the image of the “rod” in the hebrew bible: literary forms

No. 44 Autumn 2020

151

*

The Image of the “Rod” in the Hebrew Bible: Literary

Forms, Symbolic Function and Cultural Memory

ZHANG Ruoyi

Introduction to the authorZHANG Ruoyi, Assistant Professor, Institute of Literary Studies, Shanghai

International Studies University.Email: [email protected]

44 2020152

Journal for the Study of Christian Culture

Abstract

In the Hebrew Bible, the word “rod” possesses abundant morphologic forms, which are utilized in particular textual contexts, and show the diversity of different semantic and anthropological origins of the word. Grounded in the Masoretic text, the essay begins by offering a detailed morphologic survey of the word rod in the Hebrew Bible, with an analysis of the possible practical functions of the in ancient Israelite and Ancient Near East history. With this background, the essay discusses how rod became a symbol of the tribe, of justice, and of deliverance in ancient Israelite understanding, and explores the symbolic meanings of the image of the “rod” given by the Hebrew bible compilers. Finally, the relationship between “rod” and cultural memories of ancient Israelite nomad life is analysed through textual and historical analysis of the Mosaic and prophetic narratives. The conclusion is reached that the word in Hebrew Bible

but also as the key indicator of the nomadic memories of the Israelite people.

Keywords: Hebrew Bible, rod, image, cultural memories

No. 44 Autumn 2020

153

*

15ZDB088

2019M661586 [This paper is a result of National Social Science Foundation Key Project “Research on Literature and Cultural Exchange in Ancient Mediterranean

Cultural Circle and Hebrew Literary Classics” (Project No.: 15ZDB088) and the China Postdoctoral

Science Foundation Grant “Research on Scribal Culture and Hebrew Prophet Literature” (Project No.:

2019M661586).]

authorship

2006 [ (Shanghai: National TSPM &

CCC), 2006.]

23:4

23

4

44 2020154


Karl Elliger, et al., ed.

(Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1967). Qal 3ms

“ ”

“ ”

21 18

18 21

32:10 22:2714:23

48:17rod, staff

38:18 4:2,4 9:41. staff, rod, shaft2. branch3. tribe

27 32 5:147:14

9:4 10:5

1. rod, staff, club, scepter2. tribe

24 :19 21:184:29

1. staff2.political support

No. 44 Autumn 2020

155

Prism of Sennacherib

701

Mordechai Cogan,

(Jerusalem: Carta, 2015), 121-143. ·

2014 94-105 [John Bright, (A History of Israel), trans.

ZHOU Nanyi and ZHANG Yue et al. (Chengdu: Sichuan People Press, 2014), 94-105]

Adolphe Lods, , trans. S. H

Hooke (London and New York: Routledge, 1996), 165-177.

32:10 4:20 22:27

26:3

39:9

44 2020156


2005 168

[LAI Jianguo, (Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing

House Ldt., 2005), 168.] 2006 62 [ZENG

Xiangxin, (Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House

Ldt., 2006), 62.]

17:43

tribe

16-17

17:5

No. 44 Autumn 2020

157

26 11 18-32 27-28

David Noel Freedman, et al., ed.,

Vol. 5 (New York: Doubleday, 1992) “Sheep, Shepherd” 28 “

”

Deuteronomist

Deuteronomic School Moshe Weinfeld,

(Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1992) Martin

Noth, (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1981);

Mark A. O’Brien, (Freiburg and

Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen, 1989)

21 7-9

722

depopulation

44 2020158


· 285-292 Gösta W. Ahlström,

(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), 665-740;

Amélie Kuhrt, , vol.2

(London and New York: Routledge, 1995), 473-546.

Mordechai Cogan,

(Jerusalem: Carta, 2013), 10-103.

Dumu-zi

Hammurabi Enlil

Esarhaddon the true

shepherd

James B. Pritchard

(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969)

265 163 289

121-122

policy

10:5-6

7 11 6 9

3-4

No. 44 Autumn 2020

159

2008

74 [ZHAN Zhengyi, (Hong Kong: Tien Dao

Publishing House Ldt., 2008), 74.]

Davidic psalter

23 6

J. Alberto

Soggin,

(Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989), 426-429.

4:17

7 7-12

14 17

17:40

17:43

23

44 2020160


2011 66-95 153-161

[YOU Bin, (Beijing:

Religious Culture Press, 2011) 66-95, 153-161.]

Alexander Rofé, (Jerusalem:

Simor Ltd. 2009)

2004 [WANG Lixin,

(Beijing: Beijing University Press, 2004)]

Karel van der Toorn,

(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007).

No. 44 Autumn 2020

161

· Eric Voegelin “ ” Emergence

“ ” Order

Eric Voegelin,

(Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2001), 182. Otto Eissfeldt, ,

trans. Peter R. Ackroyd (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1974), 164-166.

1:9-16 5:2-19 14 5-9

11 25

11

6

44 2020162


“ ”

17 Robert Alter, (New York: Basic Books, 2011),

154.

1 15

“ ”

“

26 28

Repetition

Leitwort

No. 44 Autumn 2020

163

8 17

11 18 17

26:26

14:21-22 17:1-7

20:1-13 17:8-13

722

586

-

44 2020164


Otto Eissfeldt,

, 365-382. 8 7

78-79 [WANG

Lixin, 78-79.]

34:2-3

34 11-16

7:14

No. 44 Autumn 2020

165

11-25

20

44 2020166


[Works in Western Languages]

Ahlström, Gösta W. . Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.

Alter, Robert. New York: Basic Books, 2011.

Brown, Francis. With the co-operation of Driver, S.R. and Briggs, Charles A.

Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1906.

Cogan, Mordechai.

. Jerusalem: Carta, 2013.

______.

. Jerusalem: Carta, 2015.

Eissfeldt, Otto. .

Translated by Peter R. Ackroyd. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1974.

Elliger, Karl, et al., ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft,

1967.

Freedman, David Noel, ed. . New York: Doubleday, 1992.

Kuhrt, Amélie. . London and New York: Routledge,

1995.

Lods, Adolphe. . Translated

by S. H Hooke. London and New York: Routledge, 1996.

Noth, Martin.

O’Brien, Mark A. . Freiburg and

Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen,

1989.

Pritchard, James B.

. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.

Rofé, Alexander. . Jerusalem: Simor Ltd.

2009.

Soggin, J. Alberto.

. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989.

Toorn, Karel van der. . Cambridge:

Harvard University Press, 2007.

Voegelin, Eric. Columbia: University

No. 44 Autumn 2020

167

of Missouri Press, 2001.

Weinfeld, Moshe. Winona Lake:

Eisenbrauns, 1992.

[Works in Chinese]

2014 [Bright, John. (A History of Israel). Translated by ZHOU

Nanyi and ZHANG Yue et al. Chengdu: Sichuan People Press, 2014.]

2005 [LAI

Jianguo. . Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing

House Ldt., 2005.]

2004 [WANG Lixin.

Beijing: Beijing University Press, 2004.]

2011

[YOU Bin. .

Beijing: Religious Culture Press, 2011.]

2006 [ZENG Xiangxin.

Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House

Ldt., 2006.]

2008

[ZHAN Zhengyi. . Hong Kong: Tien Dao

Publishing House Ldt., 2008.]

2006 [

. Shanghai: National TSPM & CCC, 2006.]

the image of the “rod” in the hebrew bible: literary forms

Documents