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Hendrik Bosman

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* BA Hons (Philosophy), DD / PhD (Old Testament) University of Pretoria, South Africa.* 1979 - 1990: Lecturer - Professor in Old Testament, University of South Africa, Pretoria.* 1991-2018: Professor in Old Testament, Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University.* 2019 -: Emeritus Professor in Old Testament, Stellenbosch University.

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Australian Catholic University

Oludamini Ogunnaike

University of Virginia

Armando Marques-Guedes

UNL - New University of Lisbon

University of Chicago

York University

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Theologisches Seminar Bienenberg, Liestal (Siwtzerland)

Ndikho Mtshiselwa

University of South Africa

Hryhoriy Lozinskyy

Pontifical Biblical Institute

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

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Papers by Hendrik Bosman

Female participation in Judean family religions

STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal, Nov 6, 2022

In this contribution it will be argued that females in ancient Judean families not only played ec... more In this contribution it will be argued that females in ancient Judean families not only played economic, educational, reproductive, and sexual roles, but also took part in religious activities performed within the extended family; and that this neglected religious role of females must be taken into consideration when reflecting on the status of females within the male-dominated beit `ab ("house of the father" or extended family). The possible role played by females in ancient "family religion" will be investigated by engaging with the research related to Judean Pillar Figurines and the role of the queen mother in Judean royal households. Against this background, it will be argued that it is possible that ancient Judahite families had heterarchical qualities despite their dominant hierarchical and patriarchal character in view of the religious agency of women suggested by archaeological evidence.

Ants, Spiders or Bees... or Ticks? A Typology of Old Testament Scholarship in South Africa since 1994 within its African Context

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Dec 1, 2015

Discerning the So-called Abomination in Lev 18:22 and 20:13 in Relation to Holiness, Honour and Shame

Old Testament Essays

Abomination does not appear in the earliest legal collection (Covenant Code) but in Deuteronomy a... more Abomination does not appear in the earliest legal collection (Covenant Code) but in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic literature, it refers to what is incompatible with YHWH both cultically and ethically in order to maintain the uniqueness of the holy YHWH in the cult and of Israel amongst its neighbours. Abomination is also not used in priestly literature but only in the youngest of the legal collections (Holiness Code). The prohibition of male-male sexual intercourse in Lev 18:22 and 20:13 should be read contextually by relating it to its specific literary and theological-ethical context and not just accepting it as an unconditional legal instruction in general. It is rather a parenetic call to guard against incest as a shaming act that damages the honour of a family. It also entails the rhetorical appeal to the holiness and honour of YHWH as motivation for regulating sexual relations in the family in terms of procreation- procreation not as a timeless creational order but a context...

Lexikon der Bibelhermeneutik

Lexikon der Bibelhermeneutik

Lexikon der Bibelhermeneutik

Lexikon der Bibelhermeneutik

The Exodus as Memories about Migration: Examples from the Hebrew Bible and the Deuterocanonical Books

Christian theology in the age of migration, 2020

Modelle Van Skrifuitleg: Samehang en Verskil

Scriptura: Journal for Biblical, Theological and Contextual Hermeneutics, 1986

Jeremiah 8:8: Why Are Scribes Accused of Corrupting The torah?

Acta Theologica, 2018

Why are scribes accused, in Jeremiah 8:8-9, of corrupting the "tôrāh"? The article contemplates p... more Why are scribes accused, in Jeremiah 8:8-9, of corrupting the "tôrāh"? The article contemplates possible answers to this question against the background of what is presupposed in the Book of Jeremiah with regards to "tôrāh" and being a scribe. Does this confront one with a response triggered by the reformation of Josiah (older interpretation) or by an indication of what took place much later during the gradual combination of Torah and Nebi'im as authoritative scripture in Persian and Hellenistic times (recent interpretation)? The article distinguishes between oral common law and written statutory law, in order to rectify anachronistic interpretations of all biblical laws as statutory laws (Berman 2014). The change from oral to written law, facilitated by the scribes, caused a legitimacy crisis and can be explained against the background of a new understanding of what "word of God" or "revelation" entailed (Van der Toorn 2013).

