Horizons in Biblical Theology 37 (2015) 158-169

brill.com/hbth

Theological Reflections on the Oracles against

the Nations

Moon Kwon Chae

Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
moon_chae@baylor.edu

Abstract

This paper illuminates the positive theological value of the oracles against the nations
(OANs) in the Old Testament. Tracing the historical development of the OAN tradition,
I propose that the OAN tradition originated in a war or a cultic setting and went
through three stages of transformation: first, the shift from salvation oracles for Israel
to oracles against Israel by the 8th century prophets Amos and Isaiah: second, the shift
from a realistic depiction of enemies to a more cosmic depiction of them during
the exilic period: third, the inclusion of the nations into the future restoration in the
postexilic period. The trajectory of the development of the OAN tradition shows how
Israel’s self-understanding and attitude toward foreign nations changed with a strong
emphasis on Yahweh’s kingship. The emphasis on Yahweh’s kingship over Israel’s spe-
cial status provides a ground for the inclusion of foreign nations into Yahweh’s plan. By
prioritizing Yahweh’s kingship, his people can avoid the danger of self-elevation and
embrace the other people into the community.

Keywords

Oracles against Nations – theology – Yahweh’s kingship – Israel’s attitude toward

foreign nations

Introduction

The oracles against the nations (OANs) in the Old Testament have received
relatively little attention both in the church and the academy. In the church,

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Theological Reflections On The Oracles Against The Nations 159

the OANs play hardly any role in sermons, doctrine formation, or Bible studies.
In academic circles, Old Testament scholars have often hesitated to attach any
theological value to the OANs. Since the OANs typically proclaim the doomed
destruction of foreign nations, scholars often regard them as the outcome of
Israel’s nationalistic and narrow-minded propaganda. In 1941, R. H. Pfeiffer
asserted that the OANs in Amos do not reflect “the moral of the great pre-exilic
prophets, but rather the nationalism of the ‘false prophets’ and of the later
Jews chafing for centuries under alien rule.”1 In the Anchor Bible Commentary,
John Bright claims that the OANs in Jeremiah are “probably anonymous” and
uttered by prophets in the “exilic period.”2 Pfeiffer’s and Bright’s views of the
OANs reflect the academic atmosphere of American scholarship in the mid-
20th century.
Contrary to the long scholarly disregard for the OANs, however, their propor-
tion in the Latter Prophets is surprising. Paul Raabe’s observation (see the table
below) helps us to see the considerable proportion of the OANs in the Latter
Prophets.3

Book Book Length OANs OAN length % of OAN

Isaiah 16,930 Isa 13-23  2,397 14.2

Jeremiah 21,867 Jer 46-51  3,257 14.9
Ezekiel 18,731 Ezek 25-32  2,805 15
The Twelve 14,365 Joel 3:1-17, Amos 1:3-2:3,  1,963 13.7
Obadiah, Mic 5:5b-9, Nahum,
Hab 1:12-2:20, Zeph 2:4-15,
Zech 9:1-8
Total 71,893 10,422 14.5

1  This academic atmosphere continued around the 1930s in the German-speaking world and
1980s in the English-speaking world (Robert Henry Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament
[New York: Harper & Brothers, 1941], 443).
2  John Bright, Jeremiah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. 2nd ed. Bible.
V. 21. (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1965), 359.
3  This chart is updated from the chart made by Raabe (Paul R. Raabe, “Why Prophetic Oracles
Against the Nations?,” in Fortunate the Eyes That See [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995],
237). Raabe develops this chart based on Andersen’s and Forbes’ work (“ ‘Prose Particles’
Counts of the Hebrew Bible,” pages 165-83 in The Word of the Lord Shall God Forth: Essays
in Honor of David Noel Freedman in Celebration of His Sixtieth Birthday [Winona Lake, IN:
Eisenbrauns, 1983]).

