Bāmôt In Josianic Reforms: A Heuristic Approach For The Signification Of The Term Bāmâ -- By: Brian Taylor

Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 60:3 (Sep 2017)
Article: Bāmôt In Josianic Reforms: A Heuristic Approach For The Signification Of The Term Bāmâ
Author: Brian Taylor

JETS 60:3 (September 2017) p. 457

Bāmôt In Josianic Reforms: A Heuristic Approach For The Signification Of The Term Bāmâ

Brian Taylor*

* Brian Taylor is a Ph.D. student at Concordia Theological Seminary, 2208 Wm. H. Dr., Neosho, MO 64850. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: The present article will attempt to determine the meaning of the Hebrew term bāmâ. To do so, a heuristic approach will be followed by which a sense for the word will be drawn from the reform report found in 2 Kgs 23:4–20, which will then be tested against the term’s use elsewhere in the OT. Based on this approach, it will be suggested that the term bāmâ signified sacred space that was identified by certain cultic apparatus, activities, and personnel. In addition, it will be shown that other facets of such sites, especially their location and their objects of worship, were secondary and eclectic features.

Key words: bāmâ, cultic apparatus, personnel, activities, reform report, location, objects of worship

One significant measure of evaluation the book of Kings uses to assess a given Judean king’s performance concerned his actions toward the cultic sites referred to as bāmôt.1 Via this means, the Deuteronomist2 determined the success or failure of a king based upon whether he terminated the bāmôt sites or not. Yet, this raises an interesting question. Just what sort of religious sites did the word bāmâ signify? As I will review shortly, scholars have put forward various answers, the best known being an open-air site set upon an elevated location. The traditional translation of bāmâ with “high place” reflects this understanding of the word. Yet, as will be shortly discussed, modern scholarship has, by and large, rejected this traditional rendering.

Although a number of alternatives have been proposed, no one has yet arrived at a satisfying solution to the problematic meaning of the term. The present article, in light of this, will attempt to argue for a definition for the term bāmâ based upon its use in the record of Josianic reforms as found in 2 Kgs 23:4–20. In light of the exposition of this text, I will suggest the following meaning for the word bāmâ: the term bāmâ<...

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