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Pentateuch Note Final
Pentateuch Note Final
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets;
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till
heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law
until all is accomplished.”Mt 5:17-18
“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who
accuses you, on whom you set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would
believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how
will you believe my words?” Jn 5:45-46
2 The Pentateuch
2.1 The term Pentateuch is originated from the Greek name Penteteuchos
(Πεντετεύχως). But the book was originally written in Hebrew and its
original name was in Hebrew: Torah.
2.2 The Torah The accurate meaning the term Torah is instruction,
direction or teaching. Generally it is rendered into English by the term
“Law” (Mt 5:17; Lk 16:17; Acts 7:53; Cor 9:8.) When the Greek scholars
translated the Hebrew text into Greek. They have have given the title
Pentateuch because the Torah was in five scrolls. Pentateuch =
“Πεντετεύχως” pente (five) and teuchoi (scrolls or volumes) = five Scrolls
or volumes
ii The Book of the Law (Deut 29:21; 30:10; 31:26; Josh 1:8; 8:34; 2 Kgs
22:8, 11; 2 Chr 34:15; Neh 8:3; Gal 3:10).
iii. The book of the Law of YHWH (Neh 9:3; 2 Chr 17:9;34:14).
iv. The book of the law of God (Neh 8:18)
v. The Book of the law of Moses (Josh 8:31;23:6; 2 Kgs 14:6; Neh 8:1).
vi. The Law of Moses (Josh 8:32; 1 Kgs 2:3; 2 Kgs 23:25; Dan 9:11, 13;
Ezra 3:2; 7:6; 2 Chr 23:18; 30:16; Luke 2:2; 24:44; John 7:23;Acts 13:39;
15:5; 28:23; 1 Cor 9:9; Heb 10:28).
vii. Moses (Lk 24:27; Jn 5:46–47)
2.4 The Volumes of the Pentateuch (Torah)
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
2.5 The Hebrew and Greek titles of the books of Torah
Bereshith (In the Beginning)
(Velle) Shemoth (Names)
Wayiqra (And he called)
Bamidbar (In the desert)
(Velle) Debarim (the Words)
According to Hebrew style the first term of the book became the name
of the book. But the Greeks named the books according to the content of the
book.
Greek Names
Gheneseos (Generations)
Exodos (departure or way out)
Leuitikon (book of the Levites)
Arithmoi (numbers)
Deutronomos (Second Law)
2.6. 2 Exodus
a. Moses and the Exodus (Exodus 1-18)
b. Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19-20)
c. The Making of the Covenant (Exodus 21-24)
d. The Building of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-40)
2.6.3 Leviticus
a. Priestly Sacrifice and Priestly Ordination (Leviticus 1-10)
c. The Laws of Purity (Leviticus 11-15)
d. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16)
e. The Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-25)
f. The Covenant Blessings and Curses (Leviticus 26-27)
2.6.4 Numbers:
a. The Twelve Tribes at Mount Sinai (Numbers 1-10)
b. The Journey from Sinai to Kadesh (Numbers 10-12)
c. The Twelve Tribes at Kadesh (Numbers 13-20)
d. The Journey from Kadesh to Moab (Numbers 20-21)
e. On the Plains of Moab (Numbers 22-36)
2.6. 5 Deuteronomy
a. Moses’ Sermon to the Israelites (Deuteronomy 1-4)
b. Recapitulation of the Law of Sinai (Deuteronomy 5-11)
c. The Constitution of the Nation of Israel (Deuteronomy 12-26)
d. The Ratification of the Deuteronomic Covenant (Deuteronomy 27)
e. Moses’ Prophecies of the Future (Deuteronomy 28-30)
f. Moses’ Last Words and Death (Deuteronomy 31-34)
2.7 Who wrote the Pentateuch?
2.7.1 The traditional view: The Mosaic Authorship
1) Evidence from the Torah for Mosaic Authorship
a) The Pentateuch itself gives indications of Moses as its writer: He
was ordered to write historical facts (Ex 17:14; Num 33:1-2), laws (Ex
24:4, 7; 34:27ff; Deut 31:9) and one poem (Deut 31: 22).
2) External Biblical Evidence for Mosaic Authorship
a) Moses is affirmed as the author in the rest of the Old Testament:
(Joshua 1:7-8; 8:32, 34; 22:5; 1Kings 2:3; 2Kings 14:6; 21:8; Ezra
6:18; Dan 9:11-13; Mal 4:4).
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ii. Many of the scholars today affirm that the stories in the Pentateuch likely
differradically from the early material behind the text (i.e., whether earlier
sources or what actually happened).
iii. They believe the Pentateuchal text resulted from a long process of joining
and editing material that wasoften contradictory and had little connection
with Moses.
iv. Most today see the Pentateuch as a unified work void of long redaction or
tradition histories; however, the same scholars tend to treat the text as out-
and-out fiction with little or no historical moorings and having a very late
provenance in the history of Israel.
d) Comedy
To a modern reader, the term “comedy” brings to mind the images of
comictelevision shows. In literature, however, a comedy is a narrative whose plot has
ahappy ending, in some cases through a dramatic reversal. It often aims to
amuse.Typically, the following features play prominent roles in comedies:
disguises,mistaken identity, providential coincidences, surprising turns-of-events,
escapesfrom disaster and the conquest of obstacles. A good example of comedy in
thebook of Genesis is the story of Joseph (Gen. 37 – 50).
e) Farewell Speech
The farewell speech is an address in the first-person voice reportedly given
bysomeone shortly before his or her death. In it, the speaker refers to his or her oldage
or imminent death and exhorts the hearers to live along certain liens in thefuture. The
speakers are usually leaders of such great importance that theirspeeches tend to mark
momentous turning point in Israel’s national life. A goodexample of farewell speech
in Genesis is that of Jacob in Genesis 49; where hepurportedly issued out his future
wishes for his children.
3.2 Ancient Near Eastern Literature Similar to Genesis
The literature of Israel cannot be understood inisolation of the wider ancient
Near Eastern environment. In view of this, we should know that there are literatures
in the ancient Near East that bore somestriking resemblance with the book of Genesis.
Popular among the other texts inancient Near East that resembles Genesis is the
famous Babylonian Genesis. Thisbook is often linked with the Genesis account of
creation. It was written late in the2nd millennium BC to honor Marduk, god of
Babylon.
Another text that furtherbears comparison with Genesis is one Babylonian
poem, the Atrakhasis Epic. Thisbook is concerned with the development of man and
the beginning of society andhints at the order of the world without describing its
creation. It starts with theminor gods working to irrigate the land, then rebelling at
their lot, from which theyare relieved by the creation of man who is to do the work
instead.
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In spite of the similarities of other literature in ancient Near East with Genesis,
it must be emphasized here that there is a world of difference between them. For
example in the Genesis the view of history is linear. That is history is something that
is moving towards a purposeful goal. And Yahweh is actively involved in the creation
and sustenance of the universe. However, in the ancient Near Eastern literature, the
view of history is cyclical and mythical in character
3.3 Genesis 1-11: Myth or Historical Reality
Some scholars because of the nature of stories in Genesis 1 – 11 have come to
theconclusion that those sections should not be regarded as historical. This is
becausethey said that their historicity have not been validated by archaeology or
science. For example, where is the location of the Garden of Eden? Was Adam a
black orwhite man? Or where is the relic of the tower of Babel? What further
establishesthe unhistorical nature of the materials in Genesis 1 – 11 is that they said
parallels to the text are known in the mythological literature of the ancient Near
East.Which ever way viewed the historical value of Genesis 1 – 11 cannot be out
rightly dismissed. The stories recorded in the section of the book in one way or the
other reflected historical memories of the early stage of human development. Since
those stories first circulated orally, they must have been overstated andexpanded.
Nevertheless, at the time they were converted to writing, the still maintain elements of
history. Besides, in the other parts of the Bible, the inspired writers as historical
unquestionablyinterpret the materials in thesechapters.
3.4 The Literary Structure of the book of Genesis.
The book of Genesis describes its own structure by means of TOLEDOT
(Generations).
1 TOLEDOT of the heaven and earth 2, 4 which follows the description of their
creation in 1,1-2,3. Beginning of heaven and earth (preparation for humanity)
2 TOLEDOT of the Adam (5,1) Humanity
3 TOLEDOT of Noah (6,9) Destruction and new Creation
4 TOLEDOT of the sons of Noah (10,1) Dispersion of humanity
5 TOLEDOT of Shem 11,10 Main line Established
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d. Jesus: “You are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7)
9. God made Man the summit of creation: he alone in God’s “image and likeness”
(343)
10. God ordained solidarity among all creatures: all are ordered to God (344)
11. Creation climaxes in the Sabbath (the ‘seventh’ day) (345)
a. Creation has ‘laws’ of nature built into it
b. Creation was made “with a view to the Sabbath”
c. “Worship is inscribed into the order of creation”
12. The eighth day: begins “the new creation” (349)
a. Old Creation New Creation
b. Order of Creation Order of Redemption
c. New Creation “surpasses” that of the first creation.
3.6.2 Pope Pius XIIon Evolution and Genesis 1-11Encyclical, Humani
Generis (1950)
Caution with regard to the Positive Sciences
35 It remains for us now to speak about those questions which, although they pertain
tothe positive sciences, are nevertheless more or less connected with the truths of
theChristian faith. In fact, not a few now insistently demand that the Catholic religion
takethese sciences into account as much as possible. This certainly would be
praiseworthy inthe case of clearly proved facts; but caution must be used when there is
rather a questionof hypotheses, having some sort of scientific foundation, in which the
doctrine containedin Sacred Scripture or Tradition is involved. If such conjectural
opinions are directly orindirectly opposed to the doctrine revealed by God, then the
demand that they berecognized can in no way be admitted.
Discussion of Evolution Permitted with Provisos
36 For these reasons the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that,
inconformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research
anddiscussions, on the part of people experienced in both fields, take place with regard to
thedoctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as
comingfrom pre-existent and living matter—for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that
soulsare immediately created by God. However, this must be done in such a way that
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thereasons for both opinions, that is, those favorable and those unfavorable to evolution,
beweighed and judged with the necessary seriousness, moderation, and measure;
andprovided that all are prepared to submit to the judgment of the Church, to whom
Christhas given the mission of interpreting authentically the Sacred Scriptures and of
defendingthe dogmas of the faithful. Some however rashly transgress this liberty of
discussion,when they act as if the origin of the human body from pre-existing and living
matter werealready completely certain and proved by the fact which have been
discovered up to nowand by reasoning on those facts, and as if there were nothing in the
sources of divinerevelation which demands the greatest moderation and caution in this
question.
Polygenism Forbidden
37 When, however, there is question of another conjectural opinion, namely
polygenism,the children of the Church by no means enjoy such liberty. For the faithful
cannotembrace that opinion which maintains that either after Adam there existed on this
earthtrue men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from
thefirst parent of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents. Now it is
noway apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled with that which the sources
ofrevealed truth and the documents of the Magisterium of the Church propose with
regardto original sin, which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual
Adam andwhich, through generation, is passed on to all and is in everyone as his own.
