5th page of 10 pages
The Burning Bush
Sometimes in the literature is written, that the expression "bush" was meant desrespectfully. Can it be, that the Burning Bush in Exodus 3 should remember on the fable of trees in Judges 9? In this fable is told, that the most useless tree, the bush, was elected to the king of the trees, precisely because it has has nothing else to do.
The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree,
'Reign over us.' But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my abundance,
by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?'
And the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and reign over us.'
But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit
and go hold sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the vine, 'You come and
reign over us.' But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my wine that(N) cheers
God and men and go hold sway over the trees?' Then all the trees said to the bramble,
'You come and reign over us.' And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith you are
anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if
not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon'
(Judg. 9,8-15).
The fable of the trees is part of the Deuteronomic historical work and the Yahwist had expectedly this story available as a template. The worthless thorn bush threatens the other trees if they do not trust his shadow, the fire would emerge from the bush and devour the cedars of Lebanon. In Judges 9,15 fire from the thorn bush is thought metaphorically for men who do not want to be subordinate. In case of Exodus 3 the Yahwist changes the negative default in a positive narrative like he does with "to turn aside".
Another idea about trees comes from the Prophet Ezekiel:
And all the trees of the field shall know that I am Yahweh, I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am Yahweh; I have spoken, and I will do it" (Ez. 17,24).
Humiliation and promotion a important motive in the New Testament is the subject here: Yahweh makes the trivial thistle bush flourish. Normally the birth or the election of an important man takes place under a huge tree. In Exodus 3 the call of Moses is under a miserable shrub that becomes a huge phenomenon by the divine appearance.
The Yahwist lived at the time of the New Babylonian Government. Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. The Ark, which had been the residence of Yahweh, was desappeared since the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar II. Thus, Yahweh was no longer living in the Temple but in the desert as he did in ancient times, in which the author projected this story.
But one thing is clear today, the tree or the shrub in the ancient Near East was not an attribute of a god but of a goddess. The typcial tree goddess gave to the deceased food and drink (8). The tree goddess on amulets or stelae is often depicted with animals, snakes and goats:
Othmar Keel, Christoph Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses and Images of God
In Syria-Palestine, the goddess of fertility Asherah was worshiped as a natural or a stylized tree (9). Her nickname was "the Holy", "the Hierodule" or "the Sacred Prostitute". There were also found evidences about Ashera as Yahweh's wife in the 8th and 7th century BC. In the blessings in Deuteronomium Asherah appears as womb (plural), from which the sheep are born:
Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the Ashteroth of your flock. (Deut. 28,4, also verse 18 and 51 and Deut. 7,13).
Here the maternal power of Ashera is blessed in the same breath as the womb of the women, the fruit of the earth and the cattle. Otherwise the Deuteronomist often commands to chop down the trees of the goddess Ashera, the Asherim and burn them with fire, for example:
But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their Massebas and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire (Dt 7,5).
The prophets attacked sexual debauchery on the hills under green trees. Jeremia railes against:
Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore. (Jer. 2,20, see 3,6).
The author of the burning bush knew of course the polemic of the prophets
and interpreted them in his way. The same author also wrote the narrative of
the fall of Adam and Eve, the story of Eve and the serpent. What I always
ask is, whay the commentators do not recognize the similarity between the
burning bush und the tree of life. Both stories are about a tree and a
serpent which is associated with the tree. In the story of paradise (Gen.
2-3) the beguiling serpent of the tree of life makes Adam and Eve realize
that they are naked and it is the reason of the momentous fall. In Exodus 3,
the Yahwist uses the miracle of the burning bush as proof of his divine
power. The tree of life (and the tree of knowledge secondary added) and the
burning thurn bush symbolize the goddess of fertility. In Exodus 3, the
goddess has completely disappeared and reappears later repressed in the
chapter 4 as Moses's brother Aharon. But this later.
Holy Land (Exodus 3,5)
Marija Gimbutas writes in "the language of the Goddess":
Something more sacred than the Earth does not exist.
In prehistoric times the Earth in Old Europe and the Ancient Near East was honored as the supreme deity. She was the only one who sat on a throne. The symbols of fertility associated with her, are symbols of power, wealth and reproduction. Their themes are eternal renewal of life and protection of the life power which are constantly threatened by death.
When the Earth is offended, she is moaning andd groaning. She does not tolerate thieves, liars or vain and proud people. In some myths and legends the Earth devours sinners with their houses and castles, and when she closes herself again over them, on this place will arise a lake or a mountain (10).
In the Old Testament, the moral power of the Earth is described like this:
"If in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of Yahweh, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled. And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall testify, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. Accept atonement, O Yahweh, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.' So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of Yahweh (Dt 21,1-9).
To atone for the murder, which was
committed by an unknown person, a man
must take a heifer and break her the neck in a stream. The cow is an
attribute of the goddess, but she is also a mediator between Earth and men.
To atone for the Earth, she must vicariously die for the murderer. A better
known story ist the killing of Abels by Cain. Cain receives as punishment a
sign on his forehead.
Then Yahweh said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?" And Yahweh said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. (Gen. 4,9-11)
The Tempel of Jerusalem was standing on holy ground. The Temple was sacred by the Ark (Aaron), the tribal sanctuary, which David had brought to Jerusalem. The Ark was symbol of the sun and the earth. On the way to Jerusalem David worshiped the Ark dancing. He was the darling "Dod" of the goddess. "Dod" means "darling" and is a name of Baal. The consonants of David and Dod are the same, both dwd (11).
Text and Design: Esther Keller-Stocker, Horgen, Zürich (Switzerland)
Last correction on 05.02.2010.
I'm looking forward to your comments and your suggestion!
Contact me at esther@estherkeller.ch
