Richard Kalmin
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195306194
- eISBN:
- 9780199784998
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195306198.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter further exemplifies the claim regarding the Bavli's tendency to depict the most powerful groups and the major institutions of the distant past as controlled by rabbis, as opposed to the ...
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This chapter further exemplifies the claim regarding the Bavli's tendency to depict the most powerful groups and the major institutions of the distant past as controlled by rabbis, as opposed to the tendency of Palestinian rabbis to acknowledge the prominent role played by nonrabbis. It also supports the claim that the nonrabbinic Jewish world penetrated the walls of the Babylonian rabbinic study house in the form of literary traditions deriving from Roman Palestine, and perhaps from elsewhere in the Roman provincial world. It is shown that the rabbis domesticated these traditions by supplying them with a rabbinic veneer that transformed them into fit objects of Torah study. Several pre- and nonrabbinic traditions have been incorporated into the Tosefta, the Yerushalmi, and the Bavli, and all have been subjected to varying degrees of editorial revision and distortion. Palestinian rabbis emended these stories less radically than Babylonian rabbis, for reasons discussed in the previous chapter. This finding is significant, since it means that if we are able to correct for the distortions, rabbinic literature is a fruitful repository of nonrabbinic thought, belief, behavior, and gossip.Less
This chapter further exemplifies the claim regarding the Bavli's tendency to depict the most powerful groups and the major institutions of the distant past as controlled by rabbis, as opposed to the tendency of Palestinian rabbis to acknowledge the prominent role played by nonrabbis. It also supports the claim that the nonrabbinic Jewish world penetrated the walls of the Babylonian rabbinic study house in the form of literary traditions deriving from Roman Palestine, and perhaps from elsewhere in the Roman provincial world. It is shown that the rabbis domesticated these traditions by supplying them with a rabbinic veneer that transformed them into fit objects of Torah study. Several pre- and nonrabbinic traditions have been incorporated into the Tosefta, the Yerushalmi, and the Bavli, and all have been subjected to varying degrees of editorial revision and distortion. Palestinian rabbis emended these stories less radically than Babylonian rabbis, for reasons discussed in the previous chapter. This finding is significant, since it means that if we are able to correct for the distortions, rabbinic literature is a fruitful repository of nonrabbinic thought, belief, behavior, and gossip.
James Davison Hunter
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199730803
- eISBN:
- 9780199777082
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730803.003.0020
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Christians are to maintain their distinctiveness as a community in a manner that serves the common good. A theology of faithful presence calls Christians to enact the shalom of God in the ...
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Christians are to maintain their distinctiveness as a community in a manner that serves the common good. A theology of faithful presence calls Christians to enact the shalom of God in the circumstances in which God has placed them. In Jeremiah 29, the Israelites were called to practice shalom when God commanded them to pray for the welfare of their Babylonian captors. The enactments of shalom need to extend into the institutions of which all Christians are a part and, as they are able, into the formation of new institutions within every sphere of life. The church will not flourish in itself nor serve well the common good if it isolates itself from the larger culture, fails to understand its nature and inner logic, and is incapable of working within it—critically affirming and strengthening its healthy qualities and humbly criticizing and subverting its most destructive tendencies.Less
Christians are to maintain their distinctiveness as a community in a manner that serves the common good. A theology of faithful presence calls Christians to enact the shalom of God in the circumstances in which God has placed them. In Jeremiah 29, the Israelites were called to practice shalom when God commanded them to pray for the welfare of their Babylonian captors. The enactments of shalom need to extend into the institutions of which all Christians are a part and, as they are able, into the formation of new institutions within every sphere of life. The church will not flourish in itself nor serve well the common good if it isolates itself from the larger culture, fails to understand its nature and inner logic, and is incapable of working within it—critically affirming and strengthening its healthy qualities and humbly criticizing and subverting its most destructive tendencies.
AMÉLIE KUHRT
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter examines how an historian of the ancient Near East sets about reconstructing a picture of the past using material of great diversity in terms of type and historical value. It ...
