Plowshares & Pruning Hooks: Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic [Paperback]

D. Brent Sandy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 22, 2002

What are we to make of Isaiah's image of Mount Zion as the highest of the mountains, or Zechariah's picture of the Mount of Olives split in two, or Daniel's "beast rising out of the sea" or Revelation's "great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns"? How can Peter claim that on the day of Pentecost the prophecy of Joel was being fulfilled, with signs in heaven and wonders on earth, the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood? The language and imagery of biblical prophecy has been the source of puzzlement for many Christians and a point of dispute for some. How ironic that is! For the prophets and seers were the wordsmiths of their time. They took pains to speak God's word clearly and effectively to their contemporaries. How should we, as citizens of the twenty-first century, understand the imagery of this ancient biblical literature? Are there any clues in the texts themselves, any principles we can apply as we read these important but puzzling biblical texts? D. Brent Sandy carefully considers the language and imagery of prophecy and apocalyptic, how it is used, how it is fulfilled within Scripture, and how we should read it against the horizon of our future. Clearly and engagingly written, Plowshares and Pruning Hooks is the kind of book that gives its readers a new vantage point from which to view the landscape of prophetic and apocalyptic language and imagery.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With every new major turn of events in the Middle East, many Christians scramble for their Bibles and seek to link the prophecies of the past to the events of the present. Brent Sandy has provided for both the average Bible reader and the serious student of Scripture some careful thinking on how to approach these prophetic texts that so intrigue them. Readers will find Plowshares and Pruning Hooks both balanced and challenging. They may not agree on every point, but all of us can appreciate the call for a consistent and careful approach to prophetic texts. This book opens the door for laymen and scholar alike to a serious study of prophetic literature and its value as part of the Word of God." (David R. Plaster, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Grace College and Seminary )

"Sandy's book reflects insights gained over long years of careful research. His investigation of the use of imagery, metaphor and stylized language in connection with prophetic literature provides a much-needed correction and direction to a field that is too often plagued by speculative excesses. His command of the subject is ably demonstrated by his own use of imagery in presenting his observations and evidence of the data. This is not just another book on prophecy. It is a groundbreaking proposal that invites further scrutiny from readers of all persuasions. Geared for a general audience, laymen, pastors and scholars alike will nonetheless profit from its balanced presentation. It will need to be consulted by any serious reader of the Scriptures." (Richard D. Patterson, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Liberty University )

"Timely, engaging, probing, carefully researched and faithful to the biblical text, Plowshares and Pruning Hooks will be helpful reading for students, biblical scholars, theologians and pastors alike. Not all questions are answered, but the right questions are raised. While not satisfying all of his readers, Sandy offers considerable guidance for the beginning student and provides fresh insights for the seasoned scholar. This comprehensive exploration of the language of prophecy and apocalyptic will prove to be valuable for many." (David S. Dockery, President, Union University )

"Luther is reported to have said that the prophets have a 'strange way of talking.' Anyone who has read Isaiah or Daniel closely knows the truth of these words. Brent Sandy helps us to engage the prophets intelligently and avoid sensationalist readings that take us down a road that obscures God's message. I will recommend this book to all my students." (Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry Professor of Old Testament, Westmont College )

"This book represents the fruition of Sandy's many years of careful study and thinking on the commonly misunderstood topic of prophetic language. I have benefited from his insights over the years and am delighted to see his work finally made available to a wider audience. Students of the Bible who have been baffled by the prophetic texts of Scripture and their many interpretations will find great relief and helpful guidance in this book. Sandy's presentation makes excellent use of illustrations from the English language to guide the reader in understanding the language of prophecy. The resulting explanations enable the reader to bypass popular sensationalism and reclaim the biblical prophecies as God's Word." (John H. Walton, Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College Graduate School )

Product Details

• Paperback: 263 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (October 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 083082653X
• ISBN-13: 978-0830826537
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing look at how language works, May 30, 2003

By 

Bradley Hilderbrand (Robinson, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plowshares & Pruning Hooks: Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic (Paperback)

When is an entire sentence a metaphor? How certain can we be about determining what is hyperbolic and what is not? Can we determine how prophecies will be fulfilled by how they have been fulfilled in the past?

