Abstract:
This article highlights the impossibility of ever grasping fully the
meaning of an OT text and how this loss can be approached. Historical
criticism underscored the notion that the OT/HB originated
over many years: texts were constantly re-interpreted, contexts often
changed, older parts were re-adapted and therefore many (even
opposing) voices can be heard in the Hebrew Scripture. Notwithstanding
difficulties and the elusiveness of meaning, OT scholarship
can still be of great value and to elaborate this point the views of
two African born scholars are discussed and their “solutions”
accentuated. The one suggested that studying the text can be a joyful
enterprise and the other African advised that we must always be
open to future possibilities.
