WEBVTT 00:01.130 --> 00:03.860 Professor Christine Hayes: We were talking last 00:03.863 --> 00:06.603 time about the mysterious episode by the Yabbok River, 00:06.596 --> 00:09.536 when Jacob undergoes a change in name, and I mentioned the 00:09.536 --> 00:12.626 fact that in the biblical view, the name of something somehow 00:12.630 --> 00:14.590 encapsulates its very essence. 00:14.590 --> 00:18.930 Knowing the name of something gives one power and control over 00:18.925 --> 00:22.145 that thing. Many commentators have observed 00:22.150 --> 00:25.560 that the change in name accompanies a change in 00:25.564 --> 00:28.834 character, a change of essence in Israel. 00:28.830 --> 00:31.790 So some have noted, one scholar in particular has 00:31.789 --> 00:35.549 noted that the struggle with the angel is the final purging of 00:35.550 --> 00:38.880 the unsavory qualities of character that marked Jacob's 00:38.880 --> 00:41.940 past career. And although Jacob appears to 00:41.943 --> 00:46.053 be something of an anti-hero--he actually literally limps into 00:46.052 --> 00:49.962 the Promised Land alone--Jacob is a new and honest man. 00:49.960 --> 00:52.590 We see this immediately in his reunion with Esau. 00:52.590 --> 00:56.740 He greets his former rival and enemy with these words--this is 00:56.739 --> 00:59.799 in Genesis 33:10-11: "'If you would do me this 00:59.799 --> 01:01.919 favor, accept for me this gift, 01:01.923 --> 01:05.113 for to see your face is like seeing the face of God, 01:05.109 --> 01:07.029 and you have received me favorably. 01:07.030 --> 01:09.690 Please accept my present, which has been brought to you, 01:09.691 --> 01:11.871 for God has favored me, and I have plenty.' 01:11.870 --> 01:15.210 And when he urged him, he accepted." 01:15.209 --> 01:19.219 With Jacob, who is now Israel, God seems perhaps to finally 01:19.221 --> 01:22.961 have found the working relationship with humans that he 01:22.955 --> 01:25.855 has been seeking since their creation. 01:25.860 --> 01:29.550 God learned immediately after creating this unique being, 01:29.552 --> 01:32.852 that he will exercise his free will against God. 01:32.849 --> 01:36.289 God saw that he had to limit the life span of humans, 01:36.289 --> 01:40.059 or risk creating an enemy that was nearly equal to him. 01:40.060 --> 01:44.490 So he casts the humans out of the Garden, blocks access to the 01:44.490 --> 01:47.130 tree of life. But humans continue their 01:47.131 --> 01:49.681 violent and evil ways, and in desperation, 01:49.676 --> 01:52.156 God wipes them out, and starts again. 01:52.160 --> 01:56.230 This second creation proves to be not much better. 01:56.230 --> 01:59.000 They forget God, they turn to idolatry. 01:59.000 --> 02:02.810 God has promised at this point, however, not to destroy all 02:02.812 --> 02:05.902 humankind again, so he experiments with a single 02:05.902 --> 02:07.482 individual of faith. 02:07.480 --> 02:10.740 Abraham's faith withstands many a trial. 02:10.740 --> 02:14.110 He is obedient to God in a way that no one has been up to this 02:14.109 --> 02:17.299 point in the narrative, but perhaps ultimately the 02:17.298 --> 02:20.288 model of blind obedience is rejected, too. 02:20.289 --> 02:23.289 When Abraham prepares to slaughter his own son, 02:23.292 --> 02:27.082 perhaps God sees that blind faith can be as destructive and 02:27.078 --> 02:30.798 evil as disobedience, so God relinquishes his demand 02:30.802 --> 02:34.082 for blind obedience: he stops Abraham himself. 02:34.080 --> 02:38.580 The only relationship that will work with humans is perhaps one 02:38.580 --> 02:42.720 in which there is a balance between unchecked independence 02:42.717 --> 02:45.877 and blind obedience, and God seems to find that 02:45.877 --> 02:47.237 relationship with Jacob. 02:47.240 --> 02:50.790 And the metaphor for that relationship is a metaphor of 02:50.794 --> 02:52.444 struggle, or wrestling. 02:52.440 --> 02:56.020 Remember Yisrael means "one who wrestles, who struggles with 02:56.024 --> 02:58.034 God." God and humans lock in an 02:58.033 --> 03:00.313 eternal struggle, neither prevailing, 03:00.314 --> 03:03.554 yet both forever changed by their encounter with one 03:03.546 --> 03:07.086 another. Now the rest of Genesis relates 03:07.091 --> 03:12.361 the story of Joseph and his brothers, the 12 sons of Jacob. 03:12.360 --> 03:15.360 It's one of the most magnificent psychological dramas 03:15.363 --> 03:17.473 in the Bible. The story is intensely human. 03:17.470 --> 03:19.800 We don't have a lot of supernatural interference in 03:19.803 --> 03:21.933 this story. It focuses very much on the 03:21.926 --> 03:24.116 family relationships, on the jealousies, 03:24.117 --> 03:26.867 very little reference to a divine perspective. 03:26.870 --> 03:28.110 It's like a little novella. 03:28.110 --> 03:30.920 Scholars are divided over the authenticity of the Egyptian 03:30.917 --> 03:32.097 elements in the story. 03:32.099 --> 03:33.819 You will read radically diverse things. 03:33.819 --> 03:36.649 Some point to the presence of Egyptian names, 03:36.653 --> 03:39.363 and customs, and religious beliefs and laws 03:39.358 --> 03:43.158 as a sign of some historical memory being preserved in these 03:43.158 --> 03:45.508 stories. Others point to all the 03:45.514 --> 03:49.184 problems: the anachronisms, the general lack of specificity 03:49.183 --> 03:52.223 as a sign that these are composed quite late. 03:52.220 --> 03:55.430 The art of dream interpretation places a very important role in 03:55.429 --> 03:58.069 this story, and dream interpretation was a developed 03:58.068 --> 03:59.648 science, particularly in Egypt, 03:59.645 --> 04:01.895 and the other parts of Mesopotamia, but the Egyptians 04:01.904 --> 04:04.384 were known in the ancient world as dream interpreters. 04:04.379 --> 04:07.169 Joseph is also known for his ability to interpret dreams, 04:07.173 --> 04:10.153 but the biblical narrator, the monotheizing biblical 04:10.149 --> 04:13.939 narrator, is very concerned to describe him as reporting what 04:13.940 --> 04:17.230 God reveals to him, rather than relying on some 04:17.227 --> 04:20.177 kind of occult science of interpretation. 04:20.180 --> 04:24.610 Now Joseph's brothers are jealous of Jacob's partiality to 04:24.605 --> 04:28.095 Joseph, and they conspire to be rid of him. 04:28.100 --> 04:31.080 But at the last moment, his brother Judah convinces the 04:31.078 --> 04:33.448 brothers that, if instead of killing him, 04:33.449 --> 04:36.349 they sell him, they can profit a little for 04:36.347 --> 04:39.647 their troubles. So Joseph is sold ultimately 04:39.651 --> 04:43.001 ends up in the household of Pharaoh in Egypt, 04:43.001 --> 04:47.571 and his adventures there prove his meritorious character. 04:47.569 --> 04:51.139 He rises to a position of great power when he correctly 04:51.136 --> 04:54.766 interprets some dreams regarding an impending famine, 04:54.769 --> 04:57.659 and with Joseph as the governor of the country, 04:57.658 --> 05:01.748 in control of the grain supply, Egypt successfully weathers 05:01.749 --> 05:03.469 seven years of famine. 05:03.470 --> 05:06.710 Now, this famine, which strikes Canaan as well, 05:06.708 --> 05:10.508 drives Joseph's brothers to Egypt in search of food, 05:10.509 --> 05:13.099 and Joseph doesn't reveal himself to his brothers. 05:13.100 --> 05:14.760 He puts them to the test. 05:14.759 --> 05:18.269 He wants to know if they are the same men who so callously 05:18.265 --> 05:20.965 broke their father's heart by selling Joseph, 05:20.972 --> 05:23.742 his father's favorite, so many years ago. 05:23.740 --> 05:28.060 In the climatic moment in the story, Joseph demands that his 05:28.060 --> 05:31.790 frightened brothers leave Benjamin--the other son of 05:31.794 --> 05:34.654 Rachel, the other son of the beloved 05:34.646 --> 05:37.786 wife--leave Benjamin as a pledge in Egypt. 