(Deuteronomy 15:1 - 15:23)
"At the end of every seventh year, you are required to forgive all debts. The manner in which this is to be done is this: every creditor must cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They must not demand payment from their neighbors and relations, because a cancellation of debts has been proclaimed by Jehovah. You may demand payment from a foreigner, but you must excuse whatever is owed to you by your fellow Israelites. Indeed, there need be no poor among you, for in the land Jehovah your god is giving you as an inheritance, he will bless you, provided you obey Jehovah your god and follow the commandments I am giving you today. Jehovah will bless you as he has promised. You will lend to many nations, but you will borrow from none. You will rule over other nations, but you will not be ruled over by them.
"If there are any of your fellow Israelites who live in the towns of the land Jehovah your god is giving you and are poor, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward them. Treat your poor brother with an open hand, lending him whatever he might need, regardless of what it might be. Take care not to entertain the selfish thought, "The 7th year, the year of debt relief is near," and regard your poor brother stingily, denying him a loan, so that he complains to Jehovah about you. If so, you will be guilty of a sin. Give to him generously and do so without a grudging heart, for which Jehovah your god will reward you by blessing all your work and all you may undertake. Since there will always be poor in the land, I therefore command you to be openhanded to your brother who lives in the land and is poor and needy.
"If any of your people, a Hebrew man (or woman), is indentured to you, he will serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you must grant him his freedom. And when you release him, you must not send him away empty-handed, but generously supply him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress, giving to him as Jehovah your god has given to you. And you should keep in mind that your were once slaves in Egypt and Jehovah freed you. That is the reason I give you this command today. However, your servant may tell you he doesn't want to leave, because he loves you and your household and is satisfied in your service. In such a case, you should push an awl through his earlobe into the door, marking him as your slave for life. The same should be done for a female slave as for a male. Do not consider it a hardship to free a slave, for his six-year service to you is worth twice the labor of a hired hand -- and, if you do so, Jehovah will bless you in all you undertake.
"Set aside the firstborn of your flocks and herds for Jehovah your god. Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work in the fields; do not shear the firstborn of your flocks. Each year you and your household are to eat the meat of the firstborn before altar of Jehovah your god in the place of worship he has chosen. Although, if an animal has a blemish, if it is lame or blind, or has some other serious defect, you must not sacrifice it to Jehovah your god. You should then eat it within your towns instead. Those who are ritually pure and impure may partake of it, as if it were a gazelle or deer. But you must not consume its blood, which you should pour out on the ground like water."
Notes
1. Introduced here is the concept of the Sabbatical Year, the 7th year when debts are forgiven and slaves are freed. In regard to debts, one wonders whether this was anything more than an utopian idea, like many presented in the Books of Moses. Could this have worked in practice? Would a Hebrew, or anyone else for that matter, really offer a loan to someone in the 6th year just to be a good guy, knowing that in the 7th year he would be unable to collect it? Are loans regularly tendered when there is a near certainty of a loss? Basing an economy on ignoring self-serving financial incentives and relying upon altruism, charity and compassion, still a characteristic of the political philosophy of many on the social justice left, has, in the long run, never worked and doubtless never will, unless human nature, which is instinctually selfish, is somehow altered. It is interesting that in the case of money lending, the Israelite is treated differently from the foreigner, who is not offered any debt relief.
2. It is first asserted that in Jehovah's utopian paradise there would be no necessity for anyone to be poor, but then, more realistically, it is acknowledged that poor will always be with us. Generous loans and gifts are offered as the only solution to Israelite poverty.
3. Israel is urged to be a creditor but never a debtor -- nice, if things work out perfectly, as, of course, they will with Jehovah's favor.
4. Slavery in ancient times was quite different than slavery in the Old South, where there was instituted a permanent slave class based on race. Some ancient slaves were captives of war or abducted and pressed into service (a practice condemned by Jehovah.) However, most slaves were what we would call indentured servants. The slave himself or his family sold him into service for a limited period of time, after which he would be freed, usually with some payment made to him, as is described here. This practice was not uncommon in 17th and 18th Century America.
