Present affliction affects the representation of the past: An alternative dating of the levitical prayer in nehemiah 9

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article examines a group of confessional prayers found in Second Temple literature uttered by known/identifiable figures that are characterized by an admission of guilt on the part of the speaker and a request for divine deliverance and redemption. In Nehemiah 9, these elements are very obscure, the passage also demonstrating linguistic and historical signs that suggest it does not belong to this group or the same date. On the basis of the disparity between the prayer and its introduction, an analysis of its content, linguistic elements, and the features stressed in the historical review, this paper proposes that the prayer belongs not to the Second Temple period but to the days prior to the Babylonian exile, when the people were under bondage to foreign kings in their own land.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)605-626
Number of pages22
JournalVetus Testamentum
Volume63
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • God's faithfulness
  • Nehemiah 9
  • Second Temple prayer
  • confession
  • immunity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • History
  • Religious studies
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Literature and Literary Theory

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