The Law of the King in Dtn 17 usually is considered as a late dtr addition to the dtn Code. But it is obvious that Dtn 17,18-20 is an alternative message towards the narrative in 1 Sam 8,10-18; 11,25. If the author of 1 Sam 8 had known Dtn 17,18-20 even in connection with Dtn 17,14-17 there would not have been any reason for him to tell us a story about Samuel the prophet who thought it necessary to warn Israel and to give them a note about the king's rights! So there seem to be different layers in the development of critique concerning the kingship in the dtr school. 1st, the critique of dtrH (Book of Kings) against the cultic deviations in Israel and Judah, 2nd, the prophetic critique of Samuel who warned Israel because of the negative impact of kingship on Israel and preparing the king's mishpat for them, 3rd, the critical perspective in Dtn 17,14-17.18-20 responding to 1 Sam 8.10, which alters the concept of 1 Sam 10,25. This text should be seen in connection with the post-exilic redaction of Deuteronomy, because it is only here, that we find the concept of „hakkohanîm hallevijîm“!

Luke 13:22-15:32 merges the themes of "table fellowship" and the eschatological "kingdom banquet". In Luke 13:22-30 Jesus" table fellowship with the responsive "toll collectors and sinners" becomes an anticipatory celebration of the kingdom banquet. The "kingdom banquet" image (13:22-14:24) and the issue of Jesus" "receiving sinners" in meal fellowship (sunesqivei) opens the Luke 15 narrative (15:1-2). The Pharisees grumble over Jesus" eating with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus uses parables linked to LXX pictures of the promised Davidic Shepherd and the abundant mercy of God. The final parable is a rebuke against the failure of the Pharisees, like the elder brother, to rejoice over Jesus" mission to rescue them. The dual themes of the "celebration" of the kingdom banquet and of "rejoicing" over the forgiveness of sins appear to have merged.

It goes without saying that all readers of Scriptures do so from various socio-cultural perspectives. This paper contends that on various levels, there are many concepts and themes in the Pauline corpus that are better understood when read as an African. To test the hypothesis, the paper will examine specific passages in the Pauline corpus.

Codex Vaticanus has the reputation of being the best of all manuscripts of the Septuagint – with the consequence of being regarded as practically the original text by many. On the other hand, Vaticanus is known to represent an early revision of the text in Judges as well as in 2 Samuel 11:2 – 1 Kings 2:11 and 1 Kings 22 – 2 Kings 25. But what should we think of the quality of Vaticanus in the rest of the historical books? As a matter of fact, most of the cruces in the textual criticism of the Septuagint of 1 Samuel concern the status of Vaticanus. One of the key texts that opened my eyes in this respect is 1 Samuel 2:14 – one of those rare cases showing a lucky coincidence of different recensional readings in the various witnesses.

One aspect of Platonic epistemology claims that memory is integral to knowledge. In Phaedrus 246a-249d, Plato paints images of the otherworldly journey of the disembodied soul. What is experienced in varying degrees in this otherworld—beholding the ideal forms by following the gods—affects the health and status of the soul in its embodied existence after its birth as a living being (zoon, Phaed 246c). Key to living well as a living being is creating understanding through consolidation of the sense perceptions, which Plato describes as “a remembering (anamnesis) of those things which our soul saw (eidon) when it journeyed along with god (sumporeutheisa to theo) and despised the things that we now say exist and rose up into that which truly exists” (Phaed 249b-c). The categories of memory, understanding, seeing the divine world by “journeying with” a divine being, birth, and life are all present in the Gospel of John, and comparison of its thought system with Plato's as expressed in the Phaedrus can be instructive for contextualizing John within its greater philosophical world. Where Plato expresses learning as a function of post-birth memory of beholding the divine world of ideal forms, John expresses learning as post-(re)birth memory of beholding the divine world of the Father through remaining with Jesus the divine being. In Plato, the more one can remember, the higher the social status of the living being upon birth (Phaed 248c-e). In John, the ability to remember depends upon the Spirit which facilitates (re)birth and reminds the disciples of all that Jesus said while they encountered him as a physical embodiment of the divine world. The abiding Spirit, then, acts to mark one's status as disciple and raise the level of knowledge of the divine world, thus legitimating the community"s existence as Jesus" followers.

Since the beginning of critical Old Testament scholarship, “the exile,” “deportation,” or now, the “forced migrations” period, has been a “watershed” for understanding biblical theology and the formation of biblical literature. Over the years, scholars (e.g. J. Wellhausen, W. Robertson Smith, M. Noth, E. Janssen, C. F. Whitley, M. Noth, P. Ackryod, T. Raitt, R. Klein, B. Oded, D. Smith-Christopher, R. Albertz, H. Barstad, etc.) have weighed in their opinion. The Hebrew terms referring to the exile has traditionally been rendered “uncover, remove, exile, captive, captivity, carried away, deported, and gone, carried, or taken into exile.” The root glh can also mean “to open, to become visible or audible.” When we meticulously follow the entry glh in the BDB, we come across the definition "emigrate" (cf. Arabic). Unfortunately, this definition has gone unnoticed because of the popularity of the nomenclature “exile.” In Koehler and Baumgartner, the entry also records “to penetrate, to go to, to uncover, to open, to make public, to make clear, become clear, to emigrate, to go into exile.” In Gesenius" lexicon, glh in Middle Hebrew is “…offen sein, auswandern, verbannt warden; Qumran, öffnen, offenbaren, weggehen, de Verbannung gehen, sich zeigen, erscheinen…” Without deposing our classical rendering of "exile," the definition I wish to emphasize is "emigrate" or "migrate." Thus what is usually thought of as the exile will be considered here a migration. Because Judah's migration was not voluntary, it can be termed "forced migration." This presentation will provide the tenants of forced migration studies and its tangents to help scholars better understand the context of “Judah in Exile,” during the 6th century B.C.E. (597-538 B.C.E.).

In the study of the book of Revelation, it is customary to speak of the “seer” and the “audience,” whereby “seer” refers to the inscribed recipient of the heavenly revelations and “audience” denotes the imputed and actual recipients of the text. This terminology, however, obscures important performance features contained within Revelation: the revelations given to the “seer” include several auditory events, notably a sequence of song texts sung by the inhabitants of heaven. Likewise, the hearing of the Book of Revelation activates the “audience's” capacity for visualization by picturing otherworldly scenes. This paper focuses on the song texts of Revelation in order to explore the performance modes by which scriptural traditions are deployed within this apocalypse. It analyzes how various traditions and materials contribute to the construction of these song texts and considers, in addition, the performative terminology marking the songs. In so doing, I seek to locate the composition of these song texts in relation to the spectrum of practices seen in the sapiential and apocalyptic texts explored throughout this Section's work.

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After having dealt with nearly every aspect of exile, one arena of discussion that is still very relevant is the aspect of historicity—more than a myth.

Although Hebrews uniquely casts the Spirit as one who speaks the words of Scripture, its conception of pneuma elsewhere in the letter has traditionally been regarded as anthropological or angelic, rather than overtly “trinitarian.” Unsurprisingly, therefore, discussion of how Hebrews treats the persons of the trinity tend to concentrate upon (with perhaps some justification) the respective roles of God and Christ, with the Spirit invariably set to one side. This paper seeks to redress the balance and aims to discuss the role of the divine Spirit in Hebrews, particularly building upon the intriguing allusion to the plural distributions of the Spirit as the mark of the new covenant salvation (Heb 2:4). What did the author of Hebrews understand by such “distributions”, and do they represent a particular Pentecostal process of salvation, with parallels to the Lucan Pentecostal framework? The paper will also consider how such Pentecostal affirmation impacts upon the interpretation of the letter's other (putatively) trinitarian references to pneuma (9:8, 9:14, 10:29), and will discuss the extent to which Hebrews bespeaks a distinctively “Pentecostal” discourse.

A thorough reading of Ezra 7:13-26 in the context of the extant comparative material (e.g., the Demotic Chronicle #215 & Xerxes" “Daiva Inscription”) and the imperial Persian environment in which it was written sheds new light on the translation of vv. 25-26. In particular, the words d-y-n-y-n, d-"-n-y-n (Ketiv) and d-t in the phrases typically translated “judges who judge,” “the law of your God,” and “the law of the king” should be understood with Persian nuances. Of course, data, “decree,” has long been recognized as a Persian loan word, and a new analysis of the word and its transformation upon its import into Semitic target languages (i.e., Aramaic, Phoenician, & Akkadian) suggests that the word as used here likely refers to a one-time decree relating to temple matters. Additionally, the meaning of d-"-n-y-n d-y l-h-w-n d-"-n-y-n in the specific context of this passage should be reconsidered in light of the Iranian daena, “religion.” Reading the passage in this way, Artaxerxes has given Ezra full authority only over the temple's economy, activities, and regulations, while granting him neither the authority to establish a civil law corpus nor the right to appoint civil “judges who would judge all the people in providence beyond the river” (v. 25). The meaning of the word d-"-n-y-n here is borrowed from daena rather than taken from its homograph, the Aramaic word meaning “judges.” Since each of the 14 verses in Ezra 7:13-26 is best explained in its relationship to the cult, with 7 of these verses making explicit reference to cult maintenance or funding, the phrase d-"-n-y-n d-y l-h-w-n d-"-n-y-n in v. 25 should likely be translated “religious instructors who instruct religious (practices)” rather than the traditional “judges who judge,” which suggests a civil concern completely foreign to the rest of the passage.

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The displacement of families in war is a past and present social phenomenon. This paper applies social-scientific methods to biblical texts and compares patterns and effects of forced migration on ancient and modern Israelite families.

Psalms 105 and 106, two of the grand recitations of ancient Israel's history, close Book IV of the Hebrew Psalter in a way that scholarship has heretofore unrecognized. An overemphasis on exodus and land motifs has led to the missing of what I contend to be hermeneutical key to understanding not only Book IV but the overall movement of the canonical Psalter, namely the remembrance of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That the ancestors occur only here in the Psalter (save one other mention of Abraham in 47:9[10]) belie their significance. Given that the ancestors emerge on the literary scene at this point speaks to the pervasiveness of the ancestral covenant as an operative theme in these two psalms as well as the remainder of the canonical Psalter. As I see it, the ancestral covenant forms an inclusio around both psalms, beginning in 105:8 and ending in 106:45, a point contested within scholarship, which often takes Psalm 106 as a reference exclusively to Sinai. Within its new interpretive context in the Psalter, however, Psalms 105 and 106 are intended to be read together as a recounting of the same history from utterly different perspectives. When taken together, these psalms are reminiscent of the entirety of the ancestral covenantal promises—presence and protection especially—and not limited solely to the land. Moreover, the patriarchs assume the titles of "anointed" and "prophet" from David in Psalm 78, hearkening back to a period when unabashed trust in YHWH typified Israel's life of faith. The ancestral promise anticipates the exodus, as is evident from the canonical movement of the Pentateuch, and when read alongside Psalms 105 and 106, point to an uninterrupted history of YHWH"s covenantal fidelity that would have been seminal to ancient Israel"s identity formation in its post-exilic context.

This paper provides a close reading of the four Matthean healing narratives wherein a supplicant requests a healing on behalf of someone else (8:5-13; 9:18, 19, 23-25; 15:21-28; and 17:14-18). While the paper examines in depth the formulaic and narrative elements of each account, it interprets the structural patterns that emerge in terms of economics, understood throughout the paper in its basic meaning of “exchange.” Three broad types of narrative and formulaic exchange – locational, healing and conflict – are traced in each of the healing accounts, and variations in the sub-types of these categories, such as titular addresses, requests for healing, statements of healing intent, and time of healing, are highlighted. In addition to schematizing the healing dynamics of each story, the paper also considers the differing structural economies towards which the narrative exchanges point. Drawing upon the actions and words of Jesus as written by the Matthean author, this work explores the economics of healing that undergird the four narratives. For example, the account of the centurion reveals a command economy that is also constructed by Jesus as exclusive, while the exchange with the “Canaanite” woman indicates that Jesus" proposed model of economic insufficiency is successfully supplanted by an economy that is both sufficient and inclusive. The four proposed structural economies are considered both in terms of the socio-political economies of the first century C.E. and in terms of their ethical and theological implications for modern interpreters.

The Assyrian conquest of the Southern Levant was recorded in text, artwork and found in archaeological discoveries. Despite this wealth of information, there are neither records nor excavated sites pertaining to the various stages of the conquest and the destruction of the cities. The excellent state of preservation of the city of Bethsaida yields enough evidence to support an analysis of the physical remains and to propose a detailed reconstruction of the different stages of the conquest and the ensuing process of the destruction of the city. Evidently, after a long siege the heavily fortified complex of the city gate was breached and conquered. Dozens of arrowheads and projectiles testify to a violent battle in this area. Following the battles, the citizens were deported and their possessions had been confiscated. At the next stage a deliberate destruction of all the objects remained in the gate took place. Among which all pottery vessels were brutally shattered and scattered and seven steles that decorated the gate were “beheaded”. At the next stage the Assyrians set the city gate in fire. A fierce conflagration consumed the entire structure, caused the bricks to meld down and clinkers were created. During this stage the building collapsed, burying and thus preserving the first floor under a large heap of rubble. In the final blow, a designated unit of the Assyrian army excavated and removed the entire eastern side of the gate to a depth of 2 meters below the floor and dumps it into the ravine.

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Recently, in his book Live Unnoticed: the Vicissitudes of an Epicurean Doctrine (2007), Geert Roskam has accounted for Philodemus" occasional friendly comments on politics (contradicting the usual Epicurean hostility to political life) as a noble profession and natural at least for those who are born to it (On Rhetoric, esp. III fin., On the Good King According to Homer). It is acceptable to consider this sort of flexibility to the life his noble patrons led by necessity of birth and station under the heading of 'salonfähigkeit," accomodating his docrine to presentation directly before them. Most ancient writings on the fear of death are addressed to a minority: the literate, the free-born, the prosperous who have something to lose, above all to men rather than women, and Philodemus" On Death is no exception. But my paper will illustrate its Salonfähigkeit in three ways: considering the emphases on understated bravery without striving for glory in the passages about death in battle, on indifference to survival of one's great name or to reputation after death except among friends, and especially to risking life and fortune before tyrants or irrational popular assemblies, and remaining imperturbable by disgrace and death and attentive (again) only to the opinion of true friends. These form an attractive supplement to such passages as Torquatus" account of bravery and friendship in De Finibus I and offer a sympathetic model, taken together, of how Philodemus shaped a message on the life of the Roman nobility in the dangerous last century of the Republic for such acquaintances as Torquatus, Vibius Pansa and Cassius, the assassin of Caesar, who belonged to the school and whose lives display the kind of understated and un-fanatical heroism in public service that Philodemus inculcates by implication in On Death.

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The NA27 apparatus criticus cites the Coptic tradition 1057 times in John's gospel. The Armenian, Georgian, Gothic, Ethiopic and Old Church Slavonic versions are cited a total of fourteen times in the entire New Testament. This disparity stems from an editorial confidence in the Coptic tradition as “from the Greek … at an early period” (NA27, 63*). This paper will survey the Coptic citations in the critical apparatus to John's gospel, and summarize their current use. In particular, the survey will examine the criteria set out by the editors and will investigate whether it can be said that the Coptic is only used “where [its] underlying Greek text can be determined with confidence” and “where [its] readings are also attested by other Greek or independent versional evidence.” Additionally, the survey will examine the degree to which “idiomatic and stylistic differences are ignored” and whether due consideration is given to the history of the Coptic tradition (ibid., 63* f.). Initial research shows that no fewer than one third of the citations of individual Bohairic manuscripts in John's gospel fail to meet the above criteria.

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Careful investigation of Paul's "fear language" throughout his letter to the Romans reveals a number of apparent contradictions. Whereas Gentile believers are freed from enslavement to fear as God's children (Rom 8:15), they are exhorted to fear rather than boast of their status in the community (11:20) and they remain subject to the fear of divinely instituted authorities (13:3-4, 7). Drawing upon both Jewish and Hellenistic moral instruction as well as relevant social and political factors, this paper provides a coherent assessment of both appropriate and inappropriate fears throughout Romans. A careful exegetical analysis of these passages reveals that those who had been previously enslaved to the fear of condemnation are now exhorted to experience substantially different kinds of fears by displaying humility and voluntarily subordinating themselves to the governing powers. Following conventional rhetorical practices, Paul proclaims victory over servile fears while nevertheless appealing to other fears as a motivation toward virtuous behavior and positive action.

Leviticus 12-15 contain cleansing regulations for regular impurities (cleansing by water, e.g., Lev 15:16-18), irregular impurities (cleansing by blood; e.g., Lev 12), and severe impurities (expulsion from the community and then cleansing by water and blood; e.g., Lev 14:8-20). The concern is to “keep the Israelites separate (nzr; or "caution" them, zhr, SP, LXX) from their uncleanness so they do not die . . . by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst.” It is all about the LORD's tabernacle presence in their midst (Exod 40:34-38). The Day of Atonement follows immediately (Lev 16) as the annual day of tabernacle and community purgation. In all their Jewish-ness, the New (or Second) Testament writings stand in various patterns of continuity, discontinuity, and transformation in regard to divine presence and cleansings. This extends from the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:21-24, blood) and the baptisms of John and Jesus (Luke 3:1-9, water; cf. John 1:19-34, 3:5-6; 3:22-4:2; Acts 1:5; 19:1-7) to the sacrificial death of Jesus (Luke 23; cf. Acts 21:26 with Heb 9:13-14), and on into the church as the Holy Spirit indwelt (John 1:14 with 17:22 and Eph 2:19-22; 3:14-21, etc.) and purified people of God (Luke 3:16; Acts 2:38; 1 Pet 1:22ff, etc.).

The second prophecy of Haggai (2:1–9) was delivered to the people facing the newly build temple. Haggai seemed to respond to voices of depression and disappointment, by referring to the idealized past of the Deuteronomistic history and by anticipating a similar ideal future. The prophecy evoked the setting and terminology used in the description of the dedication of the Salomon temple (1Kings 8:1–13), which in turn had alluded to the revelation in Sinai. By using the well-known vocabulary and type scene, Haggai managed to deliver a multifaceted message, relevant to his contemporaries. The prophecy describes the present situation as an opposite to that of the past or the future, and reflects the experience of the people. The prophet stresses that it is not a complete opposite since "My [i.e. God] spirit is still in your midst (v. 5). His prophecy is normally explained, consequently, as a comfort that is achieved by the transformation of the memory of the First Temple into an expected possibility. Nevertheless, the use of vocabulary of sight and testimony, typical to the Deuteronomistic understanding of revelation, targets two more concerns of the people in the Persian period; Namely, the legitimacy of the temple and its exclusiveness. The presence of people who saw the First Temple with their own eyes legitimizes the Second Temple. It also marks their (and as an expansion the present community) ownership over the Second Temple. The claim for legitimation and ownership of the Temple is therefore directed not only to the ears of the people, but also to the ears of contemporaneous groups.

This paper will look at Israeli collective punishment with roots in the book of Joshua, where biblical boundaries are now Israeli borders. The Palestinian West Bank is under Israeli military control, as though Joshua had just conquered it, declaring the Jordan River the border of Israel on its east, the Mediterranean Sea on the west. Reading bifocally, through a biblical lens, and a colonial one, one sees present-day Palestinians as ancient Canaanites, intended by God's promise to Israel to be destroyed, or transported, or imprisoned. Threatened by the advancing Israelites, Rehab becomes a collaborator to protect her family while the king and people of Jericho are destroyed on the plains of Jericho, and Joshua is magnified in the sight of the people as the Likud government of present-day Israel has been deemed heroic by today's media narrative. Unlike the Bible, Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention forbids collective punishment and states that a person shall not be punished for an offense s/he has not personally committed. Israel has created prisoners of the entire Palestinian population, insisting upon God"s law instead of International law.

In the winter of 2003, excavations by the local Turkish authorities in the basement level of the basilica in the agora of Smyrna, modern Izmir, brought to light a large number of graffiti, both written in charcoal or ink and scratched on the two or more plaster layers over the stone wall. These appear archaeologically to date from the period between the late first and third quarter of the second century CE; the basement appears not to have been used after the earthquake of 178. One of the graffiti, on the uppermost plaster layer, has a date equivalent to 125/6 CE. The graffiti cover a wide range of subjects, including sports, sex, and politics; there are many drawings, including particularly of ships. Among those of interest for the study of religion are several referring to the healing of eyes, including references to what may be an otherwise unknown local divinity; a number of uses of isopsephism; and at least one clearly Christian graffito, using isopsephism, that would archaeologically seem to belong to the period before 125/6 CE. A couple of other graffiti offer less secure but tantalizing possible connections to Christianity.

The story of the flood forces one to grapple with theological questions. Indeed, its sustaining power lies in the question of how God can destroy innocent animals and children along with the guilty people in the flood. The collateral damage is too high. Is God cruel? Actually, the problem is already confronted in the ancient Near Eastern story of the Flood. Here, too, the gods decide they have overdone it. The story, furthermore, suggests that God had imperfect power and/or no foreknowledge, for He created the thing he is repenting of having created. He changed his mind—bada', as the Muslims call it. This paper will explore the ways in which Muslim, Christian and Jewish exegetes addressed these theological questions and will highlight the similar and distinct approaches taken in each tradition. The paper will limit itself to the classical traditions.

This paper discusses the conceptual unity of the Book of Isaiah and its literary and historical development. It will investigate the question, whether this book in its present form is a composition that follows the pattern of the four kingdoms. This would correspond to chapters 2 and 7 of the Book of Daniel: (1) The Assyrian period (Isaiah 6–37): Proto-Isaiah; (2) The Neo-Babylonian period (Isaiah 38–39); (3) The Persian period (Isaiah 40–55): Deutero-Isaiah; (4) The expected time of salvation (Isaiah 56–66): Trito-Isaiah. The entire work is designated by the introduction in Isa 1:1 as “The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz.” The book uses various pre-existing units of texts, such as the work of Deutero-Isaiah that is in itself complete and independent. With respect to its genre it can be designated as a 'liturgical drama'. Comparable units of texts appear in Isaiah 24–27 and 56–66. Other historical texts and biographical units have been incorporated into this composition. The results of this thesis in their significance for the understanding of the entire Book of Isaiah will be discussed.

Some of the earliest interpreters read Qoh 12:1-8 as an allegory of the destruction of Jerusalem, while recent commentators have identified here elements of eschatological or proto-apocalyptic language. This paper uses the city focus of these comparisons to suggest instead that Qohelet's closest literary affinities here are with the Hebrew Bible's city-lament mode, examining motifs of urban landscape and destruction, representative population, desertion and an end to agriculture, silenced songs, darkness, past temporal perspective, and the lament Kontrastmotiv. In the argument of chapters 11-12, historical accident is set alongside death as the future menace which gives rise to the present injunctions to rejoice and to remember: the contrast is not between youth and old age but between youth and trouble, in the shape of calamitous events here conceived of in city-lament language. Placed at the end of the book, this urban decline and fall is a mirror image to the construction of 'Solomon's' splendid establishment at the beginning: a late, wisdom author like Qohelet can still write under the shadow of the events which made the kingdom of Solomon into a tiny province of the Ptolemies, and his language is unavoidably coloured by the traditional language of that paradigmatic loss.

According to C. H Roberts, Manuscripts, Society and Belief in Early Christian Egypt, Oxford University Press, 1979.12-22, early Christian books stand apart from secular books in that the copyists are more used to writing documents so that they write their numbers in figures rather than in words. K. Haines-Eitzen, Guardians of Letters, Literacy, Power and the Transmitters of Early Christian Literature, Oxford University Press, 2000, 66, continues this assertion by Roberts as do others. The situation however is far more complex than the one that has been indicated, firstly by Roberts, and then by others. This paper will explore this complexity and will seek to demonstrate from the way numbers are treated in the texts how they give us an insight into the differing abilities and backgrounds of the various scribes who copied them.

Historical and theological dissonance arose in the aftermath of the destruction of the independent kingdom of Judah and the Jerusalem Temple, and one response was to re-imagine the destruction as leading to a new Exodus. A profusion of Exodus imagery in Deutero-Isaiah makes it the landscape upon which events occur, and the use of the miraculous aspects of the Exodus reinforces the prophet's message that redemption is near. When the events of Ezekiel's time are fitted into an Exodus pattern, a new shape for the Exodus emerges in the book of Ezekiel: the covenant and its stipulations were already made in Egypt, and the Israelites already transgressed them in Egypt, just as the Israelites of Ezekiel's time were already aware of the covenantal stipulations and had transgressed them. Jeremiah holds such esteem for the Exodus that he exalts it beyond all other events and condemns it as an utter failure. Only a completely new version, an Exodus from the lands of the north, and a new form of a covenant, written in the hearts of the people themselves, not on stone tablets, could be possible. The Exodus becomes the major pattern of history and deliverance. It is imposed on other events and conceptualizations, and to it history and theology are assimilated. At the same time, the Exodus is fluid and assimilates to different constructions. The use of the Exodus does not embody inertia but rather creativity and innovation.

Deuteronomy's YHWH severely threatens Israel if the nation turns to other gods. Perhaps surprisingly, it is not a threat of utter destruction, but of coercive destruction with a goal of restoring Israel to its place as the people of YHWH. While understood within the canonical context as divine kindness, this denial of Israel's self-determination is troubling to the modern liberal ideal of freedom of worship. In this paper, I consider the presentations in Deuteronomy 4 and 32 of Israel's rejection of YHWH's covenant kindness, the provocation of his jealousy, his angry punishment, and Israel's subsequent return to YHWH through suffering. Can this heteronomic demand for Israel's loyalty be understood within modern political categories where freedom figures so prominently? Based on Isaiah Berlin"s classic division of liberty into its positive and negative forms along with Charles Taylor's critique of pure negative freedom, it is clear that modern liberalism also demands the acceptance of its core values. Emile Durkheim"s and Peter Berger's sociologies of religion are helpful in exposing the coercive force that a liberal society wields to maintain its “sacred” values. Along with this theoretical consideration, I present contemporary examples of the coercive imposition of “religious freedom” as a non-negotiable feature of modern liberalism. Helpful illustrations of the coercive nature of this “freedom” are the “International Religious Freedom Act of 1998” in the United States and the international rejection of an attempt at restricting religious freedom by the newly instituted government of Afghanistan in 2006. I conclude that YHWH's coercive demand that Israel conform itself to his core values is little different in kind, though vastly different in content, from the modern coercive demand of liberalism.

The Servant, in the book of Isaiah (Isa), is one of the most intriguing figures in the prophetic Scriptures. Many people have stood in awe of the book's prophecy, either because of its virtual theological un-precedence in ancient literature, or because of its seemingly correlation with Jesus of Nazareth. It is truly profound to think that an ancient writer viewed one person's suffering as a means for the iniquities of many to be lifted from them (Isa 53:12). How does the famous “he will see light” ("ôr and phõs) textual variant in Isa 53:11 of the Septuagint (LXX) and the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) expound upon and further explain the Servant"s suffering? It will be argued that the “he will see light” variant in Isa 53:11 is the most probable Urtext based on the structure of the poetic canticle in Isa 52:13-53:12 and that this variant suggests that the author of this passage believed the Servant would be resurrected after having suffered unto death. One may wish to argue that this is the less likely reading because of the two internal “canons” of textual criticism: (1) Lectio difficilior potior; and (2) Lectio brevior potior. Although these two “canons” do rule out “light” as the Urtext of Isa 53:11, thus making the internal and external evidence at odds with one another, the “canons” do not hold true in this instance because authorial skill and clarity must be taken into account. Isa 52:13-53:12 is perhaps the best poetry in the entire Hebrew Bible, written with the most skilled hand, thus it seems completely improbable that a poet of such skill would be so negligent as to leave out a direct object

The NRSV renders the term klh=sij in 1 Corinthians 7:20 with “condition” – “Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called..” The translators reflect a common view of Paul, based on an egregious mistranslation of the key term klh=sij, an error encouraged by Frederick Danker's uncritical echoing [again in the 3rd edition of BDAG] of Walter Bauer's original rendering of this word by the German Stand as an appropriate secondary meaning of klh=sij. But the term klh=sij never carried that extended meaning in ancient Greek. Within the NT and in every Pauline usage of this term and the cognate verb kale/w, the “calling” is God"s invitation and call to belong to Christ, except in Romans 11:29 referring to the analogous calling of Israel. Nevertheless, their false translation in 7:20 led the NRSV committee to have Paul in the following verse advise Christ-followers in slavery, “Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition more than ever!” While the ellipsis at the end of 7:21 is grammatically ambiguous, a solid grasp of the social-legal context of Greco-Roman slavery alone makes this “stay in slavery” completion nonsensical. Yet my experiences in both German and United States classrooms prove that it is often pointless to present my evidence and conclusions regarding Paul"s words in 1 Cor 7:21 without first dealing with his admonition in the previous sentence “to remain in Christ"s calling.” The historically contested completion of the ellipsis in 7:21 continues to be strongly colored by Luther"s original mistranslation of klh=sij. It is high time to revisit the evidence and revise our opinions of Paul"s putative social conservatism.

This paper examines attitudes towards women's and men's dress and adornment in antiquity, noting the discrepancy between male criticism of lavish adornment and the considerable evidence that elite women, in particular, would regularly wear jewelry and sport complicated hair styles. The paper concurs with the general model of honour and shame that male honour relies, to some extent, upon modest and demure female comportment, but also argues that women, who could also possess honour, may not have valued honour and shame in the same manner as men did. Building upon the work of Ria Berg, women's adornment was both a means of affirming status for women and a source of economic power, while simultaneously a target of satire and ridicule by men. The paper posits that in contrast to men, Greco-Roman women valued adornment as a means of communicating their status and honour in the community. Although a man might be worried about what his wife's adornment was indicating about him to the larger group, a woman might well value her jewelry and fine clothes because it affirmed her significance in the eyes of others. Several early Christian texts that address adornment and wealth display then receive some attention in light of these findings.

Jon Berquist defines social identity in postexilic Yehud as the pattern that multiple forces produce, and he explains identity formation as a complex process involving kinship as well as ethnicity, religion and politics. Imperialization and decolonization are included in the matrix of identity formation, not as two additional forces but as the overarching and subsuming principles. With this model, the impulses of kinship, ethnicity, religion and politics are all conduits of imperialization and decolonization. In adopting and expounding upon Berquist's model, this paper retains the emphasis on imperialization and colonization, and it posits between them a dynamic interplay whereby they jointly shape a group's identity. The paper adduces its data by exploring three accounts of covenant making in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. In the analysis of these texts, imperialization and colonization are related to the phenomena of Jewish nationalism, as it is conceived by David Goodblatt, and proto-sectarianism, as Joseph Blenkinsopp has described it. The paper concludes that covenant making is a crucial exercise for groups in Yehud. For a given group, covenant making can mediate the tension between nationalism and nascent sectarianism and thereby serve as an index of the group"s social identity in the postexilic period.

In The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation, Richard Bauckham claims that the scrolls of Revelation 5 and 10 are one and the same. This paper challenges that claim by investigating ancient Greek commentary on the “little” scroll of Revelation 10. While Bauckham's argument for the identification of the scrolls is multifaceted and complex, I focus on only two aspects of it, the use of diminutives and the function of allusions to Ezek 2:8-3:3 in Rev 5:1 and 10:2a, 8-10. The paper accomplishes three things important to evaluating Bauckham's argument. First, it brings to light obscure but significant ancient Greek commentary on Ezek 2:8-3:3 and Rev 10:2a, 8-10 from Origen, Oecumenius, and Andreas. Second, it demonstrates that while allusions to Ezek 2:8-3:3 may indeed link together the narratives of Revelation 5 and 10, they do not function to identify the two scrolls with each other. Third, and most importantly, it demonstrates that the earliest extant Greek interpreters used the various diminutive forms of bibl- to distinguish the two scrolls from each other.

There is an eschatological use of “hour” (hora) in 1 John that is significant for the whole epistle. 1 Jn. 2:18 says, “children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.” As far as I am aware, no one so far has recognized an Old Testament background for the “hour” in this passage, This paper sets out to do just this and to contend that the “last hour” is best understood against the Old Testament background of Daniel 8-12. In particular, there appear to be no end-time uses of any Hebrew equivalent for “hour” and the only eschatological uses of “hour” (hora) in all of the Greek Old Testament occur in the “old” LXX, not Theodotion, of Daniel 8, 11, and 12 (old LXX of Dan. 8:17, 19; 11:35, 40; 12:1). In every one of these occurrences, “hour” (hora) refers not generally to the eschaton but to the specific eschatological time when the opponent of God's people will attempt to deceive them. John sees Daniel's prophecy beginning fulfillment among the churches to which he is writing. This Old Testament backdrop enhances John"s warning to the readers/hearers about the false teachers and the spirit of the Antichrist that threatens them. The use functions rhetorically to motivate them to guard themselves from the false teachers and to remain loyal to the truth that they have been taught.

The debate on if or how to define a so-called Markan prologue within 1.1-15/1.1-13 (cf. e.g. H. J. Klauck) is still an open question of research in the Gospel of Mark (cf. A. Y. Collins, 2007, Hermeneia; J. Marcus, 2000, AncB). In this frame my paper will discuss the literary style and function of Mk 1.1: -To what extent can Mk 1.1 considered to be the Gospel's "title"? -Where does 1.1 come from in terms of motifs and "Werkeröffnungstopik"? -Which literary elements connect Mk 1.1 to 1.1-15? Are there any evidences in 1.1 for taking 1.1-15, 1.1-13, or simply 1.1-3 as a literary unit? -In which way is 1.1 related to its micro-context (1.1-3)? -Does 1.1 even give evidence for the question of the origin and development ("Traditionsgeschichte") behind the mixed quotations in 1.2-3?

History is a narrative on the past that selects and connects evidenced events. Events assumedly take place in time and space; they are the results of human acts. Humans – both individually and collectively – try to cope with the problems of the day in order to remain alive and to continue culture. The Babylonian Exile has often been approached from a Judaean perspective using the available written and archaeological sources. In order to overcome this prejudice it would be more than worthwhile to look at the "Exile" from a Babylonian perspective, or to consider the period form an overarching point of view. The recent political emotion on global warming has opened my eyes for paleometereology: the climate in ancient times and how did people react to climate changes? It turns out that the period of the Babylonian Exile coincides with a period of global warming of an even grater magnitude than we experience nowadays. In my paper, I would like to ponder on the question what effect this global warming could have had on the conjectural history of the sixth century BCE.

The reconstruction of Q depends upon the independence of our two witnesses to it: the texts of Matthew and Luke. To any degree that the text of Luke may have been corrupted by harmonizations to Matthew, we may be misled as to the content of Q. To date, the work of Q scholars to safeguard their reconstruction from such harmonizations has depended upon text-critical assumptions that the proto-orthodox text of Luke, primarily reconstructed from manuscripts dating back at most to the early third century, represents the earliest Lukan witness to Q. But in fact we can substantially reconstruct a version of Luke from nearly a century earlier: Marcion's gospel of circa 140 CE. Close analysis of this gospel text makes the orthodox tale of its Marcionite redaction unlikely. Rather it would seem to be a pre-Marcionite version of Luke in circulation by the late first century. Since the priority of canonical Luke over Marcion's gospel in redaction history cannot be securely proven, in this paper I outline the difference the latter would make to the reconstruction of Q if it, rather than canonical Luke, were taken as the second witness alongside of Matthew. Certain anomalies in the current reconstruction of Q, and issues regarding its character, may be resolved in light of the evidence of Marcion's gospel; and this outcome of analysis may, in turn, reinforce the conclusion that this gospel represents a better second witness to Q, more secure from harmonization to Matthew than canonical Luke.

In 1940, Nelson Glueck proposed the identification of “The Biblical City of Copper” with Khirbat en-Nahas, the largest copper production site in the southern Levant. This paper reconsiders his idea, which has been influential over the more than sixty-five years since he wrote, and ultimately rejects the identification, as well as Abel's 1938 identification of the site. Moreover, this paper shows how the implications of Glueck's identification go far beyond what he envisioned, misrepresenting the very borders of Edom and Judah.

This presentation will be part of a larger session on Ethiopic Manuscripts in North America and their Availability for Research. Howard University holds one of the largest collections of Ethiopic manuscripts in North America. We will discuss the provenance and nature of the collection as well as the status of the cataloguing and digitization, and plans for access to the collection. Finally, we will list the manuscripts of the Ge'ez Bible which we hold.

In recent years there has been an increasing attention placed upon the ritual narratives found within both the Ugaritic and biblical texts. One such approach has been the study of ritual failures. In his discussion of the ritual narratives in the Aqhat epic, particularly the rituals associated with feasting, Dennis Wright discussed ritual failure, adopting the terminology of Ronald Grimes, to distinguish between felicitous (successful) feasts, and infelicitous (failed) ones. Though Dr. Wright only concerns himself with the Aqhat epic, ritualized feasts are found through the other mythical narratives as well, including feasts that fail in their purpose or in their presentation, though ritual "fail-safes" (assigned seating, rules of reciprocity, guest-host interaction, etc.) were in place. As Catherine Bell rightly points out, most ritual events describe a series of rituals, each one separate but connected, creating a ritualized process, eventually leading to transformation. Thus, greater sophistication can be applied to Grimes" typology as ritual failure in one part of a series of ritual events can lead to the failure of the ritualized process overall. This "cascade" can now allow his typology to apply to a series of ritual events following one another not just a single, ritual event. This study will explore the concept of ritual failure in the Baal Myth and in the Kirta epic, pointing out the role that "cascading" plays in the development of the narrative. Moreover, building upon the foundation laid by Wright, this study explores the ritual failures emerging from the "cascading" principle in the Aqhat epic, particularly in the role that meals play in the cascading principle where instead of bringing about the intended results of social cohesion, they fail, actually increasing the social and cultural ambiguities for which the feast were engaged in the first place.

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The narrative of Josiah's book-find is relevant for the recent scholarly discussion concerning writings and speech in prophetic literature. Seeking to break through the impasse concerning the historical reality behind 2 Kings 22-23, the paper proceeds on the basis of minimal assumptions regarding the existence of pre-dtr sources in the narrative. A preliminary non-dtr narrative of Josiah's acts assigned an oracular role to the discovered book--a divine oracle sent to legitimize the king's actions. This role was traditional in Ancient Near Eastern court prophecies such as those known from Mesopotamia and Hatti. The narrative was subsequently refashioned in deuteronomistic circles in order to reflect the different role of the book as a comprehensive legal document. A similar transformation occurred with regard to the term torah in various Israelite traditions. This understanding of the pre-dtr Josiah narrative sheds light on oracular practices in Judaea and enriches the discussion concerning literacy in Israelite prophecy.

For the 19th century social advocate Josephine Butler, the biblical story of Hagar was a paradigm for the classism and oppression experienced by prostitutes of Victorian England. Butler used Hagar's story as a prophetic call to women in particular and to the people of England to end the oppression of the “outcast” woman. Such allegorical interpretation can also be found in womanist and liberationist readings of this narrative whereby Hagar's story becomes a source of empowerment for the marginalized and oppressed of our day. This paper will examine the different allegorical interpretations of Josephine Butler, Delores Williams, and Elsa Tamez and how they effectively engage the social realities of their respective communities with the word of God.

Transitivity helps explain the distinction between the Niphal and Hitpael stems in Biblical Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew demonstrates a large area of overlap between these two stems. Moreover, some verbal roots prefer one stem over the other, while allowing some exceptions. For example, HPK "turn" appears 34 times in the Niphal, but only four times in the Hitpael. In contrast, KSH "cover" appears nine times in the Hitpael, but only twice in the Niphal. Scholars' definitions of these two stems do not adequately explain these preferences. I propose that transitivity allows us to understand the distribution of some roots between these two stems. Linguists have shown that voice relates to transitivity. Transitivity is a complex category, as Hopper and Thompson (1980) show, designating more features than the number of participants, especially the level of affectedness of the Patient, aspect (telicity), and individuation of the the Patient. Furthermore, Bakker (1994) demonstrates a complex relationship of the Ancient Greek middle voice to the transitivity of event type, and Kemmer (1993) claims that the middle voice across languages can be defined, at least in part, by the distinction between participants. Since Hebraists agree that the Niphal and Hitpael express voice alternations, including passive and middle voice, I will analyse the Niphal and Hitpael according to modern linguistic models of voice (namely, passive and middle voice) and the relationship of voice to transitivity. Once I demonstrate the transitivity traits of the Niphal and Hitpael, I will explain how transitivity explains the tendencies of some roots to appear in one root over the other. Furthermore, I will show how authors may express an atypical level of transitivity with a rarer stem for a given verb, which could explain rare occurrences of a root in a particular stem.

Since the publication of “The Book Called Isaiah” by H.G.M. Williamson in 1994 the discussion about the main paradigm for the explanation of the growth of the Book of Isaiah has not stood still. Two alternative approaches play a central role in the formulation of the leading question: how did Isa 1-39 and Isa 40-55 join each other? Did it happen by way of continuation (Fortschreibung) or by way of combination of two mainly distinct bodies of literature (Vereinigung)? The solution of Williamson is clear: Isa 40-55 is to be judged as a continuation of Isa 1-39 filtered and modified by the exilic and early post-exilic situation. Without doubt there is in some cases a familiarity of style and vocabulary but are these strong enough to postulate that kind of internal continuity? Many of these evidences can be equally or even better explained as a general knowledge of the Isaianic style (“the holy one of Israel”) or by the process of joining the two formerly distinct bodies in late-exilic times. From my recently published commentary on Isa 40-48 (Jesaja 40-48, Herder, Freiburg in Br. 2008) I will present some texts and arguments which underline the proposal that the writers of Isa 40ff were closely attached to Jerusalem temple-singers and started their writing without an explicit desire to stand on the shoulders of the old Jerusalem prophet from the 8th century, even when they had a certain acquaintance with the Isaiah formulations. The concept of an individual exilic and anonymous writer “Deutero-Isaiah” should be abandoned. It was only from about 520 B.C.E. when the writing about hope and the future (Isa 40-48) reached Jerusalem with the first bigger wave of repatriates that the links between both parts grew stronger. Thus the merging of the two main parts was a “win-win-situation”: Isa 1-39 was helped over the gorge of Exile (see the break between Isa 39 and 40) and Isa 40-55 could rely on the authority of the old Jerusalem prophet.

By all objective standards the 2008 presidential race featured more invocation of biblical verses and religious images than any in recent American history. In this paper, I attempt to review how the Scriptures were used by candidates in both the primaries and general election (a task I have been performing bi-weekly for the Washington Post Online). Some particular debates are explored with an eye towards the pitched, quasi-exegetical battles about proper interpretation that they set off. These include Mike Huckabee's oddly egalitarian reading of Ephesians 5:22-25, Mitt Romney's use of the Psalms in conversations about abortion, and Barack Obama"s determined invocation of the Book of Joshua in Church settings. More broadly, this paper aims to gauge Americans tolerance for scripturally based politicking by looking at the way that both Evangelical and secularist groups responded to Bible citations on the campaign trail.

The episode of the rescue of Moses by Pharaoh's daughter (Exod 2:1-10) was a staple of European masters from the 16th-19th centuries. One reason for this scene's popularity was the large number of figures present at the moment of rescue (Phraraoh's daughter, the baby's sister and various maidens), giving the artist great freedom of interpretation in the composition of his piece. Another reason stemmed from the amibiguity surrounding the princess' motivation for rescuing the baby, again affording the artist lattitude in his interpretation. These paintings serve as an important resource for the biblical exegete, because the process of visualizing the scene allowed the masters to consider a facet of the episode long ignored by conventional written intrepretation: the role of the (silent!) maidens in informing Pharaoh's Daughter's decision. The paintings also implicitly consider an additional question, usually ignored in written interpretation: Is the hero of the story the princess, the sister, or the baby? The paper will consider works by Veronese, Gentileschi, Poussin, de Wet, Zugno, and Hogarth.

Baruch Levine, in his discussion of Leviticus 26, observes “It seems that whenever the image of the foreskin is employed, the physical condition original to the image peers through simile and metaphor.” Since antiquity, commentators have interpreted the “foreskinned,” or “uncircumcised,” heart metaphor as representing a blocked or hardened heart. While affirming Levine's presumption that a concrete physical image underlies the foreskin symbolism, my paper offers a new understanding of the metaphor in light of Ancient Near Eastern extispicy traditions. The lynchpin of my hypothesis is the use of the verb KN` in Lev 26:41 and the semantic equivalence of Hebrew KN` and Akkadian KANASHU.

Although important works have been written about the perception of Rome by Jews in Antiquity, one aspect seems not to have received the attention it deserves. The Roman empire was frequently presented by Roman or pro-Roman writers as the result of divine providence, and its domination, as an eternal one supposed to bring everlasting peace and blessing to the world. Such ways of speaking represented a direct challenge to Jews living in the empire, insofar as the Roman claims to be a chosen people elected by the gods to bless the whole oikoumene strongly conflicted with Jewish ways of speaking about the election and call of Israel, and also very much looked like them. One may go so far as to affirm that there was a rivalry of election and universalism between Israel and Rome. In this paper, I would like to show that Philo, while appreciating the pax romana and the religious freedom generally enjoyed by Jews in the Roman empire, was critical of Roman ideas about Rome's election and destiny, as were other intellectuals from countries subdued by Rome. I shall also analyze the similarities and discrepancies between Philo's approach and that of Josephus.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus declares, “Whoever welcomes one of such as these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me” (9:37). From 9:33 to 10:52, children are the central image and metaphor defining acceptable members of the Reign of God. The Reign of God and Jesus as the Son of God are two main themes in Mark's Gospel. In this paper, I argue that children in the Gospel of Mark clarify both of these themes. I focus upon the characters of Jairus" daughter (5:21-24, 35-43) and the boy with the spirit (9:14-29). First, I examine the lives of children in the first century CE. Then, I demonstrate how these passages illustrate that children are a key to Mark's understanding of the Reign of God. Next, by comparing children in Mark to children in the ancient Greek novels, I show that the children in Mark illuminate Jesus" identity as the Son of God, particularly the attributes of divine guardian and protector. Finally, I discuss the significance of these characters, particularly Jairus" daughter, for children in our world today.

Why has the book of Lamentations been ascribed to Jeremiah the prophet? Usually, II Chr 35 is mentioned in this context, but at a close look this reference does not provide a satisfying answer. The short paper takes the approach of searching for a direct intertextual relationship between the book of Jeremiah and Lamentations instead. For this purpose the focus is set on Lam 3 and the figure of the lamenting “young man”. He appears to be the result of a kind of final shape-exegesis of the “confessions” of Jeremiah by the author of Lam 3. Thus, “rereading Jeremiah in Lam 3” can be understood in two ways: First, the entire chapter can be regarded as a specific innerbiblical relecture of Jeremiah, which, second, gives reason for modern readers to rediscover – and reread – the book of Lamentations as spoken or sung by the (literary) suffering Jeremiah.

Since the time of the formation of the canon, Paul's second letter to the Corinthians has played second fiddle to his first letter. 2 Corinthians is known as Paul's most personal letter opening up vistas into his psychological makeup rather than his theology. 2 Corinthians is perceived as a practical, not a theoretical letter. Moreover a large percentage of academic study of 2 Corinthians has been absorbed by historical and literary-critical discussions. Much energy went into introductory questions such as partition theories, reconstructions of the letter"s prehistory, the identity of the opponents. Consequently there was less attention for the content of the letter. While not contradicting the idea that 2 Corinthians is an eminently practical letter, in this paper which is meant as an introduction to this new seminar we shall look at 2 Corinthians as evidence to Paul"s theology in the making. While confronted with new, challenging questions in his dealings with the Corinthians, Paul develops theological concepts and vistas. Some of them, as, for instance, comfort, boasting, new creation, reconciliation, diakonia, gift giving, occur in 2 Corinthians for the first time in Christian history. They are occasioned by concrete circumstances in Paul"s relationship with the Corinthians. We shall study the various techniques Paul uses and the resources he has at his disposal (his biblical and Hellenistic background) to give deeper theological meaning to mundane everyday life experiences. Whether or not one considers Paul to be a theologian or 2 Corinthians as a theological document, depends largely on one"s own understanding of theology. In this paper we shall suggest that what Paul does in 2 Corinthians, namely to bring to bear the Christian faith on concrete issues of daily life in confrontation with aspects of the Bible and/or of the surrounding culture is the core task of any theology.

Positive, detailed treatments of Scripture in Athenagoras have been lacking, sometimes because of the over-emphasis of Athenagoras's employment of Greek philosophy. Strong expressions of the absence of Scripture's influence in his Legatio have seemed to rule the modern prejudice. With Pouderon"s 1994 essay some helpful headway toward recognizing the presence of Scripture within the apologist"s argument was made, yet Pouderon left undeveloped an analysis of how Scripture functions within the Legatio to contribute to an argument for Christian self-definition. This paper, then, will explore how Scripture, sacred teaching, influences Athenagoras in his attempt to answer the Romans for their perceived misconception of Christianity and the hardships with which they burden the Christians. In particular, this paper will demonstrate how biblical passages function to manifest a conception of God the Father which emphasizes God"s distinction from earthly things and God"s spiritual essence. This is the accepted rational view of the deity within the broader Roman context. This emphasis comes forth as Athenagoras reads and employs pagan philosophical and poetic texts within a pattern of belief and conception delimited by Scriptural teaching. Scripture certainly functions to develop the absolutely unique claims of the Christians, but significantly, it also informs, in a prejudicial manner, how Athenagoras will read pagan texts in a somewhat distinctive manner, yet also one which, within allowable parameters, holds commonality with his non-Christian culture. For Athenagoras, Scripture, as inspired, regulates the Christian"s reading of the poets and philosophers and surpasses them as the ultimate foundation for religious knowledge and practice.

This paper considers the figure of the golem, which appears in the disputed Psalm of Praise/Lament, Psalm 139. The speaker uses the term to refer to himself as a shapeless being in utero, but of course the golem has a rather elaborate (and particular) physical identity in the folklore of Judaism, most notably as the creation of the Maharal of Prague. As a means of exploring the subjectivity of the psalmist, I read this text, complete with its conflicting elements of lamentation and reassurance, against the backdrop of its interpretive tradition (scholarly and fictional). The question is whether the malleability of the psalmist-as-fetus, the blurred generic lines in the psalm, and the dynamics around the golem (created to stem persecution, but ultimately exceeding the terms of its creation) shed light on the conflicted subject of the Psalm.

Jerry Sumney has outlined methodological difficulties involved in reconstructing the position of Paul's rivals in Corinth and proposed his own minimalist reconstruction. Following Sumney's method, the only data at one"s disposal for reconstructing the position of Paul"s rivals in Corinth is the text of 2 Corinthians. While in agreement with many of Sumney"s conclusions, I propose a new approach to this problem; one that draws upon comparative material that has hitherto remained unexploited. The comparative material that I draw upon comes from Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jubilees, the Community Rule, and the Letter to the Hebrews. Each of these texts posits a future period of covenant renewal (i.e., a “new covenant”) in which it is expected that the presence of God"s spirit will enable individuals perfectly to fulfill the stipulations of the Torah. The polemical material in 2 Cor 3-4 includes a cluster of terminology and motifs (i.e., Moses, law/spirit, death/life and most importantly, new covenant or covenant renewal) that also appear in the comparative material that I adduce. The concerns that Paul addresses in 2 Cor 3-4 cohere closely with the concerns addressed in these comparative texts, although Paul at times draws strikingly different conclusions vis-à-vis the comparative material. The use of this data enables us to advance reasonable hypotheses about the position of Paul"s rivals in Corinth: they likely preached a variant of the traditional theologoumena advanced in these texts. By bringing these data into consideration, we are able to advance significantly beyond Sumney"s minimalist reconstruction of the position of Paul"s missionary rivals in Corinth. Not only that, but the reconstruction of the position of Paul"s opponents allows greater insights into the nature of Paul"s own methods as he constructed a theology that best served his interests and, as Paul construed them, those of the congregations in Corinth.

The Bible is full of traumatic events. Insights on how some people cope and thrive may provide clues to the identity of an ancient writer. In legend Joseph is abused by his brothers, becomes prime minister of Egypt, then reconciles with his family. Seven centuries later Tamar, wearing the coat of many colors, is abused by her half brother Amnon (2 Samuel 13). We hear her protest before and after the rape. Thrown out, Tamar does not shamefully slink into the shadows along the streets of Jerusalem as one might expect in a patriarchal shame culture. Instead, she tears her garment, strews ashes on her head, and laments, loudly bewailing her humiliation. When she arrives at her brother Absalom's, he hushes her. We do not hear her voice again within the narrative. Who wrote this intimate family story, parallel to Joseph? Tamar is a “daughter of the king” (2 Sam 13:18). At the king's request, she is performing a healing ritual (2 Sam 13:5, 7, 10) in a sacred garment. Innocent of wrongdoing, why does she suffer? My paper suggests that after this trauma, Tamar feels compelled to make sense of tragedies tearing apart her people. With divine inspiration and a sense of humor erupting from human grief, Tamar transforms her lamentation to storytelling. Beginning in Eden, she presents humans as vulnerable and satirizes those who behave as if they are gods. She focuses on trials and survival, revealing fundamental values. Perceiving Tamar as the “master” storyteller opens a reader to hear stories differently than if one assumes narratives were written by men. Understood in context of this woman"s perception of the past, “texts of terror” (Trible) may become sources of healing.

Assyrian military campaigns may have done more to promote centralization of the Israelite cult than any priestly, prophetic, or royal initiative before or after. Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom - by Tiglath-pileser III, Shalmaneser V, and Sargon II – supplied a rationale for Judahite cultic reform. Sennacherib's campaign in 701BC expedited its implementation. Cultic centralization in the capital city, the major political and administrative city left unscathed, was the most feasible and logical response. This presentation examines the archaeological evidence for the military campaigns detailed in both biblical and Assyrian records.

When P.Oxy. 3057 was first published in 1974 the editor, Peter Parsons, tentatively raised the possibility that it may have been written by a Christian since it contained a number of peculiarities that could have derived from a Christian milieu. Due to the fact Parsons dated this letter to the late first century it initially attracted some interest. However, given that many of the apparently “Christian” features of the letter were later judged to be rather ambiguous, it did not receive much attention as a source for early Christianity in subsequent scholarship. Recently, interest in the letter has been renewed as attempts have been made to reopen the debate surrounding this letter as they have attempted to show that it contains a number of features that decidedly favor Christian authorship. This paper will therefore evaluate the validity of such arguments and will reconsider whether P.Oxy. 3057 could be the earliest extant Christian letter.

