A Reevaluation of the Kesil’s Image in the Book of Qohelet

Abstract

During the early stages of its evolution, the book of Kings was a history narrative uninfluenced by Deuteronomy. Later, as the scroll ceased to express an interpretation of the past—that is to say, ceased to be a history narrative—it began to reflect a literary dialogue with Deuteronomy. At no point in time was Kings both Deuteronomistic and a history, and it was not, therefore, a component of Martin Noth’s hypothetical Deuteronomistic History. Rather, the pre-canonical scroll is best defined as an anthology, or “reader,” of fanciful stories about fallible nebi’im (prophets and kings) who find themselves in relationship with a fallible patron god. Ironically, because Kings was preserved as sacred literature, its god has been reconceptualized, against the plain sense of the text, as a reliable, just, and compassionate patron god.     

Something Borrowed,Something New? Reflections on Apocalypticism and Prophecy in the Old Testament

This article approaches the ongoing scholarly debate as to what constitutes apocalypticism in ancient Judaism, and, in particular, if and how apocalyptic texts stand out as different from prophetic texts in the Old Testament. Some examples from the history of scholarship illustrate how the dichotomy between prophecy and apocalypticism has been perceived, and the underlying presuppositions are discussed critically. A case is made for assuming a fundamental continuity between so-called prophetic and apocalyptic writings as developments of the same literary tradition. Against this background is discussed how differences and nuances between texts within this continuity can be fruitfully acknowledged. Three tendencies that appear to be reinforced in so-called apocalyptic texts in the Old Testament are pointed out: The extensive use of literary loans from older texts, the development of visually suggestive, yet elusive imagery, and the combination of different literary forms and genres. Finally, some selected texts from Old Testament prophetic books (Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, and Isaiah) serve as test cases for the first of these aspects.     

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.     

Frontier Landscape – Lapland in the Tradition of Finnish Landscape Painting

Abstract

Finnish artists depicted Lapland as a frontier. The position of the Lappish landscape as a part of the Finnish landscape painting tradition is explored through a framework based on art and cultural history as well as humanistic and cultural geography. Paintings from three historical periods are analyzed: the early and later period of Finland as an autonomous Russian Grand Duchy (1809–1917), the first decades after the independence of Finland (1917–1939) and the Second World War (1939–1945). Lapland is today the borderline of leisure and work and the frontier of Finnish and Sámi cultures. Earlier Lappish landscapes were places of Sámi nomadism and Finnish farming, which can be seen in the Lappish landscape paintings from the 1890s to 1920s. Finnish art tradition, however, was not ready to accept Lapland, the northern frontier, as a part of Finland. During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s the meaning of the northern borderline grew and Lapponism, the golden years of Lappish landscape and tourism, began. During the Lapponism period there were few paintings depicting Sámi culture, because the Sámi were thought to be primitive or Mongolian, and were not accepted as part of Finnish culture.     

‘Beware of false prophets’: A Fragment of the Old Swedish Miracle Homily Book

ABSTRACT

The article comprises an introduction to and an edition and translation of an Old Swedish sermon fragment found in the Hannaas Collection at the Ethno-Folkloristic Archive, University of Bergen, Norway (Hannaas 66). This previously unpublished paper fragment is one of the missing parts of the Old Swedish Homily Book (known as Svensk järteckens postilla), dating from the second half of the fifteenth century and now housed at the Royal Library in Stockholm, Sweden (Cod. Holm. A 111). The text in Hannaas 66 comprises a sermon for the 8th Sunday after Trinity based on Matthew 7. 15–16 and includes a miracle exemplum that illustrates the importance of acting justly and following the will of God.     

Center of Diversity: Sámi in Early Modern Stockholm in the Light of European Colonial Expansion. A Historical Archaeological Approach

This paper deals with the presence of Sámi in central and southern Sweden in the seventeenth century. The Nordic countries have generally been believed to be ethnically homogeneous, with the** colonial subjects not being present in the center of these empires. If the multicultural aspects of early modern Nordic countries are at all discussed, Sámi and other ethnic groups are understood as peoples living on the outskirts of the empires. This notion has cemented an idea that cities such as Copenhagen or Stockholm were inhabited solely by peoples from southern Scandinavia and the continent. Drawing on the experience of the role and presence of indigenous people from the Americas and the Arctic in cities such as London in the seventeenth century, this paper examines the multi-ethnic aspects of early modern Stockholm, capital of Sweden, as an imperial center.     

