A Contemporary Introduction to the Bible. Colleen M. Conway

(for synagogues) or the life of Jesus (for churches) and reinforce their sense of a particular religious identity. You become a “Jew” or “Christian” partly through learning the story of that group and claiming it as your own.

We do not know exactly how the oral versions of the texts about exodus, Jacob’s family, and Deborah’s victory were used, but they appear to have served a similar purpose in helping to create and reinforce a sense of common “Israelite” identity out of varied groups. Whether taught to children, recited at clan worship, sung at festivals, or used in some other way, the ancient oral traditions discussed in this chapter helped turn the people living in the hill country of Syria-Palestine into the “Israelites” who would create the later Bible.

      The shared oral memories discussed in this chapter made for a particular kind of community: one that celebrated powerful work by God on the one hand and the clever action of tricksters on the other. In the midst of the pluralistic Canaanite religious environment, these traditions praise the liberative work of Yahweh, a god known from the southern deserts. Yet they also celebrate Israelite resourcefulness and wit. In particular, they empower people living on the margins by celebrating clever underdogs such as Jacob or Jael. Women are quite prominent in these traditions, as mothers, tricksters, and even military leaders (Deborah). Meanwhile, “kings” and their representatives are the opponents in these village-culture traditions, whether Pharaoh or Hazor’s general Sisera.

      Even when Israel developed writing, the stories of these oral traditions – in highly varied forms – continued to be told and sung among Israelites, many of whom never learned to write. We must keep in mind that our written Bible is but the tip of the iceberg of a largely lost oral tradition in ancient Israel. The process started not with writing, but with telling tales of Israelite liberation, survival, and victory.

      CHAPTER TWO REVIEW

      1 Know the meaning and significance of the following terms discussed in this chapter:AsherahBaalcultural memoryElelection theologyempiremonarchal city-stateoral traditionssegmentary societytrickstervillage

      2 Know the main differences between the following three ancient forms of social organization:empiremonarchal city-statevillage

      3 What do anthropologists now know about the character of oral traditions? How does this affect their usability for reconstructing early traditions? How specifically are such oral traditions reflected in Genesis 12–25 or Exodus 1–15?

      4 List ways that the Bible’s picture of Israel’s origins (where Israelites came from, what their religion was, ethnic makeup, political unity) contrasts with the picture developed by archaeologically informed historians. Specify at least three such contrasts.

      5 What are two specific reasons that led scholars to doubt that ancient Israelites took possession of the land by killing all of the Canaanites in a single conquest?

      6 (Focus text: Judges 5) Find three verses in this poem that illustrate three different aspects of earliest Israel. What is each aspect and how does it contrast with the picture of Israel’s origins found elsewhere in the Bible like the book of Joshua, or even other parts of Judges like Judges 4? What is your overall impression about earliest Israel and its conception of God based on this poem in Judges 5?

RESOURCES FOR FURTHER STUDY

       Commentaries and Other Books on Joshua

      1 Nelson, Richard D. Joshua. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997.

       Commentaries and Other Books on Judges

      1 McCann, J. Clinton. Judges. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002.

      2 Niditch, Susan. Judges. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.

      3 Trible, Phyllis. Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1984. Chapters on the Levite’s wife and Jephthah’s daughter.

       Everyday Life in Ancient Israel

      1 King, Philip J., and Stager, Lawrence E. Life in Biblical Israel. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.

       The History of Israelite Religion

      1 Keel, Othmar, and Uehlinger, Christoph. Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel, trans. Allan W. Mahnke. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1997. Difficult, but good.