Misplaced Pages

#540459

65-830: The main story of Balaam occurs during the sojourn of the Israelites in the plains of Moab , east of the Jordan River , at the close of forty years of wandering , shortly before the death of Moses and the crossing of the Jordan. The Israelites have already defeated two kings in Transjordan: Sihon , king of the Amorites , and Og , king of Bashan . Balak , king of Moab , consequently becomes alarmed and sends elders of Midian and his Moabite messengers, to Balaam, son of Beor, to induce him to come and curse Israel. Balaam's location, Pethor , which

130-468: A pseudonym for Jesus in Jewish literature. Balaam's father Beor was a son of Laban . The Book of Jasher reports that Balaam's sons were Jannes and Jambres . Balaam's exclamation, "How good are your tents, O Jacob, your tabernacles, O Israel!", was taken by later generations of Jews as the basis of the liturgical prayer Ma Tovu . Balaam is reviled as a "saviour(in terms of prophet)" in several places in

195-743: A blessing and a prophecy in succession. Agag , mentioned in the third poem, is described as a great king, which does not correspond to the king of the Amalekites who was named Agag , and described in 1 Samuel 15 , since that description considers Amalek to be small and obscure. While the Masoretic text of the poem uses the word Agag , the Septuagint , other Greek versions, and the Samaritan Pentateuch all have Gog . These names are consequently considered textual corruptions, and Og has been suggested as

260-681: A false prophet motivated by greed or avarice in both 2 Peter 2:15 and in Jude 1:11. This Balaam is listed as the son of Bezer, which is usually identified as Beor. Some authors claim that Bezer was the Aramaic pronunciation of Beor, while others hold that the author was attempting to play off the Hebrew word basar or "flesh" to insult Balaam. Later Jewish tradition similarly played with Balaam's name to call him corrupt and imply bestiality. Still other authors hold that Bezer and Beor are distinct, while still identifying

325-857: A grouping which includes both pre-Priestly and post-Priestly material. The general trend in recent scholarship is to recognize the final form of the Torah as a literary and ideological unity, based on earlier sources, likely completed during the Persian period (539–333 BCE). A minority of scholars would place its final compilation somewhat later, however, in the Hellenistic period (333–164 BCE). A revised neo-documentary hypothesis still has adherents, especially in North America and Israel. This distinguishes sources by means of plot and continuity rather than stylistic and linguistic concerns, and does not tie them to stages in

390-494: A prophet in the Bible. In both the inscription and the Bible, Balaam is a prophet whose utterances determine the fate of nations. However, other details of the stories are different. According to the inscription, Balaam wakes up weeping and tells his people that the gods appeared to him in the night telling him about a goddess threatening to destroy the land. She is to cover the sky and reduce the world to complete darkness. In contrast with

455-574: A result, there has been a revival of interest in "fragmentary" and " supplementary " models, frequently in combination with each other and with a documentary model, making it difficult to classify contemporary theories as strictly one or another. Modern scholars also have given up the classical Wellhausian dating of the sources, and generally see the completed Torah as a product of the time of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (probably 450–350 BCE), although some would place its production as late as

520-431: A source, with its origin in the law-code produced at the court of Josiah as described by De Wette, subsequently given a frame during the exile (the speeches and descriptions at the front and back of the code) to identify it as the words of Moses. Most scholars also agree that some form of Priestly source existed, although its extent, especially its end-point, is uncertain. The remainder is called collectively non-Priestly,

585-640: Is a historical reference to ancient Nineveh or a prophecy, which some religious commentators consider refers to the Seleucid Empire , which also took the name "Assyria". The seventh is also ambiguous and may either be a reference to the Sea Peoples or, in the view of some religious commentators, to the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire by Alexander the Great . In the view of some schools of textual criticism,

650-411: Is allowed to see the angel, who informs him that the donkey's turning away from the messenger is the only reason the angel did not kill Balaam. Balaam immediately repents, but is told to go on. Balak meets with Balaam at Kirjat Huzoth , and they go to the "high places of Baal ", and offer sacrifices on seven altars, leading to Balaam being given a prophecy by Yahweh , which He speaks to Balak. However,

