Raymond C . Van Leeuwen | Eastern University (original) (raw)
Papers by Raymond C . Van Leeuwen
Gerhard von Rad and the Study of Wisdom Literature, Timothy J. Sandoval and Bernd U. Schipper, eds., 2022
After demonstrating that the English version (1972) of "Weisheit in Israel" (1970) seriously misu... more After demonstrating that the English version (1972) of "Weisheit in Israel" (1970) seriously misunderstood and mistranslated von Rad's German original, and documenting the beginnings of 50 years of misunderstanding that ensued, I lay out the hermeneutical gap between von Rad's Continental philosophical tradition (especially Heidegger, Gadamer, and Bonhoeffer's "Ethik") and the Anglo-American tradition of empiricism and positivism which shapes most English-speaking HB/OT scholarship, leading to further misunderstanding. The sad result was that few scholars from von Rad's day to the present fully understood the depth of his Fragestellung and achievement. Along the way I discuss the relation of Weltanschauung and Horizont in hermeneutics.
Journal of Theological Interpretation, 2011
This article sets the problem of historical study of the biblical world in the context of the pos... more This article sets the problem of historical study of the biblical world in the context of the post-Enlightenment ideological development of scientism and historicism, viewed as basic, contradictory cultural ideals. Employing the literary analyses of Meier Sternberg and aspects of Gadamer's hermeneutics, I argue that the normative "truth claims" that Scripture makes on its readers reside in the text, not in the "facts" behind the text, even when Scripture is explicitly referring to the real world and describing historical events.
CTS Kerux, 1986
Has this Holy Place (Calvin Theological Seminary) in the modern Jerusalem (aka: Grand Rapids, Mic... more Has this Holy Place (Calvin Theological Seminary) in the modern Jerusalem (aka: Grand Rapids, Michigan) been invaded by Demonic Insurgents? Take up and Read!
Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Wisdom, 2021
Now published in Oxford Handbooks Online & in hardcopy print.
SBL Press, 2021
For more than a Century, Qohelet has been considered an outlier in the HB/OT, by "conservative" a... more For more than a Century, Qohelet has been considered an outlier in the HB/OT, by "conservative" and "liberal" scholars alike. But perhaps this has more to with modern predilections than with this admittedly unusual book itself. This paper explores some commonalities between Qoheleth and other biblical texts, with a focus on Creation and Contingency.
Von Rad's Weisheit in Israel had only a one page Register. For my own purposes I made an index wi... more Von Rad's Weisheit in Israel had only a one page Register. For my own purposes I made an index with extensive quotations and some annotations. It may be of use to others..
The so-called "Gezer Calendar" is lapidary exemplar of ancient agricultural wisdom in condensed f... more The so-called "Gezer Calendar" is lapidary exemplar of ancient agricultural wisdom in condensed form. The genre first appears in the "Farmer's Manual" from Sumer and continues into the Greco-Roman tradition starting with Hesiod's "Works and Days."
An Introduction and Worldview Theses in Outline, based on Genesis 1-2. The focus is on the WV que... more An Introduction and Worldview Theses in Outline, based on Genesis 1-2. The focus is on the WV questions, "Where are we (in the cosmos)?" and "Who are we?"
Some examples in this OpEd are dated. Some are even more current than when written in 1988, after... more Some examples in this OpEd are dated. Some are even more current than when written in 1988, after the first George Bush was elected, at the end of the Reagan years. And the main points strike me as more relevant than 27 years ago. Martin Marty responded to this in his Christian Century column in 1989.
A semi-popular article arguing against the widespread gnostic reading of the NT by American Chris... more A semi-popular article arguing against the widespread gnostic reading of the NT by American Christians and arguing for stewardship of Creation based on the resurrection of Christ's body as God's vindication of creation. My argument follows Oliver O'Donovan in his magisterial, Resurrection and Moral Order.
