We continue on with the mentions of heaven in the Old Testament. They are still all the same Hebrew root, shameh, which refers to all the space above us, the atmosphere and outer space. This same word is also referred to as god's dwelling place.
In 1 Kings chapter 8, Solomon prays to Yahweh in heaven above. He has built yahweh a temple and it is being dedicated. Solomon acknowledges that god won't really dwell on earth because even the highest heaven cannot contain him. Nevertheless, Solomon asks yahweh to hear the prayers of the people from his dwelling place in heaven. He wants Yahweh to watch over them from heaven. This is the same heaven that Solomon says is shut up when there is no rain. For Solomon, yahweh is in the same place that the rains come from.
In 1 Kings 22:19, we can read a passage about the "hosts of heaven." The prophet Micaiah is telling Ahab the king of Israel that "I saw the lord sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left." Then Yahweh speaks to the hosts and asks them which one of them will entice Ahab into a war where he will be killed. One of the spirits comes forward and volunteers for the job of being a lying spirit in the mouths of the king's prophets. This conversation supposedly happened in the same heaven that is the space above the earth. Apparently there is a throne and a bunch of spirits up there, besides yahweh. Just how crowded is heaven?
In 2 Kings, fire comes down from heaven, Elijah goes up to heaven in a whirlwind, and the stars of heaven were worshipped by Ahab. It was all the same heaven. The same heaven is in 1st and 2nd Chronicles, and Ezra. In Nehemiah, 9:6, the multitudes of heaven worship Yahweh. In Esther, heaven is conspicuously absent.
In Job 11:8, the mysteries of god are higher than the heavens. In 16:19, Job says he has a witness in heaven. In 22:12, god is said to be in the heights of heaven. In 26:11, the pillars of heaven tremble at gods rebuke. Just to show you that the bible translators know the word heaven is the same as the sky, look at verse 35:11 which talks about "the birds of the air." That word translated as air is the same word, shameh. In the KJV, that very verse says "the fowls of heaven" instead.
Now we move on to Psalms 11:4, which says Yahweh is on his heavenly throne. In 14:2, Yahweh looks down from heaven on the sons of men. In 20:6, he answers his anointed from his holy heaven. In 78:23-26, "he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens. He rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. He let loose the east wind from the heavens...he rained down meat on them like dust..." Angels have bread! In 89:5-7, we read "the heavens praise your wonders o lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. (Yahweh is not the only one up there.) For who in the skies above can compare with the lord? Who is like the lord among the heavenLy beings? In the council of the holy ones, god is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him." Fascinating stuff.
Psalm 113 places yahweh even higher than the sky. It says "...his glory is above the heavens. Who is like the lord our god, the one who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth." That's really high!
Showing posts with label 2 Kings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2 Kings. Show all posts
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Jonah chapter 1
After reading chapter 1:
*Jonah is called the son of Amittai, exactly as mentioned in 2 Kings. Which came first, the book of Jonah or Kings? Who knows? Nobody that's who. But, as usual, there are plenty of scholars who try to pin these things down to a span of three hundred years, give or take a few years.
*Somehow, Jonah heard from Yahweh. There are no details. Was it a vision, a dream, or an angel? No information is available, and noone else heard the message. (Is a revelation to one a revelation to all?)Yahweh is said to have told Jonah to "go to Nineveh and preach against it" because it was wicked. Why Nineveh? Ninevah was the chief city of the Assyrian kingdom at the time the story takes place, which was 770-ish BCE. Frankly, I'm pretty sure it wasn't any more wicked than any other large city in that time period. Who knows what even constituted wickedness to the author of Jonah. There are no details. I have a feeling that biblical authors ascribed most cultural destruction as being a consequence of "wickedness."
*According to Wikipedia, Nineveh was the largest city in the world for about 50 years, until it was sacked in 612 BCE. It is very possible, even probable, that the book of Jonah was written after that. This is the subject of much debate. Isaiah and other prophetic books of the bible predict the fall of Assyria and Nineveh with it. Because I do not believe in prophesies, I am inclined to accept the judgement of historians who also do not believe in prophesies and say that those books were most likely written after the events they supposedly prophesy. Or they were wishful thinking. Assyria's power seems to have been at a lull during the reign of Jereboam II, but it did conquer Israel later and was responsible for the break up of the northern kingdom about 732 BCE.
*Anyway, Jonah "ran away from Yahweh" and headed for Tarshish, by way of a ship from Joppa. The exact location and existence of Tarshish are disputed. It was clearly intended to be in the opposite direction from Nineveh, which was about 600 miles to the east of Jerusalem.
