2010, Vol.16, No.1

The Spirituality of the Old Testament: A Dialectical Com-transcendency between Deus Absconditus and Deus Revelatus with Special Reference to Jeremiah 23 and Psalm 139

Kim, Jung-Woo | 2010, 16(1) | pp.10~34 | number of Cited : 4

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Wrestling with the issue of 'spirituality,' which is becoming one of the major issues at stake in contemporary religions and cultures seems meaningless, as if 'chasing after the wind' as told by the ancient sage Qohelet(Ecc 1:14). The thoughts and movements relating to spirituality cause bitter criticisms and arguments with diverse rhetorical flourish such as religious pluralism, New Age, syncretism, dualism, mysticism, subjectivism, escapism, anti-intellectualism, charismatism, fanaticism, asceticism, and spiritualism etc. Thus, the present writer tries to delve into the fundamental characteristics of the term spirituality in terms of Zen, originality, archetype, nihility, silence, serenity, sensitivity, directedness (firsthandedness), openness, presentness, urgency, radicality, dynamics, ordinariness, and integrity, based on his interaction with core literatures in the major religions such as Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity. The writer suggests a tentative definition of the term spirituality as the fundamental nature of human spirit which has the capacity to have intimate communication and fellowship with the supernatural existence, nature and fellow human beings, based on the enlightenment of one's true self-identity. Christian spirituality can be differentiated from other types of spiritualities in its commitment to the Bible as the word of God, and in its focus on the holy communion with the triune God. After delineating the fundamental characteristics of the term spirituality, the writer sets the two major conceptual pillars of spirituality, namely, Deus Absconditus and Deus Revelatus which are interacting with each other in a dialectical tension; and then applying them to Jeremiah 23: 23-25 and Psalm 139 which are appreciated as one of the most sublime and spiritual texts of the Old Testament. The former text was chosen as a model text showing the transcendental presence of the Lord by criticizing the assumption of the false prophets who teach the immanent presence of the Lord. The latter text was chosen as a model text showing the com-transcendency (抱越性, periechontologie of K. Jaspers) of the Lord who are transcendent beyond measure as well as immanent even in the whole process of the creation of the embryo of the psalmist him/herself.

A Study of the Patriarchal Narrative through the Biographical Analysis

Lee, You-Mee | 2010, 16(1) | pp.35~53 | number of Cited : 0

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Comparison of the Manumission Laws in Exodus 21: 2-11 and Deuteronomy 15: 12-18

전정진 | 2010, 16(1) | pp.54~73 | number of Cited : 2

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The manumission laws that stipulate a Hebrew slave should be released in the seventh year after serving his master six years, occur twice in the Pentateuch: Exodus 21: 2-11 and Deuteronomy 15: 12-18. The differences between the two versions are usually resolved by supposing that the laws simply emanates from different times in Israel's history. According to historico-critical scholars, the Deuteronomist who had humanitarian perspec- tive revised the ethical problems raised from the earlier Exodus text (Exod. 21: 2-11). This study explores first the sociological and theological message of the manumission laws in its literary context and then explains the differences between the two versions using a synchronic approach rather than a diachronic while taking seriously the literary context of the final form of the text. The literary approach adopted here looks at the text in a synchronic rather than a diachronic way while taking seriously the final form of the text. After the presentation of the author's own translation on Exodus 21: 2-11 and the analysis of its structure, the exegesis on Exodus 21: 2-6 and 7-11 is undertaken in turn. The law which looks severe to Hebrew slaves is proven to have concern for them. This study shows that Exodus 21: 7-12 is not a general principle for the female slave but presents a particular case for who is sold for a purpose of marriage to a free man. Several features, usually considered by the hands of redactors, are shown to be integral and appropriate in the immediate and more wider narrative context. Finally the differences between Exodus 21: 2-6 and its parallel law in Deuteronomy 15: 12-18 are explained without presupposing a complex historical development of Deuteronomistic History. This study provides a way of looking at the given text more integrally without presupposing various historical development of the text.

