Search Results (5)

Studies on the presence of the Old Testament (OT) in the New Testament (NT) have evolved significantly over time. Scholars have moved from a focus on identifying the textual version employed by the evangelists to attempts to systematize the various levels of the OT’s presence, classifying them as quotations, allusions, or echoes. In reality, biblical references permeate the NT, often going unnoticed. Unveiling them and, above all, approaching them through the interpretative logic characteristic of Judaism at the turn of the era imparts a surplus of meaning to the NT text. This is what this article demonstrates through an example from the Gospel according to Mark. There is no doubt about the strong biblical resonances in the passage describing Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem (Mk 11:1-11). In addition to a quotation from Psalm 118 (Mk 11:9-10), scholars recognize an allusion to Genesis and multiple references to texts from the book of Zechariah. This article will illustrate how drawing upon Jewish exegetical tradition from the turn of the era sheds light both on the way these OT references are interpreted and on how the various biblical references interconnect, enriching and expanding the meaning of the Gospel passage. Full article

This article explores the ethics of “speaking” the artistic languages or idioms of diverse cultures in the earliest Christian communities. This article presents a key New Testament text, the Song of Zechariah (the Benedictus in Luke 1:68–79), as a poetic text meant for communal performance and examines that cultural phenomenon through the lens of “musical caring” to examine the meaning such a poetic phenomenon has for modern Christian life and worship. First, I will briefly summarize the evidence for the Song of Zechariah as a lyrical poem containing the artistic “multilingualism” of both Hebrew and Greek poetic idioms. Then, I will assess such an artistic communal expression in its first-century context with Myrick’s concept of musical caring, broadened to allow for uncertainty of the Song of Zechariah’s first-century performance methods. Finally, I will consider the twenty-first-century implications or lessons from such care and inclusivity in the first century. Full article

Hag/Zech 1–8 and Ezr/Neh have in common that they are often rated as primary sources when it comes to the development of Second Temple Judaism(s). Consequently, it is mostly assumed that the Persian governors of Judah (like the Persian kings) significantly contributed to the (re-)formation of the Jewish community in Jerusalem after the exile: Zerubbabel built the temple, Nehemiah the wall of Jerusalem. As a rule of thumb, literary analysis within these books, if applied at all, is less critical than elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. However, a literary critical approach gives rise to serious doubts about the historic reliability of these accounts. Based on a literary critical analysis of the relevant texts from Hag/Zech 1–8 and Neh, this article aims to show that it is only in the course of redaction history that the office of governor of Judah is ascribed to both individuals. Thus, the attribution of the office of governor to them reflects theological interests and concerns in the early Second Temple Period rather than the historical reality. As the texts not only attribute aspects of royal leadership to Zerubbabel and Nehemiah as governors of Judah, but also present the holders of a Persian office as custodians of Jewish interests (temple and Torah), it will be argued that the texts contribute to the political and religious reorganization of Judaism and, thus, to the formation of a collective Jewish identity. Full article

This article analyzes representations of the Persian king Darius and his officials in the Books of Haggai, Zechariah 1–8, and Ezra 4–6 in the current Hebrew Bible. These writings, produced in the Persian period or somewhat later, portray these literary characters in various ways in relation to the restoration of the community, city, and temple of YHWH in Jerusalem. In biblical scholarship, the main interest has been to scrutinize the conditions behind the textual representations of Darius, related to dating the selected texts and the temple restoration, as well as Darius’s role as the central supplier of Achaemenid imperial ideology. The current study suggests refocusing by highlighting the historical significance of the literary imaginations of this monarch. What is at stake is not the historical Darius or the officials Zerubbabel, Sheshbazzar, and Tattenai, but rather literary representations of them suiting the needs of those who produced them. In Haggai and Zechariah 1–8, Darius’s role in the temple restoration is downplayed, while in Haggai, Zerubbabel is represented by a blend of Yahwistic and imperial signs and symbols, and in Zechariah 1–8, the imperial connotations are toned down. This is while Zerubbabel is decisive for authorizing both the temple community and the prophet. In Ezra 4–6, Darius is one of many Persian kings engaged in the restoration of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. While Zerubbabel gains support from the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, Sheshbazzar brings the vessels back to Jerusalem and lays the foundations of the temple on King Cyrus’s command. At the same time, Tattenai gets Cyrus’s order confirmed and, apart from that, is asked to stay away from the works of the Yehudites. By analyzing the representations of Darius and other Persian officials through a cultural-historical lens, selection and perspectivization are stressed. The selected writings convey local negotiations of power relations with the empire in terms of keeping a position in the imperial hierarchy while, at the same time, cultivating the identity of their subaltern group through certain symbols, institutions, and practices. Full article

This paper reports the research carried out using Structure from Motion survey techniques, which were developed on the basis of previous surveys and their subsequent representation through two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) drawings of the tomb, comparing them with drawings and watercolors by several painters of the past. This survey technique enables the reconstruction of three-dimensional models through photographs. The aim of this work is to define a procedural process which allows accurate and reliable three-dimensional reconstructions to be performed for the acquisition of knowledge and the dissemination of cultural heritage, taking advantage of representation and visualization techniques that have been developed in the last decade and that are based on historical references. The variety of digital products which can be produced (video games, 3D models, prints, websites, and augmented reality applications) allows a different approach to the representation to be taken, thereby re-evaluating limits, aims, and expressive potential. The virtual representative systems, enriched with cultural content, scientific information, and data, enhance the participation and awareness of knowledge of the final users of the products and are able to increase the interaction between the user and the information. Full article