The notion of a primeval paradise is often associated with the absence of death for both humans and animals. Humans are envisioned as immortal, both humans and animals are restricted to a vegetarian diet, and all live together in perfect peace. This dissertation is an examinatio…
"41" Result
Sort By:
A man, a woman, a serpent, and the forbidden fruit: the story of the Garden of Eden, chronicled in Genesis 2:4b–3:20 in the Christian Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, is one of the most enduring and recognizable narratives in or out of scripture. The Catechism of the Catholic Chur…
The present study discusses the influence of Philo of Alexandria (ca. 15 B.C.E.–45 C.E.) on the Tura commentaries of the Christian author Didymus the Blind (ca. 313–398 C.E.). In the Tura commentaries of Didymus, the name of Philo appears a total of ten times. Seven of these can…
Ephrem the Syrian (309-373), known by his contemporaries as the "Harp of the Holy Spirit", was highly praised throughout the early Christian world. While Ephrem wrote only in Syriac, translations were made, perhaps beginning even in his own lifetime, into nearly every language o…
This dissertation surveys various attempts to discover the structure, especially the chiastic structure of the book of Genesis, and includes a critique of the various methodologies underlying these attempts. It establishes and explains the criteria of chiasm and the significance…
This dissertation concerns the interpretation in antiquity of Gen 6.6, “and the Lord repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart” (RSV), specifically the phrase v'yinachem Adonaí, “and the Lord repented,” in early rabbinic and patristic tradition.…
The Light is a twenty-four minute composition for two narrators and chamber orchestra. The two narrators perform the roles of the Apostle John and Moses. After an overview of the piece and a brief history of pieces incorporating narrators, the essay focuses on my compositional p…
The present study analyzes the phenomenon of deception in Genesis. While this phenomenon has been dealt with in a piecemeal fashion in the past by studies devoted to individual or small clusters of incidents, no comprehensive treatment has hitherto been performed. The present st…
This study argues that the author of the Pentateuch has shaped the Abraham narratives so that they may be read as a contribution to Israel's ‘land ethic’, that is, how Israel is to perceive the natural world, particularly the land of Israel, and to behave toward it. In chapter 1…
Genesis 49 presents the last words of the patriarch Jacob (Israel) to/about his twelve sons, the eponymous ancestors of Israel's tribes. The reader of Genesis 49 may expect one to receive the highest status, but both the Judah and Joseph poems are lengthy and complimentary. This…
The Harmonized and Rescriptured Story of Eve with Commentary is the interweaving of passages from I Enoch, 2 Enoch, Jubilees, Sibylline Oracles (Book 1), The Life of Adam and Eve (Vita), The Life of Adam and Eve (Apocalypse), Pseudo-Philo, The Ladder of Jacob, The Apocalypse of …
The topic. This dissertation seeks to ascertain the meaning and referent of the “seed” and its related pronouns in Gen 3:15. The purpose. The meaning and referent of “seed” and its related pronouns in Gen 3:15 have been discussed throughout the history of Jewish and Christian in…
Beyond Rivers of Vision is a three-movement work for orchestra based on passages from three books in the Bible regarding rivers, prophets, and their visions. Composing this work emanates from a deep desire to musically convey the visions suggested in the books of Genesis (moveme…
Popularly known as “the seduction of Joseph,” Genesis 39 is a familiar segment of the Joseph Story (Gen 37-50). As Gen 39 involves a Hebrew slave in an Egyptian household, contemporary interpreters tend to mention issues of gender, ethnicity, and class, but most fail to address …
In this dissertation, I critique what I perceive to be a lack in the method of determining meaning currently in use in Biblical Studies in the United States, in that the current dialogical method not only fails to take into account adequately the role of subjectivity in the dete…
This dissertation examines the function of subject-before-finite-verb clauses in the book of Genesis based on traditional, understanding. Chapter 1 presents an introduction, thesis, and methodology of the project. The research of this dissertation, following the understanding of…
This study is an analysis of the creation of mankind in Gen 2:5-3:24 in light of the Mesopotamian "Washing of the Mouth" (mis pî ) and the Opening of the Mouth (pit pî ) and the Egyptian "Opening of the Mouth" (wpt-r ) rituals for the creation of a divine image. The primary goal…
In spite of the fact that, according to R. Bultmann, Paul put the concept of "faith" at the very center of theology, there are remarkably few studies dealing with this significant topic. The present work seeks to help closing this gap by investigating the Wirkungsgeschichte of G…
For many centuries Christian thought towards Muslims has been shaped by the belief that Ishmael is evil. Muslim-Christian conflicts and the theological challenge that Islam poses for Christianity enhance this stereotype. These developments have hindered Christian motivation to r…
The rather lean conversations between God and women in the book of Genesis are here reinspected with an eye toward gaining insight into how persistent cultural issues regarding the treatment of women could arise from the ways in which biblical conversations are understood. Each …