The Jewish Myth of Origin

 The Jewish Myth of Origin

So far this semester, we have done two things: First, we

constructed a useful research method. Second, we surveyed the

Jewish Myth of Origin and several of the most common Jewish

interpretations of that myth.

Your writing assignment for this week: Read the

following excerpts from the Jewish Bible. From the first stage

of the myth, we have a story about Abraham. From the second

stage, we have a story about Moses. And from the third stage,

we have a story about Joshua.

As you read these excerpts, do the following:

1. Pay careful attention to the details of each story.

2. Pay attention to details that seem strange to you.

3. Evaluate how each character in each story has been

portrayed by the storyteller (characters such as God,

Abraham, Moses, and Joshua).

4. Try to imagine how each of these excerpts fit into the

Myth of Origin, and how each might be interpreted by

Jews.

After you have read these excerpts and considered the four

topics above, write an essay (of 200 to 300 words) in which

you describe your personal impressions of these three stories.

Recall that you are evaluating these tales as a neutral

researcher. Do you believe these stories are useful components

of the myth? If not, why not? If so, are there any specific

details that seem strange and perhaps not useful? Are there

questions that you have about one or more of these stories that,

at this stage in your study, seem impossible for you to answer?

If so, include these questions. If you believe there are

significant implications that might derive from your

unanswered questions, discuss these possible implications

in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they

shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity

of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking

fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On

that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To

your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the

great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the

Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the

Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and

the Jebusites.”

EXODUS

3 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the

priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and

came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2

There the angel of the

LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he

looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

3

Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great

sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the

LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him

out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

5

Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from

your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy

ground.” 6 He said further, “I am the God of your father, the

God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7

Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my

people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of

their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8

and I have

come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring

them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land

flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites,

the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the

Jebusites. 9

The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I with all my wonders that I will perform in it; after that he will

let you go. 21 I will bring this people into such favor with the

Egyptians that, when you go, you will not go empty-handed;

22 each woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman living in

the neighbor’s house for jewelry of silver and of gold, and

clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your

daughters; and so you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

JOSHUA

10 When King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard how Joshua

had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, doing to Ai and its

king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the

inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were

among them, 2

he became greatly frightened, because Gibeon

was a large city, like one of the royal cities, and was larger than

Ai, and all its men were warriors. 3

So King Adoni-zedek of

Jerusalem sent a message to King Hoham of Hebron, to King

Piram of Jarmuth, to King Japhia of Lachish, and to King

Debir of Eglon, saying, 4

“Come up and help me, and let us

attack Gibeon; for it has made peace with Joshua and with the

Israelites.” 5

Then the five kings of the Amorites—the king of

Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of

Lachish, and the king of Eglon—gathered their forces, and

went up with all their armies and camped against Gibeon, and

made war against it.

6 And the Gibeonites sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal,

saying, “Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly,

and save us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites who

live in the hill country are gathered against us.” 7

So Joshua

went up from Gilgal, he and all the fighting force with him, all

the mighty warriors. 8

The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear

them, for I have handed them over to you; not one of them

shall stand before you.” 9

So Joshua came upon them suddenly,

having marched up all night from Gilgal. 10 And the LORD

threw them into a panic before Israel, who inflicted a great

GENESIS

15 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in

a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your

reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD,

what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of

my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You

have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is

to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the LORD came to him, “This

man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue

shall be your heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look

toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count

them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

6 And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him

as righteousness.

7

Then he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you

from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.”

8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall

possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years

old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a

turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 He brought him all these

and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other;

but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when birds of prey

came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon

Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon

him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain,

that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs,

and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four

hundred years; 14 but I will bring judgment on the nation that

they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great

possessions. 15 As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 So come, I

will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out

of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should

go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 He

said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that

it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of

Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

13But 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?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”1 He said

further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me

to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the

Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of

Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me

to you’:

This is my name forever,

and this my title for all generations.

16 Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The

LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of

Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given

heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 I

declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to

the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the

Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with

milk and honey.’ 18 They will listen to your voice; and you and

the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him,

‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; let us

now go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we

may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ 19 I know, however, that

the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a

mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt 

slaughter on them at Gibeon, chased them by the way of the

ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah

and Makkedah. 11 As they fled before Israel, while they were

going down the slope of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down

huge stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they

died; there were more who died because of the hailstones than

the Israelites killed with the sword.

12 On the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the

Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD; and he said in the sight of

Israel,

“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,

and Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.”

13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,

until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in

midheaven, and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.

14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD

heeded a human voice; for the LORD fought for Israel.

15 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the

camp at Gilgal.