ALEX KINNET X KINNET

P. de Conincklaan 8
B 8200 Brugge
Tel: 00/32/50/315741 E-mail: alex.kinnet@telenet.be

Particularities, historicity and relevancy of the five books of The Thorah

1, Introduction :
The following paragraphes relate to the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomeny.
My decades long systematical study of both Bible(and Qur'an) brought me to challenge my old
time, childniss concepts and beliefs about the Scriptures.
Thus I came to a progressive changing tentative conclusions and concepts.
To be clear enough: for the time being I see the bible( Qur'an) as a library informing me on the
centuries long encounter of humans( persons and communities) with their godly Creator and
Sustainer. Surely not being the literal Word of God but an human endeavor.
Despite the loss of its godly origin it is still my main source of spiritual guidance and my daily
life.
How to summerize a tentative overview of my present hold conclusions and opinions isn't an
easy job and will lead unfortunately to lots of misunderstandings. Made it me lesser religious??
I don't think so, on the contrary be it that the loss of an elaborated old time religion was a
painfully road to go.
Seeing around me the exit of scores of people out of the established communities and the
despair of those not willingly or able to consult the present day immense knowledge and
drastically changed insights I felt obliged to present at least the result of my decades long
search in those matters.
It is based on several academical about 12) courses on the Scriptures, religion and modern
sciences versus religion. The long list of Books consulted is available for consult, the many
leading institutes and persons wil not be referred to as this will make this paper too long.
Detailed papers are availalble on specific elements.

2, Particularities:

Those books came very gradually into their final shape in the 4/5 / century BCE, based on
many unrelated old stories on creation, Patriarchs, Moses desert experience, Sinai, etc.
A group of very literate , monotheistic writers took it unto them to write about the specific
Jewish origin, history, destiny and specific relation to YWWH, The ONE in order to instil a
sense of proud and enforce their resistance to assimilation in the Babylonian exile situation and
make an end at the creeping Babylonian Gods into their worshipping practices.
All the end redacted stories contain beliefs, cultic practices and cultural and social conditions
from their own historical period, unknown at the specific historical times in which all the
stories were thought to have taken place.

Of course this wasnt a modern historical overview, a biography of the main characters. Such a
concept wasnt even known at those times.
The stories on the beginning of the cosmos are mythology based on the knowledge of their
period and the histories of Jewish people/ tribes were also highly idealised .
Despite scant proof this Hebrew Sacrosanct History underwent a steady adaption, rewriting,
omissions, additions, a recontextualisation in order to stay relevant and an inspiration for the
long chain of wanderings and many different situations of the Hebrew people, the Chosen
Group of the only existing God, YHWH, with an Everlasting Covenant.

Consequence is that the attentive reader to day of the Hebrew Bible (First Testament) will
bump systematically on numerous conflicting concepts on basic issues, doubles, mixed styles
and conflicting dates. All put in a very blunt, down to earth way and antique concepts and
phrasing as well.

YHWH seems inclined to write on twisted lines, sometimes between them as well. Not afraid
to change his mind and act in a very human way. The main actors in those stories are surely
not big heros, surely not of saintly behaviour, doubters and often riddled by dubious
inclinations.
For sure The One is unique, was always before he created time and a lover of mankind and
eager to establish a morally high society. Extremely unique vision for that time.

He is sovereign, his interventions, sometimes very miraculous. His sole decision and initiative
are taken in his heavenly habitat ( Heaven ) with a complete courtship. Happy when all is
going well, sad and angry when the humans are revolting and behaving in a non moral way. He
is also , next to be the only eternal creator, sustainer of life but also the special caretaker of a
people and a nation that is intended to be a blessing for all the people on the earth. In order to
safeguard this against all natural odds He even systematically
makes the first the last and the barren matriarch pregnant to keep His Covenant with Abraham
and his Seed. /descendants. In short : antique concept of the Gods but in a developing
monothestic framework.

The Hebrew Tradition and the relating stories and cultic prescriptions have indeed kept YHWH
in control in extreme difficult situations, often even putting in despair the Tribes of Israel and
Judah.
The Hebrew religion kept the notion alive that humans were blessed with godly attributes and
thus related to God. That made them saintly, belonging to YHWH but didnt prevent them
from wrestling with their Creator and erring regularly into abomination and idolatry.

For me Christian, in the 2016 CE, is this human rendering of God a difficult piece to swallow,
particularly when He performs miracles in matter and energy spheres, violating regular rules
and thus acting against His own sustaining intentions and the free will and stewardship He gave
the humans.

