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71	A synchronic approach to the Serek ha-Yahad (1QS) : from text to social and cultural context Skarström Hinojosa, Kamilla January 2016 (has links) The purpose of this study is to investigate the social and cultural contexts of 1QS (Serek ha-Yahad) by means of a textual study. The analysis of the text is performed in a synchronic perspective. This means that lexical choices, grammatical forms, references, topics, themes, and intertextuality are analyzed text-internally. By doing so, this study sheds new light on old questions of textual cohesion and coherence, questions that until now have been dealt with mostly from a diachronic perspective. The text analysis entails investigation in view of three interrelated dimensions of language function: ideational, interpersonal, and textual. These imply language as transmitting information, creating and sustaining relations, and functioning to organize itself into cohesive units. Although applying some of the terminology from the field of text linguistics (SFL), the focus in this study is on what a text means rather than why. This means that the semantic-pragmatic aspects of language are of foremost interest here. The analysis is performed from bottom and up, then from top down again. Words, phrases, and sentences are investigated up to the broadest linguistic level, namely, to the semantic discourse itself. With an understanding of the larger discourse at hand thanks to this analysis of textual cohesion and coherence, textual details are once again revisited and interpreted anew. In this work, 1QS is analyzed from beginning to end—chronologically, so to say. Then, at the end of each major section, the discourse is analyzed overall. Following the text analysis, conclusions of the investigations are presented. The conclusions argue that the hierarchal structure of the community and its stringent regulations are to be understood as a corrective in response to corrupt society. It is also argued that language in 1QS has a performative function. Rather than describing the way things are, it aspires to evoke the ideal society. Instead of understanding 1QS and the community mirrored in it as a deviant group with little or no contact with the surrounding world, it is then understood as a potent contribution to late Second Temple Jewish discourse concerning how to create a just society and a sanctifying cultic practice. In the final chapter, the insights gained from textual analysis of 1QS are brought into encounter with the theoretical framework posited by French historian and philosopher René Girard (1923–2015). In light of Girard’s philosophy, the hierarchal organization of the community (the Yahad) as well as its regulations can be interpreted as an effort to prevent a mimetic crisis. The function of the scapegoat in 1QS is discussed in light of Girard’s grand theory of the mechanisms of scapegoating in all societies. The study closes with the tentative hypothesis that the community in 1QS deconstructs the scapegoating mechanism by taking the role of the scapegoat upon itself. 1QS Serek ha-Yahad Serekh Yahad Text linguistics synchronic Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls Rule texts René Girard Scapegoat social context cultural context Hebrew Second Temple hierarchy mimetic violence discourse analysis discourse serek serekh covenant truth falsehood text Micah 6:8 wilderness community messianic law atone judge intertextuality allusions quote echo intertext apocalyptic Hebrew bible.
72	Understanding the Book of Job : 11Q10, the Peshitta and the Rabbinic Targum. Illustrations from a synoptic analysis of Job 37-39 Gold, Sally Louisa January 2007 (has links) This synoptic analysis of verses from Job chapters 37-39 in 11Q10, the Peshitta version (PJob) and the rabbinic targum (RJob) aims to identify the translators’ methods for handling the Hebrew text (HT) and to assess the apparent skills and knowledge brought by them to their task. Additionally, the study engages with recent discussion which challenges the nature of 11Q10 as targum. To this end, PJob and RJob provide accepted models of ‘translation’ and ‘targum’ alongside which to assess 11Q10. The following translation methods are identified, described, compared and contrasted in the three versions: selection,extension, alternative translation, expansion, substitution, adjustment of the consonantal HT, adjustment of the Hebrew word order or division, omission, and conjecture. PJob is confirmed as an attempt to transpose the difficult Hebrew of Job into Syriac. RJob is confirmed as a conservative translation with clear underpinnings in allusion to scripture and to rabbinic traditions attested elsewhere. Significant observations are made regarding an interpretative quality in 11Q10, and new light is cast on its richness and subtlety as an allusive translation. It is proposed that the translation displays deep knowledge of scripture and skill in applying this knowledge. It is further proposed that careful comparison with methods which have been identified in Onqelos is warranted. 11Q10 is identified as an important early witness to scripturally-based motifs which are also found in other intertestamental and rabbinic sources. It is argued that 11Q10’s nature suggests that its purpose was not simply to translate but to understand and subtly explicate the HT, and that it was intended for use alongside it, not as a replacement. The study refutes the categorization of 11Q10 as ‘translation’ rather than ‘targum’, and agrees with its orginal editors that its value lies in its unique witness to the early nature of targum. 223.1
73	Luke/Acts and the end of history Crabbe, Kylie January 2016 (has links) This thesis investigates how understandings of history in diverse texts of the Graeco-Roman period illuminate Lukan eschatology. Two strands of Lukan scholarship have contributed to an enduring tendency to underestimate the centrality of eschatology to Luke/Acts. Hans Conzelmann's thesis, that Luke focused on history rather than eschatology as a response to the parousia's delay, has dominated Lukan scholarship since the mid-twentieth century, with concomitant assumptions about Luke's politics and understanding of suffering. Recent Lukan scholarship has centred instead on genre and rhetoric, examining Luke/Acts predominantly in relation to ancient texts deemed the same genre while overlooking themes (including those of an eschatological character) that these texts do not share. This thesis offers a fresh approach. It illuminates the inherent connections between Luke's understanding of history and its end, and demonstrates significant ways in which Luke's eschatological consciousness shapes key themes of his account. By extending comparisons to a wider range of texts, this study overcomes two clear methodological shortfalls in current research: limiting comparisons of key themes to texts of similar genre, and separating non-Jewish from Jewish texts. Having established the need for a new examination of Luke's eschatology in Chapter 1, in Chapter 2 I set out the study's method of comparing diverse texts on themes that cut across genres. Chapters 3 to 6 then consider each key text and Luke/Acts in relation to a different aspect of their writers' conceptions of history: the direction and shape of history; determinism and divine guidance; human culpability and freedom; and the present and the end of history. The analysis shows that in every aspect of history examined, Luke/Acts shares significant features of the texts with which, because they do not share its genre, it is not normally compared. Setting Luke/Acts in conversation with a broader range of texts highlights Luke's periodised, teleological view of history and provides a nuanced picture of Luke's understanding of divine and human agency, all of which is affected in fundamental ways by his portrayal of the present time already within the final period of history. As a result, this study not only clarifies Lukan eschatology, but reaffirms the importance of eschatology for Lukan politics and theodicy.
