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A groundbreaking account of how the Book of Exodus shaped fundamental aspects of Judaism, Christianity, and IslamThe Book of Exodus may be the most consequential story ever told. But its spectacular moments of heaven-sent plagues and parting seas overshadow its true significance, says Jan Assmann, a leading historian of ancient religion. The story of Moses guiding the enslaved children of Israel out of captivity to become God's chosen people is the foundation of an entirely new idea of religion, one that lives on today in many of the world's faiths.The Invention of Religionsheds new light on ancient scriptures to show how Exodus has shaped fundamental understandings of monotheistic practice and belief.Assmann delves into the enduring mythic power of the Exodus narrative, examining the text's compositional history and calling attention to distinctive motifs and dichotomies: enslavement and redemption; belief and doubt; proper worship and idolatry; loyalty and betrayal. Revelation is a central theme--the revelation of God's power in miracles, of God's presence in the burning bush, and of God's chosen dwelling among the Israelites in the vision of the tabernacle. Above all, it is God's covenant with Israel--the binding obligation of the Israelites to acknowledge God as their redeemer and obey His law--that is Exodus's most encompassing and transformative idea, one that challenged basic assumptions about humankind's relationship to the divine in the ancient world.The Invention of Religionis a powerful account of how ideas of faith, revelation, and covenant, first introduced in Exodus, shaped Judaism and were later adopted by Christianity and Islam to form the bedrock of the world's Abrahamic religions.
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T he In v en t io n of R eli gi on The I NV E N T I O N of R E L IG I O N FAITH AND COVENANT IN THE BOOK OF EXODUS J A N A SSM A N N T r a nsl at ed by Ro b ert Savage Pr in ceto n U n i v er sit y Pr ess Pr i nceton & Ox fo r d Copyright © 2018 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TR press.princeton.edu All Rights Reserved ISBN 978-0-691-15708-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017963671 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Adobe Text Printed on acid-free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Incipit exire qui incipit amare. —St. Augustine Co n t en ts List of Illustrations xi Foreword xv Introduction 1 PART ONE | GENERAL FOUNDATIONS Chapter One Theme and Structure of the Book of Exodus 11 Exodus (Chapters 1–15) 11 God Reveals His Name—God Reveals His Power Sinai—Calling, Covenant, and Law (Chapters 15–24) 20 The Way to Sinai—God Reveals the Covenant Divine Presence (Chapters 25–40) 25 God Reveals the Tabernacle—Revelation of the Divine Being: Breach and Reconciliation—The Tabernacle Is Built—The Revelation Concludes: God’s Permanent Presence Chapter Two The Historical Background: Event and Remembrance 32 Memories 34 The Hyksos—Amarna—Ḥabiru/ʿapiru—Waves of Migration, Sea Peoples—Theocracy Experiences 47 Miraculous Redemption from Mortal Danger—The “Secession of the Northern Tribes”: The First Occasion for Remembering the Exodus?—Israel Refounded: The Principal Occasion for Remembering the Exodus viii c on t e n t s Chapter Three Textual History and the History of Meaning 55 Redaction as “Cultivation of Meaning”: Textual Layering in the Bible 55 From Myth to Canon and Back 74 The “Mosaic Distinctions” and the Monotheism of Loyalty 79 PART T WO | THE EXODUS C