Death in the Iron Age II and in First Isaiah (Forschungen Zum Alten Testament)

Death is one of the major themes of First Isaiah, although it has not generally been recognized as such. Images of death are repeatedly used by the prophet and his earliest tradents. The book begins by concisely summarizing what is known about death in the Ancient Near East during the Iron Age II, covering beliefs and practices in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria-Palestine, and Judah/Israel. Incorporating both textual and archeological data, Christopher B. Hays surveys and analyzes existing scholarly literature on these topics from multiple fields. Focusing on the text s meaning for its producers and its initial audiences, he describes the ways in which the rhetoric of death functioned in its historical context and offers fresh interpretations of more than a dozen passages in Isa 5 38. He shows how they employ the imagery of death that was part of their cultural contexts, and also identifies ways in which they break new creative ground. This holistic approach to questions that have attracted much scholarly attention in recent decades produces new insights not only for the interpretation of specific biblical passages, but also for the formation of the book of Isaiah and for the history of ancient Near Eastern religions. Forschungen zum Alten Testament No. 79 Death in the Iron Age II and in First Isaiah 4 Acknowledgements 8 Preface 10 Table of Contents 12 List of Figures and Charts 16 Abbreviations 17 0. Introduction 20 0.1 Topic 20 0.2 Method 20 0.3 Historical Context and Mechanisms of Influence (chs. 1–2) 22 0.4 ANE Beliefs About Death and Their Impact on Judah (chs. 1–4) 23 0.5 The Rhetoric of Death in Isaiah 1–39 26 1. Death and the Dead in Mesopotamia during the Iron Age II 30 1.1 Introduction 30 1.2 Historical sketch 30 1.3 Mechanisms of Mesopotamian influence 40 1.3.1 Linguistic contacts 42 1.3.2 The question of religious imposition 44 1.4 Death in Mesopotamia 53 1.4.1 Burial and mourning in Mesopotamia 54 1.4.2 The Mesopotamian dead 62 1.4.3 The Mesopotamian underworld and its deities 67 1.5 Conclusions 74 2. Death and the Dead in Egypt during the Iron Age II 76 2.1 Introduction 76 2.2 Historical Sketch 77 2.3 Mechanisms of Egyptian influence 79 2.4 Death in Egypt 85 2.4.1 Burial and mourning in Egypt 86 2.4.2 The Egyptian dead 95 2.4.3 The Egyptian underworld and its deities 102 2.5 Conclusions 108 3. Death and the Dead in Syria-Palestine outside Israel and Judah 112 3.1 Introduction 112 3.2 Bronze Age Cults of the dead in inland Syria and Hatti 114 3.3 Ugarit 117 3.3.1 Ugarit and the Bible 117 3.3.2 The archaeology of death in Ugarit 119 3.3.3 Death in the Ugaritic texts 123 3.3.3.1 Burial and mourning 124 3.3.3.2 The Ugaritic dead 124 The Ugaritic cult of the dead up to the “Spronk synthesis” 124 The rpum (et al.) 126 The Ugaritic marzihu 134 A “minimalist” backlash 136 3.3.3.3 The Ugaritic underworld and its deities 141 3.4 Between Ugarit and Israel 146 3.5 Conclusions 150 4. Death and the Dead in Iron II Israel and Judah and in the Old Testament 152 4.1 Introduction 152 4.2 A brief history of modern scholarship 154 4.2.1 Early modern scholarship 154 4.2.2 The mid-century assertion of distinctiveness 155 4.2.3 A new flourishing of underworld and afterlife 157 4.2.4 “Minimalist” backlash, redux 162 4.3 The archaeology of death in ancient Judah 166 4.4 Death in the Hebrew Bible 172 4.4.1 Burial and mourning 173 4.4.1.1 Burial in the texts 173 4.4.1.2 Mourning 181 4.4.1.3 The marzēah 182 4.4.1.4 The corpse 184 4.4.2 The Israelite dead 185 4.4.2.1 The powers and cult of the dead 185 4.4.2.2 The Rephaim 186 4.4.2.3 Necromancy 187 4.4.2.4 Summary 193 4.4.3 The underworld and its deities 195 4.4.3.1 Terms for and images of the underworld 195 4.4.3.2 Underworld gods 198 Molek and child sacrifice 199 4.4.3.3 Demons 202 4.4.4 Yahweh and the dead 203 4.5 Historical conclusions 209 4.6 The rhetoric of death in the Hebrew Bible 212 4.6.1 Rhetoric and the Bible 212 4.6.2 Uses of the rhetoric of death in the Hebrew Bible 215 5. The Rhetoric of Death in Isaiah 1–39 222 5.1 Introduction 222 5.2 Texts 222 5.2.1 Threats of unhappy afterlife 222 5.2.1.1 Isaiah 14:4–23: The tyrant in Sheol 222 Reversal of royal funerary expectations 227 The myth of Hêlēl 230 The rhetoric in historical context 234 5.2.1.2 Isaiah 30:27–33: A pyre for the king 241 5.2.1.3 Isaiah 22:15–19: Shebna’s tomb 251 5.2.1.4 Isaiah 36:12: A hellish meal 268 5.2.2 Comparisons of the living to the dead 272 5.2.2.1 Isaiah 5:11–17: The nobility’s parade to hell 272 5.2.2.2 The hôy-oracles 277 5.2.2.3 Isaiah 29:1–8: A “near-death experience” for Jerusalem 281 5.2.2.4 Isaiah 8:16–9:6: Those who consult the dead are like them 289 5.2.3 Other reactions to cults of the dead 298 5.2.3.1 Isa 7:10–13: YHWH’s sign from Sheol? 298 5.2.3.2 Isaiah 19:1–15: Egypt will consult its ghosts in vain 300 5.2.3.3 Isaiah 28:1–22: The covenant with Mut 307 The Egyptian goddess Mut 313 Competing proposals 322 Exegesis 324 5.2.4 Life’s triumph over death 334 5.2.4.1 Isaiah 25:6–8: “He will swallow up Death forever” 337 5.2.4.2 Isaiah 26:11–21: “Your dead shall rise” 342 5.2.4.3 Isaiah 38:9–20: The Psalm of Hezekiah 356 5.2.4.4 Isaiah 37:4, 17: “The Living God” 364 6. Conclusions 366 6.1 Death in the Ancient Near East during the Iron Age II 366 6.2 The rhetoric of death in the Hebrew Bible 368 6.3 Isaiah’s rhetorical employment of death imagery 369 6.4 The offer of life 371 6.5 Implications 372 6.5.1 “Foreign” influences 372 6.5.2 The formation of the book of Isaiah 374 6.5.3 Isaiah’s role in the history of Judean religion 376 6.5.3.1 Isaiah’s condemnation of religious practices 376 6.5.3.2 Isaiah and resurrection 377 6.6 Isaiah as Judah’s “Book of the Dead”? 378 Bibliography 382 Index of Sources 428 I. Ancient Near Eastern Sources 428 II. Classical Sources 432 III. Biblical Texts 433 IV. Biblical textual witnesses 447 Index of Authors 449 Index of Subjects 458