Biblical drawing acts

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Under biblical characters actions are understood acts in the Bible, serve to illustrate a message.

term

A sign is usually something that can be grasped by the senses, which refers to something and thereby receives its specific meaning. The term “sign actions” is not used uniformly in research. In some cases, the terms symbolic action (e.g. Georg Fohrer ) and analogy action (e.g. Katrin Ott) are preferred because sign action is perceived as too general. In this article, the term sign action is used interchangeably with the other terms.

Categories

According to Bernhard Lange, biblical drawing activities can be divided into four categories.

  • Relatively spontaneously invented actions to illustrate something.
Jeremiah breaks a jar to emphasize the announcement of the destruction of Jerusalem (Jer 19: 1ff).
Elijah throws his cloak over young Elisha and makes him his pupil (1 Kings 19: 19-21). The plot is reminiscent of covering a woman with a robe as a sign of marriage or handing over a robe from the predecessor to his successor.
  • Magical actions that trigger an event.
Jesus wears saliva on the eyes and ears of the blind and the mute and heals them (Mk 7.33; Mk 8.23; John 9.6).
  • Actions and processes that were not staged as such, but are interpreted symbolically or symbolically.
Jeremiah sees baskets of figs of different quality, which makes him think about the different groups of Judeans (Jer 24).

According to Fohrer, drawing actions can also be classified according to whether and in what way objects are used or not. Accordingly, an object can represent something else on which something will happen (e.g. Ez 4,1–3: brick represents Jerusalem). The object can also be an aid (e.g. Ez 4,9–11: Ezekiel uses food to represent food rationing). There are also acts of drawing without an object (e.g. Isa 20: 2: Isaiah walks naked and barefoot).

features

Georg Fohrer has established five characteristics for the genre drawing action. These characteristics describe how a signing act in the Bible can occur in its pure form (example: Ez 24: 15–24).

  • Command for execution of the act of sign by God (only for prophetic acts of signs):

“15 And the word of the Lord came to me: 16 Son of man, behold, I will take away the joy of your eyes through a sudden death. But you shouldn't complain and cry and shed no tears. 17 You may sigh in secret, but do not mourn for the dead, but put on your headband and put on your shoes; you shall not cover your beard and you shall not eat the funeral bread. "

  • Report on the execution of the drawing act:

“18 And after I had spoken to the people in the morning, my wife died that evening. And the next morning I did as I was told. "

  • Interpretation of the sign action:

“19 And the people said to me, Will you not explain to us what it means for us what you are doing? 20 And I said to them, The Lord spoke to me, saying, 21 Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, your glorious refuge, the joy of your eyes, the desire of your heart and your sons and daughters whom you left there will fall by the sword. 22 Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your beard or eat the funeral bread, 23 but you will keep your headband on your head and your shoes on your feet; you will not complain and you will not cry, but will perish in your guilt and sigh among one another. "

  • Information about eyewitnesses to the act of drawing (cf. verses 18–19).
  • Expressions for God's promise to make the announcement come true (cf. verses 16-18).
  • Expressions for the relationship between the act of sign and the event symbolized by it (cf. verses 21-23).

Old testament

Moses destroys the golden calf, Esteban March (1610–1668)

Many acts of signs are in the Old Testament . Some examples are:

  • Moses destroys the golden calf , scattered the remains in the water and made the Israelites drink it (Ex 32:19).
  • Job tears his clothes out of sorrow ( Job 1,20).
  • Elisha orders Naaman to bathe in the Jordan to heal him (2 Kings 5:10).

Prophetic acts of signs

A special kind of act of signs within the Old Testament are prophetic acts of signs.

Katrin Ott defines a prophetic act of signs as an activity carried out by a prophet on divine commission. The prophet transmits the divine message that has come to him to the actual addressees by means of an act of signs.

