I've heard the sad news of the deaths of two people relevant to readers of this blog.

[Image]Firstly, the death of James Barr has been widely reported amongst the biblioblogging community. He was 82. I have only read one of his books, "The Scope and Authority of the Bible", (the edition with a still from The Ten Commandments on the front), but it was one of those books which succinctly sums up the things that are intangibly somewhere in your mind, and moves you on to the next level. It was far from his most rigorously academic work, nor his most influential ("The Semantics of Biblical Language" in most people's estimation).

There are a number of obituaries floating around. I would recommend those by The Times and Tyler Williams.

[Image]Secondly, Doug Cummings's Film Journey has the news that Danièle Huillet has also died. Huillet nearly always worked in partnership with her husband Jean Marie Straub, and whilst not a well known name in general cinema terms were well respected within the more art-focussed film circles. Their ultra-formal, austere cinema was far from easy to watch, but had so much to say. As far as I'm aware they made only one film related to the bible, and adaptation of Arnold Schoenberg's Moses und Aron in 1974. It's a film that has a lot to say, but it totally off the map of most bible films. I only wish I had a better grasp of what it's about.