Ancient Near East Studies (archaeology, linguistics, comparative religion, etc: ) provides explanations for certain Torah passages that previously were difficult to understand.
A book could probably be written about the serpent motif found in the Tenach.
Consider the Moses brass serpent -
Numbers 21:4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became impatient because of the way. 5 And the people spoke against God, and against Moses: 'Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.' 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses, and said: 'We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that He take away the serpents from us.' And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live.' 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived.
Rashi citing Mishnah Rosh Hashana 29a writes the serpent does not cure, but by looking up at it reminds of God.
Yet, Rashi’s explanation is not consistent with verse 8 ‘...when he seeth it, shall live.’. Second, why would God have Moses make a brass serpent ? Just tell the bitten person to pray to God for healing directly.
The probable motivation for the Rashi/Talmud explanation is because the brass serpent borders on Idolatry / magic and so an apologetic excuse is provided.
Ramban extrapolates from the medical opinion of the day and argues that seeing a serpent by a person bitten by a serpent harms the person. So bitten people are to gaze at the brass snake which resembles the offending agent and they live by the will of God.
The problem with Ramban’s explanation is it is based on incorrect medical opinion and it is uncertain if the ancient Israelites shared such a medical opinion.
This is where modern scholarship comes to the fore
Jewish Publication Society - Numbers - Jacob Milgrom 1990.
Page 459 - Regarding Numbers 21:4-9 “The homeopathic use of snakes is a distinctive feature of ancient Egypt”. At the times of Moses Egyptian belief was that serpent images repel serpents and heals wounds from them. “The association of snakes with healing is attested elsewhere in the Near East.” Milgrom relates it to magic - the fate of a person or object can be governed by manipulation of it’s image.
Commentary on the Torah with a New English Translation 2001 by Richard E, Friedman - Page 499 - it appears to be sympathetic magic.
Wikipedia Nehushtan “Snake cults had been well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age: archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo,[5] one at Gezer,[6] one in the Kodesh Hakodashim (Holy of Holies) of the Area H temple at Hazor,[7] and two at Shechem.[8]”
Some scholars explain the verses are an etiological account written in later times to explain the presence of the brass serpent at the First Temple. (See for example page 325 Jewish Publication Society - The Jewish Study Bible Berlin and Brettler, 1999 )
Showing posts with label Paganism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paganism. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Tree Animism in the Bible
Updated thru 9/9/2016
Many present day religious Jews, especially the so called ‘rationalists religious Jews’, think their lofty philosophical conceptions and discussions of God-Judaism such as Monotheism , The Transcendent, The Prime Mover, The Big Banger, Proofs of God, (alleged) real ‘science’ in the Torah, (alleged) lack of mythological elements in the Torah, (alleged) absence of paganism, were always part and parcel of Judaism.
This is because ‘embarrassing’ passages, mythological and pagan elements in the Tenach are often ignored, sometimes deceptively translated and reinterpreted away in homage to an evolved conception of God. In short, apologetics.
I hope to write a series of posts exploring Animism, Polytheism, Totemism, Taboo, Magic, and Demonology within the Tenach in relation to the roots of Judaism.
This post will focus on Tree Animism - Sacred Trees in the Tenach
I use the term animism to include the case where spiritual beings can take up lodging in things such as trees, bushes, streams/springs etc:, stones, mountains.
Some background
{ETA 1/3/2015 "Oracles and omens from trees and at tree sanctuaries are of the commonest among all races, and are derived in very various ways, either from observation of phenomena connected with the trees themselves, and interpreted as manifestations of divine life, or from ordinary processes of divination performed in the presence of the sacred object." Smith also explains that in ancient times - sacred energy, that is, a divine life, resided even in the parts of holy trees. (Page 195 Smith see below)}
Wiki Tree worship
“Trees have played an important role in many of the world's mythologies and religions, and have been given deep and sacred meanings throughout the ages”.
“The image of the Tree of life is also a favourite in many mythologies. Various forms of trees of life also appear in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility.”
“Other examples of trees featured in mythology are the Banyan and the Peepal (Ficus religiosa) trees in Hinduism, and the modern tradition of the Christmas Tree in Germanic mythology, the Tree of Knowledge of Judaism and Christianity, the Bodhi tree in Buddhism and Saglagar tree in Mongolian Tengriism. In folk religion and folklore, trees are often said to be the homes of tree spirits. Historical Druidism as well as Germanic paganism appear to have involved cultic practice in sacred groves, especially the oak.”
“Often the tree is famous for oracles. Best known, perhaps, is the oak of Dodona tended by priests who slept on the ground. Forms of the tall oaks of the old Prussians were inhabited by gods who gave responses, and so numerous are the examples that the old Hebrew terebinth of the teacher, and the terebinth of the diviners may reasonably be placed in this category.”
“Many of the world's ancient belief systems also include the belief of sacred groves...”
“Trees were often regarded as sacred in the ancient world, throughout Europe and Asia.”
Wiki Wish Tree - “A wish tree is an individual tree, usually distinguished by species, position or appearance, which is used as an object of wishes and offerings. Such trees are identified as possessing a special religious or spiritual value. By tradition, believers make votive offerings in order to gain from that nature spirit, saint or goddess fulfillment of a wish.”
Tree Animism in the Tenach
Some of my comments may seem speculative, but others are strongly suggested by the actual Tenach text.
1) Early in Genesis we see traces of something supernatural with Trees.
Gen 2: 8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Gen 2: 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying: 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
So how long after eating from the tree should Adam die - ‘...for in the day ...” you eat it you die.
And why should you die ? Was it poison ? Ancient people would ascribe sickness and death to spirits. (Many Orthodox Jews still do). So a tree inhabited with spirits could kill you if imbibed.
Genesis 3: 4 And the serpent said unto the woman: 'Ye shall not surely die; 5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.'
(Rashi explains shall be like Creators of Worlds !) . How can eating from this tree give you this power ? Perhaps because spirits had taken up home in the special tree and by eating from it you obtain supernatural powers.
2) Genesis 12: 6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said: 'Unto thy seed will I give this land'; and he builded there an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east; and he builded there an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Terebinth - a kind of tree.
Moreh - means teacher.
Meaning Abraham traveled to what was already known as special tree a teaching tree - a kind of oracle, or sacred tree. Abraham expects a manifestation from the spirit of the tree. No wonder the Lord appears there. Abraham builds an alter next to the sacred tree.
Sacrificing by and anointing sacred trees was practiced amongst ancient near east cultures.
And we have another secret here. “And the Canaanite was then in the Land.” Meaning, then in the land, but not when the author is writing the verse. This means the verse was written after the Israelites entered Canaan and so the Torah could not have been given at Mount Sinai.
3) Gen 13:18 And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
So again Abraham builds an alter by terebinth trees, just like in 2) above. Could it be these were also sacred trees before Abraham arrives there ?
4) Genesis Chapter 18: 1 And the LORD appeared unto him [Abraham] by the terebinths of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Taken in conjunction with item 2) and 3) it appears these trees were some kind of sacred grove. The Lord would manifest himself by the sacred trees.
{ETA 3/9/2016 From the book Torah and Flora by Louis Rabinowitz 1977 - Beginning on page 5 Regarding Genesis 12-17 - most commentators regard the hebrew word eilon to refer to a tree [ as in the translation above which uses a terebinth]. Also, "It is obvious from the scriptural passage that the eilon of moreh [translated above as a kind of tree and teacher] was a significant landmark even before the advent of Abraham, and that it's significance belongs to the Idolatrous pre-patriarchal Canaanite era." The word moreh means 'one who teaches' or 'gives instruction' and its a reasonable suggestion it was a sacred tree used for divination and soothsaying. "An oracle." }
{ETA 3/9/2016 The Torah A Modern Commentary by Plaut, Bamberger, Hallo 1981 Page 92 Regarding Genesis 12:6 explains a large tree famed as an oracle. }
5) Genesis 21:33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk-tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God
Genesis: 26: 23 And he [Isaac] went up from thence to Beer-sheba. 24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said: 'I am the God of Abraham thy father. Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for My servant Abraham's sake.' 25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
What’s up in Gen 21:33 ? Why plant a tree in Beer Sheba ? Why is The Torah is teaching us about Abrahams’s gardening activities ?
'Beer' as in well - an association with water. I hope to write a post regarding water animism and the Tenach.
What is fascinating ‘sheba’ means seven and we know seven had mythological significance in the ancient near east. This suggests the location already had very early mythological connotations prior to Abraham planting.
The significance is either the Beer-Sheeba tree could have been a sacred tree and the Torah is claiming it was because of Abraham planting it on behalf of the Lord and not because of prior Canaanite beliefs. Or perhaps Abraham is planting a sacred tree in a sacred area or sacred grove.
Then in Gen 26:23 why does the Lord appear in Beer-Sheba ? Could it be the Lord is appearing by the already sacred tree of Gen 21:33
6) Genesis 35: 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him: 'Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; 3 and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.' 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was by Shechem.
‘terebinth which was by Shechem’ - must be referring to the tree area from 2)
So why is Jacob burying the foreign gods under a tree ? Why not crush them or burn them or just bury them any old place ? One explanation is Jacob and company are now with the Lord, who most likely is associated with the sacred tree. The presence of a deity (the Lord) in that tree would keep these other gods under control. Another possible explanation the Idols are being returned to a tree associated with them.
7) Exodus 3: 1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the farthest end of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said: 'I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.' 4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said: 'Moses, Moses.' And he said: 'Here am I. 5 And He said: 'Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.'
Here we have a spirit being of Yahweh associated with a fiery bush. Yahweh himself associated with a mountain and the burning bush most probably on or near that mountain. Yahweh speaking out of the burning bush.
Deut 33: 13 And of Joseph he said: Blessed of the LORD be his land; for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, 14 And for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, and for the precious things of the yield of the moons, 15 And for the tops of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the everlasting hills, 16 And for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, and the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush; let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the head of him that is prince among his brethren.
Verse 16 ‘and the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush’
So Deut 33 in conjunction with Exodus 3 has God dwelling in the bush, and is a fairly clear suggestion of tree animism.
{ETA 1/3/2015 We find a similar story in Tyre - it was believed that fire played about the branches of the sacred olive tree between the Ambrosian rocks at Tyre, without scorching its leaves. From Page 193 LECTURES ON THE RELIGION OF THE SEMITES - WILLIAM ROBERTSON SMITH, third edition, 1927}
8) Judges 4:4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she sat under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
Why does the Tenach go to the trouble of teaching us about a ‘palm-tree of Deborah’ under which she sits ? The prophetess had a special tree under which she sat and came up with decisions. A prophetess receives messages from the supernatural. This is suspiciously seems like a sacred oracle tree.
9) Judges 6:11 And the angel of the LORD came, and sat under the terebinth which was in Ophrah, that belonged unto Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him: 'The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour'...... 24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it 'Adonai-shalom'; unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. {S}
Verse 11,24 - again we have an angel of the Lord associated with a tree/bush and an alter is built there.
Speculation - is it possible the original oral tradition had the Lord himself and not his angel ? {ETA 9/9/2016 Notice verse 24 - 'Adonai' may be used a name for G-d. }
10) Judges 9:6 And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all Beth-millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the terebinth of the pillar that was in Shechem. 7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them: 'Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. 8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree: Reign thou over us.
Why was the Abimelech made King at the terebinth of Shechem (see 2) above ? It is as if the God in the tree is witness or approving the kingship, as verse 8 intimates.
11) 1 Samuel Chapter 14: 1 Now it fell upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bore his armour: 'Come and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side. But he told not his father. 2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron; and the people that were with him were about six hundred men, ....17 Then said Saul unto the people that were with him: 'Number now, and see who is gone from us.' And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armour-bearer were not there.
Why does the Tenach tell us Saul tarries under the Palm Tree ? He later dispenses advice from there. Is this a suggestion of an oracle tree ?
And in 1 Samuel 31:13 13 And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk-tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days. Or 1 Chronicle10: 12 all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the terebinth in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
Why bury Saul under a tree ? And there is that magic number seven again.
12) 1 Kings 13:11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el, and the words which he had spoken unto the king, and they told them unto their father. 12 And their father said unto them: 'What way went he?' For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, that came from Judah. 13 And he said unto his sons: 'Saddle me the ass.' So they saddled him the ass; and he rode thereon. 14 And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a terebinth; and he said unto him: 'Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?' And he said: 'I am.'
