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 Jephthah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jephthah. 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.
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