Traditional interpretations of the Song recognised in it many allusions to the wider canon and used these as the basis of an allegorical reading. The allegorical interpretation has largely been supplanted by dramatic, cultic and literal interpretations of the book, and the focus of scholarship on the Song has shifted towards methodological issues, rather than interpretive paradigms, using comparative studies, ideological approaches and literary analysis. These methods have tended to overlook the canonical context of the Song by focussing on extra-canonical parallels and internal literary features. Without advocating a return to the allegorical interpretation, the canonical approach recognises the significance of the book's canonical status, giving due attention to the literary, theological and ecclesiological contexts which the canon provides. A canonical method of interpretation drawing on literary theories of intertextuality and speech-acts is developed and applied to the Song of Songs. The Song is a particularly valuable test case for this method, since it is found in different contexts within the Jewish, Greek and Christian orders of the canon. The intertextual element of the canonical method is applied to each of these three contexts in successive chapters, with a final chapter analysing the canonical speech-acts associated with each context. It will be shown that the Song is deeply embedded within the canon as a result of a rich complex of literary allusions and theological motifs, and that its interpretation within each canonical context yields coherent yet distinctive results. In each context, the Song is shown to evoke feelings of desire in the reader. This desire is focused on woman wisdom in the wisdom literature context, on the ideal spouse in the Writings, and on Christ in the context of the Christian canon. For the Christian reader, the person of Christ provides the basis for the coherence of these readings.

This dissertation provides a wide-ranging study of the Testament of Job dealing with a variety of issues. This pseudepigraphon, which according to scholarly consensus originated in a Jewish context between 2nd century BCE and 2nd century CE, has been preserved in several manuscripts. The oldest witness to the text is a fragmentary Coptic papyrus codex from the fourth century. This thesis makes use of its recent publication. The three Byzantine Greek manuscripts are well-known, but only three Slavonic manuscripts are generally mentioned in literature on the Testament of Job. In the process of working on this dissertation several more Church Slavonic manuscripts have been found, so that reference can be made to ten Slavonic manuscripts, five of which have been consulted. The approach to textual issues taken in this thesis emphasises the continuity of what has traditionally be separated into lower criticism (textual criticism) and higher criticism. Scribes can be perceived as participants in the history of reception of the text, rather than merely as sources of mistakes. Rather than working backwards, from the most recent manuscripts towards the construction of a hypothetical Ur- Text, I propose to work forwards, presenting the manuscripts from earliest to latest as a succession of witnesses to the text of the Testament of Job. Each manuscript is valuable as evidence of its contemporary world. Within that world the composition would have been perceived as a literary unity. The detailed analysis of the structure of the Testament of Job demonstrates that all the units are tightly connected. Although it does draw upon material known from the biblical Book of Job, the Testament of Job can be valued as a literary work in its own right, not only or mainly as an "interpretation" of the canonical composition. The most important characteristic of the Testament of Job is that it is a narrative. The narrative binds all the material (hymns, sayings, riddles, etc) collected by this composition. A generic label should thus include the term narrative, plus modifier to indicate what kind of narrative it is. The nature of the Testament of Job as a narrative makes it appropriate to apply a narratological analysis to it. This way narrative theory is used to demonstrate how the composition works as a well crafted appealing story. That the Testament of Job was considered appealing is evident from its reception history. The surviving manuscripts indicate that it was used in Byzantine and Slavonic Christian contexts. It seems that in these settings it came to be perceived as a story similar to a life of a saint.

This thesis consists of two parts. Part One introduces the te'amim and the history of their study. Part Two is a study of texts and their te'amim with special reference to 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18. Part One Chapter One defines the te'amim in relation to the scribal and reading traditions evidenced in the masoretic manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. Chapter Two reviews the writings of the Tiberian Masoretes concerning the te'amim. Chapter Three is a history of the study of the te'amim from the tenth century CE until the twenty-first century CEo Part Two Chapter Four analyses the differences and similarities of the two parallel texts 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 with special reference to their te'amim. This analysis leads to a comparison of these two texts with other parallel poetic texts and their te'amim. The te'amim of 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 are found to be a source of information concerning the development of two parallel versions of the Song of David. This information allows the te'amim of Psalm 18 and 2 Samuel 22 to be compared to all the parallel texts of the Hebrew Bible that use different types of te'amim. Chapter Five considers the relationship of the te'amim to the poetics of parallelism. The history of the study of parallelism reveals a number of divergent opinions concerning the relationship of the te'amim to parallelism. An analysis of the poetic performance of the te'amim reveals that the te'amim are expert guides to the poetics of parallelism. The study concludes, in Chapter Six, that scholarly interaction with the te'amim is an important part of the study of biblical poetic texts. The relevance of this simple conclusion is illustrated through a consideration of how such interaction could have enriched five previous studies of Ps 18 and 2 Sam 22.

