Iconographic Aprroaches- The Iconic Structure of Psalm 17

7/30/2019 Iconographic Aprroaches- The Iconic Structure of Psalm 17

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I C O NO G R A P HI C A P P RO A C H E S: I C O N I CS T R U C T U R E O F P S A L M 1 7

Joel M. LeMon

E X P L O R I N G T H E R E L A T I O N S H I P B E T W E E N A R T A N D T E X T

Ancien t ar t , o r iconography, i s an im por ta n t resource fo r b ib l i ca l scho larsexp lor ing the cu l tu ra l mi l i eu f rom which th e Bib le emerged . Indeed , manyscholars cons ider the images f rom the ancien t wor ld a t l eas t as valuab lefor unders t an d ing th e h i s to r i ca l backg round of the Bib le as ancien t t ex tualsources . 1 M e t h o d s f o r a p p r o p r i a t i n g s u c h i c o n o g r a p h i c m a t e r i a l w i t h i nb ib l i ca l s tud ies have been develop ing gradual ly , wi th the mos t im por tan tadvances coming since the 1970s. Today, while bibl ical scholars general lyaff i rm the increased a t t en t ion paid to i conography , there remain s a degreeof uncer t a in ty about the bes t methods fo r in terpre t ing b ib l i ca l t ex t s inl ight of ancient art .

The impulse to use ancient art to i l luminate bibl ical texts is not new.Beginn ing in the n ine teen th cen tury , wi th the r ise of the g reat archaeo log-ical co l l ec t ions in Par i s , London , Tur in , and Ber l in , ar t f rom the ancien tworld cap t ivated scho lars and l aypeople a l ike . General ly , these in ter pre t -ers assumed that th i s ancien t p ic to r i a l mater i a l p rov ided illustrations ofthe Bib le o r o ther ancien t Near Eas tern l i t era tu re , s imi lar to the ways inwhich "bibl ical art" i l lustrates characters and stories from the Bible (e.g.,Re m b r a n d t ' s The Prodigal Son , DaVinci ' s The Last Supper, M i c h e l a n g e -lo' s pain t ings in the Si s t ine Chape l ) . The sub ject s in bo t h b ib l i ca l ar t anda n c i e n t i c o n o g r a p h y w e r e t h o u g h t t o b e b a s e d o n t e x t s . O r , p u t m o r es imply , ar t refers s t ra igh t fo rward ly to l i t era tu re .

The case of the so-cal led "Adam and Eve" seal (figs. 1-2) i l lustrates thist endency . In 1876 , the Br i t i sh Assyr io log i s t George Smi th p roposed theex i s t ence of a Mesop otamia n acco unt o f "The Fall o f Man" that para l l e l ed

M E T H O D M A T T E J S4 2Princeton University Press, 1994), esp. 122, 127; Garr, In His Own Image and Likeness,191- 211 .

51. See Chikako E. Watanabe, Animal Symb olism in Mesopotam ia: A ContextualApproach (WO O 1; Vienna: Inst i tu fr Oriental i s t ikier Univers i tat Wien, 2002) , 69-88; Brent A. Strawn, What Is Stronger than a Lion? Limine Image and Metaphor in theHebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (O BO 212; Fribourg: Academ ic; Gtt inge n:Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , 2005) , 161-74.52. Shalmanes er III Clay Tablets , co lu m n iv l ines 40 -4 4 (A. Kirk Grays on,Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BCII [S58-745 BC] [RIMA 3; Toronto:University of Toronto Press, 1996], 41).53. Calah Stone Slab, l ines 84b- 94b (RI MA 2:291).54. William P. Brown, The Ethos of the Cosm os: The Genesis of Moral Imaginationin the Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) , 358.55. Ibid., 352.56. The royal seal was used for at least three centuries, from the time of Shalma-neser III (858-824) to Assur-etel-ilni (ca. 631-627 B.C.E.). Note that the bulla in fig.1 was found in Samaria.

57. Sandmel, "Parallelomania," 2.58. Brown, Ethos of the Cosmos, 359.59. See the texts c i ted above and note the of fering and l ibat ions (evident ly forIshtar) that Ashurbanipal (668-627 B . C . E . ) pou rs over the l ions he ki l l s in hi s royalhunt (Strawn, What Is Stronger, 167-70 and f ig . 4 .129) . The warl ike nature and con-notat ions of patron god s of the royal hunt such as Nergal , Ninurta, and Ishtar are notto be missed.60. See , e .g . , Westermann, Genesis 1-11, 158-60; Garr, In His Own Image andLikeness, 158.61. See convenient ly, Westermann, Genesis 1-11,461-69.62. See, e.g. , Strawn, What Is Stronger, 1 6 1 - 6 3 , 1 7 4 - 7 8 .63. Erik Hornung's Conceptions of God in Ancient Egyp t: The One and the Many(trans. John Baines; Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1982) remains an excellentintroduct ion.64. See the essay on iconographical approaches by Joel M. LeMon in the presentv o l um e .65. Smith, Drudgery Divine, 52 (emphasis original ).66.1 thank Bill T. Arnold, Christopher B. Hays, Joel M. LeMon, Peter Machinist,Patrick D. Miller, Kent Harold Richards, and Mark S. Smith for their help with vari-ous aspects of this paper.


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L E M O N : I C O N O G R A PH I C A PPR O A C H E S 1 4 4

Fig. 2 . The "Adam and Eve" seal and a modern impress ion.B r i t is h M us e u m , M E 8 9 3 2 6 T r us t e e s o f t he B r i ti s h M u s e um .Collon r ightly maintains that this particular seal belongs in the well-

es tabl i shed t r adi t ion of the Akkadian banque t scene . 5 In order to proveher case, she points to several features in the so-called "Adam and Eve"seal that may be found in contemporary images. First , there is a long tra-dition in Mesopotamian art of representing f igures facing a central plant,here a date palm. Also, the horns of the seated f igure on the r ight indicatedivine s ta tus , in accordance wi th long-he ld iconographic convent ions .The identity of the f igure on the lef t is probably a worshiper , and not awoman at all , as Fradenburgh assumed. As for the snake, i t may well be arepresenta t ion of a snake-god ( such as Nirah) or poss ibly a more genera lsymbol of regeneration and fer ti l i ty.6

As bibl ica l schola r s and a r t h i s tor ians disc redi ted the f ac i le c la imsa bou t t he s i mp l i s t i c , i l l u s t r a t i ve und e r s t a n d i ng o f t he r e l a t i ons h i pbe tween a r t an d texts , a more caut ious e ra emerged in the ea r ly and m id-twent ie th century. Schola r s became increas ingly wary of inte rpre t inganc ient images as mere i l lus t r a t ions of charac te r s or scenes in anc ientNear Easte rn texts . Ins tead, bibl ica l schola r s ut i l ized anc ient images toprovide i l lus t r a t ions of a di f f e rent sor t ; they rea l ized tha t such imagescould convey inform at ion abo ut va r ious aspec ts of cul tures of the an c ientNear East .7 Thus, whi le the "Adam an d Eve" seal does not illustrate G e n3, it could never the less he lp one u nders tand anc ient c lothing, the s igni f i -cance of various types of headgear , or even the types of trees that grew ina nc i en t M e s opo t a mi a .

However , th i s approach to anc ient a r t had drawbacks as we l l , forscholars often discussed the images out of their ar tistic contexts and in af ragm enta ry way. Othm ar Keel desc r ibes the problem as fol lows:

M E T H O D M A T T E R 14 6

Gen 3:1-24. Smi th based his a rgu me nt on the ico no gra phy of a cyl inderseal hou sed in the British Mu seum . H e describes th e s cene:

"O ne s t r ik i ng a nd im po r t a n t s pe c i m e n . . . h is t w o f ig ure s s i t t i ng o ne o ne a c h s i de o f a t r ee , ho l d i ng o ut t he i r ha nd s t o t he f r u i t , w h i l e a t t he ba c ko f o ne i s s t r e t c he d a s e r pe nt. We k n o w w e l l t ha t i n t he s e e a r l y s c u l p t ur e sno ne o f t he s e f i g ur e s w e r e c ha nc e de v i c e s , but all represented events orsupposed events, an d igures n their legends; thus it is evident that a formof the s tory of the Fal l , s imi lar to that of Genes i s , was known in earlyt imes in Babylonia." 2The idea of an "Adam and Eve" seal quickly took hold. In his famous Babelund Bibel lecture, Friedrich Delitzsch com men ted: "M ay I lif t the veil , mayI point to an Old Babylonian cyl inder - sea l? . . . I s i t not the very acme ofl ike l ihood tha t the re i s some connection between this old Babylonian pic-ture and the Biblical tale of the Fall of Man?" 3 J . N . Fradenb urgh m ade aneven mo re force ful c la im. In a popula r i z ing work (a pt ly t i t l ed) Witnessesfrom the Dust, or The Bible: Illustrated from the Monum ents (1886) , hewr i tes : "Upo n this cyl inder i s r epresented a t r ee wi th four an d f ive near lyhor izonta l branches on e i the r s ide , the two lowest branch es bear ing each ala rge bun ch of fruit. A man wear ing a Babylonian turban s i t s on one s ideof the tree and a woman sits on the other side. They stretch out their handsas if to pluck the f rui t . Behind the wo ma n a se rpent s tan ds upreared. " Heconc ludes: "This illustrates the s tory of Genesis , and admi ts of no othersatisfactory explanation."4