Across the prophetic corpus one can discern a basic rhythm of divine and human interplay which is prompted by human sin (e.g., Judges, 1 Samuel 7, 1 Kings 8, 2 Kings 17, 2 Kings 22–23; Isaiah 6; Jeremiah 18, 25; Ezekiel 2–3, 20, 33; Amos 4, Joel, Jonah, Zechariah). This basic rhythm shows how God remedies human sin either through acts (judgment) or threats (prophecy) of discipline. The goal of this judgment or prophecy is to lead the people to respond to the grace and justice of Yahweh in repentance. These various components of the basic rhythm include: prophetic call/divine discipline, human penitence, divine grace. This large collection, however, is diverse and although this rhythm appears at key rhetorical places within the prophetic corpus, other perspectives often dominate. The prophetic books present a God who remains free in relation to this process. In spite of the articulation of this pattern at key moments in the corpus, Yahweh at times responds by offering grace to a seemingly impenitent people and by refusing mercy to a seemingly penitent people. This other testimony within the prophetic corpus is expressed succinctly in the “who knows” or “perhaps” on the lips of David in 2 Samuel 24, the sailors and Ninevites in Jonah, and the prophet in Joel 2:14, Amos 5:15 and Zeph 3:3. It echoes the foundational experience of Israel with Yahweh in Exodus 32-34, at the heart of which is that declaration related to Yahweh's name: “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” This other testimony is an important reminder that the prophetic corpus does articulate an impersonal retribution principle and procedure, but rather rhythms based on covenantal relationship between Yahweh and Israel.

About a decade ago I was presenting a paper criticizing the dominance of “dynamic equivalence” among Bible translators. My particular target was Eugene Nida, who I assumed would be on death's doorstep, if not already past it (he was born in 1911). However, at the end of my paper I got the fright of my life: Nida himself stood up to ask me a question. A decade later I would like to return to that unfinished critique, especially since the ghost of Nida still haunts me (and since my Last Stop Before Antarctica, in which that paper became a chapter, is about to appear in a revised edition). Dynamic (or functional) equivalence, as is well known, focuses on the message. Everything may be sacrificed – words, syntax, grammar – as long as the essential content of the original text is rendered in an acceptable way in the target language. You may pour the water from a bucket to a cup, but the water remains the same. To my knowledge, dynamic equivalence is the dominant method used by both The Bible Society and Wycliffe Bible Translators, especially with translations into indigenous languages. Yet there are some strange paradoxes about this theory and practice. I list them here and will deal with them in more detail in the paper. My approach is heavily influenced by Theodor Adorno's practice of theological suspicion: (1) Dynamic equivalence is a return of the once favored approach to translation from the 19th century, namely paraphrase. DN, however, is not quite the same as paraphrase. (2) DN may be seen as a conservative evangelical appropriation of paraphrase, especially when it challenges the assumption that a “literal” translation (metaphrase) is the more “faithful” one. (I remember my father scoffing at any translation that was felt to be a “paraphrase.”) (3) DN follows a Gnostic incarnational model: while the “Word” remains the same, it may move from body to body. (4) DN has a far too instrumental view of form. The form of a language is not merely a container for a message.

In the midst of a description of the atrocities committed by the high priest Alcimus, the narrator of 1Maccabees states that these events came to pass in accordance with the psalm that Alcimus wrote (1Macc 7.17). The narrator then goes on to quote two verses from the beginning of Psalm 79. In this paper we examine both the narrator's claim that Alcimus wrote the psalm, and the way the psalm is used in 1Maccabees. We will attempt to bring the work of Benjamin Scolnic into conversation with our own findings and come to a reasonable conclusion concerning the impact of the psalm on the text and the identity of its author.

Human communication is replete with euphemisms. It is thus no surprise that every translator of the Bible must appropriately deal with euphemisms that occur in the original text and which also arise in the receptor language. The author surveys basic exegetical, theological, and translational issues related to handling euphemisms, and then specifically applies the translation of euphemisms in the context of Bible translation programs in Solomon Islands. This is done through a foundational survey of general word taboos in Melanesia and the Solomons, noting various techniques for translation, including such devices as code-switching and ellipsis. The principles discussed are applicable cross-culturally and cross-linguistically.

The conception of honor brought into biblical scholarship was always fairly vague and polysemous — this was its theoretical attraction as it could incorporate anything from criminal aggression to pious virtue, and its forms could be extended into gender relations and equally into the politics and economics of patronage. From a cultural-anthropological point of view the data and the model largely overlap, hence paraphrasing of ancient discourse (and not interpretation) results. Additionally, the mismatch with local vocabularies blunt their usefulness for historical research and for comparison. As honor amounts to socially appropriate behaviour, the anthropology of self and emotion should receive close attention.

There are few witnesses to the Acts of Philip from Late Antiquity and the Byzantine period. A newly restored icon from Cyprus, however, attests to the existence and knowledge of this apocryphal work. This icon has been ignored by all the scholars who worked on the Acts of Philip from the time of Fabricius till today. Contrary to the majority of references witnessing only part of the book, this so-called “decorated” icon presents scenes of practically all the episodes. Moreover, this piece of art is connected with a place where the cult of Saint Philip has been known to be celebrated for more than seven centuries. Even if both the description and interpretation of this icon readily connect it with the literary evidence of the Acts of Philip, questions remain on the meaning of some depicted episodes. As it stands the icon nevertheless constitutes a superb witness to the presence and relative success of the Acts of Philip during the Byzantine era.

This paper reexamines the book of Jeremiah using utopian literary theory. Specifically, there is an emphasis on a different reading of the "dystopian" text of Jeremiah 1-20 and further analysis into the utopian nature of other texts in Jeremiah, including chapters 27, 32-33 and 51. These passages and the critique of them offer a new and unique perspective into Jeremiah's imagination, especially in regards to the hope for a positive future. In addition, there is an argument for the use of the creative power of Yahweh, in spite of the despair of the contemporary situation regarding the exile, as a utopian motif.

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Joel 3–4 (2:28-3:21 in English translations) is often regarded as a compilation of apocalyptic or proto-apocalyptic texts. Substantiation for this view is found in an eschatological outpouring of the spirit on God's people, followed by cosmic signs portending the great and terrible Day of Yhwh, which will be the final judgment on the nations and abundant blessing for Judah. The resulting picture consists of the Last Judgment on enemy nations with Judah living in bliss in an eschatological epoch, prophesying to one another in the presence of God in a new Jerusalem. This view, however, largely depends on an interpretation of Joel 3-4 in isolation from Joel 1-2. If this context is taken seriously, however, a different reading of Joel 3-4 is viable – one including Earth Community, represented by all-flesh and Land, Sky and Atmosphere, and Sun and Moon. Joel 1-2 recounts the suffering of creation, human and non-human, and God's response. Joel 3-4 depicts God"s further response to Earth Community"s suffering at the hands of unrepentant humans in the present age. Yhwh"s continued response to Earth Community begins with God pouring out the spirit on all flesh, i.e., “all creatures.” God"s impending actions will be announced both by the resulting prophetic community and by portents warning of judgment on those who violate Earth Community. Furthermore, these portents not only indicate ongoing human violence against members of creation (Joel 4), but also reveal that nonhuman creation, as in Joel 1-2, is in mourning. As in Joel 1-2, humans should mourn with the rest of creation and call upon the name of Yhwh, and so escape the day of God"s judgment. Finally, God will deliver Earth Community from the destructive actions of humans who remain hostile to God and the rest of creation.

The biblical text introduces Jeroboam with high praise as a hayil, a man of standing (1 Kings 11:28). From this singular honor, the text chronicles his downfall. A vignette showcasing his marriage (1 Kings 14:1-18) functions as the concluding event in his 22-year reign. Something is clearly wrong in his household. Using a cross-disciplinary approach incorporating a close textual reading and psychology, this paper focuses on the unnamed, silent wife of Jeroboam and argues that she and her marriage reflect the classic signs of a kind of suffering now termed spousal abuse. Granted, the vignette recounts no evidence of physical beating. However, textual evidence supporting the view that the wife of Jeroboam experiences abuse includes the following: her isolation, passivity, and instant obedience. Most indicatively, she returns home after hearing the prophet Ahijah's three-fold announcement of doom. Textual evidence that Jeroboam operates as an abusive husband includes his control over her comings and goings; his command-mode mentality in addressing her; his lack of compassion toward her; his cowardice in sending her to Ahijah instead of going himself; and his earlier violence toward the man of God (1 Kings 13). Via Ahijah's prophetic word, God lists Jeroboam"s sins as disobedience, making idols of metal, provoking God to anger, and thrusting God away. Shortly after Jeroboam"s reign ends, his name is ignominiously paired with evil and sins (2 Kings 13:2; 13:11; 14:24; 15:9). If indeed the wife of Jeroboam is an abused woman as this paper claims, then God"s assessment of Jeroboam"s reign as evil (1 Kings 14:9) encompasses more than is commonly held: it encompasses the sin of spousal abuse.

The only partially preserved text called "The Book of [Allogenes?]" from the Codex Tchacos represents its protagonist in a situation of “oppression” from which it needs to be saved. The representation of a character's calling out for help and the answer it receives is also found in other Gnostic writings. In this paper I would like to explore some examples starting from (Allogenes) and extending my interest to the tale of Norea in HypArch and the repentance of (Pistis) Sophia in PS. Between these texts there are some striking resemblances as to the representation of the main characters, the situation in which they cry out for help and their interaction with a higher entity. Interestingly the call for help occurs at a moment where the protagonists already know they belong to the “saved”. Allogenes and (Pistis) Sophia can certainly be seen as “generic” characters; this might also be the case of Norea. I will argue how the “cry for help” might be a paradigm for some kind of liturgical epiclesis that was at some stage acted out by the people using these texts.

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In recent decades, biblical scholars have become increasingly attentive to the oral/aural nature of ancient texts. In antiquity, texts were typically performed before audiences by being read aloud or recited from memory. Authors thus composed principally for the aural medium, incorporating an array of sound patterns that facilitated retention, interpretation, and response. Although noteworthy advances have been made in identifying these patterns and investigating their role in the composition and auditory reception of documents, the potential of aural exegesis for probing biblical texts still remains largely untapped. This paper attempts to redress this issue by describing various aural devices and underscoring ongoing efforts by scholars to develop methodological approaches to sound analysis. It will also consider how the nature of Greek grammar and syntax lends itself well to aural manipulation, and ways in which pronunciation impacts the overall enterprise. The paper seeks to stimulate discussion on how ancient works were composed for the ear as well as promote the further refinement and application of aural exegesis to biblical texts.

From where did early Christians get their sexual ethics? The major but often neglected source was their experience of daily life in the Roman Empire. This experience included the all-pervasive institution of slavery and the sexual exploitation it entailed. Both enslaved persons and sexual exploitation were literally on show in the amphitheatre, where Christians found themselves caught up in the spectacle--both as audience and as victim. Those brutal and often sexual spectacles had a profound effect on the sensibilities of ancient people, including Christians. Their moral imagination was shaped by the amphitheater and what went on inside it, and the amphitheater's influence on their attitudes toward slavery, sexuality and much else would long outlast the Roman Empire. The amphitheater's messages about the character of enslaved people, their sexual availability, their promiscuity, and their criminality still haunt the predominantly Christian society of contemporary America.

Luke's dramatic account of how Jesus first faces death/assumption (9:51-57) and then encounters would-be followers (9:57-62) is often said to be based on two hypothetical sources—L (Luke's special source) and Q. However, close inspection shows that Luke's text is a distillation and adaptation of the texts concerning Elijah"s facing of death and assumption (2 Kings 1:1-2:6; 1 Kings 19). The likelihood of such adaptation is increased by the overall context: Luke"s general imitation of the LXX; Luke"s unique similarity of overall structure to that of the Elijah-Elisha narrative—balancing halves bridged by an assumption, the only instance of such structure in ancient literature; and the placing of Elijah"s name at key places (Luke 1:17; 4:25-27). The paper summarizes the criteria for establishing literary dependence, and then, in applying the criteria, indicates in some detail how Luke has systematically adapted the older text to develop the narrative concerning Jesus. To explain this Lukan text, therefore, Q is unnecessary.

This paper considers a rather obscure, minor midrash in which Simon Peter plays the lead role. While the midrash is seemingly an anti-Christian polemic, it portrays Simon Peter in a rather curious and positive light. Within the text Simon heals the sick, raises the dead, and manifests the bat kol. In addition, there is a scene in which Peter, while in the Temple, performs a rather curious ritual. Whereas in early Christian literature one hears of charismata, how might non-Hellenized Jews have conceptualized the nomenclature necessary to articulate had they, in fact, been witnesses to signs and wonders? This little-known midrash, with a complicated history, presents a rather intriguing look at charismata manifested through the Apostle Peter from a later, Jewish perspective.

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The Hebrew Bible offers a variety of perspectives for understanding creation and particularly for discerning humanity's place and role. As a preliminary step toward constructing a biblical environmental ethic, this paper surveys and synthesizes the various perspectives.

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The Epistle of Titus, a fifth century Latin text concerning the appropriate behavior of male and female ascetics, is a false text filled with an extraordinary number of quotations of other false texts and biblical material alike. It is preserved in a codex, itself containing even more false texts, meant to instruct late-eighth century clergy. In the Epistle of Titus, we find the use of quotations circulating under the names of authoritative figures such as Elijah, Peter, Paul, and Thecla. For the author, and presumably the audience, of the Epistle of Titus, the “false” texts hold as much authority as the biblical material. The author envisions no hierarchical division between types of sources. So, while some may call his source material “false,” in this paper I suggest that the falsehood occurs in the re-formulation of the material for the author's ascetic agenda. The often subtle and deceptive re-fashioning of his “false” sources allowed the author to make himself the authority for correct ascetic practice. The two examples that are the focus of my paper are sources attributed to figures who were already established as ascetic authorities in Christianity: Peter and Elijah. The use of a story about Peter and the daughter of a gardener demonstrates how the author augments a source in order to assert his own ascetic authority. The use of an Elijah apocryphon that details punishments awaiting sinners in a tour of hell exemplifies the adoption of a visionary version of hell in order to deal with an ascetic problem. Both of these examples show the author's deft and deceptive editorial work in using prestigious names and texts, false or otherwise, to assert his own ascetic agenda and, more importantly, his authority based on the power already accorded the names.

Lady E. S. Drower (1879-1972) known as the foremost specialist on the Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran, also published much on other aspects of the Middle East. From the 1940s on, she was engaged in trying to publish her work Water into Wine, a fieldwork-based book on comparative ritual meals in the Middle East. In the form that Drower envisioned it, the book was never published, for the 1956 Water into Wine (London: John Murray ) was forced to omit almost all of the Jewish material, and to tone down much in the descriptions of Middle Eastern Christian rituals. In 1989, I helped publish the censored Jewish section in a volume edited by J. Neusner and E. S. Frerichs. As keeper of the Drower archives and as editor of selections of Drower's scholarly correspondence, I will show why Drower's Jewish material was excised from Water into Wine, and why some of the Oriental Christian material made Christian authorities in England very edgy. The large heap of Drower"s correspondence on Water into Wine stems from 1943-1972, and it shows that Western Orthodox Jews, defensive of Israeli political objectives after 1948, wanted no information on ongoing Oriental forms of Judaism, and that Christian authorities in England saw “pagan survivals” in Oriental Christianity as a threat. Importantly, Oriental Jews and Christians were not hostile to Drower"s fieldwork in their cultures, but Western Jews and Christians, in “colonialist” fashion, appointed themselves as dogmatic defenders of Biblical uniqueness. This paper presents a view into censorship in scholarship; into politics and the Bible; and into the issues of ownership of the Biblical traditions. Quotations from Drower"s correspondence on Water into Wine demonstrate how such censorship was active in mid-20th century England.

A less explored strand in the reception history of the synoptic account of the Transfiguration understands the latter not simply as a vision that the disciples have of Christ, but as a vision of Christ granted to Moses and Elijah, which is also witnessed by the disciples. Relating the Sinai theophany and the Transfiguration on Tabor was crucially important for early Christian theology: it underlay the Christian appropriation of the Hebrew Bible as "Old Testament"; it lent itself to polemical use against monarchianism; finally, through Romanos the Melodist, it was absorbed into Byzantine festal hymnography and thereby into the mainstream of theology as performed and experienced in liturgy. Similar interpretative strategies are at work in early Christian works and later Byzantine festal hymns and icons that take up theophanies centering on God's throne in Zion (e.g., Isa 6; Ezek 1; Hab 3). Following the discussion of texts and images dealing with Sinai, Zion, and Tabor, I will sketch out a few ways in which today's readers can benefit, both exegetically and theologically, from the Byzantine hymnographic and iconographic exegesis.

Prior to the close of the Tell Balatah (Shechem) Excavations, Director G. Ernest Wright of Harvard University asked Prof. Robert J. Bull of Drew University and a small team of volunteers to survey the area around the village of Balatah and the nearby northern slope of Mount Gerizim, for unrecorded archaeological materials. On the north face of Gerizim the survey team discovered sections of a severely eroded stairway, the steps of which were cut into the bedrock of the slope and their line of assent was from the walls of Neapolis (Nablus) to the top of the northernmost peak of Mount Gerizim. At the summit of that peak the survey examined and probed the artificial mound that is Tel er Ras. The tell at 831m is at the summit of the third highest peak and is located 700m due north of the highest and most central peak. Permission to excavate Tell er Ras was received from Dr. Awni Dajani, Director of the Department of Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and later from Dr. Avraham Biran of the Israeli Department of Antiquities. We began excavations on July 26 1964. Excavations revealed two structures on the third highest peak of Mount Gerizim: (a) a Greek style temple surrounded by ashlar walls, built with Roman engineering in second century, both of which are referred to as Structure A. And (b) a very large block of coursed limestone slab rock and soft limestone mortar (huwwar) that measures 18.21m wide by 20.04m long with a bedrock base measurement of 381.32 square meters. The height of this structure, called Structure B, measures from its prepared bedrock trench to the top of the structure (at sixteen courses), a height of 8.58m. Structure B contains no internal structuring such as rooms or entrances. It is surrounded by a rectangular wall of small rock and mortar (no ashlars), both of which are referred to as Structure B. The second century AD Roman temple (probably built for Hadrian), Structure A, is built directly on a thick layer of lime mortar that also covers the top of Structure B. Structure B rests in a foundation trench cut into bedrock. The archaeology and identity of Structure A are reasonably clear, but the identity and archaeology of Structure B is subject to debate. When first uncovered, Structure B was thought to be only the foundation of Structure A, but later thought and archaeological inquiry suggested that Structure B was a center of worship for the Samaritans and possibly the Samaritan Altar.

Music is a universal that we find in countries ancient and modern. It is an artform, or what some would call a language, that helps to convey information, express ideas, and entertain. The biblical world, particularly the one from which the Hebrew Bible comes, displays cultures that creatively wove music into various facets of life. While the sounds of music from these past cultures are for the most part lost to us, scholars still employ this craft to gain insight regarding past lifeways. Archaeomusicology, also known as music archaeology, is the study of past cultures through examination of music, musical practices, and musical instruments. This sister discipline of ethnomusicology and archaeology employs interdisciplinarity to address questions regarding music and the past. With focus on the Hebrew Bible, this paper will explore how we can employ archaeomusicology and related disciplines to explore the biblical text and incorporate our findings in generating effective hermeneutics.

This teaching tip employs a “bait-and-switch” technique in the presentation of Genesis 22, which is intended to help students recognize the unconscious reading strategies that readers often bring to biblical texts. Students in my introductory Bible classes (situated at a small, southern, church-related college) often resist passing judgment on biblical heroes who act in morally questionable ways and are most especially reluctant to condemn the morally questionable actions of God. For this reason, I find it helpful to start with parallel stories from nonbiblical contexts. In this case, before students read Genesis 22, I have them read aloud a version of Iphigenia's sacrifice in small groups. Each group is asked to imaginatively place themselves in the story as a different character (Agamemnon, Artemis, Iphigenia, or Achilles) and then answer a series of questions from that character's perspective. Almost inevitably, students condemn Agamemnon for agreeing to sacrifice his daughter and condemn Artemis for demanding the sacrifice (although, unlike Yahweh, she has an acknowledged motive). Responses to Iphigenia and Achilles usually range widely from empathy to scorn. Groups are then asked to read aloud Genesis 22 and find similarities between the classical and the biblical stories. Most students are able to connect Agamemnon to Abraham and Iphigenia to Isaac as well as identify basic similarities in the plot (e.g., child sacrifice averted by animal substitution). Interestingly, however, they often require prompting to connect Artemis to Yahweh and Achilles to Sarah. As discussion proceeds I make note of students" protests against similarly judging the biblical deity (e.g., “it was only a test”) and identify these arguments as reading strategies selectively applied to a particular text. I reinforce the exercise by briefly reviewing the reception history of this “moving text” in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim interpretive history.

In Mark, unlike the other canonical gospels, no one indisputably rises from the dead—not even Jesus himself, whose resurrection is only guaranteed by the ambiguous empty tomb (cf. Matt 28:11-15) and a young man proclaiming he has risen (16:1-8) (unless one presumes a lost ending). Indeed, while the other gospels both portray Jesus himself as risen and represent him raising others from the dead as well (cf. Matt 27:50-54; Luke 7:11-17; John 11:1-44 ), in Mark, on the contrary, Jesus actually insists that he does not resurrect a girl (5:39) even when he appears to be doing precisely that (5:21-24a, 35-43). And unlike the other Synoptics, Mark offers no information that belies that denial (cf. Matt 9:18; Luke 8:55). On the other hand, Mark's Jesus thrice prophesies that he will rise from the dead (8:31; 9:31;10:34) and his harshest rebuke of his disciples (9:33) follows immediately on the heels of the second prediction. As my analysis of 8:31-9:13 will show, this rebuke is intimately related to Peter's inability to understand Jesus" predicted resurrection, even though most scholars emphasize Peter"s resistance to Jesus" impending death. I shall draw on the theoretical writings of Mikhail Bakhtin to examine this grand tension Mark displays between narrative elements insisting on resurrection and those resisting it as a dialogue between voices articulating differing theological positions on life after death, and I shall consider the theological and literary implications of the evangelist"s decision to leave open-ended his dialogic discourse about whether or not Jesus does guarantee death"s defeat.

The discourse parameters of connectors have long been included in textlinguistics. However, sources and outside language interference create kinds of turbulence that raise special methodological problems. Luke has provided us with two works, his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, that allow us to observe his diverse patterns in language use. Luke's use of connectives is measurably distinct in the gospel, in the first half of Acts, and in the second half of Acts. A concept of 'threshhold' is necessary to bring to a discussion of the connectives. Major connectives like ?a?, d?, ???, te, µ??, ???, t?te, ?ste, ????, and p???, will be joined to the boundary material of the genitive absolutes and the indefinite-subject ????et? clauses in order to present an integrated picture of what Luke is doing. Some of this data is incompatible with the common assumption that Luke was imitating the Septuagint. We will discuss the incongruencies within the connective framework, as well as associated structural phenomena, in order to highlight both non-Lucan features and data incompatible with the 'imitation' theory, This has implications for reading Luke. The surprise from this study may be that Luke is not trying to imitate the Septuagint, but in fact is partially smoothing out his souces.

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How might our historical context "this side" of historicist paradigms be a lens through which we unwittingly read ourselves into the book of Jeremiah? Significant progress in making visible our horizons of expectation has enriched Jeremiah studies, notably by untying the concept of literary coherence from its moorings in western literature. But invisible assumptions of course remain. This paper argues that the discourse of early modern English spirituality became inscribed onto the vernacular Jeremiah and still persists today. Two powerful cultural forces between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries intersected to create a new interpretive context. The first was an intense and wide-spread desire to cultivate the "innere man" through "inward beholding." The phenomenon is documented by the volume of devotional writings produced and consumed in early modern England that instructed readers in the practice of affective religion and "inwardness." The second cultural force, closely allied to the first, was translation of the Bible into English. Seeded by John Wycliffe's popular translation of the Vulgate in 1380 and flowering into several widely circulated translations in the sixteenth century, the English Bible was created in the cultural context of attention to the landscape of the inner self. The discourse of "inwardness" was inevitably mapped onto the biblical text. Much of it remains today, because the origins of the 1989 NRSV are in 1611. The vocabulary of "inwardness" was also carried forward in Robinson's 1836 translation of Gesenius" Lexicon, and remains in current editions of BDB. Examination of ways that Hebrew words were rendered into English and examples from the poetry of Jeremiah illustrate this history. Visuals from early English Bibles illuminate the historical context for a horizon of expectation still influencing readings of Jeremiah.

It is clear that the apostle Paul was largely responsible for developing the law-free mission to pagans in the early church—a radical praxis he had to defend on numerous occasions. Although not all Jewish practices were abandoned in the ethic Paul prescribed for converts to "Christianity" from paganism, key Jewish signature customs were, like circumcision and various dietary prohibitions. However, it is less clear just when Paul developed this extraordinary approach. Many scholars argue—or even just assume—that this transition took place on the road to Damascus, at the time of his call. And certainly this dovetails with any broader “Lutheran” explanation of Paul's gospel. I suggest, however, that three pieces of evidence indicate in concert that Syrian Antioch, not Damascus, was the critical locus. Hence, this radical approach also developed roughly three years after Paul's call (so somewhere from late 36-early 37 CE)—a significant problem for “Lutheran” readers of Paul. Prior to this point Paul's gospel seems to have preached full law observance. Those pieces of evidence are: (1) the broad narrative of Paul"s relationship with Jerusalem found in Gal. 1:18-2:10, including its silences; (2) the tell-tale rejoinder found in Gal. 5:11a; and (3) the intriguing comment made in Acts 11:26c. These largely overlooked snippets of evidence point together toward the intriguing conclusion that the transition to a law-free gospel for pagans took place in Syrian Antioch some time in the winter of 36-37 CE. Paul"s subsequent preaching and teaching then seems to assume this praxis, along with its sophisticated justification in terms of participatory eschatology, which should be dated to this location and time period as well.

The literary apocalypses insist upon a reality that transcends the present phenomenological order. They locate that alternative reality in terms of space and/or time. This paper interprets Fourth Ezra in terms of Critical Spatiality Theory. Not only does this apocalypse envision a theoretical reality as an alternative to the present crisis of Jerusalem's devastation, it insists that its future and heavenly order transforms the present moment.

Fifty years ago, one of the most brilliant minds of the twentieth century, Morton Smith, returned from a manuscript hunting expedition to Mar Saba with photographs of a text no one had ever heard of before—a sensational, even scandalous Secret Gospel of Mark. Though doubts about its attribution surfaced immediately, fifteen years later these doubts turned into questions of a modern forgery shortly after Smith published his authentication and interpretation of his text. As Quentin Quesnell, who challenged Smith's text in 1975, put it: “What Smith is able to "authenticate," the "mystifier" would have been able to imitate.” As a result, Secret Mark persisted in a state of limbo for another twenty years, until two books came out showing that it was Morton Smith's own fake, based in part upon finding anachronistic conceptions of early Christianity. The case of Secret Mark has engendered many mysteries, but it answers one puzzle well: Can the academy protect itself from one of its own, even one of its most brilliant members? As the events of the past few years indicate, the answer is yes: the academy can protect itself because it has something on its side that the faker lacks—the passage of time. As time passes on, we are able to stand on our predecessor"s shoulders and see the past better than even the sharpest minds of the previous generation.

Contemporary theological and ethical reflections on social justice have often based on a particular reading of YHWH's relationship with and commitment to the people of Israel. Rooted in the biblical narrative, this interpretation in turn places special emphasis on the treatment of the alien and/or economically marginalized and serves as the measure of a community's commitment to and embodiment of social justice. In this paper, Carter-a biblical scholar-and Choi-a Christian ethicist-provide a critical assessment of some of these theological and ethical appropriations of scripture that are foundational to this discourse. Using the concept of the preferential option for the poor as a test case, we examine ways in which contemporary biblical scholarship might deepen the Christian community"s understanding of the nature and complexity of God"s action in the world. In doing so we address several perplexing questions. To what extent is it appropriate to view Israel as the exemplar of the alien, marginalized, or outcast? Have some theological and ethical attempts at a scripturally-informed conception of social justice approached the biblical account of God"s treatment of Israel in a too unilateral fashion? How are we to understand texts that present God as showing a preferential concern toward Israel while “othering” Israel"s neighbors? Can Israel serve as an example of God"s concern for the alien and economically marginalized when its own social institutions favored the elite over the “righteous poor”? Is it possible that a more nuanced reading of biblical traditions would destabilize conventional conceptions of “biblical social justice”? And might scripture even “disempower” itself as a concrete source of moral understanding with respect to economic ethics? We close by addressing the prospects of scripture informing a meaningful call to social justice as a special concern for the outsider.

This paper will explore John's scene involving Jesus and Pilate, often refered to as Jesus' (Roman) trial. The central question to be engaged concerns whether the scene might function in any way as a source for information about the historical Jesus.

This paper examines specific expressions and words used by Marius Victorinus, a platonic philosopher, theologian and master of rhetoric who lived in Rome in the second half of Fourth century. While he is still often considered as a link in transmission of porphyrian neoplatonic metaphysic, an important amount of rare words, expressions and concepts he used are attested in Nag Hammadi treatises. Some of these occurred in the Trimorphic Protennoia (hylical soul), in Eugnostos (masculofeminity of the second principle) and in the Gospel of Truth (the name of the Father is the Son) and many others. This is not surprising since Majercik, Tardieu and Turner showed that there is in Victorinus works a synoptic parallel with Zostrianos. The second part of this paper exposes the significance that took these materials and concepts in Victorinus and the links that he did with Biblical terminology will be exposed, especially with the book of Genesis and the Gospel of John. The last part of this paper examines the historical context in which Victorinus composed his work, that is the anti-arian Christological controversy and proposes some explanations to understand why so-called Gnostic terminology and concepts find their path into his theology.

Although Origen's Hexapla occupies a rather prominent position in current Septuagint research, all its questions are still far from being answered. One aspect that still awaits scholarly consensus is that of the anonymous Greek versions Quinta, Sexta and Septima. The book of Canticles is one of the few biblical books for which variants from all three columns are preserved. Nevertheless the readings of this book have hitherto not received any attention whatsoever. In an attempt to fill this scholarly gap this paper addresses some aspects of Quinta, the text version named after its assumed position as the fifth Greek column. In Field's edition (1875) the book of Canticles features some forty Quinta readings. Some of them resemble readings from other minor versions, but others are rather peculiar. Some can be explained by a diverging Vorlage (see e.g. Ct 6,10), but others call for a closer analysis (see e.g. Ct 1,3). Field found the lion"s share of his Quinta readings in the Syro-Hexapla. Thanks to the manuscript evidence of the Greek catenae unknown by Field some of his retroversions can now be confirmed or adjusted by variants attested in Greek (e.g. Ct 1,4). This presentation firstly presents the briefest of overviews of the scholarly interpretations of the characterizations of Quinta, Sexta and Septima offered by Origenes (the famous prologue to several catenae on Psalms) and Eusebius (HE 6, 16, 2-3), resulting in some specific critical remarks on the interpretation given by Nautin (1977). Secondly a number of Quinta readings from the book of Canticles are examined, especially those for which the catenaric manuscript materials can update the evidence printed in Field. Thirdly and finally the conclusion demonstrates the way in which these readings can add to our knowledge of the Quinta version.

This paper will explore the significance of the deity Bethel in Israelite religion. An examination of the places where this deity is most prominent, especially Elephantine, may help to locate a cult of this deity in the (former) Northern Kingdom after the Assyrian deportations. If the religion of the Elephantine community can be traced back to the (former) Northern Kingdom, what can that teach us about the religion of the Northern Kingdom itself before 722 BCE? Because the origins of Bethel seem to be closely linked with El, at a later time Bethel and Yahweh come to be virtually identified as well. Evidence for this can be seen in the divine names Anat-Yahu and Anat-Bethel found in the Elephantine Papyri, as well as the abundance of personal names with the theophoric element Bethel in those same texts. The close relationship of the religion of the Aramean community at Syene (with its temple of Bethel) with the worshippers of Yahu in Elephantine may also be traced back to the territory of the (former) Northern Kingdom. Finally, this paper will address the issue of whether or not the Hebrew Bible is aware of the existence of the deity Bethel. Unlike earlier research, I will contend that that there are no references to this deity prior to the Assyrian repopulation of the Northern Kingdom. While there is one explicit reference to the deity Bethel in the Hebrew Bible, (Jer 48:13), the LXX expansions of the Genesis texts dealing with Jacob and Bethel betray a concern that the sanctuary at Bethel not be associated with the deity that may have been revered there post 722 BCE. This new perspective may shed further light on the continual polemic against the sanctuary at Bethel in much of the Hebrew Bible.

The paper explores pedagogical strategies for the introduction of the Synoptic Problem and applications of the critically orthodox Two-Source Hypothesis in an undergraduate, liberal arts context, most specifically a general education course pitched at non-majors. The goal of the exploration of the Synoptic Problem, its 'solution," and applications is to lead students to understand the crucial role that humanly constructed observations and hypotheses play in understanding the nature of texts that students and much of western culture consider sacred, as well as how one understands the figure to whom these texts point, Jesus of Nazareth.

The exhortation to “love your neighbour as yourself” from Leviticus 19:18b is a central maxim of Jesus and the early Christian movement. Yet the meaning of this expression attributed to Jesus and the NT authors is often taken for granted as a universalizing principle. The central ethic of the Jesus movement, "love," is therefore either understood as a kind/gentle attitude or is left rather undefined and vague. This discussion needs more nuance. Drawing upon Jewish exegetical traditions surrounding Leviticus 19:15-18, I shall suggest that both Jesus and his brother James understand Leviticus 19:18b not merely as a summary of the entire Torah, but firstly as a summary of the laws governing just legal judging in Leviticus 19:15-18a. Although Paul and Luke, engaged as they are in the Gentile mission, apply with rigour this principle of "love" in a much broader universalizing manner in order to promote inclusiveness among Jewish/Gentile relations, this interpretation of the love commandment should not necessarily be assumed to be the sole view or use of Lev 19:18b in every case in the NT. The conclusion argued for in this paper, therefore, is that “love your neighbour as yourself” was not only viewed by early Jewish Christians as an ethical principle of universalizing peaceful relations between ethnicities, but was also seen to have ethical implications to do justice to one's neighbour in the judicial system as well.

With its fertile location, twin tells, and proximity to trade routes, Abila (modern Qweilbah) was considered an eminent Decapolis city. Archaeological work at the site since 1980 has verified the importance of Roman Abila. Yet, the Byzantine finds are even more substantial. In particular, the social significance of Byzantine Christianity is manifest through the five impressive Byzantine churches currently under excavation. This paper illustrates the social implications of this transition from the Roman to the Byzantine era in the Transjordan as reflected at Abila.

Though composed in Greek, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (IGT), in its earliest form, is best represented in Syriac. The first published Syriac manuscript of IGT is of considerable antiquity: the sixth-century Br. Libr., Add. 14484 published in 1865 by W. Wright. It contains the fifteen-chapter version of the text believed to be closer to IGT's original form than the nineteen-chapter version well-known to readers of the text. Three additional Syriac manuscripts have appeared over the past century: Göttingen, Universitätsbibliothek, Syr. 10 (fifth/sixth-century), Vat. syr. 159 (dated 1622/1623 and published, in part only, in a French translation), and an unnamed thirteenth/fourteenth-century manuscript published by E. A. Wallis Budge. None of these manuscripts contain the entire text. But the entire text can be found in manuscripts of the so-called Jacobite tradition of the Life of Mary. This compilation features the Protevangelium of James, the Vision of Theophilus, IGT, and the Assumption of the Virgin. To date, this tradition is known in at least eight manuscripts, though they have yet to be analyzed and published. This paper will provide an overview of the publishing history of the Syriac tradition of IGT, an edition of the text from the Jacobite Life of Mary manuscripts, and an assessment of what this new version of the text contributes to our knowledge of this gospel.

Apparently limited exegetical disagreements are sometimes indicative of far deeper differences. Such an instance can be found in the early years of the Reformation. Erasmus and Luther understand the nature of the dispute at Antioch (Gal. 2:11ff.), particularly the motivations of Paul and Peter, differently. These exegetical contrasts reflect deep hermeneutical differences concerning the nature of the Bible and the correct approach to its interpretation. The first half of the paper traces these hermeneutical differences through Erasmus' and Luther's writings against one other in the mid-1520s. In the second half of the paper an assessment is made of the relevance of their hermeneutical differences for contemporary Pauline theology. Although some aspects appear redundant, others remain germane. The discussion focuses firstly on the issue of the appropriate goal(s) of Pauline theology. Despite the centrality of Paul's texts for their arguments, neither Luther nor Erasmus construct a Pauline theology in the modern sense. In dialogue with Douglas Campbell's recent book 'The Quest for Paul's Gospel' it is suggested that the quest for a theological center underlying Paul's texts serves ultimately only to distract from the task of theologically interpreting the texts themsleves. The issue of conflict in interpretation is also repeatedly raised by Erasmus and Luther. Here criteria are identified for evaluating competing interpretations and it is argued that, although still important, historical plausibility is not the only one. The paper is an attempt to use the intellectual resources provided by two great figures of a previous era to think constructively about the task of Pauline theology today.

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Early studies of the ancient economy, which were primarily concerned with the question of whether it was modernistic or primitivistic, can be characterized as “low magnification,” for the economy of the Empire as a whole was discussed in broad and general terms. More recently, however, there has been an increasing awareness of the need for “high magnification” studies, that is, studies not of the economy, but of the economy of a particular region and at a particular time. Literary and material evidence have contributed to our understanding of the economy in certain regions. Nevertheless, there are practical limits to the contributions that these bodies of evidence can make. With respect to literary evidence, their provenance is neither assured, nor is their interpretation undisputed. With respect to material evidence, as not all sites can be excavated and not all materials are preserved, it can never provide an exhaustive view of a region. Thus, another source of data must be tapped, for even when literary evidence is augmented by material evidence, our knowledge about the economy of a region remains incomplete. Agricultural goods constituted a significant sector of the ancient economy. As agricultural products require certain conditions in which to grow and as soils and environment of different regions are marked by different features, the fields of pedology, the study of soils, and of climatology allow a determination to be made concerning the limits that the physical environment placed upon the agrarian sector of particular regions. Using the regions within Lower Galilee as test cases, this paper will argue that the limits of the physical environment of a region impacted the region's economy as well.

This presentation's primary concern is with the body in prisons, both the prison in the contemporary penal system and the Roman prison as represented in Paul's letters. Michel Foucault demonstrates that political anatomy has controlled the soul to more effectively exercise power over the body by humanizing punishment. The penal system aims to shame people rather than cause them physical pain. According to David Tombs, even crucifixion in the Roman Empire was not just about physical pain but also about public shame. The strategy of terrorizing people into fatalistic submission is well illustrated in the “theatrics of terror” that Mark Taylor demonstrates in The Executed God, as well as in Paul's description of his existence as an apostle sentenced to death and exposed in a spectacle (theatron, 1 Corinthians 4:9, 11). And this theatre is inscribed into the body in chains. Thus, special attention is given to not only how Paul represents the Roman prison as imagined as both a closed and disclosed space, but also how the imagery of the body—particularly, the naked body—under the conditions of Roman penal system and institutional violence operates in Paul"s letters, specifically, 1 Corinthians 4 and 2 Corinthians 11. Moreover, the exhibition of naked docile bodies will be disclosed in the theatrics of contemporary imperial terror. Finally, I will try to reach practical insights and applications, investigating how the dominated and humiliated body can be the agent of resistance, rather than only remaining the victim, as well as what Christians today should do for and with people in prison.

Understanding the spaces in which the earliest Christians met is integral to the understanding of the community's identity. However, most discussion about the rituals and practices of earliest Christianity has tended to focus predominantly on textual evidence. This lack of engagement with the material evidence leads to a reconstruction of early Christian ritual practice which does not correspond with existing knowledge of spatial practices in the ancient house. Therefore, it is necessary to reconcile what is known about the early Christians" meeting places from New Testament evidence with what is known about the structures and spatial practices of ancient houses. In this paper, I will discuss the relationship between the Roman aristocratic house and the emerging Christian community which met within its walls in the first three centuries C.E. Examining the space of the Roman house – its size, its inhabitants, and the activities taking place within it – makes possible a more accurate placement of the rituals in the house church. In addition, reconciling material evidence with textual evidence will highlight further areas of investigation. For example, placing the shared meal of the early church in the dining room of a typical Roman house, raises questions concerning social status, rank, and gender, at times in conflict with the language of equality evident in some of the writings of Paul (Gal 3:28; Col 3:9-11). In short, the paper will underscore the importance of space and place in the (re)construction of early Christian house church communities.

The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 appears on its face to hold great potential as a means for continually renewing the ethical recognition of the outsider as “neighbor.” By inducing the acknowledgment of an outsider's response to the needs of an “other” with whom we identify, the parable draws us toward a reciprocal recognition of the humanity of that outsider, and so invites us to broaden our understanding of the ethical demands of neighbor-love. However, prominent patristic exegetes forego this reading in favor of an allegorical interpretation that construes the downtrodden man as a picture of fallen humanity and the Good Samaritan as Christ. By assimilating the identity of the outsider-Samaritan to that of Christ, this interpretation homogenizes the ethnic identities in play and thus seems to exempt the audience from confronting the concrete social boundaries of their own neighbor-love. Is the allegorical interpretation therefore ethically inert? Is there anything that this reading can still offer in support of the ethical recognition of the outsider? This paper takes up these questions in relation to Augustine's exegesis of the parable. It attempts to relate the ethnic alterity emphasized in the parable itself with the divine-human alterity highlighted in the allegorical adaptation. Then calling upon the account of diachronic reciprocity that ethicist Eva Kittay has developed as a part of her larger theory of care, it argues that the allegorical acknowledgment of a transcendent other's identification with humanity may in fact provide a sound motivational foundation for a corresponding ethical identification with the outsider. I conclude by appealing to Jesus" love command in John 15 and his self-identification with the downtrodden in Matthew 25 as further support for the claim that both readings are not only ethically operative in the encounter with the outsider, but mutually reinforcing.

Sacred writings and theological treatises make overt, if often idealized, claims about the relationship between religious communities and the texts to which they adhere. Observing the liturgical orders of religious communities allows interpreters of these groups to analyze their religious commitments as they are manifested in concrete ritual action. In the early Eastern Christian church, the organizational structures and ritual reflexes of the eucharistic liturgy clearly articulated the worshipping congregation as a reconstituted version of the assembly of biblical Israel, basing this vision on selected texts and motifs of the Old Testament. Liturgical action defined the community not as an inheritor of historical Israel, but rather as a textual entity, drawing the essential features of its existence from the performance of its adopted scriptural heritage. This paper examines several of the key texts and actions of evolving early liturgical rituals in an attempt to illumine several aspects of the scriptural principles animating the development of early Christian worship.

In late 1996, TWU acquired approximately 175 small papyri fragments and additional cartonage. Remarkably, the papyri were actually “rediscovered” in a second hand thrift store located in Vancouver, Canada by a young gentleman who had the good sense to understand that they were something of importance. The gentleman initially purchased two small “cigar type boxes” filled with the various written fragments and cartonage, and intended to sell them piecemeal on E-Bay. Each box is written upon and contains the place, date, and price of the original purchase (Cairo Museum; Dec. 27, 1928; 50 cents or 10 Piasters). There are also what appear to be inventory numbers on each of the boxes, as well as the place name “Bahnassa” (possibly the Egyptian Al-Bahnassa). As well, the name “M.D. Davidson” is found on each of the boxes, and may refer to the individual who bought the boxes in 1928. A written claim that the papyri are “Ancient Egyptian 1500 B.C.” is also recorded on each box. Though all contain some trace of ink, the papyri are in a very fragmentary state. However, about thirty of these fragments have either interesting textual elements such as illustrative artwork, or multiple lines of text containing a significant number of individual characters, so as to make some identification possible. Several are written in a rough Greek cursive hand; a few in a Greek uncial hand; and still others perhaps in Coptic and Demotic. Each fragment has now been photographed, and a basic conservation process is almost complete. Once finished, all efforts will go into determining the textual content. As a textual critic specializing in uncial manuscripts rather than a papyrologist, I would be grateful for the opportunity to present these papyri and the story of their “rediscovery” to a group of specialists.

Job's final response to Yahweh (42:2-6) is more crafty than it appears, ensuring that in the guise of a concession of defeat he keeps open his charge of injustice against God. He says three things: (1) “I know that you can do anything” (42:2). This apparently bland statement has a sharp edge: I now recognize that no other consideration weighs with you except power. (2) “I have spoken things too wonderful for me” (42:3). Justice is not a straightforward matter, he now recognizes: it is “wonderful”, a “marvel” beyond comprehension, like the structure of the universe or the ways of Yahweh in wind and rain and crocodile creation. Justice is not a principle to which Yahweh is subject, nor a value superior to Yahweh. It is no more than another sphere of divine might. Job must submit to God's power, but he is at the same time victorious: he has won from Yahweh an admission that Yahweh does not care about justice, and so is no just God. (3) “So I submit, and I accept consolation for my dust and ashes” (42:6). He does not “reject” something (ma"as), for no object is expressed, but rather “melts” or “submits” (masas), i.e. he admits that he has lost his lawsuit, since its outcome has been determined by divine power. But he has not lost his argument, which was about justice. On that subject, Yahweh has said not a word, and so has effectively ruled the issue of justice out of order. But the Book of Job records Job's words—which ensures that the issue must remain on the agenda, for ever. In accepting consolation, he will cease his period of mourning for his dead children. He means: it is only the mourning, and not the grievance, that is coming to an end.

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The sheva sign as used by the Tiberian Masoretes is an ambiguous symbol, sometimes representing vocal sheva and sometimes representing silent sheva. The general rules for distinguishing these are well known and set out in the grammar books. But the identification of sheva in certain words is problematic, even controversial. At times the Masoretic accents and other marks shed light on the Masoretic pronunciation of these words. Relevant rules of the various mark will be explained, and notable examples will be presented.

This paper will offer a reassessment of the Jewish identity, date and purpose of Artapanus, in light of the recent contributions by Howard Jacobson and Holger Zellentin.

The majority of scholars focus on one or more aspects of Colossians related to the so-called Christ hymn, the opponents in Colossae, or the Household Code. Yet each of these elements is considered in isolation or only placed in literary or rhetorical context as an afterthought. The inabilitly of modern scholars to find a unifying theme or subject of the letter is often cited as evidence against authenticity. The shift in focus enabled by Empire studies provides a means of reading the letter as a unified whole. In this paper I will argue that the replacement of the Roman emperor and empire with Christ and a Christ-centered understanding of the cosmos provides a consistent and coherent means of understanding the entire letter. This rhetoric of replacement is articulated at the three separate sites of most contention - the hymn, the opponents, and the Household Code (and paranesis).

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The mysterious fg. 24 of the Aramaic text 4Q541 (4Q Apocryphe de Lévi B) has been the subject of a number of scholarly treatments. Most of them struggle with the difficult wording of the text, and the result is often wildly improbable. Taking its departure from the treatment of the fragment in DJD 31, the present study surveys the research and offers an understanding more in line with the text as a whole and the expectations of the sapiential genre the fragment belongs to.

This paper will examine the redactional grouping of Isaiah 18-20 within the larger collection of oracles about nations in Isa 13-23. These chapters contain an oracle about Cush (Isa 18), followed by an oracle about Egypt (Isa 19), and finally, a brief narrative in which the prophet Isaiah protests against dependency on Egypt and Cush for deliverance from Assyria (Isa 20). Even a cursory survey suggests chapters 18 and 20 are subsequent additions to the larger collection. Isaiah 18, the oracle about Cush, is introduced by the Hebrew particle hôy, whereas nearly all the other oracles in the collection have the superscription massa". Chapter 20 comprises the only narrative account within the larger collection of oracles (13-23). This paper sets out to demonstrate, first of all, that although the narrative in Isa 20 does not recur within the Deuteronomistic History, it nevertheless reflects Deuteronomistic influence, and therefore has origins outside the Isaianic tradition. Also, a closer examination of Isa 20 suggests that the redactor who inserted the narrative also introduced the Cush oracle (Isa 18) to its present location before the Egypt oracle (Isa 19). Finally, some conclusions may be drawn from the redactional approach of surrounding the Egypt oracle with the Isaiah narrative and the Cush oracle.

Studies of the religion of Iron Age Israel usually note the existence of astral religion (see, e.g. Deut 4:15-19; 2 Kgs 21:3-5; 2 Kgs 23:4-5; Jer 19:13; Zeph 1:2-6), often arguing that it is a foreign tradition introduced to Israel and Judah during periods of Assyro-Babylonian domination. Scholars often connect this astral religion to the practice of celestial divination. This practice, too, is often assumed to have been imported together with Assyro-Babyonian astral religion or, alternatively, to have been part of Israel's Canaanite heritage. This paper first confirms that astral religion was part of Israelite religious life, both at the state and at the domestic level and argues that this worship has its origins in Israel's Canaanite heritage, rather than in Mesopotamia. To this end I discuss Bronze Age textual material from ancient Syro-Palestine (namely, Ugarit), iconographic material from the southern Levant in the Iron Age, and, of course, the biblical text. Second, I contend that, in contrast to scholars who link it inextricably to astral religion, celestial divination was not a common part of Israelite religion to any appreciable degree before the exile. Here too, my evidence will be Ugaritic and biblical material.

Believed to have been the first American woman of any race to present a political speech to a “promiscuous audience”—one containing men and women—and to leave extant copies of her address, Maria Stewart was a pioneering political speaker, but also a deeply religious thinker. Beginning in 1831, with an essay published by Boston's William Lloyd Garrison, and ending in 1833 with “Mrs. Stewart's Farewell Address To Her Friends In The City Of Boston”, Stewart wrestled with the concept of rights for African Americans and for women in the cradle of American democracy, finally concluding that they were a charism given by God. In rhetoric that challenged the slaveocracy, American republican thought and the oppression of blacks and women, Stewart used the Bible to argue that blacks were a people who enjoyed a special covenant with God and ought also to enjoy all of the benefits of American citizenship.

Although the importance of patristic citations for establishing the text and the transmission history of the New Testament has long been recognized, it is only until recently that major methodological advances have made access to the patristic evidence more accessible and reliable than ever before. Since the publication of Bart Ehrman's study of Didymus the Blind's text of the Gospels in 1986, a slow but ever steady number of published and unpublished dissertations have continued to provide invaluable patristic evidence about the form of the text in specific locations around the Mediterranean. Several of these studies have suggested a correspondence exists between the Gospel citations of several Alexandrian Fathers and the manuscripts traditionally labeled as “Alexandrian.” Unfortunately, one important piece of the patristic evidence has been missing--a reevaluation of Clement, the earliest of the Alexandrian Fathers, on the basis of the latest methodological advances. Without an analysis of Clement's Gospel citations, it is impossible to know what form of the New Testament text existed in Alexandrian at the end of the second century. Did the "Alexandrian" text exist in Alexandria at that time, or did it emerge at a later time? Moreover, did Clement's textual tradition have any influence on the textual inclinations of later Alexandrian Fathers? It was these kind of questions that ultimately led to a decision to reevaluation Clement's text of the Gospels as a doctoral dissertation project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005. This paper will present the revised results of the analysis of Clement's text of the Gospels with special attention given to the significance of the findings on the transmission history of the New Testament in Alexandria, Egypt.

Contemporary Matthean scholarship remains curiously fractionated. On the one hand, salvation-historical approaches to the Gospel are very much in eclipse and according to Donald Senior, “scholarly interest in them seems to have waned.” On the other, a number of recent studies of Matthew implicitly invoke heilsgeschichtlich terminology to account for temporal phases within the Gospel. In particular, Jesus's death or resurrection is often described as the “turning point in history” or the “beginning of a new aeon.” The question arises, therefore, how these perspectives are to be reconciled. What is to be made of the above descriptions? Is salvation-history an approach that is best dispensed with when interpreting the First Gospel? The purpose of this paper is to attempt to argue, if not for Heilsgeschichte, for “periodicity” within the Gospel.

Some form of life after death (or afterlife) belief is one of those rare ideas that occupy almost universal support among the world's populations. Besides for their high emotive value, such beliefs are crucial for behavior and have accrued considerable socio-political currency in being associated with the worldwide ecological crises and some political programs. The aim of this paper is to look at such beliefs from a social-scientific perspective. By means of insights from anthropological and especially the neurological sciences the idea of life after death in the Christian tradition will be analyzed as the product of various altered states of consciousness experiences (ASC experiences) interpreted within a particular cultural setting. Specific notions about the human “self” connected to ASC experiences will be analyzed. It will be suggested that biblical afterlife beliefs were manufactured in a complex interaction of the bodily hardware and cultural software humans are equipped with.

One of the most provocative theories of art to emerge in the past century has gone almost totally unnoticed by biblical scholars. Alfred Gell, in his anthropological theory of agency in art, sought to obviate the distinction between western and “primitive” art and to articulate a theoretical model whereby the role of artistic production could be accurately grasped for any society without recourse to linguistic analogies of meaning. Gell suggested that we look at art objects as social agents, “capable of acting on and for their social universes, both psychologically and physically.” In the Hebrew Bible, ritualized settings constitute almost exclusively the space in which artistic agency can be discerned, and Gell's theory allows the biblical scholar to assess the position of cultic objects and images within a given social universe. Relying on Irene Winter's correctives and related concepts in the work of W.J.T. Mitchell, I examine the idea of object agency in ritual contexts situated within the aniconic tradition of the Hebrew Bible, beginning with texts in which agency is explicitly marked with respect to cult objects, such as in Exodus 32 and in the Ark Narrative. I then move to an exploration of agency in empty space aniconism. Can agency be ascribed to “empty” space? Furthermore, can it be ascribed to ornamental decoration and to architecture? The question of empty space raises the issue of the agency not just of objects, but also of groups of objects and images within their spatial contexts. I thus conclude with an incorporation of ritual-architectural settings as analytical foci. Gell's study, when coupled with the work of ritual theorists, such as Catherine Bell, provides a powerful way of integrating artifact, architecture, and behavior within a social nexus and opens new avenues in the study of ritual in the Hebrew Bible.

