Articles in TynBul 55.2 (Nov.2004)

Ethnicity, Assimilation and the Israelite Settlement
Pekka Pitkänen (University of Gloucestershire)

Summary:

In this article, we look into the possibility of assimilation of Canaanites into a group of Israelites whose origins lie in Egypt. We examine the topic from a comparative perspective of studies of ethnicity. First, we make a review of the current status of the scholarship about the origins of Israel. We then review how studies of ethnicity have been applied to Old Testament studies. After this, we look at definitions and basic features of ethnicity from the standpoint of ethnic studies. We then apply these insights to determine basic features of ethnicity and ethnic boundaries in early Israel. Subsequently, we look into evidence which suggests that assimilation from local peoples to an Exodus group may well have taken place in early Israel.

Contents

Is There A Narrative Substructure Underlying the Book of Isaiah?
Robin Routledge (Rotherham, South Yorkshire)

Summary:

The recent narrative turn has brought new and helpful insights to biblical studies. This article investigates whether it is legitimate and helpful to look for a possible narrative structure underlying the (generally non-narrative) Book of Isaiah. Starting with the structural model based on the work of A. J. Greimas, it concludes that if this narrative model can be applied to the Book of Isaiah it yields some useful outcomes. It points to the structural unity of the book and helps identify the main theme – in terms of the relationship between God, Israel and the nations, and the role of the Servant of the Lord.

Contents

Implied Audiences in the Areopagus Narrative
Patrick Gray (Rhodes College, Memphis)

Summary:

Much of the commentary tradition on Acts 17:16-34 too quickly glosses over the inclusion of Paul's sermon in a larger narrative context, focusing instead on the religionsgeschichtliche background of the speech or its compatibility with Pauline thought as expressed in the epistles. This essay brackets many of the questions that have occupied the history of the interpretation so as to highlight questions of literary and theological function. Close attention to Luke's compositional technique reveals the ways in which the Areopoagus narrative is not aimed at a monolithic Gentile audience but rather engages multiple implied readers while recapitulating many of the leading Lukan motifs in the mission to the Jews. The portrayal of Paul and of the responses of the Athenians to his message is suggestive of how Luke answers for his readers the question posed by Tertullian a century later, 'What hath Athens to do with Jerusalem?'

Contents

A Note on Romans 6:5: The Representation of His Death
Sorin Sabou (Baptist Theological Institute, Bucharest)

Summary:

The meaning and especially the reference of the oJmoivwma in Romans 6:5 is a subject of debate in Pauline studies. This note, keeping in view the two main lines of interpretation ('corresponding reality' and 'form'), argues for a specific different meaning, namely, that of 'representation' referring to a discourse which here in Romans is the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Christ. It does so by giving an important place to the role of the gospel at the start and in the time of 'newness of life'.

Contents

Plot and Character in Galatians 1-2
Timothy Wiarda (Singapore Bible College)

Summary:

Analysis of plot structure and Paul's self-characterisation contributes to the ongoing debate concerning the function of the narrative material in Galatians 1 and 2. While such analysis confirms the traditional view that this material aims to establish the credentials of Paul and his gospel, it shows that these chapters also serve a strong paradigmatic purpose. It more sharply defines both the traditional view (by clarifying each episode's distinct contribution to Paul's defence of his gospel and authority) and the example view (by identifying the precise aspects of Paul's life that he presents for imitation).

Contents

On the Articular Infinitive in Philippians 2:6: A Grammatical Note with Christological Implications
Denny Burk (Criswell College)

Summary:

Many commentators and grammarians see 'form of God' and 'equality with God' as semantic equivalents. This semantic equivalence is based in part on the erroneous assumption of a grammatical link between 'form of God' and 'equality with God'. This supposed grammatical link consists of an anaphoric use of the articular infinitive, the being equal with God (to;  ei\nai  i[sa  qew'/). This essay contends that this link has little grammatical basis and should be discarded.  The exegetical result is that it is grammatically possible to regard 'form of God' and 'equality with God' not as synonymous phrases, but as phrases with distinct meanings.

