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In this rhetorical-critical study of Ecclesiates, the author elucidates how Qoheleth teaches in his discourse, paying particular attention to the use of the cosmological texts (1:4-11 and 3:1-8) and the first-person speeches.

Die Studie untersucht die Rhetorik der alt-testamentlichen Mirjambelege und ihre sozialgeschichtlichen Kontexte und arbeitet aus feministischer Sicht die Forschungsgeschichte zu Mirjam auf. Die bisherige Mirjamforschung war grotenteils von literargeschichtlichen Vorentscheidungen gepragt und kam deshalb nur zu rudimentaren Aussagen uber Mirjam. Demgegenuber lassen sich mittels einer feministisch-rhetorischen Analyse mit rezeptions- und produktionsasthetischen Fragestellungen neue Kontexte dafur finden, was Mirjam im Text reprasentiert. Sie kann nicht langer als "e;Prophetin"e; aus der Fruhzeit Israels betrachtet werden, sondern steht vielmehr fur eine bestimmte theopolitische Position in persischer Zeit.

Die Arbeit untersucht den altisraelitischen Opferkult und die Priestergenealogien der hebraischen Bibel aus religionsgeschichtlicher und kulturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive. Im ersten Teil wird die kollektive Biographie der aharonidischen Hohenpriesterschaft uber Genealogien-Analysen erschlossen. Der Beginn ihres Hohenpriesteramts kann in das 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. datiert werden. Eine mehrdimensionale Annaherung an das Levitentum lat sich nachweisen. Im zweiten Teil werden Opferriten (Ex 12 und Lev 1-7) analysiert und kulturwissenschaftlich als Kommunikationsmedien ausgewiesen. Die Aussagen und Botschaften der Pesach- und anderer Riten werden im einzelnen rekonstruiert. Eine Verfasserhypothese auf Grundlage kulturanthropologischer Ergebnisse schliet die Arbeit ab, die insgesamt Religions- und Machtpolitik (z.B. Entwicklungen zum Monotheismus und zur Theokratie) im nachexilischen Israel neu bewertet.

This volume explores issues of moral character found in the different text versions of the book of Esther. First the study suggests the two most common approaches to perceived moral problems in the story of Esther: avoidance and transformation. Then it investigates selected portions of the Hebrew Masoretic Text, the Greek Septuagint Text, and the Greek Alpha-Text stories of Esther, focusing on issues of morality via character analysis. Finally it concentrates on the moral ambiguity found in all three versions, and on the ways in which moral character in the Greek stories has been transformed.

In Abgrenzung zur romantischen Asthetik der Originalitat geht die Analyse des Textes von Gen 26 und seinen Kotexten von einer Asthetik der Wertschatzung von Wiederholungen und "e;Doppelungen"e; aus. Nach der Vorstellung des rezeptionsasthetischen Auslegungskonzeptes wird der Lektureprozess von Gen 12,10-20; Gen 20 und Gen 26 rekonstruiert, wobei nicht nur die christliche Sekundarliteratur, sondern auch judische Exegesen intensiv einbezogen werden. Die drei Geschichten von der Gefahrdung der Ahnfrau und die beiden Brunnenstreit-Erzahlungen werden als jeweils neue Folgen sichtbar, die mit Gen 26 in einer erzahltechnisch anspruchsvollen Friedens- und Segensgeschichte ihren Hohepunkt finden.

Das Buch behandelt die in der Forschung umstrittene Frage, ob es sich bei der personifizierten Weisheit in der Sapientia Salomonis bereits um eine Hypostase oder lediglich um eine Vorstufe im Sinne einer poetischen Personifikation handelt. Auf die traditionsgeschichtliche Analyse der einschlagigen Weisheitstexte in Prov 1-9, Hiob 28, Sirach 1,1-10 und 24 folgt die Auslegung der zentralen Texte der Sapientia Salomonis (Sap 1,1-10; 7,1-8,1; 9,1-18 und 10,1-11,1). Da in der judischen Spatschrift zahlreiche philosophische Anleihen zu finden sind, muss auch im Blick auf den Weisheitsbegriff und das damit verbundene Problem der Vermittlung zwischen Gott und Mensch mit einer Beeinflussung durch die Vorstellungen der zeitgenossischen Philosophie (mittlere Stoa: Poseidonios von Apamea; mittlerer Platonismus: Antiochos von Askalon, Eudoros von Alexandrien) gerechnet werden.

