Journal for Semitics (02/02/2013)

Two dumb donkeys declare the word of the Lord : a literary-structural analysis of Numbers 22-24

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Wenderland, E.R.
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Abstract: This literary-structural study explores selected aspects of the poetic organization and associated rhetorical functions of the speech-punctuated narrative recorded in Numbers 22-24. After a summary description of the overall discourse organization of these chapters, I will focus on the poetic features of the sequence of seven oracles ("orations") of Yahweh that were uttered by the Mesopotamian prophet Balaam with direct or indirectreference to the tribes of Israel. These prophecies were commissioned by the Moabite king Balak as curses, but they were dramatically transformed by the LORD into present and future blessings to be bestowed upon hispeople. In conclusion I overview a number of applications that concern the communication of this captivating passage meaningfully in contemporary language-cultures, with special reference to translating, formatting, articulating, and supplementing the original Hebrew text.

YHWH's personal identity - a philosophical perspective

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Gericke, J.W.
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Page: 200-221
Abstract: In this article a new riddle for Hebrew Bible theologians is introduced. It concerns the philosophical problem of YHWH's personal identity within the world in the text. Given theological pluralism in the deity's profile, what did being YHWH as depicted from one text to the next, necessarily consist in? In view of the seeming persistence of YHWH's identity over time, the question that is asked and answered is whether it is possible to offer criteria that will specify the necessary and sufficient conditions for being YHWH across all actual worlds in the text.

"As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel" : angelological and divinatory connections in Ezekiel 10:13

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Evans, Annette
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Page: 222-236
Abstract: Several strange phenomena in Ezekiel 1 and 10 alert one to the possibility that there is more to the meaning of the word גלגל than simply "wheel". Throughout MT Ezekiel 1, the word אופנים is used to describe the "wheels". In every instance the LXX translates this word as variations of τροχός, but when MT Ezekiel 10 returns to the subject of the merkebah theme, two different words for "wheel" are used: the usual word אופנ, but also the Aramaic word גלגל, sometimes both in the same sentence. The inconsistency with which these words are used in Ezekiel 10, and translated in the Old Greek, suggests that גלגל may be carrying an additional meaning. By investigating Ezekiel’s wider cultural context by means of extra-biblical texts and relevant iconography, certain ancient Near Eastern associations with the word indicate that Ezekiel's description of the mechanism of mediation arising from God's throne in heaven may be connected not only to Jewish beliefs in angels, but also to ancient divinatory practices, especially in connection with "turning" or "whirling". Such a connection would have needed to be disguised in a context where divination was strictly prohibited. An awareness of these concepts makes Ezekiel's innovatory imagery more accessible to modern understanding.

From bad to good : a dialogic reading of Genesis 1

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Ramantswana, Hulisani
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Page: 237-268
Abstract: The underlying argument in this paper is that the "goodness" of creation has to do with the functionality of the cosmos and not the idealization of creation in its original state. The thrust of the argument in this paper is that we can project a binary opposition of terms in Genesis 1 through which the creation process can be viewed as progressing from "bad" to "good," that is, from a non-functional state to a functional state. In reading this text, I adopt a Bakhtinian dialogic approach through which this text will be read, meaning that I approach Gen 1-3 as a polyphonic text. The focus of this paper is on the internal dialogue in Gen 1:1-2:4a.

Qohelet and his fears

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Pinker, A.
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Page: 269-294
Abstract: It is suggested that Qohelet feared the elaborate spying system erected by the Ptolemaic rule in Judea and used ambiguous language to warn against it. He might have also feared the risks involved in abandoning the well tried old economic models, and shifting to the new trade models offered by the Ptolemies. Qohelet was apparently wary of the broader influences of the new economic spirit and Greek culture on the mores and customs of the Jewish people in Judea, and feared that the failures of the retributive process would result in a breakdown of law and order.

Jeremiah's vision of the almond rod (Jer 1:11-12) : an anthropological perspective

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Kotze, Zac
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Page: 295-307
Abstract: In Jeremiah 1:12, Yahweh explains Jeremiah's vision of an almond rod (מַקֵּל שָׁקֵד) with the obscure observation that he is watching (שָׁקֵד) over his word. There seems to be little logic in this clarification and scholars mostly settle for an interpretation of the almond rod as a figure for Yahweh's vigilance. This article ventures an anthropological reading of the vision by investigating the association of the almond, or "watching" (שָׁקֵד), rod with the ancient Israelite conception of the evil eye. It is argued that the almond had served as a symbol of evil, thus throwing light on Yahweh's explication of Jeremiah's vision, saying that he is watching (שָׁקֵד) over his word (דברו) to do (עשה) it.

