The Inscriptions of Balaam from Deir Allah (8th century BCE) as an Example of the Genre of Eschatological Prophecy maśśāʔ
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Abstract
The Inscriptions or Prophecies of Balaam are among the few archaic written monuments that not only mention biblical characters chronologically but also correlate geographically with the events described in the Old Testament. The concordance of temporal and local factors makes it possible to reconstruct the events of biblical history in relief in a spatial and temporal projection close to reality. The text, inscribed on the plaster of a house destroyed in the eighth century B.C. in modern Jordan, not only contains the name of the prophet Balaam (Num. 22-23), but also presents his eschatological “prophecy” about the end of the world. However, the inscription is problematic both in terms of the possibility of adequate reconstruction (due to damage to the material) and from a linguistic point of view.
The article addresses a number of important issues in the interpretation of the Balaam Inscriptions, namely: a) the question of the relationship between the two parts of the text (known as Combination 1 and Combination 2) is considered from the angle of literary composition, characteristic of the genre of eschatological prophecy maśśāʔ, and their compositional integrity is proved; b) new interpretations of the controversial phrases ירוי.אל. and [.חשב. חשב. וחשב. ח[שב in the broader context of mythological eschatology and in comparison with similar statements from the Book of Isaiah are offered; c) the main differences between polytheistic eschatology and the concepts of ethical monotheism presented in the Old Testament are demonstrated. The material provided in this article will be of interest to those involved in the archaeology of biblical lands, biblical and religious studies, and Western Semitic philology.
How to Cite
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
archaeology of the biblical lands; biblical studies; eschatology; religious studies; West-Semitic epigraphy
Barré M. L. (1997), “The Portrait of Balaam in Numbers 22–24”, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 254–266. https://doi.org/10.1177/002096439605100304
Beyer K. (2011), “The Languages of Transjordan”, in Languages from the World of the Bible, Holger Gzella (ed.), De Gruyter, Berlin and Boston, pp. 111–127. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781934078631.111
Caquot A. et Lemaire A. (1977), “Les textes araméens de Deir ‘Alla”, Syria, Archéologie, Art et histoire, T. 54, Fasc. 3/4, pp. 189–208. https://doi.org/10.3406/syria.1977.6603
Clines D. J. A. (1996), The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Vol. III, Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield.
Cross F. M. (1975), “Ammonite Ostraca From Heshbon: Heshbon Ostraca IV–VIII”, Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS), Vol. 13, Issue 1, pp. 1–20.
del Olmo Lete G., & Sanmartín J. (2015), A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition, (2 vols), Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004288652
Franken H. J. (1960), “The Excavation at Deir ‘Allā in Jordan”, Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 10, Fasc. 4, pp. 386–393. https://doi.org/10.2307/1516333
Franken H. J. (1964), “Excavations at Deir ‘Allā, Season 1964: Preliminary Report”, Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 14, Fasc. 4, pp. 417–422. https://doi.org/10.2307/1516795
Franken H. J. (1965), “Tell Deir Alla”, Revue Biblique, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp. 262–267.
Gabrini G. (1979), “L’iscrizione di Balaam Bar-Beor”, Henoch, Vol. 1, pp. 166–188.
Gibson J. S. L. (1977), Canaanite Myths and Legends, 2nd ed., T&T Clark International, London and New York.
Hackett J. A. (1984), The Balaam Text from Deir ‘Allā, (Harvard Semitic Monographs 31), F. M. Cross (ed.), Scholars Press Chico, California.
Hoftijzer J. (1976), “The Prophet Balaam in a 6th Century Aramaic Inscription”, The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 11–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3209412
Hoftijzer J. and Van der Kooij G. (1976), Aramaic Texts from Deir ‘Alla, Brill, Leiden. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004670327
Huehnergard J. (1991), “Remarks on the Classification of the Northwest Semitic Languages”, in The Balaam Text from Deir Alla Re-Evaluated, Proceedings of the International Symposium, Leiden, August 21–24, 1989, Jacob Hoftijzer and Gerrit van der Kooij (eds), Brill, Leiden, pp. 282–293. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004666351_021
Ibrahim M. M. and Kooij G. van der (1997), “Excavations at Tell Deir Alla, seasons 1987 and 1994”, Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Vol. 41, pp. 95–114.
Kaufmann S. A. (1980), “The Aramaic Texts from Deir ʻAllā”, The Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 239, pp. 71–74. https://doi.org/10.2307/1356762
Knauf E. A. (1985), “Review of The Balaam Text from Deir ʻAllā, by Jo Ann Hackett”, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Veneins, Vol. 101, pp. 187–191.
Levine B. A. (1981), “The Deir ʿAlla Plaster Inscriptions”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 101, No. 2, pp. 195–205. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/601759
Levine B. A. (1986), “The Balaam Text from Deir ʿAllā by Jo Ann Hackett”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 106, No. 2, pp. 364–365. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/601617
McCarter P. Kyle Jr. (1980), “The Balaam Texts from Deir ʿAllā: The First Combination”, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 239, pp. 49–60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1356759
Müller H.-P. (1982), “Die aramäische Inschrift vor Deir ʻAllā und die älteren Bileamsprüche”, Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, Bd. 94, s. 214–244.
Müller H.-P. (1998), “מַשָּׂא”, in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Grand Rapids, р. 23. https://doi.org/10.1515/zatw.1982.94.2.214
Naveh J. (1967), “The Date of the Deir ‘Allā Inscription in Aramaic Script”, Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 256–258.
Pat-El N. and Wilson-Wright A. (2015), “Deir ʿAllā as a Canaanite Dialect: A Vindication of Hackett, in Epigraphy, Philology, and the Hebrew Bible”, in Methodological Perspectives on Philological and Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible in Honor of Jo Ann Hackett, SBL Press, Atlanta, pp. 13–23.
Rendsburg G. A. (1993), “The Dialect of the Deir ‘Alla Inscription”, Bibliotheca Orientalis, Vol. 50, Issue 3–4, pp. 309–330.
Ringgren H. (1977), “Bileam och inskriften från Deir ʻAllā”, Religion och Bibel, Vol. 36, pp. 85–89.
Rofé A. (1979), The Book of Balaam (Numbers 22:2-24:25), Simor, Jerusalem.
Shea W. H. (1989a), “The Inscribed Tablets from Tell Deir ‘Alla. Part I”, Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS), Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 21–37.
Shea W. H. (1989b), “The Inscribed Tablets from Tell Deir ‘Alla. Part II”, Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS), Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 97–119.
Weinfeld M. (1980), “Nevu’oth Bil’am me-De’ir ‘Alla”, Shnaton: An Annual for Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 5–6, pp. 141–147. (In Hebrew).
Weippert M. (1961), “Erwägungen zur Etymologie des Gottes names ʼEl Šadday”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Vol. 111 (n.s. 36), pp. 42–62.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.