Amid the recent turn to Paul’s reading of Scripture, the role Deuteronomy plays in his letters has generally been examined in individual citations without regard to the larger role Deuteronomy plays in Paul’s letters, or with an exclusive focus on either the theological or the ethical importance of Deuteronomy for Paul. In contrast, this study argues that Paul read Deuteronomy with three interlocking construals (as ethical authority, as theological authority, as an interpretation of Israel’s history), each equally basic. These construals can be combined to achieve a sense of the shape of Paul’s Deuteronomy as a whole. In order to ascertain and specify these construals, Paul’s engagement with Deuteronomy is examined as an instance of Jewish engagement with the book. Part I, therefore, supplies the historical conditions of Paul’s and other Jewish authors’ encounter with the scroll of Deuteronomy (Chap 2). On this basis, Part II proceeds to survey the major Jewish interpreters of Deuteronomy from the 3rd c. BCE to the 3rd c. CE (Chaps. 3-8). Because Paul is himself a Jewish author, this study foregoes the traditional bi-partite thesis division into “background” and Paul, opting instead to see Paul as one in a chain of Jews who turned to Deuteronomy to make sense of the present. These chapters thus also provide a sustained analysis of Deuteronomy’s broader effective history in Second Temple Jewish writings – and, in a few cases, beyond. In light of the range of interpretations to which Deuteronomy was susceptible, the concluding chapter examines what is distinctive about the shape of Paul’s Deuteronomy and what contribution this may make to debates on Pauline theology and to the study of Second Temple Jewish biblical interpretation.

This diploma thesis attempts to explain the background of the origin of Islamic interest-free banking, where the first part of the thesis is devoted to the attitudes of ancient jurisdictions towards interest in the Old Testament and the Christian middle ages. It also tries to explain the basic principles of Islamic banking's functioning, the specific products it offers, and to show its position and practices in selected Muslim and European countries.

The task of diploma thesis "David and Goliath: A Narrative Analysis of 1 Samuel 17 ", is to analyze one of the most famous biblical stories through the methods of naratology and give a view on the text through various narrative categories. The greater part of this thesis will deal with exploring the characters, the dialogue, the role of the narrator, the implied reader, the events in the story, focalization and other categories. At the conclusion, there is a small excursus with a historical perspective on the story of David and Goliath. The excursus helps to place the text into a specific historical context and it also important for understanding the overall meaning of the text. The conclusion of this thesis presents to us a meaning of the story about the battle of David and Goliath. In this thesis I used narrative analysis in combination with a historical approach, and I can say that the story has two dimensions: the first dimension is focus on the individual and indicates who follows the path of Saul and the Israeli army hasn't future. But who follows the way of David and Jesse, follows the way of God, that is a very important for a human. The story offers hope for people. Goliath is a symbol of the threat of faith, religious identity and political freedom. Conversely, David symbolizes hope for...

The task of diploma thesis "Old Testament Interpretation and the Postmodern Conditions" is to critically reflect the course and current issues of Old Testament research. This reflection is based on the analysis of research situation and chosen approaches to the Old Testament. The thesis shows, that the Old Testament interpretation must be based on lively dialogue. It doesn't mean just the dialogue with the biblical texts or the state of current research, but also with the situation of the world often called as "postmodern". The important assumption of this diploma thesis is that the authentic interpretation includes also the constant and deep self-examination of interpreter and his place in the society. It doesn't mean, that the interpretation ought to be the self-presentation of interpreter. On the contrary, it should remain critical and solid, but also enacted in deep solidarity with the neighbour and shared world. The results of this diploma thesis show the importance of keeping the critical grounds of Old Testament research and interpretation. Only the intensive and unappealing criticism could be a basis for the future quality and solidness of the research and upholding its matter in wider research community and society. Another important aspect is the solidarity with the world. It means that...

Chapter 1 introduces the particular problem to be addressed and also the thesis of the dissertation as a potential answer to this problem. The three test case passages are briefly introduced as well as the rationale for their selection. Attention is then given to surveying the history of modern research by examining those scholars who maintain that Paul's use of the OT is either a generally non-contextually rooted approach or a contextually rooted approach, respectively. The closing section sets out the methodology of examination. Each of the next three chapters is given to the three hard cases of Paul's use of the OT. Paul's use of Isaiah 59:20-21 and 27:9 in Romans 11:26-27 is discussed in chapter 2 and demonstrated to be a contextually rooted use of the OT by arguing that Paul employs these passages with the same burden as their OT context, namely that one day all Israel will be saved. However, in Paul's modified form it also serves to reinforce the mystery concerning how that salvation will take place. Chapter 3 is a focused interaction with Paul's use of Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8. After discussing the inadequacies of the various approaches which seek to locate Paul's form of the text as employing an existing interpretive tradition, it is argued that Paul modified the wording of the quotation, not to disregard the OT context, but rather to summarize succinctly the entire psalm and use it to draw together several important themes in his letter. The quotation of Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 is the subject of chapter 4. While Paul does again modify these texts, he builds upon their original contexts as a way of showing how Christ's resurrection has conquered death. The judgment prophesied in the OT context has been poured out on Christ, thereby clearing a path for resurrection life for his people. Chapter 5 concludes with a synthesis of Paul's hermeneutical method in these passages. Paul's use of the OT is contextually rooted, but also comes through the interpretive lens of the apostle in light of his place in redemptive history.

