Politics · 7 · Hezekiah and Isaiah
'Our king is gone, but Israel is still alive'
Northern scribes answered Judah's royal propaganda with stories that leave kings out of Israel's identity: Jacob's family, the exodus, Deborah's song.
We were a people before kings, and we can be one after.
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Simply collecting and preserving the Jacob traditions after 722 BCE was a political statement. The exodus account, led only by Moses, Miriam, and Joshua, made God Israel's direct deliverer. Adding divine law then turned the story into scripture.
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 114–116
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