“O Love, in (Your) Delights”

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-143
Author(s):  
Nikolas Kristiyanto
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
General Structure ◽  
General Analysis ◽  
Song Of Songs ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Spiritual Meaning ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Promised Land ◽  
The Church

The interpretation of the Song of Songs has a long history. The traditional Jewish and early Christian interpreters apply the allegory method to find a “spiritual” meaning. For example, they try to understand the Groom as the Lord and the Bride as Israel. Furthermore, early Christian tradition interprets the Groom as Jesus and the Bride as the Church. Nevertheless, in this article, we try to read the Song of Songs in other perspective by understanding it in the light of Ancient Near East (ANE)’s background. We will focus on the exegesisand general analysis on Song 7:7-10a. This passage is a part of a big section of Song 6:4-7:11 (“New Songs of the Beloved Man”). Song 7:7-10a is an admiration-movement. We try to propose a new general structure of Song 7:7-10a and its meaning in the light of ANE’s background on royal ideology, temple, wisdom, promised land and love traditions.

Song of Songs

1977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin H. Pope
Keyword(s):  
Distinctive Feature ◽  
Near East ◽  
Song Of Songs ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Women's Liberation ◽  
Women’S Liberation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

The Song of Songs has been compared to a lock for which the key was lost. Traditionally ascribed to King Solomon, the book has a sensuous imagery that has been the subject of various allegorical interpretations, chiefly as relating to Yahweh’s love for Israel or Christ’s love for the Church. Marvin H. Pope suggests that the poem is what it seems, an unabashed celebration of sexual love, both human and divine, rooted in the fertility religions of the ancient Near East, the sacred marriage rite, and the funeral feast. A distinctive feature of his interpretation is the correlation between Love and Death. Also discussed are parallel literatures, possible Indian influences, and the significance of the Song for women’s liberation. Samples of traditional Jewish and Christian allegorical interpretations are cited for each verse. Numerous photographs and drawings of ancient Near East origin illustrate and authenticate this provocative and controversial interpretation of Solomon’s sublime song.

The Song of Songs in the History of Sexuality

2000 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Song Of Songs ◽  
History Of Sexuality ◽  
Song Of Solomon ◽  
Spiritual Meaning ◽  
Arduous Task ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

The arduous task of queering the Song of Songs, a book that is ostensibly an unequivocal celebration of male-female sexual love, was accomplished over many centuries by the Fathers and Doctors of the Church (as well as by Jewish Sages of blessed memory, though they were hampered by a modesty and restraint to which their Christian cousins were seldom subject). Night after night in their cells, by flickering candlelight, they queeried the Song of Solomon, strenuously inquiring after its spiritual meaning and confidently setting it forth. And as they did so their austere cells were transformed into lavish theaters. What follows is a series of preliminary portraits of some of the more remarkable performers.

Laying Out the Fleece

2019 ◽  
pp. 67-89
Author(s):  
Kelly J. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Near East ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Different Cultures

Chapter 3 approaches Gideon’s story in three different ways: the role of divine signs in the ancient Near East; the portrait of Gideon as a hesitant solider in need of divine assurance in the biblical stories of Judg 6:36–40, 7:1–8, and 7:9–15; and the ways that early Christian exegetes interpreted Gideon’s requests for divine assurance. The chapter continues to trace how masculinity is constructed in different cultures, including the Greco-Roman world of early Christianity, where men were encouraged to fight spiritual battles rather than physical battles. These interpretations serve as a powerful reminder that masculinity is always “in crisis,” tending toward transformation and change, depending on cultural context.

scholarly journals Hermeneutik Pedagogis Maria Magdalena

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-93
Author(s):  
John C. Simon ◽  
M. Ramli
Keyword(s):  
Paul Ricoeur ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Mary Magdalene ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Paul Ricœur ◽  
Ethical Choices ◽  
Life Values ◽  
Agent Of Change ◽  
The Church

Early Christian tradition placed Mary Magdalene as a sacred woman, who because of her divine God made her worthy of being a witness to the resurrection. Mary became an epitome for many who were awake in faith searching for Him on Easter morning. He is also a model of the church in its pilgrimage seeking God. Using a hermeneutics perspective, dealing with the Bible, Paul Ricoeur clearly distinguishes between reading and interpreting activities, "exegesis" and "hermeneutics". "Interpretation" not only means "exegesis", but "exegesis" as well as "hermeneutics". Productive hermeneutics bear a thesis, that is, the position of faith which contains free ethical choices. It is in this light that Mary Magdalene and her life will be seen in a hermeneutical perspective in order to arrive at an emancipatory ethical calling. In a pedagogical perspective, Maria's life values are: sensitivity- compassion, missionary vocation to be an agent of change, and wise creativity.

