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Article

Abstract (For book reviews see instructions below)

This article explores a particular sentence in the first resurrection narrative of the Bible: “And the LORD obeyed Elijah” (1 Kgs 17:22a). Before the widow’s son returns to life, the prophet calls YHWH to perform a miracle. Subsequently, and surprisingly the narration reports that the LORD obeyed. In contrast to the Hebrew of the source text, we argue that modern Bible translations do not render 1 Kgs 17:22a (וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע יְהוָ֖ה בְּקֹ֣ול אֵלִיָּ֑הוּ) correctly. Instead of translating “The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah” (NRSV), “The LORD heard Elijah’s cry” (NIV), or “The LORD answered Elijah’s prayer” (GNB), one should instead render the Hebrew valence of שׁמע by translating “And the LORD obeyed Elijah.” We utilize the latest tools for text-corpus analysis (Text-Fabric, SHEBANQ) to analyze the Hebrew verbal valence of שׁמע. Our argument is, however, not only of linguistic nature. We also engage in a literary analysis of 1 Kgs 17. We seek to demonstrate that when both linguistic and literary studies are combined, the correct rendering of v22b becomes the theological climax of the opening chapter of the so-called Elijah cycle. This theological climax reveals what Lunn has described as “human-theophany.” The prophet embodies YHWH’s presence. We explore at the end of our article the inter-textual and typological aspects of such theological climax.

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