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Amulets are devices for fear management and communication with supernatural forces. Textual amulets - that is, amulets which contain mostly texts - attest explicitly to human fears, or threats which were supposed to be repelled by the amulets. They are valuable sources which can be analyzed for the study of the history of religion, historical anthropology, and interreligious research. The contributions in this current volume are based on the research project'Between Materiality and Scribal Magic: West-Semitic Textual Amulets from the First Millennium BCE to the Rise of Islam'. Within this project, teams from Leipzig University and Tel Aviv University studied textual amulets from the Levant in the 1st mill. BCE and CE that were written in the West-Semitic languages. Several scholars were invited to discuss and share their expertise within the scope of this research project. The present volume is the result of this interdisciplinary and international cooperation.

In this companion volume to his bestselling Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? Lester L. Grabbe provides the background history of the main ancient Near Eastern peoples and empires: Babylonia, Assyria, Urartu, Hittites, Amorites, Egyptians. Grabbe's focus is on Palestine/Canaan and covers the early second millennium, including the Middle Bronze Age and the Second Intermediate Period and Hyksos rule of Egypt. Grabbe also addresses the question of a'patriarchal period'. The main focus of the book is on the second half of the second millennium: Late Bronze and early Iron Age, the Egyptian New Kingdom, the Amarna letters, the Sea Peoples, the question of'the exodus', the early settlements in the hill country of Palestine, and the first mention of Israel in the Merenptah inscription. Archaeology and the contribution of the social sciences both feature heavily, as does inscriptional and iconographic material. As such this volume provides a fascinating portrayal of ancient Israel and this definitive work by one of the world's leading biblical historians will be of interest to all students and scholars of biblical history.

Using a similar method to Kennard's biblical theology of Jesus, Hebrews, and Isaiah, Kennard's Petrine Theology makes contributions to Peter's theology, including: Peter's Jewish heritage, bridging from Jesus to Paul, expressing compatible sovereignty and free will, high Christology, missional Trinity, Hebraic anthropology, Jewish atonement, redemption and new exodus, gospel as allegiance to Christ, contextual sociological ecclesiology, suffering and spiritual warfare in a narrow virtuous way to kingdom, and nuanced consistent eschatology. The companion volume, Petrine Studies, fills out background issues, narrative biographical theology, and practical life concerns from Mark. Following a combination of Mark, Peter's sermons in Acts and Petrine epistles, Gene Green claims that Petrine theology makes unique contributions to Christian theology. Pheme Perkins concurs,'Peter is the universal'foundation'for all the churches... There is no figure who compasses more of that diversity than Peter.'F. J. Foakes-Jackson concluded,'the very fact that Peter was singled out by the unanimous voice of the writers of the NT for pre-eminence is sufficient reason why he should demand our serious attention.'James Dunn celebrated,'Peter was probably in fact and effect the bridge-man (pontifex maximus!) who did more than any other to hold together the diversity of first-century Christianity.'

The Persian period has long been considered a'dark era'in Israel's history. For this reason, research has mainly focused on how it is depicted in the Hebrew Bible. A spectacular discovery of archaeological relics and epigraphic sources was hence hardly noticed: the military colony located on the island of Elephantine in the Nile, on the border between Egypt and present-day Sudan. The basic approach of this volume, which documents a three-year Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft project, is to break with a research tradition focusing on the Judeans (Jews) mentioned in the Aramaic papyri from Elephantine and instead investigate the military colony in a broader historical context also documented by Demotic and Egyptian-hieratic evidence found at Elephantine. The studies presented focus on three main subject areas: society and administration, religion, and literature. They show that historically the island of Elephantine hosted a multicultural society with several interactions between the Egyptians and the other inhabitants, and that it was also an important administrative centre for the Persian authorities.

This volume combines the papers held at the Minerva Center's'Research on Israel and Aram in Biblical Times'conference (Leipzig 2018) on the subject of writing and re-writing history by deliberate destruction in the regions of Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. An international group of scholars studies the subject using a multi-perspective and interdisciplinary approach. Archeological studies, ancient Near Eastern studies, and biblical studies focused on the destruction of ancient sites in Israel and Judah in the 1st millennium BC. The perspective of the defeated Israelites, Jerusalemites, and Judeans is described in detail in the Old Testament and in postbiblical literature and shows that the destructions in the past were a cultural and identity creator of the first magnitude. The longue durée of the practice of reshaping the past through the deliberate destruction of a cultural heritage in order to shape the present according to current interests becomes evident based on the Neo-Assyrian Empire's practice up to the modern era and is demonstrated by the example of the Arabian-Muslim conquest of Aram as well as current Turkish politics.

