Divine Word School of Theology
Pentateuch Notes
Academic Year 2004-2005
Why is it that the language in the OT is Hebrew, while NT is Greek and the language of Jesus is Aramaic?
a. OT is Hebrew bec. that time was the time that
b. NT is Greek bec. it was the language commonly used at that time throughout the world. it is like the English language now a days.
c. Jesus’ language is Aramaic – it was the dialect of Jesus in his town or the language usually used in the place where Jesus’ preached. It is like our native tongue Ilocano/Bisaya.
Kinds of Presuppositions
1. Hermeneutical Privilege of the Poor
a) the point of view for the best interpreting and understand the Bible and its history is from the bottom through the eyes of the powerless and poor; from the point of view of the oppressed.
b) the origin and center of the story in the Bible is the Exodus from
= a story of those who were at the bottom of Egyptian society, effectively non – persons in the greatest Empire of the day.
= it is not6 an account of kings and his bottles, of great alliances and wealth but rather it is the story of a small group of slaves (? 70 BC), their suffering, poverty, and struggle that the people of Israel saw as the central moment and source that gave meaning and purpose to their life as a people.
c) the God of the Bible first made himself known in their midst as their Protector and Liberator.
d) it is this “dangerous memory” that haunts the whole bible including the NT.
= such dangerous memory that God is on the side of the poor and powerless, constantly calla into question human claims of privilege and power.
e) the God of the Bible even today, is most often found at the margins, among the poor, the powerless, the neglected, the oppressed.
f) it is their agenda that God takes as his own agenda for the future.
2. Hermeneutic of Suspicion
a. the biblical text is a product of the specific times, places and groups of people at various levels on the social, economic, and political scales; people w/ a variety of concerns, interests and question.
b. such question are continually and systematically raised with regard to both the text itself and the interpreter.
= refers more on the idea:
1. Why was this story told in this way, w/ these persons as central and determining the action?
2. Why are these episodes remembered and narrated rather than others?
3. What biases are reflected in the point of view and relative importance given to certain individuals and certain event?
I. The Fertile Crescent and the birth of civilization
- we need to consider the hermeneutic of suspicion such as understanding the author location and understanding.
1. The geographical setting for the birth of (Western) civilization is the land masses of Western Asia and Northeastern Africa which border the Eastern end of the
2. Today, it is called the
3. The climate is dry and the land is barren, except for an arc of fertile land which extends from the Persian Gulf along the Tigris and
4. It was within this
5. 3,000 BCE marks the “dawn of history” in two senses:
a. The invention of writing (Mesopotamian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphics) the first written records of human activity.
b. The organization of human life into an authoritarian and socially-stratified pattern called the “city-state.”
6. This city state or statist organizational pattern was HIERARCHICAL, SOCIALLY -STRATIFIED AND MALE DOMINATED. A ruling elite (5%) held full power over the land and population.
7. Ancient Canaan, for example, was divided into about 100 city-states which dominated the villages in the surrounding countryside and Canaan’s valleys and plains (
8. This ruling elite was supported by a professional army, a group of “scribes” (bureaucrats), and the priests of the official state religion and temple.
9. The king controlled this “surplus production” by taxes and forced labor.
a. SURPLUS PRODUCTION = the crops and produce in excess of the minimum necessary to keep workers alive and productive.
b. This surplus production seized by the rulers supported a lavish lifestyle for the king and the ruling elite, paid for his professional army to maintain control by force, and finance an elaborate and expensive temple ceremony.
10. The official religion and its myths, epics, prayers and rituals celebrated and legitimated this hierarchically organized and socially stratified social structure.
11. The
(a) Mesopotamia (east end: Tigris and
(b)
(c) Syria-Palestine (middle).
12. The formation of the people of
II. Origin of
1.
2. From the AMARNA LETTERS discovered by archeologists in Egypt, we learn in this period 1400-1300 BCE Egypt was weakened by internal struggles (religious and dynastic disputes) and unable to keep peace and order in Canaan
3. The city-states in
(a) heavier taxes for military;
(b) young men conscripted into the armies;
(c) crops destroyed or seized during the fighting.
4. Many of the villagers escaped to the Central Hill Country to escape the oppression. Archeologists have uncovered over 200 small unwalled villages in the Hill Country with dwellings for 2-4 extended families (=200 inhabitants) dating 1250-1150 BCE.
5. Thus, the great majority (80%) of those who eventually formed early
N.B. The sudden population explosion can be seen in these statistics:
1) during the late Bronze Age (15h – 12h) = 12,000 inhabitants in to the hill country.
= (12 – 11h) = population expands to 50,000
= (11 – 10h) = (Proto – Israelites) = reaches to 75,000.
2) The settlement of the central hill country at this time (around 1250 BCE) was made possible by technological developments in agriculture, such as:
a. Advances in the forging of iron, w/c lead to replace bronze tools into stronger iron tools.
b. A new waterproof plaster was developed for water – proofing for underground cisterns to restore rainwater for irrigations and household needs.
c. Advances in terracing of the hillsides made life in the hill country possible for larger groups of people.
6. They (settlers from the low lands) gradually joined together to cooperate and defend their newly-won freedom. Other smaller groups who joined included:
(a) “Hebrews” – the mercenary soldiers who settled into a more peaceful life in the Hill Country. With their skill as warriors, they helped to defend the freedom of these newly-formed people.
(b) Kenites – wandering metal workers
(c) Canaanite priests fleeing from the city-state temples (= the tribe of Levi)
(d) Shasu (shosu)- nomadic sheepherders from northern Sinai mentioned in Egyptian documents.
- small groups may have joined in settling the central hill country.
7. These various groups began to join together for mutual help and defense.
(a) The Hill Country was largely wilderness and great effort was needed to clear and farm this frontier land.
(b) They had to join together to defend themselves from the attempts by the city-state rulers to dominate them. The chariots and cavalry and trained troops of these city-state rulers could not operate successfully against the “guerilla” tactics of these pioneer people
8. An important part of their effort to unify was the creation of ‘common story’/’history’ out of the variety of stories of these different groups who were gradually joining together in the hill country.
9. This is the context of the creation of the ‘family stories’ that we find in Gen. 12 -50. It was written not so much to recode the past but to play a social and political role in the present, at the time of the unifying of different groups into one.
10. Genealogy is a good example:
(a) Jacob was the main ancestor figure for groups in the north (note the geographic locations of the Jacob stories).
(b) Abraham and Isaac were important ancestor figures for groups in the south (note the geographic settling of the Jacob stories)
11. As northern and southern groups unified, they expressed this unity by creating a unified genealogy. They made Abraham and Isaac the grandfather and father of Jacob.
