Language:
English
Year of publication:
2020
Titel der Quelle:
Violence in the Hebrew Bible; Between Text and Reception
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2020) 269-291
Keywords:
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
God Biblical teaching
;
Gods Biblical teaching
;
Kings and rulers Biblical teaching
;
War in the Bible
Abstract:
Even when the books of Kings mention foreign deities (e.g., 2 Kings 5:18; 2 Kings 17:30–31) and refer to foreign kings with theophoric names (such as Ben-hadad), the foreign deities seem absent in several stories of military confrontation (such as 1 Kings 20 MT). Did biblical authors intentionally leave out the foreign deities of their enemies (cf. 2 Kings 18:32b–35)? How does this absence influence the narrative? Taking 1 Kings 20 MT and 2 Kings 18–19 as examples, this paper examines the question of whether two foreign kings are represented as direct enemies of Yhwh by the biblical authors. By not mentioning their deities, does this narrative portrayal rank these kings on the same divine tier as Yhwh? Is this intended to underline the foreign kings’ arrogance? What might be the other (intended) effects on the perception of foreign deities and foreign kings? And what might be the effects on Israelite kings who “did evil in the sight of the Lord”?
DOI:
10.1163/9789004434684_015
URL:
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