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Jerusalem

(2,008 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
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…

Sichem

(527 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 …

Zion

(1,131 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 צִיּוֹן/m eṣudat ṣijjôn) auf dem Südosthügel Jerusalems oberhalb des Gichon eingegangen, die durch David in »Stadt Davids« (hebr. עִיר דָּוִד/‘îr dāwid; 2Sam 5,7) umbenannt wurde (2Sam 5,9). Diese vorisraelit. Akropolis wurde durch Dav…

Pentateuch

(6,374 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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) erstreckt, als Pentateuch (Pt.) (ο῾[η῾]Πεn̆τα´τευχος [βι´βλος]/ho[hē] Penta´teuchos [bi´blos], »Fünfrollenwerk«) kam im 2.Jh. n.Chr. in altkirchl. Überl…

Zadok/Zadokiden

(396 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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…

Settlement/Settlement Traditions

(1,194 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 …

Zion

(1,425 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 southeastern hill of Jerusalem overlooking the Gihon, which David renamed “City of David” (Heb. עִיר דָּוִד/ʿ îr dāwid; 2 Sam 5:7, 9). David expanded this pre-Israelite acropolis into a “palace” (2 Sam 5:11) that lost its func…

Book of the Covenant

(674 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 in the Old Testament, dating to the middle to late monarchial period, although pre-deuteronomic, the Book of the Covenant was edited together from several originally independent, smaller, thematically self-contained colle…

Judah/Judea

(201 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 death of Solomon part of a state with the other tribes of Israel, Judah became independent again alongside the northern kingdom of Israel aft…

Habakkuk/Book of Habakkuk

(1,298 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 op…

Deuteronomy

(2,337 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 stylized as a collection of farewell discourses by Moses in 1–4; 5–28; 29–32; 33 and w…

Josiah/Josiah's Reform

(1,320 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 ex…

Hezekiah (King of Judah)

(774 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[German Version] …

Fraternal Ethics

(747 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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's family. Fraternal ethics originated in Deuteronomy in reaction to the dissolution of natural fraternal ethics in the 8th/7th century Assyrian crisis through the destruction of extended families and their solidarity-stabilizing cult of ancestors (III) as a consequence of Judean and Assyrian resettlements and…

Shechem

(593 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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…

Israel and Mesopotamia

(673 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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…

Judicial System in Biblical Israel and the Ancient Near East

(1,094 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 ¶ establish law (Law and legislation: III) and dispense justice (I, 1), was the supreme judge, so that when the king delegated judicial authority, the judiciary operated under his oversight. In Egypt (II, 1), central viziers' courts in Upper and Lower Egypt supervised the local lay courts. The courts were bound by the legal edicts of the king; their ca…

Pentateuch

(7,469 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 th…

Bodily Harm in the Old Testament

(368 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 wrongdoe…

Moses, Blessing of/Song of

(375 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[German Version] Immediately before his death (Deut 34), Moses composed a tract on the apostasy, punishment, and repentance of Israel (Deut 32), called a “song” in its literary setting (Deut 31:19, etc.), and blessed the tribes of Israel (Deut 33), which were to cross the Jordan and enter the promised land after his death. The literary core of the blessing comprises tribal sayings (Deut 33:6–25) that go back to the preexilic period (except for the Levi section). They have been framed by vv. 2–5 and 26–29, a postexilic hymn that interprets the Jerusalem theology of YHWH as king from the perspective of the Hexateuch by tracing the monarchy back to Sinai and associating Israel's settlement of Canaan with it. The Blessing, like the Song (Deut 32:8–15), thus challenges the ideology of the Persian Empire, according to which the empire's god assigned every nation its place. The placement of the Song before the Blessing reverses the sequence of blessing and curse (Deut 28) in the Deuteronomistic framework of Deuteronomy and makes the Blessing the final words of Moses…

Holiness Code

(854 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart
[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 …

Zadok/Zadokites

(459 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart

Biblical Scholarship

(11,819 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Weder, Hans
[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 precondition in the Hebrew Bible, which is not only the object of biblical studies, but also the subject in the sense that the rational and historically aware spirit …

Song of Songs, The

(1,290 words)

Author(s): Müller, Hans-Peter | Otto, Eckart
[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,” most likely from Gk), and qinnāmôn (4:14: “cinnamon,” ultimately from Malay kayu manis, “sweet wood”), along with several words borrowed from Old Indic. Beside numerous lexical and grammatical Aramaisms, it exhibits fea…

