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.

Western society is pervaded by a value system that leads to a virtually natural discrimination against women and an accompanying unbridled “right” to Earth. Dichotomies, whereby, amongst others, masculinity is prioritized over femininity, lie at the heart of these value systems. These dichotomies are underpinned by the gender ideologies in the texts of the Old Testament that are regarded as normative. The possibility that creation texts of the Old Testament contain dimensions of ecojustice was foreseen, specifically regarding the potential femininity of the god constructs in cosmological texts. The ideological values leading to the construction of certain god characters were weighed up against the six principles of ecojustice promoted by the Earth Bible series. These principles are: intrinsic value, interconnectedness, voice, purpose, mutual custodianship and resistance to exploitation. The method of body criticism was employed in analyzing the texts and exposing the values foundational thereto. Body criticism as analytical tool is based upon the findings of modern cognitive science regarding the embodiment of thought, the cognitive unconscious as well as the metaphoricity of human abstract constructs. The paradigm or model of embodied realism was construed, wherein the body is regarded as “text” reflecting the deepest values and convictions of a community. God constructs represent the ideal symbolic body of a community, a regulating body that moulds and refines the values and norms of that community. In an ecojust phenomenology of the body, including the concepts of an ideal body and god constructs, gender will function as a dynamic interactive continuum. In the exposition of the body ideology of antique Israel, the focus was placed on the Israelite regulatory body in the form of God as foundation of the patriarchal ideology of the ancient world. That ideal or regulatory body was found to be decidedly male. The body critical analysis of Genesis 1:1-2:4a exposed that cosmogony as accommodating a metaphor of a god that is clearly and pertinently male. The god construct of the first creation narrative is a rhetorical power mechanism for the confirmation of male dominance. Values inherent to the god construct leave no room for Earth as equal subject. With the possible exception of a moment of wonderment and awe in Genesis 1:31, this text does not support the principles of ecojustice. The god metaphor in Psalm 74 is strictly and brutally male. Nature and Earth and her components simply form the stage on which the male dominated cult performs. The gender values underlying the god construct in Proverbs 8 and 9 represent the typical male-female dichotomy or duality. Woman Wisdom is a rhetorical power strategy employed in the service of the male God. The god character in Job 38:1-42:6 represents a contrast with the previous god constructs since hierarchized gender constructs seem to be absent. Multi-faceted gender continuum metaphorizations safeguard the god construct against one-sided and exclusive masculinity. A god construct and cosmology that serves ecojustice is constituted by the mutual incorporation of masculine and feminine values. The metaphor of a balanced body thus construed can be utilized as starting point for the regeneration of ecojust principles. Values wherein femininity is incorporated, specifically with regards to the construction of a god character, lead to a more just attitude towards Earth. Values that lead to the construction of a god character as male, or the metaphorization of a god as exclusively and one-sidedly masculine, lead to an attitude of disregard and destructiveness towards Earth. This hypothesis was confirmed by the findings of the body critical analysis of well known and important Biblical cosmological texts. Mutual incorporation of male as well as female values should constitute the god symbols of society. A society that share the conviction of ecojustice will deconstruct traditional polarizing gender categories and gender hierarchies and replace them with concepts such as the continuum of gender, empathic absorption, mutual incorporation and reciprocal constitution. / Prof. Hennie Viviers

The focus of this thesis is on the way in which the theology of the author of the Epistle to the Ephesians is both shaped by and shapes the appropriation of OT texts and themes, especially in Eph 2:11-22. This reveals an overarching theme, not only in 2:11-22, but in the whole letter, of the Davidic scion who builds his new temple consisting of Jews and Gentiles together. The creation and growth of this new humanity is expressed using temple imagery and by appropriating OT texts that are concerned with the eschatological pilgrimage of the Gentiles to Zion. Ephesians is concerned with the transformed walking that is inherent to membership of the Messiah’s people. It is further concerned that this corporate entity should function as God’s dwelling place on earth; unity and loving relationships therefore being the burden of Ephesians’ paraenesis. This entire process is summed up at the gateway to the letter’s paraenesis in the phrase “learn the Messiah.” The discipleship thus conceived is about much more than (but not less than) individual transformation. The temple/dwelling place theme imparts a corporate dimension to growth that is crucial if the Messiah’s people are to function as they ought. This functioning is given further definition, however, by the expansionist element introduced by the temple theme and texts, as well as the framing of membership of the Messiah’s people in explicitly covenantal terms. Ephesians may thus be seen as a letter whose purpose is to induct believers into the privileges and responsibilities of the Messiah’s new humanity, to give them the self understanding that they constitute corporately the new temple and to convince them that the manner of their “walking” is the means by which the unity and integrity of God’s dwelling place is both expressed and maintained.

The text of the book of Revelation preserves examples of scriptural reuse that cohere with similar patterns of borrowing in other ancient Jewish works. This thesis describes the processes of reuse employed by Revelation's notional author (John), and places them into conversation with modes of reuse employed in other ancient Jewish texts, using Zechariah 1-8 as a test case. The design of the study has been crafted to explore these examples in a manner consistent with ancient textual composition. In the first chapter, I examine a dominant aspect of Jewish and early Christian textual culture: pluriformity. I argue that a pluriform scriptural tradition (in both Hebrew and Greek) was a controlling force that shaped the processes of scriptural reuse and, in turn, composition in this period. This analysis also delimits the possible forms of Zechariah available to ancient readers. With textual pluriformity in mind, the next chapter examines the text of Zech 1-8 preserved in John's scriptural references (Rev 5.6; 6.1-8, 9-11; 7.1; 11.4; 19.11-16). While this analysis is complicated by the author's presentation of reused material in Revelation, the evidence strongly suggests that John was familiar with a Hebrew form of Zechariah. Once John's preferred form of Zechariah is identified, the third chapter describes his techniques of reuse. This portion of the thesis consists of a catalogue and discussion of the differences in graphic representation between segments of Zech 1-8 and their instantiation in Revelation. This examination builds a set of textual data that accesses John's processes and strategies of reading. The fourth section of the thesis explores John's habits of reading as witnessed in his techniques of reuse. This section identifies features of Zech 1-8 that motivated John to engage with and alter the wording of antecedent material. Not every textual difference can be accounted for in this way, but it is evident that John is cognisant of the features of a particular form of Zech 1-8. Many of the differences between source and reuse can be explained as John's attempt to comprehend ambiguities in Zechariah. The final section of the thesis is a comparative analysis. The results of the preceding examinations of Revelation are compared to instances of the reuse of Zechariah in early Jewish literature, including works in the Hebrew Bible, the ancient versions of Zechariah, Dead Sea Scrolls, and works commonly classified as “deutero-canonical.” This analysis grounds previous observations about John's reuse in their native textual culture and acts as an historical control. The evidence suggests that John's modes of reading, reformulation, and reuse are similar to those found in other early Jewish works. The thesis concludes that scriptural reuse in the book of Revelation cannot be understood apart from the realities of textual pluriformity and the practices of scriptural reuse in Jewish antiquity. This approach suggests that John is a “scribal” expert—a careful reader of his scriptural tradition—and that his modes of reuse are conditioned by the textual culture of this period.