The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has provided an opportunity to reexamine the formation of the Gospel of John. This study will utilize Dead Sea finds coupled with other Second Temple literature to examine how the Gospel of John portrays Jesus as being a king. The approach of this study to use a narrative approach that builds on the Gospel of John as a finished text. The contribution of a source critical approach is not disparaged but the narrative approach will allow the Johannine community to be seen in the context of the immediate post-Second Temple era. The limited literacy of the probable first audience of this text suggests that a narrative approach will best be able to understand the background to the formation of the Gospel of John. A central contention of this study is that the Gospel of John was composed after the Jewish Revolt and after the Synoptics. Thus it deserves the appellation of the Fourth Gospel and is called such in this study. The Fourth Gospel was composed at a time when Roman interest in anything connected to Judaism was sure to attract special interest. Thus the portrayal of Jesus as the Davidic Messiah needed to be handled carefully. The imagery of the new David found in 4Q504 compared with the imagery of Jesus being the Good Shepherd becomes an important part of the argument of this study on whether this Gospel portrays Jesus as being the Davidic Messiah. Jesus as the Good Shepherd showed Jews that Jesus is the Davidic Messiah without overtly offending Roman sensibilities. Furthermore evidence from Christian and Jewish sources indicates that an interest in a Third Temple was still stirring between the Jewish and Bar-Kochba Revolts. The Fourth Gospel shows Jesus as the Davidic Messiah who replaces the Temple because the Good Shepherd was the perfect sacrifice. / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament)

Les textes qumraniens nous fournissent des témoins de première main pour l’étude du développement du messianisme dans le judaïsme durant la période du Second Temple. L’une des découvertes les plus frappantes dans la bibliothèque de Qumrân est la pluralité des attentes messianiques et l’existence de locutions diverses avec un sens messianique. À l’aide d’une analyse littéraire, ainsi que d’une approche socio-critique, surtout à partir d’une distinction typologique entre un messianisme restaurateur ou utopique, nous nous proposons d’examiner les rapports des textes sectaires messianiques de Qumrân 1) aux données bibliques et extra-bibliques contemporaines, 2) aux façons de conceptualiser les différentes figures messianiques et 3) au contexte socio-politique de l’époque. La recherche présente quatre principaux paradigmes à travers desquels les diverses idées messianiques ont été formulées dans la communauté qumrano-essénienne, tandis que l’interprétation resserre la problématique autour de la typologie restauratrice et utopique. Les analyses dévoilent un aspect des attentes du judaïsme ancien, marqué par la croyance en une pluralité d’agents de salut aux traits messianiques: il s’agit d’un schéma oscillant entre l’aspiration à la restauration des structures religieuses et politiques de l’Israël d’autrefois et l’espérance utopique d’un monde dramatiquement transformé. Malgré qu’il soit difficile d’envisager un développement linéaire, unanime et cohérent sur la base du contenu et de la chronologie des textes messianiques, cette recherche démontre une tendance générale qui jalonne l’évolution historique des idées messianiques de Qumrân. C’est la combinaison de plusieurs dynamiques, soit la critique des prêtres-rois asmonéens, la préoccupation de la pureté rituelle et de l’observance de la Loi, et une perspective apocalyptique entrevoyant une transformation catastrophique conduisant à un renouvellement du monde, qui a généré la ferveur messianique propre à la communauté qumrano-essénienne. / The Qumran scrolls provide us the first-hand sources for the study of development of messianism in Judaism during the Second Temple period. One of the most striking characteristics of Qumran library is the plurality of messianic expectations, as well as the variety of expressions with messianic meaning applied to different figures. Using a literary analysis and a socio-critical approach, especially a typological distinction between restorative and utopian messianism, this dissertation investigates the relationship between Qumranian sectarian messianic texts and 1) biblical and extra-biblical data, 2) the forms through which the various messianic figures are conceptualized, 3) the socio-political context of the period during which these texts were in use. The dissertation presents four major patterns through which the various messianic ideas were formulated in the Qumran-Essene community, whereas the interpretation of the texts focuses on the issues around the restorative/utopian typology. The analyses reveal an aspect of messianic expectations in Ancient Judaism, marked by the belief in a plurality of agents of salvation endowed with messianic attributes, oscillating between the desire for the restoration of religious and political structures of an ideal past Israel, and the utopian hope aspiring to a dramatically transformed world. Although it is difficult to establish an unanimous, consistent and linear development based on the content and the chronology of the messianic texts, this research demonstrates the general tendency of the historical evolution of Qumranian messianic ideas. It is the combination of several dynamics, namely a critical attitude against the Hasmonean priest-kings, a concern for ritual purity and observance of the Law, and an apocalyptic perspective envisioning a catastrophic transformation leading to a renewal world, which generated the messianic fervor of Qumran-Essene community.