There are even more astonishing elements, putting you of your comfortable seat you have been
sitting on your entire life.
Lets go to the Sacred History of the Hebrew People. This has been put in a very blunt way:
The One having created Adam found out quickly that having given the Tree of Knowledge
(good/bad distinction )and appointed them co-creator/Stewart)they quickly became a nuisance
and He found Himself obliged to take away their eternal life gift in order to control them
properly.
Having been chased out of Paradise and thus their access to the tree of Life blocked it didn't
stop them doing evil and violent things. In desperation He wipes out nearly the complete living
world (except Noah, his family and a pair of each bird and animal) so he can start again with a
trusted family.
This second creation however proves again not to be not much better as they all quickly forget
God and turn to idolatry.
Now He is in a difficult position as He made a solemn vow not to destroy all humans again. So
He decides to take a change with an individual of faith He knows of: Abram. . Not a Jew
tough. Apparently a good choice as Abrahams faith withstands indeed many trials as he
remains obedient to God. In fact this is the first time one human realized complete trust in Him.
However, the blind obedience/passivity that Abraham shows when ordered to sacrifice his son
Isaac is apparently is not pleasing God again as He stops himself physically.
The storyteller continues to present YHWH in His search, ending with Jacob election as the
next person in whom He can find pleasure and confidence. After the wrestling with an angle,
which is presenting his final purging of the unsavoury qualities Jacob presented in abundance
that marked his past career. Jacob came out this undecided fight with God, limping but
receiving a new name Israel, a new and honest man. A name which means: Who struggles
with God. This is a metaphor for an eternal struggle with God where neither is prevailing, yet
both forever changed by the encounter.
Receiving a new name it is a paradigm of the change of essence in Israel, and an indication that
YHWH apparently prefers free worshippers, living in the fear of God, living a rightness and
morally life as a person and as a people. Blind obedience isnt his cup of tea. But we still must
keep the honest wrestling with God, learning from the past and listening carefully to His
information given in Godly ways and times. Avoiding adultery/ idolatry, self-rule and abuse of
others and nature. (Sarna 1966,246)

Again all those stories, Haggadah styled stories, as was practised commonly at those times, do
contain historical elements on which there is, even to day, much debate. They were composed
to create a reference framework, capable to inspire confidence, proud and willingness to
continue an d develop a line, an history , a destination, ordered, promised in the Covenant with
the Jewish people.
Very much idealized indeed and promulgating a monotheistic faith that wasnt without internal
resistance and inconsistancies.

Let me summarize :

The Hebrew Bible was during and after its basic redaction for generations of Jews an
outstanding, unique source for the creation and sustaining of their solidarity and identity.
The originality of those stories, created out of rich source of fragmented chronicles, old
tribe tales, rewritten legends and myths from surrounding people not only had a unique
power as an objective chronicles of the doings of a tiny state on the eastern coast of the
Mediterranean Sea, but also as a timeless expression of what the godly fate of people can
or must be.
Its plausible strength comes from its coherent, impressing expression of the timeless themes
of the liberation of people; its resisting political and religious oppression and its striving
for social justice and equity. It gives us a credible witness of a feeling about a common
origin, a religious communal human and spiritual experience and of a goal, unique in the
world. It gave inspiration, guidance and hopes also in difficult times and personal despair.

This is a unique document in the Ancient World. Unique because it is a global

systematically conceived epos and has richness in expression of all possible feelings and
situations. The Greek epos and myths only used metaphors with gods living in their world
and not involved intimacy with mankind; the Mesopotamian and Persian religious epos told
about cosmic secrets, but never related to mankind and daily life consequences.

The Tenach offered all of that and offered as such a framework in which every Jew could
recognize his, his family, tribe and national history.
In short the story of Israel as laid down under Joshua (7 the century B.C.) in a
comprehensive way established a social and national covenant-agreement that every single
member of a community enclosed.
What about Historicity?

Relying basically, as one should, on the epigraphological sources we only have a meagre
harvest of facts from which we can deduct the historicity of a few elements:
-A tiny geographical unity that was called Israel end 13 century B.C.; composed of two
small, insignificant kingdoms; Israel and Judea named.
-Both were situated in the hilly areas of Central Palestine and with more certainty second
half of 9 the century B.C.
-Israel being whipped out by the Assyrians end 9th B.C. and Judea early 6th B.C. by the
Babylonian King.

Archaeological founds, realized in a systematically way during particularly the recent

centuries are unfortunately interpreted into quite oppositional conclusions depending upon
whether one takes a maximal stand (eager to proof the Bibles historical correctness) or a
minimalist stand( where the Bible is only one source of information that needs
corroboration from archaeological/basically epigraphological findings).
Consequently, to day archaeology can only give us clues about the general lines of
development of a society. On top she is no longer in the service to support the historicity
of the Bible narratives; she observes neutrally and after having verified and confirmed their
conclusions evaluates it with the Bible relating elements.

