Context for Confusion: Understanding Babel in the Book of Beginnings

The meaning of the Tower of Babel episode in Genesis 11 proves to be continually elusive for both biblical scholars and pastors. While the results of this momentous event in world history seem obvious, owing to the racial and linguistic diversity present in the world today, the reason for God\u27s judgment over the unified peoples who attempted to build together is far less clear. This has even led some to question the justice and wisdom of God, considering the challenges posed by racial division throughout history. As with most questions of biblical interpretation, however, the key to interpretation lies within the unity of the text itself. The Babel passage stands as the climax to the primeval history section of Genesis and, therefore, relies heavily on the literary themes and motifs which are presented in earlier chapters. Relying on these clues along with supplemental material from the contemporary cultures of the Genesis account, this study will probe the meaning of the Babel narrative in light of man\u27s descending spiral into sin, just before God decisively re-enters history to begin his redemptive master plan

The Use of Priestly Legal Tradition in Joshua and the Composition of the Pentateuch and Joshua

This article looks at how priestly legal materials can be seen to have been used in Joshua. This includes the allotment of towns of refuge, levitical towns, the concept of centralization of worship (Joshua 22:9-34) and the Passover. The argument will be that priestly material has been incorporated in a Deuteronomic framework and that Joshua can be seen as a document that quite uniquely combines Priestly and Deuteronomic legal materials. In this, Deuteronomic legal materials can be considered as encompassing priestly materials from an interpretative perspective, in line with the narrative order of Priestly and Deuteronomic materials in the Pentateuch. Relevant textual issues will also be taken into consideration, such as with the portrayal of the Passover in Joshua. In addition, the article considers issues that relate to theory construction and how they relate to the topic in question

Redressing Clothing in the Hebrew Bible: Material-Cultural Approaches

Despite the dynamic portrayal of clothes in the Hebrew Bible scholars continue to interpret them as flat and inert objects. They are often overlooked or reduced to background details in the biblical texts. However, this thesis will demonstrate that the biblical writers’ depictions of clothes are not incidental and should not be reduced to such depictions. This thesis employs a multidisciplinary approach to develop and challenge existing approaches to the clothing imagery in the Hebrew Bible. It will fall into two main parts. In the first part, I draw insights from material-cultural theories to reconfigure ways of thinking about clothing as material objects, and reassessing the relationships between people and objects. Having challenged some of the broader conceptions of clothing, I will turn to interrogate the material and visual evidence for clothing and textiles from ancient Syro- Palestinian and ancient West Asian cultures to construct a perspective of the social and material impact of clothing in the culture in which the biblical texts were constructed and formed. In the second part, I will examine the biblical writers’ depiction of clothing through two case studies: Joseph’s ketonet passim (Genesis 37) and Elijah’s adderet (1 Kings 19 and 2 Kings 2). These analyses will draw from the insights made in the first part of this thesis to reassess and challenge the conventional scholarly interpretations of clothing in these texts. In this thesis, I argue that clothes are employed in powerful ways as material objects which construct and develop the social, religious and material dimensions of the text. They are also intimately entangled in relationships with the characters portrayed by the biblical writers and can even be considered as extensions of the people with whom they are engaged. Clothes manifest their own agency and power, which can transform other persons and objects through their performance and movement in a biblical text.Arts and Humanities Research Counci

Menorah Review (No. 22, Spring, 1991)

The Christian-Jewish Encounter -- Hooked on Academic Freedom and Integrity -- Genesis and Semiosis: Structural Reading of a Biblical Book -- Book Briefing