The Deuteronomistic History and the Name Theology: Leshakken Shemo Sham in the Bible and the Ancient Near East

The Deuteronomistic History and the Name Theology: lesakken semo sain in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, by Sandra L. Richter. BZAW 318. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter, 2002. Pp. 246. euro68.00 (cloth). In a book that stands head and shoulders above much that is being published in the discipline of Hebrew Bible, Sandra L. Richter makes a high-profile contribution to the debate about a Deuteronomistic Name theology. She argues a double thesis: (1) that the formula lesakken sem is a loan adaptation from Akkadian suma sakanu, used in the Mesopotamian monumental corpus about the king placing his name, and (2) that the scholarly idea of a Name theology in the D-work rests on a basis of misunderstanding. Richter's book is a healthy sign of rethinking in our discipline. She even speaks about "a new paradigm" without a question mark (in the rubric, p. 36). The book has three parts. The first is an introduction with a survey of recent research on the D-work (strangely ignoring the contributions of the Gottingen school) and on the Name theology. Richter stresses the role of an outdated idea of nominal realism and of a likewise obsolete Wellhausen scheme for the development of Israelite religion: these were the two formative factors in the scholarship that led to the conclusion about a Name theology, which served as a corrective to preexilic notions of divine presence in the temple. The second part discusses the lesakken formula in the biblical context. Here the reader finds a fine survey of the distribution of all the different Name formulas and an exegesis of key texts. 2 Samuel 7 contains a wordplay focusing on name and reputation: David's great name (v. 9) and God's name in the temple (v. 13). Similarly, the Name in 1 Kgs 8 has to do with memorial and reputation, not with divine presence. The author then turns to the issue of how to translate the lesakken formula. Here she makes the striking observation that the lesakken sem formula has a synonym in la um semo Sam, "to place his name there." Part II also offers an excellent section on the verb skn in Semitic. The third part gives a discussion of the Akkadian suma sakanu formula that in depth and scope goes far beyond anything that has previously been published on this idiom. The material is found in royal monumental inscriptions. In her classification, the author gives a particularly good discussion of the clay nails (sikkatu). In the treatment of the occurrences of the Name formula, I single out for particular mention the sections on the victory stelae of the Amanus Mountains ("Journey to the Cedar Forest") and the discussion of the occurrences in correspondence, notably the occurrences in Amarna letters nos. 287 and 288, both being letters from Jerusalem. To "place one's name" on a monument is to claim that monument as one's own. An important section is then devoted to corresponding expressions in the Levant. This discussion leads up to the understanding of the semantic content of the Hebrew Name formula as an idiom about YHWH being like an ancient Near Eastern king placing his name, thus indicating that he is the mighty champion, the conquering king, the new sovereign of the region who is awarding to Israel her land-grant (p. 205). This is further developed in the final conclusions: Deut 12:2-4 speaks about destroying the names of the foreign gods, followed in v. 5b by the command to seek YlIWH at the place where he chooses to place his name (pp. 209-10). Being one of the scholars engaged in the discussion about a Name theology (T. Mettinger, The Dethronement of Sabaoth: Studies on the Shem and Kabod Theologies [ConBOT 18; Lund: Gleerup, 1982]), I must compliment Richter on an impressive piece of work. She is admirably well informed about the primary material and about modern research on the issue. The chapter on the ancient Near Eastern material is a beautiful monograph in itself. The presentation is crystal clear. Of her two theses, about the semantics of the formula and about the nonexistence of a Name theology, I am inclined to accept the first one. …