Conclusion: historical elements in the modern sense are scarcely present in the First
Covenant; all that one knew at those days was woven into a global narrative, such that the
result was reflecting not solely the aspirations and insights of the 7 the century Judea, but
that those aspirations were supported and promoted and received a godly warrant.
In other words, the available material was manipulated into one big narrative to fit the
ideology of a political fraction and religious leaders who wanted to promote a pure
monotheistic religion.
The many stories, still largely considered also to day as historical are but historicize stories,
based on orally transmitted material of which, accordingly the present standards, the
historicity cannot be proven.
F.e.:
-The Israelites didnt come from outside Israel; they were in that area since ages.
-The coming into existence of a state of Israel was the result of the collapse of the
mainstream Canaan culture, not their cause
-The massive exodus from Egypt is a legend and the Israelites didnt conquer Canaan as
they were originally from this area (be it with distinctive characteristics)
-The kingdom of Israel was much bigger and important, whereas Judea was poor and
insignificant.
-David and Salomon most probably existed as insignificant kings and not in the glorious
situation as described in their stories
-They commonly adored YHWH- next to other gods- and shared the same legends, heroes
and stories but not identical language which in the 8th evaluated into a common written
language
- All the rest was quite distinct.

The odd changes in their history, they experienced aznd which could not be placed or
explained by them, were explained by godly intervention.
The biblical traditions about the forefathers, for which there is no external evidence at all,
must be looked at as a pious pre history of Israel in which Judea played an important role
again.
Their aim was to set out their own pre history, fixing ethnic borders, describing Israelites as
non-Canaan, embracing both traditions of Israel and Judea with a dominant interest for the
Judeas traditions. In other words, it is a romantic tale of a pastoral former time of a united
people and as such reflects very well all the elements of the 7th century situation.
That Moses, Abraham are very highly probable legendary figures is of course not without
any serious consequence for many Abrahamic religions to day.
Anyhow they remain vivid spiritual examples as well as metaphorical forefathers for the
people of Israel and all Abrahamic religions.
Consequently, all typical Jewish and monotheistic elements only came into being during and
after the destruction of their political states and from the melt pot of religious concepts
they were confronted with as well.

An important element is of course the fact that the Hebrew Bible as interpreted and
manipulated by the Rabbis around the CE is to a large extend a reinterpretation.
Unfortunately it is still in too many communities the very basis for using this Scripture.

This living Tradition, in which the rabbis and patristic fathers played an fundamental role,
is nowadays for the Orthohox, fundamentalistic religious leaders still the very Word and
dictate of God. Froozen for eternity.
The Jewish solution was the concept of a Written en Oral Torah, of equal value and for the
christians ( at least the main churches) the difference between the rule and the
economica( daily practice). But both branches, as well as the Islam stick to the old
established texts. Even to day, since early times the Rabbis concerated their studies on the
Talmudic writings instead of the Torah itself.Thus creating a religion quite distinct from the
biblical one.
Thus creating also a beautifull, antique piece o f literature but not Scripture anymore.

P.S. :
1,Obviously other substantial parts of the Thenach/ Bible have not lost their in fact major
importance for the believer. On the contrary.The Nevi'm(Prophets), Ketuvim(Writings) and
the Second Testament are in fact of a more crucial importance for the reigious life of the
individueal and his community.
Their use surely implies to take into account their contextuality and their old time world
concepts which in every aspect if completely whiped out by the modern sciences and
insights.We must also not forget to consider that religion is a blessing but has been a curse
many times for the individu and his communities. It has been used but more abused by
political, religious leaders.
2,The future will see in my opinion a drastic change in concepts and the role of religions.
The antique concepts of god as being like a human person but of higher order is already
eroded strongly. With the Panenthesme concept of the Creatoir/Sustainer, Alpha and
Omega, the Agent of all this exists in analogy of the working of the peronhood, brain and
body a new acceptable concept has been developed by f.e. A Peacock. A tentative
modernisation of the old patristic concept of the unknowbility of God in His eesence but
only in His working. Making It, Him, Her a Ground of all being working through natural
rules and laws with personal traits but in essence not definable. Working in communications
with the human kind. His, Her, Its having given freedom of acting as a steward of the
created. Engaged with and communicating in a godly way, enjoying and suffering because
of this. Not the almighty but close to us in love and being basically Love self.
Slowly we will find out that faith is not supposed to be about having strong
beliefs( dogmas) That as a person and a community we will have to seek to deepen our
experience of life through faith/trust in an ultimate source and a deeper meaning.
That we are the mouth, hands and feet to act properly and that this is our task on this
planet with the blessing and support of the Sustainer. In awe and love and the humility
that our stewardship will always be partial, imperfect and ridden with mistakes, selffishness
and bad goals, that it is us who will have to strive to combat continiously evil and despair
and our weaknesses.

Alex Kinnet
July 2016