*While Jonah was at sea, there was a violent storm and the ship was in danger of sinking. The crew began to throw things overboard to lighten the ship, meanwhile crying out to their own gods. Jonah was sound asleep below. The captain berated him for not calling on his God to save them. The sailors decided to cast lots to see who was bringing them bad luck. The lot fell on Jonah. Those were smart lots! The ship's crew asked Jonah to explain his presence and the reason the lots chose him. So, Jonah told them he worshipped Yahweh, "the god of heaven who made the sea and land." He then explained that he was runnng away from Yahweh, which is not surprising when you realize most ancient gods were national in nature. But Yahweh apparently had power beyond the boundaries of Israel.
*I'm trying to keep dates, events, and facts straight, but this historical time period and the bible record of supposed events can be confusing. So I may edit when I find out something isn't right.
To be continued.
*Jonah is called the son of Amittai, exactly as mentioned in 2 Kings. Which came first, the book of Jonah or Kings? Who knows? Nobody that's who. But, as usual, there are plenty of scholars who try to pin these things down to a span of three hundred years, give or take a few years.
*Somehow, Jonah heard from Yahweh. There are no details. Was it a vision, a dream, or an angel? No information is available, and noone else heard the message. (Is a revelation to one a revelation to all?)Yahweh is said to have told Jonah to "go to Nineveh and preach against it" because it was wicked. Why Nineveh? Ninevah was the chief city of the Assyrian kingdom at the time the story takes place, which was 770-ish BCE. Frankly, I'm pretty sure it wasn't any more wicked than any other large city in that time period. Who knows what even constituted wickedness to the author of Jonah. There are no details. I have a feeling that biblical authors ascribed most cultural destruction as being a consequence of "wickedness."
*According to Wikipedia, Nineveh was the largest city in the world for about 50 years, until it was sacked in 612 BCE. It is very possible, even probable, that the book of Jonah was written after that. This is the subject of much debate. Isaiah and other prophetic books of the bible predict the fall of Assyria and Nineveh with it. Because I do not believe in prophesies, I am inclined to accept the judgement of historians who also do not believe in prophesies and say that those books were most likely written after the events they supposedly prophesy. Or they were wishful thinking. Assyria's power seems to have been at a lull during the reign of Jereboam II, but it did conquer Israel later and was responsible for the break up of the northern kingdom about 732 BCE.
*Anyway, Jonah "ran away from Yahweh" and headed for Tarshish, by way of a ship from Joppa. The exact location and existence of Tarshish are disputed. It was clearly intended to be in the opposite direction from Nineveh, which was about 600 miles to the east of Jerusalem.
*While Jonah was at sea, there was a violent storm and the ship was in danger of sinking. The crew began to throw things overboard to lighten the ship, meanwhile crying out to their own gods. Jonah was sound asleep below. The captain berated him for not calling on his God to save them. The sailors decided to cast lots to see who was bringing them bad luck. The lot fell on Jonah. Those were smart lots! The ship's crew asked Jonah to explain his presence and the reason the lots chose him. So, Jonah told them he worshipped Yahweh, "the god of heaven who made the sea and land." He then explained that he was runnng away from Yahweh, which is not surprising when you realize most ancient gods were national in nature. But Yahweh apparently had power beyond the boundaries of Israel.
*I'm trying to keep dates, events, and facts straight, but this historical time period and the bible record of supposed events can be confusing. So I may edit when I find out something isn't right.
To be continued.
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Introduction to the book of Jonah
Read about the book of Jonah here.
Read about the character Jonah in religion, tradition, and literature here.
Both articles have lots of interesting information. I almost feel like I don't need to cover the story myself. I will anyway, to see if anything particular strikes my attention.
Some facts to consider: The character Jonah is supposed to have lived in the 700's BCE. The story of Jonah is not likely to have been written before the 5th century BCE, after the Jews returned from exile in Persia. No manuscripts of Jonah older than that exist. That is a gap of a few hundred years. The author is unknown. The book does not claim to be divine, inspired, or the word of a god or gods. There is no extrabiblical evidence that the events depicted therein actually happened and no reason to believe that they did.
In the Bible, outside of the book of Jonah, Jonah is found in 2 Kings 14:25. One sentence mentions that Jonah was a prophet of Yahweh. He was the son of Amitai (which means truth) and he was from Gath Hepher. Jonah had told Jeroboam II, who was king of Samaria/Israel at the time, that Yahweh wanted him to restore the boundaries of Israel, and he did. I'm assuming this had to do with physical fortifications and protecting the land from invaders. This one passage is used to date the existance of Jonah.
