ENGL 204 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Chiasmus, Yam Suph, Chosen People
8 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Exodus Monday, Sept 25, 2017
-We left off with Moses and the Pharoah
-Moses has to leave because he kills an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew
•He thinks others know when two fighting Hebrews call him out for killign the
Egyptian guard
•He has a strong identity as someone who looks out for injustice
-The hebrew being beaten
-The women at the well
-The burning bush
•The Lord speaks directly to Moses
-I AM THAT I AM
•This first time we have a name for God
•YHWH - “He is what He is”
-This appears to be the source for the Yahweh voice
-tetragrammaton
-To know one’s name is to have some sort of power over them
•God is not going to give Moses a name over him, but he will tell him what he is
-Chap 4, verse 24 “God met [Moses] and sought to kill him”
•Scholars have suggested that Ziphorah might have circumscized Moses
Plagues over Egypt
-3 sets of 3 plagues, plus 1 final climactic plague
•1st: in the morning God says go to Pharaoh, give warning, plague comes
•2nd: gives a warning, plague comes
•3rd: no warning, plague comes
-Moses and Aaron seen as some sort of magicians
•Pharaoh’s magicians seem to mimic, but cannot counteract
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-They cannot prevent or reverse the “magic” of Moses
-The final plague (the killing of the first born)
•A summation of all the other plagues
•The beginning of the Passover
-At the vernal equinox (when Spring is supposed to happen)
•Passover also combines agrarian and nomadic economies
-The first crops, the lambs, the leaving
-Moses was left at the edge of the reeds, in order to survive
•Moses then leads the people through the Red Sea to liberty
-Scholars do suggest that it is not the “Red Sea” but the “Reed Sea” : A marshy
area that they can get though
•The chariots of the soldiers would have gotten stuck in the muddy swamp and
not been able to pursue them
-Also, the parting of the waters of the Red Sea is reminiscent of God parting the
waters in Genesis
-God’s people are free now, but now they learn how to live as God’s people. What is
required of them
•How to live
•How to worship
•How to build their tabernacle properly (sacred space that God inhibits)
-This is a moveable tabernacle that they can take with them
•Later on, they will build a permanent location for it
-At some point, Moses hoes up to the mountain to receive instructions to help the
people, and the people grow restless
•Aaron succumbs to temptation and pressure and the Chosen people worship idols
-God becomes angry and tells Moses what they are doing
•Moses goes down and upbraids the people for their bad behaviour
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Document Summary
We left off with moses and the pharoah. Moses has to leave because he kills an egyptian who was beating a hebrew: he thinks others know when two ghting hebrews call him out for killign the. Egyptian guard: he has a strong identity as someone who looks out for injustice. The burning bush: the lord speaks directly to moses. I am that i am: this rst time we have a name for god, yhwh - he is what he is . This appears to be the source for the yahweh voice. To know one"s name is to have some sort of power over them: god is not going to give moses a name over him, but he will tell him what he is. Chap 4, verse 24 god met [moses] and sought to kill him : scholars have suggested that ziphorah might have circumscized moses.
