2006-02-02

Parallel Guide 13 - Moses and the Pharoah

Learning Objectives Ex 1-13:16
  • How did Passover ritual affect Israel?

    • it is a tradition to dramatically reenact the exodus

      • how do we experience emancipation?


  • Miraculous birth stories, besides Moses

    • Jesus
    • John the Baptist

  • possible locations for Mt. Sinai/Mt. Horeb

    • at apex of the Arabian peninsula
    • in current Saudi Arabia (west of Kadesh-barnea)

  • theological significance of YAHWEH

    • i am that i am
    • i will be that i will be
    • i am who i am
    • i am he who causes to be

      • the name was never used by Moses and was for Moses own understanding alone


  • significance of God's hardening Pharoah's heart

    • free will vs determinism

      • not at the individual level, but at the divine level

    • contest between monotheism and polytheism

      • between the God of Israel and the incarnation of the Gods of the Egyptians


  • deliverance from bondage

    • symbolism in modern times
    • emanicipation from slavery
    • emanicipation from the closet

  • significant foundation stories in my life


Notes on Parallel guide
  • two approaches to interpreting

    • Abraham's covenant is the watershed event
    • Moses' acceptance of the covenant is key (one accepted here)

  • don't interpret the number of Israelites in the exodus literally

    • cf. the fundamentalist/literalist reading of exodus

  • feminist reading of Exodus

    • role of women in shaping crucial events

      • Zipporah
      • Shiphrah and Puah
      • Jochebed
      • Miriam
      • Pharaoh's daughter


  • modern historian viewpoint

    • we are not supposed to be concerned with details
    • it doesn't have to be internally consistent

  • theory

    • identifier of the sign that God is with Moses is missing from the text
    • or the burning bush itself is the sign

  • mysterious story about the bridegroom of blood and Zipporah saving Moses' life
  • the Hebrews have no sense of national identity at the time of the Exodus, making them hard to manage
  • naturalist explanations of the plagues


Notes on class

Theological Reflection
  • made progress on analyzing

No comments: