Faculty of Theology
Department of New Testament Studies
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
This research asks how the New Testament can be used in a responsible manner in the debate about homosexuality. It is clear that this is a complex issue which is driven by subjective opinions about the phenomenon itself, and by the selection and analysis of certain passages for the chosen viewpoint of the individual. Different arguments are steering the debate: emotional, societal pressure, biological-psychological, biblical, theological, and technical arguments all find their way in different contexts. The fact of the existence of deviations in nature, the occurrence of homosexuality amongst different primitive and ancient cultures, and the use and application of a single term, coined more than a century ago, for a variety of aspects, are all contributing to this complex labyrinth. A responsible use of the New Testament in the debate on homosexuality can only happen when it is done in a diversified and qualified manner. It is argued that the NT writings provide us with guidelines and five passages that are used in the debate, are briefly surveyed. With the focus being on 1 Cor 6:9-11, it is suggested that this passage should be understood against the backdrop of the existing cults and religious practices that were found in 1st century Corinth. After discussing the text in its social context, some guidelines are then formulated in order to proceed to a more responsible handling of the NT in the debate. The study takes note of different terminologies used in these NT passages, concluding then that homosexuality – in these NT passages – was closely linked with idolatry, immorality and perversity in the ancient NT socio-religious world. It is clear that there are neither references to homosexual orientation as a sexual identity, nor evidence of unequivocally rejecting homosexual behaviour in a range of different forms. Responsible use of the NT would therefore imply that it is not possible to talk unqualifiedly about homosexuality anymore.
Contact person: Prof GJ Steyn.
A translation project was started during October 2004 with a small number of senior students in order to translate the Septuagint (LXX) Psalms for the first time into Afrikaans. The importance of the LXX for Christianity cannot be underestimated and this is an attempt to make people aware of this important first translation of the Jewish Scriptures on the African continent, to give people access to it in a translation in their mother tongue, and to contribute to the importance of the Psalms as a collection of hymns and prayers that is of value for the liturgy and the ministry of the church. A number of significant problems were identified, amongst them were the fact that:
No satisfactory Greek critical text edition of the LXX Psalms exists currently;
The LXX is already a translation from the Hebrew;
Words have different connotations and meanings in the receptor language (Afrikaans) for different members in the group;
Being poetical language, to what extend would a literal or a dynamic translation be more appropriate?;
Given the pace of translation and the extend of the project, it will take a large number of years to complete; and
Existing dictionaries and grammars are mainly focused on the New Testament not on the LXX. These problems are discussed by means of practical examples encountered in Psalms 1-3.
Contact person: Prof GJ Steyn.
The researchers argue that one can not unqualifiedly talk about the Septuagint when dealing with the quotations in the New Testament. Hebrews provides examples of the complexities facing New Testament scholars in their quest for the Vorlage of these quotations. The fact that more than three quarters of the quotations already appeared before the time when Hebrews was written, already presents multiple layers of the reception of these quotations as potentially known written or oral textual traditions. Not all quotations might be traced back to either the Septuagint or the Masoretic Text. These are not the only options to choose from in determining the Vorlage of the quoted texts, at least not in Hebrews. Factors that ought to be kept in mind (at least in Hebrews) are, amongst others:
The existence of a multiplicity of texts and versions of the same passage, as became clear from the versions and text variants available for the Song of Moses. In this case, the Odes 2 version in Codex A has shown an alternative.
The Old Greek of the Torah probably read different than the reconstructed versions of existing printed LXX editions and even extant textual witnesses. Traces of the Old Greek of the Torah might be seen in the similarities between Hebrews and Philo. Hebrews did not agree with either the Septuagint or the Masoretic Text, but is closer to Philo.
The Septuagint underwent a long history regarding its origin and transmission. Different text traditions are clearly detected in the New Testament. A text theory of a plurality of text types should under gird comparative studies on the quotations in the New Testament.
Which Septuagint are we talking about when referring to the explicit quotations in Hebrews? The situation seems to be far more complex and fluid than to talk unqualifiedly, undefined and static merely about the Septuagint.
Contact person: Prof GJ Steyn.
The aim of this comparative study between the Biblical characters Esther, Susanna and Judith was to identify elements of a master narrative. The narrative patterns of some of the Persian (Ishtar), Egyptian (Isis) and Greek (Aphrodite) mythological stories show similar traces with these narratives of the three women. Turning to the Jewish world itself, however, when the narrative pattern and its different elements are compared with the story of Deborah (Judg 4-5), there are definitely some striking similarities to be noted. Probably modeled on the story of Deborah, the beautiful but tough Jewish women characters, Esther and Judith, align themselves with pagan rulers and thereby save their people through their beauty, intelligence (wisdom), courage and religious convictions. At least, this is how these narratives are portrayed on the surface level. The big question is, however, whether these women are really portrayed as “tough”, courageous, displaying leadership roles (particularly as a correction of male leadership) and serving as saviors of their people at crucial moments – or, whether they are merely pictured as role models of ultimate obedience to God and to the expectation of their people, of submission to the men of their nation by being weapons of beauty through whom the enemy can be destroyed by displaying a willingness of self-sacrifice. Are they thus portrayed as heroes, or are they rather portrayed as ultimate objects of obedience, piety, submission and self-sacrifice? Susanna becomes an ultimate example of remaining faithful to the law of God and to her husband – “even though that would mean losing the reputation of being chaste and even her life”. Esther’s terrified, depressing and fatalistic statement, “If I die, I die”, probably resonates more the tone of desperation and a point of no return, than that of a brave, courageous, tough leader. Fuchs believes that the Esther story undergirds the assumption of patriarchal ideology by showing that a woman should be obedient and submissive, by teaching that women can become national heroines only by fulfilling their assigned roles as wives and mothers, and by showing that women get their way through deceptive and circuitous means. Nevertheless, at least in the case of Judith the situation seems to be different and she has been contrasted with Esther. Or is it the case? According to DeSilva, Judith was written to entertain and to instruct. Furthermore, Judith is, from beginning to end, a moral tale, reinforcing for its hearers the basic theology of the Deuteronomistic History, presenting Judith as a model of piety and rigorous observance of God’s covenant, affirming the efficacy of prayer coupled with faithful action, and encouraging confidence in the God of Israel and in the ability of the Torah-observant Jew to become a vehicle through which God may benefit God’s people. In this sense, Judith seems to be an inspirational example of piety, dedication to God, and courage. Maybe much more research is needed, not only investigating the purpose behind the origins of the narratives of Esther, Judith and Susanna, but also the psychology of the cultural context within which the narratives originated as well as their implied persuasive function meant for the communities to whom they were directed.
