Extracting The Legal Character Of Moses From The Pentateuch

Extracting the Legal Character of Moses from the Pentateuch By: Uche Onyekwelu CCE

1.0 Introduction The call of Moses is similar to the call of kings (cf.Legend of King Sargon), prophets (cf. Jeremiah, Isaiah), and many other biblical heroes. The following spiritual words lay credence to this; “before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you; I appointed you as prophet to the nations” (cf. Jeremiah 1:5). The above passage is likened to Moses’ call from his birth, surrounded with royalty (Pharaoh’s palace) to rescue the people of Israel, just as Gideon was called to rescue his people (Manasseh) from the Medians in Judges 6:11-8. So the similarity of Moses’ call to the other prophets raises the question of Deuteronimic influence on Exodus 3-4, and may be an example of the D source being responsible for parts of the Pentateuch.1 That is why in this work, we shall concentrate on Deuteronomy.

Moses’ mission thus has many vestiges, one of which is our concern in this work, and that is his Legal Character. This legal character has correlates, of Moses, as a King, Prophet, and a Scribe. This tripartite identity asserts Moses’ mission as authoritatively bestowed on him from Yahweh who is the highest King, Prophet and Scribe (teacher). From this then, we may not be fully wrong to say that Moses gained 1

McDermott John J., Reading The Pentateuch: A Historical Introduction, New York: Paulist Press, 2002, p. 93.

1

or assumed his legal character from Yahweh’s own legal authority. Yahweh’s own legal authority, we think, can be seen as He authoritatively sent Mosses and told him to tell the Israelites that His name is –ehyeh asher ehyeh (I am who I am), which may be interpreted that He does not want them to know His actual name, thus He imposed that name (I am who I am) as an order, “since no human can truly know a divine being (example; the angel who announces Samson’s birth in Judges 13:17-18)”. 2 This we think is where Moses’ legal character emanates and astrides, in his mission to deliver the Israelites.

2.0 The Legal Character of Moses in the Pentateuchal History The force of law most times depends on the authority of its promulgator. Selfcharacterization by law givers plays a vital role in persuading hearers and readers to accept law and in motivating them to obey it. Pentateuchal laws therefore join narratives in characterizing law-speakers as part of rhetoric of persuasion. We may not be totally wrong to say that they present two law speakers namely- (i) Yahweh from the divine angle and (ii) Moses from the human perspective. The former uses the latter to realize His divine plan meant for the salvation of man and the glorification of His name.

3.0 Moses the King It may not be unwarranted to say that, like God, Moses speaks law, profoundly and fully in the Deuteronomy. As Watts says, “like the divine instructions in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, Moses’ speeches in Deuteronomy combine generic elements 2

Ibid, p.94.

2

from treatises, laws, codes and commemorative inscriptions into a persuasive appeal for obedience to God’s Torah”.3 So since the ancient near east (ANE) following the divine instructions, characterize Yahweh as their ideal ruler, it may be necessary to say that Deuteronomy characterize Moses as a king –a ruler. His speeches call attention to this. This was seen in his service to God and Israel, and his suffering as a result (Yahweh was angry with me too because of you… Dt 1:37, 3:26, 4:21). This was extant as he was urgently appealing for fidelity and obedience to his words ( And now Israel, listen to the laws and customs which I am teaching you today… Deuteronomy 4:1-2,5,40; 6:2,6; 8:1,11), through his threats of legal sanctions for noncompliance ( Today I call heaven and earth to witness against you…for you will be utterly destroyed…Dt 4:26; 8:19-20; 11:26-28). Also as Olson says, that Moses recalls the narrative setting of the speech at the end of his own life…evoking sympathy to reinforce the persuasive force of his authority.4

The basic question still remains –“how royal and kingly is Moses? This question comes up because there are standards set for Israel’s rulers. What is Moses’ fate here? Yes, Moses satisfies these standards. He had royal motifs that shaped parts of his biography (most expoundingly at his birth). From the responsibilities over the Israelites, Moses fulfils the otherwise royal roles of national leader and highest court of appeal.5 This qualifies Moses, says Coats, and can therefore be interpreted as type or example Israel’s ideal king.6 His actions depicted a king who gives laws, though not intrinsically from him, but laws that come from Yahweh through him to the

3

James W, Rhetorical Strategy In the Composition of the Pentateuch, JSOT 68(1995), p. 21-22. Dennis, O, Deuteronomy and the Death of Moses: A Theological Reading, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994, p. 17-22. 5 Michael, F, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985, p. 244-245. 6 George, C, Moses: Heroic Man, Man Of God, Oxford: Sheffield Press, p. 198. 4

3

Israelites. This emphasizes Moses’ uniqueness precisely in comparison with Israel’s kings.

