Liber Annuus

Psalm 145 is very important in relation to its position and content in the Book of Psalms as a whole: it concludes the last Davidic collection, and introduces the concluding Hallel (Ps 146–150). As such it is often taken to function as a special seam, a hinge between the body of the Psalter and its concluding doxology. In v. 8, Psalm 145 quotes the 'Divine Attribute Formula' from Ex 34:6-7. It seems that is not by chance that Psalm 145 cites this fundamental article of faith; the result is that it establishes an intertextual dialogue between the Psalm and Exodus 32–34. The hermeneutical effect is that the theological perspective underlying the golden calf narrative is recovered: Yhwh is a God whose gracious and compassionate love is capable of offering the hope of a new future to a stiff-necked people and also to all the peoples of the earth, calling them to share the covenantal love of the compassionate God of Israel. However, Psalm 145 is a Davidic Psalm, so here it is David and not Moses who is recalling the divine attributes revealed at Sinai. Indeed, all three Psalms in the Psalter which explicitly quote Ex 34:6 (Ps 86; 103; 145) are Davidic. My proposal is that Ex 34:6 functions in binding the Psalter into a canonical unity: the role of the Davidic king is to establish the kingdom of Yhwh on the earth, confident in His gracious character.

In this article, the author presents the theme of God's righteousness in Malachi 3:13-21, which is the manner God behaves towards the righteous and the wicked, keeping in mind the message of the book on the covenant and the announcement of the day of Yhwh. The author attempts to place this section in the background of the prophet's preaching. This topic is part of the theodicy theme present in the OT, particularly in the book of Job. In dealing with divine justice, Malachi is in line with the other writings of the Twelve that refers to a decisive intervention by God. The original contribution of Malachi stands out in his treatment of the topic of the triumph of the just over the wicked and in his application of the wisdom criterion in reading this theme. This way of presenting justice can be explained in the light of post-exilic theology influenced by sapiential reflection.

The words defined as neologisms in the lexicons of the LXX are numerous, but there is a considerable fluctuation in the exact determination of their occurrences. This uncertainty also emerges in the works of authors who study the glossary of LXX. This inconsistency occurs because there are no shared criteria to define a term as a neologism. Some scholars have investigated the phenomenon of neologisms in LXX and have formulated criteria that, thanks to the contributions of papyri and the inscriptions, reduce their number and suggest prudence in their definition.

In this article, after an excursus on the reflection of LXX scholars on neologisms, the concept of neologism in antiquity is presented. The aim is to open the discussion to the possible influence of a "school" on the use of neologisms in LXX. It seems that there are indications that this influence existed. In the schools, in fact, they were taught the principles for coining new words that could not have been unknown to the translators and authors of the books of LXX. At the end of the article, the author claims that there are criteria which define with a good margin of probability a term in LXX is identified as a neologism, attributable either to the milieu to which an author or a translator belonged or to themselves.

Jewish women were extremely instrumental at the most critical moments of Christian history. This article discusses how the Synoptic Gospels report on the question of precedence among Jesus' disciples. The Lucan version which is reported in another context is only mentioned here. Can the mother of the Zebedee brothers depicted by Matthew be compared to other mothers known to us from Jewish literature? Can this comparison teach us either about the author of Matthew or add to our understanding of the social models and tendencies in Matthew?

The misunderstanding between Jesus and the disciples, as narrated in Matt 16:5-12, is usually explained through the exchange between the literal and the figurative meaning of the Greek noun ζύμη "leaven": Jesus tells the disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, referring to their teaching not to their bakery. The misunderstanding nevertheless could have originated simply by the different meanings that the word חמירא may have in Aramaic.

The new books by D. Roth and M. Klinghardt regarding the Gospel of Marcion allow us to reconsider some difficult passages on the mission of Jesus: He has come to bring fire on earth, division and a sword. Tertullian complains that Marcion changed the Lukan text, even if the canonical textual tradition is closer to Marcion than to the African writer. In the light of the Synoptic tradition, the Gospel of Thomas and the Recognitiones of Pseudo-Clement, the pericope of Lk 12:49-53 is interesting in that it gathers at least five logia which we nowhere else find together. The fire mentioned in v. 49 is understood by Tertullian with OT overtones, while Marcion reads in it a new christological revelation. The reference to baptism in v. 50, unknown to Tertullian according to Harnack, Roth and Klinghardt, is well transmitted in the Synoptic tradition, whereas division and sword in v. 51 are the very points which allow us to consider that Tertullian knows of a Lukan text older than Marcion. Last but not least, the division among the generations finds different interpretations in Matthew, Luke, and Marcion. The analysis of the Marcion text is of great interest because it focuses on the process leading to the final redaction of the Gospels and on the reception history of the words of Jesus.

