192 read (initial l amad) or in place of (initial 6ē; p. 142); the form in Ezek 7:7 is the noun s : epraya young goat (so vocalized in the Mosul print) and not a substantive s : apraya from the adjective morning (pp. 180 1); read INGESTION instead of INGENSTION (p. 184). Mushayabasa has given us new insights into the analysis of an ancient translation of the Hebrew Bible by applying a new method, frame semantics. His engaging analysis is a treat to read and deserves serious reflection by anyone interested in lexicography or translation. I highly recommend this stimulating volume. doi:10.1093/jts/flv166 Advance Access publication 2 March 2016 JEROME A. LUND Kviteseid, Norway lund.jerome@gmail.com Reading Prophetic Books: Form, Intertextuality, and Reception in Prophetic and Post-Biblical Literature. By MARVIN A. SWEENEY. Pp. xvi þ 408. (Forschungen zum Alten Testament, 89.) Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014. ISBN 978 3 16 152374 8. E134. THIS volume follows on from Marvin Sweeney s Form and Intertextuality in Prophetic and Apocalyptic Books (2005) and further demonstrates his extensive contribution to the shaping and application of form- and literary-critical methodologies and of intertextuality in the Hebrew Bible. Although 21 of the chapters have been published elsewhere, the book includes four new or previously unpublished essays (including a lengthy introductory chapter), and overs the reader a convenient collection of Sweeney s work across a variety of texts and topics. Although organized according to the biblical or post-biblical text in question, the volume also betrays Sweeney s ongoing interests in the influence of Josiah s reform on prophetic material, structural analyses of synchronically viewed texts, and demonstrating coherence and integrity within biblical books or units, particularly among the Minor Prophets. The new introductory chapter, far from being a cursory account of the contents, overs a very helpful overview of the reading of prophetic texts and the ways in which the relevant methods and approaches have changed since the late nineteenth century. Especially useful for the reader is Sweeney s explanation ß The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
193 of the path form criticism has taken since Gunkel, which includes a clear, useful depiction of contemporary versions of the method. Sweeney notes that form criticism has not forsaken diachronic exegesis, but has evolved into a comprehensive synchronic and diachronic literary method for reading biblical texts as a whole (p. 1). Sweeney also wisely cautions the reader not to assume that textual versions are no more than translations, but to view them as literary and scriptural compositions in their own right (p. 5), a position he embodies at various points in the volume. The Introduction, then, is well worth careful reading before approaching both the new and previously published material, since it not only orients the reader to developments in the field(s) at large, but also facilitates familiarity with Sweeney s use of various terms, which may diver slightly from other studies. The first part comprises the single essay from 2008 from which the book received its name, which addresses the major thematic interest of the volume with a discussion of the final forms and distinctive perspectives of each of the books of the Latter Prophets (p. 13). In particular, the chapter demonstrates the role of the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and examines the main literary and theological concerns of each. Sweeney concludes that much of the prophetic material stems from an attempt to deal with the theological crises of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the Babylonian exile, the results of which have shaped Judaism to this day. The second part of the volume contains six essays concerning Isaiah, mostly representing Sweeney s work on the book in the 1980s and 1990s. Sweeney s interest in intertextual method as defined in the Introduction immediately comes to the fore, with four chapters examining Isaiah s relationship with earlier texts. These include the allusions to, and citation of, prophetic texts in Isaiah 24 7, as well as the reflection of Isa. 11:1 12:5 on earlier Isaian material. An essay on The Reconceptualization of the Davidic Covenant in Isaiah considers the reworking of the Davidic promises in Deutero-Isaiah and pairs well with the essay of the near-identical name discussing the same phenomenon in Jeremiah. The remaining chapters in this section over a formal and philological examination of Isa. 8:16 9:6 to reveal the prophet s call to accept suvering under the Assyrian invasion to ensure the return of the northern kingdom and Davidic dynasty, and an analysis of the influence of Josiah s legacy on the concepts of religious reform and national restoration in Isaiah 40 55.
