Showing papers in "Journal for the Study of the Old Testament in 2004"
TL;DR: In this paper, the range of Hebrew words and phrases employed in a selection of narrative, legal and poetic texts to describe forcible, non-consensual sexual intercourse is surveyed.
Abstract: This article surveys the range of Hebrew words and phrases employed in a selection of narrative, legal and poetic texts to describe forcible, non-consensual sexual intercourse—what we would today l...
41 citations
TL;DR: The Hebrew Bible contains little information about the practice of levirate marriage in ancient Israel as mentioned in this paper, and the passages that touch on Levirate marriages offer conflicting descriptions of the institution.
Abstract: The Hebrew Bible contains little information about the practice of levirate marriage in ancient Israel. The passages that touch on levirate marriage offer conflicting descriptions of the institution. This article explores those passages and argues that what connects all of them is a sense of discomfort with levirate marriage, particularly on the part of men. This discomfort may relate to concerns about paternity or the preservation of property. It does not apparently extend to women, whom the Hebrew Bible portrays as willing, and even eager, to promote levirate unions. This sense of discomfort or anxiety suggests a concern for the desires of the living that supersedes obligations to the dead. The discomfort displayed in the Hebrew Bible may influence later Jewish responses to and constructions of levirate marriage.
23 citations
TL;DR: A late eighth-century BCE tomb has been found at the Assyrian city of Kalhu (Nimrud) in northern Iraq, containing the bodies of two Assyrian queens identified from inscribed grave-goods as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A late eighth-century BCE tomb has been found at the Assyrian city of Kalhu (Nimrud) in northern Iraq, containing the bodies of two Assyrian queens identified from inscribed grave-goods. Their name...
20 citations
TL;DR: The use of body imagery is one of the Psalter's most obvious literary features, enriching its vivid metaphorical language as mentioned in this paper, and it serves not only to portray body language or emotions, but also to characterize a person or they allow insights into their self-perception.
Abstract: The use of body imagery is one of the Psalter’s most obvious literary features, enriching its vivid metaphorical language. Such imagery serves not only to portray body language or emotions—these images are also used to characterize a person or they allow insights into their self-perception. Furthermore, single body parts may be depicted as independent beings, thus allowing the reader of the Psalms to visualize tangled actions or complex thoughts and reflections as vivid body images. This article explores how the body images of the Psalms are used, what literary functions they serve, and which underlying concepts of communication and valuation they reveal. Thus, this study offers detailed insights into the perception and presentation of bodies in the Psalms.
16 citations
TL;DR: This paper pointed out standard Egyptian usage of the New-Kingdom period (sixteenth-twelfth centuries BCE) to which Merenptah's texts conform and corrected misunderstandings of these data by Hjelm and Thompson and some of their precursors.
Abstract: This article responds to that by I. Hjelm and T.L. Thompson (‘The Victory Song of Merenptah, Israel and the People of Palestine’, JSOT 27.1 [2002], pp. 3-18), concerning the nature of the war-inscriptions of Merenptah of Egypt, and especially of the role of his triumph-hymn and the significance of the mention of Israel in that document, in pointing out standard Egyptian usage of the New-Kingdom period (sixteenth-twelfth centuries BCE) to which Merenptah’s texts conform, and correcting misunderstandings of these data by Hjelm and Thompson and some of their precursors.
14 citations
Journal Article•
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a cognitive approach to metaphor is presented, which not only sheds light on the didactic power of aphorisms, but also opens new avenues of intertextual analysis among the various sayings and collections of Proverbs.
Abstract: Many proverbial sayings make significant use of metaphor not simply to enhance their rhetorical appeal but to convey essential meaning. By examining aphorisms that refer to human discourse, this article argues that a cognitive approach to metaphor not only sheds light on the didactic power of aphorisms, but also opens new avenues of intertextual analysis among the various sayings and collections of Proverbs. Such an approach highlights, for example, the differing metaphorical schemas employed by the socalled Solomonic and Hezekian collections.
12 citations
TL;DR: The authors read Genesis 18-19 in the light of the principal of exchange at work in ancient religious belief concerning divine justice and found that the dialogue of 18.6-33 and 19.1-29, in which Sodom is justly destroyed while Lot is spared out of mercy, shows that Yahweh operates according to more stringent ideas of justice than humanity would wish.
