Ask God: Divine Consultation in the Literature of the Hebrew Bible (Beiträge zur biblischen Exegese und Theologie)

Through a study of several Hebrew words for asking , this book explores a number of texts dealing with divine consultation. In contexts of war, illness, national disaster and other situations, experts such as prophets, priests, men of God and kings consult YHWH. The divine response is either favorable or unfavorable. The pattern of: situation of distress, divine consultation and divine response reflects not merely a literary genre, but a situation able to tell us something about ancient Israelite prophecy. Ask God also shows that the strict dichotomy traditionally upheld between prophecy and divination is not always tenable.