Ruth chapter 1

After reading chapter 1:

*The story starts off in a once-upon-a-time way: "In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land." Right away, this tells us the story was not written when the judges ruled, which would mean it was written  some time after the institution of the monarchy. Then we are told about a family of Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. There was Elimelek the father, Naomi the mother, and their sons, Mahlon and Kilion. The family was living in Moab, presumably to escape the famine. The father died there, and the sons married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. After10 years, the sons both died, leaving the three women alone, which probably was not a good thing in those days. They had no children.

*Deuteronomy 23:3-6 forbids alliances with Moabites and their descendants. In the book of Ruth, Yahweh seems to have no problem with the marriage of an Israelite to a Moabite. I've seen suggestions that that is really the whole point of the story. Now, I wonder if some contradictions in the various bible books are done on purpose, like a duel of different Israelite ideologies.

*An interesting feature of this story, and many of the Old Testament stories is that the names of the main characters have Hebrew meanings that give the story added dimension. According to my study bible, Elimelek means "God (El) is king." Naomi is "pleasant." Mahlon may mean "weakling." Ruth is similar to the Hebrew word for "friendship." Kilion and Orpah are not defined, and other sources seem doubtful about definite meanings.

*Because her husband and sons were dead, and she had heard that Yahweh was finally providing food for his people,Naomi decided to go back to Judah. She told her daughters-in-law to go back to their families of origin and get new husbands. She said a tearful goodbye, but they said they would go with her. She wondered why they would do that when she didn't have any more sons to give them as husbands. (See Levirate marriage) Then she says her lot is a bitter one and Yahweh is against her. Orpah kissed her and left, but Ruth clung to her. Naomi urge Ruth to return to her family. Then Ruth said those famous lines, "Where you will go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my god." Then Ruth made an oath that Yahweh could punish her if she should ever leave Naomi. So Naomi stopped telling her to leave.

*They traveled on to Bethlehem. When they got there, they caused quite a stir. Naomi told her old friends to call her "Mara" (meaning bitter) because her life was so bitter. She also told them Yahweh brought misfortune upon her. No fake praise in the face of disaster for her.

*When Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem, the barley harvest was just beginning. This would make it early spring, around the time of Passover.

Judges chapter 3

After reading chapter 3:

*The last chapter told us that Yahweh left some Canaanite nations unconquered to test the Israelites ability to follow his ways as their forefathers did, even though it is clear their forefathers clearly weren't that great at it. However, in this chapter, a parenthetical statement says that Yahweh's purpose for this test was only to teach the the Israelite descendants who were inexperienced in battle, a kind of on-the-job training. In the very next sentence, we are again told Yahweh was testing their obedience to Yahweh's commands given through Moses. Then we are given the names of some people groups who the Israelites fought and/or comingled with. It is a little confusing. Did they fight with the Canaanites and Hivites, or did they live with them and form family alliances?

*Apparently, in spite of the constant admonitions of obedience to Yahweh given to their ancestors, the Israelites completely forgot about Yahweh and served other gods. Yahweh became angry and "sold" them as subjects to the king of Aram Naharaim for 8 years. They cried out to Yahweh (I thought they had forgot him?) and he raised up Othniel, Caleb's younger brother. The spirit of  Yahweh, which had last been manifested in Joshua, inhabited Othniel. So, this isn't even  one whole generation later? Wow! They forgot Yahweh very quickly. Othniel went to war, which apparently is Yahweh's forte, and overpowered the king of Aram. Then the Israelites lived in peace for 40 years, that magical number, until Othniel died.

* Once again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. Then the King of Moab attacked Israel and made them his subjects for 18 years. The Israelites cried out to Yahweh and he made Ehud, the left handed man, their deliverer. Ehud had made a special sword and concealed it under his clothes. He went to deliver tribute to the king of Moab and told the king he had a secret message. The king sent everyone from the room and Ehud plunged his sword into the king's hugely fat belly. It went in so deep that even the handle was covered by the fat. After Ehud was gone,  the servants found the room locked and thought the king was having a private bathroom moment. They waited a long time, then finally opened the door to find the king dead. Ehud escaped, gathered some Israelites, blocked the crossing of the Jordan, killed ten thousand Moabites, and made Moab subject to them. After that, there was peace for 80 years. (2x40)

*After Ehud came Shamgar, who killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad.

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)

Numbers chapter 25

After reading chapter 25:

*So, Israel was staying in Shittim (Please, let's not get all junior high here.) Some of the men got invited to BBQs (sacrifices to other gods) by the Moabite women, and they went. Not only that, they also had a very good time with those Moabite women. They ate the BBQ and  bowed down to Baal of Peor, who may have been the egyptian sun god Horus. Boy was Yahweh mad! He told Moses to kill all the people who had done this.

*Then an Israelite man had the effrontery to bring home a Midianite woman in front of everyone!
Phineas, the son of Eleazar the high priest, took a spear and drove it through both of them while they were together in the tent. This stopped a plague which had apparently been happening at the time, but not before 24,0000 people died. (A nice round number. )God told Moses that Phineas had appeased his anger, so he made an everlasting covenant with him that his descendants would be an everlasting priesthood, even though he had already been covered under the same promise made to Aaron.

*Is anyone else wondering how we got from Moabites to Midianites one setting? As far as I know they are not the same thing. Now Yahweh tells Moses to treat the Midianites as enemies because their deceit caused the Israelites to worship Peor, which brought the plague.

Numbers chapter 22

After reading chapter 22:

*Even though chapter 21 tells us the Israelites took possession of and settled in the land of the Amorites, plus made war with Bashan to the north, this chapter tells us they were still on the move. Now they are camping along the Jordan, across the river from Jericho.

*I became confused about many of the places mentioned in these chapters. The Israelites should have gone through or around the land of the Moabites to get to the land of the Amorites, but now we seem to be backtracking . If you look at the maps of the land of Canaan,(There are a number of different maps to flip through) you can see where the different tribal kingdoms are supposed to have been. Anyway, now Balaak, the son of the King of Moab, listened to his fellow Moabites , who were terrified that the Israelite hordes would decimate their land. So, some Moabite princes went to visit Balaam, who was apparently a practitioner of the long lost fake art of divination, plus had the power to bless and curse people.  They wanted Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites. He promised to give them a message from Yahweh.

*God told Balaam not to put a curse on the Israelites and not to go with the princes of Moab. Balaam told the princes this, and the King's son offered him anything he wanted if Balaam would put a curse on the Israelites. Balaam talked to God again and was told to go with the Moabites now.

*So, in the morning, Balaam saddled his donkey to go with the princes of Moab, just like God told him to. But now God is mad, for who knows what reason. His angel stood in the road with a drawn sword, blocking the way. The donkey saw the Angel and refused to go down the road. Balaam beat her. The angel made  a game of block the donkey as Balaam went along. Each time, Balaam beat her. Finally, she just lay down and asked why Balaam has beaten her. Balaam took his talking donkey as a matter of course and said  it's because she made him look foolish. Then they had a little chat, and Balaam realized something was up when he personally saw the Angel with the sword. So, Balaam apologized to the Angel, not the donkey, and offered to turn back. But no, God still wanted him to go on. Huh?

*Balaam got to Balak and told him he could only speak the words God put in his mouth. Then Balak and the other princes had a bbq (sacrifice) and shared it with Balaam.

And if you believe in talking donkeys, I have a bridge to sell you.

Edited for grammar and spelling.

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.