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Abstracts

(in programme order)

Monday morning

The Torah: Five Books and a Canonical Concept? I


Matthias Millard, Die Genesis als Erffnung der Tora. Neuere Anstze zum ersten Buch Mose
Ein Trend der neueren Exegese ist es, das Buch Genesis insgesamt als nachtrglichen Vorbau eines
Gesamtwerkes zu verstehen, das mit dem Exodus beginnt. Historisch ist diese Verbindung der
priesterlichen Komposition zuzurechnen. Auch synchron sind die Bcher Exodus-Deuteronomium leicht
als Biographie von Mose zu verstehen, whrend der Zusammenhalt des Buches Genesis in sich und sein
Zusammenhang mit dem Folgenden deutlich lockerer erscheint. Besonders spannend ist es, die
nichtpriesterlichen Texten auf ihre Bedeutung fr den Zusammenhang der Tora zu befragen.
Kerstin Schiffner, Lukes Reading of Exodus. Observations on Intertextual Relations between Luke-Acts
and the Exodus Story
Luke-Acts can be read as a form of (re)lecture of Israels basic liberation story told in the books of Exodus
to Joshua. Regarding to the question of different conceptions of biblical canon it is interesting to see Luke
on the one hand being aware of the three-part canon of the Hebrew Bible (Tora, Prophets and Writings in
his words: (law of) Moses, Prophets and Psalms; cf. Lk 24,27.44). On the other hand Luke-Acts seems to
be a (re)lecture of the Exodus Story being geared to some kind of Hexateuch or at least transgressing the
boundaries of the torah insofar as its presentation ends with a special form of taking of the land.
Andreas Ruwe, Leviticus 10 und der Aufbau des Buches Leviticus
In einem an narrativen Passagen armen Buch Leviticus kommt der Erzhlsequenz Lev 10 in Verbindung
mit Leviticus 9 besondere Bedeutung zu. Im Kern geht es in diesem Text um die Verpflichtung der
Aaroniden auf Mose. Die Bindung der Priester an die durch Mose vermittelte Tora wird hier narrativ
konkret, d.h. Grenzflle berhrend, definiert. Ausgehend von dieser Funktion von Lev 10 wird der
Gesamtaufbau von Leviticus durchsichtig. in Verbindung mit weiteren Strukturmerkmalen, insbesondere in
den stereotyp erscheinenden Redeeinleitungsformulierungen Da sprach JHWH zu Mose ..., ergibt sich ein
konziser Gesamtaufbau des Buches, der rechts- und religionsgeschichtlich von besonderer Relevanz ist.
Ulrike Sals, Warum existiert das Buch Numeri?
Ob Numeri ein Buch sein, wird ind er historisch-kritischen Forschung mehrheitlich verneint. Schlagworte
wie Restesammlung, Post-P-Material und nachendredaktionelle Texte prgen die Diskussion. So fhren
vermeintlich erste Fragen ins Zentrum der Numeri-Auslegung: Ist Numeri ein Buch? Ist Numeri ein Buch?
Lsst sich in Numeri ein (Kanon-)Konzept finden oder gar mehr als eines? Warum existiert das Buch
Numeri?

Archaeology of the Levant


Raz Kletter, Israeli Archaeology: The Genesis Stories
The lecture is related to a new book on the first years of Israeli Archaeology, which appeared as Just Past?
(2006: Equinox). It is the first study of Israeli archaeology to use archival sources of the period-thousands
of documents published for the first time. I will describe some unknown stories from these years (the
1950s), including the history of the famous Gold of Ophir for Beth Horon Ostracon from Tell Qasile and
a plan to excavate genizot under the Ari Synagogue in Safad. The documents published in the book are
important for understanding Israeli biblical Archaeology in its days of glory, its position in the world of
nations as well as in Israel today.
Peter M. Fischer, Tell el-Ajjul, Gaza: Cosmopolitan Societies in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages.
In the 1930s Tell el-cAjjul was partly excavated by F. Petrie. His results represent a long-debated problem
especially as his chronology is concerned. The renewed excavations at Tell el-cAjjul in the Gaza strip,
directed by P.M. Fischer and M. Sadeq, started in 1999 in order to re-interpret Petries material. Two
seasons of excavations produced a large variety of well-stratified imports from all over the Eastern
Mediterranean. The imports came primarily from Cyprus but also from the Jordan Valley, Southern
Lebanon, Egypt, the Middle Euphrates and the Mycenaean sphere of culture. The material dates to later

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part of the Middle Bronze Age and the Late Bronze Age, or in absolute terms to the 17th through the 14th
century B.C. according to high-precision radiocarbon dates. Preliminary results will be presented.

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Norma Franklin, Samaria and Megiddo: Stratigraphy, Correlation and Chronology
At Samaria, the capital of the northern Kingdom, Building Period I was previously attributed to Omri when
his palace was identified, Building Period II was attributed to Ahab when a rock-cut installation was
identified as the Pool of Ahab (I Kings 22:37-38). This meant that both strata were attributed to the 9th
century Omride dynasty. Following a comprehensive reanalysis of the startigraphy at Samaria I can show
that only Building Period I can be attributed to the 9th century Omride dynasty and that Building Period II
must be downdated to the 8th century. At Megiddo my analysis of the stratigraphy has shown that Stratum
IVB (VA-IVB) does not exist and that the architectural elements must be re-allocated to Stratum V or
Stratum IV(IVA). The new stratigraphic picture that emerges at both sites reveals a number of similarities
that provide a clear correlation between them and establishes a link to the chronological anchor represented
by Omride Samaria. In brief, Stratum V at Megiddo and Building Period I at Samaria must both be
attributed to the 9th century Omride dynasty and Stratum IV(IVA) at Megiddo and Building Period II at
Samaria must be downdated to the 8th century BCE.
Yifat Thareani-Sussely, When Empire Meets a Desert: pax Assyriaca in the Iron Age Negev
The Neo-Assyrian Empire dominated the Levant for more than a century, utilizing a variety of imperial
strategies in different regional settings. Nevertheless, the Assyrian presence brought political stability and
economic prosperity to the region, known in the literature as the pax Assyriaca. The prosperous late Iron
Age settlement system of the Beersheba Valley (the Biblical Negev) on the empires southwestern frontier
is characterized by appearance of archaeological finds often associated with the Southern Arabian trade and
with Assyrian interests in the region. While the archaeological and historical implications of the Assyrian
presence in the Beersheba Valley have been broadly analyzed, the strategy by which the Assyrians
managed the long-distance southern Arabian trade has not been made explicit in the research. This lecture
suggests that the Beersheba Valley served as the frontier between three entities: the Assyrian Empire, Egypt
and tribal desert groups. Although Assyria did not rule the Negev directly the imprint of Assyrian influence
is revealed in the archaeological record. The Assyrians used local proxies (the Judean and local tribal elites)
as agents of their economic and political interests, a policy that is well attested in the material culture and
textual data from Assyria and other pre-industrial empires. Assyrian cultural influence on the Judean ruling
class is demonstrated by the material culture, suggesting that acculturation was an important byproduct of
indirect Assyrian rule. Contemporary Biblical contemporary prophecies and the Deuteronomistic
description of the days of Manasseh provide a striking eye-witness account of these processes and, at the
same time, express resistance against the globalization of the time.
Izaak J. de Hulster, Picturing prophecies: an iconographic method of Old Testament exegesis with a case
study from Third Isaiah.
The Hebrew Bible alludes to images, both concrete (realia) and abstract (imagery). For ages people have
been interested in the biblical language and its metaphors. Since the 19th century, the Old Testament has
been systematically connected with the material culture of Israel/Palestine. Othmar Keel, starting with his
Die Welt der altorientalischen Bildsymbolik (1972), gave a new impulse to this approach of the Bible.
Keels publications (especially since 1992) provide image collections which may (in my opinion)
contribute to the further development of an iconographical method of Old Testament exegesis. Because no
iconographic method of Old Testament exegesis was ever worked out, this paper aims to present the main
elements of such a method. To that end, it will deal with archaeology and hermeneutics and apply
iconology (Bildwissenschaft), art history and cultural anthropology. Further, this paper will place the
method in a historical context and in the framework of biblical hermeneutics. The strength of the method
will be tested in a case study, dealing with the light metaphor in Third Isaiah.
Eveline van der Steen and Klaas Smelik, King Mesha and the Tribe of Dibon
This paper addresses the identification of two place names related to King Mesha of Moab: Dibon, with its
identification with Dhiban, and biblical Kir Hareseth. We put forward the hypothesis that when Mesha
called himself a Diboni, he referred to a tribal affiliation. In other words, Meshas Dibon was a tribe,
rather than a town. The name Dibon only became attached to the town of Qarho after Mesha had made
Qarho his capital, not before. This is in accordance with the identification of Biblical Kir Hareseth with
Qarho and not Kerak, proposed by Smelik in 1991. The southern boundaries of Moab were further to the
North than is assumed by most scholars. This hypothesis also has consequences for the ideas about the
political organization of the Kingdom of Moab. Recent research into the phenomenon of Tribal State
formation will be used to address the question whether Meshas kingdom can be defined as a Tribal State.

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Early Christianity Between Judaism and Hellenism I
Ida Frhlich, Anthropology in Qumran
Sources revealing ideas and beliefs of the Qumran community are accounts of classical writers on the
Essenes, and works found in the Qumran library. It is generally known that the works contained by Qumran
library are heterogenous as to their date, origin, and background (non-sectarian and sectarian works, i.e.
works written outside and works written in the community). However, some non-sectarian works serve as
a basis for sectarian works of later provenance. Ideas and beliefs expressed in the pseudepigraphic
collection of 1Enoch known from Qumran in several Aramaic manuscripts survive and continue to develop
in further sectarian Qumran compositions. It can be stated that the works of the Qumran library reflect a
coherent worldview, even if some details are incongruous between them, and they can be used as a basis to
delineate a Qumran anthropology. In my paper I intend to go thoroughly into four domains:
1. The body as symbol, symbolic classifications of persons (dress and its meaning, symbols
designating community members, space and the hierarchy of the community). The body and ritual purity
(food and its significance). Dealing with anomalies: the handicapped and ritual purity.
2. Borders of the social world: the group and the outwards. Ritual and ethical purity as a basis for
social borders. Breaking away from the Temple of Jerusalem.
3. Gender in Essene thinking: the role of women in Essene writings, alleged misogyny.
4. Cosmology and myths in Qumran tradition: the myth of the origin of the evil as a powerful
patent for Qumran worldview. Demonology in Qumran writings. The idea of the land.

Carola Krieg, Anthropologische Aussagen in der rabbinischen Theologie - der Aspekt der Snde und die
Vorstellung von dem guten und bsen Trieb
Rabbinische Anthropologie ist Theologie, da das Reden ber den Menschen und seine Existenz nur in
Beziehung zu Gott reflektiert wird. Alles Sein wird im Spiegel der Geschpflichkeit betrachtet. Aussagen
ber Gott sind von daher auch Aussagen ber das Selbstbewusstsein des Menschen. Nach Rabbi Akiba ist
der Mensch ein Liebling Gottes, da er im Bild geschaffen wurde. Die Gottebenbildlichkeit gehrt im
rabbinischen Denken zum Grundsatz der Tora. Von den Engeln ist der Mensch lediglich durch die Snde
getrennt. Menschliche Existenz wird als moralischer Kampf zwischen dem Guten und dem Bsen
verstanden, wobei es in der Verantwortung des Menschen liegt, den bsen Trieb zu beherrschen. Der freie
Wille ist hier vorausgesetzt. Das Bse wird vor dem Hintergrund verstanden, dass alle Dinge gut sind, aber
in der Beziehung zum Menschen knnen diese Dinge zu Idolen werden. Es werden Techniken gelehrt, die
helfen sollen, den bsen Trieb zu besiegen. Der bse Trieb ist bei den Rabbinen kein Habitus, sondern
immer nur als individuelle Versuchung zur Snde verstanden worden. Etwa im 3. Jhr. sind bei manchen
Rabbinen gnostische Spuren in die Vorstellung von der Snde eingegangen. In der Diskussion ber diesen
Vortrag soll die nichthabituell vorgestellte Snde bei den Rabbinen der Konzeption von Snde bei Paulus
gegenbergestellt werden.

Imre Peres, Sepulkralische Anthropologie


Sepulkralische Anthropologie ist eine bedeutsame und sehr eigentmlich Kategorie der Anthropologie. Wir
knnen sie auch als jenseitige oder eschatologische Anthropologie bezeichnen. Zu den Quellen fr die
Erforschung gehren die antiken griechischen Grabepigramme, die antiken literarischen Texte der Volks-
frmmigkeit, die mythologischen Vorstellungen der antiken Griechen und die Bezeugungen der AT und
NT. Diese Quellen enthalten Vorstellungen ber die Anthropologie nach dem Tod, die zum Teil
dualistisch oder monistisch anmuten, ohne dass diese Bezeichnungen hierfr adquat wren. Sie
bezeugen aber ein starkes Verlangen danach, nach dem Tode doch in irgendeiner material-sinnlichen
Existenz oder einem konkreten Krper zu existieren. Die Zeugnisse enthalten eindeutig die Vorstellung,
dass der tote Leib und die Knochen im Grab verwesen mssen, die Seele aber weiterlebt und auch
irgendwelche Organe und Attribute haben kann, die das postmortale Leben peinlich oder auch gensslich
machen knnen. Der Mensch und/oder seine Seele hat nach dem Tod allemal eine Gestalt, ein gewisses
Bewusstsein, er erinnert sich, er kann sehen, hren, sprechen, gehen, sitzen, lachen, klagen, Hunger und
Temperaturen empfinden. Der Mensch kann auch Ehre haben, stolz sein und mit den anderen Seelen und
den Gttern kommunizieren, womit also die anthropologischen Dimensionen jenen des irdischen Lebens
sehr hnlich sind. Die Zeugnisse stammen aus der Zeit, als die christliche Theologie jener Zeit enthlt die
Tendenz, sich von einer dualistischen Anthropologie ab- und zu einer monistischen zuzuwenden. So ist es
hauptschtlich sichbar bei Matthus, Lukas und Paulus, wo im Eschaton schon eine komplette Anthropo-
logie vorhanden ist, d.h. ein soma pneumatikon mit doxa und dynamis wird erwartet.

