Judaism

General considerations

A paradigmatic statement is made in the narrative that begins with Genesis and ends with Joshua. In the early chapters of Genesis, the divine is described as the creator of humankind and the entire natural order. In the stories of Eden, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel, humans are recognized as rebellious and disobedient. In the patriarchal stories (about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph), a particular family is called upon to restore the relationship between God and humankind. The subsequent history of the community thus formed is recounted so that God’s desired restoration may be recognized and the nature of the obedient community may be observed by his people: the Egyptian servitude, the Exodus from Egypt, the revelation of the “teaching,” the wandering years, and finally fulfillment through entrance into the “land” (Canaan). The prophetic books (in the Hebrew Bible these include the historical narratives up to the Babylonian Exile—i.e., Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) also address the tension between rebellion and obedience, interpreting it within the changing historical context and adding new levels of meaning to the motif of fulfillment and redemption.

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