There are three narratives of this event.1 Doubtless there was an actual occurrence of this kind in the times of the patriarchs; but each one of these narratives shows the legendary embellishment. The Ephraimitic narrative represents that Abraham was the patriarch and that the event took place at the court of Abimelech, king of Gerer. But the Judaic narrator already found two stories current in his time, one making Abraham the hero, the other Isaac; the one putting the event at the court of Pharaoh, the other at the court of Abimelech. Historical criticism cannot do otherwise than regard these as three legends of one and the same event.2 Another example is the story of the slaying of the giant Goliath. I shall here quote Kent's compact statement: "The language and representation of chapter 161-13, proclaim its affinity with the later stratum of narrative contained in 8, 12, and 15. The remainder of the chapter, however, is old. This records the introduction of the youthful David, already a mighty man of valor, and a man of war and prudent of speech' (1618), to the court of Saul, and of his winning the favor of the king until the latter makes him his armor-bearer. If we had not discovered that the book of Samuel is a compilation, we should share with the translators of the Septuagint the difficulty which led them to leave out a large part of the following chapter in the fruitless endeavor to reconcile it with the preceding. For chapter 17-185 tells of the victory of the lad David over Goliath, and of his subsequent introduction to Saul and his court, who are wholly unacquainted with the youthful champion. Even if this section be placed before 1614-23, the difficulty is not entirely removed. It is further increased when we read in 2 Sam. 2119, And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan, the son of Jaare-oregim the Beth-lehemite, slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam' (cf. 1 Sam. 177). Evidently here are distinct narratives handed down through different channels. Whether the Goliath mentioned was actually slain by David or Elhanan can never be absolutely determined. The statement of 1 Chr. 205, that it was a brother of Goliath who fell by the hand of Elhanan, seems to be an endeavor of the later chronicler to harmonize the two statements in Samuel. It is 1 Gen. 1210-20 (J), 20 (E), 266-11 (J). 2 See Sayce, Early History of the Hebrews, pp. 64-65. He admits different versions here. by no means impossible, however, that in some one of the many forays of the Philistines into Judah the youthful David slew the champion of the Philistines. The memory of the act was preserved among David's kinsmen, the Judeans, until at last it found a place in the prophetic history which is our great source for the period. Certainly, some such deed or deeds he performed before he gained the reputation of being 'a mighty man of valor,' which he bore when introduced to Saul's court. His subsequent record confirms this conclusion." 1 3. Poetical Sources A very large amount of ancient poetry is given either in whole or in fragments in the historical prose of the Old Testament. A large part of this poetry is given by the Ephraimitic writers, such as the birth-song of Isaac,2 the blessings of Isaac,3 the blessings of the sons of Joseph, the ode of the Red Sea, the oath against Amalek, Yahweh's word establishing the royal priesthood of Israel, the calling of Moses, the citation from the book of the wars of Yahweh,9 the song of the fountain,10 the ode of triumph over Moab,11 the oracles of Balaam,12 the blessings of Moses,13 the song of Deborah,14 the fable of Jotham,15 the protests of Samuel,16 the extract from the ode of victory.17 The Judaic writers also cite ancient poetry as follows: The blessing of Abraham,18 the blessing of Rebekah,19 oracle about Jacob,20 Jacob's blessing,21 song of the ark,22 song of Moses,23 and the great epic of the catastrophes of the fall and the deluge,24 the sayings of Samson,25 the triumph of the Philistines,26 the hymn of Hannah,27 a saying of Samuel,28 the refrain of the ode of triumph over the Philistines,29 a proverb quoted of David,30 1 Kent, A History of the Hebrew People, 1896, Vol. I. pp. 104-105. 2 Gen. 216-7. See p. 393. 8 Gen. 2727-29. 39-40. See p. 394. 4 Gen. 4815-16, 19. 20. See pp. 390, 394. 5 Ex. 15. See p. 379. 13 Deut. 33. 14 Jd. 5. See p. 368. 17 1 Sam. 1734-36. 45-47 19 Gen. 2460. 10 Nu. 2117-18. See p. 390. 20 Gen. 2523. 11 Nu. 2127-30. See p. 413. 12 Nu. 237-10. 18–24, 243-9. 15–24. 22 Nu. 1035-36. See p. 387. 18 Gen. 121-3. 21 Gen. 492-27. See p. 387. 24 Gen. 24–4, and the Judaic parts of the narrative of the Deluge. 25 Jd. 1414. 18, 1516. See p. 416. 26 Jd. 1624. 27 1 Sam. 21-10. 29 1 Sam. 187. See p. 396. the covenant with David,1 extract from the book of Yashar; 2 and also ascribed to David, a saying to Saul, the dirge of Saul, the dirge of Abner, the hymn of victory, and the swan song of David.7 The Deuteronomic writer only uses a strophe from the ode of the battle of Beth Horon.8 The priestly narrator begins with the poems of the Creation and the Deluge, and also gives the blessing of Jacob,10 and the benediction of the priests.11 There is also inserted in the book of Kings, Isaiah's prophecy against Sennacherib.12 The blessing of Melchizedek is given in a midrash of uncertain origin. 