A Gift to the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Qamdo─On Qamdo of Tibet: History Tradition and Modernization

Atthetimewhenthe500,000PeopleofQamdowerecelebratingthe5Othanniversaryoftheliberationoftheirarea,thebookQaIndoofnbet'Histo-ryTraditionandModemizationcameoffthepresses.WthLiGuanRwen,YangSongandGelegaschiefeditors,thebookisChina'sfirstacadendcworkexplainingthehistoryandstatusquooftheregioninasystematicway.Thebookcontainstheresultsofresearchintothetr8ditionalcultUreandmod-ernizationintheTibetan-inhabitedareasofChina,aprojectconductedundertheleadershipofGeleg.AdozenpeoplefromBeijing,Chengdu…     

A Vital Monastic Centre of the Jonang Tradition： The Grand Lamasery of Dzamthang

The entire Ngolok-Seta country between what is present-day＇s Ngolok （mgo-log）prefecture （Chin. Guoluo） in China＇s Qinghai province, Serta county in Kandse （dkar-mdzes）prefecture and the northwestern parts of modern Ngawa（rnga-ba） prefecture （Chin. Aba） in Sichuan was a white spot on the Ti-bet map until the mid-20th century. Particularly the districts defined by the present Ngawa and Dzamthang （Chin. Rangtang） counties were inaccessible for any foreign traveller in historic time. Ngawa already constituted an isolated Ti-betan cultural realm, yet Dzamthang to its west was a true hidden land. The latter is reached by a 18o km drive from the Ngawa prefecture＇s seat, Barkham （Chin. Ma＇erkang）, in less than half a day.     

The “Works of the Old Men” in Arabia: remote sensing in interior Arabia

In the 1920s pilots overflying the Transjordan panhandle discovered thousands of enigmatic stone-built structures which the beduin called ‘’The Works of the Old Men’. We now know these works are several thousand years old, extend from Syria to Yemen and probably number a million or more, making them far older and significantly more extensive than Peru’s Nazca Lines. Like the latter they are often unseen and seldom intelligible at ground level. Now an aerial reconnaissance programme in Jordan and high-resolution satellite imagery from Google Earth for large areas of Arabia is vastly expanding the database bringing transformation and opportunity. Despite regional and diachronic variations, these works are plainly parts of an immense prehistoric cultural continuum surviving as hunting traps, funerary/religious sites and seasonal camps. Extensive sampling and test-mapping show patterns and associations which suggest methodologies for developing a remote sensing programme to record, map and begin analysis for interior Arabia as a whole. On such foundations may be built interdisciplinary collaboration to interpret and explain this little-known human landscape on the fringes of the Fertile Crescent.     

‘Fertility’ and the Carnival 2: Popular Frazerism and the Reconfiguration of Tradition in Europe Today

This article examines European festive culture through the lens of two ethnographic case studies of carnivals, conducted in Italy and the Czech Republic. The article analyses processes of meaning construction, cultural circulation, and reconfiguration of local traditions that are currently widely at work in rural and marginal European contexts. It explains why I propose to name the cultural complex shaped by those processes ‘popular Frazerism’. The article also argues that these phenomena are representative of a certain post-modern romantic imaginary of magic, antiquity, and primitiveness, and explores the symbolic sources and the social needs from which this imaginary draws its strengths and legitimacy.

This article is the second part of a broader study divided into two parts.     

“Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts”—or: “We and the rest of the world” The authors who “wrote” The Old Testament

RÉSUMÉ

Comparer l’histoire construite de l’Israël biblique à celle des Aztéques, telle que Christian Duverger l’a analysée, premet de dégager un certain nombre de parallèles. En insistant sur leur migration, ces derniers ont élaboré un grand récit initiatique qui avait pour but de légitimer leur installation à Mexico et de justifier leur volonté hégémonique. Avec quelques différences d’importance, le récit biblique de l’exode d’Égypte puis de la conquête de Canaan comporte des aspects idéologiques similaires. Parailleurs, si les Aztèques se voyaient comme étant les héritiers des Toltèques, le royaume de Jude usurpa le prestige du royaume historique d’Israël entraînant une grande confusion autour de ce nom.     

Tradition and critique in Paul Muldoon's “Madoc: A Mystery”

Paul Muldoon's “Madoc: A Mystery” remains his longest poem and most thorough vision of an alternative history. This article argues that Muldoon's poem works to stage not only a visionary history of America but also, via the uneasy relations that develop between its two main characters (semi-fictionalised versions of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey), a dramatisation of the conflict that obtains between competing modes of historical understanding. Muldoon's Coleridge and Southey represent stances that may be usefully regarded as parallel to positions advanced in the famous debate regarding interpretation between Hans-Georg Gadamer and Jürgen Habermas, thinkers whose names appear in the poem itself. To read the poem in light of this connection between its fantastical transatlantic history and the history of critical theory allows a reading of Muldoon's treatment of both literary and political histories as secondary to the work's playful exploration of struggles between modes of historical interpretation.     

Old wine in new bottles? Some views of the economy of the early Church

From a sociological point of view the early Christian communities seem to have been rather isolated in their pagan, or Jewish, surroundings. The aim of this article is to throw some light on the economic behaviour of the members of the early Church. Did they establish a Christian economy, which was determined by their moral and religious values, or did they adjust themselves to the prevailing economic conditions of the Roman Empire?     

Tradition and the Poetics of Innovation: Sumerian Court Literature of the Larsa Dynasty(c. 2003–1763 BCE). Alter Orient und Altes Testament 339. Münster:Ugarit-Verlag

<正>The main body of the book is divided into four major chapters plus an introduction and a conclusion.Concise as it is,the introduction to the main discussion deals with a series of important methodological issues.First,the subject of the study is defined as the literary texts of the Larsa court(p.1),which