Cartographers, canons and cuckoos - historiography of the study of the Old Testament

Verbum et Ecclesia, 1993

There is no obvious place for the historian of Old Testament studies amongst his exegetical and t... more There is no obvious place for the historian of Old Testament studies amongst his exegetical and theological colleagues and little interest has been shown in this aspect of Old Testament studies. Some scholars view historians of science as intellectual cartographers of their discipline�s unrelenting "progress" through the ages.

Wetenskapsteorie en Inleidingswetenskap

Verbum et Ecclesia, 1987

Philosophy of science and Introduction to the Old Testament The study of the Old Testament has al... more Philosophy of science and Introduction to the Old Testament The study of the Old Testament has always taken place in a context of theological and philosophical presuppositions about knowledge, truth, history, religion, etc. This article investigates the relationship between the Introduction to the Old Testament's theoretical base and modern trends in the philosophy of science. In the end the conclusion is reached that the Introduction to the Old Testament has not kept track of current questions in the philosophy of science and this emphasises the need to bring the study of the Old Testament up to date with the modern view of science as a socially and historically determined human activity.

Jacobus Capitein: Champion for Slavery and Resisting Mimic?

Old Testament Essays, 2021

Jacobus Eliza Johannes Capitein (1717-1747) was a man of many firsts-the first black student of t... more Jacobus Eliza Johannes Capitein (1717-1747) was a man of many firsts-the first black student of theology at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, the first black minister ordained in the Dutch Reformed Church in the Netherlands, the author of the first Fante/Mfantse-Dutch Grammar in Ghana as well as the first translator of the Ten Commandments, Twelve Articles of Faith and parts of the Catechism into Fante/Mfantse. However, he is also remembered as the first African to argue in writing that slavery was compatible with Christianity in the public lecture that he delivered at Leiden in 1742 on the topic, De Servitute Libertati Christianae Non Contraria. The Latin original was soon translated into Dutch and became so popular in the Netherlands that it was reprinted five times in the first year of publication. This contribution will pose the question: Was Capitein a sell-out who soothed the Dutch colonial conscience as he argued with scholarly vigour in his dissertation that the B...

The naked truth or prophecy as folly? A performative interpretation of Isaiah 20

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

How does one make sense of a naked prophet who walked the streets of Jerusalem for no less than t... more How does one make sense of a naked prophet who walked the streets of Jerusalem for no less than three years? This contribution interpreted the ambulatory naked prophet in Isaiah 20 as a sign-act by means of symbolic interactionism and performative interpretation according to which symbolic or sign-acts are multivalent entities. Isaiah 20 was interpreted as an embodied, multivalent text that invited ongoing appropriation among subsequent audiences while exploring the potential meaning(s) of the initial act within the parameters of text and context. It is presupposed that human beings reinterpret symbolic acts in different subsequent contexts and that a symbolic act should never be reduced to one single (original!) meaning – this reinterpretation process is illustrated by the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 20. Furthermore, the question will be posed how one could interpret and appropriate a disruptive and ‘foolish’ prophetic and symbolic act of public exposure – Isaiah as an ‘agent ...

Torah as Instruction to Establish Justice: Rethinking Childbirth and Cultic Purity According to Leviticus 12

Transgression and Transformation, 2021

Figuring God and Humankind: The Imago Dei in View of Anthropologies in the Old Testament

From ‘Sign/ת ו ֹ֜א ’ to ‘Memorial/ ‘ ור ֹ ָּכִ ז ֙ ן ’ in Exodus 13:1-16 1

From the perspective of cultural memory the cultic tradition of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread... more From the perspective of cultural memory the cultic tradition of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread in Exodus 13:3-10 acted as a sign (‘ת ו ֹ֜א’) and a memorial or commemoration ( ‘ ור ֹ ָּכִ ז ֙ ן ’) of the Exodus as an act of divine deliverance. The dialectic between ‘sign ’ and ‘memorial/commemoration/reminder ’ is framed by references to the consecration of the first-born male (13:1-2, 11-15) and the phylacteries (‘tefillin’) that functioned as a sign (‘ת ו ֹ֜א’) on the hand and symbols (‘ ת ֹ ֖ פ ָּטֹוטֹ’) on the forehead (13:16). Exodus 13 is not merely the duplication of material arguing for the observance of the Passover in the previous chapter (12:14-28) but it constitutes a combination of the cognitive act of remembering and the ritual act of comme-moration. It will be argued that the central role of memory and commemoration as complementary concepts in the observance of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread is expanded by adding the instruction of wearing a ‘si...

