Present and future of biblical studies : celebrating twenty-five years of Brill's Biblical interpretation /
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What is the current state of the field known as biblical studies? How will biblical studies continue to develop in this diverse, globalized, and digital age? In this book, a diverse group of scholars who are known for their innovative practice of biblical interpretation come together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the critically acclaimed journal, Biblical Interpretation , by sharing their thoughts on and questions about the assumptions, practices, and parameters of biblical studies as well as their desires and fears about its disciplinary future. Covering a wide range of topics, geographical regions, resources, understandings, and viewpoints, this exceptional collection of essays will make you and help you rethink the conventions and convictions of biblical studies as an academic discipline.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004363540 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Beyond Biblical theology : sacralized culturalism in Heikki Räisänen's hermeneutics /
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Reading Heikki Räisänen's hermeneutics in context, Timo Eskola explores the development of Western New Testament interpretation. Reclaiming a Wredean approach to the Scriptures, Räisänen focuses on tradition and interpretation. He builds on Weberian sociology, adopted through Peter Berger's theories, and substitutes sacralized culturalism for biblical theology. After examining fourteenth century Quran-criticism and its impact on Reimarus, Eskola discusses the genesis of the revised history-of-religion theory that Räisänen developed when investigating the Quran's relationship to the Bible. Sociology then becomes a link between standard historicism and poststructuralism as Räisänen reinterprets Berger's sociology of knowledge. Räisänen's sacralized culturalism finally becomes the theory from which his magnum opus The Rise of Christian Beliefs has been written.
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1 online resource (xii, 481 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 457-472) and index. :
9789004258037 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Contested creations in the Book of Job : the-world-as-it-ought-and-ought-not-to-be /
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In Contested Creations in the Book of Job: the-world-as-it-ought- and -ought-not-to-be Abigail Pelham reads the Book of Job both 'forwards'-examining the perspectives on creation presented by Job and his friends and corrected by God's authoritative voice from the whirlwind-and 'backwards,' demonstrating how the epilogue explodes readers' certainties, forcing a reappraisal of the characters' claims. The epilogue, Pelham argues, changes the book from one containing answers about creation to one which poses questions: What does it mean to make the world? Who has the power to create? If humans have creative power, is it divinely sanctioned, or has Job, acting creatively, set himself up as God's rival? Engaging more thoroughly with Job's ambiguity than previous scholars have done, Contested Creations explores the possibilities raised by these questions and considers their implications both within the book and beyond.
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1 online resource (ix, 261 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004230293 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Echoes of Scripture in the letter of Paul to the Colossians /
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While the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament has captured the attention of biblical scholars over the years, no study has been devoted to the presence of Scripture in Colossians, largely because there are no explicit quotations in Colossians. With the introduction of literary intertextuality into the discipline, however, scholars have begun to devote more attention to the NT authors' less explicit references to Scripture, often labelled as 'allusions' and/or 'echoes.' Scholars, however, continue to debate what constitutes an allusion or echo, or how one validates a given proposal as such. This study proposes new definitions of these terms and offers a methodology on how to detect and validate them, using Colossians as a test case.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [277]-292) and indexes. :
9789047424123 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Biblical interpretation and African traditional religion : cross-cultural and community readings in Owamboland, Namibia /
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In Biblical Interpretation and African Traditional Religion , Helen C. John juxtaposes grassroots biblical interpretations from Owamboland, Namibia, with professional interpretations of selected New Testament texts, effectively demonstrating the capacity of grassroots interpretations to destabilise, challenge and nuance dominant professional interpretations. John uses a cross-cultural and dialogical approach - 'Cross-Cultural Biblical Interpretation Groups' - to explore the relationship between African Traditional Religion (ATR), Christianity and biblical interpretation in Owamboland, Namibia. She contextualises the grassroots Owambo interpretations using fieldwork experiences and ethnographic literature, thus heightening the cross-cultural encounter. In particular, John reflects on Western epistemologies and the Eurocentric interpretative trends that are brought into relief by the African interpretations gathered in Owamboland.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004399310 :
0928-0731 ;
History, biography, and the genre of Luke-Acts : an exploration of literary divergence in Greek narrative discourse /
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Unlike contemporary literary-linguistic configurations of genre, current methodologies for the study of the Gospel genre are designed only to target genre similarities not genre differences . This basic oversight results in the convoluted discussion we witness in Lukan genre study today. Each recent treatment of the genre of Luke-Acts represents a distinct effort to draw parallels between Luke-Acts and a specific (or multiple) literary tradition(s). These studies all underestimate the role of literary divergence in genre analysis, leveraging much-if not, all-of their case on literary proximity . This monograph will show how attention to literary divergence from a number of angles may bring resolution to the increasingly complex discussions of the genre(s) of Luke-Acts.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004406544
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.
