To many Africans, particularly members of African Indigenous Churches, there are sicknesses and diseases that are not curable by Western orthodox medicine. They call these type of diseases "the diseases that do not belong to the hospital." African Christians have devised several methods of healing such diseases, despite the western missionary condemnation of these methods. The purpose of this paper is to exmamine critically the methods of Elisha's healing miracle in African context.

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Especially since Anselm, New Testament interpreters have identified – and falsely contrasted – different Pauline terms to describe the soteriological process by which Jesus’ death and resurrection were portrayed as taking effect. This paper maintains that Paul’s undisputed letters contain no dominant paradigm for the so-called “mechanics of forgiveness”. Rather, the letters contain a number of different allusions, often combined with each other within the same unit of text. Attempts throughout history to promote one or another metaphor to dominance skew the textual evidence. By carefully analyzing several transitional formulae in Romans and in the Corinthian letters, the paper demonstrates the artificial polarity of the Kasemann-Sanders positions, questions the conclusions of more recent protagonists, and proposes a link to the Pauline indicative-imperative schema.

Material finds from more than fifteen years of excavations at Bethsaida, a city once lost but now found, have progressively shed light on one of the most enigmatic biblical locations tightly connected to the ministry of Jesus and his first followers. Independently attested by four separate traditions, Q, John, Josephus, and Pliny, Bethsaida appears most prominently in the Johannine tradition where new questions of Christian origins have again emerged. The purpose of this study is to explore those relationships primarily in terms of the disciple Andrew, relegated to obscurity in the Synoptics but elevated to prominence in John Formerly a disciple of John the Baptist, he is the first to be called by Jesus and a leading figure to be memorialized in subsequent apocryphal literature. The fact that his home was in Bethsaida creates an opening for archaeology in conjunction with textual studies to define more clearly the environment and socio-religious setting potentially formative for the uniquenes of this first disciple of Jesus.

One of the most long lasting illusions of the Christian heritage is its presentation of itself as historically true religion. An early challenge to this very Lukan impression in his double work on "Christian beginnings" is Celsus' treatease TRUE DOCTRINE refuted a generation later by Origen of Alexandria. This paper places the Celsus-Origen debate (Contra Celsum) within the emerging criteria of Sextus Empiricus on fiction, history and myth and his very identification of truth with the middle category.

In general, a person who is entrusted with someone else's property - whether for safekeeping, borrowing, rental, or in the course of employment - is expected to take good care of it. The fact that this expectation is not always fulfilled, as when I lend someone a book and it is returned damaged, or not at all, does not detract from my assumption that others should look after my property as I would myself. The same assumption is reflected in several ancient Near Eastern law collections, and also the Book of the Covenant. This paper will examine the laws on care of other people's property in the ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible, especially Exodus 22:6-14 (EVV 7-15), showing that they have much in common but there are also significant differences. One particular feature of biblical law which distinguishes it from other ancient (and modern) laws is its emphasis on borrowing, without payment, rather than rental.

Within this essay, I re-investigate Galatians 6.17 for the purpose of providing an interpretation of Paul’s stigmata (“marks”) that illuminates his self-identity as a slave. I argue my case by (1) evaluating contemporary historical and social-scientific interpretations of stigmata while arguing for the importance of understanding these “marks” in light of ancient Rhetoric, (2) situating this essay within a postcolonial paradigm by offering a specific definition of Postcolonialism that investigates domination/subordination relationships within the text, (3) reconsidering Paul’s stigmata in light of the slavery metaphor by comparing Paul’s stigmata to the ancient slave concept of basanos, and (4) offering a new interpretation for the stigmata as they reveal Paul’s suppressed status as a colonized Jew looking for an alternative language to express his deep need for a master worthy of his loyalty. Paul’s ideology restricts him to the slave paradigm, thus whenever he makes any declarations of freedom, they must be interpreted through his meta-narrative of suppression and subordination to Jesus Christ. In this paradigm, Paul transfers his allegiance as a slave from Caesar to Christ. The ramifications of this paradigm for Christian communities in the 21st century are less than desirable. This forces present Christian communities to seek other alternatives and better metaphors in which to interpret the Christians’ identity with Christ. As for determining the “alternatives and better metaphors,” that remains for Christian communities to define and redefine as ideological frameworks continue to shift and demand better and more appropriate interpretations.

Scholars have paid much attention to the cultural reception of the Bible among the Asian major literary traditions, like Confucianism, Buddhism, or Hinduism, whereas societies with oral traditions have largely been ignored. Based on the historical research and field work among some minority communities in South-Western China, this paper aims at investigating into the socio-cultural dimensions of both the formal, namely the Bible as a written “Book” itself, and the substantive, namely the theological, aspects of reception of the Bible among people of oral cultures.

A number of scholars such as Alsten, Wolterstorff, Tsisleton and Vanhoozer have seen the solution within the present hermeneutical crisis in the adoption of Speech Act Theory. In spite of the great trust in the powers of speech acts Vanhoozer (2002) also makes use of Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory because it explains communication and the comprehension process in a way that Speech Act Theory fails to do. Are two theories really necessary for Biblical interpretation? In this paper I will challenge the usefulness of Speech Act Theory altogether for Biblical interpretation. Sperber and Wilson (1995) show that positing a level of locutionary and illocutionary acts is superfluous. They identify three natural speech acts, one of which has to be assigned by the addressee to every utterance. They recognise institutional speech acts but see them as not part of communication proper, thus refusing to accept the many differing proposals of speech act categories proposed in the literature. I will argue that Speech Act Theory fails to provide an explanatory account of context, implicature, explicature, primary and secondary communication, standards in communication and comprehension, thus falling short of providing the essential means for an explanatory account of Biblical interpretation which Relevance Theory adequately provides.

The Babylonian exile precipitated a major faith crisis for Israel's faith. The sixth century, BCE literature of the Hebrew Bible indicates that Israel was devestated by the experience of the exile. It also witnesses to the fact that Israel resolved the crisis and continued to engage in a viable faith in Second Temple Judaism. How did this happen? The paper will explore the polyphonic voices of the sixth century in Israel in order to better understand how Israel resolved the faith crisis. Israel's experience of the exile will be correlated to the "conflict resolution" paradigm of James Loder. The paper will seek to explore both the historical and the constructive tasks of biblical scholarship.

With technical and funding support from the University of Auckland Centre for Distance and Flexible Learning we are developing an interactive tool for students of Hebrew to develop and test their vocabulary. The data will be entered online, so the project can be opened both to international collaboration in preparing and using the resource. This paper will describe the project and demonstrate its current possibilities. The goal is to provide students with a learning tool which provides a richer environment than traditional flash cards, while also offering ease of use and availability.

Contemporary discourse of the processes involved in the translation of texts have highlighted the multiple levels of negotiation that occur siimply to secure the new rendering. Recent analyses, such as Eco's 'Mouse or Rat' are brought into engagement with the translation that broke the hold of the Authorised Version. Brooke Foss Westcott, one of the members of the committee charged with the revision of the authorised English version, was known to have kept detailed notes of the proceedings and decision-making of the committee. Two newly discovered note-books provide an insight into the private workings of the committee, as well as offering a substantial clue to the interests and commitments of one of the most eminent New Testament scholars of the nineteenth century.

The Ulahingan is a recently unearthed, collated , transcribed and translated and then partly published collection of the epic story of one particular indigenous tribe in the island of Mindanao, the Manobos. The late Dr. Elena Maquiso, an ethnomusicologist who became very interested in the study and publication of the oral tradition of the indigenous peoples of Mindanao, was able to publish 6 volumes of the material before she died in 1995. This collaborative project aims at revisiting the material and using it as a framework in discerning new areas of interpretation in our own biblical creation story. We hope to discern something through this cultural artifact of an indigenous community that can be used in critically examining the prevailing culture of lowland Filipinos and their modern day apprehension and application of the Scripture.

It has been suggested that Jesus cleansing of a leper in Mark 1:40-45 contains a priestly Christology. However this thesis has generally failed to receive significant attention or support. I will argue that factors of previously underrated importance support this passage as portraying a functional priestly Christology. First, the dynamics of holiness within the gospel's restorational theological context suggest a certain movement of holiness in the story. Second, the dynamics of holiness as portrayed in the gospel's unfolding narrative, with particular attention to the opening exorcism (Mark 1:21-28) establish a movement of holiness within the gospel commensurate with its theological context. Third, the specific details of the purification process for lepers has been an issue largely unattended to in this passage, with previous work usually remaining at the general observation that the priest declared people clean. However, when the entire process of purification for lepers is examined in more detail (Leviticus 14), a more persuasive case can be made for Jesus performing a priestly act of purification. When this is combined with our earlier observations regarding the dynamics of holiness in the theological and narrative contexts, there is a strong case to be made for Jesus appropriating the entirety of the priestly function for himself in cleansing the leper, and reinterpreting the existing cultic purification process as testifying to the legitimacy of his mission, incorporating his priestly function.

***The aim of this article is to investigate the meaning of the pistis references in Gal 5:5-6 and the significance of Gal 5:5-6 for the pistis Christou debate. Pauline scholars have either overlooked or undervalued the importance of Gal 5:5-6 for the pistis Christou debate. With regard to the meaning of evk pi,stewj in 5:5, nearly all commentators have understood pi,stij in 5:5 as the Christian’s act of faith. Surprisingly, most exegetes who argue for “the subjective genitive” interpretation do not explicitly interpret evk pi,stewj as “through the faith(fulness) of Christ.” As far as pi,stij in 5:6 is concerned, virtually all interpreters of Paul have taken it to refer to the Christian’s act of faith. Having understood it as an ethical principle of Christian behavior, they have interpreted pi,stij diV avga,phj evnergoume,nh as “the Christian’s faith expressing itself through love.” The contextual and exegetical study of 5:5-6 leads us to conclude that the pistis references in 5:5 and 5:6 refer to the faithfulness of Christ, not to the Christian’s act of faith in Christ. In light of that the unqualified pi,stij references in 3:23-25 and 5:5-6 probably refer to “the faithfulness of Christ,” all the pi,stij occurrences in Galatians (pi,stij VIhsou/ Cristou/ and its equivalents and the noun pi,stij) which emerge in the context of justification probably denote “the faithfulness of Christ.” I would suggest that Gal 5:5-6 (and Gal 3:23-26) can be seen as determinative of Paul’s usage of pi,stij Cristou/ in the rhetorical context of the justification issue. The pi,stij references in Gal 5:5-6 are neglected evidence for the interpretation of pi,stij Cristou/ as “the faithfulness of Christ” in the history of the pi,stij Cristou/ debate.