Using a similar method to Kennard's biblical theology of Jesus, Hebrews, Isaiah, and Peter, Kennard's Petrine Studies fills out background issues, narrative biographical theology and practical life concerns from Mark. The companion volume, Petrine Theology, makes contributions to Peter's theology, including: Peter's Jewish heritage, bridging from Jesus to Paul, expressing compatible sovereignty and free will, high Christology, missional Trinity, Hebraic anthropology, Jewish atonement, redemption and new exodus, gospel as allegiance to Christ, contextual sociological ecclesiology, suffering and spiritual warfare in a narrow virtuous way to kingdom, and nuanced consistent eschatology. Following a combination of Mark, Peter's sermons in Acts and Petrine epistles, Gene Green claims that Petrine Theology makes unique contributions to Christian theology. Pheme Perkins concurs,'Peter is the universal'foundation'for all the churches…There is no figure who compasses more of that diversity than Peter.'F. J. Foakes-Jackson concluded,'the very fact that Peter was singled out by the unanimous voice of the writers of the NT for pre-eminence is sufficient reason why he should demand our serious attention.'James Dunn celebrated,'Peter was probably in fact and effect the bridge-man (pontifex maximus!) who did more than any other to hold together the diversity of first-century Christianity.'

Takayoshi Oshima analyses the two most important Babylonian wisdom texts: Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi (also known as the Babylonian Job or the Babylonian Righteous Sufferer) and the so-called Babylonian Theodicy. On the basis of the hitherto published as well as newly available, unpublished cuneiform manuscripts, the author establishes a new critical text for each poem and gives an English translation. He offers detailed philological and critical notes to the texts, discussing both the textual and the interpretive issues evoked by individual words and passages. In addition, however, each poem is preceded by a lengthy discussion of its origins, intention, and plot, as well as by more general considerations of its cultural and historical background, including short but important observations on the relationship to Old Testament wisdom literature.

Religion hat mit Gott und der Welt zu tun. Wie Religionen im Alten Orient, in der griechischen und ägyptischen Antike, im Alten und Neuen Testament, im spätantiken Christentum und im Islam die Welt deuten, wird in dem vorliegenden Band im interdisziplinären Gespräch erörtert. Grundlegende Kategorien der Welterklärung sind Chaos und Kosmos, Schöpfung und Weltende, himmlische und irdische Welt bzw. die Welt der Lebenden und die Unterwelt. In zehn Fallstudien fragen die Autoren nach der Topographie solcher Weltkonstruktionen, wobei sowohl die Unterschiede zwischen den Deutungsmustern der einzelnen Religionen als auch die Analogien zu Tage treten. Klar ist: Wer zwischen dem zweiten Jahrtausend vor und dem ersten Jahrtausend nach Christus nach der Welt und den in ihr waltenden Mächten fragt, fragt auch nach der Macht Gottes - und damit nach Ziel und Sinn der Welt. Mit Beiträgen von: Friederike Herklotz, Wayne Horowitz, Paul A. Kruger, Todd Lawson, Daniel Ogden, Henrik Pfeiffer, Maria E. Subtelny, Claus Wilcke, Oda Wischmeyer, Frances Young

This volume contains the proceedings of two international meetings held by the Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times (RIAB) in Ramat-Gan/Jerusalem (March 2017) and Leipzig (May 2018). Most of the papers relate to various aspects of the Aramaic epigraphy in different contexts with a second part of the volume dealing with Idumean ostraca. The papers will be of interest to ancient historians, archaeologists of the ancient Near East, scholars of Semitic and Biblical studies and the ancient Near East.

Die Rede vom'Angesicht JHWHs'nimmt in den biblischen Texten eine zentrale Stelle ein. JHWH kann sein Angesicht'leuchten'lassen, und man begehrt die'Schau'dieses Angesichts als eine heilvolle Erfahrung der Gottesnähe. Andererseits bedeutet die'Verbergung'des göttlichen Angesichts das Abgeschnittensein von der göttlichen Zuwendung. Verweisen solche Aussagen in den Psalmen und auch in anderen Bereichen des Alten Testaments auf einen festen Zusammenhang von Vorstellungen? Der primäre Hintergrund der Aussagen vom'Angesicht JHWHs'ist sehr wahrscheinlich im Zusammenhang der Symbolik der'offiziellen'Religion des vorexilischen und nachexilischen Jerusalemer Kultes zu suchen. Friedhelm Hartenstein fragt nach den Bedeutungen und Funktionen der Aussagen vom'Angesicht JHWHs'und der damit verbundenen Audienzvorstellung und untersucht, was religionsgeschichtliche Quellen des Alten Orients zu deren Erhellung beitragen. Dabei beschäftigt er sich auch mit dem altorientalischen und antiken Konzept vom'Körper'der Gottheiten sowie mit der Eigenart von dessen visueller Repräsentation.

