After reading chapter 12:
*Meanwhile, the men of the tribe of Ephraim crossed the Jordan over to where Jephthah was. They were offended at not being asked to go with the people of Gilead to fight the Ammonites, and they threatened to burn down Jephthah's house. Jephthah claimed that he did call for help, even though the bible doesn't mention it, but they didn't come. So he had to take matters into his own hands. Why did they come to fight him? A good question. Why would you pick a fight with your allies?
*Jephthah and his men fought the men of Ephraim because the Ephraimites called them renegades. Jephthah also devised a test to keep any of the Ephraimite survivors from crossing back over the Jordan. They took control of the fording places and questioned crossers. Are you an Ephraimite? If they said no, they were required to say the word "Shibboleth," which was apparently difficult for an Ephraimite to pronounce. If he had trouble pronouncing it, he was killed. 42,000 Ephraimites were killed.
*Jephthah led Israel for six years. Wasn't Ephraim part of Israel? Then he died. Next, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. He had 30 sons and 30 daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage and took thirty young women into the clan as wives for his sons. He led Izrael 7 years then died. Next was Elon the Zebulunite who led for 10 years. After that, Abdon, an Ephraimite, led Israel. He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons. Gee, everyone has nice even numbers of children and obviously multiple wives. Abdon led Israel for 8 years. Then he died.
Showing posts with label Ammonites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ammonites. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Friday, May 27, 2016
Judges chapter 11 part 2
*Starting in verse 29, Jephthah gets that mysterious "Spirit of the lord (Yahweh)" He took his army to attack the Ammonites. Then he made a vow to Yahweh that, if he had the victory over the Ammonites, he would offer the first thing that came out of the door of his house as a burnt offering sacrifice to Yahweh. The spirit of the lord should have told him that was a bad idea, but maybe it was sleeping at the time.
*Jephthah fought the Ammonites and won. He also destroyed twenty of their towns, effectively subduing them. So, Jephthah went home. What was the first thing that came out of his house? His beloved daughter, an only child. Naturally, he was distraught. He told his daughter about his vow, which was apparently unbreakable. Couldn't Yahweh have absolved him of it? I guess it wasn't top on his list of things to do that day. His daughter agreed that the vow could not be broken. (That makes for a better story than if she didn't agree and Jephthah had to force her to be sacrificed.) She only asked to be allowed to spend two months roaming the hills and weeping with her friends, because she would never marry. We all know that if a girl doesn't have a husband in this life, she doesn't have anything.
*So, she went off for two months and then came back home so her father could do what he promised. "And he did to her as he vowed." Let's be clear. He offered her as a burnt offering sacrifice to Yahweh, and Yahweh was ok with that. Some people will try to argue that it was just a metaphorical sacrifice, or they will rationalize the event in other ways. That is only to ease their own discomfort at this passage. There is no reason to think that this is anything other than what it appears to be, a blood sacrifice.
*For some reason, importance is attached to the claim that Jephthah's daughter was a virgin. Every year in her remembrance, young women of Israel went out for four days. Those four days of freedom were probably well spent. If it happened, which is doubtful. Even my study bible says there is no other evidence of this custom, so it must have just been a local one. (Or nonexistent.)
*Jephthah fought the Ammonites and won. He also destroyed twenty of their towns, effectively subduing them. So, Jephthah went home. What was the first thing that came out of his house? His beloved daughter, an only child. Naturally, he was distraught. He told his daughter about his vow, which was apparently unbreakable. Couldn't Yahweh have absolved him of it? I guess it wasn't top on his list of things to do that day. His daughter agreed that the vow could not be broken. (That makes for a better story than if she didn't agree and Jephthah had to force her to be sacrificed.) She only asked to be allowed to spend two months roaming the hills and weeping with her friends, because she would never marry. We all know that if a girl doesn't have a husband in this life, she doesn't have anything.
*So, she went off for two months and then came back home so her father could do what he promised. "And he did to her as he vowed." Let's be clear. He offered her as a burnt offering sacrifice to Yahweh, and Yahweh was ok with that. Some people will try to argue that it was just a metaphorical sacrifice, or they will rationalize the event in other ways. That is only to ease their own discomfort at this passage. There is no reason to think that this is anything other than what it appears to be, a blood sacrifice.
*For some reason, importance is attached to the claim that Jephthah's daughter was a virgin. Every year in her remembrance, young women of Israel went out for four days. Those four days of freedom were probably well spent. If it happened, which is doubtful. Even my study bible says there is no other evidence of this custom, so it must have just been a local one. (Or nonexistent.)
