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"Dying and Rising Gods"-a detailed critique of the scholarly consensus! Tammuz, Osiris, Baal, and Adonis are well-known from J.G. Frazer's Golden Bough. These gods have been a hotly debated issue for a whole century. During the 1990's, a consensus developed to the effect that the "dying and rising gods" died but did not return or rise to new life. In the first monograph on the whole issue subsequent to the studies by Frazer and Baudissin, professor Tryggve N.D. Mettinger offers a detailed critique of this position. The work is based on a fresh perusal of the source material from the ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman world, and Egypt. It profits from new finds of great importance. Modern theory in comparative religion and anthropology on the nature of rite and myth informs the discussion. The author concludes that Dumuzi, Baal, and Melqart were dying and rising gods already in pre-Christian times and that Adonis and Eshmun may well have been so too. After his magisterial presentation of the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean material, the author provides some succinct notes on the resurrection of Jesus in the light of his findings.The author, Tryggve N.D. Mettinger, is professor of Hebrew Bible at Lund University, Sweden, and a member of the Royal Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, Stockholm.

This cogent collection of essays reflects Olofsson's Septuagint studies throughout the course of more than a decade, addressing methods for productive discussion of theology and translation technique in the Septuagint. The book displays the author's engagement in debates among scholars surrounding the Septuagint in the modern era. Olofsson responds to the notion that an exclusive preoccupation with translation technique does not lead to a full understanding of the Septuagint translation; he concedes this but argues that exploring translation technique is the necessary foundation for a serious discussion of the theology of the translator(s) and the Vorlage. In addition to the theological assumptions of the Septuagint translators, Olofsson's concerns in the essays herein include but are not limited to anti-anthropomorphism in the Psalms, Jewish interpretive tradition, Septuagint word order, Qumran texts, and law in the Septuagint Psalms. All of the essays are revised and corrected; some now include discussions of relevant literature that Olofsson was not able to incorporate in the original presentations. Throughout the work, Olofsson takes into account the contributions of fellow researchers on the Septuagint, bringing his unique perspectives to bear on a variegated and broad corpus of research literature.

Isaiah contains a rich variety of enemy images from a time span covering at least four centuries. Eidevall's textual analysis in Prophecy and Propaganda focuses on the characterization of the enemy, the rhetorical strategy adopted, the text's function in its historical context(s), and the ideology of the author(s) and/or editor(s). The main part of the study begins with textual analyses of passages dealing with the hostile empires of Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt. It then turns to Judah's northern neighbors, Ephraim/Israel and Aram, formed another hostile alliance against Judah, and how oracles directed against Samaria took on new significance in the postexilic era, due to the emerging schism between Samaritans and other Jews. The portrait of Moab is intriguingly ambiguous, but the picture of Edom is uncompromisingly negative. Finally, the study investigates anonymous enemies of various kinds, who are often characterized as rebels deserving severe punishment. The final editors of Isaiah wanted to discourage a wide range of actions and attitudes that, according to their standards, amounted to opposition to YHWH by YHWH worshipers themselves.Ideological language, such as the Zion-centered perspective and the legendary version of the events in 701 BCE, is paradigmatic in Isaiah, raising the question to what extent the prophecies therein can be understood as instances of contextually determined (and continually reworked and reinterpreted) political propaganda. The final editors belonged to a party supporting the religious politics of Ezra and Nehemiah. Although they describe themselves as humble servants and as marginalized victims of persecution, it is likely that they actually represented circles with access to the power structures of their time.A must-read for anyone studying perspectives on Isaiah in scholarly research today.

After 25 years as a professor in Old Testament exegesis at the University of Lund, Tryggve Mettinger decided to retire. In his farewell address (which in no way meant a farewell to the world of biblical studies), he gave an overview of his scholarly career-so far. The title of this lecture (in English), "On the Enigmas of the Notions of God: Report from a Scholar's Life," has been an important source of inspiration in the search for a title for the present volume and reflects the life and career of the beloved professor.The two words "enigma" and "image" capture important aspects of Tryggve Mettinger's profile as a biblical scholar. For those who are acquainted with his work, the choice of the latter term requires no explanation. As Tryggve emphasized in his retrospective speech, several of his books and articles relate to one overarching theme that has to do with images: the study of the biblical Gottesbild (the biblical notion of the image of God). In this connection, the word "image" refers in the first place not to pictorial representations but to mental images and social constructions, to theological concepts and literary "imagery." However, iconography also lies within the scope of Professor Mettinger's research, even if a predilection for "aniconic" representations is evident. This observation may provide a link to the other word that is included in the title of this book, "enigma."In his eagerness to understand the origins of the biblical prohibition against images, Mettinger embarked on an investigation into aniconic cult as a common trait of several Northwest Semitic cultures. Throughout his career, he has been driven by a strong curiosity about unsolved riddles, coupled with a healthy skepticism toward established theories and "truths" within the field of biblical exegesis. All contributions to this volume relate in one way or another to central themes within Mettinger's rich work.The essays presented here pay lively tribute to one of the pivotal figures in Old Testament studies during the past three decades.

