Gog of Magog: Reuse of Scripture and Compositional Technique in Ezekiel 38-39

357 Pages·2011·1.94 MB·English

by  William A Tooman

Forschungen zum Alten Testament
2.Reihe
Edited by
Bernd Janowski (Tübingen) · Mark S.Smith (New York)
Hermann Spieckermann (Göttingen)
52

William A.Tooman
Gog of Magog
Reuse of Scripture and Compositional
Technique in Ezekiel 38–39
Mohr Siebeck
William A.Tooman,born 1969;2006 PhD Hebrew and Semitic Studies,University of
Wisconsin-Madison;currently Lecturer in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament,University of
St.Andrews,Scotland.
e-ISBN PDF 978-3-16-151752-5
ISBN 978-3-16-150857-8
ISSN 1611-4914 (Forschungen zum Alten Testament,2.Reihe)
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbiblio-
graphie;detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
© 2011 by Mohr Siebeck,Tübingen,Germany.
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reproductions,translations,microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems.
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Printed in Germany.
Preface
This book began life long ago in a year-long graduate class on the Book of
Ezekiel taught by Professor Michael V. Fox at the University of Wiscon-
sin-Madison. It originated as a seminar paper in 2002 and culminated (or
so I thought) in my dissertation in 2006. After wandering other academic
byways for a time, I returned to the subject in 2009 with fresh eyes and
with better empirical models for comparison. With the help of a reduced
teaching load in the last Candlemas term, I was finally able to bring the
project to completion in the Winter of 2010.
I have had the privilege to study with two extraordinary scholars, with-
out whom this project would never have been conceived. Professor John
Sailhamer first introduced me to inner-biblical interpretation. He drew
lines of connection between inner-biblical exegesis, textual criticism, his-
torical criticism, and history of interpretation, apparently without effort,
modeling a breadth and depth of learning that I have rarely seen matched.
Professor Michael V. Fox first introduced me to the book of Ezekiel. His
seminars were a joy and a terror. It was a joy to watch his technical acu-
men and inspired intuition at work. It was a terror to be expected to emu-
late him. He taught me that I could never know my limits until I was will-
ing to exceed them. Both of these scholars took the time to teach me hard
lessons, gifts that a wise son does not scorn.
Thanks are due to Edgewood College, my former institution, for several
travel grants, which allowed me to work out a number of the ideas in this
book, and to the University of St Andrews, which granted me the time to
write it up. Wendy Widder wrestled valiantly with the manuscript, getting
it ready for publication. K. C. Hanson graciously granted permission to
reuse material from my chapter in Transforming Visions: Tranformations
of Text, Tradition, and Theology in Ezekiel (PTMS 124) for which I owe
him thanks. Gratitude is also due to Koninklijke Brill NV for granting
permission to reuse material from: “Between Imitation and Interpretation:
Scriptural Reuse and Compositional Technique in 1QHodayota 11.6–19,”
DSD18/1 (2011): 54–73. I am grateful, finally, to the National Association
of Professors of Hebrew, the Oxford Old Testament Seminar, the Edin-
burgh Biblical Studies Seminar, and the Durham Old Testament Research
VI Preface
Seminar for inviting me to test a few of my ideas on them and for the wise
and perceptive feedback I received from them all.
This book is dedicated to friends from my student days, not so very
long ago: Michael Lyons (Simpson University), Kent Reynolds (Humboldt
Universität zu Berlin), Andy Teeter (Harvard University), and Jake Strom-
berg (Oxford University). We have spent thousands of hours to-gether as
colleagues and friends. A faithful companion on a long road is only to be
hoped for. I have had the blessing of four. Their friendship is without
price. I can only hope that it continues until we all reach the end of the
journey, and we can walk a new and brighter way together.

Fat Tuesday, 2011 William A. Tooman
University of St. Andrews
(cid:2)