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160 Chae

These statistics, which are based on word counting, show that each of four
prophetic books includes a block of the OAN material, the proportion of which
is approximately 14~15 percent of the entire book. Moreover, oracles against
or related to foreign nations often appear outside the OAN blocks, and every
prophetic book except Hosea includes oracles concerning foreign nations.4 If
the oracles outside the OANs blocks were brought into the calculation, the per-
centage would go higher.
Although the quantity does not necessarily guarantee the quality of theo-
logical value, the considerable proportion of the OANs deserves more theologi-
cal analysis. In his Theology of the Old Testament, Walter Brueggemann brings
the OANs into the scope of theological reflection.5 Pointing out that Yahweh’s
relationship to the nations shows the same pattern as Yahweh’s relationship
to Israel, Brueggemann highlights the universal scope of Yahweh’s relation-
ship with, and intentionality for, the whole world. While appreciating what
Brueggemann does via a synchronic approach, I will illustrate the theological
values and rhetorical functions of the OANs from a diachronic perspective. If
Brueggemann draws a two-dimensional picture by flattening out all the moun-
taintops and valleys of the theology of the OANs, I intend to draw a three-
dimensional picture by integrating all the up-and-downs into a ­theological
portrait.
Tracing the historical development of the OAN tradition, I will argue that,
after originating in a war or cultic setting, the OAN tradition went through
three stages of transformation: first, the shift from salvation oracles for Israel to
oracles against Israel by the 8th century prophets Amos and Isaiah, second, the
shift from a realistic depiction of enemies to a more cosmic depiction of them
in the exilic period, and thirdly the inclusion of the nations into future resto-
ration in the postexilic period. The trajectory of the development of the OAN
tradition will show how Israel’s self-understanding and attitude toward foreign
nations has changed with a strong emphasis on Yahweh’s kingship. The shift
of Israel’s perspective toward herself and foreign nations provides important
theological implications. The emphasis on Yahweh’s kingship over Israel’s spe-

4  There are many oracles against, or to, the nations outside the OAN blocks: Isa 25:10-12,
Isa 30:1-7, Isa 30:27-31:3, Isa 34 (Edom), Isa 45-47 (Cyrus and Babylon), Isa 60-61, Isa 63:1-6
(Edom), Ezek 35 (Edom), Ezek 38-39 (The Gog of Magog), and part of Jer 10, 25, 27, and 43-44.
As for the book of the Twelve, oracles concerning foreign nations appears in Jonah, Mic 4:1-13,
Hag 2:20-23, and Mal 1:11 and 1:14 in addition to what is listed in the chart.
5  Brueggemann writes a chapter about the nations as Yahweh’s partner in Israel’s unsolicited
testimony (Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy
[Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997], 518-527, 552-556).

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Theological Reflections On The Oracles Against The Nations 161

cial status provides a ground for the inclusion of foreign nations into Yahweh’s
plan. By prioritizing Yahweh’s kingship, his people can avoid the danger of self-
elevation and embrace the other people into the community.

A History of the OAN Tradition

On the Way to Early Dating and Authenticity

One of the important reasons why the OANs have received little attention and
often have been overlooked by historical critical scholars is the dominant aca-
demic assumption of inauthenticity and late dating of the OANs. Up to the
early 20th century, German source critics were skeptical about the authenticity
of the OANs and generally assumed that they were postexilic and spurious.6
For example, Mowinckel excluded the OANs from his discussion of the forma-
tion of the book of Jeremiah.7 He argues that Jeremiah prophesied concerning
foreign nations only when they were related to the fate of Judah or Judeans
(e.g. Jer 25, 27, and 43), and therefore, the OANs (Jer 46-51) are inauthentic
oracles added by later redactors.8 His view has been very influential and has
created a strong impression that the OANs are secondary.
The form critical studies of Herman Gunkel and Hugo Gressman, however,
drastically changed the widely accepted assumption of late dating of the OANs.
Applying the form critical approach created by Gunkel to the prophetic litera-
ture, Gressman concluded that the OANs are actually not the youngest, but one

