Minor Prophets

Abstract

Minor Prophets Christopher T. Begg, John M. Halligan, Fred W. Guyette, and Thomas Hieke Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America John M. Halligan St. John Fisher College Fred W. Guyette Erskine College and Seminary Thomas Hieke Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz 2368. [Torah in the Twelve] Jacques van Ruiten, "The Torah in the Book of the Twelve Prophets," The Challenge of the Mosaic Torah, 19-43 [see #2540]. In this article, I investigate whether there is a shared concept of tôrâ in the Book of the Twelve. Does that book give any indication of what the tôrâ might be? And is there a relationship between the tôrâ of which it speaks and the Torah of Moses in the Pentateuch? The final redaction of the Book of the Twelve might have taken place after Ezra, as is also the case with several of its component books, whereas other of its books were written before Ezra, and in part even before King Josiah. The question about the role of the tôrâ in the Book of the Twelve is thus both intriguing and complicated. [p. 20, adapted] Mal 3:22 is the last text in the Book of the Twelve where we encounter the word tôrâ, and is the only passage where it occurs in the construction twrt mšh. It seems to be used here in a comprehensive sense, as a reference to the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch. [End Page 870] As such, its meaning deviates from its meaning elsewhere in the Twelve, where the word tôrâ is used either of authoritative decisions by the priests (e.g., Hag 2:11) or as an allusion to specific rules and laws (e.g., Hos 4:6) that were probably included in an authoritative composition, whose extent, however, remains unclear. In addition, the use of the word in Malachi 2 does not seem to have in view the Torah of Moses as a whole, but rather individual rules, whether or not these have been written down as part of a written version of the Torah, of which the priests were the designated interpreters. In Zech 7:12, the term might even reflect the teachings of the prophets. Within the Book of the Twelve, the word tôrâ thus has several meanings and connotations. As a result, it does not contribute to the understanding of the book as an authorial unity. In addition, the redactors who intervened in the transmission process of the book do not seem to have felt it necessary to unify the uses of the term into a single coherent conception. Thus, the varying uses of the term might serve as indicators of successive stages in the formation-history of the book. [Adapted from author's conclusion, p. 43—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 2369. [The Homily of Pierius of Alexandria "On the Beginning of Hosea"] Dimitrios Zaganas, "L'homélie Sur le début d'Osée de Piérius d'Alexandrie," Adam 25 (2019) 331-38. This article deals with the homily of Pierius of Alexandria (late 3rd cent. a.d.) entitled "On the Beginning of Hosea," which, like his other writings, is now lost. I begin by reconstructing the title, the circumstances, and content of Pierius's homily on the basis of explicit references to this by ancient authors. Next, I present a hitherto unrecognized witness to the homily, i.e., Cyril of Alexandria's In Oseam. In this work, Cyril criticizes a short writing of one he refers to as a renowned exegete and transmits four fragments of the purely allegorical interpretation which this author—who is to be identified with Pierius—gave of Hosea's marriage to a prostitute (see Hos 1:1-3). Thereafter, I compare Cyril's attestation to the (independent) testimony by Jerome in his In Osee to Pierius's homily. In an appendix I reproduce and provide translations of Cyril's allusion to Pierius's homily and the fragments of this (which have not previously been recognized as coming from Pierius) cited by him as well as Jerome's mention of Pierius and his homily. [Adapted from published abstract—C...