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Meeting Abstracts

2004 International Meeting

Groningen, The Netherlands

Meeting Begins7/25/2004
Meeting Ends7/28/2004

Call for Papers Opens: 10/8/2003
Call for Papers Closes: 12/30/2003

Requirements for Participation

  Meeting Abstracts


Images of Saul and David in the First Book of Samuel
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Klaus-Peter Adam, University of Marburg

Since Leonhard Rost's 1926 investigation on the "Succession Narrative" has been challenged in recent scholarship, it seems certain that there was never such literary unit as a "History of David`s Rise." Thus the question arises, along which lines did the books of Samuel grow? The paper shall address this question, but it shall first deal with the different views on kings Saul and David and show a development of the narrative tradition of the two kings. The paper will point out that the narratives of Saul and David reveal a great deal of different thoughts on the two first kings of the Israelite monarchy. The main texts to deal with will be Saul's kingdom (1 Sam 13-22); the narratives of David as fugitive in 1 Sam 23-27:4, the stories of David working for Achisch of Gat (27:5-29) and the Stories of Saul's Death (1 Sam 31-2 Sam 1). It will be considered whether the different views on the two kings in the different episodes of the first Book of Samuel allow one to distinguish diachronically different literary units of the first (and second) book(s) of Samuel. (However, due to the texts this paper deals with, there will be no focus on especially Deuteronomistic issues, since there are few Dtr. passages in this section of the first book of Samuel.


Paul's Understanding of Holiness/Sanctification in 1 & 2 Corinthians: An African Perspective
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
J. Ayodeji Adewuya, Church of God Theological Seminary

The paper is to argue that a proper understanding of holiness/sanctification in the Corinthian correspondence is that which sees it as primarily communal. This argument is informed by the author's background as an African for whom a "person" is a "person" only in the context of a community.


Fire and Temples in the Eternal City: The Epistle to the Hebrews in Flavian Rome
Program Unit: Hebrews
Ellen B. Aitken, Harvard Divinity School

Hebrews’ discussion of Jesus’ entry into the true tabernacle is central to the text’s soteriological program. This paper examines the images used to characterize this sanctuary and its location within a heavenly city in order to understand the cultural repertoire utilized in this text. I argue that Hebrews is thus informed by and responding to the building programs prominent in Flavian Rome, particularly Vespasian’s construction of the Temple of Peace and the rebuilding of the Capitoline temples following their destruction by fire. I shall show how the text’s use of these buildings and the activities in them interacts with the patterns of tabernacle and temple drawn from the scriptures of Israel. The result for Hebrews is a soteriology that is doubly supersessionist, claiming the superiority of the cult of Jesus over both the Israelite cult and the cult of the Capitoline gods. This paper expands upon my earlier work analyzing Hebrews in relation to the celebration of the Flavian triumph in the city of Rome after the First Jewish War, presented at the SBL International Meeting in Rome, 2001.


The Canonical Alignment of the Book of Joshua
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Rainer Albertz, University of Münster

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In a Mirror Very Darkly: Rhetoric, Hermeneutics, and Finding History in 1 Corinthians
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Matthew R. Anderson, Concordia University, Montreal

A reasonable assumption holds that we should be concerned to recover as much historical information as possible from ancient Christian texts like Paul’s letters; that if pressed such letters can and will give up a coherent – sometimes even detailed – picture of their original contexts. While it is recognized that most New Testament writings reflect little direct historical information (names, dates, places and specific events), the great discovery of Enlightenment Biblical scholars was that, like an Etruscan vase, even the form of a text can be used as evidence in surmising the historical circumstances surrounding its writing. And yet, given the volume of scholarship which has been devoted to examining Paul and his congregations, it is surprising that less attention has been paid to what the texts portray as the apostle’s main concern: not what his congregations were in any objective, historical sense, but their identity in relation to him and to God. By concentrating on the first few chapters of 1 Corinthians (the most overtly “historical” of Paul’s letters) this paper argues that Paul’s letters are written in a type of rhetoric that has a greater relationship with the history it created than that which it reflects. Paul’s rhetoric has an historical referent in the reality it envisions, and examining this process helps join hermeneutics and rhetorical-criticism. Paul’s literary rhetoric accomplished its persuasive task by means of a Ricoeurian “world of the work”. His letters, quite literally, “made history”.


New Jerusalem: From Ezekiel to Qumran and to John. Which Line of Tradition?
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Hugo Antonissen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

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Hellenism in the Towns of Jesus–the Case of Bethsaida
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Rami Arav, University of Nebraska, Omaha

This paper will review briefly the current scholarly concepts on the issue of Hellenism in Galilee and in particular in the towns of Jesus. It will demonstrate how little traces of Hellenism were found in the archaeology of these places and in Bethsaida in particular and will suggest a sociological pattern by which Hellenism was introduced into Galilee and to Bethsaida in particular. The pattern encountered in archaeological discoveries does not suggest dissemination from the lower parts of the society to the upper levels, nor does it suggest commercial, military or cultural patterns, but rather a political venue superimposed on the society from the ruling regimes. Hellenism was introduced by Herod the Great as his tribute to the Roman Imperial Cult. His dynasty carried on this mission and managed to compromise between political demands and religious convictions. The major change, however, occurred only after the destruction of the Temple, when the Jerusalem Hellenized population was dispersed and moved to Galilee and the Roman legions were stationed in this district. After some centuries of deterioration and decline, Bethsaida was rebuilt during the third century BCE perhaps as a Tyrian colony, which provided dried fish and linen to the growing economy of Tyre. At the onset of the first century BCE the town was conquered by the Hasmoneans who cut all communication lines to the Phoenician coast and the town suffered another setback. It was rebuilt and resettled during Herod the Great by Jews and in 30 CE, Philip the son of Herod, elevated the settlement to a status of a Greek City - “polis”, renamed it as Julias after Julia/Livia the wife of the Emperor Augustus and built a modest temple for her cult in the town. This was the main vehicle by which Hellenism was introduced to the town.


Forms of Spirit and Soul
Program Unit: Judaica
Daphna Arbel, University of British Columbia

This paper examines the Shi'ur Komah traditions of the Jewish Hekhalot and Merkavah literature of late antiquity, in light of a specific model of description, entitled by R.S. Hendel as “transcendent anthropomorphism." This model had previously emerged in Ancient Near Eastern traditions and in several Biblical and Post Biblical sources. According to this pattern of description, the concrete, manifested, figurative form of various deities, often serves to convey their abstract, transcendent, and concealed nature. This model, I suggest, is invoked in the Shi'ur Komah descriptions in order to formulate and convey mystical notions, related to both the concept of God and the unique spiritual perception of Merkavah visionaries. Through the application of principles and imagery of this paradoxical ancient model a new mystical concept of the divine, as both transcendent and figurative, is introduced into the Shi'ur Komah traditions of the Hekhalot and Merkavah literature. Accordingly, depictions of God's corporeal, revealed form, the cosmic dimensions of his body, as well as his anthropomorphic/ zoomorphic features, denote his abstract, transcendent, and incomprehensible nature.


Why Edom? On Obadiah's Anti-Edomite Attitude
Program Unit: Prophets
Elie Assis, Bar Ilan University

The twenty-one prophetic verses of the Book of Obadiah are entirely devoted to the destruction of Edom as a punishment for their participation in the events of 597 B.C.E. These anti-Judean actions are the reason, according to many scholars, for the abundance of Biblical passages that condemn Edom. However, some researchers have indicated that Edom is not singled out in comparison to other nations in sources of the relevant period, such as Kings, Jeremiah, and especially Ezekiel 25, where Edom is treated in a similar fashion as are the Philistines, Moabites, and Amonites. For this reason other historical backgrounds have been suggested to explain the hostility towards Edom. Some find it in the pre-exilic period, while others point the occupation of Judah by the Edomites during the exilic period as cause of this antagonism. In this paper the various explanations are assessed and a new approach is offered. A conceptual theology of Judean people in the post-exilic period is examined as the main cause for the anti-Edomite attitude in late Biblical sources.


The Call for Revenge in Jeremiah's Complaints (Jeremiah 11-20)
Program Unit: Prophets
Michael Avioz, Bar Ilan University

'Jeremiah's Complaints' (Jer 11-20) have been thoroughly discussed and studied in the last two decades. In these complaints, Jeremiah is praying to the Lord, asking him to make an end to his enduring suffering and shame as his prophet and messenger. One of the elements appearing in these complaints is the 'call for revenge' (or vengeance). This element appears three times with root NQM (Jer 11:20; 15:15; 20:12), whereas in other instances it is missing. In all instances, Jeremiah is asking the Lord to take revenge from the people of Judah. This appeal may seem very strange when we remember that one of the important duties of the prophet is to pray for his people. Using biblical analogies, we shall try to explain the logic behind Jeremiah's call for revenge.


Caravans, Marauders and the Other: Images of the Arab in the Talmud
Program Unit: Judaica
Carol Bakhos, University of California, Los Angeles

This paper will survey the depiction of Arabs in both the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds in relation to their portrayal in other rabbinic texts such as the Sifre, Mekhilta and Genesis Rabbah. To what extent are Arabs synonymous with the Ishmaelites? Is Ishmael a metonym for Arabs, and if so is this consistently the case? In rabbinic literature we find instances where the Ishmaelites are depicted as a distinct people with particular attributes and customs, and often, but not always, they are identified as Arabs. Even as early as the Book of Jubilees, the Ishmaelites were identified as Arabs, but the rabbis did not use the terms Ishmaelites and Arabs interchangeably. Thus, irrespective of the fact that the identification of Ishmaelites as Arabs was established as early as Jubilees and Josephus, amoraic literature uses the Ishmaelites and the children of Keturah to represent those excluded from the covenantal relationship God made with Israel and not exclusively to represent a specific ethnic group. In this paper we will therefore look at the images of Arabs, some more negative than others, and we will explore the extent to which the rabbis identify Arabs as Ishmaelites. I hope to demonstrate that although the rabbis at times use Ishmaelites to refer to Arab people, more often than not the Ishmaelites represent generically those excluded from the covenantal relationship God made with Israel.


Die letzten Davidpsalmen (Psalms 138-145) und die Selbstauslegung des Psalters
Program Unit: The Method of the Canonical Approach (EABS)
Egbert Ballhorn, Universität Osnabrück

Am Ende des Psalters vor dem großen Schlusshallel erscheint noch eine geschlossene Sammlung von Davidpsalmen, die inhaltlich und formal viele davidisch geprägte Elemente aus den ersten drei Büchern des Psalters aufnehmen. Auf diese Weise nimmt der Psalter implizit auf sich selbst Bezug und definiert seinen eigenen Beginn als vorbildlich und gewissermaßen ‘kanonisch’.


Delimitations of Isaiah 35-40 on the Basis of the Versions and Their Implications for the (Dis)unity of the Book of Isaiah
Program Unit: Prophets
Ephraim Baloyi, North-West University, South Africa

The divisions between Isaiah 1-39 and 40-66 or 40-55 has been a scholarly suggestion since Duhm. But the recent growing consensus by literary scholarship that the form, the divisions and the content of a text carry the sense and the impact of a text, creates an uneasiness about the reasons for these divisions. The aim of this paper is to investigate the (dis)unity of these divisions on the basis of the forms, divisions and the content of the versions of Isaiah 35-40. This will be done by investigating the versions of the Massoretic Text, the Septuagint, the Targum Jonathan, the Peshitta and the Vulgate. The method adopted is an omnibus method of evaluating the form, delimitations and the content of each version together with the other versions with reference to the (dis)unity of Isaiah 35-40. It is assumed that the form, the divisions and the content given by the versions suggest (dis)unity of a text. It is argued on the basis of this assumption and the form, the divisions and the content of Isaiah 35-40 that Isaiah 35-40 was perceived to be a unity, and all these strongly suggest, contrary to the general consensus of the suggestion of Proto-Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah, that Isaiah 1-39 and 40-66 form a unity.


Joy in Isaiah 40-55
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
Ephraim Baloyi, North West University, South Africa

This article is about joy in Isaiah 40-55. An overview of literature on the book of Isaiah suggests a general consensus among biblical scholars that Isaiah 40-55 describes the situation of the Israelites in Babylon during Babylonian captivity. In such a situation one would expect unhappiness among the exiles. But Isaiah 40-55 is full of suggestive words like good tidings (cf. inter alia 40:2, 9; 41:27; 52:7;), the fact that their hard service has been completed and the fact that their sin has been paid for and the fact that the exiles received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins (cf. inter alia 40:2, 9). The aim of this paper is therefore to investigate exegetically the concept of joy in Isaiah 40-55, whilst assuming that Isaiah 40-55 was addressed to the exiles in Babylon. It will be suggested that the concept of joy in Isaiah 40-55 entails joy regardless of hardship, tribulations and similar sufferings.


Numinous Topography Versus Sovereign Deities: "Earth" in KTU 1.6
Program Unit: Ancient Near East
Samuel R. Barbosa, Universidade Metodista de São Paulo

In Ugaritic ritual texts, certain geographical areas are found in lists of deities as recipients of sacrifices. However, such topography seems to have its numinous character degraded in mythological instances which advocate the sovereignty of other deities. The paper aspires to scrutinize this argument, focusing on the diverse senses of the term "earth" in KTU 1.6. Incidentally, we will inquire to what extent this assertion is able to illuminate the topographical sovereignty of Yahweh (?) in Amos 9:2-3.


The Line of Samaria and the Plummet of the House of Ahab (2 Kings 21:13): Critical Notes on a Deuteronomistic Comparison
Program Unit: Expressions of Religion in Israel
Samuel R. Barbosa, Universidade Metodista de São Paulo

The article aims at comparing the religious crisis under Manasseh with the Omrid dynasty times. The main target is to discuss to what extent, during both periods, a furtherance of the Cannanite character within the religion of Yahweh occurs (Herbert Donner’s thesis).


Information Processing in Ancient Jewish Groups
Program Unit: Sectarianism in Early Judaism (EABS)
Albert Baumgarten, Bar-Ilan University

One way of characterizing cultural structures is by the way they process information. Who/What are valid sources of information, and which sources of information are disparaged, and why? How is information managed? To whom is it extended and from whom is it withheld and why? My intention in this presentation is to analyze ancient Jewish groups from this perspective, with a particular emphasis on the Qumran sect.


Biblical Afterlives: Cultural Histories of the Bible
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Timothy K. Beal, Case Western Reserve University

This paper is a call for a shift in emphasis within the field toward cultural-historical approaches to biblical interpretation, exploring the ways in which biblical texts, themes, and even the idea of "the Bible" itself are handled in cultural terms - how they are appropriated and transformed in the context of particular cultural beliefs, practices, and institutions. Such an approach moves academic biblical scholarship out of its disciplinary ghetto and into the center of the larger on-going intellectual conversation concerning religion and culture. As a test case, this paper will consider "The World's Largest Ten Commandments" at Fields of the Wood, the world headquarters of the Church of God of Prophecy in Murphy, North Carolina.


Magoi-Astrologers, Ecstatics, Deceitful Prophets: New Testament Understanding in Jewish and Pagan Texts
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Michael Becker, University of Münich

The rare New Testament evidence for magoi and their activities is out of all proportion to the influence of this terminology during the history of Christianity. This observation draws attention to the Pagan and Jewish context and - in a second step - to the sociological use of this terminology as well. Against this background the magoi of the New Testament - the astrologers in Matthew's infancy-narrative, Simon Magus and Barjesus Elymas in Acts - can be seen in sharper focus and open up the way to a broad field of discussion.


dwq and Lunar Phases in Qumran Calendars: New Evidence from Mesopotamia
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Jonathan ben Dov, Hebrew University

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Jonah in Crisis
Program Unit: Prophets
Claudia D. Bergmann, University of Chicago

The function of a metaphor is to explain a difficult concept, one that cannot be grasped or defined easily, with another more common concept. The English language, for example, explains the difficult concept 'life' by means of the simpler concept 'journey,' 'death' can be personified as 'the grim reaper,' and 'time' can be visualized as 'currency'. The Hebrew Bible also uses a plethora of metaphors, one of them being the metaphor of 'birth'. Differing from English usage where this particular metaphor is most often used to denote new beginnings ("the birth of a nation", "a star is born"), the Hebrew Bible applies the birth metaphor to the concept of 'crisis'. Groups of soldiers faced with coming battles, for example, behave like women giving birth - they scream, tremble, and lose control over their limbs. Individuals can also display childbirth-like symptoms when they are oppressed or persecuted and fear their own demise. In short, the Hebrew Bible uses the birth metaphor to describe a type of crisis that is life-threatening. People affected by this crisis stand at a fork in the road, one path leading to life and one leading to death. As in childbirth, it is not their choice which path they will tread. This paper will attempt to uncover the prophetic use of the birth metaphor for cases of personal 'crisis' focusing on Jonah 2:1-10 in comparison with the post-biblical 1 QH 11. Both texts narrate life-threatening situations experienced by individuals. But while the Qumran text makes the metaphorical comparison of 'birth' and 'crisis' explicit, the Jonah psalm does not. The choice of vocabulary and imagery, however, shows that it, too, uses the birth metaphor to paint the picture of an individual on the crossroads between life and death.


"Release Me to Go to My Everlasting Home" (Tobit 3:6): A Belief in an After-Life in Late Wisdom Literature?
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Stefan Beyerle, University of Oldenburg

The prayer of Tobit in Tob. 3:1-6 closes with the petition of Tobit that the Lord may release him to go to the "everlasting home." The expression reminds us of the "house of eternity," a terminology that is attested in Egyptian texts, in Aramaic sources from Wadi Murabba'at, Nahal Hever, in Punic, Palmyrene, Nabataean, and Syriac inscriptions and also in several Greek and Latin epitaphs. All these texts use the expression in the sense of grave or "realm of the dead." Not so the Christian writer Paul who speaks of "a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heavens," and the hope "to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling" (2 Cor 5:1-2). Obviously, the Christian tradition re-interprets the expression in the context of a belief in a life-after-death. The question arises whether Paul already could have found a comparable understanding of the "house of eternity" in ancient Jewish sources. Here, three attestations, all of them relating to the genre of wisdom literature, are of special interest: Qoh 12:5, Pseudo-Phocylides 112, and Tob 3:6. Qoheleth and Pseudo-Phocylides show different but clear allusions to apocalyptic thinking in their own contexts (e.g., 1 Enoch 22). Compared to these, the Book of Tobit is much more puzzling. Insofar, the aim of this paper is to highlight whether and how the Book of Tobit relates to "apocalyptic eschatology."


"He Shall Play with His Hand, and You Shall Be Well:" Music as Therapy in 1 Samuel 16:14-23
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Siam Bhayro, Yale University

The use of music as therapy is well attested in the classical world, especially in Pythagorean and Platonic sources, and it continued to be practiced in Islamic medicine well into the modern period. David's use of music as therapy for Saul's bouts of mental illness is recorded in 1 Sam 16:14-23, immediately following his anointing and preceding his triumph over Goliath, thus introducing him almost 'prematurely' into the narrative of Saul's court. In this paper, we shall consider what is being described, and why the narrator would ascribe to those in the narrative a belief that music would calm Saul's insanity. The supposed nature of the therapy, whether medical or magical or both, will be analysed. The purpose of this passage in the Saul-David narrative and the fortune of this passage in subsequent sources will be discussed.


Apocalypse in Conflict: Irenaeus and the Gnostics Read Revelation
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
D. Jeffrey Bingham, Dallas Theological Seminary

Many studies have attempted to determine the influence of Jewish apocalypticism upon Gnostic literature and concepts. This paper will examine the role of a Christian apocalypse, that of John, within three traditions: Those of Irenaeus, the Valentinians, and the Sethians. Asking the question, "How does the appropriation of Christian apocalyptic address the issue of diversity and unity in early Christianity?," this paper demonstrates that both Irenaeus and the tractates of Nag Hammadi are frequently interested in the same texts and subjects from John's Apocalypse. At times there are similarities in the insights gathered from these shared texts, but always there are differences in how central theological values are viewed. Exegetical procedure does not account for the diversity in so much as fundamental elements of cosmology and theology which drive the variant readings. Sharing texts and even sharing procedure and some insights, Lyon and Nag Hammadi still find themselves at odds with each other. Conflict in Christianity is a function of frameworks brought to texts. Those systemic concepts of God, Cosmos, Self, Church, Christ, Pleroma, and Economy will be unpacked as this paper discusses the bishop and Gnostic reading John's Apocalypse.


Apocalypse, Apocalyptic Hope, and Martyrdom in Second-Century Gaul
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
D. Jeffrey Bingham, Dallas Theological Seminary

This paper examines the role of John's Apocalypse and apocalyptic motifs in The Letter of Vienne and Lyons (177). This account of the martyrdom of Christians provides a glimpse into early circumstantial reflection upon Revelation. Some passages are cited explicitly while others are included through allusion. What becomes clear is that the communities in their experience of suffering read the Apocalypse as a prophecy of the Endtimes, but one which in their experience was finding partial, proleptic fulfillment in their trials in Lyons. For example, it was the beast who was inciting the slaughter of the faithful, but his full fury was still to come. Their test, like that of the future martyrs, was a test of faithfulness and alliance. Would they take the mark and receive entrance to the society or, as was said of them at the time, would they refuse the mark and reap banishment from the market places (13:17)? Like the two witnesses of Rev 11 the believers are killed and their bodies refused burial, yet they at that time, unlike the witnesses, were not raised. They had to await fulfillment of the apocalyptic promise. They imitated the faithfulness and suffering of the future witnesses, but not the swiftness of their reward. In this instance, apocalyptic is being read to locate a community's experience within sacred, apostolic expectation. They are the early members of an anticipated community who read the details of their trial and witness within the plot of the Apocalypse. The Apocalypse's terror and victories authenticate and locate their own tragedies and they gain confidence in their future blessings. They gain identity, their suffering gains meaning, and they thereby gain courage and hope. If they are currently participants in the apocalyptic conflict, they can depend on participating in apocalyptic peace (20:4).


Reading the Readers: Representation and Ideology as Communicated Through 1 Peter
Program Unit: Critical Theory and Biblical Interpretation
Jennifer G. Bird, Vanderbilt University

Among the New Testament writings, 1 Peter quite clearly calls for an analysis of the presence of the Roman Empire in order to understand the contents of the letter. In this paper I will analyze three different commentators of 1 Peter (John Elliott; Charles Talbert; Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza) paying close attention to their re-presentation of the Roman Empire and the house churches as well as their re-presentation of the impact this relationship had on the content of the letter. This approach will foreground the social context of each of the readers as well as offer an analysis of the ideology of their interpretations of 1 Peter.


"They Didn't Dare" (Matthew 22:46; Mark 12:34; Luke 20:40): A Window on the Literary and Redactional Methods of the Synoptic Gospel Writers
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
David Bivin, Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research

Luke, Mark and Matthew concluded successive pericopae with the words, "No one dared to question him [Jesus] any longer." Luke concluded the "Question about the Resurrection" story with the "dare to question" comment, but Matthew and Mark omitted the note. Mark concluded the next pericope, "The Great Commandment," with the "dare to question" comment, but Matthew, who is in Markan order, and Luke, who is not, both omitted the conclusion. In "David's Son," the three writers' next pericope, Matthew concluded the story with the "dare to question" comment, but Mark and Luke omitted it. Only the "Question about the Resurrection" is a true dispute story. This paper will attempt a coherent explanation of these observable facts. What can this data teach us about the redactive methods of the three synoptic authors, and does the data aid us in determining the order in which the synoptic gospels were written? On the other hand, although both are apparently later than Luke's version, Matthew and Mark's versions of the "dare to question" conclusion preserve Semitic elements absent in Luke. Matthew and Mark misplaced the "dare to question" note, but they retained more of its hypothetical Semitic undertext. This study will illustrate the importance of a correct and full methodology for interpreting the Gospels. Without sensitivity to the Semitic elements embedded in the text, one might assume, based on the "dare to question" comment's correct placement by Luke, that Luke also preserved the earliest form of the text. However, by paying close attention to Semitisms in the text, one can correct first impressions. Thus, the added value of a Semitic approach to the synoptic gospels.


"Entered" and "Took Out": A Reinterpretation of Luke 19:45 in Light of Recent Research and Archaeological Evidence
Program Unit: Judaica
David Bivin, Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research

Based on archaeological excavations near the southern wall of the temple, the research of Shmuel Safrai, and a nuance of the Hebrew verb that is one of the equivalents for Greek ekballein, it may be necessary to reinterpret Luke 19:45. On the face of it, eiselthon eis to hieron (Luke 19:45) should mean "to go into the temple proper," that is, into the Court of the Women, or into the outer court, the Court of the Gentiles. However, since monetary transactions and other commercial activities were not permitted in the temple itself (not even in the Court of the Gentiles), in this context "temple" probably refers to the area surrounding the temple platform, particularly the commercial area immediately south of the Huldah Gates, the double gates that served as the entrance for temple pilgrims. (In rabbinic sources this area, or even the whole of Jerusalem, could be called "the temple.") Jesus apparently entered this vicinity, an area of great sanctity because it was the area of preparation for the ascent to the temple. Here there were scores of mikva'ot for the ritual purification of pilgrims before their ascent, but also scores of encroaching stalls of merchants. The noise of the hawkers was a terrible distraction for pilgrims, but, more importantly, the shops reeked of corruption and evil because the high priestly families operated there like the Mafia. Jesus was not against the use of money or the sale of sacrificial animals, which was stipulated in the Torah (Deut 14:25); but, like many others of his day, he was incensed by the actions of the people running the system, the ruthless high priests, who did not shrink even from murder: "You, who are robbers, are turning the temple into a 'den of robbers,'" was Jesus' indictment.


Erinnerung als Ansatz der paulinische Ethik: Paulus in einer alttestamentlichen und hellenistischen Traditionslinie
Program Unit: Torah and Ethics in the New Testament (EABS)
Folker Blischke, University of Halle

Eine Analyse der paulinischen Argumentation in ethischen Fragen zeigt, dass alle Inhalte der Einzelanweisungen und die jeweiligen Begründungsstrukturen der Empfängergemeinde bekannt gewesen sein müssen. In paränetischen Abschnitten wie 1Thess 5,12-22 erinnert Paulus durch Wiederholung. Bei ethischen Konfliktfällen wie 1Kor 6,12-20 erinnert er durch Aktualisierung, da bereits bekannte Inhalte und ethische Handlungsformen neu auf bestimmte Missstände bezogen werden. Bezugspunkt dieser Erinnerung ist einerseits die konkrete Handlungsebene, andererseits das Beziehungsverhältnis mit Christus. Die wiederholende und aktualisierende Erinnerung besitzt für die paulinische Ethik eine fundamentale Bedeutung, denn eine ethische Handlungsorientierung kann auf diese Weise gebildet und langfristig gefestigt werden. Für diesen Ansatz der paulinischen Ethik lässt sich eine direkte Kontinuität mit der im beginnenden rabbinischen Judentum aufgenommenen Linie der deuteronomistischen Bewegung nachweisen, für die die Erinnerung an die geschichtlichen Heilstaten Gottes und bestimmte Handlungsnormen grundlegend war. Daneben steht Paulus ebenfalls in der Traditionslinie der hellenistischen paidei,a, für die das kontinuierliche Einüben und Wiederholen Basis jeder Entwicklungsmöglichkeit war. Hinweise wie die Wiederholung der Passa-Inhalte (1Kor 5,6-8) oder der Bezug auf den paidagwgo,j (1Kor 4,15) zeigen, dass Paulus sich mit seiner Ethik bewusst in diese beiden Traditionslinien stellt und erinnern will.


Political Myth and the Bible: Contemporary Foreign Policy and the Legacy of Genesis-Joshua.
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Roland Boer, Monash University

There are two steps to this paper. The first argues that Genesis-Joshua comprises a comprehensive political myth. In order to do so, I employ the insights from psychoanalysis, feminism and Marxism to show that such myth concerns the possibilities and limits concerning the crucial issues of gender, political economics and the psyche. The second stage of the paper moves on to consider the continued influence and use of this political myth in contemporary foreign policy. By means of comparisons between the United States, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand I explore the role of "Israel" in the political myths of their emergence and identity as nation-states, particularly in terms of gender, political economics and the psyche, as well as the role it plays in issues of contemporary foreign policy.


Cracking the Code in Genizah Magical Texts
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Gideon Bohak, Tel-Aviv University

Among the several thousands of magic-related texts and fragments in the Cairo Genizah, a handful were written in a special code, consisting of the substitution of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet by quasi-alphabetical signs. Upon first encountering this code in a small and fragmentary text, I was unable to crack the cipher and interpret the text. I then came across a longer, well-preserved text written in this code, and was able to crack it and learn the alphabetic value of each of its signs. Only then did I realize that words coded in this cipher also appear in some previously-published magical texts from the Cairo Genizah, where they were taken by the editors as meaningless magical signs. I have also examined all the other magical and non-magical ciphers known to me from Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and have thus far not been able to find any close parallel to this specific cipher. The aim of my paper is to present the code, to gather together all the Genizah fragments currently known to me in which it is used, and to begin speculating about its possible origins.


Wisdom and Mortality in Ecclesiastes
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Thomas Bolin, St. Norbert College

This paper looks at the repeated phrase in Qoheleth, "All is vanity and a chasing after wind" (e.g., 1:14, NRSV) in light of the hierarchical arrangement of the Ancient Near East that placed human beings, because of their wisdom and mortality, in a state below the gods and above the animals. Several biblical and extra-biblical texts, e.g., Genesis 2-3, Psalm 8, The Epic of Gilgamesh and Adapa, explore this hierarchy. It is also expressed elsewhere in Qoheleth, e.g., 3:11, 19-21. Along with these other texts, linguistic data is utilized which shows that the term hebel can denote temporal limits, mortality, and false gods. Added to this is the fact that the word ruach can denote the divine spirit. The final clause of Eccl 1:14 may thus be read as an expression of this hierarchical arrangement in a way that portrays human existence as an awareness of the eternal life of the divine combined with the realization that humanity is fated never to possess it. Eccl 1:14 can then be said to express the thought that "All is fleeting (mortal) and strives for permanence" (immortality), or even, "All is human, yet strives to be divine."


The Uplifted Face: Sign of Prejudice or Favor?
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary

Two verses in the Torah seemingly instruct the ancient Israelite community to avoid partiality in favor of the poor. Exodus 23:3 and Leviticus 19:15 each contain warnings against preferable treatment of the poor. I intend to show that in the context of each pericope these verses must be read as a warning against prejudicial treatment that harms the poor, reading gdl for dl in Ex.23:3 and understanding the phrase "to lift the face" in Lev.19:15 as a sign of negative rather than positive bias. The phrase "to lift the face" with God as subject occurs in Deut.10:17, where it is most commonly understood as a general statement about God's impartiality. Instead, this verse emphasizes the nature of the God of the Bible as one that is antipathetic to negative prejudice on the basis of external characteristics that identify persons by race, class or sex. Contemporary theological and ethical implications of all three texts will be briefly explored.


The Revelation of the Name and 'Religious Awe' according to the Book of Exodus, in Comparison to the Religious Function of Namegiving in the Ancient Near East
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Hendrik Bosman, University of Stellenbosch

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Animosity toward Homosexuals in Romans 1:26-27
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
Peet Botha, Cedar College of Education, Mission KwaSizabantu

From time to time the Bible is being invoked in ways that are totally inappropriate to biblical scholarship. So what would constitute a proper use of the Bible, especially the New Testament, to prevent fostering feelings of animosity towards homosexuals based on the text of Romans 1:26-27? A study of the text shows that the apostle Paul opposed not so much a model of homosexuality but homosexuality by its very nature as being contra God's intention for humankind. The theological intention of the text is not meant to foster animosity toward the homosexual, but to bring the active homosexual to repentance. The Church certainly will have to rethink its attitude toward the homosexual in the light of the responsible reading and application of the text of Romans 1:26-27. The text seems to dictate an acceptance of the homosexual into the Christian community whilst denouncing homosexual practices.


The Poetic Structure and Strategy of Psalm 79
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Phil J. Botha, University of Pretoria

Psalm 79 has been described as an early exilic lament of the people with traits similar to that of the songs in Lamentations. It has been suggested that explicative additions have been made to an earlier form of the poem. This paper will endeavour to analyse the psalm (and its possible additions) as a poetic composition and try to determine how the author or editor devised it to serve as a means of communicating a particular theological vision to the people who were supposed to use it as a prayer, and to make an appeal to God to act on behalf of his honour. It seems that an understanding of the importance of honour and shame as social values in Ancient Israel is extremely important for the correct interpretation of the psalm.


“Publishing” a Gospel: Notes on the Constraints of Writing in Antiquity
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Pieter J. J. Botha, University of South Africa

As little as one can speak of other social conventions as if unrelated to concrete historical and cultural phenomena, can one speak of “writing” or “reading” without reference to the material aspects of text production, or outside historical constraints? We need to think about communication technologies as cultural products interwoven with historical processes. The paper focuses on the final stages of the development of the Gospels: the possible historical settings for the planning, “research,” writing, editing and publishing of the Gospels by investigating the information we possess today about the mechanics of reading and writing in antiquity. In ethnographical terms the following historical questions will be dealt with: 1) How was writing perceived by its culture? (2) How was writing taught and learned, and by whom? (3) How was writing described by contemporary readers and writers? (4) How was the relationship between readers and texts understood? (5) How did the book as a physical object affect the cultural activity of reading and further writing? A brief discussion of authorship, authors and writing in the world of Evangelists will synthesise the material in a contribution towards an ethnography of communication in the first-century Mediterranean world.


Towards Self-definition with Self-criticism: Reflections on Animosity in the Canonical Gospels
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
Pieter J. J. Botha, University of South Africa

Though Samuel Sandmel was describing the Gospel of Matthew, his memorable descriptive phrase holds true for all of the canonical Gospels: a mixture of "sublimity and astonishing animosity." Much of this animosity is directed at the "Jews" and subsequent history is a grave reminder of how important it is to properly interpret this animosity. In this paper some aspects of the tension between Jewish leaders and followers of Jesus portrayed in the Gospels are investigated. A number of proposals have been made in recent scholarship to understand the severity surrounding the interaction of Jew and Jesus-follower as implied by early Christian documents. The propositions range from group-identity boundary formation to socio-economic conflict. Although of considerable value, these suggestions must be correlated with historical constraints and first-century cultural sensibilities. Furthermore, the apologetic (and biased) trend in depicting Jewish-Christian relations in the first century should be avoided: when present in our sources, rivalry, sectarianism, vilification and prejudice must be acknowledged and realistically described. Consequently, the stylised depictions in much of our surviving literature should be relativised and the subsequent implications for understanding the canonical traditions be appreciated.


Joyful Job: A Misnomer of a Possibility? A Look at the Book of Job and Job Himself in Light of Some Principles in Wisdom Literature
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
Robin Gallaher Branch, Potchefstroom University

Much has been written about the Book of Job as a correction to retribution theology. This argument maintains that the righteous suffer and apparently suffer without adequate explanation from God. Furthermore, the righteous do not always prosper throughout their lives. Wisdom Literature, however, looks at life from a long-term perspective. It bases success on right speaking, right relationships, and right actions. These principles hold true in Job. Wisdom Literature shows how to achieve a stable and successful life. Its keynote principles include the following: · Wisdom is teachable · Wisdom's pursuit must be ongoing throughout life · One's well-being relates to choices · Someone of greater import teaches someone of lesser standing · Wisdom is an acquired skill · The fear of the Lord enlarges one's understanding of God and of one's life. When God speaks to his servant Job, God follows his own agenda. For example, God takes delight in outlining details of his creation; by sharing his thoughts with Job, he seems to invite this righteous sufferer also to take delight in creation. Via his monologue, God puts in perspective Job's difficulties and hardships. God teaches Job. Significantly, God's agenda as an answer satisfies Job. Throughout the book, Job grows as a character. He increases in wisdom. Arguably, Job experiences joy in repentance (42:3,6) and obedience (42:8,10). Blessings and restoration come only after his wisdom lesson. He expresses awe and worship, clearly goals of Wisdom Literature. For Job, knowing God more deeply and hearing his voice bring this upright man joy.


"Your humble servant." Well, Maybe. Overlooked Onlookers in the Biblical Text
Program Unit: Language and Linguistics
Robin Gallaher Branch, Potchefstroom University

Although generally bypassed by scholars and the reading public alike, servants/slaves wield a marked influence in the biblical text. As society’s overlooked onlookers, servants/slaves share a number of characteristics in Deuteronomistic History. They are silent or speak rarely, most remain anonymous, and many are defined only by function. Servants/slaves nonetheless show a resilient capacity for influencing circumstances in their favor. Biblical stories indicate they obey when it suits; study the weak points of their social superiors; manipulate situations to further their own agendas; and control many biblical scenes. Servants/slaves of note in Samuel and Kings include Abigail’s servant, who warns her of her husband’s slight against David (1 Sam. 25); an Egyptian, who is left to die by the Amalekites but befriended by David (1 Sam. 20); a captured Israelite child, handmade to the wife of Naaman, who makes a statement of faith that leads to Naaman’s healing and conversion (2 Kings 5); and Zimri, who murders Elah king of Israel and reigns for one week (1 Kings 16). The biblical text consistently treats these and other servants/slaves/handmaids with respect, frequently giving them more space than accorded named characters. The Hebrew words for servant/slave/handmaid take on a new twist when spoken by non-slaves, confident men and women who seek to influence others. David, Joab, and Abigail are among those who employ these terms advantageously. This paper explores the concept of servant/slave/handmaid. It argues that stories in which these overlooked onlookers appear propel the plot concerning the theological and political development of Israel forward. Surprisingly, passages about even anonymous servants/slaves/handmaids reveal characteristics that allow them to emerge with discernible personalities.


