The Unheard Voices in the Hebrew Bible: The Nameless and Silent Wife of Jeroboam (1 Kgs 14:1-18)

 This article discusses the story of the Egyptian wife of Jeroboam in 1 Kings 14:1–18. Women are generally marginalized in the Old Testament—in most instances, their names are not mentioned, words are not put in their mouths, their achievements are behind the scenes in the narratives. This article is interested in the discussion of the nameless and silent wife of Jeroboam. In the Masoretic (MT), the narrator did not name her despite the dominant and significant role she played in the narrative. However, in the Greek text (Account B), she is identified as “Ano,” the daughter of Pharaoh of Egypt. This paper argues that the silence of the wife of Jeroboam in the MT has great meaning and importance in the narrative—it signifies patience, obedience, humility, and self-control. She displayed these characteristics in the face of all the provocation from her husband and the prophecy of the death of her son from the Prophet Ahijah. https://doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2020/v33n3a

Africa and Africans in the Old Testament scheme of salvation

This article entails a critical investigation of the role of Africa and Africans in the scheme of Salvation in the Old Testament. It identifies the terminology used to refer to Africa and Africans in the ancient period, and critically examines the salvific events in which God used Africa and Africans to deliver the children of Israel.This article is a reworking of a commissioned paper presented at the 9th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Association for Biblical Studies, Ogbomosho, Nigeria, 2004.nf201

Christianity and the African traditional religion(s) : the postcolonial round of engagement

This paper was originally presented at the World Reform Fellowship Conference, Krugersdorp (Agterberg Center), South Africa, 23–25 September 2008.This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. Unlike the colonial encounter with AIR, which was characterised by hostility and the condemnation of AIR, the postcolonial encounter should be characterised by mutual respect, understanding, tolerance, and some level of freedom, liberation and genuineness. In this way, suspicion will be reduced, because despite the adherents’ confession of Christianity, AIR is not about to be extinct.http://www.ve.org.zanf201

Religion and Elections in Nigeria: A Historical Perspective

Elections in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious people like Nigeria can be a serious practice with many risks. They can also be marked by violence, corruption, intimidation and deceit. The history of Nigerian elections appears to reflect the above characteristics. It has been confirmed that Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world. Therefore it should not be a surprise that Nigerian elections will be greatly influenced by religion. This article traces the history of Nigerian elections from the pre-colonial to the post-independent period up to 2015. Most importantly, the strong evidence of not only violence, corruption and intimidation, but also the serious aggressive influence of religion—mostly negatively on Nigerian elections—is clear and cannot be disputed

Semiotic interpretation of selected Psalms inscriptions (23, 35, 121) on motor vehicles in Nigeria

CITATION: Adamo, D. T. 2015. Semiotic interpretation of selected Psalms inscriptions (23, 35, 121) on motor vehicles in Nigeria. Scriptura, 114(1):1-13, doi:10.7833/114-0-1140.The original publication is available at http://scriptura.journals.ac.zaSemiotics is defined as ‘thinking in signs’ that is, a set of theories and analytical practices concerned with the process of ‘production of meaning.’ Hence, semiotics is anything that is used to tell or communicate. Semiotic exegesis is the application of semiotic paradigms to critical biblical studies. The path of semiotic analysis as applied to the critical study of the Bible took off in the seventies and the turning points came in the eighties and continued in the nineties into the present. The inscriptions of Psalms 23, 35, and 121, represent the presence of the Almighty God who is believed to be travellers'r escort and that such signs or inscriptions on vehicles sanctify the vehicles against accidents, deaths, armed robberies and kidnappings on many of Nigeria’s dangerous roads where no one is actually sure of any safe trip, because these are signs of protection, healing and success.http://scriptura.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1140Publisher's versio

Decolonising the Reading of Psalm 8 in an African (Yoruba) Context.

Psalm 8 is one of the most important psalms of praise to YHWH. Unlike other psalms of praise, this psalm begins with the name of God, Yahweh, which clearly and unmistakeably expresses that he is glorious throughout his creation. Psalm 8 not only expresses the glory of Yahweh, but also the value and responsibility of humanity. This article examines how Psalm 8 is read and interpreted in an African/Yoruba religious and cultural tradition as a psalm of protection, healing, and success. Some archaeological evidence seems to support the use of the Bible that way. The effectiveness of such use in the African/Yoruba Christian tradition is not doubted because a strong faith is behind it. Such use represents an African/Yoruba affirmation of faith in Yahweh who will repeat the miracles of healing, protection, and success that he had performed in ancient Israel in their present lives

Psalms as a Vehicle for Historiography

The Book of Psalms is the most read books of the Bible and one of the most read books in the world. It is also one of the most debatable books of the Bible. The value placed on the Bible as a historical source is fundamentally important. While the maximalists think that the biblical account should be the primary source of the history of ancient Israel, and everything that could not be proved wrong must be accepted as historical, the minimalists think otherwise and rely on the primacy of archaeology because they think that the Bible is not a reliable document in terms of historical account. The centrists acknowledge the value of the biblical texts in preserving reliable evidence on the history of ancient Israel. However, they consider the way the stories were written and presented as highly ideological and believe they were adapted to the needs of the community when they were written. The major contention in this paper is whether the Book of Psalms contains any authentic historical documents/historiography or not. This article maintains that the Bible, particularly the Book of Psalms, contains some reliable historical documents that could be considered as a source of historiography. The Book of Psalms represents the history of ancient Israel in its historical allusions and the praises. This representation of history is, for the writers and readers of the Psalms—whether in chanting, memorising, singing, writing or copying—a way to remember the mighty act of Yahweh and also to participate mysteriously in the actual events that took place in the past history of ancient Israel; so that the present participants can experience the very miracles that took place long ago. It is expected that those miracles and events are able to take place again in the life of the believers who read, write, chant, sing or recount the Psalms

READING JEREMIAH 13:23 IN AN AFRICAN CONTEXT

This paper examines the meaning and importance of Jeremiah 13:23 critically. The author argues that one of the greatest prophets of ancient Israel, having been familiar with the military might, wisdom and vastness of their African territories does not despise black African people but uses them as standards against which to evaluate Israel in Jeremiah 13:23 as did other biblical passages (Amos 9:7; Is 17:3, 11-15; 30:1-2; 31:1-3; 45:14; Ez 27:7; Dn 11:43). The reasons for using black people and nations as standards against which to evaluate Israel are: first, their vast territories, great military might and power, wealth and wisdom (Is 19:5, 11-15; Is 45:14; Ez 27:7; Dn 11:43); second, it makes their high esteem to be boosted when these nations are cited as paradigmatic. The central theological message of Jeremiah 13:23 is to address the question of Judah’s habituation of sin which leads to slavery that is irredeemable. Judah has an indelible stain and “her evil habits held her fast like bands of steelâ€. The various English translations of Jeremiah 13:23 in different English versions of the Bible are misleading and therefore a disservice to the black race all over the world. The proper translation according to this author should have been: “Would Black Africans change their skin or the leopards their sports? So also you who have learnt to do evil could do evil.â