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1. OT 1.1. Term The Heb. root ṣdq is as comprehensive in meaning as the Eng. “right(eous),” Ger. (ge)recht, Gk. nomos, or Lat. ius (La…

1. Overall Structure Ever since B. Duhm’s epochal commentary (1892), scholars have generally divided the Book of Isaiah into three parts: • ¶ Isaiah I, chaps. 1–39, according to the dating in 1:1; 6:1; 36:1, the testament of the prophet Isaiah from the e…

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[German Version] I. Ancient Near East – II. Greece – III. Rome – IV. The Bible – V. Christianity – VI. Judaism I. Ancient Near East Historiography in the classic sense, with a reflective account of historical linkages, developed rudimentarily at best in the cuneiform cultures of the ancient Near East in Hittite and Neo-Assyrian annals and the introductions to treaties; even these documents were usually written to justify the political actions. Around the middle of the 3rd millennium bce, however, there appeared an immense number of all sorts of texts containing more …

[German Version] I. Basis, Dispute and Development of the Hypothesis of a Deuteronomistic History – II. Arrangement of the Content – III. Historical Locus and Importance for the Theology of History The Deuteronomistic History (DeutHist) is not a canonical entity, but a scholarly hypothesis. It combines the book Deut from the “Torah” section of the canon with the books Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings from the “former prophets” section. These biblical books depict the history of Israel from the time of Moses to the Exile. I. Basis, Dispute and Development of the Hypot…

[German Version] I. Bible – II. Christianity – III. Judaism – IV. Islam I. Bible 1. Old Testament From the biblical perspective, David, whose name means “darling, beloved,” is the embodiment of the ideal ruler. He governed in the early 10th century bce, allegedly for 40 years, of which seven and a half were in Hebron, the rest in Jerusalem (2 Sam 5:4f.). Although he is the king of whom the Bible has most to tell (Kingship in Israel), he remains a …

[German Version] ( ‘edôm) means “reddish,” and the parallel term Seir ( sē'îr) “rough,” probably the brush in the mountains. They designate a landscape or ethnicity south of ¶ the Dead Sea: in the first instance, to the southeast, between Wādī l-Ḥasā and the Gulf of Aqaba, but also in the Wādī l-'Araba and the southern Negeb. “Seir” occurs first in the Amarna Letters (Amarna; EA 288.26; mid-14th cent.) and in a place list of Ramses II (mid-13th cent.), “Edom” in a letter from the eighth year of Merneptah (1216), in each case in connection with Š3św-bedouins. The Bible, too, depicts Esau, the patriarch of Edom, along with the entire patriarchal family, as a herdsman, as well as a hunter (Gen 27; 33), and the “sons of Esau” or “of Seir” as a tribal union (Gen 36:10–14, 20–28); the “kings” (36:31–39) may have been tribal chiefs. Thus, Saul and David (I, 1) hardly faced a unified Edom as an opponent (1 Sam 14:47; 2 Sam 8:13f.; 1 Kgs 11:15), nor will Solomon's (I) “adversary,” Hadad, have created a unified Edom (1 Kgs 11:17–25). Under Jehoshaphat (867–850) a governor administered Edom (1 Kgs 22:48). It is indeed possible that Edom (although without their own king) and Judah together supported Israel, superior at the time, in its campaign against Moab (2 Kgs 3, c…

[German Version] is the oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea. Its combination of a warm climate and plentiful water ( En, construct of ‘Ayin/עַיִן, “spring”) has long offered ideal living conditions for people, a few animals (including panthers, cliff badgers, ibexes [Heb. gedi, “goat”), and plants (wine, henna [Song 1:14], dates [Sir 24:14], balsam [Jos. Ant. IX 7; Bell. IV 468; Pliny, Naturalis historia 12.113; Šabb. 26a]). A pilgrimage sanctuary with a walled-in court and a large main room (20 × 5 m) was l…

