Volume 9, Issue 1, 2017
Articles published in the latest issue of Studia Biblica Slovaca
GRILLI, Massimo: The Gospel of the Traveler. Luke’s Work 1, Ružomberok: Katolícke biblické dielo, 2016. 150 pp. ISBN 978-80-89120-47-5; GRILLI, Massimo: The Acts of the Apostles, the Journey of the Word. Luke’s Work 2, Ružomberok: Katolícke biblické dielo, 2016. 110 pp. ISBN 978-80-89120-48-2.
Milan SOVA
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 1-14
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsENNU6395
Abstract
Gen 35:19-20 and 1 Sam 10:2 represent two different biblical traditions concerning place of burial of Rachel, mother of Jacob’s sons Joseph and Benjamin. Various exegetes used to propose different solutions how to unify these two traditions, but their proposals demand to alter texts and to accept conjectures. Instead, various biblical texts from postexilic period suggest that original is so called northern tradition, locating Rachel’s tomb on the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. Later, the so called southern tradition could originate from effort of the tribe of Juda to achieve greater national unity in postexilic period, in concrete by assuming the mother of the tribe of Benjamin as its own mother.
The Extermination of the Nations according to the Book of Joshua or the Intellectual Suicide of the Reader
Blažej ŠTRBA
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 15-43
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsENRU9297
Abstract
One of the most difficult texts of the Bible to explain according to the document The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture (2014) is the large block Josh 6–12. The study in its first part presents the hermeneutic guidelines of ITSS (n. 127) related to one of the most problematic texts of the OT – namely to the law of extermination. In the second part, the study discusses the issue of understanding the term especially in the Book of Joshua (ḥerem/חרם). In the third part, it deals with the three interpretation keys for the first half of the Book Joshua. The first one is Dozeman’s proposal based on the motif of the ark and its trajectory, the second one is based on the comparison of the biblical texts with the Assyrian textual warfare traditions, and the third key is based on the literary disposition of the four great episodes in the block Josh 5,13–9,29.
The Fall of Nineveh in the Book of the Prophet Nahum
Fides Iveta STRENKOVÁ
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 44-65
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsEOHI9855
Abstract
The document The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scriptures of the Pontifical Biblical Commission is dealing, among other challenges of the interpretation of the Word of God, also with the question of violence and atrocity (124-131). In the past, the Book of the prophet Nahum was often labelled as “unethical” or “false”, precisely for the reason of describing, in this very short prophetic book, the destruction of Assyrian capital, Niniveh in a poetic and very vivid manner. Not only the description of violence and of the punishment for women, representing personification of Niniveh, is questionable, but also the formulation, stating that God himself executes this punishment (“Look, I am against you”). Based on the text of Nah 3,1-7, in our analysis we shall focus on some literary motives, metaphors and formulations to demonstrate, how this prophetic book, through them, represents the theological interpretation of the fall of the mighty Assyrian empire.
The Magi from the East. Biblical and Extra-Biblical Textual Perspective
Miroslav VARŠO
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 66-87
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsEOOZ8853
Abstract
The wise men – magi from the east – are exceptional characters in the Gospel according to Matthew. They appear and disappear from the scene in a surprising manner. This, of course, has generated many exegetical questions concerning their provenance, gifts, significance and message. The aim of this study is to look for the intertextual connections between inspired Old Testament texts in the process of the composition of the Gospel and the extra biblical texts from the Greco-Roman world concerned with similar topics, such as the role of magi in kings’ initiations, a star as a sign of a ruler’s birth, and the expectations of a ruler coming from the east. It seems that the author of the Gospel was inspired by some common ancient texts. The magi in the Gospel have a double duty. On the one side, they symbolize strangers capable of recognizing a sign of the coming king, on the other side they serve as an example for the first Christian communities on how to be involved in proclaiming the true king to the surrounding world.
God Is Not Like That Judge (Lk 18:1-8)
Matteo CRIMELLA
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 88-103
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsEPDR2043
Abstract
The parable of the unjust judge and the widow (Lk 18:1-8) presents important philological points, with subsequent difficulties as to its interpretation. The first problem to be faced regards the full significance of the verb μακροθυμέω. From there the study then approaches the fictitious story itself by means of narrative analysis. This way of proceeding enables the reader to appreciate the unity of the parable, as the story itself is contained and developed between an initial frame (v. 1) and a final frame (vv. 6-8). By illustrating how the narrator builds up his story and by accentuating his method of creating an atmosphere of suspense and unforeseen surprise, the conclusion which this study wishes to make becomes apparent: whilst recognizing an eminently theological concern, at the heart of this parable the anthropological aspect is not denied.
Can One Speak of a Conversion of Paul in the Book of Acts?
Jean-Noël ALETTI
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 104-118
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsEPEG2904
Abstract
Numerous commentators actually accept Acts 9, 22 and 26 as narrating the conversion of Saul/Paul. This article is proposing to show that this consensus is not exegetically wellfounded and that it is necessary rather to ask why the narrator never uses the vocabulary of conversion in order to speak about the encounter between Christ and Saul on the road to Damascus.
Biblica 97 (2016)
Jaroslav MUDROŇ
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 119-122
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsEPRO1478
ÁBEL, František: The Psalms of Solomon and the Messianic Ethics of Paul (WUNT 416), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016. 355 pp. ISBN 978-3-16-153991-6.
Ondrej PROSTREDNÍK
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 123-127
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsEQFQ6877
GRILLI, Massimo: The Gospel of the Traveler. Luke’s Work 1, Ružomberok: Katolícke biblické dielo, 2016. 150 pp. ISBN 978-80-89120-47-5; GRILLI, Massimo: The Acts of the Apostles, the Journey of the Word. Luke’s Work 2, Ružomberok: Katolícke biblické dielo, 2016. 110 pp. ISBN 978-80-89120-48-2.
Dagmar KRÁĽOVÁ
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 128-130
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsEQPZ9706
Refresher Seminar for Teachers of Sacred Scripture 2017 – “The Letters of Paul: Letter to the Galatians and Letter to the Romans”
Branislav KĽUSKA
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, pages 131-133
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsERCH8624
International Conference for Doctoral Students of Biblical Studies
Adriana ALEXYOVÁ
volume 9, issue 1, 2017, page 134
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsETEV6851