Despite the dynamic portrayal of clothes in the Hebrew Bible scholars continue to interpret them as flat and inert objects. They are often overlooked or reduced to background details in the biblical texts. However, this thesis will demonstrate that the biblical writers’ depictions of clothes are not incidental and should not be reduced to such depictions. This thesis employs a multidisciplinary approach to develop and challenge existing approaches to the clothing imagery in the Hebrew Bible. It will fall into two main parts. In the first part, I draw insights from material-cultural theories to reconfigure ways of thinking about clothing as material objects, and reassessing the relationships between people and objects. Having challenged some of the broader conceptions of clothing, I will turn to interrogate the material and visual evidence for clothing and textiles from ancient Syro- Palestinian and ancient West Asian cultures to construct a perspective of the social and material impact of clothing in the culture in which the biblical texts were constructed and formed. In the second part, I will examine the biblical writers’ depiction of clothing through two case studies: Joseph’s ketonet passim (Genesis 37) and Elijah’s adderet (1 Kings 19 and 2 Kings 2). These analyses will draw from the insights made in the first part of this thesis to reassess and challenge the conventional scholarly interpretations of clothing in these texts. In this thesis, I argue that clothes are employed in powerful ways as material objects which construct and develop the social, religious and material dimensions of the text. They are also intimately entangled in relationships with the characters portrayed by the biblical writers and can even be considered as extensions of the people with whom they are engaged. Clothes manifest their own agency and power, which can transform other persons and objects through their performance and movement in a biblical text.

This thesis has three main aims. First, I will propose and explain a genre ascription for the sayings in Prov 10:1-22:16 – the ‘didactic proverb’. Second, I will analyse ‘openness’ as a textual feature, and show its contribution to the functions of this genre. Third, I will demonstrate how reading this way may influence our understanding of some key issues in Proverbs’ scholarship. Part 1 tackles the first and second aims. In ch. 1, I suggest that the sayings in Prov 10:1-22:16 have something of a hybrid genre, displaying features akin to both ‘didactic’ texts and ‘proverbs’. This can be seen from their: generically related texts, probable social settings, media, self-presentation, and literary forms. As ‘didactic’ texts, the sayings shape the worldview, character and intellect of their students. As ‘proverbs’, they apply to specific situations with specific purposes. In ch. 2, I explain three manifestations of literary ‘openness’: polysemy can give a text multiple meanings; parallelism makes the relationship between lines unclear; imagery opens up worlds for exploration. Ch. 3 begins to show how this ‘openness’ enhances the sayings’ ‘didactic’ and ‘proverbial’ functions. Here I move beyond openness in interpretation to openness in application, and draw on the field of ‘paremiology’ (the technical study of the ‘proverb’ as a genre), which has been somewhat neglected in Proverbs’ scholarship. In Part 2, I turn to the text, drawing out the openness of key verses, and showing how they function ‘didactically’ and ‘as proverbs’. This proves to have implications for certain classic debates in Proverbs’ scholarship (my third aim). Ch. 4 considers ‘character’ terms (e.g. wise/foolish, righteous/wicked). I use cognitive linguistic theories to examine the terms as open categories with ‘prototype structure’. Viewed this way, the terms are not (as some have argued) abstract and cut off from the world, but profoundly useful for life. Ch. 5 considers the apparent ‘act-consequence connection’ in Proverbs. The connection is predictable but not inviolable, may come about through a number of agencies, and has strong motivational potential. Ch. 6 looks at proverbs about the king. These do not necessitate an actual court context, for the ‘king’ figure may encapsulate wider principles, and function as a teaching tool. Even when he appears to be glorified, his role may be subverted, requiring students to exercise their minds. In ch. 7, I consider the way wisdom is acquired in the ‘didactic proverb’ genre, and suggest a principle for gaining it: students must ‘trust and scrutinise’. They are thereby empowered in their quest for wisdom, whilst also becoming aware of their limitations. Throughout Part 2, I find ‘openness’ to be an important facilitator for didactic and proverbial goals. Prov 10:1-22:16 presents its readers with a panoply of fascinating texts. By exploring them as ‘open’, ‘didactic’, and ‘proverbial’, this thesis offers a fruitful reading strategy; new insights into functions and meanings; and some fresh perspectives on old debates.

