The Text-Critical Utility of the Peshitta to Ezekiel in View of Recent Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-58
Author(s):  
Godwin Mushayabasa
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Textual Criticism ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Translation Technique ◽  
Semantic Frames ◽  
Base Text

Following recent studies demonstrating that the Peshitta to Ezekiel is largely a translation that was rendered at the level of semantic frames or the idiomatic level, the logical question to be asked from the point of view of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible is whether such a translation would be useful at all within that discipline. Traditionally, a version that is considered ideal and useful for the textual criticism of the Bible is one whose translation technique is as literal as possible. Studying some difficult texts in the light of the idiomatic approach inpeshows thatpecan still provide meaningful contribution to the text-critical study of the book of Ezekiel, though not in every instance. There are instances where the process of translation inpecould have made the base text difficult to retrace.pecan therefore be used in the study of Ezekiel, with some precautions.

The Naked Truth of Scripture

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Ossa-Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Textual Criticism ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Magnum Opus ◽  
The One

Like his other works, André Rivet’s magnum opus, the Exercitationes on Genesis (1633), was born from religious controversies. It aimed to uncover the one and only Reformed truth of the biblical message, against the multiplicity of Catholic traditions and textual ambiguities. Exploring the hermeneutical limits of what the Bible could teach, Rivet defended the homogeneity and perspicuity of the Bible, slyly relying on Catholic scholars such as Benito Arias Montano to assert the primacy of the Hebrew Bible and the integrity of its text. Catholic scholars, on the other hand, attempted to account for possible discrepancies in the Vulgate. Both sides deemed themselves holy, and both arrogated Providence to the legitimation of their church and their preferred text. This is to say that textual criticism was ultimately guided by theological and confessional considerations.

Biblical Law

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Barmash
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Biblical Law ◽  
Literary Structure ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Legal Concepts ◽  
The Relationship

Law plays a major role in the Hebrew Bible, and biblical law, whether appearing as formal statutes or as motifs embedded in other genres, has served as a source and inspiration for later Jewish culture. The bulk of the Pentateuch is devoted to legal material, and biblical narrative often invokes legal matters. The prophets refer to law and use legal idioms and literary expressions. The major theological and literary structure of the Hebrew Bible is the covenant between God and the Israelites, a relationship based on legal concepts and requirements. Most legal sources assent to this concept, but the Priestly (P) source in the Pentateuch bases the relationship between God and the Israelites on a pact, with obligations for the Israelites, rather than the bilateral agreement of a covenant, with obligations for both sides. The study of biblical law is closely tied to major issues in the critical study of the Bible: source criticism of the Pentateuch; the social and economic development of ancient Israel; form criticism and the literary characteristics of the Bible; the comparative method and the relationship between ancient Israel and the influential cultures of the ancient Near East.

Inspiration and Textual Preservation: A Catholic Essay on the Bible

Pro Ecclesia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 106385122199391
Author(s):  
James B. Prothro
Keyword(s):  
Textual Criticism ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Single Text ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
The Church

The doctrine of inspiration grounds Christian use and interpretation of Scripture, making this doctrine at once theoretical and practical. Many theoretical accounts, however, restrict the “inspired” status of biblical texts to a single text-form, which introduces problems for the practical use of Scripture in view of the texts’ historical multiformity. This article argues that such restrictions of inspiration are theologically problematic and unnecessary. Contextualizing inspiration within the divine revelatory economy, this article argues that the Spirit’s same goals and varied activities in the texts’ composition obtain also in their preservation, so that we can consider multiple forms of a text to be inspired while acknowledging that not all forms are inspired to equal ends in the history and life of the church. The article concludes with hermeneutical reflections affirming that we, today, can read the “word of the Lord” while also affirming the place of textual criticism in theological interpretation.