The dynamic short yiqtol

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Andrason, Alexander
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Page: 308-339
Abstract: The present paper offers a dynamic definition of a Biblical Hebrew verbal gram, frequently referred to as the "short yiqtol", in which the verbal form is portrayed as a realization of a universal developmental path. Various pieces of synchronic (taxonomy of uses provided in Biblical Hebrew), diachronic (Proto-Semitic origin of the construction and its posterior behavior in Rabbinic and Modern Hebrew) and comparative evidence (values of cognate formations such as iprus and yaqtul in Akkadian and Arabic, respectively) - as well as certain typological facts observable in the Semitic family, in Mandinka and in Spanish - enable the author to classify the gram as aprototypical manifestation of the modal contamination cline, followed by an original resultative input. In this manner, the semantic and functional properties of the short yiqtol can be logically related to the same morphological pattern displayed by the wayyiqtol, a formation with which the short yiqtol shares its origin. Consequently, the whole short prefixmorphology becomes semantically and functionally homogenous, and its growth cognitively plausible: while the yiqtol entity in the wayyiqtol reflects a continuation of the resultative path, that is both directly derivable from and cognitively motivated by the input locution, the form of the short yiqtol category corresponds to the modal contamination of that resultative source.

What do the "good" and the "bad" kings have in common? Genre and terminological patterns in the Chronicler's royal narratives

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Jonker, L.
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Page: 340-373
Abstract: In his reworking of the Deuteronomistic historical traditions the Chronicler made some significant stylistic changes. Some terminological patterns that belong to the Chronicler's Sondergut show the unique theological emphasisof this work, but also relate to the socio-historical context of the time of writing. This article investigates these patterns in order to enrich our description of this literature type, as well as to determine the rhetorical function of the royal narratives.

An Egypt Amarna letter (EA 162) and word order variation of the verbal sentences

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Van der Westhuizen, J.P.
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Page: 374-415
Abstract: The correspondence between the vassals of Syria-Palestine and their sovereign, the pharaoh of Egypt, was instigated by the external and internal turmoil in Syria-Palestine during the Late Bronze Age. The letters were written by the scribes of the vassals and the scribes of the pharaoh, in the WPA (Western Peripheral Akkadian) dialect, with some West Semitic (WS) trends. One such trend is the word order, and variations from it, in the verbal sentences. This variation in word order was to effect some special emphasis or some nuance of the appropriate element in the specific sentence. The variation in word order was brought about by certain (emphasizing) words such as anuma, šanita, inuma and amurmi and/or constructions such as subject fronting or object fronting, parallel sentence arrangement and chiastic sentence arrangement. However, even this word order and variations thereof show no consistency. An investigation of the word order and the variations functioning in the verbal sentences of the Amarna-Akkadian letters, such as EA 1621 from the pharaoh, shows that these letters - even those with similar content to the other letters from the pharaoh - must have been written by different scribes of the pharaoh. This leads to the conclusion that each scribe had his own version of an "interlanguage" that he used in his correspondence.

Confronted with a God who sanctions the rape of minors : reading Numbers 31:17-18 from a pastoral hermeneutical perspective

2013-02-01T08:51:18Z

Author: Rugwiji, T.
Vol 21 Issue 2
Publication: 2012
Page: 416-436
Abstract: The biblical text neither condemns rape in general nor addresses rape of little children. The opposite seems to be the case: Num 31:17-18 portrays Yahwehas sanctioning the rape of minors, that is, girls, preceded by the killing of both boys and "unmarried" women found guilty of losing their virginity through sexual intercourse. This paper argues that if the Bible is to be relevant to bothits readers and to modern societies today, it should address ethical issues including that of rape of minors. This study critiques the depiction of Yahweh sanctioning Moses and the Israelite leadership - which included the priests and community leaders - to kill the Midianite boy children and women, "but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man" (v. 18). How would a just and loving God contradict himself by (1) commanding the murder of boys and women and (2) authorising the "rape" of little girl children? This study attempts to respond to the above question from a pastoral hermeneutical perspective by suggesting that the narratives in the biblical text cannot always be appropriated as precepts by which modern societies should live. In doing so, other biblical "rape passages" will be considered. The investigation is explored in the context of the author's personal experience of a sister who died as a result of rape.