The Sacrifice for (the) God(s) after the Flood in Ancient Israel and the Ancient Near East : a new interpretation

The experience of a large, devastating flood is part of the cultural heritage of mankind. The famous ‘texts of the deluge’ come from Mesopotamia. Here, the flood tradition dates back to the 3rd Millennium. The longest and most traditional of these texts, which – amongst other things – deal with the interpretation of these events, is the Atramḫasis myth. The literary-dependent text is the Gilgamesh epic, and the Old Testament version is the story of the Flood that is found in Genesis 6–9. For a long time the similarities and differences between these three texts have been known. However, so far little attention was given to a passage that all three texts share: the sacrifice of the surviving humans after the Flood. The reaction of the deity(ies) differs in these three texts. In this article I would like to consider the similarities and differences between the texts in order to evaluate the significance of the Old Testament text. This is against the background of recent insights in the field of ancient Israelite sacrifice, related to cultural anthropology. These three passages are first considered in their context and then compared to the relevant aspects of each other before a conclusion is drawn.http://www.ve.org.zaam2013mn201

Ancient Egyptian Ma‘at or Old Testament deed-consequence nexus as predecessors of ubuntu?

The Ancient Egyptian concept of Ma‘at shows some analogies to the concept of ubuntu. Both concepts seem to presuppose that people in a given society are willing to act for each other. In Bible exegesis, the concept of Ma‘at has attracted interest in connection with the Old Testament deed-consequence nexus (i.e. good consequences follow good deeds). The article looks at significant parallels between ubuntu, Ma‘at and the deed-consequence nexus. Its aim is to outline questions that have been discussed in the context of those two ancient concepts and that could be helpful for future research on ubuntu.http://www.ve.org.zaam2016Old Testament Studie

Ancient Egyptian <i>Ma�at</i> or Old Testament deed-consequence nexus as predecessors of <i>ubuntu</i>?

The Ancient Egyptian concept of Ma�at shows some analogies to the concept of ubuntu. Both concepts seem to presuppose that people in a given society are willing to act for each other. In Bible exegesis, the concept of Ma�at has attracted interest in connection with the Old Testament deed-consequence nexus (i.e. good consequences follow good deeds). The article looks at significant parallels between ubuntu, Ma�at and the deed-consequence nexus. Its aim is to outline questions that have been discussed in the context of those two ancient concepts and that could be helpful for future research on ubuntu

Wisdom and ethics - the contribution of sapiential ethics for Old Testament ethics

Old Testament sapiential literature is often described as "ethical literature", however, when concepts on Old Testament ethics are formulated, this literature is often overlooked. Furthermore, there are almost no monographs on the ethics of Old Testament wisdom. Could this perhaps be due to not only the claim that Old Testament wisdom thinking lacks divine revelation or reference to other Old Testament traditions (cf Nel 2002 : 435), but also to the opinion that there are no "ethics", but only "ethos" in this kind of literature? This article tries to show that "ethics" by definition can be found in Old Testament wisdom literature. Two recent German articles are introduced to the reader : Kaiser (1997) and Zimmermann (2002) reflect on the implicit and explicit ethics of Old Testament wisdom. These articles and other observations underscore the fact that the sapiential literature of the Old Testament contribute significantly to Old Testament ethics - and therein continues the efforts of authors like Nel (2002)

Trendy monotheism? Ancient Near Eastern models and their value in elucidating 'monotheism' in ancient Israelite

The article starts from the challenging theses in recent research in the field of ancient Near Eastern studies, according to which ‘monotheism’ is declared to be a well-known phenomenon in the ancient Near East. Although this assertion may be questionable, e.g., from the perspective of the science of religion, it encourages the possibility of a new approach to the study of ancient Israelite beliefs about the divine: Is it possible that the religion of the Old Testament is more closely related to ancient Near Eastern ‘monotheism,’ than ancient Israelite polytheism is related to ancient Near Eastern polytheism

Zur historischen Kontingenz ethnischer Grenzziehungen

Müller M. Die ethnische Aufladung des Fremden in der Moderne. In: Baumann G, Gillmayr-Bucher S, Häusl M, Hofman D, eds. Zugänge zum Fremden. Methodisch-hermeneutische Perspektiven zu einem biblischen Thema. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang; 2012: 169-186