Reading Prophetic Narratives (review)

Abstract

Book Reviews 141 ofAnthony J. Saldarini, E. Rivkin, S. Mason, 1. Sievers, the (sometimes acrimonious) debate between E. P. Sanders and Jacob Neusner, and the massive survey ofscholarship on the Pharisees by Roland Deines which picks up the story in the year of Geiger's death, Die Pharisiier: Ihr Verstiindnis im Spiegel der christlichen undjiidischen Forschung seit Wellhausen und Graetz, WUNT 101 (Tiibingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1997). Perhaps the most notable recent attempt to represent Jesus as a Pharisee is that by Klaus Berger, "Jesus als Pharisaer und die friihen Christen als Pharisaer," Novum Testamentum 30 (1988): 231-62. However, I do not think that this account would have pleased Geiger. Berger sees a conflict between Jesus and the orthodox Pharisees, which turns on different conceptions ofholiness and purity. Whereas the Pharisees maintained a "defensive" concept ofholiness, which sought to avoid defilement, Berger claims that Jesus practiced an "offensive" concept which conveyed purity in virtue of Jesus' endowment by the Spirit. While the debate goes on, it is clear that the quest of the historical Jesus cannot be separated from the quest of the historical Pharisees. Colin Brown Fuller Theological Seminary Reading Prophetic Narratives, by Uriel Simon, translated from the Hebrew by Lenn 1. Schramm. Indiana Studies in Biblical Literature. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997. 363 pp. $49.95. This volume, a collection ofpolished studies by a master ofhis craft, represents the best of the literary approach to the Bible combined with up-to-date historical-critical scholarship. We can be grateful to Indiana University Press for making these essays available in a handsomely produced and well edited volume. Each of the book's seven chapters focuses on a story about a prophet from the biblical books of Samuel or Kings. All but one have appeared in print previously, but they are here updated, expanded, and newly translated from the Hebrew, so that they fully deserve the change oftitle that they receive. The expanded essays show the fruits of an extended period ofreflection upon the narratives; and they have also been made more readable by the addition of subheadings and tables, the explicit quotation of biblical passages (rather than just verse references), and other helpful touches. Subject and author indices and an extensive index ofrabbinic and biblical citations enhance the value of the volume. The reworked essays, together with their former titles, are: "The Birth of Samuel: Miracle and Vow, Divine Gift and Maternal Consecration" (formerly "The Story of Samuel's Birth: Structure, Genre and Meaning"); "Young Samuel's Call to Prophecy: The Servitor Became a Seer" ("Samuel's Call to Prophecy: Form Criticism with Close Reading"); "Saul at Endor: The Narrative Balance between the Pitiless Prophet and the Compassionate Witch" ("A Balanced Story: The Stem Prophet and the Kind Witch [1 142 SHOFAR Summer 2000 Vol. 18, No.4 Samuel 28:3-25]")-here we might quibble with the retention of the misleading "witch" in the title, as opposed to "medium," which is usually used in the essay itself; "'That Man is You!' A King Sins, a Man Repents, and a Father is Punished" ("The Poor Man's Ewe-Lamb: An Example ofa Juridical Parable"); "A Prophetic Sign Overcomes Those Who Would Defy It: The King ofIsrael, the Prophet from Bethel, and the Man of God from Judah" ("1 Kings 13: A Prophetic Sign-Denial and Persistence"); "Elijah's Fight against Baal Worship: The Prophet's Role in Returning Israel to God" ("Elijah's Fight against Baal Worship: Unity and Structure of the Story [1 Kings 17-18]"). The new contribution in this volume, "Elisha and the Woman of Shunem: The Miracle Worker Needs Guidance from the Beneficiary ofHis Miracle," lives up to the promise ofits predecessors. A short study that serves as the book's appendix treats the functions of"Minor Characters in BiblicalNarrative." It appearedpreviously under that title, and is reproduced with minor additions and revisions. The essays as they now appear are relatively homogeneous in their approach. Each begins with a discussion ofthe literary boundaries ofthe story, which is often connected with questions ofgenre and structure. Typically the treatment ofthese issues is followed by a close reading of the text. To delineate the boundaries of a narrative...