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Judges chapter 11 part 1
After reading chapter 11:
*Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. (Gilead is a region east of the Jordan) His father's name was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. Gilead's sons by his wife drove Jephthah away because they didn't want him to have a share of their father's inheritance. Jephthah settled in Tob where a band of adventurers gathered around him. Sounds a little bit like Robin Hood and his merry men.
* When the Ammonites were making war on the Israelites, the elders of Gilead asked Jephthah to be their commander against them. (See chapter 10) Jephthah was understandably peeved that they needed him, now that they were in trouble, when they had rejected him before. The elders asked him to forget all that. Jephthah wanted confirmation that he would be the leader of Gilead if he could defeat the Ammonites. The elders swore that he would. So, he went to Mizpah with the elders and took an oath of office in front of Yahweh. Mizpah apparently means watchtower and there are a few possibly different Mizpah's mentioned in the bible, which makes sense because a watchtower would be a good thing for an area to have, considering all the wars and raids in the region. What doesn't make sense is how a person could "go before Yahweh" at Mizpah. What did that entail? I thought all the Yahweh ritual stuff had been assigned to Shiloh. However, there has been no mention of Shiloh yet in this book.
*Then Jephthah sent a message to the Ammonite King asking why he was attacking Gilead. The reply was that when the Israelites had travelled through the land during the exodus, they had taken land which originally belonged to the Ammonites. They wanted it back. Jephthah sent a message back saying that the king had his facts wrong. That land used to belong to the Amorites, not the Ammonites. Not only that, Yahweh had personally given them the victory over the people who used to live in that land. The Israelites had to forcibly take it because the original inhabitants were rude and suspicious, unwilling to let over 2 million strangers parade through their land on their way to take over someone else's land. This proves that the Ammonites have no claim to the land. Besides, don't they also take whatever land their god Chemosh gives them? This is a brilliant example of the tu quoque argument. Notice also, that Jephthah is acknowledging that the god Chemosh speaks to the Ammonites, just like Yahweh speaks to the Israelites. So, is he intimating both gods are real, or both gods are fictional?
*Then Jephthah goes on to argue that the king of Moab isn't suddenly trying to take back land that the Israelites were given by Yahweh. What makes the king of the Ammonites so high and mighty that he thinks he should take back land where the Israelites have lived for about three hundred years? Why now, at such a late date? The king of the Ammonites has no personal reason to do so. Plus, Yahweh will see that justice is done. The king ignored Jephthah's message.
*This passage helps us hang a date on these supposed events. Assuming the creationist stance that history began about 4,000 B.C.E., and taking all the dates from Genesis on literally, this would have taken place at approx. 1,000 B.C.E. This is a problem because it is supposed to be the traditional date of the start of the Israelite monarchy. One of the reasons they don't match up is because even the biblical literalists do not take every single year count mentioned in the Old Testament literally. They also try to make things match up with extra information from the New Testament which skews the dates. I noticed this some time back, but can't remember where. I will try to find out where I first discovered the disparity.
*Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. (Gilead is a region east of the Jordan) His father's name was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. Gilead's sons by his wife drove Jephthah away because they didn't want him to have a share of their father's inheritance. Jephthah settled in Tob where a band of adventurers gathered around him. Sounds a little bit like Robin Hood and his merry men.
* When the Ammonites were making war on the Israelites, the elders of Gilead asked Jephthah to be their commander against them. (See chapter 10) Jephthah was understandably peeved that they needed him, now that they were in trouble, when they had rejected him before. The elders asked him to forget all that. Jephthah wanted confirmation that he would be the leader of Gilead if he could defeat the Ammonites. The elders swore that he would. So, he went to Mizpah with the elders and took an oath of office in front of Yahweh. Mizpah apparently means watchtower and there are a few possibly different Mizpah's mentioned in the bible, which makes sense because a watchtower would be a good thing for an area to have, considering all the wars and raids in the region. What doesn't make sense is how a person could "go before Yahweh" at Mizpah. What did that entail? I thought all the Yahweh ritual stuff had been assigned to Shiloh. However, there has been no mention of Shiloh yet in this book.
*Then Jephthah sent a message to the Ammonite King asking why he was attacking Gilead. The reply was that when the Israelites had travelled through the land during the exodus, they had taken land which originally belonged to the Ammonites. They wanted it back. Jephthah sent a message back saying that the king had his facts wrong. That land used to belong to the Amorites, not the Ammonites. Not only that, Yahweh had personally given them the victory over the people who used to live in that land. The Israelites had to forcibly take it because the original inhabitants were rude and suspicious, unwilling to let over 2 million strangers parade through their land on their way to take over someone else's land. This proves that the Ammonites have no claim to the land. Besides, don't they also take whatever land their god Chemosh gives them? This is a brilliant example of the tu quoque argument. Notice also, that Jephthah is acknowledging that the god Chemosh speaks to the Ammonites, just like Yahweh speaks to the Israelites. So, is he intimating both gods are real, or both gods are fictional?
