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Elohist (E)

Wandering in the Wilderness: Deuteronomy’s Ideological Harmonization of J and E

Deuteronomy cannot accept that Israel, under YHWH’s command, had to bypass Seir because the Edomite king would not allow them to pass through (Numbers 20). Thus, Deuteronomy has Israel wandering aimlessly, skirting Seir in a southward march away from Canaan (E) while waiting for the exodus generation to die for the sin of the spies (J).  

Dr.

David Ben-Gad HaCohen

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Moses the Midianite

Israel’s cries for help in Egypt reach all the way to God, upon “the Mountain of God” in Midian. In response, God sends Moses, a local shepherd, to free them.

Dr. Rabbi

Tzemah Yoreh

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Behind the Iron Curtain in Egypt: Oppressed but not Enslaved

The earliest story of Israel’s experience in Egypt.

Dr. Rabbi

Tzemah Yoreh

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Where Do Isaac and Rebecca Live When Jacob Leaves Home?

Isaac and Rebecca live in Beersheba (Gen 26:23), Beer-lahai-roi (Gen 25:11) and Kiryat-arba (Gen 35:27). When Jacob sets off to Laban’s house, where is he leaving from?

Dr.

David Ben-Gad HaCohen

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The Binding of Isaac, a Sacred Legend for the Jerusalem Temple

The Akedah (binding of Isaac) takes place on a mountain in the obscure land of Moriah. When a Judahite scribe later revised the story to have the angel of YHWH stop Abraham from killing his son, he connected Moriah with the Jerusalem Temple, thereby giving it a new hieros logos—a sacred founding legend, to compete with the northern worship site Beth-El.

Prof.

Rami Arav

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Waheb in Suphah, the Forgotten “Town in the Stream”

Describing the Israelites crossing the Arnon Stream into Amorite territory, the Torah quotes the Book of YHWH’s Battles that speaks of “Waheb in Suphah,” a phrase that appears nowhere else in the Bible. Many creative explanations have been given, but based on a survey on the ground we can identify it as the “Town in the Stream,” an ancient biblical town whose name had long been forgotten.

Dr.

David Ben-Gad HaCohen

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The Two Arks: Military and Ritual

Tradition and source criticism both see two ark traditions in the biblical text: The Ark of the Covenant and the Ark of the Testimony. The former accompanies Israelite troops into battle; it appears in Numbers 10 (וַיְהִי בִּנְסֹעַ הָאָרֹן) and in the stories of battles against the Philistines and Ammonites in Samuel. The latter remains in the Tabernacle, serving as a seat for YHWH’s glory and revelation.

Dr. Rabbi

Tzemah Yoreh

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Joseph and the Famine: The Story’s Origins in Egyptian History

During the reign of Pharaoh Siptah, Egypt had a powerful vizier from the Levant named Baya, who dominated even the Pharaoh. Archaeological records and climatological studies show that this was right in the middle of a lengthy famine that affected the entire Mediterranean.

Prof.

Israel Knohl

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Hosea’s Characterization of Jacob

As part of a complaint by God against Israel and Judah, Hosea 12 mentions several stories about Jacob, intended to serve as a model for behavior. But is Jacob a good or bad role model?

Noam Cohen

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Jacob’s Multiple Death Scenes

Bringing Parashat Vayechi to Life

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Jacob Is Renamed Israel (Twice): Why Does the Name Jacob Remain?

The different usages of the names Jacob and Israel reflect a geographic divide between the northern and southern kingdoms’ stance toward this patriarch.

Dr. Rabbi

Tzemah Yoreh

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Documentary Hypothesis: The Revelation of YHWH’s Name Continues to Enlighten

When God reveals the name YHWH to Moses in Exodus, he says that not even the patriarchs knew this name, yet they all use it in Genesis. Critical scholarship’s solution to this problem led to one of the most important academic innovations in biblical studies in the last three hundred years: the Documentary Hypothesis.

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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The Unknown Yet Known Place of Moses’ Burial

On a mountain, in a valley, no one knows – the three traditions about where Moses is buried in Deuteronomy 34 stem from three different sources.

Dr.

David Ben-Gad HaCohen

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Why Deuteronomy Has an Account of Aaron’s Death in the Wrong Place

Bewildered, Rashi asks why Deuteronomy records Aaron’s death at Moserah (not Mt. Hor) and why it does so in the middle of Moses’ description of his (second) forty-day stay upon Mount Horeb. Academic biblical scholarship sheds light on these questions.

Dr.

David Ben-Gad HaCohen

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Did Jacob Meet YHWH by the Stairway to Heaven in Beth-El?

On his way to Haran, Jacob stops at a place, later named Beth-El, and sees in a dream angels going up and down a staircase to the gateway of heaven. In the story, Jacob also notices YHWH standing beside him and YHWH speaks to him. Examined closely, this short story is beset with literary difficulties that suggest it is composed of two independent narratives.

Prof.

Baruch J. Schwartz

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Israel’s Departure from Egypt: A Liberation or an Escape?

The oldest layer of the exodus story has the Egyptian people, panicked by the plague of darkness, force the Israelites out under the king of Egypt’s nose. The story is later revised to credit the exodus to God's smiting the firstborn sons, and then drowning Pharaoh and his army in the sea. The final, Priestly editor added his signature theological innovation: God forces Pharaoh to give chase by hardening his heart.

Dr. Rabbi

Tzemah Yoreh

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Encountering the Documentary Hypothesis in the Joseph Story

The Joseph story provides a compelling case for the use of source-critical methods for unraveling intertwined stories in the biblical text.

Ben Sandler

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Sacred Mountains: Connecting the Revelation at Horeb and the Aqedah

Traditional and Critical Approaches

Prof.

Richard Elliott Friedman

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