this issue
previous article in this issuenext article in this issue

Document Details :

Title: Divinatory Process in Judah
Subtitle: Mantic Marginalia and the Growth of Isaiah 7,10-17
Author(s): COOLEY, Jeffrey L.
Journal: Biblica
Volume: 101    Issue: 1   Date: 2020   
Pages: 26-46
DOI: 10.2143/BIB.101.1.3287513

Abstract :
This article reexamines the growth of Isa 7,10-17 and shows that the pericope features a number of interpretive techniques that are also on display in the contemporaneous letters from Babylonian and Assyrian diviner-scholars to the Assyrian monarch Esarhaddon concerning the meaning of a certain lunar eclipse. These techniques include: 1) the reorientation of the omen’s character; 2) the contemporizing/reinterpretation of terms; and 3) the specific identification of contemporary sovereigns/polities. Ultimately, the author argues that the textual growth of Isa 7,10-17 is best explained not through historical-literary reflection, as has been traditionally maintained, but rather as the result of active divinatory consultation.

Download article