History of Biblical Interpretation

"The Agon with Moses and Homer: Rabbinic Midrash and the Second Sophistic", Homer and the Bible in the Eyes of Ancient Interpreters, ed. M. R. Niehoff (Leiden, Boston:Brill, 2012), 299-328

by Yair Furstenberg

In this paper I propose that the literary agon, which was deeply rooted in rhetorical education and in Homeric... more In this paper I propose that the literary agon, which was deeply rooted in rhetorical education and in Homeric literary activity of the Roman period, may serve as a useful category for understanding contemporaneous rabbinic midrash. Two literary expressions of this agon surface in contemporary literature. On the first level, writers from this period bluntly confront the ancients for their lack of knowledge regarding the texts they handed down and directly refute Homer or Moses as ignorant author-messenger. On the second level, as the sophist and sage adopt a competitive mode they check and revise the canonical text, subsequently offering a more appealing alternative

Old Testament theology and philosophy of religion - a historical overview

by Jaco Gericke

Lot’s Wife in the Novels of Mary Anne Sadlier

by Janelle Peters

Postscripts 5.2 (2009): 155-174. Presented at SBL 2010.

The biblical figure of Lot’s wife (Genesis 19:26; Luke 17:32) in the novels of Mary Anne Sadlier functions... more The biblical figure of Lot’s wife (Genesis 19:26; Luke 17:32) in the novels of Mary Anne Sadlier functions typologically, assigning the role of Lot’s wife to both men and women. This essay explores how such an interpretative move functioned to reverse the charges leveled against Catholic men by muscular Christianity and Catholic women by the Protestant Cult of True Womanhood. Sadlier’s audience was the burgeoning Irish American immigrant community, but the ethnically porous character of Sadlier’s sources of inspiration for that community might be attested by her family’s Catholic catechetical publishing company’s reprint of Cardinal Wiseman’s Fabiola in the United States a mere two years after its initial publication in Britain and by her numerous translations from the French. The choice of a typological figure with a widely acknowledged perceived historical basis helped Sadlier to navigate between progressive and conservative Catholic biblical interpretation contemporary to her writing. Typology also facilitated Sadlier’s participation in the Catholic polemics against anti-Catholic, nativist literature by assimilating a negative biblical exemplar to biblically devoted Protestants.

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For an example of the continuing cultural impact of Wiseman's Fabiola and the Oxford Movement, see this newspaper article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/5345000/Fabiola-Francis-Alys-at-the-National-Portrait-Gallery.html

Trying to Fix the Family Trees of Jesus

by Geoff Miller

published in Scripture Bulletin 39 (2009): 17-30.

The Relevance And Continuity of Flavius Josephus in the Common Era

by Hannah Bedwell

Authored in Freshman year, first semester.

"From as early as 78 CE, Flavius Josephus was paving the way for both Jewish and non-Jewish Scholars to receive... more "From as early as 78 CE, Flavius Josephus was paving the way for both Jewish and non-Jewish Scholars to receive firsthand insight into, what then was the Greek and Middle Eastern Jewish social “norms.”  Josephus wrote the first relevant commentary on Jewish society..."

Per fidem sine operibus legis (Rom. 3, 28). Alcune questioni circa la presenza di una tematica paolina nella storia della filosofia moderna

by Mauro Pesce

M.Pesce, Per una ricerca storica su Gesù nei secoli XVI-XVIII: prima di H.S.Reimarus

by Mauro Pesce

Published as
M.Pesce, “Per una ricerca storica su Gesù nei secoli XVI-XVIII: prima di Hermann S.Reimarus”, Annali di Storia dell’Esegesi, 28/1 (2011), 433-464.

Presento qui di seguito i risultati di un brevissimo sondaggio sulle opere di alcuni autori che
potrebbero essere... more Presento qui di seguito i risultati di un brevissimo sondaggio sulle opere di alcuni autori che
potrebbero essere di interesse in una ricerca sulla storia delle immagini di Gesù prima di Reimarus.
Le opere che tratto dovrebbero essere storicizzate, ricondotte cioè alle loro origini, agli influssi da
cui furono nutrite, all’ambiente che ne stimolò la produzione, alla storia del pensiero dei loro autori
e si dovrebbe anche comprendere la reazione che provocarono ai lori tempi e l’influsso successivo.
Tutto questo io non lo farò nelle pagine che seguono. Il mio scopo era solo quello di entrare nel
bosco e prendere rapidamente qualche fotografia degli alberi e degli arbusti che mi sarebbero
sembrati più interessanti. Gran parte della foresta è rimasta inesplorata e anche le foto che ho
scattato sono risultate spesso sfocate. Su alcune di queste opere mi sono soffernato di più, su altre,
forse più importanti, mi sono invece soffermato pochissimo. Uno dei motivi di questo squilibrio è
sogettivo: ho trascurato soprattutto le opere che già conoscevo

When the State is Evil: Biblical Civil (Dis)Obedience in South Africa

by James W. McCarty III

Co-written with Joel A. Nichols. St. John's Law Review, 85.2 (2011): 593-625.

Assyriology: Its Importance for Biblical Interpretation (pre-pub draft shared)

by Alan Lenzi

5000 word limit, to appear in an encyclopedia in 2013.

The title says it all. The title says it all.

The Myth behind Middle Earth - a modern mythmaker's saga

by Felix Abrudan

University Seminar Paper.

