In this book, Jaeyoung Jeon traces the development of the pentateuchal wilderness story in Exodus... more In this book, Jaeyoung Jeon traces the development of the pentateuchal wilderness story in Exodus and Numbers from its pre-monarchic origin to the formation of the final form. He argues that old memories of YHWH from the southern desert area and the move of the Transjordanian settlers to the west were merged with the memory of Egyptian oppression and that they formed together an early tradition of exodus-wilderness in the Northern Kingdom. Although the tradition further developed in Judah after the fall of Israel, the author argues that the major parts of the narrative story were creatively reinterpreted, reformulated, and composed during the Persian period in the socio-historical contexts of the return from the exile and restoration. He suggests that diverse scribal circles representing different social, political, and religious positions in Yehud and the diaspora participated in its literary formation, resulting in the wilderness narrative as a collection of scribal debates.
A reexamination of the Pentateuch in light of the complex social, religious, and political confli... more A reexamination of the Pentateuch in light of the complex social, religious, and political conflicts of the Persian period
During the last several decades, scholars in pentateuchal studies have suggested new compositional models to replace the Documentary Hypothesis, yet no consensus has emerged. The ten essays in this collection advance the discussion by shifting the focus of pentateuchal studies from the literary stratification of different layers of the texts to the social, economic, religious, and political agendas behind them. Rather than limiting the focus of their studies to scribal and community groups within Persian Yehud, contributors look beyond Yehud to other Judahite communities in the diaspora, including Elephantine and the Samaritan community, establishing a proper academic context for setting the diverse voices of the Pentateuch as we now understand them. Contributors include Olivier Artus, Thomas B. Dozeman, Innocent Himbaza, Jürg Hutzli, Jaeyoung Jeon, Itamar Kislev, Ndikho Mtshiselwa, Dany Noquet, Katharina Pyschny, Thomas Römer, and Konrad Schmid.
(the pdf is only the cover picture)
Jaeyoung Jeon examines and assesses recently suggested mod... more (the pdf is only the cover picture)
Jaeyoung Jeon examines and assesses recently suggested models for the formation of the Pentateuch through a redactional-critical analysis of the Call of Moses (Exod. 3-4) and the Exodus story (Exod. 5-13). He observes that Exod. 3-4 was formed through a series of stages of Deuteronomistic composition and redaction, to which some post-Priestly additions were made. Comparative analysis suggests that the elements of Deuteronomistic formation precede P and that the direction of influence is from the non-P narrative (Exod. 3-4) to the P call narrative (Exod. 6). Jeon also shows that although some of the literary layers in Exod. 3-4 extend through the Exodus story (Exod. 5-13), the present form of the latter has been shaped by a post-Deuteronomistic but pre-Priestly composition based on an earlier proto-Exodus story. He therefore concludes that the Pentateuch or Hexateuch might be the product of a more complicated process of development than the current models describe.
The Non-Priestly Ohel Moed Post-exilic scribes challenged priestly authority by supplementing the... more The Non-Priestly Ohel Moed Post-exilic scribes challenged priestly authority by supplementing the Tabernacle texts with a second Ohel Moed, Tent of Meeting, where Moses appoints the 70 elders.
This paper examines how the Chronicler treats the Pentateuchal tradition of the priestly Tent of ... more This paper examines how the Chronicler treats the Pentateuchal tradition of the priestly Tent of Meeting. The Chronicler consistently mentions the Tent of Meeting, but its cultic significance is reduced and put in an inverse relationship to the Davidic cultic system in Jerusalem. Such ambivalent treatment of the Tent of Meeting in Chronicles can be understood in the socio-historical context of the Persian period, especially within the Levites’ ideological struggle against the dominant, Zadokite priestly group.
The Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 81 (2021): 10-39 (Korean)
This essay aims to prove the problematic literary block of Exodus 32:26-29, which describes puni... more This essay aims to prove the problematic literary block of Exodus 32:26-29, which describes punishment of the people by the Levites and their consecration, is a late insertion by a Levite scribe or scribal circle. Several features of the present passage support this thesis. In terms of a pentateuchal stratigraphy, the present passage can be dated later than the late Priestly redaction about the Levites in Numbers, namely, almost at the last stage of the formation of the Pentateuch in the mid-/late-Persian period. The passage’s origin and sociohistorical context should thus be traced in that period. The present passage describes the Levites as violent punishers who execute genocide of three thousand Israelites without having mercy. Such a violent image of the Levites has probably been originated from the roles of the Levite temple guards (1 Chr 9; 26) in the Second Temple of Jerusalem and their expanded function as a religious police force in the city (Neh 13:22). Those Levites are described as an armed organization recognized by the Persian authority, which used their force against their own people to protect the moral and ritual purity of the temple and the city. Our passage also provides an alternative etiology of the consecrated Levites as a polemical response, especially to the scribal works from priestly circles, such as Numbers 3-4, 16-18 and Ezekiel 44:10-14, that diminish the status of the non-priestly Levites. In our passage, the Levites remove the sin of idolatry caused by Aaron and gain moral superiority over the latter. Some peculiar lexical features of our passage such as “the gate (r[;v;) of the camp” (Exod 32:26-27) and a non-priestly “consecration(dy alm)” is shared by another pro-Levitical text Chronicles (1 Chr 29:5; 2 Chr 29:31). The strong pro-Levitical stance as well as conceptual and linguistic affinities to Chronicles indicate a Levitical redaction of the present text.
This essay endeavors to provide the possible sociohistorical contexts of the non-priestly layers ... more This essay endeavors to provide the possible sociohistorical contexts of the non-priestly layers of the scout narrative in Num 13-14. I suggest that the scout motif in these chapters is a literary invention that belongs to a later compositional stage during the Persian period. The scouts' mission took them as far as the Valley of Eshcol, which marks the southern border of Yehud, probably created by the demographic division in the fifth century BCE. The scout narrative can be read as an explanation of the situation at that time, that is, to explain why Judah had lost the land south of the valley. The passages relating to Caleb and Hebron were added even later to the scout story probably as a territorial claim for the Hebron area in the time when the Persian Empire was making the border adjustment in the late fifth or early fourth century BCE. The narrative of the scouts in Num 13-14 has been recognized as a pivotal narrative in the book of Numbers, as well as in the wilderness story of the Penta-teuch. According to the narrative, the scouts dispatched by Moses brought a discouraging report, and the people of Israel claimed they would rather return to Egypt than wage war against the strong people in the land of Canaan. The reaction of the people incurs divine wrath, which results in the demise of the exodus generation and the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The narrative concludes with the Israelites' abortive conquest of, and defeat by, the Amalekites and the Canaanites, who quite easily chase them back to Hormah. The Israelites' initial attempt at conquest, from the south, failed; they had to make a detour around the Transjordanian area. The story therefore serves as a critical juncture in the literary structure of the wilderness story by providing a justification for the detour and the conquest from the east. The story's indispensable structural function has been recognized by different biblical authors. The priestly and nonpriestly authors produced their own versions in Num 13-14, 1 while a parallel story is found in Deut 1 In this article I use "priestly" with the lowercase p rather than "Priestly" with a capital P for the P texts after the Sinai pericope. I agree with the recent tendency in Pentateuch study to JBL 139, no. 2 (2020): 255-274 https://doi.
The pillar of cloud and fire, the most popular motif symbolizing the divine guidance in the wilde... more The pillar of cloud and fire, the most popular motif symbolizing the divine guidance in the wilderness, represents the last stage in the gradual development of the guidance motif. The development of the various “guiding agents” can be aligned as follows: (1) Hobab, son of Reuel (Num 10,31); (2) the Ark and cloud (Num 10,33-34); (3) the cloud and fire on the Tabernacle (Exod 40,36-38; Num 9,15-23; 10,11); (4) YHWH in cloud and fire (Deut 1,33); (5) YHWH in the pillar of cloud and fire (Exod 13,21-22).
