Dissertation by Albert McClure
Immortal Combat: Iconoclasm and the Hebrew Bible, 2020
Biblical iconoclasm is any biblical text that describes the disruption of religious observances b... more Biblical iconoclasm is any biblical text that describes the disruption of religious observances by physical violence against cult materials. This can include removing cult objects from their appointed places, god- napping divine bodies, outright destruction, cult reform, etc. Biblical iconoclasm, understood this way, is one component of the Hebrew Bible’s iconic politics. Other components of biblical iconic politics – like Idol Parodies, Bildersverbot, and aniconism – have been well studied in the past thirty years. Biblical iconoclasm has not shared the popularity of its collaborators in this respect. This dissertation is necessary because no extended study of iconoclasm in the Hebrew Bible has yet been completed; even though iconoclasm is present throughout this corpus. This dissertation, about biblical iconoclasm, begins to fill that gap. The questions that will guide my work on biblical iconoclasm are: What is the literary contribution of biblical iconoclasm to the final form of the HB? Does biblical iconoclasm have a specific literary purpose in the HB? If so, what is it?
To summarize my conclusions, biblical iconoclasm appears in a wide range of biblical texts and is used for various literary purposes within the iconic politics of these scrolls. It appears in various genres and sub-genres, is enacted by a host of characters, and occurs as a major plot point or a minor event, and everywhere in-between. Yet, while there are a variety of usages for the hundred-plus biblical iconoclasms, the majority of the instances of biblical iconoclasm attack Yahweh’s divine rivals. These attacks are not all the same, and in this dissertation I explain how these attacks work within the iconic politics of a number of HB texts.
What is the overall, literary impact of biblical iconoclasm? Biblical iconoclasm is a form of iconic politics that can be used to champion Yahweh as the victorious, or supreme, deity of the HB, among other purposes. In this dissertation, then, I will provide a close-reading (i.e., synchronic criticism) of a selection of biblical iconoclasm texts to demonstrate how biblical iconoclasms are used to attack Yahweh’s divine rivals. Thus, I will demonstrate both the dominant, literary purpose of biblical iconoclasms and some of its variety. This form of presentation, I hope, will provide the reader with a meaningful sample of biblical iconoclasm as a whole.
Articles by Albert McClure
Men in the Bible and Related Literature: In the Grip of Specific Males, pp. 109-130, Jan 4, 2015
The character Elisha, as opposed to his predecessor Elijah (e.g., 1 Kgs 18:16-46), often avoids d... more The character Elisha, as opposed to his predecessor Elijah (e.g., 1 Kgs 18:16-46), often avoids direct confrontation with his adversaries. He may, however, be classified as a trickster (see, e.g., Niditch, Underdogs and Tricksters). In 2 Kings (6:8-7:20; 8:7-15; 13:14-21) Elisha uses tricks in his interactions with other characters in order to achieve his and Yahweh’s purposes. In 2 Kgs 6:8-23, Elisha tricks the Aramean army into following him into Samaria where they have no option but to surrender. In 2 Kgs 7:3, Elisha pronounces a cryptic judgment against the king of Israel’s official, a judgment that is ultimately fulfilled in the official’s death (7:17-20). In 2 Kgs 8:7-15, Elisha trick Hazael into fulfilling the pronouncement of Yahweh; that he would replace Ben Ḥadad as king of Aram. Finally, in 2 Kgs 13:14-21, Elisha doesn’t explain the significance of the symbolic acts he requested Joash perform (13:14-18). Instead, he allows Joash’s actions to predict his ultimate inability to defeat the Arameans once and for all (13:19). The implications of Elisha as a trickster, aside from those wedded to Sitz im Leben, point to the social location of Elisha’s character—peripheral—and to his ultimate inability to totally control the narratives in which he is a part of.
