Time&Eternity

notes to chapter 2 257
something; cf. Kronholm, “ c ēt.” Wilch, Time and Event, provides an in-depth study. According
to Wilch, in contrast to other OT expressions for time, c ēt marks not only the aspect
of temporal relation, but also “the occasion itself,” by giving a specific event “a
definite, singular place in time” (167ff.).
19. Compare to this also Barr, Biblical Words for Time. Barr considers a lexical method
of word study inappropriate for biblical theology (12). A specific biblical concept of time
cannot be developed in this way because “the lexical stock of neither Hebrew nor New Testament
Greek is laid out in a plan or pattern which corresponds with the distinctiveness of
biblical thought” (160); linguistically, then, neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament
permits the postulate of biblical uniqueness. Due to the lack of explicit statements
about time and eternity in the Bible, which does not really permit the development of a
philosophical-theological concept of time, Barr cautions one not to try to extrapolate such
a concept of time from the words that have been used (131f.), particularly with respect to
Cullmann. At the very least, the syntactical context must also be constantly kept in mind.
An understanding of time can be built only on the “statements” and not on the “words” of
the Bible (147). At this point, I basically agree with Barr, but (as suggested in chapter 1) I
would replace “statements” with “narratives.”
20. Cf. Ps 76:5; Deut. 33:15; Ps. 89:37f.
21. Ebeling, Zeit und Wort, 364. Cf., e.g., Ps. 90:2; Isa. 43:10, 44:6.
22. On this, see also Kessler, “Das Sabbatgebot,” who refers to the tension existing in
the biblical canon, namely, that in creation the Sabbath is presented as a universal model,
yet it is commanded exclusively of Israel.
23. Cf. also to the explanation of the Sabbath of creation in Link, Schöpfung, 384ff.
24. Clifford, Creation Accounts, 83.
25. Levine, “The Jews in Time and Space,” 2.
26. Ibid., 3. It is worth noting that Levine bestows precisely upon the cyclical character
of time the function to conserve and strengthen identity.
27. Ibid., 4. From the perspective of Christianity, Levine’s thesis would have to be
modified so that it is valid for certain periods, for example, the era of the Crusades or the
Baroque period with its intoxication with space; in the case of the European West, however,
a development away from a spatial connection toward a gradual relativization of the significance
of space, and, finally, to a massive dominance of time can also be demonstrated.
Cf. in this regard Smith, To Take Place, esp. 114ff. Smith notes the development of an increasing
trend toward temporalization brought about by the cultivation of the Church
year.
28. Levine, “The Jews in Time and Space,” 10.
29. Von Rad, Theologie des Alten Testaments, ii.112; trans., 103. In this context, von Rad
also cites Ps. 118:24, which, as I have shown above on pp. 32–37, also plays a role in Church
hymns, particularly in Christmas and Easter hymns.
30. “.l.l. vehemente[n] Erlebnis der Gleichzeitigkeit der göttlichen Heilstaten.” Ibid.,
ii.114 trans., 105.
31. “.l.l. die Bedeutung dieser Umprägungen als Leistungen eines ganz eigenständigen
Welt- und Daseinsverständnisses wohl kaum überschätzen.” Ibid., ii.113 trans., 104.
32. Ibid., ii.116 trans., 106.
33. Ibid., ii.118 and ii.121–29 trans., 108 and 112–19.
34. “.l.l. garstiger Graben.” In relation to the neighboring religions of the ancient orient,
von Rad asserts: “Keine dieser Religionen hat die Dimension der Geschichte so erfaßt
wie Israel!” (Not one of them [these religions] understood the dimension of history in the
way that Israel did.) Ibid., ii.119f. trans., 110. One must ask whether, here, in this claim of
uniqueness, underlying value concepts—which are not being accounted for—are not also