Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This dissertation examines the roles Edom played in the Hebrew Bible. The oracles against the nations included in the prophetic books anticipate the complete destruction of the Edomites by Yahweh and connect that destruction to the divine plan for the restoration of Israel. The goal of the dissertation is to determine how Edom became cast in this role. The approach of this study is first to review the archaeological data that have been used to recreate Edom's history. Early research was biased by a desire to fit the results to the Hebrew Bible. Evaluation of the data shows the close development of these two nations. It also reveals an Edomite presence in the Negev late in the monarchy and during the restoration after exile. The place of Edom in the biblical "histories" is analyzed. I then show how the oracles against Edom transform motifs introduced in the histories, such as the theophany from Sier. Edom was held responsible for participating in the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 587 B. C. E. This event created a theological crisis since Edom was spared and Israel was destroyed. This crisis was dealt with in the oracles against Edom by anticipating that Edom will be eliminated. I conclude that Edom is remembered by Israel as unique amongst the nations. The postexilic period produces oracles against Edom to assist the community to deal with the difficulties of restoration. As the oracles move toward the apocalyptic, the divine plan includes the destruction of Edom. / 2031-01-01

This dissertation examines the role of musical training in scribal education and its implication for Ben Sira’s pedagogy. Chapter One surveys the scholarship regarding the function of hymns in the book of Sirach and their role in Ben Sira’s pedagogy. I contend that answers to the former has been too textually oriented, and the latter has discounted the pedagogical value of hymns. I propose that one should take seriously Ben Sira’s command for his students to sing and the predominance of hymns in the book as indicative of the education he provided. I suggest that a comparative study with ANE and Greco-Roman education models and hymns from the Dead Sea Scrolls will accentuate the role of hymnody in ancient education. Chapter Two, “Singers of Wisdom in the Ancient Near East and Greco-Roman World,” explores the role of music in scribal education in the ancient world in general. In particular, I examine the evidence for scribal training in songs in Old Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian scribal practices, the use of chanting and “verse points” in scribal singing in Ancient Egypt, and the equation of musical acumen with education in fifth-century Athens. Utilizing Hadot’s concept of “spiritual exercises” in philosophical schools, I suggest that hymnody as a pedagogical tool for sophists and presocratic sages provides a helpful model for songs in Ben Sira’s pedagogy. Chapter Three, “Singers of Wisdom in Israel and the Second Temple Period” narrows the exploration of music in ancient education to ancient Israel. This chapter utilizes music archaeology and a close textual analysis of the Hebrew Bible and Dead Scrolls. Particularly important is the predominance of the lyre and double-pipe in Iron Age II and the Greco-Roman period and the emergence of the Levites as singers and teachers in the Second Temple period. This tradition of singing teachers carries over in the Dead Sea Scrolls in the office of the maskil and allusions to singing teachers in the Teacher Hymns of the Hodayot. Chapter Four, “Ben Sira as a Singer of Wisdom” turns to Ben Sira’s construction of the teacher in which the depiction of the scribe as a singer is quite pervasive. I explore the implications behind Ben Sira’s command for the reader to sing with a lyre and stringed instruments in Sir 39:15, the allocation of praise to the wise in Sir 14:20-15:10, and the touting of his prophetic authority in the wisdom hymn in Sirach 24. These passages have much in common with the singing office of the maskil, the Teacher Hymns in the Hodayot, the Levitical scribes in Chronicles, and the scribal depiction of David in Sir 47:8-10 and 11Q5. These parallels suggests that Ben Sira is drawing on a common model of the teacher in the Second Temple period. I also demonstrate the possibility that the hymn in Sir 39:12-35 functioned as a school exercise whereas the hymn in Sirach 24 functioned as a public demonstration of Ben Sira’s wisdom in order for him to attract new followers/students. Chapter Five, “Singing Teachers, Singing Students,” explores the role of hymns in the composition and reception of the book of Sirach. I contend that the Hymn to Creation (42:14-43:33) and the Praise of the Ancestors (44:1-50:24) function teleologically and are mosaics of terms from previous passages in Sirach. Whereas the Hymn to Creation represents the composition of a new hymn by Ben Sira’s disciples based on older hymns, the latter is an imaginal liturgy that influenced later Jewish poetic traditions, particularly the ʿAvodah poetry, through its performance in a festival setting. The continued use of hymns by Ben Sira’s students also explains the additional hymns and colophons in Sirach 51, particularly in MS B from the Cairo Genizah, in which the Hymn of Divine Names in Sir 51:12a-o utilizes the Amidah. Chapter Six, “Did Ben Sira Sing in Class” offers a concise conclusion to my dissertation along with its broader themes. This dissertation as a whole demonstrates: (1) the importance of music in ancient pedagogy; (2) the influence of the Levitical scribal singers on Jewish pedagogy in the Second Temple period; (3) the pedagogical use of hymns in the Second Temple period in general, in which comparisons between Ben Sira and the Dead Sea Scrolls often demonstrate shared rhetorical strategies, and (4) the centrality of music in Ben Sira’s pedagogy and the depiction of his sagely persona. Overall, I contend that the hymnic and didactic discourse flourished together in Ben Sira’s pedagogy, which helps explain his reception as both a proto-rabbi and singer in later Jewish tradition. This dissertation also demonstrates a cross-pollination between Hellenistic and Hebraic thought at the level of pedagogical practice and forces us to rethink ancient learning in a more embodied and less text-focused way. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2017. / June 12, 2017. / Ben Sira, Dead Sea Scrolls, Hymnody, Levites, Music, Pedagogy / Includes bibliographical references. / Matthew Goff, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles Brewer, University Representative; David Levenson, Committee Member; Nicole Kelley, Committee Member.

