Vol 88 (2007)

Focusing on its rhetorical structure, this article argues that the Song of Deborah in Judg 5 may have been composed not so much primarily to celebrate a victory, but to serve as a polemic against Israelite non-participation in military campaigns against foreign enemies. Possible implications of such a reading on the song’s relationship with the prose account in Judg 4 and its date of composition are also explored.

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In this essay the character of the citations (lemmata) of 1QpHab is discussed. Compared with the MT, there are 135 (resp. 153) variants in the citations of 1QpHab. Even if the majority of them can be regarded and explained textcritically, there is however a number of variants (probably about 25 to 30 %) that can and should be explained in the light of the intention of the author of the pesher. This means that those variants are not the result of textual corruption, scribal errors or simple misreadings, but that they are — as all the quotations of the Habakuk-texts — an integral part of the pesher and that those variants are shaped by the world and by the intention of the author. To understand this process, the theory and the categories of reception aesthetics, especially its understanding of the “reading process”, prove quite useful. To demonstrate this understanding, several cases are singled out and discussed.

The author of the Letter of James accuses his readers (Jas 4,1-4) of being responsible for war, murder and adultery. How are we to explain this charge? This paper shows that the material in Jas 1,13-21; 2,8-11 and 4,1-4 is closely akin to the teknon section in Did 3,1-6. The teknon section belonged to the Jewish Two Ways tradition which, for the most part, is covered by the first six chapters of the Didache. Interestingly, Did 3,1-6 exhibits close affinity with the ethical principles of a particular stream of Rabbinic tradition found in early Derekh Erets treatises. James 4,1-4 should be considered a further development of the warnings in Did 3,1-6.

Exegesis and theology hope to gain important insights and fresh impetus for the Christian-Jewish dialogue from the metaphoric speech of Paul about the olive tree. The strong mutual penetration of figurativness and interpretation as well as their primary paraenetic character imply however a varied semantics. The electing and promising word of God is the primary and decisive parameter of reference in the interpretation of the metaphoric structure. The interpretation of the individual image-elements as persons has to derive of it secundary. Their assignment is determined by the peculiar morphology of the olive tree. A look at growth and figure of the olive tree shows, that its roots, beeing nearly as strong as the trunk, can hardly be distinguished from it. Therefore a reference of the tree to Christ can be excluded. The traditional interpretation of the root as Abraham (or rather the patriarchs) and of the olive tree as Israel have the greatest plausibility on the secundary level. Both, Abraham and Israel, represent the electing and promising Logos of God. The faith-motive and further contextual indications give this theological basic dynamics a christological component too. The faith in Christ puts under the promising word of God. Pagans and jews will take part on the olive tree of life, which is nourished on the promising of God, the faith of the patriarchs and the gospel of Christ.

Despite the current methodological impasse with which OT studies continues to wrestle, this study shows that dynamic elements within the text can, somewhat surprisingly, contribute to the text’s coherence. The various prepositions and statements regarding divine presence in Exod 32–34 are fundamental to the development and integrity of the narrative as its stands. Further, the fact that this complex progression in divine presence spans pericopae usually attributed to various sources suggests that the various pericopae are more in harmony with one another than is often recognized. These conclusions call for renewed attention to the text of Exodus as it stands, both within the golden calf episode and more broadly.

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In Isa 45,11b no conjecture may be prefered to masoretic s]^e)a4lu=n|= and ha4)otiyyo]t, and the masoretic division of the sentence should be maintained. Special attention is payed to a comparison of Isa 45,9-13 with 41,21-29 and to the meaning of s[iwwa] (al and po(al ya4day. The sentence may be translated as follows: “For the future things ask me, the leading of my sons, which are the work of my hands, commit to me”. The sentence seems to be adressed to the people of Israel.

In discussing the meaning of the verb qriambeu&ein in 2 Cor 2,14 and Col 2,15 commentators have failed to compare the two occurrences. This comparison is the purpose of the present study. After scrutinizing the respective expressions e)n tw=| Xristw=|(2 Cor 2,14), and e)n au)tw=|(Col 2,15), after analyzing the dynamics of the participles, and by seeking to identify the persons behind the personal pronouns hma=j in 2 Cor, and au=tou/j in Col, we arrive at the conclusion that the objects of the parade are not captives, but are incorporated into the triumphant Christ, who, therefore, is the parade.

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