Chapter 15 of Luke is a separate unit within Jesus' journey to Jerusalem (9:51–19:46). It contains three well-known parables, which are often referred to as the "lost" parables or parables of mercy. These three parables are: the Lost Sheep (15:4-7), the Lost Coin (15:8-10) and the Prodigal Son (15:11-32). The three parables in question share a more or less similar pattern (a description of the initial situation, the loss of an asset, the search for it, its discovery and finally the joy that ensues). The only real difference between them is found in the last parable, namely the parable of the Prodigal Son. The older son who faithfully and obediently served his father does not want to partake in the family feast celebrating his brother's return home from a distant country. Thus, he refuses his father's invitation to celebrate the rediscovery of the one that has been lost. The article argues that what at first may seem an unneeded and unnecessary part – the presence of the older brother in the narrative – plays in fact a key role in the whole narrative. The figure of the older brother is crucial to understand the meaning of the parabolic teaching in chap. 15. Consequently, his presence helps to uncover the true identity of the addressees of the parabolic teaching.

The rhetorical figure of synonymic iteration of epexegetic purpose provides a key for the interpretation of the adjectives τέλειος and καθαρός in Jas 1:4b, 27 and for determining their contextual meaning. This and the other meanings of the two words have been confirmed by the examination of all their occurrences in the New Testament, in the Septuagint and in a corpus of works belonging to the Judaic and Christian literature from the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century CE. Furthermore, the study of synonymic relations contributed to the identification of the main concepts expressed by τέλειος and καθαρός. The choice of semantic categories more suited to the description of the terms allowed the proposal of a new classification of their meanings. The comparison with the items' structure of τέλειος and καθαρός in the lexicons BDAG and Louw-Nida – items widely dependent on previous lexicons both for the texts mentioned and for the criteria adopted in the division of their paragraphs – has highlighted some shortcomings. Their revision is desirable, based on the re-examination of all the occurrences of the terms in the established literary corpus.

This study tries to demonstrate that there is an intertextual relationship between Rev 5:6-7 and John 20:19-23. This notion is made on the basis of some linguistic and thematic connection between the two pericopes. The verb ἵστημι, quoted in both writings (John 20:14; Rev 5:6b), expresses the new life of Christ. The position of the Risen Christ (the adjective μέσος in John 20:19, 26; Rev 5:6a) refers to his victory over death. The verb ἔρχομαι (John 20:19; Rev 5:7), could be a common allusion to the Resurrection. Finally, the reference to Christ's death and to the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 20:20a-22; Rev 5:6c-d) shows another contact between the two pericopes, although with two different developments. In this way it is possible to consider the Lamb's power in Rev 5 and in the other pericopes connected with it, be understood in the light of Christ's victory in the paschal Mystery.

The aim of this article is to retrace the short history of a particular, as well as quite unknown, field of studies: the medieval translations of the Bible in Italy made between the 13th and 15th centuries. After reviewing the first pioneering contributions to the field, which date back to the end of 19th century, I will take into account the role played in the 20th century, by the philological school of the University of Turin from the seventies to the beginning of the nineties. Finally, I will give a glimpse of the more recent approaches to this topic, which are the results of a collaboration between the Ezio Franceschini Foundation and the Ecole française of Rome. Furthermore, this historical path will show that the research on medieval translations of the Bible has gradually become central to philology as well as linguistics, and it has not only been analyzed with new methodologies but also has itself generated new ones.

The Bible in Italian underwent the typographic presses in as early as 1471, just two years after the introduction of the press in Venice. The author of the translation (based on the Latin), or at least responsible for the work, was the Camaldolese Niccolò Malerbi. His long introduction allows us to follow the reasons of his endeavour. Sixty years later, still in Venice, a translation from the Hebrew and Greek texts was published: the Florentine Antonio Brucioli published the New Testament in 1530, the Psalms in 1931 and the entire Bible in 1932. In this case too, the ample letter of dedication to Francis, King of France, allows us to understand his motives, based essentially on Erasmian cultural initiatives. After the experiment by Filippo Rustici published in Geneva in 1562, it was necessary to wait until the beginning of the 17th century to have the first Protestant Bible translated by Giovanni Diodati in Geneva. Meanwhile, the Catholic world promoted a series of introductory tools for the understanding of biblical events in the vernacular; this was to make up for the prohibition of reading the Bible in the vernacular as supported by the inquisitorial bodies.

In modern Italy, three main translations of the Bible are to be found: the one made by Antonio Martini in the 18th century and the two CEI (Conferenza Episcopale Italiana / Italian Bishops' Conference) versions published in 1971 and 2008. In all these three Italian Bibles there is a problematic and yet fruitful balance between literal and interpretive translation on the one hand, and between literary and colloquial language on the other hand.

The international conference "The Bible in the Renaissance", held in Jerusalem on May 22-24, 2017, was an important academic event on the Renaissance readings of the Bible. It provided a formal framework for historians, art historians and literary scholars to meet and discuss the subject in a collegial context. Under the aegis of the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, the Israel Science Fund, Bar-Ilan University and Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII, this three-day event was structured along the lines of a methodological statement: in order to understand the possible range of intentions motivating the various artistic elaborations of biblical topics in the Renaissance, one has to first understand the religious context in which those particular works were produced. Beyond the well-planned structure of the event, and the methodological bases motivating it, there was also an underlying scope to the initiative, namely to show how dispute, variety and incoherent interpretations have always characterized modern engagements with Scriptural texts; and that in 2017, in Jerusalem, in a city that stands on five-thousand years of stratified stones, dirt, words and blood, scholars of different faiths and denominations can come together to discuss and interpret, question and embrace the Holy Scriptures.

At the end of 2016, a new version of the German Einheitsübersetzung, the official translation of the Bible of the German speaking Catholic dioceses, appeared, in order to replace the former edition (of 1980). The article evaluates some of the numerous changes. A few of them are matters of style, while most of them lead to a more literal and more concordant text. Many formulations of the 1980 edition which interpreted or explained the text are avoided. This probably renders the translation less fluent, but more faithful to the Hebrew and Greek Biblical texts. The changes are not too widespread, so the reader does not have the impression that he is reading a totally new Biblical text, an exception being the Psalms, which are full of changes, many of them merely stylistic ones. This might lead to problems in reception of the new version when it will be introduced in new editions of the liturgical books.

Among the several miniatures concerning medieval Jerusalem, the image painted in ms. 9823-9824 of the Royal Library of Bruxelles, f. 157r (12th century) shows an often neglected detail of the crusader Citadel, wrongly connected with King David: three small circles immediately beneath the roof of the building are visible. In the past, they were seen as butts of reused ancient columns, according with a well-known castle-building technique, useful against earthquakes and sapping during sieges; but it can be also supposed that the circles are a symbol of another use, i.e. showing shields as items for military celebration, power display and exhibition of war-booty. The most authoritative model for this reading of the miniature is the hapax in Song of Songs 4:4, where shields on a "David's Tower" are mentioned.

The central area of the mosaic pavement features various species of birds, surrounded by a decorative border of domesticated and prey animals. The mosaic appears to have decorated the central courtyard of a large architectural complex, dated to the early Byzantine period. Important evidence for understanding the use of this particular part of the edifice is provided by the following: the apse, close to the eastern wall of the complex; the symbolic / allegorical significance of the animals and birds, as expressed both in various patristic literary sources and modern scholarly works; and the religious objects found during the excavations.

This article presents a reevaluation of the finds discovered in 1930s, during salvage excavations by J. Iliffe on behalf of the British Mandatory Department of Antiquities, conducted west of the YMCA site in Jerusalem. One of the most important discoveries made on the site was the Greek epitaph of Bishop Samuel – the first inscription found in Palestine mentioning Iberians (Georgians), which launched the archaeological study of the Georgian antiquities of the Holy Land. The documentation of YMCA excavations, preserved in the Mandatory Archive of the Israel Antiquities Authority contains the large quantity of unpublished materials, including field photos and plans, allowed for the complete layout of the large Byzantine complex to be distinguished, interpreted by its excavator as a monastery. The relationship of the YMCA site to the Georgian monastic community is discussed in connection with other evidence related to the "Monastery of the Iberians" – a monastic institution of Byzantine Jerusalem, known both from the historical sources and independent epigraphic evidence.

The late Father Michele Piccirillo OFM prophesied the following in his 2004 description on the Machaerus fortified Herodian royal castle: "The upper city was composed of the royal palace defended by four towers, of which only three have been identified". Our mission to Machaerus discovered and fully excavated this foretold Fourth Tower. In addition, we revealed three additional Herodian halls between the fortification tower and the Herodian royal courtyard, thus completing the excavations of the citadel of Machaerus. Among the surprising archaeological results, the discovery of the Fifth Mikveh, and the Early Roman Gate between the citadel and the lower city, crowned the excavation efforts.

The article also exposes the 85-year-old relationship of the SBF with Machaerus, through the unpublished academic notes of Sylvester John Saller OFM. The Custody of the Holy Land had continuous proprietary aspirations to buy the archaeological lands of Machaerus since 1933, but the Government of Jordan acquired it beforehand. The 1953 survey of the SBF was commemorated in a short article by Bellarmino Bagatti OFM, but the ingenious observations of Saller on the siege monuments of the Fretensis in 71 AD remained unpublished among his precious academic notes. The second and third field-archaeologist generations of the SBF, led by Virgilio Corbo OFM (1978-1981) and Piccirillo (1991-1994), continued the American excavations in Machaerus (1968) that were followed by the Hungarian excavations (2009-2016). From 2017, the SBF archaeological mission to Machaerus is in an official joint academic collaboration with the Hungarian Academy of Arts.

The current preliminary study also covers the latest scientific results of the ongoing surveys on the circumvallation wall in Machaerus, and the storeroom works on the Machaeriaca in Mount Nebo and in Amman. The latter is conducted by the restoration-team of the École Biblique, headed by Jean-Baptiste Humbert OP, on the 2016-2017 ceramological material of the archaeological excavations. Their results will be incorporated as an independent chapter into the upcoming MACHAERUS III academic monograph of the SBF Collectio Maior series.