05:37.790 --> 05:41.480 And Joseph knows that it would decimate his father Jacob to 05:41.482 --> 05:43.712 lose Rachel's only remaining son, 05:43.709 --> 05:46.559 but he's testing his brothers to see whether they have 05:46.562 --> 05:49.632 reformed since the day that they sold him into slavery. 05:49.629 --> 05:52.229 And indeed Judah, the one who had figured so 05:52.231 --> 05:54.411 prominently in the sale of Joseph, 05:54.410 --> 05:57.820 that had crushed his father, Judah steps forward and offers 05:57.821 --> 06:00.941 himself instead of Benjamin: he says: It would kill my 06:00.938 --> 06:05.118 father now to lose Benjamin, the last son of his beloved 06:05.124 --> 06:07.384 wife, Rachel. So the brothers, 06:07.377 --> 06:10.477 having proven their new integrity--Joseph weeps, 06:10.484 --> 06:13.794 he reveals his identity in a very moving scene, 06:13.790 --> 06:16.550 and ultimately the family is relocated to, 06:16.553 --> 06:20.063 and reunited in Egypt, where they live peacefully and 06:20.058 --> 06:22.618 prosperously for some generations. 06:22.620 --> 06:26.040 That's the basic outline of the story of Joseph and his 06:26.042 --> 06:29.152 brothers, but one of the important themes of these 06:29.147 --> 06:31.997 stories is the theme of God's providence. 06:32.000 --> 06:34.950 The writer wants to represent Jacob's sons, 06:34.948 --> 06:38.668 their petty jealousies, their murderous conspiracy, 06:38.670 --> 06:41.430 Joseph himself, all as the unwitting 06:41.431 --> 06:44.431 instruments of a larger divine plan. 06:44.430 --> 06:48.300 In fact, Joseph says to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, 06:48.303 --> 06:51.303 "As for you, you meant evil against me, 06:51.300 --> 06:54.130 but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many 06:54.131 --> 06:56.751 people should be kept alive as they are today." 06:56.750 --> 07:00.250 Joseph's betrayal by his brothers, his decent into Egypt, 07:00.252 --> 07:03.072 set the stage, not only for the reformation of 07:03.066 --> 07:06.266 his brothers' characters, which is an important part of 07:06.270 --> 07:09.100 the story, but for the descent of all of the Israelites into 07:09.098 --> 07:12.448 Egypt, so as to survive widespread 07:12.453 --> 07:14.903 famine. So yet another threat to the 07:14.899 --> 07:17.779 promise is overcome: threat of famine is overcome by 07:17.776 --> 07:19.296 the relocation to Egypt. 07:19.300 --> 07:22.930 Significantly, God says to Jacob in Genesis 07:22.932 --> 07:26.912 46:4, "I Myself will go down with you to Egypt, 07:26.910 --> 07:30.630 and I Myself will also bring you back." 07:30.629 --> 07:33.299 So, in short, there seems to be a plan afoot. 07:33.300 --> 07:36.030 The writer wants to represent God going down there, 07:36.031 --> 07:37.671 and he will bring them back. 07:37.670 --> 07:41.200 Israel's descent to Egypt sets the stage for the rise of a 07:41.199 --> 07:44.789 pharaoh who, the text says, didn't know Joseph and all that 07:44.790 --> 07:46.400 he had done for Egypt. 07:46.399 --> 07:49.369 And this new pharaoh will enslave the Israelites, 07:49.372 --> 07:52.532 and so embitter their lives, that their cry will rise up to 07:52.532 --> 07:54.922 heaven--the same cry from the generation of the flood, 07:54.920 --> 07:57.500 the same cry from Sodom and Gomorrah. 07:57.500 --> 08:02.060 And thus begins the book of Exodus, which will lead us from 08:02.062 --> 08:05.382 Egypt to Sinai. Most of the narrative account 08:05.384 --> 08:09.564 in Genesis 12 to 50--with the exception of the Joseph story, 08:09.560 --> 08:12.930 actually--but most of Genesis 12 through 50 is assigned by 08:12.932 --> 08:16.782 scholars to the J source, and certain themes emerge in 08:16.776 --> 08:19.086 the J narrative. The first is, 08:19.091 --> 08:23.341 that while God's promise is sure, the manner and the timing 08:23.336 --> 08:26.626 of its fulfillment is quite unpredictable. 08:26.629 --> 08:30.569 The land never belongs to the patriarchs to whom it was 08:30.567 --> 08:33.127 promised. Their descendants will take 08:33.126 --> 08:35.856 possession of it, but only after tremendous 08:35.859 --> 08:38.789 struggle. In other ways God's methods are 08:38.794 --> 08:41.344 curious. Why does he go against the 08:41.340 --> 08:45.620 traditional Ancient Near Eastern practice of primogeniture, 08:45.623 --> 08:48.063 inheritance by the first born? 08:48.059 --> 08:51.659 He chooses Jacob, a liar and a cheat in his early 08:51.659 --> 08:53.759 life, over the elder Esau. 08:53.759 --> 08:56.909 Why does he choose young Joseph, who's an arrogant 08:56.906 --> 08:59.576 spoiled brat? He provokes his brothers with 08:59.584 --> 09:01.184 his delusions of grandeur. 09:01.179 --> 09:05.539 Compare the law of primogeniture that's listed in 09:05.544 --> 09:09.914 Deuteronomy 21:15-17: "If a man has two wives, 09:09.909 --> 09:14.239 one loved, and the other unloved, and both the loved and 09:14.242 --> 09:18.572 the unloved have borne him sons, but the first-born is the son 09:18.565 --> 09:22.135 of the unloved one-- / when he wills his property to his sons, 09:22.139 --> 09:25.889 he may not treat as first-born the son of the loved one in 09:25.892 --> 09:29.582 disregard of the son of the unloved one who is older." 09:29.580 --> 09:32.200 And yet isn't this what happens to Ishmael? 09:32.200 --> 09:34.200 Isn't this what happens to Esau? 09:34.200 --> 09:37.570 Isn't this what happens to all of Joseph's brothers who are 09:37.573 --> 09:40.113 born before him? And there's no explanation in 09:40.114 --> 09:42.664 the text. Yet despite the false starts, 09:42.663 --> 09:45.403 and the trials, and the years of famine, 09:45.397 --> 09:48.517 and the childlessness, and the infertility, 09:48.520 --> 09:52.560 the seed of Abraham survives, and the promise is reiterated: 09:52.564 --> 09:55.584 "I will go down myself with you to Egypt, 09:55.580 --> 09:58.340 and I myself will also bring you back." 09:58.340 --> 10:01.590 So ultimately, the J source would appear to 10:01.586 --> 10:06.606 assert God does control history, all tends towards his purpose. 10:06.610 --> 10:09.450 The book of Exodus is really the sequel, then, 10:09.445 --> 10:11.015 to the book of Genesis. 10:11.019 --> 10:13.379 Despite God's promise of land and blessing, 10:13.380 --> 10:16.190 things don't look so good at the end of Genesis. 10:16.190 --> 10:19.530 The book closes with the Israelites residing in Egypt. 10:19.529 --> 10:23.669 They've managed to procure no more than a burial plot in the 10:23.667 --> 10:26.367 Promised Land. Even God has left his land, 10:26.369 --> 10:29.939 descending with the Israelites into Egypt, so the promises and 10:29.938 --> 10:32.218 their fulfillment seem quite remote. 10:32.220 --> 10:35.910 The book of Exodus will relate the beginning of the process by 10:35.910 --> 10:38.270 which the promises will be fulfilled. 10:38.269 --> 10:41.069 I've just charted the structure very briefly for you , 10:41.066 --> 10:43.806 so you can get your footing in the book of Exodus. 10:43.809 --> 10:47.729 The first fifteen chapters tell the story of Israel in Egypt: 10:47.734 --> 10:51.074 the rise of a new Pharaoh who didn't know Joseph; 10:51.070 --> 10:52.770 the oppression of the Israelites; 10:52.769 --> 10:55.259 their enslavement in a state labor force; 10:55.259 --> 10:58.069 the killing of all first born Hebrew males; 10:58.070 --> 11:01.770 the birth, the early life, the call of Moses; 11:01.769 --> 11:04.479 the struggle for freedom, Moses will plead with the 11:04.476 --> 11:07.506 Pharaoh to let his people go and worship their god in the 11:07.508 --> 11:10.388 wilderness; and then the final liberation, 11:10.390 --> 11:14.600 when God does something at the Reed Sea--we'll talk about that 11:14.601 --> 11:17.501 later--so that the Israelites can pass, 11:17.500 --> 11:21.360 leaving the heavy Egyptian chariotry to flounder in the 11:21.360 --> 11:24.310 mud. We have about two-and-a-half 11:24.307 --> 11:28.527 chapters, 15:22 until chapter 18, that recounts, 11:28.533 --> 11:31.683 then, the journey towards Sinai. 