The aim of the research is to derive a set of hermeneutical principles of the author of the book of Hebrews from the introductory formulae and, to a lesser degree, to contrast these with contemporary hermeneutical approaches. The research is important for three reasons. Firstly, the introductory formulae have largely been neglected as a source for consideration when analysing the hermeneutic of a writer, such that this study is, to some degree, ground-breaking in nature. Secondly, the introductory formulae provide the clearest presentation of the author’s hermeneutic in that here may be found the most explicit statements revealing the author’s hermeneutic rather than deriving these. Thirdly, in the book of Hebrews we have the best example of how a New Testament writer interpreted the Old Testament (most quotations and introductory formulae per size of book). The research was conducted along the following lines: A comprehensive and workable list of introductory formulae in Hebrews was derived. This list was compared and contrasted firstly within the book itself and secondly in comparison to that of the other New Testament writers. A set of principles was derived from the introductory formulae of Hebrews and compared to the hermeneutics of contemporary modern approaches. The results of the research are encapsulated in six principles which together summarise the author of Hebrews’ hermeneutic. The Old Testament is understood as, -- spoken not written, -- spoken by a Trinitarian God comprising Father, Son and Holy Spirit, -- dynamic, that is, spoken with equal authority and equal effect to a current generation, -- authoritative and complete, -- the words of God do not require the intervention of man but rather the removal of man permitting God to address His people personally, -- pertaining to the person and work of Christ. The conclusion of the research can be summarised in one sentence: “God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is speaking to you now and what He says concerns His Son.” When these principles are compared with contemporary modern hermeneutic, the following is observed; -- the ‘written-and-dated’ nature of God’s revelation instead of an understanding that God is speaking to us today. -- a focus on a single person of the Godhead and a resultant infatuation with some doctrines at the expense of others. -- an illegitimate concern to make God relevant. -- the reader no longer reads in order to understand but reads in order to define meaning and the meaning primarily pertains to himself -- the listener has become the speaker and the speaker is a primarily concerned about himself and how he is coming across not about God. -- the exposition of the Bible has degenerated from theology to anthropology. / Dissertation (MA (Biblical Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Biblical and Religious Studies / unrestricted

The problem investigated in this study is the following: “What is the nature and function of the theme of God’s speech in the book of Hebrews and within the whole of the revelation in Scripture?”. This problem can only be solved if the unfolding nature of God’s speech from the Old to the New Testament is taken into account (cf. Heb 1:1-2), the theme is researched grammatical-historically, and then placed revelational-historically within the whole of Scripture. The introductory questions of the book of Hebrews are investigated for the potential light that answers to these questions can shed on the appearance, function and interpretation of references to God’s speech in the book. Subsequently, the structure of Hebrews is investigated and analysed to determine the position which the theme of God’s speech assumes within the sermon. This goal is achieved through a literature study on suggestions for Hebrews’ structure, followed up by an independent thought structure analysis of Hebrews according to the method of Coetzee (1988a:19-37). From the position of the theme of God’s speech within the structure of the sermon the nature and content of the author of Hebrews’ references to the theme of God’s speech as introductory formulae, and as part of Old Testament quotations themselves, are determined. This is done by examining the 38 introductory formulae in Hebrews in detail on the basis of a literature and independent study. Subsequently, eleven pericopes in Hebrews where keywords of the theme of God’s speech come together as part of the argumentation of the sermon are researched grammatical-historically using a combined method of Coetzee (1997), Tolar (2002), Jordaan (2004a) and Fee (2009). Ultimately it is determined how the theme of God’s speech unfolds in the book of Hebrews regarding manner, nature and content by giving an overview of the collected material by means of analysis, interpretation and synthesis. From this overview it is determined how the author of Hebrews’ theme of God’s speech fits into the whole of God’s revelation in Scripture. This is achieved by doing a cursory revelational-historical