Samuel, God's Failed Plan

Jae Gu Kim | 2010, 16(1) | pp.74~97 | number of Cited : 4

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This paper is intended to reconsider the reason for Samuel's being. As generally believed, the role of Samuel is to connect the gap between the times of judges and kings. Thus, Samuel has been widely ignored by the shadows of various judges and the glorious king David even though Samuel had performed many important functions, such as prophet, seer, priest and judge. The only person who can be matched in these functions is Moses. This paper tries to investigate the true purpose of God through the personage Samuel. For this research, one of the literary approaches so-called 'intertextuality' is employed, by which the close relations of the crucial expressions appearing both in Moses' story(Ex. 1-15) and Samuel's(I Sam. 1-8) are investigated. In five stages, Moses and Samuel will be compared. First, their births are related to the 'misery' of a person(people) and God's 'seeing and re- membering.' Second, these two persons must confront the one(s) who "do not know Yahweh." This ignorance invites the catastrophic disaster, which is the third stage. The stories of the ten plagues in Exodus and the Ark of Covenant are matched in terms, expressions and storyline. Fourth, the confrontations of the enemies, Egyptians at the Red-Sea and Philistines at Mizpah take place and God defeats them by the same method. Now the history reaches its peak. At the time of Moses, the next stage after being saved at the Red-Sea by God was 'praising God and worshipping Him as King. Thus, divine kingship was proclaimed. Then at the time of Samuel, the people of Israel had undergone the same salvific power of God. Then, it is obvious that they also proclaimed the kingship of God. But astonishingly they asked for human kingship because of the corruption of Samuel's sons. Samuel failed to discipline his sons for demonstrating divine kingship. Through these literary comparisons, it is apparent that Samuel is not intended to be a bridge figure between judges and kings. Rather, his true role is to reactualize the time of Moses when God was inaugurated as the only King. But Samuel failed and eventually human kings had to come and go. This is why the title of this study is 'Samuel, God's Failed Plan.'

Abigail's Men: Rereading I Samuel 25

Yoo,YeonHee(Yani) | 2010, 16(1) | pp.98~118 | number of Cited : 2

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This essay attempts to read the narrative in 2 Samuel 25 where Abigail, Nabal, and David appear from Abigail's point of view. Prior literature has been reading the narrative mostly from the viewpoints of David and Nabal. Feminist interpretations were able to observe the ambiguous and inconsistent descriptions of Abigail but did not offer clear explanations about it. This essay seeks the answer from the patriarchal codes of the narrator: Images of Abigail, sagacious and acting boldly on the one hand and silent and subservient on the other, have to do with the space concepts of inside and outside the house. While discussing the space concept, the essay also argues that contra to general perception, the relationship between Abigail and Nabal was not bad and rather the relationship between Abigail and David was not good. The narrative moves back and forth between two spaces, the house in Carmel and wilderness, bridged by Abigail. The house in Carmel symbolizes richness, safety, sheep shearing, and abundant feast; outside the house, wilderness symbolizes lack of safety, shelter, and food. At her house where she has her husband and servants Abigail shows confidence, makes independent judgments, and commands her servants. She is the subject of seven active verbs when she prepares to go meet David and when she comes back home. Outside the house where she was with David and his soldiers she shows a low profile, self-degradation, fear, and loss of confidence as her identity was defined by others. In fact, when she meets David Abigail is lowered physically and psychologically. The ambiguous characterization of Abigail reflects the typical patriarchal code in which the house is connected to safety for and outside the house to lack of safety. Staying in this code the narrator presents Abigail as an inconsistent figure isolated in a men's world. However, the reader sees Abigail as a survivor at the boundary of two men, two dynasties, and two powers. Abigail will survive despite of ambiguous characterization and the readers' arbitrary readings.

