Showing papers in "Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft in 1981"

Divine Aspirations in Atrahasis and in Genesis 1—11

Abstract: I. It is now more than a decade since the publication of CT46, a volume whosc collection of tablets made possible the first comprehensivc and reliable reading of the Atrahasis Epic; and it is nearly that long since the publication of the critical edition of the Epic by W. G. Lambert and A. R. Millard. The text's general availability has meant that which one might easily have predicted, a great increase in critical attention from both Assyriologists and biblical scholars. This period of a decade plus, a

The Day of the Lord as a Concept and a Term in the Prophetic Literature

Abstract: L'expression Yom YHWH doit etre etudiee en tenant compte de son evolution semantique. Amos ne l'a utilisee qu'une fois a propos de la theophanie. A son epoque, il ne s'agissait pas encore d'un terminus technicus. Sophonie a ete le premier a utiliser Yom YHWH en tant que terme eschatologique specifique. Depuis, l'expression n'a jamais ete utilisee dans un contexte non eschatologique. Les expressions voisines (Yom la-YHWH, yom Aph YHWH, etc.) sont des variantes du terme eschatologique, utilisees a la fois dans des ecrits eschatologiques et non eschatologiques.

Interpreting the Creation and Fall Story in Genesis 2-3

Abstract: Le probleme de la datation de Genese 2-3. Les elements ideologiques dans le recit. La provenance de l'histoire de l'Eden et sa signification. Pour l'A., bien des aspects du recit indiquent une origine tardive, au moins en ce qui concerne le passage de l'Eden. L'examen des motifs utilises suggere que ce recit est la parabole de la deposition et de la deportation d'un roi. A l'origine, cette histoire se referait a la monarchie en Israel| elle fut plus tard appliquee a celle de Juda.

Liminality as a Social Setting for Wisdom Instructions

Abstract: Among wisdom studies that have proliferated in recent times have been investigations with keen interest in the social dimensions of wisdom literature, including social settings and functions of the literature äs well äs the social class, Status, and position of the wise. As pertains to social settings, a survey of the scholarly literature points to three suggested arenas: the family/clan/tribe (Sippenweisheit), the court, and the school (court and/or temple). Due to the exasperating lack of explicit evidence in both the Hebrew literature (at least until Sirach) and Palestinian archeological excavations, arguments for one or more of these settings have necessarily been inferential. Nevertheless, suggestive possibilities have been proferred by the utilization of a tripartite methodology consisting of content, language (forms and vocabulary), and analogy with other ancient Near Eastern sources. The question of the social functions of wisdom literature is intrinsic to the matter of social settings, but in general one most frequently encounters the remark that much of the literature appears to be »didactic« in nature and function. Thus the wise incorporated their values, customs, and world-views into the various wisdom genres and transmitted them by means of instruction.

Wind and Water: Cosmogonic Symbolism in the Old Testament

Abstract: The second verse in chapter one of the Book of Genesis has given rise to an uncommon number of problems both to translators and commentators alike. The Revised Standard Version reads äs follows: »The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.« A note suggests that the word »Spirit« (rüh) may also be translated äs »wind«. The choice between the two renderings and their related theological connotations has generated a controversy of long Standing. The most important ancient versions of the Old Testament read »wind«, and it was only under later Hellenistic influences that the designation »spirit« originated. It is evident that the second, abstract translation lends itself more readily to theological and homiletic interests, but it is slowly being recognized that the earlier rendering is the more accurate. What has not been observed, however, is the conformity between the wind-and-water symbolism of this opening to the Old Testament and later passages throughout the work. A deeper understanding of this parallelism and its meaning will serve not only to confirm further the translation »wind« but clarify the intention of this obscure though crucial verse. In ancient Israel, äs in other religious traditions, the sea was feit äs a threat to the established cosmic and social order. In the verses immediately following that cited above the Priestly author goes on to sketch his account of creation, in which the earth is at first submerged beneath the waters of the primordial ocean. In order to rescue it Yahweh must fashion a firmament above the earth in order to contain the waters above, while the waters below he restrains in one place in order that the dry land might appear (Gen 1 6-8). Throughout the remainder of the Old Testament, however, the waters remain constantly restive, eager to reclaim dominion over the earth that they once contained and to reassert their primeval sovereignty. (It should be remembered that thöm, variously translated äs

The Personal Spirit as Imparting Authority

Abstract: The personal spirit appears äs the source of imparting authority in only two biblical stories: in Num 11 where »the spirit that is upon Moses« is irnparted to seventy eiders (v. 10-17. 24-25) and in II Reg 2, where Elisha inherits »the spirit of Elijah« (v. i-is). Although the two stories differ in respect to the goal of the transference and in regards to the occasion and the way in which the spirit is conveyed, the fact is that nowhere eise in the Bible does a personal spirit appear äs the source of conferring authority on others. This singles them out from all the other descriptions of the manifestation of the spirit and justifies dealing with both of them äs a special phenomenon. This phenomenon will be studied from two different points of view: a. the phenomenological, which is mainly concerned with the distinction between the personal spirit in these two stories and the spirit in its relationship to the individual in other passages in the Bible; b. the functional, which is mainly concerned with the transference of the spirit äs an act of granting authority and with the aetiological tendencies which it reflects regarding leadership in ancient Israel.

