Vol 94 (2013)

The current understanding of the Book of Job, put forth by M. Tsevat in 1966 and widely accepted, is that YHWH implicitly denies the existence of divine justice. Retribution is not part of reality, but only a delusion. The present article argues that the book teaches the need for fidelity in the face of divine injustice. The Theophany shows a God whose care for the world of nature hints at his care for humans. The reader, unlike Job, knows that Job's suffering is important to God, as establishing the possibility of true human loyalty.

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The article analyzes several passages in Jeremiah in which God weeps in order to understand the function of divine weeping in the book. Attention to the distribution of weeping in the book finds that God’s weeping (8,23; 9,9.17; 13,17; 14,17) gives way to divine anger and refusal to hear the petitions of the people (15,1; 16,5-7). LXX and many modern commentators have attempted to deny that God weeps in these passages. However, several texts clearly depict God weeping, and weeping deities are common in ancient Near Eastern literature.

In Gal 5,13–6,10 we find three much-debated passages in which the meaning and connotation, positive or negative, of no/moj are not clear: 5,14; 5,23b; 6,2. This article seeks to shed light on these verses, consi - dered within the context of the letter. Starting with the text as it stands, it is shown how it is possible to understand the use of no/moj in the setting of a coherent development of Paul’s thought in Galatians. Lastly, in view of the paraenetic context in which no/moj is used, some general indications are brought together which are useful for Pauline ethics.

The common reading of plhro/w in Col 1,25 has emphasized the apostolic task of preaching the gospel everywhere. We agree with other scholars that such a completion has not only spatial meaning but also a qualitative one. Yet, our research goes further: what kind of quality is this? The rhetorical devices of «accumulation» and «reversal» combined in 1,24-29 point to an ethical purpose. In this sense, «bringing to completion the word of God» means preaching the word, but also making everyone mature in Christ. The phrase includes both the diffusion of the gospel and the achievement of its ethical purpose.

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This article offers a new reading of what it means in 2 Pet 1,4 to participate in the «divine nature». The divine fu/sij («nature») in 2 Pet 1,4 refers not to an abstract, divine «essence» or «being», but to God’s dynamic «character expressed in action» in accordance with his promises. Being a fellow participant (koinwno/j) of this «nature» thus refers to taking part in the eschatological realization of the «new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells» (cf. ta\ e)pagge/lmata in 2 Pet 1,4 with e)pagge/lma in 2 Pet 3,13).

In Psalm 99,4 the first stich is a circumstantial clause expressing causality relative to the clause following it. Verse 4 means to say that YHWH's royal power is exercised in establishing justice, as is shown by his acts in Israel. A syntax identical with that of the first line in Ps 99,4 can be found in Gen 50,20; Ezek 2,4a; Hab 1,10; Ps 40,18a.

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This paper examines the construction ytm-d / ( hn)-d( followed by a qatal-form in Ps 80,5; Exod 10,3; 16,28, and Hab 1,2. Taking into account the verbal process-type (active vs stative), I show that we find a better explanation than those proposed by the grammars.

This short study re-examines the theory, dominant for much of the 20^th Century, that Silvanus acted as an amanuensis in the composition of 1 Peter. The phrase e(n a(giasmw=| pneu/matoj appears only in 1 Pet 1,2 and 2 Thess 2,13 in the New Testament, both of which have a stated association with Silvanus. In addition to this, the phrase is theologically incongruous, bearing no clear relation to the broader theology of either epistle.