mg01

This is a collection of notes I have that initially started as just the list of J etiological and linguistic puns near the bottom. When I realized how much J's puns in and of themselves were enough for one to raise an eyebrow over the truthfullness of his account I started categorizing and collecting a series of notes relating to other issues as well. Below is the summary I had put together from those notes in an effort to have them all in one place. At one time it was sort of a developing project but I haven't worked on it in a while.

It would be nice to be able to think that all but the most ardent fundamentalist would take the accounts literally, but you never really know. People will reject the idea that Muhammad recieved a revelation from Allah in a mountain cave in the 6th century CE but have no problem accepting the same thing happening to Moses from YHWH in the 13th century BCE. Personally I have to problem with someone who want's to believe in the supernatural. Man has been doing it for as far back as we can tell. But in a post "Enlightenment" world some basic understanding of the history of what you believe is in order.

It's worth noting that two of the most important features of the list below, that the early parts of the Bible is the result of cuting and pasteing multiple sources and the accounts they represent are more legendary than fact, are both ideas endorsed by the Catholic Church in Rome in statements made both from the 1950s (Documentary Hypothosis) and from 2000s (legendary nature).

BTW, if you are aware of any other puns or etiologies from the text let me know so I can mark those as well.

Issues with a True Historical Interpretation
• Problems with Mosaic authorship
• Anachronisms
• Use of "unto this day"/"in those days"
• Recognizable mythological motifs
• Recurring literary themes
• Internal composite nature
• Internal inconsistencies
• Etiological and Linguistic puns and punch lines
• Combos of the above in the same story

Problems With Mosaic Authorship
• Speaks of himself in third person all through Exodus and Numbers.
• Numbers 12:3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.
• Speaks of his own burial at the end of Deuteronomy

Anachronisms / Signs of Late Authorship
Verses refer to the 1st occurrence, many are repeated
• Gen 10:14 - Philistines not till 1200 (plus additional following verses)
• Gen 12:15 - Camels not in major use till 1000 (plus additional following verses)
• Gen 11:28 - The term "Chaldeans" (moon worshipers) was in reference to the Neo-Babylonian empire of the 5th century
• Gen 10:11 - Mention of Assyrian cities Nineveh and Calah, capitals of Assyria in the 9th and 7th centuries respectively
• Gen 10:11 - Also Assyria itself didn't exist until the 14th century
• Gen 10:4 - Kition was the important Phoenician establishment on Cyprus since the 9th/8th century BCE
• Gen 12:8 - Ai setteled from 3200-2400, abandoned, and not resettled until post 1200
• Gen 14:7 - Most likely refers to Kadesh-barnea, a great oasis which was mainly occupied in the 7th and early 6th century
• Gen 24:10 - Arameans not mentioned as a distinct ethnic before 1100 BCE. No significant kingdoms (chiefdoms) untill 9th century.
• Gen 25:13 - "Kendarites" appear for the first time in 8th century Assyrian records. Many references under Ashurbanipal in the 7th century.
• Gen 25:13 - Adbeel and and Nebaioth represent N. Arabian tribes also first mentioned in late 8th early 7th Assyrian inscriptions.
• Gen 25:15 - Tema probably linked with Teyma in NW Arabia, a caravan Oasis mentioned in Assyrian and Babylonian records from the 8th to 6th century.
• Gen 26:1 - Phillistine Gerar only a minor village until 8th-7th century when it appears as an Assyrian stronghold.
• Esau as the etiological ancestor of Edom which didn't exist until 8th century
• Gen 36:31 - "These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned", implies late authorship.
• Gen 37:25 - "spices, balm, and myrrh" were products of Arabian trade under Asyrian supervision in 8th-7th century
• Gen 49:10 - Shiloh a late bronze cult center, re-occupied in 12th century and destroyed ca 1050 by fire
• The only period in which all the sites mentioned in Exodus where all inhabited at the same time began after the 7th century, during the time of Josiah.
• Many were unoccupied during the proposed Exodus dates.
• Numbers 20:16 - Edomite presence on the edge of the Negeb is not attested until the end of the 7th to the beginning of the 6th century.
• Numbers 21:25 - Heshbon shows no sign of settlement before 12th-11th century (small walled town), some occupation from 10th-8th, with the most significant remains being from the 7th to 6th century.
• Archeology concerning places mentioned in the conquest of Joshua also show unoccupied at supposed time, but occupied later in the 7th-6th century