5. Israelites are to eat their firstborn livestock before the altar of Jehovah. Wouldn't all the firstborn livestock furnish a great deal more meat than one's household could consume? How could a small family eat even one steer at a sitting? That every family would bring all their firstborn livestock to the altar to be slaughtered, cooked, and consumed would surely present insuperable practical and logistical problems. Indeed, it would present a ludicrous spectacle. Does one picnic at the slaughterhouse? Wouldn't it make more sense to save the firstborn for breeding purposes, to improve the stock.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Tithes
(Deuteronomy 14:22 - 14:29)
“Each year you must set aside as a tithe a tenth of the crops you harvest. So that you may learn to always revere Jehovah your god, bring your tithes, the grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the first born of your flocks and herds, to the place designated by Jehovah your god as the habitation where his name is honored and eat there before the altar of Jehovah your god. When you are blessed with a good harvest, but the designated place of worship is too far away for you to bring your tithe, then you may exchange your crops and livestock for silver, and carry the silver with you to place of worship that has been chosen by Jehovah your god. There you may exchange the silver for whatever food and drink you may desire, beef or mutton, wine or liquor. You and your household should eat and drink before the altar of Jehovah your god and rejoice. (And don't neglect the Levites that live in your towns, for they have no allotment of land among you.)
"Every third year bring all of your produce constituting your tithe for that year to the nearest town where it can be stored, so that the Levites (who have no land or inheritance of their own), resident aliens, orphans and widows who live in the towns may eat their fill -- for which Jehovah your god will bless you in all you may undertake."
Notes
1. The tithe, the one-tenth of produce, is not a tax to support the "church" as is the modern tithe. The tithe, though, is Jehovah's share, but his worshipers are the ones who consume it. The impression here is that of people bringing food to the place of Jehovan worship and having a picnic. It would seem, though, that one tenth of one's produce would furnish far more than a good family meal. What happens to the rest of the tithe? Every third year the tithe goes to the local Levites and to the poor, widows and orphans -- who every three years can have a good meal!
2. If one lives too far away from the nearest place of worship to transport the produce meant for the tithe, it can be exchanged for silver and the silver brought to the place of worship to buy food there. One gets the impression the authors are speaking about silver coins used as currency. This is highly anachronistic. Coins would not be invented for more than a half a millennium after Moses and were only commonly used by the 6th Century BC, about the time when most of the Bible was actually written. Moses/Jehovah is way ahead of his time.
“Each year you must set aside as a tithe a tenth of the crops you harvest. So that you may learn to always revere Jehovah your god, bring your tithes, the grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the first born of your flocks and herds, to the place designated by Jehovah your god as the habitation where his name is honored and eat there before the altar of Jehovah your god. When you are blessed with a good harvest, but the designated place of worship is too far away for you to bring your tithe, then you may exchange your crops and livestock for silver, and carry the silver with you to place of worship that has been chosen by Jehovah your god. There you may exchange the silver for whatever food and drink you may desire, beef or mutton, wine or liquor. You and your household should eat and drink before the altar of Jehovah your god and rejoice. (And don't neglect the Levites that live in your towns, for they have no allotment of land among you.)
"Every third year bring all of your produce constituting your tithe for that year to the nearest town where it can be stored, so that the Levites (who have no land or inheritance of their own), resident aliens, orphans and widows who live in the towns may eat their fill -- for which Jehovah your god will bless you in all you may undertake."
Notes
1. The tithe, the one-tenth of produce, is not a tax to support the "church" as is the modern tithe. The tithe, though, is Jehovah's share, but his worshipers are the ones who consume it. The impression here is that of people bringing food to the place of Jehovan worship and having a picnic. It would seem, though, that one tenth of one's produce would furnish far more than a good family meal. What happens to the rest of the tithe? Every third year the tithe goes to the local Levites and to the poor, widows and orphans -- who every three years can have a good meal!
2. If one lives too far away from the nearest place of worship to transport the produce meant for the tithe, it can be exchanged for silver and the silver brought to the place of worship to buy food there. One gets the impression the authors are speaking about silver coins used as currency. This is highly anachronistic. Coins would not be invented for more than a half a millennium after Moses and were only commonly used by the 6th Century BC, about the time when most of the Bible was actually written. Moses/Jehovah is way ahead of his time.