I t comes as no surpr i se tha t Fradenburgs conc lus ion about the i l lus-trative value of the seal has not withstood a century of scholarly scrutiny.In short, Fradenburghs interpretation of the "Adam and Eve" seal is incor-rec t because he eva lua ted the images sole ly by recourse to the l i te ra tureof the anc ient Near Eastand notonly that, but a work of l i teraturef rom a di f f e rent his tor ica l pe r io dand geographica l r egion. By con-t r a s t , D omi n i que C o l l on ' s mor erecent ana lys is of the sea l in te r -pre ts the scene according to theconvent ions of post -Akkadian a r t K g. 1. Cylinder seal; post-Akkadian;( 2192- 2004 B. C. E ) , that is, with in 2192-2004 B.C.E. Line drawing fromits ar t-historic al context. George Smith, The Chaldean Account

of Genesis, 91.


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14 7E M O N: I C O N O G R A P H I C A P P R O A CH E S

pli fy ing , those who engage in this approac h are principally concern ed withinte rpr e t in g images in the i r a r t i s t ic contexts . According to the m ethodol -og y advance d by Kee l and in fo rm ed by Pano fsky espec ia l ly , each anc ientN ea r Easte rn a r t is tic mot i f c an conv ey di ffe rent mean ings depe nding onth e conte xts in which it is fo un d. 1 0

Caprids , for example , sh ow the polyva lence of a s ing le a r t i s t ic mot i f .A c om mo n scene on Pa les t inian sea ls from Iron Age IIB depic ts capridsflanking a pe rson, wide ly un de rs to od as an image of th e "Lord of theAn im als" (f ig . 3).11 According to Keel and Uehlinger, in this context, thecap rid s represent the ent i re an ima l world maste red by th e hu man in thecenter of the scene.12 Yet w h e n cap rids appe ar flanking a stylized tree, asin the Kuntillet 'Ajrud pithos A (fig. 4), Keel and Uehlinger offer anotherassessm ent . Here caprids sym bol ize bless ing and fe r t i li ty , s ince they sur-ro un d and feed on a t ree , a class ic representa t ion of the mot he r godde s s .13Keel and Uehl inger offe r ye t anoth er inte rpre ta t ion of the an imal on acyl inder sea l from Beth-shean (f ig . 5) in which an a rcher takes a im a t aleaping caprid. Keel and Uehlinger consider the two figures as one of sev-eral "star signs" on the seal, possibly representing the astral constellationSagittarius. 14

Fig. 3. Seals; Israel/Palestine; Iro n Age IIB. After Keel an dUehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, and Images, figs. 196a, b, 197a.

As the example of the caprid shows, according to the iconographic -a r t i s t i c a pp roa c h , bo t h s i ng l e mo t i f s a nd re l a t e d i ma ge s s hou l d beunde rs t ood within their artistic contexts; as contexts change , the mean ingand significance of the image will also change. Keel and Uehlinger desig-na te this re la t ionship be tween individua l images as the " iconographica lsyntax" or the "constellation" of a scene.T H E I C O N O G R A P H I C -H I S T O R I C A L A P P R O A C H

The second type of iconographic approachthe iconographic -his torica l


Fragmentation ... followed by many biblicalscholars, is still typicallythe way in which Egyptian and Assyrian pictres are presented in illus-trating biblical civilization. Very seld om is anentire relief or a com pletewall painting reprodu ced. Usually parti cula r kinds of agricultur al activ-ity, specific cult utensils, or single music al instrum ents a re selected forillustration. This is legitimate for thos e interested in m ater ial culture ina narrow sense.... Under such fragmentization the sociological aspectof the pictures is not revealed.... For example, when the great reliefof the conquest of Lachish by Sennacherib serves to illustrate "batter-ing rams," "women's clothes," and " wag on types" that is indeed useful;but the picture's possibilities for information do not stop there. Thismethod of presenting only fragments, characteristic of all the [Bible]handbooks, pays no respect to the original message of these works, thepurpose of which was not the il lustration of perceptual m aterial cul-ture, but of concepts l ike divine rule, world order, kingship and thegods, etc.8

O t hma r K e e l ' s g roundbre a k i ng w ork , The Symbolism of the Bibli-cal World demonst ra tes this use of a r t to i l lus t ra te these la rger cul tura lconst ruc ts . 9 By ana lyz ing the ico nog raph y of the anc ien t Near East , Kee lexplores ancient cosmologies, notions of kingship, and humanity's ways ofapproaching deities, among other topics. Overall , Keel shows how ancientNear Easte rn images can and do i l lus t ra te the anc ient concept ions tha twere the common heritage of the biblical authors. Keel 's work has usheredin a new e ra of iconographica l resea rch.

A T Y P O L O G Y O F I C O N O G R A P H I C S T U D I E SAs a re la t ive ly recent venture wi thin bibl ica l and anc ient Near Easte rnstudies, scholars have liberally applied the rubric "iconographic study" toa variety of pursuits. One could disti l l these studies into three related sub-f ields, each mo t iva ted by a di ffe rent ques t ion: (1) How does on e d isce rnthe meaning(s) / s igni f icance of an anc ient Near Easte rn image? (2) Howdoes one reconst ruc t anc ient Near Easte rn his tory and re l igion wi th thehe lp of these images? (3) How can these images inform readings of pa r-ticular biblical texts?T H E I C O N O G R A P H I C - A R T I S T I C A P P R O A C HThe f i rs t ques t ion spurs the s tud y of iconography qu a i conography, wha tmight be called the iconographic-artistic approach. At the risk of oversim-


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148L E M O N : I C O N O G R A P H I C A P P R O A C H E Sapproachemploys iconography for the r econst ruc t ion of anc ient Ne i rEaste rn his tory and cul tura l phenomena . Uehl inger 's r ecent s tudy of t ieLac hish Reliefs (f ig. 6) provid es a clear exam ple of this m o d e of investiga.-t ion.15 H e treats the fa m ou s reliefs as a "pictorial narrative"16 t ha t mus t i e"read fo r i t se lf " acc ord ing to the pr inc iples and convent ion s of Assyrianar t . Uehl inger 's pr i m ar y goa l i s to t r ea t the re l ie f s as a u niq ue his tor ia lvoice , s tanding a longside a rchaeologica l , t extua l , and bibl ica l sources ,tha t can cont r ibute to a be t te r und er s tand ing of Sennacher ib 's campaignagainst Judah.1J

A re la ted goa l governs Kee l and Uehl inger 's Gods, Goddesses, andImages of God in Ancient Israel.18 In this prime example of t he iconograpM-cal-historical approach, the authors' aim is not to enrich the understandingof a pa r t ic ula r his tor ica l event but r a th e r to t r ack the deve lo pme nt ( i.e .,the histo ry) of religious tradit ions in Syria-Palestine usi ng icon ograph y isa pr im ary source of da ta . The authors ma inta in tha t icono grap hy re f lec ts

Fig. 6 . Wal l re l i ef ; Nineveh; e ighth century B.C.E. A f t e r D a n i e l U s s i s hk i n ,The Conquest of Lachish by Sennacherib (Tel Aviv Un iversity Publicationsof the Inst i tute of Archaeology 6; 1982) , f ig . 68. Courtesy of theInst i tute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv Univers i ty .

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Fig. 4 . Pi thos A; Kunt i l l et Ajrud; Iron Age IIB.After Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, an d Images,fig.219.

Fig. 5 . Cyl inder seal ; Beth-shean; Iron Age IIC.After Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, an d Images,fig.308.


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15 1E M O N : I C O N O G R A P H I C A P P R O A C H E SPsa lms. He has i sola ted 507 occur rences of metaphor ica l language forGod, which he then groups into seventeen categories (e.g. , God of heaven,God as war r ior , God as king, God as rock, Go d as judge) .21 Fur ther , eachca tegory conta ins a se r ies of sub met apho rs . Kl ingbei l ident i f ies the ico-nography tha t inte rac ts wi th and i l lumines the la rger "God as war r ior "and "God of heaven" metaphors by ident i fying a r t i s t ic depic t ions of thevar ious submetaphors .

