Jacob Wrestling with “a Man”

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Noll
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Cotton Mather ◽  
The Bible

Mark A. Noll provides a detailed comparison of Jonthan Edwards’ biblical interpretation with that of other interpreters in his surrounding context by focusing on Genesis 32:22–32, the account of Jacob wrestling with “a man,” as a case study. He offers a careful comparative analysis of Edwards’ exegesis of this passage across his corpus, and then he compares him with six exegetes: Matthew Poole, Matthew Henry, Cotton Mather, August Hermann Francke, Charles Wesley, and Thomas Scott. These interpreters represent eras prior to, during, and after Edwards’ lifetime; some come from his theological tradition, whereas others do not. By tracing continuities and discontinuities in this exercise, Noll makes incisive observations about Edwards’ exegesis and proposes paths forward in the study of Edwards’ engagement with the Bible.

scholarly journals Hermeneutics of Re-enacting Biblical Text(s) and Concept(s) in the History of Prophetism in Ghana’s Christianity: A Case Study of the Ministry of Agabus and Prophet Bernard Opoku Nsiah

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-65
Author(s):  
Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Religious Fundamentalism ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Sitz Im Leben ◽  
History Of ◽  
Book Of Acts ◽  
Original Audience

Biblical hermeneutics is significant in delineating the meaning of scripture text(s) for contemporary audience. The critical historical method as well as its derivative criticisms is the widely used approach to understand what the text meant for the “original” audience in its sitz im leben. It is socio-historical in nature and curbs religious fundamentalism. However, its concentration on history does not make it suitable for prophetic ministries in Ghana. The approach to scripture interpretation by prophetic ministries since 1914 has been re-enactment of favourite scripture text(s) to have instructions for life in the present situation and the future. They believe that being biblical is the patterning of life style or activities along some popular characters in the Bible. Prophet Bernard Opoku Nsiah claims that his prophetic ministry is patterned or is a replica of the prophetic ministry of Agabus in the book of Acts. This essay examines biblical interpretation in the history of prophetism in Ghana’s Christianity, and how scripture text(s) were used as hermeneutics of re-enactment.

A Fish Tale

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ava Chamberlain
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Biblical Story ◽  
Divine Grace ◽  
Cotton Mather ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Face

Ava Chamberlain treats Jonthan Edwards’ interpretation of the biblical story of Jonah, comparing it with that of Cotton Mather and that of early modern skeptics. In this case study, she shows how exegetes like Edwards and Mather probed the meaning of Hebrew terms and considered how the biblical account accorded with the natural world—all in the face of those who derided the Jonah story as a farce. Her work highlights how early modern questions about the Bible’s historicity informed and affected the exegesis of Protestants like Edwards and Mather. It also demonstrates that although Edwards and Mather engaged the biblical text in many similar ways, Edwards also differed in the degree to which he emphasized the need for divine grace to understand the Bible, a forceful assertion of supernaturalism against the emerging naturalism of his time.

Facilitating Speech and Discourse: Biblical Interpretation and the Emergence of a Concept of Gender Equality

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-235
Author(s):  
Jorunn Økland
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Christina Rossetti ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Elizabeth Cady Stanton ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Court Of Appeal ◽  
Authorial Voice ◽  
Intellectual Environment

Abstract The article is a case study demonstrating that the Bible at the end of the 19th century could still function as a common rhetorical tool, a frame of reference, and a common court of appeal in important public debates. The case in question is the Anglophone debate over women’s rights, voice, and vote on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean around 1890. The article analyzes three different lay positions represented by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Christina Rossetti, and Heber Hart. They represent three different directions that reception of the Bible with regard to gender equality and women’s authorial voice could take in this period. The article also argues that a concept of gender equality goes several centuries further back than what is often thought, and that the early development of the concept in a pre-secularized intellectual environment needs much further scholarly attention.

The Hegemony of the Biblical in the Study of Second Temple Literature

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-35
Author(s):  
Eva Mroczek
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Cultural Consciousness ◽  
Finish Line ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Canonical Process ◽  
Second Temple Literature ◽  
Concrete Entity

Despite growing recognition that early Jewish culture was far broader than the Bible, the biblical retains its hegemony in the study of early Jewish literature. Often, non-biblical materials are read either as proto-biblical, para-biblical, or biblical interpretation, assimilated into an evolutionary narrative with Bible as the telos. But ancient Jewish literature and culture are far more than proto-biblical. Through a case study of psalmic texts and Davidic traditions, this article illustrates how removing biblical lenses reveals a more vibrant picture of the resources and interests of early Jews. First, it discusses evidence showing that despite a common perception about its popularity, the “Book of Psalms” was not a concrete entity or well-defined concept in Second Temple times. Instead, we find different genres of psalm collection with widely varied purposes and contents, and a cultural consciousness of psalms as an amorphous tradition. Second, it demonstrates how David was remembered as an instructor and founder of temple and liturgy, rather than a biblical author, a notion that, despite common assumptions, is not actually attested in Hellenistic and early Roman sources. Third, it reconsiders two Hellenistic texts, 4QMMT and 2 Maccabees, key sources in the study of the canonical process that both mention writings linked with David. While their value to the study of the canon has been challenged, the assumption that they use “David” to mean “the Psalms” has remained largely unquestioned. But when we read without assuming a biblical reference, we see a new David, and the possibility that the ancient writers were alluding to other discourses associated with him – namely, his exemplary, liturgical, and calendrical legacy – that better fit their purposes. Early Jews were not marching toward the biblical finish line, but lived in a culture with diverse other traditions and concerns that cannot always be assimilated into the story of scripture. Recognizing this fact allow us to see Second Temple literature more clearly on its own terms.

Hearing the Scriptures

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugen J. Pentiuc
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Reception History ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Key Features ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Biblical Commentaries ◽  
Patristic Exegesis

This book explores a specific area of “reception history”: Byzantine hymnography’s use and interpretation of Scriptures, primarily the Old Testament (Septuagint), as part of Orthodox tradition. Lexical-biblical-theological analyses of selected Holy Week hymns show the distinctiveness of “liturgical exegesis” (hymnographic biblical interpretation) and its complementarity to “patristic exegesis.” Even though patristic exegesis and liturgical exegesis are closely interrelated in terms of authorship and basic methodology, this volume seeks to show the main dissimilarities between patristic (i.e., discursive) and liturgical (i.e., imagistic or intuitive) modes of biblical interpretation. The book aims to demonstrate the creativeness of “pre-critical” interpreters of the Bible, i.e., the Byzantine hymnographers. The volume’s introduction sums up the most important moments in the emergence of Byzantine Orthodox Holy Week, as well as the current structure of this liturgical cycle, with an emphasis on Byzantine hymnography. Part I of the book is a collection of lexical-biblical-theological analyses of selected Holy Week hymns spread over six days (and six chapters). The Holy Week hymnography was chosen as a case study for the rich and vast Byzantine hymnography. The analyses show different ways the Byzantine liturgists (i.e., hymnographers) incorporated and interpreted scriptural material, primarily Old Testament, in their hymns. Part II deals with liturgical exegesis and its key features and hermeneutical procedures. It also seeks to underline the differences between patristic biblical commentaries and Byzantine hymns, while advancing an analogy between liturgical exegesis and cubist art.

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