Was Jesus a Magician or Not: Is That the Question?
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Jan Bremmer, University of Groningen

In 1978 Morton Smith published a study under the provocative title "Jesus the Magician." In this contribution I want to look at the immediate responses at the time and look where we stand now after the highly productive decade of the 1990s as regards the definition, role and function of magic in the ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish cultures.


Suicide Attacks in Ancient and Modern Israel
Program Unit:
Jan Bremmer, University of Groningen

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Nomad and Roving: A Post-Methodological Case Study of Adah and Zillah (Genesis 4:19-24)
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Athalya Brenner, University of Amsterdam

This rereading of Genesis 4:19-24 will build on Rosi Braidotti's concepts of feminist postmodernisms and 'nomadic subjects' (1994, 1997), to make connections between biblical studies, feminist theory and cultural studies. It will proceed from etymology through and with midrash, birth control documentation, and family life in ancient cultures and into music, in order to trace the [distorted?] reflection--in this short biblical passage--of a mini-story of foundational cultural origins.


The New Ecumenical Dutch Translation of the Bible: Principles, Problems and Solutions
Program Unit:
Rieuwerd Buitenwerf, Netherlands Bible Society

The famous "Statenvertaling" (1637) did not only function during four centuries in the Protestant Churches in the Netherlands, but had as much impact on the Dutch language as Martin Luther's translation on the German language. The 20th century saw a new translation, but after forty years there was a consensus to start a new project in 1993. The Nieuwe Bijbelvartaling (NBV) will appear on the 27th of October of this year. It is an interdenominational project and will be the new standard translation for most of the churches in the Netherlands. There was a long public debate about the translation of YHWH ("Heer").


The Metaphysical Interpretation of 'I am that I am' (Exodus 3.14) in Graeco-Roman Thought.
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Myles Burnyeat, Oxford University

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Two Weddings and a Funeral: The Logical Implications of Romans 7:1-6
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Keith Burton, Oakwood College

A number of scholars have dismissed Romans 7:1-6 as an embarrassing deviation from Paul’s argumentative ability. They charge that rather than clarifying Paul’s argument in this section of the epistle, the marriage analogy only creates confusion. As a result, many have concluded that the real purpose of this pericope is to demonstrate the death of the law. However, when viewed in its argumentative context, this passage appears to illustrate the death of sin which releases the individual to engage in a second marriage to the resurrected Christ. This is demonstrated in Paul’s teaching that the death of the first husband was for the sole purpose of releasing the wife so that she may “be with another” (7:4). While not explicitly stated, it stands to reason that Paul does not expect the wife to remain a widow but to enter into a second marriage with a more amiable partner.


The Emperor Has No Clothes: A Case for a Liberated African/Afro-Diasporan Hermeneutic
Program Unit: Critical Theory and Biblical Interpretation
Keith Burton, Oakwood College

Many Black Bible scholars have uncritically embraced the methodologies and conclusions of the European theological academy. Couched in philosophical language and protected by political power, Eurocentric hermeneutics displays an illusion of impregnability. However, when carefully examined under the methodological microscope, the Eurocentric derived historical-critical method is found to be lacking the superior scientific substance it claims for itself. It is time for Black biblical interpreters to break the chains of European academic endorsement and develop a hermeneutic that is faithful to the Black Christian experience in Africa and the Diaspora. Black theologians should not be intimidated by the amorphous prowess of the imperialist predators, but should take bold steps to bring the relevance of the liberating biblical message back to our expectant pews and craving communities.


TPR: Teaching Hebrew and Greek without a Textbook
Program Unit: Pedagogy
Randall Buth, Hebrew University

Teaching biblical Hebrew or ancient Greek presents all of the problems inherent to language teaching, and then some. Biblical language teachers should consider adopting methods developed in language acquisition studies. These methods can enhance students’ learning efficiency. Total Physical Response is an excellent and proven technique for teachers with energy and a love for their students. A brief demonstration (10 minutes) will show how TPR works, and will include the teaching of some basic structures, including the vav ha-hippux. We have run seven summers with such techniques at the Biblical Language Center: www.biblicalulpan.org (July 2004.) Another exciting development towards materials that enhance internalization is a monolingual, picture approach to ancient texts. There are special issues for dead languages. For the record, even living languages are dead inside a classroom, but they may have resources like movies and television that are unavailable for ancient languages. The pronunciation issues have practical solutions for both Hebrew and Greek. The mistake issue (“What if a teacher or student says something that is not truly representative of the ancient language?”) is a non-issue. They will make mistakes, but an individual’s control of a language never takes the place of data in research. Finally, there is an ongoing challenge for training teachers who did not learn the ancient language in this way.


Re-doing Dalman: A Hebraic Approach to Luke with an Application to the Parable of the Vineyard, Tenants, and Son
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Randall Buth, Hebrew University

Gustaf Dalman laid down a challenge: “Wer Beweise für ein hebräisches Urevangelium sammeln wollte, hätte zuerst dies kai egeneto nennen müssen.” Dalman thought that he had blocked a Hebrew path: “Selbst der ‘Wir-Bericht’ is nicht davon frei, s. Apg. 21,1.5; 27,44; 28,8.17. . . . Solche Beobachtungen verbieten die Annahme eines hebräishen Originals.” Most investigators of Luke-Acts assume that Hebraisms must reflect Luke’s Septuagintalizing style. But Dalman was wrong about facts in Acts 16-28. We must take up his challenge. The truly Hebraic idiom is a “subjectless egeneto + finite verb” and Luke never used this in Acts 16-28, nor anywhere else in Acts. Luke used this idiom 33 times in his gospel. On the other hand, Luke used a more Greek idiom, “egeneto + infinitive main event,” six times in his gospel and sixteen times in Acts, of which nine are in Acts 16-28. These data have been known since Plummer, Luke (1896), but are regularly ignored, mis-reported, or mis-applied. The only satisfying explanation is that "egeneto + infinitive" is Luke’s style. It never occurs in the LXX. Against this, the corresponding structure “egeneto + finite verb” is not Luke’s style. It appears to come from a pre-synoptic source and is limited to the gospel. The Parable of the Vineyard is a profitable case study. There are more Hebraisms than previously recognized. There are even three non-Septuagintal Hebraisms. Using this approach we confirm the existence of a pre-synoptic witness to the gospel traditions behind Luke. The setting for the parable comes from the Hebraic Greek source, also much of the body, the closing, as well as the connection between the parable and the short scripture quotation. The Vineyard Parable, uttered during Jesus’ last week, was a stinging rebuke against the fraud, violence and tithing practices of the temple authorities.


An Apostle's Response to Animosity: Paul in 2 Corinthians
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
Bruce Button, Antipas Theological Seminary, South Africa

The teachings of Jesus, as well as the epistles of Paul, contain some clear teaching on how to respond to animosity. Yet, any given practical situation in which a person is confronted with animosity is complex, and it is not always easy to relate the (apparently) simple teaching to the complexities with which one is confronted. The last four chapters of 2 Corinthians constitute a lengthy unit of Scripture in which the theme of animosity is a central focus, not as a subject of detached reflection, but as the core issue which had led to the crisis in Paul's relationship with the Corinthian church. These chapters are therefore of great value in understanding how Paul responded personally to animosity in a very complex and sensitive situation whose outcome he believed would be decisive, for good or bad. This paper will examine the nature of the animosity directed against Paul, including its motivation and intention, and will then analyse Paul's response. This response will be related to some of the teachings of Paul and other New Testament writers on how Christians ought to deal with animosity, and an attempt will be made to identify the core values which led Paul to respond as he did. In this way, insight will be gained into the way Paul himself sought to deal with the complex issues that arise in situations characterized by hostility.


Time and Space in the Visionary Experience: Genre and Intent in the Book of Ezekiel
Program Unit: Prophets
Dexter Callender, University of Miami

Recent studies in the book of Ezekiel have developed around elements that make Ezekiel unique among the prophets. In addition to treatments stressing the idea of Ezekiel as one among the literati and the literary nature of the book as a whole, other studies have addressed the historical orientation of the work, so clearly seen in the recurring date formulas. Various "visionary" themes command attention as well, one of which is the movement of the kabod or "glory" of the deity. Within the context of such discussions, the subject of myth within the context of prophecy has arisen again. Lawrence Boadt recently argued that the book of Ezekiel creates a "counter-myth." Myth, of course, is a subject which historically has labored under something of an identity crisis, particularly when viewed across disciplines. Ezekiel, as character and book, is situated at the threshold of major historical, religious and literary change. This pivotal position calls for continued and deeper examination of the intersection of these observations and ideas. This paper argues that the use of time and space within the context of the visionary experiences of Ezekiel is instructive with regard to questions of genre and intent in a much broader sense than is generally recognized and that such use challenges biblical scholarship further to engage with greater rigor the question of "myth" within a larger and more interdisciplinary framework.


A Christ-Defined Identity
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
William S. Campbell, University of Wales, Lampeter

Paul’s frequent use of the ‘in Christ’ formula and his close identification of himself and other believers with the saving events of Christ’s life (crucifixion, death, resurrection etc.) demonstrate the significance of Christ for the life and identity of the early Christian communities. To speak of a Christ-defined identity, however, is not identical with speaking of a Jesus-defined identity. Paul does not refer to being ‘in Jesus’ and this should alert us to the fact that when he writes to his mainly Gentile communities, he wishes them to recognize that this Jesus whom he proclaims has a particular identity-he is none other than the Messiah of Israel. Thus the claimed identity for Jesus as the Christ informs the particular identity of the Christ-believers. This in turn does not mean one fused common identity which has lost all particularity, but rather a transformed identity whether as Jews or Gentiles for those in Christ. Paul does not universalise Jewish and Gentile identities in Christ into a “third race” that is neither. The church cannot then be viewed as the New Israel. Nor does Paul give any basis for the view that Christians are the real Jews and all other Jews are no different from Gentiles. In stressing identity as Christ-defined, this requires a stress on the identity of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, but Christ is not Israel. He must still be differentiated from Israel. The separate identity of each is retained.


Space, Theory and the Remains of an Ancient Context: Toward the Use of Social Theories in Investigations of Ancient Contexts
Program Unit: Ancient Near East
Jeremiah Cataldo, Drew University

When it comes to their applicability to ancient contexts, social theories are often viewed with a wary and suspecting gaze. Social theories, many have asserted, are for the modern context and cannot find relevance for a context covered by the sands of time and change. Aware of such critiques, and their more often than not legitimacy, this investigation will begin the process of defining a theory suitable to the ancient context. Society--an understanding of which is fueled by the concept of spatiality--exists within 'space,' or three-dimensional space: social, real and imaginary. Defined by and defining of social space, real (wherein things are 'objectively perceived' and perception is primarily conscious) and imaginary (wherein perception is not objective or always conscious) space must exist within social space. Through a process of definition and re-definition delineated by the objective structures of social space, those 'things' (e.g., forces, factors, elements, etc. within society) placed initially within real or imaginary space may be (re)situated with the progression of the theory. Because imaginary space allows for the existence of those 'things' unperceived, and more often than not much of an ancient context is not perceived by the modern scholar, this theory provides an allowance for the unknown that it might later be (re)defined and accounted for. In sum, the process of social theory must begin by defining the context in question in terms of spatiality (a process of situating/placing in social, real, or imaginary space). The theory itself understands that social contexts are defined as certain intersections, among an infinitude of possibilities, within social space--intersections which are given shape by objective structures. With the application of this theory, ancient contexts as products of social processes will be clarified and offered definition.


Weberian Approaches to Sect Formation, with Special Reference to Early Judaism
Program Unit: Sectarianism in Early Judaism (EABS)
David Chalcraft, University of Derby

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Reconsideration on Locative 'He' in Hebrew
Program Unit: Language and Linguistics
Hyun-Joon Choi, Ben Gurion University

The paper will examine scholarly opinions on the locative 'He' in question, and will make some new suggestions. Traditionally, this locative ending is an object to explain a remnant of the old accusative case ending. However, the identity of morpheme 'He' has remained an open question among the scholars; some thought the morpheme 'He' is a voiceless letter while others see the morpheme 'He' as a pronounced consonant as in Ugaritic. My paper will attempt to answer this question. Additionally, my paper will demonstrate the different development of the Hebrew word 'shamma(h)' of which the 'He' is regarded as the same locative 'He'.


Reading Tobit Backwards and Forwards: In Search of “Lost Halakhah”
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Mark A. Christian, University of the South

In Tobit 6:13, Azariah references the "Book of Moses" in support of the death penalty for a father who does not give his daughter in marriage to the nearest of kin. Presumably, Azariah, Sarah, Raguel, and ancient readers knew of this endogamous precept. We do not. Numbers 27:1-11 (cf. 36:5-9), our closest point of reference, remains tacit on this score. Pace K. Beyer, who has attempted to "insert" the injunction into Aramaic 4Q197, the lacuna probably lacks the space for it. The Vulgate, medieval Hebrew (e.g., Münster) and Aramaic versions lack the problematic phrase as well. Precluding the possibility that Azariah was privy to a special angelic recension, we should seek out this ephemeral Torah text. Looking backward, as it were, in search of an earlier tradition, the author probably had something similar to the Pentateuch in view, and he does reflect familiarity with certain narrative blocks in Genesis. However, the references to the "Book/Law of Moses" in Tobit hardly imply an "einzelne autoritative Dokumente." Only a few cases ostensibly reflect a sizeable, written, Mosaic law corpus (Gamberoni). Instead we usually see generic, inexact, references invoked to support a present concern, e.g., family relations, or a particular (Dtr?) view of the past. Looking forward, we should entertain the possibility that the extra-pentateuchal precept could be proto-Rabbinic halakha. Weingreen believed that both Deuteronomy and Chronicles achieved the "external exposition" of already existing, written laws in order to avoid "effecting any changes" in the hallowed, written texts. The written Deuteronomy and Chronicles would achieve Torah and Ketubim status, respectively. It is possible that the author of Tobit 6:13 knew not of a written (or oral?) tradition sufficiently strong to support his endogamous quest, but nevertheless felt emboldened to try his hand at lapidary legislation.


“I will raise [whom?] up on the Last Day:” Anthropology as a Feature of Johannine Eschatology
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Jaime Clark-Soles, Perkins School of Theology

This essay will explore the ways in which understanding John's anthropology might illuminate his eschatology. Much previous discussion of the issue has followed a diachronic model, focusing on source-critical problems, comparing John's perspective with that of the historical Jesus, and/or forcing John into a hypothetical timeline for the Church's developing theology. This essay will instead focus on terms and concepts which reveal John's anthropological theory and will use this model to outline John's view of the individual's eschatological status. Overall, John promotes a functional immortality for believers rather than a doctrine of future resurrection, making his view distinct both from Platonic or Gnostic dualistic notions of immortality and from Paul's futuristic immortality which follows resurrection.


The Recovery of the Ancient Hebrew Language: The Astonishing Wealth of its Unrecognized Vocabulary
Program Unit: Language and Linguistics
David Clines, University of Sheffield

The project for the recovery of the ancient Hebrew language aims to restore to the Hebrew lexicon words that had been forgotten by Masoretic times and remained unknown to Hebrew lexicography, but that can now be reconstructed, thanks to new texts and our expanded knowledge of the Semitic languages. There is a myth around that, in recent decades, (1) scores of words have been added to the Hebrew lexicon, (2) unnecessarily, (3) by some few eccentric scholars, (4) on the basis of supposed cognates mainly in Arabic and Ugaritic. I will show this myth to be untrue on all counts, and will present some highlights of the more than 2500 new words that are now known (or, at least, proposed) but are not to be found in BDB.


The Pseudo-Clementines' Use of Jewish Pseudepigrapha
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Kelley Coblentz Bautch, St. Edward's University

This paper explores the Jewish pseudepigraphical background of the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies and Recognitions. We especially consider how earlier traditions associated with the patriarch Enoch were appropriated by these romances. Of special interest are the views of law and sin's origin Enochic traditions and the Pseudo-Clementines share. We also take account of the eclipse of the figure Enoch in these later Christian works.


Three Issues of Biblical Hebrew Philology in the Light of Research on the New Yeho'ash Royal Building Inscription
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Chaim (Harold R.) Cohen, Ben Gurion University

In continuation of my lecture at the SBL 2003 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, I will present some new conclusions concerning the following three issues in BH philology, which are a direct result of my extensive research on the new Yeho'ash Royal Building Inscription (YI): a) The regular BH syntactical structure 't ... w't ...; cf. YI: lines 10-14. b) The usage and etymology of the BH hapax legomenon wblwlym "and on the winding stairs" (1Kgs 6:8; cf. Akk mushla:lu); cf. YI: line 13. c) The usage and meaning of the 28 occurrences of the BH forms `myk / `myw / `myh; cf. YI: line 16. It must be emphasized that these three conclusions concerning BH philology are valid whether or not the YI is genuine.


Matthew's Crowds: Entrance Requirements to the Church?
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Robert Cousland, University of British Columbia

My recent work on the crowds concluded by arguing that Matthew sought to bring the Jewish "crowds" (who, I conclude, are emblematic of the Jewish people) into the Church, but that they proved recalcitrant. Yet, as one reviewer perceptively noted, I never stipulated what, if they had proved willing, they would have needed to do to join Matthew's Church. Just what are the "entrance requirements" for the crowds? Does Matthew's Jesus, in fact, lay out any "entrance requirements?" If so, are they the same sort of demands that Jesus requires of the disciples? Or are they more akin to the requirements that the Risen Jesus stipulates in the great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)? This paper will examine these questions, and block out the nature and character of the "entrance requirements" of the Jewish crowds.


The Gospel of Adam and Eve: The Latin Life of Adam and Eve as Gospel Antetype
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
J. R. C. Cousland, University of British Columbia

Michael Stone's recent discussion of the cheirograph of Adam has shown the interconnectedness of secondary Adam and Eve narratives with the story of Jesus. I argue that this interconnectedness is also evident in the earlier Latin Life of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve experience between them a sojourn in the wilderness, immersion in the Jordan River as a symbolic act of repentance, forty days of fasting, and temptation by Satan. These features, of course, also characterize the experience of Jesus at the outset of his public ministry. The endings of the Life and gospel accounts also display similar features, including eclipses marking the deaths of Adam and Jesus. The purpose of these parallels is twofold: to produce both an antetype of the gospels, and an antitype. The experience of the protoplasts anticipates that of Jesus, but also evokes the need for a second Adam. Both antetype and antitype limn the figure of Jesus, producing, thereby a Gospel of Adam and Eve.


The Emergence of Christianities: An Evolutionary Approach
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
István Czachesz, University of Groningen

This paper deals with two phases of the formation of Early Christianity. In the first period, until about 200 CE, different forms of Christian religion emerged and crystallized. The paper analyzes this process as an evolution of cultural pieces and examines why Christianity developed along specific "attractors." We propose that in the first period the "epidemic" of texts and ideas played a major role. From the cross-fertilization of Jewish and Hellenistic cultural bits, a number of mentally appealing religious elements emerged, which spread quickly among the population of the Mediterranean. In the subsequent period, the different forms of Christianity were competing in cultural evolution, and a handful of successful varities became dominant.


An Explosion of Joy in Psalm 118: Linguistic Evidence
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
Hélène Dallaire, Hebrew Union College

Biblical Hebrew includes linguistic features that enable the reader of a text to identify, and possibly experience, the emotions and moods of the author (e.g. volitives, particle na'). The rendition of such features often poses a problem, resulting in biblical translations in which linguistic elements present in the Hebrew text are missing or misrepresented in English versions. One such case is found in Psalm 118, where the climax of the poem (verse 25) contains several Hebrew modal elements linked to the joyful and ecstatic emotional state of the author. These features can hardly be represented accurately in English translations due to the lack of linguistic equivalents, and consequently, readers of English translations are prevented from enjoying the emotional explosion vividly expressed in the Hebrew passage. In this paper, we will first identify the morphological and syntactical elements that reveal the moods of the author. Secondly, we will demonstrate that the combination of such features brings the poem to an explosion of joy in verse 25. Thirdly, a comparison of several English translations will reveal the difficulties encountered by Bible translators in representing emotional states represented literary means. Finally, we will suggest a possible translation of Psalm 118:24-26 where the modal elements of the language are well represented in the translation.


Social Dynamics and the Biblical Hebrew Volitives
Program Unit: Language and Linguistics
Hélène Dallaire, Hebrew Union College

A study of the Biblical Hebrew verbal system reveals that there is a significant relationship between the use of certain verbal forms / verbal sequences and the social dynamics represented in a text, especially in direct discourse. This phenomenon is evident in ancient and modern languages, semitic and non-semitic (e.g. El-Amarna texts, Egyptian, Korean, Tagalog, French). In Biblical Hebrew, it is particularly evident in the following contexts: 1. Where the weqatal follows an imperative 2. Where a volitive (imperative, jussive, cohortative) is accompanied by the particle na' 3. Where the infinitive absolute expresses a command 4. With the long imperative. In this paper, we will show that the use of the elements mentioned above is connected to one of the following social contexts: 1. Where one of higher social status addresses one of lower social status 2. Where one of lower social status addresses one of higher social status. The evidence will show that the authors and editors of the biblical text had in their arsenal of linguistic features, expressions, morphemes, and syntagmas directly linked to the social dynamics of a text.


A Linguistic-Narrative Procedure for Identifying References to God in New Testament Texts
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Paul Danove, Villanova University

This paper proposes a rule-governed procedure for identifying references to God in New Testament texts. The procedure begins with an exhaustive linguistic analysis of the vocabulary of the text that identifies the semantic arguments required by each word for its meaningful interpretation and classifies these arguments according to particular semantic functions or roles. The procedure then submits the results of the linguistic analysis to ten narrative 'tests' that permit an identification of the character, God, as the unique or most appropriate referent of these semantic roles. The paper utilizes the text of the Gospel of Mark to introduce and demonstrate particular elements of the linguistic analysis and to provide examples of the application of the narrative tests. Brief concluding comments consider the implications of such a rule-governed approach to the study of characterization.


"Old" and "New" Israel in Bible and the Qumran Scrolls: Identity and Difference
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Philip Davies, University of Sheffield

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Judaism Means Being Different: Sectarianism and the Cult of Election
Program Unit: Sectarianism in Early Judaism (EABS)
Philip Davies, University of Sheffield

I shall try and explore how the distinctive categories of ancient Judaism expressed themselves in sectarianism. I focus on universal monotheism (and its own sectarian disintegration into various other divine entities but especially dualism); election; cult centralization and covenant. I shall also consider the notion of separation as a mark of both election and covenant. The thesis is that, as Freud claimed, one can infer about the 'normal' from the 'paranormal,' though I prefer to regard all forms of ancient Judaism as equal from the perspective of this approach, with 'normative' being simply a notion that each form requires in order to sustain its own validity. Thus, there can be only one true Judaism in theory, and hence in practice there will inevitably be many, each replicating what it perceives as the essence of that single 'Judaism'. The psychology (and metaphysics) of separation reinforces most forms of ancient Judaism and itself provides a powerful impetus to sectarian formation.


The Odes of Isaiah: A Newly Discovered Syriac Pseudepigraphon: A Thought Experiment
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
James R. Davila, University of St. Andrews

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Did Christians Write Old Testament Pseudepigrapha that Appear to be Jewish?
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
James R. Davila, University of St. Andrews

In recent years I and others have argued that the proper starting point for the study of Old Testament pseudepigrapha transmitted only by Christians is the earliest surviving manuscripts. We cannot assume that, if such works lack obviously Christian features (or contain only a few), they were written by Jews. It remains possible that they were written by Christians who, for whatever reason, omitted such elements. This paper presents some lateral but positive evidence that Christians in fact did this. Christians wrote documents in the same genres as the Jewish pseudepigrapha (apocalypses, liturgies, oracles, rewritten scripture). They also attributed anonymous Old Testament pseudepigrapha without explicitly Christian features to named Christian authors, such as Tertullian, so ancient Christians themselves saw nothing implausible in the idea of a Christian writing such a work. Moreover, in some cases texts (including hymns, sermons, and sections of biblical commentaries) on Old Testament themes by known Christian authors (e.g., John Chrysostom and Ephrem Syrus) contain either no explicitly Christian features or else very few and of such a nature that, had the works been transmitted anonymously as Old Testament pseudepigrapha, some modern scholars would excise these features as secondary and take the works to be Jewish pseudepigrapha. Sometimes these documents even include material (e.g., positive references to the Law or circumcision) which we would normally expect of Jewish authors. Although these observations do not prove that Christians wrote pseudepigrapha that appear to be Jewish, they show that this possibility is entirely consonant with surviving evidence, and they reinforce the principle that for Old Testament pseudepigrapha transmitted by Christians the burden of proof is on anyone who asserts that the works are Jewish compositions. This is an important methodological filter for preventing extraneous sources from contaminating our understanding of ancient Judaism.


The Masoretic Accentuation and the Delimitation of Units in Hebrew Verse: A Systematic Description
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
Raymond de Hoop, University of Groningen

The Pericope Project aims at studying the divisions of the text of the Bible in the ancient manuscripts and at presenting them to a wider public. The roots of this project are to be found with some scholars who in the nineties of the last century started to use the Masoretic accentuation as an indication for the delimitation of units in Hebrew verse. Consequently, the correct interpretation of the system of accentuation came under discussion. At the moment it would seem that a consensus is growing and for that reason it seems appropriate to present a systematic description of the system of Masoretic accents. Based on previous studies of the system of Masoretic accentuation, a short “syntax” will be offered during this paper, which might function as a guideline for the interpretation of the system as indicating the end of cola and poetic verses within Hebrew poetry. Furthermore, in this paper we will also deal with the problem of the differences between the delimitations as they are found in the Masoretic Text and those present in the ancient Versions(LXX; Pesh: Vg etc.). Most of the examples will be from the Book of Lamentations, but if necessary we will also present examples from the other books of the Hebrew Bible.


The Substitution of the Name: Early Predecessors of a Masoretic Tradition
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Raymond de Hoop, University of Groningen

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Case Studies of Intercultural Bible Reading: From Four Different Continents
Program Unit:
Jilles de Klerk, Makassar, Indonesia

Each contributor will present a case study of his/her group’s participation in the Intercultural Bible reading project. Group readings from Indonesia, South Africa, El Salvador and The Netherlands will be discussed.


A Different Approach to the Individual Complaint Psalms as a Textgroup
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Christiane De Vos, University of Münster

In the exegesis, the structure of the individual complaint psalms is often compared with an ideal genre structure of these texts. This ideal genre structure however, is an artificial construction and does not clarify the understanding of these psalms in their canonical shape. Each individual complaint has its own sequence that includes several typical elements of this textgroup. It is more useful to analyse this course with review to the specific dynamic process of each psalm, which emerges from the tension between suffering on the one hand and trust in God on the other hand.


God Playing a Backstage Role in the Book of Joshua
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Cor de Vos, Westfalische Wilhelms Universität

In the second part of the Book of Joshua, where the division of the land is described, God does not seem to play a direct role in the act of land allotment. God takes only an indirect part in the scene when lots are cast and through allusions to theological highlights of the Pentateuch. The question implied is whether or not this has to do with the date of the composition of this text – possibly a time when the writers/composers could not relate to divine promises and their fulfilment, or divine commands and their execution as “unbiased,” as the writers/composers of the Pentateuch had done.


Intercultural Bible Reading: Why and How? (Hermeneutical Motivation and Practical Implementation)
Program Unit:
Hans de Wit, Vrije University Amsterdam

In this paper a description will be provided of the international research project on intercultural bible reading, “Through the eyes of another”, that started in 2000. The hermeneutical motivation for this project will be explained, and the methodology that was followed, will be indicated in this paper.


The Sociology of Ethiopian Biblical Scribal Communities
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Steve Delamarter, George Fox Evangelical Seminary

At the 2003 International meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Cambridge, it was reported that the Ethiopian Orthodox church is, perhaps, the last Christian community in existence that uses hand-written manuscripts in its worship services. The subject arose in the context of discussion of a paper I delivered there on “sociological models for understanding scribal practices in the biblical Dead Sea scrolls.” This paper will report on an anthropological survey in Ethiopia in the spring of 2004 aimed at understanding the sociology of Ethiopian biblical scribal communities. The survey was supported by an Association of Theological Schools/Lilly research scholars grant and conducted in affiliation with the Institute of Ethiopian Studies of the Addis Ababa University. The paper will report on: 1) the theoretical framework adopted for the study (based on elements of Peter Berger’s and Emile Durkheim’s theories on the sociology of religions); 2) the methodology employed in the survey; 3) an overview of the findings of the study; and 4) their possible relevance for understanding scribal evidence in the biblical Dead Sea scrolls.


The Function of Paul's Allegory in the Argument of Galatians 3:1-4:31: Redefining God's Grace and Those Whom It Benefits
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Steven Di Mattei, Ecole Pratique Des Hautes Etudes

'I do not refuse/invalidate the grace of God' (2:21). One might say that the whole argument in Galatians is an attempt on Paul's behalf to (re)define the grace of God as it extends itself to the Gentiles. Is this grace/blessing/covenant circumcision or Christ? And furthermore how does it reveal itself through the history of Israel's salvation? It has been a commonplace among commentators, at least since Martyn's 'Antinomies,' to plot out the components in the allegory of Hagar and Sarah by two antithetical columns, each referring to the two covenants revealed through Paul's allegory. I wonder, however, if this does not distort Paul's message. Any listener would have surely known that Hagar precedes Sarah, and that like the two covenants, the Law of Moses precedes the 'Law of Christ' (6:2). The allegory, I shall demonstrate, must be plotted out along a horizontal axis. Only when this is done do we see the full extent of Paul's allegory, as it finds many parallels to the 'history of salvation' plotted out in the preceding chapter as well as many of the passages in Deuter-Isaiah and other prophets. Furthermore, I shall attempt to argue that the allegory ought to be taken as an allegory revealing how God's grace/blessing/covenant extends and reveals itself to the Gentiles kata Issak along the axis of Israel's salvation, and ought therefore not to be apprehended as a typology. The opposition is not between Jew/Gentile or even old/new covenants, which are allegedly prefigured; this is to read the allegory literally. Nevertheless, the thrust of Paul's argument is historical, rendering the Law of Moses to a secondary and temporary place while the grace of God is extended to all the seed of Abraham, Jew and Gentile alike.


The 'Living Water' of John 4 from Intercultural Perspective
Program Unit:
Janet Dijk , Vrije University Amsterdam

In this paper it is shown how the various cultural contexts from within which the different participating Bible study groups read the text of John 4, played a determining role in their understanding of the central concept in John 4, namely “living water”. The intercultural exchange between the world of the Biblical text, and the different worlds of modern interpreters is examined and analysed.


Looking at the Mirror: The Image of Qumran Community Adversaries as the Reverse of Its Self-Image
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Devorah Dimant, Haifa University

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Did Samuel Anoint Saul: Source Criticism and Macro-syntactic Analysis of I Samuel 9:1-10:16
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Marie-France Dion, University of Concordia

Scholars working with a diachronic approach concur that the text of Saul searching for the lost asses of his father (I Sam 9:1-10:16) is a composite text. There is near unanimous agreement that the initial story did not mention the name of Samuel and even those who argue that Samuel is part of the oldest literary stratum maintain that the scene of Saul's unction is a later addition to the story. In this paper we will argue against this contention and show that the modifications to the oldest literary strata of this tale are limited to the following verses: 9:1,2a,13,15-16,17b,20-21,27b; 10:1b,5b-6,8-9a,10b-13,16b. Our source criticism of the text considers the writing techniques that characterize the oldest literary stratum and have an essential role in the narrative development. A macro-syntactical analysis corroborates our findings that the original story tells of Saul's meeting with Samuel and the unction that followed.


God as a Dog: Metaphorical Allusions in Psalm 59 and Other Psalms of Imprecation
Program Unit: Metaphors in the Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Brian Doyle, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

The present paper explores some of the animal metaphors employed in the so-called psalms of imprecation, especially those that use metaphorical statements in which the enemy (either personal or civil) is spoken of as a wild animal of some sort, with particular focus on the mouth related dangers inherent in both - 'enemy lies are sharp teeth'. At the same time, the imprecatory or cursing psalms are designated such because they invite God in one gruesome form or another to do something about the enemy. It would appear, however, that the psalmists have employed 'implied metaphorical language' in this regard as a means to associate terminology and behaviour with the deity that would have been otherwise inappropriate. Psalm 59 is the example, par excellence, of such a psalm. It clearly metaphorises the enemy as a pack of wild dogs, marauding the streets of a city at night while, albeit less explicitly, inviting God to respond to the enemy as a wild dog would towards its prey. Degrees of intensity in this metaphorising process will be outlined and an endeavour will be made to discern why the authors of the Psalms resorted to such figurative language in expressing hostile and often violent desires towards their enemy.


La Regle de la Guerre et la construction de l'identite sectaire
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Jean Duhaime, Université de Montréal

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Standards and Technology Update: 2004
Program Unit: Biblical Studies and Technology
Patrick Durusau, Society of Biblical Literature

An overview of the standards and technology efforts of the SBL, including the new SBL Hebrew font as well as demonstrations of other cutting edge technologies of interest to biblical scholars.


Considerations of Form and Function in the Treatment of the Passive Participle
Program Unit: Syriac Lexicography
Janet W. Dyk, Vrije University Amsterdam

The transitivity, intransitivity, stativity or passivity of a verbal form affects the number and nature of elements in its valency pattern, that is, elements occurring along with it in order to make a grammatical sentence. The more elements needed, the more ‘verbal’ the form is considered to be. The opposite is also true: the fewer elements needed, the less inherently verbal the form is taken to be. Thus our judgement in classifying verbal forms is affected by the class of verbs to which a form belongs. Whole sets of verbs have ended up in classical lexica listed without certain forms which do fit into the paradigm and are attested in the data. For example, the participle of stative verbs in Hebrew are commonly listed separately as adjectives, while the verb itself is presented as though it had no participial form. In Syriac, the passive participle often appears, not under the verb, but as a separate entry, where it is called an adjective. However, not all such entries function syntactically as an adjective, nor does the adjectival function fit all other occurrences of the participial form. Due to their passive nature, passive participles tend to function attributively, but this is not valid always and everywhere. In constructing a lexicon, various principles can be followed. Two of these are user friendliness and systematic elegance, both goals worthy of striving after. The effects of the two can be in conflict in the practical treatment of language data. Alternatives for treating the passive participle are presented and the effects of the different approaches are compared with each other. Suggestions are made for preserving the best of both approaches.


Jesus, the Mediator, and Early Christian Crossroad Culture
Program Unit: Hebrews
Christian Eberhart, Universität Heidelberg

In Early Christianity, the art of establishing christological concepts was not only determined by an understanding of who Jesus was, but also by the specific cultural and religious background of Christian communities as their epistemological precondition. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the concept of Jesus, the mediator mirrors the situation of a congregation at a cultural and religious crossroad. Like several other of the christological concepts in this early Christian writing it points to Ancient Jewish traditions while, at the same time, referring to a basic socio-cultural structure of the Classical Greco-Roman world, that of an agent capable of establishing links of vital importance between members of different social strata, known as patrons and clients. In this paper I will first summarize recent proposals to identify the addressees of Hebrews, and assess secondly the meaning of the concept of mediator in Ancient Jewish traditions and in the Greco-Roman world. Thus the characteristics of a powerful christological metaphor emerge which help to further understand the function of both sonship and priesthood of Jesus in the christology of Hebrews.


The Cultic Term Isheh: Remarks on Its Translation, Importance, and Disappearance
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Christian Eberhart, Universität Heidelberg

The Hebrew cultic term isheh occurs almost exclusively in the Pentateuch. In this paper, I want to start with a contribution to the ongoing discussion regarding its translation. In recent scholarship, different proposals have been made that isheh void of any connotation to 'fire,' means '(food) gift' (J. Hoftijzer, J. Milgrom, R. Rendtorff). I will challenge these opinions and argue that connotations of isheh to fire can be verified with regard to its function in sacrificial rituals, and by analyzing its rendering in LXX. The proper translation, therefore, is 'fire offering'. Building on this broader understanding, I then want to show that isheh is a key notion of the sacrificial cult, thus also serving as a comprehensive term for all sacrifices (e.g., Lev 23:25, 27, 36, 37). The peculiar fact that it occurs almost exclusively in the Pentateuch is an indication that the term as such disappeared. In later biblical texts, however, equivalent terms with connotation to 'fire' replace it as comprehensive cultic term.


Joy and the Sacrificial Cult in the Hebrew Bible
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
Christian Eberhart, Universität Heidelberg

In this paper, I want to investigate the role of the sacrificial cult as an expression of, and setting for personal or collective joy in the Hebrew Bible. Far from being limited to atonement or the forgiveness of sin, sacrifices were a frequent means through which joy could be shared with both the human community and God. I will study the different types of sacrifice and their individual profile, various occasions and celebrations, and address the question of which ritual element is crucial for the specific "effect" of sacrifices.