Mr. Sandy explores the nature and function of language, and the power of that language in its poetic setting. A must read for any serious student of prophecy, to remind us to be humble in our interpretations of eschatalogical events.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New light on the language of biblical prophecy, December 9, 2009

By 

Carol L. Morrisey (Spring Arbor, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Plowshares & Pruning Hooks: Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic (Paperback)

Plowshares and Pruning Hooks is a book for the serious Bible student, written by a Greek scholar.
It explores the often-mysterious language of Bible prophecy with scholarly depth, but is still
accessible to a lay person. Sometimes controversial and always thought-provoking, this is a
worthwhile study. Disclaimer: I went to college with the author and have a high regard for him.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prophecy is not a time line, but a emotive and metaphorical theological message for an intended response., March 26, 2008

By 

S. Branine "PTown" (Portsmouth, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plowshares & Pruning Hooks: Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic (Paperback)

How can God tell us about himself, things he has done, or things he will do in a way that we can understand? He spoke to prophets using ideas and terminology they would understand. It is not that the things he told them are not true, but there is a mental barrier at which man cannot understand the mind of God. God had to speak to them using their "world", and doing so in such a terminology and manner that it gets the main idea across to the intended recipient. The illustration at the end of the chapter is absolutely perfect. Can the lady give exact details about whitewater rafting to a seventy year old Bedouin? No, the best she can do with the language and cultural barriers is to tell him in word pictures he can understand and in a manner or motion which will add to what she is saying. Are there streets of gold? Maybe, but how else could John have described heaven except in materials he was familiar with? The problem is that we are so nosy for answers; we would get upset (if it were possible) if we got to heaven and the streets were not gold. We would have overlooked the big picture of perfect rest in unity with God to focus on one "wrong" detail about the pavement. There are problems with prophetic language, but the problem is not with God but with our feeble minds that cannot understand him but think they can.
The problem with prophecy lies not in prophecy itself but in the reader. The reader must divest himself into the culture in which the prophecy was written so he can better understand the use of the author's language. It is the same if a native Spanish speaker wants to really understand English; he is not going to only read a dictionary, but he is going to immerse himself into the American culture. However, there are great difficulties once you are inside the culture of the biblical language of prophetic literature. First, prophecy is difficult because much of it is written in poetic language. Poetry employs metaphoric language not a timetable of events; it is like music and is not meant to give us a detailed description of anything. A second difficulty stems from the first, in that prophecy employs figurative language. That would be fine if we knew that all of prophecy was figurative, but the problem is deciphering when the author is meant to be taken at face value. We use figurative language all the time, where the dictionary definition of the words used does not mean what the phrase as a whole in a certain context means. Thirdly, there is a problem in that the language of the prophets is full of emotion. It is like us today speaking in exaggeration for effect; we are not worried about the details but that the recipient understands our urgency or excitement. Hyperbole exists even in the narrative portions of Scripture (Deut 1:10, 28; Judg 20:16), and the author uses it as a means to shock the listener/reader. The focus is not historical accuracy because the author is not concerned with that, but the focus is on getting the attention of the intended recipient in the greatest manner possible.
Another difficulty in prophecy is that there seems to be unmentioned conditions in promised blessings from God. This seems to feed off of the previous difficulties in that the language of blessing can be taken as figurative and emotive. The prophet is trying to get the listener's attention, so they speak in blessing terminology that is full of emotion. The fifth difficulty with this genre of literature is that there are a number of visions given by God to the prophets. These visions have "otherworldly and fantastic" images, but are they meant to be symbolic or do they merely add to the main theme of the whole vision? Also, there is a difficulty in the fact that much of prophecy was both spoken and written. That is a problem because the speaker or author is going to give his message in a way that can be easily remembered. Many times we cannot remember our pastor's message from last week, but we can remember a gripping illustration or story that applied what he said. On top of making their prophecy remembered, the prophets had to be "different" from the number of prophets before him; and so he had to be even more fantastic in his language so his prophecy would stand out from the rest. Also, the prophet had to then write down this prophecy at some point, and in his compilation he might add or subtract things to make it better for reading. The last difficulty with prophecy is the fulfillment aspect. It is difficult to know if a prophecy has been fulfilled, if it is to be fulfilled, or if it has many layers of fulfillment. All seven of these difficulties seem to be centered on one problem, and that is when to take the words at face value.
