¿Cuándo encontramos tiempo para conectarnos con Dios? Incluso si tratamos de ser intencionales al respecto, las actividades y responsabilidades cotidianas a menudo se interponen y acaparan nuestro tiempo de estar con Jesus. La oracion puede hacerse en cualquier momento, y por supuesto pasa, pero es valioso reservar un momento especifico para tener comunion con el Señor. ¡La idea de estar a solas con Dios para comenzar el dia fue un ejemplo que nos dejo el mismo Jesus! Se levantaba antes del amanecer para orar en algun lugar solitario. No sabemos de que se trataba ni por que, solo sabemos que era su forma de conectarse con el Padre, antes que nada.Mientras estas quieta ante El y meditas en estas escrituras, devociones y oraciones, experimenta la bondad de su presencia y refrescate con su paz perfecta. Cuando pones a Jesus primero, por encima de todo, las demas preocupaciones se desvanecen. La esperanza amanece con el nuevo dia. Sus tiernas misericordias son nuevas. La alegria ilimitada brota de un pozo interno. Y encuentras la fuerza para afrontar cada dia con gracia para los demas y para ti misma.

Qumran Cave 11Q was discovered by Bedouin in 1956. In the cave, remains of around 30 Dead Sea Scrolls were found, a few of them in very good state of preservation (the Temple Scroll, the Psalm Scroll, the Paleo Leviticus Scroll, and the Targum Job Scroll). The cave was excavated by Roland de Vaux (Ecole Biblique et Archeologique Française, Jerusalem) and Gerald L. Harding (Department of Antiquities of Jordan) in 1956; later by Joseph Patrich (University of Haifa) in 1988, and by Marcello Fidanzio and Dan Bahat (ISCAB FTL and Universita della Svizzera Italiana) in 2017. Due to Roland de Vauxs premature death, the archaeology of Cave 11Q has never been published. This volume presents the final report on the 1956, 1988 and 2017 excavations at Cave 11Q.Next to discussing the physical characteristics and stratigraphy of the cave and offering a full analysis of non-textual finds, the volume for the first time presents many tiny manuscript fragments found in storerooms during recent work. These fragments, most of which were collected during 1956 excavation, have not been known until now. The volume, therefore, offers the final report of Cave 11Q excavations as well as the editio princeps of the new fragments, followed by a reevaluation of the entire set of texts found in this famous cave.

Magic in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean: Cognitive, Historical, and Material Perspectives brings together articles with the shared conviction that the category of magic remains useful in religious studies and provides new insights to biblical and related texts and artifacts. Historically, magic has been considered in both scholarly and popular discourse to be questionable, obscure, and potentially subversive. 19th century scholars of religion viewed magical beliefs and practices as primitive and inferior compared to Judeo-Christian forms of worship, which were considered true "religion". More recently, the category has been defended especially by scholars of the cognitive science of religion, who find it useful for delineating a set of beliefs and practices fundamental to all forms of religion. The volume joins current scholarship in refraining from using the concept as an othering device and in arguing that it can still serve as a helpful analytical tool. In addition to analyzing the discourse on magic in both ancient literature and modern scholarship, the articles provide individual examples of how literary and material culture attest to the existence of magical beliefs and practices in sources from the Ancient Near East to the Byzantine Period.The book is divided into three parts. The contributions in the first part approach magic from the theoretical perspective of cognitive studies, ritual studies, and cultural evolution, while the rest of the book focuses on how magic and magicians are understood in ancient sources. The second part discusses a specific set of textual material dealing with blessings and curses. The third part of the volume discusses the world of various destructive celestial beings, from which one and ones loved ones had to be defended, as well as the multitude of protective beings such as angels.

Peter J. Gentry provides a complete and full introduction to the critical edition of Ecclesiastes in the Gottingen Septuaginta series along with user-friendly explanations for non-specialists as well as detailed documentation to demonstrate the basis for the critical text of Greek Ecclesiastes.Text History volumes supporting the critical editions in the Gottingen Septuaginta usually provide evidence and lists to document and demonstrate the recensions existing in the textual history and the best methodology for arriving at the earliest form of the text that we can reach.Gentrys Text History volume provides, in addition, a complete and full introduction which was not given in the critical edition. Since this introduction is in English, it will aid English-speaking scholars who find access to the critical editions difficult because the introductions are in German.

In the history of the Greek translation of the Bible, there are two recensions that play a very important role. The first is the Hexaplaric recension of Origen. In this work, Origen displayed the different versions of the Biblical text and aimed at bringing the Greek text as it had been submitted so far closer to the then current Hebrew text. His intervention in the Greek text has "opened the gates to a flood of approximations of the Greek text to the Hebrew" (dixit Anneli Aejmelaeus). Indeed, one can find Hexaplaric readings in many manuscripts, and even in texts, manuscripts and versions that have never been labeled like that. Filtering out what are Hexaplaric readings is of utmost importance to the reconstruction of the Old Greek text, which may then point to another Hebrew text. A similar enterprise was undertaken by Lucian, and his work too needs to be reconstructed and traced in order to establish the Old Greek text. The current volume deals with the books of 1-2 Sam, 1-2 Kings, as well as Joshua and Esther.

