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Chapter One

Origins

Creation

The Bible begins with God's creation of the universe and all the worlds within it. The biblical story of creation is the story of God's unity as creator of all matter, all energy, and all life. There is no creative power aside from God; God has no associates. Just as God's unity is determined in the Bible through the ultimate mercy of creating the universe and all that is therein, so too are the universe and all of its creatures a unity as the product of God's creative power.

    The unity of the universe is realized through the laws of physics and nature, whose origin is the divine will. All nonsentient created things—whether animal, mineral, or vegetable, and whether gas or liquid or solid—exist within the divine unity because they function according to these natural laws. The only exception to this unified system is humanity, a race of sentient beings that has always demonstrated a limited ability to bend the laws of nature.

    According to the biblical perspective, the unique nature of humankind may be seen as both a blessing and a curse. From the outset, the Bible portrays humankind as unable to live up to its potential without divine assistance. The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden first establishes this principle (Genesis 3), and the tale of human sin and error continues through the next three biblical narratives: the stories of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4), Noah (Genesis 6-9), and the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). Although each of these stories centers on specific characters, they offer ageneric portrayal of the state of uncontrolled human nature. The creative power within humanity and our independent nature may lead to our downfall, our continual inability to live up to the divine expectation. Having established this as a truth, the Bible then demonstrates how the Jews in particular and humanity generally can live up to their potential. This can be achieved only by means of divine intervention. From Genesis 12 and onward, and throughout the remainder of the Bible, God provides instruction and guidance through the Jewish people to humanity. This takes place first through personal intervention with the family of Abraham, and then by giving the Torah (literally, "instruction"), the rules of behavior by which human beings are expected to live.

Abraham: Hijra and Covenant

God calls to Abraham to leave his native land and promises him great blessing (Genesis 12:1):

The Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your native land and from your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you."

    This call marks the beginning of monotheism and the beginning of the history of the Jewish people, who derive from the seed of Abraham. Abraham's journey in response to God's call is not referred to as a hijra as it is in Islam, but Judaism sees it quite similarly as a watershed that marks his transition to the new spiritual state of being in personal relationship with God. Why God calls Abraham is never explained in the Bible, although later Jewish literature from the fourth or fifth century C.E. provides answers in narrative form that closely parallel what is said in the Qur'an:

Rabbi Hiyya, grandson of Rabbi Ada of Yaffo said: Terah was an idol-maker. He once went out and had Abraham sell them for him. When a man came to buy one Abraham said to him: "How old are you?" He answered: "I am fifty" [or sixty]. Abraham exclaimed: "Woe to a man who is sixty years old and who wants to worship something that is only a day old!" So the man was ashamed and departed. Then a woman came with a plate of flour and asked of Abraham: "Take this and offer it to them." So he got up and took a stick and broke all of the idols, after which he put the stick into the hand of the biggest idol. When his father returned he cried out: "Who did this to them?!" He answered: "I will not conceal it from you. A woman came with a plateful of fine flour and said to me: 'Take this and offer it to them.' I offered it to them, and they all argued over who would eat first. Then the biggest one got up, took a stick in his hand, and destroyed them." His father said: "Why are you mocking me! Do they have any knowledge?" Abraham answered: "Your ears should hear what your mouth is saying."

Abraham is portrayed as having already known of the unity of God prior to his being called by God, thereby providing an answer to the question. God calls Abraham because, as the only and quintessential monotheist, he has used reason to demonstrate God's unity.

    This may be the source of Abraham's being chosen by God, but Abraham must prove that he remains worthy by showing his obedience to the divine will, and this he does. As in Qur'an 2:124 ("And remember, when his Lord tested Abraham with commands [bikalimat], and he fulfilled them"), God notes after Abraham dies that "Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My laws, and My teachings" (Genesis 26:5). In Islamic terminology, Abraham is a proto-Muslim because he submitted himself (aslama) entirely to the divine will. In Jewish terminology Abraham feared God and obeyed the divine commands.

    Of deep importance to Judaism, God establishes an eternal covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17):

When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him: "I am God Almighty. You will be blameless if you walk in My ways. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous.... You shall be the father of a multitude of nations.... I will maintain My covenant between Me and you and your offspring to come as an everlasting covenant.... I assign the land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come, all the Land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding, for I am [also] their God."

    This covenant is essentially a contract. God promises many good things to Abraham and his descendants, and Abraham and his descendants are obligated to obey God's commands ("walk in My ways").

God further said to Abraham: "As for you, you and your offspring to come throughout the ages shall keep My covenant ... every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And throughout the generations, every male among you shall be circumcised at the age of eight days."

    Like the Qur'an, the Bible sometimes seems to repeat itself when it articulates ideas or commands with slightly different nuances or wording. The terms of the Abrahamic covenant include numberless offspring for Abraham and the promise of a homeland in the Land of Canaan, later to be called the Land of Israel. Abraham and his family, in turn, are obligated to be obedient to God's will. No specific laws are given here aside from the commandment of circumcision as the sign of the covenant, because God is in an ongoing relationship with Abraham and his family and can personally inform them of what is required of them. Later, however, God prepares Israel for a time when God will no longer be as easily accessible. This preparation occurs at Mount Sinai, where God reveals the Torah, meaning "teaching." From Sinai onward, the covenant is governed by obedience to a formal code of law.

