I've been think about the feeding of the five thousand, and all the leftovers. Why didn't Jesus let the people keep the left over food? Wouldn't it have been kinder and more practical? What use did he have for twelve basketfuls of scraps? What did the disciples do with those twelve baskets of food, take them on the boat? Throw them away? The only reason I can think of for the twelve baskets is so that the story could be magnified to make it seem a spectacular miracle, and to include the magic number twelve. It may symbolically represent god's care for the needs of the twelve tribes. In reality, it could be that all the people present (not likely to have been 5,000) just shared the food they had brought with them. Jesus needn't have performed any miracle at all. In fact the text doesn't actually say that he did.
On to the end of Mark chapter six, where we are told that Jesus's fame spread so that people all over the region brought their sick to wherever he was. Everyone who touched him was healed. And yet, no person living at that time wrote about him.
In chapter seven, some Pharisees from Jerusalem see some of Jesus's disciples eating food without first ritually washing their hands, according to Jewish tradition. This was a symbolic cleansing of an abstract notion of "impurity" not a precursor of concrete germ theory as some modern christians may claim. This passage may have been written as a natural segue to Jesus being touched by so many people, many of whom were almost certainly ritually unclean. Those with certain illnesses, menstruating women, and even non Jews, were automatically unclean. The pharisees questioned Jesus as to why his followers were not living according to tradition.
Jesus replied to the pharisees with a quote from Isaiah 29:13, which accuses people of just paying god lip service and worshipping god with man made rules. This was meant to burn. Then Jesus mentions a command given by Moses (Ironically, if he ever existed, Moses was just a man.) that the pharisees do not observe. This command is to honor one's father and mother. Presumably part of that honoring would be to take financial care of them in their old age. Yet the Pharisees have allowed/encouraged people to give whatever money they would have used to support their parents to god. (Who doesn't need money. Where does the money go?) That is indeed a lousy thing to do. Much worse than not washing hands before eating.
Jesus used this as a teaching tool, and probably as an added embarrassment for the Pharisees. He told the crowd hanging around that "Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by going into him. Rather it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean." This can be taken symbolically or literally, as we shall see. In the literal sense, it clearly shows that Jesus had no knowledge of bacteria and viruses. Jesus implies that in the literal sense things come out of the body, like blood, pus, vomit, semen, urine, and feces, were unclean, not things that went into the body from the outside, like food and drink. However, there is also a metaphorical sense. To emphasize this, Jesus says food goes into a persons stomach and then out of his body. It doesn't go into his heart. (The author of Mark says this means Jesus declared all foods clean. That is clearly his personal interpretation.)
The disciples didn't get what Jesus was trying to say, so Jesus had to spell it out for them privately, after first calling them "dull." It's the heart that matters, according to Jesus. We are not talking about the actual organ of the heart, but that something we might call the soul, the conscience, our essence, the seat of our emotions, or some other abstract concept which denotes our personality or psyche. Jesus says," what comes out of a man makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils cone from inside and make a man unclean." Jesus is not talking about bodily fluids and literal uncleanness, but spiritual uncleanness. He's taking uncleanness to another level, a level which makes it even more difficult to know if one is "clean" or not.
Showing posts with label clean and unclean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clean and unclean. Show all posts
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Christian cultural legends- shepherds
I often hear or come across statements by Christians that are said as though they are obvious historical facts that everyone knows. These things are repeated in articles, sermons, and some books. They usually don't reference the sources of information for the statements, it is just assumed that there is no question the statement is factual because it has been heard so often. If a source is mentioned, often there are no specific quotes or an exact location of the information within the documents mentioned. Because these statements are similar to urban legends, I will call them christian cultural legends. They usually only occur within the culture of christianity and are spread widely without much thought of their origins.
Over the years, I have heard a variety of these not quite right historical statements, and last week I encountered another one of these cultural legends for the first time. The story of Jesus's birth was being told and particular focus was brought to bear on the shepherds who received the tidings of the birth from the angels and visited the infant.This story is only found in the book of Luke. I heard it said by someone who is in a position of authority in a church that this story was so amazing because "shepherds in the first century were the lowest of the low, despised by society, and considered unclean." This was supposed to prove that god looked only on the heart, not on one's social position or state of ritual cleanness or that Jesus's coming turned social conventions upside down.
Right away, I questioned the authenticity of this statement and decided to look for verification using a simple google search. What I found was multiple christian sites with articles making that statement, or one similar, almost word for word. Very few referenced where that information came from, and none gave specific quotes or locations where it could be found and verified. However, one contrary article (by a christian) came right out and called it an urban legend of christianity. I was not alone in my opinion!
My three objections were to the phrases "lowest of the low," "despised," and "unclean." I objected because the bible is full of sheep and shepherding images. Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his sons, Moses, and David were shepherds. In fact there is a case to be made that most of the Israelites wandering in the desert had livestock that needed tending. What did that make them? For goodness sake, Psalm 23 calls Yahweh a shepherd. Jesus is also called "the good shepherd." He told parables about sheep.
I mentioned these objections to the person who had made the statement about shepherds in the first century. He said things had changed over the years and by the first century, shepherds were disliked immensly. I was given a couple of links to articles about this topic that agreed with this person's assessment. In my next post on this topic, I will give you the links and explain how I researched the information given.
To be continued.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Deuteronomy 23
After reading chapter 23:
*This chapter contains more miscellaneous rules and laws. The first are concerning who can not enter the assembly of the lord: no one with damaged testicles, no one in a forbidden marriage, no descendant of a forbidden marriage- to the tenth generation (They'll have to keep mighty good records for that one), no Ammonites or Moabites- to the tenth generation. Edomites and Egyptians are okay after the third generation, because Edomites are distant relatives and the Israelites used to live in Egypt.
*The army camps are to be kept "clean." Anyone with a nocturnal emission has to stay outside the camp for a day then wash themselves before they return in the evening. So who volunteered this information every morning? Was there an inspector? Excrement was to be buried so the lord wouldn't have to look at anything so indecent and unholy. Wait. Wasn't God supposed to have created human bodies to get rid of waste in this way? Doesn't God see everything at all times any way? Why didn't Yahweh say it was to prevent the spread of disease?
*If a slave takes refuge among the Israelites, they are not to turn him over to his master. They are to let him live among them and not oppress them. Someone should have read this to the colonial Americans.
*No Israelite is to become a shrine prostitute. Money from that profession is not to be given to the lord.
*Israelites can't charge each other interest, but they can charge foreigners.
*All vows to Yahweh must be quickly paid up.
*The Israelites could go in each other's vinyards or field and eat their fill. They just couldn't take any home.
*This chapter contains more miscellaneous rules and laws. The first are concerning who can not enter the assembly of the lord: no one with damaged testicles, no one in a forbidden marriage, no descendant of a forbidden marriage- to the tenth generation (They'll have to keep mighty good records for that one), no Ammonites or Moabites- to the tenth generation. Edomites and Egyptians are okay after the third generation, because Edomites are distant relatives and the Israelites used to live in Egypt.
*The army camps are to be kept "clean." Anyone with a nocturnal emission has to stay outside the camp for a day then wash themselves before they return in the evening. So who volunteered this information every morning? Was there an inspector? Excrement was to be buried so the lord wouldn't have to look at anything so indecent and unholy. Wait. Wasn't God supposed to have created human bodies to get rid of waste in this way? Doesn't God see everything at all times any way? Why didn't Yahweh say it was to prevent the spread of disease?
*If a slave takes refuge among the Israelites, they are not to turn him over to his master. They are to let him live among them and not oppress them. Someone should have read this to the colonial Americans.
*No Israelite is to become a shrine prostitute. Money from that profession is not to be given to the lord.
*Israelites can't charge each other interest, but they can charge foreigners.
*All vows to Yahweh must be quickly paid up.
*The Israelites could go in each other's vinyards or field and eat their fill. They just couldn't take any home.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Deuteronomy 14
After reading chapter 14:
*Here we find a list of more dos and don'ts for the Israelites. Don't shave your head or cut yourself for the dead. Do eat ruminants, don't eat pigs. Don't even touch a dead pig. Do eat sea creatures that have both fins and scales. Do eat "clean" birds. Do not eat unclean birds, including bats. Do not eat flying insects that swarm, except the clean ones. Do not eat anything found dead, but you can give it to foreigners to eat. The difference is the Israelites are "holy." These regulations were also in Leviticus 11.
*Then there are the regulations for tithes, which is a tenth of everything produced. They get to eat the tithe at the designated place of worship. But if it is too far away, they trade the tithe in for silver, go to the place Yahweh designates for worship, buy food and drink, and have a party with their relatives, not forgetting to give something to the Levites. Every three years, the tithes are to be stored to provide food for the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. This is a bit different than the instructions for tithes in Leviticus 27, where it seems implied that the tithes are given to the priests, um the lord, not eaten themselves.
*Here we find a list of more dos and don'ts for the Israelites. Don't shave your head or cut yourself for the dead. Do eat ruminants, don't eat pigs. Don't even touch a dead pig. Do eat sea creatures that have both fins and scales. Do eat "clean" birds. Do not eat unclean birds, including bats. Do not eat flying insects that swarm, except the clean ones. Do not eat anything found dead, but you can give it to foreigners to eat. The difference is the Israelites are "holy." These regulations were also in Leviticus 11.
*Then there are the regulations for tithes, which is a tenth of everything produced. They get to eat the tithe at the designated place of worship. But if it is too far away, they trade the tithe in for silver, go to the place Yahweh designates for worship, buy food and drink, and have a party with their relatives, not forgetting to give something to the Levites. Every three years, the tithes are to be stored to provide food for the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. This is a bit different than the instructions for tithes in Leviticus 27, where it seems implied that the tithes are given to the priests, um the lord, not eaten themselves.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Numbers chapter 19
After reading chapter 19:
*In this chapter Moses and Aaron get a new everlasting ordinance from Yahweh. This time they are told how to slaughter and burn an unblemished red heifer in great detail. Its ashes were to be gathered and kept in a ceremonially clean place outside of the camp. They were to be used in water when a ritual cleansing was to be done, for purification of sin. The water with heifer ashes in it is the "water of cleansing." The water was to be used to purify a person who has touched a dead human body, even old bones.
*The person who touched the dead body was unclean. He had to put some of the heifer ashes in a jar with water and a clean person had to sprinkle the water on him and on everyone and everything else associated with the body, on the third and seventh days of their uncleanness. Then they had to wash themselves and thier clothes. If they don't do this they will remain unclean and will be excommunicated. The weird part, if this isn't wierd enough, is that the clean sprinkler becomes temporarily unclean and anyone else who touches the water of cleansing becomes unclean til evening!
*Here you have it: Magic heifer ashes make unclean people clean and clean people unclean.
*In this chapter Moses and Aaron get a new everlasting ordinance from Yahweh. This time they are told how to slaughter and burn an unblemished red heifer in great detail. Its ashes were to be gathered and kept in a ceremonially clean place outside of the camp. They were to be used in water when a ritual cleansing was to be done, for purification of sin. The water with heifer ashes in it is the "water of cleansing." The water was to be used to purify a person who has touched a dead human body, even old bones.
*The person who touched the dead body was unclean. He had to put some of the heifer ashes in a jar with water and a clean person had to sprinkle the water on him and on everyone and everything else associated with the body, on the third and seventh days of their uncleanness. Then they had to wash themselves and thier clothes. If they don't do this they will remain unclean and will be excommunicated. The weird part, if this isn't wierd enough, is that the clean sprinkler becomes temporarily unclean and anyone else who touches the water of cleansing becomes unclean til evening!
*Here you have it: Magic heifer ashes make unclean people clean and clean people unclean.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Numbers chapter 12
After reading chapter 12:
*In this chapter, we learn that Miriam and Aaron, Moses's sister and brother, were upset because Moses had married a Cushite woman. Why this made them upset is not stated, but there are some possibilities. 1. She was not an Israelite. The Israelites had been told in Exodus 34:16 that marrying foreign women was not God approved. Why did Moses get a pass? 2. One possible interpretation of Cushite is Ethiopian. In that case, this may have been a matter of racial prejudice, because of her dark skin. It could be both reasons or neither.
* Miriam and Aaron wanted equal billing with Moses because Yahweh had also spoken through them. What this had to do with Moses's wife is a mystery. Apparently God preferred Moses to be in charge because he was the humblest man on earth. Wow! That's quit an accomplishment.
*So, Yaweh called the three of them to stand in front of the tabernacle. He came down in the pillar of cloud and asked Miriam and Aaron to step forward. Then he rebuked them for daring to speak against Moses. Everyone else only gets revelations in dreams and visions, and we know how reliable those are. But Moses speaks clearly with God, face to face, and sees Yaweh's form. They should have been afraid to speak against him. This passage makes me wonder if the authors wrote it in response to Israelites in their time questioning the authority of Moses. It directly contradicts other scriptures that no one has seen God. It also directly contradicts the notion that God is a pure spirit being, if he has a face, a form, and a voice there must be a physical component to him. Likewise, if he can be seen and heard by humans, why hasn't he shown himself to anyone else, especially in modern times? Why would he need to cloak himself in mystery?
*When God was finished talking, the cloud lifted and Miriam was found to be leprous, white as snow, perhaps in contrast to the dark skin of the cushite? Of course that made her unclean. Moses and Aaron pleaded for Yahweh to heal her. He told Moses she would have to spend seven days outside of camp like all the other unclean people. So, the Israelites did not break camp till Miriam was "clean" again. Why wasn't Aaron punished too?
*Verse 14 says if Miriam's father had spit in her face she would have been in disgrace for seven days. We have come across no precedent or law about this yet but my study bible tells me there will be an explanation in Deuteronomy. We will wait and see.
*In this chapter, we learn that Miriam and Aaron, Moses's sister and brother, were upset because Moses had married a Cushite woman. Why this made them upset is not stated, but there are some possibilities. 1. She was not an Israelite. The Israelites had been told in Exodus 34:16 that marrying foreign women was not God approved. Why did Moses get a pass? 2. One possible interpretation of Cushite is Ethiopian. In that case, this may have been a matter of racial prejudice, because of her dark skin. It could be both reasons or neither.
* Miriam and Aaron wanted equal billing with Moses because Yahweh had also spoken through them. What this had to do with Moses's wife is a mystery. Apparently God preferred Moses to be in charge because he was the humblest man on earth. Wow! That's quit an accomplishment.
*So, Yaweh called the three of them to stand in front of the tabernacle. He came down in the pillar of cloud and asked Miriam and Aaron to step forward. Then he rebuked them for daring to speak against Moses. Everyone else only gets revelations in dreams and visions, and we know how reliable those are. But Moses speaks clearly with God, face to face, and sees Yaweh's form. They should have been afraid to speak against him. This passage makes me wonder if the authors wrote it in response to Israelites in their time questioning the authority of Moses. It directly contradicts other scriptures that no one has seen God. It also directly contradicts the notion that God is a pure spirit being, if he has a face, a form, and a voice there must be a physical component to him. Likewise, if he can be seen and heard by humans, why hasn't he shown himself to anyone else, especially in modern times? Why would he need to cloak himself in mystery?