****This paper argues that the concern for the destiny of the righteous is the primary theological interest in the Psalter and thus provides a fruitful entreé into the book as a whole. The concern is that the righteous suffer at the hands of the wicked while the wicked prosper (see for example, Pss 9-10; 49; 73). The sheer frequency of the terms qydc (plural Myqydc, "righteous;" 52 occurrences) and (#r (plural My(#r, "wicked;" 82 occurrences) suggests that this subject is crucially important to the Psalter (see also related terms such as yn(, "poor"; r#y, "upright"). But the structure of the book also indicates the centrality of the topic. For example, Psalms 1 and 2, which serve as an introduction to the Psalter, are bound together precisely by their interest in how life will turn out for the righteous vis-a'-vis the wicked. Other important subjects in the Psalms come into focus when the Psalter is read with the destiny of the righteous as an organizing rubric. For example, God's reign and God's justice are rightly understood in the context of the larger concern for the righteous" future (Ps 5). The king, Zion, and torah may be understood as the embodied hope of the righteous. Indeed, the anointed (Ps 2:2b) appears both as one of the righteous who suffers (Ps 3) and as their savior (Pss 72; 101). Zion is the place the righteous experience God's reign and God's justice (Pss 15; 24) and thus is the place for which they long (Pss 42-43; 63). Torah, which eventually becomes a surrogate for Zion and its temple, is the righteous" ultimate refuge (Ps 1:2).

Coming to fill a gap in the existing scholarship dealing with the representation of pre-monarchic warriorship, this paper examines the military Joshua through the lens of gender. It does so within the cultural and ideological framework of exile in which Joshua emerges as a character in the story of the conquest of the Land found in the Book of Joshua (chaps. 1-12). Drawing from the theoretical debates about gender formation, but questioning one general working assumption, the paper examines primarily how the warrior Joshua is 'manned' and what/who feminizes him and his enemies (the "inhabitants of the land"). While constructing the male and female gender in oppositional terms, this paper also teases out the issue of "double" gender, more specific to a leadership that rests on a military and cultural mandate, like Joshua's. The notion in view is especially noticeable in the transmission of Israel's memory as the Torah of Moses. While observance and transmission of the Law (Josh. 1:7-8) is written into Joshua's masculine code, the perpetual receiving of the Law in learning feminizes him. This gender paradox is inescapable as far as Joshua is concerned, since the successful performance of his military leadership (i.e., his masculinity) is dependant on the faithful observance of the Law. This case-study, therefore, complicates the concept of "gender opposition" commonly found in gender treatments of warfare in the Hebrew Bible (Washington 1998; Chapman 2004 & 2007), and proposes a view of feminization of the male warrior that is not only acceptable "in the eyes of YHWH," but also compensatory for the disempowering "feminization" experienced with the loss of land and deportation.

The traditional formulation of the model of Honor and Shame maintains that agonistic challenges and ripostes did not occur between parties of unequal status: common people and elites, slave and free, male and female, even humans and the gods. In this paper I shall question that aspect of the model by focusing on ways in which women aspired to public honor and sometimes engaged successfully in challenge and riposte contests with men.

Due to the cultic focus of Kings and Chronicles, the unclear relationship of the Deuteronomistic History to the royal elite (and the varied origins of its constituent parts), and the largely marginal character of the prophets, the Hebrew Bible offers only the smallest of windows into royal military ideology and ethics, namely the psalms. Unfortunately, while there are numerous psalms which refer to war, concrete details border on non-existent, and they are thus of limited assistance in articulating a practical royal military ethic. The monumental palace reliefs from Assyria, however, offer a unique visual avenue into royal ideology, royal propaganda, and their interaction with ethical thinking about military practices. Their pictorial nature is especially relevant, revealing details – such as the demographics of an execution's audience – normally excluded from written texts. The Assyrian reliefs, therefore, are an opportunity to extend the little which is known of Judahite royal ideology into a more concrete discussion of actual military practices and ethics. Once this elite perspective on ethics in warfare is fleshed out, it may serve as a counterpoint to the more peripheral perspective(s) preserved in the Hebrew Bible, such as Amos.

The final 30 minutes of the workshop will be devoted to discussion of methods, resources, and ideas for teaching biblical exegesis/interpretation.

The first part of this paper offers an overview of the field of the Cognitive Science of Religion from its beginnings in the late 1980s to its most recent developments. In particular, we will survey four research areas that are focusing on four different domains of religion, respectively: religious experience, religious beliefs, texts, and rituals. In the second part of the paper, we will discuss research on religious experience within the cognitive paradigm. Experimental studies of religious experience started as early as the first half of the last century. In our days, advanced brain imaging technologies are used to observe the brain while people are having religious experience. We will survey theories that locate religious experience in particular emotional states, different perceptions of the self, or the activation/inhibition of particular brain areas. Finally, we will suggest that religious experience might not constitute a particular kind of experience at all, but rather result from interpreting experience as religious by connecting emotional states with beliefs about religious entities, such as superhuman agency.

In his recent book _The Friend_, the late Alan Bray confirmed John Boswell's reading of at least some of the partnerships he described as same sex unions by examining monuments of and narratives about friends who had chosen to be buried together. In light of his investigations, this (slide) essay brings together prosopographical readings of Rom 16 with studies of the funerary portraits produced by and for freedpersons at from Rome in the very late Republic and early Empire, which show a similar mix of multiple portraits, opposite sex couples and same sex pairs. The letter to the Romans offers an avenue into rethinking the relationship of sexual mores, theological polemic and imperial politics in the origins of Christianity. Romans 16 has been an important venue for investigating the first urban Christians. There Paul greets a surprising number of men and women, by name, and often with descriptors or epithets that suggest missionary labor. These greetings are addressed to individuals, to male-female pairs, to mixed groups, to one all-male group, and to two same sex pairs: one pair of two women and one of two men. Examining Rom 16 in the social and political context of these portraits offers significant insight into social conditions and imperial propaganda that helped to form these groupings. These portraits illustrate the ways that freedpersons constructed and reconstructed families. The conjuncture of social displacement and innovation with moral rectitude, of resistance and accommodation conveyed in the portraits is also a factor in Romans. The portraits offer an analogy that illuminates the combination of social innovations reflected in Romans 16, concession to imperial power expressed in Rom 13:1-7 and moral strictures voiced in Rom 1:18-31.

Several communicative principles employed in the project will be illustrated in a mock-classroom, e.g. total physical response (TPR), aural, oral, and visual interactive exercises.

I take as my starting point, Margaret M. Mitchell's illuminating approach to 1 Corinthians as an appeal to reconciliation in her "Paul and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation" (Louisville 1992). It is my thesis that the memories of Moses and the Israelites" seditions in the wilderness play a crucial role for Paul's appeal to reconciliation not only in 1 Cor 10:1-11 but throughout the letter. In the paper, I examine the way these narratives function as master commemorative narratives. By pointing to the narratives of Moses and the Israelites as a narrative frame for the founding of the Corinthian congregation and the present conflict, Paul tries to revise and re-establish the identity of the Corinthians. It is argued that the factions with which Paul is concerned in 1 Corinthians are keyed to the memories of the factions against Moses. Paul read these narratives in 1 Corinthians in the light of the ancient topos of factionalism (stasis) and uses them to make certain points about the proper behaviour of the Corinthian community. Just as he propagates a memory of Moses as struggling for concord (omónoia) among the Israelites in the wilderness, so Paul pictures himself as playing a crucial role in this strategy of identification as the one who continues the struggle of Moses in his own day. By invoking a memory of these narratives that fits Paul's aim, he seeks to structure the collective memory of the Corinthians and reconstruct their identity as a unified community. Paul"s appeal to reconciliation is an appeal through collective memory.

****This paper uses grammatical, narrative, and rhetorical methods to identify Mark 1:1-15 as a cohesive introduction to Mark, to resolve Mark 1:1-15 into constituent narrative units, and to develop the implications of this introduction for the interpretation of the Gospel. The study uses grammatical and narrative criteria to establish the continuous and linked characterizations of God, John the Baptist, and Jesus within 1:1-15 and the definite break in this continuity and linkage in 1:16. The discussion then uses narrative criteria to resolve 1:1-15 into three units, 1:1-3, 4-8, 9-15. This discussion addresses the punctuation of 1:1-3 and the internal structure of all three units. The study then uses rhetorical criteria to develop the implications of the repetition of of eu0agge/lion (gospel) and o(do&j (way) within 1:1-15 and the punctuation of 1:1-3 for the interpretation of the Gospel as a whole.

Archaeological excavations at the sites of Tall Jawa and Khirbat al-Mudayna on the Wadi ath-Thamad have revealed two distinct Iron Age cultures in the region between Amman and Dibon. Both sites were contemporary with the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Ammonites and Moabites shared certain features of their language, religion, construction techniques, and objects of daily life with each other and with their western neighbors. At the same time, clear differences can be seen in these same aspects of their material culture. The discovery of a temple building at Khirbat al-Mudayna with an inscribed incense altar and of a wayside shrine three miles to the west (Site WT-13) sets these sites apart from Tall Jawa, where only domestic buildings were unearthed. This paper will compare these sites to each other and to certain sites in Israel and Judah in terms of their architecture, pottery and religious artefacts.

This paper will explore the possibilities and limitations for the use of postcolonial theory in the reading of prophetic books. It will engage the difficulty of using a modern reading strategy presupposing modern constructions of empire to read ancient texts that make oblique and obscure references to ancient empires. The paper will also present an assessment of the ability of postcolonial theory to shape a comprehensive approach to prophetic books and outline insights gained from this approach that are not currently provided from other approaches to these texts. An initial exploration of postcolonial theory grounding it in the work of Frantz Fanon, CLR James and other theorists will assert a claim for reading prophetic books as anti-imperial discourse. This view, though, can lock the reading of prophetic books into a historicist cul-de-sac. Having engaged this and other limitations, the paper will then go on to show how postcolonial theory can be used in reading the prophetic books, maintaining the claim to anti-imperial literature and breaking out of a purely historicist approach to prophetic books. The paper will then draw upon the theories of Edward Said, Homi Bhabha and other postcolonial theorists to articulate the contours of the anti-imperial rhetoric paying attention to concerns such as displacement (exile), cultural identity and nationalism. Reference will be largely made to the books of Jeremiah, Isaiah and post-exilic prophets such as Haggai and Zechariah.

2007 saw the 20th anniversary re-release of U2's international best-selling recording, The Joshua Tree. Immensely significant in terms of the history of popular music, Joshua Tree is also important for biblical scholars working in reception history and cultural criticism as an excellent illustration of how musicians can take up biblical themes and imagery and reinterpret and reapply them to contemporary society in a creative manner, which can highlight anew their relevance and significance to secular as well as religious listeners, and provide new contexts for fundamental biblical concepts. This paper will highlight some of the biblical themes and images that are evident in the music and the lyrics of the album, with a particular emphasis on its many ethical themes, and seek to show how music is a valid and valuable way of reinterpreting the Bible particularly for popular and biblically-illiterate audiences.

In David's response to Saul's question in 1 Sam 17:34-35, as to whether he is competent to go into battle against Goliath, David portrays his prowess as a protector of his father's flocks in graphic terms. David states that he has proven himself a warrior by defeating the lion and the bear when they have attacked the sheepfold. There is a detailed accounting of just how these beasts are fought and slain—with apparent emphasis on the confrontation with the lion. “…When he [the lion] rose up against me, I took hold of the mane below his jaw [literally “his beard”], then I dealt him a blow and he died.” When one considers this tableau in light of Neo-Assyrian depictions of royal power one is struck by its similarity to the iconography of the king-lion confrontation found upon the so-called royal seal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which, in turn, is incorporated in bas reliefs of Assurbanipal"s royal lion “hunts.” In fact, Julian Reade remarks that in the incorporation of this scene in Assurbanipal"s royal hunt, one sees “…the symbolic act of the royal seal translated into reality.” The question may be posed, has the author of David"s depiction of himself as warrior incorporated elements that ultimately derive from the visual iconography of Neo-Assyrian royal propaganda—specifically that of the royal seal and lion hunt? In exploring this possibility, this paper will deal with the geographical and cultural diffusion and appropriation of the lion-king conflict tableau of the royal seal of Assyria—not only in monumental art, but in, perhaps, more importantly in “movable” objects—decorative ivories, vessels, seals and jewelry. Since this tableau/motif is a durable one and survives the Neo-Assyrian period, and given questions concerning the date of the material found in the so-called Deutronomistic History, where David"s response is found, the appearance of this iconography in the Persian context will also be addressed. Special attention will be paid to the studies of Irene Winter, Margaret Cool Root, Julian Reade, John Boardman, and Suzanne Herbordt, among others.

The presentation of Jesus and his mother in John 19:25-27 calls forth many questions. How many women accompany her under the cross; three, two or one? Why are they mentioned, whereas Jesus addresses only his mother? What does it mean that Jesus makes his mother the mother of the disciple whom he loved, who suddenly also appears to be there? Traditionally, John is said to draw on the Synoptic Gospels for the presence of women at the crucifixion and John's redaction is meant to make a symbolic statement about the church. According to Roman Catholic exegesis, before he dies, Jesus wants to proclaim that his mother is from then on the mother of the church. Protestant exegesis maintains that the church is not about blood relationship; from John 19:25-27 it emerges that, through the church, people become a new family. No one is left alone; they all have the care and love of and for one another. In this paper, I want to leave the redactional and symbolic level of interpretation and, by using historical imagination, focus instead on John's presentation of Jesus and his mother in their historical context. Is it historically plausible that Jesus" mother is standing under the cross, hearing Jesus" last words to her? And if so, how does she understand these words and what do they mean to her view of Jesus and his immanent death and to her view of her life after this traumatic experience?

The publication of John Boswell's Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality sparked a lively debate about the interpretation of Romans 1:26-27. While much of the ensuing literature dealt with differing interpretations of Paul's argument, some of it treated patristic interpretations of the passage, querying or contesting Boswell's reading of the evidence. One of the patristic commentators noted (but not discussed in detail) in this literature is an anonymous author, now called Ambrosiaster, who was active in Rome in the 370s and 380s. Ambrosiaster"s commentary on Romans is the earliest extant Latin commentary on the epistle. In referring to Ambrosiaster"s comments on Romans 1:26-27, scholars have overlooked the fact that the commentary exists in three versions, all of which appear to have been authored by Ambrosiaster. In his initial comment on Romans 1:26, Ambrosiaster understands Paul to say that women submitted to unnatural sexual relations with men. In the second and third versions of this comment, Ambrosiaster argued that Paul meant that women engaged in sexual relations with women. My paper will discuss the authenticity of the several versions of the comment, the nuances of Ambrosiaster"s reconsideration of Paul"s meaning, and possible explanations for Ambrosiaster"s change of mind. I will also consider the significance of his remarks, which attest to alternative contemporary interpretations of Romans 1:26, for our understanding of patristic interpretation of this passage.

Women read the laws in the Hebrew Bible in the context of the many societal changes occuring in England and United States in the nineteenth century. A variety of positions will be discussed including Freethinker Annie Besant's harsh criticism of biblical laws as impediments to women's progress, Grace Aquilar's Jewish defence of the laws as supporting the dignity of women and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's reading of the Decalogue in light of the institution of slavery. Each interpreter illuminates features of the passage through her subjective engagement, and in turn uses scripture to shed light on her social situation. Whether perceived as an obstacle to emancipation or a beacon of light on the path to justice, interpreting the laws in the Pentateuch is a strategic part of the struggle for justice for Jews, African Americans and women.

Recent publications on prophecy allow one to gain a general view of the phenomenon of prophecy in the ancient Near East. Prophecy functioned as one form of divination among others and prophets functioned as mediators supposedly receiving direct messages from gods by various means, which they communicated to whom it concerned. The Hebrew Bible contains many glimpses of prophecy as a socio-historical phenomenon. These elements are reminiscent of ancient Near Eastern prophetic practice and support the view that prophecy in ancient Israel and Judah is to be regarded as representing local variants of the broader phenomenon of ancient Near Eastern prophecy. Yet the dominant picture of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible is profoundly different. It has therefore often been taken for granted that the true prophets whose words are embodied in the biblical prophetic books represent a different type of prophets. However, I will argue that most traditions concerning prophets in the Hebrew Bible are not descriptions of how prophecy actually was, but a reflection of prophecy based on later perception. Images of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible, although not complete imagination, should not be taken as descriptions of prophetic practice in Judah and Israel. The paper will discuss various biblical images of prophecy – such as the prophets as true servants of YHWH and the prophets as false and deceptive smooth-talkers – and explore their origins. Finally, some suggestions will be made with regard to the question how one can go back again from the biblical portrayals of prophecy to prophecy as a historical phenomenon.

The focus of this lecture is the archaeological evidence in Jerusalem for the Persian period which was mostly found in excavations that took place in the last 40 years (post-K. Kenyon). After presenting this evidence I will suggest interpretations that will shed light on current issues and debates. Most of the new evidence comes from the eastern slope of Y. Shiloh's excavations in the City of David, some of which is already published, some of which is in press. These finds include three phases; first, reuse of a large Iron Age public building ("the Ashlar House") that was destroyed in the Babylonian destruction of 586 BCE; a layer of quarry chips that covered a large part of the eastern slope, in Areas E and D of Shiloh and Area A of Reich and Shukron; and a fill layer supported by terrace walls. The finds from Shiloh's excavation include a rich ceramic assemblage, several seal impressions, a coin and an ostracon. Our interpretation of the finds suggests that the city spread out on the entire southeastern hill (City of David), not extending as far as the western hill. The isolated finds from the western hill should be attributed to agricultural activities as evidenced elsewhere in the vicinity of the city. The reuse of the "Ashlar House" may be attributed to a squatter's occupation in the early stages of the period. The quarry chip layer provides evidence for significant construction activities that took place on the top of the hill; this might be attributed to the building of the city wall (Nehemiah's wall). In the past, Kenyon claimed that she found evidence of that wall, but a careful reading of her preliminary reports and the final report published by Franken and Steiner show that there is no direct connection between the wall built on the top of the slope and the Persian period layer excavated by her. The layer excavated by Kenyon was the same layer revealed by Shiloh in Area G and most recently by E. Mazar; this layer relates to one of the terrace walls mentioned above. Therefore the quarry chip layer is probably the only feature that can archaeologically indicate the existence of the wall.

This paper will provide a general summary of what the Gospel of Judas says about Judas. The discussion will be framed around three questions. What - if anything - might this gospel tell us about the "historical" Judas? What does the text tell us about portrayals of Judas in the second century, especially within Sethian Gnostic literature? What difference does any of this make to us today?

In the superscription to the book of Isaiah, the narrator proclaims: "The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah" (Isa 1:1). This paper examines the poetics and fabric of the text of Isaiah in order to assess what is understood by prophetic poetic vision, and to determine to what extent Isaiah's vision remains prophetic today. Central to the study is the role that imagination plays in the poet's proclamations. The study also tries to uncover the interplay that exists between past and present times in light of the poet's vision, an interplay that can set the stage for new directions for all communities of life today. Have the images of "former things" really come to pass? Is the motif of "new heavens and a new earth" merely a pipedream or has its time come of age? This paper seeks to address such questions and others in the context of the grand schema of Isaiah's vision whose poet sees the inevitable, proclaims the shocking, and dreams the unthinkable.

Since deciphering the "Izbet Sartah ostracon in 1976, it has been clear to me that there is a close affinity between writing exercises and some biblical genres, particularly between abecedaries and acrostic poems. They are two ends of scribal training. We will take a closer look at the structure of the Book of Lamentations which is a product of “alphabetic thinking”. The author has allowed the twenty-two letter alphabet to shape the structure of the individual laments as well as that of the whole book. We will attempt to show the use of certain elementary drills in the hands of the master poet who lamented the great calamity that befell his people.

This paper will explore both the challenges and the rewards of teaching the Synoptic Problem at a theological seminary or confessional graduate school. In particular, this paper will suggest some aids and resources that may allow students to grasp the issues at work in Synoptic source criticism, including establishing literary relationships, arguments from order and the positing of hypothetical sources. In addition, this paper will examine source-critical “phobias” as well as the relevancy of the Synoptic Problem for students at confessional institutions.

This paper seeks to position Hebrews within its Greco-Roman context by inquiring into the paideia of the author as reflected in the author's product. The paper will examine the signs that the author has at least participated in education at the Progymnastic level. Striking in this regard is his use of significant elements of a formal elaboration pattern in 12:5-11, ending with an amplified recitation of a well-known maxim that appears itself as the model thesis in a number of similar exercises in a number of different Progymnasmata. Equally striking is his repositioning of this Greek maxim to the level of concluding maxim in support of a "chreia" derived from a Hebrew sage. The author's use of argicultural imagery to speak of responses to benefaction, of human developmental imagery to talk about progress in Christian discipleship (i.e., in a "philosophy"), and of liberation from slavery to the fear of death as a topos praising a philosophical teacher, also speak to the question of his relationship to Greco-Roman philosophical culture, making possible some observations concerning realms of Greco-Roman discourse from which he drew comfortably, and realms from which he notably avoids drawing (e.g., Greco-Roman cult).

Origen delivered his homilies on the Canticle of Canticles in third-century Caesarea. In conversation and dispute with Jewish interpreters, Origen illustrates ways in which Church and individual Christian play the role of the Bride. This paper attempts to explore Origen's use, in the first homily, of his own experience as an intertext with the biblical text and his invitation to his hearers to enter that process. Origen writes himself into the text at Ct 1:7 (Hom 1.7), where he makes an autobiographical statement about his experience of the presence and absence, approach and withdrawal of Christ the Bridegroom. Origen's Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, written prior to the homily, suggests that the experience of presence and disappearance has to do with the hermeneutical process. In the Commentary, as in the Homilies, Origen speaks of both Christ and the biblical text as the "Word." In the Commentary, he locates Christ as present in the Word of Scripture. Correct reading allows the interpreter to perceive Christ there and interpretation is understood as an act of intimacy between Bride and Bridegroom. Origen's use of allegorical method and his teaching concerning the spiritual senses as well as his understanding of the text as a kind of embodiment of the Word facilitate such a hermeneutic. Speaking of the Canticle of Canticles as both drama and wedding song, Origen provides a way for listeners/readers to enter the text and themselves become intertexts. His autobiographical statement becomes an exemplar, and the homiletical context indicates that such experience is meant for the community's aspirations. Experience thus interprets text and text interprets experience.

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It was common throughout the ancient Near East that the King ruled by divine approbation, which could be expressed with at least two primary theologoumena: (1) Divine Sonship (Psalm 2:7; Kirta, Lipit-Eshar), and (2) a divine covenant with the dynasty (2 Sam 7:16, the Covenant of Ashur). Often these two are combined as in 2 Sam 7:14-16 and Psalm 89. This paper focuses on the latter, the divine covenant with a dynasty. I shall present Mesopotamian archetypes and submit them to a form-critical analysis to further refine our understanding of both the form and content of the Davidic Covenant.

In this paper, I examine key aspects of the early Christian reception and rewriting of the Law, broadly conceived, building on the interpretation of both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. I discuss how discourses and practices relating to the Law shaped ancient Christian identity, especially over and against Judaism. The first part of the paper outlines the collection and use of precepts culled from the Pauline epistles, and commandments of Jesus taken from the Gospels. I explore how such passages were understood to complement the Mosaic Law, especially by authors such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen, and the ascetic and monastic communities which inherited their ideas. Two traditions emerge, interpreting Pauline views of the Mosaic Law in different ways: rewritten Law codes, on the model of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, based on the notion of monastic communities as a new Israel, and intended especially as a pedagogue for novices without spiritual gifts; and collections of precepts, such as Mark the Monk's On the Spiritual Law, closely related to philosophical antecedents, and intended to aid in the elimination of the passions, as well as the reception of the Spirit, through various exercises and meditations.

It has often been said that Irenaeus follows Paul in reading a typological relationship between Adam and Christ as Paul himself had allegedly established. This paper, in short, challenges this traditional reading of Ireneaus" reading of Paul's use of Adam as a “tupos tou mellontos” (Rom 5:14). Firstly, Irenaeus displays no knowledge of some hermeneutical sense of the term tupos that, since Goppelt, the secondary literature on typology repeatedly affirms was handed down to Irenaeus via Paul. The sense of Irenaeus" reading of Paul's use of tupos in this verse and within the context of his Christological reading of Genesis 1:26 must ultimately be understood as “image.” Thus, Ireneaus" combined reading of Genesis 1:26 and Romans 5:14, within the specific context of his refutation against gnostic claims that Adam will not be saved and Christ was not born of the flesh, works as a refutation by claiming, in short: Christ as preexisting Logos formed Adam in his “image and likeness” (Gen 1:26), and thus Adam carries with him an “image of the future economy” (Rom 5:14), i.e., Christ's future incarnation. Irenaeus" understanding of the genitive participle in its neuter, “what shall come” specifically takes on the issues of how Christ will be incarnated, since Adam is an image of this future incarnation, in other words, in the flesh and by a Virgin as Adam himself was created by the virgin earth. The Greek word tupos is thus understood by Irenaeus as synonymous with eikon, as in fact it was understood in cosmological and exegetical uses by the Gnostics themselves (Adversus haereses I,7). Furthermore, I note that Irenaeus" reading of Paul does not necessarily highlight Paul"s intention in his use of the expression tupos tou mellontos, but rather highlights Irenaeus" own theological reflection. Secondly, what is usually labeled here as an extension of an Adam-Christ Pauline typology is more accurately Irenaeus" theology of the recapitulation of Adam, again born from the refutation Irenaeus is constructing, wherein Paul is invoked as authoritative representative. I will also briefly look at how Romains 5:14 is read by Origen and John Chrysostom. In both cases, there is again no presence of a Pauline Adam-Christ typology, but rather the existence of each of these author"s use of Paul"s expression in the context of their own scriptural hermeneutic and theological reflection.

This essay is an attempt to re-examine the difficult questions that pertain to the origins of apocalyptic literature and to the rise of Jewish sectarianism. Since the publication of O. Plöger's Theokratie und Eschatologie and P. Hanson's The Dawn of Apocalyptic, the search for proto-apocalyptic origins in early post-exilic period sectarian conflict has generated a fair amount of debate and controversy. The most cogent and sustained response to Hanson's and Plöger's theories, S. Cook's Prophecy & Apocalypticism (1995), came nearly twenty years after Hanson's work and attempted to purge the influence of "deprivation theory" from the field of biblical studies, and, more broadly, social anthropology. Despite the fact that Cook's work represents some definite theoretical advances in the field, several aspects of this ongoing discussion warrant critical re-investigation. One must question whether, despite the frenzy to discredit "old" or "outmoded" theories, several aspects of the older studies can (or should) be rescued. Toward this end, the present essay makes a fresh study of some central lines of thought in these works, especially as they relate to the issue of sectarianism and the sociological framework used for drawing exegetical conclusions. Our goal here will not be to explicate all the nuances of early post-exilic sectarianism, nor to posit a new theory for the origins of the proto-apocalyptic material per se, but rather to explore the very difficult question of a possible interrelationship between emerging sectarian phenomena and the material in Isa. 56-66. In particular, we shall review one prominent theory of the symbolic—in our case, textual—expression of sectarian groups, that of the anthropologist Mary Douglas, and then apply this model to a series of enigmatic and highly debated texts in Trito-Isaiah in order to show the continued viability of the 'sectarian" interpretation of these passages.

Are They goddesses or women? Are they Asherahs, or votive “prayers in clay”? Part of official religion, or in opposition to it? Are they remnants of a domestic woman-centered cult, or of a legitimate corollary to state-sponsored Yahwism? These are the questions currently being asked about the JPFs, and interpretations and conclusions regarding their meaning and function abound in contemporary discussions of ancient Israelite religion. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any solid evidence available that justifies one interpretation of the JPFs as being more valid than an opposite conclusion about the same artifact. This paper proposes a corrective to aid scholarship beyond this impasse. Instead of asking either/or questions which may themselves have little meaning for the original producers and consumers of these goods, this study effects a cross-cultural (West Asian) analysis of the symbolism of a female figure holding her breasts in order to raise possibilities concerning what this kind of iconography might have meant in ancient Israel.

The fragments of the "Gospel of the Egyptians" found in Clement of Alexandria have long been seen as belonging to a dialogue form in which Jesus instructed Salome. Usually scholars have been content to follow the sequence of quotations as found in Clement; while admitting that the order of the texts may have been different in the actual, they treat the fragments as isolated units. After a close reading of the fragments, however, I propose that they should be seen as forming a self-contained argument. The complex begins with an enigmatic statement attributed to Jesus (“I have come to bring female works to an end”) and then an attempt is made to interpret it through a series of questions and answers. An originally misogynistic attack moves to an attack on procreation and then to a yearning to imitate Eden where gender categories will be eliminated.

Modern Masoretic research in Spain, initiated mainly by Prof, F. Pérez Castro around the second half of the last century, has been carried out by his disciples, who developed this field of study and brought it to its flourishing present state. The scholarly achievements made Madrid a very important center of research, to the extent that it must be today recognized as an independent School - the Madrid School. The paper will try to review the bulk of research work that has been going on there during recent decades, and evaluate the contribution of various publications of its most central scholarly figures. The benefit of the field of Masoretic studies from the modern Spanish school will then become evident.

Several recent studies have applied a model of patron-client relations in the attempt to understand the apostle Paul's theology in its socio-cultural context (Neyrey, Render to God, 2004; Lampe, “Paul, Patrons, and Clients,” 2003). This model identifies God as the patron, Christ as the broker, and human beings as the clients. This paper will contend, however, that such a model of patron-client relations does not ultimately help to illuminate the contours of Pauline theology. First, I shall suggest that most studies of patronage in Pauline theology view patronage as a dyadic, vertical relationship of reciprocal exchange. A more nuanced understanding of patronage recognizes that patronage is “a system of such relations, constituting a social mechanism which functions strategically in the reproduction of the major social institutions of power” (Johnson and Dandeker, “Patronage: Relation and System,” 220-21). Yet for the apostle Paul, believers do not compete with one another for resources distributed by any number of divine patrons. Applying a model of “patronage” to Pauline theology introduces problematic assumptions in Paul's own cultural context and violates Paul's axiomatic christological monotheism (1 Cor 8:6). Second, this paper will highlight the extent to which Paul tends to avoid the terminology of patronage in discussions of both divine and human activity. Paul"s primary metaphor for God is not “patron” but “father.” I shall suggest that Paul"s consistent identification of “God our Father” (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3) functions to frame the identity of God outside the Greco-Roman patronage system. Moreover, although Paul does refer to Phoebe as prostatis in Rom 16:2, the frequency of fictive kinship language in the Pauline epistles, combined with other attempts to characterize acts of human beneficence as deeds of love and worship, fundamentally subverts the development of patronal relations within the community of believers.

Focusing mainly on the myth it contains, most works dedicated so far to the Exegesis on the Soul (ExSoul) suggest that it is a presentation of the Gnostic myth of the soul aiming to explain some general aspects of Gnosticism. However, the structure of ExSoul, in which all materials seem directed according to the final paraenetic section, suggests that the presentation of the myth is not the final goal of this text but that it is rather instrumental. Thus, according to its general aim suggested by the calls for repentance towards which leads its entire composition, ExSoul should most likely be understood as a piece of paraenetic literature. Furthermore, my analysis of the tractate's rhetorical setting highly supports the hypothesis that it is a homily on repentance built around the theme of the Exodus, written to be used as a baptismal preparation for former pagan catechumens. In this presentation, I intend to demonstrate that the argumentation of ExSoul is built around certain themes and motives whose use often refers, in the language of the Church Fathers, to the baptismal symbolism. For this purpose, we will be focusing on four major themes which, through their various implications, cover the entire tractate's argumentation. We shall therefore deal with the themes of repentance, divine grace, wedding and regeneration, as they occur in the ExSoul, as well as in different patristic writings dealing with baptismal issues. Pointing out the parallels between the approach of ExSoul and that of different catecheses from the early centuries, this thematic analysis aims to extend the study of this text beyond the borders of Gnosticism and establish its importance as a source for our knowledge of ancient Christianity

The paper proposes a new reading of the forum of Augustus and in particular its temple of Mars the Avenger. The temple and forum have been judged one of the most potent displays of the substance of Augustan ideology. But the forum complex is much more than the culmination of Augustus" building program; it represents a significant departure from previous Augustan myth-making. The forum and temple functioned as a microcosm, underscoring Augustus" role as demiurge and articulating the reach of his imperium: both “horizontally” (geographically and historically) and “vertically” (metaphysically). The analysis focuses on one of the most unusual and innovative architectural features of the temple—the apse—said to contain cult statues of Mars, Venus, and the divine Julius. Neither the size nor substructure of the apse could have accommodated such a statuary group. But then who (or what) inhabited the apse? The answer to that question provides the basis for a reappraisal of Augustus" self-representation: no longer divus (the “godlike man”), but deus (the “god-made-man”).

This presentation will overview the history of Service Learning in Higher Education, which is becoming an accepted and preferred pedagogical strategy by many educators. With a focus on the theory behind Service Learning, educators in biblical studies will see the potential for incorporating service into their curriculum.

Computers were supposed to make it easier to find information. But relevant information seems to get harder to find with each passing day. Not only do other people use different terminology (from our own) for relevant information but they also mis-use our terminology to mean other things. What is worse is that the average biblical scholar has enough to do already without yet another "technical" solution. Yes, there are complex solutions for semantic integration but topic maps offer some simple solutions that can serve for more complex systems, if desired, later on. The important thing is that creating a starting point isn't hard to do or difficult to use. This presentation explores the authoring and use of Published Subject Identifiers as a low cost path to semantic integration. It will conclude with a demonstration of a starter set of such identifiers.

At critical moments in the narrative of Acts, the apostle Paul invokes Roman citizenship as a means of escaping punishment and, eventually, of appealing his case to the emperor. Interpreters of the text have long wondered how this “Hebrew of Hebrews” from the tribe of Benjamin could have become a “citizen of no obscure city.” Various explanations have been proposed, including denying the historicity of Paul's citizenship. According to an obscure Syriac fragment, Epiphanius provided a solution. The text recounts a curious tale of Paul's mixed lineage and accounts for his dual identity, for he was the son of a Hebrew woman and a Roman soldier in the army of Vespasian(!). In this paper I will first present the story, with all its peculiarities and historical difficulties. I will then propose two ways of contextualizing the text, either as a positive defense of Paul's citizenship or as a polemical assault on the apostle"s pedigree. I will argue for the former reading and will suggest why such an account, which I take to be pseudepigraphic, came to be associated with Epiphanius.

Cultic sacrifices are mentioned throughout the Hebrew Bible, they are central to Israelite/Judean worship, and they are a treasury for metaphorical language. Yet their definition and function cause much debate among scholars. In this paper I intend to describe sacrifice based on an assessment of the central terminology in both the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint. With this approach I aim at broadening the scholarly perception of sacrifice by suggesting that the burning rite is the constitutive element of cultic sacrifice; a sacrifice then emerges as a dynamic process of approaching God. This definition is corroborated by occurrences of the term sacrifice in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic literature, as well as its metaphorical usage in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

Embedded in the traditions of his ancestors, Paul refers to such traditions in their written in his letters form and labels these as "the scripture/s". Such references have been taken as self-explanatory in that it was assumed that these were references to writings which in Jewish and Christian tradition have acquired the status of canonicity. Since such a perception of the scriptures as canonical is anachronistic for the first century the question needs to be asked what Paul is actually referring to when he refers to the scripture/s. Which parts of which canon (LXX/Tanakh) encompassed "the holy scriptures" which Paul refers to e.g in Rom 1.2 ? In addition to issues of divergent interpretations of scriptural texts could there also have been issues under debate concerning which written traditions were perceived as 'scripture" ? The issue of the fluidity of the collection deemed "holy" in first century Judaism has an impact on the question of how the authority of such a collection is perceived, particularly since Paul clearly aims at enculturating gentile Christ-followers into the world of the scriptures. This paper will explore the Pauline letters for indications as to which texts were 'scripture" for Paul, and what impact the fluidity of the collection may have had on the addressees of the letters who were assured/reminded by Paul that "whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction." (Rom 15.4a).

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In folkloristic study, Resumptive Repetition (RR) is a well known phenomenon, which follows digression made by the storyteller. This paper suggests that the origin of RR in the biblical narrative should be related to the oral phase of the text. As such, RR is attached to the oral mentality of the Israelite scribes. This assumption is supported by epigraphic finds as well as by the ancient practice of the public "reading aloud".

Aemilia Lanyer, writing high-class poetry and seeking noble patronage in early Jacobean England, produced a rewriting of the Passion in highly biblical language that both exemplifies and challenges the conventions and traditions of her time. Its main challenge was that the new world ushered in by the Christ event should involve an end to patriarchy. While she does not discuss Pauline texts on gender as such, she does offer a corrective to patriarchal interpretations of these texts by focusing on women who remained with Christ during the Passion and who were vindicated by him when he appeared first to them and sent them to establish the new Church by inaugurating the Gospel of the resurrection. Lanyer also uses Pauline ideas about the paradox of the Christ event and about the nature of love, and adopts his strategy of the paraenetic epistle to encourage her readers to follow her feminine theology that was based on Christ's feminine virtues.

Albert Schweitzer was concerned about whether Jesus was delusional. He faced honestly the fact that Jesus had a vivid sense reality that would call his sanity into question. He believed that he heard other-worldly voices that humans around him did not hear. He was sure God was speaking to him from a transcendent world. He became certain that God was calling him to a tragic journey that would result in an apotheosis of exaltation to heavenly status. He envisioned that after this exaltation he would return as the agent of God to end history. At that occasion he would give history its ultimate meaning, paying off the unrighteous with the extermination, while his angelic agents gathered the righteous into a divine domain. Schweitzer thought that sounded like psychosis. But there was another, admirable, side to the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth, which prompted him, to examine how one might understand this apparent psychosis while salvaging the admirable Jesus. Schweitzer solved this problem with a "thoroughgoing eschatology" The Jesus with whom we have to deal on the pages of the NT is a character in a story, not a person in history. In his story this character posits a vision that is 1) radically visionary, 2) apocalyptic, and 3) eschatologically idealized. It is rooted in identifiable Second Temple Judaism sources and traditions, particularly regarding the Son of Man. As the ardors of his life ordeal intensify, this character in the story raises the ante on his apocalyptic vision. At first he is proclaiming the impending divine order in the world, as the Son of Man does in Ezekiel. From Mark 8 forward he predicts a season of suffering, as do the Messianic figures at Qumran (War Scroll and Hodayot - Thanksgiving Hymns). As it becomes clear that he is on a collision course with the authorities, he envisions deliverance from suffering and death as the exalted Son of Man like Daniel 7:13ff. Finally, in the courtroom of Caiaphas and Pilate, when all is obviously lost, he envision himself as the Son of Man, who will reign in his own heavenly kingdom, and who will be seen again as the eschatological judge. As Judge, he will return from heaven with "power and great glory," as in I Enoch 37-71. As this story progresses in the mind of the Jesus character, he progressively loses his poetic distance from the narrative and slides into the dramatis persona of the main character in the story, achieving the delusional state in which he foresees his tragically painful demise as a triumph. The hopeful delusion crashes in those bitter words of reality from the cross, "My God ... why have you forsaken me." Then "Jesus declared [it or] him to have been finished off, and the head dropping, gave up the spirit."

The fathers provide the bedrock for subsequent Christian interpretations of Leviticus, of both literal and figurative approaches. Hebrews provides a controlling hermeneutic. Commentators selected will be for the most part pre-500 CE: Origen, Augustine, Theodoret, Cyril of Alexandria, Hesychius of Jerusalem. I shall be especially concerned with their representations of the role of priests as facilitators of sacrifice and the extent to which the offering of prayer, eucharist, mortification is viewed less in physical or metaphysical terms of "what gets achieved" but rather "ecclesiologically" in the sense of binding the community in proper order. In other words, although Christ the High Priest's sacrifice is the causa sine qua non of all forgiveness, that which the church offered had to do with order "on earth as it was in heaven". There is a pastoral and even a humanitarian side to these interpretations of the theology of Leviticus. Some consideration of the significance of the contribution of what one finds in Sifra, Leviticus Rabbah and the Targumim will be afforded in order to see where there are common influences and also where the Christian vision is distinct.

The biblical book of Jeremiah presents readers with a claim and a counter-claim: the character Jeremiah claims that a group of Judeans who revere “the Queen of Heaven” are idolaters, and the group itself denies the accusation of idolatry and claims that they worship “Y•H•V•H our God.” Either assertion could be valid—but what if we read the claim by the Queen-of-Heaven group as "true"? In that case, as a minimal formulation, worshipping “the Queen of Heaven” does not preclude worshipping Y•H•V•H, and to put the proposition in its most extreme form, worshipping “the Queen of Heaven” is identical with worshipping Y•H•V•H. I will discuss Jeremiah's claim and the counter-claim as parts of two distinct strands of discourse that construct different limits to the legitimate worship of Y•H•V•H. Both discursive strands—Jeremiah's and the Queen of Heaven's—develop across many chapters of the book. Although the viewpoint that favors Jeremiah dominates in terms of its textual expanse and the violence of its rhetoric, it is, to some degree, a self-defeating polemic that allows both views to be equally present in the text. The goals of this demonstration are to expand the range of possible identifications for “the Queen of Heaven” and to position the topic for further discussion in the larger context of the prophetic divine-marriage metaphor that figures worshipping “other gods” as adultery. My hermeneutical tools are discourse analysis (including the role of taxonomies in the construction of polemical discourse) and feminist theory (responding to work by Athalya Brenner and Yvonne Sherwood). To accommodate the graphical nature of the material, I will deliver two concurrent sets of information: a verbal presentation and a related-but-not-identical PowerPoint.

How might "reading" musical treatments of biblical texts enrich biblical hermeneutics? Since the late 1980s, New Musicologists have rejected formalistic, 'score-driven" analysis of musical works--chronicling instead how musical conventions “circulate social energies” (Greenblatt) in ways that reinforce or transgress cultural norms of subject formation. Music comprises “models of the self performed,” “fabrications of sexuality” (McClary). This paper engages New Musicology and feminist theory to analyse renowned composer Krzysztof Penderecki's jarring "deconstruction" of the Song of Solomon, archiving thereby another episode in the Song's formative career within the history of subjectivity. Penderecki"s musical exegesis will also constitute a set of performative practices that anticipates biblical scholars" more recent attempts to develop “carnal allegories” of the Song that unsettle normalizing pleasures and relational dynamics (Boer, Moore, Burrus, and Black). Initial reception of Penderecki"s cacophonous soundscape seemingly dashes any desire for intimacy with the Song"s sensual delights. However, "reread" with attention to the politics of representation—both cultural and musicological--Penderecki"s fantasia becomes an ardent invitation for unconditional intimacy with the text—its violence, grotesqueries (Black), and discomfiting indeterminacies: 1) Where caricatures of the Song"s "happy" lovers generate both distance between readers and the text, and alienating relational models that “stabilize [false] assumptions and expectations” (Miles, Carnal Knowing, 10), Penderecki"s couple—conceived under Communist rule in 1970s Poland—reconnects readers to a “complex and contradictory reality”--banishing those “cumulative representations” that (ironically) made the lovers “disappear” (ibid.). 2) Distance dissolves through post-war recontextualisation of the work, and by puncturing the “virile” “mystique of difficulty” that many avant-gardists espoused (McClary)--an ideology that actually precipitated dismissals of Penderecki"s “effeminate” sensualism. 3) Shifting listening postures via queer musicologists" revalorization of previously neglected musico-analytical components--texture, timbre, and bodily performance—opens auditors to accept these lovers" more dissonant, highly complex, and literally penetrating musical bodies.

There is no evidence that the people who lived in Schechem or Samaria during the Persian period believed in the holiness of Mt. Gerizim. Therefore it seems that during the persian period the residens of the region of Samaria had not yet formed that belief. It is difficult to imagine that Jerusalemite compositions from the fourth century BCE, such as Chronicles or Ezra 1-6, would have ignored the claim that Mount Gerizim was the place God had chosen. From the end of the Persian rule, and more specifically from the time that followed the revolt of the Samaritans against the Macedonians in 331 BCE to the end of the third century BCE, there is no evidence of the history of the area of Samaria. When the picture became clear, after this dark period that lasted nearly 130 years, we find that at the beginning of the second century BCE there is a religious group in the area of Schechem that believes in the holiness of Mount Gerizim.

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In order to understand the respective angelologies of the Pentateuch targums, an attempt should be made at situating these beliefs within the various corpora of Second Temple Literature, classic Rabbinic Literature, and later Rabbinic Literature. To that end, this paper will provide a comparative analysis of the key issues regarding “fallen angels” within these corpora. That is, what were the nature, extent, and effect of the angelic rebellion? (e.g. How many angels rebelled? What was their purpose? Was the rebellion an enduring one?) Having done this, the respective ideologies regarding “fallen angels” within the Pentateuch targums may be evaluated. A careful tradition-historical analysis of targumic ideology is a worthwhile endeavor in that a certain amount of debate exists regarding which traditions are reflected within the various targums (cf. Vermes, Hayward, Flesher, Shinan, and Azuelos). For example, when Targum Pseudo-Jonahathan mentions Shamhazai and Azazel as fallen angels in Gen 6:4, is the targum drawing upon an enochic or a rabbinic tradition?

In popular perceptions, the gladiator is one of the most characteristic symbols of Roman civilization. The popularity among the Romans of arena games - incorporating animal hunts, executions, and gladiatorial bouts - is not in doubt. Explanations thus far offered by scholars for this popularity have rested on anthropological, sociological, or symbological interpretations of the arena's function in Roman culture. Yet even a cursory glance at comparative evidence shows that people beyond the Romans have long found the sight of animals and people pitched against each other in bruising and/or lethal encounters both appealing and intriguing: think of combat sports, the medieval tournament, public executions, bullfights, bear-baiting, cock- and dog-fighting, etc. Psychological factors offer the likeliest explanation for the transcultural and transhistorical appeal of violent spectacle. In this lecture, I examine the social psychological components of the Roman arena's lure, with a special emphasis on crowd dynamics. I examine how recent understandings of crowd dynamics, and understanding that builds on basic group processes, led spectators at arena events to a heightened excitement and elevated their emotional pitch. Other factors were at play too - such as sating prejudices or excitement at sports spectatorship - but crowd dynamics served to channel and focus the spectators' energies, and this was an attractive prospect in itself.

Recognizing the centrality of the interplay between the bible, the body and power for African religious thought and life, this paper explores the role of African Biblical Hermeneutics in a conversation concerning various dimensions of the aesthetic considerations and qualities of African Religion(s).

The paper will discuss why service-learning is a compelling pedagogy for religious studies as a discipline and what we have learned about the most effective practices in incorporating a service-learning component into a course. It will also address the barriers that are sometimes raised to embracing service-learning pedagogy, such as lack of institutional support, increased faculty work, the impact on tenure and promotion, and threats to academic rigor.

The subject of purity and pollution in biblical Israel has been widely studied, and numerous schemata have been proposed for understanding the biblical purity “system.” However, none of these studies has closely examined the theme of sexual pollution, nor has any proposed schema fully accounted for its attributes. I will argue that sexual pollution, while it shares a basic conceptual framework with ritual pollution, is a concept unto itself with its own distinct characteristics, and that scholars who have subsumed it under a broader category of “moral,” “spiritual,” “metaphorical,” or “prohibited” pollution have generally failed to fully appreciate its character. An analysis of the biblical texts in which pollution terminology is used to describe sexual unions indicates that in biblical Israel, any sexual union that departed from the ideal of lifelong marital fidelity of a female to a male was considered polluting, regardless of its legality. Sexual pollution was generally understood as a condition that affected females alone. The Holiness legislation (H) expands the concept dramatically, applying it to males as well as females, using it to describe a wide variety of sexual relationships, and linking the idea of sexual purity to the theological narrative of Israel's conquest and retention of its land. The significance of these expansions has not been fully appreciated because of a failure to discern the parameters of sexual pollution in the rest of the Bible.

In 2008 the first volume (Pentateuch) of the Spanish translation of the Septuagint will be published by Ediciones Sígueme of Salamanca. It has been carried out by the Madrid team of the Greek Bible. In fact, some previous attempts have been made. The Spanish translation made by Guillermo Jünemann in 1928, and first published in Santiago (Chile) 1992 will be especially discussed. Some reflections on the characteristics of the new Spanish translation will follow, including the question of the title, that is, whether the new translation can be considered the first translation of the Septuagint into Spanish.

Field test team members will outline their experience adapting to a novel pedagogy and will provide an overview of student responses.

In recent years important Samaritan synagogues dating to late antiquity have been discovered in the Land of Israel, with the greatest concentration in Samaria itself. These structures have transformed our understanding of Samaritan architecture and art, and have served as a stimulus to reevaluate the nature of Samaritanism as a late antique religion/religious community. In this lecture I will set these buildings within the contexts of late antique Samaritan liturgical and homiletical texts, with emphasis upon the extensive preserved homiletical and liturgical writings of Marqe. I will then compare this Samaritan evidence to contemporaneous Jewish and Christian archaeological and literary sources.

The Persian empire covered vast geographical territory, the question always remained how were the Persians able to control effectively diverse ethnic populations. Having looked closely at their tactics we propose that we call their administrative policy "adaptive reduplication:" adaptive because this policy would be modified to fit the socio-religious context of each land and reduplication because the goal of this administrative policy was to recreate in the various lands the conditions that would inspire faith and allegiance to a markedly multinational empire. This was a policy that aimed to promote unity despite the lack of uniformity. The Achaemenids took both internal and external measures to secure the stability and order of the empire. Internally, each administrative unit had a personal representative of the king who was aptly called a Satrap, which in Old Persian means "protector of the realm [kingdom]." Externally, the Persians promoted the cohesion of the empire by following a three-fold policy designed to promote unity by taking advantage of national, political, and religious sensibilities. First, they made an effort to create a sense of dynastic continuity between what went on before and the new order. This was a measure aimed at enhancing the ruler's legitimacy by connecting local traditions with imperial symbols. Second they tried to make allies out of the local aristocracy in order to incorporate indigenous trained personnel into the Persian bureaucratic machine. Third they sought the good will of the local sanctuaries because through them they could manipulate group loyalties as well as gain revenue that would provide support for their goals and policies. In light of the policies employed by the Persians throughout the empire, the events in the province of Yehud are cast in a slightly different light. The edict of Cyrus was not prompted by divine intervention alone, as the writer of Ezra would have us believe. The return of the exiles, the collaboration of the Persians with the Judaean leaders and the support provided for the rebuilding of the Temple are all typical elements of the administrative policy of adaptive reduplication and indicate the Persian attempt to integrate Judah organically in the empire. Scholars have focused mainly on strategic and financial reasons in order to explain why this was the case. Pierre Briant believes that this geographical area was of interest to the Achaemenids because it played a key role in the profitable Arab and Mediterranean trade. Amelie Kuhrt offers that the Old Persian rulers quite possibly wanted to use Judah as a buffer against Egypt. Kenneth Hoglund adds that in the decade 460-450 BCE the Persians had to contend not only with the Egyptian revolts but with the intervention of Athenian forces in the Mediterranean. Jon Berquist maintains that Persia's concern was not only defensive but also fiscal; it was generated by their desire to enhance their tax base. It is most probable that all these reasons contributed to the Achaemenid decision to develop and maintain a relationship with the community in Jerusalem. However, one has also to keep in mind that the Persian administrative policy that was intended to promote the cohesiveness and thus ensure the stability of the empire played an equally important role in this development. The fact that similar administrative tactics were followed consistently in many other lands reveals that these measures were standard policies of the Achaemenid imperial administration system.

The Masorectic concern for a textual transmission and its public reading appear before and after the Destruction of the Second Temple. Their witness is found in Qumranic texts, Gospels and Epistles as well as Tannaitic literature including Palestinian Targum. They govern their normative and interpretative tradition as they relate to the reading and preaching the text. The Masoretic determinants guide the religious praxis and thought. Examples will be drawn from the early witness as how a canonical text was read and understood by its vocalization, division, correlation and juxtaposition. The dual phenomenon of written (masoret) and reading (miqra) guided the teachers of varied biblically oriented communities via public preaching and private study.

Since 1992, Tel Aviv University has been conducting excavations at the site of Megiddo in Israel. This paper will present some of the data which has been uncovered and which has relevance for discussions concerned with the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Along with the principal author, Israel Finkelstein, the paper is co-authored by David Ussishkin and Eric H. Cline.

The Book of Isaiah has been the subject of serious text-critical inquiry throughout history. Since the advent of Gesenius" commentary in 1821, textual work on the book of Isaiah has been particularly fruitful. This paper will seek to give a broad overview of the various contributions of specific scholars to the textual criticism of Isaiah during this period. Attention will be given to specific methodologies, the selection of textual cases within Isaiah, and the use of the ancient versions. The central aim of this paper will be to demonstrate how textual scholars influenced the critical editions of Biblia Hebraica Kittel (1-3), as well as the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and vice versa. Influences of the current Biblia Hebraica Quinta project will also be discussed. The paper will conclude with some proposals concerning future methodology and selection of text-critical cases with regard to the book of Isaiah.

The large number of doublets in Matthew and Luke has played an important role in establishing the two-source theory, for the doublets indicate that Matthew and Luke drew continuously on two forms of the Jesus tradition, deriving one form from Mark and one from Q. Matthew and Luke, though, treat the doublets differently. Matthew, for example, frequently conflates the two forms of the doublets he takes over from Mark and Q. According to some scholars Luke avoids doublets, and we can easily find evidence that Luke eliminates doublets in taking over his sources, but Luke can also create doublets on his own and he often assimilates the two forms of the doublets he takes over to each other. By forming new doublets and enhancing the doublets he finds in his sources Luke pursues his own themes. This paper will strive to clarify the argument from the doublets in synoptic source criticism by treating all the doublets in Luke and contrasting Luke's approach with Matthew's, and it will also explore the contribution of the doublets to the study of Luke's redaction, for the doublets give us one more lamp to illuminate the sprawling complexity of Luke-Acts.

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This paper deals with the various expressions of the concept of reward in the Book of Proverbs. The two conceptual paradigms that shape this concept – i.e., the "deed-consequence nexus" and divine retribution– were often taken by scholars as providing evidence for conceptual stratification in the book. According to this school of thought, the older stratum promotes empirical wisdom and pragmatic thinking and is thus akin to the "deed-consequence nexus". The later stratum exemplifies a secondary theological elaboration of the old secular wisdom, in line with the quest for the fear of God and His reward. As opposed to a diachronic approach, I opt for a synchronic approach that recognizes the existence of divergent paradigms of thinking at one and the same time within the didactic framework of Proverbs, that is, a religious-moralistic (theocentric) view, and a didactic view that grants humans responsibility for their fate (anthropocentric). One should view the didactic personality of the teacher in Proverbs as reflective of a multi-faceted outlook which is both pragmatic and dogmatic.