715-650: Is later listed among the Midianites who were killed in revenge for the "matter of Peor". Joshua 13:22 records that Balaam died "by the sword" during a battle for the Reubenite occupation of Moabite land. In total, Balaam's prophecies consist of seven (Hebrew) poems: The poems fall into three groups. The first group consists of two poems which characteristically start immediately. The third group of three poems also start immediately, but are much shorter. The second group, however, consists of two poems which both start: Balaam

SECTION 10

#1732852006541

780-684: Is now located in the region of northern Syria and southeastern Turkey is simply given as "which is by the river of the land of the children of his people" in the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint . The Samaritan Pentateuch , Vulgate , and Peshitta all identify his land as Ammon . Balaam sends back word that he can only do what YHWH commands, and God has, via a nocturnal dream, told him not to go. Balak consequently sends higher-ranking priests and offers Balaam honours; Balaam continues to press God, and God finally permits him to go but with instructions to say only what He commands. Balaam then sets out in

845-512: Is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch , the first five books of the Bible: Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers , and Deuteronomy ). A version of the documentary hypothesis, frequently identified with the German scholar Julius Wellhausen , was almost universally accepted for most of the 20th century. It posited that

910-622: Is that of a dog: if you chase it away, it pants, and if you leave it, it ˹still˺ pants. This is the example of the people who deny Our signs. So narrate ˹to them˺ stories ˹of the past˺, so perhaps they will reflect. The Muslim commentators explain that Bal'am bin Ba'ura ( Arabic : بلعام بن باعوراء ) was a Canaanite who had been given knowledge of some of the books of God . His people asked him to curse Moses ( Musa ) and those who were with him, but he said, "How can I curse one who has angels with him?" They continued to press him, however, until he cursed

975-636: The Babylonian captivity (597–539 BCE), or the late monarchic period at the earliest. Van Seters also sharply criticized the idea of a substantial Elohist source, arguing that E extends at most to two short passages in Genesis. Some scholars, following Rendtorff, have come to espouse a fragmentary hypothesis, in which the Pentateuch is seen as a compilation of short, independent narratives, which were gradually brought together into larger units in two editorial phases:

1040-611: The Hebrew Bible ( Numbers , Deuteronomy and Joshua ) as an area in Transjordan , stretching along the Jordan "across from Jericho ", and more specifically "from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim " ( Num. 33:49 ). Here is the last Station of the Exodus and the place from which Moses climbs up on Mount Nebo "to the top of Pisgah ", where he dies ( Deut. 34:1 ). Nelson Glueck describes

1105-402: The Hellenistic period (333–164 BCE), after the conquests of Alexander the Great . The Torah (or Pentateuch) is collectively the first five books of the Bible: Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers , and Deuteronomy . According to tradition, they were dictated by God to Moses, but when modern critical scholarship began to be applied to the Bible, it was discovered that the Pentateuch

1170-711: The Heresy of Peor . Numbers 31:16 blames this on Balaam's advice and because of his culpability in the incident, which resulted in deadly divine judgements against the Israelites who participated, he was eventually killed in a retaliatory battle against Midian in Numbers 31:8. Deuteronomy 23:3–6 summarises these incidents, and further states that the Ammonites were associated with the Moabites. Joshua , in his farewell speech, also makes reference to it. With God's protection taken from him, Balaam

1235-620: The Israelites , and, as a consequence, they remained 40 years in the Wilderness of the Wanderings. Then, when he had cursed Moses, his tongue came out and fell upon his breast, and he began to pant like a dog. The story as told by Tabari is somewhat more Biblical . Balaam had the knowledge of the Most Sacred Name of God , and whatever he asked of God was granted to him. The story of Balaam and

1300-512: The New Testament , where he is cited as a type of avarice; for example in Book of Revelation 2:14 we read of false teachers at Pergamum who held the "teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication". Balaam has attracted much interest, alike from Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Josephus paraphrases

1365-581: The Balaams of the Old and New Testaments, claiming that Beor is Balaam's father and Bezer is Balaam's home town. The story is also referred to in chapter 10 of 2 Meqabyan , a book considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church . In his commentary on Matthew's Gospel , Dale Allison associates the magi who visited the infant Jesus (Matthew 2) with Balaam, in that both Balaam and

SECTION 20

#1732852006541

1430-583: The Dead Sea to Mount Gilead; but the Amorites had warred against them, and wrestled all that portion lying north of the River Arnon from them..." In the 4th century BCE, Israelites returning from the Babylonian exile settle the ancient site of Beth-nimrah , their city marking the easternmost point of Jewish settlement in Transjordan. Documentary hypothesis The documentary hypothesis ( DH )