Errors Regarding the Historicity of Genesis 1-11
38 Just as in the biological and anthropological sciences, so also in the historical
sciencesthere are those who boldly transgress the limits and safeguards established by the
Church.
In a particular way must be deplored a certain too free interpretation of the
historicalbooks of the Old Testament. Those who favor this system, in order to defend
their cause,wrongly refer to the Letter, which was sent not long ago to the Archbishop of
Paris by thePontifical Commission on Biblical Studies.This letter, in fact, clearly points
out thatthe first eleven chapters of Genesis, although properly speaking not conforming
to thehistorical method used by the best Greek and Latin writers or by competent authors
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ofour time, do nevertheless pertain to history in a true sense, which however must
befurther studied and determined by exegetes; the same chapters, (the Letter points out),
insimple and metaphorical language adapted to the mentality of a people but little
cultured,both state the principal truths which are fundamental for our salvation, and also
give apopular description of the origin of the human race and the chosen people. If,
however,the ancient sacred writers have taken anything from popular narrations (and
this may beconceded), it must never be forgotten that they did so with the help of divine
inspiration,through which they were rendered immune from any error in selecting and
evaluatingthose documents.
Scripture not on par with “Myths”
39 Therefore, whatever of the popular narrations have been inserted into the Sacred
Scriptures must in no way be considered on a par with myths or other such things,
whichare more the product of an extravagant imagination than of that striving for truth
andsimplicity which in the Sacred Books, also of the Old Testament, is so apparent that
ourancient sacred writers must be admitted to be clearly superior to the ancient
profanewriters.
Encyclical Letter On Some False Teachings WhichThreaten To Undermine Catholic
Doctrine,Humani Generis (1950),Pope Pius XII,
3.6.3 Pope John Paul IIThe Scientific Theory of Evolution, “More Than
a Hypothesis” (1996).
Taking into account the state of scientific research at the time as well as of
therequirements of theology, the encyclical Humani Generis considered the doctrine of
“evolutionism” a serious hypothesis, worthy of investigation and in-depth study equal
tothat of the opposing hypotheses. Pius XII added two methodological conditions: that
hitsopinion should not be adopted as though it were certain, proven doctrine and as
thoughone could totally prescient from revelation with regard to the questions it raises.
He alsospelled out the condition on which this opinion would be compatible to the
Christianfaith, a point to which I will return. Today, nearly half a century after the
publication ofthe encyclical, new knowledge leads to the recognition of the theory of
evolution as morethan a hypothesis. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been
progressivelyaccepted by researchers following a series of discoveries in various fields of
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knowledge.
The convergence, neither sought nor provoked, of the results of work that was
conductedindependently is in itself a significant argument in favor of this theory.
3.6.4 Pope Benedict XVI“The Theory Evolution is Not a Complete,
Scientifically Verified Theory” (2007)
In particular, to me it is important, first of all, that to a great extent the theory
ofevolution cannot be proved experimentally, quite simply because we cannot bring
10,000generations into the laboratory. That means that there are considerable gaps in
itsexperimental verifiability and falsifiability due to the enormous span of time to which
thetheory has reference. A second thing that was important to me was your statement
thatthe probability is not zero, but not one, either. And so the question arises: How high is
theprobability now? This is especially important if we want to interpret correctly the
remarkmade by Pope John Paul II: “The theory of evolution is more than a hypothesis.”
Whenthe Pope said that, he had his reasons. But at the same time it is true that the theory
ofevolution is still not a complete, scientifically verified theory.
3.7 Theology of Creation
(1) The entire universe owes its existence to God as creator and Lord. (2) Each
and every part of creation is good in the eyes of God. (3) God established a hierarchy
among created things, as seen in the ascending movement of the account, from inanimate
things to animate creatures to the human race as the crown of the material world. (4)
Creation shows forth the power of God, who speaks the universe into existence, the
wisdom of God, who arranges all things into a symphony of natural beauty and harmony,
and the goodness of God, who bestows life and blessing gratuitously. (5) The creation
story exhibits an apologetic interest in countering the mythological world views of the
ancient Near East. According to the pagan myths, a pantheon of deities existed in the
beginning; the gods were embodied in nature and had humanlike needs and
imperfections; the world was born out of a struggle between the gods; and man was
created only to be exploited by the gods. In contrast, Genesis teaches that only one God
exists, that he stands, outside of time, that he is altogether distinct from the natural world,
and that he blessed mankind, making man the bearer of his image. In addition to these
considerations, the seven-day structure of the account is best viewed as a literary device
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for communicating the following points. (6) Six days of work followed by one day of rest
underscores the obligation of man to lay aside his labor and honor the Creator every
seventh day(Ex 20:8-11). (7) The founding of the world in seven days parallels the
building of the Tabernacle according to seven commands (Ex 40:16-33) and the
dedication of the Temple in seven days (1 kings 8:65) after seven years of
construction (1 kings 6:38). Also, the description of God resting on the seventh day (2:2-
3) has links with ancient concepts of a temple, which is considered a place of divine rest
(2Chron 6:41; Ps 132:14; Sir 24:11 ; Is 66:1) . The creation week in Genesis thus
reflects the belief that the world is a cosmic sanctuary. (8) Seven days of divine speech
hint that God established a covenant with creation. Not only does the Hebrew for
“seven” share a common root with the verb for “swearing a covenant oath” (see 21:27-
32), but in later Jewish tradition, God is said to have founded the world through his oath
(1 Enoch 69, 15-27).
The definite article "the" is not present in the Hebrew text, nor is it
present in the LXX. The Hebrew word is [be re'siyth], pronounced which
means "in beginning" or "in first." The Hebrew prefix "b" [be] can be
translated as "in," "for," "through," or "with;" while the Hebrew word
"re'shiyt," from the Hebrew root rosh [as in Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish feast
which means "head (start) of the year"], is defined as "the first in place, time,
order or rank.
Re'shiyt was also the title of the firstborn son in a Hebrew family.
The "firstborn was the "first fruits" of the womb. A "firstborn" son was
"first" in the sense of birth order, but he was also "first" in the sense of
power and rank because as the designated heir he carried the power and
authority of the father of the family. As the re'shiyt, the designated heir, he
was destined to receive a double measure of the father's material and
spiritual blessings (Gen 27:27-37).
Before the creation was there anything?
God, when started to created so God was there.
Spirit. Word.
As the only begotten "firstborn" Son of God the Father, Jesus merited
the Father's power and authority (Jn 1:14; Mt 28:18; Jn 17:2).
What is Jesus' connection to Creation "in [the] beginning?"
St. Peter professed Jesus' selection as the means for man's salvation
before the Creation event when he wrote: He was marked out [chosen]
before the world was made... (1 Pt 1:20).
Can you think of other New Testament verses that point to the pre-
existence of Jesus Christ before the beginning of Creation and other verses
that identify Jesus as the "first in power and rank," the first fruits, the
"re'shiyt" of all Creation?
Two significant passages are Colossians 1:15-20 and the prologue of
St. John's Gospel (Jn 1:1-18). These passages address the pre-existence of
Christ and His pre-eminence in the Creation event.
In Colossians, St. Paul presents Jesus as the active power behind
creation through which all things came into existence. In St. John's Gospel,
Jesus is the Word of God spoken to bring the universe into existence.
The connection to the opening words of the Creation prologue in
Genesis are found in Paul's choice of words identified in the bold type in the
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passage above: note that the Hebrew word "be" means: "through, for, with,
or in"; and "re'shiyt" means "first-born" or "first fruits" as "first in rank" and
"beginning."
St. John spoke of Jesus' pre-existence in John 1:1-2: In (the*)
beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning. St. John also spoke of Jesus' pre-
existence in verse 15: John witnesses to him. He proclaims: 'This is the one
of whom I said: He who comes after me has passed ahead of me because he
existed before me (repeated in John 1:30). St. John identified Jesus as the
force behind Creation in John 1:3-5: Through him all things came into being,
not one thing came into being except through him. What has come into
being in him was life, life that was the light of men; and light shines in
darkness, and darkness could not overpower it. [..]. He was in the world that
had come into being through him... In this passage St. John repeats the
themes of Genesis 1:1-5. (The*) indicates that this word is not in the Greek
text.
There are other passages that can be cited which point to the pre-
existence of Jesus including Hebrews 1:2-3; 11:3; John 1:15, 30; 8:58; and
17:5; 1 John 1:1.
The New Testament, therefore, reveals that God authored Creation
through the creative force of the eternal Word, God the Son (Jn 1:1-3),
through whom all creation flowed: ...for in Him were created all things in
heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, ..[...] all
things were created through him and for him. He exists before all things and
in him all things hold together. See CCC# 291.(2)
In the first sentence of the Prologue of the Gospel of St. John, the
Greek text begins with the same words that in Hebrew begin the Prologue of
Genesis 1:1: "In (the) beginning." Like the Hebrew text in Genesis, the first
words of St. John's Prologue begin without the definite article "the:" in
Greek, en arche, "In beginning"'the same Greek words that begin the
Genesis Prologue in the Greek, also without the article "the." In the 3rd
century AD, Origen of Alexandria, revered head of the Christian school of
theology in Alexandria, Egypt, wrote: What is the beginning of all things
except our Lord and "Savior of all," Jesus Christ "the firstborn of every
creature?"
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In this beginning, therefore, that is, in his Word, "God made heaven
and earth" as the evangelist John also says in the beginning of his Gospel
(Origen: Homilies on Genesis, 1:1). Origen is using the word "firstborn" in
the sense of "first in rank." He is not saying that Jesus was the first creature
that was created, a heresy embraced by some who misinterpret what St. Paul
wrote in Colossians 1:15.
The Gospel of St. John identifies Jesus in verse 1 as "The Word."
Question: What other word does the Gospel of St. John associate with Jesus
in addition to Jesus the "Word" and the "Life?" Please see verses 4-5 and 9.
Answer: Jesus is the "Light."
Jesus will identify Himself as "the Light" on the Feast of Tabernacles
during the last year of His ministry: Jesus spoke to the people again, he said:
I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in
the dark but will have the light of life (Jn 8:12).
Creation is the foundation of God's plan of salvation. It is the
beginning of salvation history that will reach its fulfillment in the saving
work of Jesus Christ (see CCC# 280). Keeping in mind Jesus' role in the
Creation event, please re-read
The Fathers of the Church (the disciples of the Apostles and their
disciples in the first 3-4 centuries of the Church) taught that although the
mystery of the Trinity was hidden from us in the Old Testament, the promise
of that mystery was revealed in Scripture from the very first account of
Creation.
Recalling St. John, St. Paul, and St. Peter's revelation of the pre-existence of
Christ and His role in Creation, can you see the hidden promise of the
Trinity in the first three verses of Genesis?
Please identify the key words in the passage (see Jn 1:1-5; Col 1:15-
17; and 1 Pt 1:20).Answer: In the beginning God [Elohim] created heaven
and earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the
deep, with a divine wind [ruah] sweeping [more literally =hovering] over the
waters. God [Elohim] said, 'Let there be light, and there was light.'
God in the plural (Elohim): God the Father
Spirit of God (ruah): God the Holy Spirit
God said: the creative force of God's spoken word; the Word of God = God
the Son.
