Thesis (MDiv (Old and New Testament))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / One of the challenging questions for the religious people is whether theocracy is still relevant in a pluralistic society like the South African society. In this assignment I argue that theocracy is relevant for all times. It can just change form as the context changes to adapt to new circumstances. To test this assertion, this study concentrates on the study of Old Testament views regarding theocracy in different contexts. This is done by comparing the narratives of kings Saul, David, Solomon and Rehoboam as told by the Deuteronomist and the Chronicler. The focus is on how contextual influences are reflected in their telling of the stories of these kings and thereby also purport a certain form of theocracy befitting their particular contexts. The study then concludes that theocracy is relevant for all times but the change in context should be taken into consideration.

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2006 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: One of the most striking literary phenomena in the entire Old Testament, Ezekiel's recognition formula is repeated over seventy times. According to S. R. Driver that refrain, "You shall know that I am Yahweh," strikes the keynote of the prophecy. Though one might expect to find many monographs and journal articles treating at length the formula's literary and theological function in Ezekiel, the only substantial work on the subject comes from Walther Zimmerli and is nearly fifty years old. More recent scholarly discussion has tended to be oblique, occasional, or subordinate to other interests. Brevard Childs has suggested that Ezekiel shows a "preoccupation with Scripture." Applying this insight, the dissertation at hand argues the thesis that the seventy-odd recognition formulae in Ezekiel mark a theological nexus and intertextual relationship between the prophecy and the book of Exodus (in some recensional form), and that those formulae are best interpreted alongside the numerous recognition formulae in Exodus. Interpreted intertextually, Ezekiel's formula points readers of the oracles to know Yahweh as the God of the Exodus, who still acts, in covenant, to judge and to deliver. Here the term intertextuality is used in a broader sense to include both a more diachronic "intertextuality of production" (Ellen van Wolde), in which a text can only be written in relationship to other texts, and a more synchronic "intertextuality of reception," in which a text can be read only in relationship to other texts. With regard to methodology, the approach of innerbiblical interpretation is employed to explore the text-production angle and the questions which emerge concerning the re-use and re-presentation of Scriptural "traditions." Also appropriate is a synchronic intertextual approach which inquires how Exodus and Ezekiel texts-in particular the recognition formulae-may be read together from a text-reception angle. Both approaches used together reveal a large number of parallels between Exodus and Ezekiel and indicate how well the recognition formulae may be read together. This study contributes to scholarship by offering an extensive review of past scholarship on the formula; a fresh exegetical research of the formula's use in Ezekiel and in other Bible books, with comparisons drawn; a study of the socio-historical and religious context addressed by Ezekiel's oracles and the formula; and a theological interpretation of the recognition formulae in Ezekiel alongside those in Exodus. There are many strong conjunctions (or continuities) between the formulae in Ezekiel and Exodus: a covenant stress; no positive use of the formula when spoken to the nations; an unbreakable link to announcements of Yahweh's mighty acts in history; etc. Yet there is also a jarring disjunction (or discontinuity) between the formulae in Ezekiel and Exodus: the prophecy repeatedly declares that Israel "shall know that I am Yahweh" in judgment. This is "a radical inversion of its former usage" (Carley); elsewhere in Scripture the formula always sounds a positive note when spoken to Israel. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Een van die mees opvallende .literere kenmerke van die hele Ou Testament, is Esegiel se gebruikmaking van die erkenningsformule - meer as 70 maal! Volgens S.R. Driver vorm hierdie refrein, "JulIe sal weet dat Ek Jahwe is", die kern van die profesie. Hoewel 'n mens sou verwag dat talle monografiee en tydskrifartikels aan hierdie formule gewy sou word, is dit slegs Walther Zimmerli wat byna 50 jaar gelede grondige navorsing in die verband gedoen het. Meer onlangse navorsing was ondeursigtig en ondergeskik aan ander oorwegings. Brevard Childs het voorgestel dat Esegiel 'n "preoccupation with Scripture" vertoon. Teen hierdie agtergrond argumenteer hierdie proefskrif dat die erkenningsformules in die boek Esegiel die teologiese kern aandui en dat daar 'n intertekstuele verb and tussen die profesie van Esegiel en die Eksodusboek bestaan. Wanneer die erkenningsformule in Esegiel intertekstueel verstaan word, dan ontstaan daar 'n verband tussen die godsprake en Jahwe as die God van die Eksodus, wie steeds binne verbondsverband as Regter en Redder optree. In die verband word die begrip "intertekstualiteit" in 'n bree sin verstaan en dit sluit in 'n meer diakroniese "intertextuality of production" (Ellen van Wolde). Hiervolgens kan 'n teks slegs in verhouding tot ander tekste geskryf word. In dieselfde asem moet daar ook na die meer sinkroniese "intertextuality of reception" verwys word, waarvolgens 'n teks slegs gelees kan word in verband met ander tekste. Op metodologiese vlak word "innerbiblical interpretation" benut om ondersoek in te stel na teksproduksie en die vrae wat ontstaan na aanleiding van die hergebruik en hervoorstelling van Bybelse "tradisies". Dit is verder ook van toepassing om 'n sinkroniese intertekstuele benadering te gebruik wat vrae stel oor hoe Eksodus en Esegiel (veral die erkenningsformules) in samehang gelees kan word indien dit vanuit 'n teksresepsie hoek benader word.. Beide benaderings kan deur saam gebruik te word, 'n groot aantal parallele tussen Eksodus en Esegiel ontdek en aantoon hoe die erkenningsformules saam gelees kan word. Hierdie proefskrif se bydrae tot die vakgebied behels 'n omvattende oorsig van bestaande navorsing oor die erkenningsformule; 'n vars eksegetiese ondersoek en vergelyking van die erkenningsformule se gebruik in Esegiel en in ander boeke van die Bybel; 'n studie van die sosio-historiese en godsdienstige konteks wat deur die godsprake en erkenningsformule in Esegiel aangespreek word; asook 'n teologiese interpretasie van die erkenningsformules in Esegiel en in samehang met die formules in Eksodus. Daar is opvallende voorbeelde van sterk verbande tussen die formules in Esegiel en Eksodus: die klem op die verbond; geen positiewe gebruik van die formules wanneer dit met die vreemde nasies in verband gebring word nie; 'n onlosmaaklike band met die aankondigings van Jahwe se magtige dade in die geskiedenis; ens. Tog is daar ook 'n mate van steurende diskontinu'iteit tussen die formules in Esegiel en Eksodus: die profesiee wat telkens herhaal dat Israel juis binne die oordeel "sal weet dat Ek Jahwe is". Dit behels 'n radikale omkeer van die bestaande gebruik (Carley); omdat daar elders in die Bybel slegs voorbeelde is waar die erkenningsformules in 'n positiewe manier ten opsigte van Israel uitgespreek word.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study has focused on interpreting the Passover in the Exodus tradition as a narrative of origin and migration among the Tiv of Nigeria. The main aim of the study is to go beyond a theology of liberation from slavery and colonialism which has been the crux of the interpretation of Exodus to a theology of identity that commemorates the beginning of the migration from Egypt through the ritual festival of the Passover. The study has argued that one’s identity could be used as an indigenous interpretive resource to interpret the Passover in the Exodus tradition among the Tiv of Nigeria who are mostly from an oral context. By employing a literary and socio-rhetorical approach (cf. Robbins 1996a:1), the research has analyzed the inner-texture, inter-texture, socio-cultural and ideological/theological intertexture of the Passover text of Exodus 12:1-28. It is argued that the Passover tradition had to survive the onslaught of royal and priestly ideology evident in its changing character from being a family oriented feast (Ex. 12:1-28) to a centralized feast held in the temple in Jerusalem. Despite the onslaught, the Passover prevailed as a family feast in the end and theology triumphed over ideology – in a manner