Nathan MacDonald – författare

How did the Jerusalem high priests go from being cultic servants in the sixth century BCE to assuming political supremacy at some point during the third or second century? The Making of the Tabernacle and the Construction of Priestly Hegemony examines how the conditions were created for the priesthood's rise to power by examining the most important ideological texts for the high priests: the description of the wilderness tabernacle and the instructions for the ordination ritual found in the Biblical books of Exodus and Leviticus. Although neglected by many modern readers, who often find them technical and repetitive, the tabernacle accounts excited considerable interest amongst early scribes and readers, as is evidenced by the survival of them in no fewer than four versions. Untangling this intricate compositional history helps shed light on how these chapters in the Pentateuch shaped-and were shaped by-the perception of the priesthood's powers and competencies during the Persian and early Hellenistic periods. The hierarchy that is developed is more nuanced and multifaceted than previously appreciated, with Israelite artisans, community leaders, Levites and women incorporated into a complex vision of society. The ordination ritual was also transformed by scribal elites during the Persian period, appearing in no fewer than five variant forms as the role of the high priesthood and its relationship to other groups was negotiated. Using a broad, plural methodological approach that incorporates insights from sociology, ritual studies, textual and literary criticism, early interpretation, manuscript studies, and philology, Nathan MacDonald's study shines new light on the historical development, theology, and ideology of priestly texts in the Pentateuch.

In ancient Israel the production of food was a basic concern of almost every Israelite. Consequently, there are few pages in the Old Testament that do not mention food, and food provides some of the most important social, political and religious symbols in the biblical text. Not Bread Alone is the first detailed and wide-ranging examination of food and its symbolism in the Old Testament and the world of ancient Israel. Many of these symbols are very well-known, such as the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, the abominable pig and the land flowing with milk and honey. Nathan MacDonald demonstrates that the breadth biblical symbolism associated with food reaches beyond these celebrated examples, providing a collection of interrelated studies that draw on work on food in anthropology or other historical disciplines. The studies maintain sensitivity to the literary nature of the text as well as the many historical-critical questions that arise when studying it. Topics examined include: the nature and healthiness of the ancient Israelite diet; the relationship between food and memory in Deuteronomy; the confusion of food, sex and warfare in Judges; the place of feasting in the Israelite monarchy; the literary motif of divine judgement at the table; the use of food in articulating Israelite identity in the post-exilic period. The concluding chapter shows how some of these Old Testament concerns find resonance in the New Testament.

The book of Hebrews has often been the Cinderella of the New Testament, overlooked and marginalized; and yet it is one of the most interesting and theologically significant books in the New Testament. A Cloud of Witness examines the theology of the book in the light of its ancient historical context. There are chapters devoted to the structure of Hebrews, the person of Jesus Christ, Hebrews within the context of Second Temple Judaism and the Greco-Roman empire and the role of Hebrews in early Christian thought.

Decisive Meals discusses various aspects of meal traditions and their relevance in terms of boundaries between different groups in the context of first century Judaism and the early Christ-movement. The contributors discuss different communities at different times and places - under the same focus of common meals: The post-exilic community in Judaea, the Pauline communities in Asia Minor, as well as in the Roman dominated city of Caesarea and the Hellenistic Jewish community and the emerging rabbinical community - each time a community is affected through the sharing of meals, but how exactly? What are similar effects - where are the differences? This sheds light on power dynamics between rich and poor, well fed and hungry, but also between men and women. These questions will clarify how detailed exegesis is influenced by hermeneutical patterns and ideas about food, boundaries and power dynamics.

Decisive Meals discusses various aspects of meal traditions and their relevance in terms of boundaries between different groups in the context of first century Judaism and the early Christ-movement. The contributors discuss different communities at different times and places - under the same focus of common meals: The postexilic community in Judaea, the Pauline communities in Asia Minor, as well as in the Roman dominated city of Caesarea and the Hellenistic Jewish community and the emerging rabbinical community - each time a community is affected through the sharing of meals, but how exactly? What are similar effects - where are the differences? This sheds light on power dynamics between rich and poor, well fed and hungry, but also between men and women. These questions will clarify how detailed exegesis is influenced by hermeneutical patterns and ideas about food, boundaries and power dynamics.

