Paul Nadim Tarazi

Raamattua on selitetty vuosisatojen ajan sekä kirkon opetuksena että tieteellisten metodien avulla. Molemmat tavat ovat länsimaisen ajattelun mukaisia. Ne ongelmat, joita länsimainen eksegeesi kohtaa, eivät kenties olekaan ongelmia itämaisessa kontekstissä, vaan aivan normaaleja, kirjoittamisajan elämään kuuluvia asioita. Vanhan testamentin heprea on raamatun ymmärtämisen avain. Heprea on sukua nykyisin käytössä olevalle arabian kielelle, ja siitä voi löytää yhtymäkohtia Raamatun kieleen ja kulttuuriin. Länsimaisessa eksegeesissä ei tätä näkökulmaa ole otettu juuri ollenkaan huomioon. Siksi voisi olla hyödyllistä tutustua Raamattuun itämaisin silmin, pitäen samalla mielessään, ettei raamattua ole kirjoitettu meille, - vaikka tosin meitäkin varten - vaan aivan toisenlaisille ihmisille aivan toisenlaisessa kulttuurissa. Prof. Paul Nadim Tarazi on palestiinalaissyntyinen, arabiaa äidinkielenään puhuva Raamatun tutkija. Hän on opettanut yli 40 vuoden ajan Yhdysvalloissa ja Libanonissa Raamatun selitystä ja luonut oman koulukunnan The Bible as Literature, jota useat tutkijat Amerikassa, Argentiinassa, Libanonissa, Puolassa ja Suomessa ovat pitäneet ainutlaatuisena ja uusia näkökulmia tuottavana. Hän on kirjoittanut kommentaarisarjan koko Raamatusta. Hänen oppilaansa toimittavat podcast sarjaa Ephesusschool.org. Fil. tri, dosentti Merja Merras on Paul Tarazin oppilas, joka on seurannut hänen opetustaan ja julkaisujaan jo 30 vuoden ajan. Tästä kaikesta hän on luonut tämän käsillä olevan kirjan suomeksi. Kirja on käännetty myös englanniksi ja julkaistaan lähiaikoina USA:ssa.

Thanks to Father Paul's linguistic and cultural skills, this volume is a unique gateway into the beauty of Genesis and the internal coherence of biblical literature. Jargon-free and thoroughly provocative, it is a treasure trove even for seasoned Bible readers. Reading Decoding Genesis 1-11 is like reading over the scribe's shoulder "In the beginning". Dr. Philippe GuillaumeUniversity of Berne (Switzerland)Professor Tarazi's most recent book strongly advocates the authority of Scripture over all theology. Not shunning from being provocative as concerns the value of venerated translations and traditions, Tarazi shows the importance of studying the semantic nuances of the original consonantal Hebrew text of the Old Testament to discover the true face of God. Having read his book, the reader feels one great spiritual need: learn scriptural Hebrew Dr. Bartosz AdamczewskiCardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw

With this book Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi concludes a cycle of commentaries on the entire corpus paulinum, a life-long project that began in 1982... this] book fulfills the key mission of the "Chrysostom Bible" series which is to continue the legacy of this great Antiochian saint and exegete in his pastoral work of teaching the believers day by day and of remembering the enthusiasm they experienced in the first days when they embraced Christian faith, and keeping the torch alive in their hearts. With this collection of books on the Pauline writings, Father Paul Tarazi gives us an update of this typically Antiochian legacy of reading continuously and repetitively the Scriptures, which are, as Chrysostom said, "an inexhaustible source of life" (PG 48: 1007). - Daniel Ayuch

Those who experience the Bible as a living text understand that Scripture possesses a life and power all its own. Written by human hands, texts become sacred when they resonate with ultimate truths encountered in the direst of human circumstances. Paul Nadim Tarazi's The Rise of Scripture offers a cogent argument for the particulars of how it is the Bible as we have it became Scripture. Avoiding futile speculation over Israelite textual and ethnic origins, Tarazi lays bare the Bible's strategic defense against hellenistic urban hegemony over the fertile clay and desert environs of western Asia. With the help of biblical Hebrew--a "concocted language," according to Tarazi--scribes wrote and shaped oral and textual materials into a manifesto of cultural resistance in response to the ethnocentric arrogance of the alien occupation. The successful accomplishment of such a defense relied upon a kind of leveling of the playing field, in which the writers of the Bible came to throw all their own false idols into the fire, resulting in the production of the most scathing collective self-examination in human history. It is the thesis of this book that the reading and teaching of Scripture brings human beings together in the barren wilderness of authentic human existence in obedience to, and under the care of the ultimate Shepherd, the God of Scripture.

