Thesis (Th. M.)--Grace Theological Seminary, 1983. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-123).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1994. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [260]-271).

The present study investigates the characteristics and function of Scripture in 1 Maccabees. It argues that the author of 1 Maccabees locates the history of the Hasmonean revolt within the continuing history of Israel in accordance with the Deuteronomic covenantal concept, portraying the Hasmoneans as salvific figures comparable to Jewish ancestral heroes in Scripture, thereby legitimising the pre-monarchical Hasmonean institution in the late period of the reign of John Hyrcanus I. After discussing scholarly literature on the use and function of Scripture in 1Maccabees in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 discusses various literary, political and cultural aspects: 1) I identify the iimplications of the loss of the original Hebrew text of 1 Maccabees, defining some limitations for morphological analysis; 2) I demonstrate that most books of the present canon of the Hebrew Bible can be identified as available sources to the author; 3) The date of the composition is identified as the later reign of John Hyrcanus I; 4) I further discuss the extent of Hellenistic influence in 1 Maccabees, concluding that 1 Maccabees demonstrates Jewish tradition to a large extent; 5) Finally, I discuss the Jewish perception of the past in antiquity, arguing that Jews had a special interest in preserving their ancestral past in comprehensive and unitary ways without easily manipulating it. Chapters 3 and 4 provide an analysis of philological and conceptual parallels between Scripture and 1 Maccabees, with the conclusion that the use of Scripture mainly functions to provide the intellectual tool for seeing the Hasmonean rule as a further re-enactment of the scriptural precedents of Israel’s restoration and triumph over their enemy and fulfilment of prophecies. Chapter 5 analyses use of Scripture in the eulogies of the Hasmoneans, reaching the same conclusion as the preceding two chapters. In contrast to the scholarly view that 1 Maccabees is Hasmonean propaganda with a politically intended manipulation of Jewish tradition, the present study suggests it as an attestation to traditional Jewish values without radical departure from them.

This study investigates how Paul’s attitude towards future bodily resurrection functions in relation to his expectations for believers’ use of their bodies in the present, both as individuals and as a community. I argue that embodiment is essential to Paul’s anthropology, and that Paul understands future bodily resurrection primarily in social terms. Drawing on insights from the social sciences and rhetorical studies, I also argue that future bodily resurrection functions in the letters under consideration as a future possible social identity that contributes to Paul’s persuasive strategies with regard to his expectations for believers’ behavior. In general, it will become clear that Paul expects his recipients to use their bodies in ways that stand in continuity with the resurrection-oriented future social identity. After an introductory chapter orienting the reader to questions, method, and relevant scholarly discussion, chapter 2 sheds light on the social dynamics of Paul’s attitude toward future bodily resurrection in general and the function of the resurrection-oriented future identity in particular through a close reading of 1 Cor 15:12–58; 6:12–20; and 2 Cor 4:7–5:10. Chapter 3 offers a detailed analysis of the relationship between resurrection and practice in Rom 6:1–23 and 8:9–25 to argue that Paul’s understanding of that relationship provides a framework for understanding table fellowship as bodily practice in Rom 14 and 15. Chapter 4 takes up Phil 3:12–4:1 and argues that Paul’s language of resurrection fosters a common ingroup identity that serves the letter’s double goal of mitigating faction and strengthening the recipients to persevere in the face of persecution. A final chapter synthesizes the overall findings of the research.

This thesis examines the theme of Temple Christology in the fourth chapter of John's gospel in light of the early Jewish understanding of water and Spirit. This study not only carefully investigates the Jewish tradition of water and Spirit as the normative background for John 4, but also develops Temple Christology by connecting these distinct traditions of water with the Spirit as eschatological life for John's use of the Spirit as the source of new creational life. The evidence shows that the most conventional way of describing water in Second Temple Judaism was the life-giving usage, rejecting the majority assumption that water always symbolizes revelation. It further refutes the limited view of the Spirit as a mere communicative organ inspiring prophecy, showing the Spirit to be a powerful agent for creative and eschatological life. This thesis unfolds John's strong association of water and Spirit with the new creation as he combines these distinct Jewish traditions to produce the image of Spirit as the source of eschatological life. This new creational life is found in the presence of God revealed in the True Temple, who participates in the unique eschatological identity of God by giving the Spirit: True worship has a new Temple; the geographic location has now been replaced by the person of Jesus.