Female Sexual Power and Male Vulnerability: The Song of Songs and Contemporary Advertising
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Katie Edwards, University of Sheffield

This paper will examine the power dynamics between the male and female protagonists of the Song of Songs and in contemporary advertising featuring biblical women. We would like to suggest that in both the biblical text and in contemporary advertising, sexual relations tend to be viewed in terms of the loss of male power, to the advantage of the female. In the biblical corpus, this is viewed overwhelmingly as a negative thing, whereas contemporary advertisements present this as a positive for women. Though the Song of Songs has typically been seen as presenting a challenge to this biblical view of sexual relations, we would argue that the Song, in its presentation of sexual power dynamics is not so very different from the power dynamics depicted in the rest of the Bible and in contemporary advertising.


Sex in the Garden: Reading Genesis 2-3 against Contemporary Advertising Images
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Katie Edwards, University of Sheffield

Contemporary advertising consistently uses representations of Adam and Eve in order to sell luxury products like confectionary, lingerie, designer clothing and fragrance; such advertisements centre around the theme of female sexuality as being the source of female power and the cause of male temptation. In this paper, I argue that contemporary advertising merely makes explicit themes that are implicit in the biblical text. I propose that gender messages and assumptions about the function of female sexuality and male desire are encoded in the narrative of Genesis 2-3 and that popular cultural interpretations have exploited these messages and assumptions for their own ends thereby reinscribing the gender ideology of the text for a postfeminist western consumer.


Literacy and the “Heard” Vernacular Scripture in the English Reformation
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Richard Edwards, University of Wisconsin

A. G. Dickens' The English Reformation asserts that the development and distribution of the vernacular scripture played a significant role in the English Reformation. The revisionist historians Christopher Haigh, Rosemary O’Day, and J. J. Scarisbrick argue that King Henry’s move away from Roman Catholicism was primarily a personal and political maneuver. They assert the “Henrician Schism” to have been a “top down” politically driven “reformation from above” rather than a religious reformation generated by changes in faith, practice, and the availability of a vernacular scripture, a “bottom up” reformation or a “reformation from below”. The revisionists marginalise the impact of the introduction of the vernacular scripture on the English Reformation by arguing that literacy among the general populace of England was not widespread at that time of the English Reformation. Three factors counter the literacy argument against Dickens’ thesis: 1] the attendance at worship services where the vernacular scripture was read, taught, and preached publicly for the hearing of all present; 2] The households with at least one literate resident who could read to the family providing for the hearing and teaching of the vernacular scripture outside of the church beyond what literacy rates indicate; and 3] The propagation of the “heard” vernacular scripture and its content by word of mouth and open discussion in rural areas of Britain, Wales in particular.


Determining the Place of vv. 6-19 in Psalm 109: A Case Presentation Analysis
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Stephen Egwim, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

This article attempts a Case presentation analysis of Ps 109. It argues that Ps 109 has a legal Court setting rather than a liturgical setting. It argues further that within the legal Court setting Ps 109 runs through a presentation of a defense case rather than a cursing prayer or evil wish against the enemy. In a Court of law the operative principles are those of truth and justice. However, what constitutes truth and justice in a particular case is greatly influenced or determined by the presentations or submissions made by the litigants. Hence, litigants focus all the attention on themselves and make their presentation/submission in any way that can best work out their acquittal. The resultant conclusion is that a Case Presentation analysis offers a wider picture and insight for the interpretation of the psalm. It offers the most probable Sitz-im-Leben which makes the framework or the packaging of the contents of the psalm clearly set with the sole aim of winning acquittal. Without understanding the psalm this way and analysing/interpreting it along this line, any other analysis/interpretation will remain as uncertain as previous ones. Only a proper understanding of the cause, aim and content of the psalm as the paper argues can restore the integrity/unity of the psalm.


Paul's Language of Grace: Between Subordination and Resistance
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Kathy Ehrensperger, Universität Basel

The topos of grace is a—if not the—centre piece of Protestant theology, and it is also perceived as central to Paul’s theologizing. In recent research grace has become an issue of debate again from different perspectives: Sandra Hack Polaski found a ‘hidden discourse of power’ in Paul’s language of grace whereas John Barclay perceives Paul’s reference to grace as the clear indication of the absolute newness of the message of the gospel which is disrupting any historical, sociological, theological, or other continuity. The paper takes up such issues of the current debate. It particularly explores the aspect of power in Paul’s use of the language of grace. Is it supporting the introduction of structures of domination and subordination in his relations to his communities and to an originally egalitarian movement. Or can other than hierarchical patterns be developed in relations where there is power involved through the reference to grace? Could the discourse of grace also be read as a discourse of an alternative or even of resistance? What is the relevance of such readings from different perspectives have for a feminist perspective?


'Sicarii Essenes,' 'Those of the Circumcision,' and the Qumran Scrolls?
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Robert Eisenman, California State University

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The Concept of Illicit Sex in Leviticus 18; Leviticus 20:10-21; Deuteronomy 22:13-23:1 and Deuteronomy 27:20-23
Program Unit: Concept Analysis and the Hebrew Bible
Deborah Ellens, Claremont, CA

This paper discusses an analysis of the concept of illicit sex in four series which list sexual infractions in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Three of the series are legal instruction: Lev 18, Lev 20:10-21 and Deut 22:13-23:1. The fourth is a series of curses: Deut 27:20-23. The analysis takes four textual features - "point-of-view," "language depicting the sex act," "selection," and "structure," - to be the primary signals informing the conceptualities of illicit sex. An examination of that analysis demonstrates the way in which these signals are read as shaping the conceptuality of illicit sex. Mention is also made concerning the implications that conceptuality has for analysis of other underlying conceptualities in the texts such as agency of women and purity and property.


Psychological Hermeneutics: Past Tense, Future Tense
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
J. Harold Ellens, University of Michigan

Psychological Hermeneutics: Past Tense, Future Tense presents a survey of the history of the quest for a method of employing the science and models of psychology as a lens for reading the scripture more meaningfully. The scope of this survey reaches from the early suggestions of Dielitzsch to the contemporary postulations of Drewermann. In this study the rise of psychodynamic psychology figures prominently, together with the new ways recently developed of realizing fully the implications of classical psychoanalytics. Likewise, careful attention is given to dynamic processes which have shaped the course of biblical studies over the last century, with an eye to the rise and fall and possible ressurection of Biblical Theology. Psychological Hermeneutics is viewed, for the purposes of this study, as a corollary method, functioning with literary, historical, form-critical, and redaction critical method, to enrich the full range of potential insight in our quest for understanding the themes and texts of sacred scriptures: Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and others. Emphasis is placed upon an appreciation of the extraordinary work done in this area of study on both sides of the Atlantic during the last quarter century. The paper completes its task with a projection of the potentially fruitful trajectories the quest for a usable psychological hermeneutic may take, as we refine our methods for honing this lens to both a sharper and a wide-angle focus.


Zoroastrian Purities Laws in Dialogue with Their Rabbinic Counterparts
Program Unit: Judaica
Yaakov Elman, Yeshiva University

In earlier studies I have shown the influence of Sasanian civil law on the rabbinic legislation embodied in the Babylonian Talmud, and even, in one or two cases,instances where ritual regulations adopted and adapted a common Sasanian rule (the validity of returnable gifts) in and to rabbinic ritual use. Given the thousand years of coexistence of Jews and Persians in and around Babylonia this is hardly surprising; the Babylonian Talmud itself explicitly recognizes the comfort level of the Jews in the Persian "exile." Moreover, well-known rabbis seem to have taken part in the vigorous relgious debates between Manicheans, Zoroastrians and Jews that took place during the period, especially in the vicinity of the Persian capitol Ctesiphon. In this paper I will examine several cases in which the reverse may have happened; that is, Sasanian and post-Sasanian Zoroastrian purities' legislation seems to have considered for the first time the possibilies raised by the rabbinic system. Zoroastrian purities law is embodied in three compilations, the Vendidad (c1200 BCE), the Zand on that Vendidad (completed in the Sasanian period (224-651 CE, but more likely the earlier or middle part of the era), and Shayast ne Shayast, which was compiled in the ninth century but contains a good deal of earlier material. In examining the relationship of each of these compilations with each and other and with rabbinic literature, I have—to my surprise—discovered several cases in which issues are raised in the latest of these compilations that are completely missing from the earlier ones, and it is precisely these in which rabbinic concepts are considered. In some cases they are accepted, in one rejected—but they seem to have been considered for the first time during the Sasanian period.


The Name Solomon as a Prophetic Hallmark in Jewish and Christian Apocryphal Texts
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Bradley Embry, University of Durham

The goal of this paper is to examine the origins of the traditions that came to present the biblical figure of Solomon not only as a king, but also as a prophet. The overt expression of Solomon as a type of prophet is found first in the Psalms of Solomon. I will try to demonstrate that this pseudepigraphic work is in its central nature a prophetic text and that the ascription of the name Solomon to the title is intended to heighten that perception. The understanding of Solomon as a prophet is taken for granted later by the rabbis, for example, in the Targum to Song of Songs. Moreover, the question remains how a Jewish Christian writing such as the Odes of Solomon fits into this use of Solomon's name. Finally, I hope to highlight some aspects of Solomon's post-biblical prophetic career by a new examination of the literature in which his name was used pseudepigraphically or it was assumed that he is a true prophet.


Sin and Impurity in Septuagint Pentateuch: A Developing Interpretation
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Bradley Embry, University of Durham

This paper intends to examine the differences between MT Pentateuch and LXX Pentateuch in regard to the terms Hata' and Hatta't. What is hoped to be gained from this exercise is an identification of whether or not taxonomistic tendencies of the type one finds in the Targum may be found in LXX. To this end, the paper will scrutinize various translations of the two terms Hata' and Hatta't by LXX Pentateuch. It is hoped that the initial observations in this paper will set the stage for a wider examination of the terms throughout the LXX, and that the conclusions will help to define later rabbinic explication of sin and impurity.


Lucian, or The True Prophet: The Cult of 'Paideia' in Lucian's 'Alexander'
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Erik Gunderson, Ohio State University

Lucian's 'Alexander,' or 'The False Prophet,' offers a detailed debunking of the life and chicanery of a religious figure who rose to prominence in roughly the 160's CE. Lucian, the self-appointed heir to Greek erudition, spares no effort in ridiculing Alexander, whose cult occasions not religious reflection in Lucian but instead meditations on politics, social status, and sexuality. For present purposes the process by which the religious other is restaged as the sexual other will be emphasized, which results in the forging of a parallel mystery: the erotics of paideia as a counter-cult. Accordingly, the "unveiling" trope is always also a weaving of the veil. When the text ends then, we find that the ties that bind educated men to one another via their learning are the victorious rivals of the low-born and salacious credulity that fed Alexander's rise. Lucian's essay thus paints a portrait of a disputed frontier. Three sovereign sects are making competing demands for official recognition. The story of the Christians has been told elsewhere and, more importantly, it is almost pointedly not told here. Meanwhile Alexander innovates within the traditions of Greco-Roman mystery cult, but his innovations are decried as aberrations. Nevertheless both the Christians and Alexander do have a capacity for attracting attention. And last we find Lucian who champions the community of learning, old books, and old power structures, the forging of a sort of "secular humanism" that becomes a reservoir for a species of chaste piety that safeguards the old order even when it is articulated by a man like Lucian who could be branded by a snob as a provincial and non-Greek. To the extent, though, that the readers take pleasure in the "truth" of this tale, Lucian himself becomes the prophet of the revealed mystery of 'paideia'.


Apotropaic Prayers in Qumran
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Esther Eshel, Bar-Ilan University

Apotropaic prayers and hymns request God's protection from evil spirits. In this lecture I intend to survey the corpus of such prayers composed during the Second Temple Period, divided into two groups: those of non sectarian origin but known at Qumran, and those with such affinity to the thoughts of the Qumran sect that they may have been composed by members of this sect.


Diverei ha-Me'orot and the "Apocalypse of Weeks"
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Hanan Eshel, Bar-Ilan University

The "Apocalypse of Weeks" is a vision that chronicles world history by dividing it into time units called "weeks." The "Apocalypse of Weeks" is preserved in the Epistle of Enoch (1 Enoch 90-105). In the Ethiopic manuscripts of Enoch the "Apocalypse of Weeks" is divided into two parts: chapter 93:3-9 describes seven weeks from the creation of the world until the end of days, and chapter 91:12-15 describes the last three weeks of the eschatological period. The consensus among scholars is that one needs to differentiate between the vision of the seven weeks, which describes real historical periods, and the vision of the last three weeks, which deals with meta-history. In Qumran three copies of a prayer called Diverei ha-Me'orot (4Q504-6) were found. This document contains prayers for each day of the week. In 1992 E. Chazon (RQ 15, pp. 447-455) showed how the content of the different prayers for the successive days of the week reflects an historical order. There appears to be complete parallelism between the historical events listed in Diverei ha-Me'orot and the historical divisions recorded in the "Apocalypse of Weeks." Therefore it appears that the author of Diverei ha-Me'orot was aware of the "Apocalypse of Weeks" and adopted its historical divisions to provide a structure for his prayer.


Proverbs and Ahiqar Revisited Again
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Bryan D. Estelle, Catholic University of America

The present paper will examine wisdom personified in Aramaic Ahiqar and compare it with wisdom personified in Proverbs 8. Bruce Zuckerman is making high resolution photographs available to the author and the information gleaned from those photos will be included in this proposed paper. This is a development of a paper presented on February 8th 2004 at The Biblical Colloquium West on Proverbs and Ahiqar which dealt with the Comparative Method and presented a summary of evidence demonstrating the possibility of influence of the Aramaic Proverbs of Ahiqar (written in Official Aramaic) on Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible. That Paper will appear this August in "The Biblical Historian" (ed., David Noel Freedman).


Relevance Theory and Canon
Program Unit: Relevance Theory and Biblical Interpretation
Barrie Evans, SIL International

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International Syriac Language Project (ISLP) Report: Aims, Publications, and Progress
Program Unit: Syriac Lexicography
Terry Falla, University of Melbourne

The first full day session on Syriac lexicography co-ordinated by the International Syriac Language Project (ISLP) was held at last year’s SBL International Meeting in Cambridge. The final session of this year’s day seminar will be a brief report on the aims, publications, and progress of the ISLP.


The Historical Jesus and Ritual Purity
Program Unit: Judaica
David A. Fiensy, Kentucky Christian College

Some historians maintain that Jesus of Nazareth rejected ritual purity concerns based on Mark 7:1-23. I will propose four arguments that Jesus was concerned with ritual purity matters. Then I will compare this text with a text from the Mishnah to understand the nature of the dispute.


Repetition and Poetics in 1 Samuel 1-7
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
David G. Firth, Cliff College

1 Samuel 1-7 is structured around a set of three repeating themes, the coming of kingship, the rise of Samuel and the freedom of Yahweh. This paper explores the way in which these three themes are woven together in the narrative and how the repetition of each theme closes off some interpretative possibilities and opens up others. Thus, although it is composed of diverse pieces, there is an intentional unity to the whole of this narrative.


Is the Genre of the Gospel of Luke Ancient Biography?
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Bettina Fischer, University of Cape Town

Part of a Bakhtinian exploration of narrative strategy in the Gospel of Luke, this paper challenges the currently popular opinion that identifies this text, along with the other three canonical Gospels, as an ancient biography or bios. An examination of the generic model of ancient biography that has been used to prove that the Gospels belong to this genre, has shown that another genre of Hellenistic times, that of the Greek Romance, can also be accommodated in it. Consisting of a cluster of features that a chosen number of representative texts share with each other, constituting a family resemblance, the bios genre has been described as flexible, as neighbouring genres overlap with it. Allowance for some variation has thus been made in terms of features in the example texts that represent the genre. The Gospels have been included in this genre by virtue of displaying most of the features listed in the model, the few differences not being seen as a reason to exclude them. This paper proposes to demonstrate how a model using the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin can be used to show that the differences between the Gospels and the current bios-model are relevant in identifying their genre. Concentrating specifically on the Gospel of Luke, the generic exploration along Bakhtinian lines asks questions concerning phenomena in this text for which there is no provision in the current model for ancient biography. These include questions relating to supernatural occurrences, the intertextual relations with other texts, and the overwhelming use of carnivalistic inversion.


Domestic Violence in the Greco-Roman World
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
John Fitzgerald, University of Miami

The problem of domestic violence is not a modern phenomenon but is as old as human history itself. That Genesis places the story of Cain killing his brother Abel (Gen 4) immediately after the Fall (Gen 3) reflects the ancient Israelite awareness that fratricide and other forms of domestic violence are part and parcel of life in a fallen world. From early times pagan authors were equally aware of the problem. Hesiod, for example, depicts the deterioration in human relations from the golden to the Iron age, when the relationship of parents to their children and of siblings to one another is marked by disrespect, cruelty and abuse (Works and Days 105-202). Authors who lived during the Greco-Roman period were acutely aware of the problem, and stories of domestic violence appear frequently in the literary, philosophical, and rhetorical works of this period. As one might anticipate, such stories are especially frequent in philosophical discussions of anger, with instances of domestic violence used to illustrate the consequences of failing to moderate or eradicate that passion. Even Chariton's Callirhoe, the first extant Hellenistic novel, is based on the story of how Chaereas, in a fit of jealous rage, kicks his new bride Callirhoe as she runs to greet him. The kick, which strikes her squarely in the diaphragm, is so hard and vicious that it causes her to stop breathing, and everyone thinks that Callirhoe is dead. But hers is only a Scheintod, so that her burial is premature and sets the stage for the remainder of the romance and the eventual reunion and reconciliation of the couple. This paper gathers evidence for domestic violence as an acute problem in the Greco-Roman world and indicates how selected authors attempted to deal with it (e.g., Plutarch, On Brotherly Love).


Sense Divisions in the Qumran Isaiah Scrolls Compared to the Leningrad Codex and Modern Hebrew Editions of Isaiah
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
Peter W. Flint, Trinity Western University

This paper deals with paragraphs and sense divisions in the Qumran Isaiah Scrolls, especially Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), 1QIsa-b, and the Cave 4 scrolls, and compares them to paragraphs and sense divisions in medieval manuscripts such as the Leningrad and Aleppo Codices, as well as in modern Hebrew editions of the Book of Isaiah.


Unpublished Childbirth Amulets from the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana in Amsterdam
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Margaretha Folmer, Vrije University Amsterdam

The Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana in Amsterdam houses a collection of some thirty unpublished Jewish childbirth amulets from the 18th century. Childbirth amulets were used to ward off the female demon Lilith and were hung in the room of the woman giving birth. They are known from many Jewish communities and periods. In this lecture the form and content of the amulets from the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana will be discussed and the amulets will be placed within the long tradition of Jewish childbirth amulets.


Distributionally-Inferred Word- and Form-Classes in the Hebrew Lexicon: Known by the Company Their Company Keeps
Program Unit: Syriac Lexicography
A. Dean Forbes, University of California, Berkeley

The paper introduces and uses well-established hierarchical and geometrical techniques from statistical pattern recognition to infer word- and form-classes based upon the distributions of (among other things) pre-contexts and post-contexts of "focus tokens" in the MT. Particular care is taken to analyse, and avoid, the pitfalls associated with: small sample sizes, variable spellings (and their possible underlying diachrony), homography/ambiguity, and embedding.


The Fly and the Dog: Observations on the Ideational Polarity in the Book of Qoheleth
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Tova Forti, Ben Gurion University

This lecture examines the syntactical and thematic setting of animal images within two literary pericopes in the Book of Qoheleth (9:1-6; 9:13-10:1), and evaluates their empirical aspects as a concretizing device of Qoheleth’s sermon. When dealing with the impact of faunal aspects upon man’s intellectual and emotional perception of life, one should follow the literary perception of the animal in its various occurrences in the Bible. Qoheleth uses dialectical discourses in order to urge his audience to reflect upon contradictory phenomena in human life. Within the dialectical discourse, the animal simile sketches polarity by use of contradictory language and values that are seen as equal forces in the cognitive process of selecting the right way. The juxtaposition between two animals, a dog- qualified as a symbol of contempt and humiliation- and a lion - known as the 'king of beasts'- (9:4), is shaped as a paradigm of a 'Better'- proverb, and expresses Qoheleth’s ambivalent attitude toward life. The 'dead fly parable'- "A dead fly spoils a [chalice] of precious perfumery’s ointment" (10:1) is inserted between two proverbial sayings as a similitude: a. "one offender can destroy much of value" (9:18b); b. "a little folly outweighs wisdom" (10:1b). These proverbial sayings provide an analogous statement to the dead fly parable declaring wisdom’s limits and its vulnerability similar to the delicate essence of the aromatic perfume. Both wisdom and perfume suffer damage at the hands of a lesser being considered a fool, here a dead fly. The juxtaposition between the parable of the dead fly and the parable of the king and the poor-wise man echoes an encounter between wisdom and its rivals.


Natural-Born Enemies? Biblical Theology and Religious Studies
Program Unit:
Marco Frenschkowski, University of Duisburg

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The Lamb, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Performances of Gender in the Roman Empire
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Chris Frilingos, Michigan State University

"Manliness was not a birthright," concludes Maud Gleason in Making Men: Sophists and Self-Presentation in Ancient Rome, a compelling treatment of masculinity and self-presentation during the Second Sophistic. "It was something that had to be won" (1995: 159). Gleason exposes the theatrical nature of manliness under the Roman Empire; for elites such as Polemo and Favorinus, the two orators that star in Gleason's study, gender was a matter of performance. They went into the wardrobe, as it were, not to pass through to Narnia but to get "dressed up" to play a manly role: voice, posture, clothing, each element had its place in a deliberate process of self-fashioning. In this essay it is contended that figures in the Book of Revelation are participants in the same cultural production, the same labor of masculine deportment. Like Polemo and Favorinus, the Lamb and the Witch-that is, "Babylon the Great" who misled the nations "by her sorcery" (Rev 18:23)-at once appropriate and subvert conventional Greco-Roman categories of gender. In Gleason's view, the play of the orators reflects the pressure that the rise of the Roman Empire brought to bear upon social roles forged in the classical era. This essay will likewise show Revelation and its characters to be products of the empire, where "men were men" only if their audience found the performance convincing.


Defining by Nicknames in Qumran Literature
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Ida Frohlich, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Hungary

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Beyond the Clash: Historical and Literary Methods in Exegetical Research.
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
André Gagné, University of Montreal

Problems with respect to the relationship between texts and history have been a major issue in contemporary biblical exegesis. Since the Enlightenment, the Historical-Critical method has endeavoured to uncover the history of biblical manuscripts and to reconstruct the world behind the text. New literary theories argue that literature does not refer to reality, and that history is unattainable through texts. Is there an alternative to this Manichean vision of the nature of texts and history? For the sake of balance and coherence, this paper aims at a rapprochement of the historical and literary methodologies, by indicating what they have in common. In believing that biblical texts transform readers, thus producing an ethical response on their part, aren’t we reintroducing the idea of reference back into language? Language was invented to speak of things that do not belong to the realm of language, to talk about reality. Even if there is actually a gap between texts and history called interpretation, we deem that texts reflect some aspects of reality. The contention between diachronic and synchronic approaches is unnecessary. We will illustrate the many parallels between Source Criticism and what Gérard Genette calls hypertextuality and intertextuality. Furthermore, certain aspects of Form and Genre Criticism are similar to the implied author’s ideological point of view. Tradition History and Redaction Criticism both work in a diachronic and synchronic mode, and are also attuned to some facets of new literary theories. Should we seek the author’s intention or the text’s intention? Balanced exegesis is done when we attempt to answer the why?, what? and how? of biblical texts. Ricœur’s triple mimesis is a good way in attaining this equilibrium: a careful understanding of the author’s real world (mimesis I), of the author’s textualized world (mimesis II), and of the reader’s re-figuration in his own world (mimesis III).


Examining the Source or Origin of the Johannine Community
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Armand J. Gagne Jr., University of South Carolina, Sumter

The Gospel of John is often seen as a book with no contribution to the Jesus of History, but only as a source for the Jesus of Faith. Contributions by such scholars as Bailey, Barnard, Bruce, Coggins, Cribbs, Cullman, and many others, point to a relationship between Luke and FG in the message of Christ, as well as evidence of similar teaching that begins with Jesus, and continues with Peter, Stephen, Phillip and Paul. This teaching is linked to the Jerusalem Temple, the importance of the Cross (lifting up in FG), and the Jewish Law. A good deal of this material has never been brought together, and may give us a greater understanding of Jewish Christians and the Hellenistic Christians, and the problems that Paul had that led to the Council in Jerusalem in Acts 15. It is even possible to see the Gospels of Matthew and Mark as the oral traditions of those in Jerusalem, versus the gospel of Luke, John and Acts being the oral tradition of Hellenistic Christians. This paper will seek to examine these relationships with the formation of the Johannine Community that we see today.


Adultery in the Bible and Ancient Egypt
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law
Pnina Galpaz-Feller, Jewish Theological Seminary

This paper shall discuss two prohibitions of adultery: the prohibition of sexual relations with the wife of another man and that prohibiting relations with a betrothed maiden, both found in two separate biblical corpora: The Holiness Legislation (Lev 18:20; 20:10) and The Deuteronomy (Deut 22:22-24). These prohibitions shall be compared with the attitude towards adultery in Ancient Egypt, based on Egyptian documentation referring to assorted cases of adultery and its consequences. It appears that adultery in Egypt was conceived as a sexual act committed with the wife of another as opposed to with an unattached woman; thus similar to the biblical definition. However, despite the existence of acts of adultery in Egypt, the documentation does not corroborate the Biblical legislator's apprehension regarding the abundance of acts of incest and adultery in Egypt (Lev 18:3). An attempt will be made to discover the roots of this seemingly exaggerated impression and its relation to the deed of Ham the son of Noah (Gen 9:18-25). In Egypt, adultery was viewed as a sin against the gods yet the individual was subject to material punishment in order to compensate the betrayed spouse. The adulterer thus suffered immediate consequences in this world whereas the penalty for his sin against the gods was thought to have manifested only later, in the afterlife. In the Bible, on the other hand, the legal authorities do not make any judgment relating to the involved parties, for only the Lord shall judge in a case of fornication. The sentence is carried out by the people but has been dictated by the Lord. The public's aspiration towards guarding the covenant with the Lord and 'putting away evil from their midst' emphasizes the striving of the nation towards a sanctified society from which individuals who defy fundamental moral values are rejected.


The Motif of Shepherd in the Old Testament: A Biblical-Theological Reading
Program Unit: Methods in Hebrew Bible Studies
Jonathan Gan, University of South Africa

The motif of shepherd is the prominent metaphor used in defining the pastoral role in the church throughout the centuries. But its usage in pastoral ministry deviated slightly from the OT picture of God as shepherd. The shepherd metaphor often does relate to the NT model of shepherd, and occasionally to God as shepherd in Psalm 23. The metaphor has had a therapeutic effect on the people to whom the church has ministered. But the picture is incomplete without the OT materials that portray God as a shepherd in a way beyond the therapeutic image. The OT depicts the metaphor of shepherd diversely in God, Abraham, Moses, David, and others. This paper is an attempt to excavate the neglected aspects of the shepherd motif in the OT biblical materials so that a balanced perspective is attained.


God's Revelation in the 'De vita Mosis' Literature by Philo of Alexandria and Gregory of Nyssa
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Albert Geljon, Christian Gymansium Utrecht

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Local Medico-magical Recipes in the Babylonian Talmud
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Mark Geller, University College, London

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Judith's Act: The Cancellation of the Gender Contract
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Elisabeth Gierlinger-Czerny, Ausbildungszentrum Fuer Soziale Berufe, Graz

The presentation will be on a book I wrote about the biblical Judith. In the first part I worked on the text, whereas in the second part I looked into the reception history. There can be found a lot of artists like poets and painters who hold a great fascination for this story. The fact is that the most interpretations of the drama of Judith and Holofernes were done on the scene where Judith is cutting off Holofernes' head. Especially in the pictures of the male painters Judith becomes a vamp, a mistress, who betrays her lover, an innocent virgin or the woman who is the greatest enemy for every man. In these pictures the story of the Judith heroine is not remembered, forgotten is the background of Judith's act to save her people with the help of God. Important for the male artists is the fact that a man is killed by a woman and this is the most terrifying fact that ever could happen to a (every) man! Every man should be warned by these pictures and enlightened about the danger which is hidden in every sexual relationship with a woman. In reaction to the artists, Sigmund Freud confirmed in his theories about the Sexuality of the Woman the deep hidden aggressive side in every woman against the man and warned the men not to trust women fully. Every man can become a victim like Holofernes. Finally every man is Holofernes. I discovered just two female painters who performed a real feminist interpretation: one was the Baroque female painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 - 1653) and the other one is the contemporary female painter Minna Antova living in Vienna. These two women carried out an intepretation of Judith and Holofernes which is really opposite to the male reception.


Theorizing the Red Cow (Numbers 19:1-10)
Program Unit: Expressions of Religion in Israel
William Gilders, Emory University

Numbers 19:1-10 is a prescriptive ritual text concerned with the preparation of the ashes of a burnt "red cow" (parah 'adummah) to be used to counteract the impurity caused by exposure to a human corpse. Like many other biblical ritual texts, Num 19:1-10 is rich in details on ritual practice, but offers relatively little that might be termed "interpretation" of the various ritual actions and objects that constitute the interconnected ritual complexes of the slaughter and burning of the red cow and the collection of its ashes. In response to this conceptual gap, various attempts have been made to specify the "meaning(s)" of the actions and objects. Giving special attention to the blood manipulation component of the ritual complex (Num 19:4), this paper explores a variety of theoretical questions about the interpretation of ritual activity represented in biblical ritual texts. How does the modern interpreter go about recovering or reconstructing a "native" Israelite interpretation of ritual action? Should ritual acts be understood as symbolic vehicles that communicate "meanings," or as instrumentally effective actions? Is the distinction between "symbolic" and "instrumental" actions a false dichotomy? My answers to these questions reflect my engagement with a variety of theoretical perspectives and models, and highlight the value of asking new questions about ancient ritual texts.


"And she said...": Direct Speech and Dialogue in Hebrew Narrative
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher, University of Erfurt

Although the art of biblical narrative has been the topic of many studies, and although a substantial part of Biblical narratives consists of dialogues and direct speech, their specific function within the narrative texts has been widely neglected. Therefore it is the aim of my contribution to point out a new access to the literary analysis of dialogues and direct speech. I will start with an overview of the various ways biblical narrative texts make use of direct speech. Thereby I will focus on how direct speech is constructed and in which way it is embedded within the narration. If it is a dialogue, further emphasis lies on the interaction of the conversational partners. The accuracy of the observation then allows a categorisation of direct speech and dialog in biblical narrative texts. Furthermore, the different forms of direct speech and dialogues in biblical narrations are interpreted using the Bakhtinian concepts of dialogism, heteroglossia and polyphony (this will be shown in various examples). Thereby it becomes obvious that the use of direct speech leads to a significant modification of the texts. A differentiated observation and interpretation of direct speech and dialogues thus allows a deeper insight into the art of biblical narrative.


The Law, the Prophets, and the Rest: The State of the Biblical Text in Pre-Maccabean Times
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Lester L. Grabbe, University of Hull

The Dead Sea Scrolls brought a great deal of welcome new material on the biblical text. In spite of this, there are still major questions about the development of the biblical text in pre-rabbinic times. This paper will attempt to address some of the issues in the light of new data.


TheoWeb: Structuring a Pilot Project for Online Research and Teaching Materials
Program Unit: Biblical Studies and Technology
Susan Lochrie Graham, University of Exeter

This presentation will provide an update on the ongoing work of the TheoWeb project, focusing on the process of acquiring content and creating the online database for its use. The research materials database will include some 18th century manuscripts held at Wesley College Bristol, and the teaching database will have various learning objects (both content objects and tool objects) for a module on the quest of the historical Jesus.


Das Bundesbuch im Rahmen der Siniaperikope: Überlegungen zu Alter und Intentionen seiner Einschaltung
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Axel Graupner, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg

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Relevance Theory and Biblical Studies
Program Unit: Relevance Theory and Biblical Interpretation
Gene Green, Wheaton College

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Iron Age Tzer: Preliminary Studies toward a History of the Religion of the Geshurites
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
John T. Greene, Michigan State University

Jacob Neusner, the famous scholar of Formative Judaism, maintains that when one studies a religion, one must compare religions (Neusner 1988, 156 ff.). That is, one must compare the not-so-known religion under investigation with some known, or at least better known of similar religions. Concerning Judaism(s), one must compare one cultural artifact, a text for instance, with a similar cultural artifact in order to identify fine points of difference (p.156). The Bethsaida Research Project has produced enough artifacts of a material-culture nature during its now eighteen years of examining e-Tell to hazard a preliminary study of the Geshurite religion(s) practiced during Iron IIB. In fact, the kernel for such a study has been undertaken, as one might expect, by Professor Rami Arav, Director of Excavations of the Project, in his “Toward a Comprehensive History of the Geshurites” in Volume III of Bethsaida: A City by the North Shores of the Sea of Galilee (Arav and Freund 2004, 1-37). But this work is designed to be a general approach to both the Geshurite culture and history as they reveal themselves from e-Tell’s artifacts when combined with artifacts of other suspected Geshurite sites, as well as with literature concerning this people. Employing Professor Peter Berger’s functional definition of religion as a world-building and also a world-maintaining system (Berger 1967), this study seeks to combine the approaches of Neusner and Berger, and bring them to bear on the evidence available to construct the outlines of the religion practiced at Tzer (Bethsaida).


Not Always a Laughing Matter: Using Comic Strips in the Classroom
Program Unit: Pedagogy
Leonard Greenspoon, Creighton University

The daily (or, more rarely, weekly) comic strip remains a staple in most newspapers. Although today’s university students are far more likely to view these strips on the internet rather than in print, they continue to constitute an important and highly visible element of popular culture. Over the years I have written and lectured extensively on the use of biblical themes, languages, images, events, and personalities--from both the Old and the New Testaments--in such strips. In this paper I propose to explore how they can be utilized to enrich the classroom, as a supplement to traditional textbooks and other printed materials. For the most part, cartoonists provide what we might call a literal, if lighthearted look at the Bible. On occasion, they furnish a larger interpretive framework by bringing in contemporary social or cultural references. Rarely, but to considerable controversy, a cartoonist takes a strong theological stand. In all of these cases, students can detect parallels with phenomena that have occurred frequently in the history of biblical interpretation, both in writing and graphically. At the same time, these cartoons, taken together, provide a useful gauge of today’s biblical literacy and sensitivities. For this presentation, I will make use of examples from the Old Testament and the New Testament, and I would hope to profit from lively discussion and feedback from other classroom teachers of the Bible and biblical studies.


Text and Context: Nineteenth Century British Jews Translate and Comment upon the Hebrew Bible
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Leonard Greenspoon, Creighton University

From the late eighteenth century through the early twentieth, British Jews prepared a number of Bible translations, often with accompanying commentaries. This little-studied phenomenon presents fascinating evidence of how profoundly translators and commentators are influenced by their own environment, especially its hostile elements, as they seek to present and interpret the ancient biblical text. Throughout this period substantial numbers of non-Jews in Great Britain read the Hebrew Bible, generally in the Authorized or King James Version, to the detriment of the Jewish community who lived in their midst and was then seeking social and civic equality. Partly in response to this phenomenon, Jewish translators and commentators stretched the text to accommodate meanings and images that were undoubtedly quite distant from their ancient moorings. The Jewish community was also engaged in internal and institutional developments of its own, for which various constituencies sought support in the biblical text, typically in translation. In this presentation, I will explore all of these themes and phenomena through the use of specific, generally unpublished materials. This chapter, if you will, in Bible translation, especially the preparation of Jewish versions, is a wonderful case study or example of the reciprocal influence of the ancient text on a modern context (or environment) and of a contemporary context (or environment) on the understanding of the ancient text. As such, it is valuable in and of itself and as a model for how we can look at other examples and what results we may anticipate uncovering.


The Jews of Egypt and the Typology of the Septuagint
Program Unit: Judaica
Bruce W. Griffin, University of Oxford

CH Roberts argued in 1979 that the Jewish manuscripts of the LXX were written in distinctive styles of script that differentiated them from other ancient literary manuscripts. This paper looks at the palaeographical evidence of early Jewish manuscripts from Egypt and compares them with other literary manuscripts of Hellenistic and Roman Egypt. It offers a sketch of a typology of ancient Jewish LXX manuscripts and their relationship to ancient literary papyri.


The Palaeography of Mark 6.3, 15.47 and Ancient Jewish Onomastics
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Bruce W. Griffin, University of Oxford

The texts of Mark 6.3 and 15.47 in NA/27 read Josetos, following Codex Vaticanus. But this reading is probably impossible: the name Josetos is unknown among ancient Jews. Codex Vaticanus appears to follow an ancient scribal error for Josepos, a name well-attested among ancient Jews. This paper will illustrate the ease with which tau and pi can be confused in certain ancient styles of handwriting. This scribal error appears to be quite old and has interesting consequences for Westcott-Hort’s theory of the origin of the Neutral text of the Gospels.


The Freer Imaging Project
Program Unit: Biblical Studies and Technology
Carl Griffin, Brigham Young University

An overview of the Freer Imaging Project, a collaboration of the Freer Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Brigham Young University and the Society of Biblical Literature to produce new images of the Freer Manuscripts.


