(Deuteronomy 21:10 - 21:14)
In the event that you go to war and Jehovah your god delivers your enemies into your hands and you take some of them as captives, you may find among them a beautiful woman that you are attracted to and wish to marry. In such a case, you may take her to your home, shave her head and pare her nails and have her change out of the clothes she was wearing when she was taken captive. She can remain in your home for a full month mourning her father and mother. After that time, you may marry her; you will be her husband and she will be your wife. However, if she does not satisfy you, you may release her and she may go where she wishes. You must not sell her nor must you treat her as a slave, even though you have forced her to become your wife.
Notes
1. It seems almost out of character for Jehovah to sanction marriage between an Israelite man and a foreign woman captured in war, considering his extreme xenophobia and his expressed priority of keeping his Chosen People away from exotic influences. It seems a contradiction to earlier pronouncements.
2. The question is unanswered whether a marriage to a foreign captive of war has the same standing as a marriage to a fellow Israelite. Divorce in the former case seems to be without restrictions or ceremony.
3. While the former captive is more or less impressed into marriage (there is no consideration as to whether the woman wishes the marriage or not), she does achieve through the marriage with an Israelite a status higher than that a slave who is bought and sold. But after she has been divorced and can go her own way, what is her destiny, what opportunities are open for her -- employment, another marriage? How would Israelite society regard somewhat of her background?
Friday, April 22, 2016
Communal Atonement for an Unsolved Murder
(Deuteronomy 21:1 - 21:9)
“If, when you have settled in the land Jehovah your god is giving you, you find someone dead in the fields and it is not known who may have killed him, your elders and judges should come out into the field and measure the distance from it to nearby towns. The elders of the town nearest to where the man was slain should take a heifer, one that has never been worked or worn a yoke, and lead it into a valley that has never been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There, in the valley, they should break its neck. The Levite priests should should be present, for Jehovah your god has charged them to minister to him and to make blessings in his name, as well as to settle with their pronouncements all disputes and all matters involving assaults. All the elders of the town nearest to where the man was slain should wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they should proclaim, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes witness its shedding. Accept, O Jehovah, this atonement for your people, Israel, whom you, Jehovah, have redeemed, and do not hold your people guilty of shedding the blood of an innocent person.’ The murder will then be atoned for and you will have purged yourself from the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you will have done what is right in the eyes of Jehovah.”
Notes
1. An apparently murdered corpse is found in a field. No one knows how he came to be killed. This is what should then transpire. But it seems the instructions here foster some jumping to conclusions. What if it is unclear whether the dead man was murdered or died as a result of an accident? How can those examining the body know whether the man was murdered, or was killed in an honest fight or by someone acting in self-defense?
2. This section illustrates the concept of collective, communal guilt. Modern thinking would place the blame on the murderer alone and not on a community that was totally ignorant of the crime, even to the extent of not knowing whether the murderer was even a member of the community. The sacrifice of the heifer seems strictly primitive, witch-doctor stuff conforming to the dictate that blood must be atoned by blood, that a murder must be atoned by another murder (even if it be that of an animal), and that guilt must be washed away with blood. (Indeed, there seems to be no offense of Jehovan law that cannot be put right be killing some poor animal.)
3. No provision seems to be made for Israelites living in areas where there would no valley with a stream running through an untilled field. They would not be able to properly perform the atonement ceremony and apparently would be forever guilty of a crime they did not commit and had no knowledge of.
“If, when you have settled in the land Jehovah your god is giving you, you find someone dead in the fields and it is not known who may have killed him, your elders and judges should come out into the field and measure the distance from it to nearby towns. The elders of the town nearest to where the man was slain should take a heifer, one that has never been worked or worn a yoke, and lead it into a valley that has never been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There, in the valley, they should break its neck. The Levite priests should should be present, for Jehovah your god has charged them to minister to him and to make blessings in his name, as well as to settle with their pronouncements all disputes and all matters involving assaults. All the elders of the town nearest to where the man was slain should wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they should proclaim, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes witness its shedding. Accept, O Jehovah, this atonement for your people, Israel, whom you, Jehovah, have redeemed, and do not hold your people guilty of shedding the blood of an innocent person.’ The murder will then be atoned for and you will have purged yourself from the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you will have done what is right in the eyes of Jehovah.”