= people from the north: considered Isaac as their ancestor
= “ “ “ south: “ Abraham as their ancstor
12. The “truth” is not necessarily factual historical truth but a social and political truth. The merging of the genealogies symbolizes and strengthens the merging of these different families and class into a new reality. (Proto –
13. Early on, they were joined by a small group of refuge slaves (Moses group from
N.B. a) A religious ideology which held great appeal for groups from the under classes: a god who favored and protected the poor and oppressed. This god had the name YAHWEH. (different from the god of the Canaanite rulerd w/c is ‘El’)
b) The socioeconomic, political and religious mechanism for achieving and maintaining their unity: a “covenant” (treaty) with the liberating God Yahweh.
14. Then various tribes and classes in the central hill country from the Galilee in the north to
= They created that oneness by agreeing to accept the one story (Exodus story) and make a covenant w/ one God (Yahweh), whose name and identity were also contributed by Moses’ group.
15. These new communities developed institutions and customs consciously the opposite of the hierarchical and socially stratified city/state system.
= They followed an intentional “opening toward equality” in their economic and political institutions.
16. This is once crucial economic factor practiced by the new community which is the obligation of low or non-interest loans or donation to those in difficulty; the care of the widow and orphan. (Deut 15:7 – 8; 10 – 11; 24:17 & 19 – 22)
= This economic system was designed to discourage the accumulation of resources, land and economic power in the hands of a few individuals or groups.
17. Another key to the success of the system was the guarantee to each extended family of a basic resource for survival in the form of a “house.”
a. A “house” could mean a dwelling place plus agricultural land which is guaranteed to each extended family --- a basic resource for survival. (Ex. 20:17; Deut 5:21 – the commandment)
b. The Jubilee Year of Deut 15:1-5; Lev 25:10, 23-25, 28 demanded that all “houses” (land and property) be returned to the original owners. (Jer 32: 8 -9)
c. The prophets attacked the accumulation of land and property by wealthy landowners. (Is. 5: 8 -9; Mic. 2:2)
18. Political power was decentralized. Yahweh alone was their king (they had no human king). Decision-making was exercised democratically by “council of elders” at various levels (family, clan, and tribe). Crisis situations allowed temporary individual leadership to emerge (judges).
19. YAHWISM evolved out of a context and struggle for liberation, the struggle to create a just, peaceful and life-giving human community. Characteristics of that community include:
(a) No possibility for exploitation in economic arrangements
(b) No possibility for domination or manipulation in political arrangements
(c) With the Ten Commandments as the common denominator each individual was a partner in the covenant with God. (“vision” or ideal against the reality)
20. The family stories woven together in Gen 12-50 were told with the intention of strengthening the union of the groups and addressing the problems and concerns which they faced in settling and establishing the new community in the Central Hill Country.
21. For example, Abraham’s welcome of the three strangers in Gen 18 reflects the kind of mutual aid and generosity which groups living in the frontier conditions of the Hill Country realized were vital to their survival. Hospitality was not just a “virtue,” it was a necessity. Their survival as a people depended on such attitudes (social approval) [Gen 18:1-5].
22. The context of the settlement of the frontier wilderness explains the strong concern about female sterility:
(a) The poor diet in such harsh condition led to difficult births and high infant mortality.
(b) There was need for the “extra hands” to labor at clearing the land and making it productive. (Gen 16:1; 25:21 ; 30:1)
23. God’s promise of ‘land’ in the passages on ‘covenant’ in Gen 13 & 28P:
a. It reflects the hopes and struggles for adequate and productive land in the undeveloped Hill Country.
b. It counters the ideology/theology of the city-state system in which the king “owns” all of the land.
24. The prominence of women in the family stories of Gen 12-50 (Sarah, Hagar, Rachel, Rebecca, Tamar, etc.) despite the patriarchal character of ancient society can be explained in part by:
(a) The necessity of women’s participation outside the household (clearing the land, sowing, harvesting) and their contribution as child-bearers enhanced their standing in the society.
(b) The intentional “opening toward equality” in all aspects of
25. IN the 1950’s & 60’s scholars divided into 2groups over the correct way to describe the conquest of Canaan (the origin of the tribes of
= 2 models/historical reconstructions were given:
1. William A. Albright (d.1971)
- followed the impression given by the book of Joshua (basing on archeological discoveries) he argued for invasion and swift military conquest of
=Problems:
a.
b. the numbers given (2 millions of Ex 12:37 are not available)
c. The Ex story itself in Ex. 14:5 clearly combine the experiences of the different groups.
2. Martin Noth
- he followed more closely the impression given by the book of Judges: basing on as close analysis of the biblical
- he argued for gradual infiltration into Canaan of various groups who eventually joined to form
= Problems:
1) There is evidence of conflict at the time of
2) He gives no adequate reason why the various tribes and groups joined together. What were the social, political, economic forces that caused them to unite to form the tribes of
26) Recently a 3rd model or historical reconstruction has been offered: the social revolution and detribalization model by George Mendenball and Norman Gottwalel, the sociology of the religion of Liberated Israel (1250 – 1050 BCE)
= the more we understand the materiality of early
The 3 Words in the Biblical Text
1. Author centered (behind the text)
- the focus is the author mind/ideas.
- knowing the context of the author such as the culture, language, and its purpose.
- the when and where questions
- here the meaning of the text lies on the author’s intention
- tools to uncover the attention of the author is historical – critical method.
2. Text centered – it discovers the meaning of the text by focusing the world of the text w/o considering the author intentions.
3. Reader centered (world of the reader)
- the readers itself is the one who created the meaning.
- this demands more on the background and personalities of the authors (individual uniqueness)
27) Chronology:
Pre - 10,000 BCE - Technological revolution. Shift from food gathering monarchy to food producing
period 3,000 – Dawn of History
1280 – Exodus
1250-1050 – Origins of
1050 - Philistines’ threat
1,000-960 – David is named king late in his rule
Monarchy 960 –922 – Solomon rules as king
period 922 - Death of Solomon
= Division of his kingdom into:
a. North (
People of b. South (
(Israelites) 722 – destruction of
722 – 587 – King of Judah continues alone
587 -
587 – 539 – Babylonian Exile
Post - 539 – 333 – Persian rule
Exilic Period 333 – Alexander the great conquers
333 – 63 – Hellenistic period
Jews 63 – Beginning of roman rule
(Jewish people)
III. The Documentary Hypothesis/4 Source Theory
a. PENTATEUCH – is the first five books in the Old Testament
- it is “Torah” by the Jews or “the Law,”
- it is “the Law of Moses” as we see in the New Testament.
- is Greek for “the fivefold book”
- This single name reflects its unity as the fundamental law for guiding the life, beliefs, and worship of the Jewish people after the Babylonian exile (587-539 BCE).
