Israel as son of God in Torah

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

These ten commandments are striking because they are given exclusively in the masculine singular. One finds the singular even in the one commandment that promises a reward "that thou may prolong thy days in the land that the LORD thy God gave thee" (20:12, KJV). The land is hardly promised to one member of Israel in the Bible; it is given to Israel, the personification of the people.

In what is traditionally called "The Covenant Code," Exodus 20:22-23:33, there is variety in forms. The code begins with the law about worship in the plural "Ye shall not make with me gods ..." (20:23). It continues with law about altars for three much longer verses in the singular. "An altar of the earth thou shalt make ..." (20:24). And the next chapter begins in the singular. There follow fifty-four verses before another second person plural occurs again. In summary, there are far more direct commands in the masculine singular than in the masculine plural. Regulations are often given in the impersonal third person, "If a man ..." (e.g., 21:7, 20, 26). But when the second person is used, the number is overwhelmingly singular. E.g., "If thou buy a Hebrew servant ... (21:1). This standard usage is broken only for four commands: "Ye shall not afflict any widow (22:22) ... Ye shall be holy men unto me (22:31)... neither shall ye eat flesh torn ... ye shall cast it ..." (22:31). And the plural occurs three times in reasons for certain stipulations: viz., "Ye know the heart of a stranger" (23:9) and "Ye were strangers" twice (22:21; 23:9). Even with these seven exceptions (which may be evidence of later editing), the Covenant Code clearly knows a masculine personified Israel.

Most striking is the exhortation and promise at the close of the Covenant Code, that is, its last fourteen verses (Exod 23:20-33). God says, "Behold, I send an Angel before thee [lepaneka], to keep thee [lismorka] in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared" (23:20). This exhortation continues for twelve more verses, and it continues in the singular with one brief exception (perhaps due to later editing) that immediately switches back to the singular: "And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee" (23:25).

This passage of exhortation to Israel is addressed to him in the singular at the time when he is leaving the intimacy of Moses's current conversation with God on the top of the mountain. The singular addressee here cannot be Moses, for Moses never does arrive in the place of anticipation, the land of promise. In this text, God is still addressing his son Israel who needs to spend some time in the wilderness because there he might achieve some of the maturity that he must have for his future life.

It may be said in passing that this filial relationship bears not the slightest hint of any marriage. Some forms of later Jewish tradition read this scene of covenant-making at Sinai as a kind of marriage exchange. "The Wedding of God and Israel" is the name of a chapter from a book on the Hebrew Bible (Levenson 1985: chapter 10). From the studies done thus far on this text, it seems clear that one cannot actually find such imagery, because it simply is not there. One might read that imagery into the text, but the marital idea neither is present in the text nor flows from the text. The text, rather, supports the father-son image.