The impact of unit delimitation on exegesis

About this book

This volume contains selected papers from the meetings in Edinburgh (2006) and Vienna (2007) plus two extra articles dealing with the same theme, namely the impact of unit delimitation on exegesis. The volume opens with Raymond de Hoop's introductory reading held at the Edinburgh Meeting of the Pericope group. In a second article he deals with the problem of unit delimitation in MT and LXX of Jeremiah 29. Two extra articles were added. Jaap Dekker writes about the setumah after Isaiah 8:16 and its meaning for understanding the making of the Hebrew Bible, in a discussion with Karel van der Toorn about his recent book on Scribal Culture. Greg Goswell demonstrates that for the book of Daniel the text divisions as they were preserved in the Aramaic text are significant for interpretation and serve several purposes for guiding the reading of the text. Following are articles on the demarcation of hymns and prayers in the prophets, with the examples of Hosea 6:1-3 and Isaiah 42:10-12, by Marjo Korpel, and on the delimitations of units in the Book of Jeremiah, by Jack Lundbom. Stanley Porter writes on pericope markers and the paragraph in language, and discusses two examples from the New Testament, Mark 12:13-27 and Romans 1:21-25, as well as the implications of paragraphing for the interpretation of these texts, and concludes that emphatic words seem to be more important markers for delimitation than syntax. Gert Prinsloo investigates the major delimiters in several traditions of the book of Habakkuk and evaluates their meaning for exegesis, as does Silvio Tatu for the book of Genesis. Klaas Spronk takes up unit delimitation for the theory of an acrostichon and discusses its meaning for the interpretation of Nahum 1.