13 The Chronicler preserves two extracts from an ode describing the volunteers of David 14 and several hymns of later date. 15 In the aggregate this poetry is more extensive than either of the two great collections of Hebrew poetry, the Psalter and Proverbs. The earlier chapters of the gospel of Luke also contain several canticles and other snatches of poetry derived from a Jewish Christian community, including the Annunciations,16 the Song of Elizabeth, the Magnificat, 18 the Benedictus,19 and the Nunc Dimittis.20 4. Ancient Laws I have recently shown 21 that Hebrew laws may be classified under the technical terms "words," "commandments," "statutes," "judgments," and "laws"; and that each of these terms comprehends a group of laws which may be traced to their archæological sources. 1 2 Sam. 711-16. 2 1 K. 812-13 (LXX). 31 Sam. 2415. 4 2 Sam. 119-27. See p. 390. 5 2 Sam. 333-34. See p. 390. 6 2 Sam. 22 = Ps. 18. See p. 412. 72 Sam. 231-7. See p. 402. 8 Josh. 1012b-14a. See p. 337. 9 Gen. 1 and the priestly parts of the story of the Deluge, Gen. 6-8. 10 Gen. 281-4. 11 Nu. 624-26. See p. 388. 12 2 K. 1921-34 18 Gen. 1419-20. 14 1 Chr. 128. 18. 15 1 Chr. 168-36. 16 Lk. 113-17, 30-33. 35-37, 210-12. Is. 3722-35. See p. 391. See pp. 391, 393. 21 Higher Criticism of the Hexateuch, new edition, 1897, pp. 242 seq. (a) The earliest type of the Hebrew law is the Word, a short, terse sentence in the form of "Thou shalt not," or "Thou shalt," coming from God through the prophets, beginning with Moses. The Ten Words on the two tables are of this type. So are also the words of the Greater Book of the Covenant,2 given by the Ephraimitic writer, and of the Little Book of the Covenant,3 given by the Judaic writer. Such older words are also embedded in the legislation of the three later codes, the Deuteronomic code, the code of Holiness, and the Priest code. They may easily be seen underlying the material given in these codes. (b) An ancient type of law is the statute. These statutes came from the primitive courts of Israel before the institution of elders and judges. These decisions and statutes were originally short, crisp sentences inscribed upon stones, and set up in public places for the warning of the people, usually with the penalty attached. A decalogue of such statutes is presented in Deuteronomy apart from the Deuteronomic code." They are in the participial form; e.g.: Cursed be whoso setteth light by his father or his mother. A group of them is found in the Larger Book of the Covenant also. They are found occasionally in the later codes, but in the Deuteronomic code the participial form passes over into the form of the third person of the verb; e.g.: A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man.8 In the code of Holiness these assume the relative clause; e.g. : Any person that eateth any blood that person shall be cut off from his people.10 These later statutes evidently came from the courts of the priests. (c) The Deuteronomic code has a group of laws which are called commandments.11 These are a further unfolding and a later type of the Words, and are prophetic in character. They assume the form of the second person plural. They are char 1 l.c., pp. 181 seq. 21.c., pp. 211 seq. Then the rulers were called P 8 Deut. 225. איש איש אשר and the relative clause is either חקות take the form of חקים The 9 .נפש אשר or 11, .c., pp. 246 seq. 10 Lev. 727. acteristic of the Deuteronomic code; but they are taken up into the code of Holiness and the Priest code, and are also in redactional passages of the earlier codes. This is a pentade of the type: Ye shall break down their altars, And ye shall dash in pieces their Mazzeboth, And ye shall burn their Asherim with fire, And ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, (d) Another type of law is the judgment. This is a later form of the statute. It gives the decision of a case by a judge,3 which becomes a legal precedent. It is always in the form of a temporal or conditional clause. The earliest collection of these is found in the Greater Book of the Covenant, but they are also found embedded in all the subsequent codes. This will serve as a specimen : "1. If a man steal an ox or a sheep and slaughter it, or sell it, five cattle shall he pay for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. "2. If the thief be found while breaking in, and he be smitten and die, there shall be no blood-guiltiness for him. "3. If the sun has risen upon him, there shall be blood-guiltiness for him. He shall pay heavily. "4. And if he have nothing, he shall be sold for his theft. "5. If the theft be at all found in his hand alive, from ox to ass to sheep, he shall pay double." In the judgments of the code of Holiness the type assumes the form of a conditional clause with the word "man" prefaced." And a man, if he smite any person of man, shall be put to a violent death.6 In the Priest code a slightly different form is at times assumed." (e) It is the usage of the Priest code to use the word "law "8 for special priestly enactments. In the earlier literature law is used of the Law in general, and not of particular laws. Thus we have in the law codes, in the technical terms and types of law, archæological evidence of their origin in the various ancient centres, prophetic, judicial, and priestly, which in successive generations, under divine guidance, gave laws and codified them. |