Now we know what has been happening between the end of chapter one and the beginning of chapter two. The text tells us that King Xerxes' anger has cooled off since the banquet of chapter one and he realizes he has banished the queen from his presence. Who will take Vashti's place? After all, he needs someone to keep him warm at night when he is in the mood for female company. (It seems that seducing his relatives didn't work out too well for him.) The king's advisers propose an empire wide search for beautiful virgins to fill his harem. The girls are to be placed under the care of the king's eunuch who will see that they get full beauty treatments. The one girl who pleases the king, after he tries them all, will get to be queen. What luck! For the king. Of course, he heartily approved of this plan.
Did this happen? Who knows. It seems a risky undertaking, especially for the girls, considering the temperament of Xerxes queen Amestris/ Vashti. It is highly unlikely that any of these girls that Xerxes has gathered will actually become queen, even Esther. That's not how things worked. The queens were almost always royal family, with known connections. Marriage for a king was usually strategic and political. If this story happened, Esther would have been one among many concubines. Herodotus tells us that the Persians "marry each one several lawful wives, and they get also a much larger number of concubines." The wives were to bear royal children who would be in line for the throne or to marry other royals. The concubines had a lower status.
Enter Mordecai and Esther. We are told their family background and how Esther came to be in Mordecai's care. (See Esther and Herodotus, the main characters ) the implication is that Esther herself is of royal Jewish lineage. Perhaps that is supposed to lend credence to the unspoken claim that she deserved to be the king's wife. According to the story, Esther was beautiful, of course. She was one of the many virgin girls taken to the palace in Susa. Do you think she would have had any say in the matter? Could she have refused? The Eunuch in charge of the harem was very pleased with Esther. He made sure she got extra special beauty treatments and food. She was given seven (!) maids from the palace and the best place in the harem, all before the king had even seen her.
Next, we are told that "Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so." Why did he do that? First of all, the fact that no one knew of Esther's lineage is a clear tell that she was not ever a wife or queen of Xerxes. Second, it seems obvious that if anyone in the palace cared what her lineage was, they would have found it out. Since it appears to have been a non issue to them, Esther was clearly not going to be a wife or queen. Mordecai need not have worried. Esther was a beautiful woman, that's all that was necessary for the king's purposes. (Let's be real. Sex.) The secret identity is just a part of the story's plot line. Nevertheless, we are told that every day Mordecai walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her.
What was happening to Esther? Twelve months of beauty treatments: "Six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics." This was to prepare her for her first encounter with the king. It was probably also a precaution to make sure she was not pregnant and had no diseases. When it was her turn to go to the king, she could take anything she wanted from the harem to the king's palace. She would go in the evening, and in the morning she would be taken to another part of the harem, no longer a virgin. This other domicile was the dwelling place of the concubines, another obvious tell that Esther was never a queen or wife. Esther would not return to the king unless he had been pleased with her. Hmm. To please the king or not to please the king, which would be better...or worse?
Till next time.
Showing posts with label concubines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label concubines. Show all posts
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Judges chapter 20, part 1
After reading chapter 20:
*Unfortunately, we are not done with the story of the Levite and the concubine. After the
Levite sent the pieces of the concubine to all the tribes of Israel, "all" the Israelites assembled before Yahweh in Mizpah. There were 400,000 soldiers armed with swords, another nice round number. Except it wasn't ALL the Israelites; the Benjaminites were not there. And surely the surrounding lands were not completely emptied of Israelites for the time it took the gathering to take place. Remember, these people mostly travelled on foot. Not only that, wasn't assembling before Yahweh supposed to be done in Shiloh?
*At the assembly, the Israelites asked the Levite to tell his story. (The bible calls him a husband but calls the woman a concubine, which is not the same thing as a wife.) The Levite tells the story slightly differently than we read in the last chapter. Now, he says the men of Gibeah were wanting to kill him, instead of have sex with him, but maybe to him that was equivalent to death. He skips over the part where he hands his concubine over to the men and goes straight to the rape. He also neglects to tell how he found her and how he had expected her to just get up off the ground and go home. Instead he says he cut her up and sent the pieces to the tribes of Israel, because of the "lewd and disgraceful" act that had been committed. No mention of how he had allowed it to happen.
*Apparently the assembly cast lots to determine what the will of Yahweh was in this situation. (Verse 9) The men, um Yahweh, decided that ten percent of the soldiers would be responsible for getting provisions for the army. (Which usually meant taking what they needed from the people of the surrounding countryside.) Then the whole army would march on the Benjaminites in Gibeah and give them what they deserved. First, however, they sent men through the tribe of Benjamin, asking them to hand over the perpetrators. They refused. Then the Benjaminites gathered 26,000 swordsman of their own, 700 of them from Gibeah. There were also 700 left handed, stone slinging experts. They could "sling a stone at a hair and not miss."
