Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East Research Papers (original) (raw)

Scholars have commonly located the source of Paul’s analogy for the resurrection body in 1 Cor 15:39–49 in the enumerated creatures of Genesis 1. Some interpreters have suggested Sir 43:1–10 lies behind the reference to the variegated glory of the celestial bodies mentioned in 1 Cor 15:41. Paul seems to list each of the respective terrestrial creatures and their bodies in a hierarchical order, as he does with the celestial bodies, relating the resurrection body to the later. Rather than the eschatological egalitarianism presumed in some attempts to appropriate Pauline eschatology for theological purposes, this text suggests that Paul envisioned the imminent resurrection of the dead would result in a kind of celestial hierarchicalism, a point often overlooked by interpreters. In this paper, I will argue for an alternative source for the celestial hierarchicalism apparent in the formulation of Paul’s resurrection mythos in 1 Cor 15:41, namely, an apocalyptic reception of Exodus tradition rooted in the hierarchical ascent of the cosmic mountain in Exodus 24 and its later reception. As is the case for other apocalypticists before, contemporary with, and after Paul, this paper will provide further evidence that Paul's own particular construal of Jewish eschatological mythoi, while recognizable, would place him squarely alongside other Jewish contemporaries who operate at the fringes of their own tradition in the wider ancient Mediterranean religious landscape.

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- New Testament, Pauline Literature, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Second Temple Judaism

This chapter examines some of the assumptions that are typically employed when dealing with the development of the Hebrew Bible. The first part of the chapter is a critique of the very term "Jewish Bible." It points out some of the problems with the term and make a plaidoyer against being politically correct. The second part focuses on what it means to explain the "development" of the Hebrew Bible and suggests that diachronic analysis alone cannot fully explain its formation. In this author's view, proper understanding of the development of the Bible requires drawing upon intellectual and literary models more commonly associated with the period of the “reception of scripture” than with conventional composition history.

- by Bernard M Levinson
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- Theology, Hebrew Language, Hebrew Bible, Textual Criticism

The Bible is full of references to magic and divination, but we rarely find attestations of witches and witchcraft, i.e. women performing acts of black magic. However, there is a mysterious passage in the Book of Ezekiel which seems to relate exactly that. In this compelling lecture Dr Alinda Damsma throws light on the identity and practices of these women, seeing them in the context of other known activities in the Ancient Near East. More info: https://www.treadwells-london.com/events-1/the-bibles-own-witches?mc_cid=27225007b0&mc_eid=50358b363f

- by Alinda Damsma
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- Death, Divination, Spirituality, Magic

The murmuring narratives of the books of Exodus and Numbers depict Israel in the desert as constantly complaining. By taking these ten narratives, Walter Bührer shows that and how Israel's murmuring is more and more negatively interpreted – both in canonical terms as well as regarding the formation of the texts, which become increasingly interwoven.

- by Walter Buehrer
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- Theology, Ancient Near East, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East, Biblical Exegesis

Among the many psalms that refer to creation, Pss 8 and 104 stand out in being entirely devoted to this theme. Whereas Ps 8 highlights the prominent, even exalted, human role in the created order, Ps 104 contextualizes humanity as but one creature among many in a complex intertwined cosmos. Nevertheless, upon closer study, it becomes evident that both psalms share elements of a common worldview, including a remarkably similar view of what constitutes being human, a conception of the world as a cosmic temple, and a rejection of the motif of creation-by-combat against primordial enemies. An exploration of the diversity-in-unity of Pss 8 and 104 yields insights into how their common theological vision may address the human vocation of the use of power in a world understood as a sacred realm over which God is enthroned, yet into which evil has intruded.

- by J Richard Middleton
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- Theology, Hebrew Bible, Old Testament Theology, Biblical Studies

in: Mediárium 13/2-3 (2019), 5-15.

- by Áron Németh
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- Emotion, Anthropology, Hebrew Bible, Old Testament

The purpose of this paper is to provide a case for the Exodus mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a historical event. In an academic environment where most people simply ignore certain parts of the Bible due to the so-called "supernatural" aspects, debates like this ultimately go around in circles more than necessary. The first body paragraphs of this paper, therefore, tackle the stigmas which keep the Exodus from being considered as a serious topic from which history can be determined in one way or another, beginning with a supposed lack of archaeological evidence which, ironically, is rather comparable to what is only slightly more available for the Scythians as compared to the Hebrews. The rest of the papers deals in various historical, linguistic, cultural, geographical, and literary contexts from which the historicity of the event in question can be sufficiently determined in either the affirmative or negative. The coherence of the arguments made herein will be left up to all the qualified scholars in related fields to determine.

- by Zachary Cawley
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- Ancient History, Archaeology, Near Eastern Studies, Theology

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."