Abstract: This article reads Genesis 18-19 in the light of the principal of exchange at work in ancient religious belief concerning divine justice. Genesis 18.1-15 and 19.1-29, as examples of the well-worn tale of the divine visitor, are narrative expressions of confidence in a divine justice that rewards the kind and punishes the inhospitable. In the dialogue of 18.6-33, Abraham explicitly raises the question of divine justice, but complicates it by also exploring the possibility of divine mercy. The second divine visitor tale in Gen. 19.1-29, in which Sodom is justly destroyed while Lot is spared out of mercy, shows that Yahweh operates according to more stringent ideas of justice than humanity would wish.
11 citations
TL;DR: The extent of the Babylonian destruction in the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE is today essentially an archaeological question as discussed by the authors, examined by comparing pottery and other remains found in First Temple period destruction layers in the City of David in Jerusalem, Lachish, En-Gedi, Arad and at dozens of other recently excavated or surveyed sites.
Abstract: The extent of the Babylonian destruction in the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE is today essentially an archaeological question. It may be examined by comparing pottery and other remains found in First Temple period destruction layers in the City of David in Jerusalem, Lachish, En-Gedi, Arad and at dozens of other recently excavated or surveyed sites, both large and medium-sized towns and agricultural settlements. The results of all of these excavations and surveys clearly affirm that Judah was almost entirely destroyed and that its Jewish population disappeared from most of the kingdom's territory (except, perhaps, for the area of Benjamin). One of the results was that two thirds of the destroyed kingdom's area was subsequently occupied by Edomites, turning it into 'Idumea'. With the growth in the number of excavations and surveys across Judah in recent years, our view of the total destruction of Judah by the Babylonians has been strengthened. This view is based upon purely archaeological considerations and is not motivated by hidden ideological considerations.
10 citations
TL;DR: The marital metaphor became for the (mostly, if not exclusively, male) literati of ancient Israel a way to shape, imagine, express, and communicate their beliefs as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The marital metaphor became for the (mostly, if not exclusively, male) literati of ancient Israel—and for those who accepted their discourses—a way to shape, imagine, express, and communicate their...
10 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the implicit logic of the sexual laws in Leviticus 18 and the problematic relationship between these laws and the chapter's introductory and concluding material is exposed, and a tripartite scheme that addressed relations according to family, clan or tribe, and nation, moving outward from the nearest relations to the most distant is revealed.
Abstract: This study exposes the implicit logic of the sexual laws in Leviticus 18 and thereby throws light on the problematic relationship between these laws and the chapter’s introductory and concluding material. The sexual laws were arranged in a tripartite scheme that addressed relations according to family, clan or tribe, and nation, moving outward from the nearest relations to the most distant. Thus the sexual laws circumscribed both internal and external boundaries in Israelite life. As part of the Holiness Code the sexual laws are presented in Leviticus 18 to define Israel’s life in the face of outside, cultural competitors. The discovery of this scheme in the sexual laws builds upon Mary Douglas’s analysis of other priestly traditions.
TL;DR: This article argued that Deutero-Isaiah (DI) prophesied in Babylon, not in Jerusalem, but in Media, a "distant land" that shares a frontier with Babylonia.
Abstract: It is usually thought that Deutero-Isaiah (DI) prophesied in Babylon. However, this article argues that DI addresses ‘my people’, most of whom were left in Judah, and equates them with Zion/Jerusalem. This is often a physical city, with towns of Judah close by, with walls and gates; Cyrus will rebuild it, and bring the produce of Africa and Sabean slaves to ‘thee’ (feminine). It becomes necessary for DI to ‘oscillate’ between the literal Zion and a metaphorical name for the exiles who did not live there. Also Yahweh will provide her poor with springs streaming from the bare heights, and they hide in holes in the earth, which hardly suit the banks of the Tigris; and Media is a ‘distant land’, although it shares a frontier with Babylonia. There are many details suggesting that DI lived in Jerusalem.
TL;DR: The authors consider the final form of the book of Lamentations as a violent storm in the shape of a whirlwind and find that the storm shape suggests implications for reading in modern theological discussions as well as providing a means of understanding one view of the community's plight.
Abstract: Using reader-response criticism as a beginning point, this article considers the final form of the book of Lamentations as a violent storm in the shape of a whirlwind. Without stressing that the book was consciously composed to elicit the effect of a whirlwind, it nevertheless shows how this type of storm remains consistent with the overall shape of the book and with images found therein. The storm shape suggests implications for reading in modern theological discussions as well as providing a means of understanding one view of the community’s plight.
TL;DR: In this article, an examination of the nature of the "princes" of Persia and Greece in Daniel 10 suggests that these figures could just as easily be the temporal leaders of those kingdoms as angelic or heavenly figures of some sort.
