First and Last Interactions between Yahweh and Man in the J-Source

I was thinking today about the J (or Yahwist) source of the Pentateuch. Interestingly, Yahweh’s first interaction with Man in this work is his forming man out of the dust/dirt of the ground (Genesis 2:7) and then subsequently telling him that from the ground Man was created and to the ground Man returns (Genesis 3:19). If you turn all the way to the end of Deuteronomy 34, Yahweh’s last interaction with Man in the J-source is his burying Moses (Deuteronomy 34:5-6).

Hermann Broch's The Sleepwalkers

Last night I finished reading Hermann Broch’s epic trilogy, The Sleepwalkers. Broch was an Austrian Christian novelist and is considered (along with Joyce, Mann, Musil, Proust, and Kazantzakis) to be one of the premier modernist writers. Born into a Jewish family in Vienna in 1886, Broch converted to Christianity in 1909 and began writing in 1926. The Sleepwalkers was his first novel.

The Sleepwalkers is a work about the disintegration of values, specifically the decline in thinking and behavior that occurred between fin de siècle Europe and the end of World War I. During those 30 years, we are introduced to dozens of characters in various places, though three main characters (Joachim von Pasenow, August Esch, and Huguenau) are the philosophical and narrative focus.

Book One, The Romantic, is more of a straightforward novel and deals with both von Pasenow’s disgust and participation in the decline of values.

Book Two, The Anarchist, with its expressionistic prose, follows the life of socialist Esch as he struggles with the substance-less of his social progressivism.

Book Three, The Realist, is written in the style of pure modernism, like that of Joyce’s Ulysses. Characters from the previous books come together and interact within Broch’s philosophical plotting. It contains parallel stories of a young woman alienated from her family; of shell-shocked and mutilated soldiers and field hospital nurses; and that of a Salvation Army girl in Berlin. The plot of each chapter determines the genre used (occasional verse for the story of a Salvation Army girl, journalistic style of the hospital chapters, etc.). While the previous books subtly touched upon religious themes, here, in book three, his conception of the theology and philosophy of Christianity are on full display. Huguenau is the focus of this book. He is a war deserter who pretends to be a businessman and publisher in order to cheat Esch out of his newspaper and ingratiate himself to Pasenow.

The most unusual element of the third novel is the multi-part essay titled The Disintegration of Values. It both comments upon the plots and characters while examining the Western world’s descent from communal values following the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation.

This was a really amazing book. Probably the best Christian work I’ve ever read. It was also a very difficult read (only Ulysses, Finnegans Wake, Doctor Faustus, and In Search of Lost Time have been more difficult).

An Excellent Woman (Proverbs 31)

For those more traditional Christians who believe it is unwise for a woman/wife to work outside of the home, here are few verses from Proverbs 31 giving qualities of an excellent or virtuous woman:

“She is like merchant ships; She brings her food from afar.” (v. 14)

“She considers a field and buys it; From her earnings she plants a vineyard.” (v. 16)

“She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies belts to the tradesmen.” (v. 24)

"Your Body is a Temple"

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

One of the problems with English translations of this verse is that our language does not differentiate the singular “your” from the plural “your”.

In the Greek of this verse the “your” is plural (ὑμῶν) while “body” (σῶμα) is singular. Paul is here speaking into a group of individuals about their communal body and not to their individual bodies. The same is true in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 6:16.

In no place does Paul (or any other New Testament writer) describe an individual Christian’s body as being a temple. If he had, he would have written “Your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit”.

The only time an individual is referred to as a temple is Jesus whose body is a temple (John 2:19-21; Revelation 21:22). The Church (universal) is also referred to as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 4:12; 5:23; Colossians 1:18). Therefore, the Church (an aggregate of individual believers) = the body of Christ = a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Tubal-cain in Genesis 4:22

While I was reading through the early chapters of Genesis, I came to the name Tubal-cain in Genesis 4:22.

“As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron.”

The Hebrew of his name is תּוּבַל  קַיִן and can be transliterated as Tuwbal Qayin and is pronounced as tü·val' kah'·yin. The “b” is pronounced as a “v”.

I read one “commentary” (before seminary) that suggested that the name Tubal-cain eventually descended down to Tuval-Cain and then to Tu Vulcan and then to Vulcan, the Roman god of of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology.

