Monday, November 2, 2026

Time and Tradition: Temporal Thinking in Ecclesiastes in the Context of Emerging Apocalypticism and the History of Ideas in the Hellenistic Period

Time and Tradition: Temporal Thinking in Ecclesiastes in the Context of Emerging Apocalypticism and the History of Ideas in the Hellenistic Period 
Moritz F. Adam 
Cover of 'undefined'

Forschungen zum Alten Testament (FAT) 191

Moritz F. Adam explores conceptions of time in the book of Ecclesiastes and its place in the history of thought in Hellenistic Judaism. He situates Ecclesiastes before a wider panorama of emerging apocalyptic thought and investigates how the text reflects, resists, and reworks prevailing ideas about time, history, knowledge, and meaning. Adam shows how Ecclesiastes stands at an important moment of conceptual transformation to the manner in which time was thought about in ancient Judaism, and how the book reflects new, broader, totalising, and abstract concerns in conversation with contemporary interlocutors. Through textual studies, comparative discussions and theoretical engagements with the fields of Classics and Literature, Adam challenges scholarly boundaries between wisdom, apocalypticism, and other genres, and highlights Ecclesiastes' pluralistic, open-ended discourse as a vital part of ancient Jewish thought.

Access available
Table of contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Date and Compositional History of the Book of Ecclesiastes
A. Composition
B. Structure
C. Dating
D. Excursus: The Problem of the Abstract Orientation of the Book of Ecclesiastes and Its Deliberate Avoidance of Historical and Contextual References
Chapter 3: The Status Quaestionis in Scholarship on Ecclesiastes and Apocalypticism
A. Ancient Perspectives on Apocalyptic Dimensions in Ecclesiastes
B. Categories and Problems in the Modern History of Scholarship
C. On the Approach of this Overview on the Status Quaestionis
D. Wisdom and Apocalypticism Since the Middle of the 20th Century
E. Ecclesiastes and Apocalypticism in Recent Scholarship
F. Scholarly Engagements with the Subject of Time in Ecclesiastes
Chapter 4: Reflections on Method
Chapter 5: Polemic, Critique, and Intellectually Constitutive Interaction: Eccl 4:17-5:6 as a Test Case
A. Dreaming as a Mode of Revelation
B. Mediation by Angels
Chapter 6: Rhetoric and Discourse in Ecclesiastes and 4QInstruction: AComparative Test Case
Chapter 7: The Genre Apocalyptic: Rethinking Morphologies
A. What is Apocalypticism? Problems in Taxonomy
B. Prototype Theory
C. Constellations
D. Discourses in Ancient Jewish Thought - Three Propositions
Chapter 8: The Category of Time in the Book of Ecclesiastes and Its Place in the History of Ideas
A. Time as a Total Category in the Hellenistic Period
B. Time as Ordered and Arranged
C. Comparative Reflections
Chapter 9: Time and Abstraction: Moving Across Tradition as a Mode of Literary Authorisation
A. Authorisation by Ascription
B. The Historical Blending of Ideas
Chapter 10: Pluriformity and Pluralism: Literary Diversity, Hermeneutical Openness, and the Function of Texts in Second Temple Judaism
A. Ecclesiastes and Pluriformity
B. Method
C. Calendars and Total History
D. Variety and Vitality in the Dead Sea Scrolls
E. New Cultural Histories
F. Intellectual Pluralism in Ecclesiastes
G. Excursus: Literary-Theoretical Points of Comparison
Chapter 11: Conclusions

 

 

 

 


Posted by at 0 comments

Just a Matter of Perspective? Focalization in Early Christian Narratives

Just a Matter of Perspective? Focalization in Early Christian Narratives
Christoph Heilig 
Cover of 'undefined' 

Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament (WUNT I) 567

Stories are foundational to early Christian literature. Yet one of the most basic narratological categories, narrative perspective, has received no detailed treatment in New Testament scholarship. Christoph Heilig argues that this concept, called focalization following Gérard Genette, is indispensable for adequately analyzing early Christian narratives. Narratives, after all, are defined not only by what they tell but also by how: a narrator can tell different stories depending on through whose eyes they let us witness the unfolding events. Drawing on recent cognitive linguistics, the author adapts the category for the exegesis of first-century Koine Greek texts. Across the New Testament, focalization sheds light on fundamental questions: it explains how Paul persuades his audiences in miniature narratives, places Synoptic redaction criticism on a new footing, provides nuanced tools for assessing the role of eyewitnesses in Mark and John, resolves debates about the we-passages in the Acts of the Apostles, and clarifies the narrative structure of Revelation. Whenever we read these stories, we inevitably make assumptions about perspective. Exegesis therefore requires a methodology both historically sensitive and creative. This includes the reception history of these perspectives, from the apocrypha onward, showing which viewpoints shape later reimaginations and which become marginalized. Theologically, then, the narratives cannot be reduced to their plots; their inherent multiperspectivity must be preserved in retellings for our time. In the age of artificial intelligence, when scholarly work is increasingly outsourced to machines, the lasting value of human interpretation lies precisely in this personal act of seeing, shared with others.