The Other: Establishing the Boundaries of Empathy [The Psychoanalytic Approach of Heinz Kohut]
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Ithmar Gruenwald, Tel-Aviv University

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Sexual Hospitality in the Hebrew Bible?
Program Unit: Critical Theory and Biblical Interpretation
Thalia Gur-Klein, Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis

From medieval travelers' reports through the 19th and 20th century about the tribal life of the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, there is evidence reported of a hospitality that includes sexual gratification on the part of the hospice. The frequency of the reported habit shows it to be a custom in its own right and not an isolated event. I propose to substantiate a thesis that sexual hospitality constitutes a cultural template. In the second place, I will try to apply it to the Hebrew Bible. In his book, Sex and Family in the Bible and the Middle East, Raphael Patai (1959) offers a survey of customs and traditions concerning family values and sexuality in the Ancient Middle East. He first brings to the fore the view that patriarchal hospitality was so highly regarded that it would override considerations of women's chastity. The guest's honor and protection were thus safeguarded to the extent of sacrificing the chastity of one's own virginal daughters. Gen 19 and Jud 19 are presented as case studies. Patai also proposes the hypothesis that other cultural templates may have been overlooked in considering the dichotomy of patriarchal hospitality vs. female chastity. The larger question raised by consideration of Patai is whether evidence of modern tribal life can be used as a model for ancient societies.


Functionality, Identity, and Interpretation: The Tearing of the Temple Curtain (Matt 27:51 par) in Light of Pentateuchal Tabernacle Texts
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Daniel M. Gurtner, University of St. Andrews

Though it is widely accepted that the rending of the temple veil (katape/tasma tou~ naou~, Matt 27:51 par) signifies the cessation of its function, few scholars have investigated the function of any of the three “veils” translated katape/tasma in the Pentateuch to either identify which “veil” was torn or to inform an interpretation of its rending. Drawing primarily from the Pentateuchal tabernacle account, this paper explores the implicit and explicit functions of all three curtains translated katape/tasma in the LXX. Observing that only the katape/tasma which translates the “inner veil” (tkrp) is afforded any function, this paper will identify its four functions and consider potential interpretations of their cessation as depicted by its rending.


Relevance Theory and Translation
Program Unit: Relevance Theory and Biblical Interpretation
Ernest August Gutt, SIL International

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Agrippa I and Early Christianity: The Profile of the Judaism of Herod’s Family as Background of Agrippa’s Acting towards Jacobus and Peter (Acts 12).
Program Unit: Judaica
Gudrun Guttenberger, Evangelische Fachhochschule Hannover

Jewish Religion has always been an essential part of Agrippa I’s government. Within the sequence of ancient Judaisms the Judaism of Herod’s family was one. Describing the essentials of herodian Judaism constitutes the first part of the paper. The second part deals with the possible results for Agrippa’s acting towards early Christianity. Probably Agrippa tried to convince the kingdoms of the East to build a confederation under his leadership; by this Judaism would have been the leading religion in the East. In his point of view early Christianity disturbed his plans.


The Chreia Connection: Papias on Mark
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Nathan Guy, Oxford University

Papias uses the technical term "chreia" in defense of Mark. This paper will suggest that (1) Papias argues for a rhetorical approach to Mark, and (2) Papias considers such an approach to be consistent with the form in which Mark received his message from Peter. The paper will provide an interpretation of Papias which accords with evidence found in the present Gospel. Care will be taken to distinguish rhetoric as a technique to persuade, and the specific idea of training rhetoric of the Classical tradition.


The Tabernacle: High Point or Turning Point?
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Herbert W. Hain, Santa Monica, CA

In his Torah Commentary, Gunther Plaut considers the erection of the Tabernacle the high point of the Exodus drama. To him, as well as to other Hebrew Bible commentators, the construction of the Tabernacle was the “natural” conclusion of the Exodus narrative. A close look at the text, however, paints a completely different picture. This paper will show that the Tabernacle is more likely an attempt by a disappointed deity to maintain the loyalty of a divided and disgruntled people.


Without a Trace: The Second Temple Case
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
John M. Halligan, St. John Fisher College

This paper engages the notion that from a social scientific point of view the temple attributed to Zerubbabel is a "biblical fact." I borrow this distinction made by Robert P. Carroll that our interest as biblical scholars has been trained on the text of scripture in order to extract its actuality when in fact all it may reveal is its textuality. Could it be that the Second Temple is a “textual fact”? I will treat of the evidence for a temple built by Zerubbabel by examining five aspects integral to the existence of the alleged temple. They are 1) the permission to build a temple, 2) the funding sources for its construction, 3) the materials available, 4) the architects and labor force, 5) the building itself.


The Dating of Pentecost Anno ± 42 CE and the Persecution of the Messianic Community
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
Karel Hanhart, Den Bosch, Netherlands

The roots of the diastasis between the synagogue and the ecclesia concerning keeping the Sabbath holy and celebrating Sunday as the day of the resurrection come to the surface in Mark's 'opened tomb' story. The misinterpretation of ancient texts, such as Lk 23:11,15 and Mark 16:1-8 contributed greatly to the deep seated mistrust and animosity of the one towards the other throughout the last two millennia. It is necessary to combine data from the Mishna, the Gospels and Acts and Josephus in order to unravel the timing and political motivation of the persecution of the Christian Judean community in Jerusalem by Agrippa I (40-44 CE). These appear to be related to the so-called Boethusian controversy on the Pentecostal calendar dates. The following religio-historical scenario is proposed on the origin of the aforementioned diastasis. In the face of calendrical disputes (e.g. Jubilees, Qumran) due to the official introduction of the Julian calendar in the empire, the Nisan 16 date was originally adopted by the Pharisees to promote stability in the life of Judeans at home and abroad. Agrippa introduced this Pharaic proposal and subsequently persecuted the Christian Judean leadership. Their missionary movement (e.g. Paul's conversion and the mission among Samaritans) formed a stumbling block for the achievement of his political aims. This resulted in the anti-pharisaic stance in the Gospels and contributed to the ever widening polarization of the conflicting parties.


Demons, Sages and Laymen: Narrative and Reality in Jewish Demonology of Late Antiquity
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Yuval Harari, Ben Gurion University

Until recently, the rabbinic literature used to be the main, if not the only source for understanding Jewish demonology in Late Antiquity. This situation has radically changed in the last decades with the survey and publication of dozens of Jewish magic bowls and amulets from both Babylon and Palestine that threw new light on the whole subject. Having magical sources, i.e. products of actual Jewish anti-demonic magical activity, in hand, we can now tell what Jewish demonology – belief and praxis – actually was. The rabbinic literature became secondary source, and as such it should be reconsidered. A thorough analysis of the demonological traditions in the rabbinic literature reveals two main strata: instructions and narratives. As the first goes more or less hand in hand with the general view of demons and anti demonic behavior to be found in the magical stuff, the second challenges it. Demonological narratives largely widen the possibilities of patterns of relationships between humans and demons. Instead of the principally one magical deffensive-exsorcistic pattern, many others are found, in which a central role is given to the rabbis. The double essence of the rabbis as both men of law and holy men clearly reveals itself in what is found to be not so much demonic but rather didactic and self-promoting sages' deeds narratives, in which demons are only minor, secondary characters. The demons are controlled, pressed under the law, subdued to cooperate and even used by the rabbis in a way that gives the latters a ritual power hegemony of the kind they strove for within human society, in the demonic realm as well.


Literary Features and Redactional Tendencies of the So-called Community Hymns Collection in 1QHa and 4Q427 (4QHa)
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Angela Kim Harkins, Duquesne University

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Keeping Outsiders Out: Impurity at Qumran
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Hannah K. Harrington, Patten College

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The Expanding Complexities of Biblical Interpretation
Program Unit:
Alan J Hauser, Appalachian State University

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Qumranic and Rabbinic Exegesis: Comparison and Contrast
Program Unit: Judaica
Paul Heger, University of Toronto

Much thought has been given recently to Qumran biblical exegesis. This paper will compare various genres of Qumran writings with parallels in rabbinic literature, and will demonstrate the affinities and dissimilarities between them. Both groups attempted to resolve apparent inconsistencies, lacunae and similar irregularities in the biblical texts; both believed in the infallibility of God’s utterances; and both attempted to resolve this contradiction by revealing the divine intention using various exegetical methods. Using specific examples, I shall demonstrate that the system used by each group was quite similar, despite the fact that each group often reached halakhic conclusions that were not only quite different from each other but also contrary to the plain meaning of the biblical text. I thus argue that divergent halakhic conclusions need not be the result of different exegetical systems, but of the employment of diverse particular methods (common in rabbinic disputes) and different philosophy-theology. Neither the Mishnah nor Qumran writings reveal their exegetical methods. Without the amoraic discussions and Midreshei Halakhah we would be unable to reveal the biblical sources assumed to be the bases of mishnaic halakhot and the exegetical methods used to derive them. For the Qumran material there is no such assistance; we can thus only speculate on the textual problems behind their decisions. I shall then discuss the dissimilarities between rabbinic and qumranic exegesis system, the most significant being the principle of divine revelation as the source of qumranic interpretation. The paper challenges Fraade's contention that revelation logically eliminates exegesis. I explain this co-existence emphasizing the subtle psychological phenomenon of predisposition, attained through passionate faith, which enabled the Qumran scholars to believe they were communicating with the divine. In other words, they were “programmed,” to use modern jargon, for such an experience, and deemed their biblical interpretations to be divinely inspired.


Theological Influence on Practical Laws: Comparison of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Laws
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law
Paul Heger, University of Toronto

Ancient Near Eastern law, for example the Hammurapi Codex, perceives the sovereign as the source of the law. While the sovereign indeed receives his authority and the onus to equitably govern the people from the gods it is he who ultimately creates the relevant laws to ensure fair relations among his subjects and their relationship to the sovereign and his government. It is he who is the protector of injured parties. Thus, transgressions against the laws are conceived as violations of human laws, and consequently, the legal procedures, sanctions and modes of compensation are of human origin. Biblical law also perceives some infractions of civil rules as violations against humans, and although God decides the mode of compensation, there are no divine sanctions or penalties imposed on the perpetrator. Other infractions, however, against individuals or the social order, are also perceived as crimes against the Lord, and punishment for them is beyond human authority and decision. This study will analyze a number of laws that have apparent parallels in the biblical and Mesopotamian codices to substantiate this thesis. As one example, both the biblical and Hammurapi codices perceive sexual relations between a married woman and another man as a crime, punishable by death of both offenders, and from this aspect the laws are identical. In the Hammurapi Codex, the betrayed husband can forgive his wife completely, or impose upon her a less severe punishment; in this event one must concede the same relief to the male perpetrator. Biblical law, however, perceives this transgression as also constituting a sin against the divine order, and the husband has no right to change the divinely imposed capital punishment. This difference, it is argued, can be accounted for directly by the different ideologies in each system regarding the source of legal authority.


The Art of Writing in Ancient Judah: Impressions from a New Alphabet-ostracon.
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Martin K. Heide, Institut für Semitistik, LMU München

The well known alphabet-ostracon form Kuntillet Adjrud does not only show the fact of early writing in Ancient Israel, it also displays a very good example of the art of (nearly) calligraphic writing. Recently, a similar ostracon has been found from the time of the Judean monarchy, showing even more aspects of a very meticulous way of writing in a "normal" and a "shorthand" form.


Constructive Theological and Philosophical Issues in Biblical Theology
Program Unit:
Christine Helmer, Claremont School Of Theology

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Identities in the S Tradition
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Charlotte Hempel, University of Cambridge

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Jacob’s Rejection of Reuben’s Offer to Kill His Two Sons Echoes the Conduct of Amaziah in Conformity to a Deuteronomic Law (Deuteronomy 24:16)
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Gershon Hepner, Los Angeles, CA

In Genesis 42 the biblical narrator describes the way that the sons of Jacob wish to go to Egypt to obtain produce from Joseph. Verbal resonances indicate that the narrative echoes the way that Amaziah the king of Judah prepares to go to war against Jehoash the king of Israel. The linkage between the two narratives implies that the narrator regards the confrontation between Judah and Joseph as echoing the confrontation between their respective descendants, Amaziah and Jehoash. At the beginning of the Amaziah narrative the narrator says that Amaziah obeyed the Mosaic law saying that sons should not be killed for the sins of their fathers in accordance with the law in Deut. 24:16. When Jacob rejects Reuben’s offer to guarantee Benjamin’s life with that of his own two sons the narrator implies that Jacob acts in accordance with this Deuteronomic law like Amaziah. The analysis provides a significant new interpretation to Jacob’s rejection of Reuben’s offer and supports the view that Pentateuchal narratives often echo biblical laws, probably as part of a rhetorical scheme by the authors to assert the antiquity and validity of biblical laws.


Being Saved without Honor: A Conceptual Link between 1 Corinthians 3 and 1 Enoch 50?
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Ron Herms, University of Durham

Do early Jewish and Christian traditions of eschatological salvation include the possibility of an inferior or diminished state of ‘being saved’ for certain individuals? This appears to be the case in both 1 Corinthians 3.10 – 15 and 1 Enoch 50.1 – 4. While no formal awareness or dependence between these documents is argued for, the possibility that they represent either a common eschatological tradition or similar rhetorical strategy is explored in this paper. Each passage is evaluated in its own literary setting with a view to determining its author’s rhetorical objective. The results are compared in order to ascertain whether Paul employs an eschatological description of ‘being saved without honor’, which also appears in early Jewish literature and, if so, whether he does this on grounds uniquely his own.


Onomastica as a Means to Access Israelite Religion
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Richard S. Hess, Denver Seminary

This paper will examine the personal names from Iron Age seals, bullae, and other epigraphic sources as a means to understand the religion of ancient Israel. In particular, the theophoric elements in these names will be considered. A review of recent criticism regarding the use of this technique will seek to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology. The conclusions will argue that the use of onomastica in the study of religion is a legitimate and necessary dimension that, with proper controls, can achieve a better understanding of the religious values and distinctives of ancient peoples.


Interpreting Biblical Texts as Texts of the Bible: The Canon as a Guide in Intertextual Biblical Studies
Program Unit: The Method of the Canonical Approach (EABS)
Thomas Hieke, University of Regensburg

This paper formulates a general hermeneutical approach towards biblical texts from the perspective of the canon. First, it is necessary to clarify the basic methodological framework: A reader-oriented and text-centered perspective are characteristic issues. Then the paper proposes to use the canon as a guide in intertextual biblical studies-following Martin Buber, the program is formulated as "interpreting biblical texts as texts of the Bible." The next important aspect focuses on the privileged status of the canon and acknowledges the creation and providing of identity as the most important function of the canon. Concluding considerations refer to the different materializations of the concept of "canon" in the Jewish and the Christian Bible(s) as well as to the relationship of Christian Bible and Jewish TaNaKh. Finally, an outlook sketches the methodological ensemble of "biblical interpretation" in the lines of intertextuality and the canonical perspective.


The Relevance of Samarian: Samaritan History for Research in Political and Religious Circumstances in Judaea in the Persian Period
Program Unit: Samaritan Studies (EABS)
Ingrid Hjelm, University of Copenhagen

In biblical scholarship, 2 Kings 17's story of the deportation of Samaria's population, has basically led to a neglect of the political and religious roles the city and province of Samaria played during Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian hegemony. Deceived by 2 Kings' shift of focus from North to South, and Ezra and Nehemiah's 'people of the land' (am ha-aretz) and 'enemies of Judah' as well as Josephus' placement of the building of a temple on Mt. Gerizim during Alexander rather than Darius, Samaria and Samaritan history has been treated as nothing but a disturbing element in the Judah- and Jerusalem-oriented histories of post-Assyrian biblical Israel. Recent excavations on Gerizim, Inscriptions, Onomastic evidence from Elephantine and Samaria Papyri, all of which point to a well established Yahweh cult on Gerizim and in Samaria from early in the Persian period, seriously undermines standard assumptions of Jerusalem's priority as Yahwism's centrum and producer of the shared Jewish and Samaritan Torah and Joshua traditions. This lecture will argue that scholarly paradigms for exilic and post-exilic Samaria's and Judah's political and religious relationship must be changed to accord with extra-biblical evidence from both regions.


Eschatological Identities in the Damascus Document
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Albert Hogeterp, Katholieke Universiteit

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Jesus and Magic: Theodicean Perspectives to the Issue
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Tom Holmen, Åbo Akademi

Theodicy and Magic do not immediately come to mind as related frameworks for interpreting the miracle activity of Jesus. However, the two frameworks have a number of interesting features in common. Firstly, integral to both of them is their relying heavily on the principle of 'action-consequence' (wherein the causal connection is perceived as mystical). Further, in some contemporary cultures magic had been an established means of removing or thwarting suffering. Moreover, the instances of Jesus' activity that have been likened (by ancient and/or modern viewers) to magic also centrally pertain to the issue of theodicy. The lecture thus examines in what way a theodicean perspective could be used to illuminate the theme 'Jesus and magic'. On the face of it, the Jesus traditions seem to hold quite diverging possibilities for interpretations from this point of view, for example, the possibilities that Jesus used magic to eliminate suffering and guilt, or that he, quite contrary, rejected the principle of 'action-consequence' crucial to both magic and theodicy thinking.


Children as Literary Device in the Canonical and Apocryphal Acts
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Cornelia Horn, University of St. Thomas

While recent years have seen an increase in the study of the concept and social reality of the family and family life in the world of the New Testament, little attention has been paid to the more specific inquiry of the role of children in that setting. Indeed, references to children are rare both in the New Testament as a whole, and specifically relevant here, in the Canonical Acts of the Apostles. Yet a careful examination of the Apocryphal Acts shows that children are featured there more prominently, providing the researcher with information about the families of the apostles, allowing for the study of the role of gender in the early Christians' attitude towards children, showing children as recipients and participants in the new order of grace initiated by the coming of Christ, and depicting children in several other functions. Nevertheless, also the material in the Apocryphal Acts has not yet been examined with regard to the study of children. Based on a survey of references to children in both the Canonical and the Apocryphal Acts, this paper provides a classification and analysis both of motives connected with children and of references to events involving children in these texts in order to contribute to the establishment of the literary function of children in the New Testament and in related extra-canonical literature.


The Rest of the Evangelist John and the Armenian Bible
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Vahan Hovhanessian, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary

The Armenian version of the New Testament included the apocryphal Rest of the Evangelist John as a canonical book. The presentation aims at exploring issues related to text of this apocryphal document, its relationship with the Acts of John and its canonical status in the early churches in the east.


Historical Memory and Projection in Near Eastern Prophecy
Program Unit: Prophets
Herbert B. Huffmon, Drew University

Whereas prophecy in the Biblical tradition refers to an extensive historical memory and projects well into the future, together with an analysis of the present, prophecy elsewhere in the Ancient Near East seems especially focused on the immediate situation, with limited historical reference. The somewhat related "apocalyptic" texts help to fill out a picture of the historical consciousness of the prophetic circles, as does the continuing influence, or "reuse," of prophetic announcements.


Epictetus, the Law, and Paul
Program Unit: Torah and Ethics in the New Testament (EABS)
Niko Huttunen, University of Helsinki

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The Intertextuality of the Genealogies
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Glenna Jackson, Otterbein College

A year ago, I investigated the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 for its possible intertextuality with the story of Ruth. This year I will attempt an intertextuality study of genealogies with an eye, once again, on female characters. The curious reference to myths and genealogies in 1 Timothy will also be considered.


The "Divine Council" Motif on a Sumerian Sculpture and the Visionary Tradition of the Semitic Prophetic Texts
Program Unit: Prophets
Jean-Georges Heintz, Faculté Théogie Protestante, Strasbourg

On the basis of a Sumerian bas-relief (reconstitution proposed), it will be shown how this ancient representation of the "divine council" influenced the Semitic visionary tradition of the "prophetic texts", from Mari and Eshnunna to the Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings 22:19b-23; Psalm 82; Isaiah 6, and Second Isaiah.


Title to be Announced
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Ann Jeffers, London

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"And that's why the lady is a tramp": Biblical Texts and the Construction of the Feminine
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Jannine Jobling, Liverpool Hope University College

This paper examines some of the ways in which the feminine has been constructed in and through the biblical texts. What impact have the biblical depictions of female figures such as, for example, Eve and Mary, had on cultural understandings of womanhood?


The Beloved Disciple as Witness
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Brian D. Johnson, Lincoln Christian College

The role of the Beloved Disciple in the narrative of the Gospel of John has received a great deal of attention throughout the history of Johannine scholarship. This paper will propose that the Beloved Disciple serves the literary function of showing special access to events in the narrative. The Beloved Disciple appears in places where the narrative would otherwise be disrupted when the reader is left uncertain of where the narrator is getting his information. This consistent pattern will be viewed against the practices of other ancient writers, particularly Josephus, as well as Greek and Roman historians. When this comparison is made, it will be seen that the author of the Gospel of John presents the Beloved Disciple in a way which suggests that the author is showing that it is the Beloved Disciple who had access to the events narrated.


Social Identity and Pesharim
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Jutta Jokiranta, University of Helsinki

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Unit Delimitation in Codex Sinaiticus: The Scribe as Editor
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
Dirk Jongkind, Cambridge University

A scribe had as primary task the faithful copying of the text before him. This does not mean, however, that he had no influence on the final format of the text. The 4th c. Codex Sinaiticus is a good example of a Greek bible in which the scribes exercised considerable freedom in the formatting of the text, without the noticeable presence of a strong scribal tradition. This paper will address the question to what extent the three scribes copied text divisions from their exemplar. Is Codex Sinaiticus witness to a transmitted scribal tradition of paragraphs and subparagraphs that may go centuries back or do we find text-divisions that are merely the result of the scribe's whim? By means of examples from both the Septuagint and the New Testament section of the codex the practice of the various scribes will be illustrated.


Kapiteleinteilung in Handschriften der Vulgata
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
Joop van Banning, University of Innsbruck

Die Beschlüsse des Tridentiner Konzils (1545-1563) haben sicher das Interesse an den lateinischen Text der Bibel gesteigert, aber nicht direkt eine neue Erforschung angeregt, so dass es bis im 19. Jh. verschollen blieb, dass man am Anfang des 13. Jh.s. in Paris versucht hat, den Bibeltext zu vereinheitlichen. Es geht hier um den so genannten "Pariser Text", welche an seinem System der Kapiteleinteilung und an verschiedenen anderen materiellen Kennzeichen sofort erkennbar war. Negativ ist beim Pariser Text festzustellen, dass die vorangehenden Listen der Capitula, welche man in früheren Hss der Bibel meistens antraf obwohl es da oft eine große Verwirrung gab, und diese Listen manchmal andere Kapitel angaben als die, welche man im Text der Bibel, die in den gleichen Hss. vorkamen, konstatieren konnte fehlten. Positiv ist u.a. festzustellen, dass es eine Kapiteleinteilung gab, welche der von heutigen Bibeln (auch von jenen, die jüdischer Herkunft sind), mit nur wenigen Ausnahmen (etwa wenn ein Satz noch beim vorhergehenden Kapitel gezogen ist) völlig entspricht. Damit wurden definitiv die vielen und sehr verschiedenen Einteilungssysteme des 12. Jh.s, welche im Allgemeinen viel mehr Kapitel hatten, verlassen. Das heute noch gängige System, wurde schon von Nicholas Trevet im 13. Jh. Stephan Langton zugeschrieben. Zwei Faktoren muss man dabei auf jeden Fall anerkennen. Wie kein anderer hat Stephan Langton sich angestrengt eine gute Einteilung der Bibel zu finden, wie sich aus seinen Kommentaren ergibt. Zur gleichen Zeit hat er aber, bevor er Erzbischof von Canterbury wurde (1206), sicher nicht in seinen Schriften die moderne Einteilung benützt. Das ist jedenfalls nicht vor dem Jahre 1203 zu konstatieren Entweder ist also die nummerierte Einteilung von ihm, aber erst kurz vor 1206 entstanden, so dass er sie nicht mehr verwenden konnte. Oder sie stammt von einem anderen, der dann aber nicht lange vor der Pariser Bibel gearbeitet haben wird.


Joy in Hebrews
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
Gert Jordaan, Potchefstroom University

There is wide acceptance among scholars that Hebrews was written as an encouragement to believers who were in danger of denouncing their faith in times of persecution and suffering. In Hebrews these believers are encouraged by being reminded of the incomparable excellence of the object of our faith: Jesus Christ. Therefore Hebrews first of all contains an exposition of Jesus as the highest king, prophet and priest who is the perfect and complete fulfillment of God's covenantal promises of the Old Testament (Heb 1-10). From this basis the author of Hebrews then proceeds to exhort his readers to live by faith in Jesus, assuring them that by faith they will be able to endure and to persevere in times of suffering (Heb 10-13). It is striking, however, that in this last section of Hebrews a sub-theme emerges alongside the main exhortation of endurance and perseverance. It is the theme of joy (Hebrews 10:34; 12:2; 12:11; 13:17), which is linked to other supporting themes, eg. confidence, expectation, and reward (10:32-36), the endurance of Christ (12:2), discipline (12:11) and diakonia (13:17). In this paper the place and function of joy and its relation to other themes in these last chapters of Hebrews are investigated by means of a thought structure analysis and semantic analysis. From the results of these analyses the message of Hebrews is described as more than encouragement towards endurance and perseverance. It is also a message of joy.


Towards an Analytical Concordance of the Harklean Version
Program Unit: Syriac Lexicography
Andreas Juckel, Institute of New Testament Textual Research

The latest Syriac version of the New Testament was prepared by Thomas of Harqel (Heraklea), Syriac-orthodox Bishop of Mabbug (Hierapolis) in 615/616. This Harklean version disregards the rules of the Syriac language in favour of a ‘mirror translation’ of the underlying Greek text which makes it extremely useful for textual criticism of the Greek New Testament. Recent research succeeded in identifying descendants of Thomas’ Greek model within Greek NT manuscripts and in reconstructing the Greek manuscript(s) Thomas used for his translation. The knowledge of the version’s Greek background, the existence of reliable Harklean editions, and the consistency of lexical and translational features invite the production of an analytical concordance of Thomas’ work. The paper will report on the Syriac text and its Greek background, illustrate the basic features of the analytical concordance and reflect on the making of the version by Thomas. The ultimate goal of this concordance is the reconstruction of the lexicon Thomas himself doubtless drew up to grant the translational reliability and lexical consistency of his version.


A Study on the Original Text and Translation of Luke 1:37
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Chang-Wook Jung, Chongshin University

The Greek sentence in Lk 1:37 of NA27 is translated by the vast majority of English versions of the Bible as follows: “Since (because or for) nothing will (shall) be impossible with God." The issue centers on the translation of the prepositional phrase para. tou/ qeou/, which means “from God." The above translation of most versions seems to rest on two elements: 1) the preposition para, with the genitive, which means “from", has the same meaning as with the dative, which means “with", or Greek variants containing the phrase para. tw Thew, which may mean “with God", are reliable; and 2) the translators' decision as to the meaning of rhema results in that translation. All of them understand the noun as “thing", and not “word"; they seem to suppose that the sentence “nothing from God will be impossible" does not make good sense. It is also noteworthy that some of English versions interpret the future tense of the verb to convey present time. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the prepositional phrase in Lk 1:37 of NA27, para tou Theou, is the original reading and the phrase should mean “from God." This study will also show that the meaning of the noun rhema is to be “word" rather than “thing" in this verse and the future tense refers to future events: the birth of Jesus. It will thus be shown that the sentence in Lk 1:37 should be translated as “No word from God will be impossible (disabled/ made void/ disempowered/ emptied of its power)."


Translation and Interpretation of the Sentence in 1 John 3:19-20
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Chang-Wook Jung, Chongshin University

Various translations and interpretations have been suggested concerning the sentence in 1 John 3:19-20. The appropriate understanding of this sentence relies on how to resolve the following questions: 1] what does the verb peithow mean?; 2] how is the hoti eva clause to be interpreted; 3] what is the function of the last hoti? The verb peithow is translated into various meanings: persuade, convince, (re)assure, quieten, conciliate. The meaning of the verb has to be decided not only on the basis of the context but also on the basis of the lexical study. The relation between the second hoti and the third one has to be clarified too; the original text needs to be determined and the function of each conjunction should be investigated. All the instances of the construction hoti eva [followed by another hoti] in the LXX as well as in the NT will be carefully examined. With the result yielded by such investigation, the most probable translation and interpretation of the sentence in 1 John 3:19-20 will be suggested.


Magic in Antiquity and in the Modern World: An Ethnological Inquiry into the Perception of Jesus
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Werner Kahl, Univesität Kassel

In this paper I want to clarify if, and how Jesus' spirit possession and exorcistic activity could have been perceived in antiquity as magic involvement. I contend that an adequate understanding of magic is difficult to gain within the matrix of modern culture which feels threatened by the perceived 'irrationality' of magic and which defines magic as contradictory to a scientific perception, explanation and manipulation of reality. The ethnological discourse on the understanding of contemporary foreign cultures-drawing on the work of E. Sapir, A. Dundes, and R. Horton-can provide insights into the meaning and function of magic in antiquity in general and in Early Christianity including the perception of Jesus in particular.


The Development of Communal Identity in the Qumran Wisdom Texts
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
John Kampen, Bluffton College

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Female Gossipers and Their Reputation in the Pastoral Epistles
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Marianne Bjelland Kartzow, University of Oslo

Instead of assuming that the Pastoral Epistles are written against opponents and then try to identify them, I argue that the letters’ rhetoric works to create opponents out of ‘those who are different’ through ‘othering’ them in various ways. The widows referred to in 1 Timothy 5 were in one way or the other different; perhaps they taught an alternative doctrine or challenged the traditional oikos-codes. The author is constructing them as ‘others’ in order to limit their influence and put them in their place. To get a better understanding of what is going on in the description of the young widows, I will suggest that he deploys a topos from his contemporary cultural encyclopedia connecting women to gossip in a twofold way: 1) There is a strong tendency in ancient literature to draw caricatures of women’s speech; whatever came out of her mouth was most likely nonsense, vain babbling or gossip. 2) A woman was also supposed to be responsible for behaving in a way that did not generate gossip about her. If she got a bad reputation that could be damaging for her relatives, kinship group and even the whole village where she came from. Both these concerns are reflected in 1 Timothy 5, which constructs a worst case scenario conveying what might happen if the young women enroll in the widows’ order: they will walk around among the houses, being gossips and busybodies, saying things they should not. They are told to marry, bear children and manage their households, and not put their reputations at risk.


Sorcery and Magic in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan of the Pentateuch and in the Toseftot Targum to the Prophets
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Rimon Kasher, Bar-Ilan University

The lecture will focus on three main topics. 1. The various elements of magic in Pseudo-Jonathan and in Targumic Toseftot, such as evil eye, curse, spells, and the name of God 2. The attitude towards magic in Pseudo-Jon. as compared to Targumic Toseftot 3. The Sitz im Leben of the mentioned Targums


Romance and Renunciation: Gender and Subversion in the Greek Novels and the Apocryphal Acts
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Katharine Haynes, The Open University, England

The shared cocktail of sometimes bizarre traits exhibited by the Greek Novels and the Apocryphal Acts has long been noted. Most recently Cooper (Virgin and the Bride, 1996: 45-6) has seen the use of novelistic motifs by the Apocryphal Acts as a deliberate attempt to invert ." . . the ideology of eros and the city's regeneration . . . seen in the ancient novel." It is the author's contention that the two sets of texts might actually be ideologically closer than previously believed. Both deploy the rhetoric of gender to signal their distance from certain societal norms. Instead of polarizing them into social and asocial standpoints, as Cooper has done, it is perhaps more fruitful to envisage them as existing at different points on a continuum of subversion. Gender can thus be shown to play a vital role in the construction of identity for smaller social groupings within the larger Empire. This strategy will demonstrate the fallacy of establishing a deep divide between Christian and so-called "pagan" social assumptions. Christianity did not exist in a vacuum. By identifying commonalties and subtle differences between Christian and non-Christian narratives one can perhaps start to recapture a sense of the richness and complexity of cultural discourse in the first few centuries CE.


Semantic Development of 'mlk' within the Council System of Ancient Mesopotamia
Program Unit: Ancient Near East
Min Suc Kee, Cheonan University

It is in the North-West Semitic languages that the root mlk in its meanings of 'to rule' and, as a noun, 'king' was most prominently used, so it may appear probable that the sense of 'to rule' in Akkadian was influenced from the northwest, as popularly asserted. However, I will argue that the ancient Mesopotamian texts, especially those describing the 'council,' seem rather to suggest that the semantic development of the Akkadian root mlk to 'to rule' and, as a noun, 'king' was determined by a particular cultural-political reality found on its own Mesopotamian soil.


Vision of Egyptian Magic in Midrash
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Rivka B. Kern-Ulmer, Bucknell University

Egypt is recognized as a major source of magic in rabbinic midrash of late antiquity. The texts refer to the magic prevalent in Alexandria and they mention magic bundles, tablets, and dogs. The presence of the Osiris myth in midrashic texts has been recognized since the 19th century. However, so far the reference to the Egyptian Osiris myth has been utilized in a diffuse manner and some elements of the myth have been neglected altogether. In midrash, remnants of the myth are applied to the recovery of Joseph's body, bones and his coffin, which are supposed to travel with the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. Within the different cycles of the myth, we find "magic dogs." This brings to mind the god Anubis who watched over the embalming of the deceased; in midrash, embalmers are routinely called "magicians." It is Moses who is confronted with the task of finding the coffin of Joseph, who is buried in a royal tomb or in the Nile. The magical devices employed by Moses to raise Joseph's coffin are different in the text-witnesses; MS Oxford 151 (Neubauer) mentions a "bundle" (Mekhilta, Lauterbach ed., p. 176)," which could refer to a magic bundle (as suspected by Heinemann, Agadot ve-toldotehen); other texts have tablets that Moses inscribed with the Tetragrammaton. This paper will attempt to explore references to Egyptian magic in midrash in their proper Egyptian context.


From Bi-polar to Multi-polar Understanding
Program Unit:
Rainer Kessler, University of Marburg

In this paper it is shown how the project “Through the eyes of another” challenges the traditional bi-polar hermeneutical model (with the author/sender and reader/receiver as the two poles). The present project indicates that the “reader”-pole should not be viewed to be singular, but should rather be understood as a plural position. Readers are linked together. The receiver of the text is not only one pole in the hermeneutical model, but rather a plurality of poles. The consequences of this shift from a bi-polar to a multi-polar hermeneutical model are examined in this paper.


God’s Answer on Job’s Charge
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Emke Jelmer Keulen, University of Groningen

Exegetes do not agree about the question to what extent the divine speeches answer Job’s charge with respect to the content. Does God examine the accusations and questions of Job in his answer or does he ignore them? This paper explores to what extent and how God goes into the speeches of Job. I will argue that God answers Job’s charge by depicting a ‘counter-image’. Some special attention will be paid to the position of the wicked in God’s reply. Their light is withheld (38,15) and it belongs to the divine task to tread them down (40,12). Do therefore also the divine speeches suppose a retributive thinking?


The Primacy of Immediate Small Group Identity: A Criticism of Nationalistic Interpretation of the First Century
Program Unit: Critical Theory and Biblical Interpretation
Heerak Christian Kim, University of Cambridge

Bruce Malina has stressed the need to examine first century identity in light of group identity. In the first century, individuals understood their identity primarily in light of their group and the values attached to them by others. The efforts of Malina to sensitize post-Enightment perceptions should be praised. However, the stress on group identity over individualism can be misleading if we do not question the impact that 19th century Nationalism, particularly in Europe, had on interpretation. Interpreters from Solomon Schechter to John Dominic Crossan have taken a type of generic national, or ethnic, consciousness in the first century for granted. I would argue that it was not such a generic identity that provided the primary identity marker but rather the group identity of the immediate group to which an individual belonged. Particularly enlightening in this regard is the example provided by the early Christians in the Johannine community.


An Apology for God: Psalms of Solomon 11 and Its Jerusalem Tradition
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Heerak Christian Kim, University of Cambridge

Psalms of Solomon 11 has often been examined with focus on its contribution to the understanding of redemptive ingathering in the Second Temple period. Ryle and James expertly showed that Psalms of Solomon utilized Old Testament sources for a systematic presentation of the redemptive ingathering concept. I would like to build on their research and to take it a step further. It is my thesis that Psalms of Solomon 11 functioned as an apology for God and his righteousness. The author of Psalms of Solomon used Old Testament passages, such as Joel 2 and Isaiah 35, strategically to prop up an ingathering concept and Jerusalem tradition that intentionally and purposefully exonerate God from any guilt associated with the collective memory of destruction (PsSol 2). God delivered Israel out of his pity and mercy (PsSol 11:2, 9) even though Israel as covenant breakers rightly deserved the judgment of the Day of the Lord. God used his miraculous works of deliverance (PsSol 11:5-7) so that Israel might have another chance to offer proper worship (PsSol 11:8) for the sake of divine glory.


Lexica and Grammars in the Syriac Tradition
Program Unit: Syriac Lexicography
George Kiraz, Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute

The aim of this paper is to give an account of the history of Syriac lexicography and grammar writing in the Syriac tradition, and to investigate if and how the methodologies employed in these early works can be used in a modern lexicographical project. While earlier works will be discussed, special attention will be given to the works of eighteenth and nineteenth century Syriac lexicographers and philologists such as Touma Oddo, Awgen Manna, and Clemis Joseph David.