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This chapter examines how an historian of the ancient Near East sets about reconstructing a picture of the past using material of great diversity in terms of type and historical value. It demonstrates this approach by considering the figure of the Achaemenid king, Cyrus II ‘the Great’ of Persia. The discussion begins by creating a conventional image of the king and consolidating it. It then analyses the evidence that has been used to strengthen the picture and presents some historical realities. The basis for the standard picture of Cyrus the Great is provided by material in classical writers and the Old Testament. Cyrus introduced a new policy of religious toleration together with active support for local cults, exemplified by the permission he granted to the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple, with generous funding from central government. The chapter also considers the date for Cyrus' defeat of the Median king Astyages (550), as well as his conquest of Babylon itself.Less
This chapter examines how an historian of the ancient Near East sets about reconstructing a picture of the past using material of great diversity in terms of type and historical value. It demonstrates this approach by considering the figure of the Achaemenid king, Cyrus II ‘the Great’ of Persia. The discussion begins by creating a conventional image of the king and consolidating it. It then analyses the evidence that has been used to strengthen the picture and presents some historical realities. The basis for the standard picture of Cyrus the Great is provided by material in classical writers and the Old Testament. Cyrus introduced a new policy of religious toleration together with active support for local cults, exemplified by the permission he granted to the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple, with generous funding from central government. The chapter also considers the date for Cyrus' defeat of the Median king Astyages (550), as well as his conquest of Babylon itself.
Denis J. Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207145
- eISBN:
- 9780191708893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207145.003.0013
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
The classical and medieval periods of 1800 BCE to 1500 CE were characterized by some limited technical innovation in agriculture, but little progress was made in crop improvement as global ...
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The classical and medieval periods of 1800 BCE to 1500 CE were characterized by some limited technical innovation in agriculture, but little progress was made in crop improvement as global populations ceased their expansion, which had been occurring since the early Holocene. Babylonian and Assyrian imperial rulers established a much-copied precedent of introducing new crops from conquered regions and in producing manuals for agricultural management. From 500 to 50 BCE, Greek naturalists began systematically to study plant biology and publish their findings, but this first blooming of scientific methodology proved short lived. Later cultures tended to reinterpret old knowledge rather than create it anew. From 700 CE, the expanding Muslim empires introduced many improvements into Mediterranean farming from the Near East, most notably in their Iberian realm of Al Andalus. Medieval farming in Europe was relatively stagnant and declined further after 1320 CE during the Little Ice Age.Less
The classical and medieval periods of 1800 BCE to 1500 CE were characterized by some limited technical innovation in agriculture, but little progress was made in crop improvement as global populations ceased their expansion, which had been occurring since the early Holocene. Babylonian and Assyrian imperial rulers established a much-copied precedent of introducing new crops from conquered regions and in producing manuals for agricultural management. From 500 to 50 BCE, Greek naturalists began systematically to study plant biology and publish their findings, but this first blooming of scientific methodology proved short lived. Later cultures tended to reinterpret old knowledge rather than create it anew. From 700 CE, the expanding Muslim empires introduced many improvements into Mediterranean farming from the Near East, most notably in their Iberian realm of Al Andalus. Medieval farming in Europe was relatively stagnant and declined further after 1320 CE during the Little Ice Age.
A. B. Bosworth
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198153061
- eISBN:
- 9780191715204
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198153061.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
No previous event in Macedonian history was anything like as turbulant as the Babylon Settlement. There had been succession crises aplenty, but all had been significantly different. Reigning kings ...
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No previous event in Macedonian history was anything like as turbulant as the Babylon Settlement. There had been succession crises aplenty, but all had been significantly different. Reigning kings left living sons. They may have been immature boys (like Archelaus' son, Orestes), but at least they were there — there was a plethora of males of the Argead house. So problems arose from an oversupply of potential kings. What is more, the succession to the throne was played out within the boundaries of Macedon, in the traditional heartland of the kingdom. Alexander himself came to power in the old capital of Aegae, with the entire nobility around him and the armed forces united in Macedonia. His accession may have been bloody, but the circumstances did not favour a protracted crisis. Rivals and potential rivals who were close at hand were quickly eliminated, and he was able to achieve recognition in Macedon and stamp his authority on the League of Corinth within a matter of weeks.Less
No previous event in Macedonian history was anything like as turbulant as the Babylon Settlement. There had been succession crises aplenty, but all had been significantly different. Reigning kings left living sons. They may have been immature boys (like Archelaus' son, Orestes), but at least they were there — there was a plethora of males of the Argead house. So problems arose from an oversupply of potential kings. What is more, the succession to the throne was played out within the boundaries of Macedon, in the traditional heartland of the kingdom. Alexander himself came to power in the old capital of Aegae, with the entire nobility around him and the armed forces united in Macedonia. His accession may have been bloody, but the circumstances did not favour a protracted crisis. Rivals and potential rivals who were close at hand were quickly eliminated, and he was able to achieve recognition in Macedon and stamp his authority on the League of Corinth within a matter of weeks.
