scholarly journals A case of the evil eye in Genesis 16:4-5: A social-scientific perspective

Author(s):  
Zacharias Kotze

The nature and function of Evil Eye Belief and Practice (EEBP) in the world of the Old Testament has been understudied. The majority view has been that the belief was limited to the notion of largesse in this collection of literature. This article demonstrated that the idiom  םינעב  ללק in Genesis 16:4-5, routinely interpreted as a metaphor for scorn on the part of Hagar, could in fact be interpreted as a linguistic vehicle for the concept of the malevolent eye of Sarai. The author argued for an interpretation wherein Sarai, driven by envy, accused Hagar of casting the evil eye on her and used this alleged transgression as an excuse to abuse her slave. The evil eye in the Old Testament was not restricted to the idea of generosity, but was also closely associated with the concept of envy, as has been the case in the majority of ancient and modern cultures in which EEPB has featured. It further confirmed that the social function of the evil eye in the ancient world was not only constrained to the avoidance of envy-related violence but also served as an instrument of oppression in the hands of the rich and privileged. The key method utilised in this study was the social-scientific approach to the interpretation of biblical literature.

Author(s):  
John W. Meyer ◽  
Mathias Risse

In recent decades the world has grown together in some unprecedented ways. This integration is linked to a greatly expanded public and collective awareness of global integration and interdependence. Academics across the social sciences and humanities have been trying to make sense of this expanded world within the confines of their disciplines. In sociology, since the 1970s, notions of the world as a society have become more and more prominent. John Meyer, among others, has put forward, theoretically and empirically, a general world society approach. In philosophy, much more recently, Mathias Risse has proposed the grounds-of-justice approach. Even though one is a social scientific approach and the other a philosophical one, the approaches of Meyer and Risse have much in common. Both call attention to the expanded array of injustice claims arising from unregulated globalization. This chapter brings these two approaches into a conversation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Musayev Shahbaz Shami

The article investigates the new idea of alphabet of M.F.Akhundzada and the social-scientific relationships with his contemporaries in the field of realizing this idea. İt is noted that the idea of new alphabet constitutes the basis of the concept of enlightenment. According to the rich scientific and epistolary heritage of writer-thinker, he put forward the issue of the necessity of alphapet reform giving ground that it causes to the massive illiteracy and non-compliance with Arabic alphabet used in Azerbaijan to the phonetic nature of Azerbaijan language as the result of social-historical processes and making special difficulties in teaching process. However M.F.Akhundzada doesn’t consider his mission to be completed with putting forward an idea, he made a new alphabet and sent it to the official counties of the Ottoman Empire and Iran, as well as the scientific centers of the important five countries of Europe for discussing it. The article has investigated the visit of M.F.Akhundzada to İstanbul and its results, as well as the correspondences with the official counties of Iran and consultations with his contemporariesfor discussing new alphabet project. The article as involved to the study of letters he sent to his contemporaries, his relevant writings kept in the archive of  M.A.Akhundzada, and appreciated the idea and considerations of other researchers about the problem. The Article clarifies the reasons of not realizing the idea of new alphabet of  M.F.Akhundzada, and showed historical-culturological importance of this idea. It is noted that new alphabet idea collected supporters during little time, the issue of changing Arabic alphabet became social requirement in society and after Azerbaijan regained its state independence, the country started to Latin graphics alphabet


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Swiss

This article highlights an emerging research agenda for the study of foreign aid through a World Society theory lens. First, it briefly summarizes the social scientific literature on aid and sociologists' earlier contributions to this research. Next, it reviews the contours of world society research and the place of aid within this body of literature. Finally, it outlines three emergent threads of research on foreign aid that comprise a new research agenda for the sociology of foreign aid and its role in world society globalization.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Desy Murni MS ◽  
Yenni Hayati ◽  
Zulfadhli Zulfadhli

This study aimed to describe the structure and function of social expression of a ban on love, dating, and married in Kenagarian Toboh Sikaladi Kecamatan Sintuk Toboh Gadang Kabupaten Padang Pariaman. The research is a qualitative study using descriptive methods. Background or where the study was conducted in Kenagarian Toboh Sikaladi Sintuk Toboh Tower District of Padang Pariaman district. The informants consist of one main informant and two supportive informants. Data were collected through three stages, namely observation, interview and recording techniques. After that, the data is analyzed by a data inventory phase, phase description of the structure and a social function, stage identifies the data, and reporting stage. Based on the results, it can be concluded that data about people's trust ban expression of love, dating, and married in Kenagarian Toboh Sikaladi Kecamatan Sintuk Toboh Gadang Kabupaten Padang Pariaman found as many as 53 expression. The structure of the people's trust in the public ban Kenagarian Toboh Sikaladi Kecamatan Sintuk Toboh Gadang Kabupaten Padang Pariaman is divided into two forms,ie expression of belief and expression structured two-part folk beliefs structured three parts.The phrase structured ban two parts are found as many as 45 expression, whereas expression of a structured three parts found eight expression. This study included into the category of folk beliefs surrounding human environment of love, courtship, and marriage. The social function of the people's trust ban expression in this research, strengthen religious emotion and conviction found as many as five expressions, fantasy projection system found 31 expression, educate found three expressions, prohibit found 13 expression, and had found a phrase.Keywords: social expression, local beliefs, prohibition