11:31.679 --> 11:33.459 This is a journey that's filled with complaints. 11:33.460 --> 11:36.160 The people complain they're going to starve, 11:36.162 --> 11:39.432 and God responds with quail, and manna, and water. 11:39.429 --> 11:43.129 Chapters 19 to 24 are very, very important chapters that 11:43.133 --> 11:46.263 contain the theophany, the self-revelation of God to 11:46.258 --> 11:48.238 the Israelites, and the covenant that's 11:48.235 --> 11:49.375 concluded at Sinai. 11:49.379 --> 11:53.239 We'll be talking more about that next time. 11:53.240 --> 11:58.440 Chapters 25 to 40 contain, beside the unfortunate incident 11:58.442 --> 12:02.552 with the golden calf which is in Exodus 32, 12:02.549 --> 12:06.679 the rest of this unit from 25 to 40, is God's instruction on 12:06.679 --> 12:09.409 how to build or erect the tabernacle, 12:09.409 --> 12:12.139 and then an account of the Israelites actually 12:12.141 --> 12:14.571 constructing, erecting the tabernacle. 12:14.570 --> 12:18.130 Source critical scholars believe that J supplies the main 12:18.126 --> 12:20.346 narrative of this unit in Exodus. 12:20.350 --> 12:25.610 It's supplemented by excerpts from E, and then the addition of 12:25.607 --> 12:30.687 considerable legal and ritual and genealogical material from 12:30.692 --> 12:33.522 P. Now, the historical value of 12:33.517 --> 12:38.537 the Exodus story has fascinated scholars, but also lay people, 12:38.544 --> 12:41.454 for generations. Could the Exodus really have 12:41.451 --> 12:43.581 happened? And if so, when? 12:43.580 --> 12:45.320 And does it matter? 12:45.320 --> 12:48.480 And is there any evidence for this story, for example, 12:48.477 --> 12:50.917 in external sources, outside the Bible? 12:50.919 --> 12:54.519 Well, no, there isn't any direct evidence outside the 12:54.521 --> 12:57.431 Bible, but let's start at the beginning. 12:57.429 --> 13:01.899 We do have a victory hymn, a victory hymn that's inscribed 13:01.896 --> 13:06.516 on a stele--that's a slab of stone--which was erected in the 13:06.519 --> 13:09.579 year 1204 BCE. It was erected by a pharaoh, 13:09.580 --> 13:10.700 Pharaoh Merneptah. 13:10.700 --> 13:13.630 So the stele of Merneptah dates to about 1204, 13:13.626 --> 13:17.326 and in this victory hymn he's boasting of his victory over 13:17.333 --> 13:21.463 various groups in Canaan, and one of the groups he claims 13:21.458 --> 13:23.478 to have defeated is Israel. 13:23.480 --> 13:26.570 Now, this is a fabulously important inscription, 13:26.566 --> 13:30.566 because it's the earliest known reference outside the Bible to 13:30.572 --> 13:34.252 any person or entity that is mentioned in the Bible, 13:34.250 --> 13:38.490 and it suggests that a people known as Israel was indeed in 13:38.493 --> 13:43.033 the land of Canaan by the end of the thirteenth century BCE. 13:43.029 --> 13:46.429 Whether they arrived there after an exodus from Egypt is 13:46.431 --> 13:48.041 not of course indicated. 13:48.039 --> 13:51.159 The source doesn't tell us that, and in fact there's really 13:51.161 --> 13:53.261 no archeological evidence of a group, 13:53.259 --> 13:55.419 a large group, entering the land of Canaan at 13:55.420 --> 13:57.660 this time. There's a steady cultural 13:57.660 --> 14:01.360 continuum, not evidence of destruction as we would expect 14:01.357 --> 14:02.807 for a big invasion. 14:02.809 --> 14:05.609 We'll talk more about that when we get to the book of Joshua. 14:05.610 --> 14:07.970 But nevertheless, let's just go with this for a 14:07.967 --> 14:10.987 minute, and if we suppose that it took about a generation to 14:10.991 --> 14:13.681 enter the land--so you see, I've done the math on the side 14:13.679 --> 14:15.299 here. I suppose I should have done 14:15.301 --> 14:17.151 subtractions, since we're talking BCE, 14:17.154 --> 14:20.114 but if we put 20 years in for actually arriving and settling 14:20.108 --> 14:23.578 in the land, that takes us to about 1225; 14:23.580 --> 14:27.220 and if we assume 40 years of wandering in the desert, 14:27.220 --> 14:31.000 or wandering from Egypt, that takes us to about 1265 as 14:31.000 --> 14:32.820 a date for the Exodus. 14:32.820 --> 14:36.010 Well, in 1265, the Eighteenth Dynasty's most 14:36.007 --> 14:39.117 illustrious pharaoh occupied the throne, 14:39.120 --> 14:42.010 Ramses II--who in fact was pharaoh for, what, 14:42.009 --> 14:45.879 70 years, or something…most of the thirteenth century--and 14:45.883 --> 14:48.973 he's very famous for his building projects. 14:48.970 --> 14:52.680 Now, according to the biblical record, the Hebrews were set to 14:52.683 --> 14:55.973 work on urban building projects in the Delta region, 14:55.970 --> 14:59.700 at the north part of the Nile--the delta region of the 14:59.702 --> 15:02.662 Nile in the cities of Pithom and Ramses. 15:02.659 --> 15:06.169 The Bible states that Israel was in Egypt for 430 years, 15:06.173 --> 15:08.923 so if we add that, then that would put their 15:08.919 --> 15:13.469 descent into Egypt--Joseph, the other sons of Jacob--around 15:13.474 --> 15:16.994 the year 1700. Well, there's a certain appeal 15:16.994 --> 15:19.874 to that scenario, because in the 1720s, 15:19.874 --> 15:24.654 Egypt was invaded and conquered by a Semitic people known as the 15:24.650 --> 15:27.680 Hyksos. They established a dynasty of 15:27.680 --> 15:30.600 Semitic rulers. They were centered in the north 15:30.601 --> 15:33.931 of Egypt, in the area known as Goshen, so it's possible that 15:33.933 --> 15:37.213 the pharaohs of the Hyksos dynasty might have favored other 15:37.209 --> 15:40.429 Semites: they might have allowed them to enter in times of 15:40.429 --> 15:42.809 famine, and to dwell in the land of 15:42.813 --> 15:45.883 Goshen, which the Bible says--the Israelites lived in 15:45.881 --> 15:47.181 the land of Goshen. 15:47.179 --> 15:49.339 That Joseph, a Semitic foreigner, 15:49.342 --> 15:51.912 could be elevated to an important post, 15:51.910 --> 15:55.480 the post of governor, is a little less surprising, 15:55.476 --> 15:58.286 if we suppose there was a Semitic regime. 15:58.289 --> 16:01.309 In the sixteenth century, the native Egyptians, 16:01.311 --> 16:04.791 who were smarting and smoldering under the humiliating 16:04.793 --> 16:08.693 foreign rule of the Hyksos, finally succeeded in rising up 16:08.685 --> 16:11.645 and driving them out, and reestablishing a native 16:11.653 --> 16:12.893 Egyptian dynasty. 16:12.889 --> 16:16.409 So some scholars have speculated that that's the 16:16.405 --> 16:20.515 historic reality behind the statement in Exodus 1:18, 16:20.519 --> 16:22.939 that a new pharaoh, who knew nothing of Joseph and 16:22.944 --> 16:26.754 what he had done for Egypt, began to oppress the Hebrews. 16:26.750 --> 16:30.150 The feeling is that the establishment of a new native 16:30.145 --> 16:33.795 Egyptian dynasty might have led to the enslavement of any 16:33.802 --> 16:36.612 remaining Semites or Semitic outsiders, 16:36.610 --> 16:39.250 and that would include, of course, the Hebrews. 16:39.250 --> 16:42.380 So in all probability, anyone who was associated with 16:42.379 --> 16:45.569 the hated occupying regime would be treated poorly. 16:45.570 --> 16:47.650 It all seems to fit. 16:47.649 --> 16:50.669 Well, there's a problem with this theory. 16:50.669 --> 16:53.909 The Bible itself contains very contradictory statements 16:53.914 --> 16:57.284 regarding the length of the Israelites' stay in Egypt. 16:57.279 --> 17:03.429 So Exodus 6:16-20 says that the Israelites were there for only 17:03.433 --> 17:06.423 four generations, maybe 80 years, 17:06.421 --> 17:10.141 from Levi to Moses--Levi was the great grandfather of 17:10.135 --> 17:13.775 Moses--so only four generations--which would mean an 17:13.777 --> 17:17.417 arrival in Egypt a long time after the Hyksos, 17:17.420 --> 17:20.530 not 430 years; and we don't even know whether 17:20.526 --> 17:23.556 migration occurred in the Hyksos period, so what we have really 17:23.556 --> 17:24.726 is only a hypothesis. 