In Strawns exhaustive analysis of leonine imagery in the Hebrew Bibleand the anc ient Near East , he emphasizes the point tha t metaphors a re"contextua l ly condi t ioned"; tha t i s , semant ic and cul tura l contexts havean impac t on the "const ruc t ion, r ecept ion, and inte rpre ta t ion of a meta -phor."22 I f the mod ern r eader and anc ient wr i te r do not share a c om mo nknowledge of the subjec t of the metaphor and the se t of assoc ia t ions i tevokes , then, according to S t rawn, " the ful l s igni f icance of the use r 'smetaphor may be los t to ( and on) the r ece iver . " 23 Strawn the n proce edsto explore how iconography of l ions can inform bibl ica l texts desc r ib-ing YHW H as a l ion or desc r ibing par t icula r ac tor s , such as the enemieswithin the psalms, as l ions or l ike l ions.E V A L U A T I O N

The mer i t s of these iconographic s tudies of metapho rs and l i te ra ry imag-e ry cannot be over s ta ted. Kee l has sys temat ica l ly appl ied iconographicmaterial to r ich and evocative text and, in doing so, has blazed the trailfor other s employing his methods . For the i r pa r t , Kl ingbe i l and St rawnhave provided par t icula r ly sophis t ica ted t r ea tmen ts of the inte r sec t ion ofmetaphor theory and iconographic s tudy. Ye t , a s we have seen thus f a r ,these schola r s ut i l iz ing the iconographic -bibl ica l approach have tendedto focus on how iconographic mate r ia l f rom the anc ient Near East caninform inte rpre ta t ions of disc re te metaphors w i thin the bibl ica l text. On econsequence of these inves t iga t ions i s tha t the iconographic s tudies havetended to treat relatively small l i terary contexts, namely, the text immedi-a te ly sur rounding the metaphor .

The same could even be sa id about Kee l 's programmat ica l ly icono-graphic commenta ry on the Song of Songs . In his int roduc t ion to thecommenta ry, Kee l a rgues tha t the Song of Songs i s a r e la t ive ly r andomcol lec tion of for ty- three disc re te l i te ra ry uni t s , each com pr is ing n o morethan a few verses.24 Thus, when he employs iconographic da ta to inte rpre tmetaphors in the Song, his discuss ion i s l imi ted to these smal l uni t s of

M E T H O D M A T T E R 46polit ical, social, and especially relig iou s realities of an y given pe riod. This,iconography can be " read" to de t e rm ine the disc re te sym bol i c sys tems t la tund erlie individ ual perio ds of Syro- Palestinian histo ry. Fu rther , an analy-s i s of the changes in the a r t i s t ic r eco rd informs an u nd ers tan din g of thedev elop men t of the religious belie fs and practices. I t is notable tha t thepractit ioners of the iconographic-historical approach typically treat icono-graphic sources as the pr im ary m od e of inquiry, su ch tha t bibl ica l textsbecome secondary or even ter tiary sources of religio-historical data. SilviaSchroer an d Keel are carrying out th is approach to th e fullest exten t withthe multivolume "history of religion in images," Die Ikonographie Palasti-nas/Israels und der Alte Orient: Eine Religionsgexhichte in B ildern.19

T H E I C O N O G R A P H I C - B I B L I C A L A P P R O A C H

The t h i r d mo de of i c ono gr a ph i c s t udy t he i c ono gr a ph i c - b i b l i c a lapproachis closely related to the f irst two. This approach employs ico-nography for the express purpose of inte rpre t ing the Bible 's l i t e ra ryimagery and f igura tive language , espec ia l ly metapho rs . Num erous workscould b e cited that fall within thi s category, but i t will suff ice to highlight aha ndf u l o f studies: Keel 's commentary on the Song of Songs; Martin Kling-beil 's investigation of "warrior" and "g od of heaven" ima gery in th e Psalms;and Brent S t rawns examina t ion of leonine imagery and metaphor .

In his commenta ry on the Song of Songs , Kee l presents the c lea res tdesc r ipt ion of his iconographic -bibl ica l method, which might be charac-ter ized as the "concentr ic circles" approach. When faced with a diff icult orambiguous l i te ra ry image , Kee l advoca tes f i r s t explor ing the immedia tecontext of the l i terary image to f ind clues to i ts meaning. Second, he advo-cates searching the Song of Songs ( the next concentr ic circle) for similarimagery for compar ison. Thi rd, he suggests tha t one look to the ent i r eHebrew Bible , g iving spec ia l considera t ion to contexts similar to that ofthe Song. After textual avenues have been exhausted, Keel advocates theengagement of nontextual sources, particularly "pictorial images in seals,amulets , ivories, and other valuables."20 Keel 's approach provides a helpfulguide for gathering data and evaluating the relative importance of biblicalversus iconographic evidence. However, one is lef t to wonder: How shouldone judge between contrasting evidence within the same concentr ic circle,as data within each concentr ic circle can and often do conflict?

In Klingbeil 's detailed study of "warrior" and "god of heaven" imag-e ry, he ident i f ies a se r ies of metaphors and sub metaph ors for God in th e


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15 2L E M O N : I C O N O G R A P H I C A P P R O A C H E Sr e fe r r ing pars pro toto to the protec t ing presen ce a f fo rded by the temple .21(3) S ti l l o the r s a rgue tha t the image of YHW H' s win gs i s bes t and mos!s imply unders tood as a conceptua l metaphor: YH W H IS A BIRD.27

The problem is tha t schola r s suppor t ing a l l three of these proposa lscan and do appea l to iconographica l da ta in suppor t of the i r a rguments ,How, then, should one weigh these var ious , complex, and potent ia l lycont radic tory iconographic da ta? Jus t one a r t i f ac t f rom Syr ia -Pa les t ineillustrates the diff iculties one faces when bringing iconography to bear 01the l i te ra ry image of YH WH in winged form . The famous Megid do ivorydepicts a scene in which many wings appear . The tableau might well suppor t three di f f e rent ways for inte rpre t ing the image of the winged YHWH:divine image ; metonym; and metaphor . Wings appear as an aspec t of adivine image , namely, the sun disk suspended above the t r iumphant onein his chariot. Does YHWH's winged form reflect this image? With regardto the metonymie opt ion, one notes tha t wings a l so appear on a cherubadorning the throne of the roya l f igure . Might YHWH's wings r e fe r to asimilar representation of YHWH's cherubim throne in the temple? Finally,three (winged) bi rds appear in this scene a ro und the thro ne of the roya lf igure: one under the seat and two in f l ight. Does the image of YHWH'swings come f ro m such "na tura l is t ic" depic t ions of birds , making YHWH'swings a metaphor? To which, then, of these iconographic mot i f s , i f any,does the verba l image of YHW H's wings most closely relate?

When, as in Ps 17, the iconographic mate r ia l s provide potent ia l lycontradictory evidence, one way forward is to explore more fully the li ter-a ry context of the bibl ical image . To bor row a nd mo dify s l ightly Wil l iamBrown's terminology, one should map the "iconic structure" of a text; asone unders tands the l i te ra ry image in i t s la rger context , one can be t te rexplore the poss ible r e la t ionships wi th iconographic mate r ia l s .

28Thisprocess enta i l s under s tanding the psa lm as a conste l la t ion of l i t e ra ry

Fig. 7 . Ivory plaque; Megiddo; Late Bronze Age. After Keel and Uehl inger, Gods,Goddesses, an d Images, fig. 65; cf. Loud, The Megiddo Ivories, pi. 4,2a and 2b.


text in which each image resides. Evaluating Keel 's form-crit ical conclu-sions abo ut the Son g is no t my goal here. I wish on ly to p o in t out that, inthis promin ent exam ple of the iconographic -bibl ica l approach , Kee l loesnot assess the larger l iterary context of each image d u e to th e form-crit icaldecisions he has mad e about th e size of the discrete l i ter ary units in whichthe images a re embedded.I n s ho r t , a s i c onogr a ph i c - b i b l i c a l a pp r oa c he s ha ve be c ome mor eprominent and focused on inte rpre t ing individua l metaphors , the la rgerliterary conte xts of the biblical images have te nd ed to rece ive relativelylit t le attention. Thus, while many prac tit ioners of the icon ographic-biblicalapproach have been ca re ful to avoid f r agmenta ry r eadings of iconographicconstellations according to Keel 's apt admonition cited above, these sameinte rpre te r s have of ten tended toward l i te rary " f ragmen ta t ion. " This ten-dency does not diminish the va lue of these s tudies . Ins tead, the ca re fulwork on m etapho rs don e by Kee l , Kl ingbe i l, and St rawn ( to nam e but afew) opens up avenues for scholarship to apply iconographic data to ever-larger l i terary contex ts. Said differently, the next po ten tial advan ceme ntof the iconographic -bibl ica l appro ach i s for schola r s to br ing ever- largerconste l la tions of li t e ra ry imagery into conversa t ion wi th co ngru ent con-stellations of iconographic motifs. Moreover, comparing constellations ofl i te ra ry and pic tor ia l imagery may he lp one de te rmine the backgroundand signif icance of l i terary imagery that might otherwise be tremendouslydiff icult to identify. An exam ple will help clar ify this p oint.

