History
- Age of the Patriarchs
For the most part, the
people surrounding the Hebrews took little interest in them for much of
Hebrew history. The Hebrews themselves don't actually appear in history
until the reign of Marniptah, king of Egypt from about 1224-1211 BC. The
son of Raamses I (1290-1224 BC), generally taken to be the king of Egypt
at the time of the Hebrew exodus, Marniptah undertakes a military
campaign in Asia in 1220 BC. In an account of the campaign inscribed in
granite, a list of all the conquered peoples includes the Israelites who
are mentioned as "now living in Canaan."
Before this point, the only history of the Hebrews we have are written
by the Hebrews themselves, in Genesis 12-50. In the Hebrew account of
their own history, they trace their origins back to a single individual,
Abraham, who comes originally from Mesopotamia. The histories of the
pre-Egyptian Hebrews is generally called the age of the patriarchs
(patriarch means "father-ruler"); while it is virtually impossible to
date this age since a.) the Hebrew history of the age is written down
after more than a thousand years had passed and b.) no-one else was
interested in the history, scholars place this age roughly between 1950
and 1500 BC.
Several aspects emerge from this history. First, the history of the
patriarchs indicates that the special election of the Hebrews, made
manifest in the delivery from Egypt, begins before the Egyptian sojourn
and delivery. In Hebrew history, Abraham and his descendants are
selected by Yahweh to be his chosen people over all other peoples.
Abraham, who is a Semite living in Haran, a city in northern
Mesopotamia, and whose father, Terah, comes from the city Ur in southern
Mesopotamia, is visited suddenly by Yahweh and told to move his family.
If Abraham's migration can be dated to around 1950 BC, this means that
his migration from Mesopotamia would make sense, since the region was
collapsing into chaos. Migrating to the west, Abraham stops at Shechem
and is again visited by Yahweh, who then tells him that all this land
will be given to him and his descendants. So the election of the Hebrews
involves a certain unexplained quality (why pick Abraham) that is
partially answered by Abraham's unswerving obedience when Yahweh asks
him to sacrifice his son. But more importantly, the foundation of the
Hebrew view of history is contained in these patriarchal stories. God ("Elohim"
in Hebrew) has a special purpose in history and has chosen the Hebrews
and the Hebrews alone to fulfill this purpose. In order to fulfill this
purpose, God has entered into a covenantal relationship with the Hebrews
and promises to protect them as a lord protects his servants. As
servants, then, the principle duty that Abraham and his descendants owe
to god is obedience.
The second aspect that emerges is that the early Hebrews are nomads,
wandering tribal groups who are organized along classic tribal logic.
Society is principally organized around kinship with a rigid kinship
hierarchy. The relationship with god is also a kinship relationship:
anybody outside the kinship structure (anybody who isn't a descendant of
Abraham) is not included in the special relationship with God. At the
top of the kinship hierarchy is a kind of tribal leader; we use the
Greek word, "patriarch," which means "father-ruler." Well into the
monarchical period and beyond, the Hebrews seem to dynamically remember
their tribal character, for Genesis associates civilization with Cain
and his descendants (meaning that civilization is not a good thing) and
the history of the monarchy is clearly written from an anti-monarchical
stance, since it is made clear that desiring a king is disobedience to
God.
The third aspect that emerges is that these tribal groups of early
Hebrews wandered far and wide, that is, that they did not occupy the
lands around Palestine; this occupation would come considerably later.
They seem to freely move from Palestine, across the deserts, and as far
as Egypt. At several points in the narrative, Hebrew tribes move to
Egypt in order to find a better life. It would not be unfair to imagine
that the Hebrews were among the infinite variety of foreigners who
overwhelmed Egypt at the end of the Middle Kingdom.
Beyond this it is difficult to come to certain conclusions. As far as
the religion of the early Hebrews are concerned, it is generally
believed that it had nothing to do with the Yahweh cult which is
introduced by Moses, for Exodus asserts that Moses is the first to hear
the name of god, Yahweh. The Hebrew accounts of the patriarchs generally
use the term "Elohim" (God), "El Shaddai" (God Almighty), and other
variants. Several religious practices described in Genesis seem to
indicate a belief in animistic forces and even, possibly, polytheism,
but these passages are highly controversial.
All we know for certain is that by the end of the patriarchal age,
several tribes identified with one another as having a common ancestor
and a common identity. We don't even know what they called themselves;
we haven't successfully figured out where the term "Hebrew" comes from,
although the best guess is that it comes from the Egyptian word, "apiru,"
or "foreigner." Several members of these tribes, whatever they called
themselves, at some point migrated to Egypt, and Egypt would be the
crucible in which would form the people and nation of Israel.
From:
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/HEBREWS/HEBREWS.HTM
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