of speaking. The different stages of development and celebration of the Passover in biblical times from family/non-priestly to priestly and centralized feast in the temple is also regarded as a clue to its survival of the onslaught of royal and priestly ideology. The socio-rhetorical approach is deemed appropriate for the interpretation of the Passover in the Exodus tradition to an orality-based audience such as the Tiv of Nigeria especially in terms of the oral-scribal intertexture. The approach is relevant to the oral community because it integrates the text with history and the readers to enable readers of any given text to interact with it using their context full of different life experiences to come up with new and informed interpretations that are meaningful and appropriate to them. Thus, the study has argued that oral discourse should work hand-in-hand with the written as far as the interpretation of the Exodus and Passover (Ex. 12:1-28) among oral cultures such as the Tiv are concerned. Readers and interpreters of the Passover tradition are enjoined to keep their eyes open to detect oral elements in the literary text and carry out interpretations of portions of the written text that cannot be explained through literary devices by taking into account orality. The study has also registered the need to pay more attention to a theological approach that appreciates readers from an oral culture and their interpretation of and interaction with the written text when placed side by side with the reader’s oral text that is full of stories of origin and migration, identity, life experiences. Furthermore, the multidimensional approach by Robbins (1996a & 1996b) has been employed to analyze the texture of Exodus 12:1-28 and its parallel texts in the Pentateuch, Prophets (Former and Latter) and the Writings. Eleven pericopes on the Passover were identified that stretch from the Pentateuch to the Latter Prophets and they cut across the three biblical legal codes namely the Covenant Code (Ex. 23:14-19), the Holiness Code (Lev. 23:5-8) and the Deuteronomic Code (Deut. 16:1-8). The pericopes also span non-priestly texts (Ex. 12:1-28) and priestly texts (Ex. 34:18-26; Num. 9:1-14; 28:16-25). In another sense, the Passover texts could be said to cover the Deuteronomistic text (Jos. 5:10-12; 2 Kg. 23:21-23), Chronist text (2 Chron. 35:1-18) and the Latter Prophets (Ezek. 45:21-24). By analyzing the Passover text of Exodus 12:1-28 against the backdrop of parallel texts in the Old Testament, the study has also identified eight variables in the texts on the Passover namely different terminologies, place, date, sacrifice, preparation, officials and different links between the Passover and unleavened bread as well as different links between the Passover and the Exodus tradition. The eight variables demonstrate that the Passover has a dynamic and ongoing character; as such, it should be interpreted as a ritual festival that commemorates the beginning of the migration of a chosen people out of slavery in Egypt. However, it should also be seen as a festival commemorating the identity of celebrants with different ideologies, cultures, religious ideas, and life circumstances over time and in different contexts. The different modes of celebrating or interpreting the Passover in different periods and contexts to different audiences with different needs have shown that the narratives of origin and migration of the Tiv could be used as an indigenous interpretive resource for the interpretation of the Passover in the Exodus tradition among people from an oral culture. In addition, the Passover should be interpreted as an ongoing ritual commemoration of the beginning of the migration from Egypt to mark the identity of celebrants in different contexts and cultures. In this way, as the Tiv people celebrate their New Yam festival at the family level or the annual Tiv Day at a centralized place to commemorate their origin as a people that migrated from Congo via Swem in the Cameroon plains to their present home in Benue-Nigeria, fresh memories would be evoked of the Passover festival commemorating the liberation from Egypt to create hope of future survival in present celebrants. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif fokus op die interpretasie van die Paasfees binne die Eksodustradisie as ‘n verhaal aangaande oorsprong en migrasie onder die Tiv van Nigerië. Die hoofdoel van die studie is om verder te gaan as die gebruiklike kontekstualisering van Eksodus as bevrydingsteologie van slawerny en kolonialisme en om ‘n teologiese interpretasie te ontwikkel wat identiteit in ag neem met die herdenking van die begin van die migrasie vanuit Egipte tydens die rituele viering van die Paasfees. In die proefskrif word geargumenteer dat identiteit gebruik kan word as ‘n inheemse bron vir die interpretasie van die Paasfees onder die Tiv wat ‘n sterk mondelinge kultuur het. Daar is gebruik gemaak van Vernon Robbins (1996a) se sosio-retoriese metodologie en sodoende is aandag verleen aan die “inner” en “inter-texture”, sowel as die sosio-kulturele en ideologies-teologiese intertekste van die Paasfees in Eksodus 12: 1-28. Dit word aangetoon hoe die Paasfeestradisie die ideologiese aanslae van koninklike en priesterlike ideologieë moes weerstaan toe koning Josia dit van ‘n familiefees verander het na ‘n gesentraliseerde fees by die tempel in Jerusalem. Ten spyte van hierdie aanslag het die Paasfees tog as familiefees oorleef en kan dit as ‘n voorbeeld gebruik word van hoe teologie ideologie te bowe kan kom. In die Ou Testament kan verskillende fases van ontwikkeling en viering van die Paasfees vanaf ‘n familiefees na ‘n priesterlik gedomineerde sentrale fees by die tempel in Jerusalem onderskei word en dit verleen ‘n aanduiding van hoe die priestelike en koninklike ideologiese aanslag oorwin is. Binne die sosio-retoriese benadering is die sogenaamde “oral-scribal intertexture” van besondere toepassing vir die interpretasie van die Paasfees in die Eksodustradisie binne ‘n mondelinge kultuur soos die van die Tiv in Nigerië. Die eksegetiese benadering is juis van toepassing binne ‘n mondelinge kultuur omdat die teks teen die agtergrond van mondelinge oorlewering verstaan word en die Tiv-lesers in staat stel om dit binne hulle eie konteks met hulle eie lewenservaring in verband te bring. Robbins (1996a & 1996b) se multidimensionele benadering is benut om die teks van Eksodus 12: 1 – 28 te analiseer, sowel as die parallele tekste in die Pentateug, Profete (Vroeëre en Latere) en die Geskrifte. Sodoende is elf intertekste geïdentifiseer wat met die Paasfees verband hou: voorbeelde is gevind in al drie belangrikste regsversamelings in die Ou Testament, naamlik die Verbondsboek (Eks 23:14-19), die Heiligheidswette (Lev 23:5-8) en die Deuteronomiese kodeks (Deut 16: 1-8). Daarmee saam is beide nie-priesterlike tekste (Eks 12: 1-28) sowel as priesterlike tektste (Eks 34:18-26; Num 9:1-14; 28:16-25) in ag geneem, asook Deuteronomistiese gedeeltes (Jos 5:10-12; 2 Kon 23: 21-23), ‘n Kronistiese teks (2 Kron 35: 1-18) en die latere profete (Eseg 45:21 24). Die ondersoek na die bestaande navorsing oor die Paasfees het agt veranderlikes geïdentifiseer wat ook binne die eie teksinterpretasie benut is: uiteenlopende terminologie, plek, datum, offerhande, voorbereiding, amptenare, verskillende bande tussen die Paasfees en die Fees van die Ongesuurde Brode en verskillende verbande tussen die Paasfees en die Eksodustradisie. Hierdie agt veranderlikes demonstreer hoe die Paasfees dinamies voortbestaan het en ook hoe dit verstaan kan word as ‘n feesritueel wat die aanvang van die migrasie uit die Egiptiese slawerny herdenk. Die navorsing het aangetoon hoe die verskillende maniere van paasviering verband hou met verskillende intepretasies van die Paasfees binne opeenvolgende periodes, kontekste, gehore en behoeftes. Daarom word die gevolgtrekking gemaak dat die verhale van oorsprong en migrasie van die Tiv benut kan word as ‘n inheemse bron vir die intepretasie van die Paasfees in die Eksodustradisie. Die proefskrif bevind ook dat dit belangrik is om daarop te let dat die klem val op die voortgaande rituele herdenking van die begin van die verhaal oor migrasie uit Egipte wat van besondere belang vir die identiteit van die feesgangers is – te midde van verskillende kontekste, kulture en ideologieë. Op ‘n soortgelyke manier vier die Tiv hulle “New Yam Festival” as ‘n familiefees en hulle nasionale Tiv Dag by ‘n gesentraliseerde plek as herdenking van hulle oorsprong as ‘n groep wat migreer het vanaf die Kongo via die Swemberg in die Kameroen na hulle huidige blyplek in Benue, Nigerië. Hiermee word die Paasfees ruimer as bevrydingsteologie herinterpreteer en skep dit nuwe hoop op die toekoms vir die deelnemers aan die feesviering.

