General

Abstract

General Christopher T. Begg, Fred W. Guyette, Michael W. Duggan, and William J. Urbrock Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America Fred W. Guyette Erskine College and Seminary Michael W. Duggan Calgary AB, Canada William J. Urbrock University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 904. [Transforming Memories of Collective Violence] Sonja Ammann and Julia Rhyder (eds.), "Editorial Introduction: Transforming Memories of Collective Violence: Key Methods and Future Direction," HeBAI 10 (1, 2021) 1-10. As guest editors of this issue of HeBAI, A. and R. provide an introduction to the issue organized under the following headings: (1) Approaching Ancient Narratives of Collective Violence; (2) Defining Collective Violence; (3) Remembering Collective Violence in the Hebrew Bible; and (4) The Articles in this Issue. For abstracts of the five articles making up the remainder of the issue, see ##911, 913, 1407, 1428, 1429.—C.T.B. Google Scholar 905. [Inquiring of the Dead] Shaul Bar, "Inquiring of the Dead," JBQ 49 (3, 2021) 171-79. In the ancient world it was common practice for people to spend the night in a temple or shrine and to make a sacrifice, in hope of receiving a divine message through a dream. Today this ancient practice is referred to as "incubation." In the Hebrew Bible we read that Jacob/Israel stops off in Beersheba on his way to Egypt and offers sacrifices, after which the Lord does appear to him in a vision at night (Gen 46:1-4). Solomon goes to Gibeon, the site of the great high place, where he offers a thousand animals on the altar there—and the Lord appears to him in a dream at night (1 Kgs 3:4-15). Some people inquired of the dead to learn about future events, as Saul did in 1 Samuel 28, but two verses in Leviticus clearly state that this is prohibited (Lev 19:31 and 20:6). An explicit criticism of the practice is also found in the retelling of Israelite history in Psalm 106: "They attached themselves to Baal Peor and ate sacrifices of the dead" (Ps 106:28). In Isa 65:4, a similar practice is described. In the Hebrew Bible, however, the understanding is that Israel worships a living God. God is the God of the living, not of the dead.—F.W.G. Google Scholar 906. [The Question of "Cultic Prostitution" in the OT] David Bindrim, "Schuld sind de Kanaanäer und die 'Versumptheit beider Geschlechter'. (Kult)prostitution im Alten Testament," Erotik und Ethik, 229-44 [see #1683]. In this discourse-analysis contribution, B. surveys the alleged references to cultic prostitution in ancient Israel as well as in the ANE in general. He begins his discussion with a consideration of those OT passages in which mention is made of qĕdēšîm, a term that is often understood as designating cultic prostitutes. In a second step, B. shows that we have very little evidence regarding the existence of prostitution in the ancient Israelite context, this leading him to conclude that one should be very cautious about making absolute statements regarding the phenomenon: in the interests of historical accuracy, one does best to acknowledge that we simply do not know much about the matter. [Translated and adapted from editors' introduction, p. 9—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 907. [Blood Guilt and Monetary Compensation in Biblical Law and Mari Letters] Yigal Bloch and Nathan Wasserman, "Blood Guilt and Monetary Compensation in Biblical Laws and Mari Letters," Beit Mikra 66 (1, 2021) 7-32 (Hebrew). In our article, we discuss a question bearing on the fundamental principles of criminal law in the Hebrew Bible: are these principles self-standing postulates on which the [End Page 341] biblical laws are based (as suggested by Moshe Greenberg) or rather late generalizations based on specific legal norms and statements that predate them? We address this question by considering Mesopotamian documents about a millennium older than the biblical legal corpora, i.e., two eighteenth-cent. b.c.e. letters from Mari on the Middle Euphrates and a nineteenth-cent. b.c.e. treaty between two towns in the Diyala basin. Despite the spatial and temporal...