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Tom Holmn, To the Pure All Things are Pure: The New Testament Concept of Cleansing Purity and its
Roots in the Mission of Jesus
This study reviews New Testament passages that point to an understanding of purity as a cleansing force
and seeks to locate the origination of this understanding in the mission and message of Jesus. The study
focuses in particular on Jesus dealings with the unclean and the certain kind of inverse strategy he
appears to have pursued in these connections. When Jesus touched people that were generally regarded as
ritually unclean, purity was transferred from Jesus to the unclean. This was contrary to the common Jewish
conception according to which impurity is contagious while purity and holiness are not. The simple but
remarkable change in the transferability of (im)purity could significantly clarify the many intricate
questions that attach to early Christian views about purity.

Animosity, the Bible and Us I


Eben Scheffler, Violence in the Old Testament World: Various Views
The title of the paper is two-pronged. On the one hand the paper deals with the variety of (and contrary)
views on violence in the Old Testament world, as well as the variety of scholarly viewpoints on this matter.
It is advocated that the conflicting views on violence encountered in the Old Testament world cannot be
confined and systematized to a clearly uniformed Biblical view on violence which could function as a
prescriptive norm for Christians today. The views encountered in the Old Testament are a result of the
historical circumstances in which the texts originated, and correlate with the needs of a particular
community at a certain stage in history. Studying these views has the value of providing insight into what
can be called the human predicament as far as the issue of violence is concerned. Ways are probed to
which extent this insight can facilitate relevant serious debates on the issue in the (post)modern world.

Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman, Overcoming Animosity: Men and Women against Violence in the Books
of Samuel
Enmity and animosity play such a role in the Books of Samuel, that Ulfila refused to translate these Biblical
Books into Gothic in order not to stimulate the Gothic tribes in their favorite pastime: war. This means that
these books contain many stories on animosity, but also on the more interesting topic of overcoming
animosity. In examining all the attempts to bring peace or even reconciliation, it is striking that several
women play an important role, for example Hannah, Abigail, the woman of Tekoa and the woman of Abel.
This contrasts the relatively great absence of women in the Books of Samuel in general. How do these
women act against violence? Do they succeed and do they really overcome animosity? And how do men
act against animosity, for example Jonathan and Joab? Do they have other strategies?

Joy in the Bible I: Joy in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible


P. P. Krger, Joy in the house of Jacob
The Jacob narrative invites the reader right into the intricate family relations of a polygamous marriage and
even into the bedrooms of the two main contenders (Leah and Rachel) for the patriarchs love. Nowhere
else in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible such detail is presented. We find a dysfunctional family, where
the two rivals communicate with each other and their mutual husband by means of the names given at birth
to their children and the children of their slave girls. Leah yearned after the love of Jacob. This would bring
her joy. The name giving of her children mainly reflects the semantic domain of joy-sorrow. She even
humbled herself to attain the joy of real companionship with Jacob something she attained in some way in
death. In the narrative Rachel serves as contrast to Leah. She functioned within the domain of honour-
shame. Her untimely death brought shame.

Tamara Prosic, The Joy of Tabernacle, the Sombreness of Passover


There is a general agreement among scholars that the main OT festivals were the so-called chag or
pilgrimage festivals, Passover, Weeks and Tabernacles and it is almost habitually taken that all the three
were occasions for public rejoicing. Apart from describing certain historical celebrations of Passover and
Tabernacles as particularly joyous because of the circumstances in which they were observed, the Old
Testament itself does not explicitly deal with the ritual atmosphere of the festivals and whether the joyous
character of Tabernacles, for example, was a spontaneous display of public sentiments or a performative
mood called for by the ritual rules of the festival itself. The Book of Deuteronomy and Nehemiah, however,
indicate that the joy during Tabernacles was to some extent performative. Nehemiah 8.9 describes how the
people were instructed to rejoice during Tabernacles. Deuteronomy (16.11 and 16.4) is even more

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revealing. It actually demands rejoicing during Weeks and Tabernacles, but curiously enough, it fails to do
the same in case of Passover indicating that the prescribed mood during the spring festival was that of
sombreness. The paper discusses the dialectics and interaction of joy and sombreness within the cycle of
Passover, Weeks and Tabernacles, the structure of ritual mood during individual festivals, the alternation
between sequences of solemnity and joy and the significance of that rotation and patterned behaviour
within the cycle of annual festivals.
Robin Gallaher Branch, Rejoicing when your world collapses around you: A study of Habakkuks
triumph of faith, Hab. 3:17-19
The prophet Habakkuk, a contemporary of Jeremiah and perhaps an accomplished musician, wonders about
the evils he sees daily in Judah. Burdened with a bold sense of justice, he queries God (Hab. 1:1-4). Why
does violence rule the land? God answers this covenant believer with horrifying words: the Chaldeans are
coming, bringing with them both correction and devastation (1:5-11). Habakkuk then asks why the Holy
One tolerates the treachery of the wicked; how long will God look the other way (1:12-2:1)? God replies
with a vision detailing the woes coming upon those who are full of pride, trade in bloodshed, covet, and
press others toward drunkenness (2:2-15). Violence and shame will come upon them, for the Lords right
hand will be turned against them (2:16). The vision ceases when God commands silence upon the whole
earth (2:20). The Book of Habakkuk, a dialogue between the prophet and his God, shows the prophets
personal struggle of faith. In chapter 3 his song, he confesses fear yet praises God for his mighty deeds in
Israels past (3:1-15). Although trembling because of Judahs approaching calamities, Habakkuk chooses
joy (3:16, 18). Knowing he and his people face the sword, starvation, exile, and the loss of wealth,
Habakkuk demonstrably exults in God his strength (3:17-18). Although his world will dissolve into chaos
and bloodshed around him, Habakkuk literally leaps for joy because of his relationship with God (3:19).
This paper looks at Habakkuks questions, struggles with Gods declarations, and triumph of faith that
speaks of a profound inner gift of joy.

Early Judaism and Rabbinics: Continuity, Change and Canonicity I


Moshe Lavee, Literary Form and CanonicityDefining the Questions
The research agenda of the early Judaism and Rabbinics programme of the EABS is devoted to the
continuity and change of literary forms from biblical to rabbinic and patristic literature and the effect of
literary form on the canonization and acceptance of biblical and later literary corpuses. Late Antiquity was
the era of canonization: the final closure of the Old and New Testaments, the evolution of rabbinic
literature, and the composition of patristic literature. What was the role of form in the process of shaping
and canonizing literary corpuses? We wish to describe the development and evolution of literary forms
from biblical writings, via Second Temple and Qumran texts to rabbinic and patristic literatures, including
genres current in antiquity and late antiquity such as epistles, historiography, law, midrashic or exegetical
forms, poetry, and pseudo-biblical narrative. How did forms chosen by authors and redactors reflect the
status of biblical writing in society? How did their choice of form affect the acceptance or rejection of post-
biblical texts? What may be concluded from the adhesion to or departure from biblical literary patterns in
constructing the status of biblical and post-biblical literature? How did quotation, paraphrase,
interpretation, polemic, and critique contribute to the canonization of the primary (quoted) text or of the
new (quoting) text? How do Jewish and Christian uses of literary forms resemble or differ from each other?
Can the schism between the faiths be described from the point of view of the history of such forms?

Avraham Walfish, The Poetry of Law in Rabbinic Literature


The arrangement and structure of central legal documents of rabbinic literature, such as Mishnah, Tosefta, and
the two Talmuds, has baffled and intrigued scholars. Utilizing tools of literary analysis, it may be shown that
all of these documents display usage of language and structures characteristic of works of literature, including
anadiplosis, inclusio, paranomasia, anaphora, and epiphora. We will examine interrelated instances of these
phenomena drawn from each of the aforementioned rabbinic documents, and analyze the significance of thes
phenomena. On one level, it may be argued, that these phenomena are characteristic of documents composed
and transmitted orally; however, some of the phenomena resist such explanation, and moreover,
mnemotechnical techniques of the pre-modern world were closely-linked to patterns of thought. Hence, I will
argue that the literary structure of rabbinic legal documents limn the contours of the values and concepts which
underly their legal contents. We will further see how these documents interact with one another and how the
redactor of each document placed his individual stamp on the common materials with which they worked.

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Ronit H Nikolsky, The place of Tanchuma in the Rabbinic Narrative Continuum
We will discuss the manner in which the narratives of the Tanchuma corpus, being a bridge between the
Amoraic culture and the Medieval Jewish culture, are reworking earlier material and by this keeping the
biblical as a relevant cultural asset.
We will show how narratives change over time in Midrash, starting with the Biblical story, and ending in
the (relatively late) Midrash Tanchuma. The term narrative continuum is a general name to this
phenomenon, which is the basic of rabbinic culture, of including in the culture early texts as well as various
layers of meaning which were accumulating throughout the ages.

Monday afternoon

The Torah: Five Books and a Canonical Concept? II


Johannes Taschner, Geschichte neu erzhlt. Das Deuteronomium in kanonischer Perspektive
Das Deuteronomium schildert die Ereignisse des Tages, bevor Israel in das Land einzieht, das Adonaj den
Vorfahren Israels versprochen hat. Mose erinnert die neue Generation an die bisherige Geschichte Gottes
mit seinem Volk und an seine Gebote. Dem Deuteronomium kommt so die Funktion einer abschlieenden
Wiederholung zu, die von nun an einen regelmigen Platz im Leben Israels haben soll: An diesem Tag,
der zugleich Moses letzter Lebenstag ist, schreibt er seine Reden auf und gibt die Weisung, sie alle sieben
Jahre am Laubhttenfest des Erlassjahres zu verlesen (31,9-13). Zur hchsten Autoritt wird damit ein
Text, der regelmig wiederholt werden soll. Somit wird der Kanon der Tora erzhlerisch inszeniert.
(English: Deuteronomy reports the events of the day before Israels entering of the land promised to the
ancestors. Moses reminds the new generation of gods history with his people and his commandments.
Insofar Deuteronomy gains the function of a final repetition having its specific role in Israels life: This day
Moses writes down his speeches and gives instruction to read them out every seven years on the feast of
tabernacles in the year of remission (31,9-13). A text gains highest authority, which has to be repeated
regularly. This is the narrative fiction of how the canon of the torah is started.)

Georg Steins, Mose, dazu die Propheten und David. Tora und Toraauslegung in 1-2 Chronik
Neben Esra und Nehemia wird in keinem Buch der Bibel so hufig explizit auf die Tora des Mose als
Schriftdokument Bezug genommen wie in 1 / 2 Chronik; sie bieten also eine erstklassige innerkanonische
Perspektive auf die Tora. An den Chronikbchern lassen sich grundlegende Fragen der Konstitution und
Funktion von Tora studieren: Was bedeutet Tora? Welche Momente der Tora werden in der
Rezeptionherausgehoben? Wie geschieht Auslegung? Welche Rolle spielt die Tora im kanonischen
Prozess?

Beat Weber, Psalm 1 (-2) als (Doppel-) Portal zum Psalter und der Anschluss an die Tora
Psalm 1 fungiertin Verbindung mit Psalm 2 nicht nur als Einweisung in den Psalter, sondern hat
auch als Scharniertext in der Hebrischen Bibel (und darber hinaus) eine hohe bibelkanonische
Relevanz. Neuere Studien tendieren im Blick auf die Tora-Erwhnung in Ps 1,2 und anderen Momenten
(u.a. die Fnfteilung des Psalmenbuches) zur Ansicht, dass der Psalter selbst als davidische Tora
verstanden werden wolle. damit wird Ps 1,1-2 in prospektivischem Sinn gedeutet. In diesem Beitrag geht es
um die Frage, ob und inwieweit Ps 1,1-2 (auch) retrospektive Momente enthlt, insbesondere in Rckbezug
und Anbindung an die mosaische Tora (Pentateuch). Der Referent ist der berzeugung, dass dem so ist
und wird dies durch Textvergleiche zu zeigen versuchen, wobei ber Psalm 1 hinaus partiell auch Psalm 2
einzubeziehen sein wird. Dieser Aufweis ist insofern von Bedeutung, als die Einschtzung des
Verstndnisses des Psalters generell und speziell als davidische Tora davon mitbetroffen ist. Der Beitrag
will auf Grund dieser konkreten Textbezge ber dies eine Diskussion ber die Intertextualitts- Frage
anregen: Sind die Textbezge hinreichend fr die Annahme der Evozierung eines (deuteronomisch
geprgten) Tora-Horizontes? Welcher Formen, Dichte und rezeptionsgesteuerten Signale bedarf es, dass
die damaligen Hrer / Leser diese Bezge als relevant wahrgenommen haben? Als Grundlage fr dieses
Referat sei auf die vom Referenten dargebotene exegetische Erarbeitung des Psalms samt seiner
Einweisungsfunktion in einem krzlich erschienenen englischsprachigen Beitrag verwiesen (Beat Weber,
Psalm 1 and its Function as a Directive into the Psalter and towards a Biblical Theology, Old Testament
Essays 19/1, 2006).