= befor exile:
- Traditionally, the Torah was written on five scrolls. We use the name given to each scroll in the 3rd century BCE Greek translations of the Pentateuch = Septuagint.
1) GENESIS: (“origins”) the origins of the world, the human race, the people of
2) EXODUS: (“going out”) the “exodus” or “going out” from
3) LEVITICUS: contains the rituals and sacrificial customs of Jerusalem Temple Priesthood (=the tribe of Levi).
4) NUMBERS: begins with the census or numbering of the people of
5) DEUTERONOMY: the “second” recital of the Law by Moses in
b. Richard Simon (d. 1712) was a French Catholic priest, was one of the first to question the sole authorship of the Pentateuch by Moses.
- He argued that it was a compilation, a weaving together of a number of documents or “sources” [or traditions, some written, some oral].
- states: Contradictions and inconsistencies in the creation stories (Gen 1-3) and the Flood story (Gen 6-8) were the first clues to the composite nature of the Pentateuch, that it was a “weaving together” of four different sources or traditions
= Examples of inconsistencies:
1. Creation of first humans: according to Gen 1:1 - 2:4a, humans were created last, but according to Gen 2:4b - 25, humans were created first.
2. Flood story: did the Flood last for 40 days (Gen 8:6) or 150 days (Gen 8:3)? Did Noah take two of each animal into the ark (6:19) or seven pairs of each (7:2)?
c. Julius Wellhausen (d. 1918), a German Biblicist, established in a clear and forceful way the definitive formulation of the Documentary Hypothesis (or Four Source Theory).
- his work continues to be a reference point for modern study of the Pentateuch.
d. Some of the clues to the different sources:
1. Different names for God : Yahweh (Lord), Elohim (God)
2. Two different names for the holy mountain: Sinai and Horeb
3. Two different names for Moses’ father-in-law: Reuel (J) and Jethro (E)
e. There are also differences in literary style and theological outlook. In one source, God is distant and only communicates indirectly by dreams or intermediaries (“angels”). In another source, God is more direct, even “human” in appearance and speaks in person (Gen 18).
f. Eventually, the scholars isolated four sources or traditions (or “documents”):
J = Yahwist P = Priestly
E = Elohist D = Deuteronomic
N.B. Each is a different version of
g. The four sources reflect two dualities:
1) A duality of type or kind of material in the contents (narrative and legislative)
= The duality of kind of material or contents:
(a) Narrative material answers questions about who we are, our “story.” Where did we come from? The Yahwist represents the version of
(b) The legislation or collection of laws and customs answers the question: If this is who we say we are, then how should we live, how should we act so as to reflect who we say we are? Priestly (P – south); Deuteronomist (D – north).
2) A duality of geography or place of origin
= The duality of geography: North and South
h. Characteristics of each source:
A. Yahwist
1. Prefers the name Yahweh
2. God is described in very human terms and close to humans (=anthropomorphism).
e.g. Gen 2:7 = potter Gen 3:8 tailor
Gen 3:21
Gen 2:8 = farmer/agriculturist
3. He is a gifted storyteller (Second creation story [Garden of Eden, Fall], Cain and Abel, the three strangers who visited Abraham [Ch 18]).
4. Holy mountain is called Sinai
5. Moses’ father-in-law is called Reuel
6. It is the oldest written source and was composed in the South.
B. Elohist (2nd source)
a. He uses only Elohim for God until Exod 3:14, when God reveals his name Yahweh to Moses
b. God seems distant, communicating only indirectly through dreams or intermediaries (“angels”)
c. Holy mountain is called Horeb
d. Moses’ father-in-law is Jethro
e. It is influenced by prophetic tradition
f. Its origin is among Northern groups who formed
C. Priestly source
1) It is the latest source to be written down and contains
2) It is very interested in rituals, worship, sacrifice, the liturgical calendar, the historical origin of feasts, genealogies
3) It emphasizes order (note the orderliness of the creation by God in Gen 1:1 – 2:4a)
4) The priests were responsible for creating the Pentateuch. Thus, the majority of its content comes from the priestly source.
N.B. Illustration
Narrative Legislative
South Yahwist (J) Priestly (P)
IV. Traditional History
The development/composing/compiling of the Pentateuch
1. The Yahwist (J) is the older of the narrative sources and the first of the four sources written down.
2. It was written by a member of King Solomon’s court (scribes?) around 960 – 930 BCE.
3. J revised and put into written form the Southern version of
4. In revising and retelling
= this borders encompass the farthest extent of David’s Kingdom by the time of his death and were looked upon by later generation as the ideal border of the
Gen 17:15-16 =The reference to Kings and nations stemming from Abraham are clearly meant as foreshadowing the creation of the nation/state and monarchy under David and Solomon.
5. With Solomon’s death in 922,
6. Around 850 BCE, the Elohist put into writing the Northern version of
- E downplays the monarchy and emphasizes instead the older focus on
- E has strong links with
- He was a contemporary of Elijah and Elisha.
- E’s God is more distant than J’s God, more like a “father” than a “friend.”
- E emphasizes obedience to the covenant law and respect or “fear of God” (=religious awe before the majesty and mystery of the divine."
7. The Northern Kingdom (
8. The joining together of E and J softens the nationalistic spirit of J and the joining together of the two stories symbolizes the hope of an eventual reunion between north and south.
9. The destruction of the southern
10. During and after the Babylonian exile, the Priestly author combined JE with their own priestly traditions (JE and P) and added the book of Deuteronomy (JEP + D) to form the Pentateuch (JEPD).
11. The priestly writers reformulated and rewrote
12. The date for the compilation of the Pentateuch : 400 BCE (see Neh 8:1-8).
= Ezra, the scribe and priest, brought the completes book of the law of Moses (=Pentateuch) from
13. At this time the Jews were subjects of the Persian and
- Ezra had a backing of the Persian Authorities.
14. During and after the Babylonian Exile, the language spoken by the Jews in there daily life became more and more Aramaic, and not Hebrew.
- Aramaic was the official language of the
15. We also have the writing down and fixing of traditions came in reaction to major crises, major changes and times of uncertainty:
a. Shift from the Tribal league to the monarchy around 1000.
= the writing of the Yahwist and then the Elohist epics
b. Destruction of the
- combining of the Yahwist and Elohist and the writing of Deuteronomy.
c. Destruction of the southern kingdom of
+ combining of Yahwist, Elohist w/ Priestly and the adding of Deuteronomy.
