Friedman-the exodus of priests

Posted on December 19, 2017 by jamesbradfordpate

theoutwardquest

Having read Richard Elliott Friedman’s The Exodus: How it Happened and Why it Matters, I am both appreciative and disappointed. I appreciate his argument that the exodus event does not depend on huge numbers of people leaving Egypt.  His theory that it was just the Levites is provocative, although I can’t say that I am totally convinced.

Also his discussions about the origin of ethical monotheism do meet the expectation of grappling with why the exodus matters.

He does not spend much space on how it happened.  So that promise in the subtitle sets up an expectation that I should have known couldn’t be fulfilled.

None of us knows just how it happened.  We have the biblical accounts.  But, as Friedman shows, those accounts are layered and include several different kinds of literature composed at various times.

He takes the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15 as the…

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About jamesbradfordpate

My name is James Pate. This blog is about my journey. I read books. I watch movies and TV shows. I go to church. I try to find meaning. And, when I can’t do that, I just talk about stuff that I find interesting. I have degrees in fields of religious studies. I have an M.Phil. in the History of Biblical Interpretation from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. I also have an M.A. in Hebrew Bible from Jewish Theological Seminary, an M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. from DePauw University.
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