The Elohist (E) is one of four sources of the Torah described by the Documentary Hypothesis. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to Its name comes from the term it uses for God: Elohim. Elohim ( אֱלוֹהִים, אלהים) is a Hebrew word which expresses concepts of Divinity. It portrays a God who is less anthropomorphic than YHWH of the earlier Jahwist source ("J"). See also Yahweh Tetragrammaton (from the Greek, meaning ' of four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen The Jahwist, also referred to as the Jehovist, Yahwist, or simply as J, is one of the four major sources of the Torah postulated by the ^[1]

Since the end of the 19th century, it has been argued that the Elohist was composed in northern Israel (Ephraim) c 850 BC, combined with the Jahwist to form JE c 750 BC, and finally incorporated into the Torah c 400 BC. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Ephraim ( Hebrew: אֶפְרַיִם/אֶפְרָיִם Standard Efráyim Tiberian ʾEp̄ráyim/ʾEp̄rāyim ^[1] The Elohist promotes Israel over Judah, and Levitical priests over Judah's Aaronite priests. E includes Abraham's mission to sacrifice Isaac, Moses calling down plagues on Egypt, Aaron and the golden calf, the Covenant Code, and Joseph as an interpreter of dreams. Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: According to the Hebrew Bible, Isaac ( Hebrew: Yitzchak יִצְחָק, Standard Yiẓḥaq Moses ( Latin: Moyses,; Greek: grc Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: ar موسىٰ The golden calf (עגל הזהב was an idol (a Cult image) made for the Israelites during Moses ' absence as he went up to Mount Sinai The Covenant Code, or alternatively Book of the Covenant, is the name given by academics to a text appearing in the Torah at Exodus -.

Recent reconstructions suggest that the Elohist may have been written before the Jahwist, or else they leave out the Elohist altogether, proposing a DJP sequence, written from the reign of Josiah into post-exilic times^[2]. The Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile, is the name typically given to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to

Contents 1 Nature of the Elohist text 2 Contrasted with the Jahwist 2.1 Abram and Isaac 2.2 Role of Angels 2.3 Favor of Northern Tribes? 2.4 Criticism of Aaron and Marion 2.5 Departure from Egypt 2.6 Ten Commandments and Covenant Code 3 Origin of the Elohist text 4 Later redaction 5 See Also 6 References 7 External links

Nature of the Elohist text

In this source God's name is always presented as Elohim until the revelation of God's name to Moses, after which God is referred to as Yahweh. Elohim ( אֱלוֹהִים, אלהים) is a Hebrew word which expresses concepts of Divinity. E treats God as a human-like figure, capable of regret, and appearing in person at events.

E has a particular fascination for traditions concerning biblical Israel and its heroes such as Joshua and Ephraim (a son of Joseph, and the tribe to which Israel's king belonged). The Kingdom of Israel ( ( KJV Israel in Samaria) was one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy (also often called the 'Kingdom of Israel' Joshua, Jehoshuah, or Yehoshua ( 'יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, Tiberian: jə Ephraim ( Hebrew: אֶפְרַיִם/אֶפְרָיִם Standard Efráyim Tiberian ʾEp̄ráyim/ʾEp̄rāyim Joseph or Yosef (יוֹסֵ Standard Yosef Tiberian Yôsēp̄, يوسف Yusuf; "He E supports Israel against Judah, in the case of Shechem claiming that it was purchased rather than won via a massacre.

