Description: Modern study of biblical prophecy frequently defines prophecy as a message from God and has focused almost exclusively on prophets' words. But prophecy was always also embodied. Anathea E. Portier-Young insists on the synergy of word and body in biblical prophecy. Prophets did more than reveal knowledge: the prophetic body connected God and people, making them present to one another, channeling divine power, traveling between realms. Drawing insights from disciplines ranging from neurobiology to cultural studies, the author examines stories of prophetic commissioning, bodily transformation, asceticism and ecstasy, mobility and immobility, affect and emotion, revealing the body's centrality to prophetic mediation.
Review Quotes: "In reframing prophecy as fundamentally embodied, Portier-Young lingers over aspects of texts we had previously overlooked, giving fresh understanding of the prophet's relationship to deity, people, and place. With careful exegesis amplified by wide-ranging yet apt insights from fields as disparate as poetry, neuroscience, affect theory, and monster culture, this study is both integrative and innovative. Its subtle argument, clearly and vividly expressed, will prove impossible to ignore." -- Ellen F. Davis, Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology, Duke Divinity School
"Portier-Young's compelling volume weaves together a deft reading of biblical texts and deep engagement with contemporary theory on embodiment, colonialism, and gender to challenge interpretations that reduce prophecy to words. By reclaiming the role of the body -- not only for the biblical prophets but also for their readers -- she offers us a path beyond the mind-body dualism that feeds ancient and modern systems of oppression. This is essential reading for understanding biblical prophecy and the limits of current paradigms of interpretation. I anxiously await the remaining volumes of the trilogy!" -- Julia M. O'Brien, Paul H. and Grace L. Stern Professor of Hebrew Bible, Lancaster Theological Seminary"In The Prophetic Body by Anathea Portier-Young, readers will encounter a thoughtful and insightful exploration of the sheer physicality that went into biblical representations of the prophets' bodily practices and experiences. Drawing on a wide range of studies in neurocognition, social science and cultural theory, this engaging and well written book demonstrates how biblical prophecy was a fully embodied phenomenon that deeply affected and effected the divine words associated with prophets. An important, fresh contribution, most highly recommended for both old and new students of biblical prophecy." -- Mark S. Smith, Princeton Theological Seminary"In this stunning exploration of somatic dimensions of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible, Anathea Portier-Young weaves an elegant tapestry of insights drawn from narratology, affect theory, disability studies, gender criticism, and neurobiology. On every page, biblical scholars and homileticians will find fresh wisdom for their theorizing of the synergy of sacred speech, cognition, embodiment, and lived experience in articulations of the holy." -- Carolyn J. Sharp, Professor of Homiletics, Yale Divinity School"This groundbreaking work reframes biblical prophecy as we know it. Rejecting the mind-body dualism that has led to a persistent focus on prophets' words as if separable from their embodied experience, Anathea Portier-Young demonstrates how the prophetic body and word were inextricably interconnected. With remarkable multidisciplinary breadth, Portier-Young examines prophetic experience, action, and affect, and presents a revolutionary new model for understanding prophetic literature. The Prophetic Body offers an expansive redefinition of the very nature of biblical prophecy." -- Esther J. Hamori, Professor of Hebrew Bible, Union Theological Seminary"In this stunningly erudite volume, Anathea Portier-Young has initiated her ambitious project of exploring the textual evidence for the bodily engagement of the prophets of ancient Israel. She has taken into account a vast secondary literature as well as an intense study of the textual material. Portier Young's book is a seminal work that likely will refocus on-going study of the ancient prophets to show the great extent to which they imposed their compelling bodily reality upon the body politic of ancient Israel ... [T]his book opens new vistas in our interpretation and understanding. Portier-Young shows herself to be a major voice in a new generation of interpreters. We will eagerly await the appearance of subsequent volumes in her category-shattering project." -- Walter Brueggemann, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary"The Prophetic Body is a monumental work that transcends the boundaries of traditional biblical studies. The author's synthesis of cognitive neuroscience, anthropology, and rigorous textual analysis offers a pioneering lens through which to understand the complex interplay between embodiment, prophecy, and religious experience in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) ... Insightful, profoundly researched, and elegantly articulated, The Prophetic Body serves as a vital contribution ... This book is highly recommended for scholars, theologians, and anyone intrigued by the nexus of spirituality, literature, and the human body. Its groundbreaking insights offer a journey that promises to engage and enlighten readers across a wide spectrum of interests." -- Stephen L. Cook, Catherine N. McBurney Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature, Virginia Theological Seminary"The key contribution of this monumental effort is the inclusion of prophetic embodiment. An abbreviation guide, indexes, and bibliography offer a compendious resource for the reader, albeit within the scope of the author's focus." -- Choice"The Prophetic Body offers a compelling argument for the integration of the physical and emotional dimensions of prophecy, rendering it a landmark contribution to the study of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible. I await her following two volumes with anticipation!" -- Eleanor Vivian, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament"I sincerely thank Portier-Young for her brilliant and valuable contribution, which is partly performing a prophetic mediation itself by helping to upend centuries of power structures that construct spirit and intellect as lofty, and bodies and materiality as base." -- Frances Flannery, Ancient Jew Review"The Prophetic Body is sure to become a go-to monograph on the application of both embodiment and affect theories to prophetic material. Portier-Young has produced a book that engages the interdisciplinary roots of these approaches while remaining reader friendly." -- Corrine Carvalho, Ancient Jew Review"It can be said without exaggeration that Anathea Portier-Young's The Prophetic Body is a milestone in the research of prophecy, whether as a historical phenomenon, as a type of literature, or as a narrative trope. Her perspective on prophecy opens both outwards and inwards, broadening the methodological potential of prophetic studies and introducing prophecy as an activity, the site of which is to be found not only in texts and socio-historical contexts but essentially in the human body." -- Martti Nissinen, Ancient Jew Review"Anathea E. Portier-Young's The Prophetic Body is a tour de force, a work sure to have significant ramifications for how Hebrew Bible prophets, prophecy, their reception, and their impact on ancient audiences will be received." -- Xenia Chan, Ancient Jew Review"The Prophetic Body is full of exciting new insights into prophetic texts. It brings together a wide variety of body-focused approaches to biblical prophecy in a way that has not been attempted before." -- Rosanne Liebermann, Biblica