Job of Uz: The Suffering of the Righteous and the Justice of God, eds. M. Caspi and John T. Greene, Sep 2012
Conference Presentations by Albert McClure
ASOR Annual Meeting, 2020
The second half of Exodus (chs. 19-40) focuses on the (im)proper manufacture of cult objects at S... more The second half of Exodus (chs. 19-40) focuses on the (im)proper manufacture of cult objects at Sinai. The text provides divine instructions about the Tabernacle and its accoutrement as well as a description of these instructions’ fulfillment. Scholars (e.g., Haran, Hurowitz, and M. George) have discussed a number of ways that temple-building rituals (e.g., the placement of foundation deposits) and the ancient Near Eastern narratives that describe these rituals (e.g., Esarhaddon's inscriptions) correlate and differ from Exodus 19-40. Sandwiched between the instructions for building the Tabernacle and the account of their fulfillment, we find Exodus 32, a story about improper icon-making and iconoclasm. When we compare the manufacture of the Calf by Aaron with the magnificent and specific construction of the Tabernacle, the “iconic politics” (cf., Levtow, Images of Others, 2008) of Exodus 32 becomes evident. Ritual texts about the manufacture of divine bodies (or icons) like the mis pi as well as records of temple building are useful conversation partners to demonstrate exactly how Exodus 32’s Calf is an inanimate, impotent deity; the Calf lacks the proper ritualized construction. In addition, Moses’ iconoclasm in Ex. 32:19 has often been compared with evidence about the destruction of ritualized covenants (e.g., between Elam and Neo-Assyria) while his destruction of the Calf has been related to a so-called pan-Near Eastern rituals to destroy cult objects. I will argue, however, that Moses’ iconoclasm against the Calf is related to food processing and animal sacrifice in Exodus.
SBL Annual Meeting, 2021
First Samuel 15:28 and 16:12 can be read as Yhwh giving the kingdom to Saul, and then, David beca... more First Samuel 15:28 and 16:12 can be read as Yhwh giving the kingdom to Saul, and then, David because of their appearances. Using New Literary criticism (cf. D. Gunn, The Fate of King Saul) and Queer Theory (cf. H. Eilberg-Schwartz, God’s Phallus; S. Moore, God’s Gym) we can read the initial choice of Saul, and then David, to be Israel’s leader as the result of an all-male, all-Israel beauty contest. Reading Saul’s selection in 1 Sam 9 along with other biblical beauty contests (e.g., 1 Kgs 1:1-4; Esther 2) normalizes this notion as well as highlights the heterosexual and patriarchal nature of other biblical beauty contests. These women, Abishag and Esther, get to marry kings. Samuel’s beauty contest, on the other hand, seeks to find a man to sit on Yahweh’s throne. Saul is selected first. He stands out because he is larger and more handsome than the others. David’s choice in 1 Sam 16 is not so much about size. Instead, David’s skin color, his eyes, and his beauty are unparalleled, even for Saul. But, unlike other modern pageants, Mister Israel plays its pageantry out in martial combat. Between Saul trying to dress David up in his costume to kill a giant and David slicing Saul's fancy robe, this beauty contest for Israel's throne has all the intrigue of a modern beauty pageant. And, like M. McMichael’s (Miss America's God, 2019) discussion of how the Miss American Pageant leads to personal, religious discovery, both Saul and David stumble their way through relationship with Yahweh-the-judge during this bout. The final straw in this back-and-forth takes place when Saul's beautiful body is killed and mutilated; a grotesque, dismembered body is not beautiful. David maintains his beautiful physique and gets to keep the throne, until his libido runs out. And, since both men’s successes as leaders are tied to divine help (e.g., 1 Sam 11:6; 16:13), and not some innate prowess, this particular take on Israelite kingship undercuts classic scholarly discussions about why Yhwh chose Saul, then David. Perhaps, in the end, Yhwh just picked the most beautiful Israelite male he could find?
Rocky Mountain / Great Plain Regional AAR/SBL Meeting, 2019
Systematic, biblical iconoclasm begins with the work of Dtr-N scribes in Deut 7:5 and influences ... more Systematic, biblical iconoclasm begins with the work of Dtr-N scribes in Deut 7:5 and influences both legal and narrative texts through subsequent scribal activity. Initially, this scribal iconoclasm developed between Deut 7 and Deuteronomy 12. The issue at stake was how to handle illicit cult items; recycle or destroy? Around this same period, Deuteronomistic iconoclasm came to influence the Deuteronomistic History (DtrH), expanding some already-iconoclastic texts in DtrH and elsewhere. Later in the Persian Period, when post-Dtr/P scribes sought to create the Hexateuch and Pentateuch, scribal iconoclasm spread into various legal texts adjudicating conquest/settlement and supporting iconoclasm with the Decalogue. The iconoclasm of Exo 23:24, Exo 34:13, Lev 26:30, Num 33:52, and Judges 2:2 are the result of this development. During the creation of the Hexateuch and Pentateuch, iconoclasm in Exo 32:20 began to influence texts in DtrH, for example 2 Kgs 18:4b. The scribes responsible for Dtr iconoclasm are to be located in the Persian Period, working around the time of Ezra’s marriage reforms. Two historical issues provide the best reasons for the creation of scribal iconoclasm in Persian Period II. First, starting in the Persian Period II (ca. 455 BCE), Jerusalem ascended politically and new sites in Yehud and Samaria began to be (re)populated. Second, scribal iconoclasm is probably related to the intermarriage issue. Wholesale divorce of “foreign” wives and abandonment of children is idealistic. Scribal iconoclasm provides a more practical solution: the destruction of all illicit cult materials and cult places. These two conclusions are apt because biblical iconoclasm in the legal corpus appears alongside warnings about mixing with local populations, a practical result of new settlements, as well as intermarriage and the apostasy it could cause.
