JERUSALEM'S MILITARY HISTORY is explored at the National Geographic News website:

Jerusalem Strife Echoes Ancient History

Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News
October 28, 2004

It may be called the City of Peace, but no other city has been more bitterly fought over than Jerusalem. In the past 4,000 years, it has seen at least 118 conflicts. Jerusalem has been razed at least twice, besieged 23 times, and has had at least five separate periods of violent terrorist attacks in the past century. Eric Cline is a historian and archaeologist at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and the author of the new book Jerusalem Besieged: From Ancient Canaan to Modern Israel. National Geographic News spoke with Cline about the holy city's turbulent history.

DR. RICHARD FREUND is interviewed in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger about his excavation in the Cave of the Letters near the Dead Sea. Excerpt:

Q: What were your findings in the Cave of the Letters?
A: Unlike Yadin who held that this was a cave used exclusively by the Bar Kochba Rebellion as a final refuge in their tragic battle against the Romans in the second century CE. I proved that the cave was in use during the most critical time in all Jewish history, the first century rebellion against the Romans that resulted in the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews from Jerusalem. The Cave of Letters was the refuge that the priests and zealots came to as they escaped Jerusalem with the greatest treasures of the Jewish people -- the treasures of the Temple and holy books of Jerusalem� The "secrets" we discovered included new techniques, new coins, pottery that could be identified down to the location of its clay, and that Yadin had only discovered a small part of the story of this cave. Hall C, the final cave opening, (the size of a large auditorium) was where all of the secular documents of Bar Kochba and a woman named Babatha from the Bar Kochba rebellion were discovered. In Hall A, Yadin discovered ritual objects (that I think he misidentified) and a small scrap of a Psalm from the book of Psalms. Since 1961, 30 Psalm manuscripts were identified as coming from that area (and misidentified for 40 years!), making the Hall A, the large entrance hall to the Cave of Letters, a place where religious people from the first century zealot and priestly groups probably gathered. We rediscovered the Niche of Skulls that included 17 people and many of the bones were still perfectly preserved there. Today, we did a DNA study and Carbon 14 dated the bones to discover they were from two different time periods.

A few years ago I heard him give a paper at the SBL annual meeting which argued that the Cave of the Letters is mentioned in the Copper Scroll. I'm looking forward to reading his new book.

HAVE I REALLY MISSED a year of the Journal for the Study of Judaism? That doesn't seem possible, but I can't find mention of the last four issue in the archive. Well, just in case, here they are, with tables of contents for articles (but note the book reviews and reviews of articles also):

34.4, 2003
The Impact of Household Slaves on the Jewish Family in Roman Palestine
375
Catherine Hezser

The Dream of Alexander in Josephus ANT. 11.325-39
425
Tae Hun Kim

Die Drei J�dischen Schulrichtungen Nach Josephus Und Hippolyt Von Rom: Zu den Paralleltexten Josephus, B.J. 2,119-166 und Hippolyt, Haer. IX 18,2-29,4
443
Roland Bergmeier

Gender and Divine Relativity in Philo of Alexandria
471
Colleen Conway


35.1, 2004
Purity Ideology in Ezra-Nehemiah as a Tool to Reconstitute the Community
1
Saul M. Olyan

Disjunction of Heavenly and Earthly Times in the Ascension of Isaiah
17
Robert G. Hall

Joseph and Aseneth: Rewritten Bible or Narrative Expansion?
27
Susan Docherty

Der Mensch im Tod nach der Apokalypse des Mose Eine fr�hj�dische Anthropologie in der Zeit des Paulus
49
Stefan Schreiber

Pseudo-Phocylides on the Afterlife: A Rejoinder to John J. Collins
70
Pieter W. van der Horst


35.2, 2004
ABRAHAM AS CHALDEAN SCIENTIST AND FATHER OF THE JEWS: JOSEPHUS, ANT. 1.154-168, AND THE GRECO-ROMAN DISCOURSE ABOUT ASTRONOMY/ASTROLOGY
119
Annette Yoshiko Reed

DOES proseuchas poieisthai, IN JOSEPHUS' ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS 14.257-58, MEAN 'BUILD PLACES OF PRAYER'?
159
Stephen Catto

