Time&Eternity

68 chapter 2
The Egyptologist Eberhard Otto also believes that, very early on in the
ancient Near East, cyclical and linear concepts of time existed side by side.
He sees a compromise between cyclical and linear time concepts in the calculation
of time according to the years of rule of the respective reigning
monarchs. 44
For the ancient Near Eastern cultures of Mesopotamia and the Hittite
kingdom, Hartmut Gese has shown that one can also not assume a cyclical,
ahistorical understanding of time. 45 In Mesopotamia, the view of history as
a noncausal sequence of good and evil times in keeping with the unfathomable
will of the gods developed into the concept of a succession of ages
characterized by a cause-and-effect principle. When Israel developed its
conception of history as judgment, it could tie into this ancient oriental
conception of history as sequence. 46
In the Hebrew Scriptures, one can find traces of at least three different
systems for naming months: names having a Canaanite origin, Babylonian
month names, and designation of months by ordinal number. We learn
nothing about the length of the individual months or years, and nothing
about the probable intercalary procedure that was needed for holding lunar
and solar years together. 47 Even these facts speak for the hypothesis that Israel’s
concept of time is not as unique or independent of its surroundings as
von Rad claims. In contrast to what we know about Babylonian, Assyrian,
and Egyptian calendars, we can glean little information on the nature of the
Jewish calendar from the Hebrew Scriptures. 48 This also indicates that the
development of a special concept of temporal structuring was not a primary
concern.
Instead of assuming that the development of a linear concept of time in
Israel was relatively direct and unique, as von Rad has done, one should conclude
that cyclical and linear conceptions of time coexisted and interfered
with each other. 49 This is confirmed by a look at Genesis 8 and 9, where different
experiences of time are redactionally linked to each other. The text describes
a new beginning following the Flood, which the Yahwist explains
cyclically: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22). 50 The Priestly
material, on the other hand, marks the new beginning with a historical
event: God blesses Noah and his sons and establishes a covenant with them
that includes “every living creature” on earth and is sealed by the sign of the
rainbow (Gen. 9:1–17). 51 Von Rad does not comment on this difference in
the understanding of time; he sees both accounts of the history of the Flood
from the viewpoint of maintaining order. Thus, for the Yahwist, “[i]t is not
yet .l.l. that grace which forgives sins .l.l. , but a gracious will that is .l.l. effective
and recognizable in the changeless duration of nature’s orders,” 52 where-