Liber Annuus

The argument of Sacrifice is important in Genesis 1-11. Gen 4,3-5 and 8,20-21 mention a gift made for YHWH. In both texts men act without a clear order of God. The offering of gifts does not express a positive progress of the human plan and of human acts. It is not clear if YHWh really accepted the offerings. The offerings of Abel, Cain or Noah are ambiguous human works. The reader of Gen 1-11 is a witness of God’s plan of creating life notwithstanding the dangerous jealousy of men and the end of life upon earth. He does not learn anything definitive about the gift men bring for YHWH.

After the presentation of the characteristics and the contents of the five books of the Psalter, after having seen the moments of the different collections, after the description of the Psalms, the author presents the two perspectives to which every thing can be reduced: 1) The individual or collective lament. As far as individual lament is concerned the author thinks that they are liturgical prayers of the king that date before the exile. Then he gives the theology of both individual and collective laments presented in a diachronical way. Studying the oral poetry he goes back as far as David himself. 2) The praise in the tôdâ and in the Hymns. The authors defends their old origins and analyses their ritual elements and tries to analyze their development. 3) Finally he studies the last collections, those of book V, the ascent psalms, the Hallel and the wisdom psalms and the alphabetical ones which try to give a redactional link of all the Psalter.

Almost twenty years after the publication of his book Un profeta tra oppressori e oppressi. Analisi esegetica del capitolo 2 di Michea nel piano generale del libro, the author presents a syntactic and compositional analysis of the whole Hebrew text of the Prophet Micah. Referring to his previous analysis and partly revising it, the author proposes a division of the text in twenty-one units and five main sections in a chiastic composition, i.e. ch. 1 // 6:1-7:6, ch. 2 // chs. 3-5, with 7:7-20 as the concluding unit. Based on his theory of a coherent Hebrew verb system both for prose and poetry, the author pays careful attention to the verb forms and to the resulting dynamics of communication necessary to achieve a proper interpretation of any text. Besides underlying a strong unity of composition for the whole book, as recognized by many interpreters, the author also proposes a rather precise date between 713 and 701 B.C. for the different historical situations evoked in the book, also on the basis of a Judaean exile in the VIII cent. B.C., an event usually not considered by scholars. Thus, one single author, Micah, for the whole prophecy is seen as a concrete possibility.

In this article the fully vocalized Syriac text of the Prophet Habakkuk has now been published. In previous issues of the review Liber Annuus the books of Amos, Jonah, Hosea and Micah had already been published following the same method. All these contributions are freely available on the internet.

The literary structure of John 16,16-33 is still fluctuating. The present article analyses the composition of the paragraphs and their connection on the ground of the verbal parallelism. Particular attention is given to the rhetorical “figurae”. Some conclusions are attained: the pericope is divided into eight paragraphs, connected two by two; their parallelism delimitates the text. The elements of an enigma – enigmatic sentence, misunderstanding and clarification with an amplification – appear twice: ABCD A’D’B’C’. Their disposition is skilfully asymmetric: D’ following A’ emphasizes the enigmatic function of A’ and prepares the misunderstanding of B’. The paragraphs can be read one after the other or according to their parallelism. The parallel reading points out the dialectical rhythm, which characterizes the paschal message of the pericope: from seeing to not seeing and to seeing again, from enigmatic to clear discourse, from suffering to joy, from not asking to praying the Father. These antitheses are founded upon two time’s indications: “till now” and “the hour will come”.

The author studies the priestly traditions present in the Gospel of John. He doesn’t accept the idea that the Gospel was written by a Sadducee, since the idea of the resurrection is accepted. After a short enumeration of the priestly traditions the author tries to explain the importance of such traditions in a Gospel written after the destruction of the Temple.

This research on Col 2,23 attempts to clarify some intricate problems of the text from a philological point of view and tries to suggest some solutions: 1) The punctuation: it seems to me that it is to be the following: ἅτινά ἐστιν, λόγον μὲν ἔχοντα σοφίας ἐν ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ [καὶ] ἀφειδίᾳ σώματος, οὐκ ἐν τιμῇ τινι πρὸς πλησμονὴν τῆς σαρκός. 2) The syntagma ἅτινά ἐστιν is united to οὐκ ἐν τιμῇ τινι in its modal sense and, therefore, is adjectival and is to be considered as a predicate: “these things are of no value/advantage” means “these things are without value/are disadvantageous”. 3) The expression λόγον μὲν ἔχοντα σοφίας introduces a long conjunctive participial clause of concessive value: “having indeed a fame/ reputation of wisdom”; it underlines that it is an unmerited fame: the practices, the prohibitions, the teachings of a certain φιλοσοφία (Col 2,8) can produce an illusion of a superior wisdom; the reality is another. 4) The syntagm ἐν ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ [καὶ] ἀφειδίᾳ σώματος does not refer to σοφίας, but to λόγον μὲν ἔχοντα σοφίας as a whole and is translated as: “in the sphere of an arbitrary worship made of humility and bodily austerity”. Therefore, it seems to me that Col 2,23 is to be translated as: “Such human teachings, having indeed a reputation of wisdom in the sphere of an arbitrary worship made of humility and of bodily austerity, are without value/disadvantageous even in contrasting the insatiable satisfaction/ avidity of the flesh”.

