Deciphering the Biblical Text – 1

Anyone who approaches the early history of Israel must do so with all due caution. There are, of course, no Israelite records contemporary with the events and processes to be discussed herein. Instead, the historian must approach the topic with the realization that the main document, the Torah (Pentateuch or The Law), (a) was composed at a later time, and (b) did not have as its main goal the presentation of history in the modern sense of the word. Our estimation is, that the date of first composition (the basic strata of the narration) is about the tenth-ninth century BCE, in, the period of the United Kingdom, and the main goal was a combination of elements, including aesthetic literature, history text, theological treatise, and political propaganda.

The narrative is based on historical facts known to the author, but the author is more interested in presenting an “ethically satisfying narrative,” which in the case of biblical narrative is one based on the theological thread that runs throughout (along with the other elements noted above). So while the author “does not disregard absolute historical fact, history, that is,” these facts take a back seat to the main thrust of the story, the demonstration of Yahweh’s role in that history. Furthermore, the composition of the Torah is to be dated to several centuries after the events themselves, and our earliest manuscripts come from a still later epoch. [1]

In short, the Torah and books such as Joshua and Judges cannot be taken at face value for the recovery of ancient Israelite history. But at the same time, especially when a variety of sources from the ancient Near East confirms elements of the biblical narrative, we are absolutely justified in using the Bible as a source for recovering the early history of Israel. A good example of where the Torah cannot be taken at face value is the basic structure of the nation of Israel. Nations simply do not descend from the offspring of one man [2].

Instead, as with most nations, Israel was comprised of peoples of diverse origins. We are able to identify some of these origins (on which see further below), though no doubt others are beyond our present ability to isolate. But one point seems clear: the people that gave Israel its ultimate identity must have been a group that wandered the desert regions south (and east) of the arable land of Canaan.

An Overview

An assemblage of evidence supports this conclusion. First, the Bible states very plainly that the people of Israel entered the land from the outside, specifically from the desert. In fact, the desert ideal remained a part of Israel throughout its history. [4]  Furthermore, various peoples associated with the desert fringe in some biblical texts (Kaleb, Qenaz, Yerahme’el, etc.) appear in other biblical texts to be part and parcel of the tribes of Israel, in particular, the dominant southern tribe of Judah. [4]

Second, the national god of Israel, Yahweh, is a deity associated in a variety of biblical texts with the desert region: Seir, Edom, Sinai, Paran, Teman (Deuteronomy 33: 2, Judges 5: 4-5, Habakuk 3: 3, Psalms 68: 8, etc.).

Third, Egyptian topographical lists from Soleb and ‘Amarah (both in Nubia), dated to the New Kingdom period, refer to tj Íjsw ya-h-wa “the land of the Shasu of Yahweh,” in conjunction with other Shasu locales, among them tj Íjsw sa-‘-r-ir “Shasu of the land of Se‘ir. [5]  However one is to explain Yahweh here, for it appears to be a place name in the Soleb and ‘Amarah lists, the collocation of Yahweh and Seir in these lists conforms well with the biblical evidence associating the deity with Seir, Edom, etc.  [6]Furthermore, as we shall see below during our discussion of Papyrus Anastasi VI, there is additional reason to associate the Israelites, or at least the desert people portion thereof, with the Shasu, the general Egyptian term for the nomads and semi-nomads of the desert.

Fifth, the excavations at Timna, in the southern Negev (18 Miles -30 Km. north of Eilat), revealed a cultic center with features reminiscent of Israelite religious practices as described in the Bible. Most important are (a) the evidence of a tent sanctuary, akin to the biblical mishkan, or Tabernacle (described in Exodus 25-31, 35-40); and (b) the presence of a copper snake mounted on a standard, so close to the description in Numbers 21: 4-9 that it may be considered a virtual depiction thereof. [7]

Sixth, Herodotus (3: 8 ) describes the Arabs of his day as practicing a blood covenant ritual in which blood from the thumbs of the participants was smeared on the holy stones which stood before them. While not agreeing in every detail, this calls to mind the covenant ceremony conducted by Moses in Exodus 24: 1-8 in which both twelve stone pillars and blood play a prominent role. [8]

The picture which emerges from these diverse points is that a significant portion of the nation of Israel that later would emerge in the land of Canaan had desert origins. These desert people, “semi-nomads” is the best term for them, wandered the desert fringe with their flocks of sheep and goats, engaged in some seasonal agriculture, and at times settled in the arable regions of the land of Canaan. This pattern can be seen still today among the Bedouin, and it is reflected in the Bible for certain non-Israelites. Note, for example, how the Qenites (Kenites) [9] are associated with the desert in 1 Samuel  15: 6, but how individual families from this group settle in the sown in Judges 1: 16, 4: 11.

NOTES:

[1]  The discovery of the seventh-century BCE. Ketef Hinnom silver amulets containing the priestly benediction (Davies [1991] 72-73), though not verbatim what appears in Num 6: 24-26, is a tiny step towards the recovery
of earlier Torah texts. 
[2]  See Sarna (1966) 196..
[3]  Though he has a different opinion on the matter, a good survey may be found in Talmon (1966), reprinted in
Talmon (1993) 216-54.
[4]  de Vaux (1978) 534-37.
[5]  For the primary data, see Giveon (1971) 26-28, 74-77. We must respectfully disagree with Astour (1979), who argued that these toponyms are to be located in Syria, not in the desert regions south of Canaan. See the comments in Redford (1992) 272 n 67. We will cite Redford (1992) often in the notes below, for it is an excellent treatment incorporating a wealth of information. However, it must be used cautiously due to the bias that the author brings to the biblical material; see Rendsburg (1995).
[6] See Herrmann (1967).
[7] See Rothenberg (1993) 1483.
[8] On this specific parallel and on the picture in general, see Weinfeld (1987) 483-86. For the mention of a blood ritual among Semites dwelling in Egypt, see Cerny (1955).
[9]  In the ancient Levant, the Kenites were a nomadic clan sent under Jethro to priest Midian. According to the Hebrew Bible, they played an important role in the history of ancient Israel. The Kenites were coppersmiths and metalworkers. Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, was a shepherd and a priest of the Kenites. The Kenites apparently assimilated into the Israelite population, though the Kenites descended from Rechab maintained a distinct, nomadic lifestyle for some time