Yn y traethawd hwn fe ymdrinnir â Salmau Cân Edmwnd Prys a’u cefndir. Yn y bennod gyntaf fe drafodir y Salmau yn eu cyd-destun hanesyddol. Eir ati yn yr ail bennod i roi sylw i’r ymdrechion a fu i fydryddu’r Salmau ar Gyfandir Ewrop ac yn Lloegr a’r Alban. Trafodir syniadau Martin Luther, Urlich Zwingli, Martin Bucer a John Calfin. Bwrir trem hefyd ar waith Thomas Sternhold a John Hopkins a thrafodir yr ymateb a fu i’w gwaith yn Lloegr ac yn yr Alban. Yn y drydedd bennod fe ymdrinnir â’r ymdrechion a fu i fydryddu’r Salmau yng Nghymru cyn cyfnod Edmwnd Prys, gan drafod gwaith Gruffydd Robert o Filan, Siôn Tudur, David Johns, Siôn Phylip o Ardudwy, Wiliam Midleton, James Rhys Parry, George Parry ac Edward Kyffin. Dadleuir na ddiwallwyd yr angen am Salmau Cân yn Gymraeg gan yr un ohonynt. Eir ati yn y bedwaredd bennod i drafod y cefndir i waith Edmnd Prys. Ymdrinnir yn fras â manylion bywgraffyddol yr awdur ei hun, a thrafodir ei gyfnod fel myfyriwr yng Ngholeg Ieuan Sant, Caer-grawnt a’r helbulon a fu yno yn y cyfnod hwnnw. Trafodir ei yrfa eglwysig gan ddangos bod traddodiad ffyniannus o ganu Salmau ym mhlwyf Llwydlo lle bu am gyfnod yn rheithor. Bwrir trem ar y sefyllfa mewn plwyfi eraill ar y gororau ac yng Nghymru, gan ddangos bod traddodiad o ganu Salmau wedi bod mewn rhai mannau, megis yn yr Eglwysi Cadeiriol ac mewn plwyfi poblog cyn cyhoeddi Salmau Prys yn 1621. Trafodir yr ymdrechion a fu i sicrhau litwrgi cyfrwng Cymraeg drwy gyfieithu’r Beibl a’r Llyfr Gweddi Gyffredin, ond dadleuir bod bwlch yn arfogaeth yr Eglwys heb Salmau Cymraeg y gellid eu canu. Trafodir galluoedd Edmwnd Prys fel bardd gan ddadlau mai ef oedd yr ymgeisydd delfrydol i fydryddu’r Salmau. Yn y ddwy bennod olaf, fe eir ati i bwyso a mesur camp Prys yn ôl y meini prawf a osododd iddo’i hun yn ei ragymadrodd, sef cynhyrchu Salmau a oedd yn glynu’n rhesymol agos i’r Ysgrythurau, yn ogystal â bod yn gofiadwy ac yn ganadwy. Dadleuir iddo ddibynnu’n helaeth ar gyfieithiad William Morgan o’r Beibl (1588) wrth fydryddu ei Salmau, ond iddo gadw ei lygaid hefyd ar weithiau eraill, megis cyfieithiad William Salesbury o’r Salmau (1567); rhai o gyfieithiadau Saesneg mwyaf poblogaidd y dydd; ynghyd â rhai o’r cyfieithiadau clasurol hefyd: yr Hebraeg, y Lladin a’r Roeg efallai. Ymdrinnir hefyd â’i fesurau gan ddadlau iddo eu dewis yn ofalus er mwyn i’w Salmau fod mor ddealladwy ac mor ganadwy â phosibl. Cynhwysir copi o Salmau Cân Edmwnd Prys gyda’r traethawd hwn gan nad oes copi hylaw ohonynt ar gael bellach.

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This dissertation explores the interpretation of Ecclesiastes with a specific focus on the epistemology of its author. Chapters 1 and 2 lay the groundwork for this thesis by examining Qoheleth’s ideas about the world and humans’ place in it. The use of three key terms – lbh, lm[, and !wrty - reveal a man with a very strong, negative, and pessimistic outlook that sets the tone for the whole book. Qoheleth’s observations and reflections have suggested to some that he was an empiricist. These claims are described in chapter 3, where we also present a working definition of empiricism, and a short survey of epistemological theory. Chapters 4 and 5 explore the epistemic claims Qoheleth makes about God. We found that Qoheleth’s very substantial theological claims could not have been derived from an empirical grounding; rather, we concluded that his theology was not only non-experiential, but also counter-experiential. Qoheleth’s use of three crucial experiential verbs har, [dy, and acm are examined in chapters 6 -10. Despite the prima facie experiential potential of these verbs, our interpretation of the evidence did not, in the main, endorse the claim that Qoheleth was an empiricist. However, it was acknowledged that the description ‘empiricist’ was only partly justified with reference to Qoheleth’s personal experiments recounted in chapter 2. Chapter 11 briefly surveyed some facets of Qoheleth’s argumentation that I submit strengthen my thesis that Qoheleth does not warrant the appellation ‘empiricist’. I argued that the early material in the book revealed a man with a very large ego whose dogmatic assertions on many issues lacked the necessary supporting evidence. Finally, in the conclusion, I succinctly drew all the strands of my arguments together, and on this basis I advanced the case that in epistemological terms, Qoheleth is better understood as a foundationalist, rather than an empiricist.

