The Dawn of the Apocalyptic (Revised edition)

451 Pages·1979·24.92 MB·English

by  Paul Hanson

The Dawn of
Apocalyptic
The Historical and Sociological Roots
of Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology
by
PAUL D. HANSON
Revised Edition
Fortress Press
Philadelphia
Biblical quotations, except from Isaiah 56-66 and Zechariah 9-14, are from the
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Old Testament Section, Copyright
1952, New Testament Section, First Edition, Copyright 1946, New Testament
Section, Second Edition (©) 1972 by the Division of Christian Education of
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
COPYRIGHT © 1975, 1979 BY FORTRESS PRESS
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, -or otherwise, without the prior permis
sion of the copyright owner.
Revised Edition 1979
Second printing 1983
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Hanson, Paul D
The dawn of apocalyptic.
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
1. Apocalyptic literature. 2. Bible. O.T.
Isaiah LVI-LXVI-Commentaries. 3. Zadokites.
4. Bible. O.T. Zechariah IX-XIV-Commentaries.
I. Title.
BS646.H35 1979 296.3'3 79-17099
ISBN 0-8006-0285-4
1028B84 Printed in the United States of America 1-1809
Dedicated to my beloved
mother and father
Lydia Thompson Hanson
Hans Victor Hanson
Table of Contents
Preface Xl
Chapter I The Phenomenon of Apocalyptic in Israel: Its
Background and Setting
Excursus: Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Later
Apocalyptic Writings 8
Excursus: The History of Prophecy in Israel 12
Chapter II Isaiah 56-66 and the Visionary Disciples of Sec-
ond Isaiah 32
A. A Third Isaiah? 32
B. The Ideal Community Envisioned by the Dis-
ciples of Second Isaiah 46
1. Isaiah 60-62 46
Excursus: Textual Reconstruction and Pro-
sodic Analysis 46
2. Isaiah 57: 14-21 77
C. The Ideal Undermined by Opposition
(63:7-64:11) 79
D. Tension within the Community Grows (58 and
59) 100
1. Isaiah 58:1-12 100
2. Isaiah 59:1-20 1I3
E. The Schism Widens, Vindictiveness Increases,
Hope Is Deferred, and the Seeds of Apocalyptic
Eschatology Are Sown (65:1-25) 134
F. Controversy over the Building of the Temple
and Expulsion from the Cult (66: 1-16) 161
Vll
G. The Conflict Grows Acrimonious (56:9-57:13) 186
H. The Other Edge of the Sword: Judgment
against the Nations (63: 1-6) 203
Chapter III The Origins of the Post-Exilic Hierocracy 209
A. The Second Group Competing for Control of
the Restoration Cult 209
B. The Sociological Background of the Post-Exilic
Struggle 211
C. The Rise of the Hierocratic Party of the Zado-
kites 220
D. Ezekiel: The Pre-Exilic Zadokite Temple Struc
tures Transformed into a Hierocratic Program
of Restoration 228
E. Haggai and Zechariah: The Hierocratic Temple
Program Receives Prophetic Legitimation 240
F. Bitter Controversy and the Zadokite Move to Re
form the Hierocratic Tradition along Narrowly
Exclusive Lines 263
G. The Chronicler: The Victorious Hierocratic
Party Returns to a More Conciliatory Position 269
Chapter IV Zechariah 9-14 and the Development of the
Apocalyptic Eschatology of the Visionaries 280
A. The Historical and Sociological Background of
the Continued Struggle 280
B. In Defense of a New Approach to the Oracles of
Zechariah 9-14 286
Excursus: Past Biblical Research on Zechariah 9-14 287
C. A Divine Warrior l:fymn Drawing on the Ritual
Pattern of the Conflict Myth (9: 1-17) 292
D. The Divine Warrior Hymn Applied to the In-
ner-Community Polemic (10: 1-12) 325
E. A Taunt against Foreign Nations Redirected
against Israel's Leaders (11: 1-3) 334
viii
F. A Commissioning Narrative Transformed into a
Prophecy of Doom (11:4-17 and 13:7-9) 337
G. An Apocalypse Molded by the Inner-Com-
munity Struggle (12: 1-13:6) 354
Excursus: The Textual Problem of Zechariah 12:2
and an Alternate Interpretation 361
H. An Apocalypse Structured upon the Ritual Pat
tern of the Conflict Myth and Reflecting Bitter
I nner-Comm unity Conflict (14: 1-21) 369
Excursus: Revealed Secrets 380
Excursus: The Redactional Framework of Third
Isaiah (56: 1-8 and 66: 17 -24) 388
Chapter V An Allegory and Its Explication 402
Select Bibliography 417
Indexes 421
Appendix 427
Preface
Numerous have been the attempts in recent literature to
define the terms apocalypse, apocalypticism, and apocalyptic
literature. All too often the arguments have been conducted
on such an abstract and theoretical level that they have
produced definitions which must be forced unnaturally
upon the literature. The present study began nearly a
decade ago with form critical investigations of the ancient
texts themselves. Tentative definitions only gradually began
to grow out of these investigations, resulting in a number
of papers, journal articles, and a doctoral thesis presented