To This Day/In Those Days
Found from Genesis to Kings, plus Chronicles
Indication of late authorship
Usually associated with an etiology
• Genesis 19:36-37 - Moabites and Amonites decendents of incestous relationships. (political commentary)
• Genesis 22:14 - "So Abraham called that place YHWH Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of YHWH it will be provided.""
• Genesis 26:33 - He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. (also etiological)
• Genesis 32:33 - "Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon."
• Genesis 35:20 - Over her tomb Jacob set up a massabot, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb.
• Genesis 47:26 - And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh
• Exodus 2:11 - "In those days, after Moses had grown up..." (Moses in the 3rd person)
• Deuteronomy 2:22 - "They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day."
• Deuteronomy 10:8 - "At that time YHWH set apart the tribe of Levi to [do stuff] as they still do today."
• Joshua 4:9 - "Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day."
• Joshua 5:9 - "Then YHWH said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal to this day."
• Joshua 6:25 - "...and she lives among the Israelites to this day." (though would seem to tie authorship within a generation)
• Joshua 7:26 - "So that place is called the Valley of Disaster to this very day."
• Joshua 8:28 - "So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day." ("Ai" = "ruins"), J attributes it to Joshua
• Joshua 8:29 - "...and they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day."
• Joshua 9:27 - "That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of YHWH at the place YHWH would choose. And that is what they are to this day."
• Joshua 13:13 - "...so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day."
• Joshua 15:63 - "Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem and to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah."
• Joshua 16:10 - "They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor."
• Judges 1:21 - "The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem and to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites."
• Judges 1:26 - "He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day."
• Judges 6:24 - "So Gideon built an altar to YHWH there and called it YHWH (is) Shalom. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites."
• Judges 10:4 - "He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair. "
• Judges 15:19 - "So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still in Lehi to this very day."
• Judges 17:6 - "In those days Israel had no king everyone did as he saw fit."
• Judges 18:1 - "In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites [...] had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel."
• Judges 18:12 - "On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day."
• Judges 20:27 - "And the Israelites inquired of YHWH. In those days the ark of the covenant of Elohim was there (Beth-El)"
• Judges 21:25 - "In those days Israel had no king everyone did as he saw fit."
• 1 Samuel 3:1 - "In those days the word of YHWH was rare there were not many visions."
• 1 Samuel 5:5 - "That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold."
• 1 Samuel 6:18 - "The large rock, on which they set the ark of YHWH, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh."
• 1 Samuel 27:6 - "So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day."
• 1 Samuel 28:1 - "In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. "
• 1 Samuel 30:25 - "And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day. "
• 2 Samuel 6:8 - "Then David was angry because YHWH's wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah." (YHWH kills Uzzah for catching the falling ark)
• 2 Samuel 16:23 - "Now in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was like that of one who inquires of Elohim. "
• 2 Samuel 18:18 - "He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day."
• (Stopped searching but there are more in Kings.)


Mythological Motifs
• Use of 7, 12, 40, and 70 ( heavenly bodies, zodiac signs, 40 an idiom for “a lot”, 70 and idiom for “large group or family”)
• Magical things after “Three Days” (return of the crescent moon after a new moon {theme older than Jesus})
• Re-Casting of widespread themes from other cultures
- Shared Cosmology (same "three tiered" universe, sky/heaven, earth, underworld)
- Cosmic Combat / Creation account (out of watery chaos)
- Flood after 10 generations
- Origin/Confusion of the languages
- Seven Year Famine
- Slaughter of the Innocents
- Moses in the ark on the Nile (Sargon)
(Sheol appears numerous times in J early on in reference to the underworld but is translated, "grave")

