Isaiah's Impure Lips and their purification in Light of Mouth Purification and Mouth Purity in Akkadian Sources
The pivotal act in Isaiah's famous "Throne Vision" (Isaiah 6) is the purification of the prophet's lips by one of the Seraphim. Scholars throughout the ages have tried to explain the source of the lips' impurity as well as the meaning of their purification but have failed to...
| Published in: | Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
1989
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Mesopotamia
/ Religion
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| RelBib Classification: | BC Ancient Orient; religion HB Old Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Purity
B Bible. Jesaja 6,5 |
| Summary: | The pivotal act in Isaiah's famous "Throne Vision" (Isaiah 6) is the purification of the prophet's lips by one of the Seraphim. Scholars throughout the ages have tried to explain the source of the lips' impurity as well as the meaning of their purification but have failed to reach a consensus. This article examines the references to mouth purification and mouth purity in a wide range of Akkadian texts and thereby provides a sound basis for a solution suggested first by I. Engnell, later by J. Lindblom, and most recently by M. Weinfeld, who compare the purification of Isaiah's lips to the washing of the mouth performed by various Mesopotamian cultic functionaries. Investigation of the Akkadian sources shows that purifying the mouth may be aimed at preparing it for speech but that this is not the full extent of its significance. Mouth purity is often, although not exclusively, a divine trait. Examination of several texts in which the performer of a ritual purifies his mouth shows that this is done at a crucial stage in the ritual, at its beginning, at its climax or at regular intervals throughout. In "positive confessions" in which the ritual performer proclaims his purity, purity of the mouth is mentioned first. Mouth purity may thus have come to be seen as a synecdoche expressing total purity. Although it is usually the ritualist who purifies his mouth, there are several cases in which a sinner for whom a ritual is performed is called upon to do the same. In several of the texts examined, the purification initiated by cleansing the mouth is a prelude to standing before a divine counsel sitting in judgement. The frequent occurrence of mouth purification in Mesopotamian ritual texts removes the mouth purification in Isaiah 6 from its isolation and invites comparison. There are several points of similarity between Isaiah's vision and some of the Mesopotamian ritual-prayers analyzed, especially the "Prayer to the Gods of the Night" and the Old Babylonian bārû prayer. They all speak of purifying the mouth or lips. In all of them, mouth purification is symbolic of total purity. Isaiah's confession that his lips are impure is stylistically similar to the Mesopotamian "positive confessions" that the mouth is pure. In all of them, purifying the mouth permits the person to stand before a divine tribunal. It seems as a result that Isaiah may not be referring in his confession to a specific verbal or oral transgression but may be simply inverting a cultic formula. By saying "I am a man of impure lips", he is actually stating that he is cultically impure, that he has not completed or even begun the purification process which should precede his encounter with the Divine, and that he was taken by surprise. The entire "Throne Vision", which contains both legal and cultic motifs, may be explained as an inimical, foreboding distortion of the legal-cultic situations similar to those acted out in many Mesopotamian rituals including the ones discussed here. Isaiah finds himself suddenly in the Heavenly courtroom. Sentence is being pronounced upon the people and he is not prepared to defend them, nor are they prepared to stand trial. When he is purified, it is too late. He volunteers to be an emissary of the court, hoping that he can yet benefit the accused people but, instead, he is made an instrument for carrying out their punishment. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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