The
Elohist (E) is one of four sources of the
Torah described by the
Documentary Hypothesis. Its name
comes from the term it uses for God:
Elohim.
It portrays a God who is less anthropomorphic than
YHWH of the earlier
Jahwist
source ("J").
Since the
end of the 19th century, it has been argued that the Elohist was
composed in northern Israel
(Ephraim) c 850 BC, combined with the
Yahwist to form JE c 750 BC, and finally incorporated into
the Torah c 400 BC. The Elohist promotes Israel
over
Judah, and Levitical priests
over Judah's Aaronite priests. E includes
Abraham's mission to sacrifice
Isaac,
Moses calling down plagues
on Egypt, Aaron and the
golden calf, the
Covenant Code, and
Joseph as an interpreter of
dreams.
Recent reconstructions suggest that the Elohist may have been
written before the Jahwist, or else they leave out the Elohist
altogether, proposing a DJP sequence, written from the reign of
Josiah into post-
exilic times.
Nature of the Elohist text
In this source God's name is always presented as
Elohim until the revelation of God's name to
Moses, after which God is referred to as Yahweh. E treats God as a
human-like figure, capable of regret, and appearing in person at
events.
E has a particular fascination for traditions concerning
biblical Israel and its heroes such as
Joshua and
Ephraim (a
son of
Joseph, and the tribe
to which Israel's king belonged). E supports Israel against Judah,
in the case of Shechem claiming that it was purchased rather than
won via a massacre.
E supports the Levitical priests of Shiloh (who were
not
descended from Aaron), who were not given authority in Israel, both
against the new priesthood set up in Israel, and against the
priesthood of Judah (which priests
were descended from
Aaron). E tries to show Aaron and his supporters in a bad light,
for example via the story of the
golden
calf (which also happened to be the symbol of the new version
of the religion set up in Israel).
Contrasted with the Jahwist
Abram and Isaac
The Elohist's story appears to begin after Abram has begun
migration, with the wife vs. sister story that is also present in
the
Jahwist tale. The first major story is
that of the
sacrifice of Isaac. In
the Elohist work, Isaac does not ever appear again after this
story, and the story appears to imply that Isaac was sacrificed.
However, the Jahwist does not mention this tale, although the
Jahwist mentions Isaac extensively, and thus when
the redactor combined their writings, Isaac's
continued presence would need to be explained. Text attributed to
the redactor presents a literal scape-goat, allowing Isaac to live,
but nevertheless, an early tradition recorded in a
midrash still preserves a version of the tale in
which Isaac was killed. Understandably, the next tale in the
Elohist is of other children for Abram.
Role of Angels
While the Yahwist presented an anthropomorphic God who could walk
through the Garden of Eden looking for Adam and Eve, the Elohist
frequently involves angels. For example, it is the Elohist version
of the tale of
Jacob's ladder
in which there is a ladder of angels with God at the top, leading
to Jacob later dedicating the place as Beth-El (House of God),
whereas in the Jahwist tale, it is a simple dream in which God is
simply above the location, without the ladder or angels. Likewise,
the Elohist describes Jacob actually wrestling with God; later, it
features the tale of
Balaam and his divinely
talking donkey, although this is often considered a tale that was
accidentally added to the manuscript, as it appears quite
unconnected to the rest of the work.
Favor of Northern Tribes?
Further into the text, the Elohist exhibits a noticeably positive
attitude to the main northern tribes—those of Joseph. Unlike the
Jahwist, the Elohist contains stories of the political position of
the Joseph tribes: the birth of Benjamin, and the pre-eminence of
Ephraim. Also, whereas the Jahwist portrays Joseph as the victim of
an attempted
rape in the tale of
Potiphar's wife, which would have been
mildly humiliating to the Joseph tribes, the Elohist instead
portrays Joseph as an interpreter of dreams—as one who can
understand God. This pre-occupation with northern concerns extends
to the Elohist explaining the northern cultic object known as the
Nehushtan.
Criticism of Aaron and Miriam
Contrasting with this is the profoundly negative attitude the
Elohist exhibits toward
Aaron and his family.