JEWS IN IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR DATING THE JEWISH DONOR INSCRIPTION FROM APHRODISIAS
169
Gary Gilbert

ANOTHER PORTRAIT OF JOSEPHUS' PORTRAIT OF SAMSON
185
Mark Roncace


35.3, 2004
JUBILEES - BETWEEN ENOCH AND MOSES. A NARRATIVE READING
243
Helge S. Kvanvig

THE ABILITY/INABILITY TO EAT: DETERMINING LIFE AND DEATH IN BEL ET DRACO
262
Claudia Bergmann

POSIDONIAN THOUGHTS - ANCIENT AND MODERN
284
Ren� Bloch

Requires paid personal or institutional subscription to access.

THERE WERE HOBBITS IN THE EARTH IN THOSE DAYS. That's in the Bible, isn't it?

UPDATE: Wieland Willker e-mails:

Yep.
1 Esdras 5:38
... KAI OUC hEUREQHSAN hUIOI hOBBIA ... [i.e., "and the sons of Hobbia were not found"]

I knew they were in there somewhere.

MORE ON ALTER'S NEW TORAH TRANSLATION: Slate has a roundup of online reviews (scroll down to the bottom item).

NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES, 50.4, October 2004, has some articles of interest:

"Jesus als j�discher Gleichnisdichter"
BERND KOLLMANN

Abstract

Die Gleichnisse Jesu und der Rabbinen sch�pfen unabh�ngig voneinander aus dem gleichen Repertoire j�discher Bilder und Erz�hlmuster. Da die rabbinischen Gleichnisse der Schriftauslegung dienen, sind sie oft durch eine Straffheit der Gedankenf�hrung und eine Konzentration auf die wesentlichen Z�ge der Handlung gekennzeichnet. Ihre neutestamentlichen Gegenst�cke spiegeln die soziale Wirklichkeit lebendiger wider und weisen eine ausgepr�gtere Erz�hlstruktur auf, um f�r die Gottesherrschaft zu werben. Dabei wird das Geschick der S�nder im Gegen�ber zum Geschick der Gerechten thematisiert und die Integration von Randgruppen Israels in die Gottesherrschaft verteidigt. Diese unverwechselbaren Z�ge der Gleichnisse Jesu berechtigen nicht zur Abwertung der rabbinischen Gleichnisse.


"A Q Community in Galilee?"
BIRGER A. PEARSON

Abstract

It is often assumed, especially in North American scholarship, that the Q source used by Matthew and Luke reflects a special community different from those reflected in other writings of the NT. This community is located in Galilee, where the �Q gospel� is supposed to have been composed. In this article it is argued that current theories regarding the composition and location of Q are untenable. It is also concluded that there was no significant difference in terms of beliefs and practices between Jesus-believing Jews in Galilee and in Jerusalem.


"Adam and Eve in Romans 1.18�25 and the Greek Life of Adam and Eve"
JOHN R. LEVISON

Abstract

This study identifies several dimensions of the Greek Life of Adam and Eve that provide fresh points of entry to Paul's thought in Rom 1.18�25. Principal among these are the suppression of truth, the advent of divine anger, the onset of death, and, most notably, two related exchanges � God's glory for mortality and natural dominion for unnatural subservience to animals. While such features do not specifically characterize Gen 1�3, they belong to a shared conception of the drama of human sin that characterizes and unites both Rom 1 and the Greek Life of Adam and Eve.

Requires a paid personal or institutional subscription to access.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

Jordan starts major restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

AMMAN: As custodian of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jordan has begun the first major restoration in four centuries of the ancient walls of Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam.

The head of the project, Raef Najm, dismisses Israeli warnings that parts of the walls could collapse and says the work that started last week is part of a long-term program, with funds from Unesco.

"What we are undertaking now is the first real restoration of the walls of the mosque since the work done under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century," says Najm. "This is a historic mission aimed at preserving a humanitarian civilization ... which belongs not only to Muslims but to the entire world."

[...]

A spokeswoman for Israel's antiquities authorities, Onat Guez, says the Jordanian work at Al-Aqsa is being carried out in coordination with Israeli police.