Canons to the Left of Him: Brevard Childs, his Critics, and the Future of Old Testament Theology

1997 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Provan
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Probable Origin ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

It is well known that the seeds from which the modern discipline of OT theology grew are already found in 17th and 18th century discussion of the relationship between Bible and Church, which tended to drive a wedge between the two, regarding canon in historical rather than theological terms; stressing the difference between what is transient and particular in the Bible and what is universal and of abiding significance; and placing the task of deciding which is which upon the shoulders of the individual reader rather than upon the church. Free investigation of the Bible, unfettered by church tradition and theology, was to be the way ahead. OT theology finds its roots more particularly in the 18th century discussion of the nature of and the relationship between Biblical Theology and Dogmatic Theology, and in particular in Gabler's classic theoreticalstatementof their nature and relationship. The first book which may strictly be called an OT theology appeared in 1796: an historical discussion of the ideas to be found in the OT, with an emphasis on their probable origin and the stages through which Hebrew religious thought had passed, compared and contrasted with the beliefs of other ancient peoples, and evaluated from the point of view of rationalistic religion. Here we find the unreserved acceptance of Gabler's principle that OT theology must in the first instance be a descriptive and historical discipline, freed from dogmatic constraints and resistant to the premature merging of OT and NT — a principle which in the succeeding century was accepted by writers across the whole theological spectrum, including those of orthodox and conservative inclination.

Moral Injury and Biblical Studies: An Early Sampling of Research and Emerging Trends

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-144
Author(s):  
Brad E. Kelle
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Moral Beliefs ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
The World ◽  
Biblical Texts

Moral injury emerged within clinical psychology and related fields to refer to a non-physical wound (psychological and emotional pain and its effects) that results from the violation (by oneself or others) of a person’s deepest moral beliefs (about oneself, others, or the world). Originally conceived in the context of warfare, the notion has now expanded to include the morally damaging impact of various non-war-related experiences and circumstances. Since its inception, moral injury has been an intersectional and cross-disciplinary term and significant work has appeared in psychology, philosophy, medicine, spiritual/pastoral care, chaplaincy, and theology. Since 2015, biblical scholarship has engaged moral injury along two primary trajectories: 1) creative re-readings of biblical stories and characters informed by insights from moral injury; and 2) explorations of the postwar rituals and symbolic practices found in biblical texts and how they might connect to the felt needs of morally injured persons. These trajectories suggest that the engagement between the Bible and moral injury generates a two-way conversation in which moral injury can serve as a heuristic that brings new meanings out of biblical texts, and the critical study of biblical texts can contribute to the attempts to understand, identify, and heal moral injury.

Clio and Canons: in Search of a Cultural Poetics of the Hebrew Bible

1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 300-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert P. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
New Historicism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Cultural Poetics ◽  
Leading Edges

AbstractThe enterprise of writing "histories" of "ancient Israel" in which biblical historiography is reproduced by old credulists or critiqued by new nihilists represents one of the leading edges of contemporary biblical studies in relation to the Hebrew Bible. This quest for a cultural poetics or cultural materialist accounts of the Bible is virtually equivalent to a New Historicism in the discipline. In this article analyses of three topics from current debates in biblical studies (historiography of "ancient Israel", the empty land topos, canons and context) are used to provide insights into how new historicist approaches to contextualizing literature may contribute to these current debates about the Bible.

The Chronological Development of Wisdom Literature

2021 ◽  
pp. 372-388
Author(s):  
Markus Saur
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Wisdom Literature ◽  
Short History ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual

In this article, the historical localization of Hebrew Bible Wisdom Literature is discussed firstly with regard to the literary development of the books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. By examining these books one can make several observations that help to reconstruct the history not only of the individual books, but also the history of Wisdom Literature as a whole. Wisdom Literature is understood in this context as the result of a process of discussion, interaction, and interdependence, and thus the documentation of a broader discourse surrounding Wisdom topics. This discourse is reflected in the whole of Wisdom Literature of the Hebrew Bible. From this point of view, the differentiation between the Wisdom books and some other Wisdom texts, such as the Wisdom Psalms or the book of Ben Sira, is finally placed within an era overview, and thus a short history of Wisdom Literature is presented.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document