The first chariot-rider in the Bible is Joseph, who is praised as a ruler in Egypt as he rides in his chariot (Genesis 41:43), who takes amn entourage of chariots to greet his father’s entry to Egypt (Genesis 46:29), and who takes a “great company” of chariots and horsemen to his . . . . Continue Reading »
In discussing “the only non-cultic text with a seemingly concrete object for kipper (Genesis 32:20), Feder argues that kapar doesn’t mean “cover” and he takes the common view that panayv doesn’t mean “his face.” Jacob does not send a gift to . . . . Continue Reading »
Here’s a wonderful example of the depth of Yoder’s OT discussion: “Primal religion assumes the total known community as the bearer of meaning of sacral history: whether it be the whole village, the tribe, the kingdom of even the empire. The sacralization of life in primal cultures . . . . Continue Reading »
Noah is the restart of the human race after the whole human race has been wiped out. Abraham, also a new Adam, restarts the human race, begins a renewal of humanity and creation, within the world. He is leaven in the lump. A restart for humanity within post-Babelic humanity is a trickier business . . . . Continue Reading »
Frymer-Kensky again, commending on the third day of the creation week: “on the very same day that the earth is created, God also creates the plants and trees. This double creation on the third day emphasizes the significance of the fact that on the very same day God creates the earth, God . . . . Continue Reading »
Gordon again, on Jacob’s return to Bethel (Genesis 35) and the command to change garments: “Jacob’s return to Bethel is an example of the homecoming, or nostos , motif common in ancient Near Eastern literature. In the Odyssey, Odysseus changes his clothes upon returning home to . . . . Continue Reading »
According to Cyrus Gordon ( The Bible and the Ancient Near East (Revised Edition) ), Laban’s trick of Jacob - Leah for Rachel - put Jacob in an even more vulnerable position than is usually noticed. In one of the Nuzu tablets, Gordon finds “a combination adoption-marriage . . . . Continue Reading »
Kahn again, using the story of Abraham to discuss the erotic foundations of both family and political order: “The Abraham story . . . tells us that meanings must be borne directly on the body. The covenant requires circumcision . . . . The flesh must bear the idea; it must appear as a text . . . . Continue Reading »
Josephus ( Antiquities 1.3) says that the pre-diluvians lived a long time so they could make astronomical discoveries that required a lifetime of at least 600 years: “God afforded them a longer time of life on account of their virtue, and the good use they made of it in astronomical and . . . . Continue Reading »
Jacob has gotten a bad rap over the centuries, not least because of the way his two wives have fared in the hands of the allegorists. For Philo, beautiful Rachel represents bodily beauty and Leah beauty of soul: “Rachel, who is comeliness of the body, is described as younger than Leah, that . . . . Continue Reading »
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