Zvi Ben‐Dor Benite
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195307337
- eISBN:
- 9780199867868
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195307337.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter presents the historical circumstances that gave birth to the story of the Ten Lost Tribes in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. The two most important elements in this chapter are the ...
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This chapter presents the historical circumstances that gave birth to the story of the Ten Lost Tribes in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. The two most important elements in this chapter are the imperial deportations and the prophetic culture that “processed” them into a divine punishment understood to be an overall exile of an entire nation. The chapter tells how the rise of the Assyrian Empire to world dominance during the 8th century BCE resulted in the destruction of the Israelite kingdom in Northern ancient Palestine and the deportation of several tens of thousands of its subjects to the eastern provinces of the Empire. This was an uncommon occurrence in the ancient Near East as other small kingdom and nations were deported as well. However, this particular deportation was recorded in the Bible. The chapter then describes how prophets in Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judea‐most notably Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah turned the deportation into a divine punishment enacted by God through Assyria. Most crucially, Isaiah (and he was followed by other prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel) promised that the tribes would return. When they did not, their search began.Less
This chapter presents the historical circumstances that gave birth to the story of the Ten Lost Tribes in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. The two most important elements in this chapter are the imperial deportations and the prophetic culture that “processed” them into a divine punishment understood to be an overall exile of an entire nation. The chapter tells how the rise of the Assyrian Empire to world dominance during the 8th century BCE resulted in the destruction of the Israelite kingdom in Northern ancient Palestine and the deportation of several tens of thousands of its subjects to the eastern provinces of the Empire. This was an uncommon occurrence in the ancient Near East as other small kingdom and nations were deported as well. However, this particular deportation was recorded in the Bible. The chapter then describes how prophets in Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judea‐most notably Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah turned the deportation into a divine punishment enacted by God through Assyria. Most crucially, Isaiah (and he was followed by other prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel) promised that the tribes would return. When they did not, their search began.
Ennis Barrington Edmonds
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195133769
- eISBN:
- 9780199834167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195133765.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Rastafari is about the delegitimation of Babylon – the forces of oppression and exploitation that Africans faced under colonialism and its legacies – and the revitalization of African culture and ...
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Rastafari is about the delegitimation of Babylon – the forces of oppression and exploitation that Africans faced under colonialism and its legacies – and the revitalization of African culture and sensibilities in the African Diaspora. This delegitimation is expressed as “beating down Babylon,” and is accomplished by condemning Jamaica and the West for its historical atrocities, economic exploitation, mental slavery or cultural imperialism, and political trickery. The attempt to revitalize African culture and sensibilities focuses on the reappropriation of Africa as the spiritual and cultural home of Rastas and all Africans in the Diaspora, on the lion as the symbol of Rastafarian self‐assertiveness and confidence in response to the coward Anancyism of alienated slave personality, and on the cultivation of dreadlocks, “dread talk,” and “ital levity” (natural or organic living).Less
Rastafari is about the delegitimation of Babylon – the forces of oppression and exploitation that Africans faced under colonialism and its legacies – and the revitalization of African culture and sensibilities in the African Diaspora. This delegitimation is expressed as “beating down Babylon,” and is accomplished by condemning Jamaica and the West for its historical atrocities, economic exploitation, mental slavery or cultural imperialism, and political trickery. The attempt to revitalize African culture and sensibilities focuses on the reappropriation of Africa as the spiritual and cultural home of Rastas and all Africans in the Diaspora, on the lion as the symbol of Rastafarian self‐assertiveness and confidence in response to the coward Anancyism of alienated slave personality, and on the cultivation of dreadlocks, “dread talk,” and “ital levity” (natural or organic living).
Paul B. Duff
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138351
- eISBN:
- 9780199834150
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513835X.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The author of the Book of Revelation highlights four female figures throughout the Book of Revelation: “Jezebel” (Ch. 2), the unnamed woman “clothed with the sun” (Ch. 12), “Babylon” (Ch. 17), and ...