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Animosity, the Bible and Us II
Jeremy Punt, The Prodigal Son and Blade Runner. Animosity, Fathers and Sons
The science-fiction film, Blade Runner, is accredited with the introduction of the theme of an alternative
future in this genre of feature films, investigating human life and interaction in a context vastly different
from our contemporary way and perception of life. In this movie various elements of biblical allusion, sub-
themes, and other intertextual elements can be recognized, amongst which the image or theme of
prodigality, akin to the parable of the prodigal son, is most prevalent. While a prominent theme in the
parable is the animosity in the relationships of a father and his two sons, Blade Runner presentsin an
analogous waythe animosity between a creator and his world and his artificial human beings. But the
links between the two narratives can be explored at a deeper level as well, enquiring about the reasons for
the animosity which always appear to involve perceptions of reality, clashing notions of the nature of life
itself, the complexity of human embodiment and the importance of self-actualization. Far from claiming
that the two stories are identical or even that the movie is in any way dependent upon the biblical parable,
the influence of the Bible on popular culture is evident both in its ability to inspire as well as to highlight
the dark side of human existence. The intertextual link between the parable and the movie is enhanced
when they emit a similar warning and challenge - in their portrayal of remaining animosity amidst
reconciled relationships and futures.
Peet Botha, Animosity: Romans 1:18-32: The Reception of the Pauline Text on Homosex by the First
Century Church
Pauls audience consisted mainly of Gentile Christians and his purpose in writing Romans was to alter their
beliefs and behavior. He might have been dealing with entrenched habits originating from the Graeco-
Roman culture where sexual morality had a certain looseness about it. Romans 1:26-27 is about as clear a
condemnation of homosexual and lesbian behavior as one could get in the New Testament. It would seem
that Paul draws repeatedly on both the Old Testament and the Wisdom of Solomon for his arguments in
Romans 1. The secular texts of the first century seem also to share Pauls disposition on homosexual
conduct. This paper reflects on the reality of animosity toward homosexuals before and after the Pauline
Epistle was read in the Roman congregation.
Heikki Lepp, Ananias and Sapphirakilled by the Holy Spirit and Peter? (Acts 5:1-11)
In the Book of Acts Ananias and Sapphira are a married couple, who sold their property and gave part of
the price to the early church. They lied that they had given all the money. Peter rebuked Ananias without
giving him a chance to repent. When he met Sapphira he, at least, predicted her death. The other option is
that she died because Peter cursed her. Peter had active role in this ultimate act of violence. Desjardins
shows that the story has another dimension of violence, namely psychological: Be careful, fellow
Christians; remember what happened when Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter? Luke is the only author in
the NT who tells stories about divine capital punishments. Not only Ananias and Sapphira were killed, but
also Judas Iscariot and Herod Agrippa. The death of Judas is connected with Ananias and Sapphira by two
motives: one is trading land and the other is having Satan in hearth. And it is Peterwho elsewho tells
about the fate of Judas. Luke used the same rare word when he tells about the death of Agrippa as with
Ananias and Sapphira. And guess who was in prison before Agrippa diedPeter. The picture of Luke is
not complete, if we do not mention one more story about Peter: Simon Magus trying to buy the Holy Spirit.
This time Peter predicted his eternal fate, but left the door open for repentance: May your silver perish
with your....Repent.... Luke might be the only NT author telling these stories, but he has biblical
forerunner. The story has also verbal connection to the story of Achan in LXX (Joshua 7:1-26). Achan had
kept part of the spoils consecrated to Yahweh and was stoned to death for his offence.

Joy in the Bible II: Joy in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible


Francois P Viljoen, Rejoice and be glad (Matt. 5:12): an Interpretation of makarioi in the Beatitudes
Many thousands of humble sufferers have risen above their troubles and sufferings through their memory
of the Beatitudes (Macarisms) of Matthew. They function as a practical theodicy. Although they do not
explain the evil or the human suffering, they do put the difficulties of the present in perspective. In contrast
to Luke, for whom joy and rejoicing are major motifs, Matthew rarely writes of them. This probably
reflects the antagonistic environment in which the Matthean community had functioned. However, there are
a small number of texts referring to joy: 2:10; 3:44 and very significantly 5:12. Apparently Matt 5:12 takes
up Makarioi of the previous Beatitudes and interprets them. It begins with a double call for joy: Rejoice

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and be glad. Apparently this double call appeals to the hearers or readers for a liturgical response, such as
hallelujah or similar exclamations. This double call raises some questions which are investigated in this
paper. What is the relation between the two imperatives are they more than mere duplication? What is the
relation between this double call and the Beatitude of vs. 11 and beyond to the other Beatitudes? Should vs.
11 and 12 be read as one Beatitude? How did Beatitudes (Macarisms) in general function as literary
genre? What is the Sitz im Leben of Matthews Beatitudes and what kind of response is required from the
hearers or readers? Does the double call refer to the same words of Jesus which Luke refers to in Luke 6:23
and what is the relation between these two versions of Jesus words? Does the response in Matthew reflect
actual liturgical practice or is it merely a literary device? How can this call be applied to our present day
situation?
Gert J.C. (Jorrie) Jordaan, The complete joy of Christ, now and for ever: joy in the fourth Gospel
References to joy (chairein, chaira) are found exclusively in the following four sections of the fourth
Gospel: the Baptists proclamation of the coming bridegroom (John 3:29); Jesus dialogue with the Jews
about Abraham (John 8:56); Jesus teaching to his disciples about his suffering, death and return (John
15:11; 16:20-24); and Jesus prayer for his disciples (John 17:13). It seems that these four sections mark
various relations of Christ: Christ and the forerunner, Christ and the Jews, Christ and his disciples; Christ
and his Sender. In all of these relations the reason for joy is to be found in the coming of Christ, but in each
case a new focus-point is introduced. This statement is explained in the paper by providing and discussing
the relevant exegetical material. Furthermore, by means of a thought-structure analysis of the fourth Gospel
as a whole, the revelational progress between these four sections is studied and related to the Christology of
the fourth Gospel. Finally, on the basis of these joy-passages, the theme of joy in the Gospel of John is
defined and related to the theme of joy found elsewhere in the writings of John.
Pieter G.R. deVilliers, Joy in the book of Revelation
The book of Revelation contains seven macarisms in seven seminal places. Because it is mainly a book of
judgment with a strong focus on warnings against idolatry and compromise, the sevenfold reference to a
macarism is unusual and striking. The nature and function of this reference will be studied particularly in
terms of its link with the motif of joy. This will then be related to the motif of joy that is found elsewhere in
the book (Rev.11:10; 12:12; 18:20). This will finally be linked to motifs to other perspectives in the
semantic field, like, for example, the passing of mourning, pain and tears that is expected in the future
(Rev. 21:4). In a concluding part of the paper attention will be given to the relationship of the perspective
on joy in Revelation with other Biblical books, apocalypses and in the surrounding Graeco-Roman world..

Israel and the Production and Reception of Authoritative Books in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods I
Ehud Ben Zvi, The Historical Background of the Prophetic Books and its Implications for their Study as
Social Products
There has been much debate recently on the historical background of these and other central biblical books,
and on both the ways in which this historical background influenced the world portrayed in the books and
the social roles of these books. Certainly, it makes a very considerable difference if the books were for the
most part written within a world similar to the one portrayed in them or substantially different. But even in
the latter case, it makes a difference if they were written, in their present form, within and for communities
in neo-Babylonian Judah, or early Persian period, or late Persian period or Hellenistic periods, in Judah or
in Babylonia. As others have done beforeincluding myself, I will associate the prophetic books with a
social process of production of books in early Persian Yehud, and would associate it with a Jerusalemite
elite, whose worldview was not only centered around a minor city, but of one which was outside the main
demographic and economic center of Yehud, which remained in Benjamin. The main thrust of my talk will
be to show that the acceptance of such an association has important methodological consequences for the
development of explanatory frameworks for the production and social roles of these books. It will be my
contention that the relevance of data abstracted from, and models that work well with larger cities (either
earlier or later) becomes very problematic as an heuristic device. In fact, I will claim that such data and
models have unduly influenced the present scholarly discussion. Instead, I will try to propose new models
in which the irreducible smallness of the society in which these books were produced stands at the center
and shapes the model, rather than being explained away or minimized.

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Philip Davies, The Booth of David and the Function of the Book of Amos
The book of Amos appears to have a fairly straightforward message, yet one that seems controverted in the
closing verses. Some commentators (e.g. Paul, Hayes, Sweeney) have suggested that the hopeful
prophecies about Israel (or Judah; here is another problem) are original to the 8th century prophet. But
solutions that require a consistent 8th-century prophetic message do not easily account for the books
concern with sanctuaries, and especially Bethel. Despite the near-consensus that the book is concerned
primarily with social justice, its animosity towards certain sanctuaries is a factor that requires explanation.
A reassessment of the function of the book of Amos, quite distinct from the message of any 8th-century
prophet, suggests that the booth of David expresses the core of that function, which has to do with the
revival of Jerusalem and its establishment as the centre of the religion of the new Israel.
Diana Edelman, From Prophets to Prophetic Books: The Fixing of the Divine Word
The prophetic books parallel Torah in their provision of a written, formal expression of the divine will,
revealed in the past, for the emergent Jewish communities. I will explore how a change in the religion, from
the cult of Yahweh Sebaot to the cult of Yahweh Elohim, led to the creation of the literary genre typified by
the major and minor prophetic books. During the monarchic era, cultic prophets appear to have represented
a specialist priestly division of oracle priests who consulted the face of Yahweh, i.e. his cultic statue. When
the deity was reconceptualized as Yahweh Elohim and his statue was eliminated in the Persian-era cult, this
former means of determining the divine will was no longer part of the new religion. Nevertheless, examples
of oracles given in the Iron Age, which may have been part of the scribal curriculum, were taken up and
expanded into literary compositions. These, in turn, were seen to be important indicators of Yahwehs plans
for the qahal yisrael and were used, for example, by the author of Ezra 1-6 to show how the deity
actualised his words in history.

The Study of the Historical Jesus I


Michael Bird, The Early Christians, the Historical Jesus, and the Salvation of the Gentiles
This paper addresses the issue of continuity and discontinuity between Jesus and the early church regarding
the salvation of the Gentiles. The first phase of the study is to examine the variety of Gentile missions in
the early church paying particular attention to their distinctive characteristics and motivations. The second
phase outlines the basic contours of Jesus' view of the Gentiles which are shaped principally by his
restoration eschatology. The third phase compares and contrasts these perspectives with a view to
identifying how the missionary ethos of the early church is both continuous and discontinuous with that of
the historical Jesus.
Riemer Roukema, Jesus, Gnosis, and the Church
This paper is a presentation of a book I would like to write on the reception of Jesus in Christian
Gnosticism and in early mainstream Christianity. Even if one considers that there are various images of
Jesus within Gnosticism (to some extent a modern construct) on the one hand and among the Church
Fathers on the other hand, it is justifiable to distinguish between these two different traditions. 1. In
Gnosticism Jesus is considered a messenger of the supreme God who transcends the Old Testament God,
and he is regarded as a teacher of secret gnosis that should lead to salvation of the divine element in a
human being. In mainstream Christianity Jesus is professed as the Son and Logos of the Old Testament
God, or even as the incarnation of YHWH himself; he is believed to be the Saviour thanks to whom God
will eventually establish his Kingdom and restore his creation. 2. The historical Jesus had a high view of his
own mission. His was an apocalyptic preacher who thought he had to play a crucial role in the coming of
Gods Kingdom. In his own view he was fully in line with the Old Testament God and his prophets and
thought he was the Son par excellence. He accepted that, like several prophets, he would be killed, but he
trusted that his death would have a positive effect. 3. Looking for continuity and discontinuity between
Jesus and the various traditions that claimed to go back to him, there are good reasons to argue that the
continuum between Jesus and early catholic Christianity is more easily explainable than the relationship
between Jesus and Christian Gnosticism.
James Crossley, From Jesus Observing Food and Purity Laws to Some Christians Not Bothering: A
Causally-Based Approach
The historical study of Christian origins is an unusual beast. Unlike the historical study of many other
times, it is firmly rooted in history of ideas and descriptive social sciences. Socio-economic causal
explanations have made only a minor impact on the mainstream. This paper will provide a socio-

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economic causally based approach to explaining the shift from observance of the Law to non-observance of
major parts of the Law (by some) in earliest Christianity with particular reference to food and purity laws.
1) It is clear that from the 40s onwards there were people associated with Christianity who were not
observing the food laws, that this is tied in with gentiles, and that people like Paul deal with this issue. 2) It
is also clear that the historical Jesus upheld the food laws and assumed his followers would do likewise.
Furthermore, it is likely that the historical Jesus observed biblical purity laws and again assumed their
validity. 3) This paper will show how socio-economic conditions in Palestine and more specifically
changes in socio-economic conditions in Galilee as Jesus was growing up contributed significantly to his
spin on the purity and food laws and how this is tied in with his association with the sinners. Insights from
macro-sociology and conversion studies will be employed to show how this can be linked to significant
numbers of gentiles in earliest Christianity and to the declining validity of the food (and, in a different way,
purity) laws among the first century Christians. Underlying assumptions of this paper are that we do not
have to resort to the historically unlikely scenario of Jesus as a Law-breaker and that history of
ideas/theology explain very little in terms of historical change.