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God's Word is the "Light" = Christ according to John 1:3-5 and 9: [verses 3-
5]...in Him was life, life that was the light of men; and light shines in the
darkness, and darkness could not overpower it. Verse 9: The Word was the
real light that gives light to everyone...
The Church teaches that the Creation event was the unified work of
the Most Holy Trinity: The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant
reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, inseparably one with
that of the Father. This creative cooperation is clearly affirmed in the
Church's rule of faith: "There exists but one God... he is the Father, God, the
Creator, the author, the giver of order. He made all things by himself, this
is, by his Word and by his Wisdom," "by the Son and the Spirit" who, so to
speak, are "his hands." Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity
(CCC# 292).
Genesis 1:3 reveals that God's Spirit was sweeping over the waters.
In commenting on this passage in Genesis, St. Ephrem (303-363/73) wrote:
It was appropriate to reveal here that the Spirit swept in order for us to learn
that the work of creation was held in common by the Spirit with the Father
and the Son. The Father spoke. The Son created. And so it was also right
that the Spirit offered its work, clearly shown through its hovering, in order
to demonstrate its unity with the other persons. Thus we learn that all was
brought to perfection and accomplished by the Trinity (Ephrem,
Commentary on Genesis I).
Jewish Bible scholars, both ancient and modern, have seen a
connection between the limited use of this Hebrew word in the birth of
Creation as we know it and in the birth of the nation of Israel. In
Deuteronomy 32:11 the verb rahap is used to express Yahweh's divine
activity in leading the newly created nation of Israel, separated out from the
chaos of the pagan world, through "the howling expanses of the wastelands"
(Dt 32:10) on way to Canaan.
Bera(created) this verb always has God as the subject. Used to indicate
making something from nothing. 2Macc 7,28. Heaven and Earth The word
heaven and earth are very common in the bible. Only once there is the term
for the universe Jer: 10, 16. 51,19. The term heavens and earth stands for the
totality of the creation, which includes all that seen and unseen material and
spiritual (Neh 9,6) Col 1,16).
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Hebrew people began and ended each day at sunset, in ancient times and a
practice Jews continue to observe today.
3.9 The Unique Creation of Man as Opposed to the Other Creatures
In the creation of man in Genesis 1:26-30, the announcement “God said” is not
followed by the impersonal (third person) command “Let the/there be” as with the
creation of the other creatures. The announcement “God said” is instead followed by the
intimate (first person) command: “Let us make” (Gen 1:26). The creation of other beings
on the previous days was defined as being created “according to its own species.” But in
the creation of man and woman, they are described as being made “according to the
image and likeness of God,” repeated twice in Genesis 1:27.The gender of God’s animal
creation is not mentioned, but in the creation of humans their gender is identified: male
and female he created them (Gen 12:27c). As male and female, created in the image and
likeness of God, man and woman are equal partners.As equal partners, man and woman
are given dominion over the land and all its creatures (Gen 1: 28-30). Created in God’s
image, they are God’s representative—the stewards of God’s created world.
3.9.1 Dignity of Adam (Human)
Created in Image and likeness (Tselem and demut).The term Tselem denotes the
Physical “representation” of something. (Ezek 23,14) and the second term (demut) refers
to a “Pattern”. (2king 16,10) or visible “resemblance” of Something. The Same word is
used in Gen. 5,3 where Adam get a son, the father produces a son in his image and
likeness. Adam is the son of God. (Lk 3,38. The divine Image includes Man’s Rational
intelligence, his dignity as a person, his moral awareness and his unique capacity for a
personal relationship with God. (CCC 343, 355-358).
God placed Adam in the Garden to till and to keep the literal meaning of the
Hebrew words are to Serve and to Guard (Oved and Shomer). The same two words
together again find in Numbers 3,7-8 where these two verbs together describe what the
priests do in the worship place. Adam has a priestly role in original Temple.Gen 1,26 and
28 gives to Adam “dominion” overall Creatures on earth. This is the kingly role. Adam
was the king of all the Living Creatures.
Gen 2,18 -20 God Gives Adam the Job of Naming the Animals. Only the creator
of something could give the name. It is God could give the names. But Adam is deputed
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God work he gives the name to the animal and Eve. Thus Adam speaks on behalf of
God. This indicates the prophetic function of Adam.
Adam is the Bridegroom who made a covenant with Eve. The wording “Bone of
my bone and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman” is a marital covenant.
3.9.2 First and Second Adam
In Romans 5:14b-19 St. Paul contrasted Adam and Messiah as “alike” but “unalike,”
identifying Jesus as a “second” Adam and Adam as a “type” of the promised Redeemer
who was to come: He [Adam] prefigured the One who was to come
Adam and Messiah ALIKEAdamand Messiah UNALIKE
Both Adam and Christ had an affect Sin and death came from Adam while
upon the whole human race. Both righteousness and life came from
endured the temptation of Satan Christ.
Adam failed and Christ was victorious.
Through both Adam and Christ
humanity received an “inheritance.” Through Adam’s failure humanity
inherited death, original sin and
personal sin became a plague on
mankind. Through Christ’s victory
humanity inherited adoption into God
Both were human men. family and the promise of eternal life.
Both the acts of Adam and Jesus Messiah was both human and divine.
invoked a divine verdict. Satan stood behind the act of Adam
while the grace of God stood behind
Messiah; the verdict behind Adam’s act
was judgment while the verdict behind
Both Adam and Jesus exercised their Jesus’ was acquittal.
free will. Adam willingly fell from grace and
Jesus willingly laid down His life in
Both were born into the world as sacrifice for all mankind.
sinless and immortal beings. Adam lost his immortality when he fell
from grace while Jesus remained pure
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sinned: As the father of the human family, Adam turned away from God on our behalf.
His rebellion was thus a representative act that not only injured himself, but dragged the
entire family of man into suffering and separation from God (CCC 402-5). The council of
Trend appealed to Rom 5:12 when it defined the doctrine of Original Sin in 1546 (Sess.
5). The doctrine holds that all descendants of Adam are born into the world in a state of
spiritual death and in desperate need of salvation. The condition spreads, not by
imitation (making the same mistake as Adam), but by propagation (by virtue of our
genealogical link with Adam.
Rom 7:23 the law of sin: Traditionally called concupiscence, which is the inclination of
fallen man to misuse his free will in sinful and selfish ways. It manifests itself as an
unremitting desire for pleasure, power, and possessions. Even the baptized have to
wrestle with this inner force, although Paul insists that the spirit can give us victory over
its unmanageable urges (8:2, 13). So concupiscence remains in the believer, but it need
not rule us like a tyrant (6:12-14) (CCC 405, 1426, 2520).
The serpent: A personal agent of evil that Scripture later identifies as Satan (Rev 12:9).
The serpent has been commonly considered (1) a mythopoeic image that represents the
devil (or at least the diabolical) in a literary way, (2) the visible from assumed by the
devil in the garden, or (3) a real serpent whose body is possessed and manipulated by the
devil, much as demons are capable of speaking through bodily creatures and controlling
their actions (cf. Mk 5:1-13). Whatever the case, Satan was driven by envy to rob man
(Wis 2:24; CCC 391, 2539). Jesus thus refers to him as “a murderer from the beginning”
(Jn 8:44).
The Hebrew Word that the Hebrew termNAHASH often refers to a snake (49:17),
but in poetic and apocalyptic texts it can refer to a draconic sea serpent that represents
opposition to the Lord (Job 26:1 Is 27:1; Amos 9:3). In the ancient Near East, serpents
were symbolic of divinity and fertility as well as the threat of cosmic chaos.Cunning:
Satan uses half-truths to seduce and mislead: he claims that the couple will not die (3:4)
that their eyes will be opened (3:5) and that they will become like God (3:5). These
assurances all seem to come true at one level, since after eating the forbidden fruit, Adam
and Eve continue to live for many years (5:5), their eyes are opened (3:7), and they in
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some sense become like God(3:22). However, in the light of God’s intentions, these
promised gains turn out to be painful losses (CCC392, 2847).
Not eat of any tree….?: The question insinuates that God is an obstacle to human
fulfillment. In particular, it raises doubts about the Lord’s generosity and goodwill, as
though Adam and Eve were deprived of much more than God provided them. This is a
complete distortion of the divine allowance in 2:16 (CCC 215).
3:6 her husband: These words are followed in the Hebrew text by the phrase “with her”,
indicating that Adam was present when Eve committed the sin. and he ate: Unlike Eve,
who was deceived by the serpent after engaging him in dialogue (3:13; 1 Tim 2:14),
Adam bows without resistance to the wishes of his wife (3:17) and asserts himself
against the commandment given to him by the Lord (2:17). Tradition holds that Adam,
having surrendered his trust in God, committed a sin of pride in wanting to be “like God,
knowing good and evil” (3:5). His desire was not to discern the difference between good
and evil, but to determine what was good and evil for himself, independently of God (cf.
John Paul II, Dominum et Vivificantem 36) (CCC 397-98). In the theology of Paul, Christ
is the counter image of Adam. Just as Adam , by his transgression, made us sinners
subject to death, so Christ, by his obedience, secured the grace that makes us heirs of
eternal life (Rom 5: 12-21; Cor 15:20-22). Christ conquered the devil with the same
weapons the devil used against us: a virgin, a tree, and death. These tokens of our demise
have now become the tokens of our victory. Instead of Eve, there is Mary; instead of
Adam’s death, there is the death of Christ (St. John Chrysostom, On the Cemetery and
the Cross).
3:15 I will put enmity: A crucial verse in Genesis, which some think is an etiology that
explains the origin of man’s instinctive fear of snakes. More likely, the proverbial
antagonism between men and snakes was evoked for the purpose of symbolizing man’s
ongoing struggle against sin and evil, which is personified by the serpent (cf. 4:7; Sir
21:2). In any case, neither interpretation captures the full meaning of the text, which
foretells the eventual triumph of the woman and her offspring over Satan after a
protracted period of hostility. Your seed: The devil’s accomplices in doing evil,
including wicked men, who constitute his spiritual offspring (8:44). In Genesis, Cain and
his line of godless descendants are the first to fulfill this role(4:8, 17-24; 1 Jn 3:12). her
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seed: The righteous of the woman, initially linked with Abel(4:4) the godly line of Seth
(4:26; 5:6-32). He shall: The Hebrew could be read individually (“he shall”) or
collectively (“they shall”). The earliest known Jewish interpretation of this text takes the
offspring of the woman to be an individual man (Gk. Autos, “he" in the Greek LXX).
“Crush"( as in Job 9:17). Victory over the satanic deceiver is assured: the serpent will
sustain a fatal head injury, while the woman’s offspring will suffer only a biting on the
heel. At least one Jewish tradition(Palestinian Targum) connects this triumph with the
coming of a messianic king. Christian tradition gives this text a messianic interpretation
(Christ is the individual who tramples the devil underfoot: Heb 2:14; Jn 3:8; St.Irenaeus
Against Heresies 3, 23, 7), an ecclesiological interpretation (the church is the offspring
that shares in his victory: Rom 16:20; Rev 12:17), and a mariologicalinterpretation(Mary
is the promised woman who bears the Redeemer: Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 55). This
passage has long been called the “first gospel” (Lat. Protoevangelium) and stands out as
the first revelation of God’s mercy in Scripture (CCC 410-11).
