Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Israelite Content in the Bible
- Part III Collaborative Politics
- Part IV Israel in History
- 15 The Power of a Name
- 16 Before Israel
- 17 Israel and Canaan in the Thirteenth to Tenth Centuries
- 18 Israel and Its Kings
- 19 Genuine (versus Invented) Tradition in the Bible
- Bibliography
- Index of Biblical Texts
- Index of Near Eastern Texts
- Subject Index
- References
16 - Before Israel
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Israelite Content in the Bible
- Part III Collaborative Politics
- Part IV Israel in History
- 15 The Power of a Name
- 16 Before Israel
- 17 Israel and Canaan in the Thirteenth to Tenth Centuries
- 18 Israel and Its Kings
- 19 Genuine (versus Invented) Tradition in the Bible
- Bibliography
- Index of Biblical Texts
- Index of Near Eastern Texts
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
According to the finished primary narrative of Genesis through Kings, Israel's origins can be told in a sequence of differentiated stages. In Genesis, the place of Israel in the larger world is defined by blood relationship to Abraham, or the lack of any such immediate genealogical connection, and the peoples of Israel are explained as tribes with common ancestry under one father, Jacob. By the invitation of Joseph, the entire family moves to Egypt during a severe famine, and this change of venue sets the stage for the second main phase of Israel's origins, a miraculous extraction from slavery to Egypt recounted in the book of Exodus. Although Yahweh offers direct entry into a Promised Land, the people are petrified by their spies’ report of giants in the land (Numbers 13–14), and this faithless generation is condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years until they are replaced by their more willing offspring. The final phase of Israel's origins involves the invasion itself, begun by a sort of accidental conquest east of the Jordan River (Numbers 21; Deuteronomy 2–3), the prelude to the real thing described in the book of Joshua. After a pair of victories at Jericho and Ai, Israel defeats the assembled kings of southern and northern centers in open field battle (Joshua 10–11), and this is the basis for apportionment of the land along tribal lines.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Legacy of Israel in Judah's BibleHistory, Politics, and the Reinscribing of Tradition, pp. 256 - 275Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012