From Temple to Tent: The Cultic World of Diaspora Israelites (Exodus 24:15—Numbers 10:28) Sarah Lethbridge Hart B.A., Dip. Mus., M. Theol. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Theology MCD University of Divinity 2012 ii ABSTRACT The tent of meeting text (Exodus 24:15—Numbers 10:28) is lengthy and sophisticated by literary standards, thereby suggesting that intensive creativity has gone into its production. A review of literature from the early 1800s in Germany through to today observes that no AND cult (Exodus 24:15—Numbers (אהל מועד) extensive work focuses on the tent of meeting 10:28) and that this is a lacuna. The methodology follows that of three exegetical chapters; the tent of meeting text is described and then discussed in dialogue with other scholars. Israelite cult is addressed as cultic place in Exodus 25–40, instructions for cultic practice in Leviticus 1–27 and defining of the cultic people in Numbers 1:1–10:28. The major outcome is that mimesis (representation taking the place of reality) is the key concept to understanding the text. Informed by Paul Ricoeur‘s theory on mimesis, the hypothesis is developed, ―Exilic Israelite communities in the Diaspora in Babylonia want a cultic place and cannot have a temple, so they create and author the idea of ‗the tent of meeting‘ which substitutes as a cultic centre.‖ The hypothesis is broken down into an investigation of three areas: life in the Israelite settlements in the Babylonian Diaspora, literary competency, and mimetic text as a substitution for reality. On the basis of these investigations, production of the tent of meeting text by an Israelite writing circle in the Babylonian Diaspora and in the exilic or early Persian period is feasible. The tent of meeting text is creatively authored to substitute for an actual physical temple outside of the land of Israel. The implications of the findings of the thesis are that the tent, furnished like a temple, resembles a temple-tent. An Israelite cultic world is written into textual form. iii Declaration / Statement of Originality I hereby certify that this thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree of diploma in any university or other institution and affirm that to the best of my knowledge, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. Signed: Date: iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When I left New Zealand in the 1970s there was no Department of Theology at the University of Auckland. By the mid 1990s when I returned to Auckland, theology was available thanks to the Auckland Consortium of Theological Education, a group of theological colleges which had combined resources. I recognise the influence of the many lecturers who formed my biblical and theological thought through the courses that I took. Librarians at the libraries of the colleges, of what is now a former consortium, continue to facilitate the loan, even the ordering of new books and the photocopying of relevant articles. Financial support for doctoral fees has come from the Jubilee Bursary Grants Committee of the Catholic Diocese of Auckland, the Barry Croft Memorial Education Scholarship Committee of the Service and Food Workers Union of which I am a member, and from the Australian government. Thanks are due to the sisters of the Soeurs Auxiliatrices who gave me a spiritual formation and allowed me an experience of the East in Japan. In New Zealand, Dr Alice Sinnott rsm introduced me to many biblical associations. Family and friends have encouraged and supported me through years of doctoral study. The thought that the doctoral project was no longer my project alone but a community project sustained me in difficult times and meant I could not give up. I am full of gratitude to Terry Wackrow, a special friend, who has generously read, critiqued and encouraged all stages of my work. Many thanks to Dr Tony Campbell s.j., Jesuit Theological College, United Faculty of Theology, Melbourne College of Divinity, Australia, doctoral supervisor, who has helped me advance in biblical studies and expand the mind in ways never imaginable before the doctoral work began. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations vi Introduction 1 1. Literature Review 7 2. Boundaries 43 3. Cultic Place (Exodus 24:15–40:38) 74 4. Cultic Rites at the Tent (Leviticus 1–27) 109 5. The Cultic People (Numbers 1:1–10:28) 130 6. Bridging: From Text to Author 149 7. An Israelite Writing Circle 172 8. Creative Authoring 200 9. Cultic World of the Book 223 Conclusion 250 Bibliography 254 vi ABBREVIATIONS AB Anchor Bible ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary AnBib Analecta biblica ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament BA Biblical Archaeologist BBB Bonner biblische Beiträge BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium BN Biblische Notizen BWANT Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft CaE Cahiers évangile CahRB Cahiers de la Revue biblique CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly COS The Context of Scripture EncJud Encyclopaedia Judaica ER The Encyclopedia of Religion FAT Forschungen zum Alten Testament FOTL Forms of the Old Testament Literature FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual IBC Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching ISBE International Standard Bible Dictionary JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JPS 1917 Jewish Publication Society, The Holy Scriptures (Old Testament), 1917 JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series NEAEHL The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land vii NIDB The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible NJPS New Jewish Publication Society 1985 NRSV New Revised Standard Version, The Holy Bible, 1989 OBO Orbis biblicus et orientalis OIP Oriental Institute Publications OTL Old Testament Library OUP Oxford University Press SBL Society of Biblical Literature SBLSymS Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series SBT Studies in Biblical Theology ScrHier Scripta hierosolymitana TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament TLOT Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament TRu Theologische Rundschau TZ Theologische Zeitschrift URJ Union for Reform Judaism VT Vetus Testamentum VTSup Supplements to Vetus Testamentum WMANT Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ZTK Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche Introduction Approaching the kami (gods) at a shrine entails danger—warns a guide to Japan in its introduction to Shinto. Whether one could safely be in the kami‘s presence depends on one‘s state of purity— the overriding concern in Shinto. Priests and others who participate in rites undergo days of purification, avoiding contact with sex, birth, menstruation, and death. (Blood and death are especially polluting.) White robes, water, saké and salt symbolise ritual purity. The sacred ground of a shrine precinct is delimited by rope, gates, fences and expanses of white gravel. Most Japanese who are in mourning or otherwise ritually polluted will not cross these boundaries.1 In many ways the short introduction to Shinto resembles what could be a short introduction to the world centred round YHWH and the tent complex in Exodus 25 through Leviticus into Numbers 10. People, rites and holy place are inexplicably linked in both cases. The tent complex of the Hebrew Bible, with the tabernacle at its centre, is sacred ground. Passing through entrance hangings in the tent complex is to pass from one delimited zone into the next. Much of Leviticus gives insight into the Israelite concern with purity and defilement both on an individual and communal level. Concepts of purity and defilement belong to daily Hebrew life. They are related to holiness, as prescribed in the text of the tent of meeting. In Hebrew rites offerings are brought to the altar. In certain rites blood is sprinkled. Blood from the sacrificial animals purifies and makes holy. Holiness is associated with proximity to YHWH. The centre of holiness draws the attention of the seeker into the interior world of the tent and at the same time the power of YHWH is conveyed as dangerous. 1 June Kinoshita and Nicholas Palevsky, Gateway to Japan (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1990), 24. Introduction 2 To examine the identity of a people, their rites and the sacred place of their God, is to investigate cult. Cult is defined as, ―a system of religious worship, especially as expressed in ceremonies and ritual‖ in The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, and derives from the Latin verb, colere, to inhabit, cultivate, protect, or honour with worship.2 The idea of systems, implying the ability to define or systematise theology, is more typical for Western than Semitic thought. Cult is understood in this work as a way of life, not systematised beliefs; the word theology is therefore rarely used. The Hebrew text conveys an Israelite cultic world centred round YHWH. The Israelites are the cultic people of YHWH (the people who adhere to YHWH). The tent complex is the cultic (worship) centre of YHWH‘s people. The performance of cultic (ritual worship) rites is an expression of the relationship between YHWH and YHWH‘s people. To enter the Hebrew texts on the tent of meeting is to enter an Israelite cultic world. My understanding of the Hebrew text, Exodus 24:15—Numbers 10:28, is informed by textual research and what other people have written about the tent of meeting. The process of reading and reviewing scholarly works is to indirectly touch the society and philosophic trends which influence each scholar‘s thought, and even their personality preferences.