In 2009, Robert Crumb produced a singular work, The Book of Genesis, Illustrated by R. Crumb, which purports to be a faithful, graphical interpretation of the book of Genesis from the Hebrew Bible. Among other sources, Crumb states that he used Robert Alter’s translation and commentary on Genesis to inform his work, along with the King James Version (KJV), the Jewish Publication Society Version (JPS) and Sarah the Priestess: The First Matriarch of Genesis by Savina J. Teubal; from those, he produced his own interpretation together with annotations to explain his interpretive decisions. Remediating ancient, biblical text into modern, graphical comic books affects the reception of the text in a myriad of ways. The aim of this thesis is firstly to investigate how Crumb’s use of comics tools and resources impact his remediation of Genesis, by discussing his visual and textual decisions. This wider question is focused into three case studies, which are each based in the narratives of the matriarchs of Genesis and the theme of motherhood. The second aim of this thesis is to discuss the presentation of the matriarchs in Genesis, Illustrated as pro-feminist, strong, dominant characters within the narrative. This is a characterisation which subverts traditional readings of the women of Genesis, as well as expectations of Crumb as an author. Accusations of misogyny and sexism have followed Crumb throughout his career, which are challenged when the reader is presented with his pro-feminist matriarchal remediation of the biblical text. By presenting a focused analysis of the theme of motherhood within Genesis, Illustrated, wider issues concerning popular-cultural remediations of the Bible in general begin to surface, including matters concerning reception in biblical comics, the space between art and literature inhabited by biblical comics, and issues of translation and interpretation within contemporary remediations. Genesis, Illustrated shows the importance of graphical remediations in exploring the boundary crossings between ancient script and modern, popular culture, regenerating and re-presenting the text for the modern reader.

This thesis establishes the influence of the Jewish wisdom tradition on the shaping of the earliest christology. A concept which invests Jesus with Wisdom’s function as ‘Schöpfungsmittler’ appears already in the earliest Christian sources (1Cor 8:6; Col 1:15; Hebr 1:3; John 1:1-3), and the early patristic writers characterised the relationship between the heavenly Christ and God the Father by identifying Jesus with the pre-existent personified Wisdom of Prov 8. The object of the thesis is to explore a parallel movement, which already takes place during the formation of the gospel traditions, and which ascribes functions of the divine Wisdom, most prominently her active participation in Israel’s history, to the earthly Jesus. Especially the Q-saying often called the “Lament over Jerusalem” (or Jerusalem Word) in Luke 13:34-35 and Matt 23:37-39, summarises Jesus’ earthly ministry in terms that remind of Wisdom’s function in the Jewish tradition. I demonstrate that Wisdom had come to be seen as an agent in Israel’s history in Second Temple Judaism, and each of the four elements of the Jerusalem Word, which describe Jesus’ mission (1. sending prophets and envoys; 2. gathering the children of Jerusalem; 3. representing God’s presence in the temple and withdrawing when he is rejected; and 4. returning with, or as, the eschatological Son of Man), presents an action, which had formerly been ascribed to personified Wisdom. One important feature of the divine Wisdom, which allows her to act in the above mentioned functions that impact on historical reality, is her relationship to God: Wisdom can be nearly identified with God, but takes on features of a separate agent when she becomes manifest in the immanence. Therefore, Wisdom is a representation of God in the historical world, and as Jesus takes on the same role, he appears as a new manifestation of this very same representative. I also demonstrate that the Jewish texts relate Wisdom to another representation of God, the Angel of the Lord, famously encountered as the pillar of cloud and fire on Israel’s wilderness wanderings, acting as a manifestation and servant of God at the same time. Wisdom is associated or identified with the pillar of cloud in Sir 24:4, 10 and Wis 10:17. Thus, the role of the previously known mediator, the Angel of the Lord, is transferred to the divine Wisdom, portraying Wisdom as a new appearance of this ‘older’ divine representative. Matt 23:37-39 par. Luke 13:34-35 continues the tradition of actualising the image of the divine mediator by presenting Jesus in an analogous way as the contemporary representative of God in the world like Wisdom or the Angel of the Lord.