1495-608: The Deuteronomic and the Priestly phases. By contrast, scholars such as John Van Seters advocate a supplementary hypothesis , which posits that the Torah is the result of two major additions—Yahwist and Priestly—to an existing corpus of work. Some scholars use these newer hypotheses in combination with each other and with a documentary model, making it difficult to classify contemporary theories as strictly one or another. The majority of scholars today continue to recognise Deuteronomy as

1560-547: The Elohist describes Balaam giving two blessings, making sacrifices on seven altars, at the high places of Baal, before each, then deciding not to "seek enchantments" after the third set of sacrifices, but to "set his face upon the wilderness," which Balak views as a third blessing, and so Balaam then gives the three final predictions of fate. Conversely, in the Jahwist source, Balaam arrives, the spirit of God comes upon him, and he delivers

1625-573: The Hexateuch') of 1876–77, and sections on the "historical books" (Judges–Kings) in his 1878 edition of Friedrich Bleek 's Einleitung in das Alte Testament ('Introduction to the Old Testament'). Wellhausen's documentary hypothesis owed little to Wellhausen himself but was mainly the work of Hupfeld, Eduard Eugène Reuss , Graf, and others, who in turn had built on earlier scholarship. He accepted Hupfeld's four sources and, in agreement with Graf, placed

1690-493: The Israelites from the peak. The Spirit of God comes upon Balaam and he delivers a third positive prophecy concerning Israel. Balak's anger rises to the point where he threatens Balaam, but Balaam merely offers a prediction of fate. Balaam then looks upon the Kenites , and Amalekites and offers two more predictions of their fates. Balak and Balaam then go to their respective homes. Later, Numbers 25:1–9 describes how Israel engaged in

1755-605: The Jews; at first being a mere interpreter of dreams, but later becoming a magician, until finally the spirit of prophecy descended upon him. According to a negative view of Balaam in the Talmud , Balaam possessed the gift of being able to ascertain the exact moment during which God is angry—a gift bestowed upon no other creature. Balaam's intention was to curse the Israelites at this moment of wrath, and thus cause God himself to destroy them; but God purposely restrained His anger in order to baffle

1820-519: The Name and his faith. This being done, they went out from him in the form of a white dove. The Baghdadi historian Al Masudi said in his book Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems that Balaam ben Beor was in a village in the lands of Shem (Canaan), and he is the son of Baura(Beor) ben Sanur ben Waseem ben Moab ben Lot ben Haran (PUT), and his prayers were answered, so his folks asked him to pray against Joshua ben Nun but he could not do it, so he advised some of

1885-507: The Pentateuch is a compilation of four originally independent documents: the Jahwist , Elohist , Deuteronomist , and Priestly sources, frequently referred to by their initials. The first of these, J, was dated to the Solomonic period (c. 950 BCE). E was dated somewhat later, in the 9th century BCE, and D was dated just before the reign of King Josiah , in the 7th or 8th century BCE. Finally, P

1950-450: The Pentateuch") by Rolf Rendtorff . These three authors shared many of the same criticisms of the documentary hypothesis, but were not in agreement about what paradigm ought to replace it. Van Seters and Schmid both forcefully argued that the Yahwist source could not be dated to the Solomonic period (c. 950 BCE) as posited by the documentary hypothesis. They instead dated J to the period of

2015-672: The Plains of Moab as having the shape of a "truncated harp", with its northern limit marked by Wadi Nimrin , and the southern tip created by the Moab hills south of Wadi el-'Azeimeh, which stretch out from the Moab Plateau toward the NE end of the Dead Sea , closing off the Plains. Glueck names the three main streams crossing the Plains toward the Jordan as, from north to south, Wadi Nimrin, which before emerging from

Balaam - Misplaced Pages Continue

2080-400: The Priestly work last. J was the earliest document, a product of the 10th century BCE and the court of Solomon ; E was from the 9th century BCE in the northern Kingdom of Israel , and had been combined by a redactor (editor) with J to form a document JE; D, the third source, was a product of the 7th century BCE, by 620 BCE, during the reign of King Josiah ; P (what Wellhausen first named "Q")

