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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 77 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BOOK .. OE now generally admitted that the words " and the judgments " (which are missing in c. 1 b) have been inserted is See also:

xxiv. 3a by the redactor to whom the See also:present position of the " judgments " is due.' The See also:majority of critics, therefore, adopt See also:Kuenen's conjecture that the " judgments " were originally delivered by See also:Moses on the See also:borders of See also:Moab, and that when D`s revised version of Ex. xxi.-See also:xxiii. aas combined with JE, the older See also:code was placed alongside of E's other legislation at See also:Horeb. The third See also:group of See also:laws (xxii. 18-28, xxiii. 1-9) appears to have been added somewhat later than the bulk of xxi.-xxiii. Some of the regulations are couched in hypothetical See also:form, but their contents are of a different See also:character to the " judgments," e.g. xxii. 25 f., xxiii. 4 f.; others, again, are of a similar nature, but differ in form, e.g. xxii. 18 f. Lastly, xxii.

20-24, xxiii. 1-3 set forth a number of moral injunctions affecting the individual, which cannot have found See also:

place in a See also:civil code. At the same tithe, these additions must for the most See also:part be See also:prior to D, since many of them are included in Deut. xii.-See also:xxvi., though there are traces of Deuteronomic revision. Now it is obvious that the results obtained by the foregoing See also:analysis of J and E have an important bearing on the See also:history of the remaining See also:section of E's legislation, viz. the See also:Decalogue (q.v.), Ex. xx. 1-17 (e--Deut. v. 6-21). At present the " Ten Words" stand in the forefront of E's collection of laws, and it is evident that they were already found, in that position by the author of See also:Deuteronomy, who treated them as the See also:sole basis of the See also:covenant at Horeb. The See also:evidence, however. afforded (a) by the parallel version of Deuteronomy and (b) ay the See also:literary analysis of J and E not only fails to support this tradition, but excites the gravest suspicions as to the originality both of the form and of the position in which the Decalogue now appears. For when compared with Ex. xx. 1-17 the parallel version of Deut. v. 6 if. is found to exhibit. a number of See also:variations, and, in particular, assigns an entirely different See also:reason for the observance of the See also:Sabbath. But these variations are practically limited to the explanatory comments attached to the 2nd, 4th, 5th and loth commandments; and the majority of critics are now agreed that these comments were added at a later date, and that all the commandments, like the 1st and the 6th to the 9th, were originally expressed in the form of a single See also:short See also:sentence.

This view is confirmed by the fact that the additions, or comments, See also:

bear, for the most part, a See also:close resemblance to the See also:style of D. They can scarcely, however, have been transferred from Deuteronomy to See also:Exodus (or See also:vice versa), owing to the variations between the two versions: we must rather regard them as the See also:work of a Deuteronomic redactor. But the expansion and revision of the Decalogue were not limited to the Deuteronomic school. Literary traces of J and E in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and loth commandments point to earlier activity on the part of RJE, while the addition of v. 11, which bases the observance of the Sabbath on P 's narrative of the Creation (Gen. ii. 1-3), can only be ascribed to a priestly writer: its See also:absence from Deut. v. 6 if. is otherwise inexplicable. Thus the Decalogue, as given in Exodus, would seem to have passed through at least three stages before it assumed its present form. But even in its See also:original form it could hardly have formed part of E's Horeb legislation; for (a) both J and E have preserved a different collection of laws (or " words ") inscribed by Moses, which are definitely set forth as the basis of the covenant at See also:Sinai-Horeb (Ex. xxxiv. To, xxiv. 3 f.), and (b) the further legislation of E in ch. xx.—xxiii: affords close See also:parallels to all the commandments (except the 7th and the loth.), and a comparison of the two leaves no doubt as to which is the more See also:primitive. Hence we can only conclude that the Decalogue, in its original short form, came into existence during the See also:period after the completion of E, but before the promulgation of.

Deuteronomy. Its present position is, doubtless, to be ascribed to a redactor who was influenced by the same conception as the author of Deuteronomy. This redactor, however, did not limit the Horeb covenant to the Decalogue, but retained E's legislation alongside of it. The insertion of the Decalogue, or rather the point of view which prompted its insertion, naturally involved certain consequential changes of the existing See also:

text. The most important of these, viz. the harmonistic additions to ch. xxxiv., by means of which J's version of the covenant was represented as a renewal of the Decalogue, has already been discussed; other passages which show traces of similar revision are xxiv. 12-15a, i8b, and xxxiv. 1-6. The confusion introduced into the legislation by later additions, with the consequent displacement of earlier material, has not been without effect on the narratives belonging to the different See also:sources. Hence the sequence of events after the completion of the covenant on Sinai-Horeb is not always easy to trace, though indications are not wanting in both J and E of the probable course of the history. The two See also:main incidents that precede the departure of the See also:children of See also:Israel from the See also:mountain (Num. x. 29 ff.) are (I) the See also:sin of the See also:people, and (2) the intercession of Moses, of both of which a See also:double See also:account has been preserved. ' The present text of xxiv.

