1. To and From Canaan (12-14)The divine promise speech in 12:1-3 is crucial for understanding the theological intention of the Yahwist source. Abraham was commanded to leave home and family to follow Yahweh's leading to a new land. 1625, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC -- CGFA In the meantime Lot drifted toward Sodom and Gomorrah. A coalition of Middle Eastern kings ransacked these cities and carried off Lot. Abraham mustered a fighting force of 318 men out of his own estate and gave chase. His troops recovered the goods and people stolen from the cities of the plain. On his journey back to Hebron, Melchizedek, the king of Salem (possibly Jerusalem), blessed Abraham in the name of "El Elyon, Creator of heaven and earth" (14:19). This episode illustrates how powerful Abraham had become, displays concretely how the nations were blessed through him, and confirms that he was blessed by God. 1 Now YHWH said to Abram, "Go from the land of your birth and your kin and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and through you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves/be blessed." (12:1-3)
God essentially promised Abraham three things: a homeland, offspring and, less tangible than these two, that he would be a blessing. Take note of the phrases "great nation" and "make your name great" in Yahweh's speech. God is the one who will secure Abraham's future greatness. This language recalls the earlier significance of "name" in Genesis 6:4 ("men of a name") and 11:4 ("make a name for ourselves"). The name (Hebrew shem) God will make for Abraham will reverse humanity's previous misguided aspirations.
The prominence of the word blessing in this text suggests that God had something special in store for Abraham. But not only for him; through Abraham, all humanity would be blessed and move out from under Yahweh's curse. This is as close as we come to an overall theological theme of the Yahwist narrative. Perhaps the Yahwist writer, presumably connected to the Davidic or Solomonic court, believed that God's blessings had been given to David, especially through the gift of an empire, and he saw this as the beginning of the renewal of society--perhaps even a new world order.
Abraham followed Yahweh's command and traveled from Haran to Canaan. He stopped at two places, Shechem and the region of Bethel, before arriving in the Negev. At both Shechem and Bethel he built an altar to Yahweh, demonstrating his devotion to God, and perhaps also, at least in the eyes of later Israelites, founding these sites as authentic worship centers.
No sooner had Abraham journeyed to Canaan under Yahweh's promise than a famine forced him and Sarah to go elsewhere in search of sustenance. Arriving in Egypt, Abraham feared for his life, believing that the Egyptians would dispose of him to gain his beautiful Sarah. He and Sarah agreed to keep their spousal relationship a secret so that he would be spared. Pharaoh did take Sarah to his court, but as a consequence Yahweh afflicted the royal house with plagues. When confronted by Pharaoh, Abraham admitted his deception and was summarily expelled.
This story is notable for a number of reasons. First, Abraham is pictured in a less than flattering way. The story reveals his striking lack of faith--even after having just received Yahweh's remarkable promises. The episode is strategic for the theological plot development of the cycle. It benchmarks Abraham's insecurity and sets the story up for Abraham to grow in trust and confidence in Yahweh's promises as the narrative progresses. Second, the famine, the routing from Canaan to Egypt and back, and Pharaoh and plagues foreshadow the large-scale confrontation between the Hebrews and Egyptians told in the book of Exodus (see Chapter 3.1).
After the famine, another threat to the promise of land came by way of Abraham's nephew Lot. Both of their flocks had grown so large that they started competing for pasturage. In a fit of generosity, and evidently also a show of faith, Abraham allowed Lot to choose where he wished to be. Lot chose the well-watered Jordan valley. In response God reiterated to Abraham his promises of land and offspring (13:14-17), and Abraham moved to the Hebron area. The Meeeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) El Elyon. This divine name is found only in Genesis 14 and Psalm 78:35. It is composed of two elements. El is the common Semitic term for "god," and is widely found in personal and place names (Elijah, Samuel, Bethel). Elyon is attested as an epithet of Baal, meaning "the exalted one" in Ugaritic texts. In other texts El and Elyon appear to be two different deities. See Cross (1973) for a study of divine names.
To and From Canaan (12-14)
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