(Genesis 27:41 - 28:22)
Esau continued to nurture a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing he had received from their father. He thought to himself, “The period of mourning for our father will soon be upon us; it is then that I will kill my brother Jacob."
Rebecca heard about Esau's threat. Summoning her younger son Jacob, she warned him, “Listen, your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. You must follow my advice: leave here at once and go to Haran, to my brother Laban. Stay with him for a time until your brother has calmed down. When he has gotten over being angry and has forgotten what you did to him, I will send word to you that you may come back. --- Why should I be deprived of both my sons at the same time?"
Rebecca complained to Isaac, “Those Hethite daughters-in-law of mine are making my life miserable. I'd sooner be dead than have Jacob marry one of those women.”
Isaac sent for Jacob. He blessed him again and advised him, "Don't marry a woman of the Canaanite race. Instead go and make a journey to the Plain of Aram in Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father and marry one of the daughters of your mother's brother Laban. And may the Great Jehovah bless you and grant you a large family and progeny, and may he bestow the blessings of Abraham upon you and your children that they may take possession of the land in which we now live as strangers, as was promised to your grandfather."
After Isaac had bid him farewell, Jacob embarked upon the journey to Aram to see Laban, the son of Bethuel and the sister of his mother Rebecca.
Esau learned that after his father had blessed him, Jacob had been sent to Mesopotamia to take a wife there and also that he had advised him "Don't marry a woman of the Canaanite race." He learned that Jacob had obeyed his parents and had traveled to Aram. Aware of the distaste Isaac had for Canaanite women, Esau therefore went to visit the family of his uncle Ishmael, Abraham's son, and married Mahalath, Ishmael's daughter and the sister of Nebajoth. (This was in addition to the wives Esau already had.)
After leaving Beersheba, Jacob made his way to Haran. He stopped to rest at what would be a sacred place and, since the sun was setting, he decided to spend the night there. Taking one of the stones that were lying about, he used it for a pillow. He fell to sleep and dreamed, and in the dream he saw standing on the ground a staircase that reached far up into the sky. Extraterrestrials were going up and down its steps. Next, Jehovah appeared, standing beside him. Jehovah spoke to him, "I am the god and the master of your forefather Abraham, and the god of Isaac. The land where you now sleep, I will bequeath to you and your posterity. And that posterity will be like the dust of the earth and the wind will spread it in all directions, to the west, the east, the north, and the south. Through you and your progeny all the peoples of the earth will be blessed. And remember, I will always be looking out for you, regardless of where you may go. I will eventually bring you back to this land, for I will not forsake you until I have fulfilled all that I have promised.”
When Jacob woke from his sleep, he marveled "Jehovah is no doubt here in this very place, and I didn't even know it!" He trembled when he observed, “This place is awe inspiring! It can only be the abode of Jehovah, an entrance to his otherworldly realm."
Jacob got up early in the morning. He took the stone he had used as a pillow and stood it upright upon the ground, anointing the top of it with olive oil. This place, which had been called Luz, he renamed Bethel [city of God]. Then Jacob made a vow, "If Jehovah will be there to protect me on my journey, to give me food to eat and clothes to wear, and to bring me safely back to my father’s home, then Jehovah will be my god. This stone will be the cornerstone of his temple, and I will give to him as a tithe a percentage of everything I acquire."
Notes
1. Esau, understandably angry, makes secret plans to murder Jacob, but, by means not revealed in the narrative, Rebecca comes to hear of his plan and warns Jacob, again giving him orders and telling him what to do. The remark that she does not want to be deprived of the company of both of her sons at once probably means that if Esau kills Jacob, Esau will be exiled for the crime and she will have lost both sons. Isaac, who hasn't kicked the bucket yet, seems to harbor no ill feelings toward his conniving wife or toward Jacob, who, at best, has made a fool of him. He listens to Rebecca, who seems to rule the roost, and sends Jacob away to his family in Mesopotamia to get a wife. (He does not follow his father's example of sending a servant to do the job.) So far, Jacob doesn't seem to have benefited from his fraudulently obtained birthright and blessing and will now have to leave the family tent and fend for himself.
2. Esau is reminded of his parent's disapproval of Canaanite women. He had married two of them (Hethites) and his mother apparently couldn’t stand them. Apparently to please his parents, Esau, the first really serious polygamist, marries for a third time, his first cousin, the daughter of Ishmael. It is perhaps an uncomfortable analogy, but the Hebrew prohibition against marrying Canaanites reminds one of the Nazi prohibition against marrying Jews, if not all the modern taboos against miscegenation.
3. Isaac’s relatives still live in northwestern Mesopotamia near Syria, on the plain of Aram (Paddanaram). Haran is the town where Bethuel and Laban, who are often called Arameans, live.
4. Jacob's staircase or ladder appears to him in an intriguing dream or vision. (Since ladders are usually of a width to accommodate only one person and in the dream beings are being seen going up and down, presumably at the same time, I have concluded that “staircase” would be a more accurate description of what he saw.) It is well established that Jehovah is able to manipulate men's dreams and communicate with them telepathically. The staircase was either a physical staircase, as we know it, with steps, or it is something that functioned as such, perhaps even something exotic like a beam of light that beings could transit up and down. The staircase, if it was physical, may have reached up to a vehicle in the sky that Jacob could not see. (It was night) If it was non-physical, it may have been a means by which extraterrestrials could travel to earth via another dimension. Extraterrestrial beings were seen by Jacob moving up and down the staircase, in other words, coming and departing from earth, or the physical plane.
5. At the site where he had experienced this numinous dream, Jacob vows to build a temple. It is fair to say that all over the world, during ancient times and even later, men have built temples and churches and shrines on the sites where extraterrestrial encounters have occurred. It is natural to regard these places as special whether they really were or not. (The location of the encounter could be a matter of accident.) These places tend to be regarded as sacred, even by more than one religion. The sites may be selected landing places for extraterrestrial vehicles or places of disembarkation for otherworldly visitors. It is possible, as well, that these sites are, in fact, gateways to other dimensions or areas in which some not-yet-understood earth energy is concentrated or in which ley lines (if they exist) converge.
6. While it is surprising that Jacob is not already a devotee of Jehovah, he, upon witnessing the vision of the ladder and hearing oft-repeated pledge of Jehovah to endow Abraham's descendants with a magnificent destiny, does become a believer and a worshiper. He strikes the classic deal that ancient men always made with their gods. “I will worship you, perform the ceremonies you want, make sacrifices to you, build you temples, and give you a cut of the take, if you will endow me with material success and good fortune.” Quid pro quo. There is, at this point, no promise by Jehovah of otherworldly rewards, afterlife in Heaven, resurrection, eternal life, nothing of that sort, only the promise of earthly grandeur to descendants. And there is no obligation upon Jacob to adhere to any moral standards. (This is not unusual, for religion and morality were only closely connected later in man’s history.)
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
The History of Isaac, Part Two
(Genesis 26:34 - 27:40)
When Esau was 40 years old he took two wives, Judith, the daughter of Beri the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hethite, but these women incurred the strong displeasure of his parents Isaac and Rebecca.
When Isaac was old, his vision became so weak he could barely see. He summoned his older son Esau and called out, "My son?"
"Here I am," he answered.
His father told him "As you can see, I am now an old man. I'm not sure how much time I have left. --- Do me a favor. Take your arms, your bow and quiver of arrows, go out into the field, and kill some game for me. Prepare some tasty dish of meat --you know the way I like it -- and if you bring it to me to eat, I will bless you before I die."
Rebecca overheard what Isaac had said to Esau. And so when Esau was out hunting to satisfy his father's wishes, Rebecca took aside her son Jacob, "I heard your father talking with Esau, your brother, and telling him, 'Go hunt and bring back some game for me to eat and, in the sight of Jehovah, I will bless you before I die.' --- And so, my son, you must do exactly what I tell you. Go out to the flock and bring back a couple of plump goat kids so that I may prepare from their meat a dish your father will relish. You will then serve it to him and after he eats it, he will bless you before he dies."
But Jacob said to his mother Rebecca, "Esau is hairy and I have smooth skin. My father may touch me, think that I am trying to deceive him, and give me his curse rather than his blessing."
His mother scolded him, "The curse will only be upon me, my son. Just do what I told you and bring me what I asked."
Jacob did so and brought the goat kids to his mother, who prepared from them a dish of tasty meat. Rebecca found some of Esau's best clothes, which she had at home, and dressed her younger son Jacob in them. She wrapped skins from the goat kids around his hands and open neck. She delivered into his hands the meat and the bread she had prepared, and Jacob carried them in to his father.
"My father?" he asked.
"I hear you. But is it you, my son?" the old man responded.
Jacob answered, "Yes, it's me, Esau, your oldest son. I have done as you have commanded. Sit up, if you would, and dine on the venison, so that I may have your blessing."
Isaac queried his son, "How is it that you have gotten this ready so quickly, my son?"
Jacob explained, "It was the will of Jehovah that I found quickly what I was looking for."
"Come closer, my son" Isaac demanded, "that I may feel you and know for sure whether you are Esau or not."
So Jacob came to his father, who felt him and said "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are those of Esau." (Not recognizing Jacob because his hands were hairy like his older brother's, Isaac blessed him.) “Are you indeed my son Esau?" he asked.
"I am," insisted Jacob.
"Well then, bring me the game meat and my soul will bless you." After he had been served and finished his meal, wine was brought in, and he drank.
Isaac then bid him "Draw near me, my son, and kiss me." When Jacob came near and kissed his father, Isaac noticed the scent of his clothes and blessed him, saying, "See, my son smells like the fecund fields blessed by Jehovah! Therefore, may Jehovah grant you gentle rains from heaven and the fertile soil of the earth, so you may have an abundance of grain and wine. May tribes serve you and nations pay you tribute. You will be the head of the family and may the children of your mother be subservient to you. May those who curse you be cursed. May those who bless you be full of blessings."
No sooner had Isaac finished his blessing and Jacob departed from his presence than his brother Esau came in from the hunt. He had also prepared a dish of tasty meat and brought it in to his father, saying "Let my father sit up and eat his venison, so that his soul may bless me."
Isaac, his father questioned, "Who are you!?"
Esau answered, "I am your son, your first-born son, Esau."
Isaac was incredulous and alarmed and trembled with agitation. "Who was is then that just brought me the venison he had prepared? I ate it before you came here. I gave him my blessing --- I can’t take it back!”
Hearing what his father said, Esau let out a loud groan of anguish and regret. "Surely, my father, you will give me a blessing, too?"
"Your brother used trickery, and has taken away the blessing meant for you," his father declared.
Esau observed, "He is rightly named "Jacob" [meaning usurper]. He has usurped my place twice. First he took away my birthright and now he has stolen my blessing." He then addressed his father, "Don't you have a blessing left over for me?"
Isaac answered him. "Look, I have already made him your master and the head of the family. I have bequeathed him my stores of grain and wine. After that, what is there left to give to you, my son?"
"Have you only one blessing, Father? Can't you bless me, too?" complained Esau, crying out and weeping aloud.
Feeling sorry for Esau, Isaac told him, “Your only blessing will be in fertile soil of the earth and the gentle rain from heaven, but you will have to sustain yourself by fighting. And you will serve your brother, until the time comes when you will grow restless and then break free from his domination."
Notes
1. Esau, in marrying two Hethite women, has gone against the express wishes of his parents, who despise their Canaanite neighbors. Esau, it seems, has insisted on being his own man and following his own counsel. Jacob, on the other hand, has not yet married and seems very much tied to his mother's apron's strings. Although he is man approaching middle age, he seems a docile juvenile cowed by his domineering mother Rebecca, who, it seems, will do anything to advance the interest of her fair-haired boy. (This may be the first, but not the last time the redhead gets the short end of the stick.) In this story of the twins is an implied moral: filial respect and conformity to custom supersedes personal initiative and individual will. The favored son is the complaisant, obedient one.
2. The conduct of Jacob in cheating Esau out of his inheritance is shamelessly defended in most Biblical commentaries. Even Saint Augustine believed his lie was only technical and venial. Such subjective distortion of moral values among the religious is truly appalling. Jacob's conduct was execrable and morally indefensible, one would think, by anyone's standards. He knew that Esau, being the eldest, was his father's heir. Instead of working to enrich himself by his own efforts as his father and grandfather had done, he conspires to steal what will belong to his brother. Although Esau's cavalier, dismissive attitude towards his birthrate is disreputable, it is more disreputable that Jacob chose to take advantage of it by tricking him out of it. No honest person could believe that trading a birthright, a wealthy inheritance for a pot of stew comprises an equal trade, and no honest person would go through with such a bargain. (It should also be pointed out that Esau's birthright was not really his to sell. A heir may refuse to accept his legacy, he may give away a legacy he has received, but prior to receiving the legacy he has no right to override the wishes of the legator by designating a substitute heir.) Jacob, who has shown himself to be devious and conniving, lacks the redeeming virtue of guts, of accepting responsibility for his actions and the punishment, if he is caught. When his mother devises the plan to have him impersonate his brother Esau to their vision-impaired father, Jacob is worried about being caught and will go ahead with the masquerade only when his mother offers to assume the guilt for it. Jacob, pretending to be his brother, is doing more than mere bold-faced lying, he is committing a fraud for personal gain. It is made more despicable by the fact that the victims of it are family members, his father and his twin brother. Deceiving your half-blind, dying father so that you can get his inheritance and cheat your brother out of his is about as low as one can go. How can there be any moral ambiguity here?
3. It doesn't seem to occur to Isaac that his blessing of Jacob was given under false pretenses, and, therefore, could and should be retracted. Perhaps the legal concept of the fraudulent contract being invalid did not exist at that time.
When Esau was 40 years old he took two wives, Judith, the daughter of Beri the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hethite, but these women incurred the strong displeasure of his parents Isaac and Rebecca.
When Isaac was old, his vision became so weak he could barely see. He summoned his older son Esau and called out, "My son?"
"Here I am," he answered.
His father told him "As you can see, I am now an old man. I'm not sure how much time I have left. --- Do me a favor. Take your arms, your bow and quiver of arrows, go out into the field, and kill some game for me. Prepare some tasty dish of meat --you know the way I like it -- and if you bring it to me to eat, I will bless you before I die."
Rebecca overheard what Isaac had said to Esau. And so when Esau was out hunting to satisfy his father's wishes, Rebecca took aside her son Jacob, "I heard your father talking with Esau, your brother, and telling him, 'Go hunt and bring back some game for me to eat and, in the sight of Jehovah, I will bless you before I die.' --- And so, my son, you must do exactly what I tell you. Go out to the flock and bring back a couple of plump goat kids so that I may prepare from their meat a dish your father will relish. You will then serve it to him and after he eats it, he will bless you before he dies."
But Jacob said to his mother Rebecca, "Esau is hairy and I have smooth skin. My father may touch me, think that I am trying to deceive him, and give me his curse rather than his blessing."
His mother scolded him, "The curse will only be upon me, my son. Just do what I told you and bring me what I asked."
Jacob did so and brought the goat kids to his mother, who prepared from them a dish of tasty meat. Rebecca found some of Esau's best clothes, which she had at home, and dressed her younger son Jacob in them. She wrapped skins from the goat kids around his hands and open neck. She delivered into his hands the meat and the bread she had prepared, and Jacob carried them in to his father.
"My father?" he asked.
"I hear you. But is it you, my son?" the old man responded.
