https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/sb3978970

Reconstructing Israel: Restoration Eschatology in Early Judaism and Paul's Gentile Mission

The Problem. The problem this dissertation seeks to address is the origins of the wedding banquet imagery in the teaching of Jesus. Frequently, scholars will state that the image of a wedding banquet was a common messianic image in the first century. However, other than Isa 25:6-8, sources for the image of a banquet for the messianic age in the Hebrew Bible are sparse. Yet the image of a banquet clearly appears in the Synoptic Gospels in both the actions of Jesus as well as his teaching. Because the metaphor of a wedding banquet is not found in the literature of the Second Temple Period, scholars frequently assume that this sort of language was created by the Gospel writers and that Jesus himself did not claim to be a bridegroom. Method. In this study I propose an intertextuality method which seeks to give full weight to the rhetorical value of anauthor's use of earlier texts or traditions. First, the reader must first "hear an echo" within the text. By this I mean one recognizes something in the words or deeds of Jesus that sounds like a text or tradition from the Hebrew Bible. Second, having heard the echo of an earlier text or tradition, one must then determine which texts and traditions may have been used by the author. Since allusions to tradition are not direct citations, a wide range of texts must be gathered with linguistic and thematic links to the later text. Third, these observations drawn from the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Period literature must be applied to the texts in the Synoptic Gospels which contain banquet or wedding imagery. This third step can be used as a test of the authenticity of the sayings of Jesus. I propose a "criterion of tradition congruence": If it is shown that a saying of Jesus stands within well-known traditions from the Hebrew Bible, then that saying is more likely to be authentic. Conclusion. Jesus did indeed claim to be a bridegroom and his ministry was an anticipation of the eschatological banquet. While there is no single text in the Hebrew Bible or the literature of the Second Temple Period which states the "messiah is like a bridegroom," the elements for such a claim are present in several traditions found in this literature. Jesus created this unique image by clustering three traditions drawn from the Hebrew Bible and applying them to his ministry. First, the eschatological age is inaugurated by a banquet eaten in the presence of God (Isa 25:6-8). Second, the end of the exile is often described as a new Exodus and a new journey through the wilderness (Isa 40-55). Third, the relationship of God and his people is often described as a marriage (Hosea, Jer 2-4). Jesus claimed that his ministry was an on-going wedding celebration which signals the end of the Exile and the restoration of Israel to her position as the Lord's beloved wife. Jesus himself combined the tradition of an eschatological banquet with a marriage metaphor in order to describe the end of the Exile as a wedding banquet.

/pdf/the-origin-of-the-eschatological-feast-as-a-wedding-banquet-3j75yui6wo.pdf

The Origin of the Eschatological Feast as a Wedding Banquet in the Synoptic Gospels: an Intertextual Study

The present study offers a comprehensive analysis of leonine imagery in the Hebrew Bible. After an introduction that discusses God-language and the theological significance of metaphor (Chapter 1), the biblical lion imagery is typed according to naturalistic or metaphorical use, along with various subdivisions (Chapter 2). When metaphorically employed, biblical lion imagery is found with four referents: the self/righteous, the enemy/wicked, the monarch/mighty one, and the deity. An analysis of the lion in the archaeological record of ancient Israel/Palestine from 1500-332 BCE is then offered (Chapter 3). In addition to finds from excavated sites, unprovenanced seals and related onomastica are discussed. The finds show: a) a common association of the lion with the monarch/mighty one and various deities; b) the presence of lion artifacts in cultic and official contexts; and c) evidence of artistic connections to other regions. Given the latter point, the study proceeds to investigate the use of the lion in the art and literature of the ancient Near East (Chapter 4). This vast corpus is organized according to rubric and function, categorizing the attested imagery as to whether it utilizes the lion as a negative image for the enemy or wicked; as a positive image for the monarch/mighty one or victor; or as an image for the gods and/or goddesses. The widespread use of the lion as a guardian of portals and gateways is also considered. In all three contexts (Hebrew Bible, archaeology of ancient Israel/Palestine, and ancient Near East), it is argued that the function of lion imagery as well as its main tenor in metaphorical presentations seem primarily dependent on the power and threat that this predatory animal represents.	
Chapter 5 brings the comparative data of Chapter 4 into dialogue with the materials presented in Chapters 2-3 in order to cast further light on the different uses of the lion in the Hebrew Bible. Similarities and differences are noted and assessed. It is argued that: 1) the lion as trope of threat and power is relatively stable across the different data sets; 2) the use of the lion with monarch/mighty one is quite different (and muted) in the biblical text when compared to the comparative and archaeological materials; 3) the use of the lion with Yahweh is similar in many ways to the comparative and archaeological contexts; and 4) the use of the lion as an image for the enemy is also similar but somewhat more pronounced in the Hebrew Bible (esp. in the Psalms). Possible explanations for #2 are offered, as is an investigation of Yahweh’s leonine profile. That profile could stem from the storm-god composite Baal-Seth or, more probably, from the tradition of violent leonine goddesses (esp. Sekhmet and/or Ishtar). A third possible source for the imagery is the use of militant lion metaphors in ancient Near Eastern royal inscriptions if, in fact, Israel’s use is not sui generis.	
Chapter 6 concludes the study by returning to the theological and metaphorical significance of zoomorphic imagery. Three appendices (lion terminology, semantic domain of lion imagery, biblical lion passages) and 483 images round out the volume.

