The subject of this dissertation is the conception of congruity in the narrative of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Ps-J). A literary study of Ps-J reveals a two-part conundrum regarding congruity in the Targum. First, congruity seems to be disrupted with regard to the vertical dimension of the Targum, that is, between the Aramaic translation and its Hebrew Vorlage. This appearance of incongruity is considered below in the analysis of five cases of translation that seem to state in the Aramaic the exact opposite of what the corresponding passages state in the Hebrew. Second, congruity seems to be disrupted with regard to the horizontal dimension of the Targum, that is, within the literary boundaries of the Ps-J corpus itself. This appearance of incongruity is considered below in the analysis of twenty-two cases of contradiction that seem to emerge in the narrative as a result of the targumist’s interpretive translation and expansion of the text. On account of the apparent incongruities, two interrelated questions arise: As regards the vertical dimension, does Ps-J preserve continuity with its Hebrew Vorlage? As regards the horizontal dimension, does Ps-J itself render a coherent narrative? Addressing this query, the present dissertation offers a contribution to the study of Ps-J, and to the study of ancient Jewish literature in general, by analyzing a broad variety of passages that within the surface structure seem to disrupt narratival congruity, and, moreover, by demonstrating how these passages ultimately prove to be congruous once the targumist’s presuppositions about the narrative are taken into consideration. This dissertation hopes to show that the targumist approached the Hebrew text with a particular set of assumptions, as regards both his exegetical reading of each passage and his knowledge of interpretive tradition associated with the respective passage. These assumptions, while not always obvious, are, nevertheless, discernible in the targumic text; and it is these assumptions that carry the underlying congruity of the text that may otherwise seem fractured. Inasmuch as targumic additions are often terse, they are, in effect, often difficult to reconcile at first sight with the Hebrew Vorlage and with the broader context of the Ps-J narrative. Attention to the targumist’s assumptions, therefore, is necessary to discern the manner in which the apparently discrepant passages hang together. The presence of apparent contradictions in Ps-J also implies two characteristics about the targumist himself. First, while the targumist exegeted the Hebrew text and sought to bring clarity to ambiguity in the biblical narrative, he nevertheless had high tolerance of and exercised patience toward literary tension in the surface structure of the Aramaic text, but, to be sure, tension that is ultimately brought to resolution in the light of the targumist’s assumptions about the text. Second, the targumist maintained certain readerly expectations of his audience: he expected his audience to be able to follow his interpretive approach to the text in order to ascertain the sense of the translated and expanded text and to discern the overall coherence and logical consistency of the narrative. Reckoning with these aspects of Ps-J, this study shows how a coherent synchronic reading of a difficult narrative is possible and, indeed, necessary for a better understanding of the literary nature of an early Jewish text as well as for the understanding of the encounter a text such as Ps-J provided for its audience. / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Approaching the poem from the perspective of reception history, the present dissertation seeks to show that the Bible’s role in The Faerie Queene is far more pervasive than has usually been recognized. Rather than see the biblical material as the domain of only certain sections—notably, Book I and perhaps Books II and V—I propose that it is to be seen as a meaningful presence throughout the poem. Indeed, I will argue that it provides a previously unnoticed, unifying structure to the whole. I begin by giving a brief sketch of the Bible in Spenser’s early life. From here, I draw upon the resources of modern biblical scholarship—specifically, Childs’ “canonical approach”—to describe the way Spenser read the Bible and, consequently, the ways in which he alluded to it. I go on to discuss the notions of “typology” and “allegory,” providing the foundation for a discussion of Spenser’s reading not only of the Bible, but of the ongoing narrative of history. Then follows an exploration of the ways Spenser seeks to relate the various legacies of the Classical and biblical past to his Christian, humanist present, which culminates in a description of the Christian canon’s structuring role within the poem. This leads to a reflection on this structure’s significance through consideration of the various instances of books and of reading that occur in Book I. I then take up this theme again in Book III, in the transformation of Malbecco and in the idolatrous Tabernacle-Temple of Busirane. Drawing upon the early modern discourse concerning images and idols, I conclude with a discussion of The Faerie Queene as a unified, poetic sign pointing to the Divine Presence—a function typified in the discarded ending of Book III.

