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| (Died about 323 BCE) The son of Philip of Macedon, the great Greek emperor that conquered most of the “known world,” including the middle and near east (up to India). |
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| The process of allegorization is a form of symbolic representation in narratives, used in this context to describe the way the church generally sought to apply and reinterpret parables. It is a way of imagining that each item in a parable symbolically represents something else of significance. |
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| Following the postcolonial work of Homi Bhabha, ambivalence is a way of terming the simultaneous attraction and repulsion in the attitude toward empire in colonial and anti-colonial discourse |
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| Anonymity is quite different from pseudonymity. While pseudonymity in terms of biblical scholarship refers to how a work claims the authority of a particular teacher or tradition, an anonymous work claims that the writing is simply the common tradition of the community. |
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| Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) (1) |
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| Alexander the Great’s empire was divided among his generals. Two of their dynasties (Ptolemies [Egypt] and the Seleucids [Syria]) fought over the Mediteranian. Antiochus was the ruler of the Seleucid empire from 175 to 164 BCE. After Egypt became an ally of Rome, he sought their favor by reinstituting Hellenistic culture to Judaea and outlawing circumcisions, Shabbat, dietary laws, and exclusive worship. He dedicated the temple to Zeus and sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Jerusalem Temple. |
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| An apocalypse (lit. an unveiling or revealation) is a written account intending to unveil the events of history in order to see behind them to a true, spiritual interpretation of the causes and effects. |
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| Apocalypticism is a world-view that revolves around a dualistic conception of history. That is, it consists of the idea that there are two ages: this age and the age to come. |
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| The term apostle derives from the Greek word apostolos, which literally means sent (stello) away (apo), or, one who is sent or a “messenger.” Apostles, as referred to in the New Testament, are those who are “sent” as representatives. Thus, apostle, is used somewhat to convey a sense of divine authority as God’s representative, ambassador, special emissary, or divine messenger. |
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| Asceticism is the practice of avoiding bodily pleasures, often including abstinence from meat, wine, and sexual relations. |
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| The “beloved disciple” is an anonymous disciple, for whom the Gospel of John presents that its authority is expected to rest. It is suggested by this Gospel that this anonymous disciple, probably with Jesus from the beginning to the end, transmitted the story to disciples who now have put it forth with their own endorsement. Irenaeus and the Muratorian Fragment claim him to be John, the son of Zebedee, while some scholars suggest he may be another John, some other unknown disciple, or even Lazarus. |
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| A bios is a kind of ancient writing (one which the gospels resemble more than any other form of ancient writing) that tells the story of a famous politician, philosopher, or religious leader. The bios made no effort to be chronological or explain its subject in terms of family, psychology, education or motivation, but rather focused on the nature of the person through revealing anecdotes (p. 252). |
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| A canon (lit. a rule or measure) as it relates to written texts, is a fixed list of works that belong together in a particular category. |
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| Originally a Greek term that denotes the ‘misuse’ or ‘misapplication’ of a word. In postcolonial criticism, it refers to the practice of resistance and strategic misrepresentation as a way of turning rhetorical tools of imperial oppression around so that they become instruments of resistance. |
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| Christos is the Greek equivalent of messiah, meaning “anointed one.” To a Roman audience unfamiliar with Jewish lore, the idea would be wholly unintelligible. Suetonius (around 41-54 CE) talked about disturbances in Rome caused by the Jews and instigated by Chrestos. (The name is a slave name, pronounced the same as Christos) is likely a reference to Jesus. Barr says that the arrival of representatives of this Christos figure in Rome would have caused enough trouble for expulsion to result. |
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| Circumcision is a traditional Hebrew/Jewish ritual that involves a cutting off of the foreskin of the penis). This became a hotly contested issue in early Christian communities in the debate about the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, as witnessed in the Epistle to the Galatians and the Epistle to the Romans. These letters show Paul had a strong opinion about accepting Gentile believers of Jesus into the communities without requiring circumcision. Others, such as “those who came from James” (Galatians 2:12). |
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| Corinth was a thriving seaport city in ancient Greece, strategically located in the narrow midsection of Greece; it was an important and prosperous city in the ancient world. It was a center for industry, trade, and vice. The population was diverse, bringing a multitude of people with a multitude of religions (Bar, 127-8). |
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| The crucified peoples (Sobrino) |
