Searching for the Origins of the Biblical God

探寻圣经上帝的多元起源

马克．史密斯(Mark S. Smith)

《比較經學》 1期 (2013/01) Pp. 139-165

摘要

This essay examines the earliest evidence for the biblical god, Yahweh, in the Bible. The evidence outside the Bible largely involves an Egyptian place-name that looks very similar to the name of Yahweh. The evidence inside the Bible entails two of the oldest texts in the Bible, Judges 5 and Psalm 68, which contain a small piece of poetry describing God, specifically in Judges 5:4-5 and Psalm 68:8-9. This is a rather small piece, perhaps an excerpt, of a longer hymn to Yahweh. The two versions of this old bit of poetry contain the oldest representations of God in the Bible. How do they represent God in earliest Israel? What shifts in the idea about God can scholars see with the small poetic piece, as it is changed and expanded in the later poems of Deuteronomy 33 and Habakkuk 3? The essay closes with a series of theological reflections on these four biblical attestations to the Israelite god, emphasizing their canonical position and their genre designations as well as their reflections of time and space.

關鍵字

Yahweh ； Edom ； Seir ； Sinai

並列摘要

本文探讨圣经上帝即“耶和华”在圣经中最早期的证据。经外文献的证据主要涉及到一个埃及地名，它看来与“耶和华”这一名字非常相像。圣经内的证据是两篇最古老的文献即《士师记》第5章与《诗篇》第68 篇，即《士师记》5:4-5 与《诗篇》68:8-9 都有一小段描述上帝的诗句。这些片段很可能是一个更长的耶和华颂诗的一小部分。这两段小诗是圣经对上帝的最古老描述。在最早期的以色列，它们是怎样描述上帝的呢？与后来的诗歌如《申命记》33 章与《哈巴谷书》3 章相比，学者能发现关于上帝的观念有哪些变动、变化和扩充呢？本文将对以色列颂赞上帝的这四段小诗为对象，进行神学反思，既强调它们在正典中的处境和特定文体，又对它们反映的时空观进行探究。

並列關鍵字

耶和华 ； 以东 ； 西珥 ； 西奈