16. An example of source criticism Gen. 18,1-15
(The Yahwist’s skill as story teller)
a. Opening in v.1: A few, key precise details paints a whole picture.
b. Use of suspense: Abraham only gradually realizes that one of the strangers is God (v.10: “Next year at this time, Sarah will give birth…) We know from the beginning that one of the strangers is Yahweh.
c. Use of irony: Sarah’s laughter in disbelief (“titzaq”) foreshadows the name of the child (yitzaq).
d. Abraham is portrayed as a model of hospitality by his actions:
He runs to greet and invite the strangers (v.2). He offers “a morsel of bread” but provides a banquet. (v.5).
e. The Yahwist’s God is anthropomorphic (=human-like) He is close to his people, visits talks and eats with them.
17. The elements in the story in Gen 18,1-15 indirectly gives us insight into its content during the time of the tribal confederation (1250-1050 BCE) before the monarchy, when “
V. The Exodus (see intro to OT, chap. 7, q. 41-49)
1. The story of the Exodus lies at the heart of the Pentateuch. It served as the heart of the Pentateuch. It served as a constant reminder to
1280 à “Moses group” – the group of slaves, including captives from Canaan (70?), who fled
à migration to
Period of the Monarchy à (1000-587) The story is written down and retold and revised by the Yahwist and the Elohist and become a national epic story, stressing their status as an autonomous nation-state. Moses is turned into a national leader.
à During and after the Babylonian exile (587-539), the story is retold again by the Priestly Group. P adds a large amount of laws and ritual rules,
2. The story of the Exodus in Exod. 1-15 is not “historical” (in the modern sense of scientific history). It is first of all an engaging and dramatic story written to capture the imagination, to inspire and to encourage.
3. It contains bits and pieces of the historical experience of possibly, a number of groups. It is a making or weaving together of a number of stories, or at least different versions of one story.
4. These bits and pieces have been woven together to form one paradignation “model” common story for the various groups now joined together and unified into one people, the people of Israel in the Hill Country of Canaan.
5. The Moses Group, a model crowd of slaves (70?) freed or fled from
6. Some biblical historians locate the escape of the Moses group from
7. The Bible contains at least four different versions of an “exodus” (or “exoduses”) in Exodus 1-15.
a) The Yahwist version (Exod 14, 21b.24.25.27b.30.31)
1) for the Yahwist, exodus is on Passover night, not as the rescue from the sea.
2) The Yahwist’s ‘rescue at the sea’ is a more naturalistic occurrence: a “strong east wind” blows all night and exposes dry land.
3) Egyptians are “hurled into the sea” but there’s no mention of the central crossing by the people of Moses.
b) The Priestly version (Exod 14, 21a.22.23.26.27.28.29)
1) For the Priestly writers, the rescue at the sea was the exodus.
2) This account is more supernaturalistic and “miraculous”: Moses raises his staff and walls of water ‘form, exposing the dry seabed.
3) The Moses group crosses and the Egyptians, following are overwhelmed by the returning waters.
c) The poetic account of the “Song of the Sea” in Exod. 15, 1-21
1) The Egyptian soldiers “sank like stones” (15, 5.10)
2) Their bodies “wash up on the shoreline” (14, 20)
Egyptian soldiers try to cross the water in boats in pursuing the escaping slaves a sudden storm capsizes them.
d) Plundering of
This version have been presented by the Elohist, a group or groups of slaves escape by night, stealing valuables and food from their masters.
8. The question arises of the historicity of the Exodus.
a) We can affirm historically that an “exodus” (“exoduses”) took place. But what “actually happened” is beyond our reach.
b) The answer then is to by-pass the historical question. These are modern concerns, not the concern of biblical authors.
c) It is important to emphasize the role or function of the story for the different groups struggling to unite and work together to build a new community in the Hill Country of Canaan.
d) The story functions as a paradigm or model for the way in which Yahweh acts: he come to the rescue of the poor and the oppressed.
9. The Exodus as a unifying theme for the whole Bible. Richard Clifford. “The Exodus in the Christian Bible.” Theological Studies 63(2002) pp.345-361.
a) The Exodus story includes the two aspects of:
1) liberation from slavery and oppression (in
2) formation of a new people of God (with the covenant at Sinai)
b) The Exodus story represents a powerful organizing principle that spans both old and new testaments and serves to unite them and give to the Christian bible its unity.
c) The Christian Bible contains three Exodus “moments” or three times when an “exodus” happen in the history of God’s people.
d) The first exodus “moment” (or history) occurs when God liberates the slaves from Egypt and these newly freed slaves make a covenant with this liberating God who forms them into a new people through this covenant in the wilderness as they make their way through Canaan (13th cent. BCE)
e) The second “exodus” moment occurs when God liberates his people from the Exile in Babylon and promises to recreate them as his people with a new covenant in the Promised land (6th cent. BCE)
f) At the time of Jesus (1st cent. AD) many Jews thought that this second exodus moment was not yet complete. The Jews were still not free. They were still under foreign rule dominated and exploited by the
g) The early Christians and New Testament writers thus interpret Jesus’ death and resurrection and (eventual) return in glory as the third “exodus” moment. God was once more intervening in their history to liberate them from oppression and reconcile them as a people with a new covenant or (new testament) This is the cup of my blood of the new and eternal covenant.
10. The liturgy of baptism echoes the Exodus theme (Richard McCarron, “Biblical Motifs in the Liturgy of Baptism”; The Bible Today 40 (Sept. – Oct. 2002) pp. 308-313.
a) The liturgy of baptism juxtaposes and compares the passage of the slaves from the situation of oppression and death in
b) For infant baptism, the motif of passage and delivery/deliverance suggest an “exodus moment” in the event of the child’s physical birth from the life giving waters of the mother’s womb.
VI. Covenant (See Intro to OT, chap. 8, Study Questions 49-54)
1. The two key elements supplied by the Moses group that provided the “glue” for the unifying the different groups already in the hill country of Canaan to create “
a) A “model” or paradigm story of liberation by Yahweh from slavery and oppression.
b) The idea of a “covenant” with the liberating God, Yahweh.
2. Over seventy years ago, archaeologists excavating the ruins of the captivating city of the ancient Hittite empire (today modern
3. Among the documents preserved in the archives were copies of ancient treatises or covenants of the Hittite kings with neighbouring subject kings (vassal kings).
4. For example, the Suzercinty Treaty or covenant between the Hittite emperor Mursullis II (1345-1315 BCE) less than 100 years before Moses and King Dupi Teschub of Amurru land (Northern Syria).
5. Scholars immediately recognize the astounding similarities of these ancient covenant treatises and the covenant passages in the Bible.
(copies of the Suzerainty Treaty to Exod. 20, Josh 24 and the entire book of Deuteronomy).