194 The third part of the volume, focusing on the Book of Jeremiah, overs two previously unpublished essays. The only other essay in this section is a 2007 study of the response to Isaiah s understanding of the reign of a new Davidic monarch in Jeremiah 23. DiVering Perspectives in the LXX and MT Versions of Jeremiah 1 10 is the first of two previously unpublished papers in this section. MT Jeremiah 1 10 separates 1 6 from 7 10, with the evect that a distinction is made between Jeremiah s calls for repentance to Israel and Judah, on the one hand, and Jerusalem and the Temple on the other. LXX Jeremiah 1 10 presents a combination (albeit in a shorter form than MT), highlighting the connection between Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem. Based in part on this observation, Sweeney argues that while LXX Jeremish 1 10 sees the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple as the endpoint of a process that started with Israel in 722 721 and continued with Judah in 597 586, MT Jeremiah 1 10 views the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple as a singular event. Ultimately, Sweeney concludes on the basis of this evidence that the general consensus that LXX Jeremiah is the earlier form of the book still stands (p. 153), but that both continued to develop independently. Although Sweeney s findings are not ground-breaking, since they largely support the current consensus, they are nonetheless impressively detailed and have a refreshing emphasis on variant literary editions, rather than focusing purely on textual priority. The second new chapter, The Reconceptualization of the Davidic Covenant in the Books of Jeremiah, assesses the divering views on the re-establishment of the Davidic monarchy in MT Jeremiah 33 and LXX Jeremiah 40 (MT 33 ¼ LXX 40). While a lengthy oracle in MT Jeremiah 33 reinterprets the Davidic covenant and envisages a process in which the city of Jerusalem, the Levitical priesthood, and the people themselves will serve as the heirs of the Davidic promise until such time as the monarchy can be restored (p. 181), the shorter text of LXX Jeremiah 40 only speaks generally of restoration of Jerusalem and Judah. Sweeney notes that the MT plus Jer. 33:14 26 was intended to clarify some of the ambiguities surrounding the time frame and process of the restoration of the Davidic monarchy and sees this discrepancy between the versions as the product of debate within the Jeremiah tradition. Four essays on Ezekiel make up Part IV, the earliest of which is from 2006, giving a snapshot of Sweeney s contemporary work
195 on this complex prophet and his book. The studies in this section range from an examination of how Ezekiel s opening vision reinterpreted Isaiah to discuss the exile to a discussion of the use of mythological language in the oracles concerning Tyre (Ezek. 26 8). A particular theme of this section is Ezekiel s intertextual relationships, particularly with regard to Isaiah and the Josian reform. Form and Coherence in Ezekiel s Temple Vision (Ezekiel 40 48) is the last of the previously unpublished chapters in the volume. Sweeney demonstrates that the literary coherence of Ezekiel 40 8 has long been debated, and that proponents of its compositional integrity still represent the minority view. As one might expect, Sweeney argues for the text s internal coherence, and asserts that it is not incompatible with the rest of Ezekiel (p. 250). In particular, he suggests that earlier scholars arguing for the text s coherence lacked a coherent methodology for assessing the formal linguistic structure of the Temple vision (p. 234), a problem the chapter rectifies; that the importance of the diverences in the roles of the Levites and Zadokites have been overstated, i.e. that Jon Levenson s correlation between Mt Sinai and Mt Zion can demonstrate an important parallel; and that the role of the naśî is not necessarily a reflection of the early Persian period. In support of this position, the chapter overs a detailed analysis of the synchronic literary structure of Ezekiel 40 8, concluding on both literary and conceptual grounds that there is little evidence in these chapters that would justify denying its composition to the Zadokite priest and visionary prophet Ezekiel (p. 250). The fifth part of the volume overs six chapters on the Minor Prophets, with a focus on Amos, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, and Zephaniah. Sweeney s interest in formal literary analyses comes to the fore, with four of the chapters employing these methods to argue for the coherence and integrity of the books in question. Finally, the sixth section considers post-biblical literature in four essays. Two on the Temple Scroll use intertextual arguments to demonstrate the Temple Scroll s reworking of the process of counting the Sefirah and the Torah of the King (Deut. 17:14 20) respectively. The remaining essays explore the conceptions of diverent biblical texts, namely the status of Ezekiel as scripture in the work of R. Hananiah ben Hezekiah and Targum Jonathan s take on Zechariah 3. This volume presents precisely what one would expect from Sweeney detailed arguments, careful conclusions, and an evident dedication to both the literary and form-critical methods
196 he employs and the texts to which they are applied and that is precisely the reason for its success. The chapters hang together well and the volume as a whole is easy to use. Although the remit of the book by no means encompassed revising the earlier material, certain chapters would have benefitted greatly from slight tweaking for the present context. A key example of this is The Reconceptualization of the Davidic Covenant in the Books of Jeremiah. Apparently, although it was prepared for a Festschrift in honour of Edgar W. Conrad, it was regrettably lost prior to publication by its editors (p. 14). Despite having not been published elsewhere, though, the chapter retains its homage to Professor Conrad and mentions of the Festschrift, which makes for a slightly odd reading experience out of context. However, this is very minor issue in an otherwise magnificent volume and would in any case prove diycult to address without reworking the studies in question. In sum, fans of Sweeney s work will delight in the volume s convenience, arrangement, and new material, whilst newcomers will benefit from the helpful overview of Sweeney s immense contribution to the field, with material spanning more than three decades. doi:10.1093/jts/flv157 Advance Access publication 24 February 2016 PENELOPE BARTER University of St Andrews pb242@st-andrews.ac.uk I Lifted My Eyes and Saw : Reading Dream and Vision Reports in the Hebrew Bible. Edited by ELIZABETH R. HAYES and LENA-SOFIA TIEMEYER. Pp. xviii þ 253. (Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies, 584.) London and New York: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2014. ISBN 978 0 56760 566 5 and 56765 539 4. Hardback 70; e-book n.p. THIS collection of essays on dream and vision reports is a welcome addition to the relatively scarce scholarship focusing on the topic, despite the fact that, at the outset, the title is misleading. First, the collection focuses almost entirely on visions and not dreams (except for chapters by Camilla von Heijne and Rodney A. Werline) and second, it ranges beyond the Hebrew Bible to include essays on the Book of Revelation (Sheree Lear), Pseudo- Ezekiel (Anja Klein), and Targum Jonathan of Ezekiel (William ß The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com