2013, Vol.19, No.1

A Study on the Significant of Number Seven in Lev 26:14-33

Choi Jong-Won | 2013, 19(1) | pp.12~42 | number of Cited : 3

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The present research primarily is to examine the meaning of the number seven in Lev. 26 in relation to the northwest semitic inscriptions and Deut. 28. In the context of the northwest semitic inscriptions, the number seven is used with literary style-method as the meaning of ‘treaty-curse’. From the composition critical method, Lev. 26 is in parallel with the schema ‘bless and curse’ in Deut 28. This concept is newly composed by a writer who synthesized a deuteronomistic and priestly thought in a composition ‘promise and threat’. In Lev. 26 the central paragraph is the part of ‘the curse’(vv. 14-33). To be fair, it shows that the exilic situation of the Book of Ezekiel is presupposed. In this study, the number seven(v. 18, 21, 24, 28) is dealt with the content ‘knife, hunger and infection’ as the curse-trias in the paragraph of ‘the curse’. From this analysis it is possible to explain systematically the negative conditional clauses with the ‘sevenfold-schema’. The paragraph reflects an expansion of literary style in Deut. 28 and theological thought in the text of Ezekiel. The point of the indirect compositional view is dependent on an ideological aspect of northwest-Semitic in the ancient Near Eastern. This development shows that the paragraph ‘the curse’ in Lev. 26 is originally instructed on the sevenfold-structure as used in Deut. 28. The editor(or compiler) of Lev. 26 deals with a literary style, which is stated as a breaking of the promise or treaty made with the Israelites. This style is best illustrated in the inscription of Sefire, Tell Feckeriye and Būkan in the northwest-Semitic domain. As a result, the text gives us a clue to an invention of some written tradition that the number seven provides the specific means as curse/treat and punishment in the braking of promise or treaty.

Eli, Enemy of a Temple!

Kim Koo Won | 2013, 19(1) | pp.43~69 | number of Cited : 0

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This article will be devoted to studying the usage of !wO[m' in 1 Samuel vv. 29 and 32, especially the phrase !wO[m' rc in v. 32, which is often regarded as an interpretive conundrum in the oracle. Many scholars, who find MT’s readings in 1 Samuel 2:29, 32 unintelligible, have resorted to emendation, based on different readings in LXX and 4QSama. This paper will critically review previous suggestions and prove MT readings to be commendable in and of itself. Towards this end, the relevant texts will be analyzed both philologically and literarily. I will propose to translate rc in v. 29 and !wO[m' rc in v. 32 as “in a temple” and “Oh enemy of a temple!” respectively and attempt to show that MT’s readings are intelligible, and, if properly understood, provide a hermeneutical key to understanding of the judgment oracle against Eli in its broader context. LXX's reading of verses 29a and 32a in 1 Samuel 2 may appear to provide an explanation of the difficult MT readings, but in fact, LXX complicates it. There is no definite evidence that LXX is the original and MT is its corrupt variant. MT rc “in a temple” in v. 29a and !wO[m' rc “enemy of a temple” in v. 32 make sense as they stand, in the sense that the sins of Eli's two sons were committed either in the temple or against the temple. Moreover, such understanding of MT readings may provide a hermeneutical key to understanding the story of the Elides' degradation, in which Eli's family is deprived of the privilege serving at the temple because they turned themselves into enemies of the temple. Although God revealed himself to Eli's house in Egypt, chose him out of all the tribes to be his priest, and gave him all the privileges pertaining to a temple-servant, the Elides proved themselves to be evil and ungrateful servants by desacralizing the temple. What they did in the temple or against the temple earns them the title !wO[m' rc ‘enemy of a temple’.

David’s Holiness: Examined in His Exile to the Temple in Noph(1Sam 21:1-9[2-10]; Cf. 1Sam. 22:6-23)

Han, Dong-Gu | 2013, 19(1) | pp.70~94 | number of Cited : 1

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King David’s Politics of Reconciling Northern Israel with Southern Judah and His Political Strategy for National Unification

Hae Kwon Kim | 2013, 19(1) | pp.95~132 | number of Cited : 7

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The purpose of the present article is first to explore King David’s Politics of Reconciling Northern Israel with Southern Judah and His Political Strategy for National Unification through close analysis of 2 Samuel 1-5, and then to argue that David’s rise to power illustrates the Deuteronomistic viewpoint of monarchy. It consistently argues that David’s enthronement over the entire people of Israel was made possible through David’s realpolitical sagacity and faith commitment to the Samuel-mediated oracle saying, “Yahweh God of Israel will make you a shepherd over the entire people of Israel in place of Saul his predecessor”. This was obviously case with David’s realpolitical performances which were designed to bring the broken and self-insecure heart of the northern tribes close to him and to reconcile Judah with Israel through several public show-ups of his heartfelt sympathy with the sorrow and pain of the northerns over the deaths of Saul, Jonathan, and Abner. 2 Samuel 1-5 demonstrates that the God-given oracle regarding the future reign of David over all Israel was substantiated and made real only through diverse human agents’ approval of and commitment to the original Samuel oracle. This characterizes the Deuteronomistic kingship in contrast to other ancient near eastern royal mythologies, whose aim was to provide check and balance for a human king lest he/she fall into the trap of despotism and political autonomy. Thus comes the contract of the elders of Israel with David as a climax to the history of David’s rise to power, which means that David was enthroned as a constitutional monarchy and was bound to rule Israel only under the people of God’s approval of and full assent to his kingship. The present essay concludes that David’s unification of Israel with Judah was achieved only through the elders of Israel’s request for David to be a king over all Israel on the condition that David will remain faithful to the equal and bilateral contract between the two parties.