[pt] O presente trabalho estuda a relação entre o silêncio de YHWH, anunciado em Am 8,11-12 e que é manifestado pela retirada da palavra profética por meio da metáfora do envio da fome, com a rejeição desta mesma palavra pela nação, representada por Amasias, o líder da religião de Israel, tal como é relatado em Am 7,10-17. Esta pesquisa dá especial atenção à função mediadora do profeta, sua inesperada e irresistível vocação, seu senso de missão e sua identificação com a palavra de YHWH. A presença dos profetas é favor divino e sinal de que YHWH quer comunicar-se com o seu povo; o povo, por sua vez, precisa ouvir as palavras de YHWH. A rejeição da palavra de YHWH mediada pelos profetas implica, segundo o livro de Amós, em severo juízo que culminará no fim da nação. O fim do povo começou com o silêncio divino. / [en] The present work studies the relation between the silence of YHWH, announced in Am 8,11-12 that is expressed by the withdrawal of the prophetic word through the hungry send metaphor, with this word s rejection by the nation, represented by Amasias, leather of Israel s religion, as related in Am 7,10-17. This search gives a special attention to the prophet s mediating function, his unexpected and irresistible vocation, his sense of mission and identification with the YHWH s word. The prophets presence is a divine favor and a signal that YHWH wants to communicate Himself with His people; the people need to hear the YHWH s words. The YHWH word s rejection through the prophet implies, according Amos s book, in a severe judgment that will culminate in the end of the nation. The end of the people started with the divine silence.

This thesis proposes that integrated rituals of netherworld descent and heavenly ascent are represented in the Hebrew Bible as having been performed by Davidic royals – royal women, as well as male monarchs. In some instances (e.g. Psalms 2; 18; 24; 89:2-38; and 110) these rituals are represented idealistically, with Yahweh confirming the king’s ritual status and potency, through re-presented speech acts. In other instances, however, while an idealistic picture of monarchy continues to be upheld, it is subverted from within in varying ways (e.g. 2 Kgs 9:30-37; 11; Ps. 89:39-52; Isa. 14.4b-20; Jer. 13:18-20; Ezekiel 19). The differing portrayals of monarchy reflect the differing ways with which biblical texts are negotiating and interacting with ambiguous discourses embodying memories of monarchy. On the one hand, after the fall of monarchic Judah, ‘foreign’ monarchy (and especially trading monarchies, such as those of Phoenicia) were fetishised within biblical authors’ discourses of political and economic imperialism, and so Davidic monarchy became a signifier of an enchanting and mystifying ‘indigenous’ past. On the other hand, discourses concerning the past frequently referenced exile, and the collapse of monarchy. Some biblical representations of ritual netherworld descent and heavenly ascent acknowledge this latter, uncomfortable kind of remembering – even as they reify and reinforce these enchanting memories which they subvert. The remembered, cosmically liminal first temple and the remembered royal body become loci for these paradoxical, contradictory, and competing memories. This much is evident in mystifying royal cosmic liminality and heavenly ascent, access to divine knowledge, and mimesis of Yahweh; in cathartic myths of the subjugation of the forces of chaos and disorder, both cosmic and military; and in the subversion of the enchanting remembered Davidic cultic praxis of descent and ascent, through these motifs’ re-presentations in montages alongside rituals which connote displacement, destruction, profanation, desecration, subjugation and being forgotten. In these instances, the vulnerabilities inherent in cultural idealising of the Davidic monarchy’s potent cosmic liminality are brought into sharp relief.

By quoting Deuteronomy 30:12–14 as the content of the message of the righteousness of faith over against Leviticus 18:5 and the righteousness of the law in Romans 10:5–8, Paul proclaims a promise fulfilled in accord with the original meaning of the text written by Moses in Deuteronomy. More precisely, Paul reads Deuteronomy 30:11–14 as an extension of the reality foretold in Deuteronomy 30:1–10, which points forward to the new covenant experience of faith-empowered obedience, or heart circumcision, which includes the internalization of the word of God—the eschatological torah—by the Spirit of God. What Paul has found in Deuteronomy 30:11–14 is a prophetic promise of righteousness which he declares fulfilled in the gospel of the Lord Jesus, the message of the righteousness of faith.