We took seriously the classification of the Pastorals, especially 1Timothy and Titus ad mandata, together with the old hypothesis that 1Timothy was, in fact, the first example of ‘Church Law’, to show that not only this letter, but all three were intended as ‘constitutional’ texts for the ‘administration of the church’, as institution, with her own officials and groups.

Josephus devotes a total of eighteen extended paragraphs of Antiquities 5 to his reproduction of Judges 14-15. Already this “quantitative” observation makes clear the historian’s interest in the passage. That interest becomes even more interest when one attends – as I have tried to do in this essay – to the manifold pains Josephus has taken in adapting the biblical presentation of Samson’s exploits to his own purposes in writing his history. Such exertion on the historian’s part, in turn, calls for a like exertion by contemporary students of his corpus.

The paper studies the formation of the participle in Biblical Hebrew according to the Masoretic (Tiberian) tradition, arranged according to the different conjugations and the different classes of weak verbs, including verbal adjectives. It includes examination of the details of vocalization and plene or defective writing. For the distribution of doublets, it tries to formulate syntactic, semantic, or diachronic rules. Two groups of forms exhibit special features: feminine singular participles and participles of roots III.j without ending. The feminine singular forms can end in -a or in -t. The ending -a is paradigmatic in all participles of roots III.j, after long vowel (passive participle and the roots II.w) or doubled vowel (roots II.gem.) Other active participles end normally in -t, endings in -a are common only in poetic texts. Passive participles prefer -a in nominal use, - t in verbal. Verbal adjectives end in -a. Masculine singular participles of roots III.j can be vocalized with sere and with segol. Commonly, the forms in sere are classified as construct state, but syntactically some of them are not in construct state. So the condition for forms in sere is better labelled as close joined situation.

The dative absolute is rarely mentioned in Ancient Greek grammar books. When mentioned, it is usually to affirm that it is an anacoluthic construction or a construction that may be explained in other ways, but it is not an absolute construction. Four examples of the absolute dative are presented in this note as alternative variant readings of the absolute genitive. It deals with variant readings that have been attested in some textual testimonies of the Lxx.

The recurrence of the articular genitive infinitive (τοῦ + the infinitive) in the texts of the New Testament is above all due to the influence of the Lxx. This dependence is also reflected in the values that such a construction assumes from time to time in different contexts. The cases collected in the BDR § 400 where the proposed analysis of the construction τοῦ + the infinitive at times appears to fluctuate, are discussed in this article. The impression is given that one value is the same as another and that in the end the alternatives transmit the same message, neglecting possible and essential nuances that might differentiate one value from another in its context. Rather it seems necessary that the value the construction assumes in the different contexts be clarified, avoiding as much as possible the overlapping of values that in reality are alternative.

In this article a part of the itinerary of Petachia of Ratisbon’s journey is translated for the first time in the Italian language, specifically the last pages which are a description of some places in the Holy Land. The Hebrew text is translated from the Benisch edition (1856) compared with that of Broers (2005).

