Hebrew Text Research Articles

The Jewish Messenger’s 1865 Hebrew Lincoln Acrostic: Who Wrote It, When, and Why Was It Published?

Abstract The focus of this article is a poem that appeared in Hebrew on the pages of a leading nineteenth-century Jewish newspaper published in New York—The Jewish Messenger—following Lincoln’s assassination. The first letters of each line of the poem spelled out the name of the late president transliterated in Hebrew, hence “the Lincoln acrostic.” The article investigates who authored the acrostic, when the published text was actually written, and the historical and Jewish frames through which the acrostic constructed the deceased president. The article leverages the thematic analysis of the poem to help answer the more prosaic journalistic queries as to who authored it and when. But beyond the journalistic queries of who, when, where, and how, the article also attempts to interpret “why.” It investigates the role of Hebrew in the minds of contemporaries, both Jewish and Gentile, and the role of journalism in expressing that mind. Beyond that, it explores the relation of the people identified with the Hebrew language and the classical Hebrew texts to the deceased Lincoln and to the United States of their times.

Defining Evil from the Hebrew Text of Genesis

Abstract An overview of findings from an in-depth inductive study of ‘the lexical, exegetical, conceptual, and theological study of evil from the Hebrew text of Genesis’ provides key insights into the broad use of the primary lexeme(s) for evil (ra as an adjective, raa as a verb, and raah as a noun). The use of evil is followed sequentially through each occurrence in Genesis to assess its meaning and concept contextually. The plot conflict of good and evil is observed from the beginning to its bookend. Evil is never called good nor found to be the absence of good, but rather, the corruption of creational and covenantal goodness. God is found to work in and through flawed and dysfunctional humans to overturn evil and accomplish his good creational and covenantal purposes.

Kajian Teologis tentang Mazmur 23:1-6 dan Penerapannya dalam Pelayanan Gereja Masa Kini

Psalm 23:1-6 is one of the most well-known passages in the Christian tradition, portraying the intimate relationship between God as the Shepherd and His people as the sheep. In the context of contemporary church ministry, a deep understanding of these verses is crucial, as they offer theological and practical guidance for the faith community in overcoming various spiritual and emotional challenges. This study aims to explore the theological relevance of Psalm 23 in the context of modern church ministry. The primary objective of this research is to conduct a theological analysis of Psalm 23:1-6 and to explore its application in today's church ministry context. This study also seeks to identify how the principles contained in this Psalm can serve as a foundation for pastoral care, spiritual strengthening, and congregation development in the modern church. The research employs a qualitative approach, using literature review and textual analysis methods. The primary sources used include the Hebrew text of Psalm 23:1-6 and modern translations, while secondary sources comprise various theological literature, Bible commentaries, and writings from related theological experts. This research also utilizes hermeneutical methods to delve deeper into the meaning of the text and its interpretation in various historical and theological contexts. The results indicate that Psalm 23 portrays God as a Shepherd who nourishes, protects, and guides His people, creating a sense of security and trust for those who follow Him. These attributes are relevant to contemporary church ministry, particularly in the context of pastoral care and spiritual support for congregants facing life crises. The findings also suggest that the application of the values contained in Psalm 23 can strengthen church ministry strategies in providing comfort, trust, and hope to its members. This study concludes that Psalm 23 holds strong and practical relevance for modern church ministry, as it offers an ideal depiction of divine care that can be applied in pastoral ministry. The church can use the principles from this Psalm to build trust and hope among congregants, as well as to provide more effective spiritual support in addressing the challenges of modern times.

