James L. Crenshaw

Bio: James L. Crenshaw is an academic researcher from Duke University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Old Testament & Biblical theology. The author has an hindex of 14, co-authored 37 publications receiving 550 citations.

Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction

Abstract: "Crenshaw is one of the leading specialists in the Old Testament Wisdom literature. Probably represents the best contemporary introduction to tha literature. Important, provocatiive, readable".---The Princeton Seminary Bulletin

Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel

Abstract: The task of justifying the ways of God to man has become \"a universal religious nightmare\"; the problem is not so much the justification of God in the face of actual suffering äs it is the reconciling of evil with the knowledge that God intends salvation for mankind*. In essence theodicy is the search for a solution to the problem of meaning, an undertaking that did not begin with modern man, the so-called fourth man, creature come of age. Neither the ancient Israelite nor his Mesopotamian neighbors shied away from the above-mentioned task, even if for the former one admit the correctness of the Charge of a \"conspiracy of silence\" on the occasion of the death of Josiah. One might with some justification contend that the conspiracy of silence characterizes contemporary biblical scholars, inasmuch äs attempts to wrestle with the problem of theodicy are few indeed. Apart from some discussion in exegetical studies of Job and theological examination of the problem of evil, three special treatments of theodicy have broken the silence of ignorance or timidity. The first, W. Eichrodt's \"Vorsehungsglaube und Theodizee im Alten Testament\", is a masterful affirmation of

Popular Morality in the Early Roman Empire

Abstract: Morality is one of the fundamental structures of any society, enabling complex groups to form, negotiate their internal differences and persist through time. In the first book-length study of Roman popular morality, Dr Morgan argues that we can recover much of the moral thinking of people across the Empire. Her study draws on proverbs, fables, exemplary stories and gnomic quotations, to explore how morality worked as a system for Roman society as a whole and in individual lives. She examines the range of ideas and practices and their relative importance, as well as questions of authority and the relationship with high philosophy and the ethical vocabulary of documents and inscriptions. The Roman Empire incorporated numerous overlapping groups, whose ideas varied according to social status, geography, gender and many other factors. Nevertheless it could and did hold together as an ethical community, which was a significant factor in its socio-political success.

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

Abstract: 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.

Inventing God's Law: How the Covenant Code of the Bible Used and Revised the Laws of Hammurabi

Abstract: 1. . Introduction: The Basic Thesis and Background PART I: PRIMARY EVIDENCE FOR DEPENDENCE: SEQUENTIAL CORRESPONDENCES AND DATE 2. The Casuistic Laws 3. The Apodictic Laws 4. Date and Opportunity for the Use of Hammurabi's and Other Cuneiform Laws PART II: COMPOSITIONAL LOGIC OF THE COVENANT CODE 5. Debt-Slavery and the Seduction of a Maiden (Exodus 21:2-11 22:15-16) 6. Homicide, Injury, Miscarriage, Talion (Exodus 21:12, 18-27) 7. Child Rebellion, Kidnapping, Sorcery, Bestiality, Illicit Sacrifice (Exodus 21:12-17 22:17-19) 8. The Goring Ox and Negligence (Exodus 21:28-36) 9. Animal Theft, Crop Destruction, Deposit, and Burglary (Exodus 21:37-22:8) 10. Animal Injury, Death, and Rental (Exodus 22:9-14) 11. The Themes and Ideology of the Apodictic Laws (Exodus 20:23-26 21:1 22:20-23:19) 12. Redactional Growth in the Apodictic Laws and the Covenant Code's Relationship to the Exodus Narrative 13. Conclusions BIBLIOGRAPHY