Thesis advisor: David S. Vanderhooft / The book of Haggai emerged from a dispute in the early Persian period over the propriety and feasibility of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem in 520 BCE. As a record of that dispute, the book is a rhetorical artifact that displays a variety of strategies designed to persuade the Yehudite community that Yhwh wanted his house rebuilt. Theological and socioeconomic objections and obstacles to reconstruction had to be overcome before the Yehudites would accept Haggai’s call to rebuild. This dissertation argues that although some of the Yehudite community accepted Haggai’s claim that Yhwh wanted his temple built, others remained unpersuaded, fearing that the adverse agricultural and economic conditions, as well as the lack of a royal builder, were signs that Yhwh was not ready to begin the period of restoration. The oracles and narrative portions of the book are intended to counter these fears by arguing that Yhwh will provide for the adornment of the temple, bring prosperity to Yehud once the temple is built, and has already designated the Davidide Zerubbabel as the chosen royal builder. Haggai further strengthened commitment to reconstruction by vilifying those Yehudites who failed to support the temple as unclean and non-Israelite. Rhetorical analysis illumines not only particular features of the text but also indicates what theological and socioeconomic sources of opposition to temple reconstruction were most important in this period. This sheds further light on the socioeconomic conditions of early Persian period Yehud. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

<p>The first-person Hebrew narrative of the Persian courtier sent to be governor of Judah, the "Nehemiah Memorial" (or NM: Neh 1-2:20; 3:33-7:3; 13:4-31), is a crucial text for understanding how elements within ancient Judaism conceived of their relationship to the Persian Achaemenid Empire, which ruled over Judah from the 6th to the 4th centuries BCE. This dissertation investigates NM via the issue of genre. Scholarship on NM in recent years has reached an impasse on this topic, suggesting that NM resists identification with any one genre. Newer developments in genre theory, however, offer resources for understanding genre not simply as a classificatory matter but also as a malleable relationship between writers and readers that can be exploited for rhetorical effect. NM makes use of two main genres: a "foreign court narrative" (cf. Daniel, Esther, and the Joseph narrative) slowly transforms into a biographical inscription or "official memorial", a genre attested throughout the ancient Near East. The subtle combination of these different genres suggests that Nehemiah's pious advocacy for his people and his city carries over from his role as Judean courtier before the Persian king to his role as governor over the Persian province of Judah. It also, however, ultimately underscores the ideological incompatibility of these genres, just as the goals of the subversive courtier at the mercy of the Persian king are at odds with the goals of the governor representing that king. Early readers of NM responded to these contradictions. A literary investigation of Ezra-Nehemiah reveals that editors of that book incorporated Nehemiah's story, but subtly corrected it, whether by reframing his actions in terms of the work of community as a whole and the Torah (Neh 10, Neh 12:44-13:3) or by contrasting him to the superior reformer Ezra (Ezra 7-10). The book of Ezra-Nehemiah thus mutes the signals sent by NM's use of genre indicating that the authority for Nehemiah's reforms, which were essential to Jerusalem's restoration, derived not from Israelite tradition or from the will of the people, but from the power of Judah's imperial masters.</p> / Dissertation

The primary question that this dissertation seeks to answer is, “How might we characterize the narrative depiction of Esther’s political involvement in the affairs of the Persian state?” Many scholars have tried to answer this question with regard to how typical or exceptional Esther is vis-à-vis portrayals of other biblical women: Does Esther represent an aberration from gender norms or an embodiment of male patriarchal values? The project undertaken here is to challenge the way in which the entire question has been framed because underlying it is a set of problematic assumptions. The results of the question framed thus can only lead to more interpretive difficulties, either denying the commonalities between Esther and other biblical women, or ignoring the dynamics at play when the very same descriptions are used of men. In addition, the reliance on these two categories has provided a kind of self-perpetuating logic so that scholarship about men and women and their respective roles tends to replicate two separate and divided spheres within academic discourse. This dissertation begins with a review of scholarship on Esther. Many scholarly assessments of her, whether they see her as typical or exceptional, rely on problematic assumptions; yet within the body of scholarship on Esther there were also a number of insights that suggest a more nuanced approach to evaluating her character. One