Description
Book Synopsis This book examines the tales of three remarkable figures of the biblical world: the tragic prophet Jeremiah, and the two atypical prophets Jonah and Balaam. Jeremiah was cursed from birth and condemned to a lifelong losing battle against national disaster. Jonah was notorious for his connection with a whale, whereas Balaam was best known as the owner of a talking donkey. Yet these prophets (servants of their deity) are portrayed as rebels against their god.
This book contends that these tales, beyond their intrinsic appeal as stories, were written to serve as metaphors. Although set in ancient times and in the exotic Near East, the issues that underlie these gripping tales are not unfamiliar to modern times and Western lives. These prophets represent everyman and these unusual dramas explore the phenomenon of revolt against restrictive conditions and against authority.
Table of ContentsList of Maps
Principal Abbreviations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. The Book of Jonah
Introduction to the Book of Jonah
1. The Flight of the Rebel
2. In a Tight Spot
3. The Great Reversal
4. Endgame
5. Some Second Thoughts About a Strange Book
II. The Enigmatic Balaam, Son of Beor
6. Prologue: The Path to the Steppes of Moab
Introduction to the Book of Balaam
7. Come, Curse Mine Enemy
8. The Mouthpiece
9. The Prophet
10. Retrospect
11. Epilogue: The Road to Dusty Death
III. A Persecuted Prophet
12. Prologue: A Tangled Three-Act Tragedy
13. Problematic Beginnings
Historical Interlude I. The Road to Megiddo: Playing on the Big Board
14. De Profundis
Historical Interlude II. Scandals in the Temple
15. The Long Night
Historical Interlude III. Long Day's Journey into Night
16. The Anatomy of a Lifelong Agony
Conclusion: A Final Accounting
Appendices
A: When Was Jonah Written?
B: Who Was the Innovator and Who Were the Copycats?
C: North Moab: A Tale of Lost Lands
D: The Geography and Ecology of the Trans-Jordan
E: The Deir 'Alla Inscription(s)
F: The Plague at Baal-Peor
G: Who Was Jeremiah?
H: Psalm 22 and the Prayer of Jeremiah
Timeline I: Putting Things in Perspective
Timeline II: Late 7th–Early 6th Centuries bce
Glossary of Terms and Place Names
Who's Who
Bibliography
Scriptural Index
General Index
