2.2 Narrative
The Genesis text moves from etiological myths related to primeval history into stories of some of the cultural heroes we know and love–such as Abraham and his descendants through to Joseph. Then, in Exodus we learn about Moses. Joshua and the Judges follow and then the early kings–Saul, David and Solomon. But, in these, we run into some legitimate historical challenges. When we get up to more historically depicted figures like Abraham or Joshua or Moses or Samson, we have to ask the tough historical questions: Are these real people? Do the biblical texts record what actually happened? E.g., Did the walls really fall down, when Joshua blew the trumpets at Jericho? Did Moses really stand up on a mountain and get a law of some sort? Were there really Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt and who miraculously escaped in the hundreds of thousands?
We have to approach our historical inquiry with a lot of openness, curiosity and integrity because the vast majority of these stories are not corroborated by ancient or Near Eastern literary or archeological discoveries. Now we know that the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. But, on the other hand, no supporting evidence, means just that. So, if we are going to state categorically that these people were real and what is said about them and what they are reported to have done is historically accurate, then we have to acknowledge we do so, often based entirely and only on what the biblical texts state. So, a few more questions arise and are worthy of our consideration: Do we know who is telling these stories? And to what effect? Are they real stories? Are they legends? Are they a combination of fact and fiction? And why do ancient Israelites tell these particular stories. I mean, think about some of these characters. Many of them are hardly inspiring or even morally ethical. Samson is frankly “stupid.” Why would they tell a story about hero who is plain dumb? Abraham is a trickster, as are several of his descendants. Jacob, with the help of his mother, is a liar and a cheat. Abraham does things like pass his wife off as his sister and places her in harems of foreign kings and seems to show concern only for himself. But he’s “the father” of this people, the father of the Hebrews. And what about characters like Jephthah from the book of Judges who apparently offers his daughter as burnt offering to the LORD.[1] Why tell these stories about these characters?
2.3 Law
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, along with the book of Genesis, comprise the Pentateuch. “Pentateuch” is a Greek word meaning “five scrolls,” and is often referred to as the book of Moses. The Pentateuch is full of legal material. There are many other laws than just the 10 commandments, which are fairly familiar to most people. But beyond questions like “honour your father and mother” and “don’t commit adultery” and “don’t murder,” the Bible has other law codes: dietary regulations, laws about how to plant your crops, torte law, laws about how to run the temple cult. Why are they there? What effect did they have? And how do those laws in general show how Israel considered itself to be a community in covenant? Israel had a “covenant” with God, and a “covenant” is simply legal contract. How were these laws the terms of that contract?
2.4 Prophetic Literature
Next, there is the prophetic literature. Most people today when they think about prophets, think about people who predict the future. But the biblical prophets, in general, were not predictors of the far-off future. In actuality, there were more like astute political and social critics, who told the people, “If you continue to behave in the way you are behaving, bad things will happen.” The prophets were interested in social justice. But they were also interested in political policy. They advised kings when to make foreign alliances, and when to remain isolationists. They were interested in the temple cult, how to run that cult, how to offer sacrifices, how personal repentance related to behaviour. For example, “Is it sufficient to simply offer up a bull as a sacrifice without being in a right relationship with your neighbour?” The prophets were much more than predictors of the future, more than social critics, more than political analysts. They were fantastic poets. They used arresting images and exquisite phrasing in order to get their message across. Because if one is a prophet, you cannot just say, “Behave yourselves,” because nobody is going to listen. So, you have to do it in a way that is going to gain the attention of the people who are supposed to be listening. And you have to do it in such a way the people will remember what you said and write down what you said. Part of the extraordinary aspect of ancient Israel is that they wrote down material that heavily and consistently criticized what they did. Israel was a community that was very interested in making itself better by recognizing what it did that was wrong to begin with.
2.5 Wisdom Literature
Whereas the prophets talk about how to conduct business, say in the temple cult or in politics, we also have a genre known as “wisdom literature,” which explains how to conduct business in the market place or among the upper classes. This is literature, like Proverbs, which tells you how to behave, but it is also literature that raises those profound questions that philosophers and theologians have yet to resolve. We have, for example the book of Job, which asks, in effect, “If God is a righteous God, why is Job suffering? Why do the wicked prosper? Why do the good endure pain and death and exile?” And whether Job actually resolves that problem or not is something scholars continue to debate. I think, in fact, Job provides an answer, but it may not be the answer most people want to hear.
[1] “And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, ‘If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering’” (Judges 11:30). It was his daughter who first to come out and meet him after his victory.
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