REL 252: Study Guide 10
Harris: ch. 8
Ex 1–15
What do you think about the story of Sargon (Pritchard)? How does it affect the way you understand the story of Moses in Ex 2.1–10, if at all? What do you make of the similarities? What is the meaning of the stories?
Did you stumble over Exod 6.2–3? Why? Cf. Gen 4.26; Exod 3.6 (What's interesting about the formulae used in reference to the deity in Exod 3.6?).
NB the egalitarian ethos of the Mosaic tradition.
How many "commandments" are there? Are they all commands? How would we know?
In the Code of Hammurabi (Pritchard), read
these samples of law: 2, 129, 142, 153, 154, 185, 192, 193,
195–214 (NB: class distinction), 250.
What differences are there between the Code of Hammurabi and the legal material in Exodus (esp. with regard to class distinction)? Note & compare the issue of social or political class distinctions in the legal materials found in the reserve readings & in the biblical materials. Also see biblical parallels (marginalia). What do the differences regarding class distinction reflect with regard to the exodus experience?
Review Ex 14.5–31, where JE & P are intertwined; cf. Gen 37.18–36 (J & E). Can you see where the seams are? Below is one proposed analysis with JE in bold type. What do you think?
Exodus 14.5–31:
5 When the king of Egypt was told that
the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed
toward the people, and they said, "What have we done, letting Israel leave
our service?"
6 So he had his chariot made ready,
and took his army with him;
7 he took six hundred picked chariots
and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh
king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly.
9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's
horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them
camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites
looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear
the Israelites cried out to the LORD.
11 They said to Moses, "Was it because
there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the
wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt?
12 Is this not the very thing we told
you in Egypt, 'Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would
have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."
13 But Moses said to the people, "Do
not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish
for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see
again.
14 The LORD will fight for you, and
you have only to keep still."
15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why do
you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
16 But you lift up your staff, and stretch
out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into
the sea on dry ground.
17 Then I will harden the hearts of the
Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory
for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot
drivers.
18 And the Egyptians shall know that I
am the LORD, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots,
and his chariot drivers."
19 The angel of God who was going before
the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud
moved from in front of them and took its place behind them.
20 It came between the army of Egypt
and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and
it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over
the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night,
and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided.
22 The Israelites went into the sea on
dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their
left.
23 The Egyptians pursued, and went into
the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.
24 At the morning watch the LORD in
the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw
the Egyptian army into panic.
25 He clogged their chariot wheels so
that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, "Let us flee from
the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."
26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch
out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians,
upon their chariots and chariot drivers."
27 So Moses stretched out his hand over
the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians
fled before it, the LORD tossed the Egyptians into the sea.
28 The waters returned and covered the
chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed
them into the sea; not one of them remained.
29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground
through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and
on their left.
30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that
day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
31 Israel saw the great work that the LORD did against the Egyptians. So the
people feared the LORD and believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
Extra stuff
If you have extra time (?!?), here's something
to research. The phrase "I am YHWH" appears in the following passages.
Note any pattern? (Remember Gen 4.26 & Ex 6.2–3.)
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Gen 15:7
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Lev 19:10
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Lev 22:33
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Isa 43:15
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Ezek 13:23
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Ezek 29:21
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Who was Moses' father in law (cf. the Kenite hypothesis)?
Hobab (source: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
<ho'-bab> (Heb: chobhabh, "beloved"; Septuagint Grk: Obab): This name occurs only twice (Nu 10:29; Jdg 4:11). It is not certain whether it denotes the father-in-law or the brother-in-law of Moses. The direct statement of Nu 10:29 is that Hobab was "the son of Reuel" (the King James Version "Raguel"). This is probably the correct view and finds support in Ex 18:27, which tells us that some time before the departure of the Israelites from Sinai, Jethro had departed and returned to his own land. The statement of Jdg 4:11 is ambiguous, and therefore does not help us out of the difficulty, but is rather itself to be interpreted in the light of the earlier statement in Nu 10:29.
Mohammedan traditions favor the view that Hobab was only another name for Jethro. But this has little weight against the statements of Scripture. However, whether father-in-law or brother-in-law to Moses, the service he rendered to the leader of the hosts of Israel was most valuable and beautiful. Hobab was an experienced sheikh of the desert whose counsel and companionship Moses desired in the unfamiliar regions through which he was to journey. His knowledge of the wilderness and of its possible dangers would enable him to be to the Israelites "instead of eyes."
The facts recorded of this man are too meager to enable us to answer all the questions that arise concerning him. A difficulty that remains unsolved is the fact that in Jdg 1:16 and 4:11 he is described as a Kenite, while in Ex 3:1 and 18:1, the father-in-law of Moses is spoken of as "the priest of Midian."
Jethro (source: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
<jeth'-ro>, <je'-thro> (Heb: yithro, "excellence," Ex 3:1; 4:18b; 18:1-12 (in 4:18a, probably a textual error, Heb: yether, "Iether," the King James Version margin, the Revised Version margin); Septuagint always Grk: Iothor): The priest of Midian and father-in-law (chothen) of Moses.