The Fringe of the Head and the Hair of the Garment
Program Unit: Prophets
Anne Marie Kitz, Kenrick School of Theology

The custom of dispatching an individual's hair and fringe (of a garment) is attested in thirteen Mari letters connected with prophecy and oneiromancy. Not without merit, most would agree that these items were used in later extispicy sessions conducted on behalf of king Zimri-Lim to either confirm the divinatory message or determine whether action should be taken regarding it. Nevertheless, information garnered from other Akkadian texts in which hair and/or fringe are featured, show that these are intensely personal objects. We also learn that the initial act of cutting off something is in itself a ritual fraught with meaning. It confirms the irrevocable character of what has been given. ARM 26 153 is also informative. Here we find that items destined for dispatch, such as a clump of soil, could be divided into portions. This implies that the quantity of the items was large enough so as to allow for multiple uses. Even though it is true that the hair and fringe could be utilized in several extispicy sessions, this need not be their exclusive use. Additional Akkadian texts show that hair and fringe were frequently employed in incantation/malediction rituals performed by professional cursers. Whatever the final assessment may be, the cutting off and subsequent relinquishing of hair and fringe exposed these prophets and oneiromancers to a variety of potential dangers that the king was free to exploit for his benefit if ever the need should arise. This in turn suggests that at Mari these professions enjoyed a unique set of occupational hazards which left their practitioners vulnerable to risks far greater than what may have been previously imagined.


“How Can You Read John?!” The Pains and Pleasures of Reading the Fourth Gospel
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Ingrid Rosa Kitzberger, University of Münster

John’s story is perhaps the most peculiar biblical text and for sure the strangest among the four canonical Gospels. It is full of surprises, ambivalences, tensions, contradictions, gaps, unanswered questions, multiple twists and turns in the narrative ebb and flow, and finally a double ending without closure. Reading John is demanding, challenging, frustrating, liberating. A reader’s choice is between becoming either a resisting reader or an engaged reader. The paper reflects upon the multi-dimensional experience of a real flesh-and-blood reader reading between text and self, and the reconstruction of first readers in the Johannine community.


"Have I Not Seen the Lord?" Paul of Tarsus and Mary of Magdala
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Ingrid Rosa Kitzberger, University of Münster

This paper offers a new approach to two of the most prominent persons of Early Christianity who have so far been viewed in terms of conflict or exclusion, especially in feminist criticism. By drawing on the concept of virtual history and applying post-modern theory and autobiographical biblical criticism, encounters between Paul and Mary Magdalene are envisioned that open up new vistas at the interface between Pauline Literature and the Gospels and prepare the way toward a post-feminist hermeneutics.


'What concern is that to you and to me?' The OT as a Tutor for Reading John 2.1-12
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Edward Klink, University of St. Andrews

Jesus' response to his mother (John 2:4)has created confusion among commentators. Several explanations have been given for the harsh response that Jesus gives to Mary. The explanations are usually tied to some historical reconstruction of the semitic idiom or some theological purpose of Jesus. But this response by Jesus is not unique; a similar response was given by Elisha in a similar circumstance. By turning to the Elisha narratives we see that John 2:1-12, Jesus' first sign, has a literary and theological relationship to 2 Kings 3-4. This relationship allows Jesus to be seen from a prophetic perspecive; a perspective that both explains his response to his mother and helps define his 'signs' ministry.


A Solution for 2 Kings 17:1
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Yoshitaka Kobayashi, AIIAS

Most of the translations of 2 Kgs 17:1 mention that "in the twelfth year of Ahaz the king of Judah, Hoshea started to rule." However, Hoshea took the throne from Pekah and started to rule "in the twelfth year of Jotham the king of Judah" according to 2 Kgs 15:30. Since Ahaz became the king of Judah in the 17th year of Pekah (16:1-2), and Pekah ruled 20 years (15:27), Hoshea must have become the king of Israel in the fourth year of Ahaz. However, the seeming discrepancy of eight years can be solved only by another translation. Hoshea started to reign in the fourth year of Ahaz. "The twelfth year of Ahaz" corresponds to the last year of Hoshea, namely the 9th year of Hoshea. The eight-year reign (12-4) ended in the 9th year of Hoshea. "Hoshea ruled 9 years" in the inclusive reckoning. The following translation may be suggested. "In the twelfth year of Ahaz the king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah had been king in Samaria over Israel nine years." Since the author already mentioned the beginning of the reign of Hoshea in 2 Kgs 15:30, the author wanted to write the last year of Hoshea in 2 Kgs 17:1 "In the twelfth year of Ahaz the king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah had been king in Samaria over Israel nine years," and to supply the events leading to this last year of Hoshea in 17:2-5. Therefore, if all these events are translated into pluperfect, there is no need to consider 2 Kgs 17:1 as a mistake, and there is no more discrepancy between 15:30 and 17:1.


Historicity of Nimrod in Prehistory
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Yoshitaka Kobayashi, AIIAS

Nimrod movement in Genesis chapter 10 and a prehistoric movement in Mesopotamia may be the same movement. (1) Gen 10:8 mentions that Nimrod became the first world power in the land of Mesopotamia after the Flood. Ubaid culture is also the first culture that ruled the whole area of Mesopotamia, probably founded by a leader like Nimrod. (2) Both cultures are the same in the mode of development. At first, Nimrod established his kingdom in Babylonia. Later it was extended to Assyria northward, and covered the entire Mesopotamia. Ubaid culture also started in southern Mesopotamia, then extended to the north and covered the whole Mesopotamia. (3) Nimrod movement was probably a religious movement as the phrase "before" Yahweh is interpreted by some as "blessed of" Yahweh. Ubaid culture was also a religious culture that did not make images like the ancient Hebrews and Moslems. (4) Both movements are similar in the order of events. Nimrodic movement preceded the tower building. Ubaid culture also preceded Uruk culture when the ziggurat-towers and large buildings were built. (5) Only a seeming dissimilarity is the periods of the two movements. As we read the biblical text, we get the impression that Nimrod himself established his kingdom in the south, and later expanded his kingdom to Assyria further north, but Ubaid culture flourished about 500 years in southern Mesopotamia before expanding to the north. It is difficult to consider that Nimrod ruled more than 500 years. However, "he" (v.11) could be interpreted as one of his successors according to other biblical examples.


A New Proposal for the Structure of the Pericope Database
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
Marjo C. A. Korpel, Utrecht University

One of the first goals of the Pericope-group has been to build a database from which Bible scholars would be able to draw data with regard to unit delimitation in biblical texts they are working on. There is an urgent need for this kind of data because on the one hand different colometrical division and paragraphing are a major cause of dissent among exegetes, whereas on the other hand textual data with regard to unit delimitation in ancient manuscripts has been neglected in almost all scholarly editions of the Bible. Unfortunately several attempts to find funding for the database have failed, as was reported at previous meetings of the Pericope group. A new proposal for the implementation of an affordable, yet powerful database on unit delimitation in ancient manuscripts of the Bible has been put up for discussion by me on the Pericope web site and will shortly be further discussed during the business meeting. From a methodical point of departure it is important to know what exactly should be incorporated in the database. Drawing from previous publications by myself and others I shall try to illustrate the importance of text demarcation for exegesis. Differences of opinion with regard to the evaluation of various traditions will be discussed. I intend to defend the position that no data should be excluded out of hand. Proposals for the database which were put forward during previous meetings will be integrated in this paper (e.g. the importance of the pausa-forms, as has been stressed by Revell and Sanders). This introduction to the database proposal will be accompanied by screenshots of the preliminary database and by printed examples of some of its records.


Switching Universes: Moving from a Cosmology of Fear and Animosity to One of Reconciliation in Colossians
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
Fritz Kruger, Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerk Leerdam, KwaZulu-Natal

In the letter to the Colossians, conversion is presented as (amongst others) being rescued from the dominion of darkness and being brought into the kingdom of God's beloved Son (cf. Col 1:13). At least three different cosmological narratives can be constructed on the basis of the material presented in this letter, two of which (popular pagan and Jewish apocalyptic mystical) qualify as belonging to the dominion of darkness, and one (Christ-centered) as belonging to the sphere of the kingdom of God's Son. Both the popular pagan and Jewish apocalyptic mystical cosmological narratives are characterized by fear and cosmic alienation, as well as a struggle for power and-ethically speaking-animosity. The Christ-centered cosmological narrative, on the other hand, is characterized by Christ's redemptive victory over cosmic powers (as well as the resultant effects of their dominion), and therefore by the joint themes of reconciliation and peace. In this proposed paper, these themes will be explored in terms of the ethical systems suggested by the various cosmological narratives: a cosmology of fear and of struggle against metaphysical and/or historical power, invariably results in an ethic of animosity (strangely accompanied by ascetisicsm), as characterized by distorted interpersonal relationships, sexual, verbal, and perhaps even physical violence, as well as all the various manifestations of untruthfulness. (cf. Col 3:5-11). Alternatively, a cosmology based on the redemptive work and victory of Christ results in an ethic of peace, reconciliation and service to others, as described in concepts like compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love and peace (cf. Col 3:12-17). It will therefore be suggested that manifestations of animosity in our own world/cultures should neither be discussed nor dealt with in fundamentalistic or legalistic terms, but rather in terms of cosmological contexts.


Joy in Paradise (Lost)
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
P. P. Kruger, Potchefstroom University

Genesis 2:4-4:26 is usually seen as a narrative about the bliss and commission that the first human couple received in Jahweh's garden, their failure to live up to responsibilities and the dire consequences of their rebellion against Jahweh. As such it is text of disappointment, animosity and conflict. This paper explores the text as a narrative of joyful discoveries and expectations, inviting the reader further into the book of Genesis. As a continuous narrative, set between material usually assigned to a priestly origin, the text displays a unity. At the same time it can be divided into three subtexts (Genesis 2, 3 and 4), each displaying characteristics of a climactic narrative. In each of these narratives joy is expressed in a distinctive way. Expressions of joy are used in significant positions and with special functions within each of the narratives and within the larger text of Genesis 2:4-4:26. Joy persists even when paradise is lost, It sets the tone for worship.


On Emotions and the Expression of Emotions in the Hebrew Bible
Program Unit: Methods in Hebrew Bible Studies
Paul A. Kruger, University of Stellenbosch

The subject of emotion is neglected in Hebrew Bible studies and deserves extensive treatment. If one glances, for example, through the indexes and tables of contents of Hebrew Bible encyclopedias and monographs on its theology and cultural issues, one searches in vain for a contribution on "emotion/emotional expressions." Emotions are, however, such fundamental characteristics of human nature that no culture, including that of the Hebrew Bible, can be fully comprehended without also taking cognisance of this central facet of humankind. This paper (1) surveys and evaluates some of the studies that have been published up to now on this subject field. It furthermore illustrates (2) what interesting results may be gained when emotions such as shame/guilt and distress (depression) are approached in terms of certain insights from the disciplines of cross-cultural psychology, and (3) anger and fear from the perspective of cognitive anthropology.


Die Töchter der Medeia. Zaubernde Frauen in der griechisch-hellenistischen Welt
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Christiane Kunst, Potsdam

Die Tradition zaubernder Frauen reicht weit in den griechischen Mythos zurück. Das Paper untersucht den tiefgreifenden Wandel, dem das Bild der „Zauberinnen’ unterliegt. Zu diesem Zweck wird die Rezeption des Mythos von Kirke und Medeia neben die dokumentarischen und literarischen Quellen gestellt, die weibliche Zauberei belegen. Während die literarischen Quellen ein geschlossenes Bild weiblichen Zaubers ergeben, sind die dokumentarischen Quellen der Zaubertafeln wesentlich unspezifischer und zeigen, daß Frauen und Männer gleichermaßen zaubern. Abgesehen von der spezifisch weiblichen Domäne Schwangerschaft und Geburt gibt es kein spezifisch weibliches Zauberobjekt. Obwohl Frauen und Männer - etwa beim Liebeszauber - unterschiedliche Ziele verfolgen, ist es schwierig von einer spezifisch weiblichen Zauberpraxis zu sprechen. Vielmehr sind verschiedene antike Diskurse über Frauen und Zauberei mit unterschiedlichen Paradigmen auszumachen. Auffällig ist die Ambivalenz bei der Bewertung weiblichen Zaubers. Auf der einen Seite steht die im Zaubervorwurf enthaltene potentielle Bedrohung von Oikos/domus und Polisordnung durch das Weibliche, das in gewisser Weise suspekt bleibt. In diesem Kontext wird die allgemeine Angst vor Bann und Fluch zur Konstruktion der Geschlechterrollen instrumentalisiert. Auf der anderen Seite steht die mit der Zauberei eng verbundene von Frauen praktizierte Heilkunde zum Nutzen des Haushalts. Erst allmählich wird die Heilkunde gleichsam entweiblicht und als schädliche Zauberei gebranntmarkt bzw. der weibliche Beitrag in diesem Bereich marginalisiert.


Metaphors on God in Lamentations
Program Unit: Metaphors in the Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Antje Labahn, Kiel University

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Christians, Jews and Gentiles: Inter-faith Relationships and Identity in the Gospel of Philip
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Minna Laine, University of Helsinki

The Gospel of Philip is one of the most important works of Nag Hammadi Library. It probably originates in Syria, and it is a collection of various teachings usually considered to be Valentinian Christian by nature. The material collected in the Gospel of Philip is highly polemical towards Jews and Gentiles alike. "The Hebrews" are considered to be orphans and clearly spiritually inferior to true Christians. The Jewish religious symbols, like temple and circumcision, are, however, given also positive meanings, although they are interpreted in a quite radical fashion. Gentiles are also polemized: they are said "never to have lived", and naturally they are inferior to Christians as well. The practice of animal sacrifice is criticized, and gods accepting animal sacrifices are identified as evil "powers", trying to deceive men. In my paper I'm going to study these polemical passages in the Gospel of Philip and examine, how the Christian identity is defined in the means of contrasting Christians with Jews and Gentiles. I'm going to argue that the group behind the gospel is a group of Syrian Valentinians with firmly Jewish roots.


A Late Babylonian Tablet
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
W. G. Lambert, Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity

In recent years Late Babylonian cuneiform tablets have come to light dealing with a community of Jews in what is called "Jews' Town." They are in good late Babylonian scribal form, and many problems are raised by them. This paper will deal with one particularly intersting example.


Isaiah 2: Torah and Terror
Program Unit: Prophets
Francis Landy, University of Alberta

Research on the book of Isaiah is highly contested, and has undergone a paradigm shift in the last twenty years. In particular, the diachronic study of the composition of the text has been supplemented by that of its compilation by a scribal elite in the Persian or Hellenistic periods, and by literary approaches. My work, as part of a larger project on Isaiah, is situated in the latter context; I am interested in how the book functions as poetry, and how poetry responds to catastrophe. This entails very close reading of selected passages. In this paper I intend to look at two dramatically contrasted eschatological visions, programmatically introduced in ch. 2, with which the book may have once begun. The first (2.2-4) heralds an era of peace and justice under the universal aegis of Torah; the second (2.6-22) predicts the terrifying advent of the day of the Lord, and the reduction to impotence of the symbols of human pride. The two visions are structural opposites: I will examine the rhetorical techniques through which they are interconnected and confront each other; the presence or absence of gender; and their relationship to the fundamental problematics of the book.


Prophecy and Personality in 1 Kings
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Stuart Lasine, Wichita State University

After the death of Solomon, the stories detailing the reigns of the Northern kings are increasingly dominated by prophets. In this paper, I examine two such narratives: the perplexing account of the encounter between the old prophet of Bethel and the man of God from Judah (1 Kgs 13) and stories concerning Elijah (1 Kgs 17-19). In 1 Kgs 13 the narrator offers little or no explicit information about the characters' personalities, intentions, or motives, a fact which many scholars take to imply that intentions are irrelevant in this supposed "lesson" on radical obedience. In contrast, 1 Kgs 17-19 provides a great deal of information about Elijah's personality, both in his unprecedented healing of the widow's son, and through allusions which contrast Elijah with the prophet Moses. I will demonstrate that the issue of intention remains crucial for determining whether radical obedience is actually the lesson taught by 1 Kgs 13. Similarly, one must take account of the way in which Elijah's personality is presented, if one is make an accurate assessment of his indictment of Israel at Horeb. I will conclude by drawing some broader conclusions concerning the rhetorical functions of characterization in biblical narrative.


Instructions about Various Public Offerings in Numbers 28:1-30:1: A Conceptual Approach
Program Unit: Concept Analysis and the Hebrew Bible
Won W. Lee, Calvin College

Conceptual analysis is called such because it includes a methodological focus on the conceptual aspects of texts in exegesis. In brief, this approach views the nature of texts as conceptualized linguistic-semantic entities; it pays attention to the information gained from both the surface of a text and the subsurface textual level; it attempts to reconstruct the infratextual conceptual system operative in the text; and it utilizes a set of terms-concept, composition, and structure-in a distinct way from other critical methods. Questions emerge: what influences the methodological development in the contemporary period has for the arrival of this approach; how it is related to other text-centered methods, especially in their employment of technical terms; and how exegetes go about identifying and determining a text's concepts and thus reconstructing a coherent relationship among them. In addition to addressing these questions, the paper will demonstrate how conceptual analysis works in an actual exegesis on Numbers 28:1-30:1 (English 28:1-29:40). In so doing, the paper intends to show how exegesis of a text and conceptualization as a method complement and even enhance each other.


The Function of Solar Imagery in Psalm 84
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Joel LeMon, Emory University

Shemesh--the sun--is a significant topos in several psalm texts; Ps 84 however, is only psalm that explictly associates the sun with Yahweh: "For Yahweh is a sun and shield" (v. 12). This paper discusses the function and significance of the overt solar language for Yahweh in this particular genre, pilgrim song. Throughout the psalm, the psalmist characterizes Yahweh as an immanent and transcendent deity, the ruler of heaven, and the sponsor of the king. Solar iconography in the ANE demonstrates that the psalm's portrayal of Yahweh is consistent with the characteristics attributed to the sun god. Further, ANE images and texts reveal another significant implication of the solar imagery in Ps 84:12; contrary to modern astrological understandings, in ANE literature and art, the sun is fundamentally in motion. Calling Yahweh "sun" thus characterizes him as a god in motion, like the pilgrims who seek his presence. In this plgrim psalm Yahweh is an all powerful, heavenly traveler who guides and protects the faithful who trek to Zion to worship him.


George Schumann's Ruth: A Case Study of the Cultural Transformation of a Biblical Book through Libretto and Music
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Helen Leneman, University of Amsterdam

The 1908 oratorio Ruth by German composer Georg Schumann (1866-1952) is a powerful example of a biblical story's transformation into a different medium. Schumann's retelling will challenge many of our traditional assumptions, both conscious and unconscious, about the book of Ruth. Music is midrash: it retells the story in a different language. Music has the power to read between the lines and fill in the gaps, and to create an inner world of the heart and mind. While the librettos fill in various gaps from the original story, the music continually, wordlessly and through various techniques, fills in the gaps of people's feelings. Schumann's libretto, which he wrote, is a mix of extended biblical passages-Ruth together with, notably, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs-with "biblicized" verses blended in. Naomi's role is greatly expanded, and she has several long solos. For dramatic purposes, Schumann makes Naomi a towering, tragic figure. He makes Ruth a woman of great passion, as heard in moments of Isolde-type music (as in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde). This oratorio has an unusual history. It was popular in Germany until 1936. The Nazis refused to allow a performance in 1942. Schumann saved the music by altering the libretto (the new setting is China) and re-naming the work Lied der Treue, and the altered work was performed three times. The original Ruth was subsequently reconstructed and performed for the last time until now in 1946, with Schumann conducting on his 80th birthday. The work was recently revived and performed in Berlin, in November of 2003, a performance I attended. This paper will include musical excerpts and a PowerPoint presentation of archival material related to Schumann's music and life.


Fingerprints of a Poet: 2 Timothy 1:9–10 & 2:11–13 and Philippians 2:5–11
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Heikki Leppa, University of Helsinki

I am going to compare the two poetical sections of the 2. Timothy with the hymn of Phil. 2: 5–11. The origin of the hymn in Phil. is itself a disputed issue: is it pre-Pauline or not? This uncertainty does not, however, refute the fact that it was Paul who put the hymn into his letter. Therefore we might learn something about the author of 2.Tim. when we study the texts together. First I shall concentrate on the vocabulary of the three sections: is it Pauline or not? Is it possible to draw any conclusion about the author of each of the three relatively short pericopae? Next I shall analyze what kind of theology is represented. Are the christological statements mutually compatible or not. In each case we have to ask, is it probable — or even possible — that the text has Pauline origin. Finally I shall look at the function of these hymns in their context. How the texts and their contexts fit together? The basic question is: do the three sections show similar or different technique of using poem as a part of a letter.


Who Are ‘Blemishes on Your Love-Feasts’ in the Epistle of Jude?
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Outi Leppa, University of Helsinki

Jude 12 blames false teachers who are “blemishes on your love-feasts, while they feast with you without fear feeding themselves”. Since the teachers participated in common meals, they seem to work as full members of the church. The danger which they caused was likely focused on their presence at the meals since during the gatherings teaching and prophecy took place. Besides, the words “feast with you without fear feeding themselves” indicates problems concerning their behavior at the meal-table. It is often interpreted that the teachers behaved selfishly like the persons in 1 Cor 11:20-22 who did not attend the needs of their poorer brothers and sisters. Yet the shocking character of the opponents’ teaching is so strongly emphasized in Jude 11 that just the gluttonous behavior was unlikely the central problem. The teachers are compared with Korah’s sons who rebelled Moses which indicates that their teaching is against the Mosaic law. Therefore, I contend that the central problem could be in connection with the Jewish food laws. I assume that the teachers opposed in Jude are Christians who do not follow food rules which the Jewish Christian author of Jude regards necessary. This type of Christians can be found e.g. in Colossians. In Col 2:16-22 the rules concerning food and drink are called as regulations which ‘refer to things that perish with use’ and ‘human commands and teachings’. So the author takes an uncompromising stand against all such regulations. Jude and Colossians have also diverging attitudes towards angel veneration. While Jude condemns the persons who “slander the glorious ones”, the angels (8), Colossians oppose those who insist in the worship of angels (2:18). The purpose of this paper is to show that the persons opposed in Jude could be itinerant teachers from the community among which Colossians was written.


Jeremiah 26 and the Citation of Micah 3:12
Program Unit: Prophets
Mark Leuchter, Hebrew College

Scholars have long struggled with the citation of Micah 3:12 in Jeremiah 26, the only place in the prophetic Canon where another prophetic text is overtly quoted and credited. Much of the difficulty concerning the citation revolves around the phrase BMWT Y'R, generally regarded as ambiguous in both the Mican and Jeremianic contexts and leaving scholars debating over whether or not the phrase and the literature surrounding it possess cultic dimensions. Consequently, most scholars translate the phrase in a general poetic sense as "a wooded height", referring to both prophets' prediction that Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins. The phrase BMWT Y'R, however, may constitute an allusion to Kiriath Yearim(the once-home of the Ark), lending a decidedly cultic connotation to both the Mican and Jeremianic use of the phrase and thus a more complex (though subtle) polemical tone. This paper seeks to address the ramifications of such a reading, suggesting that Jeremiah 26 as a whole is structured upon this understanding of the Micah quote and must be viewed as a unified composition (contra those who view vv.17-24 as later additions). Furthermore, the paper will propose a significant sacral role played by Kiriath Yearim in the pre-Monarchic period and the impact this had upon Davidic politics and subsequent prophetic discourse. Finally, the paper will explore the hermeneutical implications of this reading with respect to a categorization of the prophetic tradition at the hands of the exilic scribe or scribes responsible for the shape of the chapter and the Jeremianic corpus en masse.


Jeroboam the Ephratite
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Mark Leuchter, Hebrew College

The Deuteronomistic History presents Jeroboam b. Nebat as an apostate of prototypically Ephraimite stock who is almost single-handedly responsible for the schism between Israel and Judah and the eventual fall of the north to Assyria. Much of this arises, however, from dramatic reworking of the early literary sources concerning Jeroboam's historical activity. An analysis of these sources-focusing upon a separation of the Deuteronomistic and early compositional layers in 1 Kgs 11-12 -- suggests that Jeroboam was selected by Ahijah not to lead a northern secession from the United Monarchy but to replace the Solomonic circles in Jerusalem and retain the integrity of the kingdom. This paper will explore the possibility that Ahijah's selection of Jeroboam was based on the latter's own association with the city of Ephratah (MT 1 Kgs 11:26), the hometown of David, and his affiliation with the influential Perezites, David's patrilineal clan. It was only after a broader public rejection of Solomonic circles at the Shechemite assembly (1 Kgs 12:1-24) that Jeroboam strengthened his ties to northern communities and traditions, alienating the Shilonites who had once supported him. The resulting castigation of Jeroboam among the Shilonites provided the basis for the Deuteronomistic rhetoric that transformed him into the archetype of northern treason against the house of David.


A Magic Bowl
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Dan Levene, University of Southampton

Moussaieff 164 is a previously unpublished bowl in Jewish Aramaic. It contains an incantation that was commissioned by a certain Achandad son of Batgada (literally: 'the lucky one') and Sami daugher of the Persian (woman), his wife. It alleges protection against demons by means of a series of adjurations and threats. The text concludes with three verses. This bowl text is written in a very clear hand and is well structured. Some of its more unusual features include the mention of 'Metatron the prince of the countenance,' and a rare quotation from the Mishna. This paper will consist of a detailed description of the bowl and a discussion of its most interesting features.


'Just as the fire did not touch them so too may the demons not afflict ...'
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Dan Levene, University of Southampton

An example of the use of biblical motifs as similia similibus in a magic bowl, in particular the motif of Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah in the midst of the fiery furnace (Daniel). The text will be presented with a translation and annotation.


'God bestowed on Christ the Name above all names' (Philippians 2.9)
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte, Theologische Universiteit Kampen

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Magic and Hellenistic Judaism: The Eighth Book of Moses
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte, Theologische Universiteit Kampen

Ever since the nineteenth century the concept of 'magic' has been used to describe a manipulation of the transcendent world by a sorcerer. The border with 'religion' appears a fluid one. The Magical Papyri do not only give an impression of the use of magic, but also offer us important information on the interaction between Judaism and its pagan surroundings. The present paper studies this interaction on the basis of the Eighth Book of Moses (P. Leid. J 395 = PGM XIII). Its text has been published by Albrecht Dieterich (1891), and Karl Preisendanz (1931), and is offered in an English translation by Hans Dieter Betz (1986). Morton Smith presented an analysis of the composition (1984 & amp.; 1986). This paper aims at an evaluation of its importance for our knowledge of Hellenistic Judaism, and argues that this particular text is important for our understanding of the interaction of Jewish religion and pagan cults.


The Eschatological Wisdom of the Epistle of James and 4QInstruction: An Initial Investigation
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Darian Lockett, University of St. Andrews

One line of current research on the Epistle of James focuses upon the interrelationships between traditional wisdom, prophetic, and eschatological material. Though older arguments have identified the epistle's debt to Jewish wisdom literature in general, I propose to investigate the combination of eschatological and sapiential concerns in James. My approach will center on the hypothesis that the eschatological and sapiential material show prior indication of amalgamation. Therefore, rather than seeking to isolate a controlling tradition as others have done, I will explore the degree to which these traditions are in fact integrated. I will consider such integration by comparing James with the intertestamental Jewish wisdom document 4QInstruction. In comparing these documents special attention will be given to isolating the characteristics of literary form and thematic content. First, I will isolate the texts' literary forms typically associated with wisdom literature. Second, sapiential and eschatological themes or content will be identified. I will specifically argue that (1) 4QInstruction and James are both examples of wisdom paraenesis; that (2) both texts extend traditional sapiential themes to include an eschatological worldview; and, therefore, (3) James is not novel in combining these two traditions. That is to say, it was a recognized move to mix or extend sapiential motifs into an eschatological horizon as demonstrated in 4QInstruction which originates from within the general milieu of Second Temple Judaism. Therefore, I conclude that (4) the eschatological material in James may be accounted for from within this current combination of wisdom and eschatology evident from precedents within Jewish wisdom literature.


The Discourse on Power and Weakness in Hebrews
Program Unit: Hebrews
Hermut Löhr, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn

Early Christian thought can aptly be described as an ongoing discourse on power and weakness. The paper tries to describe the contribution of Hebrews to this discourse. It makes use of new insights into discourse analysis.


Can Paul Be Redeemed? A Consideration of the Agonistic Tendency in the Pauline Tradition
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
J. A. (Bobby) Loubser, University of Zululand

In recent times a number of scholars have depicted the apostle Paul as a partisan and belligerent figure. This characteristic is then contrasted with the ethic of love that is explicitly stated in his main epistles, often only stopping short of calling him a hypocrite. This finding is often presented within the paradigm of an inexorable power struggle between various early Christian sects. This also provides the occasion to describe Pauline Christianity as a deformation of the Jesus tradition. My paper investigates the animosity expressed against opponents and asks the question whether the figure of Paul can be redeemed in any way. For this I shall consider the verbal conventions operating in conflict situations in the rhetorical culture of the first century. I shall also compare the "agonistic tone" of the Pauline corpus with agonistic rhetoric in traditional oral cultures. The outcome of this study will serve to interpret the Christian Scriptures in a way that sensitises us to peace issues.


Icon and Inscription: Pre-Exilic Stamp Seals
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Meir Lubetski, Baruch College

Most studies of Hebrew pre-Exilic seals have concentrated almost exclusively on deciphering and interpreting inscribed seals. The treatment of the iconography on the stamp seals was confined to a mere description. Iconic Hebrew pre-exilic seals are especially intriguing as they reflect independent artistic minds and also illustrate the influence of foreign figurative designs. This paper attempts to analyze a few stamp seals found in the Moussaieff collection. Both the iconic aspects of the seals as well as their epigraphic features will be discussed. The combination of image and text provides insights into the role of the seal stamps for their original owner. Furthermore, it opens new vistas to understanding pre-Exilic Hebrews and their choice of ornaments and symbols.


The Nazoreans' Commentary on Isaiah
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Petri Luomanen, University of Helsinki

The Nazoreans are generally known as a Jewish-Christian sect that was still active in the late fourth century. Epiphanius is the first church father who characterizes this "heresy" but his description (Panarion 29) is based on second hand information and he does not quote any Nazorean writing. Jerome quotes several times a gospel that was used by the Nazoreans. Although he claims to have translated the gospel the quotations are-at least partly-derived from other church fathers, Origen in particular. This leaves the fragments that Jerome quoted form the Nazoreans' Commentary on Isaiah as the most reliable first-hand information about the Nazoreans' theological reflection. This paper examines Jerome's quotations from the Nazoreans' commentary paying special attention to the question of what the fragments tell about the Nazoreans' relation to Judaism. The paper argues that in the light of the commentary, the "Jewishness" of the Nazoreans was heavily exaggerated by the church fathers. The Nazoreans were in touch with Rabbinic Judaism but were extremely critical of its traditions and fully accepted Paul's proclamation. Though they may have followed some Jewish customs they were regarded as heretics mainly because they represented Syriac speaking Christianity that was not under the jurisdiction of Rome.


The Receptions of the Name in Early Christian Gnostic Texts
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Gerard Luttikhuizen, University of Groningen

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Creation and Eschatology in 4QInstruction
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Grant Macaskill, University of St. Andrews

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Case Studies of Intercultural Bible Reading: From Four Different Continents
Program Unit:
Larry Madrigal, Biblistas Populares de El Salvador

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The Study of the Texts from Qumran: A Groningen Perspective
Program Unit:
Florentino García Martínez, University of Groningen

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Hindrances to Learning and How to Avoid or Circumvent Them
Program Unit: Pedagogy
Heather McKay, Edge Hill College

This workshop will explore a selection of factors that interrupt the learning process: self-doubt, inertia, lack of imagination, lack of confidence/trust, physical or emotional discomfort, and a sense of exclusion from the group. Insights from multiple intelligence theory, the use of multi-sensory input and changes of roles will be involved in the seeking for "answers."


From Text to Artifact at Bethsaida
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Elizabeth M. McNamer, Rocky Mount College

Josephus tells us that Philip Herod renamed Bethsaida "Julias"and elevated it to a polis in the year 30 because of "the grandeur of its population" (Ant. 18.28). This has caused many to speculate whether in fact the town being excavated in Galilee is Bethsaida. It does not look like a Graeco Roman city. Apart from the small temple of Julia, which Philip built that year, it lacks the features of a Roman town. It does not have a theater, a gymnasium or an agora. It appears to have been a small town with a population of mainly fishermen. However Herod Philip died shortly after his renaming of Bethsaida as a Roman city (Josephus says in the thirty- seventh year of his reign which started in 6 B.C.E.) This would have left little time for extensive building. Examining the gospels, we see that it was precisely in such places as the site we have excavated over the past fifteen years, that Jesus operated. He did not enter large cities, except for Jerusalem. There is no mention in the gospels of his having gone to Tiberius or Beth Shean. The parables of Jesus, the sayings of Jesus, the acts of Jesus indicated that he mingled with laboring people, often with outcasts and the marginalized. Mention is made of fishing gear, grinding stones, cooking, wine making, all of which takes place at Bethsaida. This paper will co-relate the gospel accounts of Jesus with the findings at the site of Bethsaida.


"And there are none to say, Restore!" Sforno's Commentary on the Pentateuchal Poetry
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Amira Meir, Israel

Ovadia Sforno's (c. 1470 – c. 1550) commentary on the Torah is a sequel to Medieval commentary, yet at the same time, marks a new beginning. That Sforno is following in the footsteps of Medieval commentators who preceeded him is clear from the fact that he largely bases himself on Biblical verses and on existing commentary tradition, although he does not usually mention the name of his predecessors. The fact that he marks a new beginning in his commentary can be seen through his ideas, which are influenced by those of the Renaissance, thus Sforno emphasizes the love for man in general, and not only for fellow Jews. Sforno, who was born in Cesena, Italy, differs in his perspective from Medieval Bible commentators, especially from Ibn Ezra and Ramban. The image of man that he presents, and his overall approach to mankind, is typical of the 16th century, when the superiority of mankind was celebrated, and so, for Sforno "all humanity is considered as a treasure to You" (ie. to God) (Deu. 33:3). Yet, Sforno emphasizes throughout his commentary in general, and in his introduction to Psalms in particular, the dependency of man upon God. This paper examines how Sforno related to Pentateuchal poetry: did he recognize in it special characteristics such as rhythm and rhyme or unique metaphorical usages? Sforno, like many other commentators who wrote on the poetic passages in the Bible, did not differentiate systematically between Pentateuchal prose and poetry, nor did he treat them in substantially different ways; ie. Sforno, like many other Medieval Bible commentators, did not recognize the uniqueness of Biblical poetry, and did not define it as a genre in its own right.


The Torah within Pauline Ethics
Program Unit: Torah and Ethics in the New Testament (EABS)
Martin Meiser, University of Mainz

Concerning the role of the Torah in Pauline ethics there is no consensus in current research. Sometimes various levels of Pauline theology (the foundation of ethics; the distinct instructions) are wrongly mingled or other aspects of Pauline theology (e.g. Christology) are neglected. My contribution seeks to embed Paul's ethic within his theology as a whole and to compare it on its various levels to other Jewish, Greek/Roman, and Christian authors.


Father, Son, Lover & Mother: Jesus’ Many Family Roles in Psychoanalytic Readings of the Gospels
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Petri Merenlahti, University of Helsinki

Drawing on psychoanalytic criticism and studies in ancient Greco-Roman ideas of masculinity and femininity, this paper focuses on the filial, manly, feminine and motherly aspects of Jesus’ portrayal in the New Testament Gospels.


The "Apilum" of Mari: A Reappraisal
Program Unit: Prophets
Paolo Merlo, Pontificia Universita Lateranense

In the recent works on ancient Near Eastern prophecy, the analysis of the terms for "prophet" has been a matter of great importance. Although it is often difficult to connect etymologies of the prophetic designations with the exact functions of the related specialists, I propose a new interpretation of the term "apilum" in the prophetic texts from Mari that could do more justice to the evidence. Starting from some Eblaite glosses already noted some years ago by P. Fronzaroli, I will analyse the Mari evidence in order to verify the opportunity of translating "apilum" with "interpreter/proclaimer" instead of the usual "answerer." The translation of apilum with interpreter/proclaimer would also support the thesis that this specialist could give the oracles spontaneously, without being influenced by queries or other techniques to obtain the divine response.


The Fictitious Self-regulation of Paul: Towards an Adequate Hermeneutic of Early Christian Pseudepigraphy
Program Unit: Catholic Epistles
Annette Merz, University of Utrecht

Using textanalytical oriented intertextual theory this lecture intends to formulate a new understanding of early Christian pseudepigraphy which does justice to both: the claim of the pseudepigrapha to be orthonym writings and the fact of their later origin. Several examples drawn from the Pastoral epistles will serve to demonstrate the effective working of literary strategies exclusively characteristic to works that falsely trade under the name of a well known author combining concealed intertextuality (as e.g. the concealed onomastic reference to Paul as author) and intended intertextuality in various forms of fictional self-references. This specific intertextual structure of Pauline pseudepigraphy demands a reading in close connection with the orthonym epistles and leads in numerous cases to a modification of the possible meaning of the alluded Pauline originals. In some cases the emerging (fictional) self-modification of Paul is to my opinion clearly intentional. It can thus be used as a hint to competing interpretations of the Pauline letters in the post-Pauline decades and must lead to a critical hermeneutic of pseudepigraphy that is aware of the process of restricting the understanding of the original Pauline texts with the means of fictional self-references.