17:24.730 --> 17:28.350 The 430 years number is also something of an ideal number. 17:28.349 --> 17:32.359 It places the Exodus 480 years before Solomon's building of the 17:32.360 --> 17:35.870 Temple: 480 is a multiple of 12, and the Bible really likes 17:35.871 --> 17:38.041 multiples of 12, so it is an ideal number. 17:38.039 --> 17:40.919 It's the kind of number that crops up a lot in biblical 17:40.915 --> 17:42.985 chronologies, which makes it suspect for 17:42.992 --> 17:44.912 other sorts of reasons, as well. 17:44.910 --> 17:48.880 So the Hyksos theory is one that got people very excited for 17:48.879 --> 17:51.839 a while, but is really not well supported. 17:51.839 --> 17:54.749 Still, there's some very interesting circumstantial 17:54.750 --> 17:57.950 evidence for Semites engaged in building projects in the 17:57.951 --> 18:00.831 thirteenth century, however and whenever they might 18:00.828 --> 18:01.918 have gotten to Egypt. 18:01.920 --> 18:05.660 We do know, archaeologically, that the fortified city of 18:05.662 --> 18:08.522 Pi-Ramses, very much like Pithom Ramses, 18:08.519 --> 18:11.619 was rebuilt in the early thirteenth century on the site 18:11.615 --> 18:13.215 of the old Hyksos capital. 18:13.220 --> 18:14.450 There was a capital Avaris. 18:14.450 --> 18:16.640 They had moved the capital up to the Delta region. 18:16.640 --> 18:18.220 It had fallen into decay. 18:18.220 --> 18:20.770 Now, in the thirteenth century, this is being rebuilt, 18:20.767 --> 18:22.447 and that's in the area of Goshen. 18:22.450 --> 18:25.130 So the city was being reoccupied in the time of the 18:25.126 --> 18:27.426 pharaoh Ramses, Ramses II, in the thirteenth 18:27.427 --> 18:29.647 century. We do know that Egyptian 18:29.653 --> 18:33.613 officials allowed hungry nomads to enter the Delta region for 18:33.611 --> 18:36.911 food: we have records, written records of this. 18:36.910 --> 18:39.600 We also know that Semitic slaves are well attested in 18:39.600 --> 18:41.880 Egypt at this time, the end of the thirteenth 18:41.876 --> 18:44.046 century: we also have records of that. 18:44.049 --> 18:47.879 We know of a people called the Hapiru or 'Apiru. 18:47.880 --> 18:51.870 18:51.869 --> 18:55.329 They don't seem to be an ethnic group so much as a marginalized 18:55.333 --> 18:57.463 social class, but some have suggested a 18:57.456 --> 18:59.576 connection with the word "Hebrew." 18:59.579 --> 19:03.059 We know that they worked on the building of the capital city of 19:03.057 --> 19:04.857 Ramses II. Other scholars deny that there 19:04.860 --> 19:06.330 would be any connection with "Hebrew." 19:06.330 --> 19:08.260 The debates are endless. 19:08.259 --> 19:13.909 One thirteenth-century Egyptian papyrus describes Egypt's tight 19:13.907 --> 19:17.937 control of her border areas, and another reports some 19:17.941 --> 19:20.601 Egyptian officials pursuing some runaway slaves. 19:20.599 --> 19:22.689 Obviously this happened from time to time, 19:22.686 --> 19:24.056 escaping into the desert. 19:24.059 --> 19:27.609 The Exodus story also contains many Egyptian elements. 19:27.609 --> 19:31.349 The names Moses, Aaron, Pinhas…these are all 19:31.347 --> 19:35.967 Egyptian names. "Moses" is simply this part of 19:35.971 --> 19:40.791 Ramses: Tutmosis, Ramses, this is Egyptian for 19:40.787 --> 19:44.317 "born of," born of the God Ra. 19:44.319 --> 19:47.049 And even Moses is an Egyptian name. 19:47.049 --> 19:50.309 So none of this, of course, corroborates the 19:50.305 --> 19:53.405 specific details of the biblical story. 19:53.410 --> 19:56.430 There's no Egyptian record of the biblical Moses, 19:56.431 --> 19:59.261 no record of plagues, no record of a defeat of 19:59.264 --> 20:01.524 Pharaoh's army. There is a lot of 20:01.523 --> 20:04.783 circumstantial evidence, and some scholars think that 20:04.775 --> 20:08.145 that lends plausibility to a story of slaves working on 20:08.152 --> 20:11.782 building projects who escape from Egypt at this time, 20:11.779 --> 20:14.999 and if there's any historical basis to the Exodus, 20:15.001 --> 20:19.141 then the most plausible time, the most plausible backdrop 20:19.136 --> 20:22.006 would be the thirteenth century BCE. 20:22.009 --> 20:26.259 Some scholars assume there's a historical memory behind the 20:26.263 --> 20:31.033 elaborate and dramatic story of a miraculous redemption by God. 20:31.029 --> 20:33.859 Why would you invent a hero, a national hero who's entirely 20:33.862 --> 20:35.622 Egyptian and has an Egyptian name? 20:35.619 --> 20:39.409 Why would you invent a myth of origins in which your ancestors 20:39.411 --> 20:41.191 are slaves? Nevertheless, 20:41.188 --> 20:44.908 as I emphasized earlier in the patriarchal stories, 20:44.912 --> 20:48.862 in the end we're dealing here with sacred history. 20:48.859 --> 20:52.109 We're dealing with a highly embellished and theologically 20:52.106 --> 20:54.596 interpreted myth of origins for a nation. 20:54.599 --> 20:58.069 So much more important than historical verifiability is the 20:58.071 --> 21:01.181 conviction of the ancient Israelites who received and 21:01.184 --> 21:04.244 venerated these traditions, and developed them, 21:04.242 --> 21:07.222 and embellished them, that God had once acted on 21:07.217 --> 21:10.347 their behalf, rescuing them from bondage, 21:10.346 --> 21:14.106 binding them to himself in an eternal covenant. 21:14.109 --> 21:16.789 A little bit about the outline of the story, 21:16.790 --> 21:20.720 and then we're going to finally have an introduction between God 21:20.717 --> 21:23.217 and Moses, which will I think bring us 21:23.215 --> 21:25.975 back to some of the conversations we had at the 21:25.984 --> 21:27.614 beginning of the course. 21:27.609 --> 21:30.189 So let me first say a little bit about the story line, 21:30.194 --> 21:32.584 and some of the themes at the beginning of Exodus, 21:32.584 --> 21:34.344 the first six or seven chapters. 21:34.339 --> 21:37.189 According to the text, the Israelites have multiplied, 21:37.191 --> 21:40.151 they've filled the land of Goshen that had been given to 21:40.150 --> 21:42.410 them during Joseph's tenure in office, 21:42.410 --> 21:46.100 and this new pharaoh who feared them--he didn't know Joseph, 21:46.098 --> 21:48.908 he feared the foreign presence--he rose and he 21:48.911 --> 21:51.101 attempted to curb their growth. 21:51.099 --> 21:53.649 He pressed all of the adult males into slavery. 21:53.650 --> 21:56.690 The text says "harsh labor at mortar and brick," but the text 21:56.686 --> 21:58.606 says, "the more they were oppressed, 21:58.609 --> 22:01.569 the more they increased and spread out," so Pharaoh resorts 22:01.571 --> 22:02.951 to more drastic measures. 22:02.950 --> 22:06.360 He decrees the murder of all newborn Israelite males at the 22:06.356 --> 22:08.056 hands of Egyptian midwives. 22:08.060 --> 22:10.250 He's thwarted by these midwives. 22:10.250 --> 22:11.950 They say: Oh, these ladies are too quick; 22:11.950 --> 22:14.040 we get there too late, they've already given birth by 22:14.037 --> 22:14.877 the time we arrive. 22:14.880 --> 22:17.050 They allow the male infants to live. 22:17.049 --> 22:20.619 So the pharaoh enlists all of the people to annihilate the 22:20.619 --> 22:24.439 Israelites by drowning all newborn males in the Nile River. 22:24.440 --> 22:27.500 This leads then to the account of the birth of Moses, 22:27.495 --> 22:29.665 and his exposure to the Nile River. 22:29.670 --> 22:31.370 He is born into a Levite family. 22:31.369 --> 22:34.549 The Levites will be priests in Israel, so he's born to a 22:34.549 --> 22:37.019 priestly family. He's hidden away for three 22:37.019 --> 22:39.609 months, and then he's placed in a wicker basket, 22:39.605 --> 22:43.565 which is lined with bitumen, a tar, and set among the 22:43.573 --> 22:47.443 bulrushes at the edge of the Nile River. 