It is the Elohist source that contains the tale of the
Golden Calf, in which Aaron is implicitly
condemned for allowing heresy, and later the Israelites suffer by
being banned from Canaan in consequence, explicitly identified as
being
because of the calf 'which Aaron made
[emphasis added]. It is the
Elohist source that also contains the story of Snow-white Miriam that superficially
appears to be a condemnation of racism, but is also an attack on
Aaron via Miriam his sister, for the opinions they
share.
Departure from Egypt
With regard to leaving
Egypt, the
Elohist presents a more elaborate tale than the Jahwist. Firstly,
the Elohist version expands on the supposed cruelty of the
Egyptians by presenting them as asking for difficult work such as
bricks without straw. And secondly, whereas the Jahwist version of
the
Plagues of Egypt involves Moses
only acting as an intercessor to ask God to stop each plague that
God has wrought, the Elohist instead presents Moses as threatening
the Pharaoh, and then bringing the plague down on the Egyptians
himself. To the Elohist, the threat of the
passover is enough to cause the Egyptians to chase
the Israelites out, whereas the Jahwist presents the
Egyptians as reluctantly giving in, and then
changing their mind, and chasing after them to bring them
back.
Ten Commandments and Covenant Code
Notably, where the Jahwist simply presents its version of the
Ten Commandments as the law given
by God at Sinai, the Elohist instead presents the more extensive
Covenant Code. The Elohist then goes
on to deal with how such an extensive code can be used in practice,
by using a relative of Moses,
Jethro, as a
mouthpiece to explain the reason for the appointment of
judges. To enforce the code further, the Elohist
describes the process of the law code being read out to the
people.
Origin of the Elohist text
E is theorized to have been composed by collecting together the
various stories and traditions concerning biblical Israel and its
associated tribes (
Dan,
Napthali,
Gad,
Asher,
Issachar,
Zebulun,
Ephraim,
Manasseh,
Benjamin), and the Levites, and weaving
them into a single text. In particular it records the importance of
Ephraim, which was the tribe from which the King of Israel happened
to derive.
Some independent source texts thought to have been embedded within
the text include
The Covenant
Code, a legal text used in the Chapters 21 through 23 of the
Book of Exodus.
E is
thought to derive from amongst the Shiloh
priesthood,
and to reflect their polemic opinion in the text. E
denigrates the priesthood of Aaron, having a reduced focus on
Aaron's importance (the rival priesthood in Jerusalem being
Aaronids), and sometimes indirectly (since Aaron was too much of a
past hero to attack directly) attacking Aaron (e.g. via the stories
of the Golden Calf, and the story of Aaron's criticism of Moses'
wife). E also denigrates the rival non-Levite priesthood created by
the King of Israel, for example by one of its version of the ten
commandments, which condemns Golden and Silver statues (condemning
the molten gold calves of the non-Levite priesthood and the plated
gold Cherubim of the Aaronid priesthood).
E explains the importance of the symbols controlled by the Shiloh
priesthood such as the
Nehushtan (a bronze
snake on a pole) and the religious importance of Shiloh itself
(associated with the
Tent of Meeting, which tradition
stated had rested there until the Temple was built at Jerusalem). E
never mentions the Temple or the Ark associated with the Aaronid
priesthood.
As it is highly critical of the view of
Samaritan claim to pre-eminence in Israel, it has
been argued by
Israel Finkelstein
that it reflects the views of northern refugees who came to Judah
after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC.
Later redaction
An anonymous scribe or scholar combined E with the Jahwist
c 750 BC into JE.When J and E each recounted a single
story, the redactor included both, sometimes interweaving
them.Approximately 400 BC, after the Babylonian exile, a priest or
priests redacted JE with Deuteronomy, plus other material (the
Priestly source), to complete the Torah.
See also
References
- Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the
Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
- Gnuse, Robert K. (2000), "Redefining the Elohist" (Journal of
Biblical Literature, Vol. 119, No. 2 (Summer, 2000)), pp.
201-220
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