Jacob answered, "Yes, it's me, Esau, your oldest son. I have done as you have commanded. Sit up, if you would, and dine on the venison, so that I may have your blessing."
Isaac queried his son, "How is it that you have gotten this ready so quickly, my son?"
Jacob explained, "It was the will of Jehovah that I found quickly what I was looking for."
"Come closer, my son" Isaac demanded, "that I may feel you and know for sure whether you are Esau or not."
So Jacob came to his father, who felt him and said "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are those of Esau." (Not recognizing Jacob because his hands were hairy like his older brother's, Isaac blessed him.) “Are you indeed my son Esau?" he asked.
"I am," insisted Jacob.
"Well then, bring me the game meat and my soul will bless you." After he had been served and finished his meal, wine was brought in, and he drank.
Isaac then bid him "Draw near me, my son, and kiss me." When Jacob came near and kissed his father, Isaac noticed the scent of his clothes and blessed him, saying, "See, my son smells like the fecund fields blessed by Jehovah! Therefore, may Jehovah grant you gentle rains from heaven and the fertile soil of the earth, so you may have an abundance of grain and wine. May tribes serve you and nations pay you tribute. You will be the head of the family and may the children of your mother be subservient to you. May those who curse you be cursed. May those who bless you be full of blessings."
No sooner had Isaac finished his blessing and Jacob departed from his presence than his brother Esau came in from the hunt. He had also prepared a dish of tasty meat and brought it in to his father, saying "Let my father sit up and eat his venison, so that his soul may bless me."
Isaac, his father questioned, "Who are you!?"
Esau answered, "I am your son, your first-born son, Esau."
Isaac was incredulous and alarmed and trembled with agitation. "Who was is then that just brought me the venison he had prepared? I ate it before you came here. I gave him my blessing --- I can’t take it back!”
Hearing what his father said, Esau let out a loud groan of anguish and regret. "Surely, my father, you will give me a blessing, too?"
"Your brother used trickery, and has taken away the blessing meant for you," his father declared.
Esau observed, "He is rightly named "Jacob" [meaning usurper]. He has usurped my place twice. First he took away my birthright and now he has stolen my blessing." He then addressed his father, "Don't you have a blessing left over for me?"
Isaac answered him. "Look, I have already made him your master and the head of the family. I have bequeathed him my stores of grain and wine. After that, what is there left to give to you, my son?"
"Have you only one blessing, Father? Can't you bless me, too?" complained Esau, crying out and weeping aloud.
Feeling sorry for Esau, Isaac told him, “Your only blessing will be in fertile soil of the earth and the gentle rain from heaven, but you will have to sustain yourself by fighting. And you will serve your brother, until the time comes when you will grow restless and then break free from his domination."
Notes
1. Esau, in marrying two Hethite women, has gone against the express wishes of his parents, who despise their Canaanite neighbors. Esau, it seems, has insisted on being his own man and following his own counsel. Jacob, on the other hand, has not yet married and seems very much tied to his mother's apron's strings. Although he is man approaching middle age, he seems a docile juvenile cowed by his domineering mother Rebecca, who, it seems, will do anything to advance the interest of her fair-haired boy. (This may be the first, but not the last time the redhead gets the short end of the stick.) In this story of the twins is an implied moral: filial respect and conformity to custom supersedes personal initiative and individual will. The favored son is the complaisant, obedient one.
2. The conduct of Jacob in cheating Esau out of his inheritance is shamelessly defended in most Biblical commentaries. Even Saint Augustine believed his lie was only technical and venial. Such subjective distortion of moral values among the religious is truly appalling. Jacob's conduct was execrable and morally indefensible, one would think, by anyone's standards. He knew that Esau, being the eldest, was his father's heir. Instead of working to enrich himself by his own efforts as his father and grandfather had done, he conspires to steal what will belong to his brother. Although Esau's cavalier, dismissive attitude towards his birthrate is disreputable, it is more disreputable that Jacob chose to take advantage of it by tricking him out of it. No honest person could believe that trading a birthright, a wealthy inheritance for a pot of stew comprises an equal trade, and no honest person would go through with such a bargain. (It should also be pointed out that Esau's birthright was not really his to sell. A heir may refuse to accept his legacy, he may give away a legacy he has received, but prior to receiving the legacy he has no right to override the wishes of the legator by designating a substitute heir.) Jacob, who has shown himself to be devious and conniving, lacks the redeeming virtue of guts, of accepting responsibility for his actions and the punishment, if he is caught. When his mother devises the plan to have him impersonate his brother Esau to their vision-impaired father, Jacob is worried about being caught and will go ahead with the masquerade only when his mother offers to assume the guilt for it. Jacob, pretending to be his brother, is doing more than mere bold-faced lying, he is committing a fraud for personal gain. It is made more despicable by the fact that the victims of it are family members, his father and his twin brother. Deceiving your half-blind, dying father so that you can get his inheritance and cheat your brother out of his is about as low as one can go. How can there be any moral ambiguity here?
3. It doesn't seem to occur to Isaac that his blessing of Jacob was given under false pretenses, and, therefore, could and should be retracted. Perhaps the legal concept of the fraudulent contract being invalid did not exist at that time.
Friday, April 26, 2013
The History of Isaac, Part One
(Genesis 25:11 - 26:33)
After Abraham's death, Jehovah bestowed his blessings upon his son Isaac, who made his home by the well of Lahairoi.
This is the genealogy of Ishmael:
The sons of Ishmael, Abraham's son by the Egyptian servant Hagar, are, in order of their birth, Nebajoth, the eldest, Kedar, Abdeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the twelve sons of Ishmael, each a prince of his own tribe and the founders of towns and fortresses named after them.
Ishmael lived to be 137, at which time his health failed and he died, joining his ancestors. His descendants lived in the lands between Havilah and Shur, from the eastern border of Egypt to Assyria, near the lands of his family.
This is the genealogy of Isaac, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac. When Isaac was 40 years old he married Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, an Aramean living in Mesopotamia, and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
Because Rebecca was barren, Isaac made entreaties for her to Jehovah, who answered his prayer and allowed Rebecca to conceive. Her pregnancy, though, was troublesome and painful, and Rebecca wondered why this was happening to her. She sought an answer from Jehovah, who responded, "Two nations are struggling in your womb. Two peoples are being separated inside you. One will dominate the other and the older will be subservient to the younger."
When it was Rebecca's time to give birth, it was discovered that she was carrying twins. The first child to be born came out with red hair all over his body like animal hide; they called him Esau [similar to the word meaning hairy]. When his brother was delivered, he held on to Esau's heel and thus thus called Jacob [similar to the word for heel]. Isaac was 60 years old when his sons were born.
When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter and outdoorsman, while Jacob was quiet and a homebody. Isaac loved Esau, because he brought home the game Isaac liked to eat. Rebecca, however, loved Jacob.
Once when Jacob was boiling a pot of red lentil stew, Esau came in from the field faint with hunger. "Let me have some that red stuff, I'm starving! (For that reason he was given the nickname Edom. [meaning red])
Jacob replied “First sell me your birthright.”
Esau reasoned "If I starve to death, what good is my birthright?"
"Well, then, swear to sell it to me," Jacob insisted. Esau swore and thus sold his birthright. Esau feasted on bread and the red lentil stew; he ate and drank and went on his way with little thought to the birthright he had bartered away.
Just as there was in the days of Abraham, there was famine in the land. Isaac went to see Abimelech, King of the Philistines at Gerar. A that time Jehovah appeared to Isaac and told him, "Don't go into the land of Egypt. Remain in the land that I have chosen for you. I will be with you and bless you. I will bestow this land upon you and your progeny, to fulfill the promise I made to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will give your posterity all these countries, and through them all the earth will be blessed --all because Abraham heeded my advice and followed my orders, kept my laws and observed my ceremonies.
Thus Isaac continued to reside in Gerar. The men of the land asked about his wife and he told them "She is my sister." He was afraid to admit that she was his wife, thinking that because of Rebecca's beauty they would kill him. After he had lived there for some time, Abimelech, King of the Philistines, happened to look out the window and witnessed Isaac making love to Rebecca. He sent for Isaac and told him, "It is obvious that Rebecca is your wife. Why did you pretend that she was your sister?"
And he answered, "Because I thought I might be killed because of her."
Abimelech rebuked him, "Why did you deceive us? Some man could have committed adultery with your wife and brought shame on our country." Abimelech put out an order to his people that anybody who molested Rebecca would certainly be put to death.
Isaac planted a crop and, blessed by Jehovah, the harvest yielded a hundred fold profit in the first year. He continued to prosper and to increase his holdings until he became very wealthy, having many herds and flocks and a large number of servants. But because of his success, the Philistines were jealous of him. (They stopped up the wells that had been dug by Abraham’s men and filled them with earth.) Finally King Abimelech was forced to tell Isaac, "You must leave this country, for you have become more powerful than we are."
Isaac thus left and made his camp in a wadi near Gerar and settled there. Long before, in the days of Abraham, many wells had been dug there, but after Abraham's death, the Philistines had covered them over and filled them with earth. Isaac resunk those wells and continued to use his father’s names for them.
While Isaac's men were digging in the wadi, they discovered a spring. The herdsmen of Gerar contested the ownership of the spring with Isaac's men and contended, "The water belongs to us!” Thus the well was named Esek [or Quarrel]. When they dug another well, there was conflict over that as well. It was thus called Sitnah [or Enmity]. Moving away, Isaac and his men dug a third well, the claim to which was not contested. It was called Rehoboth [or Latitude]. Isaac declared "Jehovah has found a place where there's room for us. Here we will prosper!”
Isaac traveled from there to Beersheba and that night Jehovah appeared to him and said "I am the god of your father Abraham. Don't be afraid, for I am on your side. I will bless you and, for Abraham's sake, I will multiply your progeny." Isaac built an altar at that place, worshiped, made his camp there and ordered his men to dig a well.
Abimelech visited him, coming from Gerar with Ahuzzah, one of his advisers, and the commander of his army, Phichol. Isaac challenged them, "Why have you come here, seeing that you were so unfriendly before and kicked me out of your country?"
They replied, "We now realize that you are favored by Jehovah and decided that there should be an agreement between us; let us swear an oath that we will do no harm to one another. --- After all, we did you no injury, and sent you away in peace. And now you are prosperous, blessed by Jehovah."
Isaac gave a feast and they ate and drank. When they rose in the morning, they sealed their pact and, afterwards, Abimelech and his party were sent on their way and departed in friendship.
On the same day, Isaac's men reported to him on the progress they were making digging the well. "We have found water!" they told him. The well was named Shebah [Vow] and, to this day, the name of the town remains Beersheba.
Notes
1. The hairiness of Esau, even from his birth, is a matter of some interest. It often occurs that twins will have different, even opposite personalities, as is the case with Esau and Jacob, but it seems strange that they should be so different physically. Suggestions have been made that Esau was a Neanderthal throwback or a Bigfoot or that he suffered from werewolfism. There is also possibility that the hairiness was simply invented as a convenient story-telling device to accentuate the difference between the twins.
2. Esau sells his birthright for a good meal when he is hungry, showing his contempt for his father and for the future fortunes of his family. One would think, however, that, even in those days, a birthrate could not be bartered away so casually and would require witnesses it to make it legal and enforceable. In Jewish tradition, lentils are often eaten by those in mourning, so this barter may have occurred just after Abraham’s death. This would mean that the twins were only 15 years old, a fact that might partly excuse both Esau’s and Jacob’s disreputable behavior, which does seem rather juvenile.
3. Esau is supposedly called “Edom” or “Red” because he ate the red stew, but it seems more likely he was called that because he had so much red hair. (If the text referring to his being born red and hairy means he was born with red hair. This seems the more likely since if the red merely refers to his complexion that would hardly be a matter of note in a new born, whereas red hair certainly would be.)
4. Jehovah makes it clear he is continuing the arrangement he made with Abraham with Isaac, Abraham's heir. Abraham had apparently satisfied his demands as a righteous worshiper. Abraham was obviously obedient, but Jehovah seems to have set the bar fairly low on the morality issue. While Abraham did act honorably, even heroically in several instances, according to the narrative, he also bore false witness and committed fraud (in failing to acknowledge his true relationship to Sarah), accepted unearned gifts under circumstances verging on extortion, was culpable in sending his wife Hagar out into the desert to die of thirst, was more than willing not only to murder his son, but to slit his throat, cut him up, and burn his body, treated his children, save Isaac, abominably, and committed incest and bigamy. It beggars belief that such a man can be exalted as a moral exemplar.
5. We have suspicious parallels between the lives of Abraham and Isaac that certainly undermines the historical credibility of the narrative. Isaac repeats Abraham's mistake of passing his wife off as his sister (although here it is not true -- Rebecca is only his first cousin.) And Rebecca is unable to have children, as was Sarah. In Rebecca's case, Jehovah only waits twenty years until, by some means, he rectifies the situation, although he doesn't seem troubled that she has a horrendously painful pregnancy. Both men have dealings and forged non-aggression pacts with King Abimelech and his general Phichol. (It's hard to believe that these men could have been so long-lived as to be contemporaneous with both Abraham and Isaac.) One gets the feeling that there weren't enough stories recorded about Isaac, so the narrative is padded with recycled versions of episodes from Abraham's life. This is common practice in legendary histories. Even some of Sinbad's adventures are cribbed from tales attributed to Ulysses.
6. One gets the impression, highlighted by Jehovah's curing of Rebecca's barren womb, that all good things are derived from Jehovah's bounty and mercy. Prosperity and success is bestowed upon Jehovah to deserving men, those who have been obedient to him, and are less the result of man's industry, resourcefulness, and intelligence. Bad fortune is a punishment for disobedience or for inflicting harm upon one of Jehovah's favorites. For Abraham and Isaac, they cannot even have an heir without the intervention of Jehovah, who endeavors to cultivate in his followers a state of dependency upon him: success in life is contingent upon devotion to him.
After Abraham's death, Jehovah bestowed his blessings upon his son Isaac, who made his home by the well of Lahairoi.
This is the genealogy of Ishmael:
The sons of Ishmael, Abraham's son by the Egyptian servant Hagar, are, in order of their birth, Nebajoth, the eldest, Kedar, Abdeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the twelve sons of Ishmael, each a prince of his own tribe and the founders of towns and fortresses named after them.
Ishmael lived to be 137, at which time his health failed and he died, joining his ancestors. His descendants lived in the lands between Havilah and Shur, from the eastern border of Egypt to Assyria, near the lands of his family.
This is the genealogy of Isaac, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac. When Isaac was 40 years old he married Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, an Aramean living in Mesopotamia, and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
Because Rebecca was barren, Isaac made entreaties for her to Jehovah, who answered his prayer and allowed Rebecca to conceive. Her pregnancy, though, was troublesome and painful, and Rebecca wondered why this was happening to her. She sought an answer from Jehovah, who responded, "Two nations are struggling in your womb. Two peoples are being separated inside you. One will dominate the other and the older will be subservient to the younger."
When it was Rebecca's time to give birth, it was discovered that she was carrying twins. The first child to be born came out with red hair all over his body like animal hide; they called him Esau [similar to the word meaning hairy]. When his brother was delivered, he held on to Esau's heel and thus thus called Jacob [similar to the word for heel]. Isaac was 60 years old when his sons were born.
When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter and outdoorsman, while Jacob was quiet and a homebody. Isaac loved Esau, because he brought home the game Isaac liked to eat. Rebecca, however, loved Jacob.
