This dissertationis an examinationo f a two-part question. In writings from the Wisdom literature and the Apocalyptic literature, was creation tradition and theology utilized to support Israel's national identity and the ethnic and cultural boundaries which distinguishedh er from the Gentiles? In contrastt o its applicationi n coterminousJ ewish literature, did Paul (in Galatians) draw upon the same creation tradition to redefine the covenantal boundary of Israel to include a people of God made up of both Jew and Gentile? Both nationalistica nd universalistica spectsa re found in the creationt raditionso f the Hebrew Bible. Jewish writers in the pre-Pauline period utilized this creation tradition frequently,a nd in a variety of ways, to emphasizeth e electiono f Israel and underscoret he division between Jew and Gentile. Paul'sr esponseto the Galatianc risis utilized theologicala rgumentsf requently underpinnedb y creationt heologya nd imagery. Throughr eferencet o a realizeda pocalyptic eschatologyP, aul disassociatetsh e new creationf rom the eschatologicavl indication of Israel and from the observanceo f "works of the Law. " The presenceo f the Spirit is full proof of the incorporation of the Galatians into the new creation. Adam Christology becomes the means of uniting Jew and Gentile both in the fallen condition of Adam and in the single solution of faith in Christ. The world ordered by physical descent ("Jew and Gentile") has passed away, there is no "male and female. " Paul used creation imagery and creation theology to prove that the boundary which divided Jew from Gentile as the people of God was no longer valid, the very boundary which Jewish writers, through their use of creation tradition, had attempted to reinforce.

The dissertation examines the experience of the landless in the ancient Near East as expressed in the book of Lamentations. Land theology has focused on land loss but not on the people who lost it. Similarly, the interpretation of Lamentations has focused on human suffering or on God’s absence not on land loss neither on the landless. This study investigates the phenomenon of landlessness in the Near Eastern world (over the span of 6th and 7th centuries BCE) and how people reacted to such experiences. They lamented over the destruction of shrines, homes, towns and land. Land loss is a prominent feature in city laments. Lamentations relied on these kinds of lament to express the Judeans’ land loss experience. The Zion theology which had granted an unconditional blessing of protection and stability to Jerusalem and to its people, completely failed on the Babylonian invasion in 587 BCE. The ‘landless genesis’ of the nation from the period of the ancestors (Cain and Jacob) remains in the memory of Daughter of Zion and of the deported man as they lament over the loss of Jerusalem. / Theology / M. Th. (Old Testament)

The dissertation examines the experience of the landless in the ancient Near East as expressed in the book of Lamentations. Land theology has focused on land loss but not on the people who lost it. Similarly, the interpretation of Lamentations has focused on human suffering or on God’s absence not on land loss neither on the landless. This study investigates the phenomenon of landlessness in the Near Eastern world (over the span of 6th and 7th centuries BCE) and how people reacted to such experiences. They lamented over the destruction of shrines, homes, towns and land. Land loss is a prominent feature in city laments. Lamentations relied on these kinds of lament to express the Judeans’ land loss experience. The Zion theology which had granted an unconditional blessing of protection and stability to Jerusalem and to its people, completely failed on the Babylonian invasion in 587 BCE. The ‘landless genesis’ of the nation from the period of the ancestors (Cain and Jacob) remains in the memory of Daughter of Zion and of the deported man as they lament over the loss of Jerusalem. / Theology / M. Th. (Old Testament)