*Then Jephthah goes on to argue that the king of Moab isn't suddenly trying to take back land that the Israelites were given by Yahweh. What makes the king of the Ammonites so high and mighty that he thinks he should take back land where the Israelites have lived for about three hundred years? Why now, at such a late date? The king of the Ammonites has no personal reason to do so. Plus, Yahweh will see that justice is done. The king ignored Jephthah's message.
*This passage helps us hang a date on these supposed events. Assuming the creationist stance that history began about 4,000 B.C.E., and taking all the dates from Genesis on literally, this would have taken place at approx. 1,000 B.C.E. This is a problem because it is supposed to be the traditional date of the start of the Israelite monarchy. One of the reasons they don't match up is because even the biblical literalists do not take every single year count mentioned in the Old Testament literally. They also try to make things match up with extra information from the New Testament which skews the dates. I noticed this some time back, but can't remember where. I will try to find out where I first discovered the disparity.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Judges chapter 10
After reading chapter 10:
*After Abimelech, the Israelites were led by a man named Tola of the tribe of Issachar. Twenty three years later he was followed by Jair of Gilead. He had 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys and controlled 30 towns. Fascinating. Twenty two years later, the Israelites were backsliding again. They served other gods besides Yahweh, so he became angry. For 18 years Yahweh let the Philistines, Amorites, and Ammonites oppress the Israelites in many parts of the promised land. Then the Israelites called out to Yahweh again. Yahweh said he was fed up with their disloyalty and told the Israelites to let the other gods save them. The Israelites got rid of the other gods and served Yahweh again, till he just couldn't stand their misery any more. That's what the book says. The Ammonites were camped in Gilead and the leaders of Gilead held a meeting to discuss eradicating the Ammonites, offering the leader of such an attack a chance to be the head guy of Gilead.
* Still, there has been no mention of Levites, priests, religious rituals other than sacrifice, or who it is that is speaking for Yahweh. How do all the tribes get the message?
Note: For some reason the labels will not allow me to capitalize the word Judges. I'm not being lazy with my Capitals. :-p
*After Abimelech, the Israelites were led by a man named Tola of the tribe of Issachar. Twenty three years later he was followed by Jair of Gilead. He had 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys and controlled 30 towns. Fascinating. Twenty two years later, the Israelites were backsliding again. They served other gods besides Yahweh, so he became angry. For 18 years Yahweh let the Philistines, Amorites, and Ammonites oppress the Israelites in many parts of the promised land. Then the Israelites called out to Yahweh again. Yahweh said he was fed up with their disloyalty and told the Israelites to let the other gods save them. The Israelites got rid of the other gods and served Yahweh again, till he just couldn't stand their misery any more. That's what the book says. The Ammonites were camped in Gilead and the leaders of Gilead held a meeting to discuss eradicating the Ammonites, offering the leader of such an attack a chance to be the head guy of Gilead.
* Still, there has been no mention of Levites, priests, religious rituals other than sacrifice, or who it is that is speaking for Yahweh. How do all the tribes get the message?
Note: For some reason the labels will not allow me to capitalize the word Judges. I'm not being lazy with my Capitals. :-p
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Deuteronomy chapter 1 And 2
After reading chapter 1 and 2:
*There is a short introduction telling us it is the fortieth year and the first day of the eleventh month since the Israelites left Egypt. They are east of the Jordan, in the territory of Moab and Moses is going to speak. 1:6-4:40 is Moses's speech.
* In chapter 1, Moses tells the Israelites about God's promise of land, the choosing of the leaders of the twelve tribes, the sending out of the twelve spies, the people's unwillingness and fear to take over the promised land because of the size of the people, God's 40 year punishment of wandering in the wilderness, the attempt and failure to fight without God, and the beating by the Amorites.These stories are all repeats, mostly from the book of Numbers. However, in Numbers, they were beaten by Amalekites and Canaanites, not Amorites.
*In chapter 2, we have wording that does not occur in Numbers. Here we are told that the Israelites circumnavigated the hill country of Seir because that is where the descendants of Esau lived. They were told to respect them as brothers and pay them for any food and water they consumed. In Numbers, these people are called Edomites (chapter 20) and they deny the Israelites passage through their land after being asked. Plus, in Deuteronomy, God tells the Israelites not to provoke the descendants of Esau because he was not going to give the Israelites any of that land.
