The alm of this thesis is the investigation of semantic loans found in the New Testament. The introductory part contains a survey of previous work--especially on the lexical relationship between the Septuagint and the New Testament-and a brief exposition of the theoretical principles which inform the thesis. Part Two, the body of the work, provides an annotated list of New Testament words which are used differently in secular Greek literature. A full linguistic analysis of these words includes a discussion of the types of semantic change represented in the New Testament and a detailed description of semantic borrowing from Hebrew and Aramaic. In conclusion the writer summarizes the results of the investigation and draws inferences concerning the character of New Testament Greek. The last part of the thesis is a supplement dealing with the terms used for the seat of the mental faculties. A classification of the syntagmatic relationships into which these terms enter ln the Septuagint, the New Testament and Epictetus is followed by an evaluation of Semitic influence on this semantic field.

This thesis aims at investigating the use of the Old Testament in the New, and in Hebrews specifically, focusing on two aspects which appear to have been somewhat neglected in previous scholarship, namely the text and context of specific quotations. The aspect of text takes the complicated textual history of the Old Testament into account, especially concentrating on the findings of recent Septuagint research and particularly the possibility that different Hebrew texts may underlie the Greek translation. The aspect of context draws on the assumption that Hebrews was composed in a Jewish context, where the Old Testament text had been interpreted for a long time. It is also presupposed that this exegesis was handed down along with the Hebrew Scriptures not only in the post Second Temple Jewish community, but also in the early Church. Hence primary sources, such as Talmud, Midrash and early Church Fathers, are consulted with the intention of better understanding the interpretation of the Old Testament quotations in Hebrews. To do this three Old Testament texts, which exist in distinctly different versions and have been quoted in Hebrews, have been examined, namely Gen. 47:31b (in Heb. 11:21), Ps. 40:7b (in Heb. 10:5), and Jer. 31:33 (in Heb. 8:10 and 10:16). The outcome of this study shows that several versions of Old Testament texts were interpreted at the time of the New Testament and that the peculiarities of the different versions had a decisive impact on the exegesis of the texts. Further, it shows that some versions of the texts were favoured in the Jewish context while others were preferred in the early Church. Hence different understandings of Old Testament passages in different contexts are sometimes not the result of different interpretations of the same texts, but of the exegesis of different versions of the same text.

This thesis suggests a new approach to studying the Hebrew-language Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) containing Exodus. After surveying the history of research, Longacre suggests applying a contextualized approach to the study of these scrolls, which seeks to understand them first as individual material artefacts and then in comparison to other manuscripts which are most closely contextually connected to them. Each manuscript is only subsequently compared with increasingly contextually distant manuscripts according to a hierarchy of contextual proximity. A network of close contextual connections between the Hebrew DSS containing Exodus warrant the isolation of this corpus as a test case for application of a contextualized approach. Based on new transcriptions and reconstructions of each of the included manuscripts (1Q2 2Q2 2Q3 2Q4 4Q1 4Q11 4Q13 4Q14 4Q17 4Q18 4Q19 4Q20 4Q21 4Q22 4Q158 4Q364 4Q365 4Q366 Mur1), Longacre then analyzes patterns that emerge from a comparison of the characteristics of each of these manuscripts. Finally, from a close examination of textual overlaps from a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative perspectives, Longacre suggests several specific groups and clusters of texts and synthesizes them to provide clearer insight into the documented Hebrew-language textual history of the book of Exodus.

From ancient times it has been the practice of humankind to build structures in which to worship God. People built centres of various shapes and sizes in which different kinds of worship were conducted. Within the Christian Church, even though the basic concept of worship is the same, there are different doctrines and customs in different Church traditions. In this thesis I attempt to shed some light on the consecration of churches in the tradition of the Syrian Orthodox Church; this is a relatively uncharted field. It is prefaced by an overview of dedication in the early Christian period and of the Jewish liturgical traditions on which the worship was based. Next I consider some Syriac literary works, the importance of Syriac literature and liturgy, and the liturgical books of the Syrian Orthodox Church. I then describe house churches of the first centuries and their gradual development into today’s magnificent and artistic churches. An important part of my work focuses on the Holy ‘Myron’, which is an integral component used in the consecration of Syrian churches. I discuss the importance accorded to 'Myron' in the church and the different types of anointing involving Myron and other oils. The main part of the thesis focuses on the construction of a church from its very beginning until its consecration once it has been completed, referring to biblical and symbolic interpretations. This includes a detailed description of the different tools and utensils used in the Syrian Orthodox Church (some illustrated) with an explanation of their relevance and meaning. The views of the church fathers such as Aphrahat, Ephrem, Moses Bar Kepha, Dionysius Bar Salibi and Jacob of Serugh, and the references and allegories from the Acts of Thomas and the Sugitho on the Church of Edessa are also included in my work. The main sources for this study are my translations of the Vatican Borg. manuscript Syriac 57 and Paris manuscript Syriac 110. The official version of the church consecration used in the Syrian Orthodox Church is a copy of Vatican manuscript 51. The Syriac texts with translations are provided in chapter two.