*Next, before the battle, the Israelites (All 400,000?)went to Bethel to ask God a question. Why couldn't they have asked him the question in Mizpah? It makes more sense when you know that Beth-el means "house of God." This is the place Jacob supposedly had his vision of God on top of a ladder to heaven. Apparently, the ark of the covenant was now in Bethel (verse 27), along with an altar for burnt offerings, which I find confusing. Then what is at Shiloh? And why was such a big deal made of Shiloh earlier in the book of Joshua? Shiloh is where lots were cast "in the presence of Yahweh" to determine the distribution of the promised land. The presence of Yahweh appears to be mobile.
*We are also, told in verse 28, that Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the grandson of Aaron, was the high priest ministering in front of the ark. Either this story takes place out of historical sequence in the book of Judges, or Phineas is a couple of hundred years old. Phineas was alive when Moses was still around back in Numbers 25.
*For what question did the Israelites go to Bethel to ask Yahweh? Why, which tribe gets to fight first, of course. Yahweh picked Judah. Lots again? Or priestly declaration? We will never know. The next morning, positions were taken and the battle began. 22,000 Israelites were mowed down. Next, they simultaneously took up their positions of the day before and went to weep before Yahweh in Bethel. They asked Yahweh if they should keep fighting. He said yes. The next day, the Benjaminites cut down 18,000 Israelites with the sword. The Israelites went crying back to Yahweh. They fasted, made burnt offerings and groveled. They again asked Yahweh if they should keep fighting. He said yes.
*Unfortunately, we are not done with the story of the Levite and the concubine. After the
Levite sent the pieces of the concubine to all the tribes of Israel, "all" the Israelites assembled before Yahweh in Mizpah. There were 400,000 soldiers armed with swords, another nice round number. Except it wasn't ALL the Israelites; the Benjaminites were not there. And surely the surrounding lands were not completely emptied of Israelites for the time it took the gathering to take place. Remember, these people mostly travelled on foot. Not only that, wasn't assembling before Yahweh supposed to be done in Shiloh?
*At the assembly, the Israelites asked the Levite to tell his story. (The bible calls him a husband but calls the woman a concubine, which is not the same thing as a wife.) The Levite tells the story slightly differently than we read in the last chapter. Now, he says the men of Gibeah were wanting to kill him, instead of have sex with him, but maybe to him that was equivalent to death. He skips over the part where he hands his concubine over to the men and goes straight to the rape. He also neglects to tell how he found her and how he had expected her to just get up off the ground and go home. Instead he says he cut her up and sent the pieces to the tribes of Israel, because of the "lewd and disgraceful" act that had been committed. No mention of how he had allowed it to happen.
*Apparently the assembly cast lots to determine what the will of Yahweh was in this situation. (Verse 9) The men, um Yahweh, decided that ten percent of the soldiers would be responsible for getting provisions for the army. (Which usually meant taking what they needed from the people of the surrounding countryside.) Then the whole army would march on the Benjaminites in Gibeah and give them what they deserved. First, however, they sent men through the tribe of Benjamin, asking them to hand over the perpetrators. They refused. Then the Benjaminites gathered 26,000 swordsman of their own, 700 of them from Gibeah. There were also 700 left handed, stone slinging experts. They could "sling a stone at a hair and not miss."
*Next, before the battle, the Israelites (All 400,000?)went to Bethel to ask God a question. Why couldn't they have asked him the question in Mizpah? It makes more sense when you know that Beth-el means "house of God." This is the place Jacob supposedly had his vision of God on top of a ladder to heaven. Apparently, the ark of the covenant was now in Bethel (verse 27), along with an altar for burnt offerings, which I find confusing. Then what is at Shiloh? And why was such a big deal made of Shiloh earlier in the book of Joshua? Shiloh is where lots were cast "in the presence of Yahweh" to determine the distribution of the promised land. The presence of Yahweh appears to be mobile.
*We are also, told in verse 28, that Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the grandson of Aaron, was the high priest ministering in front of the ark. Either this story takes place out of historical sequence in the book of Judges, or Phineas is a couple of hundred years old. Phineas was alive when Moses was still around back in Numbers 25.