And what does a man of God do ? Dispenses information from God. And where is he sitting ? Under a Terebinth in Beth-El (maybe the same one as in 6) above). The Tenach goes out of its way to mention a specific tree. A reasonable conclusion the relationship here between a man of God under a Terebinth is suggestive of tree animism.
13) II Samuel 5: 22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 23 And when David inquired of the LORD, He said: 'Thou shalt not go up; make a circuit behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry-trees. 24 And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself; for then is the LORD gone out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.
‘sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees’ must mean rustling the leaves and or branches.
This suggests the Lord is somehow within the trees and upon leaving them to do battle the Lord is marching over the trees causing the rustling. To this day many Orthodox Jews believe their warrior God does battle for them. The idea that the tribal god or nation god does battle on their behalf was prevalent in ancient times and even thru modern times. Gott mit uns (meaning God with us) was commonly used on armor in the Nazi German military. See proof of god from gaza rockets , proof of god from jewish survival
Conclusion
I could have supplied other examples. The numerous examples are highly suggestive that traces of tree animism, if not outright tree animism were associated with the early beliefs of the ‘God’ of the Torah. In later times parts of Torah do condemn worship under trees.
Many present day religious Jews, especially the so called ‘rationalists religious Jews’, think their lofty philosophical conceptions and discussions of God-Judaism such as Monotheism , The Transcendent, The Prime Mover, The Big Banger, Proofs of God, (alleged) real ‘science’ in the Torah, (alleged) lack of mythological elements in the Torah, (alleged) absence of paganism, were always part and parcel of Judaism.
This is because ‘embarrassing’ passages, mythological and pagan elements in the Tenach are often ignored, sometimes deceptively translated and reinterpreted away in homage to an evolved conception of God. In short, apologetics.
I hope to write a series of posts exploring Animism, Polytheism, Totemism, Taboo, Magic, and Demonology within the Tenach in relation to the roots of Judaism.
This post will focus on Tree Animism - Sacred Trees in the Tenach
I use the term animism to include the case where spiritual beings can take up lodging in things such as trees, bushes, streams/springs etc:, stones, mountains.
Some background
{ETA 1/3/2015 "Oracles and omens from trees and at tree sanctuaries are of the commonest among all races, and are derived in very various ways, either from observation of phenomena connected with the trees themselves, and interpreted as manifestations of divine life, or from ordinary processes of divination performed in the presence of the sacred object." Smith also explains that in ancient times - sacred energy, that is, a divine life, resided even in the parts of holy trees. (Page 195 Smith see below)}
Wiki Tree worship
“Trees have played an important role in many of the world's mythologies and religions, and have been given deep and sacred meanings throughout the ages”.
“The image of the Tree of life is also a favourite in many mythologies. Various forms of trees of life also appear in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility.”
“Other examples of trees featured in mythology are the Banyan and the Peepal (Ficus religiosa) trees in Hinduism, and the modern tradition of the Christmas Tree in Germanic mythology, the Tree of Knowledge of Judaism and Christianity, the Bodhi tree in Buddhism and Saglagar tree in Mongolian Tengriism. In folk religion and folklore, trees are often said to be the homes of tree spirits. Historical Druidism as well as Germanic paganism appear to have involved cultic practice in sacred groves, especially the oak.”
“Often the tree is famous for oracles. Best known, perhaps, is the oak of Dodona tended by priests who slept on the ground. Forms of the tall oaks of the old Prussians were inhabited by gods who gave responses, and so numerous are the examples that the old Hebrew terebinth of the teacher, and the terebinth of the diviners may reasonably be placed in this category.”
“Many of the world's ancient belief systems also include the belief of sacred groves...”
“Trees were often regarded as sacred in the ancient world, throughout Europe and Asia.”
Wiki Wish Tree - “A wish tree is an individual tree, usually distinguished by species, position or appearance, which is used as an object of wishes and offerings. Such trees are identified as possessing a special religious or spiritual value. By tradition, believers make votive offerings in order to gain from that nature spirit, saint or goddess fulfillment of a wish.”
Tree Animism in the Tenach
Some of my comments may seem speculative, but others are strongly suggested by the actual Tenach text.
1) Early in Genesis we see traces of something supernatural with Trees.
Gen 2: 8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Gen 2: 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying: 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
So how long after eating from the tree should Adam die - ‘...for in the day ...” you eat it you die.
And why should you die ? Was it poison ? Ancient people would ascribe sickness and death to spirits. (Many Orthodox Jews still do). So a tree inhabited with spirits could kill you if imbibed.
Genesis 3: 4 And the serpent said unto the woman: 'Ye shall not surely die; 5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.'
(Rashi explains shall be like Creators of Worlds !) . How can eating from this tree give you this power ? Perhaps because spirits had taken up home in the special tree and by eating from it you obtain supernatural powers.
2) Genesis 12: 6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said: 'Unto thy seed will I give this land'; and he builded there an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east; and he builded there an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Terebinth - a kind of tree.
Moreh - means teacher.
Meaning Abraham traveled to what was already known as special tree a teaching tree - a kind of oracle, or sacred tree. Abraham expects a manifestation from the spirit of the tree. No wonder the Lord appears there. Abraham builds an alter next to the sacred tree.
Sacrificing by and anointing sacred trees was practiced amongst ancient near east cultures.
And we have another secret here. “And the Canaanite was then in the Land.” Meaning, then in the land, but not when the author is writing the verse. This means the verse was written after the Israelites entered Canaan and so the Torah could not have been given at Mount Sinai.
3) Gen 13:18 And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
So again Abraham builds an alter by terebinth trees, just like in 2) above. Could it be these were also sacred trees before Abraham arrives there ?
4) Genesis Chapter 18: 1 And the LORD appeared unto him [Abraham] by the terebinths of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Taken in conjunction with item 2) and 3) it appears these trees were some kind of sacred grove. The Lord would manifest himself by the sacred trees.
{ETA 3/9/2016 From the book Torah and Flora by Louis Rabinowitz 1977 - Beginning on page 5 Regarding Genesis 12-17 - most commentators regard the hebrew word eilon to refer to a tree [ as in the translation above which uses a terebinth]. Also, "It is obvious from the scriptural passage that the eilon of moreh [translated above as a kind of tree and teacher] was a significant landmark even before the advent of Abraham, and that it's significance belongs to the Idolatrous pre-patriarchal Canaanite era." The word moreh means 'one who teaches' or 'gives instruction' and its a reasonable suggestion it was a sacred tree used for divination and soothsaying. "An oracle." }
{ETA 3/9/2016 The Torah A Modern Commentary by Plaut, Bamberger, Hallo 1981 Page 92 Regarding Genesis 12:6 explains a large tree famed as an oracle. }
5) Genesis 21:33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk-tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God
Genesis: 26: 23 And he [Isaac] went up from thence to Beer-sheba. 24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said: 'I am the God of Abraham thy father. Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for My servant Abraham's sake.' 25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
What’s up in Gen 21:33 ? Why plant a tree in Beer Sheba ? Why is The Torah is teaching us about Abrahams’s gardening activities ?
'Beer' as in well - an association with water. I hope to write a post regarding water animism and the Tenach.
What is fascinating ‘sheba’ means seven and we know seven had mythological significance in the ancient near east. This suggests the location already had very early mythological connotations prior to Abraham planting.
The significance is either the Beer-Sheeba tree could have been a sacred tree and the Torah is claiming it was because of Abraham planting it on behalf of the Lord and not because of prior Canaanite beliefs. Or perhaps Abraham is planting a sacred tree in a sacred area or sacred grove.
Then in Gen 26:23 why does the Lord appear in Beer-Sheba ? Could it be the Lord is appearing by the already sacred tree of Gen 21:33
6) Genesis 35: 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him: 'Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; 3 and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.' 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was by Shechem.
‘terebinth which was by Shechem’ - must be referring to the tree area from 2)
So why is Jacob burying the foreign gods under a tree ? Why not crush them or burn them or just bury them any old place ? One explanation is Jacob and company are now with the Lord, who most likely is associated with the sacred tree. The presence of a deity (the Lord) in that tree would keep these other gods under control. Another possible explanation the Idols are being returned to a tree associated with them.
7) Exodus 3: 1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the farthest end of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said: 'I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.' 4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said: 'Moses, Moses.' And he said: 'Here am I. 5 And He said: 'Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.'
Here we have a spirit being of Yahweh associated with a fiery bush. Yahweh himself associated with a mountain and the burning bush most probably on or near that mountain. Yahweh speaking out of the burning bush.
Deut 33: 13 And of Joseph he said: Blessed of the LORD be his land; for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, 14 And for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, and for the precious things of the yield of the moons, 15 And for the tops of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the everlasting hills, 16 And for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, and the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush; let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the head of him that is prince among his brethren.
Verse 16 ‘and the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush’
So Deut 33 in conjunction with Exodus 3 has God dwelling in the bush, and is a fairly clear suggestion of tree animism.
{ETA 1/3/2015 We find a similar story in Tyre - it was believed that fire played about the branches of the sacred olive tree between the Ambrosian rocks at Tyre, without scorching its leaves. From Page 193 LECTURES ON THE RELIGION OF THE SEMITES - WILLIAM ROBERTSON SMITH, third edition, 1927}
8) Judges 4:4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she sat under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
Why does the Tenach go to the trouble of teaching us about a ‘palm-tree of Deborah’ under which she sits ? The prophetess had a special tree under which she sat and came up with decisions. A prophetess receives messages from the supernatural. This is suspiciously seems like a sacred oracle tree.
9) Judges 6:11 And the angel of the LORD came, and sat under the terebinth which was in Ophrah, that belonged unto Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him: 'The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour'...... 24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it 'Adonai-shalom'; unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. {S}
Verse 11,24 - again we have an angel of the Lord associated with a tree/bush and an alter is built there.
Speculation - is it possible the original oral tradition had the Lord himself and not his angel ? {ETA 9/9/2016 Notice verse 24 - 'Adonai' may be used a name for G-d. }
10) Judges 9:6 And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all Beth-millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the terebinth of the pillar that was in Shechem. 7 And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them: 'Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. 8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree: Reign thou over us.
Why was the Abimelech made King at the terebinth of Shechem (see 2) above ? It is as if the God in the tree is witness or approving the kingship, as verse 8 intimates.
11) 1 Samuel Chapter 14: 1 Now it fell upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bore his armour: 'Come and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side. But he told not his father. 2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron; and the people that were with him were about six hundred men, ....17 Then said Saul unto the people that were with him: 'Number now, and see who is gone from us.' And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armour-bearer were not there.
Why does the Tenach tell us Saul tarries under the Palm Tree ? He later dispenses advice from there. Is this a suggestion of an oracle tree ?
And in 1 Samuel 31:13 13 And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk-tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days. Or 1 Chronicle10: 12 all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the terebinth in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
Why bury Saul under a tree ? And there is that magic number seven again.
12) 1 Kings 13:11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el, and the words which he had spoken unto the king, and they told them unto their father. 12 And their father said unto them: 'What way went he?' For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, that came from Judah. 13 And he said unto his sons: 'Saddle me the ass.' So they saddled him the ass; and he rode thereon. 14 And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a terebinth; and he said unto him: 'Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?' And he said: 'I am.'
And what does a man of God do ? Dispenses information from God. And where is he sitting ? Under a Terebinth in Beth-El (maybe the same one as in 6) above). The Tenach goes out of its way to mention a specific tree. A reasonable conclusion the relationship here between a man of God under a Terebinth is suggestive of tree animism.
13) II Samuel 5: 22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 23 And when David inquired of the LORD, He said: 'Thou shalt not go up; make a circuit behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry-trees. 24 And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself; for then is the LORD gone out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.
‘sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees’ must mean rustling the leaves and or branches.
This suggests the Lord is somehow within the trees and upon leaving them to do battle the Lord is marching over the trees causing the rustling. To this day many Orthodox Jews believe their warrior God does battle for them. The idea that the tribal god or nation god does battle on their behalf was prevalent in ancient times and even thru modern times. Gott mit uns (meaning God with us) was commonly used on armor in the Nazi German military. See proof of god from gaza rockets , proof of god from jewish survival
Conclusion
I could have supplied other examples. The numerous examples are highly suggestive that traces of tree animism, if not outright tree animism were associated with the early beliefs of the ‘God’ of the Torah. In later times parts of Torah do condemn worship under trees.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part 4
Updated thru 7/27/2018
This post is being devoted to my replies to various objections to my pagan posts, begun here Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism
By 'pagan' I intend the religions of non Israelite ancient near east people and the religions of other ancient peoples.
