Lawgiving at the Mountain of God (Exodus 19–24)
In: The Book of ExodusSearch for other papers by Wolfgang Oswald in
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Abstract
"Sinai pericope" is based on the name of the desert in which Israel is sojourning. The section Exod 19-24 is the first part of the Sinai pericope. A widely held opinion, the so-called "Documentary Hypothesis", claims that Exod 19-24 like large parts of the Pentateuch is a compilation of three formerly independent documents: the Yahwist (j), the Elohist (e), and the priestly source (p). In Exod 18-24 there is a plurality of divine-human relations. The chapter traces how the Mountain-of-God pericope developed into the Sinai periscope. The Deuteronomists incorporate the Exodus-Mountain-of-God narrative into the Deuteronomistic History (DtrH); the former Exodus-Mountain-of-God narrative becomes the initial part of the DtrH. The Moses-centered additions of the Torah composition revoke the priestly degradation of the people and once again introduce a new concept of communal-divine interrelation.