Calvin as a Commentator on the Gospel of John

by Barbara Pitkin

in Calvin and the Bible, ed. Donald K. McKim (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 164-98

Seeing and Believing in the Commentaries on John by Martin Bucer and John Calvin

by Barbara Pitkin

Church History 68/4 (December 1999): 865-85

Protestant reformers generally drew their understandings of faith from Paul, arguing from such passages as Rom.... more Protestant reformers generally drew their understandings of faith from Paul, arguing from such passages as Rom. 3:21-24 and 10:17 for justification by faith alone and for the word and preaching as the basis for faith. In their commentaries on John, Bucer and Calvin endeavor to reconcile their evangelical view of faith as firm persuasion or certain knowledge of Christ, born of the word and the activity of the Spirit, with the evangelist's suggestions that many believed because they witnessed a miraculous sign. In addressing the relationship between seeing and believing, these sixteenth-century Protestants take up a traditional theme in the history of Johannine interpretation. However, their treatments differ from traditional ones in two significant ways: first, because they are shaped by new, evangelical assumptions about faith, which lead them to exercise caution in distinguishing different types of faith; second, because they reflect the privileging of the literal-historical sense of the text in ways consistent with what has been called the sixteenth-century Rhineland school of interpretation. Yet despite their common theological and exegetical starting points, Bucer and Calvin's final attitudes toward the connection between seeing and believing diverge. The essay traces this divergence through analysis of their treatments of selections from John 2, 3, and 6 in the context of representative patristic and medieval exegesis. The investigation illustrates the variety within a significant exegetical "school" and suggests that a richer and more broadly biblical understanding of faith may underlie Protestant polemics.

Isaiah 7: 14 in eighteenth century Catholic Exegesis

by Ulrich L. Lehner

(Pseudo-)Eupolemus and Shechem: Methodology Enabling the Use of Hellenistic Jewish Historians' Work in Biblical Studies

by Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò

in: Lester L. Grabbe (ed.), Enquire of the Former Age. Ancient Historiography and Writing the History of Israel (ESHM 9; LHB/OTS 554), New York: T & T Clark 2011, 77-96

An Arabic Scholion to Genesis 9:18-21 (Noah's Drunkenness) attributed to Philoxenos of Mabbug

by Adam McCollum

Hugoye 13.2 (2010): 125-148.

Among the scholia of an Arabic catena to Genesis published by P. de Lagarde in 1867 is an explanation of Gen 9:18–21... more Among the scholia of an Arabic catena to Genesis published by P. de Lagarde in 1867 is an explanation of Gen 9:18–21 attributed to Philoxenos of Mabbug. This short passage is the subject of the present study. After a brief survey of the biblical text in question according to various Arabic versions, it will be shown that there is very little to commend its Philoxenian authenticity, while it clearly echoes an interpretation found in Ephrem’s Commentary on Genesis. In addition, two other related passages (one with a new interpretation) in Ephrem are brought to the discussion, and the scholion’s similarity and difference to Jewish traditions recorded in the Targums, Bereshit Rabba, and Midrash Tanhuma (Buber) are also pointed out.

Jesus the Humble Victor: Jacob of Sarug on Jesus’ Combat with Satan

by Adam McCollum

Pre-publication copy.

In two homilies, nos. 82 and 126 in Bedjan’s edition, Jacob of Sarug considers Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the... more In two homilies, nos. 82 and 126 in Bedjan’s edition, Jacob of Sarug considers Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness (Mt 4//Mk 1//Lk 4). In what is certainly one of the most extended meditations on this pericope, Jacob explores the biblical narrative with his customary depth and imagination and presents it squarely as combat between the two of them, combat which Jesus enters in humility and emerges victorious. Jacob is concerned with aligning this event of salvation history with Satan’s temptation of Adam, who was defeated by Satan but becomes a victor over him through Jesus’ own victory. In addition to linking Jesus with Adam, Jacob also connects him, especially in terms of his fast, with Moses and Elijah; Moses also comes into the discussion because he is a source for Jesus in his verbal sparring with Satan. While there were antecedents among the canon of biblical heroes for Jesus’ words and actions in this passage, Jesus is unique, for, paradoxically, he appears more human than them and less miraculous. Since these two homilies are based on a biblical text centered around a conversation, Jacob is even freer than usual to expand or invent the conversation, and in this way he fills out his understanding of the passage. This paper considers Jacob’s place in patristic exegesis on this passage and highlights his unique contribution to its interpretation and preaching. Particular attention is paid to his use of language and imagery, chiefly with respect to the vocabulary of aggression, descriptions of Satan, and Jesus’ humility. A select Syriac concordance for the two homilies is appended.

The Staff of Moses and the Mercy of God: Moses' Final Intercession in Pseudo-Philo 19

by Judith H. Newman

“Widening the Possibilities for Ancient Biblical Interpreters: 1 Maccabees and ‘Scripture’.”

by Sara Parks Ricker

in Scriptura: Nouvelle Serie 8/2: Interprétation Et Textes Sacrés: L’herméneutique Multiforme Des Grandes Religions (Fall 2007): 23-36.

In this issue, Scriptura tackles the complicated theme of biblical interpretation. The questions of how meaning is... more In this issue, Scriptura tackles the complicated theme of biblical interpretation. The questions of how meaning is made and what a text is have kept philosophy and hermeneutics lively for the past century, and biblical scholarship has been pressured to re-evaluate its own interpretive methods. This article addresses both ancient and modern biblical interpretation; it deals with a specific case of Jewish biblical interpretation in the Second-Temple period (1 Maccabees), but with a view to some of the broader problems surrounding scholarly hermeneutics for this period’s texts today.

The State of Research on the Basel Reformer, John Oecolampadius (1482-1531), with a Focus on the History of Biblical Interpretation

by Jeff Fisher

The Christoscopic Exegesis of John Oecolampadius on the Child Named in Isaiah 7-11

by Jeff Fisher

Presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society.