Vol 88 (2007)

This paper pinpoints how divine folly and human intercession mentioned in Job 42,8 are key concepts to unravel the meaning of the Book of Job. The Epilogue does not restore Job in his former position. Job is not healed but receives a new role as intercessor on behalf of his friends and by extension on behalf of everyone less perfect than he is. Understanding misfortune as the consequence of inescapable bouts of divine folly is the Joban way to account for humanity’s inability to comprehend the divinity.

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Read against the background of ancient literary practice (in Near Eastern and Greco-Roman historiography), the 'we' passages in the Acts of the Apostles (in Acts 13–28) and the statements about the beloved disciple in the Fourth Gospel (Joh 13,23; 19,26; 20,2; 21,7.20) should probably be interpreted as autobiographical remarks. Yet, unlike Greek and Roman historians the New Testament narrators wrote their books, including these autobiographical passages, anonymously. They appear to have done so because they wanted to claim personal presence at a few crucial points in the narrated history while at the same time intending to remain as invisible as possible. For the author of Acts the use of the first Person Plural provided the best opportunity to conceal his name without disappearing completely from his narrative. The fourth Evangelist decided to hide behind the anonymous figure of the beloved disciple whom he introduced in the third person; had he used the first person he would have been much more visible throughout his whole book.

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Especially since the publication of H. D. Betz’s commentary in 1979 much attention has been given to rhetorical analysis of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Discussion has focused on the species of Galatians’ rhetoric, i.e., whether it is forensic, deliberative or epideictic; little attention has been given to its style. This paper is an attempt to supply that lack. It begins by describing stylistic ornamentation of Galatians with respect to vocabulary and syntax and proceeds to discuss the presence of plain, middle and grand styles in Galatians. Finally it considers the implications of stylistic analysis for interpretation of Galatians.

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The phrase   )ec e(no/j in Heb 2,11 is a standard crux. The article attempts to come to grips with it through a close reading of the text of Heb 2,8bc-18. This close reading leads to the conclusion that the 'one' mentioned in is the spiritual seed of Abraham composed of all those who, like Abraham exercise faith-trust in God in the face of death. But this spiritual seed of Abraham is modified by the faith-trust of Jesus brought to the perfection of his heavenly priesthood.

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Cain symbolizes the antithesis of brotherly love and stands in direct contrast to Christ. The choice of terminology used to describe the slaughter of Abel in 1 John 3,11-18 retains the ritual overtones that pervade the original story in Genesis 4. This terminology was often used to describe murders linked to a ritual act as well as fratricide. The ritual overtones in the passage emphasize the contrast with Christ. By linking those who 'hate their brothers' with Cain, the author of 1 John accused them of an act that stood in contrast to the self-sacrificial act of Christ. Hatred of others meant they were guilty of communal fratricide, which is a sacrilege.

The petition (vv. 47-52) and the final blessing (v. 53) which conclude Ps 89 are not additions to the original psalm, as often held. While these verses indeed join Ps 89 to the surrounding psalms and to the Psalter as a whole, they are also closely connected with the rest of the psalm itself, which without them, would lack certain basic elements for its understanding. Verses 47-53 go beyond the complaint of vv. 39-46 to conclude Ps 89 on a note of hope. The anger of YHWH cannot last forever, because his fidelity to the promise he made to David lasts forever. These considerations serve to moderate an exclusively theocratic and democratic interpretation of the Psalter, restoring attention to the messianic dimension as such.

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Verb forms from the root sm( are defined in the lexicons as 'to dim, darken,' drawing upon Arabic for guidance. This definition, however, does not allow for a consistent translation in the texts where these verb forms appear. It is proposed here that the verb forms be understood as denominatives from the common noun s(a and the preposition s(i, which are a part of the semantic family, indicating an agnate relationship. This understanding is applied to the four instances in the Hebrew Bible where these verb forms appear: Ezek 28,3; 31,8; Ezek 32,19; and Lam 4,1. Each verse addresses a question of association or belonging. The development of these denominative forms reflects concerns over the issue of status for the Judean exiles in the sixth century BCE.

The syntax of the phrase yl) Mkt)-Ny)w in Hag 2,17 has proven difficult to analyze, causing many scholars to suspect that the text is corrupt. This article argues, on the contrary, that the current Masoretic Text is understandable syntactically and that emendation is unnecessary. Examples from Qumran Hebrew and Biblical Hebrew are adduced to demonstrate that the syntagm Mkt)-Ny) is to be understood as a type of possessive clause. The usage of the preposition l) and the function of the clause as a whole are also analyzed, and it is argued that the phrase ought to be rendered 'while you had nothing directed towards me' or 'because you had nothing directed towards me'. The phrase thus indicates that the judgment experienced by the people was due to their failure to direct that their material possessions towards the Lord for the rebuilding of his temple (cf. Hag 1,1-11).

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The principle of dual causality, according to which the same event is projected twice for two different reasons — Divine and human — is known among scholars and researchers of the Bible. One of the outstanding narratives in which this principle becomes evident to the reader is Absalom’s rebellion: the narrator tells the story in terms of political conflict, but hints of a deeper explanation, which sees the rebellion as a Divine punishment for David. This paper portrays how ambiguous expressions were employed in order to form the principle of dual causality in this narrative.