Whom Does the Term Yahad Identify?
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Sarianna Metso, Albion College

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The Meaning of Pseudepigraphy in Apocalyptic Literature
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Paul Metzger, University of Mainz

This paper deals with the question of the function of pseudepigraphy. I want to examine why authors when writing an apocalypse decided to pass it on not under their own but under the identity of a prominent figure of the past. Normally, we answer this question with reference to the ancient tradition that in case of a certain discipleship an author would have chosen a figure to which he has a special relationship. Yet, I would like to ask if there are any other explanations of this phenomenon: Possibly, an author did not only want to strengthen the authority of his work but also had an interest regarding the content and interpretation of his scripture. By analysing e.g. II Baruch and IV Esra I will demonstrate that the choice of a certain pseudonym has a direct influence on the understanding of the whole work.


Why Biblical Books are to be Used as a Medium Within a Canonical Approach
Program Unit: The Method of the Canonical Approach (EABS)
Matthias Millard, Universität Salzburg

Within the canonical approach individual texts are normally combined with other biblical texts: the canon is regarded as a Macro-text in which every detail can be interpreted in the light of any other one. But as we know from the discussion of the formation of the canon (and the different canons) this Macro-text is divided into firm parts: larger parts like the 'Torah,' 'Prophets,' and 'Scriptures' in the Hebrew canon, but also the biblical books which are the units that shape the canon. This paper tries to argue that biblical books are the horizon and a necessary context of the individual texts, and that this context helps to understand how these individual texts are part of the Bible. So biblical books have a typical tendency, topic, and function within the arrangement of the canon, and the individual texts are part of this. The examples of interpretation are from the book of Judges.


Causal Sschemata, Role-adoption and the Crisis in Galatia
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Dieter Mitternacht, Lund University

This paper combines a rhetorical-critical reading of Paul's letter to the Galatians with insights from social cognition theory. It claims that the core issue of the letter is not that Gentile Christ-believers wanted to be circumcised because they feared God's judgment of the unrighteous. Instead they sought to avoid negative societal exposure, marginalisation and suffering by way of becoming members of the local Jewish communities. Having demonstrated through rhetorical-critical text analysis a disparity between Paul's and the addressees' idea about "the truth of the good news" for this particular situation, causal schemata and role-adoption theories are used to explain the dynamics of the disparity. It is argued that the two basic outlooks on the Christian life that run into each other are not, as often argued, the inclusive view of Paul and the exclusive view of the "judaizers." Rather, it is Paul's claim that one should adopt the role of the crucified Christ together with his highly competitive and success oriented view of the Christian life that collides with the "normal" Christian life of the Galatian Christ-believers. The disagreement between Paul and the Gentile Christ-believers in Galatia was not on whether or not the crucified Christ was sufficient for salvation but rather whether or not the crucified Christ demanded an imitatio Christi crucifixi from his followers.


The Importance of Contextual Location in Biblical Interpretation
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Judy Morishima-Nelson, Fuller Theological Seminary

I am concerned in hermeneutical method with issues of contextualization which transcend standard categories of frminist and specialized ethnic minority status (e.g. African-American or Asian hermeneutics). I am working to develop a hermeneutical method which utilizes categories of marginalization and experiences of suffering and oppression to illuminate aspects of biblical texts otherwise little-noticed by interpreters of dominant ethnic/social/economic backgrounds. My thesis is that the Bible is more appropriately interpreted from the point of view of marginalized populations such as the compilers of the Hebrew Bible in the Persian/Babylonian diaspora and the pre-Constantinian Christian church; and that interpretation from the perspective of dominant populations such as white male middle-class Euro-American perspectives can distort interpretation. This is not to say that only interpreters from marginalized backgrounds can have a legitimate interpretation, but that interpretations which do not take expedriences of marginalized populations into account fall short of the intentions behind the text, particularly in terms of requirements of relevance of interpretive products to modern suffering communities. This paper looks at effects of these issues on hermeneutics and method, especially in terms of likelihood of perception of sociopolitical significance in texts. I draw on comparisons between marginalized and dominant culture interpretations of texts, as well as secondary literature such as postcolonial and economic analyses.


Thora-Ethik in Thessalonich im Kontext (Arbeitstitel)
Program Unit: Torah and Ethics in the New Testament (EABS)
Markus Müller, Erlangen

Das Verhältnis der Rechtfertigungsbotschaft des Paulus zur Thora ist ein Thema, das die paulinische Exegese schon seit alters begleitet. Die Bedeutung der Thora für die Praxis der von Paulus gegründeten und unterstützten Gemeinden hingegen bedarf einer neuen Reflexion. Hier setzt mein Beitrag an. Denn je deutlicher aus kultur- und religionswissenschaftlicher Perspektive wird, dass die paulinischen Gemeinden an sich eine eigene Gemeinschaftsethik leben, desto schärfer müssen die einzelnen konkreten Gemeinden mit ihren Bedürfnissen, Fragestellungen und ihren kulturellen Bedingungen, unter denen sie ekklesiae theou sind, in den Blick genommen werden. Mein Beitrag geht als Testfall von der Gemeinde in Thessalonich aus. Hier sind konkrete Gemeindebelange sowie die Begründung der Gesamt- und Einzelethik so mit dem Nomos-Gedanken verbunden, dass die Gemeinschaftsethik der thessalonischen Gemeinde geradezu als christliche Weise einer ‘halachischen’ Lebensweise beschrieben werden kann.


Joy in Torah: Experiencing Delight in God's Instruction
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
Lenore Mullican, Oral Roberts University

This paper focuses on two of the wisdom psalms, Psalm 1 and Psalm 119, with particular reference to the phrase "I delight in your law" (Ps. 1:2; Ps 119:70). The Psalms have had a profound effect on people of faith from ancient Israel throughout the history of the Jewish people as well as from earliest Christianity to the present time. The Psalms have greatly influenced worship and prayer of both individual and community. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines delight as "1. Great pleasure, gratification: joy. 2. Something that gives great pleasure or enjoyment." It seems incongruous to many western Christians, whose understanding of Torah is limited to "the Law" and their emphasis on "grace" precludes any relevance of "the Law" for them, to suggest Torah as a source of joy. It is most unfortunate that English translations of the Hebrew Bible translate Torah as "law" rather than "instruction." While there is a protective aspect inherent in "law," there are also the elements of fear and restriction. "Instruction," on the other hand, is a much friendlier term suggesting the teaching of proper behavior in a liberating sense by providing understanding. It connotes the revealed will of God as imparted to humanity for its guidance and is not a burden but a delight. The psalmists viewed their acts of fulfilling God's instruction, as done not for merit but as a joyful response to a loving God.


Cultural Impact of Text in Modern Japan
Program Unit: Bible and Its Influence: History and Impact
Junko Nakai, University of Manchester

Although Japan never became a Christian nation, impact of the Text can be seen in unforeseeable and unpredictable ways. The late-nineteenth century Japan was profoundly shaken by the arrival of modern western scientific knowledge and technology shortly after the opening of the ports in 1854. Following a coup d’etat by the lower rank warriors, sovereignty was returned from the warrior-style Tokugawa Shogunate to the aristocratic Meiji Emperor. The entire nation had to grapple with modernization and the challenge of shifting from a feudal agrarian society to a modern industrial and technical one. Japanese society was faced with the challenge of drastic social, political, commercial, legal, and educational change. It ran the risk of being colonized if a modern nation was not speedily established and there was an impact of the Text in this critical era of Japanese history. In order to catch up with western civilization, literary reform and simplification were considered to be prerequisites. The question of literary style was paramount. The Japanese Bible emerged as the prime example of this literary reform and simplification. It was highly regarded as the greatest achievement of Japanese translation in the modern period, and a work which directly led into the Golden Age of translation, that was to last for the next twenty years. The lasting and profound impact of this translation of the Bible into Japanese can be seen in two distinct ways: Firstly, it can be seen through the impact it had on a variety of influential figures in modern Japanese history. Secondly, it can be seen in the influence it had on the development of the modern Japanese language.


The Death of Peter
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Tobias Nicklas, University of Regensburg

As it is the case with Paul, the canonical book of Acts does not mention the death of one its protagonists, Peter. Instead, passages in the Gospel of John and 2 Peter are perhaps the only New Testament sources which allude to the apostle's death. But besides, there are several extracanonical early Christian texts (possibly) alluding to or telling the story of his martyrdom (e.g., Ascension of Isaiah, Apocalypse of Peter, and of course, Acta Petri). The present paper does not address the question of historicity of these apocryphal accounts. My main concern will be the role which is ascribed to Peter and his death in these texts. Henceforth, my questions will be: How is the character "Peter" constructed in such narratives? What do the accounts of his death want to mediate to their readers?


"I will be like a lion..." The Role of Animal Imagery in Old Testament Theology
Program Unit: Metaphors in the Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Kirsten Nielsen, Aarhus University

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss why animal metaphors for God are neglected by scholars interested in Old Testament theology. The anthropomorphic picture of God dominates to a degree that one may get the impression that while metaphors for God as a person are theologically relevant, animal metaphors are only used as a figure of speech. But are there any good reasons for claiming that the Old Testament uses different kinds of metaphorical language when God is described as a shepherd and when God is described as a lion?


Who Cares about the Other Ten Tribes?
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Ronit Nikolski, University of Groningen

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Trajectories of the Burning Bush
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Ronit Nikolsky, University of Groningen

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Did Adam and Eve Have Sex in Paradise? The Theological Background of the Pseudepigraphic-Apocalyptic Tradition
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Rivka Nir, Open University of Israel

In the Peudepigrapha and Apocalyptical literature, Paradise is described as a place with neither sex nor procreation as can be seen in the Greek Life of Adam and Eve (GLAE,1:1-3), in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (56:6), and in Jubilees (3:34). In these compositions sex and procreation began only after Adam and Eve sinned and were expelled from the Garden of Eden. G. Anderson, in his article, “Celibacy or Consummation in the Garden? Reflections on Early Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the Garden of Eden” claims that according to Jubilees, Adam and Eve had sex before they entered the Garden. He bases his claim on the words “and he knew her“ (3:6) which he understood as knowing her sexually. According to this tradition, Adam and Eve had no sexual relations in the Garden itself, because, Eden is perceived as the prototype of a Temple, a place of complete purity which cannot be defiled by sexual emission. Anderson views this text as an ancient stage of the Jewish tradition. But he cannot reconcile it, actually, with the contradictory Rabbinic tradition, according to which Adam and Eve had sexual relations in Eden and these relations were even particularly fruitful. My intention is to show that, in Jubilees, Adam’s knowing of Eve did not have sexual implications and that a sexual union between Adam and Eve before entering the Garden is not possible, on philological and contextual grounds. The tradition presented in Jubilees does not deviate from the entire Pseudepigrapha tradition according to which Adam and Eve did not have sex before the expulsion from Paradise. This tradition should be viewed not against the Jewish theological background, but in light of the Christian tradition on Adam and Eve in Paradise.


Who Wrote 4QInstruction (4Q415-418, 4Q423, and 1Q26)?
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Bilha Nitzan, Tel-Aviv University

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Adam, Man of Glory or First Sinner? The Figure of Adam in the Book of Sirach
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Eric T. Noffke, Universität Basel

When we read in Sirach 49:16 that "above every other created living being was Adam," we who are used to thinking of Adam as the first sinner are indeed surprised. What is Sirach trying to state? Why is he giving a picture of the father of humanity so different from the one we know from Genesis? Usually, this affirmation is explained by interpreters as a reference to Adam before the sin, similar to the picture that Philo of Alexandria gives of the archetypal Adam, but I find this unconvincing. The present paper's aim is then to develop the thesis that Sirach is referring to a tradition on the first man different, and probably more ancient, from the one we have in Genesis, a tradition concerning a glorious first man living in the garden of God. Among the other witnesses to such a tradition there are several biblical and non-biblical passages: the Animal's apocalypse in first Enoch 83-90, some passages from texts belonging to the Qumran corpus (1QS, CD and 1QH), Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Job 15:7. We will find the first attempt of a fusion of the two traditions attested in Sirach, in which Adam keeps his gloriousness, and Eve receives the whole blame for the first sin. In later traditions this identification will be refused, and Adam will be, from the apostle Paul on, the first sinner, cause of the corruption of the present aeon. The tradition concerning the first glorious man will be remembered only in a few marginal streams of Christianity as, for example, Gnosticism.


When Joshua Meets Galilei: The Bible and the Academy
Program Unit:
Ed Noort, University of Groningen

In dialogue with the results of the project: "Reading the Bible in the Global Village" (Helsinki 1999; Cape Town 2000) the opening lecture asks for the specific role of the Bible in the Academy. What kind of knowledge should be generated to call exegesis a scientific approach? In the Netherlands there is a long tradition that the academy has to deal with philology and history, leaving the theological problems to he denominational institutions. This seems a sound approach, but consequently the mechanisms with which biblical texts were adapted to modern times and with which groups of readers were in- or excluded kept out of sight. The important paper of M. H. Goshen-Gottstein at the Edinburgh IOSOT-Congress (1974) demonstrated already thirty years ago that the boundaries between pure textual studies and adaptation of the texts for identification fade away. With the help of a case study, the famous text of Joshua 10, 12-14 "Sun, stand still at Gibeon and Moon in the Valley of Aijalon" and its role in the Copernican System controversy some suggestions are made how biblical studies could look like in the 21st century.


Is There Evidence of the Intentional 'Mixing' of Recensions and Interpretative Traditions in Biblical Citations and Illusions in Yahad Literature?
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
John Norton, University of Oxford

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Magic in the Ancient World and African Culture
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Emmanuel Nwaoru, Lagos, Nigeria

This paper deals with the reception of biblical narrative in magic in an African context today.


Letter Reading as Performance: Paul Addressing Distinguishable Groups of the Audience
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Bernhard Oestreich, Theologische Hochschule Friedensau

It is widely agreed that the original delivery of the Pauline letters was an oral event performed before the assembly of the addressed church. According to the letter writing conventions in antiquity, the author wrote from the perspective of the addressee at the time of receipt. Consequently, while dictating his letter Paul anticipated the dynamics that would develop due to the reading of his letter between the various individuals and groups in the church. This paper argues that in 1 Thessalonians and in Galatians Paul gives his exhortations in turn to two groups of the church(es), the ordinary members and some group of leaders, and that each advice affects the addressed group as well as the group who listens in to what Paul has to say to the others. In this way Paul deliberately works towards a healthy relationship between the church members and their leaders who labor for them.


The Woman Clothed with the Sun: The Polemic Reflection of the Roman Imperial Cult in Revelation 12
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Heike Omerzu, University of Mainz

Rev 12 contains several elements of Greco-Roman as well as Jewish-Apocalyptic legends of the endangered birth of important persons. This paper will draw special attention to the imagery of the woman clothed with the sun against the background of the Roman Imperial cult. Thus, this investigation contributes to our knowledge of the historical and theological point of the first Christian apocalypse.


Case Studies of Intercultural Bible Reading: From Four Different Continents
Program Unit:
Saskia Ossewaarde, Kerk in Actie

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God or Goddess? The Impact of YHWH's Defeat by Ishtar on the Israelite Conception of the Divinity
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Monika Ottermann, Universidade Metodista/ Centro de Estudos Biblicos

With the integration of Israel and Judah into the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires, there arose a new factor in the development of the Yahwist religion: Ishtar, the principal Goddess of the victorious enemy. But Ishtar, in those times a violent and bloody Goddess of sex and war, shows a different profile in her ancient figure as Innana: Her divine career began as a Goddess of good, abundant life, as a Goddess incarnated in the sweet and nutrious power of the date palms. In this aspect, she comes close to the main Canaanite-Hebrew Goddess, Asherah, a tree-goddess with essentially life-giving power. This paper attempts to point out possible reasons for Asherah’s loss of power within the Yahwist religion, at a time when Yahweh was defeated by her terrible “sister”, the Assyrian-Babylonian Ishtar.


Relevance Theory and New Testament Interpretation
Program Unit: Relevance Theory and Biblical Interpretation
Stephen Pattemore, United Bible Societies

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"Mother, Embrace Your Children": Maternal Imagery and the Corporate Community in 2 Esdras
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Dilys Patterson, Concordia University

2 Esdras is a composite work that contains two documents. Chapters 3 to 14 comprise the Jewish apocalypse 4 Ezra. Chapters 1-2 and 15-16 are later Christian interpolations, dating from the third century. Of particular interest in both the Christian and Jewish documents is the use of female imagery, namely the idea of a maternal figure entrusted with the raising of her children, the believing community. This maternal figure is identified as Mother Zion (10:44), but in the Christian interpolations could easily be understood as Mother Church, a figure who plays a crucial role in early Christian documents such as 2 Clement and Visions 1-4 of the Shepherd of Hermas. Drawing on social scientific methods that inform the construction and maintenance of a symbolic universe, this paper will address the use of maternal imagery to personify corporate identity in 2 Esdras.


The Bent Woman, Zacchaeus and Children of Abraham in Luke
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Dorothy Pavlic', Graduate Theological Union

This paper examines references to Abraham’s descendants in Luke giving attention to ways in which the stories of the bent woman (13:10-17) and Zacchaeus (19:1-10) reinterpret who may participate in a covenant relationship with God. The study of the repetition of words and phrases, the narrative progression of intertextual references and their social and cultural implications, and God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:1-22 clarifies how the narrator prepares for Jesus’ reinterpretation that covenant participation is extended to those traditionally excluded from covenant participation. A brief concluding consideration of Acts reveals similar development.


'I Hate Them with Perfect Hatred' (Ps. 139:22)
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
Eric Peels, Apeldoorn Theological University, the Netherlands

No other pair of emotions is as strongly contrastive as that of hatred and love. Hatred is an evil source of negative feelings and destructive actions. Jewish-Christian tradition has always preached love as the proper attitude and mindset of the faithful, and rejects hatred to the utmost (Lev 19:18; Matt 5:44; Rom 12:19). Hence the prickly problems of the average bible-reader when he comes across some textual passages in the Old Testament where the believer is summoned to hate (Amos 5:15), or where hate is considered to be a consequence of true wisdom (Prov. 8:13). Most shocking, however, is a text like Psalm 139:22, where the poet makes mention of his perfect hatred towards his adversaries. Here we are supposed to understand hatred as an element of piety (M.A. Beek). However, especially since 'nine eleven,' more than ever we firmly distrust the phenomenon of religious hate. The more intriguing is the question how to understand and value the utterance of hatred in this psalm. Do we sense here something like 'the temper or the Maccabean wars' (C.A. Briggs)? Or do the final words of the psalm ('see if there is any offensive way in me,' vss. 23-24) entail a necessary theological correction of the preceding verses? My contribution will concentrate on the exegesis of Psalm 139:22 in highlighting the semantic and theological contents of this pronunciation, and its place and function in the psalm's context.


Ben Sira and Wisdom's Failure
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
David Penchansky, University of St. Thomas

The prevailing scholarly consensus has long affirmed two things about Ben Sira. First, the book belongs in the wisdom corpus. And second, Ben Sira significantly changes the focus of the wisdom enterprise. In this paper I explore how to contextualize this transformation. Certainly the pervasive influence of Hellenism plays the central role. Ben Sirah relates to Greek culture in a complex fashion however - He writes to preserve what is truly Israelite against cultural attack, but he employs the intellectual categories of Hellenism. How might we explore and evaluate this contradiction at the heart of the book? Ben Sirah offers a middle way, neither a fundamentalist rejection of all things foreign, nor a wholesale acceptance and incorporation of the other. However, he fails to maintain Hebrew wisdom's unique contribution to the Israelite milieu.


Old Testament Theology and Postcolonial Hermeneutics
Program Unit: Biblical Theology
Leo G. Perdue, Brite Divinity School

Among the new approaches to biblical theology is postcolonialism. Prophetic and critical wisdom literatures in ancient Israel and early Judah offers a paradigm for understanding the justice of God in biblical theology. The assault on priestly and royal institutions by prophets and the negation of foundational sapiential teachings of the traditional, conservative sages provide the basis for a new moral paradigm given expression by postcolonial hermeneutics. In postcolonial theology, there is a significant movement towards the establishment of social justice for the poor and marginalized in native cultures that have gained liberation from oppressive colonial systems but still suffer under the economic yoke imposed by first world empires in Europe, America, and Japan. Postcolonial hermeneutics has the potential of dismantling first world imperialism, but only if the Western church and the academy are willing to provide the settings in which its cry for life may be heard.


The Genesis of Genesis
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
David Petersen, Emory University

Scholars currently struggle to explain the formation of the book of Genesis. Some, e.g., Blum, advocate a theory according to which a priestly tradent supplemented prior non-priestly material. Others, e.g., Blenkinsopp, hold that the priestly author created the primary strand, to which later additions were made. In this paper, I shall adjudicate this conflict by devoting attention to the nature of the dissonance between priestly and non-priestly material. In so doing, I shall argue that the priestly circle was not simply supplementing earlier material (a la the "supplementary theory"), but was challenging and revising both Israel's primeval history and ancestral narratives.


Topic to be announced
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Emile Puech, EBAF Jerusalem- CNRS Paris

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From Mageia to "Magic" An Introduction to a Problematic Concept
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Daria Pezzoli-Olgiatti, Universität Zürich

The concept of "magic" was introduced as a definition within the science of religions in the middle of the nineteenth century. Around the definition of "magic"-in parallel to other concepts as "religion" or "science"-a complex and controversial debate was opened, as for instance demonstrated in the works of Frazer, L-Bruhl, Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard. First, the present paper aims at considering critically central arguments of theses typical modern theories. Further, it focuses the question concerning the appropriate methodological instrument for applying such a concept in the analysis of historical sources from a comparative perspective. "Magic" is therefore placed in the context of ancient religious symbol systems and tested in its function producing images of the world.


A Hermeneutical Look at the Ezra Story (Ezra 7-10, Nehemiah 8-9)
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Robert Phenix , ICO

This paper examines the two sections of Ezra-Nehemiah which narrate the reading of the law of Moses in Ezra and Nehemiah, the so-called ‘Ezra Story.’ Historical interpretation of Ezra-Nehemiah requires the identity of Ezra in both sections, which requires that Ezra 7-10 and Nehemiah 8-9 were once one story that became ‘separated.’ This is unnecessary, if the problematic assumption of the need to establish the historical identity of the character Ezra is removed. Instead, a literary approach is open to the possibility that Ezra is a character, that is, a literary device. Ezra, which in Aramaic means ‘helper,’ in both Ezra 7-10 and Nehemiah 8-9 is the “helper” of the Law of Moses (note Ezra is descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses, in Ezra 7.5). Both stories offer the reader an interpretation of history in which it is the law of Moses that defines Israel, not the ruler of Jerusalem. This paper will show that this hermeneutical basis allows for an interpretation of both Ezra stories that keeps closest with the overall narrative of Ezra-Nehemiah.


John's Prologue and Sociolinguistics
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Peter M. Phillips, Cliff College

Wayne Meeks’ seminal article, ‘The Man from Heaven in Johannine Sectarianism’ has established a small but fertile area of Fourth Gospel scholarship looking at the peculiar use of language by the Johannine Community. One aspect of this area of research is the way in which John’s use of terminology in the Gospel develops a specific Johannine ‘antilanguage’. In most Johannine scholarship which interacts with sociolinguistic theory, the use of such an antilanguage confirms the sectarian nature of the Johannine community. In sociolinguistic theory, where the term is not common, there is a broader understanding of the purpose of antilanguage development. This paper analyses the use of the term ‘antilanguage’ in sociolinguistic theory in general and explores whether ‘antilanguage’ adequately explores the use of language in the Prologue. By introducing elements of semantic shift and accommodation theory into a more nuanced understanding of 'antilanguage,' the paper argues that the development of a Johannine antilanguage in the Prologue leads towards inclusion and accommodation rather than towards sectarianism, towards engagement with the contemporary community rather than exclusion from it. As such, Johannine studies will need to use sociolinguistic terminology, such as ‘antilanguage’, in a specifically Johannine sense.


Why Peter? The Authoritative Role of Peter in the Monophysite Collections of the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles
Program Unit: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Pierluigi Piovanelli, University of Ottawa

Ann Graham Brock has convincingly demonstrated that the authors of early Christian canonical as well as apocryphal texts used the character of Peter as caution for their claims of orthodoxy and legitimacy. In this connection, the replacement of Mary Magdalene by Peter as Philip's colleague in the Coptic version of the Acts of Philip is very eloquent. Building on Brock's insightful suggestion, I would like to analyze the authoritative role that the Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopic collections of the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles ascribe to Peter. In such schematic descriptions of the missionary activities and subsequent martyrdom of the apostles and evangelists, Peter is described as the leader of the twelve and the companion of each apostle during the first steps of his mission. This systematic enhancement of Peter's figure corresponds to a deliberate strategy of legitimization presumably pursued by the late antique Egyptian Church, an Eastern Christendom that emerged from the blood of the martyrs and inherited of Peter's apostolic prestige through the agency of Mark the evangelist. The same appreciation of Peter is found in other Monophysite rewritings of earlier apocryphal texts, and such a "puzzling" feature provoked some confusion at the arrival of the first Catholic missionaries in Egypt and Ethiopia.


Sectarianism before the Flourishing of Jewish Sects? A Long-Term Approach to the History and Sociology of Second Temple Sectarianism
Program Unit: Sectarianism in Early Judaism (EABS)
Pierluigi Piovanelli, University of Ottawa

The last decade has witnessed a growing interest in the study of the formation of a specific Jewish identity in Antiquity. Thus, Albert Baumgarten has explored the paradox of The Flourishing of Jewish Sects in the Maccabean Era (Leiden, 1997), while Shaye Cohen has made a strong case for The Beginnings of Jewishness (Berkeley, 1999) in the same context. These and other contributions highlight the social and ideological constructions of such new political and/or cultural realities on the aftermath of the Maccabean victory. However, from a sociology of religions point of view only a part of such attempts to redefine the traditional boundaries of Jewish identity actually seem to come from truly "sectarian" movements. Moreover, a long-term exploration of the history of early Second Temple period easily demonstrates that other phenomena of polarization between "us" and "them" (as the conflicts between the exiles and those who stayed in the country, the evidence from the Elephantine archives or the appearance of the Enoch groups) had already cracked the apparently monolithic Judaean community. Hence the need to rethink the question of the historical and social origins of Second Temple sectarianism.


“And a man found him” (Genesis 37:15)
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Ron Pirson, University of Tilburg

In Genesis 37, Jacob’s sons once again enter the spotlight after their massacre of the Shechemites (Genesis 34). As the tale develops, it becomes clear that the relations among the brothers are far from harmonious. Therefore, after Joseph has told them his dreams, the brothers depart and go to shepherd their father’s flock at Shechem. During their absence, Jacob summons Joseph to go and look how his brothers and the flock, are faring. On his arrival in Shechem, Joseph sees that his brothers have left. When wandering aimlessly in the vicinity of Shechem, he is being found by ‘a man’ (Genesis 37:15). This unidentified stranger tells him that his brothers have left for Dothan. In the paper presented I will discuss the identity of this ‘man’ as he may have been perceived by Joseph. In order to do so, I will refer to and draw arguments from several texts dealing with the story of Jacob and his sons (Genesis 25-50).


Polemic between the Karaites and the Samaritans on the Background of the 80 Samaritan Manuscripts in the State Library of Berlin
Program Unit: Samaritan Studies (EABS)
Heinz Pohl, Freie Universität Berlin

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The Greek Text of Zechariah
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Thomas Pola, Tübingen University

This lecture will present a selection of passages expressing a new understanding of the prophecies of the book of Zechariah compared with the MT, the fragments from Qumran, and other versions. Although the translation of the Hebrew text seems to be very literally some passages reveal an actualised or generalized understanding. E.g., the dualistic message of some passages is changed into a universalistic one.


Reading the Human Body and Knowing the Other: Physiognomics in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Judaism
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Mladen Popovic, University of Groningen

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The House of Baalrim in the Idumean Ostraca
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Bezalel Porten, Hebrew University

Most of the ca. 1400 Aramaic Idumean ostraca are payment chits. The largest grouping among these are some eighty pieces for the sons/house of Baalrim. They are source material for onomastic, economic, and chronological investigation and invite comparison with comparable social groupings in Israel/Judah.


Magic in the Book of Acts
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Stanley E. Porter, McMaster Divinity College

This paper will explore the understanding of magic in the book of Acts in relation to and comparison with the use of magic in the Greco-Roman world. The major points of relationship will consider varying definitions of magic, how magic was used and conceptualized as evidenced by other magical texts of the time such as papyri and amulets, and the use of magic within Acts itself as a device that links the actions of the early Church with Jesus.


The Influence of Unit Delimitation on Reading and Use of Greek Manuscripts
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
Stanley E. Porter, McMaster Divinity College

This paper explores a dimension that is difficult to reconstruct and hence has not figured as prominently in recent discussion as have some others. The various units delimited in manuscripts is examined to try to determine how this influenced the way in which manuscripts were read, and as a consequence how various pericopes were interpreted. A range of manuscripts from the early centuries of Christianity is examined, especially the major Greek codexes.


Who is Gog? A New Identification of the Main Figure in Ezekiel 38-39
Program Unit: Prophets
Volkmar Premstaller, University of Innsbruck

The identity of Gog has ever been a highly debated issue of Ezekiel research. In my paper I want to provide a new fitting answer to the question, who he was or could be-not only by a reexamination of former solutions but before all via a close reading of Ezek 38ff. in its present context at the end of the Book of Ezekiel.


Petuchot/Setumot and the Structure of Habakkuk: Evaluating the Evidence
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
Gert T. M. Prinsloo, University of Pretoria

In recent years there has been a growing awareness that unit delimiters in ancient texts can be an invaluable aid in determining the structure and understanding of those texts. It is equally true that researchers working in the field sometimes find it very difficult to interpret the exact implications of those delimiters. A case in point is the presence (or absence!) of petuh_ot/setumot in manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible and other ancient manuscripts dependant on or related to the Hebrew Bible. In some texts (cf. for instance Num. 6:22-27) petuh_ot/setumot occur with startling regularity. In other texts (cf. for instance the Book of Ruth) they are practically absent. Moreover, unit delimiters may occur regularly in one witness of a specific tradition, but infrequently in another witness. The Book of Habakkuk is an excellent example of this sporadic appearance of unit delimiters in various traditions. In the Masoretic tradition for instance the first setumah appears only between 1:17 and 2:1. However, Habakkuk 2 contains six petuh_ot/setumot and Habakkuk 3 only two. What exactly, then, do these delimiters signify? And how can they aid modern exegetes in determining the structure of the book? These are the questions that will be investigated in this paper. Taking the startling differences of opinion in modern scholarship about the structure of the book and the resulting differences in the interpretation of the book into account, these questions become important. In the end the question really is: how can unit delimitation provide modern exegetes with a way forward in interpreting ancient texts?


Jezebel Read from Right to Left or: Back to Front and Back Again
Program Unit: Intersectional Feminism(s)
Dagmar Pruin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

A synchronic reading starting from 1 Kings 16 to 2 Kings 10 shows that the biblical portrait of Jezebel has different facets, but is not thoroughly negative. Yet an informed reader also realizes that his or her eyes are guided by the way the text is arranged, by the narrator’s comments, and by intertextual allusions with the effect that in the end Jezebel appears to be the most wicked woman on earth. A diachronic analysis, however, presents the developing characterization of Jezebel over the centuries as ever more powerful and at the same time ever more wicked. This paper develops this redactional process as a history of power, and proposes a feminist re-reading on the texts.


Paul and the Others: Insiders, Outsiders and Animosity
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
Jeremy Punt, University of Stellenbosch

The distinction between insiders and outsiders which is found throughout the New Testament is particularly strong in the Pauline epistles as well. The insider-outsider contrast was used, in short, to divide people into opposing groups, but also served various other purposes. It can on the one hand be understood against the background of a variety of processes of identity-formation in early Christianity, contributing constructively to the formation and construction of identity. On the other hand, the insider-outsider binary fed on and at times contributed to a negative energy and formed the core of an Othering-process, and led to stereotyping, vilification and even violence. After a discussion of the insider-outsider contrast, in the setting of early Christianity, it will be demonstrated how this mechanism functions in one of the Pauline epistles, and comments will be offered on how to avoid the problems of vilifying others while "identifying the selves", today.


Possible Historical Traces in the Doctrina Addai
Program Unit: Ancient Near East
Ilaria Ramelli, Catholic University of Milan

The Teaching of Addai is a document written by Labubna and convincingly dated by some scholars to the fourth century AD. I agree, but I think that there can be some points containing possible historical traces that go back to the first century AD, such as the letters exchanged by king Abgar and Tiberius. Some elements in them point to the real historical context of Abgar Ukama's reign in the first century AD. Labubna could have known the tradition of some historical letters written by Abgar and Tiberius.


Who is the “strange woman” in Proverbs 7?
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Lorit Ramon, Oranim Academic School

“For at the window of my house I looked through my casement” (Proverbs 7:6) Who is the figure looking through the window towards the street? It may be a father instructing his son; a worried mother; or perhaps the personification of wisdom. This figure is opposed to the “foolish woman,” who is none other than the strange woman wandering the streets, seeking an innocent youth to entice by magic spells; a youth who does not realize that she will lead him to Sheol. As she clings to her safe observation post at the window, the indoor figure appears fearful of the strange woman’s strength. As she walks the streets, laying her plots, the strange woman appears daring. Her provocative dress recalls her house, lined with precious cloth and carpets; her bed emits a heady, intoxicating perfume, and her husband is far from home on business. We may assume that Proverbs 7 reflects a poetic-symbolic pattern of two women, representing wisdom and temptation, engaged in a dialogue, and competing for the heart of the young innocent. The window from which the first woman looks serves as a screen, at once separating the two while allowing inside and outside to observe and reflect each other. Wisdom and life at its most civilized face, against wild nature, with its otherness and flouting of social conventions. Order implies disorder—“Stolen water” will always taste sweet to the thirsty soul, and “bread eaten in secret is pleasant” to the hungry (Proverbs 9:17). The patriarchal tradition underlying most of the tales of the Hebrew Bible posits an opposition of the two female types: the “honest woman” and the “whore.” At first glance it seems that the separation between the two female figures cannot be bridged; yet a second look reveals mutual reflection and double images—each completing the other.


The Development of the Sectrian Ethos in the Qumran Community: Halakhah, Moral Order, and Social Order
Program Unit: Sectarianism in Early Judaism (EABS)
Eyal Regev, Bar-Ilan University

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Magic in Rome
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Ulrike Reimer, Saarbrucken

This paper deals with the relation between Roman state and magicians. In antiquity someone praying to the gods for help or shelter could as well use his piety for hurting another person by causing a curse upon him. The worship of the imperial effigy caused a new problem: The power of the imperial and therefore also divine image could be abused for a curse. People were especially afraid of the statues of those emperors who had been judged of damnatio memoriae. Their faces were painted with black colour in order to prevent others from harm (Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 9,11,2). On the other side, invocation of a god could also provoke a damage to the emperor. Pliny explains the falling of Domitian with the curses of some senatorians which have been heard by Iupiter (Plin. pan. 94,1). According to Tacitus the death of Germanicus goes back to a malediction (Tac. ann. 2,69). It is interesting that the only court speech we have from imperial times dates from a trial of magic. In 158 AD the poet Apuleius is accused in Oea/North Africa. His marriage with a wealthy, but much older widow had aroused the suspicion of her family. We do not know exactly about the accusation and to which law it refers. But in the time of Tiberius "astrologers' and others had been exiled from Rome by a senatus consultum (Coll. 15,2,1). Tacitus even mentions several senatus consulta expelling astrologers and magicians out of Italy, some of them being sentenced to death and executed (Ann. 2,32,2). A similar resolution from 52 BC however is called by him "harsh but to no effect" (atrox et irritum; ann. 12,52,3).


The Accents: Hierarchy and Meaning
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
E. J. Revell, University of Toronto

The paper will start with a brief survey of the hierarchy of the accents, that is, the way they are used in a verse. This is followed by a discussion of the meaning of the use of the disjunctives as conditioned by the number used in a verse, whether they simply demarcate the major syntactic units making up the verse, or are used within them, and their relation to pausal forms. The main point made is that the accents must be evaluated in relation to their use in the verse as a whole, and that division which marks the main syntactic boundaries must be considered `logical' or expected, and cannot be considered to carry any special meaning. An attempt is made to illustrate the points made by discussing a set of examples of the use of zaqef. A few examples of the use of minor accents with pausal forms are also considered. The examples used throughout the paper are, with a few unimportant exceptions, taken from the simple prose texts of the Former Prophets.


Intercultural Hermeneutics: Conversations across Cultural and Contextual Divides
Program Unit:
John Riches, University of Glasgow

One of the goals of the project “Through the eyes of another” was to explore the relationship between scholarly and popular, ordinary readings of the Bible. This paper uses the threefold distinction of Ricoeur (the movement from a first to a second naïveté via a process of distanciation, confrontation and dialogue) to describe, not only scholarly readings, but also popular, ordinary readings of the biblical text. The analysis of some of the reading reports in this paper shows that what occurs in “local” studies contains, potentially at least, all the various elements which Ricoeur identified as going to make a fully reflective apprehension of the text.


