Liber Annuus

In this contribution, the author is interested in the dispute section found in Malachi 1:6-2:9. It is the longest dispute found in Malachi and brings out the theological profile of the priest especially with regards to the demands of the Lord. The study also deals with the comparison of our dispute section with Mal 2:10-16 and 2:17-3:5 and with the Book of the Twelve as a whole. Despite the few references found in the present section, the study tries to delve into the background of the criticism aimed at priests and the need of renewal in their lives. Although in line with the tradition, Malachi operates within a change of emphasis different from that of the other minor prophets. This is evident in light of the interests that animate him and the historical background of his preaching. The priest is above all a mediator between God and the people both in the ambit of worship and the teaching of the Torah. In this regard the cult and the teaching of the Torah complement The Prophet versus Priest Antagonism Hypothesis: its History and Origin, supplementing each other and thus one enriches the other. The priest performs his office aware of what takes place within the project of God for him, and of the unity between cultic behaviour and interior life. So the prophet here prepares the theological motives that will be further developed in Judaism during the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era, where the priest will be totally immersed into a Torah personalization logic and to be involved in a higher spiritual dimension.

The article describes the distribution of the long and short wayyiqtol forms of verbs III.h in Biblical (Masoretic) Hebrew, with a total of 110 short forms vs. 2171 long forms. There are no general rules able to explain all long forms found in the Biblical text. There are, however, a number of regularities or tendencies, which can be empirically observed. The long forms are relatively widespread 1) in the first and in the second (few occurrences) persons; 2) in the Prophets, the poetic books, Daniel, Ezra und Nehemiah; 3) in the first person in Joshua - Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Job, Proverbs, Qohelet, Daniel, and Chronicles; 4) in the third person in Kings (especially 1 Kgs 16 - 2 Kgs 13) and Jeremiah; 5) with doubly weak verbs (except hyh and ḥyh); 6) in the hiphil, piel, and hitpael; 7) in northern prose; 8) at the end of a clause; 9) before a direct object; 10) in the apodosis of a double clause; 11) before a laryngeal (except ḥ). The long forms are relatively seldom 1) in the third person; 2) in the Torah (very seldom), Joshua - Samuel, Ruth and Esther (none in either), and Chronicles; 3) in the third and second persons in the Torah (none), the Twelve Prophets, and the Writings (ketuvim); 4) in northern poetry; 5) with verbs I.h and I.ḥ, especially hyh (none in the third and second persons) and ḥyh (none); 6) with verbs both I.lar. and II.r (none); 7) before the subject; 8) before sibilants, velars, ḥ, and r. In a few cases the long forms express a nuance different from the short forms: 1) in the first person of hyh (description of a durative state); 2) in the third person of bnh (“rebuild”); 3) with r’h in Ezekiel (emphasis on the act of seeing rather than on the object which is seen).

Righteousness and fulfillment are key elements in Jesus’ mission. Both concepts however are controversial. Is Jesus speaking about a divine or human righteousness? Does his baptism symbolize his death? In the Lxx πᾶς + δικαιοσύνη is not used for the abstract value of righteousness but for concrete acts of righteousness or kindness. In Matt 3:15 the cryptic words of Jesus have probably the same meaning. Fulfilling every act of righteousness is the theme and the way to do it is the rheme.

Zachariah is presented in Luke’s Gospel as a priest and a prophet. As a priest he was serving in the Temple. As a prophet his function was to announce God’s mercy. The covenant God made with his people was broken by sin, but restored by Abraham. This covenant was a new creation that exceeds the first since it climaxes in the sign of the circumcision on the eighth day. Zachariah is the priest and the prophet to whom the Judaeo-Christians can identify themselves after the crisis provoked by the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. From the Temple they are invited to go to their houses to study the Scriptures which contain the message of God’s mercy.

