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 no consensus on why Ezekiel 20 differs so strongly from the other historical traditions and texts known from the Torah. Are the authors simply purposefully selective in their reuse of earlier ‘historical' material, or do they offer a synopsis of all the material available to them, inadvertently preserving a particular stage in the development of the pentateuchal material? Or, more likely, is the answer somewhere in between? It is these questions that the present study begins to answer. Part One offers an analysis of the general linguistic influences of the priestly, Holiness, and deuteronomic corpora on Ezekiel 20, demonstrating that the impact of all three has been overstated. Part Two, the core of the study, examines in detail four texts of the Torah which share a statistically significant number and type of locutions with Ezekiel 20: Numbers 13-14; Exodus 6.2-8; Exodus 31.12-17; and Leviticus 26. Across these texts, both unilateral and bilateral literary reuse of or by Ezekiel 20 is established, and the ramifications for the composition and rhetoric of both the Torah texts and Ezekiel 20 is explored in detail. Part Three synthesises these findings, confirming that, and describing how, Ezekiel 20 compositionally interacts with the priestly and Holiness writings, offering insight into the extent and nature of a stratified, likely independent P. Three prevailing models of the composition of the Torah are then examined for points of continuity and discontinuity with this picture, with the result that none of them are able to account for all of the data collected herein. In sum, it is no longer sufficient to consider the literary dependencies between Ezekiel 20 and the priestly or Holiness material, let alone Ezekiel and the Torah, as mono-directional.

The linguistic character of the “biblical” Dead Sea Scrolls has been of interest to scholars since the very beginning of scrolls research. However, scholars have disagreed over the nature of the language found in those scrolls. Some argue that the “biblical” scrolls are essential to our understanding of Second Temple Hebrew, while others set these scrolls aside in favour of the non-biblical texts. Yet, no one has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the “biblical” scrolls, which is essential if we hope to settle this debate. This study fills that void by providing a comprehensive analysis of all the “biblical” DSS. Over forty different features are discussed through a comparison between the “biblical” scrolls and the other major witnesses to the Hebrew Bible. Current linguistic theories, including robust inferential statistical tools, are utilised within the analysis in order to provide conclusions based on sound methodology. This study begins with a global analysis of all the “biblical” scrolls, focusing on a comparison between the plene and defective manuscripts. Through that analysis, this study concludes that there are very few linguistic modernisations found in the “biblical” scrolls. In order to verify this conclusion, five individual scrolls are analysed. Finally, this study closes by providing a qualitative analysis of the “biblical” scrolls and shows their linguistic character to be most consistent with a scribal culture of linguistic stability and textual authority.

Thesis advisor: David S. Vanderhooft / In this dissertation, I explore the metaphorical value of law in the Hebrew Bible and Hellenistic Jewish literature. While the study of biblical law and Hellenistic Jewish halakah is well established, less attention has been paid to the intentional use of legal diction to create legal metaphors—metaphors that draw upon legal language for the sake of generating new ethical and theological insights. My argument is based upon Roger White’s theory of metaphor which states that a metaphor juxtaposes two otherwise unrelated vocabularies in order to produce new meaning. Thus, I draw upon comparative study of ancient Near Eastern law as a means of understanding the register of biblical Hebrew legal diction concerning land tenure and inheritance. With the legal background established, I investigate three sets of metaphors, one drawn from the prohibition against violating established property boundaries and two drawn from the legal domain of inheritance: the inheritance of wisdom and the inheritance of glory. These legal metaphors demonstrate the profitability of attending to legal diction. The boundary metaphor demonstrates that when attempting to describe the good or virtuous life, law served not only to provide a description of obligations, it also shaped the way in which early Jewish communities understood reality itself. The inheritance of wisdom metaphors demonstrate that sophisticated comparisons could be drawn between legal concepts and scribal learning, particularly when wisdom was thought of as a document. The inheritance of glory metaphors demonstrate the way in which semantic shifting impacts the meaning of a metaphor. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

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This thesis explores the theme of time in the book of Qohelet. Throughout his work Qohelet depicts the temporal reality as intensely problematic for human attempts to fashion a meaningful existence, even in the present. A tension is established in the book between the temporal realities of the world and human time-experience. This tension becomes especially apparent in relation to the field of human cognition: our ability to understand and respond properly to our temporal conditions is drawn fundamentally into doubt by Qohelet. The lacking correspondence between temporal reality and human experience of time affects every temporal area in our existence. Qohelet does not allow the human being any meaningful access to either past or future because of the reality of oblivion. Unable to appeal to a meaningful human continuity, individual human beings are unable to make sense of their present existence too. In addition to analysing Qohelet’s conception of time, the thesis investigates the consequences which this time-conception has for the author’s own philosophical endeavour. Significantly, Qohelet aims to describe an area of reality which he considers fundamentally inaccessible to the human mind. This results in an ongoing tension between statements of knowledge and statements of ignorance; between wanting to investigate human life in time and being unable to do so. This dichotomy is especially apparent in Qohelet’s discussion of the lost temporal horizons of past and future. Past and future cannot be approached directly, but must either be discussed through an examination of their influence on the present or established negatively, simply by stating their inaccessibility. Qohelet’s three main narrative texts demonstrate this particularly clearly. A final chapter uses the analysis of Qohelet’s time conception to undertake a comparative analysis of Qohelet and early layers of 1 Enoch.