Christianity first came to China in AD635 through the Nestorians. But it is still not deeply rooted in its cultural soils. For more than thirty years, from around 1952 to the early 1980s, Christian studies in the Chinese academia were virtually extinct with the exception of a few tightly controlled government institutions. However, following the "open door" policy inaugurated by China's former paramount leader Deng Xiao-ping, Christian studies in the Chinese academia have been given a new lease of life since the mid-1980s. After about twenty years of uninterrupted development, Christian studies in China have now become a phenomenon which is unprecedented, not only in China, but also in the entire Asian church history. One of the unique features of this phenomenon is that the great majority of the academics who are involved in Christian studies are outside the organized Chinese church (extra ecclesiam). Both quantitatively and qualitatively they far outweigh those in the church. The published works of these academics in the last ten years have also been very impressive, and they are widely read not only in China but also among the Chinese diaspora as well as those who can handle the Chinese language, especially the educated Koreans and Japanese. Some of the scholars are also well versed in English and German. In about ten years' time, these Chinese scholars are most likely to form a strong contingent to occupy a rightful place in the international community in Biblical and Theological Studies. Such a possibility must also take into consideration the simple reality that the Chinese church is already the largest in Asia and one of the most numerous in the world. The proposed paper aims at informing SBL's 2005 International Meeting about the origin, development and future prospect of this unique phenomenon.

In celebration of the meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in South East Asia for the first time, I will consider how Psalm 23 has been translated in various Bible versions of the region (not excluding English). I will examine the following ten issues in translation, among others: (1) Does the first verse mean "It is my shepherd that Yahweh is" rather than "It is Yahweh that is my shepherd"? (2) Does he "make" me lie down, which could suggest compulsion? Or does he "cause" or "allow" me to lie down? (3) Does he lead me "beside" still waters or "to"still waters? (4) Is it my "soul" that is "restored" or my "life" that is "revived"? Can the phrase refer to a sheep as well as to a human? (5) Are they "paths of righteousness" or "right, level, smooth paths", which could also apply to a sheep? (6) Is "for the sake of his name" translated literally, is it "for love of his name", or something else? (7) Is it (literally) "the valley of the shadow of death" or "valley of deep darkness"? (8) Do the staff and crook (or whatever they are) "comfort", in the sense of soothe, console, or "encourage", "strengthen"? (9) Shall I "dwell" or "return" to the house of Yahweh? (10) "For ever" or "for a long time"?

For Israel the socially constructed ideal body was symbolized as the whole and pure body, especially the male body. The event of birth was ritually impure not only because blood was involved but also because of the breaking of boundaries when a female body broke open in order to give birth to another body. Pregnancy did not only belong to the woman herself. It was a state of the developing fetus, for which the woman was a container that needed to be socially contained and controlled. In Psalm 139 a glimpse into the womb is given. Yahweh is depicted as skilfully dedicating himself to the creation of a male body deep inside this exclusive workplace of his. The pregnant woman is silenced by the glorification of the male embryo/baby and his male creator. This paper looks into the way Psalm 139 reflects on the body-politics of silencing the women in Israel’s theology.

In 1Cor11:2-16 most commentators refer to either having long hair or the placing of a veil on the head. These interpretations ignore the definition of "head" Paul gives at the introduction of his argument. The term "head" in v.3 means the exercising of authority. In vs4-7 the covering of a man or woman's head means to exercise their ministry of prophecy and prayer with their authority covered. [Paul uses "covering" in this figurative way in 2Cor3-4.] There is no reason to suggest that the ministry of leaders in either church or family is inconsistent with the church and family members also exercising their ministries. Paul expects wives to publicly pray and prophesy in a way that supports their husbands duties of servant leadership rather than to take the leadership for themselves, which would be as shameful as having her head publicly shaved. Both men and women are made in the image of God (v7) and their behavior will either glorify or dishonor God. Similalry a wife's behavior will do the same for her husband. Paul refers to the creation story in which women were made from and for man (v8-9) which leads him to ask the rhetorical question (v10) "therefore ought a wife have authority over her head (husband)?" Paul expects a negative answer. A clue to the cause of the problem Paul is addressing is given at the end of v10. It appears that some corinthians deduced from their eschatological destiny of being unmarried like the angels (Lk20:35f) that the distinctions between the genders did not apply in this age. Lest his readers misunderstand the gender relationship as superior to inferior Paul reminds them of their interdependence (v11) and they all come from God (v12).He then again uses a rhetorical question to make them decide the matter (v13).

The language of 'salvation' in the Pauline corpus is far richer than the dominant category 'soteriology' allows. I propose to re-work Gerd Theissen's categories of soteriological symbolism (1974, ET 1991) in order to challenge the traditional dominance of salvation language to describe what God is doing in Christ, and in particular, the use of 'atonement' as the means by which salvation is made possible. I will argue that for Paul, cosmic reconciliation (or 'at-one-ment') is the logically prior category within which salvation, justification and redemption find their relative meanings.

My paper develops a critique of narrative criticism in biblical studies, carefully integrated with a reading of the Gospel of Mark, vis-à-vis ancient novels, that models a different approach to Hellenistic and biblical narrative. The point of entry for this critique will be characters and characterization, which has been a central category of analysis in narratology since its inception, and which often serves as the primary point where dominant ideologies are most clearly reflected. I formulate my criticism on two fronts: one theoretical and the other historical, with the former framing and informing the latter. On the one hand, I argue that biblical narrative critics do not go far enough theoretically. On the other hand, I contend (somewhat ironically perhaps) that biblical scholars are anachronistic in their approach to gospel narratives. Thus, the first aspect asks how the Gospel of Mark would be conceived differently if considered within a poststructuralist narratological framework, and what changes would be effected if biblical narrative criticism were pushed beyond its current configurations. Then, by examining the dissimilarity between ancient and present-day approaches to novelistic literature, the second aspect will demonstrate how even those who resist, on historical grounds, the use of poststructuralist literary methodologies when treating ancient texts continue to produce readings of these texts that are no less anachronistic. Taken together, these two aspects will problematize both notions of literary characters as autonomous agents or subjects, and treatments of literary characters as historical referents. Arguing primarily from a New Historicist theoretical perspective, I ask two questions throughout the paper: First, what is at work in interpretations of characters like those just mentioned? And second, how might we read these narratives in a manner that does not resort to concerns about a character’s thoughts, feelings, or motivations?

The paper considers recent hermeneutical approaches, particularly that of Stephen Fowl, which Foutz (Quodlibet 1:6) claims to be incompatible with the hermeneutical proposals of Kevin Vanhoozer, and proposes how an inferential theory of utterance interpretation known as Relevance Theory, which recognises underdeterminacy in a text, can be used to clarify and possibly mediate between these approaches. The paper considers issues in narrative meaning as a context for examining these questions.

It is proposed in this paper that in some cases, when an exegete has discovered background material that may potentially illuminate a biblical text but given our present state of knowledge this connection may be dubious, relevance theory can be used to help determine whether or not a connection is likely. This paper will illustrate this use of relevance theory by briefly exploring the living Caesar’s role as KYRIOS (lord) in the Roman empire during the 50s CE and using principles from relevance theory (namely, the second principle of relevance and efficiency), examine whether Paul’s use of KYRIOS for Christ may be a polemic against the living Caesar in 1 Cor 8:5-6.

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Philo of Alexandria and Paul the Apostle are both deeply embedded in the monotheist understanding of God that they inherited from their Jewish traditions and scriptures. I this study I will (1) briefly discuss Philo’s concept of God (divine simplicity, transcendence, ineffability, the Middle Platonist distinction between divine existence and divine essence) and (2) examine how Philo’s philosophical nuances in his concept of monotheism have echoes in Paul’s articulation of his understanding of God. Our main Pauline text is Romans 1:18-21.

The first verse of Genesis 1 has been a subject for Biblical exegesis by practically every major Bible scholar throughout the ages. There have been many interpretations of the meaning of the first two words, the most prominent being "in the beginning" or "when", but up to the present there is no consensus among scholars as to a definitive meaning. The balance of the chapter has also been the subject of much conjecture as to meaning and format. This paper will examine the grammar and vocabulary of various verses of the chapter and, using classical Hebrew, Babylonian and Egyptian sources, will propose another interpretation of the chapter.

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The digitization of documents is vital to the democratization of information and one of the fundamental activities of the information revolution. Government, the academy, and the private sector are all pouring enormous resources into such initiatives. Perhaps the largest single project has recently been announced by Google, which is partnering with a number of prominent academic libraries to digitize their collections. This is just one of a number of initiatives to provide electronic access to the book and manuscript holdings of major collections. This paper will survey recent developments in the arena of digital access and preservation, with particular focus on that of importance to the study of the Bible and antiquity. This will include a survey of some major initiatives and how they may impact future scholarship. More particularly it will examine recent technical advances in digital imaging and archiving as well as the technical challenges yet to be overcome. This paper will also provide practical advice to those who may be interested in pursuing a digital preservation initiative.