Objection #1 Ok, there are pagan rituals in the Torah. That does not disprove the divine authorship of the Torah. Yahweh could have placed them in there.
Is the Torah divine or a result of ancient near east thinking ? Since the Torah has many indications of being the result of ancient near east culture (including ane expressions, conceptions, rituals, laws) it is seems more likely it was a man made text. Reflecting their psychology, hopes , desires, aspirations etc:
Not just are the Torah rituals similar to some pagan rituals, sometimes the reasons given for them are also similar and the likely reasons are similar. Pagan rituals are based on superstitions, incorrect reasoning and are not effective. Codification of even ONE falsehood in a book supports the notion of the book’s non divine origin or corruption. Sure G-d could put false information in a book, but it seems more likely fallible humans did.
Some of the pagan like Torah rituals are potentially dangerous (for example circumcision) , unfair, scientifically unfounded, bizarre, and wasteful (for example certain Torah prescribed sacrifices). It seems fallible humans are the more likely reason they are in the Torah. What can possibly motivate Yahweh to codify similar to pagan rituals and sometimes for similar reasons ? G-d is surely inscrutable.
It seems more likely they are in the Torah not because Yahweh gave them, but because the Torah authors essentially shared similar ANE beliefs, but with devotion to Yahweh and not other gods.
Objection #2 God gave Adam and or Noach and or Abraham the ways to worship God. From these origins all ancient peoples tended to worship God the same way, more or less.
Claiming there was an Adam or Noach or Abraham is a form of circular reasoning. You cannot rely on a suspect text to assert something, but we shall ignore this problem.
Nevertheless, I would agree many of the rituals, laws and concepts could be from very ancient times But lets not limit the origination of all rituals, laws and concepts to only that period. Cross pollination and change occur frequently.
Please read my response to Objection #1 - it is related to my response to Objection #2.There are many Torah rituals and laws that can not be accounted for by the theory of Objection #2.
For Example:
It can not account for the prevalence of circumcision - since that was supposed to be a special operation as part of a covenant with Abraham. If so the pagan origin of that custom must be a different
It can not account for similarities in Tabernacle/Temple worship, which came much later than Abraham. For example Yom Kippur and Goat rituals. God gave Yom Kippur and Goat rituals to Abraham/Adam/Noach ? Moreover after Yahweh gave it to one or more of them somehow the pagans learned about it ?
It cannot account for similar magic rituals (bitter waters, red heifer to name two).
It can not account for why the Zukru festival compares with the spring festivals of Passover and Unleavened Bread, as well as other ritual festivals in west Semitic religion of the second millennium BC. Was Passover given to Abraham or Adam or Noach. ? Moreover after Yahweh gave it to one or more of them somehow the pagans learned about it ?
Would God actually have given Adam or Noach or Abraham all kinds of pagan laws and rituals such as animal sacrifice and others ? God is surely a mystery.
Recall explanation E2) The Israelites had been steeped in Idolatry. The Torah allowed some pagan practices to continue as an 'accommodation' to human weakness, but they are rededicated to the worship of Yahweh. It is this sort of notion that Rambam advocates. It follows Rambam was all but saying the pagan rituals found in the Torah were not truly the way G-d was intended to be worshipped, but are from the pagans. Hence he would reject the explanation found in Objection # 2
Objection # 3 Have you ever read books by Yehezkel Kaufmann ? (Implying he would disagree with my posts.)
Kaufmann's work is dated and given more recent discoveries I am not sure how he would react.
I have come across his name in some academic literature and his work has been disparaged. Kaufmann's opinions were apparently a minority view during his lifetime and would be more so today.
From the book Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan by Albright 1968
Page 173 "The unrealistic approach of the late Yehezkel Kaufmann who held that there was no backsliding in Israel except possibly during the period of Ahab and Jezebel in the 9th century, is, in my opinion, quite untenable"
Page 179 "The latter [regarding the influence of Canaanite culture on the Israelites] is an exceptionally complex problem, since the early Hebrews were influenced by their Canaanite neighbors, there were beliefs and practices common to both, and there were later borrowings and adaptations from Canaanite culture during the period of the Judges as well as the subsequent Monarchy....we can state definitely that it does not support the extreme position of the late Yehezkel Kaufmann, who maintained in his great 'History of the Faith of Israel' that mosaic monotheism was a phenomenon entirely peculiar to Israel"
From Frank Moore Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel 1973 in the preface:
From - Yehezkel Kaufmann's View of the Religion of Israel The Religion of Israel, From Its Beginnings to the Babylonian Exile by Yehezkel Kaufmann;Moshe Greenberg Review by: J. Philip HyattJournal of Bible and Religion, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Jan., 1961), pp. 52-57 Published by: Oxford University Press
"It is difficult to determine whether Kaufmann attributes monotheism basically to the intuition of Moses and the people, or to special revelation; or whether he considers these as two sides of the same process. He seems to put the emphasis on human intuition and in-sight, rather than on supernatural revelation."
Per Kaufmann - "The patriarchs before the time of Moses were not monotheists. They were no more than links in the chain leading to monotheism."
"He [Kaufmann] often declares statements in the Bible to be unhistorical or legendary; at several points he rejects the "historiosophy"-philosophy of history--of the biblical writers. He can say of the Torah that it embodies "divergent and at times mutually contradictory matter"
"Kaufmann considers three conclusions of classical criticism as assured (pp. 156-157): (1) He accepts the analysis of the three primary sources, JE, P, and D, together with their laws and narrative framework; the author is especially insistent that there are three separate and mutually independent legal corpora. (2) The present Torah book was not in pre-exilic times canonical and binding on the nation. Before this book came into existence, there was a long period of literary creation by priests and religious writers. (3) Deuteronomy was promulgated in the reign of Josiah, and the Torah as a whole was promulgated in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah "
"Yet, I find myself asking many questions about Kaufmann's theories. In particular, his basic position respecting Israelite monotheism is not convincing. His view of what he calls paganism seems to me distorted, and hence his attempt to interpret the religion of Israel as utterly different and radically new fails. It appears to me to be erroneous history and inadequate theology to say that Hebrew religion was utterly new or unique. "
"Kaufmann does not deny that the pre-exilic literature contains traces of idolatry, magic, divination, mythology, etc., but these are to him merely vestigial remains of an earlier Hebrew paganism, linguistic fossils, poetic imagery, and the like."
The Evolution of God by Robert Wright 2009 beginning page 106 Kaufmann's view which substantially rejects the evolutionary growth of Israelite religion from the local milieu now lacks foundation. Moreover the consensus is the Israelites who settled the highlands of Canaan came from somewhere within Canaanite society. "...[there] is no reason to doubt that the Israelite religion is exactly the kind of organic outgrowth of the local culture that Kaufmann...said it wasn't."
He goes on to explain
a) The discovery of the inscriptions: Yahweh and his Asherah
b) That some scholars argue Yahweh merged with Canaanite god El and inherited some of El's genes.
c) That Yahweh may have acquired genes from Baal. For example
Baal smites the Lotan (Leviathan) dragon and so does Yahweh in Psalms 74.
Page 504 "All told Psalm 74:12-17, in which Yahweh overcomes Yam, Tannin, and Leviathan, seems to have a clear kinship to the Ugaritic tradition.."
Psalm 48 Baal and Yahweh have characteristics of storm gods- For example Psalm 29
Yahweh's holy mountain/home as Mount Zion -Summit of Zaphon and Baals Mount Sapan which various scholars say is the same mountain.
Yahweh rides upon the clouds in Psalms 68:5 and Baal's nickname was rider upon the clouds.
Beginning on page 120 he lists many other similarities which may interest the reader.
Page 129 "Full fledged monotheism did'nt, as Kaufmann has argued, emerge early in Israelite history 'as an insight, and original intuition'. Early Israelite religion grew out of earlier religions, 'pagan' religions, just as they had done. And out of it, eventually, grew the more modern god of late Israelite religion: a single transcendent all- powerful, all knowing god - the god of the Jews..."
Objection #4 God is the creator. There are deep meanings to the Torah. Orthodox (Rabbinic) Jews don't believe God needs worship in the same way as the ancient near east people did.
This objection also relates to Objection #3 so read my response there.
Many ancient cultures also believed in creator god or gods, so the fact the Torah claims there was a creator or fashioner is a non starter.
I am not sure where these deeper meanings come from, since the reasons for some of the rituals are written in the Torah text and sometimes those reasons parallel other ANE cultures. Scholars also try to deduce the most likely reasons for some of the other rituals by studying ancient comparative religion and myths. Some of my posts provide such documentation.
The Torah does not provide a consistent monotheistic concept nor a consistent lofty view of God. Pagan magic, conceptions and rituals persist in the Torah. They still persist to this day within Orthodox Judaism. My posts have documented some of them.
Just because a particular ritual or prayer is devoted to Yahweh does not make it any less magic or any less pagan in action or conception.
Recall explanation E2) The Israelites had been steeped in Idolatry. The Torah allowed some pagan practices to continue as an 'accommodation' to human weakness, but they are rededicated to the worship of Yahweh. It is this sort of notion that Rambam advocates. It follows Rambam was all but saying the pagan rituals found in the Torah were not truly the way G-d was intended to be worshipped, but are from the pagans. Hence he would reject the explanation found in Objection #4.
Please see Cut Off in the Bible, Statute Forever in the Bible
This post is being devoted to my replies to various objections to my pagan posts, begun here Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism
By 'pagan' I intend the religions of non Israelite ancient near east people and the religions of other ancient peoples.
Objection #1 Ok, there are pagan rituals in the Torah. That does not disprove the divine authorship of the Torah. Yahweh could have placed them in there.
Is the Torah divine or a result of ancient near east thinking ? Since the Torah has many indications of being the result of ancient near east culture (including ane expressions, conceptions, rituals, laws) it is seems more likely it was a man made text. Reflecting their psychology, hopes , desires, aspirations etc:
Not just are the Torah rituals similar to some pagan rituals, sometimes the reasons given for them are also similar and the likely reasons are similar. Pagan rituals are based on superstitions, incorrect reasoning and are not effective. Codification of even ONE falsehood in a book supports the notion of the book’s non divine origin or corruption. Sure G-d could put false information in a book, but it seems more likely fallible humans did.
Some of the pagan like Torah rituals are potentially dangerous (for example circumcision) , unfair, scientifically unfounded, bizarre, and wasteful (for example certain Torah prescribed sacrifices). It seems fallible humans are the more likely reason they are in the Torah. What can possibly motivate Yahweh to codify similar to pagan rituals and sometimes for similar reasons ? G-d is surely inscrutable.
It seems more likely they are in the Torah not because Yahweh gave them, but because the Torah authors essentially shared similar ANE beliefs, but with devotion to Yahweh and not other gods.
Objection #2 God gave Adam and or Noach and or Abraham the ways to worship God. From these origins all ancient peoples tended to worship God the same way, more or less.
Claiming there was an Adam or Noach or Abraham is a form of circular reasoning. You cannot rely on a suspect text to assert something, but we shall ignore this problem.
Nevertheless, I would agree many of the rituals, laws and concepts could be from very ancient times But lets not limit the origination of all rituals, laws and concepts to only that period. Cross pollination and change occur frequently.
Please read my response to Objection #1 - it is related to my response to Objection #2.There are many Torah rituals and laws that can not be accounted for by the theory of Objection #2.
For Example:
It can not account for the prevalence of circumcision - since that was supposed to be a special operation as part of a covenant with Abraham. If so the pagan origin of that custom must be a different
It can not account for similarities in Tabernacle/Temple worship, which came much later than Abraham. For example Yom Kippur and Goat rituals. God gave Yom Kippur and Goat rituals to Abraham/Adam/Noach ? Moreover after Yahweh gave it to one or more of them somehow the pagans learned about it ?
It cannot account for similar magic rituals (bitter waters, red heifer to name two).
It can not account for why the Zukru festival compares with the spring festivals of Passover and Unleavened Bread, as well as other ritual festivals in west Semitic religion of the second millennium BC. Was Passover given to Abraham or Adam or Noach. ? Moreover after Yahweh gave it to one or more of them somehow the pagans learned about it ?
Would God actually have given Adam or Noach or Abraham all kinds of pagan laws and rituals such as animal sacrifice and others ? God is surely a mystery.
Recall explanation E2) The Israelites had been steeped in Idolatry. The Torah allowed some pagan practices to continue as an 'accommodation' to human weakness, but they are rededicated to the worship of Yahweh. It is this sort of notion that Rambam advocates. It follows Rambam was all but saying the pagan rituals found in the Torah were not truly the way G-d was intended to be worshipped, but are from the pagans. Hence he would reject the explanation found in Objection # 2
Objection # 3 Have you ever read books by Yehezkel Kaufmann ? (Implying he would disagree with my posts.)
