Abstract This article examines how biblical and classical texts textualized experiential spatial knowledge: the cognitive frameworks humans use to navigate and communicate about space through lived experience. Comparative analysis reveals that ancient authors preserved universal cognitive patterns while adapting them for diverse communicative purposes. Comparison with classical sources illuminates what is distinctive in biblical geographical discourse: while both traditions share fundamental spatial cognition, biblical texts predominantly deployed these frameworks to construct communal identity and embed sacred narrative within recognizable landscapes, whereas other ancient traditions adapted the same patterns for purposes ranging from practical navigation to historiographical credibility to epic atmosphere. The study demonstrates how textualization transformed oral spatial knowledge, enabling conscious literary choices that maintained experiential authenticity while serving genre-specific and culturally specific functions. For biblical studies, this comparative approach reveals that biblical geography represents an authorial strategy that is deeply rooted in universal human cognition yet distinctively deployed for theological and commemorative purposes.
Abstract The “second gathering of maidens” in Esth 2:19 has perplexed readers, since it suggests a continuing search for a queen directly after Esther is chosen. This article proposes a new delimitation of the chapter’s textual units indicated by two inclusio structures: vv. 8–19a and vv. 19b–23. The inclusio of vv. 8–19a provides textual cohesion and indicates the pericope’s focus on the young women being gathered for the king. The infinitival phrase of v. 19a is thus interpreted as grammatically subordinated to the preceding clauses. The word הנחה (v. 18) is understood as referring to a dismissal of the maidens who were unsuccessful in winning the king’s affection. The text indicates a contrast between the festive banquet celebrating Esther’s coronation and this “second gathering” of maidens for the purpose of sending them back to their home provinces.
Abstract This essay examines two recent publications that deal with the subject of humanistic scholarship under Nazi rule. The first examines the life and work of Friedemann Boschwitz, one of the last Jewish scholars to receive a doctorate in Germany before World War II . Although forgotten for many years, his dissertation was one of the first attempts to analyze Wellhausen’s oeuvre as a whole and is now considered a major contribution to Forschungsgeschichte . The second is a collection of essays that investigate various facets of humanistic scholarship during the Nazi era. The aim of these essays it to demonstrate the disconnect between the supposed ideals of a humanistic education and the abdication of those ideals by many scholars during the Nazi period. Taken together, these two works provide cautionary examples of how scholars of the humanities may be coopted by racist and prejudicial ideologies.
Abstract The eschatological prophecy in Mal 3:13–21 has many singularities. It is exceptional in relation to the other prophecies in the book of Malachi as well as to the other eschatological prophecies and concepts in the entire Hebrew Bible. One of these unique elements is the absence of any national component from Malachi’s last prophecy. Another important element is the unparalleled description of the “day” and the character of the experience of the righteous and the wicked. It is proposed that the Persian background of this prophecy has the ability to explain this prophetical passage and its singularities. This article argues that the author of this passage was influenced by the ancient Zoroastrian concept of an eschatological fiery ordeal.
Abstract This study argues that the Old Greek ( OG ) translation of Isa 32:1–2 portrays the king not simply as an ideal ruler, but as an eschatological messiah. Through a series of distinctive translation choices, the OG translator shifts the focus of verse 2 from collective royal administration to a singular king, shaping a theological portrait consistent with apocalyptic expectation. More originally, the article shows that the OG aligns this royal figure with the servant in Isa 49 through intertextual echoes and translational harmonizations—especially the shared motif of divine concealment followed by glorious revelation to Israel and the nations. These links suggest that the king in Isa 32 is not a historical or idealized monarch from Israel’s past but a postexilic redeemer. His emergence and global exaltation mark the arrival of the eschatological age, identifying him as a messiah in the strictest and most technical sense of the term.
Abstract The noun נער has traditionally been understood to denote youth or subordinate status. Recent scholarship, however, has increasingly emphasized social status over age. This article examines the nouns ילד , עבד , and אישׁ , which at times replace or co-occur with נער , along with the syntactic properties that shape its contextual meaning. It also analyzes the semantics of the cognate feminine form נערה and the cognate abstract nouns to refine the understanding of the term’s semantic range. The semantic features and syntactic patterns thus revealed challenge recent scholarly claims, demonstrating that youth remains the core semantic component of the term. Contextual variation accounts for its association with different ages and, at times, with low social status or military service. A general diachronic development is proposed: נער , which originally referred to physical youth, has acquired additional senses associated with social subordination and military function through the conventionalization of implicature.
