scholarly journals Das Opfer nach der Sintflut f�r die Gottheit(en) des Alten Testaments und des Alten Orients: Eine neue Deutung

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerlinde Baumann
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
Gilgamesh Epic ◽  
The Sacrifice

The Sacrifice for (the) God(s) after the Flood in Ancient Israel and the Ancient Near East: A New Interpretation. The experience of a large, devastating flood is part of the cultural heritage of mankind. The famous �texts of the deluge� come from Mesopotamia. Here, the flood tradition dates back to the 3rd Millennium. The longest and most traditional of these texts, which � amongst other things � deal with the interpretation of these events, is the Atramḫasis myth. The literary-dependent text is the Gilgamesh epic, and the Old Testament version is the story of the Flood that is found in Genesis 6�9. For a long time the similarities and differences between these three texts have been known. However, so far little attention was given to a passage that all three texts share: the sacrifice of the surviving humans after the Flood. The reaction of the deity(ies) differs in these three texts. In this article I would like to consider the similarities and differences between the texts in order to evaluate the significance of the Old Testament text. This is against the background of recent insights in the field of ancient Israelite sacrifice, related to cultural anthropology. These three passages are first considered in their context and then compared to the relevant aspects of each other before a conclusion is drawn.

Litigation

2019 ◽  
pp. 44-58
Author(s):  
Eryl Wynn Davies
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Trial Procedure ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The Way

The chapter examines the Old Testament evidence concerning the nature of the trial procedure in ancient Israel. Although the evidence is limited in comparison with the abundance of material available in the ancient Near East, the laws in the Pentateuch and the narratives in the Old Testament do provide indirect evidence for the way in which the judicial system operated in Israel and Judah. The elders played a prominent role in trials at a local level, and it is probable that the main qualification for eldership was possession of landed property. Appeal against arbitrary decisions by the local assemblies could be made directly to the king, though, in practice, this responsibility was probably delegated to his officials. In cases where there were no witnesses present the matter could be directed to God for a verdict by means of a “trial by ordeal.”

scholarly journals Exploring the Relationship between the Mosaic Code and the Hammurabi Code

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-89
Author(s):  
ISAAC BOAHENG
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Near East ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Hebrew Scriptures ◽  
Legal Document ◽  
Ancient Documents ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Relationship

Over the years there has been a growing interest in the connections between the Old Testament and other Ancient Near East literature. The Hammurabi Code, a Babylonian legal document which predates the Mosaic Code by about 300 years, is one of the ancient documents that have featured prominently in such comparative studies. The remarkable similarities between the Hammurabi Code and the Mosaic Code raises questions about the originality of the Mosaic Code. Scholars often ask whether Moses copied and/or revised the Hammurabi Code and gave it to Israel as a divinely inspired Law or whether Moses actually received his Law as an original document from God. If Moses plagiarized the Hammurabi Code, then the inspiration of the Mosaic Code and (by extension) the inspiration of the entire Hebrew Scriptures is in doubt. The relevance of this textual and source issue for Old Testament scholarship has prompted the present study which aims at investigating the relationship between the Mosaic Code and the Hammurabi Code through a comparative study. After a critical assessment of the key similarities and differences between these two ancient documents, the paper suggests keys factors that might have accounted for the similarities and the proceeds to contend for the originality and authenticity of the Mosaic Code. Keywords: Ancient Near East, Hammurabi Code, Mosaic Law, Old Testament, Plagiarism

Setting the Scene: A Brief Outline of Histories of Israel

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. ROGERSON
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
History Of

This chapter presents a brief outline of the history of ancient Israel, starting with Humphrey Prideaux's The Old and New Testament connected, in the History of the Jews, and neighbouring nations; from the declensions of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah to the time of Christ. The book's purpose, as the word ‘Connection’ indicates, was to set Old Testament history in the context of the history of the ancient Near East. Other similar works include Johann Gottfried Herder's Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit of 1784–1791, an interesting feature of which was a ‘secular’ account of the reason for the downfall of Judah in the sixth century; Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette's Beiträge; Heinrich Ewald's History of Israel, which argued that the Pentateuch and Joshua had reached their final form by way of at least six redactional processes; and Julius Wellhausen's Israelitische und Jüdische Geschichte of 1894 and Israelitisch-jüdische Religion of 1905; Albrecht Alt's Der Gott der Väter; and the writings of Martin Noth.

