Hebrew Bible: Leviticus and Mary Douglas

Leviticus

09/30/2011

Leviticus 11:  Dietary Laws concerning Animals

These laws are categorized by land, air, and water-dwelling animals, much like Creation categorization.

Land

• Clean animals:  having divided hooves and who chew the cud; e.g. cows
• Unclean animals:  lacking divided hoof and/or chewing the cud; e.g. rock badger

Sea

• Clean animals:  having fins and scales; e.g. fish!
• Unclean animals:  lacking fins and/or scales; e.g. squids, shrimps, lobsters

Sky

• Clean animals:  difficult to categorize; mostly NOT birds of prey; insects with jointed legs
• Unclean animals:  predators, scavengers, odd insects

What's the Purpose of these Laws?

-- Mary Douglas, The Abominations of Leviticus

Some explanations...

Epstein (pg. 45)

     for holiness by training in self-control; measuring holiness by following laws, regardless of their reason

Philo (pg. 45)

     for guarding against gluttony and revelry -- most delicious meats were forbidden

Micklem (pg. 47)

     for no reason!  the laws are irrational and pointless; no single organization rule

Professor Stein (pg. 48)

     for preserving holiness on the basis of the allegorical associations with certain animals.  Animals who represent a negative trait are unclean, and those who represent a positive trait are clean.

• mouse and weasel -- obnoxious -- unclean
• unclean birds -- violent against weak -- unclean
• cows -- contemplative and meditative (on the torah) -- clean

     However, this viewpoint is difficult to maintain due to the the multitude of and variations in interpretation.

Bishop Challoner (pg. 49)

     also for allegorical reasons

• hoof represents a division between good and evil
• no fins represents going along with the current (in contrast to prayer and purposeful movement)

Maimonides (pg. 49-50)

     for a separation from previous heathen practices and separation from Canaanite practices

Problem:  What about the other heathen practices the Israelites adapted, like sacrifice and a tabernacle?

Suggested Solution:  dietary restrictions provdided a way to transition away from heathen practices

Mary Douglas's Explanation (pg. 56)

Basis:  "Be holy for I am holy"

Principle:  an aim to be set apart and whole/complete

• sacrifices had to be "whole" and without blemish or defect
• land animals had to be ideal for farming, representing a "wholeness" in farming technique
• unclean animals were deemed to be "incomplete" in some way -- usually not fitting into a natural category like other animals of the same type
• any animal that was borderline "un-whole/incomplete" was unclean
• for example, some unclean birds ate dead meat, an act unnatural from other birds and thereby "unwhole" to eat

BOTTOM LINE:  these laws classified animals within their categories (land, air, sea) and eliminated those who were borderline cases.

Note:  see Blackboard for paper assignment concerning today's topic

Deuteronomy Re-post

09/28/2011

Deuteronomy

Timeline:

1. 1250-1000 BCE:  Emergence of Israel in Canaan
2. 1000-922 BCE:  Israelite Monarchy
3. 922 BCE:  Kingdom Splits (Judah in the South and Israel in the North)
4. 722 BCE:  Assyrian Invasion upon Israel
5. ca. 621 BCE:  King Josiah's Reform (Judah Kingdom)
1. see 2 Kings 22:1-5
2. the Book of the Law was found, which focused on centralizing worship
6. 586 BCE:  Babylonian Invasion upon Judah
1. Jerusalem Temple destroyed
2. large amounts of people were taken into Babylon
7. 539 BCE:  Persian King Cyrus allows fugitives to return to home country

Documentary Hypothesis Sources (Review):

• (J) and (E) -- written during the Monarchy:  Genesis--first 1/2 of Exodus
• (P) -- written during and after the Babylonian Exile:  second 1/2 of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
• (D) -- written (possibly) during Josiah's Reform:  Deuteronomy--Kings

