The Animalising Affliction of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4

The Animalising Affliction of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4
Author: Peter Joshua Atkins
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2022-12-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567706206

This is a detailed investigation into the nature of Nebuchadnezzar's animalising affliction in Daniel 4 and the degree to which he is depicted as actually becoming an animal. PeterAtkins examines two predominant lines of interpretation: either Nebuchadnezzar undergoes a physical metamorphosis of some kind into an animal form; or diverse other readings that specifically preclude or deny an animal transformation of the king. By providing an extensive study of these interpretative opinions, alongside innovative assessments of ancient Mesopotamian divine-human-animal boundaries, Atkins ultimately demonstrates how neither of these traditional interpretations best reflect the narrative events. While there have been numerous metamorphic interpretations of Daniel 4, these are largely reliant upon later developments within the textual tradition and are not present in the earliest edition of Nebuchadnezzar's animalising affliction. Atkins' study displays that when Daniel 4 is read in the context of Mesopotamian texts, which appear to conceive of the human-animal boundary as being indicated primarily in relation to possession or lack of the divine characteristic of wisdom, the affliction represents a far more significant categorical change from human to animal than has hitherto been identified.

Ask the Animals

Ask the Animals
Author: Arthur W. Walker-Jones
Publisher: SBL Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2024-06-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1628375922

Ask the animals, and they will tell you. Birds, beasts, and creeping things swarm throughout the Bible’s pages. Despite their prevalence, most biblical scholars have viewed them merely as metaphors, passive objects, or background embellishment to the human experience. This collection seeks to move beyond this traditional view of biblical animals by engaging the growing interdisciplinary field of animal studies. Contributors Peter Joshua Atkins, Jared Beverly, William P. Brown, Margaret Cohen, Jacob R. Evers, Michael J. Gilmour, William “Chip” Gruen, Dong Hyeon Jeong, Brian Fiu Kolia, Anne Létourneau, Robert R. MacKay, Suzanna R. Millar, Timothy J. Sandoval, Robert Paul Seesengood, Ken Stone, Brian James Tipton, Arthur W. Walker-Jones, and Jaime L. Waters showcase the breadth and depth of inquiry that animal studies can foster in biblical studies as well as what animal studies can gain from a more rigorous engagement with biblical texts. Together the essays offer an animal hermeneutic that supports the flourishing of all creatures.

Juxtaposition and the Elisha Cycle

Juxtaposition and the Elisha Cycle
Author: Rachelle Gilmour
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2014-01-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567432513

This monograph examines the juxtaposition of narrative units in biblical narrative and the effect this has on interpretation. Early rabbinical and inner-biblical interpretations suggest that juxtaposition was an intentional device used by biblical editors and authors to shape the meaning of their material. Therefore, this monograph develops a framework for recognising the ways in which adjacent units interpret and re-interpret one another and presents this framework as an important hermeneutical tool. Stories and episodes that are linked chronologically affect one another through a relationship of causes and consequences. The categories of contradiction, corroboration and question and answer are also used to describe the types of interaction between narrative units and demonstrate how such dialogues create new meaning. Indicators in the text that guide the audience towards the intended interpretation are identified in order that a 'poetics' of juxtaposition is developed. The theoretical basis established in the first half of the monograph is then applied to the Elisha cycle. Each episode is interpreted independently and then read in juxtaposition with the surrounding episodes, producing a fresh literary reading of the cycle. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate how juxtaposition functioned as a diachronic process, attention is given to the literary history of the cycle. We conjecture earlier interpretations of the Elisha episodes and compare them to the final form of the cycle. Finally, the Elisha cycle is itself a story juxtaposed with other stories and so the same principles of interpretation are used to suggest the meaning of the cycle within the book of Kings.

Good Figs, Bad Figs

Good Figs, Bad Figs
Author: R.J.R. Plant
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2008-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567434788

