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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

JN Boshoff Memorial Lecture: Dr Charles Nwaila

2005-09-13

Dr Charles Nwaila, Director-General of the Free State Provincial Government and Vice-Chairperson of the University of the Free State's (UFS) Council, recently discussed the repositioning of the Free State Provincial Government to respond to the 21st century demands during the JN Boshoff Memorial Lecture at the UFS.

From left: Dr Nwaila; Prof Tienie Crous, Dean: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences; Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor and Dr Moses Sindane, Departmental Chairperson: Department of Public Management at the UFS.

A summary of the lecture.

Free State government to focus on training of public servants

The Free State provincial government in collaboration with higher education institutions in the province is to establish the Free State Association of Public Administration to get public servants to work effectively towards the growth and development of the province.
This was announced by the Director-General of the Free State provincial government, Dr Charles Nwaila, during a lecture he delivered at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein this evening (Thursday 8 September 2005).

Delivering the annual JN Boshoff Memorial Lecture at the UFS, Dr Nwaila called on higher education institutions to play a critical and leading role in the re-engineering of the existing Provincial Training and Development Institute housed at the Vista campus of the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein.

Dr Nwaila was formerly the Superintendent-General (head) of the Free State Department of Education and currently serves as the Deputy Chairperson of the Council of the University of the Free State.
He said the proposed Free State Association of Public Administration is a joint initiative with the National Academy of Public Administration based in Washington DC.

“We take this opportunity to invite the University of the Free State and other knowledge based institutions to join the Provincial Government in fostering a collaborative network to help us develop our public servants,” Dr Nwaila said.
He said there were accelerating demands and a lot of pressure on limited resources, with Free Staters expecting more from their government than ever before.

“Civil servants in a developmental state are servants of the people, champions of the poor and the downtrodden and not self-serving individuals that seek only advancement on the career ladder,” Dr Nwaila said.
According to Dr Nwaila, the Free State Growth and Development Strategy has identified 11 areas that need to be addressed by the year 2014, including:

• To reduce unemployment from 38% to 20%
• To improve the functional literacy rate from 69,2% to 85%
• To stabilize the prevalence rate of HIV and AIDS and reverse the spread of the disease
• To provide a free basic service to all households
• To provide adequate infrastructure for economic growth and development

Dr Nwaila said that the Free State government will continue to follow a people-centred approach towards these development objectives with a keen sense of unity and unwavering determination to create the best of times for the Free State and all its people.

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