*When God was finished talking, the cloud lifted and Miriam was found to be leprous, white as snow, perhaps in contrast to the dark skin of the cushite? Of course that made her unclean. Moses and Aaron pleaded for Yahweh to heal her. He told Moses she would have to spend seven days outside of camp like all the other unclean people. So, the Israelites did not break camp till Miriam was "clean" again. Why wasn't Aaron punished too?
*Verse 14 says if Miriam's father had spit in her face she would have been in disgrace for seven days. We have come across no precedent or law about this yet but my study bible tells me there will be an explanation in Deuteronomy. We will wait and see.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Numbers chapter 11, part 2
At the end of chapter 11, we read that a wind drove flocks of quail in from the sea to the camp so that the ground was covered with them to a depth of three feet out to a distance of a day's walk. When I read this I had many questions.
-First of all, the quail I am familiar with wouldn't have come from the sea, so what birds are these? I learned that there are many kinds of birds called quail, so these might be old world quail which are related to gulls, auks and other shore birds. It is not possible to know exactly what kind of birds these were.
-Then I remembered that gulls are not considered clean birds according to Leviticus chapter 11. So, I asked Google, "Are quail kosher birds? " The answer is: I don't know. Apparently, there are differing ideas on this. Some rabbis say yes, some say no. If they were not clean, it might explain what happens later.
-Next I asked myself, how realistic is it that quail would lie on the ground in drifts up to three feet deep, in a radius of a day's walking distance? Not likely.
*The text then tells us that noone gathered any less than ten homers of quail, which is about 60 bushels a piece. I've got another question. Were these bird alive or dead when they were gathered? If they were dead, everyone that handled them would have become "unclean."
*Also, what a pain it must have been to prepare all those quail to eat. First, they would have to have had their heads cut off and be drained of blood. Remember blood is also unclean. Then, they would have to be plucked clean of feathers, and that is not a pleasant job. Last of all, they must be cooked over an open fire, the only kind of fire the Israelites would have had. But I guess if they were starving for meat, they might not have minded.
*Well, none of that mattered. Just as the Israelites were about to have a quail feast, Yahweh struck them with a plague. Even though the text doesn't say it, the implication is that the plague killed all those people who had wanted other food besides manna, because they were buried there. In reality, it can't have been very many people because the main body of Israelites lives on, or else we wouldn't have a continuing saga to read tomorrow.
*One thing I noticed about this story is that it happened almost exactly a year after the last quail and manna story. (Exodus 16) But that time, God gave them quail to eat without striking them with a plague. Why was this time different?
-First of all, the quail I am familiar with wouldn't have come from the sea, so what birds are these? I learned that there are many kinds of birds called quail, so these might be old world quail which are related to gulls, auks and other shore birds. It is not possible to know exactly what kind of birds these were.
-Then I remembered that gulls are not considered clean birds according to Leviticus chapter 11. So, I asked Google, "Are quail kosher birds? " The answer is: I don't know. Apparently, there are differing ideas on this. Some rabbis say yes, some say no. If they were not clean, it might explain what happens later.
-Next I asked myself, how realistic is it that quail would lie on the ground in drifts up to three feet deep, in a radius of a day's walking distance? Not likely.
*The text then tells us that noone gathered any less than ten homers of quail, which is about 60 bushels a piece. I've got another question. Were these bird alive or dead when they were gathered? If they were dead, everyone that handled them would have become "unclean."
*Also, what a pain it must have been to prepare all those quail to eat. First, they would have to have had their heads cut off and be drained of blood. Remember blood is also unclean. Then, they would have to be plucked clean of feathers, and that is not a pleasant job. Last of all, they must be cooked over an open fire, the only kind of fire the Israelites would have had. But I guess if they were starving for meat, they might not have minded.
*Well, none of that mattered. Just as the Israelites were about to have a quail feast, Yahweh struck them with a plague. Even though the text doesn't say it, the implication is that the plague killed all those people who had wanted other food besides manna, because they were buried there. In reality, it can't have been very many people because the main body of Israelites lives on, or else we wouldn't have a continuing saga to read tomorrow.
*One thing I noticed about this story is that it happened almost exactly a year after the last quail and manna story. (Exodus 16) But that time, God gave them quail to eat without striking them with a plague. Why was this time different?
Friday, October 16, 2015
Leviticus 22
After reading chapter 22:
*More rules about the "sacred offering" for the priests:
-They must treat the offerings to God with respect, even though God doesn't need them, he won't use them, and they will get to use the leftovers from the offerings themselves.
-They must not come near the offerings if they are unclean or they will be cut off from Yahweh's presence. Does that mean they will no longer be able to serve as a priest or does it mean excommunication?
-A descendant of Aaron will not be allowed to eat any of the sacred offerings, if he is unclean by an infectious skin disease or bodily discharge, until he is cleansed. What will he eat, and where will he get it from?
-He also can't eat any of the sacred offering if he is unclean from touching something defiled by a corpse or a person with an emission of semen (How will he know? Did the priests have to ask all the men they came in contact with if they had an emission of semen in the last 24 hours? ), touching an unclean crawling animal, touching an unclean person, or eating found meat. These will make him unclean and he will have to wash and wait til evening to be magically clean again.
-They must keep these requirements or they will be guilty (Of what?) and may die because of it. Verse 9
*No one at at all outside of the priest's immediate family may eat any of the sacred offering, with one exception: his personal slaves. Yes, priests can buy and own slaves, Yahweh has no objections. If the priest's daughter marries outside the priesthood, she is no longer permitted to eat from this holy food. But if she is widowed or divorced and has to come back to live with her father, she can eat the food.
*If anyone eats the sacred food by mistake, he must pay the priest back and add a fifth of the value to it. Who is the extra fifth for, God or the priest?
*Verses 17-25 are rules for the physical condition of the animals to be sacrificed. They must have no defect or blemish of any kind when it is a burnt offering or fellowship offering that is used to fulfill a special vow or as a free will offering. An animal with damaged testicles will not be accepted, presumably this includes castrated animals. These are not acceptable as food for their God. (Or the priests.) Verse 25.
*An newborn sacrifice must remain with its mother for seven days. After that, it is free to be ritually killed, burnt, and eaten. A mother animal and her young may not be slaughtered for sacrifice on the same day. Why? Well, that's another mystery. It certainly can't be to recognize the sanctity of motherhood.
*We end with a reminder that Yahweh is holy, and he makes the Israelites holy, so they better do what he says.
Articles of interest:
Herodotus on animal sacrifice in ancient Egypt
Scholarly article on sacrifice in Britannica
*More rules about the "sacred offering" for the priests:
-They must treat the offerings to God with respect, even though God doesn't need them, he won't use them, and they will get to use the leftovers from the offerings themselves.
-They must not come near the offerings if they are unclean or they will be cut off from Yahweh's presence. Does that mean they will no longer be able to serve as a priest or does it mean excommunication?
-A descendant of Aaron will not be allowed to eat any of the sacred offerings, if he is unclean by an infectious skin disease or bodily discharge, until he is cleansed. What will he eat, and where will he get it from?