In den Erzählungen der Samuelbücher stehen Saul und David einander nicht nur als Einzelfiguren gegenüber, sondern repräsentieren auch ihre jeweiligen Reiche Israel und Juda. Das durchgängige Kompositionsmerkmal des Figurenkontrastes spiegelt deshalb auch den israelitisch-judäischen Gegensatz. Klaus-Peter Adam widmet sich der Figurenkonstellation und Handlungsabfolge der Erzählungen und ordnet Motive und Themen in die Geschichtsschreibung der Samuel- und der Königebücher ein. Ihre Bezüge zur übrigen Überlieferung von den Königen Judas und Israels liegen besonders in der judäischen Perspektive begründet, die sich bereits in den Quellen der Königebücher nachweisen lässt. Wie in diesen Quellen der israelitisch-judäischen Königsgeschichte erweisen sich Bündnisse und Aufstände auch als entscheidende geschichtliche Ereignisse der narrativen Entfaltungen um die Figuren Saul und David. Die Eigenarten dieser Erzählungen, ihre Konzeption als paradigmatische Vorgeschichte zur späteren Königsabfolge und ihr Überlieferungswachstum werden im Vergleich mit anderen Werken antiker Geschichtsschreibung bestimmt.

Five Pentateuchal texts (Lev 24:10-23; Num 9:6-14; Num 15:32-36; Num 27:1-11; Num 36:1-12) offer unique visions of the elaboration of law in Israel's formative past. In response to individual legal cases, Yahweh enacts impersonal and general statutes reminiscent of biblical and ancient Near Eastern law collections. From the perspective of comparative law, Dylan R. Johnson proposes a new understanding of these texts as biblical rescripts: a legislative technique that enabled sovereigns to enact general laws on the basis of particular legal cases. Typological parallels drawn from cuneiform and Roman law illustrate the complex ideology informing the content and the form of these five cases. The author explores how latent conceptions of law, justice, and legislative sovereignty shaped these texts, and how the Priestly vision of law interacted with and transformed earlier legal traditions.

Michael P. Theophilos explores the fascinating variety of numismatic contributions to Greek lexicography, pertaining to lexicographic studies of the Second Temple period in general, and the New Testament in particular. Theophilos considers previous scholarly attempts to grapple with, and incorporate, critical numismatic material into the emerging discipline of Greek lexicography - including foundational work by F. Preisigke and E. Kiessling - before outlining his own methodological approach. Theophilos'then examines the resources available for engaging with the numismatic material, and presents a series of specific case studies throughout the New Testament material. His carefully annotated images of coins draw readers in to a greater understanding of the material culture of the Greco-Roman world, and how this impacted upon the Greek language and the New Testament.

The columns referred to as Jachin and Boaz are certainly one of the most controversial features of the First Temple of Jerusalem. In this volume, Daniel Prokop examines the appearance and the meaning of the twin pillars by approaching them from different perspectives. He investigates the epigraphic evidence from Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syria-Palestine, defines the relationship between the six different descriptions in the Hebrew Bible, and compares the most important textual witnesses of 1 Kgs 7,15-22, which will provide insight into the narrative development and transmission history of the texts. Studying iconographic data, the author explores a unique way to achieve a better understanding of the material, dimensions, names, location, and decoration of the pillars.

Diese Festschrift zu Ehren des verdienten Pader-borner Alttestamentlers und Altorientalisten Hans F. Fuhs vereinigt Beiträge aus einem breiten bibelwissenschaftlichen Spektrum: Lothar Ruppert, Zur Kritik an Josef in der Josefsgeschichte; Georg Hentschel, Gideons Kämpfe mit den Midianitern (Ri 6,33-8,21); Friedrich V. Reiterer, Theologie im Proömium des Weisheitsbuches? Die poetische Struktur und Gestaltung als Mittel der Verkündigung in Weish 1,1-15; Ernst Haag, Ezechiel als Menschensohn. Zur Vorgeschichte der Menschensohngestalt im Danielbuch; Manfred Görg, Koinzidenz von Einheit und Vielfalt. Einige Gedanken zum parteiischen Gottesbild der Bibel; Ansgar Moenikes, Überlegungen zur Rekonstruktion entwicklungsgeschichtlicher Stadien der altisraelitischen Religion und Theologie; Rudolf Mosis, Die Bücher des „Alten Bundes“ bei Melito von Sardes; Josef Ernst, Paulus – der Theologe am Übergang vom Alten Testament zum Neuen; Christoph G. Müller, Der erste Petrusbrief und die Schrift.

