This thesis is a critical edition of the Judaeo-Arabic commentary on the book of Lamentations by the tenth century Karaite Salmon Ben Yeruham. The edition of the text is based on four manuscripts and nine fragments. Two manuscripts and all the fragments are in the British Museum. The third and the fourth manuscripts are housed one in the Bibliothèque National in Paris and the other in the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. It has been possible to examine all the manuscripts and fragments with the exception of the New York manuscript which was available only on microfilm. The present edition has taken manuscript A (B.M. Or. 2516) as its main text because it is a complete copy compared with the others. The edition is prefaced by an introduction comprising a discussion of the data we possess about the commentator's life with references to his works in general and of the authenticity of the authorship of this work in particular. This is followed by an analysis of the commentary, discussing the method used by Salmon, the Karaite theology presented by him and its relationship to Mu'tazilite views. There follows a descriptive linguistic study of the text, investigating the relationship of its language to the characteristics of other Judaeo-Arabic texts on the one a hand, and to Classical Arabic on the other. Next, there is a description of the manuscripts and fragments, followed by detailed notes in which is I presented the relationship between Salmon's text and translation of Lamentations presented on the one hand, and the Massoretic Text, the Septuagint the Peshitta and Saadiah Gaon's Arabic version on the other.

This thesis shows that the incarnation of Jesus Christ is an ever present reality for St. John. Christ's abiding presence is known to those who are committed to him because he is their Saviour and Lord. This presence is especially real when his disciples, the believers, the Church gather for worship. In the eucharist, which is an act of worship, the meaning and purpose of the incarnation becomes apparent for St. Paul. By showing that aspects of John's understanding of the incarnation co-incide with the early Church's doctrine of eucharist (as portrayed by St. Paul) the conclusion is reached that we have eucharistic allusions in the gospel of John. Furthermore, John presents Jesus in contrast to the Old Covenant. Jesus supersedes the Old Covenant and establishes the new covenant of love. Just as the Old Covenant was celebrated in the Passover, so the eucharist re-enacts the new covenant. By alluding to the old sacrament, John shows how the eucharist fulfils the true meaning of Passover. After a brief examination of existing methodologies, I present the working hypothesis for this dissertation as outlined above. In a fairly detailed exegesis of Jn 6 (with digressions to other relevant passages in John) which is divided into three sections (In 6:1-21 6:22-48, 6:49-71), I have tried to show that John sees the eucharist as a celebration which emphasises the community of the church, which re-enacts God's great demonstration of love (typified especially in the death of Jesus) and which foreshadows that great heavenly banquet, when, all will be gathered to him. I reach the conclusion therefore that we are justified in finding allusions in the eucharist in the gospel of John.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The aim of this study is to extract the world vision underlying 1 Peter, and to give an account of the competing frameworks of thought active in the text. A semiotic literary method, devised by Wolmarans (1994), was used to supply answers to the following questions: Why was the letter written? Against what type of socio-historical situation does the letter react? What alternatives does 1 Peter supply? How is the reader moved to alternative attitudes, views and actions? The letter was subdivided into smaller analytical units and analysed in two basic steps, namely a structural analysis and a pragmatic (or transactional) analysis. The structural analysis included a syntactic and semantic examination, and a representation of the unit in a logical form. The pragmatic analysis included remarks on the epistle's communicative strategy, a description of the unacceptable practical situation, the actual textual world, and a description of how the text wants the world to be, the alternative textual world. An account is also supplied of the ways in which the implicit reader is moved from the actual textual world to the alternative possible world by means of transuniversal relations. The application of the method resulted in a new interpretation of the descent of Jesus into Hades (3:19; 4:6). It is argued that its function was to proclaim final punishment to the fallen angels of the Noah tradition and the souls of the wicked humans in the time of Noah. 1 Peter 4:6 is translated and interpreted in a novel way as: "For this reason Jesus proclaimed himself to the dead, in order that they may be judged for living according to human principles in the flesh, and in order the [the living] may live according to the principles of God in the spirit. The reason why the epistle was written is found in an oppressive social environment. The heads of households oppressed their slaves and wives verbally as well as physically, while Christians in general experienced verbal oppression in a heathen environment. Generally, an absence of brotherly love is experienced in Christian communities, as well as authoritarian styles of leadership. The epistle therefore supplies an alternative way of coping with an oppressing reality. It also calls to a strong and imminent eschatological vision, retains but reinterprets social relations in the household in more humane terms, and uses the shepherd flock metaphor to reinvent relations of authority in Christian communities. Strategies used in the epistle to persuade its implicit readers, is Messianic-eschatological reinterpretation of Old Testament texts, the words of Jesus, some Pauline traditions, analogical arguments (especially viewing Christians as resident aliens) and topoi, for example that no one would ill treat somebody who acts good. The epistle is dated around 90-95 AD and viewed as pseudepigraphic.

