Description
Book SynopsisPresented in this volume is a collection of the shorter writings of one of the more innovative scholars working on the relationship between the writings of the Hebrew Bible and its ancient Near East context. Topics include: ANE environment, literature of the ANE, myth versus history, Nebuchadnezzar I’s Elamite crisis, Job and the Israelite religious tradition, motif of the weeping God in Jeremiah, lament tradition in ANE, the hand of Yahweh, and whether God lies.
Table of ContentsPart 1 Fundamental Issues
The Ancient Near Eastern Environment
The Bible and the Literature of the Ancient Near East
Myth versus History: Relaying the Comparative Foundations
Divine Freedom and Cultic Manipulation in Israel and Mesopotamia
Nebuchadnezzar I’s Elamite Crisis in Theological Perspective
Part 2 Themes and Motifs
The Hand of Yahweh
A New Parallel to 1 Kings 18:28–29
The King of Glory
Job and the Israelite Religious Tradition
Job’s Summons to Yahweh: The Exploitation of a Legal Metaphor
Does God Lie? Divine Deceit as a Theological Problem in Israelite Prophetic Literature
The Motif of the Weeping God in Jeremiah and Its Background in the Lament Tradition of the Ancient Near East
Whose Child Is This? Reflections on the Speaking Voice in Isaiah 9:5
The Mari Prophetic Texts in Transliteration and English Translation
Part 3 Solving Difficult Problems
New Readings of Old Texts
A New Root for an Old Crux, Psalm 22:17c
The Young Lions of Psalm 34:11
The Religio-political Setting of Psalm 47
Of Signs, Prophets, and Time Limits: A Note on Psalm 74:9
Blindfolding the Prophet: Political Resistance to First Isaiah’s Oracles in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Attitudes toward Oracles
Yahweh’s Foundation in Zion (Isaiah 28:16)
Part 4 Kingship and Messiah
The Davidic Origin of the Zion Tradition
Zion in the Theology of the Davidic-Solomonic Empire
The Divine King and the Human Community in Isaiah’s Vision of the Future
In Defense of the Monarchy: The Contribution of Israelite Kingship to Biblical Theology
The Old Testament’s Contribution to Messianic Expectations
Part 5 Interpreting Prophecy
Historical-Critical Method, Theology, and Contemporary Exegesis
A Christian Perspective on Prophetic Prediction