6  The major study concerning the OANs in Jeremiah in 19th century was represented by the
dissertation of Friedrich Schwally. He concludes that all OANs in Jeremiah are spurious and
postexilic. His position reflected the widely accepted academic assumption in 19th and early
20th century. (Friedrich Schwally, Die reden des buches Jeremia gegen die heiden XXV: XLVI-LI
untersucht [Druck von W. Keller, 1888], 177-216); for the extensive history of German scholar-
ship up to the mid-20th century, see the history of scholarship written by Martin Kessler or
Duane Christensen (Martin Kessler, Battle of the Gods: The God of Israel Versus Marduk of
Babylon: A Literary/Theological Interpretation of Jeremiah 50-51 [Assen: Van Gorcum, 2003]);
Duane L Christensen, Prophecy and War in Ancient Israel: Studies in the Oracles against the
Nations in Old Testament Prophecy [Berkeley: BIBAL, 1989], 1-6).
7  It is in this academic atmosphere that Sigmund Mowinckel proposed source theories con-
cerning the formation of the book of Jeremiah. According to Mowinckel’s theory, Jeremiah
consists of four major sources: Jeremiah’s oracles (source A), Baruch’s biographical mate-
rial (source B), deuteronomistic additions (source C), and oracles of salvation in Jer 30-31
(source D) (Sigmund Mowinckel, Zur Komposition Des Buches Jeremia [Kristiania: J. Dybwad,
1914]).
8  Mowinckel, Zur Komposition Des Buches Jeremia, 65-66.

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162 Chae

of the earliest forms of prophecy.9 Gressman’s proposal was widely accepted

in a short while and dramatically changed the previous scholarly view of the
OANs. 10 The early dating of the OANs motivated the reconsideration of their
authenticity, and some scholars have assigned a considerable portion of the
OANs to the ascribed prophets.11

Origins and Social Settings: Salvation Oracles for Israel

Form critical approaches also opened the quest for the original Sitz im Leben
of the OANs. Since it is unlikely that prophets traveled to prophesy against a
certain nation, scholars agree on the proposal that the primary audience was
the people of Israel. Based on this consensus, two possible social settings were
proposed—that of war and cult.

9  Hugo Gressmann, Der Ursprung der israelitisch-jüdischen Eschatologie. (Göttingen:

Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1905).
10  In the English-speaking world, the research of the OANs was developed from the basis of
German scholars’ works, and publications related to the OANs increased from the 1980s.
For example, the reconsideration of the authenticity of the OANs in Jeremiah appears in
the 1980s with the publication of three major commentaries on Jeremiah (Robert P. Carroll,
Jeremiah: A Commentary [Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986]; William McKane, John
Adney Emerton, and C. E. B Cranfield, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Jeremiah.
[Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1986]; William Lee Holladay, and Paul D Hanson. Jeremiah 1& 2:
A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah [Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1986-9]).
It is twenty years later after Bright claims that the OANs are probably anonymous and
exilic in his Anchor Bible commentary (Bright, Jeremiah, 359).
11  Andersen and Paul evaluate all of Amos 1-2 as genuine (Francis I. Andersen and David
Noel Freedman, Amos: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary [New York:
Doubleday, 1989]; Shalom M. Paul and Frank Moore Cross, Amos: A Commentary on the
Book of Amos [Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991]). Except the oracle concerning Babylon
in Isa 13:2-14:23, Isaiah 13-23 is generally attributed to Isaiah (Seth Erlandsson, “Burden
of Babylon : A Study of Isaiah 13:2-14:23.” Springfielder 38 [1974]: 1-12; George Buchanan
Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Isaiah, I-XXXIX [New York:
C. Scribner’s Sons, 1912]; Graham R. Hamborg, “Reasons for Judgement in the Oracles
Against the Nations of the Prophet Isaiah.” Vetus Testamentum 31 [1981]: 145-159). Holladay
takes a maximalist stance on the issue of authenticity of the OANs in Jer 46-51. Even as to
the oracles against Babylon in 50-51, he evaluates 82 out of 104 verses as authentic (William
Lee Holladay and Paul D Hanson, Jeremiah). Boadt and Greenberg maintain the authen-
ticity of the OANs in Ezekiel (Lawrence Boadt, “Rhetorical Strategies in Ezekiel’s Oracles
of Judgment,” pages 182-200 in Ezekiel and His Book [ed. Johan Lust; Leuven: Uitgeverij
Peeters, 1986]; Moshe Greenberg, Ezekiel 1-20: A New Translation with Introduction and
Commentary [Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983]).

