Where Have All The Prophets Gone? The “Disappearing” Israelite Prophet Against The Background Of Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy -- By: Robert P. Gordon
Journal: Bulletin for Biblical Research
Volume: BBR 05:1 (NA 1995)
Article: Where Have All The Prophets Gone? The “Disappearing” Israelite Prophet Against The Background Of Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy
Author: Robert P. Gordon
BBR 5:1 (1995) p. 67
Where Have All The Prophets Gone? The “Disappearing” Israelite Prophet Against The Background Of Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy
The University Of Cambridge
While the phenomenon of the “disappearing prophet” has become a feature (indeed function) of some modern approaches to Israelite prophecy, at the same time the profile of Syro-Mesopotamian prophecy has been becoming increasingly clear, and there are now definite cognates for the basic Hebrew word for “prophet”. Against this background it is argued that, though eighth century prophets like Amos and Hosea may not have been much interested in the title “prophet” (and not surprisingly, when the cognate term was used for non-Israelite prophets), they nevertheless saw themselves functioning as such. No single aspect of Israelite prophecy marks it out as distinct from its near eastern cultural equivalents; its obvious distinctiveness derives from Israel’s unique perception of God.
Key Words: prophecy, Mari, divine council, intercession, prophetic vocation
Where have all the prophets gone? Up the road and across the desert to Mari! Or so we might conclude on the basis of recent study of the biblical and Mesopotamian manifestations of the phenomenon. At the risk of oversimplification, we can observe a notable contrast in fortunes as between the biblical representatives and their non-Israelite counterparts. The “disappearing prophet” is by now a well-known feature of the biblical landscape, and for more than one reason as I shall presently be noting. At the same time, our awareness of prophecy in other parts of the ancient Near East has improved steadily since Golénischeff ‘s publication of the Wen Amon text in 1899.1 Texts
BBR 5:1 (1995) p. 68
from Emar,2 Ugarit,3 Hamath,4 Deir cAlla,5 Hatti,6 Assyria7 and, above all, Maria8 provide us with valuable comparative material from the period before and during the heyday of the Hebrew prophets. Distant sightings in Egypt have also been claimed,9 though these are not so impressive or convincing.
It is inevitable that, in this or almost any other discussion of Near Eastern prophecy, Mari is the chief contributor. The several dozen texts that have...
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