This thesis challenges the position that the serek texts are primarily prescriptive and legal, as they have been customarily defined. It argues that the term serek should be reconceptualized according to descriptive analysis, with the purpose of creating what C. Newsom terms a ‘Gestalt structure.’ In order to achieve this, four serek texts (M, S, Sa, and D) will be analyzed at three literary levels—semantic, textual and hypertextual—explaining how the elements at these levels interact as cohesive wholes, thus serving to create a more complete picture of this group of texts as a literary unity. Thus, while the separate, constituent semantic, textual and hypertextual parts must be analysed as separate elements, the fundamental questions posed regarding these elements will be different in a Gestalt paradigm as compared to a traditional, definitional analysis. Going from the micro to the macro, the first chapter will look at the serek texts through the ‘microscope’ of close philological analysis, examining how the term serek functions atomistically within the Dead Sea Scrolls. Building upon these results, the second chapter will more broadly analyse the structure, themes and narrative apparent in the serek texts, thus creating a fuller understanding of how the serek texts relate to one another and respond to circumstances in community life. Finally, the last chapter seeks yet more broadly to understand the serek texts in the wider literary milieu of the Second Temple Period. Here, a scribal technique present in the serek texts will be compared to a similar technique used in the Book of Isaiah—arguably the most important prophetic work for the Qumran sectarians.

This thesis challenges the position that the serek texts are primarily prescriptive and legal, as they have been customarily defined. It argues that the term serek should be reconceptualized according to descriptive analysis, with the purpose of creating what C. Newsom terms a ‘Gestalt structure.’ In order to achieve this, four serek texts (M, S, Sa, and D) will be analyzed at three literary levels—semantic, textual and hypertextual—explaining how the elements at these levels interact as cohesive wholes, thus serving to create a more complete picture of this group of texts as a literary unity. Thus, while the separate, constituent semantic, textual and hypertextual parts must be analysed as separate elements, the fundamental questions posed regarding these elements will be different in a Gestalt paradigm as compared to a traditional, definitional analysis. Going from the micro to the macro, the first chapter will look at the serek texts through the ‘microscope’ of close philological analysis, examining how the term serek functions atomistically within the Dead Sea Scrolls. Building upon these results, the second chapter will more broadly analyse the structure, themes and narrative apparent in the serek texts, thus creating a fuller understanding of how the serek texts relate to one another and respond to circumstances in community life. Finally, the last chapter seeks yet more broadly to understand the serek texts in the wider literary milieu of the Second Temple Period. Here, a scribal technique present in the serek texts will be compared to a similar technique used in the Book of Isaiah—arguably the most important prophetic work for the Qumran sectarians.

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. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Th. (Old Testament)

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.

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)