Jan Joosten

People and Land in the Holiness Code

Through detailed exegesis of such notions as the sons of Israel, the resident alien, the call to holiness, the camp in the desert and the land as property of YHWH, a coherent conceptual structure underlying the presentation of the law in Leviticus 17-26 is uncovered.

Biblical lexicology : Hebrew and Greek : semantics, exegesis, translation

Lexicography, together with grammatical studies and textual criticism, forms the basis of biblical exegesis. Recent decades have seen much progress in this field, yet increasing specialization also tends to have the paradoxical effect of turning exegesis into an independent discipline, while leaving lexicography to the experts. The present volume seeks to renew and intensify the exchange between the study of words and the study of texts.

YHWH’s Farewell to Northern Israel (Micah 6,1–8)

Abstract: Although it resembles genuine prophetic passages in its language and subject matter, the speech in Mic 6,1–8 appears not to address any specific concern. Many exegetes have therefore qualified it as a timeless didactic passage reflecting scribal activity of the post-exilic period. In the present paper it will be argued that, contrary to appearances, Mic 6,1–8 does address a pressing question of its period, namely the fall of the northern kingdom and the divine abandonment this was held to to imply. Through poetic allusion to the narrative of I Sam 12, the author of Mic 6,1–8 depicts YHWH as bidding Israel farewell − just as Samuel had taken leave of his people in the distant past. Résumé: Le discours contenu en Michée 6,1–8 s’apparente par son style et par sa thématique à des passages prophétiques authentiques, mais ne semble pas concerner une question spécifique. En conséquence, beaucoup d’exégètes l’ont considéré comme un passage didactique reflétant l’activité des scribes de l’époque post-exilique. Dans le présent article, on avancera que, contrairement aux apparences, Mic. 6,1–8 entend bien aborder une question pressante de son époque, à savoir celle de la chute du royaume du Nord, interprétée théologiquement en termes d’abandon divin. À travers une allusion poétique au récit de I Sam. 12, l’auteur de Mic. 6,1–8 présente YHWH comme faisant ses adieux Zusammenfassung: Obwohl die Rede in Mi 6,1–8 hinsichtlich ihrer Sprache und ihres Gegenstandes einem echt prophetischen Text ähnelt, scheint sie keine spezifische Frage anzusprechen. Viele Ausleger haben sie deshalb als einen zeitlos didaktischen Text verstanden, der schriftgelehrte Tätigkeit der nachexilischen Zeit widerspiegelt. In der vorliegenden Studie wird argumentiert, dass Mi 6,1–8, entgegen dem Anschein, eine dringliche Frage seiner Zeit anspricht, nämlich den Untergang des Nordreiches und die darin gesehene göttliche Verwerfung. Durch poetische Anspielungen auf die Erzählung von I Sam 12 stellt der Verfasser von Mi 6,1–8 JHWH als jemanden dar, der sich von Israel ähnlich verabschiedet wie Samuel in ferner Vergangenheit von seinem Volk Abschied genommen hatte.

A Note on the Text of Deuteronomy xxxii 8

The famous textual problem in Deut. xxxii 8 can be solved more satisfactorily than has been done so far by postulating a text: “to the number of the sons of Bull El ( la rc ynb ).” is reading would have been abbreviated into a text-form of the type attested in the Septuagint and 4QDeutj, by omission of the problematic word “bull”. The conjecture would also account for the Masoretic reading, “to the number of the sons of Israel”. Supportive evidence for the reading is found in Ugaritic texts and in Hos. viii 6.

