2011, Vol.17, No.2

Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.67

pISSN : 1229-0521 / eISSN : 2799-9890
https://journal.kci.go.kr/ksots

This study is to analyze the so-called “Hail Plague,” the 7th plague among 10 plagues described in Exodus. Because the text of the plague narrative is fairly long, I divide the whole text into two sections (9: 13-21 and 9: 22-35). In this paper the first part of the text is analyzed and critically annotated. The 7th plague is to destroy the people, animals and vegetables out in the field. Those who are inside would not be harmed by this plague. Pharaoh's courtiers had two options: bringing their servants and animals into the houses or leaving them out in the field. If all the servants were brought into the houses, there would not be a human victims by the plague. Therefore, the main target of this plague had to be those vegetables and trees which could not be moved inside. Unlike the previous plagues, it was possible for the Egyptians to avoid the hail plague if they believed in the words of YHWH spoken by Moses. The inevitable question focuses on the reason why YHWH gave those courtiers options to be exempted from the plague. Certainly the number of death would be reduced if some of the courtiers listened to Moses' warning. In conclusion, the main target of the 7th plague seems to be anything alive in the field. It means all the living beings in the land would be dead by the severe hailstorm as long as they are in the field. In the first half of the hail plague text, the overarching conceptuality is the land which is the space of death. The warning of the 7th plague(9: 13-21) is definitely highlighting this undeniable emphasis throughout the text.

What is the meaning and role of the episode of the wood-gatherer on Sabbath in Numbers 15: 32-36? Some scholars proposed to see Num 15: 32-36 in the connected context of the catastrophic events in Num 13-14(Tzvi Novick, A. Leveen, D. T. Olson). It signals the continuity of God's relationship with Israel of the wilderness; By insisting that the Sabbath-breaker be punished, God asserts the continuity of this relationship. But Num 15: 32-36 has its own meaning and role in the context of chapter 15. This study tried to show that 15: 32-36 is connected with 15: 30-31. Num 15: 30-31 introduced the law for the punishment of intented sin. The connected verses 32-36 role as a concrete precedent for the law of death penalty. These contents are proved by Reduction Criticism. Structural Criticism showed the surface structure (life and death, obedience and disobedience) and the deep structure (God as the law-giver and the judge of the intended sin / the intended sin of a wood gatherer is a guilt against God) in Num 15: 30-36. Comparing MT and LXX of Num 15: 32-36 shows that the plural form of the sabbath in LXX is different from the singular form of the sabbath in MT. These elements in LXX also show that the nuance of the intended breaking of the sabbatical law is repeated in the sabbaths. The combination of the diachronic method and the synchronic method for Num 15:32-36 can be perceived as a co-assistant method to interpret the text.

The reception theory advanced by Jauss proposes the sublation of the established dominant author-text centered formal-aesthetic literary research method and suggests a new way of research focused on reader-oriented reading and receiving literary works. Traditional literary approaches - whether they be foramlist, new critical, or Marxist-have tended to focus on ‘writer’ and ‘text.’ The audience for whom the literature was destined plays a limited role. Thus, reception theory tries to change the direction of literary research climate from existing author-text based study into reader oriented literary understanding. Literature and its reading are products of society at particular historical moments. Over the course of history, a discourse concerning the meaning and significance of a text grows, develops, and evolves. To properly understand the meaning and significance of a text at any particular historical moment, we have to understand its place in a continually evolving discourse of reception. A text must be studied in the perspective of reception history which have interpreted it. The purpose of this study is to explore the reception history of shema which has played an important role in the tradition of Judaism and Cristianity for ages until now. There has been long controversy on the time setting and the range of the text. This article pursues the reception history of Shema in the history of Israel and Christian community. For this purpose, the writer interprets shema in connection with vassal treaty of neo-Assyrian empire in ancient Old Testament Period, and studies the understanding of shema in the Septuagint, in the synoptic Gospel, in the Pauline letters, in the Rabinic Judaism, of ancient church fathers, and of Protestant reformers.