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Theological Reflections On The Oracles Against The Nations 163

Gunkel suggested first the military expedition as a possible setting for the
OANs.12 Von Rad connects the OANs with the tradition of the holy war and
the day of Yahweh.13 John H. Hayes illustrates war oracles found extensively
in the various ancient Near Eastern materials such as Sumerian, Mari, Hittite,
Egyptian, and early Arab literary sources.14 Duane L. Christensen argues that
the OANs originated from the circle of war oracles and were adopted and trans-
formed by the classical prophets.15
Although the existence of war oracles before the 8th century prophets can-
not but remain hypothetical, the biblical references support the plausibility
of this hypothesis. The Balaam traditions (Num 22-24) show that oracles or
denunciations against one’s enemies are employed as part of the prepara-
tion and execution of warfare. David’s battle with Goliath (1 Sam 17) depicts a
similar situation, in which both sides of camps pronounce curses against each
other although it is not by prophets but by warriors themselves. Ahab’s war
account in 1Kgs 20:26-30, Samuel’s oracle to Saul in 1Sam 15:2-3, and Isaiah’s
speech to Ahaz in Isa 7:3-9 are all examples to show the use of oracles against
enemy nations in a war setting for the purpose of giving a divine affirmation of
victory. In Jer 28:8, the prophet Jeremiah says to his opponent Hananiah, “the
prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, fam-
ine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.”
In relation to the military background of the OANs, Gunkel expanded his
theory by including a cultic setting as a possible use for the OANs. He suggests
that war oracles were employed in a cultic setting before a military expedi-
tion for the assurance of victory or after a military defeat in conjunction with
lamentation.16 Subsequent scholars developed Gunkel’s idea. Since the lament
psalms generally lacked a response from Yahweh,17 some scholars posited that

12  Hermann Gunkel Einleitung in die Psalmen die Gattungen der religiösen Lyrik Israels
(Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1933), xxxii-xxxiii.
13  Gerhard von. Rad, Der Heilige Krieg im Alten Israel (Zürich: Zwingli-Verlag, 1951).
14  John Haralson Hayes. “Usage of Oracles Against Foreign Nations in Ancient Israel,” Journal
of Biblical Literature 87 (1968): 81-92.
15  Christensen’s doctoral dissertation is the most comprehensive research about the war
setting behind the OANs. He argues that the first transformation occurs in Amos and the
second transformation in Jeremiah. It was reprinted several times without any significant
emendation. (Duane L Christensen, Prophecy and War in Ancient Israel)
16  Gunkel, Einleitung in die Psalmen die Gattungen der religiösen Lyrik Israels, xxxii-xxxiii.
17  According to Westermann, the overall structure of lament psalms consists of an invoca-
tion to the deity, a lament concerning the present predicament, a confession of confi-
dence in the deity, a petition containing specific entreaties, and a statement assuming
that Yahweh will act for the supplicant. Not all of these elements are necessarily found in

