Moses and the exodus 9/13/17 Professor Tate

Vocabulary ‘El/‘El Shadday Ba’al Golden calf Covenant (berit) Hittite Treaty Suzerain Vassal Decalogue Mitzvah (singular); mitzvot (plural)

Moses

Exodus 1:8-11 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land. Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor.

Exodus 2 Moses was crying, and [the daughter of Pharaoh] took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

Exodus 2 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Exodus 2 When Moses went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?” He answered, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Exodus 3:13-15 But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am” [or: “I will be who I will be”]. He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites: This is my name forever, and this is my title for all generations.”

Exodus 6:2-3 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord [Yhwh]. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty [El Shadday], but by my name the Lord [YHWH] I did not make myself known to them.”

‘El, the Canaanite deity

The Song of Moses Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, Awesome in splendor, doing wonders?

Exodus 6 I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians are holding as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the Israelites, “I am YHWH, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

Exodus 19:3-7 “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”

Decalogue according to Exodus 20 I am Yhwh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for Yhwh your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of Yhwh your God, for Yhwh will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to Yhwh your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days Yhwh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore Yhwh blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that Yhwh your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Hittite suzerainty treaty Agreement between a suzerain (overlord) and a vassal (smaller nation)

Hittite treaty formula Decalogue Preamble (identifications) “I am the Lord your God…” Historical prologue “…who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” Stipulations You shall not murder, etc. Deposition (where to put the document) Instructions for the altar List of witnesses (usually divine) ——— Blessings and Curses “Punishing children…but showing steadfast love…”

Ba’al, another Canaanite deity

Vocabulary ‘El/‘El Shadday Ba’al Golden Calf Covenant (berit) Hittite Treaty Suzerain Vassal Decalogue Mitzvah (singular); mitzvot (plural)