The messenger of the Lord in early Jewish interpretations of Genesis / Camilla Helena von Heijne.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Heijne, Camilla Hélena von.

Series:

Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ; 412.

Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 0934-2575 ; Bd. 412

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Angels in the Bible.

Rabbinical literature--History and criticism.

Rabbinical literature.

Bible. Genesis--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (435 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : de Gruyter, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The focus of this book is on early Jewish interpretations of the ambiguous relationship between God and 'the angel of the Lord/God' in texts like Genesis 16, 22 and 31. Genesis 32 is included since it exhibits the same ambiguity and constitutes an inseparable part of the Jacob saga. The study is set in the wider context of the development of angelology and concepts of God in various forms of early Judaism.When identifying patterns of interpretation in Jewish texts, their chronological setting is less important than the nature of the biblical source texts. For example, a common pattern is the avoidance of anthropomorphism. In Genesis 'the angel of the Lord' generally seems to be a kind of impersonal extension of God, while later Jewish writings are characterized by a more individualized angelology, but the ambivalence between God and his angel remains in many interpretations. In Philo's works and Wisdom of Solomon, the 'Logos' and 'Lady Wisdom' respectively have assumed the role of the biblical 'angel of the Lord'. Although the angelology of Second Temple Judaism had developed in the direction of seeing angels as distinct personalities, Judaism still had room for the idea of divine hypostases.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

1. Defining the Issue

2. Early Jewish Exegesis - A Survey

3. The Ambiguous Identity of the Angel

4. The Angel of the Lord - Early Jewish Interpretations of Genesis

5. Comparative Analysis and Conclusions

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Dissertation Uppsala University 2008.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612884900

9781282884908

1282884905

9783110226850

3110226855

OCLC:

676700741