Biblica - Vol 91 (2010) Opatrny, Dominik, The Figure of a Blind Man in the Light of the Papyrological Evidence (2010)

This article presents the status of a blind man in ancient society. There are three characteristics often associated with blind persons in the Bible: anonymity, passivity and beggary. The aim of this study is to confront these characteristics with the evidence found in Greek papyri. The author discusses both similar and opposite cases and comes to a more detailed conclusion on the situation of these people.

Biblica - Vol 88 (2007) Frolov, Serge, Evil-Merodach and the Deuteronomist: The Sociohistorical Setting of Dtr in the Light of 2 Kgs 25,27-30 (2007)

The article demonstrates that four concluding verses of the Former Prophets (2 Kgs 25,27-30) militate against the recent tendency to view Deuteronomism as a lasting phenomenon, especially against its extension into the late exilic and postexilic periods. Because Evil-Merodach proved an ephemeral and insignificant ruler, the account of Jehoiachin’s release and exaltation under his auspices could be reasonably expected to shore up the notion of an eternal Davidic dynasty only as long as the Babylonian king remained on the throne (562-560 BCE). Since the dynastic promise to David and associated concepts rank high on Dtr’s agenda, it means that the Former Prophets was not updated along Deuteronomistic lines to reflect the shift in the audience’s perspective on Evil-Merodach caused by his downfall. If so, there was no Deuteronomistic literary activity in the corpus after 560 BCE.

Biblica - Vol 88 (2007) van de Sandt, Huub, James 4,1-4 in the Light of the Jewish Two Ways Tradition 3,1-6 (2007)

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.

Biblica - Vol 96 (2015) Gilbert, Maurice, L’interpretazione di Siracide^VL-Vg 24,6a (2015)

The addition in Sir^VL-VG 24,6a (“I [Wisdom personified] made the light arise that does not set”) has been understood by C. Kearns as the light that illuminates the righteous in the afterworld. In this short note, we propose to see in this “light” that of the Torah, which arose before the creation of the universe.