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The Gift of Prophecy

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    Chapter 5 — The Hebrew Prophets and the Literature of the Ancient Near East

    Elias Brasil de Souza

    Comparisons between the Bible and ancient Near Eastern literature have received significant scholarly attention and have contributed to a better understanding of the biblical world. In this endeavor a variety of perspectives and approaches have been brought to bear upon the biblical materials and their nonbiblical parallels. Some of these studies have proposed that the Bible is mostly a product of its ancient environment; 1See, e.g., John Day, Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 265, ed. David J. A. Clines and Philip R. Davies (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000); Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts (New York: Free Press, 2001); Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). others, however, have advanced forceful arguments to show that in spite of similarities, the Bible stands as a distinct and original corpus of literature among its ancient counterparts. 2See, e.g., Jeffrey J. Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008 [Kindle]); John N. Oswalt, The Bible Among the Myths (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009); John D. Currid, Against the Gods: The Polemical Theology of the Old Testament (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2013). GOP 120.1

    This study focuses on the prophetic section of the Old Testament in order to identify possible allusions to nonbiblical texts. 3According to a standard work, allusion is a “poet’s deliberate incorporation of identifiable elements from other sources, preceding or contemporaneous, textual or extratextual” (Alex Preminger and T. V. F. Brogan, eds., The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics [Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993], 38, 39). This study adopts this definition with the observation that an “allusion” may not be always as “deliberate” as the description may imply. Close examination of the prophetic corpus indicates that the prophets were familiar with the neighboring nations and produced their literary works in interaction with, and oftentimes in reaction against, the surrounding cultures. 4Several references indicates familiarity with the cultures and political systems of the ancient Near East: Isaiah 10:8, NKJV (“Are not [Assyria’s officers] kings?”), and Amos 1:5, NKJV (“the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden”), for example, indicate familiarity with the Assyrian system of viceroys appointed with the full support of the Assyrian king (see Stephanie Dalley, “Assyrian Court Narratives in Aramaic and Egyptian: Historical Fiction,” in Proceedings of the XIV Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale: Historiography in the Cuneiform World, ed. Tzvi Abusch, Paul-Alain Beaulieu, John Huehnergard, Peter Machinist, and Piotr Steinkeller [Bethesda, Md.: CDL Press, 2001], 151). Similar familiarity appears in prophets who were active during the Babylonian and Persian times. A few reasons may be suggested for such familiarity: First, we should reckon with the military and administrative presence of the major ancient Near Eastern powers in Canaan throughout much its history (e.g., Isa. 36; 37 (par. 2 Kings 18:17-19:37). Second, trade and diplomatic relations may have facilitated access to literary texts and other documents that even if accessible only to the elite eventually reached broader segments of the local population. It has been noted that Judean embassies were sent to the Neo-Assyrian capitals to deliver tribute at least as early as 734 B.C. (see Shawn Zelig Aster, “The Image of Assyria in Isaiah 2:5-22: The Campaign Motif Reversed,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 127, no. 3 [2007]: 249). These delegations were guided through the Assyrian palaces and indoctrinated by means of exposure to the Assyrian art (see J. N. Postgate, Taxation and Conscription in the Assyrian Empire [Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1974], 119-130). Third, the Assyrians established rock reliefs and royal stelae in the lands adjacent to and surrounding Judah. Fourth, some prophets, such as Ezekiel, may have had a direct exposure to a foreign culture. Fifth, cuneiform documents appear to have circulated in Palestine as attested by some archeological discoveries (See Wayne Horowitz, Takayoshi Oshima, and Seth L. Sanders, Cuneiform in Canaan: Cuneiform Sources From the Land of Israel in Ancient Times [Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2006]). Thus either by means of direct contact with written documents or through oral exposure to the propaganda of the dominant powers, it may be assumed that large segments the Israelite and Judean population were familiar with the cultural motifs and texts of the large ancient Near Eastern environment. Certain motifs, phrases, and themes developed by the biblical prophets are also contained in earlier nonbiblical texts. Thus, it is instructive to identify some of these parallels or allusions in order to suggest a theological and hermeneutical framework to explain them in the light of the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures. Although this paper explores only a few of all possible allusions or parallel attestations, the conclusions drawn from this sample may apply to the other cases as well.GOP 120.2

    Three main sections make up the body of this study. The first section identifies parallel motifs and phrases; the second, parallel theological themes, and the third addresses the theological and hermeneutical implications of such parallels.GOP 121.1

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