A relação do homem com a terra é vital em toda cultura e também o é na Bíblia Hebraica. O eixo temático Deus-terra-homem é descortinado em Gênesis 1-9 e as bases para as dinâmicas desse víncolo são estabelecidas. O presente trabalho é uma proposta de leitura microscópica da narrativa, contemplando a terra como um personagem. / The relationship between man and earth, is vital in every culture and in the Hebrew Bible. The main theme God-earth-man is presented in Genesis 1-9 and the foundation for its dynamics are established. The present dissertation is a proposal to read the biblical texts from a narative critcism view, taking the earth as character.

O conceito de sabedoria bíblica como corpus, tema ou estilo costuma ser aplicado livremente à leitura da Bíblia Hebraica. Ao mesmo tempo, estudiosos admitem a falta de precisão para a eleição daquilo que deveria ou não compor um tema ou estilo sapiencial, tanto para a análise do texto bíblico quanto para os estudos comparados. Este trabalho apresenta uma breve introdução às abordagens acadêmicas que pretenderam reconhecer a sabedoria bíblica como um gênero literário, enfatizando suas peculiaridades em termos de forma e conteúdo a fim de distingui-la de outros discursos encontrados na Bíblia Hebraica. Além disso, a pesquisa também expõe como os estudos comparados aplicaram os conceitos elaborados por biblistas para a compreensão da sabedoria no Antigo Oriente Médio. / Biblical Wisdom as a corpus, theme or style is frequently applied freely to the reading of the Hebrew Bible. At the same time, the academicians admits the lack of precision on the preference for what should be considered or not as a sapiential theme or style, both for the analysis of biblical texts and for comparative studies. The following research presents a short introduction to the academic approaches which intented to recognize biblical wisdom as a literary genre, enphasizing its peculiarities in terms of form and content in order to make a distinction betweem them from the other discourses found in the Hebrew Bible. Likewise, the research also presents how the comparative studies applied the concepts formulated by biblicists for a comprehension of wisdom in the Ancient Middle East.

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.

A relação do homem com a terra é vital em toda cultura e também o é na Bíblia Hebraica. O eixo temático Deus-terra-homem é descortinado em Gênesis 1-9 e as bases para as dinâmicas desse víncolo são estabelecidas. O presente trabalho é uma proposta de leitura microscópica da narrativa, contemplando a terra como um personagem. / The relationship between man and earth, is vital in every culture and in the Hebrew Bible. The main theme God-earth-man is presented in Genesis 1-9 and the foundation for its dynamics are established. The present dissertation is a proposal to read the biblical texts from a narative critcism view, taking the earth as character.

The first chapter of Mishnah tractate Sotah (m. Sot) records rabbinic elaboration and interpretation on the sotah ritual contained in the Hebrew Bible, Numbers 5:11-31. Specifically, the nine mishnayoth that compose m. Sot 1 discuss the circumstances for invoking the trial of the “bitter waters” and the overall treatment of the suspected wife during the trial. This paper argues that, when read together, m. Sot 1 describes an entire economy of justice and punishment that must be imposed on a wife who is merely suspected of adultery, quite apart from whether she is—or is not—guilty of adultery. Through a close reading of m. Sot 1 and by examining the current gender discourse surrounding this text, this paper maintains that the rabbis sought to justify and explain these aspects of the sotah ritual by elaborating their understanding of suspicion and drawing them under a larger conception of measure for measure justice.