Exodus 14-15 as a Polemical Narrative

For several decades the book of Exodus was the locus classicus for the struggle against coloniali... more For several decades the book of Exodus was the locus classicus for the struggle against colonialism and racial discrimination across Africa. This paper engages with the problem: How do we appropriate the book of Exodus theologically in a post-colonial Africa? The validity of the following hypothesis will be investigated: The book of Exodus can be interpreted as a polemical narrative concerned with origin of Israel as a nation, born within the crucible of slavery and forged by the guiding divine presence during the sojourn in the desert and at Mount Sinai. It is argued that there are similarities between elements of the Exodus narrative and certain texts in the Ancient Near East – specific attention will be given to the three major themes of the Baal epic: The crossing of the Re(e)d Sea (Ex 14-15) and Baal’s victory over Yam (sea); the instructions concerning the tabernacle and the eventual building of the tabernacle (Ex 25-31, 35-40) and the arguments for building a temple or palace...

Figuring God and Humankind

Fragile Dignity

Process Models for Press-and-Sinter Titanium

Advanced Materials Research, 2014

Two commercially pure (CP) titanium powders, with mean particle sizes of 78 and 32 μm, respective... more Two commercially pure (CP) titanium powders, with mean particle sizes of 78 and 32 μm, respectively, were used to manufacture titanium samples via the press-and-sinter powder metallurgy process. Compaction pressures ranging from 300 to 500 MPa were used to compact the powders into cylindrical and rectangular forms. The green samples were sintered for 2 hours under high vacuum, 10-6 mbar, at 1100, 1200 and 1300 °C, respectively. Green density and green strength data were collected from the compacted samples, and sintered density, sintered strength and microstructure images were collected from the sintered samples. These data were used to characterise process models for the compressibility of the powders, and for the sinter densification, using the Master Sintering Curve (MSC) model. The results show that particle size influences the processing at both the compaction and sintering step. In modelling these two processes, separate MSC models must be characterised and each used individua...

Female participation in Judean family religions

STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal, Nov 6, 2022

In this contribution it will be argued that females in ancient Judean families not only played ec... more In this contribution it will be argued that females in ancient Judean families not only played economic, educational, reproductive, and sexual roles, but also took part in religious activities performed within the extended family; and that this neglected religious role of females must be taken into consideration when reflecting on the status of females within the male-dominated beit `ab ("house of the father" or extended family). The possible role played by females in ancient "family religion" will be investigated by engaging with the research related to Judean Pillar Figurines and the role of the queen mother in Judean royal households. Against this background, it will be argued that it is possible that ancient Judahite families had heterarchical qualities despite their dominant hierarchical and patriarchal character in view of the religious agency of women suggested by archaeological evidence.

Ants, Spiders or Bees... or Ticks? A Typology of Old Testament Scholarship in South Africa since 1994 within its African Context

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Dec 1, 2015

Discerning the So-called Abomination in Lev 18:22 and 20:13 in Relation to Holiness, Honour and Shame

Old Testament Essays

Abomination does not appear in the earliest legal collection (Covenant Code) but in Deuteronomy a... more Abomination does not appear in the earliest legal collection (Covenant Code) but in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic literature, it refers to what is incompatible with YHWH both cultically and ethically in order to maintain the uniqueness of the holy YHWH in the cult and of Israel amongst its neighbours. Abomination is also not used in priestly literature but only in the youngest of the legal collections (Holiness Code). The prohibition of male-male sexual intercourse in Lev 18:22 and 20:13 should be read contextually by relating it to its specific literary and theological-ethical context and not just accepting it as an unconditional legal instruction in general. It is rather a parenetic call to guard against incest as a shaming act that damages the honour of a family. It also entails the rhetorical appeal to the holiness and honour of YHWH as motivation for regulating sexual relations in the family in terms of procreation- procreation not as a timeless creational order but a context...