*For what question did the Israelites go to Bethel to ask Yahweh? Why, which tribe gets to fight first, of course. Yahweh picked Judah. Lots again? Or priestly declaration? We will never know. The next morning, positions were taken and the battle began. 22,000 Israelites were mowed down. Next, they simultaneously took up their positions of the day before and went to weep before Yahweh in Bethel. They asked Yahweh if they should keep fighting. He said yes. The next day, the Benjaminites cut down 18,000 Israelites with the sword. The Israelites went crying back to Yahweh. They fasted, made burnt offerings and groveled. They again asked Yahweh if they should keep fighting. He said yes.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Judges 19
After reading chapter 19:
*Here we have another odd story beginning with the assertion that in those days there was no king. A Levite from the hill country of Ephraim had a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. She ran away from him back to her father's house. The Levite went to Judah with a servant and two donkeys to get her back. The woman's father got the Levite to stay there for three days by plying him with food and drink. He wanted to leave but was convinced to stay another day with more eating and drinking. The father tried the same tactics again the fifth day, but the Levite finally left late in the day with his concubine and servant. They travelled toward Jebus where the Jebusites lived, supposedly another name for Jerusalem. However, there appears to be plenty of doubt that the Jebusites ever existed outside the pages of the Bible.
*The Levite's servant wanted to stay in Jebus, but the Levite didn't want to stay among non- Israelites. Instead, they went to Gibeah in Benjamin. When they got there, they sat in the city square waiting to be offered hospitality for the night but none of the Benjaminites invited them home. That evening an old Ephraimite who lived in Gibeah saw them and offered them room and board for the night.
*While they were eating and drinking, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house, pounded on the door, and demanded that the visitor be brought out so they could have sex with him. Sound familiar? Just as in the story of Lot, two women are offered to the men instead, the homeowner's virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine. Why didn't the homeowner sacrifice his own body to save his guest from the unwanted attention? It seems obvious that the women were considered less valuable and more expendable. The men would not listen to the homeowner, so the Levite sent his concubine out to the wolves. She has no Angels to save her. This story makes me so angry. It continues with the concubine being raped and abused all night. At daybreak she makes her way back to the house and falls down dead on the threshold. The next morning, as the Levite is leaving, he sees his concubine laying there and orders her to get up because it is time to go. How cold can you get? Even though it is a story, I wish she could get up, so she could spit in his face and vomit all over him.
*The Levite loads his dead concubine on a donkey and heads home. When he gets there, he cuts up his concubine into twelve pieces and sends the pieces to the twelve tribes of Israel. This event was the subject of much consternation, with people exclaiming that something must be done, people must speak up. What I wonder is which part or parts were they upset about? Was it the Levite's behavior, or the behavior of the men of Gibeah? Is this supposed to prove a king was needed in the land?
*Here we have another odd story beginning with the assertion that in those days there was no king. A Levite from the hill country of Ephraim had a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. She ran away from him back to her father's house. The Levite went to Judah with a servant and two donkeys to get her back. The woman's father got the Levite to stay there for three days by plying him with food and drink. He wanted to leave but was convinced to stay another day with more eating and drinking. The father tried the same tactics again the fifth day, but the Levite finally left late in the day with his concubine and servant. They travelled toward Jebus where the Jebusites lived, supposedly another name for Jerusalem. However, there appears to be plenty of doubt that the Jebusites ever existed outside the pages of the Bible.
*The Levite's servant wanted to stay in Jebus, but the Levite didn't want to stay among non- Israelites. Instead, they went to Gibeah in Benjamin. When they got there, they sat in the city square waiting to be offered hospitality for the night but none of the Benjaminites invited them home. That evening an old Ephraimite who lived in Gibeah saw them and offered them room and board for the night.
*While they were eating and drinking, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house, pounded on the door, and demanded that the visitor be brought out so they could have sex with him. Sound familiar? Just as in the story of Lot, two women are offered to the men instead, the homeowner's virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine. Why didn't the homeowner sacrifice his own body to save his guest from the unwanted attention? It seems obvious that the women were considered less valuable and more expendable. The men would not listen to the homeowner, so the Levite sent his concubine out to the wolves. She has no Angels to save her. This story makes me so angry. It continues with the concubine being raped and abused all night. At daybreak she makes her way back to the house and falls down dead on the threshold. The next morning, as the Levite is leaving, he sees his concubine laying there and orders her to get up because it is time to go. How cold can you get? Even though it is a story, I wish she could get up, so she could spit in his face and vomit all over him.
*The Levite loads his dead concubine on a donkey and heads home. When he gets there, he cuts up his concubine into twelve pieces and sends the pieces to the twelve tribes of Israel. This event was the subject of much consternation, with people exclaiming that something must be done, people must speak up. What I wonder is which part or parts were they upset about? Was it the Levite's behavior, or the behavior of the men of Gibeah? Is this supposed to prove a king was needed in the land?
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