Sacred Texts and Sacred Meanings: Studies in Biblical Language and Literature

479 Pages·2011·8.481 MB·

by  John F. A. Sawyer

SACRED TEXTS AND SACRED MEANINGS

Hebrew Bible Monographs, 28
Series Editors
David J.A. Clines, J. Cheryl Exum, Keith W. Whitelam
Editorial Board
A. Graeme Auld, Marc Brettler, Francis Landy,
Hugh S. Pyper, Stuart D.E. Weeks

S T S M
ACRED EXTS AND ACRED EANINGS
S B L
TUDIES IN IBLICAL ANGUAGE
L
AND ITERATURE
John F.A. Sawyer

SHEFFIELD PHOENIX PRESS
2011
Copyright © 2011 Sheffield Phoenix Press
Published by Sheffield Phoenix Press
Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield
45 Victoria Street, Sheffield S3 7QB
www.sheffieldphoenix.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information
storage or retrieval system, without the publisher’s permission in writing.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Typeset by the HK Scriptorium
Printed by Lightning Source
ISBN 978-1-906055-94-3 (hbk)
ISSN 1747-9614
To all my students
undergraduate, postgraduate and extra-mural
in Glasgow (1964–65), Newcastle upon Tyne (1 965–94),
Lancaster (1994–2002) and Oxford (2005–2008)
without whom this volume would not have been the same

C
ONTENTS
Plates xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Preface xv
Abbreviations xvii
PART I: THE BIBLE AND ITS READERS 1
 1. THE BIBLE AND ITS READERS 2
 2. A CHANGE OF EMPHASIS IN THE STUDY OF THE PROPHETS 11
 3.  THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THE TEXT AND
OTHER LEGITIMATE SUBJECTS FOR SEMANTIC DESCRIPTION 27
 4. THE PLACE OF RECEPTION HISTORY IN A POSTMODERN COMMENTARY 35
 5.  THE CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
TO BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP 43
 6. READING OTHER PEOPLE’S READINGS OF SCRIPTURE 49
 7. COMBATING PREJUDICES ABOUT THE BIBLE AND JUDAISM 59
 8. THE BIBLE IN FUTURE JEWISH–CHRISTIAN RELATIONS 69
 9. READING THE BOOK OF JOB 78
10. EZEKIEL IN THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY 91
11. ENCOUNTERS WITH HEBREW IN MEDIAEVAL PERUGIA 101
12. BIBLICAL ALTERNATIVES TO MONOTHEISM 120
PART II: READING ISAIAH 129
13. A QUMRAN READING OF ISAIAH 6.13 130
14. THE MEANING OF THE NAME ‘IMMANUEL’ (7.14) 133
15.  ‘BLESSED BE EGYPT, MY PEOPLE’:
A COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 19.16-25 138
viii Contents
16.  ‘MY SECRET IS WITH ME’ (ISAIAH 24.16): SEMANTIC LINKS
BETWEEN ISAIAH 24–27 AND DANIEL 151
17.  RORATE COELI DESUPER: SOME CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATIONS
OF ISAIAH 45.8 161
18. DAUGHTER OF ZION AND SERVANT OF THE LORD IN ISAIAH 167
19.  ‘I HAVE TRODDEN THE WINE-PRESS ALONE’:
RADICAL IMAGES OF YHWH IN ISAIAH 63 184
20.  THE DIVINE ‘HERE AM I’ (HINNENI) IN ISAIAH
(52.6; 58.9 AND 65.1) 194
21. READING ISAIAH IN THE CONTEXT OF DEATH AND BEREAVEMENT 207
22.  ISAIAH AND THE JEWS: SOME REFLECTIONS
ON THE CHURCH’S USE OF THE BIBLE 220
23 . ISAIAH AND ZIONISM 231
24. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ISAIAH 245
PART III: LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY 255
25. HEBREW TERMS FOR THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD 256
26. SPACIOUSNESS IN BIBLICAL LANGUAGE ABOUT SALVATION 270
27. TYPES OF PRAYER IN THE HEBREW BIBLE 281
28. THE TERMINOLOGY OF THE PSALM HEADINGS 288
29.  THE IMAGE OF GOD, THE WISDOM OF SERPENTS
AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL 299
30. RELICS OF METALWORKER TRADITIONS IN GENESIS 4 307
31.  ‘O SUN, BE STILL AT GIBEON!’ JOSHUA 10.12-14
AND THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 30 SEPTEMBER 1131 BCE 318
32.  KING DAVID’S TREATMENT OF THE AMMONITES
(2 SAMUEL 12.31) 327
33. THE RUINED HOUSE IN ECCLESIASTES 12.3-5 338
34. THE ROLE OF FOLK-LINGUISTICS IN BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION 351
Contents ix
35. THE PLACE OF JEWISH STUDIES IN BIBLICAL SEMANTICS 356
36. ROOT-MEANINGS IN HEBREW 363
37. LANGUAGE AND RELIGION 374
PART IV: SHORT NOTES 385
38. THE LANGUAGE OF LEVITICUS 386
39. BIBLICAL ‘LEPROSY’ AND THE ETYMOLOGY OF S\ARA‘AT 391
40.  BARZEL IN EXPRESSIONS LIKE ‘IRON YOKE’ AND ‘IRON CHARIOTS’ 395
41. WHAT WAS A MOSHIA‘? 400
42.  ‘FROM HEAVEN FOUGHT THE STARS’: A SOLAR ECLIPSE
IN JUDGES 5.20? 407
43. THE BROODING PARTRIDGE IN JEREMIAH 17.11 410
44.  ‘THOSE PRIESTS IN DAMASCUS’: ANTI-SECTARIAN POLEMIC
IN THE SEPTUAGINT VERSION OF AMOS 3.12 416
45. WAS JESHUA BEN SIRA A PRIEST? 423
46.  WHY IS A SOLAR ECLIPSE MENTIONED IN THE PASSION NARRATIVE
(LUKE 23.45)? 429
Publications of John F.A. Sawyer 434
Index of Biblical References 440
Index of Names 449