Miika Tucker comprises a translation technical study of the Septuagint version of Jeremiah for the purpose of characterizing the translation. The conclusions draw from different types of changes that occur between chapters 128 (Jer a) and 2952 (Jer b). Certain differences between the two reflect the revisional characteristics of the kaige tradition, which suggests that they were produced by a reviser who was invested in a revisionary tradition similar to kaige. Other differences constitute a change toward more natural Greek expression, which is the opposite of what one would expect from a revision since Greek idiom usually does not correspond to the formal characteristics of Hebrew. Such differences are to be understood to reflect a change toward more intuitive use of the Greek language by the first translator. Changes toward less formal equivalence of the Hebrew and the growth of the Hebrew text after the initial translation combined to form conducive conditions for revision.

The Greek Old Testament, commonly known as Septuagint, has its origins in Ptolemaic Egypt. Egypt developed into a strongly bilingual country, and in the fourth century CE, when Christianity was on firmer ground in Egypt, the Septuagint was translated into Coptic. The intertwined and prolific relation between the Greek and the Coptic Old Testament is now aptly reflected also in the joint ventures of the Gottingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Since the 19th century, Gottingen was and is the global center of Septuagint research. In 2015, a new Academy project started, which deals with the translation of the Septuagint into Coptic-Sahidic: "Digitale Gesamtedition und Ubersetzung des koptisch-sahidischen Alten Testaments". Finally, in 2020, the new long-term project "Die Editio critica maior des griechischen Psalters" started at the Gottingen Academy. Both projects work closely together, and the present volume is one of the results of this fruitful collaboration.

Ever since Jesus walked the hills of Galilee and Paul travelled the roads of Asia Minor and Greece, Christianity has shown a remarkable ability to adapt itself to various social and cultural environments. Recent research has demonstrated that these environments can only be very insufficiently termed as "rural" or "urban". Neither was Jesus Galilee only rural, nor Pauls Asia only "urban". On the background of ongoing research on the diversity of social environments in the Early Empire, this volume will focus on various early Christian "worlds" as witnessed in canonical and non-canonical texts. How did Early Christians experience and react to "rural" and "urban" life? What were the mechanisms behind this adaptability?Papers will analyze the relation between urban Christian beginnings and the role of the rural Jesus-tradition. In what sense did the image of Jesus, the "Galilean village Jew", change when his message was carried into the cities of the Mediterranean world from Jerusalem to Athens or Rome? Papers will not only deal with various personalities or literary works whose various attitudes towards urban life became formative for future Christianity. They will also explore the different local milieus that demonstrate the wide range of Christian cultural perspectives.

The collective book by Lithuanian researchers presents research conducted in Lithuania on the historical and socio-cultural contexts of the Bible and the ways in which it functioned in Lithuanian writing from its beginning to the 18th century. The ways of religious communication, the dissemination of religious and social ideas in the works of theologians, the functioning of biblical texts and the ways of their transmission are shown. The articles review the problems of translating the Bible into Lithuanian and Slavic languages, consider the influence of other languages and cultures on the formation of the Lithuanian language in its early development, and address issues of editing and publishing religious writings.

King Manasseh of Judah is one of the most intriguing characters in the Bible. 2 Kings presents him as the wickedest of monarchs. In 2Kgs 24:34, he is accused of having provoked God to destroy Judah on account of the innocent blood he had shed in Jerusalem (cf. 2Kgs 21:16). In his study Krzysztof Kinowski investigates this accusation, viewing it against the biblical and ancient Near East backgrounds, and casts a new light upon Manassehs role in the fall of Jerusalem. The mention of bloodshed in this affair appears to be the outcome of a process of scapegoating of Manasseh, ongoing in 2 Kings and reflecting both the legal and the cultic paradigms governing the biblical historiography. The link between Manassehs bloodshed and the destruction of Judah on account of the cultic lands blood-defilement points towards a group of priestly scribes involved in the production of the 2Kgs 21 and 24 narratives. This assumption lies behind the scholarly discussion about the Priestly-like strata and priestly touches in the Books of Kings.

