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A ‘vertical theological perspective’ on Old Testament books

21 December 2020 | Story Eugene Seegers | Photo Sonia Small

Prof Snyman_web read more — 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 hosts Commonwealth universities

2005-08-25

The University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein will host delegates from 14 universities across the Commonwealth next week as part of a programme to measure and promote excellence in university management.

The workshop will be held from Monday, 29 August to Wednesday, 31 August 2005 as part of the Commonwealth University Management Benchmarking Programme, run by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).

It is the first time that the UFS will host the workshop and the second time that it is held in South Africa.

“The purpose of the programme is to promote and measure excellence in university management. Unlike other university benchmarking programmes that focus on matters such as research output, the programme run by the ACU follows a process benchmarking approach and aims to identify and promote best practice and quality assurance,” said Prof Magda Fourie, Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the UFS.

According to Prof Fourie the programme runs on an annual basis and works on a quality improvement cycle. Every year certain areas of university management are evaluated by a panel of international assessors. This year it focuses on strategic planning, recruitment and retention of staff, and branding.
If weaknesses are identified, plans are compiled which should result in an upward spiral of continued quality improvement.

“The UFS has been taking part in the programme for the past five years. Last year we fared particularly well with the evaluation of our change management and engagement with the community,” said Prof Fourie.

“The ACU benchmarking programme is a useful forum in which we can measure ourselves against our peers. It will also help us to prepare for the audit of the effectiveness of our quality assurance policies and systems, which will be conducted in October 2006 by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council for Higher Education (CHE),” said Prof Fourie.

Other universities that will take part in the workshop include the Leeds Metropolitan University, the University of Glamorgan in the United Kingdom, the University of Northern British Columbia in Canada, the Central Queensland University, the Monash University in Australia, and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
25 August 2005

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