Once when Jacob was boiling a pot of red lentil stew, Esau came in from the field faint with hunger. "Let me have some that red stuff, I'm starving! (For that reason he was given the nickname Edom. [meaning red])
Jacob replied “First sell me your birthright.”
Esau reasoned "If I starve to death, what good is my birthright?"
"Well, then, swear to sell it to me," Jacob insisted. Esau swore and thus sold his birthright. Esau feasted on bread and the red lentil stew; he ate and drank and went on his way with little thought to the birthright he had bartered away.
Just as there was in the days of Abraham, there was famine in the land. Isaac went to see Abimelech, King of the Philistines at Gerar. A that time Jehovah appeared to Isaac and told him, "Don't go into the land of Egypt. Remain in the land that I have chosen for you. I will be with you and bless you. I will bestow this land upon you and your progeny, to fulfill the promise I made to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will give your posterity all these countries, and through them all the earth will be blessed --all because Abraham heeded my advice and followed my orders, kept my laws and observed my ceremonies.
Thus Isaac continued to reside in Gerar. The men of the land asked about his wife and he told them "She is my sister." He was afraid to admit that she was his wife, thinking that because of Rebecca's beauty they would kill him. After he had lived there for some time, Abimelech, King of the Philistines, happened to look out the window and witnessed Isaac making love to Rebecca. He sent for Isaac and told him, "It is obvious that Rebecca is your wife. Why did you pretend that she was your sister?"
And he answered, "Because I thought I might be killed because of her."
Abimelech rebuked him, "Why did you deceive us? Some man could have committed adultery with your wife and brought shame on our country." Abimelech put out an order to his people that anybody who molested Rebecca would certainly be put to death.
Isaac planted a crop and, blessed by Jehovah, the harvest yielded a hundred fold profit in the first year. He continued to prosper and to increase his holdings until he became very wealthy, having many herds and flocks and a large number of servants. But because of his success, the Philistines were jealous of him. (They stopped up the wells that had been dug by Abraham’s men and filled them with earth.) Finally King Abimelech was forced to tell Isaac, "You must leave this country, for you have become more powerful than we are."
Isaac thus left and made his camp in a wadi near Gerar and settled there. Long before, in the days of Abraham, many wells had been dug there, but after Abraham's death, the Philistines had covered them over and filled them with earth. Isaac resunk those wells and continued to use his father’s names for them.
While Isaac's men were digging in the wadi, they discovered a spring. The herdsmen of Gerar contested the ownership of the spring with Isaac's men and contended, "The water belongs to us!” Thus the well was named Esek [or Quarrel]. When they dug another well, there was conflict over that as well. It was thus called Sitnah [or Enmity]. Moving away, Isaac and his men dug a third well, the claim to which was not contested. It was called Rehoboth [or Latitude]. Isaac declared "Jehovah has found a place where there's room for us. Here we will prosper!”
Isaac traveled from there to Beersheba and that night Jehovah appeared to him and said "I am the god of your father Abraham. Don't be afraid, for I am on your side. I will bless you and, for Abraham's sake, I will multiply your progeny." Isaac built an altar at that place, worshiped, made his camp there and ordered his men to dig a well.
Abimelech visited him, coming from Gerar with Ahuzzah, one of his advisers, and the commander of his army, Phichol. Isaac challenged them, "Why have you come here, seeing that you were so unfriendly before and kicked me out of your country?"
They replied, "We now realize that you are favored by Jehovah and decided that there should be an agreement between us; let us swear an oath that we will do no harm to one another. --- After all, we did you no injury, and sent you away in peace. And now you are prosperous, blessed by Jehovah."
Isaac gave a feast and they ate and drank. When they rose in the morning, they sealed their pact and, afterwards, Abimelech and his party were sent on their way and departed in friendship.
On the same day, Isaac's men reported to him on the progress they were making digging the well. "We have found water!" they told him. The well was named Shebah [Vow] and, to this day, the name of the town remains Beersheba.
Notes
1. The hairiness of Esau, even from his birth, is a matter of some interest. It often occurs that twins will have different, even opposite personalities, as is the case with Esau and Jacob, but it seems strange that they should be so different physically. Suggestions have been made that Esau was a Neanderthal throwback or a Bigfoot or that he suffered from werewolfism. There is also possibility that the hairiness was simply invented as a convenient story-telling device to accentuate the difference between the twins.
2. Esau sells his birthright for a good meal when he is hungry, showing his contempt for his father and for the future fortunes of his family. One would think, however, that, even in those days, a birthrate could not be bartered away so casually and would require witnesses it to make it legal and enforceable. In Jewish tradition, lentils are often eaten by those in mourning, so this barter may have occurred just after Abraham’s death. This would mean that the twins were only 15 years old, a fact that might partly excuse both Esau’s and Jacob’s disreputable behavior, which does seem rather juvenile.
3. Esau is supposedly called “Edom” or “Red” because he ate the red stew, but it seems more likely he was called that because he had so much red hair. (If the text referring to his being born red and hairy means he was born with red hair. This seems the more likely since if the red merely refers to his complexion that would hardly be a matter of note in a new born, whereas red hair certainly would be.)
4. Jehovah makes it clear he is continuing the arrangement he made with Abraham with Isaac, Abraham's heir. Abraham had apparently satisfied his demands as a righteous worshiper. Abraham was obviously obedient, but Jehovah seems to have set the bar fairly low on the morality issue. While Abraham did act honorably, even heroically in several instances, according to the narrative, he also bore false witness and committed fraud (in failing to acknowledge his true relationship to Sarah), accepted unearned gifts under circumstances verging on extortion, was culpable in sending his wife Hagar out into the desert to die of thirst, was more than willing not only to murder his son, but to slit his throat, cut him up, and burn his body, treated his children, save Isaac, abominably, and committed incest and bigamy. It beggars belief that such a man can be exalted as a moral exemplar.
5. We have suspicious parallels between the lives of Abraham and Isaac that certainly undermines the historical credibility of the narrative. Isaac repeats Abraham's mistake of passing his wife off as his sister (although here it is not true -- Rebecca is only his first cousin.) And Rebecca is unable to have children, as was Sarah. In Rebecca's case, Jehovah only waits twenty years until, by some means, he rectifies the situation, although he doesn't seem troubled that she has a horrendously painful pregnancy. Both men have dealings and forged non-aggression pacts with King Abimelech and his general Phichol. (It's hard to believe that these men could have been so long-lived as to be contemporaneous with both Abraham and Isaac.) One gets the feeling that there weren't enough stories recorded about Isaac, so the narrative is padded with recycled versions of episodes from Abraham's life. This is common practice in legendary histories. Even some of Sinbad's adventures are cribbed from tales attributed to Ulysses.
6. One gets the impression, highlighted by Jehovah's curing of Rebecca's barren womb, that all good things are derived from Jehovah's bounty and mercy. Prosperity and success is bestowed upon Jehovah to deserving men, those who have been obedient to him, and are less the result of man's industry, resourcefulness, and intelligence. Bad fortune is a punishment for disobedience or for inflicting harm upon one of Jehovah's favorites. For Abraham and Isaac, they cannot even have an heir without the intervention of Jehovah, who endeavors to cultivate in his followers a state of dependency upon him: success in life is contingent upon devotion to him.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The History of Abraham, Part Nine
(Genesis 24:01 - 25:10)
Abraham was aged and infirm, but in all ways he had been blessed by Jehovah.
Abraham addressed his senior servant, the steward who had charge of his affairs and household "Put your hand against my genitals and swear by the god of heaven and earth that you will not choose for my son a wife from among the womenfolk of the Canaanites, with whom I live, but that you will go back to my own country and to my own kin to find a wife for my son Isaac."
The steward asked "What if no woman is willing to come to this country, should I take your son back to his native land?”
"No, under no circumstances take my son back there! Jehovah, the god of heaven, led me out of my father's house and my homeland. He spoke to me and swore to me that my progeny would be granted possession of this land. Jehovah will send an agent ahead to help you find a wife for my son there. However, if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you are not bound by the oath. Only do not take my son back there."
The servant placed his hand against Abraham's genitals and swore the oath.
The steward took ten camels from Abraham's herd and departed, taking with him some of his master's treasure to be used as gifts. He journeyed to Mesopotamia, to the town of Abraham's brother Nachor. At an well outside the settlement, he had his camels kneel down to rest. It was evening, the time when women regularly came to draw water from the well. He prayed "Jehovah, god of my master, please bring me good fortune and favor my master Abraham. See me, I am standing here by the well where the maidens of the town come to draw water. Let it be that the girl to whom I say 'Please, set down your water jug and let me drink.' will reply 'Drink and I will give water to your camels as well.’ Let her be the one that you've chosen for your servant Isaac. Let that be a sign that you have favored my master."
Even before he had finished speaking, there came to the well, bearing a water jug on her shoulder, none other than Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel and the granddaughter of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham's brother. The young girl was quite beautiful and still a virginal maiden. She filled her jug at the well and was returning when Abraham's steward approached her.
"Could you please let me have some water from your jug?" he asked.
"Have a drink, sir," she answered, slipping the jug down from her shoulder and letting him take a drink from it. After he had finished drinking, she told him "I will draw some water for your camels, so that they can have their fill, too." She empty her jug in the water trough and then hurried back to the well to get more water for the camels.
Wondering about her and whether Jehovah had crowned his journey with success or not, the steward kept quiet. But after the camels had finished drinking, he brought out a gold nose ring weighing half a shekel and two bracelets of gold worth ten shekels and presented them to Rebecca. He asked the girl "Who are your parents? Is there room in your house for me and my men to lodge?"
She answered, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor and Milcah." She added "We have plenty of both straw and hay and enough room for lodging."
The steward prostrated himself and prayed "Blessed be Jehovah, the god of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his mercy and truth from my master and who has guided me unerringly to the house of my master's brother!”
Rebecca ran home and told everyone in the house what had transpired. She had a brother named Laban. When he saw the nose ring and the bracelets his sister was wearing and heard what the man told her, he rushed out to the well to greet the steward. He found the man standing by his camels at the well and said to him "Come on inside, you who are blessed by Jehovah. Why are you standing outside? I have prepared a room for you in the house and stabling for your camels."
Laban led the steward and his party to his home. Laban unsaddled his camels and gave them hay and straw. He also furnished water to wash the feet of the Abraham's steward and the men who had come with him.
A meal was laid out for the steward, but he said "I can't eat until I've revealed the purpose of my errand."
Tell us!” he was bid.
"I am a servant of Abraham. Jehovah has blessed my master wonderfully. He is wealthy in flocks of sheep and herds of oxen, silver and gold, male and female servants, camels and donkeys. Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to him when she was quite old, and the son is his sole heir. My master made me swear, saying 'You will not choose for my son a wife from among the womenfolk of the Canaanites, with whom I live, but you will go back to my own country and to my own kin to find a wife for my son.' But I asked my master 'What if the woman won't come back with me?' 'Jehovah,' he told me 'whom I follow, will send an agent ahead to guide me. You will choose for a wife only a woman from my own people and my own family. But you are absolved from your oath if, finding my family, they won't furnish you with a willing bride.' And today I arrived at the well and prayed "Jehovah, god of my master, if you wish to favor my mission let it be that the girl to whom I say 'Please, set down your water jug and let me drink.' will reply 'Drink and I will give water to your camels as well'." Let her be the one that you've chosen for your servant Isaac, and that will be a sign that you have favored my master.' And while I was pondering that in my mind, lo and behold Rebecca appeared carrying a water jug on her shoulder. She went down to the well and drew water. I asked her "Could you give me a little to drink?" She quickly let the jug down from her shoulder and invited me 'Have a drink and I will give water to the camels' So I drank and she made the camels drink. And I asked of her 'Who are your parents?' And she said 'I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor and his wife Milcah.' And so I put the nose ring on her to adorn her face and fastened the bracelets to her wrists. And prostrating myself, I prayed, thanking Jehovah, the god of my master Abraham, who had led me straight to the daughter of my master's brother for his son's sake. If you would deal with my master honestly and truly, please let me know one way or the other how I should proceed."
Laban and Bethuel replied "This is ordained by Jehovah; we can say nothing to contradict it. Rebecca stands here before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as Jehovah wishes."
When Abraham's steward heard this, he fell to the ground and thanked Jehovah. He then produced vessels and jeweled ornaments of silver and gold and luxurious raiment and presented them to Rebecca, also proffering precious gifts to her brother and mother. To celebrate, a banquet was held, and the steward and the men with him stayed the night. When they rose in the morning he asked his hosts "I wish your permission to leave so I can return to my master!"
But the girl's brother and mother pleaded with him "Let the girl stay with us a few more days, ten at least. After that she will leave."
The steward replied "Please don't delay me, considering that I am on Jehovah's business. Let me leave so I can return at once to my master."
And they said "We will call the girl so that she may answer you personally." They called Rebecca and asked "Are you ready to go with this man now?" And she responded "Yes, I am!"
Thus they bid farewell to Rebecca and her nurse and to the steward and his party. They wished Rebecca well, saying "You are our sister, but you will be the mother of a multitude. May your posterity control the cities of their enemies!"
Rebecca and her maidservants mounted the camels and followed the steward as he returned posthaste to his master.
Meanwhile, Isaac was walking on the way to the well of Lahairoi [the living and the seeing] (for he lived in the south country), but he lingered at dusk to meditate in the field, for he had spent a busy day. He looked up and noticed a train of camels approaching from afar.
When Rebecca glimpsed Isaac, she dismounted her camel and asked of the steward "Who is that man walking in the field coming to greet us?"
"It's my master," the servant replied. Rebecca quickly grabbed her cloak and covered her face.
After the steward recounted to Isaac all that had occurred, Isaac brought Rebecca into the tent of his mother. He married her and loved her, and she comforted him for the loss of his mother.
Abraham himself married again, to a woman named Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, and the sons of Dedan were the progenitors of the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All of these were the descendants of Keturah. Abraham, however, willed his entire estate to Isaac. To the sons Abraham had fathered by his lesser wives he did give gifts, but, during his lifetime, they were sent away to live in the east country, separated from his son Isaac.
Abraham lived to be a 175 years old. He had spent many long, full years, but finally, in failing health, his spirit gave out and he died, joining his ancestors. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave facing Mamre in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hethite, this being the cave that Abraham purchased from the Hethites. He was interred there next to his wife Sarah.
Notes:
1. A curious and uncomfortably intimate custom is recounted here, that of making a promise, swearing an oath to someone by placing your hand against his genitals. Most, if not all Biblical translations refer only to "thigh" but that is merely a euphemism. (It is ever the intention of this translation to be totally accurate, clear, and honest -- even when it is embarrassing.)
2. As perhaps the first recorded instance of racial prejudice, Abraham insists that his son only marry someone of his own ethnicity -- no Canaanite girl is going to marry my son! Abraham, though, is obligated by Jehovah to do so, since his god is only the god of the Hebrews and is not going to do any favors for other peoples. The line must be kept racially pure so that Jehovah can be held to the promises he has made to his Abraham's descendants. Also, Abraham probably does not wish to venture from what seems to be the early Hebrew tradition of incest and inbreeding. This would not be uncommon at the time. (Consider the long-held preference for brother-sister marriages by the Egyptian pharaohs.)
3. Abraham's steward makes the trip back to Mesopotamia by camel. This, as has been mentioned before, is egregiously anachronistic. Camels would not become a form of transportation in the Middle East for more than a thousand years after Abraham's age. Perhaps Rebecca giving water to donkeys would have made the tale less romantic.