Attention is focussed on the texts in II Samuel 1-5, which are seen as being vital for the literary genesis of the story of David. It explains David's double kingship of Israel and Juda as a protodeuteronomistic foundation narrative from the late Age of Kings.

This study demonstrates the importance of including narrative ethics in a construction of Old Testament ethics, as a correction for the current state of marginalisation of narrative in this discipline. To this end, the concept of identity is used as a lens through which to understand and derive ethics. Since self-conception in ancient Israel is generally held to be predominantly collectivist in orientation, social identity theory is used to understand ancient Israelite identity. Although collectivist sensitivities are important, a social identity approach also incorporates an understanding of individuality. This approach highlights the social emphases of a biblical text, and consequently assists in understanding a text's original ethical message. The book of Ruth is used as a test case, employing a social identity approach for understanding the narrative, but also to model the approach so that it can be implemented more widely in study of the Old Testament and narrative ethics. Each of the protagonists in the book of Ruth is examined in regards to their personal and social self-components. This study reveals that the narrative functions to shape or reinforce the identity of an ancient Israelite implied reader. Since behavioural norms are an aspect of identity, narrative also influences behaviour. A social identity approach can also highlight the social processes within a society. The social processes taking place in the two most commonly proposed provenances for the book of Ruth are discussed: the Monarchic and Persian Periods. It is found that the social emphases of the book of Ruth most closely correspond to the social undercurrents of the Persian Period. On this basis, a composition for the book of Ruth in the Restoration period is proposed.

The social and intellectual context of the material in the book of Proverbs has given rise to several proposals concerning the nature of the constituent compendia within the document as well as the function of the discourse as a whole. In light of the problems inherent in an investigation of the nature and function of Proverbs, the present study focuses on the social dimensions of the document within its distinct, literary context. That is, the study attempts to examine the nature and function of the sapiential material within its new performance context, viz., the discursive context, the Sitz im Buch. This form of analysis moves beyond the investigation of individual aphorisms to provide a concrete context through which to view the various components of the discourse as well as the discourse as a whole. In the main, the study explores the formal, discursive, and thematic features of the constituent collections within the book of Proverbs in order to identify the nature and function of the work. More specifically, the study highlights the fundamental features of the book's discourse setting, the thematic development of the material, the ethos of the individual collections and their role within Proverbs in order to ascertain the degree to which the document may be considered a courtly piece.

The festive meal texts of Deuteronomy 12-26 depict Israel as a unified people participating in cultic banquets- a powerful and earthy image for both preexilic Judahite and later audiences. Comparison of Deuteronomy 12:13-27, 14:22-29, 16:1-17, and 26:1-15 with pentateuchal texts like Exodus 20-23 is broadened to highlight the rhetorical potential of the Deuteronomic meal texts in relation to the religious and political circumstances in Israel during the Neo-Assyrian and later periods. The texts employ the concrete and rich image of festive banquets, which the monograph investigates in relation to comparative ancient Near Eastern texts and iconography, the zooarchaeological remains of the ancient Levant, and the findings of cultural anthropology with regard to meals.

Der Alttestamentler und Orientalist Karl Heinrich Graf (1815-1869) hat, obwohl ihm zeit seines Lebens ein akademisches Amt versagt blieb, durch seine bahnbrechenden Studien zur Pentateuchkritik im 19. Jahrhundert wesentlich zur Etablierung der mit Julius Wellhausen verbundenen Neueren Urkundenhypothese"e; beigetragen. Von seinem Lehrer Eduard Reu in Straburg angeregt, hat er der bis heute unangefochtenen Spatdatierung der priesterlichen Gesetze im Pentateuch zum Durchbruch verholfen und damit den Grund fur ein neues Bild von der altisraelitischen Kultgeschichte gelegt. Mit der vorliegenden Arbeit, die auf eine Leipziger Habilitationsschrift des Verfassers aus dem Jahr 1970 zuruckgeht, wird das wissenschaftliche Werk Grafs zum Alten Testament im Kontext seiner teils tragischen Biographie dargestellt und forschungsgeschichtlich gewurdigt. Der Herausgeber zieht in seiner Einleitung die Linie bis zur Gegenwart und fragt nach der heutigen Bedeutung der Graf'schen Erkenntnisse.