C A S E S T U D Y : Y H W H ' s W I N G E D F O R M IN P S A L M 1 7

A compel l ing image of YH WH in winged form appear s in Ps 17:8, "Hideme in the shado w of your wings" (bsl knapka tastirn). I t seems clearin the context of the psa lm tha t the wings connote YHWH's protec t ion,as they do in the other f ive occurrences of this image in the Psalms (36:8;57:2; 61:5; 63:8; 91:4) . Yet scholars have disagreed widely abo ut th e bac k-groun d, mean ing, and s igni f icance of thi s image . A survey of the r a therextensive scholarship o n this issue reveals that there are basically three pro -pos is for inte rpre t ing YH WH wi th wings . (1) Some schola rs und er s tandthe wings to evoke some sort of divine image, tha t i s , the icono graphy ofdeities such as a winged sun-god or other winged gods or goddesses, suchas Assur or Isis and Nephthys. 25 (2) Other s und er s tand the wings in thesepsa lms to r e fe r to the wings of the cherubim in the temple (or on the a rkitself) . According to this interpretation, the wings function as a metonym,


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155E M O N : I C O N O G R A P H I C A P PR O AC H ESthe divine order . Three aspec ts of divine judgeship appear in the psa lm:YH W H serves as lawgiver (17:4) , exa min er (17:1-6) , an d ex ecuter of jus-tice (17:7-15).30 The imagery of YHW H as war r ior and execu tor of jus ticeculmina tes in 17:13b-14, wh ich conta in a vic ious impreca t ion aga ins t theenemies . 31 YHW H's sword br i ngs de l ive rance to the ps a lm is t an d ut te rdes t ruc t io n to the enemy, to su ch an extent tha t the ju dg me nt r esoundsthrough the genera t ions .Y H W H A S W I N G E D L I O N - SL A Y E R

Wh en one takes a l l th i s vivid imag ery toge ther , the enti r e psa lm presentsan a r res t ing juxtaposi t ion of images: YHWH in the form of a wingedanthropomorphic de i ty encounte r ing enemies in the form of l ions , whichYHWH dispatches with his sword in a brutal and eff icient manner (17:13).An image of such an encou nte r ap pear s f r equent ly in th e icono graphyof the anc ient Near East , e spec ia l ly in seventh-century B. C. E . C ypr o -Phoen ic ian a r t . In a si lve r bow l f rom Kour io n, for exam ple , a winged,anthro pom orph ic de i ty ba t t le s a l ion a t the cente r pane l .

Fig. 8 . Si lver bowl; Salamis; seventh century B.C.E.After Strawn, What Is Stronger, f ig . 4 .214.

M E T H O D M A T T E R 46imagesimages tha t come toge ther to c rea te meaning in much the sameway as numerous individua l a r t i s t ic mot i f s const i tute an a r t i s t ic scene .Mapping the iconic s t ruc ture of a t ext presumes tha t the charac te r iza -tion of the actors in the text creates a ser ies of pictures in the mind of thereader .

Psa lm 17 pic tures three ma in ac tor s : the psa lmis t ; God; and the ene-mies . The psa lmis t por t r ays him se l f a s the very esse nce of r ighteousnessand one wh o i s despera te ly in need of Y HW H's help (17:1-5 ,15) . Accord-ing to the logic of the psa lm, the r ighteousness of the psa lmis t mer i t sYHWH's dec is ive saving ac t ion. Armed wi th this conf idence of his ownr ighteousness , the psa lmis t consis tent ly pe t i tions Y H W H to co nf ront andover throw the psa lmist ' s enemies (17:13-14 ) .

The enemies a re diametr ica l ly oppose d to the psa lm is t an d to YHWH .Whi le YHWH's mouth and l ips a re r ighteous (17:1, 4) , the mouth of theenem y is rebellious and pro ud (17 :10). While the psalm ist 's heart has beentested an d prov en r igh teou s (17:3) , th e hea rt of the wic ked is fat , that is,dull and unresponsive (17:10). And while the psalmist hides for protectionun der th e wings of YH W H (17:8) , the enem ies hide in a different place fora different purp ose; l ike lions they seize prey without wa rni ng (17:12).

The description of the enemies as l ions in 17:12 is pivotal for under-s tanding the i r charac te r iza t ion. In the mi nd of the r eader / suppl ian t , themar t ia l imagery of the enemies sur rou ndin g (17:9) , advanc ing, an d enc i r -c l ing the psa lmis t (17:11) combines wi th the leonine imagery to convey ate r r i fying composi te pic ture of the foes . The psa lmis t pleads for YHWHto overthrow these enemies / this l ion (17:13), in response to their desireto over throw the psa lmis t (17:11) . In sum, the imagery of the enemiesas lurking, s landerous , violent l ion-war r ior s i s a grave threa t tha t YH WHmust overcome.29

YHWH's t r iumph over the enemies i s r ea l ized only when the psa lm-1st beholds YH WH 's tmna, the divine "form" (17:15). What, then, is theform of YHWH tha t the psa lmis t so des i r es to see? Anthropomorphismsfor YHW H a boun d in the psa lm. God i s desc r ibed as having eyes (17:2,8) ,ears (17:1, 6 ), lips (17:4), hands (17:7, 14), and a face (17:2, 15). Verse 13fur ther desc r ibes YHWH bear ing a sword. This anthropomorphic imag-ery combines with the reference to the wings of YHWH in 17:8 to create acomposi te pic ture of YHW H in the m ind of the r eader ( see be low) .

Moving f rom God's physica l a t t r ibutes to God's ac t ions , the psa lmclearly depic ts YHW H as a judge , the God of r ighteousness wh o c rea tesand preserves orderly relationships, in part by punishing those who violate


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15 6L E M O N : I C O N O G R A P H I C A P P R O A C H E SA n i n t h - c e n t u r y B.C.E. wall relieff r o m N i m r u d i l l u s t ra t e s t h i sa r t i s t ic t r adi t ion ( f ig . 10) , onw hi c h a w i nge d ge n i us g r a s p sthe r ea r legs of two l ions , wh ichin turn a re a t tacking bovines .The tro pe of win ged f iguresgrasping a l ion or l ions has a veryl ong t r a d i t i on i n a nc i e n t N e a rEaste rn a r t and appear s over awide geographic r ange .34 H o w -ever, the only direct ico no gra ph ic Fig. 11. Relief; Tell Halaf; ninth centurypara l le l to the Cypro-Phoenic ian B.C.E. After Keel, fahwe-Visionen,fig.136.bow l s i s a n i n t h - c e n t u r y B . C . E .relief fro m Tell Halaf (fig. 11).

The remarka ble similar ity b etwe en th e Tell Halaf relief and t he Cypro-Phoenic ian bowlssome two centur ies la te rat tes t s tha t th i s pa r t icula rimage was s table and wel l -k now n th roug hout Syr ia -Pa les t ine in the IronAge and later . Based on the apparent availabili ty and distr ibution of thisimagery, we may conclude that the psalmist redeployed it in l i terary formin Ps 17 with Yawheh as the sword-wielding, winged lion-slayer and theenemies as l ions.Y H W H A S A FA L CO N

More than o ne iconographic conste l la t ion can inform an unders tan ding ofthe psa lm's charac te r iza tion of God, however . Indeed, wh en ut i l iz ing theiconographic -bibl ica l approach, one must r ecognize tha t mul t iple icono-graphic conste l lat ions can provide backgro und and compara t ive m ate r ia lby which to understand the Bible 's l i terary imagery. Space does not permita full exploration of all the congruent iconographic motifs for Ps 17.35 Le tit suffice here to say that, just as one can argue for the Cy pro-P hoe nicia nbowls as a congruent constellation of images, so also could one argue thatthe image of God's wings in Ps 17 der ives f rom the image of the Horusfa lcon of fe r ing protec t ion to the k ing.