The Creation according to Shamaran myth in Kurdistan: A Comparative Analysis of Mesopotamian Mythology and Hebrew Texts

The Creation according to Shamaran myth in Kurdistan: A Comparative Analysis of Mesopotamian Mythology and Hebrew Texts

The Māori and Ancient near Eastern Pantheons in the Context of Genesis 1 in te reo Māori

The recent test translation of Te Paipera Tapu (the Bible in the Māori language) has aroused considerable debate for its use in Genesis 1 of the names of atua Māori (Māori divine beings). These names of atua have been used instead of names of features of the natural world, which stands in contrast to the use of other kupu Māori (Māori words) in the earlier translation and its revisions. In this paper, I outline relevant members of the Māori pantheon and of some ancient Near Eastern pantheons, which are not identical. I then discuss the Hebrew text of Genesis 1 in its ancient literary context, making proposals about the use of the names of atua Māori in translations.

Jews, Lordship, and the Experience of Power in Early Eleventh Century France

ABSTRACT The article explores the views of Jews in the early eleventh century on issues of rulership and power through analysis of a Hebrew text known as the ‘1007 Anonymous’. The article opens with a discussion of this work’s account of practices of lordship, showing that its protagonist is presented as a lord. It then turns to examine papal involvement in the power struggles that characterised France, concluding that the protagonist’s appeal to the papacy was at the time a common practice. It moves on to analyse anti-Jewish rhetoric and its underlying political messages, presenting it as a manifestation of power narratives. Finally, the article reframes the Hebrew account as evidence of Jewish attempts to cope with the rise of new practices of rulership in early eleventh century France, and as depicting a Jewish-Christian dispute over the symbolic role (or lack thereof) of the Jews within this political dynamic.

Orality and Memory in Bible Translation

In the last three years, the field of Bible translation has seen a growing interest in oral Bible translation. While this has been seen as an advantage in bringing the Bible to cultures where orality is the norm, surprisingly, the oral nature of the biblical text in the Hebrew Bible has received less attention. Usually, indigenous translators have worked from Bible translations that have been produced for written language, making the text more difficult to translate into their languages in an oral way. In this article I advocate for a closer exploration of the Hebrew text, its characteristics, and its oral forms, as a means of facilitating the work of translators in oral Bible translations.

Jeremiah 33,1–13 MT/G: A Case Study into the Textual Complexity of the Book of Jeremiah

Abstract The complex textual situation of the book remains a major topic in Jeremiah studies. The present article provides a case study on this topic, examining all divergences between the Masoretic text and the Old Greek translation of Jer 33,1–13. It supports the view that the Old Greek represents a variant Hebrew text form of the book, which is generally more ancient than the version of the Masoretic text. At the same time, the examination reveals secondary textual developments in the Hebrew text underlying the Old Greek, In addition, inner-translational factors played a role in causing divergences between the Hebrew and the Greek.

구약성경에 나타난 부활 - 시편을 중심으로

This article explores the theme of resurrection in the Old Testament. Since it is already established that there is no evident testimony of the resurrection in the Old Testament except in the Books of Daniel and 2 Maccabees, I just summarize the existing interpretations of these texts. In addition, I observe that some texts such as Hos 6:2, Isa 26:19, Ez 37:1-14, Job 19:25-27, which do not explicitly mention the theme of resurrection, are interpreted with reference to it in the New Testament and in the patristic teachings. I also consider the possibility of interpreting the immortality in the Book of Wisdom in connection with the corporal resurrection. In the case of the Psalms, some texts are interpreted in connection with the resurrection, but the Hebrew texts have no explicit reference to this theme. I examine the possible references to the resurrection in Psalms 1, 16, 49, 73, and 149. These psalms explore the prospects of the future in different contexts, such as the problem of retribution not realized in this life, the prosperity of the wicked, the inevitability of death, and the final judgment, and begin to conceive of hope beyond death. The hope for the resurrection in these texts is not evident, but they approach the hope beyond death. A certain eschatological hope begins to emerge. The Septuagint, the New Testament, and the interpretations of the Church Fathers also read the hope for the resurrection in these psalms. While the hope for the resurrection emerged gradually in the Old and New Testaments, the Psalms constituted moments in which the hope germinated. In later years commentators with more developed beliefs in the resurrection reinterpreted these psalms from their own perspective.

