The Christian Bible serves as the sacred scripture of the Christian community. It is read regularly by many people around the world today, as it has been for centuries. But how should one interpret ...this text? This reader presents a variety of perspective on how to relate historical and theological considerations when approaching the Bible. It encourages students and scholars to ponder how historical and theological categories shape one's view of three crucial realities: the text of the Bible, the human subject who reads the text, and the nature of the exchange between the two in the practice of reading. As historical and theological categories are applied to these realities, are they mutually exclusive, or can they be combined in some way? This reader encourages students and scholars to explore these important questions by bringing together a selection of some of modernity's most influential discussions of the issues as well as some of the present day's most distinguished attempts to weigh in on the debate.
Mark 12:10–11 cites Ps 117:22–23 OG (118:22–23 MT) to conclude the parable of the tenants, which frames the gospel's second half. The citation from one of the most frequently cited psalms in the New ...Testament reinforces the parable's interpretation and thus plays an important role in the Markan narrative. Many interpreters conclude that the citation's impact on the parable comes only from the citation's self-contained imagery or, at most, the imagery's function in a psalm praising God for vindicating God's servant. In contrast, I contend that the psalm's place in the Egyptian Hallel, a collection that played an important liturgical function at multiple Jewish festivals, contributes to how early Christ-followers could have construed the psalm and thus understood its use in Mark. Specifically, I argue that, if the portrait of the nations in the Hallel, especially in Ps 116 OG, shapes how one understands Ps 117, then the citation of Ps 117 in Mark serves to confirm an interpretation of the “others” to whom the vineyard is given as a mixed community of gentiles who have forsaken their idolatry, along with the faithful from Israel, united by their response to Jesus.
For centuries, Psalm 68:31 Princes shall come forth out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God, also known as the Ethiopian prophecy, has served as a pivotal and seminal text ...for those of African descent in the Americas.
Originally, it was taken to mean that the slavery of African Americans was akin to the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt, and thus it became an articulation of the emancipation struggle. However, it has also been used as an impetus for missionary work in Africa, as an inspirational backbone for the civil rights movement, and as a call for a separate black identity during the twentieth century.
Utilizing examples from Richard Allen, Maria W. Stewart, Kate Drumgoold, Phillis Wheatley, Martin Delany, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and Ralph Ellison, Kay reveals the wide variety of ways this verse has been interpreted and conceptualized in African American history and letters for more than two hundred years.
The frequent comments about gossip in the Pastoral Epistles are noteworthy, and it often has gender implications. Insights from the growing field of gossip studies from multiple disciplines help to ...interpret what role gossip plays, especially in relation to how power and authority are distributed and promoted. A presentation of various texts from antiquity shows that the relation between gossip and gender is multiple and complex: to gossip was typical for all women and risky for elite men who constantly had to defend their masculinity. The ancient gossip discourse helps to understand more of the social dynamics of early Christianity, to fill in the imaginative picture and generate ideas to how Christian identity and theology were constructed.
This essay argues that the parallels between the endings of Joel and Amos suggest that Joel has interpreted Amos, including the esoteric reference to “David’s Tent.” Both prophetic endings anticipate ...an era of fecundity with mountains dripping with sweet wine (עסיס), which is a rare term in the Hebrew Bible, occurring only five times. Both address the fate of Edom, and both point to the recipients of the respective oracles being secure in their land forever. In Joel, it is God’s presence within the temple that creates these realities, whereas in Amos 9.11, it is “David’s Tent.” This suggests that Joel has likely interpreted David’s Tent with references to “Zion,” “my holy hill,” “Jerusalem,” and “the house of the lord” (Joel 4.17–18 mt). These parallels are also worth considering, regardless of which order of the Book of the Twelve one adopts.
Tropologies McDermott, Ryan
2016, 2016-04-15
eBook
Tropologies studies the medieval and early modern theory of morality in scripture, arguing that tropology is both a way to interpret the Bible and a theory of literary invention.
God's grace demonstrated in the biblical narrative through the lens of covenant.
This study analyses the different divine covenants of the Old Testament and argues that they are closely related. The ...successive covenants, from Noah to David, are seen to express the divine purpose for humanity from the creation onwards. William Dumbrell interacts extensively with attempts to explain the significance of concepts such as the gift of the land, victory, rest and the divine presence. This extraordinary book also throws light upon the Christian use of the Old Testament categories. This second, revised edition brings the subject right up to date.
The Reformation era revolution in preaching and interpreting the Bible did not occur without keen attention to the Old Testament Scriptures. This is especially true with regard to the Hebrew ...prophets. Ezekiel and Daniel, replete with startling, unnerving imagery and visions, apocalyptic oracles of judgment and destruction, captivated the reformers as they sought to understand their time and themselves through the lens of Scripture. Equally, these prophetic books underscored the covenantal promises to God's people and the hope of restoration, which the Reformers understood to be the righteousness of Christ made available in faith. Reformation commentary on the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel are windows into the biblical, theological and pastoral minds of the reformers as they engage the details of the texts, make theological judgments and apply fresh reading of Scripture to their contemporary hearers. Familiar passages, such as Ezekiel's dazzling vision of the wheels, the building of the temple, or Daniel's four beasts, are given new layers and textures. This volume collects the comments of the monumental figures like Luther, Calvin and Melancthon, alongside many lesser known and read thinkers, such as Heinrich Bullinger, Hans Denck, Giovanni Diodati, Johann Gerhard, John Mayer, Matthew Mead, Johann Oecolampadius, Jakob Raupius, Johann Wigand and Andrew Willet. Several beloved English Puritans are included as well: Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Thomas Manton and John Owen. The wealth of Reformation interpretation on these books of Scripture is brought together for the first time.
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.
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