But she insists that the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, some 100 meters from the mosque, was in danger of collapsing and needed urgent preservation work.

NEW ON THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION WEBSITE:

How the Bible Became a Book
(Cambridge University Press, 2004)



Writing was an extension of the urbanization of the Judean state in the late eighth century. The evidence of archaeology and inscriptions suggests a spread of writing through all classes of society by the seventh century BCE in Judah.



William M. Schniedewind
Bible and Interpretation

Excerpt:

According to archaeologists (e.g., Carter, 1999), the province of Yehud was largely depopulated and impoverished in the Persian period. These were dark times for Jerusalem and the Persian province of Yehud. In past scholarship, it was "dark" simply because we knew so little about this period of history. Increasingly, archaeology has filled in the void but painted a bleak picture of a depopulated and impoverished region. This hardly makes it a good environment in which great literary accomplishments could flourish. It is also noteworthy that the Aramaic language overtakes Hebrew as the primary Jewish language in the Persian period.

William Schneidewind is Professor of Biblical Studies and Northwest Semitic Languages at UCLA's Department of Near Eastern Languages. Here's more on the book that is summarized in this essay.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: The fifth minaret is confirmed.

Jordan to build 5th minaret on Temple Mount (Ha'aretz)
By Arnon Regular

A Jordanian group intends to complete plans for building a fifth minaret on the Temple Mount by the end of the year and begin construction in 2005, said Raef Nijem, deputy chairman of the Committee to Renovate the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, over the weekend.

[...]

LOT'S DAUGHTERS SLEPT HERE. WITH LOT. At least that's how the story goes. The Lebanon Daily Star describes the excavation of the Sanctuary of Agios ("Saint") Lot near Ghor al-Safi in Jordan. Excerpts:

Within a year of the discovery and identification of Deir Ain Abata ("Monastery of the Abbot's Spring") an international team of archaeologists was assembled to excavate and study the site. After more than 10 years of excavations and research, the final report is about to be published.

The site is located on a steep mountain slope 3 kilometers southeast of the Dead Sea. At its archaeological center (and historic religious focus) is a cave, discovered in the north aisle of the basilica later erected on the site. Early Christians - drawing on Genesis chapter 19 of the Old Testament - believed Lot and his two daughters lived here after their flight from sinful Sodom and their brief stop at Zoar.

[...]

When the entrance to the cave was revealed, it was preserved to its original height, but had no signs of door fittings. The sandstone pilaster capitals on either side are carved with eight-cornered (Maltese-type) crosses and bore traces of red paint. The lintel had a similarly engraved cross in the center and was flanked by two rosettes, also with traces of red paint. On the south side of the entrance the plastered wall had a number of scratched designs, crosses and graffiti. One such Greek graffito named a local Christian woman as Nestasia Zenobius. Another, in Kufic Arabic, is an Islamic invocation.

Further excavation of the cave revealed a series of steps leading into a 2 by 2.5-meter room, paved with fine white marble slabs, a simple room where early Byzantine Christians evidently believed Lot and his daughters took refuge. As to why the Byzantines venerated this specific cave - there are several in the vicinity - it is assumed it has something to do with ancient oral tradition.

The cave, which is the focal point of the entire monastic complex, had a long sequence of occupation suggesting long-standing use as a refuge. Excavations below the Byzantine-Abbasid floor level in the cave revealed ceramic and glass oil lamps dating from the earlier Byzantine period - circa the 4th-6th centuries. Beneath this were fine Late Hellenistic-Nabataean vessels from the 1st century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. Digging deeper, the team came across a fine ceramic chalice and a copper duck-bill axe-head, belonging to the Middle Bronze Age II period (c. 1900-1550 B.C.).

There are also some Middle Bronze Age tombs, some late antique Greek inscriptions mentioning Lot, and a seventh-century triple-apsed basilica church in the vicinity.

