GENESIS: Snoopy's Short & Snappy Review

[Delightful Life]

Genesis 11: 1 - 9.

Looks to me like it's about the whole earth having a common language and a common vocabulary. The Lord scattered them across the earth and confused their language due to their tower building.

I don't see anything about them worshipping other Gods.

That isnt what you asked

You asked "Have other gods been mentioned yet in Genesis?"

And I mentioned Tower of Babel. There is a plural there, which can be interpreted as multiple Deities; "they will become as us"

So the answer to your question is yes

 

[paradox3]

That isnt what you asked

You asked "Have other gods been mentioned yet in Genesis?"

And I mentioned Tower of Babel. There is a plural there, which can be interpreted as multiple Deities; "they will become as us"

So the answer to your question is yes

Oh I see what you mean but I have a different interpretation of "they will become like us".

I never see God using the royal " we" as other gods. Some people take it to be foreshadowing of the Holy Trinity. I think God and the angels is more likely.

 

[Mendalla]

If one reads it that way, then it's yet another sign that in this early period, we are dealing with henotheism rather than monotheism (one god over all others rather than only one god).

 

[Waterfall]

Have other gods been mentioned yet in Genesis? I am thinking not but I might have missed something in the text.

I have the impression that looking for wives amongst kinswomen had to do with preserving assets for the clan. (Not being concerned about who they happened to worship.)

Other gods will certainly be talked about when God gets around to issuing the Ten Commandments. Commandment #1 I believe.

It upset Esau's parents he married two ,Hittite wives,(you can only have one wife) and he married outside of his own people.
One marriage still allows for more relations but you aren't to marry them. (small technicality)

 

[Delightful Life]

Oh I see what you mean but I have a different interpretation of "they will become like us".

I never see God using the royal " we" as other gods. Some people take it to be foreshadowing of the Holy Trinity. I think God and the angels is more likely.

Well yeah I grok you there

Everything in the Bible is interpretation

I am quite alright with there being multiple Gods :3

You asked and I provided

Its a good scripture

Shows how important human beings are; no matter what interpretation, wether one actually believes in God, or thinks it was just story, Human Beings are very powerful and important

We can be Goddesses :3

 

[paradox3]

Where does it say the people could only have one wife?

Abraham had a second one although he might have married her after Sarah died. He had concubines also which would have been okay (as you said @Waterfall).

 

[Waterfall]

The Hittites worshipped many gods.

 

[Waterfall]

Where does it say the people could only have one wife?

Abraham had a second one although he might have married her after Sarah died. He had concubines also which would have been okay (as you said @Waterfall).

By example from Abraham and Issac....and Abraham needing to find a wife for his son from his clan.

 

[paradox3]

The text never specifies what was so awful about these two Hittite women.

 

[Mendalla]

Just to be clear on who the Hittites were, they were one of the most powerful regional civilizations in the Bronze Age. They ruled primarily in Anatolia, which is modern Turkey. The Hittite Empire was one of the civilizations that collapsed in the 12th century BCE, the so-called Bronze Age Collapse. So marrying Hittites would likely have been as much about making political/economic connections to a neighbouring power as about family.

Of course, this also dates the story to the Bronze Age, certainly pre. 1193 BCE which is the time period when they collapsed.

Hittite | Definition, History, Achievements, & Facts | Britannica

Hittite, member of an ancient Indo-European people who appeared in Anatolia at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE; by 1340 BCE they had become one of the dominant powers of the Middle East. Learn more about the history and achievements of the Hittite people in this article.

www.britannica.com

 

[paradox3]

Tradition holds that the Hettites/ Hethites are the descendants of Heth, the second son of Canaan (son of Ham who was the son of Noah).

Canaan was banished when Ham looked upon Noah naked.

 

[Mendalla]

They spoke an Indo-European language (vs. a Semitic language like Hebrew and Akkadian) which right away puts them as originating in the Caucasus and Black Sea region . But the tradition might explain the reticence of Rebekah about the Hittite wives. The fact that they spoke a language unlike those she was used to could be a factor, too. Maybe even racism or at least prejudice about their ethnicity.

 

[paradox3]

Snoopy needs a geography lesson which I have been avoiding. It's probably time to pull out that study Bible with the maps in the back.

 

[Mendalla]

This map deal specifically with the 12th century collapse but gives a good idea of who was where in the late Bronze Age based on historical and archaeological sources. Note that the Minoans on Crete aren't mentioned. They had already collapsed and the island was ruled by Mycenaean Greeks (and recent genetic work has shown that the Mycenaeans were, indeed, ancestral to the Greeks). It also nicely shows the various movements of people that were happening as societies collapsed or fell on hard times. Note the mention of a rather obscure group called "Hebrews".

 

[Waterfall]

I don't know if anyone remembers this but historians always thought the Hittites were fictitious people, and it wasn't until just recently that archeologists found proof that they actually did exist through cuniform texts in the 19th and 20th century.

 

[Mystic]

It's interesting that when God makes a covenant with Abraham and his descendents, that the promises have to do with long life, great wealth and posterity....there is no mention of an afterlife or the promise of being with God forever in heaven if they are obedient.

That's because there is no Jewish belief in an afterlife until the mid-2nd century BC (Daniel 12:1-3).

 

[Waterfall]

That's because there is no Jewish belief in an afterlife until the mid-2nd century BC (Daniel 12:1-3).

Was that an axial age?

 

[Mystic]

Was that an axial age?

It takes time for the Hellenization of Israel to take effect after Alexander's conquest of the Middle East.
Hellenization brought Greek influence on Jewish works like 1 Enoch in the 2nd century BC that generated a new belief in real postmortem survival.

 

[Mendalla]

I don't know if anyone remembers this but historians always thought the Hittites were fictitious people, and it wasn't until just recently that archeologists found proof that they actually did exist through cuniform texts in the 19th and 20th century.

In fact, modern archaeology has realized that a many of the legendary peoples of the region were based on reality. Note on the map I posted the Elamites, who are mentioned in the Bible as well. They were actually rivals of the Assyrians and Babylonians at times.

 

[paradox3]

It upset Esau's parents he married two ,Hittite wives,(you can only have one wife) and he married outside of his own people.
One marriage still allows for more relations but you aren't to marry them. (small technicality)

In tomorrow's reading, Jacob marries both Leah and Rachel. They are sisters and they are also his cousins. More duplicity is involved.