1996 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries Van Aarde

Culture of poverty: The world of the New Testament then and the situation in South Africa today. In this article poverty in the world of the New Testament is explained in the  light of the social dynamics of the first century Eastern Mediterranean. The focus is on the sub-culture of the disreputable poor. Features of a culture of poverty are reflected upon from a social-scientific perspective in order to try to understand why poverty is intensifying in South Africa today. The article aims at identifying guidelines for Christians in using the New Testament in a profound way to challenge the threat of poverty. The following aspects are discussed: the underdevelopment of third-world societies over against the technical evolution in first-world societies during the past two hundred years, economic statistics with regard to productivity and unemployment in South Africa, the social identity of the disreputable poor, poverty within the pre-print culture of the biblical period, and the church as the household of God where Christians should have compassion for others.


2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Van Eck

This article presents a social-scientific and realistic interpretation of the parable of the Feast. The characteristics of a pre-industrial city are used to determine the realism of the parable. The social-scientific interpretation of the parable considers meals as ceremonies. The cultural values embedded in meals, namely honour and shame, patronage, reciprocity and purity, receive attention. The social dynamics of invitations in the 1st-century Mediterranean world is used as a lens to understand the invitations as an honour challenge, and the social game of gossip is used to obtain an understanding of the excuses in the parable. The conclusion reached is that the parable turns the world in which it is told upside down. As such, the parable has something to say about the injustices that are a part of the society we live in.


Author(s):  
Ann T. Jordan

Business anthropology is a fast-evolving field. Social sciences such as sociology, psychology, and anthropology each have a unique set of constructs and theories for studying human behavior and each brings special insights to understanding business. Anthropologists are skilled in observing and learning from the rich interaction of social beings in their environment. With methods based in techniques for first-hand observation and interviewing of participants, and with theoretical knowledge gleaned from studying human societies across the world, anthropologists are the social scientists uniquely situated by training to analyze the social milieu and group-patterned interaction in any human setting. Simply, business anthropology is the use of anthropological constructs, theory, and methods to study its three subfields: organizations, marketing and consumer behavior, and design. Organizational anthropology is the study of complex organizations from an anthropological perspective to solve organizational problems or better understand the nature and functioning of the organizational form within and across organizations. In marketing and consumer behavior anthropology’s methods allow one to get close to consumers and understand their needs, while anthropology’s theoretical perspectives allow one to understand how human consumption plays out on the world stage. In the design field anthropologists use their methods to observe and learn from the detailed interaction of social beings in the designed environments in which we all live. They use their theoretical perspectives to develop a holistic analysis of the rich data to develop new products and evaluate and improve existing ones whether they be refrigerators or office buildings. The field of business anthropology is difficult to define because the moniker “business anthropology” is a misnomer. This field, as most anthropologists practice it, is not limited to work in for-profit businesses. Business anthropologists work with for-profit organizations, but also non-profit ones, government organizations and with supranational regulatory bodies. In addition to working for a business, an organizational anthropologist might be working in a non-profit hospital to improve patient safety, a design anthropologist might be working for an NGO to develop a less fuel-intensive cooking system for refugee camps and an anthropologist in marketing might be working in a government agency to develop ways to advertise new vaccines.


Matatu ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sule E. Egya

Ezenwa–Ohaeto is one of the modern Nigerian poets who, in their creative endeavours, have continued to tap the rich sources of orature in their culture, in what is now known as 'the minstrelsy tradition'. The maturity of his explorations of the minstrelsy tradition comes through in the last volume of poetry he published before his death, (2003). In a close reading of some selected poems from this volume, this contribution not only looks at the minstrelsy tradition so central to Ezenwa–Ohaeto's poetry, but, more broadly, explores the social vision of Ezenwa–Ohaeto as an African poet. Unlike his earlier volumes of poetry, takes a critical swipe at the inadequacies of advanced countries in Europe and America in what we may call the poet's transnational imagination. In his chants across the world (the volume is an outcome of his many travels), Ezenwa–Ohaeto examines the issues of racism, equity in international relationships and, as is characteristic of his oeuvre, the moral and ethical failures of leaders in Africa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Faula Ismi ◽  
Ermanto Ermanto

This study  aimed to determine the structure and social function of folklore legend naming Batunabontar Batang Natal district Mandailing Natal district. The method used in this research was descriptive method. The data source of this research was the people who inhabit Batunabontar village, Batang Natal District, Mandailing Natal District. The instrument used in this study was the researcher himself and the informant based on the understanding of the structure and social function of the naming legend of a place. Data collection techniques used in this study were observation by observation and to strengthen the data obtained, direct interviews were carried out to the authorities in research on the Social Structure and Function of the Legend of the Naming of Batunabontar Village, Batang Natal District, Mandailing Natal District. The results of this study indicate that the Social Structure and Function of Naming Legend of Batunabontar Village, Batang Natal District, Mandailing Natal District has a unique history and structure and function in the village. The uniqueness of this Batunabontar makes the writer want to know the importance of the structure and function of the Batunabontar in Batang Natal District, Mandailing Natal Regency.  


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