Essai sur la structure littéraire du psaume 11

Abstract: a la suite de quoi il ecrit: »One needs merely to underscore certain words in the text of his Bible to see how evident this structure is« (pp. 16-17), se contentant ensuite de presenter en huit lignes les principaux mots-cles qui fondent cet agencement de Pensemble du psaume. Cependant, si evidente que son cette structure, eile n'a guere retenu jusqu'ici Pattention des commentateurs. Nous trouvons en effet, et rarement commentees, les repartitions suivantes par versets:

Second Isaiah and the Priestly Oracle of Salvation

Abstract: La these classique de J. Begrich (Das priesterliche Heilsorakel, ZAW 52 (1934), 81-92): le Deutero-Isaie a emprunte l'oracle sacerdotal du salut au culte israelite, pour conforter les exiles de Babylone. L'A. discute cette these.

Das Wesen und die funktionelle Bestimmung der Listen in I Chr 1–9

Abstract: I. Einen beträchtlichen Bestandteil, ca. 25% des Umfanges, der Chronikbücher bilden die diversen Listen, besonders deren zwei kompakte Komplexe in I Chr 1-9 und 23-26. Bezüglich des Komplexes in I Chr 1-9 dominieren seit J. Wellhausen zwei diametral entgegengesetzte Standpunkte. Viele Forscher unterstreichen »the postexilic elaboration of these chapters«, wobei die einen (J.A. Bewer, M. Noth u.a.) der Meinung sind, daß dem Chronisten hauptsächlich die Angaben in P als Vorlage dienten, während andere (O. Eißfeldt, W. Rudolph, E. Lipinski u.a.) die Ansicht vertreten, daß der Chronist Material für I Chr 1-9 aus Gen-II Reg schöpfte, aber auch einige authentische außeralttestamentliche Angaben, hauptsächlich für die Genealogien der Stämme Juda und Benjamin benutzte. In neuester Zeit jedoch findet immer mehr Anhänger die Meinung, daß I Chr 1-9 eine Zusammenfassung von authentischen vorexilischen Materialien ist, und obwohl das Vorhandensein von Folkloreelementen, künstlichen Ergänzungen und Lücken kaum zu bezweifeln ist, enthält der Komplex eine glaubwürdige Widerspiegelung vorexilischer Realien. Trotz ihres antithetischen Charakters ist in beiden Standpunkten die Tendenz zu vermerken, sich auf die Aufklärung der Herkunft und des Sitzes im Leben von I Chr 1-9 zu beschränken, während die Frage über die funktionelle Bestimmung des Komplexes nur selten erörtert wird (S. 104f.). Außerdem wird der Listenkomplex abgesondert vom übrigen Text der Chronikbücher untersucht wie auch isoliert von den übrigen Listen in I—II

A Statistical Linguistic Study of Ezekiel 14—3 11

Abstract: Is Is 4012-31 a collection or an originally unified composition ? The answer to this question helps illuminate the prophet's method of persuading and encouraging his audience. An examination of the disputation genre shows that this consists of three elements: Statement of issue, basis, conclusion. When this is applied to our passage, it is found that Is 4012-31 contains four discrete sections (v. 12-17, 18 + 21-24. 25-26. 27-31), each of which is distinguishable by form and content äs an independent disputation. The first three seek to prove the transcendent nature of God, but have the added function of demonstrating the nothingness of the exiles' enemies. This reflects Deutero-Isaiah's creativity äs »author«. The first sections also are linked to v. 27-31, which announce salvation for Israel. The structure of the entire passage suggests that DeuteroIsaiah was also »collector«, and used this rhetorical device äs a means of encouraging the exiles.

The Mediterranean Seer and Shamanism

Abstract: Die Prosaerzählung vom Tode Sisseras (Jdc 417-21) und ihre poetische Parallele (Jdc 52427), die in einigen Einzelheiten von einander abweichen, stellen zwei Stadien in der Bearbeitung einer alten Tradition dar, die von der Tötung Sisseras nach seiner Verführung durch Jael und seinem Versuch zu einem sexuellen Kontakt erzählt. Teilweise Parallelen in den Erzählungen der Bibel (Besiegung Hamans durch Esther, bes. Est 7e; die Simson-Delila-Erzählung Jdc 16; die Verführungsszenen in den Sprüchen Salomos 7o-2?) und außerhalb der Bibel (Judith und Holofernes) sowie Erwähnungen unserer Erzählung in der rabbinischen Literatur, die alte und authentische Spuren bewahren, enthalten viele Hinweise, die die Annahme einer Bearbeitung unterstützen, deren Tendenz es war, der Erzählung von der Rettung Israels durch den Herrn mittels der Jael einen ehrfurchtsgebietenden Charakter zu geben.