ROBERT ALTER'S NEW TORAH TRANSLATION is reviewed by John Updike in the New Yorker. Excerpt:

He sees Biblical Hebrew as a �conventionally delimited language, roughly analogous in this respect to the French of the neoclassical theatre� and significantly though indeterminately distinct from the vanished vernacular of three thousand years ago. (The vernacular vocabulary, according to the Spanish Hebrew scholar Angel S�enz-Badillos, must have exceeded the Bible�s�a lexicon �so restricted that it is hard to believe it could have served all the purposes of quotidian existence in a highly developed society.�) Alter has set himself to create a corresponding English��stylized, decorous, dignified, and readily identified by its audiences as a language of literature,� with a �slight strangeness,� �beautiful rhythms,� and other qualities (suppleness, precision, concreteness) that �by and large have been given short shrift by translators with their eyes on other goals.� Why should not Alter�s version, its program so richly contemplated and persuasively outlined, become the definitive one, replacing not only the King James but the plethora of its revised, uninspired, and �accessible� versions on the shelf?

Several reasons why not, in the course of my reading through this massive tome (sold sturdily boxed, as if to support its weight), emerged. The sheer amount of accompanying commentary and philological footnotes is one of them. The fifty-four churchmen and scholars empowered at a conference at Hampton Court in January of 1604 to provide an authoritative English Bible had a clear charge: to supply English readers with a self-explanatory text. When they encountered a crux, they took their best guess and worked on; many of the guesses can be improved upon now, but no suggestion of an unclear and imperfect original was allowed to trouble the Word of God. Alter�s more academic and literary commission allows him to luxuriate in the forked possibilities of the Hebrew text, in its oldest forms written entirely in consonants, and without punctuation.

Updike spends most of the second half of the review telling us why he thinks the Pentateuch has a strong start, but it deteriorates into a weak finish, which seems to me to be neither here nor there in terms of Alter's translation.

THE JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA has a new issue out (14.1, 2004). Here's the table of contents of articles:

Celestial Choirmaster: The Liturgical Role of Enoch-Metatron in 2 Enoch and the Merkabah Tradition
Andrei A. Orlov

Philo�s Therapeutai: Philosopher�s Dream or Utopian Construction?
Mary Ann Beavis

On Women and Honor in the Testament of Job
Robert A. Kugler and Richard L. Rohrbaugh

I Set a Table before You: The Jewish Eschatological Character of Aseneth�s Conversion Meal
Andrea Lieber

The website includes only abstracts. According to it, the JSP will now be published three issues per year. Good for them. I hope they can keep to that schedule.

JEWS IN BULGARIA: The Sofia Echo has a rundown:

Notes from History - Ancient roots, modern legacy

Part one of a series on the history of Jewish people in Bulgaria
Clive Leviev-Sawyer

THE best-known episode in the epic of Jewish people in Bulgarian history is the escape from the Nazi genocide machine in World War 2.

As important as this part of the story is within the context of the greater whole, it is that greater whole that must be re-discovered, to illustrate for just how long Jewish people have been part of the fabric that has woven itself into today's Bulgaria.

Evidence suggests that Jewish people had settled within the Balkans at least by the 2nd century CE, and perhaps before.

Among this evidence is an inscription on a tombstone near the town of Nikopol on the Danube. These Jews were, according to most historians, known as Romagnotes, (alternatively spelled Romaniots) perhaps displaced during Roman campaigns in the Middle East.

Other historians have written that there was a Jewish settlement in Macedonia in the time of the Roman emperor Caligula, who is believed to have reigned from 37 to 41 CE.

Persecution followed the communities. A fourth century CE decree by emperor Theodosius refers to such persecution, including the destruction of synagogues.

Persecution by Byzantine emperor Leo III (718 to 741) is believed to have prompted an exodus to the territory that is today's Bulgaria.

[...]

They really should have interviewed my former student Alexander Panayotov on this subject.

THE JEWS OF ELEPHANTINE are featured in an Al Ahram article (via Archaeologica News):

Yeb, cradle of feminism?
By Jill Kamil

Little is known of the vibrant Judaic community which already existed on the island of Elephantine when Cambyses invaded Egypt in 525 BC. What we do know, however, is that they had a Jewish temple to serve their religious needs.

[...]

