Diss. Univ. Bern, 2000.

M.A. / By means of a conditional clause al-Tawbah 9:24 implicitly states that love for the Prophet (peace be upon him, hereinafter ‘pbuh’) alongside love for Allah and ‘jihad in His way’ must be greater than affection for family and relatives, and attachment to worldly property and possessions. Various words and concepts, found in the said verse, have become the concern of commentaries (tafsīrs) on the Qur’an. For the purpose of the dissertation, ten consecutive classical tafsīrs are selected. They are those of al-Ṭabarī (d.310/922), al-Thaʿlabī (d.427/1035), al-Wāḥidī (d.468/1075), al-Baghawī (d.516/1122), al-Zamakhsharī (d.538/1143), Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d.606/1209), al-Qurṭubī (d.671/1272), al-Baiḍāwī (d.685/1286), Ibn Kathīr (d.774/1372) and Abū al-Suʿūd (d.982/1574). They cover a period spanning approximately seven centuries. For each commentary an English translation is given as well as a general discussion of the content. Authorities referred to are chronologically specified. The commentaries are compared with regard to three foci, namely reason for revelation (sabab al-nuzūl), lexical contributions and the theme ‘Love for the Prophet (pbuh)’.When focusing on sabab al-nuzūl, the reason of revelation as expressed by each of the ten mufassirs receives attention. Common trends among all of them are also indicated such as the hijrah motif, the linking of 9:24 to 9:23 in a logical and chronological way, and the multiple mentioning of discussions with the Prophet and among the people as context within which the revelation took place.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Boston University / Statement of the Problem. The dissertation is an investigation of the mixture of legend and history in the Elisha cycle in II Kings, attempting to discover to what extent the interests and life of the historic Elisha can be authenticated. The Elisha cycle is used as the basis for exploring the functions of legend and history in Biblical traditions. A secondary problem is an evaluation of the relationship between Elijah and Elisha, especially at those points where it is frequently asserted that Elisha traditions are adaptations of Elijah traditions. Procedure. The materials of the Elisha cycle are examined with respect to their present nature and possible origins through the use of form- and literary-critical methods. These traditions are grouped according to the roles which the early preservers of the Elisha materials appear to have assigned to the prophet. Three such roles are considered: 1) wonder worker; 2) cultic prophet; 3) political prophet. Elijah and Elisha traditions are compared at those points at which the prophets are associated either historically or through doublets in the traditions. Talmudic and patristic writings are examined to compare the emphases of Elisha's ministry in Kings with the aspects of Elisha's ministry which appealed to later Jewish and Christian writers. Conclusions. 1. The three roles considered prove to be the most adequate bases for comprehending the varying traditions of the Elisha cycle. 2. The role of wonder worker is derived from Elisha's role as cultic prophet. The assumption that Elisha can work wonders is based on an acceptance of him as cultic prophet and as a leader of the "sons of the prophets." J. The roles of Elisha within the tradition are best explained if it is assumed that these materials were preserved by prophetic circles, especially the "sons of the prophets." 4. The preservation of the Elisha tradition by the "sons of the prophets" resulted in an emphasis upon prophetic roles for Elisha which would cease to be characteristic of classical prophecy after Amos. 5. Elisha's stature as a prophet was not enhanced by his historic and literary relationship to Elijah. The frequently asserted superiority of Elijah as a prophet is shown to result from judgments based both on the greater excellence of the literary traditions of Elijah and on his greater importance for Judaism. An examination of Elijah's importance in Judaism shows clearly that it rests on factors other than the quality of his historic ministry. 6. In four instances of parallelism between Elijah and Elisha traditions only one instance Kings 17:17-24 parallel to II Kings 4:8-37) demonstrates clearly a transfer from Elijah to Elisha traditions. 7• The legendary aspects of those traditions which picture Elisha as political prophet are not to be discounted since Elisha's participation in the political life of the nation is conceivable for the period in question. It is shown that the settings for the political traditions in the Elisha cycle are all authentic for the general period, even though specific dates cannot be attached to all such traditions. 8. The legendary aspects of the Elisha traditions are shown to serve an historical purpose in communicating the interests and needs of those among whom these traditions were preserved. The legends are important in expanding our understanding of group prophecy in Israel in the ninth century B.C. although they do not carry us to the historic Elisha.

