Six Minor Prophets Through the Centuries is the work of highly respected biblical scholars, Richard Coggins and Jin H. Han. The volume explores the rich and complex reception history of the last six Minor Prophets in Jewish and Christian exegesis, theology, worship, and arts. * This text is the work of two highly respected biblical scholars * It explores the rich and complex reception history of the last six Minor Prophets in Jewish and Christian theology and exegesis

The Fantastic in Religious Narrative from Exodus to Elisha argues that perspectives drawn from literary-critical theories of the fantastic and fantasy are apt to explore Hebrew Bible religious narratives. The book focuses on the narratives marvels, monsters, and magic, rather than whether or not the stories depict historical events. The Exodus narrative (Ex 1-18) and a selection of additional Hebrew Bible narratives (Num 11-14, Judg 6-8, 1 Kings 17-19, 2 Kings 4-7) are analysed from a fantasy-theoretical perspective. The fantasy-theoretical perspective helps to make sense of elements of these narratives that although prominently featured in the stories - have previously often been explained by being explained away. The case studies treated in the book illuminate Hebrew Bible religion and offer wider perspectives on religious narrative generally. In light of the fantasy-theoretical approach, these Hebrew Bible stories with the Exodus narrative at the centre - read not as foundational stories, affirming triumphantly and unambiguously the bond between the deity, his people, and their territory, but rather as texts that harbour and even actively encourage ambiguity and uncertainty, not necessarily prompting belief, orientation, and a sense of meaningfulness, but also open-ended reflection and doubt. The case studies suggest that other religious narratives, both in and beyond the Judaic tradition, may also be amenable to interpretation in these terms, thus questioning a dominant trend in myth studies. The results of the analyses lead to a discussion of the role of ambiguity, uncertainty, and transformation in religious narrative in broader perspective, and to a questioning of the emphasis in the study of religion on the capacity of religious narrative for founding and maintaining institutions, orienting identity, and defending order over disorder. The book suggests the wider importance of incorporating destabilisation, disorientation, and ambiguity more strongly into theories of what religious narrative is and does.

The Canon of the Bible and the Apocrypha in the Churches of the East features essays reflecting the latest scholarly research in the field of the canon of the Bible and related apocryphal books, with special attention given to the early Christian literature of Eastern churches. These essays study and examine issues and concepts related to the biblical canon as well as non-canonical books that circulated in the early centuries of Christianity among Christian and non-Christian communities, claiming to be authored by biblical characters, such as the prophets and kings of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament.

The Dreams of Matthew 1:18-2:23: Tradition, Form, and Theological Investigation critically examines the five dream passages of Matthew 1:18-2:23 to demonstrate that Matthew employed dream narratives to defend allegations concerning Jesus' birth and to provide etiological reasons both for why Jesus went to Egypt and how Jesus happened to live in Nazareth. A diachronic survey of dream records in the Ancient Near Eastern, Egyptian, Jewish, Greco-Roman, and Second Temple writings reveals that dream narratives fall into two major categories: message dreams and symbolic dreams. Every dream carries a distinct narrative function according to the objectives of the user. Typically, symbolic dreams appear in epic-like literature, and message dreams appear in narratives such as historical and religious writings. The present analysis of the five dream accounts of Matthew 1:18-2:23 reveals that they fall into the message dream category. Each dream has at least one narrative function. In other words, Matthew does not merely record the dream experiences of the individuals but uses dreams to achieve his narrative objective.

This book is an introductory study of the Old Testament and it is based on the lesson taught for many years by the authors in two different Universities in Ghana. It is an interactive and didactic work that provides an innovative approach to the study of the Hebrew Bible. Through reading selected passages from the Bible and doing recommended exercises as a means of reinforcing what has been learnt, the reader will achieve a good knowledge of the Old Testament and will acquire the capability of reading and interpreting further texts. Each chapter begins with a presentation of a map of the journey, the objectives to be achieved, a summary and a final section that helps the student to evaluate his/her comprehension. This book is also a contextualized text. The last chapter is dedicated to the Old Testament in Africa and the relationship between the African Continent and the Bible, giving the reader the possibilities of acquiring skills to interpret the Old Testament from African perspectives.

