In The Book of the Twelve: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation, an international group of biblical scholars discuss different aspects of the formation, interpretation, and reception of the ...Book of the Twelve as a literary unity.
Contextual Bible Reading (CBR) and Intercultural Bible Reading (IBR) have enabled the cooperation between socially engaged scholars and marginalised groups to find new resources in biblical texts to ...interpret their contexts and fight against the surrounding violence. As the use of these two methods has not been the object of a comparative study based on concrete experiences, this article presents them through four cases of Christian communities in Colombia. This comparative study not only illustrates the differences between these two methods of Bible reading, but also shows how they open new hermeneutic and liberation perspectives in the struggle for social justice and the search for reconciliation. The article depicts the CBR of the story of the Levite's concubine (Jdg 19:1-30) by a group of women living in vulnerable conditions as well as the CBR of the parable of the father and his two sons (Lk 15:11-32) by a group of violence victims' relatives. It also depicts the IBR of the story of the widow and the judge (Lk 18:1-8) by four groups of Caribbean readers as well as the IBR of the garden story (Gn 2:4b-25) by two Andean indigenous groups. Ordinary readers' central role as interpreters of biblical texts let them recognise their own capabilities to transform their contexts in an emancipatory way and challenge biblical scholars and theologians. Even though CBR and IBR pursue different hermeneutical goals, they converge in giving a central role to the community as the subject of counter-hegemonic interpretations that open new horizons starting from reality and triggering liberation processes. Contribution Beyond their differences and tensions, CBR and IBR are inclusive and dialogical methods intended for liberation that should be used to transcend the limits of dominant interpretations of biblical texts as well as the isolation of marginalised ordinary readers.
This volume illustrates the ways in which the discovery of the scrolls has altered our paradigms of biblical interpretation, investigating connections within and between Jewish and Christian ...interpretive texts.
The well-known parallels between Genesis and Leviticus invite
further reflection, particularly in regard to the rhetorical and
theological purpose of their lexical, syntactical, and conceptual
...correspondences. This volume investigates the possibility that the
final-form text of Leviticus is an indirect reference to Genesis
1-3 and examines the rhetorical significance of such an
allusion.
The face of Pentateuch scholarship has shifted dramatically in
the last forty years, resulting in the questioning of many received
truths and the employment of a host of new, renewed, and often
competing methodologies by biblical scholars. This study sits at
the intersection of these recent interpretive trends. G. Geoffrey
Harper uses insights from the fields of intertextuality, rhetorical
criticism, and speech act theory to create a methodological
framework, which he applies to three Leviticus pericopes. Chapters
11, 16, and 26 are examined in turn, and for each the assessment of
potential parallels at lexical, syntactical, and conceptual levels
reveals a complex web of interconnected allusion to the creation
and Eden narratives of Genesis 1 and 2-3. Moreover, Harper probes
the theological and rhetorical import of these intertextual
connections and explores how Leviticus ought to be understood in
its Pentateuchal context.
This comprehensive study of the connections between these two
sections of the Hebrew Bible sheds light on both the literary
artistry of these ancient texts and the persuasive purposes that
lie behind their composition.
Throughout her reign, Elizabeth I and her supporters used biblical analogies to perpetuate the Queen's claim to be England's providential Protestant monarch. While Elizabeth's parallels with various ...biblical figures - including Deborah, Esther, Judith, David, Solomon, and Daniel - have all received varying levels of attention in the scholarship, this is the first analysis of how biblical analogy functioned as a religio-political tool for Elizabeth across her reign. Taking both a chronological and thematic approach, this book addresses this gap by analyzing Elizabeth and her supporters' use of the Old Testament to provide justification for decisions (or the lack thereof), to offer counsel to the Queen, and to vindicate both female kingship and the royal supremacy. It argues that biblical analogies were a vital component of Elizabethan royal iconography, and that their widespread use demonstrates their potency as a tool for legitimizing and sustaining her power.