Der folgende Wortschatz bezieht sich primär auf den TANACH, doch wird allgemein auch darge-legt, wie die betroffenen Begriffe im Neuhebräischen gebraucht werden. Grundsätzlich wird der Wortschatz der hebräischen Mosestora sowie der Schriftpropheten und des Psalters vorausgesetzt, und zwar vor allem diejenigen Wörter, die wiederholt vorkommen. Meine Dateien mit dem Wortschatz des ganzen TANACHS sowie des (neu-)hebräischen Neuen Testaments findet man auf meiner „Academia“-Seite: https://sthbasel.academia.edu/JacobThiessen/Drafts. Den Text aller Bücher der Bibel (auch mit Audio-Dateien) findet man u. a. unter dem folgenden Link: http://haktuvim.co.il.
Ich weise darauf hin, dass ich kein Philologe, sondern Exeget (Neutestamentler) bin. Das ist beim Gebrauch dieser Unterlagen zu beachten. Gleichwohl werden Experten und andere durch diese Unterlagen zu sehr spannenden philologischen Erkenntnissen gelangen.

- by Jacob Thiessen
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- Hebrew Bible, Ancient Hebrew, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East, Altes Testament

FS for Tamara Cohn Eskenazi

- by Jacob Wright
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- Hebrew Literature, Jewish Studies, Feminist Theory, Hebrew Bible

Temples were nearly ubiquitous across the ancient Near East. Rather than serving as a gathering place for a worshipping congregation, a temple served as a terrestrial divine abode. In it, the god(s) lived amid society, yet carefully sequestered from it behind walls and doors. While primarily a residence, the temple also granted people limited access, usually for the purpose of divine service. The people believed that gods dwelt outside of the realm of human experience. Temples bridged the gap between human and divine, allowing regulated access to the deity, usually present in the form of a cult statue, and giving people the opportunity to influence the gods. Through this mutually beneficial interchange, the gods received the service they desired, while the people hoped their service would elicit divine protection and blessing. Protection and blessing, though, were conditional. The gods would remain and stay favorably disposed only if they were satisfied with their accommodation and service. Temples then, at least in theory, were lavishly and fastidiously constructed and maintained in order to keep the gods happy. This article focuses on the major temples, especially those from 1500–500 BCE, in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hittite Anatolia, and Syria-Palestine. The article also focuses on the structure and ideology of the temples, not the rituals performed within them. For the most part, biblical and Israelite references will be kept to a minimum, as they are numerous enough to warrant their own article. Too numerous to include, archaeological reports generally have been excluded, yet they are referenced in the works cited and may be found with a Google web search.

- by Joost Blasweiler
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- History, Ancient History, Egyptology, Near Eastern Archaeology
- by Joost Blasweiler
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- History, Ancient History, Egyptology, Near Eastern Archaeology
- by Benjamin Sommer
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- Hebrew Bible, Historicism, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology

This is a review of Jaap Doedens's book, The Sons of God in Genesis 6:1-4, which was published by Brill in 2019.

An enormous amount of research and the synthesization of historical events and archaeological artifacts has led the author to verify Israelite residence in Egypt from 1876–1446 BC. This research is connected to the unexpected discovery of interconnecting archaeological, epigraphical, and iconographical evidence that attests to the presence of Israelites in Egypt over virtually the entire 430 years. By the sheer volume of verifiable evidence of complementary historical data—when comparing the biblical text and the artifactual and epigraphical record—the author attempts to demonstrate convincingly to objective readers that the biblical story of the Egyptian origins of the Israelite ‘nation’ is reliable as a factual account. Never again will students of the Bible have to listen to uniformed university professors denounce the story of Israelites in Egypt without a ready defense for its validity.

- by Douglas N Petrovich
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- Egyptology, Hebrew Language, Hebrew Bible, Biblical Studies

"Chronology is the backbone of history" is usually taught in schools but what is very disturbing is the total absence of reliable chronology to fix the Exodus because the date goes from 2100 to 650 BC (Sparks: 2015, 60); such a 1500-year gap is not at all serious. Furthermore, Exodus pharaoh identifications and theories (page 61) are absurd because the pharaoh of the Exodus died suddenly in the Red Sea according to the biblical text (Ps 136:15) and it is easy to see that the state of the mummy of Seqenenre Taa (Cairo Museum, The Royal Mummies CG 61051) proves that his body received severe injuries and remained abandoned for several days before being mummified. In addition Crown Prince Ahmose Sapaïr (Musée du Louvre, Paris: statue E 15682), who was the eldest son of Seqenenre Taa (1543-1533), died shortly before his father (Ex 12:29), who himself died on May 10, 1533 BCE. According to the biblical chronology based on absolute dates, not to the scholarly chronology of Edwin R. Thiele, the pharaoh of the Exodus died on May 10, 1533 BCE (exactly the same day). Consequently Seqenenre Taa was the pharaoh of the Exodus, according to absolute chronology.