-He also can't eat any of the sacred offering if he is unclean from touching something defiled by a corpse or a person with an emission of semen (How will he know? Did the priests have to ask all the men they came in contact with if they had an emission of semen in the last 24 hours? ), touching an unclean crawling animal, touching an unclean person, or eating found meat. These will make him unclean and he will have to wash and wait til evening to be magically clean again.
-They must keep these requirements or they will be guilty (Of what?) and may die because of it. Verse 9
*No one at at all outside of the priest's immediate family may eat any of the sacred offering, with one exception: his personal slaves. Yes, priests can buy and own slaves, Yahweh has no objections. If the priest's daughter marries outside the priesthood, she is no longer permitted to eat from this holy food. But if she is widowed or divorced and has to come back to live with her father, she can eat the food.
*If anyone eats the sacred food by mistake, he must pay the priest back and add a fifth of the value to it. Who is the extra fifth for, God or the priest?
*Verses 17-25 are rules for the physical condition of the animals to be sacrificed. They must have no defect or blemish of any kind when it is a burnt offering or fellowship offering that is used to fulfill a special vow or as a free will offering. An animal with damaged testicles will not be accepted, presumably this includes castrated animals. These are not acceptable as food for their God. (Or the priests.) Verse 25.
*An newborn sacrifice must remain with its mother for seven days. After that, it is free to be ritually killed, burnt, and eaten. A mother animal and her young may not be slaughtered for sacrifice on the same day. Why? Well, that's another mystery. It certainly can't be to recognize the sanctity of motherhood.
*We end with a reminder that Yahweh is holy, and he makes the Israelites holy, so they better do what he says.
Articles of interest:
Herodotus on animal sacrifice in ancient Egypt
Scholarly article on sacrifice in Britannica
Leviticus 21
After reading Leviticus 21:
*Here we have rules for all the priests, the sons of Aaron:
-A priest may not make himself ceremoniously unclean for anyone except a close blood relative: father, mother, unmarried sister, son, daughter, or brother. He must not make himself unclean for anyone just related by marriage, which seems to include his wife. That would defile him. (Defilement is another one of those abstract concepts that has an ambiguous meaning. But we know one thing, it is BAD. )
-He must not shave his head, or cut the edges of his beard or his body. The study bible says this is what other religious groups did at the time.
-He must not marry a divorced woman or a prostitute. Why? Because priests are holy. Why? Because they offer food to a God who doesn't eat it. That's all.
-If his daughter becomes a prostitute, she must be burnt to death. When we think about reasons why a daughter might become a prostitute, maybe it's the father who should be burnt to death for not taking better care of his daughter.
*Rules for the high priest:
-He must not have messy hair or tear his clothes.
-He must not enter a place that has a dead body.
-He must not make himself unclean for anybody, even a blood relative.
-He must not leave the tabernacle area. (Will he keep his sanity? )
-He cannot marry anyone but a virgin, or he will defile his offspring. Lovely. "I'm sorry dear, you are defiled because your mother was not a virgin when we married, that's just the way it is. Yahweh said so."
In the future, only physically perfect specimens of manhood, who are descendents of Aaron. may offer food to God. (The God who doesn't eat food.) They must be not be blind, lame, dwarfed, or disfigured in any way. Why? Because God is holy. Why? Because he said so! There is some compensation, they are still allowed to eat any food left over when God is done with it. Hey, free food without working for it, just because they are descendents of Aaron? We should all be so defective. Someone else can be holy.
*Here we have rules for all the priests, the sons of Aaron:
-A priest may not make himself ceremoniously unclean for anyone except a close blood relative: father, mother, unmarried sister, son, daughter, or brother. He must not make himself unclean for anyone just related by marriage, which seems to include his wife. That would defile him. (Defilement is another one of those abstract concepts that has an ambiguous meaning. But we know one thing, it is BAD. )
-He must not shave his head, or cut the edges of his beard or his body. The study bible says this is what other religious groups did at the time.
-He must not marry a divorced woman or a prostitute. Why? Because priests are holy. Why? Because they offer food to a God who doesn't eat it. That's all.
-If his daughter becomes a prostitute, she must be burnt to death. When we think about reasons why a daughter might become a prostitute, maybe it's the father who should be burnt to death for not taking better care of his daughter.
*Rules for the high priest:
-He must not have messy hair or tear his clothes.
-He must not enter a place that has a dead body.
-He must not make himself unclean for anybody, even a blood relative.
-He must not leave the tabernacle area. (Will he keep his sanity? )
-He cannot marry anyone but a virgin, or he will defile his offspring. Lovely. "I'm sorry dear, you are defiled because your mother was not a virgin when we married, that's just the way it is. Yahweh said so."
In the future, only physically perfect specimens of manhood, who are descendents of Aaron. may offer food to God. (The God who doesn't eat food.) They must be not be blind, lame, dwarfed, or disfigured in any way. Why? Because God is holy. Why? Because he said so! There is some compensation, they are still allowed to eat any food left over when God is done with it. Hey, free food without working for it, just because they are descendents of Aaron? We should all be so defective. Someone else can be holy.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Leviticus chapter 17
After reading chapter 17:
*In this chapter, the Israelites are told they must never make a sacrifice of any kind anywhere but in front of the tabernacle. If they do, they will be considered guilty of bloodshed and will be excommunicated. According to verse 5, they were doing this in the open fields and must stop. So...the Israelites weren't all in favor of this Yahweh worship and tabernacle stuff after all, were they? In spite of what previous chapters have said, according to this, some of them had been doing their own thing all along, even worshipping some kind of goat idol. (Verse 7) I knew over a million people were too many for Moses and the priests to control, assuming it all happened, which is unlikely. If this was written around the 6th century as some scholars believe, then some unauthorized, independent sacrificing may have been going on then. Either that or insulting language was used to try to prevent The Israelites of the time from even considering it. This could be a way for the priests to say, "See, Yahweh, through Moses, forbade it a long time ago." It would strengthen the priest's position of authority and give them control over the meat that was sacrificed.
*I wonder if non-religious killing of animals, just to cook and eat them, was allowed. Was it also considered bloodshed? Or was all animal slaughter always supposed to be done in the context of a sacrifice?
*Another emphasis of this chapter is the ban on eating blood. It is expressly forbidden for any Israelite or foreigner living among them to eat the blood of any animal. It must be drained from the animal's body, or they will be evicted from the community. The stated reason is that blood is the life force of the animal and Yahweh gave it to them to use at the altar, to make atonement for their lives, bringing us back to the sacrifice. Wasn't Yahweh thoughtful?
*The chapter ends with the admonition that found meat is unclean. Anyone who eats it must wash. They will be unclean til evening.
*In this chapter, the Israelites are told they must never make a sacrifice of any kind anywhere but in front of the tabernacle. If they do, they will be considered guilty of bloodshed and will be excommunicated. According to verse 5, they were doing this in the open fields and must stop. So...the Israelites weren't all in favor of this Yahweh worship and tabernacle stuff after all, were they? In spite of what previous chapters have said, according to this, some of them had been doing their own thing all along, even worshipping some kind of goat idol. (Verse 7) I knew over a million people were too many for Moses and the priests to control, assuming it all happened, which is unlikely. If this was written around the 6th century as some scholars believe, then some unauthorized, independent sacrificing may have been going on then. Either that or insulting language was used to try to prevent The Israelites of the time from even considering it. This could be a way for the priests to say, "See, Yahweh, through Moses, forbade it a long time ago." It would strengthen the priest's position of authority and give them control over the meat that was sacrificed.