Notes
1. An apparently murdered corpse is found in a field. No one knows how he came to be killed. This is what should then transpire. But it seems the instructions here foster some jumping to conclusions. What if it is unclear whether the dead man was murdered or died as a result of an accident? How can those examining the body know whether the man was murdered, or was killed in an honest fight or by someone acting in self-defense?
2. This section illustrates the concept of collective, communal guilt. Modern thinking would place the blame on the murderer alone and not on a community that was totally ignorant of the crime, even to the extent of not knowing whether the murderer was even a member of the community. The sacrifice of the heifer seems strictly primitive, witch-doctor stuff conforming to the dictate that blood must be atoned by blood, that a murder must be atoned by another murder (even if it be that of an animal), and that guilt must be washed away with blood. (Indeed, there seems to be no offense of Jehovan law that cannot be put right be killing some poor animal.)
3. No provision seems to be made for Israelites living in areas where there would no valley with a stream running through an untilled field. They would not be able to properly perform the atonement ceremony and apparently would be forever guilty of a crime they did not commit and had no knowledge of.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Rules of Warfare
(Deuteronomy 20:1 - 20:20)
"When you go out to do battle with your enemies and face superior numbers of horses and chariots and an army larger than yours, have no fear, for Jehovah your god, who brought you out of Egypt, is on your side.
"When you prepare for battle, the priest should come forward and address the troops, saying to them, 'Hear me, O men of Israel! Today you are going out to do battle with the enemy. Fear not. Be not faint of heart. Do not panic or tremble before them, for Jehovah your god will be the one who will be fighting for you and he will bring you victory over your enemy.'
"The the officers of the army should address the troops and say, 'Has anyone here built a new house, but has not yet dedicated it? If so, you may go home, or else you may be killed in battle and someone else will live in it. Has anyone here just planted a vineyard and not eaten its fruit? If so, you may go home, or else you may be killed in battle and someone else will eat its fruit. Has anyone here just become betrothed to a woman, but has not yet married her? If so, you may go home, or else you may be killed in battle and someone else will marry her.' And they should also say, 'Is anyone here frightened or worried? If so, you should go home lest you put fear into the hearts of your fellow soldiers.' After the officers have finished addressing their troops, they should appoint unit commanders.
"When you advance to attack a town, you must first make the inhabitants an offer of peace. If they accept it and open the gates of the town to you, then the inhabitants will be subject to forced labor and serve you as slaves. But if they refuse the peace offer and are determined to resist, then you will besiege the town. When Jehovah your god has delivered the town into your hands, you will put every male inhabitant to the sword. The women and children, the livestock and all property within the town you will take as plunder. Enjoy the spoils of war Jehovah your god gives to you!
"This is how you will treat distant towns, not those of the country you are now entering. In the towns that are a part of your inheritance, you must exterminate every living thing. You must completely destroy them as a divine sacrifice -- the Hethites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites -- as Jehovah your god has commanded you to do. For if you do not, they will teach you to follow their despicable customs of worshiping other gods and cause you to sin grievously against Jehovah your god.
"When you are attacking a town and the siege to take it becomes protracted, do not destroy its trees by felling them with axes. You may partake of their fruit, but do not cut them down for your own use during the siege, for fruit trees are for the benefit of all. (Trees that you know are not fruit bearing may, however, be cut down and their wood employed in constructing siege works until the town with which you are at war falls.)"
Notes
1. In his obsession to micromanage every aspect of Israelite society, Jehovah must tell the priests and army commanders exactly what they must tell their soldiers as they go into battle. The priest must assure them that Jehovah will be fighting on their side and, therefore, victory is a forgone conclusion. But if Jehovah, a god who can perform any sort of miracle, is on their side, why do they need to fight at all and suffer unnecessary casualties? Can't Jehovah just destroy the Israelites' enemies as he (or someone else claiming the name Jehovah) destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Or is this too easy and Jehovah wants to make his people earn their victories?
2. The exhortation to battle to be delivered by the military commanders is hardly that which Shakespeare put in the mouth of Henry V or the speech delivered by Patton in the film of the same title. It is extraordinary that a commander, instead of stressing the importance and nobility of the fighting and encouraging his men to fight hard and be brave, would merely search for justifications to send his fighting men home. "Oh, you just got engaged, you're waiting for your vineyard to bear fruit, you bought a new house, or you have a nervous disposition, entertain some misgivings about fighting, or are simply an unmanly coward? That's perfectly all right. You can go home and leave the fighting to others." What an inspiring message! It is impossible to imagine any competent general or even an incompetent general from any country in any period of history uttering such a wimpy speech. And it is interesting that Jehovah does not inspire his people to courage and deeds of valor, but rather to plunder and pillage, to rape and enslave.