Gewisse frühjüdische und neutestamentliche Texte beschreiben eine Verbindung der himmlischen und irdischen Gemeinde im Gottesdienst oder setzen diese voraus. Exegetisch erlangte das Thema insbesondere durch die Textfunde von Qumran Aufmerksamkeit. Die Thematik ist aber auch relevant für das ökumenische Gespräch mit den östlich-orthodoxen Kirchen, in deren Liturgien gerade die Teilnahme der himmlischen Welt am irdischen Gottesdienst eine herausragende Rolle spielt. Systematisch spielte die Fragestellung zudem im Werk des katholischen Theologen Erik Peterson und seiner Diskussion mit Karl Barth eine Rolle. Der vorliegende Sammelband dokumentiert die Beiträge einer Tagung an der Theologische Fakultät der Universität Zürich zur Beziehung von Gottesdienst und Engeln in antik-jüdischer, rabbinischer, neutestamentlicher, frühchristlicher, liturgiegeschichtlicher und systematischer Perspektive.

Biblical Leadership takes the best of evangelical scholarship to make the leadership lessons of Scripture tangible for today's readers. All contributors are biblical scholars who not only think seriously about the texts covered in their individual chapters, but have committed their lives to teaching and living the truths therein. This volume walks through the sections of the Bible, gleaning insights from each biblical writer. Every chapter analyzes the original setting of the writing, extrapolates the leadership principles in the text, and provides advice on applying that theology of leadership. Presented in everyday language understandable to both professionals and practitioners, these lessons will equip current and upcoming leaders to make a Christlike impact.

Der Sammelband behandelt Formen und Strategien von Herrschaftslegitimation, die in eisenzeitlichen Königtümern der Levante sowie in Mesopotamien und Ägypten ausgeprägt wurden. Anhand von ikonographischen, textlichen und archäologischen Zeugnissen werden die Grundmuster herausgearbeitet, mit denen in diesen Reichen königliche Herrschaft legitimiert wurde. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt den kulturellen Wechselwirkungen, die zwischen den Regionen bestanden, sowie den Eigenheiten der einzelnen Königtümer. Schwerpunkte liegen auf Babylon und Assur, den phönizischen Königtümern, Kinalua/Tell Tayinat, den Inschriften von Bukān, Tell Fekheriye und Sfīre, den Bildwerken von Balu'a, Yarih-'ezer und Askalon, den Königtümern Israel, Juda und Moab, ägyptischen Einflüssen auf die levantinischen Reiche sowie der Königsmotivik im Hohenlied.

Throughout its history, the Kingdom of Israel had strong connections with the Aramaean world. Constantly changing relations, from rivalry and military conflicts to alliances and military cooperation, affected the history of the whole Levant and left their marks on both Biblical and extra-Biblical sources. New studies demonstrate that Israelite state formation was contemporaneous with the formation of the Aramaean polities (11th-9th centuries BCE). Consequently, the Jordan Valley (and especially its northern parts and its extension to the valley of Lebanon) was a constantly changing border zone between different Iron Age polities. In light of that, there is a need to study the history of Ancient Israel not only from the'Canaanite'point of view but also within the political and cultural context of the Aramaean world. This volume brings together experts working in different fields to address the relations and interactions between Aram and Israel during the Early Iron Age (12th to 8th centuries BCE) through three main aspects: the first aspect, relates to the archaeology and the material culture of Aram and Israel, with a special focus on the Jordan valley as a political and cultural border zone. The material culture of the region is examined in its spatial as well as chronological context in order to discuss cultural traits as against political affiliation. The second aspect relates to the history of the Aramaean kingdoms highlighting the formation of territorial kingdoms in the Levant and the history of Israel in its Aramaean context. The third aspect relates to the question of historical memory especially as it was preserved in the biblical traditions. The place of the Aramaeans in the Biblical literature is discussed as a mean to clarify the construction of Israelite and Aramaic identity in a fluid cultural region.

'Centre and periphery'frameworks have been particularly helpful for research on systems whose dynamics are strongly influenced by a substantially unequal distribution of qualities. But what can these frameworks, in all their present diversity and in their various're-conceptualizations,'contribute to the study of the early Second Temple period? The essays in this volume address this question through the prism of, for instance, the location of Jerusalem, diasporic communities, Torah, roles of temples and royal courts, Jerusalem/Gerizim, the Zion tradition, the universal kingdom of YHWH, the literary history of some texts, socio-linguistic choices, and gender.

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 bce is arguably the most tremendous disaster in the Hebrew Bible. How this decisive date relates to the development of the Pentateuch, however, is highly controversial. Is the trauma of Jerusalem reflected in the five books of Moses? This question is addressed from multiple perspectives in this volume. Israel Finkelstein and Lester L. Grabbe discuss the archaeological and historical data. Experts in Pentateuchal criticism from diverse international backgrounds present a rich panorama of relevant themes, including biblical historiography, contacts with Mesopotamian culture before and during the Babylonian exile, and the issue of cultic discontinuity caused by the destruction and restoration of Jerusalem's temple.

