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Introduction to the Old Testament

J >> John Edgar McFadyen >> Introduction to the Old Testament




J is the most picturesque and fascinating of all the sources-attractive
alike for its fine poetic power and its profound religious insight.
This is the source which describes the wooing of Isaac's bride (xxiv.),
and the meeting of Jacob and Rachel at the well, xxix. 2-14; in this
source, too, which appears to be the most primitive of all, there are
speaking animals--the serpent, e.g., in Genesis iii. (and the ass in
Num. xxii. 28). The story of the origin of sin, in every respect a
masterpiece, is told by J; we do not know whether to admire more the
ease with which Jehovah, like a skilful judge, by a few penetrating
questions drives the guilty pair to an involuntary confession, or
the fidelity with which the whole immortal scene reflects the eternal
facts of human nature. The religious teaching of J is extraordinarily
powerful and impressive, all the more that it is never directly
didactic; it shines through the simple and unstudied recital of
concrete incident.

It is one of the most delicate and not the least important tasks of
criticism to discover by analysis even the sources which lie so
close to each other as J and E, for the literary efforts represented
by these documents are but the reflection of religious movements.
They testify to the affection which the people cherished for the
story of their past; and when we have arranged them in chronological
order, they enable us further, as we have seen, to trace the
progress of moral and religious ideas. But, for several reasons, it
is not unfair, and, from the beginner's point of view, it is perhaps
even advisable, to treat these documents together as a unity:
_firstly_, because they were actually combined, probably in the
seventh century, into a unity (JE), and sometimes, as in the Joseph
story, so skilfully that it is very difficult to distinguish the
component parts and assign them to their proper documentary source;
_secondly_, because, for a reason to be afterwards stated,
beyond Ex. iii. the analysis is usually supremely difficult; and,
_lastly_, because in language and spirit, the prophetic
documents are very like each other and altogether unlike the
priestly document. For practical purposes, then, the broad
distinction into prophetic and priestly will generally be
sufficient. Wherever the narrative is graphic, powerful, and
interesting, we may be sure that it is prophetic,[1] whereas the
priestly document is easily recognizable by its ritual interests,
and by its formal, diffuse, and legal style.
[Footnote 1: If inconsistencies, contradictions or duplicates appear
in the section which is clearly prophetic, the student may be
practically certain that these are to be referred to the two
prophetic sources. Cf. the two derivations of the name of Joseph in
consecutive verses whose source is at once obvious: "_God_
(Elohim) has taken away my reproach" (E); and "_Jehovah_ adds
to me another son" (J), Gen. xxx. 23, 24. Cf. also the illustrations
adduced on pp. 13, 14.]

The documents already discussed constitute the chief sources of the
book of Genesis; but there are occasional fragments which do not
seem originally to have belonged to any of them. There were also
collections of poetry, such as the Book of Jashar (cf. Josh. x. 13;
2 Sam. i. 18), at the disposal of those who wrote or compiled the
documents, and to such a collection the parting words of Jacob may
have belonged (xlix.). The poem is in reality a characterization of
the various _tribes; v_. 15, and still more plainly _vv_.
23, 24, look back upon historical events. The reference to Levi,
_vv_. 5-7, which takes no account of the priestly prerogatives
of that tribe, shows that the poem is early (cf. xxxiv. 25); but the
description of the prosperity of Joseph (i.e. Ephraim and Manasseh),
_vv_. 22-26, and the pre-eminence of Judah, _vv_. 8-12,
bring it far below patriarchal times--at least into the period of
the Judges. If _vv_. 8-12 is an allusion to the triumphs of
David and _vv_. 22-26 to northern Israel, the poem as a whole,
which can hardly be later than Solomon's time--for it celebrates
Israel and Judah equally--could not be earlier than David's; but
probably the various utterances concerning the different tribes
arose at different times.

The religious interest of Genesis is very high, the more so as
almost every stage of religious reflection is represented in it,
from the most primitive to the most mature. Through the ancient
stories there gleam now and then flashes from a mythological
background, as in the intermarriage of angels with mortal women, vi.
1-4, or in the struggle of the mighty Jacob, who could roll away the
great stone from the mouth of the well, xxix. 2, 10, with his
supernatural visitant, xxxii. 24. It is a long step from the second
creation story in which God, like a potter, fashions men out of
moist earth, ii. 7, and walks in the garden of Paradise in the cool
of the day, iii. 8, to the first, with its sublime silence on the
mysterious processes of creation (i.). But the whole book, and
especially the prophetic section, is dominated by a splendid sense
of the reality of God, His interest in men, His horror of sin, His
purpose to redeem. Broadly speaking, the religion of the book stands
upon a marvellously high moral level. It is touched with humility-its
heroes know that they are "not worth of all the love and the faithfulness"
which God shows them, xxxii. 10; and it is marked by a true inwardness-for
it is not works but implicit trust in God that counts for righteousness,
xv. 16. Yet in practical ways, too, this religion finds expression in
national and individual life; it protests vehemently against human
sacrifice (xxii.), and it strengthens a lonely youth in an hour of
terrible temptation, xxxix.
9.




