When Israel grievously strayed into idolatry, God sent prophets to announce his future plans for his people. Contrary to common opinion, the prophets’ pri- mary task was to proclaim God’s word, not to preach repentance.133 The books of the OT prophets record the words and deeds of those ancient preachers. They also reflect their rhetorical and literary creativity. The prophets mustered a surprising variety of genres to deliver their divine message.
Basic ‘I)pes of Prophecy Prophecy of Disaster
The most common genre among the prophets is the prophecy ofdisaster. In this form, a prophet announces imminent or future disaster either to an individual or to an entire nation. Typically, its structure includes an indication of the,situation, a messenger formula (“Thus says the LORD”), and a prediction of disaster. The “in- dication of the situation” states the problem(s) that occasion the message, the pre- diction details the disaster to come, and the messenger formula authenticates the word as coming from God. 135 A “therefore” (Heb. I&&) commonly introduces the prediction section.
Often prophecies of disaster have other elements: at the beginning they in- clude a prophetic commission (“Go and say,” etc.) and a call to hear (“Hear this word!” etc.); they also give reasons for the disaster introduced by ubecause of this”
(Heb. ‘al-’ Ver) or uforn (Heb. ki). A prophecy given by Elijah to King Ahaziah offers a simple illustration of this genre:
Prophetic commission Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them,
Indication of the situation “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?”
‘33G. M. Tucker, “Prophecy and the Prophetic Literature,” in Knight and Tucker, eds., Hebrew Bible, 339.
‘%e classic study is C. Westermann, Basic Forms of prophetic Speech (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1967), who called it the “prophetic judgment speech.” Since that term sounds too much like a legal term, we follow the more neutral term suggested by Koch, The Growth of the Biblical Tradition, 191- 94, 205-206. For a critique of Westermann, see W. E. March, “Prophecy,” in Hayes, ed., Oki Testament Form Critictim, 153-54.
13Vhe messenger formula was the standard phrase that identified the source of a message given by a messenger on behalf of someone (Gen 32:4; Exod 5:lO; Judg 11:15; 1 Kgs 2:30; et al.>. It func- tioned much like a signature or official stamp does today. Given that background, Westermann (Basic Forms, 98-128) believed that the words of the prophets were essentially “messenger speech.” Since the formula introduces content other than messages, however, such an easy identification seems doubt- ful; so R. Rendtorff, “Botenformel und Botenspruch,” Gesammelte Stud&n zum Alten Testament, TBii 57 (Munich: Chr. Kaiser, 1975), 247-53.
.
Genres of the Old Testament 293
Messenger formula Prediction
Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says:
“You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” (2 Kgs 1:34; cf. Jer 28:12-14, 15-16; Mic 1:2-7)
In this example, the indication of the situation subtly suggests the reason for the disaster. By consulting Baal-Zebub instead of Yahweh, Ahaziah implied that Israel had no god or at least that Yahweh was unable to heal his injury. The predic- tion announces that Ahaziah would pay for that insult with his life. Many prophe- cies of disaster, however, are structurally more complex than this simple example.
Most lack the prophetic commission, while many have other elements: descriptions, commands to invading armies to attack, calls for their victims to mourn, etc. Also, most disaster prophecies are longer, and the order of their component parts may vary considerably.
Nevertheless, by finding the form’s essential elements, the careful student will easily recognize the form and, at the same time, will clearly see the additional elements.
The interpreter must seek to understand the disaster announced and the reason(s) for it. Notice, for example, the similarities and variations in the following example:
Messenger formula This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
Indication of the situation
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
Prediction You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
A thousand will flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you will all flee away, tiIl you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.” (Isa 30:15-17)
Unlike the earlier example, here the indication of the situation comes between the messenger formula and the prediction. Also, compare the twofold repetition of the
“therefore” to its single use in the first example. Again, the key is to find the predic- tion and the indications of the situation, and to observe other significant elements.
Prophecy of Salvation
Prophets also announced restoration for individuals and nations. So the proph- ecy of disaster has a positive counterpart-to announce hope for the future. In struc- ture, the prophecy of salvation resembles the disaster prophecy, but its content is as
positive as the latter’s is negative. Jeremiah 28 provides a simple example of this _
294 Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
form given by the prophet Hananiah. (Though he proved to be a false prophet, he followed the typical ancient form.)
