Prolegomena to the History of IsraelWellhausen, Julius
Religion
Prolegomena to the History of Israel
Wellhausen, Julius
Bible. Old Testament -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.; Jews -- History -- To 70 A.D.; Judaism -- History -- To 70 A.D.
-- Footnote
1. In the cases of Hebron, Gibeon, Shechem, Ramoth, Mahanaim and
Tabor (Host v. 1) by historical data; in those of Bethshemesh,
Ashtaroth, Kadesh,, perhaps also Rimmon, by the names. Not even
here can one venture to credit the Priestly Code with consistent
fidelity to history. As for Hosea v. 1, 2, the original
meaning seems to be: "A snare have ye become for Mizpah, and an
outspread net upon Tabor, and the pit-fall of Shittim (#XT
H#+YM) have they made deep." Shittim as a camping-place under
Moses and Joshua must certainly have been a sanctuary, just like
Kadesh, Gilgal, and Shiloh; the prophet names these seats at
which in his opinion the worship was especially seductive and
soul-destroying; his reproach is levelled at the priests
most famous (or according to the later view, infamous) high
places, such as Bethel, Dan, Gilgal, and Beersheba are omitted,
probably of set purpose.
-- Footnote
The immediate starting-point, however, for this territorial
donation to the Levites is perhaps to be sought in Ezekiel,
in the picture of the future Israel which he draws at the close
of his book. He concerns himself there in a thorough-going
manner about the demarcation of the national and tribal
boundaries, and in doing so sets quite freely to work, taking,
so to speak, the yard measure in his hand. Leaving the land
eastward of Jordan wholly to the Saracens, he divides the
western portion into thirteen parallel transverse sections;
in the middle of the thirteenth (the rest of which is assigned
to the prince), lying between Judah and Benjamin, the twelve
tribes give up a square with a base line of 25,000 ells as a
sacred offering to Jehovah. This square is divided into three
parallelograms, 25,000 ells long, running east and west;
the southernmost of these, 5000 ells broad, includes the capital
with its territory; the middle one, 10,000 ells broad, contains
the temple and the priestly territory; the northernmost, also
10,000 ells broad, has the inheritance and the cities of the Levites. /1/
-- Footnote
1. For (S#RYM L#KT (xlv. 5), read, with the LXX, #(RYM L#BT
"to dwell within the gates." Compare a similar transposition of
letters in xiii. 3, LXX. The expression "gates" for "cities"
has its origin in Deuteronomy.
-- Footnote
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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