That problem is the use of metaphors in language. Metaphors cannot be broken down and explained by dictionary definitions. So how do we who are thousands of years removed from the metaphoric language of Scripture understand what their metaphors meant? It is difficult for us even to understand modern metaphors in another language. Our fault in prophecy is that we have been taking metaphoric language and making it narrative so we can affix a normative meaning to that text. We do not like open-ended questions or things we cannot pin down and figure out. Metaphors are prolific in our speech and thoughts, and they do convey truth statements but not based upon taking the words at face value. Metaphors help someone who is trying to communicate something ambiguous, however the metaphor does not aid in making that object less ambiguous. "The Devil is like a roaring lion" is a metaphor (simile) that gives us an ambiguous idea (Devil) and a known object (roaring lion); so even though we still do not know the Devil any better, now we can at least think about what he is like. Unlike the one just given, the metaphor can not have any specific referent but merely aid in a big-picture idea of the passage. It is impossible to think of the prophets using any other language than metaphors to impact the reader with the urgency of the message with such graphic pictures that it will be remembered.
Metaphorical language takes on a whole new difficulty when it is used in reference to divine blessing and judgment. Just as man is limited in how he can describe God, he is limited in how he can describe in full an attribute of God. We have glimpses here and there of God from different angles, but no one passage describes him in full. The same is true of any characteristic of God; we simply cannot fathom in our limited understanding all of God or even all of just one part of God. It is also difficult when the author can write the same phrase but have different meanings for each one, so it is just as important to know how the author is using a phrase as to what the phrase means. The biblical language of judgment parallels that of the aNE in that it uses overwhelming curses that never seem to end and even seem to be self-contradicting.
Apocalyptic literature is a sub-genre under prophecy. Apocalyptic is quite different from prophecy in that the author uses it to take the reader into an imaginary world. It is like going through the wardrobe into Narnia, where good and evil are described as fantastic and graphic images. Things do not seem real in apocalyptic literature. The purpose of this "fairy-land" type imagery being in the canon is to show the reader that God is in control and will be victorious over evil. Since the beings and images are out of this world, it would make sense if it is not to be taken as detailed in prediction. The images do not have corresponding referents so there is no way to know what to expect if it has not yet been fulfilled. There is no point to trying to figure out all of the details of an apocalyptic vision, because they may have been added merely for effect or to aid the listener in remembrance.
The main question with prophecy is when or how will it be fulfilled, but prediction is only a small part of the genre of prophetic literature. The prophets were not giving their hearers/readers a detailed description of the future; however, they were mainly concerned that they make an immediate and appropriate response to their message. By nature, western minds want to know the future so they can feel as though they are somewhat in control of their destiny. But even when predictive prophecy is fulfilled in scripture, it is never in the way one would have expected just by reading the prophecy. So with prediction being a small part of prophecy, and its fulfillment not coming like we thought it would; we should not be reading prophecy making charts for how the future will play itself out. I think God does not want us to do that and that is exactly why he kept predictive prophecy to a minimum and even then it is translucent in its details. The response is not to look for when it will be fulfilled, but to know it will be fulfilled in some way and your response had better be obedience to God.
There are seven key features to "futurespeak" (prophecy and apocalyptic), and they are: poetry, metaphor, hyperbole, urgency, intentionality, immediacy, and orality. These features have been mentioned previously, but they all reflect why the author wrote the way he did. They wrote in such a way that was beautiful wording with many metaphors and emotive language so the hearers would remember it when it was read and respond immediately to the message. It is important to understand the context in which a metaphor is written or else you will not understand what it is there for. So, even though there is no details concerning the manner or time of future dates there are some things are certain. What we do know is there is going to be great manner of horrors and evil judgments and it will be a time of persecution and turmoil like never before; but Jesus is coming back and he has everything under his control and... Read more ›