Historicity

3. Historicity

The Torah begins at the beginning, with creation. The exact date of creation presumably could be calculated by following the genealogical notices of the Hebrew Bible--many genealogies provide lifespans--and working backwards. Bishop James Ussher (1581-1656) did just that and determined that the universe was born on 4004 B.C. Based on the priestly genealogies of Genesis 1-11, the span from creation to the flood was 1,656 years, and from the flood to Abram 290 years. Since these genealogies incorporate immense lifespans, as many as 969 years in the case of Methuselah, they are of questionable value in determining real dates. Yet Ussher's chronology was printed in the margins of many Bibles on into the twentieth century and was widely accepted.
   Of course determining the time line of the Hebrew Bible is not quite so simple, and contemporary science tells us that the universe is at least fifteen billion years old. Here is what we can say about Torah and time. The books of the Torah are in chronological order, with events moving in a linear fashion from creation, through the ancestors, and into the period of Moses and early Israel. But there is no Torah-internal dating scheme that positions events absolutely in reference to each other, nothing like years B.C.E. and C.E. that we use today.
   Within the Hebrew Bible the exodus out of Egypt seems to be the pivot point of history, and other events are dated in reference to it. For example, Aaron's death (Numbers 33:38) and the construction of the temple (1 Kings 6:1) are specified relative to the exodus. The internal evidence for the ancestral period enables us to determine that the time from Abram's migration to Canaan until Jacob and family moved to Egypt was 215 years. And the length of the time the Hebrews were in Egypt was 430 years (Exodus 12:40). After the exodus Israel remained in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan for forty years.
   The time indicator that can be correlated most effectively with absolute chronology is the 480 years from the exodus to the beginning of temple construction in Solomon's fourth year, as stated in 1 Kings 6:1. Because the fourth year of Solomon's reign can be dated to 964 B.C.E. this places the exodus in 1444 B.C.E. Unfortunately, this conflicts with the evidence of Exodus 1:11, which mentions that the Hebrews were engaged as slaves to build the Egyptian cities Pithom and Rameses. These in turn have been associated with the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II (1290-1224 B.C.E.). The result is a discrepancy of approximately two centuries. Based on the confluence of archaeological, historical, and textual evidence the generally accepted date of Israel's exodus from Egypt is around 1280 B.C.E.
   There is no firm way to locate the ancestors within absolute chronology. There is no external Egyptian or Mesopotamian evidence that can verify when or even if the patriarchs and matriarchs existed. About all that authorities are left with is to infer from circumstantial evidence when Abraham, Sarah and the other ancestors best fit. Some interpreters place them in the Middle Bronze I Age (2000-1800 B.C.E.). This is based primarily on the description of the ancestors as semi-nomadic clans similar to the Amorites who moved through the Old Babylonian empire, as described in documents from Mari. Other interpreters place them in the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 B.C.E.) based on certain social practices that are attested at Nuzi.
   Historical minimalists argue that the ancestral stories were written very late, and that we should not infer that the events really happened, or even that the ancestors ever existed (see Thompson 1974, 1992; Van Seters 1975). Others argue that the stories, while admittedly written well after the fact, retain a valid remembrance of historical figures and fit what we know of the second millennium based on other sources. (see Millard and Wiseman 1980; Bright 1981). With Moses and early Israel the situation is only slightly better. Although Moses is not attested outside the Bible, there are some clues in Exodus that may provide connections to Egyptian and Palestinian history. The relevant data will be treated in the appropriate chapters.
   The uncertainties of establishing the chronology and the very reality of the early figures of biblical history inevitably raise the question of the Bible's historicity. Readers will want to know if the events described in the Torah--and elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible for that matter--are fictional or really happened. And if they happened, was it in the way described? Our discussion of the written traditions of the Torah suggests this is not an easy issue. The biblical text we have before us is surely not a first-hand travelogue, nor can it be in its entirety an eye witness record of what happened. It has been deliberately shaped and molded so as to present Israel's historical experience in a way relevant to the concerns at that time.
   This is not to suggest subversive or misleading intentions lurk behind the process. Rather, the contemporary framing of past experience is inevitable, and is a good and necessary thing. All history writing is a selective and intentional appropriation of the past. All history writing is done inevitably from a certain point of view that incorporates the writer's individual personality and larger cultural setting. Source analysis in all its forms and permutations attempts to identify just such factors.
   Although there is a necessary subjectivity to history writing, this does not imply that all history writing is equally subjective. Some writing may be more or less to the events themselves, and personal or political agendas may distort that writer's account of events. That is why critical study of the biblical text, indeed of all writing, is essential. Understanding a text involves understanding more than just what the words mean. It also involves grasping the reasons why it was written, in light of who wrote it and when. This is an imperfect science and an impossible achievement, yet a necessary goal.
   A fascinating one, too, especially where the biblical text is concerned. The Hebrew Bible presents us with an account of the events of Israel's history and ancestors. By reading between the lines it also presents us with how Israel's thinkers grapsed the significance of these events, and how they related these events to their concept of God. By doing our historical and literary research we are able to reconstruct their worldview--for them, their human experience in the context of divine realities.
   With all serious study there can be a range of positions on the basic issues. When it comes to the study of Israel's historical works this is especially true. On one side are those who would accept every historical statement in the Hebrew Bible as fact, pure and simple. Often such readers are predisposed to the Bible's accuracy out of their understanding of what it must be as the Word of God. On the other side are those who are suspicious of every biblical statement and tend to consider the text historically unreliable. Such readers are sometimes referred to as historical minimalists and tend to view all Torah sources as late.
   This book is somewhere in the middle. It values the contributions of modern study of the Pentateuch and advocates their use as a means to enter the mind and worldview of the ancient writers. While it takes a studied approach to the text, RTOT also respects the Hebrew Bible. Of course, this will be challenged by parties on the poles, with precritical readers charging that it tears the Bible apart and hypercritical readers charging that a moderate position is historically naive. No doubt the debate will continue long after this book is out of print.