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.
"And Solomon and all the congregation with him went to
the high place in Gibeon, for there was God's tent of meeting,
which Moses, the servant of God, had made in the wilderness.
But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-jearim,
where he had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it
at Jerusalem. But the brazen altar that Bezaleel, the son of Uri,
the son of Hur, had made, stood there, before the tabernacle of
Jehovah, and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it. And
Solomon offered there, upon the brazen altar, before Jehovah,
by the tent of meeting, he offered a thousand burnt-offerings,
and God appeared to him in a dream, saying, Ask what I shall
give thee" (2Chronicles i. 3 seq.).
In the older narrative there is nothing about the tabernacle,
it being assumed that no apology would be either necessary or
possible for Solomon having sacrificed on a high place. Chronicles,
dominated in its views of antiquity by the Priestly Code, has
missed the presence of the tabernacle and supplied the want in
accordance with that norm; the young and pious king could not
possibly have made his solemn inaugural sacrifice, for which
he had expressly left Jerusalem, anywhere else than at the
legally prescribed place; and still less could Jehovah otherwise
have bestowed on him His blessing. It betokens the narrowness,
and at the same time the boldness of the author, that he retains
the expression _high place_ used in 1Kings iii. 3, and co-ordinates
it with _tabernacle_, although the one means precisely the opposite
of the other. But it is instructive to notice how, on other
occasions, he is hampered by his Mosaic central sanctuary, which
he has introduced _ad hoc_ into the history. According to 1Chronicles
xvi. David is in the best position to institute also a sacrificial
service beside the ark of Jehovah, which he has transferred to
Zion; but he dare not, for the Mosaic altar stands at Gibeon, and
he must content himself with a musical surrogate (vers. 37-42).
The narrative of 1Chronicles xxi., that David was led by the
theophany at the threshing-floor of Araunah to build an altar
there, and present upon it an offering that was accepted by
heaven, is at its close maimed and spoiled in a similar way by
the remark, with anticipatory reference to 2Chronicles i., that the
Mosaic tabernacle and altar of burnt offering were indeed at that
time in the high place at Gibeon, but that the king had not the
strength to go before it to inquire of Jehovah, being so smitten
with fear of the angel with the drawn sword. So also must the
sacrifice which Solomon should have offered on his return from
Gibeon before the ark at Jerusalem be similarly ignored (2Chronicles
i. 13), because it uould destroy the force of the previous
explanation of the high place at Gibeon. Thus the shadow takes
the air from the body. In other places the tabernacle is
significantly confounded with the temple of Jerusalem (Graf, p. 56),
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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