This document attests that a woman could readily divorce her husband, with or without his consent. From other documents, we know that a woman could exercise this right by "standing up in congregation and merely declaring 'I divorce my husband'." Thus we learn that, at least in sixth century BC Yeb, Jewish women were not separated from their men in congregations, had property rights, and could take the initiative in and consummate a divorce simply by declaring publicly their intention. Mitbahiah must have done well in her investments, for other documents refer to the considerable fortune she lent to her father over the course of the next 13 years. In partial payment of his debt to his daughter, Masheiah deeded her a house he had acquired: "I give it to Mitbahiah, my daughter, in return for the goods which she gave me while I was an inspector of the fortress."

The extraordinarily progressive social mores of this ancient Judaic society are confirmed by subsequent documents concerning Mitbahiah. She in fact did divorce Jeremiah, and subsequently married Pi', an Egyptian official in Aswan, even temporarily adopting his religion. The Judaic community evidently disdained to recognise such a marriage, for none of the witnesses to the marriage contract had Hebrew (or Aramaic) names. The marriage lasted for what must have been little more than a honeymoon, and certainly less than 12 months, for Mitbahiah's next marriage was celebrated in the same year. Pi' paid quite a price for marrying a Jewish "princess". All of Pi's property was divided between them, but the property that was in Mitbahiah's name remained with her!

[...]

Interesting. I've wondered for some time what the divorce laws were like in Egypt generally during the fifth century B.C.E. Were the laws of the Elephantine Jews untypically liberal for women? Can anyone tell me?

CHALDOASSYRIAN WATCH:

British Parliamentary Meeting Calls for Assyrian Administrative Region in North Iraq (Assyrian International News Agency)
Posted 10-22-2004 13:50:07 (GMT 10-22-2004 18:50:7)

(AINA) -- The Jubilee Campaign, an interdenominational Christian human rights organisation which has worked with over 150 British parliamentarians on human rights issues worldwide, has issued the following press release:

At a meeting chaired by Stephen Pound MP in the House of Commons on October 21st, the UK branch of Iraq's leading Christian political party, the Assyrian Democratic Movement and the Christian human rights organisation, Jubilee Campaign, called for an Administrative Region for the ChaldoAssyrian Christians of Iraq, which they can administer for themselves. Article 53 (D) of Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law guarantees the ChaldoAssyrians the right to administer their own region. It states, "This law shall guarantee the administrative, cultural and political rights of the Turcomans, ChaldoAssyrians, and all other citizens."

[...]

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Still holding:

140,000 Muslims attend Ramadan prayers on Mount
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Some 140,000 Muslim worshippers attended Ramadan prayers on the Temple Mount Friday afternoon.

The government decided not to place any restrictions on the number of worshippers at the site. Thousands of police officers are securing the area.

[...]

So far, so good. Keep your fingers crossed.

THERE'S AN INTERVIEW WITH ELAINE PAGELS in the Memphis Flyer. Excerpt:

I was lucky, yes. I asked my teacher, Krister Stendahl, why, when he'd studied the Dead Sea Scrolls, he never wrote about them for a popular audience. Krister, a Lutheran bishop, looked at me and said, "Well, we and the clergy were afraid it would upset people if they learned that Jesus wasn't who they wanted to think he was." Krister and others thought they were being protective. But I said to him, "That's condescending -- to think that people shouldn't know." So we went to work on the Nag Hammadi manuscripts. Hundreds of people still are. "

Plus, she tells about what she wants to work on next. Should be interesting.

ARAMAIC WATCH:

Syria launches program to save Aramaic language

Correspondents Report - Sunday, 24 October , 2004 (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
Reporter: Mark Willacy

HAMISH ROBERTSON: In Syria, the government has launched a program to save one of the world's oldest and most important languages from dying out.

Aramaic is believed to have been first spoken in ancient Mesopotamia about 3000 years ago. And scholars say it was the language spoken by Jesus Christ. But it's now only spoken in three villages in central Syria and even these communities need help to pass it on to their children.

Our Middle East correspondent Mark Willacy compiled this report in the village of Ma'aloula in central Syria.

[...]

Well good. Even totalitarian states get it right sometimes.

Also, I am impressed with ABC's time-traveling capabilities.

