The fertility religions in the thought of Amos and Micah

195 Pages·010.382 MB·English

by  Shoot, Frederick von Buelow

THE FERTILITY RELIGIONS
IN THE THOUGHT OF AMOS AND MICAH
A Dissertation Presented to
The Faculty ©f the School of Religion
The University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
hy
Frederick von Buelow Shoot
June, 1951
UMI Number: DP31429
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This dissertation, written by
...............Fjredea?ick-von-Buelow-Shoot-................
under the guidance of hXs.... Faculty Committee
on Studies> and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by the Council
on Graduate Study and Research, in partial ful­
fillment of requirements for the degree of
DO CTOR OF P H ILO S O P H Y
JJLSU
Committee on Studies
Chairman
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PACE
I. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM . . ......... 1
Preliminary remark* 1
The problem .......... . * 3
The methodology ......... • • • • • • • • • • 5
Abbreviation* . . ........................ 8
t
II. THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF THE FERTILITY
RELIGIONS....................................10
Preliminary remark*.............. 10
The myth and ritual of Tammuz.............. 12
The Babylonian myth and ritual. . . . . . . 16
The elements of the dying-reviving god myth
and ritual . . • ....................... . 87
III. THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF HEBREW PROPHECY . . 30
Preliminary remarks............... .. 30
The ecstatic g r o u p ..........................31
The professional prophets .............. 40
The classical prophet*................... 44
The wcallw of the prophets................ 53
Prediction and eschatology . ............56
The nature and function of Hebrew prophecy . 60
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
IV. HISTORICAL AED SOCIAL ANTECEDENTS OF
AMOS AND MICAH ............... 62
Preliminary remarks....................... 62,
The monarchy under Solomon . . . . . . . . 63
Historical antecedents from Jeroboam I
to Hezeklah 69
Social antecedents ............ 80
The life and times of Amos . . . . . . . 85
V. THE FERTILITY RELIGIONS IN THE THOUGHT
OF AMOS AND MICAH ......... 95
Preliminary remarks............... 95
Destruction and sterility in Amos . . . . 97
Destruction and sterility in Micah . . . 110
Cultic ritual . . . ....................117
The return of fertility......... 144
Incidental features • • . . • • • ........ 154
Amos 5:25,26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Micah 3:5 . ................. 157
Micah 6:6-8.. ........... 160
VI. THE CONCLUSION.......... 165
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . * . v ♦ * . . ♦ • >81
CHAPTER I
AH INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM
I* PRELIMINARY REMARKS
The entrance of the Hebrews into Palestine brought
them face to face with a type of culture opposite to that
to which they were accustomed. They were familiar with a
nomadic type of life where land was the common property of
all, and the deity by which they were unified was Yahweh,
a tribal god concerned with their underprivileges, their
oppressions, .their deliverance, their nomadic wanderings,
and their invasion and settlement in Palestine,2 The
inhabitants of Palestine prior to the coming of the
Hebrews were accustomed to a settled, agricultural life,
where land was the private property of the individual and
where control of the soil was in the hands of a ba‘ al
(owner)* This ownership-control pattern was reflected In
^ E, A. Leslie, Old Testament Religion (Nashville:
Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1936) , pp* 95 ff *; I. G,
Matthews, The Religious Pilgrimage of Israel (New York:
Harper and Brothers, Publisners, 19W), PP* 41 f f *; T, H.
Robinson, A History of Israel, Vol. I (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 2 Vols*, l9^5~^L9^8), pp* 97 ff*; W. 0. E. Oesterley
and T. H, Robinson, Hebrew Religion, second, revised and
enlarged, edition (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937),
pp* 125 ff,
2 T, H* Robinson, ©£* cit*, pp. 68-110.
the hypostatizing of a deity* Ba‘ al*3 At the center of
indigenous Can&anite religion was a myth ahout a dying-
reviving god and his consort* emphasizing a masculine-
feminine principle and concerned with continuing the life
process ©n "both biological and vegetative levels* Worship
was conducted at various shrines in the form of ritual
which attempted to keep fertility functioning*^ There was
a deep-seated antagonism between the Hebrew nomads and the
