Friday, October 17, 2014
I asked Professor Vaught this during our last class; however, not everyone was there at the time and I wanted the whole classes' perspective. The understanding of who the Israelites were in comparison to the Hebrews seems to cause some confusion. My understanding was that Jacob, who was renamed Israel by God, was the first 'official' Israelite. All of his sons and their descendants were presumably known as the Israelites. Since the term Hebrew is used generally, it is safe to say that it represents all who believed in Yahweh while the Israelites were a portion of them who existed at a certain period of time. Could one argue that Abraham, Isaac, and even Esau were part of the Israelites? Or were they simply just their predecessors?
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The people in the Bible are called in different ways. And their names provide insight into their identity and character. I think the descendants of Israel, are Israelites, because they have a purpose to carry out their identity as Israelites, as those who have wrestled with God. Abraham, Isaac, and Esau are not Israelites, because they serve different purposes.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Lord made his covenant with Abraham, he states that He will "make [Abraham's] offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven...And [his] offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies" (Gen 22:17). I feel that God establishes very early on that He favors a select group of people but he does not name their nation until he renames Jacob as Israel. It is at that point that the Israelites become 'official', as you put it. All the prophets beforehand were predecessors and role models, in a way, for the future generations of the Israelite people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous points in that the people who were chosen by God, such as those you named, were not officially dubbed 'Israelites' during their documentation in the Bible. Not until later in the book do we formally come to recognize the Israelites as a group of people chosen by God. In essence you could say, like you inferred, they were spiritual predecessors to the Israelite people.
ReplyDeleteYes, while they cannot be called israelites, they are important to the identity of the israelite people as they are ancestors. They have significant roles in the OT, therefor must have some weight in the formation of judaism and it's values. The Jewish people today, look to the OT for a sense of identity. For this reason, I think that Adam and Eve also have roles in creating the israelite and jewish identity. While there is a distinction between Hebrew and Israelite, I wonder if, in terms of identity, this is important? Yes, each generation has different experiences, but the themes are carried throughout the OT. What do you all think?
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