2145-614: The Torah, and the number was later expanded to three when Wilhelm de Wette identified the Deuteronomist as an additional source found only in Deuteronomy ("D"). Later still the Elohist was split into Elohist and Priestly ("P") sources, increasing the number to four. These documentary approaches were in competition with two other models, the fragmentary and the supplementary . The fragmentary hypothesis argued that fragments of varying lengths, rather than continuous documents, lay behind

2210-605: The Torah. In 1780, Johann Eichhorn , building on the work of the French doctor and exegete Jean Astruc 's "Conjectures" and others, formulated the "older documentary hypothesis": the idea that Genesis was composed by combining two identifiable sources, the Jehovist ("J"; also called the Yahwist) and the Elohist ("E"). These sources were subsequently found to run through the first four books of

2275-419: The Torah; this approach accounted for the Torah's diversity but could not account for its structural consistency, particularly regarding chronology. The supplementary hypothesis was better able to explain this unity: it maintained that the Torah was made up of a central core document, the Elohist, supplemented by fragments taken from many sources. The supplementary approach was dominant by the early 1860s, but it

2340-578: The age of 33, and it is stated that he had no portion in the world to come. The book devotes a special section to the history of the prophet discussing why God has taken away the power of prophecy from the Gentiles. The Talmud states that "Moses wrote his book and the portion of Balaam", regarding this passage as separate from the rest of the Torah in terms of topic or style, but united in authorship. In ( Sanhedrin 106b) and ( Giṭtin 57a) Balaam may be likened to Jesus. Some have theorized that Balaam became used as

2405-468: The ass, then follows at length. When it came to the actual cursing, God "turned his tongue" so that the cursing fell upon his own people and the blessing upon Israel. Then his tongue came out and hung down on his breast. Finally, he advised his people to adorn and beautify their women and to send them out to ensnare the Israelites. The story of the plague at Baal-peor and of Cozbi and Zimri follows. According to another story which al-Tabari gives, Balaam

2470-423: The biblical account where Balaam receives prophecies from Yahweh, the inscription associates Balaam with multiple deities ( Ashtar , a god named Shgr, and Shadday gods and goddesses). The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies describes it as "the oldest example of a book in a West Semitic language written with the alphabet, and the oldest piece of Aramaic literature." The inscription is datable to ca. 840–760 BCE; it

2535-529: The death of 24,000 victims of the plague which God sent as punishment. When Balaam saw that he could not curse the children of Israel, the Rabbis assert that he advised Balak, as a last resort, to tempt the Hebrew nation to immoral acts and, through these, to the worship of Baal-peor. The God of the Hebrews , adds Balaam, according to the Rabbis, hates lewdness; and severe chastisement must follow . The Rabbis, playing on

2600-568: The evolution of Israel's religious history. Its resurrection of an E source is probably the element most often criticised by other scholars, as it is rarely distinguishable from the classical J source and European scholars have largely rejected it as fragmentary or non-existent. Wellhausen used the sources of the Torah as evidence of changes in the history of Israelite religion as it moved (in his opinion) from free, simple and natural to fixed, formal and institutional. Modern scholars of Israel's religion have become much more circumspect in how they use

2665-474: The hills is called Wadi Sha'ib; Wadi el-Kefrein; and Wadi er-Ramah, called Wadi Hesban in the hills, which merges with Wadi el-Kefrein two-thirds of the way across the Plains. In his 1856 book The Sacred Plains J.H. Headley described the Plains of Moab as having a wider extent: "The Plains of Moab lie east of the Dead Sea and River Jordan. The Arnon , running through its midst, divides them into two parts. A low range of mountains, called Abarim , extending from

Balaam - Misplaced Pages Continue

2730-425: The influence of the prophets and the development of an ethical outlook, which he felt represented the pinnacle of Jewish religion; and the Priestly source reflected the rigid, ritualistic world of the priest-dominated, post-exilic period. His work, notable for its detailed and wide-ranging scholarship and close argument, entrenched the "new documentary hypothesis" as the dominant explanation of Pentateuchal origins from

2795-478: The kings of the giants to show the pretty women and release them toward the camp of Joshua ben Nun, and so they did, and they (the Israelites) hurried up to the women and the plague spread among them and seventy thousand of them were dead. In 1967, at Deir Alla , Jordan , archaeologists found an inscription with a story relating visions of the seer of the gods Bala'am, son of Be'or, the same name appearing as that of