Contents

'The One Who is Speaking' in Hebrews 12:25
Gene Smillie (Christian & Missionary Alliance, Madrid)

Summary:

This treatment of whether the author refers to Jesus, or more generally to God, as 'the one who is speaking' (oJ lalw'n), in Hebrews 12:25 takes into account the possible relationship of the nearly identical participles lalou'nti in verse 24b and to;n lalou'nta in verse 25a. The antecedent of lalou'nti in verse 24 is problematic; many translations refer to 'the blood that speaks better than the blood of Abel', but this interpolation may be misleading. The author's argument in the near context suggests that the one now speaking from heaven is the same God who spoke from Sinai on earth. The added implication that he speaks through the author's own written words is significant for understanding the hermeneutic of Hebrews.

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'The Testimony about the Lord', 'Borne by the Lord', or Both? An Insight into Paul and Jesus in the Pastoral Epistle
Greg A. Couser (Cedarville University)

Summary:

Precisely what is Paul referring to in 2 Timothy 1:8 by to; martuvrion tou` kurivou hJmw`n? The lexical possibilities for to; martuvrion and the grammar of the phrase allow at least three possibilities. Three lines of investigation will be pursued: (1) a contextual and paradigmatic investigation to get at the meaning of to; martuvrion; (2) a more general investigation of the references to Christ in the Pastorals to see if there is any particular stress placed on the actual words and acts of Jesus; and (3) an enquiry into the structure of the immediate context of 2 Timothy 1:8 with a view to its implications for the meaning of the phrase in question. What we will suggest is that the above lines of enquiry at least suggest a plenary sense for the genitive construction. However, in the final analysis, it seems best to see the phrase simply as a reference to the testimony the Lord bore in his word and life to the saving plan of God.

Contents

Dissertation Summaries

Refined by Fire: Paraenetic Literary Strategies in 1 Peter
J. de Waal Dryden (L'Abri Fellowship, England)

First paragraph:

This thesis seeks to address the long-standing question of the overarching agenda of the author of 1 Peter. The search for a unifying purpose behind the epistle has proved a surprisingly difficult problem in the history of Petrine research. Traditionally many biblical interpreters have argued that the author's agenda is consolation, training the eyes of these suffering Christians heavenward to embrace a hope of glory that outweighs the pain of their present circumstances. More recently others have argued the author's aim is to shore up the corporate identity of these churches to combat temptations to cultural isolation and/or assimilation. While both these proposals recognize real authorial concerns, neither is sufficient to explain the agenda of the epistle as a whole. Consolation is, in reality, only a minor theme in the epistle; and the concern for corporate identity, while real, is only one component in the author's overall agenda.

Articles in TynBul 55.1 (May.2004)

The Human Need for Continuity: Some ANE and OT Perspectives
Deryck Sheriffs (London School of Theology)

Summary:

This paper presents a selection of evidence for the importance of a sense of continuity to individuals and their families by drawing on a variety of sources, including story, wisdom reflection, grave marker, inscribed memorial stone with portrait, ghost ritual, adoption document and will. The new covenant demonstrates God's response to this deep-seated human need for continuity.

Divisions Over Leaders And Food Offered To Idols: The Parallel Thematic Structures of 1 Corinthians 4:6-21 and 8:1-11
E. Coye Still, III (North Carolina)

Summary:

How significant is 1 Corinthians 1–4 in the epistle as a whole?  Paul approaches specifically the problem of food offered to idols in essentially the same manner as he approaches the problem of divisions over leaders.  More precisely, 1 Corinthians 8:1–11:1 appears to follow closely Paul's pattern of argumentation in the climatic 1 Corinthians 4:6-21.  In Paul's remarkably similar approaches to different presenting problems do we have a clue that Paul's own apostolic hardships are a cruciform paradigm for the pastoral counsel throughout 1 Corinthians 5-15?

Insights from Cicero on Paul's Reasoning in 1 Corinthians 12-14: Love Sandwich or Five Course Meal?
James Patrick (Jesus College, Cambridge)

Summary:

The 'love chapter' in 1 Corinthians is usually thought to be a digression by Paul from his main argument about spiritual gifts. However, applying the tool of classical rhetoric to the passage reveals a previously unnoticed structure behind our chapter divisions. From the principles of good speech preparation (explained by Cicero inDe Partitione Oratoria) Paul has arranged his discussion of spiritual gifts into the five standard parts: introduction, statement of facts with thesis statement, presentation of positive arguments, refutation of opponents' views and conclusion. In this way one can identify the key summary statements, the skilful argumentation of Paul, the apparent views of his opponents, and the contextual function of chapter thirteen. This paper makes a thorough analysis of these chapters according to the theory in Cicero's handbook, summarised in a chart at the end.