With its sustained focus on the figure of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Protevangelium of James has been attributed a purpose most often considered either apologetic, encomiastic, or both. In either light, the narrative's early chapters, which tell the story of Mary and her childhood in terms that stand quite apart from canonical portrayals of Jesus" mother, can be read as rhetorical recasting aimed at elevating Mary above criticism and/or bestowing upon her great praise and honor. However, when read in the context of ancient constructions of childhood and Greco-Roman biographical depiction of the early lives of its famous subjects, ProtoJas 1-7 emerges not only as the idealization of Mary's childhood, but as a representation of ancient ambivalence about children and the relationship between childhood and adulthood.

The question of the unity of the book of Job continues to trouble Jobean studies. To my mind this trouble emerges because many consider the book's central problem as the issue of theodicy. Attending carefully to the rhetoric of the book indicates that the major issue is wise speech, particularly speech about God, which ties the disparate parts into a unified whole, however. The narrative frame shows grave concern for speech, including Job's concern that his children may have cursed God, the “Accusers” challenge that Job might himself curse God, which Job's wife encourages, though Job avoids sinning with his lips. Job"s friends come to comfort him but fail as miserably as comforters as they do in their speech about God (42:8). In the end, other friends and family comfort Job. The speech cycles contain the book"s great irony: Job and company argue for 29 about something of which they know nothing. The friends begin hoping not to offend Job, but soon throw caution to the wind, considering Job full of windy, empty words, in the end linking Job to the wicked of old who asked God to turn away and wondered what God could really do (21:17). Job rebukes the friends for reproving him, accuses them of speaking falsehoods about God, and considers their efforts at consolation absurd speech making. Elihu"s speeches move the discourse forward because he recognizes that God does not speak solely through affliction, but also through dreams (33:15-18) and creation (36:24-37:6), a discourse that ought to give Job pause in his own speech-making. God speaks along this latter line, challenging Job"s words, which lack knowledge, through a discourse about his care and restraint of creation. Job puts his hand over his mouth and repents for speaking of what he did not know.

Invited Paper.

Invited paper for the session “Jacob Neusner and the Scholarship on Ancient Judaism.”

More than forty “Proto-aeolic capitals” have been found at 12 sites in modern-day Jordan, Syria, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority. This paper challenges the accepted concept that “proto-aeolic capitals” are purely structural items. The “Proto-aeolic capitals” did not have a uniform structural function rather “Proto-aeolic capitals”, with their volute motif, originally had a cultic connotation. Seven “capitals” dating to the period of the northern Kingdom of Israel were excavated at its capital Samaria. Recently two “capitals” were excavated at the later site of the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim. The question must be raised; do the “proto-aeolic capitals” from Samaria and Gerizim show a continuity of cult between these two sites?

This paper will look at various scholars" understandings of tablet RS 16.129, which deals with the legal “clearance” of one Nuriyanu. The text of this tablet, written fairly clearly for the most part, has nevertheless not yielded a consensus as to its interpretation. The problematic points of the text will be discussed, and the concept of estate clearance and legal “return” within the larger Ugaritic legal corpus will be elucidated by comparison to other similar tablets. The results of this comparison show that the term zaku in RS 16.129 (and in the legal texts in general) has nothing to do with Nuriyanu's inheritance, as is commonly asserted.

Analysis of the verb עשׂה (do, make) in the concept of Sabbath, temple, and the motif of rest demonstrates its significant role in Exod 31:12-17. Within the tabernacle building instructions the verb עשׂה (do, make) occurs 112 times. Suddenly, on the seventh day making is prohibited and resting required. At the same time the people are to make the Sabbath. While the rabbis noticed this particular usage of the infinitive in Exodus 31:16 modern scholarship more or less avoids engaging in such interpretation. The present paper has the purpose of demonstrating, that the infinitive לַעֲשׂוֹת (to make the Sabbath) in connection with the verb שׁמר in Exod 31:16 (cf. Gen 2:3; Deut 5:15) forms the real intention and concept of the Sabbath as climax of the temple building text (Exod 25-31) with the significance of Israel"s active involvement in founding holy time, namely in building the sanctuary in time. It is because of the infinitive לַעֲשׂוֹת (to make) in connection with the preceding verb שׁמר (keep, observe, guard) that the Sabbath will be observed and performed not only in the wilderness generation but also in the future, in the generations to come. Even when the temple does not exist anymore, the Sabbath as everlasting temple in time supersedes it.

As is well-known, members of the Persian garrison at Elephantine in the 5th century BCE were variously known as Yehudi and Arami, with the same person at different times receiving both designations. Nevertheless, even after 100 years of living on the island, they were never called Egyptian. Judeans raised money for the temple of YHW, and also for the Syene temples of Bethel, Ashimbethel, and Anatbethel, but never for Khnum or any Egyptian god. In anthropological terms, these and other data (personal names, oaths) suggest low boundary maintenance between the Aramean and Judean ethnic groups in upper Egypt, but high boundary maintenance between both these groups and the Egyptians (Barth 1969). According to McGuire's (1982) theory of ethnic boundary maintenance, boundaries between ethnic groups result from power discrepancies. The greater the disparity of access to wealth, power, and prestige between ethnic groups, the more intent the dominant group is on maintaining the boundary between them. This theory well describes ethnic boundary maintenance at Elephantine which resulted finally in the Egyptian-led destruction of the Jewish temple.

The paper argues that in the opening chapters of 1 Samuel, Yhwh twice uses Samuel's firmly established prophetic reputation to mislead his audience, on one occasion with disastrous consequences. These largely overlooked instances of divine deception do not readily fit in with the Deuteronomic commandment that a prophet who has proved himself as Yhwh's reliable mouthpiece should be obeyed under the fear of divine retribution (18:18-22). Exploring the synchronic and diachronic aspects of the tension between the concepts of prophecy in Deuteronomy and 1 Samuel 1-8, the paper concludes that although the Former Prophets may have originated as a Deuteronomistic composition in its received form the corpus does not qualify as such.

Recent feminist postcolonial work on “foreign” wives (e.g. Claudia Camp, Fewell, Musa Dube, Judith McKinlay) adds to gender a consideration of race and class. While these perspectives contribute to our appreciation of the hybridity of the foreign woman as insider and outsider, the construction of the Israelite woman did not so far benefit from postcolonial studies of the nation and its imaginary borders. Drawing on work by Nira Yuval-Davis and Tamar Mayer, this paper argues that the biblical gendering of exogamy, constructs the Israelite woman as national border. The Israelite woman's body is not permitted to foreign men, while foreign women's bodies cross national boundaries and violate laws of endogamy. The bodies of foreign women subvert and confuse national borders, from Hagar the Egyptian to Ruth the Moabite. The description of such exogamous marriages is naturalized or justified through multiple references to the insufficiency of the Israelite woman's body. The acceptance, cooptation and inclusion of "foreign" wives into the national body politic suggest that men were exempted from the endogamous restrictions applied to Israelite women. This explains the frequent prophetic stigmatization of the Israelite wife in search of foreign male partners. This castigation is often projected on the national body politic at large. Exemplified by the repressed sexuality and elimination of exogamy of the likes of Sarai, Rebekah, Dinah, Bathsheba and eventually Esther—the borders of the Israelite nation are sexually and morally demarcated in contrast to foreign women"s sexuality. This paper then develops the analysis of the biblical wife in my book Sexual Politics in the Biblical Narrative (2000) to include theories of the nation, of the body and of borders. Tangentially, it questions recent work on Israelite ethnicity and nationhood that does not use comparative and intercultural shuttling.

Lists were common throughout the history of the ancient Near East, particularly genealogies and place-name lists. This trend continued into the Persian Period, when Persian kings kept administrative records as well as extensive lists of place-names found in monumental works like the Persepolis inscription of nations, the Susa foundation charter, and also the Xerxes inscription. The construction of place-name lists served as a way for the Persian monarchy to organize the different nations that they had administrative contact with. In this paper, I will explore the process of the construction of these place-name lists as well as examine the organization behind their construction. I will also examine the context in which these place-name lists appear. Finally, I will also seek to answer why these lists were ordered in the manner in which they appear in the inscriptions and what this reveals about how the Persian kings ordered the world around them.

Evidence is strong that Galilee was prosperous and very involved in trade and commerce by the first century. Many goods were imported and exported to and from the region. In this paper I will argue that the Matthean community, itself a conservative Jewish-Christian group located in Galilee, was prosperous as well. In fact, when placed alongside the other Synoptic Gospels, Matthew alone clearly suggests a distinct and unique preference for money and wealth in general. First, I will provide a brief sketch of ancient Galilean economic activity. Second, I will summarize the status of current scholarship concerning Matthew and money, which will include a brief discussion of the various denominations of coinage mentioned in the Gospel. Finally, I will examine and analyze Matthew's views of the rich and poor and their relationship/correlation to those found in the other Synoptic Gospels. In particular, I will look at three important issues: Matthew's usage of the terms “rich” and “poor,” or the lack thereof (as found in Matt 5:3; 11:5; 19:16-22; 20:1, 29-34; 22:9; 27:57), the context and meaning of “wealth” contained in the Gospel (as found in passages such as Matt 2:11), and Matthew's understanding of wealth as it relates to the Torah, and subsequently to Mark and Luke (Deut 28:1-14; Prov 13:18; Matt 6:19-21; 19; 20:29-34; 27:57). The evidence provided in this paper will make it clear that the author(s) of Matthew"s Gospel understood wealth from within the context of a Jewish perspective, and that the Matthean community itself must have been far wealthier than the communities associated with either Mark or Luke"s Gospel.

Ideals of feminine beauty are both physically and metaphorically described in the Old Testament. Early first millennium BCE Levantine ivory images of women embodied and communicated related characteristics and properties. Adornment, bedecking women from head to foot, enhanced, protected, and expressed beauty through its preciousness, luminosity, iconography, and position on the face and body. Using the visual record as a starting point, this paper shall explore the beauty of women represented in ivory and the role of adornment in relation to their beauty. Visual interpretations are enriched and expanded by textual evidence. Biblical references also serve to establish cultural perspectives on feminine beauty, bringing to light its values as well as its dangers.

In this presentation, I will discuss how I integrate service-learning activities into my course on Social Justice in the Hebrew Bible for seminary students. I will discuss strategies I have developed over the past two years and invite conversation to generate new approaches. Such strategies include: individual service requirements and writing assignments in which the students reflect on the integration of service and biblical interpretation, service experiences that involve the class as a whole and the conversation they evoke, and research projects aimed at developing interpretation of biblical texts that can motivate social change. As a example of service to the community growing out of this setting, I will share how both students and professor have embraced one particular issue—the problem of underage sex-trafficking in metropolitan Atlanta—and have begun to address the issue in different ways.

When reading Judges 11 through a lens of resolviendo (survival) as it pertains to the daily realities in contemporary Cuba, a different understanding of the narrative emerges. Unlike Euro-American feminist interpretations, my Cuban feminist reading arrives at a more nuanced portrayal of Jephthah's daughter and her father amidst the social dynamics present in the narrative. Thus, I shall propose a distinct methodology that connects particularities of contemporary contexts with the dynamics presented in ancient texts to offer new insights.

A close examination of archaeological finds from Jerusalem, together with recent scholarship on Byzantine-era literature, casts new light on the role of material culture and artistic expression in late antique Jewish-Christian discourse. A reevaluation of excavated remains at the base of the southern retaining wall of the Temple Mount demonstrates the area's Christian orientation during the sixth and seventh centuries. Among the finds were numerous “candlestick” lamps, complete with highly-charged religious motifs, including crucifixes and representations of the menorah – the candelabrum that once stood in the Jerusalem Temple. The provenance of menorah-laden candlestick lamps in Jerusalem is consistent with their distribution throughout Palestine, as they are found exclusively in Christian settlements. The candlestick lamps" absence from Jewish sites is conspicuous in light of the menorah's preeminence in other forms of ancient Jewish art. This tension between distribution and design is relieved by recent scholarship on late antique texts that demonstrates the use of the menorah as a literary trope in Byzantium's discourse on empire with late antique Judaism. These Christian works appropriate the cultic vessels and fill them with Solomonic prestige and Roman glory – a combination tailored to fit the Byzantines" idiosyncratic preferences for imperial identity. This rhetorical trajectory, the present paper argues, is paralleled in the archaeological and artistic record. By decorating distinctively Christian lamps with the menorah, the Byzantines have appropriated and domesticated a previously Jewish symbol, reorienting it to express idiosyncratically Byzantine-Christian imperial ideals – all in terms that would resonate with late antique Jews.

2007 saw the release of five powerful films exploring the nature of evil. In Best Picture nominees There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men we find a transcendent evil, while in 3:10 to Yuma, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and The Bourne Ultimatum we discover a more hopeful (and, perhaps, more Biblical) understanding of the place of evil. In discussing these films, we will see that evil is powerful and seductive, but that redemption and transcendence remain dramatic possibilities.

Since the discovery of the famous Mesha inscription in 1868, many new Moabite inscriptions have come to light, especially in the last few years. The unprovenanced Moabite Royal Inscription, now on display in the Israel Museum, is the second longest Moabite text, posing several major linguistic, content-related and syntactic problems that have not been solved so far. This inscription might be a modern forgery. But only a test of its authenticity with scientific methods could clear up this question. However, problems with Moabite texts are no clear indicator for forgeries. There are three further texts found in the context of regular excavations at Kh. el-Mude-yine and at el-Ba-lu-? that also have linguistic traits so far unattested in Moabite. These problems will be discussed in detail because they are important for the linguistic classification of Moabite as a peripheral subtype within the broader family of Northwest Semitic languages. As a group, the Moabite texts also shed light on historical problems related to the presence of Israel in the Transjordan.

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In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses creates a conception of space for Israel's future life in the Promised Land. Deut 6:4-9 can be understood as a summary of this conception, which highlights the spatial concepts HOUSE, JOURNEY, DOORPOST, and GATE as well as the body concepts HEART, HAND, and EYES. Using the terminology of the German sociologist Martina Löw, each of these spatial concepts is determined by the interplay of two processes, which can be discerned as 'spacing' (the act of creating and shaping space by spatial practice) and 'synthesis' (the act of perceiving and interpreting something as space). In this paper, Löw's theoretical approach on spatial practice will be exemplified by the concept HOUSE in Deuteronomy that is produced by several acts of 'spacing': “building the house” (Deut 22:8), “talking to your children”, “sitting”, “lying down”, “rising” (Deut 6:7), and “writing these words on the doorposts of your house” (Deut 6:9). The process of 'synthesis' includes the constitution of the house by the community of parents, children, and slaves (Deut 12:7, 12). The Deuteronomic perception of the HOUSE is based on the reminiscence of Israel's deliverance from the house of slaves. Living in houses “full of all good things” (Deut 6:11), Israel is called to routinely memorize this foundational past experience by writing „these words on the doorposts” and “talking to your children about these words.” Through the instruction to frequently repeat these spatial practices, the HOUSE becomes a constitutive space that is tied to Israel"s faith.

Scholarship on wisdom in Ancient Israel has focused in large part on identifying certain bodies of literature methodologically in terms of genre, structure, linguistics, Sitz im Leben, etc. These methodological boundaries have persistently relied on a texts use of certain terms, such as wisdom or the wise, and have struggled with the relationship of Ancient Israelite wisdom to that of its Ancient Near Eastern neighbors. While many interesting interpretations have resulted, a recurrent lacuna in terms of methodological precision has suggested that more scholarship needs to attend to the social and cultural setting of Ancient Israelite wisdom. This paper will respond to this lacuna through an exploration of Ancient Israelite literature through the use of socio-rhetorical interpretation. The main focus of this exploration will be to articulate a wisdom rhetorical dialect for Ancient Israel based on, among other aspect, a precise analysis of social and cultural setting. Rather than a definition for identifying bodies of literature, the articulation of a wisdom rhetorical use of language functions as a heuristic device enabling interpreters to identify wisdom rhetorical uses of language in the Ancient Near East and, more specifically, the distinctive use of it in Ancient Israel.

****This paper examines the reception and use of the Epistle to the Romans in fourth and fifth century Antiochene tradition, especially in the writings of Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, John Chrysostom, and Theodoret of Cyrus. Particular attention is paid to the twin loci of Greek patristic ambivalence with the concept of predestination (especially as that is expressed by Augustine and later Western traditions), namely, “this body of sin” in 6:6-8 and the concept of p??a??es??, the free choice between good and evil as an innate property of human nature.

****Within the larger corpus of Ugaritic rituals, CAT 1.90 1.164 and 1.168 constitute a distinct group. These texts contain unique rites in which the king “sees” or “visits” (vPNY) specific deities. Scholars are divided as to what these rites entail, how they function and what purpose they serve in the Ugaritic cult. The rituals have been characterized variously as contemplation rites, visitation rites, and oracular/divination rites. The present paper posits a new way forward by examining these texts within the larger social and political world of the Late Bronze Age, in which Ugarit was a small kingdom always beholden to one of the “Great Kings.” These ritual texts, where the king sees or visits the deity, have close affinities to the covenant stipulations placed upon the Ugaritic kings by their Hittite suzerains. Additional specific ritual actions in the texts confirm this understanding by using movements and gestures elsewhere equated specifically with deference to a suzerain covenant partner rather than worship of a deity. This new understanding of these texts provides a ritual correlation to the limited kingship observed in Ugaritic mythological texts such as the Ba?lu cycle and contributes new insights into the mechanics of the cult at Ugarit.

In his book, Does the New Testament Imitate Homer? (2003) and other recent works, Dennis R. Macdonald argues that the authors of the Gospels and Acts took Homer's Illiad and Odyssey as their primary “literary” models. He devised criteria for identifying imitation in ancient texts, and enlists this method of “mimesis criticism” to support his argument that New Testament narratives should be read in light of Greek literature and mythology (rather than history and prior Christian tradition). His work has major implications for the interpretation of Biblical narrative, and has sparked a current debate in the literature. Though MacDonald pointed to parallels between the Acts of Andrew and Platonic models in his Christianizing Homer (1994), he focused primarily on correspondences between Homer and the New Testament; the mimetic relation between Greek philosophy and other Biblical narratives received less attention. Utilizing recent developments in text analysis, and bringing together information theory with comparative research on the communication significance of ring composition by Mary Douglas (2007) and others, I offer a close reading of the explicit instructions presented in Plato's Sophist for drawing the lines that generate a geometric ring and the rules for mapping onto this structure key ideas in the series of classifications for the definitions of the fisherman and for mimesis. I then use the diagrams of the two sequences as templates. Employing TAPoRware (Text Analysis Research) tools such Synonym Finder, Find Collocates, Words Relation Component Analysis, Pattern Distribution, Text Comparator, Diff Transformer, I compare texts and identify identical patterns in other Platonic discourses, in Genesis, and then in New Testament narratives. Arguing that the divisions and definitions were a communication technology for organizing, preserving and transmitting information in pre-literate culture, I propose that the system was widely used throughout the ancient Greek world, I show how repetitions of parallel sequences over numerous instances serve not just an aesthetic but an exegetical function, cutting through ambiguity and transforming the meaning in crucial passages. These findings confirm MacDonald's hypotheses concerning imitation even as they challenge his “literary” assumptions about New Testament narratives as well as his claims for their fictional status.

Form-critically speaking, Isaiah 61 is a call narrative that follows a similar pattern to other call narratives within the prophetic literature (e.g., Isaiah 6, Jeremiah 1, Amos 1), with the exception of an identifiable historical personage with whom to align the call. This paper proposes that Isaiah 61 functions with the final shaping of the material as a marked reversal of prophetic 'success" in convergence and divergence with Isaiah's call in chapter 6. Interpreters given to seeing the overarching unity of Isaiah's 66 chapters have demonstrated the central role Isaiah 6 plays intertextually in the developing of the material, especially as it pertains to Isaiah 40-55 (e.g., Clements, Williamson, Childs, Seitz, Beuken). Likewise, Beuken has demonstrated the intertextual links of Isaiah 61 to Isaiah 40-55 and the servant figure depicted therein. This paper seeks to fill out the picture by showing the ways in which Isaiah 6"s negative presentation of Isaiah prophetic ministry is a word alive in Isaiah"s traditions heard most fully in conjunction with Isaiah 61"s reversal of this presentation. The intertextual links between Isaiah 6, 40-55 and 61 reveal a mutually informing cross-reference of images that allows the prophetic word of the Lord its full say. Of particular interest is the lexical connection between Isa 6:11 and Isa 61:4. “Desolation” (smm) in its nominal and verbal senses is deployed as an image of coming judgment and God"s overturning of that judgment. Also, the image of oak trees ("l) as both cut down and firmly established reveal the reversal of fortunes presented in the prophetic ministry of Isaiah and its reception into a new era of Israel"s canonical history (cf. Isa 1:29-31). Here in Isaiah 61:1-4, the prophetic word of the Lord is allowed a life beyond the primarily negative ministry of Isaiah, as the divine “yes” triumphs over the divine “no.”

****The idea that members of the yahad governed by the Community Rule were celibate men who lived an ascetic, cenobitic monastic life has recently come under attack by scholars who point out that cenobitic monasticism does not appear in the historical record until the emergence of Christian Syriac and Egyptian communities in the fourth century CE. While the argument is a radical departure from mainstream views, it raises important points. What do we mean when we talk about the yahad as a "monastic" or "cenobitic" community? How useful are models of later Christian monasticism for our understanding of the yahad? Is it historically implausible to imagine that a group of sectarian Jewish men separated themselves en masse from mainstream Jewish society, established spatially separate living quarters, and subjected themselves to the rigors of celibacy and a regimented lifestyle, when we find no evidence for similar voluntary associations, Jewish or otherwise, engaging in similar activities in the several centuries on either side of the Covenanters' floruit? In this paper, which elaborates on the findings of my forthcoming monograph in the STDJ series, I argue that while historical precedents for a celibate, ascetic, highly regimented communal life among voluntary associations are missing, revisionist scholars are mistaken in their fundamental assumptions about how the formation of voluntary associations in antiquity occurred: associations did not develop their organization and rules through the "influence" of one association upon another. Rather, as modern sociological models of associational formation predict, associations draw upon the organization, protocol, and law in the various spheres of the state. The most basic forms and ideals of military organization offer compelling analogies to the "monasticism" of the yahad: in Jewish, Greek, and Roman military encampments we find all-male communities that were spatially separate from the rest of the population, ideally celibate, subject to rigorous discipline and a system of authority, and "communitarian" in their property, meals, and daily cultic practices. If the general analogies between the yaúad and contemporary military practice are intiguing, militaristic language in the Rule Scrolls should provide convincing evidence that the Covenanters drew a great deal of inspiration from the military sphere of the state as they developed their particular form of "monasticism." Finally, in addition to the contemporary practices of armies in the Hellenistic-Roman era, the yahad seems to have drawn upon the laws of the war camp in Deuteronomy to explain and justify their particular way of life. Ultimately the term "monasticism" remains satisfactory as a description of the yahad's way of life, but our understanding of its particular form and origins may be improved through careful attention to the models of associational formation through which we understand the sect.

During the PEF excavations at the Ophel in Jerusalem in the 1920s, directed by R.A.S. Macalister, a large sherd of an Iron Age II jug was found with a pictorial design incised on the surface. The design shows two individuals above a series of semi-circles bordering the broken edge of the sherd. The individuals are joined by rough lines above and below the waist. The details of the individuals include traditional Canaanite elements that indicate they are deity figures, one male and one female. It is proposed that the figures represent Yahweh and Asherah. If so, this carved illustration would represent the earliest recorded image of Yahweh, the God of Israel, and the only image of Yahweh from the biblical period. It would also add to the growing record of textual and symbolic imagery of Yahweh and Asherah together. Furthermore, the semicircles at the base of the image may be interpreted as either mountains or water, suggesting that the entire image reflects ancient Canaanite imagery that recurs in later Israelite literature, such as in Psalms 29 and 68, of Yahweh as Lord of War allied to his status as Lord of Nature. This sherd and its inscription are critical to our understanding of early Israelite religion, its relationship to its Canaanite antecedents, and to the nature of folk religion in Judah, and Jerusalem especially, in the period of the monarchy.

Philo's treatise Questions and Answers on Exodus incorporates a commentary on Exodus 12, the foundational biblical passage for Philo's commentaries on Passover as well as for the early Christian Paschal homilies and rabbinic targums. While Philo gives an allegorical interpretation and envisions the Passover as the passage from the sensible to the intelligible realm, from the literal meaning of the text to its deeper sense according to reason, Melito and Ps-Hippolytus conceive of a difference between the old and the new Pascha primarily by the method of typological interpretation. For them, types, symbols, and mysteries occurred before the Incarnation in a visible way and reached their completion in the Christian Pascha in an invisible, mystery manifestation. Indebted to Melito, Ps-Hippolytus divides mysteries into old and new and envisages the divine economy as developed over two stages, the border between them being the event of the Incarnation. Unlike them, Origen reconsiders Philo's allegorization from a Christian angle. However, a commonality of Philo and the Christian authors consists in the mystery exegesis. They are wise mystagogues, know the mysteries of Scripture, guide their initiands on the traces of scriptural mysteries. The technique is especially developed by the Christian authors who reconstitute the development of the divine economy as a history of divine mysteries and manifestations. The mystery of the figures/types pre-announced the truth and brought into being only the shadow of the things to come. Part of the liturgical context of the paschal night, Exodus 12 becomes the Christian hieros logos. Christian homilies, declaimed immediately after that, and thus the process of Paschal interpretation, become the sacred explanation of the hieros logos of the mystery.

The presence of slaves in the first Christian communities does not pose a moral challenge to Christians today. The presence of slaveholders in those communities does. Understanding the dynamics of ancient slavery, especially the dynamic of sexual exploitation, helps us recognize the lingering impact of slavery on contemporary Christian thought and practice. Feminist philosopher Linda Martín Alcoff argues that “social identities are correlated to certain kinds of perceptual practices and bodily knowledges that, as such, may fall below the cracks of the sort of explicit beliefs and assumptions that can be assessed in rational debate” (Visible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self, p. 92). I argue that Roman slavery, which structured perceptual practices and bodily knowledges for both slaves and free persons, deformed the moral imaginations of Christian theologians, who were typically elite free men for whom the embodied experiences of female slaves fell below the cracks of explicit beliefs and assumptions that could be assessed in rational debate. I trace the impact of habituation to slaveholding values in readings of the Hagar story by both Paul and Ambrose; I contrast Ambrose's endorsement of suicide by elite women threatened by sexual violence with his concern that enslaved women who were used sexually by their Christian masters would become haughty toward their Christian mistresses. In posing these questions I hope to invite reflection on the various ways that status distinctions based on race and class continue to deform contemporary perceptions of the harm of sexual violence and coercion.

This paper explores Mark 2:18-22 and Mark 1:9-11 from an honor-and-shame cultural context. Through such inculturation reading, I look at how different Gospels portray Mark 2:18-22 and Mark 1:9-11 and how the representation of John changes over time in an honor-and-shame Jewish culture, especially in the context of power struggles in the Roman Empire. This reading of John shows how negotiation is made in culling support and how collaboration is formed in carving out breathing space in the midst of dominant forces. Given my Chinese Malaysian cultural background, I show that this tactic is not a stranger to a minority group striving to maintain its identity while trying to keep up a good relationship with other groups as much as possible.

When we think of angels today, our minds evoke mental images of medieval religious paintings replete with cherubs, or television advertisements with figures dressed all in white with big feathery wings living on lazily floating white fluffy clouds. Yet these are hardly the representations of angels in the rabbinic literature. They oversee natural phenomena in the universe; they serve as teachers, heavenly bookkeepers, and members of God's heavenly tribunal; they are assigned to guard both individuals and groups; they sometimes are called upon to chastise the unrighteous; and the angel of death is entrusted with the weighty responsibility of terminating earthly lives. The goal of this brief paper is to present and exemplify some of the more characteristic roles of angels found in the rabbinic literature, and to analyze and interpret their functions.

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It is widely acknowledged that the portrayal and description of Wisdom in a number of Second Temple Jewish writings provide a conceptual framework that can help to illuminate features of the prologue of John's gospel. In spite of this recognition, there is still a segment of material in some of these writings which has gone largely unnoticed. The reviews of history in hymnic form found in a number of Second Temple Jewish texts constitute an under-explored storehouse of comparative material that can shed additional light on the prologue of John's gospel. Reviews of history in psalms, hymns, and prayers are found in such places as the Wisdom of Ben Sira, Wisdom of Solomon, Psalms of Solomon, Hellenistic Synagogue Prayers, and some Qumran texts as well. Reading the Johannine prologue alongside other early Jewish hymns that review major events in the history of Israel yields several significant results. First of all, this kind of comparative analysis leads to new insights regarding both the form and function of the prologue. More importantly, when one views the prologue as a whole as a hymnic review of history the major emphases of the prologue are clarified, while secondary themes take their proper place. Finally, the connections between the prologue and Jewish theology become more pronounced, including the writer's intentionally positive portrayal of the nature of the relationship between Jesus and Moses. Ultimately, this paper argues that the prologue presents a comprehensive review of the manifestations of God"s redemptive work in history through the Logos.

The figure of Jonah was a popular site for experimenting with identity formation in the heterogeneous and diverse world of the first four centuries CE (i.e. prior to the formation of Rabbinic Judaism and Constantinian Christianity). Where we first encounter Jonah in the Hebrew Bible, he is a virtual parody of a prophet. In early Christian literature Jonah is invested with an entirely new meaning, serving as a proleptic paradigm of Christ's death and resurrection. In contemporary artwork, an equally popular iconic Jonah is discernable, this time articulated in a tripartite pictoral cycle. Assimilated to a (fe)male Orante in the first panel, and to the erotic Endymion in the third, iconic Jonah raises a whole host of interesting problems ranging from cultural translation of “Greco-Roman” mythology, to questions of nudity and the erotic, different conceptions of soteriology, and the interaction between text and image. Jonah's association with Eros is of particular interest. As cultural historians of antiquity have demonstrated, the advent of Christianity coincided with far-reaching transformations in society at large. Some of these changes are reflected in a wide variety of artistic media, as eroticized images of carnal humanity are gradually replaced by those denoting abstract speculation, intellection, and spirituality (however this might be defined). The body of Jonah-as-Endymion stands at the cusp of this transformation, and helps us understand how changing sensibilities and mentalités vis-à-vis nudity, erotics and desire, organic form and le souci de soi, were differently conceptualized and negotiated within the context of these overarching socio-cultural developments.

The standard assumption is that those Judahites taken to Babylonia were exiles desperately wanting to return to Judah. Yet migrants in history have often had other views about the countries they left or in which they settled. The fact that these Jews were deported complicates the issue but does not negate the basic question: Did those who never returned see themselves as exiles? This will be an anthropological study in the light of other ancient and modern examples.

Biblical studies and homiletics share a similar interest in the interpretation of texts, though not an identical interest. The two disciplines also share a similar interest in the church's proclamation of those texts, though not all biblical scholars. While it would be easy for homiletics to vilify some scholarship as esoteric and of no practical value, not all preachers value serious scholarship. This paper will explore the complex relationship between these two disciplines, as well as several other stakeholders who bear responsibility for the unnecessary divide: 1) the preachers who must interpret and proclaim texts; 2) the congregations, many of whom long for more serious engagement with the Bible, albeit in an accessible manner; 3) the seminaries that train ministers to interpret and preach from texts; 4) the doctoral programs that train specialized scholars; and 5) the presses that publish their works, and which some preachers read.

Making use of Bakhtinian dialogic and utterance strategies, I will explore briefly the questions buried here: How is it God we are talking about, and can we hear the “spouses” in Jeremiah differently than has been done recently? The point is not to weaken the impact of the conversation but to see better how it may play. This is “in extremis” poetry and has to be desperate, strong. Ours is not to “fix it” but to hear it–skillfully, and alert to our own constructive processes.

In this presentation I will discuss a number of renderings in LXX Joshua that show probable dependence on the Greek Pentateuch. I will also present examples of LXX Joshua's independence from the same material. Of course, in any given case, it is difficult to be certain about such matters; it is only the accumulation of examples of what appear to be rare equivalences that can demonstrate such points. In any case, I will also attempt to describe the environment (historical, cultural, social, political, and religious) in which the LXX translator would have operated in order to produce the text he did.

This paper argues that the mizraq, a ritual vessel described in the Hebrew Bible, should be identified with the shallow metal drinking-offering bowls typical across the ancient Near East from the Iron Age on. It further proposes the probable identification of a specific vessel known from published excavations with a mizraq and discusses the significance of such an identification for points of textual interpretation and biblical history including the possibility that this mizraq may actually have come from the First Temple in Jerusalem during the ninth century BCE.

While Origen is well-known for his advocacy of a “spiritual” (i.e. Christian allegorical) interpretation of Mosaic Law, his views on so-called “literal” (i.e. Jewish) observance of the commandments are sometimes more nuanced and less hostile than they are often described by scholars. When defending Christians against a Jewish critique that Christians paradoxically claim the Bible as their own text but refuse to follow its commandments, he provides an unexpectedly positive portrait of literal Law-observance. In my paper, I focus on Origen's response to this critique—presented by Celsus" hypothetical Jew in Origen's Contra Celsum 2:1-6—that Jewish Christians have “rejected the Law of their fathers.” Contrary to what one might expect from a third-century, non-Law-observant Gentile Christian, Origen, in his defense, relies on the examples of two groups of Law-observant Christians—Jesus" earliest followers, and contemporary Jewish Christians (especially Ebionites). He does not deny the deeper truths of a spiritual interpretation of the Bible. However, I argue, he seeks to meet a Jewish critic (real or imagined) on explicitly Jewish grounds, by claiming not just that Christians follow the commandments spiritually, but that some Christians do so literally. This allows him to neutralize accusations of unfaithfulness to the Law, even within a larger argument for Christian interpretation and Christian supersessionism. To understand this complex response, I relate his claims to the apologetic context and likely audience of Contra Celsum, and consider the reasons for a shift away from positions found elsewhere in his writings. More broadly, I argue that Origen's surprising decision to mention in favorable terms Christians who observe Mosaic Law reflects the challenges faced by Gentile Christians who simultaneously seek to establish both continuity and discontinuity with Judaism and the biblical tradition.

In his commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets Theodore of Mopsuestia attributes the exile of the northern kingdom to Sennacherib rather than to Shalmaneser as 2 Kings 18 reports. Yet, what seems to be a simple historical error actually stems from a very ancient theological understanding of the significance of the fall of the northern kingdom in God's guidance of history. By understanding how typological concerns regarding Assyria's ongoing theological relevance contributed to an expanded understanding of Sennacherib's role and significance in the history of Israel, the "error" in Theodore's commentary is set in a more understandable context, one that highlights how historical recollection always has a theological/ideological component.

The belief that the stars and planets are gods—a notion borrowed from ancient Near Eastern cultures—entered into Greek thought with a force in the fourth century BCE. This paper briefly describes the rise of astral religion in the Hellenistic age, but focuses particularly on how the stars were represented in Roman political discourse. Not only were the Roman emperors portrayed as astral gods on earth (Sol invictus, for example), but I also argue that astral religion was often used by the political elite to symbolize and “naturalize” the universalizing goals of the Pax Romana. Drawing on post-colonial theories that aim to recover the voices and perspectives of the colonized, I argue that the political dimensions of astral religion might have some bearing on the rise of cosmic dualism in the first centuries CE, particularly in Jewish and Christian “Gnostic” writings that negatively portray imperial astral imagery, viewing the cosmos as prison for the human spirit, presided over by despotic rulers and false gods.

The documentary discoveries from the Judean Desert include numerous deeds of sale composed in Aramaic, among which are the Wadi ed-Daliyeh papyri, the Jewish Aramaic papyri from Nahal Hever and Wadi Murabba"at, and the Nabatean Aramaic papyri from the Cave of Letters. The sale formularies used in these deeds vary greatly from corpus to corpus, each representing divergent scribal traditions. Nonetheless, these traditions share certain basic features. Previous scholarship on these sale formularies has suggested that these Judean Desert corpora collectively encompass a stream of tradition that is distinct from other corpora of Aramaic legal materials such as the Elephantine papyri. This paper will systematically assess the features that tie the sale formularies of these Judean Desert corpora together and will attempt to place this regional sub-tradition within the broader Aramaic legal tradition as a whole.

The late third and early fourth centuries saw the advent of anchoritic monasticism within the Christian context. Not long thereafter, hagiographies of these ascetics started to circulate, relating the words and deeds of these solitary monks. In addition to the miracles and sayings attributed to these figures, the authors of these texts also included information on the background and family history of the ascetics. One of the most persistent of these characteristics is ethnic identity. Should we imagine that these ethnic designations are an attempt to provide demographic information about the anchorites? Or might these ethnic identifications be offered by the authors for theological or political reasons? This paper seeks to understand the confluence of several markers of constructed identity within the context of ancient hagiography of anchoritic monasticism, focusing on the ancient associations of particular ethnicities with religious identities, intelligence, and socio-economic status.

While in modern scholarship Manichaeism is recognized as an independent missionary world religion with a unique cosmology, eschatology, and ritual system, certain elements of Manichaean teaching do overlap with those of other religions, including the worship of the prophet Jesus. Already for Mani in mid 3rd-century southern Mesopotamia, Jesus was of great importance, whose crucifixion provided the basis for the metaphor of the “Cross of Light,” symbolizing the suffering of Light among the forces of Darkness on earth. Narratives on Jesus" life, as well as hymns and prayers to him, are documented by Manichaean textual sources from 4th-century Egypt to 13th-century southern China. Further evidence of his continued devotional importance is found in a small group of Manichaean visual sources – devotional and didactic images of Jesus. One of them is a textile painting from 8th/10th-century East Central Asia with a visual language too archaic for its time and place. Through a comparative art historical study of the latter image, this paper explores the late ancient West Asian roots of the Manichaean depictions of enthroned deities, with special attention to Jesus. It points out that such depictions follow specific iconographic and compositional characteristics shared with Sasanid and Kushan royal as well as religious imagery, predating Roman analogies by as much as 200 years. Based on this evidence, this paper explores a new way to think about the origins of Jesus iconography by emphasizing the possible contribution of late ancient West Asia, whose vibrant and diverse communities worshiped Jesus without the threat of persecution along and beyond the eastern Roman frontier.

About a decade and a half ago, an SBL group convened on the topic of Paul's theology and S. Kraftchick proposed that a key to comprehending 2 Corinthians is an understanding of how metaphors can shape meaning. He offered the pivotal themes of death and life as the key to unlocking the theology of this rich letter. As his paper and responses to it were published shortly after, it became clear that while Kraftchick's exploration of the power of metaphors helped to shed light on the significance of the pauline symbolic-paradigms, there seemed to be something more there beyond, though not excluding, an exploration of death and life. I concur that we must begin with Paul's rich symbolic language, but turn our attention to two interrelated key themes that recur in the letter: sight/perception and temple/sacrifice. Or, put another way, a new epistemology and a new understanding of cult. The relationship between these two themes would have been clear to a Jew of Paul"s time: the temple is the place where God appears. Paul"s message in 2 Corinthians revolves around his insistence that his readers appropriate new eyes (2 Cor. 5.16) that see God"s holy temple (6.16) in the image of the crucified Christ (4.4) and his faithful servants (2.15-16) who bear his sacrificial conformity to death (nekrosis; 4.10).

What makes an interpretation feminist? Is it the reader, the method, the subject, the goals? This paper will focus on the latter and, in particular, will consider the goal of articulating the role gender plays in the rhetoric and assumptions of a text. As feminist criticism moves forward, while the previous goals of highlighting overlooked women, oppressed women, missing women, and maligned women should be continued, it may be time to turn attention more fully to the men in the text. Masculinity studies is an emerging field within biblical scholarship and holds great potential as a feminist reading. I will consider as a case study the book of Hosea. While feminist readings of the book have traditionally focused on the marriage metaphor and the battered wife, reaching very negative conclusions, examining the book through the lens of masculinity studies provides a different and somewhat more liberating perspective on the text (at least for women!). By explicitly considering how the male gender is socially and textually constructed, scholars can study the large number of texts that focus on men, while continuing to pursue the goals of feminist criticism, opening the texts to a gender-conscious interpretation that may allow the reader to get beyond the gender constraints of the text.

Many scholars have recently emphasized that the formation of early Christianity as a religion independent of Judaism was a far more complex process than was once thought. It was earlier usual to identify topics separating Christians from Jews in order to pinpoint a more or less clear date for the parting of the ways of these two religions. It has become clear, however, that the models based on a definite parting of the ways match ill with the evidence showing an intense and ongoing intellectual and social interaction between various Jewish and Christian communities during the first centuries CE. According to some proposals, we should not speak of Christianity and Judaism in late antiquity as separate religions at all. It can be asked, however, whether this position renders almost meaningless a sense of distinctive identity advocated in various early Christian sources. In this paper, I suggest that some recent psychological identity theories could prove helpful in understanding the dynamics of early Christian identity formation. The classical identity theory formulated by Erik H. Erikson emphasizes the sense of personal sameness and historical continuity in identity formation. According to this theory, a relatively coherent identity serves to integrate possibly conflicting personal identifications. This Eriksonian model has recently been challenged by many psychologists. Many theoreticians have contested that consistence, inner sameness and continuity should be taken as self-evident products of identity formation. Various alternatives to the Eriksonian identity theory emphasize that individuals living in a fragmented and complicated socio-cultural context are required to cope with different multifaceted and contradictory tendencies in their self-concepts. These theories could help us to appreciate the complex formation of early Christian identities comprising incoherent and paradoxical elements especially in how Christians understood themselves in relation to Jews.

This presentation will reflect on the presenter's experience as an educator in teaching about the Qur'an to high school students as part of a World Religions course. She employs proven innovative techniques and strategies to enable students to engage scriptures in ways that emphasize historical understanding, critical thinking, and personal reflection, while maintaining respect for religious traditions whether one is a faith practitioner or not.

Many of the recent studies of the ancient novel and Early Christian and Jewish narratives have focused on defining genre, making conventions contained within the text more accessible to the historical interpreter. Few of these studies have simultaneously assessed how elements of earlier biographical narrative worked in conjunction with aspects of the ancient novel to contribute to the rise of Late Antique, Christian hagiographic narratives. The blurring of boundaries between the genres of novel and narrative by Late Antique writers resulted in a familiar, but different, creation; biographical narratives which read like a novel and served to edify the audience in matters of life and faith. The didactic function, or paidea, of the Late Antique hagiographic narrative is a major point to consider. Aspects of biographical narrative fit into the developed thematic schema that characterized the stylistic form of the ancient novel. There is no doubt this contributed to both the popularity of the novel in the Hellenistic Era, and the rise of hagiography as a form of popular literature in the Late Antique World and the Middle Ages. Broader social, religious, and cultural change is often represented in the written word. The purpose of this study, ``Novel Stories,`` is to explore the human impetus toward continuity and adaptation of recognized themes in a range of genre to better serve the audience.

The book of Nahum makes a harsh reading due to its gruesome discourse of devastation. In the Masoretic Text, the scene of destruction is further augmented by the grouping of consonants with plosive qualities (e.g., Nah 1:1; 2:2) and the use of onomatopoeia (e.g., 1:4, 6). Versions and translations leave this feature largely unrepresented except in 2:10a (cf. bûqâ ûmebûqâ ûmebullaqâ “Desolation, devastation, and destruction!” JPS; “Devastation, desolation, and destruction!” NRSV). The paper demonstrates how the audible quality of the Hebrew text of Nahum heightens the portrayal of Nineveh's downfall.

This poster describes an algorithm for generating texts with limited, but interesting, similarities to diverse scriptural texts. The algorithm is based on earlier work that has identified a literary-historical pattern common to a range scriptural texts, for example, (a) the World (most notably in the books of Genesis and Revelations), (b) the Lehite Nation (as found in the Book of Mormon), (c) the Abrahamic Nation (as found largely in the Hebrew Bible), (d) Esther's Jewish Nation (in the Hebrew Bible), and (e) the ancient Egyptian opening of the mouth ritual. The poster describes basic features of the algorithm, illustrating it with simple examples. It further describes additional factors that, if implemented, would capture additional nuances of the texts.

This paper explores the continuity between the book of Samuel “as a work of literary art” (Bar Efrat 2004: 559) and the after-life of its characters, focusing on the material concerned with David and Jonathan (esp. 1 Sam 18:1-21:1; 23:14-18; 2 Sam 1:17-27). Modern scholarship is divided on the question of the nature of the relationship between David and Jonathan, based largely, though not exclusively, on how the language used to describe it is construed: should it be construed in relation to the domain of political alliances (e.g. Taggar-Cohen 2005; Tsumura 2007), or in relation to the domain of human sexuality and male bonding (e.g. Schroer and Staubli 1996; Jobling 1998)? The latter raises the question of whether modern essentialist understandings of sexuality risk distorting the evidence of the text (cf. Heacock 2007). However, too little attention has been paid by scholars to ambiguity as a dimension of the literary art of the David and Jonathan narrative (but cf. Ackerman 2005), and to the role of this ambiguity in relation to the tragic dimension of the story of Saul (on which see eg. Gunn 1980; Exum 1992). This paper argues that the ambiguity of the relationship between David and Jonathan is a literary device used to signal an intensification of the paranoia of the rejected Saul, who is threatened by the uncertainty surrounding the nature of their relationship, and who uses explicitly sexual language in a final, futile attempt to control this relationship by disambiguating and naming it (1 Sam 20:30-34). Furthermore, this ambiguity is the very aspect of the text that makes possible the appropriation of the David and Jonathan narrative as a source for the reconstitution of gay history (eg. Fone 1998), and as a basis for subsequent (homo)erotic retellings (eg. Schecter 1996).

While the subject of ritual ablutions in Second Temple Judaism has found a steady press in the last decade, few scholars have addressed the question of their basic purpose. The easy answer is that it removes ritual impurity, but what is involved in that process? And, why are ablutions performed sometimes even when no ritual impurity is present? Ritual studies experts claim that ritual is a “wordless channel of communication” (Douglas 1970) which can convey a rich “density” of meanings (Bell, 1997). Some aspects of the Jewish ritual are cross-cultural conveying messages of purgation, innocence, and inclusion. The aspect of regeneration is sometimes squelched but, being organic to water purification, lies not far below the surface. Manipulation and prophylaxis are rare. A common purpose or “message” underlying ablutions in ancient Judaism may seem unwarranted given its present over-compartmentalization (cf. Neusner's “Judaisms”). Recently, it has been suggested that ritual washing was not even practiced in the First Temple period and that the ablutions of the Priestly Code reflect Second Temple practice only (Lawrence, 2006). In another category, the Qumran sect and John the Baptist supposedly diverge from Second Temple practice by using immersion for spiritual renewal (Webb, 1994). Furthermore, the Rabbis are said to view immersion as simply a halakhic requirement in contrast to Pauline Christianity which regarded baptism as an initiation into a divine mystery (Klawans, 2000). However, while each of these Jewish groups had their distinctives, they are not as polarized as it seems. The foundational biblical data on ablutions, together with insights from ritual studies, bring into relief the commonality in Jewish purification practice in Second Temple times. Even with sectarian differences, ritual ablutions in Second Temple Judaism dramatize the individual's innocence before God, facilitate access to the deity, and anticipate the receipt of divine blessing.

The presence of doxa terminology in 2 Corinthians has captured the attention of scholars in recent years. L. L. Belleville has investigated the Sinai glory traditions in the epistle (2 Cor 3:11-18), arguing that Paul was countering Jewish traditions attributing an ever-increasing glory to Moses. C. C. Newman has claimed that in Paul's Glory-Christology (1 Cor 2:8; 2 Cor 3:4-4:6; 8:19) the various strands of the Glory tradition in the LXX and Second Temple Judaism coalesce: divine theophany, the revelation at Sinai, the Messianic and prophetic hope, and apocalyptic throne visions. A. Segal proposed that Paul, an apostate Pharisee, identified the risen Jesus with an angelic heavenly embodiment of God's glory (2 Cor 3:16-4:6). In sum, the Jewish context of doxa in 2 Corinthians has been extensively explored. Paul"s reference to the brothers accompanying the Jerusalem collection as "the glory of Christ" (2 Cor 8:23; cf. 8:18; 1:23), however, has not commanded the same attention. Where the text has been discussed, it has been understood against the backdrop of the Isaianic prophecies (Isa 60-62) and "servant" theology (M. Carrez; C.C. Newman). Alternatively, the text is explained contextually as referring to the embodiment and promotion of Christ"s glory (2 Cor 3:18; 8:19: M.J. Harris; M.E. Thrall). Strangely, the benefaction context of doxa in the honorific inscriptions and in the popular philosophers (e.g. Dio Chrysostom) has been bypassed in discussion. Even F. W. Danker, in his magnum opus (Benefactor, St Louis, 1982), does not analyse the semantic field of doxa. This paper proposes that the honorific inscriptions, which refer to the doxa of benefactors (e.g. I. Ephesos Ia 6; OGIS 339; SEG XXVIII 143), provide us insight into why Paul described his colleagues in beneficence as the "glory of Christ". Paul works within the rhetorical conventions of the honorific decrees but upends their eulogistic rationale.

When Thomas meets Jesus after his resurrection, he calls him “My Lord and my God”, a sharp contrast to the former disbelief he showed regarding the resurrection of Jesus. This confession is often considered as the climax of the Gospel of John and as a most adequate expression of faith. But does the Gospel of John really lead its readers to believe that Jesus is God? In my opinion, the context of Thomas" statement does not strengthen this interpretation. Only a few sentences later, the purpose of the gospel is given explicitly, and this purpose is belief in Jesus the son of God. To understand why Jesus is called God, the person of Thomas as the speaker of this statement must be taken into account. Thomas is a prominent person in parts of early Christianity and the Gospel of John treats him as a person already known to the readers. There might be connections to Thomas traditions as preserved, for example, in the Gospel of Thomas. In my paper, I will use this background about Thomas and his general portrayal in the Gospel to illuminate the meaning of his confession. Furthermore, I will examine other passages (in John 10 and in the Prologue) often seen as examples of “high Christology”. I will show that the Gospel of John plays with the idea of an identification of Jesus with God, but it does not actually favour it.

The peculiarities of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 has drawn the attention of biblical scholars throughout the interpretive history of this text; most notably, the named character and the otherworldly setting. Unfortunately, despite its unique presence in this two-volume work and interpretive significance with the parable proper, the role of the dogs in the story has largely been ignored or misunderstood. Recent developments in the study of Luke-Acts have re-imagined the evangelist, not as a mere collector of received traditions, but rather as an innovative literary artist. In the field of classical studies, the role of mimesis has long occupied an important place in compositional analysis of literary texts from antiquity, given its ubiquitous presence in the educational system. Dennis R. MacDonald has championed the role of literary imitation in early Christian literature, focusing specifically on the Homeric epics and their role in the composition of the Acts of Andrew, the Gospel of Mark, and most recently, the book of Acts. In 1971, Charles Segal published a small monograph, The Theme of the Mutilation of the Corpse in the Iliad, in which he argues that the maltreatment of the dead dominates the final third of the epic. Within this theme, the “dogs of Troy” play an instrumental role, affecting the major figures of the poem, Achilles, Hector, and Patroclus. Given the work of MacDonald and Segal, I argue that the presence of the dogs in the parable is best understood through the lens of the bard. The arrival of the dogs in 16:21 is a signal to the reader of the impending death of Lazarus and the subsequent mutilation of his body, which carries with it significant implications for the character in the netherworld.

At the conclusion of the People of Israel's wandering in the wilderness, the Prophet Moses meets a mysterious end east of the Jordan River. Biblical literature contains at least two strains of tradition that describe Moses's end, at least one of which grants him a form of immortality, and proposes two different accounts of why the Prophet does not cross the Jordan River. The midrashic tradition reads aspects of Moses"s relationship with God into the event of his death. The Islamic exegetical tradition, primarily in the Stories of the Prophets corpus, describes Moses"s resistance to death and in one case his violent confrontation with the Angel of Death. The Jewish and the Muslim traditions are further invested in the issue of Moses"s corpse insofar as it has contributed to national formations. According to Jewish tradition, Moses"s grave remains unknown because Jews cannot recognize a sacred site outside of Israel"s borders. The area of Moses"s demise then sets a limit of sorts on Jewish territorial aspiration and focuses it to the west of the Jordan. According to a Palestinian Muslim tradition, following the death of Moses Allah lifted Moses"s body, carried it across the Jordan and buried it near Jericho. The Nabi Musa (Prophet Moses) Mosque is not only an important site of pilgrimage and burial, but it has also been a rallying place for Palestinian nationalism since at least 1920. In the Palestinian context, the body of Moses buried in the desert between Jerusalem and Jericho stakes a religious claim to the territory. This paper will consider comparative death of Moses traditions, probing the thematic lexicon shared by Muslim and Jewish interpreters as well as how the differences in traditions inform the particular national claims.

In the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age I, clear demographic changes occurred when the population of the central hill-country dramatically increased. The question is: who was this new population group? The discussion of Israelite ethnic identity has been one of the most intensely debated issues in modern biblical and archaeological studies. Since the 19th century, it has been assumed that specific peoples could be linked with the artifacts they used. The forms these artifacts took, as well as other morphological traits, were understood to be ethnic markers – and came to be customarily applied to the identification of ancient Israel. These long held assumptions about using morphological data for Israelite identification came under challenge in the 20th century. Despite the difficulties of using physical data for ethnic identification, however, not all scholars have abandoned the idea that morphological data can be used in the identification of ethnicity. This paper will specifically explore whether or not settlement patterns, site layout, the four-room house, pottery, and/or foodways can be used to identify the ethnic identity of central hill-country sites in the Iron Age I.

