Showing papers in "Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft in 2020"
TL;DR: In this paper, the categories of endoactive and exoactive predicates are illustrated on mlṭ and nṣl in the Niphal using the concept of linguistic perspective.
Abstract: Abstract Scholars struggle to delineate the differences between the middle and passive voice. This is particularly apparent in scholarship on the Niphal (Biblical Hebrew). Using recent linguistic research (Ágel 2017; 2007), this article attempts to assist Hebraists and exegetes by distinguishing the passive and middle Niphal. Applying the concept of linguistic perspective, the categories of endoactive and exoactive predicates are illustrated on mlṭ and nṣl. In sum, this article demonstrates that linguistic perspective is able to clarify semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic complexities of the Niphal.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the geographical pattern of the North Israelite temples during the first half of the 8th century BCE is analyzed and two themes in which the system of Northern temples could have influenced the cult of late-monarchic Judah are discussed.
Abstract: Abstract In this article I deal with the geographical pattern of the North Israelite temples during the first half of the 8th century BCE. The Israelite temples can be divided into two groups: 1) Those located in the heartland of the kingdom, at least some of which celebrated important traditions of the North. 2) Those located on the borders of the kingdom according to its ideology, that the two Hebrew kingdoms should be ruled by a (North) Israelite king. I then review two themes in which the system of Northern temples could have influenced the cult of late-monarchic Judah.
2 citations
TL;DR: The Zerstörung des Jahu-Tempel im Jahr 410 war in der Kultpraxis verursacht, da das Ritual des Brandopfers in Konkurrenz zum ägyptischen Haupttempel des Chnum stand.
Abstract: Zusammenfassung Die Judäer/Aramäer waren Teil einer multikulturellen Gemeinschaft in der Siedlung von Elephantine. Sie hatten – analog zu einem kleinen ägyptischen Heiligtum – einen eigenen Tempel und orientierten sich am Kult des Hauptgottes von Elephantine (Schwurformel bei »Jahu und Chnum«). Dies änderte sich mit der Mission des Hananjah im Jahr 419, der einen Erlass Darius’ II. über eine Kalenderfrage nutzte, um religiöse Maßnahmen durchzuführen, die auf eine Abgrenzung von der ägyptischen Religion hinausliefen. Die Zerstörung des Jahu-Tempels im Jahr 410 war in der Kultpraxis verursacht, da das Ritual des Brandopfers in Konkurrenz zum ägyptischen Haupttempel des Chnum stand. Demgegenüber orientierte sich der Kult im wiederaufgebauten Jahu-Tempel an ägyptischen Vorgaben (Jahu-Triade).
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the Archive der beiden judäischen Kolonien of Elephantine and Al-Yaḫudu is described.Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag führt in die Archive of the beiden Kolonen ein und behandelt, im Anschluss an Julius Wellhausen, zwei Fragen: Erstens, ob die beide Koloniens eine Art »unreformierten Judentums« repräsentieren, das von der Tor
Abstract: Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag führt in die Archive der beiden judäischen Kolonien von Elephantine und Al-Yaḫudu ein und behandelt – im Anschluss an Julius Wellhausen – zwei Fragen: Erstens, ob die beiden Kolonien eine Art »unreformierten Judentums« repräsentieren, das von der Tora des Mose nichts wusste und von den Reformen des Josia, Esra und Nehemia unberührt war. Zweitens, ob es sich bei dieser Gestalt des Judentums nur um einen »fossilen Überrest« oder um eine lebendige Spezies handelt, die verbreiteter war, als die biblische Überlieferung uns Glauben machen möchte und auch die – auf dem biblischen Narrativ basierenden – modernen »Geschichten Israels« suggerieren.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show how attention to the dynamics surrounding production and revision of ancient Near Eastern scrolls can help scholars develop better models for the development and early use of the Bible.
