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Tyndale Bulletin |
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Summary
The Psalms are full of references to music, Jerusalem and the
sanctuary. Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah say they were being performed there by
the Levites, and the titles (which have a marked community of ideas and language
with those books, though without dependence) endorse this. The division into
five books pre-dates the LXX version, but there are many indications, in the
text and titles, of a still earlier division into three. The meaning of the
musical directions and other technical terms in the titles had been forgotten,
in Semitic circles as well as Hellenistic, before the LXX version was made.
Since, after the Exile, the Psalms were being performed continuously, this
suggests that the titles are even pre-exilic. The final component of the titles
has its own history. The eccentric Psalms MSS from Qumran are probably
liturgical adaptations.
Summary
More than forty years after C.H. Roberts' first edition of P64,
this new edition provides the first complete reconstruction of all six sides of
the three fragments kept at Magdalen College, Oxford. It corrects a number of
errors, adds an improved reading of several verses, in particular of Matthew
26:22, which contribute to a better understanding of early Christian scribal
habits; it furthermore discusses the question of nomina sacra for which P64
provides the three earliest known examples, and it reopens the question of the
dating. With the first-century date suggested as a result of a comparative
analysis using newly available manuscripts, P64 and, along with it, P67 are the
earliest known codex fragments of the New Testament.
Summary
This article explores the common identity of three very early
Gospel manuscripts. Some scholars have believed that P4, P64 and P67 all came
from the same codex; others have doubted. The newly proposed dating of P64 to
the late first century makes this exploration all the more vital. This article
examines the provenance and paleography of all three papyri in an attempt to
demonstrate a common scribe. Then the article presents an argument for dating P4
to the second century.
Summary
This article studies the function of the 'fear of God' idea in the
book of Job. It is argued that, despite the difference in terminology, the 'fear
of God' is equivalent to the 'fear of the LORD' concept of Proverbs. The
location of the motif in the final form of the book of Job suggests that the
'fear of God' is not being proposed as the answer to Job's dilemma. Rather, Job
is one who maintains his 'fear of God' throughout the book, yet is left with his
questions and suffering. The 'fear of God' is seen as the solution by Job's
friends, the wisdom interlude of chapter 28, and by Elihu, yet all this is
overridden by the Yahweh speeches and epilogue, where the 'fear of God' is not
mentioned. While the 'fear of God' is central to the wisdom stream, the book of
Job establishes that it is not the answer to every problem in life.
Summary
Karl Barth's entire theology is predicated upon the supposition
that God has spoken to human beings. His exposition of the doctrine of the Word
of God is informed both by trinitarian and incarnational analogies and insights.
In each of the three forms of God's Word (Jesus of Nazareth, scripture, and
Christian preaching) there is a paradox and scandal of identity between the
divine and the human to be grasped. The relationships between these three, and
the peculiar duality in unity which each manifests, are explored in this essay
in relation to Barth's characteristic understanding of revelation as event.
Summary
Even if one remains uneasy about the precise direction in which
much recent scholarship on biblical narrative has been moving, it is the case
that much can be learned from the kind of approaches which have been developed.
This paper argues, for example, that the author of 1 Kings 1-2 invites the
reader to employ a 'hermeneutic of suspicion' in relation to his story by the
artful way in which he tells it; and that the employment of such a hermeneutic
enables a deeper grasp of what the story is about than would otherwise be
possible.
Summary
This article examines the possibility that the Hebrew
wayyiqtol verb form itself, without a previous perfect, may denote what
in Western languages would be expressed by a pluperfect tense, and attempts to
articulate how we might discern it in a given passage, and the communicative
effect of such a usage. The article concludes that there is an unmarked
pluperfect usage of the wayyiqtol verb form; and that it may be detected
when one of three conditions is met. Application of these results demonstrates
that this usage is not present in 1 Samuel 14:24, while it is present in Genesis
2:19.
Summary
Robert Cook has recently presented an examination of the notion of
post-mortem evangelism as found in the writings of Clark Pinnock, an examination
which declared Pinnock's position to be internally consistent. This article
questions both Pinnock's position and Cook's analysis, on the grounds that it
appears impossible to make sense of what it means for a sinner to choose hell.
It is also suggested that this is part of a larger failure on the part of
theodicy to understand the radical nature of evil.
Summary
This paper explores the evolution of emperor-worship at Corinth in
the first century A.D. Specifically, it argues that a Greek 'letter' in the
correspondence on the emperor Julian should be redated to c. A.D. 80-120 and
identified as a petition from the city of Argos to the Roman governor of Achaia,
in which the Argives sought exemption from payments towards the cost of
celebrations of the imperial cult at the Roman colony of Corinth. Since these
celebrations involved many of the province's cities, the paper goes on to argue
that they can be identified with the collective cult-its place of celebration
previously uncertain-known from inscriptions to have been founded by the
member-cities of the Achaean league in the mid-first century A.D.
Summary
The petition from Argos discussed in the previous essay is a 'new'
document for New Testament scholars which throws light on first-century issues
in Roman Corinth. This paper seeks to examine the Argive evidence in order to
see what information it might yield to help in our understanding of the early
Christian community. In particular it will explore the problem of the imperial
cult and 1 Corinthians 8 and comment briefly on Roman Corinth's cultural and
legal mores.
Summary
While there is little dispute that hesed is a significant
term, opinion is divided over its meaning. Glueck defines hesed in terms
of loyalty and mutual obligation within the context of relationships, especially
relationships involving a covenant. More recent studies, however, have minimised
this aspect, linking hesed, instead, with ideas of benevolence and
kindness. This article looks at the use of hesed in the OT in the setting
of human relationships and the relationship between God and his people, and
considers, too, the Hebrew terms with which hesed is most closely
associated. It concludes in favour of the more traditional interpretation, and
considers the significance of this understanding for the covenant people of
God.