The Meaning of Degel and the Elusive History of the Levites

For more on the colony on Elephantine, see the “Elephantine” entry in the Encyclopedia Iranica.

[2] This observation is significant for dating P, the dating of which has been debated since the Documentary Hypothesis was solidified in the mid-ninteenth century. Julius Wellhausen saw P as the final text of the Torah, written during the exilic period. Because Wellhausen saw this late date for P as part of his argument that biblical religion “degraded” over time into legalism and cult practices, his position was seen as anti-Semitic (and anti-Catholic). The pushback came from a Jewish scholar, Yehezkel Kaufmann, who accepted the Documentary Hypothesis but believed that P was an early document, written and completed during the First Temple period. This is also the view of Jacob Milgrom, whose commentary on Leviticus is very influential. My own view, expressed in my own commentaries on Leviticus and Numbers, is that Wellhausen was essentially correct about the dating (not about P being a degraded form of religion!) and that P, at least in its final form, should be dated to the exilic or early Persian period. If my reconstruction of the meaning of the term degel is accurate, we possess datable, comparative evidence as to when chapters 2 and 10 were edited, at the very earliest. In turn, this evidence suggests that the Priestly source, at least in its final form, is a product of the post-exilic period, indicating extended literary creativity in the Torah.

 ^ח) וּלְלֵוִ֣י אָמַ֔ר תֻּמֶּ֥יךָ וְאוּרֶ֖יךָ לְאִ֣ישׁ חֲסִידֶ֑ךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נִסִּיתוֹ֙ בְּמַסָּ֔ה תְּרִיבֵ֖הוּ עַל־מֵ֥י מְרִיבָֽה: ^ט) הָאֹמֵ֞ר לְאָבִ֤יו וּלְאִמּוֹ֙ לֹ֣א רְאִיתִ֔יו וְאֶת־אֶחָיו֙ לֹ֣א הִכִּ֔יר וְאֶת־בנו בָּנָ֖יו לֹ֣א יָדָ֑ע כִּ֤י שָֽׁמְרוּ֙ אִמְרָתֶ֔ךָ וּבְרִֽיתְךָ֖ יִנְצֹֽרוּ: ^י) יוֹר֤וּ מִשְׁפָּטֶ֙יךָ֙ לְיַעֲקֹ֔ב וְתוֹרָתְךָ֖ לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יָשִׂ֤ימוּ קְטוֹרָה֙ בְּאַפֶּ֔ךָ וְכָלִ֖יל עַֽל־מִזְבְּחֶֽךָ: ^יא) בָּרֵ֤ךְ י-הוה חֵיל֔וֹ וּפֹ֥עַל יָדָ֖יו תִּרְצֶ֑ה מְחַ֨ץ מָתְנַ֧יִם קָמָ֛יו וּמְשַׂנְאָ֖יו מִן־יְקוּמֽוּן:

For more discussion of the demotion of the Levites, see Prof. Adele Berlin’s TABS devar Torah on Parashat Korach, “Why Were We Demoted? The Levite Rebellion against the Priesthood.”