Deuteronomy

• King Josiah portrayed as a hero
• written possibly during or after his reign
• centralization of religion/worship
• **(P) and (D) seemed to be unaware of each other, making it difficult to determine which preceded the other.**
• Name:  
• from "Second telling of the Law" -- Greek
• "Devarim" -- Hebrew, meaning "These are the words..."
• Structure
• chapters 1-11:  Preamble
• also motivational speeches
• chapter 6 is central text; lays out requirements for putting the law on foreheads (Tefillin) and door frames (Mezuzah)
• 12-26:  The Law 
• corpus of the second telling of the Law
• some discrepancies exist between the first and second law (e.g. Ex. 21 and Deut. 15:12-14)
• 27-28:  Blessings and Curses
• based on behavior/obedience
• blessings:  land, children, victory, etc.
• curses:  reversal of blessings; plagues, disasters, etc.
• see similarities with the VTE (the Vassal Treaty of Esarhaddon) 
• 29-34:  Appendices
• seemingly added on later
• probably the work of (P) or (R)
• The treaty laid out in Deuteronomy may possibly be a counter-treaty of the one the Israelites signed with Assyria, asserting primary and steadfast allegiance to YHWH.

Hebrew Bible: Deuteronomy

09/28/2011

Deuteronomy

Timeline:

1. 1250-1000 BCE:  Emergence of Israel in Canaan
2. 1000-922 BCE:  Israelite Monarchy
3. 922 BCE:  Kingdom Splits (Judah in the South and Israel in the North)
4. 722 BCE:  Assyrian Invasion upon Israel
5. ca. 621 BCE:  King Josiah's Reform (Judah Kingdom)
1. see 2 Kings 22:1-5
2. the Book of the Law was found, which focused on centralizing worship
6. 586 BCE:  Babylonian Invasion upon Judah
1. Jerusalem Temple destroyed
2. large amounts of people were taken into Babylon
7. 539 BCE:  Persian King Cyrus allows fugitives to return to home country

Documentary Hypothesis Sources (Review):

• (J) and (E) -- written during the Monarchy:  Genesis--first 1/2 of Exodus
• (P) -- written during and after the Babylonian Exile:  second 1/2 of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
• (D) -- written (possibly) during Josiah's Reform:  Deuteronomy--Kings

Deuteronomy

• King Josiah portrayed as a hero
• written possibly during or after his reign
• centralization of religion/worship
• **(P) and (D) seemed to be unaware of each other, making it difficult to determine which preceded the other.**
• Name:  
• from "Second telling of the Law" -- Greek
• "Devarim" -- Hebrew, meaning "These are the words..."
• Structure
• chapters 1-11:  Preamble
• also motivational speeches
• chapter 6 is central text; lays out requirements for putting the law on foreheads (Tefillin) and door frames (Mezuzah)
• 12-26:  The Law 
• corpus of the second telling of the Law
• some discrepancies exist between the first and second law (e.g. Ex. 21 and Deut. 15:12-14)
• 27-28:  Blessings and Curses
• based on behavior/obedience
• blessings:  land, children, victory, etc.
• curses:  reversal of blessings; plagues, disasters, etc.
• see similarities with the VTE (the Vassal Treaty of Esarhaddon) 
• 29-34:  Appendices
• seemingly added on later
• probably the work of (P) or (R)
• The treaty laid out in Deuteronomy may possibly be a counter-treaty of the one the Israelites signed with Assyria, asserting primary and steadfast allegiance to YHWH.

Hebrew Bible: the (P) source, Leviticus, and Numbers

09/26/2011

(P) Source -- geneologies, Creation, flood and circumcision accounts

Exodus 25-40 -- Tabernacle (P)

• Think of it as a La-z-boy or a tent
• the place where God's presence resided
• visually like a cloud

Leviticus 1-16 -- Purity vs. Impurity (P)
Leviticus 17-26 -- Holiness Code (H)
Leviticus 27-(end) -- (P)
Numbers -- all (P), yet (P) most likely incorporates (J) and (E) narratives