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The author of the Book of Revelation highlights four female figures throughout the Book of Revelation: “Jezebel” (Ch. 2), the unnamed woman “clothed with the sun” (Ch. 12), “Babylon” (Ch. 17), and “Jerusalem” (Chs. 21–22). Two of these women are depicted positively (the unnamed woman and “Jerusalem”) and two negatively (“Jezebel” and “Babylon”). John forges strong links between the positive figures and between the negative figures and then sets these linked pairs over against one another. By closely linking the negative women, “Jezebel” and “Babylon,” and by setting them over against the positive women, he first places his Christian rival on the side of evil and, second, he attacks “Jezebel” indirectly by maligning “Babylon.” By focusing on both gender and food issues in the descriptions of the four women, John is able to comment indirectly on the charges of ɛιδωλόθυτα and πορνɛία that he had leveled against “Jezebel” in Ch. 2.Less
The author of the Book of Revelation highlights four female figures throughout the Book of Revelation: “Jezebel” (Ch. 2), the unnamed woman “clothed with the sun” (Ch. 12), “Babylon” (Ch. 17), and “Jerusalem” (Chs. 21–22). Two of these women are depicted positively (the unnamed woman and “Jerusalem”) and two negatively (“Jezebel” and “Babylon”). John forges strong links between the positive figures and between the negative figures and then sets these linked pairs over against one another. By closely linking the negative women, “Jezebel” and “Babylon,” and by setting them over against the positive women, he first places his Christian rival on the side of evil and, second, he attacks “Jezebel” indirectly by maligning “Babylon.” By focusing on both gender and food issues in the descriptions of the four women, John is able to comment indirectly on the charges of ɛιδωλόθυτα and πορνɛία that he had leveled against “Jezebel” in Ch. 2.
Paul B. Duff
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138351
- eISBN:
- 9780199834150
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513835X.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
John uses the issues of food and sex to continue his indirect denunciation of “Jezebel.” He focuses on these issues in the passages that feature female characters in order to connect the activities ...
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John uses the issues of food and sex to continue his indirect denunciation of “Jezebel.” He focuses on these issues in the passages that feature female characters in order to connect the activities of “Jezebel” (ɛιδωλόθυτα and πορνɛία) to “Babylon's” heinous acts focused on eating (cannibalism) and sex (promiscuity). John also uses gender stereotypes (specifically that women are weak, undisciplined, emotional, and ultimately dangerous) to suggest that his rival, a woman, is unfit to lead the churches.Less
John uses the issues of food and sex to continue his indirect denunciation of “Jezebel.” He focuses on these issues in the passages that feature female characters in order to connect the activities of “Jezebel” (ɛιδωλόθυτα and πορνɛία) to “Babylon's” heinous acts focused on eating (cannibalism) and sex (promiscuity). John also uses gender stereotypes (specifically that women are weak, undisciplined, emotional, and ultimately dangerous) to suggest that his rival, a woman, is unfit to lead the churches.
Christopher Bryan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195183344
- eISBN:
- 9780199835584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195183347.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
According to biblical and prophetic tradition, God wills that there shall be empires and superpowers: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia are all, at different times, said to rule by God’s mandate, ...
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According to biblical and prophetic tradition, God wills that there shall be empires and superpowers: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia are all, at different times, said to rule by God’s mandate, but also within the limits of God’s sovereignty. That sovereignty is concerned for the well-being of Israel, but also for justice and courtesy among all the nations. Empires that flout God’s sovereignty bring destruction upon themselves, for not even a superpower can long defy God. Where, however, there is acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty, there may (as in the case of Persia) be cooperation between Israel and Empire. Israel itself, as an imperial power (as it was under David and Solomon), is subject to the same conditions: the Israelite king may no more absolutize himself or his power than may a pagan emperor.Less
According to biblical and prophetic tradition, God wills that there shall be empires and superpowers: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia are all, at different times, said to rule by God’s mandate, but also within the limits of God’s sovereignty. That sovereignty is concerned for the well-being of Israel, but also for justice and courtesy among all the nations. Empires that flout God’s sovereignty bring destruction upon themselves, for not even a superpower can long defy God. Where, however, there is acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty, there may (as in the case of Persia) be cooperation between Israel and Empire. Israel itself, as an imperial power (as it was under David and Solomon), is subject to the same conditions: the Israelite king may no more absolutize himself or his power than may a pagan emperor.
Peter Temin
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691147680
- eISBN:
- 9781400845422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691147680.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter talks about Hellenistic prices in Babylon, with which a large data set has survived. The price data come from a vast archive of astronomical cuneiform tablets from the ancient city of ...
