Thesis advisor: David S. Vanderhooft / The consistent presence of juridical diction, legal metaphors, and courtroom imagery reveals that Ezekiel 1-33 is set within a precise juridical framework. In this study, I argued that focusing upon these legal elements has two primary benefits for our understanding of the book. First, the juridical framework provides greater clarity and coherence to some passages within Ezekiel 1-33. Second, the book (especially Ezekiel 16) uses its legal elements to articulate a version of Judahite identity under Neo-Babylonian hegemony. To connect these legal elements to identity development, I used some insights from the works of Erik Erikson and Urie Bronfenbrenner (the “EB Model”). According to my analysis, Ezekiel 16 equates the legal status of the city with Judahite identity in order to prove that the experiences of Neo-Babylonian domination did not nullify or rescind the legal agreement (ברית) between the deity and Judahites. Rather, the punishment this chapter describes demonstrates the continuing validity of the contract and the version of Judahite identity that is rooted in it. Consequently, the Judahites’ acceptance of the legal appropriateness of Neo-Babylonian domination is the sine qua non for remaining in the legal relationship that defines Judahite identity.

What are the biblical cherubim? In the Hebrew Bible, the physical appearance and cultic role of the cherubim are never explicitly elucidated. Largely, the authors assume their audience is familiar with the form and function of these heavenly beings. Yet the portrayal of the cherubim varies from text to text and, sometimes, we are given conflicting information. Previous studies of the cherubim have placed too great an emphasis on archaeological and etymological data. This thesis presents a new synthetic study which prioritises the evidence supplied by the biblical texts. Biblical exegesis, using literary and historical-critical methods, forms the large part of the investigation (chapter 2). The findings arising from the exegetical discussion provide the basis upon which comparison with etymological and archaeological data is made (chapters 3 and 4). It is argued that, with the exception of the book of Ezekiel, the biblical texts are quite consistent in their portrayal of the cherubim. Cherubim are intimately connected with the manifestation of Yahweh and have an apotropaic function in relation to sacred space. They are envisaged with one face and one set of wings. Ps 18:11 = 2 Sam 22:11 suggests that they are quadrupedal. The traditions in the final form of Ezekiel 1-11 mark a shift in the conception of the biblical cherubim. Physically, the cherubim are transmogrified and become enigmatic beasts with four faces and four wings. Their function also changes. Depicted elsewhere as menacing guardians, in Ezekiel they become agents of praise. The results suggest that traditions envisaging the cherubim as tutelary winged quadrupeds were supplanted by traditions that conceived of them as more enigmatic, obeisant beings. In the portrayal of the cherubim in Ezekiel and Chronicles, we can detect signs of a conceptual shift that prefigures the description of the cherubim in post-biblical texts, such as The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and the Enochic texts.

The significance of wine to the residents of ancient Palestine is demonstrated by the large number of archaeological sites where a wine making installation has been identified and the role wine plays in the Hebrew Bible, the major work of literature to survive from ancient Palestine. The role of wine in the Hebrew Bible has generated a large volume of material, although this has been partly driven by the ongoing temperance debate. Despite this there has been little or no thorough research as to which words and thus passages should be investigated to comprehensively examine wine in the Hebrew Bible. In addition those studies which do exist do not demonstrate any in-depth knowledge of wine production and its implications in translating and interpreting the Hebrew Bible. This work aims to address these two issues. The origin of wine demonstrates that wine was known in Palestine during the Biblical period. Agriculture and Diet provide information as to the value and context of wine production. Semantic tools detail the linguistic information for examination of the ancient Hebrew words related to wine. The styles and production methods of wine and other alcoholic beverages in the ancient world set limits for the identification of beverages. All other information must be considered in the light of these four areas. The core of this work is an examination of the key words related to wine: the likely members of the ancient Hebrew semantic field of wine the key words for grape, vine and vineyard and three words identified as installations used in wine production. It is only after such detailed examination that any in-depth study of wine in the Hebrew Bible should be considered.

This discussion is based on a word by word comparison of the source document and the translation throughout the 1364 verses of the book. The conclusions drawn are: 1. the translator's main aim was to present the sense of his Hebrew Vorlage without change, and to do so in a readily accessible presentational style. The evidence on which this conclusion is based is the presence of two co-existing forms of translation throughout: (i) almost always literal, in presentation of the sense. The few points at which the sense is modified almost all pertain to the theme of the movement from the Temple- and sacrifice-based pre-exilic religion to a prayer-based religion compatible with exile; (ii) often non-literal, stylistically, in pursuit of the precise and intelligible presentational style. When the translator wished to add lexical items, breaking the constraints of quantitative literalism so as to increase the precision of expression, he did so. 2. Comparison of earlier with later mss. shows that these characteristics are to be found not only in the work of the translator, but also in the work of later editors: evidently those editing the Peshitta mss. valued the presentational style sufficiently to impose it on the text even though they knew that by so doing they were likely to lessen the correspondence between that text and the Hebrew Vorlage. 3. The Vorlage was probably a document almost but not quite at the end of the process of recension which led to the formulation of MT: a group of minuses in which LXX and the Peshitta agree against MT, occurring at points of the Hebrew text where textual criticism suggests some underlying problem, constitute the evidence on which this conclusion is based. 4. The translator's approach to the choice of lexical equivalents is that of one who enjoyed exercising literary initiative. 5. There is no evidence that more than one translator was involved. 6. Future work, assessing the literary style of the Peshitta as a whole, is suggested to throw light on the puzzle of the incompatibility of the Peshitta to Isaiah and to Psalms with the classification of the other books of the Peshitta according to the characteristics of the translation technique.

