What is Wrong With the Old Testament? Some Reflections on War and Violence in the Hebrew Bible

In this his Inaugural Lecture as Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at New College, Hans Barstad looks at how we can approach the Hebrew Bible without disregarding its difficult passages, and explores how we can use these to gain a deeper Christian understanding of contemporary issues such as war and violence

On Scottish sawflies, with results of the 14th International Sawfly Workshop, in the southern Highlands, 2010 (Hymenoptera, Symphyta).

Die Ergebnisse der Feldarbeit aus dem 14. Internationalen Sawfly Workshop werden vorgestellt. Dies fand im südlichen schottischen Hochland, überwiegend in Perthshire, statt. Einige Nachweise von Pflanzenwespen aus anderen Teilen von Schottland sind enthalten. Erstnachweise für die Britischen Inseln werden für acht tenthredinide Arten erbracht: Amauronematus mimus, Phyllocolpa alienata, P. erythropyga, P. plicalapponum, P. plicaphylicifolia, P. prussica, Pristiphora thalictri und Tenthredo ignobilis. A. mimus ist auch aus Irland nachgewiesen. Amauronematus stenogaster ist aus der Liste der Symphyta der Britischen Inseln zu entfernen. Erstmalig sind in Schottland eine Cephiden-Art (Hartigia xanthostoma) und zehn Tenthrediniden gefunden worden (Claremontia uncta, Dolerus brevicornis, Empria basalis, Empria parvula, Parna apicalis, Pristiphora decipiens, Pristiphora leucopus, Pristiphora testacea, Tenthredo mandibularis und Tenthredopsis ornata). Merkmale für die Unterscheidung einzelner Arten werden dargestellt. Der Locus typicus von Nematus herbaceae Cameron, 1876 ist geklärt. Geranium pratense ist als Wirtspflanze von Macrophya albipuncta bestätigt. Salix reticulata ist eine Wirtspflanze von Amauronematus mcluckieae. Sedum rosea kann eine Wirtspflanze von Tenthredo ignobilis sein. Allgemeine Schlussfolgerungen: hoher Artenreichtum der Pflanzenwespenfauna von Perthshire im Vergleich zu anderen Regionen in Schottland, darunter mehrere Arten, die auf den Britischen Inseln nur von dort bekannt sind; die Wichtigkeit der Erhaltung der Lebensräume von Felssimsen; große Defizite in unseren Kenntnissen bei vielen Arten, insbesondere zu Wirtspflanzen, Phänologie und Verbreitung; hoher Wert der Malaise-Falle in faunistischen Untersuchungen von Symphyta, weil das Spektrum von erfassten Taxa sich unterscheidet von dem was mit Streifnetz erfasst wird; Zusammensetzung des 'fall-out’ auf Schneeresten deutet darauf hin, dass Pflanzenwespen in einem größeren Ausmaß als bisher angenommen, aktiver Dispersion innerhalb von Landmassen unterliegen.StichwörterBritish Isles, Cephidae, Pamphiliidae, Tenthredinoidea, hosts, phenology, distribution.Results of fieldwork are presented from the 14th International Sawfly Workshop, held in the southern Highlands of Scotland, mostly in Perthshire. Some records of Symphyta from other parts of Scotland are included. First records in the British Isles are given for eight tenthredinid species: Amauronematus mimus, Phyllocolpa alienata, P. erythropyga, P. plicalapponum, P. plicaphylicifolia, P. prussica, Pristiphora thalictri and Tenthredo ignobilis. A. mimus is also recorded from Ireland. Amauronematus stenogaster is removed from the list of British Isles Symphyta. Recorded for the first time in Scotland are one cephid (Hartigia xanthostoma) and ten tenthredinids (Claremontia uncta, Dolerus brevicornis, Empria basalis, Empria parvula, Parna apicalis, Pristiphora decipiens, Pristiphora leucopus, Pristiphora testacea, Tenthredo mandibularis and Tenthredopsis ornata). Characters useful for the distinction of some species are illustrated. The type locality of Nematus herbaceae Cameron, 1876 is clarified. Geranium pratense is confirmed as a host of Macrophya albipuncta. Salix reticulata is a host of Amauronematus mcluckieae [mandatory correction of spelling of species name]. Sedum rosea may be a host of Tenthredo ignobilis. General conclusions: high species richness of Perthshire sawfly fauna compared to other regions of Scotland, including several species only known in British Isles from there; importance to conservation of rock-ledge habitats; large data deficits for many species, particularly on hosts, phenology and distribution; high value of Malaise traps in faunal survey of Symphyta, because spectrum of taxa captured differs from that recorded by hand-netting; as indicated by species and sex composition of ‘fall-out’ on snow patches, adult sawflies undertake active dispersal, within landmasses, to a greater extent than is often assumed.KeywordsBritish Isles, Cephidae, Pamphiliidae, Tenthredinoidea, hosts, phenology, distribution

What is wrong with the Old Testament? Some reflections on war and violence in the Hebrew Bible

In this his Inaugural Lecture as Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at New College, Hans Barstad looks at how we can approach the Hebrew Bible without disregarding its difficult passages, and explores how we can use these to gain a deeper Christian understanding of contemporary issues such as war and violence.Publisher PD

History and the Hebrew Bible ; The Myth of the Empty Land ; The Babylonian Captivity of the Book of Isaiah ; A Way in the Wilderness

