Kings of Israel

(Deuteronomy 17:14 - 17:20)

"After you have entered the land that Jehovah your god has given to you, have occupied and settled it, you may say, "Let's have a king to rule over us like all the neighboring countries do."  Be sure to accept as your a king only he who has been selected by Jehovah your god.  He must be a fellow countryman; do not pick a foreigner, one who is not of your people, to rule over you.  The king should not breed a large stable of horses for himself or bid his people to go to Egypt to acquire more for him, because Jehovah has told you, "Do not go back that way again!”  He must not take too many wives, for they are apt turn his mind from the way of Jehovah.  Nor should he amass for himself an excessive amount of silver and gold.

"When he assumes the throne as king, he must keep a record of these instructions for himself in a book, copied from that of the Levitical priests.  He is have it with him always and read it every day of his life so that he may learn to revere Jehovah his god, to keep all the words of his laws, and to execute these statutes.  He must not come to feel himself superior to his fellow Israelites or alter the law in any way, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel." 

Notes

1. Jehovah demands that Israelite kings do not seek to acquire too much personal wealth, horses, wives, gold and silver.  Good luck with that.  Ironically, King Solomon of Israel, who built the Jehovan Temple, was famed for his wealth and the size of his harem.  He seemed to get on OK, but later, King Herod was not totally accepted by the people of Israel because he was regarded as a foreigner.

2. The king is not supposed to have too many horses and must on no account go to Egypt to stock his stables.  At this time the Israelites had cattle and sheep, goats and donkeys, but there has been no reference to horses.  The breeds of horses existent at that time were not used as beasts of burden.  Donkeys pulled carts, oxen pulled plows, and everybody walked.  In the 16th Century BC the Hyksos introduced the horse-drawn war chariot to Egypt.  Outside of the steppes of Eurasian, horses were never used as mounts until about 800 BC -- and it would be hundreds of years before effective bridles were invented.  It seems unlikely that an Israelite king would want horses for himself, unless the reference here is to war horses.

3. The king is suppose to have a written copy of Jehovah's laws to refer to on a daily basis.  Great, only at this time, as has been oft noted, the Hebrews lived in a preliterate culture.  There were no alphabets, no writing, save Egyptian hieroglyphics and Babylonian cuneiform.  Even if Moses probably knew the latter, it is unlikely that the Israelites would have used either.  It had been centuries since the Israelites had been in contact with Mesopotamia, and considering the animosity Jehovah harbored against the Egyptians, it is improbable that he would have sanctioned the use of their writing.  It is assumed, of course, that the writing would be in Hebrew, but that was a language that would not be developed for hundreds of years.  This is another indication that the writers of the Bible were entirely clueless about conditions in former times and were woefully deluded about the true history of their own people.    

Justice in Israel

(Deuteronomy 16:18 - 17:13)

"In all the towns that Jehovah your god is giving you, you should appoint judges and officials for each of the tribes.  They must pass judgment fairly, and not pervert justice by showing partiality or by taking a bribe (for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and twist the words of the righteous).  Pursue justice and justice alone so that you may prosper when you take possession of the land Jehovah your god is giving you. 

"You must not plant any kind of tree to be worshiped as an Asherah or erect a stone image for worship beside the altar you have built for Jehovah your god, for such things are detested by him. 

"Do not sacrifice to Jehovah your god cattle or sheep that possess any flaw or defect, for that would be offensive to Jehovah.

"When you have settled in the towns Jehovah your god is giving you, it may happen that a man or woman does evil in the sight of Jehovah your god and violates his pact by serving and bowing down to other gods, or by worshiping the sun or the moon or other heavenly bodies -- which I have forbidden.  If there is such a report and you come to hear of it, you must investigate the matter thoroughly.  If it is established that such an abominable act has been committed in Israel, then the man or woman who has committed it must be taken to the town gates and stoned to death.  Evidence must always be presented by 2 or 3 witnesses. No one should be sentenced to death on the testimony of a single witness.  The first stones must be hurled by the hands of the witnesses, after which the rest of the populace join in.  The evil in your midst is thusly purged.

"If a case arises in your towns that proves difficult to decide, whether it be a determination of what sort of homicide or assault may have been committed or some matter involving conflicting legal rights, then take it to a place of worship chosen by Jehovah your god and present it to the Levite priests or to whatever judge is currently in office.  Consult with them and they will render a verdict for you.  You must carry out the decisions they give you at a place of worship chosen by Jehovah your god.  Carefully take note of all the instructions they tell you.  Abide by their interpretation of the law and follow their directions in regard to carrying out the verdict.  Do not alter their judgment in any way, by making it either harsher or more lenient.  Anyone who shows contempt for the judge or the priest that represents Jehovah your god and rejects their decision must be put to death to purge the evil from Israel.  All the people will hear of it, be afraid, and never again act with such contempt.”

Notes

1. There is a continued emphasis upon the exclusive worship of Jehovah, for that seems to be the common element, the glue that holds together the tribes of the nation of Israel.  To pursue, worship, and serve other gods is more than sacrilege and a betrayal of Jehovah, it is a repudiation of national identity, justifying heresy and apostasy as capital offenses.  In reality, though, the Hebrews were, through most of their history, not at all monotheistic nor was the worship of gods other than Jehovah an anomaly, even if it might have been an abomination to the Levite priests of Jehovah. 