This book seeks to place before a broad audience of students and general readers theological essays on both the Old and New Testaments. Theology is seen to derive from a number of sources: the biblical language, biblical rhetoric and composition, academic disciplines other than philosophy, and above all a careful exegesis of the biblical text. The essay on Psalm 23 makes use of anthropology and human-development theory; the essay on Deuteronomy incorporates Wisdom themes; the essay called'Jeremiah and the Created Order'looks at ideas not only about God and creation but also about the seldom-considered idea of God and a return to chaos; the essay on the'Confessions of Jeremiah'examines, not words this extraordinary prophet was given by God to preach, but what he himself felt and experienced in the office to which he was called. Other essays argue that theology is rooted in biblical words--in and of themselves, and in context--and in rhetoric, where the latter must also include composition. One essay on'Biblical and Theological Themes'includes a translation into the African language of Lingala.

Looking Back for Jehoiachin examines the life and legacy of the last living Davidic king during the Babylonian captivity. It investigates the names Yehoyachin, Yeconiah, and Coniahu in the Hebrew Bible, Yechonias in the Septuagint, Intertestamental literature, and the New Testament. It also surveys those extrabiblical inscriptions that contribute to a thorough account of this king. The ninety- to one-hundred-day'evil'tenure of Jehoiachin and his exile to Babylon should have finalized the evaluation of his reign, but the revision of his legacy into a thoroughgoing hagiography in Josephus, the rabbinic writings, and the New Testament is notable. Jehoiachin's is the linking name between Abraham, David, and Jesus Christ in the genealogy list of Matthew 1. Jehoiachin's captivity provides a fascinating study on the longevity of the promises of the Old Testament for a future, eternal King of Judah and Israel.

The festival calendars in the Pentateuch have made up the heart of critical biblical research from the beginning. Each of the calendars was thought to have taken shape against its own specific historical background and to accurately reflect a distinct stage in the development of Israel's cultic and social institutions. Classical hypotheses used them to distinguish the different legal codes in the Pentateuch from each other, to define the original compositions, and to arrange them relative to each other in an historical, chronological sequence. Shimon Gesundheit challenges the classical historical reconstructions and the methodology driving them. He presents an alternate point of view, according to which the festival laws do not simplistically reflect the specific cultic or social realities of actual historical periods. Rather, through their legal discourse, they shape and promote new ideas by textual revision and redaction, in the lemmatic style of midrash, and they represent a process of progressive literary development.

The volume collects the papers of the International Conference on Disaster and Relief Management in Ancient Israel/Palestine, Egypt and the Ancient Near East held from the 4th of October to the 6th of October 2010 in Leipzig. Scholars from different fields are having a close look at the concepts of disasters in antiquity, their impact on society, possible dynamics and cultural dimensions. They give insights into their actual research on the destructivity and productivity of disasters, including the possibility that disasters were used as topoi in ideological, mythological and theological discourses. Their contributions in this volume represent a first step to a cultural history of disasters in antiquity.

This is the first comprehensive study of Babylonian prayers dedicated to Marduk, the god of Babylon, since J. Hehn's essay'Hymnen und Gebete an Marduk'(1905). Marduk was the god of the city of Babylon and was the most important god in Babylonia from the time of Hammurabi (the 18th century BCE) onwards. In this book, Takayoshi Oshima presents an up-to-date catalog of all known Babylonian prayers dedicated to Marduk from different historical periods and offers critical editions of 31 ancient texts based on newly identified manuscripts and a collation of the previously published manuscripts. The author also discusses various aspects of Akkadian prayers to different deities and the ancient belief in the mechanism of punishment and redemption by Marduk.

Death is one of the major themes of'First Isaiah,'although it has not generally been recognized as such. Images of death are repeatedly used by the prophet and his earliest tradents. The book begins by concisely summarizing what is known about death in the Ancient Near East during the Iron Age II, covering beliefs and practices in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria-Palestine, and Judah/Israel. Incorporating both textual and archeological data, Christopher B. Hays surveys and analyzes existing scholarly literature on these topics from multiple fields. Focusing on the text's meaning for its producers and its initial audiences, he describes the ways in which the'rhetoric of death'functioned in its historical context and offers fresh interpretations of more than a dozen passages in Isa 5-38. He shows how they employ the imagery of death that was part of their cultural contexts, and also identifies ways in which they break new creative ground. This holistic approach to questions that have attracted much scholarly attention in recent decades produces new insights not only for the interpretation of specific biblical passages, but also for the formation of the book of Isaiah and for the history of ancient Near Eastern religions.