In both its or iginal Egyptian context and in Syro-Palestinian iconog-raphy, the f a lcon f r equent ly appear s wi th wings o utspread over or towardan image of the king. 36 Thus the falcon serves as a symbol of divine p rotec -t ion and autho r iza t ion of the king and, indeed, divine incarna t ion in th e

M E T H O D M A T T E R 46

Fig. 9b. Detai l offig. 9a.

Fig. 10. Detai l of wal l re l ief ; ninth cen tur yB.C.E. ; Nimrud. After Strawn, What Is

Stronger, fig. 4.215.

Fig. 9a. Si lver bowl; early seventh century B.C.E.;Idal ion. After Markoe, Phoenician Bronzean d Silver Bowls, 242.

The same scene a l so appear snume r ous t i me s on a s e ve n t h -c e n t u r y B. C. E . s i lve r bowl f romIda l ion. In this piece the imagea ppe a r s no t i n t he c e n t e r bu ta l t e r na t i ng w i t h i ma ge s o f ayoung hero slaying a griff in (f ig.9a, b).32

The Phoenic ian a r t i sans whoc r e a t e d t he s e bow l s w e r e bo r -rowing f rom a wel l - es tabl i shedA s s y r i a n a r t i s t i c t r a d i t i on o fwinged f igures in combat wi thl ions . 33 N e o- A s s y r i a n a r t p r o -vides numerous examples of thi smot i f , though th e winged f igureis never pictured with a sword, asin the Cypro-Phoenic ian bowls .


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L E M O N : I C O N O G R A P H I C A P P R O A C H E S 1 58f o u r s c h e m a t i z e d p a i r s o f f a l c o n w i n g s ; t h eb o d i e s o f t he falcons a r e n o t d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e .

N u m e r o u s o t h e r S y r o - P a l e s t i n i a n s e a l sdep ic t s imila r scenes . For exa mp le , a n inth - tos e v e n t h - c e n t u r y B. C. E . s e a l f r o m A c h z i b p i c -tu res a sea ted king wi th a uraeus e x t e n d i n gf r o m h i s m o u t h ( f i g . 1 4 ) . F a c i n g h i m a r e t w ol a r g e o u ts p r ea d f a l c o n s w i n g s , t h e b o d y o f t h ef a l c o n b e i n g r e p re s e n t e d o n l y a s a s l i m s t a l k -l ike l ine connec ted to the upper wing. Two sund i s k s a p p e a r b e t w e e n t h e k i n g a n d t h e w i n g s ,a l o n g w i t h a d j e d - p i l l a r , a s y m b o l o f s t a b i l -i t y a n d o r d e r . S o , w h i l e t h e f a l c o n s b o d y h e r eh a s b e e n r a d ic a ll y s c h e m a t i z e d , t h e w i n g s a r ec e r t a i n l y t o b e u n d e r s t o o d a s b e l o n g i n g t o t h efa lcon because of the conste l la t ion of images in the scene .

I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o n o t e h e r e t h a t i n t h e m a n y d e p i c t i o n s o f b i r d s i nS y r o - P a l e s t in i a n i c o n o g r a p h y ( i. e ., v u l t u r e s , o s t r i c h e s , r o o s t e r s , d o v e s ) ,only fa lcons a re depic ted w i th outs t re tched w ings in ges tures of protec t ionand author iza t ion in the I ron Age or la te r . In l ight of th is Syro-Pa les t in-ian iconograph ica l t r adi t io n, i t beco mes c lea r tha t th e protec t ing wings ofY H W H i n P s 1 7 s h o u l d n o t b e u n d e r s t o o d i n a so l el y n a tu r a l i s t i c m a n n e r .Tha t i s to say, the psa lmis t i s not s im ply employing t he co ncep tua l m e ta -p h o r Y A H W E H I S A B I R D . R a th e r , w h e n t h e p s a l m i s t s p e a k s o f Y H W H ' sw i n g s , h e s e e m s t o b e e v o k i n g t h e p a r t i c u l a r i c o n o g r a p h y o f t h e f a lc o n ,w h i c h p r o t e c t s a n d a u t h o r i z e s t h e r u l e o f t h e d i v i n e l y a p p o i n t e d a n d ,thus , impl ic i t ly r ighteous king ( see 17:1 , 15) . One should note , too, tha tma ny in te rpre te r s have suggested tha t the suppl iant in Ps 17 is indee d thek i n g .39

Y H W H A S A W I N G E D S U N D IS K

B u t t h e i c o n o g r a p h y o f w i n g e d l i o n - s l a y e r s a n d f a l c o n s d o e s n o t e x h a u s tt h e p o s s i b i li t i e s f o r i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e l i t e r a r y im a g e o f Y H W H w i t h w i n g sin Ps 17. Tha t imagery a lso f inds congruence in the iconography of wingeds u n d i s k s, o n e o f t h e m o s t c o m m o n m o t i f s i n a n c i e n t N e a r E a s t e r n a n d ,spec ifica l ly , Syro-Pa les t in ian ar t f r om the La te Bronze Age to the P ers ianper iod. Ta l lay Ornan has recent ly t r aced the deve lopment of the image oft h e w i n g e d s u n d i s k a s i t m o v e d f r o m i t s o r ig i n i n E g y p t i a n i c o n o g r a p h y

n i n t h - s e v e n t h c e n t u r yB. C. E. After Keel , Stu&en

zu den Stempelsiegeln,125, fig. 10.

METHOD MATTER146

Fig. 12. Wal l re l i ef of Set i I ; Chapel of Set i I at Abydos; Nineteenth Dynasty.After Keel, Studin zu den Stempelsiegeln, 131, fig. 54.

person of the king.37 A relief of Seti I providesa n e x a m p l e f r o m E g y p t i a n a r t i n w h i c h t w os u c h f a l c o n s a p p e a r : o n e a b o v e a n d b e h i n dt h e k i n g ' s h e a d w i t h o u t s t r e t c h e d w i n g s ; a n da n o t h e r a s a p a r t o f h i s t h r o n e w i t h i t s w i n g sw r a p p e d a r o u n d t h e l o w e r t o r s o o f t h e k i n g i na c lea r ges ture of protec t ion ( f ig . 12) .

T h i s i c o n o g r a p h i c n e x u s m i g r a t e d f r o mE g y p t i n t o S y r o - P a l e s t i n i a n m i n i a t u r e a r t ,w h e r e i m a g e s o f a k i n g o n a t h r o n e s u r -r o u n d e d b y f a l c o n s a p p e a r f r e q u e n t l y , a s i nthis sca rab f rom Te l l e l -Aj jul ( f ig . 13) . 38 T h ecentr a l f igure can be iden t i f ied as a k i ng inp a r t b e c a u s e o f t h e c la s s ic E g y p t i a n t h r o n eupon which he sits. The figure is f lanked by

Fig. 13. Seal, Tell el-Ajjul,t e n t h - n i n t h c e n t u ryB.C.E. After Keel , Studin

zu den Stempelsiegeln,125, fig. 7.


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160L E M O N : I C O N O G R A PH I C A PPR O A C H E S

Fig. 17. Rel ief ; Nimrud; 883-859B . C . E . After Keel , Symbolism of

the Biblical World,fig.296.

gest that this dei ty is in mot ion, onthe attack.

The de i ty pic tured in a ninth-c e n t u r y B. C. E . r e l ie f f rom Nimrudprovides another example . In thisr e p r e s e n t a t i on , t he t o r s o o f t hef i gu r e a ppe a r s e nc i r c l e d w i t h i nthe disk (fig. 17). This figure is alsovery c lea r ly on the a t tack as hedraws back his bow and preparesto shoot his arrow.

Ornan a rgues tha t the mar t ia laspect of the f igure in these images confirms his identity as Assur. 41 Thisa rgument puts he r a t odds , however , wi th Ruth Mayer -Opif icus , amongother s , who a rgues tha t Samas i s r epresented in the disk. 42 Yet Omanr ight ly contend s tha t the w inged d isk could se rve as a symb ol for twogods in the same culture, in this case, both Assur and Samas. As a result ,the winged disk in Assyr ian a r t bear s a "double meaning. " 43 The com-plexi ty of the sym bol i s consis tent wi th i t s hi s tory throu gho ut th e la rgerancient N ear East. Since it was originally an Eg yptian symb ol that was f irstadopted into Phoenic ian a r t and subsequent ly adopted by Mesopotamianartists, i t should come as no surprise that the winged disk could representtwo different deities, even at the same time and within the same culture.