Composite Nature
• Multiple lines of evidence
• Linguistic stages of development
• Use of YHWH vs Elohim
• Use of Elohim as "generic reference pertaining to or of the supernatural" (JPD) to "title for YHWH" (P)
• Doublets and triplets split with sources
• Sources further identifiable by
- distinct verbage
- P: "fruitful and multiply", "on that very day", "glory of YHWH", "cubit", "wilderness of Sinia",...
- J: "lie with" (sex), "those who live in the land",
- D: "with all your heart and all your soul", "to the left or to the right" , "prolong your days in the land", "place YHWH your Elohim will choose to put his Name"
- discernable styles (anthropomorphic/transcendent, dreams, themes, local/universal etc...)
- concerns centering around particular areas/tribes, N/S
- Ruel and Horeb in E and D, Jethro and Sinia in J and P
- Staff miracles by Moses in E, Aaron in P (Aaron never mentioned in J)
- Exclusive Sacred objects, Ark in J, Tent of Meeting in E, Urim and Thummim in P
• Framing structures
- "These are the generations of..." which occurs 13? times as preface to different sections
- "And so [patriarch] expired and was gathered to his people" used repeatedly by P
- "and so they traveled..." in Exodus/Numbers
- Chronicles of the Kings of Judah/Israel in Kings
• Stitching of sections together that occur out of order, (Jacobs travels)
• Contiguous narrative between sources (portion picks up where last section left off)
• Redundant verses in transitions between sources

Doublets/Triplets
Multiple accounts of the same story.
When divided by source, all these resolve themselves while remaining in agreement with the other lines of evidence
• Doublet: "Geneology from Adam". J & BOG
• Doublet: "The Flood". J and P woven together.
• Doublet: "Genealogy from Shem", J and P here are duplicated in the BOG below.
• Doublet: Abraham's migration, J and P.
• Triplet: Wife as sister (Abraham, Sarah, and Pharaoh), (Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech), (Isaac, Rebekah, and Abimelech)
• Doublet: Abraham and Lot separate, J and P.
• Doublet: "Abrahamic Covenant"
• Triplet: "Hagar and Ishmael", P mixed with J in Gen 16. E in Gen 21:8-19
• Doublet: "Prophecy of Isaac's birth". J and P. J in Gen 18:10-14
• Doublet: "Naming of Beer-Sheeba" Gen 21:22-31 (E) and Gen 26:15-33 (J)
• Doublet: "Jacob, Esau, and departure to the East"" J & P. Here to Gen 28:10
• These 2 P verses continous with 27:46 below."
• Doublet: Jacob, Laban and the Sheep
• Triplet: "Jacob at Beth-El". Gen 28:10,11a,13-16,19 (J), 28:11b-12,17-18,20-22 (E), and 35:9-15 (P)
• Doublet: Jacob Names Beth-El (See Gen 35:15) J names Beth-El in Ch 28.
• Doublet: "Jacob's twelve sons". Gen 29:32-25; 30:1-24; 35:16-20 (JE) and Gen 35:23-26 (P)
• Doublet: "Jacob renamed Israel". Gen 32:25-33 (E) and 35:9-10 (P)
• Doublet: "Joseph sold to Egypt". J and E woven together though ch 37.
• Triplet: "YHWH commissions Moses". Exod 3:2-4a,5,7-8,19-22; r:19-20a (J) and 3:1,4b,6,9-18; 4:1-18,20b-21a,22-23 (E) and 6:2-12 (P)
• Doublet: "Moses, Pharaoh, and the plagues" E and P woven together, ch 5-10.
• Doublet: "The Passover". Exod 12:1-20,28,40-50 (P) and 12:21-27,29-36,37b-39 (E)
• Doublet: "The Red Sea". J and P woven together in Ch 13 & 14.
• Doublet: "Manna and quail" Exod 16:2-3,6-35a (P) and Num 11:4-34 (E)
• Doublet: "Water from a rock". Exod 17:2-7 (E) and Num 20:2-13 (P)
• Triplet: "Theophany at Sinai/Horeb". Exod 19:1; 24:15b-18a (P) and 19:2b-9,16b-17,19;20:18-21 (E) and 19:10-16a,18,20-25 (J)
• Triplet: "Ten Commandments". Exod 20:1-17 (R/Other) and 34:10-28 (J) and Deut 5:6-18 (D)
• Triplet: "Kid in mother's milk"". Exod 23:19 (Covenant Code) and 34:26 (J) and Deut 14:21 (D).
• Doublet: "The Spies"". P and J woven together in Ch 13 & 14
• Doublet: "Heresy at Peor". Num25:1-5 (J) and 25:6-19 (P)
• Doublet: "Appointment of Joshua". Num 27:12-23 (P) and Deut 31:14-15,23 (E)
• Doublet: Passage through Heshbon
• Doublet: David and Achish in Gath, 1 Samuel 21:11 and 1 Samuel 27:3
• Doublet: Saul's Death 1 Samuel 31:4 a spear, 2 Samuel 1:9 a sword.
• Duplication of laws and regulations
o Doublet: "Forbidden Animals". Leviticus 11 (P) and Deuteronomy 14 (D)
o Doublet: "Centralization of sacrifice". Leviticus 17 (P) and Deuteronomy 12 (D)
o Triplet: "Holidays". Leviticus 23 (P) and Numbers 28-29 (R) and Deut 16:1-17 (D)
o Others

