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Tyndale Bulletin |
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PRAYING THE TRADITION: THE ORIGIN AND USE OF
TRADITION IN NEHEMIAH 9
Mark J. Boda
ANGELOMORPHIC CATEGORIES, EARLY CHRISTOLOGY AND
DISCIPLESHIP, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LUKE-ACTS
Crispin H.T.
Fletcher-Louis
'LITTLE CHILDREN, KEEP YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS' (1
JOHN 5:21)
Terry Griffith
Summary
The road 'down to Troas' (Acts 16:8) has never been thoroughly
investigated. An overland route of 400-450 kilometers through the highlands east
of Troas is proposed, linking a number of Roman cities, towns and mining sites
whose locations have been identified but whose roadways have not yet been
documented. Historical studies and archaeological reports in Turkish, European,
and American journals are surveyed to suggest the plausibility of this route.
Whether such a route in fact existed in Paul's time needs to be investigated by
an archaeological expedition specifically aimed at discovering the road network
in northwestern Anatolia.
Summary
Recent studies on the final form of the Hebrew Bible suggest that
it is not a literary and historical accident but rather the result of deliberate
editorial activity. The present study concludes that transitional texts at the
major boundaries of the canon demonstrate an extraordinary awareness of canon
and provide it with the hermeneutical framework of Torah and Temple. Part 1
reviews the relevant literature, describes the methodology to be used and
applies that methodology to the first major section of the Hebrew Bible, the
Torah. This text begins and ends with the paramount importance of the Word of
God and the presence of God.
Summary
It is the case that, with verbs of saying, the neuter
demonstrative pronoun ('this') often introduces the subordinate clause with an
implied 'that' (as in, 'I say this, [that]'). We contend that this same
construction in 1 Corinthians 7:6 helps to unlock the pattern of Paul's thought
in 1 Corinthians 7:8-24. 1 Corinthians 7:6 does not refer to the contents of
7:15, but emphatically to 7:7a where de assumes an adverbial role of
'rather' in Paul's caveat. With the strong adversative 'but' (alla) in
7:7b he acknowledges that either singleness or marriage is a divine gift and
then proceed to discuss aspects of these gifts and callings of God in
7:824.
Summary
The epilogue of Ecclesiastes tells the reader how to understand
the book, but at first sight its summary is far off the mark. However the
epilogue does display a surprising degree of lexical and thematic uniformity
with the body of the book, and when its message is taken seriously as a guide to
reading, the results are both coherent and compelling. This article is an appeal
to modern readers to treat the epilogist with more respect.
Summary
This article offers a detailed comparison of Josephus' version, in
Antiquities 6:310-319a, of the story of David's second sparing of Saul in
relation to its Biblical source, 1 Samuel 26 (as represented by the MT, the
Qumran scroll 4QSama, the Septuagint, the Vetus Latina, and the Targum).
Questions addressed include: the Biblical text-form(s) used by Josephus, the
distinctive features of his presentation of the episode, and the messages this
may have been intended to convey to his Gentile and Jewish readers. It is hoped
that the methodology of this study might serve as a paradigm for the study of
other first-century figures whose use of the Old Testament is an important
theological feature: namely, Philo and the early Christians writers of the New
Testament.
Summary
The article argues that Luke has crafted Luke 19:11-44 to signal
presentness as well as futurity in relation to the kingdom of God. The temporal
reference of the parable in Luke 19:12-27 is not to be governed by verse 11
alone. Material in Luke 19:12-27 that is not in the equivalent Matthean parable
has significant literary connection with subsequent material in verses 28-44.
This subsequent material highlights the presentness of Jesus' kingship. What
this shows is that Luke has subtly but carefully presented the kingdom of God as
both present and future in the section under discussion.
Summary
This article addresses the question whether the woman's 'seed' in
Genesis 3:15 is an individual (as LXX interprets) or her posterity, by an
empirical study of how Biblical Hebrew used its pronouns and verb inflections
when they are associated with zera', 'seed', when it has the nuance
'offspring'. Syntactically Genesis 3:15 exhibits the pattern found when
zera' refers to an individual. The article concludes with some
suggestions for following the exegetical consequences of this syntactical
result.
First paragraph:
The goal of this dissertation was to identify those who
were responsible for the prayer in Nehemiah 9, and how they used the traditions
of Israel. An investigation of the Gattung to which Nehemiah 9 belonged
laid the groundwork for a traditional historical evaluation of the composition.
Nehemiah 9 was identified with a series of prayers which represent a
transformation of the classical Hebrew Gattung of lament: Late Repentance
Prayer (Ezra 9; Neh. 1, Dan. 9, Ps. 106). Besides a long list of shared forms
and vocabulary, consistent themes were evident: covenant, land, law. The purpose
of these compositions was to bring an end to the devastating effects of the fall
of the state: an end to captivity, oppression or the sorry condition of
Palestine. An activity that accompanied nearly all of these compositions was
fasting. The emergence of a regular cycle of day(s) of fasting among the
Mesopotamian and Palestinian exilic communities showed not only the importance
of fasting in this period but also a setting for Late Repentance Prayer.
First paragraph:
The thesis introduction orients this project
methodologically within the new religionsgeschichte Schule and
justifies a focus on angelic categories as a background to early Christology.
The assumption that 'apocalyptic' is essentially dualistic is challenged, and
attention is drawn to studies which have highlighted the human attainment of an
angelomorphic identity. This phenomenon holds particular relevance for the
worship of Christ, who is not an 'angel' but possesses angelic characteristics.
It also offers a bridge to later 'two powers in heaven' debates, which
presume a binitarian theology (or Christology).
First paragraph:
This study approaches 1 John from its ending.
Commentators struggle to explain the introduction of the unexpected topic of
idols as the very last word. Either the 'idols' are made to fit the Procrustean
bed of the commentator's theological understanding of 1 John, or they are
used as evidence of redactional activity. The result is that little independent
research is undertaken in order to gauge how the reference to idols makes a
contribution to the argument. This study takes up that task.