6) Society in
Ex. 1 John 4, 10-11 Gen 15, 7-11.17-18
Exod 20, 1-3 Exod 24, 3-8
Exod 20, 4-6 Luke 22, 14-20
“hesed” covenant love, loyalty, commitment, kindness
7. Making use of the covenant form and language, the people described how Yahweh, their Suzerain and unique king, had granted them an alternative economic system by its “opening toward equality”; that is institution, laws, and customs designed to prevent the accumulation of resources (land, wealth) in the hands of individuals or small groups (for example, family inheritance or “house”, mutual aid, “Jubilee year”)
8. Further, they described how Yahweh, their Suzerain and unique king, an alternative socio-political system also characterized by its opening toward equality, that is institutions, laws and customs designed to prevent the accumulation of decision-making power in the hands of individuals or small groups. (example, no human king; Yahweh as their “king”)
9. Thus, this new people made use of this covenant form and language (a “covenant” with their Suzerain, Yahweh) to structure and organize their economic, social, religious and political lives together and to describe their relationship with and obligation to Yahweh and to one another.
10. In this context it makes better sense to describe the so-called “10 commandments” of the covenant (see Exod 20, 1-7; Deut 5, 6-21) not as “10 commandments” but as “10 commitments”.
a) there is nothing especially profound or original about the actual content of the Ten Commandments or Decalogue.
b) Other people, both ancient and modern, did not need God to reveal them that killing, dishonouring one’s parents, adultery, theft or lying were wrong.
c) The profundity comes from the context and application of these 10 commandments. They do not represent a prohibition of bad conduct. Rather they present the description of a social or religious value system.
d) These commitments are voluntary embraced, freely and gladly grateful response to Yahweh for foreseeing them from slavery and oppression and making them his own people.
e) When people set on these commandments, all of which restricts self-interest, the rule or reign of God (kingdom of God) becomes a tangible reality and a religious basis is provided on which human differences can be transcended and community achieved.
f) Thus the prophets later could compare the covenant “10 Commandments” to the marriage vows that bind husband and wife together. Yahweh, has the role of “husband” and the people of Israel have the role of “wife”. The transgressions of the covenant by Israel were thus described by the prophets as “adultery” (see Jer 3, 6-10; Hos 2)
VII. Exegesis of Selected Passages
A. Overview of Exodus 19-40 (Questions 55-58)
1. The profound change takes place in the nature of the narrative as we move from Genesis to Exodus. Genesis contains stories of individuals; Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy contains the story of a people.
2. The names of this book The Hebrew Bible (for the Jews): the opening words of the book
a) In the third century BCE Greek translations (the Septuagint or LXX): exodus (έζοδος), “the going forth”.
b) St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate: Exodus.
3. The editorial or literary “shaping” (organization, arrangement, structuring) of “the Sojourn at Sinai” in chaps 14-40. The Priestly writers have purposely arranged the materials in their part of Exodus for reasons.
a) Chapters about covenant (chaps. 19-24, 32-34) alternate with chapters of giving instructions for building the tent (tabernacle) to house the ark of the covenant (chaps. 25-31) with chapters describing the carrying out of these instructions (chaps. 35-40)
b) On theological purpose of the ordering of the material is to show that the covenant relationship stood under the shadow of human disobedience from the beginning. Moses had not even descended from the mountain with the blueprint for proper worship before Israel turned to false worship.
c) The question of “historicity” becomes secondary. The primary purpose of the author is to make theological points.
4. By mean of this literary shaping or literary “slight of hand”, the Priestly writers were able to include the different understandings about the contents of the revelation at Sinai (E,J,P):
a) For the Priestly writers (P), the “revelation” to Moses at Sinai consisted in the instructions for the building of the Tabernacle (chaps. 25-31) and for proper worship. Chaps 35-40 describes how the instructions were carried out.
b) For Elohists (E), the “Ethical Dialogue” (the first set of tablets, written by God, with the Ten Commandments and laws in chaps. 20-23) constitutes the revelation on Sinai.
5. For the Yahwists (J), the “Cultic Dialogue” (the second set of tablets, written by Moses, 34, 13-26) constitute the context of God’s revelation to Moses Exod. 32, 15-20; 34, 1.4.13.17.18.21.25-26.27-29
What was revealed on Mt. Sinai? The “message” is the message of God, but the words are the words of human language. The “message” of God in Sinai is given in three sets of human words (J,E,P).
The Ten Commandments (debarim = words). Are they really (1) words of God spoken to Moses (internally or externally); or (2) are they human formulations of a less specific revelation of divine moral document? Number 2 is the one accepted by bible scholars and theologians today. Only human beings speak words. Thus revelation by the Word of God really means divine revelation to which human beings have given response in words. Compare Exod 20, 17 and Deut. 5, 21
The later Deuteronomic form of the commandment about coveting a neighbour’s property, showing a development of moral sensitivity.
B. Exegesis of Exod 1-3
1. There were at least different lists for the names of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The older list is from Gen. 35, 22-23.
Reuben (first born) Issachar Benjamin Gad
Simeon Zebulun Dan Asher
Levi Joseph Naphtali Judah
Then later more historical list is found in Numbers 1, 26.
Reuben Zebulun Benjamin
Simeon Dan Asher
Gad Naphtali Judah
Issachar Manasseh* Ephraim*
*Joseph’s Sons
The priestly writers (the source for vv. 1-7) makes use of the older list from Genesis because it contains the name of the tribe of Levi. “Levi” here is important for the story of Moses that follows, because Moses and Aaron belong to this tribe.
2. Bene yi`sra’el in Exod. 1, 1 means “the sons of (individuals) of Israel/Jacob. But with the death of Joseph and his generation in v.6, the family history (Genesis) is over, and the story of a people begins. Thus Bene yi`sra’el of Exod 1, 7 was the people of Israel.” Gen 1, 28; 12, 1-3; Exod 1, 7.
3. Exod 1, 1-7 represents an example of “Janus parallelism”. It looks backward and forward. Verse 7 with its vocabulary of “being fruitful, increasing, filling the land looks back to the creation stories and Gen. 1, 28; 9, 1 (the promise to Adam, and Noah, and to Abraham (Gen 42). These promises are now fulfilled and a new chapter in the history of salvation begins (Exod. 1, 8-14).
4. The Egyptian pharaoh begins to take harsh measures against the Hebrew slaves.
a) he feared that the slaves will flee or that he will lose this slave labor.
b) He fears that they could join against him with invading armies.
5. The harsh measures against the Hebrews by the Pharaoh involved these stages:
a) He increased their labor (vv. 8-14)
b) He instructs the midwives to kill the newborn make infants
c) He commands the whole Egyptian people kill all Hebrew male children. (1, 15-22)
6. The Hebrew midwives resist Pharaoh’s command by implicitly refusing to obey. They offer the excuse “The babies are born before we arrive” (1, 19).