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Despite the tendency in much Song of Songs scholarship to view the relationship of the lovers in the poem as harmonious, egalitarian and unproblematic, the repeated absence of the male protagonist in parts of the woman's speeches (most notably in chapters 3 and 5 of the Song) might be seen as a challenge to such interpretations. This paper will foreground the theme of absence in the woman's speeches in the Song of Songs, exploring the implications of this theme for the characterisation of the female protagonist, and for the relationship of the lovers in the poem.

As long as the Hebrew Bible has been read, the LORD’s attack on Moses and his family has been a source of discomfiture, fascination and puzzlement. To judge from the modern commentaries, it does not seem to be licit any longer to begin a discussion of Exodus 4:24-26 without an initial disclaimer concerning the sheer difficulty of the passage. The pericope is “terribly mysterious,” “very obscure,” “enigmatic,” “notoriously difficult” and the cause of “much brain-racking.” Without claiming to "solve" the passage, I develop a pair of ideas in new ways. The first is the relationship of Zipporah’s action to ancient practices of apotropaic magic and sacrifice. The second is the possibility of re-reading her statement—“Surely you are a 'hatan-damim' to me”—in light of Divine Kinsman theology. In this passage, the circumcision should be understood by analogy with apotropaic sacrifice (ANE parallels are adduced). Thus her words represent a sort of cultic rubric or performative utterance. Furthermore, Zipporah should be understood to touch the bloody foreskin to the feet of YHWH, by analogy with the ritual of the Passover and especially the temple sacrifices. Both Israelite onomatica and the Targums' translation of 'hatan-damim' point to a different understanding of the consonantal Hebrew from the MT -- one which supports my reading. Zipporah's utterance should be translated, "Surely you are a blood relative to me." Thus the phrase is reminiscent of Ruth’s oath to her mother-in-law that “your people will be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16).

A diamond ring is locked in an unbreakable box and is mailed to you. The problem for you now is to open it. You may communicate with the sender by mail but all mail transactions have to be secure, i.e. locked in an unbreakable box. Unless you’ve been told about this puzzle, otherwise it will take you quite a while to solve it. In my opinion, a proper interpretation of the famous parable of the Good Samaritan is not easier. Yet most interpreters think they can open the box without the key or with a strange key! In the dialogue between Jesus and the lawyer, a Who question is asked by the lawyer and after telling him the famous parable, Jesus returns another Who question. Yet most interpreters do not seem to take the question of the lawyer seriously or just concentrate on the parable itself. They tackle the parable as if Jesus is addressing a How question: e.g. about how to love someone you do not naturally love, or about how to break religious and racial barriers, or about love in action and not just in knowledge, or about selfless love etc. etc. Some interpreters even accuse the lawyer of asking a wrong question! I find most existing interpretations unsatisfactory – they do not give enough weight to the genuine difficulty of the lawyer’s question, which is a simple question of identification: Who? Interpretations that do not properly answer the Who questions have missed the point of the parable. In this paper I shall analyze the dialogue anew as the Lawyer’s Puzzle and interpret the parable as Jesus’ answer encoded in yet another puzzle. In all likelihood the lawyer has solved Jesus’ puzzle and got a surprising but correct answer for his own question.

This paper will analyze the dualism of nourishment in John's Gospel, using anthropological insights on gift-giving to explain how the offer of nourishment is used to draw borders between the Johannine community and the world. Marcel Mauss's views on gift-giving will be applied to close reading of the text, and some comparative work looking at the similarities and differences between Johannine and Gnostic texts will be performed. Despite the hostility between community and world in John, we will see that borders are drawn not just to exclude but also to be crossed.

Primary and secondary sources often seek to make a sharp differentiation between dreams, visions, and oracular revelations. However, there is considerable evidence that these designations, dependent on self-testimony (or "redactor" testimony), do not indicate significant experiential differences. The paper addresses these issues and seeks to chart a path for interpretation. The exemplars come from ancient Israel and Mesopotamia, especially the Mari and Neo-Assyrian texts.

The particle *gar* has been understood as the conjunction to introduce a reason or inference. Recently emphatic usage is proposed. I should like to explore the possibility and appropriateness of that proposal. I will probably conclude that these usage should be understood as speaker-oriented usage rather than an emphatic use, and explore some rheotorical significance.

While in Cairo, Egypt, during my fall 2004 sabbatical, I was intrigued by paintings based on stories about Jesus and women at St. Simon the Tanner Coptic Church. This study focuses on the influence of women from the gospel stories on that early Christian tradition.

In 573 BCE (Ezek. 40.1), at the half-way point of the Exile as he perceives it, Ezekiel anticipates that twenty-five years later an end to Exile will be accomplished. He expresses this hope through a remarkable vision of the Temple (Ezekiel 40-48). The Temple of this vision is both a heavenly one and an earthly one. God’s return in 43.1-5 relates to the actual sanctuary in Jerusalem; this has to be rebuilt and so that same chapter appropriately speaks of the rebuilding (43.10-11), according to the heavenly model seen in chs. 40-42. The neglected view that chs. 40-42 represent a report of an ascent to the heavenly Temple should be taken seriously and this forms the central issue of this paper. It is generally assumed that 1 Enoch 14 is the first account of an ascent to the heavenly Temple. But could it be that Ezekiel 40-48 represents an earlier version of such account, indeed the very first? What do we mean by of an account of an ascent to the heavenly Temple, and importantly what are the criteria for recognizing such an account? The paper will also briefly consider several fascinating cultural analogies to what is found in Ezekiel 40-48: the realm of the ideas of Plato’s system, the icon of the eastern Christian tradition, and the mandala of Tibetan Buddhism. Whether Ezekiel 40-42 indeed constitutes an account of an ascent or simply of a vision of the heavenly Temple, it is no exaggeration to speak of a continuity of Merkabah-like mystical tradition going back all the way to the visionary prophet Ezekiel himself.

The parable of the unjust steward in Lk 16:1-8 is regarded as the most difficult passage to understand in the Gospel of Luke. Many different interpretations have been suggested by scholars concerning the parable. It is overlooked, however, that a proper interpretation of this parable may hinge on how the center section of chapter 16 (vv. 14-18) is to be interpreted. As far as we recognize the unity of this chapter, which was composed by one author Luke, we have to pay more attention to the unit in vv. 14-18 which bridges two parables- the parable of the unrighteous steward and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the thrust of the parable of the unjust steward mainly by clarifying the function and meaning of the short unit in Lk 16: 14-18. The structure of the whole chapter and the parable of the unjust steward will be analyzed and investigation for some important Greek words will be also undertaken.

Jacob's obtaining a divine blessing from his father by deceit raises questions about God's involvement in human affairs and particularly in the patriarchal saga. By enlisting contemporary philosophical theories of self-deception and revelation, I offer an explanation of Isaac's behavior and weave this episode into a broader pattern of divine control evinced throughout the Genesis narrative.

Disasters have always caused trouble for theology. This is evident from a number of biblical texts. As monotheism gained ground in ancient Israel, it was no longer possible to refer military losses to the superior strength of neighbouring gods; faults must rather be sought with the people, as deuteronomic history clearly shows. However, developing dualistic world-views repeatedly necessitate new solutions. While the book of Job moves on several levels simultaneously, contrasting old paradigms with newer ones, even glancing at the divine world behind the screen, wisdom literature at times refers to after-life and apocalyptic texts present disasters as parts of an end-time scheme. Traces of all of these attitudes are found in the New Testament. When such texts are read within our contemporary evolutionary world-view, the inherent paradigms clash not only with each other, but risk turning these texts meaningless to us. We know that life as it has evolved, including organized society and human love, is dependent on a glowing globe with a thin crust floating on its surface, occasionally cracking up. Asking for something different is tantamount to looking for a non-physical world. Nevertheless, this is little comfort for those victimized by natural disasters. This paper focuses on a number of Lukan texts, asking whether they are still meaningful after the tsunami, and whether it is possible to read such text without resorting to apocalyptic or moralizing interpretations.

In ancient Near Eastern literature, the ‘heavenly council’ represents the most authoritative decision-making agent in the universe and history. Admittedly this concept is extensively attested in many passages of the Hebrew Bible, however, I would like to argue in this paper that some passages should be differentiated as ‘major scenes’ from others. The argument is drawn from my examination of the heavenly council in the ancient Near Eastern literature and its employment in the Hebrew Bible, and a conclusion that the heavenly council is depicted by means of its typical visual-scenery description and very often by its type-scene, in which the high God is at the centre of the council, surrounded by its members. As a result 1 Kings 22.19-23, Isaiah 6, Job 1&2, Psalm 82, Zechariah 3 and Daniel 7.9-14 are categorised as the major scene of the heavenly council in the Hebrew Bible. On the other hand, Isaiah 40 and Ezekiel 1-3.15, which have been taken for granted as describing ‘heavenly council’, should be at least understood as standing out of mainstream.

This is a comparative study between Qumran and John by introducing Mary Douglas' theory of social structure. This paper will concern James Charlesworth’s claim that Johannine community was formed by being contacted directly by Qumran community. This paper compares the Qumran literature with the Gospel of John in two categories: 1) the idea of community as the people of God: how it functions for each sectary's fellowship with God (or Jesus); 2) the nature of community order: hierarchic or democratic? This study will show that Johannine understanding of community is strongly individualistic with regard to each sectary's fellowship with the founder of the community (Jesus), whereas Qumran understanding of the community is strongly collective. Following that, this paper will show that Johannine community order was democratic; in contrast, community order reflected in Qumran literature was characterized by hierarchy. On the basis of the above observations, this paper will try to show whether or not Johannine community was influenced directly by Qumran. It will be concluded that it is hard to claim that there was a direct influence of Qumran on John or vice versa, if there were some indirect influences. One of the contributions of this paper is that there has been few scholars who has attempted to solve the issue of Qumran and John from a sociological perspective.

