Genesis 17-19 "Abraham":
the first Jew
Abraham is the father of Judaism, and thus of all the religions based on
the Hebrews, including Christianity and Islam. Scholars believe he left Sumeria for
Canaan (future cite of Israel) c. 1850 BCE. The story of
monotheism and the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions begin here,
with this man.
Other Genesis myths deal with the creation of life itself and all humanity and seem to have roots in earlier Sumerian/Mesopotamian mythology, but in Abraham this God strikes a unique relationship with a given people, the Jews.
Still, this god maintains qualities of the ancients. This God:
-- is a protectorate god unique to their tribe, region or city etc. (vs. god as a universal moral good)
-- requires certain rituals (vs. what we would today consider moral behavior)
-- in exchange for ritual, He will act miraculously in the world: worldly actions (ritual) produce worldly results, but with supernatural or miraculous cause (the authors do not see one’s reward or punishment as occurring after death, but in visible ways, during one’s life)
Other striking things about this story:
-- Abraham’s willingness to trade his wife into slavery, as a member of Pharaoh’s harem (Gen 12:10 ); he does this again in Gen. 20, to Abilemech (when Sarai is 90 years old), at which point we learn she is his half sister (common father, different mother) (note: these two similar stories are another example of the multiple authors -- Priestly and J sources -- discussed in Genesis 1 and 2.
-- age of Abraham/Sarah
-- transition from human sacrifice; Abraham’s apparent willingness to sacrifice Isaac
-- polygamy (the "twelve tribes of Israel" will descend from Abraham's grandson, Jacob/Israel, via his two wives, the sisters Rachel and and Leah, and two of their servants, Zilpah and Bilhah (Gen. 29-30).
-- racial Othering: Hagar’s child, Ishmael,
In short, while a central part of our cultural heritage, modern readers are likely also be struck by the radical foreign-ess of these stories; we are still a long way from modern Western conceptions of this “God”
Sodom and Gomorrah
Here we see that
this god is not only interested in ritual supplication but in either the
moral or ethical treatment of others. Most notably we see his interest
in how the Jews treat outsiders, strangers. In Jewish tradition, the men
of Sodom are guilty of inhospitality – not sexual
transgression.
Ezekiel 16:49 Gives the town's transgression larger, social context, as
well: "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and
her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she
did not help the poor and needy."
We also see that, like the Greeks, these stories work to explain disasters; this is the god of cities burning down, great floods, thunder and lightening, and pillars of salt.
These cities are believed, by scholars and believers alike, to have existed beside the Dead Sea (which actually may soon be "dead", due to irrigation). One of the lowest points on the planet below sea level, the region lies at the meeting of two (or more) tectonic plates, in the Jordan Rift Valley, so it was, and is, prone to earthquakes, and the Dead Sea's unique chemistry is famous for its other-worldy pillars of salt and/or volcanic rock.
This view of natural disasters continues in contemporary America: (New Orleans)