The article presents the results of research on the Old Testament text of the books of the Minor Prophets. Attention is focused on the genre features of the texts in which the root brk is found in its meaning of "blessing /to bless". The aim is to establish the possible contribution of historical-philological interpretation to a deeper understanding of the sacred text. A brief overview of the history of studies on genres in the Old Testament text is made, and definitions of some basic concepts related to the subject of the study are briefly presented. The main reference sources are texts by Nikolay Shivarov, Meir Weiss, Martin Leuenberger, as well as the series The Forms of the Old Testament Literature. The results of the research are presented in summary according to the main genre forms, the specific features of the relevant text units are commented on. A conclusion and topics for future developments are presented.
From a methodological point of view, the historical-critical method is adopted as the basis of the conducted research, and the aspiration is, wherever possible, for the definitions of the various genres to be consistent with developments that reflect the Orthodox interpretation tradition (proto-prezv. Nikolay Shivarov, Slavcho Valchanov and Ivaylo Naydenov). The study traces the cases of the use of the root brk in its meaning of "blessing /to bless" mentioned in the Minor Prophets and for each particular instance a judgment is made as to whether it is a stand-alone, relatively short expression or part of a larger textual unit, in which its possible genre is assessed.The research assumes, first of all, the clarification and definition of some basic concepts and terms that will be used. Genre criticism is one method by which the student of the biblical text as literature seeks to gain insight into the oral tradition that lies behind most of the individual passages in the Old Testament, thus relating the text we have to the life and institutions of ancient Israel. If the connection and use for this purpose of the literary genres we know is somewhat conditional given that they themselves are the fruit of the development of European ancient and medieval literature, then the basis for talking about genres in the Old Testament is given to us by evidence in the Holy Scriptures themselves, in which we read about "tefilla" — a request (prayer), "tehilla" — a song of praise, "mashal" — a parable, "hida" — a riddle, etc. Not so clear in content are "mishpatim", "hukkot", "torot", and only a thorough study of the relevant place in the biblical text can tell us what the author meant. It should be noted that various genres are found in the Old Testament — both those that are "religious" in a narrower sense of the word, and those that stand relatively far from the religious domain. [Shivarov, N. (1976).32] The founder of the modern study of genres in the Old Testament text is Hermann Gunkel (†1932), who is credited with proving the special need for exegetics to study literary genres, while at the same time succeeding in liberating exegetical work on genres from the ancient-medieval period literary studies. The genres in the Old Testament text in which we find formulas of benediction are not a purposefully, systematically and comprehensively researched topic in 20th century theology. Separate paragraphs on the topic can be found in the courses on Introduction to the Old Testament, on Hermeneutics of the Old Testament, in studies on criticism of forms/genres in the Bible and in the Old Testament in particular. In the main monographs on the Old Testament blessing of the 20th century, the topic of genres is also not developed, insofar as the monographs treat more thoroughly the lexical-semiotic features of the root brk in the Old Testament text.In Western Christian theology of the 21st century, Martin Leuenberger's monograph should be noted, in which the author partially mentions the Old Testament genres in which the blessing occurs most often. The ongoing multi-volume edition "The Forms of the Old Testament Literature" could be used as a main and rich reference source on the subject, in which, however, the volumes for all the books of the Old Testament canon have not yet been developed and published. Slavcho Valchanov, Protopresbyter Nikolay Shivarov and Ivaylo Naydenov have developed and published in Bulgarian language on the subject of genres in the Old Testament, but regarding the genres in which we find blessing expressions and formulations in the Old Testament, studies in Bulgarian have not been published.
Literature:
Shivarov, N. (1976). Literary genres in the Old Testament. In view of the exegetical study. Yearbook of the Theological Academy "St. Kliment Ohridski", ХХІІІ/ХЛIX/, 1973/1974/. Sofia: Synodal publishing house.
Floyd, M. (2000). Minor Prophets. The Forms of the Old Testament Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Leuenberger, M. (2008). Segen und Segenstheologien im Alten Israel: Untersuchungen zu ihren Religions- und Theologiegeschichtlichen Konstellationen und Transformationen. Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen Testaments, 90 (2008).
Weiss, M. (1984). The Bible from within: The method of total interpretation. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University.