study using a combined method of Coetzee (1995) and Jordaan (2003) on six topics that form the overview of the theme of God’s speech in Hebrews. Finally, a general conclusion is reached by answering the problem of this study by way of enumeration: The revelational-historical importance of the theme of God’s speech in Hebrews is that the author shares the presupposition of other biblical authors that the Old Testament is divinely inspired and therefore absolutely authoritative, but then with the explicit emphasis that God is presently still speaking directly and urgently with man through it. The unfolding of God’s revelation also has a specific accentuation in Hebrews by means of the author’s emphasis that God revealed Himself superior and finally in his Son. The author of Hebrews’ emphasis on the greater responsibility of the hearers to listen faithfully and obediently because of God’s superior revelation in his Son, is also unique. For these reasons alone Hebrews has an indispensable role within the Canon. / PhD (New Testament), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The problem investigated in this study is the following: “What is the nature and function of the theme of God’s speech in the book of Hebrews and within the whole of the revelation in Scripture?”. This problem can only be solved if the unfolding nature of God’s speech from the Old to the New Testament is taken into account (cf. Heb 1:1-2), the theme is researched grammatical-historically, and then placed revelational-historically within the whole of Scripture. The introductory questions of the book of Hebrews are investigated for the potential light that answers to these questions can shed on the appearance, function and interpretation of references to God’s speech in the book. Subsequently, the structure of Hebrews is investigated and analysed to determine the position which the theme of God’s speech assumes within the sermon. This goal is achieved through a literature study on suggestions for Hebrews’ structure, followed up by an independent thought structure analysis of Hebrews according to the method of Coetzee (1988a:19-37). From the position of the theme of God’s speech within the structure of the sermon the nature and content of the author of Hebrews’ references to the theme of God’s speech as introductory formulae, and as part of Old Testament quotations themselves, are determined. This is done by examining the 38 introductory formulae in Hebrews in detail on the basis of a literature and independent study. Subsequently, eleven pericopes in Hebrews where keywords of the theme of God’s speech come together as part of the argumentation of the sermon are researched grammatical-historically using a combined method of Coetzee (1997), Tolar (2002), Jordaan (2004a) and Fee (2009). Ultimately it is determined how the theme of God’s speech unfolds in the book of Hebrews regarding manner, nature and content by giving an overview of the collected material by means of analysis, interpretation and synthesis. From this overview it is determined how the author of Hebrews’ theme of God’s speech fits into the whole of God’s revelation in Scripture. This is achieved by doing a cursory revelational-historical study using a combined method of Coetzee (1995) and Jordaan (2003) on six topics that form the overview of the theme of God’s speech in Hebrews. Finally, a general conclusion is reached by answering the problem of this study by way of enumeration: The revelational-historical importance of the theme of God’s speech in Hebrews is that the author shares the presupposition of other biblical authors that the Old Testament is divinely inspired and therefore absolutely authoritative, but then with the explicit emphasis that God is presently still speaking directly and urgently with man through it. The unfolding of God’s revelation also has a specific accentuation in Hebrews by means of the author’s emphasis that God revealed Himself superior and finally in his Son. The author of Hebrews’ emphasis on the greater responsibility of the hearers to listen faithfully and obediently because of God’s superior revelation in his Son, is also unique. For these reasons alone Hebrews has an indispensable role within the Canon. / PhD (New Testament), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This dissertation examines to what extent the transmission history of Codex Bezae’s Greek text of Acts shows awareness of the explicit quotations’ Old Testament origin, and to what extent this awareness played a role in the final formation of this manuscript’s text. The dissertation limits itself to explicit quotations from the Psalms, Isaiah and the Minor Prophets. Each explicit Old Testament quotation of these three books is discussed in the order of their appearance in Codex Bezae. In these discussions, special attention is paid to the layout of the text of the manuscript, the introductory formula of each explicit quotation and the text of each quotation as it appears in the codex. The