Engaging with the latest in Johannine scholarship, this article zeroes in on a largely unexplored topic within Johannine language and style, namely, the very frequent and consistent use by the evangelist of overt pronominal subjects throughout his gospel. Against the background of a brief discussion of Johannine style in recent scholarship, Martin-Asensio reviews and evaluates the treatment of overt pronominal subjects in NT Greek and Modern Greek linguistics. Martin-Asensio then proposes an interpretation that, on one hand, coheres with the recent Modern Greek study by Pavlidou and, on the other, stresses the rhetorical and oral performance import of these forms in the Fourth Gospel. Overt pronominal subjects (OPS) in the Fourth Gospel are found to support the redefining of subjects by marking them as new. OPSs serve to constantly question and redefine the identity of the participants in relation to Jesus, to truth, to Moses and Abraham, to the law and the temple and to God. More than merely emphasizing one subject or another, these OPSs are encoding the interplay of identities in flux and conflict throughout the FG and call for a decision in the face of that conflict. Additionally, Martin-Asensio draws attention to the rhetorical usefulness of these OPS patterns in the context of oral performance. In Greek, as in many other languages, the marked or new element of the clause carries tonic prominence when spoken or read, that is, the marked element is prosodically prominent. Such prominence would have been exploited by oral performers and would have powerfully drawn in audiences to the Fourth Gospel’s call to take sides.

This article describes the history of the research on the use of Scripture in John’s Gospel approximately from 1885 to 2004. The perspective adopted in this overview has identified four areas of interest and methodological approaches. The first area of studies is guided by the question of the textual origins of the Johannine use of Scripture in connection with the anti-Jewish character of the Fourth Gospel. The second area shows the gradual shift from the interest in textual origins towards the evaluation of the hermeneutics and techniques of the use of Scripture, particularly from the Jewish point of view. The third area of interest highlights the theological and Christological characters of the Johannine use of Scripture. The fourth adopts an intertextual and sociological approach. It is especially the sociological analysis that focuses on a sectarian and anti-Jewish orientation of the Fourth Evangelist.

In this research report, the Johannine use of Scripture emerges as rich, multifaceted, and not reducible to one point of view. Consequently, it also requires a pluralistic methodological approach, able to combine textual, hermeneutical, theological, historical and sociological issues. The Jewish Scripture, which is almost identical to the Christian Old Testament, appears as the source of divine inspiration, able to offer guidelines for the interpretation of God and history. In the Johannine use of Scripture, a contradictory, “emptying”, or “destroying” attitude cannot be envisaged. On the contrary, the Fourth Gospel proclaims the full epiphany of the Word of God himself and the inner mystery of Scripture in Jesus the Nazarene as the embodied Logos. In this way, the Gospel of John shows its understanding of Scripture as a culminating point of this tradition. As appears clear in this contribution, Scriptural tradition and Christian faith continue to be crucial instruments for discussing and discerning the mystery of God down through the centuries.

In chaps. 5-6 of the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul deals with some matters regarding community life. In 5:1-13 he specifically mentions the presence of incest, stressing however the proud attitude that exists in the community. A sudden change of theme marks the second development in 6:1-11, this time the Apostle reprimands the Corinthians for choosing to go to pagan courts in order to resolve disputes among believers. In the concluding passage of 6:12-20 Paul returns to the theme of immorality, but this time placing it on a more general anthropological level.

The diversity of the topics, however, makes it difficult to identify the logic of the passage as a whole and the argumentative progression that links these three literary units. The purpose of this article is to show how 1 Cor 5-6 constitutes a coherent argument and an exhortation path in which the Apostle, in the face of current problems of the community, not only provides solutions, but leads the Corinthians to become aware of the anthropological and ecclesiological consequences of their faith in the risen Christ.