E supports the Levitical priests of Shiloh (who were not descended from Aaron), who were not given authority in Israel, both against the new priesthood set up in Israel, and against the priesthood of Judah (which priests were descended from Aaron). E tries to show Aaron and his supporters in a bad light, for example via the story of the golden calf (which also happened to be the symbol of the new version of the religion set up in Israel). The golden calf (עגל הזהב was an idol (a Cult image) made for the Israelites during Moses ' absence as he went up to Mount Sinai

Contrasted with the Jahwist

Abram and Isaac

The Elohist's story appears to begin after Abram has begun migration, with the wife vs. sister story that is also present in the Jahwist tale. The Jahwist, also referred to as the Jehovist, Yahwist, or simply as J, is one of the four major sources of the Torah postulated by the The first major story is that of the sacrifice of Isaac. The Binding of Isaac, in Genesis, is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah In the Elohist work, Isaac does not ever appear again after this story, and the story appears to imply that Isaac was sacrificed. However, the Jahwist does not mention this tale, although the Jahwist mentions Isaac extensively, and thus when the redactor combined their writings, Isaac's continued presence would need to be explained. The Torah Redactor (R is according to the Documentary Hypothesis (DH the figure who assembled hypothetical source texts of the Torah &mdashthe Deuteronomist Text attributed to the redactor presents a literal scape-goat, allowing Isaac to live, but nevertheless, an early tradition recorded in a midrash still preserves a version of the tale in which Isaac was killed. Midrash ( Hebrew: מדרש plural midrashim, lit "to repeat" is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact but comparative ( homiletic Understandably, the next tale in the Elohist is of other children for Abram.

Role of Angels

While the Yahwist presented an anthropomorphic God who could walk through the Garden of Eden looking for Adam and Eve, the Elohist frequently involves angels. For example, it is the Elohist version of the tale of Jacob's ladder in which there is a ladder of angels with God at the top, leading to Jacob later dedicating the place as Beth-El (House of God), whereas in the Jahwist tale, it is a simple dream in which God is simply above the location, without the ladder or angels. Jacob's Ladder refers to a Ladder to Heaven, described in the Book of Genesis, which the biblical patriarch Jacob envisions Likewise, the Elohist describes Jacob actually wrestling with God; later, it features the tale of Balaam and his divinely talking donkey, although this is often considered a tale that was accidentally added to the manuscript, as it appears quite unconnected to the rest of the work. Balaam ( Hebrew: בִּלְעָם, Standard Bilʻam Tiberian Bilʻām) is a Prophet

Favor of Northern Tribes?

Further into the text, the Elohist exhibits a noticeably positive attitude to the main northern tribes—those of Joseph. Unlike the Jahwist, the Elohist contains stories of the political position of the Joseph tribes: the birth of Benjamin, and the pre-eminence of Ephraim. Also, whereas the Jahwist portrays Joseph as the victim of an attempted rape in the tale of Potiphar's wife, which would have been mildly humiliating to the Joseph tribes, the Elohist instead portrays Joseph as an interpreter of dreams—as one who can understand God. Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person Potiphar (or Potifar) (; Egyptian origin p-di-p-rʿ; "he whom Ra gave This pre-occupation with northern concerns extends to the Elohist explaining the northern cultic object known as the Nehushtan. The Nehushtan (or Nehustan, Hebrew: נחושתן or נחש הנחושת) was a sacred object in the form of a Bronze snake

Criticism of Aaron and Marion

Contrasting with this is the profoundly negative attitude the Elohist exhibits toward Aaron and his family. This article is about Aaron the Levite in the Hebrew Bible, the Qu'ran, and other sources It is the Elohist source that contains the tale of the Golden Calf, in which Aaron is implicitly condemned for allowing heresy, and later the Israelites suffer by being banned from Canaan in consequence, explicitly identified as being because of the calf which Aaron made [emphasis added]. The golden calf (עגל הזהב was an idol (a Cult image) made for the Israelites during Moses ' absence as he went up to Mount Sinai It is the Elohist source that also contains the story of Snow-white Miriam that superficially appears to be a condemnation of racism, but is also an attack on Aaron via Miriam his sister, for the opinions they share. Miriam ( but it might be derived originally from an Egyptian name myr "beloved" or mr "Love" or even Meryamun "beloved of Amun"