Jeremiah as the model city: ‘Iron pillar’ as temple language in Jeremiah 1.18

Scholars debate the originality and meaning of the phrase ולעמוד ברזל in Jeremiah 1.18. Whereas some suggest the phrase is not original to the Hebrew text and thereby dismiss the issue, others suggest the phrase signifies Jeremiah’s ability to stand strong in the face of trouble. Neither option adequately places the trifold description of Jeremiah’s ministry in its historical and narrative contexts. Thus, this article argues that Jeremiah’s description as an ‘iron pillar’ serves as an allusion to the temple, imagining Jeremiah as the ideal city in comparison to Jerusalem—God’s original ideal city.

Hebräische Autorennetzwerke in der Breslauer Haskala. Mordechai Roch (1763–1825) und seine nachgelassene Manuskriptsammlung

Abstract While the use of Hebrew was much in decline in most parts of Germany by the end of the eighteenth century, a considerable number of modern Hebrew texts were being published in Breslau with the specific goal of promoting and maintaining the relevance of Hebrew. The article presents a group portrait of the authors who promoted this consolidation of Hebrew study and modern Hebrew writing. It focuses on Mordechai Roch, a lesser-known author whose maskilic activity spanned more than three decades and thus linked the early attempts of the 1790s with a new flowering of Hebrew writing in the 1810s.

Reading Left-To-Right and Right-To-Left Orthographies: Ocular Prevalence, Similarities, Differences and the Reasons for Orthographic Conventions

ABSTRACT Purpose We compare right-to-left and left-to-right orthographies to test the theory, derived from studying the latter, that small temporal asynchronies between the two eyes at the beginning and end of every fixation favor ocular prevalence for the left eye in the left hemifield and the right eye in the right hemifield. Ocular prevalence is the prioritizing of one eye’s input in the conscious, fused binocular percept. Method We analyze binocular eye-tracking data from the reading of multiline Arabic and Hebrew text by 28 Arabic (M = 28.7, SD = 7.2 years, 71% female) and 16 Hebrew (M = 30.1, SD = 7.9 years, 50% female) native speakers, respectively. Results Critically, the complex pattern of asynchronies in Arabic and Hebrew resembles that reported for the left-to-right orthographies, English and Chinese, but with some particular differences that we attribute to left hemisphere specialization in word recognition. Conclusion We conclude, first, that the oculomotor musculature plays an embodied role in the perception and cognition associated with reading. We further discuss how the evident hemispheric asymmetries in parafoveal lookahead may be reflected in the nature of the conventions of right-to-left scripts. We articulate the claim that the orthographic conventions of a language tend to reflect reading direction and hemispheric differences.

“Above all, there’s our humanity”: Teachers’ intertextual responses to reading an ancient Hebrew text

This study examines the role played by intertextual connections suggested by teachers engaged in an interpretive dialogue on a sixth-century Hebrew text. This is a multiple-case study based on intertextual conversation research. The participants—26 Hebrew-as-L1 teachers in secular schools in Israel—were asked to study the text in havruta, a traditional Jewish approach to studying sacred texts, involving a dyad of learners who debate their meanings. Every havruta conversation was considered a case and was compared to the others. After the conversations, interviews were conducted with some of the teachers to learn more about the intertextual links that emerged. The findings suggested significant variance in the number and content of intertextual connections between the groups, given the teachers’ religiosity or previous experience with traditional Jewish texts. The connections suggested shaped the processing of the text, the teachers’ attitudes thereto, and their willingness to teach it. The main conclusion is that studying in multicultural havruta groups increases intertextual connections emerge and helps teachers to interpret the text.

