Articles in TynBul 46.2 (Nov.1995)

THE KNOWLEDGE OF WRITING IN IRON AGE PALESTINE
Pages 207-217
Alan Millard

Summary
The Bible presents writing as a normal activity of daily life, but no Hebrew books survive from Iron Age Palestine to attest that. The written documents found there are few and brief in comparison with those from Egypt and Mesopotamia, yet they attest a varied use of writing which, this paper argues, reached beyond the scribal circles of palace and temple. Considered in the light of inscriptions from neighbouring lands, Hebrew epigraphy presents a richer source, lacking only royal monuments. On the basis of that evidence and analogies from other parts of the ancient Near East, a case is made for the possibility of written literature existing in the land from at least the tenth century B.C. onwards.

PAUL'S TRAVELS THROUGH CYPRUS (ACTS 13:4-12)
Pages 220-229
David W.J. Gill

Summary
The location of an Augustan milestone on the road along the south coast of Cyprus suggests that this is a likely route for Paul and Barnabas on their tour 'through the whole of the island'. This would have allowed them to have visited some of the key cities of the province.

WHAT HAS ARISTOTLE TO DO WITH PAUL? RHETORICAL CRITICISM AND 1 THESSALONIANS
Pages 229-251
Steve Walton

Summary
This article considers the application of rhetorical critical methods to 1 Thessalonians, summarising the approaches of significant scholars before considering the rhetorical genre of the letter. After considering the options, a key issue is identified: the question of whether Paul faced opponents in the church at Thessalonica. The evidence favours a negative conclusion, and the rhetorical genre is concluded to be epideictic, because of the focus of the letter on praise and blame.

THE DATE OF THE MAGDALEN PAPYRUS OF MATTHEW (P. MAGD. GR. 17 = P64): A RESPONSE TO C.P. THIEDE
Pages 251-285
Peter M. Head

Summary
This article considers Carsten P. Thiede's arguments concerning the date of P64 and suggests that he has both over-estimated the amount of stylistic similarity between P64 and several Palestinian Greek manuscripts and under-estimated the strength of the scholarly consensus of a date around AD 200. Comparable manuscripts are adduced and examined which lead to the conclusion that the later date is to be preferred.

PAULINE THEOLOGY OR PAULINE TRADITION IN THE PASTORAL EPISTLES: THE QUESTION OF METHOD
Pages 287-314
Philip H. Towner

Summary
This article re-examines the common positioning of the Pastoral Epistles at the transition from second to third generation Christianity. While there is validity in recognising theological development in the Pastoral Epistles, this need not be explained in terms of late discontinuity with Pauline theology; unnecessary methodological assumptions lie behind such a view. It is more likely that the Pastoral Epistles develop Pauline theology at the juncture of first and second generation Christianity.

GENESIS 1:1-2:3 AS A PROLOGUE TO THE BOOK OF GENESIS
Pages 315-337
Ian Hart

Summary
The creation narrative of Genesis 1:1-2:3 is characterised by three fundamental ideas which are linked to each other by the theme of man's work: creation in six days, man as the image of God, and the Sabbath. This theme is sustained in the main body of the book of Genesis, as one would expect with material which was intended to serve as a careful prologue to the rest of the book.

SENDING LETTERS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD: PAUL AND THE PHILIPPIANS
Pages 337-357
Stephen Robert Llewelyn

Summary
How did Paul maintain contact with believers in Philippi whilst he was imprisoned? Does the number of journeys implied in Philippians argue against the letter's composition in Rome? The conveyance of letters and news in antiquity is discussed with particular reference to the imperial post and the suggestion that Paul may have used it. The nature of the contact between Paul and the Philippians is investigated. The conclusion is reached that the Macedonian church most probably learned of Paul's despatch from Caesarea to Rome whilst he was en route. Epaphroditus may have already been in Rome when Paul arrived. The number of journeys implied in Philippians does not preclude a Roman provenance.

THE JEWISHNESS OF JOHN'S USE OF THE SCRIPTURES IN JOHN 6:31 AND 7:37-38
Pages 357-380
Glenn Balfour

Summary
Two of some eighteen citations of scripture in the Fourth Gospel are examined in detail in order to demonstrate that John's use of the Old Testament is based on received Jewish exegetical methods. His treatment of scripture is essential to major facets of his gospel, namely his christology and polemical thrust.

CONSTRUCTING THE WORLD: AN EXEGETICAL AND SOCIO-RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF PAUL'S USES OF 'WORLD' AND 'CREATION'
Pages 381-384
Edward Adams

First Paragraph:
The recent application of sociological perspectives to the study of the New Testament has generated interest in the construction and maintenance of social worlds in early Christianity. The theoretical model which provides the paradigm for this line of inquiry is derived from the work of T. Luckmann and P.O. Berger in the sociology of knowledge. This study attempts to elucidate and refine our understanding of the phenomenon of world-construction in Pauline Christianity by exploring the roles of the words 'world' and 'creation' , which are Paul's main terms in this process.

