Introduction: hic sunt dracones 1. The history of truth: recovering ancient wisdom 2. The history of error: exorcizing Paganism 3. The error of history: imagining the Occult 4. The truth of history: entering the Academy Conclusions: restoring memory.

Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture

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.

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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 article proposes that knowledge of cultural expectations concerning ethical responses to unintentional harm can help students and physicians better to understand patients' distress when physicians fail to disclose, apologize for, and make amends for harmful medical errors. While not universal, the Judeo-Christian traditions of confession, repentance, and forgiveness inform the cultural expectations of many individuals within secular western societies. Physicians' professional obligations concerning truth telling reflect these expectations and are inclusive of the disclosure of medical error, while physicians may express a need for self-forgiveness after making errors and should be aware that patients may also rely upon forgiveness as a means of dealing with harm. The article recommends that learning how to disclose errors, apologize to injured patients, ensure that these patients' needs are met, and confront the emotional dimensions of one's own mistakes should be part of medical education and reinforced by the conduct of senior physicians.

https://jme.bmj.com/content/medethics/31/2/106.full.pdf

Subtracting insult from injury: addressing cultural expectations in the disclosure of medical error

THE INFLUENCE AND USE OF DANIEL IN THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

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The Influence and Use of Daniel in the Synoptic Gospels

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David Noel Freedman

Papers

The Anchor Bible Dictionary