Recent developments in the study of ancient Near Eastern prophecy, as well as new archaeological models of the development of ancient Judah and Israel, have significant implications for biblical prophetic literature. Jason Radine proposes a reassessment of the book of Amos in light of these developments. In comparison with the evidence for prophecy in the ancient Near East (including ancient Israel), biblical prophetic literature stands out as a distinctly different phenomenon. The author proposes that the book of Amos is not a work of'prophecy'as the phenomenon is known from the ancient Near East, but rather a religio-political document explaining and justifying the withdrawal of divine favor from the northern kingdom. The book of Amos uses lamentation language to describe the Assyrian conquest of Israel, but also makes social justice accusations that justify the northern kingdom's destruction.

In ancient Israelite literature Exile is seen as a central turning point within the course of the history of Israel. In these texts “the Exile” is a central ideological concept. It serves to explain the destruction of the monarchic polities and the social and economic disasters associated with them in terms that YHWH punished Israel/Judah for having abandoned his ways. As it develops an image of an unjust Israel, it creates one of a just deity. But YHWH is not only imagined as just, but also as loving and forgiving, for the exile is presented as a transitory state: Exile is deeply intertwined with its discursive counterpart, the certain “Return”. As the Exile comes to be understood as a necessary purification or preparation for a renewal of YHWH's proper relationship with Israel, the seemingly unpleasant Exilic conditions begin, discursively, to shape an image of YHWH as loving Israel and teaching it. Exile is dystopia, but one that carries in itself all the seeds of utopia. The concept of Exile continued to exercise an important influence in the discourses of Israel in the Second Temple period, and was eventually influential in the production of eschatological visions.

Traditionally, scholars study ancient Near Eastern royal inscriptions to reconstruct the events they narrate. In recent decades, however, a new approach has analyzed these inscriptions as products of royal ideology and has delineated the way that ideology has shaped their narration of historical events. This ideologically-sensitive approach has focused on kings'accounts of their military campaigns. This study applies this approach to the narration of royal domestic achievements, first in the Neo-Assyrian inscriptional tradition, but especially in nine West Semitic inscriptions from the 10th to 7th centuries B.C.E. and describes how these accounts also function as the products of royal ideology.

Im Zentrum der beiden Bände steht der komplexe Zusammenhang zwischen Gottesbildern und Weltbildern in Ägypten, Persien, Mesopotamien, Syrien, Kleinasien, Israel, Griechenland und Rom, im Zoroastrismus, Judentum, Christentum und Islam. Die spannungsvolle Vielfalt hat nicht nur Weltbilder in der orientalischen und hellenistisch-römischen Antike geprägt. In veränderter Gestalt ist sie bis heute in den praktizierten Religionen Anlaß zu geistiger, im Extremfall gewaltsam ausgetragener Auseinandersetzung. Der Einfluß auf individuelle Lebensführung und religiöse sowie politische Weltanschauung ist unverkennbar.'[Es] wird eine Fülle an Material geboten und eine ganze Reihe von Einzelfragen diskutiert. Wer auf der Suche nach neuen Erkenntnissen zur mesopotamischen oder phönizischen Religion ist, wird genauso fündig wie derjenige, der sich für den Zoroastrismus oder wichtige Aspekte römischer Religion interessiert.'Bernd U. Schipper in Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft 15 (2007), S. 95 Band I und II liegen nun als Studienausgabe vor. Sie werden nur zusammen abgegeben.

In this collection of essays, Hans M. Barstad deals thoroughly with the recent history debate, and demonstrates its relevancy for the study of ancient Israelite history and historiography. He takes an independent stand in the heated maximalist/minimalist debate on the historicity of the Hebrew Bible. Vital to his understanding is the necessity to realize the narrative nature of the ancient Hebrew and of the Near Eastern sources. Equally important is his claim that stories, too, may convey positivistic historical'facts'. The other major topic he deals with in the book is the actual history of ancient Judah in the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods. Here, the author makes extensive use of extant ancient Near Eastern sources, both textual and archaeological, and he puts much weight on economic aspects. He shows that the key to understanding the role of Judah in the 1st millennium lays in the proper evaluation of Judah and its neighbouring city states within their respective imperial contexts. A proper understanding of the history of Judah during the 6th century BCE, consequently, can only be obtained when Judah is studied as a part of the much wider Neo-Babylonian imperial policy.

Mark S. Smith charts the many cases of deities recognized across cultures in the Late Bronze Age, Ancient Israel and early Judaism and the New Testament. This cross-cultural recognition took place in identifications or equations of deities of different cultures (for example, in lists of deities), and in representations of different deities of various cultures acting together (e.g., deities of different cultures serving as guarantors of and witnesses to international treaties). The context of'translatability of deities'in the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Israel supported international political relations. In the Iron Age, the worldview of regional deities on par with one another lost its intelligibility in the face of Neo-Assyrian empire ideology. In turn, Israel expressed its worldview of a single god powerful over all. As a result, biblical writers and scribes engaged in a sophisticated hermeneutics to mediate between older expressions of translatability embedded within its emergent monotheistic expressions. The Greco-Roman period witnessed an explosion in the types and genres of cross-cultural discourse about deities, and as a result, Jewish authors and some New Testament sources responded to this sort of discourse, sometimes negatively and at other times quite positively. Engagement with other cultures helped Israel come to understand its god.

