Bulletin of Biblical Studies, vol. 5, June 1977, issue 7, pp. 1-88.
The 1st issue of the 5th volume, June 1977, of the Bulletin of Biblical Studies contains three (3) articles.
Ath. Hastoupis translates in greek from the hebrew prototype the “Book of Abbakum”, realizing at the same time the critical restoration of the prototype as well.
Nik. Papadopoulos presents the problem of the exact specification of the location of the “Tomb of the Patriarchs”, that is, of the tombs of Abraham and his descendants. The writer examines the issue taking into consideration all the known historical and archeological data and resorting to all sources regarding his issue. Finally, he concludes that none of the testimonies fully enlightens the problem of Mahpela’s cave as a place of burial for the Patriarchs and no specific conclusion can be deduced unless an in-depth archeological survey of the particular place takes place first. Furthermore, the nature, size and arrangement of the cave still remain unknown as well as the original form of the “Patriarchal tombs” in it; finally, it is doubtful at which correspondence the muslim cenotaphs lie with the original cenotaphs of the Patriarchs.
B. Stogiannos deals with the difficult problem of interpreting the Gal. 6, 17 passage, where Apostle Paul refers to “Jesus’ stigmata” that he bears upon him. The writer of the article originally sets the frame of the problem. Afterwards, he proceeds to the history of the interpretation. In this context, the views and interpretations of the ancient greek-speaking interpreters of the East are given first; these vary in the details but, in general, are in accordance as to the connection of the verse with the Galls’ problems on the one hand and with Paul’s fights and his suffering for Christ on the other. The views and interpretations of the latin-speaking interpreters of the West, who mainly tend towards an ethical-practical interpretation of the verse, come next. Finally, we are presented with the views of contemporary interpreters, who, at their turn, do not manage to give a satisfactory answer to the problem and interpret the partly issues. In the last part of his paper, Stogiannos is personally placed in favor of a solution and proposes a new hypothesis. The basis of it constitutes the critical correction of the text, where «σίγνατα» (meaning the soldiers’ banners) is suggested instead of «στίγματα»(stigmata). This interpretation states that Apostle Paul, referring to the Galls, presented himself as Christ’s flag-bearer who is at the head of the battle and whom the recipients of the letter ought not to disturb with issues and problems of secondary importance.
The journal’s Chronicles follow. In these the works of a group of Greek Orthodox biblical theologians on a text of Dutch theologians for the “Faith and Order” section of the W. C. C. referring to the relation between O. T. and N. T. are originally described. A text of G. Patronos, where he presents the translation work of the Holy Scripture in different languages and dialects, comes next. At the end, S. Agouridis presents the papers of the special committee for Europe of the European Translation Committee that took place in Sweden from the 27th until the 30th of April 1977.
The issue closes with reviews of foreign biblical scientific projects.