Date of Award

1989

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Religion, Old Testament Studies PhD

First Advisor

Gerhard F. Hasel

Second Advisor

William H. Shea

Third Advisor

Kenneth A. Strand

Abstract

This dissertation explores the biblical significance and theological implications of the "throne of God" motif through an exegetical investigation of the texts of the Hebrew Bible which have direct reference to it.

Chapter I states the problems which the biblical "throne of God" motif poses, and also theobjectives, limitations, methodology, and procedure of this study.

Chapter II reviews pertinent literature since theturn of the century. This survey reveals thecurrent status of investigation on our topic to be only fragmentary.

Chapter III is devoted to the investigation of the"divine throne" motif in ancient Near Eastern literatures such as Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Ugaritic, and Egyptian texts. One of theremarkable points in these texts is that thethrone was deified and/or worshiped as a cult object.

Chapter IV presents a brief study of the throne terminology in order to provide a linguistic background for the exegetical study which follows. Four Hebrew terms (kissē', kissēh, môŝāb̲ and teḵûnāh), one Aramaic word (korsē'), and other related expressions are surveyed here.

Chapter V undertakes an exegetical analysis of the "throne of God" passages of the Hebrew Bible. The throne of God symbolizes His eternal kingship/kingdom, judgeship, and creatorship. Thus, it points to both sides of time, i.e., Urzeit and Endzeit. It also represents the authority of the One who calls and sends the prophets: it functions as the place of revelation. It is theinsignia of God's victory over the enemies and His absolute power. It is the guarantee of safety for God's people. There are many other implications. In sum, the throne of God stands for the totality of God's attributes and activities in sustaining theuniverse and bringing about salvation of His people.

Chapter VI summarizes and synthesizes theresults of the investigation. This chapter also compares the biblical "throne of God" motif with the extrabiblical "divine throne" motif. Many peculiar aspects of the "throne of God" motif in the Hebrew Bible attest to its own unique provenance.

Subject Area

Throne of God, Thrones in the Bible

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dissertations/106/

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