4.0 Mosses the Prophet In Deuteronomy, Moses agrees with the narrative of Exodus- Numbers in claiming to possess a delegated authority to give the law to Israel. He notes two sources for that delegated authority viz (i) Yahweh and (ii) Israel.

On the one hand, Yahweh

commissioned Moses to hear and report the law (Dt 4:14, 5:28-31, 18:15; Ex 19:19); on the other hand, the Israelites asked Moses to mediate between themselves and God (Dt 5:23-27; Ex 20:18-20). Moses therefore claims double authorization to speak for God to Israel in law giving. Perhaps this also grounds his authority to speak for Israel to God in intercession. Dt 27: 1-9 show Moses’ double role with elders and Levites (Levitical priests). With the elders, he pronounced the performative speech for Israel in the covenant ceremony, while with the Levitical priests, he spoke for Yahweh. The above text shows how Moses speaks for both God and Israel; thus his double authority. That is why Savran asks the question; when God and Israel have appointed him to speak for them, who is left to challenge his words? 7 Infact, we may not be too wrong to call him the “legal biblical practitioner”.

Whollistically viewing the Pentateuch, with Moses possessing a prophet’s mandate, it never calls Mosses a prophet except in Dt. 18:15, 18; 34:10-11 – “there has never 7

George, S, Telling and Retelling; Quotation in Biblical Narrative, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988, p. 116.

4

been such a prophet in Israel like Moses, the man whom Yahweh knew face to face”. Also in delivering the laws to Israel, Moses did not use the messenger formulas typical of prophets. Moses receives divine message through God’s direct revelation of law, not through visionary experiences of prophets. Nb 12:6-8 says:

Listen to my words! If there is a prophet among you, I reveal myself to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; to him, my whole household is entrusted; to him I speak face to face, plainly and not in riddles, and he sees Yahweh’s form” 8

The above citation shows that even though Moses was not explicitly called a prophet in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, he enjoys a prophetic role (or even higher) with other Israelite prophets. He sounds like other Israelite prophets when his divine message consists of warnings and threats. An example is seen in Ex 7:17 (the plagues) were he says:

This is what Yahweh says: you will know that I am Yahweh by this: with the staff that is in my hand I shall strike the waters of the river and they will turn to blood. The fish in the river will die and the river will stink and the Egyptians will not be able to drink the river water.9

8 9

The New Jerusalem Bible; Reader’s Edition, Britain: The Bath Press, 1985. Ibid.

5

The above citation shows Moses’ similitude with other Israelite prophets; but it does not literarily place him among prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea etc, neither does it enclose him as a more typical prophet. So Deuteronomy defines prophets by comparison with Moses, and so turns the statement “Moses was a prophet” into a tautology.10

5.0 Moses the Scribe The legal character of Moses has another correlate of the personality of Moses as a scribe or teacher. This was more seen in Deuteronomy. As a scribe therefore, Moses was concerned with teaching and interpreting the laws for the Israelites who were bound to listen and learn in obedience. A biblical instance to this was found in Dt 4:1, when it says:

And now Israel, listen to the laws and customs which I am teaching you today, so that, by observing them, you may survive to enter and take possession of the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, is giving you. 11

Another instance was found in Dt. 5:1 when it says:

Moses called all Israel together and said to them, “listen, Israel, to the laws and customs I proclaim to

10 11

Joseph Blenkinsopp, The Pentateuch, New York: Double- Day Press, 1992, p.235. Ibid, The New Jerusalem Bible.

6

you today. Learn them and take care to observe them.12

The above citations show that Moses does teach and instruct the Israelites as a scribe, he urges them to embrace obedience such that they could observe them (the laws) to the latest. Dt 6:6 lays credence to this too –“let the words I enjoin on you today stay in your hearts”. Verse 7 says –“you shall tell them to your children, and keep on telling them, when you are sitting at home, when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are standing up”.

