Publisher's Synopsis
According to a common ancient Near Eastern belief, misfortune resulted when irate gods, angered by human offense, ordained doom for individuals or nations. But divine decrees of doom were not always viewed as irrevocable. As we see in texts from the ancient Near East, including the Hebrew Bible, the gods often gave advance notice of disastrous decrees via omens or, in some biblical stories, through YHWH's own speech. Such warnings allowed humanity a chance to respond. Frequently, the response was intercession. Numerous ritual texts from the ancient Near East and narratives in the Hebrew Bible depict humans interceding with the divine realm to ward off foretold doom on behalf of the gods' intended targets. In this study, M.W. Broida concentrates on the direct discourse in apotropaic intercession by humans. These human utterances appear as oral rites in apotropaic intercessory rituals, or as quoted speech in biblical stories depicting apotropaic intercession. The ritual texts, in general, portray strategies thought to originate with the gods, use magical utterances as well as persuasion, and dispose of impurity as well as (or instead of) pleading the client's case. In contrast, the biblical narratives depict intercessors in impassioned conversation with the divine, protesting YHWH's injustice. These differences derive in part from genre (ritual texts vs. narratives) but also from different underlying theologies. The gods of the Neo-Assyrian and Hittite texts work with the intercessors to accomplish the necessary procedures, often magical in nature. YHWH, in contrast, typically rewards those who skillfully oppose his decisions using ordinary human speech.
