Joshua through Esther, The Historical Books

FYI there's a lot of truth hidden in those begats... Each one has a meaning to the name. In fact, in Genesis 5, each name from Adam to Noah makes up this sentence:

Man, appointed mortal [and] sorrow[ful]. From praise God coming down teaching. His death will bring [the] poor consolation.
 
FYI there's a lot of truth hidden in those begats... Each one has a meaning to the name. In fact, in Genesis 5, each name from Adam to Noah makes up this sentence:

Man, appointed mortal [and] sorrow[ful]. From praise God coming down teaching. His death will bring [the] poor consolation.

Thank you. I have not forgotten your kindness on other threads, and I thank you for them. I will try try to understand them.
 
I have mixed up Samuel and Chronicles. I took information from Samuel, and I said that it is from Chronicles which for ditzy me is not a surprising event. Since I had labeled it, Chronicles, I continued with Chronicles, which when read out loud must sound like a parts list for a 55 Chevy.

I suppose it could have been the Hand of God, which did this; so I would find Mr Abdicate’s information. Normally, I take a more materialistic view, but that sounds like an interesting possibility.
 
Like I said, I got mixed up about which book I was reading, so I'm going to start over with Joshua.

Unlike with Genesis, Exodus, and Judges, the Catechism does not quote Joshua.

The Catechism uses Genesis for creation and sin, and it ignores the stores in Genesis which are examples of sin. The catechism uses a verse in Exodus to define or describe (I'm not sure of the right word) God. God says that he is, but not anything in particular, not wind, rain, rock, or fire, just is. Then there is a list of sins. The Catechism uses one verse in Judges as an example of imperfect contrition, which I suppose is the main theme of Judges.

So on with Joshua ,,,

Joshua 1

God promises land to the Israelites.

Joshua 2

Joshua sends spies into Jericho, which might be the most famous archaeological dig in the Middle East, Somehow the king of Jericho knows about the spies, but a woman, who has no name, hides the spies, who also have no names. Well, spooks have no names.

Joshua 3 and Joshua 4

The Israelites cross the Jordan River.
 
Joshua 5The Israelites had a thing about foreskins, and they eat frumenty.

Joshua 6

The israelites killed “all that were in [Jericho], man and woman, young and old. The oxen also and the sheep, and the asses … “ except for the harlot.

Joshua 7

The attack on the City of Al failed because God was angry at one Israelite, Joshua and the offending Israelite had a Fredo-I-know-what-you-did moment.
 
Joshua 8

The Israelites killed “ ... the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness ... and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it.” The Israelites carried off “... for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.

“So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, ... He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening."

The text does not say what the Israelites did with the children.

“ … in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.

“ … Joshua read all the words of the law ... to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.”

Anyone might wonder if Justinian and European monarchs ever read this part.
 
I am reading the Holy Bible. I have read Genesis and Exodus. I had intended to read the books in order, but I have had a change of plans. I am going to let the rest of the Torah wait in favor of the historical books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther

Did you know that many ancient and modern Rabbis did not consider the "writings" the "inspired" as in God breathed words
of God? They saw the word in them but attributed them to human considerations (especially the history and others like Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs)....thus these "contain" the word but only the Torah (the Law), the Psalms, and the Prophets (which did not include Daniel) were considered God breathed and "canon". So when Solomon says things like "a gentle word turns away wrath" it is an ordinance in that we should do this but it is not always true. and does not always happen. Where when Isaiah says "His word does not return unto Him void but accomplishes" it is taken literally and as truth (which I must say when I pray His word back to Him He always answers my prayer). This also accounts for slight variances between Kings and Chronicles and so on....one person wrote 500 or more years before the other and may have been influenced by other teachings but the Law remains as it was intended. So when Jesus quotes the word of God He never quotes from these books (although on occasion He may say "and King Solomon said" and so on). He and the Apostles almost only "quote" the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets.

Just something to think about.
 
Did you know that many ancient and modern Rabbis did not consider the "writings" the "inspired" as in God breathed words
of God? They saw the word in them but attributed them to human considerations (especially the history and others like Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs)....thus these "contain" the word but only the Torah (the Law), the Psalms, and the Prophets (which did not include Daniel) were considered God breathed and "canon". So when Solomon says things like "a gentle word turns away wrath" it is an ordinance in that we should do this but it is not always true. and does not always happen. Where when Isaiah says "His word does not return unto Him void but accomplishes" it is taken literally and as truth (which I must say when I pray His word back to Him He always answers my prayer). This also accounts for slight variances between Kings and Chronicles and so on....one person wrote 500 or more years before the other and may have been influenced by other teachings but the Law remains as it was intended. So when Jesus quotes the word of God He never quotes from these books (although on occasion He may say "and King Solomon said" and so on). He and the Apostles almost only "quote" the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets.

