. . . the Name theology of Deuteronomy
and the Dtr deserves equal emphasis as an important key to understanding divine
vice regency in Israel’s monolatrous religion. Scholars have frequently pointed
out that the divine Name of Yahweh “can be understood as a hypostasis of the
deity, and that in Deuteronomy God dwells in heaven but his Name dwells in the
earthly sanctuary. Mettinger has pointed five principal terms (קרא, בית, היה, שׁום,
שׁכן) commonly used in connection with שׁם to express the idea that the Name was
an independent, localized, extension of Yahweh’s own presence. Several examples
are specially illustrative:
Deut 12:11a
וְהָיָ֣ה הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַר֩ יְהוָ֙ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֥ם בּוֹ֙ לְשַׁכֵּ֤ן שְׁמוֹ֙
שָׁ֔ם
Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to make his
Name dwell there . . .
Deut 12:5
כִּ֠י אִֽם־אֶל־הַמָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֙ר יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ מִכָּל־שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֔ם
לָשׂ֥וּם אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ שָׁ֑ם לְשִׁכְנ֥וֹ תִדְרְשׁ֖וּ וּבָ֥אתָ שָֽׁמָּה
But you shall seek the place which the Lord your God shall chose our of all
your tribes to put his Name there; to his habitation shall you inquire, and
there you will come.
1 Kgs 5:19 (Hebrew)
וְהִנְנִ֣י אֹמֵ֔ר לִבְנ֣וֹת בַּ֔יִת לְשֵׁ֖ם יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֑י כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר׀ דִּבֶּ֣ר
יְהוָ֗ה אֶל־דָּוִ֤ד אָבִי֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר בִּנְךָ֗ אֲשֶׁ֙ר אֶתֵּ֤ן תַּחְתֶּ֙יךָ֙ עַל־כִּסְאֶ֔ךָ
הֽוּא־יִבְנֶ֥ה הַבַּ֖יִת לִשְׁמִֽי
And, behold, I intend to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God, as the
Lord spoke to David my father, saying, Your son, whom I will set upon your
throne in your place, he shall build a house for my Name.
2 Chr 20:9
אִם־תָּב֙וֹא עָלֵ֜ינוּ רָעָ֗ה חֶרֶב֘ שְׁפוֹט֘ וְדֶ֣בֶר וְרָעָב֒ נַֽעַמְדָ֞ה לִפְנֵ֙י
הַבַּ֤יִת הַזֶּה֙ וּלְפָנֶ֔יךָ כִּ֥י שִׁמְךָ֖ בַּבַּ֣יִת הַזֶּ֑ה וְנִזְעַ֥ק אֵלֶ֛יךָ
מִצָּרָתֵ֖נוּ וְתִשְׁמַ֥ע וְתוֹשִֽׁיעַ
If evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine, let us
stand before the house of your presence (for your Name is in this house) and
when we cry to you in our affliction, then you will hear and help.
Ps 74:7
שִׁלְח֣וּ בָ֭אֵשׁ מִקְדָּשֶׁ֑ךָ לָ֜אָ֗רֶץ חִלְּל֥וּ מִֽשְׁכַּן־שְׁמֶֽךָ
They have cast fire into your sanctuary; they have cast down (in defilement)
the dwelling place of your Name to the ground.
It should be pointed out that the
presence of the Name on earth in the sanctuary in Deuteronomy and elsewhere is
not designed to denote Yahweh’s transcendence, since Yahweh is also repeatedly
referenced on earth via this phrase לפני יהוה. This juxtaposition of Yahweh in heaven
yet present on earth and utilizing an extension of his person on earth might
seem confusing and redundant, but a vice regency model clarifies the situation.
The מלאך יהוה was the anthropomorphized Name, and his presence (or the Name’s
indwelling of the sanctuary) was understood as Yahweh himself being present.
Divine immanence is the result, not divine distancing. (Michael S. Heiser,
"The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-Canonical Second Temple
Jewish Literature," [Ph.D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2004],
[65-66], emphasis added)