3. It is no surprise that the tolerance Jehovah exhibits towards the Israelite soldiers is not extended to the enemy. Those that surrender are made slaves, those that don't are made slaves as well, save that all the men, prisoners of war included, are slaughtered. But this applies only to peoples who live outside of the Promised Land. For the peoples living within the Promised Land Jehovah proffers no quarter whatsoever, for them genocidal extermination seems to be the order of the day. No respect for any Geneva Convention type protocols. It is remarkable then that all the peoples Moses mentions (Hethites, Canaanites, etc.) were not totally wiped out at an early date. Such was not the case, for biblical sources continue to mention them centuries later.
4. The annihilation of people already residing in the Promised Land seems to be justified as a preventive measure to ensure that the Israelites do not worship their gods. Jehovah’s primary interest always seems to be the preservation of his status as the sole Israelite god. No length is too great, nothing too extreme, too heinous that serves that end.
5. Jehovah at least passes muster as an environmentalist in forbidding the Israelites to cut down fruit trees. In the region, cutting down a fruit tree was almost as bad as poisoning a well. It simply wasn’t done, old chap! This is an interesting and rare occasion in which the immediate interests of the Israelites are subordinated by Jehovah to the interests of mankind in general.
"When you go out to do battle with your enemies and face superior numbers of horses and chariots and an army larger than yours, have no fear, for Jehovah your god, who brought you out of Egypt, is on your side.
"When you prepare for battle, the priest should come forward and address the troops, saying to them, 'Hear me, O men of Israel! Today you are going out to do battle with the enemy. Fear not. Be not faint of heart. Do not panic or tremble before them, for Jehovah your god will be the one who will be fighting for you and he will bring you victory over your enemy.'
"The the officers of the army should address the troops and say, 'Has anyone here built a new house, but has not yet dedicated it? If so, you may go home, or else you may be killed in battle and someone else will live in it. Has anyone here just planted a vineyard and not eaten its fruit? If so, you may go home, or else you may be killed in battle and someone else will eat its fruit. Has anyone here just become betrothed to a woman, but has not yet married her? If so, you may go home, or else you may be killed in battle and someone else will marry her.' And they should also say, 'Is anyone here frightened or worried? If so, you should go home lest you put fear into the hearts of your fellow soldiers.' After the officers have finished addressing their troops, they should appoint unit commanders.
"When you advance to attack a town, you must first make the inhabitants an offer of peace. If they accept it and open the gates of the town to you, then the inhabitants will be subject to forced labor and serve you as slaves. But if they refuse the peace offer and are determined to resist, then you will besiege the town. When Jehovah your god has delivered the town into your hands, you will put every male inhabitant to the sword. The women and children, the livestock and all property within the town you will take as plunder. Enjoy the spoils of war Jehovah your god gives to you!
"This is how you will treat distant towns, not those of the country you are now entering. In the towns that are a part of your inheritance, you must exterminate every living thing. You must completely destroy them as a divine sacrifice -- the Hethites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites -- as Jehovah your god has commanded you to do. For if you do not, they will teach you to follow their despicable customs of worshiping other gods and cause you to sin grievously against Jehovah your god.
"When you are attacking a town and the siege to take it becomes protracted, do not destroy its trees by felling them with axes. You may partake of their fruit, but do not cut them down for your own use during the siege, for fruit trees are for the benefit of all. (Trees that you know are not fruit bearing may, however, be cut down and their wood employed in constructing siege works until the town with which you are at war falls.)"
Notes
1. In his obsession to micromanage every aspect of Israelite society, Jehovah must tell the priests and army commanders exactly what they must tell their soldiers as they go into battle. The priest must assure them that Jehovah will be fighting on their side and, therefore, victory is a forgone conclusion. But if Jehovah, a god who can perform any sort of miracle, is on their side, why do they need to fight at all and suffer unnecessary casualties? Can't Jehovah just destroy the Israelites' enemies as he (or someone else claiming the name Jehovah) destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Or is this too easy and Jehovah wants to make his people earn their victories?