Breaking Down Unity: An Analysis of 1 Chronicles 21
Program Unit: Graduate Presentations (EABS)
Ken Ristau, University of Alberta

On the surface, 1 Chr 21 is a relatively straight-forward narrative. The story centers on a sin committed by David that provokes divine punishment. Divine punishment is then brought to an end by David's repentance and obedience, which invites a new divine reward. These themes of judgment, repentance, and restoration are common throughout biblical literature. Still, the communicative intent of the narrative, taken within the broader context of Chronicles and its primary community of readers, is not straight-forward. The image of David as malefactor seems at odds with the tendency of Chronicles to celebrate David and the level of conflict in the core relationships of this narrative (Yahweh/king, Yahweh/Israel, king/Israel, king/army) also seems incompatible with the picture of unity promoted in Chronicles in the account of the unified kingdom. This paper provides an analysis of the structure of 1 Chr 21 as a foundation for a study of these incongruities and the communicative intent of the narrative.


History and Memory: Searching for Jesus in Gospel Traditions
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Rafael Rodriguez, University of Sheffield

This paper will approach the question of the historical Jesus from the perspective of social memory theory. For over a century institutional historical Jesus research has emphasised the role of the evangelists' present in their apprehension and depiction of their past—the 'authentic' life and teachings of Jesus. The past, however, also plays a role in how people and communities understand and navigate their present. Consequently, it is important that quests for the historical Jesus consider the interaction between past and present—between Jesus on the one hand and tradition and community on the other—when doing historical investigation into the life of the pre-Easter itinerant Jewish teacher. Two emphases immediately present themselves. First, we will examine the use of the Jesus tradition in the later Jesus movements, tracing the social tensions extant in mid-first century Palestine and illustrating how the Jesus tradition was shaped to address these tensions. Second, we will look at the Jesus traditions' roots in the past—in the life of Jesus—and suggests ways in which the history of Jesus' life limited the lengths to which the tradition could be altered and adapted to fit present concerns. Thus, social memory theory prompts us to shift our focus from sifting through Jesus traditions distinguishing between 'authentic' bits and those added by the later church to a method in which we analyse the relationship between past and present.


Stories of Jesus in History and Tradition
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Rafael Rodriguez, University of Sheffield

This paper will analyse a story of Jesus from the perspective of social memory theory. The parable of the tenants survives in four different versions (Mark 12.1–12 and par.; Gos. Thom. 65–66) and is largely regarded as originating in some form with the historical Jesus. As such, it is a 'story of Jesus' on two levels: it is a story told by Jesus, and it is a story told about Jesus. Historical Jesus research and parable studies have not reached a consensus on the original structure and content of the parable. Instead of a textual analysis with an eye toward reconstructing the parable (and a larger theory of Jesus), social memory theory directs us toward an analysis of the interaction between story of and story about Jesus. In this light, two related images appear, each of which is crucial for our understanding of the other. First, we see the image of the historical Jesus telling a parable within the context of a larger confrontation with the social elites centred in Jerusalem generally and the Temple specifically. Second, we see the image of later Jesus movements shaping and moulding their traditions about Jesus to make them commensurate with the circumstances and needs characteristic of their own situations. As we view both images in the gospel traditions, we can better understand both the historical Jesus and the early movements that kept his memory alive.


On the Possibility of Irreversibility: Do the Sociological Differences in the Passion Narratives Reflect Chronological Drift?
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Halvor Ronning, Hebrew University

Two main questions motivated this research: firstly, what differences can be detected in the way leading figures and groups are presented by the different gospel writers, and, secondly, what historical significance, if any, can be attached to such sociological differences? The aim of this study is to inquire whether the sociological differences constitute significant evidence which could point to the relative chronological sequence of the three writers. the parallel passages to be analyzed in this study cover the Synoptic Gospel material from the arrest of Jesus to the burial of Jesus. The figures and the groups to be checked are: Pilate, Herod, the soldiers, the centurion, Barabbas, the Jewish leaders, and the people/the "crowd."


The 'Story of the Burning Bush': The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the God of the Living (Mark 12.26-27 parr)
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Nicoline Roskam, University of Groningen

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Jesus as YHWH in the Gospel of John
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Riemer Roukema, Theologische Universiteit Kampen

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Magic and Early Christianity
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Riemer Roukema, Theologische Universiteit Kampen

Early Christian leaders opposed pagan magic. To them, magic was related to the devil and had to be shunned. As far as pagan magic exerted any influence on mankind, it did not have any effect on Christians, since they belonged to another spiritual realm. Yet within Christianity new beliefs and practices emerged that remind us of pagan magic. Although Christians used different names, objects and rites, their world view might in some way be characterized as 'magic'. Some examples from Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Chrystostom, Augustine, and others will be reviewed.


Thora und Ethik in den Deuteropaulinen
Program Unit: Torah and Ethics in the New Testament (EABS)
Dietrich Rusam, University of Bonn

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Samaritans, Jews, and Christians under Islam: Script, Language, and Religious Identity
Program Unit: Samaritan Studies (EABS)
Joshua Sabih, University of Copenhagen

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Jericho and Hoshana Rabbah
Program Unit: Expressions of Religion in Israel
Jonathan D. Safren, Beit Berl College

The Sitz im Leben of the circumambulation of Jericho in Joshua 6 is to be sought in a cultic practice originating in that city, either in Late First Temple or early Second Temple times. During the Second Temple period there was a large Priestly population in Jericho, which played an important part in the 24 Priestly courses of the Jerusalem Temple. It is therefore logical to assume that the Jericho Priests may have exerted some influence on the Temple cult. This claim is backed up by reference to the Second Temple Sukkoth rite of circumambulation of the altar, which, like the circumambulation of Jericho, was performed once during each of the first six days and seven times on the seventh day. In both cases, the seventh-day circumambulation was followed by a “breaking” – in Jericho, of the city walls, and in the Temple, of willow branches at the foot of the altar.


Text Division in the Book of Deuteronomy in Antiquity and in Modern Research
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
Paul Sanders, St. Stanislas College, Delft

The question to be answered in this paper is: To what extent do modern insights into the macrostructure of the Book of Deuteronomy correspond with the oldest extant divisions of the text by means of blank lines, blank spaces within the lines, etc.?


Did Yahweh Consume the Sacrifices?
Program Unit: Metaphors in the Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Paul Sanders, St. Stanislas College, Delft

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A Reconsideration of the Prologue and Purpose of Proverbs
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom
Timothy J. Sandoval, Chicago Theological Seminary

This paper argues not only, as others have, that the prologue to Proverbs (1: 2-6) articulates the purpose of chapters 1-9 (and likely the entire book in its final form), but identifies as well a structure to these lines that indicates a distinction in function between vv. 2-4 and vv. 5-6. The initial verses alone articulate a purpose to the book’s project, underscoring especially the value the sages place on particular social virtues. The latter verses do not speak of the purpose of Proverbs, but serve as an invitation to the hearer/reader to embark on wisdom’s way and to continue reading/hearing the instruction that follows in a manner that a wise and discerning person would. That is, these lines, especially certain key terms in v. 6, invite the hearer/reader to assume the subject position of the wise and discerning person and to understand much in the following chapters in a subtle esoteric way, i.e. figuratively or symbolically, less as a straightforward guide to worldly success and more fully as instruction in virtue.


Bethsaida in the First Century
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Carl Savage, Drew University

This paper will detail the archaeological finds that support a habitation presence at Bethsaida during the first century period that is critical to the conversations about the relations between Jews, Christians and polytheists. Focusing on the limestone vessels, the glass finds, coins and other small finds that are indicative to the first century. These small finds will illustrate the habitation of the site during this time was more than a meager transient population but show evidence of a larger urban population that was engaged in widespread trade throughout the region, particularly with Tyre. The paper will also include discussion of architectural features that may have existed during this time. These features include several key installations that appear to have been “reused” from earlier periods of occupation, including that of the Iron Age. The recent excavations have indicated that there may have been considerable reuse of the structures outside the Iron Age gate complex, such as the roadbed extending from the outer gate, and several walls whose remnants remain atop earlier Iron Age walls. This new compilation and analysis of materials will aid in the visioning of what the society of formative Judaism and Christianity in the Kinneret area may have been.


Pre-Maccabean Halakhah in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Biblical Tradition
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Lawrence H. Schiffman, New York University

This paper will investigate evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls for pre-Maccabean Jewish law and its relationship with the Hebrew Bible and the legal materials preserved there. To be discussed are issues of both form and content, showing how both midrashic and apodictic forms of law appear in both collections, and how, in particular, the priestly tradition was continued beyond the last books of the Hebrew Bible. Along the way observations will be made about the state of Jewish legal materials in the early Second Temple period. Despite the aspects of continuing development and continuity that we observe, we will argue that the Qumran materials worked with essentially complete biblical books and that the Qumran materials presuppose the authority of those books, even where the scrolls texts challenge or modify specific prescriptions.


Non-Jews in the Eschatological War in Second Temple Period Texts
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Lawrence H. Schiffman, New York University

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Intercultural Bible Reading: Implications for Religious Education
Program Unit:
Daniel Schipani, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary

This paper will analyse the role of interculturality in religious education, and will indicate how the results of the project “Through the eyes of another” could be of benefit for the reflection on religious education curricula.


Lecture qoumrânienne des trois notices de Flavius Josèphe sur le destin et le libre-arbitre (B. J. II, 162-165; A. J. XIII, 171-173; XVIII, 11-22)
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Francis Schmidt, EPHE Paris

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The Spiritual Body: Paul's Use of 'soma pneumatikon' in 1 Corinthians 15:44
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Brian Schmisek, University of Dallas

The term soma pneumatikon “spiritual body” is used in the NT only by Paul, and only in 1 Cor 15:44. The history of interpretation regarding the terminology in this verse is long, varied, and complex. Many of the Apostolic Fathers emphasized the physicality of the resurrection to such a degree that they spoke of anastasis sarkos “resurrection of the flesh,” which is a term not found in the NT. This physical understanding of the resurrection affected the thinking of scholastics and reformers. Most modern scholars interpret soma pneumatikon as expressing something akin to a “Spirit-ruled soma.” Some modern scholars seek to define the term soma pneumatikon in more precise language. Much confusion and disagreement exist over what Paul meant by the term because commentators sought and continue to seek defining characteristics of the resurrected body rather than recognize that Paul is using oxymoron for his Corinthian audience. There is scarcely a Hebrew equivalent for the Greek term soma. The paper concludes by showing that Paul is limited by human language in discussing the resurrection. Rather than give descriptions of resurrection or the resurrected body, he answers the Corinthians’ questions about such with metaphors, abstract concepts, and even oxymoron, because he did not have a precise idea about the nature of the resurrected body, only broad concepts by which to understand it.


Jeremiah 3:6-13: Grammatical Anomaly and Interpretive Strategies
Program Unit: Prophets
John J. Schmitt, Marquette University

This passage offers the only place in the prophetic corpus where there appears a phrase that represents a grammatical inconcinnity which is repeated several times and then never occurs elsewhere. Contemporary translations have come up with various means of treating the noun in apposition with a noun as an adjective, e.g., "apostate Israel" (REB), "rebellious Israel" (NAB), "disloyal Israel" (NJB). The time-honored BDB suggests that the grammatical reading is "apostasy, Israel." This paper reviews various ancient and modern interpretive attempts to explain this curiosity before offering a new solution.


Lev 14:33-53: The Priestly Rites of Elimination and the Problem of Magic in the Old Testament
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Rüdiger Schmitt, University of Münster

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Unity and Discontinuity: A Hebraistic Version of the History of Ancient Israel
Program Unit: Ancient Near East
Stefan Schorch, Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel

In recent decades, a scholarly consensus about fundamental questions of the history of ancient Israel has ceased to exist. Instead, fierce controversies about its beginning, its unity and its possible sources have been arisen, extending to different areas like biblical exegesis, archaeology and historiographical methodology. It seems, however, that the numerous aspects which Hebrew linguistics may contribute to these discussions have been widely neglected so far. The paper will address some of these issues. 1.) Apart from being the language in which most of the sources are written, the Hebrew language is in itself a reliable source for the history of ancient Israel. 2.) Obviously, the use of Hebrew was an important marker of identity. To the modern historian, therefore, it may serve as a means for defining the term "ancient Israel", from both the synchronical and the diachronical points of view. 3.) Since every change in the life and structure of a certain society leaves traces in its language, insights into the history of the Hebrew language may help to discover fractures in the course of ancient Israelite history. 4.) On the other hand, the history of Hebrew provides an important measure for the degree of continuity in ancient Israelite history.


Wandel vor Gott in Heiligkeit. Die Vorstellung von der Heiligung der Gemeinde in Levticus 19
Program Unit: Torah and Ethics in the New Testament (EABS)
Ulrike Schorn, University of Mainz

Ausgehend von der grundlegenden Aussage in Lev 19,2 ‘Ihr sollt heilig sein, denn ich bin heilig, spricht der Herr, euer Gott’ zeichnet der Vortrag am Beispiel des Heiligkeitsgesetzes den Weg einer alttestamentlichen Ethik hin zur Vorstellung von der Heiligung der Gemeinde nach. Dabei werden mögliche Übereinstimmungen und Abweichungen vom paulinischen Verständnis der Gemeindeethik aufgezeigt.


Nomos und Liebesethik in Römans 13,8-10. Ein Fallbeispiel
Program Unit: Torah and Ethics in the New Testament (EABS)
Stefan Schreiber, Augsburg

Die Lektüre von Röm 13,8-10 stellt u.a. folgende Anfragen: Welche Rolle spielt der Kontext für das Textverständnis: die politisch-soziale „Konfrontation’ in Röm 13,1-7.8a? Warum bringt Paulus hier überhaupt den Nomos ins Gespräch? Besteht, was Funktion und Bedeutung des Nomos betrifft, eine Strukturanalogie zu Röm 3,(21-)31, wo Paulus ja den Nomos „hinstellt’? Ist der Nomos (uneingeschränkt) positiv angesprochen? Inwiefern ist die Zusammenfassung des Nomos im Liebesgebot traditionell vorgegeben? Warum sind die zitierten Nomos-Gebote in V.9 auf den Nächsten beschränkt, während die Gott betreffenden Gebote nicht repräsentiert sind? In welchem Verhältnis stehen die „Liebe’, das „dem Nächsten nichts Böses tun’ (vielleicht steht dahinter ein profaner Gesetzesbegriff, vgl. Cicero, Off 3,5,23.27) und der „Nomos’? Liegt das auf einer Ebene, oder sind Korrekturen impliziert? Hat der Nomos in Röm 13,8-10 überhaupt noch eine eigenständige Bedeutung, oder ist er nicht eher ganz einer „christlichen’ Ethik eingeordnet – damit ethisch neu-interpretiert (analog 3,31: Nomos als „Zeuge’ für Christus christologisch-hermeneutisch neu-interpretiert)? Welche Funktion besitzt der Nomos dabei (Veranschaulichung, Orientierung, „Material’ der Ethik, Suche nach Gemeinsamkeit mit den jüdischen „Vorgaben’)? Zu beachten bleibt: Die Tora beabsichtigt eine „Gesellschafts-Ethik’ (societas), während Paulus eine „Gruppen-Ethik’ (communitas) formuliert, die möglicherweise als solche in die societas wirkt.


Prayers and Psalms from the Pre-Maccabean Period
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Eileen Schuller, McMaster University

This paper will discuss selected examples of prayers and psalms from the Dead Sea Scrolls that are probably to be dated to the pre-Maccabean period. Special attention will be paid to the collection of psalms in 4Q380-381, non-massoretic psalms from 11QPsa, and the Words of the Luminaries. Criteria for determing date, authorship, form, and possible usage will be discussed.


YHWH's Name in the Aaronitic Blessing (Numbers 6.22-26)
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Horst Seebass, University of Bonn

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Constructions and Collusions: The Making and Unmaking of Identity in Qohelet and Hebrews
Program Unit: Hebrews
Robert Paul Seesengood, Drew University

Harold Attridge begins his commentary on Hebrews noting "Hebrews is the most elegant and sophisticated, and perhaps the most enigmatic, text of first-century Christianity." (Herm., 1) Seow opens his commentary on Ecclesiastes asserting, “no book in the Bible…is the subject of more controversies.” (AB, ix) Qohelet and Hebrews exhibit many similarities, but of particular interest to us is how both texts are anonymous documents attributed to significant authors, but only on the most ethereal data. Both Hebrews and Qohelet provide autobiographical anecdotes that are suggestive, but stop just short of disclosing any authorial voice, assumed or genuine. Both texts struggled for canonical recognition. Notice the striking parallels between m. Yad 3:5; ‘Ed. 5:3 b. Meg. 7a; b. Šabb. 30b; Lev. Rabb. 28:1; Qoh. Rabb. 1:3; 11:9; and Num. Rabb. 161b on Qohelet and Eusebius CH 2.17.7-13; 3.3.1-7; 3.37.2-3; 5.26.1; 6:14.4; 6.20.3; and 6.25.11-14 on Hebrews. In both writings, the imputed authorship may be what “saved” these texts for canonization. Drawing upon (deliberately?) cryptic textual references and extra-textual traditions, ancient scholars colluded with the texts of Qohelet and Hebrews in the imputation of authorship, an imputation that both constricted and directed generations of interpreters. Ironically, when the scholarly process developed into its “modernist” manifestation, stressing historical and grammatical analysis, serious questions arose about the originally imputed authorship. Yet, the question of the “I” found in Qoh. 1:1 and Heb. 13:23 still constricts and directs interpreters. This paper will explore our fascination with the identity that peeps out from behind the “I,” the continuing making and unmaking of scholarly traditions of this identity, and the ethical implications of such processes for these already ethically challenging texts.


Intercultural Bible Reading: An Assessment
Program Unit:
Fernando Segovia, Vanderbilt University

This paper will present an assessment of the international project “Through the eyes of another”, particularly focusing on the intercultural exchange involved. The speaker, who was not directly involved in the formulation or implementation of the project, was asked to react to the project, indicating its strengths and weaknesses.


Musik des Tempels in Jerusalem Texte, Archaeologie und Rekonstruktionsversuche mit Tonbeispielen
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Hans Seidel, Markkleeberg

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The Samaritans, the God Fearers and Proselytism in Rabbinic Sources
Program Unit: Samaritan Studies (EABS)
Rivka Shahal, Ashkelon Academic College, Israel

The phenomenon of those who join themselves to God goes back many years. Examples are in abundance. Are the Samaritans also part of this proselytism - do they also fit into the category of joining themselves to the people of Israel? In my lecture, I will discuss the following points, especially the historical phenomenon of the 'God Fearers' in relation to the Samaritans. The term 'God fearing,' which appears a number of times in the Hebrew Bible, is unclear. Is it an adjective alone or does it have social-religious affiliations as a characterisation of certain groups? Do the Samaritans fall into the category of being 'God Fearers'? 1) An obscure verse in Isaiah enabled the sermonizer of Bamidbar Rabba to grade the different categories. 'God fearing' is at the bottom of the scale. Samaritans are not mentioned and they are not found to be part of the Jews. 2) Post-exilic Judaism was tolerant of accepting and even encouraging proselytism. Were Samaritans object of this interest? Apparently not. 3) In the first century CE, Paul encountered idolatrous 'God Fearers' in the synagogues at Antioch and other places. He called them: hoi phoboumenoi ton theon, 4) The finding of the pillar at Aphroditias in Minor Asia sheds light on the 'God Fearers'. 5) To the sermonizer, 'God Fearers' are on the same level as true proselytes. The Samaritans, on the contrary, are not true 'God Fearers' (yir'ey 'elohimi) and therefore are not true proselytes as they continued to worship idols: 'They feared the Lord and served their own gods' (2 Kgs 17.33). The sermonizer used the Hebrew root yr' in the characterisation of both. The sermon opposes Rabbi Akiva's position that the Samaritans are true proselytes. In my lecture, I will analyze the possible reasons that motivated the sermonizer to blame the Samaritans for idol worship.


A Suggestion for the Reconstruction of 4Q251, frg. 13, and Some Observations on Midrash Halakhah at Qumran
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Aharon Shemesh, Bar Ilan University

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Compassion for Animals in Midrashic Literature and Traditional Biblical Exegesis
Program Unit: Judaica
Yael Shemesh, Bar-Ilan University

Although Judaism has an essentially anthropocentric attitude toward animals, viewing them as a means to serve the human race, the Sages assigned them a legal status, followed the Torah in setting limits to their permissible exploitation, and even ruled that the ban on cruelty to animals is a Torah prohibition. The Sages’ and commentators’ concern for satisfying animals’ needs goes beyond their physical requirements to include their emotional needs as well. At the same time, the midrashim and commentaries do not agree about the rationale of the precepts that require human treatment of animals—whether they are intended for the benefit of human beings, for the benefit of the animals, or perhaps for both. Another related question is whether the Lord displays compassion for animals. Despite a number of texts that reject the assertion that the Lord’s mercies extend to animals, the dominant voice among the Sages and traditional commentators emphasizes His compassion for them. Some midrashim and commentaries even hold that sometimes human beings are rescued only by virtue of this divine compassion for animals. Other midrashim expound the fundamental difference between the limited and partial compassion of human beings, which is extended only to their fellow human beings (excluding animals), or the limited compassion that men display exclusively for men (but not for women), and the Lord’s equal and inclusive compassion for all His creatures, male and female, human and animal, with no discrimination based on gender or species. Despite this abyss between divine compassion and human compassion, various texts demand that human beings emulate the divine attribute and treat animals mercifully. We also find that the Sages and traditional commentators assume that a person’s treatment of animals reflects one’s personality and may influence one’s destiny: human beings are punished or rewarded for how they treat animals.


Maculate perception: social meaning and ostension - a study of Gen 23
Program Unit: Relevance Theory and Biblical Interpretation
Ronnie Sim, SIL International

The paper argues that concepts developed in recent studies on (verbal) communication, and various specific and widespread traditional social concepts, can legitimately and advantageously be applied to biblical interpretation. The communicative concept of ostension, and social concepts of honour, hospitality, patronage, land ownership and negotiation are shown to illuminate the episode reported in Gen 23. Conventional analyses frequently fail to distinguish the ostensive from the non-ostensive, and rely on their own social assumptions rather than assumptions ubiquitous in traditional societies. By carefully distinguishing what is ostensive within a set of social assumptions we propose an interpretation of the passage that challenges conventional ones at several points.


A Fragment of a First Century Frieze, Found at et-Tell/Bethsaida
Program Unit: Bethsaida Excavations Project
Ilona Skupinska-Lovset, University of Lodj, Poland

A fragment of a frieze, discussed below, was found during archaeological excavations on the artificial hill called et-Tell, situated north of the Sea of Galilee. Circumstances as to the find are not known, but the stone was certainly connected with some architectural constructions which was outstanding in the local context. A photograph of it was reproduced by father Bargil Pixner already in 1985. The item, however, has not yet been published. It constitutes one of the most important documents among carved stones found on et-Tell and its vicinity to the present, as it may be dated early in the first century AD. In the following arguments towards the above dating will be presented from the heart of the Roman Empire as well as from the neighbouring Hauran.


Let the Real Samuel Appear: Exegetical Controversies around the Apparition of the Prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 28
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Klaas Smelik, Faculty of Protestant Theology, Brussels

In the rabbinical exegesis of 1 Samuel 28 there is a strong belief in the possibility of necromancy contrary to the opinion of the Fathers of the Church. In this short communication the question is raised how to explain this difference.


The Menu of Heaven
Program Unit: Graduate Presentations (EABS)
Peter-Ben Smit, University of Bern

The focus of this paper will be one of the elements of the so-called ‘messianic’ or ‘eschatological’ banquet, something often referred to as a coherent motif in New Testament and Early Jewish Literature (Cf. Dennis E. Smith, Symposium to Eucharist (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003), pp. 166ff.) . After documenting that there is no such thing as a 'coherent' theme that can be referred to with 'eschatological banquet' in the writings of the New Testament, an attempt will be made to focus on one possible difference between New Testament traditions which occupy themselves with eschatological eating and drinking and traditions from the Hellenistic Umwelt, which are concerned with 'utopian meals' (Cf. Matthias Klinghardt, Gemeinschaftsmahl und Mahlgemeinschaft (Tübingen: Francke, 1996, pp. 163ff.). The suggestion will be made, that, whereas traditions occupying themselves with eschatological eating and drinking from the Umwelt of the New Testament are very interested in foodstuffs, most New Testament texts occupying themselves with this 'theme' do not show any interest in exactly this constitutive aspect of meals. Finally an attempt to account for this phenomenon will be offered, which will argue that the fullness of the age to come had apparently more to do with koinonia than with a fullness expressed in foodstuffs.


The Eschatological Meal and Social Reality
Program Unit: Biblical Theology
Peter-Ben Smit, University of Bern

This paper will venture to explore a missing link in the research into the so-called eschatological meal in the New Testament. Most of the time, the issue is merely treated as a literary device, which is no doubt is, though insufficient attention is being paid to the relationship between ‘real’ meals, taking place on earth, and the eschatological ones, supposed to be taking place in the end time (Mk. 14:25par. Mt. 8:11f.par.) or the millennium (cf. 2Bar. 29passim). In order to do this, a fourfold typology of the meal, already known from earlier research (cf. esp. Aune, o.c.), will be expanded and corrected as now not only the various kinds of eschatological meals will be categorized, but also the way in which they reflect and leave out certain aspects of ‘real’ meals. In the end of the paper an attempt will be made to reflect on the theological / ideological interests that are voiced by these eschatological meals, especially in the way in which they, very selectively, reflect elements of earthly meals. The five proposed categories will be: ‘the eschatological banquet’ (Mt. 8:11f.par., Mt. 19:28ff.par., Mk. 14:25par. Apc. 3:20), ‘eschatological abundance’ (Mk. 6:34-44par., 8:1-10par., Apc. 22 :1-5), ‘the consumption of Leviathan and Behemoth’ (Apc. 19:17-19), ‘the eschatological marriagefeast’ (Mt. 25:1ff.par., Lk. 14:15ff.par., Mk. 2:18-20par., Apc. 19:7-9, Jn. 2:1-11) ‘special foods (tree of life, manna, etc.)’ (Apc. 2:17). The references in brackets are a selection, even more new testament texts could be taken into account. As far as time permits it, cross-references will be made to old testament as well as extracanonical literature, where, especially in a text like 2 Bar 29 or Isaiah 25:6ff. very similar material can be found.


The Way of the Lord: The Presentation of God in Mark's Gospel
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
C. Drew Smith, Ouachita Baptist University

Almost three decades past, Nils A. Dahl called attention to the lack of scholarship devoted to the study of God in the New Testament and in earliest Christianity, dubbing it the "neglected factor." Since Dahl's remarks, a handful of studies have been devoted to filling of this void. Yet there has been little concentration on the study of God in the Gospel of Mark. It remains a neglected factor. In light of this, this paper seeks to contribute to the filling of this void by addressing the role which God plays in the narrative of the second Gospel. The paper utilises the methods of modern literary criticism, particularly those used to discuss the presentation of characters in narrative, and describes the modes through which the text presents God. While the application of literary criticism and characterization are not new to the study of Mark's story, these have not been fully applied to the study of God in the Gospel. Moreover, this paper will argue that the presentation of God in Mark is the foremost purpose of the narrative and that other concerns, i.e. Christology and discipleship, are aspects of this presentation. Reading the narrative from an audience perspective, this paper will also propose how a listening audience of the first century is shaped by the presentation of God, and how said audience might respond to the God of Mark's Gospel. Thus, this paper demonstrates that 1) God plays a crucial and active role in the narrative; 2) Mark's Christology and view of discipleship are better understood as aspects of the presentation of God; and 3) the presentation of God in Mark may serve as the fundamental purpose of Mark's Gospel.


Lament, Consolation, and the Structure of Philippians 3
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Yancy Smith, Texas Christian University

The fit and function of Philippians 3:1-21 is the crux interpretum for an understanding of Paul's letter(s) to the Philippians. Rather than proceed directly to a consideration of history behind the text, a discourse analytical approach to the form of this text yields important insights. This paper suggests that Paul's use of Jewish lament and Greco-Roman consolatory traditions in Philippians provides a way forward through current scholarly impasse concerning the relationship of Philippians 3 to the rest of the letter. Phillippians 3:12-16, then, becomes a forshadowing of the personal problem addressed in 4:2-3 and 3:17-21 applies Paul's paradigmatic self-identification with Christ to the Philippians beset by pressure in their own community to conform to Greco-Roman social norms by abandoning allegiance to their new Lord, Jesus Christ.


An English Translation and Revised Edition of C. Brockelmann’s Lexicon Syriacum
Program Unit: Syriac Lexicography
Michael Sokoloff, Bar Ilan University

The purpose of this project is to translate, correct, and update, C. Brockelmann’s Lexicon Syriacum (Second ed., Halle 1928), still considered to be the most authoritative and accurate dictionary of this Aramaic dialect. Syriac is the literary Aramaic dialect of the city of Edessa (Orhai), and a dictionary of Syriac is a necessary tool for anyone who deals with either Semitic languages, Aramaic studies, or eastern Christianity. While there exists a Syriac-English dictionary, it is geared to reading texts and not to the scientific study of the language. The Lexicon Syriacum was designed to fill this need and did this well in its two editions (1895, 1928). However, the last 75 years have seen extraordinary advances in our knowledge of Aramaic and other Semitic languages. As a result, the Lexicon Syriacum is now greatly out of date and must be revised. Additionally, the fact that it is written in Latin has made it a closed book for most modern readers. The proposed project intends to do the following: 1. Translate the dictionary into English 2. Update the etymologies and cognates. Syriac has a large number of loanwords from both Semitic and non-Semitic languages. However, most of the loanwords cited from Akkadian in Lexicon Syriacum are either incorrect or non-existent. The Persian loanwords did not take into consideration the Middle Persian dialects. No distinction between the various Jewish Aramaic dialects is made, and cognates from Rabbinic Hebrew are practically never cited. For most of the entries, cognates from the closely related middle Eastern dialects of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic are not cited. 3. Correct and update the references to outdated text editions. 4. Cull additional entries from text editions of the past 75 years, as well as from the scholarly literature. 5. Reorder the dictionary entries in strict alphabetical order to facilitate finding a particular word. A new dictionary of Syriac based on a large computerized database is not in the offing for the foreseeable future. Rather a more circumspect, less audacious, and feasible project has been suggested here, viz. the production of a corrected and updated Syriac-English dictionary based on Brockelmann’s Lexicon Syriacum which will serve scholars during the twenty-first century until an entirely new dictionary can be produced.


Der Amos-Schluss - kanonisch erschlossen
Program Unit: The Method of the Canonical Approach (EABS)
Georg Steins, Universität Osnabrück

Das Amosbuch ist vielfältig vernetzt mit den beiden Kanonteilen ‘Gesetz und (Vordere) Propheten’. Zentral für die Struktur und Theologie des Buches ist die Reinszenierung der ‘Sinaikonstellation’: Gott, Israel und Mose angesichts der Sünde des Volkes. Der viel diskutierte Buchschluss (Am 9,7-15), der nach einem Wort von Julius Wellhausen der Botschaft des Amos ‘die Spitze abbricht’ und ‘aus dem göttlichen Zornesbecher mit einem Mal Milch und Honig fließen lässt’, erschließt sich in kanonischer Perspektive als notwendige Aufgipfelung der Theologie des Amosbuches. Das Beispiel provoziert eine Reihe grundsätzlicher Fragen: Welche Rolle spielt der Kanon in der Lektüre biblischer Texte? Wie kann eine kanonische Lektüre konkret aussehen? Welche Bedeutungen haben historische Rückfragen für das Verständnis biblischer Texte?


Reading Ezra 1-6 in Light of 'Book-Find' Reports from Classical Antiquity
Program Unit: Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Katherine Stott, University of Queensland

The book of Ezra contains a number of references to written documents. Probably the most well known is the Hebrew edict of Cyrus, permitting the Jews to return from their captivity (Ezra 2-4). Also commonly discussed is the Aramaic decree of Cyrus, said to have been found in Ecbatana in the time of Darius (Ezra 6:2-5). In the past, there has been much debate about these two ordinances, particularly concerning their relationship and their authenticity. The most widely held view is to see the Aramaic document as an authentic decree, but the one in Hebrew as a literary invention. However, not everyone agrees. On one end of the spectrum, the authenticity of both ordinances has been defended by some. On the other end of the spectrum, it has recently been suggested that both could be literary inventions. In this paper I will explore and build upon the latter hypothesis, arguing that neither the Hebrew edict nor the Aramaic decree of Cyrus ever actually existed outside the book of Ezra. Instead I advance that these documents are fictive and designed to serve a rhetorical purpose in their narrative context. I will argue in favour of this view by reading the story of the two ordinances of Cyrus in Ezra 1-6 in conjunction with classical stories about lost and found books. In classical studies, such stories are widely understood to serve rhetorical purposes in their literary contexts and are generally not thought to refer to books that actually existed. I will advance the view that the story in Ezra 1-6 closely resembles these classical stories, and hence can be understood as serving a similar purpose in the biblical literature.


Male Magicians and Foolish Women: Heresy, Authority and the Early Church
Program Unit: Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies
Kimberly Stratton, Carleton University

Depictions of women who are driven by jealousy or lust to enlist the use of "magic" appear frequently in the pages of ancient literature. This stereotype of magic as a female pursuit contrasts, however, with the archaeological evidence that points to substantial male involvement in subversive ritual practices commonly labeled "magic." Surprisingly, early Christian literature deviates from this gendered pattern by portraying men almost unanimously as the magician-heretic and women as credulous and hysterical victims of the magician's seduction. While the second century evidences a stark increase in the number of men represented as magicians, women continue to figure as primary targets for magic stereotyping in Roman and Jewish literature. On first glance, therefore, one might suppose that early Christian literature better reflects the actual practice of "magic" as recorded in the archaeological stratum. In this essay it is argued that, despite the seeming congruence between material culture and literary representation, these depictions should be read as ideological contrivances: "magic" and "women" function in these depictions as tropes to demonize and marginalize contenders for religious authority in early Christianity. The portrayal of male aggressors and female victims reveals little or nothing about the roles of "real" men and women in early Christianity. Rather, the victimized women serve as a foil for early Christian writers to locate themselves and their communities in opposition to perceived threats, imagined in terms of the sexualized masculinity and aggressiveness of the "magician." Early Christian depictions of magic should be understood therefore to illuminate conflicts over legitimacy and power among and in the early Christian communities rather than merely the social "reality" of magic as it was actually practiced.


The Qumran Community: A Perfectionist Sect
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Dwight Swanson, Nazarene Theological College

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Partial Weaning? Approaching the Psychological Enigma of John 13-17
Program Unit: Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts
Kari Syreeni, Uppsala University

The Johannine farewell section is heavy with literary, tradition-historical and theological ambiguities. The psychological enigma is no less vital. In Jesus' farewell address, the disciples are initially called children(13:33). Jesus' promise not to leave the disciples orphans (14:18) and his parental efforts to overcome the disciples' anxiety (14:27, 16:33) are well suited to the image of the disciples as little children. However, the disciples are also depicted as grown-up servants(13:16) and friendsof Jesus (15:15). Another ambiguity is that the disciples are being sent to the world (esp. ch. 17), yet they should abide in Jesus (15:1-10). The ambiguous portrayal of the disciples points, among other things, to the socio-psychological dilemma of Johannine Christianity. In the present paper, an attempt is made to understand this dilemma in terms of a partial or incomplete weaning.


The Identity of the Covenanters' 'Others' Viewed against the Background of the Calendar Controversy
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Shemaryahu Talmon, Hebrew University

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The Name in the Books of Kings and Chronicles
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Eep Talstra, Free University of Amsterdam

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'Game Rules' for Reading the Biblical Canon: A Claim for Reception History
Program Unit: The Method of the Canonical Approach (EABS)
Johannes Taschner, Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel

Ancient Israel could only save its traditions by ever and again reading and interpreting anew and differently its inherited stories, the history it experienced, and its law. The paper tries to explore what lessons could be learnt today from such a caring and at the same time creative way of dealing with tradition and how this could be described methodically. It is self-evident, that one would no longer ask for "the" meaning of the text, since this would entail a serious reduction in relation to the narrated text having developed over such a long period of time. Proceeding differently and abstaining from asking for one single meaning opens the opportunity to not only pick up Ancient Israel's stimulating way of dealing with texts but to even carry it on. This has to be happening within defined boundaries (a sort of "game rules") that will be set by the way the text functioning the first time, its history of reception and the expectation context of present times. From a theological point of view such a process should draw the line from the past to our times and include at all times the freedom of god to reveal himself.


History to Serve Present Times. Change of Perspectives between Narrator and Moses in Deuteronomy.
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Johannes Taschner, Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel

In Deuteronomy Moses repeats known facts of history in retrospect from a new angle. In contrast to the unaffected biblical narrator, a vulnerable human being is taking the floor at the threshold to the Promised Land: Moses as an eye witness, who experiences for himself the consequences of the events he has been telling about. This change of point of view can only be adequately paid tribute to if Deuteronomy is interpreted consistently before the background of the four preceding books of the Torah. The historical outline in the version of Moses is serving his 'homiletic' situation. Thus the significance of telling history is becoming the purpose of the narration. The presentation will try to describe why it was necessary to remember history at this specific place, i.e. at the transition to the Promised Land. A targeted approach will compare the different versions of the spy-story (Dtn 1-3; Num 13-14) and the events at the mount Horeb (Dtn 9-10; Ex 32-24) and will try to find out in how far many of the differences can be explained by the differing angles of the narrators.


