חקות העמים הבל הוא (Jer 10:3) in Light of Akkadian Parṣu and Zaqīqu Referring to Cult Statues
Akkadian parṣu is unanimously taken to mean only "cult-ordinance." Nonetheless in numerous texts it designates physical objects including divine statues and symbols, and in these cases it should be rendered "properly formed cult object" or "properly fashioned divine statue/s...
| Authors: | ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn Press
1999
|
| In: |
The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 1999, Volume: 89, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 277-290 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Akkadian parṣu is unanimously taken to mean only "cult-ordinance." Nonetheless in numerous texts it designates physical objects including divine statues and symbols, and in these cases it should be rendered "properly formed cult object" or "properly fashioned divine statue/symbol." This new understanding of the Akkadian term provides a parallel to "ḥuqqōt hāʿammīm" in Jer 10:3 which may be rendered now "the properly formed cult statues of the gentiles." Akkadian zaqīqu has been recognized as semantically overlapping Hebrew hebel, meaning "nothingness." Jeremiah's diatribe implies "the cult statues of the nations, even when properly formed, are nothing." His taunt resembles in language and intent the "Verse Account of Nabonidus" in which Babylonian priests lambaste the heretic king for an illegitimately made cult statue. The two texts may be voices in an ongoing cosmopolitan theological debate of the Neoassyrian/Neobabylonian axial age over which god is number one. As Babylonian priests argue the proper form of the cult statue, Jeremiah heckles from the sidelines in the language of the adversaries that they are all wrong, for any cult statue is worthless as a representation of the one true God who created the universe. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1553-0604 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Jewish quarterly review
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1455025 |