EXODUS


The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of
Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different
from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel
is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in
Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption.
Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates
largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a
deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, early training, and fearless love
of justice mark him out as the coming man (ii.). In the solitude and
depression of the desert, he is encouraged by the sight of a bush,
burning yet unconsumed, and sent forth with a new vision of God[1]
upon his great and perilous task (iii.). Though thus divinely
equipped, he hesitated, and God gave him a helper in Aaron his
brother (iv.). Then begins the Titanic struggle between Moses and
Pharaoh--Moses the champion of justice, Pharaoh the incarnation of
might (v.). Blow after blow falls from Israel's God upon the
obstinate king of Egypt and his unhappy land: the water of the Nile
is turned into blood (vii.), there are plagues of frogs, gnats,
gadflies (viii.), murrain, boils, hail (ix.), locusts, darkness
(x.), and--last and most terrible of all--the smiting of the first-born,
an event in connexion with which the passover was instituted. Then
Pharaoh yielded. Israel went forth; and the festival of unleavened
bread was ordained for a perpetual memorial (xi., xii.); also the
first-born of man and beast was consecrated, xiii. 1-16.
[Footnote 1: The story of the revelation of Israel's God under His
new name, Jehovah, is told twice (in ch. iii. and ch. vi.).]

Israel's troubles, however, were not yet over. Their departing
host was pursued by the impenitent Pharaoh, but miraculously delivered
at the Red Sea, in which the Egyptian horses and horsemen were
overwhelmed, xiii. l7-xiv. The deliverance was celebrated in a
splendid song of triumph, xv. 1-21. Then they began their journey
to Sinai--a journey which revealed alike the faithlessness and
discontent of their hearts, and the omnipotent and patient bounty
of their God, manifested in delivering them from the perils of
hunger, thirst and war, xv. 22-xvii. 16. On the advice of Jethro,
Moses' father-in-law, God-fearing men were appointed to decide for
the people on all matters of lesser moment, while the graver cases
were still reserved for Moses (xviii.)[1]The arrival at Sinai
marked a crisis; for it was there that the epoch-making covenant
was made--Jehovah promising to continue His grace to the people,
and they, on their part, pledging themselves to obedience. Thunder
and lightning and dark storm-clouds accompanied the proclamation
of the ten commandments,[2] which represented the claims made by
Jehovah upon the people whom He had redeemed, xix.-xx. 22. Connected
with these claims are certain statutes, partly of a religious but
much more of a civil nature, which Moses is enjoined to lay upon the
people, and obedience to which is to be rewarded by prosperity and
a safe arrival at the promised land, xx. 23-xxiii. 33. This section
is known as the Book of the Covenant, xxiv. 7. The people unitedly
promised implicit obedience to the terms of this covenant, which was
then sealed with the blood of sacrifice. After six days of
preparation, Moses ascended the mountain in obedience to the voice
of Jehovah (xxiv.).
[Footnote 1: This chapter is apparently misplaced. In Deut. i. 9-18
the incident is set just before the _departure from_ Sinai (cf.
i. 19). It may therefore originally have stood after Ex. xxxiv. 9 or
before Num. x. 29.]
[Footnote 2: Or rather, the ten words. In another source, the
commands are given differently, and are ritual rather than moral,
xxxiv. 10-28 (J).]

At this point the story takes on a distinctly priestly complexion,
and interest is transferred from the fortunes of the people to the
construction of the sanctuary, for which the most minute directions
are given (xxv.-xxxi.), concerning the tabernacle with all its
furniture, the ark, the table for the shewbread, the golden
candlestick (xxv.), the four-fold covering for the tabernacle, the
wood-work, the veil between the holy and the most holy place, the
curtain for the door (xxvi.), the altar, the court round about the
tabernacle, the oil for the light (xxvii.), the sacred vestments for
the high priest and the other priests (xxviii.), the manner of
consecration of the priests, the priestly dues, the atonement for
the altar, the morning and evening offering (xxix.), the altar of
incense, the poll-tax, the laver, the holy oil, the incense (xxx.),
the names and divine equipment of the overseers of the work of
constructing the tabernacle, the sanctity of the Sabbath as a sign
of the covenant (xxxi.).

