Znaczenie rzeczownika φθόνος w Mdr 2,24

Interpretacja rzeczownika φθόνος w Mdr 2,24 może rodzić pewne trudności. We egzegezie φθόνος jest generalnie odnoszony do postawy diabła, który, zazdrosny o człowieka, buntuje się przeciw Bogu. Takie znaczenie pojawia się już w literaturze apokryficznej i patrystycznej. Ten artykuł ukazuje kontekst analizowanego wersetu, kwestie związane z jego tłumaczeniem oraz możliwe interpretacje. Bada najpierw naturę śmierci, stara się ukazać, jaka rzeczywistość kryje się za terminem διάβολος i dlaczego autor opisuje jego działanie jako motywowane zawiścią. Opierając się na tekstach Filona z Aleksandrii argumentuje, że zawiść rozumiana jako smutek związany z brakiem różnych dóbr, które posiadają inni, to tylko określenie istoty tego uczucia. Wydaje się, że autor natchniony chciał przede wszystkim ukazać zawiść jako postawę negatywną, radykalnie przeciwstawną idei mądrości, cnoty i bliskości Boga. W takiej interpretacji zawiść objawia stan moralnego zła, absolutnego braku mądrości, który skutkuje oddzieleniem od Boga, wprowadza niezgodę między ludźmi i ostatecznie doprowadza do duchowej śmierci.

A Critical Edition and Philological Analysis of the Text of Isa 46–48 on the Basis of the Coptic Manuscript sa 52 (M 568) and other Coptic Manuscripts in the Sahidic Dialect and the Greek Text of the Septuagint

The article constitutes a critical edition and a philological analysis of the text of Isa 46-48, based on the Coptic manuscript sa 52 and other available manuscripts in the Sahidic dialect. The first part provides general information on this fragment of the codex sa 52 (M 568), which includes the text being elaborated. This is followed by a list and a brief description of the remaining manuscripts, containing at least some verses from Isa 46-48. The most significant part of the article is the presentation of the Coptic text (in the Sahidic dialect) as well as its translation into English. The differences noted between the Sahidic text and the Greek Septuagint, on which the Coptic translation is based, are presented in a tabular form. It includes, i.a., additions and omissions in the Coptic translation, lexical changes and semantic differences. The last part of the article is devoted to more difficult philological issues, observed either in the Coptic text itself or in its relation to the Greek text LXX. Particularly noteworthy are those verses of Isa 46-48, which appear only in the manuscript sa 52.2 and have not been published anywhere so far.

Caleb, Son of Jephunneh - As an Example of Fidelity to God. An Exegetical Study of Sir 46:7-10

Caleb is a secondary character in several episodes of the Exodus as well as the conquest of the Promised Land (Numbers 13–14; Josh 14:6-14). Praise of the Ancestors (Syr 44–49) contains a presentation of the biblical history of ancient Israel as the history of the covenant and a place of God's intervention. Sirach presents, according to his own criteria, the most relevant and positive characters of this history. Caleb in Sirach’s description (46:7-10) is a faithful scout, who, together with Joshua, in the face of the rebellion of the Israelites, bears witness to an exemplary trust in God and encourages the Israelites to follow his lead. His courage and faithfulness are rewarded by receiving an inheritance of the piece of land in the Promised Land, which then becomes the property of his offspring. In the brief account of Sirach, Caleb has become a timeless example of the wise man – a sage who lives according to the word of God and encourages others to take up this challenge.

The Voice of Geber (Lam 3) in the Panorama of Speaking Voices in the Book of Lamentations

The present study, acknowledging the centrality of Lam 3 in the book of Lamentations, examines the development of the speaking voice of the geber in this chapter and compares it with other voices speaking in the book. The questioned identity of the geber becomes a model for other ‘voices’: the narrator and the Daughter of Zion. The destruction of the city, carried out by God himself, indicates an exhaustion of the old institutions and the need for a new identity of both the Daughter of Zion and the supporters of the community of the city (i.e., the narrator) in the days of crisis.

Historical and Legal Context and Significance… of Selected Roman Public Law Institutions of the Early Principate Described in Canonical Gospels of the New Testament

The article analyses the issues in question by means of a method used in the legal sciences which in the Polish methodology is called “the historical and legal method.” It involves presentation and analysis of selected legal institutions and of their evolution in time. The following issues—identified across the pages of the Gospel—are analysed in this article: political and systemic context of evangelical events (section 1), the role of censuses in the implementation of Roman administrative and systemic principles (section 2), Roman tax law in the context of tax burdens resting on residents of Judea (section 3) and the Roman judicial procedure in the context of the trial of Jesus (section 4). In the summary the author answers the research question asked in the introduction: to what degree does the historical and legal significance of selected institutions of Roman law, inspired by the description of these institutions in canonical gospels of the New Testament, determine the contemporary understanding of the gospels themselves?

Mette Bundvad – Kasper Siegismund (eds.), Vision, Narrative… , and Wisdom in the Aramaic Texts from Qumran. Essays from the Copenhagen Symposium, 14–15 August, 2017 (with the collaboration of Melissa Sayyad Bach – Søren Holst – Jespers Høgenhaven)

Book Review: Mette Bundvad and Kasper Siegismund (eds.), with the collaboration of Melissa Sayyad Bach, Søren Holst, Jespers Høgenhaven, Vision, Narrative, and Wisdom in the Aramaic Texts from Qumran: Essays from the Copenhagen Symposium, 14-15 August, 2017 (STDJ 131; Leiden – Boston: Brill 2021)

“Baptism of Repentance for the Remission of Sins”: Mark 1:4 in Its Context

The titular term commonly refers to the baptism administered by John. In the other earliest sources, forgiveness of sins is not closely linked to washing with water performed by him, as the description of the Baptist’s appearance in the Gospel of Mark seems to suggest. The analysis of the verse marked in the title leads to the conclusion that Mark characterizes John’s appearance by two conjoined activities: baptizing and preaching which are expressed by the participles βαπτίζων and κηρύσσων. The first one allows for diagnosing the state of relations between humans and God. This diagnosis is expressed through the confession of their sins. The second one announces to them a therapy appropriate to the position they have identified. This therapy is supposed to be the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins preached by John, equating with the future baptism in the Holy Spirit.

R. Alan Culpepper – Jörg Frey (eds.), The Opening of John’s Narrative (John 1:19–2:22). Historical, Literary, and Theological Readings from the Colloquium Ioanneum 2015 in Ephesus (WUNT 385; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2017)

Book Review: R. Alan Culpepper – Jörg Frey (eds.), The Opening of John’s Narrative (John 1:19 – 2:22). Historical, Literary, and Theological Readings from the Colloquium Ioanneum 2015 in Ephesus (WUNT 385; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2017)

Iveta Strenková, «Devastata è Ninive!» Studio esegetico di Na 3,1-7 alla luce del suo contesto storico-letterario (Studia Biblica Slovaca. Supplementum 4; Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského 2020)

Book Review: Iveta Strenková, «Devastata è Ninive!» Studio esegetico di Na 3,1-7 alla luce del suo contesto storico-letterario (Studia Biblica Slovaca. Supplementum 4; Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského 2020)