The idea was that Tubal-cain (forger of all implements of bronze and iron) came down through mythology as Vulcan (the god of metalworking and the forge).

I don’t think this theory is in anyway true … but it still appears in the margins of my Bible in ink.

A Time to Lie

I recently mentioned my theory (based on Micah 3:5-7) that people who lie, demagogue, and deceive lose their ability to comprehend reality and the truth. While reading through the book of Exodus this week I was reminded of one exception to this rule. There actually is a proper time to lie.

In Exodus 1:15-21, Pharaoh tells the Hebrew midwives to put to death every male child that is born. But the midwives feared God and did not do as Pharaoh commanded, instead saying, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”

Essentially, the midwives lie to Pharaoh in order to protect the male babies from being killed.

Verses 20-21 are the kicker: “So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.”

Essentially, God blessed the midwives for lying to the authorities in order to protect the lives of others.

From this passage we can learn that lying to save someone from certain death is not a sin and is something for which God may bless one.

So all those Christians who housed Jews from the Nazis and lied to the authorities … God was pleased with their lies.

Origin, Headship, Authority, and Sanctification in Paul

The issue of male/female source/origin (and authority) is touched upon by Paul in 1^st Corinthians. He references in 11:11-12 the interdependence of men and women based upon their supposed interconnected origin. Paul previously references this interconnection in 7:4 when he teaches that husbands and wives have authority over each other’s bodies. This link of origin is Paul’s basis for his egalitarian approach to male-female (or female-male) relationships. Both man and wife are to have authority over the other, both are to submit to the other (Ephesians 5:21).

In both 1 Corinthians 11 and Ephesians 5, Paul references the concept of headship. Despite the common interpretation of this referring directly to “authority”, the actual understanding of head (kephale; κεφαλή) in these passages should be understood as “source” or “origin” (as in head of a river). God is the source of Christ, Christ is the source of the Church, man is the source of the woman, and woman is the source of the man. However, it is because of this mutual origin that women and men are both mutually submissive and mutually authoritarian over each other. (This reminds me of some of the paradoxes of Jesus: the least shall be great [Luke 9:8]; leaders are to be servants [Luke 22:25-26])

One of the purposes of this connection of source and subjectivity and mutual love is process of sanctification. Sanctification is the process of becoming more Christ-like, more God-like, and less sinful. Paul references the link between Christ and the Church and Man and Woman in Ephesians 5, noting that the commonality of bodies (vv. 30-31) is the source of sanctification (vv. 26-27).

Going back to 1 Corinthians 7, having established that husbands and wives have authority over each other (v. 4) and having just previously stated that male and female bodies come together as one (6:16), Paul states husbands and wives sanctify each other and then sanctify their children.

Therefore, God is the source by which Christ is sanctified because they are one (John 10:30), Christ is the source by which the Church is sanctified because they are one, and husbands and wives are the source by which each other are sanctified because they are one.

Play on Words in Genesis 2-3

Some of the play on words in the second creation account in Genesis 2-3:
“And the LORD God formed man (adam; אָדָם) of the dust of the ground (adamah; אֲדָמָה), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7)

Here humans are referred to as adam because they were taking from adamah (the ground). This play on words highlights that humans are creations made out of the stuff of creation. Unlike God, humans are made of the stuff of the earth … and when we die, we return back to the earth (3:19).

“And Adam said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman ('ishshah; אִשָּׁה), because she was taken out of Man ('iysh; אִישׁ).’” (Genesis 2:23)

Humans are collectively understood as being Man (adam) but they are then delineated into two separate forms of Man: male and female (Genesis 1:27; 5:2). In the above verse, the author indicates the special relationship and connection between male and female. The woman is referred to as 'ishshah because she was created from man, 'iysh. Yet, everyone that lives, including males, come from women (3:20). The author indicates that there can be no superiority of source between male and female. Both derive from the other and come together as one (Genesis 2:24).

“And they were both naked (`arowm; עָרוֹם), the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now the serpent was more subtle (`aruwm; עָרוּם) than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.” (Genesis 2:25-3:1)

Oddly enough, the author here makes a connection between the nakedness (“smooth-skinned”; `arowm) of Adam and Eve and the subtleness (“smooth-tongued”; `aruwm) of the serpent’ words. While many scholars have noticed this obvious connection, I’ve yet to read a commentary that offers and explanation.

