Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. By John H. Walton. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006. Pp. 368. $24.99.

2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-117
Author(s):  
Joel S. Baden
Author(s):  
Samuel Greengus

Biblical laws are found mainly in the Pentateuch (i.e., the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). The laws are linked to the figure of Moses, who is depicted as having received them directly from God in order to transmit them to the people of Israel during the years in the Wilderness after being released from slavery in Egypt. Biblical laws are thus presented as being of divine origin. Their authority was further bolstered by a tradition that they were included in covenants (i.e., formal agreements made between God and the people as recorded in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy). Similar claims of divine origin were not made for other ancient Near Eastern laws; their authority flowed from kings, who issued the laws, although these kings might also be seen as having been placed on their thrones through the favor of the gods. The biblical law collections are unlike other ancient Near Eastern “codes” in that they include sacral laws (i.e., governing cult, worship, and ritual, as well as secular laws: namely, governing civil, and criminal behaviors). This mingling of sacral and secular categories is the likely reason both for the many terms used to denote the laws, as well as for the unexpected number of formulations in which they are presented. The formulations used in biblical law can be classified as “casuistic” or “non-casuistic.” They are not equally distributed in the books of the Pentateuch nor are they equally used with secular and sacral laws. While there are similarities in content between secular laws found in the Hebrew Bible and laws found in the ancient Near Eastern law “codes,” the latter do not exhibit a comparable variety in the numbers of law terms and formulations. The Hebrew Bible tended to “blur” the differences between the law terms and their formulations, ultimately to the point of subsuming them all under the law term torah (“teaching”) to describe the totality of the divinely given laws in the Pentateuch. Biblical studies in general and Pentateuchal studies in particular are challenged by the fact that manuscripts contemporary with the events described have not survived the ravages the time. Scholars must therefore rely on looking for “clues” within the texts themselves (e.g., the laws cited by the prophets, the reform of Josiah, the teaching of torah by Ezra, and evidence for customs and customary laws found in books of the Hebrew Bible outside of the Pentateuch).


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-234
Author(s):  
Armand Barus

Abstrak: Pembacaan Mazmur 5 dengan menggunakan metode penelitian puitis (poetic criticism) menyingkapkan pesan berbeda dengan metode pemberian makna teks oleh para penafsir mazmur ratapan (lament psalm) sebelumnya. Metode penelitian puitis memperhatikan keluhan pemazmur, perasaan pemazmur yang disebabkan keluhannya, pengertiannya dan pengakuannya tentang Allah di dalam keluhannya dan perubahan suasana teks (mood) dalam menguak pesan mazmur ratapan. Penerapan penelitian puitis terhadap Mazmur 5 menghasilkan pesan tentang Allah yang mendengar seruan dan tempat berlindung. Pengenalan pemazmur akan Allah yang mendengar seruan dan tempat berlindung mengubah ratapan (lament) pemazmur menjadi pujian.  Abstract: Reading psalm 5 by using poetic criticism reveals differing message with the methods used by lament psalms’ interpreters when reading psalm 5. The method of poetic criticism takes into consideration the lamentation of the psalmist, the feelings resulted from the lament, the psalmist understanding dan knowledge of God in the midst of psalmist lamentation dan the mood of the text in examining lament psalms. Applying poetic criticism to psalm 5 produces a message concerning God who hears and protects. The personal knowledge of the psalmist of God who hears dan protects radically changes the lament into joy. Kata-kata Kunci: Mazmur ratapan, penelitian puitis, keluhan, perasaan, Allah, perubahan suasana teks (mood), takut akan Allah, ibadah. Kepustakaan Anderson, A.A. The Book of Psalms: Psalms 1-72. Vol. 1. New Century Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1972.Barrett, C.K. The Gospel according to St John: An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text. 2 ed. London: SPCK, 1978.Barth-Frommel, Marie-Claire, dan B. A. Pareira. Kitab Mazmur 1-72: Pembimbing dan Tafsirannya. Jakarta: BPK Gunung Mulia, 2012.Barus, Armand. Mengenal Tuhan Melalui Penderitaan. Jakarta: Scripture Union Indonesia, 2016._____________. "Menghadapi Kebohongan: Penelitian Puitis Mazmur 4." Amanat Agung 14, no. 1 (Juni 2018): 1-24._____________. "Sembuhkanlah Aku: Penelitian Puitis Mazmur 6." Amanat Agung 12, no. 2 (Desember 2016): 175-206.Blocher, Henri. "The fear of the Lord as the "principle" of wisdom." Tyndale Bulletin 28 (1977): 3-28.Broyles, Craig C. "Psalms Concerning the Liturgies of Temple Entry." Dalam The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception, disunting oleh Peter W. Flint dan Patrick D. Miller, Jr, 248-287. Leiden: Brill, 2005.Craigie, Peter C. Psalms 1-50. Word Biblical Commentary 19. Dallas: Word Books, 1983.Davidson, Robert. The Vitality of Worship: A Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1998.Dyrness, William. Themes in Old Testament Theology. Downers Grove: IVP Press, 1979.Eichrodt, Walther. Theology of the Old Testament. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1961._____________. Theology of the Old Testament. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1967.Goldingay, John. Psalms 1-41. Vol. 1. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006._____________. Psalms 90-150. Vol. 3. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2008.Keel, Othmar. The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1997.Lee, Sung-Hun. "Lament and the Joy of Salvation in the Lament Psalms." Dalam The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception, disunting oleh Peter W. Flint dan Patrick D. Miller, Jr, 224-247. Supplements to Vetus Testamentum XCIX. Leiden: Brill, 2005.O’Connor, Michael Patrick, dan Bruce K. Waltke. Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2004.Ridderbos, Herman N. The Gospel according to John: A Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1997.Roberts, J.J.M. "Mowinckel’s Enthronement Festival: A Review." Dalam The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception, disunting oleh Peter W. Flint dan Patrick D. Miller, Jr, 97-115. Supplements to Vetus Testamentum XCIX. Leiden: Brill, 2005.Routledge, Robin. Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008.Schwab, Zoltàn. "Is Fear of the LORD the Source of Wisdom or Vice Versa?" Vetus Testamentum 63, no. 4 (Oktober 2013): 652-662.Villanueva, Federico G. The ’Uncertainty of a Hearing’: A Study of the Sudden Change of Mood in the Psalms of Lament. Supplements to Vetus Testamentum 121. Leiden: Brill, 2008.Waltke, Bruce K., James M. Houston, dan Erika Moore. The Psalms as Christian Lament: A Historical Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 2014.Weiser, Artur. The Psalms: A Commentary. The Old Testament Library. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1962.


