//These are the words of Job, written … well, we don’t know when. There are precious few clues in the book of Job about its authorship and dating. Scholars generally conclude the book of Job was written between the third and fifth centuries BCE, and continue to argue about where it came from and how the story became part of Hebrew literature.

One possible clue to the dating of Job is today’s verse. It sounds like it was inspired by the famous Behistun Inscription, authored by Darius the Great toward the end of the sixth century BCE, when it was carved in a limestone cliff face. It’s a giant autobiography of Darius, including a description of his military victories, written using lead and iron pins. The inscription measures 15 by 25 meters, and sits about 100 meters up the cliff.

Does Job dream of his own story being preserved in like manner? Graven in rock with lead and iron? Does this give evidence, at the very least, that the book of Job postdates this famous rock inscription?

//According to the Babylonian Chronicles, Nebuchadnezzar reigned from 605-562 BCE, and he began a siege of Jerusalem in 599 BCE (it eventually fell in 597 BCE). About King Jehoiakim, we read this in the Hebrew Chronicles:

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. –2 Chronicles 36:5-6

Thus, Jehoiakim reigned from perhaps 608 to 597 BCE. His third year would be 606 BCE. Of course, at that time, Nebuchadnezzar was not yet king, and was several years away from besieging Jerusalem. So, the author of Daniel appears to be in error.

Here’s my question: If Daniel was the last of the Hebrew scriptures written, at about 165 BCE as most Bible scholars surmise, how could he have made so obvious an error? Jehoiakim reigned eleven years, not three. Did he not bother to check his research in the Chronicles?

Or was Daniel written much earlier, before the Chronicles, as some linguists insist?

//In Judges chapter four, a female warrior named Deborah predicts that an enemy general named Sisera will die by the hand of a woman. Perhaps she imagines that she, herself, will slay Sisera; we don’t know.

Her prediction comes true. A few verses later a woman named Jael lures Sisera into a tent with her, covers him with a rug and gives him some milk. When he falls asleep, she quietly drives a tent peg through his temple.

“Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell–dead.” –Judges 5:26-27

While the peg is still colored with blood, the legend is already growing. In Deborah’s rendition, Jael taunts Sisera with curdled milk before striking his head with a hammer, and he falls down at her feet, dead. Perhaps that is the version Deborah was told?

Deborah then wraps up the victory hymn by mocking the mother of Sisera, who she imagines peering through a window waiting for her son to arrive back from battle. Yikes! Guys, there’s a lesson, here … don’t anger the women.

//Yesterday, we discussed a few verses that might help pin down this slippery topic of whether or not abortion is a sin. In the minds of most people, it comes down to a question of when the fetus is alive.

Today’s verse may contain the Biblical answer. If a pregnant woman is caused to have a miscarriage, but she herself is not harmed, the person who hurt her is fined. But no consideration is given to the lost baby; the fetus is not considered alive, and only the life of the woman is considered.

However, this is not the end of the story. When the original Hebrew was translated into Greek in the Septuagint, the wording changed. “If two men fight and they strike a woman who is pregnant, and her child comes out while not yet fully formed, he will be forced to pay a fine … but if it is fully formed, he will give life for life …”

So, while the original Hebrew seems to indicate that life begins at birth (the Mishnah agrees; see Niddah 5:3), the Greek translators, one or two centuries before Christ, were troubled by this, and decided that life begins “when fully formed.”

The debate continues even today.

What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

Words for the heart, at least in times of comfort. But note how Job, in his misery, twists this verse around:

Job sees not a God who attends to the needs of individuals, but a God who meddles in human lives, testing us unmercifully. “Can’t you just leave me alone?” Job whines.

Which picture of God do you see?

//Maybe you’ve heard of the Jubilee, which comes every 50 years. After seven times seven years, the next year is a Jubilee year, where the land is to rest. No sowing and no reaping, just eat directly from the vines.

Moreover, on the Jubilee year, any land you once owned which was purchased by another returns to your possession. This seems like a strange law, preventing any type of permanent change in land ownership. It also seems unfair to the buyer, for who would invest in land which would eventually revert back to the original owner?

If you’ve ever wondered about a potential buyer’s motivation, the answer is plainly spelled out in scripture; it’s just hidden in a book that’s hardly read. The Law actually encourages setting the purchase price on a pro rata basis, given what you are actually purchasing:

If you sell land to one of your countrymen or buy any from him, do not take advantage of each other. You are to buy from your countryman on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And he is to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what he is really selling you is the number of crops. –Leviticus 25:14-16

//Yesterday, I asked whether the twelve tribes of Israel preceded the story of the twelve sons of Jacob. This would mean the stories told in the Bible were allegorical, meant to unify existing tribes, rather than to present the true history of Israel’s origin.

The tribe of Dan, for example, appears to be somewhat of a late comer, as discussed yesterday. Yesterday’s verse may provide a hint that Dan came from the west…not out of Egypt. Many scholars have speculated about whether they may be the Sea Peoples called the Danaoi or the Danuna.

Other tribe names may also hint of a different origin than that told by the Bible. The name Asher, in today’s verse, may come from Assur, the Assyrian god, or Asherah, the Canaanite goddess. Gad’s name means “good fortune,” but it is also the name of a Canaanite god. Zebulun, in Hebrew, may mean “gift” or “honor”, but it is also an epithet of Baal, another Canaanite god. It’s not surprising that many scholars conclude these tribes were never among the invaders of Canaan, as the story of Israel goes, but rather more original inhabitants … the ones invaded.

