Deutero-Isaiah’s Aniconic Logic: Divine Ontology in the Templeless Age Open Access

Abstract

This project examines the logic of DI’s anti-idol rhetoric as represented in the image-fabrication

parodies (Isa 40:18-20; 41:6-7; 44:9-20; 46:1-2, 5-7). It examines the assumptions about divine

embodiment and representation that render the idea of a manufactured divine image absurd.

Deutero-Isaiah’s contention with divine images is not that they suggest an embodied god.

Instead, the problem with these divine images is that they allow illegitimate agents to use

illegitimate material to represent the divine body. In the Mesopotamian mīs pî ritual, human

ritualists animate an image constructed from wood or metal. By contrast, Deutero-Isaiah insists

that Yahweh alone is image-maker, and only the people of Israel function as his divine images.

Deutero-Isaiah’s apparently aniconic stance thus coexists with a belief that Yahweh is embodied

in Israel just as the gods of Mesopotamia are embodied in their images of wood or metal. As a

result, Israelites scattered among the nations in the templeless age extend divine essence in the

same way that a manufactured cult image extends the essence of the deity it represents.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1. Introduction

1. What’s So Ridiculous about Divine Images?

2. The Quest for Aniconism’s Rationale

3. Methodological Presuppositions

4. Plan of Study

Chapter 2. Varieties of Anti-Idol Rhetoric in Deutero-Isaiah

1. Image-Fabrication Parodies

1.1 Idol, Icon, or Image?

1.2 Fabrication

1.3 Parody

1.4 Redactional History

2. Disputation Speeches

3. Polemics against Foreign Gods

4. Conclusion

Chapter 3. Divine Ontology in Deutero-Isaiah

1. Aniconic Rhetoric as Negative Theology

2. Purposeful and Unpurposeful Movement

2.1 The Purposeful Movement of Yahweh

2.2 The Unpurposeful Movement of Images

3. True and False Knowledge

3.1 Yahweh Remembers, Understands, and Foretells

3.2 The Partial (or False) Knowledge of Humans

3.3 Images’ Ignorance, Ephemerality, and Muteness

4. Conclusion

Chapter 4. Cult Image and Deity in the Mesopotamian Mīs pî

 Ritual

1. Introduction to Mīs pî

2. Philosophies of Representation in the Ancient Near East

2.1 Is Ontology an Appropriate Analytic Category for the Ancient World?

2.2 Imitation vs. Repetition

2.3 Cult Image as Extension of Deity

Chapter 5. Ridicule, Reversal, or Reappropriation? Mīs pî and Deutero-Isaiah’s Logic of Aniconism

1. What Does DI know about Mīs pî?

2. Ridicule, Reversal, or Reappropriation?

3. Deutero-Isaiah’s Reappropriation of Mīs pî

3.1 Yahweh as Image-Maker

3.1.1 Metallurgy

3.1.2 Manufacture

3.1.3 Stabilization

3.1.4 Transportation

3.1.5 Horticulture

3.1.6 General

3.2 Israel as Image

3.2.1 Captivity

3.2.2 Blindness and Deafness

3.2.3 Arboreal and Gemological Imagery

3.2.3 Mouth Opening

4. Addressing Counterarguments

4.1 Why Isn’t DI More Explicit?

4.2 Does Poetry Argue?

4.2 Is DI Anti-Anthropomorphic?

5. Conclusion

Chapter 6. Yahweh’s Divine Images in the Templeless Age

1. The Metaphysical Crisis of 587 BCE

1.1 Yahweh Before and After

1.2 From “Exile” to “Templeless Age”

1.3 Biblical Coping Strategies

2. DI’s Image Theology

2.1 Shifting Conceptions of Yahweh

2.1.1 Yahweh is Mobile

2.1.2 Yahweh is Multiply Embodied

2.1.3 Diminished Role of the Temple

2.2 Israel as Extension of Yahweh

2.2.1 Divinization and Divine Fluidity

2.2.1.1 Gradations of Divinity

2.2.1.2 Porous Selves

2.2.2 Purposeful Movement

2.2.3 Knowledge Possession

3. Conclusion

Chapter 7: Conclusion

1. Deutero-Isaiah’s Aniconic Logic

2. Begründung and Eklärung Revisited

3. The Rhetoric of Ridicule as Negative Theology

Appendix

Bibliography

About this Dissertation

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Religion
Subfield / Discipline	Hebrew Bible
Degree	Ph.D.
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Religion, Biblical Studies History, Ancient Literature, Comparative
Keyword	Idolatry Deutero-Isaiah Divine Ontology
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Joel LeMon, Emory University
Committee Members	Joel Kemp, Emory University Ryan Bonfiglio, Emory University Roger Nam, Emory University

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