Isaiah and the deification ritual...

[kryoung1983]

In David B. Bokovoys article 'ye really are gods' he makes an interesting observation on Isaiah ch 6, and its implications for the divne council and the doctrine of exaltation.

"In his story of prophetic commission, Isaiah described the members of God's council as seraphim who praised the "Lord of hosts" seated upon the heavenly throne (Isaiah 6:1-3). Through a purificatory ritual, Isaiah became a member of this heavenly council and therefore responded to God's question, "whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" with the statement, "here am I; send me" (v. .83 In the ancient Near East, mouth-cleansing rituals like the one featured in Isaiah's story held considerable significance. In Mesopotamian ritual prayers, for example, mouth purification symbolized total and complete purity. Biblical scholar Moshe Weinfeld drew attention to the analogy between Isaiah's experience and the mis-pi ritual performed in "An Old Babylonian Prayer of the Divination Priest" first published in 1968 by A. Goetze: "O

[kryoung1983]

In David B. Bokovoys article 'ye really are gods' he makes an interesting observation on Isaiah ch 6, and its implications for the divne council and the doctrine of exaltation.

"In his story of prophetic commission, Isaiah described the members of God's council as seraphim who praised the "Lord of hosts" seated upon the heavenly throne (Isaiah 6:1-3). Through a purificatory ritual, Isaiah became a member of this heavenly council and therefore responded to God's question, "whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" with the statement, "here am I; send me" (v. .83 In the ancient Near East, mouth-cleansing rituals like the one featured in Isaiah's story held considerable significance. In Mesopotamian ritual prayers, for example, mouth purification symbolized total and complete purity. Biblical scholar Moshe Weinfeld drew attention to the analogy between Isaiah's experience and the mis-pi ritual performed in "An Old Babylonian Prayer of the Divination Priest" first published in 1968 by A. Goetze: "O

[Sargon]

A great article on this topic is Dan Peterson's article on Psalm 82 and John 10.

I wonder if there is any connection to John's vision in which he ate a book (Rev 10:8-11).

Bokovoy also pointed out in an article he recently published in a prestigious journal (Harvard Review?) that Amos 3:7 uses the Hebrew word "sod" which is a redflag for divine council imagery. In it we see Amos the prophet participating in the divine council.

Mullen notes on pg 215:

As is obvious from both the Ugaritic and Hebrew materials, the messengers of the gods are divine beings who constitute the membership of the court of El/Yahweh. Yahweh is pictured in Hebrew literature as "sending" his messenger from the council (yislah mal'ako, Gen 24:7, Exod 23:20, Num 20:16, compare Judg 13:8 ). Most significantly, this usage of the verb "to send" (salah) in reference to the commissioning of divine messengers by Yahweh also occurs in his dispatching of the prophets (cf. Exod 3:10, 15; 7:17; Deut 34:11; Josh 24:5; Mic 6:4; Ps 105:26; 1 Sam 15:1; 2 Sam 12:1, 25; Isa 6:8-9; Jer 1:7; 7:25; 19:14; Ezek 2:3-4; Hag 1:12, 13, 15; Mal 3:23).

The prophetic material makes it clear that the prophet was viewed as the messenger of Yahweh.

He goes on to argue at length for the place that prophets held in Yahweh's divine council. I don't have the patience to type it all out right now! I will someday soon though, it is some excellent material.

[Ron Beron]

.

Bokovoy also pointed out in an article he recently published in a prestigious journal (Harvard Review?) that Amos 3:7 uses the Hebrew word "sod" which is a redflag for divine council imagery. In it we see Amos the prophet participating in the divine council.

It was the Society of Biblical Literature. JBL 127, no. 1 (2008): 37â??51