2. The exhortation to battle to be delivered by the military commanders is hardly that which Shakespeare put in the mouth of Henry V or the speech delivered by Patton in the film of the same title. It is extraordinary that a commander, instead of stressing the importance and nobility of the fighting and encouraging his men to fight hard and be brave, would merely search for justifications to send his fighting men home. "Oh, you just got engaged, you're waiting for your vineyard to bear fruit, you bought a new house, or you have a nervous disposition, entertain some misgivings about fighting, or are simply an unmanly coward? That's perfectly all right. You can go home and leave the fighting to others." What an inspiring message! It is impossible to imagine any competent general or even an incompetent general from any country in any period of history uttering such a wimpy speech. And it is interesting that Jehovah does not inspire his people to courage and deeds of valor, but rather to plunder and pillage, to rape and enslave.
3. It is no surprise that the tolerance Jehovah exhibits towards the Israelite soldiers is not extended to the enemy. Those that surrender are made slaves, those that don't are made slaves as well, save that all the men, prisoners of war included, are slaughtered. But this applies only to peoples who live outside of the Promised Land. For the peoples living within the Promised Land Jehovah proffers no quarter whatsoever, for them genocidal extermination seems to be the order of the day. No respect for any Geneva Convention type protocols. It is remarkable then that all the peoples Moses mentions (Hethites, Canaanites, etc.) were not totally wiped out at an early date. Such was not the case, for biblical sources continue to mention them centuries later.
4. The annihilation of people already residing in the Promised Land seems to be justified as a preventive measure to ensure that the Israelites do not worship their gods. Jehovah’s primary interest always seems to be the preservation of his status as the sole Israelite god. No length is too great, nothing too extreme, too heinous that serves that end.
5. Jehovah at least passes muster as an environmentalist in forbidding the Israelites to cut down fruit trees. In the region, cutting down a fruit tree was almost as bad as poisoning a well. It simply wasn’t done, old chap! This is an interesting and rare occasion in which the immediate interests of the Israelites are subordinated by Jehovah to the interests of mankind in general.
Some Elements of Justice
(Deuteronomy 19:14 - 19:21)
"When settled in the land Jehovah your god has given to you as your inheritance do not move your neighbors’ boundary markers set up by your ancestors.
"One witness is insufficient to establish the guilt of a person accused of committing any crime or offense. Two or more witnesses are required to prove a case.
"If a malicious witness comes forward to accuse someone of a crime, then he, the accuser, and the accused must appear before the altar of Jehovah and present the case to the priests and judges serving in office at that time. The judges must conduct a thorough investigation, and if they find that the witness has accused his fellow Israelite falsely, then they must impose upon the false accuser the very sentence he sought for the man he accused. In this way you will purge such evil from your midst. The rest of the people will come to know of it and thus be so afraid that such an evil thing will never be done among you again. Show no pity: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot."
Notes
1. The prohibition against the moving and manipulation of boundary markers addresses what would probably be an important area of contention among the Israelites, land claims. For the first few centuries of American history, the colonization of early New England, the settlement of the frontier, the conquest of the Old West, property disputes were always a major point of conflict. Surveying the land and setting up boundary markers and fences established claims to personal property. Apparently the Israelites, even if they held some property communally, knew the concept of personal property, if not individual, at least family ownership of land. (More primitive societies often do not understand such a concept. Native Americans, for instance, did not hold the same ideas about property that Europeans did. Land ownership did not really exist; the claim to land use was permitted only to the tribe, not the individual) It is unlikely, though, that the early settlers of the Promised Land, the descendants of Egyptian slaves, who had been a part of a nomadic society, would have shifted so quickly into the mindset of the agricultural society with fixed abodes and boundary markers, cities and towns, and settled land already divided among the tribes and clans and families. But it cannot be lost upon the reader that what is presented in the Books of Moses, the customs and traditions, laws and statutes, are unlikely to be relevant to a people just emerging from a nomadic existence.
2. Emphasized again are two concepts that are cornerstones of Jehovan justice. One is draconian punishments that make examples of wrongdoers in order to discourage and deter further wrong doing. Complimentary to this, although, one who think, often at odds with it, is the "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" guideline that allows for no clemency, no forgiveness, little consideration of extenuating circumstances, and no Christian mercy.
"When settled in the land Jehovah your god has given to you as your inheritance do not move your neighbors’ boundary markers set up by your ancestors.
"One witness is insufficient to establish the guilt of a person accused of committing any crime or offense. Two or more witnesses are required to prove a case.