2860-533: The late 19th to the late 20th centuries. In the mid to late 20th century, new criticism of the documentary hypothesis formed. Three major publications of the 1970s caused scholars to reevaluate the assumptions of the documentary hypothesis: Abraham in History and Tradition by John Van Seters , Der sogenannte Jahwist ("The So-Called Yahwist") by Hans Heinrich Schmid , and Das überlieferungsgeschichtliche Problem des Pentateuch ("The Tradition-Historical Problem of

2925-482: The latest, while Wilhelm Vatke linked the four to an evolutionary framework: the Yahwist and Elohist to a time of primitive nature and fertility cults, the Deuteronomist to the ethical religion of the Hebrew prophets, and the Priestly source to a form of religion dominated by ritual, sacrifice and law. In 1878, Julius Wellhausen published Geschichte Israels, Bd 1 ('History of Israel, Vol 1'). The second edition

2990-555: The magi were "from the east": thus "Matthew's magi are Balaam's successors". No clear reference is made to Balaam in the Qur'an . However, the commentators argue that he is the one to whom the following text is referring: And relate to them ˹O Prophet˺ the story of the one to whom We gave Our signs, but he abandoned them, so Satan took hold of him, and he became a deviant. If We had willed, We would have elevated him with Our signs, but he clung to this life—following his evil desires. His example

3055-560: The morning with the princes of Moab. God becomes angry that he went and sends the Angel of the Lord (Numbers 22:22) to prevent him. At first, the angel is seen only by the donkey Balaam is riding, which tries to avoid the angel. After Balaam starts punishing the donkey for refusing to move, it is miraculously given the power to speak to Balaam (Numbers 22:28) and says, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" At this point, Balaam

3120-502: The name Balaam, call him "Belo 'Am" (without people; that is, without a share with the people in the world to come), or "Billa' 'Am" (one that ruined a people); and this hostility against his memory finds its climax in the dictum that whenever one discovers a feature of wickedness or disgrace in his life, one should preach about it. In the process of killing Balaam (Numbers 31:8), all four legal methods of execution—stoning, burning, decapitating, and strangling—were employed. He met his death at

3185-416: The narrative, excepting the episode involving the donkey, is simply a framework invented to be able to insert much older poems. In rabbinic literature Balaam is represented as one of seven gentile prophets ; the other six being Beor (Balaam's father), Job , and Job's four friends. In this literature, Balaam gradually acquired a position among the non-Jews, which was exalted as much as that of Moses among

3250-403: The original. The final three poems do not refer to Israel or Moab and are thus considered unusual since they seem to have little relevance to the narrative. It is thought that they may have been added to bring the number of poems up to five if inserted into the Elohist source or up to seven if only inserted once JE was constructed. While the sixth poem refers to Assyria, it is uncertain whether it

3315-476: The prophecy blesses Israel; Balak remonstrates, but Balaam reminds him that he can only speak the words put in his mouth, so Balak takes him to another "high place" at Pisgah , to try again. Building another seven altars here, and making sacrifices on each, Balaam provides another prophecy blessing Israel. Balaam finally gets taken by a now very frustrated Balak to Peor , and, after the seven sacrifices there, decides not to "seek enchantments" but instead looks upon

SECTION 50

#1732852006541

3380-453: The son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open ... Of Balaam's three groups of poems, the documentary hypothesis argued that the first and third groups originated within the Elohist text, whereas the second group belonged to the Jahwist . Thus

3445-555: The southern part of the Dead Sea to Mount Gilead , again subdivides them east and west. On the east they extend to the borders of the Great Desert, into which they gradually sink; and on the West, form a succession of elevated terraces, like gigantic steps, down to the shores of Jordan and Dead Sea. <...> In ancient times the Moabites had possessed the whole plains from the southern part of

3510-517: The story more so, and speaks of Balaam as the best prophet of his time, but with a disposition ill-adapted to resist temptation . Philo describes him as a great magician in the Life of Moses ; elsewhere he speaks of "the sophist Balaam, being," i.e. symbolizing "a vain crowd of contrary and warring opinions" and again as "a vain people", both phrases being based on a mistaken etymology of the name Balaam. A man also named Balaam also figures as an example of