The darling of liberation theologians and biblical ethicists alike, the works of Luke have long been doted upon as sources for historical research and creative inspiration in economic ethics. Nonetheless, Luke is often considered the step-child of second and third century Christianity, neglected by the Fathers who favored Matthew, and thus attracting the eyes of unsavory early Christian rebels (heretics). To evaluate and inform this common conception, I propose to examine the Wirkungsgeschichte of the Lukan wealth ethic, the manner in which Luke's Gospel and Acts were drawn upon by members of the early Church in their various ethical formulations. Attention will be given to two ante-Nicene Church Fathers, Clement of Alexandria, and Cyprian of Carthage, who are both significantly influenced by Luke, and yet integrate his teachings into two contrasting ethical frameworks owing to their unique philosophical interactions, theological convictions, and historical locations. Alongside these “orthodox” theologians, I will also contend that Lukan influence can be felt, albeit in a more attenuated fashion owing the paucity of primary source literature extant, in the economic ethics of “heterodox” Christianities of the second and third centuries, particularly the Marcionites, Carpocratians, and the Ebionites. It is my hope that this paper might both highlight the complex factors contributing the variegated practices of early Christian economic ethics, and emphasize the footprints left by one New Testament author who was often thought to be of nominal import in the Ante-Nicene era.

Recent debates about the origin and function of the so-called nomina sacra (not least between Professor Hurtado and Professor Tuckett) have focused on our ability to generalise about the nomina sacra from a large collection of evidence. But the individual approaches of the scribes are also worth investigating in order to see how the phenomenon actually functions within a given text. This paper is based on a comprehensive examination of the use of the nomina sacra in one of our earliest extensive texts, P. Bodmer II (P66). The function and usage of the different forms of this contraction is traced and analysed, with particular reference to the extensive flexibility in the use of the nomina sacra in this manuscript. Once the individuality of the practice of this text is credited, then several important implications for the debate about the origin of the practice do emerge.

In August 2006, the History Channel aired The Exodus Decoded, a "documentary" by Simcha Jacobovici. In the program, Jacobovici attempts to depict the biblical exodus as a series of historical events confirmed by archaeological and scientific evidence. The heavily-promoted, multi-million-dollar production attracted some scholarly attention, virtually all of it negative. In this presentation, I will review some of the (ab)use of archaeology in The Exodus Decoded and reflect on the experience of writing a fifteen-part online review of the program.

In light of the insights of Paul Ricouer and Elie Wiesel into the work of memory and the ability of memory to help communities build and maintain a sense of identity, connect with particular places, and to reconcile the future and the past, this paper examines the trope of memory in several key Biblical texts produced or heavily redacted during the Babylonian exile. Memory language is not only present in these texts, it is also relevant to the historical situation which produced these texts. However appropriate, the use of memory language in these texts is not univocal. Deuteronomy, Psalm 137, Ezekiel, and Second Isaiah each employ memory language in distinctive ways and for distinctive rhetorical purposes illustrating the divergent ways in which memory was discussed and imagined in this period. Deuteronomy's distinctive use of memory language centers around its focus on imploring the Israelites to act in obedience to the commands of the LORD with the apparent goal of preventing the future from mirroring the past catastrophe of exile. Ezekiel is likewise concerned that the future not repeat the past and employs memory language strikingly paired with shame as a solution to future rebellion. Psalm 137 deploys the trope of memory as a means for calling forth divine justice and an overturning of the present circumstances of the exiles. Second Isaiah utilizes memory in a variety of ways but most potently to assert the constancy of relationship between the people and their God. These variant uses to which memory language is put by these exilic texts testifies to the existence and nature of discourse about memory from within the community of the exiles themselves and highlights both the flexibility and relevance of memory for the exilic project of making sense of the relationship between the future and the past.

The "Godfearers," which are mentioned in the NT only in Luke-Acts, are often used to explain the missionary success of early Christianity. According to this scenario, many Gentile Christians had previously been "Godfearers." They readily embraced Christianity since here they found Jewish monotheism and ethics without social identity markers such as circumcision and purity rules. After a short overview of the literary and epigraphic references to "Godfearers," seven reasons are presented why the impact of "Godfearers" on the Christian mission should not be overestimated. (1) There was no Jewish monopoly on monotheism and ambitious ethics in antiquity. (2) The widespread ancient Anti-Judaism makes the existence of a large number of Godfearers very improbable. (3) There was no organized Jewish mission in antiquity. (4) The term "theosebeis" usually designates Jews, not "Godfearers." (5) Jewish inscriptions and literature use the term Godfearer" with apologetic intentions. In the Aphrodisias inscription pagan patrons are called "Godfearers" in a flattering and monopolizing way. However, "gentile Godworshippers who gave money to Jewish institutions may have done so for a variety of reasons, without approving of either Judaism or Jews" (M. Goodman). Philo and Josephus very often mention "Godfearers" to underline the attraction of Judaism to gentiles. (6) A clear theological agenda causes Luke to introduce "Godfearers" in his story; they are an important link between Israel and the gentile church. In Paul's letters and in the rest of the NT, however, they are not mentioned. Paul addresses "real" gentiles, not Godfearers. (7) The silence of the Christian apologists and the Jewish rabbis regarding "Godfearers" makes it very unlikely that they played a major part in the Christian mission. In conclusion, the existence of "Godfearers" cannot be denied, but they were not an important factor in the growth of early Christianity.

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Sivertsev and others have rightly emphasized important elements of continuity between social developments in the early Second Temple period and the Dead Sea Scrolls. In this paper I would like to focus on the role of the family and the household in the Damascus Document and Ezra-Nehemiah. In the Laws of the Damascus Document we can see the family gradually being taken over by the overseer. Sivertsev is inclined to liken the overseer's role to that of Nehemiah. Although it is true that both Nehemiah and the overseer have a say in matters of trade and marriage in their respective communities, there does seem to me an important difference. Nehemiah does not lay claim to being consulted in the everyday arrangements of marriages, but addresses a particular crisis or a sequence of crises. In the Damascus Document, by contrast, the overseer demands to be consulted in every act of trade and in every marriage arrangement. Whereas both texts still have their members arranged by family, in the Damascus Document we see a system evolving where someone else is calling the shots in everyday life – not just in extraordinary cases. Another extreme example of the way in which the authorities are almost literally entering the marital bedroom in the Damascus Document community is the law stipulating expulsion from the community for a man who fornicates with his wife contrary to the law. Whatever it may mean, it is clear the community behind the Damascus Document eventually wanted to control the most intimate parts of family life. The level of control we witness in Ezra-Nehemiah is a soft option by comparison.

This is a highly effective class that helps to set the terms for our study of the gospels in my introduction to the NT course. It involves three stages: 1) I have students write as detailed an account as possible of their recollection of the events of 9/11. I then have students break into small groups to share their accounts and to tally their similarities and differences. As a large group, we then consider the factors that influence the differences among the class members' accounts. 2) I then break students into small groups to read and discuss quotations from three ancient sources on historiography (Thucydides), biography (Plutarch), and gospel writing (Papias). As we unpack these texts, students confront the fact that even Papias (a Christian) was not a 'literalist' in his understanding of gospel literature. 3) Finally, we examine a story whose details differ in two different gospels (I've often used the death of Jesus in Mark and John, which Ehrman addresses in his textbook). Once we recognize that certain details simply cannot be reconciled, we work to arrive at the kinds of questions with which we will study the gospels, questions that are shaped largely by the first two group exercises. This is a particularly useful tool in courses whose population is influenced by fundamentalist/literalist readings of the gospels.

Relying on Hans-Georg Gadamer's concept of Wirkungsgeschichte, this paper surveys potential meanings of Luke 12:8-12 that were discovered during four different social crises. Interpreters have approached this passage to answer specific questions, which were pre-determined by whether they were persecuted or were themselves active in the role of the oppressor. Use of this text is traced through the fourth book of Clement of Alexandria's Stromata, a homily by Augustine of Hippo, the writings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, and medical journals of an American physician from the time of the Second Great Awakening. In the first example, the recently-persecuted Clement discusses the power and responsibilities of believers who stand on trial for their faith, and focuses his attention on Luke 12:8-9 and 11-12. The trend of successive generations is to ignore the courtroom scenario that is pictured in the text; to emphasize Luke 12:10 and conflate it with its synoptic parallels; and to progressively apply the text in a pietistic, individualistic manner. By the time the final example is considered, individuals use the vague concept of an unpardonable sin as justification for self-punishment and suicide. Implications for modern interpreters are discussed in this survey, which is designed to increase consciousness of how prior interpretations interact with and influence contemporary readings of the text.

Parallels between the birth and near-death of Isaac (Gen. 17:15–22:19) and Elisha and the Shunamite (2 Kgs. 4:1–37) have long been recognized (2 Kgs. 4:1-37 is the designated haftarah for Gen. 18:1–22:24). Both narratives feature a childless couple, at least one of whom is old; the announcement of a birth following the visit of a man or men; and the near-death of the son. Although the Bible mentions many barren women, it makes no explicit reference to impotent or infertile men. Barren women, such as Sarah, are sometimes reported to have conceived following divine intervention (Gen. 30:22; Judg. 13:1–24; 1 Sam. 1:19–20). The Elisha/Shunamite encounter hints at how a woman conceives when her husband is infertile: she is impregnated by a third party (Elisha. This interaction corresponds, I think, to Jackson's “tripartite breeding relationship” paradigm, evidenced in Exod. 21:1–11, where a Hebrew slave can produce offspring for his master (2007). Reasons for suggesting that Elisha was a surrogate for the Shunamite husband include: (a) sexually suggestive language (2 Kgs. 4:8, 10, 11); (b) Elisha's physical involvement with the child's revival (2 Kgs. 4:34), which implies a parallel involvement with the child's conception––the man who gave life to the Shunamite child restores it, just as God gave Isaac life (Gen. 21:1) and restored it (Gen. 22:16); and (c) the Shunamite husband is the structural equivalent of Sarah, whose barrenness ends following a divine visit (Gen. 21:1)––emphatically not after her visit to a human king (Gen. 20:18; 21:2–5). By contrast, the Shunamite husband"s infertility ends not following a divine encounter, but after the arrival of a man of God who visits his wife in more ways than one. Abraham and Sarah remain a couple, but the Shunamites become a tripartite crowd.

The cult of Kore played a major role at the city of Samaria, renamed Sebaste (Augustus) by Herod the Great. Inscriptions in honor of Kore and a marble statue of Demeter have been excavated at the site, and coins of the Antonine and Severan periods issued at Sebaste show Demeter and the rape of Kore (Persephone). The specific image of Demeter used at Sebaste makes it clear that the cult there had its roots in Egypt and represented the fusion of Greek and Egyptian ideas of the mother goddess, the male sovereign of the Underworld, and their offspring. The rich iconography emanating from Egypt equates Demeter and the wandering cow-goddess Io, and this combined goddess is either equated to or paired with Isis. In many iconographic formulations, Isis is also equated to Kore, and Demeter-Io replaces Isis" colorless sister Nephthys. Frequently the two “bilingual” goddesses are placed beside Sarapis-Hades and/or Harpokrates-Triptolemos in rich iconic assemblages.

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This paper examines the use of the various forms of the root yasha' (to save; salvation) in the book of Isaiah, with particular reference to its relevance for the formation of the book. It is argued that the use of this term is part of the development of an important theme in the book that offers another way of thinking about the composition and growth of the book. In short, the term and idea appear, albeit relatively infrequently, in Isa 1-39 (especially in putatively early texts), usually connected with the prophet's name. In Isa 40-55 and 56-66, however, various forms of the root and theme appear much more frequently and in interesting configurations. It is argued that the Isaiah tradition, whose namesake means "YHWH Saves," may have developed, in part, as an appropriation of this theme in the later contexts of the exilic and postexilic situations. To the degree that this conclusion is persuasive, it may offer readers another way to think about the composition of the canonical book, one which complements the standard critical tripartite picture of the book.

Previous studies on Egyptian “prophecy” have depended upon a “prognostics” definition derived from biblical prophecy, consequently limiting consideration to a genre of quasi-apocalytic Egyptian wisdom literature. However, Egyptian cultic practices offer implicit evidence of performance by prophetic functionaries, and the definition of prophecy currently used in broader Levantine and Mesopotamian studies raises new possibilities for regarding certain Egyptian texts as prophetic. This reconsideration opens new avenues for exploring the comparison between Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and biblical texts.

Recent studies on the composition of prophetic books (e.g., M. H. Floyd and R. D. Haak, eds., Prophets, Prophecy and Prophetic Texts, LHBOTS 427 [New York: T & T Clark, 2006]) have argued that they are essentially the product of the literati of the Persian period. In this paper I will take up this argument in the context of the book of Jeremiah and its compositional history. A long-standing approach to the book has been to situate it against the backdrop of the events either leading up to 587 BCE or those immediately following. In this approach the emphasis has often been on the prophetic message as an oral performance. However developments in the study of the book's two recensions suggest the need for a shift in focus, which I will take up in this paper. The first shift is from the pre-exilic to the post-exilic (i.e. Persian period) as a backdrop for the book's composition. The second is the shift from an understanding of the prophetic message as oral performance to a process of re-reading. The paper will explore the significance for the community of Yehud in the Persian period of Jeremian texts such as 1:4-10 (prophet to the nations), chap. 7 (the temple sermon), and 33:14-26, and the books representation of the figure of Babylon.

****An attributed quotation consists of words that are meant to be understood as belonging to a person other than the primary speaker, regardless of their actual source, and only repeated by the primary speaker. In this type of quotation, the voice may change significantly, even in total opposition to that of the primary speaker, especially in disputation. The correct identification of attributed quotations is thus crucial in interpretation. Such a quotation can be marked by a verbum dicendi, an explicit verb of speaking or thinking, such as ???. Sometimes it can also be signalled by certain virtual markings. Any attributed quotation that falls outside the above criteria is recognized as unmarked. It is almost universally held that the book of Job contains unmarked attributed quotations. This paper calls into question this assumption. Moreover, Job 42:3a and 42:4 are almost unanimously interpreted as unmarked citations of Yahweh's former words by Job. In my observation, two assumptions are generally shared among these interpreters. First, the book of Job, they believe, undoubtedly contains unmarked attributed quotations. Second, Job has understood something transformative from the divine speeches and Job 42:2-6 represents a reversal of Job of some sort. To a certain extent, these two presuppositions in fact reinforce one another. As a corollary to my thesis, therefore, the hypothesis that Job has undergone a significant change of mind after the theophanic encounter might be put into jeopardy.

This paper will look at the relationship between word order and prominence and its overall contribution to a discourse analysis of 2 Peter. The relationship between word order and topicalization is analyzed. Some criteria are proposed for determining the topic and comment of a Greek sentence based on given-new status, position, and function of the grammatical subject. The information status of discourse entities using Ellen Prince's taxonomy of new, invoked, and inferable is utilized. In analyzing clauses for word order in 2 Peter, the interesting cases involve the explicit expression of a grammatical subject. Two significant cases are noted. First, the subject seems to have focal prominence when it has new status and follows the verb since in this case it forms part of the comment and functions as a major topic marker for subsequent clauses. Second, when the evoked subject occurs before the verb, the tendency in 2 Peter is to express it as a pronoun, usually to bring attention to one of the main participants as the topic. In dependent clauses in 2 Peter, the default word order appears to be subject-verb-(complement) when the grammatical subject is explicitly encoded. In these cases, the subject typically introduces new or inferable information to support a statement in the main clause or to introduce a topic shift for subsequent clauses. Specific examples that are significant for exegesis are considered: 2 Peter 1:11; 1:18; 2:20-22. In sum, this analysis shows that one can not merely gather statistics on word order to determine prominence but information flow and topicality must be considered. Word order is one contributor to an understanding of what an author is highlighting as focal or thematic. Concurrence with other signifiers of prominence must also be considered before making a final assessment on the significance of word order.

There is an abundance of digital resources now available for biblical maps and mapping. This presentation will provide an overview of the kinds of maps that are available and review mapping options on the Internet, as freestanding programs, and as modules within Bible software packages. Particular attention will be paid to the use of mapping tools for classroom purposes.

While the New Testament contains a considerable amount of what might be termed economic advice e.g., "render unto Caesar" and "do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth," the pagan religions of the Roman Empire seem to offer little guidance about proper economic behavior. Nevertheless, Greek and Roman religious and economic institutions were closely interconnected. Temples functioned as banks, managed properties and created markets. Sacrifices and other religious observances generated considerable demand for certain commodities. Also, as Nicholas Rauh has shown, “religious fraternities served as the prevailing means of commercial organization” at Delos and elsewhere (Rauh 1993). My paper will examine the relationship of Greco-Roman paganism to the ancient economy in general and consider, in particular, how religious considerations influenced Roman economic behavior in the late Republic and early Empire.

Attention to the pronominal system in NWS languages has focused mostly on morphological issues, such as the development of 3ms suffixed pronouns or the variation in the forms of the accusative and genitive pronouns. In this paper I will instead focus on the syntactic and pragmatic roles of independent pronouns, including the development of the pronominal copula in NWS.

Service Learning enables students in Biblical Studies to model the behavior of biblical authors and characters who, thousands of years ago, sought to improve the worlds in which they lived. I ask my students to make the world a better place by identifying a problem in the world and then to implement a solution. Throughout the semester, students perform their service learning project and reflect on how various biblical authors addressed similar issues. They write extensively about their project and course material in a published blog. Students are encouraged to pick projects that relate to their majors, and so this helps make the course material meaningful for their projected career plans. Moreover, this breaks down the barriers separating the classroom from the outside world, and while students learn that changing the world is not easy, they are taught the importance of trying make the world a better place.

Preachers struggle to determine how best to bridge the hermenutical gap between reading biblical texts for their meaning in their initial historic contexts, and interpreting them as a living word for today's congregations. Using resources from the fields of systematic theology and performance theory, I propose to explore ways that memorizing and performing biblical texts is a means of interpreting texts for proclamation that holds promise for bridging this hermeneutical divide. Significantly, performing biblical texts engages the preacher's body as an instrument of exegesis and interpretation. I make the theological argument that the engagement of the body and specifically of the breath allows for the biblical text to become a holy word, in that these performance practices create conditions within which the Holy Spirit can vivify the word. Thus the argument of the paper involves outlining a doctrine of the Holy Spirit as that aspect of divine presence and agency that works through human bodies to make the divine word present and active through human words. The argument also draws on work in performance theory that explores the ways in which the body is involved in practices of interpretation. The paper also has a practical dimension, in that it recommends practices of performance as beneficial for preachers who seek to bridge the gap between biblical text and proclamation.

Early Christian apocryphal texts in Syriac and Arabic shed light on the cultural milieu of Jesus" life that occupied ancient readers" imaginations. This early audience detected and in part recreated Jesus" world through recourse to their own lives" realities. Through creating the seemingly insignificant “other,” they opened up a space for themselves and their families" concerns in the text. This study surveys important witnesses to the text corpus of Christian apocrypha in Syriac and Arabic that highlight traditions related to Jesus life, from birth to crucifixion and resurrection. Other than the Arabic Infancy Gospel, texts like the Syriac Life of the Virgin Mary (“Nestorian” and “Jacobite” recensions) or the Apocryphal Arabic Gospel of John have hardly been taken note of by scholars. Yet these texts offer important data for the reconstruction of the portrayal of Jesus in the linguistic milieu that comes closest to the intersection between Christian and early Islamic literature (Horn, 2006, 2007, and forthcoming). They also are a treasure-trove for scholars probing the imagination of ancient interpreters of the biblical text who fit some of their own lives" concerns into the story. These texts bring into focus seemingly marginal figures, like the young volunteer woman who served the Holy Family on their travels through Egypt, the children accompanying Jesus on his last journey into Jerusalem, Mary's little sister Parroghita, or the perfume-seller and her son, whose commercial activities supplied the ointment for Jesus. Themes of every-day life, like slavery, adult affectionate recognition of the wisdom of children at play, parents" desire for offspring in conflict with the rising challenges of ascetic life, and the commercial side to aspects of salvation history throw unexpected, new light on ancient perceptions of people and factors that reshaped and transformed Jesus" ministry and life.

Evidence from Qumran offers much light on the social history of scribes, both within the community itself, and more significantly in the wider history of second-temple Judean society. I would like to explore the subject in four steps. First, on the basis of recent critical studies of the social role of scribes in Judea and the earlier ANE (e.g., Carr 2004; Horsley 2007), it is increasingly clear that scribes served the Temple/high priestly aristocracy as advisers knowledgeable in the Judean cultural repertoire, including authoritative texts (e.g., Sir 38:24—39:11). This set up a conflict between their dependency on the priestly aristocracy and their loyalty to Mosaic Torah and other cultural traditions to which they were committed. Several circles of scribes (the maskilim; the “Enoch” scribes) acted out of loyalty to the latter when their high priestly patrons compromised too much with the dominant Hellenistic imperial culture to which they were vulnerable. The scribes and priests who withdrew to Qumran were thus the latest and most “radical” group of dissident scribes with a sense of (a higher) authority of their own who opposed the policy and actions of incumbent high priests. Second, it has become clear from the Scrolls found at Qumran that scribes cultivated all segments of the Judean cultural repertoire, i.e., prophetic and historical materials and texts as well as texts of Torah and different kinds of wisdom. Moreover, that this cultivation was oral as well as written can now be discerned in Qumran texts, with the help of recent studies of scribal training elsewhere. Third, that scribal cultivation of texts was oral in close interaction with writing enables us to understand certain texts discovered at Qumran as the continuing composition of alternative texts of Torah rather than as “rewritten Bible/Pentateuch.” Fourth, the oral as well as written cultivation of legal Torah helps us understand the importance of rival scribal circles (Qumran scribes vs. the “smooth interpreters”) in ongoing generation of legal rulings in the cultural tradition. All of these facets of scribal practice reveal more clearly than ever the importance, when the priestly aristocracy was increasingly compromised under imperial rule, of competing/ rival scribal circles in both the continuing development of authoritative texts and the continuity of Judean cultural tradition.

The Bent-Over Woman pericope (Luke 13:10-17) is found only in the gospel of Luke. Consequently, it has received relatively little scholarly attention. At first glance, the story seems to be similar to many of the other healings, exorcisms, and Sabbath controversies recorded throughout the gospel corpus. I argue, however, that the story is carefully crafted by the author of Luke to provide a narrative space in which the hearers of the gospel can imagine their lives differently. Using Victor Turner's dual concepts of liminality and social drama and recent theoretical work in disability studies, in addition to more traditional historical-critical exegetical methods, I explore how the liminality of the woman herself (female, disabled, “bound”), the liminality of the location in which the encounter takes place (a synagogue “on the way”), as well as the liminality of the time on which it occurs (Sabbath) and of Jesus" actions themselves (does he heal? Cure? Liberate?) all work to create a fluid setting in which traditional social expectations and assumptions can be examined, tested, and, perhaps, renegotiated. With this data in hand, I then explore how the story serves as a focusing lens through which themes seen in other stories throughout the gospel and Acts come together to present a coherent vision for how the community for whom this gospel is written might choose to organize its life together.

According to developmental psychologists, every person has an “epistemological theory” – some way of construing the nature of truth and knowledge. Studies of college students show that most students enter colleges as received or absolute knowers who develop more complex ways of knowing through their college experiences. Developmental theory can not only provide teachers with a helpful heuristic framework for understanding student responses to the academic study of the Bible, it can also help teachers design assignments that facilitate development. Teaching the Synoptic problem with the different versions of stories and sayings of Jesus provides a fruitful context for challenging students to think critically and in more complex ways. For example, if one of the hallmarks of students thinking at the dualistic level is the difficulty they have in recognizing that multiple perspectives exist legitimately, they will be challenged by multiple perspectives. I thus organize my New Testament class so that we look not at a canonical Jesus, but a literary Jesus. That is to say, students study the different portraits of Jesus painted by each gospel rather than a harmonized and synthesized picture. That step comes only after students have read the different gospels. In this paper, I will discuss some exercises I use with the Synoptic problem to introduce the gospels as literature of faith and thus help students see that the evangelists have their own voices and portraits of Jesus.

Revelation is a book that has been and continues to be dismissed. As early as the fourth century interpreters had debated whether it really could be described as a “revelation” and even some modern biblical scholars dismiss the text on account of its violence and its “poor vision of future justice,” among other reasons. For many, Revelation is either incomprehensible or unredeemable. In this way, the book that sits at the edge of the canon shares something with many lesbian, gay, queer, transgendered and bisexual people, who have been and who continue to be dismissed by cultures that finds those who do not fit into the heterosexual mold incomprehensible and unredeemable. This shared experience of dismissal and marginalization is not the only reason that a queer audience might be drawn to Revelation. Even though Revelation's imagery and language may not be easily or literally translated into visions of LGBTQ liberation (a characteristic that Revelation shares with other parts of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian canon), it can be read as an attempt at both subverting the social and political realities in which it is situated, including normative views of gender and the family. Revelation's subversions of dominant political and social perspectives can be understood as part of a liberative vision in which those oppressed by the dominant culture are vindicated by God. In view of this, this essay explores the possibility that Revelation might serve as a heuristic for thinking about queer biblical hermeneutics. This is not specifically an attempt at recouping elements of Revelation"s vision for a queer Christian theology, but an attempt at learning from the rhetorical moves of this text. By examining, 1) how Revelation works to reveal what has been hidden (both the true nature of the dominant culture and the possibility of an alternative reality), 2) negotiates ancient gender and sex norms by depicting the ideal community as males virgins who become the bride of the Lamb and 3) employs queer desire as a means of persuasion, I argue that Revelation can help us think about strategies for queer hermeneutics. Even though LBGTQ interpreters might ultimately reject aspects of this text, perhaps Revelation can provide queer interpreters a resource for building a hermeneutical framework aimed at dismantling oppressive structures and building liberative possibilities.

Patristic interpreters such as Ambrose, Chrysostom, Ephrem Graecus and the author of the Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum perceived and presented striking thematic connections between the Virgin Mary's conception of Jesus and barren Sarah's conception of Isaac. Appropriating the insights of triadic semiotics and reader-oriented textual theory as developed in Stefan Alkier"s conception of “experimental intertextuality,” these patristic observations help us recover a neglected Matthean allusion: the angelic announcement to Joseph concerning Mary"s virginal conception of Jesus (Matt 1:18-25) exhibits significant syntactic and thematic parallels to God"s announcement to Abraham concerning barren Sarah"s promised conception of Isaac (Gen 17:19 LXX), thus establishing an apologetic typology between the two holy families. This Matthean passage is therefore the first instance of the tradition linking Sarah and Mary and an example of patristic interpretation standing in fundamental continuity with canonical Christian Scripture.

In a follow-up and extension of a poster presentation at last year's SBL meeting, 44 college students read several parables attributed to Jesus in the gospel of Matthew, then evaluated those parables on 17 dimensions (e.g., The passage is critical of others; The tone of the passage is very loving) from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. All participants read a set of “pink-letter” parables, judged by the Jesus Seminar (The Five Gospels, 1993) to be similar to what Jesus probably said, and a set of “black-letter” parables, judged by the Jesus Seminar to be things Jesus did not say. Pink-letter parables were rated significantly less: judgmental, critical, aggressive, focusing on sinfulness, “doom and gloom,” and pessimistic than the black-letter parables. In addition, pink-letter parables were rated significantly more: loving, comforting, and passive. Women and men did not differ significantly in their average responses on any of the 17 dimensions. This poster presentation includes suggestions for using this methodology in a wide variety of interpretive contexts.

Although name theology remains the consensus, scholarly critiques of the theory have become increasingly trenchant, especially those of Wilson and Richter. This paper reassesses divine presence in light of and in response to these proposals. It first looks to texts outside Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History to provide a range of meaning for the name. It then builds on Wilson's work by examining divine presence in Deuteronomy, 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Kings 8 without reference to the disputed name formulae, positing that in each God is present, at least in some form, on earth, and, in Deuteronomy and 1 Kings 8, he is also present in heaven. With this foundation in place, my argument returns to name formulae. After accepting Richter's basic premise that lešakken šemô šam and lasûm šemô šam mean 'to place the name' on the basis of Akkadian parallels with some qualifications, I reexamine her ANE data and come to different conclusions regarding its import. Instead of merely connoting ownership and by extension hegemony, as elsewhere, the name in the name formulae is multivalent. In all of its various manifestations, placing one's name shares a common basis; it ensures that the named gets whatever benefits are to be had, with the result that the named accrues certain obligations and consequences. Finally, the paper reexamines the usage of the name in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Kings 8, concluding that the name has a dual role, connoting practical presence and simultaneously shrouding the nature of that presence in mystery.

Appeals to Pauline texts in ecotheology and environmental ethics have understandably concentrated on certain favourite texts. Romans 8.19-23 and Colossians 1.15-20 are the best-known and most cited examples, important due to their insistence that the whole creation is bound up in the liberating and reconciling work of God. These texts provide a starting point, a hermeneutical lens, with which to begin a further, important task, that of re-reading Pauline ethics more generally, to see whether and where there might be potential for developing and extending these beyond their (obvious) anthropocentric focus. Themes such as imitation of Christ's self-giving for others, koinonia, reconciliation, freedom, and so on, invite reconsideration. Such a re-reading does not pretend that Paul himself intended or envisaged such a broadening of the ethical scope of his teaching. Rather, following the approach outlined by Ernst Conradie, it is shaped by a hermeneutical perspective that emerges from a reading of the texts in our present context, with its pressing ecological issues, and which in turn opens up possibilities of further fresh readings.

Paul's advice on marriage and celibacy in 1 Corinthians 7 has been a source of difficulty for commentators, both ancient and modern. 1 Cor 7:5 has been especially troubling because of Paul's recommendation that married couples abstain from sex “for a set time to devote yourselves to prayer.” The verse has inspired radical encratite interpretations, such as that of the second-century Tatian (in Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 3.12.81), who argued that Paul"s advice precluded sexual relations for serious Christians. Later, Origen of Alexandria suggested that Paul"s admonition might apply to reception of the eucharist, noting that “the prayer of a man and woman who live in purity is not the same as the prayer of those who engage in sexual relations” (Fr. 34 on 1 Cor). Origen"s interpretation directly influenced fourth-century Christians, such as Jerome, who claimed that “in view of the purity of the body of Christ, all sexual intercourse is unclean” (Against Jovinian 1.20). By the later years of the fourth century, 1 Corinthians 7:5 was being invoked to support a requirement of sexual abstinence for higher clergy in the Western church (Damasus, Ad Gallos episcopos II.6; Siricius, ep. 5.9). The fourth-century biblical commentator known as the “Ambrosiaster” is one of the earliest sources of evidence for the requirement of clerical sexual continence. He also discussed 1 Corinthians 7:5 in several places: in his commentary on 1 Cor 7:5, in his commentary on 1 Tim 3:12-13, and in his Quaestio 127, De peccato Adae et Evae. Unlike many of his contemporaries, however, Ambrosiaster offered a more moderate assessment of sexual relations between married Christians. This paper will examine Ambrosiaster"s interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7:5 and its import for the question of clerical sexual continence.

Quite commonly the Quran presents brief allusions to biblical stories and to related traditions that only hint at larger narrative complexes, leaving the reader to wonder what was assumed to have been the larger narrative context known by the Qur"anic presentation and what it is that the reader was and is supposed to know. This study will struggle toward an analysis of that question, using as an example the story of the seduction of Joseph by Zulaika, the wife of Potiphar, and in particular the reference to the scene in which the gathered women cut their hands with knives.

This paper explores a Filipino way of reading the Lukan meal scenes of Jesus. Luke's narrative presents Jesus in a cyclically changing role at table from guest to host and servant and food and drink himself. From this perspective, a facet of Jesus" mission can be described as a meal ministry. A vision of the kingdom of God that he proclaims can be seen as a banquet for all. It follows that the challenge of discipleship can also go in the same direction. The most important example of this is found in the story of Jesus" Last Supper. This picture of Jesus at the Last Supper is very dear to Filipinos and the Lukan portrait of Jesus" changing roles at table is not alien to them. Their own rich food culture which also shows table fellows growing from being guest to host and servant express the importance of table fellowship for them- sharing of life. Given this food culture and penchant for the Christological image of Jesus at table as well as the Filipinos fondness for story-telling make a characterization of Jesus" at table one of the culturally significant ways of understanding the gospel message today. In this paper, we would like to suggest that the Filipinos" devotion to the Last Supper can be rooted in the Lukan picture of Jesus who occupies different roles at table so that it can spur them to a more relevant way of being Christians today in the face of the injustice of hunger in their Filipino and Asian contexts.

In his Contra Celsum, Origen deals with the efficaciousness of certain barbarian names. These well-known passages have been discussed in a number of places, either in relation to philosophical debates about the nature of language, or in relation to Platonic theurgy and magic. Yet despite the (often underestimated) importance of Jewish influence on Origen's discussion of efficacious names, few studies have examined these passages in the context of Origen's relation to Judaism. In this paper, I will look at his discussion on names as a lens through which to assess his appropriation of and detachment from Judaism and Jewish sources. Indeed, on the one hand, Origen uses and is influenced by Jewish sources, promoting an interpretation of efficacious names which is akin to Jewish conceptions of the divine name; on the other hand, he attempts to draw a distinction between the Christian use of the name of Jesus and other - including Jewish – uses of divine names. He also clearly breaks up with a Jewish Hellenistic tradition which emphasizes the equivalence between the name of God and that of Zeus. Thus through this particular discussion on names and languages, this paper will seek to provide a nuanced view of Origen"s attitude towards Judaism and Jewish sources in an apologetic context.

This paper attempts to identify the rationale for the composition of the Nag Hammadi Codex II through a thematic analysis across its seven writings. Its main argument holds that the texts of Codex II provided a hypothetical fourth-century Egyptian reader with a series of interpretations to the Book of Genesis through the description of various acts of creation as the loss of unity. Moreover, the paper argues that the texts in Codex II pair the exegeses to Genesis with interpretations of 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and 1 Thessalonians in order to single out the non-sexual practice of bridal chamber, and present it as the best way to retrieve the unity lost through generations. The pedagogical features of Codex II become apparent in its consistent use of questions and answers through which revelations of secret teachings lead to debates on forms of resurrection. Finally, the paper argues that female characters receive a significant place in Codex II. If they follow the tortuous road to repentance (Sophia) or toward androgyny (the bridal chamber), the women of the Nag Hammadi Codex II become eligible for the ascetic paideia centered on Genesis and Paul's letters.

In this poster I describe a program for reading the Greek New Testament on an annual basis using only The UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader's Edition and my Greek Syntax Notes. The program presupposes one year of elementary New Testament Greek as typically taught at a theological seminary or the equivalent. The focus of the program is on deepening one's skill at reading the Greek New Testament by exposure to manageable amounts of continuous text on a daily basis (a maximum of 37 verses per day). My innovative program provides a synthetic and holistic approach to the mastery of New Testament Greek.

Quite surprisingly, comedy and feminist interpretive method have several points of contact. The most significant of these points are (1) an acknowledgement of the influence of context and the subjectivity it creates, (2) a keen awareness of a subject/object duality and of "the Other" and (3) a frequently subverting (and thus, potentially, liberating) attitude. Thus scrutinizing biblical texts through the lens of the comic, interestingly, has something to offer feminist hermeneutics. The narratives featuring Rahab (Josh 2) and Delilah (Judg 16.4-22) exhibit many characteristics of comedy, including use of stock characters, wordplay, irony, sexual-ness, trickery, hiddenness, a situational ethic and an inversion of expectation. In both narratives, "the Other" acts as deliverer of her "chosen" people. Yet, while one is a hero, the other is a villain. What then is the difference between these two foreigners? One champions Israel, helping deliver them to victory; the other delivers an Israelite champion, helping bring about his defeat. Making comedy out of men who are fool enough to be bested by women can never be difficulty-free for feminist-critical readers. However, comedy made of women who are savvy enough to best men can offer a model of subversion, survival and liberation that will resonate strongly with many of these same readers. In the Hebrew Bible, the unyielding boundaries of Israel come into contact with the flexible boundaries of comedy. At this meeting place, one frequently encounters a woman. And that is funny.

K. Coleman's classic study of “Fatal Charades” explores the intersection of empire, power, spectacle, and fantasy in the public condemnation of criminals. Jesus figures briefly in this survey, as one more Roman criminal made to act out the mocking humiliation of his captors, “attired” as “a parody of qe/oj.” This essay reverses Coleman's gaze by asking how imperial power was appropriated and subverted--Christianized--by the charade of qe/oj as human. The subversive and spectacular qualities of Jesus" human charade are especially evident in the ways early Christians imagined Jesus" Jewish humanity. Never quite authentic, Jesus" Jewishness in early Christian eyes was more akin to passing, a performance that perfectly mimics--and therefore both affirms and subverts--essential categories of identity. For Christian authors such as Tertullian, Ambrose, and Jerome, Jesus" Jewish identity is a ruse, a charade, that enacts the contradictions of Christian power. For Hippolytus, Jesus" passing sets the stage for the double pass of the Anti-Christ--passing as Jesus passing as Jewish passing as human. Only Augustine--who famously feared the fantasies of the arena--calls into question Jesus" passing Jewishness, and interrupts the Christian appropriation of Roman spectacular, and specular, desires.

Arguably the most familiar of the Biblical psalms, Psalm 23 is to be found in numerous films and popular musical pieces; there it is quoted, misquoted, intentionally altered, argued with, or simply appropriated. Numerous scholars and readers of the psalm have categorized Psalm 23 as a “psalm of trust,” a sub-type of the lament psalm in which the element of complaint is utterly effaced by the expression of trust. My paper will explore the use/scrutiny to which the psalm is put in film and song (specifically in the movie Pale Rider and two hip-hop songs—Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio and Jesus Walks by Kanye West), and the ways in which this psalm of trust is recast (or perhaps better returned) to a place of troubled faith and complaint.

The Psalter bears witness to the faithfulness of God. The communities that produced and collected the psalms testified through these ancient lyrics that God remains faithful both to creation and to the community gathered in the Lord's name (referred to as "the congregation of the righteous" in Ps 1:5). Even as the Psalter offers this witness, it is aware of the witness of those who have not experienced fidelity in either the creation or the Creator. And yet, nevertheless, the Psalter proclaims God as faithful. This paper will explore the experience the tensions between the core testimony of the Psalter to God's fidelity and the challenge that the experience of disability offers to this testimony.

A central feature of the Qumran community's eschatology is the belief that the end of days would witness the violent destruction of evil people in the world—understood by the community to consist of non-Jews such as the Romans and Jews who did not subscribe to the community's worldview. Discussion of violence in the Dead Sea Scrolls has generally located this eschatological portrait within the framework of the community"s apocalyptic orientation. The division of humanity into good and evil and the expectation that the end of days would bring about the justified destruction of the wicked and exaltation of the righteous are commonplace themes in apocalyptic. While these general themes structured the community"s portrait of the end of days, most of the specific details were drawn from the community"s exegetical engagement with Scripture and the reapplication of ancient prophetic words to expected eschatological circumstances. Like other communities or individuals that use Scripture to defend violence, the sectarians transformed Scripture through exegesis in order to legitimize and craft its violent expectations. This paper examines the exegetical strategies employed by the community in order to construct its portrait of its enemies and vilify them as worthy of destruction in the end of days. What techniques did they employ to interpret non-violent scriptural passages in support of their own violent application of the text? How were violent scriptural narratives and commandments reread in order to apply to the community"s historical circumstances? I draw upon comparative studies of Scripture-based violence in communities of violence ranging from ancient apocalyptics to modern fundamentalist religious groups. I focus on selected passages in sectarian exegetical literature that treat the Romans and other Jews in an attempt to illustrate the community"s transformative hermeneutics of violence and locate this portrait within the larger landscape of Scripture-based violence.

This paper focuses on Heb 10:19-22. Contrary to the traditional viewpoint that the Day of Atonement is the primary image behind this fleeting, yet alluring statement, this essay will argue that it is the inauguration of the eschatological Temple that the author has in view. It is within this background that the appositional relationship between Jesus" flesh and the veil should be seen as a reference to his Incarnation, when as the eschatological high priest, he passed through the veil that separated the heavens and the cosmos in order to inaugurate the eschatological Temple. In so doing, he took upon the priestly robes that, like the veil of the Temple, symbolized the material universe. These robes of the material universe are his very flesh. By presenting Christ's flesh as the priestly robes which he wore while ministering on earth, the author of Hebrews stand in the same tradition as Philo's discussion on what occurred when the Logos left heaven in order to serve as the ultimate high priest. According to Philo, as the Logos moved from heaven to earth, he took upon himself the material of the cosmos when he passed through the cosmic veil that separated the two realms. This process is also played out in the garments of the high priests in the Temple economy. Therefore, when the author places Christ"s flesh in apposition to the veil, it is this great moment of the Incarnation that he has in mind, when the great eschatological high priest became flesh in order to open the way for the people of God to enter the eschatological Temple.

Despite a rich textual tradition of the secret life of Jesus in apocryphal gospels and other literary documents, the beloved pictorial representations of the Holy Family in a domestic setting or resting on the Flight to Egypt are almost unknown in western Christian art prior to the late middle ages or early renaissance. While the themes of early Christian art included scenes of the nativity and the adoration of the magi, they appear to have overlooked (or eliminated) Jesus" adoptive, earthly father. With the development of the Holy Family motif in the middle ages (usually consisting only of the two holy parents with their child Jesus), Joseph reappears as part of the family but usually only in scenes of the nativity or as part of the Marian cycle (e.g., the Virgin's marriage or the Presentation in the Temple). The Holy Family motif took a particularly domestic turn among northern European painters in the first century of the Protestant Reformation, giving Joseph a role in his son's rearing and education. This visually reflected Protestant redefinition of marriage and family values. Meanwhile, the art of the Catholic reformation balanced this triad (father, mother, and child) with Trinitarian motifs (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) to create an earthly and a heavenly Trinity. In the second type, the Virgin appears with God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit both in scenes of the deposition from the cross or in her coronation as Queen of Heaven. Here Joseph has no place. Finally Joseph reclaims a place in the family portrait – through the efforts of seventeenth-century Jesuits to establish his cult, while reaffirming traditional Catholic values of continent (or monastic) domestic models. This paper will offer an overview of the iconography of the Holy Family from the third century to the seventeenth – with special consideration of the missing, appearing, disappearing, and reappearing figure of St. Joseph.

Paul's ethics have been approached with various questions: what is the relationship between his theology and his ethics; what is the social context of his ethics; what are relevant ancient parallels to his ethics; what is the structure and content of his ethics; how should we reckon with the distance between Paul's ethics and our contemporary culture. This paper argues and demonstrates that Paul's ethics should be approached as an example of ancient virtue ethics. It asks and answers questions of Paul fitting to this approach: what does Paul think is the function of human beings; what does he think is the 'telos' fitting to that function; what does he think are the means and the obstacles to arriving at that 'telos'.

Biblical interpretation in India, according to students of Indian Christian Theology, has been impacted by three philosophical frameworks. First, there was the colonial framework, espoused by those theologians who were trained in western methodology. Second, there was the Brahamanical framework, which was espoused by a powerful group of theologians who came from the dominant priestly caste of Hindu society. In more recent times Dalit interpretations of the Bible seek to interpret the Bible from a Marxist framework. This paper will seek to examine a neglected field of Indian Christian Theology- Biblical Theology, and specifically Old Testament Theology in the Syrian Christian Traditions of India. The paper will show that Western, Brahamanical and Marxist frameworks do more harm than good to the Bible in the Indian context. A study of the use of the Old Testament in the Syrian Christian traditions of India, on the other hand, provides valuable lessons for the use of the Bible in India, as well as, biblical theology in the context of pluralism in the west today.

The book of Job attempts to justify the ways of God to Man, and it also considers how humans, made distinctively creative in God's image, are to justify themselves to their Creator. A previous analysis of Job in terms of a contemporary theory of creativity (Creative Problem Solving – CPS) showed the structure of the whole text to be consonant with four distinct facets of the formal study of human creativity. In terms of the “Four P's” of the theory, these aspects investigate what may be the best "Press" (context), the most effective Process, the prerequisite Personal traits, and some useful criteria for appraising the Products of creativity. One by one the succeeding quarters of the book speak to these topics. Detailed analysis of Job 28 shows how these “Four P"s” of creativity theory underlie the famous poem on Wisdom. The poem progresses through a concrete depiction of three of the “P"s,” and then skillfully blends all four at the end. The remote location of precious metals is a challenging Press for the miner; but there is a creative process for finding out and further fashioning the products of the search. Securing Wisdom, however, is a greater challenge still: it is a product not to be had at any price. So how does Man get it, and where does he find it? God, the most creative Person, knew Wisdom in and through the original creative process itself. Wisdom is not just a cosmic principle, but it should inform the whole of human life in all its social, practical, moral, and even aesthetic aspects. Life"s challenges both imperil and validate the exercise of human creativity: Man is always wise at a cost – and a value – beyond that of rubies.

The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano offers an unusual portrait of the dynamic relationship between the Bible and colonialism in the early modern period. Olaudah Equiano (1745–1797), who also went by the name of Gustavus Vassa, was a former slave who lived out his adult life in Britain. He converted to evangelical Christianity (Methodism), traveled throughout the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and rose to great prominence and wealth. In 1789 Equiano related his experience of slavery to support abolitionism in Britain in the form of a best-selling, two-volume autobiography, entitled _The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself_. Equiano's autobiography comprises a striking description of religion and culture among the Igbo of West Africa, the region he identified as his place of birth. According to the author, the Igbo were descended from ancient Jews, and their religion was a modern survival of ancient biblical religion. This claim by Equiano, seemingly casual at first, is actually a complicated maneuver that reveals how deeply he had mined the trove of biblical commentary to shape his interesting narrative for a skeptical readership. In my paper, I first explain the cultural significance of modern biblical commentary within the context of modern publishing. I then demonstrate that Equiano's appeal to biblical commentary about Africa is an inventive ruse that reveals his skill as an artist of self-representation who invents a biblical Africa to overturn Christian colonial ideas that denied Africans a place in the historical world. At the same time, as I will show, Equiano"s appeal to biblical commentators reveals the eviscerating, compromising role of biblical interpretation in colonial conquest over modern African subjects.

This paper explores several places in the Pauline letters and Acts when members of the ekklesia are imagined flying, traversing the heavens, or considering the shape of the whole oikumene. These texts will be examined in terms of the way they spatially orient the members of the ekklesia in particular contexts, in comparison with several Roman period textual and visual mappings of the heavens and those who move in it, and in light of theoretical discussions of critical geographers and postcolonial/feminist interpreters, who discuss the way that a bird's eye view of the globe is imbricated with imperialism and border-crossing.

Biblical scholars have puzzled over the meaning of Abraham's enigmatic vision of a smoking brazier and flaming torch passing between the disjecta membra in Gen 15:17. Scholars typically assume this vision symbolically conveyed some kind of covenant-making ritual. However, the search for a parallel covenant-making ritual in ancient Near Eastern literature has been in vain. In the light of the scholarly impasse in finding any adequate parallels in covenant-making rituals in ancient Near Eastern literature, this paper seeks to reinvestigate the original meaning/significance the smoking brazier and flaming torch passing between the severed animals in the light of non-covenant making rituals and contexts in ancient Near Eastern literature. This paper will focus on two items: (1) the function of the brazier and torch as divine symbols in ancient Near Eastern literature; and (2) the role of brazier and torch in four non-covenant making ancient Near Eastern rituals: (a) torch and brazier in oath-taking rituals from Alalakh and Ashur; (b) torch and brazier in Mesopotamian purification rituals of Shurpu; (c) torch and brazier in Mesopotamian calamity-reversing rituals of Maqlu; and (d) torch and brazier passing between disjecta membra in the Hittite ritual of Anniwiyanis, designed to secure the birth of a son (not daughter) for a man seeking an heir for his estate. We will suggest the latter ritual has much in common with Gen 15:17 in terms of shared features, form, and function.

Ritual is not yet a thoroughly studied topic in Qumran studies. In the past, scholars have illuminated the various kinds of prayers and liturgies that the Qumran corpus holds, discussed their sectarian/non-sectarian nature, and investigated their relationship to traditions in the Second Temple period. It has been emphasized that liturgical prayer did not emerge as a replacement for sacrificial system but was rather developed within and alongside the temple institution and adopted and elaborated outside the temple. Furthermore, ritual purity has been the topic number one in understanding the Qumran movement. Meals and other communal practices have been compared to Greco-Roman associations. Yet rituals have hardly been discussed from the point of view of religion and theories of rituals. This paper will attempt to pursue on this track and clarify the questions involved in studying rituals in the Qumran movement. Cognitive science of religion offers theoretical perspectives in the study of rituals: their effectiveness, transmission, structure, patterns of ritual systems, stability (e.g., Boyer; Lawson and McCauley; Whitehouse). Instead of analyzing the function of rituals (e.g., cohesion and identity formation; support for belief system), these theories seek to explain large-scale phenomena, with special attention to structures and function of the human mind. In order to evaluate their potential usefulness for studying ritual in the Qumran movement, it is asked what specifically is explained in some of these theories and how they could be applicable to the Qumran evidence.

The location of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar, the so-called cities of the Pentapolis, has never been determined with certainty, although an orthodox answer has taken hold in scholarship. The present consensus holds that these five cities lay south-east of the Dead Sea (DS), though specific sites for the cities have not been identified. Determining the location of Zoar has proven crucial in the discussion since it alone of the five cities could be seen in the time of the biblical writers. Post-biblical writers are divided on the location of Zoar. Josephus, Eusebius and a few later Roman and Byzantine writers placed it south of the DS, and medieval Arab writers frequently identified Zoar with es-Safi, the site of an old Roman fort lying about 3 miles south of the DS. European travelers who visited Palestine in the 19th century perpetuated this identification, and by the mid-twentieth century, most scholars had accepted it. This paper will show that recent studies in DS hydrology now undercut key arguments for the southern location, that the biblical evidence points to a northern location, and that extra-biblical authorities are in fact divided and attest two distinct traditions, one locating the Pentapolis south of the DS and one locating it to the north; Josephus attests both traditions. Tell es-Sagur located six miles SE of the DS seems the most likely candidate for biblical Zoar. The conclusion of the paper will discuss briefly the implications of placing Zoar north of the DS for the interpretation of Isaiah 15–16 and for the identification of other sites in Moab.

Exegetes often struggle to account for rapid transitions and mixing of metaphors in biblical texts. For example, within twelve verses in 1 Peter 1—2 the writer describes the readers as born of imperishable seed, emphasizes their grass-like frailty, implores them to long like infants for spiritual milk, invites them to come to the living stone and be built into a spiritual house, and calls them a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God's own people. Previous attempts to identify a "master metaphor" under which all of the above images may be subsumed have emphasized some images while neglecting or ignoring others. Lakoff and Johnson's theory of complex coherence provides an alternative model for understanding the webs of relationships among metaphors. My interpretation of 1 Peter 1—2 demonstrates that complex coherence, when used with awareness of the social and cultural background of the passage's apparently contradictory images, discloses the connections among them and allows each metaphor its place in the textual whole. This reading serves as a test case with implications for interpreting not only the many texts that combine seed, stone, and son imagery, but also any text with a sequence of seemingly unrelated metaphors.

Whatever one's opinion of prosperity theology and its proponents, it cannot be denied that the debate surrounding this particular perspective has gained both national and international attention. As recently as September 2006, Time Magazine's cover posed what has become a crucial question for many: “Does God Want You to Be Rich?” It is often too easy in “academic” circles to simplistically malign or ignore some of the more questionable theological products of the North American mega-church. Contextual engagement, however, requires that one address those issues that participate in the shaping of the wider contexts of which “academic” biblical studies is a p art and with which it interacts. This paper will engage the issues raised by prosperity theology by placing various interpretations of the book of Job from three particular contextual perspectives in dialogue with each other. The methodology employed will be a contrapuntal hermeneutic in which distinct voices, as well as the process(es) of dialogue itself, are taken together as poles around and between which a contrapuntal dialogue moves. The first section of this paper will briefly review the history of prosperity theology in the United States. The second section will examine some of the challenges to prosperity theology raised by Latin American liberation theologians reading the book of Job. The third section will promote a contrapuntal engagement between interpretations of Job from various perspectives of liberation and prosperity theology, highlighting some surprising discoveries of correspondence between these seemingly oppositional perspectives. The fourth section will briefly question the foundation of ethical universalism upon which both perspectives seem to rest. Finally, the paper will close with the author"s own reflections on the interpretation of the book of Job from a political activist"s perspective and will explore the ways in which the contrapuntal perspectives of liberation and prosperity theology can enlighten her own contextual interpretive practice. As a reflection of the nature of this particular context, many of the sources for this paper will be web-based and will reflect the explicitly evangelical Christian context from which they come. This paper intends to critically and seriously engage that context, as well as the contexts of specific Latin American liberation theologies, although the author does not espouse either context as her own.

Biblical exegesis seem to be in trouble. With the emergence of electronic computer aids a new type of exegesis also emerged. The explanation of words and complicated constructions can now be done by the pressing of a button. Gone are the days of wrestling for long hours with lexicons and Bible dictionaries of the source langauge.This resulted in exegetes knowing more about less. The question is now asked: "What remains to be done by the biblical exegete in this computer environment?" The author argues that certain exciting steps of exegesis should still be done by exegete. This is among others a social scientific investigation and a rhetorical analysis of the Greek text. A simple method, taking into consideration the latest literary developements will be introduced. It will be applied to a text.

This presentation will show that a broad variety of Hellenistic texts maintains that, because they deal with revelations through images, Joseph's divinatory practices (Gen 44:5.15) belong to the same category as dream interpretation. Accordingly, A. Leo Oppenheim's influential discrimination between divinely sent 'symbolic" and "message" dreams may need to be rethought. Hellenistic understanding of the human eye as a source, emitter and transmitter of light and the practice of interpreting images suggest that symbolic dreams belong with other revelations that use sight, such as lecanomancy, hydromancy, lychnomancy or catoptromancy. In contrast, "Message dreams," are revealed via hearing mostly in the form of speech, requiring no interpretation. In Mediterranean traditions, light is associated with the highest intellectual and religious expression. This notion is attested, among others, in the Hebrew Bible, Greek contemplative tradition, Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures, the New Testament, as well as Rabbinic and Gnostic texts. Sight is favored over other senses as the leading portal to the supernatural, esoteric, and universal knowledge. The interpretation of visual images was a recognized and popular profession with a very structured theory and practice, as revealed by this notice in Yashar 53:20: "Benjamin beheld that instrument with the map of the stars of heaven, and he was wise and looked therein to know where his brother was."

