Joel M. LeMon

Bio: Joel M. LeMon is an academic researcher from Emory University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Hebrew Bible & Biblical studies. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 9 publications receiving 80 citations.

Method matters: essays on the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in honor of David L. Petersen

Abstract: As the field of biblical studies expands to accommodate new modes of inquiry, scholars are increasingly aware of the need for methodological clarity. David L. Petersen's teaching, research, and service to the guild are marked by a commitment to such clarity. Thus, in honor of Petersen's work, a cohort of distinguished colleagues presents this volume as an authoritative and up-to-date handbook of methods in Hebrew Bible scholarship. Readers will find focused discussions of traditional and newly emerging methods, including historical criticism, ideological criticism, and literary criticism, as well as numerous case studies that indicate how these approaches work and what insights they yield. Additionally, several essays provide a broad overview of the field by reflecting on the larger intellectual currents that have generated and guided contemporary biblical scholarship.The contributors are Yairah Amit, Pablo R. Andinach, Alan J. Avery-Peck, John Barton, Bruce C. Birch, Susan Brayford, William P. Brown, Walter Brueggemann, Mark K. George, William K. Gilders, John H. Hayes, Christopher B. Hays, Ralph W. Klein, Douglas A. Knight, Beatrice Lawrence, Joel M. LeMon, Christoph Levin, James Luther Mays, Dean McBride, Carol A. Newsom, Kirsten Nielsen, Martti Nissinen, Gail R. O'Day, Thomas Romer, C. L. Seow, Naomi Steinberg, Brent A. Strawn, Marvin A. Sweeney, Gene M. Tucker, and Robert R. Wilson.

Yahweh's Winged Form in the Psalms: Exploring Congruent Iconography and Texts

Abstract: The striking image of the winged Yahweh occurs in six psalms (e. g., Ps 17:8 “Hide me in the shadow of your wings”). Scholars have disagreed on the background, meaning, and significance of the image arguing that it: (1) likens the Israelite deity to a bird; (2) alludes to the winged sun disk; (3) draws from general Egyptian symbolism for protection; (4) evokes images of winged goddesses; or (5) refers to winged cherubim in the temple and/or on the ark of the covenant. These divergent proposals signal a need for clearer methods of interpreting biblical imagery in light of visual-artistic material from the ancient Near East. This volume refines iconographic methodologies by treating the image of the winged Yahweh as one among a constellation of literary images in each psalm. Since the portrayals of Yahweh in each psalm have distinct contours, one finds several congruencies in Syro-Palenstinian iconographic material. The congruent iconographic motifs for Yahweh’s winged form include (1) the winged sun disk (in multiple form and variations), (2) the Horus falcon, (3) winged suckling goddesses, and (4) winged deities in combat. No single image stands behind the portrayals of Yahweh. In fact, even within a single psalm, more than one iconographic trope can provide congruency with the literary imagery and inform the interpretation of the text. Thus, the winged Yahweh in the Psalms provides an example of a ‘multistable’ literary image, one which simultaneously evokes multiple iconographical motifs.

Image, Text, Exegesis: Iconographic Interpretation and the Hebrew Bible

Abstract: Introduction\ Section 1: Interpreting Images\ Elizabeth Bloch-Smith, "Acculturating gender Roles: Images as Conveyors of Culture in Ancient Israel"\ Rudiger Schmitt, "Mixed Creatures and the Assyrian Influence on the West Semitic Glyptic repertoire"\ Meir Lubetski, "Unlocking the Cryptic Connection between the Inscription and the Icon in Pre-Exilic Hebrew Seals"\ Amy Gansell, "Feminine Beauty and Adornment Represented in Levantine Ivory Sculpture and the Old Testament"\ Martin Klingbeil, "Children I have raised and brought up" (Isaiah 1:2): Female Metaphors of God in Isaiah and ANE Images of Syro-Palestinian Goddesses\ Regine Hunziker Rodewald, "Thrones in Sheol"\ Thomas Staubli, An Iconography of Justification\ Jackie Wyse-Rhodes, "Finding Asherah: The Goddesses in Text and Image"\ Maria Lindquist, "Ethics, Ecology, and the Iconography of 'the Peaceable Kingdom' in Isa 11:6-9"\ Brent A. Strawn, "The Iconography of Fear: yir' at yhwh in Artistic Perspective"\ Meindert Dijkstra, "Amos and the Ivory Beds and Houses of Samaria"\ Hans Ulrich Steymans, "Psalm 89, A Royal Funeral Song: Textual Development and Iconographic Evidence"\ Izaak J. de Hulster, " A God of the Mountains? An Iconographic Perspective on 1 Kings 20:23"\ Appendix\ Izaak J. de Hulster, "Tools for Iconographic exegesis: A Review of Important Literature for Iconographic Exegesis, a Survey of Image Sources, and Practical Information for Processing Pictorial Material"\Bibliography \ Index

"Witness" And "Bearing Witness" In The Legal Settings Of The Pentateuch And The Gospel Of John: An Intertextual Study

Abstract: “WITNESS” AND “BEARING WITNESS” IN THE LEGAL SETTINGS OF THE PENTATEUCH AND THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: AN INTERTEXTUAL STUDY

Possession and Other Spirit Phenomena in Biblical Literature

Abstract: This dissertation maps the functions of spirit language, rituals, and myths in the Hebrew Bible and in Second Temple Jewish literature. Most studies of these phenomena aim to decode them using modern categories (e.g., mental health, symbolization of oppression, demonization of the ‘other’). In contrast, this project applies models from cultural anthropology and ethnography on possession, trance, and other similar practices from around the world in order to reveal functions not usually associated with spirit texts (e.g., “technologies of the self,” social commentary, therapeutic self-othering, a means to reembody the past). It argues that this literature was a crucial component for constructing conceptions of the self in early Judaism and Christianity. Further, it demonstrates how the problematization of the self in biblical literature led to the enigmatic conceptions of spirit possession and exorcism found in Second Temple Jewish Literature. Chapter one, “Unfamiliar Spirits,” positions this project at the intersection of two contemporary scholarly discussions in biblical studies that have often proceeded separately (studies on conceptions of “the self” and of “evil”). Chapter two, “What are Spirit Phenomena?” defines the terms “possession” and “spirit phenomena” as they are used in the project and lays out the underlying investigative method of the dissertation. Chapter three provides an overview of previous scholarship on spirit phenomena in both biblical studies and the study of religion. Chapter four, “The Spirit and the Self,” demonstrates how spirit-language is a common mode for

Economic implications of the Deuteronomistic reform and the elimination of the Goddess Asherah

Abstract: This thesis explores the economic rationale behind the Deuteronomistic reforms of centralisation and aniconism, as demonstrated through the biblical texts and extra-biblical material. The aniconistic centralised Temple complex promoted by Dtr was a repository of wealth, power, and influence, which was threatened by the iconographic system of shrines and temples spread throughout the Judahite and Israelite areas. This is evidenced through the economic underpinnings of the society which have contributed to these 'reforms', such as the development of an ethnos Israel and the fiscal manipulation of the temple complex and system of tithing. The iconography of the goddess Asherah is used as an example of this, but other forms of iconography associated with the early cult of YHWH are also considered.