*I wonder if non-religious killing of animals, just to cook and eat them, was allowed. Was it also considered bloodshed? Or was all animal slaughter always supposed to be done in the context of a sacrifice?
*Another emphasis of this chapter is the ban on eating blood. It is expressly forbidden for any Israelite or foreigner living among them to eat the blood of any animal. It must be drained from the animal's body, or they will be evicted from the community. The stated reason is that blood is the life force of the animal and Yahweh gave it to them to use at the altar, to make atonement for their lives, bringing us back to the sacrifice. Wasn't Yahweh thoughtful?
*The chapter ends with the admonition that found meat is unclean. Anyone who eats it must wash. They will be unclean til evening.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Leviticus chapter 16
After reading chapter 16:
*After the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, Yahweh told Moses to tell Aaron that he couldn't come into the most holy place, were the ark was behind a curtain inside the tabernacle, whenever he wanted. He had to follow a special procedure first. He must wash and put on special clothes and underwear. He was to sacrifice a bull to atone for his sins. Then he takes a censer with fire and incense into the part of the tabernacle tent where the ark is. The smoke from the fire will keep him from seeing the lid of the ark, called the atonement cover, or he would die. Even though he can't see it because of the smoke, he is to sprinkle some of the bull's blood on it. No one but Aaron is allowed in the tabernacle during this ritual. (Why couldn't Yahweh give these instructions to Aaron himself? Who is really in charge here? )
*Then Aaron is to take two goats to front of the tabernacle. One goat is to be sacrificed as a sin offering for the sins of Israel. Again, he takes its blood behind the curtain where the ark is and sprinkles the goat's blood on the lid. This is to atone for the sins of the Israelites for the most holy place.Then he repeats the blood sprinkling procedure for the tabernacle itself, and again for the altar, to cleanse it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.
*The second goat is the "scapegoat." Aaron puts his hands on its head and confesses all the sins of the Israelites over it. This transfers the sins to the goat. Then it will be sent out into the desert. After that, Aaron goes back into the tabernacle, takes a bath and changes to his regular clothes. Then he sacrifices a ram as a burnt offering and burns the fat of the sin offering. The people who help with the scapegoat and the disposal of the remnants of the sacrifices must wash themselves and their clothes afterward.
*All this is to be done on the 10th day of the seventh month every year. It is the day of atonement, a lasting ordinance. It will also be considered a sabbath day, an enforced day of rest. Whoever is current high priest is the official who performs the duties described. It will clean the Israelites' sin slate for the year, in a manner of speaking.
*I find the whole thing depressing. Why would an eternal, omnipotent, benevolent, purely spiritual, God make a tribe of desert nomads perform such elaborate bloody rituals for him, or else? Sin and uncleanness are abstract concepts not concrete things. People don't walk around with actual piles of sins on their shoulders, that disappear when some animals are killed. Sins can't be transferred from people to goats. Notice that first the Israelites had to be told how unclean they were, then they were given a way to get rid of the uncleanness. God is giving them the medicine for the sickness he invented. He still does this for christians today.
*One way religious people get around the obvious wierdness of all these laws and rituals is to claim that they have metaphorical significance that trumps the literal meaning. If that is so, the text certainly gives no indication of it. Also, the death threats for non compliance appear to be quite literal.
*After the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, Yahweh told Moses to tell Aaron that he couldn't come into the most holy place, were the ark was behind a curtain inside the tabernacle, whenever he wanted. He had to follow a special procedure first. He must wash and put on special clothes and underwear. He was to sacrifice a bull to atone for his sins. Then he takes a censer with fire and incense into the part of the tabernacle tent where the ark is. The smoke from the fire will keep him from seeing the lid of the ark, called the atonement cover, or he would die. Even though he can't see it because of the smoke, he is to sprinkle some of the bull's blood on it. No one but Aaron is allowed in the tabernacle during this ritual. (Why couldn't Yahweh give these instructions to Aaron himself? Who is really in charge here? )
*Then Aaron is to take two goats to front of the tabernacle. One goat is to be sacrificed as a sin offering for the sins of Israel. Again, he takes its blood behind the curtain where the ark is and sprinkles the goat's blood on the lid. This is to atone for the sins of the Israelites for the most holy place.Then he repeats the blood sprinkling procedure for the tabernacle itself, and again for the altar, to cleanse it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.
*The second goat is the "scapegoat." Aaron puts his hands on its head and confesses all the sins of the Israelites over it. This transfers the sins to the goat. Then it will be sent out into the desert. After that, Aaron goes back into the tabernacle, takes a bath and changes to his regular clothes. Then he sacrifices a ram as a burnt offering and burns the fat of the sin offering. The people who help with the scapegoat and the disposal of the remnants of the sacrifices must wash themselves and their clothes afterward.
*All this is to be done on the 10th day of the seventh month every year. It is the day of atonement, a lasting ordinance. It will also be considered a sabbath day, an enforced day of rest. Whoever is current high priest is the official who performs the duties described. It will clean the Israelites' sin slate for the year, in a manner of speaking.
*I find the whole thing depressing. Why would an eternal, omnipotent, benevolent, purely spiritual, God make a tribe of desert nomads perform such elaborate bloody rituals for him, or else? Sin and uncleanness are abstract concepts not concrete things. People don't walk around with actual piles of sins on their shoulders, that disappear when some animals are killed. Sins can't be transferred from people to goats. Notice that first the Israelites had to be told how unclean they were, then they were given a way to get rid of the uncleanness. God is giving them the medicine for the sickness he invented. He still does this for christians today.
*One way religious people get around the obvious wierdness of all these laws and rituals is to claim that they have metaphorical significance that trumps the literal meaning. If that is so, the text certainly gives no indication of it. Also, the death threats for non compliance appear to be quite literal.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Leviticus chapter 15 , part 2
*When a woman menstruates, she is automatically unclean for seven days, or as long as any bleeding lasts. It can vary wildly from woman to woman. During this time, anything and anyone who touches her, her bed, or anything she sits on will become unclean. A person who touches her must wash their clothes and themselves, but they will still be unclean til evening. A man who has relations with her during this time will be unclean for seven days, and any bed he lies on will also be unclean. Here's the kicker: After the bleeding stops, a woman is still ceremonially unclean for another seven days! In this passage, a woman is not required to wash before she is considered clean again. On the eighth day, she has to take a couple of birds to the priest to sacrifice as a sin offering and a burnt offering. This is how atonement is made for the uncleanness of her discharge, as if it is her fault.
*Wouldn't the God who made women be responsible for the way their bodies work? Menstrual blood is not a sign of disease or misbehavior, it is completely natural and normal. It does not contaminate another person in any way to come in contact with a menstruating woman. Plus, every healthy woman on earth is subject to a menstrual cycle for almost 40 years of her life. Just these regulations alone would have made a woman unclean half of every month. Then add in the days after her husband exercised his marital rights and the months after childbirth, she could be unclean over more than half her lifetime. At least she had other women to commiserate with. But why should she have to live with such a stigma for something she has no choice in?
*I am also struck by the irony of these regulations. Obviously the ancient Israelite men who made these regulations had no idea what happens inside a woman's body on a monthly basis. (Yes, men, why would a god care?) For example, they must have been completely unaware of ovulation times or they might not have decided a woman was unclean for so long, if they wanted children. Most women with regular cycles ovulate on or about the 14th day of the cycle, just when an Israelite woman would be considered clean again. If a woman tended to ovulate early by a just a couple of days, she might never have children, especially if she or her husband are concientious rule followers. Other women would seem to be much more fertile when it was really just a matter of timing.
