An African Background to the Old Testament

An African Background to the Old Testament is a brief introduction to the geographical, social, economic, political and religious backgrounds of the Old Testament from an African viewpoint. It is written to help (African) Bible students to have access to the right background information required for proper interpretation of Scripture within the African setting. The seven-chapter book, after a thorough examination of the geographical, social, economic, political and religious backgrounds of the Old Testament from an African perspective contends that Old Testament scholarship in Africa must be carried out by those with adequate understanding and experience of the African socio-cultural context and must be done through proper interaction with that context. The Book is written in a non-technical way to make it accessible to everyone. Every chapter is organized thematically in sub-headings. Each chapter also ends with a recap of the main points discussed and review questions to allow the student to reflect on what has been discussed before proceeding to the next chapter. Universities and Seminaries can use it as a textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Old Testament Studies.

Überlegungen zu ausgewählten Aspekten der Behandlung des Jeremiabuchs in der Monographie von Benjamin Ziemer „Kritik des Wachstumsmodells“ (2020)

In a massive study, Benjamin Ziemer has launched a scathing stricture of redaction criticism in Old Testament studies. Based on comparative material from an impressive range of Ancient Near Eastern, biblical, early Jewish and early Christian literature, he maintains that diachronic research is unable to deliver meaningful reconstructions that reach more than one stage of textual development behind the present biblical text. Moving beyond that boundary would amount to unfettered speculation. While his appraisal is overwhelmingly negative, there is one biblical book on which he endeavors to devise a redaction-critical hypothesis of his own: the book of Jeremiah. The article evaluates Ziemer’s theory on Jeremiah and draws some general conclusions regarding the validity of his verdict on traditional redaction-critical research.

Violence in the Hebrew Bible. Between Text and Reception Old Testament Studies 79 Jacques van Ruiten and Koert van Bekkum (eds)

<p content-type="flush left">Summary <p content-type="flush left">This international collection of papers helpfully addresses all parts of the Old Testament canon in an informed and often reflective manner as it explores the issue of violence. Various methodologies are used and only some papers focus on reception. There are no weak papers in the collection and some even do significant work in exploring the issue of violence. <p content-type="flush left">Zusammenfassung <p content-type="flush left">Diese internationale Vortragssammlung erforscht auf hilf- und kenntnisreiche sowie oft nachdenkliche Weise die Thematik von Gewalt in allen Teilen des alttestamentlichen Kanons. Unterschiedliche Methoden finden Anwendung, und nur einige Vorträge konzentrieren sich auf die Rezeptionsgeschichte. Alle Vorträge in der Sammlung sind qualitativ hochwertig, und einige von ihnen stellen sogar bedeutende Beiträge dar zur Forschung über das Thema Gewalt. <p content-type="flush left">Résumé <p content-type="flush left">Cet ensemble de contributions explore fort utilement la question de la violence en prenant en compte l’ensemble du canon vétérotestamentaire, et ce de manière approfondie et propre à susciter la réflexion. Différentes méthodes sont suivies; quelques exposés seulement se concentrent sur la réception. Il n’y a pas d’articles faibles, mais il en est dont le travail sur la question de la violence est particulièrement significatif.

The Concept of God in the Old Testament

Old Testament studies have posed a lot of challenges to scholarship. They made people like Marcion read it with a pen-knife frame having in mind to cut off those texts of ‘horror' which present the Old Testament God as a wicked God who lacks compassion and the spirit of benevolence. This monstrous presentation of the Old Testament God has propelled some scholars like Pail Copan to ask, is the God (of the Old Testament) a moral or monster? This view of the Old Testament God is occasioned by the challenges involved in the studying of the Old Testament as an ordinary literary work, historical work, archaeological work, or a theological document. Viewing this canon from a theological perspective leads one to reading it from a religious perspective. This brings to the fore studying the religion of the Old Testament from a phenomenological perspective with an eye specifically on the concept of the Old Testament God. From a phenomenological perspective, it shows that the theistic concept was borne from varied experiences. It shows the nature and character of their God.