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21 December 2020 | Story Eugene Seegers | Photo Sonia Small
Prof Fanie Snyman, retired Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religion, is the first South African to publish a volume in the respected Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series, which deals with the Bible books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.

Against the backdrop of the Faculty of Theology and Religion’s 40th anniversary, Prof Fanie Snyman, retired Dean and research associate, has recently published a commentary in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series based in Cambridge, England, on the prophetic books Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah of the Old Testament. What makes his book special is that Prof Snyman is the first and for the foreseeable future the only South African Old Testament scholar to be commissioned to publish in this distinguished commentary series. This commentary series is widely read and consulted in the English-speaking scholarly communities of Africa, Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, the USA, and many European countries.

In a virtual ‘sit-down’ with Prof Fanie, he explained how a research volume of this type is usually compiled: It starts with a verse-by-verse analysis of the Bible books, looking at the literary aspects of how the passage was written as well as considering its historical, social, and cultural background. This is done to obtain a better overall understanding of the text. Secondly, a volume of commentary is not merely regurgitating knowledge that has already been generated. Prof Fanie says that “it must deliver new, fresh perspectives on the current state of research on these books. What can I contribute to the understanding of these writings?” To accomplish this, he had to pore over stacks of research on these prophetic works to be as current as possible with modern research.

First contributor from Africa

Dr David Firth, the series editor, says: “Over the nearly sixty-year history of the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, we have not previously had any contributors from Africa. That has now been put right with the release of Prof SD Snyman’s new volume on Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Prof Snyman has brought together his expertise on the prophetic literature of the Old Testament and theological awareness to present a fresh work on these often-neglected books. Through his careful attention to how these books functioned in their ancient setting and mastery of the secondary literature, he is also able to point to the enduring importance of each of these books for contemporary readers. As such, he has admirably fulfilled the brief for the series and produced a volume that will serve a new generation who come to these books.”

Prof Fanie affirms that the burning issues raised in each of these books regarding situations in ancient Israel often mimic comparable issues in our modern society. For example, he underscores how Nahum brings the misuse of political power to the fore, a current and topical point of contention. Prof Snyman says: “My aim was to create a vertical theological perspective of that historical situation against the backdrop of contemporary issues. I believe that these texts have a relevance for us and upon us today.”

Other international works

This book is the third one published internationally by Prof Snyman. In 2012, he published a book on the prophetic literature of the Old Testament together with a Dutch colleague in the USA. In 2015, he published a commentary on the book of Malachi in Europe. This book was awarded the UFS Book Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in 2017. 

News Archive

UFS leads the way with GMO testing
2003-08-25

A formal agreement linking Africa’s first testing facility for genetically modified organisms (GMO) to an international organization was signed at the University of the Free State.

According to the manager of the GMO testing facility, Dr Chris Viljoen of the Department of Plant Sciences, the facility is now part of GeneScan, a world leader in food diagnostic testing, which has its headquarters in Germany with subsidiaries in the Unites States, Brazil and Hong Kong.

The facility at the UFS has been selected by the second largest international food company to do all its South African GMO testing for export products.

The GMO testing facility is the brainchild of Dr Viljoen, who is a specialist in the field of marker biotechnology and its applications in crop science.

He says the need for such a testing facility arose due to the international regulations on GMOs in food, especially Europe and Asia that requires South African exporters to certify whether their products contain any GMO.

“The regulations in Europe and Asia reflect a consumer need for choice in what they eat due to concerns over the safety of GMOs, as well as environmental and ethical issues. GMO testing and labelling allow consumers the right of choice to eat genetically modified foods or not. According to EU regulations, any product with a GMO content of 1% or higher is labelled as containing GMO.”

According to Dr Viljoen only four products in South Africa are currently GMO. They are white and yellow maize that have been made insect resistant, soya bean that is herbicide tolerant and insect resistant cotton. He says that the awareness of GMOs among South Africans is still very limited, especially in poorer communities, but it is likely to increase with the efforts being made in consumer education by government, seed companies and NGOs.

The testing facility has been established to accommodate the local as well as international market. The GMO testing at the UFS facility is performed using real time PCR, the most advanced means of GMO detection currently available, and using GeneScan developed technology that is recognized worldwide.
 

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