SBL Annual Meeting, 2021
Iconoclasm and the Hebrew Bible Draft 2 (4/13/2021) How is iconoclasm, a historical reality in th... more Iconoclasm and the Hebrew Bible Draft 2 (4/13/2021) How is iconoclasm, a historical reality in the ancient Near East (cf. N. May, Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond), reflected in biblical literature? And, how is so-called biblical aniconism and Yahweh's sovereignty, promoted in certain biblical texts (e.g., Deut 4 and Deut 12), further enforced in other parts of the Hebrew Bible via iconoclasm? In this presentation I will discuss how iconoclasm appears in a wide range of biblical texts and is used for various literary purposes within these scrolls. It appears in various genres, is enacted by a host of characters, and occurs as a major plot point or a minor event. To engage this topic I utilize an interdisciplinary method that features scholarship from Art History (e.g., D. Freedberg, The Power of Images; Z. Bahrani, Rituals of War), ancient Near Eastern religions (e.g., M. Dick, Born in Heaven, Made on Earth; B. Porter, "Noseless in Nimrud"), and new literary criticism (e.g., R. Polzin, Samuel and the Deuteronomists) to both theorize and analyze biblical iconoclasms. The result of this research is a comprehensive analysis of the literary features of biblical iconoclasm and a theoretical framework for understanding these texts within their ancient Near Eastern and biblical contexts. Biblical iconoclasm, I conclude, is any biblical text that describes the disruption of religious observances by physical violence against cult materials. This can include removing cult objects from their appointed places, god-napping divine bodies, outright destruction, cult reform, etc. Understood this way, biblical iconoclasm is one component of the Hebrew Bible's iconic politics (cf. N. Levtow, Images of Others, 2008). Yet, while there are a variety of usages for the hundred-plus biblical iconoclasms, the majority of the instances of biblical iconoclasm have a specific function related to Yahweh's sovereignty.
ASOR Annual Meeting, 2018
Post-mortem mutilation is not about killing, and therefore, must hold other
significances. A numb... more Post-mortem mutilation is not about killing, and therefore, must hold other
significances. A number of scholars (Lemos 2006; Richardson 2007; Stavrakapoulou 2010; Pace 2015) have recently treated post-mortem mutilation in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East, dealing with numerous aspects of this practice. Even more recently, two scholars have focused on a particular form of post-mortem mutilation, decapitation (Olyan 2016; Dolce 2018). In this essay we will examine decapitation narratives in the Scroll of Samuel (1/5:3-5; 1/17:41-54; 1/31:8-13; 2/4:1-12; 2/20:1-22) as well as Mesopotamian sources in order to provide a number of options for the meanings of this practice from a diachronic perspective. We will look at monumental art, legal texts, and prose in order to demonstrate both the ubiquity of this theme and the way that authors-artists used this trope for multiple purposes. Additionally, by tracking decapitation into various chronological and geographical locations we may gain a sense of the ways this practice developed as it relates to imperialism and ethnicity. Further, viewing this practice from both the perspective of those who allied with the mutilated corpse and those who did not may provide further nuance. And, finally, broadening our discussion from decapitation to violence in general, we may begin to see how both the
artistic and physical enactment of violence became a kind of language in itself in the ancient Near East.
