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The term catena is a Latin word, which means 'chain'. Catenae are chains of commentaries on biblical books. In the commentaries the texts of the biblical books themselves are imbedded. A Greek catena with commentaries on the book of Job was completed no later than the sixth century. There are two Slavonic translations of this Catena of the Book of Job. One of them was made at the very beginning of the 15th century in the Hilandar Monastery and is preserved in manuscript 202 kept in the National Historical Museum in Moscow, the Synodal collection. It was written in the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos in 1412 by the monk Gabriel. The same translation is probably preserved in manuscript 96 kept in the Library of the Rumanian Academy in Bucharest. The text was written on 278 folios (paper) with Middle Bulgarian orthography by the scribe Vissarion. The other translation was made no later than the first half of the 15th century, most probably in one of the large Balkan (maybe Bulgarian) scriptoria. It is preserved in manuscript 1/4 kept in the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria. It dates from the end of the fifteenth century. It was written on paper with Resava orthography and contains 272 folios. The same translation has an abridged version, in which the biblical text is written in the centre of the folio and some portions of the commentaries are given in the margins. This version is preserved in one manuscript kept in the Rila Monastery, 4/14, dating from 1456 and written with Resava orthography by the famous bookman Vladislav the Grammmarian. Further, there is an earlier translation of the Book of Job with the commentaries of Olympiodorus. In all likelihood, this translation was made very early; maybe the biblical book was translated by St. Methodius. It is preserved in manuscript № 6 kept in the Chudov collection in the National Historical Museum in Moscow, written in 1394 with Russian orthography. The same translation without commentaries is copied in the Middle Bulgarian manuscript from the fourteenth century F.I.461, kept in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. A comparison of the texts of the different translations of the Book of Job and the commentaries is made in this article.
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The discussion uses an extract from the Nag Hammadi „Apocalypse of Adam“ (NHC V,5) to throw light on the distinctive features of Old Testament interpretation in Gnostic writings.The biblical narrative describing „Adam and Eve´s Fall“ fascinated the Gnostics, because it dealt with the central questions of man´s origin and nature. The Coptic Apocalypse of Adam, which shows evidence of a complex textual history, borrows fundamental aspects of the paradise story (such as the creation of Adam and Eve from the soil, desire, knowledge, the entrance of the creator, and mortality), but subjects them to a polemical reinterpretation characteristic of Gnostic writing in general (in this case with a denouement dictated by fate, the denial of „the Fall of Man“, a destructive intervention by the „evil“ Demiurge, and an exoneration of the humans). The story, however, is structured around motifs that are absent from Genesis:The protagonist is a more or less divine, perfect being, whose pride provokes the deadly attack by the angry god, and the drama ends with punishment in „darkness“. A prime candidate for an underlying text is Ezekiel 28, which is well known to have much in common with the account in Genesis. A comparison of the Gnostic version of Adam´s „Fall“ with the prophet´s lament on the „downfall of the mighty ruler“ shows that the representation of man´s beginnings in ApcAd owes a lot to Ezekiel 28:11-19 (LXX).The discussion comes to the conclusion: Ezekiel 28 is the mythological foundation on which the story of man`s origin and Fall in the Apocalypse of Adam is based.
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Biblia gocka była wielokrotnie wydawana, do najważniejszych wydań należą: Junius (1665), Bezelius (1750), Gabelentz and Loebe (1836), Bernhardt (1875), Streitberg (1908-1910, 1919). Pierwsze wydania dotyczyły tylko kodeksu Argenteus, ponieważ był to jedyny dostępny rękopis Biblii gockiej. Od końca XVIII odkrywane były nowe rękopisy, wydania zostały poszerzone o nowe partie tekstu biblijnego. Wydania te zazwyczaj zawierały tekst łaciński lub grecki, w rezultacie mogli z nich korzystać również i bibliści. Niestety germaniści tłumaczący tekst grecki nie zawsze trzymają się wiernie tekstu gockiego, a proponowany przez nich hipotetyczny tekst grecki bazuje albo na Kodeksie Aleksandryjskim (Bernhardt), albo teorii Hermanna von Sodena (Streitberg). Z tego też powodu gocki przekład prawie w ogóle nie jest cytowany w krytycznych wydaniach greckiego Nowego Testamentu.