3:16-19 Suffering is imposed as the temporal consequence of sin. Eve and her
descendants will suffer as wives (spousal domination) and mothers (painful childbirth).
Adam and his descendants will suffer as family providers (toilsome labor for food) (CCC
1609).
Nine hundred and thirty years: Adam’s age falls within the range of 777 (Lamech,
5:31) to 969 years (Methuselah, 5:27) that characterizes the era before the flood. There is
as yet no positive solution to the mystery of these enormous life-spans. Modern
anthropology holds that the human species (called homo sapiens) is around 40,000 years
old, that pre historic man lived a fairly short life, and that human longevity slowly
increased rather than decreased over the millennia. The Bible, however, as well as ancient
Near Eastern writings (e.g., Sumerian King List) concur in giving the ancients an
immensely long life, especially before the flood. Various approaches have been taken to
explain this phenomenon in Genesis. (1) Some take the ages at face value and maintain
the literal truth of the genealogies; however, this results in putting Adam less than 2000
years before Abraham and makes the human race only about 6000 years old. (2) Others
have proposed converting the “years” into “months”, but this creates a situation in which
some of the figures are children at the time they are said to bear children of their own.
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(3) Still others take the names of the Patriarchs to refer to “clans” rather than individuals,
yet this fails to explain why some of the names clearly concern individuals, such as
Adam, Cain, Enoch and Noah. (4) Perhaps the best hypothesis, and one that would help
to explain both the biblical and Near Eastern data, is that giving primeval figures
extremely long lives was a way of conceptualizing the great antiquity of mankind. In
other words, this may be simply a literary technique used to assert the remarkable age of
the human race itself.
3.10 the Patriarchal Narrations (12, 1 – 50, 26).
These are often classified as folk tales, legends, or epic sagas; some even consider
them the free creation of a later age. However, the stories of the Patriarchs are best
regarded as genuine family history. Not only do the main characters and events have a
solid claim to historicity, but a number of supporting details have been verified by
modern research as well.
Several considerations favor the authenticity of Genesis 12-50 and make it
unlikely that these chapters were either fabricated by later storytellers or substantially
altered with non-historical elements in the course of a lengthy oral transmission. (1) The
Patriarchal stories are sober and restrained in dealing with the miraculous. Attention is
given to God and his actions, but not in ways that suppress the authentically human
dimensions of the narrative. (2) The accounts give every impression of being objective.
No obvious effort is made to idealize the patriarchs by hiding their weaknesses or
excusing their failures. Despite being the founding fathers of God’s holy people, they are
sometimes portrayed in an unflattering light: e.g., Abraham and Isaac are less than
truthful (20:2, 13; 26:7); Jacob and Rebekah are deceptive (27:5-29); Judah fathers two
sons by a prostitute (38:12-30); and most of Jacob’s sons- ancestors of the tribes of Israel
– struggled with jealousy and hatred (37:4,11). (3) The Patriarchs live at variance with
the standards of the Torah later erected for Israel: e.g., Abraham married his paternal
half-sister (20:10, contrary to Lev 18:11); Jacob married two sisters at the same time
(29:21-30, contrary to Lev 28:18; 35:14, contrary to Deut 16:22); and both Judah and
Simeon married Canaanite women (38:2;46:10; Ex 6:15, contrary Deut 7:1-3). Stories of
religious heroes would not likely be told in this way unless they were believed to rest on
historical facts. (4) the Patriarchs always appear as outsiders and sojourns in the land of
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Canaan. This would probably not be the case if their stories were later inventions; more
likely, national propagandists would have made them natives of Canaan, thus giving
Israel an ancestral claim to the Promised Land and not simply a theological claimbased
on an ancient covenant with Yahweh (17:7-8). (5) The Patriarchs fit comfortably within
the cultural, social and religious environment of the Middle Bronze Age (2000- 1500
B.C.). Archeological finds, though not yet attesting the existence of the Patriarchs as
individuals, confirm the general manner of life depicted in Genesis as well as specific
features related to adoption, surrogate motherhood, restitution and even the price of
slaves.
3.10.1 the Story of Abraham(12:1 – 25:11)
Abraham the great grandfather of Israel stands tall in biblical history as a pillar of
faith, righteousness and obedience (Heb 11:8-19). But more than just a model of heroic
trust in God, Abraham is presented in Genesis as a divinely chosen mediator of
worldwide blessings (12:3; 18:17-18; 22:17-18). This promise is reaffirmed with Isaac in
26:3-5 and Jacob in 28:13-14 (CCC 144-47).
3.10.2 The Abrahamic Covenant
The story of Abraham begins with the voice of God calling him to a new land
(Gen 12:1) and promising him extraordinary blessings for the future (Gen 12:2-3). The
divine promise was threefold: (1) to make Abraham a great nation, (2)to make his name
great and (3) to make him an instrument of blessing for the entire world. The first
promise is closely connected with the gift of land, which is necessary foundation for
building a nation. The second is closely connected with dynastic kingship, which
involves the exaltation and propagation of a royal name. The third is a promise of
worldwide blessing mediated through his offspring.
Within Genesis, these three promises are eventually upgraded to the status of
divine covenants. The first promise becomes a covenant in Gen 15: 7-21, where God
swears to rescue the family of Abraham from the oppression of a wicked nation and to
give them a new homeland. The second promise becomes a covenant in Gen 17:1-21,
where God institutes the rite of circumcision and swears to raise up a dynasty of kings out
of Abraham’s line. The third promise becomes a covenant oath in Gen 22: 16-18, where
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the Lord swears to multiply the offspring of Abraham and to use them in blessing all
nations.
Beyond Genesis, the promises and corresponding covenants reach their
fulfillment in three historical stages. The first promise takes shape during the Exodus
with the ratification of the mosaic covenant, which forges the family of Israel into a
nation (Ex 19-24)as they prepare to take possession of the Promised Land (in
Deuteronomy). The second promise materializes at the founding of the Davidic
Covenant, where the Lord installs David as king, swearing to give him a great name (2
Sam 7:9) and an everlasting throne (Ps 89:3-4; 132: 11-12). The third promise comes to
realization in the New Covenant as universal blessings are poured out on the world by
Jesus Christ, the messianic descendant of Abraham (Mt 1:1; Acts 3:25-26; Gal 3:14).
Promises Covenants Fulfillments
1. Great Nation Genesis 15 Mosaic Covenant
2. Great Name Genesis 17 Davidic Covenant
3. Worldwide Blessing Genesis 22 New Covenant
3.10.3 Abraham: Model of Faith and the Elected Mediator
“The Lord said to Abram: ‘Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your
father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will
bless you; I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those
who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth will find
blessing in you.’ Abram went as the Lord directed him…” (12:1-4)
These words mark a turning point. The steady spread of course, of the power of
death, by human beings who betray their call to imagehood, is about to be reversed. The
spread of blessings will be gradual process; it will call for a long period of education, but
it begins with the call of one person.
“ Go forth! Right here and now, in the present; let go of your past, your land your
family (the two realities which, then as now, make life both possible and meaningful) and
set out into a new future, a future that I will give you. I will be present to you, and you
will have a new land and a new family, but these, will flow from your relationship to me.
The power of life, of blessings, will be manifested through you and your family.”
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Abraham went as the Lord directed; he responded with obedient faith. God’s
original purpose for humans (be life giving, have dominion over the earth [Hebrew eres]
is focused now in a special way on this individual (you will beget a great family in the
land, I give you). But the horizon is indeeduniversal: “all the communities of the earth
will find blessings in you”.
Because he trusted himself into the darkness of God’s future, Abraham has been
considered the model of faith. But his faith was not a static, once-for-all response. It had
to be reaffirmed and deepened at later times in his life. No sooner do he and his family
arrive in the land, when famine drives them out into Egypt; then Sarah, his wife, is
threatened by Pharaoh. Abraham does not trust the promise but takes things into his own
hands (12: 10-20). The child of the promise is delayed; repeatedly Abraham tries to do
things his way: by adopting Eliezer (15: 1-6); by having a son, Ishmael through Hagar,
Sarah’s servant (16-17). Finally, when Isaac, the son of the promise arrives, Abraham
faces his greatest crisis: sacrifice your son (22: 1-19). The hope of God’s future, the
promise of life, would seem to end in death. In his struggle and anguish, Abraham affirms
his faith , and God reaffirms the promise(22:17-18) in words which echo and repeat the
words of 12: 1-3, 15:5, 17: 5-8.
In all of this, Abraham, the great model of faith, emerges as a curious mixture of
faith and doubt, of certainty and confusion. Is this consistent?. In the Bible, faith is not
viewed in the sterile and rationalistic sense of “the assent of the mind to certain truths or
propositions about God.” It is not the mind that believes; it is rather the person. Faith, in
the Bible, is a loving, trusting commitment of the whole self to God, a holding on
securely to God in spite of everything. At times we are confused; we struggle and doubt.
This is not opposed to faith; it is part of faith, the part that says that we care enough about
our relationship to God to question and argue (15: 2-3) and even at times to laugh(17:17).
3.10.4 Isaac
The long awaited son of the promise proves to be a fairly colorless character in
the story. Isaac, appearing as either Abraham’s son or Jacob’s father is primarily a
transition figure. He is obedient and meek.
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right. He must make efforts of reconciliation with each of them. Laban pursues Jacob
after his flight and presents his complaint (31:22-32:3). Jacob acknowledges his
dependence on God (31:42) and, at Laban’s initiative, agrees to conclude a covenant
(31:44). While the terms of their mutual oaths point to possible problems in the future,
the purpose of a covenant is peace, and the two do share in a covenant meal that
expresses this (31:54).
Esau is another matter (32: 4-22, 33: 1-20). Jacob sends messengers ahead to
plead for favor. When these bring back an ambiguous response, he again acknowledges
his dependence on God and his unworthiness (32:10-13) and sends more gifts ahead.
When at last the brothers meet, they have a tearful reunion (33:3-4). As they part to
continue their journey, Jacob begins to hedge again, and instead of joining Esau in Seir,
he heads for Shechem. Reconciliation there may be, but it is far from perfect.
In summary, God’s presence and blessing go with Jacob as gracious gift to which
he can lay no claim whatsoever. But this presence does not take away Jacob’s own
responsibility. He alienated Esau and Laban; it is his task to seek some kind of
reconciliation with both. In this context, Jacob recognizes and confess his own
dependence on God. And, interestingly enough, it is only after he has sought a peaceful
conclusion to his other struggle that Jacob has his final struggle, with God, and become ”
Israel” in the process.
3.10.6 Joseph: Faith and Reconciliation
Just as Isaac grew old and had trouble with his children, so Jacob undergoes a
similar fate. Because of the favoritism he shows to Joseph, his second-youngest son, there
is conflict and jealousy among the brothers (37:1-20). As a result, they plan first to kill
him but then revise this in favor of selling him into slavery. Sold to some travelling
traders, Joseph goes down into Egypt (37:2-36) where his fortune continues their descent.
Placed in charge of a large household, Joseph resists the advances of his owner,
Potiphar’s, wife. Thanks to her lying testimony, hegoes down into prison.
After two years in these depths, Joseph finally begins to rise. Pharaoh has had a
disturbing dream, and Joseph’s skills at interpretation are recalled. He comes up before
pharaoh. In view of the dream’s message regarding a coming famine, Pharaoh appoints
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Joseph to be in charge of all Egypt. Now enjoying full power, Joseph stands at the heights
(41:1-57).
When the famine strikes, all people from round about come to Egypt where,
thanks to Joseph’s wise administration, food can be found in abundance. Among those
coming down are Joseph’s brothers. He recognizes them, tests them and tricks them into
bringing Benjamin, the youngest son and his own full brother, to Egypt also. When at last
he makes himself known to them, his surprised and fearful brothers, he assures them of
his good will. Their father, Jacob, and all the rest of their families join them: They settle
and proper in Egypt.
Throughout the story, Joseph consistently recognizes and admits his dependence
on God. “How could I commit so great a wrong and thus stand condemned before God?”
(39:9) he says, spurning Potiphar’s wife. When pharaoh asks him to interpret his dream,
Joseph counters, “It is not I, but God who will give Pharaoh the right answer” (41:51-52).
When his brothers fear him, he assures them, “I am a God-fearing man” (42:18). They
may have intended to harm him years before, but Joseph now sees that through all of this
it was really God working out a hidden plan for life(45:5, 7-9). Finally, when Jacob dies,
and the brothers fear once again, Joseph reassures them, “Have no fear. Can I take the
place of God?” (50;19).
Because he recognizes and accepts his place before God, Joseph is able to
accomplish two things. First, he provides for the life of the land. In fact, this is why God
had sent him on ahead to Egypt, “for the sake of saving lives” (45:5-8), “for the survival
of many people”(50:20). Secondly, he brought about reconciliation within his family. He
had full power and could have taken revenge and imposed frightful punishments, but
“Have no fear. Can I take the place of God?”(50:19).
Joseph appears, in other words, as the opposite of Adam and Eve. Created for
imagehood and entrusted with the task of spreading life and sharing God’s dominion over
chaos, they failed. They preferred to be “like gods”(3:5) and so begot death, strife and
brokenness. Restoring unity would now have the character of reconciliation. Joseph,
however, has no delusions; he is under God and he knows it .Because of this, he is able,
through his dominion over the land, to be the minister both of life and of reconciliation;
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he becomes a source of blessing. But there is a shadow: Joseph is humanlike us, and his
administration does contain the seeds of later problems (47:13-27).
Conclusion
At the beginning of any spirituality lies some conception of God and the human
and of their interrelationship. Genesis shows as God who exercises effortless dominion
over the chaos, who calls into being a whole, integrated, harmonious universe and fills it
with living beings. As human beings, men and women, we are called by God to recognize
and accept in faith who we are. We manifest this by our sharing in God’s continuing
dominion over the chaos and by being life-giving. The primeval history shows how we
fail, first by rejecting imagehood and then by producing death and brokenness in our
world. In other words, we return the world to chaos.however, God’s will for life and
blessing will heard. Thefirst and most basic step in this direction is that we recognize and
admit our creaturehood. Thus the first cycle of stories that follow presents us with
Abraham who, in response to God’s call, leaves everythingand follows wherever God
may lead. Later, in the New Testament, Abraham’s obedient faith will be basic to Paul’s
argument (e.g., Rom 4:13-16) and the model for the gospel call narratives(e.g., Mt 4:18-
22).
The second story cycle presents us with Jacob who also, at times, recognizes his
independence on God, but the focus is more on the need to see and appreciate how we
sow strife in our lives and must take the responsibility to be agents of reconciliation and
peace. Finally in the third cycle, Joseph combines both of these requirements. He is a
person of faith who can then share in furthering God’s purpose, giving life and bringing
wholeness and peace.
The book of Genesis is about God and about human beings, all of them, men and
women of every time and every place. It is about how we are called to exercise power in
our lives and in our world, the power of being God’s royal image, and how and why we
fail.
4 The Book of Exodus
4.1 TitleThe Hebrew title for Exodus consists of its opening words, we’ellehshemot ,
meaning “and these are the names”(1:1). It replicates the words of Gen 46:8 and serves
as an indicator that Exodus is a continuation of the Genesis story, where the family of
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Jacob is last mentioned living in Egypt. The Greek Septuagint (LXX) entitles the book
Exodus, meaning “departure”. This heading expresses more the substance of the book,
which recounts the mass migration of Israel out of northern Egypt. The Latin Vulgate
follows the Greek version by giving the title Exodus, from which the English title is
derived.
4.2 StructureThe internal structure of Exodus may be divided in different ways.
Focusing on its theological themes, It is possible to read the book as two great actions of
God: the first part narrates the divine redemption of Israel (1:1-18:27),and the second part
catalogues the divine revelation given to Israel (19:1-40:38). Others outline the book
according to its geographical movement and settings. From this perspective, Exodus
unfolds as a drama in three parts: Israel begins its journey in Egypt (1:1-13:16), marches
through the wilderness (13:17-18:27), and finally assembles at Mount Sinai (19:1-40:38).
4.3 ThemesExodus recounts how the enslaved people of Israel became the covenant
nation of Yahweh. The theology of the book is intertwined with its epic storyline, which
moves from liberation to legislation. (1) Liberation. The Exodus adventure begins with a
mighty act of deliverance. Yahweh hears the groaning of his children in Egyptian
bondage, blasts their oppressors with a tenfold judgment, and frees them from the
shackles of the pagan superpower (chaps.1-12). From Egypt, he leads them into the
wilderness, with the goal of guiding them on to a new homeland in Canaan. Along the
way, Yahweh parts the waters of the sea and gives his people a path to a better future.
When Pharaoh’s chariots pursue, Yahweh brings the waters crashing down, wiping out
the enemy entirely (14:1-29). Victory over the Egyptians is soon followed by a victory
over the Amalekites (17:8-16), and then the Lord brings his weary people to the safety of
Mount Sinai (19:1). Like no other event in early biblical history, the Exodus from Egypt
looms large in the Bible as the premier paradigm of salvation. Indeed, later biblical
books, including those in the NT, will look back on the Exodus deliverance as God’s
pledge of something grater still to come-a more definitive redemption and a more perfect
covenant awaiting his people in the future. (2) Legislation. At Sinai, the children of Israel
meet their divine Father and Savior and accept his covenant, (chaps. 19-24). The terms of
this covenant, which unites Yahweh and Israel in a blood of spiritual kinship, are
expressed in the Sinai laws. Initially this consists of the Ten Commandments and a short
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code of social ethics and religious requirements (chaps. 20-23).But after the people bow
in worship before an idol, the broken Sinai covenant is renewed, and the original law
code is greatly expanded. The latter part of Exodus is dominated by laws given for the
manufacture of a movable sanctuary, or Tabernacle, where Yahweh chooses to dwell in a
real but hidden way in the midst of his people (chaps.25-31 and 35-40). These laws
underscore both the holiness and the righteousness of God and will determine the
essential structure of Israel’s life and liturgy for centuries afterward.
4.4 Historical Authenticity It is well known that Egyptian historical records
never mentioned the bondage and liberation of Israel described in the Bible. This is not
surprising, given the tendency of the pharaohs and their scribes to pass over in silence
anything deemed embarrassing to Egypt and its king nevertheless, some (often called
historical “minimalists or revisionists”) interpret this silence to mean that the Exodus
never actually happened. Lacking independent attestation from sources outside the Bible,
the story presented in Exodus and retold elsewhere in Scripture is suspected of being
religious propaganda written up after the Babylonian Exile with no real basic history.
Careful analysis of Exodus shows that historical skepticism of this sort is both
simplistic and problematic. Numerous details in the book bear witness to real-life
conditions in Egypt and Sinai that are difficult to account for if the Exodus story was
thought up by Jewish writers in Palestine hundreds of years after the alleged time frame
of the narrative. Among these details are the following. (1) Exodus is punctuated with
authentic Egyptian loanwords, including “Nile” (1:22; 4:9; etc.), “reeds” (2:3; note on
13:18), “magicians” (7:11; 8:7; etc.), “fine … linen” (25:4; 26:1; etc.), “emerald” (28:18;
39:11), and gold “leaf” (39:3; cf. Num 16:38). Likewise, the names of key individuals in
the book, such as Moses (2:10), Miriam (15:20), and Hur (17:10), are based on native
Egyptian names.
(2) As in Exodus, sources from the second millennium B.C. describe Semitic and
other foreign slaves conscripted to work for Egypt as field hands (as in 1:14) and laborers
for large construction projects (as in 1:11; note on 1:18-22). Evidence that slaves were
supervised by armed taskmasters is also attested at this time (as in 5:6), as is the fact that
production quotas were set for brick makers (as in 5:8).
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(3) The wilderness Tabernacle featured in the final chapters of Exodus mirrors the
use of portable tent sanctuaries elsewhere in the Near East at the time of Moses and even
earlier (note on 25:1-31:18). Its system of interlocking joints, wood framing, and gold
overlay are indebted specifically to Egyptian technology going back into the second and
third millennia B.C.
(4) The book is acquainted with local conditions described in the story, such as
the Egyptian agricultural calendar (9:31-32) and the use of acacia wood for the structure
and furnishings of the Tabernacle (25:10, 13, 23, etc.). The latter detail is significant
because this particular hardwood is indigenous to parts of Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula
but is not found in Palestine.
(5)Catholic Church Teaching: assumes the historicity of Moses and Exodus:After
the patriarchs, God formed Israel his people by freeing them fromslavery in Egypt. He
established with them the covenant of Mount Sinaiand, through Moses, gave them his
law so that they would recognize himand serve him as the one living and true God, the
provident Father and justjudge, and so that they would look for the promised savior.
which God and his glory dwelt among us in the humanity of Jesus Christ ( Jn1:14 ).
(6) The Book of Revelation looks ahead to the ultimate fulfillment of our Exodus
liberation in heaven, where the saints, ransomed by the blood of Jesus the Lamb (Rev
5:9) are granted some of the hidden manna (Rev 2:17) and allowed to drink freely of the
water of life for all eternity (Rev 21:6; 22:17). (7) Beyond the NT, the church Fathers
would discover even more foreshadowing of Christian faith and life, believing that “the
entire Exodus of the people from Egypt, having taken place under divine guidance, is a
type and an image of the Church’s Exodus from among the nations” (St.Irenaeus, Against
Heresies 4,30,4).
4.6 Content of the book of the Exodus
4.6.1 The Call of Moses (Exodus 1-4)
1. All 12 Tribes have descendants in Egypt (1:1)
2. Exodus and Abrahamic Covenant: God “remembers” his covenant (2:23-24)
3. The Theophany on Mount Sinai (3:1-22)
a. Location Mt. Sinai: “Horeb, the mountain of God” (Exod 3:1; cf. 3:12)
b. The Burning Bush: Fire and the presence of the Spirit of God
c. Moses hides his face: he is afraid to look upon God
4. Purpose of Exodus:
a. To worship God (Hbabad; Gk latreuo) (Exod 3:12)
b. To enter into Promised Land of “milk and honey” (Exod 3:17)
5. The Name of the LORD (Exod 3:14):
a. Eternal God: “I AM WHO I AM” (Hbehyehasherehyeh; Gk ego eimi ho on)
(Revelation of God in Se; Greek theologia)
b. God of the Covenant: “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”
(Revelation of God pro nobis; Greek oikonomia)
6. The Reluctance of Moses (Exod 4:1-20)
a. Moses’ speech impediment
b. Aaron: the voice of Moses, a “mouth for you”
7. God attempt to Kill Moses? (Exod 4:24-26)
4.6.2 The Exodus Plagues (Exodus 5-11)
1. God’s Message to Pharaoh: “Israel is my first-born son” (4:22)
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existed as such.Was Yahweh a name new to the Israelites at the time of the Exodus? It is
most likely that it was. “I am YHWH, your God, who led you out of the land of Egypt.”
Texts in Genesis which show these ancestors calling on YHWH by name. These are most
likely to be understood as theological, rather than historical, statements expressing the
belief that even though Israel came to know YHWH only at the time of the Exodus, it
was in fact this same YHWH who was calling their ancestors long before.
What then does the name “YHWH” mean. We are asking for specific information,
namely, of a scientific or historical nature.
“YHWH” is a third person, causative form of the verb “to be” and means something like
“God causes to be (the heavenly hosts)”.
“I am /am continually/will be who I am/am continually/will be.”
God is not giving, nor would the Israelites have been interested in, a philosophy lesson.
What is at issue here is dynamic, active, concerned presence: “I am…..to you, with you. I
am present, caring for you. I am your God, you are my people.” Later when the people
have broken the covenant, God will say through Hosea, “I am not/no longer Ehyeh to
you” (1:9). For Israel, what did “Yahweh” mean? It mean the God who was/is present to
and caring for Israel; the God they had known in their history; the God who heard their
cry of distress. Ehiye Asher Ehiye I will be what I was.
4.10 Crossing of the Sea A subtle sarcasm emerges in the detail that the defeat of the
Egyptians happened “just before dawn” (14:24). In the Egyptian religion, the sun god,
travelling during the night through the land of darkness, defeat darkness “just before
dawn” and rises victorious to the new day. It is precisely at the moment when Pharaoh
(the sun god) should be victorious that he is soundly defeated by Yahweh.
In all of this, the biblical accounts are telling us something very important about
the meaning of the event at the sea. First, Yahweh alone is God. The Egyptian god
(Pharaoh) is powerless; the Canaanite god, Sea, is no threat but is simply Yahweh’s
weapon against the Egyptians. Secondly, this Yahweh delivers this people, guiding them
safely in the midst of chaos and destruction (i.e., with the sea on either side of them,
14:22, 29). Yahweh “creates” the people, giving them life in place of the certain death
they were facing. Israel does nothing, but receives the gracious gift of life. We have left
the world of mythology where gods struggle with each other for power. There is no
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struggle here at all, and no other gods to worry about. Yahweh delivers historical people,
Israel, from historical enemies, Egyptians, but this deliverance is described borrowing the
powerful symbols of the ancient religious world.
The same symbol of Sea as a force of chaos, death and destruction appears
frequently in the prayers of lamentation in the book of Psalms. This is very appropriate
because lament is the response to being overwhelmed by the power of the realm of death.
The people were preserved safely in the midst of “Sea” and were “created” as uniquely
Yahweh’s own.
4.11 Signs and Wonders
A miracle is something that goes so beyond the causality of natural laws that it
must be attributed to divine intervention.The Bible does, however, call these great acts of
Yahweh something: they are:signs and wonders." A “sign” is an event which points
within itself to some deeper meaning; a “wonder” is something which draws our
attention; we look at it with awe and amazement; it is special.
For us, something, which we cannot understand or explain, is a miracle; it points
to God. For the bible anything that points to God is a miracle, a sign, a wonder.This was
an affirmation made by Israel, expressing its faith in its God.
4.12 Sinai: TheophanyThis large section (Ex 19-Nm 10) forms the center and heart of
the Pentateuch. It was at Sinai that Israel had an experience of God’s presence
(theophany), entered into covenant with their God, and received the covenant law. The
awesome appearance of God is described in the classic language of the appearance of the
storm god, with dark clouds, thunder and lightning.But it seems clear that the people had
a profound experience of the power and presence of God.
4.13 Yahweh their go’el (redeemer) In Israel, this obligation was connected with the
office of go’el, redeemer or recoverer, who, as next of kin, had the duty to safeguard the
life and integrity o the family or tribe. Thus, if property was alienated, the go’elshould
buy it back (Lev 25:25; Jer 32: 6-7);if a family member is sold into slavery, the
go’elshould free him (Lev 25:47-49); if a man in the tribe dies childless, the go’el should
beget children with the widow in the name of the deceased so that his name and property
will stay within the family(this is the “levirate law”; see Dt 25:5-10; Gen 38:8; Ruth 2:20;
3:12; 4:4).
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It meant that Israel and Yahweh formed one family. As a faithful family member then,
Yahweh had assumed the role of go’el and redeemed Israel from the slavery and bondage
of Egypt.
4.14 Sinai Covenant: Israel recognized Yahweh as its go’el and they entered into
covenant.Some measure of trust and confidence had to be established for the stability of
social and political life. The covenant served this function. A covenant was an agreement
or promise between two parties solemnly professed before witness and made binding by
an oath expressed verbally or by some symbolic action.
Thus, partners to a covenant often were called “brothers”. The goal of the
covenant was shalom, peace, wholeness of relationship between the parties.The Hebrew
word usually translated “covenant” is berith.Many treaties have been found, but
especially important are those of the Hittites. Thus Israel, the vassal, was seen as having
made a treaty at Sinai with the great King of heaven.
At Sinai, Israel recoganized its kinship with Yahweh and there sealed a covenant
which expressed that realization. A blood ritual (24:6-8)and a meal (24:11,5).A
relationship existed between blood and life so deep that one’s life was envisaged as
inherent in the blood itself(Lev 17:11).
Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar, representing God, and then on the people;
they have the same blood “in their veins. ”This is the cup of my blood of the new and
everlasting covenant.”
The symbolism of sharing a meal to express and seal a covenant is likewise rich
in meaning. To harm someone with whom you have shared table-community was
considered an especially serious offense (e.g. Ps 41:10). Here too the meal expresses a
family sharing of life and shalom among themselves and God.
4.15 Sinai Law: Covenant involves obligation, so much so that one scholar has argued
that the word berith really means obligation. We should not, however, view this
obligation as something attached or added on from the outside. Israel was gifted with life;
the covenant expressed their family life with Yahweh. New behaviour flows from the
covenant life.
This new behaviour was manifested in two areas of life. The first of these is the
vertical relationship with God. Not just a freedom from, but a freedom for.” Go down
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Moses.... tell to Pharoah, Let my people go!”. The purpose and goal of the Exodus is
Sinai.Israel’s first duty, then, was to be faithful to Yahweh. Israel owes Yahweh abodah.
“servitude, hard work”. But it comes to be the Hebrew word for “worship/liturgy.” The
God we worship is the ultimate source of our values and our behaviour. Then , as now,
the most basic sin against the covenant is not atheism but idolatry.
The Israelites had forgotten that they must serve only Yahweh and seek to “ be
holy for I, the Lord, your God, am holy” (Lev 19:2). In striving “ to be holy” the Hebrew
realized that social behaviour was of prime importance also. The horizontal relationship
with others is the second area affected by their new covenant life. The covenant at Sinai
revealed an intrinsic connection between the nature of Yahweh and the demands of social
justice. The Hebrews had been poor and oppressed in Egypt, and Yahweh had delivered
them. A motive frequently found in the laws for treating the poor kindly and not
oppressing the weak is “ because you were once strangers (aliens) in the land of Egypt” .
Prophets called the people first to do justice, and only after that to worship. Right
worship is manifested in social behaviour; social injustice flows from idolatry. The two
areas, intrinsically connected, stand or fall together; they are flip sides of the same coin.
They represent further specifications of the call to imagehood articulated in
Genesis 1:26-28. The first task is to accept imagehood, that is, to accept our creaturehood
and dependence on the creator God. The Sinai covenant, adds that we recognize that all
of our lives are the gift of the redeeming God who freed us from oppression and wants, in
return, our sole and undivided worship. The second task is to live out our imagehood in
and through all of our other relationships. The Sinai covenant with its twofold obligation
is another step in God’s educating us in imagehood.
4.16 Falling-out and Renewal Immediately following thesealingof the covenant,
elaborate instructions are given for the construction of two items, the Ark and the Tent,
both of them symbols of Yahweh’s continuing presence in the midst of the people. But
before they can be built, the people sin, and Yahweh’s presence is brought into question.
Moses is delayed; the people are confused. They call on Aaron to make them a
god to be their leader. He collects their jewellery and fashions a golden calf.
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Suddenly, when they misbehave, they are Moses’ people whom Moses brought out!
Moses is not about to let that slip by. “Why, O Lord, should your wrath flare up against
your own people whom you brought out....” (32:11)
Aaron evades the issue in a fashion worthy of Adam and Eve in the garden of Gen
3. “This is an evil people! They gave me their gold which I threw in the fire. Then, out
popped this calf!” d, like the Adam and Eve story, the rejection of God for an idol leads
not to life but to death.
Covenant, and law are present. Yahweh appeared to Moses, passed before him,
and cried out in one of the most famous and important passages Old Testament theology,
“ Yahweh, Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and
fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness
and crime and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and
grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for their father’s wickedness!”(34:5-9)
So Moses stayed there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, without
eating any food or drinking any water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the
covenant, the Ten Commandments (34:27-28). The crisis has been passed; rupture has
been replaced by renewal.
4.17 ConclusionThe book of Exodus deals with two events in the history of Israel, the
Exodus from Egypt (Ex 1-15) and the covenant at Sinai (Ex 19-40). These events, which
form the foundation of Israel’s distinct identity as a people, can be viewed from a variety
of angles. By way of summary and conclusion, we can look at them (1) as grace and
response, and (2) as freedom from and freedom for.
A covenant was an agreement or promise between two parties, establishing right
relations, shalom, between them. The two parties to the Sinai covenant were God and the
Hebrew people. The initiative was with God who acted first, choosing the people and
intervening in history to deliver and save them when they were enslaved and oppressed.
Yahweh “heard the groaning and was mindful of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. He saw the Israelites and knew....” (Ex 2:24).
For its part, Israel responded to God’s gracious acts, recognizing that they were
YHWH’s people, accepting the covenant, and promising to live by its demands. The
many laws, touching on every area of life, helped specify how and what this meant. As
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new generations faced new situations, new laws were assimilated into the context of the
Sinai covenant so that the people’s response might be wholehearted and up to date, that
is, in touch with the reality of their everyday lives. God’s grace and Israel’s response is
expressed concisely in the so-called “covenant formula,” “I will be your God, and you
will be my people” (e.g., Ex 6:7; Lev 26:12; Dt 4:20; 7:6; Jer31 :33; Ezek 37:27).
