{"title":"De-coding Hermeneutics","authors":"A. Adam","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341394","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341394","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000A significant body of literature rests on the premise that the most propitious way of characterizing the way we interpret linguistic signs corresponds to the practices of encoding and decoding. A sender conceives a message, encodes it in linguistic signs, transmits the message (by voice, or in handwriting, or print, or digital media) and the recipient of the message decodes it. This model itself impedes progress in textual interpretation. An approach to hermeneutics that takes its cue from broader phenomena of perception, apprehension, and inference can provide a more illuminating theoretical discourse for evaluating contested interpretations, with the additional benefit that by changing the way that we view linguistic hermeneutics, we stand to integrate our endeavors more fully with the interpretation of art, music, ethics, and gestural action.","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341394","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45217126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"God’s Gift in Ephesians: Dwelling in the Space of Divine Transcendence in the Face of Hopelessness and Dislocation","authors":"M. Macdonald","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341398","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000With a focus on Eph 4:7-16, the article highlights the significance of the concept of “gift” in Ephesians. John Barclay’s work helps to situate the Paul of Ephesians among Jewish theologians of grace, especially the perspective of the Qumran Hodayot with respect to the incongruity of divine mercy. Moreover, the results of recent analyses of Ephesians within the Roman Imperial context, including civic and familial concepts, are pushed to a new level of understanding. The study includes an examination of the link between ancient ideologies and practices related to gift giving and the delineation of social bonds and communal obligations where the depiction of the role of Christ as the giver of ministerial gifts plays a crucial role. Ultimately, the essay goes some way to close the perceived gap between the undisputed letters and Ephesians in term of a theology of grace.","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341398","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48199785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Paul, the Gift and Philippians","authors":"W. Willis","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341396","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341396","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This paper employs a basic insight from John M. G. Barclay’s book, Paul and the Gift, that the word χάρις in first-century Greek very often referred to a gift, especially his “perfection” of the word as “conditional.” In Paul’s lifetime the common cultural expectation was that the recipient of a gift accepted that a return gift was normative and expected—whether physical or not. This understanding is thoroughly discussed in Seneca, De Beneficiis which describes how the obligation to reciprocity in giving and receiving is expected of all civil persons, apart from civic position and status. This is because the function of a gift is the building or maintaining of relationships. This purpose is shown to be the case also in Philippians with reference to the passage employing the lexeme (Phil 1:7, 29; 2:6-11) and in 4:10-20 where Paul discusses the gift he received from the Philippian church.","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341396","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42520637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“We Are Obliged to Give Thanks”: Aspects of Grace in 2 Thessalonians","authors":"J. Sumney","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341397","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341397","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Drawing on the aspects of grace that John M. G. Barclay identifies, this essay examines the understandings of grace found in 2 Thessalonians. We find that 2 Thessalonians “perfects” (pushes to the extreme) the superabundance and emphasizes the priority of God’s gift of grace. Unlike what Barclay finds in Romans and Galatians, 2 Thessalonians does not perfect the incongruity of grace. It allows that there is a sense in which God has chosen the appropriate people to give grace. Because it does not perfect the incongruity between the worthiness of the recipient and the offer of grace, its view of grace is similar to that of the Wisdom of Solomon. Seeing that 2 Thessalonians does not perfect incongruity as Paul does in Romans and Galatians may offer a new perspective from which to think about its authorship.","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341397","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42294523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reading the Bible as a Feminist, written by Jennifer Koosed","authors":"S. Matthews","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341389","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341389","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341389","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47916915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Landscapes of the Song of Songs: Poetry and Place, written by Elaine T. James","authors":"J. Beverly","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341388","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341388","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341388","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43550233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"In Search of Soul: Hip-Hop, Literature, and Religion, written by Alejandro Nava","authors":"Francisco Lozada","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341391","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341391","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341391","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48171244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Good Book Gone Bad: Reading Phinehas and Watching Horror","authors":"Steve A. Wiggins","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341387","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341387","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44360290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect, edited by Susanne Scholz","authors":"Patricia K. Tull","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341392","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341392","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341392","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42322802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Wisdom that Delivers: Resurrection and Hope in the Book of Kings","authors":"Daniel J. D. Stulac","doi":"10.1163/18712207-12341384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18712207-12341384","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This essay examines the story of Solomon and the two prostitutes (1 Kgs 3:16-28) in relation to David’s judgment concerning Mephibosheth (2 Sam 19:25-31) and in relation to four “resurrection”-type stories in the book of Kings. Readers have traditionally interpreted Solomon’s judgment favorably, though recently some have argued that Solomon’s wisdom is ironic. This essay argues that the Solomon of Kings presents as an irreducible paradox, as both an ideal and an anti-ideal. Read in light of 2 Sam 19:25-31, 1 Kgs 3:16-28 suggests that ideal Solomon surpasses his father in judgment through his restoration of a conceptually “dead” child to its mother. When viewed in this way, Solomon’s wisdom can be understood to launch a life-preservation typology central to the book’s theological hope. Reconsideration of Solomon’s character from this vantage point helps to illumine New Testament references to Solomon in both Matthew and Luke.","PeriodicalId":40398,"journal":{"name":"Horizons in Biblical Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/18712207-12341384","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42242551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}