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THE NEW INTERPRETER'S® DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLED-H

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The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible.p.cm.

Includes bibliographical references.ISBN 0·687-05427-3 (alk. paper)

I. Bible--Dictionaries. I. Abingdon Press.

BS440.N445 2006220.3--dc22

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Todd Bolen!EDOMITESLEE, SEA 0Fig. 1,2; HiCHER Fig. I

2006025839 Bridgeman-t

ISBN-13: 978-0-687·33355-4 Reuben G. J

Unless directly translated by a contributor, biblical quotations are from the NEW REVISEDSTANDARD VERSION OF THE BIBLE. Copyright © 1989 by the Division of ChristianEducation of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.All rights reserved.

Pronunciations are from THE HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE.William O. Walker, Jr., General editor. Copyright © 1989, 1994 by the Society of BiblicalLiterature. Published by HarperCollins Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

English language fonts are from the Weidemann family. Ancient language fonts were devel-oped in the public domain for scholars who comprise the Society of Biblical Literature,including SPTIberian for Hebrew, SPIonic for Greek, and SPAtlantis for transliteration.

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Divination

to teraphim,n ephod-allerning God'sDanite tribe.; used these14-20).ight oraculare dead. Thenecromancyan neighbors~0:27; 2 Kgsdiums in 7thof his reign,iform (2 Kgs• insight in tolients: Isaiahind mutter"e contacting:ing over an;advice fromfrom Endorwhich only;ROMANCY1d no longer"dreams, or

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DivineAssembly

16:16-18). Surprisingly, the girl makes a favorableannouncement about Paul and associates: "These menare slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to youa way of salvation". (16:17; compare Luke 1:76-77;3:4-5). However, her repetition of this utterance "formanydays" irks Paul to the point that he exorcises thepythian spirit from her. In turn, the slave girl's employ-ersviolently drag Paul to court, suing him for damagingtheir business and "disturbing our city" (Acts 16: 19-21), See ENDOR, MEDIUM OF; EPHOD; PROPHET,PROPHECY;SOOTHSAYER,

Bibliography: Robert M. Berchman, ed. Mediators ofthe Divine: Horizons of Prophecy, Divination, Dreamsand Theurgy in Mediterranean Antiquity (1998); Fred-erick H. Cryer. Divination in Ancient Israel and ItsNear Eastern Environment: A Socio-Historicsl Inves-tigation (1994); Ann jeffers. Magic and Divination inAncient Palestine and Syria (1996).

F. SCOTT SPENCER

DMNE ASSEMBLY.In the ANE, a common metaphorfor describing the world of the divine was the "divineassembly" or "divine council." These descriptions ofgods and goddesses gathered together under the lead-ership of a senior deity were derived, in all.probabditv,from the activities of the royal court. The OT providesa number of descriptions of this heavenly assembly thatcloselyresemble descrIptions in the llterature of the sur-roundtng cultures (see GODS, GODDESSES).

The concept of a divine assembly is attested in Egypt,Mesopotamia, Canaan, Phoenicia, and Israel. AncientEgyptianliterature reveals the existence of a "synod ofthe gods," though It did not play an important role inthe religion. Some of our most complete descriptionsof the activities of the divine assembly are found inthe literature from Mesopotamia. Their "assembly ofthe gods," headed by the high god Anu, would meetto address various concerns, though a major activityof the assembly seems to have been feasting. It seemsto have been composed of all of the major active godsand goddesses, fifty of whom were designated as "thegreat/senior gods," while seven were called "the godsof the fates" that they were in charge of determining.Even the active gods of the pantheon were subject todecisions of the assembly.

Similar descriptions of the divine assembly are foundin the Canaanite texts from Ras Shamra (see UGARlT,TEXTSAND LITERATURE).There we find "the assem-blyof Ellthe gods" meeting under the leadership of thesenior deity El. The exact membership of the Canaaniteassembly,however, is not as clear as it is in the case ofMesopotamia. Indeed, it would seem that there wereseveral different divine assemblies: an "assembly of thegods" and "the assembly of the sons of El." There arealso references in these materials to "the assembly ofBaal"and to "the assembly of the stars," among others,

145 Divine Assembly

suggesting possible assemblages of other deities. Inthe "assembly of Ellthe gods" it is clear that it is Elwho issues decrees affecting both divine and humanrealms.

