L source See Synoptic problem.
Lachish letters About nine letters discovered during excavations at ancient Lachish, written in Hebrew with ink on ostraca from a military person named Hoshaiah to the commander of the garrison at Lachish named Yaush. The date is most likely during the Babylonian invasion of Judah around 596 BC. Interestingly, there is a mention of a “prophet” as well as worry that they cannot see the “signal fires” of the nearby city of Azekah, which may indicate that it had been captured.
Ladd, George Eldon (1911–82) American NT scholar whose works like The Presence of the Future (1974) and A Theology of the New Testament (1974) developed the view of “inaugurated eschatology,” a middle ground between “realized” and “future” (or “imminent”) eschatology. Inaugurated eschatology claims that the kingdom Jesus proclaimed was both “already” and “not yet.” It has arrived through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus but will be consummated in an earthly kingdom at some time in the future. Ladd, who taught at Fuller Theological Seminary, was a proponent of historic premillennialism, an eschatological position between dispensational premillennialism and Reformed amillennialism. See also amillennialism; Cullmann, Oscar; dispensationalism; Dodd, Charles Harold.
lectio divina A Latin expression meaning “divine reading” (or “spiritual reading”). The practice involves the reading of and meditation on Scripture in order to promote a deeper, more personal level of communion with God. The practice has its roots in the Benedictine Order and historically involves four “moments” or steps: lectio (“reading”), meditatio (“meditation”), oratio (“prayer”), and contemplatio (“reflection” or “contemplation”).
lectionary In Jewish and Christian traditions, a book or collection containing Scripture readings to be used in the course of a religious calendar or for special days or occasions. The set readings of a particular church or denomination are known as its liturgy. The early Greek lectionaries are important to the field of textual criticism, since they provide an important witness to the Greek text of the NT. See also textual criticism.
leitmotiv A German term meaning “leading motif” or “chief theme.” For example, the leitmotiv of John’s Gospel might be described as the self-revelation of the Father through the Son. The term is also used of important recurrent themes that are not necessarily the central theme. We may say, for example, that an important leitmotiv in Luke’s Gospel is God’s concern for the poor and outcast.
Levenson, Jon D. (1949–) Hebrew Bible scholar and longtime professor at Harvard Divinity School (1988 to the present). His writings have been extremely influential in the areas of biblical theology, including the relationship between Jewish and Christian theology, the literary approach to biblical interpretation, and the book of Genesis (with a focus on Abraham). He also has focused on biblical interpretation during the Second Temple period and early rabbinic exegesis. See also biblical theology.
levirate marriage See kinsman-redeemer.
lex talionis Latin for “law of the talion,” the talion being retribution. In biblical studies, it refers to the principle that the punishment for a crime must be commensurate with the crime. While stated in physical terms, “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound” (Exod. 21:23b–25; see also Lev. 24:19–21), it was not literally applied and would be considered a maximum penalty. This law, while sometimes pilloried as primitive, actually restrains punishment of the type envisioned by Lamech the descendant of Cain—who said, “I killed a man for wounding me” (Gen. 4:23)—and is the principle that governs penalties today even in modern societies like the United States.
literary criticism In its most general sense, “literary criticism” refers to the examination, analysis, and critique of literature. In biblical studies, the term is used in various ways: (1) It can refer to the study of biblical genres in terms of their nature, sources, composition, and authorship. Used in this sense, it is roughly synonymous with “historical criticism.” (2) More recently, the term has been used to refer to the examination of the text as a whole, focusing on its narrative and rhetorical functions. In this sense it is a counterpart to “historical criticism” and refers to methodologies like narrative criticism and rhetorical criticism that examine the literary features of a text apart from its sources or history of composition. See also historical criticism; narrative criticism.
Living Bible, The Highly idiomatic translation of the Bible produced by Kenneth Taylor and published in 1971. The version has its origins in Taylor’s family devotions. His children had trouble understanding literal Bible versions, so Taylor began paraphrasing readings from the American Standard Version (ASV; 1901). Taylor published the NT letters in 1962 as Living Letters. Billy Graham received a copy and was so impressed that he published fifty thousand copies and used it in his evangelistic crusades. The translation’s highly readable and engaging style resulted in great success. By 1997, forty million copies of The Living Bible had been sold. A major revision was produced in 1996, known as the New Living Translation (NLT). See also New Living Translation (NLT).
lower criticism See textual criticism.
Luke-Acts Term coined by H. J. Cadbury to refer to Luke’s two-volume work, the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. The designation is intended to stress the literary and theological unity between these two books. Cadbury was a pioneer in the literary analysis of Luke’s writings.
LXX See Septuagint.