Recent findings on fish remains in Judea

[Decoder]

What Archaeology Tells Us About the Ancient History of Eating Kosher

A new study of fish remains deepens scholars' understanding of how the dietary laws came to be

getpocket.com

1, The scholars have apparently not interacted with the doc THE MOSES CONTROVERSY. The things shown there have squared much closer to the Biblical chronology than they think possible. Even on the question of the origin of Hebrew alphabet and writing.
2, no connection was made between the failure to keep kosher and the captivities. So it is not that the Biblical narrative is mistaken, but that there seems to be some inattention to what was its cause. Ezekiel and Zechariah especially are concerned about dietary law. This still allows for a resurgence in interest (as found) in the Maccabean period forward when 'clean' vs. 'unclean' food becomes a great issue right on through to Peter's meal in Acts 10-11.

 

[MarcS]

Hi Decoder, thanks for the article. I love reading the historical accounts and seeing how they line up with the Bible. The thing I find most confusing about this is how some of the people that write these things obviously don't read or understand the text they are trying to refer to. The Old Testament is full of examples of Yahweh giving commands and the Israelites not following them (as well as the times they did follow, not meaning to sound like they were always off track). There are times that false gods were followed so is it so hard to think that if the people started denying Yahweh then they may not follow his commandments also?

 

[Decoder]

Hi Decoder, thanks for the article. I love reading the historical accounts and seeing how they line up with the Bible. The thing I find most confusing about this is how some of the people that write these things obviously don't read or understand the text they are trying to refer to. The Old Testament is full of examples of Yahweh giving commands and the Israelites not following them (as well as the times they did follow, not meaning to sound like they were always off track). There are times that false gods were followed so is it so hard to think that if the people started denying Yahweh then they may not follow his commandments also?

The scholars interviewed there have the secular/gradualist view of history and have not updated. See THE MOSES CONTROVERSY where I think 5 of them in Jerusalem were interviewed and unable to answer the writer's questions about Joseph and the Hebrew alphabet. This places the writing of the Torah and everything else very late, like after the Babylonian captivity, "to help Israel regain its self-understanding as a nation or ethnos." This is mentioned in the article--one portion claimed to be written during the Maccabean period (2nd cent. BC).

Obviously they don't think much of the nation's legacy/understanding as found!

 

[Lanolin]

People living in a timewarp.

Also I think the issue with God not allowing the Israelites to eat pork or shellfish was perhaps because he wanted to leave that food resource for other nations and not to have them fight over it.
Another thing is because Israel is land locked on one side it was to allow fish stocks to recover.
And with keeping pigs the middle east was a lot more suitable for grazing animals like sheep and cattle. Pigs thrive better in woodland/forest areas.

 

[Decoder]

People living in a timewarp.

Also I think the issue with God not allowing the Israelites to eat pork or shellfish was perhaps because he wanted to leave that food resource for other nations and not to have them fight over it.
Another thing is because Israel is land locked on one side it was to allow fish stocks to recover.
And with keeping pigs the middle east was a lot more suitable for grazing animals like sheep and cattle. Pigs thrive better in woodland/forest areas.

There's a few practical-based laws in Torah, but most of the time it is separation from pagan Canaanite cults.

 

[Lanolin]

There's a few practical-based laws in Torah, but most of the time it is separation from pagan Canaanite cults.

The canaanites had polluted the land so it might have affected the food chain.

 

[Decoder]

The canaanites had polluted the land so it might have affected the food chain.

In the modern environmental sense? Not that I know of. But yes, if you mean cultic observances and rituals. Children born to temple prostitute priestesses were burned in 'worship' to Moloch to 'insure' that the rains would come. The reason for producing the most crops at the time was that the cult picked you to inseminate the girls. A vicious annual cycle to say the least, because the babies were born just before the 'early rains' as described in agriculture at the time. Dt. 11:14 is God saying He is the one who provides that, not Moloch.

Abraham's sacrifice of a goat was therefore a huge step forward...

 

[Lanolin]

well shellfish are feeders
and also pigs eat everything
So if you give them unhealthy things to eat or pollute their environment you are eating them as well. A lot of harbours silted up and made the shellfish inedible because people used to dump raw sewage into the sea..and pigs of course, like mud and people were not putting their sewage/waste in the right place.

If you study a bit of ecology you'll understand how animal and plant life are all connected.

 

[Decoder]

well shellfish are feeders
and also pigs eat everything
So if you give them unhealthy things to eat or pollute their environment you are eating them as well. A lot of harbours silted up and made the shellfish inedible because people used to dump raw sewage into the sea..and pigs of course, like mud and people were not putting their sewage/waste in the right place.

If you study a bit of ecology you'll understand how animal and plant life are all connected.

How is it connected to 14 century BC Canaanite cults? Moloch, Astartes, etc?

 

[Lanolin]

How is it connected to 14 century BC Canaanite cults? Moloch, Astartes, etc?

It's the way the Caanites used the land. If they were dumping human waste in areas where they grew or gathered food it would have affected it. Pollution. Ashes of dead children being dumped into the sea? Shellfish then exposed to this.

 

[Lanolin]

Pigs eat everything, they don't just eat grass or chew cud like cattle and sheep.
If pigs are eating junk, their meat is not as tender/juicy. Though pigs are a better meat than humans..though not sure canaanites practiced cannibalism but it's likely they might have - it isn't unheard of.