Acknowledgements
I finished my Master’s thesis on the theme of retribution in the Book of Qohelet in the summer of 2013. This spurred me on to address the greater question, raised by Klaus Koch in 1955, about whether or not the doctrine of divine retribution exists in the Old Testament. His negative answer to the question heavily relied on the semantics of the verb שׁלם. Consequently, my Advanced Master’s thesis, finished in the summer of 2014, focused on the semantics of the same verb, from the historical-philological and structuralist perspectives, approaches that are commonly used by exegetes. While addressing this question, I came across a more recent semantic approach, cognitive semantics and I wondered if this might bring about a new understanding of the verb. To that end, I continued to study the verb using the method described; the results of that investigation comprise the present work.
To begin, I wish to express my gratitude for the support that I received during the research and writing of this manuscript. First and foremost, I would like to thank my promoter Prof. Dr. Pierre Van Hecke. He accompanied me throughout my academic formation, from my Master’s thesis to the completion of this manuscript. He introduced to me to the broad field of semantic studies and their application to biblical studies. The friendship that developed during these years is dear to me. He also introduced me to the co-promotor of this dissertation, Prof. Dr. Dirk Geeraerts. His insights not only helped the development of the methodology that was used during my doctoral dissertation, but also informed the implementation of the methods in the different studies that form the main part of this manuscript. Discussions about the method’s application to the data were challenging and lead to the refinement of the arguments used throughout this work. I would like also to thank the members of the Jury of my dissertation Prof. Dr. Johan Leemans, Prof. Dr. Christo van der Merwe, Prof. Dr. Eibert Tigchelaar, and Dr. Danilo Verde for their helpful comments and interest in my work.
Next, I would like to express my gratitude to the Chapter of Canons of the Cathedral of the Diocese of Macao, especially Cón. João Evangelista Lau Him-Sang, for their generous support. The assistance of my friends and relatives has also been. My stay in Leuven has been made more fruitful by the Jesuit community in Heverlee: I lodged in their house for many years. Among them, I should mention especially Fr. Wim Beuken S.J. His help alleviated my anxiety as a foreign student in Leuven, particularly in the early days when I had just arrived Belgium. In these intervening years, he has shared much of his wit and wisdom with me during our conversations, which were both theological and mundane. I am also thankful to the professor of biblical studies in my Alma Mater (University of Saint Joseph, Macao), Prof. Dr. Arnold Monera, himself a graduate of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. He is the one who kindled my academic interest in biblical studies, and the one who encouraged me to pursue further study in the oldest extant Catholic university in the World. Without the support that I received, I would have been unable to complete this work. Therefore, I dedicate this work to all those who have empathized with me, as well as to all those whom I have met and with whom I have fostered friendship.