Qoheleth in the Writings

2018 ◽  
pp. 244-260
Author(s):  
Erhard S. Gerstenberger
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Ancient Judaism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Literary Composition ◽  
Fundamental Values ◽  
Carpe Diem

Qohelet (Greek/Latin: Ecclesiastes) is a very enigmatic book in the Hebrew Bible. Its critical, sometimes ironic or depressive approach to fundamental values of daily life (property; honor; power; intelligence; reward), however, has antecedents and parallels in Ancient Near Eastern wisdom. Also, it is not foreign to other writings of the Bible. Disconcerting as the absence of JHWH’s name and salvific deeds for Israel may be, the booklet, eventually becoming the festive lecture at the autumnal Feast of Booths, came into being as a textbook in some educational or scholarly institution of ancient Judaism (third century bce), complementing the study of Torah. Vanity and carpe-diem motives permeate the collection. The anonymous author(s) partially speak(s) in the guise of Salomon. Today’s interpretations focus on literary composition, autobiographic experiences of one or more authors, communitarian debate, reactions to historical events or philosophical currents, general skepticism, and eruptive bliss as components of Jewish theology.

Psalms

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Breck Reid ◽  
Rebecca Poe Hays
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Literary Genres ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Social ◽  
Literary Composition ◽  
Form Criticism

The location of a book in the canon gives the reader clues to the genre and interpretation of the book. The Jewish canon places the poetry of the book of Psalms as the introduction to the division of the bible known as the Ketubim (writings). The Christian canon(s) place the Psalter between Job and Proverbs, accenting the Psalms’ place among the wisdom texts. Scholarly consensus understands the Psalter as a collection of collections of sung poetic prayers that range over a wide period of authorship, provenance, and redaction. Associated with ongoing worship in Israel, most psalms were continually reapplied to new situations. The earliest psalms antedate the period when Israel and Judah were ruled by an indigenous king, the monarchy (1030–583 bce), and the latest are from the period defined by the cultural and political hegemony of Greece, the Hellenistic period (323–63 bce). The book of Psalms functioned as the prayer book of the second temple period (521 bce–66 ce) and the repository of poetic instruction. The first audience of the completed book is the emerging population of what was then the Persian province of Yehud during this period. Prior to the rise of form criticism in the early 20th century, scholarship focused on the Psalms as expressions of individual religious poets, much as Keats, Dickinson, or Countee Cullen. Form criticism, shaped by the work of Herman Gunkel, focused on the social location of the various literary genres in the cult, but this approach still viewed the Psalter as assemblage or medley without structure or order. During the mid-20th century a focus emerged with an interest in the “shape and shaping” of the Psalter. The rise of postmodernity has led some to pursue post-Gunkel approaches to the book of Psalms that attend to matters such as the poetic language and the relationship to other ancient Near Eastern poetry and imagery. While many scholars still utilize form-critical language to discuss the Psalter, they tend to examine each psalm as a distinct literary composition and product of Israel’s religious tradition rather than forcing them into specific genres and corresponding life settings.

“Defining Sacred Boundaries”

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Benga
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Sharp Line ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Common Life ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
The Third ◽  
Mixed Marriages ◽  
The Bible

AbstractThe present paper examines the criteria by which the Christian communities of Syria demarcated themselves from the pagan society, on the basis of the Didascalia Apostolorum, a „church order” of the third century. The article shows that the theoretical Christian monotheism had countless practical consequences for the daily lives of the early Christians. The ban on idolatry, which had initially led Christianity into isolation, became an important pillar of the new Christian identity. From this perspective, the following areas of delimitation are examined: baptism as a criterion of delimitation from the pagan world; the rejection of pagan literature; the mixed marriages between Christians and pagans; balnea mixta etc. The touchstone of the delimitation criteria is the Bible with its provisions against idolatry and immorality. The boundary between the two antique religions appears in daily life to be an area in which common life was possible, rather than a very sharp line.

