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- Title
- An Analysis of the Ongoing Validity of the Documentary Hypothesis for Final Form Interpretation: The Portrayal of Outsiders in the Abrahamic Narratives as a Case Study
- Contributor
- Daniel E. Hawkins (author), Craig Broyles (thesis supervisor), Andrew B. Perrin (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
- Discipline/Stream
- Biblical Studies
- Abstract
- This thesis will investigate three inter-connected questions. First, how are outsiders portrayed in the Abrahamic narratives? Secondly, is the portrayal of outsiders different between the different sources of Genesis, and, if so, what does the possible historical context of each source contribute to an understanding of why these differences exist? This in turn will contribute to the larger and third question: does the Documentary Hypothesis specifically, and diachronic analysis in general, have sufficient value for understanding the text as it now stands? It will be shown that while the Documentary Hypothesis involves some speculation, it offers a more coherent framework through which one can interpret and understand many of the complexities that arise in a reading of the Pentateuch. As such, diachronic analysis proves to be an invaluable tool for interpreting the final form of Genesis, if one is aware of its limitations.
- Publication Year
- 2020
- Title
- Memories of Balaam: Translatability of a Religious Specialist in Ancient Israel
- Contributor
- Ryan D. Schroeder (author), Craig Broyles (thesis supervisor), Dirk Büchner (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
- Discipline/Stream
- Biblical Studies
- Abstract
- Scholars have employed the biblical Balaam traditions both in the defense of and in opposition to Jan Assmann’s assertion that early Israel rejected cross-cultural religious translatability. The Hebrew Bible’s diverse portrayals of Balaam have long stimulated scholarly, literary-critical analysis. Also, the Deir ʿAlla inscription provides an intriguing extra-biblical glimpse of this enigmatic character. In this study, I discern how these early depictions of Balaam reflect socially shaped and shared memories of Balaam as a foreign religious specialist who participated in Israel’s past. I argue that early memories of Balaam suggest his warm reception among Yhwh worshipping Israelites in spite of his foreign status. However, later guardians of Israel’s written traditions came to remember and write about Balaam as a diviner whose role in Israel’s past primarily served to demonstrate the dangers of non-Israelites and their abominable religious practices.
- Publication Year
- 2015
- Title
- YHWH as Gardener in the Old Testament with special reference to Psalm 104
- Contributor
- Jeehoon B. Kim (author), Craig Broyles (thesis supervisor), Dirk Büchner (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
- Discipline/Stream
- Biblical Studies
- Abstract
- The aim of the present study is to investigate Psalm 104 as a whole and to determine its biblical-theological contribution to Israelite thinking of creation. Its methods are comparative-historical, semantic, literary, and biblical theological. I argue that the psalmist uses not only images that are reminiscent of the sun-god and storm-god of the ancient Near East but also images that reflect an ancient garden or park. Thus, the thesis of this study is that Psalm 104 portrays creation as a garden and YHWH as the royal gardener who creates it and oversees its care. As ancient gardens were built and maintained in order to reflect creation with a diversity of plants and animals, the provision of water, and ecological order, the psalm portrays creation by using images that allude to an ancient garden.
- Publication Year
- 2013
- Title
- “You will be like the gods” : the conceptualization of deity in the Hebrew Bible in cognitive perspective
- Contributor
- Daniel O. McClellan (author), Craig Broyles (thesis supervisor), Martin Abegg (second reader), Trinity Western University SGS (Degree granting institution)
- Discipline/Stream
- Biblical Studies
- Abstract
- This thesis has two primary goals: (1) to analyze the countours and extent of the generic category of deity in the Hebrew Bible, and (2) propose a semantic base for the term. It begins with a description of the fields associated with cognitive theory, and particularly cognitive linguistics. Chapter 2 examines the cognitive origins of notions of deity and discusses how this heritage is reflected within the biblical texts. The third chapter examines the conceptualization of Israel’s prototypical deity, YHWH, beginning from the earliest divine profiles detectable within the text. In Chapter 4 the discussion returns to the generic notion of deity, highlighting references within the biblical text to deities other than YHWH. The conclusion synthesizes the different sections of the thesis, sketching the origins and development of the Hebrew Bible’s representation of both prototypical and non-prototypical notions of deity. Implications for further research are then briefly discussed.
- Publication Year
- 2013