The personality of Moses in the pentatuechal history exemplifies the ancient scribe who records, teaches and interprets. This is because transmission of law always requires its interpretation and application, which is off-course a creative process. This was seen in Moses; for in writing as in speaking, he repeats what he has heard, but he also interprets and composes. A typical example was “The Song of Witness” in Dt 31, in which Yahweh commanded Moses to write down (verse 19), and of which Moses in his ingenuity wrote in the first person – Dt 32:1-3:

Listen, heavens, while I speak; hear, earth, the words that I shall say! May my teaching fall like the rain, may my word drop down like the dew, like showers on the grass, like light rain on the turf! For I shall proclaim the name of Yahweh. Oh, tell the greatness of our God! 13 12 13

Ibid. Ibid.

7

To the above citation, Moses assumes, in a quasi and temporal manner, the role of Yahweh by writing and speaking as the law-giver himself, even though he was a mere representative of the law-giver, of which we think he did so to assert all the more the authority of the words. So, it may not be an overstatement to say that Moses assumes the role of a scribe and a transcriber. Infact, we may say that the roles of an author, editor and publisher unite in Moses- the scribe, yet the law-giver remains Yahweh alone.

Therefore the very nature of Deuteronomy, as “a second law” delivered to a new generation in Moab, quests for the role of reinterpretation and reapplication to suite the people. That is why the scribal character of Moses emerges uniquely in his mastery of tradition to present it in a new form, such that the traditions have to be retaught and revised in each generation. It is the Torah which meant the entirety of the traditions; that is the historical, the hortatory and the legal.14

6.0 Evaluative Conclusion Even though the larger structure of the Pentateuch distinguishes the function of Yahweh and Moses succinctly – as speaker of law (Yahweh) and interpreter of the law (Moses), Deuteronomy portrays them as enjoying a unifying authority as law givers. However, Moses’ scribal role makes him the authorised tradent of divine law. This is because in him lies the responsibility of announcing the consequences of law, writing, interpreting, and applying the law. However, it should be noted that the author of Deuteronomy is spectacular in summoning people to obedience to the 14

Michael, F, Biblical Interpretation In Ancient Israel, p. 440.

8

commandments, laws and statutes which the Lord their God commanded Moses to teach them.15 Also, he not only summons people to obedience, but he also places this obedience in terms of the covenant love between Yahweh and his people as declared by Dt 7:12: Listen to these ordinances, be true to them and observe them, and in return Yahweh your God will be true to the covenant and love which he promised on oath to your ancestors. 16

The above citation shows that this relationship is very special, for God “has chosen them from the nations on the face of the earth to be a people specially his own –Dt 7:6. This outrightly shows an election from God, which carries with it an obligation to be grateful to God and to live lives worthy of such divine favour. It is to this that Moses’ tripartite roles as a king, prophet and scribe became inexcusably and significantly paramount in his mission to execute the law –the Deutro-nomy, second law- and help Israel in her steadfastness to Yahweh.

15

Bernard, U, The Book of Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic Tradition; Unpublished Lecture, Owerri: 2009, p. 2. 16 Ibid, The New Jerusalem Bible.

9

Bibliography

Bernard, Ukwuegbu,

The Book of Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic Tradition; Unpublished Lecture, Owerri: 2009, p. 2.

Fishbane Michael,

Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985, p. 244-245.

George, Coats,

Moses: Heroic Man, Man Of God, Oxford: Sheffield Press, p. 198.

George, Savran,

Telling and Retelling; Quotation In Biblical Narrative, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988, p. 116.

Joseph Blenkinsopp,

The Pentateuch, New York: Double- Day Press, 1992, p.235.

McDermott J, John,

Reading The Pentateuch: A Historical Introduction, New York: Paulist Press, 2002.

Olson Dennis,

Deuteronomy and the Death of Moses: A Theological Reading, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994, p. 17-22.

Watts James,

Rhetorical Strategy in the Composition of the Pentateuch, JSOT 68(1995), p. 21-22.

The New Jerusalem Bible; Reader’s Edition, Britain: The Bath Press, 1985. 10