I have not read his books and therefore not sure he would object to anything I have written. From what I have seen he would not agree with the Orthodox Jewish narrative.
From http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_10902.html"Although he [Kaufmann] accepted the Documentary Hypothesis of the sources of the Penateuch and the multiple authorship of Isaiah and Hosea, he resisted the tendency to analyze books into increasingly smaller units".
Kaufmann's work is dated and given more recent discoveries I am not sure how he would react.
I have come across his name in some academic literature and his work has been disparaged. Kaufmann's opinions were apparently a minority view during his lifetime and would be more so today.
From the book Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan by Albright 1968
Page 173 "The unrealistic approach of the late Yehezkel Kaufmann who held that there was no backsliding in Israel except possibly during the period of Ahab and Jezebel in the 9th century, is, in my opinion, quite untenable"
Page 179 "The latter [regarding the influence of Canaanite culture on the Israelites] is an exceptionally complex problem, since the early Hebrews were influenced by their Canaanite neighbors, there were beliefs and practices common to both, and there were later borrowings and adaptations from Canaanite culture during the period of the Judges as well as the subsequent Monarchy....we can state definitely that it does not support the extreme position of the late Yehezkel Kaufmann, who maintained in his great 'History of the Faith of Israel' that mosaic monotheism was a phenomenon entirely peculiar to Israel"
From Frank Moore Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel 1973 in the preface:
From - Yehezkel Kaufmann's View of the Religion of Israel The Religion of Israel, From Its Beginnings to the Babylonian Exile by Yehezkel Kaufmann;Moshe Greenberg Review by: J. Philip HyattJournal of Bible and Religion, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Jan., 1961), pp. 52-57 Published by: Oxford University Press
"It is difficult to determine whether Kaufmann attributes monotheism basically to the intuition of Moses and the people, or to special revelation; or whether he considers these as two sides of the same process. He seems to put the emphasis on human intuition and in-sight, rather than on supernatural revelation."
Per Kaufmann - "The patriarchs before the time of Moses were not monotheists. They were no more than links in the chain leading to monotheism."
"He [Kaufmann] often declares statements in the Bible to be unhistorical or legendary; at several points he rejects the "historiosophy"-philosophy of history--of the biblical writers. He can say of the Torah that it embodies "divergent and at times mutually contradictory matter"
"Kaufmann considers three conclusions of classical criticism as assured (pp. 156-157): (1) He accepts the analysis of the three primary sources, JE, P, and D, together with their laws and narrative framework; the author is especially insistent that there are three separate and mutually independent legal corpora. (2) The present Torah book was not in pre-exilic times canonical and binding on the nation. Before this book came into existence, there was a long period of literary creation by priests and religious writers. (3) Deuteronomy was promulgated in the reign of Josiah, and the Torah as a whole was promulgated in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah "
"Yet, I find myself asking many questions about Kaufmann's theories. In particular, his basic position respecting Israelite monotheism is not convincing. His view of what he calls paganism seems to me distorted, and hence his attempt to interpret the religion of Israel as utterly different and radically new fails. It appears to me to be erroneous history and inadequate theology to say that Hebrew religion was utterly new or unique. "
"Kaufmann does not deny that the pre-exilic literature contains traces of idolatry, magic, divination, mythology, etc., but these are to him merely vestigial remains of an earlier Hebrew paganism, linguistic fossils, poetic imagery, and the like."
The Evolution of God by Robert Wright 2009 beginning page 106 Kaufmann's view which substantially rejects the evolutionary growth of Israelite religion from the local milieu now lacks foundation. Moreover the consensus is the Israelites who settled the highlands of Canaan came from somewhere within Canaanite society. "...[there] is no reason to doubt that the Israelite religion is exactly the kind of organic outgrowth of the local culture that Kaufmann...said it wasn't."
He goes on to explain
a) The discovery of the inscriptions: Yahweh and his Asherah
b) That some scholars argue Yahweh merged with Canaanite god El and inherited some of El's genes.
c) That Yahweh may have acquired genes from Baal. For example
Baal smites the Lotan (Leviathan) dragon and so does Yahweh in Psalms 74.
Page 504 "All told Psalm 74:12-17, in which Yahweh overcomes Yam, Tannin, and Leviathan, seems to have a clear kinship to the Ugaritic tradition.."
Psalm 48 Baal and Yahweh have characteristics of storm gods- For example Psalm 29
Yahweh's holy mountain/home as Mount Zion -Summit of Zaphon and Baals Mount Sapan which various scholars say is the same mountain.
Yahweh rides upon the clouds in Psalms 68:5 and Baal's nickname was rider upon the clouds.
Beginning on page 120 he lists many other similarities which may interest the reader.
Page 129 "Full fledged monotheism did'nt, as Kaufmann has argued, emerge early in Israelite history 'as an insight, and original intuition'. Early Israelite religion grew out of earlier religions, 'pagan' religions, just as they had done. And out of it, eventually, grew the more modern god of late Israelite religion: a single transcendent all- powerful, all knowing god - the god of the Jews..."
Objection #4 God is the creator. There are deep meanings to the Torah. Orthodox (Rabbinic) Jews don't believe God needs worship in the same way as the ancient near east people did.
This objection also relates to Objection #3 so read my response there.
Many ancient cultures also believed in creator god or gods, so the fact the Torah claims there was a creator or fashioner is a non starter.
I am not sure where these deeper meanings come from, since the reasons for some of the rituals are written in the Torah text and sometimes those reasons parallel other ANE cultures. Scholars also try to deduce the most likely reasons for some of the other rituals by studying ancient comparative religion and myths. Some of my posts provide such documentation.
The Torah does not provide a consistent monotheistic concept nor a consistent lofty view of God. Pagan magic, conceptions and rituals persist in the Torah. They still persist to this day within Orthodox Judaism. My posts have documented some of them.
Just because a particular ritual or prayer is devoted to Yahweh does not make it any less magic or any less pagan in action or conception.
Recall explanation E2) The Israelites had been steeped in Idolatry. The Torah allowed some pagan practices to continue as an 'accommodation' to human weakness, but they are rededicated to the worship of Yahweh. It is this sort of notion that Rambam advocates. It follows Rambam was all but saying the pagan rituals found in the Torah were not truly the way G-d was intended to be worshipped, but are from the pagans. Hence he would reject the explanation found in Objection #4.
Please see Cut Off in the Bible, Statute Forever in the Bible
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part 3
It is essential to read this post Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part I before proceeding.
Sources and Documentation are listed throughout or at the end of this post.
This post will continue with-
Some Torah and Pagan comparisons; A critique of some of Rambam’s explanations; Related Issues
See Part 1 and Part 2 for Items A thru R
S) Tabernacle
Exodus 25:8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.9 According to all that I show thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the furniture thereof, even so shall ye make it.
22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will speak with thee from above the ark-cover, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
The Tabernacle is no accommodation to pagan practice. It states in verse 22, God will dwell in it or meet there. This is similar to other ancient near east (ANE) cultures. Even the plans are similar to other ANE cultures.
The Biblical Ciphers Unsealed Dale Robertson 2001
Beginning page 117 - Regarding the portable Israelite Ark
"We find evidence of an ark-like container in the religious practices of people throughout the near east". Evidence of an ark roughly the same dimensions as the Hebrew ark is found in the worship of Isis and Osiris.
The Anchor Bible Exodus 19-40 William Propp 2006 discusses the Tabernacle on page 704:
In Ugaritic literature speaks of tabernacles as a tent in which the gods gather in ‘meeting’ (m’d) . Also as the tent inhabited by the head Deity of the pantheon. “It stands to reason that the biblical ‘ohel moed’ meeting tent in which Yahweh resides on earth draws from the well springs of Canaanite mythology, since in many other respects the figure of Yahweh is rooted in the imagery of Ilu. (Cross 1961b:224;1973:44-75; Smith 2002; see also p. 787).”
Kugel page 284 - “A temple in the ancient Near East was essentially the house of the deity”. “Of course, in the ANE , the deity was not thought to exist just in that one place: he or she might also be somewhere else in the natural world or in the sky, or simultaneously in another temple...”
---------------------------------------------------------
T) Eating Fat is Prohibited
Levit 3:16 And the priest shall make them smoke upon the altar; it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a sweet savour; all the fat is the LORD'S.
Leviticus 7:22 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: Ye shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat.
24 And the fat of that which dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of beasts, may be used for any other service; but ye shall in no wise eat of it.
25 For whosoever eateth The fat of the beast, of which men present an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.
Rambam suggests the prohibition is because fat is an unwholesome food (page 370). Yet the reason the Torah provides (for example verse 16) is all the fat is the LORD'S. As if to emphasize this, eating it requires being cut off.
If the Torah was truly meaning to provide healthy diet suggestions, there was no need for it to write the food is the Lords’s nor to provide such a serious punishment as being cut off. {ETA 3/23/2014 And if Torah was intending to educate about a healthy diet it could write fat was bad for your health, instead of it being for the Lord.}
U) Regarding "unclean" In Leviticus 15:1- 15
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When any man hath an issue out of his flesh, his issue is unclean. {JPS page 241 explains it as urethral infections and not only gonorrhea. They did not know it was transmitted by sexual contact. } In verses 13 And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue, then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean....
14 And on the eighth day he shall take to him two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD unto the door of the tent of meeting, and give them unto the priest.
15 And the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD for his issue.
So sacrifice for infections. This is found among other ANE cultures - see Sparks below.
V) The Menstruate taboo all too common through the world. An abnormally long period requires sacrifices and atonement.
Levit15:25 And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days not in the time of her impurity, or if she have an issue beyond the time of her impurity; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness she shall be as in the days of her impurity: she is unclean.
26 Every bed whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her impurity; and every thing whereon she sitteth shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity. 27 And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. 28 BUT if she be Cleansed of Her issue, Then she shall number to Herself seven days, and after That she shall be clean.
29 And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting.
30 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for the issue of her uncleanness.
And a reason for all this is Leviticus 15:31 Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile My tabernacle that is in the midst of them.
{ETA 3/31/2014 -4/1/2014 - The Torah codifies superstitions and moreover requires a sacrifice as atonement. Why kill animals - how can this possibly help ?
Why do things become unclean when the women touches them ?
I sincerely doubt there is any physical basis for
for transference of uncleanliness as described in the Torah.
A plausible explanation for the abnormally long period concerns: When this happened it was treated as an abnormality or illness resulting because of a sin. Often ANE cultures associated illness or evil with offending the Gods. God therefore needed placating via an offering. This was serious because of verse 15:31.
Thus the taboo relates to supernatural fears and superstitions.}
W) Exodus21: 20 And if a man smite his bondman, or his bondwoman, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall surely be punished.
21 Notwithstanding if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his money.
Verse 20 seems reasonable. But verse 21 does not.
Why should the Master not get punished since he was the proximate cause of the death ?
X) Citing Rambam Page 339
“....the first-fruit (Exod. xxiii. 19), and the first of the shearing (Deut. xviii. 4).For the first of everything is to be devoted to the Lord ; and by doing so man accustoms himself to be liberal, and to limit his appetite for eating and his desire for property.”
Devoting the first of thing to the gods is a widely attested religious practice. Here is are two examples of many others. Page 460 Frazer - VI On the Island of Cos farmers brought the first fruits of the harvest to Demeter. Page 500 At a Mexican harvest festival the first fruits of the season were offered to the sun.
The post is continued here Part 4
--------------------------------------------
Sources additional Documentation and Information - REPEATED from Part I.
Beginning Page 207 Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
Regarding Leviticus 11-15-
The dietary laws: Clean .vs. Unclean - very close to ancient near east views. The Clean species - animals of domestic flock and herds. The unclean - Dog, swine in Hittite.
Body fluids discharges - Normal biological or Illness creates ritual uncleanness in The near east.
