Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgements -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1  A Survey of Previously Conducted Research -- 2  The Semitic Cognates of שׁלם -- 3  Research Question -- 4  Limitations of Our Research -- 5  Outline of the Book -- 1 Methodology -- 1  Theoretical Question: Homonymy and Polysemy -- 2  Methodological Discussion -- 3  Illustration of the Methodology by Way of Examples -- 4  Specificity of the Present Study Vis-à-Vis Contemporary Semantic Studies -- 2 The שׁלם D Stem -- 1  To Give Back: To Reach a Balance (between Two Parties) -- 2  To Retribute: To Reach Balance (Involving Three Parties) -- 3  Retribution as Balance -- 4  Cruces Interpretum -- 3 The שׁלם G Stem -- 1  To Be Complete and To Be Finished -- 2  To Make an Alliance, To Be an Ally -- 3  Two Homonymous Verbs or One Polysemous Verb? -- 4 The שׁלם H Stem -- 1  To Make (Something) Complete / Finished -- 2  To Enter an Alliance (with Someone) -- 3  Observation on the Prepositions -- 4  Conclusion -- 5 Synthesis of the Semasiological Investigation of שׁלם -- 1  The שׁלם D Stem -- 2  The שׁלם G Stem -- 3  The שׁלם H Stem -- 4  A Unified Polysemous שׁלם -- 5  Relations between Stem-Formations -- 6  Comparison with the Semitic Cognates -- 6 Wider Perspectives -- 1  Research Results -- 2  Onomasiological Study of the Polysemy of שׁלם -- 3  Nominal and Adjectival Forms of the Root שׁלם -- Conclusion -- 1  Semantic and Methodological Notes -- 2  Theological Issues: Retribution and Peace -- Bibliography -- Index.

Semantic studies of the Biblical Hebrew verb שׁלם have been influenced by those of its most invoked nominal form שָׁלוֹם‎. In this volume Andrew Chin Hei Leong shows that the concepts of balance, alliance, and completeness form the basic semantic structure of שׁלם. Previous studies on שׁלם employed either historical or textual methodology, which has been dominant in biblical lexical studies. In addition to these methods, in Leong develops a systematic semantic methodology from Cognitive Semantics and Frame Semantics, to demonstrate that it is balance, rather than completeness, that is the most central concept in holding the semantic network together.

Description based on print version record.