to Harvard University in 1969. Critical responses to these
works have proven both stimulating and immensely helpful
in an ensuing process of refining insights into the origins of
the apocalyptic phenomenon in post-exilic Judaism. Semi
nars offered at Harvard have functioned, moreover, as a
laboratory in which ideas could be tested among students
who combine a lavish endowment of creative ability and a
level of literary training which have led the writer to bury
the notion of a dichotomy between the teaching and re
search roles of the university professor.
Through this process ideas grew to the point where it
seemed advisable to publish them in the form of a sus
tained argument. It is the author's hope that this endeavor
may help to refocus the discussion of apocalypticism upon
the ancient texts themselves and upon the sociological ma
trices within which those texts took form. Too much print
has been wasted on broad definitions which promise to
unlock the riddle of apocalyptic without immersing either
reader or writer into a single ancient text.
The reader will thus find her- or himself contemplating
ancient texts throughout this book. Fresh translations,
XI
PREFACE
placed alongside the Hebrew text, enable the reader untu
tored in ancient languages to be engaged in the discussion
without disadvantage. At the same time, the ancient text
together with the accompanying prosodic analysis and text
ual notes will invite the student of ancient languages to
check the conclusions of the author against the ancient
sources. Except in the text critical notes, foreign scripts
are eschewed in favor of English translations and trans
literations of important Hebrew words, again with the gen
eral reader in mind. The translations of the texts from
Isaiah 56-66 and Zechariah 9-14 are the author's, those of
other parts of Scripture follow the Revised Standard Ver
sion. In the footnotes, in the case of oft-cited works, after
the full reference has been given once, a short title is used
thereafter; in such cases the full reference can be found in
the Select Bibliography.
As I page through letters of colleagues who have taken
time to contribute to the growth of an idea, I am reminded
of the degree to which biblical scholarship is an in
ternational community activity. Acknowledgments could
not begin to repay debts; thus I limit mention to four
teachers who not only trained me in useful methods of
research, but who through personal example engendered
in me a deep and abiding love for the literature of the
Bible, the late Gerhard von Rad and G. Ernest Wright,
Brevard S. Childs, and Frank M. Cross.
Cg,mbridge, Massachusetts P.D.H.
September 6,1974
On the occasion of the reprinting of this book, I wish to thank
all who, in reviews and personal correspondence, have offered
helpful critique. Because this study has been adopted widely as
a textbook, I have added in the appendix a general overview of
Jewish and Christian apocalyptic ism. In classroom use instruc
tors may find it useful to assign this appendix prior to the rest
of the book.
Cambridge, Massachtlsetts P.D.H.
June 7, 1979
XII
CHAPTER I
The Phenomenon of Apocalyptic in Israel:
Its Background and Setting
To increasing numbers of observers it is becoming appar
ent that the dawn of a new apocalyptic era is upon us.
Especially among those designated "the counter-culture,"
but not excluding many who continue overtly to live out
their roles within the institutions of society, there is arising
a profound disenchantment with the values and structures
of our way of life. No longer does the optimism go unques
tioned that ample education and hard work will be re
warded with all the benefits of the good life. At the heart of
the matter is the collapse of confidence in the god to which
twentieth-century Western man faithfully dedicated life
and sou}, Progress-a being infused with life by tech
nology'S discoveries and worshiped in anticipation of un
limited material return.
We now stand at a crossroads: a generation has lived out
its life amidst the material affluence granted by Progress,
and that generation has produced a group of children who
look at the fruits of their parents' lifelong efforts and ex
claim: "Vanity!" Within houses sprawling across carpets of
grass and cars speeding across belts of concrete they recog
nize not the fruits of the good life, but the symbols of a
demon who has duped a generation into believing it was
imbibing soma when in fact it was drinking hemlock. In the
frantic goal-oriented activity of adult society they discern
not lives dedicated to the fulfillment of man's deepest
needs, but lives lusting after mother earth's goods, and
betraying their misdirection by transforming the mother
into a whore, an earth exploited with no respect for her
1