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[German Version] I. Book – II. The State of Research – III. Person – IV. Message I. Book The book of Ezekiel is our only source of information about the person of the prophet and his activity. The entire book is a seamless prophetic first-person report (exceptions: 1:3 and 24:24) which, however, remains hidden behind the words of YHWH, who governs all that happens. Even events in which the prophet is directly involved, such as discussions and questions directed to ¶ him, are communicated to him via YHWH (e.g. 11:15; 12:9, etc.). In the prophet…

[German Version] I. Bible Praise of God is one of the basic forms of prayer together with thanksgiving (Thanks), it represents the antithesis to lament and petition. The line between praise and thanksgiving is fuzzy. In contrast to its analysis of laments, form criticism of prayers has not achieved agreement on specific subtypes of praise. There is too much variation in the forms in which the intention to praise finds expression – an urge or promise to praise, various forms of hymns, formalized framing acclama¶ tions such as “Praise the Lord” or “Give thanks to the Lord”, Halle…

[German Version] I. Bible – II. Liturgy – III. Music I. Bible Alleluia (Heb. “praise YHWH”) is the psalmists' call to praise addressed to various groups and peoples which develops into a terminus technicus for liturgical songs of praise in the Psalter (Psalms/Psalter) itself and in its reception, reflecting the Psalter's dynamic of prayer Prayer: II) from Lament. Earlier individual songs of lament formulate the traditional promise to offer praise with the Hebrew verb הלל/ hll (“I will praise”; e.g. Pss 22:23; 35:18; 56:5, 11; 69:31, 35); the…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. Judaism I. Old Testament The term “benedictions” refers to statements of blessing by which the speaker directs the powers of blessing to the addressees, in contrast to statements of cursing or imprecations (maledictions; Blessing and curse). Within Old Testament literature, one can observe a transition from an older, …

[German Version] I. Term and Genre – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Liturgical Studies I. Term and Genre The Greek word ὕμνος/ hýmnos, whose etymology is obscure, originally meant, quite unspecifically, simply “song” (the verb ὑμνεῖν/ hymneín, “ to sing”; cf. Hes. Theog. 11.33; Hom. Hym. 3.178, etc.). Yet, from the ¶ 5th/4th century bce at the latest, it meant “song for a god” (cf. Plato, Leges 700 b 1–2; Xenophanes 21 B 1.13 DK; Xenophon, Cyrupaideia 18.1.23) and thence became the general term for “religious song,” and finally for “festival song,” “song o…