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Home , Jahaziel, Shemaiah (prophet)

CHAPTER FIVE

PROBLEMS IN THE MARKING OF DIVINE SPEECH

5.1 :"n;'. 'P'.IN ;'::J-"1HUSSAIDYAHWEH" 5.1.1 Orientation ;":"1. '~N :"1::1 is hardly a necessary marker for divine speech. It never appears in narrative to distinguish narrative from divine speech, for there the phrase is always found embedded within another's speech. :"1':"1. '~N :"1::1 specifically points to the language of mediation, where the speech in which it is embedded is perceived as the channel of mediation. When God's voice in narrative addresses man directly, :"1':"1. '~N :"1::1 will typically not be found (e.g., to in a dream in 1 Kgs 3:5-15, to in the Dtr history,l and never in Genesis narratives2). From this perspective, narrative literature presents itself as a medium of the divine voice on a different plane from the voices of the prophets whose preservation of the divine word is indicated by :"1':"1. '~N :"1::1. Antecedent statements of God quoted by characters in a narrative need not preface God's words with:"l::l :"1':"1. '~N (Gen 31:11-13; 1 Kgs 8:15-19; 2 Kgs 9:25-26). Even where God's voice is mediated through another character in narrative, the phrase :"1':"1. '~N :"1::1 remains optional. God's words are mediated repeatedly through to Israel in the books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, but never are they marked by :"1':"1. '~N :"1::1.3 The legal material in Exodus remains similarly unmarked by :"1':"1. '~N :"1::1 despite emphatic mediation through Moses (from chapter 12 to the end of the book, :"1':"1. '~N :"1::1 appears only in 32:27 in the narrative of the golden calt). Most of the Chronicler's use of :"1':"1. '~N :"1::1 stems from his sources in and Kings:

1 Chr 17:4 2 Sam 7:5 1 Chr 17:7 = 2 Sam 7:8

1 E.g., 1 Sam 8:22; 9:15-17; 16:1-3. z i·nh~ "~N i'1::1 never appears in Genesis, although h::l appears in cmjunction with the verb "~N: "~N i'1::1 (Gen 32:Sb; 45:9). PN-" m'''~Nl1 i'1::1 (Gen 32:5a; SO: 17). and "~N~ h::l (Gen 31:8). 3 An occasional witness (or witnesses) will read i'1'i'1~ "~N i'1::1 against the dominant tradition that reads '1~N" ... "::1" (e.g., Lev 22:1). 274 CHAYfER FIVE

1 ehr 21:10 2 Sam 24:12 2 ehr 11:4 1 Kgs 12:24 2 ehr 18:10 1 Kgs 22:11 2 ehr 34:23 = 2 Kgs 22:15 2 ehr 34:24 = 2 Kgs 22:16 2 ehr 34:26 = 2 Kgs 22:18

Four further times :"M~ 'IlN M:I appears in Chronicles where there is no parallel to the Dtr history: 's rebuke and prophecy of (2 Chr 12:5), predicting victory (2 Chr 20:15), 's letter of doom to Jehoram (2 Chr 21:12), and Zechariah's rebuke before his murder (2 Chr 24:20). A fifth occurrence unique to the Chronicler is the only time where the Chronicler reads M'M~ 'IlN M:I in a passage parallel to Kings which does not include it (1 Chr 21:11; cf. 2 Sam 24:13). In this last case, the MT of Samuel may be corrupt.1 In the ftrst five books of the Bible, M'M~ 'IlN M:I surfaces only in the book of Exodus, where it concentrates in the narratives of the plagues upon Egypt (outside of these narratives appearing only in 32:27). This sudden burst of nine2 appearances in these narratives is peculiar in the context of the entire Pentateuch. It is especially peculiar in that most of them do not appear on the lips of men (as does happen in Ex 5:1; 10:3; 11:4) but appear instead on the lips of God as he tells Moses what to say to Pharaoh (Ex 4:22; 7:17, 26; 8:16; 9:1, 13). Normally, Moses does not use the phrase M'M~ 'IlN M:I, nor does he tend to speak God's message as if God were speaking in the frrst person. One may be tempted to see this phrase as an unequivocal marker of prophetic discourse. However, much material associated with prophets either fails to ever employ the phrase (, , , ) or else ftnds it of peripheral significance (it ap~ only once in each of the books of , , and ). The revelations of God which explicates to kings, or which angels elucidate for Daniel, never are identified by M'M~ 'IlN M:I, as the phrase is foreign to this apocalyptic book. Its variable use in literature associated with prophets suggests that even within prophetic circles (or circles depicting prophetic activity) there was not a uniform understanding of this phrase and its significance, or that prophecy is a considerably variegated phenomenon.

1 "The Chronicler's text has been better preserved" in vv. 8-14 (Williamson 1982:145). 2 Ex 4:22; 5:1; 7:17, 26; 8:16; 9:1, 13; 10:3; 11:4. 3 The phrase is not found in , and its failure to appear in Jonah 3:4 is difficult to evaluate. Is it another of the convoluted ironies of the book'! Is this only Jonah's message and not God's (note the later perception of Jonah as a false [BT Sanhedrin 89a])? Because :-"1'1\ far more frequently appears in the phrase, is the alternation of divine names in Jonah (M'M~ and tI\M"N) connected with its omission?