A key signifier is defined as a term or phrase that triggers a collective memory or a community value that is over-arching and all-encompassing. A key signifier functions aggressively in the literary context to spur audience to action – in general, toward deeper religious devotion in the context of apocryphal literature. In the specific case of Psalms of Solomon 11, the composer uses the key signifier of “forever” to elicit devotion to the redemptive value of the covenant and solicit deeper religious devotion to traditional Jewish piety. Historically, the key signifier of “forever” has continued in elevation as a key signifier of prime import throughout the Old Testament, and the poet’s use of the key signifier in the Psalms of Solomon represents continuity with the received tradition. But the use of the key signifier of “forever” should not be seen merely as a literary abstraction. The key signifier was used strategically at a time of great religious ambiguity of differing Jewish sectarian movements and deep social upheavals where traditional Jewish mores conflicted with the popularizing Hellenistic value system.

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In this paper, I read the poor widow’s offering (Mark 12:41-44) from the perspective of the postcolonial female subjects in general, and the Korean women in particular, who are among the representative postcolonial female subjects that inherited the deeply rooted patriarchal tradition of Confucianism, Japanese colonialism, historical urgency of national unification, and neocolonialism. Generally, women in the Markan community represent the subalterns who are nameless, marginalized, hybrid, ambiguous, outsiders and without a language of their own. They are anonymous and invisible due to the structures of patriarchy and colonialism. Like today’s Two-Third World women who suffer under neocolonialism and patriarchy, they are also doubly colonized. These women in Mark are like a reflecting mirror that shows how unstable the system of Empire is and enables us to look at the self as the other, rupturing the fixed identity and culture. Their multiple identities are also threatening the colonizer/patriarchal authority in their mimicking roles, and their hybrid subjects who live in-between the worldly Empire and God’s Empire bring hope to create a new society for liberating one another. The poor widow is a representative of the colonized subalterns in the Markan period. She throws out all the money to reveal how the imperial temple system exploited the poor widows as victims and signals the disruption of the Roman Empire. The poor widow’s action reflects her situation as an imperial victim and the unstable colonial system itself. By exploring the issues of Empire and gender in the Gospel of Mark, this study will reinterpret the poor widow as subversive, hybrid, and threatening subjects in colonial/postcolonial situations, who function as an example of empowerment for contemporary women in the postcolonial world.

The story of Genesis one is well divided into six days with some ambiguity of the beginning of the first day. I found out that the numbers 7 and 69 are the base of the structure of the creation epic of Genesis one. From this basic observation I assume that the original creaton story of Genesis one was written in one page with 63 lines.

The Aramaic stronghold of Aphek is mentioned twice as the place where Israel won a great battle over Aram-Damascus. The victory is attributed both to Ahab and to Joash. Ahab's battle is depicted in detail while Joash's victory is only prophesised by Elisha. The ancient name of Aphek was preserved east of the Sea of Galilee as Talmudic Afiqa, Arabic Fiq and Moden Hebrew Afiq, but no remains from Old Testament times were found at the site. Located downstream on the same riverbed, an impressive fortified town of the 9th-8th centuries BC has been uncovered by a Japanese team at Qibbutz 'En-Gev. It is suggested that this was Old Testament Aphek, its name carried uphill by its sucssesor.

Using Romans 13:1-7 as an example, the text is read with multiple lenses. We will begin by analysing the text as a literary unit, and then passing it through a social-historical reading of the first century Greco-Roman world. As a theological seminary setting with different denominational background, we would also try to read the text from a church historical perspective. With Malaysia, a multi-religious society as the background, we want to imagine how a Muslim may understand the text through his/her Islamic lens. At the end of the process, we would like to suggest that more care and responsibility in our reading of Scripture so as to avoid mis-reading by others.

The idea of "otherness" is a universal human phenomenon with a long history. The first examples are already evident in the ancient Near Eastern world. The first part of this paper examines the psychological and cultural factors underlying the idea of "otherness" (in anthropology and psychology also known as "stereotyping"). The second part applies this framework to the relevant evidence from the ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible. Examples of ethnic, social and religious stereotyping are discussed.

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A survey of Johannine scholarship with regard to the issue of the community reveals that we are still under the strong influence of Martyn’s church-and-synagogue conflict model. While this theory has contributed to a view of the community as marginalized and persecuted, Johannine scholarship has ignored another significant aspect of the community, i.e., it was not only marginalized and persecuted but also multiethnic and multicultural. The paper argues that the coming of the Samaritans in 4:1-44 along with the reference to Jesus’ stay with the Samaritans for two days suggest that the Johannine community included foreigners like the Samaritans, with intimate table fellowship (in the sense of having utensils common). Given their presence and number in the community, the paper argues, the Samaritans contributed to the high christology of John with the notion of Jesus as the Savior of the World. The paper also argues that 12:20ff. and 7:35 point to the inclusion of Greeks, representative of Gentiles of non-Jewish birth. Thus, the paper claims that the Greeks made a contribution to the Son of Man high Christology of John. The paper further contends that various titles, names, and universal concepts of the Gospel suggest that the community was made up of a mixed group of people--Jews, Samaritans, and Greeks. Thus, the paper proposes that the Johannine community was composed of Jewish Christians as well as a good number of Gentile Christians, who actively participated in the development of its universalistic theology.

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Korean Minjung Theology has been formed out of the political struggle against the oppression of military dictatorship during the 1960-70s in Korea. While there were quite a number of studies on Minjung Theology in general, few called for a special attention to the method(s) of biblical interpretation of Minjung biblical scholars. The proposed study, therefore, will examine how Korean Minjung theologians receive the Bible and interpret it within their own context and discuss their methodological and hermeneutical characteristics. At the end, this paper will suggest from a Korean woman’s perspective that Minjung biblical interpretation needs to seek life-affirming theological metaphors that would empower minjung and reconstruct their faith and life rather than highlighting killing metaphors such as war.

Of the three major disciples in the Fourth Gospel, Peter, the Beloved Disciple and Judas, Peter is the only dynamic character in the story. Judas and the Beloved Disciple appear as static (or flat) characters. Judas is an unqualifiedly evil person, an absolutely negative character. Opposite to Judas in character valence, the Beloved Disciple is an unqualifiedly good figure. He represents the best of Jesus’ followers. Unlike these two disciples, Peter appears as a developing or round character in the story. His character valence undergoes changes and development as the story unfolds. By tracing the appearances of these three disciples in the Fourth Gospel, especially in light of their character valence and the reader’s identification and empathy towards them, this paper suggests that Judas and the Beloved Disciple serve as boundary characters who limit the dramatic changes of Peter’s character valence from either extreme. While the reader maintains steady and extreme feelings toward Judas and the Beloved Disciple, the reader develops a diverse and realistic identification and empathy with Peter throughout the course of reading the Fourth Gospel.

The phrase “the sufferings of Christ” (2 Cor 1:5a) has not been fully explored in relation to the overall argument of 2 Corinthians. It has also received little attention in studies on Pauline suffering. While the idea of “sufferings of Christ” has generated much debate and several interpretations have been proposed, this paper argues that the concept of “the sufferings of Christ” cannot be understood for itself. It can only be fully understood when interpreted in relation to Paul’s narrative of the story of Jesus in his suffering in 2 Corinthians and in the wider context of his mission theology.

The phrase "Critical Asian Principle" was adopted in 1972 as the basic perspective for establishing and operating the doctoral studies program of the South East Asia Graduate School of Theology (SEAGST) which is the graduate school of Association for Theological Education of South East Asia (ATESEA), the largest similar organization outside North America. In 1975,there was general consensus that he whole graduate school program of ATESEA be carried out in the light of the Principle. The then Executive Director of ATESEA and the Dean of SEAGST, Dr. Nacpil, a Philipino theologian become Bishop of Manila Area, the Methodist Church of Philipines, written down his personal interpretation as the essential meaning and function of the phrase. This personal interpretation has been printed in the Handbook of SEAGST since then without big challenges from other theologians, seminaries and churches. As a matter of fact, Asia has been changed dramastically since the Principle was interpreted and recorded in the Handbook since 1975. The colonial staus of most countries had been a history since then, women issues, the Asian understanding of Human Right, the financial crisis in the last few years etc.. It is time to review the Principle and to see how far it it still relevant to the new challenges of Asia and also theological education in the area..

The recent tsunami evoked different responses from the adherents of the various faiths represented in the region, namely, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity. This paper will only focus on some of the Islamic responses. The usual conspiracy theories that arose in the aftermath put the blame on America, Israel and India for testing nuclear devices underground and hence disturbing the earth’s tectonic plates. The second response ranged from interpreting the natural disaster as ‘an act of God’, a ‘sign of the impending Judgment Day’, or a ‘punishment from God for the sins of humanity’. The Islamic response from the countries directly affected, like Indonesia and Malaysia, was more sympathetic when compared with the vitriol rhetoric and the convoluted logic of some Muslim imams in recent sermons from Saudi Arabia to the Palestinian territories commenting on the tsunami. Instead of casting stones, the customary Islamic response from Indonesia and Malaysia was to interpret the disaster as an act of God which was then understood as a call to self-searching and repentance. There is a third Islamic response from some quarters, especially Islamic extremist groups like Al Qaeda and others, which was a strange, restrained and muted silence. This paper will explore some of the reasons for the differing responses from Islam. Focus will be placed on the Malaysian Islamic response which attempts to give a balanced view of interpreting the natural disaster. A reading of selected Koranic texts quoted by various Malaysian Islamic groups and individuals will be done. The paper will conclude with a brief comparison with the Malaysian Christian response by a reading of selected Bible texts.

There are few small objects of antiquity which are as enigmatic as the little seals, carved in various forms and engraved on their base, or around their circumference, with an ornamental device or brief hieroglyphic inscription. I intend to analyze two such seals in the form of silver signet rings. One carries a name and the other displays the famous Egyptian icon Horus of Gold.