This fascinating collection of essays charts, for the first time, the range of responses by scholars on both sides of the conflict to the outbreak of war in August 1914. The volume examines how biblical scholars, like their compatriots from every walk of life, responded to the great crisis they faced, and, with relatively few exceptions, were keen to contribute to the war effort.Some joined up as soldiers. More commonly, however, biblical scholars and theologians put pen to paper as part of the torrent of patriotic publication that arose both in the United Kingdom and in Germany. The contributors reveal that, in many cases, scholars were repeating or refining common arguments about the responsibility for the war. In Germany and Britain, where the Bible was still central to a Protestant national culture, we also find numerous more specialized works, where biblical scholars brought their own disciplinary expertise to bear on the matter of war in general, and this war in particular. The volume’s contributors thus offer new insights into the place of both the Bible and biblical scholarship in early 20th-century culture.

This fascinating collection of essays charts, for the first time, the range of responses by scholars on both sides of the conflict to the outbreak of war in August 1914. The volume examines how biblical scholars, like their compatriots from every walk of life, responded to the great crisis they faced, and, with relatively few exceptions, were keen to contribute to the war effort.Some joined up as soldiers. More commonly, however, biblical scholars and theologians put pen to paper as part of the torrent of patriotic publication that arose both in the United Kingdom and in Germany. The contributors reveal that, in many cases, scholars were repeating or refining common arguments about the responsibility for the war. In Germany and Britain, where the Bible was still central to a Protestant national culture, we also find numerous more specialized works, where biblical scholars brought their own disciplinary expertise to bear on the matter of war in general, and this war in particular. The volume’s contributors thus offer new insights into the place of both the Bible and biblical scholarship in early 20th-century culture.

Are the rituals in the Hebrew Bible of great antiquity, practiced unchanged from earliest times, or are they the products of later innovators? The canonical text is clear: ritual innovation is repudiated as when Jeroboam I of Israel inaugurate a novel cult at Bethel and Dan. Most rituals are traced back to Moses. From Julius Wellhausen to Jacob Milgrom, this issue has divided critical scholarship. With the rich documentation from the late Second Temple period, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is apparent that rituals were changed. Were such rituals practiced, or were they forms of textual imagination? How do rituals change and how are such changes authorized? Do textual innovation and ritual innovation relate? What light might ritual changes between the Hebrew Bible and late Second Temple texts shed on the history of ritual in the Hebrew Bible?The essays in this volume engage the various issues that arise when rituals are considered as practices that may be invented and subject to change. A number of essays examine how biblical texts show evidence of changing ritual practices, some use textual change to discuss related changes in ritual practice, while others discuss evidence for ritual change from material culture.

Whilst prophetic oracles in late prophetic books evidence tensions about the Jerusalem temple and its priesthood, MacDonald demonstrates that the relationships between prophetic oracles have been incorrectly appraised. Employing an interpretative method attentive to issues of redaction and inner-biblical interpretation, MacDonald show that Ezekiel 44 is a polemical response to Isaiah 56, and not the reverse as is typically assumed. This has significant consequences for the dating of Ezekiel 44 and for its relationship to other biblical texts, especially Pentateuchal texts from Leviticus and Numbers. Since Ezekiel 44 has been a crucial chapter in understanding the historical development of the priesthood, MacDonald's arguments affect our understanding of the origins of the distinction between Levites and priests, and the claims that a Zadokite priestly sept dominated the Second Temple hierarchy.

