Vol 95 (2014)

By applying various exegetical methodologies to 2 Kings 15, I have tried to identify the dynamics responsible for the fall of the Northern Kingdom, such as its instability, financial problems, tribal tensions, wrong international policy, etc. By analyzing some Assyrian documents it was shown that these dynamics were often in play during Assyrian invasions.

It is widely believed that the Joban poet presents Eliphaz as seeking to reassure Job in his first speech, and only later accuses him of wrongdoing. One prominent exegete, for example, remarks that Eliphaz 'begins considerately, and proceeds with notable gentleness and courtesy' (Terrien). In this paper I propose that Eliphaz’s opening words are neither gentle nor reassuring. Instead, they are a sharp intertextual response to Job’s complaints that he can find no 'rest' (3,26) and that what he 'feared has come upon him' (3,25). In essence, Eliphaz is implying that Job has brought his suffering on himself.

The literary device of the synkrisis, the methodological comparison between two persons or situations, is regularly used in Luke's work, in particular to create links between the Gospel and Acts. A particular synkrisis unites the Emmaus episode (Lk 21,13-33) and the meeting between Paul and Lydia (Acts 16,5-11). In both narratives, the rare verb parabia/zomai is employed and, while this has been pointed out by commentators, the theological value of this synkrisis has nevertheless been underestimated. Luke had a deeply theologically inclusive agenda, and the parallels between Cleophas, the Jewish man who meets the Risen One, and Lydia, the pagan woman who meets Paul the Apostle, illustrate this.

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This article presents seven points of focused dissonance between Jeremiah and Romans, by identifying how Romans 9–11 inverts the judgment language of Jeremiah 1–20 against Judah. Without claiming that the inversions in Romans 9–11 are intentional, the article argues that the inversions of this section of Jeremiah are similar to the inversions that Deutero-Isaiah performs on this same section of Jeremiah, identified by B. Sommer. The inversions of Jeremiah that occur in Romans 9–11 highlight these chapters' positive stance toward corporeal, ethnic Israel, and provide another argument against interpreting 'all Israel' in Rom 11,26 as the church.

The meaning of the firstborn's ei)vsagwgh/ into the oi)koume/nh in Hebrews 1,6a is greatly disputed. Proposed interpretations are the presentation of the Son after the creation, his incarnation, his baptism, his exaltation and his parousia. The arguments seem to speak for the lastmentioned and against the currently very popular exaltation reading.

This short article deals with a particular method of calculating the number of the beast (Rev 13,18) without knowing a name. The mathematical procedure consists of converting a given number into a sexagesimal number and adding its digits. The number calculated for the beast is equal to the number of the Tetragrammaton.