Concept of Word

1. Concept of Word In the ancient Near East the spoken word was conceived of as a distinct entity laden with power This was especially true of the Divine Word In both Egypt and Mesopotamia the divine word was a creative force educing the world into existence The divine word partook of the power of the gods themselves, and people could not resist or alter it.

2. Concept of Word In the Israelite conception this power existed in the person speaking the word not in the word itself. Instances of the word’s power are numerous The deception of Isaac (Gen 27) The deception of Jacob by Laban (Gen 29:20-27) An error by the person does not invalidate the spoken solemn word The word by its emission has become a reality that can not be recalled

3. Concept of Word • Isaac can give Esau another, inferior blessing but he cannot cancel the blessing he has mistakenly given Jacob • When Micah’s mother curses the thief who, unknown to her, is her own son, she cannot withdraw the curse but can send a blessing to follow its fulfillment (Jdg 17:1-2) • David’s pronunciation of a sentence of death upon the man in the parable of Nathan is unwittingly directed at himself, he is assured it will be diverted, but it falls on the children of Bathsheba (2 Sam 12:1-18) • The woman accused of adultery must consume an oath of execration by drinking water into which the written word of a curse have been immersed nothing but innocence will neutralize the curse (Num 5:12-31)

4. Concept of Word The word of Yahweh is a creative agent because it is Yahweh who speaks it (Gen 1; Isa 40:26; 48:13; Pss 33:6,9; 147:15-18) The word retains the power of its speaker The word makes its speaker known This is the function of the word as name

5. Concept of Word To know the name is to experience the power of the word in the reverse direction Just as the power of the person determines reality by conferring the name So the power of the person apprehends reality by knowing the name The Old Testament conception of “the word of Yahweh” must be understood in this way

6. Concept of Word Most OT occurrences of “the word of Yahweh” designate the prophetic word The word is the specific charism of the prophet, As tora (law) is the charism of the priest And counsel the charism of the sage. (Jer 18:18) The prophetic word is misunderstood if one thinks of it as merely the experience of hearing

7. Concept of Word It is the reception of a positive energetic reality that arises from the power of the person of Yahweh and compels the prophet to speak (Amos 3:8) The reception of the word is compared to the eating of a scroll (Ez 2:9-3:3) The word of Yahweh is a joy and delight (Jer 15:16) A burning fire shut up in the bones of the prophet (20:7-9) A fury that he must pour out (6:11)

8. Concept of Word The prophetic word partakes of the dynamism of Yahweh himself It is fulfilled or established when the reality of which it speaks comes into existence. The relation of of the prophetic word to the event is more than the relation of prediction and fulfillment The word is an entity endowed with power that effects the thing signified by the word The word partakes of Yahweh’s eternity (Isa 40:8) Its dynamism may be delayed, but its fulfillment is inevitable (Isa 9:8)

9. Concept of Word The word of Yahweh is the essential operative agent in the history of Israel From the first act of the creative process (Gen 1:3) To the rebuilding of Jerusalem by the decree of Cyrus (Isa 44:28) The utterance of Yahweh brings about the call of Abraham and of Moses, the exodus of Israel from Egypt, the conquests of Joshua, the call of Samuel, the establishment of the monarchy, the election of David, the division of the kingdom, the fall of the house of Omri, the invasion of the Assyrians and the Chaldeans, the fall of the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah.