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1. Topography Jerusalem is situated immediately west of the Mount of Olives (790–820 m. / 2,600–2,700 ft. above sea level), at the junction of northern and southern Palestine, on the Cisjordan highlands. Up to the last century it was bordered on the east by the Kidron Valley (2 Sam. 15:23; John 18:1) and on the west and south by the Hinnom Valley (Josh. 15:8; 18:16). It is divided by the Cross Valley, a central valley that runs from north to south (Josephus J.W.  5.140), separating a western hill from one on the east. Settlement began on the south side of the southeast hill…

[English Version] , hebr. שְׁכֶם/š ekæm, »Schulter«, Stadt auf dem mittelpaläst. Gebirge zw. Ebal und Garizim, die nach den Ausgrabungen von Sellin und G.E. Wright zw. 1913 und 1969 mit dem bei Nablus gelegenen Tell Balāṭa identifiziert wird. Die mittelbronzezeitliche Gründung der zunächst unbefestigten Stadt ist auf ca.1900 v.Chr. zu datieren. Sie war mit einer Hofanlage ausgestattet, die nach Wright als Tempel, doch eher als Palastanlage zu deuten ist (Otto 133–150). Im 17.Jh. wurde S. durch eine massive »Zyklopenmauer« verbund…

[English Version] I. Etymologie, Topographie und stadtgeschichtliche Bedeutung des ZionAls Ortsbez. hat Z. (hebr. צִיּוֹן/ṣijjôn), sprachlich verwandt mit hebr. צִיָּה/ṣijjāh »trocken«, die Bedeutung »Trockenplatz« und davon abgeleitet »Bergrücken«. In dieser Bedeutung ist Z. in die Bez. einer »Bergfeste Z.« (hebr. מְצֻדַת צ…

[English Version] I. Begriff des Pentateuch und seine hebräischen Äquivalente Die griech. Bez. der fünf Bücher Mose (Genesis [rabb. benannt nach dem hebr. Anfangswort b ere'sˇi^t, »im Anfang«]; Exodus [sˇ emo^t, »Namen«]; Leviticus [wajjiqrā', »und der rief«], Numeri [b emidbar, »in der Wüste«], Deuteronomium [d ebāri^m, »Worte«]), deren Fabel sich von der Schöpfung (Gen 1) bis zum Tod des Mose (Dtn 34) e…

[English Version] (Zadoq/Zadoqiden). Z. (hebr. צָדוֹק [בְּנֵי]/[b enê] ṣādôq, »Zadok«/»Söhne Z.«=»Zadokiden«) galt als Ahnvater der Priester der Zadokiden (Zn.; 1Kön 4,2) am Tempel (: II.,4.) von Jerusalem (: I.), der unter Salomo, dem Tempelgründer, geamtet haben soll. Daß Z. in der Erzählung von Davids (: I.) Thronfolge (2Sam 7–1Kön 2) als homo novus ohne Vorgesch. erscheint, weist keineswegs auf Z.s vorisraelit. Herkunft, sondern eher darauf, daß Z. erst spät zu einem Akteur der Davidszeit gemacht w…

[German Version] The canonical Old Testament describes the settlement as a military conquest of Palestine by the 12 tribes of Israel, beginning in Transjordan under Moses’ leadership with a victory over Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and the capture of Heshbon (Num 20f.; 32; Deut 1–3). After Moses’ death (Deut 34), the settlement continued west of the Jordan under Joshua’s leadership, initially in Benjaminite territory with the capture of Jericho (Josh 6) and Ai (Josh 7–8) and a treaty with …

[German Version] I. Etymology, Topography, and Historical Significance The toponym “Zion” (Heb. צִיּוֹן/ ṣiyyôn, a cognate of צִיָּה/ ṣiyyāh, “dry”) signifies “dry place” and, in derivation therefrom, “mountain ridge.” In this meaning, Zion entered into the designation of a “fortress of Zion” (Heb. מְצֻדַת צִיּוֹן/ meṣudat ṣiyyôn) on the southeas…

[German Version] Following Exod 24:7, the law collection in Exod 20:22–23:13(19) is termed the Book of the Covenant. The oldest legal corpus …

