{"title":"An Object-Relations Analysis of Psalm 131","authors":"Shirley S. Ho","doi":"10.1177/03090892241248664","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892241248664","url":null,"abstract":"Psalm 131 employs the metaphorical imagery of an infant and mother to portray the relationship between the psalmist and YHWH. Since this imagery is critical in understanding the psalmist and the overall message of the psalm, I utilize psychoanalytical Object-Relations theory in reading the psalm. This interpretive framework offers insights into the language, structure, and movement of the psalm that might otherwise be overlooked. This essay reveals the foundational role of YHWH, particularly in relation to his absence and presence as primary caregiver in the development of the false self and the restoration of the true self-identity of the psalmist. The restoration of the psalmist’s true self-identity is further supported by the larger canonical context in which the Torah of Psalm 119 functions as an object-relations transitional object for the psalmist.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"206 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The question of future hope in 2 Kgs 25.27–30 and the book’s dynastic framework in 1 Kgs 1.1–53 and 2 Kgs 11.1–20","authors":"Mario Tafferner","doi":"10.1177/03090892241247058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892241247058","url":null,"abstract":"The present study revisits the question of future hope in the Book of Kings by inquiring into appropriate intertexts for interpreting the report of Jehoiachin’s release from prison in 2 Kgs 25.27–30. As will be demonstrated, this passage shares the literary motif of ‘two contestants struggling for a throne’ (כסא) with both 1 Kgs 1.1–53 and 2 Kgs 11.1–20. These three accounts occupy structurally important positions within the book (beginning, climax, end) and use this motif to communicate Davidic dynastic permanence.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"100 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Genocide in Esther: A response to a recent attempt to defend Haman","authors":"Paul A. Himes","doi":"10.1177/03090892241247060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892241247060","url":null,"abstract":"A 2021 article in HTS Teologiese Studies advances the thesis that in the book of Esther ‘lawlessness by the Jewish diaspora community triggered genocide in the Persian Empire’ and that ‘Jews provoked the Persian authorities by disobeying the laws of the land’. Much of that article is devoted to a defense of Haman in responding to what the author portrays as the ‘lawlessness’ of the Jewish diaspora community. This article offers a three-fold response: (1) a critical analysis of both Haman and his accusation of ‘lawlessness’ against the Jewish diaspora minority, along with that article’s affirmation of that lawlessness; (2) a critique of that article’s accusation of ‘genocide’ against the Jewish diaspora community along with a discussion of the alleged violent vengeance of that same community vis-à-vis Esther 8–9; (3) a warning that the attempted vindication of Haman is nothing new, but possesses a disturbing Wirkungsgeschichte.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Place and the Stone: Reassessing the Priestly Writing’s relationship to Bethel","authors":"John Will Rice","doi":"10.1177/03090892241235196","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892241235196","url":null,"abstract":"The Priestly story of Jacob at Bethel in Gen. 35.9–15 is commonly interpreted as a Priestly delegitimization of the pre-Priestly Jacob/Bethel story in Gen. 28.10–22*. This interpretation has arisen largely from the different ways in which the texts conceptualize the maqôm and maṣṣēbôt, with the Priestly text supposedly desacralizing the standing stone and turning the ‘place’ into merely a location of remembrance, not the dwelling of the deity. This article challenges this assumption, especially addressing the similarities between the Priestly conceptions of Bethel and the redactional ‘vow narrative’ in Gen. 28.20–22*. It then relates the redaction-critical findings with the historical situation at sixth-century Bethel, which seems to have been the main cultic site in Yehud during the Neo-Babylonian and early Persian periods. On the basis of this analysis the article concludes with the suggestion that Bethel be taken more seriously as a possible compositional context of P.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142225336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sequentialized Samson: Five postwar (1949–1956) comic retellings of the Judges’’ tale","authors":"Thomas Scott Cason","doi":"10.1177/03090892241248665","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892241248665","url":null,"abstract":"This essay examines comic book adaptations of the biblical story of Samson within the socio-political context of post-World War II and Cold War America. Challenging the notion that religious narratives in comics are inherently conservative, this study employs a history of interpretation approach to analyze five different adaptations, each illuminating the era’s complex cultural landscape. Themes such as distrust, binary morality, the value of duty over individualism, defiant autonomy, and nuanced masculinity are explored, revealing how these comics were not merely religious retellings but cultural artifacts shaped by the broader societal concerns of the late 1940s and 1950s. The paper argues that comic creators were acutely influenced by Cold War-era ideologies and anxieties, thus adapting the Samson narrative to address contemporary challenges. The essay contributes to the understanding of comics as both interpretive tools for ancient narratives and reflective historical documents of postwar America.