Abstract: An examination of the nature of the ‘princes’ of Persia and Greece in Daniel 10 suggests that these figures could just as easily be the temporal leaders of those kingdoms as angelic or heavenly figures of some sort. This is indicative of an apocalyptic cosmology of permeability between earth and heaven that has not always been well appreciated. This conclusion is supported by a number of features of the narratives in chs. 7-9 and also chs. 10-12. It is also in tune with the nature of the book of Daniel as a whole, with its juxtaposition of court tales and heavenly visions. The significance of this for contemporary missiology and theology, as well as pastoral practice, is explored in an Appendix to the article
TL;DR: It is widely agreed that Isaiah 40-55 draws on traditions concerning Abraham, the exodus/conquest, and David, and that a deeper consideration of them largely resolves what has previously been seen as irreconcilable tensions in his message.
Abstract: It is widely agreed that Isaiah 40-55 draws on traditions concerning Abraham, the exodus/conquest, and David. This article suggests that many of the prophet’s declarations concerning the fate of the nations reflect their various and diverse roles in the traditions, and that a deeper consideration of them largely resolves what has previously been seen as irreconcilable tensions in his message. Further, the manner in which the prophet uses these traditions provides further reason to abandon Wellhausen’s assertion that the prophets have no fathers.
TL;DR: In this article, a broader spectrum of passages in the Hebrew Bible are examined, including the depictions of Behemoth and Leviathan in Job 40-41 and the semi-poetic description of Goliath and his armor in 1 Samuel 17.
Abstract: The wa[UNKNOWN]sf rubric, which has been applied by biblicists exclusively to the poetic praise of physical beauty in Song of Songs, is extended to a broader spectrum of passages in the Hebrew Bible. Two groups of text are examined. The initial group, labeled ‘Enemy-wa[UNKNOWN]sf ’, includes the depictions of Behemoth and Leviathan in Job 40-41 and the semi-poetic description of Goliath and his armor in 1 Samuel 17. The segments in question exalt the might of two colossal monsters and one giant, who are the classic foes, respectively, of Yahweh and David. Highlighting the near invincibility of the enemies in Samuel and Job serves to magnify the power of the only warriors able to subdue them, namely, David and Yahweh. The second set of texts, consisting of the ‘Woman of Valor’ poem in Prov. 31.10-31, and the portrait of the ‘Wicked Woman’ in the Qumran Wisdom document, 4Q184, warrants the appellation ‘anti-wa[UNKNOWN]sf ’. The designation is appropriate because the two poems exploit the wa[UNKNOWN]sf forma...
TL;DR: In this paper, a visual model of proverb performance based on computer object editing is proposed, which outlines features of the performance arena for the use of aphorisms, usingElihu in Job 32.6-10, and a slave woman's use of a proverbial sayingin the Westcar Papyrus.
Abstract: Context of use often determines the final, embedded meaning of an aphorism. Use in a ‘performance arena' proceeds through a complex interaction between folklore users and audiences, and a shared set of meanings which is invoked by the saying. Issues of status, gender, and age of proverb users and audiences also influence performance and meaning. Building on the work of folklorist John Miles Foley and others, this study outlines features of the performance arena for the use of aphorisms, usingElihu in Job 32.6-10, and a slave woman's use of a proverbial sayingin the Westcar Papyrus. A visual model of proverb performance based on computer object editing is proposed.
TL;DR: The authors examines proverbs in which the fit between the lines (cola) is awkward, i.e., imperfect parallelism leaves a gap between the parallel lines, which may sometimes be a flaw, but in quite a few of cases it seems intended for a particular rhetorical effect.
Abstract: This article examines proverbs in which the fit between the lines (cola) is awkward. This may sometimes be a flaw, but in quite a few of cases it seems intended for a particular rhetorical effect. Imperfect parallelism leaves a gap between the lines. When the missing component–a premise or a conclusion–is mentally supplied, the couplet gains cohesiveness and a tighter linkage. Such ‘disjointed' proverbs are a type of enthymeme which involves the audience in its own persuasion.
TL;DR: In this article, a close examination of these early chapters calls scholarly affirmations of Hosea's unity into question, in spite of the initial impression the text often gives of being comprised of distinct and loosely connected units whose meaning is obscured by an admittedly corrupt textual tradition.
Abstract: Hosea’s early chapters have borne the weight of much of the critical commentary and scholarly discussion of the book throughout the history of its interpretation. Although much of this attention has been the result of what Yvonne Sherwood has termed the ‘critical obsession with Hosea’s marriage’, and its related assumptions about the biographical basis of this material, much of this scrutiny has also focused on the issues of genre and literary structure. Hosea is affirmed as a unified work of exceptional quality, in spite of the initial impression the text often gives of being comprised of distinct and loosely connected units whose meaning is obscured by an admittedly corrupt textual tradition. Chapters 1-2 are often described as a microcosm of this exceptionally subtle book, although this study’s close examination of these chapters calls scholarly affirmations of Hosea’s unity into question.