Palestinian agriculturalists when they first came together,5
but the common external stimulus of invasion on the part of
the Midianltes* the Ammonites* and the Philistines,^ made
natural, if not inevitable* a concerted effort on the part
of the Hebrews and the Can&anite s in an attempt to stay
this invasion*7 The result was the rise of the Hebrew
monarchy and a syncretism between the two cultures* To
what extent the nomad Hebrews Influenced the Canaanites
is not known* but that there was a borrowing of culture
^ Louis Wallis, Sociological Study of the Bible
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,T912), pp* 90 f*
* This will be Illustrated in Chapter II*
5 I* C* Matthews, op* cit** p* 85*
^ T* H* Robinson* op* cit** pp* 112-238*
3
on the part of the former seems evident*^ As Malinowski
points out, in all such unions there occurs a new form of
social grouping, the result of compromise on the part of
each original unit; a new group emerges, differing from
each of the originals, not merely the addition of the two,
hut a new unit.^ It was this syncretism and its aftermath
which was of especial concern to the prophets of the eighth
and seventh century* This study will give especial atten­
tion to the prophets Amos and Micah*
II. THE PROBLEM
Statement of the problem* It is the purpose of this
study (1) to present as background a discussion of the
fertility religions Indigenous to the ancient Hear East
and their function in the thought of man, emphasizing
especially aspects pertaining to the fertility of plant,
animal, and human life; (2) to present the nature and
® Archaeological remains Indicate Hebrew techno­
logical culture was definitely inferior prior to their
coming Into Palestine, J* Finegan, Light from the Ancient
Past (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 19®?) t PP* 122
ff.
^ B. Malinowski, The Dynamics of Cultural Change
(Hew Haven: Xale University Press, 1955*), pp. 41-51, o¥-72*
Reasons for selecting Amos and Micah appear
later, infra, pp. k and 5*
function of Yahwlstic prophecy which played such a signifi­
cant role In the formation of a counterattack against the
fertility religions; (3) to view the historical and cul­
tural antecedents of Amos and Micah in order to gain a
perspective on the changing conditions from the establish­
ment of the monarchy to the times in which these prophets
functioned; and (ty) to investigate the books of Amos and
Micah in order to determine (a) whether evidences for the
presence of the fertllity-eult pattern are present in these
books, (b) whether such references, if found, probably
belong to the author to idiom they are ascribed, and (e)
what significance, if any, such fertility-oult elements
had for the prophets1 interpretation of society and its
problems*
Importance of the study* The importance of this
study lies in its concerted investigation of these two
books, hitherto not made, to see what elements, If any, of
the fertility religions are contained therein. This will
add to a partial study already made of the eighth century
12
prophets Hosea** and Isaiah** Such a study then should
^ H* G> May, Ho sea and Israel1 s Cult (Unpublished
Ph* B* dissertation) (dhicago: The University of Chicago
Library, 1932)•
12 W* W. Fisher. Isaiah and the Nature Cults (Unpub-
iilcagoPfclbraryigf i S i f The ’UhiversTgy of
make possible a more careful assessment of the cultural
situation facing these four prophets of the eighth century*
Passages In these books whose authenticity to the purported
author Is questioned or denied will be reviewed to see
whether they may or may not belong to these prophets,
giving reasons for accepting or rejecting them*
III* THE METHOBOLOGY
Statement of methodology* The methodology In this
study employs the various, well-known disciplines in
Biblical study, the literary-historical-cultural criti­
cisms usually Involved in Biblical criticism and in
historical investigation*^*3 it will take into considera­
tion patterns which existed in the fertllity-religlons and
make a comparison of them with the thought of the prophets
to see if an apparent relationship exists* The sourees for
fertility-cult patterns are of two kinds, primary and
secondary* The primary sourees for the fertility religions
consist of the English translations made of the Ugaritic
13 a discussion of these will be found in E* 0*
Colwell, The Study of the Bible (Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 1937), and G* B* Smith, ed*, A Guide to
the Study of the Christian Eeliglon (Chicago: The Uni-
verslty of Chicago Press, 1916), pp* 21-161*