Habel And The Commission Of Moses

Call or Commission In Habel’s structure, the commission is a component of a call narrative. Habel has presented defense for his structure in the comparison of the several call narratives discussed, and provides for the inclusion of the Call of Moses. However, there is some disagreement among scholars as to the validity of the methodology Habel employs including the Moses narrative in the structure. Childs indicates that “Habel’s attempt to find the provenance of the call in the specific practice of commissioning messengers is artificial.” Dozeman supports the assessment of Childs that the text is more rightly the genre of commission rather than call, “since the hero does not assume an office but is given a specific task to perform.” However, Dozeman also indicates that the “genre of commission” is also inadequate in describing the exchange between Moses and God, as, “The commission of Moses (3:9-12) is at the heart of the episode, but the point of focus is the identity of Yahweh (3:1-8 and 3:15).”
ANALYSIS

Child’s reexamination of the evidence found within the Moses narrative of the sign (being the burning bush, rather than the promise of a future sign) is well-advised in consideration of the several signs given in the passage which follows, relating to the signs Moses will show to Pharaoh. It is evident from even a cursory read of the text that God is using the encounter to gain the attention of Moses, and set Moses to follow God’s instructions. Which leave the question of whether the encounter of God by Moses resulted in a “call” or “commission?” To invest in answering this question would diminish a more important question: “How did he one being called or commissioned