Significance: The Hebrews are linked with life (life-filled, child-bearing) which the Pharaoh is allied with death in his plotting.
7. Do the midwives lie? In the history of moral theology and biblical interpretation Exod 1, 19 has become a classic text for the definition of “lying” with discussion deceitful use of language.
a) St. Augustine: Lying is never justified. The midwives were rewarded because of their benevolence toward Israel and not because of their deceitfulness.
b) St. Gregory the Great: The lying of the midwives were not also right and diverted their true reward of everlasting life into mere earthly recompense.
c) John Calvin: The lying of the midwives were wrong and displeasing to God. Nonetheless, since no human action is free of sin, God rewarded their good works even if they were tinted with sin.
d) Martin Luther: justified the midwives’ lying because it was directed towards a good purpose rather than a harmful one.
e) John Lightfoot: (Protestant Theologian in the 19th century) argued that the midwives did not lie, but “gloriously professed their faith by their actions.”
8. Scholars have identified as many as 32 myths or legends about the rescue from danger at birth of great kings and leaders similar to the story of Moses “bull ride” in Exod 2,1-10.
9. Despite the legendary character of the “story” of Moses’ birth, three elements in Exod 1 & 2 seem to be from historical remembrances.
a) The “miraculous increase” of the people to form a large nation (Exod 1, 7-12). Does this reflect in fact the rapid growth, of the “Tribes of Israel”
b) The bitter slavery in Egypt (Moses group) see Exod 1, 11f. 13ff.
c) The genocide tradition (Here we could see reflected the death dealing policies of any one of Israel’s historical persecutors – Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greek kings and Romans.
10. Examples of the presence of women in Exod 1-2
a) the two midwives are the first heroes in Israel’s struggle against the Pharaoh. Tradition has preserved their names: Shiporah and Puah.
b) Moses’ mother defies Pharaoh by disobeying his orders and devising a plan for her son’s rescue. She is helped not by her husband but by another woman, her daughter (Miriam?)
c) Pharaoh’s daughter – She too defies her father’s cruel orders and preserves the infant’s life.
11. The biblical writers offers a Hebrew etymology for Moses’ name and relate it to the verb mosheh “to draw out” (in the passive “one drawn out” out from “the water”. Although the form of the word is actually active, “one who draws out”. In fact, the name is originally Egyptian from the Egyptian word “masha” meaning son of (see Pharaoh’s name Ra (meses), Thut (mose), Ah (mose).
12. Some parallels between the story of Moses’ birth in Exod 1-2 and the Infancy Narratives in Matthew’s gospel.
(a) Both demonstrate the precariousness (from a human point of view) of the beginning of God’s work: everything hangs on the faith of a defenseless child (Jesus and Moses) who is the object of persecution and in danger for his life.
(b) Both stories present a situation of conflict:
Pharaoh against the midwives
Moses’ mother
Moses
Herod against Jesus’ own people, the infants (at Bethlehem)
(King of the Jews) Jesus
(c) In both stories there is a massacre of the innocent male infants in Egypt and in Bethlehem and the miraculous escape of both Moses and Jesus.
(d) 
A “descent into Egypt family of Jacob
Jesus, Mary, Joseph
(e) This sets the stage for other parallels between Jesus and Moses in Matthew.
The Law – The New Law
Mt. Sinai Sermon on the Mount
(giving of the law) (giving of the new law)
13. The three incidents related about Moses in Exod 2:11-22 show Moses’ passion for justice and for the defence of the weak and vulnerable.
14. Nakah means “to strike” (perhaps lethally) but not necessarily intending to kill. Harag means “to murder”, that is, to attack purposely and with pre-meditation to kill another. The author says only that Moses “attacked” (nakah) but Moses is accused of harag (“murder”) by his fellow Hebrew and by the Pharaoh.
15.Was Moses right in attacking the Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew slave? Was he justified in using violence to counter injustice and oppression? Some reflections:
(a) Brevard Childs : “The text does not provide one clear answer to the complex question of using violence for the sake of justice. But by uncovering the ambiguities in the act of violence, the reader is forced to confront those basic factors which constitute a moral decision.”
(b) St. Augustine : Moses was wrong. He had no right to kill the Egyptian. Moses’ “turning this way and that to see if anyone was watching” (v. 12) shows his bad conscience.
(c) But St. Thomas Aquinas defends Moses’ action : “It is not a crime to defend the innocent” (also, St. Gregory Nanzianzen, Tertullian, Ambrose).
(d) Modern-day liberation theologians : We have here a state of war between two peoples, one people intent on enslaving, oppressing, even annihilating the other. Moses has identified himself definitively with the oppressed and legitimately defends their life and existence (= legitimate self-defense against “state-sponsored terrorism”).
(e) Pope Paul VI Evangelii Nuntiandi 37 (1975)
“The Church cannot accept violence, especially the force of arms…as a path to liberation, because she knows that violence always provoke violence and irresistibly engenders new forms of oppression and slavery.
Populorum Progresio (1967) 31 “a revolutionary uprising except when there is long standing tyranny which would do great damage to fundamental personal rights and dangerous harm to the common good of the country produces new injustice and brings on new disasters.”
(f) the attitude of Jesus – He used force to drive out the money-changers from the Temple and his forceful language provoked violence against him. Ultimately he did not resist his arrest and violent execution.
(g) Question: Is the option of Jesus finally for non-violence a matter or principle (philosophy of non-violence such as Gandhi and M. L. King) or is it a matter of strategy (non-violence is the most successful path to achieving one’s good.
16. The wilderness offers a geographical alternative to the land of Egypt. Ironically, the wilderness, traditionally a place of hardship, danger and death, becomes a space for freedom and life both for the refugee Moses in Exod 2:16-22 and later for the Hebrew slaves fleeing Pharaoh. Egypt by contrast, traditionally the land of fertility and abundance, is a place of death.
Exodus 1, 1-5 – P 2, 23-25 – P
1, 6-14 – J 3, 1-4a.5.7-8.16-22 – J
1, 15-22 – E 3, 4b. 6.9-15 – E
2, 1-10 – E 4, 1-16 – J
2, 11-22 – J 4, 17 – E
17. Exod 2:23-25 from the P tradition offers an example of Janus parallelism, it looks backward and forward in time. It takes us back to the Hebrews in Egypt, records the passing of time, and notes that Moses’ people are still suffering. But it also points forward to what is to come: the suffering of the people has not gone unnoticed.
18. A new character enters the story in Exod 2:23-25 : God hears the cry of the suffering people. Exod 2:25 – Hebrew wayyeda elohim (“and God knew/ understood”) – Greek LXX kai egnwsqh autois (“and he made himself known to them).
