scholarly journals Athaliah, a treacherous queen: A careful analysis of her story in 2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21

2004 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
R.G. Branch

This article presents a critical look at the story of the reign of Athaliah, the only ruling queen of Israel or Judah in the biblical text. Double reference in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles shows her story’s importance and significance to the biblical writers. The largely parallel accounts read like a contemporary soap opera, for they contain murder, intrigue, harem politics, religious upheaval, and coup and counter-coup. Her story provides insights on the turbulent political climate of the ninth century BC. However, the purpose of the biblical writers is not to show Athaliah as the epitome of evil or that all women in power are evil.

1970 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 53-72
Author(s):  
Leszae Misiarczyk

This paper concerns the comparison of three twelfth-century biblical manuscripts from Plock, namely the so-called The Bible of Plock and The Evangeliary of Princess Anastasia with two Mosan biblical manuscripts: The Evangeliary of Averbode and the Biblia Universa transcribed in the same period. The first three texts: Beatissimo Papae Damaso (Novum opus), Prologus quatuor evangeliorum (Plures fuisse) and Iheronimus Damaso Pape (Sciendum etiam) – the last one is not included in the Bible of Plock - and Evangeliary of Princess Anastasia are of St. Jerome. In contrast, the introductions to the Synoptic Gospels: Argumentum secundum Matheum, Prologus in Marco and Prologus sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam are not the texts of St. Jerome, as is sometimes mistakenly repeated by different scholars, but were written by Sedulius Scottus, an Irish monk and a poet who lived and worked in a school in Leodium in the ninth century, whereas the introduction to the Gospel according to St. John: Prephatio in Evangelium secundum Iohannem was written by Bede the Venerable. While the texts of Jerome were quite commonly used in medieval biblical manuscripts, the fact that the introductions to the Synoptic Gospels are written by Sedulius Scottus and are present in both The Bible of Plock as well as partially in The Evangeliary of Princess Anastasia is a very strong argument for the Mosan origin of the twelfth century biblical manuscripts of Płock. The comparative analysis of the texts themselves clearly leads to several important conclusions. First, the Bible of Plock and Evangeliary of Princess Anastasia are closer to the version of the text preserved in the Biblia Universa, a codex written in the monastery of Sancti Trudonis, than to the Evangeliary of Averbode. It follows that the sources for the biblical manuscripts of Plock from the twelfth century should be searched at Mosan Benedictine monasteries, perhaps in the very monastery Sancti Trudonis near Liège. Second, the Gospel according to St. Mark generally follows the version of the text preserved in the Biblia Universa and the Bible of Plock but not all the time. It should therefore be hoped that the further comparative studies, especially of the version of the biblical text, will confirm this relationship and will help to determine whether the codex was written in the Meuse River region or is it a copy of the Bible of Plock made on the spot. Thirdly, and this is an extremely interesting proposal, the Evangeliary of Princess Anastasia, not counting minor changes made by a copyist like converting - tium to - cium, is very much dependent on the Bible of Plock. If, as it is confirmed by records of the miracles, the Bible was already in Plock in 1148 or before that date, it is very likely that the Evangeliary of Princess Anastasia, would be a copy of the text made on the spot in a local Plock scriptorium as a foundation of Boleslaw Kedzierzawy and a votive offering for the salvation of his deceased wife Anastasia. The codex would therefore arise after her death, dating back to the year 1158 in Plock in the time of Bishop Werner and would not have been brought by him following his trip to Aachen. These conclusions, for obvious reasons, are only preliminary, as comparison of the texts is not fully detailed and more comprehensive conclusions will be presented only after benchmarking a version of the biblical text of the four Gospels.  


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 54-72
Author(s):  
Leszek Misiarczyk

