In Old Testament exegesis a gap is widening between the adherents of the "diachronic," historical-critical approach and those who out of dissatisfaction with both the results and the methods of this "classical" approach opt for a wide variety of "synchronic" approaches. The Ninth Joint Meeting of the Dutch "Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap" and the British "Society for Old Testament Study," held at Kampen 28-31 August 1994, brought together partisans from both camps who engaged in a most interesting and fruitful debate on one of the major methodological issues confronting modern O.T....

This book forms a contribution to the vexing question of the origin and growth of the Targum to the Prophets. It provides an in-depth analysis of the Targum of Judges on the basis of new materials (unpublished manuscripts), a new tool (bilingual concordance) and a new method (analysis of consistency).
A critical review of previous research concerning the Targum's origin and growth is followed by an analysis and collations of many Western manuscripts, a systematic comparison of the Targum with the ancient translations, a study of its exegetical traditions and a thorough examination of its...

This study deals with the intricate problem of the deuteronomistic composition of the book of Kings. Its particular aim is to reconstruct the compositional process underlying the final chapters of Kings. The literary-critical assessment of these chapters is a central issue in various theoretical models on the composition of the Deuteronomistic History.
The author draws attention to the - often crucial - importance assigned to the Manasseh pericope and related passages in this assessment. He notes that in many models the appraisal of these texts appears to result from general theoretical...

In this volume the presupposition is investigated whether women in a polytheistic society had a better position than women in a monotheistic society. To this end the social and religious position of women in Ugarit according to its literary texts is compared to that of women in Israel according to the Hebrew Bible, while the wider context of the ancient Near East is also taken into consideration.
After an overview of feminist biblical exegesis, the book discusses the roles of women in the family and in society. It also provides an analysis of the roles of women as religious specialists and...

Jeremiah's "Little Book of Consolation" is an intruiging text that provokes a series of interpretative difficulties. Is the text originally from Jeremiah? Can it be construed as a literary coherence or is a complex literary process of emergence to be accepted? What is meant by the 'New Covenant'? In this monograph Jer. 30-31 is read applying a variety of methods. The text-critical chapter argues for the reinforcement of the editorial theory according to which MT and LXXJer. are to be construed as two different versions. Much attention is paid to the delimitation criticism of these two...

Formal and thematic devices demonstrate that Hebrew poetry is composed of a consistent pattern of cantos (stanzas) and strophes. The formal devices include quantitative balance on the level of cantos in terms of the number of verselines, verbal repetitions and transition markers.