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| Sobrino makes the point that to be crucified does not simply mean to die, but to be put to death. He suggests that crucified peoples is a useful and necessary language that brings out the real level of the fact of the historical disaster of the so-called “third world,” and particularly Latin |
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| Cynicism was an ancient Greek philosophy in which the adherents believed that society was repressive and, thus, they sought liberty in the violation of social conventions. The ideal is liberation from social norms. |
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| The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of writings that were originally the library of a strict, ascetic Jewish Sect in a community at Qumran. They were recovered in large jars, apparently hidden and abandoned during a Jewish invasion in 66 CE and unmolested until they were rediscovered in 1947. These scrolls reveal a lot about first-century Jewish religion in its original form, uncensored by later Christian or Jewish concerns. |
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| A devout gentile (a “God fearer”) who was a devout (but non-Jewish) person who feared God (Acts 10:2). This would be someone who worshiped the God of Israel but had not become a proselyte (been circumcised) and was treated like a Gentile. |
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| Diaspora generally refers to people whose identities are geographically located somewhere different from their current residence. In relation to ancient Israel, there was a contrast between Jews who lived in Palestine and diaspora Jews. By the time of Paul, diaspora Jews outnumbered Jews in the land by at least two to one (p. 116). |
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| The diatribe is a style of speaking (or writing) in which the lecturer (or writer) would raise questions or implications of the argument, which would then be pursued. “The writer of a diatribe imagines that his or her hearers are present, deals with an objection they might raise, and suggests related ideal to pursue” (152). |
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| Domitian was the third emperor after Nero. Perhaps this is the emperor to which John in Revelation is concerned with (p. 458). Though Domitian did increase in emperor worship, he did not seem to be as inclined to persecution or divine honors like Nero. |
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| Designated by Q (for German Quelle, meaning “source”), scholars consider the double tradition to be the material that is shared by Matthew and Luke alone. That is, this is material unique to Matthew and Luke, and not found in Mark. This is distinguished from the triple tradition, where all three of the synoptics share the same material. |
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| Dualism is a worldview that imagines that there are only two spiritual forces that are operating in opposition to each other: good versus evil. |
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| Essenes were one of the several sects of Judaism at the turn of the first century. Like the Zealots, they believed that the foreigners polluted the land. Unlike Zealots, the Essenes adopted a quietest attitude: they withdrew from society to form a new holy society worthy to be called Israel. They followed strict discipline and mingled only with each other, deeming fellow Jews to be polluted (pp. 337-8). |
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| Exorcisms, according to Barr, are not struggles but a mere extension of the power of God’s rule. When Jesus encounters the demons, their response is fear, even worship, and instantaneous obedience. In Mark, exorcisms play an important role in that they help support the secrecy motif, where the demons know Jesus’ true identity, but Jesus must silence them, even from those who have been healed (p. 289). |
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| Fate is/was believed to be a tangled web that determines or limits life. Some ancients believed that fate could be overcome through piety (obedience, devotion, chastity, etc.) (p. 45). |
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| The image of Jesus as a final prophet is a way of connecting Jesus with Moses. This emphasized Jesus’ message, but made it hard to understand Jesus’ suffering and death. |
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| Martin uses the phrase “Christian textual foundationalism” to refer to the method of assuming the text of the Bible can be taken as a relatively firm basis from which we can derive all sorts of knowledge, about doctrine or ethics, by simply reading the text and “hearing” its message. The idea is that the text of the Bible is a stable, reliable source of certain kinds of knowledge (doctrine or ethics) similar to the way “nature” is thought to function as a source for scientific knowledge (Martin, Sex and the Single Savior, p. 2). |
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| Galatia was a broad geographical region. It is a first century term that referred to two different but related areas. Broadly, it referred to the Roman province that stretched across central Asia Minor, but more precisely it referred to the northern part of this province where the ethnic group called Galatians (a relatively primitive group, related to the Guals) lived. In the southern part of the province, people were mostly Greek. Thus, the term could have been used toward the Greeks pejoratively. Barr suggests that Paul probably never visited the northern region, and that the term Galatians probably is tinged with slight sarcasm. At any rate, Paul’s letter to Galatians is a book of great controversy, primarily over identity and circumcision (p. 123). |
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| Galilee is, especially in Mark, a place of great symbolic importance. It is of Jesus’ proclamation, call of disciples, where huge crowds were attracted by Jesus’ power. It is a part of Mark’s spatial symbolism. In the last speech in chapter 16 of Mark, the young man in the tomb tells the women that Jesus is “going ahead” of them to “Galilee.” Thus, this is a return back to the beginning, the suggestion to reread the story (p. 298-9). |