4. There is a reference to Jehovah sending an agent to help the steward find Abraham's family, but the steward seems to be lucky and doesn't need any help. Or did the "divine" agent find some way to guide the steward's party to the correct destination? This is left unexplained.
5. It is curious that the narrator does not know the name of Abraham's steward, who is a prominent actor in the story (and has a great deal to say), yet is apprised of the exact monetary value of the nose ring and bracelets he gives to Rebecca!
6. Another point of interest is that Abraham seems obligated to present gifts and make at least an informal marriage settlement to the bride and the family of the bride. It seems fitting since in this case it is the man who is searching for a marriage partner. Later tradition will often dictate that it is the family of the bride who must fork over a dowry.
7. When Rebecca and Isaac meet, rather romantically (although the story seems cut off or abridged), the steward refers to Isaac as his master and not his master's son. The reader can only wonder whether this is a mistake or has some significance. Another interesting point in their meeting is that Rebecca is quick to cover her face with her cloak. She does not wish her future husband to view her unveiled, but with the steward and the other servants she has been bare-faced the whole time and had even allowed a stranger to bedeck her with jewels.
8. We are reminded at several points in the story how old a man Abraham is and how he is in his dotage, but then we are told he has married again, with the frisky old gent siring a slew of children. He lives to be 175, not quite antediluvian longevity, but an abnormally long life span nonetheless. There is, of course, no evidence that men of the 2nd millennium B.C. were endowed with such longevity, in fact, life expectancy of adults was probably less than 50 years, with an occasion strong, or fortunate man living to old age. In the legends of all peoples, it seems that patriarchs are almost always credited with a number of years matching their stature.
9. In Abraham's treatment of his sons, we see an early example of the tradition of primogeniture, in which the eldest son is the sole heir: he inherits everything and the younger sons, practically nothing. There is certainly no pretense of equal treatment among Abraham's children; the sons of the other wife are not even permitted to associate with Isaac. They are merely bought off and banished out of sight.
Abraham was aged and infirm, but in all ways he had been blessed by Jehovah.
Abraham addressed his senior servant, the steward who had charge of his affairs and household "Put your hand against my genitals and swear by the god of heaven and earth that you will not choose for my son a wife from among the womenfolk of the Canaanites, with whom I live, but that you will go back to my own country and to my own kin to find a wife for my son Isaac."
The steward asked "What if no woman is willing to come to this country, should I take your son back to his native land?”
"No, under no circumstances take my son back there! Jehovah, the god of heaven, led me out of my father's house and my homeland. He spoke to me and swore to me that my progeny would be granted possession of this land. Jehovah will send an agent ahead to help you find a wife for my son there. However, if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you are not bound by the oath. Only do not take my son back there."
The servant placed his hand against Abraham's genitals and swore the oath.
The steward took ten camels from Abraham's herd and departed, taking with him some of his master's treasure to be used as gifts. He journeyed to Mesopotamia, to the town of Abraham's brother Nachor. At an well outside the settlement, he had his camels kneel down to rest. It was evening, the time when women regularly came to draw water from the well. He prayed "Jehovah, god of my master, please bring me good fortune and favor my master Abraham. See me, I am standing here by the well where the maidens of the town come to draw water. Let it be that the girl to whom I say 'Please, set down your water jug and let me drink.' will reply 'Drink and I will give water to your camels as well.’ Let her be the one that you've chosen for your servant Isaac. Let that be a sign that you have favored my master."
Even before he had finished speaking, there came to the well, bearing a water jug on her shoulder, none other than Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel and the granddaughter of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham's brother. The young girl was quite beautiful and still a virginal maiden. She filled her jug at the well and was returning when Abraham's steward approached her.
"Could you please let me have some water from your jug?" he asked.
"Have a drink, sir," she answered, slipping the jug down from her shoulder and letting him take a drink from it. After he had finished drinking, she told him "I will draw some water for your camels, so that they can have their fill, too." She empty her jug in the water trough and then hurried back to the well to get more water for the camels.
Wondering about her and whether Jehovah had crowned his journey with success or not, the steward kept quiet. But after the camels had finished drinking, he brought out a gold nose ring weighing half a shekel and two bracelets of gold worth ten shekels and presented them to Rebecca. He asked the girl "Who are your parents? Is there room in your house for me and my men to lodge?"
She answered, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor and Milcah." She added "We have plenty of both straw and hay and enough room for lodging."
The steward prostrated himself and prayed "Blessed be Jehovah, the god of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his mercy and truth from my master and who has guided me unerringly to the house of my master's brother!”
Rebecca ran home and told everyone in the house what had transpired. She had a brother named Laban. When he saw the nose ring and the bracelets his sister was wearing and heard what the man told her, he rushed out to the well to greet the steward. He found the man standing by his camels at the well and said to him "Come on inside, you who are blessed by Jehovah. Why are you standing outside? I have prepared a room for you in the house and stabling for your camels."
Laban led the steward and his party to his home. Laban unsaddled his camels and gave them hay and straw. He also furnished water to wash the feet of the Abraham's steward and the men who had come with him.
A meal was laid out for the steward, but he said "I can't eat until I've revealed the purpose of my errand."
Tell us!” he was bid.
"I am a servant of Abraham. Jehovah has blessed my master wonderfully. He is wealthy in flocks of sheep and herds of oxen, silver and gold, male and female servants, camels and donkeys. Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to him when she was quite old, and the son is his sole heir. My master made me swear, saying 'You will not choose for my son a wife from among the womenfolk of the Canaanites, with whom I live, but you will go back to my own country and to my own kin to find a wife for my son.' But I asked my master 'What if the woman won't come back with me?' 'Jehovah,' he told me 'whom I follow, will send an agent ahead to guide me. You will choose for a wife only a woman from my own people and my own family. But you are absolved from your oath if, finding my family, they won't furnish you with a willing bride.' And today I arrived at the well and prayed "Jehovah, god of my master, if you wish to favor my mission let it be that the girl to whom I say 'Please, set down your water jug and let me drink.' will reply 'Drink and I will give water to your camels as well'." Let her be the one that you've chosen for your servant Isaac, and that will be a sign that you have favored my master.' And while I was pondering that in my mind, lo and behold Rebecca appeared carrying a water jug on her shoulder. She went down to the well and drew water. I asked her "Could you give me a little to drink?" She quickly let the jug down from her shoulder and invited me 'Have a drink and I will give water to the camels' So I drank and she made the camels drink. And I asked of her 'Who are your parents?' And she said 'I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor and his wife Milcah.' And so I put the nose ring on her to adorn her face and fastened the bracelets to her wrists. And prostrating myself, I prayed, thanking Jehovah, the god of my master Abraham, who had led me straight to the daughter of my master's brother for his son's sake. If you would deal with my master honestly and truly, please let me know one way or the other how I should proceed."
Laban and Bethuel replied "This is ordained by Jehovah; we can say nothing to contradict it. Rebecca stands here before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as Jehovah wishes."
When Abraham's steward heard this, he fell to the ground and thanked Jehovah. He then produced vessels and jeweled ornaments of silver and gold and luxurious raiment and presented them to Rebecca, also proffering precious gifts to her brother and mother. To celebrate, a banquet was held, and the steward and the men with him stayed the night. When they rose in the morning he asked his hosts "I wish your permission to leave so I can return to my master!"
But the girl's brother and mother pleaded with him "Let the girl stay with us a few more days, ten at least. After that she will leave."
The steward replied "Please don't delay me, considering that I am on Jehovah's business. Let me leave so I can return at once to my master."
And they said "We will call the girl so that she may answer you personally." They called Rebecca and asked "Are you ready to go with this man now?" And she responded "Yes, I am!"
Thus they bid farewell to Rebecca and her nurse and to the steward and his party. They wished Rebecca well, saying "You are our sister, but you will be the mother of a multitude. May your posterity control the cities of their enemies!"
Rebecca and her maidservants mounted the camels and followed the steward as he returned posthaste to his master.
Meanwhile, Isaac was walking on the way to the well of Lahairoi [the living and the seeing] (for he lived in the south country), but he lingered at dusk to meditate in the field, for he had spent a busy day. He looked up and noticed a train of camels approaching from afar.
When Rebecca glimpsed Isaac, she dismounted her camel and asked of the steward "Who is that man walking in the field coming to greet us?"
"It's my master," the servant replied. Rebecca quickly grabbed her cloak and covered her face.
After the steward recounted to Isaac all that had occurred, Isaac brought Rebecca into the tent of his mother. He married her and loved her, and she comforted him for the loss of his mother.
Abraham himself married again, to a woman named Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, and the sons of Dedan were the progenitors of the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All of these were the descendants of Keturah. Abraham, however, willed his entire estate to Isaac. To the sons Abraham had fathered by his lesser wives he did give gifts, but, during his lifetime, they were sent away to live in the east country, separated from his son Isaac.
Abraham lived to be a 175 years old. He had spent many long, full years, but finally, in failing health, his spirit gave out and he died, joining his ancestors. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave facing Mamre in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hethite, this being the cave that Abraham purchased from the Hethites. He was interred there next to his wife Sarah.
Notes:
1. A curious and uncomfortably intimate custom is recounted here, that of making a promise, swearing an oath to someone by placing your hand against his genitals. Most, if not all Biblical translations refer only to "thigh" but that is merely a euphemism. (It is ever the intention of this translation to be totally accurate, clear, and honest -- even when it is embarrassing.)
2. As perhaps the first recorded instance of racial prejudice, Abraham insists that his son only marry someone of his own ethnicity -- no Canaanite girl is going to marry my son! Abraham, though, is obligated by Jehovah to do so, since his god is only the god of the Hebrews and is not going to do any favors for other peoples. The line must be kept racially pure so that Jehovah can be held to the promises he has made to his Abraham's descendants. Also, Abraham probably does not wish to venture from what seems to be the early Hebrew tradition of incest and inbreeding. This would not be uncommon at the time. (Consider the long-held preference for brother-sister marriages by the Egyptian pharaohs.)
3. Abraham's steward makes the trip back to Mesopotamia by camel. This, as has been mentioned before, is egregiously anachronistic. Camels would not become a form of transportation in the Middle East for more than a thousand years after Abraham's age. Perhaps Rebecca giving water to donkeys would have made the tale less romantic.
4. There is a reference to Jehovah sending an agent to help the steward find Abraham's family, but the steward seems to be lucky and doesn't need any help. Or did the "divine" agent find some way to guide the steward's party to the correct destination? This is left unexplained.
5. It is curious that the narrator does not know the name of Abraham's steward, who is a prominent actor in the story (and has a great deal to say), yet is apprised of the exact monetary value of the nose ring and bracelets he gives to Rebecca!
6. Another point of interest is that Abraham seems obligated to present gifts and make at least an informal marriage settlement to the bride and the family of the bride. It seems fitting since in this case it is the man who is searching for a marriage partner. Later tradition will often dictate that it is the family of the bride who must fork over a dowry.
7. When Rebecca and Isaac meet, rather romantically (although the story seems cut off or abridged), the steward refers to Isaac as his master and not his master's son. The reader can only wonder whether this is a mistake or has some significance. Another interesting point in their meeting is that Rebecca is quick to cover her face with her cloak. She does not wish her future husband to view her unveiled, but with the steward and the other servants she has been bare-faced the whole time and had even allowed a stranger to bedeck her with jewels.
8. We are reminded at several points in the story how old a man Abraham is and how he is in his dotage, but then we are told he has married again, with the frisky old gent siring a slew of children. He lives to be 175, not quite antediluvian longevity, but an abnormally long life span nonetheless. There is, of course, no evidence that men of the 2nd millennium B.C. were endowed with such longevity, in fact, life expectancy of adults was probably less than 50 years, with an occasion strong, or fortunate man living to old age. In the legends of all peoples, it seems that patriarchs are almost always credited with a number of years matching their stature.
9. In Abraham's treatment of his sons, we see an early example of the tradition of primogeniture, in which the eldest son is the sole heir: he inherits everything and the younger sons, practically nothing. There is certainly no pretense of equal treatment among Abraham's children; the sons of the other wife are not even permitted to associate with Isaac. They are merely bought off and banished out of sight.
Monday, April 22, 2013
The History of Abraham, Part Eight
(Genesis 22:20-23:20)
Subsequent to these events, Abraham was informed that his brother Nachor and Melcha had become the parents of several children. They were Huz, the oldest, his brother Buz, and Kemuel, the father of Aram, also Chesed, Hazo, Pilldash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel, who was the father of Rebecca -- such were the eight children Melcha bore to Abraham's brother Nachor. And by a concubine named Reumah, Nachor was also father to Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.
Sarah lived to be a 127 years old and died in the town of Arbee, later known as Hebron, in Canaan. Abraham came there to weep and mourn for his late wife. During the funeral ceremonies, he rose and addressed the Hethite authorities "I am a stranger and an alien residing in your land, but I would like to acquire the right to some property so that I can give my deceased wife a proper burial here."
The Hethites responded to Abraham "Listen, sir, you are regarded as a prince among us, a man of God; you may have access to our choicest burial grounds. Indeed, no one will prevent you from properly burying your dead anywhere you wish."
Abraham expressed his appreciation to the citizens of the country and especially to the Hethite authorities. Conferring with them, he requested "If it is acceptable to you for me to bury my dead here, would you please put in a word for me with Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may let me have the double cave of Machpelah, which he owns and which is at the end of his field. I wish to purchase it for whatever it is worth and use it as a sepulcher."
Ephron, who was a native Hethite, replied to Abraham in the company of the Hethite authorities and in hearing of all those who had come to the city's marketplace. "No, sir, that's not necessary. Hear me -- I will give you the field, as well as the cave that lies in it. With my people as witnesses I offer it to you gratis for the purpose of burying your dead there."
Abraham made his respects to the people, and spoke to Ephron in their presence. "If you are willing to let me have it, please hear me out. I insist on giving you money for it; accept my payment, so I can bury my dead there."
Ephron answered "The land you want is worth about 400 shekels of silver [10 pounds], but what is that between you and me? --- Bury your dead!"
Abraham accepted the terms, and in the presence of the Hethite authorities he weighed out the amount Ephron had requested -- 400 shekels of silver, as it was customarily measured by merchants of the time. With the Hethite authorities and the people of the town as witnesses, Abraham was given legal claim to the field of Ephron in Machpelah facing Mamre, the double cave that it contained, and the trees that marked its boundary. And in the presence of the Hethite authorities, Abraham took possession of the field and of the double cave, where he then interred his wife Sarah.
Notes
1. It is interesting that Abraham's brother Nachor, while having a large number of children by his legal wife, also fathers, by his concubine, children important enough to be named. One wonders what Jehovah, at this point, thinks about adultery and out-of-wedlock births. One awaits the first Biblical condemnation of such behavior.
2. The purchase of a tomb, which the text makes much of, does not sound like a big deal, but this would be the first property that Abraham, a nomad, would hold legal title to, and the cave would become important as a burial place for his family.
3. Ephron is described in most translations as a Hittite. This must be incorrect or an anachronism. The Hittites were one of the great people of the ancient Middle East, and centuries after Abraham they commanded an empire from Anatolia, (although that empire did not include any of Abraham's stomping grounds). While there are conflicting views on the subject, it seems most likely that the Biblical Hittites and the Historical Hittites are not the same people, since in time, place, and importance, they are at variance. The former are probably the same as the Hethites, who were either a tribe of Canaanites, or a separate people who lived among the Canaanites. The confusion is owing entirely to similarity of names, perhaps like someone a couple thousand years from now mixing up Austrians and Australians. To avoid misinterpretation I have made a practice of referring to "Hittites" as Hethites.
