Delimitation Criticism

The first volume of the new Pericope series, Delimitation Criticism contains the papers read at a workshop of the Pericope Group during the First Meeting of the European Association for Biblical Studies, held at Utrecht, The Netherlands, 6-9 August 2000. The volume highlights the importance of the long-ignored unit delimitation markers in ancient manuscripts for the interpretation of Scripture. Much of the data presented here has never been published before and opens up fresh vistas for biblical scholarship. The new series Pericope aims at providing Bible translators and exegetes with the raw data concerning unit delimitation in the ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, the Peshitta and the Vulgate. It will contribute significantly to our understanding of the meaning of Scripture as it was written and understood in Antiquity. Pericope is directed by an international editorial board of distinguished specialists. The series will comprise monographs and collaborative volumes on unit delimitation in Antiquity, primarily in biblical manuscripts and lectionaries, but also in other texts relevant to biblical studies. The series will also incorporate exegetical studies which seek to demonstrate the impact of delimitation criticism on various branches of biblical scholarship. From the Contents M.C.A. Korpel - Introduction to the Series M. van Amerongen - Structuring Division Markers in Haggai R. de Hoop - Lamentations: The Qinah-Metre Questioned K.D. Jenner - The Unit Delimitation in the Syriac Text of Daniel and their Consequences for the Interpretation M.C.A. Korpel - Pericope Division in the Book of Ruth J.C. de Moor - Micah 7:1-13: The Lament of a Disillusioned Prophet J.M. Oesch - Skizze einer synchronen und diachronen Gliederungskritik im Rahmen der alttestamentlichen Textkritik J. Renkema - The Literary Structure of Obadiah P. Sanders - Ancient Colon Delimitations: 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 E. Tov - The Background of the Sense Divisions in the Biblical Texts

In this volume selected papers from several Pericope meetings have been combined into a thematic volume, dealing with the method of unit delimitation. A hitherto unnoticed Tibero-Palestinian manuscript from Paris is discussed, as well as the text divisions in the Leviticus and Joshua Codices from the Schoyen collection and a fifth-century lectionary. The volume closes with a proposal for a new polyglot Bible, containing data with regard to unit delimitation from our traditions, Hebrew, Greek, Syriac and Latin. The "Pericope" Series aims at making available data on unit delimitation found in biblical and related manuscripts to the scholarly world and provides a platform for evaluating this hitherto largely neglected evidence for the benefit of biblical interpretation.

"Numerous Greek and Hebrew manuscripts of the book of Psalms combine and split several psalms in ways that are not found in a modern bible. Paul J. Sander explores the literary and theological interpretative possibilities created by these alternate delimitations of the biblical text." -- Provided by publisher

One of the major flashpoints in academic biblical studies in the past 125 years has centered on the authorship and dating of the book of Isaiah. Beginning in the late 1800s, some scholars suggested that this book may have been written by multiple people over a period of centuries, a view that contrasts with the traditional one that the entire book of Isaiah was written in the eighth century BC by the Judean prophet Isaiah ben Amoz. Because for many conservative scholars the latter position is the only one that respects the divine inspiration of the text, and because they also believe that this position is endorsed by Jesus in the New Testament, the differing conclusions of mainstream and conservative scholars regarding the authorship and dating of the book of Isaiah have long served to divide these groups. Bind Up the Testimony--a collection of essays from a colloquium held at Wheaton College in 2013--brings together a variety of evangelical responses to this issue. Although a few of the essays arrive at conservative conclusions regarding the authorship and dating of the book of Isaiah, most of them attempt to chart new, more nuanced directions for thinking on this subject, and suggest that careful attention to the (complicated) compositional history of the book of Isaiah need not be a hindrance--and can, in fact, be a help--to Christians who understand the book of Isaiah as divinely inspired Scripture that has spoken to God's people throughout the ages and that continues to speak to them today.

"As the humanities in higher education struggle with a jobs crisis and declining enrollments, the travails of "English" have been especially acute and long-standing. No scholar has analyzed the discipline's contradictions as authoritatively as John Guillory, whose 1993 book Cultural Capital: The Problem of Literary Canon Formation remains a classic and whose subsequent essays on the profession of literary study have been widely cited. In this much-anticipated new book, Guillory shows how literary study has been organized, both historically and in the modern era, both before and after its professionalization. The traces of this volatile history, he shows, have solidified into permanent features of the university. Yet the discipline continues to be troubled by the relation between discipline and profession, both in its ambivalence about the literary object and in its anxious embrace of a professionalism that betrays the discipline's relation to its amateur precursor: criticism. In a series of essays, several previously unpublished, Guillory unpacks what it means to "profess criticism." His book gives a timely and incisive explanation for the perennial churn in literary study, the constant revolutionizing of its methods and objects, and the permanent crisis of its professional identification. It closes with a robust outline of five key rationales for literary study, offering a credible account of the aims of the discipline and a reminder to the professoriate of what they already do, and often do well"--

In The Present State of Old Testament Studies in the Low Countries fifteen leading scholars from Belgium and the Netherlands give an overview of their multifaceted and innovative research.

The first volume of the new Pericope series, Delimitation Criticism contains the papers read at a workshop of the Pericope Group during the First Meeting of the European Association for Biblical Studies, held at Utrecht, The Netherlands, 6-9 August 2000. The volume highlights the importance of the long-ignored unit delimitation markers in ancient manuscripts for the interpretation of Scripture. Much of the data presented here has never been published before and opens up fresh vistas for biblical scholarship. The new series Pericope aims at providing Bible translators and exegetes with the raw data concerning unit delimitation in the ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, the Peshitta and the Vulgate. It will contribute significantly to our understanding of the meaning of Scripture as it was written and understood in Antiquity. Pericope is directed by an international editorial board of distinguished specialists. The series will comprise monographs and collaborative volumes on unit delimitation in Antiquity, primarily in biblical manuscripts and lectionaries, but also in other texts relevant to biblical studies. The series will also incorporate exegetical studies which seek to demonstrate the impact of delimitation criticism on various branches of biblical scholarship. From the Contents M.C.A. Korpel - Introduction to the Series M. van Amerongen - Structuring Division Markers in Haggai R. de Hoop - Lamentations: The Qinah-Metre Questioned K.D. Jenner - The Unit Delimitation in the Syriac Text of Daniel and their Consequences for the Interpretation M.C.A. Korpel - Pericope Division in the Book of Ruth J.C. de Moor - Micah 7:1-13: The Lament of a Disillusioned Prophet J.M. Oesch - Skizze einer synchronen und diachronen Gliederungskritik im Rahmen der alttestamentlichen Textkritik J. Renkema - The Literary Structure of Obadiah P. Sanders - Ancient Colon Delimitations: 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 E. Tov - The Background of the Sense Divisions in the Biblical Texts

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.