Israel as son of God in Torah

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Summer, 2004 by John J. Schmitt

Thus in Exodus 15 Israel has been plotted against by an enemy person, and Israel has won, but only by the help of his divine father. One is tempted to propose that this protection might involve coddling, a treatment that could result in a spoiled child. One commentator says of the song's presentation of God in power is so strong that "Israel is absent altogether." (Dozeman: 158) Attention to the masculine singulars in the song shows that Israel is not only present but is in fact the individual, the son who sings, "I will praise him, my father's God" (Exod 15:2b).

The recital of divine events in the song of Exodus 15 ends with the narrative statement to God that "You will bring him in [tebi'emo] and plant him [wetita'emo] on the mountain which is your heritage, the place which you, Yahweh, have made your dwelling, the sanctuary, Yahweh, prepared by your own hands" (Exod 15:17, NJB with changes in the number of the two object pronouns). In the Hebrew text, nothing could be clearer than that the composer of this hymn is thinking of Israel as a personified singular, a singular male whom God has taken special care of and for whom God seems to be planning great things. In this moment of triumph and joy, the auditors and readers of this song are invited to think, in the same thought, of God and of his son, Israel.

In the next section of the same chapter, Israel leaves the Red Sea and comes to a place that is called Marah. After Israel murmurs about the undrinkability of the water and after God has Moses cast a tree into the water to sweeten it, God addresses Israel in the singular. "If thou wilt diligently harken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD that healeth thee" (15:26, KJV). In this passage, God promises, in direct address, not only to protect Israel from enemy troops but also to guard him against the less visible enemies of disease and plague. Even the more subtle of fears of humankind, including the dread of sickness, are factored into this portrait of Israel as a young man, the son of God. The father has the ability to keep sickness and disease away from the young son, and the father pledges to do this for the son if he chooses to obey.

The scene of Moses aloft Mount Sinai (Exodus 20) is one that, for some readers, might represent the very essence of religion--the encounter with the sacred. Moses here is depicted as receiving from God specific regulations that will guide his people during their whole life. It is a solemn occasion, and solemn words are used for this definitive statement of what God expects. The standard translations of the Ten Commandments usually maintain the archaic English distinctive forms of the singular. "Thou shalt ... Thou shalt not ..." Sometimes commentators point out the use of the singular here, and they propose that the singular is used to show that the individual is the one who should fulfill the commandments. Each member of Israel, in this view, is addressed personally. In the Bible as a whole, however, Israel sins both in its members as individuals, and in the personification of the group as a whole. In the prophetic books, the judgments against "Israel," plain and simple, are telling. Two examples are these: Hosea 5:3, "Israel is defiled" [nitma', masculine; not nitme'ah, feminine]; and Hosea 8:14, "Israel has forgotten his maker." In this Exodus narrative, given the preceding personifications, the singular here too should be taken indeed as a personification. Israel, the young lad, is given the major rules by which he is to live and find the fullness of life.