Layout Markers in Biblical Manuscripts and Ugaritic Tablets

Series Pericope 5 Scripture as written and read in antiquityA lucid delimitation of textual units appears to have been a serious concern of ancient scribes. In... » 

Series Pericope 5 Scripture as written and read in antiquityA lucid delimitation of textual units appears to have been a serious concern of ancient scribes. In this fifth volume of the Pericope series this is demonstrated in the papers read at the Fourth Pericope Meeting held in connection with the SBL International Meeting at Cambridge 2003.For the first time articles on text division in New Testament manuscripts are included one on the pericope markers in some relatively early manuscripts especially papyri as well as in the four major codices and another article on Codex Boernerianus and papyrus 46 of the letters of Paul.Other topics discussed are the setumot and petuchot in Numbers and Amos and the special phrases preceding or following them. Is it possible to get more insight in the way the ancient scribes put in the spaces and blank lines in their manuscripts? Furthermore the divisions made by Jerome in his commentary on the Book of Isaiah are investigated and the question about the frame story of the Book of Job is it prose or poetry?The structural unity of Micah 6 is discussed resulting in some challenging proposals to resolve old exegetical problems. The structure of Zechariah 4 is illuminated by data from ancient manuscripts and compared to modern divisions of the chapter. Finally a study on physical division markers in ritual texts from Ugarit Babylonia and Israel reveals a longstanding tradition of fixed liturgical sequences in the cult.The Pericope series aims at making available data on unit delimitation found in biblical and related manuscripts to the scholarly world and provides a platform for evaluating this hitherto largely neglected evidence for the benefit of biblical interpretation. «