Asaph's History of Israel (Elohist Press,Bethel,725 Bce)

Abstract

The Psalms of Asaph (Pss. 50, 73-83) are a unity. They call God's people Joseph five times (once Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh); they usually call God Elohim, often El; they refer repeatedly to the covenant, and to God leading his flock; they presuppose a military crisis (a ring of enemies backed by Assyria, Ps. 83); they frequently appeal to history, especially the Exodus. After the Assyrian annexations of 732 BCE, 'Joseph' was what was left—Amos calls the people Joseph too; El and El Berith belong in Shechem/Bethel; and in the 720s Israel was facing extinction. So the many historical references, from the Egyptian oppression to Solomon's empire, constitute the 'elohist' history of Israel as known in Bethel in the 720s.