Abstract
I propose in this chapter to examine some of the claims to know God made in the Old Testament. I shall do this in two ways (1) I shall take my previous analysis of the various uses of the word ‘know’ to the Old Testament to see whether the claims to know God correspond to any, or all, or none of these forms. (2) I shall concentrate my attention upon claims to knowledge using yada’ and da’at.
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Notes
Cf. F. Brown, S.R. Driver, C.A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (London: Oxford University Press 1952).
Cf. R. Bultmann, ginōskō in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by G. Kittel (Michigan: W. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company 1965) vol. 1, p.697.
These studies by Winton Thomas cover a number of years of work. The initial discussion is in ‘The Root yada’ in Hebrew’ in The Journal of Theological Studies, 1934, pp.298–306. Further articles in the same journal appear in 1935, pp. 409–12, 1936, pp.59ff, 1937, pp.404–5, 1938, pp.273–4, 1940, pp.43–4, 1941, pp.64–5, 1948, pp.143–4, 1953, pp.23ff, 1954, pp.56–7, 1955, pp.226, 1956, pp.69–70, 1960, p.52, 1963, pp.93–4, 1964, pp.54–7. Further articles on the same theme are found in The Jewish Quarterly Review, 1946, pp.177–8 and in Journal of Jewish Studies, 1955, pp.50–2.
Cf. J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament (London: Oxford University Press 1968) pp.1–13.
Cf. the discussion of this issue by P.R. Ackroyd, ‘Meaning and Exegesis’ in Words and Meanings, edited by P. R. Ackroyd and B. Lindars (London: Cambridge University Press 1968) pp.1–14.
Cf. D. F Payne, ‘Old Testament Exegesis and the problem of ambiguity’, in The Annual of the Swedish Theological Institute in Jerusalem, vol. 67, 1967, pp.48ff.
Cf. E. W. Nicholson, Exodus and Sinai in History and Tradition (Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1973) p.69;
This is to recognize the force of the ‘Kenite hypothesis’. As H. H. Rowley argues, this hypothesis does not mean that Moses simply ‘mediated’ the religion of the Kenites to the Israelites. It is just to acknowledge a possible contact and reference between Moses and the Kenites in Midian. cf. H. H. Rowley, ‘Moses and Monotheism’ in From Moses to Qumran (London: Lutterworth Press 1963) pp.35–63.
G. A. F. Knight, A Christian Theology of the Old Testament (London: SCM Press, 1959) p.227.
See also N. Snaith, Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament (London: Epworth Press 1944) p.100.
Cf. J. R. Porter, ‘The Background of Joshua III–V’, Svensk Exegetisk Arsbok, XXXVI, 1971.
Cf. Th. C. Vriezen, An Outline of Old Testament Theology (Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1958) p.158. See also his comments on p.238.
Cf. K. W. Carley, Ezekiel among the Prophets (London: SCM Press, 1975) p.73.
R. C. Dentan, The Knowledge of God in Ancient Israel (New York: The Seabury Press 1968) p.188
Because of the ‘freely formulated phrase’, K. W. Carley suggests the passage has a late origin, cf. Ezekiel Among the Prophets (London: SCM Press, 1975) p. 93.
‘The OT, with delightful impartiality, is quite confident that the soothsayers of the Philistines are capable of supplying correct information!’ W. Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament (London: SCM Press, 1961) vol. 1, p.297.
Cf. W. Zimmerli, Erkenntnis Gottes nach dem Buche Ezechiel (Zurich: Abhandlugen zur Theologie des alten und neuen Testaments, XXVII, 1954).
Cf. W. Zimmerli, ‘Ich bin Jahwe’, in Geschichte und Altes Tesament, Festschrift Alt, (Beiträge zur Historischen Theologie, Tubingen 1953) pp.179–209.
D. Granskou, Revelation as History, edited by C. Pannenberg (London: Macmillan, 1969) p.38.
Verse 17 has a transition from speech by Yahweh to speech by Moses. This may indicate an imperfect text or may be evidence of A. R. Johnson’s argument for the ‘extension of personality’ in the Hebrew concept of God. The One and the Many in the Israelite concept of God (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1961).
