The image of the hand of God in the Exodus traditions.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the origin, history, and theology of the image of the hand of God and its various expressions in the Exodus traditions in the Hebrew Bible. This image is first and foremost associated with the Exodus events in contrast with the patriarchal and Conquest narratives where it does not occur. Hand of God imagery is an important element in the distinctive Exodus theology of the Lord acting alone both on behalf of his people and against them. Chapter I serves as an introduction by reviewing the study of hand imagery, a definition of the seven Hebrew terms used for hand of God, and a statistical analysis of the 345 occurrences and frequency of hand of God imagery in the various books and sections of the Hebrew canon. Chapter II is an examination of each of these 96 Exodus occurrences of the hand of God in its biblical context. In both poetry and prose this image plays a significant role in the structure of the text as well as the theology of the omnipotence of God. Chapter III presents semantic studies of important and frequent expressions of hand of God imagery in the Exodus traditions: Outstretched Hand; Strong Hand; Hand Upon or Against; and Raised Hand. For each expression a synchronic and diachronic study has been made to define better the meaning and usage of each expression in the Exodus tradition, in the biblical corpus as a whole, and in the larger Near Eastern context. All of these expressions are distinctively and almost exclusively associated in the Hebrew Bible with the Exodus traditions. Most have important parallels in other Near Eastern traditions. Chapter IV summarizes the data in four different areas. First a historical reconstruction is made of the occurrences of this image throughout the biblical text, followed by a description of the theology represented by such imagery, and a discussion of iconography and anthropomorphism. The hand of God in Jewish and Christian iconographic traditions is a continuation of the vivid anthropomorphic descriptions found in the Bible. This is evidence that such expressions may be part of an early anthropomorphic conception of God in the Bible that was preserved or periodically reconstituted in later traditions.