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Un geste accompli au cours d’une représentation théâtrale et un geste prophétique peuvent-ils se rejoindre ? Un texte dramatique peut-il avoir lui-même vocation « prophétique », dans le sens où il éveille la conscience de ses destinataires, leur montrant le chemin de la vie et de la mort ? Telle est la question au centre de cette recherche. Pour l’aborder on propose d’étudier la manière dont l’auteur dramatique suédois August Strindberg (1849-1912), un des pères du théâtre moderne, reçoit et relit dans son dernier écrit pour le théâtre, La Grand-route (1909), la prophétie de Jérémie à Tophet (Jr 7, 31.32 ; 19, 6.11.12.13.14). Proclamant la parole divine essentiellement à Jérusalem à la fin du 6ème siècle av. J. C., Jérémie est aussi envoyé par Dieu à Tophet, pour poser un acte prophétique particulier – qui unit le geste à la parole pour renforcer cette dernière : Jérémie doit briser un vase pour annoncer la destruction de Jérusalem (19,11-12). Dans le dernier drame strindbergien, un prédicateur arrive dans une ville nommé Tophet, où il reçoit un vase japonais qui devient urne funéraire. Associé à un discours critique envers les perversions d’une société matérialiste, l’objet devient signe de la fin tragique d’un homme, associée au destin de sa ville, Hiroshima. À travers l’analyse comparative de la mission des sujets, des fonctions du lieu et du vase, objet empreint de la vie humaine, la thèse traite de la relation entre théâtre et prophétie, domaines abordés utilisant l’analyse performative et les principes de la grammaire narrative et structurale. / Can a gesture made during a theatrical performance and a prophetic gesture be compared? Can a dramatic text itself have a "prophetic" vocation, in the sense that it awakens the consciousness of its audience? This is the central question of this research. To approach it, we propose to study the way in which the Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849-1912), one of the fathers of modern theatre, interprets in his last drama, The Great Highway (1909), the prophecy of Jeremiah. Proclaiming the divine word essentially in Jerusalem, at the end of the 6th century BC, the prophet Jeremiah is also sent to Tophet (Jr 7: 31.32; 19, 6.11.12.13.14), a place that alone symbolizes the perversion of the Israelites (Jr 19:1-20:2). It is here that Jeremiah is invited to perform a prophetic act, which unites gesture with words to strengthen the latter: Jeremiah must break a vessel to announce the destruction of Jerusalem. In Strindberg’s drama, a preacher arrives in a town calls Tophet, where he receives a Japanese vase in order to turn it into a funeral urn. Associated to a critical speech against a materialistic society, the object becomes a sign of a merchant’s tragic life, linked to the destiny of his hometown, Hiroshima. Through a comparative analysis, that focuses on the mission of the hero, the functions of the place and of the vase – an object imprinted of man’s life and choices, the theses addresses the relationship between theatre and prophecy. The two domains are approached through a performative analyse, but also with the help of narrative and structural grammar.

M.A. / By means of a conditional clause al-Tawbah 9:24 implicitly states that love for the Prophet (pbuh) alongside love for Allah and ‘jihad in His way’ must be greater than affection for family and relatives, and attachment to worldly property and possessions. Various words and concepts, found in the said verse, have become the concern of commentaries (tafsirs) on the Qur’an. For the purpose of the dissertation, ten consecutive ancient tafsirs are selected. They are those of al-Ṭabarī (d.310/922), al-Thaʿlabī (d.427/1035), al-Wāḥidī (d.468/1075), al-Baghawī (d.516/1122), al-Zamakhsharī (d.538/1143), Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d.606/1209), al-Qurṭubī (d.671/1272), al-Baiḍāwī (d.685/1286), Ibn Kathīr (d.774/1372) and Abū al-Suʿūd (d.982/1574). They cover a period spanning approximately seven centuries. For each commentary an English translation is given as well as a general discussion. Authorities referred to are chronologically specified. The commentaries are compared with regard to three foci, namely reason for revelation (sabab al-nuzūl), lexical contributions and interpretative approaches. As far as reason for revelation is concerned, the tradition strongly points to Hijra and the conquest of Mecca as historical orientation. The dissertation however shows that traditional material clearly reflects pre- and post-Hijra situations. Tafsirs lexically comment upon words in a variety of ways: e.g. providing synonyms, offering closely related words, providing definitions, showing the etymological origin or presenting poems to support the meaning. The interpretative approach demonstrates a practical and legal interest among commentators (mufassirs) in the case of love for Allah and His Messenger (pbuh) and an endeavour to assert the importance of 'jihad’ as expression of love for Allah and His Messenger (pbuh) and an attempt to stress the historical situation and threatening nature of the verse.

In prophet problems, two players with different levels of information make decisions to optimize their return from an underlying optimal stopping problem. The player with more information is called the "prophet" while the player with less information is known as the "gambler." In this thesis, as in the majority of the literature on such problems, we assume that the prophet is omniscient, and the gambler does not know future outcomes when making his decisions. Certainly, the prophet will get a better return than the gambler. But how much better? The goal of a prophet problem is to find the least upper bound on the difference (or ratio) between the prophet's return, M, and the gambler's return, V. In this thesis, we present new prophet problems where we seek the least upper bound on M-V when there is a fixed cost per observations. Most prophet problems in the literature compare M and V when prophet and gambler buy (or sell) one asset. The new prophet problems presented in Chapters 3 and 4 treat a scenario where prophet and gambler optimize their return from selling two assets, when there is a fixed cost per observation. Sharp bounds for the problems on small time horizons are given; for the n-day problem, rough bounds and a description of the distributions for the random variables that maximize M-V are presented.

Diss., Marburg, 2007. / Literaturverz.: S. 184-203.

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