The story of the spies – two kinds of point of views- part 2

Posted by Eli Dahan on November 21, 2009 under Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Historical Geography, Jewish Folklore | Be the First to Comment

The two different descriptions of the promise land is the two main voices of the people of Israel: one sais that they should come back to Egypt, to the well known slavery, but with confidence about their life; the other sais let us believe in our God, let us go to the promise land, we can fight with the giant people there- wee can be the grasshoppers who will conquest the fortresses!

It must be said that in the side that wants to go to Canaan we can also see two points of views-these are Joshua and Caleb, the two people, whom the people of Israel wanted to stone with stones after they tried to tell them not to give up on the idea of entering to the promise land. The two points of view are for the close future and for the long future. We know that Joshua was the leader of the people of Israel after Moses, we don’t remember what have been said about Caleb and this is my responsibility to tell you.

Caleb is from the tribe of Judah, the tribe which David the king came from. If we will look closely to the text we can see not just the close future but also the long one.

Let us read Numbers 14:24-

“וְעַבְדִּי כָלֵב, עֵקֶב הָיְתָה רוּחַ אַחֶרֶת עִמּוֹ , וַיְמַלֵּא, אַחֲרָי–וַהֲבִיאֹתִיו, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר-בָּא שָׁמָּה, וְזַרְעוֹ, יוֹרִשֶׁנָּה”

“But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it”

From the first look it seems to be that Caleb will be the leader, but only the time tell us that it wouldn’t be him – it will be David, his seed….

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

The story of the spies – two kinds of point of views- part 1

Posted by Eli Dahan on under Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Historical Geography, Jewish Folklore | Be the First to Comment

In the book of Numbers, we can find one of the interesting stories in the time when the people of Israel had been in the desert- the story of the spies. The Lord commanded Moses to send to the land of Canaan 12 men in order to explore the land that he gave to the people of Israel. From each tribe Moses needed to send one person.

Moses sends the spies into the land of Canaan with 4 things to investigate:

a) To see whether the land is good or bad?

b) To see if the people there are strong or week, many or little?

c) To see whether the people set in camps or fortresses?

d) To see whether the land has fruits or not, is she “fat” or “slim”?

One more thing that he asked them is to bring from the fruit of the land as written in Numbers 13:17-20-

“וַיִּשְׁלַח אֹתָם מֹשֶׁה, לָתוּר אֶת-אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן; וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם, עֲלוּ זֶה בַּנֶּגֶב, וַעֲלִיתֶם, אֶת-הָהָר.  וּרְאִיתֶם אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, מַה-הִוא; וְאֶת-הָעָם, הַיֹּשֵׁב עָלֶיהָ–הֶחָזָק הוּא הֲרָפֶה, הַמְעַט הוּא אִם-רָב.  וּמָה הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר-הוּא יֹשֵׁב בָּהּ–הֲטוֹבָה הִוא, אִם-רָעָה; וּמָה הֶעָרִים, אֲשֶׁר-הוּא יוֹשֵׁב בָּהֵנָּה–הַבְּמַחֲנִים, אִם בְּמִבְצָרִים. וּמָה הָאָרֶץ הַשְּׁמֵנָה הִוא אִם-רָזָה, הֲיֵשׁ-בָּהּ עֵץ אִם-אַיִן, וְהִתְחַזַּקְתֶּם, וּלְקַחְתֶּם מִפְּרִי הָאָרֶץ; וְהַיָּמִים–יְמֵי, בִּכּוּרֵי עֲנָבִים ”

“When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land .It was the season for the first ripe grapes.”

After 40 days the spies came back and they had two different answers about the land of Canaan: the first is that the land is a bountiful land; the other is that the land that

“Is eating its inhabitants”.

Why do we have two different answers?

