According to the Aristotelian philosophy of science, the principles of demonstation do not themselves need to be proved. Why not? What is peculiar to them? To show that, Scholasticism makes use of a phrase derived from Boethius: the principles are "per se nota" ("selbstverstandlich" in the German translation adopted in this work). Thomas Aquinas in particular addresses in a few telling passages in his works the conditions that make a proposition "per se nota." This work tries to clarify the conditions stated by Aquinas. On the one hand it illustrates the context in which these conditions are...

This book deals with the so-called "Blessing of Jacob" (Genesis 49) in all its aspects, discussing philological, literary and historical problems. After an introductory chapter a thoroughly discussed translation of Genesis 49 and an analysis of its poetical structure are presented, followed by the discussion of the genre-definition "tribal saying" (Stammesspruch), and a synchronic and diachronic analysis of Genesis 49 in its literary context (Gen. 47:29-49:33). The remarkable results of this analysis are finally discussed in relation to Israel's history. It is suggested that only part...

Exegesis starts with the delimitation of the pericope to be interpreted. Yet the principles for selecting passages which form the part of departure for the exegete are seldom made explicit and if one compares various commentaries and Bible translations, it soon becomes apparent that this lack of methodical transparency gives rise to a lot of confusion and dissent.
In this work the authors make use of text divisions found in ancient Hebrew, Greek and Syriac manuscripts of Isaiah 40-55 (Deutero-Isaiah). For the first time the poetic structure of the text is based on controllable evidence...

The Isaiah 'Apocalypse', Isaiah 24-27, is an enigmatic text. Linguistic structure and literary composition can not be discerned easily. The contributions to this volume, the result of studies and discussions which have taken place in the Dutch Isaiah Workshop, treat various aspects of this problem. The overall structure of the 'Apocalypse' is investigated from three rather new points of view, that of text syntax, verse structure and traditional, e.g. Massoretic, segmentation. Other studies of this volume deal with difficult passages and interesting themes. Attention is also given to the most...

Exile and Return have caused a crisis in Israelite religion. This crisis eventually gave the impetus for the emergence of Judaism. The papers in this volume, originally read at a Symposium organized by Utrecht University in April 1998, discuss the relevant aspects of this crisis and the shift from Yahwism to Judaism. The collection of papers is unique in presenting a multidimensional treatment of the problems involved. Biblical texts are read against their historical background with the question in mind: How did the author(s) of this text cope with the changed and shifting situation? Next to...

In the politico-religious history of the Deuteronomists, past, present and future mingle in an often inextricable way. Long obsolete traditions, which had been unacceptable to the Davidic dynasty, were rediscovered and adapted to the aims of the Deuteronomists. Personages of the past were
condemned and blackened in the light of the new ideology, whereas others were glorified and embellished as heroes of faith because their ideas suited the historians.
This inevitably raises the question whether the Bible can be trusted as a source book for writing a history of Israel. Apparently not,...

Interpretation of the psalmist's assertions about their upright behaviour towards God or men in Psalms 7, 17, 18, 26, and 44. After a short introduction, the study presents a detailed analysis of Psalms 7, 17, 18, 26, and 44 (text, philology, exegesis). It evaluates previous views of the intention and setting of the psalmist's claims regarding their upright behaviour, such as Beyerlin's theory that the psalms involved were originally used as prayers in a cultic trial by ordeal. It presents a new hypothesis with respect to the purport of the claims. Its subject matter and method make this...

This study concentrates on four narratives in the Old Testament in which books, especially the Book of the Torah, play a key role: Deuteronomy 9-10 and 31:24-26, 2 Kings 22-23, Jeremiah 36, and Nehemiah 8. In the first part of this book the composition of the texts are analysed. In the second part, which has the title 'Re-reading', the various connections and references are listed and evaluated. The conclusion is that the position of the Book of the Torah is strategic: it connects the component parts of the canon of the Old Testament into a whole. This study is a major contribution to the...