This paper compares the two Jewish communities of Elephantine and Post-Exilic Jerusalem (as mostly discussed in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles) to examine what issues they faced in reconstituting the religious life of their communities in their new circumstances. Although there are obviously similarities between these two communities, mostly as a result of their shared roots, this paper will primarily focus on their differences. Some of the questions that will be addressed include: What types of ceremonies and rituals were significant for the respective communities? What was the role of the temple and sacred relics in the community life? What was the relationship of the political leadership with the religious leadership? What religious interaction occurred between their communities and the existing local communities? What were some of the key religious issues that these two communities faced? What were some of the aspects of daily religious life in these communities? Part of the impetus for this paper is in response to Shemaryahu Talmon’s work, “The Emergence of Jewish Sectarianism in the Early Second Temple Period.” Within this article, Talmon discusses how the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem’s fall affected the Jews. With the return of some exiles, but others consciously not returning, we begin to see the rise of distinct communities. Although the Elephantine community is mentioned briefly, there needs to be more in-depth comparison done with the re-emerging Jerusalem community. Temple worship continued to be important for both groups, but obviously the nature of such worship differed. There were certainly changes in the internal structure of Israelite society and thus, consequently, changes in how Jews in exile interacted with Jerusalem. (In sum, there seems to be a tale of two cities to tell).

Though the high priest Christology of the Epistle to the Hebrews has attracted more interpretive interest, the author’s Son of God Christology is also of inestimable import to his hortatory effort. Central to this Son of God Christology is the author’s dramatic portrayal of the Father’s conferral of sonship upon Jesus, an event occurring in the beginning of his rendering of the Son’s exaltation in the Heavenly Sanctuary (1:5). Though generally escaping the notice of most interpreters, the enactment of Jesus’ reciprocal confession of the fatherhood of God, presented shortly thereafter in 2:12-13, corresponds to and should be considered inseparable from the divine declaration of 1:5. That these familial confessions acquire paradigmatic significance in two strategic points in the hortatory address (4:14-16; 10:19-25) is additional proof of their mutuality and importance. Thus the author’s “word of exhortation” is directed at a family of believers (the “siblings” of the Son, 2:11-14, 17), exhorting them to enter into the heavenly sanctuary and participate in the exaltation drama by making a sacral confession commensurate with the Son’s declarations of their familial relationship (4:14-16; 10:19-25). The author brings his drama to a climax and stakes his entire presentation on the power inherent within this symbolic act of confession to actualize the recipients’ sense of familial relatedness. This liminal experience should serve to solidify their resolve to publicly confess and identify with the Son of God and his family (3:1-6; 10:26-31; 12:1-11; 13:13-16).

The negative use of the Bible by Western missionaries during the colonial era in Africa has been well documented. In South Africa, colonial imperial tendencies revealed on the use of the Bible among other factors, with a deliberate alienation of African contexts in Bible interpretation,were reinforced by apartheid theology.The latter, rooted in the perceived "chosen-ness" of the Afrikaner nation,further alienated African peoples by using the Bible to support the policy of racial segregation. Given the historical marginalization of women not only in South Africa,but also on the rest of the globe,mainstram biblical hermeneutics and theology were basically geared at serving white male interests. In the HIV/AIDS post-apartheid South Africa, the situation of African women has been aggravated also by problematic interpretations of the same Bible. A situation which brings to light the truth embedded in the following African proverb: Wa re e hlotsa, wa e nametsa thaba (While limping, you let it climb the mountain!). This proverbial saying simply means that a particular situation is being aggravated by an external factor. The present text will use this proverb as a lens through which to analyse the reception of the Bible by African women in the HIV/AIDS contexts of South Africa.

This paper discusses three biblical passages that try to effect changes in the, values, attitudes and prejudices of the listeners or readers: The Parable of the Trees in Judges 9, the Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7, and the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37. The stories show increasing complexity in the rhetorical manoeuvres adopted and in what they seek to accomplish. The stories 'work' by manipulating sequences of images that confirm the listeners' positive (self-satisfied) acceptance of their personal beliefs, opinions and prejudices and by thereafter confronting the listeners/readers with a sudden vision of how ugly, untenable or unacceptable their own perspectives are, such that they will be willing to reject those previously held stances and effect a change in themselves.The role of the contextual discourse of each story as a means of controlling and perpetuating the power inequalities of the societal groups, working through themes such as 'knowing one's place', 'having appropriate attitudes and expectations', etc., will be explored for these three texts.

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That the Bible is an extremely important source that fuels the Dalit struggle for liberation and provides meaning for the oppressed woman is beyond doubt. The starting point is the Bible as Scripture and the notion that the Bible is the revealed Word of God. Yet, Dalit scholars have not yet defined “scripture,” or “word of God” and these two concepts are generally considered identical. What is the Dalit understanding of Scripture or what constitutes the “word of God?” The Bible as talisman, an icon with sacred power contributes to the notion that the Word of God is found in the letter of Scripture. Does Scripture in its status as “Word of God” seem to inhibit the reader from reading the Bible as a historical document open to critical inquiry? Is reading the text from the perspective of Dalits more than identifying commonalities in the experiences of Dalits and the oppressed in the Bible without sufficient attention being paid to the inherent and varied ideologies and agendas of the text. The result is that many Dalit women are comfortable with traditional renderings and interpretations of the text, which do not investigate the socio-historic foundations of the text. The paper seeks to critically analyze bible studies written by Dalit theologians to discern the hermeneutical principals applied and the methodology employed and to determine the extent to which the socio historic foundations and the varied ideologies and agendas of the text are considered in Dalit interpretations of the text and offer suggestions for the development of Dalit methodology

An exegetical and theological study of the meaning of the phrase: hen ha'adam hayah ke'achad mimmennu lada'at tob vara' (Gen 3:22a). Problems related to the translation of the sentence are discussed, and the expression is explored in the context of the serpent's proposal to Eve that after eating of the forbidden fruit they "will be like God knowing good and evil" (Gen 3:5). The scenario is studied on the background of the Ancient Near Eastern literature. It is not easy to detect irony in the biblical text. The present paper proposes to understand the above phrase as a divine ironical statement. This suggest conclusion is reached on the basis of exegetical, contextual, conceptual, and theological observations.

Just as there was a rich variety of Judaisms in the first century, there were also various Jewish positions and prescriptions about how a Gentile became a Jew. In the Antiquities of the Jews (20.2.1–5) Josephus relates an interesting story of a young king of Adiabene named Izates and his queen mother Helena, both of whom were Gentiles that embraced Judaism and became great benefactors for Jews in Jerusalem. The boon for researchers of early Judaism and Pauline letters is that Josephus’s narrative provides a significant insight into the Jewry of Paul’s time with respect to its variety of responses to the larger Greco-Roman environment. For Ananias, the Jew who led Izates to convert to Judaism, circumcision was not an absolute necessity. But for Eleazer, another Jew who counseled Izates, Ananias’s lenient stance towards circumcision was untenable. The story of Izates provides a glimpse of two different attitudes among Jews towards converted Gentiles. It can thereby shed much light on the dynamics of the controversy Paul describes in Gal 2.11–14, through which we get a glimpse of two divergent views about table fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ at Antioch. Although circumcision does not appear to have been the explicit issue in the Antioch incident, the two accounts do echo shared features that resonate with realities of Jewry in Paul’s time. Both Josephus and Paul add to our understanding of an intra-Jewish debate about how to relate to Gentiles, a debate over Gentile Torah observance that involves the issues of circumcision and commensality.

In Western hermeneutics, words, phrases and metaphors have been interpreted without due recognition of the undelying perceptual experiences, the conceptual framework of the author, and the typical metaphorical thought structure. It is therefore important to distinguish between the linguistic expression and the underlying abstract cognitive mechanism giving rise to linguistic expressions. The cognitive linguistic model of metaphor analysis is employed here to determine the experiential domain(s) of the shepherd metaphor and how these experiential dimensions are mapped onto the abstract metaphor of GOD IS A SHEPHERD in the Psalms, and in particular Ps 23. The evidence shows that two entirely different experience domains underly the mentioned conceptual metaphor, i.e. sheep-keeping and royal judicial rule. The tradition of interpretation has highlighted primarily the former experiential domain of the shepherd metaphor at the expense of hiding the second. The duality as well as the pivotal role of the metaphor is explored in this paper.

The goals of this paper are: 1. to present the motivation for the theological education in Hong Kong, 2. the preactice of interpretation in this context, and 3. the value of sustaining historical studies and doing biblical theology in this respect. Examples of this approach will also be provided.

On their way to Paradise, Seth and his mother came face to face with a wild beast that attacked Seth. Eve rebuked the beast wondering how it could attack the “image of God” and not remember its former subjugation to the “image of God”. Seth commanded it to stay away from the “image of God until the day of judgment” and the beast obeyed, admitting publicly that it would not attack the “image of God” and fled to its dwelling. Although the Latin and the Armenian versions identify the beast with Satan, it is generally agreed that the beast in GLAE represents a conventional animal and that the story is based on biblical ideas rooted in a Jewish background. I will attempt to show that the battle between Seth and the beast should be understood as a struggle between the image of God and Satan, and that this tradition should be viewed against a Christian background. I base my claim on three aspects of the story: how the beast is described, why it attacked Seth and only he could control it, and why the beast had to wait in its dwelling until the day of judgment. The struggle between Seth and the beast/Satan should be seen as a link in the chain of struggle between the image of God and Satan. This struggle began in Paradise, between Adam and Satan, as is recounted in the story about the fall of Satan from heaven. It continued on earth between Seth and Satan and it will end with the final victory of Jesus, the ultimate image of God, over Satan at the end of time. The beast has to wait in its dwelling until the “day of judgment” when “God will make it reappear” to be defeated forever by the Messiah.

