Prophetic Disability

Sarah J. Melcher’s Prophetic Disability: Divine Sovereignty and Human Bodies in the Hebrew Bible is an important contribution to the Studies in Religion, Theology, and Disability series by Baylor University Press. In this book, Melcher helpfully guides readers through many of the texts that reference disability within the prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible, where she argues that “God’s sovereignty and power are often portrayed in relationship to themes or metaphors of disability” (9). This fits in with the larger prophetic concern regarding the role of God in sustaining the prophet’s community amid precarious political and social circumstances. This work provides modern readers of the prophets (and biblical texts more generally) with another lens to examine how earlier communities grappled with seeing God’s presence within the difficulties of human existence.

A particular strength of Melcher’s work lies in the methodological discussion she opens with, which focuses on approaching literary depictions of disability. Melcher echoes previous criticisms of the medical and social models of disability, though she goes further than much current scholarship by arguing that the cultural model is also reductionist (4). She therefore adopts the “critical realist perspective” found in the work of Tom Shakespeare (1). This eclectic approach enables a complex exploration of how societal structures and human agency interact in critical explorations of disability imagery and metaphors.

Melcher divides her exploration of disability and God’s sovereignty within the prophets into four chapters, focusing on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve. In the chapter on Isaiah, Melcher explores ways that disability imagery and metaphors undergird the text’s vision of God’s restoration of the community. Melcher argues that the text consistently portrays people with disabilities as “objects to illustrate God’s power,” though in doing so, the text “also portrays them as leaders of the restoration” (42). The interplay between God’s sovereignty and the selective healing of people with disabilities throughout the text both highlights the “restorative and transformative” power of God and the potential for these depictions of disability to “create a distance between God and the people,” for both the earliest readers and hearers of these texts and modern faith communities (38-39). For Melcher, Isaiah’s references to disability contribute to the larger rhetorical aim of the text to transform readers and invite them to further reflect on God’s nature.

The chapter on Jeremiah highlights the role that literary depictions of disability play in the community’s reflection on God’s sovereignty and the trauma of exile. Melcher argues that those behind the book of Jeremiah relied on depictions of women and people with disabilities to “convey Judah’s fearfulness and vulnerability” (59). Thus, Melcher suggests that the disability imagery within Jeremiah—even in texts designed to encourage hope for future restoration—contributes to the construction of a hierarchy in which women and people with disabilities inhabit the lowest rungs (59-60). Melcher’s analysis acknowledges the problematic nature of these depictions while cautioning modern readers to remember the ways that those behind Jeremiah were shaped by their context. By doing this, she encourages modern readers to reframe disability references within the prophets, arguing that “perhaps God’s special attention to these marginalized people can serve as a rhetorical example that urges the reader to be more inclusive” in their faith community (60). In addition, Melcher notes that texts like Jeremiah fail to “include the voices or the social and cultural circumstances of people with disabilities,” as they are presumably addressed to able-bodied people (61). She thus helpfully suggests that modern readers account for this reality by listening to people with disabilities as they grapple with biblical texts.

In the exploration of Ezekiel, Melcher emphasizes the connection between the literary depiction of disability in Ezekiel and the role of God’s punishment in the community. She argues that the text depicts God “inflicting disability or death on the people” to encourage covenantal obedience (76). Ezekiel thus seems to associate the “deterioration of the body with sinfulness” (71). This raises questions for modern readers about the connection between human bodies and the idea of God’s punishment if, as Ezekiel suggests, humans should think of God as both sovereign deity and good shepherd. Instead of dismissing this problematic use of disability imagery, Melcher encourages modern readers to focus on texts like Ezekiel 34 and 36, which connect God’s sovereignty and power with the restoration and salvation of God’s people.

Melcher’s discussion of disability imagery in the Book of the Twelve surveys this collection of texts without exhaustively examining each text (e.g., skipping Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah). Instead, Melcher highlights key texts that connect God’s sovereignty with literary depictions of disability. In particular, she notes the thematic emphasis on the “stumbling” of God’s people in conjunction with both ideas about disability and the community’s covenantal disobedience. Melcher challenges modern readers to resist these problematic interpretations of the relationship between disability and punishment as they participate within their faith communities (102-103). Instead, she invites modern readers to focus on the socioeconomic criticisms prevalent throughout prophetic texts like Amos, where prophets call on God’s people to treat marginalized populations within their community with justice. Melcher thus offers modern readers a way forward that resists the temptation to dismiss difficult texts and instead seeks to critically engage them.

The final chapter brings together the major themes concerning the use of literary depictions of disability and its relationship to conceptions of God’s sovereignty in the prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible. Melcher’s exploration of disability and God’s sovereignty highlights the complex and multi-faceted use of disability imagery in the prophets. Her work is an important step forward for the larger study of disability and biblical literature. In particular, she pushes scholars to further reflect on their approaches to the biblical text. Her work will help modern readers of biblical texts better engage with texts critically and empathetically, especially those who do so within a faith-based context. This text will be valuable for biblical scholars, leaders of faith communities, and students who seek to better engage literary depictions of disability and the prophets.

Kevin Scott is a senior academic writing consultant and clinical affiliate professor at Baylor University.

Kevin Scott

Date Of Review:

March 19, 2024