“Elohim told Abraham: "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.' So Abraham left Haran."
These verses specifically declare that Abraham left his country and went into Egyptian territory, not of necessity but because he was attracted by solemn promises. But promises made by whom? Who was this mysterious person who called Abraham? What did he really promise him? And why? The answer to these questions have been taken for granted these thousands of years. No one seems to have ever doubted the fact that this was the first contact made by God with the man He chose to bring into being the "Chosen People." The compiler of Genesis was the first one to give credit to this interpretation.
In terms of religious faith this is quite plausible; but from an historical point of view it is much less so. These interventions from on High, which bring about dramatic changes in the lives of the Patriarchs, are quite frequent throughout the narrative; but the physical characteristics of whoever does the intervening, in most cases have nothing supernatural about them. In order to ensure a correct reconstruction of Abraham's vicissitudes, the true identity of these persons must be established. The fact that they are plural and not just One is evident, and not simply by virtue of the different names used for them. In the majority of the translations the person who speaks to the Patriarchs is referred to as God, or the Lord. But in the original, such terms as El, El Elyon, Elohim, El Shaddai, Adonai, and Yahweh are used. But this does not necessarily mean that these are all different people. The explanation attributing the diversity of names to the diversity of oral traditions that have "converged" into the narrative, if not entirely convincing, is at least believable.
However, it is a fact that the Genesis text often shows clearly that distinct physical persons are being referenced, for example in verses 31,53, where Laban swears on the "God of Abraham" and on the "God of Nahor," while Jacob swears on the "Fear of Isaac," and in other similar quotations (Gen. 32,10; 48,15 etc.). The person who decides the destinies of the Patriarchs often acts through "messengers." If this is always God, it is difficult to understand on the basis of what criterion he sometimes speaks directly, with the person to whom he wishes to make known his will, at other times "in dreams" and at still others by means of "angels" or messengers.
To suppose that the persons indicated in Genesis with the names Yahweh, Elohim and so on are identifiable constantly and in every case with a supernatural Entity, is to stretch the sense of the narrative and to strip it of every foundation, making impossible a clear understanding of the story. On the other hand, if one supposes on the basis of the narrative that, at least in those cases where it is possible and reasonable to presume, that it is a question of real, earthly people of flesh and blood, a very different level of clarity and understanding can be achieved. For example, according to the narrative, when Yahweh appears to Abraham prior to the destruction of Sodom, he is so much less a "God" and so much a human being, that Genesis itself (18,2) refers to him and his two companions as "men." Abraham invites them to sit down, he washes their feet and prepares a banquet that they all enjoy together. There is not the slightest doubt that, at least on that occasion, Yahweh was a human being.
Who, therefore, was Elohim, this mysterious giver of promises to Abraham? How could he offer him the possession of a foreign land? It is extremely important to note the epoch in which the events as told took place, in order to find an answer to this question. It was in the first half of the 16th century B.C., during the Egyptian 18th Dynasty, which had extended the Empire's frontiers as far as the Euphrates. The Egyptian Pharaohs were considered to be true divinities, worshipped by the masses as such and indicated as gods in all public acts. The Pharaoh was presented as a god in all his relations with vassal princes and foreign rulers. This fact is positively confirmed from letters discovered at Tel-el-Amarna in which the Pharaoh is constantly referred to as "the sun." This is such a well known fact that there is no need to waste any further words on it.3 On the other hand, as noted in the episode regarding Abimelech, it is clear that when Genesis refers to "Pharaoh," it does not mean the Egyptian monarch but a fairly high-level Egyptian official. The same thing will be ascertained in the story of Joseph and in Exodus.
If Abraham was a foreign nobleman coming into Egyptian territory with a sizeable entourage, including hundreds of armed men, he must certainly have had some contact, perhaps with the Pharaoh himself, or with his rightful representatives; and how could these people be indicated in oral traditions if not by the usual designations in common use in the ancient world? There can be no doubt that in those oral traditions the Pharaoh was called "god" and his representatives and messengers were obviously the representatives and messengers of "god," that is, "angels."
However, the Palestine in which the compiler lived no longer figured as part of the Egyptian Empire. Most probably the compiler himself was no longer able to identify the monarch of the Egyptian Empire in the divinity mentioned in the oral traditions. He was, therefore, the first one to identify the Egyptian ruler with the Divinity.
This misunderstanding became permanently rooted when he used both terms, Elohim and Yahweh, to indicate the Creator of the world in Genesis and the God of Moses from Exodus onwards. However, a more attentive reading will make it clear that in these cases he is not referring to the same god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who is depicted as having very human characteristics. To conclude, when Elohim, El Shaddai, Adonay, Yahweh etc. appear (after the first eleven chapters) in Genesis, the character is to be identified with the Pharaoh, the "living god" of Egypt; furthermore, the numerous "angels" referred to in the text are most probably none other than messengers or officials in the service of the Pharaoh, therefore, mainly Egyptians.
Thus the god who enticed Abraham to leave Paddam Aram and to set out for Palestine was, it would seem, none other than the Pharaoh. But why the Pharaoh and not some other Eastern ruler? Because he promised Abraham the possession of a land that was part of the Egyptian Empire. Furthermore, the god who threatened Abimelech with death because of the outrage committed on Sarah and ordered him to make reparations, was obviously one who had the power of life and death over him; therefore, it could not have been any other than the Pharaoh.
So the events narrated in Genesis regarding the three Patriarchs cease to be mythical (although the first eleven chapters must remain so) and take their rightful place in the chronicles of History. Now, that the epoch in which the biblical events occurred has been defined with reasonable approximation, it becomes relatively simple to give exact names and personalities to those historical figures which appear from time to time under the names Yahweh, Elohim and El Shaddai. In this way the biblical saga can be linked to the general history of the Middle East.