When biblical studies adopted the language of intertextuality, it began using it in conjunction with other vocabulary--inner-biblical exegesis and interpretation, echoes, allusion--all of which it uses to signify when a biblical text refers to another text that appears elsewhere in Bible. This study examines the way such academic language is shaped by and shapes the assumptions of biblical scholarship. It examines the nature of linguistic signs and applies the insights of this examination to evaluating the language of reference in the study of the Hebrew Bible. The study concludes that the language and theory of literary allusion is best suited for enriching academic discourse on the relationship of referential texts in the Hebrew Bible. It discusses methodological criteria for detecting allusion informed by a theoretically developed understanding of literary allusion.

This dissertation seeks to find Christ in the Old Testament by examining the targumic passages in which Memra, Shekinah, or Yeqara occur as God's agent or manifestation. Chapter 1 demonstrates that scholars view the Memra, Shekinah, and Yeqara as agents for God or manifestations of God even though many scholars reject the notion of Christological implications found in the New Testament appropriation of these terms and concepts. Chapter 2 discusses the close connection between the targumic Memra, Shekinah, and Yeqara and the New Testament by citing clear instances where the New Testament authors appropriated targumic terms and concepts to speak of Jesus. By using targumic terms and concepts, the New Testament authors provided an exegetical method for finding Christ in the Old Testament through Targum. Chapter 3 examines the occurrences of Memra, presenting examples of passages that certainly refer to Christ, do not refer to Christ, and probably refer to Christ. In this chapter, the Memra refers to Christ or probably refers to Christ when the Memra functions as God's agent, carrying out God's work in the world. Chapter 4 investigates the occurrences of Shekinah and Yeqara, but under the influence of the New Testament, nearly all of the occurrences of Shekinah, and most occurrences of Yeqara refer to Jesus. Shekinah and Yeqara are delineated into categories of occurrences that refer to God's manifestation and God's manifestation with agency. Even though most occurrences of Shekinah and Yeqara refer to Christ, some occurrences of Yeqara are a literal translation of the Hebrew and do not refer to Jesus. Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation by tying several themes together to show the consistency and validity of finding Christ in the Old Testament through Aramaic terms and concepts. This dissertation argues that when the Memra, Shekinah, or Yeqara appear as God's agent(s) or as manifestations of God, one may find Christ in those Old Testament passages. One may find Christ in these passages because the New Testament authors present Jesus as the premier agent and manifestation of God using targumic terms and concepts.

The thesis presented consists of three main sections: 1. Section A includes comprehensive and detailed critical analyses of Buber's monographs on the Old Testament, "Konigtum Gottes", "Der Gesalbte", "Der Glaube der Propheten", "Abraham der Seher", "Moses", "Recht und Unrecht. Deutung einiger Psalmen"; furthermore the translation of the Hebrew Bible into German is studied, a work Buber had carried out with the aid of Franz Rosenzweig. Buber's statements and interpretation are elaborated and compared with those of recent and contemporary scholars. This investigation brings to light Buber's peculiar and very often individualistic view. He rejects literary criticism which assumes written sources such as J, E, P in the Pentateuch; correspondingly he tries to trace strands of orally and then literarily transmitted traditions which were ingeniously combined by the Redactor(s). This redactional achievement is regarded by Buber as of great importance and of high quality. Modern research has made evident that Buber frequently perceives the proper relations and facts, more, however, through intuition than through convincing arguments (the details of the ancient traditions being usually far more complicated than Buber thinks them to be). His idea of Yahweh as Melekh of the wandering Israelite tribes e.g. has been proved to be wrong, but the conception of the leading and wayfaring God was expounded by Buber earlier and more clearly than in the studies of other scholars. Peculiar to Buber is the idea of an essential uUity of the Hebrew Bible to which so called "guiding words" ("Leitworte") make reference. In his translation (which shows a masterly command and sympathetic understanding of both Hebrew and German) he makes use of such "guiding words" and of the sensuous basic meaning of the individual verbal roots. The fundamental and predominant principle of Buber's hermeneutics appears in all his books on the Bible. It is the principle of dialogue between God and Man; and it is here that Buber finds the essence both of prophecy and of Israel's faith as a whole. 2. Section B tries to elucidate the theological, philosophical, and biographical background of Buber's hermeneutics. It comes out in his view of myth, saga, and historical reality. There is a clearly rationalistic approach to biblical miracle stories, but besides this an irrational intuition leads him to deeper understanding. Dilthey's influence becomes evident. Buber cannot be understood apart from the role that mysticism and chassidism played in his life; it was, however, the Hebrew Bible which helped him to overcome self-sufficient mysticism and chassidic gnosticism. Knowing about the relation of dialogue between God and Man, Buber can remain neither a pure mystic nor a pure existentialist (in the sense of modern existential philosophy). He is "atypical". His interpretation of the Bible is critical, not orthodox or fundamentalist in its approach, although he cannot deny the Jewish and rabbinical background of his learning. Personal religious experience goes hand in hand with scholarly methods of criticism. The principles of dialogue and existential commitment make him strictly discriminate between prophecy and apocalyptic. God speaks to Man in the present historical situation and claims a personal decision. There is no room for any speculations or taking a peep into an already certain and immutable future. The directness of the eternal revelation at every time and the continuous possibility of dialogue between God and Man are theological conceptions that exclude a particular salvation history ("Heilsgesohichte"). Buber is primarily interested in God's speaking, not in God's acting in oertain historical events. Buber's understanding of divine revelation cannot but regard every religion on earth as a sphere of God's disclosure. In opposition to the religion of the Bible, however, the pagan religions misunderstand God and his disclosure. But even for those living with biblical traditions God Himself may disappear for a time as the sun disappears in eclipse. Yet an eclipse is no extinction, and Buber demonstrates, by reference to Job and Deutero-Isaiah, the relevance of the Old Testament as a source of hope in a dark age. Section C summarizes the conclusions of the thesis and appreciates the work of Buber as an outstanding scholar - a work that is fascinating and stimulating even where we have to reject not a few of its results.