In addition to three scrolls containing the Book of Joshua, the Qumran caves brought to light five previously unknown texts rewriting this book. These scrolls (4Q123, 4Q378, 4Q379, 4Q522, 5Q9), as well as a scroll from Masada (Mas 1039-211), are commonly referred to as the Apocryphon of Joshua. While each of these manuscripts has received some scholarly attention, no attempt has yet been made to offer a detailed study of all these texts. The present monograph fills this gap by providing improved editions of the six scrolls, an up-to-date commentary and a detailed discussion of the biblical exegesis embedded in each scroll. The analysis of the texts is followed by a reassessment of the widely accepted view considering 4Q123, 4Q378, 4Q379, 4Q522, 5Q9 and Mas 1039-211 as copies of a single composition. Finally, the monograph attempts to place the Qumran scrolls rewriting the Book of Joshua within the wider context of Second Temple Jewish writings concerned with the figure of Joshua.

In the recent two decades many unknown texts from Qumran have been published, which rework passages from the Hebrew Bible. Dated from the second and first centuries BCE these documents display the methods of biblical interpretation at this early stage and the links to the inner-biblical interpretation and final shaping of the Hebrew Bible.

This monograph is an investigation of Yahwistic votive practice during the Hellenistic period. The dedicatory inscriptions from the Yahweh temple on Mount Gerizim are analyzed in light of votive practice in Biblical literature and in general on the basis of a thorough terminological and theoretical discussion.A special focus is laid on remembrance formulae, which request the deity to remember the worshipper in return for a gift. These formulae cannot only be found at Gerizim, but also in other Semitic dedicatory inscriptions. Therefore these texts are interpreted in their broader cultural context, placed within a broad religious practice of dedicating gifts to the gods and leaving inscriptions in sanctuaries. Finally, the aspect of divine remembrance in the Hebrew Bible is explored and related to the materiality of the votive inscription.The research concludes that there is a perception of the divine behind this practice on Mount Gerizim that ties together the aspects of gift, remembrance and material presence. This 'theology' is echoed both in similar Semitic dedicatory inscriptions and in the Hebrew Bible.

This volume brings together twenty four essays on biblical wisdom literature in honor of Professor Maurice Gilbert SJ, one of the leading authorities in this field. Some essays display rigorous attention to textual and linguistic issues, whereas others deal with more theological questions or focus on the comparison between two books.

Der Band versammelt 16 Aufsatze des Munchner Alttestamentlers Hermann-Josef Stipp, die hier in revidierter Form wieder abgedruckt werden. Gegenstand sind Texte aus der Priesterschrift, dem Deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerk und der Prophetie. Beispiele aus dem Inhalt: Anfang und Ende. Nochmals zur Syntax von Gen 1,1 Dominium terrae. Die Herrschaft uber die Tiere in Gen 1,26.28 Alles Fleisch hatte seinen Wandel auf der Erde verdorben"e; (Gen 6,12). Die Mitverantwortung der Tierwelt an der Sintflut nach der Priesterschrift Meinen Bund hat er gebrochen"e; (Gen 17,14). Die Individualisierung des Bundesbruchs in der Priesterschrift Richter 19 - ein fruhes Beispiel schriftgestutzter politischer Propaganda in Israel Ahabs Bue und die Komposition des deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerks Ende bei Joschija. Zur Frage nach dem ursprunglichen Ende der Konigsbucher bzw. des Deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerks Vom Heil zum Gericht. Die Selbstinterpretation Jesajas in der Denkschrift Die joschijanische Reform im Jeremiabuch