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This chapter talks about Hellenistic prices in Babylon, with which a large data set has survived. The price data come from a vast archive of astronomical cuneiform tablets from the ancient city of Babylon. These tablets are unique among documents pertinent to the study of ancient history. Because of the astronomical content, any evidence extracted from these texts can be dated with certainty. Furthermore, the market quotations always were expressed in the same terms: quantities that can be purchased for one shekel (a weight measure, not a coin) of silver. In addition, values of the same six commodities were listed in a set order: barley, dates, cuscuta (mustard), cardamom (cress), sesame, and wool.Less
This chapter talks about Hellenistic prices in Babylon, with which a large data set has survived. The price data come from a vast archive of astronomical cuneiform tablets from the ancient city of Babylon. These tablets are unique among documents pertinent to the study of ancient history. Because of the astronomical content, any evidence extracted from these texts can be dated with certainty. Furthermore, the market quotations always were expressed in the same terms: quantities that can be purchased for one shekel (a weight measure, not a coin) of silver. In addition, values of the same six commodities were listed in a set order: barley, dates, cuscuta (mustard), cardamom (cress), sesame, and wool.
David M. Carr
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199742608
- eISBN:
- 9780199918737
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199742608.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This book rethinks both the methods and historical orientation points for research into the growth of the Hebrew Bible. Building on his prior work, Writing on the Tablet of the Heart (Oxford, 2005), ...
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This book rethinks both the methods and historical orientation points for research into the growth of the Hebrew Bible. Building on his prior work, Writing on the Tablet of the Heart (Oxford, 2005), the author explores the possibilities and limits of reconstruction of pre-stages of the Bible. The method advocated is a “methodologically modest” investigation of those pre-stages, utilizing criteria and models derived from the author’s survey of documented examples of textual revision in the Ancient Near East. The result is a new picture of the Bible’s formation, with insights on the emergence of Hebrew literary textuality, the development of the first Hexateuch, and the final formation of the Hebrew Bible. Where some have advocated dating the bulk of the Hebrew Bible in a single period, whether relatively early (Neo-Assyrian) or late (Persian or Hellenistic), the author uncovers evidence that the Hebrew Bible contains texts dating across Israelite history, even the early pre-exilic period (10th-9th centuries) where many recent studies have been hesitant to date substantial portions of the Bible. He traces the impact of Neo-Assyrian imperialism on eighth and seventh century Israelite textuality, uses studies of collective trauma to identify marks of the reshaping and collection of traditions in response to the destruction of Jerusalem and Babylonian exile, develops a picture of varied Priestly reshaping of narrative and prophetic traditions in the Second Temple period, and uses manuscript evidence from Qumran and the Septuagint to reveal the final literary reshaping that produced the proto-Masoretic text.Less
This book rethinks both the methods and historical orientation points for research into the growth of the Hebrew Bible. Building on his prior work, Writing on the Tablet of the Heart (Oxford, 2005), the author explores the possibilities and limits of reconstruction of pre-stages of the Bible. The method advocated is a “methodologically modest” investigation of those pre-stages, utilizing criteria and models derived from the author’s survey of documented examples of textual revision in the Ancient Near East. The result is a new picture of the Bible’s formation, with insights on the emergence of Hebrew literary textuality, the development of the first Hexateuch, and the final formation of the Hebrew Bible. Where some have advocated dating the bulk of the Hebrew Bible in a single period, whether relatively early (Neo-Assyrian) or late (Persian or Hellenistic), the author uncovers evidence that the Hebrew Bible contains texts dating across Israelite history, even the early pre-exilic period (10th-9th centuries) where many recent studies have been hesitant to date substantial portions of the Bible. He traces the impact of Neo-Assyrian imperialism on eighth and seventh century Israelite textuality, uses studies of collective trauma to identify marks of the reshaping and collection of traditions in response to the destruction of Jerusalem and Babylonian exile, develops a picture of varied Priestly reshaping of narrative and prophetic traditions in the Second Temple period, and uses manuscript evidence from Qumran and the Septuagint to reveal the final literary reshaping that produced the proto-Masoretic text.
Mary Douglas
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199245413
- eISBN:
- 9780191697463
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199245413.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
There is a general scholarly consensus that the Book of Numbers received its final form during the exile in Babylon and shortly after the return. It is also well understood that the materials from ...
