Theophanic "Type-Scenes" in the Pentateuch: Visions of YHWH by Nevada Levi Delapp (review)

In this monograph Nevada Levi DeLapp analyzes the theophanies found in the Pentateuch by reading them through a canonical literary/theological lens. He contends that the Torah's story line affects how each book depicts God's self-revelation to individuals and groups.

In chap. 1, D.L. gives a compact and well-rounded survey of the scholarship surrounding the study of theophanies in the Hebrew Bible and explains the method and approach he will employ. In chap. 2, he explores the theophany scenes in Genesis, arguing that they all fit a pattern containing three primary characteristics that flow from the nature of the narratives found in Genesis: "(1) the Genesis story presents a context of threat and human doubt, (2) YHWH visibly appears, (3) YHWH restates his promise" (p. 16).

DeLapp analyzes Exodus in chap. 3 and contends that the story line entails a shift from intimate encounters with selected individuals to public events that also serve to demonstrate God's power and ability to act on Israel's behalf. "The theophanic God who promises now becomes the theophanic God who acts on these promises" (p. 43).

In chap. 4, D.L. moves on to Leviticus, where he finds only two explicit theophany scenes (Leviticus 8–9 and 10:1-3). He notes, however, that Leviticus can be viewed as one continuous theophany because Lev 1:1 announces that God's commands throughout Leviticus are spoken to Moses from the tent of meeting, which the end of Exodus indicates was shrouded in God's visible presence. D.L. claims that the two explicit theophanies in Leviticus add unique elements to the public theophany scenes narrated in Exodus, specifically highlighting the role played by priests conducting liturgical rituals that in effect turn the theophany at Sinai into a permanent mobile theophany (i.e., the tent shrine) that Israel carries as the people journey toward the holy land.

Numbers is taken up in chap. 5, and here strains in D.L.'s project begin to show. He acknowledges that, rather than introducing another specialized theophanic type scene, Numbers contains many Exodus-like public theophanies. He switches gears and argues that this is because the materials leading up to Sinai and those after Israel leaves Sinai mirror each other, but in Numbers Israel, rather than Pharaoh, is the object of God's wrath. This reverse mirroring is certainly true of Numbers 1–25, but D.L.'s framework seems less helpful in explaining the broad array of theophany scenes found here. Even less persuasive is his claim that the Balaam story has a private Genesis-like theophany because such theophanies occur only in or near the land, which Israel is now approaching. Such special pleading makes it appear that no evidence can ever disconfirm D.L.'s claim that these scenes unfold in a logical progressive fashion because his argument too often presumes that such coherence must exist in the canonical Torah rather than convincingly demonstrating it.

As noted in the acknowledgments (p. ix), chap. 6, analyzing Deuteronomy, was added at the request of the external reader of the manuscript. It seems likely that it was not included in the original project because the theophanies found here do not easily fit into D.L.'s attempt to trace a progressive literary pattern of theophanic scenes across the Pentateuch. As D.L. notes, theophanies in Deuteronomy are reported as memories that provide a corrective lens to avoid misreading the theophanies that occur earlier in the Pentateuch. D.L. does make a plausible case that Deuteronomy is not as aniconic as scholars like Moshe Weinfeld contend. "YHWH was not absent. He was present but hidden in the midst of the fire" (pp. 136-37).

In a brief chap. 7, D.L. sums up his conclusions and attempts to draw out the implications of his research for theophanic scenes outside the Pentateuch.

While this book is clearly written and in places...