Ahab of LXX: Making Sense of the Swap of 1 Kgs/3 Kgdms 20-21

ABSTRACT

The article argues that the different sequence of chapters in the LXX (3 Kgdms 20-21) and MT (1 Kgs 20-21) is due to the different focus of each tradition. The LXX focuses on Ahab and portrays his life as an accumulation of the fatal sins of his main royal predecessors—Saul, David, Solomon, and Jeroboam—but in a reverse order. This reverse cycle of kings indicates that Ahab was a turning point in Israelite history. MT, on the other hand, focuses on Jezebel. The placement of the account of Naboth’s vineyard right beforw chapter 22 creates in the audience an expectation of Jezebel’s death which would not be realized until 2 Kgs 9.     

Written in Stone: subverting the authoritative (auto)biographical voice—Carol Shields’s The Stone Diaries and Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel

Diaries imply true confessions, and readers wish to believe Daisy Flett’s life story in Carol Shields’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Stone Diaries (1994), but her layered narration, alternating first- and third-person narrative, proves problematic. “Death,” the final chapter, is particularly puzzling, as third-person accounts of Daisy’s demise are punctuated by her comments, such as, “I’m still in here” (320). But how does a first-person narrator relate her own death? The secret to Daisy’s death narrative, as David Williams observes, is the correspondence between Shields’s postmodernist gem, The Stone Diaries, and Laurence’s modernist masterpiece, The Stone Angel (1964), published three decades earlier, as Shields’s title clearly references Laurence’s. Two decades after Williams’s insightful essay, we can extend the parallels (and delineate the differences) between the two—and explore their implications. Such intertextual resonance illustrates Shields challenging the borders between fiction and biography and parodying canonical texts.     

David and Hazael: War,Peace, Stones and Memory

Abstract

This paper reexamines the rise and fall of two regional empires: the Israelite kingdom of David and Solomon, and the Aramaic kingdom of Hazael and his son Bar-Hadad III. The author presents a comparison between these two regional empires, discussing the following main points: the rise to power of the founders: David and Hazael and their charismatic character; their wars and peace treaties; the boundaries and the administrative organization of these two empires, and the decline and fall of the kingdoms in the days of the founder's sons: Solomon and Bar-Hadad III. The author is of the opinion that the existence of a regional empire in the days of Hazael and his son is of great significance for the reality of the empire of David and Solomon, since the former clearly proves that in certain geopolitical circumstances the making of a regional empire that controlled most of the area between the Euphrates and Philistia was entirely possible. The phenomenon of the Aramaean regional empire of Hazael and his son does not prove the existence of an Israelite regional empire, but it indicates that the biblical account of the rise and fall of an Israelite empire in the days of David and Solomon was possible, and even reasonable.     

Old Testament Figures as Possible Current “Mentors”: Exploratory Pastoral-Theological Reflections

This article explored the possible role of a “mentor” and is based on theoretical pointers from the Old Testament figures. Throughout the article mentoring was explored according to the approach of (T. Van der Walt:2007, 309). The background and narratives of Old Testament figures such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, David and Solomon were investigated. They were chosen for their leadership and guidance. Abraham and Jacob were the patriarchs of the Bible. Moses was and is still recognized as the greatest leader in history. Elijah and David were great and mighty prophets and kings. These narratives linked with the theory about mentoring and the significance thereof in today’s society of a father as mentor in a home.     

Pacific view: the meaning of governance and politics in the Solomon Islands

Based on the turmoil of the ‘crisis years’ (1998–2003) and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Island (RAMSI) years (2003–2007), this paper explores epistemological issues that deeply divide the way that Solomon Islanders look at prosperity and good government and the way that foreign aid donors, RAMSI and Australia see the future for Solomon Islands. State-building or re-building is not the same as nation-building based on local concepts of the good life. The stakes are high, and as the Sogavare Government (2006–2007) indicated, substantial changes are needed to RAMSI, with a clear exit strategy or amalgamation of its central features into the central government structure. Unless RAMSI can come to terms with Solomon Islands’ epistemological and related political issues, there is no future for the Mission. The paper looks first at the post-RAMSI period, before concentrating on epistemological and political differences, and uses Malaita Province as an example of local circumstances that apply in all areas of the troubled nation. The argument on the epistemology of development is drawn from the writings of David Gegeo and Karen Watson Gegeo, and my personal experience.     

