The Institute of Biblical Studies currently has 15 researchers and teaching employees, including 5 with professorships and 4 with postdoctoral degrees, and 6 with doctoral degrees. They conduct research in 4 Departments.

 

The Department of Historic, Prophetic and Wisdom Books focuses on the literary and theological analysis of Hebrew and Greek biblical sources falling within the scope of writings considered inspired by Jews and Christians. The research is carried out simultaneously on several methodologically and substantively complementary levels: philological, narrative, structural, historical-cultural and exegetical-theological. The main research topics of interest to the Department's co-workers, which constitute the four areas of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch, the historical books, the prophetic books and the wisdom literature), include the broad theme of the institution of the king and prophet in Israel, as well as the related figure of the Messiah.

Thematic questions are analysed in this regard, such as: the historical context of the birth of the institution of monarchy in Israel along with its context of JHWH's theocracy; the socio-political and religious-cultural conditions of the Israelite monarchy against the background of Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Canaanite models of authority; theological re-reading of the concept of the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7) in the historic, prophetic, and didactic books of the Hebrew Bible; Old Testament messianism: the concept of the anointed figure of JHWH (individual and collective) as well as the idea of messianic times in the traditions of the prophets; the historical and religious context of the first appearance of prophetism in Israel (1 Sam 1—2 Kings 9); the socio-political and the religious confrontation or the offices of prophet and king in Israel; the theological reception of the idea of messiansim and prophetism in the wisdom books.

 

In the Department of Exegesis of the Gospel and Apostolic Writings current research is concentrated on the sphere of the Gospels and the letters of Paul the Apostle. Some areas being analysed are the aspects of faith and witness in the Gospel of St. Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles, the biblical anthropology of the works of Luke, and language in the Acts of the Apostles. Regarding academic research the staff of the Department is also involved in the biblical anthropology of the Corpus Paulinum, theological aspects of Johannine Literature, as well as in aspects of the hermeneutic dimension of the Bible: intertextuality, the historical-critical method, narrativity and theological exegesis. The goal of this anthropological research is to emphasise the relationship between biblical anthropology and the vision of the human person in non-biblical literature of the time of Jesus and contemporaneous anthropological trends. In its turn the hermeneutic research has above all the goal of putting forward an innovative and systematic concept of interpretation of the Gospels in the key of known and employed methods of textual analysis.

 

The Department of Biblical Philology and Deuterocanonical Literature is currently conducting research on translations of Aramaic (targumim), Ethiopic (the Book of Enoch), and Coptic (the Book of Isaiah) as well as writings from Testament-era literature (writings from the Qumran, Jewish and Christian apocrypha).This research is carried out in communication with the most prominent research centres in the world (Jerusalem: École Biblique, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum; and the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome) and incorporates the most recent research results. Its goal, among other things, is to prepare an innovative (for Poland) critical edition of the Torah according to 3 targumic versions: Targum Neofiti 1, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, and Targum Onkelos. In the long term this work will be continued with reference to the Prophets and Scriptures, giving researchers access to important Judaic sources whose content constituted great inspiration for the Jewish followers of Christ. Department personnel are also preparing a critical work on 1 Enoch according to Aramaic manuscripts of this composition (4Q201–202, 204–207, 212). This work allows a better understanding of the Jewish apocalyptic texts as well as much content of the New Testament and early Christian literature. As part of the Department’s work a critical work has also been written on the text of Isaiah based on the manuscript belonging to the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. Research on the Coptic Bible is at once research on the understanding of and the reception of the Greek Septuagint. It also reveals the way in which understanding and interpretation of biblical texts developed, separated from the Hebrew Masoretic text.

 

In the Department of Biblical Theology the main research subject is the topic of biblical anthropology. Biblical revelation concerning the human person involves many aspects. In the first place it is a teaching on the creation of man and his corporeal-spiritual structure, formed in the image of God (Gen 1:26). The male-female relationship is widely researched, both in the sphere of marriage and family, and of spousal love as a symbol of the love of God and man. Another major research area is the task of man is relation to the created world, and to the history of the world. A distinct issue is man’s participation in the history of salvation, and in particular the perspective of faith, suffering, participation in the paschal mystery of Christ and hope in new life due to His resurrection from the dead. Biblical anthropology is a topic little researched in recent bible studies, which concentrate more on socio-historical and rhetorical issues than on theology or anthropology. Anthropological research in the Department is linked to the trend of investigation and analysis, which was commissioned to the Pontifical Biblical Commission by the Synod of Bishops on the Family, expressing great concern over the dissolution of marriages, the demographic crisis, the personal disintegration of youth, the dramatic situation of the elderly—and all of this on a world-wide scale.