19. Up until this moment, God’s character and personality has not yet been defined. Now God is identified as “the one who hears the cries of the oppressed slaves. “God behaves as Moses had behaved in the presence of the Egyptian who was attacking the Hebrew slave. God enters the story as an interested party, one who takes the side of the poor and oppressed slaves.
20. The suffering of the slaves is emphasized in these three verses (vv. 23-25) Four different Hebrew words are used: “They groan”, “they call out”, They cry for help”, “they cry out in desperation”.
21. The account of the call of Moses in 3:1 – 4:17 has many similarities to the accounts of calls of several later Old Testament prophets and may have provided the model for them: Jer 1, 4-10.
Divine confrontation: 1, 4-5: the word of the Lord name to me.
Objection:
Reassurance: I will be with you.
Sign: v.9 “God touches Jeremiah’s mouth.”
22. The “literary form” of Moses’ “call narrative” in 3:1 - 4:17
(a) Divine confrontation (vv 1-3, 4a)
(b) The introductory word (vv 4b-9)
(c) The commission (v 10)
(d) The objection (v 11)
(e) The reassurance (v 12a)
(f) The sign (v 12b)
23. In the call narrative of Moses, the outline has been greatly expanded and elaborated, especially (d) and (e). Moses raises five objections, each of which God carefully but firmly answers and rejects:
(a) His lack of ability in the face of such an enormous task (3:11, compare Jer 1:6; 1Sam 9:21; Judg 6:15)
(b) Moses’ ignorance of God’s “name” or identity (3:13-15)
(c) What if they don’t believe me or challenge my authority? (4:1)
(d) I am not eloquent or convincing in speech (4:10)
(e) Send anyone else, but not me (4:13)
24. The revelation of the divine name, Exod 3, 14-15
“I am who I am” or “I am the one who is.” In Hebrew ‘ehyah ‘asher. “Being” and “acting” in Hebrew are linked. I am the one who is active and “helping”. The Greek translation ego eime έγω έιμι, appears in the Gospels. Jesus utters it in Mark 6, 50 when he appears to the apostles walking in the waters. “Do not be afraid, ego eimi.” “It is I” (literally “I am”) Matt 14, 27; John 6, 20.
25. Previously, this God had related to Israel’s ancestors in a different way. He was the “God of the Father”, the personal God of each of the ancestor figures (the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob), and worshipped under a number of different titles.
26. Each of these titles represents a separate and individual manifestation of the divine, often associated with a specific place; for example Jerusalem, Beersheba, and so forth. Eventually, these separate manifestations came to be understood as separate manifestations of a single deity Yahweh. This marked a further stage on the road toward an explicit monotheism that the Jews arrived at only during the Babylonians. Explained in the sixth century BCE.
a) `el shaddai yRVla “God, the one of the mountains” (often translated “God the Almighty”; see Gen 17, 1; Exod 6, 3.
b) `el `elyon wAlca “El (God), the Most High” Gen 14, Ps 47, 2-3. It is in the title of the god or protection deity, of Jerusalem. The title was transferred to Yahweh in David and Solomon’s time.
c) `el `olan “El (God) the Eternal One (Beersheba, Gen. 21, 33)
d) `el ro’I “El (God) the one who saves (the future?) Gen 16, 13-14.
e) `ebir ya`acob “The strong one of Jacob (Gen. 49, 24)
27. But now a turning point has been reached. God reveals his personal name YAHWEH to Moses. He is Yahweh (Lord), not the God (gods) of individuals, but the God of a new people, the God who stands for the oppressed, who rescues the slaves from Egypt.
28. The meaning of YAHWEH
a) The slaves who escaped from Egypt (the Moses group) might have borrowed the name of one of the gods worshipped by the Midianites in the Sinai wilderness (Note that Moses’ father-in-law Reuel/Jethro is “a priest of Midian” (Exod 2, 16).
b) The name YAHWEH is connected with the Hebrew verb “to be” (haya, hawa). These times in Exod 3, 14. God says “I AM”. In Hebrew ehyeh.
c) The original form of the name was `el `asher Yahweh sabaoth. “El (God) who created the (heavenly) armies (the sun, moon and the stars).
d) YAHWEH is the hiphil (casuistic) form of the verb “to be” haya, hawa: he comes to be, creates.
VII. Exegesis of Selected Passages
Genesis 1-3
First Creation Story (Gen 1, 1-2, 4a)
1. The Pentateuch begins with two quite different stories of how God created the world. The first, in Gen. 1, 4 – 2, 4a, by the Priestly writers (P) has human beings created last. The second, in Gen. 2, 4b – 3, 24. from the Yahwist (J), has the human beings created first, before the other living creatures.
2. The Jerusalem temple priests, authors of the first creation story were very concerned with laws and regulations for temple worship and religious practices; for example, their emphasis and the Sabbath.
3. The priestly writers put much emphasis on order. For example, they divide the history of Israel’s origins, into clean phases. Each phase begins with a genealogy. “These are the power…” the harvest and the earth (2, 4a); Adam (Gen 5, 19; Gen 6, 9) Noah’s son Shem, Ham and Japath (Gen 10, 9)
Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, Japath (Gen 10, 1) .
Shem (10, 22) Esau (36, 1.9)
Terah (11, 27) Jacob (37, 2)
Ismael (25, 16) Moses and Aaron (Num 3, 1)
Isaac (25, 19)
4. The creation itself is described in an orderly way: The Priestly writers did not intend to teach anything about history or science. Instead, they wrote a beautiful hymn that celebrates that order, harmony and goodness of the universe that God created.
5. The six days of creation form these pairs in which the works done on each of the first three days serve as a preparation for each of the works done in the second three days.
a) The “light” created on the first day (Gen 1, 3-5) prepared for the creation of the “greater light” (sun), “the lesser light” (moon), and the stars on the forth day. (Gen 1, 14-19).
b) The seas and the sky created on the second day (1, 6-9) provide the living space for the fish and the birds created on the fifth day (Gen 1, 20-23).
c) The dry land and its vegetation created on the third day provide the living space and food for the animals and humans created on the sixth day.
FIRST SERIES
On Genesis, see Ceresko, Intro to the OT, chap 21, 276-9
Day Works of Creation Description
1st 1 Creation of light, separation of light from the
darkness.
2nd 2 Creation of the firmament, separation of the
waters, above the waters below.
3rd 3 Separation of land from the waters below.
4 Production of vegetation.
4th 5 Creation of heavenly bodies
(lights – sun, moon, stars)
5th 6 Creation of the water creatures and birds
6th 7 Creation of land animals
8 Creation of humans
7th – SABBATH
6. This emphasis on “order” can be explained from the historical circumstances the Priestly Creation Story in Gen 1, 1-2,4a was written during the Babylonian Exile. The leading Jews (royal family, nobles, merchants, priests) were living as captives of the Babylonians in a foreign land and culture. Jerusalem lay in ruins, the temple and royal palace burned to the ground.
