Walton, John H. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006. 368 pp. $27.99. Open any hermeneutics textbook, and the reader will certainly encounter a discussion about the difficulty of interpreting Scriptures written in a different culture two or more thousand years removed from his own. The challenges involved in interpreting Scripture, the authors will say, increase the further one is removed from the culture in which the text was originally written. Consequently, it is imperative that the reader do his best to understand that culture and its conceptual world. In Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, John Walton has provided significant help in bridging this gap. Summary Walton organizes his work into five parts in order to communicate various aspects of the conceptual world of the Israelites, and thereby the culture, worldview, and ways of thinking of the authors of the Hebrew Bible. Part one, consisting of chapters one and two, introduces the reader to comparative studies. Chapter one is concerned with outlining some of the basics, particularly ten principles of comparative study (26-27) and four goals for students who undertake this type of background study (28). Chapter two considers comparative studies more closely, discussing resistance to comparative studies, its polemical use, and introducing an integrated role of comparative study that can be utilized in critical analysis, defense of the biblical text, and exegesis of the biblical text. Part two consists only of chapter three, a chapter which surveys the literature of the ancient Near East (hereafter, ANE). Walton provides brief summaries of each text, organizing 1
2 them first according to type of literature and then according to origin. The types of literature discussed are myths, literary texts and epics, ritual texts, divination and incantation texts, letters, royal inscriptions, annals and chronicles, treaties, law collections, legal documents, hymns and prayers, wisdom literature, prophecy, fictional autobiography and apocalyptic, archives, and miscellaneous. With respect to origin, Walton most commonly refers to Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Egyptian, and Ugarit, among others. In part three, consisting of chapter four through six, Walton explores ANE religion. Chapter four surveys the gods, spending the majority of the time on the attributes of the gods, specifically as individuals, in community, in conflict, divine features, and divine attributes. Chapter five discusses temples and rituals. Walton expresses the relationship between the god and his/her temple, between the temple and the cosmos, between the temple and the human world, and between the temple and the rituals. Walton concludes in all of these areas we can see that the actual ritual practices show some degree of commonality across the ancient world, including Israel (134). Chapter six considers the state and family religion. Walton argues since most extant texts originated from palaces and temples, much of what is known about religious practices of the ANE relates to the state religion (135). Walton also speaks of family religion, which is the popular level relationship to the deity that is largely informed by archaeology, though a few texts do speak to this type of religion as well (135-136). Part four, consisting of chapters seven and eight, explores the cosmos. Chapter seven looks at comic geography, which concerns how people envision the shape and structure of the world around them (165).This cosmic geography, according to Walton, plays a significant role in shaping its [a culture s] worldview and offers explanations for the things we observe and experience (165). He suggests as an example that it impacts one s view of the vastness of the
3 universe, understanding of time, and more (165). In chapter eight Walton focuses his attention on cosmology and cosmogony, primarily focusing on a functional ontology as it relates to the creation of the cosmos. To create (Hebrew bara), he argues, is to give something a function or a role within an ordered cosmos (181). Finally, part five consists of chapters nine through fourteen. In these chapters Walton explores people, organizing this section according to three headings: understanding the past (chapters 9-10), which deals with human origins and historiography; encountering the present (chapters 11-13), which considers guidance for life, context of life, and guidelines for life; and pondering the future (chapter 14), which concludes the book appropriately with a discussion on life after death. Critical Evaluation One of the most helpful aspects of Walton s work are the frequent excurses, usually labeled Comparative Exploration. With a work that surveys so many various cultures over a vast period of time on a range of different issues, it is easy to get lost in how any of it speaks to the conceptual world of the Hebrew Bible. More astute scholars or those with a background in this area will more easily make these connections, but as an introduction to the topic, which this book seems to be (he addresses students on page 27), one can easily become lost in the wealth of information that Walton covers. His use of Comparative Exploration excurses are therefore enormously helpful. First, Walton clearly distinguishes these excurses from the text by means of a heading and a darker background text-box. This helps the reader maintain the flow of thought in the chapter, allowing them to encounter these excurses at his leisure. It also helps readers easily seek them out to review a concept and its relation to the Hebrew Bible. Second, the excurses are consistent with the discussion in the text. For example, chapter six discusses the
4 state religion and identifies the needs of the gods, the jobs of the gods, and the whims of the gods. After concluding this survey as it pertains to the state religions of the ANE, Walton then provides a Comparative Exploration on the state religion of Israel (140-142) that uses the same three categories to demonstrate clearly the ways in which Yahweh is similar and different to the gods of other ANE cultures. The same helpful organization is true of the other excurses as well. Another strength is this work s usefulness as a reference tool. It is quite unlikely that most students will memorize the content of the majority of the key works in comparative study. In fact, many students may never read a number of the works that Walton summarizes. Walton s brief summary, then, not only fills in gaps in a student s education, but it also serves as a helpful starting point for further research. If one is writing on ANE myths, then Walton has provided essentially an annotated bibliography. One weakness lies in Walton s failure to elaborate on his view that Israelite narrative is self-consciously truth-telling literature (233) and offers very little to compare on the genre level with other ANE literary epics (232). The points Walton makes in this section are themselves helpful and convincing, yet he fails to demonstrate how this fits with the rest of his argument. For example, Walton supports his argument for the historiographical nature and ultimate historical accuracy of Hebrew narrative by noting that it bears little resemblance to ANE literary epic. If this is true, however, is one meant to be skeptical of the historical accuracy of those texts that do bear striking resemblance to ANE epics, such as Genesis 1-11? Walton has provided the reader with a potential dilemma but does not present a way forward. In fact, the failure to provide a way forward for this particular situation betrays the one glaring omission in the work as a whole, simply that Walton never demonstrates a clear process by which readers can utilize the comparative approach that he lays out in the book. In cases where the Hebrew
5 Bible does not match ANE literature, one is left with little additional help than the one who ignored comparative study altogether. Similarly, a lack of comparison between the texts may lead, as Walton suggests in the discussion highlighted above, that the Hebrew Bible is different precisely because it has a more historiographical concern, but this conclusion once again leaves the reader with little additional aid. On the other hand, the cases where the Bible does match ANE literature and therefore may glean important insights from these parallels, the reader is left with the dilemma mentioned above. Does the literary parallel serve as evidence that the Bible is in this place less historically concerned? Should the ANE text serve as the background to the biblical text or vice versa? If one understands the biblical creation account in light of Enuma Elish, or the flood account in light of Atrahasis or Gilgamesh, how is one to interpret the historical reliability of the Noah narrative? Moreover, how is one meant to identify the genre, purpose, and meaning of the narrative? Despite the excellent work Walton does in identifying these parallels and providing the reader with the important background to the conceptual world of the Hebrew Bible, he does not provide the reader with the methodology to make adequate use of the information. 1 Conclusion Walton s work serves the important two-fold task of reminding readers of the importance of understanding the conceptual world of the Bible as well as providing an introduction to that world. Although its effectiveness is limited by not providing a specific methodology for implementing his conclusions, he nevertheless provides readers with an excellent introduction to the topic. For one who needs an introduction to comparative studies, ANE literature, or the conceptual world of the Hebrew Bible, this work is highly recommended. 1 Walton only briefly addresses the question How does all this change how we read the Old Testament in the excursus on Israelite historiography (234-236).