74	Covenant (berith) in Daniel and the Dead Sea Scrolls : an exposition of Daniel 9-12 and selected sections of the Damascus Document (CD), Community Rule (1QS), Hymns Scroll (1QHA) and War Scroll (1QM) Linington, Silvia 11 1900 (has links) The following thesis comprises a systematic, synchronic study of the term בְּרִית (berîṯ, covenant) in the book of Daniel, the Damascus Document, the Community Rule (Serekhha- Yaḥad), the Hymn Scroll (Hodayot) and the War Scroll (Milḥamah). The basic text used for Daniel is the BHS, and for the Dead Sea Scrolls the Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Library, supplemented by other editions. Apart from an introduction (chapter 1), the work is divided into two sections. The second chapter begins with a discussion of some introductory matters, such as the dating and purpose of the book of Daniel. The remainder of the chapter comprises two subsections, consisting firstly of an exegesis of Daniel 9 and secondly an exposition of Daniel 10-12 with particular reference to covenant terminology. The prayer in Daniel 9 is given much space since it is replete with covenant language, though the word בְּרִית only occurs at Daniel 9:4. The main focus of the second subsection is the vision report in Daniel 11, with particular emphasis on Daniel 11:20-45 where the word בְּרִית occurs. The third chapter contains four subsections, each giving an exegesis of those parts of the Damascus Document, Community Rule, Hymn Scroll and War Scroll where the term בְּרִית occurs. Each subsection is preceded by a brief introduction to the scroll concerned, looking at such issues as the provenance and dating of the scroll without going into too much detail, and followed by a conclusion, summarising the findings in each section. While such issues as the nature of the community represented by each scroll are mentioned where appropriate, they do not form a major emphasis in this study. Throughout, particular prominence is given to specific terminology used in order to determine the authors’ theological emphases. A few terms that are related to ,בְּרִית ‘covenant’, such as חֶסֶד (ḥeseḏ ‘mercy, lovingkindness’), אָהָב (’āhāḇ; [covenant] love), אָלָה (’ālāh; ‘curse, oath’), are also included in this study at the relevant places. The conclusion (chapter 4) draws together the findings of all sections and seeks to compare the terminology used in Daniel with that of the Dead Sea Scrolls. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D. Th. (Old Testament) Covenant Berîṯ Daniel 9 Daniel 10-12 Damascus Document Community Rule Manual of Discipline Serekh-ha-Yaḥad Hymn Scroll Hodayot War Scroll Milḥamah 224.506 Covenants -- Biblical teaching Covenant theology -- Biblical teaching
75	Understanding interactive fictions as a continuum : reciprocity in experimental writing, hypertext fiction, and video games Burgess, Elizabeth January 2015 (has links) This thesis examines key examples of materially experimental writing (B.S. Johnson’s The Unfortunates, Marc Saporta’s Composition No. 1, and Julio Cortázar’s Hopscotch), hypertext fiction (Geoff Ryman’s 253, in both the online and print versions), and video games (Catherine, L.A. Noire, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Phantasmagoria), and asks what new critical understanding of these ‘interactive’ texts, and their broader significance, can be developed by considering the examples as part of a textual continuum. Chapter one focuses on materially experimental writing as part of the textual continuum that is discussed throughout this thesis. It examines the form, function, and reception of key texts, and unpicks emerging issues surrounding truth and realism, the idea of the ostensibly ‘infinite’ text in relation to multicursality and potentiality, and the significance of the presence of authorial instructions that explain to readers how to interact with the texts. The discussions of chapter two centre on hypertext fiction, and examine the significance of new technologies to the acts of reading and writing. This chapter addresses hypertext fiction as part of the continuum on which materially experimental writing and video games are placed, and explores reciprocal concerns of reader agency, multicursality, and the idea of the ‘naturalness’ of hypertext as a method of reading and writing. Chapter three examines video games as part of the continuum, exploring the relationship between print textuality and digital textuality. This chapter draws together the discussions of reciprocity that are ongoing throughout the thesis, examines the significance of open world gaming environments to player agency, and unpicks the idea of empowerment in players and readers. This chapter concludes with a discussion of possible cultural reasons behind what I argue is the reader’s/player’s desire for a high level of perceived agency. The significance of this thesis, then, lies in how it establishes the existence of several reciprocal concerns in these texts including multicursality/potentiality, realism and the accurate representation of truth and, in particular, player and reader agency, which allow the texts to be placed on a textual continuum. This enables cross-media discussions of the reciprocal concerns raised in the texts, which ultimately reveals the ways in which our experiences with these interactive texts are deeply connected to our anxieties about agency in a cultural context in which individualism is encouraged, but our actual individual agency is highly limited. 823

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