We propose in this article that the Devtubani monastery was located in Rephaim valley, southwest of the walls of Jerusalem. The unusual name of monastery itself is derived from a well known historical toponym; there is evidence about a Byzantine “namesake” of Devtubani, monastery of Giants; and it is a fact that Georgians owned the lands of the valley in the XIII-XV centuries. It is likely that the Byzantine monastery of Giants, as also the Medieval Devtubani afterwards, was part of a large group of monasteries that were located in the neighbourhoods of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The three volumes presented in this Bibliographical Note examine the origins of the synagogue. The problems highly debated are the social and the religious impacts behind the scenes, and the time and the purpose of such an institution. So, where, when and why did the synagogue emerge? The volume of D.D. Binder first examine the terminology: proseuche, synagoge hieron etc. to find a religious background for the synagogue. Starting from the assembly performed during the Persian Period at the city-gates of villages and cities of Judaea, the ‘Torah Reading’ was central (cf. Nehem 8,13-18). From this kind of assembly emerges the synagogue, as a place where the local community reproduces the central sanctuary of Jerusalem, not only in the liturgy but also with the architecture and decoration (Aron Qodesh, palm tree, door, menorah, paroket etc.). The volume edited by A.J. Avery-Peck - J. Neusner presents a collection of studies on the synagogue. J. Magness argues the new dating for the galilean synagogues (Gush Halav, Capernaum, Khirbet Shema, Nabratein and others), that is from 5º to 6º century AD. The opponents are the excavators E.M. Meyers and J.F. Strange who maintain an early date. Significant chapters are presented by J.F. Strange on ‘The Synagogue as Methaphor’; and by P.V.M. Flesher on ‘Prolegomenon to a Theory of Early Synagogue Development’. The final chapter of this volume is by M. Aviam, who presents the new excavations at the ancient synagogues at Bara‘am. The volume presented by A. Runesson envisages a different historical and social process at the origins of the synagogue. The investigation spans from the Persian Period to the Roman Period and argues that behind the word ‘synagogue’ in the first century AD, there are concealed two types of institutions: the public village assembly and the so-called voluntary association. The former originated as a result of the radical implementation of Persian imperial policy in the Province of Yehud, while the latter developed when Hellenistic influence was felt in the region. In the Diaspora, synagogue liturgy gradually replaced Jewish sacrificial cult so that temples eventually were transformed into synagogues.

The coins published in this edition (70 specimens and 1 leaden planchet), come from a survey carried out between the years 2004 and 2007 in the Capernaum urban area, especially in areas 4 and 11. The most antique specimen is a Trajan quadran, whereas the majority comes from between the IV and the VII centuries. The consistency with the recent publication of Capernaum IX is noteworthy, especially for the confirmation of the historical-numismatic analysis of the last phases of the site.

In 1997 a hoard of 37 copper coins appeared on the antique market, coined in the mint of Flavia Neapolis and associated with the iconography of the temple of Zeus Hypsistos and of Mount Gerizim. Among the Emperors present on the coins: Elagabalus (25 coins), Alexander Severus (8 coins), Trebonianus Gallus (1 coin). Elagabalus’ group belongs to the light series; eleven of these specimens have a countermark used to establish a different and more valuable quota than the precedent, during Alexander Severus’ reign. Among the coins of this Emperor we can note two particularities. The first (cat. n. 32) concerns a legend of obverse, different to the ones known by the repertories. The second (cat. n. 33), due to its radiating head, allows us to recognize a new type of nominal and the probable formation of a relationship between two emissions in copper, similar to that between the dupondius and the as, found at that time in the western part of the empire. The coins of Flavia Neapolis, with the reverse side related to the Samaritan tradition, are coins that are highly sought after by collectors. It seems very unlikely therefore that such a numerous group of specimens could have been gathered and conserved for such a long period. By means of a comparison with similar coin findings in archaeological contexts it is hypothesized that the hoard was formed following a “thematic” selection of a larger treasure trove, probably discovered in Samaria or in the nearby territories, where it was hidden towards the first half of the 3rd century.

In a salvage excavation carried out in 2005 north to the Old City of Jerusalem (the Third Wall site) some pottery fragments of a basin, dated to the Late Byzantine or Umayyad period, were found. The basin, which is significant regarding both its decoration and its context, is made of hard-fired, yellowish ware and has a broad ledge rim. The edge of the rim is decorated with thumb impressions. The rim’s surface is decorated with applied disks, on each of which is impressed a Greek cross, and between the disks there are small round impressions which form larger crosses. Below this panel there are remains of fringes of oval or rhomboid impressions. This basin is unique as far as its rim surface decoration goes. Only two other basins of this type with a decoration on their rim surface have been published so far. We can assume that the basin, decorated with Christian motifs, had a certain use in the liturgical rites that took place in the monastery’s chapel which was identified during the excavations.

This article examines the Greek epigraphic material kept at the Mu’tah University Museum. It is a collection composed of 23 inscriptions, 20 of them unpublished, which with one exception (no. 1 from Qasr el-Hallabat) originate from the Southern Kerak plateau, mainly from the sites of Ader, Mu’tah, Iraq, Nakhl and Maḥaiy. Apart from a dedication to Artemis (second century AD), all the remaining inscriptions are funerary and date between the late fourth and late sixth century AD. The present epigraphic material not only adds 20 new epitaphs to those hitherto known from Moab, but offers also an interesting onomasticon.