Abstract: Abstract This article shows how attention to the dynamics surrounding production and revision of ancient Near Eastern scrolls can help scholars develop better models for the development and early use of the Bible. Though pioneers pursing such a scroll approach were confined to limited data in the Bible and rabbinic literature, we now have a wealth of data on scrolls from Egypt, Levantine sites like Deir ʿAlla, and Qumran. After discussing the use of scrolls for ancient literary compositions, the article illustrates how this information can reframe and inform analysis of the Pentateuch’s formation.
2 citations
TL;DR: The interpretation of the new covenant in Jer 31:31-34 hinges on how to understand Yhwh's promise to write his Torah on the heart of the Israelites.
Abstract: Abstract The interpretation of the »new covenant« in Jer 31:31–34 hinges on how to understand Yhwh’s promise to write his Torah on the heart of the Israelites. According to a widely held view, the latter aims at abrogating the institutions of the book of the Torah and its handing down by means of teaching and learning. From this point of view, Jer 31:31–34 seems to exhibit a decidedly anti-Deuteronomistic outlook. In the present article, this view is confronted with more recent insights into the oral-written interface and its role in scribal education, the basic assumption being that such education is the lifeworld presupposition behind the promise of writing on the heart.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a programmatic essay is presented that reevaluates the importance of alternate hypotheses and considers the way the different purposes of scholars inform their practice of method and their evaluation of opposing explanations.
Abstract: Abstract It has become fashionable to bemoan the state of diachronic biblical criticism since the application of its method involves subjective judgments. Should diachronic criticism be laid to rest? This programmatic essay engages Popper’s view of scientific propositions as falsifiable hypotheses, and reevaluates the importance of alternate hypotheses. The discussion considers the way the different purposes of scholars inform their practice of method and their evaluation of opposing explanations. The methodological observations are illustrated with examples from the Covenant Code and Deut 1–12.
1 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a Kompositionsbildung aus einer Hand bleibt ebenfalls eine Option, wahrscheinlicher als dass Ps 33 allein eingefügt wurde.
Abstract: Zusammenfassung Unterschiede in der Textsequenz (MT ↔ 4Q83 und 4Q98) sowie eine Asymmetrie (Ps 26|32–33 = B/B’) innerhalb der chiastischen Kleinkomposition Ps 25–34 (ABCDXD’C’B’A’) lassen nach deren Vorgeschichte fragen. Dass die drei Psalmen der B/B’-slots später hinzukamen und eine 7-Psalm-Konfiguration zur vorliegenden 10-Psalm-Konfiguration erweitert wurde, ist wahrscheinlicher als dass Ps 33 allein eingefügt wurde. Eine Kompositionsbildung aus einer Hand bleibt ebenfalls eine Option.
1 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study that discusses Judean rights and tenancy in Egypt under the Persian administration is presented, where TAD A6.11, a Persian Aramaic decree about farmland rights in Egypt, is used as an example of an imperial document to mediate a comparison between the Babylonian Judean experience in farmlands and Egyptian Judean experiences on the island of Elephantine under Persian rule.
Abstract: Abstract This paper is a case study that discusses Judean rights and tenancy in Egypt under the Persian administration. It uses TAD A6.11, a Persian Aramaic decree about farmland rights in Egypt, as an example of an imperial document to mediate a comparison between the Babylonian Judean experience in farmlands and Egyptian Judean experience on the (sub-)urban island of Elephantine under Persian rule. First a Babylonian Judean document, CUSAS 28 no. 69 is used to interpret the enigmatic, yet central legal claim about crushing the ilku-tax in TAD A6.11. The two sources are then compared, and the implications of the findings are studied by referring to documents of Elephantine Judeans regarding tenancy rights (mhḥsn-status). The findings demonstrate that the two communities are socially comparable, so long as the Persian administrative system is considered in a comparison of the communities’ surviving documents.
1 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the military exemption of Deut 20:5-7 in light of the futility curse in Deut 28:30, arguing that the original Sitz im Leben of these verses can be found in a pre-war ritual responding to the hegemonic aims of enemies as this crystallized in the inscriptional and ritual contexts of ancient warfare.