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164 Chae

the divine answers to the laments would be given to the supplicant in a cul-
tic setting possibly in the form of oracles against the enemies.18 Moreover,
depictions of military defeat by other nations in several lament psalms
(Pss 44:9-19, 74:4-8, 79:1-4, 83:1-8; Lam 1:1-10, 2:15-16) support the possible rela-
tionship between the OANs and lament psalms.19 If a divine answer is given
to the lamenting community, the OANs would be given as a consolation to the
community. For example, the oracles against Edom (Obadiah, Isa 34, Isa 63:1-6,
Ezek 35) can function well as a response to lament psalms like Psalm 137—
which includes a curse on Edom.
Mowinckel, Hayes, and H. G. Reventlow further relate the cultic setting of
the OANs with the royal court. Since royal psalms emphasize the universal sov-
ereignty of Yahweh and his appointed king, the coronation ritual reflected in
Psalms 2 and 110 provides a possible setting for the use of the OANs in the royal
court.20 According to Reventlow’s study of Egyptian execration texts, names of
enemies were written and broken in the middle of the coronation ceremony.21
He suggests that the OANs were possibly used in similar fashion at the cove-
nantal feast in Israel. In a similar vein, Mowinckel proposes the New Year festi-
val as a possible context for the OANs. He suggests that in the festival, Yahweh’s
universal kingship was celebrated and the judgment was proclaimed against
the nations, which were the potential hostile or chaotic powers.22
In sum, when we consider textual references and the depiction of bat-
tles in the OANs, a war setting offers a plausible Sitz im Leben of the OANs.
Supplementing the war setting, the two other cultic settings (lamentation ser-
vices and the coronation ceremony) expand the possible Sitz im Leben of use
of the OANs.
There is a common scholarly assumption regardless of the suggested origi-
nal settings: war, cult, or royal court. The OANs function as “salvation oracles
(Heilsorakel) for Israel.”23 In a war setting, the condemnation or judgment given
by Yahweh toward Israel’s enemy functions as a divine assurance of Israel’s

every lament psalm (Claus Westermann, The Praise of God in the Psalms [Richmond: John
Knox Press, 1965], 52-64).
18  J. Begrich, “Die priesterliche Heilsorakel,” Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft,
52 (1934), 81-92; Hayes, “The Usage of Oracles Against Foreign Nations in Ancient
Israel,” 87.
19  Ibid., 89-90.
20  Ibid., 90.
21  H. Graf Reventlow, Das Amt des Propheten bei Amos (FRLANT, 80), 56-75.
22  Mowinckel, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 154.
23  This idea is first proposed by Gunkel-Gressman and rapidly accepted by scholars. In his
influential prophetic study, Westermann mentions that the OANs belong in the line of

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Theological Reflections On The Oracles Against The Nations 165

v­ ictory. In the lamentation service setting, the OANs are given as a divine con-
solation to the supplicant community of Israel. In the coronation ceremony,
the kingship of Yahweh’s appointed kings is affirmed by proclaiming the judg-
ment against the nations. The macro structure of the book of Ezekiel reveals
that the entire OAN block functions as salvation oracles. The book of Ezekiel
has a tripartite structure: the oracles against Judah (Ezek 1-24)—the oracles
against the nations (Ezek 25-32)—the oracles of salvation (Ezek 33-48). In this
macro structure the OAN block builds a bridge for the shift from the judgment
on Israel to its restoration. The collapse of the foreign nations brings forth
the restoration of Israel. The OANs were actually positive oracles to the ears
of the major audience, the people of Israel.

The First Transformation: From Salvation Oracles to Oracles

against Israel
The 8th century prophets Amos and Isaiah led the first transformation of the
OAN tradition. For these two prophets, the concept of salvation oracle and its
relevant social settings are not suitable, but rather misleading. In Amos 1-2,
the oracles against six neighboring nations (1:3-2:3; Damascus, Philistia, Tyre,
Edom, Ammon, and Moab) are connected with the judgment oracles against
Judah and Israel (2:4-16). A cluster of judgment oracles against the neighbor-
ing nations reaches its climax at the last oracles, which are directed against
Judah and Israel. The rhetoric of the OANs is as follow: since the iniquity of
Israel is worse than that of the foreign nations, Yahweh’s judgment upon Israel
is inevitable. The OANs in Amos function as introductory oracles, which justify
and affirm the inevitability of Yahweh’s judgment upon Israel. The OANs are
no longer salvation oracles for Israel, but a powerful means to affirm Yahweh’s
judgment upon Israel. The distinction is not drawn between Israel and other
nations, but between Yahweh and the nations—including Israel. The 8th cen-
tury prophet Amos adapted the older OAN tradition and radically shifted it as
a powerful means to justify Yahweh’s punishment upon his people.
In Isaiah, while some of the OANs function as salvation oracles (Isa 14:1-3,
14:25, 17:14), others do not function in that way.24 G. R. Hamborg argues that
the most obvious function of the OANs in Isaiah is to warn against Israel’s pos-
sible alliance with neighboring nations against Assyria, which is the rod of