Sacred tropes : Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an as literature and culture /
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Contemporary sacred text scholarship has been stimulated by a number of intersecting trends: a surging interest in religion, sacred texts, and inspirational issues; burgeoning developments in and applications of literary theories; intensifying academic focus on diverse cultures whether for education or scholarship. Although much has been written individually about Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an, no collection combines an examination of all three. Sacred Tropes interweaves Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an essays. Contributors collectively and also often individually use mixed literary approaches instead of the older single theory strategy. Appropriate for classroom or research, the essays utilize a variety of literary theoretical lenses including environmental, cultural studies, gender, psychoanalytic, ideological, economic, historicism, law, and rhetorical criticisms through which to examine these sacred works.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047430964 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Because you bear this name : conceptual metaphor and the moral meaning of 1 Peter /
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This study uses conceptual metaphor theory and methodology to analyze the cultural logic and symbolic context, moral content and ethical implications of 1 Peter. Conceptual metaphor study helps explain how people generate ethical understandings; it can help us recognize and account for lively moral discourse between the NT and contemporary readers.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [371]-379) and indexes. :
9789047409458 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The divine courtroom in comparative perspective /
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Contributors to The Divine Courtroom in Comparative Perspective treat one of the most pervasive religious metaphors, that of the divine courtroom, in both its historical and thematic senses. In order to shed light on the various manifestations of the divine courtroom, this volume consists of essays by scholars of the ancient Near East, Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Judaism, early Christianity, Talmud, Islam, medieval Judaism, and classical Greek literature. Contributions to the volume primarily center upon three related facets of the divine courtroom: the role of the divine courtroom in the earthly legal system; the divine courtroom as the site of historical justice; and the divine courtroom as the venue in which God is called to answer for his own unjust acts.
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Includes papers presented at a conference held "on February 5-6, 2012, the Leonard and Bea Diener Institute of Jewish Law and the Yeshiva University Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, 'The Divine Courtroom,' at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law." :
1 online resource (vi, 308 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004281646 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Prophets Agree : The Function of the Book of the Twelve Prophets in Acts /
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How Luke uses and interprets Scripture continues to captivate many. In his new work The Prophets Agree, a title inspired by James' words at the Jerusalem Council, Aaron W. White turns over one rock that has remained unturned. Interpretation of the four quotations of the Minor Prophets in Acts frequently isolates each citation from the other. However, this full-length study of the place of the Minor Prophets in Acts asks what difference it makes to regard these four quotations as a singular contribution to Acts from a unified source. By an in-depth study of each quotation, an innovative method of intertextuality, and an eye to the overall agenda of Acts, White proves the importance of reading the Twelve Prophets in unity when it is quoted in Acts, and the integral role it plays in the redemptive-historical plot line of Acts.
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1 online resource. :
9789004427983
9789004426276
Faith and freedom in Galatia and Senegal : the Apostle Paul, colonists and sending gods /
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Faith and Freedom in Galatia and Senegal reads Galatians 2:11-15 and 3:26-29 through the lens of the 19th-20th century experiences of French colonialism by the Diola people in Senegal, West Africa, and portrays the Apostle Paul as a \''sociopostcolonial hermeneut who acted on his self-understanding as God's messenger to create, through faith in the cross of Christ, free communities' -- a self-definition that is critical of ancient Graeco-Roman and modern colonial lore that justify colonization as a divine mandate.\' Aliou C. Niang ingeniously compares the colonial objectification of his own people by French colonists to the Graeco-Roman colonial objectifications of the ancient Celts/Gauls/Galatians, and Paul's role in bringing about a different portrayal.
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Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Brite Divinity School, 2007. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [139]-164) and indexes. :
9789047428671 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Psalm 18 in words and pictures : a reading through metaphor /
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In Psalm 18 in Words and Pictures: A Reading Through Metaphor , Alison Gray engages in an in-depth study of the figurative language of Psalm 18, demonstrating the necessity of a dynamic approach to metaphor interpretation within a given textual unit. As one of the longest and most elaborate in the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 18 provides fertile soil for studying the interplay between words and images. While previous studies of the Psalm have focused on questions of form, structure, or unity - as well the relation to its Doppeltext of 2 Samuel 22 - Alison Gray explores the ways in which a metaphor-oriented hermeneutic enriches the psalm's translation and exegesis.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004263215 :
0928-0731 ;
Dialogue in the Book of signs : a polyvalent analysis of John 1:19-12:50 /
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Dialogue in the Book of Signs offers a polyvalent analysis of John 1:19-12:50 at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. With the help of several synchronic methods, including genre, narrative, rhetorical, and dramatic studies, the author analyzes the content, form, and function of John's dialogue. Thus, the divine-human dialogue, which is interwoven within the text, provides a key to the understanding of the dialogue between the narrator and the reader. In this volume, after setting a background and a theoretical framework, an extensive exploration of dialogue at the exchange, episode, and narrative levels is offered. The connection of dialogue with other literary aspects such as monologues, signs, I AM sayings, and metaphors is also established. Thus, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of dialogue in John 1-12.