SBL Annual Meeting, 2016
The idea of multiplicity represented by a so-called tribal confederacy, though discarded as ahist... more The idea of multiplicity represented by a so-called tribal confederacy, though discarded as ahistorical by many historical critics nowadays, may provide the biblical scholar interested in African-American hermeneutics some leverage to discuss polythetic meanings in early (i.e., pre-exilic) Israelite traditions. That is, whatever ancient Israel was, it was many things all at once. Thus, one way of re-imagining (and probably historicizing) the biblical traditions is to interpret the biblical text polythetically. Drawing on the call for both polyphonic (see Green 2004; Newsom 2007) and polytheistic (see Jobling 1999) interpretations of the Samuel and Saul narratives, I will present a polyphonic -- a Bakhtinian theory of narrative wherein divergent ideas and characters are allowed to develop unevenly throughout the story -- and polytheistic -- keying in on the usage of both Yahweh and Elohim in the text -- reading of 1 Samuel 8-16. The result of my interpretations creates more torn robes than finished garments. Why is Samuel working for both Yahweh and Elohim? Does Samuel even know the difference between the two? Whether Samuel does or not, does Saul? Do Yahweh and Elohim know that Samuel is aiding the other deity? Are these two deities one? To whom does Saul owe his allegiance? And while this confusion rages, what are we to make of the Israelite people as they struggle to free themselves, however unsuccessfully (see Gunn 1980), from the raw deal (i.e., Mosaic covenant) they struck with Yahweh in the desert. One outcome of this reading, reading the Israelites as a polyphonic, mixed-up, often oppressed, and always-desperate folk living in a foreign land, is to understand the Israelite's demand for a king as an attempt to re-imagine themselves. Thus, while Judge Samuel and his sons represent old-Israel, the new king that the elders ask for engenders hope for a new-Israel. Though the narrator portrays Saul as a failure, Saul nevertheless succeeds in giving Israel a new image of itself: servant to the people, fighting to the death, paranoid, starving for powerful allies, and resistant to Yahweh's schemes for regaining power. In sum, while the biblical narrator, and thus most of her interpreters, may have decided that Saul is a tragic hero who fails, a polythetic reading of 1 Samuel 8-16 allows us an alternative.
SBL Annual Meeting, 2016
Literature from the ancient Near East often describes war, death, mourning, and burial. In additi... more Literature from the ancient Near East often describes war, death, mourning, and burial. In addition, but less often, ancient authors portray post-mortem mutilation. From the narratives in the Deuteronomistic History (e.g., Jezebel’s body being devoured by wild dogs in Jerusalem), to the cosmological creation by Marduk from Tiamat’s body in Babylon, to Motu’s flaying at the hands of Anatu in Ugarit, to Osiris’ death, mutilation, and revivification by Isis, texts describing post-mortem mutilation are found in many ancient near Eastern cultures. The accounts of post-mortem mutilation in question are varied, and so form a topic of interest in and of themselves. How did different authors and their communities think about and describe the mutilation of a corpse? What can this tell us about these cultures’ relationship to bodies, death, and ritual practices? By moving through and past these descriptions of post-mortem mutilation we breech the topic of meaning (or meaning-making). Questions about the mythic usages, narrative functions, and rhetoric purposes of post-mortem mutilation arise. What can these sources tell us about the idea of post-mortem mutilation in the first millennium BCE? While Lemos (2006) and Stravrakopoulou (2010) have discussed mutilation, neither has focused on post-mortem mutilation as a way for communities to express their relationship to war, death, and bodies. Thus, along with shedding new light on ancient ideas about post-mortem mutilation in the context of war, and utilizing the work of Lowell Handy (1994) and Catherine Bell (2009), I will provide methodological suggestions for a historiography of mythic material that pertains to death and burial practices.
International SBL Meeting, 2014
See similar abstract from Annihilation and the Prophetic Books (International Society of Biblical... more See similar abstract from Annihilation and the Prophetic Books (International Society of Biblical Literature 2014).
SBL Annual Meeting, 2014
The topics of healing and disability have become useful categories of investigation for scholars ... more The topics of healing and disability have become useful categories of investigation for scholars of ancient Jewish literature (e.g., Hogan [1992], Avalos [1995], and Abrams [1998]). The Qumran texts, too, have lent themselves to studying disability in Second Temple Judaisms (see especially Dorman [2007]). Yet, no scholar has specifically discussed the meaning(s) of the exclusions of persons with disabilities by the Qumran community, nor why a person with a disability, seeking healing, might join a community with such strict regulations concerning persons with disabilities. What, then, does the exclusion of disabled persons produce, on the one hand, for the Qumran community and, on the other hand, for the disabled persons who are part of that community? Following this line of reasoning we may think of the Qumran community as a social body focused on producing certain things through their religious laws. My thesis is that exclusion of persons with disabilities at Qumran produces (1) divine presence and authority for the sectarians, and (2) healing for the disabled sectarians. First, I will demonstrate how exclusion of sectarians with disabilities produces purity that allows for divine presence, atonement of sins, and revelation at Qumran. Secondly, and utilizing insights from John Pilch (2000), I will explain how the exclusion of persons with disabilities fosters healing for sectarians with disabilities by explaining how the sectarians: (A) provide ‘personal and social meaning’ for persons with disabilities, (B) effect behavioral transformation that mirrors a particular society’s conception of health, and (C) offer a ‘new or renewed’ reason to live for those with disabilities.