Hittite priests - if engage in sex it creates unclean and needs a ritual bath. Similar to Leviticus 15:16-18
Skin Infections, Fungus on things - like the ANE neighbors you consult a priest. Mesopotamia and Israelites - priest diagnoses based on fungal color and prescribe treatment and PERFORM elimination rites like in Levit 13:47-50, 14:33-57
Regarding Levit 17,21,22 "Hittite priestly instructions include many rules of this sort as well as similar warnings about DIVINE PUNISHMENT THAT WOULD RESULT IF THE RULES ARE CONTRAVENED". [My capitals]
Regarding Levit 24:1-9 perpetual presentation of 12 loaves of bread. This pa parallels to Mesopotamia practice a) 12 loaf offerings b) presenting meals to gods on trays
----------------------------------------------
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (TRANSLATED by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 REGARDING Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
Page 160 From the Ras Shamra texts of the Baal myths - To give authority he needs a house or place usually called Bait or Bet the usual word for Temple. "This shows clearly that The Temple was treated in The first place as the dwelling of the god or his official residence". Like the jews, the Temple Atargatis held 2 sacrifices per day.
Page 166 From the Ras Shamra texts - Baal has Khnm priests like Kohnim Hebrew. Kohen in Phoenician and Punic inscriptions.
----------------------------------------------
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (Translated by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 Regarding Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
----------------------------------------------
JPS - Jewish Publication Society Jewish Study Bible 2004 Berlin and Brettler
OTP - Old Testament Parallels by Victor Mathews and Don Benjamin
Frazer VI - The Golden Bough by James Frazer Volume I abridged edition 1922, 1979 - fifteenth printing.)
Kugel - How to Read the Bible by James Kugel 2007
Rambam - Maimonides (Rambam 12th century) in his Guide for the Perplexed ( my edition translated from the original arabic edition, revised throughout (Eighth Impression) second edition published 1904, reprinted in 1956)
Sparks - Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part 2
It is essential to read this post Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part I before proceeding. Sources and Documentation are listed throughout or at the end of this post.
This post will continue with-
Some Torah and Pagan comparisons; A critique of some of Rambam’s explanations; Related Issues
J) See this post Circumcision and Maimonides where Rambam reasons for circumcision are challenged, and also for some additional critique of the practice.
K) Citing Rambam Page 331
"We are told to offer up prayers to God, in order to establish firmly the true principle that God takes notice of our ways, that He can make them successful if we worship Him, or disastrous if we disobey Him, that [success and failure] are not the result of chance or accident. "
Other ancient near east (ANE) religions also prayed to the gods. Rambam states that god interferes in the world because somebody prays to god. How is this different than other ANE religions who believed likewise ?
L) Citing Rambam Page 358
“The anointing oil (Exod. xxx. 22-33) served a double purpose : to give the anointed object a good odour, and to produce the impression that it was something great, holy, and distinguished, and better than other objects of the same species ; it made no difference whether that object was a human being, a garment, or a vessel. All this aimed at producing due respect towards the Sanctuary, and indirectly fear of God.”
(http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1559-anointing - This custom was older than the Hebrews. El-Amarna Tablet No. 37 tells of the anointing of a king.)
[Other cultures also had rituals involving anointing. For example see this post Passover]
M) Citing Rambam Page 358
"Since many beasts were daily slaughtered in the holy place, the flesh cut in pieces and the entrails and the legs burnt and washed, the smell of the place would undoubtedly have been like the smell of slaughter-houses, if nothing had been done to counteract it. They were therefore commanded to burn incense there twice every day, in the morning and in the evening (Exod. xxx. 7, 8), in order to give the place and the garments of those who officiated there a pleasant odour."
{(http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8099-incense: It is an open question whether the ancient Hebrews ascribed to this incense any special efficacy in banning demons (comp. Tobit vi. 1-7); but in any case the offering of incense was widely practiced in the ancient Oriental religions. That it was a common adjunct of Egyptian worship is evident from the fact that in the representations of worship the king is nearly always pictured with a censer in his hand offering incense. Enormous quantities of spices were used for this purpose every year by the temples. According to one list, King Rameses III. presented during the thirty-one years of his reign 368,461 jars and 1,933,766 pieces of incense, honey, and oil (Erman, "Egypten," p. 407). Incense is mentioned just as frequently in the Babylonian-Assyrian cult.)}
Moreover, the Torah could have reduced the number of animal sacrifices and thus significantly decreased the odor, if there was indeed an objectionable one.
It is possible the incense may have had a psychoactive effect, but this needs further research. For example from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankincense "A 2008 study
reported that frankincense smoke was a psychoactive drug that relieves depression and anxiety in mice."
The Anchor Bible Exodus 19-40 William Propp 2006 discusses incense Beginning on page 512 provides numerous reasons and facts about incense including:
“In Mesopotamia an incense burner was placed directly before the divine presence...”
“The Mesopotamians believed that aromatics could dispel impurity and attract the divine..."
“Canaanite temples similarly featured incense installations before the sacred cellae or niches housing the divine image....”
Incense can placate god and avert a plagues - as in Numbers 17:
Clouds are a medium for gods manifestation as in Levit :16:2
Leviticus16: 2 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Speak unto Aaron thy brother, That he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the ark-cover Which is upon the ark; That he die not; for I Appear in the cloud upon the ark-cover.
Propp explains sizzling flesh has an appealing odor and so incense was not to cover stench. There was the possibility for it as an insect repellent or to perfume the environment to attract god. Also to scent and thus remind people of the Temple.
N) Citing Rambam Page 359-360
" Ye shall bring your offering of the cattle [viz.], of the herd and of the flock (Lev. I. 2). Thus the very act which is considered by the heathen as the greatest crime, is the means of approaching God, and obtaining His pardon for our sins."
Rambam writes that in general cattle are not sacrificed by Idolaters.
Yet we know other ancient cultures also sacrificed cattle such as oxen and sheep {ETA and goats }no different than the Torah.
{ETA 3/22-24/2014 It is known goats, bulls, cows and sheep are were sacrificed by several cultures in the ancient near east - see for example page 347, 348, 358 the book Ancient Near East Texts Relating to the Old Testament by James Pritchard -1955 second edition corrected and enlarged . That book also provides numerous ANE Bible parallels.}
Furthermore, Numbers 15:3-16 says burned flesh produces an odor pleasing to god. (Page 313 of The Jewish Study Bible Berlin And Brettler editors 2004).
Why should cattle sacrifice obtain pardon of sins ? Wouldn’t charity be better ?
On Page 360 Rambam writes the Idolaters did not sacrifice unleavened bread, thus the Torah prohibits leavened bread sacrifices.
But on Page 169 of Sparks he mentions the Ugaritic Festival of First Wine and one of it's features is the use of UNLEAVENED Bread in sacrifices.}.
O) Citing Rambam Page 366
"The goat [of the Day of Atonement] that was sent [into the wilderness] (Lev. xvi. 20, seq.) served as an atonement for all serious transgressions more than any other sin-offering of the congregation. As it thus seemed to carry off all sins, it was not accepted as an ordinary sacrifice to be slaughtered, burnt,
or even brought near the Sanctuary ; it was removed as far as possible, and sent forth into a waste, uncultivated, uninhabited land. There is no doubt that sins cannot be carried like a burden, and taken off the shoulder of one being to be laid on that of another being. But these ceremonies are of a symbolic character, and serve to impress men with a certain idea, and to induce them to repent; as if to say, we have freed ourselves of our previous deeds, have cast them behind our backs, and removed them from us as far as possible."
Here Rambam seems to disregard the actual Torah words see verse 22 in the next paragraph.. The goat actually bears the iniquities. This is no mere symbolism. See my post on Azazel and Yom Kippur for more ANE parallels.
Leviticus 16: 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness. 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness
P) Citing Rambam Page 366
"As regards the offering of wine (Num. xv. 5, seq), I am at a loss to find a reason why God commanded it, since idolaters brought wine as an offering."
Rambam is correct that some Idolaters did use wine in their ceremonies.
Numbers 15:3-16 says burned flesh produces an odor pleasing to god. (Page 313 of The Jewish Study Bible Berlin And Brettler editors 2004).
I will note that included within in the above verses is the suggestion that wine offering also produces a pleasing odor which may mean to god as in verse 3. Verse 3 is about flesh and it states "..producing an odor pleasing to god." This would provide one reason for the wine sacrifice.
Another reason is a possible Dionysus connection. Recall wine is used in many Orthodox Jewish rituals.
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, wine making and wine. According to an article in the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament June 2011 vol. 35 no. 4 387-415: Was Yahweh Worshiped in the Aegean? by Nissim Amzallag - Here is the abstract - "A comparison of Aegean and biblical sources reveals striking similarities between Dionysus and Yahweh: both are characterized by the same symbols, the same mode of action and the same theophany; both provoked a comparable doubt concerning their divine nature and/or their actual powers; and both had the same subversive effects with regard to the official pantheon. The homology between Yahweh and Dionysus is confirmed by their common vestigial link to copper metallurgy. From Greek literary sources and reflections about the continuous metallurgical influence of Canaan on the Aegean world, it is concluded that during the Bronze Age Dionysus was probably the Aegean counterpart of Yahweh, the mysterious Canaanite god of furnace metallurgy. Further examination suggests that the popularization of the cult of Dionysus in Greece, from the ninth century BCE, underwent a similar process leading in Canaan to the emergence of the Israelite alliance. These findings open new horizons of investigation, both of the ancient Aegean civilization and of the nature of the popular cult of Yahweh in Canaan prior to the monotheistic reform."
In ancient times grapes and wine were closely connected with gods.
Q) Citing Rambam Page 372
"The object of Nazaritism (Num. vi.) is obvious. It keeps away from wine that has ruined people in ancient and modern times." "In the law about the Nazarite we notice even the prohibition,he shall eat nothing that is made of the vine tree (Num vi. 4), as an additional precaution, implying the lesson that man must take of wine only as much as. absolutely necessary.”
{From http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11395-nazarite
Three restrictions are imposed upon the Nazarite, according to Num. vi.: he may not take wine, or anything made from grapes; he may not cut the hair of his head; he may not touch the dead, not even the body of his father or mother.
Note (Parallels to the long hair of the Nazarites are found in many parts of the world (comp. W. R. Smith, "Rel. of Sem." 2d ed., pp. 332, 482; Frazer, "Golden Bough," 2d ed., I. 362-389) http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11395-nazarite).}
[Clearly Rambam's explanation can not be the complete explanation because grapes and not just wine are restricted, and thus his suggestion that this is too teach a precaution about excess wine does not fully follow. And why the hair cut prohibition which Rambam ignores. The latter is an ancient superstitions and is found in the Nazarite code.]
On page 788 Frazer VI- "Again we see that in folk tales a mans's soul or strength is sometimes represented as bound up with his a hair, and that when his hair is cut off he dies or grows weak." He includes for example the natives of Amboyna who thought their strength was in their hair which deserts them if it were shorn.
R) Citing Rambam Page 379
"It is prohibited for an Israelite that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off (Deut. xxiii. 2), to marry an Israelitish woman ; because the sexual intercourse is of no use and of no purpose ; and that marriage would be a source of ruin to her, and to him who would claim her."
Deuteronomy Chapter 23:2 He that is crushed or maimed in his privy parts shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD.
1) If Rambam’s has provided the understanding and reasons for the law I would argue the law is unjust for at least 2 reasons. Procreation is not the sole reason for marriage. The Torah writes in Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. Second, this law is discriminatory towards certain injured and or disabled people.
2) Rambam’s understanding of the law may be incorrect and this lead him to incorrect reasons. The verse may actually be referring to a sort of public legislature and not to the greater society. Eunuchs served as officials in near east bureaucracies and so are prohibited. (JPS page 418).
This post is continued in Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part 3
--------------------------------------------
Sources additional Documentation and Information - REPEATED from Part I.
Beginning Page 207 Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
Regarding Leviticus 11-15-
The dietary laws: Clean .vs. Unclean - very close to ancient near east views. The Clean species - animals of domestic flock and herds. The unclean - Dog, swine in Hittite.
Body fluids discharges - Normal biological or Illness creates ritual uncleanness in The near east.
Hittite priests - if engage in sex it creates unclean and needs a ritual bath. Similar to Leviticus 15:16-18
Skin Infections, Fungus on things - like the ANE neighbors you consult a priest. Mesopotamia and Israelites - priest diagnoses based on fungal color and prescribe treatment and PERFORM elimination rites like in Levit 13:47-50, 14:33-57
Regarding Levit 17,21,22 "Hittite priestly instructions include many rules of this sort as well as similar warnings about DIVINE PUNISHMENT THAT WOULD RESULT IF THE RULES ARE CONTRAVENED". [My capitals]
Regarding Levit 24:1-9 perpetual presentation of 12 loaves of bread. This pa parallels to Mesopotamia practice a) 12 loaf offerings b) presenting meals to gods on trays
----------------------------------------------
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (TRANSLATED by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 REGARDING Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
Page 160 From the Ras Shamra texts of the Baal myths - To give authority he needs a house or place usually called Bait or Bet the usual word for Temple. "This shows clearly that The Temple was treated in The first place as the dwelling of the god or his official residence". Like the jews, the Temple Atargatis held 2 sacrifices per day.