New Testament Philology I


C.B. Amphoux, Les points trmas dans les marges du Vaticanus et la version vieille latine de l'vangile de
Marc
Le codex Vaticanus B (= vat. gr. 1209) est une bible grecque dans laquelle les vangiles ont une
particularit : leurs marges contiennent des points-trmas nots avec l'encre du copiste, dont la fonction
reste mystrieuse. Une premire enqute sur les manuscrits grecs indique qu'il ne s'agit pas de variantes de
la tradition grecque. Mais une autre enqute s'avre fructueuse, elle envisage les variantes de la tradition
latine avant la Vulgate. Comment de telles variantes peuvent-elles tre en rapport avec un manuscrit grec ?
Le Vaticanus a t copi vers 340, mais le lieu reste incertain et Rome est une possibilit. Cette ventualit
permet d'expliquer que les marges signalent des points du texte o la Vieille latine diffre du texte grec
copi ; et il est intressant de noter que dans la plupart des cas, la rvision de Jrme limine les variantes
incrimines. Les points-trmas du Vaticanus ont peut-tre jou un rle dans l'volution de la version latine
des vangiles au 4e s.
Hellen Mardaga, The use of ekeino in Jn 19,35
In the literature the pronoun ekeino in Jn 19,35 is usually interpreted in four different ways: (1) as
referring to God or Christ, (2) as indicating the ewrakw (3) as pointing to the soldier, and (4) as
designating the Beloved Disciple, with the ewrakw as the soldier. The last explanation, defended by M.
Sabbe, is especially the most important one because of two reasons: (a) it presupposes that the ewrakw in
19,35 is used in opposition. The one who sees is distinguished from the one who knows: the soldier
sees and testifies, and the Beloved Disciple knows that the soldier speaks the truth; and (b) it explains the
meaning of the verse from Mk 15,(38) 40-47. The centurion in Mk confesses his faith in Jesus, the son of
God. In Jn he pierces Jesus side and confesses that he sees eternal life in the death of Jesus. The Beloved
Disciple in turn affirms soldiers testimony reported by Mk, and writes it in his gospel so that all who read
it may believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (comp. 20,31). In this paper we treat the question whether
ekeino in 19,35 should be understood as a resumption of ewrakw , rather than used in opposition as M.
Sabbe suggests. The ekeino takes up ewrakw and within the aside 19,35 a second aside is created in
which the truth of the eyewitness testimony is affirmed. The Beloved Disciple is the one who sees and
witnesses. He stresses that he knows for sure that what he has seen is true so that listeners would come to
believe.
Stanley E. Porter, Conjunctions and Levels of Discourse
Conjunctions have proved to be a recurring problem for Greek analysis. They are usually treated on the
same level, as if they presented a single set of discrete choices. However, the use of conjunctions in Greek
provide various clines of conjunctive meaning, and are selected according to various levels of discourse
linkage. This paper explores a basic framework for analysis of conjunctions in this light.
Sam Creve, The Pauline Key Words pneuvma and sarx and their Translation
The terms pneuvma spirit and flesh are key words in Pauls theology. In the limited corpus of
preserved letters, the words occur 184 and 108 times respectively. Imagine someone started reading Pauls
letters in the original Greek version without a single notion of the meaning of these key words. He would
observe that the words appear in different contexts and his impression of their meaning would be modified
by every single context. In the case of pneuvma and , where the contexts sometimes differ

11
dramatically, he would not be able to construct a coherent view of their meaning, unless he classified the
contexts into more homogeneous groups and tried to form an image of the terms meaning in each of the
groups. In other words, he would have to accept that the words are polysemous. This lecture will present a
theoretical framework for a fully corpus based approach to lexical semantics using the descriptive methods
of cognitive linguistics. This method will enable us to give a survey of the different meanings of the terms
and pneuvma. In a second part some textual examples will show how this polysemy is dealt with in
recent Bible translations.

Tuesday morning

Biblical Hebrew and Linguistics


Andreas Wagner, Verbs of Emotion in Biblical Hebrew
The paper deals with meaning- and metaphor-structures concerning verbs of emotions. It is based on results
of the research-project: Human emotions emotions of God. Emotional concepts in the O.T. in
anthropological and anthropopathic context.
Talia Sutskover, The Semantic Field and Thematic Coherence
In this paper I will describe the special role of the semantic field in the text of Genesis, focusing on the
Jacob narrative. In text linguistics the semantic field has been described as a feature that contributes to
verbal cohesion (lexical recurrence). What I want to show is that in Genesis the field of seeing also
contributes to logical connectivity (coherence) and overall structure. Lexemes of the semantic field of
seeing occur at strategic points in the Jacob narrative. For example: in Gen 27 Jacob succeeds in deceiving
his father and securing his blessing, only because Isaac's eyesight had faded away; the high point of the
Jacob story is the meeting between Jacob and Esau, compared by Jacob to seeing the face of God (Gen
33:10); Jacob struggles with the man of God and designates the place of the struggle Peniel. Both the
name and its explanation are described in terms from the field of seeing (Gen 32:30). Such examples show
that the integration of the Jacob narrative is based not only on chronological order, connecting phrases or
the appearance of the same family members, but also on recurrent lexemes from the field of seeing. Since
these lexemes consistently appear at high points that are central to the plot structure, and since they convey
similar semantic content, they too contribute to the coherence of the text and its thematic interpretation.
Mats Eskhult, On the Concurrence of Syntax and Style in Ancient Hebrew
Style in literature may be described as a choice between pragmatically and grammatically equivalent
expressions. In order to investigate stylistic choice, one should have to consider the probable alternatives in
a given context, but in respect to Ancient Hebrew literature this is hardly done since the outward
circumstances which are mirrored in it, as well as the rules for well-formed sentences, are only partly
known. The manner of writing in general, and syntax in particular, are bound to genre: a presentation of a
series of events, i.e. a narrative, on the one hand and a poem on the other, are characterized by different
syntax. Syntax is even more bound to text type: plain narrative discourse differs considerably from
procedural discourse in respect to verbal syntax: the backbone in the former is the perf cons, in the latter the
impf cons. Among the minor text types are the not very prominent descriptive discourse with its high
frequency of imperfect forms and the juridical text type, inter alia, characterized by a noun followed by ki
and a yiqtol form. Direct speech is mostly hortative, but even within a short catchword it easily alternates
between the various text types.
Reinhard Lehman, The Significance of Phoenician to the Study of the Language of Ancient Israel:
General Considerations and Examples
The Phoenician language, being part of the Canaanite Levantine dialect continuum, is considered one of the
least known Northwest Semitic languages. Since the first studies of Phoenician in the 19th century, it
desperately required the help of Biblical Hebrew in most cases or, as Mark Lidzbarski said in 1927: Where
knowledge of Hebrew ceases, our knowledge of Phoenician ceases, too. Despite the fact that since then the
knowledge of Phoenician texts and vocabulary has remarkably increased, there still are serious gaps in
Phoenician morphology, syntax, and lexicon, and accordingly the verdict of Lidzbarski seems to remain
true. Nevertheless, methodologically taking into account the different states of transmission of both
languages, also the reverse is true. The lecture will propose considerations which allow to take Phoenician
as seriously contributing to our knowledge of the language of Ancient Israel also apart from single words
and expressions.

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Early Christianity Between Judaism and Hellenism II
Outi Lehtipuu, Body Language: The Spiritual and the Bodily Resurrection
The New Testament evangelists depict the body of the resurrected Jesus in concrete, tangible terms.
Particularly Luke and John emphasize that the risen Jesus is no ghost but eats with the disciples and appears
to have flesh and bones (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-29; 21:1-14). On the other hand, the apostle Paul
declares that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50). For Paul, the resurrection
body is a spiritual body, not comparable to the perishable and mortal human flesh. In this paper, I examine
the different ways the New Testament writings comprehend and describe the resurrection body. A
comparison with contemporary philosophical writings and poetry shows that spiritual beings were often
depicted in bodily terms. Even though a distinction was made between body and soul, they did not
represent different realms but were both made of material. This observation also bears significance to the
way the resurrection life and the Kingdom of God are understood in the New Testament writings.
Margareta Gruber, Der Quelle zu trinken geben - Sesus und die samariterin (Joh 4,1-42), intratextuell
gelesen und zur johanneischen anthropologie befragt
Die Bitte Jesu am Jakobsbrunnen: gib mir zu trinken (4,7) fhrt im unmittelbaren Kontext der Erzhlung
Joh 4,1-42 zur metaphorischen Vertiefung in 4,14, in der sich der Drstende als Quelle offenbart, der im
Menschen selbst eine Quelle frei legt. Mein Beitrag mchte, ausgehend von dieser Bitte Jesu,
rezeptionsorientiert einen vom Text des Joh gesteuerten Lesevorgang beschreiben. Der Text des Joh
verfolgt eine Strategie der doppelten Lektre ein und desselben End-Textes, der von diesem Text selbst
gewollt und durch literarische Techniken der Intratextualitt (v.a. leitmotivische Verknpfung) gesteuert
ist: In einer ersten, auf Ostern zugehenden Lektre will die Erzhlung Joh 4 als Glauben weckende und
zum Glauben (4,21.41f) herausfordernde Begegnung mit Jesus, dem Spender des lebendigen Wassers
(4,14) und Retter der Welt (4,42), gelesen werden. Wenn man das Verweissystem der Sinnlinie Wasser
durch den Text des gesamten Joh verfolgt, stt man auf weitere Intertexte, die das Thema am
Jakobsbrunnen vorbereiten bzw. weiterfhren und den Kreislauf des Spendens und Trinkens schlieen.
Denn in einer zweiten, sterlichen Lektre von Ostern herkommend, gewissermaen von hinten nach
vorn gelesen, will der selbe Text Joh 4 zeigen, wie der Ursprung des Lebenswassers (Joh 4,14a; 7,37-39;
19,34) aus der Quelle, die er in den Glaubenden frei legt (4,14; 7,38 (?); 19,35) selber wieder seinen Durst
stillen mchte (4,7.10; 20,27). Das Durstmotiv in Joh 4 weist auf den Tod Jesu (19,28.30) und gleichzeitig
darber hinaus auf das neue, ewige Leben im Geist (4,14.36; 20,20.22.31), das dadurch beginnt. Zur joh
Anthropologie befragt heit das, dass die Reziprozittsaussagen (Joh 6,56; 14,10.20; 17,21), in denen die
joh Theologie der grundlegenden Beziehungshaftigkeit des Menschseins gipfelt, im Evangelium auch
narrativ in Szene gesetzt werden. Das Beziehungsgeschehen der erlsenden Fleischwerdung des Logos
wird in herausfordernder Anschaulichkeit als Gegenseitigkeit zwischen Gott und Mensch ausgelegt.
Das setzt christologisch voraus, dass der joh Jesus bereits in seinem irdischen Reden und Handeln sich
selbst in seiner Einheit des Gekreuzigten mit dem Auferstandenen, des Prexistenten mit dem
Menschgewordenen offenbart und auch gibt. In dieser Einheit offenbart sich im Joh die Doxa Gottes.