'I WILL GIVE YOU REST': THE BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE REST MOTIF IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Pages 385-388
John Laansma

First Paragraph:
This study examines Matthew 11:28-30 and Hebrews 3:7-4:11 as the New Testament passages in which the rest motif is expressed thematically. It investigates both passages as products of first-century Judaism and Christianity in the light of the realisation that the Old Testament is the most important factor for establishing the concerns and thinking of the New Testament writers. For both, God's promises of rest to Israel, as those promises were expressed in the Old Testament, were coming to fulfilment in Christ.

THE ETHICS OF DEUTERONOMY: AN EXEGETICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDY
Pages 389-392
J.G. Millar

First Paragraph:
The introduction reviews recent work in OT ethics, highlighting the persistent methodological confusion. The discussion points out the importance of distinguishing between the related tasks of describing, synthesising and applying the ethics of the OT. Deuteronomy is proposed as a case study in description and synthesis, and an appropriate method developed. The implications of the outcome of this study for the possibility of speaking of a coherent ethical 'system' within the OT as a whole are examined.

THE USE OF ISRAEL'S SCRIPTURES IN EPHESIANS
Pages 393-396
Thorsten Moritz

First Paragraph:
This thesis argues that the use and influence of the Jewish Scriptures in Ephesians pertains directly to our (and the originally intended readers') understanding of the letter and that this influence is rather greater and more deliberate than has been suggested. It examines those instances where the author manifestly made use of wording which can be directly or indirectly traced to the Jewish Scriptures. I have therefore focused on quotations and allusions (1:20-3; 2:13-7; 5:14; 5:31; 6:2f.; 6:10, 14-7) and on what I believe to be deliberate reformulation of a Biblical text in the light of its perceived misuse by the author's, or his community's, opponents (Eph. 4:8). In addition there is a chapter on the cluster of Old Testament phraseology in Ephesians 4:25-30.

Articles in TynBul 46.1 (May.1995)

THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE PSALTER
Pages 1-27
Roger T. Beckwith
Warden, Latimer House, Oxford

Summary
The Psalms are full of references to music, Jerusalem and the sanctuary. Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah say they were being performed there by the Levites, and the titles (which have a marked community of ideas and language with those books, though without dependence) endorse this. The division into five books pre-dates the LXX version, but there are many indications, in the text and titles, of a still earlier division into three. The meaning of the musical directions and other technical terms in the titles had been forgotten, in Semitic circles as well as Hellenistic, before the LXX version was made. Since, after the Exile, the Psalms were being performed continuously, this suggests that the titles are even pre-exilic. The final component of the titles has its own history. The eccentric Psalms MSS from Qumran are probably liturgical adaptations.

PAPYRUS MAGDALEN GREEK 17 (GREGORY-ALAND P64): A REAPPRAISAL
Pages 29-42
Carsten Peter Thiede
Director, Institut fur Wissenschaftstheoretische Grundlagenforschung, Paderborn

Summary
More than forty years after C.H. Roberts' first edition of P64, this new edition provides the first complete reconstruction of all six sides of the three fragments kept at Magdalen College, Oxford. It corrects a number of errors, adds an improved reading of several verses, in particular of Matthew 26:22, which contribute to a better understanding of early Christian scribal habits; it furthermore discusses the question of nomina sacra for which P64 provides the three earliest known examples, and it reopens the question of the dating. With the first-century date suggested as a result of a comparative analysis using newly available manuscripts, P64 and, along with it, P67 are the earliest known codex fragments of the New Testament.



EXPLORING THE COMMON IDENTIFICATION OF THREE NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS: P4, P64 AND P67
Pages 43-54
Philip W. Comfort
Visiting Professor in New Testament, Wheaton College, Illinois

Summary
This article explores the common identity of three very early Gospel manuscripts. Some scholars have believed that P4, P64 and P67 all came from the same codex; others have doubted. The newly proposed dating of P64 to the late first century makes this exploration all the more vital. This article examines the provenance and paleography of all three papyri in an attempt to demonstrate a common scribe. Then the article presents an argument for dating P4 to the second century.



THE BOOK OF JOB AND THE FEAR OF GOD
Pages 59-79
Lindsay Wilson
Lecturer in Old Testament, Ridley College, Melbourne

Summary
This article studies the function of the 'fear of God' idea in the book of Job. It is argued that, despite the difference in terminology, the 'fear of God' is equivalent to the 'fear of the LORD' concept of Proverbs. The location of the motif in the final form of the book of Job suggests that the 'fear of God' is not being proposed as the answer to Job's dilemma. Rather, Job is one who maintains his 'fear of God' throughout the book, yet is left with his questions and suffering. The 'fear of God' is seen as the solution by Job's friends, the wisdom interlude of chapter 28, and by Elihu, yet all this is overridden by the Yahweh speeches and epilogue, where the 'fear of God' is not mentioned. While the 'fear of God' is central to the wisdom stream, the book of Job establishes that it is not the answer to every problem in life.