This dissertation reads the Pastoral Epistles alongside imperial propaganda, monumental inscriptions, and philosophical writings of the Roman period to determine how claims to piety (Greek: εὐσέβεια, Latin: pietas) advanced socio-political aims and reinforced cultural values and ideological assumptions among its audiences. Coins celebrating the pietas of the imperial households of Trajan and Hadrian, the honorary inscription of Salutaris in Ephesus, and the writings of Philo and Plutarch evidence that appeals to piety functioned rhetorically to naturalize hierarchies of power and social orders, recognize the honorable status of citizens, signal expertise in knowledge about the divine, and delineate insiders from outsiders. Moreover, the prevalence of appeals to piety indicates the virtue’s broad cultural currency and prestige, which was traded upon for legitimating authority. This dissertation argues that the author of the Pastorals strategically deploys piety in his attempt to negotiate an imperial situation marked by prejudicial perceptions of Christians as a foreign and seditious superstitio, to reinforce (gendered) social values, to intervene in Christian debates over the status and authority of benefactors in the ekklēsia, to build confidence in and solidarity around the legitimacy of his vision of the ideal ekklēsia, and to denigrate the beliefs and practices of rival teachers.

This dissertation explores the function of ekklēsia rhetoric in the Book of Revelation, and demonstrates its role in addressing various issues within the seven ekklēsiai and their inscribed rhetorical situation, including: the participation of eidōlothyta, the blasphemy of the so-called synagogue of Satan, and the pursuit of wealth. Contemporary reconstructions of the rhetorical situation of Revelation cast the assemblies as consolidated Christian churches and view the aforementioned issues as indicative of tensions between heretics and orthodox Christians, between church and synagogue, and/or between church and Greco-Roman society. Yet, such interpretations often reinscribe normative frameworks, the so-called parting of the ways, and obfuscate the role of imperial power. In contrast, I reconstruct the inscribed assemblies Revelation as Jewish groups from the Diaspora in Asia Minor that used ekklēsia rhetoric as well as its topoi of civic reciprocity, civic participation, and the common good to negotiate the socio-economic and political situation of Asia Minor under Rome. In order to map the ways in which the assemblies could have interacted with imperial power, I use epigraphic materials from ancient voluntary associations. Drawing from postcolonial theory, I also read the rhetorical situation of Revelation as a colonial situation and the aforementioned issues as negotiations of power, ethnic identity, and wealth.

This study examines the titles that the author of Luke's gospel uses to describe Jesus' character in relation to scriptural citations and allusions/echoes. It also thoroughly explores Luke's use and understanding of the Greek expression, o ui&d12;s &d13;vtou ' anqrwpou (Son of Man), its relationship to Fulfillment passages and its earthly and cosmological connotations. This study briefly addresses the five most commonly used names of Jesus in Luke (Lord, Teacher, Messiah, Master and Son of Man) and examines their meanings in the Old Testament. Son of Man is the most important Christological title according to Luke because, in contrast to the other titles, it is associated most often with earthly and cosmological connotations. This combination is central to Luke's Christology. In using the Son of Man in this way Luke is following its meaning in both the Old Testament scripture and in the Jewish Pseudepigrapha.

This thesis is an historical analysis of Jesus's resurrection miracles in the synoptic tradition, namely, the stories of the raising of Jairus's daughter (Mark 5:21--43 and par.) and the widow of Nain's son (Luke 7: 11--17), and the story of the exorcism of a possessed boy (Mark 9:14--29 and par.), which can be considered a raising-of-the-dead story only in the Gospel of Mark. The analysis done in this thesis differs from other analyses in that it takes seriously both the oral and written nature of the gospels and the traditions behind them. The analysis also differs in that it uses a different historical framework: it works from a position of a very high Christology, frequent communication between Christian centres, and a definite authority structure within the early Christian community from its beginning. These items all affect how one will view the control of the oral tradition, which in turn will affect how one will analyse the differences between the synoptic versions of the stories of Jairus's daughter and the possessed boy, and how one will judge the fact that the story of the widow of Nain's son is found only in Luke. In regards to the written nature of the gospels, it is argued that the primary structuring device used by the gospel authors is chiastic (concentric) in nature. To demonstrate this a new statistical method for judging chiasms has been developed. A large section of Mark (1: 12--6:46) is divided into both longer and shorter units, and then the parallels---both word and conceptual--- between each unit and all the other units are noted. This data is then not only used to judge the level of parallelism between units, but also to perform probability calculations on found chiastic structures. The demonstration of chiastic structures is useful in analysing possible redactional changes the gospel authors may have made to the Jesus tradition in order to create their chiasms. Also, because chiastic structures can impart meaning, elements that may have been added for theological reasons are also highlighted. The result of both the oral and chiastic analyses is a completely new methodology for judging the historicity of the Jesus tradition.