Two purposes of the (P) source narratives

1. Authors wanted everyone to know what it meant to be "pure."
1. impurities
1. necrophilia (nearness to dead things)
2. eating an animal found dead
3. pigs
4. childbirth
5. menstrual cycles, etc., etc...
2. ways to become pure
1. sacrifices
2. priests!  without them, nothing can be acceptable to God
3. Leviticus 16:  Qapparah festival ("purification" in Hebrew)
1. basis for Yom Kippur
2. once a year a high priest (originally Aaron) would atone for the sins of the entire community
3. two goats:  one is sacrified, and the other is released into the wild at the mercy of Ahazel
1. Ahazel was a demon most likely
2. why was this included in the final biblical composition?
4. the festival was highly participatory and emotionally powerful
2. Authors included supportive narratives.
1. Leviticus 10:1-3
1. Aaron's sons, the priests
2. their unholy fire brought upon their sudden death
2. Numbers 12
1. a mini-rebellion led by Aaron and Miriam (Moses' siblings)
2. they were upset with Moses' extreme authority
3. Miriam suffers leprosy as a consequence but nothing happens to Aaron
4. message:  DON'T MESS WITH THE HIERARCY
5. Hierarchy:  Moses --> Aaron and sons --> Levites --> everyone else
3. Numbers 16
1. a large rebellion led by the Levite Korah
2. he questions Moses and the limitations of holiness to the priests exclusively
3. as a result, all the rebellers die in a pit
4. Numbers 25
1. a man takes a Moabite woman into his test in front of the assembly
2. Phineas the priest kills both of them with a spear (out of zeal)
3. the plauge upon the people for inter-marrying with such women ended
4. But Moses married a Moabite woman!
1. He was above the law, not to be questioned.
5. The stories stress the importance of submitting to the hierarchy, do the holiness rituals, and not to question Moses' authority.

Leviticus (Vayiqra in Hebrew, meaning "And he said...")

Key characters:  Aaronide priests and Levite helpers

Numbers (Bamidbar in Hebrew, meaning "In the desert...")

• census data (numbers)
• winderness travels

Hebrew Bible: The Ten Commandments

But first...

The Book of the Covenant, Part 2

09/23/2011

Exodus 23:  Festivals -- the first commandment for festivals

1. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
1. in reference to the flight from Egypt, when the bread was not given time to rise
2. later associated with the Passover
2. The Feast of the Harvest
1. a.k.a. the Feast of the Firstfruits
2. celebrated when harvest began
3. The Feast of Ingathering
1. celebreated at the end of the harvest season
2. later associated with the Feast of Tabernacles

verse 19:  Why were the Israelites commanded not to boil a lamb in its mother's milk?

    Possible reasons:

• the symbolic meanings of life in the milk and death of the lamb
• good practice in animal husbandry (concerning reproductive health)
• differentiation from Canaanite cuisine

verse 22:  God swore to protect the Israelites if they were obedient to Him.  Unlike the required obedience in this new covenant, the Patriarchs only needed to believe to be blessed.  Still, this may simply be due to the audience God was speaking to.

        The Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant are much like a Middle Eastern treaty -- note the display in 24:7 and the witnesses in 24:11 (the elders on the mountain with Moses).

The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20 vs. Deuteronomy 5

Similar commandments:

1. no other gods before the Lord
2. no idols
3. no bowing down to idols
4. no abuse of the Lord's name (swearing upon it)
5. **different** Sabbath commandment
6. honor father and mother
7. no murder
8. no adultery
9. no stealing
10. no bearing false witness (perjury)
11. **different** coveting commandment

Differences:

Exodus 20                                                          Deuteronomy 5           

"remember the Sabbath and keep it holy"          "observe the Sabbath and keep it holy" 

   Creation as basis (resting on the 7th day)                             Exodus as basis                   

               no coveting neighbor's house                               no coveting a neighbor's wife                      

no coveting neighbor's possessions (including wife)             no coveting neighbor's possessions        

Why TEN Commandments??

•  Scripture attests to "ten words" of the covenant
• religous authorites have combined some commandments into one
• see chart with Exodus 20 in NRSV Bible

One last note:  rabbis establish their authority in the interpretation of the Torah (e.g. "safeguards," attesting to the process of passing down of the Torah (God --> Moses --> Joshua --> elders --> prophets --> teachers/rabbis)

 



Hebrew Bible: Siani Theophany

Exodus:  Escape from Egypt
          Siani Theophany

09/21/2011

Thought to ponder:  Which tradition is more important to the development of the Israelite nation?