"Stating that many, if not most, of the book of the Hebrew prophets have a general thematic struc... more "Stating that many, if not most, of the book of the Hebrew prophets have a general thematic structure that moves from judgment toward salvation is nothing new. This paper will focus on a more precise type of prophetic literature: annihilation. In this project I am not reviving an old category that has been neglected in recent scholarship, but instead, I am suggesting a new one. Some of these texts have been grouped together before, but never have all of them been considered part of a similar prophetic phenomenon. Texts about annihilation do not conform to a specific genre. They have been associated with eschatological and apocalyptic literature by some scholars, which have in turn led to the assignment of a later date for these texts by some. I argue that these texts are connected by similar terms and phrases. These phrases include: “all the earth,” “all the land,” “all the inhabitants of the earth/land,” and the noun “annihilation” (kālâ). In addition references to destroying “humanity” (’ādām) are also included. To put it more bluntly, annihilation texts are characterized by their description and/or threat of annihilation of all of creation, to all living creatures, or to humanity in general. For this essay my concern is not with the putative date of each text, but with their content.
Annihilation texts can be further subdivided into two types: (1) annihilation of all creation, and (2) annihilation of all living things. The difference between category one and category two is that ‘all creation’ includes a destruction of things such as “the heavens,” “the earth/land,” or “the sun, moon, and stars,” while category two includes humans, land animals, and sea creatures. It is important to create such subcategories because both types constitute an end of human history, and thus, an end of the relationship between humanity and Yahweh. Annihilation is distinguished from genocide in that genocide would constitute the annihilation of a specific people group (e.g., Edomites or “the wicked”), something we find in the Oracles against the Nations genre (e.g., Amos 1:1-2:16). According to these parameters, then, there are twelve annihilation texts in the Hebrew prophets: Isa. 10:23, Isa. 13:2-13, Isa. 24:17-23, Isa. 28:22, Isa. 34:1-4, Jer. 4:23-26, Jer. 25:28-33, Amos 7:4-6, Zeph. 1:2-3, Zeph. 1:17-18, and Zephaniah 3:8. The first category, annihilation of all creation, includes: Isa. 13:2-13, Isa. 24:17-23, Isa. 34:1-4, Jer. 4:23-27, Zeph. 1:2-3 and Zephaniah 1:17-18. The second category, annihilation of all living creatures, includes: Isa. 10:23, Isa. 28:22, Jer. 25:28-33, Amos 7:4-6, and Zeph. 3:8. While it would be fascinating to work from a text-critical and redaction-critical perspective to try and determine the morphology of the idea of annihilation in the Hebrew Prophets over time, it is not the purpose of this paper to construct a history of the idea of annihilation in the theology of the Hebrew Bible or in the prophetic literature, nor to explicate all these texts and make an argument for the category of annihilation that this first task would entail. I admit that this category is inchoate and unproven. The category of ‘annihilation texts,’ then, is at best in this paper a heuristic device. The first argument of this paper, keeping in mind these limitations, is to test out the idea of annihilation texts as a typology in the prophetic literature.
The second argument of this paper is that annihilation texts are always interrupted, in a number of ways, in the final form of the Masoretic Text. My major concern in this regard is to provide evidence for this thesis in each putative annihilation text that I have identified. These interruptions, according to the discourse analysis of Goldberg, are not power-grabbing attempts to overwrite and overrule the annihilation texts, but are complementary interruptions. Nevertheless, these interruptions mitigate the threat of total annihilation in annihilation texts. This is not unexpected because the prophetic literature tends to end each book, and many times each section or chapter, with a hopeful message to the reader. These interruptions can be interpreted in two senses: first, the interruptions clarify the messages of destruction, and, second, the interruptions annul the force of total annihilation. What we will see in one instance, Zeph. 1:2-2:3, is that while the annihilation text is interrupted, the possibility of total annihilation remains on the table. No other interruption of an annihilation text that I have identified leaves open the possibility of total annihilation as does Zephaniah 1:2-2:3.