Abstract:
This article argues that the enigmatic scene of Moses’ raised hands supported by Aaron... more Abstract: This article argues that the enigmatic scene of Moses’ raised hands supported by Aaron and Hur, the central scene of the battle with Amalek (Ex 17.8-16), has been formulated under the influence of Egyptian iconography. By combining popular, canonical iconographic motifs, the biblical author depicts Moses as one equivalent to the Pharaoh or an Egyptian god. The biblical account reflects an influence from the Diaspora in Egypt and represents a pro-Egyptian voice.
Résumé: Cet article propose que la scène centrale de la bataille avec Amalec (Ex 17,8-16) au cours de laquelle les mains levées de Moïse sont soutenues par Aaron et Hour est influencée par l’iconographie égyptienne. En combinant des motifs iconographiques populaires et canoniques, l’auteur de la Bible présente Moïse comme équivalent du pharaon ou d’un dieu égyptien. Le récit biblique reflète l’influence de la diaspora égyptienne et se révèle pro-égyptien.
In this book, Jaeyoung Jeon traces the development of the pentateuchal wilderness story in Exodus... more In this book, Jaeyoung Jeon traces the development of the pentateuchal wilderness story in Exodus and Numbers from its pre-monarchic origin to the formation of the final form. He argues that old memories of YHWH from the southern desert area and the move of the Transjordanian settlers to the west were merged with the memory of Egyptian oppression and that they formed together an early tradition of exodus-wilderness in the Northern Kingdom. Although the tradition further developed in Judah after the fall of Israel, the author argues that the major parts of the narrative story were creatively reinterpreted, reformulated, and composed during the Persian period in the socio-historical contexts of the return from the exile and restoration. He suggests that diverse scribal circles representing different social, political, and religious positions in Yehud and the diaspora participated in its literary formation, resulting in the wilderness narrative as a collection of scribal debates.
A reexamination of the Pentateuch in light of the complex social, religious, and political confli... more A reexamination of the Pentateuch in light of the complex social, religious, and political conflicts of the Persian period
During the last several decades, scholars in pentateuchal studies have suggested new compositional models to replace the Documentary Hypothesis, yet no consensus has emerged. The ten essays in this collection advance the discussion by shifting the focus of pentateuchal studies from the literary stratification of different layers of the texts to the social, economic, religious, and political agendas behind them. Rather than limiting the focus of their studies to scribal and community groups within Persian Yehud, contributors look beyond Yehud to other Judahite communities in the diaspora, including Elephantine and the Samaritan community, establishing a proper academic context for setting the diverse voices of the Pentateuch as we now understand them. Contributors include Olivier Artus, Thomas B. Dozeman, Innocent Himbaza, Jürg Hutzli, Jaeyoung Jeon, Itamar Kislev, Ndikho Mtshiselwa, Dany Noquet, Katharina Pyschny, Thomas Römer, and Konrad Schmid.
(the pdf is only the cover picture)
Jaeyoung Jeon examines and assesses recently suggested mod... more (the pdf is only the cover picture)
Jaeyoung Jeon examines and assesses recently suggested models for the formation of the Pentateuch through a redactional-critical analysis of the Call of Moses (Exod. 3-4) and the Exodus story (Exod. 5-13). He observes that Exod. 3-4 was formed through a series of stages of Deuteronomistic composition and redaction, to which some post-Priestly additions were made. Comparative analysis suggests that the elements of Deuteronomistic formation precede P and that the direction of influence is from the non-P narrative (Exod. 3-4) to the P call narrative (Exod. 6). Jeon also shows that although some of the literary layers in Exod. 3-4 extend through the Exodus story (Exod. 5-13), the present form of the latter has been shaped by a post-Deuteronomistic but pre-Priestly composition based on an earlier proto-Exodus story. He therefore concludes that the Pentateuch or Hexateuch might be the product of a more complicated process of development than the current models describe.