Messenger formula Prediction
Basic statement Amplification
This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the LORD’S house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,” declares the LORD, Emphatic restatement “for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” (Jer
28:24; cf. Isa 2:1-5; Amos 9:11-15 etc.)
As indicated, the structure exactly parallels that of the prophecy
of
disaster. Simi- larly, the salvation prophecy may include additional elements, may continue for great length, and may show a variable order of components. As was true of the negative counterpart, the basic goal is to identifjr the future hope announced.Woe Speech
The prophets announced doom through another common genre: the woe
speech.*36
Its distinguishing feature is the opening interjection “Woe to those who/
you who
. . . nfollowed by participles describing those addressed. The descrip- tion details the evil deeds that make them worthy of woe. The woe speech con- cludes with a prediction of divine punishment, usually without the “therefore, thus says the LORD” introductory formula.
The form’s opening interjection and description have raised the question about where it originated in Israelite society. Did the prophets invent it or borrow some pre-existing form? Probably, the woe speech represents the prophets’ adaptation of the ancient funeral lament.137 But these speeches are more than just an ordinary lament for the dead. Rather, they resemble the lament for a murder victim in which the lament condemns the killers for the outrage. If so, one must hear the woe speeches as expressions of prophetic outrage at the sinful behavior they condemn.
‘%ee Amos 5:18-20; 6:1-7; Isa 58-10, 11-14, 18-19, 20, 21, 22-25; lO:l-3; 28:1-4; 29:1-4, 15;
30:1-5; 31:1-5. For others, see the survey in R. J. Clifford, “The Use of HdY in the Prophets,” CBQ 28 (1966): 45864. For the form, see Westermann, Basic Forms, 190-94.
‘“For the consensus, see Clifford, “The Use of HOY in the Prophets,” 458-64; G. Wanke, “‘6~
and b,y,” ZAW 78 (1966): 215-18; W. Janzen, Mourning Cry and Woe Oracle, BZAW 125 (Berlin:
Walter de Gruyter, 1972); G. M. Tucker, “Prophecy and the Prophetic Literature,” 340; contra Westermann, Basic Forms, 194-99 (woes derived from practices of curses>; and E. Gerstenberger, “The Woe-Oracles of the Prophets,” JBL 81 (1962): 24963, who argued that the woe was the negative counterpart of the blessing saying (“Happy is the person who “1.
,,. ,, ,, ,, ,,, ,.,,
Genres of the Old Testament 295
In the following example of the woe speech, notice the opening interjection, the description of the doomed addressees and their crimes,
and the disaster predicted:138Declaration of woe Explanation: offenses
Basic statement Amplification
Messenger formula Prediction
Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them.
They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance.
Therefore, the Loan says:
“I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly, for it wiB be a time of calamity.
In that day men wilI ridicule you;
they wilI taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined; my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’
Therefore you wiU have no one in the assembly of the LORD to divide the land by lot.” (Mic 2:1-5)
Prophetic Dirge
Along similar lines, the prophets occasionally recited a
dirgeor funeral lament over Israel (for this form, see above under poetry). They addressed the nation as if she were a corpse ready for burial. In other words, they viewed her awful future as a
fait accompli. Amos
provides a sample of these potent passages:
CalI to hear Hear this word, 0 house of Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:
The Dirge Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again,
deserted in her own land, with no one to Iifi her up.
Messenger formula Prediction
This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
“The city that marches out a thousand strong for Israel will have only a hundred left;
the town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.” (Amos 5:1-3; cf. Isa 14:3-21;
Ezek 19:1-14; 26:17-18; 27:32)
‘~%bserve also that in this case the penalty aptly fits the crime. , , The criminals who schemed to seize property will lose all access to property because Yahweh will outfox them.
296 Introduction to Bib&al Interpretation
Amos sees Israel as a tragic figure, a virgin who dies unmarried and alone. The prediction says that forces defending Israel will suffer ninety percent casualties.
Through the dirge Amos speaks as if this had already happened. What a power&l way to portray the certainty and horror of Israel’s imminent national demise!
Prophetic Hymn
The prophets also used genres drawn from Israel’s worship practices. Examples of the hymn appear occasionally in the prophetic books (for hymns, see above under poetry; for hymns in Job, see below). The following short example illustrates how Amos includes brief hymnic pieces that extol Yahweh:
He is the one who makes the mountains and creates the wind
and makes his thoughts known to people.
He changes the dawn into darkness
and walks over the mountains of the earth.