Are the rituals in the Hebrew Bible of great antiquity, practiced unchanged from earliest times, or are they the products of later innovators? The canonical text is clear: ritual innovation is repudiated as when Jeroboam I of Israel inaugurate a novel cult at Bethel and Dan. Most rituals are traced back to Moses. From Julius Wellhausen to Jacob Milgrom, this issue has divided critical scholarship. With the rich documentation from the late Second Temple period, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is apparent that rituals were changed. Were such rituals practiced, or were they forms of textual imagination? How do rituals change and how are such changes authorized? Do textual innovation and ritual innovation relate? What light might ritual changes between the Hebrew Bible and late Second Temple texts shed on the history of ritual in the Hebrew Bible?The essays in this volume engage the various issues that arise when rituals are considered as practices that may be invented and subject to change. A number of essays examine how biblical texts show evidence of changing ritual practices, some use textual change to discuss related changes in ritual practice, while others discuss evidence for ritual change from material culture.

Nathan MacDonald untersucht den Begriff 'Monotheismus' seit seiner ersten Verwendung 1660 und in seiner Funktion als Kategorie zur Erforschung des Alten Testaments. Durch die Analyse der Forschungsgeschichte des Begriffs und die kritische Exegese der 'Einheit' und 'Einzigkeit' Gottes im Deuteronomium ergibt sich ein neuer Zugang zum Alten Testament."This is one of the most significant and exciting books of biblical theology I have read for some time, illustrating how the Bible can come to life when critical attention is paid to the contemporary context of its interpretation."Philipp Jenson in THEMELIOS, Vol. 29 (2004), No. 2, 56-57

Die katastrophalen Ereignisse zu Beginn des sechsten Jahrhunderts v. Chr. führten zu einer theologischen Krise innerhalb der Elite Judas. Das verhängnisvolle Ende des einzigen verbleibenden hebräischen Königreichs wurde durch eine Theologie erklärt, die davon sprach, dass Gott sein Volk verlassen hat, einem Motiv, welches im Nahen Osten der Antike weithin verständlich war. Viele Jahre später würden jüdische Vertriebene zurückkehren, um Jerusalem wieder aufzubauen und sich dort niederzulassen. Während ihrer Zeit in Babylonien und während der persischen Ära definierte diese Gruppe das traditionelle Verständnis der göttlichen Präsenz neu und entwickelte diverse neue Ansätze, die sowohl YHWH's Treue zu Jerusalem erklärte als auch die kataklystischen Ereignisse, die ihnen widerfahren waren. Die Autoren dieser Aufsatzsammlung untersuchen, wie sich die Vorstellung von göttlicher Präsenz und Abwesenheit verändert hat und welche konzeptionellen Muster für deren Beschreibung verwendet wurden. Dieser Band ist die erste Veröffentlichung der Sofja-Kovalevskaja Forschungsgruppe unter der Führung von Nathan MacDonald. Mit Beiträgen von: Claus Ambos, Bob Becking, Angelika Berlejung, Joel Burnett, Stephen Cook, Michael Emmendörffer, Lisbeth S. Fried, Trevor Hart, Nathan MacDonald, Jill Middlemas, William Tooman, Johannes Zachhuber

Wissenschaftliche Diskussionen über den frühen jüdischen Monotheismus haben sich meistens auf seinen Ursprung in der früheren israelitischen Religion konzentriert, während seine Entwicklung in der späten prophetischen und frühen apokalyptischen Literatur seltener untersucht wurde. Doch das Konzept des Monotheismus spiegelt sich in dieser Literatur auf weitaus vielfältigere Weise wider als bisher bemerkt. Sie reflektiert eine lebhafte Debatte über die Auswirkungen des Glaubens an einen Gott, welche sich über ein breites Spektrum von religiösen und sozial-politischen Erfahrungen erstreckt. Die Autoren dieses Bands untersuchen diese Vielfalt, indem sie bestimmte Texte und Themen aus der persischen und hellenistischen Zeit untersuchen. Sie behandeln verschiedene Themengebiete, von der Beziehung zwischen Monotheismus und göttlicher Gewalttätigkeit zu Dualismus, vom Völkerrecht zur Idolatrie. Sie zeigen, dass nicht nur JHWHs Vorherrschaft unterschiedlich verstanden wurde, sondern dass für ihr Verständnis eine Vielfalt methodischer Ansätze notwendig ist.