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Did I not command you? Be strong and courageous! Do not fear or
be dismayed, forYahweh your God is with you wherever you go.(Joshua
1:9)
All differences notwithstanding, it would be wrong to separate
prophecy from omen divination in a way that suggests a fundamental
disparity in their conceptual,intellectual, and ideological
basis.Martti Nissinen, Prophecy and Omen Divination: Two Sides of
the Same Coin
I would like to approach the issue of prophecy and divination
with the help of two claims of which the papers included in this
volume have made me increasinglyconvinced of:(1) that prophecy and
omen divination are not the same thing, and(2) that they
nevertheless belong firmly to the same symbolic universe, that
is,to a shared conceptual, intellectual, and ideological
world.Martti Nissinen, Prophecy and Omen Divination: Two Sides of
the Same Coin
... only the diviner had the authority to set the king's plans
before the gods viaan extispicy and to read the judgment of the
gods from the liver and other extaof the animal. In this very act
... the diviner experienced the presence of thedivine assembly
itself, which had gathered about the victim to write their judg
ments in the organs of the animal (Lenzi 2008a: 55).Scott B.
Noegel, Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign: Script, Power, and
Interpretation in the Ancient Near East
The Egyptians referred to the hieroglyphic script as "medu
netjer" , literally, the words of the gods and the scribal art was
to them an occupation without equal.The ibis-headed godThoth, who
is credited with the invention of writing, is said to be excellent
ofmagic and Lord of hieroglyphs.
... the ontological understanding of words and script provides a
contextual fram
ework that permits us to see the exegetical process as a ritual
act of performative power that legitimates and promotes the
cosmological and ideological systemsof the interpreter.Scott B.
Noegel, Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign: Script, Power, and
Interpretation in the Ancient Near East
Isaiah 51:15
Yahweh determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of
them their names.(Psalm 147:4)
In the hieroglyphic script, the power of the image and the power
of the
word are almost inseparable.Pinch, Geraldine, Magic in Ancient
Egypt. Austin: University of Texas Press.
... the exegesis of divine signs is cosmologically significant
and constitutes aperformative act of power.Scott B. Noegel, Sign,
Sign, Everywhere a Sign: Script, Power, and Interpretation in the
Ancient Near East
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The cosmological underpinnings that connect interpretation,
power, and judgmentin Mesopotamia were no more present than during
an extispicy, as Alan Lenzi tells us:
... only the diviner had the authority to set the king's plans
before the gods viaan extispicy and to read the judgment of the
gods from the liver and other extaof the animal. In this very act
... the diviner experienced the presence of thedivine assembly
itself, which had gathered about the victim to write their
judgments in the organs of the animal (Lenzi 2008a: 55).
Scott B. Noegel, Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign: Script, Power,
and Interpretation in the Ancient Near East
Moreover, to understand the cosmological context of words of
power within ancient interpretive contexts, it is important to
recognize that acts of interpretation are also acts of divine
judgment.Scott B. Noegel, Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign: Script,
Power, and Interpretation in the Ancient Near East
God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every
day.(Psalm 7:11, ESV)
O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the
spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too
difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and
their interpretation.(Daniel 4:9, ESV)