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The purpose of the present study is to offer an overall perspective of the historic of Epistle to the Colossians’ interpretation. Ever since the 2nd century, we can remark an intense debate regarding the contents of the epistle, in the context of Gnosticism’s development, reaching a peak in the 4th century, where the dispute revolved around the Christological accent. In the philokalic times, the focus of the interpretation will transit from the first two chapters of the Epistle, onto the third, chapter dedicated to understanding the Christian’s mystical relationship with God in Christ. Starting with the Reform, especially in the last two centuries, the focus of the interpretation is determined by the new debates in the field of the epistle’s isagogy.
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In this research paper, we intend to offer the reader the possibility of becoming more familiar with the main types of biblical commentaries through an exegetic exercise centred round Psalm 4. The choice of the supporting text is not at all random since, even from ancient times, the psalms have benefitted from the attention of an impressive number of scholars and have been the beginning of both dialogue and controversy between religions (Christianity and Judaism) and Christian denominations. Throughout the exegetical analysis, we took into consideration the rigors of the Critical approach, which we correlated with the rabbinic and patristic commentaries in order to accomplish a very ample interpretation. Even if these commentators did not entirely agree, rather than bringing to relief their interpretative differences, we tried to underline the common elements existing in the specific manner of interpretation of each exegetical school. Thus, the complexity of this isagogic, exegetical and theological study resides in the fact that it approaches the text of the psalm from a literary, allegorical and spiritual point of view and it can become a hermeneutical paradigm for those who wish to study the Holy Scriptures with scientific and spiritual accuracy.
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The importance of healing in the biblical texts is determined by the use of a precise terminology, which designates multiple therapeutic actions. Analysing the Greek language of healing in the Gospel of John can prove this. The central lexical element around the theme of healing developed in the Gospel of John is the Greek adjective ὑγιής. Used as an antithetical description to the noun ἀσθένεια, this adjective indicates, according to the Gospel of John, a new existential reality concretised in a new moral life. The main thesis of the paper is that the Johannine term ὑγιής involves a holistic existential dimension of human health. An important part before analysing the occurrences of ὑγιής in the New Testament is given by the need of etymological foundation for conceptualizing the health in the Greek world and in the same time the need of emphasizing the Old Testament Hebrew and Judeo-Hellenist perspectives on health. This will give us the possibility to determine the importance of the Johannine healing terminology in the precise social, historical, cultural and linguistic context.
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Our study is trying to identify the main instruction of the Transfiguration story, reflecting St. Luke’s point of view, using both patristic opinions and helpful modern commentaries. Apostle Luke depicts an original version of the Transfiguration Mountain: eight days passed after the promise of seeing the Kingdom of God; the transfiguration of Christ happens while He was praying; the noun ἔξοδονpoints out Lucanic original vision etc. The foremost kerygma that the disciples are about to learn is that of their own personal transfiguration, the only path of rediscovering the lost Image of a liturgical membership. The presence of the most towering prophets of the Old Testament here on the mountain, certify that before you enter into the Kingdom of God, you have to cross the Golgotha scene, a journey that all of us have to take in order to inherit eternal life. Trying to achieve a proper exegesis of the Sacred Texts is not easy to reach, that is why our work is far from being accomplished.
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W artykule postawiono pytanie o pochodzenie i znaczenia wyrażenia z Mt 1,25a. Przeanalizowano wszystkie starotestamentowe teksty, w których czasownik poznać ([dy) pojawia się na oznaczenie współżycia seksualnego i występuje z przeczeniem, co prowadzi do wniosku, że Mt 1,25 bazuje na Rdz 24,16; 38,26b i 1 Krl 1,4. Maria, matka Jezusa, została ukazana jako nowa Rebeka i Tamar, a Józef jako nowy Juda i Dawid.
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This is an exegetical and theological essay on the cross of Jesus in New Testament writings considered as acceptance of his violent death and an integral part of his mission. Jewish religious leaders handed Jesus over to the Roman occupying power to be sentenced to death because they believed he was a dangerous false teacher of faith and a self-styled prophet who was seducing their people. The author sees the hymn of Phil 2:6-11 as the oldest written testimony explaining the shocking death of Jesus on the cross. St. Paul took this hymn from the Jerusalem community of the first Christians using Greek in their liturgy, only three years after his encounter with the risen Christ on his journey to Damascus in about AD 36. The author of the Third Gospel in presenting the death of Jesus appreciated the Greek culture of his audience at the time and therefore pointed out that Jesus on his cross was not primarily the Suffering Servant of God according to ls 53 (vicarious death, as in Paul) but the contested Righteous Man (dikaios) open to God and his fellow humans while suffering a violent death on the cross. St. Luke illustrates this through three sayings of Jesus from the cross that are unique to Luke’s account. )n John’s Gospel Jesus’s death on the cross is a physical and spiritual elevation of the Son of God (hysphotēnai dei - John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32). In John, by saying „tetelestai – it is finished“ (John 19:32) Jesus accepts his violent death and dies aware that he has fulfilled his life’s mission. According to John 19:37 and Revelation 1:7 Christians are baptized men and women who look with repentance, faith and hope to the Pierced One.