Table of Contents

Preface ............................................................................................................. V
Contents ........................................................................................................ VII
Chapter 1: Method and Approach ........................................................... 1
A. The Need for This Study ................................................................................ 1
B. Selecting an Approach ................................................................................. 4
I. Literature .................................................................................................. 4
1. Quotation, Allusion, Echo, and Influence ............................................ 4
2. Post-Structuralism: Intertextuality .................................................... 10
II. Text Linguistics: Intertextuality ............................................................. 12
III. New Testament Studies: Use of the OT in the NT ............................... 14
IV. Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Literature ..................................... 17
1. Inner-Biblical Interpretation: Fishbane ............................................. 17
2. Reuse of Scripture in Second Temple Literature .............................. 17
V. Midrash ................................................................................................. 21
C. Recognizing Scriptural Reuse .................................................................... 23
I. What Is a Scriptural Text? ...................................................................... 24
II. Identifying Scriptural Reuse .................................................................. 26
1. Uniqueness ......................................................................................... 27
2. Distinctiveness .................................................................................. 27
3. Multiplicity ........................................................................................ 28
4. Thematic Correspondence ................................................................. 29
5. Inversion ............................................................................................. 30
III. Determining Direction of Dependence ................................................ 31
1. Volume of Use ................................................................................... 32
2. Modification ....................................................................................... 32
3. Integration ......................................................................................... 33
4. Conceptual Dependence .................................................................... 33
5. Known Scribal Practices of Reuse ..................................................... 34
D. Design of This Study ................................................................................... 34
VIII Table of Contents
Chapter 2. The Reuse of Ezekiel in the Gog Oracles ....................... 38
A. Similarities between the Gog Oracles and Ezekiel .................................... 39
I. Ezekielian Locutions .............................................................................. 39
1. Formulaic Language........................................................................... 40
2. Unique and Distinctive Language ...................................................... 41
a. Unique Language .......................................................................... 41
b. Distinctive Language ..................................................................... 45
II. Reuse of Ezekielian Locutions in GO: Graphic Depiction ................... 52
III. Reuse of Ezekiel’s Compositional Style ............................................... 61
B. Differences between the Gog Oracles and Ezekiel .................................... 65
I. Unique Vocabulary Choices ................................................................... 65
II. Unique Uses of Ezekielian Locutions .................................................... 68
III. Conclusion ........................................................................................... 72
C. Supporting Evidence That the Gog Oracles Were Added to Ezekiel .......... 72
I. The Restoration Community in the Gog Oracles .................................... 73
II. Interruption between Ezekiel 37.24–28 and Ezekiel 40–48 ................... 75
III. Evidence from the Versions ................................................................. 77
D. Preliminary Conclusions: The Reuse of Ezekiel in the Gog Oracles ......... 83
Chapter 3. Reuse of the Torah and Prophets in the Gog Oracles ... 85
A. Reuse of Locutions from the Torah ............................................................ 85
Excursus A. On the Meaning of (cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:3)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:3)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:10) in GO ................................... 94
B. Reuse of Locutions from the Prophets ....................................................... 97
C. Scriptural Reuse in the Gog Oracles: Graphic Depiction ........................ 102
D. Conclusions ............................................................................................. 114
Chapter 4. Examining the Reuse: Vorbilder ..................................... 117
A. Ezekiel 28.25–26: “When I Gather the House of Israel . . .” ................... 118
B. Ezekiel 6.1–14: “I Am Bringing a Sword Upon You . . .” ........................ 123
C. Psalm 79.1–4: “The Nations Have Come . . .” ........................................ 130
(cid:2)
Table of Contents IX
D. Conclusions ............................................................................................. 131
Excursus B. Ezekiel’s Oracles against the Nations and GO ..................... 132
Chapter 5. Examining the Reuse: The Individual Pericopae ......... 134
A. The Structure of the Gog Oracles ............................................................ 134
B. Scriptural Reuse in the Individual Pericopae ........................................... 137
I. Ezekiel 38.1–6: “I am Against You, O Gog . . .” .................................. 137
1. “Gog” and “Magog” ........................................................................ 139
Excursus C. Gog the Locust King in LXX-Amos 7.1 ........................ 143
2. Gog’s Allies ................................................................................... 147
3. The Descriptions of Gog and His Host ........................................... 151
4. The “Far Reaches of the North” ..................................................... 153
II. Ezekiel 38.7–16: “You Will Devise an Evil Scheme . . .” ................... 153
III. Ezekiel 38.18–23: “There Will Be a Great Shaking . . .” ................... 162
IV. Ezekiel 39.1–8: “I Will Give You to the Birds of Prey . . .” .............. 169
Excursus D. The Foe from the North in Isaiah 14 and Jeremiah 6 ........... 176
V. Ezekiel 39.9–16: “They Will Plunder Those Who Plundered
Them . . .” ............................................................................................ 176
Excursus E: The “Travelers” in MT-Ezekiel 39.11–16 ............................ 184
VI. Ezekiel 39.17–20: “Assemble, Come to the Sacrificial Feast . . .” .... 185
VII. Ezekiel 39.21–29: “I Will Display My Glory . . .” ........................... 188
C. Conclusions .............................................................................................. 195
Chapter 6. Methods, Effects, and Motives ........................................ 198
A. Methods of Scriptural Reuse .................................................................... 199
I. Compositional Methods: Recombination as Design ............................ 199
1. The Design of GO ............................................................................ 199
2. Texts with Similar Design ............................................................... 200
a. 1 Enoch 14.8–25 .......................................................................... 201
b. Temple Scroll (11QT) 59.2–13a ................................................ 209
c. Hodayot (1QHa) 11.6–19 ............................................................ 213
d. Conclusions ................................................................................ 223
II. Exegetical and Rhetorical Methods: Recombination as
Interpretation ........................................................................................ 224
1. Appropriation ................................................................................... 231
2. Conflation ......................................................................................... 232
a. Complementary Conflation ......................................................... 232