The significance of wine to the residents of ancient Palestine is demonstrated by the large number of archaeological sites where a wine making installation has been identified and the role wine plays in the Hebrew Bible, the major work of literature to survive from ancient Palestine. The role of wine in the Hebrew Bible has generated a large volume of material, although this has been partly driven by the ongoing temperance debate. Despite this there has been little or no thorough research as to which words and thus passages should be investigated to comprehensively examine wine in the Hebrew Bible. In addition those studies which do exist do not demonstrate any in-depth knowledge of wine production and its implications in translating and interpreting the Hebrew Bible. This work aims to address these two issues. The origin of wine demonstrates that wine was known in Palestine during the Biblical period. Agriculture and Diet provide information as to the value and context of wine production. Semantic tools detail the linguistic information for examination of the ancient Hebrew words related to wine. The styles and production methods of wine and other alcoholic beverages in the ancient world set limits for the identification of beverages. All other information must be considered in the light of these four areas. The core of this work is an examination of the key words related to wine: the likely members of the ancient Hebrew semantic field of wine the key words for grape, vine and vineyard and three words identified as installations used in wine production. It is only after such detailed examination that any in-depth study of wine in the Hebrew Bible should be considered.

The socio-religious regulations of Leviticus offer little-explored perspectives from which to reflect on the relationship between humanity and the non-human creation. The cosmological framework upon which the worldview expressed in Leviticus is constructed places humanity at the fragile interface between creation (order) and chaos (destruction), ever struggling to discern, define and delineate the sacred and the profane. Several texts in Leviticus portray the land as an active character; capable of vomiting, resting and maintaining a ritualistically demanding relationship with God. Not only does the land appear to have a distinct relationship with YHWH, but in fact that relationship predates YHWH’s commitment to Israel. When the people sin, they risk not only the retreat of YHWH’s presence from the sanctuary, but also the land ejecting them in order that it might fulfill its ritual obligations. Each member of the community is responsible for maintaining the well-being of the lived-in world as expressed through obedience to teachings concerning the body, the social group, and cultic behaviour. Within this system, the manifested symbols of created order are those essential elements which enable the sustenance of the whole community: the people, the land, its vegetation and its animals. Responsible human care for this divinely-established ecology is thus ingrained in, and carefully detailed through, the regulations in Leviticus. Important examples include prescriptions for a sabbatical year for the land to rest and to restore its fertility; the Sabbath day as a space of economic disruption and regeneration; agricultural festivals as cultic boundaries of the life of the community; and dietary and cultic laws regulating the killing of animals for humans (as food) or for God (as sacrifice). Disobedience, or sin, renders both the human community, and the land upon which it lives, polluted and unclean. A particularly significant measure of controlling or cleansing the resulting pollution, of both the community and the land, is animal sacrifice – the killing of a perfect animal for God has the potential to restore the delicate balance between chaos and creation. Given these observations, Leviticus' conceptions of the land, animal sacrifice and ritualized rest can be perceived as a fruitful biblical locus of reflection from which to engage contemporary ecological ethics and praxis.

<p>The dissertation The Life of the World: The Vitality and Personhood of Non-Animal Nature in the Hebrew Bible addresses personalistic portrayals of non-animal nature (rocks, plants, soil, etc.) in the Hebrew Bible. Examples of personalistic nature texts include the obligation of the land to rest in Leviticus 25 and 26, the ground swallowing Korah in Numbers 16, the mourning of the land in the Prophets, and creation’s speech in Psalm 19. The primary theoretical framework is anthropological research on animist traditions, which is used to interrogate Western categories of personhood, relationality, and nature. Of particular importance is the work of Graham Harvey, Philippe Descola, Eduardo Viviero de Castro, Nurit Bird-David, and Timonthy Ingold. Based on parallels between biblical texts and animist traditions, it is argued that biblical writers perceived non-animal nature as alive; these texts do more than simply anthropomorphize nature. The dissertation traces the activity of non-animal nature through the three parts of the Jewish canon – Torah, Prophets, and Writings – and supports the argument by means of close reading. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, interactions between humans and non-animal nature are social and require respect and attention. The Israelite writers inhabit a world full of persons, only some of whom are human, and these other-than-human persons must be taken into account in agriculture, warfare, worship, and ethics.</p> / Dissertation