The general thesis of this paper is that annihilation texts in the Hebrew Prophets are interrupted, either internally (e.g., Zeph. 1:2-2:3) or externally (e.g., Isa. 10:23), in order to negate threats of annihilation. Thus, it is not the concern of this paper to make source-critical assessments of these texts, but simply to demonstrate how annihilation is averted when its threat crops up in the Hebrew prophets. "
Post-mortem mutilation is not about killing, and therefore, must hold other significances in 1 Sa... more Post-mortem mutilation is not about killing, and therefore, must hold other significances in 1 Samuel. Two scholars (Lemos [2006] and Stavrakapoulou [2010]) have recently treated post-mortem mutilation in the Hebrew Bible dealing with numerous aspects of this practice. The current essay aligns more with the latter scholar’s method, focusing on what I call an ‘intellectual history,’ specifically an examination of what texts that include one form of post-mortem mutilation, decapitation, may signify in 1 Samuel. Instead of attending to gruesome visions, in this essay we will examine three decapitation narratives in 1 Samuel (5:3-5; 17:41-54; 31:8-13), reading these stories in light of other instances of death, mutilation, and burial in the Hebrew Bible. My thesis is that mutilation and burial practice are used symbolically to convey Yhwh’s sovereignty as the King. In these texts those who oppose Yhwh find themselves mutilated and unburied. Fittingly, this symbolism is first utilized in 1 Sam 5:3-5 against Yhwh’s first supernatural adversary in 1 Samuel, Dagon, a technique we can understand as setting decapitation first and foremost in the realm of divine action, and not human whim. The use of decapitation to determine kingship coheres with recent work on kingship in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Hamilton [2005]) and in Mesopotamia (e.g., Vanderhooft [1999] and Chapman [2004]). My conclusions suggests that, like other peoples who wrote about their kings and his power (e.g., Assurbanipal), the authors of the Hebrew Bible utilized rhetorical conventions to communicate what a proper king did to his enemies: he mutilated their bodies and left them unburied.
The speaker and genre of Job 28 have been hotly debated in the past few decades. In this debate t... more The speaker and genre of Job 28 have been hotly debated in the past few decades. In this debate the question of genre is often tied to an identification of the speaker in chapter 28. Yet, in a synchronic reading of the book of Job, ignoring the conventions by which the narrator introduces each speaker (e.g., Job 4:1) leads to the possibility that there are an infinite number of unidentified voices and/or that at any point the words assigned to one speaker may belong to another speaker. Accordingly, describing Job 28 as an interlude given by an unidentified voice (Newsom 1996) or assigning chapter 28 to Job’s interlocutors (Clines 1989; 2003) should be rejected in a synchronic reading because these reading practices inevitably destabilize our ability to identify who is speaking at any point in the text. In contrast, there remains a contingent of scholars who assign Job 28 to Job (Good 1990; van der Lugt 1995; Whybray 1998; Lo 2003). Following their lead, we should search for ways to understand Job 28 that square with what Job has articulated in the previous chapters. I will make a proposal for just such a reading arguing that: (1) Job 28 reflects the experiential wisdom Job has gleaned about God described in chapters 1-27; (2) Job 28:28 is not an echo of traditional wisdom, but instead an admission of terror. The ironic use of wisdom material has already been noted as characteristic of Job’s speeches (e.g., Job 3) and chapter 28 is but another instance of this style; (3) read in the light of Job’s terror of and frustration with God, chapter 28 can be understood as Job’s description of the way God hoards wisdom as if it were a precious treasure (28:1-11), keeping it from humankind.
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Dissertation by Albert McClure
To summarize my conclusions, biblical iconoclasm appears in a wide range of biblical texts and is used for various literary purposes within the iconic politics of these scrolls. It appears in various genres and sub-genres, is enacted by a host of characters, and occurs as a major plot point or a minor event, and everywhere in-between. Yet, while there are a variety of usages for the hundred-plus biblical iconoclasms, the majority of the instances of biblical iconoclasm attack Yahweh’s divine rivals. These attacks are not all the same, and in this dissertation I explain how these attacks work within the iconic politics of a number of HB texts.
What is the overall, literary impact of biblical iconoclasm? Biblical iconoclasm is a form of iconic politics that can be used to champion Yahweh as the victorious, or supreme, deity of the HB, among other purposes. In this dissertation, then, I will provide a close-reading (i.e., synchronic criticism) of a selection of biblical iconoclasm texts to demonstrate how biblical iconoclasms are used to attack Yahweh’s divine rivals. Thus, I will demonstrate both the dominant, literary purpose of biblical iconoclasms and some of its variety. This form of presentation, I hope, will provide the reader with a meaningful sample of biblical iconoclasm as a whole.
Articles by Albert McClure
Conference Presentations by Albert McClure
significances. A number of scholars (Lemos 2006; Richardson 2007; Stavrakapoulou 2010; Pace 2015) have recently treated post-mortem mutilation in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East, dealing with numerous aspects of this practice. Even more recently, two scholars have focused on a particular form of post-mortem mutilation, decapitation (Olyan 2016; Dolce 2018). In this essay we will examine decapitation narratives in the Scroll of Samuel (1/5:3-5; 1/17:41-54; 1/31:8-13; 2/4:1-12; 2/20:1-22) as well as Mesopotamian sources in order to provide a number of options for the meanings of this practice from a diachronic perspective. We will look at monumental art, legal texts, and prose in order to demonstrate both the ubiquity of this theme and the way that authors-artists used this trope for multiple purposes. Additionally, by tracking decapitation into various chronological and geographical locations we may gain a sense of the ways this practice developed as it relates to imperialism and ethnicity. Further, viewing this practice from both the perspective of those who allied with the mutilated corpse and those who did not may provide further nuance. And, finally, broadening our discussion from decapitation to violence in general, we may begin to see how both the
artistic and physical enactment of violence became a kind of language in itself in the ancient Near East.