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There is a general scholarly consensus that the Book of Numbers received its final form during the exile in Babylon and shortly after the return. It is also well understood that the materials from which it was compiled are very ancient, some coming from oral traditions, some written, some laws, some stories. This view is compatible with finding parts of the text disjointed. It comes very close to charging the editor with incompetence, or at least with carelessness. The opposite view is proposed here in this chapter: that the book has been very carefully constructed and that the many repetitions and jumps of context are not accidental. However, Numbers reads as a story crudely interrupted by bits of laws, and laws interrupted by story. The severest critic of the redactor's editorial skills is the esteemed biblical scholar, Martin Noth. The literary traditions of the place and period are taken into account in the chapter.Less
There is a general scholarly consensus that the Book of Numbers received its final form during the exile in Babylon and shortly after the return. It is also well understood that the materials from which it was compiled are very ancient, some coming from oral traditions, some written, some laws, some stories. This view is compatible with finding parts of the text disjointed. It comes very close to charging the editor with incompetence, or at least with carelessness. The opposite view is proposed here in this chapter: that the book has been very carefully constructed and that the many repetitions and jumps of context are not accidental. However, Numbers reads as a story crudely interrupted by bits of laws, and laws interrupted by story. The severest critic of the redactor's editorial skills is the esteemed biblical scholar, Martin Noth. The literary traditions of the place and period are taken into account in the chapter.
David M. Carr
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199742608
- eISBN:
- 9780199918737
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199742608.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
After an overview building on trauma studies and use of diaspora/forced migration anthropology to illuminate the otherwise opaque exile, this chapter surveys several texts most clearly datable to ...
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After an overview building on trauma studies and use of diaspora/forced migration anthropology to illuminate the otherwise opaque exile, this chapter surveys several texts most clearly datable to that period, including Lamentations, Ezekiel, Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55, 60-2), and texts associated with the deposed monarchy (e.g. Psalm 89 and the conclusion to Kings in 2 Kgs 25:27-30). Also dated to the exile are elements related to inter-generational sin in Kings (2 Kgs 21:11-16; 23:26-27; 24:3), the speech in Deut 30:1-11, the tower of Babel story (Gen 11:1-9, in its present form), the oracle against Babylon in Isaiah 14 (again reshaped to focus on Babylon), and other probable exilic elements in various other prophetic collections (e.g. Micah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah).Less
After an overview building on trauma studies and use of diaspora/forced migration anthropology to illuminate the otherwise opaque exile, this chapter surveys several texts most clearly datable to that period, including Lamentations, Ezekiel, Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55, 60-2), and texts associated with the deposed monarchy (e.g. Psalm 89 and the conclusion to Kings in 2 Kgs 25:27-30). Also dated to the exile are elements related to inter-generational sin in Kings (2 Kgs 21:11-16; 23:26-27; 24:3), the speech in Deut 30:1-11, the tower of Babel story (Gen 11:1-9, in its present form), the oracle against Babylon in Isaiah 14 (again reshaped to focus on Babylon), and other probable exilic elements in various other prophetic collections (e.g. Micah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah).
John Boardman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691181752
- eISBN:
- 9780691184043
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691181752.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter talks about how the early accounts of Alexander's death essentially imply that it was the result of overmuch drinking, or drinking tainted wine, and probably an ensuing stroke, at ...
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This chapter talks about how the early accounts of Alexander's death essentially imply that it was the result of overmuch drinking, or drinking tainted wine, and probably an ensuing stroke, at Babylon. But the chapter argues that there were several ancient sources which suggested that he had been poisoned, as well as much modern speculation about by whom and how, and whether his illness could have been the result of malaria or typhoid fever. What happened to his body ranges in story-telling from the plausible if grandiose, to fine imaginative fiction. It inevitably involves the great city of Alexandria, which he founded, and is repeatedly reflected upon in the Romances, quite apart from the problems of his first burial.Less
This chapter talks about how the early accounts of Alexander's death essentially imply that it was the result of overmuch drinking, or drinking tainted wine, and probably an ensuing stroke, at Babylon. But the chapter argues that there were several ancient sources which suggested that he had been poisoned, as well as much modern speculation about by whom and how, and whether his illness could have been the result of malaria or typhoid fever. What happened to his body ranges in story-telling from the plausible if grandiose, to fine imaginative fiction. It inevitably involves the great city of Alexandria, which he founded, and is repeatedly reflected upon in the Romances, quite apart from the problems of his first burial.
