E-Book, Englisch, 286 Seiten
ISBN: 978-3-17-029036-5
Verlag: Kohlhammer
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Introduction
The three books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, each only three chapters in length, together yield a surprisingly multifaceted view of biblical prophecy. It includes martial and threatening but also caring and gentle depictions of God; severe indictments of guilt against the people of Yhwh but also comforting promises; rage against foreign nations but also engaging tones toward them; rock hard but also plaintive, lamenting expressions by the prophets; dark images of the future but also radiant brightness. Each of the three books has its particular hue but to a certain degree they are attuned to each other. Within the still broader prophetic mosaic of the Book of the Twelve, these three together and alone contribute definitive colors and contours. The Place of Nahum – Habakkuk – Zephaniah within the Book of the Twelve1
The Book of the Twelve is in principle ordered chronologically, that is, in three blocks – one of six books and two of three. The following list provides an overview of the introductory headings of each, especially the naming of certain kings. Hos 1:1: The word of Yhwh that came to Hosea ben Beeri in the days of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam ben Joash, the King of Israel. Joel 1:1: The word of Yhwh that came to Joel ben Pethuel. Amos 1:1: The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, that he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam ben Joash, the King of Israel, two years before the earthquake. Obad 1: The vision of Obadiah. Jonah 1:1: And the word of Yhwh came to Jonah ben Amittai … Mic 1:1: The word of Yhwh that came to Micah the Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the Kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Nah 1:1: An oracle concerning Nineveh, book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh. Hab 1:1: The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk the prophet saw. Zeph 1:1: The word of Yhwh that came to Zephaniah ben Cushi ben Gedaliah ben Amariah ben Hezekiah in the days of Josiah ben Amon, King of Judah. Hag 1:1: In the second year of King Darius in the sixth month on the first day the word of Yhwh came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubabbel ben Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua ben Jehozadak, the high priest. Zech 1:1: In the eighth month of the second year of Darius the word of Yhwh came to the prophet Zechariah ben Berechiah ben Iddo. Mal 1:1: An oracle. The word of Yhwh to Israel through Malachi. The reigns of the named kings are: Jeroboam II of Israel 786–746; then the Judeans Uzziah (= Azariah) 786–736, Ahaz 742–725, Hezekiah 725–696, and Josiah 639–609; finally Darius I of Persia 521–485. The first six books evidently intend to provide illumination during the time when both Israelite states still existed in relative independence alongside each other (8th c.), books 7–9 the time of Assyrian and Babylonian influence on Judah, which now remained alone (7th c.), and books 10–12 the time of the emergence of the province of Yehud under Persian rule (late 6th c.). Of interest here is especially the second block, books 7–9. Their assignment to the seventh century is understandable. The northern kingdom of Israel no longer plays a role in Nahum – Habakkuk – Zephaniah; Judah stands alone, and opposite it are the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires. The first is present in Nahum and Zephaniah, occasionally under the name “Assur” (Nah 3:18; Zeph 2:13), but more commonly represented by its capital city Nineveh (Nah 2–3; Zeph 2:13–15).2 In contrast, the “Chaldeans” enter the scene in Habakkuk (Hab 1:6) and also stand for the Neo-Babylonian empire in the book of Jeremiah. While the assignment of these three books to the Assyrian-Babylonian epoch makes good sense, the order is perplexing: why is Habakkuk, in which Babylon is the adversary, not placed after Nahum and Zephaniah, which concern Assur, but instead between them? Answers to this question can be sought by means of both synchronic and diachronic analysis. Synchronic Reading – or: The Northern Empire in Nahum – Habakkuk – Zephaniah
Scholarship has reached a consensus that the Book of the Twelve Prophets first came into existence in the later Persian, or presumably even in the Hellenistic Period. This means a separation of about half a millennium from the Assyrian and Babylonian eras of the history of Judah that Nahum – Habakkuk – Zephaniah treat! It is quite conceivable that by this point the contours of the two Mesopotamian empires of Assyria and Babylon had converged. The end point of this development can be seen in the book of Daniel, which emerged in the second century. In the two visions of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 four world empires are brought before the eyes of the viewer. The first of them (relatively speaking still the most noble!) is at one point expressly equated with Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon (Dan 2:38), the following then with the Median, Persian, and Hellenistic empires. Assyria has disappeared from view, or rather from memory – although the first animal of the second vision is a winged lion (Dan 7:4), well known from Assyrian (and admittedly also from Babylonian) iconography. It was still different in Herodotus (ca. 470 b.c.e.), with which the visions of the world empires in Daniel share a considerable amount of content. In his work the first world empire is the (Neo-) Assyrian, the second the Median (not the Babylonian!), the third the Persian.3 An initial explanation for the conspicuous order of Nahum – Habakkuk – Zephaniah could lie in the disappearance of the historical progression of Assyria-Babylon (-Persia) in the collective Jewish memory. “Nineveh” and “the Chaldeans” then both stood for an earlier Mesopotamian empire that once cast its shadow over the history of Judah. From this perspective the order Nahum/Assyria – Habakkuk/Babylon – Zephaniah/Assyria might be reckoned artistic, building a kind of inclusio: a favorite artistic form, especially for material of the prophetic tradition.4 It is not that the northern empires in Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah always play the same role. From this perspective it is much more the case that a chiasm appears. In Nahum 2–3 the prophet vehemently attacks the Assyrian metropolis as greedy beyond measure and immoral without restraint. He paints a scene of how the arrogant without conscience will soon be humbled and plundered. In Hab 1:5–10 the prophet receives an oracle that the Chaldeans will advance with irresistible military power and God’s consent. In Zeph 2:13–15, on the other hand, the prophet threatens Assyria and its capital city, which boastfully declares: “I and none other!” If we view this sequence synchronically with the assumption that later periods generally only remembered one Mesopotamian empire, we can see them drawing the historical background in these texts. In order to appreciate this fully, one must also take into consideration the preceding book of Jonah (in both versions of the canon). Already in this book, which is fictively set back as far as the reign of Jeroboam II, that is, before Assyria’s advance into the southern Levant,5 the metropolis Nineveh appears as full of “wickedness” (Jonah 1:2). Of course, God succeeds, with Jonah’s begrudging help, in bringing them to repentance, in response to which God spares them. The repentance, however, is not enduring; why else would Assyria have struck out against Israel and Judah some time later, thereby provoking Nahum’s cry against the “harlot” Nineveh? The anti-Nineveh texts in Nahum 2–3 are admittedly not declared to be the words of God; in fact, here the prophet “alone” speaks with tangible disgust. But then, in Habakkuk 1, God himself speaks – and he does not announce something like the immediate destruction of the horrible enemy, but rather their unstoppable advance! However, at the end of the oracle the prophet is told that their coming will only be temporary; they will be shipwrecked on their own self-idolization (their god is their own might, 1:11). Zephaniah 2 ties in with this: Assyria and Nineveh are the dramatic climax of a chain of Divine words directed against enemies in the west, east, south, and north. This intends to say that God will also put a stop to the actions of the greatest and most dangerous of enemy powers. Read in succession and synchronically, these declarations in Nahum – Habakkuk – Zephaniah concerning the northern empires yield the following statement: Judah had every reason to fear them greatly and hoped understandably that God would eliminate them in good time (Nah). However, God decided to give them free rein (Hab). In the end, however, they would indeed encounter divine judgment (Zeph). This presents a thinly veiled theodicy with regard to the apparent inactivity of God at the demise of the Israelite states. These took place, according to these texts, not because the empires were too powerful or Yhwh powerless. They instead are part of his plan for history, which allows the terrifying enemy a certain amount of time. God’s people must first be chastened, but then their tormentor will be destroyed.6 The creator of the Book of the Twelve probably considered this progression enlightening not only with regard to the past, that is, the Assyrian-Babylonian era, but also...