The Exodus events recall how Yahweh delivered Israel from the slavery of Egypt.
The Egyptians had “ reduced them to cruel slavery, making life bitter for them with hard
work in mortar and brick and all kinds of field work- the whole cruel fate of slaves” Ex
1:13-14). The Hebrew root ‘abad means “to serve with hard labor /slavery”; it occurs five
times in the passage just quoted. Yahweh is a God who hears the cry of the oppressed and
frees from such slavery.
But for what? The goal of liberation is Sinai. “Let my people go so that they
might serve me” (Ex 5:1, 3, etc.,). The Hebrew root translated “serve” is ‘abad’; the
Hebrews owe Yahweh their ‘abodah’. We have seen that this word comes to mean
“worship/liturgy”; it is the same word used three times in Ex 1:13-14 for “hard
work/slavery.” Further, Israel is forbidden to enslave other Israelites because “those
whom I brought out of the land of Egypt are slaves of mine, they shall not be sold as
slaves to anyone else” (Lev 25:42). This passage has clear linguistic connections with Ex
1:13-14.
As unattractive as it might be to say so, the biblical text is as clear as it can be.
The goal of YHWH’s liberation is not simply “freedom” in any abstract sense. The
Israelites are freed from slavery to Pharaoh in order to become slaves to Yahweh! The
question is not “Slavery, Yes or No?”; it is “Slavery to whom?” Slavery to Pharaoh (or
any other idol) leads to death; slavery to Yahweh leads to life. Thus, true freedom is
found only in slavery to God. St. Paul makes this same point exactly when he tells the
Romans that they were once slaves to sin, but have become slaves to God (Rom 6:15-23).
This is the same basic question as that of imagehood but now refracted through the
experience of liberation from the slavery of Egypt. Our spiritual question remains: “Do
we recognize who we truly are, and how we are to live?”
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which the scape-goat had borne became white, to symbolise the gracious promise in Isa.
1:18 [“Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow.”], but it adds that this
miracle did not take place for forty years before the destruction of the Temple!”
Later Jewish Tradition: the Blood of Atonement
1. The priest did this quickly so as not to cause “terror” in the people.
2. Time of Jesus: there was no Ark, so blood sprinkled on “Foundation Stone.”
3. Blood “poured out” at the base of Altar; ran out side of mount into the river Kidron.
5.6 The Holiness Code (Lev 17-27)
1. Laws of Sacrifice (Lev 17)
a. All sacrifices must be brought to the Tabernacle to be offered (17:-9)
b. You shall not eat the Blood: “the life (nephesh)… is in the blood” (17:10-16)
c. “It is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life”
2. Laws of Sexual Relations: these “defile” both the People and the Land (Lev 18)
a. Prohibition of Canaanite Sexual Practices
b. Incest
c. Sex during Menstruation
d. Adultery
e. Infant Sacrifice
f. Homosexual Intercourse
g. Bestiality
3. Ritual and Moral Holiness (Lev 19)
a. Leave something for “the poor and the sojourner” (19:9-10)
b. Just wages: shall not “remain with you all night” (19:13)
c. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (19:18)
d. Prohibition of augury and witchcraft (19:26)
e. Prohibition of Self-Mutilation and Tatoos (19:27-28)
f. Honor for the Elderly (19:32)
g. Gentleness towards “Strangers”; “you shall love him as yourself” (19:34)
4. Penalties for Violations of Laws (Lev 20)
a. Cursing Father or Mother: death penalty (20:9)
b. Adultery: death penalty (20:10)
c. Homosexual Intercourse: death penalty (20:13)
d. Bestiality: death penalty (20:15-16)
e. Sibling Incest: excommunication (20:17)
5. The Holiness of Priests (Lev 21)
6. The Holiness of Liturgical Utensils (Lev 22)
7. The Liturgical Year (Lev 23)130
a. Sabbath: weekly feast (Shabbath)
b. Passover: annual memorial of exodus (Pesah)
c. Unleavened Bread: memorial of exodus (Mazzot)
d. First Fruits: the first “sheaf” (‘Omer)
e. Pentecost: seven weeks after first fruits (HbShebuoth, “Weeks”; Gk Pentecost)
f. Trumpets: a day of rest, proclaimed with “trumpets” (Shoferim)
g. Day of Atonement: day of “covering” of sins (Yom Kippur)
h. Booths: memorial of life in the desert, living in “Tabernacles” (Succoth)
8. The Tabernacle (Lev 24)
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Yahweh is angry and threatens to wipe the people out. Moses again has to
intercede, using arguments reminiscent of Ex 32. A new element here is Moses’
quotation of Yahweh’s own self-description from Ex 34:6-7: “The Lord is slow to anger
and rich in kindness...” (Nm 14:18). Yahweh responds to Moses’ prayers; there is
forgiveness but also punishment and one that fits the crime. The present generation has
refused to enter the land; Yahweh refuses to allow them into the land. Instead, they must
wander forty years, one year for each day of the scouting (14:34).
The number forty is a very familiar one in the Bible. In the story of Noah and the
Flood, it rains forty days and forty nights (Gen 7:4, 12, 17; 8:6). After the sealing the
covenant, Moses is with God on the mountain for forty days and nights (Ex 24:18). It is
during this time of absence that the people get restless and make the golden calf (Ex 32).
After the covenant is renewed Moses once again spends forty days and nights with God
on the mountain (Ex 34:28). When Elijah is being pursued by Jezebel, he flees for his life
and travels forty days and nights until he comes to the mountain of God at Horeb (Sinai)
(1 Kgs 19:8). The number appears also in the New Testament. Jesus is tempted in the
desert for forty days and nights (Mt 4:1-11; Mk 1: 12-13; Lk 4:1-13); his ascension to
heaven occurs forty days after the resurrection (Acts 1:3).
Numbers in the Bible are often not meant to be taken literally, but serve a
symbolic function. Our suspicions are especially aroused with numbers that recur so
frequently. What would be the symbolic meaning of the number forty? On one level, it
represents a longer period of time. Here (Nm13-14), all the present generation over
twenty years old must die off (14:29). But there is more. The longer time has content: it is
a time of need, of struggle, of testing. In fact, there is also an extra-biblical occurrence in
just this sense. The Mesha (Moabite) inscription mentions how Moab (the kingdom just
east of the Jordan River) was oppressed “for years”.
In the Bible, however, a third level of meaning appears. “Forty” denotes a period
of preparation for some special action of the Lord; it is a time of grace. After the flood in
Genesis, a new creation begins; after Moses’ converse with God comes the renewal of the
covenant. After Elijah’s journey, God comes to him and enables him to return,
strengthened, to his prophetic ministry. In the New Testament, after the temptations,
Jesus begins the public ministry; after the ascension, we enter the age of the church. After
the Israelites wander in the wilderness, they will cross over at last to the promised Land.
6.7 The Wilderness
Since the time of the wandering is by and large symbolic time, what about the
place? Israel certainly knew the real wilderness, since that would describe fairly well the
regions to the south (Negav desert), the southwest (Sinai desert), and the east across the
Jordan. The desert is a place of no water and no food since little vegetation can grow
there. It is also the abode of dangerous animals; the jackal and the ostrich are particularly
beats of the wilderness, both of them noted also for their offensive noise (which makes
Job’s complaint all the more touching, Job 30:29, see also Isa 34:13; Mic 1:8; Lam 4:3,
etc.). the desert is a place of extremes where the choices are more clear-cut.
But the wilderness also carries symbolic meaning, a, meaning rooted ultimately in
the religion of Canaan. As we saw above, that religion centred on the concern of life,
central to which was the need for fresh water. Ba’al, the giver of the rain, was the most
important god in their pantheon. Ba’al’s second enemy, in addition to Yam (Sea), was
Mot (Death). Mot is the god of the hot, dry, barren wilderness, and of the hot, dry barren
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season, the summer. He swallows down Ba’al; the rain ceases; the earth seems to be
becoming all wilderness. The wilderness is a negative place where the power of
Mot/Death holds away. Of itself, it has no positive value. Even in the Old Testament, this
would seem to be the case. Previously, scholars thought that some few texts reflected a
“desert ideal”, but more recent study has brought this into question.
Sea/River (another name of Yam in the Canaanite religion) and Death/Wilderness
were the two big figures representing the forces opposed to the god of life and fertility. In
taking over both of these images, the Israelites were asserting that only their God was the
source of life and blessing. Yahweh brought them safely through Sea, guided and
nourished them in the Desert, the realm of Death, and, when they finally enter the land
(Josh 3:14-17), their crossing of river (the Jordan) is described in terms very reminiscent
of the crossing of the Sea (Ex 13-15). Neither Sea/ River nor Death / Desert was any real
threat; they need have no fear. Yahweh guided and preserved the people safely through
both. The same two images will be used to describe the totality of Jesus’ victory; there
will be no more sea or death (Rev 21: 1-4).
6.7.1 Wandering in the Wilderness:A Time of Journey
The wandering in the wilderness is not a time of aimless, pointless movement. It
is a journey with a beginning in Egypt (Ex 12:37; Nm 33:3-5) and an end in the plains of
Moab (Nm 22:1; 33:48-49). It progresses in orderly stages (“they set out from ....and
came to ....”) from Egypt to Sinai (Ex 23:37a; 13:20; 14:1-2; 15:22a; 16:1; 17:1a; 19:1-2)
and then moves on from Sinai to Moab (Nm 10:12; 20:1,22; 21:10-11; 22:1). A summary
of the itinerary in Nm 33 mentions forty sites, probably to correspond to the forty years.
Some form of the Hebrew verb for “to set out” (nasa’) occurs ninety\-four times in the
book of Numbers. There can be no doubt; the Israelites are on a journey.
Two temptations against the journey recur and have to be dealt with. The first is
the temptation simply to stop, to settle down, to say, “That’s enough! Let us stay here.” In
the course of the journey, the group did indeed rest. They do not seem to have travelled
on the Sabbath; in addition, there were periodic resting places the longest (almost one
year) being at Sinai. Another important resting spot is the oasis of Kadesh (or Kadesh-
Barnea, Nm 13:26; 20:1,16; Dt 1:46). But the time comes to get moving again, and they
do this “at the bidding of the Lord” (Nm 9:17-18; 10:11-13). This is, in fact, a marked
characteristic of the whole Pentateuch story. At the beginning, Abraham is comfortably
settled in his land and with his family. God says, “Get moving!” (Gen 12:1-4). Near the
end, in Deuteronomy, Moses recalls the departure from Sinai: God says, “You have
stayed long enough at this mountain. Leave here...” (Dt 1:6-7). At the “bidding of the
Lord”, the community is forbidden to settle down too long. A similar theme can be noted
in the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ Transfiguration (Mt 17:1-8; Mk 9:1-7: Lk 9:28-
36). The God of the Bible is a God who calls us continually out of secure and
comfortable presents into unknown and risky features. The journey continues.