Non-Violence

(1,896 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Schmälzle, Udo Friedrich | Oberlies, Thomas
[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) wit…

Jacob

(1,848 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Niehoff, Maren | Campanini, Saverio
[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. Judaism …

Zehntabgaben

(1,540 words)

Author(s): Hutter, Manfred | Otto, Eckart | Reichman, Ronen | Strohm, Christoph
[English Version] I. ReligionsgeschichtlichAbgaben eines Teiles des Gewinns an die Götter sind aus den Rel. des AO und der klassischen Antike bekannt und ausgehend vom AT (z.B. Lev 27,32f.; 1Sam 8,15) kennen das Judentum und das Christentum Z. (s.u. III., IV.). Auch die in einem erweiterten Sinn in der bibl. Tradition stehende »Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage« (Mormonen) greift diese Vorstellung im Buch Mormon auf (vgl. Alma 13,14f.), begründet sie aber neu durch eine Offenbarung an J. Smith (Dokumente und Bündnisse 119,4). Vor solchem letztlich bibl. Hintergrund ist die Terminologie Z. zu sehen. In sachlicher Hinsicht kennen auch andere Rel. die Vorstellung, daß ein gewisser Teil des (land-)wirtschaftlichen Ertrags einer Gottheit bzw. rel. Institutionen gehört, wobei der Verwendungszweck solcher Abgaben in vielen Fällen sozial benachteiligten Mitgliedern der Religionsgemeinde bzw. der allg. Förderung der Rel. zugute kommen soll. Im Islam ist zakāt (Armenfürsorge: IV.) als Z. zu verstehen, wobei im Koran (z.B. Sure 2,219; 9,60) weder Höhe noch Verpflichtung zu dieser Abgabe festgelegt sind; erst die frühe isl. Tradition hat zakāt als verpflichtende Abgabe (im Durchschnitt 5–10%) festgelegt, im Unterschied zur ṣadaqā als freiwilliger Abgabe. Beides kann unter dem Oberbegriff Almosen zusammengefaßt werden. Im Sikhismus hat Guru Amar Dās (1479–1574) ein Zehntel (Dasvandh) als verpflichtende Abgabe eingeführt, eine Vorschrift, die sich im Laufe der Zeit jedoch zu einer freiwilligen Spende zur Unterstützung der Aktivitäten des lokalen Gurdvārā bzw. zu einem Opfer vor dem Ādi Granth entwickelt hat. In der Bahai-Religion kann die Einrichtung der Huqūq'ullāh, die 19% des Gewinns beträgt, als Z. gesehen werden, die vom Gläubigen zur Förderung der Rel. verlangt wird. Im Unterschied zu profanen Steuern ist – trotz des verpflichtenden Charakters solcher Z. – erforderlich, diese Abgaben in einer der …

Staatskult

(1,725 words)

Author(s): Kleine, Christoph | Otto, Eckart | Kern, Martin | Pye, Michael
[English Version] I. Religionsgeschichtlich S. im engeren Sinne sind durch Tradition oder Gesetzgebung geregelte, im Auftrag, im Namen und zum Wohl des Staates durchgeführte rel. Handlungen, deren Adressa…

Strafrecht

(3,155 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Sellert, Wolfgang | Loos, Fritz | May, Georg | Krawietz, Birgit
[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 in einem innergent…

Moses

(5,249 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Kraus, Wolfgang | Niehoff, Maren | Klein, Birgit
[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 journey from Egypt to the land of Moab (Exod 16f.; Num 10 – Deut 34), who before his death (Deut 34:5f.) put the Torah into writing (Deut 31:9) and was permitted to see …

Law and Legislation

(7,555 words)

Author(s): Michaels, Axel | Otto, Eckart | Räisänen, Heikki | Sparn, Walter | Starck, Christian
[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 generally regarded as formulated, i.e. sentential and often codified rules of life and coexistence; this ¶ refers especially to principles of nature (Law/Natural law) and norms of action (Commandment, Ethics). …

Tithing

(1,866 words)

Author(s): Hutter, Manfred | Otto, Eckart | Reichman, Ronen | Strohm, Christoph
[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 Book of Mormon (cf. Alma 13:14f.), although it provides it with a new justification by citing a revelation to J. Smith (Doctrine and Covenants 119:4). The term “tithing” must be understood against this ultimately biblical background. In practical respects, other religions are also familiar with the notion that a certain portion of one’s agricultural or economic proceeds belongs to a deity or religious institution; in many cases, the purpose of such levies is to support the disadvantaged members of the religious community or to further the general interests of the religion in que…