Snakes on a Page: Visual Receptions of the Eden Serpent through the History of Western Art and Their Survivals in Modern Children’s Bibles

Abstract Visual receptions of the Eden serpent throughout the history of Western art have reflected various interpretive attempts to understand the nature of this creature. In the investigation of these receptions, five iconographic categories emerge: the female-headed serpent, the demonic serpent, the dragon-like serpent, the etiological serpent, and the zoological serpent. Of these categories, all but the female-headed serpent survives in modern children’s Bible illustration. Due to the cultural prevalence of children’s Bibles and the tendency of images to inform later readings of texts, these visual receptions of the Eden serpent hold significant interpretive power for the child. Survivals of demonic, dragon-like, and etiological iconographic categories in modern children’s Bibles limit the interpretive possibilities of the child’s subsequent reading of the biblical text. The child is predisposed to regard the serpent as a demonic figure or a fantastical creature, or to regard Genesis 3 as a purely etiological tale, proscribing other interpretive possibilities. In contrast, the survival of the zoological serpent in modern children’s Bibles highlights the interpretive tensions within the Hebrew text of Genesis 3. Rather than proscribing certain interpretations of the Eden serpent, the survival of the zoological serpent in modern children’s Bibles invites the child to interact with the interpretive gaps and ambiguities in both text and image.

Shaming and Unreasonable Shame in the Book of Job1

AbstractWhile the philosophical study of shame has gained popularity, its application in the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible remains in its early stages. This paper delves into an analysis of shaming and unreasonable shame in the Book of Job, particularly in chapter 19. Through an examination of the Hebrew text and drawing on contemporary philosophical definitions of shame and shaming, I argue that Job perceives his friends, God, and the community to be employing shaming tactics against him, attempting to induce feelings of shame, a sentiment Job considers unjustified. In his case, shame is deemed unreasonable because Job has not violated any cherished values that would warrant such an emotion. Additionally, I demonstrate that while Job senses God shaming him, the biblical character acknowledges that his deity is the sole entity aware of his innocence—God's eyes perceive accurately, in contrast to humans', which only assess outward appearances. The role of God as the perfect witness to Job's life is fulfilled in the epilogue of the book, where Yahweh vindicates Job from the shame he has endured by publicly denouncing the serious faults of his friends.

Psalm 29 as a poetological example of Peshitta Psalms translation

The existing research on Peshitta has mostly overlooked the translation techniques used in Peshitta Psalms. Prior studies have primarily focused on comparing Peshitta Psalms with the Masoretic Text (MT), the Septuagint and Targum, leaving a gap in the analysis of Peshitta Psalms within the context of Classical Syriac Poetry. This study will delve into how adeptly the Syriac translator employed poetic elements to construct strophic structures and poetic style within the Peshitta Psalm. This article presents an analysis of strophic structure, word repetition, sound figures and versification in the Syriac translation of Psalm 29, comparing them with their Hebrew counterparts. In this study, the utilisation of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) is employed for the MT, while the ‘Leiden edition’ is employed for the Peshitta. The findings from this analysis reveal that the Syriac rendition of Psalm 29 within the Peshitta incorporates numerous poetic elements. This suggests the translator’s familiarity with the strophic arrangement, word repetition, alliteration and various other poetic characteristics utilised by Hebrew scribes. The Peshitta translation of Psalm 29 closely resembles the MT Hebrew text, resulting in a balance of fidelity and aesthetic elegance. The Syriac rendition incorporates poetic elements like strophic arrangement, word repetition and alliteration but employs these features in a distinct manner. The Syriac text has a lower frequency of alliteration and word repetition but still possesses appealing poetic characteristics. The Syriac approach to verse composition closely resembles the Hebrew method, with some exceptions.Contribution: This study explores the Syriac translator’s use of poetic elements in Peshitta Psalms, revealing their familiarity with Hebrew techniques and the unique incorporation of elements. It provides insights into the evolution of Classical Syriac Poetry and contributes to our understanding of Biblical and Syriac poetry.