problem of dichotomous assessments of Esther is that they rely on an assumption of gendered and separate public and private spheres for men and women respectively, a construct that suffers from a number of theoretical issues. In addition to the general problems with this language, the portrayal of Esther as a politically powerful and persuasive woman connects her to a wide variety of biblical literature, suggesting that she is not the exceptional figure that some have claimed but deeply embedded within a tradition. Moreover, the role that familial and kinship relationships and metaphors play in structuring political life opens up the historic possibility that women may have participated in the political arena, depending on their own family dynamics. None of the evidence regarding Persian women—Esther’s narrative portrayal, Greek historiography on Persian royal women, or indigenous Persian sources—provide any reason to assume that women were categorically confined to a private sphere. Thus, this dissertation proposes a movement away from the discourse on public and private, thereby opening up the historic possibility for women’s participation in the political role of royal counselor. / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

The objective of this research project is to build a sound defense of the hypothesis that Genesis 22, the story of the testing of Abraham, functioned in Persian Period Judah to benefit the systematic socio-religious reforms implemented by Ezra the priestly scribe. It is argued in this dissertation that the “Book of the Law” Ezra read to the Temple community is a version of the Pentateuch, which under Ezra’s care had become the holy writ of Judaism. Based on Ezra’s scribal abilities, priestly status, royal commission to teach God’s Law to the people of the Trans-Euphrates Satrapy, and his impetus to reform the apostate Temple community, it is argued that Ezra is the final redactor of the Book of the Law of Moses. Being deeply immersed in the Pentateuch, it is most likely that Ezra would have used the narrative material in the corpus that would best effect socio-religious reform. It is shown in this dissertation that there could be no better text than Genesis 22 to instill that ideology in the apostate Temple community. It is further postulated that Genesis 22 would have been used at that time to instill in the apostate members of that community a sense of reverence for God, obedience to the tenets of the Book of the Law, which overwhelmingly advocates a lifestyle of socio-religious separateness. It is also argued that embracing that ideology was paramount to the survival of the Temple community as a distinct religious entity in the Persian Empire, as well as to regaining their autonomy over the Land. A redaction critical analysis, an examination of key words and phrases, a consideration of separateness as the ideology of the postexilic period, and a study on cultic reform in Ancient Israel are used to support the argument that Genesis 22 was used to impact the wayward fifth-century Jews. Furthermore, it is shown that divine testing, the fear of God, covenant, and socio-religious separateness expressed in the Abraham cycle (all of which culminate in Genesis 22) are the main concerns of Ezra, making the narrative an indispensable didactic in the reform and indoctrination of the apostate elders, priests and Levites of the Jerusalem Temple community. It is shown that Abraham’s demonstration of utter reverence and radical obedience to God’s directives would have best set the standard of the God fearing Jew at that time. Having apparently lost their identity as the people of Yahweh, whose original vocation it was to bless the nations with the revelation of the one true God of creation and his Law, it has been argued in this dissertation that Genesis 22 would have been used in the effort to restore that identity to the Temple community in the fifth-century reform movement.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study postulates a unifying rhetorical function for the book of Lamentations during the Persian period. After the destruction of the temple in 587 BCE, the people of Judah were geographically scattered and religiously and culturally fragmented. Lamentations, with its ahistorical, timeless character, its acrostic form, its posture of protest, and its totalizing references to all the different classes and groups of Judahites, became a rallying point for Jews seeking restoration after the exile, as well as a perpetual reflection on YHWH’s role in human suffering for oppressed Jews in many places and at many times through history. The historical component of this study seeks to establish the fragmentation of Judah and the goals of the various Judahite groups during the Persian period. The literary component attempts to demonstrate Lamentations’ suitability as a portable, timeless expression of suffering before YHWH, and as a source of imagery and motivation for Jewish restoration hopes. This study contributes to the understanding of the formation of Jewish identity, which since the destruction of the first temple has been shaped by minority status in nearly every cultural context, and by the evolution of a portable, textual religion. This study concludes that the preservation of the book of Lamentations was both a reflection of and a contribution to these two aspects of Jewish identity. This study also contributes to the interpretation of Lamentations—and the genre of communal lament—as literature and liturgy. It also explores the possibility of literary connections between Lamentations, Isaiah 40-55, and the genre of penitential prayers. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie postuleer ‘n verenigende retoriese funksie vir die boek Klaagliedere gedurende die Persiese periode. Na die vernietiging van die tempel in 587 vC was die inwoners van Juda geografies versprei en godsdienstig en kultureel gefragmenteer. Klaagliedere se ahistoriese en tydlose karakter, die akrostiese vorm, die geneentheid tot protes, en die totaliserende verwysings na al die verskillende klasse en groepe van Judeërs, het ‘n aanhakpunt geword vir Jode wat heropbou na die ballingskap nagestreef het, asook vir die voortgaande nadenke by onderdrukte Jode in baie plekke en tye deur die geskiedenis, oor Jahwe se rol in menslike lyding. Die historiese komponent van hierdie studie probeer die fragmentering van Juda gedurende die Persiese periode vasstel, asook die doelwitte van die verskillende groepe in Juda. Die literêre komponent poog om te illustreer dat Klaagliedere uitermate geskik was as oordraagbare, tydlose uitdrukking van lyding voor Jahwe, en dat dit ‘n bron van verbeelding en motivering vir die Joodse heropbou-hoop was. Die studie dra by tot die verstaan van die vorming van Joodse identiteit wat sedert die vernietiging van die eerste tempel sterk beïnvloed is deur hul minderheidstatus in byna elke kulturele konteks, maar ook deur die ontwikkeling van ‘n oordraagbare, tekstuele godsdiens. Hierdie studie kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die bewaring van die boek Klaagliedere beide ‘n nadenke oor en ‘n bydrae tot hierdie twee aspekte van Joodse identiteit was. Die studie maak ook ‘n bydrae tot die interpretasie van Klaagliedere—asook die genre van gemeenskaplike klag—as literatuur en liturgie. Dit ondersoek ook die moontlike literêre verhoudings tussen Klaagliedere, Jesaja 40-55 en die genre van boetepsalms.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sergio Aguiar Montalvao.pdf: 4155492 bytes, checksum: a213811f014ea7757553427efbefe028 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This doctoral thesis aims to present what came to be built through the Solomon s First Temple Imaginary, which many people still believe in the nowadays that it is factual. However, the Temple as presented in the Hebrew Bible never existed, because no more than an annex king s palace; it s also not factual the myths circulating the kings David and Solomon, which were not as grand as the Hebrew Bible points. Nevertheless, on two occasions in the history of Judah, the Deuteronomist Revolution and the Return of the Captivity, the Temple had a centralizating function and required many founding myths to legitimize it. With such myths, the people who were near the Temple felt more part of the House of Yahweh for believing participate of a plan established by the Creator of the Universe and all the stories invented and developed by the Deuteronomist and the Priestly gave them greatest joy and hope. What happened in fact was the king s power legitimacy in the context of Deuteronomist Reform and the priest s power in the return of the Captivity in the early Persian period. As for the post-exile, for being a more recent period, is greater amount of elements that characterize the stimulation of popular imaginary regarding the First Temple than in the period of the Deuteronomist Reform, despite the latter being period of prosperity for the Kingdom of Judah / A presente tese de doutorado visa apresentar o que veio a ser construído através do imaginário sobre o Primeiro Templo de Salomão, o qual muitas pessoas ainda acreditam nos dias de hoje que seja factual. Entretanto, o Templo, conforme o apresentado na Bíblia Hebraica, jamais existiu, pois não passava de um anexo do palácio do rei; tão pouco são factuais os mitos que circulam em torno dos reis Davi e Salomão, que não foram tão grandiosos quanto a Bíblia Hebraica aponta. Apesar disso, em dois momentos da História de Judá, na Revolução Deuteronomista e no Retorno do Cativeiro, o Templo teve uma função centralizadora e necessitava de diversos mitos fundantes para ser legitimado. Com tais mitos, o povo que estava próximo ao Templo sentia-se mais parte da Casa de Yahweh por acreditar fazer parte de um plano estabelecido pelo Criador do Universo e todas as histórias inventadas e elaboradas pelo Deuteronomista e pelo Sacerdotal lhes davam maior alegria e esperança. O que houve, de fato, foi a legitimação do poder do rei, no contexto da Reforma Deuteronomista, e do poder do Sacerdote, no retorno do Cativeiro, no começo do Período Persa. No pós-exílio, por ser um período mais recente, encontra-se maior quantidade de elementos que caracterizam o estímulo do imaginário popular sobre o Primeiro Templo do que no período da Reforma Deuteronomista, apesar deste último ser um período de prosperidade para o Reino de Judá