The Future of the Past: Literarische Prophetien, Prophetenspruchsammlungen und die Anfänge der Schriftprophetie

Abstract

Abstract The article is a contribution to the current discussion about the beginnings of prophetic books in ancient Israel. It investigates the significance of the so-called „Literary Predictive Texts“ (LPT) and the Neo-Assyrian prophecies for our understanding of the emergence of prophetic writings in Israel. TheLPTin particular had received only little attention so far. Tying in critically with some recent studies, this article compares the Marduk prophecy and the Neo-Assyrian tablet SAA9 3 with selected passages from the book of Amos (Amos 3–6* and Amos 6*). It concludes that in contrast to the Neo-Assyrian collective tablets the LPTcannot serve as appropriate analogies to early prophetic scrolls, but that they are helpful to understand the phenomenon of tradent prophecy.