The Messenger of the Lord in Early Jewish Interpretations of Genesis (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft): 412

435 Pages·2010·8.856 MB·English

by  Camilla Hélena von Heijne

Camilla He´lena von Heijne
The Messenger of the Lord in Early Jewish Interpretations of Genesis
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Herausgegeben von
John Barton · Reinhard G. Kratz
Choon-Leong Seow · Markus Witte
Band 412
De Gruyter
Camilla He´lena von Heijne
The Messenger of the Lord
in Early Jewish Interpretations of Genesis
De Gruyter
ISBN 978-3-11-022684-3
e-ISBN 978-3-11-022685-0
ISSN 0934-2575
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To My Beloved Mother
and in Loving Memory
of My Father

The Patriarch Jacob’s struggle with the angel at the ford of Jabbok (1855),
portrayed by the French artist Gustave Doré (1832–1883)

Preface
As far back as I can remember I have been fascinated by the intriguing
stories of the Bible. This naturally made me interested in how these
texts have been interpreted, understood and applied throughout his-
tory. Since the Bible originated on Israelite/Jewish soil, the Jewish relig-
ion and culture attracted my attention in a special way. All these factors
resulted in my decision to begin theological studies at Uppsala Univer-
sity.
At the end of my undergraduate education I had the privilege to
receive a scholarship from the Church of Sweden Mission in order to
study at the Swedish Theological Institute in Jerusalem. I am very
grateful for this grant and also wish to express my sincere appreciation
to my teachers and co-students who made my spring term in Jerusalem
an unforgettable experience. The semester in Jerusalem gave me a
glimpse of the treasure that lies hidden in Jewish biblical exegesis. The
study of Midrash was like the opening of a different world and gave
me many new insights. I discovered that the Scripture has indeed 70
faces, as in the famous Rabbinic saying.
Thus, my semester at the Swedish Theological Institute had a deci-
sive impact on my life and contributed to my decision to pursue post-
graduate studies in Old Testament Exegesis. The first step on this jour-
ney was to produce a Master thesis in this field and I chose to write
about the binding of Isaac in early Jewish interpretation, the Aqedah
(Gen 22:1-19). It was later published in a shortened version in Svensk
Exegetisk Årsbok, vol. 62, 1997. In this context, I wish to thank Professor
Dr. Stig Norin for accepting me as a doctoral student in Old Testament
Exegesis.
Since my first extended stay in Israel had been such a great experi-
ence, I wished to return. Grants from Thanks to Scandinavia, Friends of
the Hebrew University in Sweden, and Sven Linder’s scholarship made my
dream come true, and I spent my first academic year as a postgraduate
student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During my year in Is-
rael, I studied ancient and modern Hebrew, biblical studies, Midrash,
Second Temple literature, and the historical geography of Jerusalem. It
was an invaluable period of my life, and I wish to express my sincere
gratitude to all of my teachers at the Hebrew University.
x Preface

When the time came for me to select a topic for my doctoral disser-
tation, I wished to deepen my studies in Jewish exegesis and decided to
write about the angel/messenger of the Lord in early Jewish interpreta-
tions of Genesis. An additional reason for my choice was that the ambi-
guity of these biblical texts intrigued me, i.e., the ambivalence between
God and His angel/messenger. I have always been interested in how
the relationship between God/the divine sphere and humankind is
portrayed and perceived in different religions and their sacred scrip-
tures.
In my book, I have included the illustration of Jacob’s struggle at
the ford of Jabbok, portrayed by Gustave Doré. Since Genesis 32 is one
of the main narratives discussed in my dissertation, I find this illustra-
tion by Gustave Doré apt, but this is not the only reason. As the patri-
arch Jacob/Israel represents the Jewish people, his combat with God/the
angel at Jabbok may be interpreted symbolically as depicting the early
Jewish sages’ grappling with ‘the angel of the Lord-texts’. Additionally,
the process of writing and finally completing this dissertation has been
a long journey and in many ways a struggle.
Since no scholarly author is an island, there are many persons who
have contributed in different ways to my project, and I wish to thank
all of them.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude and
appreciation to my supervisor, Associate Professor Dr. Tord Fornberg,
without whose support and commitment this book would never have
been completed. He has helped me immensely by his reading of and
constructive comments on my manuscript. His enthusiasm, encour-
agement, and patience during this long journey have been most impor-
tant, and I thank him from the depth of my heart for never having
doubted my potential and ability to reach my goal and complete the
project I had begun.
When I presented my licentiate thesis at the Higher Seminar of Old
Testament Exegesis in June 2006, Professor Dr. Staffan Olofsson was the
opponent. I wish to thank him sincerely for his constructive sugges-
tions and comments, which have been very valuable in completing this
dissertation. Moreover, I wish to thank all the participants of the
Higher Seminar and especially Professor Dr. Stig Norin. Professor
emeritus Dr. Lars Hartman has been a frequent participant at my pres-
entations in the Higher Seminar, and his constructive comments have
proved very useful. In this context, I also wish to thank all the partici-
pants of the joint Uppsala–Åbo–Helsingfors Seminars. The present
study would not have been possible without the people who taught me
Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, thus I am indebted to all my teachers of