MEDIA HOWLER ALERT: Something called "Elkhart Truth" announces the following lecture series associated with the From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Bible in America exhibition in its Local Digest section:

Elkhart: Leading scholar will lecture at exhibit

ELKHART -- The world's leading scholar on ancient Hebrew, Frank Seekins, will present hourly lectures on the Paleo-Hebrew language at the exhibit "The Dead Sea Scrolls to the Bible in America" at Concord Mall.

Today through Oct. 31 and Nov. 5-7, Seekins will lecture hourly at the traveling collection of ancient biblical manuscripts, which includes fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The popular exhibit, initially scheduled to run until the end of the month, has been held over until Nov. 7.

My first reaction was, who the heck is Frank Seekins? I've never heard of him. A Google search produced a few things. He has written a popular book entitled Hebrew Word Pictures and some other popular books on Hebrew. The premise of the first one looks quite dubious to me and in any case is not aimed at a scholarly audience. There is nothing about him publishing specialist research on ancient Hebrew or holding an academic position, which I suspect is why I hadn't heard of him. If the article had said something like "a scholar of ancient Hebrew," I wouldn't have blinked. I don't know every specialist in Hebrew in the world. But the world's leading scholar? I would be hard pressed to say who that is. Some names do come to mind, but I imagine we could debate about the top half-dozen or so and agree to disagree on first place. The point is that, whatever good Dr. Seekins has done (and I do appreciate the value of popular lectures), the top Hebrew scholar would be well known in the academic world for a large body of cutting-edge published research.

Indeed, anyone prominent in ancient Hebrew studies would be embarrassed to be characterized as "the world's leading scholar on ancient Hebrew," simply because there are so many brilliant people in the field. Now I'm not blaming Frank Seekins for the announcement; I don't doubt that someone else came up with this on his behalf. He probably is mortified, if he's seen it. The thing that bothers me is that the media outlet obviously hasn't a clue what constitutes world-class scholarship or a clue whom to ask about it and they have made themselves and the whole exhibition look pretty silly. I don't mean to be petty, and I realize that this is a very local news source. Still, that doesn't excuse this sort of carelessness, which serves their local audience ill. And especially if they're going to post on the Internet in front of an international audience, they need to put more effort into getting their facts straight and putting them in proper perspective.

I've revised this post a little to make clear that my quarrel is with eTruth, not Frank Seekins. Which is not to say that I endorse his ideas.

I'M ALSO WAY BEHIND ON THE JOURNAL REVUE BIBLIQUE which has published three issues of volume 111 (2004) since I last noted it. Here are some interesting articles in these three issues (only the abstracts are available online):

RB 2004 T.111-2 (pp. 161-192)

Alexis LEPROUX
�cole Cath�drale
75004 PARIS
France
a.leproux@tiscalinet.it
Mo�se, "conseiller de salut" en Sg 16,6? Une question de critique textuelle

Should one turn one's regard to a sign(sumboulon) which no longer saves, or rather listen to the ever actual voice of a salutary advisor (sumboulon) who guides the people. The difference between important manuscripts at Wis 16,6 provides the opportunity to revisit some exegetical debates raised by the book of Wisdom, notably the concept of mediation and the figure of Moses.

RB 2004 T.111-2 (pp. 193-208)

Serge RUZER
Department of Comparative Religion
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mount Scopus 91905
JERUSALEM
Ruzer@h2.hum.huji.ac.il
"Love your enemy" Precept in the Sermon on the Mount in the context of early Jewish exegesis : a new perspective

The article shows that the love-your-enemy precept from the Sermon on the Mount shares a characteristic feature with some other trends in early Jewish exegesis. In order to promulgate the dramatic widening of the scope of the Lev 19:18 love-your-neighbor dictum to include enemies a variety of unharmonized motifs is employed. It is suggested that in addition to the motifs highlighted by previous research a further exegetical undercurrent may be discerned in the Sermon, one connected with a new perception of reward and the double love command pattern of thought both of which were prominent in the late Second Temple period.