Middle Eastern Vassal Treaties:  treaty in which a powerful patron protects a protege, and the protege  

                                                      must serve the patron

Organization:

1. Preamble -- where the patron established his own qualifications
2. Historical Prologue -- an explanation of why the patron is patron over the vassal (like the Exodus)
3. Stipulations -- where the patron lays out the terms of the covenant for both sides
4. Display -- where both sides see the treaty (?)
5. Witnesses  -- where witnesses from both "sides" are stated
6. Curses/Blessings -- dependent on stipulations; acts of the patron (e.g. Persian box torture :) )

The structure of the biblical covenant is much like the typical Middle Eastern treaties, especially those of the Hittites.  This gives evidence that the covenant was written during the same time as the Hittite treaties.

Two Theories of when the Covenant was historically established:

1. The Israelites actually had the entire covenant during their wandering in the desert, but then they forgot it.  King Josiah later found it and reinstated it.  Finally, the prophets call the people to return to the covenant.
2. The Israelites never had the covenant in the desert.  Instead, it was established either during the Babylonian Exile or during the reign of King Josiah.  The prophets attempt to enforce the new covenant.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What happened at Mount Siani?

     Moses goes up and down the the mountain SEVERAL TIMES to hear :from God.  This is a theophany!  (a.k.a. a manifestation of YHWH)

     The events are recorded in both Exodus and Deuteronomy.

Exodus 19:  God tells Moses to get the people ready for a community theophany

Exodus 20:  The Ten Commandments, a.k.a. the Decalogue

• Henotheism is a possibility; that is, the belief in several gods, but they are all "inconsequential" in comparison to one God.
• Did God perhaps have a wife in Ancient Israel (Asherah)?

Exodus 21-24:  The Book of the Covenant

• Verse 1 established the new "book"
• consisted of many legal regulations
• alleged to the fact that slavery dealt with economy
• established laws realistic to that society
• Laws appear to be for a sedentary people
• Does this mean that covenant came once the Israelites were a formal nation?
• 
  
• Death Penalty Requirements:
• killing another human (striking mortally)
• striking a parent
• kidnapping
• cursing parents
• speaking against the leader
• LIFE FOR LIFE
• 
  
• Just punishment sought to be established ("eye for an eye," etc.), compared to the barbarity of the culture.

Exodus 22:29-30 -- support for sacrificing firstborn sons??  See Exodus 35. 

Hebrew Bible: Exodus, Part 1

"Exodus" -- Greek; from the Vulgate "the exodus from Egypt"
"Shemot" (she-mote) -- Hebrew; from the opening phrase of the book

Documentary Hypothesis

• all four authors represented
• however, the authors are difficult to separate
• possibly a good work of a redactor

God's Role and Location

• not as personal; only speaks to Moses
• dwells "amongst His host"
• dwells atop mountains
• Horeb
• site of burning bush (in Midian)
• Siani
• name similar to "bush" in Hebrew
• located either in Siani Peninsula or southern Jordan
• possibly two traditions??

A totally different Religion

• no altars or "setting up stones"
• people more apt to lose faith
• institution of the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread
• golden calf (later)
• a nation relates to God as a whole -- not as the individual patriarchs did

History

• NO evidence of a mass exodus and large military defeat in Egyptian history
• however, slavery escapes were historical during the 13th century BCE
• date:
• biblical -- 15th century BCE
• slavery, escapes, Pi-Ramses -- 13th century BCE
• possible writing of the story, when Ramses was city name (see below) -- 10th century BCE
• cities where the Israelites worked:
• Pitnam (no historical record)
• Ramses (name of city in 10th century BCE)
• After exodus -- no influx of Egyptian ideas or culture in Mesopotamia

"Moses"

• "child" or "son of" in Egyptian
• name given by Egyptian Pharaoh's daughter
• e.g. "ra-moses" means "son of god Ra"
• "Mashah" means "pulled out" in Hebrew
• another theory as to where the name comes from

How is the story used?  What did it mean to the Israelites?