Romans 9-11 has long been a controversial passage dealing with the theological problems related to free-will, determinism, predestination, and the election of Jew and Gentile. When Paul mentions the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart as something independent of human effort and desire, he anticipates the rhetorical response of his antagonist interlocutor who might say that God should not hold wrong-doers such as Pharoah responsible for their actions (Rom. 9:19), for “Who has resisted his [God’s] will?” Paul does not automatically answer the question, but responds, “Who are you, o man, who answers back to God?” His immediate reply does not appear to be very satisfying. While the interlocutor may have been silenced by the apostle’s apparent rebuke, the question remains unanswered and present-day scholasticism must now wrestle with Paul’s evasive response. Is Paul really answering the question in Romans 9:19 with 9:20-24 or is he making educated guesses? If there is an answer to the question, what is it? If God hardens Pharaoh’s heart, and loves Jacob yet hates Esau, should the wrong-doers be blamed for their actions or not, and why? Third, if Paul is not giving an answer in this passage, what does the pericope affirm and not affirm about free-will, election, and predestination? This paper will focus on these questions as it addresses the rhetoric of Paul in Romans 9:19-24.

This paper briefly reviews the arguments made in my article, ' "The plain and literal sense": Criticism of M.V. Fox's The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs and contemporary assumptions about the Song of Songs', which exposes a number of inconsistencies in approach and the general methodological fragility of Fox's almost universally accepted thesis. Following this I am able to dismiss the assumptions that a secular-sexual meaning is the 'plain and literal sense' of the Song of Songs. To establish an alternative reading of the Song of Songs a detailed study of the book's language and themes is conducted. The paper examines the following: words and word-phrases that appear only in the Song of Songs and one other biblical book (e.g. s?mh 'veil'; h?bs?lth 'crocus'; s?l 'shadow' + ysb 'to dwell' etc.); common words that appear throughout the Hebrew Bible but that are of significance to, or appear prominently in, both the prophetic corpus of texts and the Song of Songs (e.g. nmr 'leopards', 'sysh 'raisin-cakes' etc.), paying particular attention to the places names ; finally, I explore three key themes that are common to both the prophetic corpus and the Song of Songs (i.e. vine-vineyard-wine; shepherd-flock; and bride-relationship). I argue that the Song of Songs alludes to Isaiah and Hosea, and in the majority of cases the text to which the Song of Songs alludes presents a positive prediction of the future restoration for Israel. On this basis I concluded that the Song of Songs can legitimately be read as an allegory concerning future eschatological hope for Israel, and observe that there is no evidence that Canticles was read in a mode other than allegory before Theodore (A.D. 350-428).

How does one explain the tension between the immense popularity of Christianity in Greenland and at the same time acknowledge the colonizing totalitarian scope of Christianity? By comparing the efforts in John’s Gospel to create a certain privileged identity for the reader vis a vis the jewish population in the text and the efforts of Manguaq Berthelsen, a shaman and healer who sees it as her mission to liberate her country from Danish control I wish to explore the gospel’s de-colonizing potential. It seems that both the gospel and Manguaq Berthelsen employ the same interpretative strategy: Putting what you have to a different use, and thereby controlling it instead of being controlled by it.

A long tradition reads this verse as an early Christological formula imported by the author into its present textual context, but theological preoccupations have prejudiced our exegesis. Syntactic and semantic features indicate that this key sentence was composed by Paul as a rhetorical thesis indicating the fundamental basis for his subsequent argument concerning idol-foods.

Queer Theory is generally believed to be inspired by Michael Foucault and often associated with the work done by philosophers and sociologists like Gayle Rubin, Eve Kosofsky Sedgewick, Judith Butler and Jeffrey Weeks. A basic premise for Queer Theory is the denunciation that sexuality is a universal and eternal drive, and the affirmation that sexuality is best viewed from a social constructionist position. Moving beyond the insider/outsider rhetoric so common in patriarchal identity and power, Queer Theory allows for a critical approach not only to social identity and location but also to social systems and institutions. In this sense, but also because Queer Theory destabilises the self-evidence of power and marginality, center and periphery, it intersects with postcolonial studies. The value of Queer Theory itself, but more particularly, in its interaction with postcolonial studies, for biblical interpretation is briefly explored.

In the compressed and enigmatic Davidssohnfrage in Mark 12.35-37, Jesus queries the appropriateness of calling the Messiah “David’s Son” by citing Ps 110.1. The implicit logic is that no father refers to his progeny as “my Lord,” and therefore it is less than completely correct to speak of the Messiah as David’s Son. But what exactly is Jesus’ point in doing this? Through examinations of: 1) the historical and literary context of the Markan passage; 2) the historical and literary context of Ps 110; 3) how Ps 110 was understood in the first century C.E.; this paper argues that the use of Ps 110.1 in Mark 12.35-37 is contextual, and says something about Jesus’ identity. The Markan Jesus cites Ps 110.1 not just as a clever (if slightly smug?) debating move, whether it is “beating the rabbis with their own stick” (Lindars), or challenging the scriptural accuracy of a scribal designation (Gundry); nor to distance himself, as Messiah, from Davidic lineage (Achtemeier and Bultmann); nor to distance himself, as genealogical scion of David and Solomonic healer, from Messiahship (Chilton). Instead, Mark’s Jesus is setting up a dispute of haggadic nature to show that his interlocutors’ understanding of the title “Son of David” was inadequate, for it had gathered up narrow ethno-nationalistic overtones. The claim to be the “my Lord” of Ps 110 involved the corollary claim that the enemies in Ps 110 were being defeated in battle before one who was greater-than-David and greater than the Levitical priesthood (Ps 110.4). This was not the battle and nor the enemies that Israel expected, for the Markan Messiah’s true enemies are Israel-the-vineyard’s rebellious tenants and their demonic puppet-masters. What we have is an ironic fulfilment of Davidic typology, in which Jesus reinterprets the characters in Israel’s story of the Messiah.

Like many other Jewish writings of the time, Matthew's gospel is concerned with the handing on of the Jewish tradition after the destruction of the temple. The paper looks at the role of the temple within the narrative of the gospel and the explanation Matthew gives for its destruction. Matthew does not have a negative attitude to the temple itself, but views it as the place that is intimately connected with the opposition of the Jewish leaders to Jesus. Therefore, he constructs a christology that describes Jesus as an alternative to the temple, but also as a fulfillment of the temple's functions and promises. The destruction of the temple is finally brought about as a consequence of the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish leaders. In order to substantiate this thesis, the appearance of the temple in various pericopes of the gospel are examined. Key among them are the cleansing of the temple and Matthew's re-imagining the Marcan source, as well as 24:1-2. Particularly 24:1-2 plays a major role in imagining the destruction of the temple as a consequence to the rejection of Jesus. Thus the gospel fleshes out the statement of 12:6 that with Jesus something greater than the temple is present.

Refracted through both Emmanuel Levinas’s ethic of responsibility to the Other, and the Ancient Near Eastern ideological complex of honor and shame, I suggest that the elements of the Decalogue function to disrupt hegemonic structures embedded in Ancient Israel’s social narratives. My paper foregrounds the Sabbath as the focal point for observing how the Decalogue interrupts the rubric of honor and shame in order to create an ethical climate of responsibility to the Other. In this respect, I draw from the philosophical work of Emmanuel Levinas, which reveals the Sabbath as a revelatory moment in time, enabling the face of the Other to be seen. In remembering the Sabbath, the “face to face” encounter emerges not an abstraction, but as a real interaction with the Other who lives in proximity—one’s son, one’s daughter, one’s male and female servant, one’s work-cattle, and the foreigner living among the Israelites. Ethical actions towards the Other are thus expressed in the remaining commandments. With YHWH as the centerpiece for remembrance, the Sabbath intermittently suspends the male prestige structure which “totalizes”, or erases the otherness of the Other, through master-slave, father-child, or male-female relationships. As such, I suggest that the ethic, which emerges from the disruption of the honor and shame ideology, transcends male and female gender narratives, and creates the possibility of a community that speaks and acts in responsbility to the Other, like YHWH without a recognizable form.

In a report from Banda Aceh, one helping to organize relief to the tsunami’s victims there states that an often repeated question of the survivor’s is “why does this kind of death happen to some of our beloved families members and not to others?” This question seems to be a common initial response among survivors of catastrophe as they adjust emotionally, intellectually and theologically to a new reality. This paper will consider such coping responses as expressed, or at least reflected in, the literature of the ancient Near East. To begin, we shall consider myths of the great flood, the communal catastrophe sine qua non of the ancient Near East. While many comparisons and contrasts have been made among these myths, little attention has been given to comparing the virtue, if any, by which the survivors in the story survive, an issue potentially implied in the above question from Banda Aceh. The arbitrary loss brought on by natural catastrophes often leads to the questioning of divine justice in the matter, and protests to the gods about the suffering of the innocent. We shall consider this angle of response to catastrophe through select Hittite prayers and the Book of Job.

Jeremiah 3:6-13 has been treated in a variety of ways. Part of the reason for such variety is its uniqueness. This is the only passage where the RSV (within the whole tradition of English translation) clearly uses the pronoun “she” for, presumably, Israel. This paper discusses the MT of the phrase in question, and studies the treatment in the Targum, the LXX, and the Syriac. Interpreters using those versions are recorded. The Vulgate and its influence are reviewed, especially in the later writers. The role of Jerome in this transformation is stressed.

Much of the poetry at Qumran is created with biblical language and includes citation, paraphrase, and allusion to biblical passages. This reliance on biblical language raises many interesting questions including which passages are most often cited and in what contexts, possible variant texts preserved in citations, and the nature of the authorship of the hymns and prayers. Using the search capacity of the DSS Database to collect data, this paper will examine and analyze the Barkhi Nafshi hymns (4Q434-438) in regards to the following issues: 1) the form and function of quotation of biblical passages; 2) various types of allusion and paraphrase of biblical passages; 3) the vocabulary of Barkhi Nafshi compared with biblical texts; 4) the vocabulary of the hymns compared with known sectarian texts; 5) the citations and allusions to biblical passages compared with sectarian texts.