https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/150391/1/Strawn_2005_What_Is_Stronger_than_a_Lion.pdf

What Is Stronger than a Lion?: Leonine Image and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East

This study is the first to assemble the evidence for the existence of sorcerors in the ancient world; it also addresses the question of their identity and social origins The resulting investigation takes us to the underside of Greek and Roman society, into a world of wandering holy men and women, conjurors and wonder-workers, and into the lives of prostitutes, procuresses, charioteers and theatrical performers This fascinating reconstruction of the careers of witches and sorcerors allows us to see into previously inaccessible areas of Greco-Roman life Compelling for both its detail and clarity, and with an extraordinarily revealing breadth of evidence employed, it will be an essential resource for anyone studying ancient magic

/pdf/magic-and-magicians-in-the-greco-roman-world-3kf73ooj9q.pdf

Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World

Contrary to the widespread view that nationalism is a modern phenomenon, Goodblatt argues that it can be found in the ancient world. He argues that concepts of nationalism compatible with contemporary social scientific theories can be documented in the ancient sources from the Mediterranean Rim by the middle of the last millennium BCE. In particular, the collective identity asserted by the Jews in antiquity fits contemporary definitions of nationalism. After the theoretical discussion in the opening chapter, the author examines several factors constitutive of ancient Jewish nationalism. He shows how this identity was socially constructed by such means as the mass dissemination of biblical literature, retention of the Hebrew language, and through the priestly caste. The author also discusses each of the names used to express Jewish national identity: Israel, Judah and Zion.

/pdf/elements-of-ancient-jewish-nationalism-2v3yrmvw23.pdf

Elements of ancient Jewish nationalism

Kings Without Privilege: David and Moses in the Story of the Bible's Kings

A brief review of recent essays on 1 Sam. 17-18 leads the authors to regard the shorter LXX as an earlier form of the text than the longer MT, but to distrust the view that the MT pluses were drawn from a once independent alternative source. The main part of the article notes some dozen contrasts between the portrayal of David in the MT pluses in these chapters and the characterization of Saul in 1 Sam. 9-10. The story had been remade with an eye on the earlier chapters to point up such correspondences.

The Making of David and Goliath

Part 1 The Qumran community, Essenes and other sects: the Dead Sea sect and other Jews - commonalities, overlaps and differences the wicked priest or the liar? what did you go out to see? John the Baptist, the scrolls and late second temple Judaism. Part 2 The Qumran biblical texts and the Masoretic text: the Qumran biblical scrolls - the scriptures of late second temple Judaism Qumran evidence for a biblical standard text and for non-standard and parabiblical texts "E Pluribus Unum" - textual variety and definitive interpretation in the Qumran scrolls. Part 3 Sectarian law and normative Jewish law: Halakah and sectarianism in the Qumran scrolls the story of Joseph and the "Book of Jubilees" sabbatical chronologies in the Dead Sea scrolls and related literature Qumran calendars -theory and practice the place of the Book of Jubilees at Qumran and beyond. Part 4 Theology of the Qumran community, second temple Judaism and early Christianity: the nature of Messianism in the light of the Dead Sea scrolls Judaisms in the Dead Sea scrolls - the case of the Messiah the branch in the last days - observations on the new convenant before and after the Messiah the Dead Sea scrolls and Merkavah mysticism.

A. Graeme Auld

Papers

Kings Without Privilege: David and Moses in the Story of the Bible's Kings

The Making of David and Goliath

The Dead Sea Scrolls in Their Historical Context

Prophets through the Looking Glass: between Writings and Moses

Cities of Refuge in Israelite Tradition