political entity in the land.
When Abraham, the “convert,” who migrated to Canaan from Mesopotamia with his Aramaean wife, sought to marry off his favored son, he told his servant, “You will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac” (Gen. 24:3–4). Not at all surprised, the servant returned to his master’s homeland and imported the attractive Rebecca from abroad. This antipatriotic custom was practiced by the following generation as well, as reflected in the words spoken by Rebecca—who, like her father-in-law, came from abroad—to her aging husband: “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?” (Gen. 27:46). Isaac gave in to his domineering wife and instructed his eldest son accordingly: “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women” (Gen. 28:1).
As an obedient son, Jacob had no choice but to leave Canaan and journey to Mesopotamia, the homeland of his grandfather, his grandmother, and his mother. There, amid the not-so-distant Diaspora, he married Leah and Rachel, two local sisters who were also Jacob’s first cousins, ultimately fathering with them twelve sons and one daughter. The sons, eleven of whom (together with the two sons of Joseph) constituted the eponymous fathers of the tribes of Israel, were all born in a different land, except for one who was born later in Canaan. In addition, as we have seen, the four “mothers of the nation” also came from a distant homeland. Abraham, his wife, his son’s bride, the wives and concubines of his grandchild, and almost all of his great-grandchildren were, according to legend, natives of the northern Fertile Crescent who migrated to Canaan as commanded by the Creator.
The antipatriotic saga continues as the story progresses. As we know, all of Jacob’s sons “went down” to Egypt, where all his descendants, the entire “seed of Israel,” would be born for the next four hundred years, which was longer than the period between the Puritan Revolution in England and the invention of the atomic bomb. Like their forefathers, they, too, would not hesitate to marry local women (a permissible arrangement as long as the women were not Canaanites). A notable instance is Joseph, who married Osnat, whom he was given by Pharaoh. (Abraham’s concubine Hagar was also not Canaanite but rather Egyptian.) Moses, first great leader of the “seed of Israel,” took Zipporah the Midianite as a wife. As a result of such marriages, which fully contradicted the later custom, it is no surprise that “the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them” (Exod. 1:7).5 The land in question here, we must remember, was Egypt, not Canaan. Thus, according to the biblical story itself, the “people” was emerging demographically in a place that was not promised to it, but that, according to the ancient cultural map, was considered a prestigious and praiseworthy cultural center. Moses, Aaron, and Joshua—who led the people to Canaan—were also born, educated, and transformed into devoted followers of Yahweh in the great pharaonic kingdom.
As we have seen, this mythological, anti-autochthonous formation of the “holy nation” outside the land must be understood in conjunction with another integral dynamic. Not only did the authors of the Bible oppose the inhabitants of the land but also repeatedly expressed a deep hostility toward them. Most authors of the biblical texts loathed the local (“popular”) tribes, who were tillers of the soil and idol worshippers; step by step, they lay the ideological foundation for the tribes’ eradication.
As we have noted, Yahweh made an early promise—at Mount Sinai, immediately following the giving of the Ten Commandments—to expel the autochthonous inhabitants of the land in order to make room for his chosen ones.6 Moses, the former Egyptian prince, reiterated God’s promise on a number of occasions. In the book of Deuteronomy, the prophet repeatedly emphasized to the “children of Israel” that their god would “cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you” and that they would “dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses” (19:1). Moreover, after issuing instructions containing a relatively moderate approach toward the conquered non-Canaanite inhabitants, Moses again emphasized: “But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes” (Deut. 20:16).
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
