YHWH War in the Period of Patriarchs

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

It is a question whether or not the concept of the divine war was already in esistence in the period of the Patriarchs. The story about war in the period is found in Gen 14 only, a hero story about Abram against the five kings of East. It belongs to a special source. It is a controversial chapter discussed by many scholars. It is impossible to give a verdict about its historicity. It is like many proved. Yet there is some evidence of divine war elements in Gen 14. The first half of the second millennium BCE was the time advanced to new levels, notably with the introduciton of horse ad light chariot and with the perfection of the batteringOram, which changed the character of campaign in open terrain and against fortified cities respectively. Yet there is no mention that Abram used any of these weapons which the neighbours had used. For the human weapons in divine war context are not a decisive factor, as is shown in the story of Gidenon in which the weapons were only the trumphet and torch Gen 14 shows that Abram and his trained servants smote the enemies at night, as is also shown in most cases of divine war in the Bible.