Ritually Pure and Impure Food
(Deuteronomy 14:1 - 14:21)
"As you are the people of Jehovah your god, do not cut yourself or shave your heads in mourning the dead. You are a people sacred to Jehovah your god and Jehovah has chosen you to be his cherished possession from out of all the nations of the world.
"You must not eat any detestable animals that are ritually impure. The animals that you may eat are: cattle, sheep, and goats, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and mountain sheep. You may eat animals that have completely cloven hooves and chew the cud, but if an animal does not have both, it must not be eaten. Thus you may not eat the camel, the rabbit, or the hyrax, because, although they chew the cud, they do not have cloven hooves and, therefore, are ritually impure. And you may not eat the pig, because, although it has cloven hooves, it does not chew the cud and as such is ritually impure. You must not eat the meat of these animals or even have contact with their carcasses.
"Of all the marine creatures, you may eat anything that has both fins and scales. However, those that do not have both you may not eat, for they are ritually impure.
"You may eat any bird that is ritually pure. These are the kinds of birds you may not eat: eagles, hawks, vultures, buzzards, kites, ravens, seagulls, ostriches, owls, cormorants, storks, herons, hoopoes, and bats. And you may not eat swarming, winged insects; they are ritually impure to you. But you may eat any winged creature that is ritually pure.
"You must not eat any animal that has died naturally. You may, however, give it to an alien that lives among you; he may eat it. Or you may sell it to a foreigner. You are a people sacred to Jehovah your god: do not boil a goat kid in its mother's milk."
Notes
1. Not relating it to the contents that follow, Moses touches briefly upon proper mourning customs. To cut one's self or to shave the head (literally, “make baldness between the eyes”), are foreign customs, one assumes, and deemed unseemly for the children of Jehovah. All the rules and regulations set down here are specifically targeted for the Israelites, the chosen people of Jehovah, and are not binding upon or even suggested for the rest of the world's people. Jehovah gives laws to his chosen people, but gives nothing (save, on occasion, destruction) to the rest of the people he supposedly created.
2. The original reasons for prohibiting the consumption of certain types of meat was doubtless hygienic. Since ancient peoples (and apparently Jehovah) had no knowledge of micro-organisms or of pathology, a cause had to be found why certain foods were healthy and others would make one sick. The cloven hoof-chewing the cud maxim would have been an acceptable and understandable explanation for the ignorant. That such provisions and prohibitions are still meticulously followed as a requisite of religiosity is a stunning example of the survival of primitivism.
3. The list of prohibited birds refers to specific species, but there is no agreement on translation, with each version of the Bible giving a different list. There being no reason to favor one list as being more accurate than another, I have simplified it and merely listed the type of birds probably referred to. --- Interesting the bat was thought of as a bird; one would think the most primitive naturalist would see that the fact that it does not lay eggs, has fur, and feeds on milk makes it an animal, a mammal, not a feathered, egg-laying bird. But we have already seen that scientific knowledge is not the Israelites' strong point.
4. The birds whose meat is prohibited as food were mainly raptors and scavengers, meat eaters. This suggests that the reason for the prohibition was perhaps this: if you eat the meat of a buzzard you are also eating the meat of some ritually impure animal the buzzard may have fed upon. --- Also, these birds are not particularly good eating anyway. When was the last time you had fried vulture, hawk wings, roast owl, eagle stew, or even seagull soup?
5. Not boiling a kid in his mother's milk is a wonderful proverb, repeated elsewhere, but its relevancy here escapes one.
"As you are the people of Jehovah your god, do not cut yourself or shave your heads in mourning the dead. You are a people sacred to Jehovah your god and Jehovah has chosen you to be his cherished possession from out of all the nations of the world.