The Use of Numbers as an Editing Device in Rabbinic Literature

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-234
Author(s):  
Ariel Ram Pasternak ◽  
Shamir Yona
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Rabbinic Literature ◽  
Babylonian Talmud ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
The Bible

In the first part of this paper (Review of Rabbinic Literature 19:2, pp. 202–244) we followed the use of numbers from the Bible and Ancient Near Eastern literatures through the book of Ben-Sira and ultimately into Rabbinic literature. We showed that the Rabbis were familiar with the Biblical use of numbers as a rhetoric device and used numbers in similar ways. In this conclusion of our paper we will show how the Rabbis used numbers as an editing device in the Mishnah, Tosefta and Babylonian Talmud. This use of the rhetorical device in question is only rarely attested in the Hebrew Bible.

On Agricultural Imagery in Biblical Descriptions of Catastrophes

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-14
Author(s):  
Nili Samet
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Mass Killing ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Biblical Literature ◽  
Ancient Israel

This article examines the use of agricultural imagery in biblical literature to embody the destructive force of war and other mass catastrophes. Activities such as vintage, harvest, threshing, and wine-pressing serve as metaphors for the actions of slaughtering, demolition and mass killing. The paper discusses the Ancient Near Eastern origins of the imagery under discussion, and presents the relevant examples from the Hebrew Bible, tracing the development of this absorbing metaphor, and analyzing the different meanings attached to it in different contexts. It shows that the use of destructive agricultural imagery first emerges in ancient Israel as an instance of popular phraseology. In turn, the imagery is employed as a common prophetic motif. The prophetic books examined demonstrate how each prophet appropriates earlier uses of the imagery in prophetic discourse and adapts the agricultural metaphors to suit specific rhetorical needs.

Inscriptions and the Narrative of Roman History

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Potter
Keyword(s):  
Roman History ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
The Third ◽  
Literary Sources

This chapter offers an analysis of how inscriptions can complement the narratives of Roman history from the third century BCE to the third century CE provided in literary sources. They reveal certain historical events or details that would otherwise be unknown, and they supplement the information offered by the surviving Roman historians .

The Good Sower: A Novel Approach to Teaching Sunday School

2021 ◽  
pp. 073989132199312
Author(s):  
Lisa Marie Anderson-Umana
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Sunday School ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
The Brain

The problems related to Sunday school students not making the connection between Scripture and daily life and a superficial teaching of the Bible compelled the author to create a novel approach to teaching Sunday school called the “Good Sower.” The imagery of a “Good Sower” is used to teach volunteers how to teach the Bible. Based on solid research regarding how the brain learns, it serves as an overlay in conjunction with published curriculum.

scholarly journals Believers, Attractiveness and Values

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 213
Author(s):  
Andrea Khalfaoui ◽  
Ana Burgués ◽  
Elena Duque ◽  
Ariadna Munté
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Life Challenges ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Fundamental Values

Societies are undergoing an intensive process of transformation, and the role that religion plays in guiding such rapid changes remains underexplored. In recent decades, postmodern discourse has hindered the attractiveness of involvement in religious affairs and reading sacred books, highlighting how “uncool” and useless these practices are in responding to current daily life challenges. Decades of research have evidenced the positive impact of reading the most precious universal literary creations. Since sacred books are considered universal texts, this study explores the potential of dialogic interreligious gatherings (DIGs) focused on sacred books to enhance the attractiveness of key values such as love, kindness, humility, and generosity. These spaces are grounded in strong principles that guarantee the freedom of participants. This context opens up a possibility of discussing sacred books in a dialogic and egalitarian space where everyone’s voice is heard. In this context, especially in times where freedom is jeopardized in many spheres, believers from different faiths and nonbelievers engage in dialogues and relate sacred book content to their personal experiences and current social challenges. The communicative analysis conducted shows that DIGs drive the attractiveness of fundamental values present in sacred books, creating possibilities to enhance their effects in spurring personal and social change.

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