University, Diss.--Chicago, 2006. / Introduction-The scope of this book-Definitions of metaphor-The approach to metaphor in this book-Birth as event and metaphor in the ancient Near East-The sources-The experience of birth-The experience of birth becomes a metaphor-Birth as event and metaphor in the Hebrew Bible-Birth as an event in the Hebrew Bible-Birth as a metaphor in the Bebrew Bible-The biblical birth metaphor for cases of local crisis-War imagery and bad news-War imagery-Divine punishment imagery-The biblical birth metaphor for cases of universal crisis-Texts-The biblical birth metaphor for cases of personal crisis-Engulfment imagery-War imagery-Prophetic vision imagery-1QH XI, 1-18: the birth metaphor at Qumran-1QH XI, 1-18 within the corpus of the Hodayot-The identity of the mothers and the children in 1QH XI, 1-18-Interpreting 1QG XI, 1-18 in light of the birth metaphor-1QH XI, 1-18: personal and universal crisis.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has provided an opportunity to reexamine the formation of the Gospel of John. This study will utilize Dead Sea finds coupled with other Second Temple literature to examine how the Gospel of John portrays Jesus as being a king. The approach of this study to use a narrative approach that builds on the Gospel of John as a finished text. The contribution of a source critical approach is not disparaged but the narrative approach will allow the Johannine community to be seen in the context of the immediate post-Second Temple era. The limited literacy of the probable first audience of this text suggests that a narrative approach will best be able to understand the background to the formation of the Gospel of John. A central contention of this study is that the Gospel of John was composed after the Jewish Revolt and after the Synoptics. Thus it deserves the appellation of the Fourth Gospel and is called such in this study. The Fourth Gospel was composed at a time when Roman interest in anything connected to Judaism was sure to attract special interest. Thus the portrayal of Jesus as the Davidic Messiah needed to be handled carefully. The imagery of the new David found in 4Q504 compared with the imagery of Jesus being the Good Shepherd becomes an important part of the argument of this study on whether this Gospel portrays Jesus as being the Davidic Messiah. Jesus as the Good Shepherd showed Jews that Jesus is the Davidic Messiah without overtly offending Roman sensibilities. Furthermore evidence from Christian and Jewish sources indicates that an interest in a Third Temple was still stirring between the Jewish and Bar-Kochba Revolts. The Fourth Gospel shows Jesus as the Davidic Messiah who replaces the Temple because the Good Shepherd was the perfect sacrifice. / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament)

初期ユダヤ教の分派の一つとして誕生した原始キリスト教団は、霊・天使概念等に見られる聖書解釈、敬虔さの追及と内面化の傾向、文学的技法等の点で、初期ユダヤ教の特徴を継承していることが窺われる。その一方で、パウロとルカが行なった聖書の受容は、双方が結果的に「異邦人も神の言葉を受ける対象に含まれる」との解釈に至っていることを示しており、この点がキリスト教がユダヤ教から分岐するに至る「転換点」であったことが考えられる。 / It can be inferred that early Christianity, which began as a sect of early Judaism, inherited characteristics of early Judaism, such as Scriptural interpretations of concepts such as spirits and angels, the pursuit of piety, a tendency towards internalization, and literary techniques. However, receptions of Scripture by Paul and Luke shows that each concluded that Gentiles were included in those who can receive God’s word, and that this belief was the “turning point” at which Christianity began to diverge from Judaism. / 博士(神学) / Doctor of Theology / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