This dissertation interprets four particularly perplexing Zecharian texts (1:3, 1:11, 5:5-11, and 11) in light of allusions to other texts in order to exhibit the usefulness of an allusive approach to the interpretation of the book of Zechariah. In addition to providing new interpretations to these select texts, it discusses the issue of Zechariah’s method of allusion and the influence this should have both on the method of identifying allusions and interpreting them. Chapter 1 gives a history of research on Zecharian allusion studies. Chapter 2 discusses the grammatical oddity of Zechariah 1:3a, “and you shall say to them,” and proposes that Zechariah intentionally abbreviates a fuller phrase, subtly demonstrating his reliance upon his prophetic precursors who uniformly use the full version of the phrase. Chapter 3 examines Zechariah 1:11, “all the earth is at rest and at peace,” and interacts with Al Wolters’ proposed allusion to Isaiah 14:7, affirming but reinterpreting it. Chapter 4 interprets Zechariah 5:5-11 based largely on an allusion to Jeremiah 3, which provides a solution to the much-debated identification of the ephah and the woman sitting in it. Chapter 5 examines the prominent allusions of Zechariah 11. It demonstrates that Zechariah 11 regularly reverses the promises made by earlier prophets (especially Isaiah and Ezekiel) and restates their judgments. The chapter engages mostly with Jeremiah 25, Ezekiel 34 and 37, and Zechariah’s phrase “to break my covenant with all the peoples” (Zech 11:10). Finally, chapter 6 categorizes the ways Zechariah utilizes his sources.

"The End of the Psalter" argues, based on original text-critical and intertextual research, that Psalms 146-150 are originally separate texts, contrary to current Psalms research viewing them to be written partly as an originally coherent end of the Psalter. Firstly, rather than focussing on the Masoretic Text only, all three oldest text forms of each Psalm are interpreted separately: the Hebrew Masoretic Text as the oldest complete text form of the Hebrew Bible in its original language, and the older sources of the Hebrew Dead Sea Scrolls and the Greek Septuagint. The thesis highlights considerable differences in these three sources which call the supposed original coherence of Psalms 146-150 into question. Secondly, rather than merely listing other texts similar in their words or ideas, possible intertextual references are assessed using clear criteria and explicating consequences for the interpretation. The thesis demonstrates that intertextual references differ between each of the Psalms and between the sources, leading to shifts in aspects of content and to a lack of original connection of Psalms 146-150. Thirdly, rather than presupposing Psalms 146-150 as one originally coherent group, each Psalm is examined on its own. The thesis demonstrates that the individual Psalms 146-150 cannot originally be seen as one group, and that differences in the content of each individual Psalm should not be smoothed out. The thesis provides a new historical-critical commentary and intertextual analysis of Psalms 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150, each in all three different oldest text forms. It includes fresh translations and detailed comments on form, intertextuality, content, genre, and date, combined with a comparison of the different Psalms and text forms and an extensive evaluation of previous interpretations.

Biblical studies and theology have been impacted by the “turn to the reader” in literary theory, and scholars are now more aware of the significance of the reader in the activity of Bible reading (Davies, 2013). However, most of the research exploring Bible readers has concentrated on active members of faith communities (Village, 2007; Rogers, 2009; Strhan, 2013) and University staff (Clines, 1995; Hull, 2001; Pyper, 2006). In Britain, those outside of the church and the academy are missing from this research, that is, the majority of the population. This thesis considers how people who are not regular Bible readers might read five biblical texts. In particular I focus on men, as the cohort of British society least likely to read the Bible (Field, 2014). Ten months of fieldwork was undertaken at a Chemical Industrial Plant in North West England, where 20 men read through five biblical texts. Using annotation, questionnaires and interviews I examined how the texts were read. The data which emerged shows that the men’s relationships with the five biblical texts shaped their readings of those texts. By “relationship” I am principally referring to the associations evoked in a reader as they come to a text. I argue for this relational reading practice in three ways. First, using Louise Rosenblatt’s transactional theory of reading (1995 [1938]; 1994 [1978]; 2005) I suggest that these readers and texts are not unconnected entities but exist within the same dynamic system. A reader brings all that they are to a text, and the aspects of each reader considered most salient to the anticipated reading assume an influential role in the reading transaction. Second, under the headings: “experience,” “identity,” “attitude’” and “belief,” I provide examples from my case study to illustrate this practice. These explore the various ways in which the men shaped their readings, indeed typically dominated them, as reading the texts reaffirmed their relationship with them. Third, however I also note a few occasions when the texts stimulated the reader into an atypical reading. This challenged the readers’ prior relationship with the texts and further demonstrates the relational nature of these readings, one involving both parties.