Early Judaism and Rabbinics: Continuity, Change and Canonicity II


Matthew Morgenstern, Fragments of Lost Babylonian Aramaic Literature and the Lack of Poetry in
Rabbinic Literature
It is well known that only one major literary work of Babylonian Jewry in the Talmudic period survives,
and that is the Babylonian Talmud. Although varied in its subject matter and style, it may be presumed to
represent only a small portion of the post-biblical literature of the Babylonian exile. In recent years,
hundreds of previously unknown Aramaic magic bowls from the Talmudic and early post-Talmudic period
have come to light. Many are awaiting publication. Nevertheless, even from the published materials, we are
able to discover something about the literary product of Babylonian Jewry beyond the Talmudic corpus. In
particular, two literary fields have been enriched. First, the bowls often contain allusions to lost Midrashic
traditions, and show a particular interest in miracle stories and objects of miraculous powers. In addition,
the bowls reveal to us something of the epic poetry known to Babylonian Jews, a corpus of literature that
finds no reflection in the Talmud. In this lecture, I shall consider the contribution of the magic bowls to the
rediscovery of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic poetry. Poetry was one of the major forms of religious
expression from biblical times onwards, and a large number of the literary works from the Dead Sea Scrolls
are poetic, which even continue the biblical tradition of integrating legal and poetic texts within a single
work (e.g. the Serekh texts). In total contrast, Rabbinic literature almost entirely eschews this genre, and

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contains virtually no poetic material, with the exception of a few brief citations from eulogies in Hebrew.
The survival of epic-style poems in Babylonian Aramaic magic texts in the Jewish script proves that such
material was part of the cultural world of Babylonian Jewry. The question then arises why no such material
was included in the Talmud itself, which does sometimes contain lengthy prose tales in Babylonian
Aramaic. An answer may lie in the nature of those tales, which are generally laconic in style. It appears that
the expansive style of the contemporary poetry was to the taste of the compilers of the Talmud. If they
sought poetic expression to encapsulate a moral message, they employed the pithier genre of the proverb
rather than the florid style of contemporary Aramaic poetry. If more florid expression was sought, it was
generally drawn from the Bible itself, which seems to have been regarded as the only poetic text worthy of
citation.
Avinoam Cohen, The Lord shall lift up His Countenance upon you (Numbers 6:26) A Theological
Polemic with Christianity?
In their midrashim on the verses of the Bible, the sages of the Mishna and Talmud the Tanaim and
Amoraimoften offered interpretations that were far removed from any simple logical, textual or
contextual reading of the text. Efforts to explore the reasons for these farfetched interpretations have
uncovered a diverse range of hidden aims on the part of the sages, which can be attributed to circumstances
of time and place. Among these midrashim with a hidden agenda, clear indications could be found that hint
at the fierce theological debate that the sages of Eretz Israel conducted with their Christian neighbors. The
verse The Lord shall lift up His countenance upon you from the priestly blessing is
presented about 40 times in the Talmudic literature as a whole as a seeming contradiction to the verse in
Deuteronomy 10: 17 The Lord who does not lift any countenance [lit.: is not partial] ,
. In my lecture, I will propose that both the pseudo-contradiction created by the sages and the
diverse range of explanations they themselves offered to resolve it are connected to the theological polemic
that Judaism conducted with early Christianity.
Gabi Barzilay, A Three Day Walk': Literally Reading Typological Numerical Expressions A Test Case
Many typological numbers appear in the Bible, a lot of them in fixed expressions, like 'forty years', 'seventy
sons', 'four hundred men' etc. these expressions were part of the spoken language in biblical times, and
became part of biblical literature. However, in later periods, readers and interpreters started to read these
expressions in a literal way, and to suppose that all the numbers written in the bible were exact numbers.
This approach to biblical writing led to many questions, problems and contradictions, which occupied
biblical exegetes in post-biblical periods. In this presentation I wish to discuss the interpretive development
of the Typological Numerical Expression 'A three day walk', which originally means: a normal distance
between two places. Buy studying this expression in the AKEDAH story, and the discussion of the 'three
day walk' in this story, in Second Temple writings and rabbinical literature, I will show how literally
reading of typological numbers clashes with an interpretive conception of geographic reality, and serve as a
polemic tool in a theological debate between Jews and Samaritans, concerning the true place of the holy
temple.
Valt Apinis, The Attitude of Rabbinic Tradition towards Pseudepigraphal Writings concerning Afterlife
The general task of the following paper is to clarify the traditional attitude of the Sages towards the so-called
Pseudepigraphal Writings as the polemics reflected in Rabbinic literature (several reasons will be listed for the
rabbinic prohibition of reading Pseudepigrapha). Author will demonstrate how the Rabbinic concept of the
world to come (OLAM HA-BAH) evolves in this context. The whole paper will deal shortly with two
eschatological systems in comparisonthat of traditional rabbinic and pseudepigraphous apocalyptic.
Barak S. Cohen Rav Nahman and Rav Sheshet: Conflicting Methods of Exegesis of Biblical and Tannaitic
Sources
Rav Nahman and Rav Sheshet, who lived in the early fourth century C.E., are two of the most prominent
Babylonian Amoraim. They are known for their numerous disagreements, having conflicting opinions on
halakhic issues in over thirty five instances in both Talmudim. The present study presents a systematic
analysis of the entire corpus of their disagreements revealing significant differences in their system of study
and exegesis, primarily with regard to the use and interpretation of Biblical and tannaitic sources. Their
diverse approaches originate from differing methods of study: Rav Sheshet had a conservative approach,
employing formalistic exegesis of Biblical and tannaitic sources, while Rav Nahman employed an
innovative technique, tending to expand Biblical and tannaitic sources through creative interpretation.

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Moreover, there is a clear relationship between the data derived from an analysis of their respective
methodologies and the rest of their literary legacy in Talmudic literature. Indeed, the examination of the
methodologies of Rav Nahman and Rav Sheshet demonstrates the importance of the careful examination of
the collective corpus of amoraic literature. Ultimately this is the key to building a coherent intellectual
history of the Amoraim.

Israel and the Production and Reception of Authoritative Books in the Persian and Hellenistic
Periods II
Rainer Albertz, Public Recitation of Prophetical Books? The Case of the First Edition of Deutero-Isaiah
(Isa 40:1-52:12*)
For a long time it was disputed whether the book of Deutero-Isaiah originated in the oral proclamation of a
prophet of that name (C. Westermann and others), or whether it was originally composed as a written text
(R.F. Melugin and others). Giving due weight to the remarkable elements of oral communication and the
clear signs of literary composition visible in the present text, it is best concluded that the rhetorical unit
comprising Isa 40:1-52:12* was written explicitly for oral recitation in public. The book was probably
performed by different voices of the prophetical group in Judah during the years 521 and 520 BCE.
Philippe Guillaume, Before the Canons: Pg vs DH
When enquiring how collections of biblical books were produced, the identification of pre-canonical
collections is an essential step. Two such building-blocks are the Priesterschrift and the Deuteronomistic
History, representing two major narratives, supposedly composed around the same period as responses to
the challenges of the exilic and post-exilic eras. Despite the lack of consensus over Pg and DH, these
hypotheses remain pervasive ideological matrices that govern much modern scholarship and are thus liable
to distort our study of the formation of biblical collections. Before being able to even attempt to recover the
social processes of identity formation and how the collections came into existence, it is essential to submit
those models to critical re-evaluation. In the first part of my paper, I will recall some key points on which
Pg and DH are built and point out their strengths and weaknesses in light of the present state of research.
Then I will focus on prophetic literature and on the particular problem it poses since two starting points are
possible: the Nebiim aharonim or the Historika. I will argue that the Historika should not necessarily be
considered a Christian by-product of the Nebiim. The primacy of the Historika should be kept as a viable
working hypothesis, thus bringing some kind of Alexandrian canon hypothesis back into the arena. This
calls for renewed interest in the role of Alexandria not only for the translation of the Torah, but also in the
fixing of its text and in the organization of prophetic books as the sequel of the Torah. Hence, if the
assembling of the Joshua-Kings corpus is much later than the exilic date postulated by Martin Noth, Pg
deserves renewed interest as it may turn out to be the earliest document spanning several biblical books.
Depending on the particular focus of the session, I will conclude with a plea for Pg. In spite of the various
attempts to shrink and distort it, it remains, I claim, the earliest coherent document covering the entire span
of the Torah, if not the Hexateuch. Its coherent presentation of the rise of Israelite monotheism and how
Israel relates to its Semitic cousins provides an anchoring point from which it becomes possible to observe
how Pg became Ps and then Torah, through the insertion of other materials that shaped the Jewish identity.

Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible: Psalms I


Bernd Janowski, Mein Gott lsst meine Finsternis erstrahlen (Ps 18,29). Zur alttestamentlichen
Lichtmetaphorik am Beispiel der Psalmen
Ausgehend von einer Skizze der Solarisierung JHWHs in der mittleren Koenigszeit (und spaeter) und unter
Einbeziehung des altorientalischen Vergleichsmaterials wird die alttestamentliche Lichtmetaphorik anhand
zweier kontrastiver Aussagezusammenhaenge dargestellt. Waehrend das Licht eine Metapher fuer Leben
und Gerechtigkeit ist, fungiert die Finsternis als Metapher fuer Tod und Unheil. Besonders
aufschlussreich fuer die Geschichte des Monotheismus ist dabei die Frage, ab wann die
Kompetenzausweitung JHWHs als des Gottes des Lebens ueber den finsteren Tod geschah und wie
sich dies in den alttestamentlichen Texten und epigraphischen Dokumenten niedergeschlagen hat.
Jutta Hausmann, Zur Sprachwelt von Ps 122
Der 121. Psalm ist semantisch vordergrndig vorwiegend vom Wortfeld des Unterwegs-Seins geprgt, was der
Einordnung des Textes unter die Wallfahrtspsalmen auch durchaus entspricht. Die im Text verwendete
Begrifflichkeit fhrt mit ihren metaphorischen Gehalten jedoch noch in ganz andere Vorstellungsbereiche,
deren Spektrum im Vortrag aufgezeigt werden soll.

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Else K. Holt, ad fontes aquarumGod as Water in the Psalms?
The metaphor God is Water is well known in a Christian (NT) context but rarely used in the Old
Testament where it is explicit only in the book of Jeremiah. My presentation will investigate the possible
use of the metaphor in Ps 42/43. Here the psalmist longs for the living God like a deer longs for the flowing
streams. But in the first strophe (Ps 42:1-6) there is no water for him to drink but his own tears, which have
been his food day and night. In the second strophe (Ps 42:7-12) the situation changes dramatically, and he
gets far too much and too dangerous and chaotic water. The poor man has nothing to do but to seek refuge
in another image: God is a rock. Thus, in the third strophe (Ps 43:1-5) the water imagery is absent and
substituted by other images of God. What is the coherence and dynamic in the water imagery throughout
the parts of the psalm? Is both metaphor and metonymy represented in the psalms water imagery? What
are the relations between the imagery in Ps 42/43 and other psalms where God is only portrayed as the ruler
of the water, whatever chaotic or fertile? And why is this fine image God is Water so rare in the Old
Testament and so popular in the New?
Beat Weber, Die Sprachbilder Fruchtbaum und Spreu im Verstehenszusammenhang von Psalm 1
Die Metaphern Fruchtbaum (Ps 1,3) und Spreu (Ps 1,4) haben Anteil an der weisheitlich-antithetischen
Gestaltung und Aussageabsicht des ersten Psalms. Eine nhere Betrachtung zeigt, dass die den Psalm
prgende Bipolaritt nicht einfach gleichgewichtig strukturiert, sondern mit Differenzierungen und
Nuancierungen verbunden ist. hnliches gilt im Blick auf die beiden Wortbilder. In diesem Beitrag geht es
primr darum, Gestalt, Funktion und Aussage dieser beiden Sprachbilder im Kontext von Psalm 1, der
(zusammen mit Psalm 2) das Eingangsportal zum Psalter bildet und damit bibelkanonisch von besonderer
Bedeutung ist, mglichst przis zu erfassen. Dazu bedarf es auch eines Seitenblicks auf hnliche
Bildaussagen im biblischen (und ausserbiblischen) Bereich. Im Vergleich mit anderen Beitrgen zur
Metaphorik der Psalmen an diesem Kongress wird zu diskutieren sein, ob und inwieweit die in Ps 1
ansichtig gewordene metaphorische Redeweise hinsichtlich des Psalmenbuchs eher als typisch oder aber als
aussergewhnlich einzuschtzen ist. Als Grundlage fr diesen Beitrag sei auf die vom Referenten
dargebotene exegetische Erarbeitung des Psalms samt seiner Einweisungsfunktion in einem krzlich
erschienen englischsprachigen Beitrag verwiesen (Beat Weber, Psalm 1 and Its Function as a Directive
into the Psalter and towards a Biblical Theology, Old Testament Essays 19/1, 2006).

Animosity, the Bible and Us III


Rainer Reuter, Animosity against Jewish and Pagan Magic in Acts
Three passages in Acts tell about early Christianity meeting with magicians and magical practices of
ancient Antiquity. The story of Simon the magician in Act 8:9-25 intends to show the superiority of
Christian faith over Simons magic. There, it is not only Simons audience that turns to the teaching of the
apostles, but also Simon himself. The conflict arose when Simon wanted to buy the power of giving the
holy spiritprobably in order to use it for magical purposes. Act 13:6-12 depicts a conflict between Paul
and a Jewish magician Judas bar Jesus. The magician resists Pauls missionary attempts and is punished
with temporary blindness. This miracle is depicted as superior to the magicians practice and intends to
support Christian faith. Acts 19:11-17 makes clear that Christian healing and exorcism practice is not a
magic ritual and that the name of Jesus can not be used as a magic spell. Those who try itlike the sons of
Skeuas experience unpleasant consequences. The following verses (Act 19:18-20) show that Christian
faith excludes magical practise: Gentile Christians who had practiced magic before their conversion
confessed what they had done and burnt their magical books. All passages show an obvious Christian
animosity against ancient magical practice. They intend to express that Christian faith is superior to magic
and therefore excludes magic. According to Luke this superiority is self evident and is not to be shown by
means of violence.

Fika J van Rensburg, Animosity towards Christian Foreigners in Asia Minor during the First Century CE
The addressees of 1 Peter are identified as resident and visiting foreigners (paroikoi kai parepidmoi
[diasporas] 1:1,17; 2:11), but the letter does not give any explicit cause for this status of the addressees. It
is improbable that official persecution was the cause. The backdrop rather seems to be the socio-political
status of the Christian groups in the Diaspora, their daily relationships with Jews and other non-Christians,
and the difficulties that they, as "resident and visiting foreigners" had to face daily. This paper is an attempt
to construct the animosity that foreigners who became Christians, experienced in Asia Minor during the
first century CE.

