Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Timetospend · 08-20-2007, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derec

In the King James Version:

²⁴And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.

²⁵Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

²⁶So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of th circumcision.

I mean, WTF? Did God try to kill Moses because he was not circumcised? And touching a foreskin of one's son to one's "feet" (euphemism for penis?) counts as being circumcised yourself?

I have a feeling that crucial bits of this story have been left on the editing floor, as it were. By the way, is there a consensus on which source (JEPD) this episode belongs to?

This is rather obscure and might have had transmission problems. My personal take is that it was Moses' son who almost died...given the context. Basically in the couple of verses before this, Moses has been instructed to let Pharaoh know that his son would die if he does not obey. Apparently Moses has not had his son circumcised, thereby disobeying himself, per Gen. 17:14, given that Moses is attempting to rejoin his people and bring his son into the Jewish community. Apparently, this situation is intended to send Moses a message that he needs to obey too. Again, this is obscure...so cannot be sure of the above, but it does fit the context.

I will let others speak to the JEDP connection.

Thanks,

John Kesler · 08-22-2007, 04:34 AM

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says of the event:

Quote:

Verses 24-26 vividly illustrate the popular belief that the firstborn son is owed to Yahweh, not to Pharaoh. Whatever the origins of the story--perhaps an old story of a night demon fooled by the blood from someone other than the intended victim--its intent is to point forward to the tenth and final plague (12:29-32) and to the redemption of the Israelite firstborn (13:1-2, 11-16). Like Moses' mother and sister, who saved him by their daring and wit, Zipporah in the face of sudden danger quickly daubs her sleeping husband's penis ("feet" in v 25, a euphemism) with the blood from the circumcision of her firstborn son and so averts the danger...

The Interpreter's Bible states that in the account's original form, Moses was the one circumcised "and the occasion was [his and Zipporah's] bridal night. [Zipporah's] object was to save Moses' life from destruction by a demon who denied Moses the possession of his bride..."

It's interesting that when the author of Jubilees refers to this event, he claims that "prince Mastema" (Satan), not Yahweh, was the one who tried to kill Moses:

Quote:

Jubilees 48:1-4
1 And in the sixth year of the third week of the forty-ninth jubilee thou didst depart and dwell (in [2372 A.M.] the land of Midian, five weeks and one year. And thou didst return into Egypt in the second week
2 in the second year in the fiftieth jubilee. And thou thyself knowest what He spake unto thee on [2410 A.M.] Mount Sinai, and what prince Mastema desired to do with thee when thou wast returning into Egypt
3 . Did he not with all his power seek to slay thee and deliver the Egyptians out of thy hand when he saw that thou wast sent to execute
4 judgment and vengeance on the Egyptians? And I delivered thee out of his hand, and thou didst perform the signs and wonders which thou wast sent to perform in Egypt against Pharaoh...

Richard Elliott Friedman assigns this pericope to the "J" author.

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