This paper examines the demons Pazuzu and Lamaštu from a cognitive science perspective. As hybrid creatures, the iconography of these demons combines an array of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic properties, and is therefore marked by a high degree of conceptual complexity. In a technical sense, they are what cognitive researchers refer to as radically "counterintuitive " representations. However, highly complex religious concepts are difficult in terms of cognitive processing, memory, and transmission , and, as a result, are prone to being spontaneously simplified in structure. Accordingly, there is reason to expect that the material images of Pazuzu and Lamaštu differed from the corresponding mental images of these demons. Specifically, it is argued here that in ancient cognition and memory, the demons would have been represented in a more cognitively optimal manner. This hypothesis is further supported by a detailed consideration of the full repertoire of iconographic and textual sources.

In this study, I argue that the literary depictions and iconographic images of wings on various hybrid creatures are a means of depicting that creature’s association with wind and the cardinal directions, and that recognizing this correlation offers greater insight into the function and meaning of these creatures in the written and iconographic records generally. As such, I intend to add to our increasing awareness of the close relationship between textual and iconographic motifs in the ancient Near East. Furthermore, I contend that attention to the number of wings a creature possesses informs our understanding of the entity’s perceived cosmological abilities.

- by scott noegel
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- Egyptology, Assyriology, Hebrew Bible, Ancient Near East

For about 150 years, scholars have attempted to identify the language of the world’s first alphabetic script, and to translate some of the inscriptions that use it. Until now, their attempts have accomplished little more than identifying most of the pictographic letters and translating a few of the Semitic words. With the publication of The World’s Oldest Alphabet, a new day has dawned. All of the disputed letters have been resolved, while the language has been identified conclusively as Hebrew, allowing for the translation of 16 inscriptions that date from 1842–1446 BC. These inscriptions expressly name 3 biblical figures and greatly illuminate the earliest Israelite history in a way that no other book has achieved, apart from the Bible.

- by Douglas N Petrovich
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- Egyptology, Hebrew Language, Hebrew Bible, Biblical Studies

The books of 1 and 2 Samuel offer a three-fold thematic scheme that supports the central claim of the Pentateuch, the claim found in Deuteronomy 6:4 and known to the Jews as “the Shema,” a verse that declares the God of Israel is one, true and living God, a theme that undergirds all of the historical books as well. Thus, the foundational theme of 1 and 2 Samuel is the central claim of the Pentateuch, a theme shared by all books of the Holy Scriptures. The secondary, structural theme of the book of 1 Samuel supports the primary theme of the historical books by offering the testimony that God has called out David to establish the Davidic lineage to bring about Israel’s redemption as supporting evidence that YHWH is the true and living God. The secondary, structural theme of the book of 2 Samuel supports the primary theme of the historical books by offering the testimony that God has justified David in his role as king. The third, imperative theme of the books of 1 and 2 Samuel states that Israel loved the Lord their God with all of their strength by accepting the one whom God called and justified as their king and redeemer. The application of this third theme for today’s reader is to believe that God has called and justification the Lord Jesus Christ as King of Kings in the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven. The New Testament believer should trust in Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecies concerning the Messiah coming from the Davidic lineage who will reign eternally over all nations. As believers, we have been called to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven, and we are justified as members of this Kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ.

- by Gary Everett, MDiv DMin
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- Christianity, Theology, New Testament, Historical Theology

excerpts from my PhD Dissertation — Title Page, Abstract, Acknowledgments, Table of Contents, Abbreviations, and Bibliography

An increase of cross-cultural learning as a consequence of increased travel and migration between Egypt and the Levant during the Iron Age occurred after millennia of migration in earlier times. The result was an Egyptian-Levantine koine, often not recognized as relevant by historians due to an uncritical reproduction of ancient myths of separation. However, the cultural exchange triggered by migration is attested in the language, in the iconography of the region, in the history of the alphabet, in literary motifs, in the characterization of central characters of the Hebrew Bible and, last but not least, in the rise of new religions, which integrated the experience of otherness in a new ethos.

- by Thomas Staubli
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- Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptology, Iconography, Egyptian Art and Archaeology
- by Yigal Bloch and +1
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- Assyriology, Mesopotamian Archaeology, Mesopotamia History, Ancient Near East
- by israel knohl
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- Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, Biblical Archaeology, Biblical Interpretation

By Ellis R. Brotzman and Eric J. Tully -- This accessibly written, practical introduction to Old Testament textual criticism helps students understand the discipline and begin thinking through complex issues for themselves. The authors combine proven expertise in the classroom with cutting-edge work in Hebrew textual studies. This successful classic (nearly 25,000 copies sold) has been thoroughly expanded and updated to account for the many changes in the field over the past twenty years. It includes examples, illustrations, an updated bibliography, and a textual commentary on the book of Ruth.