[German Version] As a regional designation (“the hollowed out, washed out region”; cf. also Arab. wahda), Judah (Heb. יְהוּדָה/ yehûdāh; Gk ‘Ιουδα/Iouda) refers to the southern range in the hills to the west of the Jordan. It gave the name to the tribe of Judah (Tribes of Israel) that settled there, from which the allied state of Judah developed in the time of David. Until the…

[German Version] I. The Prophet – II. The Book – III. Effective History I. The Prophet The prophet Habakkuk lived in Jerusalem around 600 bce. His name is Assyrian in origin and derives from the Akkadian term for a garden plant ( ḫabb[m]aqūqu). He is described as a cult prophet ( nabı̑) (1:1), which is confirmed by the fact that he receives the word in a cultic location (2:1–3). Whether, however, his critique of the social abuses caused by the political and economic elite of Judah was part of his function or contradicted it, must remain as open as the question of whether his words were expanded between 612 and 538 by Habakkuk himself or by a circle of disciples. Habakkuk stands in a priestly tradition and is, judging by the evidence of his knowledge of wisdom traditions, to b…

[German Version] In accordance with LXX and Vulgate (Bible translations: I), the fifth book of the Pentateuch is termed Deuteronomy (Deut); in the Jewish tradition it is named “discourses” ( debārïm) after the beginning of the book. The name Deut is a summary of the law (Law and legislation), which is styliz…

[German Version] Josiah reigned as king of Judah in the years 639 to 609 bce (2 Kgs 22f.; 2 Chr 34f.). When the eight-year-old boy ascended to the throne, the Neo-Assyrian Empire under King Asshurbanipal had already passed the zenith of its power with the loss of Egypt and a civil war in Mesopotamia (652–648 bce). Josiah experienced the ultimate end of Neo-Assyrian hegemonic power with the destruction of Nineveh (612 bce). After Assyria's withdrawal from Palestine (626–623 bce), Josiah was formally subject to Egyptian supremacy, which, as an ally of Assyria in the struggle against resurgent Babylonia, became the successor to Assyria's dominance over Palestine, although it initially paid no attention to the Palestinian mountain region. Thus, after a hundred years of foreign dominion, Josiah had the opportunity to pursue his own policy. Euphoric expectations of a just society in a Judah emancipated from Assyria were …

[German Version] (Heb. חִזְקִיָּה/ ḥizqiyyāh) ruled Judah as king from 725–696 bce. Under his rule, the kingdom of Judah developed from a tribal state – which, isolated on the Judean mountains, was affected by political events less than the more highly developed northern kingdom of Israel (II, 1) and was based economically primarily on small animal breeding – into a fully developed state. The conquest of Samaria (722) …

[German Version] In the Old Testament, fraternal ethics refers to an ethos that gives, first every Judean, and later also foreigners, the solidarity owed to the closest natural members of one…

[German Version] Shechem, Heb. שְׁכֶם/ šĕkem, “shoulder,” a city in the hill country of central Palestine between Ebal and Gerizim. Since the excavations by Sellin and G.E. Wright between 1913 and 1969, it has been identified with Tell Balāṭa, near Nablus. The earliest Middle Bronze settlement of the city, initially unfortified, dates from c. 1900 bce. It includes a courtyard complex which Wright interpreted as a temple but was more likely a palace (Otto, 133–150). In the 17th century, Shechem was fortified with a massive cyclopean wall in combinat…

[German Version] The Sumerian culture of the 3rd millennium, made comprehensive by the invention of writing (Paleography) and its high capacity for mythical interpretation of the world, had a formative impact on the Babylonian and Assyrian Empires of the 2nd millennium. The notion of a world capital, developed in Sumerian Nippur, was taken up in the imperial centers of Babylon and Ashur and became the basis of their competition. With the Semitic assimilation of Sumerian culture, a mixed civilizati…

[German Version] The judicial system in the ancient Near East and biblical Israel was shaped by its political context. In the ancient Near East, the king, acting for the gods to ¶ …

