Search results for ""Author Izaak J. de Hulster""
JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck) Iconographic Exegesis and Third Isaiah
Although scholars employ pictorial material in biblical exegesis, the question of how images from the Ancient Near East can contribute to a better understanding of the Bible has been left unanswered. This is the first monograph to outline a historical method for iconographic exegesis. The methodological study includes both responses to important theoretical questions such as "What is an image?" and "What is culture?" and an interdisciplinary exploration of issues of history, art history, archaeology and cultural anthropology. The three-stage method proposed is embedded in hermeneutical and exegetical reflections. The application of iconographical exegesis to the interpretation of metaphors is also considered. In demonstrating the method and its application, Izaak J. de Hulster focuses on Third Isaiah and develops three iconographical exegetical studies on yad in Isaiah 56:5, light in Isaiah 60 and grape processing in Isaiah 63.
£85.21
JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck) Figurines in Achaemenid Period Yehud: Jerusalem's History of Religion and Coroplastics in the Monotheism Debate
Were there figurines in Yehud during the Achaemenid period, and in particular in Jerusalem? A positive answer to this question disproves the general consensus about the absence of figurines in Yehud, which is built on the assumption that the figurines excavated in Judah/Yehud are chronologically indicative for Iron Age II in this area (aside from a few typological exceptions). Ephraim Stern and others have taken this alleged absence of figurines as indicative of Jewish monotheism's rise. Izaak J. de Hulster refutes this 'no figurines → monotheism' paradigm by detailed study of the figurines from Yigal Shiloh's excavation in the 'City of David' (especially their contexts in Stratum 9), providing ample evidence for the presence of figurines in post-587/586 Jerusalem. The author further reflects on the paradigm's premises in archaeology, history, the history of religion, theology, and biblical studies, and particularly in coroplastics (figurine studies).
£127.40
JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck) Divine Presence and Absence in Exilic and Post-Exilic Judaism: Studies of the Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group on Early Jewish Monotheism Vol. II
The catastrophic events at the beginning of the sixth century BCE resulted in a theological crisis for the Judean elite. The end of the only surviving Hebrew kingdom was explained by a theology of divine abandonment, a motif widely understood in the ancient Near East. Many years later Jewish exiles would return to rebuild and settle Jerusalem. During their time in Babylonia and in the Persian period this group redefined the traditional understanding of divine presence and developed various new understandings that could explain YHWH's commitment to Jerusalem as well as the cataclysmic events that they had experienced. This collection of essays from a conference held in Göttingen in May 2011 examines changing ideas of divine presence and absence in late biblical texts. The essays tackle subjects such as the understanding of divine presence in Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, the Psalms and Ezra-Nehemiah, as well as topics such as divine abandonment, aniconism, the exaltation of Torah and the spirit of God. These Judean perspectives are contextualized by essays that examine ideas of divine presence elsewhere in the ancient Levant and the Near East, and modern theological and philosophical attempts to speak about the presence or absence of God. This volume is the first publication in the context of the Sofja-Kovalevskaja Research Group under the leadership of Nathan MacDonald. This research group seeks to examine the considerable diversity in Israelite and Jewish monotheistic thought and practice during the exilic and Persian periods, particularly through an examination of the relevant biblical texts. The project consists of a small team of post-doctoral and doctoral researchers based at the Georg-August Universität Göttingen. The project has a strong contemporary resonance because of concerns expressed about the relationship between monotheism, hegemony and violence.
£99.03
JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck) In Search for Aram and Israel: Politics, Culture, and Identity
Throughout its history, the Kingdom of Israel had strong connections with the Aramaean world. Constantly changing relations, from rivalry and military conflicts to alliances and military cooperation, affected the history of the whole Levant and left their marks on both Biblical and extra-Biblical sources. New studies demonstrate that Israelite state formation was contemporaneous with the formation of the Aramaean polities (11th-9th centuries BCE). Consequently, the Jordan Valley (and especially its northern parts and its extension to the valley of Lebanon) was a constantly changing border zone between different Iron Age polities. In light of that, there is a need to study the history of Ancient Israel not only from the "Canaanite" point of view but also within the political and cultural context of the Aramaean world. This volume brings together experts working in different fields to address the relations and interactions between Aram and Israel during the Early Iron Age (12th to 8th centuries BCE) through three main aspects: the first aspect, relates to the archaeology and the material culture of Aram and Israel, with a special focus on the Jordan valley as a political and cultural border zone. The material culture of the region is examined in its spatial as well as chronological context in order to discuss cultural traits as against political affiliation. The second aspect relates to the history of the Aramaean kingdoms highlighting the formation of territorial kingdoms in the Levant and the history of Israel in its Aramaean context. The third aspect relates to the question of historical memory especially as it was preserved in the biblical traditions. The place of the Aramaeans in the Biblical literature is discussed as a mean to clarify the construction of Israelite and Aramaic identity in a fluid cultural region.
£141.70