Recent studies on ancient Israel's mortuary culture have shown that mourning rites were not restricted to the occasions of death, burial and subsequent grief but were, in fact, implemented in diverse contexts. In this thesis I am looking at biblical traditions in which these solemn practices contributed, or sought to contribute to various forms of social restoration. More specifically, I explore the stories of biblical grieving mothers who are placed at key junctures in Israel's history to renegotiate the destinies not only of their own children, dead or lost, but also those of larger communities, i.e. family lines, ethnic groups, or entire nations. Since 'the social and ritual dimensions of mourning are intertwined and inseparable ... [and] rites in general are a context for the creation and transformation of social order', these women use the circumstance of their 'interrupted' motherhood as a platform for a kind of grief-driven socio-political activism. Since maternal bereavement is generally understood as the most intense of all types of loss and was seen as archetypal of all mourning in ancient Near Eastern cultures, Israelite communities in crisis deemed sorrowing motherhood as a potent agent in bringing about their own survival and resurgence back to normalcy. I begin my discussion on mourning rites as tools of social preservation and restoration in biblical traditions with (1) a list of modern examples that attest to a phenomenon of social, political, and religious engagement among women that stems from the circumstance of child loss; (2) a survey of recent grief and death studies that identify maternal grief as the most intense and the most enduring among other types of bereavement; (3) an overview of ancient Near Eastern cultures (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hatti, Syro-Palestine) that not only viewed maternal grief as paradigmatic of all mourning but also utilised ritual actions performed by mothers in contexts of large scale catastrophes as mechanisms for dealing with a collective trauma. Against this background my project then turns to discuss four biblical mothers: Hagar (Gen. 21:14-21), Rizpah (2 Sam. 21:1-14), the woman of Tekoa (2 Sam. 14:1-20) and Rachel (Jer. 31:15-22), all of whom perform rites for their dying or dead children and exhibit a form of advocacy for society at large.

Esta pesquisa procura analisar a influência da tradição na tradução e interpretação da perícope de Isaías 52.13-53.12. Inicialmente esta pesquisa discute a teoria de Eugene A. Nida, que tem sido a principal teoria nas discussões de tradução da Bíblia. Juntamente com a análise da teoria de Nida analisou-se também as principais discussões sobre tradução de outras vertentes acadêmicas e o uso das mesmas pelas principais tradições religiosas: judaicas, católicas e protestantes. Por meio de estudo de casos específicos de tradução dessas diversas correntes religiosas analisou-se as influências teológicas na tradução de textos tais como Isaías 14.12 na tradição protestante, Isaías 9.5-6 na tradição judaica. A pesquisa abordou o uso da paráfrase como meio utilizado pelas tradições religiosas para defender suas doutrinas em textos sensíveis da Bíblia Hebraica, bem como o poder da tradição interpretativa como interferência na produção de traduções alinhadas às posições teológicas das respectivas tradições. A pesquisa procura delinear de forma breve, a história dos princípios de interpretação da tradição cristã e do judaísmo rabínico. As principais versões produzidas por essas tradições interpretativas: LXX, Vulgata, Targum e Peshitta foram expostas como produtos dessas tradições interpretativas e a perícope de Isaías 52.13-53.12 nessas antigas versões e no Novo Testamento, também como produtos de influência das diferentes tradições interpretativas do cristianismo e do judaísmo rabínico. Por fim, o trabalho busca mostrar como o texto da perícope de Isaías 52.13-53.12 foi tratado nas fontes antigas do judaísmo rabínico e do cristianismo e os efeitos dessas tradições interpretativas em duas versões modernas da Bíblia Hebraica. A de linha judaica, conhecida como Bíblia Hebraica da Editora e Livraria Sêfer e a de linha protestante, denominada Nova Bíblia Viva / This research analyzes the influence of tradition in the translation and interpretation of the pericope of Isaiah 52:13-53:12. Initially, this research discusses the theory of Eugene A. Nida, who has been the leading theory in discussions of Bible translation. Along with the analysis of the theory of Nida analyzed also the main discussions on translation of other academic aspects and their use by major religious traditions: Jewish, Catholic and Protestant. Through case studies of specific translation of these various religious currents analyzed the theological influences in the translation of texts such as Isaiah 14:12 in the Protestant tradition, Isaiah 9:5-6 in Jewish tradition. The study addressed the use of paraphrase as a means used by the religious traditions to defend their doctrines in sensitive texts of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the power of the interpretive tradition as interference in the production of translations aligned theological positions of the respective traditions. The research seeks to outline briefly the history of the principles of interpretation of the Christian tradition and rabbinic Judaism. The main versions produced by these interpretive traditions: LXX, Vulgate, Targum and Peshitta were exposed to products of these interpretive traditions and the pericope of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 those old versions and the New Testament, as well as products of the influence of different interpretive traditions of Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. Finally, the work seeks to show how the text of the pericope of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 was treated in the ancient sources of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity and the effects of these two interpretive traditions in modern versions of the Hebrew Bible. The line Jewish Hebrew Bible known as the Publisher and Bookstore Sefer and Protestant line called New Living Bible

