2018, Vol.24, No.4

The Relation between the Old Testament and the New Testament: Focusing on the Book of Daniel Cited in the Book of Revelation

Chong Hun Pae | 2018, 24(4) | pp.12~38 | number of Cited : 1

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This study explores the relation between the Old Testament and the New Testament. There are both continuity and discontinuity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Understanding itself as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, the New Testament regards Jewishness as its crucial root. Furthermore, the New Testament focuses on its continuity with the Old Testament, overcoming any attempt of the Marcionism to separate itself from the Old Testament. Even though Christianity came from the Old Testament, it differentiates itself from other sects coming from different interpretations of the Old Testament. Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity came to be different religions, based on different interpretation of the Old Testament (or the Hebrew Bible). Christianity interprets the Old Testament in the presupposition of the unity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Unlike New Perspective on Paul, Christianity has been formed with its struggle against Jewish legalism. Christianity, without abandoning its identity, should have its dialogue with Rabbinic Judaism. There are three methods in the study about the relation between the Old Testament and the New Testament: the Old Testament solution, the New Testament solution, and the biblical solution. The Biblical solution, based on the unity between the Old Testament and the New testament, interpret the Old Testament in light of the event of Jesus Christ. Examining the Book of Daniel cited in the Book of Revelation, there is a tension between the authority of the Old Testament and new revelation in the New Testament. The Book of Revelation proclaimed the end is coming according to the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy. However, in fact, the description of the end in the Book of Revelation, is beyond Daniel's prophecy, since new prophecy is revealed in light of Jesus Christ. Namely, the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy is in tension with new revelation based in Jesus Christ.

The Bible and the Hebrew Heritage - The Continuity of the Two Testaments

ShinAe Kim | 2018, 24(4) | pp.39~63 | number of Cited : 0

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How to read the Bible? We can’t help but read the Bible through the prism of our religious tradition or affiliation. The prism of our time and social location make a big difference as well. We read the Bible through the prism of our interpretive methods. The prism of theological and historical paradigms we embrace shapes our interpretation. If we are honest with ourselves then we have to admit that we read our Bible through our unique context, in a very subjective way. Moreover, a paradigm is a type of a worldview, a system, a model, a pattern. These paradigms affect one’s identity theology on the deepest level and will shape one’s interpretation of the Bible’s message(s). For example, statues Ecclesia and Synagoga at Strasbourg Cathedral (Notre Dame, c. 1235) represents Judaism and Christianity, Synagogue and Church. Church displays freedom, confidence and authority vs. misery, shame and submission of Synagogue. This paradigm was developed out of early patristic period and remained as a main view into the middle ages. It’s core problem is the supercessionist (replacement) perspective built on the early Church vs. Synagogue polemics, denial of Israel’s spiritual inheritance. It is in considerable tension with Romans 9-11. It should be remembered that the Bible was written predominantly by Jews and to a Jewish audience at first. It was written in the Hebrew soil and culture. The Bible basically reflects the Hebrew view of reality. And it has been transmitted to the Gentile churches. Indeed, the roots of Christianity run deep into Hebrew soil. Much of what is written in the New Testament is incomprehensible apart from its Jewish context. For the Christians of the first Church, the way of “Christian thinking” meant the way of Hebraic thinking. Then what does it mean to have the Jewish/Hebraic viewpoint? That is to redintegrate the Jewishness of the Bible. Why that is so important? Because the most books of the Bible found its primary propensity in the Semitic culture of the ancient neat East. However, though the Hebrew heritage of the Church is rich and extensive, the crop of our understanding about Hebrew heritage and Christian-Jewish relations is quite lean. Therefore, proper reading the Bible and understand the meaning of it is required. Most of all, in reading and interpreting the Bible, inquiry and understanding of Jewish roots is a prerequisite that must be preceded In this article, I will emphasize the importance of the Hebrew heritage that has been treated so passively or superficially in the understanding of the Bible as the basis of Christian faith and doctrine. I will also enumerate some examples of the Hebrew heritage in the Bible texts and also its traditions. Furthermore, as a spiritual child of Abraham, I will see the ties of the church with Israel.

