Vetus Testamentum

In recent years an increasing scepticism has arisen concerning the Deuteronomistic character of the Book of the Four (Hos, Amos, Mic, Zeph). Many themes and motifs have been regarded as “inspired” by or “oriented” towards the Deut and DtrH, but not exclusively Dtr. redaction. Hosea 1*, the beginning of the composition, however, has been neglected in this respect. Unlike 2 Kgs 9–10, which reflects a positive view of Jehu’s fulfilment of Yhwh’s command at Jezreel, Hos 1 condemns him for the bloodguilt at the same place.

The textual history of biblical pericopes preserved in more than one version is very complex. Although the stories in Isa 38 and 2 Kgs 20 appear to have originated with some distinctive accents, one can observe a later tendency to harmonise these parallel accounts. Against the background of ancient scribal practices, the current investigation places the wide range of available empirical data regarding Isa 38:8 and 2 Kgs 20:9–11 in a complex network of evidences.

Resheph and Qeteb from Deut 32:24 are considered in modern scholarship as demons. This short paper argues this theory and points out a possible alternative explanation: literary paganism.

In studies on the composition of prophetic literature, the larger textual layers reinterpreting earlier texts, the so-called Fortschreibungen, received much attention. It is well-known that beside these larger literary elaborations prophetic books also contain shorter explanatory interpolations, often called glosses, which intend to clarify a particular imagery of the prophecy (e.g., Isa 9:14). A systematic reading of these short annotations has been neglected, however, in studying the formation of prophetic books. The present article reconsiders the Isaiah-Memoir from this perspective.

It is argued that the preposition in Prov 1:22b is employed as a dativus commodi, as opposed to earlier assumptions that it is a dativus ethicus. The employment of the preposition in Prov 1:22 as a dativus commodi in a construction with the verb, "to desire," implies an ironic criticism of the negative attitude of the "scoffers" towards Wisdom's call and of their revelling delight in their scoffing.

The aim of this study is, on the one side, to inquire into the meaning of the expression in Deut. viii 3b. Because this expression appears only once in the Old Testament, this study investigates the genitival construction in Num. xxx 13; Deut. xxiii 24; Jer. xvii 16, and Ps. lxxxix 35, and the expression in Num. xxx 3; Judg. xi 36; Isa. xlv 23; and lv 11. One may conclude that these expressions bear signs of a juridical language, with the connotation of `self commitment'. Accordingly, in Deut. viii 3b denotes the self commitment of YHWH.

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