3575-457: The wicked one , is often attached to the name of Balaam. Balaam is pictured as blind in one eye and lame in one foot, and his disciples (followers) are distinguished by three morally corrupt qualities: an evil eye , a haughty bearing, and a greedy spirit. Due to his behavior with the Midianites, the Rabbis interpret Balaam as responsible for the behavior during the Heresy of Peor , which they consider to have been unchastity , and consequently

3640-463: The wicked prophet and to save the nation from extermination. The Talmud also recounts a more positive view of Balaam, stating that when the Torah was given to Israel, a mighty voice shook the foundations of the earth, so much so that all kings trembled, and in their consternation turned to Balaam, inquiring whether this upheaval of nature portended a second deluge; the prophet assured them that what they heard

3705-451: Was a product of the priest-and-temple dominated world of the 6th century BCE; and the final redaction, when P was combined with JED to produce the Torah as we now know it. Wellhausen's explanation of the formation of the Torah was also an explanation of the religious history of Israel. The Yahwist and Elohist described a primitive, spontaneous, and personal world, in keeping with the earliest stage of Israel's history; in Deuteronomy, he saw

3770-615: Was a renegade Israelite who knew the Most Sacred Name, and to gain the things of this world, went over to the Canaanites. Al-Tha'labi adds that Balaam was descended from Lot. He gives, too, the story of Balaam's dream, his being forbidden by God to curse Israel. Another version is that Balak , the king of Bal'a , compelled Balaam to use the Most Sacred Name against Israel. The curse fell automatically, and Moses, having learned whence it came, entreated God to take from Balaam his knowledge of

3835-484: Was challenged by an important book published by Hermann Hupfeld in 1853, who argued that the Pentateuch was made up of four documentary sources, the Priestly, Yahwist, and Elohist intertwined in Genesis-Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers, and the stand-alone source of Deuteronomy. At around the same period, Karl Heinrich Graf argued that the Yahwist and Elohist were the earliest sources and the Priestly source

3900-417: Was generally dated to the time of Ezra in the 5th century BCE. The sources would have been joined at various points in time by a series of editors or "redactors". The consensus around the classical documentary hypothesis has now collapsed. This was triggered in large part by the influential publications of John Van Seters , Hans Heinrich Schmid , and Rolf Rendtorff in the mid-1970s, who argued that J

3965-491: Was not the unified text one would expect from a single author. As a result, the Mosaic authorship of the Torah had been largely rejected by leading scholars by the 17th century, with many modern scholars viewing it as a product of a long evolutionary process. In the mid-18th century, some scholars started a critical study of doublets (parallel accounts of the same incidents), inconsistencies, and changes in style and vocabulary in

SECTION 60

#1732852006541

4030-638: Was painted in red and black inks, apparently to emphasize the text, on fragments of a plastered wall: 119 pieces of inked plaster were recovered. Meindert Dijkstra suggests that "the reticence of OT scholarship to take account of the text may be attributable to its damaged state, the difficulty of reconstructing and reading it, and the many questions it raises of script, language, literary form and religious content." Attribution Plains of Moab The Plains of Moab ( Hebrew : עַרְבוֹת מוֹאָב , romanized :  Arboth Mo'av , lit.   'Dry areas of Moab ') are mentioned in three books of

4095-476: Was printed as Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels ("Prolegomena to the History of Israel") in 1883, and the work is better known under that name. (The second volume, a synthetic history titled Israelitische und jüdische Geschichte ['Israelite and Jewish History'], did not appear until 1894 and remains untranslated.) Crucially, this historical portrait was based upon two earlier works of his technical analysis: "Die Composition des Hexateuchs" ('The Composition of

4160-400: Was the voice of God, giving the sacred law to the Israelites. According to Jewish legend, Balaam was made this powerful in order to prevent the non-Jewish tribes from saying: "If we had only had our own Moses, we would be as pious as the Jews." The wicked Balaam is included in the list of persons born circumcised along with Moses. In rabbinical literature the epithet rasha , translating as

4225-402: Was to be dated no earlier than the time of the Babylonian captivity (597–539 BCE), and rejected the existence of a substantial E source. They also called into question the nature and extent of the three other sources. Van Seters, Schmid, and Rendtorff shared many of the same criticisms of the documentary hypothesis, but were not in complete agreement about what paradigm ought to replace it. As

#540459