The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress
This is an updated passage from my book The Jewish Conundrum in World History (Academic Studies Press, Boston, 2010) which I dedicate with great pleasure and gratitude to my dear old friend Prof. Norman Golb.
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Інститут сходознавства ім. А. Ю. Кримського НАН України
2017
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| Schriftenreihe: | Хазарский альманах |
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irk-123456789-1717882020-10-05T01:26:04Z The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress Militarev, A. К юбилею Нормана Голба This is an updated passage from my book The Jewish Conundrum in World History (Academic Studies Press, Boston, 2010) which I dedicate with great pleasure and gratitude to my dear old friend Prof. Norman Golb. 2017 Article The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress / A. Militarev // Хазарский альманах. — 2017. — Т. 15. — С. 13-16. — англ. XXXX-0128 http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/171788 en Хазарский альманах Інститут сходознавства ім. А. Ю. Кримського НАН України |
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К юбилею Нормана Голба К юбилею Нормана Голба |
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К юбилею Нормана Голба К юбилею Нормана Голба Militarev, A. The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress Хазарский альманах |
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This is an updated passage from my book The Jewish Conundrum in World History (Academic Studies Press, Boston, 2010) which I dedicate with great pleasure and gratitude to my dear old friend Prof. Norman Golb. |
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Article |
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Militarev, A. |
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Militarev, A. |
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Militarev, A. |
| title |
The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress |
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The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress |
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The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress |
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The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress |
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The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress |
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hebrew bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress |
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Інститут сходознавства ім. А. Ю. Кримського НАН України |
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2017 |
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К юбилею Нормана Голба |
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http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/171788 |
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The Hebrew Bible: long memory of the people, "feel of history" and the concept of progress / A. Militarev // Хазарский альманах. — 2017. — Т. 15. — С. 13-16. — англ. |
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Хазарский альманах |
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Alexander Militarev
THE HEBREW BIBLE:
LONG MEMORY OF THE PEOPLE,
“FEEL OF HISTORY” AND THE CONCEPT
OF PROGRESS1
A number of events, facts, and plainly the scenes of everyday life,
morals and customs, etc. described in the Bible and subject to verifica-
tion by independent historical sources, archeological and ethnographic
data – indicates a “long memory of the people”, a fairly lengthy period in
the course of which the oral tradition is preserved intact. Let me refer to
just one instance: Oleg D. Berlev, the late St. Petersburg Egyptologist,
a great connoisseur of Egyptian literature, history and, especially, its
economy, told me that in the Biblical story of Joseph, the picture of life
in Egypt as a whole looks similar enough for the Middle Kingdom epoch
(that ended in the 16th century B.C.E.) even to some minute details.
Could the Jewish authors of the 6th or 5th centuries B.C.E. have written
that history having no detailed and intact legend dating back at least a
millennium to rely on – granted that the contemporary Egypt they might
be familiar with was a country quite different from the one described in
the Bible? Also, does this not mean that some other similar facts and
notions looking sufficiently similar, although not confirmed by other
sources, could have taken place?
1
This is an updated passage from my book The Jewish Conundrum in World History
(Academic Studies Press, Boston, 2010) which I dedicate with great pleasure and grati-
tude to my dear old friend Prof. Norman Golb.
“Хазарский альманах”. Том 15. Москва 2017
14
In this connection, the following question arises: did this unique
“long memory” of the Jews (whether it is unique is hard to say for lack
or, at least, scarcity of evidence from other ancient cultures) stem from
what I would call “feel of history” or vice versa, the early perception
of historical time as a linear process stimulated this memory and
helped keep it intact. It is precisely in the Bible that the phenomenon
is provided testimony for – that might be called the birth of the “feel
of history”. The talk here is not so much about the genesis of history
as a field of knowledge, but rather about the experienced sensation
of existence within both linear and historical time for the first time be-
ing taken account of and recorded precisely in Hebrew. The ancient
cultures known to us perceived time as a cyclical phenomenon related
to the natural and biological rhythms, day and night interchange,
the alternation of the months, seasons and of longer time periods – the
succession contingent on the observable change in the position of
the moon, the sun, of the planets, zodiacal constellations, and other
luminaries.
The above is also indicated by some of the terms, denoting the no-
tions of time, duration, eternity, derived from the roots with semantic
meaning of “circle”, “round”, “to go around”, “to turn”, or “to rotate”.
Thus, there is a common Semitic term *dawr- meaning “time, lifetime”,
“era”, “eternity”, and “descent, generation” attested to in all Semitic lan-
guages which is almost certainly derived from common Semitic *dwr-
(with a variant *drdr) “to turn, rotate, surround, go around”.
Moreover, the perception of past and future times by ancient Semites
is “inverted”: the past is ahead, in front of us while the future is behind
which is clearly seen from the objective evidence of the language:
common Semitic *ḳVdm- “past, earlier times, ancient times” (in all Se-
mitic except Modern South Arabian where the term for ‘ancient’ is bor-
rowed from Arabic) is derived from *ḳudm- “front, front part; in front of”,
*ḳdm “to go in front of, precede” (in all Semitic languages), while com-
mon Semitic *ʔaḫr- “future, later time” (in all Semitic) is derived from
*ʔḫr “to be, go behind; delay, be late”, *ʔaḫar- “back, last, rear part; be-
hind” (in all Semitic).
