Bible Odyssey

The Bible is a revered text for many and holds an iconic status in American and even global culture. And yet, studies show that many people are unfamiliar with its key themes and stories—and who can blame them? The Bible is not one book but many: a compilation of poetry, law codes, novellas, proverbs, gospels, and letters that were pulled together over the centuries. Being literate about the Bible is a tall order—but an important one. Given the Bible’s immense impact, our civic conversations, cultural awareness, and public discourse can only improve when we understand its texts and interpretations.

As a public outreach of the Society of Biblical Literature, Bible Odyssey’s mission is to inform the general public about the content of the Bible and the critical approaches to it. The site is for general audiences, not academics, and the scholars that contribute to Bible Odyssey are socially, geographically, and ethnically diverse. The site is not affiliated with any religious or political organization. It does not advocate for any particular perspective or reading. Rather, Bible Odyssey seeks to help the public appreciate the different viewpoints within the Bible and understand the diversity of biblical interpretations. The purpose of the website is to draw the person on the street, or in the pew, into the fascinating world of scholarly investigation into the Bible and the communities who value it. Articles should be academic in tone, without a confessional approach.

1. Writing for Bible Odyssey

Articles for Bible Odyssey are accepted by invitation-only. The Bible Odyssey editorial board has the final discretion in assigning article topics. If you are interested in writing for Bible Odyssey and have not received an invitation, please email bow@sbl-site.org and include your name, affiliation, subject area expertise, and CV. We will forward your name to our editorial board for consideration.

2. Formatting Guidelines

Authors are responsible for the following page components. A properly formatted sample article can be found here and a template can be found here.

2.1. Leading Questions. All essays should include one or two provocative questions to lead readers into the topic. When possible, try to choose questions that someone in the general public is likely to type into a Google search. For example, “Did King David write the Psalms?” or “Why did Jesus curse the fig tree?” or “What is the difference between a disciple and an apostle?” Clear and succinct questions are preferred. They help draw readers into your piece. The questions you choose become the subheadings for the essay (please use sentence-style capitalization) and should be answered in the main text.

2.2. Main Text. Essays may be 500, 700, or 1000 words (please refer to the invitation letter). All essays should

• include a short, one-paragraph introduction;
• convey key ideas in a clear and coherent manner;
• be written in lively and nontechnical language;
• combine description and analysis.

2.3. One sentence summary. A short summary should be provided in the invitation letter. This summary provides a one-sentence (up to twenty-five words) basic description of the key topics covered. This will be what appears in a Google search result.

2.4. Further Reading. All essays should include a list of 1–3 recommended readings on the subject. Entries may include books, articles, or blog posts and should

• be in English;
• be suitable for general audiences (Note: scholarly monographs, conference proceedings, and journal articles are typically written for PhD students and other biblical scholars. They are often not suitable for a general audience.);
• reflect a diversity of authors in terms of ethnicity and gender;
• be formatted according to the bibliography formatting guidelines provided in the SBL Handbook of Style (2nd edition).

2.5. Author bio. Authors should supply a brief professional bio.

• Bios should include the author’s title and affiliation.
• Just like articles on the site, bios should be easily understandable to the general public.
• Bios may mention up to three book titles the contributor has authored or edited.
• Bios should be written in a timeless fashion since they will not be updated frequently. For example, instead of referencing a publication as “forthcoming,” provide either the anticipated year of publication or omit the reference. Avoid words like “currently,” “recently,” etc.

2.6. Author Photo. Authors should supply a professional photo, with a resolution of at least 200 x 200 pixels, in jpeg format. (A higher resolution is preferable.) Images will be cropped to 1:1 dimensions to match the style of the site.

2.7. Bulleted List (“Did you know…?”). Longer essays (700 or 1000 words) may include a short “Did you know?” section. This section should include two or three bulleted sentences (100–150 words total), which may

• list key points made in the essay;
• share established facts or scholarly consensus (perhaps not shared in essay);
• identify a few key questions or debates.

2.8. Images. Each essay is accompanied by an image. We welcome authors to make recommendations for this image; however, Bible Odyssey staff choses the final image. When selecting images for the site, staff looks for images that are:

• visually, historically, and ethnically diverse;
• represent different views of the same person, place, or passage;
• include proper title, artist credit, dating, copyright, and source (captions should follow the guidelines here); please include a full link to where the image appears online (the site of the museum or official rights owner is preferred)
• high resolution; article images will be cropped and sized to 836px by 520px; images will not be accepted that are below this minimum resolution.

3. Submission

Please upload your article to: Scholastica (use the red button at the top of the page). Please attach your author photo as a supporting document. Please make sure that you add notifications@scholasticahq.com as a safe sender to your email or check your spam folder now and then.

