The plot-structure of Genesis : 'will the righteous seed survive?' in the muthos-logical movement from complication to dénouement /
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In The Plot-structure of Genesis Todd L. Patterson argues that Genesis is organized by a development from complication to dénouement. The question 'Will the righteous seed survive?' drives the narrative to climax. Gen 4 sets up the complication. Cain and Abel are the seed of the woman who should lead humanity back to God's creation-sanctuary. Because Cain does not master sin, his unrighteousness threatens the survival of the seed. Each narrative tôlĕdôt division develops this theme until dénouement in the Joseph narrative when God ensures the survival of the promised seed. By showing how plot integrates with the widely recognized tôlĕdôt structure, prominent motifs, and enigmatic features of the text, Todd L. Patterson provides a surprisingly novel interpretation of Genesis.
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1 online resource (246 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004362512 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Reduced laughter : seriocomic features and their functions in the Book of Kings /
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In this book Helen Paynter offers a radical re-evalution of the central section of Kings. Reading with attention to the literary devices of carnivalization and mirroring, she demonstrates that it contains a florid satire on kings, prophets and nations. Building on the work of humorists, literary critics and biblical scholars, the author constructs diagnostic criteria for carnivalization (seriocomedy), and identifies an abundance of these features within the Elijah/Elisha and Aram narratives, showing how literary mirroring further enhances their satirical effect. This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars concerned with the Hebrew Bible as literature but will be valued by those who favour more historical approaches for its insights into the Hebrew text.
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1 online resource (242 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004322363 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Hollow men, strange women : riddles, codes, and otherness in the Book of Judges /
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In Hollow Men, Strange Women , Robin Baker provides a masterly reappraisal of Israel's experience during its Settlement of Canaan as narrated in the Book of Judges. Written under Assyrian suzerainty in the reign of Manasseh, Judges is both a theological commentary on the Settlement and an esoteric work of prophecy. Its apparent historicity subtly encrypts a grim forewarning of Judah's future, and, in its extensive treatment of otherness, Judges explores the meaning of God's covenant with Israel. Robin Baker's scholarly and perceptive reading draws on a deep understanding of ancient Hebrew and Mesopotamian symbolic codes to interpret the riddles in this many-layered text. The Book of Judges reveals complex literary configurations from which past, present, and future are simultaneously presented.
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1 online resource (xx, 354 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004322677 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Adoption in Galatians and Romans : contemporary metaphor theories and the Pauline huiothesia metaphors /
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In a new study on the Pauline adoption metaphors, Erin Heim applies a wide array of contemporary theories of metaphor in a fresh exegesis of the four instances of adoption ( huiothesia ) metaphors in Galatians and Romans. Though many investigations into biblical metaphors treat only their historical background, Heim argues that the meaning of a metaphor lies in the interanimation of a metaphor and the range of possible backgrounds it draws upon. Using insights from contemporary theories, Heim convincingly demonstrates that the Pauline adoption metaphors are instrumental in shaping the perceptions, emotions, and identity of Paul's first-century audiences.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004339873 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The non-Israelite nations in the Book of the Twelve : thematic coherence and the diachronic-synchronic relationship in the minor prophets /
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In The Non-Israelite Nations in the Book of the Twelve Daniel Timmer offers the first comprehensive survey of the 'nations' in the Minor Prophets. The study approaches this important but highly diverse theme through the lens of conceptual coherence and demonstrates the interrelation of synchronic/holistic and diachronic/compositional approaches. After exploring the theme in each of the individual books of the Twelve and noting the varying degrees of coherence evident in each case, Timmer brings his findings to bear on contemporary understandings of the Twelve as a collection, arguing for the theme's coherence across the collection on the basis of each book's unique treatment of the nations.
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1 online resource (xiii, 301 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-278) and indexes. :
9789004298415 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Reading the Bible ethically : recovering the voice in the text /
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All interpretive systems deal with the author. Modern systems consider the text to be autonomous, so that it is disconnected from the author's interests. In Reading the Bible Ethically , Eric Douglass reconsiders this connection. His central argument is that the author is a subject who reproduces her culture and her subjectivity in the text. As the author reproduces her subjectivity, the text functions as the author's voice. This allows Douglass to apply ethical principles to interpretation, where that voice is treated as a subject for conversation, and not an object for manipulation. He uses this to texture the reading process, so that an initial reading takes account of the author's communication, while a second reading critiques that communication.
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1 online resource (301 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-293) and indexes. :
9789004282872 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Eating in Isaiah : approaching the role of food and drink in Isaiah's structure and message /
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In Eating in Isaiah Andrew Abernethy employs a sequential-synchronic approach to explore the role of eating in the structure and message of the book of Isaiah. By focusing on 'scaffolding' chapters (Isaiah 1; 36-37; 55; 65-66), avenues open for exploring how eating operates within the major sections of Isaiah and how the motif enhances the book's coherence. Furthermore, occurrences of eating in Isaiah create networks of association that grant perspective on significant topics in the book's message, such as Zion, YHWH's kingship, and YHWH's servants. Amidst growing scholarly interest in food and drink within biblical literature, Eating in Isaiah demonstrates how eating can operate at a literary level within a prophetic book.
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1 online resource (xiii, 234 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-211) and indexes. :
9789004280861 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Studies in Matthew's gospel : literary design, intertextuality, and social setting /
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These Studies in Matthew's Gospel by Wim J.C. Weren are the result of scholarly work carried out using recent methods in Biblical exegesis such as structural analysis, text semantics and intertextuality. Part One presents a new proposal regarding the macrostructure of Matthew's Gospel and discusses meanings of textual units from this Gospel on the basis of synchronic research. In Part Two, intertextual theories are described and practical tools are developed that enable us to identify various types of relations between texts from Matthew's Gospel and co-generic or co-thematic textual units from the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint and early Jewish and early Christian writings. Part Three answers the question to what extent the ways in which the disciples are portrayed in Matthew is related to 'real' groups in the Matthean communities. The three successive steps are deliberately chosen and are in a complementary relationship to each other.
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1 online resource (x, 345 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 303-326) and index. :
9789004280519 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.