This paper is a response to the recent topic of terrorism. It is assumed that terrorists engage in acts of terrorism from the idea of apocalypticism. The relationship between apocalypticism and terrorism is not a simple one. Many factors are involved. However, it is still necessary to study apocalypticism in order to understand not only the theological cradle of the terrorists but also the power that results in the people doing bold actions. The apocalyptic text of Daniel 7 will be used as a case in point. This text is full of eschatological depictions. But the power of these depictions will be better captured when they are treated not merely as verbal expression but as fantacy. To be precise, the text is not representing a reality or a history inasmuch as posing a power of fantacy. It is the fantacy that moves people, including those who are engaged in terrorism. To relate the issue with the theological education in Asia ans for Asians, I think the emphasis on fantacy will get support for two reasons: first, the influence of positivis in theology has separated theology from fantacy. In biblical studies, much of our works have been very mechanical and dry. Second, Asian mythologies, stories, wisdom, beliefs, indeed, life, are never departed from fantacy. So, to engage with Asianization of biblical studies, it is logical that we put so much effort on the use of fantacy.

The apostle Paul readily acknowledged that “Christ crucified” was “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1.23). This paper will begin by looking at the origin and practice of crucifixion in antiquity, with special reference to the writings of Plato, Philo, Josephus, Cicero, Seneca and others. The survey will clearly show that crucifixion in the ancient world was commonly regarded as a capital punishment of utmost cruelty that was beyond human description, and that the cross was a readily recognizable symbol of human degradation and humiliation. As such, death on the cross was obviously most ignoble in antiquity. The paper will next deal with the concept of “noble death” in both Greco-Roman and Jewish traditions. In Greco-Roman tradition, the classic example is most probably the death of Socrates, and among the Jews, the sacrifice of the Maccabean martyrs may be one of the best examples. This aspect of the paper will be done with reference to some of the studies on the subject by modern scholars such as David Seeley, Arthur Droge, Jan Willem van Henten, David deSilva, H. Anderson and John Barclay. A comparison/contrast will finally be made between the ignoble death of Jesus and the “noble death” of Socrates and the Maccabean martyrs, with special reference to Paul’s “message about the cross”.

The paper looks at some work of ‘the Deuteronomist’, focusing on a startling assertion in Ch. 4, and weighing up two interpretations. The paper shows how the Deuteronomist ascribes some rather daring attitudes and intentions to YHWH, in both readings uncovers some underlying assumptions, and poses the question: Which assumptions, attitudes and intentions would have been more accessible to the implied audience?

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Wisdom writers, by using the rhetorical technique of personification in poetic passages in Proverbs, Job, Sirach, Wisdom and Baruch, developed the figure of Wisdom as a major character, a central teaching figure and a unique expression of wisdom. Many paintings of the Wisdom figure suggest intentional ambiguity in the intertwining of divine, human, and female identities. The pictorial realm is the explicit focus of attention in this paper, particularly those paintings and icons connected with the figure of Wisdom in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. By considering, for example, Creation, Michelangelo; Sophia Icon, Moscow; Book of Wisdom, Winchester Bible; Sapientia, Elshoecht; Sophia, Hagia Sophia; Saint Sophia, Russian Icon, I reflect on interpretations of biblical texts in which artists intentionally illustrate, interpret, extend, and layer biblical texts relating to the Wisdom figure beyond the edges of the written text. Secondly, I discuss how such works can embody relatively straightforward approaches to biblical understandings and more complex forms of textual interpretation. Artists reveal significant aspects of human situations in which they are working and on which the viewer can reflect. They may present texts boldly, attractively, and evocatively, thus giving viewers vivid and unique readings of texts as lived, thought, imagined, and felt. Contemporary biblical studies explicitly advert to different literary forms in the bible and are increasingly involved in dialogues with aesthetic as well as historical and critical study of biblical texts. While an emphasis on the verbal and written word has generally dominated biblical studies, paintings and icons have much to offer as they reveal not only textual content but also attitudes, ideals and emotional reactions associated with texts. Primarily they supplement and correct a purely conceptual approach to biblical studies.

In investigations of the genealogical prologue in 1 Chronicles it has often been assumed that the author, whether the Chronicler himself or a later editor, utilized a variety of sources in compiling the lists of names. This is particularly so regarding 1 Chronicles 1, where it has been assumed that the Chronicler made use of the genealogies contained in the text of Genesis when compiling this material. However, no objective criteria has been put forward to justify this assumption. In a recent article on the relationship of the Synoptic Gospels McKiver and Carroll have developed criteria for determining the type of literary relationship between two documents. (JBL 121:4 2002, 667-687) In this paper I apply their criteria to the relationship between 1 Chronicles 1 and the genealogies of Genesis in order to investigate the claim that the Chronicler made use of Genesis. The goal is to place on a surer footing through the use of objective criteria the assumptions of a literary relationship between the two works. As a consequence of this investigation, further conclusions regarding the Chronicler's use of sources are also developed which may be further utilized in the investigation of the Chronicler's work as a whole. This is the third revision of this paper. It was first presented to my Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Jim Trotter at Murdoch University. It was revised and presented at a post-graduate student seminar to fellow students at Murdoch University in mid 2004. It has also been sharpened through the response to McIver & Carrol by John C. Poirier which has helped to point out certain potential limitations to McIver and Carrol's original hypothesis (JBL 123:2, 2004, 315-322).

The hymn as a song of praise to God appears already in embryonic form in Psalm 118:1-4 in the Hallel Psalms chanted on Festivals in the Temple at Jerusalem. This simple structure permits a large body of untrained people to function within the divine service as a congregation: Give thanks to the Lord; for he is good: for His mercy endureth forever. So let Israel now say, that His mercy endureth forever. So let the house of Aaron say, that his mercy endureth forever. So let them that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth forever. When the Christian Church became the ‘New Israel’ it placed psalmody and hymn singing at the center of its worship. Likewise, a number of hymns constitute a respected element in synagogue worship. These include Ein Keyloheynu, Adon Olam, Yigdal and the Hannukah hymn Maoz Tzur. Similarly, the German Lutheran Chorale is congregational music selected from popular and folk songs as well as original hymns such as “Ein Feste Burg”. Jewish and Protestant practice met in modern Germany. The Reform Synagogue founded in Hamburg in the early 19th century adopted from the Lutherans organ accompaniment, four-voice settings of chorale tunes, syllabic singing, and diatonic tonality. The Hamburg Temple inspired the establishment in Charleston, South Carolina of the “Reform Society of Israelites” in 1824. Later when the Reform and Orthodox factions reunited and dedicated their new sanctuary, Penina Moise (1797-1880) produced the first American Jewish hymnal. The sources of the music for her hymns included classical music as well as Christian hymn tunes

During the last two decades biblical criticism has experienced a remarkable change: from diachronic to synchronic. Basically while a dichronic approach as 'traditional' biblical criticism is committed to the quest for the original author's meaning and intention; to studying texts in their historical contexts; to revealing traces of previous versions or of later redaction, a synchronic approach tends to put more weight on the literary art on the part of the writer and the text itself. For this reason, at first glance, it seems that the relationship between a diachronic and synchronic study has been a tension in biblical studies. The paradigm is changing. Yet a diachronic approach is still meaningful. Thus, it is necessary to relate a new approach to the older one. For this task, this presentation will attempt to elicit a connective point or common basis between them from Dilthey's hermeneutics of life as the structural nexus of lived experience, expression, and understanding.

This paper proposes to look at the neglected themes of exorcism and empire in Mark. It will argue that they are intended by Mark to be juxtaposed, and at the same time, related to the thematic message of the kingdom of God. In so doing, Mark intends his readers to see that the kingdom message is a form of exorcism which sets subjects free from tyranny, especially that of the imperial form. It will further argue that the clustering of key themes such as gospel, kingdom and exorcism presents a united front against the Empire's propaganda, and thus, offering us a key to unlocking the primary intention of Mark. Critical passages such as 1.21-8 and 5.1-20 will be treated.

Word studies play an important role in New Testament interpretation. However, apart from the theological dictionaries (where the focus is less upon linguistic patterns and functions and more upon historical and theological aspects), this method has not received systematic application to the New Testament corpus or its sub-corpora (e.g. the Pauline epistles). The discipline of corpus linguistics, which makes use of computational analysis to discover patterns of usage in language, has developed theory and method for the systematic analysis of lexis. OpenText.org is an initiative that seeks to apply the methods of corpus-based linguistics to the analysis of Hellenistic Greek and specifically the Greek of the New Testament. This paper demonstrates the concept of a 'lexical profile' and provides illustration from some keywords in Pauline vocabulary. A lexical profile provides a comprehensive summary of all the occurrences of a word at a range of linguistic levels (i.e. morphological, word, word group or phrase, and clause). For example, at the word group level, the profile would show that the word NOMOS (‘law’) can be used both as a 'head term' and as a 'modifier' and list the words with which it occurs in these structures (i.e. ‘law of sin’, ‘law of God’, ‘works of law’, etc.). Similarly, the profile would show that NOMOS occurs in a range slots or components in a clause, including both 'subject' and 'complement' (or object) slots. In its role as a clausal subject, the profile shows which verbal processes are linked to the word using the semantic domain categories from the Louw-Nida lexicon (domains 13 ‘Existence’ and 33 ‘Communication’, i.e. ‘the law is…’ and ‘the law says…’). This new method for lexical analysis offers considerable promise for the study of New Testament vocabulary.

