On multiple occasions in the past, arguments against the authenticity and historical accuracy of Ezra-Nehemiah have been leveled from a number of angles. Inthe current paper, we review the issue, focusing on the language of the Aramaic documents embedded in Ezra, in light of recent progress in the historical-linguistic study of ancient Aramaic. To support the most plausible dating of the documents, we examine whether linguistic evidence could identify the Aramaic documents as part of Official Aramaic, typical of the Persian period, rather than the later dialects of Hellenistic Middle Aramaic.
Two contrasting narratives recount Israel's encounter with Edom before entering the land. In Numbers 20, a military threat from Edom forces the Israelites to detour, extending their journey around Edom. In contrast, Deuteronomy 2 presents Israel's passage through Edom as part of God's broader plan for international relations. While these accounts do not necessarily depict sequential historical events, their stark differences in details and terminology diminish the likelihood of direct textual dependence. Instead, the two narratives offer alternative responses to a shared geopolitical reality, reflecting distinct ideologies concerning territorial rights, national legitimacy, and divine agency in international affairs.
Michael Benjamin Cover observed linguistic and conceptual parallels between the Carmen Christi (Phil 2,6-11) and Euripides' Bacchae, suggesting the possibility of intertextual dependence of the former text on the latter. The present article adds a series of additional parallels between both texts, making the direct intertextual dependence of the Carmen Christi on the Bacchae evident. This observation provides, among other things, new arguments for the Pauline authorship of the Carmen Christi.
This is a literary and historiographical study that explores the interactions between the Patriarchs in their migratory movements and nomadic mode of life and the diverse sedentary and urban establishments they encountered in Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Egypt as represented in the canonical form of the Patriarchal Narratives in the Book of Genesis. By examining the causes, modes, and effects of these interactions in the narratives, this study argues that the interactions not only provide the key impetus to the articulation and progression of the narrative plots, but also play an important role in shaping the characterisation and identity of the Patriarchs and their deity and the relationship between the two. Finally, the study attempts to offer a preliminary evaluation of the historiographical constructions of the origins of Israel in the Patriarchal Narratives and the predilection of the biblical traditions for a mobile status by identifying the Patriarchs and their deity in light of the exile experiences in the first millennium BCE and in response to Mesopotamian urbanism and urban religion.
The phrase (sic) describing the angelus interpres in the night visions of Zechariah is usually taken to denote a relatively unspecific communication. However, the ancient translations and exegetes seem to presume or propose a more specific meaning with a local component to it indicating an inner experience. The article explores and evaluates this nuance as a plausible option of understanding the phrase, and also discusses how the nuance contributes to a better understanding of the phrase and its original contexts and implications.