An attempt to reflect on wealth and the environment in terms of biblical thought about creation.
After a survey of the text critical attempts to explain the notoriously difficult Prov 25:27b, I ... more After a survey of the text critical attempts to explain the notoriously difficult Prov 25:27b, I propose a solution that attempts to deal with all the available evidence, including relevant parallels.
The seven day ritual of marches around Jericho in Joshua 6 remains a puzzle. Daniel Fleming rece... more The seven day ritual of marches around Jericho in Joshua 6 remains a puzzle. Daniel Fleming recently tied the seven days to Holy War traditions, noting parallels such as Keret, in which seven days of divinely authorized warfare occur, “without any directly ritual aspect.” Moreover, he argued that since “Jericho displays no direct record of function as a cult site, a considerable barrier to association with any specific ritual incorporated into Israelite life [exists]. Joshua 6 never associates the siege with the sabbatical week, a separate biblical tradition” (212). It is this last assertion that I wish to call into question. I will argue that the longer MT of Joshua 6 with its many redundancies is designed to create an allusive web of connections to Leviticus 25 that symbolically identify the conquest of Jericho with Jubilee. In this version, even an apparently minor qualification of the Jubilee legislation is exploited to justify the exclusion of Rahab and her “father’s house” from the חרם.
Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, ed. Kevin J. VanHoozer, 2005
An Introduction to Proverbs for theologians, preachers, and interested readers. It briefly covers... more An Introduction to Proverbs for theologians, preachers, and interested readers. It briefly covers "History of Interpretation," "The Message of the Text," "Proverbs and the Canon," and "Theology and Significance for the Church."
The New Interpreter's Hanbook of Preaching, pp. 98-101, 2008
A Handbook article on the "Primeval History" intended to help preachers, theologians, and laypeop... more A Handbook article on the "Primeval History" intended to help preachers, theologians, and laypeople to read, think, and use literature that is increasingly foreign to readers of all kinds. The Bible vs. Evolution is NOT the main point.
Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, 2005
A discussion of the nature of translation in relation to the Bible.
The Changing Face of Form Criticism, ed. by Marvin A. Sweeney & Ehud Zvi, 2003
Wisdom and "Wisdom Literature" outside the traditional wisdom books are explored in reference to ... more Wisdom and "Wisdom Literature" outside the traditional wisdom books are explored in reference to a theoretical consideration of form criticism and the nature of wisdom, and to an exegetical consideration of the "twin Psalms" 111 and 112.
Gerhard von Rad and the Study of Wisdom Literature, Timothy J. Sandoval and Bernd U. Schipper, eds., 2022
After demonstrating that the English version (1972) of "Weisheit in Israel" (1970) seriously misu... more After demonstrating that the English version (1972) of "Weisheit in Israel" (1970) seriously misunderstood and mistranslated von Rad's German original, and documenting the beginnings of 50 years of misunderstanding that ensued, I lay out the hermeneutical gap between von Rad's Continental philosophical tradition (especially Heidegger, Gadamer, and Bonhoeffer's "Ethik") and the Anglo-American tradition of empiricism and positivism which shapes most English-speaking HB/OT scholarship, leading to further misunderstanding. The sad result was that few scholars from von Rad's day to the present fully understood the depth of his Fragestellung and achievement. Along the way I discuss the relation of Weltanschauung and Horizont in hermeneutics.
Journal of Theological Interpretation, 2011
This article sets the problem of historical study of the biblical world in the context of the pos... more This article sets the problem of historical study of the biblical world in the context of the post-Enlightenment ideological development of scientism and historicism, viewed as basic, contradictory cultural ideals. Employing the literary analyses of Meier Sternberg and aspects of Gadamer's hermeneutics, I argue that the normative "truth claims" that Scripture makes on its readers reside in the text, not in the "facts" behind the text, even when Scripture is explicitly referring to the real world and describing historical events.