This article is on the comparison of two biblical manuscripts of the twelfth century from Plock, namely the so-called Bible of Plock and Evangeliar of Princess Anastasia with two Mosan biblical manuscripts: Evangeliar of Averbode and the Biblia Universa transcribed in the same period. The first three texts: Beatissimo Papae Damaso (Novum opus), Prologus quatuor evangeliorum (Plures fuisse) and Iheronimus Damaso Pape (Sciendum etiam) – the last one is not in the Bible of Plock - and Evangeliar of Princess Anastasia are of St. Jerome. In contrast, the introduction to the Synoptic Gospels: Argumentum secundum Matheum, Prologus in Marco and Prologus sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam are not the texts of St. Jerome, as is sometimes mistakenly repeated by different scholars, but belong to Sedulius Scottus, an Irish monk and poet who lived and worked in a school in Leodium in the ninth century, and the introduction to the Gospel of John: Prephatio in Evangelium secundum Iohannem was written by Bede the Venerable. While the texts of Jerome were quite commonly used in biblical medieval manuscripts, the fact that the introductions to the Synoptic Gospels are written by Sedulius Scottus and are present in both the Bible of Plock as well as partially in Evangeliar of Princess Anastasia is a very strong argument for the Mosan origin of the biblical manuscripts of Plock from the twelfth century. Comparative analysis of the texts themselves clearly leads to several important conclusions. First, the Bible of Plock and Evangeliar of Princess Anastasia are closer to the version of the text preserved in the Biblia Universa, a codex written in the monastery of Sancti Trudonis, than to Evangeliar of Averbode. It follows that the sources for the biblical manuscripts of Plock from the twelfth century should be searched at Mosan Benedictine monasteries, perhaps in the very monastery Sancti Trudonis near Liège. Second, the Gospel of Mark generally follows the version of the text preserved in the Biblia Universa and the Bible of Plock but not all the time. It should therefore be hoped that further comparative studies, especially the version of the biblical text, would confirm this relationship and will help determine whether the codex was written in the Mosan region or is a copy of the Bible of Plock made on the spot. Thirdly, and this is an extremely interesting proposal, Evangeliar of Princess Anastasia, not counting minor copyist changes like the conversion of - tium to - cium, is very much dependent on the Bible of Plock. If, as it is confirmed by records of the miracles, the Bible was already in Plock in 1148 or before that date, it is very likely that Evangeliar of Princess Anastasia, would be a copy of the text made on the spot in a local Plock scriptorium as a foundation of Boleslaw Kedzierzawy and a votive offering for the salvation of his deceased wife Anastasia. The codex would therefore arise after her death, dating back to the year 1158 in Plock in the time of Bishop Werner and would not have been brought by him following his trip to Aachen.These conclusions, for obvious reasons, are only preliminary, as comparsion of the texts are not fully detailed and fuller conclusions will be presented only after benchmarking a version of the biblical text of the four Gospels. 


Author(s):  
AMIHAI MAZAR

There exists today a wide spectrum of views concerning the process of the writing and redaction of the various parts of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the evaluation of the biblical text in reconstructing the history of Israel during the Iron Age. An archaeologist must make a choice between divergent views and epistemological approaches when trying to combine archaeological data with biblical sources. There are five major possibilities, one of which is to claim that the biblical sources retain important kernels of ancient history in spite of the comparatively late time of writing and editing. Archaeology can be utilized to examine biblical data in the light of archaeology and judge critically the validity of each biblical episode. This chapter examines why we should accept the historicity of the biblical account regarding ninth-century northern Israel and discredit the historicity of the United Monarchy or Judah. It also discusses Jerusalem as a city during the tenth to ninth centuries and its role in defining state formation in Judah.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 35-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Jessee ◽  
Sarah E. Watkins

AbstractSince assuming power after the 1994 genocide, President Paul Kagame and his political party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, have struggled to unite Rwanda’s citizens using, among other initiatives, a simplified version of Rwandan history to diminish the ethnic tensions that made the 1994 genocide possible. As a result, Rwanda’s history has become highly politicized, with vastly divergent versions of the nation’s past narrated in private settings, where it is more politically appropriate for Rwandans to share their experiences. This paper focuses on divergent representations of Rwandan monarchical figures – often unnamed – whom the narrators imbue with values according to their individual political affiliations, lived experiences, and identity. These narratives are indicative of the broader ways that modern Rwandans narrate their experiences of history in response to Rwanda’s current official history, as well as previous official histories. Careful analysis reveals much about the current political climate in post-genocide Rwanda: most notably, that Rwandans continue to see their nation’s past through vastly different lenses, demonstrating the enormous challenges facing the Rwandan government as it seeks to reconcile its population using current methods. It also highlights the ongoing need on the part of historians to approach contemporary sources critically, informed by sources produced and debated in the pre-genocide period.