His name is the LORD God All-Powerful. (Amos 4:13, NCV; cf. 5:8-9)
In the previous section (w. 6-12), Amos announced that Israel should “get ready to meet your God” in judgment (v. 12) since she had turned a deafear to Yahweh’s earlier efforts to contiont her. The hymnic lines quoted above give the announce- ment a climactic rhetorical end by painting a vivid picture of Yahweh’s majesty.
On the other hand, Isaiah used longer hymn pieces to illustrate the song of praise Israel would sing when Yahweh finally brought her exiled citizens home:
I.
Introduction In that day you will sati
The hymn “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” (Isa 12:4- 6; cf. w. 1-3; 25:1-8,9-12; 26:1-19; 42:10-13; 49:13)
Prophetic Liturgy
The prophets also used various kinds of litugies as part of their message (for liturgy, see poetry above). As noted previously, a liturgy is a text used in worship in which two or more speakers participate in response to each other. Isaiah 63:7-64: 12, for example, contains a lengthy, sad liturgy that asks Yahweh finally to bring his angry punishment of exiled Israel to an end. It involves two speakers: the prophet reminiscing about Yahweh’s great past deeds (63:7-14) and a communal complaint pleading for God’s mercy (63:15-64:12).
Genres of the Old Testament 297
Jeremiah 14 ofI& a second example of a communal complaint set in a time of severe national drought. Given the background of communal complaints, the text takes an unex- pected turn. Normally, when Israel prayed fbr help during similar national disasters, she expected Yahweh to answer positively~ through a prophet-with a prophecy of salvation. In the tillowing excerpts, observe Israel’s complaint and how Yahweh answers it:
Introduction This is the word of the LORD to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
Description Judah mourns, her cities languish;
they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
The nobles send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns but find no water. . . . Complaint Although our sins testifjl against us, 0 LORD, do something for the sake of your name. . . . You are among us, 0 LORD, and we bear your name;
do not forsake us!
Messenger
formula This is what the LORD says about this people:
Message “They greatly love to wander;
they do not restrain their feet.
So the LORD does not accept them;
he will now remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.” (Jer 14:1-3,7,9,10,19- 22; cf. Joel l-2)
There are two things to highlight here. First, notice Yahweh’s answer: he flatly denied Israel’s petition for relief. Israel expected a prophecy of salvation but re- ceived one of disaster instead. Second, unlike Isa 63-64, here the liturgy and divine response serve as a prophecy of disaster. They function as an announcement (“the word of the LORD”) about the drought-it will continue as Israel’s punishment.
This example reinforces a point we made earlier about interpreting a genre: one must interpret both what it says ‘by itself as well as how it functions in the context.
Here the liturgy and response say that Israel prayed and Yahweh answered. Intro- duced by “this is the word of the LORD,” it functions as a prophecy of disaster.
The book of Habakkuk offers another variety of liturgy, a “dialogue of com- plaint” (for complaints, see poetry above). By way of background, scholars believe that normally God answered individual complaints with a prophecy of salvation promising relief Tom the distress. That same complaint-answer structure underlies the opening section of Habakkuk (1:2-2:4) with two significant differences.139
13Vhough the text’s interpretation is problematic, we believe that this section ends at 2:4 rather than 2:5; so K. Elliger, Da.s Buch der Zw6lfKleinen Propheten, ATD, 6th ed. (GGttingen: Vandenhoeck
& Ruprecht, 1967), 38, 43; alternatively, cf. R. L. Smith, Micah-Malachi, WC 32 (Waco, TX: Word, 1984), 97, 107-108; 0. P. Robertson, 7;be Book of Nahum, Hubukhk, and Zephniah, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 173-85 (though without supporting argument). On the other hand, the woes _ of 2:5-20 undoubtedly derive from the vision mentioned in 2:2.
298 Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
Psalmic complaints have a single complaint without any recorded answer from Yahweh, but Habakkuk has two complaints ( 1:2-4; 1:12-2: 1) and an answer re- ported for each (15-l 1; 2:24). For that reason we call this subgenre a dialogue of complaint. Jeremiah also lifted complaints to God, in his case, in response to perse- cution for his preaching. The “confessions of Jeremiah” record his intensely per- sonal pleas for protection from enemies and vindication of his prophetic ministry.
