Moving Beyond Symbol and Myth “Anne Moore Returns to the Primary Sources to Analyze the Concept of the ‘Kingdom of God’ in the Hebrew Bible
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR Moving Beyond Symbol AND Myth “Anne Moore returns to the primary sources to analyze the concept of the ‘kingdom of God’ in the Hebrew Bible. She argues that Norman Perrin’s explanation of the kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus is flawed, and hence inadequate to explain the data in the Hebrew Bible. Drawing on developments in the discussion of metaphor in literary criticism since 1960, Moore argues that ‘kingdom of God’ is a cognitive metaphor and a means to communicate some understanding about the nature of God and reality rather than being an imprecise trope referencing a myth-evoking symbol. Moving Beyond Symbol and Myth is a well-written, lucid, and important study challenging the past thirty years of New Testament scholarship.” Charles W. Hedrick, Emeritus Distinguished Professor, Missouri State University Moving Beyond Symbol AND Myth Studies in Biblical Literature Hemchand Gossai General Editor Vol. 99 PETER LANG New York y Washington, D.C./Baltimore y Bern Frankfurt am Main y Berlin y Brussels y Vienna y Oxford Anne Moore Moving Beyond Symbol AND Myth Understanding the Kingship of God of the Hebrew Bible Through Metaphor PETER LANG New York y Washington, D.C./Baltimore y Bern Frankfurt am Main y Berlin y Brussels y Vienna y Oxford Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Moore, Anne. Moving beyond symbol and myth: understanding the kingship of God of the Hebrew Bible through metaphor / Anne Moore. p. cm. — (Studies in biblical literature; v. 99) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Kingdom of God—Biblical teaching. 2. Bible. O.T.—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Metaphor in the Bible. I. Title. BS1199.K48M66 221.6’4—dc22 2009000753 ISBN 978-0-8204-8661-1 ISSN 1089-0645 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek. Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de/. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council of Library Resources. © 2009 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York 29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006 www.peterlang.com All rights reserved. Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm, xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited. Printed in Germany Contents Abbreviations................................................................................................. ix Preface............................................................................................................ xi Editor’s Preface............................................................................................ xiii Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Kingdom of God as Symbol From Weiss to Perrin................................................................................ 9 Perrin, Symbol and Myth ....................................................................... 14 Difficulties with Perrin’s Methodology.................................................. 16 Chapter Two: Moving Beyond Symbol to Metaphor The Loss of Metaphor ............................................................................ 31 The Rediscovery of Metaphor................................................................ 39 How to Proceed ...................................................................................... 54 Chapter Three: ‘God is King’ in Preexilic Texts Impact of the Myth-Symbol Theory on the Dating of Texts.................. 65 Ps 29:10-11: The Significance of Literary Context................................ 77 The Shift of Focus from Origins to Redaction ....................................... 84 Isa 6:1-11: The Only Preexilic Text ....................................................... 87 Summary and Implications..................................................................... 90 Chapter Four: The Exilic Foundation of the Metaphor Exod 15:18 ............................................................................................. 93 Exod 19:6 ............................................................................................... 99 Num 23:21............................................................................................ 101 1 Sam 8:7; 1 2:12.................................................................................. 106 Summary of the Analysis of the Texts ................................................. 111 vi MOVING BEYOND SYMBOL AND MYTH Chapter Five: The Function of the Metaphor in Exilic/Postexilic Texts Prophetic Texts..................................................................................... 113 Jeremiah: Jer 8:19........................................................................................... 114 Jer 10:7, 10..................................................................................... 116 Jer 46:18; 48:15; 51:57 .................................................................. 121 Summary of the Analysis of Jeremiah ........................................... 125 Deutero-Isaiah: Isa 41:21; 43:15; 44:6 .................................................................... 127 Isa 41:21......................................................................................... 129 Isa 43:15......................................................................................... 131 Isa 44:6........................................................................................... 133 Isa 40-48 ........................................................................................ 135 Isa 52:7........................................................................................... 140 Summary of the Analysis of Deutero-Isaiah.................................. 141 Zephaniah and Micah: Zeph 3:15 ....................................................................................... 143 Mic 2:13; 4:7.................................................................................. 152 Summary of the Analysis of Zephaniah and Micah ............................. 160 Summary of the Analysis of the Prophetic Writings............................ 161 Chapter Six: Postexilic Texts: God as Universal Suzerain Deut 33:2-5, 26-29 ............................................................................... 163 Mal 1:14 ............................................................................................... 169 Zech 14:9, 16, 17.................................................................................. 173 Dan 3:33; 4:31, 34; 6:26-27.................................................................. 181 1 Chr 16:31/1Chr 29:11/2 Chr 20:6/1 Chr 28:5; 29:23/2 Chr 9:8 ........ 188 Summary of the Analysis of the Postexilic Texts................................. 193 Chapter Seven: Psalms: Praising Yahweh the King Dating the Psalms................................................................................. 197 Complaints and Laments: Ps 5:2.............................................................................................. 198 Ps 22:3, 27...................................................................................... 200 Ps 44:5............................................................................................ 206 Ps 74:12.......................................................................................... 209 Ps 89:14.......................................................................................... 214 Summary of the Analysis of Laments and Complaints ........................ 217 CONTENTS vii Thanksgiving: Ps 9:4, 7, 11; 10:16 ........................................................................ 220 Ps 68:24-28 .................................................................................... 224 Ps 103:19........................................................................................ 227 Summary of the Analysis of the Thanksgiving Psalms ....................... 231 Hymns or Songs of Praise: Ps 24:7, 8, 9, 10.............................................................................. 232 Ps 47:3, 7, 8.................................................................................... 236 Ps 84:3............................................................................................ 239 Ps 93:1............................................................................................ 243 Ps 95:3............................................................................................ 247 Ps 96:10.......................................................................................... 253 Ps 97:1............................................................................................ 255 Ps 98:6............................................................................................ 258 Ps 99:1, 4........................................................................................ 260 Ps 145: 1, 11, 12, 13....................................................................... 263 Ps 146:10........................................................................................ 268 Ps 149:2 ......................................................................................... 271 Summary of the Analysis of the Hymns or Songs of Praise................. 272 Chapter Eight: New Contours for the Conversation ................................... 275 Works Cited ...............................................................................................