OBST 800 Latter Prophets Assignment 10-01-2023

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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY Reading Assessment: Latter Prophets Assignment Submitted to Dr. Michael Graham, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course OBST 800-B02 Old Testament Backgrounds by Kristopher Williams L25494524

TABLE OF CONTENTS BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT…………………………………... 1 IVP BIBLE BACKGROUND COMMENTARY: PROPHETIC LITERATURE………… 4 THE WORLD AROUND THE OLD TESTAMENT……………………………………... 5 OLD TESTAMENT PARALLELS………………………………………………………... 6 THE BIBLE AMONG THE MYTHS………………………………………………………6 ii

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Prophecy, Divination, and Magic in the Ancient Near East 1 My assessment of this material was covered in the discussion forum for week 5 of this course. John Hilber’s selection offers readers with definitions for prophecy and divination whether from a “traditional/faith-based” or “current/scholarly” perspective. Hilber argues that the traditional, faith-based definitions of prophecy and divination are categorized according to whether the activity is positively approved by Yahweh or whether it is under a negative sanction as an illicit activity, claiming that “Prophecy referred to the proclamations of charismatic preachers who spoke for God, whereas divination was characterized as the illegitimate practices of those who invoked the gods to reveal their will through observation or manipulation of objects in the natural world” (Hilber 368). These dovetail with recent neutral claims seeking to define divination as any activity through which a human utilizes certain practices in an effort to receive and utilize information from the divine realm. In this case, divination would be the overall category containing both approved and unapproved actions, with prophecy being the method through which God “discloses the secrets of his heavenly council to his prophets” (Hilber 368). Prophecy is a passive act through which God acts, with the human seen to be acted upon through “direct divine intervention into a person’s cognitive processes with the result that the person perceives reception of a divine message” (Hilber 368). Death and Burial in the Iron Age Levant 2 1 John W. Hilber, “Prophecy, Divination, and Magic in the Ancient Near East,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , eds. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 368-374. 2 Christopher B. Hays, “Death and Burial in the Iron Age Levant,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton 1

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In his “Death and Burial in the Iron Age Levant,” Christopher Hays argues that “burials have been one of the most important sources of data about ancient cultures,” noting especially the how various cultures across the Levant displayed shared beliefs and practices, not only in a “life after death” itself, but one where the departed must eat and drink, where the departed can interact negatively with the living when their needs are neglected, and where contact with the dead through necromancy was acknowledged reality (Hays 381). Mortuary practices varied, with cremation among the royalty in Phoenicia being most common while the practices of non- royalty consisted of cremation or interment. Practices in Egypt consisted of the well-known mummies for high-ranking individuals in the period to “pit burials, cist graves, and anthropoid coffins” across the general population, sometimes in caves (Hays 382). Philistine cemeteries reveal a variety of practices, whether cremation or interment, complete with grave goods. Burial rituals in Judah varied, recognizing the “characteristic Judahite form of elite burial was the bench tomb, normally a man-made room cut into rock” (Hays 382) and contrasting this with the much more common practice of simple pit burials on family lands. Rich and poor buried the dead with goods, with socioeconomic status demonstrated through opulence. Ritualistic mourning is documented across the biblical texts, along with recognizing that the “idea that the dead are a source of divinatory knowledge is richly attested” (Hays 386). Trade in the Late Bronze and Iron Age Levant 3 Joshua Walton recognizes that commerce on its own does not drive the biblical narratives. However, the data available regarding economic conditions and international trade may provide (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 381-390. 3 Joshua T. Walton, “Trade in the Late Bronze and Iron Age Levant,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 416-422. 2

context for political decisions made by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah along with the international empires surrounding them. Walton recognizes international trade, facilitated through a physical money and market economy, along with less formal bartering arrangements locally. Use of waterways, such as the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia and the Nile in Egypt, not to mention the Mediterranean, was undoubtedly cheaper and faster to move goods on the international scene. However, not all trade was facilitated via water, which Walton recognizes by noting that overland trade “in the form of large caravans, was essential for transporting goods between water-based travel systems or to and from landlocked locales” (Walton 419). Political control of these various routes, whether overland or water, was worth political intervention by various kings since control of resources was, and remains, vital to internal stability and external safety (Walton 422). The Local Economies of Ancient Israel 4 Peter Altmann recognizes the tenuous attempts to quantify the ancient economies of the biblical world since “the Bible and other records from the ancient world do not allow for precise measurement of gross national product, inflation, or savings rates,” the very items modern economists utilize to quantify and make assessments (Altmann 431). Interpretation of archaeological remains, extrabiblical texts preserving commercial contracts or economic data, and some biblical texts recording social interactions between Israelite communities, help provide some data that historical economists may be able to utilize to reconstruct an economic history of Judah and Israel (Altmann 432). Ancient Technologies of Everyday Life 5 4 Peter Altmann, “The Local Economies of Ancient Israel,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 431-437. 3