22:47.440 --> 22:50.500 Pharaoh's daughter will eventually discover him. 22:50.500 --> 22:53.080 His own mother will volunteer to be his nurse, 22:53.078 --> 22:56.288 and Pharaoh's daughter will eventually adopt him and name 22:56.287 --> 22:58.977 his Moses: again, this is an Egyptian name. 22:58.980 --> 23:02.350 The etymology given in the biblical text is invented. 23:02.349 --> 23:05.649 A lot of scholars have noted that this story is full of 23:05.650 --> 23:07.710 irony. The rescue of Moses, 23:07.708 --> 23:11.788 who will foil Pharaoh, is affected by the daughter of 23:11.785 --> 23:14.565 that pharaoh, and Moses grows up and is 23:14.572 --> 23:17.332 sheltered right in the pharaoh's own palace. 23:17.329 --> 23:20.919 Further, the significance of Moses is hinted at through 23:20.922 --> 23:24.122 literary allusions in the narrative of his birth, 23:24.115 --> 23:26.505 his infancy. The basket in which he is 23:26.505 --> 23:28.725 placed is called an ark: the Hebrew word is 23:28.731 --> 23:31.621 tevah. This word is used precisely 23:31.620 --> 23:34.190 twice in the entire Hebrew Bible. 23:34.190 --> 23:36.430 It's not the same word that's used for Ark of the Covenant, 23:36.428 --> 23:38.238 by the way: the Ark of the Covenant, the word is 23:38.242 --> 23:39.982 aron. This word for ark, 23:39.983 --> 23:42.103 tevah, occurs exactly twice: 23:42.104 --> 23:44.604 here, and in the story of Noah's ark. 23:44.600 --> 23:46.380 Noah's ark is a tevah. 23:46.380 --> 23:50.630 Scholars have always been quick to point out that in both cases, 23:50.634 --> 23:54.204 this ark, this tevah, is in the words of one scholar 23:54.195 --> 23:57.005 "the instrument of salvation through perilous waters", 23:57.009 --> 24:01.069 waters that threaten to capsize it, and so blot out God's hopes 24:01.066 --> 24:03.026 and plans for his creatures. 24:03.029 --> 24:06.819 Moreover, the basket is placed among the reeds--the Hebrew word 24:06.823 --> 24:10.493 for reeds is suph--and that's a hint or an allusion to 24:10.494 --> 24:14.234 the fact that Moses will lead the Israelites through the "Reed 24:14.226 --> 24:15.736 Sea," the Yam Suph. 24:15.740 --> 24:18.150 It's not the Red Sea, it's the Reed Sea, 24:18.154 --> 24:20.574 but we'll talk about that later also. 24:20.569 --> 24:25.489 This legendary birth story has important parallels in Ancient 24:25.488 --> 24:28.438 Near Eastern and other literature. 24:28.440 --> 24:31.960 It's very common to find stories of the extraordinary 24:31.958 --> 24:36.148 events that surround the birth of someone who will later become 24:36.153 --> 24:41.203 great: Cyrus of Persia, Oedipus, Jesus, and so on. 24:41.200 --> 24:44.510 Many scholars have pointed out that this story in particular is 24:44.513 --> 24:47.563 paralleled by the birth story of a great Akkadian king, 24:47.559 --> 24:52.429 Sargon, from about 2300 BCE, Sargon of Akkad. 24:52.430 --> 24:54.320 Strikingly similar story to Moses. 24:54.319 --> 24:57.019 placed in a basket lined with tar, put in the river, 24:57.015 --> 24:59.185 and so on. It underscores the degree to 24:59.188 --> 25:01.608 which this story is part of a literary genre, 25:01.606 --> 25:05.186 part of a literary convention, how much the Exodus story 25:05.189 --> 25:07.879 itself is very much a literary story. 25:07.880 --> 25:12.030 Nothing is said of Moses' childhood, but we learn of his 25:12.031 --> 25:14.901 awareness of his Israelite identity, 25:14.900 --> 25:18.760 or his identification with the Hebrews, in the following 25:18.755 --> 25:21.415 passage: this is in Exodus 2:11-15: 25:21.420 --> 25:24.290 Some time after that, when Moses had grown up, 25:24.291 --> 25:27.501 he went out to his kinsfolk and witnessed their labors. 25:27.500 --> 25:30.990 He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen. 25:30.990 --> 25:33.600 He turned this way and that, and, seeing no one about, 25:33.595 --> 25:36.245 he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 25:36.250 --> 25:38.980 When he went out the next day, he found two Hebrews fighting, 25:38.983 --> 25:41.443 and so he said to the offender, "Why do you strike your 25:41.443 --> 25:42.583 fellow?" He retorted, 25:42.578 --> 25:44.488 "Who made you chief and ruler over us? 25:44.490 --> 25:47.400 Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" 25:47.400 --> 25:50.220 Moses was frightened and thought: Then the matter is 25:50.217 --> 25:51.777 known! When Pharaoh learned of the 25:51.776 --> 25:55.226 matter, he sought to kill Moses; but Moses fled from Pharaoh. 25:55.230 --> 25:58.170 He arrived in the land of Midian, and sat down beside a 25:58.171 --> 26:00.661 well. So coming to the aid of an 26:00.660 --> 26:03.540 oppressed kinsman, Moses kills an Egyptian, 26:03.535 --> 26:06.885 and he has to flee to the territory of Midian. 26:06.890 --> 26:10.090 There at the well, again he acts to defend the 26:10.093 --> 26:12.483 defenseless. This is a key to his character; 26:12.480 --> 26:16.010 these two episodes are the two that we're given of Moses' life. 26:16.009 --> 26:20.079 So continuing verses 16 and 17 in Exodus 2: "Now the priest of 26:20.083 --> 26:22.023 Midian had seven daughters. 26:22.019 --> 26:25.489 They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water 26:25.489 --> 26:28.409 their father's flock; but shepherds came and drove 26:28.406 --> 26:30.576 them off. Moses rose to their defense, 26:30.575 --> 26:32.275 and he watered their flock." 26:32.279 --> 26:35.059 So again, this is a key to Moses' character, 26:35.056 --> 26:36.666 aiding the defenseless. 26:36.670 --> 26:39.770 Moses will later marry Zipporah, one of these women, 26:39.768 --> 26:43.048 and live as a shepherd in Midian for about 40 years. 26:43.049 --> 26:46.559 Now, the situation of the Israelites in Egypt, 26:46.562 --> 26:49.062 the text says, remains bitter. 26:49.059 --> 26:51.999 Exodus 2:23-24: "The Israelites were groaning 26:52.000 --> 26:54.340 under the bondage, and cried out; 26:54.339 --> 26:57.829 and their cry for help from the bondage rose up to God. 26:57.829 --> 27:00.699 God heard their moaning, and God remembered His covenant 27:00.700 --> 27:02.580 with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob." 27:02.579 --> 27:06.429 One day in the wilderness at a place called Horeb, 27:06.427 --> 27:09.487 also Sinai, where there's a mountain, 27:09.490 --> 27:13.420 Moses sees a flame in a bush that doesn't consume the flame, 27:13.416 --> 27:15.276 and then he hears a voice. 27:15.279 --> 27:17.899 And the voice says, "I am the God of your father, 27:17.895 --> 27:20.015 the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 27:20.019 --> 27:23.059 and the God of Jacob," and Moses hides his face in fear, 27:23.056 --> 27:24.156 but God continues. 27:24.160 --> 27:27.450 He has a job for Moses: "I have marked well the 27:27.453 --> 27:30.593 plight of my people in Egypt, and have heeded their outcry 27:30.586 --> 27:33.806 because of the taskmaster; yes, I am mindful of their 27:33.808 --> 27:35.818 sufferings. And I've come down to rescue 27:35.823 --> 27:38.223 them from the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that 27:38.215 --> 27:39.835 land to a good and spacious land, 27:39.839 --> 27:42.549 a land flowing with milk and honey, the region of the 27:42.545 --> 27:44.645 Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, 27:44.646 --> 27:46.086 the Perizzites, the Hivites, 27:46.094 --> 27:47.224 and the Jebusites. 27:47.220 --> 27:49.450 Now the cry of the Israelites has reached me. 27:49.450 --> 27:52.310 Moreover I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 27:52.309 --> 27:54.689 Come, therefore, I will send you to Pharaoh, 27:54.689 --> 27:57.119 and you shall free my people, the Israelites, 27:57.124 --> 27:59.884 from Egypt." [Exodus 3:7-10] 27:59.880 --> 28:02.530 Moses demurs: Who me? 28:02.529 --> 28:06.079 Why not my big brother Aaron, he's a much better public 28:06.082 --> 28:08.142 speaker? This is the line that he takes: 28:08.144 --> 28:09.054 I'm slow of tongue. 28:09.049 --> 28:13.139 But as we've already seen in Genesis, God chooses whom he 28:13.144 --> 28:16.804 chooses, and his reasons aren't always fathomed. 