THE WORD, THE WORDS AND THE WITNESS: PROCLAMATION AS DIVINE AND HUMAN REALITY IN THE THEOLOGY OF KARL BARTH
Pages 81-102
Trevor Hart
Lecturer in Systematic Theology, University of Aberdeen

Summary
Karl Barth's entire theology is predicated upon the supposition that God has spoken to human beings. His exposition of the doctrine of the Word of God is informed both by trinitarian and incarnational analogies and insights. In each of the three forms of God's Word (Jesus of Nazareth, scripture, and Christian preaching) there is a paradox and scandal of identity between the divine and the human to be grasped. The relationships between these three, and the peculiar duality in unity which each manifests, are explored in this essay in relation to Barth's characteristic understanding of revelation as event.



WHY BARZILLAI OF GILEAD (1 KINGS 2:7)?: NARRATIVE ART AND THE HERMENEUTICS OF SUSPICION IN 1 KINGS 1-2
Pages 103-116
Iain W. Provan
Lecturer in Old Testament, University of Edinburgh

Summary
Even if one remains uneasy about the precise direction in which much recent scholarship on biblical narrative has been moving, it is the case that much can be learned from the kind of approaches which have been developed. This paper argues, for example, that the author of 1 Kings 1-2 invites the reader to employ a 'hermeneutic of suspicion' in relation to his story by the artful way in which he tells it; and that the employment of such a hermeneutic enables a deeper grasp of what the story is about than would otherwise be possible.



THE WAYYIQTOL AS 'PLUPERFECT': WHEN AND WHY
Pages 117-140
C. John Collins
Associate Professor in Old Testament, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis

Summary
This article examines the possibility that the Hebrew wayyiqtol verb form itself, without a previous perfect, may denote what in Western languages would be expressed by a pluperfect tense, and attempts to articulate how we might discern it in a given passage, and the communicative effect of such a usage. The article concludes that there is an unmarked pluperfect usage of the wayyiqtol verb form; and that it may be detected when one of three conditions is met. Application of these results demonstrates that this usage is not present in 1 Samuel 14:24, while it is present in Genesis 2:19.



POST-MORTEM EVANGELISM: A RESPONSE TO R.R. COOK
Pages 141-150
Tony Gray
Wolfson College, Oxford

Summary
Robert Cook has recently presented an examination of the notion of post-mortem evangelism as found in the writings of Clark Pinnock, an examination which declared Pinnock's position to be internally consistent. This article questions both Pinnock's position and Cook's analysis, on the grounds that it appears impossible to make sense of what it means for a sinner to choose hell. It is also suggested that this is part of a larger failure on the part of theodicy to understand the radical nature of evil.



THE ACHAEAN FEDERAL IMPERIAL CULT I: PSEUDO-JULIAN, LETTERS
Pages 151-168
Antony J.S. Spawforth
Senior Lecturer in Classics, Newcastle-upon-Tyne University

Summary
This paper explores the evolution of emperor-worship at Corinth in the first century A.D. Specifically, it argues that a Greek 'letter' in the correspondence on the emperor Julian should be redated to c. A.D. 80-120 and identified as a petition from the city of Argos to the Roman governor of Achaia, in which the Argives sought exemption from payments towards the cost of celebrations of the imperial cult at the Roman colony of Corinth. Since these celebrations involved many of the province's cities, the paper goes on to argue that they can be identified with the collective cult-its place of celebration previously uncertain-known from inscriptions to have been founded by the member-cities of the Achaean league in the mid-first century A.D.



THE ACHAEAN FEDERAL IMPERIAL CULT II: THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH
Pages 169-178
Bruce W. Winter
Warden, Tyndale House, Cambridge

Summary
The petition from Argos discussed in the previous essay is a 'new' document for New Testament scholars which throws light on first-century issues in Roman Corinth. This paper seeks to examine the Argive evidence in order to see what information it might yield to help in our understanding of the early Christian community. In particular it will explore the problem of the imperial cult and 1 Corinthians 8 and comment briefly on Roman Corinth's cultural and legal mores.



HESED AS OBLIGATION: A RE-EXAMINATION
Pages 179-196
Robin Routledge
Pastor, Rotherham

Summary
While there is little dispute that hesed is a significant term, opinion is divided over its meaning. Glueck defines hesed in terms of loyalty and mutual obligation within the context of relationships, especially relationships involving a covenant. More recent studies, however, have minimised this aspect, linking hesed, instead, with ideas of benevolence and kindness. This article looks at the use of hesed in the OT in the setting of human relationships and the relationship between God and his people, and considers, too, the Hebrew terms with which hesed is most closely associated. It concludes in favour of the more traditional interpretation, and considers the significance of this understanding for the covenant people of God.