The hermeneutic path involved in the interpretation of law as well as in the interpretation of sacred texts, though peculiar, seems - as Emilio Betti pointed out - to share several things, most importantly the "normative" nature of interpretation. The 1999 issue of the Yearbook "Ars Interpretandi" accounts for the several and disparate relationships between these two important "regional hermeneutics".

B The ''letter'' / historical events - reassessments

The 2002 issue of the Yearbook concerns the notion of reasonableness in philosohical, legal and economic domains. After going back over the main definition of the concept of reasonable in greek philosophy, the analysis carried out in this volume deals with the role played by the notion of reasonableness in practical philosophy and namely according to hermeneutical view of it. With regard to legal field, the notion of reasonableness is a core notion in constitutional law and it assumes specific meanings in private, criminal, international, and administrative law. Reasonableness turns out to be crucial with regard to many topics, such as interpretation of rights, balancing of fundamental rights, and interpretation of standards.

Robert Phenix investigates the collection of twelve Syriac poetic sermons recounting the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 and 39-50. The authorship of these poems has been disputed, but this is the first study to attempt to argue from all aspects of the evidence that Balai of Qenneshrin is the author. The study then examines all of the data that can be associated with Balai: the religious environment of Qenneshrin and nearby Aleppo, Balai's connections with the monk-bishops of central Syria in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, particularly Acacius of Beroea/Aleppo and Rabbula of Edessa, the status of chorbishops, and the presence of Syriac speakers. Since it is argued in this study that Balai's source for the Sermons on Joseph was a Jewish text, this section also carefully examines the evidence for the Jewish community in Qenneshrin. As part of the background of the author, links between characters and the physical setting of the Sermons on Joseph and Qenneshrin are investigated. The relationship of the Sermons on Joseph to other Syriac Joseph sources and Joseph material in the Pseudepigrapha and at Qumran is discussed, followed by the question of the origin of the story, which is located in a lost Greek Jewish composition. The last section of the work examines the author's use of Hellenistic rhetoric and literary themes. The many speeches in the Sermons on Joseph reveal rhetorical arrangements that are strikingly close to the models of arrangement found in Late Antique handbooks, such as the Hermogenic Corpus . Several of these arguments are examined, as are the elaborate prefaces that introduce some of the individual Sermons on Joseph . The literary themes and motifs of the Sermons on Joseph are explored. It can be shown that some motifs known only in Syriac religious literature are employed in the Sermons on Joseph in non-religious literary contexts.

This study of uses of Scripture in the writings of Athanasius of Alexandria draws upon detailed textual observations to construct a coherent description of interpretive practices across the several genres in which this prominent fourth-century bishop wrote.

The series Islamkundliche Untersuchungen was founded in 1969 by the Klaus Schwarz Verlag. Since then, it has become one of the most important venues for publications in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Its more than 350 volumes cover a wide range of topics from the history, culture and societies of the Middle East and North Africa as well as neighboring regions in central, south and southeast Asia.

This book is a tribute to Professor de Boer, the well-known Old Testamentarian of Leiden University who held the chair from 1938 till 1978. Not only was he involved in organizational and editorial work (I.S.S.O.T., Peshitta Institute, Vetus Testamentum etc.), but he was also an inspired and inspiring teacher and a subtle exegete of the Hebrew texts in which he was interested. In this volume, originally intended as a message of congratulation for his 80th birthday (June 14, 1990) around twenty of his own lectures and articles are presented here which previously were less accessible, because, for instance, they were written in Dutch. All the collected studies are now published in English apart from two in German and two in French. They cover the whole of his scholarly life, from his inaugural address on "Kingship in Ancient Israel" (1938) to his contribution about Psalm lxxxi 6a, to the "Festschrift for G.W. Ahlstrom" (1984). The volume is concluded with a bibliography comprising all Professor de Boer's publications concerning the Old Testament and related scholarly subjects.

The various phases of life and their manifestations in theory and social reality constitute a well-established area of research in the fields of western medieval studies and ancient history. In this respect the Byzantine East has been widely neglected. This volume will focus on the Byzantine experience of adolescence, which may be defined as the biological transition from childhood to adulthood as well as the social and psychological experience of leaving the care of parents, guardians and family groups and the gradual integration into adult society. The contributions gathered therein treat seven subtopics that correspond to crucial questions in the current research on adolescence: the legal status of adolescents; the mechanisms of transition from childhood to adolescence; the socialisation and gradual integration into adult society; adolescents in Byzantine art; psychological aspects of adolescence from medieval to modern times; illnesses of adolescents; adolescents in the western medieval world.The focus is on the Middle and Late Byzantine Period, where historical, hagiographical,legal and medical sources offer rich material for an investigation of these aspects. The book contributes to a better understanding of all these questions and to show future trajectories for research.