John Van Seters, «Dating the Yahwist’s History: Principles and Perspectives.» biblica, Vol. 96 (2015) 1-25 page 12

Vol 96 (2015)

John Van Seters, «Dating the Yahwist’s History: Principles and Perspectives.», Vol. 96 (2015) 1-25

In order to date the Yahwist, understood as the history of Israelite origins in Genesis to Numbers, comparison is made between J and the treatment of the patriarchs and the exodus-wilderness traditions in the pre-exilic prophets and Ezekiel, all of which prove to be earlier than J. By contrast, Second Isaiah reveals a close verbal association with J’s treatments of creation, the Abraham story and the exodus from Egypt. This suggests that they were contemporaries in Babylon in the late exilic period, which is confirmed by clear allusions in both authors to Babylonian sources dealing with the time of Nabonidus.

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01_VanSeters_copiaaaa_01_25 28/04/15 11:15 Pagina 12 12 JOHN VAN SETERS d. The Names of God A further proof that Second Isaiah made quite specific use of J’s text is in the striking correspondence in distinctive language and terminology between the two, as we have seen above in the case of hmvn “breath” and rcy “to form” in the creation of mankind. This also relates to the particular way in which both the Yahwist and Second Isaiah make use of the special term for the deity as la or lah in the sense of the one supreme God to the exclusion of all others, alongside of the more common designations of YHWH and Elohim. This comes out most clearly in Second Isaiah when YHWH is identified as “the God” lah who created heaven and earth and all humanity. Thus YHWH as El, the supreme being is repeated many times, as in Isa 43,13: “I am El and from now on I am He”, and in 46,9: “I am El and there is no other one” 17. This special meaning of the term El as the supreme deity and head of the pantheon is derived from the Canaanite/Phoenician religion and extended also to a similar use of ilu in Babylonia. When applied to YHWH by Second Isaiah, however, it also means the supreme deity and the creator, to the exclusion of all other deities. Now it is quite remarkable that J likewise uses this same terminology when YHWH appeared to Jacob in Gen 31,13 and 35,1.3 as lah “the God” the one who had appeared to him at Bethel, and it is precisely in this context that Jacob removes all of the foreign gods from the family entourage. Again in 46,3 lah is identified as the God of his father who would go with Jacob and his offspring to Egypt and bring his descendants back from Egypt to the land of his fathers. It is only in J and in Second Isaiah that we find this special use of lah, together with YHWH and associated with the patriarchs. Closely associated with the term lah in Second Isaiah with the meaning of the one supreme deity is the frequent use of the phrase “I am He” (awh yna) 18 as in the statement in Isa 41,4, “I am YHWH, the first one, and with the final ones I am He”. This seems to contain a play upon the meaning of the declarative formula “I am YHWH” in which the divine name in its shortened form Yahu is equated with awh “He”. Peter Ackroyd sees in the use of awh yna “a phrase which strongly suggests an attempt at theological explanation of the divine 17 See also Isa 40,18; 45,14-15.22. 18 See also 42,8; 43,10-13.25; 46,4; 48,12; 51,12.