The Appeal of Exodus by Kurle Stefan;

Author:Kurle, Stefan;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Authentic Media
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

R. Rendtorff 2001

In analysing the text’s communicative aims, Rolf Rendtorff traces the text’s depiction of Moses’ different roles of national saviour, mediator of the covenant, paradigmatic prophet, suffering intercessor and God’s servant. This review of Rendtorff’s position concentrates, mainly, on his remarks on Exodus material and tries to explicate the rhetorical aspects of his analysis.75

Moses has been singled out among the Israelites and prepared for his special role in a spectacular way, as is noted in his birth story (‘the saved saviour’) and his later meeting with Yhwh in the wilderness. On the literary level the call narrative, which consists, basically, of a lengthy dialogue (3:7–4:17), links Israel’s prehistory with their national beginnings.76 Here, Rendtorff hints at the intimate relationship between Moses and God, a theme he comes back to time and time again. The immediacy of this relationship is unparalleled in biblical literature, except perhaps for Abraham’s relationship to God. But Abraham stood alone before God, whereas Moses stands as mediator between Israel and Yhwh.77 This ‘in-between office’ of Moses bears significant implications; it has a political aspect (bringing freedom from Egyptian domination), a religious aspect (revealing Yhwh’s name, nature, and Torah), and a prophetic aspect (revealing God’s will to the pharaoh [4:22] and being sent by God 3:10.12]78). Rendtorff stresses that the character is not idealised. Moses opposes this call, doubting the people’s acceptance of him (“What if they don’t believe me …” 4:1), pleading that he is unable to speak convincingly (4:10), and categorically refusing to take on the task (4:13). This theme of Moses not really wanting the job is present throughout the story, especially when the people grumble in the wilderness about his leadership qualities.

Even as Israel’s early history unfolds under Moses’ leadership, Israel’s religion unfolds under his mediatorship. Through Moses comes the basic document of Israelite faith, the Torah, which remains linked to Moses’ name throughout all of Israel’s literary history, even though Moses is never portrayed as the founder of the Israelite religion. This aspect deserves closer attention than Rendtorff can devote to it in his brief overview and will be dealt with below in further detail. The same is true of the ingenious rhetorical device to portray the fact that the Torah79 was mediated by Moses and didn’t come to Israel directly from God, for it was not only God’s will but, also, the people’s explicit desire (Exod. 20:18–19).80

Rendtorff maintains that the Torah is inseparably linked with the covenant. Moses, again, acts as mediator between the two parties. Besides receiving the terms and conditions and besides his involvement in the initiation ceremony (Exod. 24), Moses’ role as mediator of the covenant is most explicit after the golden calf incident where the covenant is broken and renewed (Exod. 32; 34). This connection between the covenant/Torah and Moses was so effective, that in the later literary history both are known with the attribute ‘Mosaic’.

Another role Moses takes on in the portrayal of the Pentateuch (especially in Numbers and Deuteronomy) is the paradigmatic prophet. Exodus refers to this theme in a more hidden way, using the motif of sending Exod.

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