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When the liberative paradigm of the Bible is given a privileged position in the South African context, then it can function as a tool from which the prophetic church can glean resources. The heart of this thesis, therefore, endeavours to provide a biblical resource for the church in South Africa whose prophetic vision has become dormant in a context where socioeconomic dilemmas are structurally based. This resource is created from the prophetic book of Hosea which has traditionally been treated in isolation from any socioeconomic issues. However, this dominant interpretation of the book of Hosea has been challenged in recent scholarship with favourable results, especially in combination with interdisciplinary approaches. The theoretical framework of Vital Theology has therefore been employed with its interdisciplinary approach, and integrated with a biblical methodology. Focusing on the marriage-harlotry metaphor of Hosea, this thesis demonstrate that a socio-historical and literary reading of the metaphor can provide the church with a prophetic vision to address socioeconomic dilemmas in South Africa, fifteen years after democracy. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

Many may have noticed that Paul employs large number of passages from the book of Isaiah in his various Epistles. Some of those Isaianic texts are used as explicit citations whilst others are used in a more nuanced manner such as allusions and intertextual echoes. Yet, in spite of the importance of Isaiah in Paul’s letters and the centrality of Paul’s vocation as an apostle to the Gentiles in Paul’s life, no specialized study of the relationship between these two significant aspects has appeared to date. More specifically, amongst those who notice the significance of Isaiah in Paul’s Epistles, it has been widely held that Paul identifies himself with the Isaianic Servant in the way that he sees himself as the fulfilment of the Isaianic Servant. The present study seeks to explore how Paul reads Isaiah as reflected in Galatians, Romans, and 1 and 2 Corinthians, four of his undisputed authentic letters, where explicit citations and clear allusions are detected. It is not so much a study of the mechanics of citation or allusion per se as of seeing Paul as a reader and interpreter of the scriptural text. Special attention is paid to the interplay of Paul’s reading of the Isaianic texts, the role of the servant figure portrayed in Isaiah 40-66, and his understanding of Jesus as well as his own Gentile mission in the light of Isaiah. Based on a slightly modified model set out by Richard Hays, the study proceeds by looking at some of the major instances of Paul’s using of Isaianic texts within the larger literary contexts, both in Isaiah and in the flow of Paul’s argument. The goal of the study is fourfold: First, to see whether Paul’s use of these ancient texts is ‘atomistic’, taken the text out of context and applied it to his argument to serve his own purpose or given consideration of the wider context of the original text. Second, to explore how Paul reads Isaiah in the light of his special called ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles, and how the reading of the scriptural text provides him insights to God’s ongoing salvific work in the history of Israel and the person of Jesus. Third, to clarify Paul’s sense of identification with the Isaianic servant figure in relation to the ministry of Jesus and his own mission; and finally, how Paul views the Gentile mission in which he is involved in relation to the final salvation of Israel and humanity. Particular attention has been paid to Paul’s identification of the Isaianic Servant. It has been argued that he sees Jesus as the eschatological fulfilment of the Isaianic Servant. Jesus’ death and resurrection established the foundation of hope and provided a paradigm for his apostolic existence. He sees himself as the Isaianic servant in the sense that he lives a life in total identification with that of Christ, who, though experiences suffering and death, will be vindicated eventually by God.

