Through translation, technical notes, and insightful commentary, Richard Clifford sheds new understanding on Proverbs. By focusing on the rhetoric of Proverbs, Clifford demonstrates how the book fosters a lifelong search for wisdom, and enables readers to see how the instructions and sayings are concerned with contemporary issues.
This book brings together a series of informative essays on the theme of Creation in various Biblical traditions. They include Bernard Batto's "Creation Theology in Genesis"; Robert Di Vito's "The Demarcation of Divine and Human Realms in Genesis 2-11"; Richard Clifford's "Creation in Psalms"; James Crenshaw's "When Form and Content Clash: The Theology of Job 38:1-40:5"; Gale Yee's "The Theology of Creation in Proverbs 8:22-31"; and Michael Kolarcik's "Creation and Salvation in the Book of Wisdom.
In the book of Wisdom, we find the literary voice of Solomon, the model king and seeker of wisdom sharing his meditations. Concepts from Greek philosophy are integrated into Jewish tradition to present new insights into how wisdom can be both a quality of God and a human characteristic. Three affirmations in this lyrical book especially resonate for modern Christians: the kingdom of God means that God's justice actually rules the world; God is Lord of the universe, not just the God of heaven; and God is engaged in human history and dwells with the human race. Richard J. Clifford, SJ, is professor of Old Testament at Boston College School of Theology. He taught biblical studies at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge from 1970 to 2008. His doctorate is from Harvard University. He was general editor of the Catholic Biblical Quarterly and is a former president of the Catholic Biblical Association. As well as teaching and lecturing in scholarly circles, he is active in adult education in various New England dioceses.
All year long the prophets speak to us at Mass, often beginning their message with “Thus says the Lord.” They thunder. They comfort. They scold. They encourage. They sometimes speak in beautiful poetry, often sounding urgent, sometimes sounding strange. Their purpose was to reveal to the people what God expected, and now, over two and a half millennia later, they are still fulfilling that purpose. Although we can usually catch connections between the readings from the Old Testament prophets and the readings of the New Testament, most of us don’t know much about the actual situations the prophets were responding to when they wrote, or what it was like to be a prophet in the ancient world. Old Testament scholar Richard J. Clifford sj has written this book to help us understand the prophets and so draw more meaning from their words in the liturgy. He begins with what we hear at Mass—with the way the lectionary presents the prophets to us now, in contrast to the way they were heard (seldomly) before the Second Vatican Council. The author explains how we can best interpret the prophets—in their own context and within the Christian tradition. Professor Clifford takes us into the ancient near east to explain the calling of the prophet. He introduces us to those who prefigured the prophets, such as Abraham and Moses, then to those we know from the many stories about them—Elijah and Elisha. He moves on to the many prophets who wrote as well as preached (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Baruch, Amos, and so forth), and then he zooms in on Isaiah, the prophet we hear from most often in the liturgy. In this survey, the author explains what is known about each prophet and the situation in which he worked, then discusses how the text associated with him is structured, its distinguishing features, and what parts of it appear in the lectionary. Finally, we learn how the prophets communicated effectively in their oral society, how they understood their mission, and how they understood God's purpose. This brief but deep and sympathetic introduction to the prophets will help readers proclaim the prophets’ words with more empathy and understanding. It will fascinate Bible study and Scripture sharing groups, and it will help interested assembly members appreciate more fully the meaning of the prophets’ messages—for their audience and for us.
The term "cosmic mountain" is a rendering of the nineteenth-century German scholarly designation Weltberg, which was derived from ancient Mesopotamian sources. The book offers a critique of the concept, especially as it has been applied to West Semitic religion, chiefly that witnessed to in Ugaritic texts and the Bible. Chapter 2 examines the connection of various Ugaritic deities to sacred mountains--El, Baal, Mot, Anat, and other deities. Chapter 3 studies the concept in Genesis, in the Sinai and Zion traditions, and in the Solomonic Temple. The last chapter looks at the concept in some literature of Early Judaism.
This second volume completes Richard Clifford's Commentary on the Psalms. The rich imagery of the Psalms has guided and molded pray-ers since ancient times. As we seek to understand the threads and colors of the Psalms, Clifford helps us see their inner dramatic logic, how they organize the experience and desires of the pray-er, and how they seek to move us. His primary concern is to help readers see the pattern and progression within the Psalms, while attending to their complex, evocative nature.