This book undertakes a biblical and theological analysis of evolutionary creation and creation themes pertinent to origins science. A key premise is that a fundamental congruity exists between what the Lord has revealed in nature (i.e., the book of God's work) and in Scripture (i.e., the book of God's Word). A corollary supposition is that, based on an analysis of the fossil record, genome evidence, morphological data, and so on, biological evolution offers the best persuasive scientific explanation for the origin and actualization of carbon-based life on earth, including Homo sapiens (i.e., modern humans). Furthermore, considering evolutionary creation in an objective, balanced, and informed manner reveals that the view is wholly compatible with classical theological metaphysics, including Augustinian and Reformed confessional orthodoxy.

What is the most important lesson in the word of God? In Matt. 22:34-40, Jesus summarizes the whole Bible into two commandments, being 'love for God' and 'love for thy neighbor' (Lev. 19:18). Why did Jesus cite Lev. 19:18 (love) instead of 19:2 (holiness), which is the core of this chapter? This book analyzes how Lev. 19 is unfolded from OT times to the message of the NT. It attempts to prove the importance of Lev. 19 in the canonical tradition of Judaism and Christianity and to identify the clues which can help to explain the reason why Jesus chose Lev. 19:18. Further, the book shows that holiness, one of the main issues in Lev. 19, is replaced by perfection in Matt. 5:48. This connection is shown through examining the Community Rule (1QS) of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which joins the themes of holiness and perfection. This combination serves as the 'missing link' to bridge the gap between Lev. 19 and Matt. 5. The method used to explore these texts is called 'a canonical unfolding.' After a commentary on Lev. 19 the chapter is compared to other connected texts. Finally, the meaning of Lev. 19 is reinterpreted in the whole context of the Canon.

Scholarly consensus on the relationship of the Letter to the Hebrews to the Old Testament is far from universal or uniform. This book aims to address this area in Hebrews scholarship, which is lacking a critical account of the dependence of Hebrews on the Old Testament, especially Leviticus, in constructing a meaningful text. The book examines how the author of Hebrews uses the textual levitical tabernacle theme to construct the central motif of the heavenly tabernacle in Hebrews. In analysing the ways in which Hebrews relates to the Old Testament, the author makes use of literary theorist Gerard Genette's concepts of transtextuality and transformation. These concepts help set in relief the variegated textual relationships Hebrews has with the Old Testament in general, and Leviticus in particular, and the transformations that are central to constituting meaning in Hebrews.

It has been widely recognized that the Book of the Twelve, Hosea to Malachi, was considered a single composition in antiquity. Recent articles and monographs have discussed the internal clues to this composition, but there has been little effort to understand the way the New Testament authors quote from the Twelve in light of the compositional unity of the book. The Twelve Prophets in the New Testament contends that New Testament quotations from the Twelve presuppose knowledge of the larger whole and cannot be understood correctly apart from awareness of the compositional strategy of the Twelve.

The two creation stories in Genesis 1-3 have been subject of intense study since the beginning of critical research on the Pentateuch in the eighteenth century. Even today, they continue to vex the biblical commentators. This work attempts to study one of these creation stories, namely the Eden Story narrated in Gen 2:4-3:24. This story graphically describes the first couple's installation in the Garden of Eden and their expulsion from it. These two themes have prompted some scholars to consider this story as a summary of Israel's history until the tragedy of exile and a prologue to the literary composition commonly called Enneateuch (Genesis - 2 Kings). Such a hypothesis is based on the premise that both Eden story and Israel's history have the same end: expulsion. The reason for such an end in both is disobedience. The study takes up this hypothesis and examines its viability. Furthermore, this work attempts to bring out the biblical message of this story. Gen 2-3 is an expression of Israel's faith resulting from its history with Yahweh and from its encounter with the surrounding cultures, and it intends to articulate a religious and anthropological identity for Israel.