Author(s):  
Katharine J. Dell

The Song of Songs has often been seen as a literary outlier within the canon and attempts to classify it alongside other literature have had limited success, more convincing parallels being found in ancient Near Eastern material than in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament itself. However, as Francis Landy puts it ‘no text is isolated, self-sufficient; none can be understood without reference to others’ (‘The Song of Songs in the Garden of Eden’, p. 516). I discuss the eligibility of the Song for a Solomonic wisdom corpus in Chapter 3. In this chapter I focus on a more thematic intertextual approach, starting with the Song of Songs but moving both within and outside the ‘Solomonic corpus’ in the imagery of garden and water. The garden, as typified in mythical terms by the garden of Eden (but not exclusively relating to this garden alone), is also called the ‘garden of the LORD’ in various texts. Then there is water that is so essential to the growth and maintenance of a garden and to all life. A thematic intertextuality seeks to find links primarily through themes, images, or metaphors used—in this case, gardens and water and echoes of an ideal Eden.


Author(s):  
Dominik Markl

The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (HB/OT) is like a prism through which ancient Near Eastern traditions were transformed and transmitted to Jewish and Christian cultures. Through the Jewish diaspora and the Christian missions, it became a nomadic text that spread to all continents. It was received and transformed in diverse genres of literature, music, art, theatre, law, and politics. Interest in processes of reception has intensified since World War I, but reception history became a major field within biblical studies only at the turn of the millennium. Analyzing the history of reception of the HB/OT poses a variety of challenges: what hermeneutical expectations, attitudes, interests, and methods were applied to its texts? How were they involved in diverse fields of culture, and how did different modes of reception influence each other? What historical developments occasioned changes in interpretation? In analyzing textual reception, three basic aspects should be considered: the texts with their respective genres and themes, the hermeneutics applied to them, and the social contexts in which the reception takes place. Each of these aspects is characterized by great variation: biblical genres are as diverse as curse and love poetry, law and lament; hermeneutical approaches involve extremely different interests and results in, for example, allegorical, kabballistic and historical critical interpretation; social contexts of reception include family education, monastic lectio divina, public reading and preaching, and academic teaching. Investigating this history of reception means looking at cultural history through the lens of the HB/OT. Rather than defining itself as a field of research separate from interpretation, reception history should be seen as a constituent of the hermeneutical endeavor.


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