"If a malicious witness comes forward to accuse someone of a crime, then he, the accuser, and the accused must appear before the altar of Jehovah and present the case to the priests and judges serving in office at that time. The judges must conduct a thorough investigation, and if they find that the witness has accused his fellow Israelite falsely, then they must impose upon the false accuser the very sentence he sought for the man he accused. In this way you will purge such evil from your midst. The rest of the people will come to know of it and thus be so afraid that such an evil thing will never be done among you again. Show no pity: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot."
Notes
1. The prohibition against the moving and manipulation of boundary markers addresses what would probably be an important area of contention among the Israelites, land claims. For the first few centuries of American history, the colonization of early New England, the settlement of the frontier, the conquest of the Old West, property disputes were always a major point of conflict. Surveying the land and setting up boundary markers and fences established claims to personal property. Apparently the Israelites, even if they held some property communally, knew the concept of personal property, if not individual, at least family ownership of land. (More primitive societies often do not understand such a concept. Native Americans, for instance, did not hold the same ideas about property that Europeans did. Land ownership did not really exist; the claim to land use was permitted only to the tribe, not the individual) It is unlikely, though, that the early settlers of the Promised Land, the descendants of Egyptian slaves, who had been a part of a nomadic society, would have shifted so quickly into the mindset of the agricultural society with fixed abodes and boundary markers, cities and towns, and settled land already divided among the tribes and clans and families. But it cannot be lost upon the reader that what is presented in the Books of Moses, the customs and traditions, laws and statutes, are unlikely to be relevant to a people just emerging from a nomadic existence.
2. Emphasized again are two concepts that are cornerstones of Jehovan justice. One is draconian punishments that make examples of wrongdoers in order to discourage and deter further wrong doing. Complimentary to this, although, one who think, often at odds with it, is the "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" guideline that allows for no clemency, no forgiveness, little consideration of extenuating circumstances, and no Christian mercy.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Provisions for Cities of Refuge
(Deuteronomy 19:1 - 19:13)
"When Jehovah your god has destroyed the people dwelling in the land he is giving you and when you have occupied their territory and settled in the towns and homes that once were theirs, you must establish, in this land that Jehovah your god is giving you, three separate cities of refuge. Survey the land that is your inheritance from Jehovah your god and divide it into three regions, so that in each region there may be a city to which someone who has committed manslaughter may conveniently flee and take refuge.
"This provision is made for someone who has killed another person unintentionally, without malice aforethought, so that he may flee to one of these cities and live there in security. This would apply to someone who goes into the woods with a neighbor in order to cut wood. He swings an ax to fell a tree, the ax head flies off, hits and kills his neighbor. That man may save his life by fleeing to one of these cities. If, however, the distance to the nearest city of refuge is too great, the blood avenger, in hot pursuit, might, owing to the great distance, overtake and kill him. In such a case the man's death would be undeserved, because he had killed the man accidentally and without malice aforethought. That is why I command that you set aside three cities.
"If Jehovah enlarges your territory (as he vowed to your ancestors he would do) and gives you all the land he promised them -- because you have fastidiously followed all the laws I have given you, to revere Jehovah as your god and live by his precepts -- then you must provide for three additional cities of refuge. This would prevent the death of innocent persons in the land Jehovah is giving you as a divine inheritance and spare you from the guilt of allowing innocent blood to be shed.
"But if someone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, attacks and kills him, and then flees to a city of refuge, the elders of the murderer's hometown must send for him and bring him back so that he may be delivered into the hands of the blood avenger to be executed. Lend him no pity! You must purge Israel of the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that all may go well with you."
Notes
1. The necessity to establish cities of refuge highlights the prevailing values of the time, specifically, that someone who causes the death of another person is guilty of murder irrespective of motive or possession of a guilty mind. Accidentally and unintentionally killing someone is tantamount to the most vicious murder and must be avenged by death. Tribal mores demand an eye for an eye. Taking the life of a member of the tribe, however it occurs, is an assault upon the tribe and must be responded to in kind. He who has taken the life of a tribal member must be killed by a blood avenger appointed by the offended tribe, this usually being a male member of the victim's family. Such concepts of justice were not unique to primitive Palestine; they seem to have been, if not universal, at least very widespread, perhaps the Sardinian vendetta being one of the last atavistic hold overs. Tribal standards remained in force until national governments claimed a monopoly on the administration of justice. With the Israelites, Jehovah does not seek to abolish or totally suppress tribalism; instead he works around it with such provisions as the cities of refuge. To the modern, Jehovan justice may seem primitive and harsh, but it is far less so than what it strives to replace. Often its principles are those upon which modern justice are based, for example, the distinction between premeditated murder and manslaughter, accidental death, and killing in self defense.