A Decade of Old Testament Theology: Retrospect and Prospect

Abstract: The decade from 1969 to 1978 is characterized by immense activity in OT theology with a staggering volume of publications. E. Würthwein's review of relevant literature on the subject up to 1969 concluded in a sobering manner: »We are today further apart regarding an agreement on the content and method of OT theology than we were fifty years ago.« The year 1969 presents itself äs an appropriate terminus a quo because in the previous decade the only major OT theology to appear was the epochmaking work of G. von Rad which still exerts unprecedented Stimulation, research and reaction, and because E. Würthwein's survey covered the previous fifty years up to 1969.

Beobachtungen zum Ritual mit der roten Kuh (Num 19 1-10a)

Abstract: ultimately unsatisfactory, at least he should have the honour of having recognized this problem, and bis failure ought to lead us on to new attempts to come to terms with it. From its very outset, then, biblical theology, the attempt to expound the enduring value of the Bible in a systematic fashion, has been presented with its inescapable dilemma, namely, the reconciliation of one's basic conception of the truth with the diverse

Authority in the Wisdom Admonitions

Abstract: Et de ia ä 4-7 nous lisons, a l'aide du jeu de mots releve par Ridderbos luimeme, le parallelisme de yhwh... hsh (ia) ä yhwh (43)... hzh (?c), yhwh et hzh constituant egalement les premier et dernier mots des deux stiques centraux du verset 4. Bien que la symetrie de Pensemble soit nettement indiquee, eile n'exclut pas ce caractere d'introduction du verset i que nous avions d'ailleurs releve plus haut.

Adumbrations of Dan in Jacob’s Blessing on Judah

Abstract: The characterization of Judah in Gen 499, rrjw πη$ τυ »a lion's cub is Judah«, except for the name itself and its syntactic location, is identical with that of Dan in the Blessing of Moses, Dtn3322, TU ft πηκ. Whether the metaphor constituted a stock expression in the repertoire of (Canaanite-) Hebrew poets, to be applied by them s occasion might warrant, or whether newly coined, or of hoary antiquity it was the »property« of one tribe and was subsequently appropriated by or for the other, are unanswered and, perhaps, unanswerable questions. Even, s I suspect, were the Blessing of Moses older than the Blessing of Jacob, this factor by itself would not be conclusive of precedence, for if the explanation of the similarity of the metaphors lies in the use of a still older tradition, then priority of attestation in the Hebrew Bible, from the poetic point of view, is irrelevant. Yet the »oracle« concerning Judah in the Blessing of Jacob, Gen 498-12, s the present study will attempt to demonsfrate, utilizes still other combinations of terms — amounting virtuaJly to a figure of speech — which, on grounds of word-play suitability, or word association, would have been appropriate, I believe, only in remarks concerning Dan, and would therefore appear to have been applied to Judah secondarily. If this be so then there is reason to suspect (and additional evidence and argument will be adduced in support of the thesis) that the lion-cub metaphor may have been similarly appropriated by the poet of Gen 498-12 for his own ends. It will then be necessary to investigate these,

The Rhetoric of Encouragement in Isaiah 40 12-31: A Form-Critical Study

Abstract: The indictment has been expanded with typical anti-idolatry polemic (8b; cf. Mi 5 9-14) which in its turn has received even later glosses (i8,.zo). Variants of the link-verse have also survived (19.21) giving it a more direaly eschatological sense. 9 a and n serve äs comment on the threat of judgment, the latter with a variant at 17 (cf. 5i5-i6). The last editorial stage is represented by an imprecation (9b) and an admonirion (22) concluding the indictment and verdict respectively, from apocalyptic circles late in the Second Temple period.

