Literary Forms/Techniques & Methods of Study

Abstract

Literary Forms/Techniques & Methods of Study Jaime A. Banister, WF Walter A. Vogels, Francis M. Macatangay, and Christopher T. Begg 1442. Edward L. Greenstein, "Fugitive Hero Narrative Pattern in Mesopotamia," Worship, Women, and War, 17-35 [see #2002]. G. proposes his own theory regarding the structure of the "fugitive hero narrative" (FHN) (i.e., someone is exiled or otherwise spends time away from home, often facing danger, and returns home as a hero) motif in ANE texts. According to G., there are fourteen elements to the FHN, though some of these are optional. Extra-biblical examples include Sinuhe (Egypt), Idrimi (North Syria), Hattushili III (Hatti), Esarhaddon (Assyria), and Nabonidus (Babylon); G. focuses on the latter two instances. Biblical passages exemplifying the pattern include Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and the story of Israel's beginnings (Canaan to Egypt and back to Canaan), though G. notes that the pattern is also found in a more limited form in a few other biblical passages (i.e., the stories of Hagar, Gideon, Jephthah, Absalom, Jeroboam ben Nabat, Hadad the Edomite, and Joash).—J.A.B. 1443. Marie-Françoise Maincent-Hanquez, "La Bible et les femmes: Les Américaines aux avant-postes de la théologie féministe," MScRel 73 (2016) 93-110. The New World where the Pilgrim Fathers settled granted the Bible a special status from the very beginning. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the first American woman to publish a critical book on the Bible entitled The Woman's Bible (1895–1898). Since then, in the United States, feminist theologians have continued to analyze and discuss the biblical material. Their theological reflections inspired women far beyond America. Still women's contexts and experiences have become so diversified that the fundamental original premises of feminist theology have been challenged from the side of multiple, evolutive, extended, and sometimes contradictory theological tendencies. However, rather than being seen as signs of weakness, these developments should be welcomed as proofs of feminism's ongoing vitality and energy. [Adapted from published abstract—W.V.] 1444. Saul M. Olyan, "Ritual Inversion in Biblical Representations of Punitive Rites," Worship, Women, and War, 135-43 [see #2002]. O. investigates three major motifs of ritual inversion in their relation to punitive rites in the Hebrew Bible. The first motif involves exhumation and how this treats human remains in a manner designed to reverse the funeral or burial rites which preserved the body. The second motif is that of imposing upon one's enemy humiliating depilation that if it were voluntarily done to oneself would be viewed as acts of mourning and/or humility. The third motif of ritual inversion is that of forcing Nazirites to break their vows by making them drink wine.—J.A.B. [End Page 480] 1445. Frank H. Polak, "Whodunit? Implicit Subject, Discourse Structure, and Pragmatics in the Hebrew and Greek Bibles," From Author to Copyist, 223-47 [see #2021]. P. discusses the phenomenon of the implicit subject of the given verb in the Hebrew Bible. The mention or non-mention of the subject in such biblical narratives as 2 Sam 13:24-27; Gen 25:29-34; 1 Kgs 21:4-7; Judg 3:20-25; and 2 Sam 2:20-23 is related to such literary phenomena as highlighting, discourse structure, the pragmatics of the action sequence and the presentation of the character (i.e., that character's success or failure in the spoken interaction and the way a character views him/herself). In other versions, such as in the DSS and the LXX, there is a preference for clarity over the pragmatics of the Hebrew text.—F.M.M. 1446. Matthieu Richelle, "Des yeux pour voir, des oreilles pour entendre … Comparison entre un motif biblique et un formule mésopotamienne," ZAW 124 (2012) 103-6. R.'s note compares the motif of blindness and deafness in biblical texts (esp. Isaiah) with an Akkadian formula that appears in Assyrian prayers and Babylonian oracles. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1447. Nili Shupak, "Weighing in the Scales: How an Egyptian Concept Made its Way into Biblical and Postbiblical Literature," From Author...