*All these clean and uncleanness rules make me wonder about unbroken chains of uncleanness. How could you know for sure that a particular thing or person hadn't been touched by someone who had touched someone, who had touched someone else unclean, ad infinitum? Seriously, you could go crazy thinking about this stuff. Plus, could you imagine trying to enforce these rules on a population the size of Austin, Texas?
*Something else to think about: What kind of people today are concerned with imaginary contamination, rituals, repetitive washing, and counting?
*Verse 31 implies that Israelites who don't separate themselves from things that make them unclean deserve to die for defiling the dwelling place of God. This chapter has basically told them that sex makes people unclean, so they're toast.
Edited.
*Wouldn't the God who made women be responsible for the way their bodies work? Menstrual blood is not a sign of disease or misbehavior, it is completely natural and normal. It does not contaminate another person in any way to come in contact with a menstruating woman. Plus, every healthy woman on earth is subject to a menstrual cycle for almost 40 years of her life. Just these regulations alone would have made a woman unclean half of every month. Then add in the days after her husband exercised his marital rights and the months after childbirth, she could be unclean over more than half her lifetime. At least she had other women to commiserate with. But why should she have to live with such a stigma for something she has no choice in?
*I am also struck by the irony of these regulations. Obviously the ancient Israelite men who made these regulations had no idea what happens inside a woman's body on a monthly basis. (Yes, men, why would a god care?) For example, they must have been completely unaware of ovulation times or they might not have decided a woman was unclean for so long, if they wanted children. Most women with regular cycles ovulate on or about the 14th day of the cycle, just when an Israelite woman would be considered clean again. If a woman tended to ovulate early by a just a couple of days, she might never have children, especially if she or her husband are concientious rule followers. Other women would seem to be much more fertile when it was really just a matter of timing.
*All these clean and uncleanness rules make me wonder about unbroken chains of uncleanness. How could you know for sure that a particular thing or person hadn't been touched by someone who had touched someone, who had touched someone else unclean, ad infinitum? Seriously, you could go crazy thinking about this stuff. Plus, could you imagine trying to enforce these rules on a population the size of Austin, Texas?
*Something else to think about: What kind of people today are concerned with imaginary contamination, rituals, repetitive washing, and counting?
*Verse 31 implies that Israelites who don't separate themselves from things that make them unclean deserve to die for defiling the dwelling place of God. This chapter has basically told them that sex makes people unclean, so they're toast.
Edited.
Leviticus chapter 15, part 1
After reading chapter 15:
*This chapter is kind of disgusting. Here we are told about bodily discharges of various kinds.
*The first kind is experienced by men. It does not clearly state which body part it comes from. My study bible says it was probably diarrhea or urethral discharge that is a symptom of a health problem. Anyway, this guy is unclean. Anything and everything that touches him, or that he touches, will be unclean. Even if he spits on a person, that person will be unclean. Anything and anyone that comes in contact with the person with such a discharge must be washed. (That's probably a good idea. ) They will be unclean til evening, that magical time, except for clay pots, they must be broken. After the discharge goes away, he counts the magic seven days then washes himself and his clothes, and he will be clean. Personally, I think the washing should happen sooner, but that's just me. Remember though, this cleanness and uncleanness is purely ceremonial, and not to be confused with cleanliness. After a man is clean, he has to take two birds to the priest to be sacrificed as a sin offering and a burnt offering, to make things right with God, because bodily discharges are the result of sin......maybe, maybe not.
*Next is an emission of semen. No matter how it happens, it makes a man unclean.(Sorry guys.) He must wash his whole body and he will be unclean til evening. If a woman is involved, they must both wash and will be unclean til evening. Is all this beginning to make you wonder when a person is actually clean enough for God? Is there a point at which they just threw up their hands and said, "I'm perpetually unclean, so what." Or did they practice the don't ask, don't tell method of cleanness? Maybe it just became standard practice to take a bath every morning to avoid any issues about issues.( ha, ha.) Would they have to tell their neighbors, children, or servants when they were unclean? Was a couple's bed "unclean" on the morning after? Were the priests celibate? How could they work for God and handle sacred stuff if they were unclean regularly? Who would make the sacrifices and perform the rituals if all the priests came to work one day and admitted they were all unclean? Notice how, in the case of the man with this kind of issue, it is not said that everything he touches becomes unclean, just himself and/or his wife. Plus, he isn't required to make a sin offering.
*I can imagine scenarios with uncleanness wars between rivals or enemies. "Ha! I just made him unclean and he doesn't even know it." Or "Come any closer and I'll touch you!" Or "You can't do anything to me, I'm unclean. Pbbbbt!"
*This chapter is kind of disgusting. Here we are told about bodily discharges of various kinds.
*The first kind is experienced by men. It does not clearly state which body part it comes from. My study bible says it was probably diarrhea or urethral discharge that is a symptom of a health problem. Anyway, this guy is unclean. Anything and everything that touches him, or that he touches, will be unclean. Even if he spits on a person, that person will be unclean. Anything and anyone that comes in contact with the person with such a discharge must be washed. (That's probably a good idea. ) They will be unclean til evening, that magical time, except for clay pots, they must be broken. After the discharge goes away, he counts the magic seven days then washes himself and his clothes, and he will be clean. Personally, I think the washing should happen sooner, but that's just me. Remember though, this cleanness and uncleanness is purely ceremonial, and not to be confused with cleanliness. After a man is clean, he has to take two birds to the priest to be sacrificed as a sin offering and a burnt offering, to make things right with God, because bodily discharges are the result of sin......maybe, maybe not.
*Next is an emission of semen. No matter how it happens, it makes a man unclean.(Sorry guys.) He must wash his whole body and he will be unclean til evening. If a woman is involved, they must both wash and will be unclean til evening. Is all this beginning to make you wonder when a person is actually clean enough for God? Is there a point at which they just threw up their hands and said, "I'm perpetually unclean, so what." Or did they practice the don't ask, don't tell method of cleanness? Maybe it just became standard practice to take a bath every morning to avoid any issues about issues.( ha, ha.) Would they have to tell their neighbors, children, or servants when they were unclean? Was a couple's bed "unclean" on the morning after? Were the priests celibate? How could they work for God and handle sacred stuff if they were unclean regularly? Who would make the sacrifices and perform the rituals if all the priests came to work one day and admitted they were all unclean? Notice how, in the case of the man with this kind of issue, it is not said that everything he touches becomes unclean, just himself and/or his wife. Plus, he isn't required to make a sin offering.
*I can imagine scenarios with uncleanness wars between rivals or enemies. "Ha! I just made him unclean and he doesn't even know it." Or "Come any closer and I'll touch you!" Or "You can't do anything to me, I'm unclean. Pbbbbt!"
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Leviticus chapter 14
After reading chapter 14:
*Now we learn about cleansing from infectious diseases. This is not a medical procedure but a religious ritual performed AFTER a person has healed. It is to insure the person's ceremonial cleanness, whatever that means.
* This involves: killing a bird over water/ using cedar, scarlett wool and hyssop to sprinkle the bloody water seven times on the person being cleansed/ releasing a bird into the fields/washing clothes/ shaving off all hair and bathing/ staying outside their tent for seven days/ shaving all hair and washing clothes again/ on the eighth day, sacrificing three lambs, flour and oil (unless the person is poor, then one lamb and two birds will do).
