Roddy_DD_Hardcover:NORMAN~1.qxp 10/8/2012 5:52 AM Page 1 3 B@IBLE IN THE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX TRADITION R O D The Festschrift in Honor of Professor Paul Nadim Tarazi includes a D Festschrift in Honor collection of articles discussing the latest scholarly findings in the field Y , of the Old Testament studies. Scholars from around the world con- e d ducting research in the Old Testament text, theology, canon, interpre- . of Professor Paul tation, and criticism have contributed their recent findings in the fields of their research and teaching to this volume. @ Nadim Tarazi F e s t s c h r i f t i n H o V 1 n @OLUME Nicolae Roddyis Associate Professor of Theology at Creighton Uni- o r versity. For the past sixteen years, Dr. Roddy has served as co-director V o f O and area supervisor for the Bethsaida Excavations Project, a significant LP Studies in the Old Testament Uro archaeological site located at the foot of the Golan Heights near the Mf e northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. He also co-directs the Virtual Es s 1o World Project, a web-based virtual reality resource dedicated to Syro- r P Palestinian archaeology. In addition, Dr. Roddy is Faculty Associate for a u the Goren-Goldstein Center for Judaic Studies at the Faculty of Letters, l N University of Bucharest, Romania. He is the author of The Romanian a d Version of the Testament of Abraham: Text, Translation, and Cultural i m Context(2001) as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles T in biblical studies and archaeology. a r a z i P E T E R Edited by L A N Nicolae Roddy G WWW.PETERLANG.COM Roddy_DD_Hardcover:NORMAN~1.qxp 10/8/2012 5:52 AM Page 1 3 B@IBLE IN THE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX TRADITION R O D The Festschrift in Honor of Professor Paul Nadim Tarazi includes a D Festschrift in Honor collection of articles discussing the latest scholarly findings in the field Y , of the Old Testament studies. Scholars from around the world con- e d ducting research in the Old Testament text, theology, canon, interpre- . of Professor Paul tation, and criticism have contributed their recent findings in the fields of their research and teaching to this volume. @ Nadim Tarazi F e s t s c h r i f t i n H o V 1 n @OLUME Nicolae Roddyis Associate Professor of Theology at Creighton Uni- o r versity. For the past sixteen years, Dr. Roddy has served as co-director V o f O and area supervisor for the Bethsaida Excavations Project, a significant LP Studies in the Old Testament Uro archaeological site located at the foot of the Golan Heights near the Mf e northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. He also co-directs the Virtual Es s 1o World Project, a web-based virtual reality resource dedicated to Syro- r P Palestinian archaeology. In addition, Dr. Roddy is Faculty Associate for a u the Goren-Goldstein Center for Judaic Studies at the Faculty of Letters, l N University of Bucharest, Romania. He is the author of The Romanian a d Version of the Testament of Abraham: Text, Translation, and Cultural i m Context(2001) as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles T in biblical studies and archaeology. a r a z i P E T E R Edited by L A N Nicolae Roddy G WWW.PETERLANG.COM Festschrift in Honor of Professor Paul Nadim Tarazi @ BIBLE IN THE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX TRADITION Vahan S. Hovhanessian General Editor Vol. 3 PETER LANG New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford Festschrift in Honor of Professor Paul Nadim Tarazi V 1 OLUME Studies in the Old Testament Edited by Nicolae Roddy PETER LANG New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Festschrift in honor of Professor Paul Nadim Tarazi / edited by Nicolae Roddy. p. cm. — (Bible in the Christian Orthodox tradition; v. 3) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Bible—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Bible—Theology. I. Tarazi, Paul Nadim. II. Roddy, Nicolae. BS511.3.F47 221.6—dc23 2012035352 Vol. 1: ISBN 978-1-4331-1458-8 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-1-4539-0837-2 (e-book) Vol. 2: ISBN 978-1-4331-1460-1 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-1-4539-0838-9 (e-book) Vol. 3: ISBN 978-1-4331-1461-8 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-1-4539-0790-0 (e-book) ISSN 1947-5977 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council of Library Resources. © 2013 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York 29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006 www.peterlang.com All rights reserved. Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm, xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited. Printed in Germany Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................ vii Preface ................................................................................................................. ix Acknowledgments ............................................................................................... xi V. Rev. Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi: Brief Biography and Bibliography ................. xiii Abbreviations .....................................................................................................x ix Wisdom is the Preservation of Life, Michael C. Legaspi ...................................... 1 Beyond Anti-History: Genesis 1 as Mašal, Philippe Guillaume ........................... 25 Hearing Psalm 51: Masoretic Hebrew vs. LXX Greek, Rev. Fr. L. Theophan Whitfield ................................................... 37 Le Psaume 136, Une Eucharistie Pour le Pain, André Wénin ........................... 59 Searching for Divine Wisdom: Proverbs 8:22–31 in Its Interpretive Context, Alexandru Mihăilă ............................................................................ 73 I’m Not There: Self-Negation as Authentication in the Prophetic Tradition, Nicolae Roddy ................................................................................................... 91 Rereading Isaiah 40–55 as “Project Launcher” for the Books of the Law and the Prophets, Iskandar Abou-Chaar .................... 101 The Function of Hyperbole in Ezekiel 1, Rev. Fr. Fouad Saba ........................ 129 Narrator, Audience, and the Sign-Acts of Ezekiel 3–5, Richard Benton .......... 135 Notes ................................................................................................................. 141 Index ................................................................................................................. 165 Foreword T his three-volume compendium of scholarly papers bears witness to an unforgettable weekend dedicated to an incredible teacher, scholar, mentor, and friend—as well as father, brother, uncle, etc.—whose im- pact on Orthodox biblical studies cannot be overstated. On October 23, 2010, scholars and well-wishers from all over the globe gathered together in Little Falls, New Jersey, to celebrate the forty-year milestone in the career of the Very Rev. Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi. Graciously hosted by the Very Rev. Fr. Elias Bitar and the faithful parishioners of St. George Antiochian Church, under the auspices of His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, the Festchrift reflect the diversity-in- unity of the Orthodox world—as well as the scope of Fr. Paul’s influence—as papers and presentations from his students and colleagues flowed from several regions of the U.S. and Canada, and also Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Lebanon, Palestine, Romania, Serbia, and the United Kingdom. The papers contained in the present volume, the first of three, address topics pertaining to the Old Testament. Papers are arranged with an eye to- ward the canon, with broader studies serving as introductions to more specific topics. Michael Legaspi’s discourse on Wisdom sets the tone for studies deal- ing specifically with Genesis (rightly so!), the Psalms, and Proverbs; while my own general paper on the prophetic tradition introduces works that focus on specific prophetic books or passages. It is hoped that the reader not only will appreciate the logic of this arrangement, but also catch a glimpse of the uni- fied, inter-textual cohesiveness that characterizes the Old Testament canon, a significant aspect of the Bible, as Fr. Paul and his students continue to demonstrate. Non-academic readers unfamiliar with the concept of the Festschrift need not shy away from the papers contained herein. A “Festchrift,” originally a German term meaning something along the lines of a “celebratory writing,” is customarily both an academic conference and a social event convened in hon- or of an eminent scholar, usually organized by his or her former graduate stu- dents who have gone on to become colleagues in the field. So while the papers in this volume are indeed scholarly, many of them accord personal tribute to viii •PAUL NADIM TARAZI• the man who inspired them and, in this case, all bear the mark of Fr. Paul’s career mission: illuminating Scripture for the purpose of “equipping the saints for the for the work of ministry and for building up the body of Christ” (Eph 4:12). The educated lay reader will thus find in this volume friendly conversa- tion partners bound together in love for the God of divinely-inspired Scripture (2 Tim 3:16) and for the man who ignited that love within our hearts. Nicolae Roddy