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1 online resource (xviii, 542 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004301610 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Metaphor and ideology : liber antiquitatum biblicarum and literary methods through a cognitive lens /
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Contemporary scholars have sharply disagreed over the importance of the loquacious women of Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum . Using the methods of contemporary Cognitive Linguistics, Ideology and Metaphor develops a systematic, replicable reading of the text and its characters, showing how Pseudo-Philo uses these women's stories to articulate the text's theology and ideology. The analysis also explores how the author redefines the term «mother» in order to sanction the female authority to interpret and instruct. The conceptual blends that compose the text's distinctive and sometimes dissonant metaphors are analyzed in detail. This monograph also explores how a re-written Bible establishes its authority and awards authority to specific characters and how rhetorical and narrative methodologies fit within cognitive linguistics.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [349]-356) and indexes. :
9789047421863 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof : poetry, prophecy, and justice in Hebrew scripture : essays in honor of Francis Landy on the occasion of his 70th birthday /
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Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof: Poetry, Prophecy, and Justice in Hebrew Scripture. Essays in Honor of Francis Landy on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday is a collection of essays by colleagues, friends, and students of Prof. Francis Landy. It is the second Festschrift dedicated to this remarkable teacher and colleague, friend and mentor, and thus bears witness to the remarkable esteem in which Prof. Landy is held in the Biblical Studies community and beyond (including literary studies, film studies, and poetry).
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Includes index. :
1 online resource. :
9789004355743 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Cushites in the Hebrew Bible : negotiating ethnic identity in the past and present /
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"Cushites in the Hebrew Bible offers a reassessment of Cushite ethnographic representations in the biblical literature as a counterpoint to misconceptions about Africa and people of African descent which are largely a feature of the modern age. Whereas current interpretations have tended to emphasize unfavourable portraits of the people biblical writers called Cushites, Kevin Burrell illuminates the biblical perspective through a comparative assessment of ancient and modern forms of identity construction. Past and present modes of defining difference betray both similarities and differences to ethnic representations in the Hebrew Bible, providing important contexts for understanding the biblical view. This book contributes to a clearer understanding of the theological, historical, and ethnic dynamics underpinning representations of Cushites in the Hebrew Bible"--Provided by publisher.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004418769
Hearing Kyriotic sonship : a cognitive and rhetorical approach to the characterization of Mark's Jesus /
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In Hearing Kyriotic Sonship Michael Whitenton explores first-century audience impressions of Mark's Jesus in light of ancient rhetoric and modern cognitive science. Commonly understood as neither divine nor Davidic, Mark's Jesus appears here as the functional equivalent to both Israel's god and her Davidic king. The dynamics of ancient performance and the implicit rhetoric of the narrative combine to subtly alter listeners' perspectives of Jesus. Previous approaches have routinely viewed Mark's Jesus as neither divine nor Davidic largely on the basis of a lack of explicit affirmations. Drawing our attention to the mechanics of inference generation and narrative persuasion, Whitenton shows us that ancient listeners probably inferred much about Mark's Jesus that is not made explicit in the narrative.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004329652 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
From a virgin womb : the Apocalypse of Adam and the virgin birth /
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Scholarly researches on the virgin birth have often focussed rather narrowly on the theological and historical difficulties it tends to raise. The Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Adam, however, provides for the first time a glimpse into the wider background of ideas and myths to which it belonged. Prophecies there concerning a universal 'Illuminator' mention his birth 'from a virgin womb'. Several of the stories, drawn from Iranian and other sources , also appear in apocalyptic and testamental literature contemporary with Christian origins. The book centrally analyses a body of extraordinarily detailed narrative parallels between a cluster of stories in the Apocalypse and the infancy narratives of Mt. 1-2, concluding that these stories serve to identify Jesus as the True Prophet who is the fulfilment of history - though not as Son of God. The question of Mt.'s special tradition and its relation to Lk. is also cast in a new light.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [211]-217) and index. :
9789047423577 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Portrayals of economic exchange in the book of Kings /
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With the growing proliferation of literature concerning the social world of the Hebrew Bible, scholars continue to face the challenge of a proper understanding of ancient Israel's economies. Portrayals of Economic Exchange in the Book of Kings is the first monographic study to use an anthropological approach to examine the nature of the economic life behind the biblical text. Through Karl Polanyi's paradigm of exchange as a methodological control, this book synthesizes Semitic philology with related fields of Levantine archaeology and modern ethnography. With this interdisciplinary frame, Nam articulates a social analysis of economic exchange, and stimulates new understandings of the biblical world.
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1 online resource (xiii, 222 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004224162 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.