salvation speeches because they imply salvation for Israel (Westermann, Basic Forms of
Prophetic Speech, [Richmond: John Knox Press, 1965], 205).
24  Raabe, “Why Prophetic Oracles Against the Nations?”, 239.

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166 Chae

Yahweh.25 Here again, the OANs do not function as salvation oracles for Israel,
but as another way of affirming the inevitable judgment on Israel. Even by any
political alliance with neighboring nations, Israel cannot avoid Yahweh’s judg-
ment, which will be executed by Assyria, since all potential alliance partners
are also doomed. The inclusion of the oracle against Jerusalem in the middle of
the OANs block (Isaiah 22, 17:10-11) also has the effect of accusing Jerusalem like
one of the foreign nations.26 There is, by and large, no benefit that Israel can
gain from the judgment of the neighboring nations. The OANs only increase
the certainty of Yahweh’s judgment upon Israel.
In sum, we can see a radical shift of the function of the OANs in Amos and
Isaiah: from salvation oracle to affirmation of Yahweh’s judgment upon Israel.
This transformation of the OAN tradition is analogous to the shift of the image
of Yahweh from the one who fights for Israel to the one who fights against Israel
that we can see in Lam 2. Although the OANs originated as salvation oracles in
war or cultic settings, the early classical prophets, Amos and Isaiah, developed
a totally opposite way of use of the OAN tradition in order to effectively proph-
esy Yahweh’s judgment on Israel.

The Second Transformation: Cosmic Depiction of the Enemy

Another line of development of the OANs occurred in relation to the royal
court setting. As mentioned before, the reign of Yahweh and his anointed king
is proclaimed with the judgment against nations during the coronation cer-
emony. It is in this setting that the depiction of hostile worldly power is shifted
to a more mythic and symbolic power of chaos.
The mythic or cosmological imagery appears particularly strong in two
prophets in the exilic period, Ezekiel and Jeremiah. In the OAN block in Ezekiel
25-32, the cosmological imagery appears in the two longest sections of oracles
against Egypt (29-32) and Tyre (26:1-28:19).27 Identifying the two nations as cha-
otic forces, Crouch argues that by employing the cosmological imagery, Ezekiel
affirms the powerful kingship and creatorship of Yahweh.28 More importantly,
Babylon in Jeremiah 50-51 becomes a symbol for oppression, violence, and

25  Graham R. Hamborg, “Reasons for Judgement in the Oracles Against the Nations of the
Prophet Isaiah.” Vetus Testamentum 31 (1981): 145-159.
26  Raabe, “Why Prophetic Oracles Against the Nations?”, 239.
27  John B. Geyer, “Mythology and Culture in the Oracles Against the Nations.” Vetus
Testamentum 36 (1986): 129-145; C. Crouch, “Ezekiel’s Oracles Against the Nations in Light
of a Royal Ideology of Warfare,” Journal of Biblical Literature 130 (2011): 473-492.
28  Crouch, “Ezekiel’s Oracles Against the Nations in Light of a Royal Ideology of Warfare,” 492.

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Theological Reflections On The Oracles Against The Nations 167

idolatrous world power.29 The defeat of the cosmic and chaotic archenemy
functions as a climax for the book of Jeremiah, which will bring the restora-
tion of Israel.30 The battle is set between Yahweh and Babylon, and nations are
called for preparing the battle against Babylon (Jer 50:9, 51:28). The symbolism
of Babylon as an archenemy in Revelation is foreshadowed in Jeremiah 50-51.
This symbolic depiction of the enemy, which was likely to begin in the royal
court setting, was further developed in the historical and political condition
of the exilic period. With the loss of the Davidic kingship and statehood, the
battle between Israel and her national enemies was transformed into the bat-
tle between Yahweh and his cosmic enemy. By Yahweh’s defeat of the cosmic
enemy, Israel hoped for future restoration even in the mist of the loss of its
Davidic kingship and its political autonomy.

