Jewish Geneology: A Fraud?

[Rhondazvous]

How could the Jews have kept track of which Abrahamic tribe they descended from through 400 years of slavery? Where did they keep the records? How did each tribe stay in tact when children were bought and sold by the Egyptians (according to Christian mythology not historical fact.)

I've heard it said that Judaism did not exist until after the common era. I haven't found enough evidence to give credulity to this assertion, but if anyone here has evidence, please share it.

if in fact, Moses authored the Pentateuch, why does he call god Elohim in the first chapter of genesis but Yahweh in the second chapter? and if Moses did not write it, what else about the Jewish story is a big fabrication?

And why the crying fuck does my stupid assed browser automatically capitalize the words Abrahamic, Elohim and Yahweh?

[Alex K]

The couldn't keep track because the Jewish enslavement in Egypt never happened. But that being said, wouldn't every individual have known exactly which tribe they belong to, and simply passed that knowledge to their heirs generation for generation?

[abaris]

How could the Jews have kept track of which Abrahamic tribe they descended from through 400 years of slavery?  Where did they keep the records? How did each tribe stay in tact when children were bought and sold by the Egyptians (according to Christian mythology not historical fact.)

They didn't keep track, since the enslavement and all the other stuff never happened in the first place. It's the same as if I would base my ancestry on Norsk or Caltic mythology.

Again, I have to admit to be shamefully unaware of the latest archeological results, but there have been some in the field, claiming the origin of the Kanaanites being the so called sea people, since there are some Egyptian inscriptions pointing to them being relocated to Kanaan, after being defeated by the Egyptians.

[Minimalist]

Don't worry about that, Abs.  Archaeology is a dry subject.  Just ask.

http://www.vatileaks.com/vati-leaks/the-...ion-part-2

Decades of archaeological results of a new generation of scholars have revealed that Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Solomon, David, and Saul never lived, nor is there any support for the occurrence of an 'exodus' of 600,000 men and their families. Noah's Ark has never been found, nor Solomon's Temple or the fallen stone walls of Jericho, and there is no verification for the existence of the twelve tribes of Israel, not even in the records of Herodotus (484-430 BCE) who never mentioned the Israelites at all.

[abaris]

Don't worry about that, Abs.  Archaeology is a dry subject.  Just ask.

Yeah, but I always found the theory about the sea people at the root of the Israelites most fascinating. It would, if true, answer a great many questions. Not the one about where they originally came from. That would still be in the dark. But it seems like an early migration of peoples, seeking for new lands to exploit.

[Rhondazvous]

Yes, I'm aware that there is no evidence of the exodus. I'm looking at the Bible as a text. I want to write a book about the things in the Bible they didn't tell us in Sunday school. it may turn out to be an encyclopedia the size of a Samsonite two-suitor suitcase if I'm thorough.

The sea people? That may be a lead. What's important is not exactly where the Jews came from, but that they did not come from where the Bible said they did.

[Minimalist]

Don't worry about that, Abs.  Archaeology is a dry subject.  Just ask.

Yeah, but I always found the theory about the sea people at the root of the Israelites most fascinating. It would, if true, answer a great many questions. Not the one about where they originally came from. That would still be in the dark. But it seems like an early migration of peoples, seeking for new lands to exploit.

The collapse of the Late Bronze Age Empires..... Eric Cline's 1177 BC is a fantastic book on the subject...hinges on the depredations of The Sea People but what is not known is if they were the cause or just an effect.  Cline's vision is of a 'systems collapse' in which it was not just one thing which led to the upheaval.  So if the region was weakened by drought and earthquake (earthquake swarm is a possibility) then populations moving might have triggered revolts among the lower-classes to join in.  The Sea Peoples are an amorphous enough grouping to fit that bill with groups joining and leaving.

In any event, Israel Finkelstein sees the settlers of the hill country which later evolved to be Israelites and Judahites as herders who settled down to grow their own grain after their trading partners on the coast were knocked out by the Sea People.  William Dever suggests that these groups evolved from refugees from the destroyed cities and towns of the coast and who fled inland.  Of course, there is no reason why it has to be an either/or proposition.  Refugees could well have brought technology and farming techniques to the herders who would have been able to subsist on the meat and dairy products of their herds while the crops grew.

Anyway, I have an epub version of 1177.  If you'd like it, PM me an email address.

[Drich]

How could the Jews have kept track of which Abrahamic tribe they descended from through 400 years of slavery?

through Sefer Yuchsin, a family kept record of who begat who.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articl...-genealogy

How did each tribe stay in tact when children were bought and sold by the Egyptians (according to Christian mythology not historical fact.)

What makes you think they all where? The vast majority were wards of the state. very few people owned slaves, as Egypt owned everyone including Egyptians. (At least in the time span we are discussing of the middle kingdom.)

I've heard it said that Judaism did not exist until after the common era. I haven't found enough evidence to give credulity to this assertion, but if anyone here has evidence, please share it.

To say this is to ignore middle kingdom Egyptian record of the 'brooklyn papyrus' which names 100 hebrew specific names as slaves but also gives an account of the demand pharaoh had to make 'bricks without straw.'
http://www.apxaioc.com/article/hebrews-e...s-brooklyn

if in fact, Moses authored the Pentateuch, why does he call god Elohim in the first chapter of genesis but Yahweh in the second chapter? and if Moses did not write it, what else about the Jewish story is a big fabrication?

Elohim, Yahweh, Adoni are all title's/Names of God.
Elohim basically translates Lord.
Adoni= the word God
Yahweh= the covenant name of God which to the OT Jew was forbiden to say.

So the other two were generic terms referring to God that could be mentioned without taking or using the Lord's name inappropriately.

http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/documents...%20god.htm

And why the crying fuck does my stupid assed browser automatically capitalize the words Abrahamic, Elohim and Yahweh?

Because it understands these are names and names should be capitalized even if you don't/are intentionally trying to show disrespect.

[Minimalist]

Three cheers for disrespect. Fuck this bible bullshit.

And you too, Drippy.

[ApeNotKillApe]

And why the crying fuck does my stupid assed browser automatically capitalize the words Abrahamic, Elohim and Yahweh?

That's how English works...?