"You must not eat any detestable animals that are ritually impure. The animals that you may eat are: cattle, sheep, and goats, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and mountain sheep. You may eat animals that have completely cloven hooves and chew the cud, but if an animal does not have both, it must not be eaten. Thus you may not eat the camel, the rabbit, or the hyrax, because, although they chew the cud, they do not have cloven hooves and, therefore, are ritually impure. And you may not eat the pig, because, although it has cloven hooves, it does not chew the cud and as such is ritually impure. You must not eat the meat of these animals or even have contact with their carcasses.
"Of all the marine creatures, you may eat anything that has both fins and scales. However, those that do not have both you may not eat, for they are ritually impure.
"You may eat any bird that is ritually pure. These are the kinds of birds you may not eat: eagles, hawks, vultures, buzzards, kites, ravens, seagulls, ostriches, owls, cormorants, storks, herons, hoopoes, and bats. And you may not eat swarming, winged insects; they are ritually impure to you. But you may eat any winged creature that is ritually pure.
"You must not eat any animal that has died naturally. You may, however, give it to an alien that lives among you; he may eat it. Or you may sell it to a foreigner. You are a people sacred to Jehovah your god: do not boil a goat kid in its mother's milk."
Notes
1. Not relating it to the contents that follow, Moses touches briefly upon proper mourning customs. To cut one's self or to shave the head (literally, “make baldness between the eyes”), are foreign customs, one assumes, and deemed unseemly for the children of Jehovah. All the rules and regulations set down here are specifically targeted for the Israelites, the chosen people of Jehovah, and are not binding upon or even suggested for the rest of the world's people. Jehovah gives laws to his chosen people, but gives nothing (save, on occasion, destruction) to the rest of the people he supposedly created.
2. The original reasons for prohibiting the consumption of certain types of meat was doubtless hygienic. Since ancient peoples (and apparently Jehovah) had no knowledge of micro-organisms or of pathology, a cause had to be found why certain foods were healthy and others would make one sick. The cloven hoof-chewing the cud maxim would have been an acceptable and understandable explanation for the ignorant. That such provisions and prohibitions are still meticulously followed as a requisite of religiosity is a stunning example of the survival of primitivism.
3. The list of prohibited birds refers to specific species, but there is no agreement on translation, with each version of the Bible giving a different list. There being no reason to favor one list as being more accurate than another, I have simplified it and merely listed the type of birds probably referred to. --- Interesting the bat was thought of as a bird; one would think the most primitive naturalist would see that the fact that it does not lay eggs, has fur, and feeds on milk makes it an animal, a mammal, not a feathered, egg-laying bird. But we have already seen that scientific knowledge is not the Israelites' strong point.
4. The birds whose meat is prohibited as food were mainly raptors and scavengers, meat eaters. This suggests that the reason for the prohibition was perhaps this: if you eat the meat of a buzzard you are also eating the meat of some ritually impure animal the buzzard may have fed upon. --- Also, these birds are not particularly good eating anyway. When was the last time you had fried vulture, hawk wings, roast owl, eagle stew, or even seagull soup?
5. Not boiling a kid in his mother's milk is a wonderful proverb, repeated elsewhere, but its relevancy here escapes one.
Punishment for Apostasy
(Deuteronomy 13:1 - 13:18)
"A prophet or a diviner of dreams may appear among you and foretell wonders and miraculous events. These wonders or miraculous events may come to pass. But, if he will then urge you, 'Come, let us seek out other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and worship them,’ you must not heed the words of that prophet or diviner of dreams. This is Jehovah your god testing you, to see if you really love him with all your heart and soul. It is Jehovah your god that you must follow and him you must revere, keeping his commandments and obeying his words, worshiping him and remaining faithful to him. Because he has incited rebellion against Jehovah your god, who brought you out of Egypt and released you bondage, and because he is seducing you away from the paths Jehovah has taught you to walk, that prophet or diviner of dreams should be put to death. You must purge your community of such evil.