4. Abraham is insistent upon paying for the burial ground, the field and cave, and refuses to accept it as a gift. This is quite a turn around for someone who accepted considerable unearned bounty from the Egyptian pharaoh and King Abimelech. But this is a piece of property, not disposable goods, and it is important for him to establish sure title to the land that would be used by his family for generations to come. The Hebrew/Semitic custom of burial has persisted into modern times. While cremation, which was practiced by most ancient peoples, the Greeks, Persians, Romans, and so forth, has become increasingly popular, it is still eschewed by most espousing religions based on Biblical traditions.
Subsequent to these events, Abraham was informed that his brother Nachor and Melcha had become the parents of several children. They were Huz, the oldest, his brother Buz, and Kemuel, the father of Aram, also Chesed, Hazo, Pilldash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel, who was the father of Rebecca -- such were the eight children Melcha bore to Abraham's brother Nachor. And by a concubine named Reumah, Nachor was also father to Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.
Sarah lived to be a 127 years old and died in the town of Arbee, later known as Hebron, in Canaan. Abraham came there to weep and mourn for his late wife. During the funeral ceremonies, he rose and addressed the Hethite authorities "I am a stranger and an alien residing in your land, but I would like to acquire the right to some property so that I can give my deceased wife a proper burial here."
The Hethites responded to Abraham "Listen, sir, you are regarded as a prince among us, a man of God; you may have access to our choicest burial grounds. Indeed, no one will prevent you from properly burying your dead anywhere you wish."
Abraham expressed his appreciation to the citizens of the country and especially to the Hethite authorities. Conferring with them, he requested "If it is acceptable to you for me to bury my dead here, would you please put in a word for me with Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may let me have the double cave of Machpelah, which he owns and which is at the end of his field. I wish to purchase it for whatever it is worth and use it as a sepulcher."
Ephron, who was a native Hethite, replied to Abraham in the company of the Hethite authorities and in hearing of all those who had come to the city's marketplace. "No, sir, that's not necessary. Hear me -- I will give you the field, as well as the cave that lies in it. With my people as witnesses I offer it to you gratis for the purpose of burying your dead there."
Abraham made his respects to the people, and spoke to Ephron in their presence. "If you are willing to let me have it, please hear me out. I insist on giving you money for it; accept my payment, so I can bury my dead there."
Ephron answered "The land you want is worth about 400 shekels of silver [10 pounds], but what is that between you and me? --- Bury your dead!"
Abraham accepted the terms, and in the presence of the Hethite authorities he weighed out the amount Ephron had requested -- 400 shekels of silver, as it was customarily measured by merchants of the time. With the Hethite authorities and the people of the town as witnesses, Abraham was given legal claim to the field of Ephron in Machpelah facing Mamre, the double cave that it contained, and the trees that marked its boundary. And in the presence of the Hethite authorities, Abraham took possession of the field and of the double cave, where he then interred his wife Sarah.
Notes
1. It is interesting that Abraham's brother Nachor, while having a large number of children by his legal wife, also fathers, by his concubine, children important enough to be named. One wonders what Jehovah, at this point, thinks about adultery and out-of-wedlock births. One awaits the first Biblical condemnation of such behavior.
2. The purchase of a tomb, which the text makes much of, does not sound like a big deal, but this would be the first property that Abraham, a nomad, would hold legal title to, and the cave would become important as a burial place for his family.
3. Ephron is described in most translations as a Hittite. This must be incorrect or an anachronism. The Hittites were one of the great people of the ancient Middle East, and centuries after Abraham they commanded an empire from Anatolia, (although that empire did not include any of Abraham's stomping grounds). While there are conflicting views on the subject, it seems most likely that the Biblical Hittites and the Historical Hittites are not the same people, since in time, place, and importance, they are at variance. The former are probably the same as the Hethites, who were either a tribe of Canaanites, or a separate people who lived among the Canaanites. The confusion is owing entirely to similarity of names, perhaps like someone a couple thousand years from now mixing up Austrians and Australians. To avoid misinterpretation I have made a practice of referring to "Hittites" as Hethites.
4. Abraham is insistent upon paying for the burial ground, the field and cave, and refuses to accept it as a gift. This is quite a turn around for someone who accepted considerable unearned bounty from the Egyptian pharaoh and King Abimelech. But this is a piece of property, not disposable goods, and it is important for him to establish sure title to the land that would be used by his family for generations to come. The Hebrew/Semitic custom of burial has persisted into modern times. While cremation, which was practiced by most ancient peoples, the Greeks, Persians, Romans, and so forth, has become increasingly popular, it is still eschewed by most espousing religions based on Biblical traditions.
Monday, April 15, 2013
The History of Abraham, Part Seven
(Genesis 21:22 - 22:19)
At that time it happened that King Abimilech and his chief military commander Phichol spoke to Abraham "Since God is with you in all that you do, swear by Him here and now that you will have honest dealings with me and with my successors, that you will extend the same courtesy to me that I have extended to you as a foreign resident in my country."
"I do so swear," replied Abraham. But he complained to him about a water well of his that Abimilech's followers had taken by force.
Abimelech responded "I don't know who’s responsible. You never told me about this before and it’s the first I've heard of it."
Abraham presented Abimelech with some sheep and oxen, and they made a pact. Abraham also set aside seven female lambs from his flock.
"What is the meaning of these seven female lambs that you have set aside?" asked Abimelech.
"I hope who will accept them as an assurance that I was the one who dug that well."
The place was thereafter called Beersheba, for that was where both of them swore an oath and made a contract. Abilemech and his general Phichol then departed and returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a grove of tamarisks at Beersheba and there worshipped Jehovah, the eternal god. And Abraham made his residence in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
After these events, Jehovah tested Abraham. He called out his name, "Abraham, Abraham!" And Abraham responded "Here I am." Jehovah then told him "Take your favored son, Isaac, whom you love, and journey with him into the land of Moriah [clear vision]. On a mountain that I will show you, you will offer him to be burned as a human sacrifice."
Rising early, Abraham saddled his donkey and split some wood logs for the sacrifice. Accompanied by Isaac and two trusted man servants, he set out on his trek to the place designated by Jehovah. On the third day, Abraham surveyed the land above and located his destination still some distance away. Abraham bid his trusted servants “Rest here and stay with the donkey. My son and I are going to hike up there. After we hold worship, we will return.” Abraham collected the timber needed for the sacrifice and placed it on Isaac’s shoulders for him to tote, while he carried the sacrificial knife and a brazier of charcoal embers for the fire.
As they walked on together, Isaac turned to his father and asked "Father?"
"What do you want, my son?" Abraham replied.
"We have the fire and the wood, but where is the animal to burn as a sacrifice?" he asked.
"Jehovah himself will furnish the victim for the sacrifice" he replied. And they continued on.
When they came to the place that Jehovah had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the firewood upon it. He then bound up his son Isaac and laid his body on the altar atop the pile of wood. Abraham seized the knife and raised it to strike and kill his son.
At that moment, Jehovah, in his aerial vehicle, hailed him from the sky "Abraham, Abraham!”
"Here I am!" Abraham rejoined.
"Don’t strike that boy, or harm him in any way. For I am now assured that you are obedient to me, since you have not hesitated to sacrifice to me your son, your much-loved son."
Abraham looked up and noticed that behind him there was a ram caught in the briars, held fast by its horns. Abraham captured the sheep and used it for the burnt sacrifice instead of his son.
Abraham named this place Jehovajireh, (Jehovah sees), as it is called even today, for it is said “upon the mountain, Jehovah will be seen.”
Jehovah called down to Abraham from the sky a second time. And Jehovah proclaimed to him "I have promised myself that if you would go through with this act and not hesitate to sacrifice to me your favored son, I would bless you. Indeed, your progeny will be as abundant as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the beach. Your descendants will occupy the cities of your enemies. All the nations of the earth will thus be blessed, since you have obeyed my command."
Abraham returned to the trusted servants waiting for him, and together they went to Beersheba, where he made his residence.
Notes
1. Apparently Abraham dug a well and some of Abimelech people, unbeknownst to their king, took possession of it by force. Abraham's word that he was the one who dug it seemed insufficient, so he intended to convince Abimelech of the fact by giving him seven she-lambs. The gift/bribe was not refused. Abraham ended up buying the well that was already rightfully his. One can imagine he didn't want to press the case and perhaps disrupt the good relations he was having with Abimelech.
2. Abraham has all along been a faithful follower of Jehovah and continued to worship him as a god. For some reason, though, Jehovah, decides to test his fidelity and does so in the most extreme way imaginable, demanding that he kill his beloved son as a human sacrifice to him. It is hard to see this demand as anything but malicious, a desire on Jehovah's part to totally humiliate his follower and reduce him to absolute subservience. What is presented here is subjective morality. Whatever Jehovah desires, whatever he happens to like, is good. Obedience to him is the sole criterion for righteousness. If Jehovah demands some vile, despicable, obscene thing like human sacrifice, then it becomes good. Abraham and his followers do not seem to be required to conform to any abstract moral precepts, only to do Jehovah's bidding and abide by his wishes, whatever they might be. Jehovists are not expected to think or make moral judgments on their own. Abraham doesn't question Jehovah's command, but blindly obeys. This is reminiscent of cults and secret societies where absolute obedience is required and heinous acts are often demanded as a test of one's fidelity. --- It might be pointed out that this kind of unquestioning and fanatical devotion is surely the source of all the great evils in history. The lesser evils result from unbridled personal ambition, but all history shows that it is the collective adherence to some sort of -ism that produces the greater evils, the bloodiest wars, the severest persecutions, the harshest tyrannies.
3. The scene in which Isaac, walking with his father to the place where they will build the sacrificial altar, is out of a horror story. He asks where the animal for the sacrifice is. Does he suspect that he is to be the sacrifice, that his own father is going to cut him up and burn his body? Does he struggle when his father ties him up? Does he question his father's judgment or sanity? Or does he accept it all like the lamb led to slaughter that he is? At any rate, one suspects that the experience would have been traumatic for the boy, even though it all turns out well when his place on the altar is taken by some unlucky ram. One wonders what he subsequently thinks of his father, or if he has totally bought into the self-means-nothing worship of Jehovah.
4. In many translations, Isaac is referred to as Abraham's only son, which is, of course, incorrect. I have used “favored,” and “well-loved” which is a more accurate rendering. --- Also, the reference to coal used in many translations cannot be right, since ancient man did not mine and burn coal until a much, much later period, approximately the second century B.C. Charcoal seems more likely to have furnished the embers that Abraham carried in a brazier and used to start the fire for the sacrifice.
5. When Jehovah stops the sacrifice of Isaac just as Abraham has raised his knife to eviscerate the lad, it is like the end of a cruel joke. "Just kidding!" Jehovah seems to be saying. "I'll be merciful. You won't have to murder your son after all, since you have shown me that I can make you do anything. You are confirmed as my stooge, my sap, my slave. I will now reward you and throw you some scraps from my table” One wonders what would have ensued if Abraham, like a real man, had instead told Jehovah to go fly a kite, that he wasn't going to murder his son under any circumstances, let alone to satisfy a mere whim, and that Jehovah could keep his big promises about Abraham becoming the father of nations and kings. However, for those living at the time of the Bible's writing and, one supposes, contemporary devotees, Abraham represents an ideal of religious devotion.
6. An ‘angel” or “messenger” of Jehovah calls down to Abraham from the sky, but it is obviously the words of Jehovah that are spoken. The context does not indicate two persons calling down from the sky. In this case, as in many others, the “angel” should be interpreted not as another extraterrestrial being, but as a vessel, an aerial vehicle in which Jehovah is traveling and from which he can project his voice below.
At that time it happened that King Abimilech and his chief military commander Phichol spoke to Abraham "Since God is with you in all that you do, swear by Him here and now that you will have honest dealings with me and with my successors, that you will extend the same courtesy to me that I have extended to you as a foreign resident in my country."
"I do so swear," replied Abraham. But he complained to him about a water well of his that Abimilech's followers had taken by force.
Abimelech responded "I don't know who’s responsible. You never told me about this before and it’s the first I've heard of it."
Abraham presented Abimelech with some sheep and oxen, and they made a pact. Abraham also set aside seven female lambs from his flock.
"What is the meaning of these seven female lambs that you have set aside?" asked Abimelech.
"I hope who will accept them as an assurance that I was the one who dug that well."
The place was thereafter called Beersheba, for that was where both of them swore an oath and made a contract. Abilemech and his general Phichol then departed and returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a grove of tamarisks at Beersheba and there worshipped Jehovah, the eternal god. And Abraham made his residence in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
After these events, Jehovah tested Abraham. He called out his name, "Abraham, Abraham!" And Abraham responded "Here I am." Jehovah then told him "Take your favored son, Isaac, whom you love, and journey with him into the land of Moriah [clear vision]. On a mountain that I will show you, you will offer him to be burned as a human sacrifice."
Rising early, Abraham saddled his donkey and split some wood logs for the sacrifice. Accompanied by Isaac and two trusted man servants, he set out on his trek to the place designated by Jehovah. On the third day, Abraham surveyed the land above and located his destination still some distance away. Abraham bid his trusted servants “Rest here and stay with the donkey. My son and I are going to hike up there. After we hold worship, we will return.” Abraham collected the timber needed for the sacrifice and placed it on Isaac’s shoulders for him to tote, while he carried the sacrificial knife and a brazier of charcoal embers for the fire.
As they walked on together, Isaac turned to his father and asked "Father?"
"What do you want, my son?" Abraham replied.
"We have the fire and the wood, but where is the animal to burn as a sacrifice?" he asked.
"Jehovah himself will furnish the victim for the sacrifice" he replied. And they continued on.
When they came to the place that Jehovah had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the firewood upon it. He then bound up his son Isaac and laid his body on the altar atop the pile of wood. Abraham seized the knife and raised it to strike and kill his son.
At that moment, Jehovah, in his aerial vehicle, hailed him from the sky "Abraham, Abraham!”
"Here I am!" Abraham rejoined.
"Don’t strike that boy, or harm him in any way. For I am now assured that you are obedient to me, since you have not hesitated to sacrifice to me your son, your much-loved son."
Abraham looked up and noticed that behind him there was a ram caught in the briars, held fast by its horns. Abraham captured the sheep and used it for the burnt sacrifice instead of his son.
Abraham named this place Jehovajireh, (Jehovah sees), as it is called even today, for it is said “upon the mountain, Jehovah will be seen.”
Jehovah called down to Abraham from the sky a second time. And Jehovah proclaimed to him "I have promised myself that if you would go through with this act and not hesitate to sacrifice to me your favored son, I would bless you. Indeed, your progeny will be as abundant as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the beach. Your descendants will occupy the cities of your enemies. All the nations of the earth will thus be blessed, since you have obeyed my command."
Abraham returned to the trusted servants waiting for him, and together they went to Beersheba, where he made his residence.
Notes
1. Apparently Abraham dug a well and some of Abimelech people, unbeknownst to their king, took possession of it by force. Abraham's word that he was the one who dug it seemed insufficient, so he intended to convince Abimelech of the fact by giving him seven she-lambs. The gift/bribe was not refused. Abraham ended up buying the well that was already rightfully his. One can imagine he didn't want to press the case and perhaps disrupt the good relations he was having with Abimelech.