This seven-chapter book, highlighted like a trail guide with Markers, will ease you into most basic, repeated themes found in the ancient texts. What is called the Old and New Testaments is a remarkable collection. It is intimidating for sure, but wise, prophetic, thorough and particular, with echoes that repeat into every culture. Through story and turn-arounds you will see how some very different individuals, in different times found their way into God’s real and sustaining peace. They listened to and reckoned with what God offers for soul survival. There’s hope here if you'll take it. / https://dc.etsu.edu/alumni_books/1033/thumbnail.jpg

The significance of wine to the residents of ancient Palestine is demonstrated by the large number of archaeological sites where a wine making installation has been identified and the role wine plays in the Hebrew Bible, the major work of literature to survive from ancient Palestine. The role of wine in the Hebrew Bible has generated a large volume of material, although this has been partly driven by the ongoing temperance debate. Despite this there has been little or no thorough research as to which words and thus passages should be investigated to comprehensively examine wine in the Hebrew Bible. In addition those studies which do exist do not demonstrate any in-depth knowledge of wine production and its implications in translating and interpreting the Hebrew Bible. This work aims to address these two issues. The origin of wine demonstrates that wine was known in Palestine during the Biblical period. Agriculture and Diet provide information as to the value and context of wine production. Semantic tools detail the linguistic information for examination of the ancient Hebrew words related to wine. The styles and production methods of wine and other alcoholic beverages in the ancient world set limits for the identification of beverages. All other information must be considered in the light of these four areas. The core of this work is an examination of the key words related to wine: the likely members of the ancient Hebrew semantic field of wine the key words for grape, vine and vineyard and three words identified as installations used in wine production. It is only after such detailed examination that any in-depth study of wine in the Hebrew Bible should be considered.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, The Divinity School, Aug. 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Colorado, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [248]-273). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 320-344). Also available on the Internet.

There was no abstract conception of religion in antiquity, but religious beliefs and praxis were closely intertwined with ethnicity in the Greco-Roman period. Building on the groundbreaking studies by Denise Kimber Buell, this thesis investigates the use of ethnic reasoning in centrist Christian identity formation in the second century CE. Specifically, I closely examine four different Christian texts (1 Peter, the Epistle of Barnabas, Justin Martyrs Dialogue with Trypho the Judaean and the Epistle to Diognetus) to show how the centrist Christian elites utilized ethnic reasoning to construct a distinct Christian ethnic identity and to manufacture sharp differences between Christians and Judaeans. In order to defend the idea of a homogenous Christian ethnic identity with pure origins,centrist Christian intellectuals re-appropriated the legacy of Israel and represented the Judaeans as an adversarial foil. This rhetorical strategy of othering characterizes the Christian Adversus Ioudaios literature.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2003. Graduate Programme in Social and Political Thought. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 287-298). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ99136

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Carlos Albizu University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.