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The Elusive Prophet: The Prophet As a Historical Person, Literary Character and Anonymous Artist (Oudtestamentische Studien)

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Collected in this volume are papers read at joint meetings on the prophet as historical person or literary character. Fourteen papers representing studies on more general aspects of prophecy in general (Fenton's Israelite Prophecy), specific books (Collins's Threading in Amos), and small units (Dijkstra on Amos 7:9-17 or Spronk on Judges 4:4-5) are collected in this volume. It is difficult to make a generalized assessment with such a diverse group of essays. In general the discussions represent recent movements away from a historical understanding of the text to the position that it is later redacted literature. The prophets as persons are only a weak consideration in these essays. Such persons, if historical, are well hidden behind the literature created about them. When the prophet is considered a historical figure it is mostly because of a unique feature of the text that might be explained as stemming from an original thinker, like the confessions of Jeremiah or Amos's moment of confrontation with Amaziah. Spronk's paper, for example, holds to the authentic placement of Judges 4:4-5 (describing the prophetess Deborah) but deconstructs Deborah from the named wife, judge, and prophetess to an anonymous necromancer working out of the tomb of Rebecca, Deborah's nurse. A number, but not all, support Auld's thesis that Israel's prophets were poets (not prophets) with features, like the title (nab'i) being added later. I found Fenton's article on "Israelite Prophecy..." and Dijkstra's contribution, which concentrates on Amos 7 but expands to address hermeneutical concerns, to be more informative than many of the others. I would consider this to be one of the more disappointing collections to be published in recent times. In general, the articles express the author's presuppositions more than advances on the biblical text.