Covenant Renewal at Gilgal handles one of the points at which the integrity of the Old Testament has been most sharply attacked. Dr. Vannoy has examined all the widely scattered discussion bearing on the Bible verses with which he deals, and has carefully and fairly examined all the arguments presented by German, Dutch, French, and English scholars. --Allan A. MacRae, President and Professor of Old Testament Biblical School of Theology'In Covenant Renewal at Gilgal Dr. Vannoy has subjected a controversial section of narrative to close exegetical and form-critical analysis to bring into helpful new light the establishment of the monarchy in Israel. by illuminating the special function of the Gilgal assembly as a covenant renewal ceremony called by Samuel to insure covenant continuity at a time of transition in leadership and in theocratic administration, and after Israel's rebellious abrogation of the covenant in asking for a king, this study brings important new light to covenant history. In doing so, it contributes significantly to our knowledge of the history of redemption, and should lay to rest a number of negative critical judgments that have been around for a long while. --John H. Stek, Associate Professor of Old Testament Calvin Theological Seminary In Covenant Renewal at Gilgal Dr. Vannoy provides a very solid and valuable treatment of the key historical-literary problem of the origin and significance of the monarchy as an institution within the Old Testament theocratic kingdom, developing a sound solution through a valid application of the insights arising from the illumination of the divine covenants of the Bible by ancient treaty statecraft. --Meredith G. Kline, Professory of Old Testament Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Dieser Band enthält die überarbeiteten Versionen von Vorträgen, die während der ersten fünf internationalen Symposien für Altorientalische Sprachen und Kulturen in den Jahren 1998 bis 2004 an der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Tartu, Estland, von Wissenschaftlern aus Deutschland, England, den USA, Finnland und neuerdings auch Russland gehalten wurden. Der Schwerpunkt liegt in der Erörterung fachspezifischer Probleme der Religions- und Medizingeschichte, Linguistik und Archäologie des Ostmittelmeerraumes.

In Ancient Israel Lester L. Grabbe sets out to summarize what we know through a survey of sources and how we know it by a discussion of methodology and by evaluating the evidence. The most basic question about the history of ancient Israel, how do we know what we know, leads to the fundamental questions of Grabbe's work: what are the sources for the history of Israel and how do we evaluate them? How do we make them'speak'to us through the fog of centuries? Grabbe focuses on original sources, including inscriptions, papyri, and archaeology. He examines the problems involved in historical methodology and deals with the major issues surrounding the use of the biblical text when writing a history of this period. Ancient Israel provides an enlightening overview and critique of current scholarly debate. It can therefore serve as a'handbook'or reference-point for those wanting a catalogue of original sources, scholarship, and secondary studies. Grabbe's clarity of style makes this book eminently accessible not only to students of biblical studies and ancient history but also to the interested lay reader. For this new edition the entire text has been reworked to take account of new archaeological discoveries and theories. There is a major expansion to include a comprehensive coverage of David and Solomon and more detailed information on specific kings of Israel throughout. Grabbe has also added material on the historicity of the Exodus, and provided a thorough update of the material on the later bronze age.

The volume presents a collection of international papers on the literary genesis of the deuteronomistic history and on “Deuteronomism” in the books from Genesis to Kings. They discuss the essence of Old Testament historiography together with the overall historical editorial and compositional relationship between “Pentateuch”, “Hexateuch” and “Early Prophets”.

The time of the Babylonian capitivity (c.587-539 BCE) is of seminal importance for the formation of the Hebrew Bible as well as for the religious development of Judaism. Previous studies of this era have usually privileged the perspective of the community of captives (the Golah), and the period is known as the `Exilic Age'. Jill Middlemas challenges this consensus, arguing that the Golah community represents only one viewpoint, and that the experiences and contributions of the majority of the Judaean population, those who remained in Judah, need to be more fully appreciated.