*The priest is to sacrifice a lamb as a guilt offering (The person must have been guilty of something or they wouldn't have been sick, right? ) and put some of its blood on the right ear, right thumb, and right big toe of the person to be cleansed. Then he sprinkles some oil seven times before the lord. Next, he puts some oil on the same places he put the blood, and puts the rest on the person's head. Wait, we are not done yet. We must also have a burnt offering and a grain offering. This is the priest making atonement on behalf of the formerly diseased person. Finally, he is "clean." Was it worth the trouble?
*The second half of the chapter is about cleansing a house from mildew, once they come to the promised land. Yahweh tells Moses and Aaron in verse 34 that HE will put the spreading mildew in people's houses. When that happens, the priest closes up the house for seven days to see if the mildew spreads, which of course it will. The contaminated stones are to be torn out and replaced, and the walls are to be scraped and replastered. This is actually a pretty reasonable course of action. If the mildew reappears, the house is to be torn down. Anyone who goes into the house will be unclean til evening and must wash their clothes.
*If the house stays mildew free after treatment, a priest is to come and purify it. Again we go through the killing of a bird over water and sprinkling of the bloody water on the house seven times. Then it will be magically clean.
While researching hyssop, I found that it is unclear just what plant was meant by the word that is translated hyssop in the bible.
*Now we learn about cleansing from infectious diseases. This is not a medical procedure but a religious ritual performed AFTER a person has healed. It is to insure the person's ceremonial cleanness, whatever that means.
* This involves: killing a bird over water/ using cedar, scarlett wool and hyssop to sprinkle the bloody water seven times on the person being cleansed/ releasing a bird into the fields/washing clothes/ shaving off all hair and bathing/ staying outside their tent for seven days/ shaving all hair and washing clothes again/ on the eighth day, sacrificing three lambs, flour and oil (unless the person is poor, then one lamb and two birds will do).
*The priest is to sacrifice a lamb as a guilt offering (The person must have been guilty of something or they wouldn't have been sick, right? ) and put some of its blood on the right ear, right thumb, and right big toe of the person to be cleansed. Then he sprinkles some oil seven times before the lord. Next, he puts some oil on the same places he put the blood, and puts the rest on the person's head. Wait, we are not done yet. We must also have a burnt offering and a grain offering. This is the priest making atonement on behalf of the formerly diseased person. Finally, he is "clean." Was it worth the trouble?
*The second half of the chapter is about cleansing a house from mildew, once they come to the promised land. Yahweh tells Moses and Aaron in verse 34 that HE will put the spreading mildew in people's houses. When that happens, the priest closes up the house for seven days to see if the mildew spreads, which of course it will. The contaminated stones are to be torn out and replaced, and the walls are to be scraped and replastered. This is actually a pretty reasonable course of action. If the mildew reappears, the house is to be torn down. Anyone who goes into the house will be unclean til evening and must wash their clothes.
*If the house stays mildew free after treatment, a priest is to come and purify it. Again we go through the killing of a bird over water and sprinkling of the bloody water on the house seven times. Then it will be magically clean.
While researching hyssop, I found that it is unclear just what plant was meant by the word that is translated hyssop in the bible.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Leviticus chapter 13, part 2
* Now that we are done with skin ailments, we move on to mildew found on articles made of wool, linen, or leather. If the mildew is green or reddish, it is spreading mildew. It must be shown to the priest. The article is to be isolated for seven days. If the mildew is still spreading, the article is definitely unclean and must be burned. If the mildew does not spread, the article must be washed and isolated for another seven days. If it looks the same, even though it has not spread, it is unclean and must be burnt. If the mildew has faded, it can be cut out and the article can be used. However, if the mildew reappears in that article and spreads, it must be burnt. If the mildew is gone after washing, an article is clean.
*Today we know that mildew is caused by a fungus that grows in dampness. If materials are kept dry, by regular exposure to circulating air, dry heat, or strong sunlight, they will not mildew. Also, vinegar works well to kill fungus. These are all things ancient people could have used instead of the wait and see method favored by the priests. This tells me they didn't know or care about prevention, just the ambiguous status of clean or unclean.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Leviticus chapter 13, part 1
After reading Leviticus 13:
*This chapter is about infectious skin diseases. I should say up front that I am not a medical professional, and neither were the ancient Israelite priests. From this chapter, it seems to me that standard practice was: If it looks bad, it is bad. They had no scientists with microscopes and Petri dishes to tell them exactly what was causing a particular issue. These things must be looked at by a priest to determine if a person was clean or unclean: Rashes, swellings, or bright spots.
So what is bad? (Automatically unclean):
-Sores on skin that have turned white, have white hair, and are more than skin deep
-spreading rashes and raw flesh
-White swellings with white hair and raw flesh, which sounds a lot like the first item on the list.
-A white or pink swelling that appears after a boil has healed and is more than skin deep and has white hair.
-A white or pink swelling, after a boil heals, that is not more than skin deep and doesn't have white hair, but is spreading.
-A burn that has raw flesh, is more than skin deep and has white hair.
-A burn that is not more than skin deep and doesn't have white hair, but is spreading.
-A sore on the head or chin, more than skin deep, with thin yellow hair. Called an itch.
-An itch that is spreading, no matter what it looks like.
-Reddish white sores on bald heads
Not so bad, or iffy: (Requiring isolation to watch for a magical seven days)
-White spots on skin that are only skin deep and do not have white hair.
-A white or pink swelling that appears after a boil has healed, but does not have white hair and is not more than skin deep and does not spread.
-A burn that is not more than skin deep and does not have white hair and does not spread.
-A sore on head or chin not more than skin deep, with no black hair and no yellow hair, not spreading.
Clean:
-Skin and hair turning white from head to toe, without raw flesh.
-Skin that was raw flesh but has healed and turned white.
-The scar after a boil has healed.
-The scar from a burn
-An itch in the head or chin that is healing and is growing black hair
-Dull white spots
-Bald heads and foreheads without sores
What's with the white hair? As far as I know that is not a sign of disease. What happens to a person in isolation? How do they live their daily lives? After the seven days of isolation are up, they are to go back to the priest to be declared clean or unclean. If declared clean, they must wash their clothes (Not their bodies?) and they will be good to go. If declared unclean from an infectious skin disease, they must wear torn clothes, and let their hair be messy, which are signs of grief. They must also cover the lower part of their face and yell,"Unclean, unclean." As long as they have the disease they must live alone outside the camp.
So, basic priestly medical duties consist of wait and see what happens, then diagnosis of clean or unclean. No treatments, no wound care, no basic hygiene instructions like washing or covering wounds to keep them clean. The priest's only concern was ceremonial cleanness or uncleanness.
*This chapter is about infectious skin diseases. I should say up front that I am not a medical professional, and neither were the ancient Israelite priests. From this chapter, it seems to me that standard practice was: If it looks bad, it is bad. They had no scientists with microscopes and Petri dishes to tell them exactly what was causing a particular issue. These things must be looked at by a priest to determine if a person was clean or unclean: Rashes, swellings, or bright spots.
So what is bad? (Automatically unclean):
-Sores on skin that have turned white, have white hair, and are more than skin deep
-spreading rashes and raw flesh
-White swellings with white hair and raw flesh, which sounds a lot like the first item on the list.
-A white or pink swelling that appears after a boil has healed and is more than skin deep and has white hair.
-A white or pink swelling, after a boil heals, that is not more than skin deep and doesn't have white hair, but is spreading.
-A burn that has raw flesh, is more than skin deep and has white hair.
