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[German Version] (May 6, 1909, Remscheid – Jun 28, 1981, Mannheim) received his doctorate in 1932 from the University of Heidelberg; in 1936, he gained his Habilitation in church history and Christian archaeology at Marburg, where he came under the lasting influence of R. Bultmann and Hans v. Soden. He was a member of the Confessing Church. He was appointed professor of New Testament and Christi…

[German Version] (died 21 ce), Roman senator and governor under Augustus (Tacitus Annales III 48). After holding a series of magistracies, in 6 ce he was appointed imperial governor ( legatus) in Syria. He incorporated Judea into his province and in 6/7 ce undertook a census to survey the assets of the population; a Jewish resistance movement (Zealots) opposed the census (Jos. Ant. XVII 355; XVIII 1–3, 26; XX 102; Bell. II 117f.; VII 253; Acts 5:37). Luke 2:1f. dates the birth of Jesus in the period of this census ( contra Matt 2: under Herod), which was not worldwide but only in the …

1. OT 1.1. As Israel began to develop a Word-of-God theology, it had at its disposal important predecessors, especially in Mesopotamia rather than Egypt. Praising the word of the gods was common in Mesopotamia, and it was thought that the divine will was communicated by prophets (§1.2). Yet Egypt proved to be a fruitful starting point for reflections on creation by the Word, which occurred in various cosmogonic systems. The divine Word found personification ¶ in various deities. In literature dealing with death we find divine words, magical words, and oracular words, w…

2. The NT has four lists with the names of the Twelve: in Mark 3:16–19; Matt. 10:2–4; Luke 6:14–16; and Acts 1:13. Mark lists Simon Peter, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot. All four lists agree in naming Peter first and Judas the traitor last, which is doubtless intended as a judgment. Acts 1:13 does not mention Judas. He had been banished from the group (1:18; see mention of “the 11 [disciples]” in Matt. 28:16 and Luke 24:9, 33), and by lot his place was taken by …