M.Litt. et Phil. / Die boek Openbaring word nie net deur helder en dramatiese beelde gekenmerk nie, maar ook deur die verskeidenheid name wat aan Jesus gegee word. Elke naam hou verband met een of meer eienskappe van Jesus en dui op 'n aspek van sy funksie binne God se verlossingsplan. In die simboliek van Openbaring staan die plek en rol van die Lam sentraal in die afloop van die eskatologiese gebeure. Hy wat as Leeu van Juda histories van Dawid afstam, maar as lam "geslag, (tot versoening aan God geoffer) is het die bevoegdheid ontvang om die boekrol met sewe seels in die hand van God oop te maak (hfst.5). Volgens Botha, De Villiers en Engelbrecht (1988:12) bevat Openbaring 'n potpourri van motiewe en idees wat verband hou met ander godsdienste of Bybelse tye byvoorbeeld Persiese, Babiloniese en Gnostiese motiewe. Die invloed van die ou Oosterse mitologie kan duidelik bespeur word in byvoorbeeld die Babiloniese weergawe van die stryd tussen die Skepper en 'n grout seemonster'. Ook die "hemelse tablette" wat tydens die Nuwejaarsfees 'n uiters belangrike rol gespeel het wanneer die god, Marduk, die draak, Tiamat oorwin en die tablette in sy hand geplaas word om sy mag en oorwinning aan te dui. In Openbaring het die Lam alleen die mag om die boek uit die hand van God te neem en die seals daarvan te breek. Die boekrol wat Johannes sien, bevat al die inligting van God se planne met die geskiedenis. Die feit dat die boekrol met sewe seels verseel is, is 'n aanduiding daarvan dat dit volkome geslote en ontoeganklik is. Niemand in die hemel, op die aarde of onder die aarde kon gevind word om God se plan vir die wereldgeskiedenis te laat oopvou nie. Totdat een van die ouderlinge die aandag vestig dat Jesus Christus, die Lam, waardig is om die seels te breek.

The New Testament as a source of mediated ethical inspiration in literature management bestsellers. Contemporary management literature produced predominantly in the so-called western civilization circle, which is heavily influenced by Christianity. Work is to find and identify ethical inspiration coming mediated from the New Testament of the Bible into the centroid of managerial concepts described in three management bestsellers. As the titles were chosen Good to Great by Jim Collins, Competitive Advantage by Michael E. Porter and Critical Chain by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. The intention is also to achieve overlaps from selected bestseller managers into practical situations and examples that illustrate the elements of business management. The work is to find examples for explaining the positions of the authors in the light of mediated New Testament inspiration. We stand before the question of whether we can demonstrate to the attitudes of the authors the ethical significance of the concept of management and to underpin it by aligning with the ethical principles that we can guess from the interpretations of the New Testament. For selected bestseller, we try to find elements of managerial decision concepts that suggest that they are in agreement with ethical inspiration coming from the New Testament. We...

