Reading the Book of Lamentations as a Whole: Canonical-Literary Approach to the Scripture as Divine Communicative Action by SHINMAN KANG A Thesis Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Magister Artium (Theology) in the Faculty of Theology University of Pretoria Promoter: Prof. P. M. Venter September 2008 © University of Pretoria SUMMARY z TITLE: Reading the Book of Lamentations as a Whole: Canonical-Literary Approach to the Scripture as Divine Communicative Action z SUPERVISOR: Prof. P. M. Venter z DEGREE: Magister Artium (Theology) z PRESENTER: Shinman Kang z DEPARTMENT: Department of Old Testament z UNIVERSITY: The Faculty of Theology of the University of Pretoria This dissertation is basically a reading the book of Lamentation as a literary whole in a sense of a text-centred approach, which aims to interpret the Scripture as divine communicative action. The major philosophical resources that I employ in this study are the Speech-Act theory developed by J. Austin and J. Searle, and the concepts particularly exemplified in the work of K. Vanhoozer. I look at repetition and literary techniques in Lamentations as a clue to its structural unity. In the body of the dissertation, Instead of historical-critical approaches, I claim that the meaning exists not ‘behind the text,’ but ‘in the text itself as a whole.’ One of the most important literary approaches to understanding the book of Lamentations is to note the poetic voices, which interweave in the text. The poetic voices are my main focus of understanding the book of Lamentations. I explain the literary meaning reading the text and demonstrate that we must find the canonical level of the meaning which supervenes on the literary level. The meaning of a text 3 at a literary level must be carefully studied and modified by the ‘fuller sense (or meaning)’ derived from the canonical context. The ‘fuller sense’ of Scripture associated with divine authorship emerges only at the level of the whole canon. Here for the canonical meaning of the text, I focus on Vanhoozer’s assertion, having proposed the suitability of speech act theory for the various tasks of biblical interpretation and theological hermeneutics. When we read the text, there is no utterance from God in Lamentations. It is the missing voice. The main theme of Lamentations is "Where is the true comfort?". The text presents no comfort. In the literary context, God keeps silent (non-speaking). Canonically, however, Christian readers as God’s people read the Bible, connecting it to Jesus Christ. Within the canonical context, we can indeed find an answer and God’s answering speech (that is, His act), because Jesus is their true comforter acting as God’s response. We can find this response in his teaching (e.g. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount) and in his mission (e.g. presenting his body as the temple, being Immanuel, God-with-us). 4 KEY WORDS Alphabetically, z Acrostic Form z Canonical Approach z Divine Discourse (Divine Communicative Act) z J. Austin and J. Searle z Kevin Vanhoozer z Literary Criticism z Locution/ Illocution/ Perlocution z Mikhail M. Bakhtin z Parallelism of Hebrew Poetry z Polyphonic voice z Speaking Voice (Persona) z Speech Act Theory z Text-Centred Approach 5 ABBREVIATIONS AB Anchor Bible ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary. ed. by D. N. Freedman, 6 vols. New York, 1992. BEATAJ Beiträge zur Erforschung des alten Testaments und des antiken Judentum BAT Beitrage zur alttestamentlichen Theologie BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. ed. by K. Elliger and W. Rudolph. Stuttgart, 1983. Bib Biblica BibInt Biblical Interpretation BSac Bibliotheca Sacra CBC Cambridge Bible Commentary CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CCOT Communicator’s Commentary Old Testament CR Currents in Research CSR Christian Scholars Review CurTM Currents in Theology and Mission EBC The Expositor’s Bible Commentary EJ Evangelical Journal FOTL The Forms of the Old Testament Literature HCOT Historical Commentary on the Old Testament HTS Hervormde Teologiese Studies ICC International Critical Commentary ITC International Theological Commentary IDB The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. ed. by G. A. Buttrick. 4 vols. New York, 1962 JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JPS Jewish Publication Society JR Journal of Religion JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series MTeol Modern Theology NAC New American Commentary NCBC New Century Bible Commentary NIB The New Interpreter’s Bible NIBC New International Biblical Commentary NICOT The New International Commentary on the Old Testament NIDOTTE The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis 6 NIV New International Version NovTSup Supplements to Novum Testamentum OTE Old Testament Essay RS Religious Studies SBET Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology SJT Scottish Journal of Theology TOTC Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries TynBul Tyndale Bulletin VT Vetus Testamentum WBC Word Biblical Commentary ZAW Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Biblical Books Gen Genesis Exod Exodus Deut Deuteronomy Ps (pl. Pss) Psalm(s) Prov Proverbs Isa Isaiah Jer Jeremiah Lam Lamentations Hag Haggai Matt Matthew Mark Mark Luke Luke General Abbreviations cf. confer (compare) ch(s) chapter(s) ed(s) edtor(s), edited (by) edn edition e.g. exempli gratia (for example) et al. et alii (and others) idem the same i.e. id est (that is) impf. imperfect p(p) page(s) 7 pf. perfect sing. singular tr. translation, translated (by) v(v). verse(s) 8 Table of Contents SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 3 KEY WORDS ........................................................................................................................... 5 ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................. 6 Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 13 1.1 The Problems .................................................................................................................... 13 1.2 Rationale and Main Hypothesis ...................................................................................... 14 1.3 Aims ................................................................................................................................... 17 1.4 Investigative Procedure ................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS ............................................................... 20 2.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 20 2.1 Recent Trends of Interpretation of the Book of Lamentations .................................... 21 2.1.1 Under the Influence of Herman Gunkel .................................................................. 21 2.1.2 After N. Gottwald ...................................................................................................... 22 2.1.3 Recent Approaches .................................................................................................... 23 2.2 Brief Survey on the Interpretation of the Old Testament ............................................ 25 2.2.1 Author-Centred Approaches ..................................................................................... 25 2.2.2 Text-Centred Approaches ......................................................................................... 28 2.2.3 Reader-Centred Approaches .................................................................................... 30 2.3 Comprehensive Evaluation of the Methods ................................................................... 31 2.3.1 Problems of the Historical-Critical Interpretation ................................................. 31 2.3.2 Lamentation and Historical-Critical Approach ...................................................... 33 2.3.3 Necessity of New Approach to the Text .................................................................... 35 9 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY FOR READING THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS ............................................................................................ 38 3.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 38 3.1 About Canonical-Literary Approach ............................................................................. 39 3.1.1 A Review of the Canonical Approach ...................................................................... 39 3.1.1.1 Major Works of Brevard S. Childs .................................................................... 39 3.1.2 A Review of the Literary Approach ......................................................................... 45 3.1.2.1 From Historical-Critical to Literary ................................................................. 45 3.1.2.2 Characteristics of the Literary Approach in Biblical Interpretation ............. 47 3.1.3 The Meaning of Canonical-Literary Approach ...................................................... 48 3.1.3.1 A Text-Centred Literary Approach ...................................................................