CTS Kerux, 1986
Has this Holy Place (Calvin Theological Seminary) in the modern Jerusalem (aka: Grand Rapids, Mic... more Has this Holy Place (Calvin Theological Seminary) in the modern Jerusalem (aka: Grand Rapids, Michigan) been invaded by Demonic Insurgents? Take up and Read!
Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Wisdom, 2021
Now published in Oxford Handbooks Online & in hardcopy print.
SBL Press, 2021
For more than a Century, Qohelet has been considered an outlier in the HB/OT, by "conservative" a... more For more than a Century, Qohelet has been considered an outlier in the HB/OT, by "conservative" and "liberal" scholars alike. But perhaps this has more to with modern predilections than with this admittedly unusual book itself. This paper explores some commonalities between Qoheleth and other biblical texts, with a focus on Creation and Contingency.
Von Rad's Weisheit in Israel had only a one page Register. For my own purposes I made an index wi... more Von Rad's Weisheit in Israel had only a one page Register. For my own purposes I made an index with extensive quotations and some annotations. It may be of use to others..
The so-called "Gezer Calendar" is lapidary exemplar of ancient agricultural wisdom in condensed f... more The so-called "Gezer Calendar" is lapidary exemplar of ancient agricultural wisdom in condensed form. The genre first appears in the "Farmer's Manual" from Sumer and continues into the Greco-Roman tradition starting with Hesiod's "Works and Days."
An Introduction and Worldview Theses in Outline, based on Genesis 1-2. The focus is on the WV que... more An Introduction and Worldview Theses in Outline, based on Genesis 1-2. The focus is on the WV questions, "Where are we (in the cosmos)?" and "Who are we?"
Some examples in this OpEd are dated. Some are even more current than when written in 1988, after... more Some examples in this OpEd are dated. Some are even more current than when written in 1988, after the first George Bush was elected, at the end of the Reagan years. And the main points strike me as more relevant than 27 years ago. Martin Marty responded to this in his Christian Century column in 1989.
A semi-popular article arguing against the widespread gnostic reading of the NT by American Chris... more A semi-popular article arguing against the widespread gnostic reading of the NT by American Christians and arguing for stewardship of Creation based on the resurrection of Christ's body as God's vindication of creation. My argument follows Oliver O'Donovan in his magisterial, Resurrection and Moral Order.
An attempt to reflect on wealth and the environment in terms of biblical thought about creation.
After a survey of the text critical attempts to explain the notoriously difficult Prov 25:27b, I ... more After a survey of the text critical attempts to explain the notoriously difficult Prov 25:27b, I propose a solution that attempts to deal with all the available evidence, including relevant parallels.
The seven day ritual of marches around Jericho in Joshua 6 remains a puzzle. Daniel Fleming rece... more The seven day ritual of marches around Jericho in Joshua 6 remains a puzzle. Daniel Fleming recently tied the seven days to Holy War traditions, noting parallels such as Keret, in which seven days of divinely authorized warfare occur, “without any directly ritual aspect.” Moreover, he argued that since “Jericho displays no direct record of function as a cult site, a considerable barrier to association with any specific ritual incorporated into Israelite life [exists]. Joshua 6 never associates the siege with the sabbatical week, a separate biblical tradition” (212). It is this last assertion that I wish to call into question. I will argue that the longer MT of Joshua 6 with its many redundancies is designed to create an allusive web of connections to Leviticus 25 that symbolically identify the conquest of Jericho with Jubilee. In this version, even an apparently minor qualification of the Jubilee legislation is exploited to justify the exclusion of Rahab and her “father’s house” from the חרם.
Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, ed. Kevin J. VanHoozer, 2005
An Introduction to Proverbs for theologians, preachers, and interested readers. It briefly covers... more An Introduction to Proverbs for theologians, preachers, and interested readers. It briefly covers "History of Interpretation," "The Message of the Text," "Proverbs and the Canon," and "Theology and Significance for the Church."