Quaerendo ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-134
Author(s):  
Evina Steinova

Abstract Manuscript fragment Chicago, Newberry Library, Masi Fragm. 14 was previously misidentified as containing an unknown sermon or biblical excerpts. It is, in fact, a remnant of large-format deluxe Bible containing a set of Spanish prefaces to the Pauline epistles. These prefaces identify the deluxe codex as a descendant of a Theodulf Bible, a scholarly revision of the biblical text produced in the first decades of the ninth century by Theodulf of Orleans. Only seven copies of the Theodulf Bible are known. It is thus relevant that the Newberry fragment may have been dependent on another, previously unknown copy that was kept in one of the large monasteries of northwestern France, from which the fragment most probably comes. Because of its provenance from Haspres, the deluxe manuscript may have been produced in the nearby abbey of St. Vaast in Arras or perhaps by the community of the abbey of Jumièges.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-262
Author(s):  
Noam Zohar

Are the norms of Jewish religious law grounded in reason and values? In classical rabbinic discourse, justifications for laws – whether by direct reasoning (sevara), or more commonly, by scriptural derivation (Midrash) – are prevalent in most extant collections, where they serve to express underlying values. Justifications are rare, however, in the core document of the tradition, the Mishnah. But the absence of overt justification should not be taken to signify a lack of an underlying value-laden worldview. Careful analysis of an unusual mishnaic clause reveals a message about the reasonableness and significance of the rabbinic “half-damage” rule, sharply divergent from the plain meaning of the biblical text, which is perceived as inherently unfair. This serves as an instructive example of how exploring the Mishnah as a work of literary art can reveal the reason and values of halakhic norms.


Author(s):  
J. M. Cowley

Recently a number of authors have reported detail in dark-field images obtained from diffuse-scattering regions of electron diffraction patterns. Bright spots in images from short-range order diffuse peaks of disordered binary alloys have been interpreted as evidence for the existence of microdomains of ordered lattice or of segragated clusters of one component. Spotty contrast in dark field images of near-amorphous materials has been interpreted as evidence for the existense of microcrystals. Without a careful analysis of the imaging conditions such conclusions may be invalid. Usually the conditions of the experiment have not been specified in sufficient detail to allow evaluation of the conclusions.Elementary considerations show that even for a completely random arrangement of atoms the statistical fluctuations of density will give a spotty contrast with spots of minimum diameter determined by the dark field aperture size and other factors influencing the minimum resolvable distance under darkfield imaging conditions, including fluctuations and drift over long exposure times (resolution usually 10Å or more).


2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-15
Author(s):  
Steven L. Demeter

Abstract The fourth, fifth, and sixth editions of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) use left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) as a variable to determine impairment caused by hypertensive disease. The issue of LVH, as assessed echocardiographically, is a prime example of medical science being at odds with legal jurisprudence. Some legislatures have allowed any cause of LVH in a hypertensive individual to be an allowed manifestation of hypertensive changes. This situation has arisen because a physician can never say that no component of LVH was not caused by the hypertension, even in an individual with a cardiomyopathy or valvular disorder. This article recommends that evaluators consider three points: if the cause of the LVH is hypertension, is the examinee at maximum medical improvement; is the LVH caused by hypertension or another factor; and, if apportionment is allowed, then a careful analysis of the risk factors for other disorders associated with LVH is necessary. The left ventricular mass index should be present in the echocardiogram report and can guide the interpretation of the alleged LVH; if not present, it should be requested because it facilitates a more accurate analysis. Further, if the cause of the LVH is more likely independent of the hypertension, then careful reasoning and an explanation should be included in the impairment report. If hypertension is only a partial cause, a reasoned analysis and clear explanation of the apportionment are required.


This article presents the case of Chatterley and Clifford, the two main characters in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, to consider tenderness a basic working emotion to shape human relationships. The lack of tenderness causes emotional as well as physical distance in relation, especially that of male-female’s relation. The first part of the article reviews tenderness. The second part reviews how tenderness and lack of tenderness affect a male-female relationship in the selected novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. On the basis of a careful analysis of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, the present writer tries to prove that the lack of tenderness is the main culprit for the broken relationship between husband and wife: a major one of the relations between man and woman in human society and mutual tenderness elicits people awakening to a new way of living in an exterior world that is uncracking after the long winter hibernation. Lawrence, through a revelation of Connie’s gradual awakening from tenderness, has made his utmost effort to explore possible solutions to harmonious androgyny between men and women so as to revitalize the distorted human nature caused by the industrial civilization. Key words: relationship, husband and wife, tenderness, main culprit, Connie


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document