2. Abraham has all along been a faithful follower of Jehovah and continued to worship him as a god. For some reason, though, Jehovah, decides to test his fidelity and does so in the most extreme way imaginable, demanding that he kill his beloved son as a human sacrifice to him. It is hard to see this demand as anything but malicious, a desire on Jehovah's part to totally humiliate his follower and reduce him to absolute subservience. What is presented here is subjective morality. Whatever Jehovah desires, whatever he happens to like, is good. Obedience to him is the sole criterion for righteousness. If Jehovah demands some vile, despicable, obscene thing like human sacrifice, then it becomes good. Abraham and his followers do not seem to be required to conform to any abstract moral precepts, only to do Jehovah's bidding and abide by his wishes, whatever they might be. Jehovists are not expected to think or make moral judgments on their own. Abraham doesn't question Jehovah's command, but blindly obeys. This is reminiscent of cults and secret societies where absolute obedience is required and heinous acts are often demanded as a test of one's fidelity. --- It might be pointed out that this kind of unquestioning and fanatical devotion is surely the source of all the great evils in history. The lesser evils result from unbridled personal ambition, but all history shows that it is the collective adherence to some sort of -ism that produces the greater evils, the bloodiest wars, the severest persecutions, the harshest tyrannies.
3. The scene in which Isaac, walking with his father to the place where they will build the sacrificial altar, is out of a horror story. He asks where the animal for the sacrifice is. Does he suspect that he is to be the sacrifice, that his own father is going to cut him up and burn his body? Does he struggle when his father ties him up? Does he question his father's judgment or sanity? Or does he accept it all like the lamb led to slaughter that he is? At any rate, one suspects that the experience would have been traumatic for the boy, even though it all turns out well when his place on the altar is taken by some unlucky ram. One wonders what he subsequently thinks of his father, or if he has totally bought into the self-means-nothing worship of Jehovah.
4. In many translations, Isaac is referred to as Abraham's only son, which is, of course, incorrect. I have used “favored,” and “well-loved” which is a more accurate rendering. --- Also, the reference to coal used in many translations cannot be right, since ancient man did not mine and burn coal until a much, much later period, approximately the second century B.C. Charcoal seems more likely to have furnished the embers that Abraham carried in a brazier and used to start the fire for the sacrifice.
5. When Jehovah stops the sacrifice of Isaac just as Abraham has raised his knife to eviscerate the lad, it is like the end of a cruel joke. "Just kidding!" Jehovah seems to be saying. "I'll be merciful. You won't have to murder your son after all, since you have shown me that I can make you do anything. You are confirmed as my stooge, my sap, my slave. I will now reward you and throw you some scraps from my table” One wonders what would have ensued if Abraham, like a real man, had instead told Jehovah to go fly a kite, that he wasn't going to murder his son under any circumstances, let alone to satisfy a mere whim, and that Jehovah could keep his big promises about Abraham becoming the father of nations and kings. However, for those living at the time of the Bible's writing and, one supposes, contemporary devotees, Abraham represents an ideal of religious devotion.
6. An ‘angel” or “messenger” of Jehovah calls down to Abraham from the sky, but it is obviously the words of Jehovah that are spoken. The context does not indicate two persons calling down from the sky. In this case, as in many others, the “angel” should be interpreted not as another extraterrestrial being, but as a vessel, an aerial vehicle in which Jehovah is traveling and from which he can project his voice below.
Monday, April 8, 2013
The History of Abraham, Part Six
(Genesis 20:1 - 21:21)
Abraham journeyed south to the Negev and settled in between Kadesh and Shur. When he stopped for a time at Gerar, he presented his wife Sarah as his sister. Abimelech, the King of Gerar, had her sent for and brought her into his harem. In a dream Jehovah warned Abimelech "You are condemned to death, for the woman you have taken is another man's wife."
Abimelech, who had not yet touched Sarah, responded "Jehovah, will you exact retribution against a country that has committed no wrong save out of ignorance?. Did he not say to me 'She is my sister'? Even she said 'He is my brother'. I have acted only in good faith and with honorable intentions."
Jehovah, in the dream, said "Yes, I know you acted in good faith. It was I who restrained you from touching her, so that you would not commit a sin. Now you must restore her to her husband, for he is a prophet. If you do so, he will intervene for you and you shall live. But if you do not, you, your family, and your household will die."
Abimelech got up early in the morning and summoned members of his court to inform them of these developments. They were quite alarmed and distressed. He then sent for Abraham and inquired of him "What have you done to me? How have I so offended you that you inflict this wrong upon me and my kingdom? You have done to me what no man should do to another. What did you witness that caused you to do this?"
Abraham explained "It occurred to me that this might not be a God-fearing country and that I might be killed by someone desiring my wife. And the truth is, she really is my sister, my half sister. We have the same father, but different mothers, and we are husband and wife as well. After we departed our homeland to wander at Jehovah's behest, I asked her, as a favor to me, that where ever we might journey she should say of me 'He is my brother'."
Thus Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham and made gifts to him of sheep and oxen, maids and manservants. He told him "My land is at your disposal. You may settle where you wish."
To Sarah Abimelech said "I have given your husband a thousand pieces of silver. This will compensate you for any injury I may have done to you and will demonstrate to your people that you have been guilty of no wrong."
Abraham prayed to Jehovah to allow Abimelech and his wife and his female servants to be able to have children again, for, because of Sarah, Jehovah had made all the women in Abimelech's household temporarily barren.
True to his word, Jehovah visited Sarah and fulfilled the promise he had made to her. As was foretold by him, Sarah conceived and gave birth to a child at an advanced age. Abraham named the child that she bore Isaac [meaning "he laughs"]. According to Jehovah's instructions, Abraham circumcised him on the eighth day. (Abraham was a hundred years old at the time that Isaac was born.)
Sarah said "Jehovah has made me laugh because of this and all who will hear of it will laugh, too. Who would have said to Abraham that his wife Sarah would be nursing a child born to her in her old age?"
The child grew and on the day he was weaned, Abraham gave a big party to celebrate it. But when Sarah noticed Ishmael, Abraham's son by the servant Hagar the Egyptian, teasing her own son, she demanded of Abraham “Get rid of this serving woman and her child! This son of a slave will not share your inheritance with my son!"
Abraham was dismayed by this for the sake of his son Ishmael. Jehovah advised Abraham "Don't be distressed on account of your servant and her son. Listen to Sarah and follow her wishes, for it is through her son Isaac that your legacy will be fulfilled. But because he is still your offspring I will make the servant's son the father of a nation."
Abraham got up early in the morning and gave Hagar a loaf of bread and strapped a waterskin over her shoulder before he sent her and her son away. Hagar and Ishmael departed and aimlessly wandered in the desert of Beersheba until they were lost. After all the water was consumed, Hagar had her son lay down underneath one of the bushes. She left him there and moved a good distance away, saying "I don't want to see my child die." As she sat there, she wailed and wept.
Jehovah heard the cries of the boy, and his emissary called down to Hagar from the sky "What's the matter with you, Hagar? ... Don't worry. Jehovah has heard your boy cry out from where he lies." Jehovah spoke to her "Rise, pick up the boy, take him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation."
Jehovah opened her eyes and directed her to a well. She reached it and filled her waterskin, giving a drink to her son.
Jehovah guided Ishmael as he grew to manhood in the wilderness and became an archer and hunter. He lived in the desert of Paran, but his mother found a wife for him in Egypt.
Notes
1. During his wanderings Abraham again tells everybody that Sarah is not his wife, but only his sister. Didn't he learn his lesson in Egypt? Apparently not. It is quite remarkable that he would persist in this error, also remarkable that Jehovah would not rebuke Abraham for his repeated dishonesty. Another curious aspect of this is the necessity for this subterfuge. Sarah is now in her nineties, aged, and, by her own admission, well past it. Why would she still be the object of men's lusts and why would a hundred-year old man fear that lascivious men are going to kill him to take possession of his old hag of a wife? It makes no sense, unless this story is out of place chronologically and occurred when Abraham and Sarah were still relatively young.
2. It almost seems as if Abraham is practicing a con game. He comes to town with his fetching wife, whom he claims is only his sister. He waits for the local potentate to hear of her beauty and then says and does nothing when she is inducted into the potentate's harem. When the error is discovered, the potentate apologizes, restores Abraham's wife, and then showers Abraham with rich gifts in compensation. Abraham, contrary to what an honorable man would do, does not refuse the gifts, in this case, a thousand pieces of silver (25 pounds). Abraham falls back on the excuse that the woman really is his sister, as well as his wife. (The reader first learns this here. Why didn't the writers inform us of this incest earlier when telling us of Sarah and the Pharaoh?) No matter what Abraham does, however cowardly, unjust, or duplicitous he may be, Jehovah will not only take his side, championing is patently unworthy favorite, but will use all the power at his disposal to punish his enemies. (Abraham continually feels fear for what may happen to him, inexplicably heedless of the promises of Jehovah, who has promised to protecting him.)
3. Jehovah makes it clear that taking another man's wife for your own is wrong. He expresses no such disapproval of a husband concealing his marriage or failing to defend his wife's honor. And as we have seen in the past, Jehovah has no qualms about punishing the innocent, even when, as in this case, he acknowledges that Abimelech has acted honorably and has sinned unwittingly. And his punishments always seem far too harsh for the crimes committed.
4. We find here and elsewhere that Jehovah has the power, not only to communicate with humans telepathically and, to some extent, read their minds, but to enter their dreams and speak to them in visions. Also, here we find him and his emissary speaking to Hagar from the sky, as if, one might imagine, through a loudspeaker on some aerial vehicle.
5. At the weaning party for Isaac, Sarah again reveals what a total bitch she is. She can't abide Hagar's son Ishmael (who is about 14 years old) playing with her son -- rather like a snobbish, prejudiced modern mother not wanting her child to play with the poor kid or the brown-skinned kid. Ishmael is, however, Abraham's son, whom he loves, and her husband's union with Hagar was sanctioned by Sarah herself. Hagar seems to epitomize the unhappy fate that so often befalls low-status women who consort with high-status men.
6. Instead of asking her husband to discipline Ishmael, if he was really out of line, Sarah insists that Hagar and her son must go -- kick them out, banish them to perish in the desert! Hen-pecked Abraham is reluctant to accede to his wife's wishes, but, lo and behold, Jehovah inserts himself into the family feud and takes Sarah's side. Abraham makes no provision at all for Hagar, like selling her to a neighboring nomad or arranging for her to live some place else, or even helping her to plan her journey. At least he has the grace to give Hagar some bread and water before booting her out of camp, even though he should have foreseen that the provisions would prove inadequate. Sarah obviously doesn't give a hoot if her former servant and her husband’s son die or not.
7. It seems inconsistent that Jehovah urged Abraham to get rid of the servant Hagar and her son and then rescues them when they are dying of thirst in the desert. Apparently the not-at-all-omniscient Jehovah was not very closely monitoring the situation. He seems surprised to find Hagar lost and forsaken. Why didn't he advise Abraham more specifically about what to do about Hagar, since he was committed to make Ishmael the father of a great nation?
8. The town of Gerar, near Beersheba in the northern Negev, was a Philistine town founded about 1200 B.C., hundreds of years after Abraham’s time. The Desert of Paran is probably located in the southern Sinai.
Abraham journeyed south to the Negev and settled in between Kadesh and Shur. When he stopped for a time at Gerar, he presented his wife Sarah as his sister. Abimelech, the King of Gerar, had her sent for and brought her into his harem. In a dream Jehovah warned Abimelech "You are condemned to death, for the woman you have taken is another man's wife."
Abimelech, who had not yet touched Sarah, responded "Jehovah, will you exact retribution against a country that has committed no wrong save out of ignorance?. Did he not say to me 'She is my sister'? Even she said 'He is my brother'. I have acted only in good faith and with honorable intentions."
Jehovah, in the dream, said "Yes, I know you acted in good faith. It was I who restrained you from touching her, so that you would not commit a sin. Now you must restore her to her husband, for he is a prophet. If you do so, he will intervene for you and you shall live. But if you do not, you, your family, and your household will die."
Abimelech got up early in the morning and summoned members of his court to inform them of these developments. They were quite alarmed and distressed. He then sent for Abraham and inquired of him "What have you done to me? How have I so offended you that you inflict this wrong upon me and my kingdom? You have done to me what no man should do to another. What did you witness that caused you to do this?"
Abraham explained "It occurred to me that this might not be a God-fearing country and that I might be killed by someone desiring my wife. And the truth is, she really is my sister, my half sister. We have the same father, but different mothers, and we are husband and wife as well. After we departed our homeland to wander at Jehovah's behest, I asked her, as a favor to me, that where ever we might journey she should say of me 'He is my brother'."
Thus Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham and made gifts to him of sheep and oxen, maids and manservants. He told him "My land is at your disposal. You may settle where you wish."
To Sarah Abimelech said "I have given your husband a thousand pieces of silver. This will compensate you for any injury I may have done to you and will demonstrate to your people that you have been guilty of no wrong."
Abraham prayed to Jehovah to allow Abimelech and his wife and his female servants to be able to have children again, for, because of Sarah, Jehovah had made all the women in Abimelech's household temporarily barren.
True to his word, Jehovah visited Sarah and fulfilled the promise he had made to her. As was foretold by him, Sarah conceived and gave birth to a child at an advanced age. Abraham named the child that she bore Isaac [meaning "he laughs"]. According to Jehovah's instructions, Abraham circumcised him on the eighth day. (Abraham was a hundred years old at the time that Isaac was born.)
Sarah said "Jehovah has made me laugh because of this and all who will hear of it will laugh, too. Who would have said to Abraham that his wife Sarah would be nursing a child born to her in her old age?"
The child grew and on the day he was weaned, Abraham gave a big party to celebrate it. But when Sarah noticed Ishmael, Abraham's son by the servant Hagar the Egyptian, teasing her own son, she demanded of Abraham “Get rid of this serving woman and her child! This son of a slave will not share your inheritance with my son!"
Abraham was dismayed by this for the sake of his son Ishmael. Jehovah advised Abraham "Don't be distressed on account of your servant and her son. Listen to Sarah and follow her wishes, for it is through her son Isaac that your legacy will be fulfilled. But because he is still your offspring I will make the servant's son the father of a nation."
Abraham got up early in the morning and gave Hagar a loaf of bread and strapped a waterskin over her shoulder before he sent her and her son away. Hagar and Ishmael departed and aimlessly wandered in the desert of Beersheba until they were lost. After all the water was consumed, Hagar had her son lay down underneath one of the bushes. She left him there and moved a good distance away, saying "I don't want to see my child die." As she sat there, she wailed and wept.
Jehovah heard the cries of the boy, and his emissary called down to Hagar from the sky "What's the matter with you, Hagar? ... Don't worry. Jehovah has heard your boy cry out from where he lies." Jehovah spoke to her "Rise, pick up the boy, take him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation."
Jehovah opened her eyes and directed her to a well. She reached it and filled her waterskin, giving a drink to her son.
Jehovah guided Ishmael as he grew to manhood in the wilderness and became an archer and hunter. He lived in the desert of Paran, but his mother found a wife for him in Egypt.
