REMEMBERING MOSES AS A MODEL OF ISRAELITE AND EARLY JEWISH IDENTITY

Abstract

There are numerous depictions of Moses in the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible: Leader and lawgiver, miracle worker, prophet and priest, etc. This contribution argues that one should refrain from reconstructing a linear, almost evolutionary, development of Moses as a model of Israelite and early Jewish identity. Instead, it will be suggested that deuteronomistic traditions evolved during the latter part of the monarchy and the exile (7th and 6th century BCE). On the one hand, some deuteronomistic traditions remembered Moses as a leader exhibiting qualities in stark contrast to Assyrian and Judean kings; while other deuteronomistic traditions propose Moses to be the ideal prophet that is called to be the spokesperson for God amongst his people. Concurrently, priestly traditions flourished in the Persian and Hellenistic periods (6th to 4th century BCE), that remembered Moses as a lawgiver and an intermediary. On a methodological level, it will be proposed that collective memory studies allow research to move beyond the futile attempts to establish the historicity of Moses and the exodus. Appreciating the evolving of theological traditions as the result of the collective memories negotiated amongst believing communities, the role Moses played as a paradigmatic model for the maintenance of Israelite and Jewish identity amidst Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian and Hellenistic onslaughts is presented in a new light.