Lessons from the book of Exodus: learn how to stop walking in circles and rely on God's grace to show you the way to his good promise. Do you wonder if you'll ever get back on track after suffering a major setback or traumatic experience? Do you wonder-even secretly-if God actually does keep his promises? Or if his love is far-reaching enough, his plan detailed enough to include even your daily struggles, habits, and hang-ups? In this Bible study, Rebecca Bender takes study groups and individuals straight into the book of Exodus where the Israelites are wandering after their own tracks immediately after escaping from bondage and oppression at the hands of Pharaoh. God is trying to get them to the land of his promise, but they, like many of us, are frustrated by doubts, fears, and self-destructive habits... This study guide will equip you to: See Exodus in a new and relatable way that will help you better understand God and yourself. Understand the historical and cultural nuances of Egypt to give you fresh insight into this powerful story. Learn applicable tips from the children of Israel by understanding what they did right and what they did wrong in order to reach their goals. Move beyond your own past and into your promises. Get back on track after experiencing a major setback in life or enduring a traumatic event. God has called you out of bondage-to sin, to doubt, to defeat-and into his Promised Land that flows with his grace and truth. This study guide includes biblical and historical background insights, practical application, group discussion questions, and a memory verse for each chapter. Inscribed is a collection of studies that lead women to not just survive but thrive by encouraging them to immerse themselves in the Word of God.

Biblical scholarship, like many other disciplines, has become increasingly isolated. As a result, the field has not borrowed as much from other areas of scholarship as it could have and has exerted a smaller impact upon the larger intellectual community. A significant portion of Pagans and Practitioners deals with how the New Testament can be read as a rebuttal of Pagan rivals. In doing so, greater linkages with other disciplines are reestablished. Discussion of how the tools developed by Biblical criticism can serve other, secular disciplines are provided. Collectively, this book explores how Biblical criticism can exert a greater impact upon the intellectual world.

Text, translation, theology - the three nouns in the title indicate the main fields of Old Testament study which are covered in this collection of essays. Text refers both to the history of biblical texts and to problems of textual criticism. Translation of the Hebrew Bible as a philological task is a central subject in several essays. Theology does not define what the essays are but what some of them are about: religious ideologies are objects of enquiry. Bertil Albrektson gathers together a selection of his essays, some of which have become classics, which were written on separate occasions and published in different, sometimes rather remote, places. They cover more than four decades of research, and for the first time they are now brought together in this accessible volume. Bertil Albrektson is a Swedish Old Testament scholar of international repute, awarded the Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies by The British Academy in 2003. His writing was characterized by the late Professor P.R. Ackroyd of King's College, London, as 'a model of learning, clarity and dry humour'. This volume offers a unique resource to current scholars of biblical studies.

Ancient cultures, such as that of the Hebrews, commonly associated wisdom with advanced years. In A Biblical Theology of Gerassapience the author investigates the validity of this correlation through an eclectic approach - including linguistic semantic, tradition-historical, and socio-anthropological methods - to pertinent biblical and extra-biblical texts. There are significant variations in the estimation of gerassapience (or "old-age wisdom") in each period of ancient Israel's life - that is, in pre-monarchical, monarchical, and post-monarchical Israel. Throughout this study, appropriate cross-cultural parallels are drawn from the cultures of ancient Israel's neighbors and of modern societies, such as the West African Yoruba tribe. The overall results are bi-dimensional. On the one hand, there are semantic elements of gerassapience, such as the elusiveness of "wisdom" and the mild fluidity of "old age". Both terms have strong contextual affinity with minimal exceptions. Thus, the attribution of wisdom to old age is evident but not absolute in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). On the other hand, gerassapience is depicted as primarily didactic, through direct and indirect instructions and counsels of the elderly, fostering the saging fear-of-Yahweh legacies. On the whole, socio-anthropocentric tendencies of gerassapience (that is, of making old age a repertoire of wisdom) are checked by theological warrants of theosapience (Yahwistic wisdom). Therefore, in the Hebrew Bible, the fear of Yahweh is also the beginning of growing old and wise.