Jereboam II definitely existed, according to archaeological evidence, and his reign was characterized by wealth and luxury, promoting trade with Egypt and Assyria. His kingdom had as many as 350,000 inhabitants. However, not much good is said about him in the bible. 2nd Kings says he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. This "evil " was in the nature of the sins of the first Jereboam, found in 1 Kings 12: building sanctuaries for Yahweh and representing him with golden calves, to which sacrifices were offered. The book of Amos condemns Jeroboam II and prophesies he will die by the sword. It appears to have been a figurative sword.
One thing to remember is that the Israelite tribes (or the Yahweh worshippers) in Canaan were divided into two competing kingdoms. The kingdom in the north was Israel/Samaria. The kingdom in the south was Judah. They each worshipped the same god, but Judah claimed sole possession of Yahweh's authorized temple, which also would have meant his presence, and his favor. The people of the northern kingdom would have had to travel inconvenient distances in order to worship Yahweh.
Because I do not believe Yahweh ever existed, I conclude that this religious competition was purely a bid for power over people and territory. Judah claimed ownership of the high ground, Israel ignored that claim and worshipped Yahweh their own way. This was the reason for the condemnation. Let us remember that it is usually the victors, or at least those left at the end, who get to write the histories. These stories were probably written by those who sided with the lower kingdom, and show their prejudices. The upper kingdom was eventually conquered and its former citizens disappeared into historical oblivion. The lower kingdom was later conquered but was kept alive in a somewhat cohesive culture while exiled. After the return of the Jews to Judah is when much of the Old Testament was written or redacted. The former Israelite territory in the north became known as Samaria and its remaining inhabitants Samaritans, who were despised by the Jews, not least because they did not worship Yahweh in Jerusalem. Some things never change.
In spite of the condemnation of this Jeroboam as evil in the sight of Yahweh, 2 Kings admits that Jereboam achieved some great things for his people the Israelites.
Read about the character Jonah in religion, tradition, and literature here.
Both articles have lots of interesting information. I almost feel like I don't need to cover the story myself. I will anyway, to see if anything particular strikes my attention.
Some facts to consider: The character Jonah is supposed to have lived in the 700's BCE. The story of Jonah is not likely to have been written before the 5th century BCE, after the Jews returned from exile in Persia. No manuscripts of Jonah older than that exist. That is a gap of a few hundred years. The author is unknown. The book does not claim to be divine, inspired, or the word of a god or gods. There is no extrabiblical evidence that the events depicted therein actually happened and no reason to believe that they did.
In the Bible, outside of the book of Jonah, Jonah is found in 2 Kings 14:25. One sentence mentions that Jonah was a prophet of Yahweh. He was the son of Amitai (which means truth) and he was from Gath Hepher. Jonah had told Jeroboam II, who was king of Samaria/Israel at the time, that Yahweh wanted him to restore the boundaries of Israel, and he did. I'm assuming this had to do with physical fortifications and protecting the land from invaders. This one passage is used to date the existance of Jonah.
Jereboam II definitely existed, according to archaeological evidence, and his reign was characterized by wealth and luxury, promoting trade with Egypt and Assyria. His kingdom had as many as 350,000 inhabitants. However, not much good is said about him in the bible. 2nd Kings says he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. This "evil " was in the nature of the sins of the first Jereboam, found in 1 Kings 12: building sanctuaries for Yahweh and representing him with golden calves, to which sacrifices were offered. The book of Amos condemns Jeroboam II and prophesies he will die by the sword. It appears to have been a figurative sword.
One thing to remember is that the Israelite tribes (or the Yahweh worshippers) in Canaan were divided into two competing kingdoms. The kingdom in the north was Israel/Samaria. The kingdom in the south was Judah. They each worshipped the same god, but Judah claimed sole possession of Yahweh's authorized temple, which also would have meant his presence, and his favor. The people of the northern kingdom would have had to travel inconvenient distances in order to worship Yahweh.
Because I do not believe Yahweh ever existed, I conclude that this religious competition was purely a bid for power over people and territory. Judah claimed ownership of the high ground, Israel ignored that claim and worshipped Yahweh their own way. This was the reason for the condemnation. Let us remember that it is usually the victors, or at least those left at the end, who get to write the histories. These stories were probably written by those who sided with the lower kingdom, and show their prejudices. The upper kingdom was eventually conquered and its former citizens disappeared into historical oblivion. The lower kingdom was later conquered but was kept alive in a somewhat cohesive culture while exiled. After the return of the Jews to Judah is when much of the Old Testament was written or redacted. The former Israelite territory in the north became known as Samaria and its remaining inhabitants Samaritans, who were despised by the Jews, not least because they did not worship Yahweh in Jerusalem. Some things never change.
In spite of the condemnation of this Jeroboam as evil in the sight of Yahweh, 2 Kings admits that Jereboam achieved some great things for his people the Israelites.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)