The Third Transformation: The Restoration of Other Nations

The first and the second transformations lead to another radical transforma-
tion: the inclusion of other nations in the future restoration. Although the
OANs focus on the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem, some of them show a
more inclusive blueprint for the future restoration. The book of Amos does
not end only with the future restoration of Israel. As the book begins with
oracles against other nations, it ends with an inclusive statement concern-
ing foreign nations around Israel (Amos 9:7). In the middle of the OAN block,
Isaiah proclaims the radical inclusion of Egypt and Assyria into the scope
of Yahweh’s blessing (Isa 19:23-25).31 Isaiah 60-61 draws an inclusive picture of
future restoration, in which all nations come to Zion and worship Yahweh.
Jeremiah 46-49 includes the restoration of four foreign nations: Elam (49:39),
Egypt (46:26), Ammon (49:6), and Moab (48:47).

29  Louis Stulman, Order amid Chaos: Jeremiah as Symbolic Tapestry (Sheffield, England:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), 94-97; Smelik also notices the lack of detailed historical
allusion in Jer 50-51 (Klaas A. D. Smelik, “The Function of Jeremiah 50 and 51 in the Book
of Jeremiah,” pages 87-98 in Reading the Book of Jeremiah [Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns,
2004]). By comparing Jer 50-51 with other oracles against Babylon in Zech 2:10-16, Isa 13-14,
21, 47, Reimer concludes that they commonly lack historical allusion (David J. Reimer,
The Oracles against Babylon in Jeremiah 50-51: A Horror among the Nations [San Francisco:
Mellen Research University Press, 1993]).
30  Stulman, Order amid Chaos: Jeremiah as Symbolic Tapestry, 94-99; Martin Kessler, Battle of
the Gods: The God of Israel Versus Marduk of Babylon: A Literary/Theological Interpretation
of Jeremiah 50-51 (Assen: Van Gorcum, 2003), 199.
31  Brueggemann considers these two texts as “two texts of radical hope,” emphasizing
Yahweh’s universal purpose for both Israel and the nations (Theology of the Old Testament,
520-522).

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168 Chae

Most of the positive oracles toward the foreign nations are late exilic or
postexilic. Whereas the argument of the dating is often circular and dependent
upon the interpreters’ assumptions, Jeremiah 46-49 shows concrete evidence
for a late dating. While Jeremiah LXX includes the restoration of only one
nation Elam (LXX 25:19, MT 49:39), Jeremiah MT, which reflects a later edition
than the LXX and is at least later than the return from exile, adds the restora-
tion of the three nations, Egypt (46:26), Ammon (49:6), and Moab (48:47).32
This redaction likely reflects an inclusive stance toward foreigners and foreign
nations, which was developed in the late exilic and the postexilic period. More
inclusive attitude toward foreigners is found in other late exilic and postexilic
writings: the repentance and deliverance of Assyria in Jonah, Yahweh’s bless-
ing of the Moabite woman Ruth, and the inclusion of foreign king Cyrus as
Yahweh’s anointed, and the inclusion of foreigners into Yahweh’s priesthood in
Isaiah 56:1-8 and 66:18-24.33

Theological Reflection

Up to this point, I have hypothetically reconstructed the historical develop-

ment of the OAN tradition. The OANs originated as salvation oracles in a war
or cultic setting and went through three stages of transformation alongside
the historical upheaval of Israel. First, the classical prophets Amos and Isaiah
transformed the OANs into a means of affirming Yahweh’s inevitable judg-
ment on Israel. Second, the depiction of enemy shifted from realistic to sym-
bolic or cosmic with the loss of the national autonomy and Davidic kingship
in the exilic period. Finally, the two previous developments led to the radical