Abstract: Abstract This essay explores the military exemption of Deut 20:5–7 in light of the futility curse in Deut 28:30. By uncovering the social and ritual contexts of the futility curse, I argue that Deut 20:5–7 can be productively understood as a warfare ritual against the curse. I explore the ritual dimensions of Deut 20:5–7 in light of rituals for avoiding curses and maledictions from the ancient Near East, arguing that the original Sitz im Leben of these verses can be found in a pre-war ritual responding to the hegemonic aims of enemies as this crystallized in the inscriptional and ritual contexts of ancient warfare.
1 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that the word means either "gentle rain" or "drizzle" or that it belongs to the semantic domain of rain and dew.
Abstract: Abstract The common noun רְבִיבִים occurs six times in the Hebrew Bible (Deut 32:2; Jer 3:3; 14:22; Mic 5:6; Pss 65:10[10]; 72:6). Its contexts clearly suggest that it belongs to the semantic domain of rain and dew, and that it denotes something desirable. But further precision has eluded interpreters, and the much-discussed Ugaritic words rbb and rb are of little help in this regard. The apparent Akkadian cognate rabbu A, unmentioned in the standard Biblical Hebrew lexica, is considered here, and it is argued on that basis that the word means “gentle rain” or “drizzle.”
TL;DR: The characteristically Isaianic term אליל for other gods does not have its roots in an earlier Semitic adjective, as has often been thought as discussed by the authors, and it was adopted from Akkadian Illil/Enlil into Hebrew because it reflected the rhetoric of Neo-Assyrian rulers.
Abstract: Abstract The characteristically Isaianic term אליל for other gods does not have its roots in an earlier Semitic adjective, as has often been thought. Rather, it was adopted from Akkadian Illil/Enlil into Hebrew because it reflected the rhetoric of Neo-Assyrian rulers. As in Akkadian, it was used in an extended sense to refer to major divinities; and it was retained in the Isaianic tradition presumably because it was a useful term for »false gods«—readily comprehensible even as a new coinage, yet distinct from the terms used for Yhwh. As anti-idol polemics became increasingly prominent and vicious, the latest Isaianic tradents avoided אליל, preferring more overt terms for idols. Eventually, it came to be reanalyzed as an adjective and used as a mere insult: »worthless«.
TL;DR: In this paper, a critical discussion of Joachim J. Krause's writing on the heart in Jeremiah 31:31:34 in light of recent insights into the oral-written interface and Scribal education in Ancient Israel is presented.
Abstract: Abstract This contribution includes a critical discussion of Joachim J. Krause, »›Writing on the Heart‹ in Jeremiah 31:31–34 in Light of Recent Insights into the Oral-Written Interface and Scribal Education in Ancient Israel,« ZAW 132 (2020): 236–249.
TL;DR: The recently found given name 'kr (on a late pre-exilic Judean seal from Jerusalem) is borrowed from Akkadian and denotes ''farmer, ploughman« as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Abstract The recently found given name ’kr (on a late pre-exilic Judean seal from Jerusalem) is borrowed from Akkadian and denotes »farmer, ploughman«. Its bearer probably belonged to the palatial sector. Regarding the name Ntnmlk referring to a servant of the king on a bulla from the same place, its second component (Mlk) is theophoric rather than basilophoric.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the lament over the Temple of YHW in Elephantine from three angles: from the perspective of the internal rhetoric or composition of the letter, from the view of the world of the Judaeans who wrote the petition, and from the viewpoint of the intended recipient.
Abstract: Abstract The article discusses the lament over the Temple of YHW in Elephantine from three angles: from the perspective of the internal rhetoric or composition of the letter, from the perspective of the world of the Judaeans who wrote the petition, and from the perspective of the world of the intended recipient of the letter. In addition, the article explores how the mention of collective mourning and curse in the petition letter from Elephantine may provide a text of comparison – and context – for the laments over the destruction of the city of Zion and her temple found in the Book of Lamentations.