The Non-Priestly Ohel Moed Post-exilic scribes challenged priestly authority by supplementing the... more The Non-Priestly Ohel Moed Post-exilic scribes challenged priestly authority by supplementing the Tabernacle texts with a second Ohel Moed, Tent of Meeting, where Moses appoints the 70 elders.
This paper examines how the Chronicler treats the Pentateuchal tradition of the priestly Tent of ... more This paper examines how the Chronicler treats the Pentateuchal tradition of the priestly Tent of Meeting. The Chronicler consistently mentions the Tent of Meeting, but its cultic significance is reduced and put in an inverse relationship to the Davidic cultic system in Jerusalem. Such ambivalent treatment of the Tent of Meeting in Chronicles can be understood in the socio-historical context of the Persian period, especially within the Levites’ ideological struggle against the dominant, Zadokite priestly group.
The Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 81 (2021): 10-39 (Korean)
This essay aims to prove the problematic literary block of Exodus 32:26-29, which describes puni... more This essay aims to prove the problematic literary block of Exodus 32:26-29, which describes punishment of the people by the Levites and their consecration, is a late insertion by a Levite scribe or scribal circle. Several features of the present passage support this thesis. In terms of a pentateuchal stratigraphy, the present passage can be dated later than the late Priestly redaction about the Levites in Numbers, namely, almost at the last stage of the formation of the Pentateuch in the mid-/late-Persian period. The passage’s origin and sociohistorical context should thus be traced in that period. The present passage describes the Levites as violent punishers who execute genocide of three thousand Israelites without having mercy. Such a violent image of the Levites has probably been originated from the roles of the Levite temple guards (1 Chr 9; 26) in the Second Temple of Jerusalem and their expanded function as a religious police force in the city (Neh 13:22). Those Levites are described as an armed organization recognized by the Persian authority, which used their force against their own people to protect the moral and ritual purity of the temple and the city. Our passage also provides an alternative etiology of the consecrated Levites as a polemical response, especially to the scribal works from priestly circles, such as Numbers 3-4, 16-18 and Ezekiel 44:10-14, that diminish the status of the non-priestly Levites. In our passage, the Levites remove the sin of idolatry caused by Aaron and gain moral superiority over the latter. Some peculiar lexical features of our passage such as “the gate (r[;v;) of the camp” (Exod 32:26-27) and a non-priestly “consecration(dy alm)” is shared by another pro-Levitical text Chronicles (1 Chr 29:5; 2 Chr 29:31). The strong pro-Levitical stance as well as conceptual and linguistic affinities to Chronicles indicate a Levitical redaction of the present text.
This essay endeavors to provide the possible sociohistorical contexts of the non-priestly layers ... more This essay endeavors to provide the possible sociohistorical contexts of the non-priestly layers of the scout narrative in Num 13-14. I suggest that the scout motif in these chapters is a literary invention that belongs to a later compositional stage during the Persian period. The scouts' mission took them as far as the Valley of Eshcol, which marks the southern border of Yehud, probably created by the demographic division in the fifth century BCE. The scout narrative can be read as an explanation of the situation at that time, that is, to explain why Judah had lost the land south of the valley. The passages relating to Caleb and Hebron were added even later to the scout story probably as a territorial claim for the Hebron area in the time when the Persian Empire was making the border adjustment in the late fifth or early fourth century BCE. The narrative of the scouts in Num 13-14 has been recognized as a pivotal narrative in the book of Numbers, as well as in the wilderness story of the Penta-teuch. According to the narrative, the scouts dispatched by Moses brought a discouraging report, and the people of Israel claimed they would rather return to Egypt than wage war against the strong people in the land of Canaan. The reaction of the people incurs divine wrath, which results in the demise of the exodus generation and the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The narrative concludes with the Israelites' abortive conquest of, and defeat by, the Amalekites and the Canaanites, who quite easily chase them back to Hormah. The Israelites' initial attempt at conquest, from the south, failed; they had to make a detour around the Transjordanian area. The story therefore serves as a critical juncture in the literary structure of the wilderness story by providing a justification for the detour and the conquest from the east. The story's indispensable structural function has been recognized by different biblical authors. The priestly and nonpriestly authors produced their own versions in Num 13-14, 1 while a parallel story is found in Deut 1 In this article I use "priestly" with the lowercase p rather than "Priestly" with a capital P for the P texts after the Sinai pericope. I agree with the recent tendency in Pentateuch study to JBL 139, no. 2 (2020): 255-274 https://doi.
