Jacob and the Aramaean Identity of Ancient Israel between the Judges and the Prophets (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Jacob Story and the Formation of Biblical Israel, Tel Aviv 41 (2014), 95-125
The article argues that the pre-Priestly Jacob story is mainly a unified and coherent composition that was written in Judah in about the mid-6th century BCE. It was composed as part of a larger literary-historical work that narrated the history of Israel's three ancestors and reflects the reality in the land after the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and annexed Judah and all other neighbouring kingdoms. The patriarchal story-cycle was intended for an audience comprised of the elite and broader community of the 'New Israel'—the inhabitants of the former kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Some of the narratives are based on oral traditions whose scope and detail cannot be established, which the author augmented by consulting a few written sources and by adding various literary and ideological elements from his own creative imagination. His composition represented a major step towards generating a sense of unity among all those remaining in the land, namely the devotees of YHWH, and it shaped the image of the earliest history of Israel for all generations to come.
Jacob's Initiation Story: A Judahite Late-Monarchical Composition
Jacob's Initiation Story: A Judahite Late-Monarchical Composition, 2021
The article suggests that the unified Jacob-Esau-Laban story in Genesis 25, 27–33* was composed in Judah in the late monarchical period. The two ethnic groups that took part in the plot are the Edomites of the Negev and Mount Seir and the Arameans of the Harran region. The selection of these ethnic groups is deliberate, as the relations with both of them were particularly relevant for the author and his audience. Isaac and Jacob are presented in the story-cycle as the ancestors of ‘Biblical Israel’, and the story-cycle was probably composed in writing in the late monarchical period, either at the royal court of Jerusalem or at the temple. The narrative might be considered an initiation story, and the literary element that unifies the plot is that of Jacob’s gradual development of the skills of a trickster.
2021
The essay “Edom in the Jacob Cycle (Gen *25–35): New Insights on Its Positive Relations with Israel, the Literary-Historical Development of Its Role, and Its Historical Background(s)” by Benedikt Hensel investigates the role of Edom within the Jacob narrative, which still constitutes a heavily disputed problem in reconstructing the formation of the Jacob Cycle. Furthermore, the question of Edom’s role is supplemented here for the first time with an inquiry raised by the most recent archaeological findings from territory of Edom. As opposed to the classic stance in the field still prevalent today, in which the relations between Israel and Edom as reflected in the Jacob Cycle are assigned to specific historical circumstances sometime between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE, the latest historical research has revealed that the kingdom of Edom was relevant for the history of the Southern Levant and the literary history of the Hebrew Bible beyond this short period of time. The history of Edom should be traced not only through the entire Iron Age I/II, but also into the Hellenistic period, especially since the history of Edom had a twofold trajectory following its fall in 552 BCE – one in Edom, and one in Idumea. This essay pursues three major objectives: 1) describing the historical Edom in light of the most recent archaeological and historical research; 2) investigating Edom’s role within the narrative of the first literary edition of the Jacob Cycle; 3) exploring the role of Edom throughout the various redactional processes of the Jacob Cycle during the exilic and Persian periods. The primary hypothesis is that Edom’s role in the Jacob Cycle underwent a particular series of developments throughout its literary growth. This resulted in a conception of “Edom” that developed alongside its conception of “Israel” in a process roughly spanning the 8th to the 5th/4th centuries BCE. Hensel proposes that the early Jacob Cycle (Gen *25, 27, 29–31, 32–33) should be understood as a post-722, yet still 8th century “exilic” tradition of Northern (and thus Samarian) origin. For the redactional processes, emphasizing positive Israel-Edom relations after 586 BCE, Hensel proposes that they represent a deliberate counter-image to the portrayal of Edom in other parts of biblical literature after 586 BCE, which is overwhelmingly negative. This notion of Edom could then either a) substantiate claims to Judean settlements in Idumea (“Edom”), or b) represent the integration of the (ex-)Judean settlements or individuals within the west-Edomite/Idumean regions in the 6th/5th centuries BCE (and continuing into the Persian and Hellenistic periods).
Reading Genesis Through Chronicles: The Creation of the Sons of Jacob
Scholars are increasingly aware of the dynamic nature of the interaction between the nine-chapter long genealogy that begins the book of Chronicles and its source material. However, little attention has been paid to the role this interaction might have played in the creation of some key biblical ideas, particularly in the " eponymous imagination " of the tribes as literally the sons of Jacob. Through comparison with scholarly approaches to the pseudo-Hesiodic Catalogue of Women and an investigation into the ramifications for biblical studies of ethnic theory and historical memory on the fluidity of ethnicity and memory over time, this article seeks to reassess the dynamic power of the Chronicles genealogy as an ethnic charter for the elites of Persian Yehud. Focus on the distinctive imagination of Israel in the crucial narratives in the book of Genesis, as compared with narratives elsewhere in the primary history, and the contributions of the Chronicles genealogy to their redefinition, allows us to address the Bible's dependence upon the lens the Chronicles genealogy imposes upon it.
The Egyptian Renaissance, 2024
The question that prompted the following investigation might be phrased as follows: Who or what is the Old Testament supernatural entity often referred to as YHWH? Upon consideration of that problem, it appeared to us that a response would have to begin with uncovering, if possible, the origins of the Old Testament religion, as set forth in books such as Exodus. However, in order to accomplish that, it seemed abundantly clear to the undersigned that it would be necessary to take a closer look at ancient Egypt. Why? In the first place, the one indispensable religious rite in both “Israelism” and modern Judaism (or rather “Judaisms”) is male circumcision. However, as we intend to show, there are actually no reasonable grounds for doubting that male circumcision – even as a religious rite – originated in Egypt. [Moreover, the evidence shows that the ancient Egyptians were circumcising themselves at a time significantly predating the one assigned to the “Old Testament” protagonist Abraham.] In the second place, the name of what is arguably the most important character in the story underlying the foundation of the Nation of Israel – “Moses” or “Moshe” – is, in all likelihood, an Egyptian name, since a similar or identical word forms part of the names of numerous Egyptian pharaohs. But there is more. The excavations carried out at the Egyptian site “Tell el-Dab’a”, the location of the ancient city of Avaris [, which was situated exceedingly close to the later settlement known as Pi-Ramesses, or simply Rameses/Ramesses], would appear to shed new light on the ancient disagreement between the Jewish [or Judeo-Roman] historian Titus Flavius Josephus (37–100 A.D.) and the Egyptian historian Manetho (c. 300 B.C.) regarding the history of Israel. To say that Egypt played a central role in Israelite history is, in one sense, not to say anything new at all, but simply to affirm what every orthodox Christian, Jew and Muslim already believes. However, if taken in the sense here intended, it entails a view of Israelite history which is highly controversial, and which will probably remain so for a long time to come, since it goes against and undercuts the stark dichotomy of an “evil” and “oppressive” Egypt versus a “divinely chosen” and “oppressed” Israel set up in Old Testament books such as Exodus, and repeatedly referred to and made use of in later Israelite and Christian works.