Matthew James Goff
Biographic Data
| ID | 1608498 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matthew James Goff |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matthew James |
| FAMILY NAME | Goff |
| SIGNATURE | GOFF M J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Florida State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8880-1536 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 18 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Odd Conspiracies
This article examines the scholarship of John Allegro on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the role his status as a scholar has played in the reception of his The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. While the Dead Sea Scrolls play no prominent role in the book, people promoting Sacred Mushroom and its unorthodox proposals stress that Allegro is a respected scholar with great philological acumen by appealing to status as an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls. But A…
From the new editors
The Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt
Coherence, Professionalization, and the Critical Study of Religion
This short essay critically engages Claude Welch's Graduate Education in Religion (1971). For Welch the central challenge for the field of religious studies was to establish its “identity” in a post-Schempp world, referring to the landmark 1963 Supreme Court case that endorsed the study of religion in U.S. higher education. Now the study of religion is firmly established in universities as part of the humanities. As such religion departments shou…
When Monsters Walked the Earth
This article examines an Early Jewish text entitled the Book of the Watchers that is part of a larger work known as 1 Enoch. The Book of the Watchers offers a vivid and disturbing portrait of the excessive violence on earth that led to the flood, attributing the situation to destructive giants. Watchers expands and interprets the account of the crisis that precipitated the flood in Gen 6:1-4. Comparison of the two texts demonstrates that Watchers…
The Archangel Michael in Africa
Scribal Culture in Ben Sira, written by Lindsey A. Askin
Jubilees
Professional Ethics, Provenance, and Policies
This article presents and discusses the results of an online survey undertaken in 2018, which targeted scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls and associated research fields. Respondents were asked questions on the state of knowledge in the field regarding provenance issues and related ethics and policies. The goal of the survey was to establish the levels of awareness within Qumran and related studies concerning the role of the antiquities market, the …
Students of God in the House of Torah
A Blessed Rage for OrderApocalypticism, Esoteric Revelation, and the Cultural Politics of Knowledge in the Hellenistic Age
The production of knowledge is a core element of the apocalyptic literature of Second Temple Judaism. Critical for understanding this trope is the legitimization of esoteric knowledge as heavenly revelation. Apocalypses in this way put forward totalizing systems of knowledge by which the world can be understood. The presentation of such knowledge as revelation transforms it into an intellectual commodity that various social groups can utilize. Th…
From Qumran to Aleppo
The Sword and the Stylus
The Early Enoch Literature
Hellish Females
The Strange Woman of Proverbs can be understood as signifying a type of "real" woman who is immoral that the intended male addressees are taught to avoid. This is also the case in Septuagint Proverbs, but the LXX expands her ability to function as a metaphor for abstract ideas. 4Q184 creatively reworks the Strange Woman to describe a female who functions as a general symbol for wickedness. She is associated with Sheol to a greater extent than any…
Revealed Wisdom and Inaugurated Eschatology in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity
Hellenistic Instruction in Palestine and Egypt
Ben Sira and the Demotic wisdom text Papyrus Insinger have numerous similarities. This is evident in terms of their practical instruction on topics such as shame, generosity, and moderation. They also have affinities regarding more speculative concerns, including theodicy and the nature of the cosmos. These affinities can often be attributed to the fact that each work draws on the native wisdom traditions of its own country, and there are broad s…
Qumran Cave 4, sec. 24
Hellish Females
The Strange Woman of Proverbs can be understood as signifying a type of "real" woman who is immoral that the intended male addressees are taught to avoid. This is also the case in Septuagint Proverbs, but the LXX expands her ability to function as a metaphor for abstract ideas. 4Q184 creatively reworks the Strange Woman to describe a female who functions as a general symbol for wickedness. She is associated with Sheol to a greater extent than any…
Hellenistic Instruction in Palestine and Egypt
Ben Sira and the Demotic wisdom text Papyrus Insinger have numerous similarities. This is evident in terms of their practical instruction on topics such as shame, generosity, and moderation. They also have affinities regarding more speculative concerns, including theodicy and the nature of the cosmos. These affinities can often be attributed to the fact that each work draws on the native wisdom traditions of its own country, and there are broad s…
Qumran Cave 4, sec. 24
Hellenistic Instruction in Palestine and Egypt
Ben Sira and the Demotic wisdom text Papyrus Insinger have numerous similarities. This is evident in terms of their practical instruction on topics such as shame, generosity, and moderation. They also have affinities regarding more speculative concerns, including theodicy and the nature of the cosmos. These affinities can often be attributed to the fact that each work draws on the native wisdom traditions of its own country, and there are broad s…
Hellish Females
The Strange Woman of Proverbs can be understood as signifying a type of "real" woman who is immoral that the intended male addressees are taught to avoid. This is also the case in Septuagint Proverbs, but the LXX expands her ability to function as a metaphor for abstract ideas. 4Q184 creatively reworks the Strange Woman to describe a female who functions as a general symbol for wickedness. She is associated with Sheol to a greater extent than any…
Revealed Wisdom and Inaugurated Eschatology in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity
The Sword and the Stylus
The Early Enoch Literature
From Qumran to Aleppo
A Blessed Rage for OrderApocalypticism, Esoteric Revelation, and the Cultural Politics of Knowledge in the Hellenistic Age
The production of knowledge is a core element of the apocalyptic literature of Second Temple Judaism. Critical for understanding this trope is the legitimization of esoteric knowledge as heavenly revelation. Apocalypses in this way put forward totalizing systems of knowledge by which the world can be understood. The presentation of such knowledge as revelation transforms it into an intellectual commodity that various social groups can utilize. Th…
Students of God in the House of Torah
Scribal Culture in Ben Sira, written by Lindsey A. Askin
Jubilees
Professional Ethics, Provenance, and Policies
This article presents and discusses the results of an online survey undertaken in 2018, which targeted scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls and associated research fields. Respondents were asked questions on the state of knowledge in the field regarding provenance issues and related ethics and policies. The goal of the survey was to establish the levels of awareness within Qumran and related studies concerning the role of the antiquities market, the …
When Monsters Walked the Earth
This article examines an Early Jewish text entitled the Book of the Watchers that is part of a larger work known as 1 Enoch. The Book of the Watchers offers a vivid and disturbing portrait of the excessive violence on earth that led to the flood, attributing the situation to destructive giants. Watchers expands and interprets the account of the crisis that precipitated the flood in Gen 6:1-4. Comparison of the two texts demonstrates that Watchers…
The Archangel Michael in Africa
Coherence, Professionalization, and the Critical Study of Religion
This short essay critically engages Claude Welch's Graduate Education in Religion (1971). For Welch the central challenge for the field of religious studies was to establish its “identity” in a post-Schempp world, referring to the landmark 1963 Supreme Court case that endorsed the study of religion in U.S. higher education. Now the study of religion is firmly established in universities as part of the humanities. As such religion departments shou…
From the new editors
The Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt
Odd Conspiracies
This article examines the scholarship of John Allegro on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the role his status as a scholar has played in the reception of his The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. While the Dead Sea Scrolls play no prominent role in the book, people promoting Sacred Mushroom and its unorthodox proposals stress that Allegro is a respected scholar with great philological acumen by appealing to status as an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls. But A…
History (15 works) · Philosophy (13 works) · Art (11 works) · Judaism (11 works) · Biblical Studies and Interpretation (10 works) · Jewish studies (10 works) · Theology (10 works) · Literature (8 works) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (6 works) · Biblical studies (6 works)