Diese Studie geht der Frage nach, wie und warum literarische Texte des Alten Orients, des Alten Testaments und des Qumrankorpus Krisen und Katastrophen metaphorisch darstellen. Ausgehend von einer kurzen Einfuhrung zur Metaphertheorie und zu altorientalischen Vorstellungen von Geburt im Allgemeinen werden Texte untersucht, die das Konzept Geburt' metaphorisch mit dem Konzept Krise' verbinden und hiermit sowohl das eine wie auch das andere in einem neuen Licht erscheinen lassen. Das Hauptaugenmerk des Buches liegt auf alttestamentlichen Texten und den personlichen, historischen und universalen Krisen, die sie mit Hilfe der Geburtsmetapher beschreiben. Hierbei ist es besonders interessant, dass nicht der gluckliche Ausgang einer Geburt im Zentrum der Metapher steht, sondern der Schmerz, die Unsicherheit und die Unabwendbarkeit der Geschehnisse, die Krise' und Geburt' verbinden. An einem Text aus den Hodayot von Qumran wird gezeigt, wie spatere eschatologische Vorstellungen die altorientalische und alttestamentliche Geburtsmetapher weiterentwickeln.

This study is on the figure and , also commonly called the 'Strange Woman' in Proverbs 1-9. It is an attempt to understand the meaning which defines her, and the origin and development of her motif. The first part argues against defining her as a sexual predator, but as an ethnic foreigner according to the lexical studies of and . It traces her origin within the Hebrew scripture, the legal documents and especially to the DtrH's portrayal of foreign women/wives. Hence, it distinguishes the two motifs: the motif of the adulteress and the motif of the foreign woman; the latter, which symbolizes the temptation to apostasy. The study will then go on to explain how the writer of Proverbs 1-9 employs this motif of the foreign woman in his poetic composition. The second part tracks the development of this motif through the subsequent Jewish Wisdom literature and observes how it changes and loses the 'foreignness' of her original motif in Eccl. 7:26; 4Q184; LXX Proverbs; Hebrew Ben Sira; Greek Ben Sira; and finally disappears in Wisdom of Solomon. It proffers to understand this gradual transformation against a background of social and religious change.

A study beginning with the analysis of a type of divine appearance in the Old Testament, here called 'human theophany', in which God is described as having a concrete human form. It includes a delineation of various types of anthropomorphism and a discussion of human theophany in relation to appearances of angels.

This study analyzes several passages in the Former Prophets (2 Sam 19:12-44; 2 Kgs 2:1-18; Judg 8:4-28) from a literary perspective, and argues that the text presents Transjordan as liminal in Israel's history, a place from which Israel's leaders return with inaugurated or renewed authority. It then traces the redactional development of Samuel-Kings that led to this literary symbolism, and proposes a hypothesis of continual updating and combination of texts, beginning early in Israel's monarchy and continuing until the final formation of the Deuteronomistic History. Several source documents may be isolated, including three narratives of Saul's rise, two distinct histories of David's rise, and a court history that was subsequently revised with pro-Solomonic additions. These texts had been combined already in a Prophetic Record during the 9th c. B.C.E. (with A. F. Campbell), which was received as an integrated unit by the Deuteronomistic Historian. The symbolic geography of the Jordan River and Transjordan, which even extends into the New Testament, was therefore not the product of a deliberate theological formulation, but rather the accidental by-product of the contingency of textual redaction that had as its main goal the historical presentation of Israel's life in the land.

Contains the proceedings of a Symposium 'Prophecy in the "Book of Jeremiah"', arranged by the Edinburgh Prophecy Network in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, 11-12 May 2007.

This study examines the physical form and cultic function of the biblical cherubim. Previous studies of the cherubim have placed too great an emphasis on archaeological and etymological data. This monograph presents a new synthetic study, which prioritises the evidence supplied by the biblical texts. Biblical exegesis, using literary and historical-critical methods, forms the large part of the investigation (Part I). The findings arising from the exegetical discussion provide the basis upon which comparison with etymological and archaeological data is made (Parts II and III).The results suggest that traditions envisaging the cherubim as tutelary winged quadrupeds, with one head and one set of wings, were supplanted by traditions that conceived of them as more enigmatic, obeisant beings. In the portrayal of the cherubim in Ezekiel and Chronicles, we can detect signs of a conceptual shift that prefigures the description of the cherubim in post-biblical texts, such as The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and the Enochic texts.