7. It was a time of profound “dis-order,” confusion and hopelessness for the Jews. So the Priestly writers were asserting God’s power and control over creation and history. God knows what he is doing despite what appears to be disorder and defeat. This creation story thus represents a powerful expression of faith, and especially hope.
8. The Babylonians had their own story and “theology” of creation. One of the purposes of P’s creation story was to oppose and “correct” the Babylonian version.
Ø 9. Tiamat is the goddess-monster of the abyss of waters, wife of the God Apsu, conquered by Marduk, who out of her body made heaven and earth, according to the Babylonian creation poem, Enuma Elish. This poem, the so-called poem of creation is in reality the mythical account of the enthroning of Marduk as head of all the gods of the universe following his victory over Tiamat and Apsu, who were the gods of the abysses.
The Babylonian creation story (Enuma Elish = “When in heaven . . .”)
(a) In the beginning exist only Apsu and Tiamat, the chaotic waters personified as male and female gods.
(b) They mate and produce the lesser gods.
(c) Tiamat kills Apsu and gives birth to fearful monsters.
(d) The other gods elect Marduk (chief god of the Babylonians) as their leader.
(e) Marduk and the other gods attack Tiamat and her monsters and kill them.
(f) Marduk cuts Tiamat in half. With one half, he fashions the sky; with the other half he fashions the earth.
(g) From her blood, he fashions human beings to be servants and slaves of the gods.
(h) The lesser gods became the sun, the moon and the stars.
10. Similarities between the Enuma Elish and P:
(a) Both begin with the watery chaos.
(b) “The deep” (Hebrew tehom) which recalls the Babylonian goddess Tiamat.
(c) Creation in both accounts begins with the separation and establishing order
(d) Both explain the origin of human beings.
11. The main difference between the Enuma Elish and P : In the Babylonian story, it is difficult to separate the divine beings from creation itself (the watery chaos, the sun, the moon, the stars, the material from which heaven and earth were made : they are all divinities) In the P account, God is outside of his creation, transcendent: he separates and establishes order by his powerful word.
12. Important teachings from the First Creation Story (Gen. 1, 1-2, 4a)
a) We should not look for instruction in science or history. This is a poem (hymn) expressing the deep faith of the Priestly writers. They intend to teach that Israel’s God, Yahweh, created a good and orderly world and established the Sabbath as a day of rest for humans to honor God and celebrate and enjoy his creation.
b) The creation of humankind is given special emphasis. It comes as the final work and is preceded by careful planning. (“Let us make humans in our image and likeness” v. 26).
c) Human beings are given charge over creation. They show God’s power through their mastery of the earth by science and technology. They are given responsibility for organizing the universe and making it habitable (vv. 26-30).
d) A human being can be described as a sum of relationships. The image of God who is love cannot be found in a simple individual: it is found in a couple, a man and woman who love each other and whose love creates life.
e) This first creation story teaches about God whose will is for a good and life-giving created order:
1) Against the Babylonian fear of the world returning to disorder and chaos with the yearly flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates river.
2) Against the polytheism of the Babylonians and their belief that humans were created to be the slaves of the gods.
3) Against the despair and hopelessness, the disorder and confusion of the Jews in Exile in Babylon to give Jews meaning and hope.
13. The Bible has other versions of creation that use the language of ancient Canaanite myths. These stories present creation as a great battle in which Yahweh subdues “chaos” symbolized by evil monsters (dragons, sea monsters) see Ps 74, 12-17 Is 51, 9-11 Rahab.
The second creation story Gen. 2, 4b – 3, 24
1. The first creation story (Gen 1, 1 – 2, 4b) comes from P and was written during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE). The second creation story was written during the time of King Solomon (960-922 BCE).
2. The Yahwist was possibly a scribe or bureaucrat (civil servant) living and working as a secretary or government official in Solomon’s palace in Jerusalem.
3. He calls God by God’s own personal name Yahweh (=Lord) in block letters in modern translations right from the beginning (P and E wait until God’s personal name is revealed to Moses in Exod 3, 13-15)
4. J’s description of God is even human one (anthropomorphic). He describes God:
a) like a farmer who “plants a gardern” (2, 8)
b) like a potter who forms the first human from the clay or dust of the earth (2, 7)
c) like a tailor, who stitches for the first man and woman in 3, 21.
d) Like a tired workman who takes a walk through his garden to enjoy the cool evening breeze ( 3, 8)
5. What kind of story is this? It is not an eye-witness account, nor an instruction in science. It is not history or geography. It represents the reflections of wise men who were pondering important questions: Where do we come from? Why were we created? What is the reason for life, for suffering, for death? ETIOLOGICAL STORY!
6. These wise men (the Yahwist’s and his friends) drew upon the wisdom of their ancestors and the wisdom of other peoples and culture.
7. The story presents “Adam and Eve” as the first human beings or first couple. The names are obviously symbolic:
Ø “Mr. Man (Hebrew adam “earth creature, from the word adamah “clay, earth or dust”)
Ø “Mrs. Life” (Hebrew hawwah, “life”, “Mother of all the living”)
8. Thus, they are symbolic names representing both the first human beings and every human being.
9. God places the man in the garden of delight. He has access to the many trees “pleasant to the sight and good for food. Including the “tree of life”. Note: There are two trees in the Garden, “the tree of life” and the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (which is prohibited).
a) The first humans were forbidden by God from eating of the “fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” Thus, the tree of the knowledge of good and bad is a symbol of god, like wisdom. Such knowledge would give us full control over our world as well as over our own future and destiny. Such fullness of wisdom belongs to God alone. To presume that we mortal creatures can attain to such fullness of wisdom is sinful pride and foolishness.
b) The first humans were permitted to eat from the fruit of “the tree of life”. Therefore, there is no death; they are immortal. But they can no longer eat from it after they are expelled from the Garden, and therefore they died. (3, 24)
10. The earth creature in spite of his frail nature is destined not for death but for continued life. One thing is missing: companionship.
11. God forms the animals from the earth (as the man had been formed) and leaves to the earth creature to name. This shows human dominion over the animals.
12. The woman was formed out of the rib “from his side” and was to be “side by side” (partner) with him. The equality of man and woman is stressed. Woman was to be the man’s “partner” (2:20). The “earth creature” is now two-fold --- male and female.
13. After the expulsion from the Garden, the man assumes the dominant role (patriarchy; 3, 14-19). This is meant to be descriptive not prescriptive. It is not the way God meant things to be at the beginning. The story thus invites us to transcend the distortion of patriarchy and return to God’s original plan.
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