How Yahweh Became God: Exodus 3 and 6 and the Heart of the Pentateuch
In a re-examination of Exodus 3 and 6, the author proposes to interpret these texts from the perspective of three contexts. Our historical context extends from approximately 450 BCE at the very earliest to 150 BCE at the very latest. The intellectual context involves a reinterpretation of traditiona...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
1995
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| In: |
Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Year: 1995, Volume: 20, Issue: 68, Pages: 57-73 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In a re-examination of Exodus 3 and 6, the author proposes to interpret these texts from the perspective of three contexts. Our historical context extends from approximately 450 BCE at the very earliest to 150 BCE at the very latest. The intellectual context involves a reinterpretation of traditional beliefs of ancient Palestine from a Late Persian/Early Hellenistic perspective that understands the truly divine as both universal and transcendent: an 'inclusive' monotheistic perception, a perception that is not at all antagonistic to polytheism but rather one that offers a new under standing and translation of it. The biblical tradition of Exodus 3-7 does not reject Palestine's polytheistic past, but transforms it by reinterpreting it. Indeed, this reinter pretation is most explicit in the theophanies of Exodus 3 and 6, in which the traditional South Levantine deity yhwh is identified as the name of the truly divine, the means by which the heavenly divine is present ('ehyeh 'immāk ) to those who identify themselves as 'Israelite'. Comparable Old Testament texts, reflecting such an 'inclusive monotheism'—such as Job, Qoheleth, Jonah and many others that are committed to the virtues of philosophy—provide us with an immediate literary context for Exodus. |
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| ISSN: | 1476-6728 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/030908929502006804 |