The complex symbol ism ofthe winged disk a l so per ta insin the a r t of Syro-Pa les t ine .A n e xa mpl e o f a Me s o po t a -mian-s tyle winged disk can bes e e n i n a n i n t h - c e n t u r y B. C. E .relief from Tell Halaf , in whicha winged sun disk i s pic turedw i t h t w o bu l l - me n s uppor t i ngit ( f ig. 18) . The constellation ofimages suggests tha t the imager e p r e s e n t s S a ma s , t he Me s o -po t a mi a n s o l a r - god o f o r de r ,justice, and law.44 Fig. 18. Wall relief; Tell Halaf; nin th

Tha t the w i n g e d d i s k c o u l d c e n tu r y B . C . E . A f t e r O r na n , "A C o m pl e xs e r v e a s a n e m b l e m f o r bo t h Sy s t e m o f R e l i g i o us Sy m bo l s, " f ig . 2 3 .

M E T H O D M A TT E R14 6

Fi g . 1 5. Wi ng e d s un d i s k f r o m a s t e la o f R a m e s s e s I I, N i ne t e e nt h D y na s t y .After Keel, Studin zu ien Stempelsiegeln, 133, fig. 73.throughout the la rger anc ient Near East .40 As Mes opotam ian and Syr ianar t i s t s appropr ia ted the image , mi l i ta ry and anthropomorphic e lementsappear in the iconography, features that were absent in i ts or iginal Egyp-tian form (f ig. 15) .

Orna n points to the glazed t i le of Tukul t i -Ninur ta I I (890 -884 B.C.E. )as an example of the anthropomorphiz ing and mi l i ta r iz ing of the wingeddisk (f ig. 16) . A two-winged deity with feathers for lower-partsor wear-ing a ski r t made f rom fea ther sis incorpora ted wi thin wha t appear s tobe a blazing sun disk. The deity in the disk bears a drawn bow with arrowready. The s l ightly dipped fo rward wing, disce rnible by re fe rence to theregisters of text above, and the face of the deity in profile combine to sug-

Fig. 16. Glazed t i l e of Tukul t i Ninurta II ; 888-884 B . C . E .After Keel, Symbolism of the Biblical World,fig.295.


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163E M O N : I C O N O G R A P H I C A P P R O A C H ES

Fig. 19. Rabbi t or Duck? Cf . Mitchel l ,Picture Theory, 46, fig. 3.

of the symbol ic texture of theHebrew Bible.

F i n a ll y , o n e i m p o r t a n ti mp l i c a t i on o f t h i s t ype o ficonographic -bibl ica l approachde s e r ve s me n t i on . The c a s estudy on Ps 17 reveals that cer-tain biblical images can evokea n u m b e r o f i c o n o g r a p h i cmot i f s a t the same t ime . Onem a y u n d e r s t a n d t h e s e m u l -t i p l e me a n i ngs o f t he i ma geof Y H W H 's w i ngs by a na l ogyt o t he phe nome non o f " mu l -t i s tabi l i ty" in ce r ta in types ofvisua l imagery. Mul t i s tabi l i tyoc c u r s w he r e a n i ma ge c on -veys two di f f e rent but equa l lyva l i d i n t e r p r e t a t i ons s i mu l t a -neously.46 Two classic exampleso f t h i s ph e no me no n a r e t herabbi t -duck ( f ig . 19) , and thefaces-goblet (f ig. 20) . In eac h ofthese images, two equally validinte rpre ta t ions toggle back andforth in the observer 's perception.

Ana logica l ly , one may thus see the winged YHWH in Ps 17 as a lit-erary image exhibi t ing mul t i s tabi l i ty . S t i l l , the mul t i s table image of thewinged Y HW H is not "unstable ." There i s a l imi t to the poss ible inte rpre -ta t ions of tha t image based on congruent iconographica l conste l la t ions .B y t a k i ng i c onog r a ph i c c on t e x t , pe r i od i z a t i on , a nd ge ogr a p hy i n t oaccount , one can exc lude ce r ta in inte rpre ta t ions of bibl ica l images; soa lso wi th the mul t i s table visua l images above . The duck inte rpre ta t ionand the r abbi t in te rpre ta t ion a re the only viable " readings" of f igure 19.A forkl i f t , for example , i s not a r easonable inte rpre ta t ion of the im age .Fur ther , whi le one could a rgue for inte rpre t ing f igure 20 as two faces ora goblet, or even an inverted candlestick, one cannot interpret i t as, say, arocking chair .

Similar ly, the analysis of iconographic congruencies for Ps 17 excludes

Fig. 20. Two Faces or a Goblet? Cf .R a y m o nd J. C o r s in i , The Dictionaryof Psychology (Philadelphia:B r unne r / M a z e l , 1 9 9 9 ) , 8 5 4 .

M E T H O D M A T T E R 46Assur and Samas has impl ica t ions fo r the inte rpre ta t ion of the wings ofYHWH in Ps 17:8, where YHWH is depic ted c lea r ly as a mi l i tant de i tyable and wi l l ing to devasta te the enemy , l ike the win ged Assur wi thin thedisk, but a l so as a divine judge who i s conc erned wi th c rea t ing and m ain-taining order , l ike Samas.45 In sum, by desc ribing Y H W H in winged formin Ps 17, the psa lmis t has draw n, at leas t in pa r t , f ro m the iconograp hy ofthe winged disk, a r ich image tha t ca n evoke the ide as of divine mi l i ta rys t r ength and wor ld-ord er ing jus t ice .T H E M U L TI S TA B I LI T Y OF Y H W H ' s W I N G S I N P SA LM 1 7

In l ight of this analysis of the wings of Y HW H in Ps 17, i t is wise to recon -s ider the lessons lea rned a t the dawn of the twent ie th century about there la t ionship be tween texts and images . Sm i th, De li tz sch, and Fradenburg hlooked a t the icono graphic "con ste l la t ion" in the "Adam and Eve" seal inthe Br it i sh Mu seum a nd ident i f ied wh a t they presumed to be congrue ntl i te rary images in Gen 3. However , faul ty assumpt ions do om ed the i r ana l -ys is , among them tha t anc ient a r t r e fe r s s t r a ight forwardly to l i te ra ture .Modern inte rpre te r s must a lways r eckon wi th the f ac t tha t the r e la t ion-ship be tween the l i te ra ry images and iconographica l ones i s r emarkablycomplex; clearly, there are no simple "il lustrations" l ike the "Adam andEve" seal once seemed to be.

The most im por tan t le sson tha t on e can learn f rom these ea rly icono-graphic ana lyses i s tha t the ful l a r t -his tor ica l context of the images m ustbe taken into account i f one wants to say anything wor thwh i le about there la t ionship be tween texts and images . Thus , for those pur suing the icon-ographic -bibl ica l approach as I have suggested above , the focus must beon thoroug hly inte rdisc iplina ry work. One must emp loy consistent ly non-f ragmenta ry and sophis t ica ted r eadings of iconographic mate r ia l s wi thinthe i r a r t -his tor ica l contexts , a s Kee l , Kl ingbe i l , and St rawn have done ,while at the same time util izing the range of historical-cr it ical and li ter-ary-crit ical approaches within rather large li terary pericopes.

As schola r s begin to compare la rger conste l la t ions of iconographicand li terary materials, as I am suggesting here, the dangers of facile ( andfaul ty) compar isons may cont inue . However , throug h ca re ful a ttent ion tocontext , one can iden t i fy s tr iking a reas of cong ruency w here pic tor ia l andliterary imagery interact. Exploring a text 's iconic structure helps one real-ize the complexi ty and rea l i ty of the numerous inte rac t ions be tween a r tand text , and, thus , one can begin to under s tand and honor the r ichness


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16 4L E M O N : I C O N O G R A PH I C A PPR O A C H E SKeel , Othma r . Song of Songs. Translated by Frede rick J. Gaiser. CC. Min-

neapolis: Fortress, 1994.. The Symbolism of the Biblical W orld: Ancient Near Eastern Icc-

nography and the Book of Psalms. Translated by Timothy J. Hallett .Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1997.

Kee l , Othmar , and Chr is toph Uehl inger . Gods, Goddesses, and Images o fGod in Ancient Israel. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998.Pr i tchard, James B. The Ancient Near East in Pictures Relating to the Oli

Testament. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.St rawn, Brent A . What Is Stronger Than a Lion? Leonine Image anl

Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East. OBO 212.Fr ibourg: Univer s i t t sver lag; Gt t ingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht ,2005.

Uehlinger , Christoph, ed. , Images as Media: So urces for the Cultural Historyof the Ancient Near East: 1st Millennium BCE. Fribourg: Universitats-ver lag; Gt t ingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , 2000.