Rather than being a specialized aspect of modern life, each member of a family participated in developing, utilizing, and repairing useful technologies since, except for the ruling and priestly classes, life was based on subsistence farming or small-scale commerce. Advances in pottery, from everyday use pottery to high-end ceramics, can be observed. Development of specialized methods became a necessity for utility and luxury. Architectural methods based on available materials also advanced. Recognition of the use of sheep through Judah/Israel, from the production of wool for textiles, milk, and meat, also sees that technologies dovetailed with the overall economic conditions. IVP BIBLE BACKGROUND COMMENTARY: PROPHETIC LITERATURE Similar to John Hilber’s contribution, Matthews, Chavalas, and Walton offer definitions of divination and prophecy to assist the reader. They define prophecy as a subset of divination, stating that “Divination can refer to any process that seeks to gain messages from beyond the human realm” while recognizing that “Prophecy was a form of divination that was practiced legally by the Israelites.” Extrabiblical caches of literature noting use of divination and oracles can be obtained from certain tablets from Mari, the Neo-Assyrian empire that overran Israel, and prophetic literature from Egypt (though no “oracle” literature has been uncovered to date). In recognizing the power of supernatural messaging beyond the legitimate, ancient sources sometimes saw prophets as madmen since they sometimes received their messages while in an ecstatic state. Prophets, especially in Israel/Judah, were regularly common people rather than members of the elite or priestly caste, a situation that may help explain some tension in biblical texts when we observe prophets address rulers with sternness and authority that did not match their social or political status. 5 Gloria London, “Ancient Technologies of Everyday Life,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 446-455. 4

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THE WORLD AROUND THE OLD TESTAMENT Assyria and the Assyrians 6 Christopher Hays, whose additional work is reviewed above, and Peter Machinist offer a broad overview of the various Assyrian empires that existed in the ANE, though focusing greater attention onto the later, Neo-Assyrian Empire of the 1 st millennium B.C. since they represented “the most extensive empire the ancient Near East had seen up to that point, they had an enormous impact on both Israel and Judah, and their culture is better documented than any other from the period” (Hays and Machinist 31). One important takeaway is that the Assyrians dominated the ANE, both militarily and economically, and represented an empire that ruled through fear and brutality that shocked even contemporaries. A greater understanding of the Assyrians assists helps explain why “the Assyrian Empire figured prominently in the imaginations of biblical authors” across a variety of contexts and times, from Genesis through the collapse and defeat of the Assyrians with the revival of the Babylonian Empire (Hays and Machinist 102). Assyria, like Egypt, is seen to represent the nation that both delivers Yahweh’s judgement to the descendants of Abraham while also being the nation under edict for future punishment for actions taken against his chosen people. OLD TESTAMENT PARALLELS In these selections, Victor Matthews and Don Benjamin offer translation of two items, with the first, the so-called “Visions of Neferti,” set in the mid-3 rd millennium B.C. This tale presents the downfall of Pharaoh Snefru and while predicting the later rise of Amenemhet at the beginning of the 2 nd millennium B.C. as an effective ruler who will preserve the nation from external invasion. Many intext parallels with later biblical texts are suggested throughout, with 6 Christopher B. Hays and Peter Machinist, “Assyria and the Assyrians,” in The World around the Old Testament: The People and Places of the Ancient Near East , ed. Bill T. Arnold and Brent A. Strawn (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016), pp. 31-106. 5

the major claim pressed forward for similarity being that ancient rulers were entertained and amused with tales of their downfalls. Selections from the Mari Letters that interact with prophecy and divination are presented for examination and comparison with biblical texts. As with earlier texts, biblical parallels are suggested throughout, with some being more explicit than others. One important divergence between biblical prophets and those represented in the Mari Letters is that the Mari prophets keep their message private and addressed to the king. Biblical prophets, while certainly addressing monarchs as the leaders of the people, take their messages to the population at large, demanding individual repentance in order to achieve corporate repentance. THE BIBLE AMONG THE MYTHS Does It Matter Whether the Bible is Historical? The Problem of History (2) In this chapter, John Oswalt argues that the biblical text cannot be removed from the claims it makes of occurring in history without denying the theological claims made. The greater theological claims collapse if the historical claims are absolutely false. Discerning “fact,” however, is open for interpretation. All writers present truth through an interpretive lens, and the biblical texts are no different. Oswalt argues that the presentation of the biblical witness is through the lens of interpreting the historical experiences of Israel, extended past the genetic nation into the later Christian community, and how Yahweh has chosen to utilize them to recover the entirety of humanity. In essence, complete mythological application of universal truths recoverable through completely false stories in the Bible renders the Bible useless. Oswalt recognizes that the various biblical writers do not write unbiased “history” as recognized by modern historians. Simultaneously, the major claim crossing the testaments is that Yahweh condescended to humanity to interact in history with them in order to offer a salutary message. 6

He manifested in the Old Testament, sometimes as pure spirit and sometimes embodied, and became incarnate in a definite historical time in the New Testament. 7

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