[German Version] I. Terminology The five books of Moses (Genesis, called by the rabbis bĕrēšît, “in the beginning,” its first word; Exodus, šĕmôt, “names”; Leviticus, wayyiqrāʾ, “and he called”; Numbers, bĕmidbar, “in the desert”; Deuteronomy, dĕbārîm, “words”), whose tale runs from creation (Gen 1) to the death of Moses (Deut 34), were called in Greek ὁ(ἡ) Πεντάτευχος (βίβλος)/ ho[ hē] Pentáteuchos ( bíblos), “Five Scroll Work”; in the 2nd century ce, this term entered the tradition of the Early Church in Alexandria (e.g. Origen). It came into Latin with Tertullian as Pentateuchum or P…

[German Version] In Israel and Judah, bodily harm was originally avenged through the legal institution of the talion (Exod 21:24f.), an immediate juridical response on the part of the injured party, who inflicted on the wrongdoer a punishment equal to the crime. When the law governin…

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[German Version] Klostermann introduced this term to Old Testament studies in 1877 to describe Lev 17–26. It derives from such phrases as, “you shall be holy, for I, YHWH, your God, am holy,” appearing frequently in 19–22. J. Wellhausen interpreted the Holiness Code as law (Law and Legislation: II) independent of its literary context in Lev 1–16, younger than Deuteronomy and older than the Priestly document (Pentateuch). Subsequent Old Testament research concentrated in the first half of the 20th …

[German Version] Zadok (Heb. קוֹדצָ[ינֵבְּ]/[ b enê] ṣādôq, “Zadok”/“Sons of Zadok = Zadokites”) was considered the ancestor of the Zadokite priests (1 Kgs 4:2) in the temple (II, 4) of Jerusalem (I), who were believed to have officiated under Solomon, the founder of the temple. The fact that, in the narrative of David’s (I) succession to the throne (2 Sam 7–1 Kgs 2), he appears as a homo novus with no previous history certainly does not point to Zadok’s pre-Israelite origins, but rather to the fact that it was only at a late date that he was given a role in the D…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. New Testament I. Old Testament 1. The rational spirit of the Hebrew Bible and biblical scholarship. Modern biblical scholarship, with its historico-reflexive self-understanding, has its first precondi…

[German Version] I. Place and Date While individual poems like Song 1:9–11 may go back to the preexilic period, collections, redaction(s), and linguistic revision(s) date from just before and especially during the 3rd century bce. The text contains several loanwords: pardēs (4:13: “orchard,” from Old Iranian), ¶ ʾ appiryôn (3:9: “palanquin…

[German Version] I. Bible Hebrew Bible uses violence (חָמָס/ ḥāmās; שׂד/ šōd) to denote the illegal use of physical force (Gen 49:5), false ¶ testimony in court (Exod 23:1; Deut 19:16), economic exploitation (Amos 3:10; Zeph 1:9), especially of the poor (Jer 22:3), and assault on God (Job 21:27) or his laws (Ezek 22:26). All violence against human beings is also violence against God (Gen 6:11, 13). Law (Law and jurisprudence: III) with its fundamental function of settling conflicts and preventing the transgression of norms that provokes …

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. Judaism I. Old Testament 1. Name The anthroponym Jacob (יַעֲקוֹב/ yaʿaqôb) is attested as a common name throughout the ancient Near East from Mesopotamia and Egypt in the 2nd millennium as …

[English Version] I. Religionsgeschichtlich…

[English Version] I. Religionsgeschichtlich …

[English Version] I. Altes Testament Das atl. Gesetz (: II.) hat einen dreifachen Ursprung in den Funktionen 1. der Sicherung der wechselseitigen Handlungserwartung in dem Handlungsnormen mittels der Generalprävention schützenden S., 2. der Gewaltminimierung durch Konfliktregelung im kasuistischen Recht (: III.) als Vorläufer des neuzeitlichen Zivilrechts und 3. der Regelung des Verkehrs mit der göttlichen Sphäre durch ein Kultrecht. Das S. hat seinen auch im rechtshist. konservativen AT noch erkennbaren Ursprung i…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. New Testament – III. Judaism I. Old Testament 1. History of scholarship For the biblical tradition of the Torah, Moses, born in Egypt (Exod 2:1–10), was the founder of Israel's religion and its lawgiver at Sinai (Exod 3f.; Exod 19 – Num 10), the designer of its judicial system (Exod 18*), the leader of the people in Egypt and during the exodus (Exod 2; 5–15) and ¶ the subsequent journe…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Dogmatics and Ethics – V. Politics and Jurisprudence I. History of Religion Laws are…

