961 Charles F. Kraft[26]
• 1961 Albert C. Sundberg Jr. (pro tempore)[26]
• 1962–1963 Kendrick Grobel[26]

Executive Secretary

• 1964–1965 Kendrick Grobel[26]
• 1965 Richard T. Mead (pro tempore)[26]
• 1966 Lawrence E. Toombs[26]
• 1967 Walter J. Harrelson[26]
• 1968–1974 Robert W. Funk[26]
• 1975–1976 George W. MacRae[26]
• 1977–1980 Paul J. Achtemeier[26]
• 1981–1987 Kent Harold Richards[26]

Executive Director

• 1987–1995 David Lull[26]
• 1995–2010 Kent Harold Richards[26]
• 2010–present John F. Kutsko[26]

References

Footnotes

1. "2019 SBL Membership Data" (PDF). Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. 2019. pp. 1–2. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
2. Cutter 2004, p. 102.
3. "Membership". Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
4. "2019 SBL Membership Data" (PDF). Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. 2019. pp. 2, 9. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
5. SBL @ American Council of Learned Societies official site.
6. Saunders 1982.
7. Collins 2010, p. 68.
8. Hughes 1988, p. 90.
9. Smith 1912, p. 239.
10. Knight 2015, p. 229.
11. "SBL Publications". www.sbl-site.org.
12. Society of Biblical Literature 2014.
13. The Chicago Manual of Style 2010, sections 10.45, 14.252.
14. Nogalski et al. 2015.
15. "NEH gov April 2011 grants State by State" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
16. "Bible Odyssey". www.bibleodyssey.org.
17. Society of Biblical Literature; American Academy of Religion (2016). "Job Advertisement Data, 2014–2015" (PDF). Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
18. "SBL Meetings and Events". www.sbl-site.org. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
19. "SBL Meetings and Events". www.sbl-site.org. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
20. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 343.
21. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 345.
22. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 346.
23. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 347.
24. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 348.
25. Attridge & VanderKam 2006, p. 349.
26. "SBL Administrative Officers" (PDF). Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. Retrieved April 17, 2020.

Bibliography

Attridge, Harold W.; VanderKam, James C., eds. (2006). Presidential Voices: The Society of Biblical Literature in the Twentieth Century. SBL Biblical Scholarship in North America. 22. Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 978-1-58983-259-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-226-10420-1.

Collins, John J. (2010). "Faith, Scholarship, and the Society of Biblical Literature". In Ames, Frank Ritchel; Miller, Charles William (eds.). Foster Biblical Scholarship: Essays in Honor of Kent Harold Richards. SBL Biblical Scholarship in North America. 24. Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature. pp. 65–81. ISBN 978-1-58983-534-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Cutter, Charles (2004). Judaica Reference Sources. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 978-1-59158-133-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Hughes, Richard T. (1988). The American Quest for the Primitive Church. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Knight, Douglas A. (2015). "Studies in the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament in the Americas of the Twentieth Century". In Sæbø, Magne (ed.). Hebrew Bible / Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation. Volume III: From Modernism to Post-Modernism. Part II: The Twentieth Century. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 221–252. doi:10.13109/9783666540226.221. ISBN 978-3-666-54022-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Nogalski, Melanie Greer; Nogalski, James D.; Steibel, Sophia G.; West, Danny M. (2015). LeMon, Joel M.; Breed, Brennan W. (eds.). "Student Supplement for The SBL Handbook of Style" (PDF) (2nd ed.). Atlanta, Georgia: SBL Press. Retrieved April 13, 2020.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Saunders, Ernest W. (1982). Searching the Scriptures: A History of the Society of Biblical Literature, 1880–1980. SBL Biblical Scholarship in North America. 8. Chico, California: Scholars Press. ISBN 978-0-89130-591-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Society of Biblical Literature (2014). The SBL Handbook of Style (2nd ed.). Atlanta, Georgia: SBL Press.

Smith, Henry Preserved (1912). "Thirty Years of Biblical Study". The Biblical World. 39 (4): 235–242. doi:10.1086/474576. ISSN 0190-3578. JSTOR 3141862.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Official website
• "Society of Biblical Literature" in the American Council of Learned Societies directory. Updated September 15, 2008.