Religion, Ethnicity and Xenophobia in the Bible looks at some of the Bible's most hostile and violent anti-foreigner texts and raises critical questions about how students of the Bible and ancient Near East should grapple with "ethnicity" and "foreignness" conceptually, hermeneutically and theologically. The author uses insights from social psychology, cognitive psychology, anthropology, sociology and ethnic studies to develop his own perspective on ethnicity and foreignness. Starting with legends about Mesopotamian kings from the third millennium BCE, then navigating the Deuteronomistic and Holiness traditions of the Hebrew Bible, and finally turning to Deuterocanonicals and the Apostle Paul, the book assesses the diverse and often inconsistent portrayals of foreigners in these ancient texts. This examination of the negative portrayal of foreigners in biblical and Mesopotamian texts also leads to a broader discussion about how to theorize ethnicity in biblical studies, ancient studies and the humanities. This volume will be invaluable to students of ethnicity and society in the Bible, at all levels.

In Axis of Glory, Dan Lioy conducts a biblical and theological analysis of the temple motif as a conceptual and linguistic framework for understanding Scripture. His investigation takes a fresh look at the topic, assesses a representative group of the Judeo-Christian writings through the various prisms of secondary literature, and offers a synthesis of what appears in the biblical data. The author notes that references and allusions connected with the temple motif crisscross the entire literary landscape of Scripture. An additional finding is that the presence of the shrine concept is comparable to a series of rhetorical threads that join the fabric of God's Word and weaves together its seemingly eclectic and esoteric narratives into a richly textured, multicolored tapestry. The author concludes that the Bible's theocentric and Christocentric emphases are heightened in their intensity and sharpened in their focus due to the temple motif making its way through the pages of the sacred text, beginning with the opening chapter of Genesis and ending with the final chapter of Revelation.

Integrated overview of the most significant themes in Isaiah

The Old Testament as Authoritative Scripture in the Early Churches of the East represents the latest scholarly research in the field of Old Testament as Scripture in Eastern Christianity. Its twelve articles focus on the use of the Old Testament in the earliest Christian communities in the East. The collection explores the authoritative role of the Old Testament in the churches of the East and its impact on the church's doctrine, liturgy, canon law, and spirituality.

This unique study of the theology of the book of Daniel examines the cultic motif within the book as it relates to space and time. Numerous references and allusions to cult are investigated with linguistic, literary, and contextual analyses. The findings are then related to the main theological themes of the book such as judgment, eschatology, kingdom, and worship. It is evident that the idea of cult plays a dominant role in Daniel, and that it demonstrates the intention of the author to present the issue of conflict of two opposing systems of cult and worship. For all who are interested in an exegesis of Daniel that pays dutiful attention to the theology of Daniel, The Cultic Motif in the Book of Daniel is a must-read.

Leslie C. Allen introduces students to the 1 & 2 Chronicles in the Old Testament, incorporating insights from over two decades of previous scholarship while grounding his analysis in earlier key works. "A Message for Yehud" sums up what has been judged to be a fundamental motivation underlying the whole book, a conviction that the obligation to "seek the Lord" in the light of the Torah and prophetic texts must be laid on the hearts of the community of Yehud in the fourth century BCE. To this end, using Samuel-Kings as a basis, Chronicles reviewed pre-exilic royal history for positive and negative clues as to how the generation for which it was written might achieve this spiritual ideal. In the book, Allen shows how this program was communicated all through the book by literary and rhetorical means.

