The angels still do not know how to sing during Christmas night. Some have three lines in Luke 2.14, others only two. Some have good liturgical hymns in their textbooks, others must use bad prose versions. This article reconstructs a Hebrew version with its focus on the righteous remnant of Israel, the Anawim in Jerusalem who saw Jesus as the beginning of the restoration of Israel, and goes on to analyse the original and the liturgical versions in Greek, different Latin translations and renderings into Syriac and Coptic. Finally it gives some later interpretations of the canticle in literature, art and music. There are good reasons to include much more of reception history into the NT discipline.

An approach to Gospel narratives that treats them as realistically depicted stories and emphasises the way their details function within the time-of-Jesus scenes they portray yields substantial exegetical results. Alternative approaches such as allegorical reading, focus on theological words, and the pursuit of intra-Gospel allusions sometimes stand in tension with this kind of concrete reading, and can distract interpreters from attending to surface-level scenes and details. The value of concrete reading and the effects of alternative approaches may be seen through examining several texts: the Nicodemus narratives of John; Mark 8.22–6; John 1.35–9; Mark 14.38; and John 21.15–17.

Rhetoricians of the ancient world make reference to a technique useful for signalling that a transition is being made from one text unit to another. Ancient texts spanning centuries and provenance testify to the utility of this technique, not least texts of the NT. In this essay, four Lukan examples of this technique are cited, focusing particularly on what is perhaps the most intriguing of them: Acts 11.27–12.25. After demonstrating the way in which this passage is animated by the transition technique under consideration, the structural implications of these Lukan transitions are discussed in relation to the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles.

This study is concerned with one text-form of the Greek Life of Adam and Eve in particular: the qz-text. This text-form is demonstrably of Christian origin, although the name of Jesus Christ nowhere features in it. It seems to share a certain anthropology with the epistles of Paul, but it is unlikely that its editor had any knowledge of the Pauline letters beyond the most superficial. It is concluded that the Life of Adam and Eve, which in all its forms and redactions primarily deals with questions of everyday life, reflects a living oral narrative tradition shared by Jews and Christians.

Zunächst ist die Leseanweisung in 1 Thess 5.27 an die gerichtet, die den Brief als erste in die Hand bekamen und für seine Verlesung in der Gemeindeversammlung verantwortlich waren. Aber es erhebt sich die Frage, was diese Anweisung, die ja Teil des Textes ist, den alle hören, für die gesamte Gemeinde bedeutete. Diese Studie schlägt folgende Erklärung vor: Die Zuhörer sollten durch die Leseanweisung erkennen, dass der Brief zwischen ihnen keine Differenzen hervorrufen sollte. Alle sollten die gleichen Informationen und die gleiche Unmittelbarkeit zum Apostel haben. Dadurch gestaltet die Leseanweisung das Verhältnis der Gemeindeglieder zum Apostel und untereinander. Das Ziel ist die Einigkeit der Gläubigen. Der Vergleich mit Kol 4.16 und außerbiblischen Briefen bestätigt diese Deutung.

Phil 4.4–7 is best understood against the background of a society with an imperial ideology, mirrored in the epistle's terminology. The church is under pressure from its social environment and opposes the claims of the state's officials. The various parts of the passage are united by this context. Christian emotions should be shaped by the relation to Christ who is ‘near’, said in contrast to Caesar's proclaimed omnipresence. Christians are called to behave nobly towards their fellow citizens. The terminology of prayer reflects imperial customs. The peace of God surpasses the pax Romana. Paul's strategy is to strengthen the unity of the church and to enhance a convincing social behaviour.

This article joins recent studies of the letter of James in arguing that the ancient system of patronage aids in illuminating the social situation of this short text. However, unlike other authors, I suggest that God is not understood as a substitute patron in James, but as an ideal benefactor, on whom the audience must rely. Building on the work of Stephan Joubert and others, the article first offers evidence that patronage and benefaction were understood as different relationships in parts of the Roman Empire. Subsequently it focuses on sections of James in which patronage is criticized and God is portrayed as a frank friend and benefactor, consistent with the image of the ideal benefactor in antiquity.