Abstract Micah 2:1–5 is commonly understood as a prophetic rebuke of powerful oppressors who exploit landowners. This article challenges that interpretation, proposing that the unit’s primary concern is human agency—its value, its misuse, and the prophetic demand for its just and responsible exercise. The unit’s structure, as demonstrated in this article, comprises two distinct yet interrelated components (vv. 1, 3 and vv. 2, 4–5), which underscore the operation of the lex talionis principle linking rebuke and judgment. This principle not only reinforces the structural division but also illuminates the multifaceted representation of human agency, further reflected in the unit’s literary features. Ultimately, Mic 2:1–5 calls upon its human audience to act across multiple dimensions and to assume responsibility for employing the power entrusted to them for good.
Abstract Classical inclusios discussed in biblical literature involve the repetition of words or phrases from the beginning of a textual unit at its end to form an “envelope construction.” This article, however, identifies another form of inclusio in which the opening and conclusion allude to an external text. This type of “intertextual inclusio ” is identified in three Psalms—Pss 129, 126, and 40.
Abstract Scholars have routinely ascribed the reference to Moses’s staff at Exod 14:16a α ( הרם את מטך ) to the Priestly source or stratum, or else they have identified it as a redactional insertion of one form or another. However, neither of these explanations adequately accounts for the textual and literary evidence related to this and other references to Moses’s staff in the exodus narrative. Therefore, on the basis of both text-critical and source-critical evidence, the present article offers an alternative solution, namely, that the reference to Moses’s staff at Exod 14:16a α is a post-Pentateuchal harmonizing interpolation introduced at an early stage of the Pentateuch’s transmission. In so doing, the article also attempts to demonstrate that Exod 14:16a α does not belong to a single, post-Priestly redaction that introduced Moses’s staff into several other episodes in Exod 4–17, as some scholars have recently argued.
Abstract This article addresses the translational puzzle of וְלֹא בְּיָד חֲזָקָה in Exod 3:19b. Existing interpretations are deemed unsatisfactory: textual emendations lack support or may reflect later scribal interventions; rendering וְלֹא as “not even” creates logical inconsistency; and other proposals are semantically strained or syntactically forced. I propose that לֹא functions as a pro- VP (= verb phrase) for “will not allow you to go” and בְּיָד חֲזָקָה as an adverbial modifying this negated phrase. This interpretation is supported by analogous constructions in English and by a parallel structure in the Hebrew Bible. Accordingly, the phrase is best translated as “that is, he won’t, by a mighty hand,” or “that is, he will forcefully refuse.” This reading resolves the contradiction between v. 19 and v. 20; it also anticipates Pharaoh’s forceful refusal and foreshadows the greater power of God’s hand in the subsequent narrative.
Abstract Completed probably around 390 ce , Jerome’s Psalterium iuxta Hebraeos (Hh) is considered one of his earliest translations based on the Hebraica Veritas . His technique in Hh is often described as highly literal. However, it remains unclear how this literalism affected Jerome’s rendering of Hebrew verb-plus-noun idioms. This article—the first of its kind in Vulgate studies—analyzes Jerome’s translation of such expressions using a fourfold taxonomy adopted from Septuagint studies. Among its conclusions, the article shows that Jerome’s literalistic approach frequently resulted in Hebraisms, reinforcing the traditional view of his technique as highly literal and rigid. At the same time, it identifies instances where Jerome conveys the general meaning of idioms without sacrificing formal correspondence. This suggests that his form-oriented translation strategy does not necessarily reflect a lack of proficiency in Hebrew or disregard for making his translation accessible for his audience. More broadly, the article contributes to ongoing discussions of translation technique in the ancient versions, illustrating that a single translator may employ multiple strategies and that literal renderings do not automatically imply a lack of understanding of the source text. These findings hold significance for all scholars working on the Hebrew Bible and its versions.
Abstract This article explores the interplay of trauma and ideology in the book of Lamentations. Drawing on sociocultural approaches to trauma, it argues that Lamentations functions not only as a poetic expression of collective suffering but also as a deliberate means of shaping memory and advancing political agendas. By tracing how responsibility for the Babylonian catastrophe is allocated, the article shows that blame is widely dispersed—to prophets, priests, elders, the people, and even God—while the king is shielded, portrayed alongside his royal entourage as a victim rather than a culprit. This strategic recasting preserves the dignity of the Davidic line and highlights the text’s concern with safeguarding the monarchy’s reputation. The study further proposes that this selective blaming may reflect the leadership struggles in Yehud at the end of the sixth century, revealing Lamentations as a subtle vehicle for promonarchic interests.
