Books by Mark A. Awabdy
Baker Academic, 2023
From the back cover:
"The commentary excellently combines current research in America and Euro... more From the back cover:
"The commentary excellently combines current research in America and Europe on the literary history of the book of Numbers with a theological interpretation of the biblical text that allows the Word of God to become recognizable in a multitude of voices in the text. The commentary is both critical and evangelical in the best sense of the word and an important aid to understanding the book of Numbers for teaching and preaching."
--Eckart Otto, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich (emeritus); University of Pretoria, South Africa
*You can buy it on Amazon, hardcover or kindle: https://lnkd.in/dai4QQ5P
*Or Logos Bible Software: https://www.logos.com/product/232512/numbers
Septuagint Commentary Series. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2019
In Leviticus, Awabdy offers the first commentary on the Greek version of Leviticus according to C... more In Leviticus, Awabdy offers the first commentary on the Greek version of Leviticus according to Codex Vaticanus (4th century CE), which binds the Old and New Testaments into a single volume as Christian scripture. Distinct from other LXX Leviticus commentaries that employ a critical edition and focus on translation technique, Greco-Roman context and reception, this study interprets a single Greek manuscript on its own terms in solidarity with its early Byzantine users unversed in Hebrew. With a formal-equivalence English translation of a new, uncorrected edition, Awabdy illuminates Leueitikon in B as an aesthetic composition that not only exhibits inherited Hebraic syntax and Koine lexical forms, but its own structure and theology, paragraph (outdented) divisions, syntax and pragmatics, intertextuality, solecisms and textual variants.
For an interview about this Leviticus LXX volume by William A. Ross on his blog, Septuaginta & C.:
https://williamaross.com/2020/08/10/new-sept-volume-on-leviticus-an-interview-with-mark-awabdy/
Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe 67. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014
This book provides a nuanced and extensive understanding of the noun גר ( gēr, engl. immigrant) i... more This book provides a nuanced and extensive understanding of the noun גר ( gēr, engl. immigrant) in the book of Deuteronomy (D). The author argues that a precise reconstruction of the historical referents of D's gēr is impossible and has led scholars to misread or overlook literary, theological, and sociological determinants. By analyzing D's gēr texts and contexts, evidence emerges for: the non-Israelite and non-Judahite origins of D's gēr; the distinction between the gēr in D's prologue-epilogue and legal core; and the different meanings and origins of D's “ gēr-in-Egypt” and “ 'ebed-in-Egypt” formulae. He further contends that D's revision of Exodus' Decalogue and Covenant Code and independence from H reveal D's tendencies to accommodate the gēr and interface the gēr with YHWH's redemption of Israel. He concludes by defining how D integrates the gēr into the community of YHWH's people.
Papers by Mark A. Awabdy
The Asbury Journal, 2022
This study pursues the question of why Yhwh, who in the Decalogue prohibits the creation and wors... more This study pursues the question of why Yhwh, who in the Decalogue prohibits the creation and worship of divine images, would order Moses to create a snake image as the mode of healing snake bites in the desert (Num 21:4-9). This question is legitimated as the Judahites subsequently burn incense to Moses' bronze snake, which Hezekiah destroys as an act of loyalty to Yhwh symbolic action theory in cultural psychology, this essay explores what the bronze snake image would have meant for the earliest audiences of these stories. In the core of the essay, the biblical, iconographic, and mythologic contexts are investigated and prove to be suggestive for identifying the meaning(s). In the conclusion, recent studies in psychology offer insight for canonical reflection.
Harvard Theological Review, 2022
Job's burnt offerings for his sons and daughters followed by their death (Job 1) resembles the se... more Job's burnt offerings for his sons and daughters followed by their death (Job 1) resembles the sequence of Aaron's burnt offerings for himself and his sons followed by the death of his oldest sons (Lev 8-10). Within this common sequence of events, the two stories share a cluster of important, identical lexemes. Although it is not impossible that these features could have resulted unintentionally from a shared scribal culture, the textual evidence is strong enough to indicate that the scribe of Job's prologue alludes to the priestly inauguration story of Leviticus 8-10. By reading Job after Leviticus, one sees the sharp contrast between the divine silence following Job's intermediary sacrifices (Job 1:5, 18-19) and the divine response both to Aaron's and to Nadab and Abihu's sacrifices (Lev 9:22-10:3). This study clarifies how the story of Job rejects a mechanistic understanding not only of traditional wisdom, but of the Priestly cultic tradition of ancient Israel and Judah.
