This book deals with the so-called Blessing of Jacob" (Genesis 49) in all its aspects, discussing philological, literary and historical problems.After an introductory chapter a thoroughly discussed translation of Genesis 49 and an analysis of its poetical structure are presented, followed by the discussion of the genre-definition "tribal saying" (Stammesspruch), and a synchronic and diachronic analysis of Genesis 49 in its literary context (Gen. 47:29-49:33). The remarkable results of this analysis are finally discussed in relation to Israel's history.It is suggested that only part of the "Blessing" functioned within the (originally much shorter) deathbed account (Gen. 47:29-49:33*), reflecting the historical situation of the time of origin. Afterwards it was thoroughly worked up into its present shape to meet the conditions of later political development."

This volume contains the five papers read at a Symposium held in Leiden on 10 December 1991, on the occasion of the centenary of Abraham Kuenen's death, together with four other articles. The introductory article gives a short biography of Kuenen, one article deals with his method, two concern his approach to the religion of ancient Israel, and the other six discuss the reception of his work on the Pentateuch and later developments in various countries. Together these articles highlight the significance of this great Old Testament scholar, and at the same time identify issues which continue to confront Old Testament research. Though the wide variety of new approaches to the Old Testament has contributed greatly to our understanding of it, it is clear that historical research has not been rendered obsolete or superfluous by it.

Who were the prophets of Israel? Historically spoken the prophets have become elusive personalities. In this volume they are rediscovered as literary characters drawn by the gifted artists and theologians who shaped the prophetic books of the Old Testament.

This study provides an extensive literary analysis of the texts dealing with king Manasseh in 2 Kgs. The implications of the analysis lead the author to argue for a new understanding of the composition of the final chapters of Kings.

Festschrift in Honour of Emeritus Professor James Atkinson This volume commemorates the eightieth birthday of James Atkinson, a distinguished Reformation scholar who was Professor of Biblical Studies in the University of Sheffield. It reflects the relationship between the Bible, the Reformation, and the Church in his life and work. Fourteen friends and former colleagues contribute to it. Biblical scholars link the Bible to the Reformation and the Church, and Reformation scholars link the Reformation to the Bible and to the Church. In addition Anthony Thiselton writes a wide-ranging appreciation of James Atkinson. Three biblical scholars, Kingsley Barrett, David Clines, and Anthony Thiselton, deal with the relationship of the Bible to the Reformation - through subjects as diverse as Paul and the Introspective Conscience, Job, and I Corrinthians - and John Rogerson with some of the issues in biblical criticism raised in Colenso's correspondence with Kuenen. Reformation scholars from Britain and abroad examine the Reformation in Germany, Switzerland, and England, in relation to the Bible or to the Church. Four of them, Benjamin Drewery, Peter Stephens, Robert Stupperich, and Robert Walton write on the Continental Reformation - Was Luther a heretic? Zwingli and the Salvation of the Heathen, Luther's Itio Spiritualis, and Erasmus and Marsilius. Patrick Collinson and Basil Hall, deal with the Bible in the English Reformation, and Carl Trueman with the Lord's Supper. Three scholars look forward from the Reformation to the church since then - Donald Coggan from Tyndale to the church today, James Packer from the Reformers to Whitefield, and Alister McGrath to the Role of Theology as Critic and Servant of the Church.

In Old Testament exegesis a gap is widening between the adherents of the 'diachronic', historical-critical approach and those who out of dissatisfaction with both the results and the methods of this 'classical' approach opt for a wide variety of 'synchronic' approaches. The Ninth Joint Meeting of the Dutch 'Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap' and the British 'Society for Old Testament Study', held at Kampen 28-31 August 1994, brought together partisans from both camps who engaged in a most interesting and fruitful debate on one of the major methodological issues confronting modern Old Testament scholarship. This volume contains the papers read as well as some reports from the workshops. With indices of texts and subjects.

Back cover: What did biblical scholars, theologians, orientalists, philologists, and ancient historians of the 19th century consider "religion" and "history" to be? How did they understand these conceptual categories, and why did they study them in the manner they did? Analyzing the figures of Julius Wellhausen and Hermann Gunkel, Paul Michael Kurtz examines the historiography of ancient Israel in the German Empire through the prism of religion, as a structuring framework not only for writings on the past but also for the writers of that past themselves.