11.1 | The Death of Herod the Great and the Latin Josephus: Re-Examining the
Twenty-Second Year of Tiberius Raymond J. Jachowski Brownback’s United Church of Christ, Spring City, PA, USA It was W.E. Filmer who challenged the long-accepted date of 4 BCE interpreted
by Emil Schürer for the death of Herod the Great, consequently proposing a date of
1 BCE, basing this evidence, in part, on a sixth-century Latin translation of
Josephus’s Antiquities of the Jews, which placed the death of Herod’s
successor, Philip the Tetrarch, ‘during the twenty-second year of Tiberius’. This is
contrary to the original Greek that reads the ‘twentieth year of Tiberius’. This
article re-examines the historical evidence for the ‘twenty-second year of Tiberius’
in the Latin Josephus and reaffirms the traditional date of Herod’s death in 4 BCE.
It also proposes a solution to the apparent discrepancies between the years of the
reign of Herod’s successors in the Jewish War and the Antiquities of the
Jews and the dating of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
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11.2 | John 9.38-39a: A Scribal Interjection for Literary Reinforcement Chris S. Stevens McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON, Canada In the continued search for the ‘original’ text, John 9.38-39a proves to be
an addition. Standard text critical practices of external and internal criteria are
utilized. External evidence shows the textual absence is widespread and early.
Internally, the text represents a marked break from Johannine style. Additionally, a
new method of analysis is put forward using form criticism of the healing narratives
in John and the Synoptics, which indicates that the text is inconsistent with other
New Testament writings. John 9.38a-39 appears to be a later scribal emendation to
strengthen literary features of John’s Gospel for liturgical and narratological
purposes. |
11.3 | From Prophet to Waiter: Habakkuk's Cameo Appearance in the Apocryphal Additions
to Daniel David J. Fuller McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON, Canada In Bel and the Dragon, Habakkuk is flown in from Judah by an angel to deliver
food to Daniel in the lions’ den. This study investigates the use of the Old
Testament in Bel 33-39 and the significance of this intertextuality for a
firstcentury BCE Jewish audience. Bel 33-39 uses various texts from the Old
Testament, resulting in a creative story that summons up an array of images relating
primarily to miraculous provision, for the purpose of informing a first-century BCE
Jewish audience that God was with them and that a time of restoration was
forthcoming. |
11.4 | Dress Codes at Roman Corinth and Two Hellenic Sites: What do the Inscriptions at
Andania and Lycosura Tell Us about 1 Corinthians 11.2-16? Preston T. Massey Bloomington, IN, USA This study explores the principal evidence of epigraphy in order to probe
into the background of 1 Cor. 11.2-16. The particular focus of this paper is to
investigate the two key inscriptions found at Andania and Lycosura. From these
inscriptions, an examination is made regarding the twin issues of a married woman’s
head coverings and female hairstyles. A provisional conclusion is reached that the
two inscriptions may indeed throw light on why Paul can mention both the ‘veil’ (vv.
4-7, 13) and the ‘long hair’ (vv. 14-15) in 1 Corinthians. The conclusion is that
the text’s inclusion of both veils and long hair is neither mutually exclusive nor
contradictory. Given the cultural realities of the time, a reference to both makes
logical sense and is appropriate. |
11.5 | Aristeas and Social Identity: Creating Similarity from Continued
Difference Jonathan Numada Northwest Baptist Seminary at ACTS Seminaries, Langley, BC,
Canada This article utilizes Social Identity Theory and Social Memory Theory in an
attempt to further describe the nature and character of the Letter of
Aristeas’s strategy for engaging its Alexandrian Diaspora cultural setting.
It argues that Aristeas is best understood as an attempt to chart a middle
course between maintaining a distinct Jewish identity on the one hand, and total
assimilation to Hellenistic culture on the other, by advocating participation and
integration. Aristeas’s treatment of social categorizations, collective
memory and appropriation of Alexandrian institutions and civic symbols in the
translation narrative serve to further this agenda. |
11.6 | The Distributive Singular In Paul: The Adequacy Of A Grammatical Category Sunny Chen Pilgrim Theological College, The University of Divinity, Melbourne,
Australia The adequacy of the grammatical category ‘the distributive singular’ in
Paul’s authentic letters has not been properly explored in previous scholarship.
Many scholars ignore or provide limited analysis of a particular construct in which
a singular noun is combined with a plural possessive pronoun. For those who attempt
to explain this abnormal combination, the noun is usually interpreted as a
distributive singular noun. This study demonstrates that this combination can be
explained by other grammatical categories instead of the distributive singular.
Specific focus is placed on Paul’s anthropological terms in this construct, showing
that some terms illustrate the corporate and social dimensions of a community.
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11.7 | The Use of the Old Testament and the Synoptic Problem: An Analysis of Francis
Watson's 'L/M Theory' as a Test Case Woojin Chung McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON, Canada Analysis of the use of the Old Testament in the Synoptic Gospels helps one
examine the proposed theories of the Synoptic Problem. The method of investigating
the scriptural quotations and allusions in the Gospels is similar to that of the
Synoptic Problem in that it naturally turns one’s attention to earlier sources and
traditions and their connection with the Gospel texts. In this article, Francis
Watson’s ‘L/M Theory’ is evaluated through the examination of Matthew’s and Luke’s
uses of the Old Testament, and it is argued that Watson’s suggestion is unconvincing
and undermines the significance of the distinctive exegetical features and literary
strategies of the two infancy narratives. |
11.8 | Paul and the Law: Mark Nanos, Brian Rosner and the Common-Law Tradition Ryder Wishart McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON, Canada This paper examines recent input by both Mark Nanos and Brian Rosner on the
issue of Paul and the law. It highlights what it believes to be two crucial, but
mutually exclusive, insights from each of the two positions. Nanos’s input is that
Paul positively approves of the law because he did not find anything inherently
wrong with either Judaism or the Jewish way of life, including Torah observance.
Rosner’s input is that Paul’s negative assessment of the law is related to legalism.
Because these positions are entrenched due to divergent views on Judaism, this study
advances the conversation in the debate by offering an insight from contemporary
legal theory that makes it possible to bring together the best insights of Rosner
and Nanos on this issue. It outlines the difference between statutory and common-law
legal systems, with reference to a study by Joshua Berman. It also demonstrates the
impact of a common-law view on Pauline paraenesis on Christian ethics. |
11.9 | Herodian Kings and their Soldiers in the Acts of the Apostles: A Response to
Craig Keener Christopher B. Zeichmann Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON,
Canada In a recent JGRChJ article (vol. 10.1, 2014), Craig Keener addresses
the neglected topic of the military in early Christian literature, attempting to
rehabilitate the historicity of the centurion Cornelius story (Acts 10.1–11.18). The
present article responds to Keener and suggests that there is still reason to doubt
the historicity of the stories in Acts with regard to military matters. This article
focuses upon a different military unit in Acts—the ‘Augustan cohort’ (27.1). It
argues that Acts does not refer to any known military unit, but simply chooses a
name suitable for the author’s theological interests. |