Books and Chapters (Old Testament Studies)

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    Biblical aniconism? Representing the gods of ancient Israel and Judah
    (Springer, 2023-01) Romer, Thomas Christian
    This paper argues that one should not speak of an “original aniconism” in the cult of Yhwh, the god of Israel. In the Northern kingdom and in the first temple of Jerusalem, this god was represented in a theriomorphic and anthropomorphic way. The prohibitions of images of the god of Israel in the Decalogue and other texts were written after the Babylonian exile and are related to the rise of monotheism. During the Persian period Yhwh became the “only” and transcendent god who could no longer be represented by statues or other symbols as were the Mesopotamian gods. However, the Menorah, the candelabra, which was placed in the Second Temple is, in a way, a representation of the divine presence. Aniconism is, however, not a pure invention of nascent Judaism. There are apparently in the Ancient Near East aniconic tendencies that are, nevertheless, compatible with iconic representations of the deities. This may be explained by the facts that ancient people were aware that statues and other images should not be identified with the deities.
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    A story of two ways : thirty years of Old Testament scholarship in South Africa
    (Verba Vitae, 1993) Burden, J.J.; Botha, P.J.; Van Rooy, H.F.; Le Roux, J.H. (Jurie Hendrik), 1944-
    This is a research history. It deals with the work of some South African Old Testament scholars and covers the period from 1957 to 1987. The year 1957 serves as tenninus a quo because the Old Testament Society of South Africa was founded in that year. It was Albertus van Zyl who took the first step in this direction. After an overseas visit, during which he attended a congress on the study of the Old Testament, he approached Adrianus Van Selms and Barend Gemserwith the request to establish a similar organisation in South Africa. They took things further and in December 1957 the Old Testament Society of South Africa was formed. Of course important work was done before that period, but this event gave a new impetus to Old Testament study in South Africa. Since that day in 1957 a vast number of books, theses and articles on the Old Testament have been published, and it was therefore decided to take 1987 as terminus ad quem. Thirty years of Old Testament study have thus been discussed. Perhaps one day these years will be called the 'golden era' of Old Testament scholarship in South Africa.