Amos and the Cosmic Imagination (Society for Old Testament Study Monographs)

212 Pages·2008·1.75 MB·English

by  James R. Linville

AMOS AND THE COSMIC IMAGINATION
SOCIETY FOR OLD TESTAMENT STUDY MONOGRAPHS
Series Editor
Margarent Baker
Series Editorial Board
Katharine J. Dell; Paul Joyce; Edward Ball; Eryl W. Davies
Series Advisory Board
Bertil Albrektson; Graeme Auld; John Barton; Joseph Blenkinsopp;
William Johnstone; John Rogerson
Ashgate is pleased to publish the revived Society for Old Testament Study (SOTS)
monograph series. The Society for Old Testament Study is a learned society based in
the British Isles, with an international membership, committed to the study of the Old
Testament. This series promotes Old Testament studies with the support and guidance
of the Society. The series includes research monographs by members of the Society,
both from established international scholars and from exciting new authors.
Titles in the series include:
The Old Testament: Canon, Literature and Theology
Collected Essays of John Barton
John Barton
Jeremiah’s Kings
A Study of the Monarchy in Jeremiah
John Brian Job
Hebrew Bible and Ancient Versions
Selected Essays of Robert P. Gordon
Robert P. Gordon
The Personification of Wisdom
Alice M. Sinnott
Saul and the Monarchy: A New Look
Simcha Shalom Brooks
‘There’s such Divinity doth Hedge a King’
Selected Essays of Nicolas Wyatt on Royal Ideology in Ugaritic and
Old Testament Literature
Nicolas Wyatt
Amos and the Cosmic Imagination
JAMES R. LINVILLE
University of Lethbridge, Canada
© James R. Linville 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
James R. Linville has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Gower House Suite 420
Croft Road 101 Cherry Street
Aldershot Burlington, VT 05401-4405
Hampshire GU11 3HR USA
England
Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Linville, James Richard
Amos and the cosmic imagination
1. Bible. O.T. Amos – Criticism, interpretation, etc.
I. Title
224.8’06
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Linville, James Richard.
Amos and the cosmic imagination / James R Linville.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7546-5481-0 (hardcover: alk. paper) 1. Bible. O.T. Amos—Commentaries.
I. Title.
BS1585.53.L56 2007
224’.8077—dc22
2007025875
ISBN 978-0-7546-5481-0
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall.
Contents
List of Abbreviations vii
Transliteration Scheme ix
Preface xi
Part I Imagining Amos
1 Landscaping Amos’ Cosmic Temple 3
2 Amos among the Historians, Mythmakers and Poets 13
Part II Speech and Theophany
3 The Words of Amos: Amos 1:1–2 41
4 Eight Nations: Amos 1:3–2:16 47
5 The Mantle of Amos: Amos 3:1–15 69
6 On Mountains and High Places: Amos 4:1–13 81
Part III Speech and Silence
7 Lament: Amos 5:1–17 101
8 Festival of Exile: Amos 5:18–27 113
9 No One, No Sound, Nothing: Amos 6 121
Part IV Who Will Not Prophesy?
10 Deception: Amos 7:1–17 133
11 Silent Harvest: Amos 8:1–14 151
12 The Capital: Amos 9:1–6 159
13 The Turning: Amos 9:7–15 169
Bibliography 177
Name Index 187
Scripture Index 191
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List of Abbreviations
AB Anchor Bible
ABR Australian Biblical Review
ANETS Ancient Near Eastern Text and Studies
AOAT Alten Orient und Altes Testament
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
BHS Biblia hebraica stuttgartensia
Bib Biblica
BibInt Biblical Interpretation
BSac Bibliotheca Sacra
BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die altestamentische Wissenschaft
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CBQMS Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Monograph Series
CTA Corpus des tablettes en cunéiformes alphabétiques
CurTM Currents in Theology and Mission
EvT Evangelische Theolgie
ExpTim Expository Times
FOTL The Forms of the Old Testament Literature
HAR Hebrew Annual Review
HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology
HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs
HTR Harvard Theological Review
HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual
IBS Irish Biblical Studies
ICC International Critical Commentary
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JBQ Jewish Bible Quarterly
JR Journal of Religion
JSPSup Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Supplement Series
JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series
JSS Journal of Jewish Studies
JSSR Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
KAT Kommentar zum Alten Testament
LAI Library of Ancient Israel
LBI Library of Biblical Interpretation
NCBC New Century Biblical Commentary
NEB New English Bible
NIBC New International Bible Commentary
NJPS New Jewish Publication Society Version
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
viii AMOS AND THE COSMIC IMAGINATION
OBO Orbis biblicus et orientalis
OPTAT Occasional Papers in Translation and Textlinguistics
OTG Old Testament Guides
OTL Old Testament Library
OTS Oudtestamentische Studiën
RB Revue biblique
REB Revised English Bible
Rel Religion
RSV Revised Standard Version
SAAS State Archives of Assyria Studies
SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series
SBLSS Society of Biblical Literature Semeia Studies
SBTS Sources for Biblical and Theological Study
SJLA Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity
SOTSM Society for Old Testament Study Monographs
StudBL Studies in Biblical Literature
SJOT Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament
UF Ugarit Forschungen
VT Vetus Testamentum
VTSup Vetus Testamentum Supplements
WAW Writings from the Ancient World
WBC Word Biblical Commentary
ZAW Zeitschrift für die altestamentische Wissenschaft
ZWT Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie
Transliteration Scheme
This book is intended for academics who know Hebrew but also for students who
may have no familiarity with the language. In view of this, I have chosen to offer
transliterations, being more technical for the consonants than the vowels.
The consonantal scheme outlined here that of the Society of Biblical Literature.
For the most part, pronunciation is relatively straightforward, but in a few cases,
some additional comment is beneficial.
  ) glottal stop – brief breathing pause: not pronounced.
  b b
  g g
  d d
  h h
  w w or v
 zayin z z
  x like ‘ch’ in Scottish ‘loch’
  + t
  y y
  k, K k
  l l
m  m, M m
  n, N n
 samech s s
  ( guttural sound, not pronounced
  p, P p or f
  c, C ts
  q q
  r r
  #& s
  #$ sh
  t t