Pages 1-22
Robert Jewett
Summary
The road 'down to Troas' (Acts 16:8) has never been thoroughly investigated. An overland route of 400-450 kilometers through the highlands east of Troas is proposed, linking a number of Roman cities, towns and mining sites whose locations have been identified but whose roadways have not yet been documented. Historical studies and archaeological reports in Turkish, European, and American journals are surveyed to suggest the plausibility of this route. Whether such a route in fact existed in Paul's time needs to be investigated by an archaeological expedition specifically aimed at discovering the road network in northwestern Anatolia.
AN 'EXTRAORDINARY FACT': TORAH AND TEMPLE AND THE CONTOURS OF THE HEBREW CANON, PART 1
Pages 23-56
Stephen Dempster
Summary
Recent studies on the final form of the Hebrew Bible suggest that it is not a literary and historical accident but rather the result of deliberate editorial activity. The present study concludes that transitional texts at the major boundaries of the canon demonstrate an extraordinary awareness of canon and provide it with the hermeneutical framework of Torah and Temple. Part 1 reviews the relevant literature, describes the methodology to be used and applies that methodology to the first major section of the Hebrew Bible, the Torah. This text begins and ends with the paramount importance of the Word of God and the presence of God.
1 CORINTHIANS 7:6-7: A CAVEAT AND A FRAMEWORK FOR THE 'SAYINGS' IN 7:8-24
Pages 57-66
Bruce W. Winter
Summary
It is the case that, with verbs of saying, the neuter demonstrative pronoun ('this') often introduces the subordinate clause with an implied 'that' (as in, 'I say this, [that]'). We contend that this same construction in 1 Corinthians 7:6 helps to unlock the pattern of Paul's thought in 1 Corinthians 7:8-24. 1 Corinthians 7:6 does not refer to the contents of 7:1 5, but emphatically to 7:7a where de assumes an adverbial role of 'rather' in Paul's caveat. With the strong adversative 'but' (alla) in 7:7b he acknowledges that either singleness or marriage is a divine gift and then proceed to discuss aspects of these gifts and callings of God in 7:8 24.
READING ECCLESIASTES 'EPILOGICALLY'
Pages 67-92
Andrew G. Shead
Summary
The epilogue of Ecclesiastes tells the reader how to understand the book, but at first sight its summary is far off the mark. However the epilogue does display a surprising degree of lexical and thematic uniformity with the body of the book, and when its message is taken seriously as a guide to reading, the results are both coherent and compelling. This article is an appeal to modern readers to treat the epilogist with more respect.
DAVID'S SECOND SPARING OF SAUL ACCORDING TO JOSEPHUS
Pages 93-118
Christopher Begg
Summary
This article offers a detailed comparison of Josephus' version, in Antiquities 6:310-319a, of the story of David's second sparing of Saul in relation to its Biblical source, 1 Samuel 26 (as represented by the MT, the Qumran scroll 4QSama, the Septuagint, the Vetus Latina, and the Targum). Questions addressed include: the Biblical text-form(s) used by Josephus, the distinctive features of his presentation of the episode, and the messages this may have been intended to convey to his Gentile and Jewish readers. It is hoped that the methodology of this study might serve as a paradigm for the study of other first-century figures whose use of the Old Testament is an important theological feature: namely, Philo and the early Christians writers of the New Testament.
THE INTERPLAY OF THE PRESENT AND FUTURE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD (LUKE 19:11-44)
Pages 119-138
Laurie Guy
Summary
The article argues that Luke has crafted Luke 19:11-44 to signal presentness as well as futurity in relation to the kingdom of God. The temporal reference of the parable in Luke 19:12-27 is not to be governed by verse 11 alone. Material in Luke 19:12-27 that is not in the equivalent Matthean parable has significant literary connection with subsequent material in verses 28-44. This subsequent material highlights the presentness of Jesus' kingship. What this shows is that Luke has subtly but carefully presented the kingdom of God as both present and future in the section under discussion.
A SYNTACTICAL NOTE (GENESIS 3:15): IS THE WOMAN'S SEED SINGULAR OR PLURAL?
Pages 139-148
Jack Collins
Summary
This article addresses the question whether the woman's 'seed' in Genesis 3:15 is an individual (as LXX interprets) or her posterity, by an empirical study of how Biblical Hebrew used its pronouns and verb inflections when they are associated with zera', 'seed', when it has the nuance 'offspring'. Syntactically Genesis 3:15 exhibits the pattern found when zera'refers to an individual. The article concludes with some suggestions for following the exegetical consequences of this syntactical result.
PRAYING THE TRADITION: THE ORIGIN AND USE OF TRADITION IN NEHEMIAH 9
Pages 179-183
Mark J. Boda
First paragraph:
The goal of this dissertation was to identify those who were responsible for the prayer in Nehemiah 9, and how they used the traditions of Israel. An investigation of the Gattung to which Nehemiah 9 belonged laid the groundwork for a traditional historical evaluation of the composition. Nehemiah 9 was identified with a series of prayers which represent a transformation of the classical Hebrew Gattung of lament: Late Repentance Prayer (Ezra 9; Neh. 1, Dan. 9, Ps. 106). Besides a long list of shared forms and vocabulary, consistent themes were evident: covenant, land, law. The purpose of these compositions was to bring an end to the devastating effects of the fall of the state: an end to captivity, oppression or the sorry condition of Palestine. An activity that accompanied nearly all of these compositions was fasting. The emergence of a regular cycle of day(s) of fasting among the Mesopotamian and Palestinian exilic communities showed not only the importance of fasting in this period but also a setting for Late Repentance Prayer.
ANGELOMORPHIC CATEGORIES, EARLY CHRISTOLOGY AND DISCIPLESHIP, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LUKE-ACTS
Pages 183-186
Crispin H.T. Fletcher-Louis
First paragraph:
The thesis introduction orients this project methodologically within the new religionsgeschichte Schule and justifies a focus on angelic categories as a background to early Christology. The assumption that 'apocalyptic' is essentially dualistic is challenged, and attention is drawn to studies which have highlighted the human attainment of an angelomorphic identity. This phenomenon holds particular relevance for the worship of Christ, who is not an 'angel' but possesses angelic characteristics. It also offers a bridge to later 'two powers in heaven' debates, which presume a binitarian theology (or Christology).
'LITTLE CHILDREN, KEEP YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS' (1 JOHN 5:21)
Pages 187-190
Terry Griffith
First paragraph:
This study approaches 1 John from its ending. Commentators struggle to explain the introduction of the unexpected topic of idols as the very last word. Either the 'idols' are made to fit the Procrustean bed of the commentator's theological under standing of 1 John, or they are used as evidence of redactional activity. The result is that little independent research is undertaken in order to gauge how the reference to idols makes a contribution to the argument. This study takes up that task.
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