Yhwh's Future Ingathering in Zephaniah 1:2: Interpreting אָסֹף אָסֵף
Due to a supposed grammatical anomaly, interpreters of Zephaniah have long struggled with the Hebrew verb phrase 'I will utterly sweep away' (NRSV) that initiates the book. Normally when an infinitive absolute is followed by a yiqtol form, both verbs bear a common verbal root. Most scholar...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2018
|
| In: |
Hebrew studies
Year: 2018, Volume: 59, Issue: 1, Pages: 173-191 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Due to a supposed grammatical anomaly, interpreters of Zephaniah have long struggled with the Hebrew verb phrase 'I will utterly sweep away' (NRSV) that initiates the book. Normally when an infinitive absolute is followed by a yiqtol form, both verbs bear a common verbal root. Most scholars, however, believe that in Zeph 1:2 the phrase combines a qal infinitive absolute of 'to gather' with the hiphil yiqtol of 'to bring to an end', resulting in the need to generate a conflated translation that highlights God's promise to completely destroy the earth's creatures. In contrast, after assessing the textual tradition, I argue for the likelihood that both forms derive from the root , the first being a qal infinitive absolute and the second a hiphil yiqtol. I then support this decision and consider the interpretive significance in light of parallels within the book and from the broader biblical context. The text teaches that God's assembling of all creatures for judicial assessment is distinct from his acts of deliverance and wrath that flow from it, and it also supports the view that the future ingatherings for salvation and punishment are one and the same event (though manifest in various culminating acts). |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2158-1681 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew studies
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/hbr.2018.0008 |