1. English 510—Class on Exodus 10/7/99
1. Relation of Genesis to Exodus
1. God departs at end of Genesis—creation is finished
2. Returns for a new creation in Exodus—of what?
3. Stories of origin, survival and evolution
1. Genesis: of the world and humanity and then the selected bloodline which eventually will be given the land—prehistory, myth, family, psychology, individual relations with God and one another
1. Genesis like the Tempest examines the origins and thereby the nature of life, survival, family, sex, generations, siblinghood, marriage, prosperity and poverty
2. Exodus: actual history of the people, the nation, the promise fulfilled—relation between the nation and god—i.e. history of institutions of nation—state and church
1. What is relation of church and state?
2. What makes Church and state a corporate body —leadership and institutions
2. What are the parts of the church and state that are here founded
1. Judicial—Jethro ch. 18--and also Moses in ch. 2
2. Legislative—with great fanfare, starts at 19—all the laws
3. Executive—action and force--the military—right arm, arms, and army
4. Ecclesiastical—Church, priesthood and cult
1. the business/technology of the sacred: miracles and mystery,
5. War—action, force, violence is origin of all of them
3. Structure of Exodus
1. Latter half of Exodus is about the judicial, legislative and ecclesiastical structures—the state’s triumph over internal enemies
2. First half is about that executive military power forged by competition with the Egyptians in holy war—the state’s triumph over external enemies
1. Both predicted in chapter 2
4. Holy War
1. Henry V—us and them, abroad and at home
2. Patriotism; the chorus—the song of the sea ch. 15 as dividing line between two halves of the book.
3. The passover narrative as celebratory tale of national origin/identity—
1. the defeat of George III; the defeat of the Amazons, the defeat of Turnus and the Latins; Agincourt