Leonid Zhmud
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199289318
- eISBN:
- 9780191741371
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289318.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This chapter begins with a discussion of Egyptian and Babylonian influences in Greek astronomy. It considers the development of Pythagorean astronomy before Philolaus. It then focuses on the ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of Egyptian and Babylonian influences in Greek astronomy. It considers the development of Pythagorean astronomy before Philolaus. It then focuses on the difficulty of identifying an individual contribution to astronomy by Pythagoras or specific early Pythagoreans. It shows that Alexander relied on Aristotle, who connected with Philolaus neither the harmony of the spheres nor the geocentric model on which it is based. The surviving works of Aristotle actually contain no indication that he associated the harmony of the spheres with Philolaus' system.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of Egyptian and Babylonian influences in Greek astronomy. It considers the development of Pythagorean astronomy before Philolaus. It then focuses on the difficulty of identifying an individual contribution to astronomy by Pythagoras or specific early Pythagoreans. It shows that Alexander relied on Aristotle, who connected with Philolaus neither the harmony of the spheres nor the geocentric model on which it is based. The surviving works of Aristotle actually contain no indication that he associated the harmony of the spheres with Philolaus' system.
Trevor Bryce
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199218721
- eISBN:
- 9780191739101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199218721.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, Ancient Religions
This chapter deals with other Iron Age peoples and kingdoms who had varying degrees of interaction, sometimes peaceful, sometimes hostile, with the Neo-Hittite kingdoms. Of prime importance in this ...
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This chapter deals with other Iron Age peoples and kingdoms who had varying degrees of interaction, sometimes peaceful, sometimes hostile, with the Neo-Hittite kingdoms. Of prime importance in this respect was the kingdom of Assyria. The chapter begins with an account of Assyrian history prior to the Iron Age, as a prelude to a more detailed study of Iron Age Assyria which is interwoven into the historical narrative of the following chapters. Other kingdoms with whom the Neo-Hittites were in contact include Babylon, Israel, Urartu, and the Phoenician city-states. Each of these is briefly treated in this chapter by way of introduction to their participation in the events which engulfed the Neo-Hittite world in the last three centuries of its existence. Elam too is briefly treated in this chapter. Though as far as we know it had no direct involvement with the Neo-Hittite kingdoms, its interaction with contemporary Near Eastern powers, notably the Assyrians and Babylonians, almost certainly had a significant influence on the overall course of Near Eastern history in this period, and thus indirectly affected the Neo-Hittite world.Less
This chapter deals with other Iron Age peoples and kingdoms who had varying degrees of interaction, sometimes peaceful, sometimes hostile, with the Neo-Hittite kingdoms. Of prime importance in this respect was the kingdom of Assyria. The chapter begins with an account of Assyrian history prior to the Iron Age, as a prelude to a more detailed study of Iron Age Assyria which is interwoven into the historical narrative of the following chapters. Other kingdoms with whom the Neo-Hittites were in contact include Babylon, Israel, Urartu, and the Phoenician city-states. Each of these is briefly treated in this chapter by way of introduction to their participation in the events which engulfed the Neo-Hittite world in the last three centuries of its existence. Elam too is briefly treated in this chapter. Though as far as we know it had no direct involvement with the Neo-Hittite kingdoms, its interaction with contemporary Near Eastern powers, notably the Assyrians and Babylonians, almost certainly had a significant influence on the overall course of Near Eastern history in this period, and thus indirectly affected the Neo-Hittite world.
Erin Runions
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823257331
- eISBN:
- 9780823261529
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823257331.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Following allusions to Babylon in secular and religious discourse in the decade after 9.11, this book explores the complicated influence of the Bible on U.S. political thought. Babylon is a ...