If the book of Judges gives any hint, the “twelve” tribes may have been more autonomous in their early days, and banded together as needed for mutual protection. The six sons of Leah—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon—may have had stronger ties with one another than the remaining six.

The official uniting, then, may have come in the time of Joshua. If you’re interested in the topic, read the covenant language of Joshua chapter 24.

//Many people today believe that the end of the world will be triggered by the return of Jews back to their homeland. This is a common theme in the Bible, the return of God’s people to their holy land, when God would begin an era of righteous reign. The book of Revelation presents a beautiful picture of a holy city with twelve gates, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel, to welcome them all home. Today this return home theme has taken on such an eschatological meaning that many Christians welcome any political events that seem to be encouraging the Jews to go back to Judea, so that the world can come to an end.

Curiously, this is a belief that seems to ebb and flow. Centuries ago, the most common belief was that the world would not end until the Jews were scattered from their homeland! Proponents of this thinking would quote today’s verse in Daniel.

Any Jews reading this? Do something, you guys, whether you come or go doesn’t seem to matter. But don’t just sit there.

After that [Jesus] poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

We know, of course, that John’s ritual could not work today. The meaningful event would merely be moved up in time, completed within the privacy of our own homes, as we each spend twenty minutes vigorously scrubbing our feet, then painstakingly trimming and painting our toenails before selecting the finest pair of shoes in our closet. Then we drive off to church—no dusty road in our journey! All trace of humanness and need would be rinsed away before the church washing had a chance.

So what are we to do? How can we possibly restore the original flavor of Jesus’ act of foot-washing, and should it be a part of our gathering together?

//Maybe you’ve heard this story of how God strikes Miriam, the wife of Aaron, with leprosy. Ever pay attention to what she was being punished for? A few verses earlier, we read:

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. –Numbers 12:1

The distinguishing mark of an Ethiopian, of course, is the color of their skin. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? (Jeremiah 13:23).

Miriam complained because Moses married a black woman. Her punishment, fittingly, was to be made white as snow.

//Today’s topic is not about Abraham and Sarah, but about their son Isaac and his wife Rebekah. “Son, if you happen to go down to Gerar after I die,” I can imagine Abraham saying to Isaac, “Take your wife Rebekah with you, and give her a little vacation. Here’s a trick that worked well for your mother and me.”

So off go Isaac and Rebekah, down to Gerar, just like Abraham did earlier. They pull the same trick on the very same King Abimelech, telling the king that Isaac’s wife is really his sister. Fool me once … so this time God doesn’t bother to step in, and lets the ruse play itself out. Rebekah moves in with the king. Like Abraham, Isaac appears to have no plan to rescue his wife, and this time, it’s chance that comes to the rescue:

When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. –Genesis 26:8

Thus does Abimelech discover the truth. He says, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” It appears Rebekah got to enjoy the pleasures of the palace among the king’s harem for “a long time” without ever having to compromise her sanctity! Perhaps Abimelech had grown old.

Nevertheless, though the third time is a charm and the ruse works best of all this time around, the idea seems to fade. Isaac continues to sojourn like his father, but this particular trick is never again pulled out of the bag.

//Recall from yesterday’s post that the last time Abraham journeyed outside of Canaan, he played a trick on the Pharaoh, passing his wife off as his sister. It appears to have worked to the satisfaction of Abraham and Sarah, and Sarah agrees to accompany Abraham on another trip. They decide to try the same gamble on a new king. Sarah’s beauty again proves irresistible, and the king of Gerar “takes her.” So, off she goes to live in luxury in the king’s palace again.

But this time the ruse doesn’t work so well. God had to rescue Abraham and Sarah the last time, and this time God steps in far too early, foiling their fun. Immediately, so the story goes:

God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’?” –Genesis 20:4-5

God agrees that Abimelech is not to blame—he had been deceived—and explains that that’s why God stepped in before the king touched her. God tells the king to give Sarah back to Abraham and to ask Abraham to pray for him. Abimelech does even more; he brings Abraham sheep and cattle and male slaves and female slaves and tells him to “live wherever you like.”

Thus, the ruse may not have been quite as much fun as Sarah and Abraham hoped, but in the end turned out even better! The story continues tomorrow.

//Here are the first recorded words spoken by Abraham to his wife. Complimentary, to be sure, but rather self-serving. It seems to be an unspoken assumption that if Sarah accompanies Abraham to Egypt, she will be taken into the “house” (harem) of the Pharaoh.

Sarah’s reply to Abraham goes unrecorded, but she plays along, pretending to be his sister. As expected, she is selected by the Pharaoh, and Abraham, her “brother,” is allowed to live.

We do not know what goes on inside the “house,” nor whether Sarah is content to be pampered in the palace as opposed to living in a tent with her husband, but apparently the two of them have hit on a satisfactory arrangement. How they planned to ever extricate themselves from the lie is anybody’s guess, and eventually God had to step in.

But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” –Genesis 12:17-19

Evicted, the two of them leave Egypt. But the ruse worked so well, they will try the trick again a few chapters later. (story continued tomorrow)