Page 166 From the Ras Shamra texts - Baal has Khnm priests like Kohnim Hebrew. Kohen in Phoenician and Punic inscriptions.
----------------------------------------------
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (Translated by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 Regarding Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
----------------------------------------------
JPS - Jewish Publication Society Jewish Study Bible 2004 Berlin and Brettler
OTP - Old Testament Parallels by Victor Mathews and Don Benjamin
Frazer VI - The Golden Bough by James Frazer Volume I abridged edition 1922, 1979 - fifteenth printing.)
Kugel - How to Read the Bible by James Kugel 2007
Rambam - Maimonides (Rambam 12th century) in his Guide for the Perplexed ( my edition translated from the original arabic edition, revised throughout (Eighth Impression) second edition published 1904, reprinted in 1956)
Sparks - Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
This post will continue with-
Some Torah and Pagan comparisons; A critique of some of Rambam’s explanations; Related Issues
J) See this post Circumcision and Maimonides where Rambam reasons for circumcision are challenged, and also for some additional critique of the practice.
K) Citing Rambam Page 331
"We are told to offer up prayers to God, in order to establish firmly the true principle that God takes notice of our ways, that He can make them successful if we worship Him, or disastrous if we disobey Him, that [success and failure] are not the result of chance or accident. "
Other ancient near east (ANE) religions also prayed to the gods. Rambam states that god interferes in the world because somebody prays to god. How is this different than other ANE religions who believed likewise ?
L) Citing Rambam Page 358
“The anointing oil (Exod. xxx. 22-33) served a double purpose : to give the anointed object a good odour, and to produce the impression that it was something great, holy, and distinguished, and better than other objects of the same species ; it made no difference whether that object was a human being, a garment, or a vessel. All this aimed at producing due respect towards the Sanctuary, and indirectly fear of God.”
(http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1559-anointing - This custom was older than the Hebrews. El-Amarna Tablet No. 37 tells of the anointing of a king.)
[Other cultures also had rituals involving anointing. For example see this post Passover]
M) Citing Rambam Page 358
"Since many beasts were daily slaughtered in the holy place, the flesh cut in pieces and the entrails and the legs burnt and washed, the smell of the place would undoubtedly have been like the smell of slaughter-houses, if nothing had been done to counteract it. They were therefore commanded to burn incense there twice every day, in the morning and in the evening (Exod. xxx. 7, 8), in order to give the place and the garments of those who officiated there a pleasant odour."
{(http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8099-incense: It is an open question whether the ancient Hebrews ascribed to this incense any special efficacy in banning demons (comp. Tobit vi. 1-7); but in any case the offering of incense was widely practiced in the ancient Oriental religions. That it was a common adjunct of Egyptian worship is evident from the fact that in the representations of worship the king is nearly always pictured with a censer in his hand offering incense. Enormous quantities of spices were used for this purpose every year by the temples. According to one list, King Rameses III. presented during the thirty-one years of his reign 368,461 jars and 1,933,766 pieces of incense, honey, and oil (Erman, "Egypten," p. 407). Incense is mentioned just as frequently in the Babylonian-Assyrian cult.)}
Moreover, the Torah could have reduced the number of animal sacrifices and thus significantly decreased the odor, if there was indeed an objectionable one.
It is possible the incense may have had a psychoactive effect, but this needs further research. For example from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankincense "A 2008 study
reported that frankincense smoke was a psychoactive drug that relieves depression and anxiety in mice."
“In Mesopotamia an incense burner was placed directly before the divine presence...”
“The Mesopotamians believed that aromatics could dispel impurity and attract the divine..."
“Canaanite temples similarly featured incense installations before the sacred cellae or niches housing the divine image....”
Incense can placate god and avert a plagues - as in Numbers 17:
12 And Aaron Took as Moses spoke partner network, and ran into the Midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague was Begun Among the people; and he put on the incense, and made Atonement for the people.
|
Leviticus16: 2 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Speak unto Aaron thy brother, That he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the ark-cover Which is upon the ark; That he die not; for I Appear in the cloud upon the ark-cover.
Propp explains sizzling flesh has an appealing odor and so incense was not to cover stench. There was the possibility for it as an insect repellent or to perfume the environment to attract god. Also to scent and thus remind people of the Temple.
N) Citing Rambam Page 359-360
" Ye shall bring your offering of the cattle [viz.], of the herd and of the flock (Lev. I. 2). Thus the very act which is considered by the heathen as the greatest crime, is the means of approaching God, and obtaining His pardon for our sins."
Rambam writes that in general cattle are not sacrificed by Idolaters.
Yet we know other ancient cultures also sacrificed cattle such as oxen and sheep {ETA and goats }no different than the Torah.
{ETA 3/22-24/2014 It is known goats, bulls, cows and sheep are were sacrificed by several cultures in the ancient near east - see for example page 347, 348, 358 the book Ancient Near East Texts Relating to the Old Testament by James Pritchard -1955 second edition corrected and enlarged . That book also provides numerous ANE Bible parallels.}
Furthermore, Numbers 15:3-16 says burned flesh produces an odor pleasing to god. (Page 313 of The Jewish Study Bible Berlin And Brettler editors 2004).
Why should cattle sacrifice obtain pardon of sins ? Wouldn’t charity be better ?
On Page 360 Rambam writes the Idolaters did not sacrifice unleavened bread, thus the Torah prohibits leavened bread sacrifices.
But on Page 169 of Sparks he mentions the Ugaritic Festival of First Wine and one of it's features is the use of UNLEAVENED Bread in sacrifices.}.
O) Citing Rambam Page 366
"The goat [of the Day of Atonement] that was sent [into the wilderness] (Lev. xvi. 20, seq.) served as an atonement for all serious transgressions more than any other sin-offering of the congregation. As it thus seemed to carry off all sins, it was not accepted as an ordinary sacrifice to be slaughtered, burnt,
or even brought near the Sanctuary ; it was removed as far as possible, and sent forth into a waste, uncultivated, uninhabited land. There is no doubt that sins cannot be carried like a burden, and taken off the shoulder of one being to be laid on that of another being. But these ceremonies are of a symbolic character, and serve to impress men with a certain idea, and to induce them to repent; as if to say, we have freed ourselves of our previous deeds, have cast them behind our backs, and removed them from us as far as possible."
Here Rambam seems to disregard the actual Torah words see verse 22 in the next paragraph.. The goat actually bears the iniquities. This is no mere symbolism. See my post on Azazel and Yom Kippur for more ANE parallels.
Leviticus 16: 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness. 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness
P) Citing Rambam Page 366
"As regards the offering of wine (Num. xv. 5, seq), I am at a loss to find a reason why God commanded it, since idolaters brought wine as an offering."
Rambam is correct that some Idolaters did use wine in their ceremonies.
Numbers 15:3-16 says burned flesh produces an odor pleasing to god. (Page 313 of The Jewish Study Bible Berlin And Brettler editors 2004).
I will note that included within in the above verses is the suggestion that wine offering also produces a pleasing odor which may mean to god as in verse 3. Verse 3 is about flesh and it states "..producing an odor pleasing to god." This would provide one reason for the wine sacrifice.
Another reason is a possible Dionysus connection. Recall wine is used in many Orthodox Jewish rituals.
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, wine making and wine. According to an article in the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament June 2011 vol. 35 no. 4 387-415: Was Yahweh Worshiped in the Aegean? by Nissim Amzallag - Here is the abstract - "A comparison of Aegean and biblical sources reveals striking similarities between Dionysus and Yahweh: both are characterized by the same symbols, the same mode of action and the same theophany; both provoked a comparable doubt concerning their divine nature and/or their actual powers; and both had the same subversive effects with regard to the official pantheon. The homology between Yahweh and Dionysus is confirmed by their common vestigial link to copper metallurgy. From Greek literary sources and reflections about the continuous metallurgical influence of Canaan on the Aegean world, it is concluded that during the Bronze Age Dionysus was probably the Aegean counterpart of Yahweh, the mysterious Canaanite god of furnace metallurgy. Further examination suggests that the popularization of the cult of Dionysus in Greece, from the ninth century BCE, underwent a similar process leading in Canaan to the emergence of the Israelite alliance. These findings open new horizons of investigation, both of the ancient Aegean civilization and of the nature of the popular cult of Yahweh in Canaan prior to the monotheistic reform."
In ancient times grapes and wine were closely connected with gods.
Q) Citing Rambam Page 372
"The object of Nazaritism (Num. vi.) is obvious. It keeps away from wine that has ruined people in ancient and modern times." "In the law about the Nazarite we notice even the prohibition,he shall eat nothing that is made of the vine tree (Num vi. 4), as an additional precaution, implying the lesson that man must take of wine only as much as. absolutely necessary.”
{From http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11395-nazarite
Three restrictions are imposed upon the Nazarite, according to Num. vi.: he may not take wine, or anything made from grapes; he may not cut the hair of his head; he may not touch the dead, not even the body of his father or mother.
Note (Parallels to the long hair of the Nazarites are found in many parts of the world (comp. W. R. Smith, "Rel. of Sem." 2d ed., pp. 332, 482; Frazer, "Golden Bough," 2d ed., I. 362-389) http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11395-nazarite).}
[Clearly Rambam's explanation can not be the complete explanation because grapes and not just wine are restricted, and thus his suggestion that this is too teach a precaution about excess wine does not fully follow. And why the hair cut prohibition which Rambam ignores. The latter is an ancient superstitions and is found in the Nazarite code.]
On page 788 Frazer VI- "Again we see that in folk tales a mans's soul or strength is sometimes represented as bound up with his a hair, and that when his hair is cut off he dies or grows weak." He includes for example the natives of Amboyna who thought their strength was in their hair which deserts them if it were shorn.
R) Citing Rambam Page 379
"It is prohibited for an Israelite that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off (Deut. xxiii. 2), to marry an Israelitish woman ; because the sexual intercourse is of no use and of no purpose ; and that marriage would be a source of ruin to her, and to him who would claim her."
Deuteronomy Chapter 23:2 He that is crushed or maimed in his privy parts shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD.
1) If Rambam’s has provided the understanding and reasons for the law I would argue the law is unjust for at least 2 reasons. Procreation is not the sole reason for marriage. The Torah writes in Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. Second, this law is discriminatory towards certain injured and or disabled people.
2) Rambam’s understanding of the law may be incorrect and this lead him to incorrect reasons. The verse may actually be referring to a sort of public legislature and not to the greater society. Eunuchs served as officials in near east bureaucracies and so are prohibited. (JPS page 418).
This post is continued in Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part 3
--------------------------------------------
Sources additional Documentation and Information - REPEATED from Part I.
Beginning Page 207 Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
Regarding Leviticus 11-15-
The dietary laws: Clean .vs. Unclean - very close to ancient near east views. The Clean species - animals of domestic flock and herds. The unclean - Dog, swine in Hittite.
Body fluids discharges - Normal biological or Illness creates ritual uncleanness in The near east.
Hittite priests - if engage in sex it creates unclean and needs a ritual bath. Similar to Leviticus 15:16-18
Skin Infections, Fungus on things - like the ANE neighbors you consult a priest. Mesopotamia and Israelites - priest diagnoses based on fungal color and prescribe treatment and PERFORM elimination rites like in Levit 13:47-50, 14:33-57
Regarding Levit 17,21,22 "Hittite priestly instructions include many rules of this sort as well as similar warnings about DIVINE PUNISHMENT THAT WOULD RESULT IF THE RULES ARE CONTRAVENED". [My capitals]
Regarding Levit 24:1-9 perpetual presentation of 12 loaves of bread. This pa parallels to Mesopotamia practice a) 12 loaf offerings b) presenting meals to gods on trays
----------------------------------------------
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (TRANSLATED by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 REGARDING Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
Page 160 From the Ras Shamra texts of the Baal myths - To give authority he needs a house or place usually called Bait or Bet the usual word for Temple. "This shows clearly that The Temple was treated in The first place as the dwelling of the god or his official residence". Like the jews, the Temple Atargatis held 2 sacrifices per day.
Page 166 From the Ras Shamra texts - Baal has Khnm priests like Kohnim Hebrew. Kohen in Phoenician and Punic inscriptions.