The intricate and complex book of Ecclesiastes has much to say on the subject of the meaning of life. Yet, concepts pertinent to the subject such as the worthwhile purpose of life and coherence in life, and for that matter, what the meaning of life means, remain insufficiently addressed in existing studies on the book. Considering that there is yet to be an adequately comprehensive work on the theology of Ecclesiastes in relation to the subject, this research seeks to construct an empirically corroborated theology of the meaning of life based on the book. It revisits the teaching of Ecclesiastes on the meaning of life and reconstructs its theology by engaging the thematic approach of interpreting and integrating the crucial themes in the book in light of the complex whole. These themes, namely that of הבל , enjoyment and undeserved suffering, are found to be subsumed under a central idea, expressed in Ecclesiastes 3:14c and 12:13b-14, thus forming a visible structure that rightly expresses the book’s theology. The investigation has found that undergirding this framework is the book’s distinctive teaching on the concepts of the worthwhile purpose of life and coherence in life, which thus reveal the relevance of the themes under investigation to the subject of the meaning of life. The hypotheses that express the book’s theology are subsequently tested in a separate and independent empirical enquiry examining the life of those who claim to have found the meaning of life. The empirical evidence affirms the validity of the reconstructed theology of the meaning of life with respect to real life experiences.

An interesting feature in the Psalter, which has been the subject of much scholarly attention for almost a hundred years now, is the sudden change of mood in the lament psalms. Unfortunately, this subject has been approached only in terms of the movement lament-praise. As the very term that has come to be associated with the subject reveals - 'Certainty of a Hearing' - lament psalms are always expected to move to praise or to some kind of resolution. Whilst not denying the presence of a movement towards praise, this dissertation seeks to offer a new approach by arguing that we do not only have a 'Certainty of a Hearing'; we also have an 'Uncertainty of a Hearing'. We do not only have a movement from lament to praise; we also have a reverse movement from praise to lament, a return to lament after praise and an alternation between lament and praise. It is important that we highlight these other movements. For focusing only on the movement towards praise actually leads to an undermining of the value of lament. Since lament is viewed as "always underway" (to use Westermann's words) towards praise, lament comes to be regarded simply as something to be done away with, praise being the goal, the more vital element. But by highlighting the other movements, the element of tension and uncertainty which forms a central part of the lament is restored. The study focuses on an analysis of the psalms containing the other movements or 'uncertainty of a hearing': Psalms 9/10,27,40,12, 28,31,35). Two related passages outside the psalms are also examined - Jer 20: 7-18 and Lamentations 3. A review of previous approaches and an analysis of representative psalms containing the movement lament-praise (Psalms 3,6,13) are provided at the beginning.

The purpose of this study is to determine what relationship, if any, exists between the verbs of motion and emotion and the language of death in the Psalms. Such motionemotion verbal pair we describe as motion-emotion axis. This will endorse that motion vocabulary in the Psalter is often found in the vicinity of emotion words. The principal premise of this thesis is that death is one of the chief motifs in the Psalter, while we distinguish between the idea of motif and that of a theme. Subsequently we maintain that death motif is underlined by thanatophobic emotional predicaments of the psalmist. The following questions and issues arise in the examinations of this work. One of the important investigations is exploring some of the key issues in psalmodic studies, particularly in relation to the inquiries of the identity of the psalmist as a private individual; and that in the context of his personal experience of distress, in face of death threats. This will be some kind of referential points, as we develop our central thesis objectives. Secondly, we will investigate questions and issues of religious language and prayer as one of the focal points in expressions of the psalmist’s experience and emotions. Thirdly, an ever-present and an intriguing question of the psalmist’s sudden mood changes, which often appear within a single Psalm, can hardly be avoid, and this issue will be followed up throughout the dissertation. Fourthly and finally, the central subject we examine here is motion as a concept relative to motional vocabulary and how it relates to the psalmist’s experiential and emotional dimension. The end of the thesis is broader examination of the realms of death and incorporates four aspects of death in biblical context (grave, silence, name, dust and depths). The plan of investigation begins with describing the thesis objectives with the scope of psalmodic texts; giving an overview of previous studies, particularly of Form-critical traditions. This follows with surveying relevant psalmodic texts, in accordance to the following general criteria we ought to: (1) pay attention to thanatophobic motifs in the Psalter, observing the fact that death motif in the Psalter is associated with not only the lamental and complaint Psalms, as one might expect, (2) examine the relationship in the motion-emotion axis in the psalmist’s experience of the spatial dimension (motion in conceptual space, heaven-Sheol). The following general conclusions and contributions are indicated. The verbs of motion in general, are very sparsely investigated in the biblical literature, hardly at all in the context of the Psalms; and not at all as the motion-emotion axis in the thanatophobic experiences of the psalmist. The work has shown that in literary and linguistic terms (grammar of death) there is an exceptional presence of motional vocabulary and phraseology associated with the Psalmist's emotional turmoils in thanatophobic situations. The last chapter is assigned to examine five suggested realms of death in bibliucal texts which are most commonly found (grave, silence, name, dust and depths).

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