cheenc03a.pdf

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SINAI AND HOREB
however, so also in the present instance,.a comparison
of the different sources shows that relative objects of
worshio. .. or the earthlv , conies . of heavenlv ,. olacer. . are
located by the various source. or traditions in very
diverse situations. This holds good of the mountain
uoon which Yahwe dwells, exactlv as it holds eood - of
any other sent of deity. Every nation, or every tribe,
must necessarily point to it within its own domain ;
but, as in every nation and state various strata of
culture and . population . are reprerellted, and in the
course of time also various doctrines arise, so, in like
manner, different localisations can be handed down in
the various strata of the tradition. A clasricnl exam~le
of thi. is presented by Mtr. Ebal and Gerizim (ice
above. 5 3). The tradition (J) which places them
beside Shechem has held its ground victoriously. In
their cosmic meaning, however, aa the two summits of
the Mountain of the World, they nn be shown to have
been held in reverence aim in other seats of worrhip,
in the territory of other gods as well as at Shechem
(Ephraim). So, for example, in the domain of worship
of the once more extensive tribe (Winckler, GI 2) of
Benjamin, in the region of Bethel. This is the meaning
of the gloss in Dt. 1130 (cp GEnrzlM, 3 2): they are
situated near the Gilzal. ". the oolitieal . centre of Beniamin
which stands in connection with the sanctuary of Bethel.
Ebal and Gerizim are other names for jachin and
Boar in so far as there stand for definite cormolosical
ideas (N. and S., or E, and W. point) precisely as
Sinai and Horeb do. Thur no dificulty ought to .be
felt if the mountain of Yahwe also ir placed in various
localities. The view which brings it into
yL2- connection with the Kenite tribe and which
we must regard as the oldest, doubtleu has
in mind not the Sinaitic peninsula, but the region to the
S. of Judah, that ir to say Edom. This still finds clear
expresrion in thesong of Deborah (Judg. 5,): 'Yahwe,
when thou eoest forth from Se'ir and comest down from
the mounturn (a,u=Ass. iadd; FIELD, 1)ofEdom' ;
similarly airo in Dl. 332' (see Pnnax, and cp We.
Prvl.t31 359, and Di. ad loc.). In like manner I K. 198
originally placed Horeb (thus belongmg to E, the
oldrrf source on which Dt. rests) in the region of
Edom, that is. of Km. fur Eliiah cannot hare undertaken
any remote desert journey when he ir already
a1 the point of fainting at the ciore of a single day."
The fortv davs were first introduced in order to establish
a p&ail~lism with the Mores-lege~d.~ The words
of the song of ~eborah (~udg. 5 ~ indicate ) that even the
tradition which usedthe name Sinai war influenced by the
Same view with regard to its situation. This would go
to show that the Yahwirric tmdition also-for~t. follo\rs
E (cp, 5 I)-looked at matter, in the samelight. J and
E, however, comprise the whole tradition which comes
from the times of Juduh's national existence. This
would be in entire agreement with nll that we have to
presuppose for a period, the conceptionr of which
must have confined themselves within the limits of the
Post- 'LC~UBI and possible. The free play of fancy,
... as well us the enlareement of the claims of
exurn. Judah to ierritory-outiide of its proprr
limits. could 6rst come to their rights only after the
nation had been torn awav from its native soil, when
Judah had corne to be no longer i3 nation but only a
religious community, the sphere of whose activity was
1 I C nt.3316, ~ where ~cnan, wellhausen, and Sreuernagel
read ' ~ (?)Y, p 'he who dw~llr in Sinai.']
Z wi. GI i 23 : smend A 71i& R I L - ~ ~ 35. ~ c[See L ~ 21s ~
PROPHET S$ 7 9. ~it;el (HA7 Em. 150) still suppowr the
Horeb dthe nnrratiue to be in'the sinnitic peninsula; ro too
v ~ call, ? ani~,=l. K%ltsmtrm, ,5 (CP ~itt*~, Er+un&,lZ1
nu. z Abrchn. 1, p. 576). A ~~rn~wh~t keener cntlclirn ai
text, however, advcr.. thll ~rit. ~ib. on
1 K.198). Cp rhe remark on col. 1~72, liner X~$-T. 5. c.1
1 Ex. 24.8 [PI. The forty diiyr of abiencc in the wtldernerr
(cp the temptntiun oijeru.). on the significance ofthe number
see Wi. G* 2 zsp & (cp NUMBER, 181.
SINAI AND HOREB
limited only by the bounds of the civilisation of Hither
Aria.
The writing which arose out of such ideas ar there is
what is now known as P; we could, almort, therefore.
have guessed beforehand that the transference uf the
cosmic idea of Sinai as the seat of Yahwe to the
Sinaitic peninsula proceeds from this source or from
the view- up011 \\.h