Lydia Lee

A unique study of ancient challenges to identity boundaries.

The whole book is available for FREE download here: http://www.sbl-site.org/publications/Books_ANEmonographs.aspx

Author's Note: “Historians,” says John Hirst, “write from the evidence but also from their understanding of how the world works and how they would like it to work.” As such, it is important to contextualize one’s work in a particular historical milieu. For my attempt to contextualize this book, click the link below: https://aroundtheworldinmorethan80days.blog/2016/10/31/ad-astra-per-aspera-contextualizing-my-first-book-entitled-mapping-judahs-fate-in-ezekiels-oracles-against-the-nations/

The most extensive descriptions of Gog and Magog in the Hebrew Bible appear in Ezekiel 38–39. At various stages of their political career, both Reagan and Bush have linked Gog and Magog to the bêtes noires of the United States, identifying them either as the ‘communistic and atheistic’ Russia or the ‘evil’ Iraq. Biblical scholars, however, seek to contextualize Gog of Magog in the historical literary setting of the ancient Israelites. Galambush identifies Gog in Ezekiel as a cipher for Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king, who acted as Judah’s oppressor in the sixth century BCE. More recently, Klein concludes that Gog, along with his companions, is ‘eine Personifikation aller Feinde, die Israel im Buch Ezechiel gegenüberstehen’. Despite their differences in detail, these scholars, like Reagan and Bush, work with a dualism that considers only the features of Judah’s enemies incorporated into Gog’s characteristics. Via an analysis of the semantic allusions, literary position, and early receptions of Ezekiel 38–39, this paper argues that Gog and his entourage primarily display literary attributes previously assigned to Judah’s political allies.

Since the release of Darren Aronofksy's film "Noah" in 2014, questions have been raised with regard to the relation between the film and the Bible. This article compares the flood stories in Gen 6-9 and Aronofksy's film "Noah." Probing some interesting and significant divergences between these two texts, I argue that the film "Noah" offers a good opportunity to discuss the open nature of the biblical texts, which often stimulates further transformations and interpretations.

According to the Masoretic vocalizations, Ezek 28:14 directly identifies the king of Tyre as "the anointed covering cherub." Hector Patmore has recently suggested that the Masoretic vocalizations adn accentuation produce an awkward reading of the verse, adn that the Hebrew consonantal text does not perceive the Tyrian king as a cherub but a god. This article undertakes a two-fold examination of this controversial verse. First, it contends on syntactical grounds that the Masoretic identification fo the Tyrian king with the cherub renders an intelligible reading of the consonantal text. Second, it suggests that the Masoretic presentation of the Tyrian king as a cherub is conceptually compatible with Patmore's argument for the divinity of the Tyiran king in Ezek 28:14. By comparing the Tyrian king to a cherub, the verse extols the Tyrian king to a nearly, if not fully, divine status, which potentially challenges the sole divinity of YHWH.

This paper highlights that a fiery underworld is attested in several Qumran texts, expressed through the uniquely Hebraic term "Sheol" (שׁאול). After a brief overview of the use of the term in the Hebrew Bible, it will be shown that the more watery Sheol in the Hebrew Bible stands in contrast to the fiery Sheol in several non-biblical Hebrew Dead Sea scrolls. Rather than probing the origins of this fiery imagery, this article will mainly explore the literary functions of the fiery imagery. At the end, my conclusion is that the Dead Sea Scrolls not only contain an imagery of fiery Sheol, the relevant scrolls also attest to an annihilating concept of the afterlife that creates tensions with Josephus' description of the Essene beliefs about the afterlife.

Ezekiel 25:12-17 depicts one conflict zone peppered with violence and bloodshed, where Edom and Philistia took bitter vengeance against the house of Judah, and in turn incurred the divine retaliations. This essay argues that the oracles against Edom and Philistia in Ezekiel 25:12-17 contain highly significant semantic parallels with other biblical texts narrating the divine judgment executed against Jerusalem. Utilizing those semantic parallels in the literary context of Ezekiel 25:12-17, the oracles against Edom and Philistia create a radical rhetorical impact, such that the house of Judah, though victimized, is not compensated materially. Instead, the oracles peculiarly form an oblique rhetoric, affirming not only the dispossession of belligerent Edom and Philistia, but also that of Judah.

This 14-week biblical hebrew tutorial provides students with a foundation in the reading and analysis of a range of oracles against the nations within the book of Ezekiel, especially chapters 25-32. Students will understand works originally composed in Hebrew. Students will employ a multi- faceted critical  approach  to  these  texts, analyzing  them as (1) literary compositions (2) historical product (3) writings that have influenced later religious  traditions.

This 10-week introductory course combines both lectures and workshops to provide the students with an overview of the history, geography and literature contained in the Old Testament. It also examines some of the influences of the Old Testament on later generations of readers. Divided into four main sections, the attached PDF gives an overview of the course. The first section (p. 1) begins with an outline of the course. The second section (pp. 2-7) provides the English translation of a lecture sample ("Ezekiel's My Cup of Tea: Introduction to the Major Prophets") that introduces the three Major Prophets and their distinctive characteristics, which are not only reflected in the Old Testament, but which also show up in later reception materials of the prophetic books. A workshop sample ("Noah within and beyond the Bible") comparing the flood story in Gen 6-9 and that in Aronofsky's film "Noah" forms the focus of the third section (pp. 8-16). It highlights the repetitions, inconsistencies, ambiguities and open nature of the biblical narratives that continue to fuel later interpretations and imagination. The fourth and final section (pp. 17-23) concludes with the quiz given at the end of the course as well as a report on students' performance and feedback. My hearty thanks go to Rev. John Chan for inviting me to cooperate with him in this project.

【这历时10个星期的课程主要是为了哥廷根华人基督徒团契的弟兄姐妹而准备的。融合了讲座和工作坊的形式，这课程旨在帮助学生们对旧约的历史、地理和文体内容有个大体的了解，并通过实例来探讨旧约对后世的影响。 附上的Pdf文档更详细地解释这个课程内容，并可被分成四大章节。第一大章节（第1页)描述了旧约概论的课程时间表。第二大章节（第2至7页）是以《最爱以西结：大先知书概论》为题的课程讲座的一个样本 （英文翻译）。内容阐述了三大先知书在旧约的不同意识形态，也解释了这种种意识形态如何继续体现在后世对大先知书的认知上。第三大章节（第8至16页）包含了一个以《穿在于圣经内与外的挪亚》为题的一个工作坊的样本。这份讲稿节选了创6-9，并把圣经的洪水故事与Aronofsky的电影《挪亚：灭世启示》做了一个比较。通过细读节选章节，可以探讨圣经故事内的一些重复性、矛盾性、隐晦性与开放性是如何继续燃烧着后世读者的不同解读与想象。作为总结，第四章节（第17至23页）包含了旧约概论的小测验和总结报告。在此，衷心地感谢陈欣懿牧师的邀请，让我有机会通过这次的旧约概论与他合作，来为神的家服事。】