Judgement or Vindication?: Deuteronomy 32 in Hebrews 10:30
John Proctor (Westminster College, Cambridge)

Summary:

There is a case for the translation 'vindicate' rather than 'judge' in Hebrews 10:30, which is itself a biblical quotation from Deuteronomy 32. Four arguments contribute. The first is lexical: the verb krivnw often does mean 'vindicate' in the LXX. The second is intertextual: Hebrews adopts Deuteronomy sensitively, and Deuteronomy has vindication in view. The third is text-critical: an unusual text-form in Hebrews raises the possibility that targumic readings may have insight to give. The fourth is rhetorical: the reading 'vindicate' sharpens our awareness of the author's persuasive strategy in this part of Hebrews

Antithetical Feminine-Urban Imagery and a Tale of Two Women-Cities in the Book of Revelation
Gordon Campbell (Faculté Libre de Théologie Réformée, Aix-en-Provence)

Summary:

A major theme of the Book of Revelation is the woman-city, incorporating various women and cities in the unfolding story. The women are Jezebel, 2:20-23; the woman clothed with the sun, 12:1-6; the whore astride the monster, 17:1-6; and the bride, 19:6-9a, 21:9-10. The cities include seven Church-cities in Roman Asia, 2:1–3:22;Jerusalem, 11:1-13; Babylon, 14:8; 18:1-24; and New Jerusalem, 21–22. Revelation integrates them all into an unprecedented orchestration of a binary motif borrowed from prophetic denunciations of ancient cities – Yahweh's marriage to his beloved people and that people's spiritual adultery. The result is both a complex blending of feminine-urban imagery and a double metaphor whose fullest development is an elaborate literary contrast between two women-cities, Babylon-the-whore and New Jerusalem-the-bride. Sustained antithetical parallelism conditioning theme development makes the woman-city a funda mental ly ambiguous reality and a powerful dramatisation of sinful humanity's fickle response to God. For believing inhabitants of earthly cities, tragic tension between the call to faithful belonging and the lure of idolatrous affiliations is ultimately resolved through doubly faithful divine action which removes the squalid whore-city, Babylon, and establishes the glorious bride-city, New Jerusalem.
 

Did the Apostolic Church Baptise Babies? A Seismological Approach
Anthony N. S. Lane (London School of Theology)

Summary:

The direct evidence from the first century is insufficient to establish conclusively whether or not the apostolic church baptised babies. An alternative approach is to look at the practice of the post-apostolic church and to ask what must have happened in apostolic times to account for this later development. Unequivocal evidence is not found until the beginning of the third century and for the next two centuries and more we see a variety of practice, with the children of Christian homes being baptised at any and every age. Significantly, no one claimed that anyone else's practice was unapostolic or wrong in principle. Given that oral tradition offered real, though limited, access to the past, the most natural explanation is that this acceptance of a variety of practice goes back to apostolic times.

The Confusion of Epistemology in The West and Christian Mission
J. Andrew Kirk (Lechlade, Gloucestershire)

Summary:

Western culture is facing a major intellectual crisis, because it is confused about the meaning of truth, the relationship between belief and knowledge, and the nature and use of language. This article points out some of the consequences and suggests a new way of meeting contemporary cognitive challenges to communicating Christian faith.

Dissertation Summaries

Issues in Text and Translation Technique in the Gamma- Gamma Section of 3 Reigns (1 Kings)
Andrzej Szymon Turkanik (St Edmund's College, Cambridge)

First paragraph:

This dissertation is a contribution to the study of the transmission history of the Samuel-Kings corpus, examining the translation technique employed by the translator of the gamma-gamma section of 3 Reigns (1 Kgs 2:12–21:43). For the most part the translation follows the Hebrew closely. At points, however, one encounters significant differences. Since the two major witnesses, i.e. the Masoretic Text (MT) and the Old Greek (G), differ, it is only proper to ask what the differences can be attributed to. Following the discovery of the DSS, the majority of modern scholars assert that the variations are due to a different text tradition (Vorlage) rather than intentional or uninten­tional changes introduced by the translator. Whether this is the case or some other factors have influenced the text of G, has been the subject of investigation.