Like Habakkuk, he received direct divine answers to his complaints (Jer 11: 18-23;
12:1-6; 15:10-11,15-21).‘4°
Prophetic Disputation
Occasionally, the prophets employed a rhetorical form called the disputation (for its importance in Job, see below). In a disputation, the speaker tries to persuade the audience to accept the validity of some tr~th.‘~’ Disputations comprise most of the book of Malachi, but the prophet Amos provides an apt, short illustration:
Series of Questions Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?
Does a lion roar in the thicket when he has no prey? . . .
Does a bird f&U into a trap on the ground where no snare has been set? . . . When a trumpet sounds in a city,
do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
Conclusion Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.
Lesson The Iion has roared-who will not fear?
The Sovereign LORD has spoken-
who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:3-8; cf. 9:7)
This example highlights several features that distinguish the disputation from the prophecy of disaster. First, here the prophet himself speaks as a fellow-Israelite, not as the direct voice of Yahweh. Second, the speaker does not announce new revelation;
‘40For other “confessions” without divine answers, see Jer 17:lP18; 18:l8-23; 20:7-13; cf. the lament in 20:14-20 and its parallel genre in Job 3. For recent discussion of the “confessions,” see N.
Ittmann, Die Konfiionen Jeremias: Ihre Beakutung fir die Vehhadigung &s Propheten, WMANT 54 (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1981); K. M. O’Connor, l%e Confessions ofJeremiah: Their Zntetpre- tation and Role in Chapters l-25, SBLDS 94 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1988).
‘%f. the groundwork laid by J. Begrich, Stud&n zu Deuterojesaja, TBii 20 (Munich: Chr. Kai- ser, 19691, 48-53; C. Westermann, “Sprache und Struktur der Prophetie Deuterojesajas,” in Forschung am Alten Testament, TE3ii 24 (Munich: Chr. Kaiser, 19641, 124-34; and the thorough study by A. Graffy, A Prophet Confronts his People, AnBib 104 (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1984).
_“.~_r.-“_.“X ~I,,x.“llx”I.“.I~~, .“_.__ -
Genres of the Old Testament 299
he simply argues for a point, in this case, that nothing happens without a cause. Third, disputations commonly use rhetorical questions to involve the audience and conclude with a lesson (i.e., “I prophesy because I’ve heard God’s voice of judgment”).142
Prophetic Lawsuit
Some prophetic speeches draw on ancient Israel’s legal practices. In the Zaw- suit speech (Heb. rib), for example, a prophet speaks as if Israel were on trial accused of a crime.14s Hence, one finds references to trial procedures-calls to plead a case, appeals to witnesses, the hearing of testimony, etc.-and legal terms like “case,”
“accusation,” and “indictment.” Yahweh seems to play the dual role of both pros- ecutor and judge. Often, such speeches charge Israel with breach of covenant, e.g., with violating the agreement she entered with Yahweh at Mt. Sinai (Exod 24). For that reason, some scholars have called this form the “covenant lawsuit speech.“144 Consider this example from the prophet Micah:
Call to hear Listen to what the LORD says:
Summons to trial
Beason
Yahweh’s testimony Question
Testimony proper
“Stand up, plead your case before the mountains;
let the hiBs hear what you have to say.
Hear, 0 mountains, the LORD’S accusation;
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the LORD has a case against his people;
he is lodging a charge against Israel.”
“My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened you? Answer me.
I brought you up out of Egypt
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.
My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what BaIaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”
(Mic 6:1-S; cf. Isa 1:2-3; 3:13-15; Hos 4:1-3; Jer 2:4-13; Psa 50)
14*For other disputations, see Isa 108-11; 28:23_28; Jer 2:23_28; 31-5; 8:1, 8-9; Mic 26-11; and most of the book of Malachi. For an illuminating exposition of the disputation in Isa 28, see J. W.
Whedbee, Isaiah and Wikdom (Nashville: Abingdon, 1971), 51-68. For the disputation in Malachi, see E. Pfeiffer, “Die Disputationsworte im Buche Maleachi,” EvTl9 (1959): 546-68.
143K. Nielsen, Yahweh as Prosecutor and Judge: An Investigation of the Prophetic lawsuit (Rfb- Pattern), JSOTSup 9 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1979). For the thesis that this form influenced the Gospel of John’s presentation of Jesus’ life, see A. E. Harvey, Jesus on Trial (Atlanta: John Knox, 1976).
L44Scholars have debated whether the form originated in a covenantal worship context or in the ordinary law court, While the issue remains unsettled, a recent consensus seems to favor the latter (so Tucker, “Prophecy and the Prophetic Literature,” 338).