This article aims to examine the rhetorical function of the “antidotes” in the argumentative section of 1 Corinthians 9:1-27. The identification of these defenses is important to define the nature and purpose of the self-praise of Paul in the rhetorical macro-unit of 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1. These are the “antidotes”: a) the praise of Paul and of the recipients (“work” - “seal”) are interwoven (1 Cor 9:1-2); b) Paul attributes his apostleship to the Lord: he is source of his ministry (1 Cor 9:1). His apostolic ministry is for the benefit of the recipients, and not for himself (1 Cor 9:2); c) the use of antithesis between the legitimate right to be supported financially by the community and his choice to renounce it (1 Cor 9:12-15); d) Paul refers to ἀνάγκη (1 Cor 9:16); e) the apostolic ministry as an “entrusted commission” (1 Cor 9:17); f) the use of the epanorthōsis o correctio (1 Cor 9:15-18); g) the reference to the ‘hard work’ by which he obtained his results (1 Cor 9:19-23); h) to be “subject to the law of Christ” (1 Cor 9:21); i) the effort/difficulty in the agonistic metaphor (1 Cor 9:24-27); j) Paul admits his limits (cf. the use of litotes) showing the possiblity of being “disqualified” from the race (1 Cor 9:24).

The “periautologhia” is the expression of Paul’s ethos. It represents “the strongest argument” (Aristotle, Rhetorica 1,2,1356a) in 1 Corinthians 9 so that it subordinates the exemplum to itself. This argumentative system does not end in Paul’s advantage, but serves as a function of mimesis (1 Cor 11:1): the goal of Paul is not so much to defend himself, but rather to present the authentic meaning of freedom, which flows from his being “in Christ”.

This contribution retraces the first stages of the reception of the figure and the writings of the Apostle Paul. Starting from the New Testament texts, we realize that Paul has provoked different reactions: some have lauded the apostle (Acts of the Apostles and the Pastoral Letters), others seem to have ignored his existence (Johannine literature), yet others contest with much controversy his letters, despite being considered normative (2 Peter). Such a variety of opinions continues through the 2nd century with the Marcionites and Gnostics who exalt Paul, apologists such as Justin who ignore him and still those who, like the author of the pseudoclementine letters, consider Paul an enemy of the faith. In the latin-speaking world, Paul will be considered an example to imitate and a source of theological inspiration especially towards the end of the 4th century. Special attention is given to Irenaeus, who tries to find a harmony between such diverse attitudes toward Paul. He transmits as a legacy not only texts and examples but also criteria for discerning what is authentically apostolic.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the large marble assemblage discovered during the salvage archaeological excavations of the Givati site in Jerusalem. Over 2400 worked and polished marble items, mostly slabs and veneers were discovered in secondary deposition in the later occupational layers of the site, dated from the Byzantine to Abbasid periods, and in the primary fills near the modern surface. It seems that the analysis of this large assemblage may serve as a case study for the understanding of the “marble circulation” process in Late Antiquity: stones export, local finishing and placement, as well as the processes of its final deposition, spolia and different forms of reuse and conversion.

The second season of the Khirbat al-Mukhayyat Archaeological Project focused on excavations in two areas of the site: Field B to the south of the acropolis and Field C West located along the western edge of the site to the north of the acropolis. Six excavation units were opened in Field B and yielded more of the monumental structure exposed in 2014. Additionally, several intact Late Hellenistic cooking pots were recovered from this area. Field C West produced a stone-lined channel and several bedrock and plaster installations associated with the Late Hellenistic miqveh excavated in 2014.

Josephus tells us that John the Baptist was imprisoned and killed in Machaerus at the Trans-Dead-Sea Perea of Judea. John’s imprisonment is attested by all the Gospels, and their accounts are consistent with and complement that of Josephus. According to the archaeological evidences, at least three mikva’oth were in use in Machaerus during the imprisonment of the Baptist: two in the fortified royal palace of Tetrarch Herod Antipas (but outside the magnificent Herodian bathhouse), and at least one in the domestic quarter of the Herodian lower city. In the light of the surviving archaeological remains, we can understand better the Machaerus imprisonment of the Baptist, when we listen to the 1st century words of Josephus about him: “for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. […] Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod’s suspicious temper, to Machaerus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death” (Antiquitates Judaicae XVIII.5.2).