Internal Inconsistencies
• Genealogies don't agree, ie, of Adam in Gen 4:17-23 (J) Gen 5:1-32 (BOG)
• Placed named more than once
• Places referenced that haven't been built or even exist until later
• Jacob sold to both the Midianites (E) and the Ishmaelietes (J)
• Different reasons given for different celebrations, Sabbath, Passover, etc...

Recurring Literary Themes
• Miraculous birth of a barren woman, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, (all patriarchs except Abraham)
• Younger over the elder, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, (all patriarchs except Abraham), also Cain and Abel, and Cain and Shem
• Life spans (J limits to 120 following Noah, other sources exceed the number, ie Ishmael in P: 137)
• Alter building, starts with Abraham's "Alter Tour" in J where he builds alters at both Northern & Southern sites.
• Descent into Egypt
• J's use of deception
• Themes in E similar to Canaanite from Ugarit, (epithets, dreams, massabots, covenant with gods, direct references to EL {Isra-EL, alter to EL at Beth-EL, oracles of Balam, revelation to Jacob, etc...], allusions to child sacrifice)
• "Seeing an Elohim", a bad thing, only Moses looks at YHWH (backside) and survives, but disfigured.
• Relationships to past events in reference to latter ones, i.e., story in Gen 38 contrived to connect Judah to David
• E's original "Elohim of the Father" (El, see Gen 46:3) is recast by J as YHWH as early as Abraham.

Etiological Names
Stories climax by providing an etiology as to the naming of a place or person
More in J than in E, as if J took E's idea and ran with it (there are also other examples of J expanding on things found in E)
In many of these cases, the NIV chooses translations that make the puns or etiologiy less obvious in English