The ending of Mark's Gospel at 16.8 is generally considered to be one of the Gospel's most distinctive features, with the women fleeing from the tomb and saying nothing to anyone because of their fear. The reception history of Mark"s gospel reveals notable ambiguity amongsts commentators concerning the role of the women. And contrary to the modern tendency to ignore Mark 16.9-20, these verses sometimes had a significant impact in discussions about how to interpret Mark"s account of the empty tomb. This paper will provide a sample of the differing interpretations of Mark 16.1-20, including some representations in art, music and literature, with a particular focus on the "afterlives" of the women who are mentioned. After illustrating a range of patristic interpretations – from the positive response of Pseudo-Jerome (the earliest commentator on Mark) to criticism of the women"s lack of faith (Peter Chrysologus) – I will then compare these with some artistic interpretations of the women, thereby raising issues about the role of artists as biblical interpreters. The examples discussed, ranging from baptismal fonts to Bach"s Cantatas, highlight the significant use, influence and impact of Mark 16.1-20 in a wide variety of contexts.

This paper will provide an examination of the text of Q 7:1-10, now reconstructed in The Critical Edition of Q and in the series Documenta Q with a data-base of 200 years of scholarly research. Of particular interest for discussion of the reconstruction is the exchange between the centurion and Jesus that leads to the former's central saying – “Lord, I am not worthy …” – especially Jesus" hesitant question: “Am I, by coming, to heal him?” (Q 7:3; cf. Mt 8:7). A second point has to do with the conclusion (Q 7:10) – whether or not there was one and, if so, what form it might have had. These issues bear on our appreciation of the nature of the pericope and its place in Q. Of importance, of course, is the assessment of the redactional activity of Matthew and Luke respectively. This paper will examine the tradition in Q and what the evangelist Matthew has done with the story as it is presented in Mt 8:5-13. We can conclude with reference to some possible implications for understanding the related story of the Royal Official in Jn 4:46-54.

Feminist biblical interpreters have provided significant challenges to mainstream interpretations of Genesis 39 as a seduction text. Although many feminist interpreters question the traditional negative characterization of Potiphar's Wife, most continue to focus primarily on gender issues within the text. Such a focus on gender causes them to ignore the interaction of gender with other categories of difference. This paper demonstrates the importance of gender, ethnicity, and class within Genesis 39. Drawing on womanist thought, it illustrates the insufficiency of these categories as isolated identity markers and underscores the importance of their interaction. As a result, it shows the multidimensional power dynamics of this text.

The blood-dripping sculptures of "Dying Gauls" at Paul's time are among the most pervasive and impressive representations of “salvific” Roman violence in conquering and subduing the barbarian Other. Their life counterparts are at display in the Roman arenas when beast hunts, gladiatorial fights or executions, including crucifixions, are staged .Rarely noticed in New Testament scholarship is the fact that these "Dying Gauls" are the direct ancestors of Paul's Galatians: The image was invented at Pergamon during a time of Pergamene-Galatian clashes in the 3rd/2nd centuries BCE; conceptually it belongs into the overall panorama of a cosmogonic “giant battle” that is the centerpiece of the Great Altar of Pergamon – and at the core of occidental constructs of a lawless/godless enemy Other that justifies and celebrates deadly violence as world-saving act of victorious Self-establishment. This paper re-imagines the image of Christ crucified advocated by Paul in Gal 3:1 before the backdrop of "Dying Gauls/Galatians"; it lays out some of the subversive implications of a resistant semiotics of Otherness that constructs the Self in solidarity and identification with, rather than dissociation from the “pain of the Other.”

This paper discusses the short story concerning the murder of the priest-prophet Zechariah in the Jerusalem's Temple courtyard, recounted in 2 Chr 24,20-22. It scrutinizes the literary-history, theological concept and historicity of the Chronicler's story, which has no parallel in Kings or elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. Detached from the question of the historicity of the story in Chronicles, the murder of the prophet and priest in the House of the Lord has been viewed through generations as a most disgraceful event, and had a strong impact on numerous Jewish and Christian writings. The paper exemplifies a probable reflection of the Chronicler"s story in a similar narrative in the Acts of Apostles, and the consequent message of the latter concerning the greater ethical merit of the “new covenant” (Christianity) versus the incompatible vengeance of the “old covenant” (Judaism).

Throughout his prophecy, Jeremiah conjures images of monstrous women to justify God's condemnation of Israel, to provoke disgust from his audience and to impel them to reform. According to horror theorist Barbara Creed, female monsters horrify differently than male monsters. For Creed, female monstrousness relates primarily to a woman's mothering or reproductive functions. Applying horror theory on the monstrous-feminine to the book of Jeremiah, I will look at Jeremiah"s representation of woman as monster. I begin by defining the monstrous-feminine and locating her in the book of Jeremiah. Through the lens of a close reading of Jer. 13:18-27, I consider the construct, nature and rhetorical impact of Jeremiah"s female monsters. Supporting Creed, I claim that Jeremiah constructs images of monstrous mothers and abject female bodies as well as images that convey a monstrous female sexuality.

The available fragments of Instruction constitute a particular challenge for the study of the social status of scribes in Second Temple Judaism of the third to the first centuries BCE. This composition is clearly reflective of a wisdom tradition shared with works such as Ben Sira and even the Wisdom of Solomon. Research has demonstrated that the scribal circles associated with Daniel and Enoch betray evidence of an elite social status in which those compositions originated. In contrast to both the wisdom compositions and these prominent representatives of Second Temple apocalyptic literature, Instruction is filled with references to the poverty and lack of means available to the mebyn, the addressee of this composition. This paper explores the evidence available within Instruction with regard to social status and scribal roles, comparing it with the material in these other texts. The research will demonstrate that the distinctive nature of the social location assumed in this text made it a valuable resource for sectarians as they developed an identity using some of the same vocabulary, as demonstrated in a sample of the texts which they authored.

Rabbinic literature from the third century C.E. witnesses to the flowering of so-called allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs. Evidence for such sustained interpretation of the Song of Songs before this period is, however, scant. Scholars have suggested potential allusions to the Song of Songs in earlier literature such as the Wisdom of Solomon, 4 Ezra, Sirach, and the Apocalypse of John (or Revelation). This paper will explore what these earlier allusions and recent discussion of them can tell us about the interpretation of the Song of Songs between the period of the Song's composition and its more sustained interpretation in Tannaitic literature. Taken as a whole these allusions suggest a budding use of the Song of Songs in pre-Tannaitic Jewish and Christian literature in which the erotic language of the Song is used to express devotion to God.

There is general agreement that “Abrek” used in Genesis 41:43 is not a Hebrew word.Because abrek is used by the Egyptians, it would seem reasonable that it is an Egyptian phrase. Yet, abrek is not found in any other Egyptian writing. Egyptologist Bob Brier has speculated that abrek is a Hebrew corruption of the Egyptian expression “Ib ro*k” (Heart to You!). While this interpretation works phonetically, there is little textual support for this reading. This paper begins with John Gould's observation that maxims (gnomes) emerge from and then dissolve back into more complex mythical narratives. Therefore, if abrek is the corruption of an Egyptian maxim, it will, necessarily, make use of a more complex narrative as a subtext. Using Gould's perspective on the relationship between maxim and myth, this paper will propose that abrek as the idiomatic expression “Ib ro ka” (“Heart to Soul”) which, it will be argued, is based on the onto-cosmological narrative “The Memphite Theology.” After investigating how “Ib ro ka” emerges from its Egyptian narrative subtext, this paper will examine how the collective memory of the Hebrews reformulates this gnome into a polemical narrative against Egyptian wisdom. Finally, this progression from narrative to maxim to polemic will be analyzed using Kenneth Burke"s pentad of dramatism to illustrate how a rhetorical analysis of motive can be an invaluable tool in determining the time and place of a text"s construction.

Josephus is a major source for information on the temple on Mount Gerizim,for its construction and destruction. Often this information has been taken as a building block in the reconstruction of the origin and early history of the Samaritans. However, Josephus' general attitude towards the Samaritans has to be taken into account for evaluting this information, before its value as a historical source can be assessed. One is now able to make comparisons with the epigraphical material emerging from the excavations on Mount Gerizim, with sources from Qumran and with 2 Maccabees. On the basis of the available material, a picture of the situation on Mount Gerizim in the last centuries bce can be drawn.

The University of Chicago theologian David Tracy proposes three steps for hermeneutics: First, interpreters enter the act of interpreting “bearing the history of the effects of the traditions to which they ineluctably belong.” Second, interpreters confront a “classic,” that is, a “text” (in the broad sense) which bears “a certain permanence and excess of meaning that resists a definitive interpretation.” Third, interpreters engage this classic text in a hermeneutical “game of conversation.” This paper will attempt to show that Tracy's steps for hermeneutics are actually an eloquent description of what often happens when Asian-North Americans engage in hermeneutics. In the first place, they enter the interpretive act bearing the qualities that are characteristic of their diasporic and hybrid experience. (Here, I will present some salient characteristics with a bearing on hermeneutics that I culled from the Asian American theologians P. Phan, F. Matsuoka, R. Nakashima-Brock, and J.Y. Lee in my 2006 dissertation.) Next, I will suggest that a “classic” with which Asian-North American interpreters could converse with much profit is “canonicity,” the fact that a group of diverse writings on Jesus proclaimed as the Christ have been collected and fixed in a corpus which is believed to have some coherence and permanence of meaning for any subsequent questions about Christian identity. Why? Because such a conversation will show that the canon exhibits many commonalities with Asian-North American experiences and can itself be considered a “persona” with a hybrid identity. Lastly, I will actually initiate a hermeneutical conversation between an Asian-North American interpreter and canonicity and see what this conversation can suggest regarding issues deemed crucial among Asian-North Americans such as plurality in Christian identity, negotiation between diverse worlds, and the meaning of efforts to domesticate canonical plurality using notions such as authoritative interpretation and a “canon within the canon.”

This presentation will have three parts. The first will define coding, drawing upon my July 2007 article in Biblica (which is online). Part two will describe how coding was applied to Hebrew scripture in general and to the book of Isaiah in particular. As a handout will show, exilic coding in all three sections of the book is high--as a whole it ranks sixth in coding density among Hebrew scripture's thirty-nine books. Two-thirds of chapters 1-39 contain statistically significant coding of Nebuchadnezzar or of a later monarch (including "Cyrus king of Babylon"), which means that most of First Isaiah was written during the Exile. Interestingly, coding shows that Isaiah 53 also was written under Cyrus after 539 BCE, while Isaiah 52 with its introduction to the Suffering Servant chapter has no such designation. This implies that the two might have been written decades apart. The presentation's third part will discuss clues that coding gives about authorship. A handout will show that three different exilic people have significant coding in at least thirty Isaiah chapters. Surprisingly, "Daniel" ranks first with thirty-four. In conclusion, this coding discovery can be of considerable assistance in understanding how the book of Isaiah was formed.

The hermeneutical assumption that human beings are the central character throughout the biblical narrative is questioned in this reading that focuses on the voice of trees as they are found throughout the story. Beginning with Genesis and following the story through to Revelation, the way in which God's actions are perceived in the world is explored from the perspective of the trees. Such a perspective provides unusual insights into how historical happenings are seen by the non-human world. Events that seem successful by human standards are situations of deep suffering for trees. Conversely, historical event that seem tragic from a human point of view provide an opportunity for rejoicing on the part of the trees. In addition, when the biblical story is told from a place of identification with trees, there are some unexpected plot twists in the story that decentre the importance of humanity and retrieve the importance of trees for the redemption of humankind. In spite of being used by humanity as an instrument of death, the trees themselves take the path of imitation of Jesus. They do this by offering healing and forgiveness to those who have distorted their calling and caused them untold suffering. This telling illuminates Paul's assertion that the gospel has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, for the text indicates that trees not only hear such good news, but that they also respond and live out the gospel themselves.

A discussion of the challenge of the ancient phenomenology of the verbal arts.

This paper will argue that New Testament scholarship could benefit from sustained engagement with Holocaust scholarship and with the burgeoning field of Genocide Studies. I will begin by examining critically the nature and scope of the assumptions made by post-Holocaust New Testament scholars about genocide. I will argue that the Holocaust functions, within New Testament scholarship, primarily as an ethical ground for a more serious and less hostile conception of Judaism. While I applaud the ethical seriousness of post-Holocaust New Testament, I also wish to ground this understanding in the sort of issues raised by Holocaust/Genocide scholars. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that such a dialogue is not without its complexity and difficulties. While categories draw from critical theory are often fluid enough to apply to the interpretation of ancient texts, most Holocaust scholarship is historically specific enough to render problematic such direct application of categories. Having identified some of the obstacles that stand in the way of engagement between the two fields, I will conclude by identifying three specific ways that Genocide Studies can help to inform New Testament scholarship. (i) Genocide Studies can help post-Holocaust New Testament scholarship become more reflective in its assumptions about genocide and the Holocaust. (ii) Holocaust Scholarship provides a rich and nuanced theory on the origins of the modern genocides and can introduce to New Testament scholarship a whole new range of ethical issues for examination and consideration. (iii) While Holocaust/genocide scholarship will probably not provide scholars with directly applicable interpretive categories, it is possible that these fields can introduce a theoretical stance towards the problem of systematic violence that can prove helpful to New Testament scholarship.

Clement's approach to scripture is shaped by his prior theological commitment to the identity and character of God, which he expresses especially in a creative tension between a radical apophaticism and a fervent commitment to divine philanthropia. It is, however, the divine philanthropia climactically expressed in the condescension and love of the Son that governs Clement's conception both of the doctrine of God and of the goal of human existence. Divine philanthropia thus not only characterizes the identity and character of God but also orients the revelatory and redemptive economy of the Logos, and in so doing provides the exegete with the most fundamental criterion of biblical exegesis. This specifically biblical doctrine of divine philanthropia not only serves to govern Clement"s description of the divine identity and character, but also the practice of biblical interpretation viewed in relation to the goal of human existence: the true Gnostic is not merely one who has correct knowledge of the divine identity, but rather is above all else an exegete marked and transformed by divine philanthropia. In this regard Clement"s trilogy, especially the Stromateis, has a decidedly exegetical foundation and orientation. Although Clement"s preferred procedure differs markedly from Philo and Origen, he nevertheless exemplifies a similar biblical orientation that orders his thought and gives shape to his most fundamental theological commitments. Thus the revelatory and redemptive economy of the Logos unites for Clement the manner in which exegesis must be worthy of God: just as biblical interpretation must yield descriptions of God that conform to governing convictions related to God"s loving intentions for humanity, so the progressive salvation of humanity results in an ever-increasing capacity to worship God in a manner worthy of God and (especially) to interpret the scriptures in a manner worthy of God.

The Didache has often been the subject of scholarly discussions surrounding the issues of early Jewish-Christian relations insofar as this document clearly points at early forms of Jesus movement that transmitted Jewish traditions both in practice and belief. Affinity with Judaism has been highlighted especially with regard to the liturgical portions of the Didache, which seem to reflect contemporary Jewish institutions. In particular, many scholars tend to see a direct link between the eucharistic prayers of the Didache (9-10) and the Birkat Ha-Mazon, suggesting that the former evolved out of the latter. At the same time, the distinctive features of the Didache prayers are interpreted for the most part as Christian modifications of the Jewish original. This presentation will test this view by focusing on Did. 9.4 and 10.5, which refer to the eschatological gathering of the Church into God's Kingdom. While displaying some similarity with the traditional Jewish motif of the ingathering of the diaspora, these verses do not express the idea of Israel's restoration, which seems to be closely connected with the gathering motif in Jewish literature. In view of this the following questions may be raised: does the lack of any explicit reference to Israel (as well as Jerusalem and/or the Temple) here indicate that the Didache attempts to substitute the Jewish hope for the political reconstitution of Israel as nation by the notion of the eschatological assembly of the Church, stripped of any political connotation? And if so, is the Didache community attempting to define thus its own identity in opposition to Judaism? Answers to these questions will allow us to determine to what extent, if at all, verses 9.4 and 10.5 can be seen as specifically Christian, and whether they imply the parting of the ways with Judaism.

Proverbs 26:4-5 is notorious for its exegetical difficulty because the two verses seem contradictory to each other. In recent scholarship, a number of scholars have argued that a key to understanding this passage is “fittingness,” which requires the interpreter's sensitivity toward how to act appropriately in a given situation. This “fittingness” criterion is suggestively said to serve the hermeneutical needs of other individual proverbs, yet has significant limitation: it is read from within Proverbs 26:4-5 and therefore does not have legitimacy for other proverbs. Accordingly, this paper revisits Proverbs 26:4-5 at two levels. First, it attempts to read the passage from within itself. Second, it goes further to interpret it from the hermeneutical perspective of Proverbs 1-9, especially Proverbs 9 where the fear of the Lord is given as a guideline to differentiate between Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly. It is noteworthy that Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly in Proverbs 9 are etymologically related to “be wise” and “fools” in Proverbs 26:4-5 (hkm and ksl). Consequently, this paper argues that Proverbs 26:4-5 should be interpreted not only from within itself, namely, from the viewpoint of fittingness, but also through Proverbs 1-9, precisely, from the perspective of the fear of the Lord. It is hoped that this study would serve as a useful example to support the case that the individual maxims in Proverbs 10 onward are to be interpreted through the hermeneutical lens of Proverbs 1-9.

Ilu is the highest god of Ugarit. Like other kings of gods, he has many epithets. One of the most frequently used epithets is Thoru (tôru). It seems that there are two well represented competing views about the ancient Near Eastern symbolism of the bull. According to the one, the title tr signifies that Ilu is a fertility god. The other view is that the ancient bull symbolizes the strength and might of Ilu, rather than fertility. This paper begins with the Held's methodological principle zero, “all internal Biblical evidence must first be examined exhaustively before even beginning the philological investigation of the comparative Semitic evidence for the word in question.” According to this principle, this paper examines all internal Ugaritic evidence first before making inferences. The consequence of a thorough scrutiny of the Ugaritic literary data is that Ilu's epithet Thoru indicates that Ilu is a fertility god of Ugarit. Bull symbolizes might or strength in other areas of the ancient Near East and beyond, but when the epithet is used to describe Ilu of Ugarit, it consistently signifies the aspect of fertility of the highest god of the city.

The narrator of the David story, 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 2, is certainly more of an apologist than an historian, spinning stories with superb narrative skills in order to defend David's innocence of bloodguilt during his rise to power (1 Samuel 16 – 2 Samuel 5) and to depict him as a kind and meek father who is taken advantage of by his sons and servants during Absalom's revolt (2 Samuel 13 – 20) and Solomon"s succession (1 Kings 1 – 2). This David invokes awe and adoration on one hand and profound sympathy on the other. He is a hero of faith many of us strive to imitate, and, at the same time, he is all too human to whom we can relate and in whom we see our frailties. This paper does not try to deconstruct this image, tempting as it may be. Instead, this paper strives to present postcolonial features in David that ought to be imagined and practiced by individuals and communities, like Asian Americans, embroiled in the politics of difference in the twenty-first century.

Early Christian Writings and its companion site, Early Jewish Writings, have become very popular over the past five years, receiving well over a million visitors in that time and being recognized occasionally in print publications. These sites catalog the writings of Christians and Jews respectively through the first two centuries of the common era, highlighting publicly available introductions and translations. The websites and their functionality will be illustrated and a future course for the sites will be suggested.

Resurrection in Paul's letter to Rome provides an extended case study in first century Jewish Christian hermeneutics. The resurrection of Jesus looms large over the entire letter, appearing in at least eleven of the sixteen chapters and also in every major argumentative section. Paul does not provide an extended analysis of resurrection; instead, he uses the resurrection of Jesus as a hermeneutical key by which he reinterprets almost every major moment of Israel's story. These reinterpreted elements include creation, Adam, Abrahamic descent, Torah, Davidic kingship, restoration, new creation, and perhaps even the identity of Israel"s God. The paper will argue for this hermeneutical function of resurrection in the letter, and make some suggestions as to why Paul chooses resurrection as the appropriate interpretive grid for Israel"s scriptures given the content and purposes of Romans.

“In kind” donations by Constantine to the churches in the Liber Pontificalis reveal the specific economic needs of the new churches within their civic context, reflect the complexities and interrelationships of the Roman economy, and underscore the realities of the resources available to Christianity. The Liber Pontificalis (or Book of the Popes) details the specific gifts made to the individual churches at Rome. Foundational among these gifts are the donations of Constantine, made especially after his consolidations of the Western and Eastern halves of the empire. Pietri made the now oft-cited observation that the total of Constantine's donations was about the equivalent of the income of a single senator. The “in kind” donations that form the primary source of funding for churches founded after Constantine's consolidation of the East have been less thoroughly examined or connected to recent theories about the Roman economy, world historical perspectives, or studies of Constantine"s Rome. Constantine"s “in kind” donations correspond closely with the specific economic needs of the individual churches for their liturgical functions and also for meeting the specific social needs of their new communities. These “in kind” donations from newly acquired Eastern holdings also offer insight into the complex flow of goods from the provinces into the center of the empire to support specialized needs. Close inspection of the funding for Constantine"s churches also underscores the limited means of these churches. Christian churches would build upon early Constantinian foundations to establish a vital economy at the heart of the later Roman Empire, but at this time their means remained limited and their economic position vulnerable. Capturing a specific and critical moment in time, Constantine"s “in kind” donations from the Liber Pontificalis reveal the nascent economy of the Christian church set within the complexity of the larger economy of the Roman Empire.

The lecture will deal with early interpretations of the "flaming turning sword" placed by God "to guard the way of the tree of life," according to Gen 3:24, and some of its interpretations in early Judaism (midrash) and Christianity (Ephrem). I intend also to deal with the interpretation suggested by Origen and by Jewish sources to the bitter waters of Marah and the tree thrown into it (Ex 15:22-26). These case-studies may help us to better understand the complex relationship between the Jewish and the Christian interpretations of the Bible (including borrowings and polemics) and their correspondence to the more basic theological orientations of the two rival religions.

For almost a century, Assyriologists have been aware of a ritual called nam-erim-bur-ru da/mamit pasaru. Both the Sumerian and Akkadian appellations of this rite mean "curse releasing". Textual evidence shows that they are exorcistic and aim to heal diseases and other ailments caused by maledictions. A nam-erim-bur-ru-da found on a tablet in the British Museum (BM 50658) furnishes information on the structure of the rite. The tablet records two elements of the ritual under two headings: an inim-inim-ma/amatu a series of "words" or "an oral formula" and a kid-kid/kikkittû, a list of preparatory acts that indirectly inventories some of the items required for the rite. The ritual described in Lev 14:2-9 likewise cleanses a man suffering from the effects of the curse of "leprosy" and may be considered the biblical equivalent of a nam-erim-bur ru-da/mamit pasaru ritual. This proposes that Lev 14:2-9 functions as the kid-kid/kikkittû "ritual acts" tablet for the "leprosy" rituals. Lev 14:2 specifically identifies the procedure as torah. Unlike BM 50658, Leviticus does not record any oral elements of the rite. The lack of such incantations in biblical "leprosy" rituals may account for Naaman's heated response to Elisha in 2 Kings 5:11 who obviously expected much more from the prophet than instructions to wash in the river. This suggests that some Israelite rites were primarily a series of effective ritual acts that required few if any incantations for them to be productive.

In order to explain the impact the destruction of the second temple had on Judaism, a number of scholars maintain that a helpful analogy can be drawn between the catastrophic defeat in 70 CE and calamities that befell the Jewish people in 1933-1945. Following from this, it is suggested that the Jewish responses to these catastrophes can also be helpfully compared. A dispassionate comparison of the two historical events, alongside a careful reconsideration of the responses to 70 CE in Josephus and Rabbinic literature will provide the basis for a critical reexamination of this approach. The scholars who maintain the approach to be analyzed here—B. Bokser, J. Neusner, S. Schwartz, M. Goodman—do not present a monolithic stance on these matters. Nonetheless, these scholars generally maintain that the Jews were at first shocked into silence, and only gradually able to come to terms with catastrophe. Neither aspect of this approach finds adequate support in either the ancient or modern evidence. When looking at the ancient evidence—and this will be the focus of this paper—what is striking is the degree to which Josephus's response in the first decade after the destruction is in many important respects quite similar to the responses of the rabbis centuries later. These similarities include: (1) maintaining a covenantal explanation for the destruction; (2) expressing a concern with transgressions that defiled the temple prior to its destruction; (3) explicitly recognizing that the destruction was not unprecedented; and (4) clearly asserting that the proper response is not to make dramatic changes but to assert continuity. It will be argued, in conclusion, that scholarly understanding of both Josephus and the Rabbis will be advanced if we set aside once and for all the ill-advised comparison between the events of 70 CE and 1945.

Action is an important element in ritual and refers to the interplay of ritual objects/participants in space and time which results in the performance of the ritual itself (cf. Gerald A. Klingbeil, Bridging the Gap: Ritual and Ritual Texts in the Bible [BBRSup 1; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2007], 18). While both biblical ritual texts and ANE iconography depicting religious/ritual activities describe a dynamic, action-oriented reality, both are in fact static snapshots of an ancient reality or concept. Within the thematic framework of this particular session of the Ritual in the Biblical World consultation, this paper tries to look for an interface between ritual and iconographic studies by focusing upon the interaction between the dynamic and the static. The two key questions under discussion are: (1) Can ritual be expressed adequately through iconography; and (2) Can iconography serve as a hermeneutic tool to decipher ritual? The raw data used to interact with these questions is taken from the corpus of the ritual texts of the Hebrew Bible and from ANE iconographic objects where preference is given to the spatial and geographic context in which the Hebrew Bible originated.

In a paper read at the International SBL meetings in Vienna, 2007, I discussed the relationship between the literary and literal image. Taking metaphor as the most prominent trope of biblical imagery, I concentrated on the relationship between metaphors in the Hebrew Bible and iconographic objects in the ANE. My preliminary conclusion was that while both are independent forms of communication which need to be understood in their own right, they nevertheless are linked to each other via the conceptual metaphor and converge in the concept of what constitutes an image. Thus the literary and literal images can rightfully be related to each other as done liberally in iconographic studies that deal with exegetical issues. In the present study I would like to take the analysis of the relationship between the literal and literary image one step further. Metaphors of the divine in the Hebrew Psalter can be categorized in domains of main metaphors and their corresponding sub-metaphors. Deities as depicted in ANE iconography also exhibit certain sets of attributes which in turn classify them as the respective deity. A comparison of the God as a warrior metaphor in the Hebrew Psalter together with its corresponding sub-metaphors, and iconographic objects of warrior-gods from the ANE with their respective sets of attributes will try to answer the question as to how complex the level of interaction between the literary and the literal image can be established.

For over a century the Gospel of John has been described as a drama. Before the Second World War the dramatic nature of the gospel was used to defend the literary unity of the gospel in the midst of growing criticisms. After the war, and in lieu of form- and redaction-critical emphases, the gospel's dramatic features were used to describe its odd historical nature, most visible in the unique mixture of Jesus tradition with the experiences of the Johannine community that created a “two-level drama.” Unfortunately, the notion of “drama” has been used rather simplistically as a buzzword either in place of literary aesthetics or as a descriptor of John's unique historical narrative. But these conceptual categories have had their problems, for both the categories of “narrative” and “history” are impeded by limitations in their very nature. Even more, neither seem to be able to handle the theological dimension of the Fourth Gospel. This paper will try to move beyond the narrative-history impasse by using “drama” as a theological category. This is not an argument regarding the genre of the Gospel of John, nor is it trying to describe theatrical elements in order to highlight theological emphases; rather, it is attempting to use drama as a category, just as one would use the categories of history or narrative. It is an argument that drama is a more capable conceptual model, a meta-category, a preferable frame of reference within which the categories of history and narrative (theology) may function and inter-relate. Using recent research in dramatic theory, especially Hans Urs von Balthasar"s Theo-Drama, this paper will try to move beyond the impasse of history and theology in the Fourth Gospel and provide a reading strategy that allows for the gospel"s performative nature as Christian scripture.

The extant text of Isaiah shares literary, verbal, and thematic affinities with many psalms. An examination of some of these similarities reveals that in the compositional process, the Isaianic author draws liberally from a specific group of psalms which, linked together conceptually through terminology and theme, influence and enhance the interpretation of Isaiah's message. This paper analyzes three instances of prophetic appropriation and adaptation of Psalms 96-98 in Isaiah 42-49, in order to discover the role that biblical allusion plays when the writer invokes an anterior text, then reformulates it, reinterprets it, or reacts against it The research demonstrates that through the adaptation of Psalms 96-98, the prophetic writer actively engages the audience in the process of connecting conceptually corresponding texts together into an authoritative theological continuum, illustrating the dynamic vitality and interpretive significance of biblical textual dialogue for the reader.

The paradoxical identification between wisdom's essence and its points of failure (as analyzed in the crucial chapter of von Rad's Weisheit in Israel—“Grenzen der Weisheit”) has proven remarkably productive in recent Proverbs scholarship. What was once disregarded as a rigid ideology of retribution is now seen, on the whole, as a pious exploration of the finitude of human knowledge, set in stark contrast to the infinite freedom of Yhwh. On this reading, what limits wisdom (Yhwh's unfettered sovereignty) and what marks wisdom's deepest truth (Yhwh's ordered creativity) are different sides of the same coin. This is to understand both limit and essence as grounded in a transcendent Other, which human wisdom approaches but only asymptotically—the gap marked, of course, by Proverbs high regard for “the-fear of-Yhwh.” Assuming these conclusions are right, we can formalize the situation thus: the Symbolic order of wisdom falls short of its external referent in the Real (i.e. the unattainable kernel of Yhwh's freedom), and this gap is marked by a signifier, “the-fear of-Yhwh.” In other words, it is the transcendent Real that holds ontological priority. The paper at hand is interested in two “clusters” (Scoralick, Heim) of proverbs (Prov 10:22-27; 14:16-27) wherein “the-fear of-Yhwh” is deployed as a solution to the impasses of the Symbolic as such. In these chains of sayings, the “gap” that impedes the sages from attaining Absolute Wisdom inheres immanently to wisdom's symbolic-discursive field. Wisdom's inaccessible Real, to put it more strongly, is nothing but this series of failures to constitute a coherent Symbolic field. The goal of this paper is to renew our perceptive capacities (1) vis-à-vis wisdom's limit-essence as it subsists on the plane of immanence, and (2) to the poetics of making-transcendent that I believe characterizes Proverbs 1-9 as an ideological-literary project.

Cyril of Alexandria composed a verse-by-verse commentary on Isaiah early in his pontificate. However, this commentary has received very little scholarly attention, both including and because of a lack of a critical edition and a translation into any modern language. In this paper I examine Cyril's teaching concerning the Holy Spirit as it manifests itself in this commentary. I pursue this goal in several directions, including the role of the Spirit within the Trinity and concerning soteriology, the Spirit's role in the sacraments, and the Spirit"s involvement with the Bible. I hope by this paper to suggest the presence of a wide field for patristic scholarship in the future, namely, the relatively untouched commentary of Cyril of Alexandria on Isaiah, and to give my audience a small taste of Cyril"s work in the commentary by discussing at some length his comments to various Isaianic passages, including two that have been important for later reflection on the Holy Spirit. I intend to argue that for Cyril, at least in this commentary, the Spirit has a significant, indeed indispensable, role in the salvation of humanity, but a role that is never apart from the other two persons of the Trinity. Finally, I attempt to illuminate Cyril"s thought on the Spirit"s role in baptism and concerning the Bible. This last touches the theme of the sessions most closely, and it illustrates well two truths that may seem circular but must be held in tension. For Cyril, definitive doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit derives most prominently from the Bible, but the very Bible that leads to definitive doctrine has primarily been authored through the activity and voice of the Holy Spirit. In other words, for Cyril, the Bible is authoritative concerning the Spirit, and its authority comes from that same Spirit.

The Gabriel Revelation is an apocalyptic text written on stone, which was dated to the end of the first centuary BCE. In my paper, I would like to discuss first the posibile 'sITZ IM LEBEN" and function of this apocalyptic text. The second part of my paper will deal with the possibility that this text had an impact on the birth of Christianity. The main issues related to this discussion in the Gabriel Revelation are the figure of "Ephraim" or the "Messiah son of Joseph" and his 'sign" and the command of the Angel Gabriel "By three days, live".

To speak in any depth of Samaria's culture and religion during the Persian and early Hellenistic periods just a few decades ago was a daunting task, because detailed material evidence was largely lacking. Happily, recent discoveries have begun to change this picture. The publication of the Samaria papyri and seal impressions, analysis of hundreds of Samarian coins, and partial publication of the Mt. Gerizim excavations have enhanced our knowledge and complicated older reconstructions of the religious history of the region of Samaria. The focus of my paper will be on some aspects of Samaria's religious culture as reflected in the Samarian numismatic finds and the hundreds of short (fragmentary) inscriptions from Mt. Gerizim written in lapidary Aramaic, the so-called Proto-Jewish, and Neo-Hebrew scripts. The Mt. Gerizim inscriptions written in Samaritan script will not be dealt with as these date to the late antique and medieval periods.

This paper will consider the place of the erotes in late Roman and Early Christian and Jewish art, including funereal art (sarcophagi). Special consideration will be paid to tomb mosaics from Tunisia.

I have harvested more than I have gleaned. The season would begin with the distinctive crank of the rusty orange-red tractor, which would shutter and spark into life then slowly clunk out to the back acres where we had the vegetable gardens. I would perch on the wheel rim, riding with my father as he performed his one agricultural task – overturn the soil, plow the fields. Afterwards, he would fade into the background, and my mother and my sister would emerge and we would plant, weed, tend, harvest – another two generations of women in the field. The story of Ruth is beautifully crafted but the narrative is not as simple as first appears. As the book so the woman – Ruth's character is unsettled and unsettling. This paper will explore one aspect of Ruth's character – Ruth as gleaner, the one who follows behind, picking up what others leave. Ruth"s character unfolds through the harvesting and gleaning. Her actions are exaggerated; her speech is misleading; there are gaps between what she says and what she does. She emerges Janus-faced, a trickster in the fields and on the threshing room floor. Since Ruth has continued to live outside of her narrative, my reading of Ruth will also be informed by her after-lives. I will focus on Agnes Varda"s documentary “The Gleaners and I” (2000). Even though she never mentions Ruth, the biblical heroine is a shadow presence, following behind and beside the contemporary gleaners Varda documents, standing over Varda"s shoulder as she turns the camera on herself. Ruth"s entry is through the painting that frames the documentary: Jean-François Millet"s “The Gleaners” – often used to illustrate Ruth"s gleaning of Boaz"s fields. As Ruth shadows Varda, I will follow behind them both, gleaning images and ideas to create my own portrait of Ruth.

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We now have access to a number of pre-Christian or almost certainly non-Christian examples of Greek fragments of Jewish texts, mostly but not exclusively of works that came to be considered scriptural. It is possible to identify various scribal features in these texts, and to compare those features with the evidence from early Christian texts as well as texts that could be either Jewish or Christian in origin. Comparison with similar features in Greek documentary and "paraliterary" texts in general also sheds light on the possible scribal developments and relationships in that transitional period that saw the rise both of Christianity and of codex technology. It will be suggested that in 'scribal practice" as in numerous other areas, early Christians seem to have been heavily indebted to their Greek Jewish predecessors, within the general context of Greco-Roman developments.

After decades of falling out of fashion, virginity has recently made its triumphal return as a choice worthy of material demonstration. Those who vow to save themselves until marriage are now making their lifestyle known with promise rings and Wait Wear, quinceaneras and Purity Balls. Whether it is a sign of moral legitimation or a strategic affectation, the Bible has been the central force behind the chastity culture. Such a material primacy has reinforced the cultural consensus that sexuality is a major concern of the Bible. With the Bible gaining political and social weight, this heavy emphasis on sexual purity effects the larger conversation on abstinence education and monopolises the attention of those interested in adhering to the biblical message. This paper will analyze how the material culture of purity shapes the Bible and its implications on social policy.

The different forms of the text of the historical books, especially the books 1–4 Kingdoms, represent a rather complex tradition. There were different forms of the Hebrew text, and there was a strong development in the transmission of the Greek text. Besides common aspects, there are several specific traits in each of the books resp. in the different sections of 1 – 4 Kgdms. In 4Kdms (basically equal to the so called gd-section) there are some interesting specifics in the translation and also interesting phenomena in the different revisions. 4Kgdms also has its specific importance because of its place in the history of research: A. Rahlfs based his research on the textual traditions of the books of Kingdoms mainly on 4Kgds. His conclusions had and still have a far reaching influence in Septuagint research, even beyond the historical books. The paper will present (1) observations on interesting phenomena in the original translation (the Old Greek) of 4 Kgdms, and (2) new insights in the history of the revisions and the profile of some manuscripts, and (3) check some of the long standing assumptions about the development of the Hebrew and the Greek text of this book.

It is well known that the book of Jeremiah refers in various texts to different texts in the book of the Twelve. The paper concentrates on the distribution of words and phrases connected with the role of the prophet: Words like Nabi or the root nb" as well as phrases and formulas used in prophetic writings to mark the difference between divine word and human word do not appear evenly in the prophetic books. In the Book of the Twelve Amos, Haggai and Zachariah come closest to Jeremiah in using these words and phrases. Obviously, the intertextual links connecting the books of Jeremiah and the Twelve point in both directions: From the Minor Prophets to Jeremiah and vice versa. In the context of communication between God and Israel, though, the role of the prophet is not only depicted in “prophetic” terms, but also contrasted against or compared to other social functions communicating with the divine sphere, as the priest and the wisdom teacher. Again Jeremiah uses also the vocabulary connected with cult and wisdom, but now Hosea, Micah, Haggai and Zachariah look more similar to Jeremiah than other writings in the Twelve. The Twelve display in the early writings a discussion on the role of the prophet, featuring different positions in different writings, while the book of Jeremiah seems to merge these different positions. The writings Haggai – Maleachi on the other hand reflect the complex role of the prophet achieved by Jeremiah in an equally complex terminology for the transmission of the divine word and the divine word itself.

Twenty recently published documentary papyri settle affirmatively the debate whether Jews of Ptolemaic Egypt formed politeumata, autonomous groups of military settlers affiliated through common ethnicity (Cowey and Maresch, eds., Urkunden des Politeuma der Juden von Herakleopolis, 2001). The papyri are citizen petitions to the archons of the politeuma for judgment of civil lawsuits. Analyzed in light of the legal pluralism typical of Hellenistic Egypt and with the assistance of legal theory, the legal reasoning in the papyri suggests that Jews in Ptolemaic Egypt were more deeply rooted in a postcolonial, multicultural context than even the most revisionist approaches have imagined. To support this claim the paper analyzes an appeal to the archons regarding dissolution of an engagement (P.Polit.Jud. 4 [P.Heid. Inv. G 4931, 12 January 134]) and a petition concerning removal of an orphan from her guardian's home (P.Polit.Jud. 7 [P.Köln Inv. 21038, June or July 134]). This revised portrait of the Hellenistic Egyptian context in which Artapanus wrote his account of Moses and in which it was received calls into question the standard explanations of the account's purpose and effect (including my own; see “Hearing the Story of Moses in Ptolemaic Egypt: Artapanus Accommodates the Tradition,” in The Wisdom of Egypt: Jewish, Early Christian, and Gnostic Essays in Honour of Gerard P. Luttikhuizen [AGJU/AJEC; eds. George H. van Kooten & Anthony Hilhorst; Leiden: Brill, 2005] 67-80): in this context it was unlikely to have been an apologetic work meant for non-Jews, or a salve for Jews challenged to acculturate; it was more likely received (if not also intended) as a challenge to acculturated Jews to reclaim their ethnic identity.

In the Pauline letters we come across several metaphors, in which the Apostle characterizes his own apostolic life in unambiguously cultic terms. A similar backdrop has also been suggested for the olfactory metaphor in 2 Cor 2:14-16. Yet in this passage the imagery is more convoluted. Commentators often point to the notion of fragrance as a sign of divine presence and life, widely attested in various ancient religious traditions, as the background against which the metaphor should be interpreted. Sir 24:15 is usually cited as a particular instance of this idea. Even authors who do not reject the possible cultic overtones in 2 Cor 2:14-16, seldom realize that there is no need to pose a disjunction between the notions of Wisdom and sacrifice. This paper argues that one of the reasons why sacrificial understanding of the metaphor has been rejected by many scholars is their notion of sacrifice. Exclusive association of sacrifice with death makes it difficult to account for the life-giving aspect of scent. While the thought of the divine aroma seen in terms of Wisdom is a possible connotation in 2 Cor 2:14-16, I agree with those who emphasize a close relation between Wisdom and cult. Realizing that sacrifice does not necessarily need to imply loss and destruction makes it easier to reconcile the concept of Wisdom and life-giving fragrance with that of sacrifice. It is noteworthy that Paul's view on sacrifice seems to be to a significant extent in line with that attested in Ben Sira. The backdrop against which the metaphor in 2 Cor 2:14-16 is best understood is thus most likely that of the association between Wisdom, scent and sacrifice. While in Sir 24:23 Wisdom is related to the Torah, in Paul's understanding Wisdom"s divine fragrance is manifested in the proclamation of the Good News.

It is generally acknowledged that the author of the book of Revelation used his Bible as a source for his rhetorical strategy and for illustration of his narrative. Despite this consensus, a lot of questions regarding the seer's use of scripture are still under debate. The still open discussion is based in his way of referring to scripture to which the seer mostly alludes in a rather creative manner, from time to time intertwining different pre-texts into one allusion or echo. Mainly the seer's highly creative and selective use of scripture keeps the question open in which form a pre-text is used. An older view referred to a Hebrew text form (e.g. Charles), more recent approaches rather refer to the Septuagint, sometimes questioning any influence from Hebrew. A new German project, sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and hosted at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal is aiming at the Old Testament allusions in the book of revelation trying to answer the question of their textual form and the further transmission of allusions in the text history of the manuscripts of Revelation. Does later evidence of manuscripts give further hints to the use of allusions and how do they treat the creative and changing use of allusions? The paper will present evidence from the actual work of the project underscoring the priority of a Septuagint text. However, it would be mistaken to assume an either or of Hebrew and Greek text form. Methodologically, a case by case study has to be used that keeps an eye on the author"s creativity, on his memory and on the development of Greek and Hebrew scripture and tradition and also on the transmission of the manuscripts of the book of Revelation. Therefore, the paper will focus at significant examples to discover a more balanced answer to the question of the influence of the Septuagint on Revelation"s use of scripture.

Ancient Near Eastern rulers clearly desired long dynasties. Rulers not only pray for “eternal” dynasties (e.g., David, Solomon, Shalmaneser I and Nebuchadnezzer II), but also use dynastic curses to discourage other rulers from damaging royal inscriptions (e.g., Shalmaneser I, Azatiwada and Yahawmilk). Piously portrayed rulers are rewarded with divine promises of long dynasties. Three Israelite and Judean kings receive promises of a dynasty continuing indefinitely (David, Solomon and Jeroboam I), but Jehu of Israel is the only ruler in the Hebrew Bible with a specific dynastic promise. According to the text, because Jehu cut off the house of Ahab, YHWH granted that four heirs would reign over Israel (2 Ki. 10:30; cf. 15:12). While many Assyrian rulers claim divine election and speak of “eternal” dynasties, the dynastic promise of Esarhaddon is unusual because of its modest nature. Two separate oracles mediated by La-dagil-ili from the Lady of Arbela declare that Esarhaddon's son and grandson will succeed him. Thus, the dynastic promises of Jehu and Esarhaddon are unique within their ANE context because of their lack of hyperbolic language and more limited scope, guaranteeing only two or four generations of continuity. Interestingly, both Jehu and Esarhaddon assume the throne in the midst of a political crisis. Jehu had slaughtered the royal houses of Israel and Judah. Esarhaddon defeated his older brothers in a civil war after they assassinated their father Sennacherib. Thus, their reigns would have been reasonable times for promises legitimizing their dynasties. While the literary contexts are different (for Jehu, a historical narrative and for Esarhaddon, a collection of prophetic oracles), an analysis of these oracles shows the crucial role that non-eternal dynastic promises may play in establishing royal authority during periods of dynastic chaos.

Within Pentecostal-Charismatic circles, the imagery of the armor of God in Eph 6:11-17 has inspired legion sermons and studies aimed at motivating Christians to enter the battle against Satan. Frequently the label 'spiritual warfare" is employed as a clarion call for believers to enter into the cosmic battle against the devil and his minions. Through the influence of such popular Christian media as the fictional novel This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti, the picture of Christians putting on the armor of God to engage in warfare in the spiritual world against demonic forces has colored the interpretation of this passage and, in the argument of this present paper, has distorted the purpose for which Paul presents the image. This paper will argue that Paul's purpose for introducing this image at the climax of the epistle is to cap his exhortation for the readers to live in holiness. In other words, the point of the image is to underscore the need for sanctification in the lives of believers. Three lines of evidence will be adduced. First, it will examine the constituency of the armor itself, particularly in light of the use of this image in Judaism and in the New Testament, to show that the substance of the image is appropriate for such a concern. Second, it will examine the development of the argument in Ephesians to demonstrate that this is a significant concern of the apostle in the letter. Third, it will examine similarities with the image of believers being clothed with Christ in Colossians, a letter long argued by scholars to be closely related to Ephesians. The paper will not argue that the passage has no place in the practice of spiritual warfare as popularly conceived, but that its primary focus is on holiness.

While numerous examples of ancient Christian pseudepigrapha abound, the vast majority of these documents purport to have been written by an individual standing firmly within Jewish or Christian tradition. Much rarer are pseudepigraphical writings claiming a pagan as their author. Some of the most notable examples in this category include the correspondence of Pilate in the Acts of Pilate, the legend of King Abgar of Edessa, the letters between the Apostle Paul and the Stoic philosopher Seneca, and the personal testimony of the biblical Magi as ostensibly provided by the Syriac Revelation of the Magi. Despite the diversity of content and rhetorical situation, all of these texts share a foundational apologetic goal, namely to serve as a powerful vindication of Christian truth claims by a disinterested party. This paper will analyze the apologetic strategies in several examples of “pagan” pseudepigrapha, with specific attention to the Revelation of the Magi, the longest and most complex composition of this kind.

This paper will explore the shape and location of the parallels to the credo of Exod 34:6-7 present in the common LXX ordering of the Twelve (i.e. Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum). The paper will argue that the constellation of parallels within the LXX compacts the parallels in a way to highlight YHWH's interaction with the nations by placing the book of Obadiah and his message concerning the fate of nations at the center of the parallels. Micah's concluding hymn based upon the credo is the first synchronic appearance of the credo in the LXX sequence of the Twelve. This parallel is followed by Joel"s use of the credo as an invective to summon YHWH"s mercy. The third appearance of the credo comes in the lament of Jonah because of YHWH"s mercy upon the Ninevites. The final parallel comes in the warning of Nahum to the Ninevites and connects these two prophets of the Twelve most concerned with that city. The ordering of the parallels in the MT evidences a much less organized constellation than the LXX. This change in order may give clues to the theology behind the revised corpus of the LXX. The LXX situates these parallels in a way which highlights lexical and theological diversity as they emphasize YHWH"s interaction with ancient Israel (Micah/Joel), then with the nations (Jonah/Nahum). This constellation of parallels gives some evidence for the intentionality of the order of the LXX and adds to ongoing dialogue regarding the order of the two corpi (especially the contribution of Sweeney).

It has often been asked why Ezek 14:14, 20 lists Noah together with Job and Daniel as a paradigmatic righteous sage. Already Martin Noth (VT 1[1951], 257) suspected that Ezek 14:14, 20 draws on a Noah tradition which was not incorporated into the Pentateuch. Since the complete publication of 1QapGen ar, ancient Jewish paratexts on Noah became available. Although they are later rewritings and interpretations of the Pentateuch's flood story, these paratexts incorporate other narrative traditions as well. I will ask if the deliberations about Noah's wisdom and righteousness in 1QapGen ar VI:1-4 draw on the same Noah traditions as the Book of Ezekiel does.

This presentation applies insights from fan fiction theory to the study of the NT Apocrypha. Fan fiction is literature written by fans of a narrative, be it a novel, a movie, or a television series. The fans, rather than the original creators, elaborate on the original work by, e.g., expanding, reshaping, mending, relocating, or twisting the initial story. In recent years, fan fiction has become increasingly popular in fan milieus or so-called “fandoms” on the internet (see for example the various reworkings of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter on www.fanfiction.net). As a consequence, the phenomenon is also beginning to attract attention in cultural studies. The paper takes inspiration from these trends in popular culture and scholarship and shows that although fan fiction is often traced back to fan magazines from the 1930s, the NT Apocrypha represent a comparable phenomenon in ancient Christianity. By bending and enlargening the minor characters of the canonical universe, the Apocrypha employ similar techniques for making social and ideological identifications and criticisms.

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This paper argues that biblical codices are artifacts of knowledge production and social identity that can be productively compared to Greco-Roman artifacts of the same. Biblical codices and imperial architecture, monuments, and other Roman objets d"art shared functional and symbolic values that established a semantic kinship between Christian books on the one hand and Imperial temples, monuments, and statues on the other. I draw on recent theories of cultural memory and iconic books to argue that early Christian codices were “sites of memory” whose very materiality conveyed authority and identity by connecting Christian communities with a specific remembered past and ideological identity, much as Roman monumental representations of imperial power did. The archival nature of Christian codices gave way to a powerful understanding of “the books” as material artifacts charged with semantic meaning in their own right, which in turn enhanced the symbolic force of the archived text of Christian books even more. In short, the “crossing” of the material and the semantic properties of Christian books can be described and understood in terms of imperial sites of memory in Late Antiquity.

This paper argues that Ephesians can be read politically and that its political materials serve the deliberative function of promoting peace and concord within the ekklesia. I begin my analysis by first defining “the political” as fields of activity in which power is contested and in which issues of identity are addressed. In the ancient Hellenistic and Roman world, “the political” revolves around the three bases of Economics, Ethics, and Politics, covering topics such as moral education, wealth, household management, forms of government, citizenship, war, and peace. I then argue that these topics occur in major sections of Ephesians, supporting my argument by an analysis of the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles into one new humanity in Eph 2, the call for communal unity in Eph 4:1–16, and the call to warfare in Eph 6:10–20. A comparison of these sections with classical Hellenistic and Roman political thought shows similarities in subject matter, terms, and themes. I further argue that these political materials promote peace within the ekklesia. The reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles in 2:1–22 seeks to dissipate ethnic tension and stereotypification by casting the vision of one new humanity and citizenry that eliminates former ethnic hostilities and rivalries; the exhortation in 4:1–16 urges unity, appealing to “ones” and the body metaphor; and the call to warfare (6:10–20) against a common enemy functions to enhance group identity and unity. I conclude by noting how other portions of the letter can be read within a political frame, and suggest several implications of such a political reading for our overall understanding of Ephesians.

This study will examine the Syriac translation of the Greek 3 Kingdoms (MT: 1 Kings). The Syrohexapla (Syh) is a translation that was carried out in the 7th century directly from some Greek text(s) with no apparent recourse to the Hebrew. Its inflexible style has been the subject of much discussion, as has its value as a witness to the Hexaplaric recension of the Greek Versions. In this study, we will examine some of the pitfalls in using the Hexaplaric information from Syh in the textual criticism of the Greek Versions, and note the role Syh plays as a witness to the complex textual history of 3 Kingdoms.

How did the earliest Christians perform baptism? In many cases it is hard to tell since early Christian texts discuss the significance and theology of baptism but give very little description of the mechanics and of baptism. The Didache describes the forms of water that can be used and other texts describe the liturgies associated with baptism. There are also many baptismal fonts starting with the third-century one at Dura Europas, but little is known about the earliest practices of baptism predating these specially-built structures. Early Christian art may help us fill in some of these gaps, both in terms of the practice and the understanding of baptism. This paper will examine the available textual, ritual, archaeological, and iconographic evidence to try uncover some of these early practices and how they developed from the depictions in the Gospels to the baptistery at Dura Europas to the complexity of the images in a sixth-century font from Kélibia, Tunisia.

Historical memory is a cyclical process of projection and assimilation. New perceptions are refracted through the lens of previous categories and old categories are forced to evolve to remain intelligible. One of the central tenets of Social Memory theory is that memory (both personal and historical) is a fluid process, able to accommodate new perceptions. The function of memory is to conceptually reinforce and be reinforced by new perceptions for the purpose of creating cognitive continuity and stability. Because of this, many prominent memory theorists such as Michael Schudson and Jan Assmann readily assert that all "memory is distortion" since there is no such thing as an "undistorted memory." This insight helps to dismantle the historical-positive tendency to draw a dichotomy between reliable memory and distorted perception. This paper will adapt previous historiographical discussions of the “hermeneutical circle” by discussing the ebb and tide from novum to pre-conception. I will argue that recent research on memory distortion (what I call mnemonic refraction) sheds new light on the circle model. When applied the Jesus tradition, the historian is able to navigate past the authenticity vs. redaction dichotomy that has bankrupted historical-positivism. I will argue that when redaction tendencies are treated as “mnemonic refraction” certain memory trajectories become evident in the Jesus tradition. Once located, these trajectories can be charted backward to a sphere of historical plausibility. If a single saying or story is refracted along multiple trajectories there is warrant for postulating (i.e. triangulating) what an early and widespread memory of the historical Jesus might have looked like—one that best accounts for the refraction trajectories manifest in the Gospels.

In this paper I discuss how Mark's description of Jesus" entry into Jerusalem (Mk 11:1-11) alludes in form and content to triumphal processions in both Jewish anti-colonial and Greco-Roman colonial discourses. Previous interpretations of these allusions, especially after Brandon's Jesus and the Zealots (1967), have tended to be either pro- or anti-colonial. Making use of Edward Said"s contrapuntal reading, I give two examples of how such interpretations can be understood as part of the interpreter"s colonial or anti-colonial location. In my reading of the text, I focus particularly on the phrase “the Lord needs it” (Mk 11:3) that I argue echoes the colonial praxis of forced labour, known for Mark"s readers/hearers as angareia. In order to interpret this echo and other (anti)colonial allusions, I draw on the heterogeneous field of postcolonial theory, more specifically one of its branches that has been developed by Homi Bhabha. Influenced by Lacanian psychoanalysis, Bhabha has developed some concepts (mimicry, hybridity, ambivalence, third space) that describe the slippery relation between colonizer and colonized. With help of such concepts, I interpret the Markan allusions to (anti)colonial discourses as mimicry that opens up a third space, making possible new positions of identification. Hence, I read the Markan account of Jesus" entry as presenting an ironic and ambivalent hero, and I discuss if this kind of hero constitutes a greater or lesser problem for the Roman hegemony as compared to a more clear-cut anti-colonial hero.

