Form, Funktion, Geographie

Die so genannte Völkertafel von Genesis 10 ist ein fiktionaler Text, der die Kategorien Abstammung und Verwandtschaft als Darstellungsmittel verwendet, um in narrativer Weise eine räumliche Ordnung der vorfindlichen Welt vorzunehmen. Die Völker kommen in Genesis 10 als autonome Größen eigenen Rechts in den Blick und werden unter drei Ausgangsgrößen (entsprechend den drei Großmachtsphären) systematisiert. Die Darstellung der Völkerschaften als verwandt macht deutlich, dass alle Menschen trotz ihrer kulturellen Eigenheiten zueinander in Beziehung stehen. In der Erzähllinie des Buches Genesis ist die Völkertafel eine Ätiologie für die Ausbreitung der Menschheit im Raum und eine Erfüllung des Schöpfungssegens: Alle existierenden Völker gehören zu der von Gott geschaffenen Menschheit. Die Völkertafel hat außerdem die Funktion, die bekannten Völker geographisch zu verorten und sie über genealogische Beziehungen auch zueinander ins Verhältnis zu setzen. Genesis 10 zeigt die Weltdeutung und die politische Sichtweise ihrer Verfasser zu deren Zeit

Genealogy as a means of historical representation in the Torah and the role of women in the genealogical system

Presenting history with the help of genealogical information is not limited to the Bible alone. In Ancient Egypt, men dominated the political and social society, as myths, inscriptions and iconography reveal. Women in leading positions are very rare. When a woman ascends the throne, she adopts the stereotypes of male rule. Genealogy legitimizes the dynastic principle and the claim for a certain cultic or political position. Hence, genealogy is not a primary means for historiography. In Ancient Egypt as well as in Ancient Mesopotamia, genealogies serve political, religious or sociological purposes – if necessary, they are changed and adapted (“fluidity”). In later epochs, the transmitters of the text regard these genealogies as a historical picture of the past. In Ancient Greece, there is a kind of genealogical historiography that focuses on women (the Gynaikōn Katalogos). However, these women are the great heroines of the mythical past which tells about the contacts between deities and humans. The relevant biblical passages differ from the Ancient World in several aspects. Especially in Genesis the presentation of history by means of genealogy takes up a much larger scope: Genealogies or the genealogical system are the backbone and the structuring principle of the book in its final form. In addition, women play a much greater role in this system than in the testimonies from the Ancient World. In Genesis, women take over leading and decisive positions. The construction of history by the Torah makes clear that women have a considerable share of the “lineage of promise” – even if this lineage nominally runs from one man to the other, from father to son. In sum, while the system was run by men, the women were needed to make it work. In crucial situations everything depends on women; they give the narrative its final twist. The women take the initiative, when crises occur. The social position of women decides about the order of priority of the male offspring. The choice of the “right” woman as wife, i.e., the woman from one’s own people, is decisive about the further fate of the man (endogamy). Once again, from the viewpoint of the genealogical system it becomes obvious that Genesis is not about the “Patriarchs” alone, but about the ancient parents of the people of Israel. Both, women and men, make their specific contribution to build up the house of Israel (see Ruth 4:11)