Inspired Speech was originally published as a Festschrift to honor the work of Professor Herbert B. Huffmon, Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Drew University. Thirty-three of his colleagues and students contributed to the work, which explores various aspects of prophecy in ancient Israel and its neighboring cultures. The result is a volume which provides an excellent overview of the current state and future directions of scholarship on prophecy in the biblical world. Contributors: Suzanne Richard, Frank Moore Cross, George E. Mendenhall, Martti Nissinen, Robert R. Wilson, Mary Chilton Callaway, Peggy L. Day, Daniel E. Fleming, David Noel Freedman, Rebecca Frey, Alberto R. Green, Edward L. Greenstein, Baruch A. Levine, David Marcus, Harry P. Nasuti, J. J. M. Roberts, Jack M. Sasson, Karel van der Toorn, Lyn M. Bechtel, Milton Eng, John Kaltner, John I. Lawlor, David A. Leiter, Jesse C. Long, Jr, Mark Sneed, Jongsoo Park, Eric A. Seibert, Louis Stulman, Alex Varughese, William W. Hallo, Michael S. Moore, Mary-Louise Mussell, Paul A. Riemann

This volume is an original and important contribution to the study of the earliest Palestinian Jewish Christianity. For the first time all the evidence for the role which relatives of Jesus played in the early church is assembled and assessed. Dr. Bauckham discusses a wide range of evidence, not only from the New Testament but also from the Church Fathers, the New Testament Apocrypha, rabbinic literature and Palestinian archaeology. The letter of Jude, in particular, proves to have much to teach us about the theology of the brothers of Jesus and their circle. It illuminates their exegetical methods and their Christology and shows both to have been influential contributions to the development of early Christianity.This study shows that this neglected New Testament book is far more important for the study of early Christianity than has hitherto been recognized. By setting the letter of Jude within the context of the evidence for the role of relatives of Jesus in the early church, new insights can be revealed into the letter and early Jewish Christianity.

Archaeological discoveries have increasingly brought to light evidence of women's involvement in the royal houses of the ancient Near East, yet such evidence has not fundamentally altered the perception of monarchy as an exclusively male-gendered theological, political, and social institution. Solvang's study assembles the evidence in search of an integrated view of royal women's position and power in critical functions of monarchy, challenging customary assumptions about women's place in the royal harem. The historical information serves as a backdrop for a literary reading of biblical texts describing the royal house of Judah. Attention is given to three women representing different royal positions: Michal (daughter), Bathsheba (queen mother), and Athaliah (queen and monarch).

Is the Bible a Hellenistic book? The essays in this volume respond to that challenging question, formulated by Niels Peter Lemche, and offer everything from qualified agreement to vociferous opposition. In so doing, they debate and illuminate the many features of Jewish writing in the Second Temple period, including not only the scriptures themselves and their own history, but the non-canonized literature of the late Second-Temple period. As with all the volumes in this pioneering series, the editor, Lester Grabbe, introduces and reflects upon the discussion and its implications for one of the most controversial topics in current biblical studies.

The World of the Aramaeans is a three-volume collection of definitive essays about the Aramaeans and the biblical world of which they were a part. Areas of interest include the language, epigraphy and history of the Aramaeans of Syria as well of their neighbours, the Israelites, Phoenicians, Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites. The first volume, dealing with the Aramaeans in the Bible, has contributions by Douglas Frayne, Stephen Dempster, José Loza Vera, E.J. Revell, Alexander Rofé, André Lemaire, Francolino, J. Gontalves, Baruch Halpern, Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, John William Wevers, Albert Pietersma and Felice Israel.

The thesis that the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings have undergone a redaction that made them into a'Deuteronomistic History'has become since Martin Noth (1943) a widely accepted idea in Old Testament scholarship. But there is no consensus when this history was edited: under Josiah (622 BCE), during the exile (c. 560 BCE) or even later? And what was the intention of its redactors? Can we rely on the so-called Deuteronomistic History for the reconstruction of Israelite history? Or should we give up the thesis of a Deuteronomic redaction of the Former Prophets? This volume explores these and many other questions about this key topic in Old Testament scholarship. It results from a research seminar organized by the Swiss universities of Fribourg, Geneva, NeuchGtel and Lausanne. It contains contributions by the following scholars: R. Albertz, J. Briend, M. Detienne, W. Dietrich, J.J. Glassner, S. Japhet, E.A. Knauf, A.D.H. Mayes, S.L. McKenzie, S. Pisano, M. Rose, A. Schenker, F. Smyth, A. de Pury and T. R÷mer. Articles in French were translared by J. Edward Crowley

Terrien has made a contribution which is irreversible. There will be no way to return to the more conventional models for Old Testament theology.... In addition to its formidable governing hypothesis, the book is characterized by a style of elusiveness delightfully matching the argument, a study only the urbaneness of the author could give us: by an erudition evidenced by an exhaustive documentation, and by rich and suggestive exegesis of a large number of texts. This rich gift could only be given by Terrien with his remarkable combination of passion, eloquence and erudition. Walter Brueggeman, Eden Theological Seminary

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world. BZAW welcomes submissions that make an original and significant contribution to the field; demonstrate sophisticated　engagement with the relevant secondary literature; and are written in readable, logical, and engaging prose.

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.