Original post --
Chapter 1: Torah
- E: associated with the northern kingdom
- J: associated with the southern kingdom
- E+J
- exiled to Babylon
- Hilkian and Shaphan discover a second set of scrolls; the second law that became Deuteronomy
- P (probably a priestly school) -- very, very different from the Deuteronomists
- Golah: the community of returning exiles; brought with them nine scrolls
- the beginning of the written Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings
- goyim: foreigners
597 BCE: vassal state of Judah in the highlands of Canaan breaks its vassalage treaty with Nebuchadnzezzar of Babylon -- catastrophic mistake
King Solomon's temple on Mount Zion destroyed; it had been built 970 - 930 BCE.
Exiles treated very well in Babylon.
But the "cult" was in an alien land.
Five years of exile, Ezekiel has terrifying dream.
Exiles realize they must renew they relationship with God through written word because they no longer had a shrine.
The exiles had brought a number of scrolls with them; did not consider them sacrosanct and felt at liberty to edit them. There were other written documents regarding Moses, the tablets, etc, but what the Israelis had not in the same league as other writings.
Israelis had felt they were a common people since 1200 BCE.
They had a lot of oral traditions handed down, but no master-narrative. Many tribes competed for top spot.
But by 1000 BCE, the tribal system no longer adequate.
So, Israelites formed two kingdoms, one in the south, one in the north.
Old covenant festivals replaced with royal festivals, focus on the kings.
We know more about southern kingdom of Judah (Jerusalem) than the northern kingdom.
Israelites had been influenced by neighboring royal state of Syria, and worship of Baal.
Yahweh had made unconditional covenant with King David; Israelites would rule in Jersualem forever.
Now that the old tales had been liberated from the cult, they acquired an independent, literary life.
8th century BCE: a literacy revolution throughout the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean.
Kings commissioned histories.
Homer's epics were committed to writing about this time.
From all of this, the 8th-century historians built a coherent narrative.
Southern epic of Judah, "J" because the authors always called their God "Yahweh."
Northern epic known as "E" -- the more formal title for God, Elohim.
Abraham: lived in Hebron.
His son Isaac in Beersheba;
His grandson, Jacob/Israel, eventually settled in area around Shechem.
The story of Moses, about 1250 BCE, when Egyptians liberated the Israelis.
Sea of Reeds.
Armstrong then goes into long discussion comparing "J" and "E."
Right up until 586 BCE when Nebuch. destroyed Solomon's temple, the Israelites worshipped host of dieties. [It is interesting to note that in 486 BCE -- exactly 100 years later -- the Greeks defeated the Persians, and thus the Greek classical era/golden era began.]
Abraham, a man of the south, not Moses, was the here of J's story; looked forward to King David.
E was more interested in Jacob, a northern character, and his son Joseph, who was buried in Shechem. E did not include any of the primeval story: creation, Cain and Abel, teh Flood, rebellion at Tower of Babel -- which was so important to J.
E's hero was Moses; more widely revered in the north than the south.
Neither J nor E mentioned the law that Yahweh gave to Moses on Sinai, which would become so crucial later. There was as yet no reference to the Ten Commandments.
For J and E, Sinai was important because Moses and the Elders had a vision of Yahweh on the mountaintop.
By the 8th century, a small group of prophets wanted to make the people worship Yahweh exclusively -- not a popular move.
Yahweh, a good warrior, but no experience in agriculture.
Hosea: important prophet to move this along. His wife Gomer had served as a sacred prostitute of Baal.
The big threat at this time if Israelites turned against Yahweh was Assyria.
Than Amos came along; an iconoclast.
Isaiah of Jerusalem was more conventional; his oracles conformed entirely to the royal ideology of house of David. He had received his prophetic commission in about 740 BCE in the temple, where he saw Yahweh, surrounded by his Divine Assembly of celestial beings, and heard the cherubim crying "holy, holy holy." Isaiah not afraid; he saw Yahweh as the great warrior that would save Judah from Assyria.
But the northern kingdom had no such immunity. Assyria seized most of Israel's territory. Ten years later, 722 BCE, another rebellion, the Assyrian armies destroyed Samaria, Israel's beautiful capital and deported the ruling class.
The kingdom of Judah had become an Assyrian vassal, remained secure; refugees fled to Jerusalem from the north, probably bringing with them the E saga and the recorded oracles of Hosea and Amos, who had foreseen the tragedy. These were included in Judah's royal archive where, at some later date, scribes combined the "Elohist" tradition with J's southern epic.
The dark years.
Isaiah was comforted by the imminent birth of a royal baby, a sign that God was still with the House of David.
When the baby was born, named Hezekiah -- would become a divide figure like all the Davidic kings.
Hezekiah's foreign policy a disaster.
Better und King Manasseh (687 - 642 BCE), becomes a vassal under Assyria. Reversed father's doctrine and reinstituted Baal; instituted child sacrifice. Things were better economically, but still widespread dissent in the rural regions.
Son of Manasseh, King Amon was deposed and his 8-yr-old son Josiah was placed on the throne.
By this time, Assyria on the decline, and Egypt in the ascendancy.
656 BCE: Pharaoh forced Assyrian troops to withdraw from the Levant and the Judahites watched with astonishment as the Assyrians vacated the territories of the former kingdom of Israel.
Judah took advantage: rebuilt Solomon's temple. The high priest Hilkiah found the scroll of the law, which Yahweh had given to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The new-found scrolls said that Moses in fact had put everything into writing and had read the sefer torah to the Hebrews.
Most likely, Hilkiah's documents contained an early version of the book of Deuteronomy, a second law -- delivered by Moses shortly before his death.
Deuteronomy was an entirely new scripture.
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