*Next, we are again skipped over the succeeding 38 years to the time when all the original fighting men of Israel had died. The Israelites were told not to harass the Moabites or Ammonites because their land was for Lot's descendants. We are given stories about what tribes were displaced so that the Moabites, Ammonites, and descendants of Esau could have the land they occupied.
*Next we are told of the battle with King Sihon of Heshbon. The Israelites ask to pass through his land and say that the Moabites and descendants of Esau were okay with that (verse29) but Numbers tells a different story. King Sihon refuses to let them pass. The Israelites completely destroy Sihon's land and people, with god's help. However, they didn't touch the land of the Ammonites, by god's command. In Numbers, it was because the Ammonite border was fortified. (21:24)
*There is a short introduction telling us it is the fortieth year and the first day of the eleventh month since the Israelites left Egypt. They are east of the Jordan, in the territory of Moab and Moses is going to speak. 1:6-4:40 is Moses's speech.
* In chapter 1, Moses tells the Israelites about God's promise of land, the choosing of the leaders of the twelve tribes, the sending out of the twelve spies, the people's unwillingness and fear to take over the promised land because of the size of the people, God's 40 year punishment of wandering in the wilderness, the attempt and failure to fight without God, and the beating by the Amorites.These stories are all repeats, mostly from the book of Numbers. However, in Numbers, they were beaten by Amalekites and Canaanites, not Amorites.
*In chapter 2, we have wording that does not occur in Numbers. Here we are told that the Israelites circumnavigated the hill country of Seir because that is where the descendants of Esau lived. They were told to respect them as brothers and pay them for any food and water they consumed. In Numbers, these people are called Edomites (chapter 20) and they deny the Israelites passage through their land after being asked. Plus, in Deuteronomy, God tells the Israelites not to provoke the descendants of Esau because he was not going to give the Israelites any of that land.
*Next, we are again skipped over the succeeding 38 years to the time when all the original fighting men of Israel had died. The Israelites were told not to harass the Moabites or Ammonites because their land was for Lot's descendants. We are given stories about what tribes were displaced so that the Moabites, Ammonites, and descendants of Esau could have the land they occupied.
*Next we are told of the battle with King Sihon of Heshbon. The Israelites ask to pass through his land and say that the Moabites and descendants of Esau were okay with that (verse29) but Numbers tells a different story. King Sihon refuses to let them pass. The Israelites completely destroy Sihon's land and people, with god's help. However, they didn't touch the land of the Ammonites, by god's command. In Numbers, it was because the Ammonite border was fortified. (21:24)
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Numbers chapter 21
After reading chapter 21:
*Now the Canaanite King of Arad, in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were coming, so he attacked and captured some of them. The Israelites asked God to let them destroy the cities in that area, and of course he obliged since they had asked nicely. So, they completely destroyed the people and their towns and called the place Hormah, which was also the name of two other places in the Bible,(Numbers 14, Judges 1) in spite of the fact that there is no extra biblical reference to any place of that name. This is in contrast to the Arad site which shows that it was an early Israelite site with a possible temple to Yahweh on its high point.
*After slaughtering the inhabitants of that area the Israelites move on, complaining of the lack of food and water. So, Yahweh, who had let them destroy whole towns, decided to send poisonous snakes to pester them. They were seriously alarmed and asked Moses to pray for them, because prayer is the most effective way to deal with snakes. He did, and Yahweh told him to set up a pole with a bronze snake for the people to look at when they got bit, that would keep them from dying. Because it would have been too much trouble to just get rid of the snakes. I wonder if it looked anything like the rod of Asclepius or Ningishzida, among the many uses of serpent symbology.
*The Israelites moved on camping in Oboth, lye Abarim, the Zered valley, and beside the Arnon River which is now called the wadi Mujib. Apparently, there was a Book of the Wars of Yahweh that told about this. It has vanished from existence. And they kept moving from place to place til they came to the valley of Moab overlooked by Pisgah.
*Then they sent messengers to the king of the Amorites to ask if they could pass through his territory. He said no. Verse 23. The irony of the text saying that this land belongs to the Amorites and not the Israelites is almost amusing. So, the king got an army together and met the Israelites, but this time they killed the king, took over the land of the Amorites, and occupied all its cities. You can guess what happened to the inhabitants. However they could only go so far because the Ammonite border was fortified. So the Israelites settled in the land of the Amorites, presumably east of the Jordan at this time.