Thesis (MDiv)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation deals with the concept of celibacy, as interpreted from 1 Corinthians 7: 1-28, the development of the term in the Protestant tradition, and its use in our current context (which includes the Reformed tradition). This dissertation makes a thorough exegetical study and it especially analyses the Protestant tradition (with the development of celibacy within the tradition). Lastly it looks at the way the term celibacy is used today in the Dutch Reformed tradition. The main focus is precisely the relationship and differences that occur between 1 Corinthians 7: 1-28 and the use of the term celibacy in the Protestant tradition, and also the use of celibacy in our understanding today. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie skripsie handel oor die konsep van selibaat, soos geïnterpreteer vanuit 1 Korintiërs 7: 1-28, die ontwikkeling van die term in die Protestantse tradisie en ook die gebruik daarvan in ons huidige konteks (wat die Nederduitse Gereformeerde tradisie insluit). Die skripsie maak ʼn deeglike eksegetiese studie en die skripsie ontleed ook veral die Protestantse tradisie (met die ontwikkeling van selibaat binne die tradisie). Dit kyk ook laastens na die manier hoe die term selibaat vandag gebruik word vanuit die Nederduitse Gereformeerde tradisie. Die hooffokus is juis die verbande en verskille wat daar ontstaan tussen 1 Korintiërs 7:1-28 en die gebruik van die term selibaat in die Protestantse tradisie, en ook die gebruik van selibaat in ons verstaan van die konsep vandag.

This thesis uses insights from a modern theory of communication, Relevance Theory, to examine the function of certain particles - in particular the conjunction hina - in Koine Greek. This particle has been regarded from the time of Classical Greek as an introducer of purpose clauses and so has been thought to have the lexical meaning of ‘in order that.’ More recently, however, scholars have recognised that in the New Testament at least, no more than 60% of the uses of hina merit such a translation, with a considerable number of independent clauses being introduced by this particle also. Apart from the New Testament it is the case that pagan writers of Koine used this particle to introduce a wider range of clauses than merely those with a telic relationship to the main clause of the sentence. This is particularly noticeable in the Discourses of Epictetus, a philosopher who taught in the latter half of the first century of the Christian era. In addition, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a notable critic of literary style and the historian Polybius, both writing within the Koine period used hina to introduce indirect commands and noun clauses as well as purpose clauses. The frequency of such uses (approximately 10% of all the instances of this particle) in their writings is considerably less than that of Epictetus, but those uses are nevertheless present in their works. Since iota-nu-alpha was used for this wider range of clauses by pagan, non-Jewish authors, some of whom spoke Greek as their first language, it seems extremely implausible to attribute such use to the incompetence of the implied authors of the New Testament, or ‘Semitic interference’. Since the many instances of non-telic hina in the New Testament are identified with reference to the context in which they occur, the telic instances should also be deduced from such context. I claim that the function of this particle is not to introduce a purpose clause nor does it have a fixed lexical meaning of ‘in order that’, but rather that it alerts the reader to expect an interpretation of the thought of the speaker or implied author. Of course in many instances a clause introduced by hina will be a purpose clause, but this is inferred from context rather than solely from the presence of this particle. This thesis proposes a unified account of the function of hina which fits the developing pattern of the language and relates it to the particle 'hina', and provides a theoretical basis for its use as an indicator of speaker or subject’s thought, thus enabling a reader to re-examine biblical texts whose interpretation has been problematic to date.

