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Authors: Michael D. Coogan
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and the eponym placed in the list of the sons of Jacob/Israel. The other stories about the national origins of Israel’s neighbors (that the Edomites descended from Esau, the Ammonites and Moabites from the offspring of Lot and his two daughters, and so forth) are likewise artificial, and were designed to indicate first-millennium political relationships rather than historical ancestry.
Accurate historical documentation was thus not a defining element in the development and transmission of these stories. Any attempt to make use of this material in reconstructing the prehistory of Israel requires great caution. There are, however, fascinating hints that suggest that genuine memories from the pre- and proto-Israelite periods survive in these stories. For example, the names of the characters in the ancestral narratives seem to be genuinely ancient. They are not names that were popular or characteristic in Israel during the Iron Age (1200–586 BCE ), when the nation took shape and its oral tradition was first written down. Most of Israel’spersonal names incorporate some form of the divine name
Yahweh,
but not a single name in the ancestral stories does. This is particularly significant because two streams of the traditions, the Priestly source and the Elohist, insist that the name
Yahweh
was not known before the time of Moses, that is, before the emergence of Israel. The large number of non-Yahwistic names in the narratives suggests, then, that the ancestral names reflect a genuine pre-Israelite and pre-Yahwistic tradition.
Additionally, some of the stories seem to preserve descriptions of social and legal customs not characteristic of the later period of Israel’s existence. For example, Abraham plants a sacred tamarisk tree at Beer-sheba (Gen. 21.33), and Jacob sets up a standing stone at Bethel (28.18–22); both practices would be prohibited in later Israel (see Exod. 34.13; Deut. 7.5; 12.2–4). Jacob marries both of Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel (Gen. 29.16–30), without any issue being made of the situation, even though later Israel forbade marrying two sisters (Lev. 18.18).
One of the most significant elements from the protohistorical period found in these stories is their preservation of aspects of ancestral religion. Although the narratives presuppose that the religion of the ancestors and that of later Israel were the same, several aspects of proto-Israel’s religion as recorded in Genesis differ significantly from Israel’s religion as depicted in the rest of the Bible. We will return to this important subject at the end of this chapter.
But whatever the genuine memories that they preserve, the ancestral stories provide modern historians with few data to reconstruct the historical, cultural, and sociological developments from which eventually the Israelite nation arose. None of the names or events described in Genesis 12–50 appear in any other Near Eastern documents; none of the kings (several of whom are named) or pharaohs (who are never named) can be identified from outside sources. No specific date is provided for any of the characters in the narrative. And, not surprisingly, never do the stories attempt to see the actions of the ancestors from a wider political or cultural perspective. Because of this, a modern account of the history of this region during the second millennium BCE virtually never intersects with the stories of the ancestors in Genesis.
To understand the background of Israel’s rise and the cultures that preceded it in the land, we must leave the Bible. Our primary sources instead must be the archaeologists’ discoveries of material remains and inscriptions from sites across the Near East, especially those in Syria-Palestine, These finds have made it possible to reconstruct with some certainty the complicated but fascinating history of this region.
Syria-Palestine during the Late Third Millennium BCE
Before examining the history of this region, we should discuss
Accurate historical documentation was thus not a defining element in the development and transmission of these stories. Any attempt to make use of this material in reconstructing the prehistory of Israel requires great caution. There are, however, fascinating hints that suggest that genuine memories from the pre- and proto-Israelite periods survive in these stories. For example, the names of the characters in the ancestral narratives seem to be genuinely ancient. They are not names that were popular or characteristic in Israel during the Iron Age (1200–586 BCE ), when the nation took shape and its oral tradition was first written down. Most of Israel’spersonal names incorporate some form of the divine name
Yahweh,
but not a single name in the ancestral stories does. This is particularly significant because two streams of the traditions, the Priestly source and the Elohist, insist that the name
Yahweh
was not known before the time of Moses, that is, before the emergence of Israel. The large number of non-Yahwistic names in the narratives suggests, then, that the ancestral names reflect a genuine pre-Israelite and pre-Yahwistic tradition.
Additionally, some of the stories seem to preserve descriptions of social and legal customs not characteristic of the later period of Israel’s existence. For example, Abraham plants a sacred tamarisk tree at Beer-sheba (Gen. 21.33), and Jacob sets up a standing stone at Bethel (28.18–22); both practices would be prohibited in later Israel (see Exod. 34.13; Deut. 7.5; 12.2–4). Jacob marries both of Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel (Gen. 29.16–30), without any issue being made of the situation, even though later Israel forbade marrying two sisters (Lev. 18.18).
One of the most significant elements from the protohistorical period found in these stories is their preservation of aspects of ancestral religion. Although the narratives presuppose that the religion of the ancestors and that of later Israel were the same, several aspects of proto-Israel’s religion as recorded in Genesis differ significantly from Israel’s religion as depicted in the rest of the Bible. We will return to this important subject at the end of this chapter.
But whatever the genuine memories that they preserve, the ancestral stories provide modern historians with few data to reconstruct the historical, cultural, and sociological developments from which eventually the Israelite nation arose. None of the names or events described in Genesis 12–50 appear in any other Near Eastern documents; none of the kings (several of whom are named) or pharaohs (who are never named) can be identified from outside sources. No specific date is provided for any of the characters in the narrative. And, not surprisingly, never do the stories attempt to see the actions of the ancestors from a wider political or cultural perspective. Because of this, a modern account of the history of this region during the second millennium BCE virtually never intersects with the stories of the ancestors in Genesis.
To understand the background of Israel’s rise and the cultures that preceded it in the land, we must leave the Bible. Our primary sources instead must be the archaeologists’ discoveries of material remains and inscriptions from sites across the Near East, especially those in Syria-Palestine, These finds have made it possible to reconstruct with some certainty the complicated but fascinating history of this region.
Syria-Palestine during the Late Third Millennium BCE
Before examining the history of this region, we should discuss
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