The Evolution of the Exodus Tradition.

• Author: Propp, William H.C.

This is a translation of the expanded (but not updated) 1987 edition of Masoret ??yesi at misrayim ??bahistalsalutah, first issued by Magnes Press in 1968. I will summarize Loewenstamm's somewhat disjointed observations and conclusions (chapters two through seven), before describing and criticizing his methodology (chapter one).

Chapter two. Scripture does not conceive of the Egyptian bondage as punishment, because there was not yet a Covenant to violate (pp. 25-29). Some historical reviews omit the Sinai covenant, not because the tradition was later than or separate from the Exodus tradition, but because invoking legal obligation was rhetorically weaker than citing Yahweh's beneficent acts. The covenant form, with its historical preamble, presupposes the Exodus (pp. 31-38). There is no Hexateuch; the Torah reaches its natural conclusion with Moses' death. There is no organic connection between the traditions of Exodus and Conquest, since the Conquest was not completed until David (pp. 39-41), whereafter the Zion theology was associated with the Exodus (pp. 41-43). Psalm 81 describes the separate liberation of the Joseph tribes (pp. 44-52).

Chapter three. The Bible invokes the Exodus to stimulate awe, guilt, fear, compassion, hope, or faith. The Exodus is a stronger incentive to faith than Creation, since all Israel purportedly witnessed and benefited from it (pp. 53-68).

Chapter four. Exodus arranges the first nine plagues in three groups of three (pp. 87-88). Psalms 78 and 105, both pre-exilic and independent of the Torah, each lists seven plagues, which together formed the basis for the ten plagues of Exodus (pp. 71-102, 184-88). Older tradition recounted an epidemic among the Egyptians (Ps. 78:49-50), hinted at in Exod. 9:14-15 (pp. 92-95). Boils is a pre-Pentateuchal but secondary tradition (p. 95). Originally, the hail affected only vegetation (p. 98). The deception of Pharaoh, the punishment of the Egyptian gods, and the contest with the magicians must be early traditions, since they detract from God's glory (pp. 111-28). There is ambiguity over whether Yahweh, Moses, or Aaron produces the plagues; Aaron's role is a late development (pp. 128-47). The rod was originally Yahweh's own cudgel (pp. 147-54). There were three original versions of the plagues, each with its own pattern: (a) the plagues have no effect on Pharaoh and are simply abated; (b) Pharaoh asks Moses to remove the plagues; and (c) Pharaoh offers gradual concessions...