A Feminist reading of the Book of Job

Chol-Gu Kang | 2018, 24(4) | pp.66~93 | number of Cited : 2

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There are not many books in the Old Testament that reveal a feminine perspective. Therefore, it is very valuable to study the book of Job. However, the book of Job which reflects the patriarchal era, is misunderstood as the book against the women. Unfortunately, there were not many attempts to find the dignity and rights of women in the book of Job because of these misunderstandings. In this paper, I will research how to understand women in the book of Job. Rather than focusing on the formation of the book of Job or the historical-critical method for this purpose, I seek to find meaning in the text based on the masoretic text(MT), which we can easily approach, with reference to the contents related to women in the book of Job. At the same time, I use the method of feminist hermeneutics. First of all, women in the prologue or in the conversations of Job with his friends is presented as a negative figure or ignored. Even Job's wife, whose voice was the only women’s voice in the book of Job, is negatively depicted because of her words (Job 2:9 “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”). But the voices of women in the conversation of God with Job and in the epilogue are quite different from those before. In particular, through the description of Job's daughters at the end of the book of Job, women in the book of Job have finally been acknowledged as human beings of the same personality as men, having the image of God (Gen. 1:27). In this paper, I could meet the author of the book of Job, who had break the traditional female image in the ancient Near East and presented new female image as being equivalent to male through his critical view. Through this paper, I hope that understanding of women in the book of Job, which had been misunderstood, will be corrected and at the same time, it will be a chance for us to understand men and women each other as equal beings.

A research of the identity of ambiguous name Qoheleth

Kim Soon Young | 2018, 24(4) | pp.94~124 | number of Cited : 2

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The goal of this study is to reveal the identity of the ambiguous name ‘Qoheleth’ and to assert the constitutive unity of the book of Qoheleth as a whole. The ambiguity of the text language itself and composition that is not concentrated on a single topic, was an annoyance. But when we think differently, ambiguity has indeterminate elements that cannot be read immediately, but it can be a means to convey truth as a paradox. Thus, ambiguity requires readers' close reading, and guides them to face the text with freshness rather than with familiarity. So ambiguity is the author's intended rhetorical strategy. The Hebrew title Qoheleth(1:1) and the combinations of the third person verbs(1:2; 12:8) and the first person discourse(1:12; 1:14 etc.) allowed professional readers to guess the possibility of other editors. However, the title(1:1) and the ending section(12:9-14) constitute the outer frame of the book and represent a functional relationship and the identity of who he/she is. Qoheleth may be a pen name of a functional identity, because it has a definite article (12:8, tl,h,AQh; rm;a'). Especially, the female verb of 'Qoheleth’ (7:27, tl,h,qo hr"m.a') has opened the possibility of a female wisdom teacher. In this context of grammatical gender, Qoheleth may not be King Solomon, the symbol of wisdom, power, and wealth. She/He may be an anonymous wise person like a mother who teaches king Lemuel (Prov 31:1-9), ‘a qualified woman’ who demonstrates the well-being of her family and her social leadership(31:10-31). The possibility that Qoheleth is a woman, will be an antidote and a lesson for a society that has not broken the gender discrimination of leadership. Qoheleth observed various things that happened ‘under the sun’ and answered with the superlative expression ‘hebel’-judgement (1:2; 12:8). In every place of the ordinary life where ambiguity and suffering existed, however, he(she) was active in the name of ‘Qoheleth’ as an intellectual speaker and writer(12:11) in the field of everyday life struggling against confusion and at the places where the public gathered. She/He was a wisdom teacher who searched pleasing words and recorded true words(12:9-10). And she/he looked at the absurdities of all things ‘under the sun’ and honestly expressed skeptical thoughts without hesitation but she/he consistently kept ‘the fear of God’ (3:14; 5:7; 7:18; 8:12, 13) and stressed it to the end (12:13).