12 also has probably been transposed in accordance with the view that the " See also:

judgment " formed part of the covenant, cf. Deut. v. 31. Originally the latter part of the See also:verse must have run, " That I may give thee the tables of See also:stone which I have written, and may See also:teach thee the See also:law and the commandment." For further details see See also:Bacon, Triple Tradition of Exodus, pp. i i.1 f., 132. f. (I) The Sin of the People.—According to J (xxxii. 25-29) the people, during the absence of Moses, break loose," i.e. See also:mutiny. Their behaviour excites the anger of Moses on his return, and in response to his See also:appeal the sons of See also:Levi See also:arm themselves and slay a large number of the people: as a See also:reward for their services they are bidden to consecrate themselves to Yahweh. The fragmentary form of the narrative—we See also:miss especially a See also:fuller account of the " breaking loose "—is doubtless due to the latter editor, who substituted the See also:story of the See also:golden See also:calf (xxxii. i-6, 15-24, 35), according to which the sin of the people consisted in See also:direct violation of the 2nd commandment. At the instigation of the people See also:Aaron makes a molten calf out of the golden ornaments brought from See also:Egypt ; Moses and See also:Joshua, on their return to the See also:camp, find the people holding festival in See also:honour of the occasion; Moses in his anger breaks the tables of the covenant which he is carrying: he then demolishes the golden calf, and ad-ministers a severe rebuke to Aaron. The See also:punishment of the people is briefly recorded in v. 35. This latter narrative, which is obviously inconsistent with the story of J, shows unmistakable traces of E.

In its present form, however, it can hardly be original, but must have been revised in accordance with the later Deuteronomic conception which represented the sin committed by the people as a See also:

breach of the 2nd commandment. Possibly vv. 7-14 are also to be treated as a Deuteronomic,expansion (cf. Deut. ix. 12-14). Though they show clear traces of J, it is extremely difficult to See also:fit them into that narrative in view of Moses' See also:action in vv. 25-29 and of his intercession in ch. xxxiii. ; in any See also:case, vv. 8 and 13 must be regarded as redactional. (2) Moses' Intercession: The See also:time for departure from the Sacred See also:Mount had now arrived, and Moses is accordingly bidden to See also:lead the people to the promised See also:land. Yahweh himself refuses to accompany Israel owing to their disobedience, but in response to Moses' passionate appeal finally consents to let his presence go with them. The account of Moses' intercession has been preserved in J, though the narrative has undergone considerable dislocation.

Phoenix-squares

The true sequence of the narrative appears to be as follows: Moses is commanded to lead the people to See also:

Canaan (xxxiii. 1-3); he pleads that he is unequal to the task (Num. xi. loc, I I, 12, 14, 15), and, presumably, asks for assistance, which is promised (omitted). Moses then asks for a fuller knowledge of Yahweh and his ways (xxxiii. 12, 13) : this See also:request also is granted (v. 17), and he is emboldened to pray that he may see the See also:glory of Yahweh; Yahweh replies that his See also:prayer can only be granted in part, for " See also:man shall not see me and live "; a partial See also:revelation is then vouchsafed to Moses (xxxiii. 18-23, xxxiv. 6-8) : finally, Moses beseeches Yahweh to go in the midst of his people, and is assured that Yahweh's presence shall accompany them (xxxiv. 9, xxxiii. 14-16). The passage from See also:Numbers xi., which is here included, is obviously out of place in its present context (the story of the quails), and supplies in part the necessary antecedent to Ex. xxxiii. 12, 13; the passage is now separated from Ex. xxxiii. by Ex. xxxiv. (J), which has been wrongly transferred to the close of the Horeb-Sinai incidents (see above), and by the priestly legislation of Ex. See also:xxxv.–xl., See also:Leviticus and Num. i.–x.; but originally it must have stood in close connexion with that See also:chapter.

A similar displacement has taken place with regard to Ex. xxxiv. 6-9, which clearly forms the sequel to xxxiii. 17-23. The latter passage, how-ever, can hardly represent the conclusion of the interview, which is found more naturally in xxxiii. 14-16. E's account of Moses' intercession seems to have been retained, in part, in xxxii. 30-34, but the passage has probably been revised by a later See also:

hand; in any case its position before instead of after the dismissal would seem to be redactional. It is a plausible conjecture that the original narratives of J and E also contained directions for the construction of an See also:ark,' as a substitute for the See also:personal presence of Yahweh, and also for the erection of a " See also:tent of See also:meeting " outside the camp, and that these commands were omitted by RP in favour of the more elaborate instructions given in ch. See also:xxv.–xxix. (P). The subsequent narrative of J (Num. X. 33-36, xiv.