After this priestly digression, the thread of the story is resumed.
During the absence of Moses upon the mount, the people imperilled
their covenant relationship with their God by worshipping Him in the
form of a calf; but, on the very earnest intercession of Moses they
were forgiven, and there was given to him the special revelation
of Jehovah as a God of forgiving pity and abounding grace. In the
tent to which the people regularly resorted to learn the divine will,
God was wont to speak to Moses face to face, xxxii. 1-xxxiv. 9.
Then follows the other version of the decalogue already referred
to--ritual rather than moral, xxxiv. l0-28--and an account of the
transfiguration of Moses, as he laid Jehovah's commands upon the
people, xxxiv. 29-35. From this point to the end of the book the
atmosphere is again unmistakably priestly. Chs. xxxv.-xxxix,
beginning with the Sabbath law, assert with a profusion of detail
that the instructions given in xxv.-xxxi. were carried out to the
letter. Then the tabernacle was set up on New Year's day, the divine
glory filled it, and the subsequent movements of the people were
guided by cloud and fire (xl.).

The unity of Exodus is not quite so impressive as that of Genesis.
This is due to the different proportion in which the sources are
blended, P playing a much more conspicuous part here than there.
Without hesitation, more than one-fourth of the book may be at once
relegated to this source: viz. xxv.-xxxi., which describe the
tabernacle to be erected with all that pertained to it, and xxxv.-xl.,
which relate that the instructions there given were fully carried out.
The minuteness, the formality and monotony of style which we noticed
in Genesis reappear here; but the real spirit of P, its devotion to
everything connected with the sanctuary and worship, is much more
obvious here than there. This document is also fairly prominent in
the first half of the book, and its presence is usually easy to detect.
The section, e.g., on the institution of the passover and the festival
of unleavened bread, xi. 9-xii. 20, is easily recognized as belonging
to this source. Of very great importance is the passage, vi. 2-13,
which describes the revelation given to Moses, asserting that the
fathers knew the God of Israel only by the name El Shaddai, while the
name of Jehovah, which was then revealed to Moses for the first time,
was unknown to them. The succeeding genealogy which traces the descent
of Moses and Aaron to Levi, vi. 14-30, and Aaron's commission to be
the spokesman of Moses, vii. 1-7, also come from P. This source also
gives a brief account of the oppression and the plagues, and the
prominence of Aaron the priest in the story of the latter is very
significant. In E the plagues come when _Moses_ stretches out
his hand or his rod at the command of Jehovah, ix. 22, x. 12, 21; in
P, Jehovah says to Moses, "Say unto _Aaron_, 'Stretch forth thy
hand' or 'thy rod,'" viii. 5, 16.

The story to which we have just alluded, of the revelation of the
name Jehovah, is also told in ch. iii., where it is connected with
the incident of the burning bush. Apart from the improbability of
the same document telling the same story twice, the very picturesque
setting of ch. iii, is convincing proof that we have here a section
from one of the prophetic documents, and we cannot long doubt which
it is. For while one of those documents (J), as we have seen, uses
the word Jehovah without scruple throughout the whole of Genesis,
and regards that name as known not only to Abraham, xv. 7, but even
to the antediluvians, iv. 26, the other regularly uses Elohim. This
prophetic story, then, of the revelation of the name Jehovah to
Moses, must belong to E, who deliberately avoids the name Jehovah
throughout Genesis, because he considers it unknown before the time
of Moses. This very fact, however, greatly complicates the
subsequent analysis of the prophetic documents in the Pentateuch;
because, from this point on, both are now free to use the name
Jehovah of the divine Being, and thus one of the principal clues to
the analysis practically disappears.[1] Considering the affinity of
these documents, it is therefore competent, as we have seen, to
treat them as a unity.
[Footnote 1: Naturally there are other very important and valuable
clues. e.g, the holy mount is called Sinai in J and Horeb in E.]