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that the Elihu speeches (Job 32-37) originally preceded Job 28 and that Elihu's intervention immediately followed the speeches of the other friends.
Abstract: The proposal is that the Elihu speeches (Job 32–37) originally preceded Job 28. The effects of this rearrangement are (1) that Yahweh speaks directly after Job has concluded his final speech (Job 29–31), (2) that the ‘poem on wisdom' (Job 28) can be identified as the conclusion of the Elihu speeches, with which it has much in common, and (3) that four difficulties in the wording of 32.1-2 can be overcome if Elihu's intervention immediately follows the speeches of the other friends. Finally, on the basis of the arrangement of columns in the Qumran Isaiah scroll (1QIsa) an explanation is offered for how the physical displacement of these chapters in a Job scroll could have occurred in antiquity.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a model that explains the emergence of the Old Testament chronology and accounts for the divergences that exist in the figures found in different Old Testament textual traditions.
Abstract: The chronological figures in the Old Testament have been of considerable interest to early and modern scholars, but there has been little success in developing an overarching model to account for their historical development. Through a synthesis of past approaches and new insights, an attempt is made in this article to develop a model that explains the emergence of Old Testament chronology and accounts for the divergences that exist in the figures found in different Old Testament textual traditions. The position taken is that Old Testament chronology was, from its very beginnings, largely schematic in form. Further, it is argued that subsequent adjustments to the chronology were motivated mainly by changing schematic interests rather than 'rational' concerns such as the resolution of internal anachronisms or 'secret' systems of calendar reckoning (as some scholars have proposed). These schematic considerations are viewed in terms of the changing political, theological and sectarian interests of Palestine and the diaspora between the sixth century BCE and the second century BCE.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue for the existence of two competing voices/theologies in the Joseph story, and that these voices do not line up with traditional source-critical observations.
Abstract: This article argues for the existence of two competing voices/theologies in the Joseph story, and that these voices do not line up with traditional source-critical observations. One voice is represented by both the speech and actions of Joseph, the other by the speech and actions of Jacob. The former posits a worldview in which God’s dealings with humanity support a benevolent cosmic order; the latter subverts this view, insisting that God, acting through Jacob, is not above inflicting evil on humanity to forward divine purposes. This reading is accomplished through a close literary examination (utilizing Bakhtinian socio-linguistic categories, primarily) of the discourse and actions of both primary characters.
TL;DR: Focusing on perceptible gains and trends in biblical scholarship during the past two decades as it engages the self-contained aphorisms that abound in Proverbs 10-29, the authors offers a critical di...
Abstract: Focused on perceptible gains and trends in biblical scholarship during the past two decades as it engages the self-contained aphorisms that abound in Proverbs 10–29, this essay offers a critical di...
TL;DR: A group of biblical proverbs are analyzed in this paper to demonstrate the thesis that they attract attention by their formal features (e.g., alliteration, rhyme) and by their ideas.
Abstract: How does an individual biblical proverb attract the interest of a reader, or, in other words, assert its authority? It often does so by skillful use of analogy, drawinga memorable parallel between one area of reality and another, for example, a king and a lion, wealth and friendship. Sayings further invite attention by their formal features (e.g. alliteration, rhyme) and by their ideas. Among arresting ideas can be listed ellipsis, paradox, irony, humor, and satire. A group of biblical proverbs are analyzed in this article to demonstrate the thesis.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors survey the possible meaning of the phrase with the help of the LXX and Peshitta, traditions which interpret the final word [ILLEGIBLE] as'staff' and 'tribe' respectively.
Abstract: In Gen 4731b we find the phrase [ILLEGIBLE], which is generally interpreted as ‘then Israel bowed himself at the head of the bed’ Yet this interpretation does not make much sense in the context and commentators are puzzled about its meaning This article surveys the possible meaning of the phrase with the help of the LXX and Peshitta, traditions which interpret the final word [ILLEGIBLE] as ‘staff’ The rendering of the Versions suggests a possible meaning of ‘staff, tribe’ for the Hebrew term, leading to the more common interpretation of [ILLEGIBLE] [ILLEGIBLE] as ‘head of the tribe’ The suggested interpretation implies that the dying patriarch bowed down for the new pater familias, Joseph Finally some considerations are given regarding the historical context in which Joseph appears as the new pater familias, the successor of his father, the patriarch Israel