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Abstract Exodus 3:14-15 provide an answer to Moses' question in v. 13, but with surprising unanimity scholars have concluded that v. 14 is the heart of the section due to the supposed significance of the name Yhwh for the determining Yhwh's original character. This focus on v. 14 has led most scholars to overlook the fact that v. 15a is a second answer to the question, and that v. 15b presents two complementary, but distinct dimensions of the deity. In v. 15b, the demonstratives וזה ‪...‬ זה, the nouns שמי and זכרי, and the temporal adverbial compounds לעלם and לדר דר, each point toward two distinct referents: Yhwh and Elohim. The first clause highlights the timeless nature of Yhwh's name, while the second clause underscores the need to memorialize Elohim as the God of the ancestors and future Israelite generations.

In Ps 89,47-52 the psalmist raises his voice in angry protest against Yhwh. He accuses him of abandoning his anointed one. Even worse, Yhwh’s action of ברא with regard to all human beings seems to be “futile” or “based on random grounds” (שוא). This combination of terms is quite unique. By introducing the notion of “arbitrariness”, the psalmist comments on Yhwh’s seemingly random selection of a shorter life or a longer life for someone, and thus raises doubts in the mind of his audience. Is the steadfast love that Yhwh showed in the past for David and his servants also transient and based on vanity? Upon this explicit and implicit accusation of fickleness Yhwh has to react.

Until recently, biblical studies and studies of the written and material culture of the ancient Near East have been fragmented, governed by experts who are confined within their individual disciplines' methodological frameworks and patterns of thinking. The consequence has been that, at present, concepts and the terminology for examining the interaction of textual and historical complexes are lacking. However, we can learn from the cognitive sciences. Until the end of the 1980s, neurophysiologists, psychologists, pediatricians, and linguists worked in complete isolation from one another on various aspects of the human brain. Then, beginning in the 1990s, one group began to focus on processes in the brain, thereby requiring that cell biologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, linguists, and other relevant scientists collaborate with each other. Their investigation revealed that the brain integrates all kinds of information; if this were not the case, we would not be able to catch even a glimpse of the brain's processing activity. By analogy, van Wolde's proposal for biblical scholarship is to extend its examination of single elements by studying the integrative structures that emerge out of the interconnectivity of the parts. This analysis is based on detailed studies of specific relationships among data of diverse origins, using language as the essential device that links and permits expression. This method can be called a cognitive relational approach . Van Wolde bases her work on cognitive concepts developed by Ronald Langacker. With these concepts, biblical scholars will be able to study emergent cognitive structures that issue from biblical words and texts in interaction with historical complexes. Van Wolde presents a method of analysis that biblical scholars can follow to investigate interactions among words and texts in the Hebrew Bible, material and nonmaterial culture, and comparative textual and historical contexts. In a significant portion of the book, she then exemplifies this method of analysis by applying it to controversial concepts and passages in the Hebrew Bible (the crescent moon; the in-law family; the city gate; differentiation and separation; Genesis 1, 34; Leviticus 18, 20; Numbers 5, 35; Deuteronomy 21; and Ezekiel 18, 22, 33).

The meaning of the verb ברא is the subject of fierce discussions. Conventionally it has been rendered by biblicists and Hebraists as \"to create,\" but this traditional interpretation fails to explain adequately numerous linguistic and conceptual aspects of the verb's usage. Historical solutions of these problems are discussed. The alternative hypothesis defended here is that the verb ברא Qal designates \"to separate.\" It is considered to be a spatial concept, not a concept that figures in the domain of construction. In the present article I present further analyses of the verb ברא in Gen 1 and explain the significance for the idea of creation it represents, and of the most famous creation psalm, Ps 104, and especially of vv. 26-30 in which the term ברא is used. The similarities and dissimilarities between these two texts demonstrate that each context of usage of ברא must be independently investigated and appreciated.

Background To provide holistic care to patients with advanced cancer, health care professionals need to gain insight in patients’ experiences across the different domains of health. However, describing such complex experiences verbally may be difficult for patients. The use of a visual tool, such as Rich Pictures (RPs) could be helpful. We explore the use of RPs to gain insight in the experiences of patients with advanced cancer. Methods Eighteen patients with advanced cancer were asked to draw a RP expressing how they experienced living with cancer, followed by a semi‐structured interview. Qualitative content analysis, including the examination of all elements in the drawings and their interrelationships, was used to analyze the RPs, which was further informed by the interviews. Results The RPs clearly showed what was most important to an individual patient and made relations between elements visible at a glance. Themes identified included: medical aspects, the experience of loss, feelings related to loss, support from others and meaningful activities, and integration of cancer in one's life. The added value of RPs lies in the ability to represent these themes in one single snapshot. Conclusions RPs allow for a complementary view on the experiences of advanced cancer patients, as they show and relate different aspects of patients’ lives. A RP can provide health care professionals a visual summary of the experiences of a patient. For patients, telling their story to health care professionals might be facilitated when using RPs. Describing the experience of having advanced cancer verbally may be difficult for patients. The use of a visual tool, such as Rich Pictures (RPs) could be helpful. RPs allow for a complementary view on the experiences of advanced cancer patients, and can provide health care professionals a visual summary of the experiences of a patient.

Abstract Because Gen. 9:8-17 uses the word qĕšĕt in relation to the deity and to the clouds, the inference has been made in biblical scholarship that the text refers to a rainbow. The plausibility of this inference is tested in this article. Attention is given to the various linguistic aspects of this word in the Hebrew Bible and to the specific textual composition of Gen. 9:8-17 as well as to the broader ancient Near Eastern framework established by comparative literary and iconographic evidence. The conclusion is reached that the word qĕšĕt designates in Gen. 9:8-17 a warrior's bow which represents both the deity's might and power as well as his willingness to transfer his power over the earth to those living on it.

This article focuses on the pivotal role of verses 12-14 in Psalm 51. In v. 13 the speaker expresses the fear that due to his transgressions God’s spirit of holiness will be taken away, because God does not tolerate impurity of any kind. For the impurity generated by the transgressions will be projected onto the sanctuary, which in this way will be defiled. Therefore, aligned withרוח קדשך in v. 13 isטהור לב in v. 12: purity is the sine qua non for God’s holy spirit to stay and keep active in the midst of the Israelites. In this view, the impure world of words and deeds is the total from which the pure ones are to be separated. It is not the purity of the heart itself, but the process of purification that is expressed here, so that the pure heart remains, cleared of sins.

This article focuses on the pivotal role of verses 12-14 in Psalm 51. In v. 13 the speaker expresses the fear that due to his transgressions God’s spirit of holiness will be taken away, because God does not tolerate impurity of any kind. For the impurity generated by the transgressions will be projected onto the sanctuary, which in this way will be defiled. Therefore, aligned with רוח קדשך in v. 13 is טהור לב in v. 12: purity is the sine qua non for God’s holy spirit to stay and keep active in the midst of the Israelites. In this view, the impure world of words and deeds is the total from which the pure ones are to be separated. It is not the purity of the heart itself, but the process of purification that is expressed here, so that the pure heart remains, cleared of sins.

Abstract The question implied in the title of this article \"A stairway to heaven?\" in reference to Genesis 28:10-22 can be answered negatively. The word סלם does not designate a ladder or a stairway, since it has no steps. It is not even set up to heaven. It is, first of all, the gradient access road of a city, envisioned here as a descent road built from the top downwards, leading from the city of gods to the earth.