The proof, however, that both prophetic documents are really present
in Exodus, if not at first sight obvious or extensive, is at any
rate convincing. In one source, e.g. (J), the Israelites dwell by
themselves in a district called Goshen, viii. 22 (cf. Gen. xiv. 10);
in the other, they dwell among the Egyptians as neighbours, so that
the women can borrow jewels from them, iii. 22, and their doors have
to be marked with blood on the night of the passover to distinguish
them from the Egyptians, xii. 22. Again in J, the people number over
600,000, xii. 37; in E they are so few that they only require two
midwives, i. 15. Similar slight but significant differences may be
found elsewhere, particularly in the account of the plagues. In J,
e.g., Moses predicts the punishment that will fall if Pharaoh
refuses his request, and next day Jehovah sends it: in E, Moses
works the wonders by raising his rod. In Exodus, as in Genesis, J
reveals the divine through the natural, E rather through the
supernatural. It is an east wind, e.g., in J, as in the poem, xv.
10, that drives back the Red Sea, xiv. 21a (as it had brought the
locusts, x. 13); in E this happens on the raising of Moses' rod,
xiv. 16. Here again, as in Genesis, we find that E has taken the
first step on the way to P. For this miracle (in E) at the Red Sea,
which in J is essentially natural, and miraculous only in happening
at the critical moment, is considerably heightened in P, who relates
that the waters were a wall unto the people on the right hand and on
the left, xiv. 22.

These three great documents constitute the principal sources of the
book of Exodus; but here, as in Genesis, there are fragments that
belong to a more primitive order of ideas than that represented by
the compilers of the documents (cf. iv. 24-26); there is, besides
the two decalogues, a body of legislation, xx. 23-xxiii. 33; and
there is a poem, xv. 1-18. _The Book of the Covenant_, as it is
called, is a body of mainly civil but partly religious law,
practically independent of the narrative. The style and contents of
the code show that it is not all of a piece, but must have been of
gradual growth. The 2nd pers. sing., e.g., sometimes alternates with
the pl. in consecutive verses, xxii. 21, 22. Again, while some of
the laws state, in the briefest possible words, the official penalty
attached to a certain crime, xxi. 12, others are longer and
introduce a religious sanction, xxii. 23, 24, and a few deal
definitely with religious feasts, xxiii. 14-19, obligations, xxii.
29-31, or sanctuaries, xx. 23-26. In general, the code implies the
settled life of an agricultural and pastoral people, and the
community for which it is designed must have already attained a
certain measure of organization, as we must assume that there were
means for enacting the penalties threatened. A remarkably
humanitarian spirit pervades the code. It mitigates the lot of the
slave, it encourages a spirit of justice in social relations, and it
exhibits a fine regard for the poor and defenceless, xxii. 21-27. It
probably represents the juristic usages, or at least ideals, of the
early monarchy.

_The Song of Moses_, xv. 1-18, also appears to belong to the
monarchy. The explicit mention of Philistia, Edom and Moab in
_vv_. 14, 15 imply that the people are already settled in
Canaan, and the sanctuary in _v. 17b_ is most naturally, if not
necessarily, interpreted of the temple. The poem appears to be an
elaboration of the no doubt ancient lines:

Sing to Jehovah, for He hath triumphed gloriously;
The horse and his rider He hath thrown into the sea (xv. 21).

The religious, as opposed to the theological, interest of the book
lies entirely within the prophetic sources. Here the drama of
redemption begins in earnest, and it is worked out on a colossal
scale. From his first blow struck in the cause of justice to the day
on which, in indignation and astonishment, he destroyed the golden
calf, Moses is a figure of overwhelming moral earnestness. Few books
in the Old Testament have a higher conception of God than Exodus.
The words of the decalogue are His words, xx. 1, and the protest
against the calf-worship (xxxii.-xxxiv.) is an indirect plea for His
spirituality. But the highest heights are touched in the revelation
of Him as merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in
goodness and truth, xxxiv. 6--a revelation which lived to the latest
days and was cherished in these very words by the pious hearts of
Israel (cf. Pss. lxxxvi. 15; ciii. 8; cxi. 4; cxlv. 8).




LEVITICUS


The emphasis which modern criticism has very properly laid on the
prophetic books and the prophetic element generally in the Old
Testament, has had the effect of somewhat diverting popular
attention from the priestly contributions to the literature and
religion of Israel. From this neglect Leviticus has suffered most.
Yet for many reasons it is worthy of close attention; it is the
deliberate expression of the priestly mind of Israel at its best, and
it thus forms a welcome foil to the unattractive pictures of the
priests which confront us on the pages of the prophets during the
three centuries between Hosea and Malachi. And if we should be
inclined to deplore the excessively minute attention to ritual, and
the comparatively subordinate part played by ethical considerations
in this priestly manual, it is only fair to remember that the hymn-book
used by these scrupulous ministers of worship was the Psalter-enough
surely to show that the ethical and spiritual aspects of religion,
though not prominent, were very far from being forgotten. In xvii.-xxvi.
the ethical element receives a fine and almost surprising prominence:
the injunction to abstain from idolatry, e.g., is immediately preceded
by the injunction to reverence father and mother, xix. 3,4. Indeed,
ch. xix. is a good compendium of the ethics of ancient Israel; and,
while hardly to be compared with Job xxxi., still, in its care for the
resident alien, and in its insistence upon motives of benevolence and
humanity, it is an eloquent reminder of the moral elevation of Israel's
religion, and is peculiarly welcome in a book so largely devoted to the
externals of the cult.