Lexikon der Bibelhermeneutik

Lexikon der Bibelhermeneutik

Lexikon der Bibelhermeneutik

Lexikon der Bibelhermeneutik

The Exodus as Memories about Migration: Examples from the Hebrew Bible and the Deuterocanonical Books

Christian theology in the age of migration, 2020

Modelle Van Skrifuitleg: Samehang en Verskil

Scriptura: Journal for Biblical, Theological and Contextual Hermeneutics, 1986

Jeremiah 8:8: Why Are Scribes Accused of Corrupting The torah?

Acta Theologica, 2018

Why are scribes accused, in Jeremiah 8:8-9, of corrupting the "tôrāh"? The article contemplates p... more Why are scribes accused, in Jeremiah 8:8-9, of corrupting the "tôrāh"? The article contemplates possible answers to this question against the background of what is presupposed in the Book of Jeremiah with regards to "tôrāh" and being a scribe. Does this confront one with a response triggered by the reformation of Josiah (older interpretation) or by an indication of what took place much later during the gradual combination of Torah and Nebi'im as authoritative scripture in Persian and Hellenistic times (recent interpretation)? The article distinguishes between oral common law and written statutory law, in order to rectify anachronistic interpretations of all biblical laws as statutory laws (Berman 2014). The change from oral to written law, facilitated by the scribes, caused a legitimacy crisis and can be explained against the background of a new understanding of what "word of God" or "revelation" entailed (Van der Toorn 2013).

Cartographers, canons and cuckoos - historiography of the study of the Old Testament

Verbum et Ecclesia, 1993

There is no obvious place for the historian of Old Testament studies amongst his exegetical and t... more There is no obvious place for the historian of Old Testament studies amongst his exegetical and theological colleagues and little interest has been shown in this aspect of Old Testament studies. Some scholars view historians of science as intellectual cartographers of their discipline�s unrelenting "progress" through the ages.

Wetenskapsteorie en Inleidingswetenskap

Verbum et Ecclesia, 1987

Philosophy of science and Introduction to the Old Testament The study of the Old Testament has al... more Philosophy of science and Introduction to the Old Testament The study of the Old Testament has always taken place in a context of theological and philosophical presuppositions about knowledge, truth, history, religion, etc. This article investigates the relationship between the Introduction to the Old Testament's theoretical base and modern trends in the philosophy of science. In the end the conclusion is reached that the Introduction to the Old Testament has not kept track of current questions in the philosophy of science and this emphasises the need to bring the study of the Old Testament up to date with the modern view of science as a socially and historically determined human activity.

Jacobus Capitein: Champion for Slavery and Resisting Mimic?

Old Testament Essays, 2021

Jacobus Eliza Johannes Capitein (1717-1747) was a man of many firsts-the first black student of t... more Jacobus Eliza Johannes Capitein (1717-1747) was a man of many firsts-the first black student of theology at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, the first black minister ordained in the Dutch Reformed Church in the Netherlands, the author of the first Fante/Mfantse-Dutch Grammar in Ghana as well as the first translator of the Ten Commandments, Twelve Articles of Faith and parts of the Catechism into Fante/Mfantse. However, he is also remembered as the first African to argue in writing that slavery was compatible with Christianity in the public lecture that he delivered at Leiden in 1742 on the topic, De Servitute Libertati Christianae Non Contraria. The Latin original was soon translated into Dutch and became so popular in the Netherlands that it was reprinted five times in the first year of publication. This contribution will pose the question: Was Capitein a sell-out who soothed the Dutch colonial conscience as he argued with scholarly vigour in his dissertation that the B...

