Studies in Old Testament Biblical Theology – serie

Israel's Diving Healer is the first complete, systematic treatment of the biblical motif of God as "Divine Healer." It traces the theme of the Divine Healer from the Old to the New Testament, showing the continuity and discontinuity between the Testaments, particularly in Jesus' miracles that reveal God as the world's Divine Healer. Israel's Divine Healer begins with a study of various Hebrew words on healing. It then explores, within the larger context of the Ancient Near Eastern religions, the roles of medicine, magic, and the physician-priest together with their possible influences upon Israel's beliefs and practices regarding healing. Against this background, the remaining chapters examine, from the Torah to the Gospels, how Yahweh progressively revealed himself as Divine Healer to Israel and ultimately, through Jesus, to the whole of humanity.

The basis of all biblical study is that God has revealed himself, not only through the Word, but in various ways in various times and places. These self-disclosures are called theophanies. The pivotal theophany in Old Testament times was God's revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai. So significant is this theophany in terms of God's covenant with his people and his progressive revelation that author Jeffrey J. Niehaus justifiably employs the term "Sinai theology" to convey his theme. This book explores the meaning of this theophany throughout the Old Testament -- pre-Sinai, post-Sinai (especially the prophets), and the Psalms -- and its significance for the New Testament. It also examines parallels in ancient Near Eastern traditions.