Transcendency and Symbols in the Old Testament: A Genealogy of the Hermeneutical Experiences (Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Fur Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 275)

Each of the five chapters interprets a different Old Testament text and stands as an independent study, but they are linked by the common thread of inquiry into the time and place of transcendency through an interpretation of texts as symbols. They note the process of transcription, redaction, and addition that the ancient texts have undergone and the lack of clarity in their language, thought, expression, and form resulting from the constraints of the time and place in which they were written, but attempt to subordinate these matters to the central inquiry. They cover the Ten Commandments; Qohelet as a nihilist; sin, forgiveness and atonement in David; the Adamic myth; and the concept of redemption in Second Isaiah. Names, scripture references, and Hebrew words are indexed, but not subjects. Preface 5 Introduction 11 1 The Ten Commandments: An Old Testament-Based Exegesis and their Ethical Grounds 26 1.1 The Sixth to Ninth Commandements 27 1.2 The Basis for the Sixth to Ninth Commandments: from Kant to Watsuji 36 1.3 A Reexamination of the Basis for the Sixth to Ninth Commandments: Doubts about Watsuji's Theory 42 1.4 The First Four Commandments 45 1.5 The Fifth and Tenth Commandments 72 1.6 The Locus of the Problem 83 1.7 An Old Testament-like Basis for the Ethical Imperatives 85 2 Qohelet as a Nihilist 101 2.1 Problems in Current Research 101 2.2 Defining the Concept of Nihilism - Drawing on Nietzsche and Heidegger 106 2.3 Qohelet, the Nihilst 109 2.4 Qohelet's Thought from a Nihilist Perspective 114 2.4.1 The Subjectivism of Wisdom 114 2.4.2 Relativization of Qohelet's unterstanding of God 118 2.4.3 Vanity 123 2.4.4 Repudiation of a Subsuming Purpose 126 2.4.5 Egoism 131 3 Sin, forgiveness and atonement in David: Focussing specifically on 2 Samuel 12 and Psalm 51 139 3.1 Introduction: A Comparison of Hebrew and Greek Historiography 140 3.1.1 An Overview of Hatano's Argument 140 3.1.2 An Overview of Collingwood's Argument 142 3.1.3 Interim Observations 143 3.1.4 Hatano's Argument: Not Refuted by Thucydides? 144 3.1.5 Collingwood's Argument: Not Refuted by the Succession Narrative? 148 3.1.6 Tentative Conclusion and Future Outlook 153 3.2 2 Samuel 12 155 3.2.1 The Orthodox Hebraic Interpretation: Introducing Hertzberg's Commentary 155 3.2.2 A Heretical Hellenic Interpretation 159 3.3 Psalm 51 167 3.3.1 Provisional Translation of Ps. 51 167 3.3.2 Several Doubts Arising from a Hellenic Approach 170 3.3.3 Introducing Goulder's Theory 171 3.3.4 Examination of Goulder's Theory 181 3.3.5 My Interpretation of Ps. 51: A Hermeneutical Essay on Symbols 198 3.3.6 Conclusion: Via Conflicting Interpretations 220 4 A Symbolism-based Interpretation of the Adamic Myth 225 4.1 Ricoeur's exegesis of the Adamic Myth 226 4.2 The Adamic Myth: Translation and Commentary 237 Addendum (1): On the "knowledge of good and evil" 243 Addendum (2): On the contradiction surrounding dying 250 Addendum (3): The issue of autonomy or free will 255 Addendum (4): On the shame of nakedness 267 4.3 My Interpretation of the Adamic Myth 277 4.4 Conclusion 287 5 The Concept of Redemption in Second Isaiah: A Redactional Study 294 5.1 On the Theodicy of Suffering 294 5.1.1 Problematic issues in Weber's theory on the Theodicy of Suffering 294 5.1.2 Presentation of a Redactional Hypothesis 299 5.1.3 Phases of the Understanding of Salvation in each Redactional Layer 309 5.1.4 Phases of the Concept of Sin in each Redactional Layer 319 5.1.5 Phases of Universalism in each Redactional Layer (Summary) 328 5.1.6 Amendment of the Redactional Hypothesis - Conclusion I 330 5.1.7 A Reconsideration of the Theodicy of Suffering - Conclusion II 336 5.2 On Vicariousness 349 5.2.1 A Critical Survey of the History of Interpretation Concerning the Figure of the Servant in the Fourth Song 351 5.2.2 The Problem 371 5.2.3 An Essay on the Redaction History of the Fourth Song of the Servant 373 5.2.4 Overall Conclusion: A Reconsideration of Redemption 382 5.2.5 Two supplementary discussions 395 Appendix 1: Table of the Differences in the figure of the Servant (for §5.1) 403 Appendix 2: The Fourth Song of the Servant (52.13-53.12) - Translation and Notes 406 Bibliography 409 Index of Names 427 Index of Scripture References 432 Index of Hebrew Words 450

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.

This text questions the time and place of appearence of transcendency through an interpretation of Old Testament texts as symbols.