Tatian's Diatessaron and the Old Testament Peshitta

Did Tatian consult the Syriac version of the OT when drawing up his Gospel harmony? This question, first raised almost a century ago,1 has not become irrelevant since then, in spite of much progress in research on both the Diatessaron and the OT Peshitta.2 In a study of OT quotations contained in the Old Syriac and Peshitta Gospels, the present writer, following in the footsteps of F C. Burkitt and S. P. Brock, undertook to show that Tatian did make use of the OT Peshitta.3 I concluded that Tatian, in his Diatessaron, frequently inserted OT Peshitta readings as a rendering of OT quotations instead of translating the Greek text as read in the Gospels.4 This position has recently been challenged by R. Shedinger on methodological grounds: since no Western witnesses of the Diatessaron were used to show dependence on the OT Peshitta, and since Shedingers own analysis of quotations in the Western harmonies produced no traces of such dependence, the hypothesis became, in his view, untenable.5 The present article offers a renewed survey of relevant readings. In the first section, the Eastern evidence is briefly reevaluated. As will be seen, this evidence cannot be brushed aside as easily as has been done by Shedinger. The second and third sections introduce new material from Western sources that is supportive of the hypothesis. Although the thesis of Tatianic dependence on the OT Peshitta cannot, in the absence of the original text of the Diatessaron, be proven absolutely, the conclusion must be that what textual evidence we have is strongly supportive of it. I. Traces of the Old Testament Peshitta in Eastern Witnesses of the Diatessaron Historical research shows that Tatians harmony was probably from the start a Syriac writing.6 The impact of the work is felt primarily in the Syriac-- speaking area, while the Greek church appears to have had no firsthand knowledge of it. To prove Syriac origin on a textual basis is hard, since no complete original text of the Diatessaron has been preserved.7 It may fairly be stated, however, that the textual evidence is generally supportive of the hypothesis,8 and that no textual facts oppose it, not even the Greek fragment of the Diatessaron found in Dura Europos.9 If the Diatessaron was written in Syriac, precedence must be conceded to the Eastern sources. Although even the earliest Syriac witnesses show clear signs of having been modified later in the direction of Greek manuscripts of the Gospels, they nevertheless offer the possibility of retracing part of the wording of the Diatessaron itself. 10 The Arabic and Persian harmonies are more problematic, both because these texts are of a later date and because they are translations. But at least they depend directly on a Syriac text, whereas Western harmonies are mostly translations twice or thrice removed from the original. It is good method, therefore, to build a hypothesis regarding Tatians sources first and foremost on the basis of the Eastern evidence. Ephrems Commentary on the Diatessaron On the supposition of a Syriac original, the only direct witness to the text of the Diatessaron is to be found in Gospel quotations in early Syriac texts. Early Syriac authors, particularly Aphrahat and Ephrem, quote the Gospel primarily, or even exclusively, according to the Diatessaron.11 Even these quotations show us a text adapted to that of the Greek Gospels,12 but they are generally, and rightly, considered to be our best source. When Burkitt first addressed the question of the possible influence of the OT Peshitta on the Diatessaron, it is to these quotations that he turned for a solution.13 The results were disappointing. Ephrems Commentary on the Diatessaron was then available only in an Armenian translation, which did not permit a clear conclusion; as to Aphrahat, the evidence seemed to indicate a positive answer, but it was hard to be certain.14 Returning to the problem three-quarters of a century later, Brock found himself in a much more favorable position. …

The Syriac Language of the Peshitta and Old Syriac Versions of Matthew

This linguistic description of Classical Syriac on the basis of a study of the early versions of the Gospel of Matthew makes a contribution to the understanding of Syriac and Semitic syntax as well as to questions of New Testament textual criticism.

THE NEGATION OF THE NON-VERBAL CLAUSE IN EARLY SYRIAC

In early Syriac texts, the syntax of the negated non-verbal clause mirrors that of the positive non-verbal clause. Clauses that, in their positive form, are constructed with an enclitic personal pronoun, are negated by the composite particle la hwa, declined in accordance with the subject. On the other hand, clauses that do not employ an enclitic personal pronoun in their positive form are negated by the simple particle la. Later Syriac texts show a different syntax for clauses employing the composite la hwd. Therefore the syntax of the negated non-verbal clause may be used as a criterion for dating undated Syriac texts.

Pseudo-Classicisms in Late Biblical Hebrew

Abstract Several words and expressions turn up in ancient Hebrew texts with two sets of meanings: one old, genuine, and more often than not paralleled in cognate languages, and one late and secondary, with echoes in the ancient versions and exegetical writings. To all appearances, these are words that were reused in a meaning based on scriptural exegesis after their original meaning was forgotten. Pseudo-classicisms show that scriptural interpretation had become an institution at the time of the late biblical books. They also show that interpretation led to re-appropriation, with later authors making a strong claim to continuity with earlier writings that had become authoritative. They provide strong evidence of diachronic evolution in ancient Hebrew. CBH and LBH are not the same language, nor even contiguous chronolects: they are separated by a period of time long enough to allow for the forgetting of many expressions, their reinterpretation in an unrelated way, and their revivification with the new meaning.

The Targums in the Light of Traditions of the Second Temple Period

This book reassesses the links between the Targumic literature and the writings of the Second Temple period. Ten specialists approach the question from different angles: relationship between ancient versions and Targums, biblical and comparative approaches, thematic issues.

Imperative Clauses Containing a Temporal Phrase and the Study of Diachronic Syntax in Ancient Hebrew

This volume offers a multi-disciplinary examination into the Hebrew of the Second Temple period as reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Ben Sira, inscriptions, Greek and Latin transcriptions, the Samaritan oral and reading traditions of the Pentateuch, and Mishnaic Hebrew.