Israel and Humanity - The Historical Books
§ 2.
THE HISTORICAL BOOKS.
We said that the critics are divided on the question of the date of writing of Deuteronomy and the four previous books. But we can see that, whatever the solution that we stop, it is doubtful that monotheism is taught in the Pentateuch. We will complete our proof now speaking of the historical books, that is to say, those who, by their very nature, seem less suited to reveal the state of beliefs. If books like Joshua, who recounts the events of an era regarded as the Iron Age of Judaism, as the period of anarchy and polytheism, however, contain specific evidence of monotheistic faith, does appear to more conclusive.
The modern scholars believe that the book of Joshua is the same author as Deuteronomy he would follow. It is certain that all or doctrine is the same in these two writings. The narrator sacred places in the mouth of Rahab these words: "We have learned (the passage of the Red Sea) and we lost all courage and our minds are shot at your appearance, because it is the Lord your God is God up in heaven and on earth beneath "[1]. Further Joshua announcing to people that would cross the Jordan and that precede the ark in its march, called the Palladium of Israel, "the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth. " According to some commentators hostile to orthodoxy and who are surprised to learn that their interpretation is particularly favored by the Kabbalists, the epithet "Lord of the whole earth" would apply to the ark and made [2] the sign of the genitive with the word missing in the Hebrew covenant [3] But anyway this discussion grammatical, the God of Israel or his appointed representative is Lord of all the earth with all the consequences entailed by such designation. In our opinion, the fact that this word is pronounced, the effect can be that one: the first will enter the ark in the river and will share the waters, so we could cross it on foot because it represents the God is the Lord of the universe, nature and humanity, and it is well within its power to break down the barriers that you oppose the Jordan and the Canaanites.
The book of Judges contains the famous phrase which seems to look Jephthah Chemosh, god of Ammon, as the equal of the God of Israel [4], a sentence which constitutes a major argument of those who deny Jewish monotheism. But as we read these words spoken by the same Jephthah the pagan king: "The Lord, the judge, must now decide between the Bene-Israel and Bene-Ammon [5] By calling the God of Israel, the judge, the author's intention is clearly to declare that to Him alone to judge the different between all people and therefore between Israel and children of Ammon, though they worshiped another god. And what to say except that in the eyes of Israel these gods do not count? We see further that the Hebrews did not neglect any opportunity to proclaim the oneness of God and teach the Gentiles that the true judge, was not the particular deity they worship as such, but the God of all humanity. This text proves perhaps Israel does not consider other people as incapable of understanding monotheism, or even as entirely ignorant of this belief.
Thanksgiving Anne after the birth of Samuel contains remarkable words: "No one is holy like the LORD, and there is no other God but Thee, there is no rock like our God "[6]. Here then, among other things, a passage that critics do not dispute the authenticity and shows us that the use [7] the advantage in the Bible, sometimes alleged as evidence of polytheism, n ' not exclude the idea of the absolute that accompanies the contrary. We might say that if we like to hear the words: "No one is holy like the LORD, and there is no rock like our God" in the same sense that if wrote: "The Lord is the only holy our God is the only rock" might just as logically say that the superlative applied to the God of Israel does not eliminate the possibility of comparison with other divinities "it No 'There is no other God but you, simply means "to Israel you are the one God." But it is obvious that if you want to judge the degree to which a spirit of elevation is reached, this is the best in him that should be taken as a measure of his ideal. Also, since the belief in the unity of God among the Jews is established by numerous texts and accurate, we do not, to convince them of polytheism, alleging certain forms of speech that the current ideas of the time involved and the reports continuing with the pagan world made somewhat necessary. Note also that in verse before us, the author does not randomly juxtaposed two opposing ideas: he places his assertion: "There is no other God but you" as they are to avoid misunderstand the meaning of the above comparison. Is not it mean: "Certainly, the Lord our God, shall have no equal in holiness, since it is the only God? . This example where the sacred writer seems to take over and correct his words is not unique. In the same book, he was told by the Lord to Samuel, "I repent of having made Saul as king," but he immediately corrects this expression by writing this memorable sentence sufficient in itself to show that must think of biblical anthropomorphism: "He who is Israel's strength does not lie and repents not because he is not a man to repent" [8]
We still find in this book is another example of combination of comparative and absolute: "That Thou art great, O Lord God! because there is none like You, there is no other God but Thee, according to all that have heard the name of our own ears "[9] It should be noted here that the doctrine of the unity of God, which is explicitly formulated, is presented as [10] a legacy of ancestors. We know that the rationalist critics opposed a plea in bar to such appeals to tradition, those would be, she says, an illusion which is taken to a legacy of antiquity which n ' is actually the result of the progress of the human spirit. But if it is possible for the individual and even in some cases for a church, how can we suppose that they can easily believe an entire people, who already have a long history, the new faith which is preached n has never ceased to exist in the past? In addition, if these words are attributed to free David, they nevertheless constitute a valuable indication of the beliefs of the writer of the book and those of his time is past, the critics' own admission, the return from captivity in Babylon.
The prophets of the sixth century BCE texts undoubtedly provide us in large numbers in favor of Jewish monotheism. But the argument that we might draw is disputed by anyone. At most we do we objected that even some prophets, monotheism could well be a simple yet monolatry. These allegations were refuted by Pentateuch itself, since, according to the same criticisms, the five books of Moses were contemporaries or, for the most demanding of little later in the sixth century. The doctrine is the same in all these writings and there is more, the prophets, that the strength of feeling, the elevation of style, beauty of eloquence that gave the monotheistic faith in Israel's perfect completion.