The pillar of cloud and fire, the most popular motif symbolizing the divine guidance in the wilde... more The pillar of cloud and fire, the most popular motif symbolizing the divine guidance in the wilderness, represents the last stage in the gradual development of the guidance motif. The development of the various “guiding agents” can be aligned as follows: (1) Hobab, son of Reuel (Num 10,31); (2) the Ark and cloud (Num 10,33-34); (3) the cloud and fire on the Tabernacle (Exod 40,36-38; Num 9,15-23; 10,11); (4) YHWH in cloud and fire (Deut 1,33); (5) YHWH in the pillar of cloud and fire (Exod 13,21-22).
Abstract:
This article argues that the enigmatic scene of Moses’ raised hands supported by Aaron... more Abstract: This article argues that the enigmatic scene of Moses’ raised hands supported by Aaron and Hur, the central scene of the battle with Amalek (Ex 17.8-16), has been formulated under the influence of Egyptian iconography. By combining popular, canonical iconographic motifs, the biblical author depicts Moses as one equivalent to the Pharaoh or an Egyptian god. The biblical account reflects an influence from the Diaspora in Egypt and represents a pro-Egyptian voice.
Résumé: Cet article propose que la scène centrale de la bataille avec Amalec (Ex 17,8-16) au cours de laquelle les mains levées de Moïse sont soutenues par Aaron et Hour est influencée par l’iconographie égyptienne. En combinant des motifs iconographiques populaires et canoniques, l’auteur de la Bible présente Moïse comme équivalent du pharaon ou d’un dieu égyptien. Le récit biblique reflète l’influence de la diaspora égyptienne et se révèle pro-égyptien.
This is an article published in a Korean journal. Its english title is: "Is there P in the Book o... more This is an article published in a Korean journal. Its english title is: "Is there P in the Book of Numbers?"
While Pentateuchal scholars increasingly support the ending of P in the Sinai narrative, there ar... more While Pentateuchal scholars increasingly support the ending of P in the Sinai narrative, there are still attempts to defend the classical Nothian model of P that ends in the plain of Moab. The major argument of the latter is that the land-promise motif persists through the end of the P material. A close observation of the alleged »Priestly« text reveals the otherwise. The most innovative aspect of the pivotal P text in Exodus 6 is to combine the land-promises to the Patriarchs and to the exodus generation, providing a continuity from Genesis to Exodus. In the alleged P text in Numbers, however, the land-promise is always for the exodus generation; the Patriarchal promise is never mentioned. This phenomenon is not coincidental, considering that those texts directly deal with the occupation and distribution of the promised land (Num 13–14; 20; 27; 34; 36). Such a literary difference between P and the alleged P in Numbers reflects different socio-religious agenda of the different generations of priestly scribal circle.
review article on J. Jeon (ed.), The Social Groups behind the Pentateuch, AIL 44, 2021, will be p... more review article on J. Jeon (ed.), The Social Groups behind the Pentateuch, AIL 44, 2021, will be publ. in: Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte (ZAR) 28, 2022
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Books by Jaeyoung Jeon
During the last several decades, scholars in pentateuchal studies have suggested new compositional models to replace the Documentary Hypothesis, yet no consensus has emerged. The ten essays in this collection advance the discussion by shifting the focus of pentateuchal studies from the literary stratification of different layers of the texts to the social, economic, religious, and political agendas behind them. Rather than limiting the focus of their studies to scribal and community groups within Persian Yehud, contributors look beyond Yehud to other Judahite communities in the diaspora, including Elephantine and the Samaritan community, establishing a proper academic context for setting the diverse voices of the Pentateuch as we now understand them. Contributors include Olivier Artus, Thomas B. Dozeman, Innocent Himbaza, Jürg Hutzli, Jaeyoung Jeon, Itamar Kislev, Ndikho Mtshiselwa, Dany Noquet, Katharina Pyschny, Thomas Römer, and Konrad Schmid.