N O T E S

1. See, e.g. , Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses and Imagesof God in Ancient Israel (trans. Thomas H. Trapp; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998), xi.2 . George Smith, The Chaldean Account of Genesis (London: Sam pson Low, Mar-ston, Searle 8c Rivington, 1876) , 90- 91, emphasis added. See al so T . C. Mitchel l , Th eBible in the British Museum: Interpreting the Evidence (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist, 2004),24. Mitchell refers to this object as the "Temptation Seal."3. Friedrich Delitzsch, Babel and Bible: Two Lectures on the Significance ofAssyri-ological Research for Religion, Embodying the Most Important Criticisms and theAuthor's Replies ( trans . Thomas J. McCormack and W. H. Carruth; Chicago: OpenCourt , 1903) , 48, emphasis added.

4. J. N. Fradenburgh, Witnesses from the Dust, or The Bible: Illustrated from theMonuments (Cincinnat i : Cranston 8c Stowe, 1886) , 50-51 , emphasis added.5 . D o m i n i qu e C o l l o n , First Impressions: Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 36.6. Jeremy Black and Antho ny Green, Gods, Demons, and Symbo ls of Ancient Mes-opotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary (London: Bri t i sh Museum Press , 1992) , 166-67.7. See, e.g. , Yigael Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands in Light ofArchae-ological Study ( trans . M. Pearlman; 2 vol s . ; Ne w York: McGra w-Hi l l , 1963); JamesPritchard, The Ancient Near East in Pictures: Relating to the Old Te stament (2nd ed. ;Princeton: Princeton Univers i ty Press , 1969); Hugo Gref imann, Altorientalische Texteund Bilder zum Alten Testament (2nd ed.; 2 vols.; Berlin: de Gruyter, 192 6-1 927 ).8. Othmar Keel, "Iconography and the Bible," AB D 3:357-74, here 360-61.9. Othmar Keel , The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Ico-

M E T H O D M A T T E R 46

cer ta in inte rpre ta t ions . An ana lys is of psa lms icon ic s t ruc ture denies , forexample, the possibili ty that the wings of YHWH in the Psalter refer to thewings of the cherubim of the temple , a s many have c la imed. In the contextof Ps 17, the wings of YHWH be long to YHWH a lone , not to any otherc rea ture . Fur thermore , nowhere in the bibl icd text nor in Syro-Pa les t in-ian iconography do the cherubim appear as subst i tutes for YHWH or anyother chief deity.47 Moreover , whi le numerous depic t ions of winged cher -ubim appear in Syro-Pa les t inian a r t , an examina t ion of the iconographiccontext of these images reveals no clear examples of such creatures pro-viding protec t ion to humans. The cherubim ra ther ca r ry and suppor t thedeity or k ing (see f ig. 7) .

So whi le the image of YH WH wi t h wings in Ps 17 should n ot be asso-c ia ted wi th the cherubim , the por t r aya l of YHWH in this l it e ra ry contextdoes indeed seem to be r e la ted to three unique iconographic conste l la -t ions in Syro-Pa les t inian a r t : images of winged l ion- s layer s ; the Horusfalcon; and winged sun disks. I t may well be that this multistabili ty of theimage of the winged YHWH in Ps 17 i s wha t makes i t so compel l ing. I tcan convey divine protec t ion in dis t inc t and s t r iking ways . Descr ibing theallure of visual images that exhibit multistabili ty, W. J. T. Mitchell writes:" the ambigui ty of the i r r e fe rent ia l i ty produces a kin d of secondary e f fec tof auto-reference to the drawing as drawing, an invitation to the spectatorto r e turn wi th f asc ina t ion to the myste r ious objec t whose ident i ty seemsso mutable and yet so absolutely singular and definite."48

Mitche l l ' s comments may wel l desc r ibe the phenomenon a t work inthe li terary image as i t appears in Ps 17. For the ancient psalmist, evok-ing YHW H's winged form wi th i t s "ambigui ty of r e fe rent ia l ity" may havepro duc ed a "secon dary effect of auto-refere nce" to the image of the deity,for the entire context of Ps 17 attests to the psalmist 's preoccupation withbe ho l d i ng Y H W H 's " i ma ge " {tmna, v. 15) . Thus , the employment ofthe mul t i s table image of YHW H's wings r evea ls the psa lmis ts f asc ina t ionwith this mysterious divine image, which at once seems so changeable andyet so absolute.

F O R F U R T H E R R E A D I N G

Brown, William P. Seeing the Psalms: A Theology of Metaphor. Louisville:Westminste r John Knox, 2002.

Hulster , Izaak J. de. Iconographic Exegesis and Third Isaiah. FAT 2/36Tiibingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009.


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167E M O N : I C O N O G R A P H I C A P P R O A C H E SPhi ladelphia: Westminster , 1962) , 181; Hans-Joachim Kraus , Psalms 1-59 (trans.Hilton Oswalt; CC; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993), 249; Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51-100(WBC 20; Dal las: Word, 1990) , 78. So al so, earl ier , Charles Augustus Briggs andEmilie Grace Briggs, A Critical and Exegetical Comm entary on the Book of Psalms (2vols.; ed., ICC; Edinburgh : T8cT Clark, 1906, repr., I960), 1:130.27. Fol lowing the convent ions of cogni t ive l inguist ics , conceptual metaphorsa r e o f t e n c ha r a c t e r i z e d t hr o ug h t he f o r m ul a : C O N C E PT U A L D O M A I N ( A ) I SC O N C E PT U A L D O M A I N ( B ) ( s o Z o lt n K v e cs e s , Metaphor: A Practical Introduc-tion [Oxford: Oxford Univers i ty Press , 2002] , 4) . For numerous worked examples ofthi s formula, see George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By (Chicago:Univers i ty of Chicago Press , 1980) , 3-6. Several scholars have proposed that somesort of bird metaphor i s at work in the image of the winged YHWH in the Psalms.Se e H e r m a nn G unke l , Die Psalmen (HKAT; Gtt ingen: Vandenhoeck 8c Ruprecht ,1926) , 57- 59; Marjo C. A. Korpel , A Rift in the Clouds: Ugaritic and Hebrew Descrip-tions of the Divine (UBL 8; Mi inster: Ugari t -Verlag, 1990) , 550; Peter C. Craigie ,Psalms 1-50 (WBC 19; Waco, Tex. : Word, 1983) , 292; Franz Del i tzsch, Commentaryon the Book of Psalms ( trans . David Eaton an d James E . Duguid; Ne w York: Funk &Wagnal l s , 1883) , 298; Richard J. Cl i f ford, Psalms 73-150 (AOTC; Nashvi l l e: Abing-don, 2003) , 103.

28. Wi l l iam P. Brown, Seeing the Psalms: A Theology o f Metaphor (Louisvi l l e:Westminster John Knox, 2002) , 14.29. On the use of l eonine imagery for enemies in the psalms, see Strawn, What IsStronger, 2 4 8 - 5 0 .30. See Brown, Seeing the Psalms, 3 1 - 5 3 .31. Note , however, that 17:14 contains a host of text -cri t i cal problems. Theopt ions for translat ion range widelyfro m regarding the verse as a ruthless impreca-t ion to understand ing i t as a s tatement of generos i ty toward the enemies .32. For the dat ing of thi s piece , see Glenn Markoe, Phoenician Bronze and SilverBowls from Cyprus and the Mediterranean (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univers i ty ofCal i fornia Press , 1985) , 6-12, 154.33. Ibid., 48. For a discussion of the ancient Near Eastern iconographical trope of"The God(s) Fight ing/Encoun tering the Lion," see Strawn, What Is Stronger, 1 8 7 - 9 0 .

34. See, e.g. , a fifteenth-century B.C.E. seal impress ion fro m Nuzi (O thma r Keel,Jahwe-Visionen und Siegelkunst: Eine neue Deutung der Majestatsschilderungen in fes6, Ez 1 und 10 und Sach 4 [SBS 84/85; Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1977], fig.11) and the boss o f a shie ld from Luristan dated from the b eginnin g of the f i rst mi l -l ennium (Strawn, What Is Stronger, fig. 4.209.)

35. See Joel M. LeMo n, Yahweh's Winged Form in the Psalms: Exploring Congru-ent Iconography and Texts (OBO; Fribourg: Academic Press , forthcoming) .36. See Othmar Keel , "Der Pharao al s Sonnengott : E ine Gruppe gypto-pals-tinischer Siegelamulette des 10./9. Jarhunderts," in idem, Studin zu den Stempelsiegelnaus Palastina/Israel, Band 4 (OBO 130; Gtt ingen; Vand enhoe ck 8c Ruprecht; Fri -bourg: Univerttsverlag, 1994) , 94 -95.37. Ibid., 95.38. Ibid.