32  For the comparison between Jer MT and LXX, Emanuel Tov represents the dominant
scholarly view on this issue (Emanuel Tov, “Some Aspects of the Textual and Literary
History of the Book of Jeremiah,” pages 145-167 in Livre De Jeremie: Le Prophete et Son
Milieu, Les Oracles et Leur Transmission [ed. Pierre Maurice Bogaert; Louvain, Belgium:
Leuven University Press, 1981]). The opposite view is argued by George Fischer (Georg
Fischer, “Tendencies in the LXX Version of Jeremiah,” pages 64-72 in Ein Prophet Wie
Moses [Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2011]; idem, “Jeremiah 52: A Test Case for Jer LXX,” pages
37-48 in Xth Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies,
Oslo, 1998 [ed. Bernard A. Taylor; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001]).
33  For the interpretation of Isa 56:1-8 as the priesthood of foreigners, see Steven Shawn Tuell,
“The Priesthood of the ‘Foreigner’: Evidence of Competing Polities in Ezekiel 44:1-14 and
Isaiah 56:1-8,” in Constituting the Community, ed. John T. Stong and Steven Shawn Tuell,
2005, 183-204; Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, Priestly Rites and Prophetic Rage: Post-Exilic Prophetic
Critique of the Priesthood (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006), 278-86.

Horizons in Biblical Theology 37 (2015) 158-169

Theological Reflections On The Oracles Against The Nations 169

i­ nclusion of foreign nations in the future restoration during the late exilic and
the postexilic period.34
To trace a trajectory of transformation of the OAN tradition allows us to
see the dynamic process of how the tradition was diversified. The people of
Israel adopted, reinterpreted, and proclaimed given traditions in their own
context. Throughout the historical development of the tradition, however, a
theological core comes to the fore. At the center of the OAN tradition is Israel’s
un-renounceable theology of Yahweh’s kingship. The theological core did not
change throughout the development but rather governed the transformations
of the tradition and became even more intense as the tradition developed.
In the first transformative stage, the theological concept that Yahweh always
fights for his people became invalid. Israel should understand that Yahweh
could fight against them just as Yahweh fights against foreign nations. The
alliance between Yahweh’s kingship and the Israelite human kingship is not
­automatically guaranteed. After the failure of the earthly kingship, proven by
the fall of Jerusalem, Yahweh’s cosmic kingship is further promoted. The expec-
tation of future hope comes solely out of Yahweh’s kingship. The elevation
of Yahweh’s universal kingship finally led to the radical inclusion of nations
into future restoration. Although the Davidic kingship failed and national
autonomy ceased, Yahweh’s kinship prevailed. As human kingship decreases,
Yahweh’s kingship increases. The trajectory of the development of the OAN
tradition shows how Israel’s perception of foreign nations shifted more inclu-
sively alongside the emphasis of Yahweh’s kingship.
The transformations of the OAN tradition also lead us to think about the
matter of the priority of kingship. When Yahweh’s kingship was distinguished
from the human kingship of Israel, tension arose between Yahweh’s king-
ship and Israel’s kingship. The tension creates a matter of priority of kingship
between Yahweh and his people Israel. While Yahweh is Israel’s god who can-
not but be influenced by Israel, he is still a god who cannot be controlled
by what his people want. Whereas Israel remains as a special people chosen by
Yahweh, it is Yahweh’s kingship that imposes a special status on Israel. By pri-
oritizing Yahweh’s kingship, his people can avoid the danger of self-elevation
and embrace the other people into the community.

34  By tracing a trajectory of transformation of the OAN tradition, I do not assume a linear
development of the OAN tradition. The original idea of OANs as salvation oracles for
Israel, which I place at the beginning stage of the OAN tradition, is still working in the
exilic and postexilic writings. Rather, I understand that the trajectory of transformation
of OAN tradition shows how the OAN tradition had been diversified and came to function
in various ways within the Old Testament.

Horizons in Biblical Theology 37 (2015) 158-169