28:16.799 --> 28:21.129 Moses says: May I say who sent me? 28:21.130 --> 28:23.210 He asks for God's name. 28:23.210 --> 28:26.700 The Israelites will want to know who has sent me, 28:26.700 --> 28:30.120 and God replies with a sentence, "Ehyeh asher 28:30.119 --> 28:33.209 ehyeh." This is a first person sentence 28:33.210 --> 28:36.630 that can be translated, "I am who I am," or perhaps, 28:36.630 --> 28:40.630 "I will be who I will be," or perhaps, "I cause to be what I 28:40.632 --> 28:43.082 cause to be." We really don't know, 28:43.079 --> 28:45.869 but it has something to do with "being." 28:45.869 --> 28:49.209 So he asks who God is, God says, "I am who am I am" or 28:49.209 --> 28:52.169 "I will cause to be what I will cause to be." 28:52.170 --> 28:54.720 So Moses, wisely enough, converts that into a 28:54.717 --> 28:57.547 third-person formula: okay, he will be who he will 28:57.554 --> 28:59.104 be, he is who he is, 28:59.099 --> 29:03.369 "Yahweh asher Yahweh." God's answer to the question of 29:03.374 --> 29:07.374 his name is this sentence, and Moses converts it from a 29:07.370 --> 29:11.650 first-person to a third-person sentence: he will be who he will 29:11.646 --> 29:13.346 be; he is who he is; 29:13.349 --> 29:16.859 he will cause to be, I think most people think now, 29:16.858 --> 29:20.158 what he will cause to be, and that sentence gets 29:20.155 --> 29:21.975 shortened to "Yahweh." 29:21.980 --> 29:25.720 This is the Bible's explanation for the name Yahweh, 29:25.718 --> 29:28.208 and as the personal name of God, 29:28.210 --> 29:32.580 some have argued that the name Yahweh expresses the quality of 29:32.579 --> 29:35.239 being, an active, dynamic being. 29:35.240 --> 29:38.300 This God is one who brings things into being, 29:38.299 --> 29:42.259 whether it's a cosmos from chaos, or now a new nation from 29:42.263 --> 29:44.283 a band of runaway slaves. 29:44.279 --> 29:47.709 But it could well be that this is simply God's way of not 29:47.713 --> 29:49.433 answering Moses' question. 29:49.430 --> 29:51.660 We've seen how the Bible feels about revealing names, 29:51.658 --> 29:53.838 and the divine being who struggled and wrestled with 29:53.843 --> 29:55.903 Jacob sure didn't want to give him his name. 29:55.900 --> 29:59.240 So I've often wondered if we're to read this differently: 29:59.243 --> 30:00.933 Who am I? I am who I am, 30:00.929 --> 30:02.399 and never you mind. 30:02.400 --> 30:06.650 There are certain important and unique features of this burning 30:06.652 --> 30:09.792 bush dialogue. First God identifies himself to 30:09.788 --> 30:12.878 Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 30:12.880 --> 30:16.030 and as numerous commentators have pointed out, 30:16.027 --> 30:18.897 in so doing, the biblical writer is trying 30:18.895 --> 30:22.735 to establish an unbroken historic continuity between the 30:22.741 --> 30:26.501 present revelation to Moses, and the revelations and 30:26.500 --> 30:29.620 promises that are received by Israel's forefathers, 30:29.620 --> 30:33.200 the patriarchs. And yet, paradoxically, 30:33.203 --> 30:36.873 the very assertion of continuity only serves to 30:36.871 --> 30:40.221 underscore a fundamental discontinuity, 30:40.220 --> 30:43.120 because even as God asserts that he is the God of the 30:43.120 --> 30:45.630 patriarchs, he reveals to Moses a new name, 30:45.630 --> 30:48.770 Yahweh, so that Yahwism, and the Yahweh cult, 30:48.773 --> 30:51.563 can be said to begin only with Moses. 30:51.559 --> 30:55.179 Now, as we've seen, the biblical sources differ on 30:55.179 --> 30:57.939 this point. According to the J source, 30:57.942 --> 31:01.062 in Genesis 4:26, the earliest humans worshiped 31:01.063 --> 31:02.453 Yahweh as Yahweh. 31:02.450 --> 31:03.650 The name was always known. 31:03.650 --> 31:07.900 J wants to assert a direct continuity between the God of 31:07.900 --> 31:11.300 the patriarchs, and the God of the Exodus. 31:11.299 --> 31:14.619 The P and E sources tell it a little differently. 31:14.619 --> 31:18.859 Exodus 6:2-4, a very important passage, 31:18.859 --> 31:22.759 is assigned to P, and here God says, 31:22.764 --> 31:26.014 "I am. I appeared to Abraham, 31:26.005 --> 31:31.895 Isaac and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known 31:31.898 --> 31:34.118 to them by My name." 31:34.119 --> 31:39.599 Now, this contradicts the J source, and many scholars have 31:39.595 --> 31:45.455 suggested that P and E preserve a memory of a time when Israel 31:45.455 --> 31:49.005 worshipped the Canaanite god, El. 31:49.009 --> 31:52.759 P and E wish to claim that the God who covenanted with the 31:52.757 --> 31:56.897 patriarchs is the God of the Exodus, but now with a new name. 31:56.900 --> 31:59.650 They also, like J, want to assert a continuity, 31:59.651 --> 32:02.461 but in doing so, they do it in a way that really 32:02.462 --> 32:06.292 ultimately draws attention to the fundamental discontinuity, 32:06.289 --> 32:07.909 the sense of a new beginning. 32:07.910 --> 32:10.940 To understand that new beginning, we need to look at 32:10.940 --> 32:13.550 the differences between patriarchal religion, 32:13.554 --> 32:14.984 and the new Yahwism. 32:14.980 --> 32:17.360 There's a list on your handout, so I hope everyone got a copy 32:17.364 --> 32:18.804 of the handout. If you didn't, 32:18.803 --> 32:21.803 perhaps you can raise your hand, and if the TFs have any 32:21.803 --> 32:24.753 left -- you'll want to take a look at these differences 32:24.749 --> 32:27.639 between patriarchal religion and Mosaic Yahwism, 32:27.640 --> 32:28.930 and this is going to help us. 32:28.930 --> 32:32.170 This list is based on information that's supplied by 32:32.165 --> 32:35.095 many scholars. I've relied very much on 32:35.096 --> 32:37.966 Michael Coogan, but others as well. 32:37.970 --> 32:41.740 Look first at the sheet that gives you the titles of God, 32:41.744 --> 32:45.654 and you'll see that in the patriarchal traditions--so we're 32:45.653 --> 32:50.103 talking about Genesis primarily; I've thrown in some other texts 32:50.096 --> 32:54.186 also, but focusing for a moment on the patriarchal traditions of 32:54.193 --> 32:57.253 Genesis--God is six times called El Shaddai. 32:57.250 --> 33:00.530 Other names are El 'Elyon, and El Olam, 33:00.530 --> 33:02.430 El Ro'i, El Beyt El. 33:02.430 --> 33:05.270 You can see the translations of these: the everlasting God, 33:05.273 --> 33:06.843 God most high, the God of seeing, 33:06.842 --> 33:08.952 the God of the house of God, and so on. 33:08.950 --> 33:14.140 El is the name of the chief God in the Canaanite pantheon. 33:14.140 --> 33:17.010 Flip over to the other side of your handout, 33:17.008 --> 33:20.338 where I discuss an important set of texts that were 33:20.344 --> 33:23.284 discovered at a place called Ras Shamra. 33:23.280 --> 33:26.200 Ras Shamra was ancient Ugarit. 33:26.200 --> 33:30.670 In 1928, a peasant in Syria discovered a tomb at Ras Shamra, 33:30.674 --> 33:34.394 which was subsequently excavated by the French, 33:34.390 --> 33:38.080 and it was found to contain a library of tablets that were 33:38.075 --> 33:40.945 written in a language very, very close to biblical Hebrew. 33:40.950 --> 33:43.370 It's clear that Hebrew is simply a Canaanite dialect--in 33:43.367 --> 33:45.957 fact, I remember reading one scholar who said if you go back 33:45.960 --> 33:48.670 far enough, you'd be really hard pressed to 33:48.665 --> 33:52.285 tell the difference between Canaanite and Hebrew--and in 33:52.293 --> 33:55.533 these texts we read of the exploits of the gods of 33:55.526 --> 33:57.106 Canaanite religion. 33:57.109 --> 34:01.459 These gods include the sky god, El, I've listed here, 34:01.464 --> 34:05.154 the father of the various gods and humans. 34:05.150 --> 34:08.600 El has a wife, Asherah: she's listed third on 34:08.599 --> 34:11.919 your paper, a mother goddess; their daughter, 34:11.924 --> 34:14.314 Anat, who is a goddess of love and war. 34:14.310 --> 34:15.240 She's quite fierce. 