2. Implied in this section is the principle of collective guilt, that the entire community is responsible for the wrongful actions of any of its members. Moreover, if guilt is not assuaged, if wrong is not compensated for, then bad fortune will befall the community. (This last concept is a cornerstone of Jehovan and Christian religion as well: sin brings ill fortune, righteousness brings good fortune, a reward from a grateful deity.)
"When Jehovah your god has destroyed the people dwelling in the land he is giving you and when you have occupied their territory and settled in the towns and homes that once were theirs, you must establish, in this land that Jehovah your god is giving you, three separate cities of refuge. Survey the land that is your inheritance from Jehovah your god and divide it into three regions, so that in each region there may be a city to which someone who has committed manslaughter may conveniently flee and take refuge.
"This provision is made for someone who has killed another person unintentionally, without malice aforethought, so that he may flee to one of these cities and live there in security. This would apply to someone who goes into the woods with a neighbor in order to cut wood. He swings an ax to fell a tree, the ax head flies off, hits and kills his neighbor. That man may save his life by fleeing to one of these cities. If, however, the distance to the nearest city of refuge is too great, the blood avenger, in hot pursuit, might, owing to the great distance, overtake and kill him. In such a case the man's death would be undeserved, because he had killed the man accidentally and without malice aforethought. That is why I command that you set aside three cities.
"If Jehovah enlarges your territory (as he vowed to your ancestors he would do) and gives you all the land he promised them -- because you have fastidiously followed all the laws I have given you, to revere Jehovah as your god and live by his precepts -- then you must provide for three additional cities of refuge. This would prevent the death of innocent persons in the land Jehovah is giving you as a divine inheritance and spare you from the guilt of allowing innocent blood to be shed.
"But if someone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, attacks and kills him, and then flees to a city of refuge, the elders of the murderer's hometown must send for him and bring him back so that he may be delivered into the hands of the blood avenger to be executed. Lend him no pity! You must purge Israel of the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that all may go well with you."
Notes
1. The necessity to establish cities of refuge highlights the prevailing values of the time, specifically, that someone who causes the death of another person is guilty of murder irrespective of motive or possession of a guilty mind. Accidentally and unintentionally killing someone is tantamount to the most vicious murder and must be avenged by death. Tribal mores demand an eye for an eye. Taking the life of a member of the tribe, however it occurs, is an assault upon the tribe and must be responded to in kind. He who has taken the life of a tribal member must be killed by a blood avenger appointed by the offended tribe, this usually being a male member of the victim's family. Such concepts of justice were not unique to primitive Palestine; they seem to have been, if not universal, at least very widespread, perhaps the Sardinian vendetta being one of the last atavistic hold overs. Tribal standards remained in force until national governments claimed a monopoly on the administration of justice. With the Israelites, Jehovah does not seek to abolish or totally suppress tribalism; instead he works around it with such provisions as the cities of refuge. To the modern, Jehovan justice may seem primitive and harsh, but it is far less so than what it strives to replace. Often its principles are those upon which modern justice are based, for example, the distinction between premeditated murder and manslaughter, accidental death, and killing in self defense.
2. Implied in this section is the principle of collective guilt, that the entire community is responsible for the wrongful actions of any of its members. Moreover, if guilt is not assuaged, if wrong is not compensated for, then bad fortune will befall the community. (This last concept is a cornerstone of Jehovan and Christian religion as well: sin brings ill fortune, righteousness brings good fortune, a reward from a grateful deity.)
Occult Practices and Prophets
(Deuteronomy 18:9 - 18:22)
"When you enter the land that Jehovah your god is giving to you, do not follow the abominable customs of the people living there. No one of you should commit to the flames his son or daughter as a human sacrifice. Do not allow any of your people to practice divination or fortune telling, to interpret omens or cast spells, to engage in sorcery, become a psychic medium, or evoke and consult the spirits of the dead. Anyone who engages in such practices makes themselves detestable to Jehovah. It is because the people in these nations engage in such practices that Jehovah your god will drive them out before you. You must be blameless before Jehovah your god! While the people you are about to displace consult with soothsayers and sorcerers, Jehovah your god does not give you leave to do so.
