The 'Powers' of Personification: Rhetorical Purpose in the 'Book of Wisdom' and the Letter to the Romans

274 Pages·2008·3.162 MB·English

by  Joseph R. Dodson

Joseph R.Dodson
The ‘Powers’ of Personification
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
und die Kunde der älteren Kirche
Herausgegeben von
James D. G. Dunn · Carl R.Holladay
Hermann Lichtenberger · Jens Schröter
Gregory E. Sterling · Michael Wolter
Band 161
≥
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Joseph R. Dodson
The ‘Powers’ of Personification
Rhetorical Purpose in the Book of Wisdom
and the Letter to the Romans
≥
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
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Dedicated to Sadie,
the wife of my youth and the love of my life.
Preface
This book represents a slightly modified version of my Ph.D. thesis, written at
the University of Aberdeen and the University of Tübingen, under the
supervision of Dr. Simon J. Gathercole (Cambridge). At the beginning of my
post-graduate programme, I had the opportunity to attend a colloquium on the
topic of divine and human agency in Paul and his cultural environment. During
one of the sessions, Professor John Barclay made a comment stressing that
much more work still needed to be done in comparing the Book of Wisdom and
Romans.
Inspired, I set out to compare divine and human agency in Wisdom and
Romans. As I began to study, however, I kept running into a number of
personifications which served as intermediate agents in the two works. To
understand divine and human agency more fully in these works, it seemed that
one needed to understand the role of these intermediate agents first. It was here
that I discovered that while scholars have studied many of these person-
ifications in detail, no one had investigated an individual personification with
respect to the general use of the trope in the work. Furthermore, while scholars
have often found value in comparing Wisdom and Romans, a comparison of
the use of personification in these works had not yet been made, despite the
striking parallels between them. At this point, my research took a life of its
own; and with the guidance from other scholars, this book came to be.
Therefore, I would first like to thank Dr. Simon J. Gathercole for his
invaluable insights and inexhaustible patience. I could not have hoped for a
better supervisor. I would also like to thank my examiners, Dr. Edward Adams
(King’s College London) and Dr. Andrew Clarke (Aberdeen). A special thanks
goes to Professor Dr. Herman Lichtenberger for his invitation for me to study
at Tübingen, his interests in my research while I was there and his suggestion
for me to submit my thesis to BZNW. Along these lines, I would like to thank
the editors of this series for accepting my thesis, as well as Sabina Dabrowski
for helping me format it.
Moreover, I am indebted to those who have encouraged me along the way:
Professor Francis Watson, Dr. Peter J. Williams, Dr. David Capes, Dr. Rodney
Woo, Dr. Troels Engberg-Pedersen, Professor Hans Dieter Betz, Professor Dr.
Otfried Hofius as well as my colleagues at Ouachita Baptist University. In this
endeavour I have had more than a little help from my friends. Preston Sprinkle
and Ben Reynolds have sharpened many of the thoughts which appear in this
work and have urged me to omit other embarrassing ones that do not.
viii Preface
At every turn, I was surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, Mark
Deneui, Osvaldo Padilla, Casey Cease, David Morgan, Ben Elliot, Henry
Nguyen, Patrick Reason, Ethan Worthington and many more. I would also like
to thank Mary Romero and Stefanie Fisher for proof reading my rough draft.
These past three years would have not been possible without the support of
Joseph and Charlene Miller, Bob and Dondra Hamilton, Brent and Lynn
Conley, John and Cathy Jensen, Steven and Alicia Snow, Stephen and Karen
Rankin, Mark and Shona Donaldson, Guy and Leasa Cantwell, James and Pam
Ricks, and Matthew and Lizzie Bailey. A great thanks also goes to the
churches which have supported us through these years: Grand Parkway,
Wilcrest, Fairfield, Bridge of Don, Peterhead, Inverurie, Three Creeks, and Mt.
Union.
I also wish to thank my parents, Joe and Nancy Dodson and my in-laws,
Leon and Sherry Hines, Ben, Billie and Ginger Loftin. Of course, I so
appreciate my everlasting splendours, Sadie, Mattie, Kinnon, Aidan and Iain.
You are a constant reminder that life is bigger than my studies. In fact, you are
my life and I love you. Above all, ca,rij tw/| qew/|.
Abbreviations
ABD The Anchor Bible Dictionary
AnBib Analecta Biblica
ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the
Old Testament
BFChTh Beiträge zur Förderung christlicher
Theologie
Bib Biblica
BSac Bibliotheca Sacra
BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin
BWANT Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und
Neuen Testament
BZ Biblische Zeitschrift
BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für alttestamentliche
Wissenschaft
CBC Cambridge Bible Commentary
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
DSS Dead Sea Scrolls
EKK Evangelisch-katholischer Kommentar
ETR Etudes théologiques et religieuses
FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des
Alten und Neuen Testaments
HThKNT Herders theologischer Kommentar zum
Neuen Testament
HR History of Religions
HTR Harvard Theological Review
HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual
ICC International Critical Commentary
Int Interpretation
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JEOL Jaarbericht Ex oriente lux
JJS Journal of Jewish Studies
JSJ Journal for the Study of Judaism
JSP Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
JWCI Journal of Warburg and Courtauld
Institutes
x Abbreviations
LD Lectio Divina
Loeb Loeb Classical Library
NIBC New International Bible Commentary
NICNT New International Commentary on the New
Testament
NICOT New International Commentary on the Old
Testament
NIGTC New International Greek Testament
Commentary
NT Novum Testamentum
NTS New Testament Studies
RB Revue Biblique
REG Revue des etudes grecques
SJT Scottish Journal of Theology
SthU Schweizerische theologische Umschau
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament
VT Vetus Testamentum
WBC Word Biblical Commentary
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum
Neuen Testament
ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche
Wissenschaft
ZrelGg Zeitschrift für Religion und
Geistesgeschichte
ZTHK Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche
ZWTh Zeitschrift für Wissenschaftliche Theologie