John the Baptist and Temple Rejection in the Jesus Movement and Early Christianity
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Nicholas Hugh Taylor, University of Pretoria

This paper argues that early Christian rejection of the temple in Jerusalem originates not in later sacrificial and salvific interpretations of Jesus' death, or even his proclamation of judgment and destruction on the sanctuary during the last week of his historical ministry. Rather, the roots of this tendency in early Christianity are to be traced to the ministry of John the Baptist. John's cultic movement outside and in opposition to the temple system was a major catalyst for Jesus' public ministry, and informed attitudes to the temple and its cult from the origins of the Jesus movement. The ministry of Jesus was premised on the conviction that the preparation of Israel for the coming of God's reign could not be accomplished through the Jerusalem temple cult.


Power Techniques in the Book of Deuteronomy
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Rannfrid Thelle, University of Oslo

This paper will explore how two themes turn out to be power techniques in the text of Deuteronomy, the themes of subversion of catastrophe and the idea of joyful subjugation. The Deuteronomistic History is a story of disaster. The ‘chosen place’ is destroyed by YHWH, and the chosen people, chosen king, and the house for his name etc. are all destroyed, according to the story told in DtrH. This is all turned around in Deuteronomy. The centrality of the chosen place is taken for granted, has become a dogma, a given to be taken into consequence, and cultic life is now arranged around this given. We find in Deuteronomy the programmatic announcement of a cultic praxis centering on place and joyfulness, projected into the future. Centralization in the book of Deuteronomy thus gives potential new meaning to something that had already failed. There is a new rationale; YHWH does not promise to protect his city/place because he chose it, as is the case in the Deuteronomistic History. The promise of protection is connected explicitly to the keeping of the law (as in Deut. 28.1, 15; 29.25-29; 30.10, 15-20).


Bare Feet and Holy Ground (Exodus 3.5)
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Eibert Tigchelaar, University of Groningen

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How to Get Rid of Evil Spirits: Insights from Qumran
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Eibert Tigchelaar, University of Groningen

Qumran give some insights into the threats of evil spirits or demons, the ways they afflict human bodies, the sicknesses they are responsible for, as well as the means to ward them off or to exorcize them. The fragmentary textual remains show some of the rhetorics of incantations and spells, but also give hints about rituals. On the basis of these data I will attempt to reconstruct the exorcism of Qumran.


The Text of the Hebrew Bible in the Pre-Maccabean Period
Program Unit: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Emanuel Tov, Hebrew University

This paper focuses on the pre-Maccabean Hebrew evidence as found in the Judean Desert and reconstructed from the LXX. The relations between the textual sources in the first century B.C.E. are relatively clear, but for the two previous centuries, for which we do have textual evidence, we have to content ourselves with hypotheses. These hypotheses relate to the various representations of an ever-changing text and to their relation to the text of still earlier periods.


Codex Boernerianus and Its Sister Manuscripts
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
David Trobisch, Bangor Theological Seminary

G 012 and its allies may very well represent a second century edition of the Letters of Paul, which competed with the Canonical Edition of the New Testament. The paper will review the main arguments for this thesis and present new insights and observations made while working with the originals at libraries in Dresden, Paris, Cambridge, and St. Petersburg.


The Collection of Samaritan Manuscripts at the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati as a Tool for Complete Research on Samaritan Literature
Program Unit: Samaritan Studies (EABS)
Benyamim Tsedaka, A.B. Institute for Samaritan Research

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Jesus the Exorcist and Ancient Magic
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Graham Twelftree, Regent University

Literature that can reasonably be expected to reflect ideas current around the time of Jesus exhibits a range of views on exorcism. At one end of a spectrum success in exorcism is attributed to the personal power of the exorcist, as in the case of, for example, Apollonius of Tyana or the legendary Solomon. At the other end of a continuum is the view preserved in the literature of ancient magic; which will not be defined pejoratively over against religion but taken, without prejudice, to include notions reflected in, but not confined to, the Greek magical papyri. As this paper details, in this literature it was understood that the preparation and execution of a rite-sometimes preserved and seen to be efficacious amuleticly-enabled a greater spiritual power to be engaged to remove a lesser unwelcome spiritual power. Traditionally ancient magic has been seen at the opposing end of this spectrum from Jesus. However, in assessing Jesus the exorcist in the context of this literature, this paper shows this to be a false dichotomy and offers a reciprocal clarification. On the one hand, we can see an affinity between Jesus' methods and those found in ancient magic which gives insight into how he and others may have understood his activities as an exorcist. On the other hand, the use of Jesus' name in the literature of ancient magic sheds light both on Jesus the exorcist and on the way he was viewed by others, as well as shedding light on the exorcisms of ancient magic. Further, our comparison enables an opportunity to evaluate modern reconstructions of Jesus the exorcist.


What's in the Divine Name? Exodus 3 in Biblical and Rabbinic Tradition
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Wout van Bekkum, University of Groningen

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The Etymology of the Divine Names in Greek Philosophy
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Bert van den Berg, University of Leiden

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Blessed Art Thou, for Thou Madest Me Rejoice (Tobit 8:16)
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
Sabine van den Eynde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

In the book of Tobit, God isblessed for being the source of the event which makes people rejoice and consequently also profoundly is the source of rejoicing. Blessing is in this deuterocanonical book an important theme (37 occurrences in 26 verses in Tob; 48 in 27 verses in Tbs). Therefore, I will firstly explore how the idea of blessing in general is developed: who blesses whom and why? Thereafter, I will analyse more specifically the blessing of God (with the reasons why God is blessed). Against this backdrop, I will study the link between blessing and rejoicing, as it occurs in Tob 8,16.


YHWH Bless You! Blessing as a Vehicle for Theology and Narration in the Book of Ruth
Program Unit: Writings (including Psalms)
Sabine van den Eynde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Blessings voice, just as other religious discoursive texts such as prayers, vows and curses, a theological view. Yet, apart from their importance from a theological perspective, they may also have a specific narrative function in a text. Based upon an analysis of several blessings in the book of Ruth, it will be argued that in a narrative text, a blessing can be used both as a theological re-lecture, and as a prospect of what is to come.


An Ancient Magician's Manual: The Great Magical Papyrus of Paris
Program Unit: Early Christianity between Hellenism and Judaism (EABS)
Pieter W. van der Horst, University of Utrecht

The so-called 'Great Magical Papyrus of Paris' (=PGM IV) is the single most comprehensive handbook for magical practices known from the ancient world. This paper will briefly discuss its provenance, its contents, the history of its research, and its relevance for biblical studies. In view of Hans Dieter Betz's recent edition of and commentary on the 'Liturgy of Mithras,' this important section of the papyrus will receive special mention, as will the so-called 'Hebrew formula.'


Jewish Amulets: Some Introductory Remarks
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Pieter W. van der Horst, University of Utrecht

After some general introductory remarks on Jewish magic, this paper will focus especially on the phenomenon of Jewish magical amulets from late antiquity. Special attention will be paid to the role of biblical texts and themes in these amulets.


Soteriology in the Johannine Epistles
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Dirk van der Merwe, Vista University

The Johannine Epistles give no elaborated account of salvation. This paper tries to compile a comprehensible soteriology where the bits and pieces that relate to one another all over the Epistles are knock together. The possible constructed circumstances and false teachings of the deceivers which influenced the theological doctrine and ethical behaviour of the community and led to the schism in the community determine the structure and content of the soteriology. Only the basic aspects of soteriology are taught by the elder. These basic aspects are nuancedly presented from theocentric and christocentric perspectives which are closely interwoven with different themes. From the content it seems that the theological perspective dominates with the Christological perspective as complimenting. The soteriology is metaphorically presented from the perspective of the household of God the Father. The paternalistic Old Testamentic image of a household figures here where the Father determines the way of conduct. The elder refers to three of God’s characteristics (God is light (1:5), [God] is righteous(2:29) and God is love(4:8)) according to which God’s children have to direct their lives after ‘they have been born into the family of God’ where they have and experience ‘eternal life’.


Mesha and the Tribe of Dibon
Program Unit: Hebrew Bible (EABS)
Eveline J. van der Steen, Leiden University

The kingdom of Mesha has been viewed in different perspectives by different disciplines over time. One relatively new perspective is that of tribal kingdoms, as proposed by LaBianca and others. Both the Mesha Inscription and the archaeology of Moab in the 9th century can contribute to this perspective. If Mesha's kingdom of Moab was indeed a tribal kingdom, this has consequences for the origins of the name Dibon, or Daibon, as well. Both archaeology and the inscription, as well as the biblical references to Mesha, seem to support the view that Daibon was a tribe, of which Mesha was the leader, and only after the time of Mesha it became the name of a town.


Gedaliah in the Light of Epigraphic Evidence
Program Unit: Epigraphical and Paleological Studies Pertaining to the Biblical World
Peter van der Veen, Trinity College, Bristol

A number of seals and bullae from Israel and Jordan (both provenanced and unprovenanced) have come to light over the years, which may refer to political associates and the family of Gedaliah, who was appointed governor by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Some of these artifacts belong to the famous Shlomo Moussaieff Collection. Inspite of recent attempts to dismiss this connection, when studied closely, a good case can still be made to connect them to the babylonian governor mentioned in the books of 2 Kings and Jeremiah. The latest discoveries in the field support this conclusion.


Pardon My Paradigm: On the Paradigmatic Nature of Methods and Paradigm Changes in Biblical Studies
Program Unit: Methods in Hebrew Bible Studies
Hans van Deventer, North West University, South Africa

In a noteworthy article published in 2000 in JBL (119/3:453-471) Robert Shedinger took issue with scholars who refer too easily to paradigm changes in the field of biblical studies. Instead, the notion of inter-paradigm debate is suggested to describe the dialogue among biblical scholars. This paper relates the meta-theoretical issue of paradigms and paradigm changes to the various methods employed in the field of biblical studies (focused on the Hebrew Bible). It sets out with a careful analysis of the Kuhnian concept of paradigms and paradigm changes, especially as it manifests in his later work. From this analysis it is indicated that Kuhn does leave room for more than one paradigm to rule a discipline at a given time. This conclusion is supported by a few examples from the field of the natural sciences. The paper further cautions that methods and paradigms should not be confused and illustrates how seemingly opposing methods in biblical studies share a common ground when it comes to the meta-theoretical (paradigmatic) level. The paper concludes by reclaiming the scientific nature of biblical studies (and the rest of the Humanities).


The Book of Daniel: Joy Amidst Animosity
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
Hans van Deventer, North West University, South Africa

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Moses/Moochos and His God YHWH, laoo, or Pantokratoor, Seen From a Graeco-Roman Perspective
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
George van Kooten, University of Groningen

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Bible Criticism From the Point of View of Mysticism and Spirituality
Program Unit: Methods in New Testament Studies
Wali van Lohuizen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Many gospel texts and especially Jesus logia need a new critical approach on the level of meaning. The paper will argue that apart from both literal and symbolic meanings texts may be interpreted and understood as spiritual. It will refer to mysticism as a current, central to religion and the history of Christianity but neglected in bible criticism. It will focus on some concepts like pistis/pisteuô, pneuma, psyche (- tithêmi, - sôizô, - phylassô, - apollumi, - heuriskô, etc.), ekstasis, phobos, telos. Although the approach is labelled as new, in many cases it will refer to old understandings.


Jesus on the Cross
Program Unit: Johannine Literature
Wali van Lohuizen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Traditionally the cross stands for defeat, the resurrection for victory. Reading the passion stories one is impressed on the one hand by the immense pains and human suffering implied and on the other hand by the absence of signs of suffering on the part of Jesus. The story in John is one of dignity: dignity towards his captors, towards his interrogators including Pilate, and finally his being on the cross. This paper will investigate this hypothesis with focus on three terms: the dipsô, the tetelestai, and the paredôken to pneuma (19.28-30). Is the thirst physical as understood by those present, or is it rather meant spiritually? Does the tetelestai refer to the passion (‘it is finished’), or to the good message and the wonderful life he is now completing? Does the paredôken to pneuma (‘gave up his spirit’) just mean that he died, or rather that he rendered his spirit to where it originated from, his Father? In other words, does the scene on the cross represent the human side, or the full awareness of his messianic nature? The argument will be related to Jn 12.25 about loving and hating one’s psyche, and keeping it for eternal life.


Rendering Ekstasis and Phobos in the NT
Program Unit: Synoptic Gospels
Wali van Lohuizen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Mark (16.8, NIV) relates how the women went out and fled from the tomb “trembling and bewildered”, as a translation for tromos (some mss: phobos, fear) and ekstasis. We find ekstasis at a few places in NT and translated variously as ‘astonished’ (Mk 5:42), ‘awe’ (Lk 5.26), ‘amazement’ (Acts 3:10), and ‘trance’ (Acts 10.10, 11.5, 22.17). Bauer (Wörterbuch z. NT) translates the term as ‘Aussersichsein, Verwirrung, Staunen, Entsetzen’, each of them with a negative connotation, but also as ‘Verzückung’ that has a positive connotation (ecstacy, rapture). But even ecstasy has been interpreted negatively. Often ecstasy has been interpreted as an abnormal and unwanted condition. In mysticism and spirituality, however, ecstasy is a necessary condition to experience the Divine. The paper will investigate the possibilities of restoring ekstasis in its positive, spiritual connotation as ‘ecstasy’ or ‘rapture’, referring to the recent Encyclopedie van de mystiek (ed. J. Baers et al., Kok / Lannoo, Kampen / Tielt 2003). Some references will be made to the LXX use of ekstasis. A similar treatment will be given to phobos in terms of as ‘awe’. The paper will conclude by proposing an alternative rendering for Mk 16.8.


The Particles gyr and dyn in Classical Syriac: Syntactic and Semantic Aspects
Program Unit: Syriac Lexicography
Wido van Peursen, Leiden University

Reconsideration of the taxonomy, parts of speech, and the syntactic analysis underlying many individual lexemes in existing Syriac lexica will be basic to the making of a new Syriac lexicon. This paper will address some questions related to the particles gyr and dyn in Classical Syriac. It will argue that a syntactic analysis of these particles can go beyond the general observation that they usually come after the first word of the clause. Defining the rule for the position of these particles more precisely decreases the number of exceptions to the rule considerably. The parallels with the syntactic behaviour of Greek ??? and d?, too, can be described more precisely than in terms of “after the first word.” As to the semantic analysis of these particles, it will argue that the formal and syntactical equivalence of Syriac gyr and dyn and Greek ??? and d? should not lead to the erroneous assumption that they are also semantic and functional equivalents, an assumption that is pervasive not only in Syriac grammars and dictionaries, but also in modern editions of the Greek New Testament.


Continuing to do Good as Christian Response to Animosity: A Study of this Ethical Code in 1 Peter
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
Fika J. van Rensburg, North West University, South Africa

The addressees of 1 Peter were living in an unfriendly environment. They were aliens and strangers, not only because of their Christian faith, but also because they were not citizens of the areas in which they lived. Their alienity made them prey to animosity from the citizens. This article endeavours to make a construction of the animosity the first readers of 1 Peter experienced. It then establishes the ethical code given in 1 Peter for their attitude towards and response to this animosity, and this Petrine code is compared with guidelines for response to animosity in the rest of the Bible. Finally, utilizing the ethical code in 1 Peter, the outline for an ethical code for Christians' response to animosity in present day societies is proposed.


Receptions of Exodus 3 in Early Jewish Literature
Program Unit: Themes in Biblical Narrative
Jacques van Ruiten, University of Groningen

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Nobody is God's Enemy: The Attitude of Targum Jonathan towards Animosity around King David
Program Unit: Animosity, the Bible and Us (EABS)
Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman, Theologische Universiteit Kampen

King David had enemies, before and during his reign. The Books of Samuel describe so many wars between David and his enemies that many that Wulfila refused to translate these books into Gothic (341 CE) in order not to give the Gothic people any impulse for waging wars. Targum Jonathan also had to deal with the stories of war, albeit in a completely different setting. The Targumists took animosity for granted, being a daily reality in the Roman Empire. But some things could not be said. God never was a directly involved party in wars: when the Hebrew used the phrase 'enemies of the Lord,' the Targum translated 'enemies of the Lord's people'. Furthermore, King David was not a man with feelings of animosity in his heart: the Targum makes him as righteous as possible. What were the Targumists' motives to make these subtle changes? And what is the theological result of these changes? Do these changes result in a step towards reconciliation?


Case Studies of Intercultural Bible Reading: From Four Different Continents
Program Unit:
Danie van Zyl, Sokhanya Bible School, Khayelitsha, Cape Town

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Religious Flagellation, Eroticism and Atonement
Program Unit:
Patrick Vandermeersch, University of Groningen

Religious flagellation starts in the eleventh century (Peter Damian). Despite the huge controversy raised by this practice, it has been widespread and loaded with quite divergent significations. It faded in the catholic convents and monasteries in the 1950s. How can we understand this history in relation to the more general theological theme of atonement?


Alien Empirical Science: Magic in Talmud and Related Texts
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Guiseppe Veltri, University of Halle

My lecture aims at giving a look into the various approaches to magic in ancient Judaism. In considering magic and magicians, two very important aspects of the Rabbinic mentality come to light: (1) the readiness to accept sources of knowledge other than the biblical text and the oral tradition-for the Rabbis absorbed the achievements and the practices of medicine and astrology; (2) their perseverance in criticising magic and science by disclosing the tricks of the magician. However, Rabbinic pragmatic attitudes to the scientiae et artes were almost always coupled with a belief in the magic/theurgic power of the word, substantially a Neoplatonic and Hermetic idea. The reflection on this aspect of magic later led to the conception of the State of the divine name, i.e. the condition of the magic power used per se, in an appropriate or inappropriate manner.


Joy in Luke and Acts
Program Unit: The Biblical Concept of Joy (EABS)
Francois P. Viljoen, Potchefstroom University

Sometimes Christianity has been presented as a very solemn faith to the point of being gloomy. People have been so set on attaining the joys of heaven that they have forgotten the joys of earth. Luke would not have recognized such a way as truly Christian. Joy runs through his two volumes. It is clear that he understood Christianity as a faith that filled the whole life with joy. This paper investigates the occurrence and development of the theme of joy in Luke's writings. With the announcement of the birth of Jesus, a new era has dawned. Joy fills the scene. In the infancy stories in Luke 1:14 and 2:10 the dominant mood is that of joy. This mood persists throughout the Gospel as joy at the acts of Jesus (13:17 and 19:6). Joy is also the mood of people (18:43 and 19:37). There is joy in the finding of the lost (15:5-7, 9 and 32). There is joy at the knowledge that one's name is written in heaven (10:20). Luke adds a final accent when the disciples return to Jerusalem with great joy after the ascension (24:52). This also denotes the beginning of the age of the church. Joy persists even when the church is exposed to suffering. When we consider the circumstances of the early church, with its difficulties from without and within, with its daunting task of evangelising the world with limited resources, with membership consisting largely of insignificant people, it would not have been surprising if there had been gloom and pessimism. However the theme of joy that Luke stresses is significant. The early church was surely a joyful church.


Delimitation in a Poem of Doom: Weighing Text Division Markers and Traditions in Isaiah 1:2-9
Program Unit: Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity
Wim de Bruin, Zoetermeer

Isaiah 1:2-9 is a poem of comdemnation, which is generally considered as a unity. However, within this poem we find many changes of subjects and verbal forms, which clearly didvide the poem in strophes. It is interesting to observe how these strophes, its verse-lines and cola were marked in several ancient text witnesses. Such observations may help us to weigh the function of text division markers in different text witnesses and to trace the existence of several text division traditions in the poem.


Ein Zeichen für den Herrscher - Gottes Zeichen für Ahas in Jesaja 7,10-17
Program Unit: Prophets
Thomas Wagner, Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal

Das dem König Ahas in Jes 7,14-17 gegebene sog. Immanuelzeichen wurde in der Forschungsgeschichte auf verschiedene Weise ausgelegt. Mit diesem Beitrag wird nun der Versuch unternommen, es anhand der Entwicklungen der Kommunikation zwischen Jesaja und Ahas in Jes 7,1-17 und der Zeichen zu verstehen, die in Jes 7,11 dem König von Jesaja angeboten werden. Dabei wird ein Schwerpunkt auf die altorientalische Zeichengabe und -deutung gelegt. Im letzten Schritt versuche ich, die aus diesem Ergebnis resultierende Entwicklung des Immanuelgedankens im weiteren literaturhistorischen Prozess nachzuzeichnen.


P72 and the Bodmer Codex
Program Unit: Textual Criticism: Manuscripts & Methods
Tommy Wasserman, Lund University

P72 is the designation of one of the most significant and early textual witnesses of the New testament, containing the entire text of 1-2 Peter and the Epistle of Jude. However, these biblical texts are bound with other works into a single papyrus codex. Apart from studies focused on codicology and palaeography, scholars have normally studied only individual parts of the codex as textual witnesses for a particular work. In this paper attention will be drawn to several aspects of the codex such as codicology, palaeography, textual criticism and theology.


Saved through Childbearing: Virtues as Children in 1 Timothy 2:11-15
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Kenneth L. Waters, Sr., Azusa Pacific University

1 Timothy 2:11-15 is an allegory in which the virtues faith, love, holiness, and temperance are portrayed as the children of those women in Ephesus who will be saved. Evidence for this new reading of “childbearing” in 1 Tim 2:15 is widely found in Greek mythology and in the literature of Plato, Philo, and the Gnostics. In each volume we find the idea of virtues and vices as children. For example, in the allegorical interpretations of Philo, the supplanter Jacob says to Rachel “You have greatly erred, because I am not in the place of God, who alone is able to open the wombs of souls, and sow virtues in them, and make them to be pregnant and to give birth to good things” (Leg 3. 180-87). The idea of the human soul giving birth to virtues and vices is characteristically Platonic. We therefore have precedence and background for the idea of Ephesian women giving birth to virtues in 1 Tim 2:15. The advantage of this new reading of 1 Tim 2:15 is that it more clearly exposes the coherence between “saved through childbearing” and “saved by faith.” It therefore avoids patently non-Pauline notions like the salvation of women based upon their ability to bear children in the literal sense. The means of salvation for women remains the same as the means of salvation for men.


“The ‘Olah in Rhetoric and Ritual”
Program Unit: Expressions of Religion in Israel
James W. Watts, Syracuse University

The ‘olah offering receives pride of place in most lists of sacrifices in the Hebrew Bible, including the ritual rules of Leviticus. Its prominence in these texts suggests that the writers expected its mention to have an effect on their audience. This rhetorical effect must be evaluated and understood before the references to the `olah can be used to reconstruct ancient religious practices reliably. Through a comparative analysis of texts about the `olah, this paper will begin to untangle the rhetoric from the ritual.


Imaging a Pauline Codex
Program Unit: Biblical Studies and Technology
Thomas Wayment, Brigham Young University

The Freer Codex of Paul was severely damaged prior to its discovery and the damage was of such a nature as to reduce the utility of convention imaging. Using multi-spectral imaging, the Free Imaging Project was able to recover more information from the Freer Codex of Paul than possible with conventional imaging. A review of the technology and its results are the focus of this presentation.


The New Perspective on Paul in the Ephesians Correspondence
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
Gary E. Weedman, TCM International Institute

Most of the “new perspective” on Paul to date has been generated from a new reading of Romans, Galatians, and Second Corinthians, giving little or no attention to Ephesians. I intend to revisit the “we-you” language of Ephesians to consider how this language might extend the new perspective on Paul. The author of Ephesians makes a sharp distinction between the first person pas-sages and the second person passages, especially in the first three chapters. Most of the time the author includes Jews or some group of Jews in these “we” passages and all Gen-tiles in the “you” passages. Seeing the “we” and “you” passages as referencing two dis-tinct groups may correlate with the primary thesis of new perspective. The “predestination” language of Chapter One describes the author’s understand-ing that it is the Jews who are “elected,” “predestined,” and that the Gentiles have been made “fellow citizens” with the “elect.” With such a distinction as this, consideration needs to be given to how this distinction helps define what the author means by “predes-tination,” and also how this distinction may add to the growing interest in the “new per-spective.” I want to explore whether the author sees the primary work of Jesus directed toward the Gentiles and how this understanding may impact the rejection-replacement view of Israel. That is, does the author describe the work of Jesus impacting primarily the Gentiles, bringing them into fellowship with the “elect” of God, the Jewish common-wealth? Does the author of Ephesians see the impact of Jesus affecting both groups equally? Is the “one new body” created through the work of Jesus the “replacement” of the rejected Israel or a “new body” because Gentiles have been included in it without be-coming Jews?


Paul, the Befuddled Orator: A Study of 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 in the Comic Tradition
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
L. L. Welborn, United Theological Seminary

Paul's account of his preaching in Corinth in 1 Cor, 2:1-5 has puzzled interpreters. Some view it as a digression in Paul's argument, others as an autobiographical account. It is clear that Paul intends to contrast his proclamation with that of certain missionary rivals who have made use of the art of rhetoric. Yet, the hyperbolic language by which Paul describes his demeanor ("weakness, fear, much trembling") is not sufficiently explained on the hypothesis that this passage embodies Paul's renunciation of rhetoric. In keeping with the theatrical metaphor which Paul develops throughout 1 Cor. 1-4, Paul portrays himself in 2:1-5 as a well known figure in comedy and mime: the befuddled orator. In literature influenced by the mime, one repeatedly meets with this character, usually a simple man, who has been thrust before the assembly or dragged into court, and finds himself weak in the head and trembly. Because the figure of the befuddled orator was so firmly established in popular consciousness, one might ridicule an opponent by portraying him as an example of this comic type. The figure of the befuddled orator was used in self-parody long before Paul by Hegemon of Thasos and Plato's Socrates. Paul follows this precedent in making himself and his manner of speaking the object of parody. The point of Paul's self-parody is to call into question the values of the elite in Corinth, their definition of what is vulgar and what is noble, what is ridiculous and what is serious.


Ritual Purity in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Severity or Particularity?
Program Unit: International Organization for Qumran Studies
Ian Werrett, University of St. Andrews

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Languages of the Magic Bowls from Mesopotamia
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Jan Wim Wesselius, Theologische Universiteit Kampen

In recent years there has been some discussion about the literary and spoken dialects of Aramaic that underlie the complex linguistic situation in the texts on the Jewish magical bowls from Mesopotamia. In this paper I will discuss various options for aligning the linguistic variety in the bowls with our knowledge of the social and geographical dialect distribution in this period and try to assess their possible chance of success in dealing with this old problem.


The Midrash on Deuteronomy 12:9-11 in Hebrews 3:7-4,13: A Key to the Overall Theological Concept of Hebrews
Program Unit: Hebrews
Peter S. Wick, Universität Basel

In Heb 3:7-11 the author is working with a midrash-technique. He quotes Ps 95:7-11 and alludes to further passages/verses of scripture, thereby interpreting Deut 12:9 without explicitly mentioning this verse. It is this allusion to Deut 12:9 (and 12:10f.) which makes Heb 3:7-4,13 unfold its meaning.


The “Second Blessing,” Prophetic Calling, and “Kenosis”
Program Unit: Biblical Theology
David T. Williams, University of Fort Hare

Since the emergence of Pentecostalism and connected movements the idea of a “second blessing” has become prominent, particularly when associated with manifestation of the “gifts of the Spirit”. It has generally been seen as given for empowerment, but this purpose may be interpreted as part of the process of sanctification. In this case the associated charismata become secondary, and the “baptism” may then be one of a series of events, “fillings” with the Spirit, and not unique in itself. If it is a sanctifying work of the Spirit, its essence is generating a closer relationship and likeness to Jesus. This then means that it produces a kenosis, or emptying, similar to that of his; it is the emptying of the person’s own will, or spirit, so that there is increasing conformity to that of Christ. This emptying means that the power of God may be applied more effectively. Particularly since prophecy is one of the charismata, this principle may be applied to the experiences of the Old Testament prophets, who experienced their role as a weakening, and through that were effective.


The Semantics of the Epistles of the Peshitta
Program Unit: Syriac Lexicography
Peter Williams, University of Aberdeen

Reading the text of the Syriac Epistles may seem simple, but can be a perilous undertaking. Scholars too readily bring perceptions to the text about its meaning. These preconceptions can be derived from familiarity with the Greek text or based on ideas about the meanings of Syriac words that were gained in the early stages of learning Syriac. Either way what the text actually says is missed. This paper considers the methods by which aspects of the meaning of Syriac words can be inferred by text-internal grounds, without ignoring the potential contribution of the Vorlage or diachronic study of the language. Particular attention is paid to logical connectives and to the use of technical theological vocabulary within an argument. The establishment of a Syriac word as an equivalent of a Greek one may even bring about a change in nuance of the Syriac word. In this way translation literature plays a formative role in Syriac semantics.


The Book of the Twelve
Program Unit: Graduate Presentations (EABS)
Jakob Wöhrle, University of Münster

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Reconsidering an Aspect of Kyrios-Titel in Light of Sapiential Fragment 4Q416 2 iii
Program Unit: Judaica
Benjamin Wold, Durham University

4Q416 2 iii (4QInstruction) line 16 makes the comparison: ‘as God is to a man so is his own father and as lords (adonim) are to a man so is his mother’. In this article I explore several issues. First, I argue that the term !ynda should be translated as an epithet for angelic beings. Evidence for this is found in 1Q19 (1QBook of Noah), targum Pseudo-Jonathan and Hekhalot literature. The analogy, then, is that God and angelic beings are like father and mother. The broader context of 4Q416 2 iii lines 15-18 are concerned, I argue, with an interpretation of dual workers of creation. Second, a somewhat similar suggestion was made by John J. Collins on 4Q417 1 i lines 15-18. In 4Q417 1 i an exegetical tradition on Genesis 1.26 is preserved. The plural address ‘let us make man in our image and our likeness’ is taken by some ancient interpreters, Philo for example, as angelic participation in the formation of humankind. Therefore, 4Q417 1 i lines 15-18 also conceive of humanity as fashioned in the likeness of angels. Finally, the discussion of these two passages in 4QInstruction are framed within a larger issue: the Greek terms kyrios and kyrioi in early Judaism may be used at times for angelic beings (e.g. Martin Werner suggested in Die Entstehung des christlichen Dogmas).


Love on the Run: Deconstructing the 'Space' between Divine Love and the Reader (A Reading of 1 Corinthians 14:1a)
Program Unit: Paul and Pauline Literature
M. Barton Woodhouse, University of Sheffield

This paper will attempt an exploration of the implicit hierarchical oppositions that under gird the command given by Paul to "pursue love." This paper will playfully ask questions of the motivating force behind the pursuit by invoking Nietzsche, and suggest that it is a "bitter-sweet" robbery that forces love to run and the reader to give chase. However, the focus will ultimately fall on the space, the gap of deferment that propagates the movement of pursuit. This paper will then attempt to show that the chasing after each other (this movement between love and the reader), and the necessity of escaping each other is the "becoming space" between them, and that it is this space, which continually produces their meaning whilst always, and already betraying a subversion from within.


The Origin of Evil Spirits in Second Temple Judaism: The Book of Watchers as a Background to the Demonic Pericopes in the Gospels
Program Unit: Apocalyptic Literature
Archie T. Wright, University of Durham

In comparison to the Old Testament, the New Testament portrays a virtual explosion of demonic activity that takes centre stage in numerous pericopes about the ministry of Jesus and his disciples. The significance of demonic activity, such as possession or affliction of humans and exorcism of evil spirits in the New Testament, perhaps denotes that a shift in the Jewish perception of the demonic has occurred in the era leading up to the first century. The evil spirits in the Old Testament are usually those that operate under the authority of God The Gospels paint quite a different picture of the problem of evil in early Judaism; one that reflects a dualistic spirit world inhabited by evil spirits that seek to invade human bodies. The account of the Gerasene demoniac in Mark 5:1-20 describes a man under the influence of, or possessed by, an unclean spirit. The Markan pericope provides several insights in the characteristics of the unclean spirit and the man that may assist in identifying an earlier Jewish tradition that influenced the demonology of the Gospels. This work will endeavour to demonstrate a plausible progression of this earlier tradition, which originated in the Book of Watchers. This tradition of the origin of evil spirits evolved alongside a developing anthropology in 2TP literature to a place that permitted evil spirits to afflict humans. In order to demonstrate this progression, we will look at the biblical text (Genesis 6.1-4) used by the authors of the Book of Watchers to introduce the existence of evil (unclean) spirits in the late fourth century or early third century BCE. We will then demonstrate how other 2TP Jewish writers adopted the ‘giantology’ of BW into the developing anthropology of the period, which was taken up and further developed in the Gospels.


The Composition of the Ox and Negligence Laws in Exodus 21:28-36
Program Unit: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law
David P. Wright, Brandeis University

The presentation builds on my article, “The Laws of Hammurabi as a Source for the Covenant Collection (Exodus 20:23-23:19)” recently published in Maarav 10 (2003): 11-87. This lays out new and detailed evidence indicating that the Covenant Collection may rely rather directly upon the Laws of Hammurabi (LH). Presuming this, the present paper investigates how the author may have used LH as a source to create the goring ox and negligence in Exodus 21:28-36. The goring ox laws of LH 250-252 provide the introductory foundation (Exod 21:28-29, 32). This was expanded with a rule that if the victim is a child the case is treated as if the victim were an adult (v. 31), based on LH 229-230 (compare similar laws in LH 115-116, 209-210). LH 229-230 were also influential in the composition of the negligence law in Exodus 21:33-34, which is in close proximity to the ox laws in vv. 28-32. The principle of topical attraction or association in the writing of Near Eastern law is responsible for transforming a case of a house falling to that of an animal falling. Verse 30, which gives an alternative penalty to that in v. 29 may be a later addition, but it is consistent with LH 250-251. The last verses of the passage (vv. 35-36), which return to goring oxen, are inspired by another cuneiform source (cf. Laws of Eshnunna 53). The foregoing conclusions correlate well with literary critical conclusions (cf. L. Schwienhorst-Schönberger, Das Bundesbuch [1990]: 129-162). which, without reference to LH, see vv. 28-29, 32 as the original core with other material as additions. This paper, however, argues that the perceived strata derive for the most part from the work of a single author and his sources.


To Know the Biblical Text, To Know a Woman: "When the Reader Meets the Biblical Text . . ."
Program Unit: Pentateuch (Torah)
Yitzhak (Itzik) Peleg, Beit Berl College

I suggest a process of reading which enables the reader to enjoy the biblical text. The dialogue between reader and text is described using two images: the first compares the first meeting with the text to a first meeting with another person; the second compares reading the text to eating a fine meal: in order to enjoy the meal, we must eat one bite at a time. The story of the Tree of Knowledge (Genesis 3) shows how these two images are intertwined. Moreover, an examination of this story leads to a more specific metaphor, in which the meeting with the text is compared to an intimate encounter with a beloved woman (Gen, 3: 6-7). A second story—the first murder (Genesis 4)—shows the importance of a process of reading that grants each word its deserved attention. Special attention is devoted to the parallelism found in Genesis 4:4b – 5a: “YHWH HAD REGARD-for Hevel and his gift//For Kayin and his gift-HE HAD NO REGARD.” (E. Fox transl.) I suggest examining the connection between the structure and the content of the parallelism, and raise the possibility of comparing the link between the two to the relation between “verbal message” (the content) and “body language” (the structure). This parallelism (in Gen. 4:4b – 5a) provides a coordination between the opposing content and the chiastic structure of the parallelism (which expresses the body language of the text). With two images, two stories from Genesis, and one paper, I show how to read the Bible and enjoy it.


Is Magic Noteworthy? Rabbinic Perceptions and a Modern Category
Program Unit: Magic in Early Christianity and Judaism (EABS)
Holger Zelletin, Princeton University

The concept of magic, in most of the dominant strands of western history, is marked by a distinctly negative attitude towards its content matter, albeit alongside the allowance of a legal and welcome counterpart. This counterpart has many forms and names in the Hebrew Bible, Imperial Rome and proto-orthodox Christianity, ranging from ritual commandment, to religion, to act of faith. The dichotomy of magic and its counterpart has shaped most of later thoughts on the topic up to the first modern approaches, especially by James Frazer. There is general agreement that Frazer's evolutionary triad of magic, religion, and science cannot be upheld against a critical reflection of our Judeo-Christian heritage concerning this topic. Fritz Graf, in his classic study 'Magic in the ancient world,' proposed that there are two possible attitudes when approaching the study of magic in antiquity: either to reconstruct the ancient notion of the term in its respective field and to discard Frazer's along with all other ethnologic concepts (the path Graf chooses); or to create a contemporary definition of the term and to discard the antique and Frazerian elements. I will attempt to lay out the problems and perspectives inherent in both of Graf's possible attitudes when introduced to the phenomenon of 'magic' in the classical rabbinic literature. In other words, I will try to first pet the cat with, then against its grain in order to approach the relation of the Rabbis' concepts to their practices.


Welcome
Program Unit:
Frans Zwarts, Rector Magnificus, University of Groningen

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