The Journal of Inductive Biblical Studies, 2014
Despite recent scholarly recognition of the Isaian backdrop to Mark's Gospel, Jesus' citation of ... more Despite recent scholarly recognition of the Isaian backdrop to Mark's Gospel, Jesus' citation of Isa 56:7 and Jer 7:11 in Mark 11:17 has not been sufficiently interpreted; specifically, the phrase "for all nations" (from Isa 56:7) is considered redactional or is simply deemed relatively unimportant. Yet, the authenticity of Jesus' citation has been recently affirmed. Moreover, 11:17 is structurally focal in a chiastic arrangement within the narrative, with "for all nations" being central. Isaiah 56 was issuing critique of religious leaders for failing to include foreign worshippers. It seems plausible that Jesus as a Jewish teacher understood this and combined Isa 56:7 with Jer 7:11 to speak a prophetic word, even a divine word, that valued foreigners while indicting the religious leaders. This article is a text-based demonstration of the correlation of ISB with Vernon K. robbins' socio-rhetorical interpretive heuristic, in order to explore the significance of Jesus' use of Isa 56:7 and Jer 7:11 in Mark 11:17.
Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies, 2019
This article argues that the Greek translator of Isa 66:20 alters the simile for the Diaspora’s r... more This article argues that the Greek translator of Isa 66:20 alters the simile for the Diaspora’s return to Zion by freely translating “their grain offering in a clean vessel” (את־המנחה בכלי טהור) as “their sacrifices with psalms” (τὰς θυσίας αὐτῶν μετὰ ψαλμῶν). This exegetical rendering eliminates a perceived problem with the Hebrew, correlates with Jewish worship in the Second Temple era, and fits well with Isaiah’s anaphoric imagery.
Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte, 2019
This article presents the evidence that Num 20:1–13, 22–29; 27:1–13; 36:1–10; and Deut 32:48-52 w... more This article presents the evidence that Num 20:1–13, 22–29; 27:1–13; 36:1–10; and Deut 32:48-52 were Holiness (H) scribal contributions that represent the language and conceptuality of the Holiness core of Lev 17–26. H has formulated and deposited for posterity its own enduring version of the Hexateuch narrative by presenting Moses’ death outside the land and the second wilderness generation’s assured entry into the land as direct fulfillments of Yhwh’s covenant with the people of Israel in Lev 17–26.
Biblica, 2018
This article responds to two gaps in the scholarship on the priestly or Aaronic blessing of Num 6... more This article responds to two gaps in the scholarship on the priestly or Aaronic blessing of Num 6,24-26. First, prior research has identified the later societal mediums through which the priestly blessing was performed, whereas the author of this article instead attempts to clarify the origins of the literary form of the blessing itself. Second, many have noticed that Num 6,24-26(27) diverges from P’s style, but have not provided a convincing argument for the tradition of its authors. Through a lexical and ideological analysis, the author argues that Holiness (H) priests adopted the form of a common divine blessing from the epistolary genre in order to supplement and revise P.
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2017
Leviticus scholars debate the reasons for the differences between the Old Greek (OG) and Hebrew w... more Leviticus scholars debate the reasons for the differences between the Old Greek (OG) and Hebrew witnesses. Leviticus 16:1 offers an intriguing example that raises the literary question, Did Nadab and Abihu draw near before Yhwh (MT, SP) or only offer strange fire before Yhwh (OG, Tgs., Syr., Vg. and possibly 11Q1)? In this article, I explore the internal evidence of the OG, assess the targums, and give particular attention to reevaluating the fragmentary evidence from Qumran. My conclusions illuminate another dimension of the mystery of the biblical traditions of Aaron's oldest sons.
Vetus Testamentum, 2015
The Instruction of Amenemope and the book of Deuteronomy share a common conviction about the natu... more The Instruction of Amenemope and the book of Deuteronomy share a common conviction about the nature and intent of parental teaching. This commonality is marked by basic lexical analogues, as well as three conceptual analogues from the broader contexts of the two compositions. Consequently, this study provides further evidence for the claim that Deuteronomy evinces wisdom influence.
Journal of Biblical Literature, 2012
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2010
The Asbury Journal, 2011
This article encourages Christians to revisit and reinterpret the Bible in order to more faithful... more This article encourages Christians to revisit and reinterpret the Bible in order to more faithfully align with God's mission in the world. As a test case, the article reinterprets the socio-religious status of the " non-indigenous resident" (1J) in Leviticus and concludes with some p ossibili ties for reforming mi ssio n theology and praxis. T he first section of the article reviews the conventional interpretation of Leviticus' iJ as one granted ab solute religious freedom. Against this view, the body of the article contends that the iJ in Leviticus was bound in covenant to Yahweh, ye t free to practice som e foreign customs and practices. To argue for this, the article recon siders the intent of the H o liness Code 's 1J injunc tions; reinterprets three pertinent laws; and identifies an important contextual limiting factor in Lev 18-20. In the conclusion, the author offers three ways this fresh understanding of the 1l in Leviticus intersects with, and may serve to reform, present cross-cultural witness to th e Gospel.
Connections: The Journal of the WEA Mission Commission, Apr 2009
Book Reviews by Mark A. Awabdy
This book arose out of J. Richard Middleton's long-standing perplexity about Abraham's silence wh... more This book arose out of J. Richard Middleton's long-standing perplexity about Abraham's silence when God ordered him to slaughter his beloved son (Gen 22).
Aux commencements-Création et temporalité dans la Bible et dans son contexte culturel: Collected ... more Aux commencements-Création et temporalité dans la Bible et dans son contexte culturel: Collected Essays on Creation and Temporality in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Texts Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte 24 Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2019. Pp. viii + 194. Hardcover. €58.00. ISBN 9783447112635. Mark A. Awabdy Arabian Peninsula This collection of thirteen essays arose out of a collaboration between the Bible et Orient department of the Religion, Culture and Society research center of the Institut Catholique de Paris and the Center for History and Culture of the Eastern Mediterranean of the Universität Münster. Reinhard Achenbach supplies a preface of the volume's origins, and Sophie Raymond, in the introduction, synthesizes the essays and shows the complexity of investigating ancient writings on the topic of an absolute beginning in time. She stresses the importance of allowing the sources to communicate their varied conceptualizations of creation and time.
where is the extra-biblical evidence?). Finally, the book is very repetitive and reads as though ... more where is the extra-biblical evidence?). Finally, the book is very repetitive and reads as though it had previously been a series of lectures combined into book form. Jack n. LawSon
Uploads
Books by Mark A. Awabdy
"The commentary excellently combines current research in America and Europe on the literary history of the book of Numbers with a theological interpretation of the biblical text that allows the Word of God to become recognizable in a multitude of voices in the text. The commentary is both critical and evangelical in the best sense of the word and an important aid to understanding the book of Numbers for teaching and preaching."
--Eckart Otto, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich (emeritus); University of Pretoria, South Africa
*You can buy it on Amazon, hardcover or kindle: https://lnkd.in/dai4QQ5P
*Or Logos Bible Software: https://www.logos.com/product/232512/numbers
For an interview about this Leviticus LXX volume by William A. Ross on his blog, Septuaginta & C.:
https://williamaross.com/2020/08/10/new-sept-volume-on-leviticus-an-interview-with-mark-awabdy/
Papers by Mark A. Awabdy
Full article and volume available for purchase: https://brill.com/display/book/9789004536333/BP000012.xml
Book Reviews by Mark A. Awabdy
"The commentary excellently combines current research in America and Europe on the literary history of the book of Numbers with a theological interpretation of the biblical text that allows the Word of God to become recognizable in a multitude of voices in the text. The commentary is both critical and evangelical in the best sense of the word and an important aid to understanding the book of Numbers for teaching and preaching."
--Eckart Otto, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich (emeritus); University of Pretoria, South Africa
*You can buy it on Amazon, hardcover or kindle: https://lnkd.in/dai4QQ5P
*Or Logos Bible Software: https://www.logos.com/product/232512/numbers
For an interview about this Leviticus LXX volume by William A. Ross on his blog, Septuaginta & C.:
https://williamaross.com/2020/08/10/new-sept-volume-on-leviticus-an-interview-with-mark-awabdy/
Full article and volume available for purchase: https://brill.com/display/book/9789004536333/BP000012.xml