2. Asherah were living trees or wooden poles set up near Canaanite shrines to honor Asherah, a fertility goddess.   

3. The reliance upon corroborated testimony and evidence resulting from an honest investigation, as well as insistence upon unbiased and incorruptible judges provide a sound basis for a justice system.  That they were espoused by the Israelites, a group of primitive nomads, is admirable.  But one wonders, though, whether these concepts were actually honored during the time of Moses or whether they were developed later when Hebrew civilization, no longer nomadic, had became more sophisticated.  The lapse in time from when the events in the Books of Moses took place to when they were first recorded and to when the records might have been compiled, edited, added to, and censured is many hundreds of years.  Therefore, we can never know what aspects of Hebrew law and custom are contemporary with the "historical" account and what are anachronistic.

4. The provision that the witnesses against a law breaker must be the primary executioners would seem a bit barbaric to us, but does make some rough sense.  And the idea that severity of punishment is necessary to prevent future crime is certainly something we understand.  However much as deterrent sentences have been and still are imposed, they do not constitute justice, which demands that the punishment be in proportion to the seriousness of the crime and that law breakers are punished only for their own crimes and not for future possible crimes committed by others.  There seems to be an assurance here that putting to death those who are guilty of heresy or of ignoring or altering the judgment of a priest will generate such fear that it will scotch any potential law breaker.  Experience and long history have shown, though, that draconian punishments, such as making minor crimes capital offenses, have rarely had the deterrent effect expected; more often than not they are counterproductive.       

Three Festivals

(Deuteronomy 16:1 - 16:17)

"To honor Jehovah your god celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the month of Abib [Nisan], for it was in the month of Abib that Jehovah your god brought you out of Egypt in the dead of night.  You should offer to Jehovah your god a sacrifice from the flock or the herd at a place of worship where Jehovah has chosen that his name should be honored.  You should eat with it no bread that is leavened.  For 7 days you should eat unleavened bread as you did when you departed Egypt in haste, for this is the bread of affliction, to remind you all the days of your life the time of your exodus from Egypt.  Throughout the land let there be no yeast in your possession for 7 days.  Let no meat you have sacrificed on the 1st day remain uneaten by the following morning.  You may not make the Passover sacrifice in the towns that Jehovah your god is giving to you: it must be offered only at a place of worship where Jehovah has chosen that his name should be honored.  Sacrifice it there at dusk when the sun is setting, the time when you began your exodus from Egypt.  You must cook it and eat it at the place that Jehovah your god will choose.  In the morning you may return home to your tents.  For the next 6 days you must not eat any leavened bread.  Then, on the 7th day, hold a sacred assembly and do no work on that day.

"Count off 7 weeks from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain.  Then you will celebrate the Harvest Festival to honor Jehovah your god.  You must bring to his altar voluntary offerings proportionate to the blessings you have received from him.  Celebrate before the altar at the place of worship where Jehovah has chosen that his name should be honored; celebrate with your children, your servants, the Levites who live in your towns, as well as the aliens, the widows, and orphans who live among you.  Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt and carefully observe these decrees. 

"When the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed, you should celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for 7 days.  Celebrate with your children, your servants, the Levites who live in your towns, as well as the aliens, the widows, and orphans who live among you.  For 7 days you will observe this festival to honor Jehovah your god at the designated place of worship, for it is Jehovah who blesses you with bountiful harvests and grants you success in all you undertake, so that you know great rejoicing. 

“Three times a year, at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Tabernacles, each man must appear before the altar of Jehovah your god at a designated place of worship.  He must not come empty handed, but must bring gifts for Jehovah proportionate to the blessings he has received from him."

Notes

1. A more detailed description of Jehovan holidays is presented in Leviticus -- another suggestion that Deuteronomy was written first and the previous books ascribed to Moses were later elaborations.

2. Abib, later called Nissan, occurring in early spring, is the first month of the Jewish religious calendar.  (The secular calendar begins in the early autumn month of Tishri, Rosh Hashanah being New Year's day.)  The Feast of Unleavened Bread is, of course, better known as Passover.  Here no mention is made of the Jehovah's mass murder of the Egyptian first born and his Angel of Death "passing over" the homes of the Israelites.  Reference is made only to the hasty departure of the Israelite slaves in embarking upon their exodus into the desert.  Previous notes have commented upon the unlikelihood that any large number of Israelites were Egyptian slaves, that the Ten Plagues of Egypt probably occurred long before the age of Moses, and that any large exodus out of Egypt is not only unsubstantiated by history and archaeology, but is, in practical and logistical terms, impossible.

3. The Harvest Festival, literally the Festival of Weeks, was, by the time of Jesus, known as the Festival of Pentecost, and is now celebrated as Shavuot or Shabuoth.  The Festival of Tabernacles, or Festival of Booths, was referred to in Exodus as the Festival of Ingathering, but is now celebrated as Sukkot or Succoth.  It is ironic that Moses is lecturing his people on harvest festivals when up to this time they have only been nomads, wandering around Sinai with their flocks and herds.  Having previously been slaves for generations, what would they even know of crops and harvests?