This essay examines the issue of David’s (lack of) clothing in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 15. It asks: what potential meanings would be at play for ancient readers of these texts? Drawing on research into social memory and “forgetting,” it argues that Judean readers would partially warrant Michal’s distaste for David’s dressing-down, while still…[Read more]

Why were the brothers of king Ahaziah at Beth-Eked in Israel, following the deaths of king Ahaziah and his northern ally, king Joram? This paper takes a closer look at the events of Beth-Eked in 2Kgs 10:13–14 and proposes that the brothers of Ahaziah represent a Judahite delegation seeking to maintain שׁלום with the Omrides in response to Jehu’s…[Read more]

With the exception of Nahum 3:16, in the Hebrew Bible Yahweh alone has the power to multiply humans so that they will be as innumerable as the stars. Nineveh’s multiplication of her merchants “more than the stars of the heavens” (Nah 3:16) was, therefore, tantamount to a challenge to Yahweh’s divine power. The destruction of Nineveh demonst…[Read more]

in: Ilse Müllner/Barbara Schmitz (Hg.), Perspektiven. Biblische Texte und Narratologie (SBB 75), Stuttgart 2018, 131-173.

A brief introduction into the book of Numbers for a broader public

An overlooked but important document in the history of magisterial pronoun- cements on historical-critical biblical scholarship is the 1964 Instruction of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Sancta mater ecclesia. This article traces the history leading up to the Instruction and analyzes its importance during the Second Vatican Council and…[Read more]

A private seal impression with the Hebrew name “Ezer (son of) Haggai” discovered in the excavations at Tel Burna, Israel. The seal impression dates to the Iron II period and has parallels found at Gezer and Azekah.