Power of Written Word in Ancient Israel

Teresa Neumann : Jul 26, 2012
Joey Corbett – Bible History Daily

"It is as if the act of writing the prayer [brought] the God-presence into a sort of material reality." -Susan Niditch

(Israel)—Archaeologist Joey Corbett, who is currently conducting research in Jordan, says words were far more than "idle words meant simply to read," when written language began to spread through the Near East 3,000 years ago.

In a Bible History Daily report, Corbett lists several Scriptures pertaining to how the Israelites were in awe of the power of the written word. They include Numbers 5:11-28 and Ezekiel 2:9-3:11. (Photo: Hershel Shanks)

Corbett contends the "magic" of written words meant that once they came into being, they were active.

"Just as writing could help an author's prayers get answered," writes Corbett, "it could also be used to inflict pain and suffering. Curse inscriptions often protected tombs…Hiram, a tenth-century B.C. King of Byblos, wrote on his sarcophagus that anyone who attempted to destroy his inscription would have their own inscription blotted out.