The Apocalypse of Enoch and Bhuśunda The Apocalypse of Enoch and Bhuśunda challenges the underlying assumptions of the classical roots of civilization by restoring the original context of creation mythology. In this second volume of A Chronology of the Primeval Gods and the Western Sunrise, ancient myths from multiple geographies are correlated to spikes in cosmic rays over the past 120,000 years – as documented in ice core data. The chronology and content of these myths tell us that the primary forces behind these cataclysms were the most ancient gods - hyper-nova at the Galactic Center associated with Sgr A*(The Dragon), Sgr West (The Beast) and Sgr East (Hiranyâksha and Hiranyakas'ipu), with secondary supernova seen as the birth of new, destructive gods. Ancient myth has documented the cataclysmic destruction of the world on at least twenty occasions with four major geo-polar migrations, which has resulted in a shift of the earth’s equator on at least one occasion. Multiple myths are shown to represent a view of the sky that can only be seen from the Antarctic region. Multiple versions of the myths of Orion are analyzed, showing clear linkages between the Vedic myth of Trisanku, the Book of Genesis, Senmut's Tomb, and the myths of Prajāpati Daksa representing the oldest version of the Orion myth – older than Trishanku and Genesis by 20,000 years! The stunning conclusion explains how the “Watchers” of Enoch were the Vedic descendants of Ila and Iksvaku. These descendants of the seventh Manu had been observing and recording the stars as a source of cataclysm for at least 15,000 years prior to Enoch, thus allowing Enoch to prophesize a ‘new heaven.’ That prophecy became the foundation for St John’s Book of Revelations, which is shown to be a description of a series of cataclysms attributed to Sgr West. The book offers a new theory for explaining geo-polar migration. That theory suggests small shifts in the location of the earth’s center of gravity underlie each migration, but that there are multiple causes for the shifts.

This book suggests a regional paradigm for understanding the development of the traditions about Egypt and the exodus in the Hebrew Bible. It offers fresh readings of the golden calf stories in 1 Kgs 12:25-33 and Exod 32, the Balaam oracles in Num 22-24, and the Song of the Sea in Exod 15:1b-18 and from these paints a picture of the differing traditions about Egypt that circulated in Cisjordan Israel, Transjordan Israel, and Judah in the 8th century B.C.E. and earlier. In the north, an exodus from Egypt was celebrated in the Bethel calf cult as a journey of Israelites from Egypt to Cisjordan, without a detour eastward to Sinai. This exodus was envisioned in military terms as suggested by the nature of the polemic in Exod 32, and the attribution of the exodus to the warrior Yahweh, Israel’s own deity. In the east, a tradition of deliverance from Egypt was celebrated, rather than the idea of a journey, and it was credited to El. In the south, Egypt was recognized as a major enemy, whom Yahweh had defeated, but the traditions there were not formulated in terms of an exodus. While acknowledging the reshaping of these traditions in response to the exile, Images of Egypt argues that they originated in the pre-exilic period and relate to Syro-Palestinian history as it is otherwise known.

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

Iconographic exegesis combines the study of biblical texts (exegesis) with the study of ancient expressions of visual art (iconography).Studying ancient visual art that is contemporary with the documents of the Old Testament gives remarkable insight, not only on the meaning and historical context of the biblical text, but also because it facilitates greater understanding of how the ancient authors and audiences saw, thought, and made sense of the world. Iconography thus merits close attention as another avenue that can lead to a more nuanced and more complete understanding of the biblical text.Each chapter of this book provides an exegesis of a particular biblical text or theme. The book is organized around the tripartite structure of the Hebrew Bible, and demonstrates that iconographical exegesis is pertinent to "every nook and cranny" of the Bible.Within the three parts, there is special emphasis on Genesis, Isaiah, and the Psalms in order to make the book attractive for classes that deal with one or more of these books and might therefore include an iconographic perspective.In addition to connecting with a major issue in biblical interpretation, theology, or visual studies each chapter will end with one or two exercises directing the reader/student to comparable texts and images, enabling them to apply what was described in the chapter for themselves. This approach enables beginners as well as advanced readers to integrate iconography into their toolbox of exegetical skills.

In Mapping Metaphorical Discourse in the Fourth Gospel, Beth M. Stovell examines the metaphor of Jesus as king throughout the Fourth Gospel using an interdisciplinary metaphor theory incorporating cognitive and systemic functional linguistic approaches with literary approaches.

The first comprehensive study of the Song of Songs' use of military metaphors Although love transcends historical and cultural boundaries, its conceptualizations, linguistic expressions, and literary representations vary from culture to culture. In this study, Danilo Verde examines love through the military imagery found throughout the Song’s eight chapters. Verde approaches the military metaphors, similes, and scenes of the Song using cognitive metaphor theory to explore the overlooked representation of love as war. Additionally, this book investigates how the Song conceptualizes both the male and the female characters, showing that the concepts of masculinity and femininity are tightly interconnected in the poem. Conquered Conquerors provides fresh insights into the Song's figurative language and the conceptualization of gender in biblical literature.

This book rethinks the problem of Israelite kingship by examining how the male royal body and its self-presentation figured in the governance of the dual monarchies of Israel and Judah. As such, this is a reopening of old questions and an opening to new ones.

"A certain king built himself a palace and summoned two persons to decorate it for him. The king divided his palace into two parts, putting one person in charge of one half and the second in charge of the other. One of the persons decorated his part of the palace with beautiful paintings of birds and animals. But the second person painted his half of the palace with black dye which was reflecting everything like a mirror. When the king came to judge the two decorations, everything he had seen in the first person's part he also saw in the second's part, since it was reflected in its black dye like in a mirror. Not only that, but even all the king could wish to put in the first half of his palace appeared in the second half. This found favor in the eyes of the king"--

Since ancient times Leviathan and other monsters from the biblical world symbolize the life-threatening powers in nature and history. They represent the dark aspects of human nature and political entities and reveal the supernatural dimensions of evil. Ancient texts and pictures regarding these monsters reflect an environment of polytheism and religious pluralism. Remarkably, however, the biblical writings and post-biblical traditions use these venerated symbols in portraying God as being sovereign over the entire universe, a theme that is also prominent in the reception of these texts in subsequent contexts. This volume explores this tension and elucidates the theological and cultural meaning of ‘Leviathan’ by studying its ancient Near Eastern background and its attestation in biblical texts, early and rabbinic Judaism, Christian theology, Early Modern art, and film.