<p>This study examines the use of the Tanakh (the Jewish canon of the Bible) in the gospels of Mark and Matthew. At its core is a comparison of Tanakh references in these gospels which focuses on two central questions: Does Matthew raise the prominence of the Tanakh in his gospel? Is there a correlation between Matthean adaptations of Markan references and a the strength of his Jewish identity? </p><p>First and foremost, this investigation focuses on Mark, Matthew and the books that comprise the Tanakh in Greek (LXX) and Hebrew (MT). The gospels are surveyed according to NA28, the LXX according to the Gottingen Septuagint series, and the MT according to BHS. Additionally, all major variants of these three texts are considered. </p><p>The first methodological step in this comparison is the categorization of the 104 Tanakh references in Mark into three groups - explicit, implicit, and subtle references - with one chapter devoted to each. In each chapter, I open by pointing out the main focus of the Markan references. On a verse-by-verse basis, I then determine whether each Markan reference relies on the LXX or the MT, and if its Matthean version makes the Tanakh presence more or less prominent. Each chapter concludes with a concise summary of these individual comparisons. </p><p>A fourth chapter provides a discussion of the four Matthean omissions of the first verse of the Shema (Deut 6:4), an overview of scholarly understandings of these omissions, and my explanation for their elimination. </p><p>The main findings of this study are: 1) Matthew tends to make explicit Tanakh references more prominent in his gospel. This trend is present, albeit less evident, in the implicit references, and it is reversed in the subtle references. 2) Both Mark and Matthew were probably able to independently translate from the Hebrew text of the Tanakh. 3) The phrase “God is One,” which appears four times in Mark, is entirely eliminated from Matthew. 4) The primary effect of Matthean modifications of Markan references is the elevation of Jesus’ image rather than Law observance.</p><p>Thus, the primary conclusions of this study are: 1) that the Tanakh presence is enhanced in Matthew. 2) However, the evidence does not support the notion that this pattern stems from a Matthean Judazation of Mark but, rather, from an attempt to underscore the divine identity of Jesus.</p> / Dissertation

This thesis contends that the Chronicler includes many episodes of war in his retelling of Israel’s monarchic history to demonstrate the benefits and consequences of temple faithfulness. Several scholars have long pointed out the Chronicler’s reworking of texts in Samuel-Kings to show that Yahweh rewards the good and punishes the wicked (i.e. retribution theology). Some recent scholars, however, have put forward several exceptions to this rule. The analysis of passages in this thesis demonstrates that the Chronicler maintains this cause-effect relationship with the dual themes of war and temple. To do this, it divides the various kings into different categories. First, David belongs in a category all by himself since he (according to the Chronicler) pioneered the two most foundational elements of the temple cult (i.e. gathering all Israel and providing the building materials). For this reason, he also won many battles to secure Israel’s place in the land. The next two groups of kings either show complete faithfulness to (re)establishing the temple cult and its practices (e.g. Solomon, Hezekiah), or neglect it (e.g. Ahaz, Jehoram). Based on their attitude toward the temple, the Chronicler illustrates how they either prosper in the land through military victory, or suffer attack. The Chronicler presents mixed cases with the last two categories. On the one hand, he reports how many faithful kings (in varying degrees) support orthodox temple practices and so prosper on the battlefield. However, none of these kings persevere in their faithfulness so that either their success immediately stops or they suffer attack. On the other hand, the Chronicler also tells how two thoroughly wicked kings committed some of the worse sins in Israel’s history, yet repented after suffering swift punishment. Through all these cases, the Chronicler demonstrates that temple faithfulness always brought Israel peace and security.

This work consists of a portfolio of creative writing in the form of a collection of short stories, The Jerusalem Syndrome, followed by a thesis, “Biblical Perspectives on the Holiness of Place, Body, and Mortality in The Jerusalem Syndrome Collection”. Attempting to engage the question, ‘what does it mean to be Jewish?, the latter seeks to provide the academic lens to unearth the former. In its stories of ancestry, land, rituals, body practices, theological beliefs and the nature of God’s relationship with his people, the Hebrew Bible lies at the heart of ancient and modern Jewish constructions of identity. The stories of The Jerusalem Syndrome Collection draw on a number of these biblical themes, and similarly seek to explore diverse constructions of Jewish identity in worlds seemingly far removed in time and context from the ancient social contexts from which the biblical texts emerged. Critical biblical scholarship offers modern readers various ‘lenses’ with which to engage the biblical texts — not as ‘scripture’, or even ‘history’ — but ancient literature rich in ancient cultural and ideological debates about the construction of identity, many of which continue to impact modern notions of Jewish identity today. Illustrations of this impact suffuse the stories of The Jerusalem Syndrome Collection. As such, this discussion explores the socio-religious, mythological and theological themes pervading The Jerusalem Syndrome Collection by bringing them into dialogue with critical, scholarly reflections on Judaism’s biblical traditions. A number of these themes cluster around the notion of Israel and the city of Jerusalem as the place at which Jewish identities are negotiated. The characters of The Jerusalem Syndrome Collection encounter various Jewish identities in bodily and material ways, as well as by topographical indices. With particular emphasis on the themes of how place, body, and death are sanctified, this piece will explore the ways in which Jewish identity continues to be contextualized in terms of the cultic, mythological and ritual language derived from the Hebrew Bible. This portfolio — the stories and their dialogue with the Hebrew Bible — is an exploration of some of the key aspects of how Jewish identity unfolds, and how the stories are re-mythologized through biblical history.