Annihilation texts can be further subdivided into two types: (1) annihilation of all creation, and (2) annihilation of all living things. The difference between category one and category two is that ‘all creation’ includes a destruction of things such as “the heavens,” “the earth/land,” or “the sun, moon, and stars,” while category two includes humans, land animals, and sea creatures. It is important to create such subcategories because both types constitute an end of human history, and thus, an end of the relationship between humanity and Yahweh. Annihilation is distinguished from genocide in that genocide would constitute the annihilation of a specific people group (e.g., Edomites or “the wicked”), something we find in the Oracles against the Nations genre (e.g., Amos 1:1-2:16). According to these parameters, then, there are twelve annihilation texts in the Hebrew prophets: Isa. 10:23, Isa. 13:2-13, Isa. 24:17-23, Isa. 28:22, Isa. 34:1-4, Jer. 4:23-26, Jer. 25:28-33, Amos 7:4-6, Zeph. 1:2-3, Zeph. 1:17-18, and Zephaniah 3:8. The first category, annihilation of all creation, includes: Isa. 13:2-13, Isa. 24:17-23, Isa. 34:1-4, Jer. 4:23-27, Zeph. 1:2-3 and Zephaniah 1:17-18. The second category, annihilation of all living creatures, includes: Isa. 10:23, Isa. 28:22, Jer. 25:28-33, Amos 7:4-6, and Zeph. 3:8. While it would be fascinating to work from a text-critical and redaction-critical perspective to try and determine the morphology of the idea of annihilation in the Hebrew Prophets over time, it is not the purpose of this paper to construct a history of the idea of annihilation in the theology of the Hebrew Bible or in the prophetic literature, nor to explicate all these texts and make an argument for the category of annihilation that this first task would entail. I admit that this category is inchoate and unproven. The category of ‘annihilation texts,’ then, is at best in this paper a heuristic device. The first argument of this paper, keeping in mind these limitations, is to test out the idea of annihilation texts as a typology in the prophetic literature.
The second argument of this paper is that annihilation texts are always interrupted, in a number of ways, in the final form of the Masoretic Text. My major concern in this regard is to provide evidence for this thesis in each putative annihilation text that I have identified. These interruptions, according to the discourse analysis of Goldberg, are not power-grabbing attempts to overwrite and overrule the annihilation texts, but are complementary interruptions. Nevertheless, these interruptions mitigate the threat of total annihilation in annihilation texts. This is not unexpected because the prophetic literature tends to end each book, and many times each section or chapter, with a hopeful message to the reader. These interruptions can be interpreted in two senses: first, the interruptions clarify the messages of destruction, and, second, the interruptions annul the force of total annihilation. What we will see in one instance, Zeph. 1:2-2:3, is that while the annihilation text is interrupted, the possibility of total annihilation remains on the table. No other interruption of an annihilation text that I have identified leaves open the possibility of total annihilation as does Zephaniah 1:2-2:3.
The general thesis of this paper is that annihilation texts in the Hebrew Prophets are interrupted, either internally (e.g., Zeph. 1:2-2:3) or externally (e.g., Isa. 10:23), in order to negate threats of annihilation. Thus, it is not the concern of this paper to make source-critical assessments of these texts, but simply to demonstrate how annihilation is averted when its threat crops up in the Hebrew prophets. "
To summarize my conclusions, biblical iconoclasm appears in a wide range of biblical texts and is used for various literary purposes within the iconic politics of these scrolls. It appears in various genres and sub-genres, is enacted by a host of characters, and occurs as a major plot point or a minor event, and everywhere in-between. Yet, while there are a variety of usages for the hundred-plus biblical iconoclasms, the majority of the instances of biblical iconoclasm attack Yahweh’s divine rivals. These attacks are not all the same, and in this dissertation I explain how these attacks work within the iconic politics of a number of HB texts.
