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Ausgabe: | 1991 |
Spalte: | 174-176 |
Kategorie: | Altes Testament |
Autor/Hrsg.: | Berge, Kåre |
Titel/Untertitel: | Die Zeit des Jahwisten 1991 |
Rezensent: | Rose, Martin |
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173
Theologische Literaturzeitung 116. Jahrgang 1991 Nr. 3
174
Princcton Patrick D. Miller
uPon so frequently in hymns and prayers. The sun god is the illumina- This fine study in Near Eastern theology is intended as background
tor of the darkness and the lord of righteousness. The movement of the to the investigation of an Old Testament motif. It Stands on its own,
sun as that is described in the Shamash Hymn and in various iconogra- however, as a fundamental study of the sun god theology in its particu-
Phic representations is laid out in detail because it is that movement lar manifestations. The reader is enabled to see in detail the ways that
that integrates the cosmic and the social. The place of the sun's going theology develops in different religio-cultural spheres but also can
forth belongs simultaneously to heaven and earth, and thus the discem the continuities that run through the different Systems. Inte-
movement is from the sphere of darkness and death and the under- gration of visual and written sources is one of the strengths of the work.
world to the world of creation and life. The equation of darkness and It can hardly be ignored by anyone looking at Shamash/Utu or
death and light and life is essential to the worship of Shamash. The Amun-Re or the way in which such important theological topics as
Prayers and incantations to Shamash/Utu have at their center the righteousness, life, and salvation are dealt with in ancient Near
confidence of the one praying that he or she may experience delive- Eastern thought. The distinction between Near Eastern mythology
rance from the sphere of death, in whatever shape that now threatens, and Old Testament theology, which often seems operative in Old
through the morning epiphany of the sun god. That epiphany is also Testament study, properly disappears here. Janowski is aware that
the time when the sun god judges the powers of evil and chaos and one is dealing in both cases with a mythopoetic worldview, but his
vindicates the powers of righteousness and light. In the cosmic event of presentation makes one aware of its theological dimensions. Anticipa-
the sun's course, therefore, the natural and social order is regularly ting the second volume, one wonders how the solar elements that are
established each moming. Those in distress or threatened by the wie- so prominent in this volume will be carried over into a study of the
ked can expect that the light will bring deliverance from the threat of motif of God's help in the morning as it appears in Yahwism. The
chaos and vindicationof the right. recent work of H.-P. Stähli (Solare Elemente im Jahweglauben des
Janowski includes a brief treatment of the role of the sun god in Alten Testaments) and Mark Smith (The Early History of God) as well
Hittite religion, which is similar to the place of Shamash, as well as the as the unpublished Yale dissertation of J. G. Taylor ("Solar Worship
m°re minimal data from Ugarit, the primary evidence there being in the Bible and its World", 1989 [unavailable to the reviewer]) have
•icantation texts where Mesopotamian influence seems clear. served to lift up solar aspects of Yahwism. From yet another direction,
The second major section of the book is a detailed and complex Janowski seems to be reinforcing that particular thread in the
study of the role of the sun god in Egyptian religion. Janowski Sketches make-up of Yahweh.
the theological development that climaxes in the personal piety of the
Kingdom but reaches back to much earlier times, for example, in
the Instruction of Merikare in the First Intermediate Period. A direct
relationship to God develops out of the sense of isolation of the indi vi-
ual m the world and the consequent anxiety about life. There is a Altes Testament
reciprocal personal turning of human beings to the deity and a gra-
c'ous turning of the deity to human beings that is at the heart of this _ „ .. . , . . , c. D . ^ .
pietVQ„. , ' , . , ., ^ . ... .. , Berge, Kare: Die Zeit des Jahwisten. Ein Beitrag zur Datierung
ty and seen. for example, ,n the vot.ve stelas at Deir el Medinah. jahwistischer Vätertexte. Berlin-New York: de Gruyter 1990. XI,
cleity is depicted as heanng, helping, protecting, and dehvenng 329 s gr g. = Beiheft zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wis-
ose who are in particular situations of need - illness, threat of dange- senschaft, 186. Lw. DM 148,-.
r°us animals, poverty, hunger, judicial jeopardy, and the like.
