The dissertation seeks to offer a theological interpretation of Proverbs which simultaneously does justice to the results of historical and philological research; to the Christian theological tradition; and to the context of contemporary secular society. The opening chapter will investigate the history of Proverbs’ theological interpretation in the last two hundred years. For 19th century interpretation a major theological and ethical challenge was that Proverbs bases its motivational system on the reader’s self-interest. The same phenomenon has not been considered problematic in more recent scholarship because, it has been claimed, if Proverbs is understood in the context of ‘creation theology’ then this explains its apparent selfishness and also helps to clarify its relationship to other biblical texts. However, it will be argued that ‘creation theology’ in itself does not solve all theological problems in Proverbs’ interpretation. It will be also argued that Proverbs offers a plurality of themes among which creation is only one, and from which the interpreter can choose according to his or her interests and aims. The second chapter will describe the methodology of the dissertation. Most theological interpretations in the last two hundred years have reconstructed Proverbs’ theology in view to its historical setting. However, little attention has been paid to the hermeneutical questions concerning Proverbs’ recontextualisation and to the wider theological tradition of the religious communities that consider it as their Scripture. A canonical approach can incorporate these concerns, too. The third chapter will discuss the problem of self-interest. This will be investigated in the framework of Thomas Aquinas’s eudaemonistic theological ethics. The fourth chapter will discuss Proverb’s secular appearance. Besides sociological descriptions of the ‘secular,’ several strands of the wider Christian theological tradition will be utilized to handle this phenomenon theologically.

This dissertation investigates the relationship between Targum Song of Songs and Song of Songs Rabbah, and challenges the view that the Targum is dependent on the Midrash. In chapter one I set out the problem to be investigated and consider some of the reasons why scholars in the past have assumed that the Targum drew on the Midrash. Having rejected these reasons as inadequate and established the need for a fresh review of the evidence, I describe the approach I will adopt in the present thesis. In chapters two and three I introduce the two key texts individually, discussing such background information as their manuscripts, provenance, date, genre, coherence and theology. In chapter four I analyse textual parallelism and its implications, reviewing first some seminal studies of the subject, and then introducing and defending a distinction between one-to-one parallelism and multiple parallelism. In chapters five and six I examine in depth a number of indicative cases of both one-to-one and multiple parallelism between Targum Song and Song Rabbah, demonstrating that direct literary dependency between the one work and the other simply cannot be proved. In chapter seven I set this conclusion in the context of a wider comparison between Targum Song and Song Rabbah, arguing that the hypothesis of literary dependency rests on a model of text-creation and text-transmission that is inappropriate to Rabbinic literature in late antiquity. In a series of appendices, printed for convenience as a separate volume, I provide the texts discussed in the case studies in chapters five and six.

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This thesis seeks to locate an ethic of work in the thought world presented by the book of Ecclesiastes. It proceeds first by exposing the lack in extended theological-ethical considerations of Ecclesiastes in both biblical studies and theological ethics, proposing modestly to make a start in filling this lack by exploring Qoheleth’s work ethic. In the first chapter, six topics pertinent for a theological-ethical consideration of Ecclesiastes are introduced: the significance of the figure of Solomon; the meaning of hevel (traditionally rendered, ‘vanity’); perception and epistemology; cult, economy and politics; time; and the socalled carpe diem refrain. The chapter closes by enlisting two figures, St. Bonaventure and Martin Luther, for assistance in further exploring these topics. In Chapter 2, Bonaventure’s Commentary on Ecclesiastes is encountered. Reading Ecclesiastes within a penitential framework, Bonaventure offers a version of the contemptus mundi tradition rooted in his metaphysics of emanation, exemplarity and consummation. Bonaventure’s commentary is ethically significant in that he detects the vice of curiositas as precipitating the fall from the vanitas mutabilitatis to the vanity of sin and guilt. Chapter 3 considers Luther’s ‘Notes on Ecclesiastes.’ Luther interprets Solomon as a wise economic-political administrator who preaches the good news of God’s involvement in the quotidian. This positive understanding of the character of Solomon enables Luther to read Ecclesiastes eschatologically, with labour being seen as a locus of divine activity. The upshot is that one may read Solomon’s refrain as an invitation to labour with the expectation of receiving God’s gifts in the present. The fourth and final chapter is the constructive portion of this thesis. It draws upon the previous chapters in order to make positive claims about Qoheleth’s work ethic. In sum, Ecclesiastes enhances conversations surrounding the theology and ethics of work by working protology and eschatology through christology.

This thesis suggests that Deuteronomy's Kingship Law (Deut 17: 14-20) may have functioned as the paradigm for the placement of kingship psalms alongside torah psalms at key junctures in the final form of the Psalter. It argues that there is a general background in deuteronomic theology found in the torah-kingship psalm groupings (Pss 1-2; 18-21 and 118-119) and that the theological emphases of these psalms reflect, more particularly, the theology of the Law of the King. This study adopts a canonical approach to the analysis of the Psalter. That is, it suggests that the ordering of the psalms within the book Z:. ZD reflects deliberate and systematic editorial activity, and that-by considering the positioning4_ ý of psalms within the final form of the Psalter-the reader may tentatively observe the theological concerns of the book's redactors. This study draws upon recent developments in psalms studies, where there has been a move over the last fifteen years towards canonical readings of the Psalms, and suggests further developments in this approach both in terms of method and exegetical understanding of the texts in question. It is the conclusion of this thesis that the juxtaposition of kingship and torah psalms may have been the result of deliberate editorial activity in order to reflect the theology of the Kingship Law in the Psalter. It is further proposed that the reasons for this redaction were: (1) to shape the psalmic view of the eschatological king, emphasising that the expected Davidic monarch should reflect the ideal, rather than the historical examples, of kingship; and, (2) to endorse and encourage a torah-based piety, reflected in the practices expected of the king in the Kingship Law, amongst the readers and hearers of the Psalms.

