Paul L. Redditt – författare

Writing in a conversational rather than a scholarly tone, Paul Redditt assumes little or no prior knowledge of the Old Testament as he presents and introduces the Major and Minor Prophets in the canonical order of the English Bible. The chapters of Redditt's Introduction to the Prophets discuss the place of each book in the canon; the literary setting of each book; their structure, integrity, and authorship; the main genre(s) in each; special features of each book; basic emphases of each book; and problems -- theological, literary, or historical -- raised by a study of the book. Among other things, Redditt demonstrates that the prophets were both “foretellers” and “forthtellers,” and he argues that the Old Testament prophets developed the concept of monotheism. Each chapter ends with questions for further reflection. Concluding the volume are a helpful glossary and several indexes.

Does God, in fact, always show love toward those who love him and faithfully serve him? Even apart from the fact that God punishes those who clearly deserve his wrath, and even apart from his hostility to Israel’s enemies, what do we do with the not insignificant number of passages in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible where it could be said that he turns against his own people or members of that people, attacking them without cause, or at least with excessive violence?Professor James Crenshaw, perhaps more than any other single scholar of this generation, has led the way into discussion of this pivotal matter, and the essays included in this volume are based on or react to his seminal contributions to the topic.

For some years the view has become established that the Book of the Twelve is a systematically structured literary unity. An exegesis which takes the final canonical text seriously undertakes to understand the structure and theological intention of this unity. The papers collected here attempt to reveal significant structures which overarch the individual components. Particular emphasis is placed on the reconstruction of thematic threads which are created when individual prophets take up topics from their predecessors (e.g. Jehovah's Day, conversion, role of the peoples) and intensify them. The papers were written between 1999 and 2002 under the aegis of the Society of Biblical Literature's Working Group on The Formation of the Book of the Twelve.

For some years the view has become established that the Book of the Twelve is a systematically structured literary unity. An exegesis which takes the final canonical text seriously undertakes to understand the structure and theological intention of this unity. The papers collected here attempt to reveal significant structures which overarch the individual components. Particular emphasis is placed on the reconstruction of thematic threads which are created when individual prophets take up topics from their predecessors (e.g. Jehovah's Day, conversion, role of the peoples) and intensify them. The papers were written between 1999 and 2002 under the aegis of the Society of Biblical Literature's Working Group on The Formation of the Book of the Twelve.

Der Kommentar legt dar, dass Sacharja 9-14 aus vier Sammlungen eschatologischer Hoffnungstexte (9,1-17; 10,3b-12; 12,1-4a.5.8-9; und 14:1-13.14b-21) besteht. Die ersten drei Sammlungen gehen auf die erste Hälfte der persischen Epoche zurück, die vierte (Kap. 14) scheint jüngeren Ursprungs und ist insgesamt wesentlich stärker pessimistisch geprägt. Hinzu traten dann eine pro-judäische, Jerusalem-kritische Schicht (12,6-7; 12,10-13,6) und die Hirtentexte (11), die im Widerspruch zu den Hoffnungstexten der ersten beiden Sammlungen stehen. Diese letzte Schicht ist vermutlich nach Nehemia zu datieren, d. h. in eine Zeit, in der Jerusalem wieder so weit erstarkt war, dass es den Zorn von außen stehenden Judäern hervorrufen konnte. Es ist anzunehmen, dass eine Endredaktion von Sacharja 9-14 die vier Sammlungen zusammengestellt und sie mit 12,6-7; 12,10-13,6 und den Hirtentexten ergänzt hat.

It will be argued that Zechariah 9-14 consists of four collections of traditional eschatological hope (9:1-17; 10:3b-12; 12:1-4a, 5, 8-9; and 14:1-13, 14b-21). Of the collections, the first three included hopes vital during the first half of the Persian period. The fourth collection (chapter 14) seems to have arisen later than the other three (though still before the time of Nehemiah) and expressed much more pessimism. These variations were then supplemented by a collection (12:6-7; 12:10-13:6) that is pro-Judean vis-à-vis Jerusalem and by the shepherd materials, which contradict the hopes of the first two collections. This final stage probably arose after the time of Nehemiah, i. e. after the city grew strong enough to raise the ire of Judeans outside the power structure. It is plausible to conclude, therefore, that the redactor of Zechariah 9-14 assembled the four collections and revised them by means of the supplements in 12:6-7, 12:10-13:6 and the shepherd materials.