"Your brother, the son of your mother, your son or daughter, the wife you love, or your dearest friend may secretly entice you, 'Let us worship other gods,' (gods known neither to you nor to your ancestors, perhaps gods of neighboring peoples or those of far-flung folk who dwell on one end of the earth or the other.) You must not heed them or be persuaded by them. Nor should you show them any sympathy. Do not spare them or shield them. They must be put to death! And you must throw the first stone. Then, all the rest of the people should join in, stoning to death those who are guilty of trying to lure you away from the worship of Jehovah your god, who rescued you from the Egypt, the land where you were slaves. All of Israel will then come to hear of it and be so fearful that no one among you will again perpetrate such wickedness.
"When you have begun to settle in the towns Jehovah your god is giving you to live in, you may hear of certain men among you, followers of evil, that have led the people of a town astray, declaring, "Let's go and worship other gods,' (gods that were unknown to you). In such a case, you should inquire into the matter and conduct a thorough investigation. If it is determined to be true that such an abomination has occurred among you, then you must put the town to the sword. The town itself should be destroyed utterly as a divine sacrifice along with all its inhabitants, even the livestock. You should collect all the goods of the town in the main square, then burn the town and its goods as an offering to Jehovah your god. It should remain forever a ruin and never be rebuilt. Save for your own use none of the town's goods marked for destruction, so that Jehovah will quell the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and compassion. And he will make you multiply, as he promised your forefathers, if you obey Jehovah your god, keep his commandments, which I am giving you here today, and do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah your god."
Notes
1. Condemnation of the false prophet does not depend upon the accuracy of his prophecies, but upon his divine allegiance. A prophet who favors some god other than Jehovah can, it is implied, make accurate, even miraculous prophecies, but he is apparently not a legitimate prophet unless he has the sanction of Jehovah. It is implied that Jehovah allows the false prophet to test his own adherents. The Jehovan must not be swayed to worship other gods simply because their prophets and diviners have a good track record. This is similar to the Christian belief that God allows Satan to tempt believers to sin, just so the strength of their belief can be tested.
2. Jehovah's insistence upon religious orthodoxy and uniformity and the draconian punishments for non-conformance and apostasy put to shame the harshest theocracies, which always find it necessary to impress a uniformity of belief and enforce an adherence to "right" thought. Here, we are told a man must turn in his family member or friend if suspected of urging the worship of gods other than Jehovah. A modern parallel would be Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia where one was obliged to inform on the family member or friend if any action or remark of his suggested a lack of dedication to the regime. Among the Israelites -- to make matters worse -- the accuser must be the lead executioner in stoning to death his family member or friend. (Don’t think even the Nazis thought of that one!) Dedication to Jehovah must, of course, supersede devotion to family or loyalty to friends, but that it should be taken to such hideous extremes is appalling. And one wonders what abuses this provision might have permitted and encouraged. For example, if a man wanted to get rid of an enemy, an unwanted wife, or troublesome brother, all he had to do was to go to the priest and accuse the person of persuading him to worship some god other than Jehovah. He could then head the stoning party and kill the person himself. --- Modern dictatorships cannot tolerate dissidents because they threaten the civil order and the stability of a government whose legitimacy is not derived from the consent of the government, but from power and often a personality cult that borders on religious worship. It has been so throughout history: man, a rebellious and headstrong creature who is continually tempted to think for himself, can only be kept in line, herded into common allegiance and common thought, through the imposition of force and the threat of terror. Those who rule by force know this. And so does Jehovah, who is no different than the modern totalitarian dictator: " believe in me," he says, "obey me, and you will be rewarded; show one sign of disloyalty to me, one act of defiance, and you will punished with death and utter destruction."
3. The complete destruction the town that strays from the worship of Jehovah, like the punishment of individuals who proselytize for other gods, does not constitute an act of justice, but terrorism, to force obedience and conformity through fear. Indeed Moses/Jehovah admits as much.
"A prophet or a diviner of dreams may appear among you and foretell wonders and miraculous events. These wonders or miraculous events may come to pass. But, if he will then urge you, 'Come, let us seek out other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and worship them,’ you must not heed the words of that prophet or diviner of dreams. This is Jehovah your god testing you, to see if you really love him with all your heart and soul. It is Jehovah your god that you must follow and him you must revere, keeping his commandments and obeying his words, worshiping him and remaining faithful to him. Because he has incited rebellion against Jehovah your god, who brought you out of Egypt and released you bondage, and because he is seducing you away from the paths Jehovah has taught you to walk, that prophet or diviner of dreams should be put to death. You must purge your community of such evil.