Isaac and Ishmael

Meanwhile, Abraham's wife, Sarah, despite the divine promise of innumerable offspring, remains childless. She therefore presents her maidservant, Hagar, to Abraham as a second wife. Ishmael is born of this union and is circumcised in response to the covenantal command. God blesses Ishmael but promises Abraham and Sarah that their future son, Isaac, will be the only child of Abraham who remains in covenantal relationship with God (Genesis 17:20): "As for Ishmael, I have heeded you and I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and exceedingly numerous. He shall be the father of twelve tribal princes, and I will make of him a great nation. But My covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year."

    Why Ishmael is excluded from the covenant is never explained in the Bible. Scholars tend to believe that the purpose of this story, as of many of the other tales in Genesis, is to explain the close ethnic and linguistic relationships between the Israelites and the peoples among whom they lived. Ishmael serves in the Bible as the patriarch of the Arab peoples. Some of his sons listed in Genesis 25, such as Hadad in 25:15, have Arabic names. Others have names that sound like the names of known places in Arab lands, such as Duma (Dumat al-Jandal in the desert of Syria) or Tema' (Tayma' in Arabia). Ishmael's son Kedar has the same name as an Arab tribe that lives in the Wadi al-Sirhan in present-day Jordan. According to this view, the kinship relation between Ishmael and Isaac would explain the similarities that Israelites noticed in the ancient Arab peoples with whom they had social and economic contacts. Similarly, Genesis describes the relationship between the Israelites and their Edomite neighbors as having originated through Isaac's two sons: Jacob, who represents Israel, and his twin brother Esau, who represents the tribes of Edom.

    In Genesis 21, Hagar and Ishmael are sent away from the Abraham tribe, and little more is heard about Ishmael and his descendants in the Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Abraham maintains contact with his son Ishmael, but Judaism knows nothing about Abraham and Ishmael building or purifying the Ka'ba and Abraham establishing Ishmael and his offspring there.

The Binding of Isaac

The climax of Abraham's life was his response to God's command in Genesis 22 to sacrifice Isaac in the land of Moriah. Unlike the Qur'an, the biblical rendering of this story specifically identifies the intended sacrifice as Isaac, and Jewish tradition refers to the episode as the Akedah or the Akedat Yitzhak, the "binding" or the "binding of Isaac." Having passed the supreme test of obedience and faith in God, Abraham receives the divine promise and blessing once again and for the last time. His descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens and the sands on the seashore, they will seize the gates of their enemies, and all the nations of the earth will bless themselves through his offspring.

    Abraham serves as a paradigm in Jewish tradition for certain valued human traits. He is patient in suffering, a lover of peace (Genesis 13:8-9), hospitable to strangers (18:1 ff.), concerned about the welfare of others (18:23-33), committed to transmitting the ideals of justice and righteousness to his offspring (18:19), and always obedient to God and His commands.

Jacob and the Descent to Egypt

Isaac's son Jacob, also known as Israel in the Bible, is the father of twelve sons who represent the tribes of Israel. The story of Jacob's son Joseph and his betrayal by his brothers, his being sold into slavery in Egypt, and his rise from the depths to the very pinnacle of power and wealth is told both in the Qur'an (surat Yusuf) and Genesis (chaps. 37, 39-50). In Judaism as in Islam, the Joseph story is greatly beloved, and many commentaries and books have been written in response to it. More important, however, for our purposes here, is the meaning of the redemption of the Children of Israel (benei yisra'el) from Egyptian bondage.

The Exodus

Abraham is referred to in the Bible as a Hebrew (Genesis 14:13), as are his descendants until the Exodus from Egypt. From the Exodus until the division of the unified nation into two kingdoms after the death of Solomon, the people are called Israel or the Children of Israel. The change of terminology corresponds with a change in the nature of the people. The descendants of the Abraham tribe merge with other unfortunate Egyptians when they all escape from Pharaoh (Exodus 12:38) and form a unified community based on the experience of suffering.

    Israel's redemption from Egyptian bondage is considered one of God's great acts of mercy, for God heard the cry of the oppressed when they called out in anguish about their lot (Exodus 3:9-10). The story of the redemption is recalled every year during the festival of Pesach (Passover), which commemorates this great act of divine mercy. The Exodus from Egypt symbolizes the potential for complete human redemption, for it serves to prove that just as God redeemed Israel and others suffering from Egyptian bondage, so too will God bring final redemption to the entire world in the End of Days.

The Covenant at Sinai

The Exodus marks the beginning of the formation of the nation of Israel, but it is completed only when God gives the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Sinai experience, as it is often called, marks one of the great watersheds of Jewish history, for it is at Sinai where all the Jewish people, whether living or not yet born according to the tradition, witnessed the giving of the commandments, or Torah. All were there amid the thunder and lightning, and every single individual agreed to obey God's commandments by calling out together, "We shall obey" (Exodus 19:8, 24:3, Deuteronomy 5:24, 29:9-14). The Torah itself is the sign of the expanded covenant at Sinai, for the Torah is referred to as the "Book of the Covenant" (Exodus 24:7). In the covenant established by God with Abraham, circumcision and its observance served as the living sign of God's relationship with Abraham's offspring. In the covenant's reaffirmation at Sinai, the entire Torah and obedience to it became the living sign of God's relationship with the refugees from Egypt who became the nation of Israel.

    The nation of Israel was formed when the people accepted God's Torah as the central institution of life. All of the people accepted the responsibility of trying to live by it, and in doing so they unified themselves as a people and a nation under God and God's commandments. The Sinai experience marks the formation of 'am yisra'el, the "people of Israel," also referred to as the ummah. This word conveys the same meaning as the Arabic term umma, for the Jews regard themselves as a religious nation governed by the commandments of the Torah, which affect every aspect of human behavior from the ritual to the ethical, social, family, and civil.