No description available.

Judges 5 contains the Song of Deborah, a hymn celebrating the Israelite victory over Canaanite Hazor. Of the ten tribes called, only five responded. Why did five tribes "remain in the hills"? This thesis proposes Patron-Clientism as a socio-economic model for explaining this breach in Israelite solidarity. Patron-Clientism stresses that social ties must exist between non-cognate societies before economic exchange can occur. All five aberrant tribes had all migrated out from the central highlands into regions which were geographically and demographically hostile. These tribes found themselves residing as aliens within areas of Canaanite dominance. However, through fictive and sacral kinship the northern and trans-Jordan tribes had established the social matrices necessary to protect themselves against social and economic exploitation among their stronger Phoenician and Canaanite neighbors. These "border tribes" farthest from the Israelite central tribes could now enjoy economic benefits from their non-Israelite patrons. But these same tribes had also maintained social ties with their Israelite kin. When the war with Hazor began, these five tribes faced polarized obligations to both Israelite and Canaanite patrons. Unable to satisfy duties to both patrons, these tribes chose neutrality. This choice protected them from immediate reprisals, but consequences to their dichotomous Patron-Clientism would continue well into the Monarchic Period. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-08, Section: A, page: 3162. / Major Professor: John Priest. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This dissertation examines the interpretation of the story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany in the West from the earliest telling to the early sixteenth century. It begins by exploring the biblical texts from which later understandings were drawn. After examining the interpretations of two early Greek commentators, it traces the emergence of a paradigmatic way of telling about the characters in the patristic period. This paradigm dominated the medieval West, and was first challenged seriously when the Renaissance humanists began returning to the sources in the second decade of the sixteenth century. / Fully developed, the paradigmatic story of the Bethany family shaped the description of the characters, the narrative, and the application of the story to the life of the faithful. Dominating the medieval paradigm was the combination of Mary of Bethany with two other characters from the Gospel accounts: Mary Magdalene and the unnamed woman of great sin. In its fully developed form, the paradigm elaborated the character of this conflated Mary and enhanced her importance, correspondingly reducing the importance of Martha and Lazarus. Lessons drawn from the conflated figure know as Mary Magdalene concerned Mary as an example of the Christian penitent and a sign of the power of grace to convert even the most craven of sinners. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: A, page: 2424. / Major Professor: Walter Moore. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

In this dissertation I study the composition and reception of the Acts of Paul. Scholars often work on the assumption that the Acts of Paul was composed as a whole in the mid- to late second century, and on the basis of this assumption, a diverse group of manuscripts and traditions has been attributed to the Acts of Paul and its hypothetical reconstruction. To critique this practice, I study the traditions attributed to the Acts of Paul, using comparative and historical-critical arguments to identify and evaluate its discreet units. I argue that the manuscripts attributed to the Acts of Paul, rather than providing partial attestation to an early whole, may be better explained as evidence that various compositions and collections occurred under the title "Acts of Paul." / The argument has two parts. In the first part, I analyze traditions that circulated both independently and in at least one of the manuscripts with the title "Acts of Paul," considering each tradition separately: the Martyrdom of Paul in chapter 1, 3 Corinthians in chapter 2, and the Acts of Paul and Thekla in chapter 3. Among other methods, I use comparison with different genres to highlight each text's particularities. The function of these chapters is to exhibit the diverse and composite character of Acts of Paul. / The second part discusses attestation to the Acts of Paul. Chapter 4 discusses the earliest manuscripts that use the title " Acts of Paul," introducing additional acts and reconsidering the texts from chapters 1-3. Then chapter 5 asks how the earliest references to the Acts of Paul relate to what may otherwise be inferred from the extant manuscripts. I conclude that at least three distinct narrative sequences used the title "Acts of Paul" and that collections of "Acts of Paul" varied geographically and chronologically.