Moses continued, "Jehovah your god will raise up a prophet like me from among your brethren. And it is to him that you must listen. For this is what you yourselves asked of Jehovah your god when you were assembled before the holy mountain in Sinai. There you said, 'Spare us from hearing the voice of Jehovah our god or looking at his blazing fire anymore, lest we perish.' Jehovah told me, 'What they say is correct. I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words into his mouth and he will speak to them all that I command of him. I will take issue with anyone who does not heed the words that he will speak in my name. But anyone who claims to speak in my name without my authorization or who speaks in the name of other gods should be put to death.'
"You may asked yourself, 'How can we know when a prophecy is one that comes from Jehovah?' If a prophet claiming to speak in Jehovah's name predicts something that does not come to pass or come true, then you will know that his prophecy did not come from Jehovah. That prophet has spoken on his own and should not be shown any consideration.”
Notes
1. Jehovah condemns all occult practices, but does not discredit them. Instead the Levite priests of Jehovah claim exclusivity in dealing with the spirit world and assert that authentic prophecy is derived only from Jehovah. This prerogative of the priesthood would be claimed by the Christian church as well. Anyone, who, bypassing the church, claimed to commune directly with the divine, would be severely punished -- in the most famous case, that of Joan of Arc, being burned at the stake.
2. The abominable customs of the native populations of Canaan is the justification Jehovah uses to expel them and settle his own people, the Israelites, on their land. The Israelites were exhorted to eschew these practices, human sacrifice, occultism, sorcery, as well as idol worship, but, in reality, Jehovah's demands were not complied with by future generations of Israelites.
3. Moses offers a guide as to who is a genuine prophet and who is a false prophet. It is not terribly helpful, even if it is simple and straight forward: prophecies that come true are from Jehovah; those that do not come true are not from Jehovah. Apparently other gods cannot inspire prophets to make accurate predictions. Therefore, accurate prophets are always genuine prophets, that is, Jehovah-inspired prophets. But Moses offers nary a clue as to how one can discern a true prophet from a false one without waiting to find out whether the prophecies are accurate or not. Couldn’t a clever false prophet confine himself to making predictions about events in the distant future and thus never be exposed as a charlatan? There are, in fact, many Old Testament prophets who made prophesies about future historical events that quite unambiguously did not come to pass. (One example would be Obadiah, a minor prophet who forecast the doom of Israel’s neighbor Edom; sorry, but Edom simply didn’t receive its prophesied comeuppance.) Are they to be reviled as false prophets and their books removed from the Bible?
"When you enter the land that Jehovah your god is giving to you, do not follow the abominable customs of the people living there. No one of you should commit to the flames his son or daughter as a human sacrifice. Do not allow any of your people to practice divination or fortune telling, to interpret omens or cast spells, to engage in sorcery, become a psychic medium, or evoke and consult the spirits of the dead. Anyone who engages in such practices makes themselves detestable to Jehovah. It is because the people in these nations engage in such practices that Jehovah your god will drive them out before you. You must be blameless before Jehovah your god! While the people you are about to displace consult with soothsayers and sorcerers, Jehovah your god does not give you leave to do so.
Moses continued, "Jehovah your god will raise up a prophet like me from among your brethren. And it is to him that you must listen. For this is what you yourselves asked of Jehovah your god when you were assembled before the holy mountain in Sinai. There you said, 'Spare us from hearing the voice of Jehovah our god or looking at his blazing fire anymore, lest we perish.' Jehovah told me, 'What they say is correct. I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words into his mouth and he will speak to them all that I command of him. I will take issue with anyone who does not heed the words that he will speak in my name. But anyone who claims to speak in my name without my authorization or who speaks in the name of other gods should be put to death.'
"You may asked yourself, 'How can we know when a prophecy is one that comes from Jehovah?' If a prophet claiming to speak in Jehovah's name predicts something that does not come to pass or come true, then you will know that his prophecy did not come from Jehovah. That prophet has spoken on his own and should not be shown any consideration.”
Notes
1. Jehovah condemns all occult practices, but does not discredit them. Instead the Levite priests of Jehovah claim exclusivity in dealing with the spirit world and assert that authentic prophecy is derived only from Jehovah. This prerogative of the priesthood would be claimed by the Christian church as well. Anyone, who, bypassing the church, claimed to commune directly with the divine, would be severely punished -- in the most famous case, that of Joan of Arc, being burned at the stake.