1. His Relation to Reuel and Hobab:
It is not easy to determine the relation of Jethro to Reuel and Hobab. If we identify Jethro with Reuel as in Ex 2:18; 3:1 (and in Ant, III, iii; V, ii, 3), we must connect "Moses' father-in-law" in Nu 10:29 immediately with "Reuel" (the King James Version "Raguel"), and make Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses. But while it is possible that chothen may be used in the wider sense of a wife's relative, it is nowhere translated "brother-in-law" except in Jdg :16; 4:11 ("father-in-law," the King James Version, the Revised Version margin). If we insert, as Ewald suggests (HI, II, 25), "Jethro son of" before "Reuel" in Ex 2:18 (compare the Septuagint, verse 16, where the name "Jethro" is given), we would then identify Jethro with Hobab, the son of Reuel, in Nu 10:29, taking "Moses' father-in-law" to refer back to Hobab. Against this identification, however, it is stated that Jethro went away into his own country without any effort on the part of Moses to detain him (Ex 18:27), whereas Hobab, though at first he refused to remain with the Israelites, seems to have yielded to the pleadings of Moses to become their guide to Canaan (Nu 10:29-32; Jdg 1:16, where Kittel reads "Hobab the Kenite"; 4:11). It may be noted that while the father-in-law of Moses is spoken of as a "Midianite" in Exodus, he is called a"Kenite" in Jdg 1:16; 4:11. From this Ewald infers that the Midianites were at that time intimately blended with the Amalekites, to which tribe the Kenites belonged (HI, II, 44).
2. His Hearty Reception of Moses:
When Moses fled from Egypt he found refuge in Midian, where he received a hearty welcome into the household of Jethro on account of the courtesy and kindness he had shown to the priest's 7 daughters in helping them to water their flock. This friendship resulted in Jethro giving Moses his daughter, Zipporah, to wife (Ex 2:15-21). After Moses had been for about 40 years in the service of his father-in-law, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush as he was keeping the flock at Horeb, commanding him to return to Egypt and deliver his enslaved brethren out of the hands of Pharaoh (Ex 3:1 ff). With Jethro's consent Moses left Midian to carry out the Divine commission (Ex 4:18).
3. His Visit to Moses in the Wilderness:
When tidings reached Midian of "all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel" in delivering them from Egyptian bondage, Jethro, with a natural pride in the achievements of his relative, set out on a visit to Moses, taking Zipporah and her two sons with him (Ex :1-12). On learning of his father-in-law's arrival at the "mount of God," Moses went out to meet him, and after a cordial exchange of courtesies they retired to Moses' tent, where a pleasant interview took place between them. We are told of the interest Jethro felt in all the particulars of the great deliverance, how he "rejoiced for all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel," and how the conviction was wrought within him that Yahweh was "greater than all gods; yea, in the thing wherein they dealt proudly against them" (Ex 18:11). In this condition so expressed there is evidently a reference to the element by which the Egyptians thought in their high-handed pursuit they would be able to bring back Israel into bondage, but by which they were themselves overthrown.
It is worth noting that in the religious service in which Jethro and Moses afterward engaged, when Jethro, as priest, offered a burnt offering, and Aaron with all the elders of Israel partook of the sacrificial feast, prominence was given to Jethro over Aaron, and thus a priesthood was recognized beyond the limits of Israel.
4. His Wise Counsel:
This visit of Jethro to Moses had important consequences for the future government of Israel (Ex 18:13-27). The priest of Midian became concerned about his son-in-law when he saw him occupied from morning to night in deciding the disputes that had arisen among the people. The labor this entailed, Jethro said, was far too heavy a burden for one man to bear. Moses himself would soon be worn out, and the people, too, would become weary and dissatisfied, owing to the inability of one judge to overtake all the eases that were brought before him. Jethro, therefore, urged Moses to make use of the talents of others and adopt a plan of gradation of judges who would dispose of all eases of minor importance, leaving only the most difficult for him to settle by a direct appeal to the will of God. Moses, recognizing the wisdom of his father-in-law's advice, readily acted upon his suggestion and appointed "able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens." Thereafter, Jethro returned to his own country.
5. His Character and Influence:
The story of Jethro reveals him as a man of singular attractiveness and strength, in whom a kind, considerate disposition, a deeply religious spirit, and a wise judgment all met in happy combination. And this ancient priest of Midian made Israel and all nations his debtors when he taught the distinction between the legislative and the judicial function, and the importance of securing that all law be the expression of the Divine will, and that its application be entrusted only to men of ability, piety, integrity and truth (Ex 18:21).
Reuel (source: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
<roo'-el> (Heb: re`u'el, "God is his friend"; the Septuagint Grk: Rhagouel):
(1) In the genealogical system Reuel is both a son of Esau by Basemath (Gen 36:4,10,13,17; Ch 1:35,37) and the father of the father-in-law of Moses, Hobab (Nu 10:29). In the account of the marriage of Zipporah to Moses (Ex 2:16-21) Jethro seems to be called Reuel (compare HOBAB). The various names of Jethro perplexed the Talmudists, too; some held that his real name was "Hobab," and that Reuel was his father. Reuel is probably a clan name (Gray, "Nu," ICC), and Hobab is a member of the clan ("son") of Reuel (Nu 10:29, the King James Version reads "Raguel").
(2) The father of Eliasaph, the prince of Gad (Nu 2:14), called (by some copyist's mistake) "Deuel" in Nu 1:14; 7:42,47; 10:20. The Septuagint has uniformly Rhagouel.
(3) A Benjamite (1 Ch 9:8).