Notes
1. During his wanderings Abraham again tells everybody that Sarah is not his wife, but only his sister. Didn't he learn his lesson in Egypt? Apparently not. It is quite remarkable that he would persist in this error, also remarkable that Jehovah would not rebuke Abraham for his repeated dishonesty. Another curious aspect of this is the necessity for this subterfuge. Sarah is now in her nineties, aged, and, by her own admission, well past it. Why would she still be the object of men's lusts and why would a hundred-year old man fear that lascivious men are going to kill him to take possession of his old hag of a wife? It makes no sense, unless this story is out of place chronologically and occurred when Abraham and Sarah were still relatively young.
2. It almost seems as if Abraham is practicing a con game. He comes to town with his fetching wife, whom he claims is only his sister. He waits for the local potentate to hear of her beauty and then says and does nothing when she is inducted into the potentate's harem. When the error is discovered, the potentate apologizes, restores Abraham's wife, and then showers Abraham with rich gifts in compensation. Abraham, contrary to what an honorable man would do, does not refuse the gifts, in this case, a thousand pieces of silver (25 pounds). Abraham falls back on the excuse that the woman really is his sister, as well as his wife. (The reader first learns this here. Why didn't the writers inform us of this incest earlier when telling us of Sarah and the Pharaoh?) No matter what Abraham does, however cowardly, unjust, or duplicitous he may be, Jehovah will not only take his side, championing is patently unworthy favorite, but will use all the power at his disposal to punish his enemies. (Abraham continually feels fear for what may happen to him, inexplicably heedless of the promises of Jehovah, who has promised to protecting him.)
3. Jehovah makes it clear that taking another man's wife for your own is wrong. He expresses no such disapproval of a husband concealing his marriage or failing to defend his wife's honor. And as we have seen in the past, Jehovah has no qualms about punishing the innocent, even when, as in this case, he acknowledges that Abimelech has acted honorably and has sinned unwittingly. And his punishments always seem far too harsh for the crimes committed.
4. We find here and elsewhere that Jehovah has the power, not only to communicate with humans telepathically and, to some extent, read their minds, but to enter their dreams and speak to them in visions. Also, here we find him and his emissary speaking to Hagar from the sky, as if, one might imagine, through a loudspeaker on some aerial vehicle.
5. At the weaning party for Isaac, Sarah again reveals what a total bitch she is. She can't abide Hagar's son Ishmael (who is about 14 years old) playing with her son -- rather like a snobbish, prejudiced modern mother not wanting her child to play with the poor kid or the brown-skinned kid. Ishmael is, however, Abraham's son, whom he loves, and her husband's union with Hagar was sanctioned by Sarah herself. Hagar seems to epitomize the unhappy fate that so often befalls low-status women who consort with high-status men.
6. Instead of asking her husband to discipline Ishmael, if he was really out of line, Sarah insists that Hagar and her son must go -- kick them out, banish them to perish in the desert! Hen-pecked Abraham is reluctant to accede to his wife's wishes, but, lo and behold, Jehovah inserts himself into the family feud and takes Sarah's side. Abraham makes no provision at all for Hagar, like selling her to a neighboring nomad or arranging for her to live some place else, or even helping her to plan her journey. At least he has the grace to give Hagar some bread and water before booting her out of camp, even though he should have foreseen that the provisions would prove inadequate. Sarah obviously doesn't give a hoot if her former servant and her husband’s son die or not.
7. It seems inconsistent that Jehovah urged Abraham to get rid of the servant Hagar and her son and then rescues them when they are dying of thirst in the desert. Apparently the not-at-all-omniscient Jehovah was not very closely monitoring the situation. He seems surprised to find Hagar lost and forsaken. Why didn't he advise Abraham more specifically about what to do about Hagar, since he was committed to make Ishmael the father of a great nation?
8. The town of Gerar, near Beersheba in the northern Negev, was a Philistine town founded about 1200 B.C., hundreds of years after Abraham’s time. The Desert of Paran is probably located in the southern Sinai.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The History of Abraham, Part Five
(Genesis 19:1 - 19:38)
In the evening the two extraterrestrials arrived at Sodom and found Lot sitting just inside the city gate. Seeing them, Lot rose to meet them and then prostrated himself before them. He addressed them "I invite you, my masters, to please stop at the home of your servant. Stay the night and wash up so you may rise early and be on your way."
"No, thank you. We will be spending the night in the city square." they replied.
Lot insisted that they be his guests. They relented and came into his house. He prepared a feast for them, and they ate the matzah (unleavened bread) he had baked for them. However, before they could go to bed, the house was surrounded by a mob, which consisted of citizens of all ages and from all quarters of the city. They accosted Lot and demanded "Where are the men visiting you tonight? Bring them out here so we can find out what they're up to!"
Lot appeared outside and closed the door behind him. "Please, my brothers, do not commit this offense. ... Listen, I have two daughters that are virgins. I will deliver them to you and you can have your way with them, but, please, do not molest these men, for they are enjoying the hospitality of my house."
"Get out of our way!" the mob insisted. "You live here as a foreigner. Now you want to dictate to us? If you do, we will come down harder on you than we do on those men." They jostled Lot violently and almost broke down the door.
The extraterrestrials reached outside, pulled Lot inside the house, and closed the door behind him. Those outside, both the ring leaders and the rabble, were suddenly struck blind so they were groping even to find the door.
The extraterrestrials asked Lot "Do you have family here -- sons or daughters or in-laws? Whomever you may have, take them out of the city at once, for we are going to destroy this place. Because its wickedness has become so extreme, Jehovah has sent us to destroy it."
Lot went out and paid a visit to the men who were engaged to his daughters. "Get up! You must get out of the city, for Jehovah is about to destroy it." But they thought Lot was only playing some joke on them.
When dawn broke the extraterrestrials urged Lot to hurry and bid him "Get up! Take away your wife and the two daughters that live with you, or else you will be killed in the destruction of the city." When he tarried, the extraterrestrials took Lot, his wife, and his daughters all by the hand, for Jehovah had resolved to spare them. They escorted Lot and his family out of the city and told them "Save yourselves. Don't look back or linger in the neighboring country, but flee to the mountains or else you will be consumed."
Lot replied "Please, my masters. I, your servant, have found favor with you and you have shown great mercy in sparing my life, but I can't escape into the mountains. I won't be able to reach them in time before the destruction overwhelms me and I am killed. But there is a city I know of, a small one and not far away. I could flee there and be safe. ... It is a small city, isn't it? My life would be safe there, wouldn't it?"
One of the extraterrestrials responded "Very well, I give you my word not to destroy the city you have spoken of. But hurry, for I can do nothing till you get there. (The name of the city was Zoar, because Lot had called it a "small one".)
It was morning by the time Lot reached Zoar. It was then that Jehovah bombed Sodom and Gomorrah from the sky with sulfurous incendiaries and thus incinerated the cities, the surrounding plain, all the inhabitants of the cities there, as well as the vegetation. (Lot's wife lagged behind and her body was transformed into salt.)
Abraham was up early in the morning and went to the place where he had lately taken leave of Jehovah. He gazed out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the land of the plain and saw ashes rising up from the earth and a plume of smoke billowing as if from a furnace. (When Jehovah razed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and, therefore, rescued his nephew Lot from being killed when he destroyed the city where he had been living.)
Because he was uncomfortable staying in Zoar, Lot and his two daughters left there and found refuge in the mountains, where they made their home in a cave.
The oldest daughter told the younger "Our father is old and there are no men around who will come to mate with us. Let's ply our father with wine, get him drunk, and then have sex with him, so that our father's family can be perpetuated."
And so that night the oldest daughter got her father to overindulge wine and went into his bed to have sex with him. He never noticed when she came into his bed or when she left it.
The next day the older sister told the younger. "I lay with our father last night. Let's get him drunk again tonight so that you can have sex with him, so that our father's family can be perpetuated."
And so that night the youngest daughter got her father to overindulge wine and went into his bed to have sex with him. He never noticed when she came into his bed or when she left it.
Both daughters were thus made pregnant by their father. The oldest gave birth to a son Moab who is the father of the Moabites that exist today. The younger bore a son as well that she called Ammon (meaning the son of my people) and he is the father of the present-day Ammonites.
Notes
1. Jehovah sends his two emissaries/associates/companions to check out the conditions in Sodom, to see if the city's inhabitants are as wicked as he has come to believe. They apparently intended to wander around the streets to size up conditions, although one wonders how they could so easily determine the city's rating on Jehovah's evil-o-meter. In any case, the two extraterrestrials are persuaded to enjoy the hospitality of Lot's house -- and a good feast, even if the unleavened bread they are offered sounds less than appetizing. (Were they really conscientious in doing the job that Jehovah sent them to Sodom to do, or were they slacking?) Extraterrestrials always seem to be attracted to good chow. One may surmise that if they are in fact interstellar travelers they would be accustomed only to synthetic food or nutrient pills and, therefore, would appreciate an occasional home-cooked, human-cooked meal.
2. Although the extraterrestrials hardly got farther than the city gates before they were taken to Lot's house, news of their arrival in Sodom apparently spread quickly around the city. These beings were apparently recognizable from other men. The text does not indicate why. Lot knew them right away when they entered the city. Would it be the clothes they wore? Or something distinctive in their appearance?
3. A mob forms around Lot's house. The citizens know the extraterrestrials are inside and demand to see them so that they can question them and, one would assume, find out what they were doing in Sodom. It can be inferred that Jehovah and his people were regarded as enemies by the Sodomites, who were rightfully suspicious of their motives in coming to the city. There is a back story here that is not revealed in the text. One might surmise that there existed some kind of feud between Jehovah and the people of Sodom. Perhaps they opposed his will in something, or refused to worship him as a god. Jehovah's portrayal of the Sodomites as evil could be a prejudiced assessment. It does not seem credible that Jehovah would destroy the people of Sodom merely because of their wickedness: the wickedness is more likely used as an excuse to punish a people with whom he had a personal grievance. --- Or else why not find some worthily sinful cities in China or India or Central America and obliterate those as well.
4. The King James Version has the mob wanting to "know" the men inside Lot's house. Since the word "know" and the original Hebrew word "yada" are both used on occasion as euphemisms for "have sex with" many have inferred that the mob were vicious gays on the prowl for victims to bugger. This interpretation, however, is unlikely, if not preposterous, although most Biblical translators seem to subscribe to it. Consider the situation: Two men, recognized as agents of Sodom's enemy Jehovah come into town. The Sodomites perhaps already know that Jehovah has it in for them. They naturally wonder what these men want, what nefarious purpose (from their standpoint) they have. They learn that the men are staying at the house of Lot, a foreigner and a Jehovah partisan. A mob forms. One gets the impression it is a large mob, and the text specifically says it is a diverse one. They demand that Lot, in violation of the revered laws of hospitality, deliver his guests to the mob. Why does the mob want the men? To have gay sex with them? Really? Would that be on their mind at this point? Isn't it more likely they wanted to interrogate them, find out why they were in Sodom and what Jehovah's plans were?
5. Lot is so insistent on observing the laws of hospitality and protecting his extraterrestrial visitors that he is willing to throw his two virgin daughters to the mob with an invitation to rape or murder them, if they wanted to. This callousness on Lot's part is really appalling. That he would think of this means of appeasing the mob certainly doesn't reflect very well upon Lot's role as a father or upon the regard his people had for women. And you wonder what his guests may have thought of him for his actions to protect them when they obviously had the power to protect themselves. Lot perhaps wanted to impress his guests how loyal a servant he was to Jehovah, how he would make the most extreme sacrifice to serve him.
6. The extraterrestrials rescue Lot from the mob and pull him inside the house. To ward off the mob they render them blind. This is interesting. Were the men of the mob made permanently or temporarily blind or was their vision merely impaired so that they could not locate Lot's door. And how was this done? Was some weapon involved, a magic spell, hypnotic suggestion? Why did they not kill a few members of the mob (those people were going to be dead in a few hours anyway)?
7. The extraterrestrials announce they are going to destroy Sodom and the cities of the plain -- probably making up their minds quickly after witnessing the actions of the Sodomite mob who seem to be out for their hide. They ask Lot if he has family. Again no omniscience: they do not know or have made no point of finding out whether he does or not. Some translations identify the heedless men Lot visits to warn of the impending destruction as his son-in-laws. Since he has two virgin daughters at home, this would mean that he has at least two additional daughters who are married and who, certainly living with their husbands, were not warned. It is more likely that the men visited were prospective sons-in-law, engaged to Lot's daughters, but not yet married to them. Therefore, Lot has just the two unmarried daughters. Nearly all recent translations agree with this interpretation.
8. The sin that sealed Sodom's doom has been much discussed and debated in the past few thousand years. There is little evidence that the sin necessarily involved homosexuality per se. In Jude the Sodomites are depicted as pursuing promiscuity and perversion ("lusting after strange flesh"), but there is no specific, unambiguous reference to homosexuality. In Ezekiel the Sodomite's shortcomings are their arrogance, indolence, lack of compassion to the poor, and insufficient attention to the laws of hospitality -- a rather low threshold of sinfulness to trigger such catastrophic destruction. All we know from Genesis is that the people of Sodom, by their riotous actions against Lot and his guests, were a rowdy, restive, inhospitable bunch. Whatever the nature of their wickedness, the divine destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah would often be sited as an object lesson.
9. The means by which Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed continues to be debated. Excluding the unlikely possibility that it is simply a story and nothing of that nature ever occurred, one is impelled to look first for an answer in natural phenomena. There is no evidence of volcanic activity in that location. The description of fire falling from the sky might occur during a volcanic eruption, but no one describing the event would omit the little detail of the erupting volcanic mountain itself. An earthquake could easily have destroyed the cities and might have ignited the tar pits that we are already told existed in the area, accounting for the fires. However, the prominent feature of an earthquake is the shaking of the ground; there is no reference to that in the account. A meteor or asteroid or comet coming from the sky and crashing to earth in that area could cause fires, but the devastation would be mostly the result of the tremendous impact. There would be a large noise, a fearsome explosion, a gaping crater. None of these things are mentioned. How could they have been ignored? No natural phenomenon could have caused anything like the destruction mentioned in Genesis. The answer obviously lies in advanced warfare. If Jehovah were an extraterrestrial visitor, a being from another planet, he would have access to an array of high-tech weaponry, and if he wanted to entirely destroy a few ancient cities, he could easily do so. An atomic bomb would have been a possible, but unlikely choice; it would have been a sledge hammer to swat a fly -- Sodom might have been a big town in those days, but it wasn't New York or Hiroshima. Incendiary bombs dropped from an aerial vehicle could easily do the job -- incinerate the place so that no one would survive and little structurally would remain. The account, in fact, describes exactly that and I have translated, accurately, I believe, the usually rendered "raining from the heavens brimstone and fire" as "bombing from the sky with sulfurous incendiaries." The incendiary bombs may not have necessarily contained sulfur (brimstone), but the ancients would not have any clear idea of their composition. (The composition of the legendary incendiary weapon Greek fire is still not exactly known.) Sulfur was always connected in ancient minds with fire; the expression "fire and brimstone" was much used and is still employed figuratively today. -- An alternative account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is provided by the 1st Century A.D. historian Josephus who reports that the means of S & G's annihilation was a lightning bolt. The delivery of an incendiary bomb could have resembled lightning. (One must be continually reminded of the limited experience of our ancient ancestors, their small frame of reference, the inadequate vocabulary at their disposal to describe what would be unfamiliar and unexplainable to them, and also their natural proclivity to perceive as numinous and miraculous what was merely technological and to ascribe to the divine anything beyond their meagre scientific understanding.)
