A NEW MEANING OF ‫גור‬ IN BIBLICAL HEBREW: EVIDENCE FROM THE THEOLOGICAL CONFLICT IN ISAIAH 33:14 (original) (raw)

“Divine Fire in Deuteronomy 33:2,” Journal of Biblical Literature 132.4 (2013): 791-803

Journal of Biblical Literature, 2013

Though recent years have seen a plethora of research on divine representation, little attention has been paid to one of the Hebrew Bible’s most common depictions of the Almighty, that of divine fire. Of the many texts about divine fire in the Hebrew Bible, one of the oldest (Deut 33:2) is also one of the most difficult. This article supports two studies of Deut 33:2 by Richard C. Steiner (the most recent coauthored with Sid Z. Leiman) by addressing additional relevant texts and iconography. The resulting analysis unpacks how fire was used symbolically to represent preternatural forces that attended the divine. Methodologically, the present study challenges future scholars to incorporate iconographic analysis into one’s philology—even when trying to understand abstract ideas.

A Textual Criticism and Lexical Analysis of Isaiah 62

Journal Didaskalia, 2019

This research presents a methodology and example of doing both a textual criticism and a word study or a lexical analysis of the Hebrew word. The textual external evidence strongly favors the consonantal text of reading one because all the ancient versions support it. The internal evidence, though it is not as strong as external evidence, has endorsements from its context and appearances of that word in Hebrew Bible. In Isaiah 62:1, the best understanding of ‫יד‬ ‫ַפִּ‬ ‫ל‬ is not from literal sense but rather symbolic. The context of the usage of this term is God will restore Zion, particularly in her salvation, which is symbolized as a torch that burns. It means that Yahweh will make glorious Zion's deliverance like a torch so that all nations, including their kings, will be witnesses of Zion's restoration.

Playing with the Moabites. Textual and Linguistic Reflections on Isaiah 15–16

Looking In, Looking Out: Jews and Non-Jews in Mutual Contemplation. Essays for Martin Goodman on his 70th Birthday, ed. Kimberley Czajkowski and David A. Friedman (JSJSup 212; Leiden: Brill, 2024), 107–23, 2024

Isaiah 15–16, an oracle against Moab, reflects some linguistic forms which, I suggest, either are or imitate Moabite forms. This is the version that I am allowed to put on Academia; for the finally corrected version it will be necessary to consult the published version.

The אֵשׁ ‘Fire’ Metaphor in the Book of Obadiah

2019

God’s anger is demonstrated in the book of Obadiah by the use of two metaphors: drink and fire. In this paper, I will analyze the אש ‘fire’ metaphor and argue that the אש ‘fire’ metaphor representing God’s anger in the book of Obadiah is semantically related to the use of אף (to be hot-tempered) and חמה (to inflame) in the prophecies against Esau/Edom. The reason for limiting this study to the prophecies against Edom is because the Prophecy in the Obadiah is specifically directed towards Edom. The pronouncement of this prophecy is in the context of judgment. For that reason, this metaphor fits well among the Kamba community who use a similar metaphor in the contexts of judgment. Article visualizations:

Late Biblical Hebrew and Isaiah 42: A Thematic and Linguistic Approach

This paper will seek to formulate a method for dating the supposed text of Deutero-Isaiah through an investigation of the thematic and linguistic traits of Isaiah 42 as found in the MT. The paper will focus on Isaiah 42 and other key passages in Isaiah in an attempt to propose drawing out the original intended audience of the text of Isaiah 42.

"My Wrath will Burn": The Terminology of Biblical Emotions

Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, 2024

Two contradicting approaches provide the basis for the emerging field of the study of emotions in the Hebrew Bible. Both debate whether, and to what extent, modern categories and perceptions of emotions are valid and productive in biblical studies. This paper deals with some of the fundamental methodological issues that have arisen from this debate. It presents a novel philological inquiry into the semantics of ‫,חרה‬ commonly considered to belong to a group of "terms for anger" in Biblical Hebrew. This analysis will show that ‫חרה‬ is semantically flexible, referring to emotions but also to actions; even when denoting an emotion, it is not always anger. A number of linguistic, contextual, and hierarchical parameters are proposed to facilitate the mapping of the diverse meanings of this verb. Finally, I conclude that the diverse senses of ‫חרה‬ derive from the same literal denotation, which receives its metaphorical meanings by using different prepositions in various interpersonal and human-divine contexts.

Isaiah 44:5: Textual Criticism and Other Arguments

2011

The small unit of Isa. 44,1-5 contains several problems with regard to textual criticism, syntax, exegesis and theology. Verse 5 forms not only the climax of the unit, but also of all these problems. Exegetes differ on this verse in at least three respects: (1) does this verse refer to Israelite people, coming back to their God, or to converted gentiles? (2) must we translate the verbs קרא and כנה actively, or are they meant as reflexive or even passive forms? (3) Does the subject of the third line write ‘with’ his hand, or ‘on’ his hand? The first two problems are dependent on each other, because the translation of the verbs is connected with the meaning of the entire verse. Are the gentiles giving themselves new names? Or is Israel coming back and returning to using their old names? Or is it even more complex and is Israel giving itself the old names again? This article aims to discuss the first two problems, especially the arguments given by exegetes to come to a meaningful solution, and the role of textual criticism within the argumentations. I will come to the conclusion that the following is said about the descendants of Jacob/Israel: This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s,’ another will call [the others] by the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will call [the others] by the honorary name of Israel. The third problem will be neglected in this article. Because a translation must be given, I follow the proposal of Korpel and De Moor, who see a parallel in Neo-Babylonian texts. In many cases these texts do not use a preposition either, but an accusative to describe the act of writing the owner’s name on the hand of a slave.