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Following allusions to Babylon in secular and religious discourse in the decade after 9.11, this book explores the complicated influence of the Bible on U.S. political thought. Babylon is a surprisingly multivalent symbol in U.S. culture and politics. This composite biblical figure—taken from interpretive traditions about Babylon, Babel, and the Whore of Babylon—is variously used to celebrate diversity and also to condemn it, to sell sexuality and to regulate it, to worry about homogeneous tyrannical imperialism and to galvanize the “war on terror” and the war in Iraq. Babylon becomes so much a site of admiration and an object of vilification that the United States can be said to have a Babylon complex. This book shows that the Babylon complex contends with anxieties about the loss of political sovereignty in economic globalization, while encouraging the very market forces that undermine sovereignty. Shifting and contradictory allusions to Babylon reveal a theopolitically motivated biopolitics that tries to balance the drive for U.S. dominance with the countervailing moral ideals and forms of political subjectivity that further economic globalization and control the distribution of wealth. The centering and decentering impulses of Babylon and Babel give the composite figure the biblical authority to manage this tension and sustain U.S. empire. The book interrogates the interpretive moves by which the Bible gains its political authority and proposes instead other modes of reading that take the figure of Babylon as a catalyst for a detranscendentalized, queer, sublime, radically democratic polity.Less
Following allusions to Babylon in secular and religious discourse in the decade after 9.11, this book explores the complicated influence of the Bible on U.S. political thought. Babylon is a surprisingly multivalent symbol in U.S. culture and politics. This composite biblical figure—taken from interpretive traditions about Babylon, Babel, and the Whore of Babylon—is variously used to celebrate diversity and also to condemn it, to sell sexuality and to regulate it, to worry about homogeneous tyrannical imperialism and to galvanize the “war on terror” and the war in Iraq. Babylon becomes so much a site of admiration and an object of vilification that the United States can be said to have a Babylon complex. This book shows that the Babylon complex contends with anxieties about the loss of political sovereignty in economic globalization, while encouraging the very market forces that undermine sovereignty. Shifting and contradictory allusions to Babylon reveal a theopolitically motivated biopolitics that tries to balance the drive for U.S. dominance with the countervailing moral ideals and forms of political subjectivity that further economic globalization and control the distribution of wealth. The centering and decentering impulses of Babylon and Babel give the composite figure the biblical authority to manage this tension and sustain U.S. empire. The book interrogates the interpretive moves by which the Bible gains its political authority and proposes instead other modes of reading that take the figure of Babylon as a catalyst for a detranscendentalized, queer, sublime, radically democratic polity.
John Reumann
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198262015
- eISBN:
- 9780191682285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198262015.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The Revelation of Jesus Christ is an amalgam of visions, letters, and sequences of catastrophic judgements, which devastate the sinful world, particularly the oppressor ‘Babylon’; all interspersed ...
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The Revelation of Jesus Christ is an amalgam of visions, letters, and sequences of catastrophic judgements, which devastate the sinful world, particularly the oppressor ‘Babylon’; all interspersed with precious glimpses of hope, including a thousand-year reign by Christ and then the consummation in the new Jerusalem. Sounds and silence, vivid colours, exquisite song and fateful dirge, mysterious numbers, beast figures, mythic symbols, hints of persecution, gore, famine, death, and tangible details about the promised city of God combine to overwhelm the reader/hearer privileged to share this extravaganza for God's faithful. Not surprisingly, Revelation has had its ups and downs as Christian Scripture. It was clearly alluded to by 2nd-century writers. Furthermore, over the centuries, Revelation has often attracted those apocalyptically inclined and repelled others servant-saints. Having given the book a specific setting in history, critical study also helped demystify Revelation by identifying the genre that this puzzling book embodies.Less
The Revelation of Jesus Christ is an amalgam of visions, letters, and sequences of catastrophic judgements, which devastate the sinful world, particularly the oppressor ‘Babylon’; all interspersed with precious glimpses of hope, including a thousand-year reign by Christ and then the consummation in the new Jerusalem. Sounds and silence, vivid colours, exquisite song and fateful dirge, mysterious numbers, beast figures, mythic symbols, hints of persecution, gore, famine, death, and tangible details about the promised city of God combine to overwhelm the reader/hearer privileged to share this extravaganza for God's faithful. Not surprisingly, Revelation has had its ups and downs as Christian Scripture. It was clearly alluded to by 2nd-century writers. Furthermore, over the centuries, Revelation has often attracted those apocalyptically inclined and repelled others servant-saints. Having given the book a specific setting in history, critical study also helped demystify Revelation by identifying the genre that this puzzling book embodies.
Nikos Dacanay
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789888083046
- eISBN:
- 9789882207325
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888083046.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter considers the relationship between the structures of power inherent in the movements in gay places and spaces in the Bangkok metropolis and the performances of gay identity. It focuses ...
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This chapter considers the relationship between the structures of power inherent in the movements in gay places and spaces in the Bangkok metropolis and the performances of gay identity. It focuses on the constituted images and reputations of two gay saunas, The Babylon and Farose. The chapter also examines the dynamic process in performing notions of gay identities as gay men in Bangkok move within and among contested fields of urban gay places and spaces.Less
This chapter considers the relationship between the structures of power inherent in the movements in gay places and spaces in the Bangkok metropolis and the performances of gay identity. It focuses on the constituted images and reputations of two gay saunas, The Babylon and Farose. The chapter also examines the dynamic process in performing notions of gay identities as gay men in Bangkok move within and among contested fields of urban gay places and spaces.