• to establish their national identity
• to tell a story of victory over Egypt
• to show how God sent plagues to establish authority over Egyptian gods
• to explain religious rituals
• to explain the revelation of the Law
• to build the Tabernacle (like a tent) in which God dwelt

Exodus 3 -- Moses' Call

     "I am who I am" or "I will be who I will be" (Hebrew)

     YHWH means "to be/being"

     both names have the same root

     Is this God's real name revealed?

Exodus 4:24-26 -- God tries to kill Moses

• Zipporah is the hero by cutting off her son's foreskin
• "feet" refers to genitals (Hebrew)
• meanings:
• importance of circumcision?
• to legitimate Egyptian son and/or wife?
• Is God actually trying to kill the son?

Homework:  Read Collins, chap 6 and Exodus 19-24, 40.

Have a great day :)  sorry these are not as pretty as usual!

Hebrew Bible: The Binding of Isaac

09/16/11

Genesis 22 -- The Binding of Isaac


The point:  God wanted to test Abraham.
Themes:  trust, faith, obedience, reverence, provision

Homework:  Read Collins, chapter 5; 

read the intro to Exodus in NRSV; 

read Exodus chap. 1-18

Story covered in class:


How Abraham prepares:  saddles donkey, brings knife, wood, and servants


Isaac was most likely a young teenager

Isaac carried the wood, and he noticed that no animal was brought along with them for the sacrifice (22:7).
**The Bible does NOT record Isaac's reaction to his own attempted sacrifice.**

And angel stops Abraham from sacrificing his son, and a ram is provided instead (22:11-12).




Mount Moriah:  later called Jerusalem
Abraham was called to go from Beer-sheba to Mount Moriah.
The trip would take three days.

The story is NOT about child sacrifice, a common Canaanite practice of the time.

• Usually, the firstborn son was chosen for a child sacrifice.
• Yet Isaac was NOT Abraham's firstborn -- another uncommon process of the Bible

God swears by Himself

• Oaths confirmed a promise.
• An oath was sworn by something with high value.
• Thus, God is saying that nothing is greater to swear by than Himself (His inherent value).

Midrash Rabbah


The rabbis say that Abraham actually killed Isaac, saying that he was brought back to life (resurrected), thus accentuating Abraham's obedience.


Methods:  focusing on literary patterns and repetition; referencing other Scriptures


1.  Psalm 60:4 - "But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow. Selah"


      The Hebrew word for banner resembles the word for test (Nes; Nissah)
      This could mean that God "made a banner" out of Abraham.


2.  Is God just in testing Abraham?
      Answer:  like a king, the Lord is totally justified to do as he wishes; He is not to be questioned.


3.  Psalm 11:5 - "The LORD examines (tests) the righteous, 
   but the wicked and those who love violence
   his soul hates."

      A potter will not test a weak pot, for it may shatter.

      Thus, Abraham was strong enough to withstand the testing.

4.  Reading of God's call for sacrifice (22:2)

      "Your son, your only son, the son whom you love, Isaac."

      The rabbis looked into why the verse in Hebrew was written like this.

      Possibly, Abraham was arguing with God.

      

5.  Abraham is likened to Moses.

      both deemed priest and king.

      "Here am I" connection

      both had a theophany on a mountain top.

Augustine -- from City of God (died around 430 CE)

Viewpoint:  the binding of Isaac is a foreshadowing of the crucifiction of Christ.

Method:  compare Scripture to other Scriptures (e.g. Paul's writings)


Jesus Christ and Isaac:

• carried own wood
• obedient to death
• only son
• sacrificed and resurrected (actually or metaphorically)

Jesus Christ and the ram:

• atonement (took someone's place)
• crown of thorns
• sacrifice was salvational

Thus, Jesus Christ fulfilled both Isaac's and the ram's roles.