In J
• Genesis 2:20 - "Adam" and "Adamah" (Adamah = clay/earth, from which Adam) was made
• Genesis 2:23 - The word for woman is Ishah and for man is Ish, because she came from man
• Genesis 3:16 - Same word pain is used to describe Eves of childbirth and Adam's toil of the earth
• Genesis 3:20 - Eve as "mother of all things" and also related to Sumerian word for "rib"
• Genesis 4:16 - Cain condemned to the "land of Nod", Nod is the verb for "to wander", completely alagorical
• Genesis 10:9 - "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before YHWH" is repeated as in explanation of something lost.
• Genesis 10:25 - "Peleg" = divided.
• Genesis 11:9 - Tower of Babel, balal = "to confuse"
• Genesis 16:14 - Naming of Beer Lahai Roi after "El Lahai Roi" = "god of vision"
• Genesis 18:12 - Sarah births Isaac after laughing at the idea, Isaac = "laughter"
• Genesis 19:20 - Lot flees to a small nearby town, Zoar (small) "That is why the town was called Zoar."
• Genesis 19:26 - Lot's wife turns to a pillar of salt, a common geological feature around the Dead Sea
• Genesis 19:36-37 - Moabites and Amonites decendets of incestous relationships. (political commentary)
• Genesis 25:25 - Esau, etiological ancestor of Edom, came out red. Edom & Hebrew "red" same root.
• Genesis 25:26 - Jacob is born holding Esau's heel, Jacob = "heel holder or supplanter" (also youngest over eldest motif)
• Genesis 25:30 - Esau sells birthright over red stew, again Esau\Edom\red and same root.
• Genesis 26:20 - Triple pun over naming of wells because of disputes, Esek="quarrel", Sitnah = "strife", and Rehoboth = "broad places"
• Jacob's "Southern" sons
o Genesis 29:32 - Rueben = "Look, a son" because Leah exclaims her husband will love her now because they have a son
o Genesis 29:33 - Simeon = "hearing", "Because YHWH heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too."
o Genesis 29:34 - Levi = "affection", "Now this time my husband will show me affection, because I have given birth to three sons for him."
o Genesis 29:34 - Judah = "praise", "This time I will praise YHWH."
o Genesis 30:34 - Joseph = "increaser", "May YHWH add to me another son."
• Genesis 38:29 - Perez = "breech" or "he who pushes through’", "How you have broken out of the womb!" (younger over elder)
• Genesis 38:30 - Zerah = "scarlet", "Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out and he was given the name Zerah."
• Exodus 15:23 - Marah="bitter/salty", "When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. That is why the place is called Marah."
• Numbers 13: 24 - Eshcol = "Cluster", "That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there."
• Numbers 21:3 - Hormah = "broken rock", "and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah."
• (Following attrubited to J by Friedman due to similarites to J in portions of the Primary History)
• Joshua 5:3 - Gibeath Haaraloth = "Hill of the Foreskins", "So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. "
• Joshua 5:9 - Gilgal = "wheel, rolling", "YHWH said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal to this day."
• Judges 15:17 - Ramath-lehi = "hill of the jawbone", "When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone and the place was called Ramath Lehi. " (Samson)
• Judges 15:19 - En-hakkore = "the Spring of Him Who Calls", "When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore"
• 1 Samuel 7:12 - Ebenezer="stone of Help", "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has YHWH helped us.""
• 1 Samuel 23:28 - Sela Hammahlekoth = "cliff of escapes", Because David escaped from Saul.
• 1 Samuel 25:25 - Nabal's name is a pun on the Hebrew word nbl, which means "fool" or "foolhardy". He does a "foolish thing"
• 2 Samuel 5:20 - Perazim = "to breach", "David said, "As waters break out, YHWH has broken out against my enemies before me." So that place was called Baal Perazim."
• 2 Samuel 2:16 - Helkath Hazzurim = "field of swords", "Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent's side...So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim"
• 2 Samuel 6:8 - Perez Uzzah = "breach (of) Uzzah", "Then David was angry because YHWH's wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. "

In RJE
• Genesis 22:14 - name of mountain at the sacrifice of Isaac, either YHWH Provides or YHWH sees/watches after

In E
• Genesis 21:31 - Naming of Beersheba "Well of the oath" because Abimelech and Abraham swore an oath there
• Jacob's "Northern" sons
o Genesis 30:6 - Dan = "judgment", "Elohim has judged me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son."
o Genesis 30:8 - Naphtali = "that struggles or fights", "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won."
o Genesis 30:11 - Gad = "fortunate", "What good fortune!"
o Genesis 30:13 - Asher = "happy", "How happy I am, for women will call me happy!"
o Genesis 30:18 - Issachar = "reward", "Elohim has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband."
o Genesis 30:20 - Zebulun = "dwelling, habitation", "now will my husband dwell with me"
o Genesis 30:23 - Joseph = "remover", "Elohim has taken away my shame." (J as alternate)
• Genesis 31:48 - Galeed = "heap of witness", ""This heap is a witness between you and me today." That is why it was called Galeed."
• Genesis 31:49 - Mizpah = "look out" as in "watch tower", "It was also called Mizpah, because he said, "May YHWH keep watch between you and me"
• Genesis 32:3 - Mahanaim = "two camps", ""This is the camp of Elohim!" So he named that place Mahanaim. " (Jacob and Laban camped there)
• Genesis 32:31 - Peniel/Penuel = "face of god", "So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw Elohim face to face, and yet my life was spared."" ("Seeing an Elohim" theme)
• Genesis 33:17 - Succoth = "booths/shelters", "Jacob, however, went to Succoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Succoth. "
• Exodus 17:7 - Placenames, Massa="temptation", Meribah = "strife" or "contention", because they quarrled with YHWH
• Exodus 18:3 - Gershom = "foreigner", "I have become an foreigner in a foreign land"
• Numbers 11:3 - Taberah ="burning", "So that place was called Taberah, because fire from YHWH had burned among them. "
• Numbers 11:34 - Kibroth Hattaavah="graves of lust", "Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had lusted after different food."