This dissertation consists of a rhetorical examination of four divine council scenes from the Second Temple period: Zechariah 3, Job 1–2, Daniel 7, and I Enoch 90. The divine council scene consists of an episode that takes place before the heavenly throne in which judgment is ma…
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Shortly after the creation of the Hellenistic kingdoms, philosophic and political writings began to focus on political theory, attempting to refine and improve government. Many of these discussions took the form of pamphlets entitled "On Kingship." These literary endeavors, alth…
The predominant view among scholars that pre-Christian Judaism was essentially nationalistic in its election theology has recently been given new momentum. This view, however, continues to create difficulties for an historical understanding of Christianity. Moreover a reconsider…
This study examines the traditions about the prophet Elijah in the Hebrew Bible and in the post-biblical literature of the Second Temple period. The author's main concern is with the development of the belief in the prophet's future return to earth and the role that he will play…
The Jews living east of the Jordan River have been largely ignored by scholars, but my research demonstrates that the region had a large and dynamic Jewish community, especially in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. These Jews settled mainly in Perea, a region bounded on the wes…
It has long been established that the text of the Hebrew Bible developed gradually over time. I contend that the very concept of Scripture as an authoritative text emerged through a protracted process, along with connected concepts of authorship, readership, and interpretation. …
Biblical scholarship has reached a consensus with respect to the presence of a divine assembly of gods in Israel's faith. Prior to the sixth century B.C.E., Israelite religion underwent an evolution from an initial polytheism to a firm monolatry, where the other gods of the divi…
Various sources attest to the significance of the incense celebration in Second Temple Jerusalem. Scholars disagree as to when this ceremony, on a specific golden altar, was instituted. The scriptural command in Exodus 30:1-10 seems to be a late interpolation. This ceremony is a…
The author of 1 John interprets Christ's death as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world (2:2; 4:10). According to 1 John, the Son is the Savior of the world (4:14) in terms of his role as the atoning sacrifice (4:10), and on the basis of his accomplished work of atonem…
This study investigates the Spirit language in the Second Temple Jewish literature as a possible source for the eschatological role of the Holy Spirit in the Pauline writings. It seeks to determine whether and to what degree Paul is indebted to the Second Temple Jewish literatur…
In the Hebrew Bible, exile signifies a political and historical experience, a concrete reality. Particularly in post-exilic and post-biblical texts, exile is also a concept with a markedly existential dimension. It suggests the feeling of separation from God, which cannot be ove…
Current research attempts to trace three levels of historiography in the second Temple period through investigation of Ezra 3:1-4:5 and its parallel, 1 Esdras 5:46-70. Ezra 3:1-4:5 may be the most suitable text for a study of the historiography of the mid-second Temple period, s…
My dissertation will investigate the manner in which the Pentateuch was received by later biblical authors, its reception history. There are various content-related discrepancies between the Pentateuch's presentation of the early history of Israel and that same history depicted …
The nature of the problem addressed is the lack of a thorough discussion of the relationship of the exaltation of Christ in Hebrews to the assortment of ideas and images present in Jewish apocalyptic literature which the epistle seems to echo. This study begins with a historical…
My exegetical analysis of the book of Haggai offers many new insights about the book's four oracles and the literary composition as a whole. The book is an artistic literary composition in which the narrative and oracular components of the text are well-integrated. This design i…
The present study examines extended prose prayers in early Jewish literature. Commencing with the investigation of one exilic and four post-exilic prayers in the Hebrew Bible and their translations in the Septuagint, I analyze approximately thirty prayers in the Apocrypha, Pseud…
Acts 4:23-31, a carefully constructed community prayer placed at the center of Luke-Acts, plays a pivotal role in Luke's narrative, unifying various elements from Luke's Gospel with elements from Acts. The prayer, which is a response to the Sanhedrin's threats against the procla…
Explanations of the rise of the genre apocalypse in Hellenistic Judaism have typically traced literary influences but left questions about the mechanisms by which the genre itself came about. To address these questions, this dissertation focuses new methodological and philologic…
Interpreters of Hebrews have long questioned whether prior traditions influenced the presentation of Jesus as messianic high priest in Hebrews. Suggestions have ranged from earlier Jewish (especially Philonic) or Christian traditions to Gnosticism, while others have asserted tha…