RB 2004 T.111-2 (pp. 238-254)

Philippe BOBICHON
I. R. H. T.
40 avenue d�I�na
F-75116 PARIS
Pr�ceptes �ternels et loi mosa�que dans le Dialogue avec Tryphon de Justin Martyr

Several passages of the Dialogue with Tryphon appear to classify the precepts of the Law according to their date (stages of revelation) or their function. These passages, and others which have not been given adequate attention in previous studies, are here examined anew in the light of data acquired in the process of producing a new edition of the Dialogue. At first sight Justin appears to be inconsistent. The seeming contradictions, however, disappear when attention is paid to the precise function and organisation of his text with respect to its intended audiences. In no way does Justin propose an exhaustive classification of the precepts of the Law. What we are given are various interpretative grids which change with the context. For Justin the relationship between �eternal� precepts (intended for all humanity) and precepts of the Law (restricted to Israel) is inclusive. They stem from the same God and serve the same salvific function.

RB 2004 T.111-2 (pp. 255-261)

Ulrich H�BNER
Vorsitzender des DPV
Theologische Fakult�t - Universit�t Kiel
Leibnizstr. 4
D-24098 KIEL
Germany
Der Deutsche Verein zur Erforschung Pal�stinas ein �berblick �ber seine 125-j�hrige Geschichte (1877-2002)

An overview of the history of the Deutsche Verein zur Erforschung Pal�stinas (German Society for the Exploration of Palestine) on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, 1877-2002.

RB 2004 T.111-3 (pp. 321-344)

W. Randal GARR
Dept. of Religious Studies
University of California
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-3130
United States
wrgarr@religion.ucsb.edu
"hen"

"hen" is a simple clitic which marks its utterance as an affirmation.

RB 2004 T.111-3 (pp. 345-361)

Oded LIPSCHITS
Department of Jewish History
Tel Aviv University
TEL AVIV
Israel
lipschit@post.tau.ac.il
"From Geba to Beersheba" : a Further Consideration

This article considers Mazar�s theory that Geba, mentioned in the account of Josiah�s reform (2 Kgs. 23:8) should be identified as Kh. et-Tell on mount Ephraim. This theory enjoyed wide support, mainly among Israeli scholars, and some have suggested that this Geba on mount Ephraim also figures in the list of cities of Benjamin (Josh. 18:24). By contrast, in this article I would like to show that at no time throughout the history of the first Temple did Judah's northern border extend beyond the environs of Bethel. Such was the case in the Persian period too. No biblical evidence whatsoever is found for the existence of a settlement called Geba on mount Ephraim, and great historical and geographical logic lies in restoring to Geba in Benjamin region the honor it deserves.

RB 2004 T.111-3 (pp. 362-376)

Marie-Fran�oise BASLEZ
Universit� de Paris XII, ENS
PARIS
mfbaslez@noos.fr
Pol�mologie et histoire dans le livre de Judith

The art of warfare which is displayed in the Book of Judith can help to retrieve the context and circumstances in which this fictious text, commonly dated between 160 and 60 BC, was composed. The description of the weaponry, which emphasizes the value of light units, and, principally, the description of the goals and strategy of the "war in montainous regions" refers to the Seleucid campaigns of the second century, more precisely, and probably, to the battle of Beth Zacharias, lost by Judas Maccabee in 162. It could be a work of counterpropoaganda, from a nationalistic movement of opposition, personified by Judith, which is different from the Hasmonean movement, and that, by some clues, could be linked to the high priest Alcimus.

RB 2004 T.111-3 (pp. 387-408)

Alexis BUNINE
19 rue de l�Aqueduc
B�1060 BRUSSELS
Belgium
avbun@hotmail.com
Paul, Jacques, F�lix, Festus et les autres : pour une r�vision de la chronologie des derniers procurateurs de Palestine, Ire partie

Part One :
Although largely accepted, the chronology of the last Procurators of Palestine, established more than one century ago by Emil Sch�rer, display many obscurities, among them the length of the terms of Felix and Festus. This article aims at a new study of the question, bringing up some new published research. After a short reminder of the basis for the classic chronology, and a point about the precise date of the death of King Agrippa I, we should see, in this First Part, the terms of the two Procurators who followed him, the duration of the term of Cumanus and the date of beginning of Felix, building on the foundations one can find in Josephus, Tacitus and in the Acts of the Apostles..

