The Hebrew Bible often portrays Sheol in a manner evocative of the tomb. In texts such as Psalm 88 the tomb is a dreary and isolating symbol. Yet this contrasts with the positive role of the family tomb where the dead are reunited with their ancestors. The ritual analysis of Judahite bench tombs, however, reveals a dynamic concept of death. This…[Read more]

Both 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees portray the Sabbath law as a central point of con- tention during the struggle over Judean law and tradition in the second century BCE (e.g., 1 Macc 1:41-50; 2 Macc 6:4-6). The Hasmonean family in particular is at times high- lighted as holding the Sabbath in high regard (2 Macc 5:27). In every available source,…[Read more]

Many scholars recognize the importance of authority in the process of scripturalization. The presence of words like “authority” and “au- thoritative” in definitions of the term “scripture” is ubiquitous. Many also identify authoritative status for a text as an important step on the way toward it becoming scripture. However, “authority”…[Read more]

This article investigates the prefatory material in 2 Maccabees (2:19-32; 15:38-39) in order to reveal the motivation and attitude of the epitomator of 2 Maccabees toward the text he is adapting. The article argues that the concept of auxiliary texts, recog- nized in Graeco-Roman and Hellenistic texts by classicist Markus Dubischar, is the lens…[Read more]

This study highlights features of the Letter of Aristeas that reveal how that story con- ceives of the royal translation project. It will apply the concept of ‘auxiliary texts’ devel- oped by Markus Dubischar based on the conversation theory of Paul Grice in order to show that Aristeas understands the Hebrew Pentateuch as a failing text. It wil…[Read more]

The majority of interpreters conclude that in Rom 2:17-29 Paul addresses an ethnic Jew. In contrast, Runar M. Thorsteinsson has argued recently that Paul addresses a gentile, specifically a gentile who has judaized and now thinks of himself as a Jew. This article provides further support for Thorsteinsson’s argument, arguing that Paul, contrary t…[Read more]

Though the “many for one” political ideology was widespread in the first century CE, Mark 10:45 rejects this ideology. Instead, this type of rule is contrasted with Jesus’s own rule as a servant king, sacrificing himself (the one) for his followers (the many).

This study reexamines the form and character of the Gezer ‘calendar’ inscription, examines the text’s structural affinities to the list of times in Ecc 3 and demonstrates how the Gezer inscription is, itself, a combination of two incompatible ways of giving an ordered structure to time.

The present study comprises a philological examination of the Biblical Hebrew term šninɔ. The contextual semantics, the ancient translations, and the re-identification of the verbal root ŠNN as a by-form of ŠNY ‘to recount’ demonstrate that šninɔ may be realigned as related to this root and translated as a ‘cautionary tale’.

The following study examines the history of the translation of a Biblical Hebrew phrase in Greek, Aramaic, and Latin—a phrase which shaped the English idiom “to take up a parable, proverb, or song.” As early as Greek and Aramaic Bible translations, the phrase NŚʾ mɔšɔl was translated word-for-word in the target language, even though the verb u…[Read more]