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Outi Lepp, Useless Commandment: Animosity towards the Earlier Covenant in Hebrews
In the Book of Acts Ananias and Sapphira are a married couple, who sold their property and gave part of
the price to the early church. They lied that they had given all the money. Peter rebuked Ananias without
giving him a chance to repent. When he met Sapphira he, at least, predicted her death. The other option is
that she died because Peter cursed her. Peter had active role in this ultimate act of violence. Desjardins
shows that the story has another dimension of violence, namely psychological: Be careful, fellow
Christians; remember what happened when Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter? Luke is the only author in
the NT who tells stories about divine capital punishments. Not only Ananias and Sapphira were killed, but
also Judas Iscariot and Herod Agrippa. The death of Judas is connected with Ananias and Sapphira by two
motives: one is trading land and the other is having Satan in hearth. And it is Peterwho elsewho tells
about the fate of Judas. Luke used the same rare word when he tells about the death of Agrippa as with
Ananias and Sapphira. And guess who was in prison before Agrippa diedPeter. The picture of Luke is
not complete, if we do not mention one more story about Peter: Simon Magus trying to buy the Holy Spirit.
This time Peter predicted his eternal fate, but left the door open for repentance: May your silver perish
with your....Repent... Luke might be the only NT author telling these stories, but he has biblical
forerunner. The story has also verbal connection to the story of Achan in LXX (Joshua 7:1-26). Achan had
kept part of the spoils consecrated to Yahweh and was stoned to death for his offence.
Tuesday afternoon
The Bible and Sacred Space
Stuart Lasine, Holy Men in Space
Only one individual is explicitly called a holy man of God in the Tanakh, and that is the prophet Elisha.
However, Moses, Aaron and other priests can participate in holiness, and in Deuteronomy all Israelites are
said to be holy. This paper examines how the holiness of some biblical individuals expresses itself in their
movements in space, particularly in their relations with the divine and other humans, including the ways in
which others perceive their holy qualities. Elisha and Moses will receive most attention. In discussing
Elisha, I will focus on the prophets relations with the Shunammite and her son. The section on Moses will
highlight his appearance to the people in Exodus 34, and his actions during the Korah rebellion. I will
then discuss the report of Gods attack on Moses in Exod 4:24-26 and the ways in which it contrasts with
the account of the divine attack on Jacob at the Jabbok, at a time before the term holiness and arguably
the conceptappears in the Bible (with the exception of the sanctification of the Sabbath in Gen 2:3). The
paper concludes with some brief observations on the problem of defining holiness and the implications of
that problem for an understanding of sacred space in the Hebrew Bible.
Mark Brummitt, Jeremiah and the City: Jeremiah 1 and the Fortified Prophet of Jerusalem
The unexpected referent to the pronoun them in Jeremiah 1: 16 brings about a moment of disorientation
and signals the disruption (or overturning) of categories. The enemy without turns out to be a divinely
ordained judgement on an enemy within, and the besieged are reconfigured as besiegerswithin a city
surrounded by the tribes of the kingdoms of the north is a fortified prophet beset by its citizens (1:15, 18-
19). I shall examine the strange symbiosis of prophet and city and the consequent redefining of sacred
space set up by this commissioning. Commenting on the parallel circumstances of Jeremiah and Jerusalem,
I shall besiege the text with insights taken from theories of the production of social space, particularly,
given the hints of Holy War theology and the context of imperialism, in relation to postcolonial writings.
Pernille Carstens, Travelling through the Landscape
Parts of the Old Testament are related to a landscape. Not only in the concrete form of a certain territory, as
for example the desert which is crossed. In the National Epic there is a sort of permanent and underlying
reference to the presence of the ancestors in the shape of tomb markers and memorials. These monuments,
and references to them, express permanence, they turn these places into sacred places. They constitute a
man-made landscape. In turn this has bearing on the development of ethnicity; this man-made landscape
constitutes both a collective memory and the conception of the sacred homeland. On a literary level this
may be characterized as the creation of a mythical landscape (as Anthony Smith says: a poetic landscape).
The archaeologist Christopher Tilley has investigated different ethnic groups and their relationship towards
landscape; how their history can be read via traits in the landscape. He sees the landscape as the carrier of
ancestral maps, created in a remote past, in Dreamtime. I intend to apply Tilley's landscape theories to the
National Epic. Via his theories of ancestral mind mapping, I will suggest a new reading of the Old
Testament travels, the movement and the walks, including the notion on pilgrimage, liminal as it is.

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Animosity, the Bible and Us IV
Dirk van der Merwe, Animosity in the Johannine Epistles: a divisio communitas
A group of people within the Johannine community (2:18) contributed towards destroying the koinonia
(fellowship) experienced among members of this community. Because the texts of 1 and 2 John do not
provide direct evidence of the identities of the communitys heretically inclined members, it has been
pointed out how they are defined in different ways by different scholars. Given that the Gnostic hypothesis,
based on the alleged Gnostic terminology found in 1 John, is simply an extension of a historically
orientated approach, which creates more problems than it solves, it is best to seek direct evidence of these
heretics identities and the nature of animosity in the hypothetically socio-religious constructed
circumstances, sensible from the text. The text of 1 John, in both style and substance, serves to establish the
nature of the controversy; a controversy that is encoded in the polemical language of slogans, dialectic
discourse, confessions and denials, the apocalyptic language of the antichrists, and the competing spirits.
The animosity in 1 John not only proves to be a matter of different interpretations of a shared tradition, but
certainly also of diverse ethical conduct. An analysis of the pooemium (1:1-4) provides insight into the
nature of the fellowship that had been destroyed. This deliberately structured text, with its specific
emphasis on koinonia, sets the tone in which the animosity is to be interpreted. From this investigation,
family metaphorics proved to be the setting in which the terminology and thought-framework of 1 and 2
John are embedded and how it should be understood and interpreted. In order to help his readers to make
the right choices in re-establishing the koinonia, the methodology used in 1 and 2 John by the Elder, has (1)
an explanatory function and (2) a rhetorical function. The Elder uses the reciprocal negative (antithetical
parallelism) to describe and explain the commanding positive. He uses rhetoric (deliberative and epideictic)
to encourage and to exhort his adherents to continue living according to the characteristics of the familia
dei (family of God), and those who were led astray to return.
Henk Bakker, Animosity and Voluntary Martyrdom: the Power of the Powerless
Christians were considered enemies of the state and could be very hostile toward Roman pagan rituals (e.g.
Tertullian). Now and then they were locally persecuted and only some of them had to suffer a violent death.
Among the celebrated martyrs were Christians who offered themselves voluntarily to die (cf. the letters of
Ignatius of Antioch) and who were glad to be morituri (cf. the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis; see also
Tertullian, Ad martyras). The scenes pictured by Christian authors and redactors were often horrific (cf.
Martyrium Lugdunensium, and the Martyrium Potamiaenae), however, especially bizarre is the idea of
victory which so often goes along with the pathetic struggle. The lives of voluntary Christian martyrs were
not taken by force, because in their perception they sacrificed themselves, giving Satan the deathblow,
crushing his head under their feet. I call this phenomenon a mysterious early Christian enigmait is the
paradox of the power of the powerless martyr, he was untouchable and his hostility was spiritualized and
changed into victory. When you feel so powerless, what are you gonna do? (Nelly Furtado). Some
Christians took initiative and delivered themselves to the authorities. We ought to rethink voluntary
martyrdom especially because of the possibilities it gives to terror, at home, in the church, but also in
culture and society.

Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible: Psalms II


Regine Hunziker-Rodewald, Angst: Muster ihrer Darstellung in den Psalmen
Die Angst in den Klageliedern des Einzelnen wurde in der alttestamentlichen Forschung bisher
ausschliesslich in Bezug auf die kognitiven Inhalte ihrer Darstellung und die verwendete Metaphorik
untersucht. Der Interpretationsrahmen oder -hintergrund ist jeweils die altisraelitische Weltsicht oder die
allgemein-altorientalische Ikonographie. Bisher nicht systematisch verfolgt wurde die Art und Weise, wie
Angst sich in der sprachlichen Gestaltung als solcher niederschlgt. Auf der Basis von Ergebnissen aus
dem Bereich der Konversationsanalyse und Gesprchsforschung lassen sich in den Klageliedern des
Einzelnen bestimmte Darstellungsmuster von Angst eruieren. Die eigentliche Emotionsbenennung ist dabei
von untergeordnetem Interesse, whrend der wortreichen Beschreibung von einzelnen erlebnisrelevanten
Ereignissen und situativen Umstnden ein hoher Stellenwert zukommt. Die sprachliche Darstellung ist in
ihrer alltagsweltlichen Konkretion von grosser Detaillierung geprgt. Es verbindet sich hier speziell beim
Einsatz von wrtlicher Rede (Zitate) als szenischer Technik der Dramatisierung eine deutliche
Relevanzhochstufung mit der Tendenz zur Normalisierung und auch Standardisierung. Die solcherart
realisierte Performance von Angst stellt im lesenden Nachvollzug am entscheidenden bergang von der
Klage zur Bitte/Vertrauensusserung eineArt standardisiertes Identifikationspotential dar. In den

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Kontrastsetzungen viele-einer, oben-unten, mchtig-hilflos bei der Vorfhrung einzelner
Erlebnisbereiche bildet sich in Sprache und Bild ein Angebot speziell fr soziale Angst, d.h. das u.U.
diffuse Erleben von Selbstwertbedrohung ab.
Stefan Wlchli, Zorn JHWHs im Psaltereine Metapher des Leidens?
In verschiedenen Psalmen wird das Zrnen JHWHs erwhnt, berwiegend im Zusammenhang mit
Leidenserfahrungen der Beter. Es stellt sich die Frage, ob und wie sich dieses Reden vom Zorn in die
brigen Leidensmetaphern einfgt. Der Beitrag zeigt am Beispiel einiger ausgewhlter Klagepsalmen die
Funktion und Bedeutung dieses Zornes als den Versuch, das Leiden zu deuten. Der Psalmbeter, der sein
Leiden als Aktion seines zornigen Gottes verstehen kann, kann auch weiterhin auf eine Heilswende hoffen.
So ist das Zrnen JHWHs im Psalter nicht primr eine Metapher fr die Leidenserfahrung als solche,
sondern Metapher fr ein Handeln Gottes, das der Beter als leidvoll und bedrohlich erfhrt.
Zacharias Kotz, Winking (Crq) as Conceptual Metaphor for the Evil Eye in Ps 35:19
Pinching the eye in the context of nonverbal communication in the ancient Near East, has been identified as
an insidiously malicious gesture that communicates hostility. However, to date, the conceptual content of
this expression has not been adequately detailed against the background of the ancient Israelite beliefs
regarding the magical powers of the eye. This paper seeks to investigate the scope of this metonym in order
to come to a verifiable interpretation of the locution. It is argued that the focus of the figurative expression
is the causation of harm to another person and that it should best be viewed as motivated by the ancient
Israelite belief in the Evil Eye.
Philippe Guillaume, I Will Leap a Bull (Ps 18:30)
Since Biblical rw#$ signifies 80 times a bull or a mature bovine, the common translation of the word in
Psalm 18:30, and its parallel in 2 Samuel 22:30 as I will leap a wall can be challenged. The Hebrew text
seems to refer to the practice of bull-leaping in honor of Yhwh. This ritual is well attested in the Bronze
Age throughout the Levant. Three seals from Iron Age Israelite sites suggest that bull leaping was also
known in Israel. The translators of the LXX were well aware of the practice but intentionally obscured the
meaning by rendering rw#$ as tei=xov wall, avoiding the association of King David with a bull. Such
association was too reminiscent of the immature golden bull set up by Aaron in the wilderness.The
metaphor lost of much of its substance. But was it at all metaphoric?

The Theology of 2 Corinthians I


Reimund Bieringer, Blessing and Thanksgiving in 2 Cor 1:3-11
Five of the seven Pauline homologoumena begin with an epistolary thanksgiving using the verb
eujcaristw. In 2 Cor 1:3, Paul uses eujloghto\ oJ qeo\ instead. Scholars have been discussing whether
this variation is significant and if so, what its meaning is. The replacement of the thanksgiving-period by a
blessing-period in 2 Cor 1:3 goes along with a shift of the reason why Paul gives thanks. In 2 Cor 1:3 he
does not give thanks for something the addressees did (see 1 Thess, Phil, Phlm and Rom) or for something
God did for the addressees (1 Cor) but he praises God for something he did for Paul. The presence of a
blessing-period in 2 Cor 1:3 is also significant in light of the fact that thanksgiving language is quite
significant in 2 Corinthians. The verb eujcaristw is used in 1:11, the noun eujcaristia occurs in 4:14,
9:11 and 12 and Charis-Sprche are found in 2:14, 8:16 and 9:15. Why then does Paul avoid his regular
epistolary thanksgiving in 2 Cor 1:3 and what does this tell us about the relationship between apostle and
community? This paper will also investigate the implications for the discussion concerning the unity of the
letter. Finally we shall study the theological meaning of blessing and thanksgiving in 2 Corinthians and
what it teaches us about how Paul creates and develops his theology.
Dominika A. Kurek-Chomycz, The Scent of Revelation: Olfactory Connotations of fanerow in 2 Cor
2:14
Dictionaries of the New Testament have traditionally devoted little space to fanerow. This is surprising in
view of the fact that fanerow occurs much more frequently in the NT writings than apokalu/ptw, which
has always received considerable attention. What is more, this abundance, especially in the Pauline letters
(predominantly in 2 Corinthians) and in the Johannine literature, stands in contrast with scarce attestation in
Greek prior to the NT. It is also noteworthy that the first two occurrences of the substantive fanerwsi
are attested in the Corinthian correspondence, in 1 Cor 11:7 and 2 Cor 4:2. The most remarkable use of
fanerow in a religious context before the second half of the first century is Philos of Alexandria Legum

19
Allegoriae 3.47. In this passage Philo denies the possibility of finding God while remaining in the body,
implying that it is inconceivable that the revelation of God could be mediated by sensory experience.
Interestingly, in the only scholarly article devoted to fanerow that I know of, Marcus Bockmuehl draws
attention precisely to the sensory connotation of this verb in the NT. Since fanerow is often used in the
context of incarnation, it should not come as a surprise that it is related to bodily experiences.
Jan Lambrecht, The Paul Who Wants to Die: A Close Reading of 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10
To what extent does Paul look forward to his death? Reading 2 Cor 5:2-4 one has the impression that Paul
does not want to die. He hopes that he can put on his new body from heaven over the still living old one
from earth. He thus hopes to be still alive when the Lord returns. Then, at the parousia, the earthly body
will be transformed. "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed" (1 Cor 15:51). But reading further
in 2 Corinthians one observes in 5:8 that Paul expresses his desire to die: we would rather go away from
the body and get home to the Lord. In this paper we shall discuss the question whether the two desires can
be reconciled? Since in 4:16 a distinction appears between the outward self and the inward self, we shall
also have to investigate what kind of self Paul is referring to here.