This thesis is a contribution to the research of media discourse. During the last decades the media landscape has changed dramatically. These changes have been especially evident in German TV programs and the rise of private TV channels. The purpose of this thesis is to explore some of these changes more thoroughly, focusing on the live TV coverage of three soccer matches during the Soccer World Cups of 1974 and 2006 in Germany. The major research question is how these commentaries changed over the years. The thesis analyses how the reporters describe the players, the team and the coach, as well as the sport and the match itself. The relationships between the reporters and their respective audiences as well as the changing functions of the reporters are subsequently examined. The methodological approach used is Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2001; Fowler 1985; van Dijk, 2001). It provides a framework that allows analysing of language in its cultural and social context. Hence, discourse is seen as “language as a form of social practice” (Fairclough, 2001, p.18). Cultural and social contexts as well as extralinguistic factors such as images and sounds are also considered part of the discourse. The overall results indicate that in 2006 soccer has taken on greater importance in the lives of the audience. Live broadcasts of soccer matches have turned more and more into spectacles. This has led to phenomena such as the media’s growing preoccupation with entertainment (“infotainment”). Besides that, an increased presence of the ‘private’ in the public sphere can be discerned. In conclusion, this thesis identifies five principles prevalent in current live media broadcasts: commercialization, individualization, emotionalization, identification, and globalization. Even though some of these principles had already begun to emerge in the 1974 broadcast, their presence in 2006 attests to their increased importance in the German media landscape over time.

This thesis is a contribution to the research of media discourse. During the last decades the media landscape has changed dramatically. These changes have been especially evident in German TV programs and the rise of private TV channels. The purpose of this thesis is to explore some of these changes more thoroughly, focusing on the live TV coverage of three soccer matches during the Soccer World Cups of 1974 and 2006 in Germany. The major research question is how these commentaries changed over the years. The thesis analyses how the reporters describe the players, the team and the coach, as well as the sport and the match itself. The relationships between the reporters and their respective audiences as well as the changing functions of the reporters are subsequently examined. The methodological approach used is Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2001; Fowler 1985; van Dijk, 2001). It provides a framework that allows analysing of language in its cultural and social context. Hence, discourse is seen as “language as a form of social practice” (Fairclough, 2001, p.18). Cultural and social contexts as well as extralinguistic factors such as images and sounds are also considered part of the discourse. The overall results indicate that in 2006 soccer has taken on greater importance in the lives of the audience. Live broadcasts of soccer matches have turned more and more into spectacles. This has led to phenomena such as the media’s growing preoccupation with entertainment (“infotainment”). Besides that, an increased presence of the ‘private’ in the public sphere can be discerned. In conclusion, this thesis identifies five principles prevalent in current live media broadcasts: commercialization, individualization, emotionalization, identification, and globalization. Even though some of these principles had already begun to emerge in the 1974 broadcast, their presence in 2006 attests to their increased importance in the German media landscape over time.

The pnmary purpose of this dissertation is to define the function of Psalm 90 and its relationship with regard to adjacent psalms. Keeping this purpose in mind, the dissertation is composed of two main parts. The first part deals with textual notes, structural analysis, the date of the psalm and the possible situation it arose from, and then an attempt is made about the function of the psalm. Concerning the structural analysis, this study reveals that the psalm forms a unity in contrast to the views of Muller and Zenger who have argued for the division of the psalm into two parts. The function that the psalm has within itself is to appeal to Yahweh to intervene in the dilemma the psalmist was facing in the exilic or postexilic situation. However, since the psalm itself does not hint at any clue as to what the actual situation for the appeal was, the study is extended to the examination of the canonical perspective with regard to adjacent Psalms 89 and 91. This consists of the second part, and here Psalm 90 is compared to Psalms 89 and 91 in terms of lexical, thematic, and structural aspects. The study of this part shows that Psalm 90 forms close links with the lament section of Psalm 89 (vv. 39-51) as well as Psalm 91, and the conclusion suggests that Psalm 90 should be interpreted in the light of Psalm 89, thus reflecting the destruction of the Davidic dynasty described in Psalm 89. Concerning the relationship between Psalms 90 and 91, the latter serves as an answer to the former in order to persuade the readers that Yahweh 1s a refuge to those who seek security and protection from him. / Old Testament / Th. M.(Old Testament)

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