This article engages with the following issues: a) The role of the caves in the cliffs above Keziv Stream (Nahal Keziv), western Galilee, in general; and in particular that of the cluster of 18 caves, known as “The Temple Cave” complex, during the Roman period. The largest and main cave in this complex would seem to have played a sacred role, that is, it constituted a cultic site for a particular divinity. b) The sunken relief, engraved on a rough rock surface, adjacent to the above-mentioned complex of 18 caves, represents a walking male figure of military nature, the so-called “The Man in the Wall”. The figure arouses great interest from both the iconographic and religious-cultic points of view. Based on a comparative study and the iconographic characteristics of the figure, it seems plausible to identify it with a deity of the Late Roman period, indicating a cultic pagan activity in this remote and isolated area, in the very heart of nature.

This paper aims to consider both the number and the role played by the churches and monasteries of Jerusalem between the second half of the 7th and the begin of the 11th century, that is to say the Early Arab period. Such an analysis of ecclesiastical buildings still active during those years, reveals the phenomenon of a significant crisis which occurred in the Jerusalem diocese and its relationship with the inhabitants of the towns, villages and rural settlements nearby.

Steelyards have been commonly used by sellers in the agorae and fora during the Roman and Byzantine periods. They are based on the principle of the lever, mentioned by Aristotle and probably well-known even earlier. Two of steelyards made of bronze are conserved in the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Jerusalem Archaeological Museum. The first of them should be classified as a Copenhagen type and be dated to the 2nd to 4th century AD. The second, coming from the Cesare Colombo Collection, should be dated from the 1st century to the beginning of the 2nd century AD. After the analysis, a small counterweight in the shape of basket handled water jug, that was a part of a set, should be treated separately, and according to pottery analogies, be dated to the 2nd century BC, shifting the usage of steelyards back to the Hellenistic period.

The numismatic collection of the SBF Museum holds numerous coins without any sure indication of provenance or archaeological digs. Among these, a special case was chosen to be examined because of the large number of coins. This collection is surprisingly complete, without aporias or gaps. This study highlights how these coins have the same physical and typological characteristics of the coins found in the historical Palestine region. The numismatic analysis reinforces the current research started in the last decades that has shed new light. This is particularly true not only as regards the presence of the Carthaginian and the Ostrogoth nummi, but also the Arab-Byzantine coins. As result it is clear that all these coins have originated anywhere else other than in the Syro-Palestinian region. In fact, this numismatic documentation provides new data for scholars especially regarding the production and supply of prutot during the Hasmonean-Herodian period, the influence of the bronze coin of Carthage, within the limited circulation between the 5th and the first decades of the 6th century, the acceptance on the money market of the Alexandrian dodecanummia and its imitations throughout the 6th century.

471 Priotto Michelangelo, Il libro della Parola. Introduzione alla Scrittura (Graphé. Manuali di introduzione alla Scrittura 1), Elledici, Torino 2016, 392 pp. (A. Coniglio).

480 Lopasso Vincenzo, Geremia. Introduzione, traduzione e commento (Nuova Versione della Bibbia dai Testi Antichi 11), San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo (Milano) 2013, 600 pp. (E. Della Corte).

486 Attinger Daniel, Evangelo secondo Luca. Il cammino della benedizione (Spiritualità biblica), Edizioni Qiqajon - Comunità di Bose, Magnano (BI) 2015, 708 pp. (L.D. Chrupcała).

491 Wilson Benjamin R., The Saving Cross of the Suffering Christ. The Death of Jesus in Lukan Soteriology (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 223), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - Boston 2016, xi-216 pp. (L.D. Chrupcała).

497 Vieyra Edmond Léonce, L’Écriture dans la dynamique argumentative de 1 Corinthiens 1−4 (Österreichische Biblische Studien 46), Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2016, 245 pp. (S. Salvatori).