The Metaphor of the So-Called 'Weaned Child' in Psalm cxxxi

2007 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-118
Author(s):  
C.J. Labuschagne
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Documentary Evidence ◽  
Ancient Israel

AbstractIconographic evidence is adduced to show that the practice of carrying an infant on the back was known in the Ancient Near East. Documentary evidence from the Old Testament shows that it was also known in Ancient Israel. This insight sheds new light on the interpretation of the cruces in both Deut. xxxiii 12 and Ps. cxxxi 2 and renders every emendation of MT unnecessary.

scholarly journals Die een wat sal kom: 'Messiaanse tekste' in die Ou Testament en ander Joodse geskrifte

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alphonso Groenewald
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Long Time ◽  
To Come ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

The one who is to come: �Messianic texts� in the Old Testament and other Jewish writingsAccording to the New-Testament authors, the life of Jesus, as Christ, should be seen in light of the Old-Testament texts. It seems that all the messianic texts in the Old Testament had been fulfilled in Jesus. The Messiah, who had been expected for a long time, was born in Bethlehem. This interpretation by the New-Testament authors has caused the church and Christians throughout the centuries to read the Old Testament as a prophecy, which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This interpretation has caused impatience with Jews, who did not accept Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. This article addresses the question: How did ancient Israel understand the concept �messiah�? It seems that the term is much more complex than a single meaning would allow the reader to believe. This article thus focuses on the theological functioning of the term within the Hebrew Bible as well as in other Jewish writings.

Of Fields and Forced Labor

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-152
Author(s):  
Carolyn J. Sharp
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Forced Labor ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Biblical Narratives ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Economic Practices ◽  
Economic Control ◽  
History Of

Biblical narratives about ostensibly “local” barter (Abraham’s purchase of the cave at Machpelah), protection of battle spoils (Achan’s theft and subsequent execution), and commodification of labor and bodies (Ruth gleaning for hours and offering herself to Boaz) reveal much about ideologies of economic control operative in ancient Israel. The materialist analysis of Roland Boer provides a richly detailed study of Israelite agrarian and tributary practices, offering a salutary corrective to naïve views of Israelite economic relations. Highlighting labor as the most ruthlessly exploited resource in the ancient Near East, Boer examines the class-specific benefits and sustained violence of economic formations from kinship-household relations to militarized extraction. Boer’s erudite study will compel readers to look afresh at the subjugation of the poor and plundering of the powerless as constitutive features of diverse economic practices throughout the history of ancient Israel.

The Use of the Word as a Title in the Old Testament

1969 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
J.R. Bartlett
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
General Sense ◽  
Ancient Israel

AbstractMany societies have used the word "head" metaphorically to describe the position of the leading figure in a society or in some smaller group, and this title usually has a vague and imprecise meaning. To be intelligible it needs to be given some known context or some further definition. For example, if we are schoolmasters, we may among ourselves refer to "the Head", but outside school, unless we are speaking to people who know the context of our work, we have to refer to "the Headmaster" to be fully understood. And even when the context of the headship is known, the title "head" by itself tells us nothing definite about the position of the person so described. We know nothing, for example, about the means of his appointment, the tenure of his office, or the scope of his powers. Thus the word "head" can often be used in a general sense of some position or office for which there is in fact an official or more descriptive title. In the Old Testament, however, the title is not always so vaguely used. Although the word "head" in Hebrew as in English has a natural ambiguity on many occasions, we can at least show that in the Old Testament the word is used of a person's position only in certain well defined spheres. And because the title "head" in the Old Testament has a fairly limited reference, the details of appointment, tenure of office or position, and scope of powers, though sometimes unknown to us, may not have been so generally unknown in ancient Israel.

scholarly journals Breach of Treaties in the Ancient Near East

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-56
Author(s):  
Gábor Sulyok
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThe history of the breach of treaties can be traced back to the ancient Near East. The relative abundance and diversity of contemporary sources attest that the breaking of treaty obligations must have been a rather persistent problem, and that such occurrences were regarded as events of utmost importance throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages. The present study strives to demonstrate how peoples of old may have perceived and reacted to the breach of treaties on the basis of selected writings—the Legend of Etana, the Indictment of Madduwatta, the Indictment of Mita, the plague prayers of Mursili and the Old Testament—that provide, beyond the exposition of actual or alleged facts, a deeper insight into the psychological and procedural aspects of the subject.

scholarly journals Humans created God in their image? An anthropomorphic projectionism in the Old Testament

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ndikho Mtshiselwa ◽  
Lerato Mokoena
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The World ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
History Of ◽  
Old Testament Studies

The Old Testament projects not only a Deity that created the world and human beings but also one that is violent and male. The debate on the depiction of the God of Israel that is violent and male is far from being exhausted in Old Testament studies. Thus, the main question posed in this article is: If re-read as ‘Humans created God in their image’, would Genesis 1:27 account for the portrayal of a Deity that is male and violent? Feuerbach’s idea of anthropomorphic projectionism and Guthrie’s view of religion as anthropomorphism come to mind here. This article therefore examines, firstly, human conceptualisation of a divine being within the framework of the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism. Because many a theologian and philosopher would deny that God is a being at all, we further investigate whether the God of Israel was a theological and social construction during the history of ancient Israel. In the end, we conclude, based on the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism, that the idea that the God of Israel was a theological and social construct accounts for the depiction of a Deity that is male and violent in the Old Testament.

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