Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/231

 BIBLICAL SOCIOLOGY 217

"And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the children of Judah : and they went and dwelt among the people" (Judg., i :i6). Later still we see the wife of Heber the Kenite helping forward the cause of Israel (Judg., chaps. 4 and 5). There were Kenites in Judah in the days of Saul and David (i Sam, 15:6; 30:30). At another time we find Jehon- adab, the son of Rechab the Kenite, fighting on the side of Israel and Yahweh (II Kings, 10:15 f.).* In the time of the prophet Jeremiah, just before the Babylonian exile, we see the descendants of Jehonadab fleeing to Jerusalem for fear of the Chaldean army (Jer., chap. 35). At the time of the Exodus, then, the Israelites became connected with the Kenites of the Sinai region; these two peoples were associated in the invasion and settlement of Canaan; and the Kenites were at length practically absorbed in Israel. The meaning of this line of evi- dence will appear presently.

Looking farther we find that the Old Testament shows many traces of connection between Yahweh and the region of Mount Sinai. The mountain itself is called in Hebrew har elohim, that is, a mountain sacred to a god, or gods (Exod. 3:1). It was not an ordinary mountain, without special dis- tinction. It was identified in some way with a god, or with the gods. Hence, in the first interview between Moses and the elo- him, the former was commanded, "Draw not nigh hither. Put ofif thy shoes, for the place whereon thou standest is kodesh" (Exod, 3:5). We have met this word at earlier stages of our work ; and its general meaning has been indicated. The English versions translate it, without comment, "holy," making the last sentence read, "The place whereon thou standest is holy," The modern reader hastily draws the inference that Mount Sinai was "holy" because here the God of the universe chose to reveal himself to an Israelite shepherd. But this is not the sense of the passage when viewed in the light of the biblical documents as a whole ; and it is clear that the editors of Exodus are transmitting a primitive tradition whose real import they do not understand,

I Chron. 2 : 55.
 * For the Kenite descent of Jehonadab, consult the genealogical register in