Amos in Song and Book Culture (JSOT Supplement Series)

257 Pages·2002·13.38 MB·English

by  Joyce Louise Rilett Wood

JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
337
Editors
David J.A. Clines
Philip R. Davies
Executive Editor
Andrew Mein
Editorial Board
Richard J. Coggins, Alan Cooper, J. Cheryl Exum, John Goldingay,
Robert P. Gordon, Norman K. Gottwald, John Jarick,
Andrew D.H. Mayes, Carol Meyers, Patrick D. Miller
Sheffield Academic Press
A Continuum imprint
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Amos in Song and
Book Culture
Joyce Rilett Wood
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Supplement Series 337
Hear the voice of the Bard!
Who Present, Past & Future sees
Whose ears have heard,
The Holy Word,
That walk'd among the ancient trees.
William Blake, Songs of Experience,
Plate 30: Introduction
Copyright © 2002 Sheffield Academic Press
A Continuum imprint
Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6550
www.SheffieldAcademicPress.com
www. continuumbooks .com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain by MPG, Bodmin, Cornwall
ISBN 1-84127-244-2
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 7
Abbreviations 9
Introduction 11
Chapter 1
THE WRITTEN PROPHECY 23
Poem One (l.la, 3-5, 6-8,13-15; 2.1-3, 6-8, 13-16) 23
PoemTwo(3.1a-2, 3-6, 9-11) 27
Poem Three (4.1-3, 4-5) 29
Poem Four (5.1-2, 4-5, 6-7) 30
Poem Five (5.10-12, 18-20, 21-24) 32
Poem Six (6.1-3, 4-7, 12-13) 34
Poem Seven (7.1-3, 4-6, 7-9; 8.1-3a, 4-6, 9-10) 38
Chapter 2
WRITING AND EDITING IN AMOS 47
Part One (1.1-2.16) 49
Part Two (3.1-15) 54
Part Three (4.1-13) 59
Part Four (5.1-9) 64
Part Five (5.10-17) 66
Part Six (6.1-14) 69
Part Seven (7.1-17) 72
Part Eight (8.1-14) 77
Part Nine (9.1-6) 82
Part Ten (9.7-15) 86
Summary 93
Chapter 3
PROPHECY AS A PERFORMING ART AND THE
EMERGENCE OF BOOK CULTURE 95
The Comic Structure of the Book 95
6 Amos in Song and Book Culture
The Tragic Poetry of Amos 97
The Greek Analogy 100
The Performance Text 112
Prophecy in Book Culture 113
Structure of the Cycle and the Book 115
Linguistic Evidence for Dramatic Composition 123
Evidence for Historical Writing 135
Chapter 4
PROPHETIC TRADITION AND CULTURAL CONTEXT 141
Dialogue with History and Prophecy 141
Poetic Dialogue in the Greek World 150
The Day of Yahweh and the Greek Analogy 154
Chapter 5
FROM SONG CULTURE TO BOOK CULTURE 169
Performers and Dialogue 170
Orators and Dialogue 184
History and Biography 191
Summary 211
Conclusion 213
Bibliography 218
Index of References 235
Index of Authors 246
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To David Harry Wood
in loving memory
This book is based on my dissertation (Toronto School of Theology, 1993)
but it has been rewritten, edited and updated to reflect current scholarship
and my present understanding of the subject.
Sheffield Academic Press has made this volume take shape according to
my hopes, and I am appreciative of the co-operative spirit and labour of
the editorial staff.
The doctoral version of the book was read by Paul E. Dion, William H.
Irwin, Brian Peckham, Gerald T. Sheppard and Robert R. Wilson, and I
am thankful for their helpful evaluations. I am also indebted to classicist
John H. Corbett for reading the comparative sections and even more for
his ongoing support and encouragement.
It is no more than the truth to say that without Brian Peckham this book
would not exist. His own critical theories on the composition and editing
of prophetic texts are the foundation for the book's idea that biblical
prophecy originated in the performing arts. To him I owe an enormous
debt. He taught me the importance of asking better questions of the text,
and he constantly challenges my thinking. My interest in the field has been
sustained by his activity of thought, wisdom and insight.
Caven Library at the University of Toronto is a glorious place to read
and think, and I am grateful to Kathleen Gibson, Lizabeth Kanhai and
Chris Tucker who have tirelessly worked to create a superb research
library.
My students at the Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
eagerly performed the poetry of Amos in St. Columba Chapel at a sym-
posium banquet, and the production was made possible by musician
Christopher Allworth, director Nancie Erhard, and actors Mary Burey,
Howard Crooks, and Art Fisher. My thanks are also extended to the
'Madison Avenue Pub' in Toronto for providing the right setting for
countless symposia.
8 Amos in Song and Book Culture
David Harry Wood encouraged me to do biblical studies with the words,
'What else are you going to do with your time?' As the result of his own
studies in the thought of Paul Tillich and Alfred North Whitehead, he saw
the study of the Bible as an adventure in ideas: 'Its purpose is not to close
our minds but to open them. It does not offer facts and answers but visions
of what might be and what ought to be. Its greatest value to us is its power
to set us free from the socially inculcated values of our own time'. My
husband's life and work have made a significant difference in my own.
This book is dedicated to him, in joyful memory.
Toronto, Ontario
August, 2000
ABBREVIATIONS
AB Anchor Bible
ANET James B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating
to the Old Testament (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
3rd edn, 1969 [1950])
ANQ Andover Newton Quarterly
AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament
ATD Das Alte Testament Deutsch
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BARev Biblical Archaeology Review
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
BBB Bonner biblische Beitrage
BDB Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles A. Briggs,
A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1907)
BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium
Bib Biblica
Biblnt Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary
Approaches
BibOr Biblica et orientalia
BKAT Biblischer Kommentar: Altes Testament
BN Biblische Notizen
BZ Biblische Zeitschrift
BZAW Beihefte zur ZA W
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CIQ Classical Quarterly
CRBS Currents in Research: Biblical Studies
CurTM Currents in Theology and Mission
ExpTim Expository Times
GKC Gesenius ' Hebrew Grammar (ed. E. Kautzsch, revised and
trans. A.E. Cowley; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910)
HAR Hebrew Annual Review
HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology
HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs
HTR Harvard Theological Review
HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual
IB Interpreter's Bible
FCC International Critical Commentary
IDB George Arthur Buttrick (ed.), The Interpreter's Dictionary of