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The Song of the Sea is long known to contain allusions to mythological motifs related to Canaanite religion that have been adapted to the faith of Israel. On the basis of a recent study of the Ugaritic texts KTU 1.107 and 1.100 it is shown that Exod 15:7-8 falls in this category of reinterpretation. It is proposed to render verse 7b ‘you sent your Ḥoron, he devoured them like stubble’. Suffixed personal pronouns with the names of deities are attested in Ugarit and ancient Hebrew inscriptions. However, in Exod 15 Ḥoron has been reduced to a redoutable assistant of God, an executioner called up to punish God’s opponents.

Study of the unit delimitation in a number of ancient manuscripts lends extra support to the view that the speaker of the lament in Jer 4:19-21 is Lady Zion and that Jer 4:22 is a later addition.

L'A. s'interesse a l'emploi qu'Isaie pratique de la metaphore au chapitre 55 de son Livre prophetique. En analysant sa structure litteraire, il commence d'abord par montrer que ce chapitre possede une unite litteraire. C'est alors seulement qu'il subdivise la pericope en plusieurs cantiques. Ce travail preliminaire accompli, il passe une a une les metaphores employees par le redacteur : l'eau, le pain, l'argent... Ce travail le mene a la conclusion suivante : l'analyse allegorique pratiquee par les peres, la subdivision traditionnelle en cantiques, sont ici aussi efficaces que les methodologies modernes de l'exegese contemporaine

In modern philosophy, theology, literature, theatre and film, there is a distinct inclination to complain vociferously about the silence of God in the face of horrendous crimes and disasters. Matthijs de Jong introduces an unwarranted restriction of the theme by equating the speaking of deities with divine favour and silence with divine disfavour. Bob Becking sees Ezra and Nehemiah as symbolic, aniconic representations of God's return to the temple on Zion. It applies to God's reinstated presence, but not to his silence or speech. Joel Burnett explores personal names as expressions of personal piety, relying heavily on the pioneering work of Rainer Albertz. More parallels between ancient Israel and its Eastern neighbours are being discovered. God has chosen to reveal himself in a specific historical situation, just as one lives in a situation. It is made clear that the silence of God was vexing people all over the world. Keywords: Bob Becking; Ezra; Israel; Joel Burnett; Matthijs de Jong; Nehemiah; silence of God

The author aims to identify hymns and prayers in the prophetic literature and try to establish their function in their wider literary context. The chapter is started with a definition of the genres. It gave some examples of combinations of hymns and prayers with prophecy attested elsewhere in the ancient Near East. The chapter discusses a number of very short hymns and prayers that are usually regarded as integral parts of the compositions in which they occur. Making use of the unit delimitation found in ancient manuscripts, the chapter describes two examples of somewhat longer poems: the penitential prayer in Hosea. 6:1-3 and the hymn in Isaiah. 2:10-12. In both cases the poems appeared to be firmly embedded in the context. The chapter concludes that if these songs were later redactional additions, they must have been composed with an eye on the context.Keywords: ancient manuscripts; Hosea; hymns; Isaiah; penitential prayer; prophetic literature

In his catalogue of Hebrew and Samaritan manuscripts in the National Library of France, Hermann Zotenberg gave a very summary description of the manuscript B.N. h´ebreu 80. John Revell was the only one who bothered to check whether paragraphing in such Tibero-Palestinian manuscripts is in accordance with the Palestinian fragments. In Palestinian manuscripts paragraphing is often different from that of Leningrad Codex (LC). It is absolutely certain that the scribe of BN was acquainted with the Tiberian Masoretic tradition. Therefore it is not right to claim the term 'Proto-Tiberian' or 'Pre-Masoretic' for this category of manuscripts. Like other Palestinian and Tibero-Palestinian codices BN is a carelessly written manuscript, probably only intended for personal study. This introductory chapter compares the differences between the paragraphing in the Book of Isaiah according to LC and BN with that in a number of other medieval Hebrew manuscripts.Keywords: Book of Isaiah; Hebrew Bible; John Revell; Leningrad Codex (LC); Paragraphing; Prophets; Samaritan manuscripts; Tibero-Palestinian codices; Tibero-Palestinian Manuscript; Writings