aim of this discussion is to discern whether the variant readings and layout of the manuscript (i.e., variant as opposed to other Greek New Testament manuscripts) show Old Testament awareness or possible influence from the OT as opposed to the “initial” text of the New Testament. The variant readings of Codex Bezae are therefore measured against the pertinent Old Testament traditions (Hebrew, Greek and Latin). The aim of this investigation is to determine whether Old Testament awareness played any role in the formation of the text of Codex Bezae, not necessarily to solve textual difficulties in the given explicit quotations. By paying close attention to the awareness of the Old Testament in the Bezan tradition, an opportunity is afforded to glimpse into the stages of the transmission history of this text, to learn more about its users and the users of the text of previous manuscripts in its tradition, and to discover more about how the Old Testament was perceived in the early stages of Christianity. / Thesis (DD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

The aim of this study is to contribute to ongoing studies on the Acts of the Apostles, particularly in the area of the manner in which the NT writer quotes and interprets the OT. Many scholars have studied the use of the OT in the NT, though few have investigated the explicit quotations in Acts. The discussion confines itself to an examination of the nine explicit quotations in Stephen’s speech of Acts 7 which are identified with introductory formulae, i.e.: (7:3 from Gn 12:1; 7:6-7 from Gn 15:13-14; 7:27-28 from Ex 2:14; 7:33-34 from Ex 3:5, 7-8, 10; 7:35 from Ex 2:14; 7:37 from Dt 18:15; 7:40 from Ex 32:1, 23; 7:42-43 from Am 5:25-27; and 7:49-50 from Is 66:1-2). The study first seeks to situate the quoted texts in their original context, after which attention is paid to their appearance in Stephen’s discourse in Acts. Specific attention is given to the question of the presence of a possible independent Lukan Textvorlage which might underlie these quotations. To this end, firstly an overview of the differences between the pertinent OT textual traditions (e.g., MT, LXX, etc), and the NT is provided. This clearly establishes the nature of the changes and modifications present in Luke’s reading of his original material. Secondly and finally, the discussion seeks to provide an assessment of Luke’s theological and hermeneutical framework, reflected within the OT quotations of Stephen’s defense. Through the method referred to above, best depicted as consisting of text-historical, methodological and hermeneutical aspects (Steyn 1995:31-37), this study makes the following observations: Firstly, most of the explicit quotations in Ac 7 are not found anywhere else in the NT, except for the book of Acts. Only the 8th quotation from Am 5:25-27 in Ac 7:42-43 occurs in CD 7:14-15, but the quotation from CD differs from the meaning of the original context. It seems clear that these quotations are attributable to Luke himself via his LXX version - although it is possible that Luke might have used either the LXX or the MT in a few places. Secondly, when Luke relates the quoted texts from his LXX version of the OT to his new hearers, most of the changes that Luke made are likely to be expected within the change in context between that of Luke and the original source of the quotation. That is, the grammatical and stylistic changes were made by Luke, although the possibility of the changes being due to his Vorlage, should not altogether be excluded. Luke’s cautious theological and hermeneutical intention is also to be detected in Stephen’s speech. However, it is true that the original meaning is not significantly altered by these changes. At last, it may be assumed that Luke is the author of the changes to these quotations. Thirdly and finally, Luke’s theological intentions for applying the quotations are revealed as follows: God as the subject of the history has been constantly at work for his people. However, his people repetitively reject God’s servants and go against God’s words given through them. The climax of this pattern is found in the killing of Jesus and Stephen (Ac 7:52, 60). Nonetheless, God continues to be working to accomplish his salvific plan for his people, regardless of the hostile attitude of the Israelites toward God himself as well as his messengers. At last, it results in his salvific activity (endless love) ‘to the ends of the earth’ (Ac 1:8), viz., even to the Gentiles through his numerous witnesses again. This study comprises of seven chapters according to the flow of the narrative, which are designed as follows: the Abraham Story (chapter 2); the Joseph Story (chapter 3); the Moses Story (chapter 4); the Temple (chapter 5); Stephen’s Indictment (chapter 6). In addition, chapter 1 presents the introduction, and chapter 7 describes the synthesis and conclusion. / Thesis (PhD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / New Testament Studies / PhD / unrestricted