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| Gematria is the process or system of mapping numerical values to words or phrases. Many of the images in Revelation may be interpreted as coded references to first-century events, assuming that gematria was in use. For instance, the number 666 may have been a coded way of referring to Emperor Nero (p. 431). |
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| William Herzog uses the term “great tradition” to refer to “history ‘as seen from above’.” That is, the great tradition is the history according to those with power and authority. In illiterate cultures, that the great tradition is written means that there are guardians who limit access to it, control its parameters, and determine both its interpretation and its application. Thus the great tradition, even as a reading of the Torah, could never support the lives of peasant villagers nor serve their interests. |
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| The term Hellenistic is an adjective that refers to a particular language and culture (often, but not for everyone, in contrast with Hebrew culture). |
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| Herod the Great was a Roman client king of Judea who is said to have murdered his own family and funded an expansion of the Second Temple. After his death in 4 BCE, The Romans distributed his kingdom to his children. Thus, Rome ruled Galilee through Herod Antipas as a “client king,” while Judea, Samaria and Idumea were given to Herod Archelaus. Archelaus was ruled incompetent, putting the three together as the Iudaea province, where Jerusalem was under client rule (a prefecture) of the priestly aristocracy. |
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| The world of the New Testament embodies a culture where honor is significant. Honor is the public acknowledgement of the power and prestige due to one’s class, wealth, station, group, identity, and accomplishment. Every public encounter was an honor contest. The failure to receive public recognition of honor, is to experience shame (p. 34) |
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| In Greek thought (generally) it was considered that humans are spirits or souls that escaped the body at death, a view that is often manifest in some popular forms of Christianity that understand that at death the souls of individuals eternally go to heaven or hell. |
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| “The Annointed One” (Christos in Greek) – This was originally a term applied to the high priest and then to kings. It came to be synonymous with God’s appointed king who would represent Israel’s eternal covenant with God. |
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| The metaphor of the body is used throughout the New Testament. In Colossians and Ephesians, along with the household codes, it presents Christ as the head and reinforces a hierarchical view of the church that carries over into family relationships. Christ is the head of the body, and his body, the church, bears his suffering. The body of the flesh is buried in baptism and a new body is raised with Christ, that must not submit to other heads. As Christ is to the church, the husband is to the wife, the father is to the children, and the master is to the slave. The metaphor of the body reinforces the social world of traditional Greco-Roman society. |
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| A linchpin of imperial ideology, where the colonizer’s culture is imposed on the colonized and the colonized are lured or coerced into internalizing and replicating it. The colonized is never an exact copy of the colonizer, otherwise this would break down the hierarchical distinction between colonizer and colonized, original and copy. |
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| “The myth of textual agency” |
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| The myth of textual agency, as portrayed by Dale Martin, is that the text of the Bible acts as an agent and “says” something independently of its reader. Martin argues that “the Bible doesn’t actually talk,” but rather must be interpreted. |
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| The Oral Torah was an adaption and expansion of the Torah by applying it to the new problems that arose from living. This is important because of the belief (primarily of the Pharisees) that God’s instruction of the people was an ongoing process. It is said to have been given at “Sinai,” and thus, authoritative along with the written word (pp. 292-3). |
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| Parables usually refer to the early stories of Jesus. A parable is a self-contained story that makes an impact on the hearers by the insight it provides. Jesus’ parables provide an intense expectation of the coming of God’s kingdom and a challenge to see that kingdom in the little things of life. |
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| The term parousia refers to Jesus’ coming (or return). Literally it means “to be present.” |
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| The highest ranking male (father of the family) in a family who is like king over his wife, children, wives of married sons, slaves, hired servants, live-in-guests, and associated freedpersons (p. 143). |
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| The Pharisees were the most influential of all of the other Jewish sects mentioned in the New Testament. They were primarily artisans rather than aristocrats, scholars rather than administrators. During the time of Jesus, the Pharisaic party experienced a time of growth and diversity, organized into local fellowships or associations that served both social and religious ends. While they drew their power both from the ruling elite and the peasants, they were motivated primarily by piety. Their goal was to keep the Law and to teach others how to be observant (p. 338). |