O trabalho meticuloso de preservação e de transmissão da Bíblia Hebraica elaborado pelos massoretas, no período medieval, recebe o nome de massorá. Tal designação técnica refere-se, especificamente, ao conjunto de anotações escrito nos códices massoréticos medievais de tradição tiberiense. Tais observações são também encontradas nas modernas edições críticas da Bíblia Hebraica e em algumas publicações de Bíblias rabínicas. As observações foram elaboradas e desenvolvidas por três tradições massoréticas distintas: a babilônica, a palestina e a tiberiense. A massorá de tradição tiberiense é aquela que se tornou definitiva e a mais estudada pelo mundo acadêmico. A massorá de tradição tiberiense é composta por itens terminológicos de procedência aramaica e hebraica. Os termos massoréticos foram usados de forma específica para indicar os vários aspectos do texto da Bíblia Hebraica, como questões relacionadas a consoantes, sinais vocálicos, acentos de cantilação, palavras, expressões, grafias, além de detalhes e observações gramaticais. Esse trabalho teve como objetivo principal a preservação e a transmissão completa do corpus das Sagradas Escrituras hebraicas. Devido a tal fato, esta tese é dedicada a dois objetivos principais: 1. Estudar e trazer contribuições sobre a realidade lingüística vivida pelos massoretas e seu trato das línguas hebraica e aramaica dentro da massorá. Esse estudo pretende verificar se a linguagem da massorá poderia constituir um jargão, uma gíria ou uma linguagem de especialidade. Além disso, o trabalho aborda, mesmo que brevemente, questões relacionadas à linguagem elíptica e sintetizada da massorá. 2. Seleção e análise de um conjunto de itens terminológicos massoréticos registrados no Códice de Leningrado: Firkowitch I. B19a (L), classificando-os de acordo com sua natureza semântica, como monossememia e polissememia e tipos de neologia semântica, como extensão, estreitamento, sinédoque etc. Em suma, uma classificação de possíveis situações de neologismos semânticos presentes na massorá tiberiense, como registrada no Códice L. / The meticulous work of preservation and transmission of the Hebrew Bible created by the masoretes, in the Medieval period, is called Masorah. This technical designation refers, specifically, to the annotations written in the Medieval Masoretic codices of Tiberian tradition. These notes are also found in the modern critical editions of the Hebrew Bible and in some publications of Rabbinical Bibles. The notes were created and developed by three different Masoretic traditions: Babylonian, Palestinian and Tiberian. The Tiberian Masorah has been the definitive form and the most-studied one in the scholarly world. The Tiberian Masorah has terminological items of Aramaic and Hebrew origins. The Masoretic terms were used in a specific way to show the several aspects of the Hebrew Bible text, such as consonants, vocalic signals, intonation accents, words, expressions, spelling, orthography and also grammatical notes. The main aim of such work was the complete preservation and transmission of the corpus of the Sacred Hebrew Scriptures. On account of this fact, this thesis is dedicated to two main aims: 1. To study and to present contributions about the linguistic reality of the masoretes and their approach to the Hebrew and Aramaic languages inside the Masorah. In addition, this research verifies if the Masorah language would be jargon, slang or speciality language. Besides, this work broaches, briefly, issues about the elliptic and synthetic language of the Masorah. 2. Collection and analysis of a set of Masoretic terminological items registered in the Leningrad Codex: Firkowitch I. B19a (L), classifying them according to their semantic nature, such as monossememic and polissememic and classes of semantic neology such as extension, narrowing, synecdoche and so on. In summary, a linguistic classification of possible situations of semantic neologisms in the Tiberian Masorah that is found in the Codex L.