Departure from Egypt

With regard to leaving Egypt, the Elohist presents a more elaborate tale than the Jahwist. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now Firstly, the Elohist version expands on the supposed cruelty of the Egyptians by presenting them as asking for difficult work such as bricks without straw. And secondly, whereas the Jahwist version of the Plagues of Egypt involves Moses only acting as an intercessor to ask God to stop each plague that God has wrought, the Elohist instead presents Moses as threatening the Pharaoh, and then bringing the plague down on the Egyptians himself. The Plagues of Egypt ( the Biblical Plagues or the Ten Plagues ( are the ten calamities imposed upon Egypt by God in the Bible To the Elohist, the threat of the passover is enough to cause the Egyptians to chase the Israelites out, whereas the Jahwist presents the Egyptians as reluctantly giving in, and then changing their mind, and chasing after them to bring them back. Passover ( Hebrew, Yiddish: פֶּסַח Pesach, Tiberian: pɛsaħ Israeli: Pesah, Pesakh, Yiddish This article is about the contemporary North African ethnic group

Ten Commandments and Covenant Code

Notably, where the Jahwist simply presents its version of the Ten Commandments as the law given by God at Sinai, the Elohist instead presents the more extensive Covenant Code. The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives that according to Judeo-Christian tradition were authored by God and given The Covenant Code, or alternatively Book of the Covenant, is the name given by academics to a text appearing in the Torah at Exodus -. The Elohist then goes on to deal with how such an extensive code can be used in practice, by using a relative of Moses, Jethro, as a mouthpiece to explain the reason for the appointment of judges. Jethro can refer to People In the Bible Jethro (Bible, the father-in-law of Moses Fictional characters A judge, or justice, is an Official who presides over a Court of law To enforce the code further, the Elohist describes the process of the law code being read out to the people.

Origin of the Elohist text

E is theorized to have been composed by collecting together the various stories and traditions concerning biblical Israel and its associated tribes (Dan, Napthali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, Manesseh, Benjamin), and the Levites, and weaving them into a single text. In particular it records the importance of Ephraim, which was the tribe from which the King of Israel happened to derive.

Some independent source texts thought to have been embedded within the text include:

• The Covenant Code, a legal text used in Exodus at Chapters 21 - 23

E is thought to derive from amongst the Shiloh priesthood, and to reflect their polemic opinion in the text. The Covenant Code, or alternatively Book of the Covenant, is the name given by academics to a text appearing in the Torah at Exodus -. E denigrates the priesthood of Aaron, having a reduced focus on Aaron's importance (the rival priesthood in Jerusalem being Aaronids), and sometimes indirectly (since Aaron was too much of a past hero to attack directly) attacking Aaron (e. g. via the stories of the Golden Calf, and the story of Aaron's criticism of Moses' wife). E also denigrates the rival non-Levite priesthood created by the King of Israel, for example by one of its version of the ten commandments, which condemns Golden and Silver statues (condemning the molten gold calves of the non-Levite priesthood and the plated gold Cherubim of the Aaronid priesthood).

E explains the importance of the symbols controlled by the Shiloh priesthood such as the Nehushtan (a bronze snake on a pole) and the religious importance of Shiloh itself (associated with the Tent of Meeting, which tradition stated had rested there until the Temple was built at Jerusalem). The Nehushtan (or Nehustan, Hebrew: נחושתן or נחש הנחושת) was a sacred object in the form of a Bronze snake E never mentions the Temple or the Ark associated with the Aaronid priesthood.

As it is highly critical of the view of Samaritan claim to pre-eminence in Israel, it has been argued by Israel Finkelstein that it reflects the views of northern refugees who came to Judah after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC. Israel Finkelstein is an Israeli archaeologist and academic. He is currently the Jacob M

Later redaction

An anonymous scribe or scholar combined E with the Jahwist c 750 BC into JE. ^[3] When J and E each recounted a single story, the redactor included both, sometimes interweaving them. ^[3] Approximately 400 BC, after the Babylonian exile, a priest or priests redacted JE with Deuteronomy, plus other material (the Priestly source), to complete the Torah. ^[3]

See Also

• Documentary hypothesis
• Deuteronomist
• Priestly source
• Redactor
• Yahwist

References

External links

• The Elohist source isolated, at wikisource

---

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic