Biblioblog Top 50 – June 2009

It’s the Biblioblog Top 50 – for the month of June 2009!

The Biblioblog Top 50 ranks each biblical studies blog, or “biblioblog,” by the total traffic or “hits” it receives each month.

The Number 1 Biblioblogger this month is…
Jim West 

So what else is hot in biblical studies blogging for the month of June 2009?

• John Anderson (Hesed weʾemet) stormed into the Biblioblog Top 50 this month, up 44 places from his previous blogspot ranking to No. 33. His sudden ascension to biblioblogging fame was due not only to his exemplary Old Testament blogging, but also due to his Blogger of the Month interview on Biblioblogs.com, and not the least due to the (not one, but two) interviews he carried out with himself during the month of June.
• Amongst the new entrants to the Top 10 were Neil Godfrey (Vridar), leaping 12 places to No. 3, and Mandy and Calvin Park (The Floppy Hat), up a massive 34 places to No. 5.
• The biggest rises were from V. Henry T. Nguyen (Punctuated Life), up 113 places to No. 11; Doug Chaplin (Clay Boy), up 117 places from his previous blog’s ranking to No. 22; Rachel Barenblat (Velveteen Rabbi), up 96 places to No. 29; and Douglas Mangum (Biblia Hebraica), up 80 places to No. 21.

Here are the new blogs we have added to the Complete List of Biblioblogs this month, along with some other changes in the biblioblogosphere. They are worth checking out:

• After a long absence, old school biblioblogger Brandon Wason returned to form on Sitz im Leben. We discovered The Hyrax on Holy Hyrax, who confesses that while he may have found his emunah, he is still searching for motivation to keep halacha. We were pleased to discover Old Testament scholar Renita J. Weems’ SomethingWithin.com. A blog from Årstein Justnes was added to our small but growing list of Norwegian biblioblogs, just as his thesis was published by Peter Lang: The Time of Salvation: An Analysis of 4QApocryphon of Daniel ar (4Q246), 4QMessianic Apocalypse (4Q521 2), and 4QTime of Righteousness (4Q215a). Prof. Michael L. Satlow of Brown University has accumulated a wonderful series of podcasts on the development of Israelite history ‘From Israelite to Jew’, which are well worth the listen. Last year, Mark Alterman commenced a blog for a Kentucky Christian University grad class called “OT Research and Application,” which he has now transformed into a more permanent resource for OT research, called, appropriately enough, Biblical Research. Prof James M. Kennedy of Baylor University shares his views on the Psalms and other Old Testament literature on his new blog. We also discovered Nevada blogging Samuel on Epiginoskein. The controversial Guild of Biblical Minimalists also returned to biblioblogging this month, in fulfilment of their great commission of “Purifying Biblical Studies since 1987.” But why 1987?
• We were notified that Ruth P. Martin, translator for The Pioneer Bible, posts Greek word studies at The Pioneers’ New Testament. Also, Christian Feminism came, perhaps briefly, back to life this month.
• Mark Goodacre officially launched his podcast blog, NT Pod this month. Also, Jason began blogging on Eis Doxan in May. We decided that even though Peter J. Leithart specializes in theology, he writes so many posts (and books) on biblical studies that he should be on the biblioblog list. We also noticed Altair, who blogs now and again on Depósito Teológico, as well as Luciano Costa, who blogs a little more frequently on Veritas Omnia Vincit. We found out that Vlad (Text and Theology) has been blogging biblical studies for a number of months now. Matt Evans reads books at Broadcast Depth. And we added Michael Metts‘s self-titled blog, and Rich S’s An Exegete Reflects, and found Clifford Kvidahl having some Theological Musings. Prolific biblioblogger Bob McDonald started a blog on Matthew in May, which fulfills what had been spoken through the prophets about these end times (Eccl. 12:12bc-13a). Doug Chaplin, previously yet briefly of Blogito Ergo Sim, and previously and not briefly of Metacatholic, has now become a Clay Boy. Ben Witherington transferred his blog to BeliefNet, which unfortunately means that we can’t obtain any statistics for his blog anymore.   But all of this was eclipsed by the news that Johannes Weiss had resurrected from the dead (with who knows how many other saints of the First Historical Jesus Quest), and was blogging, oddly enough, in Italian, on The Apocalyptic Blog.

