As korrektief op die tradisionele opvatting dat geskiedenis primer politieke geskiedenis is, word 'n holistiese benadering tot die Ballingskaptydperk (586-538 v C) voorgestel om 'n meer komprehensiewe beeld van die tyd te vorm. 'n Vierledige ondersoek na die Judese volk se situasie in Juda, Babilonie en Egipte word aan die hand van die politieke, die sosio-kulturele, die godsdienstig-ideologiese en die literere dimensies gedoen. Die dimensies word af sonderlik bespreek, en in die laaste hoofstuk word 'n poging tot integrering gedoen. Die krisis van die Judese volk kom in die volgende tot uiting: polities was hulle aan Babilonie onderhorig, met 'n deel van die bevolking wat Juda verlaat het. Sosio-kul tureel was toestande in dele van Juda haglik, terwyl die ballinge in Babilonie verskillende dimensies van lyding ervaar het. Tog het sommige in Babilonie en Egipte ekonomies vooruitstrewend geword. Godsdienstig-ideologies moes 'n interpretasie vir die politieke ramp gesoek word, want die Sionsteologie kon dit nie verklaar nie. Dit het gelei tot die opbloei van literere aktiwiteit wat in die Ou Testament neerslag gevind het / Traditional scholarship tends to regard history as mainly of political nature. This dissertation suggests a holistic approach towards the history of the Judaean Exile (586-538 BC) . The examination of the political, the socio-cultural, the religiousideological and the literary dimensions are involved. Being examined separately, an attempt is made to integrate the dimensions in the last chapter. The crisis of the Judaean people consists of the following: politically the Babylonians were their overlords; some were exiled from Judah. Socio-culturally parts of Judah experienced disaster; in Babylonia the exiles encountered different dimensions of suffering. However, some exiles in Babylonia and Egypt became prosperous people. Religious-ideologically various interpretations for the political disaster were offered, because the Zion theology failed to explain it. This led to a flourishing of literary activity which is reflected in the Old Testament / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. A. (Bybelkunde)

Practical Theology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Theory of Literature)

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M.A. (Semitic Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purposes of this study were to estimate: (a) the extent of biblical literacy among convenience samples of adults from randomly selected religious and non-religious groups, (b) the extent to which American adults are religious, and (c) the association between religiosity and biblical literacy.

À l’apogée de la Renaissance carolingienne, cinq traités exégétiques sont consacrés aux livres des Rois en l’espace étroit de quelques décennies, entre 800 et 840 environ. Deux d’entre eux, un recueil de quaestiones dit du « pseudo-Jérôme » et un florilège anonyme inédit transmis par le manuscrit Paris, BnF, lat. 15 679, rassemblent des explications assez brèves. Les trois autres, composés par de célèbres et prolixes exégètes, Claude de Turin, Raban Maur et Angélome de Luxeuil, sont de longs commentaires continus. Ces commentateurs font œuvre nouvelle, à l’intérieur de la tradition exégétique chrétienne, en recueillant la tradition patristique éparse, en l’ordonnant et en l’actualisant avec leurs propres mots pour donner une lecture suivie des livres des Rois. L’étude des variations et des interprétations nouvelles procurées par ces traités offre à l’historien un accès direct aux représentations nourrissant les débats carolingiens sur la distribution du pouvoir, l’ordonnancement de la société terrestre et ses liens avec la cité céleste. Ces commentaires donnent l’image d’une société terrestre équilibrée où sphère temporelle et sphère religieuse ne s’opposent pas : les recteurs terrestres, rois et clercs, œuvrent de conserve afin de défendre l’unité de l’Église et de la foi et de diffuser le message biblique. Le rôle primordial revient cependant au prophète qui, parce qu’il est érudit et sait déchiffrer le message divin, guide par ses paroles les recteurs et les chrétiens vers le Salut. / Within the short period of a few decades, between 800 and about 840, five exegetical treatises on the books of Kings were composed during the Carolingian Renaissance. Two of them, the one by the pseudo-Jerome and an anonymous unpublished one, which is transmitted by the manuscript Paris, BnF, lat.15 679, are a collection of brief explanations. The three others, written by the well-known exegetes, Claude of Turin, Raban Maur and Angélome of Luxeuil, are long continuous commentaries. These commentators wrote something new, within the exegetical Christian tradition, by assembling the dispersed patristic tradition arranging and updating it in their own words to present a coherent reading of the Books of Kings. A study of the variations and new interpretations given by these treatises allow the historian to have direct hold on the representations underlying the Carolingian debates on the distribution of power, the organization of the earthly society and its links with the heavenly city. These commentaries draw the picture of a well balanced earthly society where the temporal and the religious are not antagonistic towards each other : rectors on earth, kings and clerics, work together to defend the unity of the Church and the unity of faith, and to spread the Biblical message. Nevertheless, the most influential role falls to the prophet who, being a scholar and being able to decipher the holy message, through his words, guides rectors and Christians to salvation.

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.

There is a longstanding scholarly debate on the nature of prophecy in ancient Israel. Until now, no study has based itself on the semantics of the Hebrew lexeme nābîʾ (‘prophet’). In this investigation, I discuss the nature and function of prophecy in the corpus of the Hebrew book of Jeremiah. I analyse all occurrences of nābîʾ in Jeremiah and perform a close reading of three primary texts, Jeremiah 1.4–19, 23.9–40 and 27.1–28.17. The result is a detailed explanation of how prophecy works, and what it meant to call someone a nābîʾ in ancient Israel. Chapter one introduces the work and surveys the main trends in the research literature on prophecy. First I describe scholarly constructs and definitions of the phenomenon of prophecy. I then survey contemporary debates over the meaning of nābîʾ and the problem of ‘false’ prophecy. I also describe the methods, structure, corpus and aims of the investigation. In part one, I take all the occurrences of the lexeme nābîʾ in Jeremiah and analyse its relations to other words (syntagmatics and paradigmatics). For nābîʾ, the conceptual fields of communication and worship are significant. There is also a close semantic relation between nābîʾ and kōhēn (‘priest’). Part two analyses prophecy in the literary context of three key texts. Chapter three is a close reading of Jeremiah 1.4–19. Chapter four is a close reading of Jeremiah 23.9–40. Chapter five is a close reading of Jeremiah 27.1–28.17. In my analysis I situate these passages in the wider context of an ancient cultural worldview on divine communication. This brings to light the importance of legitimacy and authority as themes in prophecy. Chapter six concludes the work. I combine the results of the semantic analysis and close readings with conclusions for six main areas of study: (1) the function and nature of prophecy; (2) dreams and visions; (3) being sent; (4) prophets, priests and cult; (5) salvation and doom; and (6) legitimacy and authority. These conclusions explain the conceptual categories related to nābîʾ in the corpus. I then situate these findings in two current debates, one on the definition of nābîʾ and one on cultic prophecy. This thesis contributes to critical scholarship on prophecy in the ancient world, on the book of Jeremiah, and on prophets in ancient Israel. It is the first major study to analyse nābîʾ based on its semantic associations. It adds to a growing consensus which understands prophecy as a form of divination. Contrary to some trends in Jeremiah scholarship, this work demonstrates the importance of a close reading of the Masoretic (Hebrew) text. This study uses a method of a general nature which can be applied to other texts. Thus there are significant implications for further research on prophecy and prophetic literature.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 266-315). Also available on the Internet.