Today's biblical scholars and dogmaticians are giving a significant amount of attention to the topic of theological exegesis. A resource turned to for guidance and insight in this discussion is the history of interpretation, and Karl Barth's voice registers loudly as a helpful model for engaging Scripture and its subject matter. Most readers of Barth's theological exegesis encounter him on the level of his New Testament exegesis. This is understandable from several different vantage points. Unfortunately, Barth's theological exegesis of the Old Testament has not received the attention it deserves. This book seeks to fill this lacuna as it encounters Barth's theological exegesis of Isaiah in the Church Dogmatics. From the Church's inception, Isaiah has been understood as Christian Scripture. In the Church Dogmatics we find Barth reading Isaiah in multi-functional and multi-layered ways as he seeks to hear Isaiah as a living witness to God's triune revelation of himself in Jesus Christ.

The Trickster Revisited: Deception as a Motif in the Pentateuch explores the use of deception in the Pentateuch and uncovers a new understanding of the trickster's function in the Hebrew Bible. While traditional readings often «whitewash the biblical characters, exonerating them of any wrongdoing, modern scholars often explain these tales as significant at some earlier point in Israelite tradition. But this study asks the question: what role does the trickster have in the later pentateuchal setting? Considering the work of Victor Turner and the mythic function of the trickster, The Trickster Revisited explores the connections between tricksters, the rite de passage pattern, marginalization, and liminality. Marginalized individuals and communities often find trickster tales significant, therefore trickster stories often follow a similar literary pattern. After tracing this pattern throughout the Pentateuch, specifically the patriarchal narratives and Moses' interaction with Pharaoh in the Exodus, the book discusses the meaning these stories had for the canonizers of the Pentateuch. The author argues that in the Exile and post-exilic period, as the canon was forming, the trickster was the perfect manifestation of Israel's self-perception. The cognitive dissonance of prophetic words of hope and grandeur, in light of a meager socio-economic and political reality, caused the nation to identify itself as the trickster. In this way, Israel could explain its lowly state as a temporary (but still significant) «betwixt and between, on the threshold of a rise in status, i.e. the great imminent kingdom predicted by the prophets.

For hundreds of years, scholars have debated the meaning of Jesus' central theological term, the 'kingdom of God'. Most of the argument has focused on its assumed eschatological connotations and Jesus' adherence or deviation from these ideas. Within the North American context, the debate is dominated by the work of Norman Perrin, whose classification of the kingdom of God as a myth-evoking symbol remains one of the fundamental assumptions of scholarship. According to Perrin, Jesus' understanding of the kingdom of God is founded upon the myth of God acting as king on behalf of Israel as described in the Hebrew Bible. Moving Beyond Symbol and Myth challenges Perrin's classification, and advocates the reclassification of the kingdom of God as metaphor. Drawing upon insights from the cognitive theory of metaphor, this study examines all the occurrences of the 'God is king' metaphor within the literary context of the Hebrew Bible. Based on this review, it is proposed that the 'God is king' metaphor functions as a true metaphor with a range of expressions and meanings. It is employed within a variety of texts and conveys images of God as the covenantal sovereign of Israel; God as the eternal suzerain of the world, and God as the king of the disadvantaged. The interaction of the semantic fields of divinity and human kingship evoke a range of metaphoric expressions that are utilized throughout the history of the Hebrew Bible in response to differing socio-historical contexts and within a range of rhetorical strategies. It is this diversity inherent in the 'God is king' metaphor that is the foundation for the diversified expressions of the kingdom of God associated with the historical Jesus and early Christianity.

This volume presents recent international research results of Old Testament studies and related fields. The topics of the individual contributions vary widely and are concerned with exegetic and literary questions, historical and religious problems, as well as central questions of Theology of the Old Testament. In den Beitragen dieses Bandes werden neueste Forschungsergebnisse dargelegt, die weltweit mit der wissenschaftlichen Arbeit am Alten Testament sowie in den mit ihm in Verbindung stehenden Wissenschaftsgebieten erzielt wurden. Die Themen der einzelnen Aufsatze sind breit gefachert; sie betreffen sowohl exegetische und literarische Fragen als auch historische und religionsgeschichtliche Probleme sowie zentrale Fragen der Theologie des Alten Testaments.