Good Figs, Bad Figs begins by reviewing how the Old Testament depicts YHWH exercising judgment in Israel. Three broad categories of judicial action are identified: selective, unselective, and national. It is noted that more than one of these may be juxtaposed within the same text, and that each is a corollary of a wider theological frame of reference. The rest of the study focuses on the concept of judicial differentiation in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah 1 - 20 announce wrath upon all Judah, while chs. 30 - 33 prophesy restoration for the entire Diaspora. Elsewhere, however, YHWH's judicial action is more nuanced. Jer. 21 - 24 differentiates between those who stay in Jerusalem and those who surrender (21.1-10), between Israel's leaders and people (23.1-8), and between the exiles and non-exiles (24.1-10). Jeremiah 27 - 29 also distinguishes between exiled and non-exiled communities, but adds a 'people and prophets' polarity. Finally, Jer. 37 - 45 offers hope to those who surrender (38.1-3) or remain in the land (42.1-22), alongside salvation oracles for two individuals who do not conform to these conditions (39.15-18; 45.1-5). Three main conclusions are drawn. Firstly, the polarities of judgment and salvation in Jer. are more varied than has generally been appreciated. Secondly, this diversity of perspective is theologically significant; it is suggested that each polarity offers a valid though incomplete lens through which to interpret God's judicial action. Thirdly, the concepts of judicial differentiation and non-differentiation may offer a helpful framework in which to read the book of Jeremiah as a whole.

Terror All Around

Terror All Around
Author: Amy Kalmanofsky
Publisher: T&T Clark
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2008-06-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN:

Among the many strategies of persuasive speech, biblical prophets often employ a rhetoric of horror. Prophets use verbal threats and graphic images of destruction to terrify their audience. Contemporary horror theory provides insight into the rhetoric of horror employed by the prophets. In this book, Amy Kalmanofsky applies horror theory to the book of Jeremiah and considers the nature of biblical horror and the objects that provoke horror, as well as the ways texts like Jeremiah work to elicit horror from their audience. Kalmanofsky begins by analyzing the emotional response of horror as reflected in characters' reactions to terrifying entities in the book of Jeremiah. Horror, she concludes, is a composite emotion consisting of fear in response to a threatening entity and a corresponding response of shame either directed toward one's self or felt on behalf of another. Having considered the nature of horror, she turns to the objects that elicit horror and consider their ontological qualities and the nature of the threat they pose. There are two central monstrous figures in the book of Jeremiah-aggressor God and defeated Israel. Both of these monsters refuse to be integrated into and threaten to disintegrate the expected order of the universe. She then presents a close, rhetorical reading of Jeremiah 6 and consider the way this text works to horrify its audience. The book concludes by considering fear's place within religious experience and the theological implications of a rhetoric that portrays God and Israel as monsters.

Mediating Between Heaven and Earth

Mediating Between Heaven and Earth
Author: C.L. Crouch
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2012-05-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567461629

Analyzes the variety of religious practices employed to communicate with deities and to interpret the divine response, including intuitive divination (prophecy), technical divination and prayers.

Are We Amused?

Are We Amused?
Author: Athalya Brenner
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2003-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567083306

Essays on women, men, gender roles and humor as social critique.

Prophecy and Power: Jeremiah in Feminist and Postcolonial Perspective

Prophecy and Power: Jeremiah in Feminist and Postcolonial Perspective
Author: Christl M. Maier
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2014-03-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567028658

This volume advances the scholarly discussion of Jeremiah via rigorous feminist and postcolonialist theorizing of texts and interpretive issues in that prophetic book. The essays here, by seasoned scholars of Jeremiah, offer significant traction on the biblical book's construction of the persona of Jeremiah and the subjectivity of Judah as subaltern; analysis of gendered imagery for the speaking subject in Jeremiah and for the Judean social body; exploration of rhetorics of imperialism and resistance; and theological implications of feminist-critical perspectives on YHWH and other deities represented in Jeremiah. Essays here deftly synthesize historical, literary, and ideological-critical insights in service of nuanced inquiry into Jeremiah as complex cultural production. The collection represents the growing edge of recent critical thinking on Jeremiah in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. It should prove invaluable in shaping the parameters of the continuing scholarly conversation on the Book of Jeremiah.

The Open Book and the Sealed Book

The Open Book and the Sealed Book
Author: Andrew G. Shead
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2002-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567267504

A textual commentary on Jeremiah 32 whose textlinguistically-oriented methodology helps to uncover far more haplography in the Septuagint Vorlage than hitherto suspected..

The Triumph of Irony in the Book of Judges

The Triumph of Irony in the Book of Judges
Author: Lillian R. Klein
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 266
Release: 1988-09-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567414981

The Triumph of Irony in the Book of Judges focuses on the literary quality of the book of Judges. Klein extrapolates the theme of irony in the book of Judges, seeking to prove that it is the main structural element. She points out how this literary device adds to the overall meaning and tone of the book, and what it reveals about the culture of the time. Chronologically divided into sections, Klein explores the narrative and commentates on the literary properties throughout-plot, character development, and resolution, as well as the main theme of irony.