The emphasis of the Fourth Gospel is on the radical presence of divine love, joy, peace and union within the believing community. By contrast, the theme of absence is more usually associated with Mark's Gospel than John's—particularly the cry of dereliction from the cross (Mk 15:33). By contrast, the fourth evangelist seems more concerned to depict plenitude and harmony than desolation and dearth, not only in the crucifixion narrative but elsewhere in the Gospel. Yet there are sufficient indications of an absence theme in the narrative of the Fourth Gospel: Jesus" power in physical absence, for example; his reluctance on occasions to perform miracles; the development of faith beyond his proximity; and, above all, his departure through glorification on the cross, leaving the community to deal with distance, dejection and persecution. Though all manifestations of absence are not identical, the Fourth Gospel nonetheless presents it as part of the unfinality of the world, the puzzling assertion of darkness and death despite the eloquent triumph of the light. The Fourth Gospel attempts to confront the mystery of divine absence within its own framework in order to provide consolation for Johannine disciples. It does so by assigning theological meaning to Jesus" physical absence, a meaning that forges a path and holds out a destination as well as offering unseen companionship. Throughout the narrative, the reader perceives that absence begins to open the way to another and deeper comprehension of propinquity, a propinquity bounded theologically by a more capacious sense of presence. The English Jacobean poet, John Donne (1572-1631), expresses a similar dynamic between absence and presence in the love poem "Valediction Forbidding Mourning", an analysis of which can help to illuminate the Johannine paradoxical dynamic.

The matter of dialogue rendered in the book of Jeremiah's poetry has been recently considered by a number of scholars. In previous writings, I have argued that the poetry of Jeremiah may include more than simply a constructed dramatic dialogue of voices with differing perspectives (some seem to presume all created by one poet or redactor or scribe). One may regard instead the text as including the utterances of different oral poets who were in dialogue, now embedded in the book of Jeremiah. Carrying this argument forward, this paper seeks to illuminate more about a poetic singer that may be in dialogue with the prophet Jeremiah in that book in a few texts. That poetic singer's speech, in close proximity to Jeremiah"s use of his favored term of endearment, Bat-"ammî, suggests that she may be the referent of the term; moreover Bat-"ammî is not simply another construct of the usual persona or personification of Jerusalem (Daughter Zion). By its inclusion of "ammî, the term Bat-"ammî does not follow the standard formula that refers to cities. Instead, by comparison of the prophet Ezekiel"s use of the phrase “daughters of your people” to refer to women prophets, this paper proposes that Jeremiah"s reference to Bat-"ammî is possibly to a woman prophet (with this name, or who attracts his appellative for her by nature of her utterances) and with whom he may have been in dialogue in the context. An equally plausible proposal is that Bat-"ammî refers to a woman lament singer. However, that an individual could be called to be a prophet and who sang the genres of Israel"s culture, such as lament, is evident in the other prophets and Jeremiah himself, or for that matter, the traditions about Miriam.

What do we know about Hymenaeus and Philetus, Demas and Hermogenes, or Simon and Cleobius? Not much, apart from the fact that their understanding of what “resurrection” means differed from that held by the early Christian authors who mention them. Thus, these people are described as those who “have swerved from the truth” (2. Tim. 2:17), who “pervert the faith of many” (3. Cor 1:2) and who “full of hypocrisy flatter Paul as if they loved him” (Acts Paul 1) since they teach that the resurrection has already taken place. Concentrating on these and other, sometimes anonymous characters in such apocryphal writings as the Acts of Paul and Thecla, Paul's Third Letter to the Corinthians, Epistula Apostolorum, and Didascalia Apostolorum, I discuss the different early Christian views on how resurrection should and should not be understood. Drawing from insights borrowed from social scientific studies on deviance and marginalization, I address the question why the “right” understanding of resurrection was so important for different early Christian groups. I suggest that the polemic against those who hold a different view is hostile since they form deviant subgroups who threaten the integrity and distinctiveness of others in the ingroup. On the other hand, deviants serve an important strategic function by helping to bolster a distinctive social identity. After all, it is impossible to know whether Hymenaeus and Philetus, Demas and Hermogenes, Simon and Cleobius were real people, known to the implied readers, or whether they were literary characters who served a rhetorical function. Be that as it may, they represented the “other” over against whom “us”, the true followers of Christ were defined.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston owns one painting by the seventeenth–century Dutch painter, Daniel Jansz Thievaert (before 1613-before 1658). A student of Rembrandt, Thievaert specialized in biblical scenes of a moralizing nature, including the MFA's “The Laborer of Gibea Offering Hospitality to the Levite and His Wife.” The grisly account of the Levite's Concubine (Judges 19:1-30) has in recent decades acquired dubious status as the most troubling of the Bible"s “Texts of Terror,” Phyllis Trible"s expression for biblical stories of violence directed at women. On the one hand, Thievaert"s treatment of this subject represents a distinctive stage in the intersection of biblical interpretation and social discourse about gender; at the same time, however, his painting can provoke the viewer to reconsider not only the intent of the biblical narrator, but also the dynamics of viewer-response on the part of today"s museumgoer.

As a relatively new venture within biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies, a number of scholars have liberally applied the rubric “iconographic study” to a variety of pursuits. This paper categorizes these studies, and, in doing so, determines what constitutes an iconographic approach. Over the past 30 years, iconographic approaches have identified and attempted to address three related questions. First, how does one discern the meaning/significance of an ancient Near Eastern image? Second, how does one reconstruct ancient Near Eastern history (and religion) with the help of these images? Third, how can the images inform readings of particular biblical texts? Each of these questions requires practitioners to employ a unique iconographic method. Clearly outlining these methods will allow iconographic approaches to have an even greater impact on the field of biblical studies.

Music based on texts about biblical women brings these women's stories to life with a fresh immediacy. Composers who chose to set biblical stories were inspired by the story and characters; their music adds new dimensions to both. This paper will explore how librettos and music can influence our perception of women in a biblical narrative. Musical excerpts will be played to illustrate music's power to challenge—and even alter-- the listener's preconceptions about the narrative and its characters. Jael, who killed an enemy of Israel to save the Israelites in a historically precarious moment, has inspired both artists and composers through the ages. Musical settings of her story shed new and different light on her character. Jael is given a voice in the 1936 cantata Deborah and Barak by British composer Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960). The libretto is based on the Judges text, but with notable changes in the speakers. Maurice Greene (1696-1755), a rival of Handel, wrote his Song of Deborah and Barak some 200 years earlier, in 1732. A significant feature of this work is the composer"s sympathetic treatment of Sisera"s mother. Georg Fredric Handel (1685-1759) wrote his oratorio Deborah in 1733. In the libretto, Deborah meets both Jael and Sisera. These three works all highlight God"s and Barak"s roles in the Israelite victory, and Deborah"s role is minimized relative to Barak"s. Yet Jael and Sisera"s mother are given their own, strong voice in two of the works. Musical excerpts to be played will draw particular attention to the musical treatment of the women at the fringe—one in the tent, the other at the window, both waiting for the same man.

The polymath, Gad Ben-Ami Sarfatti, along with his scholarly work as a Hebraist and as a historian of mathematics, published fifteen essays on appearances of "Hebrew" script in non-Jewish works of art.(Some five are collected in kilshon 'ami (Academy of the Hebrew Language, 1997) In what seems to have been his last essay on the topic, "Un'iscrizione ebraica in un quadro di Jean Lemaire" (Hebraica Hereditas, 2005)he outlined a typology of 5 sorts of "Hebrew script" and 3 motives for their deployment. This presentation will put to the question both his typology and his motives and the history of their development in his work as they relate to this field of study, one in which he was a pathbreaking aficionado.

The beautiful historical psalm, Psalm 105, invites the reader to “remember the wonders” YHWH has done. In recalling these wonders, however, the psalm does far more than idly reflect upon traditions from Israel's past. In this paper, I argue that the psalm marshals Israel's historical traditions for a specific purpose, namely to call the newly freed exiles that form the psalm"s audience to brave the return journey to their homeland. In this regard, Psalm 105 is to be closely allied, both in timing and intent, with 2 Isaiah. Extending the work of scholars such as Svend Holm-Nielsen and Adele Berlin, I analyze Psalm 105 primarily through the lens of inner-biblical allusion. Through an identification of the unique constellation of traditions used in the psalm and the sometimes subtle, sometimes overt changes made in the recitation of these traditions, I argue it is possible to bring into sharp focus the nature and occasion of the psalmist"s call to the people. Just as importantly, I maintain the Psalm"s heavy reliance on inner-biblical allusion offers an invaluable window onto the development of Israel"s historical traditions, and particularly the Pentateuchal traditions, at the time of the end of the exile.

In his recent work Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible, Karel van der Toorn established important criteria for understanding the process of redaction, preservation and transmission of Biblical texts in antiquity. Though his general approach remains compelling, the present paper wishes to draw attention to features within the book of Deuteronomy that suggest a different redactional paradigm. Whereas other texts were long preserved in a closed circle of literate elites, Deuteronomy presents itself as readily accessible to the common Israelite, and qualifies traditional elite social castes under a common pseudo-democratic rubric. Deuteronomy also contains passages that suggests a regular cycle of redactional updating bound to its legislation regarding the expansion of the extant written law (Deut 17:8-13) and the ritual public reading of the master copy at the central sanctuary (Deut 31:9-12). The process of redaction itself takes on a hermeneutical and even ritual significance in Deuteronomic discourse, carrying implications for diversity in Israel's scribal culture when compared with the development of most other texts as proposed by van der Toorn. This becomes especially significant in the period of the exile, when Deuteronomy became redactionally associated with the Former prophets (Josh-Kings) and the Persian Period, when it becomes an organic part of the larger Pentateuch, indicating the book's importance to the respective social/intellectual circles responsible for these works.

Ever since, the coherence of the narrative of the Enneateuch forms a strong problem for redactional criticism. On the one hand the coherence cannot have been the starting point of the literary development of this huge amount of written records. On the other hand nearly every division into today's single books cuts off an obvious literary and/or narrative threat. The paper shall again focus on the book division as the most crucial passages. It's not intended to solve the problem, but to move it to more precise terms.

Scholars studying Jewish art of Late Antiquity have regularly invoked rabbinic sources to support their interpretations of artistic remains. Such recourse was considered most natural, both because many of these sources were edited at roughly the same time that most of the art was produced and owing to the assumption that virtually nothing significant happened in Jewish life at the time without rabbinic involvement or approval. Such premises, however, have been seriously called into question. On one level, using rabbinic sources to explain archaeological finds has often been done without regard to (1) the comparable chronologies of text and art; and (2) the fact that sources do not always say what scholars attribute to them. On another level, there are very few, if any, references in these sources to an actual rabbinic role in the synagogue, and virtually nothing regarding the art used therein. Moreover, rabbis frequented very few of the sites, either in Palestine or the Diaspora, where artistic remains have been discovered and, in fact, we know absolutely noting about rabbis and rabbinic communal activity in Byzantium from the fifth through seventh centuries CE. In short, explaining Jewish art on the basis of rabbinic sources implies rabbinic influence on, if not control of, synagogues and cemeteries, and is therefore a most problematic assumption. Finally, the multifaceted nature and expression of Jewish art were assimilated and applied by various communities in diverse ways. The ultimate arbiter of what art was to be included in a synagogue and how it was to be presented was the local community, and not the rabbinic elite.

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This paper will look at Wilhelm Vischer's interpretation of Job during the rise of Anti-Semitism in 1930s Germany. Despite its publication 11 times in three languages over the course of 50 years, “Hiob, ein Zeuge Jesu Christi” has been largely ignored by scholarship with only a few exceptions. Karl Barth credits the article with renewing his own interpretation in Church Dogmatics and Dietrich Bonhoeffer republished the mini-commentary in his Bekennende Kirche three times. My thesis is that Vischer's “Hiob”, though flawed, has not met with the credit it deserves because of its off-putting and obscuring title. The article itself mentions Jesus and the New Testament very sparingly, focussing almost entirely on a quasi-final-form interpretation on the book of Job. Despite its obscuring nature, the title of the article remains an important element historically since it was Vischer"s contention that the Hebrew Bible is a necessary component to Christian theology, a position that had been challenged in central Europe for several decades. Vischer"s insistence along with his various speeches and articles questioning the nature of the Judenfrage led to his eventual ousting from German academia and his re-emigration to Switzerland shortly before the start of World War II. The proposed essay will examine Vischer"s position regarding the Hebrew Bible in general and his interpretation of the book of Job in particular, with special attention paid to his context during the rise of the Third Reich. I will conclude by arguing that his typological reading is partly due to his historical context and obscures his importance as biblical interpreter. His interpretation of the silence of God in Job is an important but overlooked reading of a difficult biblical book, even after, perhaps especially after, the Holocaust.

Both Old and New Testament Studies have a long history of appropriating new methods to more deeply understand the setting and origin of the texts of the Bible. Over the last 200 years, for instance, first historical and then traditio-critical studies sought to reconstruct the original setting of the texts. Methods such as form and redaction criticism are cases in point, they are diachronic in nature and deal with units of tradition individually, rather than as a whole. In the last fifty years, however, synchronic disciplines have been developed. Synchronic textual researchers propose that a careful study of the differences in the structure of language at a given point in time will itself reveal insights into occasion, dating, genre and authorship; precisely those issues that have previously been the sole purview of diachronic studies. In this session we will demonstrate a software tool developed by the mathematical modeling firm, Decision Support Sciences. This software tool, PositionSolve™, is being employed at McMaster Divinity college to explore the texts synchronically and in aggregate rather than diachronically and individually. PositionSolve™ uses methods drawn from multiple synchronic disciplines including systemic functional linguistics, corpus linguistics, computational linguistics, multivariate data reduction, and univariate and multivariate statistical inference. In this session we will demonstrate PositionSolve™ in real-time by constructing a landscape map of the morphological relationships between the books of the Greek New Testament, and then analyze those results statistically. In addition, we will perform the same demonstration using a syntactically tagged database derived from OpenText. Hence, these worked examples will demonstrate the utility of synchronic analysis at two levels of linguistic rank; morphology and syntax. We will close the session by discussing the future of these kinds of synchronic studies in contributing to long-standing issues of introduction and occasion within Biblical Studies.

What do Noah's Ark, Bigfoot, black holes, the Shroud of Turin, alien abduction, the Dead Sea Scrolls, ESP, spontaneous human combustion, the Bible Code, and guardian angels have in common? Scientists and theologians who are involved with one or more of these things would strenuously object to being categorized with the others, but any one of them might turn up at any time in a one hour documentary exploration on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the Learning Channel, or A&E. The bulimic appetite of cable channels such as these has created a long stream of production of specials and series, through which aspects of the Christian religion and of the modern scientific method are commodified and packaged for the fast-food palate. This has had unexpected and perplexing consequences for scholars, scientists and theologians as they struggle to present increasingly complicated ideas to a population whose expectation is for increasing convenience, user-friendliness and fun. In this paper, I focus on documentaries dealing with Noah's Ark, using them as a microcosmic window into the larger phenomenon. Noah"s Ark makes a perfect subject: biblical, both familiar and mysterious, and full of descriptions of objects, dimensions and specific locations that people have speculated about for centuries. Noah documentaries cover the full spectrum of the genre: from the theological perspectives of creation science, to the "archaeo-porn" family of ark hunters and their objects and anchors, to the perspective of modern geology and oceanography, to one example that pursues a line fairly close to modern historical-critical biblical scholarship. The phenomenon of the Ark has also broken out of the documentary form, and competing groups propose at least three different locations for the Actual Ark, groups that vehemently oppose each other and that have a great deal at stake: the fate of Christian souls in one case, but extremely lucrative video production companies, tour packages, visitor centers and luxury cruises for two others, one of which also involves the interests of the Turkish government. The overall Ark phenomenon both trades upon and encourages a particular way of consuming religion today, which has consequences for scholarship and law.

What is the basis for 1 Peter's theology regarding Christian suffering? More specifically, why is 'suffering as a Christian" to be expected (4.12-19), even necessary (1.6)? Identifying the source behind the metal and fiery trials imagery in 1 Peter 1.6-7 and 4.12 is a significant step on the way to ascertaining a solution to these important questions, for it is in these two passages where 1 Peter seeks to explain how its readers should interpret their precarious predicament. While there have been various proposals for the source behind this imagery, to date a significant number of Primopetrine scholars have suggested that it is the concept of messianic woes which informs these passages and 1 Peter"s overall theology of suffering. No one has more fully developed this hypothesis than Mark Dubis in his 2002 published doctoral dissertation "Messianic Woes in 1 Peter." In this paper, I will indicate several critical flaws in the messianic woes proposal, and then argue that Zechariah 13.7-9 (and its wider text plot) is the source behind the metal and fiery trial imagery of 1 Peter 1.6 and 4.12. Additionally, I will demonstrate how Zechariah 9-14 brings coherence to seemingly unrelated features of 1 Peter, such as the stone imagery (1 Pet 2.4-10), the shepherd imagery (1 Pet 2.25; 5.2-4), and the restoration-from-exile motif, which may suggest that Zechariah 9-14 functions as the narrative sub-structure of 1 Peter.

It is the intent of this paper to investigate the Masoretic traditions recorded by Rabbi Menachem ben Shelomo in his midrashic work Midrash Sekhel Tov. While the provenance of the author is still debated the fact remains that Italy and Italian are connected to the work itself. The composition of the work based on the comments of the author takes place in the year 1139. Solomon Buber in publishing the work in 1900 already made notice but without any analysis of the fact that the work exhibits some different Masoretic traditions. Some of the material in the Sekhel Tov has its origin in an earlier work, namely Midrash Leqah Tov of Tobiah ben Eliezer (c.1036 - c.1108) of Castoria, Bulgaria, who at times shares the same Masoretical tradition. The paper will focus on collecting, organizing all the Masoretical information and then analyzing it in contrast and comparison to the established Masoretical traditions of both Sefarad and Ashkenaz to see if indeed they, Sekhel Tov and Leqah Tov, have retained a different Masoretical tradition.

Hebrews' characterisation of Melchizedek is based on an exegetical combination of Gen. 14:18 and Ps. 110:4. These texts speak of the Melchizedek's encounter with Abraham and of his priestly status. The same combination is found in Philo (esp.: Leg.All. 3,79-82). Next to this, Hebrews assumes a heavenly status for Melchisedek, thereby reflecting traditions also found in Dead Sea Scrolls (cf. 11QMelch; 4QAmram; 4Q280) and 2 Enoch 71-72. The reference to Melchizedek in Hebrews 7 is thus part of an exegetical tradition based on the combination of Gen. 14:18 and Ps. 110:4. This paper will explore the way in which the author of Hebrews adapts this tradition to prove his christological point by allegorizing the figure of Melchizedek. It pays special attention to the closeness of Hebrews" discourse on this priestly figure to that of Philo of Alexandria, arguing in favour of an Alexandrian provenance of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

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In this paper, I consider the role liturgical function played in Ezekiel's text tradition through study of the early 3rd century codex, p967. First, I conduct codicological analysis on p967 Ezekiel, arguing that the book functioned in a Christian liturgical setting. I examine p967's unique paragraphing, extra-textual marks, as well as a small number of Christian theological touches to the body of the text. Characteristics of neighboring Daniel and Esther support the conclusion that the codex was used in Christian liturgy. Second, I interrogate the textual history of p967 for liturgical function, agreeing with Thackeray"s early pronouncement that liturgy motivated late textual editing of the book.

This paper revisits the thorny issue of whether or not the subaltern can speak against colonial authority. This paper argues that in John 4 the nameless Samaritan woman as a subaltern native is a creative agent who undermines the colonial authority of Jesus as a so-called missionary, seen through Homi Bhabha's lens of anti-colonial mimicry. Close reading of John 4:1-42 reveals that the mimicry of the Samaritan woman is anti-colonial in the sense that she, as the colonized, menaces the authority of Jesus as the colonizer by causing ambivalence to him with regard to his ethnic and political identity. As a consequence, mimicry is transformed into the location of resistance against colonialism. After investigating the text in terms of anti-colonial mimicry, this paper shall apply the same scenario to the reader's social context of Korean Christianity in relation to Western missionaries during the period of the Japanese colonization (1910-1945). The power relations between Jesus and the Samaritan woman parallel those between a missionary and native, between the colonizer and colonized. As is typical in the history of Christian missions, indigenous Christians as the colonized are commanded to imitate missionaries as the colonizers. This paper particularly considers the case of my own denomination, Korea Evangelical Holiness Church. Thus, this paper explores the ways in which mimicry subverts colonial rule in both the text and the world.

The First Invective against Julian the Emperor, written by Gregory of Nazianzus shortly after Julian's death in 363, is a complicated text for many reasons. In writing it Gregory obviously found release for his deep seated frustrations, fears, and resentments that had accumulated during Julian's short reign. Gregory uses nearly every rhetorical means possible to castigate Julian"s life as expressed through religion, resulting in an effective damnatio memoriae for such an enemy of Christianity. A primary reason for the text"s complexity is that Gregory"s views of religion liberally mix description in the forms of recent history, Greek mythology, and Biblical history with rousing parenesis alerting his readers to proper and improper forms of piety. And, put simply, what the reader discovers is that blood for Gregory is the chief signifier of ritual piety in all religions he deals with: Greco-Roman, Biblical, and Christian. Using some of the useful insights of Biale"s new book, this paper will first contextualize the variety of ways Gregory describes non-ritual and ritual blood in the text. They range from the most horrifying descriptions of violent homicide, rape, human evisceration, polluted animal sacrifice, and a defiling blood bath of a taurabolium, to the cleansing sacrifice of Christ -- sometimes with blood and sometimes bloodless, the exemplary blood of the martyrs used to inspire imitation in piety and in life, and finally the miraculous blood of the martyrs which brings cures and wonders. How Gregory manipulates meanings of torture, pollution, piety, holiness, miracles, idolatry and salvation by alternating from the positions of both victim and victor is key for understanding all the meanings of “blood” in the text. Finally the paper will offer some possible reasons why “blood” actually eludes Gregory in his own text, taking on a meaning and valance he could not possibly have foreseen.

According to a number of scholars the scribes who produced the prophetic corpus understood themselves as embarking on a quasi-prophetic or mantic quest for divine knowledge. This paper builds on these insights and combines them with a perception of the prophetic corpus as a part of a larger national mythology granting reason and meaning to the past. Moreover, it views the Twelve as a complex symbolic universe in which the historically contingent is revealed as instantiating eternal and paradigmatic truths. This discovery of the timeless within history is what bridges the gap between the eponymous prophet and the scribe, and makes the prophetic text eternally relevant and revelatory for the initiated interpreter. By looking at Hosea, Zechariah, and Malachi in relative detail, I demonstrate how the Twelve opens and closes on depictions of heavenly and earthly relationship as a relationship between macrocosm and microcosm. This is expressed in the marriage imagery as well as other features. Moreover, the obvious cultic interests of these books suggest a textual, symbolic ritual of transformation and purification embodied in the idea of the “Day of the Lord”, rendering the experience of the writer and even the reader with this symbolic universe not so much as a voyeuristic encounter with the divine, but an active participant in the revelation of it. Viewing the Book of the Twelve in this way provides a plausible scenario for explaining the desire to produce a tightly interrelated anthology of prophetic documents. Moreover, it can impact how scholars view ancient Judaism's return to older mythological themes of cosmology, heavenly rebellion and combat, themes that are expressed in a number of apocalyptic texts of the late second temple period.

The Volute Capitals (also known as "Proto-Aeolic" or "Proto Ionic" capitals) from Samaria, Megiddo, Hazor and Dan comprise a significant and impressive corpus. They date to the 9th century BCE and may be described as one of architectural innovations of the Omrides. These Volute Capitals were probably located in the gates and palace complexes in these cities and were in use until their destruction between 730 and 720 BCE. Ten Volute Capitals were discovered at Ramat Rachel, and, according to new excavations at the site, they date to the end of the 8th or to the beginning of the 7th century BCE. There are noticeable typological differences between the northern types of Volute Capitals and the type discovered at Ramat Rachel. We should hypothesize that some period of time, perhaps one or two decades, separate the northern capitals and those from Ramat Rachel. Kenyon recovered one volute capital at the City of David beneath a stratum which she dated between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE. Its actual date can be assigned only according typological comparison. Kenyon compared it to the Volute Capitals discovered in the north, prompting her to date it to the time of Solomon, but it is now clear that it closely resembles the Ramat Rachel type, and should be dated to the same period. Five Volute Capitals are known from the area of the outer gate of Khirbat al-Mudaybia in Moab. These capitals are of a unique type, but resemble those discovered in Ramat Rachel and Jerusalem. The date of the Khirbat al-Mudaybia Citadel is not clear. Like Ramat Rachel, however, the plan of the structure, the quality of the building and the appearance of volute capitals are not characteristic of the local architectural tradition. These volute capitals, together with one more that was discovered in a modern wall in Ain Sara, not far from Karak, and two fragments of capitals excavated in the citadel of Amman, are the only other exemplars of volute capitals known to us from the late Iron Age. In this paper, I argue that all the Volute Capitals from Judah, Moab and Ammon are close in their typology and date, and will suggest a historical explanation for their simultaneous appearance.

The Pentateuch reflects a world sustained by two underlying systems. One, exemplified by Deuteronomy, is historical (out of Egypt), legal ("constitutional" Sinai), "national" (identity via homeland), conditional (exile), subject to change (intermarriage alters identity), and particularist (home is a vacuum). The second, exemplified by "priestly" literature, is pre-historical (creation), ritual (cultic taxonomists, diet, purity), ethnic (families), permanent (eternal covenant), unchanging (identity from ancestors), and universalist (earth as wheel, Israel as cog). These systems must compete while being compatible; each addresses the needs of an hour, and should not divide those who appeal to them. Were the biblical authors conscious of these systems and did they seek to manage their interaction? I Kings 3 is a model for identifying, differentiating and keeping in play a set of binary opposites that correspond to the components of these systems. 1 Kings 3:1-15 is constructed around pairs of opposites: Solomon/Pharaoh; husband/wife; palace/Temple; "doctrine"/practice; tradition/change; father/son, King/king; good/evil; power/authority; justice/wisdom. 1 Kings 3:16-28 manages the pairs without collapsing or reconciling. Two women are together in one house with one living child. Only one is the mother, but nothing (their own accounts, names, descriptions) distinguishes them. Solomon uses justice and wisdom (v.28) to identify one mother, but ambiguity remains. Was the woman who got the child the "first" (v.17) one or the "other" (v.22). Was the woman who wanted to divide it (v.26) the "first" or the "other"? Did Solomon award the child to the birth mother (ethnic) who nevertheless wanted to give it away (universalist), or to the woman who wanted to divide it (violent nationalist) on condition that she did not (v.27)? Witnesses would have seen and known. "All Israel" who simply "hear" (v.28) must keep both women (systems) in the picture, and can be certain only that the child (people) must remain whole.

In his "Wool and the Textile Industry of Roman Italy: A Working Hypothesis" (in Elio Lo Cascio, ed., Mercati permanenti e mercati periodici nel mondo romano [Bari: Edipuglia, 2000], 187-197), Willem Jongman emphasizes, rightly, the outstanding potential of the textile trade to aid our understanding of the Roman economy. In his view, an important feature of the Roman textile economy may have been the trade of wool, which was typically exported in raw form from the less-densely populated areas in northern and southern Italy to the more populous cities in central Italy for manufacture close to its ultimate consumers. This model, however, can only be partially true, especially since Jongman isolated Italy from the nearby provinces. Based on a study of the epigraphic, papyrological, literary, archaeological and legal sources, I suggest that northern Italy and southern Gaul not only produced wool, but also tended to attract wool from elsewhere, and that these regions may have been the supply centers of non-luxury clothing and textiles for long-distance trade. Among the “pull” factors behind these phenomena, the demand from the city of Rome and the military in the frontier provinces may have both been significant. Central to my analysis is a new reappraisal of the roles of the centonarii in the textile economy.

“In my opinion, however, there never was a separate book of Deutero-Isaiah.” This thesis is the most challenging claim in H. G. M. Williamson's The Book Called Isaiah: Deutero-Isaiah's Role in Composition and Redaction. That is the point where the redaction-historical approach challenges reader-oriented approaches most sharply. In my own work, I ask how the ancient readers of Isa 40-55 might have read these texts. This question assumes, of course, that at some time there was a more or less self-contained corpus of Isa 40-55 (as argued for by a long line of scholars, both before and after Williamson). This paper aims not to discuss whether Williamson is right or not in his claim but to investigate whether, if he is right, this makes any difference for the readers (both ancient and modern) of these texts? A clarification of the concept of reader(s) is required. Indeed, can we continue to read Isa 40-55 as a more or less self-contained corpus, if it never really existed as such? Certainly we can—(post-)modern readers do decide for themselves how they read and what premises they establish for their readings—but does it make sense? Scholars read Isaiah from different methodological approaches even when they take multiple authorship of the book for granted (and thus start from a historical-critical approach). If Williamson"s conclusions have implications for the broader interpretation of the book called Isaiah, one needs to ask whether they have implications also for interpretations employing other methodologies.

Ephesians represents a grand political vision of God the Father's benefactorial grace in wisdom to reveal Jesus the self-sacrificing Messiah as the one Lord and Head who secures peace and unifies an otherwise hostile humanity into a body politic. Mediterranean political topoi (Greek, Roman, and Jewish) abound in this open letter to Christians in Asia Minor. Carefully investigating these topoi as pictured and elaborated across Ephesians may allow both for situating the discourse within a concrete setting of Paul's life (his arrest due to specific charges by "the Jews of Asia" at the Jerusalem temple in Acts 21:27-28) and for the discernment of presumably deliberate "trumping" maneuvers against alternative or competing political ideologies in circulation during the middle of the first century. The letter, then, fosters communal solidarity around God the Father and the One triumphant Lord Jesus in the Spirit, by describing the divinely revealed creation of a structured, productive, ethical, worshipful, and wise political body, which is ultimately God's army fighting the true battle on earth against rulers, authorities, world powers, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Psalm 91 is interpreted christologically in the literature of the early church fathers. It will be argued here that the Lukan Gospel shares a christological interpretation of that Psalm (an interpretation that may also be evident in the Markan and Matthean Gospels). This claim is demonstrable in relation to a subtle narrative arc that has been neglected in Lukan studies. The third temptation of Luke 4 establishes a foothold for a narrative arc that stretches out into the Lukan Gospel. Early interpreters who shared a christological interpretation of Psa 91:11-12 (cited in Luke 4:10-11) differed in their view of where the narrative arc grounds itself past Luke 4. This essay suggests a novel termination point for the narrative arc, with a christological fulfillment of Psa 91:11-12 transpiring within the Lukan narrative in a most peculiar fashion.

Whereas Levi and Simeon are roundly condemned for their actions against the men of Shechem in Genesis 34, later interpretations of this story, such as Jubilees, Aramaic Levi, Judith, Testament of Levi, and Theodotus, turn Levi into the hero of the narrative and for the most part ignore Simeon. These later interpretations are clearly and cleverly grounded in the Genesis story, except they turn it on its head! While these differences have been noted and the differences and similarities between them have been chronicled, a deeper questions remains. How do these later interpretations function to further the agenda of the social groups who produced and/or used them, and how do they operate to convince the reader to a particular social identity/group formation? Why and for what purpose is the extreme violence of this story applauded, and why is this story one of the explanations for the elevation of Levi to the position of divine ordination as priest?

Luke's Gospel foregrounds the theme of aphesis, “release,” as Jesus interprets scripture in Luke 4, quoting from Isaiah and setting his own career agenda. Robert Tannehill outlines the significance of release in the sense of deliverance from poverty, healing from disease and demonic possession, and the release (or more conventionally, forgiveness) of sins; in all three of these dimensions, release factors as a rich, central image for Luke's portrayal of Jesus. But this literary theme had a socio-economic context: Luke lived and wrote in a world dominated by empire. Jesus" audience and Luke's readers knew what life was like at the bottom of Rome's society. A promise of release would have captured their attention, as it should capture ours. The gap between rich and poor lies behind this theme; along with related metaphors of deliverance, vindication/victory, and ransom, the same theme echoes Israel's covenant traditions, hints at ways that early Christians told the story of the cross, and helps Luke's readers to negotiate the imperial world around them. I argue that Luke employed Isaiah's allusions to jubilary and sabbatical conditions as a covert metric, summed up in the unitive repetition of the aphesis word-group, to evaluate Roman society's structurally oppressive practices: on multiple levels, God offers “release” and Rome does not. This study responds to emergent issues in NT scholarship at the concrete level of provincial poverty, in formative traditions both covenantal and imperial, and in the evocative metaphors of Christ"s act of atonement. Refining previous interpretations of relevant texts (from Luke 4; 7; 19; etc.) it attempts to meet the challenges posed by the first-century Roman world, a context historically distant yet frighteningly relevant.

Notoriously difficult, the uncommon phrase, erets tsftkh in Ezek 32:6, has proven enigmatic for commentators and translators throughout the centuries. The plethora of translations testifies to the difficulty of the phrase. The LXX views it as Tso'a and therefore emends the Hebrew text to the Greek word for excrement, and translates: "And the land shall be drenched with thy dung." Some modern commentators follow suit while others propose alternate explanations. The diverse opinions and textual emendations indicate that there is no consensus on the translation or interpretation of this verse. Hence, this allows a fresh assessment of the expression. Surprisingly, Egyptian sources have been completely ignored. One would think that exegetes would have considered Egyptian as a philological source particularly in an oracle directed to the Egyptians. Yet, commentators did not seek a solution in that direction and therefore missed finding the precise etymological and morphological cognate of sapateka. We suggest that biblical word is derived from tsf'/tsf*, a root borrowed from late Egyptian and that erets tsftkh is parallel to the Egyptian phrase, "provisions of the Two Lands ,"i.e. Egypt. This approach has an impact on the onomastics of pre-exilic times. Seals and ostraca using spn might be construed differently, perhaps even point to the origin of the owner(s).

It is evident that Christian manuscripts occupied a central place in the life of Christian communities and individuals, both for their content and also as artifacts. Read during religious gatherings and advised for private reading, scriptures were considered guidelines for daily lives, for life and death. Diverse usages of biblical texts—from proof quotations to bibliomancy—and imperial orders to confiscate books during times of persecution attest to the significance of Christian manuscripts as physical objects. Given this important role, it comes as a surprise that papyrologists found numerous fragments of sacred scriptures thrown away at garbage heaps of ancient cities. While perhaps not a secret in the sense that scholars haves known that most of the earliest Christian manuscripts derive from ancient trash, this surprising fact has never received proper scholarly examination. Taking a down and dirty approach to fragments of New Testament and other early Christian writings, my paper offers a beginning at the discussion of the disuse of ancient manuscripts. I explore the implications of this practice posing social-historical questions about the owners and users of these texts and also about issues of sacredness and canonicity. In doing so, this paper nuances our understanding of early Christian usage of scriptural manuscripts.

The Gospel of Philip, preserved in Nag Hammadi Codex II, offers up a multitude of difficulties for its modern interpreters. Its seemingly haphazard structure and the highly allusive nature of its rhetoric have consistently frustrated scholars. This paper uses cognitive linguistics to show how the Gospel of Philip may be read as a coherent composition, analyzing the way in which it interprets the meaning and significance of the crucifixion and the cross in light of canonical scripture on the one hand, and ritual practice on the other. The paper examines how the Gospel of Philip interprets a multitude of Scriptural passages with a view towards a mystagogical interpretation of key Christian rituals and vice versa. The method employed is based primarily on Blending Theory, as developed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner and their followers, while also taking into account Raymond Gibbs" dynamic view of meaning production, as well as the concept of priming, in order to elucidate the implicit ways in which the text prompts for the construction of elaborate blends in readers" minds. In this regard the paper deals not only with the blending of concepts in the strict sense, but also with the blending of memories of canonical texts, what may be termed intertextual blending. The paper thus aims to demonstrate how Blending Theory can be applied to the analysis of a complex text from antiquity, and help us map out interpretive possibilities that are easily missed using traditional methods of analysis, and to see how the different strands of the Gospel of Philip's rhetoric are woven together.

Our knowledge of early Jewish-Christian gospels is based on fragmentary quotations, preserved in the writings of the Church fathers. According to a widely accepted theory there were three of these gospels: The Gospel of the Ebionites (in Greek, harmonizes synoptic gospels, preserved only in Epiphanius" Panarion), The Gospel of the Nazarenes (in Aramaic or Hebrew, resembles Matthew) and the Gospel of the Hebrews (a Greek gospel in Egypt; differs clearly from the synoptic type of gospels). In this paper, I will first show some serious methodological errors in the reconstruction of these three gospels and then argue for an alternative theory of two Jewish-Christian Gospels: The Gospel of the Ebionites and the Gospel of the Hebrews. In contrast to earlier reconstructions (especially in French scholarship) that have also presumed only two Jewish-Christian gospels, this “New Two Gospel Hypothesis” does not presume any connection with the Gospel of the Hebrews and the Nazarene Christians that were known to Jerome. Instead, the Gospel of the Hebrews appears as a post-synoptic harmonizing gospel strongly influenced by Wisdom speculations. As such it coheres nicely with Eusebius discussion of canonical and non-canonical books (Hist. Eccl. 3.25), where the Gospel of the Hebrews in placed in the category of the “disputed” books. Moreover, the Gospel of the Hebrews of the “New Two Gospel Hypothesis” provides a much more natural continuation of Q-Matthew –trajectory than the Gospel of the Nazarenes and the Gospel of the Hebrews of the standard “Three Gospel Hypothesis.” It also shows that Jewish Christians who carried on the Wisdom theology of the Q people stayed much closer to the proto-orthodox Christianity than the Gospel of the Hebrews of the earlier Three Gospel Hypothesis would let us to believe.

A comparatively little studied phenomenon is the shift in biblical meaning produced when a sermon designed for oral delivery in a Christian communal setting is published in an edited volume designed for a different purpose. The Bible has— hopefully—been successfully inculturated for an audience in a certain time and place, but its subsequent usage, and especially its reproduction in print, potentially shifts that cultural tone into a somewhat different key. The sermon considered here was delivered in Sheffield in 1992 by Professor John Rogerson of Sheffield University. Its text, set by the Anglican lectionary, was the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.25-37) and its setting was the "First Celebration of Holy Communion" of the newly ordained vicar of the Nine O"clock Service (NOS), Chris Brain. The sermon's discussion of the need for the divine risk-taking as exemplified in the Scriptures to be echoed by human risk-taking in the present was originally heard in the context of a fast approaching move into a long awaited mission-field. It took on a different meaning, however, following the contextual shift brought about by the collapse of NOS in a public sexual scandal in 1995. Although it could have been presented as prescient, the decision to publish the sermon in 2002 did not revolved around an attempt to claim foreknowledge, however. Rather it was the abrupt closure of NOS by local Church authorities that provided a third context—the deafening silence now reigning over its mission-field, the club culture of Sheffield—in which the published sermon could now effectively function as the protest of one still angry individual, a protest aimed at those Church leaders who refused to echo the divine risk-taking so prominent in the sermon and who by their risk-averse behaviour effectively destroyed a Church already badly damaged by internal abuse.

As Andrei Orlov has rightly observed, 2 Enoch presents the patriarch as both recipient and revealer of the secrets of creation. Where Orlov's work has focused on the connections between this and the roles and titles of Enoch, my own has explored the connections between the creational knowledge attained by Enoch in his heavenly ascent and the ethical instruction found in the second half of the book. This paper will continue to explore these connections, examining particularly the question of how much of content of the creation account—inconsistently represented in the manuscript witnesses—is echoed in the ethical material. This is important to our assessment of the originality of the creation material and may help to establish links with other Jewish and Christian texts.

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Psalm 24:1-2 encapsulates the African and Israelite concept of land ownership. The pristine belief to both communities is that God owns the land and appoints sovereigns to allocate it to the citizens (cf. Joshua). The recipient holds the land in perpetuity because it is both heredity and the burial place for the progenitors. Ancestral graveyards were permanent seals for one's right to the particular piece of land. Serious tension between the Africans and the colonialists was triggered by the discordant views on land ownership. The whites bought land and received title deeds; the blacks owned the same land as an inheritance from their ancestors. Biblically, the story of Naboth's vineyard resonates the African stance to land (1 Kings 21:1-4). Naboth had a vineyard in Jezreel beside King Ahab"s palace. Ahab wanted to purchase and develop it into a vegetable garden. Naboth swore by God that he could not give it away because “it is the inheritance of my fathers.” That is the crux of the land dispute in Zimbabwe and South Africa. In Zimbabwe the black Africans" seizure of land from the former colonialists has created economic chaos and ineffable suffering. Regardless of the difficulties, Zimbabweans are rejoicing that they have retaken their land from the white settlers. The sad thing is that the land has been seized and not carefully redistributed according to an economic plan beneficent for the entire country. Apparently the land grabbing has been motivated by land greed and retribution. The government, like Joshua, should have carefully reallocated the land to every tribe regardless of ethnic origin. Until the land is equitably redistributed in post colonial Africa, there can be no real peace in Africa regardless of whether it is the black or white Africans who own the land.

Drawing from Tonio Hoelscher's theory of Roman imperial iconography as an idealised system of communication, this paper investigates the communication code of imperial imagery of the emperor as faithful priest and officient of right sacrifice as a means toward understanding the imperial location of the Epistle to the Hebrews' representation of Jesus as offering perfect sacrifice. Hebrews' language of sacrifice is at home amidst Flavian political propaganda of a revived Augustan era manifested in iconography of the emperor conducting right sacrifice and promoting and rehabilitating traditional rites. The Epistle's use of imperial language to celebrate Jesus who "appeared" once for all to end sacrifice by the offering of himself (9:26), and to found "the city of the living God" (12:22), "the city that is to come" (13:14) is fully at home in Flavian political iconography and propaganda. Recognition of this invites a reconsideration of Hebrews in its imperial context and recovers a political reading of the text too neglected by more parochial treatments.

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The title of Michel Foucault's second volume of The History of Sexuality—The Use of Pleasure—takes its name from the Greek expression chresis aphrodision. Remarkably, most Pauline scholars studiously avoid acknowledging the potential sexual import of this chresis, or “use,” particularly when it comes to the relationship between slaves and slaveholders in these communities. This is all the more striking given the way Paul reflects upon Onesimus" relative usefulness (achreston or euchreston?) in Phlm 11, provoking a different kind of interpretive ambiguity for scholars to confront. Sheila Briggs" work indicates that this avoidance could be symptomatic of a wider “discourse of evasion” in terms of the coercive nature of slavery in antiquity. This paper will argue that this evasion is doubled by scholars, who avoid not only the sexual coercion enacted on the bodies of slaves but also the insights of various feminist, queer, and postcolonial theorists who might, in the end, help to illuminate unexamined dynamics and develop effective strategies for negotiating traditional perspectives on “Pauline” ethics. Eve Sedgwick's conceptualization of rivalry through erotic triangulation indicates that the relations between Paul, Philemon, Onesimus, and Apphia might test a variety of boundaries in terms of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and status. Yet, the use to which we might put the letter to Philemon is not limited to the options of acknowledgment or avoidance, as Gayatri Spivak"s strategy of catachresis (or “improper use”) exemplifies. In the end, such strategies should help to queer both the resistance to and the resignification of traditional Pauline values.

As shown by texts from the Gospel of John, Justin's Dialogue with Trypho, and the Talmuds, there is some relationship between the Birkat Ha-Minim, the Twelfth Benediction of the Eighteen, and a first-second century Jewish sect, the Jewish Christians. Originally, however, this Benediction was probably directed against the Roman government and reflected the views of another Jewish sect, the “Fourth Philosophy” described by Josephus. At some point in its development it also may have been directed against the Pharisees and/or the Essenes. After the First Revolt, however, it was redirected against the Jewish Christians by the emergent rabbinic party. Nor was this the only Benediction to come out of a background in first-century Jewish sectarianism. The Fourteenth Benediction (“who builds Jerusalem”), for example, was probably directed against the Christians or the Samaritans or both. And the Second Benediction (“who revives the dead”) was almost certainly directed against the Sadducees, and may originally have sprung from Christian circles. The Eighteen Benedictions, therefore, reflect a complex tradition history in which competing Jewish sects were jockeying for power and attempting to define who was and was not a member in good standing of Israel.

What are the sources of Luke in his narrative on Paul's mission ? Does know Luke Pauline letters ? The paper will propose a freh approach on this topic in considering ther mixture of proximity and distance between Pauline literature and the Lukan portrait of Paul. The status of the Torah will serve as an example of this view.

Symmachus was one of the three early post-Septuagintal translators/revisors of the Hebrew Bible included in Origen's Hexapla. His translation approach was characterized by an elegant Greek style and faithfulness to the sense of the Hebrew text. As A. Salvesen pointed out in Symmachus in the Pentateuch, Symmachus" revision generally rendered the Hebrew in one-for-one fashion (compared to LXX), but at times he avoided the one-for-one correspondence for stylistic (avoiding Hebraic constructions, avoiding unnecessary repetition, adding explanatory glosses) or exegetical (by addition or omission of key words, contextual renderings, etc.) reasons. Sometimes the fragmentary manuscript evidence for Symmachus preserves what appear to be double renderings of the Hebrew source. This paper investigates several possible double translations in Symmachus (mainly from Ecclesiastes) in order to determine [1] whether such double renderings may legitimately be attributed to Symmachus, and [2] if so, what motived such double renderings.

Sura 66, Al-Tahrim, teaches that Noah's wife was an unbeliever, condemned to “enter the fire.” What did she do to deserve such a punishment? In this paper, I examine a range of Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions relating to the moral character of Noah's wife. Descriptions of a life ranging from piety to perversion have coalesced around this unnamed Biblical character – a character that accumulates over 103 names in later literature! In the end, I will propose that the presentation of her fate in the Qur"an and its interpreters may have something to teach us about the biblical text itself.

Almost inevitably, the discussion of Romans 6:1-14 revolves around the doctrine of baptism or the moral obligations of believers. The traditional approach to the exegesis of Romans chapter 6 is often to see it as the beginning of a new argument in answer to a possible objection following the preceding section, the Adam/Christ contrast of 5:12-21. The discussion carries on with the doctrine of baptism and the death and resurrection of the believer through Christ. Verses 12-14 are viewed in turn as a digression in the form of a brief moral exhortation. I believe it to be a mistake to draw such a sharp line between the end of chapter 5 and the opening of chapter 6. I propose that Adam is still in Paul's mind as he draws out implications of the explicit Adam/Christ contrast he has drawn in 5:12-21. If the opening of chapter 6 is approached from the perspective of Jewish apocalyptic traditions of the time, the argument falls into place quite nicely. To this end I will briefly present some representative examples of common approaches to chapter 6. Adam material is then surveyed in books such as Jubilees, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Apocalypse of Moses and the Dead Sea Scrolls shedding an interesting light on the Adam/Christ connection and Romans 6:1-14. I argue that if Paul's juxtaposition between Adam and Christ is seen from the perspective of the apocalyptic thought of the day, a more coherent picture of Paul"s argument emerges. Humanity is subject to death through Adam. In chapter 6, Paul describes a paradoxical escape from death by means of another death. Through theme and vocabulary, Romans reflects certain Adam traditions current in some Jewish thought of Paul"s day. If Paul"s view of sin and death as “powers” is followed through consistently, this passage becomes about the eschatological turn of the ages.

The Masora was described as a chaotic or difficult field of research and the work of the Masoretes as “madness for scrupulous count of words.” But, is this true? Is there no logic behind it? Is it as difficult and incomprehensible as it seems? This paper aims to show the logic of the Masoretic notes, analyzing difficult examples and translating them to current concepts and logical thinking.

Ben Sira's attitude towards the gentiles is an old and disputed question in the research. The most extreme scholarly opinions regard Ben Sira either as a vehement anti-Hellenist or as a sympathizer of the Hellenistic culture. In this paper, the largest textual unit in the Wisdom of Ben Sira will be in focus (Sir 44-50). It is my aim to examine how Ben Sira retold and interpreted the past history of his own people in his 'Laus Patrum' and how he understood the role of foreign nations in this survey. It becomes obvious that Ben Sira was not always as harsh towards the foreigners as his source texts. Perhaps Ben Sira's openness is one explanation to the old enigma why he omitted Ezra from his Praise of the Ancestors.

In his recent book, Blood and Belief: The Circulation of a Symbol between Jews and Christians, David Biale argues that at a certain moment in Israelite history, the control of blood by the temple priests was an index of their power. He writes: “The biblical rules for the proper disposition of animal blood enacted their [the priests"] ritual monopoly.” The priestly discourse about blood was “political rather than theological” because it allowed the priests control over an agrarian society's most valuable resource. Biale notes that both early rabbinic and Patristic fathers “allegorized” the sacrifices and priestly prescriptions regarding blood found in Hebrew scripture. But what he passes over in his discussion of early Christianity and early rabbinic Judaism is another priestly discourse about the control of blood, a discourse that I will argue is equally political. This late antique discourse about blood arises from the dialectical interaction among third century Platonists, both Christian and non-Christian. My paper will argue that both Porphyry and Origen, by associating blood sacrifice with the worship of lesser spirits and even with evil daemons and by allegorizing sacrifices found in their respective holy texts, were founding their own authority as high priests. In other words, like the ancient Hebrew priests, by attempting to control the flow of blood through the creation of discourses about proper ritual and priestly knowledge, philosophers such as Origen and Porphyry were striving to found their own authority as both theological and ritual experts and increase their cultural capital. And like the discourse of the ancient Israelite priests, this one also centered around the flow of blood. Origen's allegorical interpretation in the “Homilies on Leviticus”, when read in conjunction with his other philosophical works reveals his efforts to cast the philosopher as the new high priest of the Church. In Porphyry"s case, scholars puzzle over the fragments from Philosophy from Oracles found in Eusebius" Preparation for the Gospel. In some of these fragments he associates the spilling of blood in temples with the appeasement of evil daemons. In another fragment, Porphyry quotes a lengthy oracle that lists the kinds of animals different gods want. I will argue that, although Eusebius fails to provide us with Porphyry"s commentary on this oracle, it is far more likely that Porphyry was allegorizing this list of sacrifices in a fashion that mirrored Origen"s interpretation of the sacrificial prescriptions in Leviticus than that he was contradicting himself. I will also highlight the way Porphyry constructs the image of the true philosopher as the priest of the highest god. Finally, I will argue these philosophers were making such claims to ritual expertise at the expense of the authority of everyday local priests. As a number of scholars have argued, the authority and influence of local priests was declining and their roles were in flux in certain provinces in the third century. Philosophers such as Origen and Porphyry were trying to compete for the same cultural and social resources by developing new discourses about blood sacrifice and about the realm of spirits. These discourses were ones into which they could emplot themselves as high priests. By exploring this material, I will answer the question why both Christian and non-Christian intellectuals in this period were so uneasy about and often violently opposed to blood sacrifices using evidence that goes beyond their theological and philosophical positions and takes account of political and social factors.

What connects Paul with the so-called "war on terror" being waged in our time (other than the fact that the same person, me, might be keenly interested in both)? I don"t have in mind simply readings that attempt to burst imperial American pretensions by depicting Paul as frequently engaged in anti-Roman-imperial polemic—valuable though such readings may be. I will attempt such a contextualization of Paul with the help of the fascinating reading of Romans offered by Jacob Taubes, further developed by Giorgio Agamben. Taubes reads Paul from the point of view of a political philosopher, and familiar Pauline concepts such as "law" are defamiliarized accordingly; and the contemporary theorist against whom Taubes reads Paul is Carl Schmitt, a towering figure in twentieth century German jurisprudence and sometime apologist for fascism. For Schmitt, it is definitive of the 'sovereign" to be the one who is able to declare the 'state of exception" in which the law does not apply; and the struggle between the nation and its enemies, in the context of which such a state of crisis is occasionally declared, is definitive of the sphere of the "political". The connection to the "war on terror" is easy enough: it turns out that President Bush"s legal enablers often seem to be channelling Schmitt. The connection with Paul is made in terms of his declaring the law to be no longer applicable and his ethic/politics of enemy-love. In the context of this intriguing contextualization of Paul"s letter to the Romans, this paper will also discuss the very phenomenon of the turn to Paul on the part of "secular" readers, and the range of responses available to biblical scholars.

This paper will consider the martyrdom of Stephen alongside related traditions concerning the death of James to underscore how both traditions grasp for ways to assert the split of Jesus believers, or Christians, from "The Jews." As part of this analysis, the speech of Stephen will be set alongside the historiographical speech preserved in the Pseudo-Clementine recognitions 1.27-71, so that the relative hostility of each text toward unbelieving Jews might be better assessed.

The audience is a vital element for communicating story; in fact, without audience participation, the narrative fails. I have recently examined a striking number of examples of ancient rhetorical theory and practices regarding audience participation. According to ancient rhetoricians, an engaged, participating audience at the very least paid attention and often helped create the story, inclining the audience toward moral formation. Strangely enough, one ancient rhetorical method for encouraging audience participation involved silence. Rhetors left blanks or holes in speeches and stories, relying on the audience to complete their thoughts. Long before modern identification of literary gap theory (i.e., the work of Meir Sternberg and Wolfgang Iser), ancient rhetors crafted gaps in narratives, encouraging audiences to become “fellow-workers” (Mor. 48:14) with the speaker. Identifying ancient roots for such theories helps guard against anachronistic methodological missteps, while simultaneously preventing the same theories from being dismissed out of hand. In Acts 7, Luke creates gaps using tools recommended by ancient rhetoricians. Using the speech of Stephen as a case study, I will explore Luke's practice of creating gaps by using tools recommended by ancient rhetoricians. By inviting the audience to participate in the narrative, Luke increases the probability that the audience will be formed by his story. The recognition of ancient gaps gives modern audience members a glimpse into the experience of the ancient auditors and also informs the way modern readers “hear” the biblical narrative. The responsibility of audience participation did not end with the ancient audience. The modern audience also bears the responsibility of creating the story with the ancient author. In our particular context as the people of God reading the Scriptures, we are more likely to be persuaded by the argument we help complete, astonished by the pictures we help draw, formed by the story we help create.

This paper will explore the interpenetration of Gnosticism and Platonism by examining in detail a particular motif in the Platonizing Sethian ascent treatises, especially Zostrianos (NHC VIII,1) and Allogenes (NHC XI,3), and then briefly comparing this motif to a parallel feature in Plotinus, who was known to have read and critiqued these particular treatises. It is well known that in the Platonizing Sethian treatises, as in Plotinus, the ascent towards the transcendent, hyperontic deity recapitulates the process of ontogenesis in reverse; in the case of Allogenes, for example, it is often noted that one ascends through some version of the derivational scheme of the so-called noetic triad (Being–– Life–– Intellect) that was systematized by later Platonists (indeed this passage, Allog. 59.1-61.22, is curiously reminiscent of Plotinus III.8[30].9). Yet I would like to suggest that there are more specific features of the Sethian ascent passages which suggest a striking parallel between the visionary ascent itself and the first moments of ontogenesis. In both Zostrianos and Allogenes the ascending aspirant must revert or “withdraw” (anachôrein) to his or her self at a crucial stage of ascent towards the supreme principle, while at the penultimate stage of ascent, the aspirant experiences a self-manifestation (or, equivalently, a manifestation of the transcendent principle within the self) that is an immediate prerequisite for a direct experience of the unknowable deity. In Allogenes this is specifically referred to as a “primary revelation” (oymntshorp noyônh ebol). The pattern of self-reversion followed by self-manifestation during the ascent is closely parallel in structure and terminology to the initial moment of ontogenesis, i.e. the moment at which the first, transcendent principle (the Unknowable One / Invisible Spirit) unfolds itself into the second (usually the multipartite Barbelo Aeon) through a similar process of self-manifestation or self-reflection. Indeed this may explain the perplexing term “primary revelation,” often (erroneously, in my opinion) taken to refer to the extended negative-theological discourse revealed by luminaries at Allog. 61.28-67.20. Rather, the “primary revelation” may be a deliberate reminiscence of the initial self-manifestation of the transcendent principle at the first moment of ontogenesis, similarly described as –oyônh ebol, at, for example, Allog. (NHC XI,3) 45.17, Zost. (NHC VIII,1) 3.12, Ap. Jn. (NHC II,4) 4.31, etc. Similarly, in Plotinus, the ascending mystic must recapitulate within his or her self the experience of the transcendent deity; the penultimate stage of the Plotinian ascent, just prior to union with the One, consists of a sudden vision of one's self, described in terms similar if not identical to the first moments of ontogenesis in which the One's eternal efflux reverts to its source and perceives its own (former) self, thereby introducing the first subject-object duality. The similarity of these Sethian texts with Plotinus" mystical passages–– indeed, with that aspect of his thought long considered to be the most intimate and experiential feature of his spiritual life–– is extremely striking, and suggests, if not a simple dependence of Plotinus on the Gnostics, at least a significant dialogue between them.

This paper will explore the intersection of the biblical text with the Egyptian cult of Isis. To arrive at this juncture, brief discussion will be given to the existence of the Isis cut in Ephesus prior to Christianity and the nature of the false teaching throughout the epistle. Of particular interest are the comparisons and contrasts that can be drawn with the creation account in Genesis, especially the correlations between Eve and Isis.

Logical-empiricist tendencies that linger in Assyriology influence us to regard current reconstructions of Mesopotamian cosmological beliefs as a “body of knowledge” rather than a “system of theories” -- that is to say, as facts uncovered by Assyriological investigators rather than hypotheses formulated by specific historical communities. My paper looks at how and when current translations of key Mesopotamian cosmological terms were first formulated, the assumptions of those early scholars, and how their ideas came to be institutionalized. I contend that the cosmological evidence was contradictory, and that the political history of Assyriology, particularly the aftermath of sharp early conflicts with conservative theology, caused certain data to be given weight over other data. Although many cuneiform references were compatible with the cosmological model that eventually came to be preferred early in the twentieth century, they did not point towards it indisputably. A de novo review of the same data using metaphor analysis, taking into consideration the many anomalies that have accumulated over the years, provides grounds for different but no less plausible reconstructions of the Mesopotamian afterlife and underworld.

Taking as its point of departure John Dominic Crossan's claim that Psalm 82 is the most important text in the entire Bible, this presentation will articulate major dimensions of a theology of the Psalms, highlighting God's will for world-encompassing justice, righteousness, and peace. The presenter's approach is largely synchronic, and might be labeled something like a literary-canonical-theological approach.

While honour and shame categories have been applied to the Gospel of Matthew for some time, examination of deliberative rhetorical strategies in the gospel, outside the Sermon on the Mount, has not been widely undertaken. This paper explores the way in which Matthew employs a complete, deliberative strategy to enforce the logic of the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew prefaces the sermon with the temptation narrative functioning as an argument from ethos (character) and concludes it with miracle narratives serving as an argument from pathos (emotion). Via the techniques of Aristotle, Cicero, and the Ad Herrennium, Matthew constructs an argument that convinces the reader to engage the logic of the Sermon on the Mount; the result is a classical outline of ethos, logos, pathos.

Jorunn Buckley wrote in a recent study that “The polemical parts of the [Mandaean] literature, as religious-political evidence, are still in need of a thorough scholarly examination” (Great Stem Of Souls, Gorgias Press, 2005, p.311). This paper is part of a larger project that attempts to do just that. Study of the process of self-definition by religious communities often provides us with important evidence about their history, by allowing us to triangulate their historical coordinates, as it were, in relation to interlocutors with whom they are engaged in debate. In many passages in Mandaean literature, one finds polemic against both Jews and Christians, as the Mandaeans sought to define themselves as neither. As in the case of the Gospel of John, there is good reason to think that the anti-Jewish features of some Mandaean literature may ultimately provide evidence of the Jewish origins, or at the very least context, of the community that produced it. In addressing this question, we hope at the same time to be able to learn more about the ways Jews and Christians were defining themselves in the same historical and geographical context.

In this paper, I will explore the characters of Samuel, Saul and David using the work of Italian sociologist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), hitherto little referred to by biblical scholars. A vital ingredient is his telling identification of two styles of successful leadership: the "fox" and the "lion". Pareto claimed that societies are most stable when there is a combination—or alternation—of both types of leadership in government; if that balance did not arise naturally it would come about by force. He believed also that too much softness in leaders who wished to be loved led to their overthrow by leaders who knew it was safer in the long run to be feared. This basic analysis will be supplemented by use of Pareto's "residues" and "motivations" (key human drives) in explicating the jostlings for power/authority among competing elites within societal groups. In Pareto's view societies respond to change by seeking to restore their equilibrium through a readjustment of many relationships, particularly that between the ruling elite (e.g. monarchy) and the non-ruling elite (e.g. priests or lawmakers). Furthermore, according to Pareto, wise rulers seek to reinvigorate their ranks by allowing the best from the lower strata of society to rise and become fully a part of the ruling class. Samuel"s support of David will be analysed along lines suggested by Pareto"s work.

This paper will engage in a comparative analysis of Gustave Dore's Bible illustrations (1865-1890) and the art of Phil Vischer's Veggie Tales.As an artist with an established reputation for caricature (Balzac), carnivalesque (Rabelais), and horror (Dante), Dore, through his religious illustrations (Milton and the Bible) offers a particularly good model for exploring the visual representation of the Bible, for general consumption, in the era during which childhood is emerging as a distinct socio-cultural category, but a category that is still largely overwritten with the characteristics of adulthood. Visher's Veggie Tales occupy an equally salutary position in contemporary north American culture, where childhood has been co-opted by the marketing industry. Using Adorno's 'culture industry' model, the paper will trace the visual trajectory of the gradual commodification of the Bible in children's popular culture from a text of gothic proportions to a salad bar teeming with self-referential, 'simpsonesque' humor.

This paper explores the development of a theology of healing in the extant works of the fourth century Egyptian bishop, Serapion of Thmuis. Examination of the theme of healing found in these works complements the finds of recent research on the Sacramentary of Serapion and makes it possible to consider how Serapion interpreted his episcopal role as healer in the context of the theological dissension and debate of his day.

Scholars have traditionally viewed the prosaic framework (Job 1–2, 42) and the poetic core of the book of Job (Job 3-41) as differing sharply in their depiction of Job. In the prose story, he is a scrupulous observer of the cult and a model of patience; in the poetry section, he is a defiant rebel, who shows no sign of following cultic practices. These apparent inconsistencies can be resolved if Job's reaction to disaster is viewed as a ritual of mourning throughout the entire book. Drawing upon A. van Gennep's classical theory of rites de passage, this study contends that Job"s mourning rites found in the prologue —especially Job 1:20–21— signal a transition from day–to–day life to a liminal state of separation from cult and society in which Job identifies with the dead and disaster. He remains in this threshold phase during the poetry section until the epilogue, when ritual acts and speech of incorporation allow Job to enter into a new condition. After a brief discussion of the ritual treatment of Job in contemporary literature, this paper will study the social function of ritual actions and language —tearing garments, head-shaving, falling to the ground, bowing, praying, eating, blessing— in the context of the ancient Near East and the Old Testament, and will accentuate their importance for our understanding of the relationship between the prosaic frame and poetic dialogue of the book itself.

The intention of this paper is to investigate the Egyptian conceptual and artistic evidence found in the first section (vv. 1-15) of the oracle given by Isaiah in chapter 19. It will become evident after our review of the Egyptian data that the biblical writer had an intricate knowledge of Egyptian kingship ideology. The prophet subtly directed the judgment of Yahweh towards Egypt's central figure—the pharaoh. Isaiah lays out a perfect illustration of his ability to create Egyptian royal ideological images out of words and tailors them to serve his purpose. Namely, the literary technique in this section depicts an exemplary image of Egyptian kingship ideology but in a reversal sense; everything that pharaoh had to accomplish in order to fulfill his responsibility as an Egyptian king failed. Yahweh reverses pharaoh's royal duties by permitting chaos to overcome Egypt"s religious, social, economic, and political realms. The focal point in the use of such reversal of Egyptian royal duties is to emphasize the sovereignty of Yahweh over the fate of pharaoh and by extension, Egypt.

Ephraem the Syrian, the famous doctor ecclesiae from the fourth century Syria, was the authoritative Bible interpreter at the exegetical schools, first at Nisibis and then at Edessa. Those schools trained readers and clergy for the church. Besides basic teaching, the schools strived to answer the challenges of their time, which were posed by heretics. The answers were found in the Scripture. In the neighbourhood of these ecclesiastical schools Jews had their own schools of interpretation. Both Christians and Jews used the same methods and oriental approaches, though they ended up with different interpretations, mainly because of the New Testament writings. Thus Hellenistic philosophy and Greek-Christian theology based on it were foreign to Ephraem. In this paper I will present the notion of authority concerning the fourth century Bible interpretation in Syria. The prominent person in this presentation is Ephraem the Syrian. As supporting material I will use contemporary Jewish sources as well as the earliest Christian lectionaries.

This paper will explore the rhetoric of rewriting the history and message of Paul in the apocryphal Acts of Paul and discuss the implications of this enterprise with regard to the battle for the canonical Paul. In 1983 D. R. MacDonald convinced many that the Pastoral Epistles and the Acts of Paul both are witnesses of a “Battle for Paul in Story and Canon”. According to MacDonald the weapons in this battle were oral legends about Paul and Thecla, which were taken up independently by the authors of the Acts of Paul and the Pastoral Epistles. A close investigation of all the intertextual relationships between the extant fragments of the Acts of Paul and Pauline literature reveals, however, that MacDonald's analysis was wrong as far as regards the literary relations between the texts. These clearly point to a deliberate use of and reference to authoritative Pauline material by the author of the Acts of Paul. Pauline texts known to the intended readers of the Acts are constantly referred to, re-interpreted and contextualized in order to shape the portrait of Paul and give an account of his message that not only meets the needs and beliefs of the intended audience. By taking up “loose ends” and filling up “gaps” in the earlier Pauline material the Acts deliberately pursue the goal of providing essential additional knowledge of the life and message of their hero that, if accepted, will also change the perception and interpretation of Pauline utterances already known to the public. The paper will only shortly deal with the Thecla story and the martyrdom of Paul which have gained quite a lot of attention in the past. It mainly focuses on lesser known parts of the Acts such as the overcoming of idols in Sidon (creating a narrative which contextualizes Paul's teaching on the “table of the demons” in 1Cor 10:21), and the fare-well speech and last supper in Corinth which clearly comments on passages of 1/2 Cor and reveals the final harmonious chapter in the relationship between Paul and the Corinthians.

In this paper I explore, in the spirit of Jorge Luis Borges' "Three Versions of Judas," how the figure of Judas Iscariot may be interpreted, now after the appearance of the Gospel of Judas. I discuss the nuances of more positive and more negative interpretations of Judas, as well as a more thoroughly literary understanding of this figure. With regard to the last issue of Judas as a literary character, I pay particular attention to the presentation of Judah the brother of Joseph in Genesis 37 and subsequent literature.

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The mysterious iconography of Rachel's tent at Jegar-saha-dutha/Galeed in Genesis 31:34, corresponds to the equally mysterious Yom Kippur atonement ritual in the Tabernacle tent, in Leviticus 16:13-15. The scenes are so strikingly similar that we must ask their purpose. In Genesis 31:34 we find Rachel in a darkened tent. Her father, Laban gropes about—presumably on his knees—while she sits upon a palanquin. Teraphim/Elohim are in the palanquin or palanquin basket. Rachel remains seated upon the palanquin and Teraphim, claiming to be menstruating. The iconography of a woman seated upon or between a supernatural figure or figures, a man bent before her, could be that of almost any Middle Eastern deity. In Leviticus 16:13-15 Aaron (and every High Priest after him) enters the tent of the Tabernacle. He makes a cloud of incense to cover the seat of the palanquin, which is the Ark: as if the cloud of God's Presence had settled upon its seat (Ex 25:17-22, Numbers 7:89) between the Cherubim. Aaron sprinkles blood of sacrificial animals upon this holy seat, which would be a desecration in any other circumstance. The two scenes connote abomination & holiness, respectively. Rachel is anathematized for lying and stealing, and is in an unclean state. She is cursed: that results in her death, and her spirit mourns in the heights. Aaron is acting at God"s command. Yet these tableaux are remarkably analogous. Why? It would appear that Rachel"s iconography as Tutelary Mother of both Southern and Northern founding dynasties was appropriated by the official Royal cult at Jerusalem. Teraphim are central to the religion of Biblical Women; Cherubim appear extensively in the Jerusalem Royal Cult. I will examine the power both lent to those who used them ritually.

In the period following the destruction of Jerusalem the expression of and relief from suffering played an important role. One significant way the biblical writers encapsulate the nature and experience of suffering is through the portrayal of the human visage. The personified Jerusalem along with fellow sufferers the Servant of Deutero-Isaiah and the Strong Man of Lamentations played important roles in allowing the expression, rejection, understanding, and acceptance of tragedy. This paper assesses these three characters, comparing and contrasting their portrayals, and their outcomes to show how they function to provide meaningful reactions to disaster.

The book of Revelation has been recently dubbed 'a sick text' (Will Self). The violence of the imagery, the grotesquely brutal sexual humiliation of the Whore, combined with orgiastic heavenly glorification of such vengeance has rendered the Apocalypse if not a sick text, a problematic one. This paper will argue that many recent attempts to read John as offering a model of non-violent resistance through the act of martyrdom are unconvincing. This is because for John, martyrdom is not passive, but active violence; martyrs are soldiers in a cosmic holy war. The violent cosmological drama of the Apocalypse actually hinges on the martyrs' deaths; Divine violence in Revelation depends on the martyrs' contribution, and so the Apocalypse calls its readers to actively participate in (and collude with) both human and divine violence. Without this violence, the drama of the Apocalypse just does not work.

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As a feminist who reads the text specifically as a woman, this paper has grown out of my desire to engage in conversation with men reading the text specifically as men. Although the vast majority of biblical interpretation over the centuries has been done by men, it has been done not by men claiming their own gender and then reading from that perspective, but by men trying to maintain an impossible state of “objectivity.” This is a critical difference. In settings where women have gained relative equality with their male colleagues, the time is ripe for a move toward gender hermeneutics. My male colleague in this project, Alec Miller, is a seminary-trained ordained minister working as a chaplain for at-risk youth (and also my husband). It is my hope that he will be able to present with me, but as he is not an SBL member, I have submitted the paper under my name only at this time. Thus this paper brings several dichotomies into conversation with one another: female and male, scholar and minister, academy and residential chaplaincy. In this study, I first offer an introduction on the reasoning and methodology behind this approach of reading the text from gendered perspectives both male and female. The main body of the paper is in two sections, reading as a woman and reading as a man. Mr. Miller and I each elaborate separately on our own gendered understanding of Paul's treatment of marriage in 1 Corinthians 7. We then close the paper with a dialogue about how the act of listening to each other's perspectives has changed and encirched our own understanding of the text.

This paper treats the Apostle Paul's argument in Romans 8.1-17 in light of contemporary Hellenistic anthropologies. In this passage Paul makes it clear that the spirit is connected with ethical behavior. The question that is rarely treated is why there could be such a connection. What logical connection is there between the spirit and behavior, such that Paul can say that “if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live” (Rom 8.13)? Why should it be that the spirit produces good behavior? My thesis is that the ethical character imparted by the pneuma is best explained by reference to the way that the Roman believers would have understood the word pneuma. Drawing on Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, Diogenes Laertius and others, I will show that, because of the marked influence of Stoicism and other closely related Hellenistic philosophies in Rome, Paul's anthropological terms in Romans 8.1-17 cannot but have been heard as part of this philosophical discourse. I will argue that for the widespread anthropology which their philosophy both created and gave expression to, the sort of pneuma one possessed determined what sort of qualities, including moral qualities, one possessed. It defined one"s behavior. Thus I suggest that in Rom 8.1-17 Paul uses this behavior-defining nature of the pneuma to exhort the Christians in Rome to behavior consonant with Christ"s spirit, which they have. And because Christ suffered and died before he was raised, it follows that those who have his spirit will do the same.

Examinations of ethnicity in the New Testament often focus on Paul's letters, and for good reason. After all, it is Paul who claims “For there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer male or female, there is no longer slave and free…” (Gal. 3:28), a statement usually taken as a blanket devaluation of various forms of identity, ethnic identity included. Furthermore, it is Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, who appears responsible more than any other for carrying the gospel across ethnic boundaries to the nations. This paper consists of three parts. The first offers a brief overview of the recent study of ethnicity. In light of issues raised by this survey, the paper examines the role of ethnicity in Paul's self-understanding and in what he advocates for the early Christian communities to whom he writes. In particular, the essay examines the relevance for ethnicity of Paul"s understanding of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Paul"s devaluation of his own ethnicity in Philippians 3, and Paul"s seeming flexibility with his ethnic identity in 1 Corinthians. The paper concludes that ethnic identity, like all collective identities, has been transcended by the cosmic Lordship of Jesus Christ. Yet, ethnic identities remain, even if devalued. As such they may become tools for the gospel, as Paul"s own utilitarian use of his own ethnicity shows.

The presentation explores the topic underpinnings for Mark's enigmatic ending, the "empty tomb" narrative in Mark 16. Once locating the vignette within this heroic topos, the study explores the subtext of these generic signals and what possible interpretation this places upon the preceding narrative. Instead of proposed as the moment sui generis in human history, the narrative places the protagonist within a standing, mythic tradition aimed at punctuating the heroic/divine stature of the man. Hence, the essay notes the inceptive disposition of the text vis-à-vis Early Christian "resurrection" mythography.

Mark includes parables depicting the sowing of crops and abundant harvests (4:1-20; 26-29; 30-32). These parables emphasise the interconnectedness of Earth and humanity. Human beings depend on the produce of Earth to sustain life. When we approach Mark from a hermeneutics of suspicion, identification, and retrieval, however, we discover that the produce of Earth becomes a source of contention among human beings. Jesus is criticised for his meals with tax collectors and sinners (2:15-17). His disciples are condemned because they eat bread with unclean hands (7:5). Jesus, moreover, is initially reluctant to share the "children's bread" with a gentile girl (7:24-30). Earth is subject to human demands, and used to eatablish boundaries between human beings. These passages raise current ecological questions about the cultivation of crops and the sharing of food. In other texts, however, Earth receives respect as a source of abundant food for humanity. In the feedings of the five thousand and of the four thousand bread is broken and shared so that everyone eats and is fully satisfied (6:42; 8:8). These accounts act as a challenge to the earlier conflicts over bread. The sacrificial nature of Earth is illustrated in the descriptions of the broken bread which become abundant food for the hungry crowds in desert places. A hermeneutics of identification and retrieval may be seen in the narrative of the Last Supper in which bread is identified with the body of Jesus, and wine with his blood poured out for many (14:22-24). Earth and Jesus are identified in their wilingness to give up life for others. Jesus prophesies that he will not drink the fruit of the vine until he drinks it new in the Kingdom of God (14:25). From the perspective of Earth the vision of the Kingdom is expressed by the material realm in abundant harvests and food shared by all.

The “Battle for the Bible” has been underway for a long time. Both ends of a theological spectrum have spoken out, quarreled, and marshaled their research to substantiate their respective points of view on how to perceive and present the Bible: Is it a valuable and precious, albeit human, literary collection worthy of serious study? Or is it the final, complete, error-free word and mind of Deity? This firestorm has raged, in particular, from the early part of the twentieth century as individual scholars as well as religious institutions (schools and seminaries) have taken sides on the issue. With the recent renewal of interest in such apocryphal works as the Gospel of Thomas and the resurgence of such biblical personalities as Mary Magdalene in the popular media, it is inevitable that works such as Bart Ehrman's The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (Oxford, 1993), Lost Christianities (Oxford, 2003), and the more popular Misquoting Jesus (HarperSan Francisco, 2005) should send shockwaves throughout the universe of biblical studies, especially among Evangelical scholars, resulting in such Christological counterpunches such as Timothy Paul Jones's Misquoting Truth (IVP Books, 2007). In the midst of this war of words about matters of eternal consequence, what if anything has gone on within the world of Mormonism? How does The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a restorationist movement with a solidly Christian profession, address itself to the historical veracity, inerrancy, or infallibility of the Bible? The Mormons are certainly Bible believers, but they also accept additional books of holy scripture. How does their expanded canon affect their perspective on the Bible? Must one hold to the tenet of inerrancy in order to prevent the scriptural slide into secularity? Must one subscribe to an inerrant text in order to generate sufficient reverence and respect for the Bible? To what extent do Latter-day Saints believe the hand of God has been over the preservation of the Bible? These and other questions are among the matters to be addressed briefly in this paper.

The aim of this paper is to explore biblical text via the tools of cultural geography, in this case the work of E. Soja and his modelling of urban spaces in Postmetropolis. In this study the focus will be the use of his model of Sim-city and the links between his thought and that of magical realism to explore space and place images within the sacred universe narrated in the prophetic text. This particular case study is set within the frame of contemporary concerns with spatiality as source of cultural meaning.

In the ongoing discussion of the Bible's formation, it is possible to neglect the demonstration of specific techniques for the revision of literature. One prominent technique that has not received attention is expansion through introduction. In order to define techniques for revision in the Bible, it is essential to examine them in the company of independent sources with diachronic evidence. For this, Mesopotamian literary traditions exhibit clear techniques of revision. Expansion through introduction is widely applied in both literary corpora. In the Bible, the book of Judges stands as a particularly potent repository of texts that demonstrates the diverse applications of this technique: Judges 2:11-19 represents the new Deuteronomistic prologue for the collection; the Gideon cycle has been recast as an introduction to Judges 9; and the concubine tale is created with the specific aim of revamping the Benjaminite war narrative. The use of revised introductions to expand and transform received texts is also demonstrable in the separate recensions of Adapa and the Gilgamesh Epic. The method of revision through introduction stands out as both fruitful and elusive, for the fronting of received material with a new text transforms the details of the older work completely. Because revised introductions alter one's reading of the following text, they easily foster misinterpretations of the original narratives and the processes by which they evolved. By tracking the use of revised introductions in biblical and Mesopotamian narratives, I shall demonstrate that the recognition and analysis of this phenomenon is essential for tracking the process by which certain texts have evolved and for disentangling later readings from the intentions of the original author. Rather than prioritize the Mesopotamian evidence, I allow findings both from the Bible and from Mesopotamia to contribute toward the development of a model for the expansion of ancient literature through introduction.

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In the Bisitun inscription, Darius the King depicts himself as master of a human empire. The Earth only figures in his narrative as a space in which the Lie may flourish; Darius eliminates the Lie by the grace of Ahura Mazda. However, the absence of the Earth in the inscription is balanced by the carving of the inscription and its associated relief on a rock outcropping. In Zechariah 14, the Earth is very much a part of the cosmic drama enacted by Yhwh on the Day of Yhwh. There are two significant ways that the Earth participates. In the first, the Earth's actions signal or are in sympathy with Yhwh's actions on that day. In the second, Yhwh acts upon the Earth; the Earth is a object of Yhwh"s power, signaled upon by his actions. Two types of mastery of the Earth are thereby enacted: the Imperial Persian, in which the Earth is mastered by its entire irrelevance to Darius"s domination (yet reappears as the physical setting for the inscription), and the Judahite, in which the Earth is mastered as part of Yhwh"s dominion of the cosmos.

The famous list of David's Compositions in 11QPsa 27:2-11 ascribes to David numerous poetic and liturgical works. The numbers assigned to the various genres clearly reflect a calendrical background, linked to the so-called solar calendar (364 daily songs, 52 songs for the Sabbaths etc). The only obscure datum is the 3,600 psalms, and all the calendrical interpretations proposed so far are unconvincing. This paper will offer a new proposal, based upon the integration of both literary analysis and linguistic considerations. An analysis of the structure, themes and motifs of the passage suggests that the author was relying on two biblical inter-texts: the praise of Solomon's wisdom (1 Kgs 5:9-14) and its functional equivalent describing Solomon"s preparations for the construction of the Temple (2 Chr 1:18–2:1). The number 3,600 can thus be derived from 2 Chr 2:1 (cf. v. 17). However, in Chronicles rhis number refers to Solomon"s construction supervisors (termed as menas?s?h?îm), while in David"s Compositions it is the number of David"s psalms. This surprising transformation is elucidated by a linguistic inquiry into the semantic development of the root n-s?-h? in Hebrew, which suggests that the biblical term menas?s?h?îm was interpreted anachronistically in the light of the musical term menas?s?eah? (very common in superscriptions of biblical psalms). Such a development is paralleled by similar usage in late strata of Rabbinic Hebrew and in Piyyut literature. The conclusion is that the mysterious datum in David"s Compositions has no calendrical implications; rather, it is an indication of the literary dependence of the passage upon its biblical models. It also serves to illustrate an important feature of the Hebrew language employed in the Qumran scrolls: its scholastic relation to biblical language, which is articulated in “pseudo-classicisms.”

****In John 8:56 Jesus tells “the Jews” that “Abraham your father rejoiced that he would see my day and he saw it and rejoiced.” Yet the MT divulges only that Abraham perceived that God “would see to” (Qal imperf., ? ? ?) the provision of a sheep, and Abraham then names the place of the sacrifice “the Lord/Yahweh will see to it/provide” (Qal imperf., Gen. 22:14a). The narrator adds that, “it is said to this day, "on the Mount of the Lord, it will be provided/seen/he will be seen"” (Niphal 3rd person, imperf., Gen. 22:14b). At most, this mysterious 3rd person niphal could subtly suggest that “the Lord/Yahweh” will be seen at some future point on the mountain. The immediate context, however, argues for the straightforward reference to the sheep/ram that in fact “was provided” (Gen. 22:13). --In a very different manner, the LXX invites Jesus" assertion that “Abraham had already seen” him (eiden [aorist], John 8:56) and thus makes much better sense of Jesus" fantastic claim and the resulting volatile reaction of the Jews in picking up stones to kill him: 1) Instead of “the Lord will provide/see to it,” LXX Gen. 22:14 declares that Abraham named the place of sacrifice, “"The Lord saw" (eiden), in order that they might say today, "On the mountain, the Lord was seen/appeared"” (Kyrios ophthe). Clearly Abraham is the unspoken “seer” of the Lord; 2) Thus the LXX brandishes the parallel phrases “Abraham saw” (eiden, 22:13) “the Lord saw” (eiden, 22:14); 3) Because in Gen. 22:13 Abraham “sees/perceives” and replaces Isaac with the ram (krios), the suggestion is not far that Abraham sees the day that the christos (alliteration and assonance with krios) will take the place of his son Isaac, since, after all, he has “already seen the Lord” (22:14b).

****Biblical scholars use the book of Judges to understand both Israel's emergence in Canaan, and the motives of late biblical authors who preserved and recast Israel's origin traditions in light of contemporary trends. In its final form, Judges 2:11-19, identified by Richter as the Deuteronomistic schema, clearly reflects these late developments. In the text we have received, terms such as ????? ????, ???? ??? and ??????? ??? ?????? express a theological interest in Yahweh, who punishes his people for breach of covenant by giving them into the hands of their enemies. However, when we consider the verbs in these phrases on their own terms, they portray territorial rivalries and fears of circumscription by raiding enemies that points to an early tribal socio-political context, entirely fitting for the period in which the book of Judges is set. Internal biblical evidence brings the tribal aspect into clearer relief, and extra-biblical evidence casts additional light. A comparison of this text with Amarna letters from the Aziru and Labayu correspondence, where the verb šahatu signifies fear of losing land to one"s enemies, is particularly illuminating and suggests that we reconsider the meaning of the verb ??????? in Judges 2:19. The Egyptian loan-word ????? and the verb ????? in Judges 2:14, often translated with the generic meaning “to plunder,” may deliberately call to mind the Š3sw raiders, well attested in Egyptian texts from the 18th Dynasty through the Third Intermediate Period. When taken together, this evidence suggests the possibility that embedded in Judges 2:11-19 is an older text that described this period in Israel"s past in explicitly political terms; or, at the very least, that the late historian responsible for the book of Judges in its final form, deliberately appropriated a tribal political language that was quite ancient within a West-Semitic cultural milieu.

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The lecture will focus on questions of the background and date of the erection of the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. Since, Josephus description is the sole evidence for the building of the Samaritan Temple (Jewish Antiquities. XI, 306-312; 321-325; 346), modern scholarship discusses this topic at length, and its conclusions ranged from rejection of this evidence to various attempts based on archaeological material to solve the chronological dilemmas related to the building of the temple. In a series of articles in Hebrew and English I argued that the question of dating the building of the Samaritan Temple is a 'solved riddle", and I dated it to 333/2, during the vacuum between the collapse of the Persian kingdom and the eve of the conquest of Eretz Israel by Alexander the Great. Recently Dr. Yitzhak Magen, the archaeologist who dug for the last 20 years at Mount Gerizim and its vicinity, based on findings from Gerizim, rejected Josephus' account and its dating of the building the Samaritan Temple. He argues for an earlier dating. According to him, the temple was built in the middle of the 4th Century BCE, during the days of Nehemiah's rule in Yahud. The lecture will examine Magen's main arguments, and will survey the archeological findings which he used for the early dating. These arguments will be rejected by using evidence from the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which will allow us to continue to argue for a later date, the fourth century, for the erection of the Samaritan Temple.

It is commonplace in the Hebrew Bible for themes such as "land," "nations,' and "temple" to be given emphasis and theological import. In Ezekiel and the Twelve, the concepts of land, ruler, and nations serve as theological and literary structuring devices in order to prepare for temple building. These concepts serve as literary controls for not only how the texts should be read but also how the conditions for a new temple should appear. Thus they function as markers of coherency and unity for their respective books. Although both prophetic works share these same notions as a prelude for what a new temple should like and how it should function, the individual ideas are conceived in a manner particular to each prophetic tradition and its tradents. The parallel use of these ideas in Ezekiel and the Twelve may suggest common concerns and traditions behind the reception, arrangement, and transmission of the texts.

The Text und Texwert analysis of John 1-10 goes a long way to providing the evidence for selecting MSS to be included in the editio maior Iohannes. The matching analysis of all available MSS in Jn 18 brings the whole series to a conclusion. The results are outlined for the first time.

In 1999, S. Gitin and M. Cogan published a dedicatory inscription from 7th century BCE Ekron that reads lb"l wlpdy, “for Baal and for Padi” (IEJ 49 [1999]: 193-202). They noted that this was the first “West-Semitic inscription in which a god and a king are joined in a single dedication” and posited influence from Neo-Assyrian models. Connections were suggested with the Neo-Assyrian loyalty oath (cf. pala? ili ú šarri, “fear of god and the king,” in an inscription of Sargon II). Additional support for their association occurs in the phrase ina ma?ar DINGER u LUGAL, which is attested in Neo-Assyrian loyalty oaths (SAA 2, 4r: 17 and 6: 604, plural in 6: 420). Knowledge of Neo-Assyrian loyalty oaths in West-Semitic cultures is also indicated by parallels between Deuteronomy 13 and 28 and the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon. But Gitin and Cogan overlook the possibility of a connection between their inscription and Akkadian dedicatory inscriptions which devote objects to a god and for the life of the donor. This combination occurs, e,g., in a private Neo-Assyrian building inscription (KAH 2 138) dedicated to Girra by Sebetti-remanni. Nevertheless, any model of Neo-Assyrian influence has to deal with the fact that the formula “god and the king” is attested or implied in a number of biblical passages, including Exod 22:27; 2 Sam 15:21; 1 Kgs 21:13; 2 Kgs 11:17; Isa 8:21; and Prov. 24:21. Do these passages overturn the thesis of Neo-Assyrian provenance? The paper will identify the most likely inspiration for this inscription by a study of these biblical texts and with references to the influence of Neo-Assyrian culture and ideology on Judah and Philistia during the 7th century BCE.

This paper is an ideological critical reading of the story of the woman with the flow of blood in Mark 5: 24-36. It examines the construction of the bodies of both Jesus and the woman in light of ancient theories of disease that were concerned with the balance, boundedness and porosity of the body. It argues that, when considered in this context, the body of Jesus is itself a kind of uncontrolled porous body and therefore a sick and effeminate body. Thus, while the overarching meta-narrative of Mark supports an idea of the faithful as healthy impervious bodies, the protagonist remains throughout the narrative porous and sickly.

In his letters Paul creates a discourse about experiences "in Christ": spirit possession manifested in out-of-body journeys, visions, spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and the working of signs and wonders. Paul's discourse connects the myth of the resurrected Christ to particular performances within the community. What in contemporary discourse about religion would be labeled religious experience becomes a way for Paul of enacting the myth of the resurrected Christ. However, in contemporary scholarly discourse about Paul and religious experience, religious experience has become a category separate from and prior to the myth of the resurrected Christ. In this scholarly discourse about Paul's religion, religious experience becomes an enactment of a modern mythology of religion and serves an apologetic purpose to connect material and transcendent explanations of religion in general and Paul's religion in particular.

Of all the books of the Pentateuch, perhaps none has as much similarity with the Quran in overall content as does Deuteronomy. The Quran narrates more passages about Moses than any other figure, including Muhammad, Abraham, Jesus and Mary. The Quran provides narratives on the story of the Children of Israel. Likewise, the Deuteronomy Shema finds parallels in the Muslim Shahada. The goal of this paper is to provide an analysis of the parallels, differences, and possible evolutions between the two texts. The focus will be placed on the story of Moses, the Children of Israel, and the development of the Law. We will also focus on the depictions of YHWH and Allah in general and in relation to the Children of Israel in particular. In addition, we will approach the genre in Islamic scholarship known as isra"iliyyat, scholarship derived from Jewish and Christian sources, in commentary on the above narratives, as well as commentary on the Law.

****There is a peculiar epithet, the “self-originate” (autogenes), which appears in seven works of Sethian literature: the Apocryphon of John, the Gospel of the Egyptians, Zostrianos, the Three Steles of Seth, Marsanes, Allogenes, the Thought of Norea, and the untitled treatise in the Bruce Codex. (It also appears in the potentially Sethian Eugnostos and the text which encorporates parts of Eugnostos, Sophia of Jesus Christ.) In these works, the epithet describes several different actors: at times, “self-originate” refers to the parent (ApJohn, GosEgypt); it is the child of the holy spirit and the Barbelo (ApJohn II); it can be an entity distinct from the parent (Zos, untitled treatise); alternately, it can be a space of rest (Norea). My presentation will use this epithet as an index by which to investigate the relationship between Sethian literature and middle Platonic philosophers. Specifically, I contextualize the use of “self-” as a prefix by considering the way this same prefix is used by Numenius of Apamea. Numenius distinguishes between the One God and the Demiurge by noting that the One God is “good unto itself” (autoagathon; frag. 16), whereas the Demiurge is simply “good.” I argue that Numenius's division inspires the Sethian use of “self-originate” to speak, in multiple ways, of several divine actors. Interestingly enough, the Gospel of Judas identifies one of its divine actors as “the angelic self-originate” (47; see also 48, 50). My presentation will conclude with remarks relating the appearance of “self-originate” in Judas to these two contexts: Sethian literature and the thought of Numenius.

The paper synthesizes the results of excavations at Tel Kinrot/Tell el-"Oreme undertaken by the European Kinneret Regional Project under the auspices of the Universities of Bern, Helsinki, Leiden and Mainz during the years 2003 to 2008. Tel Kinrot, located on the northwestern shores of the Sea of Galilee (Israel), has a long settlement history ranging from the Chalcolithic to the Ottoman period. The site is identified with the ancient town of Kinneret mentioned in Egyptian documents dating to the 18th dynasty and in the Hebrew Bible (Josh 19:35). According to present knowledge, Kinneret had its heyday during Iron Age IB (ca. 1050-950 BCE) when it became one of the most important cities in Northern Palestine. In contrast to other settlements at that time, Kinneret was a heavily fortified, centrally planned and well-organized town. The numerous imported goods from different regions of the Levant and beyond can easily be explained on the background of the city's strategically and economically favorable position on a small pass along the via maris. However, certain other features – such as burial patterns, ceramic traditions or iconographic peculiarities are foreign to the contemporary material culture of Palestine and call for a discussion of the ancient settlers" origins. Furthermore, aspects of daily life in a vivid and multilayered urban center at the dawn of the first millennium BCE will be addressed.

Recent archaeological research in the Faynan region of southern Jordan is beginning to provide evidence of the role of metal production and its effects on the evolution of complexity in this region. This paper relies on zooarchaeological data to model the subsistence interaction sphere of the Edom Lowlands during the Iron Age. Preliminary data from Khirbat en-Nahas indicates that the influences of the inhabitants of this important Edomite region extended far beyond local and regional boundaries to the coastal areas of the Red and Mediterranean Sea.

In the middle of the second century CE, a prophetic renewal movement called Montanism is said to have emerged in Phrygia, and became, by all accounts, popular in the provinces of Asia Minor and Galatia. The New Prophecy, as the group ostensibly called itself, is purported to have arisen as a reaction to the increasingly hierarchical nature of the developing “proto-Orthodox” Christian Church. Matters of debate between this putative renewal movement and the Church revolved around several issues, including the power of bishops, the position of prophecy, the attitude towards Roman imperial order, and the role of women. Significantly, the chief sources concerning the movement are found among its later detractors, including Eusebius of Caesarea and Epiphanius. Applying the theoretical ideas of Richard Horsley, Bruce Lincoln, and Tim Murphy, this paper considers how the proto-Orthodox critiques of Montanism may have functioned primarily as a rhetorical means of establishing proto-Orthodox authority and institutional hierarchization rather than serving as an accurate depiction of the Montanist movement.

This paper focuses on how Matthew's appeal to Isa 42:1-4 in Matt 12:17-21 affects the characterization of Jesus in his Gospel. Although scholars have generally abandoned the thesis that this OT quotation presents Jesus as the “Suffering Servant,” many scholars still consider this passage to emphasize Jesus" submissiveness as God's “servant.” However, this paper will challenge this traditional interpretation with a new analysis of Matt 12 in its literary and socio-cultural context. The paper begins with an argument that Matt 12:17-21 appears in the midst of an inclusio surrounded by 11:2-24 and 14:1-12, both of which recount different aspects John the Baptist"s conflict with Herod Antipas. Next, the paper will show how awareness of this larger context reveals the crucial connection of "reed" (11:7-8; 12:20) and kingship in Matthew"s Gospel. This connection is particularly significant since it raises the possibility that the “bruised reed” and “smoldering wick” are none other than impotent kings, like Herod Antipas, whom Jesus will replace with the establishment of God"s justice. This new reading takes seriously the temporal conjunction "until" in 12:20 as indicative of the time when Jesus will destroy these unjust rulers: namely, when he brings forth justice to victory. Finally, the paper will demonstrate how Matthew"s appeal to Isaiah 42 resonates with the concept of “ideal kingship” in Mediterranean antiquity, which emphasizes the intimate relationship between king and deity, the need for a king to be both a servant of the deity and one"s people, and the role of a king as the one who both establishes and embodies justice. From this analysis, we will see that rather than portraying Jesus as a non-confrontational servant, Matthew"s use of Isaiah 42 contributes to his consistent presentation of Jesus as God"s divinely appointed king.

Comparison of the results of the archaeological excavations and surveys and that of the written texts is always complicated due to the many differences between the two disciplines. This is particularly true of the periods of decline in the scope of settlement and the strength of the urban and material culture, such as the Amarna (14th century) and the early Persian (5th century) periods. There are no primary written sources for the early Persian period, and the single written text available for comparison with the results of the archaeological research (namely, the Bible) suffers from well-known limitations. The situation is different in the Amarna period where we have both the testimony of the archaeological excavations and surveys and that of the primary written texts (namely, the Amarna letters). Hence the discrepancy between the text and archaeology can be put to the documentary test. The lecture will examine the evidence of the Amarna letters sent from some important Canaanite cities vis à vis the results of archaeological excavations conducted in these sites. It is suggested that the conclusions drawn from the comparison are also applicable to the problems involved with the search of Nehemiah's wall, which - like the Amarna highlands cities - was built in a time of utter decline in the history of the city.

Translation studies have traditionally been characterized by a preoccupation with the (perceived) dichotomy between "literal" and "dynamic" equivalencies but they have not sufficiently examined aspects of colonial mimicry. Arguing that there is a symbiotic relationship between postcolonial theory and translation studies, especially in the context of biblical studies, this essay demonstrates how insights from the former can be helpful in foregrounding layers of colonial mimicry in translation enterprise. It explicates issues of power and culture pertaining to the translation of biblical texts from English into Telugu (a South Indian language) in the early twentieth century. The essay calls attention to specific examples of imperialistic translations to show how some texts, written in the context of and in opposition to colonialism, were used to justify the colonial presence and/or to make the colonial culture look superior to the native culture/s.

This paper is interested in the way Philo depicts the natural course of the life of the sage as he eventually becomes soul or mind alone. Additionally, the paper considers how natural law and mosaic can serve to guide the soul on its journey to its telos.

The commentary tradition on Philippians 3:2 (and on Matt. 15 and Mark 7 too) has been claiming at least since Chrysostom that Jews commonly called Gentiles dogs, thereby legitimating a pattern of calling Jews dogs. Contemporary commentaries indicate no awareness of the harmful legacy or the continued implications of the polemic to which it contributes when perpetuating this invective. Moreover, evidence of this supposed common prejudice is often not provided, and when it is, usually consists of sayings attributed to Jesus and the Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite woman—thus available to us only in documents that post-date Paul, representing early "Christian" polemic. In addition to being anachronistic and not likely known to Paul's audience in Philippi, upon examination, it is also not clear that these Gospel sayings provide the proof supposed. Sometimes appeal is made to Psalm 22 and other Jewish texts, but under examination, none of these substantiate the claim. Likewise, the many supposed cases in rabbinic literature—which could only provide anachronistic evidence at best—do not in fact substantiate that Jews ever called Gentiles dogs, much less that Jews commonly did so, even long after Christians habitually called Jews dogs. This essay examines the texts and challenges the interpretive tradition's claims, as well as its failure to exhibit hermeneutical distance when repeating this supposed invective against Jews and Judaism. Having exposed this ideological tale, several exegetical options worth exploring are noted.

In my Introduction to New Testament classes, I encourage students to select as one of their required projects participation in an Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) Workshop in one of the state prisons in Jessup, MD (between Baltimore and Washington). AVP workshops are offered in prisons all over the country. I myself have participated in these workshops and have been certified as a facilitator. Although AVP does not use religious language, I have found the workshops to be an excellent example of people on the margins of society working to live out Jesus' non-violent ethic as articulated in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7). This paper will describe AVP and discuss the correspondences I see between AVP and the Sermon, with particular attention to Matthew 5:38-41 (“Turn the other cheek”).

Attempting to study religious experience in an ancient community is fraught with uncertainties. Nevertheless, certain texts contain indications about the ways in which particular religious practices were designed to foster certain types of experience. This paper examines the rhetorics of two Qumran texts, the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and the Hodayot in an attempt to identify some of the ways in which both formal and content features of langauge were used to generate certain experiences for individuals and for the worshiping community in this ancient Jewish society.

The term kardia (“heart”) occurs eleven times in 2 Corinthians, nine of which are in the extended literary unit of 2 Cor 1–7. This paper proposes to explore Paul's heart language as an important theological motif in 2 Cor 1–7, a motif which has often been neglected by interpreters. Paul's “theology of the heart” can be traced in three senses. First, several instances of heart in 2 Corinthians (e.g. 3.3) are allusions to OT passages concerning the promises of God"s new covenant that will take place in his people"s heart (e.g. Jer 38.3; Ezek 11.19; 36.26–7 [LXX]). Secondly, the term can be grasped in an anthropological sense as the center of a human being. Thirdly, interpreters have generally overlooked how Paul"s socio-historical situation motivated and shaped his use of heart as a theological motif in 2 Cor 1–7. While recognizing 2 Corinthians as an apologia of his apostolic ministry, it is significant that in 5.12 Paul describes his opponents as boasting in “outward appearance” (prosopon) and not in the “heart” (kardia). Besides possibly being another OT allusion (1 Sam 16.7), this prosopon–kardia (exteriority–interiority) antithesis is significant for his concrete social circumstances: in particular, his critique of his opponents" preoccupation with superficial, material accreditation (cf. 10.10). This weighty external–internal interplay can be observed in the various language used throughout 2 Cor 1–7 to denounce the values of superficial features and to emphasize, instead, the inner person (cf. 4.18; 5.7). Paul, moreover, presents significant theological statements about the Spirit"s transformative work in the believer"s heart (cf. 3.3; 4.6), which accentuates his reaction against the Corinthians" social values and behavior. Furthermore, some brief comparison with Paul"s other letters will show some similarities and differences that will illuminate his theology of the heart in 2 Corinthians.

Using passages from Romans (6:6-23; 12:1-2; 14:7-8; 15:1-7), I show the role of power as Paul attempts to influence and construct the identity of his addressees. Using the metaphor of slavery in chapter six, Paul indicates that one's identity changes with the change of one's master. The metaphor is somewhat inadequate when used to describe the relationship that Christ"s believers can have with God because it presupposes that power rests entirely with God. The last chapters of Romans show that belonging to God creates new possibilities for the Roman community. Power is no longer understood in a unilateral manner. The community has the ability to decipher the will of God (Rom 12:2). However, the freedom of Christ"s believers is not unlimited. Because of Christ"s example and of the good of the community the strong need to defer to the weak (14:7-8 and 15:1-7). I then engage Foucault"s understanding of power, arguing that he ends up giving more importance to technologies of the self, as means to carve spaces of freedom inside relations of power, rather than emphasizing relations of force as determining the identity of the subject. Finally, I propose a conversation between Paul and Foucault, which highlights how both see the role of power in creating an identity for the subject. They differ in defining what enables strategies of resistance to power. For Paul, free choices and decisions happen only once individuals have become slaves to God. For Foucault, relations of power need to be called into question every day by individuals who are trying to create themselves as works of art. What is remarkable is that both are similar in their implementation of resistance to power: human beings have to invent a new form of life, aimed at creating a harmonious community, and expressed in practical ways.

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The battle of David and Goliath is often interpreted as the battle of the small David against the mighty incumbent. However, the military role of David as an armour-bearer within Ancient Near Eastern literature indicates one who dispatches an enemy already mortally wounded, the historical Greek literature evidences a tradition of sling-bearing triumphant protagonists, and the lexical body relates to the other murdering tricksters, Ehud and Joab, and divine powers. Through an examination of the historical, literary and lexical background of David's military depiction this paper argues that the 1 Samuel 17 narrative is actually one where David is the invulnerable warrior and Goliath the doomed victim.

The consensus among scholars today is that the passage in Josephus about John the Baptist, AJ 18.116-119, is authentic. In this paper I challenge this consensus, and argue that the passage is a Christian interpolation reflecting an internal Christian dispute concerning the questions—1) Is remission of sins the result of immersion in water or is it achieved by spiritual purification prior to immersion? 2) What is the role of bodily purity in Christian baptism? Judaeo-Christian movements, to which I maintain the author of the passage belonged, retained the Jewish principle of immersion for bodily purity, but with it emphasized penitence, the Christian requirement for remission of sin. Details of the passage also indicate Christian interpolation. 1. The epithet assigned to John, "the Baptist," and the terms the author uses for immersion (baptismos, baptisis) are taken from the Christian theological vocabulary. 2. The call to "join in baptism" suggests a mass collective immersion, an initiation into a new community, like Christian baptism, and, as in the case of Christian baptism, there is preaching and exhortation for it. 3. The expresssion "acceptable to God" associates immersion with the sacrificial rite in the Temple, which, like Christian baptism, it replaces. 4. John's baptism cannot be the Jewish Pharisaic immersion, the Essene immersion, or that of Bannus, for though in all of these the immersion is for purification of the body, none of these immersions has anything to do with repentance and spiritual purity, nor do they atone for sin. Finally, I argue that Origen did not have the Josephus passage as we have it. The first reference to it is in Eusebius, and the interpolation must have been made at about or shortly before his time.

The paper reviews the laws of exclusion of impure persons, especially those defiled by corpse-impurity, from the holy precincts. It compares Josephus to rabbinic and Qumranic law and attempts to discern shared elements as well as the different development of religious law in each corpus.

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The enigmatic story of Joshua 22 about an altar at the river Jordan belongs to the late-priestly tradition with the main character Phinehas connected with the deuteronomistic role of the Transjordan tribes (22:1-8) and the main character of Joshua. The point of departure is Joshua 18, with the Tent of Meeting set up at Shilo. This altar, which is not allowed to be an altar of sacrifice, is a casus belli for the Westjordan tribes. The central question of the narrative is the cultic purity of Transjordan and the problem whether Transjordan belongs to the land of YHWH. Special is the role of the altar itself, where a stone-monument would have been sufficient. The fact that the narrative focuses on an altar has much to do with the role altars play in the patriarchal stories, where not so much the sacrificial function but much more the calling on YHWH's name and thereby the claiming of the land for YHWH is addressed. The altar at the river Jordan and the near civil war stand in the tradition of the re-use of the altars as described in Deut 27 and Joshua 8:30-35. Here, the Torah surpasses the traditional cultic function of the altar. This paper studies the role and function of special altars in the relation between Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic history.

This paper proposes that observing how the Fourth Evangelist composed his narrative provides a useful entry-point into the issue of whether his work was directly dependent on Synoptic material. Certain references in the Gospel strongly suggest that John is re-telling a story that was already known to his readership. Since we do not know whether that bank of knowledge included the Synoptics, I propose to tackle the issue by examining how John composes on the basis of material known to his audience that we can identify: (A) within the gospel (1) references to earlier characters and events, and (2) material composed out of earlier gospel statements; (B) outside the gospel (3) explicit quotation from scripture. From the evidence of how he handles this material, I will attempt to construct an argument that John could have composed in direct dependence on Synoptic material in the following test-cases: (a) Jn 20:3-10; and (b) Jn 12:1-8. If this argument is plausible, then it raises the general issue that John's narrative was not based on independent information about the historical Jesus at those points where his gospel coincides with the Synoptic witness.

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One of the most frequently voiced criticisms against economic globalization is that it increases the gap between the rich and the poor by strengthening the superiority of the developed and intensifying the dependency of the undeveloped nations. It this way, globalization not only promotes but also reinforces the already existing inequalities between different groups and cultures. Christian ethicists typically address this problem by emphasizing the need for social justice and the ethics of love expressed through sharing and generosity. Biblical resources for this message are certainly abundant. In this paper, I wish to explore another venue that can contribute to this discussion — a subversive understanding of power and identity that underlines the story of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. I will address this question by analyzing three layers of Matthew's narrative. First, I will examine the question of religious superiority and inferiority that surfaces in the passages dealing with Jewish/Gentile relationship. Although Matthew entertains the idea of Jewish superiority vs. Gentile inferiority, he subverts this notion as the narrative progresses. Next, I will examine the relationship of Jesus who is able to help and the needy that seek help and argue that this notion is subverted in the description of the judgment of the nations. Finally, I will examine the question of inclusion and exclusion and Matthew's subversive understanding of the in-group based on the reconstitution of identity. I will conclude by addressing the implications of this study for the church's role in the discussions of the negative aspects of economic globalization.

My paper examines the usage of the word he'emîn in Judges 11:20. The consensus among commentators is that the Masoretic text is to be emended, though it is clearly confirmed by the B text of LXX Judges. I survey the semantics of assent in Biblical Hebrew, and the syntactic phenomenon that the verse instantiates, to argue against emendation. The semantic and syntactic analyses elucidate the meaning of a number of other biblical verses.

Most audiences in twentyfirst-century Europe will have inherited the concept of Salome as the young woman whose "dance of many veils" leads to one man's infatuation and another man's decapitation. This has less to do with the brief note on the dance that one finds in the Bible and more to do with the Salome"s artistic afterlives, especially those emerging from fin-de-siècle European traditions. One finds that interpretations of Salome during this period are full of colour, movement, music, scent. Full of heat. Often the heat of the Orient. This paper explore the role of the senses in such artistic readings of the biblical text.

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John's vision of new creation in Revelation 21-22 includes the often overlooked detail that, “the sea will be no longer” (21:1c). This odd detail invites the attentive reader to consider the nature of the sea's eschatological elimination. Why does the sea, originally a part of God"s good creation, have no place in God"s work of ultimate new creation? This paper examines the Jewish symbolic background of sea imagery in the Old Testament and intertestamental literature showing that the sea often connoted antagonism towards God and his people, was home to the great sea monster, was seen as the source of foreign oppression over the people of God, and was associated with the exodus as well as the hope for a new and final exodus event. Through a close reading of the sea language in Revelation, it will be demonstrated that John was informed by and embraced the scope of Jewish sea imagey and that the elimination of the sea indicates a removal from creation of all forces antagonistic to the people of God and the creation as a whole in a final act of new creation.

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