Abstract
This article focuses on the different structures of the main variant literary editions of Daniel (MT-Dan and LXX967-Dan). In MT-Dan, the text moves from the story about Daniel (Dan 1–6) to Daniel’s extensive reports about his dreams and visions (Dan 7–12), thus making the voice of Daniel the dominant one in the book. The textual sequence of the edition represented by LXX967-Dan differs significantly, since chapters 7–8 are placed behind chapter 4. Furthermore, this edition includes several additions (as BelDrag, Sus and an epilogue). In this edition, chronology is the prominent organizing principle of the text (at least with regard to the main chapters 1–12). Consequently, the dominant voice throughout the book is the voice of the book narrator. Whereas MT-Dan may be described as the book of Daniel, LXX967-Dan appears as a biographic book about Daniel, which should primarily serve, according to the epilogue, as an instruction for the youth in the Jewish Diaspora.
Abstract
The short demand to bring Paul’s coat in 2 Timothy 4:13 has been a part of exegetical discussion for a long time. Especially the intention, the text pragmatics and the meaning of this verse are a matter of academic dispute. The point is: The interpretation of this verse has an important impact on the question of the authentic or pseudepigraphic character of 2 Tim. The following article focusses on an aspect that hasn’t been looked at much so far: the legal business of depositum as a possible historical backdrop. A third person’s (i.e. Timothy’s) mandate to pick up something deposited tells us much about his legitimacy as an authorized representative of the person who made the depositum (i.e. Paul). And possibly we also learn something about 2 Tim: 2 Tim as a letter could function as an authorizing document for the person sent out to pick up the coat – then 2 Tim 4:13 would work as a kind of certificate of authenticity of 2 Tim as an allegedly original Pauline letter.
Abstract
Jer 31,26 speaks of the prophet’s sweet slumber seemingly without a substantial connection with the preceding prophecy (V 23–25 or even prophecies 30,5–31,25), but the verse is to be understood against its ancient background. In ancient Near Eastern and Greek cultures, the relation between dreams and the emotions that confirm them was taken for a serious fact. Thus, from the comparative point of view, the verse does not appear to align poorly with the prophecy in V 23–25 anymore, but fits in with other ancient documents as a legitimate means to confirm the dream message. Especially in comparison with the usual pessimistic Eastern notion of emotions accompanying dreams, Jer 31,26 stands out as an unusually hopeful version of their relation.
Abstract
The participles κεκοιµηµένοι, κοιµηθέντες and κοιµωµένοι, used by Paul in 1 Thess and 1 Cor as metaphors for dead persons, are often merely taken as a euphemism, simply chosen for stylistic reasons. From the perspective of critical cognitive linguistics you can come up with a more differentiated picture if you discern within these Pauline utterances between lexicalized and innovative metaphors. By using the metaphor “to sleep” for “being dead” in 1 Thess 4,14 Paul can express his emotional sensitivity towards the Thessalonians (1 Thess 4,13), in 1 Thess 4,14–15 he can allude to the Christian belief in resurrection, and his talking of κοιµᾶσθαι ἐν Χριστῷ (1 Cor 15,18.20) might be understood as an innovative metaphor for the so called intermediate state („Zwischenzustand“).
Abstract
Many psalms display characteristics that are – in literary theory – associated with performance texts like “dramas”. The criteria for this are that texts feature a “lexis” (direct speech out of the mouth of a discernible character), an “opsis” (elements evoking a scenery etc., often presented in direct speech), and plot structures (not only story plots, but also character development and the like). Many psalms fit this criterology, even though some more than others, as well as partially with some very unique characteristics. Still, this allows for understanding several psalms as miniature “verbally presented stages”. The implications of this basal communicative structure are explored in this contribution, a major of which pertains to the recent discussion on identification potentials: In some psalms the lyrical subject is an offer to identify with, whereas in others – the ones discussed here – it is better understood as opposite to the recipient.