"Your brother, the son of your mother, your son or daughter, the wife you love, or your dearest friend may secretly entice you, 'Let us worship other gods,' (gods known neither to you nor to your ancestors, perhaps gods of neighboring peoples or those of far-flung folk who dwell on one end of the earth or the other.) You must not heed them or be persuaded by them. Nor should you show them any sympathy. Do not spare them or shield them. They must be put to death! And you must throw the first stone. Then, all the rest of the people should join in, stoning to death those who are guilty of trying to lure you away from the worship of Jehovah your god, who rescued you from the Egypt, the land where you were slaves. All of Israel will then come to hear of it and be so fearful that no one among you will again perpetrate such wickedness.
"When you have begun to settle in the towns Jehovah your god is giving you to live in, you may hear of certain men among you, followers of evil, that have led the people of a town astray, declaring, "Let's go and worship other gods,' (gods that were unknown to you). In such a case, you should inquire into the matter and conduct a thorough investigation. If it is determined to be true that such an abomination has occurred among you, then you must put the town to the sword. The town itself should be destroyed utterly as a divine sacrifice along with all its inhabitants, even the livestock. You should collect all the goods of the town in the main square, then burn the town and its goods as an offering to Jehovah your god. It should remain forever a ruin and never be rebuilt. Save for your own use none of the town's goods marked for destruction, so that Jehovah will quell the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and compassion. And he will make you multiply, as he promised your forefathers, if you obey Jehovah your god, keep his commandments, which I am giving you here today, and do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah your god."
Notes
1. Condemnation of the false prophet does not depend upon the accuracy of his prophecies, but upon his divine allegiance. A prophet who favors some god other than Jehovah can, it is implied, make accurate, even miraculous prophecies, but he is apparently not a legitimate prophet unless he has the sanction of Jehovah. It is implied that Jehovah allows the false prophet to test his own adherents. The Jehovan must not be swayed to worship other gods simply because their prophets and diviners have a good track record. This is similar to the Christian belief that God allows Satan to tempt believers to sin, just so the strength of their belief can be tested.
2. Jehovah's insistence upon religious orthodoxy and uniformity and the draconian punishments for non-conformance and apostasy put to shame the harshest theocracies, which always find it necessary to impress a uniformity of belief and enforce an adherence to "right" thought. Here, we are told a man must turn in his family member or friend if suspected of urging the worship of gods other than Jehovah. A modern parallel would be Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia where one was obliged to inform on the family member or friend if any action or remark of his suggested a lack of dedication to the regime. Among the Israelites -- to make matters worse -- the accuser must be the lead executioner in stoning to death his family member or friend. (Don’t think even the Nazis thought of that one!) Dedication to Jehovah must, of course, supersede devotion to family or loyalty to friends, but that it should be taken to such hideous extremes is appalling. And one wonders what abuses this provision might have permitted and encouraged. For example, if a man wanted to get rid of an enemy, an unwanted wife, or troublesome brother, all he had to do was to go to the priest and accuse the person of persuading him to worship some god other than Jehovah. He could then head the stoning party and kill the person himself. --- Modern dictatorships cannot tolerate dissidents because they threaten the civil order and the stability of a government whose legitimacy is not derived from the consent of the government, but from power and often a personality cult that borders on religious worship. It has been so throughout history: man, a rebellious and headstrong creature who is continually tempted to think for himself, can only be kept in line, herded into common allegiance and common thought, through the imposition of force and the threat of terror. Those who rule by force know this. And so does Jehovah, who is no different than the modern totalitarian dictator: " believe in me," he says, "obey me, and you will be rewarded; show one sign of disloyalty to me, one act of defiance, and you will punished with death and utter destruction."
3. The complete destruction the town that strays from the worship of Jehovah, like the punishment of individuals who proselytize for other gods, does not constitute an act of justice, but terrorism, to force obedience and conformity through fear. Indeed Moses/Jehovah admits as much.
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