Jaeyoung Jeon examines and assesses recently suggested models for the formation of the Pentateuch through a redactional-critical analysis of the Call of Moses (Exod. 3-4) and the Exodus story (Exod. 5-13). He observes that Exod. 3-4 was formed through a series of stages of Deuteronomistic composition and redaction, to which some post-Priestly additions were made. Comparative analysis suggests that the elements of Deuteronomistic formation precede P and that the direction of influence is from the non-P narrative (Exod. 3-4) to the P call narrative (Exod. 6). Jeon also shows that although some of the literary layers in Exod. 3-4 extend through the Exodus story (Exod. 5-13), the present form of the latter has been shaped by a post-Deuteronomistic but pre-Priestly composition based on an earlier proto-Exodus story. He therefore concludes that the Pentateuch or Hexateuch might be the product of a more complicated process of development than the current models describe.
Papers by Jaeyoung Jeon
The present passage describes the Levites as violent punishers who execute genocide of three thousand Israelites without having mercy. Such a violent image of the Levites has probably been originated from the roles of the Levite temple guards (1 Chr 9; 26) in the Second Temple of Jerusalem and their expanded function as a religious police force in the city (Neh 13:22). Those Levites are described as an armed organization recognized by the Persian authority, which used their force against their own people to protect the moral and ritual purity of the temple and the city. Our passage also provides an alternative etiology of the consecrated Levites as a polemical response, especially to the scribal works from priestly circles, such as Numbers 3-4, 16-18 and Ezekiel 44:10-14, that diminish the status of the non-priestly Levites. In our passage, the Levites remove the sin of idolatry caused by Aaron and gain moral superiority over the latter.
Some peculiar lexical features of our passage such as “the gate (r[;v;) of the camp” (Exod 32:26-27) and a non-priestly “consecration(dy alm)” is shared by another pro-Levitical text Chronicles (1 Chr 29:5; 2 Chr 29:31). The strong pro-Levitical stance as well as conceptual and linguistic affinities to Chronicles indicate a Levitical redaction of the present text.
This article argues that the enigmatic scene of Moses’ raised hands supported by Aaron and Hur, the central scene of the battle with Amalek (Ex 17.8-16), has been formulated under the influence of Egyptian iconography. By combining popular, canonical iconographic motifs, the biblical author depicts Moses as one equivalent to the Pharaoh or
an Egyptian god. The biblical account reflects an influence from the Diaspora in Egypt and represents a pro-Egyptian voice.
Résumé:
Cet article propose que la scène centrale de la bataille avec Amalec (Ex 17,8-16) au cours de laquelle les mains levées de Moïse sont soutenues par Aaron et Hour est influencée par l’iconographie égyptienne. En combinant des motifs iconographiques populaires et canoniques, l’auteur de la Bible présente Moïse comme équivalent du pharaon ou
d’un dieu égyptien. Le récit biblique reflète l’influence de la diaspora égyptienne et se révèle pro-égyptien.
During the last several decades, scholars in pentateuchal studies have suggested new compositional models to replace the Documentary Hypothesis, yet no consensus has emerged. The ten essays in this collection advance the discussion by shifting the focus of pentateuchal studies from the literary stratification of different layers of the texts to the social, economic, religious, and political agendas behind them. Rather than limiting the focus of their studies to scribal and community groups within Persian Yehud, contributors look beyond Yehud to other Judahite communities in the diaspora, including Elephantine and the Samaritan community, establishing a proper academic context for setting the diverse voices of the Pentateuch as we now understand them. Contributors include Olivier Artus, Thomas B. Dozeman, Innocent Himbaza, Jürg Hutzli, Jaeyoung Jeon, Itamar Kislev, Ndikho Mtshiselwa, Dany Noquet, Katharina Pyschny, Thomas Römer, and Konrad Schmid.