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 481-497)

Christophe LEMARDEL�
F-75000 PARIS
France
christophe.lemardele@laposte.net
Le verbe p�l� et la pratique des v�ux

The translation of the verb p�l�, in a votive context, is problematic in modern versions like in ancient versions. Three possibilities exist : �to accomplish/fulfil a vow�, �to make an explicit vow� and �to make a special vow�. If we retain the meaning of pl�, it�s the third solution that we have to choose because the vow contains the idea of miracle like this root. We add that the verb appears in the context of the formulation of a vow and not in the context of fulfilment. �To make a special vow� because of the importance of those vows : they are costly. There were many sacrifices which accompanied the Nazirite vow, and the votive offerings of Lev 27 were not common. Moreover, it was used for a sacrifice offered during the pronunciation.

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 499-515)

James H. CHARLESWORTH
G.L. Collord Professor of N.T. Language and Literature
Princeton Theological Seminary
James.Charlesworth@ptsem.edu
Phenomenology, Symbology, and Lexicography, the Amazingly Rich Vocabulary for "Serpent" in Ancient Greek

Virtually unknown to Greek philologists is the fact that there are 41 nouns employed by the ancient Greeks to denote a snake and the various species. The following research is part of the fruit of six-years of research into one question: "What did the serpent symbolize in antiquity? For the first time a list is provided of the 41 nouns employed by the ancient Greeks to signify a reptile that was a type of snake. The list assists translators and exegetes to be more precise and re-present the phenomenological sophistication reflected by Hellenic and Hellenistic Greek, the Greek found in the Septuagint; the Greek Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, the greek N.T. (witch should not simply be branded as Koine), and Patristics. Philologians, historians and N.T. scholars have been ignorant of iconography, symbology, and the numeruos negative and positive meanings of serpent symbolism by the end of the first century CE.

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 516-530)

John C. POIRIER
1100 N. Main St.,
FRANKLIN, Ohio 45005
United States
poirier@siscom.net
Jewish and Christian Tradition in the Transfiguration

The Transfiguration account in the synoptic gospels is a terrific example of a pericope that has been shaped by Jewish and Christian exegetical complexes. Unfortunately, a proper recognition of these precise complexes has been confuted by the universal belief that the Transfiguration is first and foremost an echo of the Sinai theophanies in Exodus. A close reading reveals that the points of contact between the Transfiguration and the Sinai theophanies are merely generic aspects of theophanies in general. A more efficient account of the nongeneric aspects of the Transfiguration can be found in an exegetical complex preserved in Midrash Tehillim, while the distinctively Christian component of the Transfiguration is best understood in the light of the two witnesses tradition in Revelation 11.

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 531-562)

Alexis BUNINE
19 rue de l�Aqueduc
B�1060 BRUSSELS
Belgium
avbun@hotmail.com
Paul, Jacques, F�lix, Festus et les autres : pour une r�vision de la chronologie des derniers procurateurs de Palestine, IIe partie

This second part investigates the proposed arguments in favour of varied datings to substitute Felix for Festus (between 54 and 61 exclusively). The article calls into question the date of 62, universally accepted as that of the martyrdom of James. To clarify the last unreliability, this article checks the chronology of Paul�s last journey to Jerusalem, inquiring into the precise duration of his captivity at Caesarea. A bundle of convergent probabilities allows us to conclude in favour of the date of 56 for the start of Festus�s rule as procurator, which amounts to Paul�s arriving at Rome in 57.

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 563-577)

�mile PUECH (pp.563-577)
DR - CNRS, PARIS
�cole Biblique et Arch�ologique Fran�aise,
JERUSALEM
and Joe ZIAS
Science and Archaeology Group
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Le tombeau de Sim�on et Zacharie dans la vall�e de Josaphat

The squeeze of the other inscription noticed during the decipherment of the inscription of Zachariah in this tomb has confirmed the Old Simeon's burial in this monument in the Josaphat Valley according to local byzantine traditions. The author of the inscription clearly knew Lk 2,25 of the Koin� tradition. But since no testimony of the James'burial has been found there, we must look for their common burial place in, the byzantine chapel in front of the monolith nowadays called "Tomb of Zachariah", location confirmed by the discovery of a graffito.