Language:
Italian
Year of publication:
2022
Titel der Quelle:
Henoch
Angaben zur Quelle:
44,1 (2022) 3-16
Keywords:
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
God Name
;
Biblical teaching
;
Deuteronomistic history (Biblical criticism)
Abstract:
This article deals with the use of morphological plurals in divine namesand titles within 1Kings 18. The passage, as part of the Elijah Cycle, displaysthe contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Ini-tially, some considerations are presented on the Deuteronomistic redactionalactivity on the passage and on the meaning of the term האלהים / אלהים, whichis used here as a title reserved to Israel’s national deity. A Deuteronomisticredactional suture is then identified at 1 Kings 18:18b-19. These vv. containthe only appearance of the plural בעלים in the whole passage. It is then sho-wed how the insertion of this plural בעלים, along with its relationship withהאלהים / אלהים and the singulars Baal and YHWH, radically changes theideological implications and reshapes the meaning of the passage. Thanksto a conscious use of plurals in the narrative, the Deuteronomistic writer(s)provides a new theological reading of the passage. The Deuteronomist’s vi-sion introduces a monolatric perspective: the theological focus shifts fromthe contest to determine the identity of Israel’s national deity to Israel’s reco-gnition of YHWH as its one true god.
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