Rape, a Private Problem or Public? -A Study on 'Rape on a Female-War' Pattern(s) in the Old Testament-

Youmee Park | 2018, 24(4) | pp.125~155 | number of Cited : 7

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The purpose of this paper is to study the texts of rape on females in Genesis 34, Judges 19 and 2 Samuel 13, and thus to reveal that the sexual violence in the Bible is not just a personal crime, but a social crime that occurs in a variety of power relations in a malecentered, patriarchal culture. In Chapter 2, I examined the social background and the context in which each event took place, and I noted that the Old Testament era was malecentered, patriarchal society, and I found that the communities in which the three events took place were not healthy, ethically and religiously. In Chapter 3, I dealt with rape cases focusing on perpetrators. and I found that the perpetrator with power had rape a weak woman. Shechem was the head of the region and thus the man of power. Gibeah residents had power over outsiders because they were the men of Gibeah, and Amnon had mighty power because he was the first son of David, who was about to succeed the throne. In chapter 4, I found that all the victims were weakest persons in their community, And the perpetrators and the guardians of the victims completely ignored their words and forced them into silence. Jacob, Dinah's father was completely indifferent to the situation, and David, Tamar's father ignored the victim, Tamar, and overturned the sin of Amnon, the perpetrator. In Chapter 6, I summarized the six reasons why individual sex offenses turned into communal wars. First, there is no apology or reflection from the perpetrator. Second, the guardians deal with the crime for the perpetrator or for themselves, not for the victim. Third, on behalf of female victims, male guardians act as victims, and that for their revenge and profits. Fourth, male guardians always revenge excessively. Fifth, there is no leader who ethically and legitimately resolve the crime. Sixth, God is absent. In conclusion, the pattern in which rape cases are linked to wars, is due to a patriarchal, male-centered society that turns away victims, and that makes unreasonable and unethical decisions based on perpetrators. Therefore, sexual offenses should not be treated as individual deviations, because individuals and their society can not be separated from each other.

False peace and True peace: Focused on Micah 4:1-5

Cha, Jun-Hee | 2018, 24(4) | pp.156~178 | number of Cited : 8

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This paper analyzes the meaning of biblical Shalom from the central text of Micah 4:1-5 which includes a key of biblical peace. The expression “Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree” describes peaceful circumstances in the Old Testament. The other three verses (1 Kgs 4:25; 2 Kgs 18:31; Zech 3:10) in the Old Testament that include the expression, are differentiated from what Micah shows as the peace of God. First Kings 4:25 describes peace of Solomon, Second Kings 18:31 peace of Assyria, and Zechariah 3:10 peace of Israel. “Pax Salomonica” was dependent upon heavy payments, tributes caused by suppression and military force. Pax Salomonica is not the true peace which God acknowledges. It is the false peace that excludes self-sacrifice, and it is established on the sacrifice of other people. “Pax Assyrica” is a guaranteed peace from the political submission of Judah. This is not what God wants either. The peace from unilateral submission or humiliation is not the true peace. Even “peace of Israel” which is allowed only to the people of Judah, is limited. The peace that a particular ethnic identity or group can enjoy is not the true peace but the selfish peace or the limited peace. The peace that Micah talks about is the peace not by force and threat but by mediation and compromise. Moreover, this is the peace for all nations, but not for a particular people. True peace is the life under the vine and the fig tree that nobody worries about food, the life that there is no need to fear anyone, and the life that everyone enjoys together. The biblical Shalom of Micah 4:1-5, therefore, is (1) a fruit of mediation and compromise through mutual communications, (2) the world without wars, (3) economic justice that nobody worries about food, (4) social justice that the weak do not fear the strong, and (5) public justice that everyone shares together.

The Symbolic Significance of the Use of Incense in the Ancient Egyptian and Israelite Rituals

SunMyung Lyu | 2018, 24(4) | pp.180~203 | number of Cited : 2

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

2018, Vol.24, No.4