The question leading to this study is whether the facts and theories pertaining to the Bible and Jesus Story as presented by The Authors (H Schonfield, D Joyce, B Thiering, M Baigent, R Leigh, H Lincoln; M Starbird, and D Brown) could be verified by the Archaeology evidence. I have adopted a multidiscipline and holistic approach considering information gathered from all media sources to ascertain what theories, if any could replace the traditional Jesus Story of the New Testament. I considered whether the alternative theories or traditional theories were believable due to the evidence presented by Biblical Archaeology or by the techniques used by The Authors in presenting their facts. By using Thouless’ system of Straight and Crooked thinking I was able to ascertain that the theories used in the novels written by The Authors may have been persuasive, but lacked substance. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. Th. (Biblical Archaeology)

The following thesis comprises a systematic, synchronic study of the term בְּרִית (berîṯ, covenant) in the book of Daniel, the Damascus Document, the Community Rule (Serekhha- Yaḥad), the Hymn Scroll (Hodayot) and the War Scroll (Milḥamah). The basic text used for Daniel is the BHS, and for the Dead Sea Scrolls the Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Library, supplemented by other editions. Apart from an introduction (chapter 1), the work is divided into two sections. The second chapter begins with a discussion of some introductory matters, such as the dating and purpose of the book of Daniel. The remainder of the chapter comprises two subsections, consisting firstly of an exegesis of Daniel 9 and secondly an exposition of Daniel 10-12 with particular reference to covenant terminology. The prayer in Daniel 9 is given much space since it is replete with covenant language, though the word בְּרִית only occurs at Daniel 9:4. The main focus of the second subsection is the vision report in Daniel 11, with particular emphasis on Daniel 11:20-45 where the word בְּרִית occurs. The third chapter contains four subsections, each giving an exegesis of those parts of the Damascus Document, Community Rule, Hymn Scroll and War Scroll where the term בְּרִית occurs. Each subsection is preceded by a brief introduction to the scroll concerned, looking at such issues as the provenance and dating of the scroll without going into too much detail, and followed by a conclusion, summarising the findings in each section. While such issues as the nature of the community represented by each scroll are mentioned where appropriate, they do not form a major emphasis in this study. Throughout, particular prominence is given to specific terminology used in order to determine the authors’ theological emphases. A few terms that are related to ,בְּרִית ‘covenant’, such as חֶסֶד (ḥeseḏ ‘mercy, lovingkindness’), אָהָב (’āhāḇ; [covenant] love), אָלָה (’ālāh; ‘curse, oath’), are also included in this study at the relevant places. The conclusion (chapter 4) draws together the findings of all sections and seeks to compare the terminology used in Daniel with that of the Dead Sea Scrolls. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Th. (Old Testament)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the social and cultural contexts of 1QS (Serek ha-Yahad) by means of a textual study. The analysis of the text is performed in a synchronic perspective. This means that lexical choices, grammatical forms, references, topics, themes, and intertextuality are analyzed text-internally. By doing so, this study sheds new light on old questions of textual cohesion and coherence, questions that until now have been dealt with mostly from a diachronic perspective. The text analysis entails investigation in view of three interrelated dimensions of language function: ideational, interpersonal, and textual. These imply language as transmitting information, creating and sustaining relations, and functioning to organize itself into cohesive units. Although applying some of the terminology from the field of text linguistics (SFL), the focus in this study is on what a text means rather than why. This means that the semantic-pragmatic aspects of language are of foremost interest here. The analysis is performed from bottom and up, then from top down again. Words, phrases, and sentences are investigated up to the broadest linguistic level, namely, to the semantic discourse itself. With an understanding of the larger discourse at hand thanks to this analysis of textual cohesion and coherence, textual details are once again revisited and interpreted anew. In this work, 1QS is analyzed from beginning to end—chronologically, so to say. Then, at the end of each major section, the discourse is analyzed overall. Following the text analysis, conclusions of the investigations are presented. The conclusions argue that the hierarchal structure of the community and its stringent regulations are to be understood as a corrective in response to corrupt society. It is also argued that language in 1QS has a performative function. Rather than describing the way things are, it aspires to evoke the ideal society. Instead of understanding 1QS and the community mirrored in it as a deviant group with little or no contact with the surrounding world, it is then understood as a potent contribution to late Second Temple Jewish discourse concerning how to create a just society and a sanctifying cultic practice. In the final chapter, the insights gained from textual analysis of 1QS are brought into encounter with the theoretical framework posited by French historian and philosopher René Girard (1923–2015). In light of Girard’s philosophy, the hierarchal organization of the community (the Yahad) as well as its regulations can be interpreted as an effort to prevent a mimetic crisis. The function of the scapegoat in 1QS is discussed in light of Girard’s grand theory of the mechanisms of scapegoating in all societies. The study closes with the tentative hypothesis that the community in 1QS deconstructs the scapegoating mechanism by taking the role of the scapegoat upon itself.