Lester B. Pearson’s Temple University Speech Revisited: The Origins and Evolution of the Proposal for a Bombing Pause

Lester B. Pearson’s speech at Temple University in April 1965 suggesting a pause in the bombing of North Vietnam enraged United States President Lyndon B. Johnson, who in private the next day at Camp David strongly rebuked the Canadian prime minister. While their stormy encounter has become the stuff of legend, just how the controversial proposal for a bombing pause appeared in Pearson’s speech in the first place has received far less attention. Making use of new archival material, including the private diary of Canadian Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs Marcel Cadieux, among other original sources, this article revisits previous accounts of the Temple speech, offering new details on the origins of the proposal for a bombing pause and examining the hitherto unknown but crucial drafting changes that were made prior to its becoming public. In doing so, this article sheds new light on one of the most significant events in the history of Canadian–American relations.     

《金陵长干寺真身塔藏舍利石函记》考释及相关问题

《金陵长干寺真身塔藏舍利石函记》碑铭2008年出土于南京大报恩寺遗址宋代塔基地宫中。碑铭刻写俱佳,保存完好,对于研究长干寺的历史沿革和宋初修造长干寺真身塔的详细情况,皆具有重要的史学价值。出土的佛顶骨舍利为北宋译经僧施护所献,长干寺地宫独特的形制受六朝时期地宫形制的影响;用阿育王塔瘗藏舍利的形式,显受五代吴越国影响颇深。     

Messianic time,settler colonial technology and the elision of Palestinian presence in Jerusalem's historic basin

Advancing the settler colonial paradigm through a temporal perspective on territoriality, this article argues that the Jewish messianic idea is a distinctive feature of Israeli settler colonialism and an important element of Zionist territorial production. Specifically, the article contends that messianic time constitutes a specific settler colonial technology of domination which finds place-based expression in the ‘historic basin’ of occupied East Jerusalem. This is illustrated through two sites: the City of David archaeological park in the Palestinian village of Silwan and the Temple Mount/Haram al-Shariff, current home of the Dome of the Rock and prophesised location of the Third Jewish Temple. Both are at the frontier of settlement in the historic basin and the messianic conception of a mythical past and redemptive future aids claims to territorial exclusivity by ‘disappearing’ Palestinians in the present. The article concludes by reflecting on the value of an analytical focus on time for settler colonial scholarship on Israel-Palestine and in political geography more broadly.     

1 samuel 19: David and the Teraphim. and the Emplotted Narrative

This article interprets the use of teraphim in 1 Sam 19,13 through a historiographical lens. A close reading of 1 Sam 13-19 reveals Saul's doomed kingship (a lack of God's presence) and God's continual presence with David. Drawing on Hayden White's historiography, archaeological material, and textual sources, one can see how the teraphim functions as part of the emplotted (arranged) narrative of David and Saul, emphasizing the leitmotiv that runs through David's rise and Saul's decline. The author of the 1 Sam 19 arranged the narrative vis-a-vis David and Saul in such a way that her or his audience would understand.     

灵泉寺北齐娄睿《华严经碑》研究

目次序言一刻经碑的内容二刻经碑的镌刻年代三刻经碑与灵裕的护法思想四娄睿与大留圣窟五结语序言河南安阳宝山灵泉寺是北朝隋唐时期邺城地区著名的佛教寺院,原称宝山寺,东魏武定四(546年)由地论师道凭所创建〔1〕。北齐时,东安王娄睿成为该寺施主,并出巨资,由道凭弟著名高僧灵裕重加营构。隋开皇十一年(591年),隋文帝出资助营山寺,御赐寺额曰"灵     

‘Culture in EU external relations’: an idea whose time has come?