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Song of Moses as a model for Isa. 10.5–19","authors":"Yochi Nissani-Kislev","doi":"10.1177/03090892241235200","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892241235200","url":null,"abstract":"Seeking to demonstrate that Isa. 10.5–19 was influenced by the Song of Moses (Deut. 32), this article first examines the links between the two texts, primarily their common theological perspective, and then proceeds to substantiate the argument by evincing that Isaiah son of Amoz develops and adapts the Song’s description of God sending an adversary to punish Israel who fails to understand the role he is assigned (Deut. 32.26–30). The discussion focuses on the way the prophet employs the Song in order to present his theology of the Assyrian enemy.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Biblical Nesher as the Griffon Vulture, Gyps fulvus: Ornithological character traits","authors":"Fred S. Cannon","doi":"10.1177/03090892231210887","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892231210887","url":null,"abstract":"The biblical Nesher נֶשֶׁר is the Griffon Vulture ( Gyps fulvus). Both the biblical Nesher and ornithological Griffon are known for their ‘bald’ head, enormous wingspan, effortless flight, cliff nesting, devoted nurturing, rapid descent, and group feasting on carrion. From biblical times until the industrial age, Griffons have been ubiquitous in the Middle East but absent in northern Europe or the Americas. However, eagles commonly resided in northern Europe but are uncommon residents or pass-through migrants in the Middle East. Through millennia, when northern Europeans sought translations for biblical plant and animal names, they sometimes replaced Middle Eastern meanings with recognizable northern European ones. So the Nesher became known as the eagle to many northern Europeans and North Americans. However, recent Hebrew-speaking ornithologists concur that the Nesher is the Griffon. This distinction becomes important when gleaning nuances from biblical metaphors, clarifying kosher dietary regulations, and discerning genealogical connections among raptors.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141167234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dreaming big: On expanding dreams, hubris, and the character of the biblical Joseph","authors":"Magnus Rabel","doi":"10.1177/03090892231222025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892231222025","url":null,"abstract":"Dreams play a special role in the Joseph narrative. They are arranged in three pairs each and carry the story forward decisively. Joseph’s dreams in particular form a narrative framework for the central theme of the story: family conflicts and dominion. Again and again, it has been observed that while Joseph’s first dream comes true, his second does not correspond entirely to the events that transpire within the narrative. Contrary to the tendency to make this second dream equal to the first, or to exclude or reinterpret it in terms of literary criticism, this essay proposes that the second dream should be understood within the negative conception of the Joseph character in Genesis 37 as a sign of Joseph’s hubris and therefore as an exaggeration or even invention which Joseph himself manufactured.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"129 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141166941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Jeremiah as the model city: ‘Iron pillar’ as temple language in Jeremiah 1.18","authors":"Joshua Seth Houston","doi":"10.1177/03090892241235201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892241235201","url":null,"abstract":"Scholars debate the originality and meaning of the phrase ולעמוד ברזל in Jeremiah 1.18. Whereas some suggest the phrase is not original to the Hebrew text and thereby dismiss the issue, others suggest the phrase signifies Jeremiah’s ability to stand strong in the face of trouble. Neither option adequately places the trifold description of Jeremiah’s ministry in its historical and narrative contexts. Thus, this article argues that Jeremiah’s description as an ‘iron pillar’ serves as an allusion to the temple, imagining Jeremiah as the ideal city in comparison to Jerusalem—God’s original ideal city.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"63 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141166920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A new Perspective on Jonathan – his covenant with David and his ultimate choice","authors":"Richard G. Hakvoort","doi":"10.1177/03090892221149050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892221149050","url":null,"abstract":"Two issues concerning the relationship between Jonathan and David are discussed, one found at the beginning and the other at the end of their joint adventures as described in 1 Samuel. First, we consider how we should interpret the covenant between Jonathan and David. It is shown that this need not be interpreted positively in all respects. It is not mentioned anywhere that David inquired of Yahweh before making this covenant. It also looks like Jonathan lacked crucial information about Yahweh’s rejection of Saul. In the end, their covenant is a pact between the rejected house of Saul and the elected house of David, which appears not to have been blessed by Yahweh. Second, it is investigated whether Jonathan has actually made a choice between his father, Saul, and his friend David. The narrative seems to hint that Jonathan has in fact chosen Saul’s side. In the end, Jonathan decided not to stay with David but to return to his father’s house. As a consequence, Jonathan fought Saul’s battle and, ultimately, died with him, resulting in David’s grief.","PeriodicalId":51830,"journal":{"name":"Journal for the Study of the Old Testament","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140075894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}