The Chrysostom Bible Commentary Series is not so much in honor of John Chrysostom as it is to continue and promote his legacy as an interpreter of the biblical texts for preaching and teaching God's congregation. In this volume, the author, Paul Nadim Tarazi, explains that "Among the Latter Prophets the most impressive individual book is undoubtedly Isaiah since its chronological coverage stretches over the pre-exilic, exilic, and post-exilic periods. It has in its purview not only Jacob and Abraham (41:8; 51:2), but also Noah (54:9) and the garden of Eden (51:3), thus encompassing all of humanity before the choosing of Abraham. Hence the stress in Isaiah on the inclusion of the nations, even in the matter of temple service in the new Zion (66:20-21). Isaiah can well be viewed, without exaggeration, as a mini-scripture. By the same token it is no wonder that, besides Genesis-the tone-setting book for the entire scripture in both its Testaments, and Psalms-the book of psalmody of the new Zion, Isaiah is the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament."

The Chrysostom Bible Commentary Series is not so much in honor of John Chrysostom as it is to continue and promote his legacy as an interpreter of the biblical texts for preaching and teaching God's congregation. In this volume, the author, Paul Nadim Tarazi, argues that "The Books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel stand at the center of the Hebrew Old Testament canon...both prophets were active around the time of the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians ca. 587 B. C., and their missions were to declare that the city succumbed to such a shameful end due to its negligence of God's law. What makes Jeremiah's message more ominous in the hearer's ears than that of Ezekiel is that he carried out his mission while living in Jerusalem...in Jeremiah, other "prophets" named by name and endorsed by the majority of the people and leadership challenge Jeremiah at every step. Even an inattentive hearer can feel the "pain" of Jeremiah and thus tends to empathize with his frequent complaints. In this sense, the Book of Jeremiah stands alone in scripture as the book of God who implements his punishment in spite of any entreaty...it is the book where God "alone" stands "over the nations and over the kingdoms" of his entire earth (Jer 1:10) in his office of sole supreme judge of all, including the deities of the nations (Ps 82).

"If you have lived in the Middle East since the inception of the state of Israel, or if you are a student of twentieth century Middle East history, you cannot help but take part in the debate which has produced many books on the ongoing conflict between Jews and Arabs, especially Palestinians... Tarazi addresses this conflict] not from an historical point of view, but strictly biblical... Land and Covenant is a very scholarly and interesting biblical study, and I recommend it to all who seek the truth, objectively and without any prejudice."+Archbishop Philip Saliba, MetropolitanAntiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of NAThe V. Rev. Dr. Paul Nadim Tarazi is Professor of Biblical Studies and Languages at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. He is the author of a three volume Introduction to the Old Testament, a four volume Introduction to the New Testament, Galatians: A Commentary, I Thessalonians: A Commentary, and The Chrysostom Bible: Genesis: A Commentary. His Audio Bible Commentaries on the books of the New Testament are available online through the Orthodox Center for the Advancement of Biblical Studies (OCABS).

This is the fourth and final volume of Fr. Tarazi's New Testament introduction tetralogy. In addition to his exegesis on the Book of Matthew, Fr. Tarazi discusses the formation of the New Testament canon and the Gospel of Matthew, which he argues was intentionally written as the closing book within this canon." Fr. Tarazi's application of his investigative, creative, kerygmatic, canon exegesis has generated a manuscript filled with unique interpretations and bold positions on the Gospel according to Matthew and on the New Testament canon." John Fotopoulos, Ph. D. Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christian LiteratureSaint Mary's College, Notre Dame"Matthew and the Canon is the crowning achievement of the New Testament series... As in the preceding volumes, Tarazi does not offer a conventional introduction to Matthew, but rather comments on each pericope with precise exegetical notes. By doing this, Tarazi allows his reader to be introduced to the Gospel text, rather than to the latest theories of modern criticism." Daniel Alberto AyuchAssociate Professor of New TestamentUniversity of Balamand The V. Rev. Dr. Paul Nadim Tarazi is Professor of Biblical Studies and Languages at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. He is the author of three previously published volumes to the New Testament introduction series, a three-volume introduction to the Old Testament, Galatians: A Commentary, and 1 Thessalonians: A Commentary. His audio bible commentaries on the books of the New Testament are available online through The Orthodox Center for the Advancement of Biblical Studies (OCABS).

Fr Tarazi explains how the very concept of a New Testament 'scripture' came into being, beginning with Paul's letters. Paul's death then left a void in the leadership of Gentile Christianity, which was still under attack by Jewish Christianity. In order to defend the faith as it was preached by Paul, some of his followers created what is now the Gospel of Mark. Their purpose was not to make a historical chronicle of Jesus' life or a systematic presentation of Christian doctrine, but rather to defend Paul's conception of Christianity from the remaining (Jewish) apostles. In writing the story of Jesus, they interpreted Jesus himself and the events of his life according to what they knew of the teaching s and life story of their own leader Paul.

In this second volume of his trilogy of Old Testament introductions, Paul Tarazi sets ut to demystify many of the enigmas of the Old Testament. He examines in detail Amos as a prototype of all the prophets and then focuses solely on the unique message and characteristics of each of the others and is therefore able to treat important issues in detail.