34:15.239 --> 34:18.969 And then their son, Baal, who is a storm god. 34:18.969 --> 34:24.039 He's depicted in mythological literature as defeating both the 34:24.042 --> 34:27.532 chaotic sea god, Yam, and the god of death, 34:27.534 --> 34:30.294 Mot. There are striking resemblances 34:30.287 --> 34:34.597 between the biblical gods of the Patriarchs and the Canaanite god 34:34.596 --> 34:37.166 El. El is the head of a council of 34:37.166 --> 34:39.336 gods. He is said to have a long white 34:39.337 --> 34:42.087 beard. He dwells on a mountaintop in a 34:42.092 --> 34:45.132 tent. His epithets include "Father of 34:45.128 --> 34:47.788 all creatures," "Bull," "King." 34:47.789 --> 34:50.729 He's also described as the protector of patriarchs, 34:50.727 --> 34:53.487 patriarchal figures, "a God of the father of the 34:53.488 --> 34:55.308 clan," it says in the text. 34:55.310 --> 34:57.180 He guides them. He protects them. 34:57.180 --> 34:59.780 He promises them descendants. 34:59.780 --> 35:03.130 Many biblical passages depict God exactly this way, 35:03.131 --> 35:06.081 as the head of a council of divine beings. 35:06.079 --> 35:09.099 He's occasionally described with some of the epithets that 35:09.103 --> 35:10.433 are associated with El. 35:10.429 --> 35:12.619 He's referred to as the father of all creatures. 35:12.619 --> 35:14.759 There are poetic passages in which he is referred to as 35:14.762 --> 35:16.732 "Bull." Also certainly as "King." 35:16.730 --> 35:19.610 And in the patriarchal narratives, God refers to 35:19.607 --> 35:21.747 himself as the God of the Father. 35:21.750 --> 35:24.970 "I am the God of the father," the same way El is referred to. 35:24.969 --> 35:27.289 He guides and protects the patriarchs. 35:27.289 --> 35:31.129 He makes promises of progeny to Abraham and his heirs. 35:31.130 --> 35:33.450 He also is associated with a mountaintop, Sinai, 35:33.448 --> 35:36.308 and gives instructions for the building of a tabernacle, 35:36.309 --> 35:38.909 a tent-like structure, in which he will dwell. 35:38.909 --> 35:43.259 Many personal and place names in the patriarchal narratives 35:43.257 --> 35:46.477 are compounds in which one element is El. 35:46.480 --> 35:49.760 Israel, Ishmael, Beth-el. 35:49.760 --> 35:53.020 El is the God of the Patriarchs. 35:53.019 --> 35:55.609 By contrast, after the time of Moses, 35:55.605 --> 35:58.755 Israelite names start to be formed using Yah, 35:58.764 --> 36:02.714 or Yahu, as part of the name Yahweh: Elijah in Hebrew is 36:02.714 --> 36:05.354 Eliyahu. So you start to have 36:05.350 --> 36:09.020 theophorics, names that use a name of a deity, 36:09.018 --> 36:12.848 which are using forms of Yahu instead of El. 36:12.849 --> 36:16.209 There are other descriptions in the Bible of God, 36:16.210 --> 36:19.010 which are much more reminiscent, however, 36:19.010 --> 36:20.900 of the storm god, Baal. 36:20.900 --> 36:24.030 According to Canaanite mythology, Baal defeated El, 36:24.026 --> 36:27.836 and assumed his position at a certain point as the head of the 36:27.841 --> 36:30.761 Canaanite pantheon, so there was a switch in 36:30.756 --> 36:33.456 Canaanite mythology, from El to Baal becoming 36:33.463 --> 36:35.823 supreme. Like Baal, Yahweh is said to 36:35.822 --> 36:38.592 ride on the clouds: we have a poetic passage in 36:38.587 --> 36:40.087 which that's the case. 36:40.090 --> 36:43.600 His revelations are accompanied by thunderstorms, 36:43.596 --> 36:46.806 earthquakes: Baal is the god of the storm. 36:46.809 --> 36:50.649 There are poetic fragments also that allude to Yahweh's victory 36:50.654 --> 36:53.524 over water foes, and that is a motif that's 36:53.516 --> 36:56.876 associated with Baal, who does battle with the Yam, 36:56.875 --> 36:58.665 with the sea. And finally, 36:58.674 --> 37:01.944 also associated with Israel's God, we have Ancient Near 37:01.937 --> 37:03.807 Eastern holy war traditions. 37:03.809 --> 37:07.799 God is depicted as a warrior, who leads his host, 37:07.803 --> 37:10.303 the Lord of hosts in battle. 37:10.300 --> 37:13.130 He's armed with spear and bow and arrows. 37:13.130 --> 37:16.690 The worship practices of ancient Israel and Judah clearly 37:16.691 --> 37:19.871 resemble what we know of Canaanite and Ancient Near 37:19.871 --> 37:21.781 Eastern worship practices. 37:21.780 --> 37:26.140 Canaanite religious ritual took place in small temples that 37:26.137 --> 37:27.937 housed cultic statues. 37:27.940 --> 37:30.770 There were stone pillars, perhaps symbols of the gods, 37:30.768 --> 37:32.208 or memorials to the dead. 37:32.210 --> 37:35.710 There were altars for animal sacrifices, cereal, 37:35.710 --> 37:37.200 liquid sacrifices. 37:37.199 --> 37:39.869 Similarly, Israel's gods, or Israel's God, 37:39.874 --> 37:43.724 was worshiped at various high places: they're referred to as 37:43.723 --> 37:45.553 elevated or high places. 37:45.550 --> 37:49.280 They were shrines with little altars, maybe cultic pillars, 37:49.280 --> 37:52.050 and wooden poles: the word for a wooden pole 37:52.046 --> 37:55.066 that's used in the Bible is asherah. 37:55.070 --> 37:59.040 These shrines may have been associated with some kind of 37:59.038 --> 38:03.078 contact with ancestors, some kind of cult of the dead. 38:03.079 --> 38:06.589 Now, worship at these local altars and high places would 38:06.592 --> 38:09.212 come to be banned: Deuteronomy is going to 38:09.211 --> 38:11.001 polemicize against this. 38:11.000 --> 38:14.280 Deuteronomy will insist that all worship must occur in one 38:14.277 --> 38:16.687 central sanctuary and these outlying areas, 38:16.692 --> 38:19.512 and their asherot are to be destroyed. 38:19.510 --> 38:23.260 It will decree the destruction of all of these altars and high 38:23.257 --> 38:25.347 places. The patriarchal stories are 38:25.354 --> 38:27.704 clearly not the work of the Deuteronomist, 38:27.699 --> 38:31.129 and these stories must have had very longstanding traditional 38:31.131 --> 38:34.621 authority if they were adopted without serious modification by 38:34.621 --> 38:37.711 the Deuteronomist redactor-- some modification, 38:37.710 --> 38:40.790 but not serious. So what is going on here? 38:40.789 --> 38:45.019 What are we to make of the incredible similarity of 38:45.015 --> 38:49.405 Israel's deity and cult to those of her neighbors? 38:49.409 --> 38:52.769 How are we to understand the rise of Israel's God, 38:52.768 --> 38:54.138 Israel's religion? 38:54.139 --> 38:58.199 Well, so far we've had two models that have been thrown out 38:58.199 --> 39:01.629 to you: the kind of classic evolutionary model. 39:01.630 --> 39:06.600 From polytheism's worship of many gods there's a natural 39:06.597 --> 39:11.107 evolution to henotheism's elevation of one god to a 39:11.113 --> 39:13.013 supreme position. 39:13.010 --> 39:16.500 One comes to be favored and then eventually becomes so 39:16.497 --> 39:20.117 important, the others really fall away, and you have the 39:20.116 --> 39:22.416 denial of all gods but the one. 39:22.420 --> 39:26.190 We saw Kaufman in the 1930s reacted against this. 39:26.190 --> 39:29.130 He argued that monotheism and polytheism are so radically 39:29.126 --> 39:32.116 distinct that one could not possibly have evolved from the 39:32.115 --> 39:35.395 other. Surely there's an element of 39:35.400 --> 39:37.570 truth in both models. 39:37.570 --> 39:40.880 The evolutionary model is, I think, responding to, 39:40.882 --> 39:44.192 and picking up on, the fact that in many respects, 39:44.194 --> 39:47.714 Yahweh resembles the gods of Israel's neighbors. 39:47.710 --> 39:50.610 To be blunt, the patriarchs seem to have 39:50.605 --> 39:53.125 worshiped the Canaanite God, El. 39:53.130 --> 39:55.850 The problem with the evolutionary model is that it 39:55.845 --> 39:58.775 doesn't account for those aspects of the biblical text 39:58.783 --> 40:01.893 that show a clear polemical relationship between Israel's 40:01.887 --> 40:04.157 religion and that of her neighbors. 