Description
Book SynopsisThe title, Marbeh Ḥokmah, meaning “increases wisdom,” reflects the fact that Victor Avigdor Hurowitz was a scholar who increased wisdom and who continues to increase the wisdom of scholars throughout the world even after his untimely death at the age of 64. The book was edited by five of Professor Hurowitz’s colleagues: Profs. Shamir Yona and Mayer I. Gruber of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Edward L. Greenstein of Bar-Ilan University, Peter Machinist of Harvard University, and Shalom M. Paul of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The two-volume collection contains 49 groundbreaking essays written by 53 distinguished authors from various institutions of higher learning in Israel and around the world. The authors include Victor’s teachers, colleagues, and students, and the essays deal with a great variety of subjects. The breadth of subject matter featured in Marbeh Ḥokmah is a most appropriate tribute to Victor Avigdor Hurowitz, whose published scholarship encompassed a wide variety of fields of interest pertaining to the study of the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East: Wisdom Literature, Psalmody, prophecy and prophets, the priesthood, eschatology, historiography, ancient inscriptions, medieval Hebrew biblical exegesis, religious rites, building and architecture, temples, the art of warfare, Semitic philology, Sumerian proverbs, epigraphy, rhetoric and stylistics, poetry, lamentations, the interconnections between Hebrew Scripture and the ancient Near East, the cultures of ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia, innerbiblical parallels, and many other subjects.
Trade Review“These papers demonstrate that both fields—Bible and ancient Near Eastern studies— stand much to gain by following the path of dialogue and discourse upon which Victor Hurowitz left his indelible footprints.”
—Yoram Cohen Review of Biblical Literature
Table of ContentsAbout the Editors and Contributors
Preface and Acknowledgments
Personal and Academic Biography of Victor Avigdor Hurowitz
Publications of Victor Avigdor Hurowitz
English Abstracts of the Hebrew Essays
Abbreviations
Maqlû Tablet II: Its Literary Frame and Formation Tzvi Abusch
Images of the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Calah in the Throne-Room Vision of Isaiah 6 Shawn Zelig Aster
Bathing the Goddess (CTH 714) Gary Beckman
Psalm 132: A Prayer for the Restoration of Judah Adele Berlin
Josiah in Bethel: An Ancient Prophecy Newly Fulfilled Mordechai Cogan
The Well-Attested BH-Akk. Simile כראימ (Ps 92:11) כמו בן-ראמים (Ps 29:6) = Akk. kīma rīmi/rīmāniš and Its Semantic Equivalent כאביר (Isa 10:13 [Kethiv]) in the Speech of the Assyrian King Chaim (Harold R.) Cohen
The Pastoral Idea of ḥesed and the Symbolism of Matzo and Hamets Sol Cohen
The Tower and City of Babel Story (Genesis 11:1–9): Problems of Interpretation and Background John Day
Human Tribulation and Transience in Job: The Metaphor of the Moth Tova Forti
Did Ezra Create Judaism? Lisbeth S. Fried
Ancient Mesopotamian Cultic Whispering into the Ears Uri Gabbay
Two New Cultic Inscriptions from Seventh-Century BCE Ekron Seymour Gitin and Shmuel Aḥituv
Reflections on the Intersection between “Song” and Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible David A. Glatt-Gilad
To Whom Can a Wronged Person Turn for Help in the Old Babylonian Period? Shirley Graetz
Finding One’s Way in Proverbs 30:18–19 Edward L. Greenstein
ʾel = ʾet: An Unrecognized Lexeme in Biblical Hebrew Mayer I. Gruber
A Sumerian Incantation for the Lavatory and Neo-Assyrian Eschatology Wayne Horowitz
Religion and Ethics in Sumerian Proverb Literature Jacob Klein and Nili Samet
How Did Rabshakeh Know the Language of Judah? Yigal Levin
From Accountability to Commandment: Trends in the Evolution of the Ancient Near Eastern Ritual Genre Baruch A. Levine
Idol Moments: Reading the Bible in Abraham’s Father’s Idol Shop Diana Lipton
Portable Sanctuaries and Their Evolution: The Biblical Tabernacle (ʿōhel môʿēd/miškān) and the Akkadian qersu Natalie N. May
“Your Father Is an Amorite and Your Mother a Hittite” (Ezekiel 16:3) Bustenay Oded
Vain Imprecations on Having Been Born in Job 3 and Mesopotamian Literature Shalom M. Paul
The Discourse Structure of the Mesha Inscription: “I-Style” Intonation Units, and Oral Performance Frank H. Polak
Anointing Documents with Oil and Sacrificing before Them Barbara N. Porter
Repetition with Variation in Legal-Cultic Texts of the Torah Gary A. Rendsburg
Siege Mentality: Fighting at the City Gate in the Mari Archives Jack M. Sasson
The Question of David’s Voice(s) in the Lament of 2 Samuel Mark S. Smith
Gudea’s Kingship and Divinity Claudia E. Suter
Eschatology in the Book of Jeremiah Marvin A. Sweeney
The “Holiness School”—Creativity and Editorial Activity in the Book of Joshua: The Case of Joshua 24 Ada Taggar-Cohen
Saul’s Pursuit of David in the Land of Judah and the Geographical Background Shmuel Vargon
Under The Skin: A Study of SU, the Sumerian Bodyscape Joan Goodnick Westenholz ז′′ל
Another Look at the Nomadic Tribal Arameans in the Inscriptions of Ninurta-kudurrī-uṣur of Suḫu K. Lawson Younger, Jr.
Taking the Measure of the Ten-Cubit Gap, Isaiah’s Vision, and Iron Age Bones Ziony Zevit
Indexes
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
Hebrew Section
Contents
The “Blessings” of Reuben (Gen 49:3–4; Deut 33:6; Judg 5:14): Their Historical Background Yitzhak Avishur
Towns with Changed Names Israel Ephʿal
The Episode of Naboth the Jezreelite: A Crucial Clash between Ahab’s Policy and the Patriarchal Tradition Zafrira Ben-Barak
Priests and the Cult in the Book of Malachi in the Light of Neo-Babylonian Sources Jonathan Ben-Dov
A New Reading of Deuteronomy 17:2–7 Shalom Eliezer Holtz
Wordplays in the Visions of Amos Nili Wazana
Repeated Passages and Their Significance for the Composition of the Deuteronomistic and Chronistic Historiographies Zipora Talshir
The Alleged Dependence of the Abraham Narratives in Genesis on the Ugaritic Epic of Aqhat Jonathan Yogev and Shamir Yona
Between Men and God in the Hebrew Bible: On Seeing, Self-Restraint, and Loyalty Rimon Kasher
Editing and Authorship in Proverbs 22:17–23:10 Michael V. fox
The Corrections by Rashi to His Commentary on Hosea Jordan S. Penkower
The Fall of Samaria: Between History and Historiography Danʾel Kahn
Here Today and Gone Tomorrow: The Story of Merab, the Daughter of Saul Orly Keren and Hagit Taragan
The Justification of the Lord’s Verdict: Textual and Literary Interventions in Samuel and Kings Alexander Rofé
“An Abomination to the Egyptians”: New Light on an Old Problem Nili Shupak
Index of Authors