Jaeyoung Jeon examines and assesses recently suggested models for the formation of the Pentateuch through a redactional-critical analysis of the Call of Moses (Exod. 3-4) and the Exodus story (Exod. 5-13). He observes that Exod. 3-4 was formed through a series of stages of Deuteronomistic composition and redaction, to which some post-Priestly additions were made. Comparative analysis suggests that the elements of Deuteronomistic formation precede P and that the direction of influence is from the non-P narrative (Exod. 3-4) to the P call narrative (Exod. 6). Jeon also shows that although some of the literary layers in Exod. 3-4 extend through the Exodus story (Exod. 5-13), the present form of the latter has been shaped by a post-Deuteronomistic but pre-Priestly composition based on an earlier proto-Exodus story. He therefore concludes that the Pentateuch or Hexateuch might be the product of a more complicated process of development than the current models describe.
The present passage describes the Levites as violent punishers who execute genocide of three thousand Israelites without having mercy. Such a violent image of the Levites has probably been originated from the roles of the Levite temple guards (1 Chr 9; 26) in the Second Temple of Jerusalem and their expanded function as a religious police force in the city (Neh 13:22). Those Levites are described as an armed organization recognized by the Persian authority, which used their force against their own people to protect the moral and ritual purity of the temple and the city. Our passage also provides an alternative etiology of the consecrated Levites as a polemical response, especially to the scribal works from priestly circles, such as Numbers 3-4, 16-18 and Ezekiel 44:10-14, that diminish the status of the non-priestly Levites. In our passage, the Levites remove the sin of idolatry caused by Aaron and gain moral superiority over the latter.
Some peculiar lexical features of our passage such as “the gate (r[;v;) of the camp” (Exod 32:26-27) and a non-priestly “consecration(dy alm)” is shared by another pro-Levitical text Chronicles (1 Chr 29:5; 2 Chr 29:31). The strong pro-Levitical stance as well as conceptual and linguistic affinities to Chronicles indicate a Levitical redaction of the present text.
This article argues that the enigmatic scene of Moses’ raised hands supported by Aaron and Hur, the central scene of the battle with Amalek (Ex 17.8-16), has been formulated under the influence of Egyptian iconography. By combining popular, canonical iconographic motifs, the biblical author depicts Moses as one equivalent to the Pharaoh or
an Egyptian god. The biblical account reflects an influence from the Diaspora in Egypt and represents a pro-Egyptian voice.
Résumé:
Cet article propose que la scène centrale de la bataille avec Amalec (Ex 17,8-16) au cours de laquelle les mains levées de Moïse sont soutenues par Aaron et Hour est influencée par l’iconographie égyptienne. En combinant des motifs iconographiques populaires et canoniques, l’auteur de la Bible présente Moïse comme équivalent du pharaon ou
d’un dieu égyptien. Le récit biblique reflète l’influence de la diaspora égyptienne et se révèle pro-égyptien.
land-promise motif persists through the end of the P material. A close observation of the alleged »Priestly« text reveals the otherwise. The most innovative aspect of
the pivotal P text in Exodus 6 is to combine the land-promises to the Patriarchs and to the exodus generation, providing a continuity from Genesis to Exodus. In the alleged P text in Numbers, however, the land-promise is always for the exodus generation; the Patriarchal promise is never mentioned. This phenomenon is not coincidental, considering that those texts directly deal with the occupation and distribution of the promised land (Num 13–14; 20; 27; 34; 36). Such a literary difference between P and the alleged P in Numbers reflects different socio-religious agenda of the different generations of priestly scribal circle.