Die Stammbildung qôṭel als Übersetzungsproblem

Abstract: Die neuere Sprachwissenschaft sieht in dem Morphem die kleinste bedeutungtragende Einheit: Wörter bestehen aus einem Morphem oder sind aus mehreren zusammengesetzt. So läßt sich, um ein uns hier angehendes Beispiel zu bringen, das Wort Bedrücker (HS, Jesl42) als Zusammensetzung aus dem Grundmorphem drücken und den funktionalen Morphemen Be(zur Übertragung des einfachen Begriffes; bedrücken) und -er (zur Bezeichnung eines Handelnden; Nomen agentis) verstehen. Das entsprechende, im Urtext vorliegende Wort TO1J besteht aus der konsonantischen Wurzel tou (»drängen, treiben«) und dem gote/-Morphem, d.h. einer bestimmten bedeutungstragenden Vokalisation: KglK . Durch diese

Fragments of Ancient Exegesis in an Isaian Poem (Jes 2 6-22)

Abstract: I. Many would agree with B. Duhm that Jes26-22 is among the most imperfectly preserved passages in the entire collection and also one of the least amenable to regulär prosodic analysis. It is all the more necessary here, therefore, to avoid on the one hand arbitrary textual emendation and re-arrangement and, on the other, the application of doctrinaire prosodic theorizing. It may help, then, to state at the outset the presuppositions on which the following reading of the passage in question will be based: (1) Jes 1-39 is the result of a continuous exegetical history covering about half a millenium, (2) the successive phases of that history can, with varying degress of probability, be reconstructed from the text itself, (3) for the purpose of recovering that history, at least in part, the distinction between »higher« and »lower« or textual criticism must be disregarded, (4) the ultimate goal of such studies in the editorial history of the Latter Prophets is to bring to light an important aspect of the religious history of late Israel and Second Temple Judaism. While these points are by no means original, to state them may help us move the discussion of the passage beyond the dichotomy of atomizing and unitary Interpretation which has governed it to date. To come at once to the point, it will be argued that the core of Jes 2 6-22 is a poem about judgment in two parts: v. 7-8, introduced by v. 6, being the indictment and v. 12-16 the verdict, with v. 10 serving äs a link. The rest (v.9. 11. 17 [= 515]. 18-22) consists of a number of expansions, glosses or variants representing a high level of exegetical activity covering a considerable period of time. The overall effect of these amplifications is to transform the poem into an announcement of a universal, final judgment from which only the elect, those in other words addressed by the anonymous seer(s), will be exempt. If the general line of rhis argument is correct, it may provide us with some useful methodological clues for reconstructing the editorial history of other passages in the collection, since certain features and types of saying can be expected to occur, and in fact do occur, elsewhere in Jes 1—35. The following translation is my own, the words italicized being those deemed to belong to the editorial history of the poem. The notes folhwing the translation deal only with matters pertinent to the argument being advanced.

Psalm 151, David, Jesus, and Orpheus

Abstract: I. The Hebrew text in HQPs corresponding to v. 1-5 of LXX PS 151 has elicited much discussion, partly because it is neither consistently metrical nor wholly coherent. To facilitate the discussion here I print it divided into its poetic lines, with the metrical units of each line separated and arranged in vertical columns. Square brackets enclose words in the text that break the meter; pointed brackets, words I shall propose to fill a lacuna. Circles over letters indicate readings marked by Sanders s dubious, the doubt in each case resulting from the fact that in the hand of this manuscript waw and yod are often indistinguishable . The numeration of the lines omits both the proposed addition and the material marked for deletion. It should be said that the copyist omitted the first word of line 25, then caught his error and wrote the word above the one following.

»Du sollst nicht nach der Frau eines anderen verlangen«. Eine neue Deutung des 9. und 10. Gebots

Abstract: Though many questions remain unanswered with regard to the Epic of Atrahasis, it is possible today to offer a consistent Interpretation of this narrative. Atrahasis is chiefly concerned with articulating the development of the distinction between the gods and h um ans. The theme of »noise« in the Epic should be seen äs representing the attempt to obliterate this distinction, äs the regulations which conclude the Epic are to be seen äs the divine response which reaffirms and more carefully defines this distinction. Thus interpreted, the Epic displays some marked similarities with Gen 1-11.

The Formula X- ימי and X- םוי: Some Characteristics of Historiographical Writing in Israel

Abstract: OT does not isolate it in a static way for a structure of an OT theology . The center of the OT is the dynamic self-revealing God whose presence is everywhere either directly or indirectly, but beyond the reach of a principle. The multiplex approach is not easy to follow. Ultimately it plays its own key role in the quest for an authentically »biblical« theology. The challenge of the multiplex approach may be of the kind that will gain victory over any temptation that seeks easier paths of which there are many.

Zu Mal 2 10-16

Abstract: unity with 21-3 11. In addition to all theories of unity the particular reconstructions of G. Fohrer, W. Zimmerli, J. Garscha, G. Hölscher, and V. Herntrich are not found to stand. S. Sprank's identification of 115-20.21 äs secondary is corroborated, äs is I. G. Matthew's thesis, giving l4-5a. 22·. 26-28 21-3 3 n and 15^14. 23-25 and 115-20. 21 äs the work of three hands. The tests offer a repeatable, quantitative evaluation of literary critical analysis.