----------------------------------------------
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (Translated by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 Regarding Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
----------------------------------------------
JPS - Jewish Publication Society Jewish Study Bible 2004 Berlin and Brettler
OTP - Old Testament Parallels by Victor Mathews and Don Benjamin
Frazer VI - The Golden Bough by James Frazer Volume I abridged edition 1922, 1979 - fifteenth printing.)
Kugel - How to Read the Bible by James Kugel 2007
Rambam - Maimonides (Rambam 12th century) in his Guide for the Perplexed ( my edition translated from the original arabic edition, revised throughout (Eighth Impression) second edition published 1904, reprinted in 1956)
Sparks - Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part I
UPDATED THRU 11/20/2014 6/27/2018
Why Are Pagan Laws, Rituals and Customs in the Torah ?
Many Orthodox Jews respond: We do not know why the Torah has certain laws, rituals and customs. God has commanded them. ( I will be mainly concerned with laws, rituals and customs that have no obvious reason. Laws such as the prohibition against murder are not the concern of this post.)
Others, in the tradition exemplified by Maimonides (Rambam 12th century) in his Guide for the Perplexed ( my edition translated from the original arabic edition, revised throughout (Eighth Impression) second edition published 1904, reprinted in 1956), offers the following basic explanations:
E1) Many Torah laws, rituals, customs are meant to reject Idolatry and Idolatrous ways of worship or to create a fence around them.
{ETA 7/10/2014 One motivation for the development E1 is explained in Origins of some Torah Laws and Chosen People Idea. Or perhaps it occurs because of religious, political, national differentiation similar to numerous countries having there own religious brand or like the numerous different Christian, Islamic, and Jewish denominations today. Or perhaps the Ancient Israelites were by trial and error attempting to find the best way to worship Yahweh/EL. }
E2) The Israelites had been steeped in Idolatry. The Torah allowed some pagan practices to continue as an 'accommodation' to human weakness, but they are rededicated to the worship of Yahweh.
(Rambam also offers other reasons for certain specific and laws, rituals and customs - some will be discussed in future posts. ETA 3/19/2014 - see Part 2 and Part 3 and Circumcision and Rambam }
E1 - For some laws the Torah explicitly confirms E1. For example Deut 27:15 Cursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and setteth it up in secret.
Notice that E1 and E2 combined are an almost unfalsifiable position. If a clearly pagan practice is in the Torah it becomes an ‘accommodation’. If it is prohibited it is because it was associated with Idolatry. Nevertheless, a very convincing case can be made against E2 for many of the Torah’s pagan laws, rituals and customs.
The posts 'Cut Off in the Bible and 'Statute Forever' in the Bible already began to address why E2 is an incorrect explanation for many Torah pagan laws, rituals and customs and strongly suggests the Torah’s many ancient near east (ANE) laws, rituals and customs had extreme importance and were not simply pagan ‘accommodations’. This post will mainly continue the discussion of why E2 is very often not the correct explanation. The sources and documentation for this post are at the end of the post or interspersed throughout.
{ETA 11/20/2014 Lets suppose Animal Sacrifice is rationalized because of E2 or perhaps it serves communal purpose. Neither of those reasons would apply to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob... If so why were they engaged in such acts ? }
Rambam did not have access to modern knowledge and facts and based his opinions on what information was available to him. He was unaware of natural explanations of the origins of the species, modern cosmology and archaeology. He was unaware of newly discovered ancient near east (ANE) parallels to Torah laws, festivals, expressions, conceptions and myths.
I would argue that the Torah was not making allowances for pagan practices because of peoples inability to withstand a major change in religion. Sometimes the Torah directly prohibits a particular pagan practice regardless of how entrenched the pagan practice may have been.
Some of the pagan rituals etc: may have been retained because they empowered Priests, for example requiring them to perform certain rituals. As example would be Levit 14:34-57 purging and making expiation after a plague.
But many pagan practices (modified or unmodified) that persist in the Torah are there because the authors of the Torah believed they were a necessary way to achieve the favor of Yahweh or were good for their society. They shared certain beliefs and customs with other ANE (ancient near east) cultures and incorporated them into the Torah. Cross pollination was also occurring. {ETA 3/24/2014 see for example this post Yom Kippur Origins }
The Torah authors rejected or modified other pagan practices to create differentiation from surrounding nations for political/national/religious reasons or because they hoped through trial and error they could discover the best way to worship Yahweh and obtain his favor.
Judaism today does not know the reason for many of it’s laws, rituals and customs. For example the prohibition for wearing a flax and wool garment. It is fairly certain there is no health issue concerns, nor any concern today regarding it’s potential Idolatrous associations as Rambam suggested (see item H below). If so, then what use is it for us today to abide by the commandment in modern times. The same is true for many other laws, rituals and customs. It is as if we are practicing meaningless laws and rituals.
{ETA 3/23/2106 Side Note. Orthodox Jews consider the future resurrection of the dead and the world to come as important principles of Judaism. From the Book Understanding Judaism - Jacob Neusner Editor-
Beginning Page 35 The [Rabbinic Jewish] belief in the world to come with it’s concomitant belief in bodily resurrection is an importation from Zoroastrian civilization. Both stem from non Jewish sources. }
{ETA 6/27/2018 A related discussion is found on page Page 299 How To Read the Bible James Kugel 2007 Why did the Lord inform one prophet that the Lord was essentially a divine humanoid , while to another prophet that the Lord is an abstract , distant deity who dwells in Heaven ? [I think these sort of contradictions support the notion no Lord was involved with the prophets.] Anyway the apologetic answer found on page 727 it was an accommodation to gradually wean the Israelites from polytheistic notions. Pauline of Christianity and Rambam used such an apologetic. The book then exposes the weakness of the above apologetic. A) What would be so hard for Israel to accept a new notion of a divinity ? B) How would 2-3 centuries of divinely given contradictory information improve the situation when the change over was finally made ?}
Some Torah and Pagan comparisons; A critique of some of Rambam’s explanations; Related Issues
A) The Torah codifies pagan superstitions and discriminations for example as see Bitter Waters and Blemished Priests.
B) Citing Rambam page 356
“...I do not know the object of the table with the bread
upon it continually, and up to this day I have not been able to assign any reason to this commandment.”
Levit 24:5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth parts of an ephah shall be in one cake.
6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.
7 And thou shalt put pure frankincense with each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial-part, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Sparks - Beginning on page 206 - perpetual presentation of 12 loaves of bread parallel Mesopotamian practice: a) 12 loaf offering to the deity during Akitu b) Presenting meals to gods in trays.
Exodus 25:29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and the pans thereof, and the jars thereof, and the bowls thereof, wherewith to pour out; of pure gold shalt thou make them.
30 And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before Me always.
JPS page 167 - ANE art work shows tables holding gifts of food before enthroned royalty and deities.
C) The Patriarchs, Moshe and Aaron - engage in sacrifice and other pagan rituals. For example Genesis 28:18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
But surely these individuals would not be Idolaters and would not need to slowly weaned from pagan practices. It is more likely they performed these ritual for their alleged efficacy or other ritualist reasons.
D) Deut 13:1 All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
This expression: “... reflects an ancient Near eastern scribal formula that was often included in the epilogue of treaties, inscriptions, or law collections to protect them from being defaced, altered, or written over.” Page 394 JPS
E) Some pagan myths share similarities to the Torah’s (Creation myths; Noah flood story; the early story of Moses birth and saving - King Sargon for example).
See the book Old Testament Parallels for examples.
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (Translated by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 121 Regarding Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.]
F) Pagan expressions and theophany are adopted in the Torah (see Kuzari Part 2 for some examples).
G) Some beneficial agricultural customs of 'pagans' rejected outright in the Torah.
Citing Rambam page 337
"It is further mentioned in the Nabatean Agriculture that the ancient idolaters caused certain things named in that work to rot, waited till the sun stood in a certain degree [of the ecliptic], and then they performed many acts of witchcraft. They believed that that substance should be kept ready by every one, and when a fruit-tree is planted, a portion of that rotten substance should be scattered round the tree or under it ; the tree would then grow quicker and produce more fruit than is generally the case. They say
that this process is very extraordinary ; it acts like a talisman, and is more..."
Actually, this pagan practice will work, but not for any supernatural reasons. Rotting organic matter helps vegetative growth. It shows how a kernal of truth can exist beneath all the embellishments. The Torah could have taught the "rot" agricultural method perhaps with a with blessing to Yahweh. It is more likely the authors of the Torah threw out the baby with the bath water so to speak.
Again Rambam page 338
"In the Nabatean Agriculture it is further distinctly stated that it was the custom of the people in those days to sow barley and stones of grapes together, in the belief that the vineyard could only prosper in this way. Therefore the Law prohibits us to use seed that has grown in a vineyard, and commands us to burn both the barley and the produce of the vineyard. For the practices of the heathen, which they considered as of a magic and talismanic character, even if not containing any idolatrous element, are prohibited, ...."
Intercropping is a useful agricultural practice. The Torah was prohibiting a valid agricultural practice. The Torah actually could have taught the Israelites more about intercropping with a blessing to Yahweh. It is more likely the authors of the Torah threw out the baby with the bath water so to speak.
H) The Torah clearly sometimes makes no accommodating to human weakness for certain pagan customs, while for others it allows them. For something apparently as trivial as wearing wool and flax garments - this becomes prohibited. Rambam suggests on Page 338 because it was associated with Idolatry. Yet, animal sacrifice is also associated with Idolatry, becomes glorified in to Torah. Couldn’t the Torah allow wearing flax and wool and rededicate it God ?
I) Deuteronomy Chapter 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all His commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth.
7 The LORD will cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thee; they shall come out against thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways.
11 And the LORD will make thee over-abundant for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers to give thee.
12 The LORD will open unto thee His good treasure the heaven to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow.
Here we have promises of fertility, power, rain....when you obey Yahweh. Hardly different from the ancient pagans who hoped to achieve the same from their gods.
From JPS page 427 - Regarding Deut 28:1-68 “The Mosaic covenant specifies a series of blessings and curses that follow upon national obedience or disobedience to the law. These are modeled after ancient Near Eastern state treaties, in which the consequences of breach of the treaty are spelled out at its conclusion; this chapter has several close parallels to the Vassal Treaty of Esarhaddon (VTE), a Neo-Assyrian treaty dating 672 BCE.” JPS goes on to write the Code of Hammurabi also ends with exhortations to obedience, accompanied by blessings and curses. JPS also writes the passage most likely reflects the Babylonian conquest and exile of Judah (597 BCE and 586 BCE) here recast as a prophetic warning. Verses 47-57, and Verses 58-68 are trying to make sense of that catastrophe.
Also see this post Bible Predictor
This post is continued Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part 2
--------------------------------------------
Sources, Additional Documentation and Information
Beginning Page 207 Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
Regarding Leviticus 11-15-
The dietary laws: Clean .vs. Unclean - very close to ancient near east views. The Clean species - animals of domestic flock and herds. The unclean - Dog, swine in Hittite.
Body fluids discharges - Normal biological or Illness creates ritual uncleanness in The near east.
Hittite priests - if engage in sex it creates unclean and needs a ritual bath. Similar to Leviticus 15:16-18
Skin Infections, Fungus on things - like the ANE neighbors you consult a priest. Mesopotamia and Israelites - priest diagnoses based on fungal color and prescribe treatment and PERFORM elimination rites like in Levit 13:47-50, 14:33-57
Regarding Levit 17,21,22 "Hittite priestly instructions include many rules of this sort as well as similar warnings about DIVINE PUNISHMENT THAT WOULD RESULT IF THE RULES ARE CONTRAVENED". [My capitals]
Regarding Levit 24:1-9 perpetual presentation of 12 loaves of bread. This parallels to Mesopotamia practice a) 12 loaf offerings b) presenting meals to gods on trays
-------------------------------------------------------------
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (TRANSLATED by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 REGARDING Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
Page 160 From the Ras Shamra texts of the Baal myths - To give authority he needs a house or place usually called Bait or Bet the usual word for Temple. "This shows clearly that The Temple was treated in The first place as the dwelling of the god or his official residence". Like the jews, the Temple Atargatis held 2 sacrifices per day.
Page 166 From the Ras Shamra texts - Baal has Khnm priests like Kohnim Hebrew. Kohen in Phoenician and Punic inscriptions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (Translated by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 Regarding Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
-------------------------------------------
Frazer VI - The Golden Bough by James Frazer Volume I abridged edition 1922, 1979 - fifteenth printing.)
JPS - Jewish Publication Society Jewish Study Bible 2004 Berlin and Brettler
Kugel - How to Read the Bible by James Kugel 2007
OTP - Old Testament Parallels by Victor Mathews and Don Benjamin
Sparks - Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
Why Are Pagan Laws, Rituals and Customs in the Torah ?