<p>This study examines the use of the Tanakh (the Jewish canon of the Bible) in the gospels of Mark and Matthew. At its core is a comparison of Tanakh references in these gospels which focuses on two central questions: Does Matthew raise the prominence of the Tanakh in his gospel? Is there a correlation between Matthean adaptations of Markan references and a the strength of his Jewish identity? </p><p>First and foremost, this investigation focuses on Mark, Matthew and the books that comprise the Tanakh in Greek (LXX) and Hebrew (MT). The gospels are surveyed according to NA28, the LXX according to the Gottingen Septuagint series, and the MT according to BHS. Additionally, all major variants of these three texts are considered. </p><p>The first methodological step in this comparison is the categorization of the 104 Tanakh references in Mark into three groups - explicit, implicit, and subtle references - with one chapter devoted to each. In each chapter, I open by pointing out the main focus of the Markan references. On a verse-by-verse basis, I then determine whether each Markan reference relies on the LXX or the MT, and if its Matthean version makes the Tanakh presence more or less prominent. Each chapter concludes with a concise summary of these individual comparisons. </p><p>A fourth chapter provides a discussion of the four Matthean omissions of the first verse of the Shema (Deut 6:4), an overview of scholarly understandings of these omissions, and my explanation for their elimination. </p><p>The main findings of this study are: 1) Matthew tends to make explicit Tanakh references more prominent in his gospel. This trend is present, albeit less evident, in the implicit references, and it is reversed in the subtle references. 2) Both Mark and Matthew were probably able to independently translate from the Hebrew text of the Tanakh. 3) The phrase “God is One,” which appears four times in Mark, is entirely eliminated from Matthew. 4) The primary effect of Matthean modifications of Markan references is the elevation of Jesus’ image rather than Law observance.</p><p>Thus, the primary conclusions of this study are: 1) that the Tanakh presence is enhanced in Matthew. 2) However, the evidence does not support the notion that this pattern stems from a Matthean Judazation of Mark but, rather, from an attempt to underscore the divine identity of Jesus.</p> / Dissertation

Our work deals with the role of Psalm 118 in the New Testament, which is also the name of our work. In order to figure out the function of Psalm 118 in the New Testament we analyzed the Psalm itself and offered quotations and remarks of it. Our thesis is that authors of the New Testament have found a new meaning for Psalm 118. This meaning is Christological and along with that we hope that these authors do not take our cited quotations out of context too harshly. Consequently, we provided the reader with an analysis of three New Testament quotations of selected verses, namely the concept of context, exegesis and the use of the psalm 118. The first selected texts deal with confidence in God and the second ones with rejected corner stone. Lastly, we considered the exultations and blessings of the King. We are looking at interpretation of our Psalm and the use of the context of cited verses.

Thesis advisor: Thomas D. Stegman / The majority of exegetes agree that the so-called “Letter” to the Hebrews is actually a homily, meant to be read aloud to a Christian community gathered for worship. In The Context of the Text: Reading Hebrews as a Eucharistic Homily, I argue that the specific venue for the public reading of Hebrews was a celebration of the Eucharist. It is my contention that the author presumed and exploited this Eucharistic setting in order to bolster his claims about the superiority of Christ and his sacrifice to the sacrifices of the “first covenant”, as well as to entreat his readers to remain faithful to Christian Eucharistic worship. This dissertation begins in Chapter 1 by considering the “state of the question,” examining the positions of scholars who take – respectively – negative, agnostic and positive positions regarding Eucharistic references in Hebrews. Chapter 2 situates the question of Hebrews and the Eucharist within the broader milieu of the liturgical provenance of New Testament writings. Chapter 3 considers the issues of Hebrews’ authorship, date of composition, audience, rhetorical strategy, and literary structure as they pertain to my argument that the text was written for proclamation at the Eucharist. Chapter 4 offers an extensive study of several passages from Hebrews which appear to allude to the Eucharist without mentioning the sacrament explicitly (Hebrews 6:4; 9:20; 10:19-25; 12:22-24; 13:10; and 13:15), setting forth the claim that the allusive nature of these references is explained by the Eucharistic milieu for which the homily was written. In particular, I argue that a Eucharistic understanding of Hebrews 13:10 (“We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent have no right to eat”) is the linchpin for understanding other Eucharistic references in Hebrews and that this verse serves as a major reinforcement of the author’s earlier claims regarding the supreme efficacy of Christ’s redemptive work. I hold that the author’s mention of an “altar” in 13:10 is meant to be understood as a reference to the Eucharistic table and that, taken as such, this statement parallels the claim in 8:1 (“We have such a high priest”) in order to demonstrate that Christians have both a superior priest (Christ) and a superior cultic act (the Eucharist). Finally, Chapter 5 considers interpretive traditions (particularly patristic and Eastern) which bolster the case for a Eucharistic interpretation of Hebrews. / Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.