This work was awarded the Dewetteanum 2024, the prize for the best scholarly work submitted to the Faculty of Theology at the University of Basel.

Access available
Table of contents:

1 Narratology: Who Sees?
1.1 Genette's Proposal
1.2 Subsequent Discussions
1.3 A Constraint Approach to Focalization
1.4 Markers of Internal Focalization
1.5 The Oversight of Focalization in New Testament Exegesis
1.6 From Narratology to Exegesis
1.7 Concluding Thoughts
2 Cognitive Linguistics: The Viewpointed Nature of Language
2.1 The Rise of Cognitive Linguistics
2.2 Core Assumptions of Cognitive Linguistics
2.3 Construal
2.4 Specificity
2.5 Focusing
2.6 Prominence
2.7 Perspective
2.8 Concluding Thoughts
3 Paul's Letters: Shifting Perspectives
3.1 External Focalization
3.2 The Perspective of the »Narrating I«
3.3 The Perspective of the »Narrated I«
3.4 Other Focalizers
3.5 Concluding Thoughts
4 Synoptics: Redaction Criticism Re-Visioned
4.1 Patterns of Focalization in the Synoptics
4.2 Imperfect Focalization in Mark
4.3 A Female Perspective
4.4 Concluding Thoughts
5 Eyewitnesses: Peter and the Beloved Disciple as Focalizers in Mark and John?
5.1 Bauckham's Thesis on Mark: Peter as Eyewitness and Focalizer?
5.2 The Beloved Disciple as Focalizer?
5.3 Concluding Thoughts
6 Acts: Tracing Luke's Presence
6.1 The We-Passages in Scholarship
6.2 Markers of Internal Focalization in Concert with First-Person Pronouns and Verb Forms
6.3 Luke Enters the Stage
6.4 Luke's Presence in Philippi
6.5 Leaving the Focalizer Behind
6.6 Getting the Band Back Together
6.7 Short Outlook on the Rest of Acts
6.8 Concluding Thoughts
7 Revelation: A Heavenly Perspective
7.1 A Prima Facie Case for the Experiencing I as Focalizer
7.2 John's View of Jesus (Rev 1:10-17)
7.3 Jesus as an Embedded Narrator and Focalizer (Rev 2-3)
7.4 John's Heavenly Perspective (Rev 4-5)
7.5 Some Indications for Future Research
7.6 Concluding Thoughts
8 Epilogue: Broadening the Perspective
8.1 The Inevitability of a Viewpointed Construal
8.2 Reception History
8.3 Theology


 

 

 

 

Posted by at 0 comments

Diskursive Integration ins Römische Reich: Der Dekalog zwischen Juden, Christen und Griechen

Maren R. Niehoff 
Cover of 'undefined' 

Maren R. Niehoff investigates how one of many biblical law collections became the Decalogue and came to stand for universal ethics. Roman legal discourses play a decisive role, as Jewish, Christian, and Greek authors each integrated their respective traditions through the Decalogue within the Roman Empire. The following stages of development emerge from a philological and historical analysis of the texts: In the Bible and during the Second Temple period, the Ten Commandments do not yet occupy a special position, neither in Hebrew-speaking nor in Greek-speaking Judaism. Philo of Alexandria breaks new ground in the first century, the first to devote a separate treatise to the Decalogue as a foundational ethical law, drawing inspiration from Roman legal manuals.
In the writings of the New Testament, which are examined here in chronological order, the universal significance of the Ten Commandments first appears in the Epistle to the Romans, which nuances the sharp critique of the Law found in Galatians. Paul combines faith in Christ with praise of the ruler and, like Seneca, advocates universal ethical norms in conjunction with the commandment to love. The Decalogue is also discernible in the Synoptic Gospels, which employ it in a Pauline manner.
Josephus and the rabbinic literature interpret the Decalogue as part of a process of differentiation from Christianity. Two hermeneutical focal points become apparent: the role of the priests in reciting the Decalogue in the Jerusalem Temple, and the response to the Christian appropriation of the Decalogue's universal commandments.
In Late Antiquity, Christian and pagan authors debate the Decalogue in relation to Judaism. Orthodox positions consolidate through recourse to the Decalogue, whereas heterodox authors marginalize it. Emperor Julian appeals to the Decalogue in a final attempt to unite the Roman Empire under universal values.

Access available
Table of contents:

Einleitung: Wie kann man sich den Anfängen nähern?