In some ways, the second temptation is even worse. “And they complained to
Moses, Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us here to die in this
desert? Why did you do this to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did we not tell
you this in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians’? Far better
for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the desert” (Ex 14:11-12). This is a
typical response of the Israelites in times of danger (e.g., Ex16:3; 17:3; Nm 14:2-3; 20:4-
5), or even in times of inconvenience (“We are tired of manna all the time! We wish we
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had a tastier diet, as we did in Egypt!” (Nm 11:4-5). “Why did you bring us out here to
die? We would rather be back in Egypt!”
They do not want to stop the journey; they want to reverse it. They want to go
back. Even though they have seen all the signs and wonders that God had worked on their
behalf, they wish they had never met and experienced Yahweh. They preferred the gods
of Egypt.
This second temptation is idolatrous, seductive (especially for religious people),
and very common. It is : nostalgia for the past. The past looks more attractive, more
secure, and safer. As well it ought! We have already been there; it holds no surprises; we
know what it is. What makes the past so attractive is precisely the fact that it is past, and
preferably, not too recent. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did we not tell you this
in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians...” (Ex 14:11-12).
That is not exactly what they had said when they were there (Ex2:23). We are indeed
supposed to remember the past. When we do this, in effect, we are bringing the past into
the present in order to help us live into the future. In nostalgia, on the other hand, we
want to bring the present into the past in order to avoid the future. And how often this is
justified by an appeal to the Bible! “Back to the Bible”, we hear, “back to the Bible!” Do
we ever hear, “Forward to the Bible?” When we go back to the Bible, what we find there
is a God who is always out ahead of us, calling us into the unknown, into the future.
We have looked at several general aspects of the wilderness wandering: the
symbolism of forty, the meaning of the wilderness, and the significance of the journey. It
is time now to look more closely at exactly what happened in the wilderness. We will see
that it is a place of covenant, of testing, and of presence.
6.7.8 Wilderness: Place of Covenant
We might well ask, Why did the Israelites wander at all? Could not God have led
them more directly into the promised land of Canaan? If God could defeat the Egyptians
at the sea, why not along the “way to the Philistines land” (Ex 13:17) that lay closer along
the northern shore? As we have already seen, the immediate goal of the Exodus was not
to enter the promised land, though this may have been the ultimate goal in the larger
picture. The immediate goal was “to serve me”. The people went south to Sinai and to
covenant.
The Israelites, newly freed from oppression in Egypt, were to go straight to
Canaan and assume power there, why would they be any different? Instead of Canaan,
they went to Sinai for an extended period of “attitude adjustment”. Covenant with
Yahweh, the God who frees from oppression, called them to a whole different view of
reality, a new set of values, and a totally different style of life. To live the covenant truly
is to worship only this God and to be concerned for the human rights and social needs of
others.
6.7.9 Wilderness: Place of Testing
The wilderness was also the place in which Israel was tested in its fidelity to
Yahweh, and repeatedly failed. This is often described as he “murmuring” or “rebellion”
in the wilderness, and it started right away. No sooner had Israel departed Egypt and
come to the sea, when they were afraid and longed to return to the “comforts” of Egypt
(Ex 14: 11- 12). They had already seen and experienced Yahweh’s concern for them
and power over Egypt in the plagues. But obviously, this was not enough; so Yahweh
delivered them at the sea. As soon as they set out, however, the complaining resumed(Ex
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15:22-17:15). As a study in contrast, we meet the pagan priest, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-
law. Unlike the Israelites, who had experienced God’s deeds personally, Jethro is shown
to believe in and respond to Yahweh based solely on reports he had heard (Ex 18:1-27).
At Sinai, under Moses’ guidance, the people reflected on the deeper significance of what
had happened, and affirmed and accepted this in their lives. But as soon as Moses was
gone “too long”, they fell away and made the golden calf. After the crisis of presence, the
covenant was renewed, but once again, no sooner had they set out from Sinai, than the
murmuring began anew (Nm 11-14). Finally, this generation went too far. Punished by
God, it will not enter the land; that will happen only after the forty years of wandering are
completed.
What is it that the Israelites murmured about? They are in the desert and have
nothing to drink; God provides them with wonderful water from the rock (Ex 15:22-25;
17:2-7; Nm 20:1-13). They have no food; in their hunger they pine for the “fleshpots” of
Egypt. The context, as well as the meaning of the Hebrew word, makes the meaning of
this quite clear. In Egypt they had pots of meat to eat. The association of “fleshpots” with
sexual sins has no basis in the text; it is an example of how the meaning of the English
word, “flesh”, has changed since the King James translation. God sends manna to feed
them. Later, they grow tired of the monotony of the manna, so God sends quail (Nm
11:1-35).
The Israelites also faced dangers of another kind. First came threats from enemies
without. The Egyptians attack at the sea (Ex 13:15); then the Amalekites (17:8-15; see
Nm 13:29; 14:45; Dt 27:17-19). Later they will face Arad (Nm 21:1-3), Sihon and Og
(Nm 21:21-35), the Midianites (Nm 25: 16-18; 31:1-54), and others (Nm 32:39-42). After
the departure from Sinai, internal struggles for power begin to emerge, struggles which
had the potential to tear the young community apart. The disputes centred especially on
the leadership of Moses and Aaron. The people wanted another leader, one who would
take them back to Egypt; Moses and Aaron were the prime forces reminding them of
their covenant and challenging them to fidelity (e.g., Nm 12:1-6; 14:1-4; 16:1-35).
The wilderness is a place of extremes, and choices are more clear cut. Food and
water are essential for physical survival; security from external threat and internal
stability are essential for social survival. These are legitimate needs and concern for them
is understandable, but in the biblical story, another element is added.
The presence of these various needs and dangers was the occasion for testing
Israel’s faith. Israel, both before and after Sinai, was a motley crew (Ex 12:38; Nm 11:4),
united only by having shared two experiences: Yahweh’s saving deeds in Egypt and at
the sea, and the covenant at Sinai.
Israel has had plenty of opportunity to see that Yahweh both could and did take
care of them; all the savings actions can be reduced to one: God is present with the
people, and this is their source of life and survival. When they set out from Sinai and
experienced the same kinds of needs again (some of the stories in Numbers seem to be
doublets of these in Exodus), they really should have known better. Their murmuring
then, coming after so much of God’s care, became especially tiresome and annoying.
Crying out to God in times of need and distress is lamentation, a common feature,
as we have seen of biblical prayer. Some of Israel’s cries to God are of this sort (e.g., Ex
15:22-25), but not many. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? We wish we were back
there” is not lamentation; it is a wish that the Exodus (and later Sinai) had never
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on the march, they are to continue to be each in its own proper place (Nm 2:17). Thus the
march through the wilderness took on the character of a solemn, liturgical procession.
Both Ark and Tent are visible reminders of the continuing presence of God in the midst
of the people. Whether encamped or on the march, they should not be afraid, because
Yahweh was with them.
Closely related to the Tent of Meeting is the image of “the glory of the Lord”
(e.g., Ex 16:10; 33:18; 40:34). This term is used also to describe God’s presence. The
imagery seems to have its roots, again, in the old Canaanite description of the appearance
of the storm god, wrapped in dark clouds and hurling lightning bolts. In a similar way,
the fiery glory of God is covered by a dark cloud. When the cloud is visible, Yahweh is
present, guiding the people (Ex 13:21-22), hiding them from the Egyptians (Ex 14:19,
24), entering into dialogue with Moses (when the cloud covers the Tent; Ex 33:9-10; Nm
12:5). When the people are to set out on their wilderness march, it is at the Lord’s
bidding, as signalled through the presence of the cloud (Nm 9:15-23).
Yahweh is a God present to and caring for Israel. This is, in fact, how the Bible
explains the meaning of the name Yahweh (EhyehasherEhyeh; Ex 3:14). Assisted by
these very concrete signs, the failure of Israel’s faith and their constant murmuring
becomes all the more serious.
have done enough!” as we noted when we remember, we bring the past into
the present in order to help us live in the future. It is one of the functions of
liturgy to make present the great events of the past so that each new
generation can share in them and appropriate them for itself.
7.9 The Lord is Our God, the Lord Alone
The most basic affirmation is that the Lord, Yahweh, alone is God. On
occasion we hear the formula the “The New Testament God is a God of
love; the Old Testament God is a God of wrath and punishment”. The whole
unfolding of Israel’s history with God is rooted in and flows out of God’s
prior love for Israel. It is the story of a God who first loved us.
7.10 You Shall Love the Lord
“Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your strength” (6:5).
The Lord’s electing love and Israel’s loving response find concrete
expression in the covenant. The covenant, which embodies the interpersonal
union between Yahweh and Israel, is not, as we have seen, just a reality from
the past.
Israel must not only beware of foreign gods and their cults. They must
also watch over their own worship to keep it pure and holy. The legislation
in Deuteronomy makes it clear that Israel’s worship should be centered in
that place which Yahweh chooses, where Yahweh’s name dwells, most
likely a reference to Jerusalem.
Because Israel is Yahweh’s people, how they treat others is also of
critical importance, so many of the laws of Deuteronomy touch on diverse
areas of social life. Deuteronomy is concerned with the establishment of a
society which will reflect the justice and mercy of God. “Love in
Deuteronomy is always a verb, an action, never simply an inner emotion”.
7.11 The Death of Moses, Servant of God
God is, of course, the dominant actor in the Pentateuch, but among
human figures, Moses is clearly the most important. More important than his
doing dramatic deeds is Moses’ role as a prophet. A prophet in the bible is
not primarily someone who foretells the future, as in our popular English
usage. A prophet is rather someone who is called to speak for God.
Moses’ call at the burning bush (Ex 3-4) shows striking similarities to
the call of a prophet. Like Jeremiah (Jer 1:4-8), he is called to bring a
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Priests: Moses, Aaron, 12 Priests: Moses, Aaron and Priests: Moses, Aaron and
Tribes of Israel, (Exod 12, Levites, (12 Tribes Sons, (Levites demoted),
19-20, 24). demoted), (Exod 32). (Num 25).
Sacred Place Mt. Sinai (Bottom) Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim
Mt. Sinai (Top) Tabernacle (Ex 34) Tabernacle
Tabernacle (Ex 24-27, 37- (Deut 11, 27-29; cf. Ex 15)
40)
Sign Sign Sign
12 Pillars 2 New Tablets 2 New Tablets
2 Tablets Ark of the Covenant Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant (Ex 34) Tablets of Deuteronomy
(Ex 20, 24-25 (Deut 27, 31)
Sacrifices/Sacred Meals Sacrifices/Sacred Meals Sacrifices/Sacred Meals
Passover, Theophanic Passover, Bread of Presence Passover, Bread of
Covenant Meal; General Levitical Sacrifices Presence
sacrifices 1. Burnt Offering Levitical sacrifices
(Exod 12-13, 24, 25) 2. Bread Offering 1. Burnt Offering
3. Peace Offering 2. Bread Offering
4. Sin Offering 3. Peace Offering
5. Guilt Offering 4. Sin Offering
(Leviticus 1-7, 11) 5. Guilt Offering
(Leviticus 1-7, 11)
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