This study analyzes five speeches delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. to determine the ways in which King used the elements of prophetic rhetoric. It examines the major Old Testament prophets, Amos and Ezekiel specifically, for parallels in the following areas: (1) the life, personality, and spiritual calling of the prophet, (2) the language, prophecies, and central themes of the prophet's message, and (3) the historical period in which the prophet lived and the events that created a need for the rhetoric of prophecy.

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.

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.

The importance of the family in ancient Near Eastern society is so frequently recognized that it has become a truism. It is therefore surprising that in a work of identity-making such as the Bible, the influence of family on the texts' formation has been under studied. Such an omission may be because the discussion on family in the Bible has largely concentrated upon reconstructing day-to-day life as background to our reading. Scholars have not seen family loyalty as an essential component in the narratives' meaningfulness. In my dissertation, I examine family and identity in the Book of Judges. I argue that the family is the dominant locus of identity for people throughout the first millennium BCE and that Judges' social communication depends upon acknowledging this dynamic. The meaning of the local folklore gathered together in Judges relies upon an appreciation of the values held by the society from which it comes and distinguishes this core material from the editorial framework. This perspectival dichotomy also raises questions about the book's redactional methodology. Identity is revealed through socio-relational dynamics; hence, my thesis takes a social-scientific approach to the texts. Following an introduction, the first chapter discusses family and identity with particular reference to the localized structures of first-millennium BCE Palestine. The next four chapters present texts from Judges in which I employ four socio-anthropological theories. I begin with the tale of Jael and Sisera in Judg 4 and 5, to which I apply the concept of social space. I then compare the stories of Abimelech in Judg 9 and Jephthah in Judg 11 in light of ascribed social status. The wedding of Samson in Judg 14 forms the third study for which endogamy and the socio-economic autonomy of the household are relevant theories and I end by discussing hospitality and social distance in the eventful journey of the Levite in Judg 19. I conclude that the 'nationalizing' of these folktales by the editorial frame must nevertheless respect their familial perspective to maximize the success of Israel's identity-making.

The shepherd metaphor is used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to kings or leaders of the Israelite community. It belongs to the larger group of pastoral metaphors which are used to convey ideas about governance and politics. This is especially apparent in how the Hebrew prophets have utilized pastoral imagery in their rhetoric about politics. Specifically, the imagery occurs in Micah 2:12-13; 5:1- 5; 7:14-20; Isaiah 40:9-11; 44:24-45:7; 56:9-12; 63:7-14; Jeremiah 3:15-20; 10:19- 21; 22:18-23; 23:1-8; 25:30-38; 31:10-14; Ezekiel 34 and Zechariah chs. 10, 11, 13. This study is an analysis of these passages. It investigates the political processes depicted in the text and describes the political ideas that they express. In order to show that pastoral metaphors are powerful rhetorical devices for revealing political ideas, Chapter 1 provides a survey of metaphorical theories that are relevant to the exegesis of the shepherd texts. Particularly useful is Janet Soskice’ notion of ‘metaphorical modeling’ which leads to the overarching metaphorical assumption in the use of pastoral metaphors, that ‘Political governance is shepherding.’ New meanings are created by mapping out the structures of shepherding onto the domain of governance. Secondly, the chapter also examines the sociological background of pastoral metaphors in their wider Mesopotamian context to show that the shepherd metaphor is a political metaphor. Lastly, it explores ideas in political theology that might enhance the exegesis of the text from the perspective of politics. Particularly, the study draws upon the conceptions in political theology proposed by Oliver O’Donovan, Walter Brueggeman and Dale Launderville, who all base their theories on the notion of the ‘authority’ of God. O’Donovan suggests four organizing concepts for doing political theology, namely, salvation, judgment, possession, and praise. On the other hand, Brueggeman intimates a reading that uses the ‘politics of Yahweh vs. politics of Pharaoh’ as a paradigm. As for Launderville, he explores the idea of authority through the notion of legitimation by the gods and by the people. Each of the subsequent chapters (2-6) will offer a detailed exegetical analysis of the prophetic books containing shepherd texts. These close readings result in variety of political implications based on the interactions of three main players, Yahweh who is the owner of the flock and sometimes also portrayed as the Great Shepherd, the human shepherd, and the flock. The web of relationship and interaction of these three players affirms the centrality of the ‘authority of God’ in the politics of the shepherd texts. Moreover, five aspects of politics arise and consistently thread their way across the five chapters. Primary among these is [1] the different manifestations of the dynamics of relations of power between different entities such as: Yahweh, the Great Shepherd and the supreme king of the flock, the human shepherd-rulers who are considered as vicegerents and are under the jurisdiction of the Great Shepherd, and the flock who are subordinate to both the Great Shepherd and the human shepherd-rulers. Consequent to this notion are the following ideas: [2] the need for the human-shepherd to be attentive to divine sanction; [3] the human-shepherd as the chief redistributor of material and symbolic goods in the community; [4] the shepherd-leader, whether referring to Yahweh or to the human shepherds, as the centralizing symbol in the community; and [5] justice as a central aspect of governance within the shepherding-governance framework.

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Zugl.: @Diss. / Includes bibliographical references and index. Current philosophical issues in history writing -- Evaluating and using evidence -- Assumptions and practices of historians of ancient Israel -- In the mid-twentieth century -- Assumptions and practices of minimalist historians of ancient Israel -- Non-minimalist historians of ancient Israel.