This chapter analyses the emergent cultural diplomacy discourse and practice of the European Union (EU) institutions, which has differed from that of nation-states. In semantics to begin with, since a far broader notion of ‘culture in EU external relations’ is EU usage. Yet Bhabha’s theoretical distinction between the ‘pedagogical’ and the ‘performative’ functions of nation-state narrative strategies holds at the supra-national scale as well: the author will explore the ways in which these functions have been appropriated by non-state actors. In EU cultural diplomacy as a ‘cultural policy of display’ in Raymond Williams’ sense, the agenda setting process has thus been marked by a polyvocal process of appropriation by different stakeholders. They have recently taken the discourse ‘beyond cultural diplomacy’ and expedient ‘soft power’ considerations, in a spirit of global cultural citizenship that privileges intercultural dialogue, mutuality and reciprocity. How this vision will be applied, however, is yet to be seen.     

Solomon’s Table Talk: Martin Luther on the Authorship of Ecclesiastes

ABSTRACT

Martin Luther’s comments in a section of Table Talk continue to be used as evidence that he denied the Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes. A comparison of the passage with Luther’s “Preface” to Jesus Sirach demonstrates that the majority of Luther’s comments in that section of Table Talk pertain to Sirach. However, the passage also has clear parallels in Luther’s “Preface to Solomon’s ‘The Preacher,’” suggesting that it is a mixture of Luther’s comments on Ecclesiastes and Sirach. The portions of Table Talk which do pertain to Ecclesiastes have commonly been misinterpreted. Luther does not deny that Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes; he denies that Solomon was the scribe. He thought that Ecclesiastes was written down by students on the basis of the oral teachings of their master, much like his own Table Talk.     

The development anthropology of food crises: Still a long way to go

Huss‐Ashmore, Rebecca and Solomon H. Katz, eds. African Food Systems in Crisis: Part II. Contending with Change. New York: Gordon and Breach, 1990. xiii + 292 pp. including chapter references and index. $78.00 cloth.

Whiteford, Scott and Ann E. Ferguson, eds. Harvest of Want: Hunger and Food Security in Central America and Mexico. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991. 264 pp. including chapter references and index. $48.00 cloth.     

Finance,Home Building,and Urban Residential Structuring

Abstract: The aim of this article is to improve our understanding of finance in home building by introducing an actor perspective in structure‐oriented theories of capital circulation. David Harvey's three‐circuit theory, with fixity‐motion processes and (de‐/re)‐territorialisation, is taken as the starting point. The analysis is based on a case study of Norwegian home‐building finance, outlining the emerging structure of housing and finance under the Norwegian version of neoliberalism; comprising deregulation and re‐regulation phases. The article delineates today's home‐building finance, and identifies large banks, small banks, large investment funds and small investment funds as structural actors operating within actual fixity and motion processes, causing a distinct territorialisation of urban landscapes, as exemplified by gentrification.     

云南剑川兴教寺木构技术研究

云南剑川兴教寺的大殿和中殿为明永乐十三年(1415年)之遗构,作为全国现存唯一的阿吒力密宗寺院,兴教寺建筑群具有特殊的历史地位和社会文化价值。本文通过剖析兴教寺大殿及中殿的构件尺度及其构架结构特征,可见其木构技术所表达的"滞后"现象,既带有技术的独创性、体现云南木构殿堂建筑的地域特色,又保留了一些古老的中原木结构建筑技术手法,是研究云南现存早期殿堂建筑营造技艺的珍贵遗存。     