The Study of the Historical Jesus II


Daan van Wyk, The Death of Jesus: Discontinuity in Content and Material Continuity
The study focuses on the crucifixion and the meaning of Jesus's death. The first part of the study focuses on
the contributions made by different researchers on the historical Jesus on how Jesus understood himself and
his death. From the monumental figure of Rudolf Bultmann to the most recent and prominent historical
researchers like J D Crossan and R Funk there is a difference of opinion on how Jesus understood his own
death and on the question of his self-consciousness. The second part focuses on the diversity in the
understanding that the early Christian communities attached to the crucifixion and the death of Jesus.
Against the background concerning Jesus's life and their understanding of the Old Testament the death of
Jesus was interpreted and explained by means of different metaphors. The study is concluded by indicating
that there is discontinuity with regarding to content (inhaltliche Relation) between Jesus's self-
consciousness and His understanding of His own death and the understanding there of by early Christianity.
On the other hand a material continuity (sachliche Relation) can be demonstrated in the midst of the
diversity.
Marvin Meyer, Jesus and Judas in the Gospel of Judas
The recently published Gospel of Judas provides insights into the ways in which Jesus and Judas were
understood in the early church. 1) The Gospel of Judas is a mid-second century Christian text with what
may be described as an early Sethian gnostic point of view, and the Coptic translation seems to be a later
version of the Greek Gospel of Judas referred to by Irenaeus of Lyon in 180. It builds upon earlier
traditions, most notably Jewish Sethian reflections on cosmological issues, and it calls to mind hints about
the character of Judas Iscariot in the New Testament gospels. 2) An examination of the thoroughly positive
assessment of Judas in the Gospel of Judas and the New Testament portraits makes more apparent the
progressive way in which Judas is demonized in the New Testament gospels. At the same time, such a
study clarifies features of Judas that may allow for a rehabilitation of his character as that is understood
through much of Christian interpretation. It also raises significant points about aspects of the New
Testament passion narratives and the relationship between the historical Jesus and Judas, and it raises new
questions about the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. 3) What finally is to be read in the Gospel
of Judas is a gnostic understanding of the passion of Jesus, which is thought to be the paradigm for the
liberation of all people of knowledge who follow Jesus. As a result, Jesus dies for no one's sins in the
Gospel of Judas, but rather heand his followers, typified by Judas transcend the mortal body and find
enlightenment and freedom, and Jesus himself functions as a Sethian gnostic revealer figure sent from God
to people of knowledge.

Graduate Papers (New Testament) I


Gunnar Samuelsson, Was Jesus Crucified?
A common feature in scholarly studies on Jesus is a rather precise description of the execution form he was
subjected to. The punishment of crucifixion is usually described as an execution by nailing of the feet to a
vertical pole and the arms to a horizontal beam that is attached to the vertical pole. The description of the
punishment of crucifixion is not surprising per se. It becomes surprising in the light of the sparse
information the New Testament actually offers on the theme of crucifixion. Does the description of

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crucifixion exceed the information offered in the New Testament texts? It appears as if there is a gap
between common information and the common text. What knowledge about Jesus execution form could be
obtained from the New Testament texts?
Tobias Hgerland, Do not validate this sin of theirs! Stephens intercessory prayer in light of the Septuagint
Interpreters of Stephens last prayer in Acts 7.59-60 frequently assume that do not hold this sin against
them is simply another way of saying forgive this sin for them, allowing the heavenly Jesus to take on
the role that God plays in the Lukan crucifixion scene (Lk. 23.34) as the one asked to forgive the assassins.
In two steps, this paper questions that consensus and instead proposes that Jesus is invoked as a heavenly
advocate in Acts 7.60, while the proper agent of forgiveness is God. First of all, the consensus view is
shown to be unlikely in face of the immediate context of the Protomartyrs request, and it is demonstrated
that the philological evidence from 1 Maccabees brought in by Cadbury has been misread and cannot
support the consensus view. Second, it is argued that if a Septuagint background of Stephens prayer is to
be sought, the Greek version of Numbers 30 constitutes a better candidate than do the royal letters of 1
Maccabees. The paper concludes by reflecting on what implications this reassessment may carry for our
understanding of the christology in Lukes writings and in early Christianity at large.

Wednesday morning

Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible: Psalms III


Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher, Blessed is the man in whose heart there are highways (Ps 84:6). Metaphors
of Space in the Psalms
The highways in the heart in Ps 84 are part of the metaphorical language of the Psalms. Together with
escaping rivers and envious mountains it belongs to the dazzling usage of space and place. The imagination
of space in the Psalms does not only describe places but rather it is used for an orientation that structures
experience. With the help of new and sometimes even daring metaphorical language, facets of reality are
shown from a different perspective. This proposal summarizes the images of space in the Psalms and
describes some particular and exceptional metaphors on the background of the more common images.
Sarah J. Dille, God as a Rock in Psalms 31 and 89: Reading Metaphor in Context
The image of God as a rock, or as my rock appears in numerous psalms. The rock image is, in fact, multi-
dimensional. This metaphor will be explored first in light of the cultural context of literary convention in
the Hebrew Bible (the larger literary context). The associated commonplaces of rock will be identified.
Then this image will be further explored in light of its occurrence in Psalms 31 and 89 (the specific literary
context). This paper will explore how the specific context highlights or downplays dimensions of the rock
image, as the metaphor interacts with the other metaphors of each psalm.
Elizabeth Hayes, Where is the LORD? The Extended Great Chain of Being as a Source Domain for
Conceptual Metaphor in the Egyptian HallelPsalms 113-118
In keeping with the findings of Kvecses conceptual metaphor research, this paper examines one
conceptual metaphor system the Extended Great Chain of Being metaphor, and one individual conceptual
metaphorINANIMATE OBJECTS ARE PEOPLE, using examples drawn from Psalms 113-119. This analysis
demonstrates that cognitive metaphor is not identical to literary metaphor by examining the rhetoric of
Psalms 113, 116, 117 and 118. These psalms do not contain literary figures of speech, but do contain a
number of orientational conceptual metaphors. Additionally, the analysis will demonstrate the manner in
which cognitive metaphor contributes to literary metaphor by examining literary metaphors in Psalms 114
and 115. A discussion of the impact of conceptual metaphor upon the message of the Egyptian Hallel
Psalms follows.
Andrea L. Weiss, A New Approach to the Analysis of Biblical Metaphor
The topic of metaphor has generated a tremendous amount of interest since the 1970s, when a burgeoning
number of scholars from an array of disciplines started investigating this complicated trope. For the most
part, biblical scholars have drawn upon this research in a rather limited way. Researchers on metaphor in
the Bible tend to rely on the work of several influential metaphor scholars, such as Black, Richards, and
Lakoff and Johnson. They usually summarize a few prominent theories and introduce basic terminology;
however, in many cases, this theoretical background does not influence the actual analysis of biblical
metaphors. This paper will introduce the work of philosopher Roger White and apply it to selected psalms.

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In his 1996 book, The Structure of Metaphor, White provides a novel approach to metaphor and a helpful
heuristic device for unpacking the analogical comparison at the heart of any metaphor. This paper will
show how the application of this particular metaphor theory can enhance the interpretation of metaphors
found in the Psalms.

New Testament Philology II


Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta, Proper Names in the NT. Attempt at a Classification
The wide variety of proper names in the New Testament properly reflects the diversified provenance of their
actors. The present paper intends to provide a preliminary classification of the main groups that can be
distinguished among the proper names of the NT.
Ott Pecsuk, The motif of self-sacrifice in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans
Romans 5:7. The motif of self-sacrifice in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. A Roman tradition and the value of
dying for the good.

Hebrew Bible I
Kevin Wilson, From Horeb to Shechem: Deuteronomy and Joshua as a Combined Document
Since the mid-20th century, the study of the composition of Joshua has been pulled in two direction. One
direction, following the ideas of von Rad, sees Joshua as the end of the Hexateuch. Other scholars, picking
up on the work of Noth, see it as part of an extended Deuteronomistic History. This paper examines the
earliest stage of the composition of Joshua and concludes that neither theory is fully satisfactory. Instead, it
argues that Joshua 211 and parts of 2324 were composed at the same time and by the same hand as the
material in Deuteronomy 511 and 2728. Deuteronomy and Joshua were originally two volumes of the
same work and circulated as a combined document. Only later was this work incorporated into the larger
Hexateuch by the work of the Yahwist.
Elie Assis, Why did the Judeans think that the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lords house (Haggai
1:2)?
Why were the Judeans reluctant to build a Temple during the first decades of the Persian period? This is the
main issue to be addressed in this paper, through an analysis of the first oracle of Haggai (Hag 1:1-15). It is
said that the people did not build the Temple because they maintained that the time has not yet come to
rebuild the Lords house (1:2). This contention is generally considered to derive from the severe economic
distress, and the difficulty in earmarking resources for the construction, when the people were weighed
down with problems of daily survival. Several scholars give theological reasons for the postponement.
Others believe that the people were still awaiting the messianic period. I will demonstrate how the oracle
reveals a deeper theological basis for the people's belief that the time had not yet come to build the Temple:
they felt that God has not returned to His people after the destruction or after the return from exile, and that
the rift between Israel and God still continued.
Maciej M. Mnnich, What did the Biblical Goat-Demons Look Like?
The Biblical Goat-Demons (MryIoVc) appear in the Bible four or five times (Lev 17:7; Isa 13:21; 34:14; 2 Chr
11:15; probably 2 Kgs 23:8). Scholars still cannot describe what they looked like. Even the second edition
of DDD mentions: we do not posses clear iconographical witnesses to flesh out our conceptions of
demonic desert beings, as the MryIoVc must have been. However, after a careful examination of the West-
Semitic iconographical sources it seems we can paint the image of the Goat-Demons. In the Syro-Canaanite
and Hebrew iconography we can find two kinds of beings, which can be classified as MryIoVc. The first one is
a capride-sphinx; the second one is a human being with capride head.
Goran Eideval, Enemies Disguised as Animals in Some Prophetic Passages
Drawing on studies of enemy portraits in modern war propaganda, this paper analyzes some passages from
the prophetic literature in the Hebrew Bible: Isa 5:26-29; 7:18-20; 34:5-7; Hos 5:12-14. In these passages,
enemies of various kinds are depicted as various kinds of animals. Theriomorphic representations can be
said to dehumanize the foe. Still, the purpose is not necessarily the same in all cases. The rhetorical aim
could be either to ridicule the hostile forces or to underline their dangerousness. Sometimes, in the context
of war propaganda, the purpose is to deprive the foes of their human dignity. It will be argued that each of
these purposes is exemplified by one or more of the biblical passages selected.