There are five marked quotations from Psalms in the Gospel of Matthew. These are: (1) Ps 91:112 in Matt 4:6; (2) Ps 78:2 in Matt 13:35; (3) Ps 8:3 in Matt 21:16; (4) Ps 118:2223 in Matt 21:42; and (5) Ps 110:1 in Matt 22:44. Piotr Herok argues that the investigated texts are related to each other not only by the presence of the introductory formulas, making clear that a given citation comes from Scripture, but also through mutual thematic convergence, concerning in various degrees king David, the temple, and the theme of Jesus identity. Thanks to the new literary context, in which the quotations are embedded, Matthew reinterprets them significantly while giving them a new dimension clearly distinguishing them from the rest of the psalm quotations found in his work. This aims at presenting Jesus as not only the Son of David, but first of all the Son of God.

In his book, Rebwar Audish Basa follows the canonical exegesis and focuses on a group of Psalms (113118) which is traditionally known as a unit called "the Hallel" and is used on the major Jewish liturgical feasts. The author examines the hypothesis that Pss 113118 form a single canonical unit with Ps 118 not only belonging to it but also being the climax of all the psalms of this group. A thorough investigation evaluates the unity of the Hallel and its function and message.The research concludes with the affirmation that the psalms of the Hallel are not put together arbitrarily but with a very precise intention, deep significance and main theological message. Actually, beside the uniqueness of each psalm, Basa affirms the unity of this group and the flow and the development of its themes and ideas.In the last chapter and in the conclusion, some important points regarding the unity of the Hallel are presented together with some of its significant characteristics.

Aleksander Krogevoll offers the first extensive study on El Shadday. This includes the most thorough review of all etymologies proposed for Shadday and the most extensive examination on the use and meaning of Shadday in the Hebrew Bible. The author challenges the views that Shadday was unique to the Priestly source or that Priestly source invented the epithet. He supports the etymology of Shaddai being the Akkadian adu, "mountain." By tracing the epithet adu from Akkadian where it was attached to Enlil and Dagan to the Ugaritic El, Krogevoll presents a new hypothesis for how Shadday was introduced into Hebrew. This work is the first book-length study on the equation between El Shadday and Yahweh. Other scholars have proposed that their shared mountain motifs played a part in the equation, but this work is the first study to examine the equation through the lens of the shared mountain motifs at length.

This book gives attention to the language and style of the letter of James, with a hypothesis about its rhetorical purpose in mind. It focuses on what we can learn about the author of James, by reading the text in light of a guiding research question: How does the author establish and assert authority? The letter builds literary authority for a number of purposes, one of which is to address socioeconomic disparity, a major concern for the author.The author of James presents a speech-in-character in the shape of a letter to establish his ethos (Ch. 2), employing vocabulary and style to signal his education implicitly (Ch. 3 & 4) and includes himself in the categories of sage, teacher and exegete explicitly (Ch. 5). From this standpoint, the author can address the rich as equals, rebuke them and admonish both rich and poor to receive Gods wisdom (Ch. 6).The comparison with ancient literary criticism shows that the categories at play are the same. The insight that language and ethos are inseparable categories in antiquity provides us with renewed ways to interpret the literary production of early Christianity. Both James and the Classicists present a competing epic in the context of the early imperium, the former with an Israelite piety that is superior to contemporary economic and moral categories and the latter with the supremacy of Greek culture as a foundation for Rome.The letter of James emerges as a document that builds educational ethos as a balance against the rich and powerful, a strategy that calls for a revision of both its rhetoric and socio-economic situation.

Melanchthon and Calvin were late medieval people, stemming from a world of order and unity, and at the same time they fully lived in the early modern world, in which everything was changing. In this new world they committedly, enthusiastically, and restlessly sought to introduce some order, in theory as well as practice. The sixteenth-century church was governed by multiple coercive constructions and systems. Did the two Reformers really succeed in disconnecting themselves from them, and to what extent did they connect to, for example, the existing forms of eucharistic piety?The established church had come under serious criticism, and people were massively turning their backs on the less than attractive ecclesiastical practicessomething connecting that era to ours. In these highly turbulent and suspenseful 1520s, when it was not yet clear whether the ten-year-old evangelical movement in Germany was still viable, Melanchthon tried to introduce at least some order into the chaos by means of a confession accompanied by a church order. As it turned out, the new doctrine on Christian freedom and justification by faith alone was easily interpreted in a one-sided manner. Through a careful analysis of the sources, Herman A. Speelman examines Melanchthons church visitations in 1527 and Calvins five attempts to shape the modernisation of ecclesiastical life. In addition to the gospel, also penance and the preaching of the law received a place in the Protestant liturgy and spirituality.Melanchthons and Calvins contributions were not only to have an enormous impact on the theological evolutions in the evangelical movement in Europe, but they also proved to be of eminent importance for the way in which the new doctrine was given meaning in practice. Their instructions continue to be highly influential in large parts of Europe today.

