Joseph spoiled son and manipulative women.docx

Although a number of Biblical stories may have emerged from Hebrew folk-tales, there is no reason to believe that all did. In a time of uncertainty, as polities developed, many may equally have come from the Transjordan, similar in many ways to Israel and Judah and interacting with both throughout the 9^th century. As the later stories of Hebrew kings has a religious variant many must be treated carefully. From folk-tales emanating from the general area, myths turned into history and historical events altered to express religious truth, here we have the extensive Hebrew literature. This essay will show that Hebrew society, in its literature, imitated and replicated Middle-Eastern societies, that for example prophets were a Middle-Eastern political institution connected to Royal dynasties and, as with YHWH, their chosen representative god. At times, Hebrew history and literature appears influenced by Greek literature, suggesting late composition. It is folly to hold that the stories identified here were written during the period in which they are set but that nevertheless oral traditions cannot be disputed-although this paper points out the oral traditions behind each composition need not be Hebrew or of hill-country origin. This paper presents two stories, the first apparently a literary composition without any likely foundation in fact, purporting to come from a time in the 11^th century, the other has a clearer connection to historical events but which too has been subject to the biased telling common in much early and modern history.

尽管诸多《圣经》故事或源自希伯来民间传说，但并无证据表明所有故事皆源于此。在时局动荡、政体逐步成型的时代，诸多故事同样可能源自外约旦（Transjordan）——该地区在诸多层面与以色列王国和犹大王国相仿，并于9世纪期间与两地均有互动。由于后世记载希伯来诸王的故事带有宗教改编色彩，因此对诸多内容需审慎对待。从该区域流传的民间传说衍生而来的希伯来文学中，神话被塑造成历史，而历史事件也被改编以传递宗教教义，由此形成了卷帙浩繁的希伯来文献。本文将论证：希伯来社会在其文学创作中模仿并复刻了中东地区的社会模式——例如，先知是中东地区与王室王朝相关联的政治制度，而耶和华（YHWH）则是其选定的至高代表神祇。部分希伯来历史与文学作品似乎受到希腊文学的影响，这表明其创作年代较晚。认为本文所探讨的故事均创作于其叙事所设定的时代，这一观点实属荒谬；但不可否认的是，口头传承传统的存在毋庸置疑——不过本文同时指出，各作品背后的口头传统未必源自希伯来族群，亦未必起源于山地地区。本文共探讨两个故事：其一显然为纯文学创作，并无史实依据，却声称其背景设定于11世纪；其二与历史事件的关联更为明确，但同样存在着早期与近现代史学中常见的叙事偏见。