2. The abominable customs of the native populations of Canaan is the justification Jehovah uses to expel them and settle his own people, the Israelites, on their land. The Israelites were exhorted to eschew these practices, human sacrifice, occultism, sorcery, as well as idol worship, but, in reality, Jehovah's demands were not complied with by future generations of Israelites.
3. Moses offers a guide as to who is a genuine prophet and who is a false prophet. It is not terribly helpful, even if it is simple and straight forward: prophecies that come true are from Jehovah; those that do not come true are not from Jehovah. Apparently other gods cannot inspire prophets to make accurate predictions. Therefore, accurate prophets are always genuine prophets, that is, Jehovah-inspired prophets. But Moses offers nary a clue as to how one can discern a true prophet from a false one without waiting to find out whether the prophecies are accurate or not. Couldn’t a clever false prophet confine himself to making predictions about events in the distant future and thus never be exposed as a charlatan? There are, in fact, many Old Testament prophets who made prophesies about future historical events that quite unambiguously did not come to pass. (One example would be Obadiah, a minor prophet who forecast the doom of Israel’s neighbor Edom; sorry, but Edom simply didn’t receive its prophesied comeuppance.) Are they to be reviled as false prophets and their books removed from the Bible?
Provisions for Priests
(Deuteronomy 18:1 - 18:8)
“Take note that the Levitical priests, that is, the entire tribe of Levi, receive no allotment of land along with the other tribes of Israel. Instead, the priests and Levites consume the food sacrifices dedicated to Jehovah: that is their portion. They do not share in the inheritance given to their fellow Israelites; Jehovah himself is their inheritance, as he promised them.
“From those who sacrifice a bull or a sheep, the priests' share is the meat from the shoulder, the cheeks, and internals organs. You must also give to the priests the first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your olive oil, and the first shearing of wool from your sheep, for Jehovah your god has chosen them and their descendants, from out of all the tribes of Israel, to stand before the altar and minister in Jehovah's name for all time.
“If a Levite leaves a town in Israel in which he is living and goes to place chosen by Jehovah for his worship, then he may minister there in the name of Jehovah along with the other Levites who are already serving Jehovah there. He may also partake of their share of food offerings, (regardless of what he may have realized from the sale of family property).”
Note
1. This reiterates the rights and privileges of the Levites, but also mentions another, the right of a Levite priest to leave one of the Israelite towns set aside for his tribe and become a priest in one of the Jehovan places of worship. One wonders how this would work in practice. It would be as if Catholic priests were allowed to go to any parish they wished and be allowed to officiate. Wouldn't this result in chaos? Wouldn’t this result in an over abundance of priests at more desirable places of worship? One assumes that the high priest, the descendant of Aaron, would have authority over all matters affecting the tribe, but here there no provision to create the hierarchy necessary for the exercise of that authority or a protocol put in place for the delegation of his powers.
“Take note that the Levitical priests, that is, the entire tribe of Levi, receive no allotment of land along with the other tribes of Israel. Instead, the priests and Levites consume the food sacrifices dedicated to Jehovah: that is their portion. They do not share in the inheritance given to their fellow Israelites; Jehovah himself is their inheritance, as he promised them.
“From those who sacrifice a bull or a sheep, the priests' share is the meat from the shoulder, the cheeks, and internals organs. You must also give to the priests the first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your olive oil, and the first shearing of wool from your sheep, for Jehovah your god has chosen them and their descendants, from out of all the tribes of Israel, to stand before the altar and minister in Jehovah's name for all time.
“If a Levite leaves a town in Israel in which he is living and goes to place chosen by Jehovah for his worship, then he may minister there in the name of Jehovah along with the other Levites who are already serving Jehovah there. He may also partake of their share of food offerings, (regardless of what he may have realized from the sale of family property).”
Note
1. This reiterates the rights and privileges of the Levites, but also mentions another, the right of a Levite priest to leave one of the Israelite towns set aside for his tribe and become a priest in one of the Jehovan places of worship. One wonders how this would work in practice. It would be as if Catholic priests were allowed to go to any parish they wished and be allowed to officiate. Wouldn't this result in chaos? Wouldn’t this result in an over abundance of priests at more desirable places of worship? One assumes that the high priest, the descendant of Aaron, would have authority over all matters affecting the tribe, but here there no provision to create the hierarchy necessary for the exercise of that authority or a protocol put in place for the delegation of his powers.
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