4. General Writing Guidelines

Bible Odyssey articles should follow the SBL Handbook of Style (2nd edition). Below are some site-specific guidelines to keep in mind. If you have questions, please contact your editor or bow@sbl-site.org.

4.1. Reading level. Writing for the general public is different than writing for an academic audience. Your writing needs to catch the reader’s attention and keep it.

• Aim for an eighth-grade reading level.
• Use short sentences (20 words or fewer).
• Avoid complex sentences. Don’t overuse semicolons or long subordinate clauses.
• Use paragraphs with less than 7 lines of text.
• Use active voice.
• Use common, everyday words.
• Avoid technical abbreviations like “i.e.” or “e.g.”

For more helpful guidelines, please see here.

4.2. Eras. The preferred style is BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era).

4.3. Bible Translations. The standard biblical text to cite is the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue).

4.4. Hebrew Bible vs. Old Testament. Bible Odyssey recommends the use of Hebrew Bible rather than Old Testament. However, if the reference point is from a Christian vantage (e.g., in an article about medieval Christian art), then Old Testament is appropriate.

4.5. Divine Names. Because Bible Odyssey is directed to a general audience, we ask that authors refer to God as “God” or “the Lord.” If an article needs to specify Yahweh to make a point clear (e.g., to distinguish the god of Israel from the god of Moab), then it should use the spelling Yahweh, not YHWH or Jehovah.

4.6. Transliteration. Because the audience for Bible Odyssey is a general one, authors are asked to transliterate words in ancient languages (if such words are given at all). We follow the SBL Handbook of Style general style for transcriptions.

Correct: kyrios, aleph
Incorrect: kurios, alef

4.7. Metaphors and References to Popular Culture. Using metaphors and figurative language is an effective way to engage your audience, especially in opening sentences. However, be careful when including references to popular culture. References to movies, songs, and contemporary events quickly become outdated and limit your audience to a particular subset of readers. Contributors should also be sensitive to how such references might be received by different readers. Avoid references that might be deemed offensive to any cultural, religious, or demographic group.

4.8. Terms to Avoid Some terms may be helpful for communication among scholars but can be turn-offs to general audiences. These terms often have a simpler equivalent. For example: instead of pericope, use section or unit.

Examples of technical terms to avoid on Bible Odyssey:

• conceptualization
• diachronic
• discourse
• emendations
• exegesis
• hermeneutics
• historiography
• methodology
• multiplicity
• multivocality
• pedagogy
• pericope
• phenomena
• problematic
• redaction
• signification
• social location
• synchronic
• the “Other”/otherization
• utilize

4.9. Discipline-Specific Terms. Sometimes a writer will need to use a term that has a specific meaning that may be new to the reader. When possible, provide a brief definition when the term is first used, either in a sentence or in parenthesis. Examples of terms that require a definition:

• apocalyptic
• canon/canonical
• cult
• Decalogue
• epigraphy
• eschatological/eschaton
• halakah
• historical-critical
• inscription
• messiah/Messiah
• Pentateuch
• philology/philological
• prophet
• Psalter
• scribe
• shard/sherd
• strata
• superscription
• Torah
• wisdom literature

4.10. Footnotes. Do not use footnotes. Instead, insert important information within parentheses or the text itself. Cite key literature or authors in the field in the bibliography.

Example: The scholar Hannah Harrington describes holiness loosely as “divine energy” that radiates out from God.

(Then add the particular book or article to your “Further Readings” list.)

4.11. Formatting the Text. In general, do not spend effort on the design or look of your content. All content will be formatted by staff according to the requirements of the website.

5. What to Expect

5.1. Submission. Submit manuscripts online to Scholastica. For an overview of working with Scholastica as an author, please consult the author guide provided by Scholastica. Any technical or software questions should be directed to Scholastica customer support.

5.2. Production. Once submitted, articles proceed through our production process:

• Managing Editor and anonymous reviewers review the contribution.
• Managing Editor sends feedback to author via Scholastica.
• Author revises content and sends contribution back to Managing Editor via Scholastica.
• Managing Editor accepts or rejects contribution for publication.
• Contribution is copyedited and formatted for the website.
• Author reviews final file.
• Contribution is published to the website.

5.2. Editorial Expectations and Final Say. Writers must be willing to have their work edited for style, tone, accuracy, clarity, and coherence. The Managing Editors will have the final say in the editing process.

5.3. Copyright. The Society of Biblical Literature will contract with Bible Odyssey authors using an agreement that assigns nonexclusive copyright to the Society of Biblical Literature for the publication of all the page components and content created by the author for the website. All material generated for Bible Odyssey is governed by the site’s Terms of Use.