Criminal Law

(3,505 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Sellert, Wolfgang | Loos, Fritz | May, Georg | Krawietz, Birgit
[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. History – III. German Criminal Law Today – IV. Penal Canon Law (Roman Catholic) – V. Islam I. Old Testament Old Testament law (Law and legislation: II) emerged from three sources: (1) it reinforced mutual expectations based on norms of behavior by means of criminal ¶ laws supporting general prevention of criminal conduct; (2) it minimized violence by regulating conflicts through casuistic law (Law and jurisprudence: III) as the precursor of modern civil law, and (3) it regulated intercourse with the realm of the divine through cultic law. In the legally conservativ…

State Cult

(1,973 words)

Author(s): Kleine, Christoph | Otto, Eckart | Kern, Martin | Pye, Michael
[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 th…

Homosexuality

(3,245 words)

Author(s): Carlsson, Bo Göran | Otto, Eckart | Kreß, Hartmut | Steinhäuser, Martin
[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 roles, polygamy or other condition…

Todesstrafe

(3,064 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Boer, Martinus C. de | Reichman, Ronen | Loos, Fritz | Gräb-Schmidt, Elisabeth
[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 Fami…

Völkerrecht

(2,967 words)

Author(s): Hillgruber, Christian | Reuter, Hans-Richard | Schiemann, Gottfried | Otto, Eckart | Krawietz, Birgit
[English Version] I. Zum Begriff 1.Rechtlich V…

Religionssoziologie

(3,376 words)

Author(s): Knoblauch, Hubert | Mürmel, Heinz | Otto, Eckart | Ebertz, Michael N. | Stuckrad, Kocku v. | Et al.
[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 Formationen, wie Versammlungen, Zeremonien und kollektive Rituale (z.B. Prozessionen [ Ritus/Ritual]), zählen zum Forschungsbereich der R. In einem weiteren Sinn, der v.a. die deutschsprachige Tradition seit Max Weber auszeichnet, behandelt die R. alles soziale oder sozialisierte Handeln, das sich an transzendenten Mächten orientiert: Beten (Gebet), Zaubern (Magie) oder Meditieren (Meditation) zählen in diesem Sinne auch zu den Gegenständen der R., sofern es dabei um von anderen übernommene Formen des Handelns geht. Aufgrund der hist. Veränderungen der in diesen Handlungen intendierten Inhalte (s. z.B. Entzauberung [Weber]) wird in der gegenwärtigen R. häufig ein sehr weiter Begriff der Rel. im Sinne von Transzendenz (Thomas Luckmann) oder Kontingenz (N. Luhmann) verwendet. Für die soziologische Arbeit typisch ist auch der Einsatz von Methoden der qualitativen oder quantitativen empirischen Sozialforschung, mit denen v…

Recht

(6,145 words)

Author(s): Loos, Fritz | Antes, Peter | Otto, Eckart | Schiemann, Gottfried | Lindemann, Andreas | Et al.
[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 Verfahrensnormen organisierten Sanktionsapparat garantiert ist. Abgegrenzt wird das R. so von Ordnungs…

Sabbat

(2,564 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Doering, Lutz | Hollender, Elisabeth | Henten, Jan Willem van | Volp, Ulrich | Et al.
[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 23,10f.) im siebenten Jahr (Sabbatjahr) und d…

Strafe

(4,023 words)

Author(s): Neu, Rainer | Otto, Eckart | Schuck, Martin | Loos, Fritz | Hermann, Dieter | Et al.
[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 an übernatürliche S., der Ausübung von Priv…

Priestertum

(6,604 words)

Author(s): Friedli, Richard | Otto, Eckart | Dignas, Beate | Elm, Dorothee | Kraus, Georg | Et al.
[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…

Talion

(2,579 words)

Author(s): Beinhauer-Köhler, Bärbel | Otto, Eckart | Reeg, Gottfried | Krawietz, Birgit | Ogris, Werner
[English Version] I. Zum BegriffT. ist abzuleiten vom röm. lex talionis und meinte dort einen geregelten Vergeltungsakt (Vergeltung) gemäß einer Rechtsnorm, …

Punishment

(4,817 words)

Author(s): Neu, Rainer | Otto, Eckart | Schuck, Martin | Loos, Fritz | Hermann, Dieter | Et al.
[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 religi…