scholarly journals Pilgrimage and Festivals

2018 ◽  
pp. 301-318
Author(s):  
Laura Feldt
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Near East ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Available P ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Theoretical Approaches

This chapter discusses key theoretical approaches to pilgrimage and festivals and surveys the most prominent types in the ancient Mediterranean ritual world. The first section discusses the cross-disciplinary, definitional problems and argues in favour of broad concepts as a sine qua non for cross-cultural discussion and comparison. It outlines key approaches from the 1970s until today, reflects on comparable cultural practices, and suggests directions for theoretical development from the aesthetics of religion, spatiality theory, cognitive theory, and theories of fantastic narratives. The second section surveys key forms of pilgrimage and festivals from the ancient Near East and the Graeco-Roman world, and turns to Hebrew Bible and Jewish forms of pilgrimage and festivals. Finally, the chapter discusses early Christian types of pilgrimage from travel to places associated with the life of Christ, to travel to living saints and ascetics, and to relics, icons and images. For each area, the chapter touches upon categorization and the types of sources available.

From Jewish Apocrypha to Christian Tradition: Citations ofJubileesin Epiphanius'sPanarion

2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-370
Author(s):  
Anne Kreps
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Reading List ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Church ◽  
Similar Reading

In the growing canon consciousness of the fourth century, Christians debated what should constitute the official reading list for the church. Epiphanius of Salamis was part of this conversation. His massivePanariondescribed eighty heresies, and, for Epiphanius, wrong books were a marker of wrong belief. However, although Epiphanius was a stringent supporter of Nicene orthodoxy, he, too, referred to books outside the canon. In thePanarion, he frequently referencedJubilees, an expanded, rewritten Genesis found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and which also circulated among early Christian readers. TheDecree of Gelasiuslater declared the text anathema. This paper explores the significance of a vocal heresiographer readingJubilees, particularly when he defined heretics based on similar reading practices. It suggests that Epiphanius saw close kinship betweenJubileesand his ownPanarion. The citations ofJubileesin thePanarionalso indicate that Epiphanius defined the text as a part of a larger Christian tradition. In doing so, Epiphanius transformedJubileesfrom Jewish apocrypha to Christian tradition. Thus, the citations ofJubileesin Epiphanius'sPanarionshow the complicated dynamics of canon consciousness in the shaping of Christian Orthodoxy.

‘I Will Give to Each of You as Your Works Deserve’: Witchcraft Accusations and the Fiery-Eyed Son of God in Rev 2.18–23

1997 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul B. Duff
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The Revelation of John presents to its readers a scenario that describes the oppression and persecution of the early Christian communities of western Asia Minor by external pagan forces (specifically, the Roman government). Later Christian tradition tied the Apocalypse to the later years of the reign of Domitian and consequently dubbed that emperor a second Nero. Until relatively recently, this scenario has been affirmed by both the church and the academy. However, mid-twentieth century scholarship successfully challenged the validity of this viewpoint, based upon a review of the historical evidence. Since that time, scholars have scrambled to reconcile the historical world lying behind the Apocalypse with the narrative world presented by the text. Such figures as James A. T. Robinson, Adela Yarbro Collins, and Leonard Thompson have considerably advanced the discussion in our time. However, these recent attempts to detail the relationship between Christianity and pagan society have so dominated the attention of scholars that a serious discussion of the tensions within the Asia Minor Christian communities has been largely neglected. The present study is offered as a partial corrective to this trend.

The Anonymity of the New Testament History Books: A Stylistic Device in the Context of Greco-Roman and Ancient Near Eastern Literature

2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-142
Author(s):  
Armin Baum
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Prophetic Literature ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
History Books ◽  
Stylistic Device

AbstractThe anonymity of the NT historical books should not be regarded as peculiar to early Christian literature nor should it be interpreted in the context of Greco-Roman historiography. The striking fact that the NT Gospels and Acts do not mention their authors' names has its literary counterpart in the anonymity of the OT history books, whereas OT anonymity itself is rooted in the literary conventions of the Ancient Near East. Just as in the OT, where the authors of books that belonged to the genre of wisdom and prophetic literature were usually named while historical works were written anonymously, only the NT letters and the Apocalypse were published under their authors' names while the narrative literature of the NT remained anonymous. The authorial intent of the Gospels' anonymity can also be deduced from its ancient Near Eastern and OT background. Unlike the Greek or Roman historian who, among other things, wanted to earn praise and glory for his literary achievements from both his contemporaries and posterity, the history writer in the Ancient Near East sought to disappear as much as possible behind the material he presented and to become its invisible mouthpiece. By adopting the stylistic device of anonymity from OT historiography the Evangelists of the NT implied that they regarded themselves as comparatively insignificant mediators of a subject matter that deserved the full attention of the readers. The anonymity of the Gospels is thus rooted in a deep conviction concerning the ultimate priority of their subject matter.

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