M E T H O D M A T T E R 46nography and the Book of Psalms (Gerimn orig. , 1972; trans . T imothy J.Hallett; NewYork: Crossroads, 1985).10. See Othm ar K eel , Das Recht dtr Bilder gesehen zu werden: Drei Fallstudienzur Methode der Interpretation altorienlalischer Bilder (OBO 112; Fribourg: Univer-s i tatsverlag; Gtt ingen: Vande nhoe ck 8cRuprecht , 1992) .11. Keel c laims thi s mot i f appears textual ly in fob 38 (Jahwes Entgegnung anIjob: Eine Deutung von Ijob 38-41 vor dem Hintergrund der zeitgenssischen Bildkunst[FRLANT 121; Gtt ingen: Vandenhoecl & Ruprecht , 1978]) .12. Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehl inger, Gods, Goddesses, and Images of Godin Ancient Israel (Minneapol i s : Fortress , 199 8) , 182.13. Ibid., 215.14. Ibid., 294 n. 6.15. Christop h Uehl inger, "Cl io in a Wor ld of Pictures Anoth er Look at theLachish Rel iefs from Sennacherib's Southwest Palace at Nineveh," in Like a Bird ina Cage: The Invasion of Sennach erib in 701 BCE (ed. Lester L. Grabbe; JSOTSup 363;London: Shef f ie ld Academic Press , 2003) , 221-305.16. Ibid., 275.17. Ibid., 244.18. Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, an d Images, 7-9.

19. To date , two of these volumes have been publ i shed: Si lvia Schroer andOthmar Keel , Vom ausgehend en M esolithikum bis zur Friihbronzezeit (vol. 1 of DieIkonograph ie P alastinas/Israels und der Alte Orient: Eine Religionsgeschichte in Bildern;Fribourg: Academic Press , 2004); Si lvia Schroer, Die Mittelbronzezeit (vol. 2 of DieIkonograph ie Pa lastinas/Israel und der Alte Orient: Eine Religionsgeschichte in Bildern;Fribourg: Academ ic Press , 2008) .20. Othmar Keel, The Song of Songs (trans. Frederick J.Gaiser; CC; Minneapol i s :Fortress, 1994), 27.21. Martin Klingbeil , Yahweh Fighting from Heaven: G od as Warrior and as Godof Heaven in the Hebrew P salter and Ancient Near Eastern Icono graphy (OBO 169; Fri-bourg: Universi ttsverlag; Gtt ingen: V andenh oeck 8c Ruprecht 1999) , 28-3 4.22. Brent A. Strawn, What Is Stronger Than a Lion? Leonine Image and Metaphorin the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient N ear East (OBO 212; Fribourg: Acade mic Press;Gtt ingen: Vandenh oeck 8c Ruprecht , 2005) , 10.23. Ibid., 13.24. Keel, The Song of Songs, v - v i .25. Silvia Schroer, "Im Schatten deiner Flgel: Religionsgeschichtliche und femi-nis t i sche Bl icke auf die Metaphorick der Flgel Gottes in den Psalmen, in Ex 19:4;Dtn 32:11 und in Mai 3:20," in "Ihr Vlker alle, klatscht in die Handel": Festschriftfr Erhard S. Gerstenberger zum 65. Gerburtstag (ed. Rainer Kessler et al.; Exegesein unserer Zei t : Kontextuel le Bibel interpretat ionen aus late inamerikanischer undfeminis i s t i scher Sicht 3; Mnster: LIT, 1997) , 296-3 16; Louis Alexis Frederic e Mat ,Textual Criticism and Exegesis of Psalm XXXVI: A Contribution to the Study of theHebrew Book of Psalms (Studia Theologica Rheno-Traiect ina: Disputat iones Inst i tut iTheologici in Universitate Rheno-Traiectina conditi 3; Utrecht: Kemink, 1957), 23.

26. Artur Weiser, The Psalms: A Commentary (trans. Herbert Hartwell; OTL;


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R E L I G I O - H I S T O R I C A L A P P R O A C H E S : M O N O T H E I S M ,M E T H O D , A N D M O R T A L I T Y *

Christopher B. Hays

The re l ig io -h i s to r i ca l s tudy of the Heb rew B ib le i s inheren t ly in terd i sc i-p l inary . The recons t ruct ion of ancien t Is rael i t e re l ig ion depends on dataand theor ies d rawn f rom a number o f o ther methodolog ies ; a par t i a l l i s twould include historiography, sociology, archaeology, comparat ive rel igion,and b ib l i ca l compos i t ion theory . A scholar mus t b r ing a l l t hese subf ie ldstogether to p rodu ce a coheren t unders t and ing of Israel it e re l ig ion .

Many of the cri t ical topics in Israel i te rel igion and i ts most pressingmethodo log ical i s sues in tersect wi th the conversat ion about m onothei sm.Therefore , the f i rs t sect ion of th i s essay wi l l su rvey , th rough a method-o log ical l ens , sh i f t ing curren t s in the s tudy of monothei sm. 1 The secondsection wil l be a case study of a specific rel igio-historical problem, reex-a m i n i n g G o d ' s r e l a t i o n s h i p t o d e a t h a n d t h e u n d e r w o r l d i n I s r a e l i t erel igion, and also the power of God to raise the dead.

More comprehens ive surveys o f the h i s to ry o f the s tudy of Is rael i t erel igion and i ts cri t ical issues are available elsewhere.2 What is in view inthis fi rst sect ion is an overview of recent scholarship and methodologicald i rect ions .

R E L I G I O - H I S T O R I C A L A P P R O A C H E S : A N O V E R V I E W O FT R E N D S A N D M E T H O D S

T E R M I N O L O G Y

General i z ing t erminology i s o f t en inadequate to the t ask of ca tegor iz-

* I t i s an honor to dedicate thi s essay to David L . Petersen, whose broad com-mand of critical issues and preference for the concise and precise served as a model.- 1AQ -

M E T H O D M A T T E R S6 839. John Eaton, for exam ple, claim s th at this psalm has "clearly royal content," i .e. ,that the king i s the "I" of the psalm. He bas es thi s conclus ion o n the mi l i tary imageryused for the enemies and the int imate ton e wi th which the ps alm ist addresses G od

(.Kingship and the Psalms [SBT 32; Na per ville , 111.: Allenson, 19 76 ], 33 -34 . See morerecent ly idem, The Psalms: A Historical and Spiritual Commen tary (London: T&TClark, 2003), 99.40. Tal lay Ornan, "A Complex System of Rel igious Symbols: The Case of theWinged Disc in Near Eastern Imagery of the First Mi l lennium BCE," in Crafts and

Images in Contact: Studies on Eastern Mediterranean Art of he First Millennium BCE(ed. Claudia E . Suter and Christoph U ehl inger; OBO 210; Fribourg: Academic Press;G t t i ng en: V a nde nho e c k & R upr ec ht , 2 0 0 5 ) , 2 0 7 - 4 1 . T hr o ug h o ut , O r na n do e s no trefer to the image as "the winged sun disc," arguing instead tkat the iconography doesnot necessari ly represent a solar dei ty, part icularly in Mesopotamian incarnat ions ,where i t "could s igni fy major gods funct ioning as heads of pantheons" such as Assurand Marduk (206) .41. Ibid., 212.42. Ruth Mayer-Opi f ic ius , "Die gef l i ige l te Sonne: Himrnels- und Regendarste l -lungen im alter Vorderasien," UF 16 (1984): 189-236.43. Ornan, "A Complex System," 231. William G. Lambert makes a similar argu-

ment , that the winged disk can al lude to one or the other dei ty depending on theiconographic context . W hen the win ged disk appears as a sole emblem of the king, i trepresents Assur; in combinat ion wi th oth er symbols , the winged disk represents thesun-god Samas. See Wi l l iam G. Lambert , "Trees , Snakes and Gods in Ancient Syriaand A natolia," BSOAS 48 (1985): 439 n. 27.44. Ornan, "A Complex System," 231.45. For textual express ion of Samas's role as judge and g od o f r ighteousness , see"The Shamash Hymn " trans . Benjamin Foster (COS 1 .117:418-19) .46. W . J. T. Mitchell , Picture Th eory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 43.47. Peter Riede, lm Netz des lagers: Studin zur Feindmetaphorik der Individual-psalmen (WMANT 85; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 2000) , 330.48. Mitchell , Picture Theory, 43 .

I would l ike to thank my col leagues Christopher Hays , Matthew Schl imm, andBrent Strawn for their helpful comments on earl ier draf ts of thi s essay. I must al sothank David Petersen, my dissertation advisor, for this essay grew out of that largerwork.

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Iconographic Aprroaches- The Iconic Structure of Psalm 17

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