Böcker av Kirsten Nielsen

Kirsten Nielsen's commentary on the book of Ruth, now available in a new casebound edition, paints a rich and subtle portrait of its characters, carefully tracing the many connections between this story and other biblical passages, such as the stories of Judah and Tamar. This volume is a powerful addition to this critically acclaimed Old...

Few parts of the Bible have captured the imagination of individuals in the way that the book of Jonah has. James Limburg examines this well-known book, keeping several questions in mind: How did the story originate? What is its place in the Bible? How did the New Testament understand the story? How has the story been understood in Judaism and in Islam? What might it mean for people today? And what does it have to say about God, about the human condition, and even about God and nature? In reviewing the book, Limburg gives special attention to the many contributions of artists, musicians, painters, and sculptors who, he says, may have been the best interpreters of Jonah. He also keeps in mind the literary dimension of the texts and takes great care to follow the divisions of the book as they were defined by Jewish scribal tradition. Limburg begins his commentary with a fresh translation of the biblical book of Jonah and continues with a careful examination of the text, pointing out the significance of this old story for our own time. An extensive appendix provides highlights from the interpretation of Jonah in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Insights gained from the study of metaphorical language in other fields, particularly New Testament parable research, are here applied to the tree metaphors in Isaiah 1-39. The focus of investigation is the content of the metaphors , the intentions underlying their use, and the consequences of that use. The author suggests that (1) the informative function of the tree metaphors is to provide theological interpretations of the political situation; (2) the performative function of the metaphors is to engage the audience in such a way that they adopt the metaphors'' interpretation of reality as their own; (3) the use of metaphorical language encourages continual reinterpretation of the original proclamation. The tree in the Garden, the felling of trees, new growth of felled trees and the forest fire, are among the images Isaiah uses to make his political statements. He shows himself to be an extremely competent rhetorician in using these images to instil an active response in his audience. The modes in which the metaphors can be reinterpreted and reapplied in new contexts are perceived as significant not only for the composition of Isaiah, but for that of subsequent religious literature.