*Then they had more battles, captured more settlements, took posession of more land, and killed more people, all with the help of Yahweh, of course.
Edited.
*Now the Canaanite King of Arad, in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were coming, so he attacked and captured some of them. The Israelites asked God to let them destroy the cities in that area, and of course he obliged since they had asked nicely. So, they completely destroyed the people and their towns and called the place Hormah, which was also the name of two other places in the Bible,(Numbers 14, Judges 1) in spite of the fact that there is no extra biblical reference to any place of that name. This is in contrast to the Arad site which shows that it was an early Israelite site with a possible temple to Yahweh on its high point.
*After slaughtering the inhabitants of that area the Israelites move on, complaining of the lack of food and water. So, Yahweh, who had let them destroy whole towns, decided to send poisonous snakes to pester them. They were seriously alarmed and asked Moses to pray for them, because prayer is the most effective way to deal with snakes. He did, and Yahweh told him to set up a pole with a bronze snake for the people to look at when they got bit, that would keep them from dying. Because it would have been too much trouble to just get rid of the snakes. I wonder if it looked anything like the rod of Asclepius or Ningishzida, among the many uses of serpent symbology.
*The Israelites moved on camping in Oboth, lye Abarim, the Zered valley, and beside the Arnon River which is now called the wadi Mujib. Apparently, there was a Book of the Wars of Yahweh that told about this. It has vanished from existence. And they kept moving from place to place til they came to the valley of Moab overlooked by Pisgah.
*Then they sent messengers to the king of the Amorites to ask if they could pass through his territory. He said no. Verse 23. The irony of the text saying that this land belongs to the Amorites and not the Israelites is almost amusing. So, the king got an army together and met the Israelites, but this time they killed the king, took over the land of the Amorites, and occupied all its cities. You can guess what happened to the inhabitants. However they could only go so far because the Ammonite border was fortified. So the Israelites settled in the land of the Amorites, presumably east of the Jordan at this time.
*Then they had more battles, captured more settlements, took posession of more land, and killed more people, all with the help of Yahweh, of course.
Edited.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Genesis 19, part 2
The story of Lot's daughters is quite sordid. For some reason they don't consider any alternatives to what they chose to do, like making thier father take them to live with Uncle Abraham's family. No, the only solution to their plight is to get their old father drunk and have him impregnate each of them without him knowing anything about it. Does this seem highly implausible to anyone else? Of course, once is all it takes and soon they both deliver sons who become the fathers of the Moabite and Ammonite nations. I would guess that this little gem of a story is supposed to be an etiological account of how the Moabites and Ammonites came into existence, and was written by someone who wasn't very fond of them.
One of the earliest extra-biblical accounts of Moabites is from the time of Pharoah Ramesses II, in the 13th century B.C.E., over 500 years from the time of this story, if we follow Ussher's Chronology. They continue to be mentioned in other sources until the Persian era.
A significant source of information about the Moabites is the Mesha Stele from about 840 B.C.E. , over 1000 years from the supposed date of this story. The Mesha Stele shows that the Moabites and Israelites (supposed descendants of Abraham) were mortal enemies at the time it was inscribed. Interestingly, it contains the earliest confirmed extra-biblical mention of Abraham's God Yahweh. Where was God for the three thousand years (by the bible) that came before that?
The earliest extra-biblical evidence I can find for the Ammonites is from the 10th century B.C.E. Both the regions of Moab and Ammon were east of the Jordan and had more natural resources than the Canaanite hill country. They also lay along lucrative trade routes.
This chapter is the last appearance of Lot. Apparently Abraham has nothing more to do with him.
One of the earliest extra-biblical accounts of Moabites is from the time of Pharoah Ramesses II, in the 13th century B.C.E., over 500 years from the time of this story, if we follow Ussher's Chronology. They continue to be mentioned in other sources until the Persian era.
A significant source of information about the Moabites is the Mesha Stele from about 840 B.C.E. , over 1000 years from the supposed date of this story. The Mesha Stele shows that the Moabites and Israelites (supposed descendants of Abraham) were mortal enemies at the time it was inscribed. Interestingly, it contains the earliest confirmed extra-biblical mention of Abraham's God Yahweh. Where was God for the three thousand years (by the bible) that came before that?
The earliest extra-biblical evidence I can find for the Ammonites is from the 10th century B.C.E. Both the regions of Moab and Ammon were east of the Jordan and had more natural resources than the Canaanite hill country. They also lay along lucrative trade routes.
This chapter is the last appearance of Lot. Apparently Abraham has nothing more to do with him.
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