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The Old Testament of the Holy Bible is an eternal source of theology and priesthood. That is why the preacher needs to know how to harness in his preacher the Old Testament of the Holy Bible as it is the only way he will be able to interpret the New Testament. As such, the Old Testament is entirely a true source of theological and pedagogical ideas that fulfills and enlightens any teacher or Christian undoubtedly towards the new beginning under the guidance of Christ.
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Job’s final complaint and avowal of innocence in chapters 29–31 in the book of Job has been identified as the culmination of Old Testament ethics. Its significant role within the structural framework of the book has been recognized forevermore. On the one hand, the paper considers the social background of the authors of the book of Job (and chapters 29–31) and underlines their focus on the upper class social situation. On the other hand, based on many Old Testament polemic texts against ruler’s fundamental corruptness, similar tendency is also observed in particular texts in the book of Job. The more religiously, nationally, and even fundamentally minded members of society have often clearly challenged the elite’s worldview. This contradiction is, hence, regarded in the light of redaction critical thesis that Job’s final speech is a secondary addition. There are listed many reasons to claim the secondary nature of the speech. This paper comes to the conclusion that Job’s final complaint and avowal is a polemical addition which can be seen as a reaction, especially of people who do not belong to the extremist groups, to the tendency of challenging elite’s worldview.
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According to Paul the three concepts—the temple, the body, and the inmost self of the human being—are related to each other in many and quite complicated ways. For the Jews, the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem were holy, since they represented the presence of God in Israel. Paul regarded human bodies as the temples of the Holy Spirit within them. Like the temples, human bodies belong to God. According to Paul the body is like a common denominator or a link between the concepts of the temple, the individual human body and the community. Paul used the word body to designate human physical existence and to refer to the collective, social body, and he made this double meaning understandable to his readers.
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Lange Zeit herrschte unter den Theologen eine recht einmütige Meinung, dass das Johannesevangelium am Ende des ersten Jahrhunderts geschrieben worden ist. Diese Einschätzung beruhte auf den dramatischen Ereignissen, die im Judentum stattfanden. Im Judentum des ersten Jahrhunderts, aus dem auch das Christentum entsprang, gab es verschiedene Bewegungen. Solange man sich um den Tempel sammelte, konnte das Judentum durchaus unterschiedliche Ideologien erdulden. Als der Tempel aber zerstört wurde, verlor das Judentum einen zentralen, zusammenbindenden Stützpunkt. Jetzt wurde eine innere Reinigung des Judentums notwendig. Gemeinsam mit anderen Abweichlern wurden auch die Judenchristen mit dem Bann belegt. Im Johannesevangelium kommen neben anderen Themen auch leigene Probleme der Johannes-Schule zum Ausdruck, darunter die traumatischen Erlebnisse, die sich aus dem Ausschluss vom Judentum ergaben. Ebenso ist zu sehen, dass man versucht hat, mithilfe des Evangeliums den Spalt zwischen der Johannes-Schule und den Anhängern Johannes des Täufers zu überwinden. Während für die Judenchristen die dramatischen Ereignisse gleichsam mit dem „Großputz“ des Judentums einhergingen, begannen diese für die Johannes-Schule oder zumindest für ihren Kern bereits wesentlich früher. Die hellenistischen Judenchristen mussten nämlich wegen ihrer Verfolgung die Gemeinschaft der Juden und auch die Synagoge verlassen; zuerst in Jerusalem und dann auch in Damaskus. Das traf die jüdische Identität ins Mark, und stellte die Legitimität ihrer Tätigkeit in Frage. Diese bitteren Erfahrungen mussten bearbeitet und in Worte gefasst werden. Man musste intensiv nach Antworten auf die christologischen Fragen, vor allem im Bezug auf den Tod Christi, suchen. Die Probleme zwischen dem Judentum und Christentum, die Frage nach Prioritäten: wer ist wichtiger, der Täufer oder Jesus, und eine Menge weiterer Fragen brauchten eine sofortige Antwort. Hätte sich die Beantwortung dieser Fragen hingezogen, hätte dies auf das Glaubensleben dieser Christen zerstörerische Auswirkungen haben können. So bestand ein dringender Bedarf, aber auch eine Gelegenheit, das Evangelium bereits in den 40ern oder 50ern Jahren zu schreiben. Diese Jahre könnten somit die Verfassungszeit des Johannesevangeliums sein.