10. A well-noted feature of the story is Lot's wife turning to salt. The wife (unnamed in the Bible, but traditionally called Edith) was probably not of Lot's race. There is no mention of her when Lot accompanied Abraham out of Egypt or when he was held captive by the Elamites, so it is likely she was a native Sodomite. Therefore, it is probable that she was more attached emotionally to the city than Lot was, less anxious to leave it, and perhaps more influenced by its permissive mores. The text is not helpful and instead somewhat confused. It clearly states that Lot, and presumably his family, arrive safely in Zoar before the attack on Sodom begins. But Lot's wife either "looks back" or "lags behind" (as I believe is more likely). Either implies that they have not yet reached safety in Zoar. Looking at the fiery attack could not have been harmful, at least not fatal, surely. It seems more plausible that the wife felt she couldn't leave her native town, went back, and was caught in the destruction, although this is not exactly what the text says. Whatever happened, she didn't make it. Her body turning into salt is a whimsical touch reminiscent of Ovidian Greek mythology. An explanation, though, is simple. There have long existed many weird salt formations in the area. Perhaps a notable one may have resembled a woman and a myth was created that it was Lot's wife transformed. The Genesis authors probably felt obligated to incorporate this familiar myth into their narrative. At any rate, Lot's wife is another object lesson -- don't hesitate in following the paths of righteousness or look back longingly to a life of sin, or else ...
11. The lot of Lot's daughters is hardly enviable. They are first offered as rape bait to an angry mob by their own father, their fiancees are killed off in the destruction of Sodom, their mother is also killed, they are forced by their father to live with him as recluses in some God-forsaken cave, and then when they have lost hope of finding a man to have children with, they feel compelled to have sex with their drunken, elderly father. To add insult to injury, the authors of Genesis don't even bother to give the poor dears names. But they do end up being the mothers of two peoples, the Moabites and Ammonites (who would live east of the death sea in an area now part of Jordan).
In the evening the two extraterrestrials arrived at Sodom and found Lot sitting just inside the city gate. Seeing them, Lot rose to meet them and then prostrated himself before them. He addressed them "I invite you, my masters, to please stop at the home of your servant. Stay the night and wash up so you may rise early and be on your way."
"No, thank you. We will be spending the night in the city square." they replied.
Lot insisted that they be his guests. They relented and came into his house. He prepared a feast for them, and they ate the matzah (unleavened bread) he had baked for them. However, before they could go to bed, the house was surrounded by a mob, which consisted of citizens of all ages and from all quarters of the city. They accosted Lot and demanded "Where are the men visiting you tonight? Bring them out here so we can find out what they're up to!"
Lot appeared outside and closed the door behind him. "Please, my brothers, do not commit this offense. ... Listen, I have two daughters that are virgins. I will deliver them to you and you can have your way with them, but, please, do not molest these men, for they are enjoying the hospitality of my house."
"Get out of our way!" the mob insisted. "You live here as a foreigner. Now you want to dictate to us? If you do, we will come down harder on you than we do on those men." They jostled Lot violently and almost broke down the door.
The extraterrestrials reached outside, pulled Lot inside the house, and closed the door behind him. Those outside, both the ring leaders and the rabble, were suddenly struck blind so they were groping even to find the door.
The extraterrestrials asked Lot "Do you have family here -- sons or daughters or in-laws? Whomever you may have, take them out of the city at once, for we are going to destroy this place. Because its wickedness has become so extreme, Jehovah has sent us to destroy it."
Lot went out and paid a visit to the men who were engaged to his daughters. "Get up! You must get out of the city, for Jehovah is about to destroy it." But they thought Lot was only playing some joke on them.
When dawn broke the extraterrestrials urged Lot to hurry and bid him "Get up! Take away your wife and the two daughters that live with you, or else you will be killed in the destruction of the city." When he tarried, the extraterrestrials took Lot, his wife, and his daughters all by the hand, for Jehovah had resolved to spare them. They escorted Lot and his family out of the city and told them "Save yourselves. Don't look back or linger in the neighboring country, but flee to the mountains or else you will be consumed."
Lot replied "Please, my masters. I, your servant, have found favor with you and you have shown great mercy in sparing my life, but I can't escape into the mountains. I won't be able to reach them in time before the destruction overwhelms me and I am killed. But there is a city I know of, a small one and not far away. I could flee there and be safe. ... It is a small city, isn't it? My life would be safe there, wouldn't it?"
One of the extraterrestrials responded "Very well, I give you my word not to destroy the city you have spoken of. But hurry, for I can do nothing till you get there. (The name of the city was Zoar, because Lot had called it a "small one".)
It was morning by the time Lot reached Zoar. It was then that Jehovah bombed Sodom and Gomorrah from the sky with sulfurous incendiaries and thus incinerated the cities, the surrounding plain, all the inhabitants of the cities there, as well as the vegetation. (Lot's wife lagged behind and her body was transformed into salt.)
Abraham was up early in the morning and went to the place where he had lately taken leave of Jehovah. He gazed out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the land of the plain and saw ashes rising up from the earth and a plume of smoke billowing as if from a furnace. (When Jehovah razed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and, therefore, rescued his nephew Lot from being killed when he destroyed the city where he had been living.)
Because he was uncomfortable staying in Zoar, Lot and his two daughters left there and found refuge in the mountains, where they made their home in a cave.
The oldest daughter told the younger "Our father is old and there are no men around who will come to mate with us. Let's ply our father with wine, get him drunk, and then have sex with him, so that our father's family can be perpetuated."
And so that night the oldest daughter got her father to overindulge wine and went into his bed to have sex with him. He never noticed when she came into his bed or when she left it.
The next day the older sister told the younger. "I lay with our father last night. Let's get him drunk again tonight so that you can have sex with him, so that our father's family can be perpetuated."
And so that night the youngest daughter got her father to overindulge wine and went into his bed to have sex with him. He never noticed when she came into his bed or when she left it.
Both daughters were thus made pregnant by their father. The oldest gave birth to a son Moab who is the father of the Moabites that exist today. The younger bore a son as well that she called Ammon (meaning the son of my people) and he is the father of the present-day Ammonites.
Notes
1. Jehovah sends his two emissaries/associates/companions to check out the conditions in Sodom, to see if the city's inhabitants are as wicked as he has come to believe. They apparently intended to wander around the streets to size up conditions, although one wonders how they could so easily determine the city's rating on Jehovah's evil-o-meter. In any case, the two extraterrestrials are persuaded to enjoy the hospitality of Lot's house -- and a good feast, even if the unleavened bread they are offered sounds less than appetizing. (Were they really conscientious in doing the job that Jehovah sent them to Sodom to do, or were they slacking?) Extraterrestrials always seem to be attracted to good chow. One may surmise that if they are in fact interstellar travelers they would be accustomed only to synthetic food or nutrient pills and, therefore, would appreciate an occasional home-cooked, human-cooked meal.
2. Although the extraterrestrials hardly got farther than the city gates before they were taken to Lot's house, news of their arrival in Sodom apparently spread quickly around the city. These beings were apparently recognizable from other men. The text does not indicate why. Lot knew them right away when they entered the city. Would it be the clothes they wore? Or something distinctive in their appearance?
3. A mob forms around Lot's house. The citizens know the extraterrestrials are inside and demand to see them so that they can question them and, one would assume, find out what they were doing in Sodom. It can be inferred that Jehovah and his people were regarded as enemies by the Sodomites, who were rightfully suspicious of their motives in coming to the city. There is a back story here that is not revealed in the text. One might surmise that there existed some kind of feud between Jehovah and the people of Sodom. Perhaps they opposed his will in something, or refused to worship him as a god. Jehovah's portrayal of the Sodomites as evil could be a prejudiced assessment. It does not seem credible that Jehovah would destroy the people of Sodom merely because of their wickedness: the wickedness is more likely used as an excuse to punish a people with whom he had a personal grievance. --- Or else why not find some worthily sinful cities in China or India or Central America and obliterate those as well.
4. The King James Version has the mob wanting to "know" the men inside Lot's house. Since the word "know" and the original Hebrew word "yada" are both used on occasion as euphemisms for "have sex with" many have inferred that the mob were vicious gays on the prowl for victims to bugger. This interpretation, however, is unlikely, if not preposterous, although most Biblical translators seem to subscribe to it. Consider the situation: Two men, recognized as agents of Sodom's enemy Jehovah come into town. The Sodomites perhaps already know that Jehovah has it in for them. They naturally wonder what these men want, what nefarious purpose (from their standpoint) they have. They learn that the men are staying at the house of Lot, a foreigner and a Jehovah partisan. A mob forms. One gets the impression it is a large mob, and the text specifically says it is a diverse one. They demand that Lot, in violation of the revered laws of hospitality, deliver his guests to the mob. Why does the mob want the men? To have gay sex with them? Really? Would that be on their mind at this point? Isn't it more likely they wanted to interrogate them, find out why they were in Sodom and what Jehovah's plans were?
5. Lot is so insistent on observing the laws of hospitality and protecting his extraterrestrial visitors that he is willing to throw his two virgin daughters to the mob with an invitation to rape or murder them, if they wanted to. This callousness on Lot's part is really appalling. That he would think of this means of appeasing the mob certainly doesn't reflect very well upon Lot's role as a father or upon the regard his people had for women. And you wonder what his guests may have thought of him for his actions to protect them when they obviously had the power to protect themselves. Lot perhaps wanted to impress his guests how loyal a servant he was to Jehovah, how he would make the most extreme sacrifice to serve him.
6. The extraterrestrials rescue Lot from the mob and pull him inside the house. To ward off the mob they render them blind. This is interesting. Were the men of the mob made permanently or temporarily blind or was their vision merely impaired so that they could not locate Lot's door. And how was this done? Was some weapon involved, a magic spell, hypnotic suggestion? Why did they not kill a few members of the mob (those people were going to be dead in a few hours anyway)?
7. The extraterrestrials announce they are going to destroy Sodom and the cities of the plain -- probably making up their minds quickly after witnessing the actions of the Sodomite mob who seem to be out for their hide. They ask Lot if he has family. Again no omniscience: they do not know or have made no point of finding out whether he does or not. Some translations identify the heedless men Lot visits to warn of the impending destruction as his son-in-laws. Since he has two virgin daughters at home, this would mean that he has at least two additional daughters who are married and who, certainly living with their husbands, were not warned. It is more likely that the men visited were prospective sons-in-law, engaged to Lot's daughters, but not yet married to them. Therefore, Lot has just the two unmarried daughters. Nearly all recent translations agree with this interpretation.
8. The sin that sealed Sodom's doom has been much discussed and debated in the past few thousand years. There is little evidence that the sin necessarily involved homosexuality per se. In Jude the Sodomites are depicted as pursuing promiscuity and perversion ("lusting after strange flesh"), but there is no specific, unambiguous reference to homosexuality. In Ezekiel the Sodomite's shortcomings are their arrogance, indolence, lack of compassion to the poor, and insufficient attention to the laws of hospitality -- a rather low threshold of sinfulness to trigger such catastrophic destruction. All we know from Genesis is that the people of Sodom, by their riotous actions against Lot and his guests, were a rowdy, restive, inhospitable bunch. Whatever the nature of their wickedness, the divine destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah would often be sited as an object lesson.
9. The means by which Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed continues to be debated. Excluding the unlikely possibility that it is simply a story and nothing of that nature ever occurred, one is impelled to look first for an answer in natural phenomena. There is no evidence of volcanic activity in that location. The description of fire falling from the sky might occur during a volcanic eruption, but no one describing the event would omit the little detail of the erupting volcanic mountain itself. An earthquake could easily have destroyed the cities and might have ignited the tar pits that we are already told existed in the area, accounting for the fires. However, the prominent feature of an earthquake is the shaking of the ground; there is no reference to that in the account. A meteor or asteroid or comet coming from the sky and crashing to earth in that area could cause fires, but the devastation would be mostly the result of the tremendous impact. There would be a large noise, a fearsome explosion, a gaping crater. None of these things are mentioned. How could they have been ignored? No natural phenomenon could have caused anything like the destruction mentioned in Genesis. The answer obviously lies in advanced warfare. If Jehovah were an extraterrestrial visitor, a being from another planet, he would have access to an array of high-tech weaponry, and if he wanted to entirely destroy a few ancient cities, he could easily do so. An atomic bomb would have been a possible, but unlikely choice; it would have been a sledge hammer to swat a fly -- Sodom might have been a big town in those days, but it wasn't New York or Hiroshima. Incendiary bombs dropped from an aerial vehicle could easily do the job -- incinerate the place so that no one would survive and little structurally would remain. The account, in fact, describes exactly that and I have translated, accurately, I believe, the usually rendered "raining from the heavens brimstone and fire" as "bombing from the sky with sulfurous incendiaries." The incendiary bombs may not have necessarily contained sulfur (brimstone), but the ancients would not have any clear idea of their composition. (The composition of the legendary incendiary weapon Greek fire is still not exactly known.) Sulfur was always connected in ancient minds with fire; the expression "fire and brimstone" was much used and is still employed figuratively today. -- An alternative account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is provided by the 1st Century A.D. historian Josephus who reports that the means of S & G's annihilation was a lightning bolt. The delivery of an incendiary bomb could have resembled lightning. (One must be continually reminded of the limited experience of our ancient ancestors, their small frame of reference, the inadequate vocabulary at their disposal to describe what would be unfamiliar and unexplainable to them, and also their natural proclivity to perceive as numinous and miraculous what was merely technological and to ascribe to the divine anything beyond their meagre scientific understanding.)
10. A well-noted feature of the story is Lot's wife turning to salt. The wife (unnamed in the Bible, but traditionally called Edith) was probably not of Lot's race. There is no mention of her when Lot accompanied Abraham out of Egypt or when he was held captive by the Elamites, so it is likely she was a native Sodomite. Therefore, it is probable that she was more attached emotionally to the city than Lot was, less anxious to leave it, and perhaps more influenced by its permissive mores. The text is not helpful and instead somewhat confused. It clearly states that Lot, and presumably his family, arrive safely in Zoar before the attack on Sodom begins. But Lot's wife either "looks back" or "lags behind" (as I believe is more likely). Either implies that they have not yet reached safety in Zoar. Looking at the fiery attack could not have been harmful, at least not fatal, surely. It seems more plausible that the wife felt she couldn't leave her native town, went back, and was caught in the destruction, although this is not exactly what the text says. Whatever happened, she didn't make it. Her body turning into salt is a whimsical touch reminiscent of Ovidian Greek mythology. An explanation, though, is simple. There have long existed many weird salt formations in the area. Perhaps a notable one may have resembled a woman and a myth was created that it was Lot's wife transformed. The Genesis authors probably felt obligated to incorporate this familiar myth into their narrative. At any rate, Lot's wife is another object lesson -- don't hesitate in following the paths of righteousness or look back longingly to a life of sin, or else ...
11. The lot of Lot's daughters is hardly enviable. They are first offered as rape bait to an angry mob by their own father, their fiancees are killed off in the destruction of Sodom, their mother is also killed, they are forced by their father to live with him as recluses in some God-forsaken cave, and then when they have lost hope of finding a man to have children with, they feel compelled to have sex with their drunken, elderly father. To add insult to injury, the authors of Genesis don't even bother to give the poor dears names. But they do end up being the mothers of two peoples, the Moabites and Ammonites (who would live east of the death sea in an area now part of Jordan).
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