The good, the bad and the Belial : traces of wisdom in the prophetic rhetoric of Nahum
The article engages the question of possible traces of wisdom in prophetic literature. The prophetic book of Nahum is focused on. The three categories of wisdom (literature, tradition and thinking), according to Crenshaw, are used to formulate three questions, namely, (a) Is Nahum a wisdom book?, (b...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2002
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| In: |
Old Testament essays
Year: 2002, Volume: 15, Issue: 3, Pages: 589-599 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The article engages the question of possible traces of wisdom in prophetic literature. The prophetic book of Nahum is focused on. The three categories of wisdom (literature, tradition and thinking), according to Crenshaw, are used to formulate three questions, namely, (a) Is Nahum a wisdom book?, (b) Was Nahum a sage?, and (c) Does Nahum contain wisdom? The answers indicate that : (1) Nahum should not be seen as a wisdom book, although it contains shimmerings of wisdom literature, for example Job and Proverbs, and wisdom like rhetoric is used; (2) that Nahum cannot be regarded as a sage although the borders between prophet and sage are becoming more diffuse; and (3) that the prophetic rhetoric of Nahum indeed contains a kind of 'wisdom when wisdom ends' which creates order in times of chaos, forms part of the expression of a kind of poetic justice in times of struggle, and is intricately entwined in the paradoxical search for identity when the limits of human wisdom become apparent. |
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| ISSN: | 2312-3621 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Old Testament essays
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| Persistent identifiers: | HDL: 10520/EJC85510 |