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The Bible in the Twenty-First Century
Jeremy Punt, The Biblicisation of Politics in post-Apartheid South Africa: Two Case Studies
There are few signs that the Bible registers less significance in post-Apartheid South Africa when
compared with the ways it was used during the previous socio-political regime. Its reception history
testifies to how the Bible is still considered an important authorising agent in society, and often still found
useful for socio-political posturing. Two case studies in South Africa, the recent attention to homosexuality
both in and beyond faith communities and the Christmas message of the (Muslim) Western Cape premier,
are used to highlight the influence and impact of the use of the Bible today. With the Bible incorporated to
establish and maintain certain political positions, the biblical documents are found to contribute in different
ways to the defence of existing as well as the formation of new worldviews and the construction of new
realities.
Ingeborg Loewisch, Gendered Genealogies in the Hebrew Bible and Recent Film: Acts of Memory and
Political Practice
This paper discusses gendered genealogies in the Hebrew Bible in the context of contemporary culture and
politics. Female gendered genealogies mention women, but more important, suggest and evaluate locations
of women within the collective identity and memory constituted by the genealogical texts, either implicitly
or explicitly. I analyse gendered genealogies in Genesis, Numbers, and Chronicles with a focus on
dynamics of gender, ethnicity, national identity, social status and land that are inherent in the passages.
Thereby, I use feminist memory studies and post-colonial notions of identity as an analytical framework.
Furthermore, I work with recent intertexts and confront the biblical genealogies with performances of
gendered genealogies in film (e.g. Mein Leben Teil 2, A. Levi, D 2003; Sottosopra, G. Schrer, CH 2001;
Antonias Line, M. Gorris, NL 1995). The paper shows the potential and the implications of the use of
gendered genealogies within feminist theory and politics in biblical studies and beyond.
Yvonne Sherwood, Early Modern De-Biblicization or When the Bible and Politics/Law Began to Come
Apart
The seventeenth century is a period for which the descriptor religious is an overstatement, an under-
statement and a meaningless tautology. Citizens of the seventeenth century speak Bible with a fluency that
could make Bible and Culture scholars giddy with the sense of ubiquity and relevance. Whereas some
contemporary biblical scholars write self-consciously of Bible and Culture, this is a period in which Bible
and Culture have not yet separated. This paper explores the process of self-conscious separation in which
Bible/Theology recedes (but by no means disappears) to make space for independent discourses such as
Law and political science. The fact that this happens in an early modern society in which it is not publicly
possible to be anything but Christian (atheism and blasphemy incur severe legal penalties), demonstrates
how Early Modernity perceived a need for de-theologised and de-biblicised Law and Politics long before
anyone could speak publicly about separating from Bible in matters of personal faith. In Jeffrey Stouts
useful terminology, the seventeenth century is busy creating space for secularisationthat is, public
discourse not framed by a theological perspective, which should not be confused with secularism, the
denial of theological assumptions or the expulsion of theological expression from the public sphere. As a
transitional period, the seventeenth century presents us with many curioschief among which must be the
pronouncement by a Judge in a Court of Law, as late as 1686, that there is no law whatsoever but may be
dispensed with by the supreme lawgiver [i.e. the monarch, King James II/VII]; as the laws of God may be
dispensed with by God himself; as it appears by Gods command to Abraham, to offer up his son Isaac
as if we could seriously deduce anything about the monarchs supreme right in law (or more accurately
above law) from Gods law-breaking command to sacrifice Isaac. Campaigns to bring the Bible, as origin
of law, back into the lawcourts in giant monuments to the ten commandments, together with the terms in
which such moves have been countered, show how far we are now beyond a world in which there is no de-
theologised and de-biblicised autonomy to Law. The paper explores the crucial moves of secularisation, but
also the problematic legacies of the rather fudged constitutional settlement between Western democracies
and Bible. The imperfectly worked out settlement between Bible and constitution means that England (like
other Western democracies) retains Bible as the putative foundation of democracy, but also means that the
Bible never needs to be publicly criticized since it is by default and constitutional arrangement associated
with democracy and justice and all the later modern goods. It can be a shock to see the God of Abraham
cited as a supporter of theocracy and absolute (we would say despotic) monarchy. Perhaps this all too
typical anomaly might make us think more critically about the (too easy) constitutional settlement which
is perfectly honoured in the fusion of democracy-Bible in the scriptural politics of George W. Bush.

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Emma England, Understanding Judith Through Vocabularies of Terrorism; Understanding Terrorism
Through Judith
There are numerous interpretations of Judith; one that has been touched upon but has yet to be elaborated is
Judith as a terrorist (Stocker, Judith: Sexual Warrior, 1998: 218-229; Craven, The Book of Judith, 2003:
187). By introducing contemporary vocabularies and definitions of terrorism, and incorporating examples
from recent political events, I will argue that Judith is a terrorist. I will analyse various aspects of her
ambiguous character and actions in terms of spectacle, direct as opposed to main targets, her faith, and
etic/emic. This will offer an alternative reading of Judith that not only uses twenty-first century language
but also gives me the opportunity of discussing a possible intersection between the bible and contemporary
politics. By understanding Judith as a terrorist I will have created an entry point for approaching and
questioning contemporary definitions of terrorism; specifically what constitutes a terrorist act.

Early Christianity Between Judaism and Hellenism III


Pivi Vhkangas, Descent and Ascent of the Human Soul in Platonic and Gnostic Traditions
In this presentation I will study the affinities between Platonic and Gnostic doctrines concerning human
soul. A short survey will be made of the development from Platos dialogues (Timaeus, Phaedo, Phaedrus,
Gorgias) to the Middle and Neoplatonists, Plutarch and Plotinus as their representatives. Valentinian
Excerpts of Theodotus and Sethian Apocryphon of John constitute the main Gnostic comparison material.
In the first part I will concentrate on the origin of the soul and the reasons and modes of its ascent. The
second part deals with the division of the soul into three parts, the development of the idea of tripartite soul
among later Platonists as well as Valentinian counterparts. The last part is devoted to the distinct postmortal
destinies of souls. It will be shown that there are significant similarities particularly concerning the internal
division of a single soul, the origin of souls divine part, the cause for souls descent, the role of demiurge
and some lower beings in the creation of human being, creation process as an act of imitation and finally
the return of the just souls to their heavenly abode and the purgatory acts directed to the other souls.
Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta, The Anthropological Crossroads of Late Antiquity: Early Christian Views on
Man and their Precedents
In spite of the efforts by the emerging orthodoxy to present Christianity as a monolithic movement, the fact
is that the early period of the Christian movement is characterised by a variety of groups, views and beliefs
within a basic frame. Early Christian anthropology is a clear example of the issue, since various Christian
writings of the first centuries allow us to notice up to three clearly distinct anthropological patterns, each of
them with its philosophical or conceptual backgrounds, each of them with its implications and influences
on their worldviews. The present paper analyses all three varietiesto wit the monistic sort of
anthropology, the bipartite anthropology and the tripartite anthropological patternand discusses their
origins, characteristics and development. Special attention is paid to the Greek philosophical background of
the bipartite and tripartite schemes, the former of which is traditionally attributed to Plato whereas the later
is of Platonic-Peripatetic provenance.

Wednesday afternoon

Hebrew Bible II
Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spano, The New Type of Ekron Inscription Reviewed
In recently discovered jar-inscription from Ekron (publ. IEJ 1999) editors propose the reading of short text
as: lbl wlpdy. The paper aims to review all implication for such reading. The linguistic, archaeological and
historical argumentation will be used to reject the editors reading. The tentative reading proposed by the
speaker will have some implication on the difficult passage in Habakkuk 3:14.
Hugh Pyper, Des Jona Sendung: Jonahs Journey from 2 Kings 15 to Tallinn via Nineveh
Rudolf Tobias oratorio Des Jona Sendung was triumphantly performed in Tallinn in 1989 as part of
rebirth of the Estonian Republic. This was only the works second performance, some 80 years after its
dismal premiere in Leipzig. Tobias idiosyncratic setting of the story of Jonah is based on his own libretto
which is a patchwork of biblical texts. In this paper, Tobiass reworking of Jonah will be seen as itself
building on the close and creative reworking of 2 Kings 15 which underlies the book of Jonah. Tobiass
methods and aims shed light on the methods and aims of the writer of Jonah, and the rediscovery of Tobias
work in the new circumstances of the collapse of the Soviet Union suggests intriguing questions about the

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genesis and purpose of the book of Jonah which postcolonial theory might answer. The paper will be
illustrated by short extracts from Tobiass extraordinary score.
Helen Leneman, Jael and Sisera: An Italian Love Story
The only golden rose in my secret orchard, o beloved, o spouseJael rips away her veil and tosses it
behind her. Sisera trembles, silent, lost. These excerpts are from Ildebrando Pizzettis opera Debora e
Jaele, which premiered at La Scala in 1922. Pizzetti (18801965) was the most respected and influential of
the more conservative Italian musicians of his generation. In Judges chapter 4, Jaels only words to Sisera
are Dont fear. She offers him milk and covers him without his asking. The story is under-narrated, and
Jaels point of view is not given. This narrative gapor chasmhas inspired numerous interpretations of
Jaels motives and feelings. Debora e Jaele features a lengthy love duet between Jael and Sisera prior to the
battle. When they kiss, Jaels resolve weakens. When Sisera appears at her tent after the battle, Jael
embraces him passionately, proclaims he is her lord and master, and affectionately offers him milk. Outside
the tent, Jael pleads with Deborah for Siseras life. Finally Jael takes the peg and hammer, reluctantly, as
the army is closing in and Deborah threatens to have soldiers kill Sisera. Reading the story with what-if
and why not questions raises new and even startling possibilities, and offers readers new lenses with
which to read an old story.

The Theology of 2 Corinthians II


Christof Strder, Wenn jemand in Christus ist. Die Identitt der Christen als Neue Schpfung und
Gerechtigkeit Gottes in 2Kor 5,17.2
Die korinthische Korrespondenz durchzieht eine Vielzahl von Identittsaussagen. Diese finden sich mit
besonderer Hufung in 1 Kor 3 und betreffen hier das Selbstverstndnis der Gemeinde und der Verkndiger
des Evangeliums, wobei Paulus in besonderer Weise auf seine eigene apostolische Identitt eingeht. Die
Bezeichnungen fr die Gemeinde als sarkinoi oder sarkikoi, (1 Kor 3,1.3) bzw. als nhpioi (1 Kor 3,1)
und anqrwpoi (1 Kor 3,4) auf der einen, sowie als Gottes gewrgioi und oikodomh/ (1 Kor 3,9) oder gar
als Gottes nao\ (1 Kor 3,16) auf der anderen Seite, illustrieren die Vielfalt und Gegenstzlichkeit der
Identittsaussagen hinsichtlich der Gemeinde. Im zweiten Korintherbrief begegnet uns keine vergleichbare
Hufung. Stattdessen finden sich in 2 Kor 5,17 und 5,21 mit kainh\ ktisi und dikaiosu/nh qeouv uerst
markante Wortpaare, die das Selbstverstndnis der Christen in Korinth aus der Sicht des Apostels zum
Ausdruck bringen. Ohne die Zielsetzung einer besonderen Behandlung der Rechtfertigungslehre und
abseits der traditionsgeschichtlichen Einordnung der Rede von der neuen Schpfung und Gerechtigkeit
Gottes, geht es in unserem Beitrag vor allem darum, die Bedeutung und wechselseitige Erluterung der
beiden Wortpaare zu ergrnden. Durch den vergleichenden Blick auf 1 Kor 3 kann darber hinaus ein
zustzliches Licht auf die Begriffe in 2 Kor 5 fallen, weil auf diese Weise die Textpragmatik und situative
Bedingtheit der Identittsaussagen besser verstndlich werden.
Sebastian Jan Duda, The Victimhood of God in Reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5
In phenomenological analyses of conflicts reconciliation is usually assumed to be a process that happens
between the two parties: the injured one, i.e. the victim, and the offending one, i.e. the perpetrator.
Reconciliation is then described as restoration of the former relationship that was broken due to a harm
done by one party to another. According to most approaches, in its complete form it should be preceded by
forgiveness. It thus entails a willingness of the victim to abandon his/her right to resentment, negative
judgment, and indifferent behaviour toward the one who unjustly harmed him/her, while fostering the
undeserved qualities of compassion, generosity, and even love toward the perpetrator. What is annulled in
the act of forgiveness is not the crime itself but the distorting effect that this wrong has upon ones relations
with the wrongdoer and perhaps with others. In 2 Corinthians 5:19 Paul claims that God, in Christ
reconciled the world to himself, not counting the trespasses. It seems that God is presented here as the
injured party, the victim. The paper will investigate the meaning of Gods victimhood in the reconciliation
process between God and the world. It will carefully examine 2 Cor 5:18-21 in the light of the
phenomenological account of reconciliation combined with the exegetical analysis.
Emmanuel Nathan, Fragmented Theology in 2 Corinthians: The Unsolved Puzzle of 6:14-7:1
In studies on 2 Corinthians, 6:14-7:1 is known as the puzzling passage, because it fits in rather awkwardly
with its immediate context and contains many hapax legomena. This has led to much speculation on the
authenticity of this passage and whether it was interpolated into its present place from elsewhere (whether by
Paul or a later redactor). One of the most extreme arguments, advanced by Hans Dieter Betz in 1973, is that it

25
is an anti-Pauline passage reflecting the theology of Paul's opponents in the Letter to the Galatians. While this
theory has not found much favour, the counter-argument of Pauline authorship, integrity and theology within
its context has gained ground but not achieved full consensus either. We will briefly consider the exegetical
range of positions on the passage, but in particular focus on two recent positions (Hultgren, 2003 and Hogeterp,
2004) that allow us to revisit the two ends of the spectrum that articulated themselves in the 1970s. More
importantly, our contribution seeks to explore the theological implications of a letter lacking or retaining this
enigmatic passage and whether, at the end of the day, its retention or excision tells us more about exegetical
predispositions than Paul's own theology.
Ma. Marilou S. Ibita, The Unity of Paul's Narrative World in 2 Corinthians 1-7: Norman Petersen's
Narrative-Critical Approach and the Coherence of 2 Corinthians
In his book Rediscovering Paul: Philemon and the Sociology of Paul's Narrative World (1985), Norman R.
Petersen emphasizes that letters have stories. He develops a narrative-critical method that allows one to
discover the story in letters by means of reconstructing the referential sequence (the way the events develop
in historical perspective) and comparing it to the poetic sequence (the way the story is told in the letter).
Thus he is able to show the narrative strategy Paul is using in telling his story in and through the letter.
Assuming the internal unity of 2 Corinthians 1-7, in this paper we shall apply Petersen's method to these
seven chapters and attempt to reconstruct the referential sequence in comparison with the poetic sequence.
In addition, Petersen's narrative-critical approach also has implications for the theological understanding of
the texts to which it is applied. The theological understanding is situated in the narrative as it unfolds
between Paul and his social relations in their shared symbolic universe. Building on the results of the
narrative-critical approach concerning the unity of 2 Corinthians 1-7, we shall investigate the traces of
Paul's theologizing and inquire what this contributes to the discussion on the unity of these chapters.

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