The Exodus and Names...

 

Dear Bible Challengers,

 

Today we begin our reading of Exodus. Though the second book of the Hebrew Scriptures, it is truly the foundational story of the Jewish people, recalling God's deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. 
 
Hebrews? Children of Israel? Israelites? Jews?  When are they called by what name?
 
Prior to the Exodus and settlement in/conquering of the Land of Canaan, they are referred to as Hebrews. The word, Hebrew, is derived from the word that means "to wander."  
 
Once the Land of Canaan is settled/conquered, we will see them referred to as Israelites, Children of Israel sporadically through the Exodus and after... and once in Exile in Babylon, and thereafter, as Jews... Though there are times in the New Testament when some translators will translate a particular word as "Jew" when "Judaean" (someone living in Judah, who may or may not be Jewish...) is also appropriate... 
 
More nomenclature...
 
The Exodus story as we've received it, as with Genesis, is a weaving together of the traditions of the Elhoist and Yahwist, by the Priestly redactor, working around the end or after the Jews were returned from Exile in Babylon-- so the story of God liberating God's people and returning them to the Promised Land would have had tremendous power for the Priestly redactor and his community.
 
Once more, people names and place names are the "tells" of the different sources... Is Moses' father Jethro or Reuel? Is the mountain Sinai or Horeb?  Does God appear Godsself, or send a messenger? And how many times did Moses climb that mountain, anyway?
 
Today's readings from Exodus are rich-- setting the stage for Moses' leadership and the LORD's work among God's people. We even have the LORD giving us The Name... "I am who I am," or "I will be who I will be." 
 
Pronounced "Yahweh" by some, considered unpronounceable by others, the "tetragramaton" is made up of four Hebrew consonants... YHWH.  Originally there were no vowel indications in Hebrew, but when they were eventually added (to prevent the grievous error of mispronouncing the Torah...) the vowels that were added were for the word "adonai", or Lord... Because this Name is considered to be incredibly, even dangerously powerful, it is not to be spoken. Ergo, traditionally, and out of respect and awe, when a reader encounters YHWH in a text, when read out loud, "Adonai" is spoken and not "Yahweh."
 
The Moses we meet today is just as complex a character as his ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... Barely have we met him, (and his quick-thinking sister, Miriam... who we will meet again...) and he's killed an Egyptian slave driver, run away into the wilderness, met up with Zipporah and her father the priest of Midian Reuel/Jethro... 
 
For a very good rendering of this story, I recommend Dreamworks' The Prince of Egypt, which was born as a movie as Dreamwork's itself was being born. Pretty cool.  The movie honors well the complexities of the Exodus story, the characters involved, and again, the family drama, that unfolds between Moses, the adopted Prince of Egypt, and his brother who is now Pharaoh. The Prince of Egypt is available to watch instantly on Netflix, if you're looking for some weekend movie watching.  Enjoy!
 
 
Peace,

 

Paige+

 

 

 


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the Rev. Paige Blair

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