The book of Leviticus illustrates the origin and growth of law.
Occasionally legislation is clothed in the form of narrative--the
law of blasphemy, e.g., xxiv. 10-23 (cf. x. 16-20)--thus suggesting
its origin in a particular historical incident (cf. I Sam. xxx. 25);
and traces of growth are numerous, notably in the differences
between the group xvii.-xxvi. and the rest of the book, and very
ancient heathen elements are still visible through the
transformations effected by the priests of Israel, as in the case of
Azazel xvi. 8,22, a demon of the wilderness, akin to the Arabic
jinns. Strictly speaking, though Leviticus is pervaded by a single
spirit, it is not quite homogeneous: the first group of laws, e.g.
(i.-vii.), expressly acknowledges different sources--certain laws
being given in the tent of meeting, i. 1, others on Mount Sinai,
vii. 38. The sections are well defined--note the subscriptions at
the end of vii. and xxvi.--and marked everywhere by the scrupulous
precision of the legal mind.

There is no trace in Leviticus of the prophetic document JE. That
the book is essentially a law book rather than a continuation of the
narrative of the Exodus is made plain by the fact that that
narrative (Ex. xl.) is not even formally resumed till ch. viii.


I. LAWS OF SACRIFICE (i.-vii.)

_(a) For worshippers_, i.-vi. 7. Laws for the burnt offering of
the herd, of the flock, and of fowls (i.). Laws for the different
kinds of cereal offerings--the use of salt compulsory, honey and
leaven prohibited (ii.). Laws for the peace-offering--the offerer
kills it, the priest sprinkles the blood on the sides of the altar
and burns the fat (iii.) For an unconscious transgression of the
law, the high priest shall offer a bullock, the community shall
offer the same, a ruler shall offer a he-goat, one of the common
people shall offer a female animal (iv.). A female animal shall be
offered for certain legal and ceremonial transgressions; the poor
may offer two turtle doves, or pigeons, or even flour, v. 1-13.
Sacred dues unintentionally withheld or the property of another man
dishonestly retained must be restored together with twenty per cent.
extra, v. 14-vi. 7.

_(b) For priests_, vi. 8-vii. 38. Laws regulating the daily
burnt offering, the cereal offering, the daily cereal offering of
the high priest, and the ordinary sin offering, vi. 8-30. Laws
regulating the guilt offering, the priests' share of the sacrifices,
the period during which the flesh of sacrifice may be eaten, the
prohibition of the eating of fat and blood (vii.).


II. THE CONSECRATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD (viii.-x.)

This section is the direct continuation of Exodus xl., which
prescribes the inauguration of Aaron and his sons into the priestly
office. Laws regulating the consecration of the high priest and the
other priests--washing, investiture, anointing, sin offering, burnt
offering, with accompanying rites (viii., cf. Exod. xxix.). The
first sacrificial service at which Aaron and his sons officiate--the
benediction being followed by the appearance of Jehovah's glory
(ix.). The first violation of the law of worship and its signal
punishment, x. 1-7. Officiating priests forbidden to use wine,
x. 8-11. Priests' share of the meal and peace offerings, x. 12-15.
An error forgiven after an adroit explanation by Aaron (law in
narrative form), x. 16-20.


III. LAWS CONCERNING THE CLEAN AND THE UNCLEAN (xi.-xvi.)

This section appropriately follows x. 10, where the priests are
enjoined to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. Laws
concerning the animals which may or may not be eaten--quadrupeds, fish,
birds, flying insects, creeping insects, reptiles--and pollution
through contact with carcasses (xi.). Laws concerning the purification
of women after childbirth (xii.). Laws for the detection of leprosy
in the human body, xiii. 1-46, and in garments, xiii. 47-59. Laws for
the purification of the leper and his re-adoption into the theocracy,
xiv. 1-32. Laws concerning houses afflicted with leprosy, xiv. 33-57.
Laws concerning purification after sexual secretions (xv.). The laws
of purification are appropriately concluded by the law for the great day
of atonement, with regulations for the ceremonial cleansing of the high
priest and his house, the sanctuary, altar, and people (xvi.). Two
originally independent sections appear to be blended in this chapter-one
(cf. _vv._ 1-4) prescribing regulations to be observed by the high
priest on every occasion on which he should enter the inner sanctuary,
the other with specific reference to the great day of atonement.

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