True, in the Hellenistic period in Greeks and later in Romans these
notions start going through a change, an idea of development from the
lower to higher takes shape, one of advancement from primeval sav-
agery towards civilization; yet time-wise the priority seems to belong to
A. Militarev
15
the Hebrews, even though both issues – one about whether such no-
tions developed in Hebrews and Greeks concurrently and independently
from each other or, conversely, mutual penetration of these concepts
was in evidence, the other about whether they have eventually reached
the present day handed down to us by Hebrews or Greeks – remain in a
confused tangle.
Whatever the case may be, in the Bible, history is perceived as a
drama of the relationship of a human being with the Creator. That
drama happens to have an opening, a beginning (creation of the world
and man); a succession of consecutive acts still inside the “mythical
time”, “the sacred history” (the Fall of Man, the expulsion from Paradise,
the Flood, the scattering of the Tower of Babel builders); egress into
“historical time” – complete with acute realization of no-less-unique na-
ture and significance of historic events for the entire drama (let us refer
here to at least the Exodus from Egypt or the building of the first and
second temples) than those of the mythological events; and finally, the
anticipated eschatological ending: the coming of Israel – or all nations
led by Israel – to God.
Such scenarios created the perception of historical time as not a
repeated circle of movement in rounds, but of a linear process, its de-
velopment imbued with profound sacral meaning. The past, the “yes-
terday”, is something principally different from the present “today”,
where the latter is rooted in and partially determined by the former.
Partially but not at all completely: given the freedom of choice between
good and evil a human individual holds sway over the present and the
nearest future – let us at least recall the history of the Israelite and
Judean kingdoms, upward flights and downfalls of which were ac-
counted for by the chronicler qualifying as the moral – or immoral –
demeanor of the king and the people. The future “tomorrow” is, how-
ever, also quite different: it is determined by the goal set, the way
traveled, but also by the behavior freely chosen in the present – due to
last how much longer yet there is no telling. Out of such perception of
history, yet again in combination with Hellenistic ideas of development
from the lower to the loftier, from barbarity to culture, the concept of
historical progress is characterized precisely for what modern civiliza-
tion has brought forth.
It is significant to note at this juncture that the biblical narrative, par-
ticularly – which is natural – its historical parts, also contains an embryo
“Хазарский альманах”. Том 15. Москва 2017
16
of the future historical science2. It is full of references to sources, overt
and concealed quotations taken from them, analysis and estimates of
some or other historical events and the demeanor of certain persons,
futurological prognostications, recommendations, and cautionary warn-
ings (“prophecies”). All of this – in this measure at least – is not to be
found in either ancient Egyptian or Mesopotamian or Greek literature,
nor is it there even in the works of Herodotus, the “father of history”.
Here is what Alexander Rofe, an Israeli historian writes in his book
“Writings of the Prophets” (Sīp̲ōrēy hā-nəb̲īʔīm. Jerusalem, 1983, pp. 83–84):
The Israeli historiography originally emerges approximately two gen-
erations after the establishment of monarchy, in the heyday of Solo-
mon’s kingdom. It must be then that the full history of King David’s reign
was created comprising the major part of the material featured in
I Samuel 27 through 2 Kings 2. A shorter account known… under the
heading “the narration of succession to the throne”… in 2 Samuel 7–20
and I Kings 1–2… lays bare numerous traits characteristic for historiog-
raphy: an account of political events, a realistic – rather than meta-
physical – description of what happened, a cohesive narrative connect-
ing the events with a cause-consequence relationship… In that text one
can also point out a certain measure of historical criticism: the absence
of the practice typical for the Bible of representing the same episode in
two or more versions – as if the talk was of dissimilar events… Contem-
porary researchers qualify this history of king David’s reign as the be-
ginning of ancient historiography that emerged approximately five cen-
turies before Herodotus.
2
It is also well known that the biblical history also served as a basis for Jewish post-
biblical (or rabbinic) perception of history as well as the foundation of non-Jewish Chris-
tian and Muslim historiographies. All the events that had happen in biblical history had
also occurred in the daily life of medieval communities. Thus each non-Jewish ruler that
oppressed any was considered to be a new Pharaoh or Aman, and on the other hand
the successful “court Jews” were often described by rabbinic chroniclers as biblical “Jo-
seph” or “Mordechai” of their days. Moreover, in the same way the biblical texts served
as paradigm of history for medieval Christian and Muslim cultures. For example, “Rus-
sian chronical” compares Vladimir to Solomon (because of his addiction to polygamy
before his conversion to Christianity). Similar features we find in the “historiography”
Khazar kingdom after the conversion of it’s ruling elite into Judaism. The author Cam-
bridge documents in his anonymous letter explaines the Khazar title Kagan as an
equivalent as the Hebrew term “Shofet” or a Judge, meaning that Khazars before kings
also had Judges, as did the Israelites in Biblical period. – Eds.
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