To be continued…

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com

Standing Stones: A Blessing and a Curse

Posted by Bronwen Manning on December 21, 2008 under Historical Geography, History | Be the First to Comment

The Multifaceted functions of Standing stones

Standing stones (massebot plural. masseba singular. coming from the root nsb to ‘set up’) were used in a variety of cultic and non-cultic functions in the Ancient Near East. They were used to witness legal matters or covenants such as Joshua when renewing the Lord’s covenant with the people- he took a large stone and set it up saying “this stone shall be a witness against us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spoke to us: it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest ye deny your God” (Joshua 24:26-27). Standing stones also functioned as memorials, a practice that continues today. We erect stone monuments to our brave men who died in the wars, we memorialize the place of a tragic accident where life was lost. In an effort not to be forgotten, Absalom the son of David erected a monument to himself knowing he had no son to carry on his name and memory into the future 2 Sam 18:18. Other standing stones that were placed in public areas were those that commemorated an important victory over the enemy- Israel’s Moabite aneighbor had a victory stone that recalls the military achievements of King Mesha over King Omri of Israel. The Standing stone was in general, an attention-grabber, much like our modern-day billboards and advertisements.

The Religious Stone

They had one further function that was very strong throughout the world- and that was a religious stone. In the early days of Israel, Syria and Phoenicia these kingdoms shared a tradition of using “plain” stones in their sanctuaries and holy places. A standing stone could represent a person in perpetual worship, it could also, instead of a statue, represent the divine presence. The use of standing stones to actualize the presence of the God of Israel was very useful to the early Israelites because it focused the worshippers attention while simultaneously avoided any representation of the divine in any particular form. This tradition of Israel, the dislike to represent their God in the form of a man or, half-man half-beast, became stronger and more programmatic over time. This anionic tradition (against the use of icons) became a distinctive element in Israel’s religious character, and separated them out from other religions that used standing stones as icons of gods, and not symbolic of the indescribable God of Israel.

The Potential for Problems

Because of the potential for misuse and misunderstanding the religious community of Israel decided to give up the use of standing stones altogether. To this end the stones that had served only symbolically and were plain un-inscribed stones, were prohibited and treated as though they were images. Leviticus 26 declares, You shall not make idols for yourselves, or set up for yourselves carved images or standing stones, or place figured stones in your land to worship upon, for I the Lord am your God. This was not because the stones themselves went against the tradition of representing God in iconic forms, but rather because the potential for misuse existed.

The Town of Bethsaida

An example of this potential danger is seen in a town in the Galilee that once was the center of a small Aramaeankingdom called Geshur. When it was later annexed into the kingdom of Israel it still contained a mixed pedigree of peoples and religions as seen in the public plaza. In the plaza two religious stones were found, one a plain standing stone and the other a stone with the icon of a bull-headed figure with a dagger; probably the Moon god! Here side by side we see the different types and approaches to the use of religious standing stones. The Israelites decided that in order not to be confused with the other nations, and to avoid potential confusion by Israelite worshippers, they stopped using standing stones altogether. This effort retained their integrity as the nation who refused to reduce the indescribable God into an image made by man.

The City of Bethel

Posted by Naama Baumgarten on March 9, 2008 under Historical Geography | Be the First to Comment

The city of Bethel is located north of Jerusalem and is identified as what is now the Arab village Bitan. It is first mentioned as a place near which Abraham first settled when arriving in Canaan, and is mentioned throughout Israelite history in the Bible. The archaeological findings date as far back as the 21^st century BCE.

According to the Book of Genesis, Bethel, literally “The House of God,” which was originally named Luz, was thus named by the Patriarch Jacob. It was there that Jacob, when sleeping on the road after escaping from his brother, Esau, saw a vision of a ladder reaching up into the heavens and angels ascending and descending on it. It was during this vision that he was promised the land of Israel for his descendants, and he proceeded to make a vow to God: “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going . . . so that I return to my father’s house in peace, then YHWH shall be my God” (Genesis 28:20-21).

Later in the History of Israel, the city was conquered by Joshua and became part of the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph. Bethel was a major city in the times of the Judges and of the prophet Samuel, and an important place of worship. Bethel gained a special status upon the division of the United Kingdom in the days of Jeroboam, and was one of the two major places of worship where the golden calves were placed (along with the northern city of Dan).

Bethel was not destructed during the Assyrian attack against the Israelite kingdom, but it was conquered by the Judean king Josiah, who destroyed the cultic center as part of his religious reformation (circa 622 BCE).

Bethel was resettled after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile and thrived throughout the Second Temple Period, and was probably still sparsely populated until the Byzantine period.
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