The OT descriptions of the "divine assembly" allsuggest that this metaphor for the organization of thedivine world was consistent with that of Mesopotamiaand Canaan. One difference, however, should be noted.In the OT, the identities of the members of the assem-bly are far more obscure than those found in otherdescriptions of these groups, as in their polytheisticenvironment Israelite writers sought to express boththe uniqueness and the superiority of their God Yah-weh. A brief consideration of the major descriptionsof the council will demonstrate these similarities anddifferences.

Two prophetic texts present visions of the heav-enly assembly. The first is the vision of Micaiah (1 Kgs22: 19-23). Micalah describes his vision of Yahweh,seated on his heavenly throne, surrounded by the "hostof heaven" (see HOSTS, HOST OF HEAVEN).Yahwehchallenges this "host" with a task, which they debate,until one of them, a "spirit," volunteers to fulfill thechallenge. Upon hearing the plan, Yahweh commissionsthe "spirit" to proceed, assuring its success. Isaiah 6: 1-9provides the account of Isalah's vision of Yahweh in theheavenly council. Isaiah has his vision in the Temple,where Yahweh appears enthroned, accompanied bycreatures deslgnated as "seraphim" (see SERAPH,SERAPHS), who are praising Yahweh (see Ps 29:1-2).After having been purIfied hy one of these creatures,Isaiah hears Yahweh's challenge to his retinue. Isaiahhimself volunteers and receives Yahweh's commission.The prophet, it would seem, could be understood asthe messenger of the heavenly assembly who broughtYahweh's proclamations to the human realm (see Ier23:18,22; Amos 3:7; Hag 1:13; Mal 3:1).

Another view of the divine assembly is presentedin Job 1-2, when "the sons of god" (bene ha'elohim[1J'iJ'7~iJ 'PJ; see GOD, SONS OF) present them-selves before Yahweh on the appointed day (1:6; 2:1).Among those assembled deities was one designated"the adversary" (hassatan Ot9t?'iJJ; see SATAN), asindicated by the consistent use of the term with thedefinite article (see Zech 3). Only "the adversary,"whose role it was to patrol the earth, is active amongthe members of Yahweh's council. In both meetings ofthe council, Yahweh gives "the adversary" the power totest job, but not to kill him. "The adversary" developsinto a demonic figure opposed to Yahweh late in thebiblical period.

Yahweh's power over the members of the assemblyis illustrated in Ps 82. Here Yahweh takes his place inthe "assembly of EI" ('adhath-'el [';~-n"J.t;'J;NRSV"divine council"), in the midst of the other gods, andpasses judgment on the members of the council, desig-nated as "gods" ('elohim), "sons of Elyon" (Hebrew,

Divine Counsel

bene 'elyon [li'?l? '.P]; NRSV "children of the MostHigh"; see EL ELYON). For their failure to dispensejustice properly, they are condemned to death. ClearlyYahweh has no equal in the assembly. Two additionalreferences in the Psalms attest to the incomparablenature of Yahweh. In Ps 29: 1-2 the "sons of the gods"(bene 'elim [0' '?~ 'P]; NRSV "heavenly beings")ascribe glory and strength to Yahweh as they bow downto him in worship. Similarly, in Ps 89:6-7, "the councilof the holy ones" (qahal qedhoshim Cl'~'P 'iJi?l,equated with the "sons of the gods" (NRSV "heavenlybeings") emphasizes that none of the divine beings cancompare to Yahweh.

While the depictions of the divine council in the OTmay not be as explicit as those found in Mesopotamianor Canaanite literature, they do demonstrate that thismotif had an important place in the religious worldviewof ancient Israel. Not only did it provide expressionfor the incomparable nature of Yahweh among otherdivine beings, it also expressed the special nature of theprophetic word as a communication brought into thehuman realm by the "messenger" of Yahweh's council(see GOD, OT VIEW OF).

Bibliography: F. M. Cross. "The Council of Yahwehin Second Isaiah." JNES 12 (1953) 274-77; Lowell K.Handy. Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Peles-tinisn Pantheon as Bureaucracy (1994); E. TheodoreMullen Jr. The Divine Council in Canaanite and EarlyHebrew Literature (1980); H. W.Robinson. "The Coun-cil of Yahweh." fTS45 (1944) 151-57; Mark S. Smith.The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheis-tic Background and the Ugsritic Texts (2001).