[German Version] I. History of Religion Instances in which a certain share of a person’s gains were ceded to the gods are known from the religions of the ancient Near East and of Classical Antiquity; on the evidence of the Old Testament (e.g. Lev 27:32f.; 1 Sam 8:15), Judaism and Christianity were also familiar with tithing (see III, IV below). Even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), which only cultivates a loose relationship to biblical tradition, takes up this notion in the B…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. History – III. German Criminal Law Today – IV. Penal Canon Law (Roman Catholic) – V. Islam …

[German Version] I. History of Religions State cults in the narrow sense are religious ceremonies, governed by tradition or law, performed in the name of the state and for its benefit; typically they are addressed to extrasensory powers such as gods, demons, natural numina, or personalized cosmic forces. It is necessary to distinguish cults celebrated regularly at fixed times and places from those staged on a particular occasion such as an enthronement, the death of a ruler, a natural disaster, an epi…

[German Version] I. Religion – II. Biblical – III. Ethics – IV. Practical Theology I. Religion The present scientific classification of homosexuality in acts, preferences, and identity does not exist in religious documents or traditions. What these describe, and in some cases judge or condemn, is sexual acts between persons of the male sex. The presence in myths of homosexual activities between gods does not always correspond to what is sanctioned among men. In many religions with strong patterns of gender rol…

[English Version] I. Altes TestamentDie T. im AT hat drei Ursprünge: 1. die Blutrache als unmittelbare Rechtsreaktion einer durch ein Tötungsdelikt geschädigten Familie; 2. das Kultrecht bei schweren Verstößen gegen rel. Tabus wie Hexerei, Sodomie und Apostasie (Ex 22,17–19); 3. das Grenzrecht der Familie (Ex 21,12.15–17) mit Delikten gegen die Autorität der Eltern, Menschendiebstahl und Tötung eines Familienmitglieds. Dem AT war von seinen literatur- und rechtsgesch. Anfängen an der Lebensschutz s…

[English Version] I. Zum Begriff 1.  Rechtlich V. ist der Inbegriff der die hoheitlichen Beziehungen zw. den Völkerrechtssubjekten regelnden Rechtsnormen. Völkerrechtssubjekte sind in erster Linie die Staaten, außerdem traditionell der Apostolische Stuhl, die von Staaten auf vertraglicher Grundlage geschaffenen und mit (auf ihren Aufgabenkreis begrenzter) Völkerrechtsfähigkeit ausgestatteten Internationalen Organisationen sowie Individuen und Menschengruppen, soweit sie nach dem Willen der Staaten sel…

[English Version] I. Zum Begriff: Religionssoziologie und Religionswissenschaft R. oder Soziologie der Rel. beschäftigt sich mit den sozialen Aspekten und Ausformungen der Rel. Dazu gehören offensichtlich die rel. Institutionen, Organisationen sowie soziale Gruppen. Auch weniger feste, situative soziale …

[English Version] I. Zum Begriff und juristisch Eine allg. akzeptierte Definition des R. existiert nicht. Einigkeit besteht allenfalls darüber, daß das R. im Kern die staatl. institutionalisierte Ordnung menschlicher Beziehungen ist, wobei die Einhaltung der aus ihr fließenden (generellen) Regeln – Befolgung oder aber Sanktionierung von Verstößen – durch legitime physische Gewalt (Staat), jedenfalls aber durch einen durch Zuständigkeits- und Verf…

[English Version] I. Altes TestamentS. (שַׁבָּת, »šabbāt«) bez. vorexil. den Vollmondstag, seit dem Exil den wöchentlichen Ruhetag. Der Ursprung dieses Ruhetags geht auf die Frühzeit Israels zurück. Die ältesten Ruhetagsgesetze der vorexil. Zeit sind im Bundesbuch in Ex 23,10 und in der Kultordnung Ex 34,18–23.25f. (Gesetz: II.) in Ex 34,21 belegt. Im Bundesbuch ist das Ruhetagsgebot Teil des Privilegrechts der Aussonderungen von Erstlingen und Erstgeburten (Ex 22,28f.) sowie des Brachejahres (Ex 23,1…