This dissertation investigates the use of biblical interpretation in the Book of Daniel. It demonstrates the spectrum in which Daniel uses older scriptural texts such as Genesis and Ezekiel in order to accomplish the theological concord with the earlier scriptural traditions of ancient Israel. Methodologically, the dissertation embraces the theory of literary allusion. The allusions in Daniel to Genesis 10-11 characterize Daniel as a literature of resistance to human imperialism. The motif of universal language, absolute dominion, symbolic construction for imperialism, collective power of human politics, and divine triumph over Babel, resurface to highlight the strong consonance between Genesis and Daniel. The allusions in Daniel to Ezekiel demonstrate that Ezekiel 1-3 is the greatest source of apocalyptic texts in Daniel 7 and 10-12. The anthropomorphic manifestation of God in Daniel’s apocalyptic vision harks back to that in Ezekiel’s prophetic vision. Both magnificent characters in Daniel 7 (the one like a son of man) and 10 (the heavenly revealer) are portrayed as liminal figures. The son of man figure alludes to the Glory of YHWH (Ezekiel 1), Israel (Daniel 7), the maskilim (Daniel 11-12), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1-3). The heavenly figure in Daniel 10 alludes to Ezekiel 1, evoking the Glory of YHWH (Ezekiel 1), the maskilim (Daniel 11-12), and the four cherubim (Ezekiel 1). The links between the maskilim and Prophet Ezekiel show how Daniel 10-12 reshapes Ezekiel 1-3 to portray the critical period under Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

This work looks at the rite presented in Deut 25:5–10 through a sociological framework. As such, it argues that ritual is a social act aimed at protecting communal interests over the interests of its individual members. More specifically, the rite described in Deut 25:5–10 was meant to act as a bulwark against infiltration of tribal land through exogamy. In later periods, it is argued that the focus of the rite narrowed to the priestly class. / text

The dissertation recounts the variegated journey of the sea in the Hebrew Bible through the lens of myth, metaphor, and muthos. The journey begins outside the Bible in ancient Near Eastern sea myths exemplified by the Ugaritic Baal Cycle and the Mesopotamian Enuma Elish, which tell the story of a sea deity whose defeat in cosmic battle against a protagonist god precedes three goodly consequences: creation, kingship, and temple. The story continues with the analysis of the biblical presentation of creation, kingship, and temple with emphasis on the constellation of themes and characters of the sea myth. The dissertation next analyzes the use of the sea myth as a metaphor for three events on the plane of history: the exodus (Exodus 14-15), the Babylonian exile (Isaiah 40-55), and the eschaton (Isaiah 24-27 and Daniel 7). Finally, the discussion moves from the analysis of the ways in which the sea muthos functions as a metaphor for the biblical presentation of individual events to the examination of the role of the sea muthos as a metaphor for a biblical view of historical reality in toto. In sum, the dissertation extends the study of sea imagery in the Hebrew Bible from mythology to metaphorology and narratology to argue for the deep, enduring, and transformative place of the sea myth within biblical tradition. / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

The first chapter of Mishnah tractate Sotah (m. Sot) records rabbinic elaboration and interpretation on the sotah ritual contained in the Hebrew Bible, Numbers 5:11-31. Specifically, the nine mishnayoth that compose m. Sot 1 discuss the circumstances for invoking the trial of the “bitter waters” and the overall treatment of the suspected wife during the trial. This paper argues that, when read together, m. Sot 1 describes an entire economy of justice and punishment that must be imposed on a wife who is merely suspected of adultery, quite apart from whether she is—or is not—guilty of adultery. Through a close reading of m. Sot 1 and by examining the current gender discourse surrounding this text, this paper maintains that the rabbis sought to justify and explain these aspects of the sotah ritual by elaborating their understanding of suspicion and drawing them under a larger conception of measure for measure justice.

In 1 Kings 1-2 King David’s impending death divides the monarchy over which of his two sons, Adonijah or Solomon, should be the future king. At this pivotal moment one might expect YHWH to reveal who should take over after David, as YHWH had done before (1 Sam 9:1-10:1; 16:1-13); however, YHWH is silent and the human characters take the lead. Nevertheless, YHWH has not disappeared completely from 1 Kings 1-2 because, as the narrative unfolds, YHWH is invoked twenty-four times. Although this language has drawn some attention, with scholars arguing that it either adds theological validation to the characters’ actions or re"ects a theological perspective that assumes that YHWH acts behind the scenes, there is more that might be said regarding its function in the narratives. In this study, I adopt narrative criticism to undertake a close reading of 1 Kings 1-2 that pays particular attention to how characters and the narrator use invocations of YHWH and the events in the plot that prompt or result from this language. I argue that invocations of YHWH have a number of functions in 1 Kings 1-2, with the function of characters’ invocations being particularly dependent on the identities of the characters, their relationships, and the narrative contexts in which they participate.