44) implies an account of the making of the ark, while the remarkable description in Ex. xxxiii. 7-11 (E) of Moses' practice in regard to the " tent of meeting " points no less clearly to some earlier statement as to the making of this tent. The history of Exodus in its original form doubtless concluded with the visit of Moses' See also:

father-in-law and the See also:appointment of See also:judges (ch. xviii.), the departure from the mountain and the See also:battle with Amalck (xvii. 8-16). (c) The Construction of the See also:Tabernacle and its See also:Furniture (ch. xxv.–xxxi., xxxv.–xl.).—It has See also:long been recognized that the elaborate description of the Tabernacle and its furniture, and the accompanying directions for the See also:dress and See also:consecration of the priests, contained in ch. xxv.–xxxi., have no claim to be regarded as an See also:historical presentment of the See also:Mosaic Tabernacle and its service. The See also:language, style and contents of this section point unmistakably to the hand of P; and it is now generally admitted that these chapters form part of an ideal See also:representation of the See also:post-exilic See also:ritual See also:system, which has been transferred to the Mosaic See also:age. According to this According to Deut. x. 1 f., which is in the main a verbal excerpt from Ex. xxxiv. i f., Yahweh ordered Moses to make an ark of See also:acacia See also:wood before he ascended the mountain.representation, Moses, on the seventh See also:day after the conclusion of the covenant, was summoned to the See also:top of the mountain, and there received i'nstructions with regard to (a) the furniture of the See also:sanctuary, viz: the ark, the table and the See also:lamp-stand (ch. xxv.) ; (b) the Tabernacle (ch. xxvi.) ; (c) the See also:court of the Tabernacle and the See also:altar of burnt-offering (ch. See also:xxvii.); (d) the dress of the priests (ch. See also:xxviii.); (e) the consecration of Aaron and his sons (See also:xxix. 1-37); and (f) the daily burnt-offering (xxix. 38-42) : the section ends with a formal conclusion (xxix. 43-46). The two following chapters contain further instructions relative to the altar of See also:incense (See also:xxx.

I-to), the See also:

payment of the See also:half-See also:shekel (i-16), the brazen laver (17-21), the See also:anointing oil (22-33), the incense (34-38), the appointment of Bezaleel and Oholiab (xxxi. 1-1 1) and the observance of the Sabbath (t2=17). It is hardly doubtful, however, that these two chapters formed no part of P's original legislation, but were added by a later hand.' For (i) the altar of incense is here mentioned for the first time, and was apparently unknown to the author of ch. xxv.–xxix. Had he known of its existence, he could hardly have failed to include it with the See also:rest of the Tabernacle furniture in ch. xxvi., and must have mentioned it at xxvi. 34 f., where the relative positions of the contents of the Tabernacle are defined: further, the ritual of the Day of See also:Atonement (Lev. xvi. referred to in xxx. to) ignores this altar, and mentions only one altar (cf. " the altar," xxvii. I), viz. that of burnt-offering; (2) the command as to the half-shekel presupposes the See also:census of Num. i., and appears to have been unknown in the time of See also:Nehemiah (Nell, X. 32) (Heb. 33) ; (3) the instructions as to the brazen laver would naturally be expected alongside of those for the altar of burnt-offering in ch. xxvii.; (4) the following section See also:relating to the anointing oil presupposes the altar of incense (v. 28), and further extends the ceremony of anointing to Aaron's sons, though, elsewhere, the ceremony is confined to Aaron (xxix. 7, Lev. viii. 12), cf. the See also:title " anointed See also:priest " applied to the high priest (Lev. iv.

3, &c.) (5) the directions for compounding the incense connect naturallyy with xxx. 1-to, while (6) the appointment of Bezaleel and Oholiah cannot be separated from the rest of ch. xxx.–xxxi. The concluding section on the Sabbath (xxxi. 12-17) shows marks of resemblance to H (Lev. xvii.–xxvi.), especially in vv. 12-14a, which appear to have been See also:

expanded, very possibly by the editor who inserted the passage. The continuation of P's narrative is given in xxxiv. 29-35, which describe Moses' return from the mount. The subsequent chapters (xxxv.–x1.), however, can hardly belong to the original stratum of P, if only because they presuppose ch. xxx., xxxi., and were probably added at a later See also:stage than the latter chapters. They narrate how the commands of ch. xxv.–xxxi. were carried out, and practically repeat the earlier chapters verbatim, merely the tenses being changed, the most noticeable omissions being xxvii. 20 f. (oil for the lamps), xxviii. 3o (Urim and Thummim), xxix.

1-37 (the consecration of the priests, which recurs in Lev. viii.) and xxix. 38-42 (the daily burnt-offering). Apart from the omissions the most striking difference between the two sections is the variation in See also:

order, the different sections of ch. xxv.–xxxi. being here set forth in their natural sequence, The secondary character of these concluding chapters receives considerable See also:confirmation from a comparison of the See also:Septuagint text. For this version exhibits numerous cases of variation, both as regards order and contents, from the See also:Hebrew text; moreover the See also:translation, more particularly of many technical terms, differs from that of ch. xxv.–xxxi., and seems to be the work of different translators. Hence it is by no means improbable that the final recension of these chapters had not been completed when the Alexandrine version was made.

End of Article: BOOK

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