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| Postcolonial interpretation (Moore) |
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| Postcolonial interpretations of biblical texts reads them against the backdrop of colonial and imperial hegemony, highlighting the ways a text such as Revelation engages rhetorical strategies of resistance (replacement and even, in some ways, a reinforcement) toward imperial powers. |
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| New Testament prophets were those that Christ spoke through to the community. They were inspired by the same Spirit as the prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures, so they studied them. They were active until the 2nd-Century. |
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| Just as an anonymous writing is by an unnamed author, a pseudonymous writing is by a “falsely” named author. In the ancient world, this was not seen as a form of dishonesty, but as a way of adding and identifying authority or importance to a writing. Colossians, Ephesians and 2 Thessalonians are generally considered by scholars to be “Deutero-Paul” and thus, would be pseudonyms, or writings in the style and school of Paul and under the authority of Paul’s office, but most probably composed by someone other than Paul. |
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| Rhetoric is a special (trained) ways of speaking and listening (writing and reading) that involves paying close attention to the speakers, the audience, and the discourses. Thus, it must present the speaker’s character (ethos), the audience must be moved (pathos), and the case should be logical (logos). |
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| The Sadducees were a wealthy priestly aristocracy that ran the domestic affairs of the Jewish people under the Roman governors. They represented the viewpoint of the ruling elite. Common to a ruling class, there is no hurry for the kingdom of God to come. They did not believe in the resurrection and had little concern or respect for the common people (p. 337). |
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| Most of the Sermon on the Mount is part of the double tradition. It is the first of Matthew’s five long speeches. Matthew sets up the meaning of the speech in two ways: through echoes of the Moses-exodus stories, and by the emphasis on fulfillment, obedience, and righteousness narrated in the first four chapters. The speech sets forth extraordinary demands, which make sense only in light of the conviction that the old promises are being fulfilled in the present time, requiring a reworking of the concept of righteousness. A time of fulfillment means a radical new ethic. |
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| This term had different meanings to the people of the first century. For gentiles, the term was in relation to being and divine status. In Jewish communities, this language was in reference to “doing,” and signified Israel as God’s son, or for a king who represented God’s son. |
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| Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy that was deeply concerned with total self-control. Stoics believed that the universe was rational and orderly (as this could be seen in nature) and their life or death could be ordered according to reason. The ideal was a mastering of the emotions. |
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| Suffering Servant (2, 10) |
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| The suffering servant passages from Isaiah (Second Isaiah, esp. Isaiah 53) are generally used as an explanation of Israel’s suffering in the Exile and offers a vision of healing for the nations. The image of a suffering servant was used to make sense of Jesus’ suffering and was more accessible to the gentiles. |
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| A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer or study. This was the real center of Jewish life in the diaspora. |
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| The synoptic Gospels (from the Greek opsis, “view” and syn, “together”) are the three Gospels that seem to view things in the same way: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. |
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| The synoptic problem is a problem of biblical scholarship about the interrelation of the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). The problem begins with the observation that Gospels are so much alike that they must be related in some way. Are they interdependent? Which one was first? By examining the shared content, the sequencing of events, the language, and what has been omitted, the majority of scholars have come to the conclusion that the writing of Mark preceded and is a source for both Matthew and Luke. In material where Matthew and Luke agree, but Mark does not (the double tradition), it is assumed that Matthew and Luke had another common source, designated by Q. |
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| The Torah (the Hebrew word literally means teachings) generally refers to the scroll of the Law (what we think of as the first five books of the Bible) (p. 115). |
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| Wisdom, in this context, refers to the image of God’s wisdom from Proverbs 8. Wisdom, here, is personified as someone who was present during God’s creation process and calls out to humans to offers them understanding. |
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| Zealots were a religiously motivated political and nationalistic group. They considered recognition of Caesar as lord and the payment of taxes with coins bearing Caesar’s image to be violations of the first commandment. They shared much in common with the Pharisees, but they differed on one essential point: for the Zealots, faithfulness demanded active resistance to Rome and the overthrow of the government. They were hostile to the ruling aristocracy, but popular with the people (p. 337). |
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