Der Theologische Gebrauch von Ruaḥ im Alten Testament: Ein Wort- und Satzsemantische Studie (review)

Abstract

Hebrew Studies 35 (1994) 130 Reviews in Hebrew, has ever been translated into English or any European language, so that these stimulating and wide-ranging studies are unfortunately still inaccessible to scholars who do not read Hebrew. Reuben Ahroni Ohio State University Columbus. OH 43210 DER THEOLOGISCHE GEBRAUCH VON RUAU 1M ALTEN TESTAMENT: EIN WORT- UND SATZSEMANTISCHE STUDIE. By Manfred Dreytza. Pp. 262. Giessen, Germany: Brunnen Verlag, 1993. Paper, DM49.00. This monograph represents the printed version of Dreytza's 1989 Basel Theology Faculty Dissertation (director, E. Jenni). Approximately the first half consists of what might be termed preliminary matter. In a brief opening chapter Dreytza surveys occurrences of cognates to Hebrew rwl) in other Northwest Semitic languages (Ugaritic, Eblaite, Aramaic, and PhoenicianPunic ). His second chapter focuses on the Hebrew term itself; in it Dreytza points out, for example, that the Old Testament does not preserve personal or place names compounded with rwl) (this may be due to the predominantly negative connotations attaching to the term in its meteorological usage, Le., "wind") and argues that rwl) is an instance of a "primary noun" without (known) verbal derivatives, perhaps of onomatopoeic origin. Next, Oreytza presents a critical review of the major scholarly treatments of the term rwl), beginning with Franz (read Friedrich) Giesebrecht in 1897 and extending down to the monograph of R. Lauha (1983). At the end of this Forschungsbericht, he makes the transition to the core of his own study, a synchronic (as opposed to previous, predominantly diachronically oriented investigations) study of rwl) in its theological uses, informed by the linguistic theories of such authors as J. Lyons, E. Leisi, and W. Richter. Before taking up that examination, however, Dreytza devotes a chapter to a consideration of rwl) as a meteorological term, cataloguing the constructions within which it figures and verbs with which it may be collocated in comparison with other "wind words" of the Wort/eld. Dreytza's treatment of rwl) as a theological term then unfolds in two chapters. In the first of these he discusses the following points: the use of theological rwlJ. as compared with that Hebrew Studies 35 (1994) 131 Reviews of two other divine agents, mlJk and yd (yhwh), rwl} in the construct state, the various sentence patterns in which theological rwlJ. appears, and rwlJ. as an agens, medium and patiens. His second chapter, on the term in its theological meaning, sets out the seven categories of "effects" which the OT attributes to the divine rwlJ.: mighty deeds by humans, operations of power on persons, ecstatic effects, sapiential endowments, prophetic speech, renewing or judging actions, and rwlJ. as a designation for God himself. A short section of conclusions sums up the findings of Dreytza's six chapters. One such overall conclusion is that, when used theologically, rwlJ. designates a "part" of God through which he acts on humans in accomplishing his purposes. Interspersed throughout Dreytza's chapters are a number of excursuses, for example, on the understanding of rwl} Jlhym in Gen 1:2 (Dreytza opts for the rendering "spirit of God") and the problem of the oscillating gender of rwlJ., which is mostly construed as a feminine (particularly in its anthropological and theological uses) but does appear as a masculine with some frequency (mostly in its meteorological uses). There are also a chart exhibiting the results of Dreytza's two chapters on the theological usage of rwl}, a bibliography, and the author's curriculum vitae. Dreytza writes in short, simple sentences that make reading his work much less heavy-going than is often the case with German exegetical tomes. It is helpful to have his survey of previous work on the topic (it might be noted that since the publication of his volume two other German-language monographs of related interest have appeared, Robert Koch, Der Geist Gottes im Alten Testament [Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang, 1991] and Helen Schiingel-Straumann, Ruah bewegt die Welt. Gottes schopferische Lebenskraft in der Krisenzeit des Exits [SBS 151; Stuttgart: KBW, 1992]). Dreytza's attempt to bring diachronic and contemporary linguistic perspectives to bear on the study of a key OT term is certainly to be welcomed and will provide a starting point for future such...