Walter David Stacey and Jutta Krispenz understand prophetic acts of signs as performance. Stacey sees the Prophet as an artist who stages a theater performance. Krispenz understands the connection between action and staging as an analogy . Samuel Amsler describes that the relationship level (interaction) is conveyed analogously with the content level (information). They don't determine exactly the same content, which is why words often have to explain the action. The prophets announce by direct acts of signs what God will perform, and by indirect acts of signs what the results of divine acts will be.

Examples of prophetic acts are:

  • Isaiah walks naked and barefoot for three years (Isa 20: 2–3).
  • Jeremiah breaks a jar (Jer 19: 10-11a).
  • Jeremiah buys a field (Jer 32: 7-12).

New Testament

There are also acts of signs in the New Testament . Some examples are:

  • A woman anoints Jesus in Bethany (Mk 14.3 and parallel passages).
  • Pontius Pilate washes his hands (Mt 27:24).
  • An angel throws a stone into the sea and calls for Babylon to be thrown down (Rev 18:21).

Acts of Jesus

Some acts of Jesus go beyond the pure pragmatics of what happened; H. they have an excess of meaning. With Jesus there is no divine command for the act of signs, as with the prophetic acts of signs. Theologically, the divine command is presupposed on the basis of his sonship or messianship . In general, it is difficult to distinguish Jesus' acts of signs from his miracles and parables .

When considering the signing acts of Jesus, it must be noted that the actual signing acts in the preaching of Jesus are not identical with the post-Easter interpretation of Christ.

Examples of Jesus' actions are:

literature

Overview

  • Bernhard Lange: Drawing action. In: New Bible Lexicon . Volume 3, Benziger , Düsseldorf and Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-545-23076-7 , Sp. 1189–1190.

Old testament

  • Katrin Ott: The prophetic acts of analogy in the Old Testament. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-17-020965-7 .
  • Walter David Stacey: Prophetic Drama in the Old Testament. Epworth press, London 1990 ISBN 0716204703 .
  • Samuel Amsler: Les actes des prophètes. Labor & Fides, Geneva 1985, ISBN 2830900405 .
  • Bernhard Lange: No uprising in Jerusalem. The politics of the prophet Ezekiel. Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-460-00071-6 .
  • Georg Fohrer: The symbolic actions of the prophets. Zwingli-Verlag, Zurich 1968, ISBN 3290120546 .

New Testament

  • Gerd Theißen, Annette Merz: The Historical Jesus. A textbook. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 4th edition, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-52198-4 .
  • Heinz Schürmann : Jesus. Shape and mystery. Bonifatius, Paderborn 1994, ISBN 3-87088-773-7 , pp. 136-156.
  • Maria Trautmann: Significant actions of Jesus. A contribution to the question of the historical Jesus. Echter, Würzburg 1980, ISBN 3-429-00-658-9 .
  • Werner Georg Kümmel: Promise and Fulfillment. Investigation into the eschatological preaching of Jesus. Zwingli-Verlag, 2nd edition, Zurich 1963.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bernhard Lange: drawing action. In: New Bible Lexicon. Düsseldorf and Zurich 2001, Sp. 1189.
  2. ↑ Reinhold Esterbauer: characters. In: Religion Past and Present. Tübingen 2005, Sp. 1795.
  3. ↑ Bernhard Lange: drawing action. In: New Bible Lexicon. Düsseldorf and Zurich 2001, Sp. 1189.
  4. ↑ Georg Fohrer: The symbolic actions of the prophets. Zurich 1968, p. 16.
  5. ↑ Georg Fohrer: The symbolic actions of the prophets. 1968, p. 18.
  6. ↑ Luther Bible 1984.
  7. ↑ Katrin Ott: The prophetic acts of analogy in the Old Testament. Stuttgart 2009, p. 28.
  8. ↑ Katrin Ott: The prophetic acts of analogy in the Old Testament. 2009, p. 12 f.
  9. ↑ Katrin Ott: The prophetic acts of analogy in the Old Testament. 2009, p. 14.
  10. ↑ Maria Trautmann: Significant acts of Jesus. Würzburg 1980, p. 61.