2 Sam 11 - Ironisierung der K nigsweisheit

Cha-Yong Ku | 2010, 16(1) | pp.119~140 | number of Cited : 6

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A Study on the Women of Ancient Israel: Their Ideal Values and Functional Roles as Religious Agents

장대규 | 2010, 16(1) | pp.142~160 | number of Cited : 1

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The purpose of this article is to articulate religious/cultic functional roles and values of ancient Israelite women in their socio-cultural and religious context that made contribution to their society. The methodology of this article utilizes a functional approach to reveal women performing functional roles in Ancient Israel. Israelite culture, although patrilineal, was not patriar- chal in the sense of men having control over females, male family heads having control over their wives and other family members, or of women being subservient, despite some biblical texts or features of biblical languages that seem to imply this. The social reality of ancient Palestine confirms that authority does not necessarily coincide with power. As collections of Israelite poetry span the nation's entire ancient Israelite history, Proverbs presents woman's value not judged in terms of her sexua- lity, but on the basis of her business acumen and industrious work. The valued sociological functions of women are family educators and wise household-builders. In Proverbs, a woman is the source of life for the house- hold and community, not as a childbearer, but in a socio-cultural and religious sense of life. Although the Old Testament highlights public male leaders, it also speaks of women who figured occasionally in public religious roles: judge, prophet, wise woman, singer/dancer, keener, door attendant at the meeting tent, necroman- cer, consecrated woman, weaver of clothing for divine images, and Queen Mother who made a covering for the "asherah." Women were important and respected in their public religious roles in Israelite society. Biblical texts give various cultic examples of women, both positively and negatively, performing religious or magical activities in the context of their normal domain, the household. Thus, biblical texts, Aramaic incantation from Nippur, and Ugaritic legendary AQHT give women's ideal social-cultural and religious values as well as various examples of women positively performing religious activities as religious agents in their houses.

Atonement and 'Tsedakah' in the Old Testament and Judaism

정연호 | 2010, 16(1) | pp.161~189 | number of Cited : 5

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The present work purports to search for the theological background of the 'tsedakah'( ) of Judaism, which can be translated as charity and has been considered as a means for the atonement of sins. The term 'tsedakah' in the Old Testament, of which the original meaning is righteousness, does not appear in the priestly texts, while the term atonement is not dealt with in prophetic theology. In the light of the fact that in Judaism the 'tsedakah' as charity has been considered as a way of atonement for sins, it can be presupposed that into the 'tsedakah' of Judaism could be integrated the term 'tsedakah'(righteousness) and the term atonement in the Old Testament. The aim of the current work could be attainable through ascertaining this pre- supposition. Methodologically, I will examine what attitude priestly theology and prophetic theology had towards sin respectively, and apply the priestly atonement formula to prophetic theology. Through this examination it can be known if the 'tsedakah' of Judaism is an amalgamation of 'tsedakah' (righteousness), which is prophetic term, and atonement, which is priestly term. The priestly theology grasps sin at the point of cultic cleanness and thus its atonement was focused on the remedy of profaneness and impurity. However, prophetic theology preferred the word 'avon'( ), which could be identified with injustice and lawlessness when it was meant for social and ethical sins. The atonement formula in the priestly laws is 'repentance sacrificial offering forgiveness.' According to this formula the sacrificial offering can be interpreted as the sign of repentance. When applying this formula to prophetic theology, the sacrificial offering can be identical with the life of righteousness which was emphasized in prophetic theology. Particularly in prophetic theology the life of righteousness was the life of the 'tsedakah', which was the concretization of the abstract righteousness('tsedek' ) from God and the actualization of social justice. The theological thoughts reflected in the 'tsedakah' in Judaism can be summarized as 'life-care' and 'correction of the world.' 'Life-care' and 'correction of the world' are to protect the life and dignity of human beings created in the image of God from all kind of threats as well as poverty, and to join in the restoration and reformation of the corrupted creation-order by sins. In this regard, the perspective of the 'tsedakah' in Judaism is connected to the social justice of the prophetic theology. While the 'tsedakah' of Judaism inherits its tradition from prophetic theology, it seems to suppose the acceptance of the priestly atonement formula of 'repentance sacrificial offering forgiveness.' If it is given, the act of atonement in prophetic theology is the life of righteousness, which is comparable to the sacrificial offering in priestly theology. If the sacrificial offerings in priestly theology serve to purify the altar and the temple defiled with sins, it can be said that the life of righteousness in prophetic theology serves to cleanse the world contaminated with injustices. The 'tsedakah' of Judaism following after the tradition of prophetic theology as well as accepting the term of atonement of priestly theology can be viewed as a means of the sacrifice for the atonement of sins. This work may suggest a possibility for a holistic model of the atonement theology through the integration of priestly theology and the prophetic one.

