Vol 97 (2016)

In this article I intend to reveal the old, orally-transmitted heroic tale that lies behind the Jephthah story in the Book of Judges, which is obscured by massive Deuteronomistic and post-Deuteronomistic additions and redactions. The old story deals with a conflict on the settlement boundary between Israelites and Ammonites in Transjordan, around the towns of Gilead and Mizpah. It probably reflects realities before, or in the early days of the Northern kingdom.

This article seeks to analyse the structure of Psalm 73 as a ring composition based on characteristics identified by Mary Douglas. With special attention paid to key structural markers used throughout the psalm, it will be argued that Psalm 73 is an elegant and almost perfect ring, with the introductory and concluding sections merging into each other and closely interconnected with a middle turning point. The rest of the psalm is arranged chiastically with matching parallel sections on either side of the turning point.

See more by the same author

Beginning in the Second Temple period some Jewish literature begins to reflect an increased influence from Hellenistic conceptions of virtue and vice. This paper analyzes the expansions and alterations found in the Latin version of Ben Sira to show how the vices of pride, desire, and avarice are elevated in importance and integrated into the larger contours of the moral theology of the book. Their content, amount, and distribution suggest that their piecemeal production arose from attempts to integrate the virtue/vice thinking prominent in late antiquity into the teaching already found in the Book of Sirach.

See more by the same author

This essay analyzes three important Christological texts in the reconstructed synoptic sayings source Q: 4,1-13 (the temptation legend), 6,20b-49 (the Q sermon) and 10,21-22 (the thanksgiving of Jesus). According to the current consensus in Q studies, these texts belong to three different compositional strata and reflect different theological concerns. I coordinate them in the document’s redactional layer (Q²), demonstrating their compatibility on literary-critical and traditionhistorical grounds. My hypothesis is that these texts provide the necessary Christological framework for Q²’s depiction of Jesus as the messianic Son of Man and Lord by stressing his identity as God’s unique Son.

Did Jesus call his followers to believe in him? or did he merely call them to believe in God or in the contents of his teaching? This article examines the evidence found in the Synoptic Gospels and discusses its possible Christological implications in light of the Scriptures of Israel and the writings of Second Temple Judaism. If Jesus expected to be the object of his disciples’ faith, his expectation may be understood in light of his redefinition of messiahship. But he may also be seen to have placed himself in the role of God, who was the object of Israel’s faith in the Scriptures of Israel and in Second Temple Judaism.

See more by the same author

This article engages critically with some recent re-interpretations of ethnic language in Paul, as represented by D.K. Buell and C.J. Hodge. I begin by arguing that their case against a metaphorical interpretation of Paul is weak, in that it is based on a problematic understanding of what metaphors are. Turning to Galatians, I attempt to demonstrate that, although Buell and Hodge correctly identify a paradox in Paul’s argument pertaining to his use of ethnic terminology, their own explanation of this paradox is unsatisfying. The essay ends with an attempt to approach the paradox in Paul’s argument from the perspective of a metaphorical reading of Paul.

The phrase a)natolh e9c u3yous in Luke 1,78 has long proven enigmatic. This note focuses on the meaning of e9c u3yous. Scholars have debated whether it should be interpreted as "from God/Most High" or "from upon high/heaven". The use of e9c u3yistoj elsewhere in Luke 1–2 appears to be impacting the reading of 1,78 unnecessarily. An analysis of ~280 instances of e9c u3yoj and ~230 of e9c u3yistoj in the relevant Jewish/christian sources suggests that while e9c u3yistoj often refers to God, e9c u3yoj never does. The a)natolh, should be understood as coming "from heaven", thus impacting one’s reading of this metaphor in the Benedictus.