This volume brings together contributions from the ongoing conversation among New Testament scholars from the Nordic Countries, namely Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The aim is to challenge the New Testament texts and their interpretations but also to be challenged by these texts and interpretation, i.e., how to read, interpret and contextualize the impact of these texts, and how to conceptualize the power and authority attributed to them.As neighbours in peripheral Europe, partly sharing language and history, scholars of this region also aim to participatie in the broader international discourse. The fact that their common academic language is English begs the question whether many of the current essays could have been written in different settings, since they do not explicitly reflect on contextual issues. Or is this the case?What characterizes that part of the world are social democracies with relatively high standards of living, a strong protestant past but an increasing multicultural population, public welfare systems, and gender equality. Public universities still have money and can prioritize mobility and internationalisation; accordingly, although few people live in the Nordic countries relatively many biblical scholars have roots there.

Recent theology has seen a renewed vigour in debates about the nature and character of God. Juan Cruz turns to one of the prophetic books in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Micah, to consider the metaphors it uses to portray the God of Israel and what they reveal about the deity. The book of Micah contains two dominant types of metaphor for Yahweh, namely the legal metaphors in 1:216 and 6:116 and the pastoral metaphors in 2:1213, 4:67, 5:14a and 7:1420. The former type of metaphors presents Yahweh in a courtroom setting, where he accuses his people of their sins, brings a lawsuit against them, and pronounces their judgement. The pastoral metaphors, on the other hand, describe Yahweh as the shepherd of his people, primarily concerned with the restoration and well-being of Israel. The two sets of metaphors therefore respectively present Yahweh in a positive and a negative light. Drawing on insights from philosophy and literary studies, and making particular use of the theories of Benjamin Harshav, Juan Cruz explores the divine metaphors by analysing the arguments they make within their respective literary units and in the context of the whole book, as well as the significant tensions that develop between the metaphors. The volume provides helpful tools to analyse metaphors for God, which may be also used for analysis of non-divine metaphors, and should contribute to our theological understanding of God in the Hebrew Bible, most especially in the book of Micah, a book whose title bears the meaning, "Who is like Yahweh?".

Patristic and rabbinic biblical interpretations are significant contributions to the identity construction of late antique Christian and Jewish groups. The contributions in this conference volume illuminate the reception of biblical texts, themes and figures in patristic and rabbinic writings from the 2nd to the 8th century. They reveal processes of mutual demarcation, which are sometimes extremely polemical, sometimes only implicit and indirectly accessible. The correct interpretation of Scripture is claimed for ones own "we", while at the same time distinguishing it from the "others". Nevertheless, similarities and mutual positive references are clearly recognizable. Especially the often so polemical Christian interpretation is from the beginning rooted in the Jewish tradition and based on it. But also the rabbinic interpretation shows traces of the controversy with Christianity.

Critical spatial approaches particularly those informed by the scholarship of Lefebvre, Foucault, and Soja have significantly impacted biblical scholarship over the last twenty years. However, these spatial approaches have been limited due to the methodological challenges inherent in transposing the social-scientific approaches of the aforementioned scholars to the task of biblical interpretation. This volume adapts conceptual metaphor theory as a methodological bridge to address such constraints. The first half of the volume begins by surveying the field of critical spatiality in biblical studies, arguing for the need for fresh methodological development. Thereafter, the volume delineates a particular critical spatial approach, inspired by Lefebvre and Foucault, for which conceptual metaphor theory is proposed as a methodological bridge. The second half of the volume begins by proposing the Psalms of Ascents as a case study upon which the method could be applied. It is then argued that the proposed method if efficacious should provide insight on corpus"Zion theology" and its so-called pilgrimage character. Using the proposed method in conjunction with conventional historical-grammatical tools of poetic analysis, each psalm is analysed with regard to its metaphor and spatiality. The volume concludes that the case study demonstrates the efficacy of the proposed methods by allowing a rich reading of each psalm, especially by explicating the spatial narratives and/or spatial metaphorical conceptualisations that underlie each text, and providing fresh insight on the collection as a whole.This volume has been awarded the2024 Rev. Dr Lien-Hwa Chow Memorial Foundations Outstanding Theological Research Book Award. This award is "to recognize and promote outstanding theological research and publications by Chinese scholars".

One of the most fundamental questions when reading and trying to understand New Testament texts is the question of genre. It is impossible to understand a text, its meaning and intention, in its proper historical setting if one does not understand its genre: As an example, interpreting a satirical text without understanding the genre would no doubt lead to grave misunderstandings. The same logic applies to texts from the New Testament, and the matter is complicated even further by the immense historical gap between the time of the genesis of the New Testament canon and now. The problem of the New Testament texts genre(s) is therefore a vital area of scholarly discussion within international New Testament scholarship.The current volume utilizes the newest insights from current research on the New Testament to cast new light on the question of the genre of Marks Gospel. Here, prominent international New Testament scholars discuss how we should understand the genre(s) of Marks Gospel, thus making an important contribution to international scholarship on the Gospel of Mark as well as the Gospel genre in general.