What is the overall, literary impact of biblical iconoclasm? Biblical iconoclasm is a form of iconic politics that can be used to champion Yahweh as the victorious, or supreme, deity of the HB, among other purposes. In this dissertation, then, I will provide a close-reading (i.e., synchronic criticism) of a selection of biblical iconoclasm texts to demonstrate how biblical iconoclasms are used to attack Yahweh’s divine rivals. Thus, I will demonstrate both the dominant, literary purpose of biblical iconoclasms and some of its variety. This form of presentation, I hope, will provide the reader with a meaningful sample of biblical iconoclasm as a whole.
significances. A number of scholars (Lemos 2006; Richardson 2007; Stavrakapoulou 2010; Pace 2015) have recently treated post-mortem mutilation in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East, dealing with numerous aspects of this practice. Even more recently, two scholars have focused on a particular form of post-mortem mutilation, decapitation (Olyan 2016; Dolce 2018). In this essay we will examine decapitation narratives in the Scroll of Samuel (1/5:3-5; 1/17:41-54; 1/31:8-13; 2/4:1-12; 2/20:1-22) as well as Mesopotamian sources in order to provide a number of options for the meanings of this practice from a diachronic perspective. We will look at monumental art, legal texts, and prose in order to demonstrate both the ubiquity of this theme and the way that authors-artists used this trope for multiple purposes. Additionally, by tracking decapitation into various chronological and geographical locations we may gain a sense of the ways this practice developed as it relates to imperialism and ethnicity. Further, viewing this practice from both the perspective of those who allied with the mutilated corpse and those who did not may provide further nuance. And, finally, broadening our discussion from decapitation to violence in general, we may begin to see how both the
artistic and physical enactment of violence became a kind of language in itself in the ancient Near East.
Annihilation texts can be further subdivided into two types: (1) annihilation of all creation, and (2) annihilation of all living things. The difference between category one and category two is that ‘all creation’ includes a destruction of things such as “the heavens,” “the earth/land,” or “the sun, moon, and stars,” while category two includes humans, land animals, and sea creatures. It is important to create such subcategories because both types constitute an end of human history, and thus, an end of the relationship between humanity and Yahweh. Annihilation is distinguished from genocide in that genocide would constitute the annihilation of a specific people group (e.g., Edomites or “the wicked”), something we find in the Oracles against the Nations genre (e.g., Amos 1:1-2:16). According to these parameters, then, there are twelve annihilation texts in the Hebrew prophets: Isa. 10:23, Isa. 13:2-13, Isa. 24:17-23, Isa. 28:22, Isa. 34:1-4, Jer. 4:23-26, Jer. 25:28-33, Amos 7:4-6, Zeph. 1:2-3, Zeph. 1:17-18, and Zephaniah 3:8. The first category, annihilation of all creation, includes: Isa. 13:2-13, Isa. 24:17-23, Isa. 34:1-4, Jer. 4:23-27, Zeph. 1:2-3 and Zephaniah 1:17-18. The second category, annihilation of all living creatures, includes: Isa. 10:23, Isa. 28:22, Jer. 25:28-33, Amos 7:4-6, and Zeph. 3:8. While it would be fascinating to work from a text-critical and redaction-critical perspective to try and determine the morphology of the idea of annihilation in the Hebrew Prophets over time, it is not the purpose of this paper to construct a history of the idea of annihilation in the theology of the Hebrew Bible or in the prophetic literature, nor to explicate all these texts and make an argument for the category of annihilation that this first task would entail. I admit that this category is inchoate and unproven. The category of ‘annihilation texts,’ then, is at best in this paper a heuristic device. The first argument of this paper, keeping in mind these limitations, is to test out the idea of annihilation texts as a typology in the prophetic literature.
The second argument of this paper is that annihilation texts are always interrupted, in a number of ways, in the final form of the Masoretic Text. My major concern in this regard is to provide evidence for this thesis in each putative annihilation text that I have identified. These interruptions, according to the discourse analysis of Goldberg, are not power-grabbing attempts to overwrite and overrule the annihilation texts, but are complementary interruptions. Nevertheless, these interruptions mitigate the threat of total annihilation in annihilation texts. This is not unexpected because the prophetic literature tends to end each book, and many times each section or chapter, with a hopeful message to the reader. These interruptions can be interpreted in two senses: first, the interruptions clarify the messages of destruction, and, second, the interruptions annul the force of total annihilation. What we will see in one instance, Zeph. 1:2-2:3, is that while the annihilation text is interrupted, the possibility of total annihilation remains on the table. No other interruption of an annihilation text that I have identified leaves open the possibility of total annihilation as does Zephaniah 1:2-2:3.
The general thesis of this paper is that annihilation texts in the Hebrew Prophets are interrupted, either internally (e.g., Zeph. 1:2-2:3) or externally (e.g., Isa. 10:23), in order to negate threats of annihilation. Thus, it is not the concern of this paper to make source-critical assessments of these texts, but simply to demonstrate how annihilation is averted when its threat crops up in the Hebrew prophets. "