[English Version] I. Religionswissenschaftlich Alle Rel. teilen die Überzeugung, daß den Taten eines Menschen eine über seine gegenwärtige Lebenssituation hinaus wirkende Bedeutung zukommt. Über die Art und Weise jedoch, wie sich der gerechte Ausgleich zw. dem persönlichen Verhalten und dem gegenwärtigen oder künftigen Ergehen vollzieht, weichen die Ansichten – je nach dem gesch. und gesellschaftlichen Kontext der Rel. – beträchtlich voneinander ab. Religionswiss. empfiehlt es sich, zw. dem Glauben…

[English Version] I. ReligionswissenschaftlichEtym. leitet sich der Begriff »Priester« vom griech. πρεσβυ´τερος/presby´teros, »der Ältere«, her; er bez. ganz allg. einen rel. Funktionsträger, insbes. den für den Kult zuständigen Experten. Dem zugrundeliegenden griech. Wort kommt diese Bedeutung urspr. nicht zu. Nach einem zweiten Bedeutungsstrang verwaltet der Priester (griech. ι῾ερευ´ς/hiereu´s, lat. sacerdos) das Heilige (heilig und profan). Die Inhalte, welche heute üblicherweise im Religionsvergleich mit dem Priestertum (Pt.) verbunden …

[English Version] I. Zum BegriffT. ist abzuleiten vom röm. lex talionis und meinte dort einen geregelten Vergeltungsakt (Vergeltung) gemäß einer Rechtsnorm, die als solche Selbstjustiz eindämmen sollte. Dies steht im Widerspruch zum allg. Verständnis von T. als »Gleiches mit Gleichem vergelten«, auch im Sinne von Selbstjustiz. Im heutigen Sprachgebrauch versteht man daher auch speziell die Blutrache oder Vendetta als T. Diese wird somit zugespitzt auf eine unmittelbare Rache im Gegensatz zur entwic…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies All religions share the conviction that human actions hold a significance that reaches far beyond a person’s current life situation. On the precise manner in which an equitable balance between personal behavior and current or future life is achieved, however, there is considerable divergence of views – depending on the historical and social context of the respective religion. From the perspective of religious studies, it is advisable to differentiate between the belief in supe…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. New Testament – III. Judaism – IV. Law – V. Ethics I. Old Testament The death penalty in the Old Testament has three causes: 1. blood revenge as a direct legal reaction by a family damaged by a homicide; 2. cultic law involving severe violations of religious taboos such as witchcraft, sodomy and apostasy (Ex 22:17–19); 3. family property …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Etymologically the term priest derives from Greek πρεσβύτερος/ presbýteros, “elder”; it denotes a religious functionary, especially an expert responsible for the cult. The Greek word did …

[German Version] I. Old Testament In the preexilic period, Sabbath (שַׁבָּת/ šabbāt) meant the day of the full moon; from the Exile on, it denoted a weekly day of rest. The origins of this day of rest go back to the early days of Exile. The earliest laws regarding the preexilic day of rest appear in the Book of the Covenant (Exod 23:10) and the cultic code in Exod 34:18–23, 25f. (v. 21) (Law and legislation: III). In the Book of the Covenant, the commandment to ¶ observe a day of rest is part of the privilege law of YHWH that deals with setting apart the firstfruits and firstborn (Exod 22:28f.*), along with a fallow year (Exod 23:10f.) every seventh year (Sabbatical year) and the seventh day as a day of rest. The 6/7 rhythm of the sabbatical year and the day of rest derives from the analogous structure of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Feasts and festivals: II) (Otto, “šaebaʿ,” 1016–1019). Forgoing the use of a field every seventh year and human and ani…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. Judaism – III. New Testament – IV. Early Church – V. Patriarchates – VI. Islam – VII. Religious and Political Situation Today – VIII. Archaeology …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Judaism – IV. Early Christianity – V. Church History – VI. Liturgical and Practical Aspects I. Religious Studies The words “feast” and “festival” (cf. fête, festa, fiesta, Fest, etc.) derive from the Latin festus ( dies). They refer to the calendar and also evoke the notion of the divine: a feast day is a special day set aside and dedicated to a certain supernatural bei…

[German Version] I. Social Sciences 1. Concept. War is conflict between large groups, peoples, nations, and states conducted by force o…