Searching for the Strange Woman: Re-envisioning the Good/Evil Dichotomy through Reading Female Figures in the Song of Songs and Proverbs

Park, Ji-Eun | 2013, 19(1) | pp.157~182 | number of Cited : 3

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This article examines power, ideology, and gender dynamics in the postexilic Persian social context, with special attention to the female figures in the Song of Songs and Proverbs, which have common motifs but different perspectives on the female body and sexuality. By developing Jonneke Bekkenkamp and Fokkelien van Dijk's argument that the Song of Songs can be read as a ‘subversive narrative against Proverbs, I seek to explore the human-constructed nature of the good/evil dichotomy represented through the Strange Woman in the Song of Songs and the Capable Woman (the Woman Wisdom figure) in Proverbs. In doing so, a postcolonial feminist perspective can be my methodological tool for examining how the images of the female figures in the Song of Songs and Proverbs in the postexilic context were manipulated and reshaped to serve the interests of the postexilic community and the dominant male elites and to regain their lost identities. A postcolonial feminist perspective suggests that (re)creating identity also meant retrieving their humiliated masculinity. Interestingly, the reformulation of identity accompanied the resurgence of the family structure, and the female body and sexual desire were viewed as dangerous and destructive to the community as well as to men. In this respect, the presence of positive views about the female body and sexuality in the Song of Songs may have caused the production of the Strange Woman figure, whose promiscuous body and sexuality are used as a rationale for restricting the female body and sexuality. Likewise, Woman Wisdom and the Capable Woman may have been (re)created in contrast to the Strange Woman figure in order to emphasize good wife and mother images. Therefore, this article aims to re-envision the Strange Woman figure in order to deconstruct the good/evil dichotomy of the female body and sexuality and to provide an alternative way of reading the Strange Woman figure for contemporary readers of Proverbs and the Song of Songs.

Qoheleth’s ‘New Wisdom’ Viewed Through a Lens of ‘Zhongyong’

Myung Soo Suh | 2013, 19(1) | pp.183~207 | number of Cited : 5

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The purpose of this paper is to read Ecc.7:15-18 which suggests a kind of new wisdom through a lens of Confucian classics, ‘Zhongyong(中庸)’. According to the passages, the wise man should not be too righteous because there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness. Rather there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. So he who fears God shall be quit in regard to both. Qoheleth here takes issue with two orthodox doctrines, that is, (1) the righteous have a long life(Ex.20:12; Dt.4:40; Ps.91:16; Pr.3:2,16; 4:10), and (2) the wicked shall not live out half their days(Ps.37:10; 55:23; 58:3-9; 73:18). Why does the author suggest the paradoxical solution as a new wisdom? At a first glance, it seems to collide with Deuteronomic instructions which insist a firm choice. The author's new wisdom as uselessness of going to extreme seemed to derive from social situation that the orthodox theology could not comprise the complexity of the world and life. So It can be concluded that the book of Ecclesiastes was written and compiled in Jerusalem under Ptolemic rule with the purpose of teaching young men. In thinking of life the author surely based on the experiential and empirical knowledges. The author's experiential knowledges tell his audiences that life is so contradictory, ironic and paradoxical. For this reason the author pays attention to the way of moderation/mean/equilibrium for the better safe life. With regard to moderation/mean/equilibrium as a new way of conduct it is valuable to read the text through a lens of ‘Zhongyong’ which is junzi(君子)’ ideal way of behavior. The way of ‘Zhongyong’ consists of two attitudes of life such as (1) firmly harmonizing of the extremes(執其兩端) and doing on the basis of ones' own position(素位而行). Especially the former has been explained in comparison to scaling. In direct ratio with weight of something, a weight have to be moved for measuring. It is called ‘kwondo(權道)’ in Confucian term. In conclusion, ‘Zhongyong’ is a way of action which avoids going to the extremes. It desires not too much nor too little(過猶不及). This idea corresponds to the new wisdom of the text(Ecc.7:15-18). Where comes from the principle of the Golden Mean? The author of ‘Zhongyong’ said that it comes from the Sincerity(誠) in self which corresponds to the Heavenly Way(天道). The Sincerity(誠) is similar to ‘the fear of God’ in Hebrew thought.

A Study on the Triadic Structure of the MT of the Book of the Twelve and the Literary and Theological Function of the Book of Jonah within it

Cheol-Woo Park | 2013, 19(1) | pp.208~237 | number of Cited : 3

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

2013, Vol.19, No.1