2020, Vol.26, No.1

A Study on the Boundary between Acceptance and Rejection of Balaam: Centered on Numbers 22-24

Kim Ju-Hwan | 2020, 26(1) | pp.14~36 | number of Cited : 1

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Numbers 22-24 records two aspects of Balaam. One aspect is Balaam as a prophet who blessed Israel and explained to Balak, who had hired him to curse her, why he could not do. The other is Balaam as a man of no discernment who did not only reversed Yahweh’s command not to accompany those sent by Balak, but also wielded violence against his donkey that tried to detour the road to save himself from Yahweh’s messenger. Although Balaam is negatively evaluated in the Old Testament and considered even in Numbers as the one who planned the heresy of Peor, the author of Numbers recorded the story of Balaam in many pages of Numbers 22-24. The reason was that Israel needed external testimony, not only her own claim, in taking over the land of Canaan and settling in it. Therefore, the author accepted Balaam’s prophecy and rejected his conduct. On the one hand, if the author intended to evaluate Balaam only negatively, he could have selected and recorded only the negative aspects of Balaam. For it would have been easy for him to jump on the atmosphere of the negative evaluation of Balaam which is recorded throughout the Old Testament. On the other, if there were reasons why the author had to positively evaluate Balaam by force of necessity, he could have recorded only the positive aspects of Balaam. However, a double description of Balaam was possible to the author of Numbers because there were parts to accept from Balaam and parts to reject as well. The author strengthened Israel’s justification for advancing into the land of Canaan by accepting Balaam’s prophecy on her and justified Balaam’s death by ostracizing his conduct. Balaam's prophecy, which justified Israel’s ownership of the land of Canaan, could be utilized for various purposes in various times, transcending the date of Numbers. In an era when Israel was at odds with her neighboring countries in her history, the story of Balaam could have claimed her status, and in the post-exilic period it could have been used as the theological basis for the validity of the return of the captives who were to return to the Promised Land. After all, the boundary between acceptance and rejection of Balaam between words and deeds is the result of literary activities that the author can choose as needed.

Study on the settlement of the Palestine southern tribes and the fulfillment of the promise for the land in Judges 1:9-15

Pong Dae Im | 2020, 26(1) | pp.37~59 | number of Cited : 2

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Judges 1:9-15 implies the process of the combination between the southern tribes and Judah. They show that God's promise for the land is fulfilled and continued, not just through the blood ties, but through their faith and positive acts to get the desired land in the early history of Israel. In this paper, Judges 1:9-15 will be analysed critically verse by verse. Here, the parallel texts between Joshua and Judges are compared. Also, the traditional and socio-scientific approach to the characters, Caleb, Othniel, and Achsah, as Caleb's daughter and Othniel's wife, will be dealt with carefully, so that it will disclose how the southern tribes received the desired land and were brought together with Judah as a part of the promised people of God. Judges 1:9-15 has obvious historical backgrounds, which should be treated with the traditional and socio-scientific perspectives. History is not a simple sum of past people and facts, but it reflects the situations at that time when the historians search the records. The accounts of the occupation of Judah including the text, Judges 1:9-15, implied some political and theological influence under the kingdom of David and were placed at the beginning of the book of Judges. The traditions of Caleb and Othniel were absorbed in the history of Judah. Achsah's marriage and asking her father for the desired land shows a role model of the faith to accomplish God's promise as an instructional function. The narrative of Caleb, Othniel and Achsah is an example of Israel asking and receiving land, if they fulfil the covenant. Caleb's dauthter Achsah, who married Othniel, is especially a role model to show how God's promise for the land would actually be fulfilled. Achsah knows how to use her influence to realize her wishes, and she is amply rewarded: she and her husband receive land to plant seed and she is given not one well, but two. Her active and positive attitude resembled her father Caleb who was very faithful to get the promised land of God. Caleb and Achsah shows that the promise of God will be fulfilled and continued by the people who believe in it and positively act to realize it.

A Study on the Causes of Destruction of Publicity of Economic Justice by the Land Monopoly Shown in Job: Centered on Job 24:1-12

hangeuncho | 2020, 26(1) | pp.60~91 | number of Cited : 3

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The purpose of this study is to examine the cause of the destruction of public interest in economic justice through the land monopoly Shown in Job 24. Job 24 describes the social dysfunctions that resulted from the man of power taking over the land of the poor against the backdrop of agrarian society The underlying cause is changes in land ownership have destroyed the public interest of economic justice by the monopoly of wealth by a small number of powers. In other words, land ownership was overly monopolized by some powers, and the economic structure of Judah, which was an agricultural society, was dominated by specific classes. In the end, the land monopoly was responsible for disrupting the economic order of the society of ancient Judah and deepening inequality. Thus Job 24 describes in detail the consequences of economic inequality caused by the land monopoly. In particular, Job 24 describes the process and the consequences of the ruthless extortion of land and its attached assets by those in power to maintain the monopolistic status of wealth. This was an economically unequal social change. This meant the collapse of the traditional land system, which became a cause to undermine social publicity by breaking the sense of economic equality and bringing about the partiality of wealth. This economic environment forced the poor to be out of the society, to lose their place in life, and to become wanderers or serfs (Job 24: 4, 10, 11). The reason why those in powers were able to monopolize the land because the judicial functions did not work properly. The judicial malfunction increased the poorest by enabling excessive mortgage-setting and then easy seizure of the possessions of the poor who were subjugated to the land. In other words, the functions of the trial rather impaired economic fairness, creating a corrupt court and providing those in power with justification for the recovery of their bonds at random regardless of their purpose and scope. Therefore, Job 24, displays the contents that the problems of individual's suffering generated bcauseof social publicity's being destroyed by inequality due to the lack of economic justice. This paper So I looked at how the monopoly of land destroyed the public interest and disrupted economic order in Job 24.

The Dynamic Relationship Between Wisdom and Creation in Proverbs 8:22-31

Youn Hyung | 2020, 26(1) | pp.93~119 | number of Cited : 3

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Reconsidering the Meaning of the Water in Zechariah 14:8, Joel 3:18, Ezekiel 47:1-12 through the Utilization of Literal/Symbolic Indicator

Seung-In Song | 2020, 26(1) | pp.120~147 | number of Cited : 3

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A Study on Implication of Translated bible word ‘Sok-Geon-Jae(속건제, a guilt offering)’ -Focused on LEV 5:14~6:7

Seo, Shinhye , YI， SUN HUI | 2020, 26(1) | pp.150~173 | number of Cited : 5

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The Social Background of the Translater of Chronicles

KWAK, UN SUNG | 2020, 26(1) | pp.174~197 | number of Cited : 2

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

2020, Vol.26, No.1