Cf. K. W. Carley, Ezekiel among the Prophets (London: SCM Press, 1975) pp.37ff. R. Rendtorff, op. cit., p.43.
Cf. Th. C. Vriezen, The Religion of Ancient Israel (London: Lutteerworth Press 1969) p.249.
Cf. also the parallels in ‘The Cyrus Cylinder’ in Documents from Old Testament Times, edited D.W. Thomas (London: Thomas Nelson, 1958) p.92.
H. H. Rowley understands the passage as coming from the Deuteronomic editor, dated near Deutero-Isaiah when there is expressive monotheism, The Faith of Israel (London: SCM Press, 1961) p.72.
Cf. W. Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament (London: SCM Press, 1961) v.I, p.225.
Cf. H. H. Rowley, The Faith of Israel (London: SCM Press, 1961) pp.25ff.
G. Von Rad, Wisdom in Israel (London: SCM Press, 1972) p.162.
H. H. Rowley, The Faith of Israel (London: SCM Press, 1961) p.24.
Dreams are understood by the OT to be potentially a medium of revelation although this is more a feature of the old traditions cf. Th. C. Vreizen, OT Theology (Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1958) pp.243ff;
H. H. Rowley, The Faith of Israel (London: SCM Press, 1961) pp.31ff.
‘According to Israelite conception Yahweh, despite his transcendental character, had a close connection with the Holy Place where he was worshipped’, J. Lindblom ‘Theophanies in Holy Places in Hebrew Religion’, Hebrew Union College Annual, 32, (1961) p.92.
J. Barr suggests that this is an important feature of OT Theophanies Cf. ‘Theophany and Anthropomorphism in the OT’ in Supplement to Vetus Testamentum, VII (Leiden 1960).
H. W. Robinson, Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament (London: Oxford Univesity Press 1946) p.38.
J. N. Schofield, ‘Angel’ in A Theological Word Book of the Bible, edited A. Richardson (London: SCM Press, 1957) p.18. Barr’s article cited above indicates the fact that the God whom Israel worships appears in living human likeness although it is not the form of the appearance that is the crucial factor in Theophanies.
A. R. Johnson Angel of the Lord’ in Dictionary of the Bible Revised Edition edited by F. C. Grant and H. H. Rowley (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark 1963) p.31.
Th. C. Vreizen, The Religion of Ancient Israel (Lutterworth Press, 1969) pp.237,
Cf. W. A. L. Elmslie, How Came our Faith (London: Cambridge University Press 1958) p.306.
Cf. B. W. Anderson, ‘The New Covenant and the Old’ in The Old Testament and Christian Faith, edited B. W. Anderson (London: SCM Press, 1964) p.235.
Cf. R. C. Dentan, The Knowledge of God in Ancient Israel (New York: The Seabury Press 1968) p.223.
J. Muilenburg, ‘The Intercession of the covenant Mediator (Exod. 33: 1, 12–17)’ in Words and Meanings edited by P. R. Ackroyd and B. Lindars (London: Cambridge University Press 1968) pp.159–81.
Cf. J. Barr, ‘Theophany and Anthropomorphism in the Old Testament’, supplement to Vetus Testamentun VII (Leiden, 1960) pp.31–8.
Cf. Th. C. Vriezen, An Outline of Old Testament Theology (London: Basil Blackwell 1958) pp.171ff.
R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (London: Darton, Longman & Todd 1961) p.272.
R. C. Dentan, The Knowledge of God in Ancient Israel (New York: The Seabury Press 1968) p.40.
H. B. Huffmon, ‘The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada’ in Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research, 1966 no.181, p.31ff.
F. G. Downing, Has Christianity a Revelation? (London: SCM Press, 1964).
G. Von Rad, Wisdom in Israel (London: SCM Press, 1972) p.66.
G. Von Rad, Wisdom in Israel (London: SCM Press, 1972) p.68.
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© 1988 Brian Haymes
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Haymes, B. (1988). The Knowledge of God in the Old Testament. In: The Concept of the Knowledge of God. Library of Philosophy and Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19066-9_10
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