Prophetic Conflict

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.

La 4e de couverture indique : "Can we consider prophetic conflicts as expressions of a socio-religious phenomenon or should we consider them as post-exilic creations that serve ideological purposes ? In his study, Francesco Arena investigates false prophecy and prophetic conflicts, taking Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Micah as the three books in the Bible most concerned with prophesying falsehood and false prophets"

This study explores the four narratives regarding prophetic conflicts in the Deuteronomistic History via three steps: first, examining the narratives with a synchronic approach; second, discussing the date of the narratives as revised by the Deuteronomists in the Persian period; last, considering religious settings and rhetorical purposes of the narratives. The Deuteronomists were more interested in the theological questions of the "true Israel," "true YHWH," and the "true worship place" than the prophetic conflicts. The conflicts reflect the difficulty to distinguish between true and false prophecy, and the Deuteronomists sought to answer their questions by using the conflict narratives. Their answers aimed for the postexilic community to protect their ethnic identity and to worship YHWH alone, exclusively in Jerusalem.

"Throughout the history of the Israelite kingdoms there were prophets who prophesied nothing but favorable consequences for the actions of their political leaders. Opposing them were prophets who drew a distinction between the will of Yahweh for his people and the opportunistic aims of the monarchs. In the Micaiah narratives of I Kings 22 are seen two early stages in the development of this ideological conflict. Simon John De Vries examines thoroughly these early stages in order to find and understand the root causes of the conflict that led finally to national ruin."--Back cover

This book contains a collection of nineteen essays by Marvin A. Sweeney, some previously unpublished, that focus on the role of literary form and intertextuality in the study of prophetic and apocalyptic literature. The volume includes five major parts: Isaiah; Jeremiah; Ezekiel; The Book of the Twelve Prophets; and Apocalyptic Literature. Selected topics include the Book of Isaiah as Prophetic Torah; the role of Isaiah 65-66 as conclusion of the Book of Isaiah; the interpretation of the Masoretic and Septuagint forms of the book of Jeremiah; Jeremiah 2-6 and 30-31 in relation to Josiah's reform; Ezekiel's role as Zadokite priest and visionary prophet; the problems of theodicy and holiness in Ezekiel 8-11 and 33-39; the interpretation of the Masoretic and Septuagint sequences of the Book of the Twelve; and others.

In a pluralistic world of competing truth claims, how can one discern what is truly representative of God? How can we live and communicate what is authentically "spiritual?" How do we bridge the religious impasse between believers and a post-Christendom and pluralistic context where individuals may consider themselves to be spiritual, yet are offended by the person of Jesus? Can relativism be an effective means of evaluating truth from falsehood? What role should race, gender, and socioeconomic background play in society and the church? These are just a few of the questions this study addresses in presenting a more balanced, dialogical, and biblical criterion for authentic spirituality. The insights on how to discern, live, and communicate what is authentically spiritual are significant for interreligious and ecumenical dialogue across denominations. These insights contribute a way to more effectively communicate divine truths to all, for it is conversant with various sources of knowledge about God and is accountable to feedback from these sources of truth. For example, tacit knowledge such as that derived from faith, and spiritual gifts, as well as rational, or philosophical claims to truth, along with Western, Eastern, and Southern modes of thinking, are all incorporated.

This monograph presents a hermeneutic for studying the literary phenomenon of one speaker quoting another speaker in the Book of Jeremiah and other prophetic texts.

Essays examine the work of prophets in Second Temple Judaism.