'Masseboth' in the Old Testament and in Archaeology

Choi, Gwanghyun | 2010, 16(1) | pp.190~223 | number of Cited : 3

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The Hebrew word 'masseboth' ( ) is conventionally translated as 'standing stones,' 'sacred pillars' in various English versions of the Bible. In both of Korean Revised Version and New Korean Revised Version, however, the same word has a variety of meanings according to the context; they include 'tombstones,' 'monuments,' 'stone pillars,' 'idols,' 'wooden images' or 'stone images.' These translations of the word 'masseboth' are in fact an outcome of supposing its functions and purposes on the basis of the related biblical verses. Archaeologists conventionally have applied the same Hebrew word to a group of mysterious standing stones or pillars, which have been found at many sites in Israel. Some scholars have tried not only to interpret them as 'masseboth' but also to suppose their functions on the basis of biblical or extra-biblical sources. The present study questions the validity of such an approach, and emphasizes that they should be interpreted first on the basis of their archaeological contexts without any biblical preconceptions. It points out that the archaeological 'masseboth' are represented by three types: the undressed or roughly-dressed standing stone, the well-dressed iconic stele, and the well-dressed aniconic stele. These two well-dressed types seem to have originated in the urban culture of the Near East, while the undressed type probably find its origin in the desert area such as Sinai and Negev. Given the fact that they mostly come from a temple-related or cult-related context, their cultic functions can be assumed, although it is difficult to clarify what kind of cult they served for. There is no doubt that most of the biblical 'masseboth' have also certain religious meanings no matter what their functions are. Standing stones have a long history of thousands of years in Palestine. It is noteworthy that the number of occurrence of the undressed standing stones sharply increases during the Iron Age. This phenomenon may have been associated with the migration of the Israelites to Palestine and with their eventual settlement.

The Military Reform in the Deuteronomic Movement

Han, Dong-Gu | 2010, 16(1) | pp.224~239 | number of Cited : 2

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This study aims to examine the military reform in the time of Deuteronomistic movement, when it was needed in preparation for the anti- Assyrian influence. It was Josiah particularly reinforced the militarily capability in the hope of freeing from it. On the other hand, Deut 17:16a narrates that "The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself...", insinuating negative intention against the reinforcement of military power. The present study investigates the difference between the two opposing ideas and, historically, the structure of the military in the time of Josiah. Here is the outline of the Israelite military briefly introduced. Largely the infantry constituted the military along with some professional units and armed chariots units of commanders. The historical context and military reform in the time of Hezekiah and Josiah is also examined. Hezekiah's was nation-wide due to the anti-Assyrian and independent movement, improving military defence and weaponry system. The main forces was composed of by the infantry recruited from all over the nation, and the guard troops by horses and chariots. Josiah had to rebuild the military, dismantled before, to free nation from the Assyrian authority. The shortage of the nation's resources only made it possible to recruit national infantry mainly with the common people. Probably the prominence of 'am-haarets' in the Josiah's years' political stage must have shaped the military structure as well. Since he was politically dependent to 'am-haarets', not to the military power of the elite, Josiah was not able to do away with them. Therefore it is clear what the prohibitory decree against the military reinforcement in Deut 17:16a meant to say. It prohibits inequality in the military and political realm, which could be caused by the progressional elites.

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2010, Vol.16, No.1