This book brings together a series of informative essays on the theme of Creation in various Biblical traditions. They include Bernard Batto's "Creation Theology in Genesis"; Robert Di Vito's "The Demarcation of Divine and Human Realms in Genesis 2-11"; Richard Clifford's "Creation in Psalms"; James Crenshaw's "When Form and Content Clash: The Theology of Job 38:1-40:5"; Gale Yee's "The Theology of Creation in Proverbs 8:22-31"; and Michael Kolarcik's "Creation and Salvation in the Book of Wisdom.
All year long the prophets speak to us at Mass, often beginning their message with “Thus says the Lord.” They thunder. They comfort. They scold. They encourage. They sometimes speak in beautiful poetry, often sounding urgent, sometimes sounding strange. Their purpose was to reveal to the people what God expected, and now, over two and a half millennia later, they are still fulfilling that purpose. Although we can usually catch connections between the readings from the Old Testament prophets and the readings of the New Testament, most of us don’t know much about the actual situations the prophets were responding to when they wrote, or what it was like to be a prophet in the ancient world. Old Testament scholar Richard J. Clifford sj has written this book to help us understand the prophets and so draw more meaning from their words in the liturgy. He begins with what we hear at Mass—with the way the lectionary presents the prophets to us now, in contrast to the way they were heard (seldomly) before the Second Vatican Council. The author explains how we can best interpret the prophets—in their own context and within the Christian tradition. Professor Clifford takes us into the ancient near east to explain the calling of the prophet. He introduces us to those who prefigured the prophets, such as Abraham and Moses, then to those we know from the many stories about them—Elijah and Elisha. He moves on to the many prophets who wrote as well as preached (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Baruch, Amos, and so forth), and then he zooms in on Isaiah, the prophet we hear from most often in the liturgy. In this survey, the author explains what is known about each prophet and the situation in which he worked, then discusses how the text associated with him is structured, its distinguishing features, and what parts of it appear in the lectionary. Finally, we learn how the prophets communicated effectively in their oral society, how they understood their mission, and how they understood God's purpose. This brief but deep and sympathetic introduction to the prophets will help readers proclaim the prophets’ words with more empathy and understanding. It will fascinate Bible study and Scripture sharing groups, and it will help interested assembly members appreciate more fully the meaning of the prophets’ messages—for their audience and for us.
The term "cosmic mountain" is a rendering of the nineteenth-century German scholarly designation Weltberg, which was derived from ancient Mesopotamian sources. The book offers a critique of the concept, especially as it has been applied to West Semitic religion, chiefly that witnessed to in Ugaritic texts and the Bible. Chapter 2 examines the connection of various Ugaritic deities to sacred mountains--El, Baal, Mot, Anat, and other deities. Chapter 3 studies the concept in Genesis, in the Sinai and Zion traditions, and in the Solomonic Temple. The last chapter looks at the concept in some literature of Early Judaism.
In the book of Wisdom, we find the literary voice of Solomon, the model king and seeker of wisdom sharing his meditations. Concepts from Greek philosophy are integrated into Jewish tradition to present new insights into how wisdom can be both a quality of God and a human characteristic. Three affirmations in this lyrical book especially resonate for modern Christians: the kingdom of God means that God's justice actually rules the world; God is Lord of the universe, not just the God of heaven; and God is engaged in human history and dwells with the human race. Richard J. Clifford, SJ, is professor of Old Testament at Boston College School of Theology. He taught biblical studies at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge from 1970 to 2008. His doctorate is from Harvard University. He was general editor of the Catholic Biblical Quarterly and is a former president of the Catholic Biblical Association. As well as teaching and lecturing in scholarly circles, he is active in adult education in various New England dioceses.
The four canticles of Luke's birth story--the Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria in excelsis, and Nunc dimittis--are taken to be integral components of the narrative and a sustained lyrical prelude to the author's two-volume historical work. Each composition is analyzed in three steps: proximate context; text; and macrocontext, the last displaying, in each case, a graded contribution to the cumulative preview of Luke's overall argument that the songs constitute. The summary impression made by this argument is of the author's decisive role in the creation of these passages, of which--save, perhaps, for the Benedictus--his is the originating hand.
In this brief but far-ranging book, Steiner addresses key issues concerning the descriptions of Amos's occupations. It features a thorough linguistic analysis of each relevant term or phrase, analyses of the how such professions were carried out, and an examination of the social role and standing of those so engaged. S. convincingly solves the apparent contradiction of Amos's claim to be a "cattleman" (boqer, 7:14) and his being taken "from behind the flock" (so'n, 7:15). Moreover, Steiner finds Amos's life as a stockman to be compatible with that of a harvester of sycomore figs (boles siqmim, 7:14; note the spelling "sycomore," to differentiate between ficus sycomorus and the unrelated "sycamore" of North America and Europe).
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