40:04.159 --> 40:07.279 Now, we saw when we read Genesis 1, that there was 40:07.283 --> 40:10.793 something going on there, there's a polemic going on. 40:10.789 --> 40:14.189 There are strata within the Bible that are clearly 40:14.193 --> 40:17.673 polemicizing against a certain kind of mythological 40:17.666 --> 40:19.746 presentation of the deity. 40:19.750 --> 40:23.030 By contrast, Kaufman's revolutionary model 40:23.030 --> 40:27.510 focuses almost exclusively on the dissimilarities and the 40:27.510 --> 40:31.590 polemical relationship between Yahwism and Canaanite 40:31.590 --> 40:34.870 polytheism. the revolutionary model also 40:34.870 --> 40:37.960 fails because it doesn't acknowledge the many, 40:37.958 --> 40:41.798 many areas of contact, similarity, and even identity. 40:41.800 --> 40:45.390 So a third way has emerged in the last 20 years, 40:45.393 --> 40:48.763 or 15 years or so, and it's one that seeks to 40:48.758 --> 40:53.268 avoid this dichotomy between polytheism and monotheism. 40:53.269 --> 40:56.939 Instead of viewing Israelite religion as an evolution from 40:56.938 --> 40:59.828 and a refinement--just this natural process of 40:59.834 --> 41:02.284 refinement--of Canaanite religion, 41:02.280 --> 41:06.040 or as a radical break with and polemic against 41:06.039 --> 41:08.929 Canaanite religion, we have some biblical 41:08.932 --> 41:10.162 scholars--Mark S. 41:10.161 --> 41:13.781 Smith is among them, and Steven Geller--who examine 41:13.776 --> 41:17.966 the cultural and ideological negotiations that gave rise to 41:17.970 --> 41:20.140 Israelite monotheism. 41:20.140 --> 41:23.330 What do I mean? Mark Smith specifically 41:23.331 --> 41:26.821 describes the origin and development of Israelite 41:26.820 --> 41:30.670 religion as a process of what he calls convergence and 41:30.673 --> 41:33.943 differentiation. He writes, "Convergence 41:33.939 --> 41:37.189 involved the coalescence of various deities, 41:37.191 --> 41:41.731 and/or some of their features into the figure of Yahweh". 41:41.730 --> 41:46.550 There's a period of convergence and blending of the deities. 41:46.550 --> 41:49.460 By contrast, he describes differentiation as 41:49.459 --> 41:53.449 a process whereby Israel came to reject its Canaanite roots, 41:53.451 --> 41:55.821 and create a separate identity. 41:55.820 --> 41:58.320 At some point there was a desire to separate, 41:58.320 --> 42:00.820 and in that process of identity formation, 42:00.820 --> 42:04.910 a polemic began to develop that created Yahweh in a distinct 42:04.906 --> 42:08.296 way, differentiated from the Canaanite deities. 42:08.300 --> 42:11.520 So let's consider Smith's convergence first. 42:11.519 --> 42:15.279 The Canaanite roots of Israel's ancestors are clear. 42:15.280 --> 42:18.640 The Hebrew language itself is essentially Canaanite, 42:18.640 --> 42:20.090 a Canaanite dialect. 42:20.090 --> 42:24.100 The Canaanite god El was, from the biblical text, 42:24.097 --> 42:27.517 the God of Israel's earliest ancestors. 42:27.519 --> 42:30.039 Through a process of convergence, he argues: 42:30.040 --> 42:33.670 the God Yahweh was the god that we think originally came from a 42:33.674 --> 42:35.764 region further south, Sinai, Edom, 42:35.764 --> 42:38.784 somewhere further south--but this god, through a process of 42:38.780 --> 42:41.740 convergence and cultural mixing, began to take on the 42:41.744 --> 42:44.154 characteristics of other deities, first El, 42:44.147 --> 42:47.517 and then Baal, or sort of simultaneously El 42:47.522 --> 42:50.782 and Baal. Later, certain aspects of this 42:50.775 --> 42:55.405 convergence would be polemicized against, and rejected as a 42:55.405 --> 43:00.035 Yahweh-only party sought to differentiate itself from those 43:00.036 --> 43:03.066 that it would now label as other, 43:03.070 --> 43:06.910 and call Canaanites, as distinct from Israelites. 43:06.909 --> 43:11.189 Smith's model of convergence and then differentiation, 43:11.194 --> 43:13.624 has great explanatory power. 43:13.619 --> 43:16.969 It explains the deep similarity of Israel's deity and the 43:16.966 --> 43:20.216 deities of her neighbors, but it also explains the 43:20.223 --> 43:23.923 vehement biblical polemic against Canaanite religion, 43:23.920 --> 43:26.890 and Baal worship in particular, which we will come to see. 43:26.889 --> 43:30.229 It reminds one of sibling rivalry. 43:30.230 --> 43:33.260 Siblings who obviously share a tremendous amount, 43:33.262 --> 43:36.482 and can be extraordinarily similar are precisely the 43:36.484 --> 43:39.524 siblings who can struggle and wrestle the most to 43:39.517 --> 43:42.547 differentiate themselves from one another. 43:42.550 --> 43:46.360 Smith's model of convergence and differentiation also avoids 43:46.360 --> 43:47.910 unhelpful dichotomies. 43:47.909 --> 43:52.189 Israel is either like or unlike her neighbors--that's not 43:52.194 --> 43:55.004 helpful. It helps us understand Israel's 43:55.000 --> 43:58.620 God as the end product of familiar cultural processes, 43:58.619 --> 44:01.609 processes of convergence--we see convergences of cultures all 44:01.606 --> 44:03.196 the time--and differentiation. 44:03.199 --> 44:06.139 Differentiations of culture happen all the time as well. 44:06.139 --> 44:07.889 When and why, you may ask, 44:07.894 --> 44:10.214 did this differentiation occur? 44:10.210 --> 44:13.920 When and why did some Israelites adopt a Yahweh-only 44:13.923 --> 44:17.563 position, and seek to differentiate what they would 44:17.564 --> 44:20.554 call a pure Yahwism from the cult of Baal, 44:20.549 --> 44:23.179 for example? The debate over that question 44:23.182 --> 44:26.012 is fierce, and it's one we're going to leave for another day. 44:26.010 --> 44:28.440 We will come back, as we continue moving through 44:28.438 --> 44:30.608 the biblical text, and we will address that 44:30.608 --> 44:32.208 question. But to sum up, 44:32.206 --> 44:35.976 it's clear that the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs are 44:35.976 --> 44:39.216 not strict Yahwists, as we will come to understand 44:39.217 --> 44:42.947 that term. The P and the E sources 44:42.954 --> 44:47.544 preserve this insight; and they preserve it in their 44:47.542 --> 44:50.722 insistence that the Patriarchs worshiped God as El, 44:50.719 --> 44:54.849 but at the time of the Exodus, God revealed himself as Yahweh. 44:54.849 --> 44:58.619 There's an interesting passage in the book of Joshua, 44:58.623 --> 45:01.523 Joshua 24:14-15. Joshua was the successor to 45:01.518 --> 45:04.008 Moses. He presents the Israelites with 45:04.013 --> 45:07.113 the following choice: "Now therefore revere the 45:07.105 --> 45:09.235 Lord," using the word Yahweh, 45:09.235 --> 45:12.215 "revere Yahweh, and serve him with undivided 45:12.217 --> 45:14.427 loyalty. Put away the gods that your 45:14.433 --> 45:17.503 forefathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt"--put 45:17.500 --> 45:20.780 away the gods your forefathers served beyond the Euphrates and 45:20.783 --> 45:22.563 in Egypt--"and serve Yahweh. 45:22.559 --> 45:25.799 / Choose this day which ones you are going to serve, 45:25.796 --> 45:29.536 but I in my household will serve Yahweh," serve the Lord. 45:29.539 --> 45:33.199 Only later would a Yahweh-only party polemicize against and 45:33.199 --> 45:37.109 seek to suppress certain… what came to be seen as undesirable 45:37.110 --> 45:39.760 elements of Israelite-Judean religion, 45:39.760 --> 45:42.400 and these elements would be labeled Canaanite, 45:42.400 --> 45:45.570 as a part of a process of Israelite differentiation. 45:45.570 --> 45:49.470 But what appears in the Bible as a battle between Israelites, 45:49.469 --> 45:51.539 pure Yahwists, and Canaanites, 45:51.543 --> 45:54.783 pure polytheists, is indeed better understood as 45:54.781 --> 45:57.951 a civil war between Yahweh-only Israelites, 45:57.949 --> 46:01.659 and Israelites who are participating in the cult of 46:01.663 --> 46:03.003 their ancestors.