Abstract This short article examines the use of the color black as a conceptual metaphor for moral and emotional states in two key verses of Ben Sira’s book. In Sir 19:26 blackness refers to a deceptive facade: The wicked person adopts a darkened appearance to feign humility and conceal underlying deceit. In Sir 25:17 blackness signifies the consequences of wickedness: Depending on the textual tradition, a wife’s wickedness either darkens her husband’s face with shame or blackens her own, revealing her inner corruption. These instances illustrate how Ben Sira employs color to link outward appearance with inner character.
Abstract The paper investigates the semantic field of the verb דאה in biblical Hebrew. Contrary to what some modern lexica claim, the proper meaning of the verb is “to glide, soar” and makes no reference to swooping down on prey or even to the swiftness of the flight. Four groups of sources are examined to substantiate this: the HB , Semitic cognates, Jewish exegesis, and ancient versions. Particular attention is given to Deut 28:49 in the Greek Bible, the translation that may be the origin of the improper gloss “to swoop down.”
Abstract “Incline your ear ( הט־אזנך ), O Lord, and hear,” plead the psalmists. This collocation frequently occurs in parallel to verbs meaning “listen, hear” ( שׁמע, הקשׁיב, האזין ), and its interpretation as “listen” poses no major difficulty. The translation of the hiphil of נטה as “incline” in this collocation, however, is curious. A study of the uses of both the qal and hiphil forms of נטה shows that the verb implies extension outwards or motion sideways, referring to stretching out a hand, turning someone aside, extending a shadow, or spreading out the heavens, a tent, or garments. Apart from a few cases in which a form of נטה has unnecessarily been interpreted as downward motion, it is primarily understood as movement sideways on a horizontal plane. The phrase נטה אזן , therefore, is better understood as a stretching out of the ear, not inclining or lowering it. Support for this claim, and the possible metaphor implicit therein, is suggested by a similar Akkadian collocation.
This article challenges dominant interpretations of mityahadim (“making themselves into Jews”) in Esth 8:17, which often read the phrase as anachronistic religious conversion, mere political allegiance, or fear-induced pretense. Instead, I argue for mityahadim as a literary portrayal of sincere communal and social affiliation, where Persian subjects adopt Jewish identity as part of the narrative ironies within the book of Esther. This view is supported by linguistic analysis of the hithpael verb, narrative coherence with Esther’s theme of reversal, parallels in Jewish literary tradition, Achaemenid imperial policies, and early Jewish interpretations of the book of Esther. The article thus reinterprets Esth 8:17 to show Jewish identity as dynamically capable of integrating outsiders amid cultural exchange.
This article assesses the work of Rainer Albertz in his study of Israelite personal names from epigraphic sources as a contribution to the study of household religion in ancient Israel (Chapter 5 and Appendix B in Rainer Albertz and Rüdiger Schmitt, Family and Household Religion in Ancient Israel and the Levant ). It gives particular attention to Albertz’s view of the names as a primary source for reconstructing family or household religion in ancient Israel, and of women’s role in naming.
Abstract The following study assesses appeals to Ugaritic ʿbrm in KTU 1.22 I to elucidate the meaning of עברים in Ezekiel 39. I argue that this comparative reading is both methodologically flawed and unnecessary, since doing so projects an inner-biblical development of the Hebrew root עבר onto an Ugaritic text, thus obscuring the distinctive uses of ʿbrm and עברים within their respective linguistic contexts. As a secondary interest, I address relevant methodological questions regarding the use of cognate literature in the service of biblical interpretation.
Abstract This article explores the etymological and lexicographic background of the hapax legomenon פעה found in Isa 42:14. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon ( BDB ) claims the root is connected to Arabic بعى or بغى . Consultation of Arabic lexica standing behind the construction of BDB , however, indicates that this Arabic cognate “evidence” is erroneous. Instead, the more likely cognate (if one is to be posited at all) is Arabic فعى . These considerations also provide new leverage on the Old Aramaic Sefire Treaty ( KAI 224, Stele III , line 2).
The festival legislation in Num 28-29 is so similar to that found in Lev 23 that it is a scholarly consensus the two are directly related. The question of what is similar between these laws has already been the topic of numerous detailed studies, yet the question of why nearly identical,post-Priestly-dated laws appear in two separate Pentateuchal books has been far less satisfactorily answered. This article argues against the prevail-ing opinion that suggests Num 28-29 should be considered a "supplement" to Lev 23.Instead,Num 28-29, while undoubtedly using Lev 23 as a Vorlage, represents a further step in centralization, building upon the context-specific(book-level) innovations that exist only in Numbers.