- by ERNST R WENDLAND
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- Hebrew Bible, Biblical Studies, Bible Translation, Bible Translations

By K.A. Kitchen -- In a detailed, comprehensive, and entertaining manner, Kitchen draws on an unprecedented range of historical data from the ancient Near East — the Bible’s own world — and uses it to soundly reassess both the biblical record and the critics who condemn it. Working back from the latest periods (for which hard evidence is readily available) to the remotest times, Kitchen systematically shows up the many failures of favored arguments against the Bible and marshals pertinent permanent evidence from antiquity's inscriptions and artifacts to demonstrate the basic honesty of the Old Testament writers.
(This text was made available at the following website: https://www.pdfdrive.com/on-the-reliability-of-the-old-testament-d188582318.html)

- by ERNST R WENDLAND
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- Hebrew Literature, Hebrew Bible, Biblical Studies, Old Testament

All three of my books--Nimrod the Empire Builder: Architect of Shock and Awe (Ancient World Publishing 2023), Origins of the Hebrews: New Evidence for Israelites in Egypt from Joseph to the Exodus (New Creation 2021), and The World's Oldest Alphabet: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-Consonantal Script (Carta 2016)--are available to purchase. Inside the uploaded document, I have instructions for purchasing any one of them.

- by Douglas N Petrovich
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- Ancient History, Hebrew Bible, Biblical Studies, Ancient Near East

This article challenges the common tendency in modern research to treat impurity as a religious phenomenon divorced from mundane concerns. Employing the cross-cultural psychological notion of “contagion,” this investigation examines the usage of terms for pollution and purity in Hittite and Akkadian as they relate to distinct domains of human experience, specifically: uncleanness, infection and transgression. Special attention is given to the use of these terms in reference to infectious disease. This analysis demonstrates the real-world experiential basis for notions of impurity and also provides a new perspective to shed light on the peculiarities of each culture (e.g. the absence of an Akkadian term for “pollution”). The article concludes with a detailed excurses on the etymology of Akkadian musukku and its relation to Sumerian (m)uzug.

- by Yitzhaq Feder
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- Hittite, Mesopotamian Religions, Akkadian, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East

In 2018, a team from the Austrian Archaeological Institute uncovered an alphabetic inscription that was painted onto a fragment of a Cypriote White Slip II milk bowl. The significance of the Lachish Milk Bowl Ostracon (LMBO) for biblical history cannot be overstated, as this ostracon ties the Israelites of Joshua's campaign directly to Canaan at the end of the 15th century BC. This inscribed potsherd from Lachish’s destruction layer, which dates to near the end of the Late Bronze Age I, attests to Israelites in Canaan just before 1400 BC. The ostracon includes a brief but legible writing in the script of the world’s oldest alphabet, whose prior attestation is reserved almost exclusively for inscriptions from Egypt (Lahun, Wadi el-Ḥôl) and Sinai (Wadi Naṣb, Serâbîṭ el-Khâdim), which the author previously demonstrated to be written in the Hebrew language. The LMBO is possibly the most definitive form of evidence of the Israelite conquest of Canaan yet discovered by archaeologists excavating in Israel.

The David and Solomon's kingdoms are no longer considered as historical by minimalist archeologists. According to Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman, for example, authors of The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, at the time of the kingdoms of David and Solomon, Jerusalem was populated by only a few hundred residents or less, which is insufficient for an empire stretching from the Euphrates to Eilath. They suggest that due to religious prejudice, the authors of the Bible suppressed the achievements of the Omrides. Some Biblical minimalists like Thomas L. Thompson go further, arguing that Jerusalem became a city and capable of being a state capital only in the mid-seventh century. Likewise, Finkelstein and others consider the claimed size of Solomon's temple implausible. A review of methods and arguments used by these minimalists shows that they are impostors for writing history. The historical testimonies dated by a chronology anchored on absolute dates (backbone of history) are replaced by archaeological remains dated by carbon-14 (backbone of myths). The goal of these unfounded claims is clearly the charring of biblical accounts.
https://www.lulu.com/shop/gerard-gertoux/kings-david-and-solomon-chronological-historical-and-archaeological-evidence/paperback/product-1r86w6my.html

- by Gerard GERTOUX
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- Archaeology of Ancient Israel, Hebrew Bible, Israel/Palestine, Truth
- by Florian Lippke
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- Egyptology, Theology, History of Religion, Hebrew Bible
- by Réka Esztári and +1
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- Assyriology, History of Religion, Divination, Ancient Near East