A number of studies explore temporal vocabulary in the Old Testament generally and Ecclesiastes particularly, yet few attempt a holistic approach of reading Ecclesiastes through its presentation of time. Scholars have long recognized the work’s tensions, but the link that holds the tensions together in a unified reading has received less attention. This unifying idea is the presentation of time. Time is not a singular concept, however, and this project undertakes a sustained engagement with the broad presentation of time both to examine Ecclesiastes’ inquiry after what is good for human beings and its often-identified tensions. As such, this study fills a considerable gap in current Ecclesiastes scholarship. Part One, consisting of chapters two and three, examines terms for time, including ʽEt, yom, dor, ʽolam, shanah, zekher/zikhron, through a close examination of these words in their contexts. It becomes clear that time in Ecclesiastes is a mixture of reflections on the main character’s present, the past, and the passing of time over the course of generations. The project argues in Part Two that approaching time with an awareness of how Ecclesiastes creates, compares, and contrasts time horizons aids the reader to comprehend the contradictions and tensions. Chapter four demonstrates the presence of identifiable and quantifiable horizons in what is widely regarded as the introduction of Ecclesiastes, 1:1-2:26. These horizons, identified as nature’s time, generation time, lifespan time and event time, are juxtaposed in order to point toward the benefit of short-duration thinking for life under the sun. Chapter five examines Ecclesiastes 3:1-12:14 according to the categories of nature’s time, generation time, and lifespan time to ascertain characteristics common to these horizons. Consistently, Ecclesiastes presents these horizons of time as impenetrable and inaccessible to human endeavour. Chapter six examines the same material but from the perspective of what occurs in defined situations, which are designated event time. Ecclesiastes presents event time as partially controllable thereby suggesting proper and improper uses within this horizon. The chapter concludes with a discussion of wisdom and event time, demonstrating that wisdom in Ecclesiastes is not focused on success over one’s whole life (lifespan time), but focuses upon capturing the potential of the present moment to provide rest, companionship, and enjoyment in the short-term. The exploration of time as temporal horizons suggests an opportunity to observe similar phenomena in other works associated with wisdom and in other non-narrative works within the Hebrew Bible.

The book of Revelation includes more references to the Hebrew Scriptures than any other NT book. Even the sheer volume of scriptural references in the book of Revelation seems to suggest that the study of scriptural references is fundamental to understanding the book, as scholars have recognised for some time. Unlike the prophetic books, scholars have not given significant attention to the Psalms, although they do recognise the presence of many allusions to the Psalms. Through in-depth examination of the use of Psalms in Revelation this thesis demonstrates how significantly the Psalms influenced on the composition of the book of Revelation and offers a fresh insight of the structure and theology of the book. Part I (chapters 2–3) offers the background of this study. Chapter 2 discusses the use of Psalms in Second Temple Judaism, focusing on how the book of Psalms was employed in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the characteristics of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Psalms. Chapter 3 considers the significance of the Psalms for the early Christian communities. The Syriac version of the Psalms and the use of Psalms in the NT provide significant data/evidence for its use in early Christianity. Part II (chapters 4–7) examines all detectable cases of Psalms in Revelation. The cases are divided into four categories: strong allusion (chapter 4), probable allusion (chapter 5), possible allusion (chapter 6) and influence (chapter 7). In total, thirty-seven cases are considered: eight for strong allusion, seven for probable, nine for possible, and twelve for influence. As a conclusion of the study, Part III (chapter 8) presents the significance of the Psalms in the book of Revelation. The chapter sheds light on liturgical use of Psalms in the book of Revelation and in relevance with the Psalms some theological themes important for understanding the book will be set forth.

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This thesis takes a fresh approach to the pursuit of wisdom in Proverbs 1–9 in its final form by treating it as a reading drama and analysing the dynamics of that drama in selected texts. This approach creates a new conceptual metaphor, which explains the abstract concept of pursing wisdom in the concrete image of a journey and reveals the sequence of events which construct that drama. It then proposes an analysis of motions and emotions as indicators delineating the transformations in the dyadic relationships. Those transformations are the dynamics of the drama. The analysis involves the study of: (1) imperatival expressions, denoting anticipated movements of the audience, (2) declarative clauses, indicating physical movement, (3) words of emotion, denoting psychological movements in the dyad and (4) pathos, referring to the emotion generated or anticipated in the audience. The study observes a chronological sequence and a plot and shows a gradation in intimacy and distance, indicated respectively by love and hate, between Woman Wisdom and the Young Man who is the recipient of the teachings and stands in the place of the actual reader. It looks too at physical movement and gradation in the Strange Woman's advances toward him. The application of Martin Buber's theory of “I and Thou” to the dyad of the Young Man and wisdom/Woman Wisdom illuminates the complementary and indispensable “I-It” and “I-Thou” attitudes which indicate respectively an intellectual learning of wisdom and a loving commitment to Woman Wisdom. The Young Man's partaking of Woman Wisdom's banquet is the high point of the “I-Thou” encounter and the climax of the progressive relationship between them. That successful conclusion to the pursuit is the fulfilment of a commitment to the “eternal Thou.” The fear of Yahweh has been the beginning and the end of the pursuit of wisdom.