Living in the Language of God

Wise Speaking in the Book of the Twelve

Warner M. Bailey

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781532614149
• eBook ISBN: 9781532614132
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Twenty-first century Christians live in diaspora, merely one voice among many, without enjoying their once-privileged place in society. This is particularly the case for those who struggle to be a church that mirrors the capaciousness of God's grace. We are assaulted by the venting of pent-up furies, which are stoked by profound anxieties over the loss of a cherished worldview and fear about an unacceptable but unstoppable future. Frequently, we struggle to speak an authentic word of God amidst the cross-talk of many voices. This book--a canonical study of Hosea through Malachi, called collectively The Book of the Twelve--describes a biblical model of faithful speaking under similar circumstances. It guides reaction to this loss toward intense engagement with Scripture and theology in order to sense again the meaning of speaking what is at the heart of faith, God's unalterable commitment to continuing faithfulness with us.

1

The Literary Aspect of Embedded Speech in the Book of the Twelve

Framing the Book of the Twelve

As was noted in the Introduction, interpreters are increasingly recognizing that the twelve so-called “minor prophets” have been ordered and shaped, hermeneutically, to become a single theological document, now being called the Book of the Twelve.44 This angle of interpretation arises out of a new appreciation of an interpretative understanding voiced as early as the late second century BCE in Sir 48–49 where the Prophets are listed in order as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and The Twelve Prophets.45

Today a consensus is emerging that a major dynamic in knitting twelve literary pieces into a single theological document is how the final forms of Hosea and Malachi function to frame the collection.46 For example, Rainer Albertz points out that the choice to position Hosea at the front of the Book of the Twelve “was by no means natural. It distorted to some degree the chronological order of the composition. Since Amos was the oldest prophet it should have been placed first. Probably this decision has theological reasons. As will be seen from many motifs and ideas that shaped the whole composition, the book of Hosea achieved paradigmatic significant for the editor.”47 Aaron Schart recognizes that “a meaningful superstructure points toward a deliberate ordering, for example, the historical ordering of the writings with Hosea first (because it mentions the ‘House of Jehu’ in Hos 4) and Malachi last (because it presupposes an operative second temple).”48 Paul House disagrees: “There is no doubt that the first readers of the book of the Twelve knew that the books placed together did not unfold in a specific chronological order. Thus, familiar themes and descriptions of God, Israel, and the nations probably took precedence in their minds as they read.”49 This study takes the approach that the books which begin and end the collection present a perspective for how the entire collection is to function as sacred Scripture.50 As the discussion develops, we will fill in the outlines of this perspective as well as engage other reading strategies.

One notices quickly that within this framework the restorative potential of words looms large. In the Introduction, we described how Hosea urges the community to take words as the medium of repentance, with the commendation that this is what wise people do. Hosea has an analogue in Malachi where a crisis of faith is resolved through the use of words. In the closing verses of Malachi, the community is coping with an impending collapse of its stamina to remain faithful to God.51 The crisis is rooted in a challenge lodged by the faithful against God’s integrity. This challenge issues from the sight of God’s justice being put to shame by arrogant people whose prosperity incites their impunity toward God (Mal 3:15). A crisis of faith in God is resolved when “those who revered the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord took note and listened, and book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the Lord and thought on his name” (Mal 3:16). Those who revered the Lord used words to think “on his name.” While the intriguing phrase, “those who thought on his name” has no parallel in the Old Testament, a similar phrase, “When I think of your ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies,” is found in Ps 119:59, a psalm clearly linked to the wisdom tradition. The beginning and the ending of the Book of the Twelve underscore the use of words by the wise and their employment in the struggle to maintain oneself aligned with the ways of God.52

Furthermore, both framing books contain strong statements of the effulgent love and unbending faithfulness of God towards Israel. Hosea’s “I will love them freely . . . I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me” (14:5, 9 [Eng. 4, 8]) corresponds with Malachi’s “I have loved you, says the Lord . . . For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished” (1:2 and 3:6). As this study progresses we will continue to build up this framework until it reaches its full dimensions in chapter 6.

This appearance of the foci on language and on the loving faithfulness of God in the framing books alerts the reader of the Book of the Twelve to the possibility of a major theological theme. Because speech is so highly valued as the bond between humans and God, God’s loving faithfulness perseveres in maintaining this bond by God giving God’s people the words to say, thereby showing God’s triumph over all that shows itself by word (and deed) to be hostile and evil. To explore this theme is the major purpose of this book.53

We turn now to an investigation of the words speakers are reported as saying in the Book of the Twelve. How does the Book of the Twelve employ the diverse functions of what people say, and what are the corresponding outcomes of their speech?

Embedded Speech

Prophetic speech is frequently mediated through exchanges: between the prophet and God, between God and the people, between the prophet and the people, and between God and God’s self. Within those communications one can find embedded speech that is attributed to a third speaker. This speech is usually introduced by the main speaker who inserts what others are saying or will be saying into the main speaker’s speech. Simply put, embedded speech is the report by the main speaker of what people say, or are to say. As we have seen already, the call to return to the Lord at the conclusion of Hosea puts words into the mouths of embedded speakers as the pathway to restoration with God.

The study of embedded speech brings to the forefront an underappreciated literary feature of prophetic discourse.54 I have gained in understanding this literary feature by the early work of Robert Polzin in his study of reporting and reported speech in Deuteronomy.55 Polzin based his analysis on the work of the Russian linguist, V. N. Vološinov, who has studied extensively this phenomenon in early Russian literature. Vološinov defines “reported speech” as an utterance belonging to someone else that has been taken over by an author and “transposed into the syntactic, compositional, and stylistic design of the author’s utterance, while preserving (i...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Literary Aspect of Embedded Speech in the Book of the Twelve
• Chapter 2: What the Others Are Saying in the Book of the Twelve
• Chapter 3: A Defense of the Integrity of God’s Word
• Chapter 4: The Day of the Lord and Speech—I
• Chapter 5: The Day of the Lord and Speech—II
• Chapter 6: Theological Reflections
• Chapter 7: Theology and History
• Chapter 8: Encouragement to Live Faithfully in Hope
• Chapter 9: Wise Speaking in Public and Pastoral Settings
• Bibliography