Death Penalty

(3,790 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | de Boer, Martinus C. | Reichman, Ronen | Owens, Erik C. | Gräb-Schmidt, Elisabeth
[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. New Testament – III. Judaism – IV. Law – V. Ethics I. Old Testament

Priesthood

(7,504 words)

Author(s): Friedli, Richard | Otto, Eckart | Dignas, Beate | Elm, Dorothee | Kraus, Georg | Et al.
[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 not originally have this meaning. A second semantic strand puts a priest (Gk ἱερεύς/ hiereú…

Sabbath

(2,991 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Doering, Lutz | Hollender, Elisabeth | van Henten, Jan Willem | Volp, Ulrich | Et al.
[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.*)…

Jerusalem

(8,314 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Hezser, Catherine | Dan, Joseph | Küchler, Max | Bieberstein, Klaus | Et al.
[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 I. Old Testament Jerusalem (ירושׁלם/ yerûšālēm, MT yerûšālayim) was founded c. 1800 bce as a fortifi…

Feasts and Festivals

(7,156 words)

Author(s): Borgeaud, Philippe | Otto, Eckart | Veltri, Giuseppe | Schramm, Tim | Wiggermann, Karl-Friedrich | Et al.
[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 being. “Feast” or “festival” can therefore be understood as synonyms for religious celebrations. To speak,…

War

(3,738 words)

Author(s): Reuter, Hans-Richard | Rüpke, Jörg | Rosenberger, Veit | Otto, Eckart | Holmberg, Bengt
[German Version] I. Social Sciences 1. Concept. War is conflict between large groups, peoples, nations, and states conducted by force of arms. The more precise definition of the term and its differentiation from peace are disputed. Behavioral science tends toward a broad definition: war is a specifically human form of intergroup aggression, functional in the context of competition for scarce resources; in it the use of weapons decreases our instinctive inhibition a…

Ethics

(18,301 words)

Author(s): Herms, Eilert | Antes, Peter | Otto, Eckart | Horn, Friedrich Wilhelm | Leicht, Reimund | Et al.
[German Version] I. Concept and Scope – II. Religious Studies – III. Bible – IV. Judaism – V. As a Theological Discipline – VI. As a Philosophical Discipline (Business Ethics, Discourse Ethics, Economic Ethics, Ethics, Bio-Medical Issues, Ethics Commissions, Ethics Education, Ethics of Conviction, Ethics of Duty, Ethics of Goods, Ethics of Responsibility, Evolutionary Ethics, Fraternal Ethics, Individual Ethics, Interim Ethics, Media Ethics, Medical Ethics, Metaethics, Professional Ethics, Protestant Social Ethics, Science and Ethics, Sexual Ethics, Situation Ethics, Social Ethics, Technological Ethics, Value Ethics, Virtue Ethics) I. Concept and Scope Since Aristotle, “ethics” (or “moral philosophy”) has designated a theoretical undertaking (ἠϑική ϑεωρία: An. post. 89b9). Its object is defined either narrowly or broadly: criteria of proper behavior, proper behavior, moral conduct, morals (the component of social life alongside art, religion, science, etc.), ethos. The narrow definitions are contained in the broad. The normative functions of ethics (critique and justification of norms) are established and contained in its descriptive functions; this can only be disp…

Enemy/Love of One's Enemy

(1,755 words)

Author(s): Mohn, Jürgen | Otto, Eckart | Theißen, Gerd | Körtner, Ulrich H.J.
[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Ethics I. History of Religion The theme of the enemy is connected with the development or protection of identity and is directed toward people of other tribes or states, those of other faiths, or a hostile region of the world. The enemy can represent what is foreign and threatening or be localized within the worl…

Talion

(3,214 words)

Author(s): Beinhauer-Köhler, Bärbel | Otto, Eckart | Reeg, Gottfried | Krawietz, Birgit | Ogris, Werner
[German Version] I. Concept Talion is derived from the Roman lex talionis, in which it referred to a regulated act of retribution – in keeping with a legal norm that was meant to place limitations on self-administered justice. This stands in contradiction to the general understanding of talion as “doing as you are done by,” also in the sense of self-administered justice. In modern usage, talion is thus particularly understood in the sense of blood revenge or ven…

International Law

(3,761 words)

Author(s): Hillgruber, Christian | Reuter, Hans-Richard | Schiemann, Gottfried | Otto, Eckart | Krawietz, Birgit
[German Version] I. Conception – II. Greco-Roman Antiquity – III. Ancient Near East and Israel …

Sociology of Religion

(3,710 words)

Author(s): Knoblauch, Hubert | Mürmel, Heinz | Otto, Eckart | Ebertz, Michael N. | Stuckrad, Kocku v. | Et al.
[German Version] I. Terminology The sociology of religion studies religion’s social a…

Law and Jurisprudence

(7,535 words)

Author(s): Loos, Fritz | Antes, Peter | Otto, Eckart | Schiemann, Gottfried | Lindemann, Andreas | Et al.
[German Version] I. Concept and Legal Definition – II. History of Religion – III. Ancient Near East and Old Testament – IV. Greco-Roman Antiquity – V. New Testament – VI. Dogmatics – VII. Ethics of Law – VIII. Sociology of Law I. Concept and Legal Definition There is no generally accepted definition of law. At most, there is a consensus that law is basically to be understood as the politically institutionalized order of human relations. The observance of the (general) rules (i.e. compliance or sanctioning of transgressions) emanating from this order are guaranteed by the legitimate use of physical force (State) or at least by a system of sanctions structured on the basis ofnorms of jurisdiction and process. Law is thus demarcated from other ordering…

Decalogue

(5,698 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Reeg, Gottfried | Sänger, Dieter | Strohm, Christoph | Andersen, Svend | Et al.
[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. Judaism – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Dogmatics and Ethics – VI. Practical Theology …

Wirtschaft

(6,233 words)

Author(s): Sautter, Hermann | Rüpke, Jörg | Schneider, Helmuth | Otto, Eckart | Penslar, Derek | Et al.
[English Version] I. Zum Begriff…

Israel

(10,133 words)

Author(s): Gutmann, Emanuel | Knauf, Ernst Axel | Otto, Eckart | Niehr, Herbert | Kessler, Rainer | Et al.
[German Version] I. The State of Israel – II. History – III. Society I. The State of Israel The formal full name, State of Israel (Heb. Medinat Yisrael), calls attention to the spat…

Economy

(6,870 words)

Author(s): Sautter, Hermann | Rüpke, Jörg | Schneider, Helmuth | Otto, Eckart | Penslar, Derek | Et al.
[German Version] I. The Concept – II. Economic Systems and their Theories – III. Economy and Religion I. The Concept The term economy encompasses the totality of all individual actions and social interactions that serve to produce goods (commodities or services [Service sector]) for the purpose of satisfying human needs (Consumption). As a rule, the “production”…

Justice and Righteousness

(8,833 words)

Author(s): Otto, Eckart | Klaiber, Walter | Höffe, Otfried | Holmes, Stephen R. | Anzenbacher, Arno | Et al.
[German Version] I. Bible – II. Philosophy – III. History of Theology and Dogmatics – IV. Ethics – V. Law – VI. Social Politics, Social Ethics – VII. Missiology – VIII. Islam…

Peace

(3,762 words)

Author(s): Schmidt-Leukel, Perry | Otto, Eckart | Wengst, Klaus | Strohm, Christoph | Link, Christian | Et al.
[German Version] I. Religious Studies Peace (negatively: absence of fighting and war; positively: security, wellbeing, and harmony) is considered desirable in all traditional religions, although they also have their specific legitimations of war. In archaic religions, peace is primarily related to the community and understood as a present reality. However, from the beginning of the Christian era, religious developments produced stronger differentiations. Peace is no longer seen as a social phenomenon…

Marriage

(10,960 words)

Author(s): Nehring, Andreas | Otto, Eckart | Deming, Willoughby Howard | Schäfer, Rolf | Nave-Herz, Rosemarie | Et al.
[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Sociology – VI. Systematic Theology – VII. Law – VIII. Practical Theology – IX. Judaism – X. Islam I. Religious Studies The term marriage denotes a relationship entered into between two or more persons of different sex, ritually formalized, intended to be permanent, and recognized by society. In all cultures, definitions of economic and sexual rights and the conveyance of social status to children (Child/Childhood) are part of the socially ¶ defined framework of marriage. An emphasis on offspring is not constitutive for all forms of marriage. Although as a rule marriage is understood as an institutionalized relationship between men and women, it cannot be defined exclusively heterosexually. Besides same-sex forms of marriage in certain African societies and among the Nāyar in southern India (Gough, 1968), homosexual partnerships (Homosexuality) are socially recognized in certain European countries and par…
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