-A burn that is not more than skin deep and doesn't have white hair, but is spreading.
-A sore on the head or chin, more than skin deep, with thin yellow hair. Called an itch.
-An itch that is spreading, no matter what it looks like.
-Reddish white sores on bald heads
Not so bad, or iffy: (Requiring isolation to watch for a magical seven days)
-White spots on skin that are only skin deep and do not have white hair.
-A white or pink swelling that appears after a boil has healed, but does not have white hair and is not more than skin deep and does not spread.
-A burn that is not more than skin deep and does not have white hair and does not spread.
-A sore on head or chin not more than skin deep, with no black hair and no yellow hair, not spreading.
Clean:
-Skin and hair turning white from head to toe, without raw flesh.
-Skin that was raw flesh but has healed and turned white.
-The scar after a boil has healed.
-The scar from a burn
-An itch in the head or chin that is healing and is growing black hair
-Dull white spots
-Bald heads and foreheads without sores
What's with the white hair? As far as I know that is not a sign of disease. What happens to a person in isolation? How do they live their daily lives? After the seven days of isolation are up, they are to go back to the priest to be declared clean or unclean. If declared clean, they must wash their clothes (Not their bodies?) and they will be good to go. If declared unclean from an infectious skin disease, they must wear torn clothes, and let their hair be messy, which are signs of grief. They must also cover the lower part of their face and yell,"Unclean, unclean." As long as they have the disease they must live alone outside the camp.
So, basic priestly medical duties consist of wait and see what happens, then diagnosis of clean or unclean. No treatments, no wound care, no basic hygiene instructions like washing or covering wounds to keep them clean. The priest's only concern was ceremonial cleanness or uncleanness.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Leviticus chapter 11
After reading chapter 11:
*This chapter is about what meat foods are considered clean and unclean, but the definition of those terms and the fundamental difference between them is not given.
Clean:
- Animals that have BOTH divided hoofs AND chew cud. This would have included cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and antelope.
-Water creatures that have BOTH fins AND scales.
-Birds that are not on the unclean list.
-Flying insects that have jointed legs for hopping. This includes grasshoppers and locusts.
Unclean:
- Camels, rabbits, hyraxes, and animals that walk on paws.
-All water creatures that do not have BOTH fins and scales.
- Owls, osprey, ravens, storks, herons, eagles, vultures, kites, storks, gulls, cormorants, hoopoes, and bats. (Notice that bats are included in a list of birds. Generally speaking, these birds are meat eaters, scavengers, and birds of prey. )
-Every insect that does not have jointed legs for hopping.
-Every creature that moves along the ground, wether on feet or on its belly. This includes weasels, rats, lizards, skinks, and chameleons. (I'm surprised snakes are not mentioned by name.)
*Touching the carcass of an unclean animal makes a person unclean. They must wash their clothes and they will be clean again by the end of the day. (The magic of twilight) The carcass of an unclean animal makes almost anything it touches unclean. Ovens or cooking pots must be broken if they come in contact with an unclean animal. Wet seeds that come in contact with these carcasses will be unclean, but not dry seeds for planting. Also, springs and cisterns will not become unclean. This uncleanness cannot be a primitive form of God ordained germ avoidance. If it was, God would tell them they didn't need to destroy their ovens and cooking pots. Fire sanitizes. Also, I would personally be worried about the water in a cistern into which any dead animal fell. But, I imagine they couldn't afford to lose water in a cistern, considering the area they lived in. Bugs, rats, and other critters must have fallen in regularly. Having water to drink trumps everything.
*Also, I don't hink that the difference between clean and unclean animals represents a divine knowledge. Notice that the clean animals tend to be domesticated or relatively easy to catch. The unclean animals tend to be more dangerous and take more effort to hunt down, which may negate any benefits. Nevertheless, other cultures throughout the world have no such restrictions and enjoy eating many of the animals considered unclean, especially sea creatures and pigs. It also cannot be equated to the difference between carnivores and herbivores. Camels, rabbits, and hyraxes are herbivores. They have long been food meat for many people. Also, chickens and other insectivore birds are considered clean and they eat many insects and small animals.
*A person is also considered unclean if they come in contact with the carcass of a clean animal that died on its own. They can eat it, but they must wash and they will be clean again in the evening.
*These regulations fail to account for a variety of animals from around the world. What about elephants, hippos, and rhinos? What about penguins, ostriches, and emus? What about kangaroos? Why does it only speak about animals common to that part of the world? Could it be these laws were not universal and were only for the Israelites? The end of the chapter seems to suggest that "cleanness" is a form of holiness. Perhaps, in some convoluted way, that is how we got the saying, "cleanliness is next to godliness."
*This chapter is about what meat foods are considered clean and unclean, but the definition of those terms and the fundamental difference between them is not given.
Clean:
- Animals that have BOTH divided hoofs AND chew cud. This would have included cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and antelope.
-Water creatures that have BOTH fins AND scales.
-Birds that are not on the unclean list.
-Flying insects that have jointed legs for hopping. This includes grasshoppers and locusts.
Unclean:
- Camels, rabbits, hyraxes, and animals that walk on paws.
-All water creatures that do not have BOTH fins and scales.
- Owls, osprey, ravens, storks, herons, eagles, vultures, kites, storks, gulls, cormorants, hoopoes, and bats. (Notice that bats are included in a list of birds. Generally speaking, these birds are meat eaters, scavengers, and birds of prey. )
-Every insect that does not have jointed legs for hopping.
-Every creature that moves along the ground, wether on feet or on its belly. This includes weasels, rats, lizards, skinks, and chameleons. (I'm surprised snakes are not mentioned by name.)
*Touching the carcass of an unclean animal makes a person unclean. They must wash their clothes and they will be clean again by the end of the day. (The magic of twilight) The carcass of an unclean animal makes almost anything it touches unclean. Ovens or cooking pots must be broken if they come in contact with an unclean animal. Wet seeds that come in contact with these carcasses will be unclean, but not dry seeds for planting. Also, springs and cisterns will not become unclean. This uncleanness cannot be a primitive form of God ordained germ avoidance. If it was, God would tell them they didn't need to destroy their ovens and cooking pots. Fire sanitizes. Also, I would personally be worried about the water in a cistern into which any dead animal fell. But, I imagine they couldn't afford to lose water in a cistern, considering the area they lived in. Bugs, rats, and other critters must have fallen in regularly. Having water to drink trumps everything.
*Also, I don't hink that the difference between clean and unclean animals represents a divine knowledge. Notice that the clean animals tend to be domesticated or relatively easy to catch. The unclean animals tend to be more dangerous and take more effort to hunt down, which may negate any benefits. Nevertheless, other cultures throughout the world have no such restrictions and enjoy eating many of the animals considered unclean, especially sea creatures and pigs. It also cannot be equated to the difference between carnivores and herbivores. Camels, rabbits, and hyraxes are herbivores. They have long been food meat for many people. Also, chickens and other insectivore birds are considered clean and they eat many insects and small animals.
*A person is also considered unclean if they come in contact with the carcass of a clean animal that died on its own. They can eat it, but they must wash and they will be clean again in the evening.
*These regulations fail to account for a variety of animals from around the world. What about elephants, hippos, and rhinos? What about penguins, ostriches, and emus? What about kangaroos? Why does it only speak about animals common to that part of the world? Could it be these laws were not universal and were only for the Israelites? The end of the chapter seems to suggest that "cleanness" is a form of holiness. Perhaps, in some convoluted way, that is how we got the saying, "cleanliness is next to godliness."
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