Sárospataki Füzetek 18. (2014)
2014 / 1. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Jacob J. T. Doedens: The Return of YHWH and the End of the Exile
Jacob J.T. Doedens However, it is not so sure that this is also the view of the Old Testament, the Second Temple literature and the New Testament on the subject of the exile. Recently, N. T. Wright observed that Second Temple literature almost unanimously views the exile as far more profound than just a geographical incident which was corrected after a few generations. In several of his works, Wright argues that at the beginning of the New Testament period the exile was viewed as still unfinished.4 For Wright, the enduring exile’ becomes the key-concept to understand the message of the New Testament. Indeed, some of the exiles returned, but the majority of the Jews remained in the Diaspora. Moreover, many people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel disappeared in 722 BCE into Assyrian exile without a day of return.5 Rachel kept weeping for her children, because they were no more (Jer 31:15). Besides these hard facts, there appears to be, at the same time, an awareness of the spiritual depth of the exile. What happened to them, was something more than a result of the unpredictable course of history. It was the result of a generations-long not heeding the prophetical warnings about their transgressing the standards of the covenant with Yhwh. They had engaged in idolatry. They had exploited their poor fellow citizens. When viewed theologically, the most terrible part of the exile was not that they had to leave their country, but that Yhwh had left his people.6 This was how the exile was perceived spiritually: as the result of sin. The end of the exile, then, would mean that these sins were forgiven. But this was exactly the difficulty the returned Jews faced: despite the abundant prophetical promises about forgiveness and about the return of Yhwh to his temple, they remained uncertain whether these promises had been fulfilled or not. Everyday reality seemed to defy this. Based on his research of Second Temple period literature and the New Testament texts, N. T. Wright concludes, as already briefly mentioned, that in the view of Second Temple Judaism the exile was not over; especially while its consequences were still in effect and the prophetic promises of its ending were still lacking fulfilment. Based on this conclusion, Wright comes to a new assessment of the messianic hopes in Judaism and of how Jesus viewed himself and his task.7 Within this article, I intend to discuss this view on exile and restoration. I will 4 Cf. N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God (2nd ed.; London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1993), 268-279; 299-301. See also N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (London: Society for the Promoting of Christian Knowledge, 1996), 126-133;202-210. For similar views, see Douglas S. McComiskey, "Exile, and the Purpose of Jesus'Parables (Mark 4:10-12; Matt 13:10-17; Luke 8:9-10),"JETS 51 no. 1 (2008): 72 nt.55. 5 It is, perhaps, not without meaning that Luke 2:36 explicitly mentions that the prophetess Anna belonged to the tribe of Asher, one of the tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel, as if she were representing the dissappeared Israel at the epiphany of the Messiah. 6 Most clearly expressed in Ezek 10; 11:22-23. 7 There exists already secondary literature about Wright's conclusions, cf. Carey C. Newman, ed., Jesus and the Restoration of Israel: A Critical Assessment of N. T. Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God (Downers Grove, III.: InterVarsity, 1999). 28 Sárospataki Füzetek 17. évfolyam | 2014 | 1