Just something to think about.

Well yes and no. I have a Jewish boyfriend, and I have heard his dinner table conversation. I know that Jews disagree among themselves as much as do Christians about religious matters. The difference is that they don’t kill each other because of doctrinal debates.

I’m a Catholic, and I could be wrong about this, but I think that the Catholic view is that the Bible is inspired by God unless the Pope says it is not. :);):cool:
 
In Joshua 9, the Gibeonites offer themselves as water bearers and wood cutters, a sort of slave class, to the Israelites. It must have been a common arrangement in Bronze and Iron Age society. Other examples are Helots and Spartans, Jews and Gentiles, Plebeians and Patricians in Roman society, the meat eating and vegetarians in Buddhist society, the Hutu and Tutsi in African society. We might also add the Peninsulares, such as the Duke of York and Creoles, such as George Washington, in American Society.

:);):cool::D
 
Well yes and no. I have a Jewish boyfriend, and I have heard his dinner table conversation. I know that Jews disagree among themselves as much as do Christians about religious matters. The difference is that they don’t kill each other because of doctrinal debates.

I’m a Catholic, and I could be wrong about this, but I think that the Catholic view is that the Bible is inspired by God unless the Pope says it is not. :);):cool:

I'm sorry, maybe I misunderstood...are you saying Christians DO kill each other over doctrinal differences? Like who? When? Thanks
 
I'm sorry, maybe I misunderstood...are you saying Christians DO kill each other over doctrinal differences? Like who? When? Thanks


When I first thought about how some parts of the Bible might be more important than others parts, I thought that could not be the Catholic view, but I think I can see how that might not be true.

My teachers only quoted a few verses to support my Catholic schooling. For example, they quoted only about a dozen verses in Genesis and one chapter in Exodus. So clearly, the church thinks some verses are more important than others.

I should probably stop there, but since I brought up another subject, I suppose I can continue. :)

I did read Jessica Stern’s Book, Terror in the Name of God. She interviewed a Jewish terrorist. I don’t remember whether or not he had killed anyone. My impression is that he would have killed Jews it that act furthered his cause.

The Book of Judges has the example of the war of some tribes of Israel trying to destroy the Benjamites. I suppose that could be used to justify Jews killing Jews.

Sterne’s book has examples of Christian terrorists. If I remember right, they were antiabortion Christians like the one who blew up the Atlanta Olympics.

Stern in interesting CSpan video http://booknotes.org/Watch/178163-1/Jessica+Stern.aspx

When I typed the previous response (post 28), I was thinking about the Spanish Inquisition and the European wars between Protestants and Catholics.

Also, I thought about how my Baptist relatives think that my Catholic relatives will spend eternity frozen on the tongue of Satan, and my Catholic relatives return the favor except they tend to be less aware of the doctrine. Maybe a little less certainty could be a good thing

I have noticed that any group of three Jews may have four opinions, but I think that Jews catalogue the different interpretations without insisting that any is absolutely the only correct interpretation.
:eek:
 
Joshua 10

Five Amorite kings decided to attack Gibeon because it had allied itself with Israel. The Israelites attacked the attackers. More of the Amorites “died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.”

The text does not say exactly what Joshua did with the people of the five cities, but it does say that “Joshua subdued the whole region … He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, …” something like the Greeks destroying Troy in the Aeneid.

It reminds me somewhat of the Mongols moving east along the Silk Road and south into China.
 
Joshua 11 and Joshua 12

Joshua 11 and Joshua 12 tell about further conquests. At least one city, Hazor, has become a major archaeological site.

Joshua 13 through Joshua 21 seem to me like the Bronze Age equivalent of county records.
 
Joshua 22

The tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh insulted the other tribes. I don’t understand the complaint, but they settled the dispute without war, which must be the reason for including the story in the Bible.

Joshua 23

Joshua “summoned all Israel—their elders,leaders, judges and officials—and said to them:

... Remember how I have allotted … all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

Seems to me, we could replace the words, the Lord your God, with the word, Allah, and the quote would become an admonition for Palestinians.

Joshua 24 is a continuation of Joshua 23 with a summary of Israelite history from Abraham to finally entering into the promised land. It makes me wonder about Psalm 137.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

Which came first, the conquest of the land or the songs of Zion?´´

Genesis 23:6 says that Abraham paid “four hundred shekels of silver” for a burial plot. Joshua 24:32 says that Jacob paid a “hundred pieces of silver” for a burial plot.

Tradition says that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are buried at the Cave of the Patriarch in present day Hebron in the Palestinian Authority.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Patriarchs
 
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