"elying again on both literary and iconographic data, Janowski Es ist eine zweischneidige Sache, wenn man eine Rezension schrei-
describes first the traditional sun theology of the Heliopolitan Re- ben soll, die einen „Streit" betrifft, an dem man selbst beteiligt ist und
arachte, centering in the movement of the sun, whose epiphany in dazu noch auf der „anderen Seite" steht. Noch schwerer allerdings ist
morning is the defeat of darkness; from there the author moves to die Aufgabe, die sich der Autor gestellt hat, schon allein, wenn man an
eTheban Amun-Re theology found in the sun hymns of the Rames- die „technische" Seite der Literaturbewältigung denkt; denn eine
side period depicting the sun god now as acting on the horizon of möglichst umfassende Erhebung und Diskussion der Literatur erwar-
Uman existence as one who saves and judges in the life of the indivi- tet man ja immer noch vom Genre einer Dissertation. In dieser Hin-
ual and is directly accessible in prayer without the mediation of sieht war die Situation des Autors alles andere als beneidenswert:
ternple cuit or kingship Gerade als er seine Untersuchungen der Theologischen Fakultät der
In a summarizing conclusion, Janowski lifts up „Gerechtigkeit" Universität Oslo vorlegte, erschien die Arbeit von E. Blum zur „Kom-
and „Leben" as the main funetions of the sun god who appears in the position der Vätergeschichte" (1984); kaum hatte er sein Manuskript
m°rning to save and judge. These funetions are not separate and they für die Übersetzung und Drucklegung fertiggestellt, wurde M. Kök-
take Place in the cosmic-natural and the historical-social spheres. To kert, „Vätergott und Väterverheißungen" (1988), zugänglich (s. S. 19,
e extent that the king represents the sun god in his political-social Anm. 44) - und man könnte fortfahren: Im selben Jahr (1990), als
äctiv ity he brings to reality the essence and effectiveness of the deity. seine Monographie schließlich in der Reihe BZAW erscheint, bringt
e conquest of the boundaries of death is the ultimate achievement die Reihe OBO die Arbeit von Th. Römer, „Israels Väter", eine Gen-
the sun god in both Mesopotamia and Egypt. fer Dissertation von 1988, auf den Markt (man könnte auch noch den
At the conclusion of the book, Janowski gives an antieipatory look von A. de Pury herausgegebenen Sammelband „Le Pentateuque en
ead to the Contents of the second volume, indicating his affinities question", 1989, nennen, der noch weitere Beiträge zu den „Vätertex-
w'th J. w. McKay's arguments against a cult-oriented interpretation ten" enthält).
^ the help of God in the morning. He intends to explore particularly Die Versuchung ist somit überaus groß, aus dem Vergleich heraus
e Polarity of light and darkness and the help of God in the morning Maßstäbe anzulegen, die für die vorliegende Arbeit im Grunde nicht
sthese are related to the work of Yahweh. The two primary spheres angemessen sind. Ausgangspunkt sollte vielmehr die Fragestellung
Edition or conceptual complexes to be explored are the Jerusalem des Autors sein: was hat ihn „intrigiert", sich auf diese Untersuchung
cu't tradition and the individual psalms of lament. The larger einzulassen? Es war die Provokation, die durch die Spätdatierung des
questions at issue are the extent to which the varied genres, lexical „Jahwisten" (H. H. Schmid, 1976) lanciert war. Diese These soll
^ock, and complexes of tradition that have to do with God's help in zurückgewiesen werden; „die Zeit des Jahwisten" soll die Ära des
■ morning can be brought together in somewhole and towhat extent „davidisch-salomonischen Großreiches" sein (bzw. bleiben). Frage
■S ™* motif taken over from ancient Near Eastern traditions and und Antwort sind aus den ersten (V) und letzten (313) Sätzen der
e8rated into Yahwism. Studie leicht zu erheben.