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The prophet Daniel, like many compatriots, was taken prisoner of war in Babylon after the military expedition of the year 605 BC Jerusalem, military campaign led by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The prophet Daniel wrote his prophetic book, the book that bears his name, written in a symbolic language, in the manner of military strategists who conveyed the messages in a symbolically encoded.
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Isus u času smrti “povika iza glasa: ‘Bože moj, Bože moj, zašto si me ostavio?’”. Vapaj nalazimo u dva sinoptička Evanđelja: u Marka (Mk 15,34) i u Mateja (Mt 27,46); Luka, čiji je Isus ostvarenje grčkog ideala ljudske veličine u ljepoti i dobroti, kao posljednje Isusove riječi navodi: “Oče, u ruke tvoje predajem duh svoj” (Lk 23,46), dok su u Ivana, čiji je Isus proslavljeni Krist i u času umiranja, one: “Dovršeno je” (Iv 19,30). Marko navodi Isusove riječi na pučkom aramejskom onoga doba: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabahtani?”, a Matej u liturgijskoj verziji “Eli, Eli, lama sabahtani?”1 (što je, uz riječ “abba”, tata, kojom se Isus obraćao Bogu kao nježnom ocu, jedino mjesto na kojem se pojav ljuje iskaz u jeziku kojim se Isus najvjerojatnije služio).
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The first part of this study deals with the diverging biblical traditions and the current archaeological debates regarding Jerusalem in the pre-monarchic period. The second (main) part presents an annotated Hungarian translation (parallel to the Akkadian transcription) of the Amarna Letters EA 285-290 sent by Abdi-Heba, the ruler of Jerusalem, to the Egyptian court.
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he paper is devoted to analysing the reception in imperial Russia of the “Sermon in the Miasopustnaia Week on the End of the World”, an essay by the fifteenth-century Christian writer Pseudo- Hippolytus. This sermon reflects one of the basic points of Christian tradition – eschatology. This essay, along with other eschatological compositions, has enriched and complemented Christian representations of the Last Judgement. Pseudo- Hippolytus’ sermon was extremely popular among literate Russian Old Believer circles, and indeed they created an illustrated variant. This paper studies the miniatures of this manuscript kept in the Laboratory for Archaeographical Studies at the Ural Federal University. After examining the early Christian compositions that were at the basis of Pseudo- Hippolytus’ work, the author subjects the iconography of the manuscript to comparative analysis. Here she considers other Russian depictions of the Last Judgement in icon painting frescos, and other manuscripts. Finally, the author examines iconographic elements imported into Russian book culture from the West.
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This article explores the problem of heroic adaptation of biblical narratives in Anglo-Saxon England. The analysis focuses on the presentation of two characters: Christ and Satan. The readers will be briefly introduced to the reality of religious poetry entering the world of Anglo-Saxon poetical tradition by the discussion of a phenomenon presented in a legendary fashion by Caedmon’s Hymn and the story of Caedmon in Bede’s chronicle. Then the article proceeds to discuss the portrayal of Christ as a heroic figure in The Dream of the Rood, and the depiction of Satan as a rebellious thane in Genesis B. This paper strives to present adaptations of Biblical themes in terms of the use of elements originating from the Anglo-Saxon heroic tradition, and focuses especially on comitatus and loyalty.
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The present article aims at depicting the Lord’s Prayer as being rooted in the Jewish literature and theology. The article consists of three parts. In the first part, the text of „Our Father” prayer was analyzed for its connection to Judaism. The analysis encompassed two questions: firstly, a study of the prayer’s composition, which contains characteristics typical to Jewish texts; secondly - an analysis of the theological content, which also is strongly rooted in the theology of Judaism of Jesus’ times. The second part of the article contains a search for a theological basis for possible common worship for Christians and Jews. The starting point to that is an analysis of the Jewish and Christian understanding of God’s fatherhood. The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer of Jesus’ disciples, who in him receive a share of the special dignity of God’s children, which allows for them to call God Abba. The Jews also understand one’s relationship to God in terms of a Father-child relationship. Their understanding of divine filiation, however, differs from the Christian one. The third part of the article is a search for a common ground connecting the Jewish and Christian prayer. This may be found in the first petition of „Our Father”, the content of which is similar to that of the Jewish Kaddish. This petition - to hallow God’s name - is indeed a request for God that He gather all His children in one.
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