The naked truth or prophecy as folly? A performative interpretation of Isaiah 20

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

How does one make sense of a naked prophet who walked the streets of Jerusalem for no less than t... more How does one make sense of a naked prophet who walked the streets of Jerusalem for no less than three years? This contribution interpreted the ambulatory naked prophet in Isaiah 20 as a sign-act by means of symbolic interactionism and performative interpretation according to which symbolic or sign-acts are multivalent entities. Isaiah 20 was interpreted as an embodied, multivalent text that invited ongoing appropriation among subsequent audiences while exploring the potential meaning(s) of the initial act within the parameters of text and context. It is presupposed that human beings reinterpret symbolic acts in different subsequent contexts and that a symbolic act should never be reduced to one single (original!) meaning – this reinterpretation process is illustrated by the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 20. Furthermore, the question will be posed how one could interpret and appropriate a disruptive and ‘foolish’ prophetic and symbolic act of public exposure – Isaiah as an ‘agent ...

Torah as Instruction to Establish Justice: Rethinking Childbirth and Cultic Purity According to Leviticus 12

Transgression and Transformation, 2021

Figuring God and Humankind: The Imago Dei in View of Anthropologies in the Old Testament

From ‘Sign/ת ו ֹ֜א ’ to ‘Memorial/ ‘ ור ֹ ָּכִ ז ֙ ן ’ in Exodus 13:1-16 1

From the perspective of cultural memory the cultic tradition of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread... more From the perspective of cultural memory the cultic tradition of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread in Exodus 13:3-10 acted as a sign (‘ת ו ֹ֜א’) and a memorial or commemoration ( ‘ ור ֹ ָּכִ ז ֙ ן ’) of the Exodus as an act of divine deliverance. The dialectic between ‘sign ’ and ‘memorial/commemoration/reminder ’ is framed by references to the consecration of the first-born male (13:1-2, 11-15) and the phylacteries (‘tefillin’) that functioned as a sign (‘ת ו ֹ֜א’) on the hand and symbols (‘ ת ֹ ֖ פ ָּטֹוטֹ’) on the forehead (13:16). Exodus 13 is not merely the duplication of material arguing for the observance of the Passover in the previous chapter (12:14-28) but it constitutes a combination of the cognitive act of remembering and the ritual act of comme-moration. It will be argued that the central role of memory and commemoration as complementary concepts in the observance of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread is expanded by adding the instruction of wearing a ‘si...

Exodus 14-15 as a Polemical Narrative

For several decades the book of Exodus was the locus classicus for the struggle against coloniali... more For several decades the book of Exodus was the locus classicus for the struggle against colonialism and racial discrimination across Africa. This paper engages with the problem: How do we appropriate the book of Exodus theologically in a post-colonial Africa? The validity of the following hypothesis will be investigated: The book of Exodus can be interpreted as a polemical narrative concerned with origin of Israel as a nation, born within the crucible of slavery and forged by the guiding divine presence during the sojourn in the desert and at Mount Sinai. It is argued that there are similarities between elements of the Exodus narrative and certain texts in the Ancient Near East – specific attention will be given to the three major themes of the Baal epic: The crossing of the Re(e)d Sea (Ex 14-15) and Baal’s victory over Yam (sea); the instructions concerning the tabernacle and the eventual building of the tabernacle (Ex 25-31, 35-40) and the arguments for building a temple or palace...

Figuring God and Humankind

Fragile Dignity

Process Models for Press-and-Sinter Titanium

Advanced Materials Research, 2014

Two commercially pure (CP) titanium powders, with mean particle sizes of 78 and 32 μm, respective... more Two commercially pure (CP) titanium powders, with mean particle sizes of 78 and 32 μm, respectively, were used to manufacture titanium samples via the press-and-sinter powder metallurgy process. Compaction pressures ranging from 300 to 500 MPa were used to compact the powders into cylindrical and rectangular forms. The green samples were sintered for 2 hours under high vacuum, 10-6 mbar, at 1100, 1200 and 1300 °C, respectively. Green density and green strength data were collected from the compacted samples, and sintered density, sintered strength and microstructure images were collected from the sintered samples. These data were used to characterise process models for the compressibility of the powders, and for the sinter densification, using the Master Sintering Curve (MSC) model. The results show that particle size influences the processing at both the compaction and sintering step. In modelling these two processes, separate MSC models must be characterised and each used individua...