Expounding on Micah 3:5-7

I’ve been meditating on the following verses for the past few months. Micah 3:5-7:

“Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”

The context of this verse (and many like it) is that when kings of Judah or Israel wished to make decisions that they knew would be unpopular or against the Torah or Covenant, they would hire prophets to declare oracles that proclaimed the king was acting in accordance with Yahweh. Like so many politicians before them and since, the kings wanted the cover of God over their state actions and would use false prophets to manipulate scriptures and proclaim God’s will.

These verses state that the punishment these prophets receive for their lies, disingenuousness, and false prophecies is the loss of their abilities to see and proclaim the truth.

I would like to expound upon this a bit. I’m very interested in how people think, and I suspect there’s a mechanism at work here, a cause and effect. I’ve noticed that people I know (both privately and publicly) who lie, deceive, demagogue, are disingenuous, lack transparency, relativize truth, and purposely take things out of context often have difficulty recognizing the truth when they want to. By this I mean it seems that people who are intentionally deceptive seem to unintentionally lose their ability to grasp truth. They become out of touch with reality.

Now this isn’t exactly the same as someone who keeps lying until they begin to believe the lie themselves. This is more like the deceptive distortions that one engages in to obfuscate the truth progressively breaks down and hinders the mechanisms used to self-comprehend the truth.

Now why is this? My running theory for why the rational faculties breakdown due to lies and obfuscation is that the human soul (body and mind) was not originally made for sin. We were designed to reflect the image of God in this world. We were created to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. But because we choose to deceive, because we choose to twist the truth and obscure reality, we go against our nature and the hardware breaks down. We start running a machine counter to its construction or program, and it forgets how it was originally designed and wired.

The worst outcome of this is simply that if one cannot see the world accurately, it becomes extremely difficult to make the right choices in life. From this one will continually flounder. Reality will seem an impenetrable labyrinth in which the effects of all decisions seem arbitrary. The rational thought of others will be both indecipherable and suspicious. What simple truths one does grasp will seem either inordinately complex or surprisingly profound. And one will be profoundly resentful and distrustful of those who can see the truth. I think the latter outcome is the main cause for the solidification of irrational beliefs. Nothing hardens the heart like resentment.

The only answer to anyone in the predicament of losing their capacity to comprehend the truth is a full turning back. Humble yourself to truth and wisdom. Pray for guidance and revelation. Explore how you think and what your mechanisms are for making decisions and comprehending the truth. Explore how other people think. Begin to question and work through your worldview, biases, prejudices, assumptions, and meta-narrative. Always give extra consideration to truths and scenarios that you either wish were the case or wish weren’t. Take personality tests and assessments and learn how scientific research understands who you are. Be brutally honest with yourself and as objective as possible in everything you do.

Remember that every disingenuous word is one more pebble being thrown into the gears of your comprehension.

Two Exoduses?

I’ve been reading this great commentary on the book of Joshua. While doing so this weekend I was reminded of a theory that I heard in seminary pertaining to the following verse:

“All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as the native.” (Joshua 8:33)

The theory is that this verse indicates that there were already Israelites living in the Palestine when Joshua entered with those from the Mosaic Exodus from Egypt. While there was an historic exodus led by Moses, there was also a gradual exodus that proceeded it for several generations. Therefore, when we “all Israel” comes together in verse 33, it includes those who were new to Palestine (“strangers”, ger) and those who had already been in the land for some time (“native”, ezrach).

Such a scenario might explain some of the apparent historical inconsistencies we find in the Bible (the Exodus occurring either in c.1446 BCE and/or 1250–1200 BCE; the 2 million people that supposedly left Egypt with Moses). This would also correspond with Josephus’ debates about the possibility of two Exoduses mentioned by the Egyptian historian Manetho (Against Apion). While the foreign Semitic Hyksos ruled Egypt during the years of Joseph’s time there, they were finally expelled and non-Semitic pharaohs began to rule Egypt (Exodus 1:8). It is possible that many Israelites were expelled or began to immigrate out of Egypt at this time. The exodus of Moses would then have occurred a few centuries later.

Often the “historical” books of the Old Testament will conflate history in order to demonstrate a theological truth that covers various historical events. This is mostly seen in the apocalyptic books (Daniel, Revelation, etc.) but also in books such as Joshua and Judges.