The goal of Wikander’s study is to elucidate the interconnected motifs of drought and death in the Bronze Age cuneiform alphabetic texts from Ugarit in Syria and the survival of these motifs as they appear in the world and text of the Hebrew Bible.The sun and its heat are two of the most universal symbols known to humanity; the sun can be a giver of life, but its hot, scorching rays can also be associated with drought and the forces of destruction. The Ugaritic texts portray the sun goddess, Shapshu, as the sender of terrible drought; she manifests the rule of the god of death through her burning rays. The daily passage of the sun below the horizon also connects her with the land of the dead, and this idea is conflated with that of the destructive drought-sun into the image of a “sun of death.” Wikander discusses the philology of these passages (especially in the Baal Cycle) and follows the motif of solar drought and its connections with the netherworld into the literature of ancient Israel, noting transformations of the motif when influenced by the rising prominence of YHWH.In the Hebrew Bible, the study traces terminology that refers to the ancient motifs of drought, death, and the sun in texts such as 1 Kings 17–18, Jeremiah 14, Hosea 13, and Malachi 3, as well as passages from the Psalms, using both linguistic and religio-historical methods. The transformations of these motifs indicate changes that Israelite religion went through as it gained its own identity within a greater Northwest Semitic context.The dissertation on which this work is based has been awarded prizes by The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters–History and Antiquities and the Royal Society of Letters at Lund.

In this classic monograph, Albrektson, in 6 chapters spanning only 110 pages of text, examines the evidence for ancient Hebrew conceptions of divine activity in history against its context in the ancient Near East. The main conclusion is negative-that is, that the distinctiveness of the Old Testament in this regard is a matter of degree not kind. Since its original publication in 1967, the book has been cited over and over as a publication that set forth new directions of understanding and research on the topic of the gods and their involvement in history.The ground-breaking nature of Albrektson's monograph is revealed in comments from a long review by W. G. Lambert, shortly after the essay's publication:"Among the Moabites, Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hittites, the gods were understood to show their will by intervention in history as much as this is ascribed to Yahweh by the Hebrews. A city or country may suffer devastation as a punishment: the event reveals the will of the god responsible. The author is correct to insist that this is not a distinctively Hebrew idea. . . . [This is] a very stimulating book that shows an author willing to cut across current opinion and to take his stand on original evidence. Old Testament studies have much to gain from works of this kind."-W. G. Lambert, Orientalia 39 (1970) 170ff.

Though Esther's position as a queen in the Persian court is unquestioned in Jewish thought, the historicity of this datum raises some questions. Scholars have pointed out that Esther, as a Jew, could not have become King Ahasuerus' wife according to a Persian law that allowed Persian kings to marry only women from seven specific noble families. Scholars do agree on the "late" production of the Book of Esther, though they differ concerning the approximate date of its composition.Nevertheless, in Jewish thought Esther was, is, and will always be regarded as the queen of Persia, an idea based, perhaps, on the need for security and comfort for diaspora Jews, who passed this story on to their children through the generations to give them hope even in their darkest hours. Esther's status in Jewish thought as a Persian queen is based on the contents of the different versions of the Book of Esther and also on the Persian socio-historical background of the events described in the book.This study includes an introduction, an examination of Esther's character in the Book of Esther, in comparison to other royal women in the OT, and in light of the Resh Galuta, and conclusions. The study follows the evolution of Esther's status inside and outside the royal palace and her power in comparison to other similarly placed women. Whether she was a member of the pilagshim or carried the title of Queen (of the Jews?) is a question of secondary importance. Of more importance is that Esther was indeed Resh Galuta, the one woman in Jewish history who is known to have been the Head of the Diaspora, the formal leader of all the Jews in exile.