1. Die Erfindung des Dekalogs im römischen Kontext: Philon von Alexandria als Pionier einer ethischen Gesetzeskonzeption im Judentum

2. Der späte Durchbruch zum Dekalog im Neuen Testament

3. Von Flavius Josephus bis zu den Rabbinen: Wird die Sonderstellung des Dekalogs im Judentum gewahrt?

4. Spätantike Debatten: Der Dekalog zwischen Christen, Juden und Griechen

5. Fazit


 

 

Posted by at 0 comments

Open Access Journal: Oqimta: Studies in Talmudic and Rabbinic Literature

[First posted in AWOL 8 August 2013, updated 2 November 2026]

Oqimta: Studies in Talmudic and Rabbinic Literature
ISSN: 2308-1449 
http://www.oqimta.org.il/images/top-en.jpg
Oqimta is a digitized research journal devoted to all spheres and types of talmudic and rabbinical literature – Halakha and Agada
The articles in this journal undergo academic appraisal and redaction, and are published in the accepted languages for Judaica research.
Oqimta will be appearing once a year, in digitized form, and is available free of charge to the reading public. Articles that have completed the publication process will be uploaded to the site prior to the finalization of the issue, and can be found on the "In Publication" page.
Current Volume 
Past Volumes

Posted by at 0 comments
Labels: ,

Sunday, November 1, 2026

The Republic in Danger: Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius

 

The Republic in Danger: Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius
Book cover for The Republic in Danger: Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius

M. Scribonius Drusus Libo has always been considered an inexplicable victim of predatory prosecutors, destroyed in the changed conditions of Tiberius’ succession to the founder of the Principate. This is wrong. Drusus Libo conspired with a group of Tiberius’ opponents to challenge Tiberius’ right. The senate’s investigation of Drusus Libo will be examined in Chapter One and Chapter Two. It will be shown that Drusus Libo was treated in a way reminiscent of Catiline’s associate P. Lentulus Sura in 63 bc. Drusus Libo’s collaborators are then identified as a group of persons who supported first Gaius Caesar, then L. Aemilius Paullus and finally Agrippa Postumus. It is argued that the relationship of this group to Tiberius was beyond repair long before he succeeded Augustus. Tiberius’ succession to the supreme power in ad 14 signalled, therefore, a decisive defeat for this group. The succession is thus reconsidered from a new point of view: it was by no means sewn up. Drusus Libo is central to our understanding of Tiberius’ behaviour at this time. This is what the book examines in detail. A new historical model for the years 6 bc to ad 16 is offered, which has repercussions for the study of both the preceding and subsequent periods. The book is therefore a contribution to the study of the invention of the Principate at Rome.

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199601745.001.0001
Online ISBN:
9780191741524
Print ISBN:
9780199601745
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Contents

 

 

 

  
Posted by at 0 comments

The Chronicle of Seert: Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq

The Chronicle of Seert: Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq
Book cover for The Chronicle of Seert: Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq

This book is a study of the cultural and political history of Christian Iraq, the Church of the East, the so–called ‘Nestorians’. This history is seen through the Chronicle of Seert, a medieval Arabic Chronicle that reuses sources written several centuries earlier. This monograph aims to isolate different layers of composition and looks for trends in the choice of material and the agenda of their historians. Each layer of the text provides insight into the social construction of ‘orthodox belief’ in Iraq and the church as an institution. A central narrative is the growing power of the bishops (catholicoi) of the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon, their apostolic heritage, and their alliance with the Persian shahs. The monograph also considers the relationship of the catholicoi with monastic and scholarly centres and with Christian communities of the West. In each of these cases, the material that the Chronicle includes shows us how independent historical traditions were annexed by a narrative focused on Ctesiphon and its bishops. The monograph begins in the fifth century, when a series of abortive alliances between church and shah generated small-scale persecutions. It continues this story into the sixth and early seventh, when the church witnessed considerable growth in numbers and prestige. At each stage, we can see Christians rewriting the past to accommodate a new political and social situation, turning a murky past into a glorious golden age. The book concludes with a final chapter on the church under Muslim rule, when the Chronicle was compiled.

https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199670673.001.0001
Online ISBN:
9780191760709
Print ISBN:
9780199670673
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Contents


 

 

 

  

 

Posted by at 0 comments

VITRVVIVS DIGITAL LIBRARY

The website currently presents a catalogue of 28 documents, including historical manuscripts and editions, alongside three indexed editions by Diego Kurilo. It offers searchable passages in Latin and translations, locus-based navigation, and links to digitized historical witnesses with their institutional attribution.

La colecciónBuscar en los textosLector bilingüe LA / ES / FR / ENEstudios académicos 

Principios editoriales Comparador de loci Índice textual y notas Índices locorum Ediciones libres Facsímiles manuscritosGeographia codicumLexicon VitruvianumScriptorium HTR 

 
Posted by at 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)