Contact person: Prof GJ Steyn.
The aim of this research project was to determine the number and distribution of hapax legomena - a word which occurs only once in the written record of a language, in the works of an author, or in a single text in Hebrews and in addition to determine the frequency as well as the content that were extracted from the Septuagint. It is no easy task since the counting of words and statistical evidence started to fall in disregard in scholarly circles due to its ignorance regarding context, etymological dangers and quick conclusions regarding results for literary criticism in terms of both sources and authorship. This study attempted to keep these pitfalls in mind as it developed, but has perhaps not yet completely broken free from such dangers. It did try, nonetheless, to verify existing lists of hapax legomena, implement some scientific tests to do so, and to run some trials in a test corpus of contemporary Hellenistic literature with two sections in Hebrews where a high density of hapax legomena occur. A study of hapax legomena remains in one sense both a statistical and a philological phenomenon, and in another sense a semantical and hermeneutical phenomenon. These aspects should be carefully assessed in the light of what we can deduct from our study. So, what do we learn then?
An inherent feature of this literary piece of work, is its relatively high number of hapax legomena.
The number of hapax legomena that were identified, differs in many lists and references in the secondary literature, which is the result of mere copying from lists in previous material. This study has shown, in the narrower definition that about 20 words that were formerly taken as hapax legomena, do not fall into this category anymore. The large number of words that were hapax legomena in both Hebrews and the LXX was particularly striking.
It became clear during the investigation of the hapax legomena proper, that since previous lists were compiled, evidence of the existence of at least two such words was found. This reduced the number from ten to eight and begs for great caution.
Hapax legomena, in at least the Biblical documents, seem to “occur significantly more often in poetic passages than in prose, a result of poets’ preference for less ordinary words as well as of the parallelism characteristic of biblical poetry, which relies heavily on synonyms.” In the light of this observation, it would thus probably not be a surprise that a higher density of hapax legomena was found in Heb 4:12-13, Heb 7 and 11.
It cannot be denied, then, that behind this data lies some clues regarding our author’s school and level of education, philosophical and rhetorical background, linguistic and stylistic abilities, access to possible sources, and even perhaps regional influence.
Great caution is needed when attempts are made to determine the possible origins of these hapax legomena. Except for the eight proper hapaxes, there is no clear indication that the rest is closer to classical, non-Jewish Hellenistic, or Jewish Hellenistic literature. There is sufficient evidence that most of these hapaxes are actually to be found in Greek literature contemporary to his times. Some of these are peculiar words in Greek literature, rare but not unknown; some are found only in classical Greek; a large number is found in both classical literature and the Septuagint, but not in the rest of the New Testament; others only occur in LXX literature but not in classical literature; yet others only start to surface prominently from a post NT stage in Greek literature.
Some interesting observations, within our cautionary approach above, are the following:
Some manuscripts (in certain cases the same) present a variant reading for a few hapax legomena – which might point to a certain unfamiliarity, uncertainty or uneasiness with some of the hapaxes by later copyists.
There are striking parallels with especially the books of the Maccabees and the Wisdom literature of the LXX.
There is little doubt that a significant number of the hapax legomena investigated here, occur as compounds. Although the possibility could thus not be excluded that (some of) the eight proper hapax legomena might have been coined by our author as neologisms, the mere overlap between the hapax legomena in the passages investigated above (Heb 4:12-13; 10:19 – 12:29) with the mass of evidence of their existence and use in ancient contemporary Greek, should lead to great caution to ascribe too easily those NT hapaxes as neologisms by our author.
Contact person: Prof GJ Steyn.
The aim of this study was to provide exegetical notes for spiritual leaders about the ethics of a Christian lifestyle as set out in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 10:19-25 is an important pericope, being a summary of the previous section and an introduction to the next section in Hebrews. It contains four exhortations of which the first three are presented in the subjunctive and the last in the participle. These exhortations (vv.22-25) aptly summarize the Christian life (vita Christiana) and find their base in the new and living way which was opened up to Christians via the blood of Jesus and via his body (vv.19-21). Within this cultic context, the first exhortation serves as the votum of the vita Christiana which is a call to worship (v.22), whilst the second is a confession of hope (v.23). The third exhortation focuses on the ethics of the Christian life (v.24) and the fourth on the importance of the community of believers (v.25). Each exhortation provides the reason why, or the manner in which they ought to become a reality.
Contact person: Prof GJ Steyn.
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