Drought, Death and the Sun in Ugarit and Ancient Israel

Drought, Death and the Sun in Ugarit and Ancient Israel

Author: Ola Wikander

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 9789174733174

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The basic questions underlying the study are the following: 1) How do the concepts of drought, death and the sun relate to each other in the Ugaritic religious literature; how are these concepts used as metaphors to express basic tenets of Ugaritic myth and theology? 2) How are these concepts and their uses reflected in the literature and religion of Ancient Israel? How can the identification of these ancient reminiscences of a shared Northwest Semitic religious background help shed light on the interpretation of various difficult passages in the biblical text and on the relationship between Old Testament theology and that of the surrounding Northwest Semitic cultures?


Studies in Isaiah

Studies in Isaiah

Author: Tommy Wasserman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-02-23

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0567667189

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The Book of Isaiah is considered one of the greatest prophetic works in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The complex history of the book's composition, over several time periods, can often perplex and enthrall. The editors to this volume encourage readers to engage deeply with the text in order to get a grasp of the traces and signs within it that can be seen to point to the book's process of composition and ongoing reinterpretation over time. The contributions discuss suggested segments of composition and levels of interpretation, both within the book of Isaiah and its history of reception. The book is divided into two sections: in the first part certain motifs that have come to Isaiah from a distant past are traced through to their origins. Arguments for a suggested 'Josianic edition' are carefully evaluated, and the relationship between the second part of Isaiah and the Book of Psalms is discussed, as are the motifs of election and the themes of Zion theology and the temple. The second part of the book focuses on the history of reception and looks at Paul's use of the book of Isaiah, and how the book is used, and perhaps misused in a contemporary setting in the growing churches in Africa. With a range of international specialists, including Hugh Williamson, Tommy Wasserman, and Knut Holter, this is an excellent resource for scholars seeking to understand Isaiah in a greater depth.


Traditional Cosmology, vol. 5: Solar and Lunar Anomalies

Traditional Cosmology, vol. 5: Solar and Lunar Anomalies

Author: Marinus Anthony van der Sluijs

Publisher: All-Round Publications

Published: 2018-01-01

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 1999438302

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This work, in 6 volumes, is a compendium of traditional cosmologies worldwide. The material includes the global mythology of creation and destruction, but also comprises information drawn from other areas of traditional knowledge, ritual, iconography, shamanism, costume, and dance. Relying on original sources, universal points of agreement are identified, often on counter-intuitive ideas. These suggest a single template, a blueprint for a universal mythology of origins with local variations. Volume 5 documents a large number of traditions concerning unusual and often undesirable properties and activities of the sun and moon. To name just a few examples, prominent beliefs were that the moon was originally brighter than the sun and that the earth once succumbed to the heat caused by the sun's former proximity, its greater strength, its failure to move or the appearance of multiple luminaries.


A Theocentric Interpretation of הדעת טוב ורע

A Theocentric Interpretation of הדעת טוב ורע

Author: Nathan S. French

Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Published: 2021-02-15

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 3647564990

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On a primary level, the author seeks to answer the question, what is the best interpretation of הדעת טוב ורע. "The Knowledge of Good and Evil," in Gen 2:9, 17; 3:5, and 3:22? In Gen 3:5 and 3:22, this knowledge is said to be possessed by YHWH and the divine beings. This study analyzes the permutations of ) טוב"good") and רעע ("evil/bad") in the Hebrew Bible, with a majority focus in Genesis and the Deuteronomistic History and with a focus upon those textual instances in which YHWH has influence over 'good' and 'bad/evil.' Due to the results of the data, the author brings in a second level of discussion that focuses upon the hermeneutical principle of divine retribution as a structuring element for ancient Near Eastern historiography. On a third level, the author turns to divine blessing and cursing, and its association with good and evil in ancient Near Eastern texts and in the Hebrew Bible. Due to this specific theocentric analysis of the lexemes juxtaposed with the author's wider study of ancient Near Eastern history and culture, the answer to the guiding question of this study is therefore proposed by the author as, 'The Divine Knowledge for Administering Reward and Punishment.' Ergo, the Eden Narrative tells a story of how humans partly attain divinity becoming like YHWH and the divine beings (Gen 3:5; 3:22; Ps 82) in having acquired the forbidden divine knowledge for wielding ultimate power.


Old Testament Exegesis, Fifth Edition

Old Testament Exegesis, Fifth Edition

Author: Douglas Stuart

Publisher: Presbyterian Publishing Corp

Published: 2022-03-15

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 1646982452

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For years, Douglas Stuart's Old Testament Exegesis has been one of the most popular ways to learn how to perform exegesis—the science and art of interpreting biblical texts properly for understanding as well as proclamation. This new edition includes a major revision and expansion of online and other resources for doing biblical research and updates past editions by including a helpful configuration of the format for the exegesis process. Stuart provides guidance for full exegesis as well as for a quicker approach specifically tailored to the task of preaching. A glossary of terms explains the sometimes-bewildering language of biblical scholarship, and a list of frequent errors guides the student in avoiding common mistakes. No exegetical guide for the Old Testament has been more widely used in training ministers and students to be faithful, careful interpreters of Scripture.


Script and Society

Script and Society

Author: Philip J. Boyes

Publisher: Oxbow Books

Published: 2021-03-15

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 1789255848

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By the 13th century BC, the Syrian city of Ugarit hosted an extremely diverse range of writing practices. As well as two main scripts – alphabetic and logographic cuneiform - the site has also produced inscriptions in a wide range of scripts and languages, including Hurrian, Sumerian, Hittite, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Luwian hieroglyphs and Cypro-Minoan. This variety in script and language is accompanied by writing practices that blend influences from Mesopotamian, Anatolian and Levantine traditions together with what seem to be distinctive local innovations. Script and Society: The Social Context of Writing Practices in Late Bronze Age Ugarit explores the social and cultural context of these complex writing traditions from the perspective of writing as a social practice. It combines archaeology, epigraphy, history and anthropology to present a highly interdisciplinary exploration of social questions relating to writing at the site, including matters of gender, ethnicity, status and other forms of identity, the relationship between writing and place, and the complex relationships between inscribed and uninscribed objects. This forms a case- study for a wider discussion of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of writing practices in the ancient world.


The Rephaim

The Rephaim

Author: Jonathan Yogev

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-04-12

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9004460861

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In this study, Jonathan Yogev analyzes every text that mentions the Rephaim, in order to determine their exact function and importance in societies of the ancient Levant.


Scribal Culture in Ben Sira

Scribal Culture in Ben Sira

Author: Lindsey A. Askin

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-07-17

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 9004372865

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Winner of the 2020 BAJS Book Prize! The book prize initiative was launched by BAJS in 2018 to recognise and promote outstanding scholarship in the field of Jewish Studies. In Scribal Culture in Ben Sira Lindsey A. Askin examines scribal culture as a framework for analysing features of textual referencing throughout the Book of Ben Sira (c.198-175 BCE), revealing new insights into how Ben Sira wrote his book of wisdom. Although the title of “scribe” is regularly applied to Ben Sira, this designation presents certain interpretive challenges. Through comparative analysis, Askin contextualizes the sage’s compositional style across historical, literary, and socio-cultural spheres of operation. New light is shed on Ben Sira’s text and early Jewish textual reuse. Drawing upon physical and material evidence of reading and writing, Askin reveals the dexterity and complexity of Ben Sira’s sustained textual reuse. Ben Sira’s achievement thus demonstrates exemplary, “excellent” writing to a receptive audience.