This synoptic analysis of verses from Job chapters 37-39 in 11Q10, the Peshitta version (PJob) and the rabbinic targum (RJob) aims to identify the translators’ methods for handling the Hebrew text (HT) and to assess the apparent skills and knowledge brought by them to their task. Additionally, the study engages with recent discussion which challenges the nature of 11Q10 as targum. To this end, PJob and RJob provide accepted models of ‘translation’ and ‘targum’ alongside which to assess 11Q10. The following translation methods are identified, described, compared and contrasted in the three versions: selection,extension, alternative translation, expansion, substitution, adjustment of the consonantal HT, adjustment of the Hebrew word order or division, omission, and conjecture. PJob is confirmed as an attempt to transpose the difficult Hebrew of Job into Syriac. RJob is confirmed as a conservative translation with clear underpinnings in allusion to scripture and to rabbinic traditions attested elsewhere. Significant observations are made regarding an interpretative quality in 11Q10, and new light is cast on its richness and subtlety as an allusive translation. It is proposed that the translation displays deep knowledge of scripture and skill in applying this knowledge. It is further proposed that careful comparison with methods which have been identified in Onqelos is warranted. 11Q10 is identified as an important early witness to scripturally-based motifs which are also found in other intertestamental and rabbinic sources. It is argued that 11Q10’s nature suggests that its purpose was not simply to translate but to understand and subtly explicate the HT, and that it was intended for use alongside it, not as a replacement. The study refutes the categorization of 11Q10 as ‘translation’ rather than ‘targum’, and agrees with its orginal editors that its value lies in its unique witness to the early nature of targum.

This thesis investigates how understandings of history in diverse texts of the Graeco-Roman period illuminate Lukan eschatology. Two strands of Lukan scholarship have contributed to an enduring tendency to underestimate the centrality of eschatology to Luke/Acts. Hans Conzelmann's thesis, that Luke focused on history rather than eschatology as a response to the parousia's delay, has dominated Lukan scholarship since the mid-twentieth century, with concomitant assumptions about Luke's politics and understanding of suffering. Recent Lukan scholarship has centred instead on genre and rhetoric, examining Luke/Acts predominantly in relation to ancient texts deemed the same genre while overlooking themes (including those of an eschatological character) that these texts do not share. This thesis offers a fresh approach. It illuminates the inherent connections between Luke's understanding of history and its end, and demonstrates significant ways in which Luke's eschatological consciousness shapes key themes of his account. By extending comparisons to a wider range of texts, this study overcomes two clear methodological shortfalls in current research: limiting comparisons of key themes to texts of similar genre, and separating non-Jewish from Jewish texts. Having established the need for a new examination of Luke's eschatology in Chapter 1, in Chapter 2 I set out the study's method of comparing diverse texts on themes that cut across genres. Chapters 3 to 6 then consider each key text and Luke/Acts in relation to a different aspect of their writers' conceptions of history: the direction and shape of history; determinism and divine guidance; human culpability and freedom; and the present and the end of history. The analysis shows that in every aspect of history examined, Luke/Acts shares significant features of the texts with which, because they do not share its genre, it is not normally compared. Setting Luke/Acts in conversation with a broader range of texts highlights Luke's periodised, teleological view of history and provides a nuanced picture of Luke's understanding of divine and human agency, all of which is affected in fundamental ways by his portrayal of the present time already within the final period of history. As a result, this study not only clarifies Lukan eschatology, but reaffirms the importance of eschatology for Lukan politics and theodicy.