[German Version] “Joseph,” Heb. יוֹסֵף/ yôsep, means “He (God) adds.” In the Bible, half-a-dozen people bear the name, including Mary's husband in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the son of Jacob (I) and Rachel stands out (Gen 30:23f.). He is the eponymous ancestor of the major tribe of Israel (Tribes of Israel), whose chief heir, in turn, is Ephraim (Gen 38). Joseph/Ephraim settled in the central mountains of Palestine (Josh 16; 1 Kgs 4:8) and claimed a central role in (nort…

[German Version] I. Bible 1. Literary analysis. The primary source for Solomon (Heb. ְׁשׁלמה/ šĕlōmōh) is 1 Kgs 1–12. It has a chiastic structure centered on the account of the design,…

[German Version] Eli was priest of the transregionally significant sanctuary of Shiloh in the 11th century (1 Sam 1–4). His name means “the highest” (cf. Ugar. 'lyn, Heb. 'lywn; the theophoric element – presumably yw – has been omitted, cf. the name 'lyw attested in inscriptions as well as 'lw in parallel to yhwh in 1 Sam 2:10). Eli's sons, also priests, bore Egyptian names: Phinehas and Hophni. They appear as dishonorable bachelors; Eli, in contrast, as honorable, if fallible…

[German Version] Saul, Hebrew שָׁאוּל. The first king of Israel (Kingship [in Israel]) is not mentioned anywhere outside the Bible, but his reign is attested sufficiently within the Bible. The beginnings of a state in Israel (II, 1.a) were already visible before him; they met the social and economic needs at the end of the 2nd millennium. Around 1000 bce, Saul, a handsome man from a wealthy family (1 Sam 9:1f.), succeeded in uniting the tribes of the hill country in central Palestine and northern Transjordania (Judah, Galilee, and the lowlands of Canaan…

[English Version] . Als Gestalt am Übergang vom vorstaatl. zum staatl. Israel (: II.,1.) gibt S. (hebr. שְׁמוּאֵל) in der Bibel ein höchst facettenreiches Bild ab. Schon in der relativ ältesten Quelle, 1Sam, und auch danach verkörpert er verschiedenste Rollen: Er ist Priester (1Sam 2f.; 7,9; vgl. sein Levitentum in 1Chr 6,12.18), Prophet (: II.; 1Sam 3,20; 9,1–10; 16; 28; Jer 15,1; Ps 99,6; Sir 46,15.20; Apg 3,24), Ric…

[English Version] , hebr. שָׁאוּל. Der erste König Israels (Königtum in Israel) ist außerbibl. überhaupt nicht, innerbibl. indes mit hinreichender Deutlichkeit bezeugt. Die Staatenbildung in Israel (: II.,1., a) hatte sich vor ihm schon angekündigt und entsprach den gesellschaftlichen und ökonomischen Bedürfnissen im ausgehenden 2.Jt. Um 1000 v.Chr. gelang es S., einem stattlichen Mann aus vornehmer Familie (1Sam 9,1f.), die Stämme des mittelpaläst. und nordtransjordanischen Berglands zu einen (Juda, …

[English Version] I. Bibel 1.  Literarischer Befund.Primärquelle über S. (hebr. שְׁלמֹה) ist der Abschnitt 1Kön 1–12. Er ist chiastisch aufgebaut: Den Kern bilden die Berichte von Planung, Bau und Weihung des Jerusalemer Tempels (: II.,4.; 1Kön 5–8), darum lagern sich Schilderungen der glänzenden Weisheit und glanzvollen Herrschaft S.s (1Kön 3f. und 9f.), den äußeren Rahmen bilden Erzählungen von seinem Aufstieg und Abstieg (1Kön 1f. und 11f.). Dieses Gesamtbild verdankt sich dtr. Geschichtsschreibung (Deuteronomistisches Geschichtswerk), welche die Gesch. Israels wesentlich an de…