Gibt es Geschichtsschreibung im Alten Testament? Diese Frage hat die jungere Exegese immer wieder beschaftigt. Meist war bei ihrer Beantwortung ausschlaggebend, in welchem Mae die in der Bibel geschilderten Ereignisse, Handlungen oder Prozesse als glaubwurdig bzw. wahrscheinlich eingestuft wurden.Die vorliegende Studie versucht, die Frage auf einem anderen Wege zu beantworten. Im Anschluss an die geschichtstheoretischen Arbeiten J. Rusens bestimmt sie Historiographie als eine Sonderform vergangenheitsbezogenen Erzahlens, die sich durch das Bestreben auszeichnet, ihre Darstellung durchgehend argumentativ abzusichern. Im Hauptteil wendet sich die Studie exemplarisch der sog. Aufstiegsgeschichte Davids und ihrer Genese zu. Sie konzentriert sich naherhin auf die Kapitel 1 Sam 15-21 und versucht, auf redaktionsgeschichtlichem Wege nachzuzeichnen, wie diese schrittweise anwuchsen und welche gedanklichen Prozesse dabei leitend waren. Da sich diese Reflexionsprozesse als Generationen umspannende Argumentationsvorgange darstellen, die darauf abzielten, die biblischen Texte in Geltung zu halten, konnen die erzahlenden Stucke des Alten Testaments schlielich mit historiographischer Literatur in Beziehung gesetzt werden.

A modern reader studying biblical narratives encounters various literary approaches and ways of understanding interpretive concepts. Hence an attempt to put forward a comprehensive hermeneutical model of reading biblical narratives. Such a model should aim at a synthesis of various approaches, and show how they are interrelated.The book proposes a hermeneutical theory which uses modern approaches to literary texts for the exegesis of biblical narratives. The book discusses three spheres of the reader's knowledge about reality: immanent, narrative, and transcendental. The move from immanent to transcendental knowledge through the mediation of narrative knowledge results from the mediatory role played by the biblical text, which refers the reader to a transcendent reality. This theory is then applied to the exegesis of Genesis 21:1-21, and involves the evaluation of the New Criticism, rhetorical criticism, structuralism and narrative analysis, reader-response criticism, the historical-critical method, as well as deconstruction. In order to satisfy the postulate of pluralism in interpretation, the hermeneutical theory draws upon a variety of ancient and modern sources such as Aristotle, T. S. Eliot, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Paul RicA ur.

This volume of papers presented as a Festschrift to Professor Johannes Marbock on the occasion of his retirement is devoted to his most important field of work - the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. In their papers, numerous renowned scholars cast light on this topic from a wide variety of perspectives.

ThisOxford dissertationoffers a fresh redactional analysis of the Book of Amos. It starts with a critical survey of existing approaches and an examination of the methodological issues involved and proceeds with a detailed exegetical analysis of the prophetic text which forms the basis for the redactional conclusions. It steers a middle course between extreme conservative treatments which trace all the material back to the prophet Amos and more radical sceptical approaches which attribute most of the prophetic oracles to the work of later redactors. The composition of the book began with two collections: the Polemical scroll written not long after the end of Amos' ministry and the Repentance scroll composed shortly before 722 BC. The Repentance scroll was reworked in Judah towards the end of the 8th century BC and the two scrolls were combined to form a single work sometime during the 7th century BC. The Book underwent only one redaction during the exilic period which sought to actualise its message in a new historical context. The study pays special attention to the literary structure, aim and probable historical circumstances of the various collections which gradually evolved into the present Book of Amos and seeks to show how the prophetic message lived on and spoke to the various communities which preserved and transmitted it.

Models for the figure of Judith were provided by Moses, David, Judas Maccabeus, and by biblical female figures who were either the victims or themselves the perpetrators of violence. The study is centred on the song in Judith 16, 1-17, which provides a theological interpretation.

In der Reihe Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) erscheinen Arbeiten zu sämtlichen Gebieten der alttestamentlichen Wissenschaft. Im Zentrum steht die Hebräische Bibel, ihr Vor- und Nachleben im antiken Judentum sowie ihre vielfache Verzweigung in die benachbarten Kulturen der altorientalischen und hellenistisch-römischen Welt. Die BZAW akzeptiert Manuskriptvorschläge, die einen innovativen und signifikanten Beitrag zu Erforschung des Alten Testaments und seiner Umwelt leisten, sich intensiv mit der bestehenden Forschungsliteratur auseinandersetzen, stringent aufgebaut und flüssig geschrieben sind.