The New Interpreter's Hanbook of Preaching, pp. 98-101, 2008
A Handbook article on the "Primeval History" intended to help preachers, theologians, and laypeop... more A Handbook article on the "Primeval History" intended to help preachers, theologians, and laypeople to read, think, and use literature that is increasingly foreign to readers of all kinds. The Bible vs. Evolution is NOT the main point.
Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, 2005
A discussion of the nature of translation in relation to the Bible.
The Changing Face of Form Criticism, ed. by Marvin A. Sweeney & Ehud Zvi, 2003
Wisdom and "Wisdom Literature" outside the traditional wisdom books are explored in reference to ... more Wisdom and "Wisdom Literature" outside the traditional wisdom books are explored in reference to a theoretical consideration of form criticism and the nature of wisdom, and to an exegetical consideration of the "twin Psalms" 111 and 112.
![Research paper thumbnail of The Oxford Handbook of Wisdom and the Bible. Edited by Will Kynes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. [TOC]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/64275141/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](by Will Kynes, Jacqueline Vayntrub, Raymond C . Van Leeuwen, Joachim Quack, Yoram Cohen, Arjen Bakker, umeyye isra Yazicioglu, John Ahn, Katharine Dell, Mark Sneed, Samuel Balentine, and Anselm C Hagedorn
With increased interest in wisdom in the Hebrew Bible and beyond, new questions are being raised ... more With increased interest in wisdom in the Hebrew Bible and beyond, new questions are being raised about the Wisdom Literature category, ranging from its setting to its boundaries and even its continued validity. Now, therefore, is an opportune time for the topic to receive the type of treatment that an Oxford Handbook will provide, in which a broad range of leading scholars in the field assess the current “state of the art” and reflect critically on where it is headed, spanning the gap between cutting-edge scholarship and standard textbook expositions. One feature of the current debates is the relationship between the wisdom concept and the literary category. The Oxford Handbook of Wisdom and Wisdom Literature will provide an opportunity to explore this relationship by setting contributions on wisdom as a concept in the Bible, related cultures, and the modern world alongside those on Wisdom Literature as a category, the texts associated with it, and their relationship with other biblical literature. Each article provides a critical review of the current state of research and then advances its own original argument about the future direction of the debate on the topic.
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A commentary of the biblical "Book of Proverbs" for students, pastors, rabbis, and interested lay... more A commentary of the biblical "Book of Proverbs" for students, pastors, rabbis, and interested lay people. May be of use to scholars!
Addresses the problem of literary context and meaning in a genre of collected proverbs in which i... more Addresses the problem of literary context and meaning in a genre of collected proverbs in which it proverb seems to have a functional independence. The study uses structural, poetic, and semantic methods in interaction to argue for deliberate, meaningful arrangement of sayings in Proverbs 25-27.
In contrast to the Western Augustinian tradition in which the knowledge of God requires knowledge... more In contrast to the Western Augustinian tradition in which the knowledge of God requires knowledge of the "soul" (or of the "self"--Calvin) and vice versa, I argue that for Hosea, the knowledge of creation requires proper knowledge of God, and the knowledge of God requires proper knowledge of creation and its meaning as divine gift.
SBL Annual Meeting, Denver, 2022
An ancient immortal has said that… Hun-tun is round and whole but its meaning is difficult to mak... more An ancient immortal has said that… Hun-tun is round and whole but its meaning is difficult to make known." Hsien Hsüeh Tz'u Tien
For me, Bernd's great commentary evoked two contradictory sayings. The ancient Alexandrian librar... more For me, Bernd's great commentary evoked two contradictory sayings. The ancient Alexandrian librarian, Callimachos gave us an epigram that became proverbial, "Mega biblion, mega kakon-Big book, big evil." But Epimenides produced a hexameter line which, when emended, may be used to refute Callimachos' proverb: "Alexandrians are always liars, evil beasts, lazy guts."
