No description available.

This thesis seeks to provide a fresh perspective on the nature and function of the Old Testament Passover by considering how it shaped and transmitted Israel's collective memory. In this context, special attention is paid to the work of Jan Assman, who argues that the Ancient Near East in general and Israel in particular underwent a transition from ritual repetition to textual interpretation as the primary medium of cultural memory. This model is tested by a detailed exegesis of the Passover texts in Exodus 12-13, Deuteronomy 16 and 2 Chronicles 30 and 35. It is concluded that there is not a general tendency for text to displace rite so far as the Old Testament Passover is concerned. A better framework for understanding the distinctive contribution of each text is the relationship between ritual resemblance (mimesis) and oral or written explanation (catechesis). The thesis explores how these two features of Passover observance interact to shape Israel's memory of her past and her communal identity in the present. Exodus 12-13 portray Israel as a people belonging to YHWH by virtue of the deliverance from Egypt, Deuteronomy 16 recalls the memory of the departure from Egypt as a motivation for Torah observance and Chronicles portrays Israel as an organised cultic community gathered at the temple to petition YHWH to bring an end to national captivity. If there is a trajectory in Old Testament Passover texts it is found in the textualisation of catechesis. In the first instance the Passover's significance is explained alongside the rite itself. However, over time a developing body of authoritative texts provides an everwidening canonical context within which the Passover can be practised and interpreted. The thesis concludes by considering how its findings provide the basis for exploring other Old and New Testament themes.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / A study of the origins of any belief entails the investigation of prehistory. In the search for the earliest beginnings of the belief in life after death, it is further necessary to include a belief in God, and in man's awareness of spiritual things, since the belief in the future life is part of the whole religious consciousness of man. Man came into being so long ago that his first religious awakening is buried in the mists of earth's morning. Archaeological investigation has found the earliest knowledge of prehistoric man connected with his belief in life after death: his careful burial of the dead, with weapons, utensils and ornaments for use in the next world. Thus man's cultural development can be traced by his burial deposits. It seems proved beyond a doubt that belief in life after death was universal, and must have been part of man's consciousness, suggesting the Creation statement that he was "made in the image of God." While very little is known of any other actions or beliefs of man so long ago, it is recognized by the remains at the grave that burial entailed some kind of religious ceremony. This can be seen by the many cup-holes found at the grave sites, which suggest libation offerings, and by the easily-recognized remains of feasts held there, which may have been either funeral or memorial rites. By Chalcolithic times many tombs had vestibule entrances, often with an altar in central position. In Egypt people paid more attention to life after death and built more elaborate tombs than anywhere else in the world, and here was apparently the first distinction recognized between good and evil in the world beyond. The pictures on the walls of the early tomb-temples portray souls being weighed, and show the happy life awaiting the successful, and the dangers in store for those who fail to make the grade. After the invention of writing, development can be followed more clearly. Egyptian documents are many, dealing with life in the future world, and the incantations to insure a happy state there. Mesopotamian epics recount prolonged attempts to attain immortality, and belief in the power of gods over men. Burial rites can be read from Hittite documents. The Homeric epics incantations to insure a happy state there. Mesopotamian epics recount prolonged attempts to attain immortality, and' belief in the power of gods over men. Burial rites can be read from Hittite documents. Homeric epics tell a like tale. In far-off America such belief is found and similar rites practiced. This seems to have been a normal development, but it was not all an upward trail. In many parts of the world magic rites developed, often accompanied by human sacrifices to insure favor of gods who were placated rather than worshiped. In the midst of these people, Israel seems to have maintained a healthy interest in life on earth, with death only casually mentioned. These people were aware of the interest of the Lord, their one God, in the affairs of everyday life; the dead were "gathered to their fathers." They were often tempted into the ways of their pagan neighbors, but the prophets gave protest continually, upholding high ideals. Life after death is mentioned incidentally, which may indicate that it was a basic belief which they did not need to emphasize. Until the later writings, which may have been influenced by Persian concepts, this spirit life was but a shadowy existence. Even in the Psalms, where one would expeet a soaring of the spirit, the outlook is dismal. Sheol is a land of darkness and forgetfulness; the shades "cannot praise the Lord." In the later writings there are a few references to a happy state in the next world, but Daniel is the only prophet who speaks of a resurrection of both good and evil for judgment. The victories of the Maccabaean revolt, and the establishment of Jewish independent national life finally under the leadership of John Hyrcanus, led to a return of high hopes that the golden age prophesied for them was at hand. When the failure of the new regime frustrated their expectations, they did not lose faith in God or in their prophetic future. They lifted their expectations to a new plane. Many apocryphal references to the future of Jerusalem look to an eternal glory that is more than earthly, and an anointed leader or Messiah of superhuman qualities. The newly-discovered Dead Sea Scrolls give emphasis to the Messianic expectations. Meanwhile, in lands all over the earth men were seeking light on the next world, and some way of being assured of a good place there. Many mystery religions had developed, similar in belief: spirits both good and bad, active in both worlds; a resurrection of the god, developed from the old nature cults where winter's sleep and spring's awakening suggested a resurrection symbolism; and ceremonies to induce that god to grant a good life in the spirit world. Philosophers and astrologers also were teaching tyPes of eternal life. Such developments are evidence of the universal longing of the human heart to find some way to overcome the tragedy of death. The conquest of Alexander the Great opened the roads of the world, and brought to Palestine as well as to other nations, the contact with the Greek culture. While Greek influences were moving eastward, Oriental culture was moving toward the West. The Jewish Dispersion placed the Jews in the very center of this movement, for all varieties of thought and worship were found in Egypt where most of them were finally settled. The Pseudepigraphical writings reflect this influence, both in the Palestinian and the Egyptian books. The foreign influence is most noticeable in the conception of life after death: vivid descriptions of the horrors of hell and the glories of heaven. There is a suggestion also that a few people would find the punishment of the lower world remedial, and would later be admitted to Paradise. The Jews were discriminating in their acceptance of pagan ideas. They rejected anything that would lower their conception of the great God of both heaven and earth. He was the one and only God, over all, majestic and of great glory, but even so, never removed far from earth. He was their "Guide even unto death," and their Father who showed steadfast love to his children of earth. They looked forward to an immediate entrance at death into places prepared for them "from the foundation of the world": for the wicked, places of torment; for the righteous, heavenly glories. And they expected a Leader, God-anointed, a Messiah, who would come to earth and restore the Paradise of Eden. A final Day of Judgment would mean destruction for all that was evil, and rewards for the faithful, after which there would come from God a "new heaven and a new earth" where righteousness would prevail, and all would be joy. [TRUNCATED]