The Non-Invasive Spectroscopic Study of a Parchment Object from the National Central Library of Florence: The Hebrew Scroll

The Hebrew Scroll, catalogued as Magliabekian Manuscript III 43 and belonging to the National Central Library of Florence (BNCF), is a membranous richly decorated scroll, with colorful depictions of sacred sites through the Holy Land to Lebanon along with handwritten texts in Hebrew and notes in Italian. Despite the fact that the manuscript was originally catalogued as an “object of no artistic or scientific value”, recent paleographic studies dated it to the XIV century and highlighted it as the oldest scroll still available, depicting holy places from Egypt to Lebanon. Nevertheless, precise dating, authorship, and the interpretation of its original function are still uncertain. A suite of complementary techniques was used, including photographic documentation in visible (VIS) light in diffuse light, grazing light, and transillumination, luminescence induced by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, imaging spectroscopy (IS), Macro Area X-ray Fluorescence (MA-XRF), and spot analyses such as fiber-optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) in the UV, VIS, and near-infrared (NIR) regions, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) in external reflectance mode (ER), and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results of the non-invasive diagnostic campaign enabled the identification of several constituting materials (parchment, pigments, binder, and inks). The identified materials were consistent with the proposed dating and geographical manufacturing area of the artefact.

Hosea 3: a New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

This article is a part of the forthcoming commentary on the biblical Book of Hosea. It contains a new translation of chapter 3 with an introduction and a detailed philological commentary on the Hebrew text. In the commentary, we analyze a number of complex or rare words and expressions in the Bible: 1) rēaʕ “neighbor; 2) pānā “to turn” as a part of the expression “to turn to other gods”; 3) a rare word ʔǎšīšā – presumably “raisin cake”; 4) yāšab with the preposition lə- meaning “to wait”; 5) the expression hāyā lə-ʔīš “to be with a man”; 6) the cultic terms maṣṣēbōt “sacred stones”, ʔēpōd and tərāpīm; 7) ṭūb “kindness”; 8) bə-ʔaḥǎrīt ha-yyāmīm – literally “at the end of the days”. We also study morphologically ambiguous forms and complex syntactic constructions: 1) the passive participle ʔǎhūbā, which can have an active meaning; 2) the verbal form ʔäkkərähā, containing dagesh forte dirimens; the analysis of the form is accompanied by a detailed overview of the use of this sign; 3) the preposition ʔēl with a noun without a verb as a prepositional nominal predicate; 4) pāḥad “to be afraid” in combination with the directive preposition ʔēl as an example of constructio praegnans. At the level of exegesis, we analyze both popular and rare but convincing interpretations of the text. In some cases, we offer a new perspective on Hosea 3. We believe that verses 3:2–4 contain several allusions to the Exodus. We interpret verse 3:4 as a prophecy predicting the destruction of the sanctuaries of the Northern Kingdom.

Reflections on the Circulation of Wisdom Literature in Late Medieval Aragon and Castile

ABSTRACT: This article studies three stages in the circulation of wisdom literature in Aragon and Castile in the later Middle Ages: 1) Origins: wisdom texts in romance were preceded by texts in Arabic, Hebrew and Latin. By the time these romance texts appeared there was a highly developed (in terms of aids for the reader) of florilegia in Latin which, often dependent on other florilegia, preserved a wide range of authors, both familiar and rare. 2) Manuscript context: a conspectus of the manuscripts in which the vernacular texts are found suggests that scribes (or perhaps rather editors) had a sense of what defined wisdom as a genre. 3) Consumption: the article concludes with the use which romance authors made of the Latin florilegia and testifies to the function of these florilegia as a network of knowledge.

Destruction and Preservation of Hebrew Books

This introduction lays the foundation for a collection of high-quality research papers, presenting novel findings, innovative scientific approaches, and the latest developments in the field of the history of Catholic censorship, libricide, and the preservation of Hebrew books during late medieval and early modern Italy. The primary objective of this thematic section is to investigate diverse topics, including the Catholic censorship and expurgation of Hebrew texts, books, and documents. Additionally, it explores the repurposing of these materials in book bindings and notary files, shedding light on how Digital Humanities facilitates the recovery of manuscripts or printed books that would otherwise be lost to history.