Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 69:2 (NA 2018)
Article: Where Is God In The Megilloth? A Dialogue On The Ambiguity Of Divine Presence And Absence
Author: Brittany N. Melton

TynBull 69:2 (2018) p. 317

Where Is God In The Megilloth?
A Dialogue On The Ambiguity Of Divine Presence And Absence1

Brittany N. Melton

([email protected])

The Introduction begins with observation of apparent divine absence in each of the Megilloth (Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Esther) based on the facts that God never appears or speaks in any of these books and that there is a lack of divine mention in two. This theme spurs the question: Where is God in the Megilloth? However, answering this question is complicated by the complexity of conceptualising divine presence and absence in the Hebrew Bible.

Chapter One traces the rise of the rhetoric of divine presence and absence within biblical and theological studies and critiques its imprecision. It lays out the current debate in scholarship concerning divine presence and absence in the Hebrew Bible, delineating two major positions: either divine presence decreases throughout the story of the Hebrew Bible or there are recurrent times of divine absence/hiddenness. It focuses especially on the debate concerning whether God is present or absent in each of the Megilloth, illustrating that while much discussion has been had no consensus has been reached. Some scholars hold that God is absent from these books, while others confidently claim God is present. These divergent positions lead one to ask if it can even be determined whether God is present or absent in the Megilloth.

Chapter Two explains the literary–theological methodology of the project, which is rooted in Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism. The adoption of intertextuality and a Bakhtinian approach from literary criticism into biblical studies is discussed before positing that a

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dialogic methodology enables a more nuanced understanding of divine presence and absence to be attained. A methodological metaphor of table conversation illustrates how the five Megilloth will be placed in dialogue with one another about various aspects of divine presence and absence.

Chapter Three examines perceived divine absence in two senses: divine literary absence and divine abandonment. In the first section I demonstrate how the literary absence of God in Esther and Song of Songs has paradoxically served for some as an indication of the crucial role of God, while others reject its theological significance. The second section shows how similar the voices in Lamentations are to the complaints of Naomi in Ruth, as they each express their experience of divine abandonment. While the literary absence of God and divine abandonment imply divine absence, traces of God’s presence are unearthed as...