Thesis (MTh.(O.T.))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis builds upon C.H. Dodd's hypothesis that there were theologically significant textual fields in early Christian interpretation of the Old Testament. It presents Exodus 32-34 as a theologically significant field of the Old Testament Scriptures in Paul on the basis of its importance in pentateuchal priestly theology and Jewish thought, and Paul's quotations, references and allusions to it. The thesis contributes significantly to our understanding of Exodus 32-34 in 1 Corinthians 10, 2 Corinthians 3, Romans 1-2 and Romans 9. It will argue that the story of the violation and restoration of the Sinai covenant in Exodus 32-34 may have helped the apostle to substantiate his Christian convictions and to communicate them to the believers in Corinth and Rome.

No description available.

No description available.

The present study is an analysis of covenantal identity and ritual boundaries based on texts ranging from the Old Testament, the Book of Jubilees, the Dead Sea Scrolls to the New Testament. A pattern of interdependence between group identity and boundary marks is traced, and the following thesis is examined: a community's identity is reflected in boundary marks, and ritual boundaries reflect a corporate identity. By using this general principle to interpret biblical and intertestamental material a pattern emerges: when identity is defined in ethnic categories, boundaries are wide, national boundaries, when identity is defined in particularistic categories, such as priestly purity, boundaries are narrow markers of purity. When identity is changed, boundaries change. Having chosen the Old Testament covenant concept as a term for ecclesiological identity the writer demonstrates that covenantal identity changes in Palestinian Judaism not least because it narrows down and builds on the principle of law. As a result of this, ritual boundaries become narrow marks of law observance. When such an interpretation is challenged by Paul covenant is redefined. The Old Testament and intertestamental pattern of interdependence helps to explain that Paul reinterprets covenant and why old ritual boundaries are replaced. Since for Paul identity is grounded in faith in the one Christ, the ecclesiological boundary is no longer an exclusive covenant rite, such as circumcision, rather baptism is, since it serves as a rite of identification with Christ and a mark of possession of the Spirit. This reflects a radical change in ecclesiology. When Christian baptism is the boundary marker that reflects unity with Christ and serves as an inclusive rite; it simultaneously becomes the only symbol for incorporation in the one church.

No description available.

This thesis focuses on two separate, but related areas: the analysis of translation technique and the Greek texts of Daniel. Foremost in the research of Translation Technique (TT) in the Septuagint is the need for a model that is appropriate for the analysis of different ancient languages. In recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on the features of literalism in a translation, but it is argued in this thesis that the focus on literalism is inadequate as a methodology for the analysis of TT. The contention of this thesis is that the analysis of TT should incorporate insights from modem linguistic research. Therefore, the main purpose of this thesis is to develop and apply such a model to the Old Greek (CG) and Theodotion (Th) versions of Daniel. The existence of two complete Greek versions of the book of Daniel that are closely related to the same Vorlage (at least in chapters 1-3 and 7-12), furnish ideal examples for the application of the methodology. Unfortunately, it is no straightforward matter to employ the OG of Daniel, because the available critical edition can no longer be regarded as reliable. The most important witness to the OG version of Daniel is Papyrus 967, and large portions of this manuscript have been published since the appearance of the critical edition of the OG of Daniel in 1954. Therefore, in order to analyze and compare the two Greek texts of Daniel, it is necessary to evaluate all of the variants of Papyrus 967 in order to establish a preliminary critical text of OG. Once a critical text is established the proposed methodology for translation technique is applied to selected passages in the OG and Th versions of Daniel. An analysis and comparison of TT in OG and Th makes it possible to: 1) characterize the TT employed by OG and Th in detail; 2) determine Th's relationship to OG, i.e. is it a revision or independent translation; 3) demonstrate how the Greek texts can be employed effectively for textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible. On the basis of the analysis of Th's text it is also possible to determine Th's relationship to the body of works, which exhibit a close formal correspondence to the Masoretic text, known as Kaige-Theodotion.