Who are the Habiru?

Who are the Habiru?—The Sequel Nomadic sheep herders Settled in Palestine c BCE Appear in cuneiform records as laborers, mercenary soldiers and slaves Mentioned in texts from Babylonia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Canaan, and Egypt Part of a migration of nomads, tracing a common ancestry, who travelled the entire area, eventually settling in what would become Israel An ethnic conglomerate constructs a common ancestry with these narratives

Israelites in Egypt (wall painting on an Egyptian tomb wall)

Religious Beliefs Polytheistic in time of Abraham; Moses (c.1300 BCE) probable starting point of monotheistic and nationalistic beliefs Monotheistic : God is completely free, not subject to any outside forces, either natural or magical God has a moral purpose, not understandable by human beings; fate does not exist Human being are responsible for their own choices and the consequences can affect the generations that follow Emphasis on sin and punishment Patriarchal belief system reflected in culture

Inlaid Calf and Shrine (found in recent dig at Ashkelon)

The Covenant God’s chosen people (sons of Jacob) The promised homeland in Canaan First stated directly in Exodus, but foreshadowed repeatedly in Genesis God will keep his promise only if the people remain faithful and completely obedient to him

TaNaKh Torah Nevi’im Ketuvim

Text of the Bible/Tanakh Believed to have divine origin Torah understood to have been communicated by God to Moses at Sinai Logic problems notwithstanding, this belief gives authorship of Torah to Moses Traditionally, scholars have seen four different hands in finished product, but current theory favors the concept of a “redactor” (editor)

Literary Style in the Tanakh Understatement Details omitted Characters’ thoughts concealed Anticipatory information Consequences of choices often concealed for several chapters Complex chronology Flashbacks, allusions, dreams/visions, flash forwards, fade ins and outs Motifs and events often repeated Patterns of oral tale telling Use of repetition for emphasis