Hebrew Bible: Ancestors, Part 2

Ancestor History -- Genesis 23-50

09/12/2011

**Note: always look to Blackboard for Homework Assignments!**

Abraham's Death and Sarah's Death (Gen 23 & 25)

• some scholars argue that Sarah died from being so shook up about Abraham nearly sacrificing her only son
• Abraham buys a cave -- the closest fulfillment of God's promise of land thus far. (This also reflects the semi-nomadic lifestyle of people at that time.)
• All Israelites eventually end up in Egypt
• Unresolved Question:  How is the "land and children" promise going to be fulfilled?

Wives!

• Rebekah is married to Isaac (Gen 24)
• Abraham (Isaac's father) sends a servant out to the land of his kindred to find a wife for Isaac (verse 4)
• The importance here is that Isaac's wife could NOT be a Canaanite.
• Rebekah was Laban's sister 
• Leah and Rachel are married to Jacob (Gen 29-30)
• Jacob worked 7 years for Rachel, but he first received Leah as his wife.
• Irony was that Jacob the Trickster was tricked himself.
• He worked another 7 years for Rachel. 
• These women had a competition for berthing children!
• Leah:  7 + 2
• Rachel:  2 + 2

Esau (Gen 25 and 27)

• older twin of Jacob (sons of Isaac)
• lost his birthright to Jacob via deception
• Importance of the relational outcomes:  etiology of Jacob's favor/importance with God
• Esau's descendants were called Edomites, because they were red like him.

Jacob and the Ladder to Heaven (Gen 28)

• Jacob is on his way to Haran in Mesopotamia.
• He uses a stone as a pillow (significance of a "holy stone"!)
• Jacob dreams of a ladder to Heaven
• Angels move up and down
• God speaks with him, continuing his promise/covenant to Jacob and his descendants.
• Afterward, Jacob sets up his pillow stone an altar-memorial to God
• Jacob names the place Bethel, meaning "House of God."

Jacob Wrestles with God (Gen 32)

• Jacob wrestles with either an angel or God, and he won't stop until he is blessed
• Scholarly focus on "Sitz im leben"
• Importance:
• origin of the name "Israel"
• explanation of why Israelites did not eat the thigh muscle (Jacob's hit went out of joint)

Dinah (Gen 34)

• pronounced "Dee-nah" in Hebrew 
• Shechem "seized her and lay with her by force" (verse 2).
• Shechem was from a clan of Hivites, unrelated to Abraham and his promise.
• Shechem quite possibly refers to the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel [(E) source].
• Was Dinah raped or simply involved in extra-marital sex?
• Ultimately, the issue was that she  was not married to Shechem and had sex with him.
• Jacob's sons Levi and Simeon (also Dinah's brothers) suggest that Shechem marries Dinah and that all the Hivites get circumcised in order to be included in the Israelite clan.
• However!  While the men were all sore from circumcision, the brothers went in and murdered all the men.
• [Ambiguous ending] 
• Unresolved Question: What was the significance and meaning of this story?

Hebrew Bible: Ancestor History

Ancestor History

Genesis 12-22

Primeval History:  history of the whole world

Ancestor History:  history of the origins of Israel

Stories of the Patriarchs

The Fathers of Israel:

• Abram ("Av-ram," "exalted/distinguished father;" later "Av-raham," "father of multitude")
• Issac ("he laughs")
• Jacob ("Aqav," "heel" -- refering to deception begining in the womb)

Form Criticism:

   originated from Gunkel (focus on genres and literary forms)

   "Sitz im leben" -- how the text "sits in place" in the societal context

   the focus of Form Criticism is on the cultural/social context rather than the hisorical accuracy

Social Context:

   These stories are thought tell the origins of Israel.  Even so, these stories are mythical (focusing on the sacred and the impact on society), demosntrating the ideas that were most important to the Israelites.  According to the text, the patriarchs were living in Canaan (modern-day Palestine).

These stores also explain the origins of other nations --

          The Ismaelites, decendents of Abraham through concubine Hagar, were later referred to a                Muslims.

          The Moabites and Amorites, decendents of Abraham's nephew Lot, were supposedly originated from intercourse between Lot and his daughters.

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their inhospitality.