Many Orthodox Jews respond: We do not know why the Torah has certain laws, rituals and customs. God has commanded them. ( I will be mainly concerned with laws, rituals and customs that have no obvious reason. Laws such as the prohibition against murder are not the concern of this post.)
Others, in the tradition exemplified by Maimonides (Rambam 12th century) in his Guide for the Perplexed ( my edition translated from the original arabic edition, revised throughout (Eighth Impression) second edition published 1904, reprinted in 1956), offers the following basic explanations:
E1) Many Torah laws, rituals, customs are meant to reject Idolatry and Idolatrous ways of worship or to create a fence around them.
{ETA 7/10/2014 One motivation for the development E1 is explained in Origins of some Torah Laws and Chosen People Idea. Or perhaps it occurs because of religious, political, national differentiation similar to numerous countries having there own religious brand or like the numerous different Christian, Islamic, and Jewish denominations today. Or perhaps the Ancient Israelites were by trial and error attempting to find the best way to worship Yahweh/EL. }
E2) The Israelites had been steeped in Idolatry. The Torah allowed some pagan practices to continue as an 'accommodation' to human weakness, but they are rededicated to the worship of Yahweh.
(Rambam also offers other reasons for certain specific and laws, rituals and customs - some will be discussed in future posts. ETA 3/19/2014 - see Part 2 and Part 3 and Circumcision and Rambam }
E1 - For some laws the Torah explicitly confirms E1. For example Deut 27:15 Cursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and setteth it up in secret.
Notice that E1 and E2 combined are an almost unfalsifiable position. If a clearly pagan practice is in the Torah it becomes an ‘accommodation’. If it is prohibited it is because it was associated with Idolatry. Nevertheless, a very convincing case can be made against E2 for many of the Torah’s pagan laws, rituals and customs.
The posts 'Cut Off in the Bible and 'Statute Forever' in the Bible already began to address why E2 is an incorrect explanation for many Torah pagan laws, rituals and customs and strongly suggests the Torah’s many ancient near east (ANE) laws, rituals and customs had extreme importance and were not simply pagan ‘accommodations’. This post will mainly continue the discussion of why E2 is very often not the correct explanation. The sources and documentation for this post are at the end of the post or interspersed throughout.
{ETA 11/20/2014 Lets suppose Animal Sacrifice is rationalized because of E2 or perhaps it serves communal purpose. Neither of those reasons would apply to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob... If so why were they engaged in such acts ? }
Rambam did not have access to modern knowledge and facts and based his opinions on what information was available to him. He was unaware of natural explanations of the origins of the species, modern cosmology and archaeology. He was unaware of newly discovered ancient near east (ANE) parallels to Torah laws, festivals, expressions, conceptions and myths.
I would argue that the Torah was not making allowances for pagan practices because of peoples inability to withstand a major change in religion. Sometimes the Torah directly prohibits a particular pagan practice regardless of how entrenched the pagan practice may have been.
Some of the pagan rituals etc: may have been retained because they empowered Priests, for example requiring them to perform certain rituals. As example would be Levit 14:34-57 purging and making expiation after a plague.
But many pagan practices (modified or unmodified) that persist in the Torah are there because the authors of the Torah believed they were a necessary way to achieve the favor of Yahweh or were good for their society. They shared certain beliefs and customs with other ANE (ancient near east) cultures and incorporated them into the Torah. Cross pollination was also occurring. {ETA 3/24/2014 see for example this post Yom Kippur Origins }
The Torah authors rejected or modified other pagan practices to create differentiation from surrounding nations for political/national/religious reasons or because they hoped through trial and error they could discover the best way to worship Yahweh and obtain his favor.
Judaism today does not know the reason for many of it’s laws, rituals and customs. For example the prohibition for wearing a flax and wool garment. It is fairly certain there is no health issue concerns, nor any concern today regarding it’s potential Idolatrous associations as Rambam suggested (see item H below). If so, then what use is it for us today to abide by the commandment in modern times. The same is true for many other laws, rituals and customs. It is as if we are practicing meaningless laws and rituals.
{ETA 3/23/2106 Side Note. Orthodox Jews consider the future resurrection of the dead and the world to come as important principles of Judaism. From the Book Understanding Judaism - Jacob Neusner Editor-
Beginning Page 35 The [Rabbinic Jewish] belief in the world to come with it’s concomitant belief in bodily resurrection is an importation from Zoroastrian civilization. Both stem from non Jewish sources. }
{ETA 6/27/2018 A related discussion is found on page Page 299 How To Read the Bible James Kugel 2007 Why did the Lord inform one prophet that the Lord was essentially a divine humanoid , while to another prophet that the Lord is an abstract , distant deity who dwells in Heaven ? [I think these sort of contradictions support the notion no Lord was involved with the prophets.] Anyway the apologetic answer found on page 727 it was an accommodation to gradually wean the Israelites from polytheistic notions. Pauline of Christianity and Rambam used such an apologetic. The book then exposes the weakness of the above apologetic. A) What would be so hard for Israel to accept a new notion of a divinity ? B) How would 2-3 centuries of divinely given contradictory information improve the situation when the change over was finally made ?}
Some Torah and Pagan comparisons; A critique of some of Rambam’s explanations; Related Issues
A) The Torah codifies pagan superstitions and discriminations for example as see Bitter Waters and Blemished Priests.
B) Citing Rambam page 356
“...I do not know the object of the table with the bread
upon it continually, and up to this day I have not been able to assign any reason to this commandment.”
Levit 24:5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth parts of an ephah shall be in one cake.
6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.
7 And thou shalt put pure frankincense with each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial-part, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Sparks - Beginning on page 206 - perpetual presentation of 12 loaves of bread parallel Mesopotamian practice: a) 12 loaf offering to the deity during Akitu b) Presenting meals to gods in trays.
Exodus 25:29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and the pans thereof, and the jars thereof, and the bowls thereof, wherewith to pour out; of pure gold shalt thou make them.
30 And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before Me always.
JPS page 167 - ANE art work shows tables holding gifts of food before enthroned royalty and deities.
C) The Patriarchs, Moshe and Aaron - engage in sacrifice and other pagan rituals. For example Genesis 28:18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
But surely these individuals would not be Idolaters and would not need to slowly weaned from pagan practices. It is more likely they performed these ritual for their alleged efficacy or other ritualist reasons.
D) Deut 13:1 All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
This expression: “... reflects an ancient Near eastern scribal formula that was often included in the epilogue of treaties, inscriptions, or law collections to protect them from being defaced, altered, or written over.” Page 394 JPS
E) Some pagan myths share similarities to the Torah’s (Creation myths; Noah flood story; the early story of Moses birth and saving - King Sargon for example).
See the book Old Testament Parallels for examples.
Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (Translated by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 121 Regarding Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.]
F) Pagan expressions and theophany are adopted in the Torah (see Kuzari Part 2 for some examples).
G) Some beneficial agricultural customs of 'pagans' rejected outright in the Torah.
Citing Rambam page 337
"It is further mentioned in the Nabatean Agriculture that the ancient idolaters caused certain things named in that work to rot, waited till the sun stood in a certain degree [of the ecliptic], and then they performed many acts of witchcraft. They believed that that substance should be kept ready by every one, and when a fruit-tree is planted, a portion of that rotten substance should be scattered round the tree or under it ; the tree would then grow quicker and produce more fruit than is generally the case. They say
that this process is very extraordinary ; it acts like a talisman, and is more..."
Actually, this pagan practice will work, but not for any supernatural reasons. Rotting organic matter helps vegetative growth. It shows how a kernal of truth can exist beneath all the embellishments. The Torah could have taught the "rot" agricultural method perhaps with a with blessing to Yahweh. It is more likely the authors of the Torah threw out the baby with the bath water so to speak.
Again Rambam page 338
"In the Nabatean Agriculture it is further distinctly stated that it was the custom of the people in those days to sow barley and stones of grapes together, in the belief that the vineyard could only prosper in this way. Therefore the Law prohibits us to use seed that has grown in a vineyard, and commands us to burn both the barley and the produce of the vineyard. For the practices of the heathen, which they considered as of a magic and talismanic character, even if not containing any idolatrous element, are prohibited, ...."
Intercropping is a useful agricultural practice. The Torah was prohibiting a valid agricultural practice. The Torah actually could have taught the Israelites more about intercropping with a blessing to Yahweh. It is more likely the authors of the Torah threw out the baby with the bath water so to speak.
H) The Torah clearly sometimes makes no accommodating to human weakness for certain pagan customs, while for others it allows them. For something apparently as trivial as wearing wool and flax garments - this becomes prohibited. Rambam suggests on Page 338 because it was associated with Idolatry. Yet, animal sacrifice is also associated with Idolatry, becomes glorified in to Torah. Couldn’t the Torah allow wearing flax and wool and rededicate it God ?
I) Deuteronomy Chapter 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all His commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth.
7 The LORD will cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thee; they shall come out against thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways.
11 And the LORD will make thee over-abundant for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers to give thee.
12 The LORD will open unto thee His good treasure the heaven to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow.
Here we have promises of fertility, power, rain....when you obey Yahweh. Hardly different from the ancient pagans who hoped to achieve the same from their gods.
From JPS page 427 - Regarding Deut 28:1-68 “The Mosaic covenant specifies a series of blessings and curses that follow upon national obedience or disobedience to the law. These are modeled after ancient Near Eastern state treaties, in which the consequences of breach of the treaty are spelled out at its conclusion; this chapter has several close parallels to the Vassal Treaty of Esarhaddon (VTE), a Neo-Assyrian treaty dating 672 BCE.” JPS goes on to write the Code of Hammurabi also ends with exhortations to obedience, accompanied by blessings and curses. JPS also writes the passage most likely reflects the Babylonian conquest and exile of Judah (597 BCE and 586 BCE) here recast as a prophetic warning. Verses 47-57, and Verses 58-68 are trying to make sense of that catastrophe.
Also see this post Bible Predictor
This post is continued Explanations of Pagan Customs in Judaism with some notes on Maimonides Part 2
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Sources, Additional Documentation and Information
Beginning Page 207 Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
Regarding Leviticus 11-15-
The dietary laws: Clean .vs. Unclean - very close to ancient near east views. The Clean species - animals of domestic flock and herds. The unclean - Dog, swine in Hittite.
Body fluids discharges - Normal biological or Illness creates ritual uncleanness in The near east.
Hittite priests - if engage in sex it creates unclean and needs a ritual bath. Similar to Leviticus 15:16-18
Skin Infections, Fungus on things - like the ANE neighbors you consult a priest. Mesopotamia and Israelites - priest diagnoses based on fungal color and prescribe treatment and PERFORM elimination rites like in Levit 13:47-50, 14:33-57
Regarding Levit 17,21,22 "Hittite priestly instructions include many rules of this sort as well as similar warnings about DIVINE PUNISHMENT THAT WOULD RESULT IF THE RULES ARE CONTRAVENED". [My capitals]
Regarding Levit 24:1-9 perpetual presentation of 12 loaves of bread. This parallels to Mesopotamia practice a) 12 loaf offerings b) presenting meals to gods on trays
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Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (TRANSLATED by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 REGARDING Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
Page 160 From the Ras Shamra texts of the Baal myths - To give authority he needs a house or place usually called Bait or Bet the usual word for Temple. "This shows clearly that The Temple was treated in The first place as the dwelling of the god or his official residence". Like the jews, the Temple Atargatis held 2 sacrifices per day.
Page 166 From the Ras Shamra texts - Baal has Khnm priests like Kohnim Hebrew. Kohen in Phoenician and Punic inscriptions.
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Religions of the Ancient Near East - Helmer Ringgron (Translated by J. Sturdy) 1973
Page 159 - "A number of Temples display a ground plan similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem"
Page 121 Regarding Assyrian and Babylonian religion:
" It is known that life or the BREATH of life is a gift of the gods, who also have the power to take it back." [My capitalization. Such a notion is found in Genesis ...]
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Frazer VI - The Golden Bough by James Frazer Volume I abridged edition 1922, 1979 - fifteenth printing.)
JPS - Jewish Publication Society Jewish Study Bible 2004 Berlin and Brettler
Kugel - How to Read the Bible by James Kugel 2007
OTP - Old Testament Parallels by Victor Mathews and Don Benjamin
Sparks - Ancient Texts For The Study of The Hebrew Bible - Kenton Sparks 2005)
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