And here’s the full list of the Top 50 Biblioblogs for June 2009:

Rank	Prev.	+ / –	Blogger	Blog Name
1	1	–	Jim West	Jim West
2	2	–	Joel L. Watts	The Church of Jesus Christ
3	15	12	Neil Godfrey	Vridar
4	6	2	Scott Bailey	Scotteriology
5	39	34	Mandy and Calvin Park	The Floppy Hat
6	7	1	Daniel and Tonya	Hebrew and Greek Reader
7	8	1	John Hobbins	Ancient Hebrew Poetry
8	3	-5	Ben Witherington	Ben Witherington on the Bible and Culture
9	9	–	Thomas Verenna	The Musings of Thomas Verenna
10	5	-5	Airton José da Silva	Observatório Bíblico
11	124	113	V. Henry T. Nguyen	Punctuated Life
12	4	-8	James McGrath	Exploring Our Matrix
13	12	-1	Mark Goodacre	NT Blog
14	23	9	Jim Getz	Ketuvim
15	10	-5	Peter M. Lopez	Beauty of the Bible
16	13	-3	Various	Biblioblog Top 50
17	22	5	Chris Heard	Higgaion
18	21	3	Nick Norelli	Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
19	27	8	Tyler F. Williams	Codex
20	16	-4	Claude Mariottini	Claude Mariottini
21	101	80	Douglas Mangum	Biblia Hebraica
22	139	117	Doug Chaplin	Clay Boy
23	17	-6	Chris Tilling	Chrisendom
24	33	9	Andy Naselli	Thoughts on Exegetical, Biblical, Historical, Systematic, and Practical Theology
25	20	-5	Tommy Wasserman, et al	Evangelical Textual Criticism
26	11	-15	Michael S. Heiser	The Naked Bible, PaleoBabble, UFO Religions, Scribal Practices, Two Powers in Heaven
27	52	25	Rod Decker	NT Resources Blog
28	24	-4	Chris Brady	Targuman
29	125	96	Rachel Barenblat	Velveteen Rabbi
30	28	-2	Roland Boer	Stalin’s Moustache
31	30	-1	Mike Aubrey	ἐν ἐφέσῳ / In Ephesus
32	31	-1	April DeConick	Forbidden Gospels Blog
33	77	44	John Anderson	Hesed we ’emet
34	42	8	J. K. Gayle	Aristotle’s Feminist Subject
35	35	–	Ken Brown	C. Orthodoxy
36	54	18	David Ker, et al	Better Bibles Blog
37	–	–	Peter J. Leithart	Leithart.com
38	14	-24	Dave Black	Dave Black Online
39	72	33	Brian Fulthrop	συνεσταυρωμαι: Living The Crucified Life
40	56	16	T.C. Robinson	New Leaven
41	47	6	Andreas Kostenberger	Biblical Foundations
42	65	23	Mark Stevens	Scripture, Ministry, and the People of God
43	50	7	Art Boulet	Finitum Non Capax Infiniti
44	63	19	Antonio Lombatti	Pseudoscienze cristiane antiche e medievali
45	60	15	Adam Couturier	Mishlei Adam / משלי אדם
46	67	21	Mike Whitenton	Ecce Homo
47	51	4	Michael F. Bird, Joel Willitts	ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ / Evangelion
48	40	-8	Peter Enns	Peter Enns
49	41	-8	Jim Davila	PaleoJudaica
50	36	-14	ElShaddai Edwards	He Is Sufficient

Some technical info on how the stats are calculated is included here.