   Documentary Hypothesis:

• The (J) source -- circa 1000 BCE -- focused on stories from the lower half of Israel
• The (E) source -- around the same time? -- focued on stories from the upper half of Israel
• The (P) source is most recognizable in the circumcision account; these origins are clear, since the Babylonians did not practice circumcision -- so this passage would have been written during the Israelites' exile to Babylon  
• Note:  the difference in (J) and (E) may stem from the split of the Israelite nation during the reign of                        the kings, around 922 BCE.

Functions of the Stories:

1. To explain the origins of the Israelites
1. the Israelites are not native to the land promised to them
2. rather, the Israelites are from Ur in southern Mesopotamia
3. the term Hebrew commonly referred to outsiders and outcasts
2. To explain who the Israelites are NOT
1. not Canaanites
2. not aa wide-range of other nations (Philistines, Ammonites, etc.)
3. To explain that the Israelites are chosen by God
1. the Israelites were therefore more special/authoritative than the other nations
2. God promised "land and children" to the Patriarchs
4. To explain how the Israelites got into Egypt, prior to the Exodus

    Note:  a Theophany is like a "God-given epiphany;" a realization of God, e.g. at Mount Siani

A Strange Religion:

     Why did the Patriarchs practice a religion that was later rebuked by the Levitical law?

• Abraham often made sacrifices/memorials to God near "special trees," a term which possibly refers to the pagan goddess Asherah.
• The Patriarchs often set up stones to mark a place of meeting with God (sites of Theophany).  These stones would be dedicated to a certain name of God, like El-Shaddai, El-Olam, El-Roi, etc.  However, Judaism later ordered that such memorial stones be torn down.

Note:  El-Shaddai was also the name of the "Most High" Canaanite god, whose priest was Melchezidek.)

• The Patriarchal society may have practiced child sacrifice, an act common among other nations at that time, and even though prophets and the law condemned such sacrifice, the practice throughout the time of the Kings.

HOMEWORK:  READ THE REST OF GENESIS (CHAP. 23-52?)

   

Hebrew Bible: Creation

Comparing/Contrasting the accounts of the Creation story of the Hebrew Bible 

and Enuma Elish, the Babylonian myth

Class Discussion

Enuma Elish - this story was recited at the temple by the Babylonian priests on the fourteenth day of the New Year's festival.  At the end of the recitation, the king was beaten by the priests in the sight of all the people to the point of tears, at which point he had to rise up again.  The purpose of all this was to tell a story of new beginnings while honoring the Babylonian god Marduk through the humiliation and then triumph of the king.

Characters

• Tiamat - the female eternal creator, fierce with her creation
• Apsu - the male eternal creator, preserving the creation
• Marduk - the lesser god who challenges Tiamat and becomes king of the gods
• Igigi - the council of gods on Marduk's side
• other gods who live inside Tiamat

Story Highlights

1. Tiamat wants to take revenge for Apsu's murder by killing the lesser gods
2. Marduk is her challenger
1. Marduk has four eyes and four ears; he's huge
2. He is equipped with a powerful bow and arrows
3. Marduk casts a spell to open Tiamat's mouth, and then he blows winds inside her.  While trapped, he kills her with an arrow to the heart.
4. Marduk essentially uses half her body to form the air/heavens, and the other have to form the earth.  Tiamat thus represents the cruelty of nature.
5. Marduk decides to create humans (from Tiamat's lover Qingu) to do the gods' work

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Creation Story - Genesis 1-2

Ex Nihilo - as in, creating "out of nothing"

Key Contextual Points

• The Hebrew word for "deep," Tahom, is translated into the Akkadin (Babylonian) as Tiamat, suggesting that the Creation story is an extension/adaptation of Enuma Elish.
• Materials before Creation
• Elohim
• waters
• heavens
• earth
• wind
• darkness (if anything)
• "Wind":  like Marduk's feat with the wind
• The framework of the Creation story all depends on the way one reads the first verse in Hebrew, which is quite ambiguous.  The difference is whether Creation was Ex Nihilo or already had form.
• "Our image":  the Hebrews had no concept of what Christians call the Trinity, so this verse could arguably imply that the author is referring to multiple gods.
• Elohim could possibly be translated to be plural; however, the verb tenses used throughout the chapter are all singular.