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Die Übersetzer der griechischen Bibel lasen ihre hebräischen Vorlagen mit dem Wissensstand und vor dem kulturellen und religiösen Hintergrund ihrer Epoche. Die Septuaginta enthält wertvolle Informationen darüber, wie die heiligen Schriften des Judentums insb. in der alexandrinischen Diaspora verstanden und seine normativen, narrativen und poetischen Inhalte mit der eigenen Weltdeutung und der eigenen Lebensgestaltung in Beziehung gesetzt wurden, insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund der kulturellen Begegnung von Judentum und Hellenismus. In den griechischen Bibelübersetzungen kommt das Bedürfnis ihres jüdischen Lesepublikums nach aktualisierenden Übertragungen der hebräischen Vorlagen zum Ausdruck. Ebenso begegnet in der Tiefenstruktur dieser Texte durchgängig das Problem der Vermittlung zwischen dem Streben nach Bewahrung der kulturellen und religiösen Eigenheit durch Festhalten an der jüdischen Tradition und dem Streben nach Annäherung an den Hellenismus durch Übertragung der Bibel in die zeitgenössische Kultur.

This paper focuses on the application of recent insights in pragmatic theory to the interpretation of Biblical texts. It is nowadays widely accepted in pragmatics that utterance comprehension is largely based on inference. It is also widely believed that in comprehending texts, people need to bring "top-down" controls to bear on interpretation to narrow down the inferential possibilities. Such "top-down" controls are suggested to be exercised by global coherence, discourse type or genre, speech acts, ideologies, and other notions. Isaiah 5:1-7 is a text where this tension is particular prominent. In this paper I apply Sperber & Wilson's (1995) relevance theory of cognition and communication to the interpretation of this text. I argue that this theory provides some central insights that allow to resolve the tension arising by the need to ballance interpretive possibilities against top-down interpretive frames in a unique and interesting way. The insights are: First, interpretation is driven by more or less specific expectations of relevance that are raised on the basis of a general presumption of relevance that is communicated by every instance of ostensive communication. Second, these expectations of relevance are fine-tuned in online processing of the ostensive stimulus. Third, expectations of relevance raised by ostensive stimuli in general: These stimuli may be complex such as in the case of texts, and in the case of complex ostensive stimuli expectations of relevance can affect the kind of complexity as well as the level or kind of relevance to be expected.

The resurrection dialogue is a specific variant of the redeemer dialogues. The risen or spiritual Christ teaches his followers between crucifixion and ascension. The Sophia of Jesus Christ (Nag Hammadi) shows a literary relationship specifically with the Gospel of John. A Johannine resurrection dialogue can explain the editorial interventions in Sophia and some of the apparent inconcistencies in John.

In this paper I will analyse Julia Kristeva’s reading of the stories about the beheading of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-29; Matt 14:1-12) as presented in 'Visions capitales', the catalogue of a special exhibition, which took place in the Louvre at Paris in 1998. Kristeva’s reading is mostly a reconstruction of John’s death, based on information gained from Josephus and the biblical stories, but secondary sources also inform her interpretation of John’s death. This is most explicitly the case where gap-filling takes place in ascribing particular motives to the characters in the biblical story. As I will argue, the result thereof is that her own reading reproduces the culturally dominant reading, she engages elsewhere in the same volume. This is all the more striking since Kristeva in fact possesses the critical-analytical tools to question and deconstruct that interpretation.

The personification of wisdom as Lady Wisdom in Proverbs 1-9, evokes quite juxtaposed appreciations. Some believe she is good news for women. She occupies an elevated position close to Yahweh which is rather unheard of in patriarchal Israelite culture. Others are convinced that she ultimately serves mainly male hegemony and interests being so closely aligned with the (male) divinity. Even though personified as ‘she’, does she really do ‘she’-things or predominantly ‘he’-things? Is serving Yahweh also serving the feminine cause? The cultural construct of wisdom as Lady Wisdom needs to be looked at again. Utilizing body criticism Lady Wisdom is analyzed. Body constructs expose a society’s deepest convictions and values. It is especially the ‘regulatory body’ (ideal, normative, paradigmatic) that becomes a society’s cultural script or ‘corporeal code’, determining all others. Onto and ‘into’ this body-‘text’ is written a society’s values, often hidden. The regulatory body emerges from culture, and in turn shapes and replicates culture. As ‘text’ the regulatory body begets symbolical or rhetorical value to inform, persuade and construe the adherents of a particular society into the proper bodies they ought to be. It offers them representations of cultural-specific subjectivities or self-understandings. How did the regulatory body of the time shape Lady Wisdom, determining her subjectivity, her true agency?

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Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of genre-memory provides an alternative that creates a new framework for understanding in relation to Gospel genre studies, and has also been considered by some scholars to be the solution to the opposition between synchronic and diachronic poetics. The applicability of genre-memory will be considered especially in relation to Mark as the most primitive of the canonical Gospels.

While many have made use of the Biblical notions of the imminent God in reacting to crisis, divine transcendence is frequently seen as inimical to the possibility of deriving comfort and consolation. Therefore, after the tsunami, for example, it was frequently said that God is to be found in the response to the tsunami, in the love and altruism that is generated by a crisis of untold proportions. This paper will present a different view, a view that looks at notions of divine transcendence found in the Book of Psalms, in order to develop a theology that incorporates, but goes beyond theodicy.

Biblical critics studying the Book of Revelation gloss over or ignore the “presence” of doulos (slave) as a means of identity formation. Since the event of Jesus’ death and resurrection reconfigured the identity of the early Christian community, the notion of Christian identity permeates nearly every chapter of the Apocalypse. As such, John utilizes identity construction as a strategy of resistance for community liberation and consolation. Although evidence of this strategy is generally exhibited throughout the Apocalypse, John’s construction reaches its fulcrum in the climatic presentation of the New Jerusalem, Rev. 21:1-22:5. Charged with the mandate to promote Jesus' message, John, therefore, inscribes the formation of self-identity to foment maximum participation in the process of salvation; thus, engendering a particular aspect of world transformation. To explore the tenets and ramifications of John's strategy, this essay seeks to employ a cultural studies approach to reading Rev. 21:1-22:5. Embodying the theoretical orientation of ideological criticism as well as social- and literary-critical studies, I wish to enlist Toni Morrison’s (1992) construct of “presence” in American literature and James C. Scott’s (1990) delineation of resistance and power in discourse. For identity construction, whether in ancient or modern texts, is a matter of both “presence” and power. Nowhere is this more evident than in John’s discourse of the New Jerusalem and the formation of identity to resist domination while obtaining liberation.

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This paper is written from the perspective of a teacher training ministers in a seminary setting in an East Asian context. Like most of the colleagues I know, historical critical issues form the backbone of my courses. However, it is increasingly clear that these are not the concerns of most of my students. Indeed some even consider these issues interferences they need to endure in their ministerial training. I am not talking about students who resist historical critical studies for theological reasons, but those who simply do not think historical critical studies are important. A main reason for this apathy is a lack of time to master the necessary languages and information. The number of courses per semester and involvement in churches of students here tend to be higher than their counterparts in the US. Furthermore, historical critical issues are rarely raised in their ministry. Lastly, most of my students read the Bible from a canonical perspective, as an act of choice or from habit. Thus they do not feel the need to consider the history of formation of the Pentateuch. Again, why consider the real historical circumstances of the Davidic dynasty when they will finally preach and teach only from the perspective of the Bible? In this paper I will argue that a canonical reading of Scriptures should not be a substitute for historical critical studies. However, I do think that their importance is reduced for students training for the ministry. Instead more time should be spent on fields like New Criticism , social critical hermeneutics (e.g., feminist hermeneutics) and contextualization since these are more immediately relevant to the ministry. The choice should not be an either or but, rather, of maintaining a fine balance between resources and need.

In this paper, I propose that the Song of the Sea in Exod 15:1-18 has intertextual influences on the new song in Rev 5:9-10. The influences of the Song of the Sea on the new song of Rev 5:9-10 are both explicit and implicit. The explicit influences are demonstrated in the verbal, thematic, and structural parallels of the texts; while the implicit ones are found by using the Jewish interpretative rule of gezerâ sawâ. John's contemporaries used the Song of the Sea in the Targums, Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and rabbinic writings. However, John has his own exegetical perspective and goal. Thus, his use of the Song of the Sea contains identifiable theological notions that reveal his own theological development in his work.

While the interpretation of the visions and oracles of Zechariah remains as a puzzle, the analysis of the social context in recent years recognises the presence of independent groups and their voices in this prophetic work. In this paper, I will argue that there is a language of violence that pointed to a duality, and not a dualism between various social groups. By appropriating the structuration theory of Anthony Giddens, I will further demonstrate that divine violence in this book is a social critique of the social context as well as a necessary outcome that is responsible for the continuity and reproduction of rules and resources that governed the running of the social systems.

Jeremiah 17:5-11 has many parallels with a Psalms 1 which is called a wisdom poem. Our text is a wisdom poem. Though it is from wisdom genre, its interpretation should be pursued at the present location. Why is it placed in the book of Jeremiah? Jeremiah's mission is decalred in Jeremiah 1:10. In short, his first mission is "to break down," and the second is "to rebuild." What should he "break down" and what should he "rebuild"? Jeremiah's mission is reiterated when Yahweh was about to make a new covenant(31:27-28). Then what did Jeremiah "destroy and overthrow"? Jeremiah declared that Judah would be destroyed. What was the problem of the message? The problem lies in that it contradicts with established ideology so called "Davidic covenant". Jeremiah delivered the message of overthrowing established Jerusalem-royal theology, because people in Judah committed sins. In the turmoil of national destiny, what kind of form will be established for the salvation? This question is related to Jeremiah's mission "to plant." It is described in Jeremiah 17:1-4. II Kings ascribed the destruction as sin of Manasseh (II Kings 24:2-3). If Judah's destruction is sin committed in the period of Manasseh, what can descendants do? If the destruction is unavoidable because of their ancestors' sin, what kind of action can they take? To these questions, Jeremiah suggested the first choice. It was Shuv (3:14). But Jeremiah delivered the message that salvation will depend on individuals. This message constitutes one part of new covenant (31:29-30). Under the light of Jeremiah's theology in general, the message of our text became clear. Israel's destruction would be national disaster, but they should not have disappointed and lamented. For that Jeremiah borrowed the wisdom poem and delivered message that God's judgment will be made individually.