King Solomon’s Gold: Ophir in an Age of Empire

Contemplating King Solomon’s enormous importation of gold from the mysterious land of Ophir filled Victorians with vicarious pride and glutted their pedantic appetite with no end of tempting antiquarian puzzles concerning the identity of his trading partners. This article provides details and context regarding the various putative Ophirs proposed by British travellers during the nineteenth century, which ranged from Sumatra to the Gold Coast. It concludes in the latter decades of the century, when the legend of King Solomon’s mines converged with the discovery of gold in South Africa. As scholars have noted, the mid-century discovery of ancient ruins in present-day Zimbabwe by the German explorer Karl Mauch rekindled the Ophir debate and focused most people’s attention on South Africa as its location. This was also the immediate context to Rider Haggard’s fascination with ancient African civilization in his immensely popular novel King Solomon’s Mines. Numerous subsequent explorers, adventure novelists, and armchair archaeologists added to this wave of speculation about Ophir in the three decades that followed Mauch’s original identification of Great Zimbabwe with the biblical Ophir. By connecting these later depictions of Ophir (both fictional and archaeological) with speculations from earlier in the nineteenth century, this article presents King Solomon’s gold as a common context for evolving justifications, ambivalences, and understandings of British imperialism, from an empire of trade to one of conquest and annexation.     

Archaeology and the Bible Revisited: A Review Article

David and Solomon, a new book by Israel Finkelstein and Niels Asher Silberman, through their discussion of Palestinian archaeology's current understanding, proposes to provide evidence to prove the accuracy of Frank Cross's more than 30 year old revision of Martin Noth's theory of a “Deuteronomistic History.” The authors attempt to confirm the history of the redaction of the biblical narratives about Saul, David and Solomon, involving seven distinct oral and four written strata of tradition. Their argument moreover claims the warrant to assert the historicity of each of these legendary kings of Israel. The present article argues to the contrary that the “archaeological evidence” proposed does not support such a redaction history nor establish the historicity of either the biblical figures or their stories, but that the harmony of biblical and archaeological issues is circular and illegitimate by the standards of historical research. It argues, moreover, that the claim of an oral tradition, reflecting original memories of an historical David or Saul is an entirely unnecessary and unlikely explanation for the origins of both the figures and their tales in the stories of 1-2 Samuel and 1 Kings. It moreover argues that the hypothesis of a redaction history in a succession of four cumulative revisions, beginning in the eighth century and completed in the sixth to fourth century, BCE—lacking as it does reference to a readable text—is neither critical nor falsifiable. Finally, Finkelstein and Silberman's book is judged as an unsuccessful attempt to return to the methods of “biblical archaeology” that were legitimately impeached in the mid-1970s.     

Visions of the cosmos: Recent explorations of new world cosmology

Freidel, David, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker. Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1993. 543 pp. including chapter references and index. $30:00 cloth.

Farrer, Claire R. Living Life's Circle: Mescalero Apache Cosmo‐vision. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 1991. xiii + 274 pp. including chapter references and index. $24.95 cloth.

Dover, Robert V. H., Katharine E. Seibold, and John H. McDowell, eds. Andean Cosmologies Through Time: Persistence and Emergence. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1992. viii + 274 pp. including chapter references and index. $29.95 cloth.     

The anthropologist in medicine: Critical perspectives on cancer and street addicts

Waterston, Alisse. Street Addicts in the Political Economy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993. xix + 280 pp. including chapter references, appendix, and index. $34.95 cloth

Balshem, Martha. Cancer in the Community: Class and Medical Authority. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993, xviii + 174 pp. including chapter references, appendix, and index. $50.50 cloth, $19.25 paper     

State Absence and State Formation in Solomon Islands: Reflections on Agency,Scale and Hybridity

This article engages ethnographic research on perceptions of disputation, justice and security in rural Solomon Islands to reflect on issues of agency, power and scale in areas of limited statehood. Set against widespread popular perceptions of state retreat in Solomon Islands, the authors situate their study within the literature which addresses engagements with conflict‐affected and fragile countries and, in particular, literature with an interest in the spaces created by prolonged state absence as potential sites of innovation and transformation. The article examines the role of agency and power at different scales in the highly contested processes of state formation underway in post‐conflict Solomon Islands. Taking issue with the presumed privileging by local actors of non‐state over state forms that runs through much of the hybridity literature, the authors suggest that international ‘state‐building’ interventions, such as that recently experienced in Solomon Islands, require a more nuanced and historically informed understanding of local agency vis‐à‐vis the state in fragile and conflict‐affected settings.