E. THEODORE MULLEN, JR.

DIVINE COUNSEL. See COUNSEL, COUNSELOR.

DlVlNE MAN [8e105 o:v~ptheios aner], "Divine man"refers to a Hellenistic conception, or type, that hasbeen used to explain the origin and meaning of certainphenomena in so-called Hellenistic Judaism and in earlyChristianity. Although precise definitions vary, "divineman" usually denotes a human, gifted with wisdomand supernatural powers, who is therefore regardedas divine. Representatives of this category includeEpimenides, Pythagoras, Empedocles, Alexander ofAbonuteichos, Peregrinus, and Apollonius of Tyana.

Working with a distinction between PalestinianJudaism and Hellenistic Judaism, some scholars arguedthat even before the appearance of Christianity, the"divine man" conception led principal exemplars ofHellenistic Judaism, such as Artapanus, Ezekiel theTragedian, and Philo, to portray Israelite heroes. Thiswas accomplished by heightening the supernaturalaccomplishments of these heroes and by blurring theline between their humanity and the divine nature.Moses especially emerges as a divine person.

146 Divine Presence

A considerable body of 20th cent. scholarship, there-fore, held that the "divine man" concept began toinfluence early Christians' portrayai of Jesus as soon asthere was a Significant influx of Hellenistic Jews intothe church. One result was that Jesus' miracles weredisengaged from his proclamation of the kingdom ofGod and were narrated in such a way to emphasize thedivine power that they disclosed. Some scholars arguedthat tales of Jesus' miracles were collected into writtencatenae, or "chains," which were later incorporated intothe Gospel of Mark. Moreover, in some of these miraclestories and traditions, belief in Jesus' divine nature seemsto express itself (e.g., in Mark 6:45-52 Jesus' walk acrossthe sea reads like an epiphany of Yahweh).

The "divine man" hypothesis has influenced NTscholarship in two other ways. One pertains to thequestion of the gospel genre. A collateral aspect ofthe "divine man" hypothesis has been the notion thatwritten propaganda for a "divine man," which wouldinclude a recitation of his supernaturai feats, took theform of a glorifying narrative, oraretalogy. Thus, somehave argued that the Gospels, especiaily Mark, areessentially aretalogies for Jesus, the "divine man." Ona different front, D. Georgi attempted to illumine theactivities of the Jewish-Christian opponents of Paul in2 Cor 10-13 by positing that they understood them-selves to be'dlvine men.

Recent NT study has raised serious questions aboutthe relevance of the "divine man" concept to the NT.Although some scholars continue to defend the existenceof the type in the Greco-Roman world and utilize it JOelucidate the origin and meaning of the christology of theGospels, as well as the form of the Gospels themselves,most either doubt the existence of "divine man" type inthe pre-Christian Greco-Rornan world or argue for vari-ous reasons that this conception is not a useful analytictool for studying early Christianity and its literature.

Bibliography: Hans Dieter Betz. "Jesus as DivineMan." Jesus and the Historian, F. Trotter, ed. (1968)114-33; Barry L. Blackburn. Ttieios Aner and theMarkan Miracle Traditions (1991); Gail P. Corrington.The "Divine Man": His Origin and Function in Hel-lenistic Popular Religion (1986); Eugene Gailagher.Divine Man or Magician? Celsus and Origen on Jesus(1982); Dieter Georgi. The Opponents of Paul in Sec-ond Corinthians (1999); Carl Holladay. Theios Aner inHellenistic}udaism (1977); Erkki Koskenniemi. "Apol-lonius of Tyana: A Typical Theios Aner [Divine Man]."JBL 117 (1998) 455-67.

BARRY L. BLACKBURN, SR.

DIVINE NAME. See GOD, NAMES OF.

DNINE PRESENCE. There is no abstraction in thebiblical languages that exactly corresponds to the En-glish word presence. The term most often translated by

A. God in 0B. Divine PrC. The GloT'D. Ark, TentE. Name ancF. "I Will BEG. The Pres

God in OurDuring the Icommunitbecause GOT writers

".'"..,,1J,V'.1J,V. vileft Eg(ExodAssocia116:7,

denotes