A Way in the Wilderness. The 'Second Exodus' in the Message ofSecond Isaiah (Journal of Semitic Studies. Monograph, 12; Manchester: The University of Manchester, 1989); The Babylonian Captivity of the Book of Isaiah. 'Exilic' Judah and the Provenance of Isaiah 40-55 (The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture. Series B, 102; Oslo: Novus, 1997); The Myth of the Empty Land. A Study in the History and Archaeology of Judah During the 'Exilic' Period (Symbolae Osloenses Fasc. Suppl., 28; Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1996); History and the Hebrew Bible. Studies in Ancient Israelite and Ancient Near Eastern Historiography (Forschungen zum Alten Testament, 61; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008). A Way in the Wilderness is a study of the Hebrew text of Isaiah 40-55. In this volume I argue that many of the references to 'wilderness', 'water', and 'way' have misguidedly been taken as allusions to a 'second Exodus'. Rather than being Exodus motifs, the majority of these texts refer to a new Judah after the exile, and the likely location of the text is Jerusalem/Judah, not Babylon. Another important outcome of this study concerns the nature of prophetic language. Whereas numerous scholars have dealt with linguistic, grammatical, and literary features of Hebrew poetry, not many have taken into consideration that metaphoric/poetic texts also have a different cognitive status from Hebrew prose. In The Babylonian Captivity of the Book of Isaiah, I follow up the textual study of Isaiah 40-55 with a study of the history of research surrounding the birth of the Babylonian location thesis of this Isaian text. Based on a thorough study of the older secondary literature, particularly in Germany, I am able to conclude that none of the 19th century arguments (many of them still prevailing in recent scholarship) can be upheld today. The 'Babylonian Isaiah' therefore provides us with a striking example of how a thesis has continued to be influential long after the presuppositions that once led to its birth have ceased to be valid. One of the major premises for placing Isaiah 40-55 in Babylon and not in Judah was the former belief that Judah and Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. However, recent archaeological excavations and surveys have demonstrated beyond doubt a continued material culture in Judah and Jerusalem in the period. In The Myth of the Empty Land, I use archaeology, economical models, and Hebrew and Neo-Babylonian sources to argue for continuity rather than a gap in the culture of Judah after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Simultaneously with textual, historical, and archaeological research, I have always taken an interest in method and theory. Some of my studies in these areas, together with the updating of The Myth of the Empty Land by considering also the most recent discussions, are collected in History and the Hebrew Bible.These four volumes are all dealing with a unified topic: The history and literature of Judah in the post exilic period illuminated through the Hebrew text of Isaiah 40-55, as well as with questions concerning theory and method

"Der rasende Zeus" : ein Beitrag zum Verständnis von Lukians "De dea Syria"

No abstract availabl

De-demonising the Old Testament : an investigation of Azazel, Lilith, Deber, Qeteb and Reshef in the Hebrew Bible

The subject of demons and demonology has fascinated scholars and non-scholars, ancient and modern alike; it is not surprising that much work has been done on the topic by biblical scholars too. Chapter 1 places the present study within the existing scholarship showing that the early works on ‘OT demonology’ were influenced by comparative religion, anthropology, and an increasing interest in Mesopotamian and Canaanite parallels as well as a concern to seek and find vestiges of ancient religious beliefs in the Old Testament. The consensus of early 20th century scholars regarding what constitutes a ‘demon’ in the Old Testament has not been challenged by modern scholarship. Chapter 2 shows that biblical scholars still commonly turn to the ancient Near Eastern religions and cultures to explain difficult passages in the Hebrew Bible, to find parallels or the ‘original’ of difficult terms and concepts. Since it is generally accepted without challenge that azazel, lilith, deber, qeteb and reshef are the personal names of ‘demons’ appearing in the Hebrew Bible, the necessity arises to return to the texts in order to examine each term in its context. The present study seeks to answer the question whether these five terms are names of ‘demons’ in the Hebrew texts as we have them today. To accomplish its goal the present study will provide an exegesis based on Close Reading of all the relevant biblical passages in which the terms azazel (chapter 3), lilith (chapter 4), deber (chapter 5), qeteb (chapter 6), and reshef (chapter 7) appear. Attention is paid to the linguistic, semantic, and structural levels of the texts. The emphasis is on a close examination of the immediate context in order to determine the function (and if possible the meaning) of each term. The reading focuses on determining how the various signals within the text can guide towards meaning, noting how the (implied) poet/author uses the various poetical/rhetorical devices, especially personification, but also parallelism, similes, irony, and mythological elements. The present study shows that contrary to former and current scholarship there is nothing in the texts to support the view that azazel, lilith, deber, qeteb and reshef are the names of ‘demons’. Azazel appears as the personification of the forces of chaos that threaten the order of creation; his role is to stand in contrast to Yahweh. The context requires that lilith is regarded as a bird, a night bird being the most plausible explanation of the term. Deber, qeteb and reshef are personifications of destructive forces and appear as agents of Yahweh, members of his ’Angels of Evil’ who bring punishment (death) on the people of Israel for disobedience. There is no evidence to suggest that there are mythological figures behind azazel, lilith or the personifications of deber and qeteb. In case of reshef there is a possible connection to the Semitic deity Reshef. However, the mythological motifs are used merely as a poetic device.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo